Video Killed: Egyptrixx ft. Ohbijou - "Old Black"

The new video for this sped-up, cranked-up Egyptrixx version of the Earth song "Old Black" (featuring the Mecijas from Ohbijou, a band I quite enjoy, on vocals) is an all-too-rare example of visual art complimenting musical art.

Abstract forms pulse, divide and coalesce into stark, striking images. A 3D Rorschach emerges, your brain sees crinkled garbage bags, perhaps melting licorice. Black and white fade into white and black, shimmering from an unseen light source. 

The song, as Egyptrixx always is, is also awesome.

Green Eggs and Ham: Instantly Blank

A fine morning for radio. From disco at 7:30, electro-disco at 7, new-new wave disco at 6:30 and everything in between I certainly presided over a versatile line-up. Here's the playlist:


Rain Over St. Ambrose - "Campfires"
King Tuff - "Hands"
Action Makes - "Berlin"
Efterklang - "Scandinavian Love"
The Drums - "Hard To Love"
Carpet of Horses - "Take Hold"
Old Man Luedecke & Lake of Stew - "Monsanto Jones"
The Weather Station - "Everything I Saw"
How To Dress Well - "Decisions" (ft. Yuksel Arslan)
Houses - "Wash"
Blood Orange - "Instantly Blank (The Goodness)"
Twin Shadow - "Forget"
Sloan - "Shame Shame" (Live 20/09/93)
Psychobuildings - "Terror Management"
Mr. Oizo - "Jo"
SebastiAn - "Arabest"
Chromeo - "When The Night Falls"
Slates - "Your Town Is Doomed"
No Age - "Fever Dreaming"
Jon McKiel - "Fist Fight"
The Jacksons - "Can You Feel It"   *this week's Slice Of Cheese
Adam Mowery - "Calm Down Miss Cherry Hand"
Shimmering Stars - "Dancing To Music I Hate"
Adam & The Amethysts - "Prophecy"
Whitehorse - "Killing Time Is Murder"
Al Tuck - "Slapping The Make On You"
Drive-By Truckers - "The Thanksgiving Filter"

Exclusive: Ohbijou - A Quiet Riot

Casey Mecija is way too nice. Maybe it comes through in Toronto band Ohbijou's music. I sat down with the chamber-pop outfit's voice to talk about songwriting, road snacks and heavy mellow. This is how it went:

Today's Tune: Foam Lake - "Die Fighting"

Some bands have songwriting chops. Others, the ability to play the shit out of their instruments. And then there are bands that have a compelling reason of being.

Saskatoon's Foam Lake are all of the above. A literal band of brothers that has been a major player on the periphery of the local music, most noticeably as the "backing" (I hate that term) band for Alberta transplant Shuyler Jansen, now ready to meet the spotlight's harsh glare with the release of their debut album Force And Matter.

Foam Lake craft rockers with real emotional depth, not content to sit idly by while other bands play to the rafters. This is arena-rock for the soul.


3 Die Fighting by FoamLake

Green Eggs And Ham: Songs About Your Girlfriend

All about the new this week, with new tunes from Bry Webb, Sunparlour Players, The Wooden Sky, Thee Oh Sees and Los Campesinos!, among others. I turned an on-mic mistake into an impression of a skipping record fading away into nothing. I played some songs. Mirth was made. Catharsis? We'll see. Here's the playlist:


Young Dreams - "Young Dreams"
The Rest - "Cried Wolf (And Other Animals)"
Sunparlour Players - "Once Before"
The King Khan Experience - "Knock Me Off My Feet"
Omma Cobba - "Don't Take It Too Hard"
Uncle Bad Touch - "On An Island"
Los Campesinos! - "Songs About Your Girlfriend"
Portico - "We Built A Dynasty"
Dog Day - "In The Woods"
Snowmine - "Curfews"
Foam Lake - "Black Hole"
Bry Webb - "Zebra"
AC Slater - "Calm Down"
Willy Moon - "I Wann Be Your Man" (Drop The Lime remix)
Austra - "Lose It" (Diamond Rings remix)
Eight And A Half - "Scissors" (TOKiMONSTA remix)
Thee Oh Sees - "The Dream"
Kiss - "Crazy Crazy Nights"   *this week's Slice of Cheese
Duchess Says - "Narcisse"
Chad Vangaalen - "Replace Me"
The Wooden Sky - "City Of Light / Dancing At My Window Reprise"
Escort - "Makeover"

Processed Cheese: September 2011

Be back here every month for a look at the previous month's selections from my show's "Slice of Cheese" segment. If the song is significantly cheesy, there's bound to be a video equally (if not more) so.

At least that's what I normally say. But what with a busy fall and my constant procrastination, I never got around to posting the videos for October, September, or even August. With August handled (scroll down or click on the blog name.... if you can't figure that out go back to reading books), here's a look at what September brought us for fromage.

There's a whole lot of 80's going on this month, with a kick-off from Pepsi & Shirlie: backup singers from WHAM who managed to milk a few more pence out of their dying careers. Here they are on Top of the Pops in 1987. Dig the socks.

Next we have The Flirts, with a dynamic Italo-disco gem from '84, "Danger". No video for this, but groove along anyway. I seem to have a thing for girl groups.



Mid-September saw the return of my "Now & Then" show, with pairs of songs showcasing the progression (or lack thereof) in the careers of different artist. The Slice of Cheese was a double-bill, with the new "Weird" Al Yankovic parody of the T.I. jam "Whatever You Like" (an ironic rumination on the rampant poverty in the good ol' U.S. of A.) paired up with "This Is The Life" from Dare to be Stupid (an ironic rumination on the then-rampant poverty in the good ol' U.S. of A.). This animated video has way too many jokes. Enjoy:



Here we go. Something I can make fun of. Former session musicians Mr. Mister play a private show (for an iguana in a deluxe cage) in an expressionist church while a pretty lady dances in the window. Toss in a few creepy papier maché masks, some divine intervention to set that damn iguana free, and people getting turned into chairs for no reason and you have this:



This next one is the sort of faux-profound video that, these days, would warrant a Kids Help Phone PSA at the end of it. Herein, Corey "Sexy As He Wanna Be" Hart leaves home, presumably because he has an abusive father. How does the video show his father is abusive? It doesn't, except maybe to point out that he looks kind of menacing and has a MOUSTACHE! Flee in terror! Corey trots out in the rain, popped-collared leather jacket and all, hitch-hikes into the BIG CITY, gets pushed around by a tiny line cook, meets some hookers who seem really into him, and generally gawks around like he's never seen public transit or public transience before. Cue the montage of EVERYTHING THAT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED IN THE VIDEO, and a final chorus performance scene, close it off with Corey looking poutily into the camera, and call it a day. Never surrender.

Green Eggs and Ham: Heaven's Gonna Happen Now

Back on the horse, back in the saddle, galloping at full speed. That was this week's show, horse metaphors and all, with a vein of country and folk running through it all. Rest stops taken in the worlds of dance, punk, and awesome covers. I think Mandy Smith and I both got the "Positive Reaction" we were looking for. Here's the playlist:


The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Heaven's Gonna Happen Now"
Each Other - "Goosing Statues"
Sandro Perri - "The Drums"
The Antlers - "VCR"
The XX - "Basic Space"
Ohbijou - "Obsidian"
Cuff the Duke - "Bound To Your Own Vices"
The Sadies - "Violet and Jeffrey Lee"
The Decemberists - "Burying Davy"
Ox - "What I Love About Cars"
J. Mascis - "Not Enough"
Lindstrøm - "De Javu"
Friendly Fires - "Show Me Lights"
Eyebats - "Night Banger"
Bayonets!!! - "Pope of Eagleface"
Korean Gut - "If You Want"
Sleigh Bells - "Straight A's"
The Gooeys - "Suspicious Hunch Amongst the Bloody Mary for Lunch Bunch"
Mandy Smith - "Positive Reaction"    *this week's Slice Of Cheese
Snowblink - "Sea Change"
Said the Whale - "Lines"
Auld Beak - "Lovers In A Dangerous Time"
PS I Love You - "Subdivisions"
Jack Hardy - "The Tailor"

Processed Cheese: August 2011

Be back here every month for a look at the previous month's selections from my show's "Slice of Cheese" segment. If the song is significantly cheesy, there's bound to be a video equally (if not more) so.

At least that's what I normally say. But what with a busy fall and my constant procrastination, I never got around to posting the videos for October, September, or even August. Count on seeing it all of it 'fore the weekend is out. First we've got a great group of videos for the August slices.

 Peter Cetera from the band Chicago shows us his dojo:


Real McCoy show us their music is powered by a steampunk Asian slave force radio station:


These guys "come on just a bit too strong", but they show me that I miss highwaisted bathing suits (and that they know how to employ a good pun):


And finally, Will Smith shows us his great Ricky Martin impression (although this video isn't synced up with the music, it's too good to pass up):

Green Eggs and Ham: While I Was Out (Election Weeks 3 and 4)

I'm a failure. I can't manage to be a political campaign organizer, radio host, comic store employee, server of delicious food and drink AND blogger all at the same time. It's time to fix that. More on that in (literally) a day or two, but for the sake of being complete, here are a couple fun playlists from 2 weeks ago and 1 week ago respectively.

First, we have the Halloween show! Always a personal highlight, with interspersed horror movie trailer, eerie overtones, and the occasional Vincent Price impression thrown in for good measure. Here's the SLAYlist!!!


Esben and the Witch - "Argyria"
The Luyas - "Tiny Head"
Chad VanGaalen - "Do Not Fear"
Pallers - "Wicked"
HTRK - "Poison"
You Say Party! We Say Die! - "Monster"
Woodpigeon - "An Entanglement of Weeds"
Caribou - "Sun"
Ryan Adams - "Haloweenhead"
The Rural Alberta Advantage - "Under The Knife"
Purity Ring - "Lofticries"
Miracle Fortress - "Spectre"
Siriusmo - "123"
Shooting Guns - "Harmonic Steppenwolf"
 iceage - "Rotting Heights"
Male Bonding - "Pumpkin"
The Pack A.D. - "Sirens"
J. Geils Band - "Fright Night"   *oh, you KNOW it's the Slice of Cheese
The Dears - "Blood"
Jeans Boots - "Dark Forces"
Buck 65 - "Zombie Delight"
Austra - "Spellwork"
Timber Timbre - "Bad Ritual"


And here's the playlist for last week's show. Shout Out Out Out Out weigh in on the hot topic of what to do about the high cost of rental property (at least that's what I said they did), I take a dip into the 90's and never want to return, and some guy totally requested "Heart of Gold" like he was asking me to find obscure Krautrock in the station's music library. Here's the playlist:


Sloan - "It's In Your Eyes"
Will Currie & The Country French - "John Denver Haircut"
Elvis Costello & The Attractions - "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down"
Hooded Fang - "ESP"
Neil Young - "Heart of Gold"
Joe Henry - "Heaven's Escape"
Bonnie Prince Billy - "Time To Be Clear"
Nick Drake - "Things Behind The Sun"
Dinosaur Bones - "Royalty"
Controller.Controller - "Rooms"
Duotang - "A Biased View"
TV On The Radio - "Will Do" (Switch Remix)
SBTRKT - "Trails of the Past"
Sepalcure - "I'm Alright"
The Diodes - "Shape of Things To Come"
The D'Urbervilles  - "We're Blowing Up"
Gauntlet Hair - "Top Bunk"
Ethel Merman - "Something For The Boys" (Disco Version)   *Slice of Cheese, duh
M83 - "OK Pal"
Shout Out Out Out Out - "They Tear Down Houses Don't They?"
Terra Lightfoot - "Sleep Through The Winter"
Arkells - "On Paper"