Hello friends...
It sure is funny, this crazy blue marble we live on, huh?
One minute, you're 10-feet tall and bullet-proof. Next minute, you're pissed off at the world and thinking more about how life sucks instead of about how fabulous it is.
It's been a wacky week. First, my dad gets sick. Really sick. Secondly, my career as a mediocre radio contributor has been resserected.
Firstly, my dad is resting comfortably at a hospital in Ottawa. His spirits are up and his family is spending lots of time cracking jokes at the foot of his bed. I am not sure whether the nurses and other hospital staff read Regina Riffing, but I apologize for anything me and my brothers might have said during our visits there. One of us might have propositioned the nice lady who came to hook up the TV in his hospital room, so that requires an extra sincere apology.
This week sucked, but all was not lost. This is the week Regina Riffing hit the airwaves.
A few weeks back when I was listening to Evan Baran's Grindhouse, I felt especially melancholy about the hours and hours I spent listening to metal shows on radio stations in Montreal and Ottawa when I was in my teens.
The Wolf's Grindhouse is Saskatchewan's only radio show dedicated to heavy metal. And it's a great show. Honest. I am officially a fan of radio in all of its incarnations -- radio is great, even though I like to complain about stations appealing to the masses at the risk of watering themselves down -- so contributing to it seemed like a natural to me.
I listen to the radio a lot. I listen to CJME sometimes, and to CBC. But when I need some music, then I listen to the Wolf. And since Grindhouse started, it's been my favourite thing on Regina radio.
Back before Christmas, I thought about my days as host of "Matte on Metal," an hour-long radio show I did on CKDJ, a show that aired on Friday nights at the rarely-listened-to radio station at Algonquin College in Ottawa. I chatted about metal and played the best of what the station had to offer. I remember fondly spinning old Saxon and Queensryche while inviting friends in for guest spots to read the news or ramble on about the latest Triumph concert.
Nobody listened, but I was ok with it.
It wasn't much different than when I was in elementary school. I would put a casette player up to a record player and play song after song, filling the time it took to change records to "rap" like a DJ. Then I'd play back my "show" when I went to bed at night.
Fast forward a few years -- I was flattered that Baran invited me to contribute to his show. We tossed some ideas back and forth, and we thought that a weekly update on metal was in order. It gives me a new voice in Regina, and gives the show an added element. I promise not to take up too much time -- the music and Baran are the reasons we all listen -- but I hope to improve on Friday night's debut.
I chatted a little about metal's history and introduced the song "Stone Cold Crazy" by Queen. It was loads of fun. But I need to get better. And I shall. I will research more and I'll work on my delivery -- on Friday's show, I sounded like a drunk person who had consumed a gallon of Nyquil.
I thank Evan for the opportunity and guidance.
I'm also happy that my bosses at the Leader-Post didn't object when I told them about my new radio gig.
But Evan deserves the biggest kudos for coming up with a name for my "bit."
Matte's Metal Minute is a quality name. I promise to work hard at living up to it.
So one other thing is happening this week - just as I did when I was in Grade 8, I put a tape recorder near a speaker and recorded Friday's show. I'll play it back for my dad tomorrow.
To me, the Wolf does, indeed, rock.
A.M.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Junos misplaced
The fabulous fellas from Nickelback have taken their lumps over the years from critics who complain about how their cheesy sound, grand melodies and in-the-box approach to rock has watered down an otherwise wonderful genre.
The dudes are talented. And they can rock. But the trouble is that they always seem to apply a musical cookie-cutter to their sound, a tool they stumbled on when lovable Chad Kroeger first put pen to paper, and pick to string. Gooey lyrics about loneliness and oral sex ooze over pop-metal have made them millions and spawned what has become a yawn-inducing genre of Canadian cheese rock. They aren’t doing anything different than what Bad Company did in 1973 or what Foreigner did in 1984, other than contemporize the sound and add a nice thick layer of camembert.
In fact, the state of Canadian rock is at its worst right now, and least inventive. So many bands are trying to follow Nickelback’s fan-friendly, mediocre rock — hello Staind, Creed, Three Days Grace, Seether and Theory of a Deadman. Aside for the odd exception, listening to Regina radio is a frustrating pursuit for anyone who prefers quality over what’s popular. There’s nothing evil, however, about wanting to hear what’s hip.
That being said, we can all appreciate anyone who manages to sell tickets, CDs and other merchandise regardless of how they approach the music. The marketplace dictate matters of commercial success. And there’s nothing wrong with that. If you adore Nickelback, then God bless you. We can also agree that music quality doesn’t exactly guarantee commercial success. Talent often takes a back seat to marketing, which obviously plays a huge role in all of this — hello Girlicious, Jonas Brothers and anyone who’s appeared on an Idol show.
There are lots of bands that aren’t exactly known for uniqueness but take special places in my music collection. But I also don’t expect them to be nominated for a Juno. I’d be stunned if Toronto’s Piledriver was nominated for a Juno, but they’re still my favourite band this week.
Presumably, a Juno award is given to an artist who produces music of exceptional quality. And with today’s announcement that Nickelback is nominated for a bunch of them, it appears whoever decides this Juno award stuff is just as vulnerable to advertising and peer pressure as those who buy tickets to see the Pussycat Dolls or Miley Cyrus.
Nickelback was nominated for Album of the Year, Single of the Year for “Gotta Be Somebody,” and Group of the Year. How they missed out on a Rock Album of the Year, I really don’t get, assuming the judges follow their own rules.
The only Nickelback nomination I can see fly is the one they received for fan choice award.
The reality is that there are so many Canadian artists who produce award-worthy music but didn’t catch the interest of the Juno people. They missed out on an opportunity to shine a light on singers and bands who don’t already sell CDs and concert tickets like Nickelback does.
Maybe the Juno people didn’t read the latest issue of SPIN Magazine, which gave a nod to Library Voices, a band from Regina that’s quickly winning fans and praise from critics. Their album Hunting Ghosts & Other Collected Shorts is a much better album that Nickelback’s Dark Horse, in my view anyway. I wasn’t asked for my opinion, but my vote would have gotten lost among all the Nickelback ballots.
What about Ontario’s Great Lake Swimmers? Other bands whose music is more Juno-worthy include The Dears, Final Fantasy, The Stills, Plants and Animals and Destroyer.
Thankfully, some envelope-pushing Canadian artists caught the eye of the Juno people, including Feist, Kardinal Offishall, Sarah Slean, Cancer Bats, Serena Ryder, Dallas Green, The Trews, Tokyo Police Club, Kathleen Edwards and Lights.
It seems to me that if bands worthy of a Juno are only those who sell the most CDs, then we really don’t need an awards show — or the expense. It makes more sense to give all the money to school music programs and mail the statues to the best-selling acts.
And on the night of the Junos is supposed to air, we can prepare for our own nod to high quality Canadian music and listen to Joel Plaskett, Rush, Gordon Lightfoot, Diana Krall, Jason Plumb and many, many others.
The dudes are talented. And they can rock. But the trouble is that they always seem to apply a musical cookie-cutter to their sound, a tool they stumbled on when lovable Chad Kroeger first put pen to paper, and pick to string. Gooey lyrics about loneliness and oral sex ooze over pop-metal have made them millions and spawned what has become a yawn-inducing genre of Canadian cheese rock. They aren’t doing anything different than what Bad Company did in 1973 or what Foreigner did in 1984, other than contemporize the sound and add a nice thick layer of camembert.
In fact, the state of Canadian rock is at its worst right now, and least inventive. So many bands are trying to follow Nickelback’s fan-friendly, mediocre rock — hello Staind, Creed, Three Days Grace, Seether and Theory of a Deadman. Aside for the odd exception, listening to Regina radio is a frustrating pursuit for anyone who prefers quality over what’s popular. There’s nothing evil, however, about wanting to hear what’s hip.
That being said, we can all appreciate anyone who manages to sell tickets, CDs and other merchandise regardless of how they approach the music. The marketplace dictate matters of commercial success. And there’s nothing wrong with that. If you adore Nickelback, then God bless you. We can also agree that music quality doesn’t exactly guarantee commercial success. Talent often takes a back seat to marketing, which obviously plays a huge role in all of this — hello Girlicious, Jonas Brothers and anyone who’s appeared on an Idol show.
There are lots of bands that aren’t exactly known for uniqueness but take special places in my music collection. But I also don’t expect them to be nominated for a Juno. I’d be stunned if Toronto’s Piledriver was nominated for a Juno, but they’re still my favourite band this week.
Presumably, a Juno award is given to an artist who produces music of exceptional quality. And with today’s announcement that Nickelback is nominated for a bunch of them, it appears whoever decides this Juno award stuff is just as vulnerable to advertising and peer pressure as those who buy tickets to see the Pussycat Dolls or Miley Cyrus.
Nickelback was nominated for Album of the Year, Single of the Year for “Gotta Be Somebody,” and Group of the Year. How they missed out on a Rock Album of the Year, I really don’t get, assuming the judges follow their own rules.
The only Nickelback nomination I can see fly is the one they received for fan choice award.
The reality is that there are so many Canadian artists who produce award-worthy music but didn’t catch the interest of the Juno people. They missed out on an opportunity to shine a light on singers and bands who don’t already sell CDs and concert tickets like Nickelback does.
Maybe the Juno people didn’t read the latest issue of SPIN Magazine, which gave a nod to Library Voices, a band from Regina that’s quickly winning fans and praise from critics. Their album Hunting Ghosts & Other Collected Shorts is a much better album that Nickelback’s Dark Horse, in my view anyway. I wasn’t asked for my opinion, but my vote would have gotten lost among all the Nickelback ballots.
What about Ontario’s Great Lake Swimmers? Other bands whose music is more Juno-worthy include The Dears, Final Fantasy, The Stills, Plants and Animals and Destroyer.
Thankfully, some envelope-pushing Canadian artists caught the eye of the Juno people, including Feist, Kardinal Offishall, Sarah Slean, Cancer Bats, Serena Ryder, Dallas Green, The Trews, Tokyo Police Club, Kathleen Edwards and Lights.
It seems to me that if bands worthy of a Juno are only those who sell the most CDs, then we really don’t need an awards show — or the expense. It makes more sense to give all the money to school music programs and mail the statues to the best-selling acts.
And on the night of the Junos is supposed to air, we can prepare for our own nod to high quality Canadian music and listen to Joel Plaskett, Rush, Gordon Lightfoot, Diana Krall, Jason Plumb and many, many others.
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