SentDev: Best Albums of 2008

My best albums of 2008 list has been posted on Sentient Developments.

Canada's Wonderland: Swing of the Century

Sigur Ros live at Massey Hall Sep. 22, 2008

George on a hike

Taken at Pinery Provincial Park while hiking the Carolinian Trail. First time I wore my Tilley in about 10 years.

Bikers' self-portrait

Three generations of Dvorsky men. Taken at Pinery Provincial Park whilst on an epic bicycle journey through the park.

Kids on the trampoline

Decaying treehouse

Taken at the Dunlop Farm near Thornhill, Ontario.
Click for larger image.

Grails: Take Refuge in Clean Living

Not your typical post-rock.

Beats, Breaks and Culture 2008

At Harborfront in Toronto on July 5, 2008

Wolf Parade: Mount Zoomer

Still coming to grips with how good this CD is.

Foals: Antidotes

This album rocks. Think Interpol meets Bloc Party meets Battles meets post-rock. Seriously.

Bike ride through Oakville's trails

Parliament ceilings

The ceilings of the Canadian Parliament building in Ottawa.

Under the Neyagawa Bridge

3 live at the Sound Academy (video)

These guys were fantastic opening for Opeth.

Opeth live at the Sound Academy in Toronto, May 24, 2008

Playlist:

Demon of the Fall
Master's Apprentices
The Baying of the Hounds
In My Time of Need
Serenity Painted Death
To Rid the Disease
Wreath
Heir Apparent
The Drapery Falls

Toronto skyline at night

I took this photo from the docks (click to see larger version).

Papercuts: Can't Go Back

Currently enjoying this album very much.

Spring tulips in Gatineau

Museum of Civilization, Gatineau QC

Makeup mirror on table

Nothing was re-arranged in this shot -- the setting was exactly as I found it.

Russian Circles: Station

Russian Circles is a three piece instrumental post-rock/post-metal band from Chicago. Be sure to check out their most recent release, Station.

Chicago

The Fiery Furnaces live in Toronto, Dec. 12, 2007

"Black Hearted Boy"











Taken at Lee's Palace on December 12, 2007.

First-person trip down Mt. St. Louis-Moonstone

The Mars Volta live in Toronto, May 12, 2008

This was one insane concert.

It was at The Sound Academy in Toronto, which is a very long and narrow venue. It was a zillion degrees inside and packed to the hilt. People keep pushing forward causing the crowding problem to worsen as the night wore on. At one point the security people had to gesture to the audience to start stepping back.


When you're watching the video, be sure to watch how entire sections of the audience move in a sudden lateral manner. That's how packed it was.

The male to female ratio was way out of whack. I'd say 10:1 in favour of the guys -- maybe even as bad as 15:1.


And the weed. Man, I have never seen so much pot smoked at a concert. And I go to a lot of concerts. When you watch the video you'll see an endless succession of smoke puffs.

Just after the concert started, the guy right next me smoked-up in a real hurry. He didn't make it through the show. At around the 2:30 point in the above video he completely passed out. He just dropped to the floor like a rock. He eventually got up, regained his senses, and then left.


Some people started throwing stuff at the stage. At one point lead singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala warned the audience that if they keep it up they would stop the show and "keep all the money."

Getting nervous, I eventually made my way to the back just to be safe. I endured a lot of physical abuse at the Messhuggah show during the previous week, so I was in no mood for more elbows to the face. Well, luck was not on my side last night as I ended up in the path of two guys in a fight and was nearly knocked to the ground.

What fun.


But the band was great. High energy, kinetic, and powerful. The neo-psychedelic aspect was really brought to the forefront, as was the unique and highly improvisational guitar playing of Omar Rodríguez-López. They had 8 guys on stage playing everything from wind instruments to bongo drums.

And as crazy as the experience was, I won't want to miss them the next time they come to town.

Toronto skyline from The Docks