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.