Kick at the Darkness 'til it Bleeds Daylight

That has to be one of my favourite lines from any song.

To bastardize a hoary old cliche -- and something I've previously written of -- the project is about the journey and not the destination, and it's a damn good thing too as the more I research and the more I think about things, the longer and more complex this journey becomes.

It has started to appear that to speak with some of the people that I would like to speak with, I will need a publisher. However, I don't think I will realistically be able to get a publisher until I have either a manuscript, or a considerable amount of published writing under my belt. I probably will not be able to write a proper manuscript until I am able to speak with everyone I wish to speak with. But I won't be able to speak with everyone I wish to speak with until I have a publisher... argh!

Quite the conundrum, non?

I am currently toying with the idea of contacting Exclaim! to see if they need another writer. Ideally, dealing with the history of CanCon rock. I should drop them a line tomorrow and see what I can turn up.

Along with things to do tomorrow, I am going to have to mail off an application and a cheque to the Canadian Association of Music Libraries as I'm becoming a member. Where better to find a forum for like minded archivists professional and amateur alike?

Random observation: The in house muzak system which had previously this evening assailed my aural sense with the horror that is Michael Bolton (a song which I have not thought about in literally a decade or more, popped into my head about 10 minutes before it came on the PA) has played two consecutive CanCon songs. . . Bedouin Soundclash doing "When the Night Feels My Song" and Great Big Sea's "Sea of No Cares."

My current method of vinyl digitization is proving far more inadequate that previously thought. Playing Magic People by The Paupers on my Crossley produces a skip and stick in the middle of the song, preventing it from being digitized in any meaningful way. I suppose I could edit the bit that skips out and insert a bit from another part of the song, but that seems far too complicated, and not at all a realistic option. I took the LP into the Village Idiot for their professional opinion, and after a good clean and a spin on his quality turntable, it played fine and was good to go. However, back home I was still getting the skip and stick, leading me to the only reasonable conclusion that the problem is with my turntable. What to do? What to do? I should head down to the local audio supply store and see what they recommend in the way of a turntable that won't break my budget.

On a mission from God part 2

I suppose it is time to fill in some of the missing blanks I rather foolishly left in the last entry.

1.) Inroads: Yes, I can read. Shocking based on some of my blog entries, but utterly true. In no particular order I've read: Hand Me Down World: The Canadian Pop Rock Paradox by Greg Potter, Shakin' All Over: Rock and Roll Years in Canada by Peter Goddard and Phillip Kamin, Rock and Roll Toronto: From Alanis to Zepplin by Richard Goddard and John Course, and I've started reading Axes, Rocks & Hot Licks: The Canadian Rock Music Scene as well as On A Cold Road: Tales of Adventure in Canadian Rock by Dave Bidini. Some overlap, a few even grossly outdated, but all have something for me to grab hold of, giving me another lead, another band, another road to travel down in my quest to end up in my final destination. Somewhere along the way, I'll end up doubling back, been where I've already been, but I'll find something new along the way each and every time.

I've also conducted two interviews thus far, with many more in the works. I'd like to say who I've interviewed, but I don't want this blog to become a place for me to drop names of who I've talked to in this project. That's not a goal of mine, in fact it's nearly the antithesis of what I want.

2.) Storage: I've doubled it. I'm now sporting a terabyte of information, having received an additional 500 gigabyte harddrive for my birthday. I know how to live large and party in style.

3.) Music: The past week or so has been an excellent week in terms of the haul I've been able to pull in on vinyl and compact disc. I went to the Guelph record show on the 16th, pulling in a killer haul there and then that night, I discovered The Record Cellar a great site for digging up Canadian music. I found some discs I've been looking for for a while, and am glad to find lay my hands on them. In no particular order, here are the latest additions to the Canadian Music Archive

Guess Who, The/The Staccatos - A Wild Pair. This was a promotional album released by Coke, an important piece of CanCon.

Guess Who, The - Wheatfield Soul. This one needs no explanation.

The Ugly Ducklings - Somewhere Outside. I believe the copy I have is an 80s reissue of this amazing album. Stripped, raw, garage rock from Toronto's Yorkville scene.

Battered Wives - Battered Wives. Perhaps the most inflammatory, and controversial band/album in the Archive thus far, but listening to it. . . it's really, really good. The two best tracks on the album Uganda Stomp (bomp Idi bomp) and Freedom Fighters were both penned by vocalist and guitarist John Gibb. And, it comes on red vinyl which gives it an extra bit of rebellion.

Nash the Slash - Decomposing. The bandaged one gives us an album designed to be played at any speed -- 33 1/3, 45 or 78 RPM.

54 40 - 54 40. the one with I Go Blind

King Biscuit Boy with Crowbar - Official Music

Bush - Bush. not the one with Gavin Rossdale, who shall forever by assigned an X, whether they like it or not.

Rush - Rush. It doesn't have Neil Pert.


Various Artists - Together. The most Uncola of records in the Archive. This record featuring Lighthouse, Edward Bear, April Wine and Crowbar was part of a 7Up promotion.

That is it for records for the time being, I shall list more tomorrow.

4.) The Future: Coming soon are a Canadian Music Archive website and Facebook page. A full fledged website! There will be links and the debut of the Canadian Music Archive logo! Hot dog and maple syrup that's some good logo.

On a mission from God

Wow, it's been nearly a month since my last entry. Not really due to laziness, but rather lack of much to say.

I've spent a good portion of the month making some inroads into the book end of my archiving project. I've read four books on the history of CanCon, giving me not only more records to track down but some good leads in the area of names.

I have also doubled my storage space, and I'm now sporting a terabyte of space for storage.

That's it for the time being, at least until I can formulate my ideas more fully.