happy november!

fall has definitely arrived in force. felt like the snow the other day, wouldn't you say? i caught broken social scene on saturday, who were really incredible, and made all the moreso when joined by leslie feist for "shoreline" and "almost crimes." she even played drums on "almost crimes" and ramped up the energy. with ten people already on stage, you'd think they'd be at capacity, but feist was really a catalyst for some great stuff. the almost casual way the group approached having horn players come up mid-song and the switching of instruments among principal members was laudable and unusual. usually when you get that many people on stage, it becomes a tightly choreographed dance and stage show, but they just acted like it was a, for lack of a better term, jam session.

i need to heartily recommend a disc i just got from duluth-er mary bue. about half the tracks were produced by alan sparhawk of low and you'd think that wouldn't make a big difference since most of it is just piano and vocals, but it does. it's pretty easy to mess up piano and voice by making it too sparkly, but the disc is imbued with a very distinct sound. it's like you've woken up mid-morning on an overcast sunday on lake superior by the sound of muted music, and as you wander downstairs you find ms. bue seated at the creaky piano in the parlor, just playing for herself. the tunes are great and all self-penned.