Muse-ic Mondays: Issue 20

Last Friday, I went to see indie rockers Born Ruffians perform at the hot and sweaty Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto.



Yes, it really was that humid. But if the perspiration levels were any indication of the concert's reception, it would be safe to conclude that the show was a sweet, sweaty success.

Performing for a sold-out crowd, Born Ruffians played a balanced mix of new songs and old favourites, satisfying fans as they chanted towards the end of the show for "I Need A Life" (off of the album Red, Yellow & Blue).

Onstage, the band brought their kooky-yet-clever tunes to life with pleasing variations and powerful pipes that just can't be duplicated. As for the audience, they were just as animated as lead singer Luke Lalonde's sprightly vocals.

But what really put the cherry on top of this toothsome concert was the fact that every attendee received a free copy of the band's new album Say It upon entering the venue. Sweet indeed.

I'm really enjoying Say It so far. It's a fun and playful album that provides a perfect soundtrack for summertime activities — backyard barbecues, road trips, cottage shenanigans... you name it.

Here's the video for "What to Say," the first single off of Say It:

Cool concept, eh?

Library lucubrations

Sometimes when I am bored, I will search online for items to put on hold at the local public library — books, movies or music to keep me occupied while I find myself lacking in what one might call 'a social life'. 

Needless to say, I have my 14-digit library card number memorized.

On one especially hot and steamy Friday night, I was searching the library system for a certain Bob Dylan album when I came across the following:

What's this? "Due: NEVER"?

What exactly does "Due: NEVER" mean? That doesn't make much sense in a system based on borrowing and returning (with a heavy reliance on the 'returning' part).

And why the caps? That seems unnecessarily harsh. Someone already gets to check out an item forever, so why the added emphasis of capital letters to shove it in my face?



Yeah, I'm probably just jealous.

Nerdy much? You bet.

Muse-ic Mondays: Issue 19

It's a runner's world. 

The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming and the mp3 player is packed with great tunes to pound the pavement with.

Which songs will find themselves in heavy rotation this year? 

In the category of "Music To Run To," last summer's personal chart-toppers included Girl Talk's Night Ripper; an assortment of soundtrack samplings from Grease, Rent, Dirty Dancing and Chicago; and one mildly eccentric classic rock playlist that included Canadian favourites such as Kim Mitchell's "Go For a Soda" and April Wine's "Oowatanite."

No shame here.

Some summer songs don't require the sight of shirtless men or the influence of four Long Island iced teas to get my toes tapping. Sometimes I read Pitchfork and sometimes I listen to commercial radio. So be it.

In other words, I'm kinda digging Justin Bieber's "Baby."

There, I said it. Moving on.

One song that I've been huffing and puffing graciously gliding along to is "Summertime Clothes" by Animal Collective. Aside from the obvious title of the tune, it has some great summer-themed lyrics that are lush with imagery. I love the story that the song tells of walking around town on a hot, sleepless night with a significant other (or perhaps a summer flame). As for the music video itself, it simply reminds me of bloodshot eyeballs. Go figure.



Might as well go for a soda.

Les Amours Imaginaires trailer

If you didn't already know, my heart belongs to a gay man. Here's looking at you, Xavier Dolan.

 

Never have I so immensely enjoyed such a bizarrely coiffed mop of hair.

But what's this? A new film by mon amour? Yes indeed!

Here's the gorgeous trailer for Les Amours Imaginaires, a love-triangle story written, directed and starring Xavier Dolan: 

"Heartbreaker — that's you."

The film debuts this month at the Cannes International Film Festival and is set for a June release in Québec.

Tankograd at Hot Docs

Just got back from watching Tankograd, a documentary from Denmark about the Chelyabinsk Contemporary Dance Theatre, a modern dance company in Chelyabinsk, Russia, the most radioactively polluted city in the world. The film was screened here in Toronto as part of the annual Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.

From the film's website:

"The region's inhabitants have been exposed to radioactive contamination 20 times higher than Chernobyl.

The name Tankograd (Tank City) derives from the city's mass-production of Soviet weaponry and tanks for the Second World War.

It was the birthplace of the Soviet nuclear bomb.

Chelyabinsk expanded its nuclear production and went on to become one of the Soviet secret cities during the cold war. During the 1950s and 1960s many severe nuclear accidents and spills occurred at the city's nuclear plant, Mayak, located just 50 miles north of the of the city center.

Today the former nuclear missile factory operates as a storage facility for nuclear waste from Russia, USA and Europe."

Featuring an eerily beautiful soundtrack by Ghost Society, Tankograd is a lyrical film which combines the humbling heaviness of the city's residents with a sprinkle of beauty, expression and hope through dance.

The Hot Docs festival runs until May 9th, but you can also check out past Canadian documentaries for free on the Hot Docs Doc Library website.