Surprise Kevin Drew show for Earth Hour

I usually try to do my part to honour Earth Hour, where people are asked to turn off non-essential lights and electronics for 60 minutes from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., and did so again on Saturday night.

Instead of sitting at home in the dark, I decided to take advantage of Mill Street Brewery's "Lights Out" promotion. At 60 bars across Toronto, the brewery was donating 50 cents for each pint of its beer sold to Earth Day Canada. And each of these bars was supposed to feature a candle-lit, acoustic music set. Using a formula based on proximity and artist recognition/enjoyment, I decided to see By Divine Right at the Drake Underground.

I did my part by ordering a pint of Tankhouse upon arrival right around 8:30, and then proceeded to wait. I walked to the stage and saw a lot of plugged-in instruments, including two keyboards, which I've never seen at a By Divine Right show before. I also saw Kevin Drew, Charles Spearin, Andy Kim, Kevin Hearn and a few media folks and other social scenesters I might not have expected to see at this show.

Time went on and no-one took the stage until just before 9 p.m., when Drew came on with his new band that's supporting his newly released Darlings solo debut album. I guess the By Divine Right acoustic set got blown out, but a lot of people who care and must have been in the know more than me turned out for Drew's warm-up show before his first tour, where he'll be opening in support of Feist.

Drew and his bandmates, which included Spearin on bass and sometime Broken Social Scene member Ohad Benchetrit on guitar, played their first gig in front of an audience and played songs from Darlings. Drew brought lyric sheets with him and didn't seem totally at ease, but he was good-natured and the crowd was appreciative.

The songs weren't doing a lot for me and Earth Hour had finished, so I left before Drew and company finished and went home to watch an NCAA basketball "Elite Eight" game between Arizona and Wisconsin and crack open large bottles of Bellwoods Lambda and Beau's Tom Green Beer. The game was good, but I found the the two beers -- like Drew's music -- to be no more than average.

So, while my house went dark, I really didn't get much of an Earth Hour experience this year. Can someone tell me what happened to By Divine Right?

Random Order - Black Lipstick Kiss

I'm not sure how Random Order has flown under my radar for so long.

It's a local Toronto band that's been around for almost 25 years and has drawn previous comparisons to The Au Pairs, The Slits and The Clash -- and I like all of them. So my interest was piqued when I read about the release of the group's third album, Black Lipstick Kiss, a little earlier this year.

The 11-song, 39-minute LP opens with a bang and a sextet of strong songs before (to my taste at least) tapering off a bit until a big finish.

You can tango to the percussive "The Morning After Kill," provided your footwork is nimble enough when the song speeds up as it goes along. The title track has a video but, if you just listen to it, you can envision Amy Winehouse interpreting it. That's not to say that Random Order singer/guitarist Lynn Phillips doesn't have a good voice. She definitely does, and its blend of sultriness, soul and power fits her repertoire well.

Phillips' main musical foil is John Jowett, whose trombone (and occasional trumpet) are key to the success of "Black Lipstick Kiss," surf rock instrumental "Do It In Quattro" and the ska/pop "Living On A Deadline."

Veteran singer, songwriter, musician, producer and jack of all trades Bob Wiseman arranged "10 Things," which effectively mixes reggae and rock. But it's on "Spoiled" where his arranging expertise is perhaps most appreciated. It begins as a relatively low-key, ska-based song that significantly picks up in intensity near the end and features nice female harmonies in the chorus.

"Excess Or Rise" is more of a rocker, but adds a Latin twist. The ska/reggae mix pops up again, and succeeds, on "Subway Girl." The album ends on a high note with "Pink Cloud," which was originally released as a single in 2007. The track's combination of ska and spy movie theme music may not rival The Selecter's "James Bond" or The Specials' "Sock It to 'Em JB," but it's definitely worth hearing.

Black Lipstick Kiss is available through Random Order's website.

Nudie - Remember This

Just say the name Nudie and you think country music -- or perhaps grainy porn flicks from the '50s and '60s.

But this Nudie -- who adopted his name from cowboy couturier Nudie Cohn, who outfitted the likes of Porter Wagoner, Hank Williams, Hank Snow, Elvis Presley and Gram Parsons -- is all about the former. And the former frontman of Nudie and the Turks, which released two albums and toured extensively before dissolving two years ago, has released his first solo album.

The 12-song, 36-minute effort often harkens back to the earlier days of country, when western was often appended to it, even though Nudie was born in Ontario and now resides in Prince Edward Island. The west meets east model shines through on opener "If A Heart Could Tell," which features guest vocals from Molly Rankin -- the youngest member of the prolifically talented and Maritime-proud Rankin Family.

I'm listening to songs from 1960's Johnny Cash Sings Hank Williams as I type this and, while I can't put Nudie in the class of those two gentlemen, his music fits in that niche.

The title song, a mid-tempo ballad given added depth via organ, is being highlighted as the focus track. It's nice, as is the entire independently released album, but there are other songs I'd personally push.

The roots-rocking "Sex Kisses," the Bakersfield country-influenced "You Try To Be Right," the vintage-sounding "Walking The Streets" and the gently chugging "Why Do We Keep Hanging On?" all get the thumbs up.

Maybe it's just me, but I hear bits of Van Morrison and Them's "Gloria" at points throughout "My Sweet Ache." That's a good thing.

Want to hear a hurtin' country ballad? Try "Fiona."

Like a range of tempos? "The Pain In You" features some impressive picking and is the fastest song on album. Right up next is "I'm Tired of Living With No Fun," an old-time country tune that plods along at just the right pace.

"I Miss The Love (But I Never Miss You)" closes the album on a high note and leaves you with a smile on your face.

Nudie isn't doing anything new, but he knows what he's doing and does it well.

You can purchase Remember This from Nudie's website.

Revisited: Rush members are now movie stars as well as music stars

I recently saw the film I Love You, Man for the first time and it reminded me of an interview I did with Rush a few years back. Since MSN.ca has removed all of the blogs I wrote for it three times a week from August 2009 to August 2011, I've decided to repost the article here.

Here we go:

From Nov. 28, 2009

Rush members are now movie stars as well as music stars

Rush has sold more than 40 million albums in its 35-year recording career, and that total continues to grow with the Nov. 17 release of the live best-of Working Men CD and DVD collection and a new studio record expected next year.

"I'm sure that over the next couple of months we'll get right into the meat of songwriting," singer, bassist and keyboardist Geddy Lee told me backstage at a recent awards show in Toronto presented by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN).

Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson were on hand to receive SOCAN's International Achievement Award, while drummer/lyricist Neil Peart remained at his Los Angeles home with his wife Carrie and baby daughter Olivia, who was born in August. The two musicians kept their acceptance speech mercifully short, but were still appreciative of the honour.

"It's nice to be recognized as a songwriter," said Lee. "It's not something that happens very often when you're in a rock band that plays really fast. That's what you usually get recognized for. But it all begins with the song."

Rush has won seven Juno Awards, been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame, and all three members are Officers of the Order of Canada. They also have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Canada's Walk of Fame, which is located right outside Roy Thomson Hall, where the SOCAN Awards were held.

I asked the pair if they'd checked their star, which is located between hockey legend Gordie Howe and comedy troupe The Royal Canadian Air Farce ("That kind of says it all, doesn't it?" quipped Lee.), before the ceremony.

"I didn't notice if anyone was sleeping on it," Lee replied with a chuckle. "My mother comes down and cleans it once a week."

Having a place on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is also appropriate, since the members of Rush have also become minor movie stars of late.

Rush had a cameo role earlier this year in the bromance flick I Love You, Man, which starred Paul Rudd and Jason Segel.

"The two key characters go on a man date and one of the common things they share is a love for Rush," explained Lifeson, since I haven't yet seen the comedy. "Our role was playing a gig at a club they attend.

"It was so much fun to do that. We basically played 'Limelight' for about 11 hours. We must have played it 2,000 times while they did their scenes. We watched from the stage and it was absolutely hilarious seeing Jason Segel and Paul Rudd go through their scenes and do different takes. They were all very, very sweet and very charming."

"It was a really great experience for us," added Lee. "The director (John Hamburg), who also wrote the film, is a huge Rush fan.

"He just wouldn't settle for doing that film with any other band. He was very considerate of our time and the way he presented us in the film was kind of an homage. We really appreciated the way it all turned out. It was really a lot of fun."

Peart played a role in the recently released Adventures Of Power, which won awards on the film festival circuit and is described as "an epic rock'n'roll comedy about the American dream, love, and air-drumming." It was written and directed by Ari Gold (Groove), who also stars in the film along with Michael McKean (This Is Spinal Tap), Jane Lynch (Glee), Chiu Chi Ling (Kung Fu Hustle), Shoshannah Stern (Jericho) and Adrian Grenier (Entourage). Peart describes the film on Rush's web site as "the best rock movie in many a year."

Some might argue that Suck could also be in the running for that title, though I wasn't that knocked out by the black comedy that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. The movie focuses on a band called The Winners who are anything but until they become bloodthirsty vampires.

Alice Cooper appears as a vampire bartender, while Moby plays Secretaries Of Steak frontman Beef, Henry Rollins is a radio DJ, Iggy Pop portrays a rifle-toting record producer, Rough Trade's Carole Pope appears as a nightclub ticket-taker, Burning Brides' Dimitri Coats plays vampire leader Queeny and Lifeson cameos as a border guard.

Lifeson has also appeared in the hilarious Canadian television series Trailer Park Boys, and he'll also have a part in an off-the-wall-sounding new series starring that show's Robb Wells (Ricky), John Paul Tremblay (Julian) and Mike Smith (Bubbles) that's slated to start shooting in May.

"It's very, very bizarre, but it should be a lot of fun," explained Lifeson. "I think we're doing six episodes.

"I play one of the secondary characters in the story. It's about them as the actors from Trailer Park Boys who are putting together this kids show. I think the working title is Drunk And On Drugs Happy Fun Time Hour, or something like that.

"The premise is that I'm a German scientist who develops this potion and everybody in the town gets high on this hallucinogenic berry. The three actors from Trailer Park Boys become all these other characters in the town. That's about all I know about it so far."

Jim Fidler - RPM

Jim Fidler's latest album, RPM, is a definite departure from his work with Pressure Drop, his collaborative efforts with other musicians and his solo catalogue.

It took the St. John's, Nfld. artist exactly eight months to make the 11-song, 54-minute album at his Roots Cellar studio. As in the past, he wrote, played and sang almost everything, while also producing the record. What's different, though, is the sound.

Fidler first became known as a reggae artist through Pressure Drop, embraced Celtic music in his early solo work, added sounds from other cultures to make what can loosely be described as world music, and has also mixed in pop, blues and folk to those elements to create a unique niche for himself. But RPM adds a new wrinkle, with distinct 1970s pop and rock influences.
 
Some of opener "Mister Man" sounds like it could have been included on Pink Floyd's The Wall, the piano introduction to "What I'm Going to Do" is reminiscent of Supertramp's "Bloody Well Right" and "Not the Thing at the End of the Line" also elicits vague memories of the decade of Watergate, oil crises and Archie Bunker.

"Mama's Little Boy" and "Dancing at the Rubber Ball" are more rhythmic, the fairly mellow "The Weed" sings the praises of marijuana and "We Need A Revolution" cites the importance of open communication. The album ends relatively quietly with the trio of "The Final Curtain Call," "Sleep" and "Dream (The Awakening)."

The other thing that sets RPM apart from Fidler's earlier work is that the lyrics came to him in a stream of consciousness after he laid down the bed for each track. There was no sitting down and jotting notes to guide him along. The result is what can be described as a concept album, as it traces the life and career of a fictitious musician named Mickey Finn.

Fidler may call for a revolution, but RPM also illustrates his continuing musical evolution.

Steve McLean's favourite music of 2013

The top 10

1. Barrence Whitfield and The Savages - Dig Thy Savage Soul
2. Kobo Town - Jumbie in the Jukebox
3. Young Rival - Stay Young
4. J. Roddy Walston and The Business - Essential Tremors
5. Slam Dunk - Welcome to Miami
6. Bree - Bree
7. Frank Turner - Tape Deck Heart
8. Rusty Ford - My Truck, My Dog and You
9. Two Hours Traffic - Foolish Blood
10. Hollerado - White Paint
The next 10

Lindi Ortega - Tin Star
Okkervil River - The Silver Gymnasium
The Racoon Wedding - Racoon Dead on the Side of the Road
New Country Rehab - Ghost of Your Charms
Headstones - Love and Fury
Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings - Give the People What They Want
The Growlers - Gilded Pleasures
Eels - Wonderful, Glorious
Gogol Bordello - Pura Vida Conspiracy
Stag - Chameleon

Honourable mention 

Steve Earle & The Dukes (& Duchesses) - The Low Highway
The Fall - Re-Mit
Brendan Benson - You Were Right
The Sadies - Internal Sounds
Richard Thompson - Electric
Robyn Hitchcock - Love From London
We Are Wolves - La Mort Pop Club
Elephant Stone - Elephant Stone

 

Reissues, compilations and live albums (alphabetical order)

Big Star - The Very Best of Big Star
The Bottle Rockets - The Brooklyn Side Reissue
The Fleshtones, Los Straitjackets, Southern Culture on the Skids - Mondo Zombie Boogaloo
Midnight Oil - Essential Oils
Nirvana - In Utero: 20th Anniversary Edition
Roy Orbison - The Last Concert 25th Anniversary Edition
The Presidents of the United States of America - Get Back In The Van
Various artists - Garage Swim

 

EP
Lydia Loveless - Boy Crazy

Concerts (chronological order) 

Robyn Hitchcock, Bill Rieflin and Scott McCaughey at SXSW

The Millwinders, Deke Dickerson and The Eco-Phonics, and guests - Jan. 12, Monarch Tavern, Toronto
Bob Mould - March 1, Horseshoe, Toronto
South by Southwest Music Festival - March 12-17, various venues, Austin
Canadian MusicFest - March 20-24, various venues, Toronto
Fidlar and Wavves - April 5, Horseshoe, Toronto
Various artists for Stompin' Tom Connors tribute - April 10, Horseshoe, Toronto
The Slackers - May 17, Horseshoe, Toronto
North by Northeast Music Festival - June 12-15, various venues, Toronto
Toronto Urban Roots Festival (TURF) - July 4-7, Fort York, Toronto
The Specials - July 9, Kool Haus, Toronto
Chris Murray - July 24, Horseshoe, Toronto
Riot Fest (The Replacements, Iggy and The Stooges, The Weakerthans, Rocket From The Crypt) - Aug. 25, Fort York, Toronto
Robyn Hitchcock - Sept. 4, The Drake, Toronto
Patti Smith - Sept. 6, Massey Hall, Toronto
The Selecter - Sept. 17, Lee's Palace, Toronto
Pere Ubu - Sept. 18, Lee's Palace, Toronto
Kid Congo Powers - Oct. 24, Horseshoe, Toronto
Flamin' Groovies - Nov. 6, Lee's Palace, Toronto
Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls - Dec. 3, Sound Academy, Toronto
The Sadies - Dec. 31, Horseshoe, Toronto

Jingle Bell Rocks!

I first met Mitchell Kezin four years ago at Toronto's Lee's Palace when he was filming one of El Vez's legendary "Mex-mas" shows for a documentary he'd been working on for a while, Jingle Bell Rocks!

I had assumed my Santez alter-ego for the evening and Kezin interviewed me for his film about alternative Christmas music. That clip, with good reason, was eventually edited out of the film as it went through a number of changes that continued to delay its finish. But Kezin and I became friends and kept in touch as I sent him a few ideas, photos and videos for possible use in the film (which, probably again with good reason, weren't used), and I was trying to set up an interview between the filmmaker and Stompin' Tom Connors just before the Canadian music icon passed away on March 6.

Kezin kept me updated on the film's progress through emails and occasionally over beers on the few occasions when his busy travel schedule for shooting the film would allow a get-together. And I'm happy to report that Jingle Bell Rocks! is now finally finished and making its world premiere at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam this week.

The Canadian theatrical rollout begins next week, TVO will air Jingle Bell Rocks! at some point for Ontario television viewers, and it will appear at American film festivals throughout next year before receiving its theatrical release south of the border in December 2014.

While Jingle Bell Rocks! has plenty of both the kitschy songs and previously unknown-to-me musical gems that I expected, what really got me was the poignancy of many of its scenes and stories -- particularly Kezin's tale of how his father was seldom around as a child and he identified with Nat King Cole's "The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot."

Twenty years later, Kezin later discovered a 1962 album titled Jingle Bell Jazz, which featured a cynical song called "Blue Xmas (To Whom It May Concern)" that Bob Dorough had written and sang on the record by request of Miles Davis. It was a Christmas song for those who aren't particularly impressed with Christmas, and it launched Kezin on a largely secretive, quarter-century quest to find and collect honest and real Christmas songs and other "hip, heartfelt and irreverent" seasonal tunes you don't hear on the radio or in the mall every December. In the process, he found he wasn't alone in this obsession. And Jingle Bell Rocks! features some of these collectors, some of the songs that mean the most to them, and some of the people who recorded them in the first place.

Most of these collectors aren't like the eccentrics who amused and sometimes frightened me in Toronto filmmaker Alan Zweig's 2000 documentary Vinyl, but are seemingly socially adept and normal people who just happen to have an extraordinary passion for Christmas music.

Mitchell Kezin and Wayne Coyne

You'll hear reminiscences from both well- and little-known folks, including Dorough, former Def Jam Records publicist Bill Adler, Canadian radio host David Wisdom, record producer Tommy LiPuma, Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne, The Free Design vocalist Sandra Dedrick, "naughty" soul singer Clarence Carter, cult film director John Waters, punk-cabaret genius El Vez, Run DMC's Joseph "Run" Simmons, novelty song collector Dr. Demento, minimalist indie duo Low, and many others.

Perhaps the most moving part of the 93-minute film takes place in a recording studio above Charlie's Calypso City record store in Brooklyn, where calypso legend Mighty Sparrow fulfills Kezin's wish by recording "The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot" as the film director tears up with emotion as he looks on.

Mitchell Kezin, Joseph "Run" Simmons and Bill Adler

Musically, what pleased me most was the inclusion of Plan 9's gritty 1984 garage-psych nugget "Merry Christmas," which instantly grabbed me when I first heard it on a mix tape a friend made for me back then. Other favourite tunes that get the spotlight treatment in Jingle Bell Rocks! and will likely be unfamiliar to many include Jessie Mae Hemphill's "Merry Christmas, Pretty Baby," Carter's "Back Door Santa" (which Run DMC sampled for "Christmas in Hollis"), Paul "Fat Daddy" Johnson's "Fat Daddy Claus," El Vez's "Santa Claus Is Sometimes Brown," Heather Noel's "Santa Came On A Nuclear Missile" and The Flaming Lips' "A Change at Christmas (Say It Isn't So)."

Whether you identify more with Scrooge or Saint Nick, you should find songs and people you can relate to in Jingle Bell Rocks!

Beer and more from Gourmet Food & Wine Expo

Toronto's Gourmet Food & Wine Expo keeps growing annually and has become one of my favourite events of the year. A wide range of vendors offers a variety of foods, condiments and alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks to sample for a reasonable price, while seminars held throughout the four-day event enable folks to learn more about subjects of particular interest to them.

Beer has always been of particular interest to me, so chatting with various breweries and beer distributors is how I spent most of my two days at the expo. I didn't taste anything horrible, but there were a number of average products and, luckily, some excellent ones as well.

Here's what caught my attention at the 19th annual Gourmet Food & Wine Expo:

Six Pints Black Lager
This style is based on Germany's Schwarzbier. It's colour befits its name and it pours with a small head. It's five-per-cent alcohol and rates a 23 IBU on the bitterness scale. Espresso and bitter chocolate are the predominant flavours in this medium-hopped brew that some people may be able to drink more of in one sitting than a heavier porter or stout.

Red Horse Beer
This extra strong lager is brewed in Manilla, Philippines by San Miguel Brewery. It's pale and poured with a little head. It's seven-per-cent alcohol and had a hint of tinniness even though it came from a bottle. There was a slight sense of the higher alcohol content in the aroma and flavour, but it went down relatively easy. The booth had a DJ and energetic servers, and San Miguel was generously making a donation for each bottle finished (it had other brands aside from Red Horse available) to support relief efforts from Typhoon Haiyan.

Mill Street Distillery Ale
This dark copper-coloured brew is fermented with English Ale yeast to give it a mild aroma and a hint of pear and apricot in the flavour. It's 5.8-per-cent alcohol, somewhat malty from caramel and chocolate malts and, while it's easy drinking, it lacks a distinct character.

Mill Street Weizenbock
This pours with a grey head that doesn't last long, but it offers a nice fruity bouquet. This unfiltered wheat bock is somewhat sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. The 7.5-per-cent alcohol content isn't evident in the flavour, and it leaves you with a very nice finish.

Mill Street Vanilla Porter
This brown/ruby red porter pours with an effervescent head and provides a distinctive vanilla bouquet. It offers rich vanilla and coffee flavours and a smooth and creamy body. The lovely lingering after-taste makes you want to take another sip almost immediately. I can see myself drinking this five-per-cent porter all night. This was my favourite beer of the expo and, even better, I was given a coupon that I could redeem for a free can at the LCBO.

Nickel Brook Bolshevik Bastard
This imperial stout is black and pours with a grey head. I'd previously tried the brewery's Kentucky Bastard, which is the same brew but aged in bourbon barrels. It's made with a blend of roasted barley, chocolate and amber malt, has a mild bouquet and the taste offers hints of chocolate and coffee. It's surprisingly smooth for a nine-per-cent beer, while providing some crispness and an easy finish. This is another one worth recommending.

Maisel's Weisse Original
This traditional Bavarian-made weissbier is pumpkin-coloured and presents a fruity and spicy aroma. It's a very full-bodied, 5.4-per-cent alcohol beer with banana and bubble gum flavours and a very good finish. Wheat beer drinkers should like this.

Maisel's Weisse Dunkel
The sibling of the beer above is copper-coloured and produces a nice head and pleasant aroma of banana and cloves. This 4.9-per-cent beer is brewed with a blend of wheat and gently roasted, caramelized malt and makes a great spring or fall beer, as it has more body than a more summer-oriented weissbier but isn't as heavy as the weizenbocks preferred by some in the winter.

Maredsous 8 Brune
The 8 in the name is the alcohol volume of this Belgian dubbel. The brown, bottle-conditioned ale is top-fermented and brewed according to Benedictine tradition, and then refermented in the bottle and conditioned for two months. I'm generally not the biggest fan of this style, but enjoyed this. It pours with a rich head and has a very fruity aroma. Dark berries are a major part of the pleasantly sweet flavour before a slightly bitter aftertaste takes over.

Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA
This six-per-cent alcohol IPA is brewed with a dry-hopped blend of German, English and American hops from regions located to close to 48 degrees latitude. The hops are evident in the aroma of this dark copper-coloured beer along with a touch of citrus. It's not overly hopped and the malt adds a hint of sweetness, which makes it a good option for folks who find west coast IPAs a little too much.

Royal Jamaican Ginger Beer
I've heard this described as the best alcoholic ginger beer in the world, and I can't argue with that. This beer is brewed in Kingston, Jamaica with Cascade hops, Jamaican ginger and cane sugar, and Royal Jamaican new crop rum. The ginger dominates the aroma and flavour and gives this a very crisp quality. It's spicy, but not overpoweringly so. And with just 4.4-per-cent alcohol, you can drink quite a few without getting too tipsy.

Spearhead Jamaican Fire
This dark, eight-per-cent stout has a 35 IBU rating on the bitterness scale and is brewed with coffee, oranges, sugar cane and scotch bonnet peppers -- with that last ingredient giving the taste and bouquet a definite kick. It's spicy but it won't knock you on your butt.

Spearhead Belgian Stout
This six-per-cent alcohol stout is made with six types of malt, three types of hops, trappist ale yeast and demerara sugar, Curacao orange peel and coriander. This creamy, unfiltered stout pours with a decent head and has a delicate, peppery introduction and a dry finish.

Moosehead Boundary Ale
This medium-bodied, copper-coloured ale is a cross between American- and British-styled pale ales that's made with four types of hops and seven different malts. The 5.3-per-cent alcohol beer has a very mild sweetness and was better than I anticipated, since I'm not a fan of its better known lager.

Pistonhead Kustom Lager
This Swedish beer features a flaming skull on the can and was being promoted by scantily-clad women with tattoos at the expo, so it will obviously trying to promote itself as a beer with edge when it arrives in Ontario beer stores in December. It pours gold with a mildly hoppy aroma from Spalter Select, Magnum and Perle hops and some nice maltiness from Munchener and Pilsener malts. It's an easy-drinking, 4.6-per-cent alcohol beer that seems better suited for summer, so I'm not sure that it's launching at the best time and the image seems incongruent with the product.

Ciuc Premium
I believe this is the first Romanian beer I've ever had. It's a pale gold and reasonably crisp pilsner with a hint of hoppiness. It's five-per-cent alcohol and would work best as a summer sipper.

Lake of Bays Top Shelf Classic Lager
The most noteworthy thing about this 4.5-per-cent alcohol beer is that it's the official beer of the NHL Alumni Association. It's an American-style pale lager that would be best suited for summer.

Niagara Oast House Brewers Saison
This Niagara-on-the-Lake brewery was my favourite discovery of the festival, and this 6.5-per-cent alcohol farmhouse ale was my favourite of its three beers that I sampled. It comes in a corked 750-millilitre bottle and is unfiltered and bottle-seasoned, which accounts for its slightly cloudy appearance. It has a fruity yeast aroma and some spicy citrus in the flavour. Excellent.

Niagara Oast House Brewers Barn Raiser Country Ale
This gold-coloured, five-per-cent alcohol ale is excellent as well. It poured with a decent head and had a citrus aroma and flavour. It's well-hopped, but not enough to scare away non-hop heads.

Niagara Oast House Brewers Pitchfork Porter
This dark brown porter pours with a rich head. It's fairly malty and robust and has a slight smokiness about it. Dark chocolate with a bit of nuttiness are the predominant flavours.

Sawdust City Gate Way Golden Ale
This Gravenhurst, Ont. brewery makes a lot of creatively named and flavoured beers, but this Kolsch-style lagered ale is the entry point for less adventurous drinkers. It's an easy-drinking, pale gold brew made with pilsner and wheat malt and spalter and magnum hops. It's both reasonably crisp and slightly sweet and is a sessional five-per-cent alcohol.

Sawdust City Red Rocket Stout
Red Rocket coffee beans, vanilla beans and cayenne pepper are added to Sawdust City's Skinny Dipping Stout to create this black product. The coffee and cayenne are highly evident in the bouquet and flavour, but neither overpower and gives this stout a surprisingly well-balanced taste.

Niagara College Brewmaster Wheat
This is the favourite beer I've tasted from the college. This unfiltered, 4.6-per-cent alcohol, wheat-based ale is light gold and features banana and cloves in the bouquet. There's a hint of banana in the flavour and it has quite a pleasant finish.

Railway City Black Coal Stout
The St. Thomas, Ont. brewery has produced a six-per-cent alcohol stout that has a 43 IBU rating on the bitterness scale. It's black and has a coffee aroma, while coffee, dark chocolate, smoke and oatmeal are the prime components of the flavour profile. It's okay, but nothing exceptional.

Ciders, Wines, Liquors and Cocktails

When I'd exhausted the new beers that I hadn't tried before, I moved on to this mix of other beverages:

Pommies Dry Cider
Despite the name, this five-per-cent alcohol cider made in Caledon with Ontario apples isn't excessively dry. The name is there more to differentiate it from sweeter ciders. It has a mild apple aroma and is bright, refreshing and reasonably crisp. It's gluten-free and not made from concentrate.

White Owl Whisky
It's a secret how this 40-per-cent alcohol spirit is distilled and filtered to make it clear. It looked just like vodka when it was poured over ice. It originated with a grain spirit that was aged for years in charred oak barrels, but that's all I can tell you about the process. The taste isn't as distinctive as with most Canadian whiskies, so this one is definitely intended more for cocktail use than for straight-up sipping by brown liquor aficionados.

Salvador's Original Margarita and Salvador's Mojito
I liked the Mojito better, but could drink both of these open and pour cocktails during those times when I'm too lazy to make my own -- which in the case of the Mojito is always since I don't keep fresh mint around the house.

Canyon Creek Pumpkin Martini
This isn't a martini at all, but you'll like it if you like pumpkin pie. It's made with Captain Morgan’s spiced and dark rums, cream, pumpkin and maple vanilla syrups, and is garnished with ground nutmeg and a cinnamon stick.

College Street Bar Whiskey Sour
It's more sweet than sour, but nice nonetheless.

Real Sports Pimm's Garden
You can't go wrong with Pimm's No. 1 Cup, lemonade and fresh fruit.

Ogier Cotes du Ventoux Rose
I wasn't particularly fond of this extra dry, 13.3-per-cent alcohol, 2012 French rose from Caves Des Papes.

Mionetto Mo Prosecco
This light, fruity and slightly dry Italian sparkling wine had a clean finish and 11 per-cent alcohol.

Deinhard Dry Riesling
This German Riesling was a little sweeter than I would have liked, but was still okay with a hint of green apple and citrus. It was reasonably light and had a 12.4-per-cent alcohol content.

Bird Label Riesling
This off-dry and mildly fruity wine from Pfalz, Germany's Lingenfelder Estate had elements of lime and apple and a lower alcohol content of 10.5 per-cent.

Mosel Gold Riesling
This pale straw-coloured wine from Mosel, Germany's H. Schmitt Soehne is even lighter in alcohol content with 9.5 per cent and is reasonably dry with flavours of apple, peach and pear.

Beringer California Collection White Zinfandel
This 2010 vintage rose is made for casual drinking and carries a 9.5-per-cent alcohol content. It's light, with a fruity aroma and flavour.

Playlist: The Very Best of Big Star

Big Star is one of those bands that never achieved the success it should have but has acquired an aura in succeeding years that has it almost breaking through the boundaries of the cult status its had since former Box Tops singer Alex Chilton, guitarist/singer Chris Bell, drummer Jody Stephens and bassist Andy Hummel came together in 1971.

The Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me documentary that came out earlier this year received praise and brought the Memphis, Tenn.-formed group to the attention of music fans who may have read that it influenced R.E.M. and The Replacements but had never heard the three albums recorded from 1971 to 1974 that brilliantly melded melody and crunch and embodied what became known as power pop. Playlist: The Very Best of Big Star, which comes out on Nov. 26 through Columbia/Legacy, is meant for those folks.

This 14-track compilation includes one song from the #1 Record debut, two from the Radio City follow-up and two from Third/Sister Lovers, which wasn't issued until four years after it was recorded. It also includes a rehearsal take of Radio City's luscious "September Gurls" that was previously released on the 1999 official bootleg, Nobody Can Dance.

Bell and Hummel left the group in the midst of Big Star's initial three-year run, and Bell was killed in a 1978 car accident. But interest in Big Star inexplicably increased long after its dissolution, and Chilton and Stephens reformed the group with Posies members Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow for an April 25, 1993 show at the University of Missouri that was recorded and released that September.

Half of Playlist: The Very Best of Big Star comes from that concert album, including some of the group's most memorable songs: "Don't Lie To Me," "The Ballad of El Goodo," "Back of a Car," "Thank You Friends" and "In the Street," which many will recognize as the theme for That '70s Show. It also features a rendition f the Bell solo cut, "I Am The Cosmos."

The album concludes with "A Whole New Thing," which is probably the best song from 2005's In Space album that was recorded by the new lineup which had continued to perform sporadically.

I was supposed to see one of those shows at the South by Southwest Music Festival (SXSW) in Austin, Texas in 2010, but Chilton passed away from a heart attack on March 17 -- three days before the concert was supposed to take place. It instead turned into a moving tribute to Chilton featuring a number of artists touched and influenced by him, including: Hummel, Curt Kirkwood (Meat Puppets), Chris Stamey (The dB's), M.Ward, Mike Mills (R.E.M.), John Doe (X), Sondre Lerche, Chuck Prophet, Evan Dando (Lemonheads), Amy Speace, Susan Cowsill and The Watson Twins.

I attended another Big Star tribute at SXSW in 2012 featuring Stephens, Stringfellow, Auer and guests including Eric Earley (Blitzen Trapper), Peter Buck (R.E.M.), Doe, Cotton Mather and Star & Micey. Big Star's shadow still obviously looms large with many musicians.

You're not likely going to please everyone when assembling a best-of compilation -- especially with a group like Big Star where you can't just cherry-pick its highest charting singles since it didn't have any hits. So while I think that "When My Baby's Beside Me," "Way Out West," "Jesus Christ," "You Get What You Deserve" and "Thirteen" could have easily been included and kept Playlist: The Very Best of Big Star to one compact disc, I shouldn't quibble.

If this album introduces even a few people to Big Star and prompts them to delve into the band's catalogue and seek out other standout power pop proponents, then it's both a worthwhile and praise-worthy exercise.

This Ain't No Mouse Music!

Alan Lomax is probably the best known American ethnomusicologist and producer because of the thousands of recordings he made and collected over his life before he passed away at age 87 in 2002.

A new documentary, This Ain't No Mouse Music!, shines the spotlight on a gentleman with a similar mission -- but one who's still at it at 82. Chris Strachwitz left Germany for the United States with his family in 1947 and instantly fell in love with American music. He founded Arhoolie Records 13 years later and This Ain't No Mouse Music! (the last two words forming a term he coined to describe what he dislikes) tells the story of the man, the label and a wide range of music with roots in the U.S. and Mexico.

"My stuff isn't produced," Strachwitz says early in the film. "I just catch it as it is."

That was the case with the first artist he recorded, Texas sharecropper and  largely unheralded blues artist Mance Lipscomb, and continues in a similar fashion to this day. Strachwitz helped a number of aging blues artists gain exposure at folk festivals in the U.S. and Europe in the '60s and '70s, which helped raise Arhoolie's profile -- though it still remains a small operation that also spun off the Down Home Records store in El Cerrito, Calif.

That expansion was largely paid for with the publishing money Strachwitz received from making the first recording of Country Joe and The Fish's "Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag" -- which went on to become an anti-establishment anthem after it was performed at the Woodstock Music & Art Fair and played a prominent role in the film and album that documented it.

Arhoolie's catalogue has grown to include klezmer, Cajun, Creole, zydeco, conjunto, nortena, New Orleans jazz, bluegrass and Appalachian music, and Strachwitz has often put pioneering artists from these genres together with more current ones to record.

The biggest names interviewed for the film who've either recorded for Arhoolie or hold it in high esteem are Richard Thompson, Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, Michael Doucet and Flaco Jimenez, who all discuss the influence that the label and its music has had on them.

This Ain't No Mouse Music! will introduce most people to artists, songs and perhaps entire musical styles that they weren't familiar with before, and will also show them just how motivating music can be in people's lives. Anyone with an interest in the roots of American music should track it down and watch it.

Flamin' Groovies are rock and roll

Fans of power pop, garage rock, blues and punk have all expressed admiration for Flamin' Groovies and the group's contributions to rock and roll over the years, and its performance at Lee's Palace on Wednesday night reflected all of those genres.

The Groovies formed in San Francisco in 1965 and have gone through both personnel changes and long periods of inactivity, but three-quarters of what's generally considered the classic lineup reformed earlier this year and gave many of us who thought we'd never see the band the chance to see our hopes become a reality.

Lead guitarist Cyril Jordan, singer/guitarist Chris Wilson and bassist George Alexander convened with young drummer Victor Penalosa and wowed my friend Craig Laskey when he saw them in San Francisco in May, and he got me pumped for this week's performance. I've been a fan since the late '70s, so that was hardly necessary, but it was appreciated -- especially since he was the guy who brought the quartet to Toronto.

The Groovies have been noted for their astute choice of covers almost as much as they have been for their original songs over the years, and Wednesday's set featured a balance of both.

The band opened with a cover of The Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and it was apparent right away that these guys are musicians through and through. But Wilson's voice was definitely off and sometimes sounded hoarse. It soon became apparent that more than the seemingly well-refreshed Wilson's voice wasn't quite right. He talked a lot of nonsense in between songs, made a request to Toronto mayor "Bob" Ford for "a huff," frequently held proceedings up to tune his guitar and had to be told by Jordan what was happening next before almost every song. 

It was much more professional in San Fran, Laskey assured me. But this raggedness and the possibility that the show could fall apart at any point gave it the spirit of punk rock that many in the crowd grew up on. That crowd included a lot of local musicians, including: guitarists Travis Good, Fred Robinson, Gord Cumming, Jeff MacNeil and Rob Sweeney; drummers Teddy Fury, Cleave Anderson and Sean Dignan; and singer/songwriter Kate Boothman.

Jordan held things together with his guiding hand and the rhythm section helped too, but the band's sound man unfortunately lost some of the bassist and drummer's contributions via a sometimes muddy mix that was loud but not as well-defined as it could have been, and an occasional squeal and crackle also emanated from the amplifiers.

Wilson's voice issues hampered some harmonies, but Jordan's jangly guitar work showed that he's a master of his craft on a set highlighted by covers of Freddy Cannon's "Tallahassee Lassie," The Byrds' "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better," NRBQ's "I Want You Bad," Tampa Red/Chuck Berry's "Don't You Lie To Me" and the Stones' "Paint It Black," as well as originals "Yeah My Baby," "You Tore Me Down," "Please Please Girl," "Between The Lines" and "Slow Death."

The Groovies' 70-minute set ended with a song that Jordan introduced by saying, "If you don't know what it is, you don't belong here." We all knew what it was going to be. The title track of the group's 1976 Dave Edmunds-produced album has been covered by so many people and is such a great song that you'd think it was a huge hit, but it inexplicably wasn't. I'm talking "Shake Some Action."

The quartet left the stage, but it was folly to think that it wouldn't return without playing at least one more song. I was really hoping that five people would take the stage to perform it, however. I'd seen Teenage Head co-founder Gord Lewis at the back of the club earlier in the night and, since his band was named after a Groovies song and album, I thought it would be fitting if he was at least acknowledged if not invited to perform the last number of the night. It wasn't to be, but I'll never quibble with hearing the guys who wrote "Teenage Head" perform it.

This wasn't a pristine show by any means, but it was a rock-and-roll event that I'm glad I was part of. 

I found out earlier this evening that my friend Keats passed away today. I know that he would have liked this set too, and I was thinking about him as I wrote this. He'll be missed.

Thanks to Matzoh Ball for sharing his videos from Wednesday night. He's moving to Austin, Texas soon and will also be missed, but I know that I'll be seeing him again.

Barrence Whitfield and the Savages - Dig Thy Savage Soul

When the term R&B comes up these days, it's too often associated with syrupy, smooth ballads. When I think of R&B, it's much more in terms of what Barrence Whitfield and The Savages are kicking out on their Bloodshot Records debut, Dig Thy Savage Soul.

This is primal, stompin' and soulful rock-and-roll, the kind that was kicking asses in the '60s and -- on this album -- still is.

From opener "The Corner Man" to the wailing saxophone that drives a cover of Jerry McCain's "Turn Your Damper Down" 11 songs later, Dig Thy Savage Soul totally exemplifies its title.

The band broke out of Boston's garage rock scene in the mid-'80s and gained cult favourite status through its records and intense performances that earned it tour slots with the likes of Bo Diddley, Tina Turner, Robert Cray, Solomon Burke and George Thorogood before it went on a lengthy hiatus. The group reformed in 2011 with new drummer Andy Joy and saxophonist Tom Quartulli joining Whitfield and original guitarist Peter Greenberg (The Lyres, DMZ) and bassist Phil Lenker (The Lyres), and it seems that nothing was lost during that interim.

Whitfield's powerful voice growls and howls throughout the album, and it has to because a lesser vocalist would be drowned by the powerful musical forces driving almost to the point of recklessness behind him through a mix of original tunes and rather obscure covers. Whitfield is just a couple of years away from 60, but the passion and energy heard here is that of a man less than half that age.

Performances are supposed to be sweaty, high-octane affairs, and I'm hoping I can be part of one sooner rather than later since Dig Thy Savage Soul is such a knockout.

Make Mondo Zombie Boogaloo this Halloween's soundtrack

I've purchased or received a few Halloween-themed compilations over the years, and have made my own mix tapes for the same purpose, but it would be hard to find a better one than Yep Roc Records' Mondo Zombie Boogaloo.

Three of the best live bands around -- Los Straitjackets, The Fleshtones and Southern Culture on the Skids -- have joined forces on this 15-track album that came out on Oct. 1. Los Straitjackets and SCOTS contribute five songs each, The Fleshtones chip in four, and the three groups collaborate on a Spanish version of "The Monster Mash" titled "Que Monstruos Son."

The lucha libre mask-wearing Los Straitjackets weave more of their intricate guitar magic through their primarily instrumental offerings, beginning with the vintage-sounding "It's Monster Surfing Time." The band presents "Theme From Halloween" and the slower "Theme From Young Frankenstein." "Ghoul On A Hill" isn't a variation of The Beatles' "Fool On The Hill," but "Ghostbusters" is a playful interpretation of the title track hit from the popular '80s movie.

The Fleshtones strike it rich early with "Ghoulman Confidential," and I have a feeling that the band's gentrifying hometown of Brooklyn may have been the inspiration for "Haunted Hipster." "(Sock It To Me Baby) in the House of Shock" packs a lot of fun into less than two minutes with a great mix of keyboards and guitar, and "Dracula A Go Go" is what you'd expect to find in the classic Fleshtones songbook.

It's been more than nine years since I've had an opportunity to see SCOTS, and the material here gives me even more reason to witness it again. The group covers The Cramps' "Goo Goo Muck" and, while Mary Huff's vocals are a little less threatening than the late Lux Interior's, there's still some solid howling going on. Cramps fans may also be interested in knowing that Steve Blickenstaff, the man who drew the cover art for that band's 1984 Bad Music for Bad People, is also responsible for the graphics on Mondo Zombie Boogaloo.

SCOTS mixes acoustic and electric guitars on "The Loneliest Ghost In Town," gets appropriately bluesy on "Tingler Blues," throws in its own instrumental number in "La Marcha De Los Cabarones" and ends the album with "Demon Death."

These three groups are touring together in support of Mondo Zombie Boogaloo, and I've heard great reports from those lucky enough to catch them since the triple bill unfortunately didn't make it to Toronto. They're on the road in the eastern United States until Nov. 2, so there's still time if you're in the vicinity.

Whether you have the chance to see these songs performed live or just get to hear them coming from your living room stereo while joined by costumed friends later this week, I perceive no way in which you won't enjoy yourself.

Mondo Zombie Boogaloo is available on compact disc, digitally and as a double long-player on coloured vinyl.

My night partying with porn stars

The Everything To Do With Sex Show has arrived in Toronto, and I was invited to the Oct. 17 media launch at Oasis Aqualounge -- a sex club  that earns its name via a swimming pool and hot tub.

I was on the guest list for the same event at another swingers club called Wicked about five years ago. But my invitee status still didn't stop the door staff from briefly barring my entry because my red Converse Chuck Taylors weren't classy enough to grace their sticky floors. I eventually talked my way in and ended up chatting with 2008 "Playboy Playmate of the Year" Jayde Nicole and porn stars Nikki Benz and Bree Olson -- who briefly gained mainstream notoriety in 2011 as one of Charlie Sheen's "goddesses."

Do you want to take a ride in the shaggin' wagon?

Flash ahead half a decade and, not wanting to risk the potential wrath of the Oasis Aqualounge footwear czars, I kept the black leather shoes I'd worn to my office earlier in the day firmly in place on my feet. It turned out that it didn't matter what I wore, but security was tight in other ways. I had to enter personal information into a computer, listen to a recited list of rules and then agree to an online waiver before being allowed to pass through the club's entrance foyer.

I now have a password if I ever return and know that the fifth day of the week around this place is known as "Foreplay Thursday." 

Feel like makin' whoopee?

There was a bar right inside the door, so I felt obliged to make use of it. I was asked to pay seven dollars for a plastic glass of Mill Street Tankhouse Ale. A media launch without free booze? Epic fail. Yes, we journalists can be a spoiled and jaded lot at times.

A friendly woman named Fatima then offered to take me on a tour of the joint. Aside from the bar, there was a lounge area with a stripper pole and a wall-mounted screen showing porn, a sauna, showers and washrooms on the main floor, with a pool and deck outside. Cool, wet weather made that area pretty useless except for those seeking a smoke break.

I always thought that dungeons were supposed to be underground, but the Oasis Aqualounge has its on the second floor. It had a cage, some bondage apparatuses, a suspension device, a large bowl full of condoms and lubricants, and a couple of warning signs.

We went up another flight of rose petal-covered stairs and saw various rooms meant to inspire romance and/or hardcore rodgering. There were more bowls of condoms and bowls of candy, as well as customized cupcakes and a penis-shaped cake, but no food of any substance. I filled the void in my stomach with another Tankhouse Ale.

One of the highlights of the night was supposed to be a fashion show. But what we got were several young women and a couple of guys dressed in skimpy superhero costumes who walked so quickly past the patrons that they couldn't get decent photographs.

The biggest attraction, however, was the chance to interview "ETDWSS Celebrities, Entertainers and Sexperts." I don't know if one particular attendee was included in that grouping, but she described herself as a "famous publicist." I'd heard of her. But if you're using "famous" to describe yourself, you probably aren't.
 
Lady luck may have been on my side when I was standing at the bar as the party's two marquee names, porn stars Charmane Star and Breanne Benson, arrived on the scene. There didn't seem to be any formal interview set-up, so I figured I might as well take advantage of the situation and asked Star to pose with the penis cake. Once her days of being paid to do reverse cowgirl are over, I think she could have a bright future as a Price Is Right model. 

Ladies and gentlemen: the penis cake.

The ladies were quickly escorted away before I had a chance to ask them any questions. Since I've never covered the sex beat (though I confess that the concepts of porn and beating aren't entirely unknown to me), I'm not sure what queries I would have come up with anyway.

In retrospect, however, I think they would have been:
a) Do you actually enjoy getting jizz all over your face and in your eyes?
and
b) Do you want to go over in that corner and ride me silly?

I wandered around a little bit longer as some of the club regulars started showing up, including an immodest woman with admittedly bought and paid for breasts leading around a much older (and unfortunately shirtless) man with a leash and collar. The clientele didn't exactly get my loins stirring, so it may be a long time before I ever make use of that password.

Charmane and Breanne check out their selfie.

I made one more sweep of the third floor and, if I was braggadocious, I'd tell you that I did both Charmane and Breanna from behind. The reality is that our private parts touched, but it was through mutual denim as I brushed past them in a crowded room.

I never got a chance to see the fourth floor private party room, but I helped myself to lots of condoms -- not that I have any use for them these days, unfortunately.

For an event and a venue that's supposed to be all about climaxing, this launch was pretty anti-climactic.

The Everything To Do With Sex Show runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 20 before it pulls out.

Breanne and I successfully execute the "I'll shoot the mirror image of you while you're giving me the finger" photo.

The Fall - Re-Mit

The Fall's 2011 album, Ersatz GB, was its first for Cherry Red Records and marked a fine return to form for main man Mark E. Smith and what has now become the most stable lineup of the band ever.

Everyone is back again for The Fall's 30th official studio album since forming in Manchester, England 37 years ago, but numerous compilations and live albums boosts that total considerably. Smith's vocal rants are as cryptic as ever, but the consistency of the lineup (Peter Greenway on lead guitar on all tracks but three, where Tim Presley takes over, Keiron Mulling on drums, Dave Spurr on bass and Smith's wife Elena Poulou on keyboards and backing vocals) seems to be reflected in the consistency of the record's quality.

A minute-long instrumental titled "No Respects" opens the album and is brought back again in an extended version with vocals halfway through. Both have a surprising but welcomed '60s surf/garage rock vibe and provide the biggest highlights of a solid album. "Sir William Wray" was released as a limited edition single earlier this year and features more of the jagged post-punk we've come to expect over the years, with synthesizer and shouted backing vocals rounding things out.

I wish "Jam Song" actually was something from Paul Weller and company, as a mod Smith would be pretty amusing. But there's enough enjoyment to be gleaned from "Kinder of Spine," "Hittite Man," "Victrola Time," "Irish," "Jetplanes" and "Loadstones" that longtime Fall fans should be satisfied.

I bought Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith a few weeks ago, and I'm hopeful that I'll enjoy the autobiography at least as much as Re-Mit, which I like quite a bit.