Sort-of review: Dear Rouge at Mill Street Beer Hall in Toronto, August 18, 2016

I’ve never been one of those “I have to meet my favourite musicians” guys. One of my two all time favourites is Juliana Hatfield. She hasn’t played Toronto in a few years, but she always used to stop by Lee’s Palace, back when it was the most beautiful of weird little venues.

36. “Alive,” Pearl Jam

The latter half of 1993 was weirdly social for me. If you know me, you know that social interaction can be a bit awkward for me, which is true of most introverts. But something strange happened that summer, while working at Canada’s Wonderland.

Top 12 Songs That Made Me Happy in 2015

Music never fails to work magic on me, but this was a really cool year for music. It was about simultaneously looking back at music I’ve loved for 20-plus years, and looking forward to the bright future of music.

35. “Twist and Shout,” The Beatles

I think I own Beatles music because I feel it’s my duty as a music fan.

Sort-of Review: Dear Rouge at The Mod Club in Toronto, November 5, 2015

Maybe something good is gonna happen.

I was just starting to formulate the theme of this “sort-of review,” of my last 27 hours, when Drew and Danielle McTaggart of Dear Rouge sang that line to a sold-out Mod Club in Toronto. And that cemented it.

13 Creepy Halloween Songs

Boo! Scared you, didn’t I? It’s okay, you can admit it. After all, it’s Halloween and we’re all super-primed for spooks. Speaking of which, I love watching spooky movies this time of year (well, any time of year, really). And there are a bunch of songs sitting in my phone that turn my brain into its own little creepfest. Fittingly, here are the 13 creepiest (in no particular order).

34. “Bailero” from Chants d’Auvergne, Frederica von Stade with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Remember mix tapes?

Um. No.

Okay, I get it, Valley-Girl-Voiced Imaginary Reader. You’re younger than me. You can un-pause Spotify now.

Anyway, I would pick my songs and add up the times of each song to make sure I could maximize each 45-minute side of a 90-minute tape.