I Clear My Throat, Ahem:

In a bit of a rush here - have to flee to work after posting this.

First of all, I must make a beverage suggestion: Red Rio Grapefruit Juice + Sprite (half 'n half) = Delicious. Try it. I'm addicted to it.

Second: Don't teach your cat to say or mimic "hello" if he/she is extremely vocal, they will do it under your door for all hours during the night trying to gain your attention.

Third: I'm still really raving about Ill Scarlett, so check out their MTV Interview (off to the side there - clickity-click! It's fairly amusing, actually) or just head on over to their website and listen to some of their stuff via MySpace.
They're still on tour! They might be coming closer to you any day now! Go, go!

A Quick Rambling O' Red.

There's always been something about the winter season that I just can't bring myself to enjoy - is it the bitter cold, is it the snow, is it the constantly wishing for a Chinook (I live in Alberta, we get those here... it's when the weather gets warm all of a sudden)?

Chinook [shi-nook, -nook, chi-]
n.
1. A moist warm wind blowing from the sea in coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest.
2. A warm dry wind that descends from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, causing a rapid rise in temperature.
(Thank you, Dictionary.com)

This is my front lawn.

Luckily, I don't have to be at work today because I can sit in my living room - close the blinds, and pretend it's just too bright outside. Oh, and another thing I love to complain about during the winter season is how people drive! As soon as we have a random snow fall, everyone loses their common sense behind the wheel causing accidents and traffic jams, etc. Ridiculous, I say!

Anyhow, I've been listening to the new The Foo Fighters live album ("Skin & Bones") lately and the main thing that excites me about it is the fact that there's a newer version of Dave Grohl's "Marigold" on there (a song he wrote when he was drumming for Nirvana and also one of my favourite songs in the entire universe). When I recieved the album, I turned it over and immediately got excited when I saw the title of this song. The Foo Fighters rock, too. Anyhow, the album itself is pretty well done - and well, it should be, it's the Foo Fighters. Do I need to say it again? They rock. I'm usually not big on listening to live albums, the last live album I bought was a Rage Against the Machine live album and well - I haven't touched it since, which is sad, because I love RATM. I've just never been able to get into them, but this one is produced quite nicely and it's not grainy. I enjoy it. It's definitely uploaded to my Sony Walkman S706 (an object which is now my new best friend, by the way) and I have been listening to it on my way to and from work for the past week, it's nice to chill out to on the bus. It takes me somewhere else, that's for sure - rather than having me aggrivated at bus passangers.

Ah, there's another thing I could complain a lot about - transit. I am not a fan of transit, and ever since I have been without my vehicle (accident earlier this year - completely not my fault by the way) I have had to put up with transit. I used to be really against people listening to their walkmans all of the time, but now I know why people find such solice in it. It keeps you from getting aggrivated. My days are better, I'm no longer angry when I get off the bus. It's nice. I'm all sorts of peaceful right now.

But I'm still not a fan of the cold. Grumble-grumble. Hope everyone is excited for the Holidays, I'm starting to notice more and more Christmas lights go up. It's getting near, the fat man's coming! Start your Christmas shopping! (I should follow my own suggestion... I'm one of those last minute shoppers.)

Ill Scarlett's Hop Through Cowtown

I had the pleasure of interviewing all five members of illScarlett (Will - guitar, Alex - vocals and guitar, John - bass guitar, Pat - Turn tables, and Suavic - drums) and spending the rest of the evening with these great guys and their close friend/merchman, Don. They played at The Underground here in Calgary, an all-ages show which the kids absolutely loved - they all flocked towards their merch table once they finished their set. Unfortunately, I'm going to admit, the sound system there did not do them justice, for their sound is big and wide (in my own description). I like saying they sound like a new age Sublime, but they definitely have their very own sound at the same time. They've got a tight sound, and the next time they roll through this city I will definitely be there as a fan, not just to ask questions.

First of all, of course, I wanted to find out how these guys got together for when I went to do a little research on the guys before I met up with them I could find no biographies or information on how they got together.

RED: How did you guys start out the band, what was your initial goal when you first got together?

Suavic: Alex and I, jamming in the basement - just wanting to start a band and looking for the right people to play with. Will joined the band, as did John and Pat. Just starting out jamming in the hometown area (Mississauga) and building up our own fan base. We knew this is what we had to do.

RED: How do you feel about where you are now musically, with the label and in general?

Will: Pretty damn good.
Pat: The label gives us the opportunity to get it out there, to a lot more people than we could ever imagine.
Alex: Yeah. They give us total control, and things are a lot easier now to get things done when it's needed and a lot faster.

RED: What do you plan to do now, have your goals changed or are the same?

Will: We've got a long way to go. We have to build our base out here in the West, the States, Europe, and Australia.
Pat: Up to this point our goals have been accomplished, but there's a lot of the same goals but now on a bigger level.

I sort of cut in here and asked if it had been a long hard haul for them or if they regarded their experiences and progress as an easy trip.

Suavic: It just kind of happened in a way, there's always little dry spells where something's not going the way we wanted it to, but it was great steady progression.
Alex: It wasn't over night or anything, so we still have our feet on the ground - but it was always progressing for us so we were never discouraged.

So far their favourite things about touring are jamming together, having a good time with their fans, and enjoying the new experiences each new city brings them. One bad spell where on tour they had an accident with their van, but they're alright and rarin' to go. "Statistically, we were going to get into at least one car accident," said Alex.

After listening to their album and seeing them together on stage, they've definitely got a feel for one another and their timing is great. They're a bunch of guys in their early 20's with a few things to say to this world, and they're out there with a perfect opportunity to do just that. I wish them luck, and like I said, I hope they'll be back soon because I'll be there for support for sure. They're comfortable with their label, and they're really happy to play for an audience - they enjoy playing music more than anything else, and you can tell. They're laid back, and I have gained a lot of respect for them by just hangin' out for a while and learning about how they've got to where they are now and what they plan to do with it. They're going to do more than well.

Check out their MySpace website (some great tunes on there, check out "Rally"):
http://www.myspace.com/illscarlett
IllScarlett’s Official Website:
http://www.illscarlett.com

HEY, Misery Loves Company, right?

So, tell me, readers and members, what is it exactly that you like to do with your spare time? Let's get involved here rather than write-writing to promote and express our general like-ness for the music in our collections. I am curious as to how many people actually visit this site, other than us writers. I want to learn more about our reading audience and what they'd like to see.

Well,

I will be interviewing Ill Scarlett on Sunday - is there anything you readers would like to know?

I don't even care if you post your questions anonymously, just give me questions to work with. I already have a theme I'm basing the entire interview on, but I'd like a few things in there that the readers are curious about. So, please, give me something to work with.

Let's get INVOLVED people, that's what this website is all about - getting involved, so let's work on it. Let's post a few more comments than usual, let's get with it!

COME ON!!?!

Click Superbi Bus To Enter!

Am I hearing a country rock sound coming out of the UK right now? This is pretty cool, you know. The album I'm talking about would be "Superbi" by The Beautiful South. They call their style of music alternative country - I'm going to be completely honest here and tell you that I am not a country fan, but it's not like the normal country I'm usually hearing from North American artists - there's few artists that I can actually stand when it comes to country music. Now, The Beautiful South are a different story altogether strangely enough. First of all, they're from England (I heart the UK) and second - I am seriously having fun listening to this. I'm almost ready to get up and start dancing around. I've never heard anything by this group before, so I don't really have much to compare it on. But, on their website, they have a comparison to some of their older albums. And I quote:

"One of the striking differences between this and previous Beautiful South albums is that it doesn't sound like previous Beautiful South albums. New instruments have appeared, steel guitars, dobros, and things that don't
sound tinkly or warm." (Excerpt from About The Band, by David Quantick 2006)

I think that describes what I'm hearing best. So, you know what, I'm going to sit back, think about trolloping around on horsies and drink my raspberry juice. OH, and look, they're from Manchester! From where most of my family is from, I'm totally getting my Aunts into this one. My favourite track is the fourth, "The Cat Loves The Mouse."

Website: http://www.beautifulsouth.co.uk/

"Give 'Em All A Big Fat Lip" is What I'm Sayin'

HEYO! It's been a while. So, I'm going to be completely honest with you, this is the first time I have even heard of The Whigs (Website: http://www.thewhigs.com/) - and browsing around their websites whilst listening to their album that I have here "Give 'Em All A Big Fat Lip" I've decided that these dudes seem like pretty chillin' guys. I'm definitely groovin' to the tunes here - like, a lot.

So this album in particular (their very first album) was recorded last year in July ('o5) at the Ross Crane House in Athens, Georgia. I would be interested in finding out exactly why they chose this house to do their recording in, because - well, I bet you they have a pretty interesting reason. Anyhow, the sound is great. It makes me comfortable. I can't really think of anyone who they remind me of, but it's not nessicarily a new sound. I find it to be a really fun sound, I would definitely like to see these guys play live to see what kind of energy they have about them. So, hopefully they come up to Canada some time soon so I can give you the scoop - or MAYBE, some of you might end up joining me in checking all of this out. I'm always curious to see what the people behind the music are all about and witness their effect on their audiences. It's way wicked when you can catch a few guys that can pull their audience tight to the front even if it's just to rock back and forth.

Anyhow, CHECK IT OUT. You can buy the album online from their store that they have listed on their website: http://www.thewhigs.com/cart.html, OR check 'em out on their website where they have some MP3's you can take a listen to. I'm quite happy about adding this album to my collection, that's for sure. Awesome music to sit down and chill out to, definitely.