A Late Night Walk around Toronto...in the 1980’s!!!!

     The last few nights I’ve become obsessed with watching these videos on YouTube. Back in the 1980’s Global Television would run a late night walk through the streets of Toronto with the camera providing the point-of-view and smooth jazz playing in the background. They would usually run between three am and five am, great fare for insomniacs like me at the time.

Here’s a taste, enjoy Cool Cats

Joe Cornelisse-SSGS

The D'Urbervilles are now what MATTERS...So Sit Up and Listen

 

                  So Toronto band The D'Urbervilles have decided that a new name and also “a new sound and a new look” was due, according to a press release from the band, the band has decided to now call themselves Matters. 

         Personally I’m a fan of the band, their sound and their energetically infused live shows were what won me over. Matters plan to release their debut seven-inch on the 5^th of April. The seven-inch has two songs: "Get In or Get Out" and "Wild Steps." Both tracks can be heard over at MySpace and you check out the video for "Get In or Get Out" at the end of this piece.
              Matters have a full-length record planned for the fall. They also plan to hit the road in April with PS I Love You.

           With singer John O'Regan winning new legions of fans all over the planet as Diamond Rings (I’m not exaggerating, he’s Big Time) it didn't surprise me that the guys stood back and took at good look at where the band was and where it could be, and with the change in name and direction musically, my prediction is that Matters will be huge in no time at all. 

P.S.....I was going to write “Matters will Matter” but even I have some bit of dignity, not allot, just some

Joe Cornelisse-SSGS

http://www.myspace.com/officialmatters 

If I’m so Uncool than why are You still Reading This?

Me at the age of 17

               So here’s the scenario as it’s going to play out.  You’re a 15 year old kid and you just want to fit in, you’ve tried the clothes thing...that didn’t work   
( Hammer wore them , how bad could they have been) , then you get this idea that your hair would be lookin’ very “cool” with some sort of word shaved into the side...cool only has two o’s dink , then your mighty 15 year old brain decides to give the whole jocko thing a go...well all that accomplished was you getting kicked in the jewels one too many times for your liking and not being able to sleep on you stomach for a week “Mom I’m fine,  I don’t need anything for them”.

 

              So the next and be it logical step to take in this horrendous journey that you have decided to undertake in the outside chance to “fit In” is Music, that’s right MUSIC (I don’t know why you didn’t start there in the first place) . What did Nietzsche say “Without music life would be a mistake” (Quoting Nietzsche gives me an extra 5 “coolness” points)  , now,  all you have to do is find out what everyone likes to listen to and listen to that, problem solved...not so fast.  So now you have friends (I have to say you’re looking very cool), and these friends of yours all listen to the same type of music (Punk, Rock, Hip-Hop, Country, Pop etc... you get the picture). 

               So here comes the time when I drop the bomb on you, here it is...you are now very uncool, that’s right uncool (sorry but it had to be said, I never said I was going to pull any punches).  

          As you mindlessly agree with all of you new friends that the music you listen too is “It” and that everything else is garbage you have become in one fell swoop a narrow-minded sheep,  that’s right a SHEEP, that is letting your group of “Friends”  think for you. You may go home at night and lay awake dreaming of downloading  that catchy pop track that you can’t get out of your head (They put an addictive chemical in the lyrics), but you resist because if any of them found out...you don’t even want to think about that. 

           Here’s the shocking news that you have all been waiting for...your friends all have the same urges that you do, the urge to listen to something different, try go a new direction, but like you are afraid too...and I speak from experience because I was once like that. Many moons ago I’d think a band or artist was good, but would I dare listen to it or even mention it around other people? Not a chance. But it took me years to wake up and realize that I was missing a whole world out there while I was just trying to be like everyone else, and once I dropped the charade it was unbelievable, these days I throw on everything from Steve Earle to Bad Brains and my soul couldn’t be happier. 

                    I found myself thinking about my young son as I was writing this. I know as a kid growing up it’s a tough thing fitting in and finding friends, and the last thing anyone wants to be is disliked, but at the same time I also want my son to learn from day one is to think for himself, if he likes something then enjoy it and don’t let anyone else tell you different, because in the end they are not worth it.

Joe Cornelisse-SSGS

Odd Future..Too Punk For Hip-Hop? Or Just Enough Hype To Get Us By The Swag

      Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All....Now If your anything like me , and I know you are (a scary thought I know) , you need a bit of potentially fatal trauma thrown into the ever dying pop culture mix every few years .  So here’s my dilemma , I’m still trying to decide if Odd Future have been released onto us for that very reason, to Shock the living hell of every clean cut, God Fearing, 9 to 5, Parental Unit ...or maybe, just maybe it’s just a joke on all of Us. 

      Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All or "OFWGKTA" or as they have become better known as Odd Future are a LA Hip Hop collective that can trace its roots back to 2007, but it’s just been the last few months that this large group of young (ages range from 16 to 19) rappers and producers have Blown Up Huge. 

      The two main forces behind Odd Future are Tyler The Creator and Hodgy Beats, and as I type this these two guys can seem to do no wrong, publicity seeking I mean.  Just off some serious stupid, outrageous appearances at the SXSW festival in Austin Texas (Tyler Jumped from a Speaker into the Crowd at the Thrasher Party and broke some kids nose), they Rap about anything that could get your shit banned all over the Disney Channel and such (some really nasty shit I’m not gonna get into here). But as they continue to make Eminem look like Bieber, I just got this gut feeling that this whole thing is being produced by some master “creator” behind a curtain of Swag. 

           Here are my Predictions....Tyler and Hodgy Fall Out big time, then Tyler starts working with the likes of Beyonce and Rihanna and at that point know one will be able to touch him, Hodgy, well Hodgy gets a gig as music director for the new Charlie Sheen late night talk show....it might seem like a dream sequence but it’s all too real in the life of OFWGKTA. 

*** Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent***

Joe Cornelisse-SSGS

Mariposa Folk Festival Artist Spotlight: The Beauties

            After listening to the first 30 seconds of the track “Without you” from their Self Titled Six Shooter Records release “The Beauties” , you get the sense that The Beauties have more up their sleeves than they’re letting on.  With full, rich vocals and that inescapable country rock guitar sound that can only bring about thoughts of crowded bars and late night cab rides. 

             This band of five have only been on the scene since 2006, but in that short time they have accumulated a stellar resume that has them either supporting or backing up a list of such stellar artists as  Ron Sexsmith, Jim Cuddy and Mariposa Favourite Serena Ryder. Having cut their artistic teeth as the band in residency at Toronto’s Dakota Tavern, they quickly started developing a strong fan base with Toronto’s  ever changing musical trendsetters , and as most musicians will tell you that’s a feat in itself.  

    The year was 2009, the band had just signed to Six Shooter Records, and then comes the news that NOW Magazine had also named the Beauties the best roots/country band in Toronto, not too shabby to say the least.

           This year the Mariposa Folk Festival welcomes The Beauties for the first time. Please take my advice and pick up a copy of their self titled record before hand so you know what you’re in for, my own personal favourite tracks off of the record are: Without You, Die Die Die and Heaviest Of The World.  

               All I have to say is I wouldn’t want to be the band that has to take to the stage after these guys play because their gonna burn it down, can’t wait.


Joe Cornelisse-SSGS

A Writer? Nah, Just a Guy with some time on his hands and some stories to tell...Chapter One

        As I sit here staring at the Facebookingly Twitterfied, Bloggerific youtube-afied (the days do tend to drag on) worlds that seem to collide with each other day in and day out, I cannot help but to return to Warhol’s ridiculously overused but oh so brilliant quote "In the future, everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes.", Warhol’s statement has never been closer to seeing it’s full fruition as it has right now.  In 2011 everyone’s a filmmaker, everyone’s a musician, everyone’s’ an artist, and everyone’s a writer...and that’s where my dilemma began.

          I have always enjoyed the art reading, and up until a few years ago I would read anything I could get my hands on, books, magazines, newspapers, well you get the idea. I believe what was behind my passion for reading was knowledge, just the sense of devouring all of this info and cataloguing it away for a future time when it would be needed for the masses.  People would routinely tell me that I should do something with all of that “stuff” that was just floating around in my head, write a book, or turn it into some kind of a career, but I just thought they were being nice, trying to make me feel better about myself since I didn’t seem to have any kind of direction in my life as far as a career ...that was all placed on the back burner, until now.

         A short while ago I was quietly told that my job of almost five years was no longer available, I was let go. There I sat in my minivan my mind racing, thinking, I’m 41, married with a young son and no means to support them, and in the same thought I was crushed, beaten down...where was I to go? What could I do? Sure I could go back to the big box giants and become one of their minions serving out my last days in a blue vest working for minimum wage, or, maybe I could take that leap...you know where I’m going don’t you?

        As I alluded to in my opening paragraph there are probably hundreds of thousands of disillusioned people typing away at their dirty, crumb infested , coffee stained keyboards, and they too are attempting the jump to calling themselves “Writers”. Now , I don’t consider myself a writer, I consider myself a person that can retell the facts and fill them with a bit of color or style, O.K. maybe that’s a writer.  

        Strangely, since I started my new BLOG “Self Serve Gas Station” I have found myself enjoying it, “it” being writing. Sitting at the keyboard just banging away , letting my mind wander with ideas that I had thought had been lost years ago, and when I’m finished a paragraph or two I just sit there and stare at the text with excitement that I created that, that those words came from my mind, my imagination, it’s pretty cool. 

             Now, I can already here the screams of protest from friends and relatives to the tune of “You have a wife and son to support, how are you going to do that as a writer?”  Or from the any number of people that have spent x number of dollars going to the finest schools to craft their writing skills, and to those people I have no answer, I really don’t. I know I will have to get a regular job to put food on the table and clothes on our backs, but I really think I have a good shot at making this thing work.

          I don’t pretend to know what I’m doing, don’t even try to test me on the meanings of writing terms like Alliteration or Double Entendre (that just throws all kinds of crazy into my head).  My work will be filled with all kinds of grammar mistakes, but that’s cool because if we were all perfect it would be a very imperfect world.

Joe Cornelisse-SSGS

Ladies and Gentlemen Mariposa Music is on the Air

       It was late (11:35 PM is late to an old guy like me) so I Just thought I’d scribble down a short post to all of my fellow Mariposa Folk Festival regulars and not so regulars and who knows maybe your new to the festival this year, and if you are then Welcome!!! This will also go out to lovers of Roots music, and music in general that just hits ya where you live, wether it’s the Big City or a Small Town.  According to the Mariposa Folk Festival website , Radio Station Sunshine 89.1 FM that broadcasts out of Orillia will be running a weekly radio show called “Mariposa Music” the show will include “Music, interviews & information not just about the Mariposa Folk Festival, but also about roots music new and old” , the show will be hosted by Sandi Bisset. The show will run Sunday evenings 7-11 p.m. (Repeats Thursdays 7-11 p.m.). 

If you are not in the Orillia area you can stream it on-line, here’s a link to their site:

http://www.sunshine891.ca/programming.php

Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out

2011 Mariposa Folk Festival Artist Spotlight Bob Wiseman

  

          The 2011 edition of the Mariposa Folk Festival, welcomes with great enthusiasm Bob Wiseman.  I, for one am excited to have Bob be a part of this year’s festival, to be able to relax with his music and stories against the beautiful backdrop that is Mariposa is going to be an amazing time.

     To refer to Bob Wiseman as just a musician is like calling your Mother just a Mother…she’s so much more and that describes Bob to a Tee.  Bob is a musician, singer-songwriter, filmmaker, and actor.  Most of us first met Bob Wiseman when he was still member of the great Canadian band Blue Rodeo, since then his career has read like a exciting road trip...all over the place, with interesting people and places, but through it all staying true to himself and his work.

Joe Cornelisse-SSGS

      

    

Get out and get your weekend passes now, you will not regret it.

Buy your tickets on-line here:

https://secure.ticket-ops.com/Mariposa_Folk_Festival/eDirect

Or

Buy your Tickets in Person at

The Mariposa Folk Foundation Office

37 Mississaga Street West
Orillia, Ontario, Canada L3V 3A5
Phone (705) 326-3655

*Bob Wiseman Photo courtesy of Joe Fuda

"Steve Jobs is personally responsible for killing the music business," so Says Rock God Jon Bon Jovi

          Middle of the Road Rock N’ Roll “God” Jon Bon Jovi has decided that is about the time in his career where he’s going  to pull a John Couger Mellencamp, I’m throwing in the Couger because I can and most of us (well “Us” meaning the ones that remember the smallest trivial things in life)  remember a few months ago when Mr. Mellencamp made the statement "I think the Internet is the most dangerous thing invented since the atomic bomb, It's destroyed the music business”. 

          Now Jon (can I call you Jon) has now come out and made a similar statement, in the Sunday Times Magazine he said and I quote """Steve Jobs is personally responsible for killing the music business,” He goes on to say “Kids today have missed the whole experience of putting the headphones on, turning it up to 10, holding the jacket, closing their eyes and getting lost in an album," he reflects. There was also "the beauty of taking your allowance money and making a decision based on the jacket, not knowing what the record sounded like, and looking at a couple of still pictures and imagining it. God, it was a magical, magical time.”

                      In all fairness to Mr. Jovi I am in agreement with his statement """""Kids today have missed the whole experience of putting the headphones on, turning it up to 10, holding the jacket, closing their eyes and getting lost in an album,""I use to put on a Record and just listen to the thing from side A to side B with not even a thought of skipping through it from track to track.

                I get the feeling he wants us to turn the clocks back to when he was 11 or 12, well you know as well as I do that’s not going to happen and if the past has been any indication it’s only going to get stranger in the music business in the next 10 years or so.

                       So Jon (It’s still cool if I call you Jon right?) Until your band mates and yourself decide to take a real stand and pull all of your mu$ic off of iTunes....and we all know that’s never gonna happen, you’re just gonna have to face the music that it’s 2011 and you have to hold on and let things take there course or your gonna fall off and get left behind

Beastie Boys finally set a Release date forHot Sauce Committee Pt. 2

The Beastie Boys have finally set a release date for their 8th studio album titled "Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2" , the Record will be released on the 3rd of May. The news was made public by Adam Yauch on the Beastie Boys website
  

   Here is a look at the 
Album artwork  

Fucked Up Gives Us a "David Comes To Life" Release Date...Sort Of

          It looks like exclaim.ca and Pitchfork have beaten me to the punch with this news (I have got to remember to post this shit as soon as I find out about it)

          Toronto’s Fucked Up have decided to give us a Not so Official, Around the Bend, Under the Bridge release date announcement for their long awaited Record David Comes To Life 

     I noticed late Saturday night that Mike Haliechuk, FU Lead Guitarist and the Caretaker of Looking For Gold, Fucked Up’s Officially Unofficial Blog (It’s basically Mikes playground to do what he wants with...) had posted an image of a (suspected) promotional poster that that has the title of the album at the top, this very serious looking chap sitting at a table drinking from what I can tell English Breakfast Tea and from what it appears to be lyrics printed in the middle of the poster, and at the bottom in the middle a release date 06/07/11 (Have a look for yourself as I have re-posted the image) 

   Now take this news for what it is, but we might actually get to see a new full length Fucked Up record this June, until then.............Haven't they said all of this before ?

Death comes swiftly, for those who wait,
but he's just like the rest of us, an impatient ingrate

DCtL-2006

Fucked Up are Kickin It Old Skool...I Mean Really Old Skool

                 First I’ll begin with a very short history lesson on Silent Films, and by short I mean maybe one or two lines if you’re lucky

       Silent Films were made pre 1929 or around that time and they always featured live music because there were no recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue in the films

           That now brings us to 2011 and Toronto’s Godfathers of Grunge...oh sorry I was thinking of some strange October evening that I witnessed, or maybe it was just a dream...anyways let’s get back on track.  Toronto’s Fucked Up have earned themselves a place in Toronto Concert History as the only Hardcore Band to have ever played a library (and left it in one piece) and for some of us who were at that show it was a bit of a trip into the surreal...to have all of these very calm looking librarian types walking around and smiling at you then at the exact same time to have Damian and Crew tearing it up on stage was just one of those shows that will stick in the back of your mind for years to come...until now.

           As part of the 24^th anual Images Festival Fucked Up will performing at its closing night gala, they will be playing along to the silent film West of Zanzibar . The movie is a revenge story set in the jungle, which stars Lon Chaney as a magician who was cuckolded and crippled. All of this will be taking place Saturday April 9, 8:30 PM at the Toronto Underground Cinema @ 186 Spadina Avenue, lower level, the advance ticket price will be $12 dollars, then they will be $15 dollars at the door

         It’s been almost 10 years since Fucked Up first got together and in that time they have played almost anywhere a band can play all over the globe and to this day they just continue to amaze us with what lengths they will go to get their music out there to the people.....O.K. that last bit seems a little sappy but it’s late and I’m tired..Good night

 

Joe Cornelisse-SSGS

Are the Foo Fighters going the Distance in 2011?

The following comments represent the views of the Writer and do not reflect those of his Wife or Young Son

         Looks like Dave Grohl and company are gonna be busy for the rest of 2011, at least according to the internet fodder in the last month or so

            With their new record “Wasting Light” being released April 12^th  (I’m actually looking forward to this record, it’s rumoured to have a more raw sound and less polished),  the video for the first single off of the record “Rope” just released a few days ago, with only Festival dates announced a full blown FF tour can’t be far behind and now according to the NME they are releasing an album of covers for Record Store Day on the 16^th of April titled called “Medium Rare”, the track listings for the record are as follows:

Paul McCartney and Wings- 'Band On The Run'
Cream- 'I Feel Free'
Joe Walsh- 'Life Of Illusion'
Mose Allison- 'Young Man Blues'
Thin Lizzy -'Bad Reputation'
Prince -'Darling Nikki' (Too Predictable)
Gary Numan-'Down In The Park'
Gerry Rafferty -'Baker Street' (Another Predictable entry)
The Ramones- 'Danny Says'
Pink Floyd- 'Have A Cigar'
Husker Du- 'Never Talking To You Again'
Angry Samoans- 'Gas Chamber'
The Zombies- 'This Will Be Our Year'

           And this is where I come to the part of my article where I offer up my 2 cents.... don’t get me wrong I thing Dave Grohl and the rest of his Foo’s are super talented and amazing musicians, Dave as a drummer just blows everyone away (except maybe JF), but in my opinion I have always found them to be a singles band.       I  find it’s very hard to listen to a Foo Fighters record all the way through, there’s seems to be the token 2 or 3 “singles” and the rest always seem to feel like filler to me

           Now that being said, if you happen to be talking to Dave do me a favour and don’t mention this to him...I’m still working on some comps for the next time they’re in town

Joe Cornelisse-SSGS

 

2011 Mariposa Folk Festival Artist Spotlight: Yukon Blonde

   As the Journey continues to the 2011 edition of the Mariposa folk Festival I’m going to spotlight a few groups or individual artists that I personally am excited to see. Today I give you Yukon Blonde

       

              You know that time, it’s late at night and you’ve got that need for something new but not too new, it’s got to have some harmonies, maybe a bit of southern jangle, some lyrics with a bit of soul but not too much soul as to make your head spin out of control...well look no further than Vancouver’s Yukon blonde.

        This very tight trio of Jeff Innes, Brandon Scott, and Graham Jones aren’t trying to be something they’re not, and if you know anything about me the last thing I desire to do is ghettoize bands into one specific category and that’s the problem that Yukon Blonde have run into from reviewers, they have had the “Country Rock” label unfairly placed on them, also being compared to C.S.N.Y. and The Band has happened quite a bit . 

       If you sit down and have a really good listen to their 2010 s/t release “Yukon Blonde” you will hear a multitude of influences that run the gamut from Pop to psychedelic.

          The stand out tracks in my opinion off of their record “Yukon blonde” is Brides Song, Wind blows and 1000 Years.

         Don’t miss out on this seeing these guys live at this year’s Mariposa folk Festival, I believe they will pick up where Zeus left off from last year’s festival and ignite a trail of new followers

 

Joe Cornelisse-SSGS

 

 

    

Thurston Moore announces new Beck Produced Solo Record

        Today began with some very cool* news from the Matador Records Camp , according to Matablog,  Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore is set to release his fourth solo effort, or fifth if you count 1998′s "multimedia project" ‘Root’. The record is titled 'Demolished Thoughts' and will be released on May 23^rd via Matador Records. This time out Moore has brought in Beck (Hansen) to produce the record; one can only imagine what these two together have created.

              In addition to Moore’s guitars and vocals, other musicians include violinist  Samara Lubelski who has previously toured and recorded with Moore, harpist Mary Lattimore who can be heard on Kurt Vile’s latest record, bassist Bram Inscore, drummer Joey Waronker and of course Beck. 

            Not to jump the gun but I am pretty confident that Moore will be performing this in some kind of capacity after the release of the record, here’s hoping at least I will keep everyone informed.

Joe Cornelisse-SSGS

*As you begin to read more of my BLOG posts you will notice I use the word “Cool” quite a bit, its part of my vocabulary and I just can’t picture myself using the words “Rad” or “Dope” or....what else are the kids saying these days? Oh yeah “Fly”..... So get use to it....cool?