Everyone Can Sing

I've learned this is not the case. Ok, that's not entirely true. Everyone can sing. But that doesn't mean anyone wants to listen to you. This has been crystalized for me recently by the whole Myspace phenomenon. I've been listening to a lot of music and a handful of it is great and an ocean of it is terrible. That's fine, I'm sure lots of folks will lump me in the ocean. I'm ok with that, because our music makes us happy and that's why you should do it. If it moves the masses, you can call it a career. If not, you can call it art. The jury's out on us, but maybe this weekend will give us some clarification.

You see, I'm trying to plan out my NXNE weekend. It's fucking ridiculous. Something like 400+ bands in 100 bars over 3 nights. Of which we are one. I've been listening to music and checking out band websites for the last 4 hours trying to figure out how to spend 3 evenings of my life. Here's what I've learned:

1. There’s a lot of terrible bands in this goddamned festival.
2. There’s a handful of really good bands in this goddamned festival.
3. Len's Haulage www.myspace.com/lenshaulage is a band with a terrible name, a not bad sound and the worst bio ever
4. Killthelights (a Montreal/Toronto band - not the London band of the same name) www.myspace.com/killthelightsband has fantastic photography and some interesting guitar work and a cool sound
5. Panic & The Rebel Emergency (www.panicandtherebels.com) is not at ALL what I thought they’d sound like. It's inexplicably like biting into an orange and tasting grape. I kind of dig them
6. The Waking Eyes (www.myspace.com/thewakingeyes) Five words. What's. The. Big. Fucking. Deal?
7. Robin Black and Oliver Black are not related, nor are they the same person. One is a band with a mannish looking woman and the other is a band with a very feminine looking man. I can't say for sure which is which.
8. Hello Operator (www.myspace.com/hellooperatormusic) can die. Put them on a plane, fill it with snakes, chart a lengthy flight and crash that motherfucker. They're opening for Hilary Duff on her next tour. That's great. And then they should be thrown in a mass grave with her. And someone can return their clothes to the Strokes, The White Stripes, the Hives or whatever shitty band they stole them from.
9. There is a bar in Toronto called Hooch. Who knew? To me, it conjures images of very strong, redneck liquor and very loose, redneck women. This is not entirely a bad thing.
10. The Nods (www.myspace.com/thenods) have some serious eye problems and used to be called Castrati. That's as interesting as they get.

If you're hitting NXNE, I wish you luck. I will quote Guster. "Be calm, be brave...it'll be ok." See you on the other side.