The Night Nurse - M83

The whole time all I could think about is how I wanted Anthony Gonzalez naked in my bed.

The Night Nurse - Deerhunter

As soon as I saw the wicked "Weird Era" T-shirts that were being sold, I had a feeling that Deerhunter was going to kick ass.  This was the best concert I've seen in a long time (since Girl Talk), and I didn't expect to fall in love with the band so much.  They had so much personality - the bassist couldn't stop smiling and I could really tell that they enjoyed what they were doing.  Bradford is a super funny character and I really enjoyed him.  He told the audience that if they got too stoned he knew where they could get some Xanax (his pocket).  I don't think he was kidding...

The band rocked out really hard and everyone was enjoying themselves.  Their encore had four or five songs and I didn't want them to stop playing.  They also played songs from Cryptograms (Cryptojams!), which I thought they had retired playing so that was a pleasant surprise.   

The Night Nurse: Radiohead at Thunderbird Stadium

So I finally got to see Radiohead for the very first time. Thom Yorke's voice sounded flawless and Johnny Greenwood threw in a rift from Stephen Malkmus' "It Kills" which was a pleasant surprise. The light show on stage was colorful and interesting and really complimented "In Rainbows." But since I am a perfectionist and critical bastard, I did have a couple of problems with the concert that were completely out of Radiohead's control (except for maybe the weather because my friends and I are convinced that Thom Yorke controls the weather and most of the world). First of all, it rained and poured and while that idea seems kind of romantic, it was just wet and gross and uncomfortable. Secondly, we had printed tickets and they didn't even scan them! So any low life could have gone and printed the same ticket over and over again and got in for free! This caused the space to be a little bit crowded and I had trouble seeing the stage. Also, I love Liars, and they rocked out as hard as they could, but I was disappointed because they couldn't fill the sound for that large of a venue. Despite these minor factors, the concert was unbelievable, and I officially will be seeing every Radiohead concert that comes up in the future.

R.I.P. Death Cab for Cutie: 1997-2008

Death Cab for Cutie played at Pemberton this weekend, and unfortunately, there was nothing anyone could do.  Their screwing up of the timing of the keyboard and vocals on "Transatlanticism" as their ending song at the festival put them into cardiac arrest and they were officially declared dead after the concert was over.  We could all sense this was coming - after countless mediocre performances and boring records it was only a matter of time.  I will always remember you in your glory days Death Cab, and I hope you are in a better place where you won't bombard us with your shitty music.   

The Night Nurse: The Flaming Lips at Pemberton

The day has finally arrived.... I saw the Flaming Lips. After watching their live performance at the Oklahoma Zoo repetitively on DVD and wishing I had been there, I got to see them at Pemberton. They exceeded every one of my expectations. Wayne Coyne came out in the plastic bubble as I had hoped, and when they played Free Radicals, he yelled "Fanatical... FUCK" as I hoped he would, and he made fun of the people in charge of the festival for not giving him enough time to play on stage (which is classic Wayne... getting angry and ranting for something that pisses him off). And during the "Race for the Prize" (I think... I was pretty hammered), confetti filled the air and came down on the audience. Now I can officially resign my complaining for missing them at Sasquatch.

The Colostomy Bag: Twin Crystals

Desecrating the name of the other "Crystal" bands in the indie repertoire (ie Crystal Castles, the Crystal Method, Crystal Antlers, Crystal Stilts), Twin Crystals was the opening band for Girl Talk and must have been Greg Gillis' idea of a practical joke.  The lead singer was obviously hammered and kept yelling incoherent things at the audience.  At one point he screamed "Princess is murder!" and I think he was trying to be hardcore like Liars but actually had no musical talent.  The keyboardist could play two chords and the singer played one chord on the guitar and had no vocal talent of any kind.  Halfway through he realized his guitarist wasn't even there, and asked, "Hey, where did Doug go?"  My friends and I spent the whole time laughing at this poor excuse for a band and wondered how it was physically possible that they had gotten this gig.  The most believable theory that I conjured up was that someone in Twin Crystals must have been Greg Gillis' low-life friend that he felt sorry for so he gave him a chance to showcase his musical "abilities."  Despite this horrific opening band, Girl Talk, I still love you.  

The Night Nurse: Girl Talk Live

I have only been to two concerts that have been like a religious experience: the first was Belle and Sebastian in my first year of university, where I snuck in with my fake ID and was so excited because they were my favorite band all throughout high school and I was obsessed.  The second was Sufjan Stevens in St. Andrew's Wesley Church (I actually thought I was Catholic again).  I can officially say that Girl Talk was my third religious-esque experience at a concert.  Greg Gillis came out with his laptop and jammed and we were all dancing aggressively, and none of us even cared that we were all in each other's space.  We just let ourselves go and went a little crazy.  A quarter of the way through the concert, Girl Talk announced, "Vancouver, there are no rules!" and everyone jumped on the stage and danced with him.  I still can't believe I actually got to dance on that stage with him, it was a truly amazing experience.

The Nurse's Station: Black Kids - Partie Traumatic

Following the flawless Wizards of Ahhhs EP, Black Kids have put out their much anticipated debut, Partie Traumatic.  It starts off with one of my favorite songs, "Hit the Heartbrakes," and each song is catchy and I love Reggie Youngblood's voice (it's a bit bizarre but not so bizarre that it's unbearable cough cough Joanna Newsom), and I just find myself hopelessly addicted to all of the tracks (P.S. I hope Youngblood is your actually last name because how killer would that be).  They are going to be the next indie sensation like Vampire Weekend, or the next Shins or whatever, but I can't help but love them.  I don't know why the title of the album is in half French half English though, that does remind me of something the Shins would do (trying to be too clever with their words) but I'll let it pass because I hum the song "I've Underestimated My Charm (Again)" to myself all day and do a little dance to it, so you win this time Black Kids.    

The Nurse Wants to Resuscitate Canadian Indie Music

When Broken Social Scene came out with "You Forgot It In People," Canadian music everywhere exploded. Arcade Fire came out with one of the best Canadian albums of the decade, Feist was not a sell-out, and it seemed like Canada's music scene was on fire. And now... I just feel like it died out. I mean we still have a few artists now like Patrick Watson, and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists that are pretty cool but I just feel like the Canadian Indie Music Scene has died out again and we need a revival! Now we are all used to the stuff that already came out, and I'm tired of people trying to re-do the 80's sound, I don't think Canadian artists should strive for that... (I still love you Cut Copy and M83 but anymore shit that comes out sounding like Duran Duran will make me cry). I think that we could all use a throw-back to the weird folky hippie days of Jane Siberry and old school Sarah McLachlan (way back in the day when she was actually cool). That kind of sounding music didn't work back in those days, but I think we are ready for it now. I don't know, I just feel sorry for Canadian music and wish I could get back on the Canadian Indie Music Bandwagon, it's all just so boring right now.

Upcoming Concerts

July 29 - Conor Oberst from Bright Eyes (Richards)

August 23 - Mirah (Biltmore)

August 28 - Beck (L. Ron Hubbard's basement...with special guest Xenu)

August 30 - Sondre Lerche (St. James Hall)

August 31 - !!! (Richards)

August 31 - Stanley Park Concert (Neko Case, Destroyer, Andrew Bird)

Sept. 1 - Stanley Park Concert (New Pornographers, 1990's, Stevie Jackson from Belle and Sebastian)

Sept. 6 - Mogwai (Commodore)

Sept. 7 - TV On the Radio (Commodore)

Sept. 13 - Spiritualized  (Commodore)

Sept. 18 - Okkevil River (Richards)

Sept. 25 - A Place to Bury Strangers (Biltmore)

Oct 2 - Why?  (Richards)

Oct 4 - High Places (Richards)

Oct 9 - Chad Vangaalen (Richards)

Oct 11 - Black Kids (Richards)

Nov 28 - Joel McHale (the Moore Theatre in Seattle... Sure he's a comedian and not a musician but we love him too much to neglect him on this blog)

Pitchforktv: Pitchfork Music Festival '07

Right now on Pitchforktv, there are some highlights from last year's festival that are getting me amped up for summer festival season (aka my Pemberton adventure in two weeks time).  Anyways, check it out, and please note that Bradford Cox is wearing a sparkly gold dress that he may have borrowed from Fergie, and a crucifix with white pearls... just thought i'd throw it out there in case any of you were morbidly curious.

(http://pitchfork.tv)

My growing crush on the National...

As if I didn't love the National enough already, now the boys have designed a t-shirt for Obama's campaign!  The shirt says Mr. November, the closing track off of their LP Alligator, because the elections are held in November.  Very clever you guys.  All the proceeds of the shirt are also going to Obama's campaign... amazing!  Even though I am Canadian, I am invested in this election.  So I guess you have all discovered I am a democrat (but I must say I admire John McCain, he got knifed in the balls during Vietnam, that's pretty hardcore)

The Nurse's Top 5 Remedies of the Week

1) He Keeps Me Alive - Sally Shapiro

2) Set It Off - Girl Talk

3) Gloomy Planets - the Notwist

4) Language City - Wolf Parade

5) No Excuses - Air France

The Verve is Back!

The Verve is out with a catchy new single called Love is Noise.  It sounds like their older stuff and I am digging it.  You can listen to the song on their MySpace page.  Check it!

The Love Guru - Destroyer of Brain Cells

Sure, this little thing is a music blog, so I'm going to arbitrarily relate music to this entry.  Justin Timberlake was in the Love Guru and... he's a singer.  So technically I can write about it.  Here we go... Mike Myers' movie the Love Guru killed all of my brain cells last night and now I think I'm going to get early onset Alzheimer's.  First of all, the movie was so lazy.  Some of the plot lines were resolved WAYYYYYY too easily, like the huge buildup of the movie was that Roanoke needed to stand up to his mother and wouldn't do it, and at the end of the movie he just ended up standing up to her really easily.  Meanwhile, the whole time I was thinking, if I wrote this movie, this is what I would have done because the writing was so terrible.  Secondly, there were way too many songs that just weren't funny that made me want to go temporarily deaf and blind.  Thirdly, it was weird awkward humor (like having a fight with mops covered in piss).  Lastly, and worst of all, the characters were annoying and the jokes were unfunny (like... having your chant be Law and Order SVU's Mariska Hargitay... get it she has a funny name that sounds like an Indian chant, utilizing midget humor aka the lowest form of humor, and constantly repeating the same jokes over and over again).  The only highlight I will say was not even because of Mike Myers or his writing, it was Stephen Colbert as the hockey commentator/drug addict and we all know that was Colbert improvising and he is just awesome in general so it doesn't count.  I hated this movie so much and am so disappointed in our fellow Canadian Mike Myers that I had to express it somehow.      

Sigur Ros at UBC

Sigur Ros has been scheduled to play on October 7th at the Chan Centre at UBC. All I have to say is that is effin awesome, and I'm really glad these artists are coming out to UBC so I don't have to go all the way downtown because I'm lazy and I hate paying for parking. Plus that's a super cool venue to play at, I've never seen a concert there before (to be honest, I've never seen anything at the Chan Centre.) Woo hoo, should be amazing!

I disagree with you Pitchfork! - The Mogwai Album Cover

So Pitchfork is snubbing the new Mogwai EP Cover... but I think they need to be a little more open-minded.  I think it is radical, (I also have a bit of a bird fetish... probably from growing up with a mother who collected wooden birds) but if I didn't have this fetish I'm pretty sure I still think it would be bad-ass.  Pitchfork you will not dictate how I feel about indie music covers!  

The Nurse Revisits... Sally Shapiro

When I first heard Sally Shapiro's Disco Romance, I didn't think it was anything special.  In fact, I thought it was kind of lame and cheesy.  Upon revisiting this album, I didn't realize that I would fall in love with it.  I don't know what it is, I think maybe her sweet little voice and the cool sounding melodies and beats.  I'm addicted to the track, "He Keeps Me Alive," so the nurse apologizes Sally Shapiro, you are awesome! 

I agree with you Pitchfork! : Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer

Pitchfork is probably my favorite site ever.  It introduced me to most of my favorite bands, and is always consistently delivering amazing reviews, music news, etc... Sometimes though, I tend to disagree with some of their music reviews (I thought the Battles album was awful, was not so fond of the new Titus Andronicus album) so here on this site I want to weed out the good from the bad.  Of course, this is all depending on my personal music taste but put some trust in the nurse, I know what I'm doing.  Anyways, they have just reviewed Wolf Parade's new album, At Mount Zoomer.  I actually didn't really like their first album Apologies to the Queen Mary, I liked one song "Modern Love," but truthfully the rest of the album annoyed me.  The new album is less annoying and sounds like good music.  That's all I really have to say about it, it's a very decent rock album.  It sort of reminded me when Phoenix did Alphabetical (which was a bit cheesy for my taste), and then came out with the catchy It's Never Been Like That.  So I'm pleasantly surprised and have moved Wolf Parade into my good books and am quasi-considering going to see them live. 

The Colostomy Bag: Diva Alert

It's official... M.I.A. has decided that her performance at Bonnaroo is her last for good.  Is she telling the truth or just being an overdramatic diva?  No one knows for sure.  All I know is that M.I.A. is officially eligible for the Colostomy Bag for being terrible at being a musician.  She has all the talent in the world, but you can't be a good musician if you hate performing.  It's too devastating for the fans.  M.I.A. is detrimental to my health, your health, your grandma's health, your dog's health, she has given us all the bird flu so the nurse suggests taking a stand when her next album comes out (if another one ever does).   

Girl Talk Summer Smoke Pitchfork Festival 2007

I just wanted to put this up so I can express my excitement over the new album and upcoming concert. hurrah!

The Nurse's Station: Girl Talk - Feed the Animals

The time was summer of 2006: it was the first time I heard Girl Talk's Night Ripper and I was at first puzzled.  I had heard these songs before, and they were being mashed together into an entire compilation for me to dance to.  I was thrilled!  My friend and I couldn't get enough; we played the album all summer and the next summer after that.  This summer we won't have to put Night Ripper back in because Greg Gillis is back with Feed the Animals.  He is arranging for the album to be purchased via his Illegal Art website and is pulling a Radiohead "In Rainbows" where you can buy the album for however much you will pay.  My personal favorite mashup is Yo la Tengo's Autumn Sweater mixed with Pras' Ghetto Supastar (on the track "Like This").  The song choice for this album is perfect (thank god Greg Gillis incorporated Come on Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runners, that makes my day), and I officially declare Feed the Animals as my summer CD of 2008.

The Nurse's Station: The Notwist - The Devil You and Me

My favorite German rock/electro/weirdo band is back, with their follow-up to the brilliant Neon Golden from 2002.  I have been waiting six years for their new album (they half satisfied me by forming 13 & God, but it still wasn't the same).  The new album, the Devil You and Me, has already been listened to religiously by yours truly.  This album is very similar to Neon Golden: we are serenaded by Markus Acher's sexy seductive voice while there are some weird ambient and electro melodies in the background that we can't help but fall in love with.  My favorite songs include the opener, "Good Lies," "Gloomy Planets," the title track, "The Devil You and Me," and "Boneless."  The Devil You and Me is very easy listening and was well worth the wait.  Way to go you Krauts.

What has the world come to?

I just saw on Craig's list that someone is willing to trade their sold out Radiohead tickets for New Kids on the Block tickets.  Right now, I feel like I got food poisoning or something.  There is a lot of nausea.  Shame on you whoever you are. 

M.I.A. - Is it Hate or Love?

I can't decide whether or not I hate or love M.I.A. On the one hand, she has invented a totally innovative genre of music that is pretty cool and insane to dance to. On the other, she is the worst diva of all time. This year she has cancelled her European tours; not because of Visa issues or an injury or anything along those lines, but because, wait for it... she's tired and doesn't want to do it. She needs a break from what she says is like 6 months straight of clubbing, so she thinks it's fair to just cancel on her commitments. You're a musician: this is what you are paid to do, suck it up, get on the stage, take naps in the afternoon, whatever, you can figure it out. This is what you signed up for! Every musician goes through the same thing; it is exhausting to perform, but they still go on and do it. It just pisses me off because she totally can get away with it. Her music is so amazing and her show is so energetic that people will keep going to see her no matter what. She was amazing at Sasquatch but I am starting to regret the awesome blue holographic M.I.A. shirt that I purchased. Maybe I'll have to burn it... I'm warning you M.I.A. - if you keep this up you will soon be added to the colostomy bag...

The Colostomy Bag: Death Cab for Cutie at Sasquatch

Sometimes here at the Nurse's station, among all the glorious and coveted music, we come across a few epic disasters. ranging from shit-stinking albums to bowel obstructing performances.  Most recently, Death Cab for Cutie's performance at Sasquatch Music Festival has been added to the Colostomy Bag.  My main problem with Death Cab is their attitude problem (and also Ben Gibbard's sideburns).  They act like they are the single greatest band to exist, when in truth, they are just another cookie-cutter pop band that lacks originality.  Also, they may rival Morrissey for being the popes of mope, but Morrissey commits more to his whining.  Death Cab will take a song, make it sound upbeat but then call it "No Sunshine" just to... I don't know... be ironic or something?  All I know is that I'm growing very tired of their repetitive emo behavior.  Anyways, Death Cab used to be one of my favorite bands in high school but now I'm just mad at them.  I left their performance halfway at Sasquatch to see Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks (who were much more kick-ass) because to be perfectly frank, I was bored.  They lack so much energy when they are up on stage and it causes me to doubt whether music is their passion.  All in all, the boys of Death Cab lack spice and need to bring some heat to their performances or else they will be playing at bar mitzvah's and backyard weddings in the next few years.

Upcoming Concerts (that are worth our time)

June 26: The Dodos - Bourbon

June 29: Frog Eyes - Media Club

July 12: Wolf Parade - Commodore 

July 18: Mark Farina - Commodore

July 24: Girl Talk - Commodore (guaranteed you will see me there shaking it)

July 24: No Age - Richards (who was the scheduling genius that put No Age and Girl Talk on the same night??  GRRRRR)

July 26: Les Savy Fav - Commodore

July 30: Boris - Richards

August 1: The Faint - Commodore

August 19: Radiohead - Thunderbird Stadium ( G YA!!!)

August 28: Beck - Orpheum

August 31 and September 1: Stanley Park thing featuring Neko Case, Destroyer, Andrew Bird, New Pornographers, 1990's, and Belle and Sebastian's Stevie Jackson

September 2: Battles - Richards (even though I hate them I'm sure some of you kids out there will be interested)

September 6: Mogwai - Commodore

September 18: The Raconteurs - Malkin Bowl

The Nurse's Top 5 Remedies of the Week

Do you feel like you have musical-itus?  Some symptoms may include that your head is throbbing and your throat is tingling - you can't seem to find any good tunes these days and just want to spend the whole day in bed.  Don't worry... the nurse has a prescription for that.  Here are my top 5 of the week, plus a guilty pleasure... (we aren't that snobby on this blog)

1) Hearts on Fire - Cut Copy

2) Blindsided - Bon Iver

3) We Own the Sky - M83

4) Rooks - Shearwater

5) Arcadia - Apparat

Guilty Pleasure:

-Shake it by Metro Station

The Nurse's Station: Deerhunter - Microcastle

I may love Deerhunter more than Omio Japan (UBC students you know what I'm talking about), and that is a gutsy statement on my behalf, seeing as I eat there everyday.

I'm pleased to report that Deerhunter has done it again! The new album goes in a completely different direction from Cryptograms (in a good way). Cryptograms was a bit of a crazy tripped out album for weirdos, whereas Microcastles appeals to a wider audience and is more "indie" accessible I guess you could say. My favorite song is "Nothing Ever Happened" - I've been listening to it non-stop on my playlist. So if you are in the mood for a good remedy that will kick your music taste up a notch, the nurse suggests going on a little google search to preview the album (or you can check out a couple of the songs on Deerhunter's MySpace).