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2010-03-18T15:06:00.001-05:00

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Happy 2010

2010-01-09T14:01:00.004-06:00

Hello Blog. Welcome to a new year, a new decade.
I could say that I resolve to spend more time writing for you,
but why start breaking resolutions already. It's going to be a big year here (i.e. finishing the dissertation, moving on to other things and maybe places, growing, etc.) so I have plenty on my plate without feeling guilty about looking after you.

I'm actually still sifting through all the best-of-the-year lists that came out during the holidays. As much as I find it hard to a) remember every significant thing that happened over the course of a year and b) summarize those events cohesively and cogently, I still enjoy reading other people's re-caps and doing a bit of reminiscing in the process. (Though I should mention my supervisor's no-nonsense round up, which both explains the futility of rounding up and nails a few key categories for such an excercise).

This year, of course, there were twice as many lists to read since everyone felt compelled to provide best-of-the-decade wrap-ups as well. I'm still working on my favourite albums of the year and the last ten (and enjoying every minute of going back to music that's buried on my shelves or obscured in nested folders on my hard drive. I'll post 'em when I get a chance.

Until then, let's start the year off by looking forward. The National Post has an Arts & Culture blog called The Ampersand. They ran a series called "Canadian Futures" where they asked a random smattering of "Canadian mcritics, bloggers and mega-fans" to answer this:

"If you were buying stocks in music, which up and coming Canadian musical act would you invest in?"

Midnight Poutine was asked for an opinion so I chimed in. Of course, if the current state of my finances are any indication, no one should be taking buying advice from me. Still, the whole piece is worth a read since it highlights some well-known and lesser-known emerging Canadian indie acts.

Enjoy:

Cdn Futures - Part 1
Cdn Futures - Part 2
Cdn Futures - Part 3

Hottest Bands in Canada 2009

2009-10-30T12:46:00.000-05:00

This year marks the 5th edition for i(heart)music’s “Hottest Bands in Canada” poll. Happily, I was asked to chime in again. It’s a pretty straightforward process…dozens of the country’s top music writers, journalists and bloggers are invited to submit a ranked top 10 list of the hottest Canadian acts (bands or solo artists) in 2009, with both “hottest” and “Canadian” up to the individual writers’ discretion.

If you’ve been following my Polaris posts, you’ll recognize some of the names on this list. But the good thing about the Hottest Bands poll is that you can take chances on a few up and coming acts. I highly recommend you check out the full list…as in the past few years, it is a solid list of Canadian indie-rock (with a touch of hip hop, francophonie and Leonard Cohen). I also want to stress that just because Reverie Sound Revue didn’t make the official poll, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t check their new album out. It is gorgeous.

Kudos to i(heart)music for his diligent work on this poll and on his almost daily reviews of great Canadian music.

10. Metric
After Live it Out, I thought Metric was just going to keep making albums that reminded me of how great they could have been. Fantasies gets me back to what I loved about their earlier tunes and gives me hope that they’ve still got a lot more solid songs left in them. The band has attitude, grit, and an album full of catchy hooks.

9. Andrew Vincent
I know Dan Mangan just won the Verge award for best artist, and that he should probably get the nod for hottest singer songwriter in Canada right now (and Nice Nice Very Nice is solid). But Andrew Vincent’s Rotten Pear is a witty and wry collection of sonic stories and musical memories that shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s understated and self-depricating. Sure, it doesn’t scream out “Hottest In Canada”, but that’s the point. How very Canadian.

8. Think About Life
Think About Life, Clues, and Parlovr are duelling it out for the title of Montreal indie act that’s on the cusp of breaking big. They all had great albums this year, but the one I keep going back to is Think About Life’s Family. You can’t have this album on and not smile/move your hips. If you can, then you are officially and old crusty bastard.

7. La Patère Rose
Coeur de Pirate was leading my list of top franco acts all year, and then, out of nowhere, La Patère Rose snuck up and unseated her. This album is a wild blend of genres and styles, but overall it’s wonderfully happy, dancey and fun.

6. Braids
As far as I know, this band is from Calgary but going to school here in Montreal. They mix indie and noise and experimental stuff in an impressively accessible way. One of their songs showed up in my inbox earlier this year, thanks to a friend, and my email program was literally happier for the next 4 months.

5. Belle Orchestre
As Seen Through Windows is a monumental instrumental journey. This band understands exactly how powerful dynamics are in making layered, thoughtful music.

4. Ohbijou
While we’re talking about beauty, I’d be remiss not to include Oh Bijou’s second full length album Beacons. Ohbijou has the market cornered on melancholy, orchestral epic, ballads. They do what they do well and they just keep getting better.

3. Reverie Sound Revue
The sheer fact that RSR released an album means that I had to include it on my list. The fact that it is full of wonderful sounds and songs is icing on the cake. I was bowled over by the band’s EP in 2003. The long long long awaited follow up reminds me exactly why. It’s delicate and catchy and gorgeously put together. Although they aren’t really a “band” (no tours, not even any “real” shows), they are still the hottest.

2. Timber Timbre
I’m so excited for winter because this album is going to be my soundtrack for the cold frozen months when the days are mostly dark and spooky. This unsettling, crooning self-titled album is easily one of my favourite discoveries of the year.

1. Bruce Peninsula.
I’ve made no secret of my unnatural love for this band this year. A Mountain is a Mouth is a religious experience. I’m a convert.

Hit Machines

2009-10-24T13:56:00.002-05:00

Two articles worth reading together:

Rob Walker on Pandora in the New York Times and an older piece from Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker. Both are about tech companies working to “predict” artistic tastes based on the formal characteristics of the art in question. The first is about music, the second is about film; but both deal with the problem of trying to use objective measures to make sense of subjective judgements.

Pandora has come a long way since its inception and I genuinely enjoy it as a way of finding out about new music (though I’ve used it less since there was a crackdown on Canadian user a little while back). Still, the connections it makes between songs and artists is at least worth using as part of a wider strategy of finding out about new music. The film story line prediction service Gladwell talks about seems a little less scientific. I’m not sure why music strikes me as easier to codify than film, but I guess where ever there’s money to be made from making the subjective more objective, then companies like Pandora or Epagogix will be trying to figure out the formula.

As Walker points out though, and as anyone who’s read Carl Wilson’s Let’s Talk About Love knows, trying to get rid of the cultural and social baggage that comes with art is ultimately a futile process. Pandora’s model rests on the belief that people’s music tastes should be based on purely musical attributes. Forget what your friends like, what the latest mp3 blogs recommend, or what Pitchfork said. Pandora thinks this shouldn’t matter when making musical decisions. But we’re social creatures at heart and we express our sociality through art. Stripping music, or film, or books of all the cultural infrastructure that gets built up around them might lead us to interesting musical discoveries, but there’s no art to it. It’s pure science.

Scene Building

2009-10-09T14:41:00.003-05:00

As part of all the post-pop Montreal reviews this week, the following link made it's way into my inbox. It's a story that rounds up the top 5 "emerging" acts in Montreal right now. I don't really have much to say about the content of the list. The artists are all talented and worth a listen, though just like the rest of the Pop Montreal schedule, it's a pretty fractional and partial list of the various kinds of music the city has to offer. The fact that the list is there at all is what I found more interesting. If you've ever read my thoughts on the branding of the Montreal scene, you'll know that Spin played an influential role in shaping the discourse around music in Montreal a few years ago, back when the Arcade Fire were taking off. 5 years later, it's a much more fractured media and musical landscape and it seems to me that while the idea of a scene is still very powerful, how it plays out in reality is becoming ever more diffuse.

Maybe I had scenes on the mind last night when I attended the premiere of a friend's new documentary film: Taqwacore: The Birth of Islam Punk. The movie "follows the progression of the Muslim Punk scene: from its imaginary inception in a novel written by a white-convert named Michael Muhammad Knight to a full-blown, real-life scene of Muslim punk bands and their fans." My friend spent spent three years documenting taqwacore (Taqwa = "god consciousness" + Core) bands and concerts across the U.S. and Pakistan, catching glimpses as he went of the many and complicated faces of contemporary Islam. Oh, he also was there when a line up of taqwacore acts shocked the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America in Chicago with a frenetic concert that ended with hundreds of conservative Muslims fleeing the building and the cops showing up to shut the event down (easily one of the film's best scenes).

Throughout the film, I kept thinking about what it meant for the idea of "scenes" in cultural and communication studies, since here was a scene that was imagined before it was real. It's almost as if the scene needed a blueprint before it could exist. Michael Knight, the author who penned the original Taqwacores manifesto/fiction, is an active participant throughout the film, and it's clear he's had a role in actively building and maintaining this scene/community. The film (and its director) are now also playing their part in solidifying the idea of taqwacore. In a certain sense, the film itself is both a product of and a contribution to the ongoing evolution of the taqwacore scene.

All this is to say the movie is as much about music and Islam as it is about the way ideas migrate from place to place and person to person. Taqwacore and the cultural footsteps it leaves behind mean something different for each of the people who follow it.

Speaking Out On Copyright

2009-09-11T14:05:00.003-05:00

I just finished my submission to the copyright consultations the government is currently holding. If you haven't had your say yet, there's still two days left. Check out Michael Geist's Speak Out on Copyright site (loaded with background info and and resources) then fire off an an email or a form letter .

For the record, here's my submission.
Pardon the length (and a bit of histrionics), apparently I had a lot to say:

***
Dear Ministers Clement and Moore.
Dear Internet.

Thank you for taking the time and (considerable) effort it took to open consultations on this matter to the public. It's good to see the government embracing new means for communicating with the public and seeking input from its citizens. Sadly, the last time copyright revisions were addressed (Bill C-61), the process was neither open, nor accessible, nor transparent to the general public. Subsequently, the resulting draft legislation was out of touch with the realities of of how most Canadians use and encounter copyright in their daily lives. I hope that the effort that you made in these consultations is not just an end but a means to seek wider public feedback on a consistent and regular basis *throughout* the entirety of process of the crafting of this new legislation. You've started a valuable discussion. Don't cut the conversation short.

*How do Canada’s copyright laws affect you?*
How doesn't copyright law affect me, all of us, is perhaps a more apt question. Take a look at just a fraction of the things with which I am involved: I am a PhD student at one of Canada's universities. I am a researcher who needs frequent and regular access to information, materials I hope will always be *accessible*. I am a teacher in Communication and Media Studies who just taught his first class and hopes to teach many more. My classes rely heavily on media and technology, examples from everyday life, which often include copyright materials that I need to share with students in order to illustrate course concepts. I am a writer who publishes research and understands that both creators and the audience have rights. I am a member of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences (and I stand by their statement, for the most part). I am a blogger who works collaboratively with over 20 other writers to create a website devoted to highlighting local culture/arts/events in my city. I am a podcaster, a musician, a producer of multimedia content, designations that thanks to new technologies and cultural practices, apply to more and more Canadians every day. I am a creator and consumer, a teacher and a learner, a producer and a user. A citizen.

*Based on Canadian values and interests, how should copyright changes be made in order to withstand the test of time?*
Balance. It's an interesting word isn't it. I've heard it from parties on all sides of the copyright debate. I've heard the members of the recording and movie industry associations speak of balance as they ask for greater powers to sue consumers they believe are infringing their copyrighted materials just as I've heard pirates call for balance as they pilfer works with the intention of re-selling them for a profit. After all, who's going to stand up against balance? What we need is true balance. A balance that is built on the *respect and understanding* that comes from realizing *copyright affects us all*. This is a big, messy boat we are in, with lots of competing interests. Let's not put all the weight on one side and sink this ship.

*What sorts of copyright changes do you believe would best foster innovation and creativity in Canada, foster competition and investment in Canada and best position Canada as a leader in the global, digital economy?*
I am not a lawyer, nor can I claim to know the intricacies of copyright law. I do know there are certain principles that must guide any attempt to reform copyright, especially considering the fast-paced changes that are taking place in the fields touched by copyright legislation.

- Canada needs legislation that is technologically neutral, that is to say a law that allows for technological innovation and non-infringing uses of technology to flourish. Specifying certain technologies or business models will result in an act that is outdated before it even comes into effect.

- Canada needs to expand and clarify fair dealing. The fair dealing clause is just as important to the researcher making photocopies in the library as it is to the father who uses his favourite song as the soundtrack for a home video he's making for his son's birthday. Both use copyrighted materials to create something new, something beautiful, something special. Ideas don't exist in a vacuum. They need to interact with other ideas to flourish. More practically, the fair dealing clause needs to address the myriad of ways consumers now deal with their digital goods (i.e. technologies that allow users to shift the time, devices, and formats in which they consumer media), other outstanding areas like parody, satire, non-commercial use, and multiple back up copies of data and media content.

- Canada needs to reject the creation of digital enclosures (specifically through technological protection measures). The transition to digital formats of goods and services brings with it new codes and conventions for the use of those goods. Legislation must, where possible, not support or enhance punitive digital rights management and technological protection measures. If the U.S. experiences with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act are any indication, this is NOT a path down which Canada wants to tread. Legislation that allows companies to punish consumers for their fair use of media, or makers of technology that promote non-infringing uses (such as circumvention technologies) is simply a further limit to creativity and innovation.

- Canada needs to stop worrying about pressure form various U.S. lobby groups that want to label us as a piracy haven. Seriously, this is a waste of time, and the laws that have come out of such lobbying efforts (see the anti-camcording law enacted last year) are nothing more than political pacifiers. We have the opportunity to do something unique and different with the revisions to our copyright act, to be leaders not followers. Let's not squander it by walking in footsteps that lead nowhere (DMCA).

- Canada needs to protect the rights of its creators (though not indefinitely, and not to the extent that society is worse off for it). We need a vibrant information commons for innovative ideas to surface. Copyrights that last for decades after the death of the creator rob the public of a chance to comment and build upon the work of the past. Culture builds on itself. Don't take away the hammer and nails. Allow creators the chance to profit from their work, then let culture profit from making that work accessible. The new copyright act should also recognize the legitimacy of other forms of alternative licensing (such as Creative Commons license).

- Finally, in determining the penalties for copyright violations, make sure these are aimed at reducing large-scale commercial piracy. Suing individual consumers for millions of dollars for downloading dozens of songs (see the case of Jammie Thomas or Joel Tenenbaum) - or enacting legislation that allows for such disproportionate penalties to be enforced - is an insult to our legal system. I am not suggesting we condone clearly infringing behaviours (nor am I suggesting that I am convinced that file sharing is an infringing behaviour). But let's match the punishment with the actual damages done.

I initially thought a fun way compile this submission would have been to cut and paste and mash up quotes from the numerous public submissions on your own copyright consultation site. I had hoped that it might somehow show you the value, creativity, and art that can arise from flexible fair dealing, balanced copyright, and unique uses of new technology. But ultimately, it's up to you to do the remixing. Submissions close in a few days and there are undoubtedly countless hours of text, video and audio for you to sift through. Thousands of people have taken up your call to speak out. They have contributed their voices to the project.

Put on your headphones. Find the right mix.

Jeremy Morris.

There Can Be Only One

2009-06-26T11:43:00.000-05:00

At 10pm last night, I was at my desk with sweat rolling off my brow (and arms and hands). It could have been because it was plus 30 here and muggy. I thought the thunder and lightning earlier in the evening would break the humidity, but they were too brief to provide real relief. Even the storm seemed scared away by the heat.

On the other hand, the perspiration could also have been because I had two hours left to submit my final Polaris prize ballot. At Midnight last night (Jun. 25), Polaris headquarters began compiling the votes one more time. The only difference this time is that the ballots could only include artists from the long list. The 10 artists that get the most votes are officially on the short list, which will be announced on July 7th.

After my fifth place pick from the first ballot didn't make it (Years - S/T), I re-evaluated who should get the last spot. Rather than just slide in my number 6 choice, I re-listened to all 40 discs as much as I could in the last 3 weeks.

And I'm glad I did. Some albums I had dismissed grew on me, others reminded me why I hadn't included them on my first ballot.

La Patère Rose was probably the biggest gainer, moving up several spots on my list with a genre-bending collection of tunes that might just rival Think About Life's Family for the album of the summer.

I also got re-acquainted with Tim Hecker's gorgeous soundscape, An Imaginary Country. It's an album unlike any other on the long list, a wash of synthesized feedback that's incredibly serene, once you let it soak in. But underneath the noise, the melodies in songs like "Borderlands" or "Currents of Electrostasy" are as pretty as anything you'd find on more traditional albums (i.e. ones with lyrics, voices, choruses etc.)

As time was running out though, three albums were fighting it out in my itunes. Rae Spoon's Superioryouareinferior
a tough and gritty set of songs that puts an alternative spin on growing up in the prairies, D-Sisive's moody hip hop smackdown Let The Children Die (if you didn't get enough ruminations on death from Chad Van Gaalen, this is the album for you), and Belle Orchestre's As Seen Through Windows.

When the clock struck, Belle Orchestre got the final nod. The album stomps in like an elephant with the lumbering "Stripes" (which is followed by the aptly named "Elephants"), and the range of moods it creates over the following fifty some minutes is remarkable. At times triumphant, at times haunting, Belle Orchestre even manages to pull off both at once (listen to creepy strings and happy horns intermingle at 4:18 of Elephants). Regardless of what mood they're playing with, they live up to their name.

So there you have it. My first Polaris adventure comes to a close. Now I can stop worrying about ranking and just get back to enjoying the music.

Coda: The storms continued throughout the night. It seemed fitting considering the sad news earlier in the evening that Michael Jackson, the king of pop and sheer weirdness, had passed. As one of my fellow midnight poutiners joked: "This is God crying for MJ".

Going Coastal: Coming Home

2009-06-15T12:36:00.001-05:00

I just got back from a whirlwind few days in Halifax. Early mornings at the conference and late nights at the extra-curricular activities (which included a metal show, a living room folk gig, a pop rock show at a church benefit and a local punk show) made for a very tired me.

It was well worth the exhaustion though. The panels were excellent and the group is filled with friendly and bright scholars from all over the place. For anyone interested in the nerdy details, there are a few summary posts on the conference blog.

Now it's back to work on the dissertation, and trying to figure out how to cram in a new idea brought up by a question during my presentation. Paul Aitken asked me what it means when metadata, especially in cases where it lives outside of the product (like the CD Database), can act on music. Traditionally, the metadata for an album was fixed (in liner notes, album art etc.). In computers, that data is potentially in always in flux (users are continually adding new information, some of which it's not always correct). Paul wondered whether there's an implication for the digital music file if it's information sort of has a life of its own.

It's a good insight, and one I wanted to start thinking about this morning. Unfortunately, I got distracted by the announcement of the Polaris Long list. Not surprisingly, my dark horse pick didn't make it. But there's 40 great Canadian albums that did, one of which will get the $20,000 prize (and the rumoured "polaris effect" bump in sales that goes along with it.

I have until early July to finalize another ballot, this time only with artists from the long list. That means there's a lot more listening to do and a lot more tough decisions to make.

Going Coastal: Live and Mediated

2009-06-12T06:09:00.001-05:00

Halifax welcomed me with a torrent of rain. Let's hope the climate at the conference, which starts today, is a little more accommodating. If it's anything like last year's IASPM-CA (International Association for the Study of Popular Music) conference in Guelph, I have nothing to worry about.

This years' conference is called Going Coastal: Peripheries and Centres in Popular Music, and the program looks great. I've been "recruited" (along with a few others, I hope?) to blog about the conference; to create some kind of lasting document for the ages or until the link over at the conference site breaks. Over the next few days, I'll be providing recaps of some of the panels and events at the conference.

Going Coastal: Peripheries and Centres in Popular Music

For anyone interested in following/contributing to the conference conversation a little more immediately - because all of a sudden, daily updates aren't immediate enough - I've also started a searchable feed on twitter...just look for the hash tag #goingcoastal

Off to the keynote...“Popular Music Studies: A Dialogue Across the Disciplines”

Polarity

2009-06-07T20:35:00.006-05:00

It's Midnight and the 175+ jurors for the Polaris Music Prize have just submitted their first ballot. The Polaris prize is Canada's version of the U.K.'s Mercury Prize; it's an award given to the Canadian artist that has released the best album of the year, regardless of silly criteria that govern other awards (like sales, genre, label etc.). Like the Mercury prize, the Polaris has been helpful in shining a spotlight on some of Canada's great but somewhat hidden talents, (though like it's U.K. cousin, it's also tended to focus primarily on indie rock, vaguely defined). Check the winners and nominees for 2006, 2007, and 2008 to see what I mean.

Thanks to my involvement with Midnight Poutine, I got to be part of this year's jury. It's been a great experience, musicologically and sociologically. Each panel member gets to pick their 5 top albums (anything released by a Canadian artist between June 1 2008, and May 31, 2009) and in the process they are exposed to 100+ jury-suggested albums (not to mention other albums they come across). Most of the music is instantly likable, some of it is completely forgettable.

Besides the musical benefits (I've personally found dozens of new bands that I'm now hooked on), being on the panel of pickers is also a wonderful little sociological experiment in taste (and therefore class) and list-ology. The science behind lists is always fuzzy. And it gets even more interesting when you throw the choice out to a group of journalists and bloggers whose job it is to write about their tastes on a regular basis. I felt a bit like a fish out of water, or rather, a fish in water that was a lot deeper than expected.

Ultimately it was a fun and difficult process. My top 4 picks were pretty easy; I'd fallen in love with these albums as soon as I laid my ears on them and they only got better with subsequent listens. But that #5 spot was really difficult to fill.

After everyone submits their ballots tonight, the good people at Polaris headquarters start compiling the votes. Next week they'll release a long list of 40 albums. On July 7th, the list gets culled down to a Top Ten (a.k.a the Polaris shortlist).

In the meantime, here's my top 5 ballot, and 8 more great albums that I wanted to include but couldn't. Enjoy them as much as I have.

1. Bruce Peninsula - A Mountain is a Mouth
Along with pick #2, this is one of the most unique sounding albums I've heard all year. I haven't gone to church in years, but I would reconsider if the services sounded like this. I don't want to call this gospel-folk, but it definitely takes its cues from choirs and hymns. Give it a chance: A Mountain is a Mouth will eat its way into your soul. Key Track - Shutters

2. Timber Timbre - Timber Timbre
I've read about 15 reviews of this album and I'm still not sure anyone has accurately captured what makes Timber Timbre's self-titled disc so unbearably listenable. Taylor Kirk gets described as minimalist, psychedelic, ghostly, bluesy, and folky and these are all true. But there's something special - I think it's in the tone of his voice - that has kept this album on constant repeat on my stereo. It's both soothing and gut-wrenching at the same time, if that's possible. Key Track - Until the Night is Over

3. Chad Van Gaalen - Soft Airplane
Readers of this blog (or friends who've been subjected to my mix cds) will hardly be surprised to see Chad Van Gaalen on this list. They might be surprised to see that the Calgary folkie/twisted songwriter only made it to number 3, but that's probably just because I'm less obsessed about his music now (on his 3rd album) than I was a few years ago. Still, this is Van Gaalen's most consistent and cohesive album to date. It's also probably his eeriest and most disturbing, which says a lot of you know his work. He's writing and singing about death, but that doesn't stop him from delivering catchy melodies and ear-pleasing harmonies (seriously, how does Willow Tree make me smile while singing about burning bodies?). He definitely deserves another shot at the prize (his last album almost won the Polaris in 2008). Key Track - City of Electric Light

4. Land of Talk - Some are Lakes
There was a slew of great Montreal acts to choose from this year but no CD saw more spins for me than Land of Talk. Lead singer Liz Powell's voice is heartbreaking. The crunchy guitar and bass riffs can be mean and edgy when needed (Corner Phone still scares me for the first 15 seconds), and they can slow it down to perfection (It's Okay plods along only to reveal one of the most well-written choruses I've heard in years). Key Track - Some Are Lakes

5. Years - Years
Three instrumental albums were vying for the fifth spot: Torngat's La Petite Nicole, Belle Orchestre's As Seen Through Windows, and Years. My darkhorse pick won't likely make it to the long list, and that's a shame. Years is Ohad Benchetrict's solo debut (he's also in Do Make Say Think and a contributor to Broken Social Scene and other A&C acts) and I'm hoping people will enjoy it more as they sit with it longer (it only came out a month ago). I described it on the polaris discussion board as a wonderful mess. It shifts styles/moods pretty frequently but it never veers too far from sounds that DMST or BSS explore. There's stripped down acoustic guitar loops and full on cinematic explosions. Either way, it's a pretty arresting piece of post rock. Key Track - Don't Let the Blind Go Deaf

Consolation Prizes
Clues - Clues
Montreal had an embarrassingly solid amount of discs in the selection pool this year. Clues, Parlovr, Belle Orchestre, Think About Life, Malajube, La Patere Rose and on and on. Pick one...they're all great.

Coeur de Pirate - Coeur de Pirate
I was looking for a francophone album as solid as Karkwa's or Bonjour Brumaire's releases last year and I couldn't find one. This album came close and it just missed my top 5. I have no doubt it will make it to the longlist.

Andrew Vincent - Rotten Pear
A songwriter's songwriter, Andrew Vincent is honest, witty, and touching on Rotten Pear.

Metric - Fantasies
This album reminds me of what I loved about Metric's breakthrough Old World Underground. It's straight up infectious rock.

Hey Rosetta - Into Your Lungs (and in through your heart and into your blood)
There was something too overly dramatic about this disc to get it a spot in my top 5, but I keep catching myself humming the melodies.

D-Sisive - Let the Children Die
I was looking for a hip hop album as good as Shad's Old Prince. D-Sisive's menacing hip hop came close.

Rae Spoon - Superior You Are Inferior
I can't say enough good things about this album. Rae Spoon's an amazing writer and has an ear for melody.

Rock Plaza Central - ...at the Moment of our Most Needing or If Only They Could Turn Around, They Would Know They Weren't Alone
Pretentious album title aside, these guys make wonderfully eclectic folk tunes. This album doesn't have the novelty of Are We Not Horses, but it's got some deeper musical moments on it.

The Sounds of Stress

2009-04-27T08:48:00.002-05:00

I'm sitting at the front of a room in the physics building, listening. It's exam time here at McGill and today, students in my COMS330 course are writing their final exam. What's taking place in front of me is happening across campus; the sounds of stress are ringing out in almost all available classrooms and lecture halls.

There are 90 students writing the COMS330exam, split into two rooms. And while the noise level is a lot quieter than I've ever heard from this group all semester, it's by no means quiet.

Ambient room noises reverberate much more than they should. The room, mostly concrete, plastic, and fake wood, bounces inside sounds around and keeps outside sounds out. The humming and rumbling of the air conditioner is loud and annoying, if only in its constancy. Then there's the worried shuffling of papers, the sniffling of noses, and the hmmms, hawws and sighs from students that are only audible because there are few other sounds to mask them.

The two grad students supervising the exam are walking up and down the aisle, ruffling their clothes and shoes as they do. And every time I move to answer a question, I tip toe as quietly as a tap dancer.

Over the last 4 months, I had hoped to get more reports up about the course, the students and the whole experiment that was COMS330. Instead, all the time I had went into the class. It was an exhausting but rewarding experience and I'm already thinking about what to do (and not do) the next time I give this course.

Thanks to the students who made this semester such a great experience for me. If they learned even a quarter of what I did, then I'll be happy. After spending the better part of this week marking, I'll return to my much ignored dissertation. And subject myself to my own sounds of stress.

COMS 330 - The Experiment Begins

2009-01-02T14:25:00.005-06:00

I haven't mentioned it before here, but I'm teaching a course this winter at McGill called Media in Cultural Life. It's a course about what it means to live in a media culture: a society so infused with media that it is hard to understand outside of its various media. It's a crash course in the theories and methodologies of cultural studies and media studies.

In case anyone is interested, I've posted the reading list here. I may also post some screencasts of the lectures, time permitting. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Reading_List_Media_in_Cultural_Life.pdf

Hottest Bands in Canada 2008

2008-11-07T10:33:00.006-06:00

Oh hello blog. You thought I forgot about you, didn't you? Sure, I may have been devoting my attention elsewhere, but you still hold a special place in my heart. And I promise to pay more attention to you in the next little while.

Helping me break the silence was another round of the Hottest Bands in Canada poll. For those who didn't follow my post last year, iheart music - an insightful and perceptive Canadian music blog - releases a yearly list of the "Hottest Bands in Canada". It's actually a meta-list, since iheart solicits lists from dozens of bloggers coast-to-coast. Everyone sends in their top ten hottest bands (with the definition of "hot" and "canadian" up to the individual blogger) and iheart compiles the result into a 33-band round-up.

Like the bloggers it polls, the list is a tad biased towards English indie rock (especially from Eastern Canada), but it's a pretty decent snapshot of what's happening in Canadian music this year. We could debate who made the cut (or who didn't), but ultimately the list is more useful when used as a way to discover a few talented domestic acts that may have escaped our ears this year.

The full list is here and well worth a read (as is the list of bands who got votes but didn't make the top 33).

And finally, here's my top ten, with honourable mentions.

Honourable Mentions (i.e. bands that were hot but I didn't pay enough attention to: Radio Radio, tUNE yARDS, Two Hours Traffic, Black Hat Brigade, and Holy Fuck)

10. Céline Dion
Between Carl Wilson's book (Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste) and the big Quebec City anniversary bash, it's hard to keep Céline off this list. Although it goes against any kind of indie aesthetic the "Hottest Bands in Canada" list may be trying to cultivate, starting off with Céline is probably ok now that Wilson has explained our culture's troubled relationship with her. And hey, maybe mainstream is the new indie.

9. Mother Mother
I had heard snippets from this West-coast crew's debut album, but it wasn't until seeing them live at this year's Pop Montreal festival (promoting their follow-up) that I felt they deserved a spot on this prestigious list. Great energy, great harmonies and a batch of songs that stick in your head like gum.

8. Women
Women's debut album took me a while to get into. In fact, I thought I hated it for the bulk of 2008. I'm glad I stuck with it though. There's some insane guitar work in their tunes and the lo-fi production on it actually makes Women sound different than a lot of current Canadian indie-rock.

7. Shad
Rapping about being broke and otherwise inadequate is awesome. Other people have tried it (Andy Samberg, Jon Lajoie I'm looking at you) but Shad nails it.

6. Tokyo Police Club
As far as critical acclaim goes, TPC weren't hot this year. Their album was tepidly received at best, frigidly at worst. Despite being pumped about their previous EP, journalists and bloggers turned on TPC faster than Sarah Palin can say the word "maverick". People wanted TPC to be the next great saviours of rock. But what got lost in the midst of all the talk about how they weren't is the fact that Elephant Shell is a damn good, tight rock album.

5. Karkwa
Karkwa - who walked away with 3 GAMIQ awards this year - are usually referred to as the French Radiohead. I think that's just what Anglos say to convince other Anglos that it's ok to listen to francophone music. Take two or three listens to their beautiful Le Volume du Vent and you'll realize that they don't need to be compared to anything to convince you they are worth the time.

4. Born Ruffians
The opening notes and words of this album make me immensely happy. I start marching around the house, singing the national anthem of a country that only exists in my imagination. I thought this band was a one-trick pony; I owe them a beer for my mistake.

3. Land of Talk
This vote may reflect a bit of recency effect, since Some Are Lakes was just released. Still, I can't stop singing the title track. The other songs on the CD aren't as sing-a-ble, but producer Bon Iver has helped LOT craft an honest, straight-up exercise in no-bullshit rock.

2. Chad Van Gaalen
Chad Van Gaalen is a weird dude. I doubt his latest album will change that perception, since Soft Airplane is obsessed with death and other depressing and odd topics. Still, the album is one of his most complex to date; a lonely trip into Chad's head and basement studio.

1. Plants and Animals
Fuck Caribou. Not really. I mean, you shouldn't do that to animals and Andorra is actually a decent disc. I just don't think it deserved the Polaris. Parc Avenue, on the other hand, did. I can barely count the number of times I listened to this album this year.

Radiohead addendum: Quick Math

2007-11-08T08:16:00.000-06:00

Comscore, an Internet measurment company, released a report earlier this week detailing some data from Radiohead's pay-what-you-can marketing stunt. Here's a quick recap:

1.2 million people visited the site in Oct.
62% of people paid nothing.
38% paid something.
Of that 38%, the average paid was $6.

Coverage of the report has been predictably skewed, with many - including the report's titular jab at freeloading - concluding that the experiment was a failure, that the poor results confirm that the tip jar model just doesn't work.

Here's some quick math:

- 38% of 1.2 million paying $6 = $2,736,000 (almost all of which goes to the band)

Or, factoring in the 62% who paid nothing, the average price people paid was $2.26:
- 1.2 million paying $2.26 = $2,712,000

Hail to the Thief sold 300,000 in its first week. If it continued at that pace for the whole month (which it didn't), that gives about 1.2 million. Or, for even more fun, let's assume that Radiohead could sell as much as Kanye West's Graduation (which it couldn't, Graduation was the highest selling album in 4 years). It moved 957,000 units in it's first week. It moved 226,000 the week after. It continued to decline. Again, 1.2 million in the first month is a good guess (but incredibly high estimate for CD sales).

- 1.2 Million units at $15 - $18,000,000

Of course, not all of that goes to the band. Usually bands get a 10-15% cut. Higher, obviously, for bigger bands.

- 18 million with 15% cut = 2.7 million
- 18 million with 20% cut = 3.6 million

Set aside the fact that Radiohead was doing this as a publicity stunt, some pre-hype for their upcoming CD release. Even at 38% pay what you can, the band made about as much as if they had released it traditionally. Sure, being Radiohead, they may have gotten more than a 20% cut. But, being Radiohead, they probably wouldn't have sold 1.2 million physical copies of their album anyway.

Hottest Bands in Canada

2007-11-03T07:59:00.000-05:00

So this was kinda fun.
For the last three years, iheartmusic, one of the better mp3 blogs out there (and Canadian too), has been compiling a list of the hottest Canadian bands. Earlier this month, I got asked to be part of the loosely formed panel of 30 plus bloggers that gets brought together (virtually) to nominate artists for the list. Each voter gets 10 suggestions; the definition of what counts as hot and what counts as Canadian were up to the individual reviewer.

iheart then had the good heart to sift through the hundreds of nominees and rank them. The result is a top 33 list of bands you may know or maybe should know. Like any list of this sort, its not perfect. And it definitely skews to English indie crowds. But it's a pretty good summary of who's been kickin' musical ass in the last year and a testament to how much good music there is in Canada right now (especially when you consider the dozens of bands that could have just as easily made the cut).

I could spend this post doing a meta commentary on the influence (or lack thereof) of mp3 blogs in the critical chain. But that would probably be boring. Instead, I'll share with you my top ten (which may also be boring), and the reasons I included them.

A few notes: I didn't vote for the Arcade Fire, since I knew they'd make the list without my help. I'm a bit sad that the Most Serene Republic and Do Make Say Think didn't make the cut, since their 07 albums are easily as good or better than anything else on the list. And if someone can explain to me what everyone sees or hears in Basia Bulat, please do. She reminds me of a female Kermit the frog.

10. Patrick Watson
Overrated? Maybe. Hot in 07? Undeniably. One of my favourite musical memories in 2006 was randomly stumbling upon Watson and co. playing in a tiny outdoor park on the corner of St. Laurent and Rachel, Watson's voice soaring over the twilight traffic. For that show alone, I'm glad 2007 was good to them.

9. David Myles
This may be a throwaway vote, but David Myles had a good year, racking up a few songwriting awards and an ECMA "rising star" nomintation. His raspy blues-folk may be a bit too saccharine for the indie blogosphere, but if his next album is as solid on guitar plucking and storytelling as Things Have Changed, then 2008 should be a good year too.

8. Rock Plaza Central
After getting rave reviews from the Pitchfork gods for their equine-themed 2006 album (Are We Not Horses), Rock Plaza Central spent most of 2007 touring and spreading their twisted rock/folk goodness to fortunate citizens. I don't know if that qualifies as hot or not, so I've left them at #8.

7. Miracle Fortress
If there was a summer album for the sunny days of 07, it's Five Roses. Graham Van Pelt's solo project beams with shiny sounds. If you put this album on, and fail to smile, there is something wrong with your central nervous system.

6. Oh Bijou
I think this band just missed the cut on your list last year. So I'm pushing for their inclusion this year. I think I'm a sucker for strings. In 07, you could find Oh Bijou showing off their beautiful debut Swift Feet for Troubling Times (2006) and previewing songs from, what sounds like it will be, a stunning follow up. Oh Bijou makes songs that help the moon go to sleep at night.

5. Great Lake Swimmers
There must be something in the water. Great Lake Swimmer's contribution to 2007, Ongiara, is as vast and scenic as the country it describes. Tony Dekker's metaphors run deep. The album sounds like it came from the ground.

4. Feist
In a year of incredibly mediocre highly anticipated followups (Arcade Fire, Bloc Party) it's refreshing that Reminder is not only solid the whole way through, but even more enchanting than Let it Die. Her voice still reigns supreme. "1 2 3 4" is so catchy it may even be able to withstand the unbelievable overplay it's getting from iPod commercials.

3. Do Make Say Think
Who needs lyrics when you make music like this? Not only did DMST put on some monumental shows in 07, their album, You, You're a History in Rust, crashes my iTunes with its awesomeness. Post-rock and hot don't usually go together, so why don't we just call DMST post-hot.

2. The Most Serene Republic
This band is too all-over-the-map to ever be a really hot band. But their latest album has massive, messy moments that deserve your attention. They will be the new mayors of broken social scene ville, should BSS continue splintering off solo albums.

1. Chad VanGaalen
Even Patrick Watson thought Chad VanGaalen should have won the Polaris. But, CVG has been under appreciated for years, particularly here in Montreal (his shows at small clubs rarely come close to selling out). Hopefully the polaris nomination (and his stunning performance at the award show) brings this haunting and oddball signer-songwriter some much deserved respect.

Honorable mentions (or bands that were hot but I never got into enough to talk about with any credibility on this list: Plants and Animals, Besnard Lakes, Sunset Rubdown, Julie Doiron)

Crisitunity

2007-10-20T07:02:00.000-05:00

Lisa Simpson: “Look on the bright side, Dad. Did you know that the Chinese use the same word for ‘crisis’ as they do for ‘opportunity?’”

Homer Simpson: “Yes. ‘Crisitunity!’”

Sorry. I know that quote is overused, but I saw a repeat of that episode recently and it still makes me laugh.

Chris Anderson, he of Wired Magazine and Long Tail fame, has some informative numbers on the music industry posted on his blog today. The figures are yet another reminder that the current "crisis" is only afflicting a fraction of the players involved in the music industry. It just so happens to be the fraction who has the most to lose and the fraction who has the political and (dwindling) economic clout to make the most noise about it.

Just as interesting as Anderson's figures are the numbers posted in the comments section from (presumably) someone at CD Baby, an online distributor of physical CDs for independent artists. I'm sure that data from people purchasing CDs at gigs, if anyone is tracking this, would also support this overall argument. It's not that people aren't buying CDs, they're just not buying them from the places the major labels want them to (and where reliable data can be gathered).

Anderson is not the first to remind us that the music industry is more than just the sale of recorded CDs, but it's worth bearing this in mind when anyone mentions the current state of the music. The technologies of music making and music listening are changing, so are the practices through which people incorporate music into their lives. It's not surprising that the make up of the music industry should shift along with it.

Radiohead Addendum

2007-10-17T09:19:00.000-05:00

Here's a range of commentary on Radiohead's marketing plans:

The first, is a fairly generic article from two weeks ago, talking about how the band is changing the rules of the game

The second, from MTV news on release day shows how some fans are a bit sour over the low quality audio files, and over the realization that the files are just digital placeholders until the album comes out (which Radiohead expects them to pay for, again)

The third and most vehement, from the eternally cranky Bob Lefsetz, blasts Radiohead for duping fans with a marketing scheme (far greater than one any label could have concocted).

The interesting thread here is not that people are angry. It's that people somehow feel cheated that the electronic launch of this file is actually just marketing. Its not some kind of sonic or industry revolution, as they had hoped (though, as I said in the last post, it will have a relatively revolutionary impact: people paid for digital files).

Almost every digital music file online, whether it be streamed on myspace, sold on band websites, or available for download from an mp3 blog is a piece of marketing for other things the artist in question is doing. It may be band-driven promotion or user-generated hype, but it's rarely the end goal.

If you bought In Rainbows, you weren't duped. You got what you paid for. Which was up to you.

In Rainbows - Marketing Radiohead Style

2007-10-11T08:49:00.000-05:00

I'm listening to the new Radiohead album, In Rainbows, that I *bought* yesterday from their online store. If you've read any paper/blog today, you know the deal. Radiohead are finally without a label and have decided to release the album themselves, online. Perhaps more radically, they're letting fans set the price. All you have to do is go to their website and, server crashes notwithstanding, pick the price.

I'll spare you my opinion on the songs, since describing an album after only 24 hours of listening is at best futile and bound to be inaccurate in the long run. But I will talk the album's marketing, or rather, its anti-marketing, since that may be ultimately what's most interesting about In Rainbows.

Radiohead have long been masters of anti-marketing. After the intense press hype and intensive touring schedule for Ok Computer the band had a near meltdown. Their follow up album, as a result, was a different album (complete with electronic glitches and odd time signatures) that was marketed differently. For Kid A, Radiohead abandoned traditional music videos, pre-released radio singles, and they did very little initial touring. Instead, they held private listening parties and used their website to update fans on the development of the album. Kid A’s semi-secretive campaign created an air of intrigue that became an important statement about the band. Far from a lack of marketing, Kid A’s anti-marketing said much about Radiohead and positioned them as avant-garde, anti-corporate musicians.

Now, sans label, Radiohead is extending this strategy even further. To get the word out about the new album, they've relied solely on touring, their website, and the immense peripheral press (mainstream and online) that comes from a band as huge as Radiohead deciding they're going to let fans set the price they're willing to pay.
But they've also had over a decade of brand building done on their behalf (courtesy of Capitol/EMI). Without this, they could never have pulled this stunt as successfully as I'm sure it will work out.

And it will work. People will pay, because Radiohead represent a valuable product (in the eyes and ears of its fans). Also, the faith they are placing in their fans shows a level of respect for their fans not seen elsewhere (like the 6 recording companies who just last week sued a woman $222,000). Radiohead realize that people can and will get their product for free. Rather than fight through legal or technological means, they simply created a mechanism for people to show their appreciation, should fans feel its worth it. Importantly, this appreciation goes directly to the band, not through any label or (apparent) middleman. This only increases the likelihood people will support the initiative.

With Kid A Radiohead successfully convinced consumers the band was anti-corporate and unbranded, despite being on the roster one of the world largest recording labels. With In Rainbows their greatest achievement will be that they got consumers to pay for a product they increasingly frequently get for free. It's just too bad Radiohead didn't go the full 9 yards and allow fans to sample the work before deciding how much it was worth.

I Can't Believe it's Not Advertising

2007-03-31T10:15:00.000-05:00

One of the most interesting aspects about YouTube's rise and ensuing attempts to become a legitimate service has been the way individuals and institutions have incorporated the site into their marketing plans.

Independent bands looking for ways to get the word out have turned to the site as a place to publish music videos. Although The Arcade Fire probably doesn't need much more publicity these days, it is significant that they used YouTube to share the first sounds from Neon Bible. The clip is a tongue in cheek anti-ad, but it's an ad nonetheless. The band knew the low-budget clip would be worth the price they paid for it versus anything they could have sent to Much Music.

Then there's the not-so-independent bands that are trying their best to look independent. YouTube is the ultimate venue to show off an amateur aesthetic, despite how many professionals may be behind the scenes. I was sent this video by email. Like most videos I receive, it came with little context. "Check this out, it is awesome." It is an impressive and seemingly spontaneous subway station performance of Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight". A bit of digging, however, shows that the band , Naturally Seven, is a SonyBMG artist and that the video is part of a massive multimedia campaign to launch the single and the band's debut album. The video's credibility rests on the assumption of spontaneity. On YouTube, it appears as any other user video would appear, bringing even further assumptions about it (i.e. that this is something someone captured in the Paris metro station, though it was cool and uploaded it).

Perhaps the best example of what I am getting at here is the bride freak out video that garnered millions of views before the hoax was up. It turns out the video was what advertisers call a "net seed", the precursor for a shampoo ad campaign. The problem with these types of clips is not that they are intentionally deceptive. It's that they destroy the credibility of the social networks on which they depend. Advertisers want to be where the viewers are, but trying to sneak in through back doors does more damage than good. MySpace users are now inundated with friend requests from Fox TV show characters.

As marketers invent new ways to reach their target through social networks, their biggest challenge will be not to destroy the very environments they hope to tap. Otherwise, they'll end up like TV or Radio, media that users are increasingly leaving out of frustration. It might be good if marketers heeded the honest simplicity of Montgomery's Flea Market. Unless of course I've been duped and this is actually the first single of this guy's new album.

PuckCasts

2007-01-29T17:47:00.000-06:00

I've never been a huge fan of hockey. I know. How un-Canadian. I should have my passport revoked. I should be taken into the nearest Tim Horton's, dunked in a pot of fresh coffee and stuffed with timbits and maple dips until I come around.

But it's true. I grew up on soccer and that's where my loyalties lie.

It will amuse my hockey-obsessed friends to know that recently, I've started doing the recording/engineering/sound design for the Montreal Gazette's weekly podcast about the Montreal Canadiens. The show features prominent sports columnists and editors discussing the state of the team. And me sitting there with headphones on thinking about whether I'll ever get hired for a soccer-cast.

Indie Aesthetics

2007-01-14T11:12:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine sent along this interesting post the other day from Kathy Sierra, one of two people who run a blog called "Creating Passionate Users". The blog is mostly focused on marketing issues and is not really my bag, but the above graph caught my attention.

Sierra describes the fine line in music and film between low production values as an aesthetic positive or simply low-budget. It's an argument that is easier to make now in the world of podcasts, video blogs and YouTube. Lo-fi, at least in music, is a major basis for many authenticity arguments.

I would like to add another axis to this graph, one based on popularity. That is, as an artist or film gains popularity or recognition, user happiness increases to a point and then decreases until it has "lost its edge". This doesn't apply to all genres of music equally, and I am speaking primarily of rock/indie-rock/alternative/whatever label you prefer.

We'll use the new Arcade Fire album as a test case. It's due out soon (check out the single by clicking on the "Black Mirror" link here). Funeral took the band from indie to mainstream and there are incredible expectations for the new release. There are rumours of secret shows at high schools and their 5 night stand here in Montreal sold out in 3 minutes. But will the sheer existence of a swollen fan base lead to tepid reception of the new album?

Stay tuned.

Song in my Head

2007-01-13T09:50:00.000-06:00

I had a song in my head the other day. I think I picked it up from a movie or TV show. It has a great chorus, with harmonies and a vocal line that just sticks to the insides of your brain. It's an old song, and I could only remember it had the word "love" in the chorus (that narrows it down, huh). To top things off, I'm really bad at remembering the names of songs and artists, especially when it comes to songs before 1987, which is around the time I officially started caring about music (don't ask me what I cared about for the first dozen years of my life). I think it has to do with the connection (or lack therof) I have with songs that I don't consider part of my growing up experience (but I'll save that line of inquiry for another post).

My first guess was Radar Love. And I'm glad it was. As you can see from the incredible video above, it was a happy diversion. I emplore you to wait until the 3 minute mark of the video, where a beautiful stare-down occurs followed by a lovely display of true-love-induced skipping. Add to that a perfect bass line, driving drums and exuberant horns (maybe played on synth) and you have yourself a pretty good song. But, it wasn't the right song.

I typed in some other guesses but to no avail. So I called a friend and sang the chorus. Turns out it was "Long Train Running" by the Doobie Brothers (sorry, badass techno mix is all I could find on YouTube).

About the same time I was scouring the net to sate the song in my head, I was reading this post by a music industry insider who seems to be stuck in the songs of the sixteies and seventies. For a lot of industry veterans, the current woes of the music industry can be blamed on the quality of today's music. People don't want to pay for today's music because today's music is shit. Or people don't want to pay because music is everywhere..it is no longer important or special like it once was.

It's a line of argumentation that infuriates me. There's a lot of crap out there today, sure. But to say that today's music has less meaning for today's listeners than yesterday's music had for yesterday's listeners is judgment value I just don't have time for. I had fun listening to Radar Love and the Doobies, but they mean far less to me than a song that I feel I am a part of (I feel included because I remember when it came out, because it was at my high school dance, because I made out to it etc.).

If we're going to talk about the woes of the music industry, let's talk about why it's effed and how to fix it. Not about why the sixties and seventies were the pinnacle of music, rebellion, freedom and how today's music stands no chance of matching up.

Holiday Wishes

2006-12-24T15:48:00.000-06:00

Happy holidays to any and all who have been reading these posts.
Now turn off your internet.

Give Yourself a Pat on the Back

2006-12-15T14:31:00.000-06:00

Pats on the back are deserved.
To Jonathan and Will for reading and questioning
to L for tolerating
to jmac for reviewing
to you for waiting....

In other pat on the back news, I've been waiting to post this for a while. It's from the same video/musical mind that brought you the trick shot basketball clip. Although less sporty, this clip is just as entertaining. Especially if you like harmonica and dark hip hop beats. A decent digital camera, a ear for samples, and an eccentric landlord team up to give this clip, which is half documentary short and half music video, it's unique flavour. Enjoy the vid.

Pat on the Back by Zak Rogers (feat. Len Chilco)

Comprehensive

2006-12-12T16:26:00.000-06:00

comprehensive |ˌkämpriˈhensiv| adjective
• complete; including all or nearly all elements or aspects of something
• of large content or scope; wide-ranging
• (of automobile insurance) providing coverage for most risks, including damage to the policyholder's own vehicle
• (also comprehensive examination or comp) an examination testing a student’s command of a special field of knowledge.

If you want to know where I've been for the last month, the above definition has the answer in it somewhere. Maybe I've been writing an essay of large content or scope. Or maybe I've invested in a new type of insurance coverage. You decide.

Comprehensive is a connundrum though. Like a twisted finger trap. The more you try to cover one specific area, the more you realize how far from comprehensive you are.