Mixtape: A Change in Wind

First off, I'd just like to apologise for the blatent lack of updates these past two weeks. All three of us are insanely busy with school and other various things, but that'll be over quite soon. But we do have something you can look forward to - a review of The Constantine's show in Calgary last weekend! Both Ju and Phil were there, so one of them will get around to reviewing it. Also, Phil said something about The Thurston Revival - we've got a lot to look forward to! As well, there's an extra mixtape coming up - there will be one next sunday in addition to the one every two week schedual I've got going on right now.

Now, to the mixtape. I did promise something a little more upbeat this time; however, I apparently lied. This is not upbeat. This is not happy. There's hope in it, but there's also pain. Yes, I'm being a little bit melodramatic. It's allowed.

A Change In Wind
May 28/06
All songs in mp3 format, unless otherwise noted.
Theme: Hopefulness within despair
Zip: Right here.

01. City and Colour - This Sudden Injury
["and she waits, my love, my love falls away"]
02. Regina Spector - Somedays [m4a]
["somedays, I'll endure it all"]
03. The Album Leaf - Last Time Here
04. Jason Mraz - You Make Me High
["and I don't wish to know my ending"]
05. Ani DiFranco - Out of Habit
["that I'm living for something I can't even define"]
06. Anna Nalick - Catalyst
["part of this terrible mess that you're making"]
07. Azure Ray - Displaced
["if I can just hold on tonight"]
08. Broken Social Scene - Superconnected *
["and you want to believe it"]
09. Fiona Apple - Oh Well
["what wasted unconditional love on someone who doesn't believe in the stuff"]
10. Beth Orton - This One's Gonna Bruise
["did you even notice how the wind, it didn't change that much"]
11. Stars - Tonight
["come around and say you love me - please, let's make it work tonight"]

* This is a live version of the song, recorded from the KRCW performance

Mixtape: Sleepwalking Ballad

Here we go with mixtape number two, this time inspired by something we all must do (even if I personally don't do enough of it) - sleeping.

And yes, it is just a rather amusing coincidence that all the songs have the word 'sleep' in the title. Once I noticed that trend, I removed the two songs without it, so that they wouldn't feel lonely.

This is another kind of light feeling mixtape - the next one will be a bit more fun, I promise.

Comments and suggestions for mixtapes are always very welcome; and enjoy!

Sleepwalking Ballad
May 15, 2006
Theme: sleep
Format: all in mp3

01. Ben Lee - Sleepwalking
02. Apostle of Hustle - Sleepwalking Ballad
03. Aloha - Don't Sleep
04. Smashing Pumpkins - In the Arms of Sleep
05. The Flaming Lips - Sleeping on the Roof
06. Rilo Kiley - We'll Never Sleep (God Knows We'll Try)
07. Azure Ray - Sleep
08. City and Colour - The Sleeping Sickness
09. New Buffalo - Time to Go to Sleep
10. Ane Brun - Sleeping by the Fryis River
11. Stars - Sleep Tonight

ZIP FILE: all the songs, and the pretty little artwork too.

Live: Frog Eyes and Sunset Rubdown

Well, there seems to be no help for it.

Despite procrastination, heavy sighing, and the occasional tearful refusal (as well as a feigned case of lysdexia), I am finally getting around to writing the live review for the two bands I saw play Broken City on tuesday: Frog Eyes and Sunset Rubdown.

Not that I didn't totally enjoy myself (more on that later). However, I am possibly the world's number one believer in the way of the slacker. ...Or at least, the version where you slack off for most of the time, then frantically try to finish everything on time (and WELL), all while berating life in general at top volume.

It's an art. XD

Anyways, the setting for our little tale was this smoky little dive bar known to the local musician set affectionately by the moniker "Broken Shitty". (hahah, aren't we witty) But really, I probably inhaled enough secondhand smoke to put me forward to the "two packs a day for ten years" mark of lung disease.

The reward for my martyrdom, however, was definitely worth it. First, Sunset Rubdown (Spencer Krug, of Wolf Parade fame, in an increasingly recognition-winning side project) took the stage. Or rather, "the boxed in, designated area of the bar floor". Whatever. The fact remains that even though this four-piece didn't talk overly-much with the audience, or swan-dive into their drumkit, they have this certain desperate edge to their performance that is both incredible and immediate to watch. Spencer Krug's emulation of a music-enduced epilleptic seizure while playing...just about any of his parts, really, is as visually arresting as any stage gimmick adopted by less genuinely-eccentric bands. Even his few statements made to the audience had this genuine, naive edge that's both endearing and funny. Lastly, the presence of, like, half his family in the audience lent the gig a feeling akin to a music recital, rather than a steriotypical show. Only, like, the coolest, most intense recital you've ever been to, where the little kid lights the priceless Gershwin instrument on fire at the end. Yeah.

Frog Eyes were more of the same kind of desperate stagemanship that makes you worry about whether the artists are just performing, or REALLY having a heart attack onstage. Krug played keyboards for them, leading me to learn that he had, at one time, been in the band, before forming Wolf Parade.

That's one mystery solved. >.>

So, wicked show overall. The wierdest thing, though, was probably the way that it didn't feel like any other show I've ever been to...part crazed recital, part bar show, part worrying about the mainstream accessibility of the music (my dad was in the audience...THAT's a new one. >.>). So, definitely worth the $10 I paid for tickets. And yes, I would (and probably will) do it all again.

Even the lunge disease part.


*EDIT* On the suggestion of teh Philip, here's an mp3 each, from the bands, for your listening pleasure. ^^

Sunset Rubdown - They Took A Vote And Said No

Frog Eyes - Sound Travels From The Snow to the Dark

Artist Profile: Do Make Say Think

First off, I'd like to apologize for WHYH glaring lack of posts this past week. I have especially been neglecting to update, but you will have to forgive us. It is just a busy time of the month for all of us here at We Hate Your Hate. Now, on to the profile...

Do Make Say Think is/was a Toronto band that has been described as everything from jazz, to electronica, to rock. They combine jazz style drums with electronic beats, all sorts of instruments and distorted guitars. Do Make Say Think was originally formed around 1995-1996 and have released four full length albums to date. At last count, the band consisted of five main members; Ohad Benchetrit, David Mitchell, James Payment, Justin Small and Charles Spearin.

The reason that I say that they are/where a Toronto band, is because, although the band never actually broke up, most of its members are involved almost completely in other projects. DMST's last album came out three years ago, in 2003, so it is possible that another album may be released, but to me it does not seem very likely. Charles Spearin and Ohad Benchetrit are involved heavily with Broken Social Scene.

However, even though this band may never come back, they do have four excellent albums and it is truly a shame that this band was never very big. If you are a fan of Explosions in the sky, then Do Make Say Think is definitely something you will want to look in to.

End of Music
Reitschule
War On Want
Auberge Le Mouton Noir (Recomended)

There is another Do Make Say Think song on the WHYH's Spring Mix Tape.

Bootleg: Radiohead Koko 01/05/06

So, is there anyone not excited for the new Radiohead album, coming out sometime in 2007? No? Didn't think so. May 1st marked the Koko gig; Thom and Jonny "acoustically" playing some material for a Friends of the Earth benefit for their the Big Ask campaign.

The bootleggers have pulled through; various snippets of video are available on YouTube, as well as a full audio version has surfaced. Jonny and Thom shine in this acoustic setting, in which they perform three new songs - Arpeggi (which we heard earlier in a full orchestral version), Bodysnatchers, and Cymbal Rush.

So, while listening to this lovely set, be sure to check out Friends of the Earth, and what the purpose of this concert was for.

All in mp3 format; I have no idea who the bootlegger was, but, much thanks to them.
Radiohead: Live at Koko, London May 1/06
01. Intro
02. Karma Police
03. There There
04. Arpeggi
05. Fake Plastic Trees
06. Bodysnatchers
07. Pyramid Song
08. How To Disappear Completely
09. No Surprises
10. Cymbal Rush
11. I Might Be Wrong
12. Street Spirit (Fade Out)
13. Gagging Order
14. Paranoid Android

Enjoy! (And if any of the links don't work, let me know and I'll fix them straight up.)

Flashback [May] - The Wipers

The Wipers - Portland, Oregon

The Wipers are the band who can be said to have invented 90's Seattle Rock in 1970's Portland. With brooding lyrics, wicked guitar melodies, and the incredible visionary who is Greg Sage fronting them, the band should be honoured with the likes of Iggy and the Stooges, and Black Flag.

Unfortunately, despite namechecks by individuals like Kurt Cobain and Thurston Moore, The Wipers still remain a band floating on the edge of obscurity. Even though Greg Sage is the very model of what indie music listeners look for in their "heroes" (more on that later), you would be hard-pressed to find someone under the age of thirty-five who has even heard of the band, let alone understands their impact on punk/post-punk/indie rock music in this day and age.

It seems a trifle unjust, really. Despite Greg Sage being one of the most sincere artists ever to record, never having done ANYTHING even remotely resembling "selling out", having battled through ugly legal situations to reclaim his "children" (his early albums) from indifference and ignorance at the hands of larger music distributors, and making excellent music for over twenty years, the man still languishes in somewhat-obscurity. And even though he probably likes it that way (he has, after all, always remained true to the artistic vision set out from the beginning, and avoided any actions that might bring him more mainstream success), none of us can help but wish that The Wipers would finally get the credit they deserve.

But...I'll stop rambling. All you really need to know is that these guys ROCKED.

If you want to check out the band more completely than the random mp3's down below, or grab the first three albums (come in a nifty-as-hell Boxed Set available for $17.00 if you get it from them directly), head on over to their official site at Zenorecords. Yes, the band is THAT DIY: they actually run their own official site, without external interference. XD

Now, to the files...these are all from the Wipers Boxed Set.
The Wipers - Over the Edge
The Wipers - Mystery
The Wipers - Doom Town
The Wipers - D-7
The Wipers - The Lonely One

And this one can be found on their "Best Of" album.
The Wipers - Better Off Dead

Flashback - Intro

Hey all!^^ This is Mariella, commonly called Ju, doing my first entry for WHYH...watch the magic, people.

Or run for the hills. >.> Either works.

Anyways, I've joined with Philip and Sheez in order to cover the oft-neglected side of alternative music: the obscure classics. Thus, enter Flashbacks: what we hope to accomplish in these is to spread the word about music that doesn't get nearly enough credit, or has unjustly been ignored/forgotten by people at large. You probably won't get too much in the way of news, considering that most of these bands broke up before most of us could pronounce the word "Alternative" without lisping the 'l's...but expect some boss tracks and record rec's.

So, listen to Sub-Pop's excellent point and pay attention, kids...here we go!