NorthGeek

Sharp Dressed Man

Have you ever seen such an epic wedding drummer? This man is playing the wrong gig.

Rick K. and the Allnighters performing Sharp Dressed Man at Knoebels Grove 7/13/08 (via @chrisonhismac)

Wait, there’s more. Mony Mony:

Wipeout:

UQAM’s got a feeling!

How is this video from my own backyard and getting over 5-million views, but I just find out about it today??

What is ChatRoulette good for? Piano improv, of course!

This guy, who many on the ‘net think is Ben Folds, is great. He created his own YouTube channel, so I’m hoping he’ll continue to add great “Chat Improv Videos” -- like this one:

Artists for Haiti – We Are The World 25

Some Canadians in this one, as well!

When I get older, I will be stronger, they’ll call me freedom

This is a beautiful, inspirational song written and originally performed by K’naan, a Somalian-born Torontonian musician. This rendition showcases an incredibly impressive roster of Canadian talent, making up Young Artists for Haiti. Have a look and listen, it gave me the “proud to be Canadian” shivers…

Special thanks to our boy, Alfredo.

The Phantom HD camera, high-speed filmography, music, & Stephen Hawking – all very cool things.

This is a very cool clip of some high-speed footage captured with the impressive Phantom HD camera (in my opinion, a RED with uber-cool high-speed capabilities), and interesting music which I am assuming is taking either actual audio from, or at least quotes from acclaimed theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking. Enjoy!

[UPDATE 03/09/10] — For those of you interested in purchasing this beast of an HD cam to capture your home videos, you’ll have to prioritize your purchases… If you’re into nice cars, don’t buy one, you’ll need your $118K for this Phantom HD camera. If you want some kick-ass HD capabilities in a smaller form factor and smaller budget, I would check out the RED Scarlet -- here.

For those interested in high-speed filmography, check this video out, too -- also shot with the Phantom:

Club Bud – coming to Vancouver

Hey NorthGeek readers, what do you think of this? Is this going to be THE series of parties for Olympic-goers from around the world? We certainly hope to make it to at least one of these events. I hope the nice people at the PR agency who emailed us about this can hook us up (hint, hint…)

[Copied from a press release sent to NorthGeek]

Budweiser to Host Five Nights of Exclusive Parties in February

VANCOUVER, (January 19, 2010) – Club Bud, host of the hottest parties in Beijing and Torino, will claim its place on top of the party podium in Vancouver. Budweiser will be the center of Vancouver’s social scene for five nights in February.

In Torino, Budweiser introduced the world to Club Bud with a six-story pyramid-shaped nightclub.

Club Bud kept the party going in Beijing with 360° video screens, an electrifying dance floor and an outdoor pool. In February 2010, Club Bud will transform the famed Commodore Ballroom into the place for athletes, celebrities and some lucky fans to celebrate in style.

Club Bud will be located on pedestrian-friendly Granville Street in the heart of Vancouver’s entertainment district. The 19,000-square foot, 1,000-person capacity, multi-level venue will feature a concert stage, elevated seating, several bar and lounge areas and the legendary 2,646-square foot sprung dance floor. Partygoers will enjoy live DJs and music throughout the night and three separate bar areas will offer distinct atmospheres to enjoy a cold Budweiser with friends.

Club Bud party co-hosts Burton, the National Hockey League (NHL), Under Armour and lululemon athletica will present themed evenings, with doors opening at 9 p.m. Athlete and celebrity arrival times on the red carpet will vary by party. More information will be available via media advisories prior to each event.

• Friday, February 19; Burton Party
• Saturday, February 20; NHL® Party
• Thursday, February 25; Budweiser Party
• Friday, February 26; Under Armour Party
• Saturday, February 27; lululemon athletica Party

“Budweiser is renowned for its exclusive parties and guests,” said Richard Musson, Vice President of Marketing, Labatt Breweries of Canada. “Club Bud is bringing Vancouver five epic parties and will be the place to be for competitors to come together to celebrate their achievements and enjoy the camaraderie shared among world-class athletes.”

In addition to drawing top name athletes and celebrities to Club Bud, Budweiser is searching for two lucky people to crash the parties in Vancouver. The Club Bud Party Crasher job search offers applicants the chance to attend one of the Club Bud weekends and will require the winner to use social media tools to capture and share the Club Bud experience online. Details can be found at www.facebook.com/budweisercanada

Noah’s best albums of the decade

Very few things are as powerful as music to evoke feelings and bring people together. On that lofty note, here are my ten favourite albums from 2000-2009. The album as a cohesive entity might be dying in favour of single tunes and groupings of tunes into a single product. I’m hoping bands like these hang on to the concept of an album. (Do consider owning the whole thing instead of picking only a few tunes.)

1. Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004). This Montreal made it big this decade. Still, this album only grows on you, and it’s even more powerful after seeing their unique live performance. The production of this album is also tremendous.

2. Beck – Guero (2005). I originally thought Beck was going to be a one hit wonder with Loser. I couldn’t have been more wrong. He is without a doubt one of the most innovative composers of the decade.

3. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (2008). I’m thrilled there are albums like this that you can listen to straight through. It’s full of frighteningly sweet vocal harmonies.

4. Eddie Vedder – Music for the Motion Picture Into the Wild (2007). I do love to see when soundtracks are more than licensed singles. Eddie Vedder wrote these tunes specifically for this movie, which happens to be a terrifying and majestic flick.

5. Try! John Mayer Trio Live in Concert (2005). I believe John Mayer is the most talented guitarist on tour right now. It’s a shame he continues to be pulled in the direction of pop, but this album is pure legendary blues chops and tonal exploration.

6. Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007). I’m not sure what draws me more to put this album on the list: its revolutionary “pay whatever you want” sales model, or the fact that it’s just so damn good and a completely musical escape.

7. The Strokes – Room on Fire (2003). This is my favourite album from the The Strokes. It didn’t do as well commercially as their debut Is This It. Still, their simple guitar ditties somehow make a big rock sound.

8. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (2008). This album sounds like a change of pace: some East Coast preppy rock. Dig it.

9. The White Stripes – Elephant (2003). This was their major label debut, but still it was recorded over 2 weeks using a four-track covered in duct tape. Keep it simple stupid.

10. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002). Somehow Wilco is still off the beaten track, despite Jeff Tweedy’s solid songwriting. Check out their free concert at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.

11. Bonus album is my very own. From my erstwhile Montreal rock band, here’s Far From Shore’s Wazo. There are still a few copies available online, or always from iTunes.

Some other (not huge) best discoveries of the decade: Bloc Party, Bon Iver, Cat Power, Danny Michel (Canadian), John Mayer (I still claim I discovered him as an opening act in a small bar in Cambridge, Mass), My Morning Jacket, Patrick Watson (I knew he was destined for musical greatness 15 years ago), Regina Spektor, The National, The Raveonettes, The Stills (another Montreal band), etc.

What are your favourite albums? Share them below.

The NorthGeek HowTo Series: Play guitar like Slash

We at NorthGeek feel bad. Why, you ask? Well, we feel bad because we have so much darn talent, and it’s tough for us to share it all.

Enter: The Internet. Thanks to this relatively new invention called The Internet, and a small property on this Internet called “YouTube” -- I know, funny name -- we can share our talents with you -- the world. Here is chapter one:

Enjoy every song from The Beatles in audio and video, with lyrics!!

I recently went to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts to visit the “Imagine” exhibition – inspired by John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Bed-in For Peace” of 1969, held in Suite 1742 of Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel. The exhibition woke up the inner Beatles fan in me, which had been sleeping since around 2007, when I had become all Beatled-out several months after acquiring the soundtrack to the Cirque du Soleil and Apple Corps Ltd.’s (the label owning all rights to Beatles music) joint project, LOVE.

What perfect timing, then, for this to fall into my lap. This appears to be every Beatles song (or at least every song that made it to a publicly available album) in video, with accompanying lyrics! Amazing! Enjoy:

The Beatles Video and Lyrics from A-Z (courtesy: BeatlesTube)

A Day in the Life
A Hard Day’s Night
A Taste of Honey
Across The Universe
Act Naturally
All I’ve got to Do
All My Loving
All Together Now
All You Need Is Love
And I Love Her
And Your Bird Can Sing
Anna (Go To Him)
Another Girl
Any Time At All
Ask Me Why
Baby It’s You
Baby You’re A Rich Man
Baby’s in Black
Back In The USSR
Bad Boy
Because
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
Birthday
Blackbird
Blue Jay Way
Boys
Can’t Buy Me Love
Carry That Weight
Chains
Come Together
Cry Baby Cry
Day Tripper
Dear Prudence
Devil In Her Heart
Dig A Pony
Dig It
Dizzy Miss Lizzie
Do You Want to Know a Secret
Doctor Robert
Don’t Bother Me
Don’t Let Me Down
Don’t Pass Me By
Drive My Car
Eight Days a Week
Eleanor Rigby
Every Little Thing
Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except For Me and My Monkey
Everybody’s Trying to be My Baby
Fixing a Hole
Flying
For No One
For You Blue
Free As A Bird
From Me To You
Get Back
Getting Better
Girl
Glass Onion
Golden Slumbers
Good Day Sunshine
Good Morning, Good Morning
Good Night
Got To Get You Into My Life
Happiness is a Warm Gun
Hello, Goodbye
Help
Helter Skelter
Her Majesty
Here Comes The Sun
Here, There And Everywhere
Hey Bulldog
Hey Jude
Hold Me Tight
Honey Don’t
Honey Pie
I Am the Walrus
I Call Your Name
I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party
I Feel Fine
I Me Mine
I Need You
I Saw Her Standing There
I Should Have Known Better
I Wanna Be Your Man
I Want To Hold Your Hand
I Want To Tell You
I Want You
I Will
I’ll Be Back
I’ll Cry Instead
I’ll Follow the Sun
I’ll Get You
I’m a Loser
I’m Down
I’m Just Happy to Dance with You
I’m Looking Through You
I’m Only Sleeping
I’m so tired
I’ve Got A Feeling
I’ve Just Seen a Face
If I Fell
If I Needed Someone
In My Life
It Won’t Be Long
It’s All Too Much
It’s Only Love
Julia
Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey
Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand
Lady Madonna
Let it Be
Little Child
Long Tall Sally
Long, Long, Long
Love Me Do
Love You To
Lovely Rita
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Maggie Mae
Magical Mystery Tour
Martha My Dear
Matchbox
Maxwell’s Silver Hammer
Mean Mr. Mustard
Michelle
Misery
Money (That’s What I Want)
Mother Nature’s Son
Mr. Moonlight
No Reply
Norwegian Wood
Not a Second Time
Nowhere Man
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Octopus’s Garden
Oh! Darling
Old Brown Shoe
One After 909
Only A Northern Song
P.S. I Love You
Paperback Writer
Penny Lane
Piggies
Please Mister Postman
Please Please Me
Polythene Pam
Rain
Real Love
Revolution 1
Revolution 9
Rock and Roll Music
Rocky Raccoon
Roll Over Beethoven
Run For Your Life
Savoy Truffle
Sexy Sadie
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
She Came In Through The Bathroom Window
She Loves You
She Said, She Said
She’s A Woman
She’s Leaving Home
Sie Liebt Dich
Slow Down
Something
Strawberry Fields Forever
Sun King
Taxman
Tell Me What You See
Tell Me Why
Thank You Girl
The Ballad of John And Yoko
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
The End
The Fool On The Hill
The Inner Light
The Long And Winding Road
The Night Before
The Word
There’s A Place
Things We Said Today
Think For Yourself
This Boy
Ticket to Ride
Till There was You
Tomorrow Never Knows
Twist and Shout
Two of Us
Wait
We Can Work It Out
What Goes On
What You’re Doing
When I Get Home
When I’m Sixty-Four
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Why don’t we do it in the road
Wild Honey Pie
With a Little Help From My Friends
Within You Without You
Words of Love
Yellow Submarine
Yer Blues
Yes It Is
Yesterday
You Can’t Do That
You Know My Name
You Like Me Too Much
You Never Give Me Your Money
You Really Got a Hold on Me
You Won’t See Me
You’re Going to Lose That Girl
You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away
Your Mother Should Know