Often Irreverent, Mostly Rational Blog for Fans of the Toronto Blue Jays. One Day, We'll Be Perfect.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Friday Rock Out - The Gandharvas' "Downtime"
You'll have to excuse us for going back to the 90's Can-Rock well once again, but we couldn't resist with this gem. This used to be a standard entry onto mixed tapes that we'd make for friends, and was usually the song that they didn't know but would ask about.
We like it because it sounds like a nice Canadian version of Jane's Addiction without the ostentatious preening. You may choose to dislike for the very same reasons.
We also like it because it's pretty kick ass lyrically. "Some just want to smear themselves across something beautiful..."
Other stuff
We'd do a Friday link dump, but the Blue Jay Hunter already beat us to it. So go read his, because we would have just linked to the same articles anyways.
And don't forget to check in with Joanna at Hum and Chuck. Just because. You should.
Working over time
Having squeezed every last bit of energy out of the Ack, we've given him the weekend off to spend with his family. Which means that we'll have to post something over the weekend just to keep you all entertained and interested. We can't guarantee what sort of quality you'll get out of us, given that we'll be at some level of drunkeness for most of the next few days. Bear with us...we're only one man.
For those of you who prefer the Ack's weekend takes to our own, you'll have to wait another seven days before he drags himself back into work. Sorry.
Unlike last week's entry, this is a CanRock entry i'd be happy to forget.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes the 90's Can-Rock, we could have done far worse.
ReplyDeleteWe thought about Edwin's "Alive" as a possibility at one point when we were getting particularly nostalgic for the lost evenings we spent at various strip clubs.
From 1999 through 2002, you could be pretty sure that song was playing at a peeler bar somewhere in Canada at any given moment.
But come on, man. The Gandharvas song is a great little pop nugget.
Good choice with the Friday CanCon! There's nothing wrong with The Gandharvas (also natives of my hometown).
ReplyDeleteMaybe save "Alive" for later in the season, when we need an uplifting video for Friday. I never pictured that song as strip club anthem, but now that you mention it ... I'm sure Candy/Mandy/Destiny/Fantasy/ all loved poledancing to it.
various strip clubs? various?? were you cheating on me?
ReplyDeletefurious
The Gandharvas braved an INSANE snow storm to play Peterborough, ca. 1997. Amazing show.
ReplyDeleteFuck off Stieb
ReplyDeleteFuck off Stoeten
ReplyDelete@furious
ReplyDeleteSometimes, a man needs to be left to his own devices.
The First Day of Spring is a good Gandharvas song and it also has an appropriate title for baseball in April.
ReplyDeleteI just can't get behind it, the guys voice just grates on me now just as much as it did then.
ReplyDeleteBut as an avid IME fan i'll support all efforts to trash Edwin's solo 'music'.
Isn't it odd that Can-Rock is even a genre? I see Brit bands make it big in the States all the time, but you can count the Can-Rock bands that hit here on one hand.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, I love Rush, and The Guess Who (what's left of them) came to my town last year and put on an amazing show...but I couldn't tell you what the hell a Gandharvas is.
Not knocking Canadian music, just saying it's odd that Brit music can penetrate the States from across an ocean, and Canadian music lives in relative obscurity right next door.
Maybe you guys feel the same way toward some of our less popular bands? Oh how the other half lives....
"Scenery and Fish" is one of my favourite all-time albums. Good CanCon!
ReplyDeleteI don't know about that. There have been a fair number of Canadian bands that have received notice in the States lately: Arcade Fire, New Pornographers, Broken Social Scene, Metric, The Dears, Destroyer...
ReplyDeleteI guess the big difference between Brit-pop and Can-Rock bands is that the accents and the innate devotion to Morrisey make them stand out from our bands.
If you're an American and you hear the New Pornos, you could figure that they're from Portland or Seattle or LA or the Bay...there's nothing really that screams out "This band is from elsewhere".
Hence the name of the record label: Secretly Canadian. Which is an American label. It's all weird.
And it is more of a fluke than anything that we're into the Can-Rock for the past few weeks. For the month of July, it will be strictly bands from Montana.
And BTW...We hate I Mother Earth. And Our Lady Peace.
ReplyDeleteSorry.
Man, the only one of those bands I've heard of is Our Lady Peace. Wow. Maybe I'm not as in touch as I thought.
ReplyDeleteBut as an avid IME fan i'll support all efforts to trash Edwin's solo 'music'.
ReplyDeleteWill you also trash his gig as bartender at Tattoo Rock Parlour? Because I've heard that's his gig these days. Haven't been in, because that place probably plays IME and the like.
"Will you also trash his gig as bartender at Tattoo Rock Parlour? Because I've heard that's his gig these days. Haven't been in, because that place probably plays IME and the like."
ReplyDeleteI haven't been in either, but I do know that this was true as of about 6 months ago.
Bear with us...we're only one man.Your grade 2 English teacher would like a word with you.
ReplyDeleteTwo things: the Gandarvas did an in-store at the Hmv I worked at in high school. Everyone got shithoused on Universal that night.
ReplyDeleteIME and OLP aren't now nor were they ever listenable.
Tao, please keep the CanRock coming...it can be your very own "Flashback Fridays."
ReplyDeleteI like OLP, although unlike many I prefer the later albums, and I miss Can-Rock down here in United Statesia. I was humming Someone Who's Cool on my bike ride home a week or two ago, and I'm sure it was the first time those feral cats had ever heard of Odds.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI used to work with Paul, the lead singer. He was pretty quiet but a genuinely nice guy.
ReplyDeleteHis very 1st day at the office, he'd been there maybe 30 minutes when "1st Day of Spring" came on a radio someone nearby was listening to.
Ack, I'm leaving your city in two days for forever. My only regret is we never bumped into each other on the street and high-fived while saying "Pennant!"
ReplyDeleteOh snap. Just yelled "Pennant!" at some dude in a Halladay jersey. Even if it wasn't Ack spreading the love/hope is a positive, no?
ReplyDeleteWhere's eyebleaf to make me feel like less of a creep?
Well done, Dave. Well done.
ReplyDeletethis song is so high school for me...
ReplyDeleteand thanks for the shoutout (no sarcasm).
hopefully next time I'll have new content to coincide.
dave, sorry to hear you're leaving town. I trust you'll continue to spread the gospel of PENNANT on the left coast. cheers, broseph.
ReplyDelete