mom-ward bound.

it’s hard to say i’m moving “HOME” or even back home because i really feel like my apartment and the life i lead living in that apartment is home. moving back in with my mom is going to be an adjustment. i’m gonna be 26 shortly after the move happens and i don’t need the mothering that my mother does…she mothers. a lot. which is cool and i know that but it’s going to be an adjustment.

so, i know, why on earth am i moving back home? well, currently i live with my sister who is moving to calgary in the fall to go to school and i am starting a new program in the fall as well. new school=student loans. rent= approx. $500/mon. 500×10 months of school=$5000. if i don’t have to include that on my student loan i’m a happy camper.

$5000 is worth living with my mom and all the small annoyances that may bring.

p.s. attention future lovers/boyfriends: we will be having sex at your house, just fyi.

time: heals all wounds? reunites all friends? or just passes?

i’m voting for all of the above but the healing of wounds invariably takes a LOT of time and reunions aren’t always just a trick of time. they are often orchestrated by phone calls, text messages, and airlines all in conjunction with time.

what am i even talking about?!

the point is that this past week (march 22*-25, 2006) was a weekend of reunions.

first: reuniting with people you went to high school with (and were only friends with in the first place to secure some measure of social standing) is weird.

second: having not seen these aforementioned people since 1999 really puts your own life in perspective. people change. a lot. i guess i must have changed that much too.

third: i meant it when i said “we should do this again”; i didn’t expect to mean it either.

other reunions were less dramatic. less time had passed. less catching up was required. those reunions were instead all hugs and walks and drinks and dancing. the best kind if you ask me.

it’s really nice to be reminded (in person) of how awesome someone is and how much they mean to you.

yay!

ok. bye.

*thursday is TOTALLY the weekend.

meeeeeeeeeeeeemories!

hey remember 1998? i do. sort of…

in 1998 i LOVED weed.  

in 1998 i also LOVED david usher.

remember this album?

yeah, i fucked loved it. i listened to it yesterday for the first time in about…3? years and i was taken back back back to a simpler time. and y’know what friends? i still really liked it.

here’s what allmusic.com has to say about it:

Taken on its own merits, Little Songs is a crisp, clear, and utterly listenable collection of lo-fi pop tunes. Although, all is not as simple as it first seems. Little Songs also happens to be the solo debut from Moist frontman David Usher. Moist, at the time of this album’s release, had the reputation of being an intensely serious hard rock outfit. It was somewhat of a challenging idea — to believe the same singer who literally screamed his way through Moist hits like “Push” and “Silver” really wanted to record an album rife with Moog, mellotron, and cello in his kitchen, of all places. With misconceptions set aside, it’s immediately clear on first listen that Little Songs is immaculately crafted. The album is based primarily around a very minimal, stripped-down acoustic guitar sound. What distinguishes this album from so many others like it are the delicate nuances, unusual musical touches, and consistently pretty flourishes of sound. “Trickster” finds a handful of disjointed piano notes scattered across the acoustics, with a rhythm so soft it’s hard to pick out. “Jesus Was My Girl” brings a more beat-heavy approach, with tasteful use of a drum machine covered aptly with smooth trumpet and Hammond organ sounds. Even though the music is softer, the impact of the songs is no less intense than the heaviest Moist material. Lyrics are a strong point — sharp and obviously well-crafted. Usher proves to be a mesmerizing, yet abstract, storyteller on this disc. All songs were written by Usher, who also co-produced and mixed the record. In addition, his voice is engaging, actually quite warm and even pretty in places. He’s evolved into a powerful, utterly listenable singer, relying on technique as opposed to volume, as he did in the earliest days of Moist. With the obvious earnestness Usher shows in the material, there is no chance of pretense on this disc, no grand concepts to be uncovered, and no self-indulgent tangents to be dragged through. Intricate pop music is the essence of Little Songs, which makes it an enjoyable and worthwhile listen.

i don’t know what happened to david usher because his second solo release wasn’t nearly as rad and the one that followed (which i think i own but have never listened to) became a staple on easy rock radio. no more talk of sex and cigarettes and montreal subway stations. i wanna hear canada’s easy rock prince say “fuck” again and make me feel like i’ve smoked too many cigarettes and butchered french all over quebec.

anyways, we can lament the loss of good albums until we’re blue in the face. i just wanted to remind myself, and you i suppose, of something from the old days…(not the good ol’ days-high school hardly qualifies as the good old days…).

remember 1998?
listen to this album. or tell me what you loved in 1998. i’d love to hear that…

xo xo michelle,.

hey ma!

so in the past couple of years “modern rock” radio in edmonton has really taken off.

and sonic 102.9 has taken it’s place at the top of the generic rock heap. in their defense we do occasionally get to hear daft punk and cake and nirvana but you’ve got to listen carefully to get through all the our lady peace and three days grace and (god love ‘em like i do) my chemical romance… fortunately for us (or me) sonic also does this rad thing where they let a listener come to the show and play whatever for an hour. the catch, submit 2o songs and get chosen.

so today i submitted my 20 songs and a little explanation as to why THOSE 20 songs in the monolith that i have to choose from. the list is gonna follow in a second and i know it’s nothing earth shattering. i didn’t include any hella or converge or fucked up* or wolf eyes because that shit isn’t going to get played on the rogers network. i picked fun songs and songs that are important to me but, like i said, it’s not going to change the face of mainstream rock radio.

so here’s the list and the explanations i sent to sonic…

“these first 6 songs are straight up punk and rock songs. they are all songs that either started me down a path of loving a specific genre of music or songs that remind me of a good friend, or a great afternoon or a great show or…whatever. all of these songs are important to me for one reason or another. p.s. the johnsons are pretty awesome local skatepunk band. p.p.s. cursive is one of my favourite bands in history.”

1. Green Day-She from Dookie (Reprise 1994)

2. Dead Kennedys- Kill the Poor from Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (Manifesto 1980)

3. The Breeders- The She from Title TK (Elektra 2002).

4. Q and not U- Soft Pyramids from On Play Patterns Single (Dischord 2002) 

5. The Johnsons- Gypsies for Life from Gypsies for Life (Spawner Records 2005)

6. Cursive- The Martyr from Domestica (Saddle Creek 2000)

“the next 7 songs are pretty indicative of all the radness that’s been happening in indie folk and (GASP!) indie country music. i just wanna give props to these local, canadian and american singer songwriters and bands. people like destroyer and chad van gaalen are gonna change canadian music for the better. there are also selections on this list that take me back to some of my favourite live music events ever. wilco, m. ward and bright eyes (in vancouver) completely changed the way i view the way a live show should be played.”

7. Rocky Fortune- Drop me in a Well from Sway (self released? 2003?…i have no idea…)

8. Christian Hansen- Some Lives Lived from The Super Awkward Album (Self-Released 2007)

9. Chad Van Gaalen- See-Thru-Skin from Skelliconnection (Sub Pop 2006)

10. Destroyer- Looters’ Follies from Destroyer’s Rubies (Merge 2006)

11. M. Ward- Sad, Sad Song from the Transfiguration of Vincent (Merge 2003)

12. Wilco-Ashes of American Flags from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Nonesuch 2002)

13. Bright Eyes- Poison Oak from I’m Wide Awake it’s Morning (Saddle Creek 2005)

“so these last 7 songs don’t quickly fall into the traditional definition of rock and roll. for whatever reason a rock song you can dance to isn’t a rock song but i think these songs prove that sentiment to be entirely silly. all of these songs are based in traditional rock structure but will make you dance until you die. i think it’s important that we as music lovers are open to expanding our stringent definitions of rock music and willing to open our ears to other kinds of stuff. the other rad thing about these songs is that they represent voices not typically heard in a lot of rock music. within these 7 songs we hear people of all genders (including those who like to mess around with traditional definitions of gender), sexualities and nationalities. this isn’t simply music made for men by men! i think these are probably 7 of the most exciting songs released in the past 2 or 3 years. i also just want to add that it is in bands like erase errata and the gossip that we need to look to understand punk rock in 2007. if it’s meant to be about subversion these girls have got it down!!!”

14. Vitaminsforyou- Being Away Fame (A Song for the Xenophobic) from The Legend of Bird’s Hill (intr_version 2006)

15. Death from Above 1979-  Black History Month [Girl on Girl Revision ft. Final Fantasy] from Romance Bloody Romance (Last Gang 2005)

16. Tiga- Far From Home from Sexor (Turbo 2006)

17. The Kills- Love is a Deserter from No Wow (Rough Trade 2005)18. Erase Errata- Hotel Suicide from Nightlife (Kill Rock Stars 2006)

19. The Gossip- Coal to Diamonds from Standing in the Way of Control (Kill Rock Stars 2005)

20. Justice- Let There Be Light from Waters of Nazareth EP (Vice 2006)

and yes friends, i realise that it’s all a bit of an oversimplification but whatever, mostly i just want to hear the gossip on the radio all the time. ha ha!

so cross your fingers for me and then cross your fingers again in hopes than i can go on the radio and not swear. ha ha.

michelle.

*speaking of fucked up…i recently got my hands on the “year of the dog” 12″ and i don’t think i fully understood the phrase “blistering hardcore” until i heard this album. i thought i was going to cry…it’s great but it’s a hell of a lot to deal with.

again with the emo tattoos…

apparently emo tattoos is a popular search term and apparently my blog shows up when you search for emo tattoos.

do i have emo tattoos? i didn’t realise flowers were all that emo.

oh well.

so the urge has hit again, the urge to have small puncture wounds created in my skin and have ink deposited in those holes and it’s strong… i think it gets stronger every time. especially when i’m excited about an idea. i’m fucking excited.

this time i’m gonna go to calgary. the more artists working on this canvas the better.

not that johnny isn’t rad and not that there are oodles of great artists her in edmitten but i want the best and from my 2 hours of internetting last night i’m convinced that dax at eternal image in calgary is the best for what i want at this present moment. sure, i could go to toronto or amsterdamn for someone but driving to calgary ain’t no thing, y’know…

click those links friends, you’ll be as impressed as i was, i guarentee it!

contradiction 101

it’s there. and yes, i’m totally aware of it.

a) i want to hold hands and smooch boy x

b) i want to fuck boy z senseless.

and yes, those two thoughts and desires exist simultaneously within me and put x and z in front of me and i will choose x but right now i am not being forced to choose because i have neither standing infront of me. both are off to either side just sitting, aware of me but not present enough…

the outcome is up in the air. i took a step. so far it’s equal parts awesome and shitty and i fucking hate it. every fucking second.

now we wait, write vague whiney blogs and hope for the best…

or something. there’s always an “or something…”

the bitter vancouver hipster will have her revenge on edmonton music fans! she will spill our blood all over DMST and leave with a nothing but a stella in her hand and a smile on her face!

is that the longest title i’ve ever used? i think so.

so this past week was a week of live-and generally good- music.

monday: the golden dogs with jets overhead and some SHITTY local band (i don’t even know what they’re called) who opened their set with a shitty cover. i almost barfed all over the table.

wednesday: van morrison bitches. and it pretty much ruled. well, he rules but the venue-not so much. next time let’s book van into somewhere more appropriate like the jubilee auditorium or the winspear centre. kthanks.

friday: do make say think with westfalia.

truthfully, i wasn’t shitting myself over do make say think. sure, they were good but i already knew that. it lacked surprises. i missed surprises. if i wanted to listen to their albums i could have stayed home. thank god westfalia BROUGHT THE SHIT! so awesome matthew, congrats.

saturday: PROPAGHANDI with corvid lorax and fractal pattern

i missed fractal pattern (SAD) and i don’t want to talk about corvid lorax but PROPAGHANDI fucking killed. who’s surprised they were awesome? i’m not… every minute of that show was rad and probably would have been radder had i been feeling 100%…

later saturday: the line atlantic (cd release) w. the johnsons and snic

that was a fun show! i’m so proud to hold my friend’s cd in my hands and see all their hardwork come to fruition. congrats friends! you’re the awesome. GREAT SHOW!

anyways, that was just the intro to something i need to rant about and i story i want to tell.

rant first.

i went to dmst think with my friend daniela and when we got there we met up with her friend from vancouver. holy bitter hipster batman! this girl bitched about every single person that came through the door. i actually started to feel uncomfortable. about 10 min into our time together we had the following conversation:

me: so, are you a big fan of dmst?

her: OMG! SO HUGE.

me: ever seen them live before?

her: uh yeah… actually, i saw them here once about 7 years ago.

me: oh cool.

her: yeah, i’m sure like only me and 10 other people here had ever even heard of them a year ago. seriously none of these people were here at the last show. fucking posers.

friends, i shit you not.

and that really really really fucking pissed me off because regardless of how long someone has been a fan of a band they’re there and supporting the band and loving the band. who cares if they know one song or 100 songs. it’s not a fucking competition bitch and we’re all too old for the “i’m so much more hardcore than you” game.

c’mon!

story second:

as the security guy at the powerplant put my “of age” blue wristband on the dude behind me in line noticed my orange one from propaghandi…

him: dude! (show’s me his wrist)

me: rad show hey?

him: dude, i cried.

me: yeah, i shed a tear when i got elbowed in the side of the head…

him: no dude, i totally cried cuz they’re like my favourite band.

me: rad.

later, he led the circle pit for the johnsons’ entire set.

and there friends is the total opposite attitude of that bitter vancougar bitch. he’s all about the love and it was such a warm and genuine exchange about a shared experience. that kid was way more punk rock than me and knew 100 propaghandi songs for every 1 i know but that was never the point. we’d gone through something together and so we had that moment.

that’s fucking rad.

happy new week kids. *mwah!