Friday, December 03, 2010
and if i seemed to be confused, i didn't mean to be with you
Leah Abramson - "Joey (Concrete Blonde Cover)"
This and a whole bunch more photos from the CiTR Fundrive Finale at the Biltmore on the CiTR website.
Friday, November 26, 2010
90's kids
A reminder that Fine Mist finally celebrates the release of Public Domain tomorrow night at Glory Days at the Biltmore. No Gold also plays and doors are at 10pm instead of the usual 11pm, so get there early.
Megan and Jay will be performing the whole record with a full band.
Also, check out their BandCamp page, where any aspiring producers (or people who just really like Megan's singing) can download just the vocal tracks from the record for easy remixing.
Last night, I made it down to the Biltmore for most of the CiTR Fundrive finale. There were a few people taking videos, so I'll keep it quick and dirty by singling out that Beekeeper's rendition of Our Lady Peace's "Superman's Dead," Leah Abramson covering Concrete Blonde's "Joey," and Rick White's Hair (feat. Adrian from Apollo Ghosts on vocals) doing Weezer's "El Scorcho" were the highlights for the part I was there for.
This question was bandied about quite a bit last night, so I thought I'd pose it here too: if you were going to cover two 90s songs, what would they be?
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
waterworks
Here's Leah Abramson performing a song from my favourite Copperspine release.
If you enjoyed XO Fridays at the Waldorf the last two weekends, you're about to be disappointed, because it's been canceled due to "not fitting with (the Waldorf's) 'cultural programming.'" On the bright side, the Maluca/DJ Eleven show that was supposed to go down at the Waldorf is now free at Fortune on the same night.
On November 16th, CiTR starts their annual "fundrive," which culminates with one hell of a show on the 25th. Check out the expanding list of bands on Facebook and get prepared to hear them all covering hits (and probably some not so popular songs) of the 90s.
now playing: Guided by Voices - 14 Cheerleader Coldfront
Monday, September 27, 2010
laura palmer's prom
Also, not strictly music, but I am willing to highlight anything (Leah) Abramson (Singers) related. Leah (sans Singers) will be part of Brief Encounters 15, which takes twelve artists from various disciplines and pairs them off to collaborate on a performance a mere two weeks before their first show.
And, here's something you'll want to get on if you plan on attending: You Say Party!, MT-40, and Petroleum By-Product play a show sponsored by Scion at the Chapel. Since Toyota is footing the bill, you can get in for free by RSVP'ing here. Tyler Fedchuk spins between sets.
now playing: Spiritualized - Any Way That You Want Me (Troggs Cover)
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
trucker's prayer
If you've caught the Abramson Singers play in the last little while, you may have copped this from Leah directly (and she still has some CDs to sell at shows, I think), but if not, it's out today on iTunes, Zunior, and via White Whale (where it's only $5).
I haven't seen Leah play solo or with a band in ages, and since I mostly stick to live stuff here, I don't really mention her all that often, but I still play her last record, Bedroom/City, at least once a week, and I'm pretty sure the story's going to be the same with this one.
You can check out five songs from the album (plus two from Leah's last one) on her Myspace.
Memewar celebrates the release of their 11th issue at the Railway on February 9th, featuring readings by Tony Power, Allen Gurling, Shannon Rayne & MemePress authors and music by Stefana Fratila and World Club
Man Your Horse, Ford Pier, and Hermetic play the Railway on February 10th.
On February 13th, the Astoria hosts "Fuck, I Love You," a Valentine's party featuring Muscles and B-Lines, and also a screening of Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains.
Foreign Born and Free Energy play Fortune on February 27th.
Think About Life are at the Media Club March 31st.
Dead Meadow and Imaad Wasif are at the Biltmore on April 2nd.
Pierced Arrows and Lullabye Arkestra play an early show at the Biltmore on April 3rd. I haven't managed to catch Pierced Arrows then they've rolled through town yet and I love Lullabye Arkestra, so I'm pretty psyched for this.
Jonsi (of Sigur Ros, who's apparently like Madonna or Prince or something) plays back to back shows at the Vogue on April 6th and 7th.
The Moondoggies and the Shilohs play the Biltmore on April 17th.
Shearwater and Hospital Ships play the Biltmore on April 28th.
Girls and Dum Dum Girls play Venue on May 26th and 27th.
Oh, and while it's not a music show, Andy Dixon is having an opening reception for his art show, "Such Events Have Led Us Here," at Grace Gallery on Friday
now playing: Best Coast - This is Real
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
black rice
Since it's already the middle of the week, here's a ultra quick recap of the last few little while...
On Saturday, I caught No Gold and Japandroids at the Cobalt. The crusty punks weren't feeling No Gold, and let it be known. Tip to hecklers: at least be funny. The band weren't phased by it, and were their usually great selves.
Japandroids were a little loose sounding. I think Brian was pretty drunk. The songs still sounded great though, and the libations produced a great response to the more hostile elements in the crowd: "Oh, you wanna hear a punk rock song? Well, too bad, this is a metal song asshole."
I bailed before DD/MM/YYYY
Earlier in on Saturday, I caught Women, who I'd been looking forward to seeing since I got their album about a month ago. Hopefully, you managed to check them out at one of the two shows they played, because, despite rather short set times, they were awesome. At time they were poppy and melodic and at other times they were noisy and experimental, but they were tight as hell throughout. They used to be a metal band called Veritas. And while the music is more than a few steps removed now, the guys still have serious chops.
On Monday, I caught the songwriter's showcase that Leah Abramson organized at the Rail. The crowd was a bit sparse, but they were also ultra attentive, and for this type of thing, having a smaller crowd that's paying attention is loads better than a packed room full of side chatter and clinking glasses anyhow.
The whole thing was pretty great, but there were some highlights. Leah is one of my favourite songwriters, so she was up there on that list. But, it was - and I'm not sure how it could possibly be - my first time seeing Marc from Octoberman playing (solo or otherwise). Better late than never, but I definitely should have gone out of my way to see him before this week.
The big surprise for me was Jesse Matheson, who was hilarious (on purpose). The songs on his MySpace really don't come close to how entertaining he was live.
I'll be in Calgary this weekend for Sled Island, but there's a ton of stuff going on:
On Friday...
White Lung is at Pub 340 on for 1/2 Alive.
Crookers are at the Plaza with Paul Devro and Expendable Youth.
And the SSRIs are at Hoko's with ABCDEFG, Boogie Monster, and gr8-2000.
Looking ahead, Lil Wayne is at Plush on July 6th.
Nicole Atkins is at the Plaza on July 27th.
Black Francis is at the Media Club on August 6th.
Mirah is at the Biltmore for an early show on August 23rd.
Sondre Lerche is at St. James Hall on August 30th for an all-ager.
Cold War Kids are at Richard's on September 28th.
Silver Jews are at Richard's on October 1st with Monotonix.
Hayden is now at the Vogue on October 11th.
And Mehdi is at the Bourbon on October 2nd.
Friday, November 09, 2007
if i skip town in the middle of the night, it'll be after a drink or two
I forgot to mention that Leah Abramson was playing out at UBC last night, although she was sandwiched between some irritating female singer-songwriter and Craig Cardiff, so maybe that was just as well.
The aforementioned opening act was a bit of a ham, and my friend Shea - who works booking shows for the Student Union - mentioned that before she went on, Leah quipped that she would be "more of a downer than that." I guess that was true, but she was also a lot better, and that's what counts. The crowd was a bit inattentive, but her performance was, as per usual, understated and beautiful.
I took off before Craig Cardiff started, but did get to see him stall until they turned all the bar lights off. He also had one of the staff go around - before he started playing - to ask the crowd to quiet down. Last time he played in the Pit, he actually stopped mid-set and refused to continue until they killed the lights. He wasn't the headliner that night, and someone yelling "you're not the opener. Finish your set," got him going again. Dude thinks he's Bob Dylan or something.
Glass Candy does 1/2 Alive on December 14th.
Good News: not playing with the Clips at Blastramp on the 29th, are playing themselves on the 22nd. (thanks Andrew)
Great Lake Swimmers open the Jose Gonzalez show... bring a pillow.
The Carpenter (et al) show originally scheduled for the now defunct Sweatshop (RIP), is at the Waldorf. (thanks Dustin)
Apostle of Hustle are at the Plaza on December 8th. (thanks Scott)
I don't usually talk about visual art, because that's not really my thing (to blog about, not in a general sense), but my very good friend Jen is part of a show at the old Sam the Record Man location. Check the details on guess where. If you're heading to Gaff for the Only show, this starts at 7pm, so you can hit up both.
Speaking Only, this is awesome.
and if i seemed to be confused, i didn't mean to be with you
Leah Abramson - "Joey (Concrete Blonde Cover)"
This and a whole bunch more photos from the CiTR Fundrive Finale at the Biltmore on the CiTR website.
Labels: citr, leah abramson
Friday, November 26, 2010
90's kids
A reminder that Fine Mist finally celebrates the release of Public Domain tomorrow night at Glory Days at the Biltmore. No Gold also plays and doors are at 10pm instead of the usual 11pm, so get there early.
Megan and Jay will be performing the whole record with a full band.
Also, check out their BandCamp page, where any aspiring producers (or people who just really like Megan's singing) can download just the vocal tracks from the record for easy remixing.
Last night, I made it down to the Biltmore for most of the CiTR Fundrive finale. There were a few people taking videos, so I'll keep it quick and dirty by singling out that Beekeeper's rendition of Our Lady Peace's "Superman's Dead," Leah Abramson covering Concrete Blonde's "Joey," and Rick White's Hair (feat. Adrian from Apollo Ghosts on vocals) doing Weezer's "El Scorcho" were the highlights for the part I was there for.
This question was bandied about quite a bit last night, so I thought I'd pose it here too: if you were going to cover two 90s songs, what would they be?
Labels: apollo ghosts, beekeeper, citr, fine mist, leah abramson, show recaps
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
waterworks
Starting things off on a sombre note, with the news that the "force behind the scenes" at Copperspine Records, Tony Luscombe, passed away suddenly last week. Some of his friends are getting together to remember Tony at a show on November 14th at the Railway, where you can come down to celebrate his life and enjoy some of the great music he helped put out. I hope you'll join me in sending sincere condolences to his friends and family.
Here's Leah Abramson performing a song from my favourite Copperspine release.
If you enjoyed XO Fridays at the Waldorf the last two weekends, you're about to be disappointed, because it's been canceled due to "not fitting with (the Waldorf's) 'cultural programming.'" On the bright side, the Maluca/DJ Eleven show that was supposed to go down at the Waldorf is now free at Fortune on the same night.
On November 16th, CiTR starts their annual "fundrive," which culminates with one hell of a show on the 25th. Check out the expanding list of bands on Facebook and get prepared to hear them all covering hits (and probably some not so popular songs) of the 90s.
now playing: Guided by Voices - 14 Cheerleader Coldfront
Labels: leah abramson, show announcements
Monday, September 27, 2010
laura palmer's prom
If you're looking for a job (music related or in various other vocations), the soon to be re-opened Waldorf Hotel is having a job fair on October 2nd
Also, not strictly music, but I am willing to highlight anything (Leah) Abramson (Singers) related. Leah (sans Singers) will be part of Brief Encounters 15, which takes twelve artists from various disciplines and pairs them off to collaborate on a performance a mere two weeks before their first show.
And, here's something you'll want to get on if you plan on attending: You Say Party!, MT-40, and Petroleum By-Product play a show sponsored by Scion at the Chapel. Since Toyota is footing the bill, you can get in for free by RSVP'ing here. Tyler Fedchuk spins between sets.
now playing: Spiritualized - Any Way That You Want Me (Troggs Cover)
Labels: free shows, leah abramson, waldorf
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
trucker's prayer
If you've caught the Abramson Singers play in the last little while, you may have copped this from Leah directly (and she still has some CDs to sell at shows, I think), but if not, it's out today on iTunes, Zunior, and via White Whale (where it's only $5).
I haven't seen Leah play solo or with a band in ages, and since I mostly stick to live stuff here, I don't really mention her all that often, but I still play her last record, Bedroom/City, at least once a week, and I'm pretty sure the story's going to be the same with this one.
You can check out five songs from the album (plus two from Leah's last one) on her Myspace.
Memewar celebrates the release of their 11th issue at the Railway on February 9th, featuring readings by Tony Power, Allen Gurling, Shannon Rayne & MemePress authors and music by Stefana Fratila and World Club
Man Your Horse, Ford Pier, and Hermetic play the Railway on February 10th.
On February 13th, the Astoria hosts "Fuck, I Love You," a Valentine's party featuring Muscles and B-Lines, and also a screening of Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains.
Foreign Born and Free Energy play Fortune on February 27th.
Think About Life are at the Media Club March 31st.
Dead Meadow and Imaad Wasif are at the Biltmore on April 2nd.
Pierced Arrows and Lullabye Arkestra play an early show at the Biltmore on April 3rd. I haven't managed to catch Pierced Arrows then they've rolled through town yet and I love Lullabye Arkestra, so I'm pretty psyched for this.
Jonsi (of Sigur Ros, who's apparently like Madonna or Prince or something) plays back to back shows at the Vogue on April 6th and 7th.
The Moondoggies and the Shilohs play the Biltmore on April 17th.
Shearwater and Hospital Ships play the Biltmore on April 28th.
Girls and Dum Dum Girls play Venue on May 26th and 27th.
Oh, and while it's not a music show, Andy Dixon is having an opening reception for his art show, "Such Events Have Led Us Here," at Grace Gallery on Friday
now playing: Best Coast - This is Real
Labels: leah abramson, show announcements
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
black rice
Since it's already the middle of the week, here's a ultra quick recap of the last few little while...
On Saturday, I caught No Gold and Japandroids at the Cobalt. The crusty punks weren't feeling No Gold, and let it be known. Tip to hecklers: at least be funny. The band weren't phased by it, and were their usually great selves.
Japandroids were a little loose sounding. I think Brian was pretty drunk. The songs still sounded great though, and the libations produced a great response to the more hostile elements in the crowd: "Oh, you wanna hear a punk rock song? Well, too bad, this is a metal song asshole."
I bailed before DD/MM/YYYY
Earlier in on Saturday, I caught Women, who I'd been looking forward to seeing since I got their album about a month ago. Hopefully, you managed to check them out at one of the two shows they played, because, despite rather short set times, they were awesome. At time they were poppy and melodic and at other times they were noisy and experimental, but they were tight as hell throughout. They used to be a metal band called Veritas. And while the music is more than a few steps removed now, the guys still have serious chops.
On Monday, I caught the songwriter's showcase that Leah Abramson organized at the Rail. The crowd was a bit sparse, but they were also ultra attentive, and for this type of thing, having a smaller crowd that's paying attention is loads better than a packed room full of side chatter and clinking glasses anyhow.
The whole thing was pretty great, but there were some highlights. Leah is one of my favourite songwriters, so she was up there on that list. But, it was - and I'm not sure how it could possibly be - my first time seeing Marc from Octoberman playing (solo or otherwise). Better late than never, but I definitely should have gone out of my way to see him before this week.
The big surprise for me was Jesse Matheson, who was hilarious (on purpose). The songs on his MySpace really don't come close to how entertaining he was live.
I'll be in Calgary this weekend for Sled Island, but there's a ton of stuff going on:
On Friday...
White Lung is at Pub 340 on for 1/2 Alive.
Crookers are at the Plaza with Paul Devro and Expendable Youth.
And the SSRIs are at Hoko's with ABCDEFG, Boogie Monster, and gr8-2000.
Looking ahead, Lil Wayne is at Plush on July 6th.
Nicole Atkins is at the Plaza on July 27th.
Black Francis is at the Media Club on August 6th.
Mirah is at the Biltmore for an early show on August 23rd.
Sondre Lerche is at St. James Hall on August 30th for an all-ager.
Cold War Kids are at Richard's on September 28th.
Silver Jews are at Richard's on October 1st with Monotonix.
Hayden is now at the Vogue on October 11th.
And Mehdi is at the Bourbon on October 2nd.
Labels: japandroids, jesse matheson, leah abramson, no gold, octoberman, show announcements, show recaps, women
Friday, November 09, 2007
if i skip town in the middle of the night, it'll be after a drink or two
I forgot to mention that Leah Abramson was playing out at UBC last night, although she was sandwiched between some irritating female singer-songwriter and Craig Cardiff, so maybe that was just as well.
The aforementioned opening act was a bit of a ham, and my friend Shea - who works booking shows for the Student Union - mentioned that before she went on, Leah quipped that she would be "more of a downer than that." I guess that was true, but she was also a lot better, and that's what counts. The crowd was a bit inattentive, but her performance was, as per usual, understated and beautiful.
I took off before Craig Cardiff started, but did get to see him stall until they turned all the bar lights off. He also had one of the staff go around - before he started playing - to ask the crowd to quiet down. Last time he played in the Pit, he actually stopped mid-set and refused to continue until they killed the lights. He wasn't the headliner that night, and someone yelling "you're not the opener. Finish your set," got him going again. Dude thinks he's Bob Dylan or something.
Glass Candy does 1/2 Alive on December 14th.
Good News: not playing with the Clips at Blastramp on the 29th, are playing themselves on the 22nd. (thanks Andrew)
Great Lake Swimmers open the Jose Gonzalez show... bring a pillow.
The Carpenter (et al) show originally scheduled for the now defunct Sweatshop (RIP), is at the Waldorf. (thanks Dustin)
Apostle of Hustle are at the Plaza on December 8th. (thanks Scott)
I don't usually talk about visual art, because that's not really my thing (to blog about, not in a general sense), but my very good friend Jen is part of a show at the old Sam the Record Man location. Check the details on guess where. If you're heading to Gaff for the Only show, this starts at 7pm, so you can hit up both.
Speaking Only, this is awesome.
Labels: leah abramson, show announcements, show recaps
