Everytime I think about back home, it's cool and breezy...

In about 13 hours, I'll be on a slow boat to Saskatchewan, with a three-hour portage through Edmonton. That will treble the cumulative amount of time I've spent in Alberta over the last decade.

Already, a week feels too short, but once I'm back on solid ground, on fertile soil, with no NYT Crossword, no jackhammers outside my window when I'm trying to sleep, I'll probably start pining for ye olde urban lights and blights of Vancouver.

Nicole left on Tuesday morning. She asked me to help her fill up her mp3 player for the trip. "But none of your jazz," she hissed. This from the lady whose first three picks for girls' names were Billie, Nina, and Simone. (Of course I know the difference between jazz-jazz and the free-type jazz I've been into lately.)

Nicole's musical tastes don't always run parallel to mine, which is fine. Over the years, I think I've become less and less discriminating when it comes to music. Having to go to multiple Tommy Hunter concerts will do that to a person. In a lot of ways, I think it's made me a happier person than the 20-year-old snob I was when I started writing about music. But Nicole's kept her edge. She will occasionally vehemently dislike something I think is excellent. So I knew I was on to something when I was going through various new songs I'd been sent and about 15 seconds into "N'Heat" she said, "Yes, put this on my player."

"N'Heat" is from Chicago's the Spectacles (not to be confused with the wedding bands of the same name from Conneticutt and Tennessee) and their new album, Home. They're from the same stable as other Chi-Town pop we've brought you like the Fake Fictions and the Prairie Spies. All three bands, and a few more, will be playing this Saturday, Aug. 2, at High Concept Laboraties in Chicago. Me, I'll be in Saskatchewan on Saturday, having just jumped the broom. But if I wasn't doing that, and if I was in Chicago, I'd totally go to that show.



mp3: "N'Heat" by the Spectacles
mp3: "Outdated Model" by the Spectacles

Small world, about the size of a poppy seed

Last night I watched Greg and Gentillon, an admirable little film that finally brings some much-deserved glory to Aylmer, Quebec. It's a mockumentary about a small town comedy duo that sets out to conquer the Big City. My jaw nearly dropped when Gentillon went for a guitar lesson and was met by none other than Keith Carman! If you've ever spent any amount of time in the shallow pool that is the Canadian music press (and I think I mean that in a good way), you've probably crossed paths with Carman. His writing has appeared in notable mags like Exclaim! and Chart!, and probably lots of other places as well. He also plays guitar for a kick-ass rock and roll outfit called Maximum RNR. Mostly I knew Max RNR's other guitar playing Keith, Keith Maurik, who was at one time (and maybe still is?) a publicist for Epitaph Records. Despite the fact that they look like total scuzzbags, the two Keiths of Maximum RNR are actually some of the nicest folks you'll ever want to meet.
Keith Maurik is in a few scenes in Greg and Gentillon, but Keith Carman has a pretty large role, in which he not only shines, but gets across the exact impression I got of him the one time I met him face to face (when Max RNR played the Gaslight Saloon in Regina a few years ago): a sincerely nice guy who plays really loud music.

mp3: "I Hate the Cold" by Maximum RNR

Aside from making Keith Carman look good, and providing lots of laffs (especially the fight in the alley), Greg and Gentillon also, surprisingly, made Toronto look really good. Not as good as the Scott Pilgrim books make it look, but, hmmm, Toronto. It's a city that looks not bad. Of all the outdoor scenes in Hogtown, it only rained once. Something to think about.

In the meantime, Vancouver's not so awful. Unless you count the staggering housing costs and consequential epidemic of homelessness (an aside, Frances Bula's City States blog at the Vancouver Sun website is pretty great). But the Black Angels are coming on June 10, and they're bringing the Warlocks! The Black Angels' new album Directions To See A Ghost is out today for your digital downloading, and will be in finer record stores on May 13. If you liked Passover...

mp3: "Science Killer" by the Black Angels

finally, an update on some bands we've previously covered here at ABWAWBA:

Jesse Matheson and the Midnight Snacks will be releasing their brand new CD Pleasure Pounds this Saturday, April 19 at Rime in Vancouver.

The Fake Fictions will be releasing their brand new CD Krakatoa this Friday, April 18 at the Empty Bottle in Chicago.

If you can make it to both shows, you are well on your way to awesomeness.