In this column we talk to musicians; sometimes about the music they make, sometimes about whatever tangent they happen to go off on. And once in a while we may talk to non-musicians as well, just to keep you on your toes.

In this installment, we talk to local (Toronto) DJ/producer Eric Downer about life, beats, camping and soul destruction (among other things).

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The other day, the short list for the Polaris Music Prize was announced, and even though there’s been some heated controversy over who got snubbed when the long list was announced (Sunset Rubdown, for instance), it’s nice to see that one Toronto band made the cut. Holy Fuck go on to the next round of judging, where the 178 member jury will pick one deserving artist to win the grand prize: $20,000 to put towards recording another album.

The local electronic outfit’s album, LP, will be competing against Vancouver’s Black Mountain’s In The Future, Montréal’s Plants and Animals’ Parc Avenue and Stars’ In Our Bedroom After The War, London’s Basia Bulat’s Oh, My Darling and Shad’s The Old Prince, Dundas’ Caribou’s Andorra, Ottawa’s Kathleen Edwards’ Asking For Flowers, Charlottetown’s Two Hours Traffic’s Little Jabs and Winnipeg’s The Weakerthans’ Reunion Tour.

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When I checked my Gmail this morning if found an interesting link from Adam Gorman of Manchester’s The Travelling Band:

 
This is a documentary produced by Dig for Fire looking at the scene in Manchester’s Chorlton-cum-Hardy neighbourhood and it’s recent development as far as new folk music is concerned.
 
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In this column we talk to musicians; sometimes about the music they make, sometimes about whatever tangent they happen to go off on. And once in a while we may talk to non-musicians as well, just to keep you on your toes.

In this installment, we talk to manic frontman for Toronto’s Run with the Kittens, Nate Mills (aka Nate Milk) about bikes, petty theft, cocaine, devotion, and comedy.

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After retiring from professional punk rock in 1998 to fulfill his life-long dream of joining Boston’s fire department, ex-Dropkick Murphys frontman Michael McColgan put together Street Dogs in 2002 to help him vent his creative urges. Now with the band is set to release their fourth album, State of Grace, McColgan has had to take a leave of absence from the BFD in order to keep up with the demand for Street Dogs live dates (they’re playing all summer on the Warped Tour).

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Featuring Bowie on Bowie, The New Pornographers are raising money for good causes and Crtstal Castles get a slap on the wrist at Glastonbury

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Subscribers to the Daily Mail, like my little sister, got one hell of a treat in the Sunday edition - a CD of David Bowie’s all-time career best tunes as chosen by the man himself. Big surprise; some of them are pretty obscure tracks you can’t get through the standard greatest hits collections. Big bonus, extensive liner notes written by Bowie as well.
 
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Okay, I guess when you consider that everything on this site is free, the above statement doesn’t mean much, unless you actually take the time to watch through all five of these in which case you’ll really appreciate the true value of what’s being delivered on this page.
 

 
The one thing I really love about David Ford’s video work is that he never does the cop-out pantomime and lip sync you get with 99.99999% of all videos ever made by anyone else. With Ford, you always get a new perspective on the tune, such as his overdub bonanza reinterpretations of “Go to Hell” and “State of the Union.”
 
This version of “Alright Now,” originally from Ford’s most recent LP Songs for the Road, features Ford performing the song in four takes (one each for guitar, piano, bass and drums).
 
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