Mixtape Collektive

Wait! Don't Forget Your Helmet

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (The Mixtape Collective) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 16:42:00 -0700

Just because we all do it doesn't make it okay. Bike safety is important. duhh...

Podcast

Mark Ronson and the Business Int'l - The Bike Song
Cool Kids - Black Mag
Hilltop Hoods - Nosebleed Section
Deerhoof - Dummy Discards a Heart
The Weekend - There Goes My Heart
Baths - You're My Excuse to Travel
GOB - Ming Tran
The Libertines - Up the Bracket
The Exploding Hearts - Sleeping Aids and Razor Blades
The Rolling Stones - Mercy, Mercy
Frank Turner - Photosynthesis
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists -Timorous Me
The Oh Sees - I Need Seed
No Age - Eraser
Every Thug Needs a Lady
Until - Miracle Fortress

Dog Daze

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (The Mixtape Collective) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:04:00 -0700

We've all heard the term "dog days of summer" but what does it mean goshdarnitt! In this podcast Cody, Nixon, Braxton and I try to figure it out. Pretty sure we don't succeed. There are some great tunes though.

Podkast

Cbez - P.S. I Love You
Drive - In Saturday - David Bowie
Post Soothing Out - Art Brut
Lost In the Supermarket - The Clash
Wasted Hours - Arcade Fire
Vagabond - Beirut
Roll On Oblivion - Jason Collett
Our House in Hanalei - These Trails
Kingdom of the Animals - Iron & Wine
Casanova Baby! - The Gaslight Anthem
Gotta Have It - Jay Z and Kanye West
All the King's Men - Wild Beasts
No Ceiling - Eddie Vedder

The Cat Comes Back...With a Podcast!

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (The Mixtape Collective) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 19:15:00 -0700

Hey y'all,

we just really couldn't stay away. sittin around the back patio in the sun drinking beautiful beers we put together this lil broadkast podkast. enjoy!

for those of you who were lucky enough to grab a quick listen to the podkast previously posted today...well i guess you're lucky...me, not so much.

http://www.mediafire.com/?y2rehvlglc94a00

Rob

Sugar, We're Going Down Swinging

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (Cody) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 17:36:00 -0700

It's all gone to shit people. I'm sorry but I doubt I have the ability to keep this blog going on my own. Let's face it: I have no talent when it comes to writing or trying to be insightful about anything. If this blog was about lame jokes then I could do it. I may throw in a post every once in awhile from here on out but I make no promises. Robby J was the glue that held this thing together and probably the only reason people read this blog. But, hey, I never go down without a fight, so here is my best attempt at a post.

So remember how I said that All Time Low signed with a major label and released a new record? And remember how I hoped it didn't ruin them? Well, it did. That new album sucks balls! And I mean it sucks. It's like every other pop punk pukey band out there. It's like a mix of Panic! At The Disco and New Found Glory. It's fucking shit! Do not even waste your time listening to it, it's such a disappointment. If you want good All Time Low, listen to Nothing Personal or Put Up or Shut Up. Those are good albums.

Also, WTF is with the HMV in Guelph? I went in there to get the new Alkaline Trio album and a couple of Farewell albums and they didn't have any of them! Get your act together HMV or I'll have to resort to downloading albums and I would genuinely like to support these bands and actually have a hard copy of their work. Besides, everyone knows there is less compression on CDs then there is on mp3s so the music just sounds better.

The one thing that was good about my HMV trip was the acquiring of the new Flogging Molly album Speed of Darkness. I've just finished listening to it and WOW, it's amazing. Gonna go out on a limb and say it may be the best Flogging Molly's album to date... time will tell but first impressions are off the chart. This is a pretty fitting song for the mixtape right now. This is "So Sail On".

I guess if this is the end of the mixtape then I'll have to throw in some of my favourites that have yet to surface. This is Motion City Soundtrack's "Even If It Kills Me". These guys own my life.

Another great finishing song by one of my favouite bands. This is "For All The Unheard" by The Bouncing Souls. Just listen...

Have you read The Perks Of Being A Wallflower? You should. It will change you. The main character, Charlie, makes a mix tape for his friend. The first and last song of this mixtape are "Asleep" by The Smiths. The Smiths only recorded this song once but they got it right the first time. Between Morrissey's voice and Marr's piano, I don't think a better song has ever been written. If this doesn't punch you in the heart, you have no soul.

Farewell friends, thanks for reading and maybe we'll be back again someday!

C Dot

Farewell

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (The Mixtape Collective) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 08:40:00 -0700

Dear readers,

It has been a blast sharing these tunes with you. I feel like I have done justice to some of my favourite songs, and let other ones down. Whatever the result, I have always tried be offer some interesting, meaningful insight. However, I won't be writing for the MXTC any longer and I just wanted to say thanks for reading and happy listening!

Cheers

All The Small Things

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (Cody) — Fri, 8 Jul 2011 19:00:00 -0700

Word peeps. That was a weird opening line. Anywho, Blink is touring again. Hells yah. In public school, Blink was everybody's favourite band. Then they had to go all serious and emo and it just wasn't the same. It was still great music but just not the same old Blink. I'm secretly hoping that this new album they're working on will be a throw back to their crazy high school days when they wrote songs about farts and being awkward around girls. If not I guess I won't be too let down. I'm just glad they're friends again. This is "Wasting Time" from Cheshire Cat. This song is the tits.

All Time Low just came out with a new album called "Dirty Work". I plan on aquiring this album on Tuesday when I go get Alkaline Trio's new album. I've heard a few songs from the new album and it sounds pretty good so far. They're on a major label now (Interscope is pretty major right?) so I'm hoping they didn't get totally screwed over. They do make fun of Kesha in one of their songs so so far so good. This song isn't the greatest but the music video is worth a watch... they poke some good fun at Gaga and K. Perry.

Damn, some Osker just came on... Why did these guys have to break up? They put out 2 of the best punk albums ever and then just stopped being a band. There is not a single song, note, chorus, or verse that isn't amazing. I mean, these guys clearly had issues and hated life but they knew how to make music. Their first album was pretty hard but still depressing. Their second album was one hell of an emotional tornado. If you're ever depressed and need music to listen to, play Idle Will Kill. My favourite song is "Kinetic"; it's too amazing for words. It's also too depressing to play on here (look it up though) so you're getting "Panic" off of Treatment 5 instead.

Alrighty, time for some Less Than Jake. Oh baby do I love these guys. Borders & Boundaries is a definite top 10 album of all time. Start to finish it's nothing but pure awesomeness. This is one of my fav songs from that album, "Gainsville Rockcity".

Til next time... keep your stick on the ice...

Later Days peeps!

C Dot

Polaris 7: 20 ODD Years & Native Speaker

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (The Mixtape Collective) — Tue, 5 Jul 2011 14:11:00 -0700

I feel like a ghost, or a zombie, or some other sort of paranormal creature. I have been up for many hours thanks to a red eye from Victoria to Toronto. I lost three hours and slept for two. Tonight, when my head hits that cool side o' the pillow it will be a sweet release no doubt.

Spent a good chunk of the day listening to these two albums on rdio (check it out. it's amazing and may save the art of the LP). Mainly positive today:

Buck 65 - 20 Odd Years
Somebody commented on this album on Rdio saying "a heartbreaking work of staggering genius." I wouldn't disagree. His voice is the voice of a man rather than a caricature and his lyrics are honest and intimate. Buck 65 is a lot like Joel Plaskett or the Hip to me. He is undoubtably canadian. Without wanting to be sentimental this album sounds like the airports and hotels and kitchens and tracks that I have been travelling this summer. From Victoria to Moncton. With the help of Gord Downie, Hannah Georgas, and Jenn grant (to name some) 20 ODD YEARS plays out like a courtship. You get to know the album as you listen and respond to it and it finds a way into your heart. Sometimes spiritual (who by fire) sometimes twisted (Whispers of the Waves) and sometimes gentle (she said yes) this is an album with the fingerprints of Al Purdy and Leonard Cohen.

Shotgun Jimmie - Transistor Sister
16 songs. 30mins. 13 seconds. 1 fucking awesome rock record. I love it. Please listen to it and share it with your friends. "it's late/the bar's closed/it's not too late to walk it/i have a beer in my pocket" says most of it. It is an album that I want to listen to while riding my bike drunk down gordon st. on my way to drinking a shit ton of beer in Kyle's backyard. Fav tune: King of Kruezberg.

Braids - Native Speaker
This an album about the beauty of waste and sex and growing up as a generation raised on indie songs. technically they call it shoegaze (whatever the fuck that even means). I call it a great effort by a young band. Sensitive, ambitious, and at most times mature. The voice and the guitar hooked me and the soundscapes kept me listening. Tunes: Same Mum, Lemonade, Plath Heart.

Keep your ears tuned to the Polaris short list tomorrow.
Word.

Polaris 6: Austra, Neil Young, Dirty Beaches

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (The Mixtape Collective) — Sat, 2 Jul 2011 17:44:00 -0700

Hey y'all,

Been listening to a buncha good tunes travelling from Edmonton to Vancouver and now out to Victoria. Going for a little precomp jog here in Victoria soon so I'll get right into it.

Austra - Feel it Break

I surprised myself while listening to this album. It was early morning. I was flying (I hate flying and I always break out in sweats and nausea when we are landing) and we were landing in Vancouver. It was a typical Vancouver overcast day and somewhere between the nausea and the mountains and the ocean I started to fall in love with this album. It is textured, nuanced, cinematic, and mystical. Favourite tune: Lose It

Neil Young - Le Noise

Sure, it's better to burn out than to fade away but it's way better to never fade away than to burn out. Neil Young can still kick ass. I've listened to a bunch of NY albums from Harvest to Rust Never Sleeps to Are You Passionate, and his newest effort holds its own. Raunchy and sympathetic it sounds like a confused acoustic record lost in an ocean of noise. And it fuckin works. A 65 year old rocker who won't acquiesce to a cliche. Favourite song: Hitchhiker

Dirty Beaches - Baldlands

A dark album with a lot of space. Mysterious. Like Jack Kerouac's poem 'The Sea' at the end of Big Sur this music sounds like dirty beaches and tornadoes coming through the speakers of a classic car. It makes me want to drink a buncha wine and live my life in black and white. Favourite tunes: True Blue, Lord Knows Best.

Maybe I'll Just Get A Little High...

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (Cody) — Fri, 1 Jul 2011 05:17:00 -0700

Hey ya'll, C Dot here. Big props to Jackson for under taking the mission to review all the Polaris nominees. Dude has heart. As for me, I have a body full of caffeine. Last night I raced in London at 9:10pm. Left London the track in London at 10:27pm. Pulled into my driveway in Sydenham at 2:29am. A trip that should have taken 5.5 hours took me 4. I owe it all to caffeine... and really loud music. I'm still feeling the caffeine even this morning. I woke up at 6am and went for a 5 mile run and now I'm writing this, so if my writing goes a little hay-wire you'll know why.

Here are a couple memorable tunes from the drive home last night. "Theme From Cola" by Moist. I wish David Usher never left Moist. I mean he's done some cool stuff since then but Moist was so awesome. Oh well. This is a great driving tune. Vroom vroom.

Another good driving tune is "Starseed" from Our Lady Peace... back before Raine Maida was completely full of himself and still let his band help him write music. What happened man? You guys were my favourite band for so long and now you suck! You suck big hairy balls. At least we still have the good old days. Here is "Starseed".

Alrighty, so Speed River has a bunch of peeps out on the west coast doing the National Track League. The meet in Edmonton was cancelled on Wednesday due to some nice thunderstorms and hail storms. Bunch'a pussies if you ask me. I would've ran... (pause)... NOT! Shit looked fucked out there. Oh well, Harry Jerome is off to a better start in Van City so that's good. This song is going out to our boy Jackson who is ready to bust a big one. After all, he is "Born To Run". Remember... "In the end nobody wins unless everybody wins"... or somebody loses...

Alrighty, last tune for the week. I'm peacing out to Charleston for the rest of the weekend. Goodbye civilization and hello private beach and cooler of beer. Definitely gonna be rockin a lot of Refreshments this weekend. This is "Carefree".

Happy Birthday Canada! Enjoy your long weekends people!

Later Days,

C Dot

Polaris 5 - Holy shit this is hard: It's all true, The Suburbs,

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (The Mixtape Collective) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 11:34:00 -0700

So...I might be a bit ambitious. Taking this task on was like ordering the Lumberjack breakfast at Denny's...

Never the less I'm gonna keep trekking ahead. There are six days until the short list and while there is not way I can get through the rest of the longlist before that I'll continue on while we wait for the final prize announcement.

Junior Boys - It's All True
When I have parties I like to dance...or sing along with Jimmy Buffett songs. But when I'm not a six-pack deep I like songwriters and all that otherwise boring music. What I find interesting about this album is that it mixes the sonic textures of Caribouesque electro pop with a lyrical narrative for us boring traditional "three minute song" types. Favourite tune "A Truly Happy Ending."

Here is Reid Coolseat's description of the album. He is Canada's fastest marathoner and went to highschool with the Boys: Junior Boys, electro-pop duo from Hamilton with a distinct Northern sound. Charming.Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
what is there really to say about this album that hasn't already been said? For me it was less energetic than Funeral and less insightful then Neon Bible. Great moments no doubt: "it's hard to lift something with your arms folded tight" in Rococo to me was a beautiful comment on the apathy of my generation and a fun poke at the Sid Vicious leaning on the Jukebox kind of mentality of the cool kids in the cafeteria. Solid album but for me there is a little irony in the fact that the biggest anthemic rock record of the year doesn't read quite seem as powerful Wake Up or Rebellion. Favourite track: Sprawl II

Keep it easy friends

Polaris 4: Degeneration Street & Wilderness Heat

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (The Mixtape Collective) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 14:19:00 -0700

The Dears - Degeneration Street
I've always had a peripheral liking of The Dears. This album continues in that tradition. I was running a lot to these tunes back in the spring. I was also writing a lot of hip-hop tunes and lyrics at the times and some part of me loved the connection between hip-hop beats and the beats and grooves on this record. Especially "Omega Dog."
Love the lyric - "none of us has the guts to bear a cross" from Thrones and I love the peppy jump along guitar of Yesteryear.

Black Mountain - Wilderness Hearts
When I was younger and I would get pissed off I would throw on Nirvana's Nevermind and just fucking rock out on my Fender Squire until all my grungy angst had dissipated. I started listening to this Black Mountain album after I failed to make the finals at the Canadian National Track and Field champs. It almost had the same effects. Well, heavier tracks anyways. And I thank Black Mountain for that, but when I listened back to the album the parts I cared for were the tunes that sound like they belonged on a Pink Mountaintops record. All in all I think I wish Wilderness Hearts was a 5 song Pink Mountaintops ep rather than a sometimes fragmented stoner rock mish mash.

Word.

Polaris P. 3 - Kaputt

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (The Mixtape Collective) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:44:00 -0700

Hey y'all,

This is gonna be a mixtape first I think...an overall negative review.

Gonna throw it out there. Destroyer-Kaputt is not quite my cup of tea. It's more of an earl grey when you I'm really a Jasmine guy. To me, the album came off like elevator music for American Apparel. While there are moments (a beautiful pop guitar solo in the middle of "Blue Eyes") I thoroughly enjoyed, most of the album's fabric sounded like it would have been better cast as a soundtrack to the comedown moments in "Bright Lights, Big City". Overall, I guess I understand the throwback Hall & Oates aesthetic but it just ain't my thang.

If I missed something holla at me to let me know.

Go Big or Go Home

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (Cody) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:23:00 -0700

Damn, Jackson is back with a vengeance! I think the mountain air has addled his brain. He's got twitter now... and uses it! i think that's what going on in the top right corner of this blog now (i've never actually seen a twitter account but my powers of deduction are telling me thats what it is). I'm gonna let robbie power through his polaris reviews and post some tunes that i hope you all like.

So I wanted to play "Spaceman" by Bif Naked but apparently youtube only has the remixed versions of the song. The album version is my favourite. I somehow forgot about Bif when I did the Tribute to Those Without Penises post. Shame on me. "Spaceman" is probably one of my top 20 favourite songs ever. Bif has a lot of great songs but this one just gets to me every time. Haha, at one of her shows in Kingston Kris got really drunk and started yelling "Play 'Spaceman'!" while Bif was doing her encores... unfortunately he was too drunk to realize that at that exact moment, they were playing 'Spaceman'. I'll never let him forget that one. Instead of 'Sapceman' you're getting 'Lucky' cause everyone loves Buffy.

I found out this week that Alkaline Trio is putting out a new album on July 12th called Damnesia. It's a collection of re-recorded songs selected by fans that are done semi-unplugged. The album also features a cover of a Violent Femmes song and two new originals. I did multiple backflips when I found out about this. I can barely contain myself right now. In honour of Alkaline Trio, here is "I Found A Way".

I've also been listening to a lot of Yellowcard lately. Remember those guys? My friend Joel in high school was obsessed with Yellowcard. We would be at parties and he would insist on playing Yellowcard, not during the party, but when everyone was going to bed. Apparently it was the only way he could fall asleep. Anyways, they released a new album in... March I think, don't quote me though. It's pretty good and I really like their first single from it. Gotta love that violin. That guy rocks out hard on that thing. props. This is "For You, And Your Denial".

Last song is by The Flatliners. Watson has been making me jealous by telling me all his sweet stories about seeing Chuck Ragan, Dave Hause, Hot Water Music, and the Flatliners repeatedly. Screw you Rob... music videos are just as awesome... kinda... maybe... fuck. This is "Eulogy".

Right, good luck to everyone out in Calgary for Canadian Track & Field Championships. Kick some ass River and come home with some hardware. Also good luck to Mr. Watson who is rockin' a half marathon out in Van City this weekend (it's also his birthday today - i think he's racing in the masters category now, jk). Happy Birthday big guy.

Later Days!
C Dot

Polaris p.2: Departing, Honeymoon Punch, Special Affections

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (The Mixtape Collective) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:38:00 -0700

Yo yo, we back.

We've got 39 albums to go so let's jump right into it.

The Rural Alberta Advantage - Departing
Lots has been said about the high and lonesome vocals of Nils Edenloff but my favourite part of this album might be the dance that goes on behind him. The sometimes frantic always pulsing drums of Paul Banwatt against Amy's Cole's haunting girl-next-door piano create a big atmosphere for the three piece. Usually when I listen to an album the whole way through there is a triad (or so) of songs that really stick out. The jewel piece of the record. "Muscle Relaxants" "North Star" (below) and "Stamp" are the emerald in the crown of Departing.

THE RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE - Muscle Relaxants from Mitch Fillion (southernsouls.ca) on Vimeo.

Honeymoon Punch - Jenn Grant
I've written about Jenn Grant before. A couple times I think. It's because I really think she's super. From the first lines of the record -"You look like a movie star from this angle..."- to the by-the-candlelight-on-the-back-porch lullaby turn barroom romp of "Stars to Waves" I just keep listening!

Special Affections - Diamond Rings
I first heard "All yr songs" a long time ago and I always mixed up Diamond Rings with One Hundred Dollars so I could never find it when I went to go look for it. When I finally pulled my head out of my touche and realized it was Diamond Rings it was just about time for John O'Regan's rise to indie stardom via this concept glam rock moniker. Dylan has a line in "Mr. Tambourine Mane" that reads: "to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free" and to me that is how this album sounds. This tune "All yr songs" is a beautifully crafted take on the love song.

Mixtape Does Polaris p.1

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (The Mixtape Collective) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 18:58:00 -0700

Hey y'all!
So now I've decided to return to the blogosphere I have thrown myself fully into social media whoredom. That's right, I've got a tumblr, I've got a blog, and now I've got an android phone synced up to a beautiful twitter account. Has this Canmore mountain air gotten to my head?

Anyone who has half a foot in the door of the Canadian music scene must know that the polaris music prize announced its longlist last week. It's chalk full of amazing Canadian artists who are dedicated to the integrity of the album. As part of our journey here at the Mixtape to open up discussions and introduce/remind you of our favourite music I'd like to weigh in to the polaris prize conversations.

Hooded Fang - Album
You know that (usually) douchy guy in the gym who claims his "muscles have muscles"? Well, if the good folks in Hooded Fang claimed that their hooks had hooks I'm not sure they would be lying. With a name borrowed from Mordecia Richler and a sound they categorize as "alt pop/holiday" this Toronto band caught my ears on the Grant Lawrence podcast. This fantastic Album is a jumpy light pop masterpiece in my books. My favourite tunes are "Ghosts" (for it's wicked guitar riff...take that Vampire Weekend! and its mid song snare build up) "Promised Land" (for its backing vocals). Listen - that's an order.

That's all for today. Going to a show @ Communitea here in Canmore. Should be fun! Before I leave though, check out this sometimes hilarious podcast

When You Just Wanna Relax...

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (Cody) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 18:33:00 -0700

Hey, Robbie J has returned from the abyss. I'm glad he's back, he has way more insight into music then I could ever hope to have. I'm sure you all are happy he's back too so now you don't have to put up with my pitiful attempts at blogging.

I was in the hot tub at the school this weekend. I love the hot tub. This time was especially relaxing because you know what album the lifeguards had on while I was in there? Boxer by The National. Talk about one awesomely relaxing hot tub experience. Who knew lifeguards had such good taste in music. This prompted a solid couple of days of listening to The National. This is "Karen" from Alligator.

I also started listening to music on my way to work this week. Usually I don't because I ride my bike but my bike got stolen this past weekend so I'm now walking everywhere. You know what is good walking music? Diamonds Rings. That guy writes some poppy moving tunes. I need to see him live again. He puts on a great show. This is "Something Else".

I feel like some City and Colour. I think it's about time for Dallas Green to put out another album... it's been awhile. I used to listen to his albums on my late night drives home from work. This is "The Girl". I did not know he made a music video for this... I like.

Keeping with some acoustic gems. I'm sure most of you have heard of Nick Sheqz but in case you haven't, listen to this masterpiece. Dude has skills. He probably also has girls falling in love with him every time he plays music for them. This is "Sirens" **Note to self: Learn how to play this song.

Alright, I'm off to eat some ice cream. Mmmm.... ice cream....

Later Days!

C Dot

For Shame...

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (The Mixtape Collective) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 09:02:00 -0700

Hey y'all,

It's been a while. Cheers to Cody for keeping this thing rolling while I've been a total absentee blogger. Anyway, let's get to the music shall we?

I was on a long drive this weekend down to Indianapolis. Indianapolis is a nice city but not very exciting. Especially when the Colts are on a lockout. I mention this little road trip because it inspired me to get at this ole mixtape again. On the way back we listened to top 40 radio. A lot of it. Most of it is shit. Most music isn't shit. Let's share some music that should be on the top 40. Some music that if it was on the top 40 people would like it because it is good. But mainly people only like what other people tell them to like.

Wow, that last paragraph reads like it was written by an angsty 7th grader. My bad.

First tune newish my Beirut. I doubt the folks in this band know much about life in East Harlem but they do know how to recycle old metaphors and images quite well. Also, I bought a Ukelele and Zach Condon from Beirut plays a Uke.

Second tune is a great little sea shanty by Final Fantasy. Looking for this video was funny because I got to watch a lot of weirdo posts from video game nerds.

Check out Medicine Hat. They are from good old Guelph. They rock. Buy Nabi's earrings and stuff at the merch table. Kim got a pair and they rock. They have a show on the 17th of July @ the Albion. The Albion rocks.

Short little post from me today but it's good to be back.

Luv ya

The Old Mixtape Shuffle

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (Cody) — Thu, 9 Jun 2011 18:21:00 -0700

S'up mixtapers. It's been a long week. And there's still Friday to get through. Blah. Real life is just not my cup of tea. Don't get me wrong, I like my job and I'm very happy working there. Sometimes I just wish I could do nothing all day, take naps after lunch, and lounge around and laugh with my friends. That kind of stuff has now been reserved for weekends... along with many other things, which makes weekends not all that relaxing. Lately, all I want to do is sit around and listen to music. Unfortunately, in order to do this is means staying up a little too late and being super tired the next day. Not cool. As a result my music listening has deteriorated significantly, which also means I'm at a bit of loss for music to post this week. This is not a good thing when you're trying to keep a blog alive... Luckily, I have a back up plan. So way back in Week #1 of this blog, everyone involved posted a little blurb about themselves and part of that involved hitting shuffle on their iTunes and seeing what came up. Well, I joined this blog a little late so I never got to do that. I'm sure most of you have figured out my musical interests by now but, fuck it, I'm gonna do it anyways. I'm gonna hit shuffle and the first 5 songs that come on (and that I can locate on youtube) will be my post for this week. Alrighty, enough talking, let's get started.

1....Pullin' Punches by The Arkells. It's been done by Donald so we'll redo that one... oh boy, it's Elton John. Well because I'm a man of my word I'll post it. This is "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore".

2... Boom, big track. "Century of Fakers" by Belle & Sebastian. Damn, these people know how to make music. I love this song.

3... Haha, hahahahaha, good old Green Day. Hahahahaha sorry, this brings back some sweet memories from high school. This music video is awesome too. It's "Basket Case" everyone. Hahahahahahaha...

4... I should write blogs like this more often, this going so quick. Ok, and the song is... whoa, complete swing from Green Day. This guy's name is Joshua Radin. Alec discovered him while working at Chapters (does this give you any hints about what style of music this is? haha). Some of his stuff is pretty good though. The song that came on is called "Friend Like You". If you like it, check out "Brand New Day" and "I'd Rather Be With You".

5... Alrighty, last one... another B&S song... we'll try another one... nice, old school Tragically Hip. I think Gord Downie had hair when this song was written. This is "She Didn't Know". There are some sweet guitar rifts in this song.

Bam, done. Record time for posting. I'll try harder to come up with some better material for next week. I'll also talk to TMac about the move to another website.

Later Days People!

C Dot

ps. "The Desperations Gone" by NOFX just came on. Awesome song. I love shuffle.

A Tribute To Those Without Penises

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (Cody) — Thu, 2 Jun 2011 17:57:00 -0700

Hey everyone, how's everybody doing this week? Personally, I'm in a fantastic mood. I've been hitting up a lot of female artists this week so I thought I'd share some favs with you. First some house keeping notes though. Note the first: Tara has not abandoned us (or so she says), blogspot is not letting us log in to the general account so we can't change anything and Tara can't post. I can still post cause I use a different account but I can't change the layout at all. Fear not though, we have plans of moving to tumblr or some other site. Tara is in charge of this so stay tuned for updates. Note the second: I crammed everything into the first note so this is pointless. Ok, music time.

Brandi Carlile anyone? Gotta love Brandi. She's borderline country but its rocky alternative country so its Ok right? Whatever, she's awesome. This is "Dying Day". I have listened to this song at least 3 times a day this week. I just can't get enough of it.

Regina Spektor. Gotta love our Jewish friend. I don't think I've ever heard another person capable of doing the things Regina does with her voice. Bitch is crazy. This is one of my favourite Regina songs thanks to A. Bray. We once rocked out to Regina for a solid hour while sitting in his car at a party in Belleville. Good times.

Jenny Lewis. Oh Jenny. I have to admit that I'm not big into her music but this song is incredible. I love it. "Silver Lining".

Tegan Quinn. Both sisters are awesome but I'm a huge Tegan fan. She wrote this song. It's good. Have a listen.

And for a change pace... Brody Dalle... formerly Brody Armstrong. Brody was in a band called The Distillers. They put out 3 records before Brody peaced out and started a different band. Her raspy voice is pretty cool and you can't go wrong with that hair.

So I almost forgot someone. I feel like if she found out she would be very angry. I'm sorry Lily, you just slipped my mind for a second. Nothing personal, I swear. This is "Not Fair". There's also an awesome mash between this song and the theme from the Littlest Hobo... great tune. This is just Lily though. Enjoy.

Alrighty peeps, thats it for this week. We'll keep you posted on the possible move.

Later Days!

C Dot

Krazy Fest Recap

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (Cody) — Sat, 28 May 2011 07:58:00 -0700

Whoooo! It's finally here people. The post you've all been waiting for. The moment of pure awesome. The greatest 20 minutes you will ever experience... Ok, sorry, I'll get to the point. As some of you may or may not know I went down to Louisville, KY for Krazy Fest last weekend. And, because real life sucks and I have to work and be responsible during the week I am only telling you about the weekend now. Where should I start... Well, first off, Dayton, Ohio sucks balls. Read le blog du rob to find out why. I'm done thinking about it.

Ok, on to the music. Friday night we saw Chamberlain and By the Grace of God. Both were incredible. Chamberlain was also unhappy about the length of their set so after a lot whiskey and most people had left the show they had a very impromptu and informal acoustic set/sing-a-long by some pool tables and out in the parking lot after we all got kicked out. Rob and Todd (not to be confused with Rod and Todd from The Simpsons) were pretty much in music heaven. The smiles on their faces were too genuine to describe. This is a cover of some song that I don't know the name of or the artist who originally wrote it. I'm sorry if its your favourite song. It's awesome and even after a shit ton of whiskey Chamberlain still rocked it.

Day 2 was a little weird and was going to be hard to top after what Chamberlain did the night before. Saturday was "the end of world" which was set to occur around 6pm. Luckily, Anti-Flag started their set at 5:30 so if we had all died at least I saw them live. Their set was pretty awesome. They played a lot songs off of Terror State which is one of my favourite albums. Unfortunately, there were just a few too many young teenagers in the crowd for me to really get into it. These punk kids were skanking about (quite terribly I might add) and just ruining it for us older folks... OK, I'm joking, the show was awesome. It was made even more awesome by the drummer as you will see in this video of the song Power to the Peaceful.

Saturday was also Hot Water Music's turn to take the stage. Unfortunately, I think the Apocalypse tried to happen and failed (take that God) because one hell of a thunderstorm broke out. HWM was supposed to play outside but they were moved inside to avoid serious drowning concerns (not actually). They still killed it. Rob Watson crowd surfed. Some drunk guy tried to climb over me to get closer to the stage (thanks to Todd for pulling him off of me). And of course everyone sang along ridiculously out of tune. Mostly if was just me that was really out of tune as you will hear in the video. I apologize and please don't make fun of me. I may have had one or two American beers in me and I can't carry a tune on the best of days. All in all, HWM is awesome.

Day 3 was big day. While no alcohol was consumed this day (at least by us) kraziness still ensued. Dave Hause started off our day with an awesome acoustic set. This guy is super cool. I want to be his friend. His music is also super cool. I suggest acquiring his solo album asap. He did break two strings on his guitar during his set but he managed to change them while telling some pretty funning stories. Did I mention he may be my new favourite person? I think I've developed a serious man crush here.

Ok, last performance video of the blog. This is The Bouncing Souls. They've been one of my favourite bands since... well, since I started listening to The Bouncing Souls (around grade 9ish we'll say). These guys are well into their 40s but are still rocking hard. I was front row center for this set and got pretty much demolished in the pit. I should also mention that I got really sun burnt on Friday and it was still killing me on Sunday so when this guy decided to use my back as a drum set... yah, it was a little painful. All worth it though cause The Bouncing Souls put on an awesome show. This is a video of their last two songs.

SO those were a sample of the videos I took. There are plenty more and they may make it onto youtube some day. I'll let you if that happens. The next little video is a slideshow of some of the pictures I took. There are performances from By the Grace of God, Cave In, and Against Me. There are also candid shots of Rob and Todd and our nice walks from the hotel to the venue. I just wanna say that Shively is one interesting place. Luckily because of the strip clubs, run down buildings, crazy people, and just general ghettoness, no one cares about 3 skinny white dudes walking down the street drinking beer. Especially the cops. They have bigger problems to worry about. All these elements made our walks very entertaining. (The song is by The Loved Ones (Dave Hause's band) and is a cover of Billy Bragg's 'Lover's Town Revisited')

Good job Krazy Fest, hopefully we'll be back next year.

C Dot

Black Lips, White Stripes.

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (The Mixtape Collective) — Wed, 18 May 2011 18:26:00 -0700

Hi.

First order of business, frig off Townie! I miss one day of posting and there's allegations of being brain damaged by Benoit. Alright maybe you win this round. Even if my brain is broken it can't be dumber than this quote by the first band of the night: Black Lips. Mhmm they are effed.

"We're on our way to Tijuana... we're gonna buy some trinkets... play some music... check out some spots."

... what? All y'all cross country dudes must watch this, it's mighty greasy. Benoit's first question when it started = "is this Fubar?" Keep your peepers peeled for the half-dead hairy guy who might be in the band? Also there is a dude a la Johnny P and Kyle having a no pants party mid-show. Black Lips also got kicked out of a show in India for "homosexual antics" ... .... ... huh? Yeah they said something in an interview about whipping their weiners out, which I guess didn't go over well. Tijuana is another story though:

Anyways, the point here is that Black Lips have some sweet songs. Happy I found 'em this week because I am hooked. Mmmm musical drugs from Mexico (or their new album).

Next up is a duo who toured with Black Lips a few years ago. trololololol! Technically it was the Raconteurs, but I'm substituting a White Stripes song (R.I.P.) Jack White is still the bomb diggs. Check out these next two, far less greasy and even more wicked, feat. Lego.

Bonaroo and Coachella are both on my bucket list or top 100 list or whatever you call it. The footage is always awesome.

Hmmm what else to post. How 'bout some other songs I've been digging lately:

Gold-Bears - Record Store by Slumberland Records

Bye.

Putting the KRAZY in Krazyfest

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (Cody) — Fri, 13 May 2011 16:08:00 -0700

Hello y'all. C Dot here again. Apparently I'm the only surviving member of the Mixtape... my companions have moved on to bigger and better things. Jackson is becoming a country music star and Tara... well, Tara has to put up with Benoit on a regular basis so her mind may be broken. Me though, I'm still here. I will never leave because I have no life and no friends. Except for next weekend when Rob Watson, his high school buddies and myself will be traveling down to Louisville for one hell of a music festival. What music festival is this you ask? Krazyfest of course. And what makes this music festival so KRAZY? Well, aside from the bands, it is mainly the presence of Rob Watson (crazy MFer). The bands though feature some of the greatest punk rock bands from the mid to late 90s that are still kicking it strong today. Info on the event can be found here. This blog will be a small preview of the bands I am most excited to see.

Anti-Flag (Est. 1988)! Aside from the fact that these guys somehow manage to put out what seems like 2 full length albums a year, their music is awesome. Extremely politically charged and just plain krazy, they hold nothing back when it comes to playing music. Grade 10 was a big year for listening to Anti-Flag. My friend Joel was obsessed with this guys. Rightfully so, they're pretty awesome and Justin Sane (leader singer) is a pretty brilliant dude. This is "Turncoat" from The Terror State, released in 2003.

Against Me! Everyone probably knows Against Me! from their popular radio releases such as "Thrash Unreal" and "I Was A Teenage Anarchist". While these guys have many more amazing songs. Definitely looking forward to rocking out during this set. This is "Stop". Pay attention to the bassist's dance moves in this video... amazing haha!

The Bouncing Souls! THE BOUNCING SOULS! I don't think I can accurately describe how pumped I am to see these guys. I love The Bouncing Souls. LOVE THEM. They rock hard, they play great music, they seem like awesome dudes, and they have fun doing it. I may try and make out with one of them... or not. But autographs will definitely be sot after. This song wasn't written by The Bouncing Souls but its such an amazing cover that I have to share it with you. This is "Lean On Sheena". The video also features Rob Watson (if he stopped running, got a little chubby, and had to wear glasses).

Dave Hause. Dave is the front man from The Loved Ones. I love The Loved Ones. I was very happy to discover them. I first heard them on a summer sampler CD I picked up from FatWreckChords. I'm not sure if Dave will play any music from the Loved Ones but either way, I'm excited to see him. He has some pretty good solo stuff. It's along a similar theme to The Loved Ones songs but more melodic. The same passion, emotion, and intensity is there. This is "Time Will Tell".

Hot Water Music. These guys are OK, I guess. I mean if you want straight up, in your face, heart felt punk rock then I guess you would like these guys. Chuck Ragan is kinda cool. He writes some pretty good lyrics and has a very unique voice so I guess they'll be alright live... FUCK THAT! I may not make it through their set alive. I may have an adrenaline overload and go crazy in the pit resulting in massive head trauma and die. I won't care. I'll die a happy man. The problem is picking a song to share with you all. HWM has about 1.5 music videos but every other song I've posted has had a video so I'm switching it up. This is "Jack of All Trades" by HWM. Awesome song. So stoked to for these guys!

Chamberlain is also playing at KrazyFest but Youtube apparently hates them so I couldn't locate any videos for them. Definitely look them up though. I think the only band that would make this festival even more awesome would be Alkaline Trio. Probably a good thing they're not playing though or I would actually never come back alive. I will be sure to video tape and record as much mayhem as possible so that I can share it with everyone once I get back. Until then, Later days people!

CLPP

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (Cody) — Sat, 7 May 2011 23:23:00 -0700

Oh boy, here we go. C Dot here with a somehwhat less than sober post... could get interesting. I just finished my first week of real life. Yes, I now work full time at a consulting company and specialize in vapour intrusion remediation (one week down, only 1559 to go). It's actually pretty interesting and I very much enjoy it. The problem is that it is nowhere near my favourite place on earth or near my best friend ever. This recent round of round of finishing school and not returning to to Charleston Lake has made me particularly depressed. But, luckily, the memories I made there will never be forgotten... or remembered... either way, it was the greatest time of my life. I am now going to present you with some songs that highlight the 4 years I spent at CLPP and the ridiculous times we shared there.

First of is a tune from I'm From Barcelona. This was Mallory Paige's (a.k.a. Mallroy) fav track in 2007. This girl can party like no other. Sadly she has forsaken her duties as Gate Mom and moved on the less exciting and less worth while endeavors such as "being mature" and "actually giving a fuck". Hey Mallory, remember that night when... Yeah, I don't either... it's a Take Away Show (fucking amazing).

The first party I went to with A Bray was Anna's birthday in 2006 (I believe she was turning 21 but I really have no clue). Kate decided it was a good idea to buzz the island a few times in the then 'Hotlick 2(?)' which unfortunately resulted in either burning out the motor or hitting a shoal (I can't remember). Either way, we listened to some awesome tunes on that boat ride and this one has stayed with me ever since that night. It's Better Than Ezra's "A Lifetime".

There are a thousand memorable nights from summers at CLPP (I think... I dunno, I can't remember), but one cool music night was coming home from Bundy Slam in Westport (it's best not to ask what Bundy Slam is). Jenna miraculously had The Presidents of the United States of America cassette in her very old Plymouth Voyageur (in which she had recently ran over a skunk), so we got to listen to Lump and Peaches the whole way home. Awesome.

And then there is the infamous Alec Bray. This guy is the single best person I know. Unfortunately, I don't get to see him as much as I want to anymore (real life sucks), but the memories he and I share are second to none. Alec found the best road trip/ summer band ever in his older sister's album collection. They have since become the theme songs to every summer since 2007 and we will eventually road trip down to Texas or New Mexico or wherever to see them perform. This song and "Down Together"... oh man, too many good times. You're the man Alec.

I think the best part about CLPP was the people. Every year we made new friends (like hippy hitchikers from Colorado or France) and had new adventures. There was always a few reoccurring themes though... 1) Get as many underagers as drunk as possible, 2) do as many illegal activities on park time/in park boats as possible, and 3) somehow get hired back the following the summer. Completion of all of these objectives often involved the most amazing pastime ever... night swimming. Whether is be in Kendrick's Park, on the day use beach, out at Hidden Cove, or down at the cabin, night swimming always took place (usually without many clothes on). And of course, the only song that properly sums up this activity is "Nightswimming" by R.E.M. (This song is also the song that Better Than Ezra refer to in 'A Lifetime' featured earlier; another A Bray info piece). This song just isn't the same without you Alec.

There also many hours of video footage from my time at CLPP. If you want to watch them I'll be more than happy to show them to you. Just be prepared for some tears and elaborate reenactments of stories. There are nothing but genuine smiles when I remember my time there.

Later days people.

It's Wednesday

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (The Mixtape Collective) — Wed, 4 May 2011 08:54:00 -0700

Hey.

Eighties Mixtape Volume II was initially in store for this week, but it's not happening. Not feelin' it. Today's just one of those days, you know?

This has been a fairly drab week so far, mostly due to the events and aftermath of Monday's election. I won't get into political opinions here, nuh uh, nope. You can formulate those yourselves. All I will say is this (get ready for a dumb story): One time in grade 12 we went on a class trip to Ottawa. Our crazy teacher had a husband in the NHL who somehow had connections with parliament, so we managed to schedule a little chitty chat with the Harpster himself. Lucky us. It must've been just after the 2006 election because I remember thinking it was cool to meet the Prime Minister. Then it turned out he was busy doing stuff that day (yeah, mhmm, likely brainstorming) but we still got to shake his hand on the way out. It was one of those gross/sissy wet noodle shakes. I hope you know what I mean, because if you've ever had the experience of a noodle hand, you know it's gross! And totally the opposite of cool, with the exception of his clammy hand which was literally cold. I think the best comparison is that frail old lady shake in Church, probably in July when her palm is sweating up a little rainstorm and there's no air conditioning. The whole hand-shaking thing during mass really took a hit post-SARS, but at least you're spreading peace in that case! Anyways, GOSH! The grip on that guy was blahhh, much like today... maybe he forgot to eat breakfast OR maybe he didn't give a care about meeting a buncha idiot highschoolies. We'll chalk it up to an off-day of sorts. In conclusion, the point of this story is that hopefully he's been using one of these since 2006:

If you can confirm, please let me know.

In other news, saw Tame Impala in Toronto on Sunday night. Awesome. Loud! The opening band was pretty good too, which was a pleasant surprise since we hadn't really heard them before. I love when that happens. Check out Yuck and a couple Tame Impala songs below for a little psychedelic fix. In unrelated but related-at-the-same-time news, Osama Bin Laden is allegedly dead (?). We found out mid-concert when the lead singer took a break to dedicate a song to him. This is when we also discovered that Tame Impala is Australian. Cool. You can't hear it in his singing voice at all-- don't you think it's weird how that works? I thought he might be kidding about Osama Bin Laden (which would be ruthless, I guess) but turns out he wasn't? Hmm. That will create another interesting bit of aftermath.

Enough with words for the day. Here are my contributions to the mixtaperoo this week:

Last but not least, this band is awesome: Megafun. They remind me a bit of CSNY.

That's all for now. Ta ta.

Love,
Tara xo

Majority Rule

jacksonr@uoguelph.ca (The Mixtape Collective) — Tue, 3 May 2011 10:36:00 -0700

Hey Y'all,

Remember when you were a kid and you and your buddies wanted to rent a movie and a couple dudes wanted to rent a boring ass documentary and you and your other friends wanted to rent awesome movies but none of the awesome friends could agree and thus your boring ass friends won and nobody enjoyed themselves. Yep.

This week's post is short. I've been kinda grumpy lately. Probably because I've been listening to heart breaking music. Take this one for example: To Live is to Fly by Townes Van Zandt. This is a song about death and loneliness without all the kitsch of Tim McGraw:

The next one made me quite happy this morning. It popped up on my facebook feed via a friend of a friend who can chug a pint of Guinness in under 5 seconds. It's simple and sparse and full of breath. Sara by Chad Van Galaan off of his upcoming release.

I'd like to end this post with a zip file offer. this is a playlist: Mixtape Collektion V.1. Enjoy

Rob