The Pixies

I referred in an earlier post to my cousin Steve who has great taste in music. Well, theres another Steve with whom I shared much of my discovery of great music with.

That Steve was a friend I met in high school, he was a friend of a guy named Carl who sat in my science class and wore a Nirvana T-Shirt, so naturally we became pals. The three of us, Steve, Carl and I were pretty much unstoppable after that point. We hung out together, played in a band together, and I think just about every band I got into was a result of sitting at Carl's house and either watching hours of much music or dubbing cassettes from each other.

I don't exactly remember when I first heard of the Pixies.....I want to believe it was the "Here Comes Your Man" video and sadly all I remember is we thought Kim Deal was hot. Carl was really into them.....and Steve would flip through magazines and reference things like "did you know Kurt Cobain says Surfer Rosa is his favourite album of all time?"

In those days I got into bands largely because I fed off of those two guys' excitement. So for me, the Pixies were reasonably good, but the fact that Carl and Steve were so into it made me want to get into it too.

Years later, once my ipod became my best friend....I REALLY started to listen to those albums. Now I started to understand the genius. The songs were incredibly raw...gritty. Frank sung in spanish on many of the songs which I'm sure wasn't going to rocket those songs onto the radio. He sung about rape, murder, incest, sex....not exactly top 40 material. But it was unique.....something I was craving. I got particularly hooked on the tune "Dig For Fire"from Bossanova......which I played on repeat in the car until I could memorize it.

One day I was at the record store and there was a Live Pixies DVD sitting on the shelf, so I bought it. Took it home and watched it.....and that was the next obsession, to be watched over and over until my roomates were banging their heads off the wall.

Before I knew it the Pixies had announced the reunion tour and I had tickets for Voodoo Fest in New Orleans. Pixies, Sonic Youth, Beastie Boys, who could turn that down? Going to that show and seeing the massive crowds absolutely adoring them was in many ways surreal. Who were all these people? Where do they all come from? Nobody at my work has even heard of them....yet there are literally 50,000 people here screaming their lungs out and singing every word. Did Fight Club do this? I guess it was half people like me......."rediscoverers", and the other half people who were aware of the band in their heyday...."True Fans".

Just a month ago Steve sent me a Facebook message that The Pixies are playing Massey Hall in TO and he was picking up tickets. This will now be the 5th time I'll be seeing them live, and reunion tours are all too common these days. (Hell, Pavement reunited)

I read somewhere though that there are now legitimate talks that they want to get back into the studio. I had been hoping for some new material when they reunited 7 years ago....or had I? Are the Pixies nostalgia, or relevant? Should they be bringing out new material and potentially tarnish their legacy? It seems reasonable that they've done reunion shows for the past 7 years because the payload has been huge and the fans are hungry for it. But is writing new material crossing a line?

I think it is their past that raises that question. The famous stories of the feuding and fighting......the disagreements between Frank and Kim over who should write the songs.

At the end of the day.....its their legacy to lose or to maintain. Who am I or who is anyone to tell them making new material is a smart or stupid move? To me it is based on how long since their last release. 1991. They aren't even the same people anymore. How can a band that hasn't released new material since 1991 and has spent 7 years touring their "Hits" come out with new material that even stands a chance against their classic albums? And lets face it.....if that record isn't Damn good and resemble themselves 20 years younger, the backlash will be ugly.

The pressure must be unbearable and its why I don't think it will ever happen. I'm calling it now.......don't expect to see a new Pixies album any time soon. For now I guess we'll just have to reminisce in this video clip. Enjoy.

The Grammys!!??

Yeah....so I may be just another in a looooong line to post about this, but there is no avoiding this topic.
I was on the way to work today, listening as usual to the 89x radio morning show. Ya know.....I'm not a huge supporter
of mainstream radio, but I am a supporter of laughing my butt off on the way to work. Anyhow......they start talking about the Grammys and my Jaded, Cynical self starts thinking......"hooray! Time to find out whether Lady Gaga won 8 or 9 Grammys for ripping off Madonna!"

But then.....they said it. Thats right. THE ARCADE FIRE WON. I turned up the volume......did I get that right? Or are they talking about the Junos?

Nope.....they said it again and this time I heard it loud and clear. A Canadian band was recognized on the world stage for album of the year...and an independent Canadian band at that. I almost ran my car off the road out of sheer pride. And listen up folks.....winning the Grammy for album of the year is ACTUALLY A BIG DEAL.

As a Canadian....I am used to the stark realization that we have amazing music that never gets any recognition. I mean.....I think everybody has known for years that The Arcade Fire are one of the best bands on the planet......or that Broken Social Scene is one of the most astonishing bands to see live. In fact, no one writes a hook like By Divine Right, or has a voice like Feist. Nowhere will you hear a duet sung like Stars, or feel sorrow and longing like a Dears song. Yes....Thrush Hermit broke up too soon, but Joel Plaskett is awesome solo. Try to put on a Metric album and sit still....you can't. We have Sloan who broke up just to get off a major (how cool is that!). We have Eric's Trip...the only band I've ever heard who captures real heartache on 4 tracks.....and the list goes on. Wintersleep, Hawksley Workman, Land of Talk, The Stills, Sam Roberts, Cuff the Duke, Hayden, Two Hours Traffic, Apostle of Hustle, The Arkells.....

Despite my utter certainty that Canada is the promised land for great music, I also expect at best a 20% chance anyone I talk to outside of my circle of friends has even heard of any of the above bands. And that is because we all listen to US radio and watch US television. So we hear the same 25 - 30 songs over and over and over again. Somehow we can be duped into believing that selling quantity signifies quality.

But something funny happened a few years back. Canadian indie bands started getting exposure on car commercials.....ipod commercials.....and in movie soundtracks. We became the land of "I love that song but I have NO idea who it is!". Unfortunately that isn't enough for Canadian artists to put food on the table.

That is why this Arcade Fire thing is significant. Somehow, the committee or panel could not avoid the genius of that album. Or maybe our generation just grew up and got into a position of influence. Or maybe it was just seen as "Cool" to pick the underdog. Either way, I'm excited to think of where this thing might lead. Sure, there will be a backlash in the mainstream media.....people will say Justin Bieber was robbed. (Hey, at least he is Canadian)...but I have to believe that somebody watched that silly award show last night and thought "maybe I should check out this Arcade Fire".

If there is one thing Canadians can learn from this experience......support our bands! Buy a cd. Better yet, go see them live! Buy the t-shirt and wear it proudly. If you are strapped for cash, there is one thing you can do that is free. Email your local station and request a song. Whatever you do, just take the time to appreciate that you live in a country where honest music is being made for the listener.....not for the paycheck.

And now.....here are a few examples; new and old.

By Divine Right

I think all music nuts like me have the band that we introduce others to, because we just can't believe that more people don't get into them.

For me, that band is By Divine Right

Back in 1999, I went to Hamilton with a few friends to a show at the Sonic Unyon record store.....at the time Sonic Unyon was our Sub Pop or Motown. Anything coming out of there was instantly in our CD players. We would drive to Hamilton (about 2 1/2 hour drive one way) just to go to the store and hang out or catch some bands. By Divine Right was touring their new album, "Bless This Mess". I remember being mesmerized by the raw guitar sound coming from Jose Contreras. This was especially unique because I usually just fixated on the drums.

I bought Bless This Mess that day, as well as All Hail Dischordia, their previous album.

My band at the time would jam a couple BDR tunes and we always got compliments.....then had to admit it was just a cover. I even had some friends who went to see the Tragically Hips next tour and saw BDR open for them. They all bought the BDR album and fell in love with the band.

But in true Canadian Rock fashion, after the Hip tour......those people stopped following the band, and Bless This Mess collected dust in their CD collections.

I moved to London, Ontario in 2001 hoping to find work and hoping to see some great bands. Little did I know that the London scene had just fallen apart and most of the bands we used to drive to London to see were either broken up or stopped coming around. I joined a band called Westminster Park who had recorded their first album prior to my arrival....at House of Miracles Studio in London. They always raved about "working with Andy". I was a bit jealous because I had set up a studio in my apartment.....but it was the healthy kind of jealousy that drove me to work harder.

In 2004, I was at Dr Disc and saw the new BDR album "Good Morning Beautiful". I was just excited they were still together, as I hadn't heard from them in years. I put in that album and was instantly blown away by the new sound they had created. I flipped into the liner notes to see where it was recorded. WHAT!? House of Miracles Studio in London, Ontario!!!!

Not only did I play that album for every person I knew because it was an awesome album....but also because it was recorded locally. This was the point where "Good Morning Beautiful" didn't leave my cd player for nearly a year.

Every person I played the new BDR record for LOVED it. I can't count how many friends had to own it after I spun it at a party. But again, when the next couple releases came out, "Sweet Confusion", "Hybrid TV Genie", and I scooped them up.....those same friends said "Oh Yeah, I still have that old CD you showed me.......no I didn't know they were still together!"

This was maybe the first time I realized how detached the Toronto scene is from the rest of the country. If bands weren't coming through London......we really didn't have any other way to hear of them. They weren't on the radio.......they weren't in the local rags. Over the next couple of years I never saw any BDR shows advertised and just assumed they were a recording band only.

Again....fast forward to 2009 and facebook. Thats right......I am on facebook. How can you be a musician and NOT use facebook? Anyways, I searched By Divine Right one day.....and there popped up "Mutant Message", the new album!!!!!

This time I wasn't going to wait and hope they'd play in London....(in fact they didn't). Instead I contacted them myself and asked them if they'd like to play in Windsor with my band. To my surprise I got a message back the next day from Jose himself! Jose is not your typical ego heavy band frontman.....he is one of the most genuine, kind people I've met and he just plain loves to make music. Pure and simple.

I suppose this post has to end eventually......but the moral of the story is, for whatever reason, BDR hasn't been able to break out into the mainstream like Metric or Feist or Broken Social Scene......they are not on iPod commercials or plastered all over every local music magazine. But they deserve the same recognition. The albums are truly important pieces in Canadian Indie/Rock history and you should check them out. And even more rarely......I won't tell you to "listen to the old stuff first" like I would introducing someone to Sloan. (Sorry Sloan.....I still love you). Feel free to listen to the new album and work your way backwards, because its all good. You really can't go wrong. Heres a taste to get you started.