Brave New Waves

As I mentioned, I was on Brave New Waves last week, here is an mp3 for anybody interested.

http://www.breakbread.ca/blog/bravenewwaves.mp3

Going to Japan!

So my wife emailed me saying "you should really go to Japan to see your friend St Louis"

She offered me her air canada points, and my mom offered me her delta points...

long story short im off to Japan, end of April. After the mcenroe and Birdapres tour is over, I have about 5 days to chill before I head to Japan. Hope to get a show together in Tokyo or something.

I had a one hour interview on Brave New Waves tonight, it was cool. For me thats a milestone, because I grew up on Brave New Waves and was put on to so many bands through it. I listened to that show every night for at least 3-4 years straight.

But the question is, do young'ns listen to BNW now?

Tracks for datass

Sending tracks on blogs is the way to go I guess. I'm gonna get with it. Here are tracks that some of my friends and colleagues have released recently.

Shout out to Razorblade Runner, a great blog with tracks several times a week to check shit out.

Cadence Weapon - Julie Will Jump the Broom

I heard CW's whole mixtape and really like his style and voice. This song jumped out at me big time, though. A real original sounding beat and a nice flow. He will be playing with us in Edmonton, looking forward to the live set.

Draft Drodgers present Evil - Too Many Trees (w/ Birdapres)

Just saw these guys live too. I think Evil is smooth as it gets, and live it really works. He doesn't put too much into each bar, never overpowers you, which worked really well live. On the production tip, they pull off a mix of sampling and synth, with a very current sound. Not all of you will dig this but I do...

Sound Barriers - Withdrawl

Gruf hadn't been doing much for the last couple of years, so he hooked up with DJ Brace (CDN DMC champ) who was making some beats and came up with this album. I'm feeling it, but I like Gruf over my beats better. But how can I be objective?

Stace Prints - Soulivar

I first met Stace at Sushi King when I was hanging with Bird. Stace has been around a while, doing his thing, dropping guest verses and whatnot. Finally he has a new EP and it is really growing on me. The five tracks are really diverse. The strings from this one get in my head all the time.

Turn The Gun - Moods Are Seasonal (w/ John Smith)
Turn The Gun is the new name for what used to be Milch & Allegra, I guess. Anyway, its Yy and Gumshoe Strut. I threw three beats at them for their album, this is one of them. I love this track, can you believe they were gonna leave it off the album? And yes, we will have the CD in the P&C store in a week or so... the Foultone Records crew is on tour as we speak.

31 years young

today I'm 31, who thinks I am getting to old for this rap shit?



Back in University, I was a thug! Well, actually, I was listening to too much House of Pain.

mcenroe and Birdapres tour info coming soon!

Gruf = Done

I finally got the Gruf album completed this weekend, and away to the press. Here is a glimpse of the cover:



Its a dope record, 13 cuts. Much more abstract than Druidry (I didn't think that was possible). Lots of wordplay and flow with hidden meaning. The writing is different than Druidry in that the self expression is toned down quite a bit (no Owl type song). But there are Bangers. Pip is on 4 songs.

This is also one of the few P&C releases I do not appear on. I was supposed to be on the posse cut, but its already nearly 6 minutes long so I decided to chill. With all the records I have dropping, people are probably sick of me anyway.

NHL in the 05

The sports networks in Canada should offer to pay the rest of the players salaries. Because if they keep showing what they are showing now, they will go out of business. Breaking news:

The Calgary flames players got together and went bowling

Some other player has been installing plastic truck bed liners

Theo fleury is playing in the middle of nowhere, for nothing, and he scores two goals.

Plus they keep showing that pic of Gary Bettman sitting beside Bob Goodenow at that game, and Bettman is acting like a real nancy boy. And that footage of Bettman eating a hot dog. You would think the tape would be worn out by now.

ebay and duran duran

two posts in one night? shiiiit

I have been clearing out my CD collection lately on eBay. I am addicted to selling on eBay, I don't know why. I may sell my entire collection because selling these CDs is more fun than listening to them for some reason. Here are my auctions:

http://search.ebay.ca/_W0QQgotopageZ1QQsassZmcenroe2000QQsorecordsperpageZ50QQsosortpropertyZ1


I am moving CDs for now but I will be putting up a large amount of vinyl this weekend and next week.

I heard Duran Duran is coming to Vancouver and I am tempted to check that out. I am seriously sick - I passed on De La soul a bunch of times, Pete Rock, LLoyd Banks, Beatnuts (I had free tickets to Banks and Beatnuts and still didn't go). But I may spend 60 bucks or more to see Duran Duran? I also want to see R.E.M. and the Pixies. Hall and Oates would be good too!

random thoughts jan 14

Just got back from The Aviator. Good flick. Its the first Scorsese flick I have seen in a long time - and I call myself a fan. I think my wife and I were the youngest people in there.

I made the mistake of heading into Tom Lee (music store) the other day to see whats up. I almost got talked into buying a new preamp with nifty digital outs and a new mic. I am happy with my current preamp (although I wish it had digital outs) but I definitely need a new mic - I bought my current mic used off of Moves a few years back and its OK but I can hear its deficiencies now. Anyway, I have a sickness, seriously thinking about spending another $2000 on gear when my setup is just fine and I don't have that much left to record in the next few months.

The Farm Fresh is finally done and at the press. It's called Time Is Running Out. In my opinion, its hot as hell. Upbeat, fun, funny, catchy. When Pip writes alone he gets very personal and so do I, but together we can keep it lighter (although there is some subject matter on here). Tyler (Hunnicutt) did the cover, check it out:



We recorded the Park-Like Setting and Gruf albums over the holiday too. Now I am back in Vancouver and will be working with Bird on his new record. It never ends! Still havent started San Andreas, too much work to do. Hoping to start it before the end of the month...

NFL PLayoffs

Not a bad weekend of football!

Chargers / Jets
Poor chargers. That was a heartbreaker. I root for the Jets sometimes and I root for the Chargers sometimes so I was swinging back and forth throughout the game. In the end I was rooting for the Chargers, just because they had a great season, a good turnaround from last year and deserved to keep going.

Seahawks / Rams
Hate the Rams. Really felt for Hassleback on that last play. The look of frustration and agony as the ball slips out of Ingram's hands on the biggest play of the year. Would someone please get him some receivers that can hold on to a ball?

Colts / Broncos
I like the Patriots but I will definitely be rooting for the Colts next week. Indy is so fun to watch on offense. I really think they can find a way to pick apart the Patriots. Whatever happens, the game should be a classic.

Vikings / Packers
I didn't see this coming. Even when the Vikings jumped to a 17-0 lead, I still felt they would lose. They have collapsed so much, so often, that they were bound to finally hang on. Next week I give them a shot against the Eagles. If they can get it together and play a decent defensive game, they could upset the Eagles since the Eagles seem to be lacking in confidence right now.

december drought

the blog aint dead, i just have not had time since being in Winnipeg for Christmas and recording. Expect lots of posts in January.

Word.

new releases from P&C

I have finalized the release dates for our next three releases:

mcenroe - disenfranchised 2 / Pip Skid - Funny Farm 2 - Feb 1, 2005
Farm Fresh CD - Mar 1, 2005
Gruf CD - April 12, 2005

Which means likely releases after that as follows:
Park-Like Setting CD - June 2005
Birdapres CD - July 2005

After that? Who knows.

See Monday Night Football tonight? Seattle makes me sick. I'm off their bandwagon.
Here is my current NFL Bandwagon status:
Tampa Bay - On (until they lose 1 more)
Seattle - Off
Indianapolis - On (until they get their asses kicked in the playoffs)
San Diego - On (see Indianapolis)

Shaq got his 10,000th rebound tonight. Shouldn't he have more rebounds than this for someone so Dominant? The Most Dominant Ever? I'm gonna hate on Shaq all year.

post one

here we go, my blog. If this lasts a month, it will be something...

Its Saturday, December 4. Just got back from a gig in Victoria with Birdapres. Big ups to Liam (Knowmatic) and his band for hooking up the gig. The crowd was great, the vibe was good. I love Victoria and playing there has always been good...

Been working on the Farm Fresh album. The album is almost done but we don't have a title yet. Its really been fun. Here are some song examples:

Frail Dale - About the small kid in school who everyone picked on
Downtown - About the decay of downtown Brandon (and other cities)
30 in the club - about us over the hill 30 somethings trying to hang with the college crowd in the clubs
My Ex Girl - The new Hunnicutt solo gem! Sure to be a new classic.

Should be going to press next week with the record, and will be releasing it at the end of February.

I have been finishing the beats for this record with a lite version of Live (www.ableton.com) and it has been great. The way you can twist loops to fit has made finishing my beats much more fun and less tedious. It would take weeks to finish a record before, and it was always the hardest part because of all the trial and error. I would spend a whole night trying loops and wind up with nothing. Now the combo of live and Logic 7 makes finishing a track way more fun and creative, not to mention easier. I am about to take the same approach with Gruf's solo album - I expect it to be really fun.

This is my last week in Vancouver for a while, I am going to be in Winnipeg for most of December. I plan to record Gruf's album, write and record the Park-Like Setting album, and maybe even make a mcenroe mixtape (its called "Mastermind"). It will be me remaking some classic beats and having fun writing. I also plan to play a lot of Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas. I have held off on getting that started until I got all of these records finished.

Plus I am watching as much football as possible. I have been into NFL for a while, but now I am getting into NCAA as well. My wife is thrilled... I am in an NFL pickem against by Dad, he is up 4 weekends to 3. I gotta stop picking Arizona.

Been listening to lots of commercial rap lately. Top of the rotation right now is the R Kelly and Jay-Z. Its nothing special but it works. I have never really heard R Kelly before, on this record he doesn't sound all that special as a singer. Jay is solid, beats are solid. Will probably pick up the Nas this week. I saw that it was packaged in a big double jewel case, old school style. ugh.

today's link: www.uglydolls.com