In A Moment

Ray Davies @ HMV(333 Yonge St., Toronto), February 22, 2008

I could throw around statements like 'The Kinks made an indelible mark on pop music' and 'Ray Davies is one of the greatest songwriters of our generation' but honestly and ashamedly I'm not that familiar with Ray and The Kinks aside from some of their singles and via covers of their songs by other artists. I would assume more that a few Kinks albums would be found in any good record collection(I could only imagine the entire Kinks discography might be found in that music collection that sold on eBay for 3 million dollars recently). My sole Kinks album is a budget CD compilation I picked up at Walmart a few years back - actually, at 20 songs and a good selection of tunes at that, it's a great compilation. With that sort of casual familiarity I still know a good thing when I hear it. Isn't "Waterloo Sunset" one of the most heart-achingly beautiful songs you've ever heard?

Even with the lack of publicity for Ray Davies' instore at HMV in downtown Toronto last week it was a surprisingly crowded audience, with a good contingent of his older fans there mixed in with younger fans. The performace took place at the top of the stairs that led up to the second floor of the store. And it was on those stairs that finally Ray and a guitarist made their way to the second floor as they were introduced to a throng of applause. Jokingly, Ray said maybe he should have made an entrance with some smoke and effects but it wasn't in the budget.

Unfortunately no photo evidence of the instore from myself as at the time I was forced to accept my defeat for not showing up early enough to get a better spot. As brief as the set was, it turned out to be as uplifting as any other show I've seen in a while. I'm just happy that I got to hear Mr. Davies live and in person in such an intimate setting. Rolling out tunes from his most recent solo effort "Workman's Cafe" he performed "Vietnam Cowboys", the title track and a third song which were as effective as anything I've heard from him. He ended off with The Kinks' "Lola"(complete with chorus singalong and handclaps from the dedicated) although I'm pretty sure I recalled he said he'd play a COUPLE of Kinks tunes but whatever.

For more reviews/photos from the instore check out Thick Specs, Chromewaves, and It's Not The Band I Hate...

Video: Ray Davies - "Lola" (clip - live at HMV 333 Yonge St. Toronto - Feb 22, 2008)
Video: Ray Davies - "In A Moment" (live on Letterman show - Feb 19, 2008)
Video: Ray Davies - "Working Man's Cafe" (live on Regis and Kelly show - Feb 20, 2008)
MySpace: Ray Davies
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Congratulations to Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova for winning yesterday an Academy Award for Best Original Song In A Movie for their song "Falling Slowly" which appeared in the film "Once" . By this time, I must be the last person to have not seen the film yet but I hope to get around to it sooner or later. The song is lovely. Interesting observation from The Rich Girls Are Weeping about yesterday's Academy Awards - to quote the Girls, "It was kind of the weirdest, most "indie" Oscars ever, what with Tilda Swinton's win (woo!) and the Coen brothers cleaning up and Diablo Cody (née Brooke Busey-Hunt, which is a name with infinitely more caché) not wearing hosiery in front of millions of people." Yeah, it was that kind of Oscars - it's a shame I haven't seen most of the films nominated other than "I'm Not There" for which Cate Blanchett didn't win the Best Supporting Actress award for. But back to Glen and Marketa - wasn't it nice of host Jon Stewart to give some time to Marketa to say her thank-you's. Relive their moments below:

Video: Glen Hansard/Marketa Irglova - Falling Slowly (OSCARS 2008)
Video: Glen Hansard/Marketa Irglova - Oscar acceptance speeches

Jam Showbiz reviews The Cowboy Junkies' 20th Anniversary Trinity Sessions' show at Massey Hall that took place over the weekend. Ben Rayner of The Toronto Star also reviews the show. The show was taped by CBC Radio 2 and will be aired on May 11/08.

Via Kat at Muchmusic, Radiohead is apparently coming to Toronto on August 15 for a show at Molson Ampitheatre. I have no reason not to believe her but I guess we'll have to wait and see. A mid-August outdoor show would be perfect though; I'd even be happy with lawn seating.

Pre-order Madness

The Cowboy Junkies' new album "At The End Of Paths Taken" is officially released April 17 in North American(April 9 the rest of the world) and you can currently pre-order it over at Maple Music - every preorder will receive a link to download exclusive Cowboy Junkies demos from this recording.

MySpace: Cowboy Junkies

Wilco's new album "Sky Blue Sky" has it's official North American release on May 15 through Nonesuch Records but the definition of 'pre-order madness' can definitely be seen here where you can pre-order the new album with a bunch of different goodies(vinyl, t-shirts, tote bags, multimedia downloads, etc) in a variety of different combinations.

MySpace: Wilco

And was anyone else disappointed with The Arcade Fire "Neon Bible" preorder through Merge Records which had only come with a poster and a sticker(which I believe was indicated on the website at the time), although if I remember correctly the Merge website had alluded to the possibility of other additional goodies which never materialized?

'Cause Cheap Is How I Feel

I used to love Cowboy Junkies. Their succession of 3 albums, from 1987's "The Trinity Session", to 1990's "The Caution Horses" and 1992's "Black Eyed Man" came at a time that really opened me up for the first time to country music. Of course they never were a 'country' band but their forays into country music were definitely an influence on some of my alt-country/Americana musical tastes I subsequently developed. However with each passing album after "Black Eyed Man" I'd grown disinterested for one reason or another, none of which had to do with the Cowboy Junkies' music which was still some of the best music to come out of Canada at the time. Still through the 90's and into the new milleniun I continued to buy many of their albums but never devoting much time to them. Their show at the Ontario Place Forum(July 25, 1989) was one of my fondest early concert memories. Since 1989 I have yet to see the Cowboy Junkies live. However, I do make a vow that the next time they come back home to Toronto to perform, I will definitely go no matter what the cost. A not so little part of my renewed interest has to do with this year being the 20th anniversary of their landmark album "The Trinity Session". Chartattack reports that there are plans to commemmorate the 20th anniversary of the album and as CBC.ca reported back in October 2006 the Junkies have plans to return this year to the 'scene of the crime', the Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto(located in the courtyard just behind the Eaton Centre) for the occassion. Not to dwell on the past only, Chartattack mentions that the Cowboy Junkies just completed recording a new 11-track album entitled "At The End Of Paths Taken" which will be released in North America on April 17 and internationally a week earlier. Chartattack also mentions that the band filmed performances at Toronto's Church of the Holy Trinity this past November with guests Natalie Merchant, Ryan Adams and Vic Chesnutt which I'm assuming is for some sort of DVD release in the future.

Torontonians will probably have to wait until after May for any local live dates from the band since they're fairly booked up until then with European/US dates and I don't anticipate them adding any Canadian dates at this time. I say a summer date would be great and an outdoor show on a warm summer night would be awesome.

MySpace: Cowboy Junkies

YouTube: Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane (music video)
YouTube: Cowboy Junkies - Misguided Angel (music video)
YouTube: Cowboy Junkies - Sun Comes Up, It's Tuesday Morning (music video)
YouTube: Cowboy Junkies - Angel Mine (music video)
YouTube: Cowboy Junkies - A Common Disaster (music video)
YouTube: Cowboy Junkies - I'm So Open (music video)

Torrent: Cowboy Junkies - live at The Spitz, London on 2007-01-29 (registration required)
Torrent: Cowboy Junkies - live at Teatro Ciak, Milan, Italy, 1990-04-12 (registration required)