How I Spent My Summer Vacation Pt.1

So I see it's been over 2 months since my last post. So what's new, you ask? Well, let me tell you. I'm loving my new job at Great-West Life. It's not too exciting, but it's relaxed, stress-free and my coworkers are pretty cool. It's so nice being able to walk 10 minutes to work through Victoria Park and walk down Scarth Street Mall during my lunch breaks to the sounds of street buskers. So almost 3 months into my job, I'm a pretty happy cat.

I recently got back from Vancouver with Tina and Gianni to see R.E.M. as a birthday present to myself. It was the fourth time I've seen them in action and this definitely has to be their best show. They played most of their amazing new album Accelerate, and dusted off some songs they have either never played before ("Ignoreland") and some songs they haven't played in almost 20 years ("Time After TIme" and "West of the Fields"). R.E.M. have gotten some slack from critics for their last 3 albums (particularly Around The Sun)and they haven't sold nearly as well, but I still like their last 3 albums. But as much as I like these mellow albums, it's really nice to hear them get back to basics, crank up the guitars, regain a sense of melody and sound hungry and urgent again. 11 songs in 35 minutes and they sounded phenomenal live. R.E.M. are definitely back. It seems like most of my favourite bands lately have been making big "comebacks" because they are returning to roots or getting back to basics. Pearl Jam, U2 and Bruce Springsteen come to mind. I don't blame artists for wanting to try new things because the alternative is to go the AC/DC route and make the same album over and over again, with diminishing results.

As for R.E.M.'s opening bands, The National and Modest Mouse both put on stellar shows. The National are definitely not a flashy band, but they captivated the crowd with their intensity. Modest Mouse played a fun, bouncy set. It was also pretty cool to see Johnny Marr, formerly of The Smiths, on the same stage as Peter Buck. It's as close to seeing R.E.M. and The Smiths play on the same bill as we're ever going to see.

And now I have to prep myself for my next big adventure. On July 2, I'll be making a huge trek with my cousins Sarah and Dave to see Tom Waits in Mobile, Alabama. Yes... Mobile Alabama. It's like Waits spun a globe and randomly chose what cities he will play. In true Waits fashion, he said he plotted his tour dates to form the shape of a constellation. Dave is probably the biggest Tom Waits fan on the planet and I'm gaining some momentum in that department so this is going to be a helluva trip. It'll be a Kerouac-ian trip to be sure. I can't wait.

Speaking of Tom Waits, I just picked up the debut album from Scarlett Johannson, which consists of 10 covers of Tom Waits songs and one original. I bought it for curiosity sake, but I am definitely pleasantly surprised. David Andrew Sitek from TV On The Radio produced it, Nick Zinner from The Yeah Yeah Yeahs plays guitar and David Bowie(!) sings background vocals. Scarlett is no great singer by any stretch of the imagination, but her voice really works for the sonic soundscapes of these songs. This is an album that could have been a comically bad actor-turns-singer album ala William Shatner, but instead it is pretty damn good.

Well, that's all for now. Bed awaits. Keep on rocking in the free world and all that jazz. Cheers.