Category: Update

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Best of 2010: Favourite Band Moments Pt.2

Dog Is Blue Band Photo By Luther Mallory

Picking up where we left off earlier this week, here are the rest of our favourite moments of the year (in chronological order). Oddly enough, these all take place in the final stretch of 2010…

5. Going Analog

This one may sound like a vague hippie sentiment, but it’s not. Digital is great—we sometimes just like to get away from the computer. Case in point, this year we started demoing on an old cassette 4-track, but then came across a great setup including an 8-track Fostex R8 reel to reel recorder with tons of tape and a huge matching 812 mixer. A bit of crazy glue later and we had an entire reel of new demos, including the live demo of our new song, “Tortoise.” Most of this is probably gibberish to you non-gearheads (like Laura), but I assure you, it’s awesome.

Continue reading “Best of 2010: Favourite Band Moments Pt.2”

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Best of 2010: Our 10 Favourite Albums By Other Bands

Boxer the Horse - Would You PleaseZeus - Say UsBorn Ruffians - Say UsBrasstronaut - Mt. ChimaeraHooded Fang - Hooded FangSpoon TransferenceBroken Bells - Broken BellsYeasayer - Odd BloodWinter Gloves - All RedThe Acorn - No GhostForest City Lovers - CarriageThe Gertrudes - Dawn Time Riot

I never really understood musicians who don’t listen to music. We listen to a lot of it. Hell, one of the reasons why Laura and I are so jazzed to make music of our own is that we’re always so inspired by the great stuff coming out of our speakers.

In that regard, and in keeping with this week’s Favourite Band Moments of 2010 recap (the second half is coming soon), here’s a look at a dozen albums we couldn’t get enough of this year in very rough order:

Boxer the Horse – Would You Please
Zeus – Say Us
Born Ruffians – Say It
Brasstronaut – Mt. Chimaera
Hooded Fang – Hooded Fang
Spoon – Transference
Broken Bells – Broken Bells
Yeasayer – Odd Blood
Winter Gloves – All Red
The Acorn – No Ghost
Forest City Lovers – Carriage
The Gertrudes – Dawn Time Riot

I’m sure we forgot a few, but definitely check these albums out—you won’t be disappointed! Stay tuned for our favourite songs of the year later this week.

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Best of 2010: Favourite Band Moments Pt.1

Dog Is Blue band photo by Luther MalloryIt’s always a fun year when you’re in a band. Being the season of year end lists, we’ve put together our favourite moments of 2010. I should preface this by saying that our definition of “Favourite” is a bit odd, as some of our most-revered shows have been the worst ones—the sort that if you can get through and still want to play another the next day then you know you can hack it. Keeping that in mind, here are Dog Is Blue’s top moments of the year in chronological order:

1. OndaRock Compilation

The year started off with a bang as, after writing a great review of our debut album …Makes Ghost Noises, Italian music magazine, OndaRock, asked us to send a brand new song to be part of a sort of “bands to watch” compilation. “Hot Air Balloons (and Submarines)” was born. The compilation was a great collection of music and it lit the fire under our butts to start the next item on the list…

Continue reading “Best of 2010: Favourite Band Moments Pt.1”

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Dog Has Blues: Studio Space No More

Dog Is Blue Photo by Luther MalloryWell, it was good while it lasted. Sort of.

We had an amazing studio space for all of a month. It was a great place where Laura was able to work on art and the band could practice and record new material (like last week’s demo of our new song, “Southern Ontario”), all outside the confines of our already cramped apartment. I was looking forward to posting pictures of the space and videos of the band at work. It was all sunshine and lollipops. Hell, we had even started jamming on a new seasonal song…

Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

I’m pretty sure the frazzled landlord just got a better offer (it all boils down to money, doesn’t it?). He broke up with us over text message.

The good news is that he was so flaky that we were never actually able to pay rent, so all that really happened was we wasted time moving in and out and got our hopes up. Now it’s all piled in our apartment*—the living room looks like someone made a fort out of an antique market.

Happy holidays indeed.

* That wonderful Howard Combo Organ we scored a few weeks back is now confined to its case, on end between our front door and the bathroom. Oh, the indignity!
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Laura Heaney’s Men with Facial Hair

Ray Mitchell, by Laura HeaneyWhen Laura’s not busy being half of Dog Is Blue—and generally keeping me in line—her time is spent as an excellent Toronto-based visual artist. Specializing in photo-realistic portraits, her most recent series, “Men with Facial Hair,” depicts men from all walks of life with various forms of facial whiskers.

Initially complete portraits, she’s had to start leaving portions of each new drawing in a sketched state (see the excellent image to the left* for an example), as they are so realistic that passers-by were dismissing them as black and white photography. The resulting portraits demonstrate her uncanny attention to detail while also allowing her to manipulate focus and composition to great dramatic effect.

Most of the images can be seen at Laura’s website, but they are all currently on display at Broadview Espresso, an amazing little coffee shop at 817 Broadview Ave. in Toronto. They’ll be there until the end of the month, but tonight is the official “opening” so come by between 7:30-10:30pm to see these amazing pieces in person and show your support.

Oh, and if you look closely enough you might just find a portrait of yours truly in there somewhere too.

*The above photo is Ray Mitchell, Guelphite extraordinaire—he ran for mayor this year—and Jenny Omnichord‘s father. He’s a good friend to the band and makes for an excellent subject.
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Dog Is Blue on Talk Radio

Foxtex 812 MIxerMy friend called me up today and said “I’m in a jam that requires you to jam.” That bit of wordplay is right up my alley, so Dog Is Blue to the rescue!

Long story short, if you happen to be listening to Newstalk 1010 on the AM dial from 7-10pm for Friendly Fire with Ryan Doyle & Tarek Fatah, we’ll be providing musical interludes during the show.

Update: it was a crazy night on the radio. If you missed it, a portion can be heard on the latest Friendly Fire Podcast here.

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…On Wax Mannequin

Wax MannequinWax Mannequin is a force of nature—an awesome and unstoppable, if sometimes clumsy, hurricane. He arrives in a flurry of movement befitting the Tasmanian Devil, promptly loses his keys, gives an awkward and timid hello that belies the fury within then erupts on stage with an unmatched intensity before narrowly missing his flight to the next rock-forsaken town of which he will become the saviour.

There are not many performers that I put on the same pedestal as this tireless troubadour. He also holds a unique position in Dog Is Blue lore:

Tuesday, September 9, 2008. Laura and I drove to Guelph on a whim to see Wax Mannequin play with The Kettle Black at the now-defunct (and greatly missed) Family Thrift Store. Jenny Omnichord was working the door and informed us that Wax had been forced to cancel at the last minute. Knowing Laura and I had been hoping to start performing live, she proceeded to throw down the gauntlet: “You want to start playing music, right? Why don’t you open the show tonight?”

I payed solo on The Kettle Black*’s guitar for the most part, with Laura joining for occasional harmonies while brandishing a shaker made out of thrift store shrapnel. As a sacrificial offering to the dejected Wax Fannequins in attendance I opened with a timid cover of “End of Me” (a fantastic Wax song that had yet to be released at that point)*.

Our first show took place because he didn’t show up and the first song we played was written by him. In the sage words of the man himself: “That shit is Wax Mannequin.”

We’ve since had the good fortune of sharing the stage with him proper, and will do so again at Phog Lounge in Windsor tomorrow night (Nov. 27).

*The Kettle Black’s set was phenomenal. Angry, intense apocalyptic-folk complete with Jump kicks and loops galore. Definitely check him out if you get the chance.
*Not wanting to accept door money from people expecting to see Wax Mannequin, we were instead paid in thrift store merchandise—my share came in the form of two brown suitcases that we still use to haul gear. Here’s an old post with more details.
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Help Save the Tranzac

The TranzacIf you’re a music enthusiast in Toronto then you already know the Tranzac is in trouble. They’ve been hosting benefit shows and accepting donations for some time now to raise the $40,000 they need by the end of the year in order to stay open.

As a band who has been fortunate enough to play there several times, it is our duty to urge you to stop in for one of the many great shows going on there over the next while and become a member/donate.  The Tranzac is one of the most supportive venues in the city and it would be a real blow to lose it!

We’re shamefully late to the party on this, as other stalwarts of the Toronto scene took up the cause long ago, but we were there last night to see 3 of our favourite songwriters (Jenny Omnichord, Andrew Vincent, and Henry Svec) and it gave me necessary reminder to spread the word.

Click here to lend your support to: Save The Tranzac and make a donation at www.pledgie.com !

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Adolphustown Session: Farmhouse with Anna Atkinson

Anna AtkinsonAdolphustown!

We’ve Generously been given the opportunity to relax/record in a nearly 200 year-old farm house just off the Bay of Quinte for a few days. Cramming our untrustworthy lemon full of as much gear as we could, we left Toronto in the dust and arrived in Adolphustown late last night.

So far we haven’t done much but set up instruments and tune down a half-step to match the amazing old piano—Oh, and Laura beat me pretty badly at ping pong. However, tonight we’re being joined by the wonderfully talented Anna Atkinson (as well as an awesome ragtag crew of Laura’s friends in the visual arts).

We’ve played a bunch of shows with Anna in the past and she blows us away every time. Unbeknownst to her she’s slowly being assimilated into our band. One day, years from now, she’ll wake up and not remember how she became part of Dog Is Blue, but by then it will be too late to argue…

Anyway, enough creepy ramblings. Check out her music for yourself and see what we mean.

Not sure what these sessions will become—demos for the next album? A farmhouse EP? Extreme ping pong grudge match? Whatever the case, we’re in Adolphustown (I’ll never get tired of saying that name) working out the kinks on some new tunes.

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