cringleman

I guess I just take issue with the wording of 'past his prime,' since it's a phrase that's pretty much impossible to disentangle from its other connotations. I would also offer, as an explanation of why the Eastern indie scene seems to get so much exposure, lately, this: Think about it -- you have a limited number of A & R guys to distribute, so you send most of them to a scene that's been producing, lately. It'll move, eventually.

Wasn't Andy Creeggan replaced on keys by Kevin Hearn, as opposed to Tyler Stewart on drums (as evidence, I'm fairly sure you can see Tyler on the original cover of Gordon). Actually, I'm fairly sure that the first album Kevin played on was Rock Spectacle, but I could very well be mistaken. Then, of course, he (Kev) came down with a nasty case of cancer after Stunt, but is still revelling in his triumphant return.

I second the motion for Godspeed You! Black Emperor -- personal picks include Storm, Sleep and East Hastings.

Some folk are just hateful. The Westboro Bapstist Church is a very sad instution, filled with very angry, hateful people. I don't know why. I just cannot account for that amount of vile sentiment toward anyone. Ignorance just can't cover it.

If only they didn't hate Halifax so much. It's funny -- I'd normally say that I've liked Stunt the best, so far, but I think Tonight Is The Night I Fell Asleep At The Wheel is my favourite BNL song. It's strange, but it very sneakily hooks you.

You may be thinking of Brain Damage, which is the song on that album that includes the lyrics, "I'll see you on the dark side of the moon." Personally, I think that's a fantastic song, but really isn't complete without Eclipse stuck on the end.

I don't think I can see what your point is, anymore, Matt. Record companies put money behind certain artists or groups, and those groups or artists tend to sell something (singles, at least). This is just a truism. Independent groups from Ontario and Qu

Dude. Same. I've been called 'Foreman' since I was in high school. Plus I have the same first name as him, which is sort of weird (Topher and Chris are both short for ... wait for it ... Christopher).

I've always been a fan, but I haven't actually picked up a record of theirs since Maroon. Dunno why.

You use the word "bad" as if it has a simple meaning that we could all agree upon. I would urge the opinion that major labels are interested only in cash cows, and I agree that an established group like BNL can do very well by returning to a sort of indie state once they've made a name. Of course, at one point they had the most successful independent release in Canadian music history (the Yellow Tape went gold on its own, I believe). With the 'rode the coattails' rhetoric, if you're just saying that a single band usually breaks into the mainstream from a certain scene first, opening the door for others to follow, then you're right. That's neither positive or negative -- it's just how it works. It's happened in painting and sculpture, too. In fact, it happens with lots of things. I don't know what relevence this has to our discussion. The door to that scene may, very well, have been opened by The Odds, if those bands do, actually, have anything in common aside from the genre label, 'alternative' (which I believe is a non-label, and a bunch of crap), but every single one of those groups you named has, if it still exists, evolved in their sound to a point where references to the old days are almost pointless. Change happens. Now if you simply want to argue that the Matthew Good Band's old sound was more marketable than Good's solo material, you may be right, but, then, that doesn't explain why Good still sells out shows from Victoria to Halifax. [Edited for punctuation.]

Intriguing. A true mystery track. I don't suppose there's anyone on The Bored who was at that show and can remember it.

Lateralus is, indeed, a fantastic song. Without doubt my favourite track that Tool's ever produced. I'm absolutely stunned that not a single person has said Stairway, yet. Go back a little in time, and you get some truly inspiring work, every decade, but in the face of all of it (even the hushed, haunting 'where am I and what have I done to myself?' sentiment of Floyd's Wish You Were Here), I'm just perpetually struck by the incredibly wide appeal, instant recognition, accessibility, and gorgeous anti-materialist sentiment of Zep's most famous tune. Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin (Someone had to say it.) Though, my favourite song of all time is Hey Jude.

Agreed. As much as I love that, as an example, Good's music is like a big secret we all share, I'd rather be able to sing Strange Days at a party, and have someone else ask, 'Do you know Rabbits?' I still don't see any evidence offered that Matt's got the same marketing power behind his work as a Nickelback. He certainly gets more promotion than lots of local acts, but there are obviously degrees of promotion. As an aside, relating to the Arcade Fire/Broken Social Scene example, ignoring that, often, groups influence each other (there is rarely a single inventor of a "sound"): when you beef that BSS had to ride onto the scene after Arcade Fire, despite being around longer, you really need to go back to the root. BSS is a collaboration -- almost a side project -- of people in other bands and artists in that scene (like Stars, Metric and Leslie Feist, if I'm not mistaken). Should they be angry? No. Everyone always cites the Pixies as showing Nirvana et al. the way, but everyone forgets groups like Temple of the Dog and Green River (and countless others -- Meat Puppets, anyone?). You can't distill a scene down to a single band (like The Odds), because it's not that simple. Besides: listen to Eat My Brain by The Odds, and tell me how that's similar to pretty much any OLP, Limblifter, Moist or MG song.

I think I heard rumours of them working on a new album, but I'm not entirely sure. The local musical rumour-mills have been preoccupied with two new Mays albums, the possibility of a new Plaskett album and the strange, allegedly 30-track new Sloan disc. I'll try to keep my ear to the ground, on that one, and if the local speculators spit something out, I'll let you folk know.

I won't even comment on the NDP's policies or Layton as a person, but they all made me sick in the last election. They ran a campaign of openly trying to come second -- that's a truly poor decision for a leader to make or allow.

I agree. Of course, I think that that should be true of anyone that makes music, unless you're doing some weird-ass, high-concept shit with impractical numbers of layers.

That's a pretty rough summation. I'm not going to type (comparatively) much because this is getting stale, and, at this point, we're admittedly talking past each other, here. In terms of marketability, I don't think that Matt Good or the Band are or ever were the type of music that the record industry generally puts its big marketing muscle behind without proof of independent success (though lots of artists continue to manage reasonable success without being promoted very much at all, just like Matthew Good). If you think that all musical acts are marketed equally, then you need to shake your head. It simply isn't true. Have you ever heard of Thrush Hermit? They were a Halifax band out at the same time as Sloan, also signed by a major. Most people can't remember them, now, but they rocked. I'll even give you the point that Matt Good might be past what most professional market shysters would call his 'prime,' but if that's the case, then you should make it for all of real, from-the-heart rock 'n' roll. Who marketed the last Tom Petty record? Pretty much no one. It's 'cause it's not built, from the ground up, by a corporation, and so their control over it is lower. Rock is not about selling records. That's why I despise Nickelback (aside from some other reasons). It's about sweet tunes that you tell your friends about, which is the difference between this thread's topic and what you're talking about. The Rolling Stones should not be able to afford a private jet. There should be no multi-billion dollar industry.

I think no_yu_begin_wher_i_end just hit the nail on the head. You can legitimately explain a subjective position on a matter (sometimes; at others, you must simply admit that your opinion is just a gut thing), but no one's going to get anywhere, here, talking past each other. NYBWIE and I are working from a different starting point: that the record industry is not the arbiter of quality, as far as music goes. Certainly that's obvious: critics hated Zep (Rolling Stone panned IV, badly), and the industry never did a thing for Dispatch, but you'll find that at their final concert, 100 000 people showed up to an auditorium in Boston based on word of mouth and a posting on an official messageboard (for a free show). The industry dicates neither quality nor popularity, though they try to tell us both (if they could, they'd have found that proverbial golden-egg-laying bird). Perhaps your attempted use of a quantitative measurement makes you feel objective, but you could very well be citing spurious corellations. I'm doing just fine at holding onto my first-year lessons, thank you very much. Industry success = quality? Justify.

Poor Sloan. I guess Plaskett put it best: 'I saw your band / in the early days -- / we all understand / why you moved away. / We'll hold a grudge, anyway.' Chris: if you didn't like 'Jaws of Life' or 'Danse Macabre' (I forget which was the first single), off the new album, check out a couple of other tracks, like 'Nerves Normal Breath Normal' or 'Faithful Guide.' As to Mays, well he rocks (as do countless other Haligonian acts no one's ever heard of, like Great Plains or Their Majesties), and usually ends up onstage every time Sam Roberts is in town (which is fun!). The Trews are okay, but their muhc-vaunted live show has looked more coked-up and overly routine with each successive time I've seen them. John-Angus MacDonald still wields a mighty rockin' axe, though. Their bass player, Jack Syperek (sp?), looks more starved and vacant with every gig.

Sweet ass. North by North End is a music festival in the North End of Halifax. These cats have played a few shows around these parts, I've noticed. Haven't checked 'em out, yet, though.

You know, after spending a year or so watching some of the best competetive debaters in Canada, I can tell you whose arguments are floundering pretty sadly. NYBWIE (sorry, that's a long damn name to type in its entirety) has formed several clear paths of rational argumentation that you have yet to address, Matt, and I think your shield of 'this opinion is subjective' is wearing quite thin. Let me launch at one specific leg of your ridiculous pedestal of bubbling ire: the subjectivity of artistic quality, as it relates to commercial success. There is no authoritative arbiter of artisitc quality. You can dance around claiming that anything you like is 'good,' but despite the intense (and admitted) subjectivity of art (and music, specifically, as we're talking, here), if you want to enter into debate about something you have to offer rational justification. If you're going to offer justification, it has to be supportable with either pure logic or with fact. You offer commercial success and marketability as your only evidence (despite claiming that sales and marketing don't offer a true perspective on musical quality). Clearly, no one believes that record sales directly reflect an album's quality, or this would be a Nickelback messageboard. In fact, cleary there is no absolute scale of quality for music, because if there were, we'd all listen to whatever was 'best' (why would you listen to less, unless somehow you couldn't?). I've established subjectivity, but here's the kicker: that's not going to stop debate. In fact, subjectivity is the only thing that allows for debate; you can't debate objective facts, and their presentation in a situation like this is only as supporting evidence. Sadly, however, Matt, you've chosen a loaded expression ('past his prime'), and a spurious correlation between that and your 'evidence' (which I'm taking as being marketing force vs. record sales, as you've presented it) to make your point. In summation, I certainly wouldn't have the cohones to say that you have no point; that remains to be seen. What you have is a poorly-constructed and -supported vein of argumentation to support your idea. If you want to say something contentious, like suggesting that Matt Good is past his prime, while surrounded by fans who are dedicated enough to belong to a messageboard beholden to his existence, then you'd probably better have a well-formed concept of exactly why you think that. If you don't like the new songs, that's cool. You don't really need a reason for that -- it's purely intangible. If you think Matthew Good's past his prime because you haven't been particularly enthralled by his music since his split with the band, then that's fine, but you won't get far trying to justify yourself on that one (again, pure opinion -- merely personal taste). When you say he's 'past his prime,' and you really mean that he's past his peak of commercial success (which is foolish, because lots of groups and artists have made surprise comebacks, commercially), then you're just being misleading. That's just like saying, 'hamburgers suck,' when you really mean that you don't like MacDonald's: the two things are only marginally related, and certainly not interchangeable. So: certainly, this is subjective, but if you wish to defend your point of view (which you've been doing, rather defiantly, and admirably so), then you forfeit rights to that as a defence. Can Matt Good write a hit if he wants to? Who knows? I don't think anyone can just sit down and decide to write a hit. Even the marketing committees that are responsble for material like Paris Hilton's and Britney Spears' have difficulty doing so, and, really, only Lennon and McCartney have been more successful at it, this past century, than the marketers. Perhaps it's the current model of the music industry that's long past its prime.

I wasn't a huge fan of Sleater-Kinney, either, but I feel like I should give their stuff another chance. It did make me sad that I knew of at least four vastly superior local acts that would've handled the PJ opening gig better, just in the Halifax area, when they were here, though. Wintersleep, of course, would be one of those. Those guys rock some serious tunes. 'Nerves Normal, Breathe Normal' is a truly epic track.

You know, it's funny -- I've read, generally, that most people think that the 'It reminds me how uniform your beautiful is' line in Giant is a dig at conformist attitudes towards beauty, but I've always taken a different view. It always struck me as a compliment -- your beauty is uniform, as in it's complete and full: everything about this person is beautiful. In that light, I would think that the song is quite eloquently romantic. In the former light, however, it would be less so. I guess that's an open question, with a lot of interpretations.

There are actually tremors, of late, of String Theory falling out of favor, or at least having some competition. Not that I have my sources in line, right now. Theoretical physics are incredibly engrossing, though.

She looks like a man with long, blonde hair and makeup on. A very skeletal man. Dear sweet holy Mother of Pancakes ... Anne Coulter is Skeletor! Where's He-man when you need him?