AWmusic

Sebastien Grainger explores (and struggles) to find his niche on this album. It’s a bit all over the place with dance songs like Renegade Silence with a noise/punk track in Niagara. The weakness to the album is pretty straightforward; there are a ton of highs but a ton of lows on this album and it’s all mushed together. As an album it’s not as strong as I would hope but Grainger is definitely very talented perhaps even more talented then Keeler (but obviously not as popular).

I also don’t understand inexplicably putting on the live version of I’m All A Rage instead of the studio version. The live version could’ve suited as a bonus track and I’m itching for a studio version because I dig the original version.

The potential that Sebastien Grainger has in my opinion and he might be able to find that magic on future releases. For now, he has a record is doesn’t show a season veteran. Either things don’t have enough meat on the bones or you wish he wouldn’t try some things. You can’t fault him too much for trying. An enjoyable album at the very least.

Rating: 3.25 out of 5
I’m All the Rage (live) by Sebastien Grainger and The Mountains
American Names by Sebastien Grainger and The Mountains

It got rave reviews but otherwise a lot of people weren’t too excited to see it. I went to see it as my friend leaves town for university (boo school is starting already). Anyway the movie itself isn’t what you expect it, at least the concept is given away with the trailers adding an increased level of hilarity.

The movie does have stupid humor but it pulls it off well though it is very offensive. I heard quite a lot about CNN saying something about the racial matter of this movie which there is none. However it is quite offensive towards the mental challenged or “retards – such as Ben Stiller’s character Tugg Speedman in the fake film “Simple Jack”. Now I must say I laughed but it crossed the line… if there is one downside to the film, it’s that.

Tom Cruise’s role in the film is downright hilarious. I hadn’t known he was in the film as he didn’t do any of the promotion and my friend didn’t even notice him in the film. He pulls off the fat, balding movie executive. You don’t really know it’s him unless you notice his eyes even then I still had my doubts until the final credits were rolling.

Pineapple Express was admittedly not as good as this film by a big margin as this movie actually had you laughing out loud, whether or not you tried to hold it in during those offensive moments. That’s the real importance of it, it makes you laugh hysterically without being too ridiculous. The concept of the movie saves it from being just your average comedy.

Rating: 4.25/5

As for the soundtrack, it was a very mainstream soundtrack and I guess it wasn’t too bad, the use of Flo Rida’s Low was hilarious but I’m too lazy to download that track. Click for the soundtrack here.

The playlist is after the jump (I’m evil)
(more…)

We first went to the free concert, part of the Grey Cup festival. First off the stage was badly done with a 6-foot high dog-type fence which was like 5 feet back from the stage. The fence was constantly pushed forward (by the screaming 14-year olds) but who could blame them? It was a shitty fence and this is a thumbs down to the Grey Cup organizers.

The first band we saw was The Reason. An emo type band based on impressions, Kevin and I did not really like what we saw. Must suck to be an opening act to a free show though. IllScarlett was decent, I felt weird standing with 14-year old girls screaming and Kevin… I wasn’t much of a fan of them but I do admit that they have a pretty good bassist and guitarist. I don’t have any pictures due to the fence and I just didn’t bother. A pretty good band, a mainstream act that has some talent but being mainstream can really wreck some bands.

Sebastien Grainger -former singer/drummer of Death From Above 1979 walked in with what I would call it the Freddy Mercury look. I’m not a fan of tight white pants and I could barely recognize him and on a hunch (based on skill) figured he was from Death From Above. Kevin really dug this performance and I’ll have to agree. I was good shit with Grainger’s backing band showing energy with solos and awesome transitions (with the occasional chug of beer). Granger and his backing band were awesome despite the small crowd they drew (I guess people didn’t know who he was). The sound at Lee’s wasn’t too good but I think we should all look out for Grainger. He’ll be rocking some shows eventually. I didn’t specifically recognize any songs that stood out (most if not all songs were good) so here’s a random track I found online:
The Rhythm Method

The Stills had a packed crowd waiting for their arrival. They played a few old tracks while some people sang along and cheered. They really set up for nice photo opportunities. The Stills fresh off signing to Arts & Crafts, planned to play some new songs. They played at least 6 new tracks for us. It was really tough to sit through as they played the majority all in a row. Without anyone really knowing any the songs it was kind of a crowd killer. If you are a Stills fan then you should know that they had Tim Fletcher on vocals the majority of the time, a move I strongly agree with. However the new stuff seemed very experimental and more complex to what they would normally do. It relied less on vocals with louder bass and harder drumming and more complex guitar solos. I think this may be a disadvantage as The Stills relied on the simplicity to capture my brain. I’m not too sure what to think about the new stuff.. I’ll wait to hear it when it’s released in ‘08.

Here’s a track off Without Feathers (which is grower but I have neglected it) with Emily Haines of Metric
Baby Blues by the Stills

Click below to see various pics (you could find the rest on my facebook if you wish to add me):
(more…)