David Bowie; Beauty

hello, new world

Hello blog world! My name's Brendan, I live and work in Toronto but still help friends Cosima and Amanda throw a little party in Guelph called Gosh Damn! (I manage the blog of the same name). When I'm not participating in DJ related fuckery, I work with Project Parkdale Read, tutor English at George Brown College, hold a less enthralling job at a popular wedding establishment in Toronto that I'm actually afraid to name, as well as doing random work for the Guelph Jazz Festival. I also find time to intern for a Brooklyn based label called Mixpak Records who're putting out some of the most innovative dancehall/hip hop/electro-house-hyperbass records of 2009. I experience existential doubt on a regular basis, and like to drink and talk about music, culture and bicycles.

Anyway, Michelle swooned me into contributing here, so I thought I'd start by telling you about the above show, happening November 6th at the Albion. Instead of being upstairs I'll be playing on the ground floor, and it will be a bit of a different vibe from the regular "banger infused crunkdestruction" of Gosh Damn, I wanted to concentrate a bit more on some classy house-based international sounds.

Which isn't to say this mix is soft, nuh uh.

Whether you're blaring it in your apartment pre-party or biking downtown with it on your ipod, remember to come by and jack it like a zombie on the 6th!

Young Bran - "Electro Is Dead, Long Live Tropical-Zombie-Polka House Music!" Mix

Tracklisting:
Zombie Disco Squad- Escapade
Tim Green - Kitch In (Original Mix)
Round Table Knights- BellyDance (Mowgli Remix)
Renaissance Man - Rythym
Loco Dice - Pimp Jackson Is Talking Now!!
D'Julz- Fleurette
Cubic Zirconia - Fuck Work (Nacho Lovers Remix)
Style of Eye- Grounded (Horns Mix)
Drop The Lime - Set Me Free (Harvard Bass Remix)
Gucci Vump - Sha! Shtil!
Riva Starr- I Was Drunk
Slagsmålsklubben - Brutal (Techno) Weapons
Crookers- Big Fat Club A$$
Claude Von Stroke- Vocal Chords
The Gossip - Love Long Distance (Riva Starr Remix)

THE TOAST OF THE TOWN

An Against the Grain Comedy Profile

By

Tyler Morrison

As the days get darker and the winter draws nearer the bright lights of Toronto’s standup comedy circuit are still as vibrant as the colors that remain on the trees. It is that time of year again, my favorite time for standup comedy in the city when the summer lull is finally over and the open mikes are crowded with new comics dying to test their metal on the many stages available to them, and the seasoned professionals who still regularly challenge themselves present new material.

The city is once again buzzing with the hype of The Cream of Comedy where the winner will walk away with a cool $5,000.00 and the prestigious Tim Sims Encouragement Award. The contest has seen a who’s who of promising talent grace the stage many of them going on to great things as evidenced by the success of past performers like Jeff McEnery, Deborah Digiovanni, Nathan Macintosh, Fraser Young, and Ron Sparks just to name a few.

Last year the competition featured as strong a crop as there has been yet with stand outs such as Adam Christie really coming into his own during the event and the polished and edgy Bryan O’Gorman throwing down the set that I thought would win the whole thing. A strong performance by the sketch troupe 7 Minutes in Heaven won in the end and I am sure this year’s winner will also move onto great things (keep your eye on Craig Fay who is a finalist) but it really got me thinking about how great some of the darker comedy in the city is. The Fresh Meat competition which is the preliminaries for the event featured some top notch dark comics like the explosive Topher Harrison but he unfortunately did not make the cut this time around and also overlooked was a comic that is coming on strong named Tom O’Donnell who did not even get a shot at Fresh Meat.

“I went too dark,” says Rob Maillhoux another young comic who was ejected in the preliminaries for the award, commenting on the fact that his material was too south of mainstream for the Cream of Comedy.

I have to say that last year I was impressed they even took a chance by putting O’Gorman (who rarely disappoints) on the big stage, as it was a great move. Anyone who regularly follows comedy should know the best acts are quite often the ones that push the envelope who may not ever get a shot at being on mainstream television.

With that in mind I have decided to profile some of my favorite dark comedians in Toronto each week. Obvious choices like critically acclaimed Darren Frost and Jason Rouse, two of our favorites who receive tons of press will not be featured yet. I want to focus on some guys you may have never heard of that I have been privy to seeing perform several times and would like to share with you. Some have been showcased in my festival, others have yet to be there for one reason or another but I can assure you I am a big, big fan of all of these comics.

For this series the first comedian I would like to profile is Tom O’Donnell. Tom O’Donnell is a twenty one year old comedian from Brighton, Ontario who is burning up stages all across the province having made his first major festival debut in 2009 at The Cottage Country Comedy Festival last summer where he had a strong set in the Cottage Comedy Contest and a breakout performance the next night as part of the Lake of Fire XXX Show.

However, to suggest O’Donnell is one dimensional is not true as he is also able to work clean, something that gets lost in the shuffle when someone is viewed primarily as edgy. He comes from a working class background and that translates well into his act as many audiences are able to easily relate to him. This plays into his hand, for his John Goodman-like charisma and inviting personality are what allow him to not be pigeon holed as strictly a young guy with few experiences.

His comedy is based on a lot of true stories all crafted cleverly to end with a bang and while they all flow naturally a true fan of comedy cannot help but appreciate the time he has put into his bits. For the past year he has been working almost every weekend doing guest spots at Kitchener Yuk Yuks and has made great improvement from where he was a year ago.

O’Donnell told me about what it was like starting out working the bar circuit.

“For the first year and a half every bar I played I was waiting for Steven Seagal to come in with a pool ball in a sock and beat the crap out of everybody. One night in particular a guy came after me on stage that was interrupting me all night when I realized he was covered in dog hair. Pretty easy target, you’d think a guy covered with dog hair would keep his mouth shut. Well he freaked out when I asked if he had sexual relations with a sheep dog before he came in. Another comedian Ryan Horwood came on stage and we wrestled him out of the venue. Luckily I had some dog cookies on me and he left quietly.”

One of my favorite comics Ryan Dennee, who has been instrumental in Tom’s development, first brought my attention to him. They had attended Humber College’s Comedy Writing and Performance Program together and created the hilarious sketch duo The Leavy Brothers who have gained massive popularity in Kingston and surrounding area from their weekly appearances on 98.9 FM The Drive. O’Donnell has since gone on to win the title of Kingston Comedy Idol at Time to Laugh Comedy Club.

The first time we performed together Tom walked onto the stage as a guest on our Impolitely Canadian Show in Guelph tearing the roof off of the sold out show with his material including a story about a three fingered girlfriend he acquired while on a Greyhound bus.

After working with him many times now it is very clear that he has his sights set on achieving a higher level of success and is on the right path both on stage and off. I have noticed he has turned a corner in his career and is reaching a maturity that is difficult to reach for younger comics in their early twenties with so many temptations on the road that can make or break you.
You can catch Tom O’Donnell regularly at Kitchener Yuk Yuks and The Cottage Country Comedy Festival. I have a feeling you will be hearing a lot more about this kid. He is the real deal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Fg5wqxdgs&feature=fvsr

Inspiration

So Han’s walking down the halls of Bespin with his old friend Lando. Leia’s there, and lookin’ good. Han thinks he’s off to dinner - maybe some wine, a little flirting, and then back to the ol’ guest quarters with Her Hotness.

But the door opens, and there’s Darth Vader.

Han doesn’t look incredulously at Lando; he doesn’t duck or run away.

What does Han do?

He starts shooting at the motherfucker.

He starts shooting.

Be like Han.

thebrewerpatriot:iswing:kimmi-page:moviestuff:stevewhitaker:

Brandon Bird

I first heard about Brandon Bird through a friend about four years ago, when he sent me a link to “No One Wants to Play Sega with Harrison Ford”. I remember going through every one of his oil paintings and reveling in the Pop Art glory, however, after checking out all of his works in one visit, I no longer had a reason to return….until today.  It turns out Bird has continued to exercise his knack of shedding new light of some of Pop Culture’s bargain bin stars (remember Chuck Norris jokes?, Bird’s 2002 ‘Arete’ may have very well got the ball rolling on the Chuck Norris revival), icons and even television series. Bird’s muses included Bea Arthur, James Woods, Ed Norton (Bird actually did a whole study of Norton), Mr. T, Harrison Ford, Abraham Lincoln and numerous tributes to Law and Order (including a colouring book and Valentines day cards). Although the webby award-winning artist could clearly portray even the biggest A-List stars in such awkward or juxtaposed setting, his inspiration stems from a more ‘stupid’ realm of American culture. Additional works and an online print store can be found on the artist’s website. http://www.brandonbird.com/

Dirty Track, Dirty Footage, Dirty Composition

 Video for 'Parallel Lines' by Junior Boys, this is actually just an amateur video that I came across by a Youtube director named 'mattsleftarm', but if I was in Junior Boys I'd just make it the official video cause its so rad.

Yesterday I Realized Adidas Kicks Ass

Similar to Coke and Pepsi’s battle for brand loyalty in the beverage industry, Nike and Adidas have developed a similar opposition over the past quarter century. And just as an avid Coke drinker rarely decides to drink a Pepsi, my loyalty to Nike has had similar effect on my relationship with Adidas. However, I’m starting to realize that just because Coke original may be a staple; that’s not to say Cherry Pepsi is way better than Cherry Coke. Likewise, a recent trip to Adidas’ Toronto flagship store made me regret even holding such a bias; although Nike may reign superior in the shoe game, Adidas has the high-end sports fashion niche on lockdown. Most of this success can be accredited to Adidas’ Celebrate Originality campaign, most notably the Jeremy Scott collection. In this collection Scott manages to bring his runway mentality to the world of sports fashion by conflating his avant-garde styles with realistically athletic Adidas’ garment. The shoes posted below are my favourite examples of how such eccentric features seem to fit so naturally into the foundation of a basic Adidas shoe. The video reflects this, with the African themed Esau Mwamwaya (featuring MIA & Santigold) remix complementing both the collection and artistic theme of the video. Although the Adidas website isn’t quite as fly as this one, it is defiantly worth checking out some the other Celebrate Originality collaborations and the overall vibe of the site.

Caricature Map of Europe in 1914 by Keith Thompson

Definitely worth the click to enlarge.
The artist explains the symbolism in detail on his website.

Steve Aoki Interview

Oh My God It's
STEVE AOKI

During his recent trip to rock the shit out of Guelph, Steve Aoki took some time to ramble on to us about his self-described 'boring' life on the road, his label and more pressing issues such as hair. When the interview was completed we got the sense that Steve Aoki's life may really be a little more conservative than first presumed.... but we'll let you be the judge of that the next time he visits your town.


1) If you had to get rid of one thing… Moustache or Hair?

Hahaha wow. Never thought of that one. Fuck… That’s tough. Maybe ummm…

*How about half and half? Mushroom cut/trimmed moustache?

Hahahaha, I’ve had a none moustache and I’ve had a mushroom cut….. Wow… I’m stuck, I can’t imagine not having a moustache or long hair. I guess I’ll shave my hair…. That way I could just wear a wig… But I guess I could always get a fake moustache….


2) Is there a particular brand of shoes that you’re especially fond of?

Supra’s…. I designed a model for them plus I always wear them. I work with Josh on the designs and throw back sick ideas and ways to redesign.

I love Supra’s cause they’re high end looking skate shoes for kids.


3) First album on Vinyl?

The first seven inch I ever bought was DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s ‘Nightmare on My Street’. I got a lot of my first vinyls from my old brother. When he was between like sixteen and eighteen he was really into the British mod thing and had a scooter and listened to a lot of the Jam, Madness, The Who. The first record I ever bought was like a Youth of Today LP. But what I really collected growing up was cassette tapes, Easy-E… DJ Quik’s first album… I lived in the suburbs… New Port [Beach, California]… At the age of thirteen all I knew was N.W.A was the coolest shit… West Coast Gangster Hip-Hop.


4) Is there a particular moment/show in your career when you persuaded to fully commit to a career as a professional DJ?

That would probably be Coachella 2007, it’s held right in my backyard… Only three hours away, and you know, it’s one of the most important festivals in the world, if not at least North America, and that was really important because it brought me out the clubs and parties and opened me up to playing to a wider audience.


5) When listening to the latest Black Eyed Peas album and reflecting upon its mainstream success, it becomes evident that electro music consistently influenced almost every track. Considering that you have been affiliated with the Black Eyed Peas in the past, I was wondering if you had any direct or creative influence upon their latest work.

You know, they came up in LA, they were just grinding it out and they blew up… They’re really good with timing. Will is a really intuitive guy and he is able to borrow from a lot of different genres and generalize them a bit and make them appealing to the masses. I’m just in one world and what he took from this world he was able to turn it into something powerful. To me, it makes total sense, you have to speak a universal language that’s not so technical and he’s able to do that… It’s a unique skill to have and not many people can do it.


6) The electronic music is often characterized by excessive drug use, hard drinking DJ’s , eccentric styles, high decibels, chaotic behavior, and music that rarely seems concerned with anything other than intoxication, sex and dancing…. It has to be asked, is electro dance music becoming the reincarnation of hair metal?

No... No… Not at all… Hair metal was huge and commercial, this is underground. Especially in North America, but I think it all depends on the territory, it's all relative. For example, the Bloody Beetroots are huge in Italy. Probably one of the biggest bands in the country. But you gotta think in the 80's of one of the biggest hair metal bands. Such as Bon Jovi. They were absolutely huge… Its not like we have any equivalent near that scale. I think the closet thing to compare it to is punk rock, like the huge punk rock bands… Dead Brains… The Germs… The Stooges.

And as for the partying, of course its around but me personally, I don’t do any drugs and lately I’ve really haven’t been drinking that much at all either. I still have the booze in my rider but at this point its more for sharing with the fans.


7) Have you ever passed out on stage?

Yeah… Actually I’ve blacked out on stage before… Passed out on the turntable. It’s actually quite a sad story which really left me feeling like an idiot.

I was on the verge of signing a big contract with this Vegas club and I was playing at a club for a Daft Punk after-party. It was supposed to be Me, [DJ] AM, and Busy P but… Pedro couldn’t make it. So it was just AM and I hanging out with Daft Punk and we were just pumped because AM and I were just the biggest Daft Punk fans and Guy-Manuel and Thomas are just such cool dudes. So I was drinking just so fucking excited but like… Las Vegas is like the most musically ignorant city in the world. Anyways… I was just pounding shot after shot after shot and eventually I blacked out and just remember being carried out of the club. Then I had to write out a letter of apology… They said I was never aloud to drink in their clubs… and yeah… Like a moron… I lost the contract.


8) How involved in the day to day running of Dim Mak records are you able to be while touring?

I still play a major, very involved role. The day-to-day micromanagement stuff I don’t handle… I have a really good team established with people that know how to get things done. I set the wheels in motion and get a lot of the A-B started and they can run with it from there most of the time. We're a pretty good machine at Dim Mak but I’m still very hands-on with the executive decision… It still comes down to me… I’m constantly on my BlackBerry. At this point a lot of guys on my team have been with the label for a while and have a lot of hands-on experience. The label has been around for thirteen years… For eight years we had no funding, then I eventually got some help financing the bills but now were gearing back to becoming more independent again.


9) For the past two years it seems like you have been touring like a man possessed, rarely stopping to smell the roses. When considering all the late nights, traveling and heavy drinking that go hand in hand with such a lifestyle, one must begin to question how much longer you can go on for. What are your Future plans? How long can you keep doing this?

Stamina is very important to me… I don’t want to burn myself out… I’ve been very blessed and fortunate that I haven’t acquired many bad habits… I don’t do cocaine or smoke cigarettes, which I think makes me very lucky considering the environment I’m constantly in… It’s easy to get in that mess. The only thing that’s going to slow me down is my hearing. My doctor thinks I need to take a break… Maybe live on an island… Just to get away from all the noise. Just as I have been fortunate to avoid the drugs, cigarettes, etc., I have been unfortunate about the hearing… but its something that’s different for everyone. Such as a band like Boyz Noize… there's so much going on in their music, they play it so loud every night… And they're fucking fine! Same thing with Diplo. I just got back from tour [in Asia] with him and I would ask him if he wanted to use my earplugs and he would crank it even louder… He’s fine… Some people get lung cancer… Some start losing their hearing I guess… Whatever.

I think I have to blame the hearing on a weekly party I used to have in L.A. There were these Ion speakers that would sit like six inches from my head and it would blast so fucking loud in my left ear… While I was DJ’ing with my left ear piece. Sorry… I kinda started rambling off track their… but as for future plans, I plan on DJ’ing less and start doing LA more. You know, become more of a home buddy less of a DJ. Eventually its going to slow down a lot… I’m not planning on being a DJ forever.

Steve Aoki @ The Palace

"Steve Aoki : Guelph I think took down the best ontario show so far and this tour aint even over. Daaamn! the guelph elfs I love u."

[click on pics for larger view]

The Work of James Roper

The construction of each James Roper painting fuses disparate images from a variety of sources such as fashion magazines, animation stills, comics, the Internet as well as his own photo’s and drawings. James predominantly choose images and tries to create forms which he feel register a visual ‘peak shift’, a term given to the phenomena of ‘neurological attraction’ that appears in both humans and animals to an extreme characterization of an object.

Portfolio: www.jroper.co.uk
FLYLYF