Are we indie?

The Sunday Star featured a large - two page - feature on Canadian indie music. The premise? Canada is/is not the next Seattle (written by someone who has obviously never lived there). The article focused on trying to refute the comparison from both sides, and in doing so displayed an interesting lack of understanding regarding the sociological aspect of indie rock popularity. A key substantiating quote comes from some guy at Exclaim! who quipped, "the idea that you need someone with a lot of power to come along and dub you the next big thing with their magic wand is gone."

AYF? went out and found our own expert on the subject - the infamous Ian Worang of Uncut. His quote was better: "I understand the pride for the Canadian music and all, but I think we need to stop talking about it so much. Not specific to this article or anything, but I mean, fuck, if I have to hear about another band from Canada, with a review that says 'there must be something in the water up there' I'm going to shit through my mouth."

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Wilderness' self-tited album on Jagjaguwar was one of the AYF? favorites of 2005. They're set to release their follow-up this year, which, from the sounds of it, continues with much of what made their first record so enjoyable. April 15th is their tour date in Toronto (with The Two Koreas and Parts and Labor), and I have an extra ticket. So who's gonna be my date?

Wilderness - Emergency

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From favorite albums of last year, to a new favorite for 2006. The Weather's Stolen Billions is - as we've mentioned before - an amazing listen. Easily an 8.7+ on the AYF? scale, they capture the off-kilter circus-punk vibe perfectly, winding their pop hooks around all kinds of weirdness. Here is another exclusive from the album:

The Weather - Hope And Maybe

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The suspension of Nick Sylvester from the Village Voice has meant the neglect of his Riff-Raff column. Sad and unnecessary. More on that, and some follow-ups regarding Nick's post on offering entire albums via MP3 blogs in the next update.

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I finally bit the bullet and bought myself a copy of Serato. After taking an extended hiatus from my weekly DJ schedule of a couple years ago (catalyzed by the majority of my vinyl collection disappearing), my living room has again been transformed into the "DJ room," and I'll be recording mixes soon. This Friday, myself and some friends are doing it house party style in Bloor West Village. If you're in Toronto and you know me, drop me a line for info on this.

Bonus tune:

Tubeway Army - Are Friends Electric?