Thursday, November 3, 2011

Swag vs. Mojo

Forgive me for not blogging in a while. The whole 'blog makeover' thing didn't pan out as well as I had hoped, thanks to the rising notoriety of Bærs as well as having a life (something I didn't do too much in the summer). What I emerged from my surprisingly forgettable hiatus to discuss with the internets (aka myself) is a philosophical concept. A construct dating back to our forefathers, our ancestors - a concept older than time itself. A school of thought so entrenched in Eastern Philosophy, that the Western world has even already found a way to package it, and sell it back to us in the form of cheaply made trinkets that we're just gonna owe back to China some day anyway.

This is the concept of Swag vs Mojo.

At first you may look upon these two arbitrary indicators of "coolness" as one in the same. Isn't mojo just the word for swag in British? (this is actually a common misconception - swag in British is actually "class"..trust me, I know a guy)

I'll get into it in a lot more depth once I finish my masters in hippie philosophy and write my thesis on the topic, but the fact of the matter is that neither swag nor mojo can exist without the other. They are codependant entities that can exist in isolated situations, but can never be referred to without conjuring up the other for context. A kind of philosophical Peanut Butter & Jelly, if you will.
Either the most zen way to
carry your notes to class,
or the most awkwardly appropriate
porn storage device on the market

So what does this mean?

It means that everyone has within them their own version of swag vs. mojo. It could be your yin vs. yang, your form vs. function, your style vs. substance...hell, it could even be the voice inside of your head vs. the body that lives around it that tells it not to kill everyone all the time - I don't really care. I intentionally made the system overly vague so that it could apply to a multitude of situations. Even my own father has gone so far as to abstractly adopt this belief system into his poker strategy, and anyone that knows my dad knows that he does not fuck around with his poker strategy.

Here's what it comes down to:

Swag is a condition of the body. It has to do solely with appearance and outward demeanour. Until recently, not much was known about this condition, but in this 'prescription age' we're living in, doctors have started the mass-diagnoses. Check out the preview for the documentary below:



Sean Combs: No Swag
What is important to note is that Swag Syndrome is an external condition that does not affect the mind, so much as exhibit uncontrollable audible as well as physical outbursts which can temporarily and permanently disable the patient. This is important remember as we move on to mojo.


As arbitrary as swag can be, it is recognizably quantifiable (for example, "Swagger on a hundred/thousand etc." can be used to denote a variety of levels of Swag). Mojo is not this way at all. Mojo's like the opposite, dude. You can't count mojo, nor can you pin mojo down - that's the beauty of it. Mojo is something that every person has that no one can take away from them. Described as, "a certain 'I don't know what'" by the only scientist to have ever successfully stolen a man's "mojo" (Phd in Evil Science 'Dr. Evil') this condition is more concerned with the intrinsic qualities within one's personality rather than the outward effects they exhibit within society. Watch exclusive footage of the world renowned Evil's keynote speech below:





If you look like this,
you're probably
trying too hard.
So why the hell does any of this matter?


With great swagger comes great responsibility. Any human being living with this condition known as 'Swagmojosis' (aka everyone in the world) should learn that neither swag nor mojo should be employed without the balancing force of its counterpart. A lotta swag and no mojo is like a lot of bark and no bite...a lot of talk with no walk...a lot of preach with no practice - everyone's going to be able to tell that you're trying too hard.

Consequently, if you have mojo, you are doing a disservice to the world by not sharing it with everybody. Mojo is depth, and if the deep don't turn the swag jets on every once in a while, the rest of us are forced to wade around in the metaphorical piss of the shallow end that's filled with people that think it's a good idea to look like the cast of Jersey Shore.

So don't preach if you haven't practiced, and if you're practiced hard and taken your notes, go ahead and do some preaching. 100$ says there's someone out there who wants to read your twitter feed. As we enter Movember, there are men all over the world who are grappling with rapid and unexpected changes in swag and mojo that inevitably accompany facial hair. I like to serve as a Public Service Announcement to let you know that you are not alone. We're all facing this shit-storm of swag and mojo every day, so I say it's time to man up and stop giving a shit about how a couple hairs on top of your lip make you look. If you ain't got no mojo, yo mo ain't got no swag yo..y'know?

Swoop.



Thursday, August 4, 2011

Shuck Fark Week

Always use protection when
playing Shark Week drinking games
Don't get me wrong - Sharks are badass. They swim around in waters too deep for you to navigate, just so that they can scurry over at the slightest hint of a pinprick of blood and devour you with their many rows of teeth in a dramatic fashion. They're natural born killers with a thirst for blood that will always be scary, no matter how cute Pixar makes them look, or how fake Dreamworks makes 'em look. However this does not necessarily mean they deserve their own week on the Discovery Channel. 

Now I love the Discovery Channel as much as the next guy, and I understand their need to attract an audience that isn't trying to fall asleep or my dad, but I'll just let internet sensation Jenna Marbles cover my opinions on Shark Week:



So there you have it. A common sense approach to what Shark Week actually is. Does this mean I think Shark Week should be eradicated? Helllllz nahh. I mean, I don't even watch the damn thing* and I still think it's fun. I just think that the whole event needs to get with the times...evolve, if you will. Such begins the second half of my "constructive criticism":
*saw about 5 minutes last night


Kevin Corrigan - quite
possibly a bear himself
Think about it - They're scary, hairy and even kill regular people who aren't rich enough to go on vacations to exotic locations. The idea's been growing in my mind ever since earlier this week, when I read an article by College Humor's Kevin Corrigan listing 10 Reasons Why Bear Week Would Be Better Than Shark Week. He's got some pretty compelling arguments, and face it - bears are just as badass as sharks.

...or better yet, why not do a week of each? Cap it off with a third week of world class biologists speculating over which of the two was stronger, while you have computer simulations of the two facing off in various depths of the sea. Just saying - instead of one Shark Week in the middle of the summer, August could be an entire Monster Month!!! Dream big people...if anyone can make it happen, it'd be the Discovery Channel.

Which is why I think everyone who has read this far into my insignificant ramblings (and is thus at least somewhat emotionally invested in this topic) should sign Kevin Corrigan's official petition to get Discovery Channel to institue a "Bear Week". He's already almost all the way to his goal of 7,500 signatures - help him get all the way there before he sends the petition along with his article over to Discovery Channel on August 6th. Click here to view the petition.

You might just end up seeing some sh*t like this:

Thursday, July 28, 2011

LOLitics

With so much fcuked up neat stuff going in the World, I thought it'd be kind of cool for me to move away from my usual rants about random bands that you'll never listen to more than once, and do my own version of the evening news. Here are the headlines...MTLivin style:


So if you haven't heard, the U.S.A. owes China a whoooole bunch of money and, to put it simply, the U.S. Government must negotiate a way to deal with it by August 2 (by either raising taxes, cutting spending, or both), or else their credit will 'default' and none of their payments will be processed (i.e. Social Security & whatnot). Experts have speculated that this will turn the entire country will turn into a zombie-infested post-apocalyptic wasteland*.

*may or may not actually happen

This all sounds manageable so far though - Barack's at the helm...he'll crunch the numbers, make some unpopular decisions, and end up saving the country yet again, right? Wrong. Standing in his way are a few very stubborn, very well-funded Republicans who have a knack for speaking in sound-bytes to the small SuperSized portion of the American population that listens to public figures such as Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck.

The guy screwing
everyone over would be
named Boehner...
Leading this charge is House Speaker John Boehner, who is not budging from the stance that he will NOT allow Barack Obama's socialist regime to raise taxes at any cost (especially if that cost is to large corporations) despite all evidence stating that you need to make as much money as you are spending.

Verdict: I just get angry every time I hear about what some of these guys are trying to pull, so I've tried to stop paying attention to this one. Most of the Americans I've encountered on the internet are of the same mind, so here's to hoping they contact their local Congressmen and do something about it. Me? I'm just gonna kick it here in Canada and watch the Government take ridiculous chunks out of my paycheck.


Speaking of my tax dollars...

As if having a mustache wasn't enough, he walks wit a limp... #swag
NDP leader not at liberty to disclose full details of mission

A few days ago, a rather spindly lookin' Jack Layton held a surprise press conference to announce that he was taking an Indiana Jones-esque leave from leading Canada's New Democratic Party to once again take on Cancer. The leader of the official opposition never departed from his tone of optimism, vowing to be back, stronger than ever in September to "fight for families" and "replace the Conservative Government in a few short years".

When we last left Layton, he had recently defeated prostate cancer before leading his party to a historical finish in the most recent Canadian election. No word on the official villain for the sequel, although some experts are speculating it could be a mutation of the original foe. Whoever it is, we'll be here waiting eagerly on the egde of our seats to see them defeated. (Maybe even complete the trilogy with Stephen Harper as the villain?)

Either way, I wish you have a speedy recovery Mr. Layton. You have my mustache's unwavering support. UPDATE: On Mr. Layton's recommendation, the NDP has chosen a rookie MP to be his interim replacement.

In Other Depressing News:
Right Wing Terrorist kills a bunch of kids; Former pop-star is driven to an early demise by crack-cocaine; Toronto city councillor has no idea who Margaret Atwood is and finally, There's a really big famine going on in Africa killing a lot of people

Ugh, fuck I can't do this anymore...

In Non-Depressing News...
California still appealing to pot-heads

A new bill is being proposed in California to "Regulate Marijuana like Wine". Proponents of the anti-prohibition movement are seeking to "repeal bad laws" and allow adults who were 21 years of age or older to grow, cultivate and sell marijuana in a taxed market similar to wine. All I can say here is that this plan is rooted in so much common sense that it would take the likes of John Boehner to screw this one up.

So there you have it - the only good news that isn't ridiculous fluff pieces is about legalizing it...Typical left-wing, student writer bullshit, right? Peace out world, I'm going to take my anti-depressants.

Monday, July 25, 2011

I got a lotta cool stuff, and not much of an attention span, so here goes my linkstorm:

The Quick Pick:

Lights ft. Holy Fuck & Shad - Everybody Breaks A Glass



The Slick Pick:

OverDoz. - Pasadena

(Love the 90's style music videos for these guys. oh, and they're #dested too)



The Wack Pick:

ELEW - Sweet Home Alabama

Saw this guy opening for Josh Groban last week (but that's another story entirely). I love the "vambrices", the power stance, and the way he's way too intense. Like, all the time.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

...And We're Back!

"At least it was the last day" - Some engineer right before he got fired

What a weekend! After seeing some phenomenal bands at Bluesfest over Saturday (more on that later...) I was headed to the final night (Sunday) with some friends when a big, black storm cloud started gaining rather quickly on the festival. With mixed feelings about the event, the ensuing conversation went something like this:

Jeremy: "Man, I saw this storm coming on the Weather Network... It's bad news, I'm not down. We should turn back, I'm not feeling this at all."


Everyone else: "But we already bought our tickets..."


So, after much deliberation, debate and decision making, we did what any rational students would do and we went. There were a couple cool headliners that night anyway. However, apparently Mother Nature had other plans, because as soon as we walked into the festival, this happened. Needless to say, we GTFO of there back to my place, where upon arrival we encountered a tree cracked in half in the backyard and a candlelit game of Monopoly in the dining room.

Cut to this afternoon (those who are still with me..).

Hydro Ottawa has finally come to cut up the excess tree and get our power working again. It feels good to have internet that can work fast enough for me to make use of it. So here are all my stories from Saturday night....

Saw Death From Above 1979 on their reunion tour. For anyone who's a fan of the duo, it was everything you'd expect it to be: wicked. For anyone unfamiliar with the act, it was two dudes clad in contrasting black and white (one of which is one half of MSTRKRFT) playing dance rock music...couldn't really go wrong here. Nice colour scheme (B&W) stage picture (for just two guys) and band dynamics (when the more obnoxiously, outspoken singer started aimlessly ranting, the bearded bassist pronounced cooly: "Apparently this has turned into a Mitch Hedberg routine"). Full points.

Next for the night was Vancouver's own Mother Mother. A bit more obscure of an act, the band immediately demanded attention. Lead by what seemed to be a European, coked-up version of Neil Patrick-Harris flanked by a blond and brunette on either side of him (with matching synths to boot) this band rocked it. They swayed in and out of a number of medleys comprised of a bunch of their hits, never missing a beat.

While the bass player and drummer held it down flawlessly, and the two lovely ladies were to die for (especially the brunette...), the real star of the show was the singer. His jerky precision combined with his knack for timing and poetic eloquence left the entire crowd in awe of his physically enthralling performance. Check these guys out if they're headed your way.

Anyway thanks for stickin round. I'm off for now. Here's some cool new(ish) music. Cheers

Thursday, July 14, 2011

My Morning Racket

"Woa, these guys are awesome...who the hell are they?"


That seemed to be the consensus last night when My Morning Jacket graced Bluesfest as the "dark horse" headliners. The Led-Zeppelin inspired psychadelic-folk-rockers jammed through an hour and a half long set full of vastly contrasted ups-and-downs with impressively tight precision, but very few stand-out moments. In all honestly, I left a little early because all the songs started to blend together, and the lack of any sort of visual diversions (other than a few glowsticks thrown into the crowd at the end) left a little bit to be desired. Top marks to the lead guitarist though, who kept me at the show a little bit longer than I expected when he whipped out a saxophone.
Metric - Sick Muse


Also on the bill for last night was the Bluesfest favourite Metric. I only got to the festival nearing the end of the performance (they came on before MMJ), but Emily Haines was able to lure me away from the Mini-Donut stand (those of you who know me understand the severity of that statement) with her adorable Canadian-girl looks and goosebump-inspiring voice. There are 3 other guys in the band too.

In new music news...


The group I promised at the end of my last blog post...Monarchy caught my ear a couple days ago with the sampler they've got out right now. Their glitzy brand of electro-pop-synth-whatever-it-is isn't just their hot ticket right now, these guys actually pull the whole thing off with an air of class. Check 'em out.


 Gold In The Fire by Monarchy 


 I Won't Let Go by Monarchy 


PS Have you tried liking me on Facebook? It would really mean a lot to me...

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

ADD Me

My apologies to the avid fanbase of this blog. I've been trying to find enough interesting things that happen in Ottawa to constitute a fair blog about "MTLivin". Here goes:

Despite what I may or may have not said in the past, I ended up checking out two (and a half) things in the first week of Bluesfest. Here's the breakdown -

Skrillex: A. F*cking. Mazing. Mind bottling. #He seemed to be pretty into it too. Lost my shit at many points in the show, including but not limited to: 'RuffNeck Bass', 'Bass Cannon', 'Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites' and of course, the even-better-live "Cinema". Full points here.

Flashback to about grade 7 when I saw "Rise Against" perform before the Black Keys were set to perform. Cold, windy and rainy conditions unfortunately made my crowd flee to the secure, safe-haven of 'inside'. The duo went on after 45 minutes of rain delays and were apparently awesome. 'Lunchbag letdown' points though.

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble: Hypnotic, brass and gangster. These guys looked like they beat up your local band nerds and stole their instruments so they could make beats to rap over. All stereotypes aside, these 8 guys delivered a tight brand of hip-hop inspired blues-funk that made me wish I had seen the Roots on the night of Skrillex.

The "+" actually means
that you are legally
an entity of Google


In other news, in adding to my global online empire, I now have a Google+ account. For those of you who live near rocks (under rocks might be a little harsh for this one..they've been trying to keep it hush) Google Plus is Google's version of Facebook. It basically does the same thing as Facebook but in a more sophisticated and professional way. My call is that it's gonna be a little more business related/have a more mature audience than Facebook. Lemme know if you wanna get invited..it's in its testing stages so it's kinda super exclusive or whatever...

In new music news:
The Strokes just released a new video for their track Taken For a Fool off their latest album 'Angles'. Classic Strokes track - look for it to be in the greatest hits compilation right between 'Last Nite' and "that one that goes duhn-nun-duh-nuhn-duhn"



"You're so gullible but I don't mind, That's not the problem"

Another post to follow soon with another cool group...stay tuned

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Bluesfest Preview (Part I)


Ahhh Bluesfest. The one time of year where you don't have to ask what anyone's doing tonight, and Ottawa can pretend that it's comparable to virtually any other world-class music fesival (with mixed results).

The fact of the matter being that since the playoffs decided to stop gracing the nation's capital, Bluesfest has become the most interesting event in a city that feels the need to repeat the name of every bus stop in an English and French accent.

So without further ado, here is my "comprehensive" list of stuff I wanna check out, and stuff I actually have enough money to check out (for Week 1).

Tuesday July 5th

K well I already missed this one, but I hear it was a nice way to kick off the event. Notable names include Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, The Flaming Lips, Tegan and Sara, and Soundgarden (as well as Coheed & Cambria for any post-emo-heads out there). Having no desire to go see an aging 90's grunge act, and having already seen the Lips and Tegan & Sara, the biggest regret here is that I missed Eddy Sharpe..I hear it was quite the event.

Wednesday July 6

SSSSSKKKKRRRRIIIIILLLLLLLLEEEEXXXXXXXXXXXXX!!!!!!!

...as well as Bedouin Soundclash, Ben Harper and the Roots. Can you say stacked?

Important to note: Some band named Whale Tooth is playing at 7:30. Probably not gonna catch it, seeing as it's right in between Bedouin Soundclash and the Roots, but the law of Whale bands states that any band with 'Whale' in its name is gonna be quality indie music - so if that's your game, check it out.

Thursday July 7

Stuff I wanna see but probably won't get to: A couple years ago a buddy of mine preached a wack techno group called "Infected Mushroom" to me...they're on 7

Stuff I'm gonna go see: Girl Talk. I've missed this guy too many times and heard way too many concert reviews that resemble anecdotes of ridiculous raves to miss this guy a 3rd time. Calling this one a must.

Steve Miller Band also has the headlining spot of the night. I saw these guys a couple years ago and it was as classic as the Jurassic. Some people call me the Space Cowboy...

Friday July 8

Wicked night to get drunk...with Cage the Elephant, Rise Against, and the Black Keys going back-to-back-to-back, I'm gonna have to go pick up my prescription from Dr. Jack Daniels before I head over to this one. Hey Rosetta's also playing, but if you pick that one, be prepared to get seriously judged by me.

Saturday July 9

Randoms all over the place on this day...not sure if I'll make it or not. Mainstream names include Erykah Badu and the always insatiable Tragically Hip. The Hip is known for their classic rock swag when they play live, but conflict with She & Him's "Him", M. Ward (also of Monsters of Folk fame). This isn't exactly quite of the "rock" caliber of the Hip, but this might be a recovery day so soft-rock would be more than welcome. For all those looking for music made by more computers than guitars, there's also Neon Indian gracing the stage round 8.

Also notable: Half of the Raconteurs are in town in the form of The Greenhornes (including the singer-songwriter's response to Jack White; Brendan Benson) Should also be a good shout...this one's a little earlier doe.

Sunday July 10


Even though there are headliners everywhere from Hypnotic Brass Ensemble to Peter Frampton, I'm probably not gonna hit this night - It's probably better to use it to recover before week 2 kicks off on the 12th (Tuesday)

Till next week (or probably sooner) I'm signin off. (Sorry, I'd post more content, but I gotta get ready fo da RuffNeck Bass)



Sunday, July 3, 2011

See You on the Dark Side of the Loon(ie)

As I sit here, in a post Canada-day haze, left with a hangover that's halfway through day 2 and a wallet emptier than Lebron's championship ring display case, it got me thinking...There's gotta be a way I can translate my twitter-preaching skills into cash. Not like, a liveable amount of capitol or anything, just a large enough sum to help me maintain my current lifestyle.

So may I introduce you to the various ads adorning my website.

All you have to do is click on them, and you'll be helping me support my dream of being able to sustain myself without ever having to leave the comfort of my own pajamas. Once you open them, it doesn't really matter if you buy anything or not. They might even be good services that you've been in search of for ages..you never know. Me, personally? I wouldn't know, I have adblock.

I know some of you are thinking "Hey! These ads aren't new! He's been selling out for a while!" and while this may be completely true, my newfound appreciation for the Star Wars franchise (particularly Episodes I & III) has renewed my interest in exploiting the Dark Side for personal gain. Fittingly while this country is amidst its own Senate Reform, I feel like I should be the one to step up and play the role of Palpatine...or even Anakin. Together, we can rule the galaxy...make things the way we want them to be!

...or I might just be able to scrape up enough ad money to go to Osheaga and blog about it. Your move, internet.


While I'm at the self-promotion and whatnot have you liked my facebook page? You should go ahead and do that right about now..

Thursday, June 30, 2011

And After That...

Terribly sorry for the hiatus (to anyone who noticed), but I gotta think the content in this one is worth it..it certainly was responsible for it, so here goes (it's a long winded one (with goodies at the end) so get ready)...


Song of the weekend? Easy. Even though I didn't exactly expect it to be on the playlist, After Party by the Lonely Island ft Santigold surprisingly ended up in rotation. Something about the combination of Andy Samberg rapping as a badass drug addict and Santigold deliciously delivering a hook about "Jerkin' off" kept me reaching for the play button a little more than I should have...but in the midst of a weekend filled with everything from #painting walls, to drinking games in front of #Hot Rod, to dubstep production, it only seemed appropriate.


Say what you will about the Lonely Island's legitimacy as a mainstream musical group, but Andy Samberg is incredibly clever (See: most of this song)...until he talks about his dick too much (See: the second verse of this song). Still, all things considered, this is a great song and it'll make an amazing digital short one day -- you heard it here first.


But no matter how light-hearted the track's intentions are, the song's comical tone soon seeped into my subconscious until I started getting into that mentality - and then? ..and then? ..and then? ..I didn't quite tear off my clothes and scream at the sky, but in my painting-fume induced haze I definitely got to thinking...what the hell am I doing with my life? The obvious answer: Working 9-5 ... and then? Well, working 9-5 again.. and then? Uhhh, probably doing that again? and then?...well, you get the point.


However, after a lengthy chat with my old man about desk-job life (in which we #made chicken bacon caesar wraps and I preached Office Space to him) he bestowed this advice upon me:


"No matter how [bad] things are now, in 2 years none of this is gonna matter"

Not saying that #my life is horrible right now by any means.. I'm just dedicating this post to anyone who's on their transition grind; anyone who's on their I-don't-wanna-be-here-but-I-could-really-see-myself-over-there grind, but mostly it goes out to anyone who's hoping that in 2 years from now, they'll be in a better place then they are now. Sorry for the existential/melancholic post, but there's a mixtape to go with the theme.. Enjoy.

PS have you liked my facebook page? You should like my facebook page.



1. After Party - The Lonely Island feat Santigold

2. Is This It? - The Strokes

3. Missed The Boat - Modest Mouse

4. Piece of Mind (demo) - The Dutch (exclusive)

5. A Good Day at the Races - Hollerado

6. Jackie Wants a Black Eye - Dr. Dog

7. Space Oddity - David Bowie

8. The Party & The After Party - The Weeknd


Download the "2 Years" minimixtape here

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Weekend Playlist

If you're anything like me, you think a couple aspects of our society are sorely outdated.

As I write this, I know there must be some people who reading this thinking, "Oh god, I've heard this one before" but before you hastily pass me off as a stereotypically lazy teenager like that, hear me out: What if weekends were 3 days long? I'm not saying I'm any historical expert here, I'm just saying that somewhere along the line, maybe it got lost in translation as to how many days God really took to rest after he finished the whole thing...

Like, 1 out of 6? Anyone smart enough to know that they shouldn't choke on dice could pick a better ratio than that. My thought is that the big guy upstairs made it all in a few days and then clocked himself in through Sunday. Think about it, he doesn't have a supervisor...next thing you know he gets to thinking he needs a little "me" time after CREATING THE ENTIRE F$#%ING UNIVERSE. Besides, what better way to get a legion of loyal followers than embellishing the details of the crazy stuff you did (taking a dude's rib? Just not necessary imho..) and then saying that you're only gonna take ONE day off before you go back at it. They'd think you were, well...God.

But I digress. This all stems from the fact that I'm taking this Friday off (suckaaaaazz) to head to Montreal in what's shaping up to be a monthly tradition. With my move in late May, some concert going on at the end of July, and of course, the return of school in late August, I'm keeping up my end of the bargain in this whole long distance deal. Let's just hope my dear Montréal is #staying faithful to me.

In the meantime, here are the songs I'm gonna be playing over the weekend. If you wanna do as much crazy shit as I'm gonna be doing this weekend, here are the tunes to do it to.

1) New track from Adventure Club. Already talked about this one, so no need to go into detail.

 Flight Facilities - Crave You (Adventure Club Dubstep Remix) by Adventure Club Dubstep

2&3) DJ Legit & Bondo Music's Deep Feel Dubstep remixes of Rolling in the Deep. Even though I'm quite a fan of MTL's DJ Legit's remix, I can't stand but get addicted to the dubbier versions. Voilá

 Rolling In the Deep (DJ c.LEgiT Remix) - Adele by djclegit

 Adele - Rolling In The Deep (Deep Feel Dubstep Remix) by Bondo Music

4) Captain Cuts - Colours remix. Last year around this time, I was obsessed with the original version of this song. A year later, @my buddy introduced this remix to me that blends the best elements of party-house and dubstep remixes. Bazinga.

 Grouplove - Colours (Captain Cuts Remix) by Captain Cuts

5) ..aaand of course for when the times get a little more mellow and introspective as they tend to do, there's always Cults. These guys just released their second self-titled album in as many years. While some may see this as a testament to the similarity between all of their music, I see it as more of a tribute to their authenticity. These guys are just a little too nerdy to be cute, which I guess in today's world only makes you cuter. Oh well.


Cults - 'The Curse' from Bowlegs on Vimeo.

If all else fails, Gregg Gillis (aka Girl Talk) Recently threw together a 154-track "Barbeque Playlist" optimized for summer jammin'. It's as diverse as it is comprehensive. Give it a listen.

PS have you liked my Facebook page? You should like my Facebook page.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Adventure Clubstep

Word on the street this morning was saying Adventure Club was set to release a new track sometime today. I don't know if I like these guys because they're really good, or just because they're from Montreal, but either way, everyone else seems to dig them too so I'm down. This track admittedly isn't the greatest song in the world, but the masterful sampling and duttty basss suggest that these guys might be well content to have their music worshipped at sweaty, drug-fueled parties instead.

Whatever the case, I'm in. Peace out.

 Flight Facilities - Crave You (Adventure Club Dubstep Remix) by Adventure Club Dubstep

Monday, June 20, 2011

A Bad Case of the Mondays

While working 9-5 might be livin' the dream for a lot of people, this doesn't mean that the lifestyle isn't without its drawbacks. Sure, you can live it up every Friday & Saturday night like you're Charlie Sheen on your 21st birthday (see also: #like you're Sam Donald on your 19th birthday), but in the end, you're always gonna have to wake up early on that Monday morning.

It looms. It's unavoidable. #You try as hard as you can to forget about it, but at the end of the day it's how you make that paper. So when I came home to find that the Weeknd had released a new song, I was psyched. If you read this blog more than just occasionally (lol), you know how much I like what the Weeknd has been and is doing. It was a song I had been waiting on too ('The Birds Part 1' was released 4 days ago). But to my surprise, when I clicked onto the link for Part 2 (after a message popped up saying that it was the legit link no less), it just played Part 1 again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md_dg8B8tmk.

Anyway, all that that means is that the only new music you'll be hearing from this blog today comes from the San Fran area Pomplamoose. The songwriting caliber isn't too far off from classics from back in the day, but a sampled tape deck, horn section, and some nice video direction suggest a sort of sophistication that has recently developed in the group's work. I still think they should get rid of the annoying little vlogs that they plug on the end, but that might just be the Mondays talking.

PS if you like these blog posts, would you mind liking MTLivin on Facebook? The #stats are kinda pathetic right now and #anything helps. Thank you. Here is the music.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

2Legit2Quit

Although Adele remixes are hardly uncharted territory, this isn't exactly for no good reason. Soaring hooks, infectious chords and soulful vocals make her samples prime territory for DJs everywhere to see what's happening in the local/global community, as well as give them a chance to stack their signature sounds up against their peers'.

So when a buddy of mine released his own take of the Über-popular 'Rollin in the Deep' I was skeptical, yet optimistic. Was it gonna live up to some of the better remixes I've heard? Or was it just gonna fade into obscurity and become unrecognizable amongst a sea of well-intentioned tributes? Since I haven't got sick of the original song yet, I decided to give it a go...

Zippy bass lines immediately fade in with airy synths echoing around them, conjuring up images of what a Justice / Avicii collab might sound like. Verses build to perfectly orchestrated club drops that are gonna sound bausss bumpin in the car this summer, so I must say that this remix undoubtedly seems to be among the former category. iTunes says I've already played it 3 times but we all know that just means I've played it 3 times to the end.

Check it:

 Rolling In the Deep (DJ c.LEgiT Remix) - Adele by djclegit

Also, diggin around his SoundCloud page i stumbled across these beauties. You can download all of his songs for free.

Click through to DJ Legit's website here

 Fuck You - Cee Lo (DJ c.LEgiT Remix) by djclegit

 Touch The Sky - Kanye West (DJ c.LEgiT Remix) by djclegit

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Self-Indulgence at its finest.

As if Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, Blogspot, MySpace, HypeMachine, Vimeo and StumbleUpon weren't enough, I went ahead and made myself a SoundCloud page too. It's basically like all those other sites in the way that it's slowly pulling me into a #Brave-New-World-esque state of disillusionment regarding my actual social life...but it's totally different from those other sites in the way that it has these legit lookin' orange play buttons that none of the other sites have, so naturally I just had to get it.

Once I got one though, I realized that a page with no songs looked rather #sad. So I went diggin' through my GarageBand files to see what I could scrounge up, and (including one I just finished yesterday) ended up with 3 tracks to show the world. So if you'll excuse me, I have my FacebookTwitterTumblrYouTubeBlogspotMySpaceHypeMachineVimeo and StumbleUpon to post this on. Enjoy.

Click through to my SoundCloud page here

 In Spite of all the Danger (The Quarrymen cover) by Mr Daniels

 You've Got A Friend In Me (Randy Newman cover) by Mr Daniels

 When You Said Goodbye by Mr Daniels

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Kanye: The Original MotherLover?

New Track from Kanye West today.

Over a beat that sounds like 'Big Brother' would've sounded if it had been on College Dropout, Yeezy spits about the guys that used to try and get with his mom. His playful delivery narrates his life as he grows up, only to see himself become the very thing he despised in his childhood.

Verdict: Even though last year's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was enough to keep him in the spotlight until his next dumb, drunk pulicity stunt, he's making damn sure no one forgets about him. Although he's not putting out tracks at the rate of Curren$y or anything, this track already has classic written all over it - only time will tell, really.

The song was supposedly supposed to be included on Fantasy, but instead was slated for a later release. My guess is that it didn't fit in with the concept-heavy framework of the album.



PS here's a lil' niblet of Kanye 'debut'ing the song at Facebook headquarters last year:

Monday, June 13, 2011

..and just a few more words

Of course after I posted links to 5 of my friends' flickrs, there's one that I neglected to mention. This is not, however, due to the fact that I forgot, but rather because this one does not fit the category of "twitter holdout" quite as nicely as the rest. In fact, quite the opposite. Emilie "LaFrenchie" has a twitter account (in which she follows 50 people that aren't me) as well as a tumblr, flickr, blogspot and probably some other random, obscure form of social networking that not many people have.

A fashion student in Toronto (though she's been back and forth between Toronto and Ottawa this summer), her blog posts contain an unhealthy-amount-of-selfies...but it's all in the name of fashion, and she's pretty good looking, so it's beyond excused.

View Emilie's Flickr here

Sunday, June 12, 2011

5,000 Words

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...so what's 5 times better than that? 5,000 words.

In an ever increasingly digital world, it is often difficult for one to take a moment to disconnect..get away from it all. I find the best way to do this is to sit inside (preferably a dimly lit room) and look at pictures of good times that my friends have taken from their lives. These five flickrs come from 5 of my close friends.

The first one comes from across the world from my longtime friend and twitter-holdout Bradley Eng. This guy is a certified ballin B-boy with the appropriate swag to match.











The next two come from two of my friends who are coming around to the thought of twitter. The first from my friend Alexandra (aka #atighe)



















...and the second from my good friend Dana. She likes to take pictures of people smoking. Some great party shots in this collection.














The 4th is a flickr that I have featured before. Haven't been able to get this guy on twitter yet, but at least I preached flickr well enough to get this guy to post his photos for all to see. Many of this website's backgrounds have come from this flickr.



















...aaaaaand the last (but certainly not least) of my friends' flickrs is also the one that's most at risk of being labeled 'hipster'. No bad vibes though...polaroid tinged (as well as lotsa disposable) still-life shots bring a nostalgic feel to the table. #Good times.














Word count: An uninspiring 275. Fuck photo-journalism, I should stick to trying to convert people to twitter.