I first heard this song about four months ago on a compilation belonging to my editor, Max Maki. When I told her that I was going to post it on STG she kicked me and said that because she found it, she would post it. Frightened, I opted not to explain to her that it was my blog (for the time being, at least) and that she had no say. Might, however, makes right, so...

Finally four months later she writes the thing and it?s the biggest downer since Of Mice and Men (mostly it?s just Of Mice and Men plagiarized but whatever).

My two cents on the song:

1. The two guitars start the song off like a waterfall; a steady clear flow of descending notes.

2. The song is sung as if by a weary vaudevillian, his mouth stuck open on one side from a lifetime of sneaking out wisecracks.

Now read Max Maki?s comments and try not to kill yourself.

Pseudosix - "Run Rebel"

(By Max Maki)

Christmas is over, the new year has begun. Sure, there are new beginnings, but mainly, as I say goodbye to my family and ride the bus back to Montreal, I?m thinking about endings (despite my new glasses, i?m shortsighted that way).

Although I?m sure my general melancholy is influencing my understanding of this song, I can?t help but feel that not only is Run Rebel about the saddest song I?ve heard in a long time, it?s also a song about some of the sadder things that contribute to the world?s sadness (injustice, false hope, futility and inevitabitliy).

You aren?t real, rebel. You just keep running your crooked course because it?s inevitable, rebel. I?m next, rebel.

Everyone?s empty and you?re empty like the rest of us all.

Happy New Year!

Soft Canyon - "For You"

(By Max Maki and I, written on the bus from Ottawa to Montreal)

Don?t worry, Soft Canyon will cure you of your woes. Like a psychedelic sun-soaked Rolling Stones, they bring together the best elements of late-sixties/early-seventies rock: dense jangle, rich harmonies, catchy hooks and towering distorted leads.

The raspiness of the lead singer?s hard-edged voice connotes both anger at the unjust world, and tenderness towards these most psychedelically interpreted natural phenomena: ?magenta flames? and ?sky so tragic blue.?

Such contrasts will help you find ?that place in your mind where everything is easy.?