Serge goes to a Christmas party

Anytime the night ends with Phantom II blaring at 4am, you know its been a good night. Maybe not for the roommates, but definitely for NLG. As it was on Saturday, which was the night of Serge’s annual work Christmas party. Held at a fancy Cole Harbour establishment, this black tie event showcases The Man’s talent in their finest evening attire. Following suit, Serge arrived wearing his Strellson Rick James with a flask of Aberlour in his breast pocket and the younger, taller version of Don Draper in tow. While Donny entertained the female guests, Serge parlayed the waiter Jose into bringing over a case of wine and filling up their glasses as if they had a hole in the bottom. Serge then displayed some dance maneuvers that would have made John Travolta look knock-kneed and any observers get vertigo; they included the flying knee slide and fist-pumping from the top of a table. However, the best was yet to come: it came when Serge pulled the ol’ champagne trick with a beer bottle—the one where you hold your thumb over the opening and spray while you shake as if you just won the Monte Carlo Grand Prix. For some reason, it wasn’t too well received by Serge’s fellow coworkers, and a slightly disappointed Serge was told to “calm down”. However, he didn’t remain downtrodden for long. A couple of gin-waters later and he was fired up again, unfortunately, however, just as the function was winding down. Luckily, there is always Phantom II and there is always an afterparty where Phantom II is playing. So Serge went home, cranked up the speakers and threw a couple chairs against the wall, all in the name of having a good time.

Justice - Phantom Part II

NLG gets Grinderman'd

What happens when you mix a general practitioner on a tax-deductible work trip, one half of the No Look Guns, a bottle of fireball, and Nick Cave and his band of virtuoso Ozark musicians? A black eye, a couple of headaches and a pile of receipts for the taxman, that’s what.

The aforementioned med (Dr. Roberts), a No Look Gunner from the wild interior hub of Okanagan Falls, was in town for a professional development course and was convinced the entire night would be a tax write off. He lured Serge to the dark world of Nick Cave’s alter-ego band, Grinderman, and into the sold out Commodore show with promises of tax deductible drinks and a bottle of whiskey in his boot.

Like moths attracted to a bug zapper on a sticky night in the Deep South, the crowd at the Ballroom—a meaty soup of freaks—were drawn to Nick Cave. Polygamists, satyrs, a Cyclops and a host of other miscreants crawled towards Cave’s omnipotent presence as if it were the ethereal equivalent of the fly-lamp, while the theologically laced lyrics and wickedly talented band of Ozark looking musicians provided the southern feel. Cave truly did seem god-like; he almost literally squeezed the huge venue of 1500 people into a tiny square in front of him. With liquid courage fueled by Dr. Roberts’ expense account, NLG made their way to the front— getting so close to the Grinderman that at one point Dr Roberts claimed that he was not holding onto the front railing, but Nick Cave’s balls. With proximity came a price, though. When Cave began breathing the heavy lyrics to “Heathen Child”, the crowd of idolaters took this as some sort of cultish summoning. This set off a physical and psychological battering of NLG that included front wedgies, ear pokes, a clothesline to Dr. Roberts’ neck and a sucker punch to the left eye of Serge. However, rather than back down, NLG heard their own war cry—Cave’s spewing rant about a prudent fan, “No Pussy Blues”. Whipped into an adrenaline-induced blackout, Serge and Dr. Roberts didn’t see each other again until they found one another outside after the show. Serge was peddling the setlist for Marlboro Lights and the Doc was holding a teatowel with Nice Cave’s face on it. Deciding to make the accountant back in OK Falls even more jealous when he sees the receipts from the evening, the two headed to the local gentleman’s club to add to the pile. Now let’s just hope the CRA doesn’t audit Dr. Roberts and ruin all the fun.

Grinderman - No Pussy Blues

Grinderman's website

Do you know who Dan Mangan is?

We at NLG have come across a lot of people who don’t know who Dan Mangan is, but judging by the back to back sold out shows at the Vogue Theatre he just put on in Vancouver, there are a lot of people who do know this curly mop top baritone belter. And for good reason. If his cunning songwriting and uniquely addictive delivery were good enough to pack two shows on an otherwise bumping Remembrance Day weekend, they were also good enough to bring NLG (temporarily) out of (semi) retirement. NLG’s delegate to the show, Serge (Gene being still on assignment to Acadia), was delighted to experience firsthand all the favourites from Mangan’s Polaris prize nominated album Nice, Nice, Very Nice. However, Serge was even more delighted by the new songs Mangan chose to try out on the willing crowd. Each of them happened to pluck a different heart string of Serge; as well as the entire audience it seemed, judging by the number of calls for Mr. Mangan to remove his top. Serge’s top three new songs from Mr. Mangan, based entirely on Serge’s subjective favour of what they referenced:
1. Rows of Houses for being written about the classic film Stand By Me
2. Jeopardy, for being introduced by an impression of Sean Connery ("I'll take Anal Bum Covers for $500")
3. Leaves, Trees, Forests for Dan suggesting that he drinks beers alone by the phone

Dan Mangan - Sold

Buy Dan's music here

Byrning Down The House

In continuation of our love for all things Talking Heads, NLG shares the latest gems uncovered from the quarry that is the mind of former Heads’ frontman David Byrne. The first is a talk given by Byrne for a TED Conference about the role architecture has played in the evolution of music. With characteristic head-waggles, hand-wiggles, and shoulder-shrugs, Byrne claims it is “first the vessel, then the passion”—to which we couldn’t agree more.

However, if you are like us and have a hard time seeing this genius writhing on stage for even a short amount of time without getting a serious itch for some new wave, here is a modern day classic from Byrne and long-time collaborator, Brian Eno.
David Byrne and Brian Eno - Strange Overtones

Finally, if you like the concept behind Byrne’s speech, check out the building he made into a musical instrument (for the sound installation called Playing the Building).

Daryl's House

After a two month hiatus from NLG, Gene Ral has found himself lost in a haze of 80’s adult contemporary, and loving every saxophone-filled minute of it. So you can imagine my delight when I stumbled upon a little gem called 'Live From Daryl's House', wherein 1980’s biggest egomaniac, Daryl Hall (of Hall & Oates infamy) invites modern musicians over to his house so he can boast about his musical accomplishments and force them to perform his hit songs. A highlight from the series comes in Episode 10, when Daryl invites the boys from Chromeo over to impart some of his drum-machine wisdom on them, and so the boys can help him recreate the magic of his timeless classic, “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)”.

The following clip provides probably the most pleasure one can legally receive in 10 minutes and 33 seconds.

Stress

The Hunt For Red Jimmy

Five No Look Gunners. A rusty '91 Chevy Beauville. Every implement of destruction imaginable. One mission: Find Jimmy.

Prowling around somewhere in the sand dunes of a wealthy seaside Oregon town is the man that started it all. The entire No Look Gun way of life. True to his nature, Jimmy's exact location is a mystery. The only clues we have to his whereabouts is a Manzanita watering hole called the Sandpiper, tire marks outside a half-finished waterfront mansion, and a stunt-limbed exotic dancer in Portland. But to us, the only things standing in our way of finding this giant-footed gambling boozehound is a chunk of wasteland called Washington State, $12 cases of PBR, and the most beautiful drive in the world: the Pacific Coast Highway.

Kavinsky - Pacific Coast Highway