CHOICE TRAX #6: PANSY TWIST by HUGGY BEAR

DOES IT MAKE YOU MORE A KID IF YOU WANNA OFF A PIG?

DOES IT MAKE YOU MORE A PIG IF YOU WANNA OFF A KID?

????

I hate the word 'indie'

It's easy to make fun of Pitchfork but at the end of the day, I do read the site like some sort of bible. An article from their decade in music section recently caught my eye- one concept from it in particular. So here is an excerpt from Nitsuh Abebe's "The decade in indie" which I find nice and resonant:

"...both categories: both mainstream, populist indie records and weirder, rowdier sounds. Most of the time, those things have gone together really well; the sense has been that the average "indie" listener would like a bit of both, some pop records to sing along to and some stranger ones to be wowed by, plus plenty in between. That's probably still true of most of you! But now, more than ever, there's also this tension between the two, and a feeling of sides-taking."

I really hate using the term 'indie' (it's as appropriate a genre name as 'alternative' was in the 90's.) but I wholeheartedly agree with what Abebe wrote- people seem to be into music either for the push of the envelope or for something that sounds nice. I'd like to think I swing between these in a nice balance but hey, who knows. It's definitely something to think about.

Being Frank

I am heading to Frankly! at the Powerhouse on Saturday and I am super psyched about it. I am especially looking forward to seeing Jamie Stewart, probably one of my all-time favourite artists. I hope I don't go too nuts and embarass myself! (I definitely will.) I'm also looking forward to seeing Tenniscoats and I Heart Hiroshima... I haven't seen I<3H since pre-Shakeytown so I am probably out of loop with what they play these days but as long as something from their first 2 EPs gets a go I won't mind!

Choice traxx #5: Capricorinations by Mika Miko

Capricorinations by Mika Miko is utterly obnoxious. The vocals involve some chick yelling unintelligible nonsense until halfway through the song, when another chick starts yelling as well. The music involves a spastic rhythm section, the bass bouncing around like slinky, the drums sloppily stomping out a steady beat. The lead guitar stabs at the air just as sharply as the bass is smooth. The song should really be considered just an epic mess up of noise and written off as some high school girls' experiment with punk... But I can't stop listening to it. Highly recommended.