My Shuffled Walk, College Street, Toronto

Let’s call this a little art experiment: I got off work early today so I thought I’d take a really bloody long walk along the entire length of College Street, throw my songs on shuffle, and take a picture that played while each song played. Two rules: no skipping songs and no picture do-overs. Is there any way I can write my way into making each picture make sense for each song? Good luck with that, Kev. But there’s definitely one near the end that blew my mind. I know, that’s a little click-baity, but it’s true.

Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton John: Declaration & Invitation

Olivia Newton-John was my first celebrity crush. When “Physical” was a big hit in 1981 – a Jazzercise anthem – I was just eight years old. It’s probably one of the first pure pop songs I really loved. It was also the first time I was really aware of her and I remember thinking, “Wow, that’s a pretty lady.” And it made me feel kind of good, but simultaneously embarrassed.

Haim’s Something to Tell You: Behold, the Weirdlings

That brilliant trio of California sisters, Haim, have a new album out called Something to Tell You. It’s great, I love it, but it’s also haunted. It’s haunted by strange digitized voices of varying pitches. I call them the Weirdlings.

R.I.P., Chris Cornell

I fell in love with Soundgarden a little late. Now, with Chris Cornell’s passing, I wish I’d fallen in love with them earlier. It would’ve given me more time with them, and him.

An entire blog post about one guitar lick – Kings of Leon, “Sex on Fire”

I realize I’m immensely late to the Kings of Leon party. Like so late to the party that nobody’s funny-drunk anymore, but are now thinks-they’re-funny-but-in-fact-are-just-drooling drunk.

#3albumsthatchangedmylife

I love this trending hashtag and I tweeted mine out, but I felt like they needed more explanation. Albums that change your life are not necessarily your favourite albums of all time. They might be, they might rank among them, but in this case, while I love all three albums and have worn them out over the years, they’re not my top three, period.

When Music, My Brain, Nerds & Positive Thinking Collide

The blog got a (sort of) surprise plug on my favourite podcast today – and I’m taking it as a reward for making an effort to think a little more positively.