vintage

I’ve finally decided on the best live shows I saw all year. I couldn’t narrow it down to ten (largely because of the Calgary Folk Music Festival), but who decided that was the format for year-end lists? Fifteen it is, and in chronological order because I cannot figure out how to rank them.

Sloan (March 6, The Supermarket, Toronto)
review

Just by virtue of the fact that they played a host of songs I never thought I’d see them do (”Stood Up” and “Same Old Flame”, for example, from an old 7″ released around 1996), gave us a preview of some new tunes a few months before Parallel Play, and had a good time on a small stage.

The Bad Plus (May 24, Quincy’s, Calgary)
review

One of the more talented jazz groups I have had the pleasure of witnessing, and of course, they ended with their now-famous cover of Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” (which the Bad Plus have released on 2007’s Prog). Incredibly talented and versatile musicians, and Quincy’s was a great venue for them.

The Weakerthans (July 24, Calgary Folk Festival)
review

I credit this show with catapulting me into becoming a Weakerthans fan. They were terrific, and just the perfect sort of music for a summer afternoon. There couldn’t have been anything better about the Weakerthans’ short folk festival set.

Be Good Tanyas (July 25, Calgary Folk Festival)
review

I’ve wanted to see the Tanyas for quite a few years, dating back to the first time I heard “The Littlest Birds” from Blue Horse. Unfortunately, they didn’t play that, but they put on a very impressive show at the Folk Festival, reminding us that their blend of bluegrass, folk and country is not going anywhere. Three of the finest voices this country has to offer.

Andrew Bird (July 25, Calgary Folk Festival)
review

Definitely one of the most unique and interesting acts at the Folk Festival this year. It was hard to believe everything was being done by one man and a hard-working loop pedal; very intricate and delicately crafted music, and a great experience to see it being done live.

Blue Rodeo (July 26, Calgary Folk Festival)
review

Words can’t describe how much fun I had with Blue Rodeo. It had rained most of the afternoon and evening that day and I was ready to bail, but I’m glad we stuck it out — it’s obvious to me now why Blue Rodeo have been around for such a long time. Incredible musicians, and their joy of playing radiates from everything they do.

Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet (July 27, Calgary Folk Festival)
review

Abigail Washburn: a redheaded Southern belle who can sing in fluent Mandarin, accompanied by a string band. This alone is good enough to land the Sparrow Quartet on the list, but on top of that, they are amazing (also featuring banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck). To see these musicians is a real experience.

Squeeze (August 28, Kool Haus, Toronto)
review

I’ve wanted this to happen for years, and when it finally did, nothing was a letdown. Tilbrook was on top form, his voice and guitar skills as good as they ever were, and a bonus of touring without an album to back was a setlist jam-packed with all kinds of unexpected songs. A party from start to finish.

Sigur Rós (September 22, Massey Hall, Toronto)
review

I didn’t know what to expect going into this, but everything about it was great. Ethereal and soaring and very, very musical. The encore didn’t hurt either: a huge, joyful version of “Gobbledigook” featuring all the members of opening band Parachutes, and near the end, the biggest blast of confetti I’ve ever seen inside a concert hall. We were picking up the pieces for weeks!

Martin Tielli (September 28, Hugh’s Room, Toronto)

I regret not doing a proper review for this show, since it stayed with me for quite a few weeks. Tielli is one of those musicians you can go to when you’re sick of everyone doing the same thing, because he’s never, ever conventional. An incredible performance of his solo tunes and Rheos material with a great band of supporting musicians.

David Byrne (October 29, Massey Hall, Toronto)
review

Byrne is a real legend, and deservedly so; he did all the right things on the Massey stage, and added some quirks too (like the dancers!). The new material translates exceptionally well live, and he threw in some Talking Heads favourites too. He’s a thrilling performer, and one I’d see again in a heartbeat.

Hayden (November 1, Massey Hall, Toronto)

Backed by members of Cuff the Duke, Hayden’s jamming-in-a-living-room sort of set was homey and perfect, filling the beautiful old Massey Hall with his easygoing music. I didn’t want it to end. I’d see him again quite readily, especially since I bought his album after the show and know it reasonably better now.

Robin Williams (November 22, Massey Hall, Toronto)

The funniest hour and a half I’ve spent all year. Robin Williams just does not stop talking, and flits around from subject to subject to potty joke faster than light. Much ado was made about the American election, but also the Canadian one (he did a remarkable impression of Prime Minister Harper), and his accents and miming skills are among the most hilarious things I’ve seen in a while.

Justin Rutledge (December 1, Cameron House, Toronto)

If ever there were a perfect show, this might be it. The Cameron House’s front room capacity is about 70, and there were at least that many people crammed in there to hear Justin Rutledge on night 4 of his “Incredible Shrinking Tour” (each night brought a smaller venue). Many songs from Man Descending were played, and he went over two hours before finally deciding to take a break. I had no idea that much time had passed — a testament to the captivating things happening on stage.

Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Cafe (December 14, Massey Hall, Toronto)

I must confess: before this, I didn’t even like Stuart McLean. I would turn the radio off when the Vinyl Café started. However, there’s something about seeing the live version that makes things all the more enjoyable; ad-libs, personal anecdotes, and the really great musicians he brought along with him. I have been inducted into the world of Dave and Morley, and while I probably won’t listen to too many studio broadcasts, the live ones have a certain warmth that I really enjoyed.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS: There were two shows that I feel worthy of mentioning here, but they didn’t make the main list mostly because I was heavily involved with them (and that is probably a conflict of interest!). One of them is The Bicycles’ CD release party at Lee’s Palace on November 8, featuring a myriad of guest performers like Forest City Lovers, Henri Fabergé and the Adorables, Sloan, Hooded Fang, $100, Matt Murphy, etc. I did play in about 8 songs, but the Bicycles put on a fantastic performance in every one, including backing up all the aforementioned bands. It was a great way to bring Oh No, It’s Love into the world. (review)

The other is Entire Cities’ CD release party at the Canadian Corps Hall on April 11. This is my band, and we had planned for quite some time to get the release party in order. Everything went without a hitch; no delays, no PA problems, great sound, and a lovely time. It still stands as probably the best show I’ve ever played, and certainly the best show with Entire Cities; I think that in itself merits a mention.

Happy new year, everybody! I look forward to the news and tunes of 2009 (already shaping up to be a pretty good year). Now if only that strike would end already.

While Sloan’s latest effort Parallel Play didn’t make it to my top 10 for this year, there’s still a lot of good material on it that is certainly among the better work released in ‘08. One of these such songs is Andrew Scott’s “Down in the Basement,” a Bob Dylan throwback with loads of piano and guitars and a rambling sound only Scott could really capture accurately.

The album is incredibly well produced, which only makes this song better; Scott contributes a great groove and a remarkable imitation of Dylan’s vocal style (the breaks at Forty tracks, forty mics, turn up the heaters and fire up the floodlights are a good time to sing along with, too!). The whole song is essentially autobiographical, Scott talking about his family and detailing how the band recorded their last few albums at their rehearsal space (We can do what we want and it’s on our own dime). It’s a pretty uncharacteristic tune from Sloan, but in a great way.

Tunesday 5: Down in the Basement

Jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard dies at 70

Freddie Hubbard, the Grammy-winning jazz musician whose blazing virtuosity influenced a generation of trumpet players and who collaborated with such greats as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, died Monday, a month after suffering a heart attack.

I highly recommend the album Face to Face, a collaboration between Hubbard and Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson; the opening track is a rollicking 13-minute version of Miles Davis’ standard “All Blues,” featuring some serious trumpet theatrics. Freddie, you will be sorely missed. Rest in peace.

It’s finally here, folks — the top 10 list I have been trying so valiantly to complete (hey, it’s hard to do these write-ups!). It is probably not earth-shattering in any way, but it certainly does represent my listening trends over the past 12 months and might even introduce you to something you haven’t heard before. Comments are welcome!

10. SCHOOL OF LANGUAGE, Sea From Shore (Thrill Jockey)

Peter Brewis of Field Music, whose Tones of Town made it to the top of my list last year, is back with a new project. School of Language’s debut album is strange and quirky (the four-part “Rockist” certainly assures that much) but also features some great poppy numbers like “Poor Boy” and “Disappointment ‘99″. Every time you listen to it, something different stands out: you have to listen to it many times over to realise everything that it has to offer, and that cements its status as one of the top albums of the year.

Review: March 2008
Listen to Disappointment ‘99

9. THE BURNING HELL, Happy Birthday (weewerk)

The Burning Hell are awesome because they simultaneously don’t take themselves too seriously and take themselves very seriously. Mathias Kom’s earnest baritone is, well, serious, but he uses it to sing about dinosaurs, zombies and other playful subjects; the closing number involves him singing about his iconic ukulele. This is a band that isn’t afraid to appear whimsical (and they do, on several occasions) but Happy Birthday is also a lesson in how to play with a giant Broken-Social-Scene-sized ensemble and still make the music sound intimate and well-rehearsed.

Review: January 2008
Listen to Municipal Monarchs

8. THE MOUNTAIN GOATS, Heretic Pride (4AD)

I’ve always admired John Darnielle’s songwriting, and Heretic Pride is no reason to quit. Of course, the album features his trademark nasal vocal style, which admittedly gets to be a bit annoying on the title track particularly, but there’s also something about that style that fits perfectly with his abstract lyrics and occasionally jerky guitar. There’s some almost ethereal work on Heretic Pride too, though: songs like “San Bernardino”, featuring strings, and “Sept 15, 1983″, songs which remind you just how talented Darnielle really is and why he deserves a place on this list. (Well — that, and he has a song called “Michael Myers Resplendent,” which should be a bye into the top 10 no matter what!)

Review: April 2008
Listen to Sax Rohmer #1

7. LONGWAVE, Secrets Are Sinister (Original Signal)

I have Adam to thank for this one. I wasn’t familiar with Longwave’s work until 2008, so Secrets Are Sinister is the only album of theirs that I’ve heard in its entirety. Really, the best adjective for this record is “tight” — very together, very well put together, and very hard-driving. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been listening to it in the season of snow, but it seems curiously to sound like a wintry album without resorting to clichés. “Sirens in the Deep Sea” is a well-chosen opening track, and the whole thing feels a bit like a film distilled into musical form: a perfect flow from start to finish.

Listen to Sirens in the Deep Sea

6. THE BICYCLES, Oh No, It’s Love (Fuzzy Logic)

Before you jump up and call bias (I was on this record as a member of the horn section), I’ll remind you that I had no part in the actual writing or creation of this album, and so I think it’s fair game! The Bicycles’ sophomore record is much more mature and varied than their bubblegum-pop debut album, and the myriad list of guests (including Basia Bulat, Bob Egan, Laura Barrett and Dan Werb) fleshes out the foursome’s collection of musical ideas. At 19 tracks, the album runs just under 38 minutes — a testament to the tight, poppy esthetic the band still maintains. Oh No, It’s Love is simultaneously a fun, playful record and a slick rock collection, and finds its niche comfortably in between; again, the only thing wrong with this record is track 16, the unfunny, awkward comedy interlude (1:03) that disrupts the flow and holds the dubious honour of being the only track that needs skipping.

Review: November 2008
Listen to End of a Good Thing

5. DAVID BYRNE & BRIAN ENO, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (self-released)

When you pair up two musical luminaries such as these, the unexpected will usually come to pass. So it is with Everything That Happens, a long (long, long)-awaited follow-up to 1981’s collaboration My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. That album was quite experimental, using “found objects”, strange samples, and other such interesting sounds; this album is quite conventional by comparison. Some songs even lean toward the singer-songwriter style, such as “My Big Nurse” — but still manages to incorporate enough inventiveness not to be dismissed outright. Curious piano riffs and odd vocal styles (”I Feel My Stuff”), understated downtempo songs (title track) and decidedly new wave influences come together in a sort of mishmash of sounds to create a slick, well-produced, and very interesting record. It’s not as weird or inaccessible as Bush of Ghosts, but this is a positive: Byrne & Eno have made a record that it is nearly impossible to dislike.

Review: October 2008
Listen to Home

4. HAYDEN, In Field & Town (Hardwood)

The best thing about Hayden is that his songs have a curious way of sounding like home, no matter where that might be or how long it has been since you were there. In Field & Town has a quiet humility about its tracks, which are unpretentious and charming to the end; when he played at Massey Hall with Cuff the Duke as his backing band, opening for Feist, the stage was set up to look like a cluttered living room, complete with rugs, a few lopsided table lamps, and even some dishes strewn on top of keyboards (just like his album cover, which is among my favourites). This album floats into your ears and waits for you to realise that it is worth keeping around; nothing is forced, and everything is perfect.

Listen to Damn This Feeling

3. SAM ROBERTS, Love at the End of the World (Secret Brain)

If Secrets Are Sinister was a winter album, then this is definitely one for summer. Sam Roberts has always had that breezy summer feel about his songs, and Love at the End of the World shows him at the top of his writing game; tunes like “Detroit ‘67″ and “Them Kids” just make you want to dance around in fields. “Lions of the Kalahari” and the title track are like the impending summer sunset, a little calmer but no less thrilling. Roberts has crafted an engaging record once again, and one that is immaculately produced to boot. It’ll be a long time before I’m tired of this.

Review: June 2008
Listen to Detroit ‘67

2. JUSTIN RUTLEDGE, Man Descending (Six Shooter)

My top two albums were a tough contest, and Man Descending sat in the number 1 spot for a long time before I finally made up my mind. That alone should tell you how good this record is! Justin Rutledge’s music is usually best listened to after dark, preferably near to midnight; it is calm and beautiful and intimate without being vacuous or boring. Everything about this album is understated, and Rutledge’s voice — smooth as honey — covers everything in a layer of softness. Although it’s by definition a country or roots record, there’s no hoedown or overt twanginess present here — instead, a very solid folk element, some nighttime campfire sounds, and a collection of beautiful lyrics. I can’t think of anything wrong with this record: maybe it should have been a tie!

Listen to Greenwich Time

1. ELLIOTT BROOD, Mountain Meadows (Six Shooter)

It’s a tough thing, choosing the best record of the year. I can’t say I have a remotely unbiased view, considering I heard a pretty small number of new albums in 2008. I can’t say that one winner really stood out at the beginning of all this, either — but out of the mess of good records, mediocre ones, and unmentionables, and out of the scrap between spots 1 and 2, a winner did emerge, and that was Mountain Meadows. This record is a mishmash of all kinds of sounds, from the Rutledge style of quiet folk to the rollicking piano-led hoedown of “Woodward Avenue,” from soaring build (”Fingers and Tongues”) to simple singable tunes (”Without Again”). There is very little that Elliott Brood has not thrown forth on this album, but it comes out as a cohesive whole instead of a collection of parts. Mark Sasso’s trademark raspy voice races through the songs, completely unrestrained (his entrance on “Woodward Avenue” is particularly striking!) and it’s unique touches like these that separate Elliott Brood from the rest of the country bands out there. They do what they want — and if what they want always sounds like this, count me in.

Listen to Fingers and Tongues and Woodward Avenue

Hope all of your holidays are going magnificently; another list or two is forthcoming and then it’s back to business as usual. Take care!

Well, it’s two days before Christmas, and I thought that I might make things a little more festive around here. Some of you might be aware of Sufjan Stevens’ ambitious box set called Songs for Christmas, which features five EPs recorded every year from 2001 to 2006 (excepting ‘04) and includes original songs as well as reworked versions of Christmas favourites. Some of those originals have hilarious titles like “That Was The Worst Christmas Ever!” and “Come On, Let’s Boogey to the Elf Dance!”, but Stevens also treats traditional carols in a remarkably fresh and unpretentious way.

Sufjan’s best work on these albums are the latter; familiar carols like “I Saw Three Ships” and “Bring A Torch, Jeannette, Isabella” sound new and interesting again, and sometimes all it takes is an extra trumpet or two. His version of this week’s track, “Once in Royal David’s City,” is among my favourites — banjo, sleighbells, oboe, everything!

If you are sick and tired of department stores and radio stations playing the same terrible covers of terrible Christmas songs every year, I suggest purchasing Songs for Christmas. No more screechy auto-tuned pop singers trying to pretend they are really excited about singing “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” to a heavily synthesized orchestra. Instead, you get every instrument imaginable, a cute chorus, and a lot of really great holiday music. I have to confess that I’ve listened to a few of these in July! Yikes. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

Tunesday 4: Once in Royal David’s City

This may come as news to some of you, and is old news to many, but York University’s classes have been suspended for six weeks and counting due to a strike of CUPE local 3903. This union represents 3,400 people comprising contract and part-time faculty and teaching assistants.

There have been countless media releases and discussions on the strike, and many of them are ill-informed or incredibly biased. The university’s press releases have been inexcusably biased and lie directly to the 50,000 undergraduates who are waiting around for this dispute to end, but CUPE 3903’s have not been all that virtuous either; third party media often fail to get the full picture, and instead stir up panic because of presumptuous statements (such as mentioning a forfeit year when the strike was three weeks old).

As you can imagine, it’s difficult to get the idea of what’s happening here. The more it is discussed, though, the easier it is to formulate one’s own opinion. Here are some starting links, though:

CUPE local 3903 official website
CUPE 3903 strike microsite
York University FAQs on labour disruption
York University: Academic remediation
York Strike 2008 — a blog by a disgruntled student
And of course, there’s always Google.

After constant complaining from uninformed students and members of the public, bickering between sides, and general spreading of misinformation, one York faculty member has resolved to set the record straight, at least from their side. Gerard Naddaf, a philosophy professor, recently released an open letter, and in his own words, it is “is meant for York students, parents and the general public. It was written to promote serious consideration and dialogue both about the validity and implications of the present strike. Hopefully this piece will do its part to help both sides to reach an acceptable agreement and get our students back into class where they belong.”

I remain neutral on this issue, but there have been few chances for educated dialogue that isn’t union- or establishment-bashing and I am glad someone from York has finally taken the plunge. As such, I’m reproducing Professor Naddaf’s letter here for anyone who’s interested in reading it. It’s long, but it touches on quite a few important issues related to the dispute, such as how professors are chosen, the difference between contract and tenured faculty, and what the professor’s role really is. If you’re interested, feel free to read ahead (after the jump if you’re reading on the main page or an RSS).

Read the rest of this entry »

Intro to the track of the week series

The track this week is by legendary supergroup the Traveling Wilburys: George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and Jeff Lynne. I can’t think of a supergroup more stacked than that, to be honest!

The band was only active for a period of a few years, releasing their first record in 1988 and the follow-up in 1990 (the re-release of both records with a companion DVD, titled The Wilbury Collection, hit shelves last year). Everybody shared in the songwriting and singing duties, and between the five of them most of the instrumentation was covered, although sideman Jim Keltner drummed for both albums.

I’ve always loved the Wilburys; Volume 1 was one of my first favourite albums, and I carried the cassette around in my backpack to and from school so I could listen to it. I used to say that I liked George Harrison’s voice “because it always sounds like he’s smiling when he’s singing”. The production on both the records is terrific, too — the guitars sound absolutely fabulous, probably due to the large amount of steel-string acoustics, and the drum sound is among my favourites ever. Whatever they did, they did it well.

The track today is from their second record, Volume 3, written and recorded after the death of Roy Orbison, and it’s the final track on the album. Tom Petty sounds as cool as he ever did, Jeff Lynne is clearly having a good time, and the guitars sound marvelous. The lyrics don’t hurt either:

Put your hand on your head, put your foot in the air
Then you hop around the room in your underwear
Ain’t never been nothing quite like this,
Come on baby it’s the Wilbury Twist

Lift your other foot up, fall on your ass
Get back up, put your teeth in a glass
Ain’t never been nothing quite like this,
It’s a magical thing called the Wilbury Twist

Hope you enjoy! (I expect videos of everybody trying to actually do the Wilbury Twist.)

Tunesday 3: Wilbury Twist

In case you missed it, here’s the introduction to the track of the week series.

Number two is by Toronto band The I Spies, who released an album in 2008 called In the Night. While it didn’t quite make it to my year’s top 10 list, it is still a really solid record with excellent production, musicianship and writing. In short, I like it a lot.

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the I Spies twice — once opening for Small Sins, where the venue was a little too loud for me to properly take in the Spies’ set, and once opening for School of Language, where both bands blew me away (read the review). At that second show the I Spies played the title track from their record, and I honestly felt like if I reached up I’d be able to feel my hair being blown back from my forehead — that was how hard-hitting it was. Tight, solid, and awesome.

So here it is, slightly more subdued but not much: “In the Night,” my favourite track from their album and one of the better songs I heard in 2008. Hope you like it too!

Tunesday 2: In the Night

Personally, I like my proroguies with sour cream.

Anyway, it’s old news by now: Parliament has been prorogued and will not sit again until January 26. In that time period, the Conservatives are expected to unleash a flood of election-campaign-style material, the Liberals will lick their wounds and probably get rid of Stéphane Dion a few months earlier than planned, and Gilles Duceppe will go on doing whatever he feels like doing.

Interestingly, Wikipedia actually has an ongoing article about the current dispute with a great deal of collected background information, so that is worth checking out as well.

John Manley, former Liberal Deputy Prime Minister, has written a column in the Globe & Mail today calling for Dion’s speedy replacement. It seems that that is probably the best (well, perhaps the only) option for the Liberals at this point; they really need to come out swinging when Parliament resumes in January, and the only way they can do it is by replacing Dion, either with an interim leader or by somehow having their leadership convention early and finding a permanent one. Obviously, if they plan to bring down the government, a permanent leader would be more stable, but at this point I think the reigning sentiment is “anyone but Dion”.

I hate to see him go, but the last week was not exactly convincing, and as much as I think he has the fight in him, he has not done a good job convincing us of that and he has to move over to make room for someone who could bring the Liberals back on track.

Coming soon: my top 10 releases of 2008 (I’ve almost finalized my list) as well as top 10 concerts I got to see this year. Bear in mind that I work at Massey Hall now, so the list is considerably more diverse than it otherwise would have been — a pretty awesome side effect of getting a new job. See you soon!

PS: I saw Neil Young on Thursday night at the Air Canada Centre. He played all the hits. “Cortez the Killer”, “Powderfinger”, “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere”, “Heart of Gold”, “Rockin’ in the Free World”, “The Needle And the Damage Done” … etc. The list goes on forever, and the set was capped off by a cover of “A Day in the Life” for the encore, which was totally amazing. In summary, it was absolutely worth the $65 — yeah, I cheaped out and bought 3rd-tier seats, but they ended up being really great. I also hope that I am as cool as he is when I reach retirement age.

I can practically hear all the political junkies’ glee from my bedroom. Canada’s political landscape is more interesting than it has been in a very long time.

Tonight at 7PM Eastern, the two battling leaders made addresses to the country on national television. It is rare that a Prime Minister will ask for network time, and when they do, it is likely in a time of crisis. We are currently experiencing not only an economic crisis, but a political one; everyone is on tenterhooks waiting to see what our government will look like from day to day. It’s been a while since this many people were interested in politics — certainly more than there were during the federal election, which is pretty sad if you ask me.

I don’t pretend to be unbiased; I lean Liberal and I will freely admit it to anyone who asks. I am, however, not without my qualms about the coalition government. It is completely legal and within the bounds of our parliamentary democracy, but the timing is perhaps questionable, given the constraints Dion has to obey (namely, having already agreed to step down in May 2009).

Anyway, Harper’s speech clocked in at less than five minutes (surprising, given that the networks were given a ballpark of around ten minutes), and he didn’t really say anything new. Most irritating was Harper’s continued tendency to refer to the coalition as being “a coalition with separatists” — may I remind you, Prime Minister, that the Bloc Québécois is not a member of the coalition. The proposed new government is between the Liberals and the New Democrats; the Bloc has pledged their support, but is absolutely not a member. Continuing to paint the picture of three leaders forming a coalition instead of two is a lie.

Also very strange was the lack of a mention of proroguing Parliament or any sort of reference to the Governor General. General consensus is that Harper will ask Her Excellency to prorogue Parliament in his meeting with her tomorrow morning, but no one really knows what he will say, and that is now the most awaited development in this real-life political thriller.

Stéphane Dion had some trouble getting his address off the ground (unfortunately, that seems to describe his latter days as Liberal leader); the tape was delivered late to the news stations, and as such they had to overrun their 7:30 cutoff time. Already a strike against the leader of the Official Opposition. Dion’s video looked unfortunately like he had filmed it in his bedroom on a Macbook, but aesthetic qualms aside, it had a good deal of conviction. Dion talked for substantially longer than Harper did and outlined his reasons for forming a coalition government, and ended with a brief promise about what would happen if he were to become Prime Minister. While there wasn’t a whole lot of new information in his speech either, it was certainly more satisfying than Harper’s — slightly longer and with a little more to go on, rather than a direct regurgitation of what has been going on in question period for the past week.

In question period recently, Dion quoted Harper’s words from 2005 back at him, reminding him that when Paul Martin was trying to evade a confidence vote in 2005 — much as Harper is trying to do now — Harper called it a “violation of the fundamental principles of our democracy”. (story) Seems like that’s exactly what Harper’s trying to do now. I’ll remind you that a coalition government is perfectly legal and constitutional, as well as within the bounds of the parliamentary democracy that Canada enjoys.

Again, I think that the one thing these Parliament Hill shenanigans is reinforcing is the fact that we need electoral reform. First past the post isn’t working for anyone anymore, and it is time for some proportional representation. This is what the coalition is fighting for; while I am not a wholehearted coalition backer, this is one of the reasons why I think it might be a good idea.

And of course, if the coalition goes ahead, politics will be a damn sight more interesting than they will be if Parliament is suspended. That’ll be pretty nice too.

Sound off, ladies and gentlemen! The comments are open (although if you are too nasty and slanderous, no matter who you support, I may have to delete you; please be nice, articulate, and state your case like a civilised person).

For further good times, here’s a little collage of some question period antics. By the title you may guess that it is put together by someone who is against the coalition, but no matter who or what you support, it is kinda fun watching everybody get angry at each other. Around 3:32 I am a bit afraid that Dion might burst a vein or something. O Canada!

EDIT Here are some YouTube videos of the national addresses tonight. I can’t guarantee these will stay up, but have a look while they are; if there are any posted by news organisations, please let me know. And where is Elizabeth May in all this, anyway?

Stephen Harper
Stéphane Dion (comes in partway through, unfortunately)
Jack Layton
Gilles Duceppe