This year is a mere 10 days old, but already a great deal has happened, from the Collapse of the Canadian Juniors, a Wild Wildcard Weekend, fears of an election in Canada, a referendum to change the map, and of course an assassination attempt.
What else will this year bring? Well allow me to check my Crystal Ball…
Artists Rendering
The big news in the hockey world this week has most certainly been the changes made to the NHL All-Star game. They have done away with the old East vs. West format, or the failed North America vs. The World experiment, and instead gone to a much different idea.
Today, I’m going to look at this propsed change, but also a few other ideas that could work to make the mid-season shinny game a bit more exciting.
One of the more interesting things to circulate both TSN and The Globe and Mail last week was the six-part, multi-platform story where they investigated the possibility of Canada adding a seventh NHL team, title Why Not Canada?. They looked at four potential locations for franchises including Winnipeg, Hamilton, Quebec City, and a second team in the Greater Toronto Area.
If you did not get a chance to either watch it on Sports Centre, or read it, I highly suggest that you do it now. It was a very interesting and intelligent look at the different locations and went beyond the “We Want a Team Here” and looked at the building, corporate support, legal issues, and regional demographics.
After it was all said and done, they seemed to be high on the possibility of a team in either Winnipeg or Quebec, and not so much on adding a third team to Ontario. As much as I would love a team in Southwestern Ontario, or in Toronto, I think that I understand the situation now.
Welcome to the second installment of the regular(ish) feature, Musical Thumbs Up and Down. Where I give some pretty random thoughts on some pretty random songs.
Thumbs Up to “Lonelily” by Damien Rice!! Fans of Mr. Rice will know that this song has been out for several years now, but I have recently rediscovered it, and completely fallen for it this time. I absolutely love the story about not wanting to be alone that you’d sacrifice anything, even your integrity. That kind of loneliness is something that is so incredibly easy to identify with, making this song just perfect for dealing with those kinds of feelings.
Favourite Lyric: “In a way, I’ve lost all I’ve believed in, and I never found myself so alone. And let me down”
(Not an official video)
Thumbs Down to “Gotta Be Somebody” by Nickleback!!! If you are a fan of Canada’s most boring musical export, then I advise you to scroll down, because this will not be kind.
Still here? Good, that means that you have some sense. This song completely blows!!!! These guys are the absolute pure epitome of sell-outs. Their first album had some decent songs and a bit of a rock edge, but since then it’s been bad, really bad. “Just like a paperback novel” ranks among the most one dimensional and forced rock similes, which is a shame given the potential they showed with such songs as “Leader of Men”. But I guess record sales are all that matter, and Kruger and co. will still be able to sleep at night on their piles of money, even if nobody remembers their work for producing anything of substance a few years from now.
With this song, Nickleback have neared, or perhaps eclipsed a new low for generic boring lyrics with some passable at best music thrown in there.
Least Favourite Lyric: “Someone to love with my life in their hands. There has gotta be somebody for me Ohhhhhh.”
(Not an official video)
Thumbs Up for “Family Tree” by TV on the Radio!!!!! Another amazing song from a simply amazing band. Their new album Dear Science has got to be considered one of the best of 2008. In the spirit of “Ambulance” (which I have mentioned two different times on this very blog), they produce another amazingly romantic song. As they describe the often-described-indescribables of love in new and exciting ways, this time talking about getting together underneath a family tree. I mean coudl you have any more powerful of an image?
Favourite Lyric: “It’s echoing moonlight on to the blue nightmare of your heart. In cosy red rainbow, it’s shaking off halos,
and the memory of our sacred so and so’s”
(Not an official video)
(For the record I wanted to find “DLZ” off of this album, but had no luck. Should you have the chance to hear that song, be prepared to be amazed)
Thumbs Down for “Hot n’ Cold” by Katy Perry!!!! Uggh….I hate this woman, she tries to be subversive and edgy, but is really just as prepackaged as the Jonas Brothers. She seems like she’s writing the rest of the song around such cutting edge lyrics as “PMS” and “bipolar”, which completely makes them lose their power and seem insignificant.
On top of that, the cheesy 90s pop beats are not-yet-nostalgic, so they just seem bad.
Do yourself a favour and skip this one, although I doubt you will be able to…
Least Favourite Lyric: “You change your mind, like a girl changes clothes”
(The official music video!!! For “Hot” by Avril Lavigne….with this song dubbed over)
Thumbs Up for “Disturbia” by Rihanna!!! Man this girl is talented!!! When she first debuted, she seemed like she may be another flash in the pan songstress, but she has proven any of her detractors wrong by producing some legitimatly fantastic work. After suffering through all that is Brittney, Christina et al., it was easy to discount the genre of girl pop, however Rihanna proves time and time again that there can be substance to go along with the style.
I simply love this song, not only for it’s solid beats, but for the incredible story that Rihanna is able to tell. She sings a song about losing her mind, but as her paceing gets more erratic as the song progresses you get the legitimate feeling listening to it (not to mention watching the video) that she may actually be doing losing it.
Favourite Lyric: “It’s a thief in the night to come and grab you, it can creep up inside you”
(Actually an official video)
Thumbs Down for “Paper Planes (Remix)” by Lil’ Wayne!!! This really just doesn’t do it for me. Partially because of my ambivalence for ego-rap, but mostly because I adore the original version of this song and this one just doesn’t feel right. It includes the incredibly unique chorus, but all of Lil’ Wayne’s lyrical masturbation just takes away from any of M.I.A.’s original, and poignant lyrics. While I am not against remixes as a rule, I feel that they need to add something to the original, this one clearly robs the original of its intelligent.
Least Favourite Lyric: “Banana in ya ass, its what you hear right behind ya”
(Yet again, not the official video)
Thumbs Up for “Paper Planes” by M.I.A.!!!! After raving about it in the last song, it only seems natural that I talk about this one. The major difference here, is that this song is never really about the artist, it’s about her actions. It’s about her living a life of crime. Plus this song is just so original and poignant, something that the remix, by its very definition, lacks.
Favourite Lyric: “We pack and deliver like UPS trucks, already going to hell, just pumping that gas.”
(Sorry, yet another unofficial video…and the audio kind of sucks too)
Hope you enjoyed that as much as I did…
Until next time,
G
Welcome one and all, to what I hope to be a regular(ish) feature here. As you’ve probably noticed, I’m a huge fan of music, and I always love an opportunity to talk/rant about it. Anyway, here I’m going to find some songs (not necessarily current) to give a thumbs up to, and some to give a thumbs down to. Simple enough, right?
Thumbs Up to The National – “Fake Empire”. I think that this may just be the best song made of 2007. From the slow intro to the amazing jam at the end, this song just brings it. While I absolutely love the trumpet and trombone duet at the end, the highlight for me definitely Berninger’s vocal work. He just sounds so very raw and emotional throughout the song.
This song is such a great description of the hollowness of modern life, living without direction. If you haven’t heard this song (and album) than you are really doing yourself a great disservice.
Thumbs Down to Katy Perry – “Ur So Gay”. Man, I loathe this song! First off, I hate that the word gay is used as an insult. I know that the song is intending to say that the guy acts gay despite his heterosexuality, however, with the climate of the word being used as synonymous with stupid, it really just further enforces that use of the word. So MASSIVE thumbs down for that.
On a more personal note, I hate this song because, well, it more or less describes me to perfection. Seriously. Readers of this blog will know that I am a vegan, I care about the environment, and I am an Indie Music Geek. Just like the guy in the song. Also, lord knows I have had many people assume that I was gay (probably for those above reasons) despite my heterosexuality.
I can just picture any of my ex-girlfriends blasting this song as they angrily think about me, and I HATE that!!!!
The third reason that I can’t stand this song, is because it’s so damned catchy! Despite my disagreement with some of the lyrical choices, there are some really clever lines in this song, and the beat just makes me want to sing along…thus making it even harder for me to truly hate! You win this round Perry….
Thumbs Up for Estelle featuring Kanye West -”American Boy”. Once more Kanye strikes gold! This song is such a great summer sing-a-long track. It’s so hard not to get caught up with it’s optimistic beats, Kanye’s well placed rhymes, and Estelle’s angelic voice. Really there is nothing not to love about this song, it’s a great club track, a great road trip song, and really just a great song all around.
I haven’t had the chance to check out much more of Estelle’s stuff, but I hope that it’s all just as awesome!
Thumbs Down for G-Unit – “I Like the Way She Do It”. Shouldn’t he have retired by now? That is what he said he would do if Kanye out sold him back in September, and well, Kanye won that round, but yet here we are with another Fity song.
While the beat is great to bump and grind to, the lyrics are exceptionally unimaginative. I don’t know if anyone has told any member of the G-Unit this yet, but it’s not 2001, and he’s not fresh anymore. Perhaps something new is in order.
Thumbs Up to Final Fantasy – “Peach, Plum, Pear”. I legitimately think that this is one of the greatest covers of all time, and considering my love of Johnny Cash, and Cake, that is a huge compliment.
Owen Pallett totally takes this great song by Joanna Newsom and makes it his own. Listen to the way he sings “The gathering floosies, are born to be choosy”, it sounds almost like he wrote it himself. Before I saw Final Fantasy, I never thought that I could see someone play the violin angrily, but once more I was proven wrong. In watching the video, I hope you notice just how masterfully Wilson loops his songs back, and plays with himself. Sure he does it in all of his songs, but it just came together even more so in this one.
Thumbs Down for Katy Perry – “I Kissed a Girl”. Strike two for Ms. Perry here! I personally can’t stand this song at all. While it is catchy, and will no doubt be the breakout hit of the summer, it is just plain wrong. She is trying to go for an edgy sexually-liberated vibe here, but I think that it totally fails.
First off, this is not a song about sexual-liberation at all. This is a song done by and for “Look-At-Me-Lesbians”. Gals who are sexually liberated not for their own sake, but for the sake of men. It’s simply disgusting and totally take the women’s lib movement back decades by subverting it. GAH!!!!!!
Secondly, by latching on to the popularized subversion of a subversion, it’s not edgy at all! You want an edgy gal singer, go for Lily Allen instead….
That being said, like her other entry here…it’s damn catchy, and hard not to sing a long to.
And that should about do it for this first entry. I’ll put more out later that won’t just feature Katy Perry…I swear 
Until next time,
G
That Other Blog of Mine