A well placed piece of music in a film can alter the meaning of that song for all eternity. Try and listen to Bill Conti's "Gonna Fly Now" without envisioning Rocky Balboa's run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Some will think of Gord Martineau, but most
Yeah, it's hot. It'll be even hotter tomorrow. This is the hottest Canadian year on record. If you can't beat the heat, create a playlist of songs with "heat" in the title. The following songs were culled from my collection. Canned Heat Blues - Sloppy HenryHeat - 50 CentHeat -
We finally have our Mercury Prize. On September 18, the Polaris Music Prize will award $20,000 for the best Canadian album released between June 1, 2005, and May 31, 2006, regardless of genre. The inaugural nominees are: Broken Social Scene for Broken Social SceneCadence Weapon, Breaking KayfabeThe Deadly Snakes,
The weekend was such a blur, I'm only getting to Saturday's paper now. In honour of Canada Day, the Star listed ten essential Canadian songs. I did something similar last September, listing what I thought were ten essential Canadian tracks. Here's the Toronto Star's list: Huron Carol - Jean de
You can't go anywhere or do anything without stumbling across a Superman reference this week. "Superman Returns" is in theatres and it's received fairly good reviews. When I think of Superman, a number of pretty good tunes immediately spring to mind. As I think about it, Superman is a popular
I was just checking out Wikipedia's list of bands from Canada. They even break it down by province and city, which means I can tell you the following bands are from Toronto. Andrew CashArmed and HammeredBarenaked LadiesThe Battered WivesThe Birthday MassacreThe Black MariaBlue PeterBroken Social SceneBy Divine RightCancer Batscontroller.controllerCowboy
As a teen, I was too dumb and too ignorant to appreciate The Velvet Underground and subsequent work by Lou Reed. In 1996 I watched "Trainspotting", one of the few movies that ever made it into my DVD collection, and based on a single viewing of this great flick, I
In 1990 I saw "Coupe de Ville", a charming as hell story about three brothers forced to take a road trip together. As one of three brothers, I especially liked this flick and consider it one of the more under appreciated films of the 90s. A classic scene in the
Even before I saw "Saint Ralph" I was hunting for an MP3 of Gord Downie's cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". Last month I linked to a site that was sharing several covers of this Cohen classic. I left a comment on that site telling everyone about my search for Downie's
When you're trying to lead a revolution, you need the right tunes. These songs are all in my collection and collectively comprise my "revolution" playlist. Raining Revolution - Arrested DevelopmentBeastie Revolution - Beastie BoysRevolution - The BeatlesRevolution 1 - The BeatlesRevolutin 9 - The BeatlesRevolution Rock - The ClashRevolution -
Sure, I'm in my thirties now but I still make an effort to catch the MTV Movie Awards every year. This is the first year I actually taped it off of MTV and not MuchMusic. There's an MTV Canada now, did you know that? I watched the first half last
One of my favourite tunes on the new Strokes disc is "You Only Live Once". It's the next single from First Impressions of Earth and it has a B side that's intriguing the hell out of me. The Strokes have covered Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me" with Pearl Jam's Eddie
Because it plays at the beginning of the "Toy Story 2" DVD my kids love, I've seen the trailer for the new Pixar movie "Cars" about a hundred times over the past twelve months. I was always happy to hear the song that played over top the trailer, Tom Cochrane's
Rock band Kiss is introducing a his-and-hers fragrance line. They've also recently launched a premium denim line and have announced plans to open the world's first KISS Coffeehouse on my birthday in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. "Every army needs food and drink and the KISS Army is no exception!" said
In recognition of today's date, I thought it appropriate to review the ten best "devil" songs, ever! Remember, the Devil is in the details. Me and the Devil's Blues - Robert Johnson Could any other song be #1? This guy sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for guitar
In addition to Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy", there have been other "crazy" songs. Here are some in my collection. Crazy - AerosmithCrazy Little Thing Called Love - QueenSomewhere Down The Crazy River - Robbie RobertsonCrazy Tonight = Strong Teeth - The KleptonesShe Drives Me Crazy - Fine Young CannibalsThe Return of the
The 100 songs for my brother's wedding have been finalized, burned and are ready for the big day. It's 6.9 hours worth of tunes, so it's highly unlikely anyone will ever hear the same song twice. Yesterday I received a request from the bride to produce a second mix
Blender has listed the 50 worst songs ever. It's fun to agree with lists like this, but it's even more fun to disagree. Below are seven songs I enjoy that made Blender's list. R.E.M. - Shiny Happy People - C'mon Blender, is this one really so bad? True,
I just remembered that there's more to providing music for a wedding than assembling a list of 100 appropriate but cool tunes. I've actually got to burn these tunes on disc to play at Steve's wedding that's fast approaching. I'm going to burn the disc Tuesday with the final list
Last night, I attended the second of two Pearl Jam concerts at the Air Canada Centre. This time, I was seated to the right of the stage, on the Stone Gossard side, 16 rows ups. The first show was great, this show was spectacular. The Toronto Sun review of the
Last month I wrote about how odd it is that Our Lady Peace is skipping Toronto on their cross Canada tour. Then, earlier this month, I complained about the crappy Edgefest line-up before I realized they're calling it Edgefest II and hadn't announced Edgefest 1 yet. It turns out Our
Last night, I attended the Pearl Jam concert at the Air Canada Centre. It was the first of two back-to-back shows. I was seated to the left of the stage, on the Mike McCready side, 19 rows ups. Here are my thoughts on yet another great show. My Morning Jacket
Pearl Jam's tour kicks off tonight here in Toronto. I'll be there and I'll return tomorrow for show #2. Pearl Jam is enlightened enough to have a progressive policy regarding cameras, so I'll try and snap some pix. Before I head on down to the ACC, it's time for Pearl
I knew Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" was heavily covered, but I had no idea how many artists have recorded the gem. This thorough list of Cohen songs covered by other artists reveals it's been covered 82 times. It's not even the most covered Cohen song. "Suzanne" has been done 146 times
Last June, on a whim, I jotted down five superficial life goals. Number two on that list, right after "Celebrate Maple Leafs Stanley Cup victory" was "Watch Pearl Jam concert from backstage and meet Ed". The last time Pearl Jam came through Toronto, everything seemed to line up perfectly to
