Current State of Rock

Have you heard about the new fight for a new year? Drummer for the Black Keys, Patrick Carney, seems to be opening up a can of worms with Nickleback fans saying that the Canadian band is the cause for the decline of rock and roll music. ""Rock and roll is dying because people became OK with Nickelback being the biggest band in the world." True, the genre has been in a decline for the past little while, but there's no recreating bands like the Beatles, or the Who. I, for one, don't think that rock is in a downward sprial at all, but is definitely taking giant leaps in a different direction than before.

Take a read through the article from an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine. Carney does seem to go on and on bashing Nickleback, but I think he makes some good points. The world has seem to just accept this quartet that just recreates the same song, but with different words. Settling just doesn't seem acceptable when it comes to music, or art, for that matter. If there is no motivation to keep progressing, then where would we ever be with music now?

Oh hey 2012

Are you ready to say goodbye to the year that was 2011? Well...you don't really have a choice. I wish I could have held on just a little longer; it was the year of the most concerts, shows, events for me thus far. But all good things must end. Now I'm just hoping that 2012 will be able to compare...

Maybe I should've posted the following just before last year (weird to say that isn't it?) was over, but I decided to postpone, so that I could also put up a portion of Sonic's annual year-in-review songlist created by Rick Lee.

We'll start with mine:

What are you doing New Year's Eve?

Zooey Deschanel, the dark haired actress that everyone is smitten with, has been growing as a recording artist for a while now, especially with her duo She & Him. This has nothing to do with She & Him.

Zooey recently recording a song, "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" with co-star (in the backwards love-story, 500 Days of Summer) Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I'm a huge fan of JGL, ever since his 3rd Rock from the Sun days, but I, for one, had no idea that JGL could sing  (it seems like everyone can at least try their luck at it nowadays). I'll be honest, being at work right now with a flash player that willl never work, I haven't heard the song just yet. So really, I wanted you to hear this first (sure...there are people around the world who could hear it too, but let's not think about them).

Enjoy!

Michael Rault says goodbye to Edmonton

Yes, it's been said before, doesn't make the news any better though: Michael Rault will be leaving Edmonton for the French pastures of Montreal, along with his sister, this coming January. His last show will be at the ARTery this Saturday (a New Year's plan for those late planners and procrastinators). Sandra Sperounes wrote this article in the Edmonton Journal just minutes ago, and maybe Rault is right: "Maybe you have to go away for awhile to build up the mystique about you.” Only time will tell.

Sheepdogs...well..I Don't Know

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be able to go to Sonic for one of their intermittent "Sonic Sessions", where a band, usually playing a venue later on that night, will come and perform in their "Listener Lounge" for about 40 audience members. The room is tight, the fans are eager, and the band usually sounds great for such a small space.

This time, however, the buzz band, the Sheepdogs, had no notes, riffs, or raspy vocals for us to enjoy. Not quite clear exactly why the band, out of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was not able to play (something to do with "all the promotion around the night's show....they weren't allowed to play prior...or something to that effect), but it was disappointing, to say the least. I'm not sure about other people who attended, but I was there since I didn't get tickets to their sold-out show at the Starlite Room later on that evening. I was there to hear them play. Sure, they signed the free EP vinyl that they gave away (named "Five Easy Pieces"), and sure they did a longer than normal interview with one of the DJ personalities that regularly hosts the Sonic Sessions. But really, for an up and coming band, no matter how talked about they are, it was not the best first impression. Tons of major bands and artists have played in the lounge before, and yes, I know they're restricted by their record label, but doesn't mean that it doesn't irk me (for lack of a more appropriate word). I hope this really was the fault of the label, and has nothing to do with a stereotypical "Rock Star" status that tends to appear when a new band reaches fame so quickly.