The Montreal screening of the Jay Reatard documentary Better Than Something will be shown as part of the Nouveau Cinema festival. There are two scheduled viewings the first is Wednesday October 19th at 9pm and the second, Thursday October 20th at 12:00am, both at Agora Hydro-Quebec (175, avenue du Président-Kennedy) more information can be found at the facebook event page. I, personally have been waiting with baited breath to see this film, hope you cats make it out to see it.

Better Than Something - JAY REATARD - Trailer from Children of Productions on Vimeo.

BETTER THAN SOMETHING: JAY REATARD is a feature documentary about the controversial and prolific garage rock icon Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr, better known to the world as Jay Reatard. This intimate portrait, captured just months before his untimely passing, brings us incredibly close to Jay’s complicated punk-rock world in Memphis, Tennessee. BETTER THAN SOMETHING eloquently interweaves cinéma vérité, interviews, and archival concert performances, and features scenes from an insightful and candid week spent with Jay, who reveals personal childhood stories and the struggles of life in Memphis. The film’s Montreal premiere on the Festival headquarters’ five screens will be followed by a performance by Jay Reatard Karaoke Live. Here’s our chance to scream our appreciation for his songs and their importance to rock history.

One of my biggest regrets of the summer was missing out seeing local cats Citizenship play Pop Fringe. They just released a couple of tracks from their forth coming EP Swan Dive and they are killer to say the least. Checkout their bandcamp page for some download action of just dig into them in the player below. You’ll also be able to witness CTZNSHP in the flesh at Cabret Mile End Saturday September 24th with Yuck, most surely a show not to be missed, get your tickets here.

So it’s been what, 4 months since I last wrote in this blog. I’ve got no excuse really as to why I wasn’t. Time was there, however this blog (or me maybe) has lost a lot of focus. I took a break. A long break over the summer to figure out what can be salvaged from this four year old website. There is a lot of content on here, some I’m proud of some I’m not. Anyway so last week I had full on decided to shut down the site, archive it and move on. However….

Back late December 2010 a bud of mine and I where sitting around an after hours bar in St. John’s Newfoundland and decided that we’d make a new years resolution to run everyday of 2011. Not run in the sense of training for a marathon or for any reason in particular, just to do it. So we set up some rules, the first being that it must be outside (face all the elements of the seasons) and the second that it must be for at least for 15 minutes. The 15X365 plan was born. So far we’ve kept to it. There has been no day where we haven’t ran for at least 15 minutes. It’s been hard, much harder than I anticipated. I’ve ran though shitty weather, sickness and while being bombed out of my mind. The past month has been really stale and I’ve been doing the bare minimum. But as I ran around Jeanne Mance park tonight I thought about Trendwhore and what I could “rebrand”. I’ve been keeping a very bland running journal, just to write down how the run went and what I was listening to and as I was listening to the new Clap Your Hands Say Yeah album tonight sweating with new found excitement I figured that I’ll use Trendwhore as a medium for ….. reviewing (for lack of a better word) the great music I’ve been exploring as I ran around Montreal. I believe that if I apply the same discipline for running as blogging (whilst combining the two) I could maybe make a more consistent and interesting blog (at least for me).

So gone will be the blog that was mostly focused on the Montreal music scene (there are far better blogs for you to read on that subject) and the new Trendwhore will be more focused on my running and listening pleasures. My passion is running and exploring music, new and old and this place will be my medium for writing my bullshit thoughts about it.

So I hope you’ve enjoyed the old Trendwhore but I expect the new Trendwhore to be much more interesting. If you’d like to start a 15X365 of your own, you should…. it fucking feels great and is worth every bit of sweat, pain and shit weather you have have to endear.

If you made it this far you are in luck. I’m sharing the title track from the new Clap Your Hands Say Yeah album Hysterical, upon first listening I’m into it. It’s great and made me forget how sad I was listening to 2007’s Some Loud Thunder. The four break might have been worth it.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Hysterical

… way to make me hate myself Chris.

Watch this as well

The new Broken Social Scene song (and album) sucks.

Tomorrow is Record Store Day! Pitchfork has an excellent guide to releases which you should read and print off here. Personally, I’ll be on the look out for ‘We Fun: Atlanta GA Inside/Out’ doc, new 12″ from the Black Keys and the Dum Dum Girls/Male Bonding split 7″. Head over to the official Record Store Day website to find out what local stores are participating, for Canada click here. I’ll be haunting Phonopolis (15% off sale, deets here), SOUNDCENTRAL and Beatnick, hopefully I’ll see you out there.

Supporting local record stores makes you fucking awesome!

Added to the currently stunning Osheaga bill:

• DEVO
• We Are Wolves
• Owen Pallett
• Walkmen
• Japandroids
• The Morning Benders
• The Antlers
• Pawa Up First
• Cage The Elephant
• Kele Okerere
• Ingrid Michaelson
• Robyn
• Seu Jorge
• Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

Between this and the rest of the lineup, I’ve got an uncontrollable urge for Osheaga. I’M HERE ALL NIGHT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!

(via ghost ramp)

WE ALSO FINISHED RECORDING A RECORD IN OXFORD MISSISSIPPI AND ARE CURRENTLY MIXING IT. SOUNDS CARAAAZAAAAAAYYY AND WILL BE OUT THIS SUMMER. SEEEEEE YA!

Saw this on Natham Williams (aka Wavves) blog over the weekend, which put a big smile on my face early Sunday morning. Haven’t heard many rumblings in the blogosphere regarding Wavves, I guess Cults are too big right now. Wavves and his new band (really going to miss Zach Hill) will be touring this summer, so far the closest to Montreal is at Toronto’s NXNE with a Montreal stop at Il Motore June 20th and NXNE with Japandroids at Sneaky Dees June 18th.

If the new material is anything like this we all win.

Wavves - Cool Jumper

Wavves - Friends Were Gone

I couldn’t fathom this when I heard about it.

Vancouver has long been known as the “no fun city” but below the no fun veneer is a dedicated music scene that’s loud, experimental, and innovative, but has few venues in which to be heard. Many of Vancouver’s musicians are forced to play in undisclosed and illegal venues such as warehouses, basements and parking lots, whilst legal venues are constantly fighting city regulations to stay open. This creative community is based in the Downtown Eastside, a neighborhood that is faced with the harsh reality of addiction and poverty; these worlds collide to create a unique and often misunderstood part of the city.

No Fun City will premiere at the DoxFestival May 10, I for one am on the edge of my seat for a Montreal screening.

Ottawa band, The Allrights, have been the latest victim of gear theft. Gear was stolen from a van in Centretown, Ottawa. Please keep an eye out for the following:

griffiths tele copy (custom made, sunburst finish and bigsby)

gibson joan jett melody maker (white, w/ pen mark at 8th fret)

epiphone sheraton II (clear finish, pick guard is loose)

alamo amp (wood-paneled, fender bassman copy-ish)

roland cube amp (100 watt)

pedal board (w/ boss tuner, mxr microamp, ibanez tube screamer, and dunlop tremolo).

More info can be obtained from the band. Any info please email:

band@allrightsband.com

I’ve always been fascinated by Norwegian black metal. I have no idea how I even caught wind of the genre growing up in rural Newfoundland. But I remember calling Fred’s Records in St. John’s and special ordering Merciful Fate records, then Venom records and finally graduating to Mayhem records. The darker, the more sinister the better. I remember having dial up internet access and using up all my 10 hours per month reading about murder and church burnings related to black metal scene across the ocean, it was a savage scene to read about.

Tonight you can catch the premiere screening of Aitres’ and Ewell’s documentary of black metal in the early 90’s at Cinema Du Parc at 9:30PM. Pop Montreal is also giving away some free passes on their website here.

Until The Light Takes Us trailer

CLICK HERE FOR CINEMA DU PARC SCHEDULE

Probably the best looking lineup I’ve seen at Osheaga since moving here in 2007.

• ARCADE FIRE
• WEEZER
• PAVEMENT
• METRIC
• THE NATIONAL

• DEADMAU5
• THE CAT EMPIRE
• KEANE
• THE BLACK KEYS
• STARS
• THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION

• JIMMY CLIFF
• ARIANE MOFFATT
• THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM
• CHARLIE WINSTON
• BEACH HOUSE
• JAMIE LIDELL
• ROBYN
• SARAH HARMER
• FRANK TURNER
• BLITZEN TRAPPER
• AVI BUFFALO
• BAHAMAS
• AMANDA MABRO
• IAN KELLY

For information about tickets and the festival check the official Osheaga website.

Arcade Fire - Intervention

The National - Fake Empire (White Session 2007)

Another sad day in Memphis, and the world for that matter. Alex Chilton has died at the age of 59.

From P4K:

Crushing news today from the Memphis Commercial Appeal: Alex Chilton, the legendary singer, songwriter, and performer, died today. Chilton was in New Orleans and was scheduled to play in Austin this weekend with the reunited Big Star as part of SXSW. According to the paper, he complained of feeling ill and was taken by paramedic to the hospital. Cause of death has not been confirmed, but the Commercial Appeal reports that it is believed to be a heart attack. Chilton was 59.

Big Star - Thirteen

If he was from Venus, would he feed us with a spoon?
If he was from Mars, wouldn’t that be cool?
Standing right on campus, would he stamp us in a file?
Hangin’ down in Memphis all the while.

Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes ’round
They sing “I’m in love. What’s that song?
I’m in love with that song.”

Cerebral rape and pillage in a village of his choice.
Invisible man who can sing in a visible voice.
Feeling like a hundred bucks, exchanging good lucks face to face.
Checkin’ his stash by the trash at St. Mark’s place.

Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes ’round
They sing “I’m in love. What’s that song?
I’m in love with that song.”

I never travel far, without a little Big Star

Runnin’ ’round the house, Mickey Mouse and the Tarot cards.
Falling asleep with a flop pop video on.
If he was from Venus, would he meet us on the moon?
If he died in Memphis, then that’d be cool, babe.

When I was checking my blog stats yesterday, I noticed a spike in a post I did for April Fool’s day last year, where I wrote that Pavement were set to reunite at Osheaga, a joke that lead to strangers spitting on me.  At the time it looked like a long shot but it seems this year my lies will come to fruition and we’ll hear their sweet gold soundz come August (rumor link). There is also some discussion about the reunion of The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, which is a good thing but Soundgarden are also set to reunite and we might get that, which is a bad thing. We’ll find out in a few weeks.

Until then put Quarantine The Past in your stereo, cut your hair and stop breathin’.

Pavement - Date W/ IKEA

UPDATE: Looks like all the rumors are true, well the good ones anyway.

March 13th should be marked on your calendar, Real Estate and Woods are playing Club Lambi. Make sure to get there early so you can experience the beautiful musical haunting of the venue by Valleys. If you love ghostly melodies and thickly layered sonic folk you are in for a treat.

Valleys - Tanlines

Tickets for the show are here.

Pick up Valley’s latest Semprini Records release, Sometimes Water Kills People here.

Vancouver duo Japandroids have had a real busy 2009. Post-Nothing was all over the year end lists whilst King and Prowse hit the road hard. Don’t expect a new album this year, HOWEVER there is a singles collection coming out.

via P4K

 Throughout 2010, they’ll release five 7″ singles, each limited to 2000 copies. (They’ll also be for sale as digital downloads, so don’t bug out if you don’t order your copies in time.)

Each single will include two songs: One unreleased jam from the Post-Nothing sessions and one cover. The first of those singles, out April 13 on Polyvinyl, will pair the Japandroids joint “Art Czars” with a cover of Big Black’s pigfuck classic “Racer X” on one clear vinyl platter.

Pre-order here.

The first single from the Post-Nothing sessions is ‘Art Czars’. Its nothing new, but it packs a punch.

Japandroids - Art Czars

Tour Dates
02-11 Munich, Germany - 59to1
02-12 Offenbach, Germany - Hafen 2
02-13 Munster, Germany - Gleis 22
02-15 Paris, France - Le Point Ephemère
02-16 Amsterdam, Holland - Paradiso
02-17 Nijmegen, Holland - Merleyn
02-18 Leuven, Belgium - Stuk
02-19 Diksmuide, Belgium - 4AD
02-20 Lille, France - La Peniche
02-22 Brighton, England - Freebutt
02-23 London, England - ICA
02-24 Leeds, England - Cockpit 3
02-25 Manchester, England - Deaf Institute
02-26 Glasgow, Scotland - King Tut’s
02-27 Liverpool, England - Korova
03-17-21 Austin, TX - SXSW
03-24 Oxford, MS - Proud Larrys *
03-25 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree *
03-26 Nashville, TN - The End *
03-27 Charlotte, NC - Snug Harbor *
03-29 Washington, DC - Rock & Roll Hotel ^
03-30 Philadelphia, PA - The Barbary ^
03-31 Boston, MA - Middle East Downstairs ^
04-01 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom #
04-02 Montreal, Quebec - Il Motore ^
04-03 Toronto, Ontario - Horseshoe Tavern ^
04-05 Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig %
04-06 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop @
04-07 Champaign, IL - High Dive ^
04-08 Indianapolis, IN - Radio Radio @
04-09 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall @
04-10 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry @
04-12 Columbia, MO - Mojo’s @
04-13 Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck @
04-15 Las Vegas, NV - Beauty Bar @
04-19 Phoenix, AZ - Trunk Space @
04-21 San Diego, CA - Casbah @
04-22 Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex ~
04-23 San Francisco, CA - Independent @
04-24 Salem, OR - Willamette University @
04-30 Vancouver, British Columbia - Lifetime Collective
06-10-13 Manchester, TN - Bonaroo Festival

* with A Sunny Day In Glasgow
^ with Love Is All
# with Best Coast
% with Bear in Heaven
@ with Avi Buffalo
~ with Nobunny

Fucked Up are releasing a new 7″, David’s Plan backed with star studded Do They Know It’s Christmas, and like they promised all proceeds are going to charity.

From Looking For Gold:

Hi, the Davids Plan 7″ is now available for pre-order. It features a new song “Davids Plan” on the aside, and our “Do they Know its Christmas” on the bside. All proceeds go to charity! Insound is the only place to get it right now in North America, so go order it HERE. If you are from Europe or England or something, you can get it from Rough Trade.

We will have these on tour with us next week, so if you live somewhere that we are playing, buy one from us and leave the mail order copies for people who live in the boonies please. CHARITY.

Also, Fucked Up will be playing Montreal Feburary 21st at La Sala Rossa with Kurt Vile and Slobs tickets can be purchased here.

Fucked Up - Black Albino Bones

Kurt Vile -  Hunchback

Preorder David’s Plan Here (via Insound)

Hey, long time no see. I’ve been contemplating shutting this site down over the past month. I usually get into that mood over New Year’s and by the time February rolls around I finally get the need to bellow my musical opinions to the world. This year was no different. There will be some “changes” around here, that I will outline in a following post but for now, let me get some awesome news off my chest.

Greenland just announced a Bronx/Japanther show for March 30th at Petit Campus which has all the potential to be outstanding. Though I’m not much of a fan of the Bronx’ alter ego and opener Mariachi El Bronx, but I’d suffer though a ‘Celina Dion does all Jane Arden covers for 8-hours’ to get a chance to see Japanther again.

Speaking of Japanther, they are releasing a new album, “Rock & Roll Ice Cream” March 2nd on Menlo Park Recordings. Here is a taste of what to expect. It’s super poppy (read ‘lovely’) and the girl doo-wop bits grows on you like cute bacteria.

Japanther - Spread So Thin