Rambling Weekend Thoughts

Well, I have to say that it was nice to get the whole weekend off for the first time in a while. Nothing beats two days in a row of not-working. Well some things do, but that's beside the point. I did manage to get downtown and look around the shops. (Oooooo, how British, I typed "shops" and not "stores" look at that!) Once again I was in Soundscapes and I couldn't help myself. Or rather, I could help myself - to some CDs that is.

I am pleased to report that the new New Pornographers disc is superb. I was always lukewarm on their first two efforts (despite the rave reviews of a certain ex-flatmate) but this one sounded like a winner from the first track. Makes me want to listen to others again and see if I was missing something there.

I also picked up a reggae album from Lee Perry's Black Ark period. I haven't been listen to enough dub or reggae lately and I plan to rectify this. I also picked up M.I.A.'s disc. She kind of reminds of The Clash for the political views, the mish-mash of sounds and being based in the UK. I thought that this analogy would get weak in that she was from Sri Lanka, but then I recalled that Joe Strummer was actually born in Turkey I think (his father was a diplomat or something). So I guess they're both from Asia.

Walking south from Soundscapes towards Queen St I noticed that the whole neighbourhood was quite nice looking. Small houses crammed together, but well kept. It was sunny but not too warm so maybe that helped too. No part of Toronto is appealing in February.

On Queen St. I popped into Songbird. I have a post about my adventures there on my other blog. I guess that's pretty much what I did on Saturday. Oh well, it's back to the urns and steam wands for me tomorrow. But you knew that...