Until recently I was totally unaware of the existence of Victorian rap, or as it is also known: chap-hop. I was going to try to describe Victorian rap, but in all honesty I don't think I'm up to the challenge. Nevertheless just trust me that it is actually quite pleasing to listen to and after a few songs you'll figure it out.

Currently the field is dominated by two artists Professor Elemental and Mr. B, The Gentleman Rhymer, both of whom are currently engaged in a feud. After careful consideration I've decided that I support Professor Elemental, and I have included the following dis song as evidence of his imminent superiority.

Emily and I occasionally do not see eye to eye when it comes to music. One band that I absolutely loathe, but she listens to fairly often, is Nickelback.

It seems like the only reason she insists on listening to Nickelback on road trips is as some sort of sonic warfare. My response then is to unleash the best weapons in my arsenal such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor and things go steadily downhill from there.

Anyway, to my absolute joy and Emily's chagrin, the Free Press published an article today entitled We're begging you, Mr. Bettman... no Nickelback which explains why Nickelback shouldn't play at the NHL celebrations this fall.

And I quote:

Whenever we travel to other countries and are asked about Canadian bands, we are frequently forced to apologize for the existence of Nickelback, our international embarrassment. (True quote: "Sorry about Nickelback. I hate them, too. ") Sure, the pride of Hanna, Alta. sells tons of albums, but again, this is a product of frequent airplay.

Nickelback began as a derivative act. They processed the post-grunge of the late 1990s -- already dated at the time -- into an even more homogenous morass. They are the musical equivalent of a margarine sandwich on white bread. The 2001 success of How You Remind Me merely inspired the band to produce even more formulaic music that was derivative of itself. Critics like us have been panning the band so long we have forgotten it once had a couple of hooks.

In fact, dissing Nickelback is now part of Canadian heritage. It deserves its own vignette to run between episodes Dragons' Den and Being Erica on CBC Television.

In other words, Nickelback sucks - Q.E.D.

I think I need to print this article and tape it above the sun visor in our car. Whenever Emily suggests that we listen to Nickelback I can just flip down the sun visor, pick a few talking points at random, and prepare an excellent rebuttal.

While the article is commendable for summarizing my sentiments towards Nickelback quite well, I also need to commend Rob Williams & Bartley Kives to suggesting an excellent alternative:

On a serious note, if you can afford to pay for Nickelback, you could afford to pay for Arcade Fire, who are uplifting, anthemic and can also fill the MTS Centre. Not all hockey fans have the same taste in music.

Excellent, that will do nicely.

You know it's the end of the year when all the blogs you read online have endless piles of 'Top 10' and 'Best of' posts. Now while I try to eschew such behaviour, there are moments when it is convenient or even fun. So with that in mind, I would like to share my favourite musical discoveries of 2010.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Up From Below

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros has a distinctly retro indie-folk sound. The entire album sounds like it was recorded in the 1970s, and brings back memories of family road trips listening to Neil Diamond albums. Accordingly, this album is excellent road trip listening.

Fang Island - Fang Island

If you've ever had the complaint that indie rock is not upbeat enough for you, look no further. Fang Island describes their sound as "everyone high-fiving everyone" which is more accurate than I could ever muster. Expect to feel good about life after listening to this album.

Flying Fox and the Hunter Gatherers - Flying Fox and the Hunter Gatherers

Flying Fox and the Hunter Gatherers play what can only be described as big band folk. The songs have some distinct folk roots, but the bands strong horn section adds a unique quality to the songs. This is a toe tapping album which seems tragically short.

Gord Downie - The Grand Bounce

Gord Downie has the ability to polarize an audience, so it was a bit of a surprise that the rock icon toured folk festivals to promote his newest album. The lean towards country style music and excellent lyrics set this album apart from the previous solo albums that have been released.

Sleigh Bells - Treats

What do you get when you combine saccharine-sweet female vocals, rock guitar and crunk beats? You get an album which on first impression sounds like carefully orchestrated noise, but you simply cannot stop listening to it. Not all the songs in the album are equally strong, but the good ones are amazing.

VNV Nation - Of Faith, Power and Glory

After including a lot of indie and folk, I need to balance this out with a strong synthpop album. This album is set apart by its sweeping lyrics and synth washes which form the core of contemplative and dance tracks alike. Some more experimental tracks round out the album and keep it from being predictable.

Wax Mannequin - Saxon

Words like theatricality and dark humour have often been used to describe the post-modern classic rock that Wax Mannequin plays. Saxon exhibits these traits along with the polish of a musician coming into their stride. From acoustic to bombastic, this album contains a wide range of songs.

Please take a moment to consider the Beat Blender.

Matti Niinimäki found a blender at a flea market and noticed that the mixing modes corresponded to DJing terminology. He added an Arduino controlled RFID reader to the blender so he could DJ by inserting felt fruit pieces with embedded RFID chips into the blender. The buttons on the blender were also re-purposed to control the mixing modes. The Arduino relays the information regarding the fruit in the blender to a computer which then does the corresponding audio work.

The end result of this is simply stunning: DJing using nothing more than kitchen appliances.

Late last night I helped Christian shoot a music video. The overall idea for the video was to have him singing while four people passed him phones from all four sides of the shot. My job was to be one of the people passing him phones, but I also got some great pictures. I'll post the video whenever it comes out so you can see my debut as a hand model.

After we shot a few takes of the video we changed things up a bit and started handing him beer instead of telephones. While the beer video is awesome, I don't think it will be widely distributed.

More pictures from the night are available in my gallery - Sketch Williams Video Shoot.

Last night was the official launch of the Book of Hours at McNally Robinson. The cafe was packed for live music, readings, and a few speeches. It was a great event.

I must say that I am completely impressed with the finished product.

Now, this is the first time I've spoken of the Book of Hours here, so it deserves some explanation. A Book of Hours was a prayer book which brought the prayers of the monasteries outside into the community.

The book centers around seven seasons in the church calendar (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost and Ordinary Time) and the seven times of prayer (Vigils, Lauds, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline). All together there are 49 sections to the book and each has a piece of writing, art, and/or music to illuminate it.

I must confess that I think this is a really neat idea and it has been brilliant in its execution. This is a book made by small community featuring content from almost 50 of its members. Its nice to be a part of a community that values art in this context and provides ways of sharing it with others.

If you want to learn more, visit the book's website. There are also music samples from the included CD and details of how it can be purchased.

[flashvideo file=http://www.seancarney.ca/seantv/total-eclipse-of-the-heart.flv image=http://www.seancarney.ca/gallery/display/22365-2/total-eclipse-of-the-heart.jpg screencolor=0xFFFFFF /]

I could probably find more productive uses of my time, but this is pretty awesome.

By means of apology for showing you that creepy picture of Stephen Harper, here is House of Pain vs Klezmer from the holiday album Menorah Mashups. I know it's not the stereotypical unicorn chaser, but trust me, its very good. Enjoy!

[flashvideo file=http://www.seancarney.ca/seantv/faroff-house-of-pain-vs-klezmer.flv image=http://www.seancarney.ca/gallery/display/22184-2/menorah-mashups.jpg screencolor=0xFFFFFF /]

Yesterday Heather and I met up with Mikael at Folk Fest to see Neko Case. I invited Heather since I knew she was a huge Neko Case fan and I went since I trust my sisters taste in music. I wasn't disappointed.

Happily, and unlike the day before, it didn't rain but the weather was slightly cold for this time of year. That didn't detract from the experience since we still managed to have a lot of fun listening, dancing, and slipping in the mud.

I enjoy going to Folk Fest since it is a great way to be exposed to new types of music. I have a rather narrow range of genres I listen to and I don't listen to the radio, so my music often lacks slightly in diversity. Yesterday I learned an appreciation for not only Neko Case, but also for Mirah and the Del McCoury Band. These are some artists I would previously never have listened to of my own volition, but after hearing them at Folk Fest I definitely want to hear more.

In terms of music I am a sucker for anything with some strings in it.  I really enjoy the sounds of violins, violas and especially cellos in my rock music.  There is something indescribably beautiful about the sounds of those instruments for me.  The other thing I am a sucker for is looped and layered music.  Mostly this is found in electronic music, but I like how separate little parts can build slowly into a whole song.

Zoë Keating manages to combine both of these items into amazing cello music.  She records herself playing and then loops it over herself to create tens of cellos playing at the same time.  While this is nothing new in the music world, this is the first time I have heard it done with a cello and done well.  Although her CDs are mostly labeled as classical music, I think they are more suited to the post-rock genre.  The music ranges from beautiful to haunting as she explores the ranges of sound that just one instrument can produce.  You really need to hear it for yourself. 

I've got new study music!