Monday 31 July 2017

Signage: Leon Furs

Overhanging signs like this were once very commonplace here in Hamilton. (And I’m sure many other North American cities.) Now they are a rarity. Regulations and insurance did them in. This derelict example on James St. N. is one of the few left. Curious how long it will be before it’s gone like the hundreds of others that used to exist.

S.o.t.D. - Pieces Of A Dream (Roger’s Raw Dub) – Incognito

Pieces Of A Dream (Roger’s Raw Dub) – Incognito

I’m guessing Roger is Roger Sanchez.

Soulful and funky.

Sunday 30 July 2017

S.o.t.D. - Shadows – AIЯLIИES

Shadows – AIЯLIИES

Love how this genre has managed to turn the snap, crackle and pop of vinyl not into something integral to the sound.

Saturday 29 July 2017

S.o.t.D. - Jade (Orphx Remix) – Svreca

Jade (Orphx Remix) – Svreca

Orphx are from the city I live in, and do a style of music that I’m not sure if it could be classified as techno or industrial.

Friday 28 July 2017

S.o.t.D. - W.Y.H.I.W.Y.G. – Front 242

W.Y.H.I.W.Y.G. – Front 242

If I wasn’t already a huge fan, getting this album in 87, and reaching the 2 minute mark of this first track – yup...I’m a huge fan.

Sunday 23 July 2017

Signage: City Motor Hotel

The City Motor Hotel is gone. While the sign alludes to a 50’s retro future of hopeful optimism, by the end it was a squalid dump filled with addicts, dealers and hookers.

S.o.t.D. - Expand – Jazz Cartel

Expand – Jazz Cartel

Blissful.

Thursday 20 July 2017

S.o.t.D. - Deep And Rolling – The Specialist

Deep And Rolling – The Specialist

I like it when a song announces what it’s going to be. Like if Oasis released a song called Mopey and Whiny.

Signage: Private Property

Nothing that thrilling, but it’s a solid and stolid sign, one that the “get the hell off my lawn you little bastards!” curmudgeon in me can appreciate. And I find it interesting that the red fades before the black, and that some of the structure, how the sign painter did it, is revealed thusly.

Tuesday 18 July 2017

S.o.t.D. - Contrast – PhD

Contrast – PhD

From 1998 on Good Looking. Predictably creamy.

Signage: Amsterdam Bicycle Club

If I spent any amount of time in Toronto, and wanted a hangout, this would be it. No idea about the staff or the food or or the decor or anything. But this just seems like a natural fit for me. On the Esplanade.

Sunday 16 July 2017

S.o.t.D. - Planet – Four Tet

Planet – Four Tet

One of the only things I got excited about at the SuperCrawl 2 years ago was Four Tet. Super fun to dance to.

Signage: Giant Yard Sale

I’ll bet this giant yard sale was a giant success because of the giant letters they used to inform potential customers. 

No spidery, thin letters done with a marker, hard to read driving by. This? What it is! Where it is! Boom! No date, but likely put up in the nieghbourhood the morning of.

Saturday 15 July 2017

Thursday 13 July 2017

S.o.t.D. - Tranquil – J Majik

Tranquil – J Majik

Oh gosh.

Signage: Kids Slow

Not sure it’s necessary to let the entire neighbourhood know about the fact your children are developmentally challe...oh wait...they want you to drive slow because there are kids. Okay. It took me a while, but I figured it out.

Tuesday 11 July 2017

Thursday 6 July 2017

S.o.t.D. - Cleopatra – The Lumineers

Cleopatra – The Lumineers

What I’d really like to show is the video of my nephew playing this on acoustic guitar and his girlfriend and her amazing voice singing this. But apparently I’m not allowed to since it was filmed in their school auditorium, and the school logo appears. Not sure I understand the reasoning, but hey.

So, in it’s place, I’ll show the original.

Tuesday 4 July 2017

S.o.t.D. - Forever – High Performance

Forever – High Performance

The tune is good, but I especially enjoyed it because of all the footage of Greece, where my brother is moving to soon.

Sunday 2 July 2017

S.o.t.D. - The Russian Are Coming (Take Five) – Val Bennett

The Russian Are Coming (Take Five) – Val Bennett

Took me a second to realize why this sounded familiar. It’s a rock steady cover of Dave Brubeck’s iconic Take Five. In a different time signature too.