Kanye West - All Falls Down (feat. Syleena)
There are points in my life when I look back to when I first really started to get into Kanye. It was just before Graduation came out. I downloaded all the Kanye I could and let it roll on repeat for weeks. Then Graduation came out and I let that roll on repeat, pretty much until My Beautiful Dark Fantasy came out. I sometimes miss his straight up hip-hop.
Graeme
Fred Penner - The Cat Came Back
Last night I went to a concert. That concert was Fred Penner. See I didn’t think I was gonna see a concert better than Born Ruffians this weekend. When I saw Born Ruffians I thought I was at my peak of concert going. I was wrong.
My roommate got some email from the University about a conference or talk that Fred is doing and as a side mention the email says, Fred Penner will be playing Chainsaw on Mar. 25. So we call and ask what time. In 20 minutes doors open. We quickly get ready and get there shortly after the doors opened. The bar was pretty full, but we could still find a table. An hour later and I don’t know if you could pack anymore people into the place. We sat and drank beer for a while. We joked that maybe it wasn’t actually Fred Penner but a band just named after him. We had no idea what to expect. Then the opening act got on. Tra La La. We couldn’t here what they were saying, no one was interested at all, and all you could hear was the normal hum of a busy bar.
Then Fred got onto the stage at around 9 o’clock. Silence commanded the stage and captured the audience like you would never believe. Suddenly everyone was listening. He joked about crawling through a log to get there and pulling “this” instrument out of the case. Waves of childhood memories flooded the bar. He had everyone in the bar singing along to “Take Good Care Of Each Other”.
Then it came to story time. I don’t think he could get over the venue. He joked that, “I bet this is the first time that anyone has ever had ‘Story Time’ in the Chainsaw”. He told this awesome story about his daughter learning to ride a bike, he got us to call out how many fingers he was holding up, and ran in slow motion. Then it all came down to swearing that we’d never ride a bike, or any other vehicle for that matter, with our eyes closed.
He referenced K-OS in the middle of the “Cat Came Back”, he had everyone singing along to “Sandwiches”, and slammed the Canadian government on multiple occasions claiming, “I don’t wanna get political”. All in all this was the most amazing thing I have ever seen, and I’ve seen the Roots. The way he commanded the audience and had everyone engaged, my roommate didn’t even know who he was, but found himself having an amazing time.
The best part was I left feeling really great about myself and everyone around me. There is no one like Fred Penner. NO ONE!
Graeme
Lil’ B - Base For Your Face (feat. Jean Grae & Phonte)
Well, if you haven’t discovered Lil’ B yet, then well… here ya go. He’s barely older then myself at the age of 21, and he has over 1500 tracks. Now you can imagine with that much music there is a lot of crap, but every once in a while something floats to the top (please excuse the analogy). This track is one of them. Here is some Base For Your Face! Start Cookin’!
Graeme
I went early to the Born Ruffians/First Rate People (FRP) show alone. I find half of FRP sitting at a table and I catch up, cause I haven’t seen them for WAY too long. So, I chat for a while, my friends show up, I just kinda talk, drink and dance for a bit.
FRP hit the stage. They kill it. References to screen writers, catchy hooks, and all around goodness. A couple songs before the end of their set a girl that is obviously intoxicated beyond control flops onto the stage. She seems to be more in control than if she was drunk as balls, but obviously not something she would do sober. She dances awkwardly to a death/life ballad. FRP has had their fill, too many people dancing like motherfuckers and lovin’ every minute of it.
Born Rufffians are kinda slow to get on stage. It’s about 45 minutes before they get on. Early conversations with FRP give me the knowledge that Born Ruffians favourite time to go on is 11:30pm, and that the show last night didn’t end until 2:00am. So, a prompt 11:41 Born Ruffians hit the stage.
They start with some “Foxes Mate For Life”, I’m standing with Jon Lawless of FRP and he says, “They save the hits for the end, and it just builds up”. Not really to me cause every track to me is a single, or at least I think. So it all builds up to what I think the end is with “What To Say”, so I go to the lil’ boys room. I hear them say, “This is our last song”… “I Need A Life”.
“Oh But We Go Out At Night”
Encore is called. Admittedly I’m a bit tired and I know that the bands are too (experience). I don’t call too hard for encore. Well, they are back for more. 3 more songs happen. Too be honest I don’t remember what ones.
So, end of the concert. I stand around for a bit, I see Steven Hamelin and remember, “Oh yeah, my cousin wanted me to say ‘Hi’”. I go up to Steve and I say, “Hey man, great show. My cousin wanted me to say ‘Hi’”
Steve, “Who is your cousin?”
“Taylor Hall”, I watch Steve’s mind not quite grasp what is going on. He kinda dismisses me, until something clicks.
Blah blah blah, Army… Paratroopers… I wanna hang out with him… here is my number…
It’s not a girl’s number, but at least I left a bar with a number.
So, waiting around cause FRP is staying at our place for the night. A bouncer comes up to us and announces, “Ok, guys we’re closing up now you gotta go”. So, I say, “Oh, well FRP are staying at my place so I kinda have to stay”. Bouncer replies, “Oh, ok cool”.
Just stand around a bit more and the same bouncer comes back, “I don’t care if the band is staying at your place. You gotta wait outside”. Luckily, Pat Morrissey of FRP comes up, “Oh don’t worry about these guys, they’re with me.”
So, I go and get my coat, and just kinda wander around and Pat tells me to go downstairs to the green room. So, I just wander on down. I have no objections or obstacles, but I look behind and my roommate Jonny is being aggressively grilled. Whatever.
I get to the green room and there is 3 people. A short haired Asian girl (pretty sexy), this overwhelming guy with headphones (who wears headphones to a concert?), and Mitch from Born Ruffians. Turns out there is an interview going on, so I sit quietly on a sketchy piano bench and admire the cluttered green room/beverage storage.
I listen to the rather interesting conversation about playing screamo shows when they really weren’t the right genre, and how they always believed that every instrument should have it’s own voice, and that they had a skewed view of pop songs, believing that they were a pop band until they would re-listen to the tracks.
Jonny somehow makes it down to meet me into the green room with the interview still going on. He doesn’t really realize it’s being recorded and makes some noise. I quickly clue him in. The short-haired Asian girl tries to light up a cigarette for the interviewer and we’re slightly weirded-out. There are laws in Ontario. She talks to us a bit. Seems she’s from Toronto. She tries to convince us to go outside for God knows what reason. We’re interested in the interview and just stay.
Interview is over and Pat joins us along with Jon shortly after, and Liam after that. We eat Born Ruffians deli meat, veggies, hummus, and Brie that is set out for them. We talk about the concert a bit, Born Ruffians join. We chat more. We load up. We’re ready to go.
Jon is the only sober one, so he’s driving the band Dodge Durango. It’s got one working passenger door (only from the outside), the rear window is packed with gear, and we have one passenger more than seats. Jon backs out magnificently with only back mirrors and Hayden Stewart guiding the way. I give directions back to our place and we catch up/drink more.
We joke about old people sex, Weekend at Bernie’s, and other weird stuff. FRP are just exhausted so we make their beds, and we make awkward “sleeping together” jokes. If you’re in a band, or just have close friends, you understand.
This morning I write this epic. Tomorrow they head for Kingston.
For well over a year I have enjoyed posting a sharing music with everyone who bothered to check (Czech) out this blog. It was nice to share and not be obnoxiously recommending music to people who were not looking for it. But now I feel it is time that I part ways with Furlong Beaker. This is my own decision and Graeme is free to do as he chooses with the blog
Thank you for following.
Michael
Born Ruffians - What to Say
We’re going to see Born Ruffians and First Rate People tonight. I’m pretty stoked about it, I’ve been a pretty big Born Ruffians fan for a while now, and obviously I’m stoked to see FRP. Haven’t seen those guys in a minute. It’s a small world actually, my cousin went to school with Born Ruffians, Steven Hamelin at least, and he remembers them dropping out to take their band full time. Now they’re touring with a band that I have worked with and have close ties to. Funny how life is.
Anyways, this is a track from their newest album, Say It. It was released last year and it is quite the delight. I suggest you check it out.
Graeme
TV On The Radio - Will Do
Do you like Virtual Reality? Do you like TV On The Radio? Well, this is the perfect video for you.
TVOTR videos never let me down. I have never actually seen one that I didn’t really like. The only thing is I don’t understand what just happened in that video. Was she dead? Or did she just leave him? Who knows.
Graeme
Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie XX - NY Is Killing Me
Sorry, I haven’t posted for a week. I haven’t been near my computer at all, which means no music.
There was one good thing about being away from my music for that long, and that’s that I found this song. Got in the car with my family and this track came on, I was loving it and then my Dad changed the channel… as usual. So, I kept it in mind and told Michael about it and he informed me that it’s an entire album! So I looked it up and yes, it’s an entire album of remixes that came out on Feb. 21. Check it Out!
Graeme
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da - The Police
I always thought the Police had really good lyrics but that this song was an aberration, but if you actually listen to it and what he is saying it makes beautiful sense.
“Don’t think me unkind
Words are hard to find
They’re only cheques I’ve left unsigned
From the banks of chaos in my mind
And when their eloquence escapes me
Their logic ties me up and rapes me”
-Michael
The Clock - Thom Yorke
Interesting version of the song with Thom playing like a man possessed. Watch! Watch! Watch!
-Michael
Mos Def - World Premiere
New Mos Def that is actually good. My life is complete.
Graeme
