The “Why is the Subway so bloody slow today?” Shuffle Report

The Shuffle Report: 10 songs I listened to, in order, on my iPod in shuffle mode at a given point in time. No editing, no skipping. It is what it is.

I don’t understand. The ride to work on the subway this morning to forever. Not sure what the reason was, but it was so sloooooooooow. I mean, it’s not like I was in that big of a hurry to get to work, but there’s only so much standing shoulder to shoulder with people that one person can take. Thankfully the iPod was fully charged.
In the rotation this morning:

1. Livin’ On The Edge—Aerosmith (O Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits) [Is Steven Tyler in or out? Depends on who you ask.]
2. I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Loved You)—Aretha Franklin (30 Greatest Hits) [I've said it before and I'll say it again. This is a must own.]
3. Me and Mrs. Jones—Billy Paul (360 Degrees of Billy Paul) [Ok, it's about infidelity, but it still sounds great.]
4. Must Have BeenThe Devil—Otis Spann (The Blues Never Die!) [Damn straight.]
5. Sad Songs (Say So Much)—Elton John (Greatest Hits 1970-2002) [Musically, the 1980's weren't that kind to EJ. But there were a few gems, like this one.]
6. Run Runaway—Great Big Sea (Up) [Bet you can't sit still through this one.]
7. City Love—John Mayer (Room For Sqaures) [A song about falling in love with the wrong person for all the right reasons. Awww.]
8. Boys—The Beatles (Please Please Me) [One of my favourite Ringo sings tracks.]
9. The Song Is Over-The Who (Who’s Next) [Please tour this year. Please tour this year. Please tour this year.]
10. Shoebox—Barenaked Ladies (Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits) [While I've always liked them, I highly doubt that without Steven Page, there will be a worthy Disc Two.]

Johnny Depp to helm Keith Richards documentary

Keith Richards, whose autobiography will be out later this year, will be the subject of a documentary to be directed by his long-time friend Johnny Depp. Richards was of course the inspiration for Depp’s portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films. Depp is apparently going to begin working on the project as soon as next week. No word yet on the film will be released. This won’t be the first time Depp has been behind the camera. He directed and starred with Marlon Brando in the 1997 film “The Brave”.

The next installment of the Pirates films, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”, is scheduled to hit theatres in May 2011. Depp’s latest film, Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland, comes out March 5th.

Here’s a clip of Richards and Depp onscreen together in “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”, and a clip of Keith doing what he does best. My favourite Stones-Keith track, from Some Girls.

Super Bowl? What Super Bowl?

Apparently there’s some kind of football game on tv this weekend and The Who will be playing the halftime show. Check out this clip from yesterday’s press conference. They sound great. Really hope they tour this year.

The ‘Lost’ Tracks

Now that the final season of Lost is underway, and as usual, confusing as hell (I don’t try to dissect it; I just go along for the ride) ABC has come up with an interesting way for die-hard fans to get inside the charcters heads via Universal Music and iTunes. Want to know what kind of music Hurley, Sawyer or Kate might listen to? Well, now you can, at least if all they were listening to was music by Universal artists. Titled the “Lost Tracks”, there are six EPs containing 7 tracks each of music from the Universal catalogue that the producers think work well with the characters of Hurley, Sawyer, Kate as well as Locke, Charlie and even the Dharma Initiative. I have to admit there are some interesting tracks, but maybe Jack’s a fan of Columbia artists like Springsteen and Dylan fan, so no EP for him.

Below is the complete list of tracks. You can sample the songs here:

Kate’s tracks: A fugitive on the run, the strong-willed Kate Austen has a tumultuous past.
“Cherry Bomb” (The Runaways)
“Crazy” (Patsy Cline)
“Jack Of All Parades” (Elvis Costello)
“(I Know) I’m Losing You” (Rod Stewart)
“Another Nail In My Heart” (Squeeze)
“Bad Medicine” (Bon Jovi)
“Somebody I Used To Know” (Elliot Smith)

Sawyer’s Tracks: Conman James “Sawyer” Ford at first was self-centered and disliked but he becomes a trusted, courageous leader.
“Hair Of The Dog” (Nazareth)
“Bad Moon Rising (Live)” (John Fogerty)
“You Got That Right” (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
“Farther Along” (Flying Burrito Brothers)
“Walk Away” (The James Gang)
“Strutter” (KISS)
“Love Ain’t For Keeping” (The Who)

Locke’s Tracks: A man of faith and a philosopher, John Locke believes in the mystical and spiritual to explain the world.
“Can I Get A Witness” (Marvin Gaye)
“Listen To Me” (Buddy Holly)
“Memphis, Tennessee” (Chuck Berry)
“Lost Highway” (Hank Williams)
“Mannish Boy” (Muddy Waters)
“I’d Rather Go Blind” (Etta James)
“I Put A Spell On You” (Nina Simone)

Hurley’s Tracks: Winning the lottery only brings loveable Hugo “Hurley” Reyes bad luck, including stays at psychiatric hospitals.

“The Seed (2.0)” (The Roots)
“C’mon And Love Me” (KISS)
“Jesus” (Velvet Underground)
“Call Me Names” (The Specials)
“Goodbye Girl” (Squeeze)
“Shangri-Las” (The Kinks)
“Fresh Feeling” (Eels)

Charlie’s Tracks: The most obvious character to have an EP, Charlie Pace is a rock musician who conquers his drug addiction while on the island.
“Gasoline Alley” (Rod Stewart)
“Less Than Zero” (Elvis Costello)
“I’m One” (The Who)
“Going Underground” (The Jam)
“Dirty Boots” (Sonic Youth)
“Lady Godiva’s Operation” (Velvet Underground)
“Empty Pages” (Traffic)

Dharma Tracks: The Dharma Initiative was created in 1970 by Gerald and Karen DeGroot and funded by reclusive Danish industrialist and munitions magnate Alvar Hanso. It was designed as a multi-purpose social science research facility where scientists and free-thinkers from around the globe could pursue research in meteorology, psychology, parapsychology, zoology, utopian social dynamics and electromagnetism.

“Dharma Lady” (Geronimo Jackson)
“Shambala” (Three Dog Night)
“Hot Burrito #2″ (Flying Burrito Brothers)
“The Acid Queen” (The Who)
“The Pusher” (Steppenwolf)
“Heaven Is In Your Mind” (Traffic)
“Bell Bottom Blues” (Derek & The Dominos)

One Hit Wonder Wednesday: The Captain of Her Heart

The Swiss duo of Felix Haug and Kurt Maloo who were otherwise known as Double hit it big around the world in 1986 with their hit, The Captain of Her Heart. It was a smooth, radio-friendly ballad that yielded the band success all over in Europe as well as in North America. Unfortunately, the album “Blue” from which Captain was released failed to yield any other major hits. The same scenario played out for their follow-up album released in 1987, and the band broke up soon after.

Felix Haug passeed away in 2004 but Kurt Maloo continues to record and perform. You can sample his music on his website.

Need a Glee Fix?

Ok, so if the back-half of Season 1 of Glee doesn’t hit the airwaves until April 13th, what’s a die-hard ‘gleek’ to do in the meantime? Well, for those of you out there who can’t get enough of the show, here’s a great parody courtesy of Jimmy Fallon that features SNL cast members Abby Elliott and Fred Armisen. Enjoy.

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Michael Bublé announces Canadian tour dates

Michael Bublé, who launches his 2010 Crazy Love tour March 10th in Florida has finally announced a handful of Canadian dates this August. You’d think that following a lengthy U.S. and European tour, Bublé would give his home-country fans a bit more of an extended run but thus far only eight dates have been announced, with the East Coast being completely ignored. Hopefully more dates will be announced.

The Canadian dates thus far:

August 5th: Montreal (Bell Centre)
August 7th: Ottawa (Scotiabank Place)
August 9th: London (John Labatt Centre)
August 10th: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
August 13th: Winnipeg (MTS Centre)
August 14th: Saskatoon (Credit Union Centre)
August 17th: Calgary (Saddledome)
August 20th: Vancouver (General Motors Place)

Ticket info is expected to be announced next week. The crooner is the musical guest this weekend on Saturday Night Live and he’s up for a Grammy on Sunday night for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for his Michael Bublé Meets Madison Square Garden disc. Here’s a clip from the companion dvd:

From The Ticket Stub Vault: Barenaked Ladies

February 16, 2007 (Air Canada Centre, Toronto)

Ah, those were the good ol’ days. I considered myself a long-time fan of the band but this was the first time I had a chance to see them live. Touring behind the companion discs of Barenaked Ladies Are Me and Barenaked Ladies Are Men, the (then) five-piece outfit whose legions of fans spread around the world played an amazing hits-filled-interspersed-with-comedy show that resulted in the nearly sold-out show turning into one massive sing-along. I had a smile on my face the entire night. The new songs were well-received, and the hits? Well, with tracks like Brian Wilson, Pinch Me, One Week, Lovers In A Dangerous Time and Falling For The First Time, there really wasn’t anything to find fault with. The interplay between the band members left you with a genuine sense that these guys would do this for free. And the fact they were doing it front of a hometown crowd made it that much more fun.

But dark times lay ahead for the band. Steven Page’s drug bust right around the time the guys were promoting a children’s album eventually led to discord in the ranks and the decision for Page and the band to go their separate ways. When I heard that..well, I figured the band’s days were numbered.

Fast forward to 2010 and BNL minus Page have a new album on the way. The first single is You Run Away (read into that what you will) and now that the band has lost a very gifted singer-songwriter it’s mostly the voice of Ed Robertson we’ll be hearing from now on. The new single is ok, but I can’t help but feel a sense of loss just listening to it knowing what’s missing. One of the things I always like about the band was that there just wasn’t one personality fronting the group, there were two. Now nothing against the rest of the group but this was always the Steven and Ed show, and with Steven gone…well, to say that a certain spark will be missing from their live shows is an undertstatement. I’d like to hear the rest of the record, and it will be intersting to see what the takeup will be for tickets on their upcoming Spring tour.

As for Steven Page, he’s releasing A Singer Must Die – Art of Time Ensemble with Steven Page on February 16th, which is an interesting take on a covers album. You can read more about it and listen to tracks here. He’s got a solo album in the works for later this year.

The BNL tour kicks off April 6th in Victoria and ends May 1st in Oshawa. Full itinerary can be found here.

Here’s the new BNL single. Thoughts?

And for a taste of happier days:

Iron Man 2 teams up with AC/DC

Looking forward to seeing Iron Man 2 when it hits theatres May 7th? I know I am. Are you a fan of AC/DC? Yep, count me in on that one too. Well get ready because just like chocolate and peanut butter, I think the pairing of the music of one of the biggest bands in the world with the upcoming sure-to-be summer blockbuster sounds like a great idea.

AC/DC’s music will be featured prominently in Iron Man 2, the sequel to the 2008 film which made over $580 million dollars in worldwide ticket sales. But wait! There’s more! While the band has never officially released a greatest hits album, the band’s label Columbia will be releasing AC/DC: Iron Man 2 on April 19th. It features 15 tracks covering a wide-range of the band’s career.
Although it hardly qualifies as a greatest hits package with too many key tracks missing (what, no “You Shook Me All Night Long”? no “For Those About To Rock”) it does contain some good cuts and includes the rare Cold Hearted Man which is sure to appeal to some fans. The tracklist is listed below. Check out the Iron Man 2 promo video for Shoot to Thrill along with other clips.

See you at the box-office lineup May 7th.

1. Shoot to Thrill
2. Rock ‘N’ Roll Damnation
3. Guns for Hire
4. Cold Hearted Man
5. Back in Black
6. Thunderstruck
7. If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)
8. Evil Walks
9. T.N.T.
10. Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be
11. Have a Drink on Me
12. The Razor’s Edge
13. Let There Be Rock
14. War Machine
15. Highway to Hell

Montreal gets Peter Gabriel; Toronto gets Dave Matthews

As mentioned in my last post, Montreal gets the lone Peter Gabriel date this spring. So now it’s Toronto’s turn to get the only date of what will sure to be a very hot ticket this year. Arguably one of the biggest touring acts around and a summer tradition, the Dave Matthews Band have announced their summer tour and Toronto gets the lone Canadian date. The band hits the stage of the Molson Amphitheatre Tuesday June 1st. Tickets go on sale February 26th. No word yet on ticket prices but based on what’s being advertised for some of the U.S. shows on the tour expect them to be in the $80 ballpark.

The band will be touring in support of last year’s excellent “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King’. You can also catch them on the tube this weekend when they perform on the Grammys airing this Sunday night on Global. Here’s “Why I Am” from their latest disc, a killer track.