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Tag Archives: Barenaked Ladies


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One weekend, two concerts

This hasn’t happened in so long, it was almost confusing to see it in the calendar. But we had a concert date on Friday night, then another one on Saturday might.

The first was a Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Pops concerts, Thorgy and the Thorchestra. Thorgy Thor is a classically trained musician who plays violin, viola, and cello (!). And she is also a drag queen who has been featured on RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Despite knowing the drag queen part (and not the musician part, actually) before going, this was more of a gay pride kind of event than I was expecting. It was conducted by Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, who is gay, and in between Thorgy’s comic antics and demonstrations of musicianship, we got the history of gay rights in Canada (to the tune of Oh, Canada) and a documentary featurette about the Brunswick Four, three of whom were arrested for performing a parody song, “I Enjoy Being a Dyke”. This was followed by a performance of said parody.

Thorgy was very funny, and is quite a talented musician, but she wasn’t the only guest performer. Keiko Larocque from Wilfrid Laurier provided vocals on some numbers, and the Eastwood Collegiate Dance Team performed some choreography on others, from ballet to Vogue-ing. Along with a rainbow of humanity, we got a range of musical styles, from Brahms, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky to Rogers & Hammerstein to Cyndi Lauper and Lady Gaga. It was a fun night!

Saturday we had to make the slightly longer drive to Stratford, Ontario to see the Art of Time Ensemble perform A Singer Must Die: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen. The Art of Time musicians are a sextet who play piano, saxophone, violin, cello, bass, and guitar. They seem to specialize in performing new and novel arrangements of popular songs. In this case, of course, it was all songs by Leonard Cohen.

The featured singers were Steven Page (formerly of Barenaked Ladies), Gregory Hoskins (of Gregory Hoskins and the Stickpeople), Tom Wilson (of commercials and Lee Harvey Osmond), Sarah Slean (of… Sarah Slean), and Tamara Lindeman (also known as Tamara Hope, apparently). Each singer brought their own style. Page could handle the serious and the light, as he does in all his work.

Sarah Slean flitted happily onto the stage, even though, as she then noted, some of the songs covered were a bit devastating. (“But that’s how the light gets in.”) She also apologized for a voice somewhat damaged by weeks of colds (not that I noticed), which even required one song substitution from the program (but I was happy to hear “Take This Waltz”).

Tamara Lindeman was a bit more earnest, and I believe she’s the one who handled “The Partisan”, the one song not written by Leonard Cohen, though famously covered by him. (Hadn’t actually realized til this that he didn’t write it…) Quite lovely.

Tom Wilson was pretty funny, and possessed the most Leonard Cohen-like voice of the bunch. He covered “Closing Time” and “Who by Fire”. Gregory Hoskins was very intense! His version of “Treaty” was particularly striking.

“Hallelujah” wasn’t on the program, but was performed as the encore, by Page and Hoskins.

I quite enjoyed the whole evening. Jean, as less of a Cohen fan, struggled with the first half but ended up enjoying the second.

(And both performances featured a pretty good amount of masking in the audience. In the case of the symphony, even the musicians were masked—except the singers and wind instrument players, of course.)


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Top 10 Canadian albums (with some extras)

CBC recently put out a list of the 100 greatest Canadian albums, which was then discussed on CBC Radio Kitchener. “I don’t anyone can argue with Neil Young’s Harvest being number 1”, said the host. Well…

Look, I own Harvest, I like Harvest. I’m not going to deny that it’s a great collection of songs. It’s certainly your go-to for great Canadian albums, as befitting its also being number 1 in the 2007 book The Top 100 Canadian Albums.

It’s just that I can think of a number of other Canadian albums I enjoy listening to more than Harvest. Such as…

Shakespeare my Butt cover1. Lowest of the Low – Shakespeare My Butt (1993)

(CBC unranked; book #84)

I’ve expounded on my love of this band and album before, but… I can’t see anyone not loving this album, unless they don’t like the genre of rock music itself. The songs are catchy and instantly likeable. On repeated listening, you realize they’re smart, too. And warm. And funny. The album is 20 years old, and the music doesn’t seem dated at all. It contains a hefty 17 songs—and there isn’t a single stinker among them.

Jagged Little Pill cover2. Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill (1995)

(CBC #12, book #6)

This was something at the time, wasn’t it? So much fun to play loud and sing along to. Angrily. To me it still holds up, even if she didn’t know what “ironic” meant. It’s melodic grunge. It’s more than just angry—you also have forgiveness, and learning, and being head over feet in love. I’ve enjoyed Alanis’ subsequent albums, mostly (not so much the India one, and haven’t bothered with the motherhood one), but this one still seems her best.

Tradarnac cover3. Swing – Tradarnac (2008)

(CBC unranked, book n/a)

I discovered these guys on Canada Day at an electrifying performance in Gatineau, and I continue to love this album. They sing in very rapid franglais (French with a healthy dose of English: “Allo, CB buddy! J’tired de m’voir promener sur le highway” and such) over a mix of French folk, rap, and pop that results in music so lively you can’t help but dance to it. Even while sitting or driving. It sounds happy, but has a dark undercurrent in the lyrics, if you can understand them. To me, that just makes it better.

The Suburbs cover4. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs (2010)

(CBC #22; book n/a)

I am going to complain the CBC list now: No way that their Funeral album is better than this one. No way. Funeral is fine, but it is right that The Suburbs is the one that earned them the Juno, the Grammy, and the Polaris prize. It’s sort of great that someone made a deep, thematic, almost classical-sounding album—about the suburbs. I took to it really quickly and continue to peel away its layers, this album.

Everybody's Got a Story cover5. Amanda Marshall – Everybody’s Got a Story (2001)

(CBC unranked, book unranked)

I felt this album was unjustly overlooked when it came out, then nearly forgot to list it here myself… But it wouldn’t be denied, in the end. I just love listening to this. As befitting the title, most of the songs tell a story—of waking up with a stranger and a snake tatoo; of life as a blond mixed-race person (“a double-agent on my mama’s side”); of being a taxi driver with a PhD; and so on. The music is fun—more dancey, less bluesy than earlier album, but still showcasing her fantastic and powerful voice. I don’t know why it hasn’t’ gotten more love.

Cover of The Wonderful World of...6. Pursuit of Happiness – The Wonderful World of… (1997)

(CBC unranked ; book unranked (but Love Junk is at #84))

I believe I own every album this band has released, and I pretty much like them all. This one is far from their best known; I don’t think it contains any hit songs. But I list this one because it’s the most album-y of them all: its 15 songs all lead one into the other as though the whole thing were one big rock opera, or something. (Note the little Tommy homage between tracks 4 and 5.)

Now, it doesn’t actually have a continuing storyline, but more of a continuing theme (which is really the theme of every Pursuit of Happiness album) of the joy, frustration, and sheer messiness of love, sex, and relationships. Yet for all that, the songs also stand alone quite nicely. No mean feat. This is a small piece of pop art.

When I Was a Boy cover7. Jane Siberry – When I Was a Boy (1993)

(CBC unranked, book unranked)

I had to list Jane, but it was really a toss-up between this and her first, No Borders Here. I finally went with this more mature work. The opening track “Temple” sets the different tone: “You call that hard? You call that rough? Well, it’s not, rough enough.” Who would have expected that from the quirky singer of “Mimi on the Beach” (although the part of the song where she encourages Mimi to stand up on her surfboard, causing her to drown… Was maybe a clue.) Jane is a bit of an odd duck, but she can certainly put a tune together, and in this album she really seems to be more deeply expressing her soul.

Gordon cover8. Barenaked Ladies – Gordon (1992)

(CBC #25, book #27)

Yeah, they’re funny, but they’re also insanely talented, seemingly effortlessly putting together incredibly catchy pop. And the serious (and still tuneful) ballads like “Wrapped your arms around me” (“I put my hands around your neck)”, “The Flag”, and “Blame it on me” show that it’s not all fun and games, all the time, with this band.

Fumbling toward Ecstasy cover

9. Sarah McLaclachlan – Fumbling Toward Ecstasy (2003)

(CBC #20, book #25)

Sarah’s music sneaks up on me, randomly selected by my iPod, making me suddenly realize that I like it better than anything that was played before it. They’re mostly ballads; strong emotions expressed in a more subtle way—no screaming guitars, or any screaming, period. I guess it’s that haunting voice, or… I don’t know what. It’s not what I usually go for, but this is album is beautiful.

Don't Smoke in Bed10. Holly Cole Trio – Don’t Smoke in Bed (1993)

(CBC unranked, book unranked)

And, I’m not the big jazz girl, usually, but man, I’ve played this album a lot. Holly takes these lovely standards and performs in this slightly twisted, dark way that makes them way more interesting.

The extras…

Songs from the Road coverTop Live: Leonard Cohen – Songs from the Road (2010)

For a very long time I considered Leonard Cohen someone whose songs I loved—as long as someone else was singing them: Jennifer Warnes, KD Lang, Jeff Buckley… Then he started touring with this amazing band. And I began to love his own take on his great songs. This particular collection is his own selection of the best version of each song he did on this tour.

Highly recommended!

Gord's Gold coverTop Compilation: Gordon Lightfoot – Gord’s Gold (1987)

My Dad is a big fan, so I grew up with these songs. As a teenager, of course, I wasn’t going to admit to liking them, but now I can! While I can’t really see buying his individual albums, this “greatest hits” collection is fantastic: “If You Could Read My Mind”, “Sundown”, “Early Morning Rain”, “Canadian Railroad Trilogy”…

The only other thing you might want is Gord’s Gold 2 (for “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”, “Alberta Bound”, “Ghosts of Cape Horn”…).

From Here on Out coverTop Classical: KW Symphony – From Here Out (2011)

No dead composers here: This CD features classical compositions by Nico Muhly, Richard Reed Perry (of Arcade Fire), and Jonny Greenwood (of Radiohead). It’s not always comfortable listening, but it’s never boring, either.


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A Barenaked Christmas

My rather excellent run of live concerts this year was capped off with The Barenaked Ladies, performing “Hits and Holiday Songs” with the KW Symphony, at Centre in the Square last Sunday.

Barenaked for the Holidays

Jean was a bit puzzled at my interest in this one, as I don’t exactly idolize this band. But I had been thinking for a while that I wouldn’t mind seeing them in concert. I definitely like the albums and songs of theirs that I have (which is probably only the obvious ones), and I figured their humorous approach to performance would make their live show fun. So when a local concert was announced, I didn’t wait long to get tickets.

Continue reading →


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Anger Management

So I decided to gather an iPod playlist of “angry” songs. (Never you mind why—let’s just say strong emotions can make for great songs, and leave it at that.) But as I’ve noted before, I have a pretty substantial list of songs to sort, and there’s no easy way to pick out which ones qualify as “angry”.

Of course, some are obvious—the “you done me wrong” songs. The classic Alanis “You Oughta Know” (I’m here to remind you of the mess you left when you went away), Marianne Faithfull’s incendiary “Why D’Ya Do It?” (Why d’ya do it she screamed, why d’ya do what you did. You drove my ego to a really bad skid.), Bob Geldof’s “One for You”, a parting shot at his ex-wife (You don’t even need to take your clothes off anymore. You’re a bit too old for that stuff, anyway.), and John Lennon’s outraged “Gimme Some Truth” (I’m sick and tired of hearing things from uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded hypocrites. All I want is some truth).

But really, that could be a rather short and possibly somewhat depressing playlist. Could at least expand it to that interesting category of songs about people whose behavior is frustrating, though they haven’t actually done anything to you. Billy Joel, of all people, is kind of a master at these—raging at the apathetic slacker in “Captain Jack” (You’re 21 and still your mother makes your bed. And that’s too long!), the show-off in “Big Shot” (When you wake up in the morning with your head on fire and your eyes too bloody to see, go on and cry in your coffee but don’t come bitching to me). Lennon’s “Working Class Hero” (also covered brilliantly by Marianne Faithfull) is another fascinating example, as the anger really seems more directed at the working class for not realizing they are oppressed, and not that at those oppressing. Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV. And you think you’re so clever and classless and free. But you’re still fucking peasants, as far as I can see.

Which brings us to songs featuring productive anger, the “we can change the world” kind of anger, of which Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” would be the lead example, if only I owned that song. But I do have Queen’s “Fight from Inside”, Springsteen’s “Born in the USA”, Lowest of the Low’s “Eating the Rich” (It’s an evolutionary chow-down), U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday”—and maybe The Clash’s “London Calling” qualifies here? (And I’m not sure how to sub-categorize Tori Amos’ “Waitress”: I want to kill this waitress. She’s worked here for years. It would be a kindness.)

Course you have to be careful about songs that sound angry, but aren’t really. Everything Billy Idol does sounds kind of angry, but I think he’s mostly going for horny. Except in “White Wedding”—”White Wedding” really is angry. And all punk and grunge sounds kind of angry, but “Blister is the Sun” and “I Wanna Be Sedated”, for example, are really just about teenage restlessness, not anger. “Lust for Life” is a happy song, no matter Iggy sounding a bit pissed off. And “Smells Like Teen Spirit”? I’m not convinced that “angry” is what it’s expressing. (He feels stupid and contagious. Here we are now. Entertain us.)

On the other hand, true anger can hide inside music that sounds kind of sweet and poppy. For example, Elvis Costello’s “I Want You” and Liz Phair’s “The Divorce Song” sound sort of sad and sweet, but there’s angry tension throughout. And ever really listen to the lyrics of Barenaked Ladies’ “Alcohol”, “One Week”, or “The Apartment”? Sure it all sounds poppy and bouncy and fun, but the singer is pissed off. He likes alcohol more than you. It will still be three days til he says he’s sorry. Why did you change the locks?

For some artists, tracing the anger pattern in their music is a biographical lesson. Beatles music has very little anger in it; just a bit peeps out in a few John Lennon tracks like “Run for Your Life”, “I’m So Tired”, and “Come Together” (though that last one, again, is probably more horny). But post-Beatles John Lennon? Holy, easier to par out the few songs that aren’t angry. Until the last album, which—other than “I’m Losing You”—shows he’s found some peace.

Bob Geldof’s first album with the Boomtown Rats is highly pissed off, then becomes less so with subsequent albums, as the band’s success grows. His first three post-Rats, post-Live Aid albums reveal a man fairly satisfied, even happy. The last? A man whose wife has left him for another man. A man enraged. A man who has just put out the best album of his career (Sex, Age and Death).

I know the only feeling you have is rage
And I know that I’d feel the same as you, but
I think you’d better take a good look around you ’cause
You’re so pissed you can’t even find your drink

Sometimes it’s wise
To know which way the gun is pointing
Before you yell, “I see the whites of their eyes.”
Sometimes you’ll find your senses all disjointed by
The lines and wires of salesmen, cheats and liars

— Salesmen, Cheats and Liars by Lowest of the Low

Rage wisely.