I went to Stratford to spend Christmas with my mom. We had a low-key but very nice few days together. She had her house beautifully decorated inside and out. Here's her Christmas tree.

My full-time gig at Chart, my book deadline, freelance assignments and a few other things have kept me rather hermited for the past six weeks, and I haven't been going out much or surfing the Net for interesting things to report on. Therefore, I both haven't had much time to write in the blog and haven't had a whole lot to write about anyway. But I should be returning more to my normal life (well, what's normal for me, anyway) in the coming weeks and will hopefully be posting more regularly again.
Whatever holiday you celebrate, celebrate it to the fullest and be good to the ones you love.
Thanks for reading. Thanks for your patience and understanding. Don't jump ship just yet. I'll be back soon.
Cheers,
Steve

The Rheostatics were also on the True North bill with Colin Linden, 54.40 and the Golden Dogs at Lee's Palace during North By Northeast. I didnt mean to omit them, but I guess my fingers were once again moving faster than my brain when I was typing. Sorry about that.

I've been asked to contribute a list of my favourite albums of 2005 to a few different sources. Well, the suspense is finally over. Here they are:

1.THE RAVEONETTES - Pretty In Black
2. ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN - Siberia
3. THE HIGH SPEED SCENE - The High Speed Scene
4. KAISER CHIEFS - Employment
5. FRANZ FERDINAND - You Could Have It So Much Better
6. JIMMIE DALE GILMORE - Come On Back
7. THE MENDOZA LINE - Full Of Light And Full Of Fire
8. HOLY MICROPHONE - Goodbye Television Girl
9. HOT HOT HEAT - Elevator
10. DIOS (MALOS) - Dios (Malos)

JUST MISSED THE CUT
THE SNITCHES - Black Book
D. TREVLON - To: The Dusty Moon and You
CONTROLLER.CONTROLLER - X-Amounts
RILO KILEY - More Adventurous
54.40 - Yes To Everything

HONOURABLE MENTION
MATT MAYS + EL TORPEDO - Matt Mays + El Torpedo
CORB LUND - Hair In My Eyes Like A Highland Steer
WILLIE NELSON - Countryman
THE BRAVERY - The Bravery
GARBAGE - Bleed Like Me
THE HIGH DIALS - War of the Wakening Phantoms

FAVOURITE REISSUE
THE 101ERS - Elgin Avenue Breakdown Revisited

FAVOURITE LIVE SHOWS (in chronological order)
Shonen Knife at Lee's Palace
Elvis Costello & The Imposters, The Bottle Rockets, Jon Langford, Th' Legendary Shack*Shakers, New York Dolls, Aberfeldy, The Rezillos and the Allen Oldies Band at various Austin venues during South By Southwest
Matt Mays + El Torpedo (five different shows)
The Wonder Stuff at the Horseshoe
Brendan Benson at Lee's Palace
The Undertones at the Horseshoe and at The Magic Stick in Detroit
Dave Wakeling's English Beat at the Horseshoe (three shows)
Wanda Jackson at the Cadillac Lounge (two shows)
The Raveonettes at Lee's Palace
Deadly Snakes at the Gladstone
Colin Linden and friends, 54.40, Golden Dogs at Lee's Palace
The Chickens at the Horseshoe (three shows)
Eels at the Phoenix
Corb Lund and Neko Case at Harbourfront
The Pixies and Weezer at the Molson Amphitheatre
Various Elvis impersonators at the Elvis Festival in Collingwood
The Knitters at Lee's Palace
The Sadies, Carolyn Mark, Elliott Brood and the Sin-Tones at Harbourfront
Holy Microphone (two different shows)
The Proclaimers at Lee's Palace
The Royal Crowns at the Horseshoe
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings at the Horseshoe (two shows)
The Fleshtones at the Horseshoe
Lowest Of The Low at the Horseshoe

np Michelle Shocked - Mercury Poise: 1988-1995

My friend Karen Bliss, a music writer who I've worked with since 1993, has written an anti-racism book for kids called The Girl With Pinhead Parents that has vivid illustrations drawn by another music industry veteran, and my former neighbour, Bonnie Fedrau. The book has a simple but direct message that kids will be able to easily comprehend, and parents can read it with them in five minutes (but take more time to discuss its full meaning afterwards). I bought a copy for $17.95 at last night's launch for the book, and you can purchase one yourself by contacting Karen at kbliss@ican.net. More than 60 were sold at the party, which was held at War Child Canada's downtown Toronto headquarters. One dollar from each book sold is being donated to War Child (www.warchild.ca) and its valuable work.
I want to emphasize that I was going to endorse the book even before I got it home last night and saw my name in the Acknowledgements. Thanks Karen, and congratulations and good luck, too.

I'm a proud alumnus today. My Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks just defeated the Saskatchewan Huskies with a last-minute field goal to become the winner of the Vanier Cup and Canada's top university football team.

Here are a couple of news items on beer that I found interesting. Maybe you will, too:

'GOGGLES' WITHOUT THE BEER
A group of British scientists determined that you can experience the "beer goggles" effect without drinking. "Beer goggles" is a slang term for a phenomenon in which one's consumption of alcohol makes physically unattractive people appear beautiful. "The beer goggles effect isn't solely dependent on how much alcohol a person consumes," said Professor Nathan Efron, Professor of Clinical Optometry at the University of Manchester.
"There are other influencing factors at play." Other factors that can make ugly people appear attractive include: the level of light in the bar; the drinker's eyesight; the smokiness of the room; and the distance between two people. An eyewear company funded the research.
http://www.realbeer.com/news/articles/news-002777.php

VEGANS GIVE RASPBERRY TO GUINNESS
Guinness received the inaugural Vegan Raspberry Award from the Vegan society.
The award is for products the society insists could be vegan, but aren't.
Like many beers, Guinness uses isinglass, a type of gelatin made from the swim bladders of fish, in the refining process. Other breweries, such as Samuel Smiths, produce stouts that are fish-free.

np Dr. John - Live at Montreux 1995

Chart magazine and Toronto's Drake Hotel launched their live music series, which will feature a show on the first Thursday of every month, with a full house of hipsters who wanted to get their first look at the much buzzed about Islands.
The band is comprised of former Unicorns Nick Diamonds (vocals and keyboards) and J'aime Tambour (drums), and last night also featured Royal City's Jim Guthrie on guitar, Togo native Patrice Agbokou on bass, a saxophonist and two violinists. I'm not sure if that's a permanent lineup, however, as I can see this group becoming like Montreal's version of Broken Social Scene with rotating members. Almost everyone in The Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade and Bell Orchestre play on the group's Return To The Sea debut album.
The record will be released in Europe on Rough Trade Records in January, and I wouldn't be surprised if a similar deal is set up for Canada.
It's virtually impossible to categorize the band, as it sounds different on almost every song. I'd describe a couple of tracks as vaudevillian art rock, while a couple of others — appropriately enough — had island rhythms. There was some quirky indie pop. I heard occasional traces of Poi Dog Pondering. One song seemed to borrow the melody from Billy Joel's We Didn't Start The Fire in places, but obviously with much more indie cool cachet. Another track started with a dub rhythm, then turned into some sort of gypsy thing, and then went dub again. The final number, which apparently was about the end of the world, turned the violins into country fiddles — which was slightly offputting visually since the players were white-clad oriental men. The show ended without an encore after an hour.
I don't know if Islands will become the next big thing in the world of indie pop, but I'll take it over the Unicorns. This was one of the band's first shows, and I'll be interested in seeing it again a year from now to see how things evolve. I've got a hunch that I'll like the group more live than on record.
What do you think of that fancy psychedelic photo I took of the band?

np The Snitches - Black Book

Lowest Of The Low may be playing their final two Canadian shows ever this weekend (you can read more in an article I wrote this week at http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2005/11/2307.cfm), so I went to see them at the Horseshoe last night because the band has so much significance to me.
I gave a rave review to the band's Shakespeare My Butt debut album after it came out in 1991 and, to this day, it remains my favourite Canadian album ever. If you haven't heard it, get it. I don't know anyone who has the album who doesn't have a major soft spot for it. The music from that album, and to a lesser degree from 1994's Hallucigenia, formed a large part of the soundtrack of my life in the early and mid-'90s. In addition to playing the albums for both myself and friends all the time, I rarely missed a show — and there were a lot of them.
I got drunk to the Low. I got laid to the Low. I first bonded with my former girlfriend of three years through our mutual affection for the Low. That got me laid a lot, too.
There was an intelligence to the lyrics that I could identify with, and there were a lot of Toronto references that helped give me a sense of ownership of the songs. They were singing about places I'd been and things I'd done. There wasn't anything complex about the music and the playing wasn't exemplary, but there were tons of melodic rook hooks everywhere. And on stage, there was an energy and an edginess that was unmistakable.
When the group broke up and the members went their separate ways from 1994 until 2000, I felt a void. But I was there for the reunion shows in 2000, and they were great. They spawned the Nothing Short Of A Bullet live album. I've seen the Low a handful of times since then, essentially whenever I could. But it wasn't quite the same. Prior to last night, the last time I had seen the band was in August 2004, when it played with the Golden Dogs and The Trews at the Kee to Bala. But I was there more to get away for a weekend with some close friends than I was to hear music (though that was good, too).
The Low released Sordid Fiction last year during the same week I left for my around-the-world trip, so I didn't get to hear it then. When I got back in February, none of my friends were talking about the record and it didn't really register in my head. But I finally got a copy of it this week, and it's a very solid record. It's just not Shakespeare My Butt or Hallucigenia.
I was in the Horseshoe dressing room talking to and reminiscing with Craig and Leslie when the band hit the stage last night, and we all agreed that the new arrangements for some of the older songs weren't as good as the originals, and the new songs just didn't have the same kind of impact live.
About a half-dozen songs into the set, Leslie and I went out to stand at the side of the stage and watch the show. With two encores, the band played 25 songs in almost two hours. While Ron Hawkins played piano and Lawrence Nichols took over on guitar for some songs — including the Rusty Nails song Turpentine, a rollicking, slightly honky-tonk number where Lawrence added some fine harmonica playing — the band only reached the old energy, emotional and edginess levels in certain places when Ron and Steve Stanley were both playing guitar. The highlights of the main set were 4 O'Clock Stop and Beer Graffiti Walls.
Steve admitted that he didn't like Salesmen, Cheats and Liars before the band played it as its first encore. Many of us loved the song from the first time we heard it, and still do. After doing Everywhere And Nowhere from Sordid Fiction, the band got pumped for Gossip Talkin' Blues.
It left the stage and returned for another encore, beginning with Giulietta The Just from Sordid Fiction. For the Hand of Magdalena took me back to the early days, and was my favourite song of the night, though show closer Eternal Fatalist wasn't far behind in the pecking order. I would have liked to have heard Henry Need A New Pair Of Shoes and a number of other songs, but you can't have everything. A lot of people in the packed club said that they'd be back again for tonight's show. Unfortunately, I'm too busy and can't go. But if the Low have ever touched you in any way, you should see the group tonight. And get there early because there's a good chance it will sell out.
I was pleased after last night's show. If it was the last time that I'll ever see the band, I can live with that. It's probably a good time for both of us to move on. There will still be lots of fond memories. After all, we'll always have Ultrasound, and Sneaky Dee's, and the El Mo ...

np Frank Black - Honeycomb

I was walking down Queen Street West around 2:15 this morning, making my way home from seeing the Lowest Of The Low at the Horseshoe. I saw a small crowd of people in the street ahead of me at the intersection with Denton. When I came on the scene, I saw a man lying in the middle of the road, a few metres away from this cab. While I didn't see the accident, and I don't know who was at fault, the cab obviously hit the guy — who went flying into the windshield. The victim was wearing one shoe, and I spotted the other one at least 15 metres down the street, which gives you an idea of the severity of the impact. The man was lying face down and motionless, but I could tell that he was breathing. Paramedics arrived at the scene and got him on to a stretcher and drove him to hospital. I decided not to take a photo of the victim for the sake of his distraught friends who were standing nearby. While I couldn't see any obvious exterior body injuries, you couldn't see his face for all the blood — and there was a thick pool of it left on the road. Firemen arrived shortly afterward and started asking a few questions. Inexplicably, no police officers showed up during the 10 or 15 minutes I had stopped to watch. The accident happened too late to make the newspaper this morning, but I'll have another look tomorrow to hopefully find an update. I hope that the injuries weren't too serious and the man makes a full recovery.

np We Are Scientists - With Love And Squalor
(Thanks Craig)

George Best died yesterday morning at age 59 from complications arising from his alcoholism.
I'm too young too have seen George in his prime with Manchester United in the '60s, and only remember seeing him a bit on TV in the '70s when he went to the U.S. to play soccer and was as much a marketing attraction as he was a playing force. But even Pele has called him the best player he's ever seen, so let's just say that the Northern Irishman was at least the best European-born soccer player ever.
But he was a larger than life figure who became known for his drinking, womanizing and gambling as much as he was for his incredible skill on the field, so I was well aware of who he was when he walked into The Clarence, a pub that I bartended at in London's posh Mayfair district in the summer of 1987.
George was friends with Brian, the pub's manager, and would come in at least twice a week for drinks. He'd almost always have a woman with him, and I rarely saw the same one twice. He was very friendly and introduced himself the first time I served him, and he got to know my name on subsequent visits. He was also generous and would buy me a beer every evening (instead of tipping like we do in North America, it's customary in England to say "And one for yourself" and then buy a drink for a bartender who gives good service). Sometimes George would stay in the pub talking to people, but at other times he'd take his lady of the evening upstairs to Brian's apartment. I can only assume what he did with her up there.
I've done a fair bit of reading about George since that summer and he was a fascinating figure and the ultimate tragic hero. He'll be missed.
I returned to The Clarence for the first time since 1991 in September 2004. The place had been renovated to look like another of those generic British pubs that are unfortunately running rampant these days. Brian no longer had anything to do with the place. And George was nowhere to be found.
But I still managed to have a celebrity sighting while I was there. MC Hammer apparently likes his Guinness.

My friend Stewart Reynolds from Stratford came to Toronto with his band Brittlestar on Monday night to play the Horseshoe for the first time. But he did more than that, he chartered a bus full of fans from my old hometown who paid $20 each for the ride, a commemorative button and the chance to see the free show. It was a bit odd seeing people who I probably haven't spoken to in years who had entered the comfort zone of my Toronto life, or vaguely recognizing other people but having no idea of what their names were. In the spirit of reminiscing, I wore my high-school football coat and a pair of jeans that I've been wearing for the past 20 years. It's a good thing that I've kept so svelte.
Stewart and fellow guitarist Alan Ferguson were impressive, and the rest of the band, who I didn't know, were also solid. The songs from Brittlestar's Waiting debut album are a little more muscular when played live, which I appreciated. If you like reasonably sophisticated adult pop-rock music that's not excessively polished and shiny, you should check them out. Leslie was impressed enough to extend Brittlestar an invitation to play Lee's Palace. Stewart was so grateful for my support that he bought me a couple of pints of Wellington and gave me a Brittlestar T-shirt. You can find out more information and hear music at www.brittlestar.ca, and you can read my article on the band at http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2005/11/1710.cfm.

np Waco Brothers - Freedom and Weep

I got home from the CASBY Awards at the Kool Haus (use a very pronounced German accent when you read those words to yourself) a couple of hours ago. It's amazing how a Molson Canadian-sponsored event can make a person opt for spending $6 on a Heineken instead of a free Canadian.
I had my first Heinekens out of aluminum bottles last night. I prefer them over cans because I can put the neck in my mouth and take notes and photos at shows without having to worry about setting my drink down. While some people say that I have a big mouth, I still can't secure it around a can of beer.
I also had my first Molson Cold Shot last night. Luckily, they were free. I'd never pay for one. They're essentially Molson Canadian with 6% alcohol instead of 5%, but the cans are 250 ml instead of 355 ml. Apparently most Canadian drinkers can't handle a full can of a slightly stronger beer. Pussies.

I made it to the Horseshoe about five songs into the Fleshtones' set.
They call their music Super Rock, and they've been doing it since the summer of 1976. I've probably seen these Brooklyn garage-rock veterans about 10 times now, and I maintain that they still comprise the most entertaining quartet in rock-and-roll. The last time I saw the band, in April 2004, I thought that it was a bit of a sub-par performance (the first that I had witnessed) and was worried that age might have finally caught up to the guys. But that concern was cast aside with last night's performance.
The crowd size was disappointingly small, but those who were up front with me were definitely into it -- and the band seemed to feed off that enthusiasm in a set that included Pretty Stupid, You Don't Know, Let's Get Serious, Do You Swing?, Fascination, She Looks Like A Woman, Push Up Man, Break That Lock and an encore featuring guitarist Keith Streng doing his best Robert Plant on Communication Breakdown.
Streng frequently jumped off the stage and into the crowd, while bassist Ken Fox was all over the place as well. Drummer Bill Milhizer would occasionally stand up to play, and singer Peter Zaremba was at his best as a master showman once again. He'd occasionally step behind his vintage Farfisa organ to bang out a few chords, but more often you'd find him dancing on a speaker, bringing his mic stand into the audience to sing, or, during Push Up Man, getting down on the floor to challenge fans to a push-up contest. At one point near the end of the night, Zaremba, Streng and Fox were all standing on tables and benches in the middle of the club while still singing and playing.
The smiles on the faces of the band members showed that their love of playing rock-and-roll in front of people with an appreciation for it still hasn't waned after almost 30 years as a group with little more than a cult following. It's infectious and always leaves me grinning.
Fox was manning the merch booth after the show. We talked for a while and then I bought the band's last vinyl copy of 1998's Only Skin Deep album for $10. It was a good deal for me, and I hope that any little small contribution that I can make to the band's bottom line will give it the ability and impetus to keep on keepin' on.
The Fleshtones rule.

np Leafs 3 Thrashers 1 after one period

After finishing my first week back working full-time for someone other than myself, and having to put on pants to go to an office to fulfill my news editor role for www.chartattack.com, I drove to The Docks. Luckily, I got a prime parking spot across the street. Even luckier, there was no-one working at the lot to take my money.
I arrived at 11 p.m., just in time to hear the packed house chant, "Let's go Murphys!" I slithered my way through the crowd and used my VIP pass to get on the side of the stage just before the group came on. The band members are big Boston Bruins fans, and even performed at the Fleet Center following a Bruins game earlier this month, so it was quite a surprise to see the bassist wearing the #16 jersey worn by Toronto Maple Leaf Darcy Tucker.
The Celtic-punk band was full of beans (Boston-baked, I'm sure), with bagpipes, accordion, mandolin and bouzouki rounding out the normal rock instrumentation lineup to rip through an hour-long set of fan favourites. There were moments when I thought that the band was harder and heavier than the two times I saw it in 2003, but there were also some quieter, more melodic moments.
The crowd was just as enthusiastic as the band, and moshing, crowd-surfing and stage-diving were the order of the day. On two separate occasions I was hit by a flying shoe and a tube of lip balm. There was a guy in the mosh pit on crutches who had to be pulled on to the stage because he was getting battered. Serves him right, I'd say.
Women from the crowd were invited on to the stage to dance for the second-last song, and then guys climbed up for the last number. There were dozens of people on stage, and things were so chaotic that I could still hear the band but couldn't see it through all of the bodies. But I like that the Dropkicks feel so comfortable with their fans that they can invite them on to the stage for the free-for-all.
I don't know if there was an encore because I left so that I could get out of the parking lot before the traffic jam started. I had to get to the Horseshoe to see The Fleshtones.