A FINE FRENZY LIVE AT THE COMMODORE BALLROOM:





















I had the pleasure of seeing A Fine Frenzy live last night and briefly meeting the beautiful Alison Sudol, lead singer of said band. They were the opening act so they only played about 8 songs (and no Lifesize which was a bit disappointing). With the aid of her drummer and keyboard player (and laptop computer) they sounded great and the crowd seemed to appreciate them. Alison also performed a short version of her cover of Fever and talked about working with Sondre Lerche on the soundtrack to Dan In Real Life. I video taped that song, maybe I'll get it onto YouTube sometime down the line. I met Alison after their set at the merch table and she was very nice, signed the cd and got a photo which was cool.

VARIOUS BITS AND PIECES

Heroes continues to keep me interested although with so many new characters it may soon be even harder to keep track of everyone and what they are doing. I was happy to see the addition of Kristen Bell to the cast as Elle in last night's episiode as I was a fan of her last show Veronica Mars. Apparently she was courted by the producers of LOST to join the cast but didn't want to move to Hawaii where the series is filmed.

Of all the new series that debuted this season only a few are still on my what to watch list, those being Dirty Sexy Money (which has improved since the premiere episode), Cane, and surprisingly I'm still enjoying Chuck although the main characters slacker best friend Morgan can get annoying. My high hopes for Pushing Daisies have not been met and I may give up on watching it in the coming weeks.

There is a David Gray podcast up at The Times website, click here to go to the page.

NEW TALENT ALERT: RHONDA STAKICH:





















Here in Canada there is a new clothing line called Joe Fresh Style that is currently running a commercial for their winter line of clothing that features a great song called 'Dream Tonight'. I found out it is sung by Toronto singer Rhonda Stakich. If you go to the Joe Fresh Style clothing website you can download two of the songs they have used in the commercials including 'Dream Tonight' and 'Mixed Up, both worth downloading for free, If you go to Rhonda's website you can also download some tracks from her two album releases.

VARIOUS BITS AND PIECES:


Imogen Heap continues putting video blogs onto her website about the renovation of her childhood home and building of her studio in said home, here's the link to number 8 on YouTube. These vblogs are fun and Immi is always charming, I just hope this project doesn't delay the recording of her follow up to the amazing 'Speak For Yourself' too much (although she does mention a couple of song titles for new tracks she's being playing around with in this latest vblog.)












The Lilac Time release their new cd 'Runout Groove' on October 22nd in the U.K. and the video for the song 'Driving Somewhere' with a bearded Stephen Duffy is up on YouTube now.

David Gray is releasing a Greatest Hits cd in November with two new tracks including the song 'You're The World To Me' zshare. He is also playing a few dates on his 'The World To Me' tour in North America in early December:

December 02, 07 Toronto, ON Massey Hall
December 04, 07 New York, NY Beacon Theatre
December 05, 07 Boston, MA Orpheum Theatre
December 07, 07 Denver,CO Paramount Theatre

BEN LEE ANNOUNCES NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES:















Ben Lee hits the road in North America in November and December to support his latest cd 'Ripe'. For the 32 city tour Ben will be joined by the Cary Brothers for the whole tour, and singer Kate Voegele for some of the dates. The weird slightly cosmic thing is that I saw Ben on my birthday in Toronto two years ago when he was supporting the cd 'Awake Is The New Sleep', and I'll see him again on my birthday this year in Vancouver (saw Scritti Politti on my birthday last year). Ben always puts on an entertaining live show and the new album is pretty good so I'm looking forward to the show.

TOUR DATES:

November 2007
1 - Santa Barbara, CA - Soho Restaurant & Music Club
2 - San Francisco, CA - Café Du Nord
5 - Seattle, WA - Neumos
6 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard’s on Richards
7 - Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan
9 - Salt Lake City, UT - Club Sound
10 - Denver, CO - Marquis Theatre
12 - Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theater
13 - Chicago, IL - Double Door
14 - Cincinnati, OH - Southgate House
15 - Cleveland, OH - Agora Ballroom
16 - Indianapolis, IN - Music Mill
18 - Columbus, OH - The Basement
20 - New York, NY - The Gramercy Theatre
21 - Boston, MA - Middle East Downstairs
23 - Montreal, Quebec - Cabaret du Musee Juste Pour Rire
24 - Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club
26 - Alexandria, VA - Birchmere
27 - Charlottesville, VA - Satellite Ballroom
28 - Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel
29 - Atlanta, GA - The Loft at Center Stage Atlanta

December 2007
1 - Birmingham, AL - Workplay Theater
2 - Nashville, TN - Exit In
4 - New Orleans, LA - The Parish
5 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues
6 - Houston, TX - Meridian
7 - Austin, TX - The Parish
8 - Norman, OK - Opolis Production
9 - Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
11 - Tempe, AZ - The Clubhouse
12 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre
13 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues

DAVID FORD RELEASES SECOND ALBUM:


















I had the pleasure of seeing David Ford back in June of 2006 at a small club and thought he was a great talent, maybe still a little raw at that time. Well he is just about to release his second album 'Songs For The Road' (already available to download from sites including iTunes and 7Digital in the U.K.) I've heard the first two tracks and am very happy to hear more great material from David. The songs sound a bit more produced and maybe with this record he will gain the larger audience he deserves. If you are a fan of David Gray or Damien Rice you should definitely check him out. The album's strong lead track 'Go To Hell' is available for free download at his website, and you can watch the music video for the song that looks like it is almost entirely shot in one take on YouTube (his website says: David Ford has delivered yet another $20 home made genius video). The second track 'Decimate' I found on zShare.

NAKED EYES IN-STORE PERFORMANCE IN NEW YORK:






















As I've mentioned before Naked Eyes will be performing at the Elton John and Bernie Taupin benefit at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday October 10th.

Pete Byrne and band will also be doing an in-store appearance and set at the Virgin records store in Union Square at 6PM on Tuesday 9th October.

TEITUR TO START RECORDING FOURTH ALBUM:













One of my favourite singers Teitur has announced plans to start recording his fourth album on his MySpace page, exact quote is below.

Good news! In October I will be on the island of Gotland to record my
fourth album. The recording facilities are truely inspiring. It's a
location called Fridhem, which a Swedish Princess (Eugenie) had built
on the outskirts of Visby in Gotland in mid 19th century. There is a
huge villa, a concert hall (in where we will record) a chapel (also
good for recording) and even a beach with an stunning view. Gotland is
where the late movie director Ingmar Bergman lived and died. He shot
most of his films there. I have heard the tectonic plate of Gotland
originates from the Great Barrier Reef. This must be why it feels so
unique there in the middle of the Baltic Sea.

The working title of the album is "Laughter in an Empty Room" -
because this is how I think the music will sound like. I will produce
the album myself and it will be ready for release in February. Stay
tuned to the website as I intend to take some pictures of the
sessions.

--Teitur

NEW TELEVISION SEASON SO FAR…:




















I’ve managed to watch a fair number of the new series for 2007 and here is my quick round up and thoughts:

Dirty Sexy Money – Wasn’t blown away by the premiere but I heard the series improves and the fact that Greg Berlanti (Everwood, Brothers And Sisters) is one of the producers I will give it a chance and watch the next few episodes (also because I like some of the cast including the cute Samaire Armstrong).

Chuck – Have watched the first two episodes and find it somewhat enjoyable but I have a feeling I will be dropping it soon.

Journeyman – Okay, have on in background while doing computer work, not a must see.

Gossip Girl – Doesn’t come close to all the hype, doubt it will last more than one season.

K-Ville – Watched the series premier, didn’t make the cut unfortunately.

Kid Nation – Okay to flip to during commercials while watching another show, not a must see.

Reaper – Same as above

Cane – First episode was okay albeit a bit predictable. Will give Jimmy Smits a bit more of a chance but feel it may not keep my interest.

Bionic Woman – First episode was not bad, could be a dark horse hit for the season.

Pushing Daisies – Premieres tonight – I have high hopes for this series.

Big Shots – Premiere was just okay, doubt I’ll keep watching this one.

Moonlight – Not a great premiere – doubt I’ll watch any more episodes.


Enjoying the returns of Smallville, Prison Break, Ugly Betty and Brothers And Sisters, and still watching ER and Survivor China.

Looking forward to the third season of Weeds starting up in Canada next week.

LO-FI-FNK TOUR EASTERN U.S. & CANADA - DON'T MISS THEM:















The amazing Lo-Fi-Fnk have announced a short tour of the Eastern part of North America. Unfortunately now that I'm in Vancouver I won't see any of the shows (dates below). I highly recommend checking Leo and August out live, I really enjoyed the show I saw (my review) back in March. If any regular ready of this blog is planning on going to a show and might be able to help me out by buying one of their cool baseball caps for me please email me (they were sold out of them at the show back in March).

Lo-Fi-Fnk Tour Dates:

4 Oct 2007 PS14 - Miami, Florida
5 Oct 2007 TSI - Jacksonville, Florida
6 Oct 2007 Backbooth - Orlando, Florida
8 Oct 2007 Sonar - Baltimore
10 Oct 2007 Starlight Ballroom - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
11 Oct 2007 The Gramercy Theatre - New York City
12 Oct 2007 Studio B - New York City, New York
13 Oct 2007 Paradise Rock Club - Boston, Massachusetts
14 Oct 2007 The Tralf - Buffalo
16 Oct 2007 Metro - Chicago, Illinois
18 Oct 2007 The Opera House - Toronto
19 Oct 2007 La Tulipe - Montreal, Quebec
20 Oct 2007 TBA - MONTREAL