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..