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    So. I took in Osheaga on Saturday, in theory it was a working trip..but really..I went for The National, because well, they are IT. However, I did get to see this little band called Arcade Fire (freakin brilliant show). Saw Beach House (went on a half hour late, so I did miss the last bit, but they were everything I'd hoped for). Had my mind blown though by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Had never even heard of them, but now I can't stop playing their disc.

Anyway, I digress. The point of this little write up is to share with you that we at Lysten have modified somewhat our festival plans (thank you Osheaga). Instead of three stages, we're going with two. Instead of three days, we want two (seems three IS NOT the magic number). Why? For you the fans. We don't want to offer you some diluted festival. We want to offer a quality event loaded with emerging talent.

So, it a funny thing happened on my way to global dominance (with respect to running a music website). I got a job. It has really, really cut into my time and energy and all of a sudden, it's been 6 months since I even wrote a lousy blog piece.

An even funnier thing happens when a guy who does trade shows, specializing in Lawn/Garden and a guy who knows a fair bit, but cares even more about, music have a beer. They decide they ought to throw a music festival together. In two months. How much experience do they have? They went to Bluesfest. Once. Separately. That should count for something. Right?

So my old high school buddy Steve and I recruit Jeff, my Lysten partner (you all know him right?) to run the technical side of this, because well...he's on Facebook, so he knows things. Right?

Collectively we decide we ought to have someone with a little experience on our side, and we recruit Chris White of Ottawa FolkFest fame. He knows stuff right? Sure does.

Just a quick note to inform you all that The National's new album "High Violet" is streaming on NPR until its release on May 11th.

So, head on over there and check it out as often as you wish ... I know I will be ...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126220062

Olympics are over. No more crap commercials that make me want to rip off me ears and poke in my eyes. I've always been very proud to be Canadian, but these last two weeks have really been incredible, even from a music perspective. VanOc and whomever else was involved seems to have done a killer job highlighting so much Canadian music. It was a real treat to see Hey Rosetta! live on CTV one morning doing an acoustic set.

Anyway..back to the thing I do where I talk about whatever I want musically...I just wanted to highlight a few things that have impressed me of late;

I'm From Barcelona - 27 tracks by 27 different members of this Swedish group. Check it out on their website (www.imfrombarcelona.com)

My Son The Hurricane - An 11 piece funk band from Toronto (check em on myspace)

Rain Machine - A side project from the lads in TV On The Radio

Joanna Newsom - a 3 disc masterpiece, much more accessible then her previous recordings

Check em out, let me know what you think.

C

So. Here I sit, burning from an Olympic fever, feeling little regret for not getting all worked up about it. Meh. I've prefered to write and listen to some new music, not that watcing people attempt to leap to their death isn't appealing. I digress however...

Hope you've checked out the (small albeit brilliant) article on Swedish band The Radio Dept. I just finished a "review" of the Sadie Hell album, I'll post that tomorrow. I know now why I don't like to do reviews. They're too damn small to make for good reading. Anyways. Not the size that matters.

I know I keep promising to redo the playlist. I don't know if it'll happen tomorrow or not, but Sunday for sure. I have a couple more "review" articles to write...so stick with us as I get this stuff up...the plus to my doing this slowly is that there's always reason to come back right?

Until then...?

C

So, after some thinking, I've decided to tinker with a brief departure from what this site has typically done. I've always avoided engaging in "reviewing" an artists work. Firstly, it's incredibly subjective, what I like, maybe isn't for all, and vice versa. Secondly, I have a difficult time, sitting in judgement of someone else's work, especially those who have a skill that I would love to have, but in truth have no gift for. There's also what I refer to as the "Homer effect", as I had no desire to stand at a pulpit and extol the virtues of my hometown talent. That one didn't work out all that well actually. It turns out there was/is a ridiculous amount of talented individuals in this city, so I'm still at my pulpit.

Listened to the Sadie Hell album over this past weekend. It's fantastic. Once I get my hands on a copy, I'll write more about, but suffice to say, I was very impressed. I, like everyone else in this city has heard and read the (very) positive reviews garnered for the band, but I've always tried to avoid the "Homer" syndrome (blindly and eagerly championing anything local, because it's, well..local). Now, I got to pass judgement myself and was pleased to be able to have done so. Those that know me know how I feel about My Dad vs. Yours (the cream of the Ottawa crop), well welcome Sadie Hell to that illustrious company.

The album is available at Endhits, Compact Music, Birdman Sound, Vertigo Records and at Planet of Sound. Buy it up eh!

I plan to meet with the man behind Sadie Hell, Mr Ben Welland, soon. Watch for the story that evolves out of convo soon. Hopefully he'll allow us here at Lysten to run a track or two on the playlist.

Cheers,

Chris

p.s. The poster used for the Sadie Hell cd release? Brilliant. I need to remember to ask who did that up.

"Courtesy" of CBC.ca it's a pretty good list, with links to videos. Enjoy

Illustration by Jillian Tamaki

Our musical tastes are highly subjective. What sound like chaotic bloops, squawks and skronks to one person might constitute brilliant free jazz to another; a metalhead’s awesome blistering riffs might strike a classical music aficionado as horrid unfocused noise. So as a rule, attempting to decide on the year’s finest albums is often akin to trying to herd a bunch of cats.

But somehow, when it came time to determine 2009’s best albums here at CBC News, we were surprised by how many overlaps appeared on our individual lists. (For the record, the listmakers were Arts feature writers Greig Dymond, Lee Ferguson, Andre Mayer and Sarah Liss.) Admittedly, each contributor made sacrifices in the interest of reaching consensus, but by and large, it was relatively easy to agree on a collective Top 10 list. Don't agree with our picks? Let us know in the comments below, or have your say in the Your View section.

Well, it's been a LONG time. I can go on and on with apologies, or I can pretend like it never happened and type away. I prefer the second option. You'll notice today that've put up part one of my year in review. Part two should find itself on here later today or tomorrow...part three...um..well, let's not get carried away. I'd also like to get some music from the lists up, for everyone to hear. That's coming..by the weekend perhaps.

Congrats to our friend Kirk "Giant Hand" Ramsey for becoming a cover model (http://www.ottawamagazine.com/editorial.html). Don't forget us when you are rich and famous! Also congrats to Ming and Apt 613 for their nominations as Blog of the Years. Well done lads. I also saw where I (heart) Music got a shout out from Young Galaxy. Well done.

This past year saw a number of Ottawa artists release CDs, all to tremendous receptions. I hope to see and be a apart of more of that in 2010.

For bands that want to participate with the site, please contact me. I've learned that this is too big a job for just two people. We just can't be everywhere we want.

Peace to you all,

Chris

The Polaris short list is being released this morning at 11 am EST. But, if you are reading this, you probably are already aware of this and I've just made myself redundant. I don’t care, though. The great thing about the Polaris is that it is the first award that represents the true music talent in our beautiful country. (For a great read on the music award scene in Canada, check out Chris' article here). Because of this, it is finally something us music geeks (read: lovers) can get excited about and discuss ad nauseum.

So, of course I have to put my opinion out for discussion. Please, though, keep in mind I—despite my most valiant of efforts—was unable to purchase and listen to all 40 long list nominees. So, take it easy on my predictions for the short list. I guess they're not really predictions, but more what I think should make the cut, based on what I have heard.

In no particular order:

Chad VanGaalen, Soft Airplane

Junior Boys, Begone Dull Care

Wolf Parade, At Mount Zoomer

Pink Mountaintops, Outside Love

Bell Orchestre, As Seen Through Windows

Hey Rosetta!, Into Your Lungs

Land of Talk, Some Are Lakes