I'll Be Yr Bird - M Ward

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I'm now in Montreal, starting to settle down, starting to feel as though things are a bit more normal. I've been meaning to post about a few things - what I listened to driving from Toronto to Montreal, the new Elizabeth Mitchell record, etc, but more immediately, I want to write about M Ward, and how I saw him perform at the Sala Rossa last night.

It takes a lot for me to go to a show these days - it's not like in the past where I wouldn't blink at the thought of attending 2 shows in one week, where I would buy tickets for bands I only knew peripherally. I'm a lot pickier now, convinced that I've spent enough of my life waiting for bands to come on stage. I never really considered M Ward one of those musicians I was dying to see, and the past few times he played in Toronto, I wasn't distraught when I missed his shows. But when I saw that he was playing in Montreal, I paused. Perhaps I would go see him.

First of all, I haven't been to a show in Montreal in years. I was wondering if the vibe was any different (it wasn't). Secondly, I noticed that M Ward's records had been creeping up on me - I listened to them while drying the dishes, randomly on my Ipod, and I realized how much I liked them. I wasn't, however, expecting the show last night. His records have a back porch Americana feel, so when the show started and I saw two drummers, a guitarist and a bassist in addition to Mr. Ward I was surprised at how loud it was, how energetic, how enthusiastic and how awesome it was. When he started playing a great version of "I'll Be Yr Bird", someone in the audience yelled, "I'll be your bird!", and you could tell that everyone wished they had said it themselves.

So, a good first show for Montreal. I'll take it as a sign for things to come.

Edited to add this link to a nice cover of "Sad, Sad Song" by Cat Power.

Allergic to Love - Rick White and Julie Doiron

Just found this on YouTube - Rick White and Julie Doiron doing "Allergic to Love" at the Sappy Records fest a few weeks ago. Ok, I am all over the place these days, so it's not a surprise, but this is one song that never fails to make me feel a little weepy. I've loved it since I was 16, and I still love it now.

I Will Never See The Sun - Great Lake Swimmers

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Three unexpected things that have made my current apartment practically perfect:

1) The proximity to the library. Seriously, the Toronto Public Library is awesome. I would put books on hold online, and every few days I would get a message from a robot woman telling me that the books were waiting for me to pick up, bring home, and read FOR FREE. My local branch is less than a 2 minute walk away, which means that for the past 2 years I've had at least 5 library books sitting around my apartment on any given day. Which is awesome.

2) My balcony. When I moved in there was a 2 inch layer of toxic, disgusting pigeon shit clinging firmly to my balcony floors and I had to keep the door shut unless I wanted to like, die. The shit was cleared, and since then the balcony has been a spot for dinners, drinks , cigarettes and for spying on my neighbours.

3) The subway at my doorstep. How is that not perfect? The Kendal St. entrance of the Spadina station has been my home, and I have appreciated it.

Anyway, it's my last night here, so, yeah, just for the record.

New Partner - Bonnie Prince Billy

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Will Oldham's voice is kind of like oxygen or crack - I can't get enough of it. I love its folky creakiness, the Appalachian cracks, southern lilts. He has been touring record stores around North America, and on Saturday Soraya and I went down to Rotate This to see him play. Rotate was an odd venue, musty and small, but Will Oldham or Bonnie Prince Billy or whatever you want to call him, stood on a small wooden stage and played an hour's worth of songs, just him and his guitar and that voice. He looks more suited to Kentucky back roads (the inch thick tuft of moustache and eerie clear blue eyes), but was a good sport about the heat in the small room. Mostly I was happy because he played the songs I’ve loved for a long time – "I See A Darkness", "I Am A Cinematographer" and a beautiful version of "New Partner". Right now most of my stuff is packed into boxes: my CDs have been tucked away, my bed is now just a mattress on the dusty floor, and the walls are shockingly white, studded with little black holes from the nails holding up the photos and paintings I’ve stared at for the past two years. Just under two weeks until I move and with things about to change, it’s nice to have a little consistency.

Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me - The Pipettes

A song for the weekend. If you don't go around wanting to clap and chant "Your kisses are wasted on me!" you are maybe a robot.

The feeling of coming, the feeling of going

Hoorah to Andrea's post on the wonders of August. This month has always been a good one for me; important things happen in August. I feel more apt to make resolutions in this last stretch of summer than I do in January - something about the dreaminess of the summer months combined with the mental preparation for the hunkering down that takes place in autumn. I plan things.

So, August! And summer! And not only is it summer, but it's also a long weekend, and before I head out on a road trip to America, I want to commemorate my two favourite songs of the summer, one for June and one for July.

Tilly & the Wall - Rainbows In the Dark

I kind of have an irrational love for Tilly & the Wall. I have played them so much in the car that Andrew has firmly stated that he refuses to listen to them anymore, and I can only convince him otherwise if he is a little drunk. But the tap dancing, the lyrics: I eat it up. They are a coming-of-age kind of band, I think. They write songs about making out, about getting drunk, about fucking shit up. But the good thing is that they're old enough to write about this stuff intelligently and cleverly, with good harmonies and a good beat. This song kicks off their latest album, and it's everything I love about them, especially at the end when they state, "So I thank the city, the lives that it's spinning, the friends that I have and the shoes we're not shining". It's irrational, but I feel thankful when I listen to them. To make it more memorable, I saw them play in Toronto in June, and as Soraya has documented over here, we spent the entire show sitting next to Natalie Portman.

Herman Dune - The Enemy's Gone But You Can't Go Home For Shelter

Ok, I know, enough with Herman Dune, but I've listened to this song so many times that I have to write about it. It sounds like the kind of song your friends would play on the back porch. Maybe you'd pick up a tambourine or just clap along. Or, it's the kind of song you might come up with on your own with a cheap acoustic guitar and a tape deck. Easy and free. Their voices crack: you can sing like this! And then there are these swoony lyrics: Like in a horror movie we could pretend we're dead in a car wreck scene and run away instead, and get fake IDs and rent a downtown flat and if you want to have kids, then I'm in for that. Which is one of the most romantic song lyrics I've heard all year.

Really, what these songs have in common is exuberance, exclamation marks and singing/yelling. Things that should be abundant in your summer, and if they've been lacking, there's still a month left.