The Storm still Rages...

Lazy music critics often describe Kentucky's My Morning Jacket as "Southern Rock" or banty about the name Lynyrd Skynyrd in their reviews. Easy labels like these don't nearly capture My Morning Jacket's eclecticism and appeal. Their eclectic nature is on full display on the band latest album "Evil Urges." Although the reviews for MMJ's 5th album have been positive they have often described "Evil Urges" as a fall off from the band's previous two albums, "It Still Moves" and "Z." I happen to think both those records are modern classics but there's something about "Evil Urges" that really grabs me. From the Prince-esque opening track to softer fare like "Librarian" and "Thank You Too," listening to "Evil Urges" in its entirety is a joy. In my opinion, it matches and perhaps surpasses any of the band's previous work. I'm so mad at myself for cheaping out on seeing live in Montreal last week. There's always next time.

Here's some making of footage for "Evil Urges."

That's Who I Am and You're Nothing!

I have always felt as though Alec Baldwin wasted most of his career as a dramatic leading man when he is so clearly a comedic genius. His work on SNL and 30 Rock prove this. The Onion's A.V. Club recently compiled a list of of the best cameos ever in cinema and it reminded me of Alec Baldwin's memorable turn as the world's biggest asshole in "Glengarry Glenross." He is the living embodiment of capitalism and ego and greed. I can't help but think that Baldwin is so good at playing aggressive assholes because he is one himself but no one can deny the virtuosity in this scene:

Why So Serious?

Full disclosure: I'm an enormous Batman fan. I have been one since I was a child. Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns ranks among one of my favourite books let alone comic books. Of all the superheroes, Batman is the most relatable because of his tortured psyche and absolutist moral code. I was very impressed with Christopher Nolan's revamp of the film series "Batman Begins" and I can't even begin to write how stoked I am about its sequel "The Dark Knight." It features two of my favourite actors in Christian Bale and Michael Caine and, sadly, features the last performance of Heath Ledger as the Joker. I'm looking forward to this movie so much that it can't help but disappoint. Or could it? Rolling Stone has an early review and it is positively glowing. I can't believe I have to wait until July 18th to see it.

Here's the trailer:

My Favourite Springsteen Song

My City of Ruins

"Now theres tears on the pillow / Darling where we slept / And you took my heart when you left / Without your sweet kiss / My soul is lost, my friend / Now tell me how do I begin again?"

"Stuff White People Like" Don't Like Me

I'm sure most of you have heard of the blog, "Stuff White People Like." Well, they held a little contest to write a new entry in their ongoing series on the unique taste of millions. I sent in what I thought was a hilarious submission on Leonard Cohen Surprise surprise, I did not win. Still, no one can stop me from putting it up on my own blog. So, without further ado, my stuff white people like:

Normally, in white culture, artists have to die before they get lavished with the kind of affection only white people can provide. Death is pretty much the only way to ensure that one’s legacy remains intact. Vincent Van Gogh sold but one painting is his life before dying tragically guaranteed that posters of “Starry Starry Night” would witness hundreds and hundreds of white college students’s dorm room deflowerings. However, sometimes an artist is lucky enough to be inundated with praise without meeting his or her maker. This is the case with Leonard Cohen – white culture’s poet rock star.
Cohen has returned to touring after a long fifteen year absence. Given his 40 plus year career, the crowds at his recent concerts have certainly been multi-generational. They have probably not, on the other hand, been multicultural. In fact, it’s safe to assume the colour wheel at his shows range from mother of pearl to ecru. Like Mos Def, Leonard Cohen encapsulates so much that white people hold dear. He is Canadian, bilingual, writes poetry and novels, is vaguely ethnic (i.e. sort of Jewish), and practices Eastern religions. What makes Cohen especially irresistible to white people is that a lot people find his music to be depressing and his voice to be sub-Dylan. This only adds to his white appeal because it gives white people what they have really always wanted: a sense of superiority. Those who don’t appreciate Cohen simply don’t get it.
Unfortunately, Cohen’s devotion to Buddhism allowed his manager to steal most of his retirement nest egg during a five year stay as a Zen Monk on Mt. Baldy. Well, Buddhism’s loss is white culture’s gain since Cohen has to tour at the ripe old age of 73 in order to recoup his losses. White people have never been so glad to see an old man go bankrupt. Hallelujah!

George Carlin 1937-2008

This is truly sad. George Carlin has passed away at the age of 71. In honor of a true original, here's his classic "7 Words you Can't Say on TV" routine:

All words you can say in heaven, no doubt.

Illegal Art

Now, I thought the whole mash up trend jumped the shark in about 2004 but long time readers of the Buddha will remember that I'm a big admirer of superstar DJ and former biomedical engineer Gregg Gillis aka Girl Talk. Yesterday, Girl Talk released his second full length album of sample based dance music and after just one listen "Feed The Animals" is as excited as his debut "Night Ripper." The album is available to download via his label Illegal Art. Even better news is that Girl Talk is releasing it Radiohead style so you cab pay what you see fit for it. However, if you decide to pay nothing, you better be prepared to be guilted. If you enter a price of $0.00 this is the question you'll be asked why and presented with these options:

- I may donate later

- I can't afford to pay

- I don't really like Girl Talk

- I don't believe in paying for music

- I have already purchased this album

- I don't value music made from sampling

- I am part of the press, radio, or music industry

- Other reasons

I paid a dollar so I know I'll sleep at night. Can you?

The cage doesn't seem to open very wide at all...

I became a fan of Martha Wainwright when I saw her last summer at the Osheaga festival. She was so charming and disarming that no one cared when she stopped mid song to demand a joint from the audience (noticed said joint nestled in her guitar in the above photo). Well, Ms. Wainwright is in fine form again on her new album, "I Know You're Married But I have Feelings Too." The usual subjects are covered; love, lust, insecurity and fragility. Despite being recently married, Martha is certainly not letting the male of the species off the hook, "You got a girlfriend and I can only talk about her for so very long". It's good to know that the angry young woman of "Bloody Motherfucking Asshole" is still around. I will say that the new album does, at times, seem to be overpolished which diminishes the emotional intensity of the first record. Still, I would recommend giving it a listen.

Tower of Babelfish

I'm sure most of you know the Babelfish as "the strangest creature on Earth" from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. However, Babelfish is also the name of Yahoo!'s free translation service and the home to my new favourite game: Broken Babelfish. Like Broken Telephone, Broken Babelfish is a game of miscommunication. Simply type a sentence into Babelfish and have it translated into numerous languages before finally returning to English.

Start out with this: "It went rather well. It was like playing a really complicated game of 'broken telephone.' Mrs Solazzo was right, I speak French like a Spanish cow."

And get this:

"He was liberated well. Him Was with a game which is complicated with justice realness; In order to play; tel. cassé." Solazzo Ms French which says with the cow Spanish people, accurately, was."

This is what Babel fish gives you when you go from English to French to Dutch, to English, to Greek, to English, to Korean, and then finally back to English!

All I have to say is...

It should be illegal for anyone to this good at anything.

On the Fringe

The Montreal Fringe Fest is on right now and I'd encourage everyone in my neck of the woods to check out some of the dozens of plays and performances around the city. Last night, I saw a few of Montreal's indie bands at Parc des Ameriques. It was a pretty good vibe with a mix of hipsters and eccentrics rocking out to bands like the Winks, Ethereal Tribal, and Broadcast Radio. As the sun set over St. Laurent, my friend and I headed south to Theatre Ste. Catharine to take in "Crude Love," a love story set in the Alberta oil sands. This play might've been titled "Love in the Time of Oil." The two person play, starring the husband and wife team of Gillian and Russell Bennett, tells the story of a female dump truck driver from Newfoundland and a cynical environmentalist from Toronto who wants to put her out of a job by protesting the oil sands. Surprise surprise, they fall in love. Despite the tired formula of opposites attracting, "Crude Love" is a very funny and profoundly sad play about love, politics, and priorities. There are several more performances throughout the week so I would recommend that everyone seek out this gem. Watch for it at a Fringe near you.

The Gazette has a more detailed review.

Writing the Book of Evidence

I recently finished an excellent novel by the Irish novelist John Banville called The Book of Evidence. This novel was shortlisted for the Booker prize in 1989. Banville eventually took the Booker for his eighteenth novel The Sea, published in 2005. Banville's style is cold and calculating and he has been called "one of the great stylists writing in English today." Don DeLillo calls his work "dangerous and clear-running prose." All of this true but Banville is also one of the sharpest and darkest wits in fiction today. Despite his cold-Nabokovian style, Banville is able to craft a very compelling and charismatic protagonist in The Book of Evidence. This is especially impressive because the first person narrator of the novel is a despicable human being. A cultured but self-absorbed scientist, Freddie Montgomery, murders a servant girl while attempting to steal a painting to pay off a debt he didn't need in the first place. The majority of the novel is Montgomery's testimony to the court, giving his reasons and justifications for the murder. However, Montgomery knows already that he did it because he could, "I killed her because I could kill her, and I could kill her because for me she was not alive." The true theme that Banville explores is the great myth that high culture makes people more moral. Montgomery's detached cynicism and amorality makes Banville's stance on the issue clear. Anyway, I think The Book of Evidence is a must read.

When Milton met Galileo

Earlier this year, in a class on Victorian poetry, the professor played a couple of wax cylinder recordings of Alfred Tennyson reading some of his most famous poems like "The Charge of the Light Brigade." The recordings were taken by Thomas Edison. I always find it hard to fathom whenever I read of two geniuses like Edison and Tennyson getting together. What do they talk about? It's rather like the comic book crossovers they would have when I was a kid where Batman and Superman would team up to fight crime.

In the New Yorker, Jonathan Rosen discusses the enduring relevance of John Milton and Paradise Lost. Most interestingly, he discusses a 1638 meeting between Milton and the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei. The meeting clearly had an impact on Milton since, in Paradise Lost, Satan’s shield looks like the moon seen through Galileo’s telescope. Pretty cool... almost as cool as Batman and Superman teaming up...

Hold Steady Streams new LP

Minnesota heroes The Hold Steady are streaming their entire new album "Stay Positive" on their MySpace page right now as you read this. Who knows how long it will be up so you better hurry up and listen. I've listened to it all the way through only once so I'll have to wait awhile before I write a proper review but I gotta say that I like what I hear. It doesn't have the same unity as "Boys and Girls in America" or "Almost Killed Me" but the epic scope is certainly still there. Craig Finn and the best bar band in the world really seem to be experimenting with their sound a little as well. Is that a lute I hear? Like the band's famous "Southtown Girls," "Stay Positive" might not blow you away but you know that it'll stay...

The Hold Steady - Stuck Between Stations:

I Don't Give a Hoot

Oh Weezer, what has happened to you? My once favourite rock band has devolved into a novelty act. As far as I'm concerned, Weezer's first two albums are untouchable classics and I had such high hopes that their third eponymous album would be a return to form for Rivers & Co. after hearing the epic first single "Pork and Beans" and seeing its snarky video. However, this tease only makes the "Red" album more disappointing. The album's first three songs, "Troublemaker," "The Greatest Man that Ever Lived," and "Pork and Beans" wouldn't seem out of place on Weezer's better efforts but after that, the songs are completely bereft of any emotion. What made the "Blue" album and Pinkerton so remarkable was that the band's detached irony was coupled with a real emotional centre. The "Red" album is even worse than 2006's "Make Believe" because head songwriter Rivers Cuomo has become a pure mathematician, crafting catchy pop songs that are vapid at best.

Skip this one and watch this to remember happier days:



If you must watch a new Weezer video, make it this one featuring Brian Bell and Internet sensation Tay Zonday:

Ring the Bells that Still can Ring

Usually, legends have to wait until they die before they receive the type of adulation they deserve. The only good thing about Leonard Cohen's financial troubles is that he has a year of multiple standing ovations to look forward to. I was fortunate enough to attend the June 6th kick off of Mr. Cohen's first tour in 15 years at Toronto's Sony Centre. The multi-generational crowd showered Cohen with affection for the show's impressive 3 hour length. Yes, any worries that Cohen, at 73 years old, may have lost a step were quickly assuaged as he launched into his 1984 classic "Dance me to the End of Love." Cohen's set (posted below) was littered with of 40 years of classics. His arresting recitation of his poem "A Thousand Kisses Deep" was a personal highlight. "Hallelujah," "Suzanne," "Bird on a Wire" and "Everybody Knows" all delivered. Lenny's hair may be grey, he may ache in the places where he used to play but Friday night proved that he's still got charisma to burn and a voice to leave with you goosebumps three days later.

I Came So Far for Beauty

I don't believe in heroes but if I did Leonard Cohen would certainly be one of them. Tomorrow night, I'm going to see the man himself at Toronto's Sony Centre. Needless to say, I'm so excited I could plotz.

Expect a full review of the show on Monday.

Cohen performs "Avalanche" in 1988:

Durham County = Twin Peaks 2.0

Anyone who owns a television is painfully aware that the summer months are not the prime TV watching season. Nor should they be. After all, we ought to be outside chasing butterflies and playing Ultimate frisbee. However, you can only do that so much before you are crushed by the sheer whimsy of it all and you find yourself on the couch yet again watching some reality dreck like "Moment of Truth." I was pleased to discover that the Canadian networks were going to use the summer months to play some programs from their sister networks like "The Movie Network." I am particularly interested in watching the critically acclaimed "Mad Men" which starts on Global this Sunday.

I am also half way through the 6 episode story arc "Durham County" which aired on the Movie Network last year. The series stars ex-Headstones frontman Hugh Dillon as a big city detective investigating a series of violent murders. The intrigue being that Dillon's character was intimately involved with one of the victims and is trying to keep it from his superiors in order to remain on the case and not become a suspect himself. The series owes an explicit debt to David Lynch's "Twin Peaks." The parallels are obvious - big city cop investigating a murder in a small town that features an eclectic cast of crazies. Like Kyle Mclaughlin in "Twin Peaks," Dillon has frequent dreams that reveal important aspects about the case. It may not be the most original show but it is certainly worth watching in this depleted summer lineup.

Coldplay Makes Politicians Dance

Now, I've never been the biggest Coldplay fan. I never felt Coldplay adequately filled the gap left by Radiohead when they renounced their guitars in favour of robots. However, no one can deny that Chris Martin and co. can craft a solid hook and make a good video. The official video for "Violet Hill," the lead single off their new LP "Viva la Vida" is quite boring but the band approved, Mat Whitecross directed viral video is inspired. The video features stock footage of politicians like Bush, Blair, Castro, and Yeltsin dancing and rocking out. Almost makes them seem human...

Check it out:




Boring official video here:

Kingsley Amis sums up my worldview in one paragraph

Celebrated British novelist Sir Kingsley Amis, who passed away in 1995, has posthumously released a cheeky new book, Everyday Drinking: The Distilled Kingsley Amis. In addition to sound drinking advice like "Up to a point... go for quantity rather than quality," Amis was somehow able to distill all my thoughts on social drinking in one short and succinct paragraph:

"The human race has not devised any way of dissolving barriers... that is one tenth as handy and efficient as letting you and the other chap, or chaps, cease to be totally sober at about the same rate in agreeable surroundings"

Well put Sir Kingsley, it does not get any more complicated than that.

The Return of Bond

As an enormous James Bond fan, I'm more than a little excited about the release of an all new Bond novel. Devil May Care was released last week in true Bond fashion with a military escort down the Thames accompanied by a leggy blonde, of course. The novel's release coinicides with what would have been original author Ian Fleming's 100th birthday. What particularly piques my interest is that the Fleming family commissioned a surprisingly literary scribe to update the gentlemen spy for a new age. Sebastian Faulks is best known for sprawling psychological novels like Charlotte Gray and Birdsong. Faulks, who considers himself a keen literary mimic, tried to write in the style of Ian Fleming, a roguish spy in his own right. The story takes place in Cold War stricken 1967 and is played out across two continents. I should pick up the book this week so I'll post a more detailed review once I finish reading it. Between last year's excellent "Casino Royale" and what looks like a promising new novel, a Bond renaissance could be upon us.

Miss Cellania has a good collection of James Bond lists and trivia.

For good measure, a classic Bond scene for "Goldfinger":

Don't Call it a Comeback!

Faithful readers,

I have returned from my self imposed hiatus to bring you the internet's tastiest nuggets. It has been approximately 9 months (no, I wasn't preggers) since my last post. Moving, starting grad school, and trying to make my way as a timeless, hopeless bachelor in Montreal left me drained and unable to contribute to the white noise of the blogosphere. I sincerely apologize for leaving you all without a lazy spiritual guide for so long and I really hope you forgive me. I have been given a second wind and I have this insatiable desire to write something that is not an essay on Canadian print culture. So, please check back regularly and leave your comments.

I swear, baby, I'll never leave you again,

Mr. Samurai Buddha

As a teaser of what is to come, here is a brilliant video of my humble neighbourhood by Montreal hip hop collective, Da Pimp Class. "Where U From? (An NDG Anthem) depicts Notre Dame de Grace in all its glory. I think my favourite line is when one of them says, "If pimpin's a crime, you better lock me up." I'm pretty sure "pimping" is a crime so he shouldn't be so boastful especially while strutting down the street with twenty of his friends who are nicknamed, of all things, Da Pimp Class. Not smart.