Bobbyisms.

“What the hell… I don’t remember sowing this…”

She calls me “Dad.”

Many of you probably already know this, but last Tuesday, the 20th, was my daughter Erica’s fourth birthday. I went to Chatham for the weekend to celebrate with her and her friends and family, and had a great time.

The party went off increibly well, due in every part to Mandy’s efforts - from the decorations, to the food served throughout the day, to baking an elaborate birthday cake (in the shape of a castle, pictured below), Mandy poured all of herself into making the party and the weekend an incredible success for Erica.

My personal favourite moment of the weekend was when I was trying to dance with Erica, trying to shake my body with her and teach her to as a joke, when instead she insisted I pick her up and dance with her in a more traditional way, holding hands and spinning around. She folded each of her tiny little fingers in between mine, and stole my heart all over again.

My baby is four now, and growing so much. What a world… what a fast, fast-moving world…

Loser anthems.

“In Defense Of The Genre” Say Anything. J-Records, 2007.

Say Anything - Spores

Max Bemis is an interesting sort of rock star - a true bedroom songwriter, he had established something of a fan base early on by writing songs and uploading them to various sites on the Internet, becoming something of an independent Internet music hero with youth across America. And then when he and high school friend and drummer Coby Linder began collaborating, the beginnings of Los Angeles-based Say Anything were born.

Fast forward a couple of years later to 2005, awhile after the bands’ debut album, …Is A Real Boy, had established itself as a rock success and scene favourite, despite its ironic wailings against the mainstream. Bemis, diagnosed as bi-polar in his youth, became enamoured by all the drugs and booze suddenly making themselves ever present. Combined with a rebellious decision to stop medicating for his illness, the next few years proved to be a horrible plunge into self-destruction, insanity, and near-death.

Despite efforts from former bandmates, family, and friends, Bemis would refuse medication and treatment for quite some time, until being arrested in New York. He was commited to preliminary treatment, and upon completion finally succumbed to his family and friends’ pressure to submit himself to treatment at the Menninger Clinic, a world-renowned psychiatric centre in Houston, Tx.

Having cleaned up, Bemis returned to his creative side and began work on a sophomore disc. He entered the studio in February in LA with producer Brad Wood (The Working Title, Stabilo), and worked a few months straight. Then, upon flying back to his new home of Brooklyn, went immediately back into the studio to record another record, this time working with his long-time idol Chris Conley (of Saves The Day). The result is In Defense Of The Genre, an appropriately ambitious album featuring 27 songs spread out over two discs.

And in case their was any concern, know that Bemis, Linder and the others have crafted an incredible album, featuring guest vocal performances by over 20 artists - contemporaries like Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, Hayley Williams of Paramore, to Chris Conley himself.

And in the spirit of songs of pain, lonliness, and drama (something of a theme on this blog of late), I submit the songs here and bulk of the record itself. I definitely recommend everyone look into the songs; with styles of music running the spectrum, coupled with Bemis’ flair for style and theatricality, there is definitely something here for everyone.

Top 5 songs: Spores, About Falling, An Insult To The Dead, That Is Why, Spay Me.
20% that I would cut (5 songs): The Church Channel, We Killed It, In Defense Of The Genre, Goodbye Young Tutor… You’ve Now Outgrown Me, Hangover Song.

On the Interweb: SayAnythingMusic.com, profiles on Myspace and Purevolume.

Shit.

Let the music heal.

In light of the slump I’ve been in recently, I’ve been listening to a lot of angsty and upbeat music. It helps sometimes, and I figured as a further therapeutic effort, I’d go ahead and share this with you. The concept, I admit, is a little primary, but I’m thinking along the lines of an Internet-style intervention.

So here are a few tunes I’ve been listening to a lot lately, in the first installment of a kind of loser anthems collection.

Kaddisfly - Heshvan: Clouds

This is perfectly indicitive of the kind of dark, brooding music that anyone needs when they’re hurting like this. It’s draining.

Senses Fail - Every Day Is A Struggle

“So much for the past year… I poured it down the drain with all the alcohol and pain I got from your eyes. Oh, your eyes…”

The Starting Line - Are You Alone

This is a bit of an exception; for the most part, any music reminding me of my situation or loneliness (City and Colour, Elliot Smith) has been hidden away with the knives. But this is a great song, and it does help a bit.

I hope everyone else out there that I love and care about is okay right now.

She simply couldn’t have.

She shared my passion for music, infatuation with meaningful lyrics. There’s so much I can’t listen to now… so many words we shared, so many cuts running far too deep. She said she loved me, but she left; she couldn’t have meant it. I wish I wasn’t so fucked up.

Today’s not a good day. And if the Weakerthans play this song on Friday night, the weekend doesn’t look good from here.

The Weakerthans - Sounds Familiar

“We emerged from youth all wide-eyed like the rest. Shedding skin faster than skin can grow, and armed with hammers, feathers, blunt knives: words, to meet and to define and to… but you must know the same games that we played in dirt, in dusty school yards has found a higher pitch and broader scale than we feared possible, and someone must be picked last, and one must bruise and one must fail. And that still twitching bird was so deceived by a window, so we eulogized fondly, we dug deep and threw its elegant plumage and frantic black eyes in a hole, and rushed out to kill something new, so we could bury that too.

The first chapters of lives almost made us give up altogether. Pushed towards tired forms of self immolation that seemed so original. I must, we must never stop watching the sky with our hands in our pockets, stop peering in windows when we know doors are shut. Stop yelling small stories and bad jokes and sorrows, and my voice will scratch to yell many more, but before I spill the things I mean to hide away, or gouge my eyes with platitudes of sentiment, I’ll drown the urge for permanence and certainty; crouch down and scrawl my name with yours in wet cement.”

Alternative Press.

The Starting Line - Island

I’m currently in Chatham, hanging with my family and taking a breather from watching Disney movies to connect with the outside world again, if only for a few moments. There’s a ton of stuff going on with me lately, a ton of changes in my life, and a ton of projects and things to tell you about… and, well, I’ve been in a bit of a bad way of late, but I actually think that I’m getting to the point where I want to talk again, want to be open again and share.

Anyway, I’ve been keeping as much a finger on the pulse on music of late as ever, and the past little while has seen a lot of activity on the music scene. Of late, bands of all stature and genres have been changing and releasing new music left and right, and one among them is The Starting Line, whose latest release - Direction - I just purchased a couple of weeks ago.

I haven’t given it the full listen it deserves, so don’t expect a fully insightful review, but at first glance, this record smacks of the sort of writing talent and maturity of an age-seasoned group. The Starting Line have been somewhat cheated of their chance, the latest issue of Alternative Press reveals - after their 2005 release on their previous record, the label sort of dropped the ball on promotion and exiled the group into a sort of musical limbo. Now having returned on a new label, The Starting Line are armed with an impressive album, one that fits intuitively into the new punk sound with ease. This record is a great example of 2007’s trend of emo bands evolving into pop prodigies.

In other music news, a favourite of mine The Junior Varsity have dissolved, following a situation in which the lead singer decided to leave the band for other endeavours. I’ll mention more on this later, I don’t remember anyone’s names or their new bands…

Also, Marianas Trench have wrapped up their recent cross-country tour back in British Columbia, and have retired themselves to their respective homes/reveries to write their sophomore album, due to be recorded over the winter. They’ve achieved some incredible notoriety here in Canada with their debut record, Fix Me, and particularly the popularity of their single Shaketramp climbing the Muchmusic charts. Little doubt we’re all looking very forward to seeing them again come Spring.

Keep your ears open, there’s always more to come.