Friday, March 26, 2010

Review of a Canadian supergroup

As promised, here are some of my thoughts after seeing Crash Karma last night (in pretty much the order they occurred to me):

  • Why aren't there more people here?
  • I miss OLP with Mike Turner in it
  • I wish I had seen IME before Edwin left
  • They aren't that bad!
  • That's so cool that Mike still has the guitar Oli Goldsmith designed for him!
  • Edwin is singing "Clumsy" and it's weird!
  • Sweet! They're going to sign autographs at the merch table after the show!
  • HolycrapI'mmeetingMikeTurner!HolycrapI'mmeetingMikeTurner!HolycrapI'mmeetingMikeTurner!
Yup. I actually liked them a lot. It's too bad they got the biggest response for "Not Quite Sonic", which they played as their encore. I was very happy that all 10 album covers that I brought along were signed with a smile. Edwin even said, "Do I have this many records?", to which I said, "Yes, yes you do." I was very composed and verbose (sarcasm alert!) while my brain was freaking out that I was actually speaking to musicians I'd basically grown up listening to.


Thursday, March 25, 2010

A real Canadian supergroup

OK, so I don't think Crash Karma would appreciate me calling them a supergroup--I mean, that whole title is pretty oxymoronish. The fact of the matter are that here is a group comprised of 3 guys whose previous bands were HUGE in the '90s (and 1 guy I've never heard of before), and that qualifies them as a supergroup to me.

You've got Edwin, former I Mother Earth vocalist, then solo artist, then bartender (it's TRUE!), Mike Turner, formerly of Our Lady Peace (you know, before they got all political and Nickelback-y), and Jeff Burrows AKA the other Jeff from The Tea Party all in one band. I rolled my eyes when Chartattack.com rolled out the news of this band's formation, but at the same time, I couldn't help but giggle with glee. Let's face it: these guys have never been as successful on their own or with other projects as they were in the '90s (ah, CanRock of the '90s, how I miss you!).

Tonight Crash Karma brings its motley medley to Silverado's, and for a mere $10, how could I resist the chance to see Edwin sing "Clumsy" or--heaven help us--"Superman's Dead"? Yes, it's true, not only does Crash Karma play their own originals, but they also do "covers" of their previous bands' songs (are they covers if their yours, but you're in a different project? That's a separate debate).

Stay tuned for my review! And hopefully a picture with Mike. :D

Remember these vids?





I can't embed "Psychopomp", but I can still paste the link. Take that YouTube! This is my favourite Tea Party song (and that's saying a lot 'cause I don't like them), so: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMZoiatUQJE

Friday, March 12, 2010

IPPPs and nearing the end of the road

Today was the last day of our Independent Professional Project Presentations. It's strange to go back to class for a month, since it feels like CreComm is done. We had our group hug on stage, we sang karaoke to each other, and we no longer have (arguably) the most stressful part of CreComm ahead of us...

More than anything, I realized today that our time of seeing each other everyday is drawing to a close. As relieved as I am that I'm almost done with school, and can look forward to starting a real job and a new phase in my life, I'm still sad to reach the end of CreComm.

Cheers to the good times. I love you all.

Friday, March 5, 2010

MySpace

Said the Whale recently tweeted "Does anyone give a shit about MySpace anymore?"

It's an interesting question. My answer is easy: of course I do! Not because I find it to be a useful networking tool for myself (my only friends are musicians [SURPRISE!]), but it's absolutely the best place to find new music. I couldn't tell you how many hours I've spent hopping from one page to another, looking for...well, looking for something new that doesn't suck, frankly. We all know that for every 10 bands on MySpace, only 4 of them are worth listening to, but it still beats commercial radio by a mile!

I find the best thing to do when seeking out new ear candy is to go to one of your favourite band's pages, and click through their top friends. Musicians are a tight-knit group, and they will rarely steer you towards utter crap!

Here are a few of the bands I found on MySpace that don't suck:

Elias
Acres of Lions
How I Became the Bomb
Dog Day
The Februarys
We Are the Take
Eve and the Ocean
Paper Lions
Jane's Party
Mardeen

Bonus treat: If you have never seen this video, here's your chance to make your heart sparkle.