The Tree of Links (May 15th, 2024)

TGIF! I've had a busy week of skateboarding, softball, and security shifts for the UBC's pro-Palestine encampment, so I'm going to keep this one short.

I'm happy to share that I permanently deactivated my account on X.com (a.k.a. Elon Musk's porn-bot-filled, pay-to-play online portal to hell) this morning, which feels very freeing :-)

Read on for a selection of links to my recent writing, recommendations, upcoming shows, and more!

Where I'm Playing

If you're near so-called Vancouver this weekend, my band Tough Age is playing a FREE show on Saturday, May 18th at the new location of Lucky's Comics (3128 Main Street). From 9-11 pm, we'll be joined by WUT and YEP, two of my fav local bands, and the event will kick off this year's Vancouver Comics Art Festival. Come on out if you like DIY music and/or comic books!

In other news, my other band Kerkland Jerks is going into the studio this weekend to record our debut album with producer Gal Av-Gay from Dumb! We're also playing an outdoor, all-ages afternoon show at the Sled Island festival in Calgary on Saturday, June 22nd at Dandy Brewing, once again joined by WUT and Big Rig!

What I've Written Recently

If you missed my recent newsletters from this very website, please start by reading my first three essays on the following topics:

I was honoured to write the bio for the new album from Deron Johnson, the keyboardist who performed on Miles Davis's final studio record, alongside countless other amazing credits. You can now hear the first single from Johnson's Free to Dance on Bandcamp. Read on for an excerpt from my bio, before the album is released on June 28th from Colorfield Records.

“You might not know their name, but you’ve heard their music” is an enduring cliche among writers. For acclaimed, LA-based jazz keyboardist Deron Johnson, it’s a song that rings true.

At age 22 in the late 1980s, after three years at California State University, the young musician joined rising pop diva Paula Abdul on a cross-country tour in support of her debut album. That led to a series of collaborations ranging from Damien Rice to David Sanborn, not to mention Johnson’s memorable stint with Canadian alt-rock star Alanis Morisette. Yet perhaps his most notable credit is playing keys on Miles Davis’s final 1992 studio album, Doo-Bop.

“Miles really was the Prince of Darkness, man,” says Johnson. “I remember watching him in the booth while he gave directions. I love being in the studio with a cat like John Keltner who can do absolutely anything, but watching Miles was something different. You couldn’t play what he played because it was just too perfect—lathered with so much vibe and all of the right notes. That’s what it was for me. I was dumbfounded.”

Those brushes with some of music’s greatest talents laid the groundwork for Johnson’s new album, Free to Dance. Recorded with producer Pete Min (Feist, The Strokes, Orville Peck) at his LA studio homebase, Lucy’s Meat Market, the collection of spellbinding, largely instrumental pieces came together in 10 improvised sessions.

“I would walk in and Pete would ask me ‘what do you want to jump on?’” laughs Johnson, who deftly danced across unusual instruments such as the Persian santur, gamelan strips, and Tom Thumb piano.

More Writing

Jack Name album review (Aquarium Drunkard)

New Age Doom and Tuvaband album review (Musicworks)

What I've Watched or Read Recently

Share my feelings that social media and the internet as a whole are rapidly growing worse? Watch this video from Some More News and get saved.

Sick of celebrities supporting Israel? Watch this video from The Kavernacle and find out how you can join the growing protest movement. Blocking famous people from the ruling class is fun, plus it affects their bottom line, which is probably the best way to show them that their actions (or inactions) have consequences.

Only Mariana Timony, one of my intrepid editors at Bandcamp Daily, could get away with dissing a band and praising them in the same album review, like she recently did with The Lemon Twigs. Like everything Mariana writes, it's a masterclass in hating. The Lemon Twigs' new album is lovely, by the way!

What I've Been Listening to Lately

Banggz is an up and coming Nigerian-Canadian musician based in Ottawa. The music video for his new song, "OUTSIDE," is an excellent introduction to Banggz' sound, combining smooth rhymes with bubbly, Afrobeat-inspired electronic pop. He's one of the most exciting new hip-hop artists I've come across recently, so I hope this song and video whet your appetite for more music coming down the pipe in summer 2024 and beyond. Go, Banggz, go!