The Dojo Workhorse: Weapons-grade Romantic

"The Dojo Workhorse" is another project from Calgary's Dan Vacon, who you may remember from his other band "The Dudes". He's got a lot of play on CBC Radio 3 and CKUA as well as CJSR and CJSW in Edmonton and Calgary. That's really good, because more people should be hearing his music!

Jason Collett: Rat-a-tat-tat

"Rat-a-tat-tat" is Jason Collett's latest attempt to have his name listed as an alternate definition of "Canadian music" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Jason is taking time off from the ubiquitous Canadian super-group "Broken Social Scene" and his other band "Zeus" and from collaborations with the Weakerthans and Hawksley Workman to collaborate with members of Broken Social Scene, Zeus and the Weakerthans, Metric, maybe Feist and possibly Hawksley Workman on his new album "Rat-a-tat-tat". I apologize if this sounds a little negative, that's not my intention. He isn't actually collaborating with that many people on this album. I'm kind of exaggerating a bit.

Pat Metheny: Orchestrion

No, "Orchestrion" isn't a transformer who changes into a concert hall. This is the latest album from that monster of modern jazz, Pat Metheny. It's a pretty intense album too! Oddly enough, Pat Metheny got into jazz the same way I did. He was a huge fan of Wes Montgomery. I'm not trying to compare myself to Pat Metheny at all, I just find it a funny coincidence is all.  The difference between myself and Pat Metheny is (obviously) he is awesome, and I am not.

Grandmaster Flash, The Furious Five, Grandmaster Melle Mel: The Greatest Hits

I usually avoid posting old stuff because everyone has heard it already, but this one is tough to resist. I found it in a used record store for $12 (which is pretty pricey! Most are only $10!)

Jeff Beck: Emotion & Commotion

I think everyone knows I'm a fan of Jeff Beck. his "Blow by blow" album gets a lot of rotation in my player, and his recent DVD "Live at Ronnie Scott's" is a crazy amount of fun to watch, no less because of his collaboration with the amazing Tal Wilkenfeld. He's just an outstanding guitarist, and it's kind of surprising he isn't more famous than he is. Mind you, instrumental guitar is one of those things that doesn't seem to hit the mainstream very easily. It perplexes me, but I guess I'm the wrong person to ask about that.

Amelia Curran: Hunter Hunter

I'm feeling a bit lazy, so I think I'm just going to borrow a line from the National Post that was up on Wikipedia, particularly because I think they hit the nail square on the head.

“a bit like Leonard Cohen being channeled in a dusty saloon by Patsy Cline.”

3 Inches of Blood: Here Waits Thy Doom

Here waits thy doom. 3 Inches of Blood has pointed it out for you so you don't have to look for it. It's a clumsy fall down a staircase, if you were wondering.