It's Hard to Admit Sometimes...

/start rather pointless ramble...

nerd:

1.	a stupid, irritating, ineffectual, or unattractive person.

2.	an intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsocial hobby or pursuit: a computer nerd.

Ok, well, the definition of "nerd" is one that isn't as pleasant as I expected. I was going to write "Hey, look, I'm a nerd." But now, it's hard to justify that title with a definition like that. But alas, I am a nerd, a geek, a gamer and internet whore. I like video games and MMORPGS, I like reading about wormholes and about the possibility of life on other planets. But I also like music. One of the reasons I began to really listen to whole albums as opposed to single tracks is because when I played World of Warcraft (yes, WoW, I played it. I played it hard.) I would throw on an album and just leave it. By doing this I discovered an untold amount of music by just letting my playlists play or letting shuffle do the work for a couple of hours.

Ok, so now you might be asking, "why the fuck is Blaz (which happened to be my name for two years on Azshara/Mug'thol [70 Warlock]) admitting that he is a loser?". Well, it's because I recently fell in love with a song by the artist known as Datarock.

/end rather pointless ramble...

So I know that Datarock has been around for some time, their debut album Datarock Datarock was released in 2005 on the band's own label YAP (Young Aspiring Professionals) and was met with generally favourable reviews; the deities at Pitchfork gave it a 7.8 which isn't so bad. One of my favourite Datarock tracks, and the one that caused all this rambling, is entitled Computer Camp Love and is probably the best pseudo-cover of a song from the movie Grease. Yes, you read correctly, it's a pseudo-cover from the movie Grease. It's not a true cover but it uses elements of the song and you can tell it's sort of a tribute to Summer Lovin'. Rather brilliant if I can say so myself. So, if you are a self respecting "nerd" I urge you to listen to the track below and have yourself a laugh.

Listen, life's alright outside the screen...it's just better inside.

Datarock - Computer Camp Love

Cheers,
MF Blaz

oh oh wait, and ps.
if you act now you can get this really great fan-made music video for the incredibly low price of free ninety-nine.

MIA > JUSTICE (PART 2 - MIA)

Though no official announcement has been made thus far, M.I.A. has to be the surefire winner of this summer’s “buzz acronym” at the acclaimed 2007 Toronto Pop Culture Linguistics awards. Surrounding the lead-up and release of her sophomore effort Kala as well as her stop at V-Fest Toronto in August, the Sri-Lankan/British hybrid M.I.A. has covered a lot of ground publicity-wise in the past few months. She managed to land herself on the covers of every local music and culture publication lucky enough to score itself even a tiny piece of the PR pie, which was inhaled in record time by writers across the continent.

This past Saturday saw the culmination of all the hype, as she performed a sold out show at the Kool Haus, as part of the Red Bull Music Academy. The roster for the show was impressive all-round, with Holy Fuck (who I missed) and Datarock opening, as well as an ill-fated pseudo performance by Canadian two-piece the Carps, who threw in the towel to a non-responsive crowd after only two songs. (“Fuck it. We tried.”)

Datarock was just getting started as I stepped in. Clad in their trademark red-on-red matching jumpsuits, they looked a little more light-hearted (cheesy) than I generally prefer my rock bands. But nonetheless, the entertainment value was high, particularly during their karaoke-style closing number, (I've Had) The Time of my Life, solidifying that even the worst parts of the 1980's have their place at an M.I.A. show.

M.I.A. took the stage at 11:30ish, coincidentally just as the whole place went up in flames. Though militant terrorism was immediately suspected, investigators believe that it was in fact the combination of deafening bass, unparalleled electricity, and the M.I.A. being the hottest substance on earth right now, which set off the blaze. It ripped through the entire place for over an hour, burning through the hottest of shit the whole time, and many believed it could have gone much longer. Nonetheless, it was just long enough to spread 3rd degree burns across the face of every audience member; most of whom either went directly to the emergency room or treated their damaged flesh with alcohol and partied the fuck out of the night at one of sixty-five different after parties. I was definitely one of the latter.


Terribly imagery aside, this show is going down as likely one of the best of the year, and certainly the best of what was a much hyped week in the city. If you were there to hear the sound of gunshots erupt over the insane soundsystem during Paper Planes "All I wanna do is (BANG BANG BANG BANG!)/And (KKKAAAA CHING!)/And take your money", or to watch the swarms of audience members crash the stage during Bird Flu I’m certain you can share in my glowing opinion. If you got stuck without a ticket (as hundreds did), take this as a hard-to-swallow lesson: Toronto likes M.I.A. a whole lot.

M.I.A. - $20
M.I.A. - Paper Planes
M.I.A. - U.R.A.Q.T. (Hot Chip Remix)
Datarock - Fa Fa Fa (Get Shakes Remix)
Datarock - Princess

- bbbykmbrly.

Remix Sunday: I Used To Dance With My Daddy

I was lucky enough to catch Datatrock at the Luminaire on Thursday night, and what a show it was. I could try to descibe the madness that ensued myself, but it's better for everyone if you just read these reviews. To top it all off, the crazy Norwegians handed out free I Used To Dance With My Daddy remix singles autographed by the band to everyone at the end of the show. Thanks, dudes.

Datarock - I Used To Dance With My Daddy (Para One Remix)

- a.m.p.m.