by Miné Salkin | Oct 14, 2009 | interviews, news
DJ Spooky, a.k.a The Subliminal Kid, a.k.a Paul D. Miller, has always been on my mind. But that’s how he gets to you.
Paul D. Miller giving you that classic smirk. Image courtesy from rcrdlbl
Luckily for me, I’m getting a chance to interview him in the next couple of day s about his new album The Secret Song, which is largely a commentary on digital music culture.
If anyone’s interested in pitching a couple of questions to me I’d love to take them down. Alternatively, keep checking back and the real interview will be posted here rreeeeallll soooon!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCQH53Y8rkc]
by Miné Salkin | Oct 14, 2009 | news
Dave Levey, Season 6 winner from Hell's Kitchen
I know, this is not really arts and culture in Vancouver, but I’m a huge fan of chef Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen and had to blog about it.
This season’s winner is David Levey, from San Diego. He will go on to be the owner at the Ramsified Araxi Restaurant in Whistler, British Columbia.
Here is a highlight from this past season. It’s fabulous.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1NuDgq7zOA]
by Miné Salkin | Oct 2, 2009 | albums, news
It’s official. Legendary Seattle grunge rockers have hit No. 1 with their latest album Backspacer, released September 20th.
While the quintet has acquired a following of die-hard fans across the globe, their newest work has reinstated themselves to their former glory through musical innovation, business-mindedness, and a willingness to grow up.
Pearl Jam in 2006
They’ve had their share of difficulties, problems and compromises. Originally named Mother Love Bone, the band lost their frontman Andrew Wood to an overdose just a few days before their debut album Apple was scheduled to hit the market. In 1991, the group was criticized by Nirvana‘s Kurt Cobain for riding the successes of the grunge revolution, one that was started by social outcast which eventually became the centre of popular culture through increasing commercialization.
Throughout the mid to late 1990s, Pearl Jam got heavy censure for their anti-corporate tendencies and stubborn refusal to adhere to industry standard. They boycotted companies like TicketMaster and dismissed the notion of a music video — during the decade almost typifed by the music video — garnering harsh disapproval from many. In 1996, a writer from Rolling Stone claimed that Pearl Jam dropped off the face of the earth entirely for non-fans, because of “the fact that they spent much of the past decade deliberately tearing apart their own fame.”
I’ve always loved the husky voice of Eddie Vedder, the angsty shredded talents of guitarist Mike McCready, but haven’t always been impressed with them. Ten, Vitalogy and Binaural stand out as some of the greatest albums of their time, but their attempts to diversify their sound sometimes came off as strange, anarchistic experiments in preachiness. They had to learn how to walk gracefully between the lines of music and activistm.
In the eleventh grade, I saw them play at GM Place during their Riot Act tour, an album that has been described as “Anti-Bush” in a die-hard-punk kind of way. The show was terrible. Vedder wore a hat obscuring his face the entire time, and there was no energy whatsoever. The band did not stray two feet in either direction, and there I was with expectations of Vedder climbing all over the place like he did in all those concert videos I watched.
Backspacer lets us forget all about that. The first track, ironically called “The End” recaptures the beauty of Vedder’s voice, as he muses over the idea of suicide without getting pedantic. “Johnny Guitar” is catchy as hell, definitely bringing back the much-missed nostalgia of the sounds of the 1990s.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioS4YVWkWkE]
by Miné Salkin | Sep 29, 2009 | news
Decibels: may cause permanent damage
The European Union is trying to reverse one of the biggest health trends today: breaking the rise of hearing loss by restricting volume controls on portable music devices.
The Globe and Mail wrote today that prolonged exposure to loud music causes permanent hearing loss, which has been known for some time. This phenomenon is no surprise considering how loud iPods and other mp3 players can get. On every bus in the city, there is a distorted buzzing noise coming from nearly every earbud. Here’s what the article said:
The European Union announced yesterday that it is capping the volume of such devices after an EU scientific committee warned that prolonged exposure to loud noise from the music players could cause permanent hearing damage. The new rules will require manufacturers to set the maximum volume of personal music players at a safe default level, defined by the scientific committee as either 80 decibels adjusted for exposure limited to 40 hours a week or 89 decibels adjusted for exposure limited to five hours a week.
I myself blast my iPod on the bus, on the street and when I’m walking to work. Despite my insulating, high quality Bose headphones, I just can’t seem to get my music loud enough. At parties and other social gatherings I find myself asking people to repeat themselves. This isn’t just me. Quite a few of my friends have noticed hearing loss in their early twenties — a sure sign of the effect of a Walkman to iPod generation.
The 99 B-Line is no quiet haven. Just to block out the traffic sounds — which are probably loud enough to cause damage too — my volume dial is always nine-tenths full blast. If I take my headphones off, I can surely hear the person next to me listening to Guns ‘N Roses‘ Sweet Child O’Mine, and I can even sing the words and bob my head to the tune.
Whether or not it’s a right to play your music at certain volumes in a public space, changing the design of iPods seems a bit ridiculous. I like my Deftones loud, and that’s how it’s got to be.
by Miné Salkin | Sep 22, 2009 | news
The winner of the $20,000 prize for best Canadian album has gone to Fucked Up for their 2008 work The Chemistry of Modern Life. The highly controversial group, originally from Toronto, plays high-energy punk rock with virtosity and lyrical intellect.
Fucked Up, image courtesy of Matador Records
The lead singer, Damian Abraham, has even worked with Jello Biafra, singer of the Dead Kennedys who is a generational beacon for the new-wave punk era of the 1980’s.
The punk quintet beat out other more well-known Canadian acts such as the pop wonder Metric, refugee hip-hop artist K’Naan, soulful rockers Great Lake Swimmers and pop experimentalist Chad Vangaalen.
However, you’ve got to admit that punk music has always had a bit of a select audience. Not everyone enjoys the rampant, almost machine-like speed of their delivery — much less appreciate its oft political or social messages. Punk music, at its best, comes from the downtrodden, the least socioeconomically empowered. So what does this say about Canadian music lovers when a punk band has won such a prestigious, popularizing award?
Personally, I’m a fan of anything punk. In fourth grade, I listened to Green Day‘s Dookie nearly every day, and have always loved the intellectual, leftist teachings of Bad Religion.
