I've been seeing ads lately for Burton Cummings' new album, Above the Ground. The featured song is entitled "We Just Came From the U.S.A." and it's super catchy. It ought to be catchy as its chorus is an old school yard chant I remember well. My first three
It's been almost two months since I downloaded Girl Talk's Feed the Animals. It's one of those pay-what-you-want deals and it's a mash-up of hundreds of tunes. Part of the fun in listening to Feed the Animals is naming the samples. Trust me, nobody could nail them all, so I
Don't mind me, I'm just testing Grooveshark. They claim they can play millions of songs on demand, and even let you embed the songs on your site. Here's some old school Toronto hip hop for ya. If they've got the Maestro, I'm impressed.
Have you heard that tune by Kid Rock? The one that borrows from Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama?" Of course you've heard it, who am I trying to kid? Every time I hear it, I think about how great Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London"
I had to have Use Your Illusion I and II on the first day of its release. That was back in 1991 and I was a big time GNR fan. If you were there you knew there was no bigger rock band on the planet than Guns N' Roses. We
I went to Harveys for lunch yesterday, and I couldn't believe the song they played in-store. It was The Extras with their novelty 80s hit "Circular Impression." It was kind of surreal to hear it at a Harveys. I mean, it is all about a condom and it does start
The Kool Haus provided an intimate setting where I could get super close to the acts without fearing for my life. This is a good thing as I'm no longer the young man I once was. In fact, it's fair to say on this night I was one of the
I've always liked Kid Rock. In fact, I once took my mom to a Kid Rock concert. No other artist pulls off a hip hop track next to southern rock, right by a country-esque ballad. Kid Rock has this ability to genre-jump like no other artist. Take "All Summer Long"
I just learnt John McCain's campaign has been using "My Hero" from the Foo Fighters. I wrote about "My Hero" here. When the Foo Fighters learnt John McCain was using "My Hero", they issued a statement. The saddest thing about this is that "My Hero" was written as a celebration
A couple of years ago, I started sharing great videos from the glory days of MuchMusic. I started the series off with "Take On Me" by A-Ha, the definitive 'great video' from the 1980s. I just watched a hilarious literal version of the "Take On Me" video. If you remember
Mike Kic turned me on to Atmosphere. I was hanging out at his house when he slipped me a bunch of Atmosphere CDs and told me it was right up my alley. I've only recently dived in, and now I can't get enough. I'm always going back to Atmosphere, a
Classic Albums: Nirvana - Nevermind was a documentary DVD released in March 2005 as part of the Classic Albums series. It featured interviews specifically for this release with members of the band and "Nevermind" album producer Butch Vig about the recording of the album. Other interview highlights include Thurston Moore
Has it really been five years? It must be true, because I wrote this entry five years ago today. As is my daily ritual, I was listening to the radio while taking a shower this morning. The news brief opened with word of John Ritters surprising death at 54. Following
I love mash-ups. I'm very happy with so-called illegal music put together by the Kleptones or Danger Mouse or whoever. Last night, I learnt about Feed the Animals, the fourth album by Girl Talk. Girl Talk, it turns out, is actually a guy named Gregg Gillis. Feed the Animals is
Oasis front man Noel Gallagher was treated in hospital after a man ran onto the stage and attacked him while he and his brother Liam were performing at the annual Virgin Festival here in Toronto. As you'll see in the footage below, Noel Gallagher "fell heavily onto his monitor speakers,
Labour Day in this country used to be all about union parades and picnics. We'd celebrate the working class, advances in the labour movement, and the like. Today, it's more about one last long weekend before the kids go back to school and the chill settles in. In keeping with
I got a message from a reader named Brian earlier today. Here's what Brian had to say. hey mike, i wanted to ask you about this song a month ago, but i had to see if i would still like it. culture reject - "inside the cinema" has really grown
Yesterday night I had a great time at a top secret party at an undisclosed location with a fun group of people you may or may not know that I can't mention. It was to celebrate a well deserved happenstance and both Taryn and I had a blast. Even the
Without a doubt, two of the more popular Stone Temple Pilot songs are "Plush" and "Interstate Love Song". They're also two very different styles of song. Which is your preference, "Plush" or "Interstate Love Song?" You've got all day to respond, I'll be hearing both tunes live tonight. PlushInterstate Love
I'll be spending Saturday enjoying Edgefest 2008. Back in the day that meant sitting in traffic on the 400 and hauling my ass up to Barrie, but now I can take the TTC to Downsview Park. That's pretty sweet. I'll likely spend 12 hours outdoors, so I must remember the
"99 Problems" is my favourite Jay-Z song. I hear Jay-Z stole the show at Glastonbury this year and prior to busting into a "Back In Black" backed "99 Problems" he covered a little Oasis tune you might be familiar with. You see, guys like Noel Gallagher didn't think an American
Pete Seeger will be playing Hugh'S Room here in Toronto on July 6 and 7. I'm very happy to see Pete Seeger still plucking away at the age of 89. I'm a documentary fan and a music fan, so I've seen a number of extensive interviews with Seeger in docs
Jim's Child of the '60s is a podcast of 60s tunes you don't hear that often. He recently asked me for a digital copy of Jayson King's "Heartaches", Bobby Kris & the Imperials' "Walk On By" and Grant Smith & the Power's "Her Own Life". I was happy to share.
Vanilla Ice's To The Extreme is not a very good album. It was released in 1990 and was the most successful rap album by a white artist since The Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill in 1987. Thanks to the monster hit "Ice Ice Baby", based on the baseline from Queen
I love a good cover. I also despise a bad cover. A Total Guitar magazine survey has named the best and worst covers of all time, and Celine Dion's cover of the AC/DC track "You Shook Me All Night Long" finished at the bottom of the heap as the
