TheMaker

Yeah, this one is tops. Fire is the only song I even remember from Idols, and that's because it's the only single of Collett's that's gotten any (satellite radio) airplay. This puppy's just got a whack of really nice AM pop songs, though.

I wonder how fast these are gonna go. Currently contemplating one of the local dates in T.O., but it'll likely be a pricey ticket and I just can't seem get jazzed about the prospect of seeing Cohen live. Hrm. I guess I mostly appreciate him academically...

Man, I just cannot get over Evil Urges. I've fallen into one of those "man, I hope something happens soon so that I finally stop listening to this song" loops that threatens to kill it at an early stage for me. I can't help it, though, that chorus is almost unbelievably catchy. I really like Sec Walkin' and Smokin' from Shootin', too. The melody Jim sings over the rhythm the band lays down on the latter is so, so impressive. This record is gonna rock, and the boys'd best hustle up to Toronto soon.

Listening to the title track; blown the fuck away.

Sometimes I think we should just blast a recording of "Victoria" into space with a post-it note attached: "This is rock music." 'Nuff said.

Definitely "Cobra," and maybe even a little of "Steam Engine," what with Jim's vamping over the song's closing minutes that always puts me in mind of Prince for some reason. Can't wait for some live recordings of the new tour to start surfacing. Gah!

Yeah, that's a bit morbid. His prognosis is not good, though. Typically pancreatic cancer patients don't live beyond five years of their diagnosis. It's a sad thing (and damn, a really rough time to have starred in Road House).

The album description puts me in mind of the band's studio cover of "Blue Moon." That's a good thing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUwyo6Rtu6k This is great.

Believe it or not, I'd never heard it 'til I picked up a used copy earlier in the week. Mind you, nine of the eleven tracks are ubiquitous in waiting rooms and classic rock stations the world over, so... Anyway, I find myself weirdly drawn to it. It's almost like I'm nostalgic for a record that came out two years before I was born.

Rocket Man! Holy wow. It's off to YouTube for me...

I don't have a driver's license and I don't have a car. I love it because I'm totally free from insurance rapists and gas gougers, and there's nothing about it that I don't hate!

Right on. Sounds like fits in nicely with the blue-eyed soul of Hate It Here and Thanks I Get.

Building 7 collapsed because two big fuckin' planes decimated the area. I mean, Jesus... I love 9-11 conspiracy wackos. My personal favourite are the wingnuts and their "BUT THE STEEL WASN'T HOT ENOUGH TO MELT!!!" panic explanation. No, it wasn't, but it was damned close to several thousand degrees, which is more than hot enough to reduce the structural integrity of steel to, oh, just about nothing...

It's still their worst album by far according to me. It's fine, but it's nothing to write home about. The songs are better than the record, if you follow me. Two of my closest friends are music geeks, but aren't necessarily Wilco geeks. They like or love most of the band's albums, but detest AGIB. I still like it, regardless of its standing in my personal assessment of the band's canon, but on some days I can sort of see where they're coming from.

I'm still lukewarm on it overall. The rockers are just so sludgy and nondescript... I may end up liking it more than Lions, though. The slower songs are really something.

You know, I've never traveled for a show before - I just don't find it justifiable or usual in 99.9% of cases - but I've just decided right now that nothing will stop me from seeing Waits this summer. So, whoever ends up going to whichever show is closest to southern Ontario, I'll see ya there.

I tell people that there is not a particular style, such as blues or heavy metal. Wilco is simply good music, played well by men. They record hit albums, and then they play concerts as the people go crazy.

Gold in Them Hills has really grown on me. I love the saloon piano, the various "movements" that bring out the themes and emotions in each verse, and that the song feels like an artifact from nearly a century ago. Isis meets There Will Be Blood meets Citizen Kane, but without any of the madness and twice the regret.

Toronto, Toronto, Toronto, Toronto, Toronto, Toronto, Toronto, Toronto... come on, Tom... Toronto, Toronto, Toronto, Toronto, Toronto... we love you here too... Toronto, Toronto, Toronto, Toronto, Toronto, Toronto... no, how 'bout Buff, then?... Toronto, Toronto... Seriously, I need to see this man once. Just once. I honestly think I could live with that.

I think they sound way more like The Shins than either MMJ or BoH, personally. It's mostly in the production, too. Really cool new band, though. That Winter Hymnal song is just outstanding.

I live not far from Toronto, and for a while there I used to drive up to Healey's club every few weeks with an old friend of mine. The original location on Bathurst was a cozy little basement bar with tables that ran right to the edge of the stage. Healey would sit in with the house band most Thursday nights, and even with his remarkably flashy style he never drew undue attention to himself. He'd just sit on his chair near the drums and flail away in the background. One came away from the marathon shows sensing that Healey wasn't there to perform to the crowd so much as enjoy the music and the

Yeah, I thought it was second only to Tenenbaums, myself. There's a plainspoken beauty to a lot of the shots, the colour composition is astonishing, and the fractured family dynamic indeed reminded me of Tenenbaums quite often. Maybe I like it even more than Tenenbaums, actually. I'm not sure yet. I think it was largely overlooked simply because it was released in 2007 (or, the new 1974).

Yeah, he sounds really full throated on that disc. The songs aren't really great, but I like it as an album.