Web Scout exclusive! Rick Astley, king of the ‘Rickroll,’ talks about his song’s second coming | Los Angeles Times

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/webscout/2008/03/rick-astley-kin.html

The University of King’s College will present a public lecture by KRS-ONE (www.krs-one.com) on Saturday, March 15 at 4:00 pm in Alumni Hall (New Academic Building, 6350 Coburg Road). He will speak on hip hop, social justice and the role of music in social movements. All are welcome to attend and admission is free.

Shitdisco - OK

Fortunately they brave forward anyways. Head to Radio3 and check out a tour diary with Steph and find a link to some videoblogging she has going on on their myspace page

Near perfect? Great music, great crowd, great performances……I have mentioned before my experiences with shows at churches being great - people are there to listen, they are respectful. Even in a large church there is a level of intimacy not prevalent in even some of the smaller venues I normally attend shows at. For bands that can make such a show work, I say do it - I am all for more shows at churches [I just need to remember to bring a cushion].

Openers Olympic Symphonium are extremely talented musicians, great vocal interplay. But so low-key/mellow it bordered on boring. Very little dynamics from song to song there set pretty much stayed on one level ——— the whole time. I know they can play, I know they can sing, but I can’t really recall anyone song over the others now from last night.

After an announcement from IDOW festival producer Heather Gibson regarding a request from Hayden regarding photos, Hayden took the stage and made a comment on how his request came across, apologized, talked about robots, made it sound like he didn’t like robots, said he did and then started performing. Someone near me commented on how the show was already more lively after OS based on that opening interaction alone.

From there we were treated to a selection of songs spanning his career, including a “less creepy” update on “Bad as they Seem” [Hayden is 33 now].

He has to have some of the best self-depreciating stage banter of any performer. At the end of the night when he had to ask people to stop clapping as it messed him up because he has horrible timing and that is the reason he is a solo artist.

His Woodie/Starbucks story was pretty hilarious [someone complained to SBs about the song being about him masturbating in his backyard with his best friend…..].

The show has been getting rave reviews, and you can add this to that pile - I don’t think anyone left that show unsatisfied last night.

Jenn Grant hits the road with him too for future dates, so that will be a treat for folks out west.

And Ms Shannon Webb Campbell had the honor to interview Hayden for this week’s issue of the Coast - check it out.

Larry Dobrow of AdAge lets rip on Pitchfork.

…It has been the worst thing imaginable for the art of music criticism.

It = the internet, in that case from the opening sentence. But he has definite issues with Pitchfork particularly, don’t worry, my summary of which follows:

My problem with Pitchfork boils down to this: Its contributors don’t seem to like music very much…The Comic Book Guy ‘tude annoys the hell out of me. I don’t see any point in playing along with Pitchfork’s sucks-sucks-GOOD game…Snark is boring; give me the incredibly literate enthusiasm …over the trademark Pitchfork hoity-toityness any day…I’m put off by the quality of Pitchfork’s writing, especially in its bread-and-butter reviews…Forget merely siccing a few members of the Bad-Writing Police on them; Pitchfork demands the assembly of a Federal Bad-Writing Task Force, complete with subpoena power and automatic weaponry.

He goes to mention issues regarding attracting advertisers [it is AdAge] but does give credit where he sees it due:

The site’s features fare much better in this regard, with the “Found Sound” recaps of rediscovered old records offering moments both warm and witty. Pitchfork also deserves props for updating its news section early and often as well as for its intuitive design, from which any number of minimally navigable music sites could learn something.

As far as the reviews go - I’d say I am in agreement - some of their writing is down right atrocious - I’ve commented on here before that they owe me some of my time back for reading some specific reviews and hating myself for doing so.

BUT!

Sometimes they offer up gold [to me anyways], such as this interview with Josh Grier from Tapes ‘n Tapes talking about their new album Walk It Off due out April 8 on XL.

The Loon remains one of my favorite albums of the 2000s and I am hoping this one is even slightly comparable in levels of enjoyment provided.

A quick post as a heads up to the Radio3 interview this afternoon at 4:20 [ha!] as well as the airing of the 100th episode at 5:10 on CKDU.
Congrats to Mat, Dave and Tom!

Somehow we’ve managed to make 100 episodes. Today we will be celebrating the Jubilee episode. Theres a bunch of funny interviews to be heard. Including such favorites as:
Nardwuar
Mike O’neill
Grant Lawrence
Paul Aucoin
and Our Moms

5:10 today on ckdu is where it all goes down. also for anyone who tunes into radio3 (online or on sirius I guess) we’ll be on grant lawrence’s show doing an interview at 4:20pm.

you can also get the show on our site
www.letsgetbaked.ckdu.ca

This Saturday at Common Ground Studios (Hunter St.) Dog Day and Play Guitar will be taping a Pop In Session. Dog Day will be playing a full Set.
First 100 emails get spots, email popinsessionsrsvp@yahoo.com
Cost is $8 to help offset costs of production.

Saturday Dec 8th
2315 Hunter St.
Doors Open 6:30pm
Taping Starts at 7pm (doors lock)
$8
________________________________________________________________________
Dog Day dawning: Hardworking Halifax pop-punk quartet might be the best new band you’ve never heard of - Toronto Sun

Thanks to photographer Aaron Fraser, you see i see rowboats (separate article) (from left on the cover, the band is Luke Fisher, Darcy Fraser, Lisa Lipton, Will Robinson and Solomon Vromons).

Keep your eyes and your ears on these 16 local bands and musicians
. Some are new on the scene, others are veterans tackling new projects. They may already have a recording or a CD in the works, but all are poised to be the next big thing. Written by Mark Black, Sean Flinn, Stephanie Johns, Mike Landry and Shannon Webb-Campbell.

Myles Deck and the Fuzz

Gearing up to release their new album, Beware! The Fuzz this Saturday at the Attic, Myles Deck and The Fuzz (Myles Deck on vocals, Dale Boudreau on bass and guitar, Travis Davis on guitar, Al Hoskins on bass and Jordan Oakie on drums) together play quite the mixed bag of blues, country, surf, straight-ahead “blue-collar classic rock” and punk.

“Despite all the differences in our taste for music, we can at least agree on one band, The Dead Kennedys,” says Deck. “There’s also an interest in ’60s surf, country and blues and all of that Americana stuff. Can’t forget about The Stooges, either.”

A familiar-sounding mix of classics and trashiness, a listen to their debut album (on From Here to There Records) highlights Deck’s strong vocals. He can pull this off and really sell it at the same time. Switching effortlessly from speaking to screaming, and using a judicious hand with the distortion, the lyrics also stay in the retro theme.

“I was a big fan of sci-fi/horror movies and comics as a kid. I think these themes find their way into my songs. There’s also a lot of everyday grief I write about,” says Deck. “I’m pretty new to songwriting and I think it’s going to take a while before I can really tap into those good vibrations.” (SJ)

Check out the article online or pick up a copy of the issue to read profiles on:
Sarah Barrett-Ives, Black Moor, Construction and Destruction, Erin Costelo, Criminal Intent, Goodbye Generation, The Medium Mood, The Memories Attack, Money over Bitches, Play Guitar, The Rhythm Method, Rule of Thumb, Take On Me, Vennt and Zumbini Circus.

Kudos to the writers and the Coast for picking such a eclectic mix of acts to focus on and introduce to readers.

Stephanie Johns talks to Sam Sutherland about tattoos, percocet, hit records, pink champagne, home-brew, Japan, vinyl, Strange Adventures and touring…exclusively on the internet!

The Stolen Minks | Exclaim!

CBC Radio3’s coverage of east coast act’s as of late has been plentiful
Jill Barber and Two Hours Traffic both had Radio3 Sessions released

While there was an interview with Brent Randall when he was on tour recently.

New Brunswick’s Monoxides were selected for the song of the day last Thursday - great story for that selection.

And I also almost completely missed Halifax being selected as City of the Week on the 8th

ChartAttack gives some coverage to the Inbred’s Tribute - which also gets mentioned on for the “records”

While Chart Attack also interviews Got To Get Got [easily one of my favorite band names right now - have a listen to a track as well]

i (heart) music gets super fantastic

LAST Wednesday Dog Day were Spin’s Artists of the Day. And congratulations to Seth and Nancy on their recent wedding!

The Saskatoon Star Phoenix reviews Orchestra for the Moon:

Grant’s talents, as well as her songs, are unconventional but sure-footed. Orchestra for the Moon is an organic pop record, but its song structures are surprising, as is the way it employs folk and country sounds and even disco-rock rhythms.