The Kids on TV Show!
Feb. 27th, 2008 02:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nfotxnGreg (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
plaidninja) has been my stalwart partner in crime for various purposes over the years. One of our favourite things to do when we hang out is to see AWESOME BANDS and drink lots and stuff. Given that we don't see eachother all that much these days, I'm too busy doing my thing and he's too busy doing his thing, it was refreshing to spending hanging out drinking too much and seeing AWESOME BANDS and drinking lots and stuff.
Hey know what's fun about Canada? 13% sales tax! Also indie bands get free hosting on the CBC with like pictures and tour dates and embed-able Shockwave applications for me to put in my blog. That's tax-dollar value right there.
Photo by David Hawe
Back in the twilight years of Toronto's Toolbox bar for bears and gays and things Kids on TV played a performance. Unfortunately I did not attend as I was likely sleeping or sucking a dick or working or something. Bummer. Word is they confused the poor bears at the bar but brought their own crowd down to Eastern Ave and Morse away from the Church Street Homosexual Ghetto.
The band is sorta all over the map stylistically channelling everything from the classic homosexualism of Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Pet Shop Boys to EBM/Goth stuff. Throw in some break dancing and screaming for good measure.
What's fun about them is that they bring a dance party without being some Womyn's Studies all inclusive pan-gender Drag King stinky pit cunt poetry throw-down. Conversely we have 'bear music'. This has the sad tendency to come down to essentially a college town open mic. The subjects of performance being like a hot under-grad chick in a tight sweater with a big rack. Acoustic guitar from summer camp in tow it's not secrete that all the boys want to bone her. Why else would anyone tolerate C-D-G songs about how cute her dead cat 'Jingles' was? Except everyone is big, fat, hairy and male. Or into that look.
My point being that 'gay bands' can be good and overtly gay without negating the music. If you are a gay making music about the gaying try and do it in a way that even the more rigid of straight boys will dig. Otherwise you just look like you're trying too hard to get laid, sell records or gain some sort of promotional advantage. I don't get up on stage grinding with the band and screaming along to the songs I don't know with the above examples but I did at the Kids on TV show. And, personally, that's how I define a good night out.
I actually get legitimately upset when amazing live acts put out ho-hum recordings. You see this band throws down something like 12 members playing drums, guitars, piano, organ, cello, ukulele, tenor banjo, 'rockenspiel', melodica, accordion, lap steel and trumpet and sounds fucking DELICIOUS. Honestly, this is a live act not to be missed because the song writing is solid in that literary geek Decemberists way. But not that tired twee pop Belle and Sebastien way. It's a Sunday School Square Dance Oh Canada throw down that rubs you right on your mental geek cunt. Mental geek cunt, that's stretching it. You get the picture.
But the record has been recorded with a lock-step metronome on waltz tempo and sorta blanded out for whateve reason. Agh! I implore you to go see them live. Their tour schedule is here. And look it includes Victoria BC soon. Yes, I'm looking at you. Go!
Here in the Hammer everyone calls him 'Wax' or 'Waxy' because Chis has played like 10,000 gigs in town for every record label launch, artist co-operative fund raiser and regular club gig since, well, since he started playing. That's because he can throw down his tracks with a trusty Yamaha RM1x sans band at the drop of a hat. Thrashing on his axetar along to the canned beats the effect is actually pretty entrancing. This boy has serious chops performing and isn't afraid to giv'r. And lucky for him he keeps churning out records on Infinite Heat that sound awesome.
However when I win a million dollars I'm going to buy Wax Mannequin a touring band.
plaidninja) has been my stalwart partner in crime for various purposes over the years. One of our favourite things to do when we hang out is to see AWESOME BANDS and drink lots and stuff. Given that we don't see eachother all that much these days, I'm too busy doing my thing and he's too busy doing his thing, it was refreshing to spending hanging out drinking too much and seeing AWESOME BANDS and drinking lots and stuff.Hey know what's fun about Canada? 13% sales tax! Also indie bands get free hosting on the CBC with like pictures and tour dates and embed-able Shockwave applications for me to put in my blog. That's tax-dollar value right there.
Kids on TV
Photo by David Hawe
Kids On TV emerged from the drainage pipe of a Toronto bathhouse in the spring of 2003. The group consists of John Caffery, Minus Smile, Wolf, and Roxanne Luchak. Their output includes, but is by no means limited to, musical recordings, musical performances, film, dance videos,rock opera collaborations, graffiti, crafting, and live "sleep-ins" in ritzy Toronto bars. Kids On TV want to transform space and your mind. Tune in. Get addicted. Get nasty. Kids On TV bring it live and bring it real with big dirty beats, shameless samples and breakdance meat.
Back in the twilight years of Toronto's Toolbox bar for bears and gays and things Kids on TV played a performance. Unfortunately I did not attend as I was likely sleeping or sucking a dick or working or something. Bummer. Word is they confused the poor bears at the bar but brought their own crowd down to Eastern Ave and Morse away from the Church Street Homosexual Ghetto.
The band is sorta all over the map stylistically channelling everything from the classic homosexualism of Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Pet Shop Boys to EBM/Goth stuff. Throw in some break dancing and screaming for good measure.
What's fun about them is that they bring a dance party without being some Womyn's Studies all inclusive pan-gender Drag King stinky pit cunt poetry throw-down. Conversely we have 'bear music'. This has the sad tendency to come down to essentially a college town open mic. The subjects of performance being like a hot under-grad chick in a tight sweater with a big rack. Acoustic guitar from summer camp in tow it's not secrete that all the boys want to bone her. Why else would anyone tolerate C-D-G songs about how cute her dead cat 'Jingles' was? Except everyone is big, fat, hairy and male. Or into that look.
My point being that 'gay bands' can be good and overtly gay without negating the music. If you are a gay making music about the gaying try and do it in a way that even the more rigid of straight boys will dig. Otherwise you just look like you're trying too hard to get laid, sell records or gain some sort of promotional advantage. I don't get up on stage grinding with the band and screaming along to the songs I don't know with the above examples but I did at the Kids on TV show. And, personally, that's how I define a good night out.
The Burning Hell
I actually get legitimately upset when amazing live acts put out ho-hum recordings. You see this band throws down something like 12 members playing drums, guitars, piano, organ, cello, ukulele, tenor banjo, 'rockenspiel', melodica, accordion, lap steel and trumpet and sounds fucking DELICIOUS. Honestly, this is a live act not to be missed because the song writing is solid in that literary geek Decemberists way. But not that tired twee pop Belle and Sebastien way. It's a Sunday School Square Dance Oh Canada throw down that rubs you right on your mental geek cunt. Mental geek cunt, that's stretching it. You get the picture.
But the record has been recorded with a lock-step metronome on waltz tempo and sorta blanded out for whateve reason. Agh! I implore you to go see them live. Their tour schedule is here. And look it includes Victoria BC soon. Yes, I'm looking at you. Go!
Wax Mannequin
Here in the Hammer everyone calls him 'Wax' or 'Waxy' because Chis has played like 10,000 gigs in town for every record label launch, artist co-operative fund raiser and regular club gig since, well, since he started playing. That's because he can throw down his tracks with a trusty Yamaha RM1x sans band at the drop of a hat. Thrashing on his axetar along to the canned beats the effect is actually pretty entrancing. This boy has serious chops performing and isn't afraid to giv'r. And lucky for him he keeps churning out records on Infinite Heat that sound awesome.
However when I win a million dollars I'm going to buy Wax Mannequin a touring band.
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