the religious and ethnic themes truly offer me very little, and it's a kind of a shame because this is otherwise pretty playfully arranged. that is to say that i like this, even if i can't really square the thematic content. i often said the same thing about marley: bobby, dude, just shut up and jam. if you're a little more tolerant towards religious themes in music than i am, and/or you have a soft spot for proggy pop, then this could be a sleeper pick this week, in a bar that is clearly going out of it's way to atone for accusations of racism in management.

https://sinkane.bandcamp.com/album/de-payse

and, how am i doing this?

well, i'm a month behind. if i just start decompressing facebook events since may 23rd into bandcamp links, i'm going to be here for another two weeks just to catch up, and i'm going to find myself in a perpetual loop. i need to start looking ahead, instead.

so, i'm going to take one step forward, then one step backward and, somewhere, we'll meet. that means i'll be up to mid july at the same time as i'm caught up.

when this is finished, i'll have a list of something like 500 bandcamp links to sort through, which will give me plenty of material to sort through as i'm building the case. but, i need to figure out when i'm going.

the touche amore show is too soon, now, and they're doing an old record, on top of it. i think i should step back and let the kids go. the screaming females show may be the most rational choice, but it's on a sunday, meaning i'll have to come in for the show and leave in the morning - not the way i really want to do this. it's at least in actual london, though. right now, that is what is making the most sense.

that means we're looking at the end of july, which gives me 5-6 weeks to prepare, once i've decided upon it. and, i will work quickly - i figure at 36 hours per case, max, i should have all four done within a week.

if, for whatever reason, that doesn't add up, i still have until the middle of september. but, i want to work on my own schedule, here, and if i can get this to the office before august in a way that makes sense to me then so be it.

so, that's what i'm doing and i'll be pushing forward with it for at least a few days. i don't see anything pressing in terms of must-see shows this week, and i could find myself in altogether for the weekend.

i'm very much torn on this, truly. if they focus on the noisier and more chaotic aspects, it could be a good show; if they focus on the country sing-along parts, it could be pretty boring. it will probably be somewhere in between, and i'm just not feeling like going out tonight - because i'm worried about getting too far behind.  i might not make it back from deep hamtramck to catch the bus, too, and then i've really wasted the night. so, we're going to sacrifice this one, tonight.

https://dommengang.bandcamp.com/album/no-keys

i probably would have enjoyed this, actually.

i'll try to catch them next time.

https://northbynorth.bandcamp.com

is this quirky enough to be interesting? i'm not sure. you decide.

it would help if you like radiohead, though.

https://andrewlatona.bandcamp.com/album/human

there aren't a lot of bands that actually admit to being from ottawa, although i'll name two that actually are and that you probably didn't know are - arcade fire and godspeed you black emperor!. the usual approach is to escape to toronto or montreal and pretend you're from there, instead.

this isn't terrible, and i may want to keep an eye on it, but it's veering a little too far into cheesiness to really capture me. that said, if you like all of those 00s post-rock bands that i didn't - explosions in the sky, or sigur ros - then you might find something interesting in this.

https://skyboundband.bandcamp.com/album/for-all-the-hope-we-hold

my ukrainian is a bit rusty, and i consequently have no idea what she's saying, but i suspect i might like this if i did.

https://dovira.bandcamp.com/album/dovira

this has the abstraction in sound design that is generally lacking from this genre and is consequently a giant step forward in interestingness.

no detroit date, but there's time to change that.

well, i put some people in contact, at least.

https://spacecubs.bandcamp.com/album/the-4th-age

this is hitting me relatively well tonight, although it might not hit me so well some other night; the guitar tone is just interesting enough to me right now to offset the fact that it's otherwise kind of generic.

i wouldn't want to see it at a straight-edge house, which is the nature of the show i pulled it out of, but i'd argue it's otherwise worth a beer.

https://faultsband.bandcamp.com/album/faults-ep

well, they're playing their instruments, at least. but, they need to focus on getting their songwriting up a little, still.

https://numbtongues.bandcamp.com/album/cahoots

this was interesting for a few minutes, but she's not doing nearly enough with it.

she could be, though.

https://sagessound.bandcamp.com/album/htfi

maybe i should just lay this down as tersely and clearly as i can lay it down.

i didn't move to detroit because i was interested in the organic arts scene here, which i had little awareness of, outside of knowing that it used to be a punk town. i don't care about motown. i don't care about soul. i don't care about hip-hop. and, i don't actually care about house music, either.

broadly speaking, i don't care about detroit.

so, i'm not interested in taking part in some kind of insular, nativist revival or something - although i realize that this is in the air, here. detroit actually seems to be a very conservative place.

the reason i moved to detroit is that i thought it was a big city that would have lots of touring acts. being that i'm a canadian, and i like being one, i can't really move to a bigger city like new york or los angeles. detroit is the biggest american centre that is easily reachable from ontario.

so, i don't actually want to go to an expression of local culture, or to understand the area, or to take part in the community, or to join the activist network. what i want is a place where i can reliably see touring bands from out of town come through on the circuit, and that is what i'm going to support.

if detroit wants to be a big city, still, it has to cater to these sorts of urges. if it wants to be a small town, so be it - but i may end up turning my interest elsewhere, if it does.

ok. so, i spent the weekend sleeping, and that means that i'm not going to have time to do the reviews until i've caught up.

these weren't really exciting shows, anyways, and i think i've already written most of what i want to write, it's more a question of pasting it together.

so, i still have a a lot of stuff to listen to from mid-may before i can flip over to another lost week. yeah. well, it's what i'm doing, as i need to plan a trip to toronto and/or london to serve and to file. so, here i go.

should i give up and cut my losses? i'm not there, yet.