Wolf Parade: I Should've Seen the Break Up Coming When They Cancelled Our Date

Son of a...


2 months ago I had the chance to see Wolf Parade play in my town. That may not sound like a big deal, but when you consider that my town is Moscow it becomes considerably more significant. The fact that any band I care about would roll through is in fact a big, big deal. Save for the occasional Top40 artist, not a lot of western acts make it this far east (except A-ha, who by my calculations has played the Olympiisky Arena no fewer than eleventy-four times since I've been here.)


So I had to go. Sure, I had to work and move house that weekend, but I still did every irresponsible thing in my power to try to clear my schedule for it. Unfortunately, when I contacted Club Ikra, the girl told me the show had been cancelled. Figures. But since I'm in and out of Canada often I reasoned I'd catch them there eventually. 


Of course that's not likely to happen now, because Wolf Parade just announced an indefinite hiatus. And that, if we're honest, is really a break up. If you're just taking a break then you just take a break, without the announcement. Just tell it to us straight, Wolf Parade. We're big kids, we can handle it.


It's not all that surprising, really. Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner have always been very into their side projects (Sunset Rubdown and Handsome Furs, respectively) and right up through their most recent album it was evident that the two songwriters didn't so much meld as they did trade off.  Being shocked by this split would be like being surprised by your parents divorce even though they sleep in separate rooms and see other people. 


Of course they swear they're not broken up. And for anyone in North America they do have plans for one last show at the Sasquach festival next May. But I think that's akin to your parents pulling together a joint Thanksgiving dinner for your benefit. The whole show will be fake smiles and nervous banter until someone gets drunk and throws a turkey off the stage. Mark my words.


And the way I see it this whole thing might not be so bad. For me, I mean. Handsome Furs' Face Control is basically about Russia. Boekner is hip to Eastern Europe. I might be getting a show out of this whole thing after all.


One from the beginning and one from the end:


I'll Believe In Anything (Wolf Parade) by Mr. Shuffleupagus
Little Golden Age (Wolf Parade) by Mr. Shuffleupagus

Out this Week*--Regina Spektor: Live in London

I've always assumed that Regina Spektor is, for all intents and purposes, batshit insane. In the absolute best way possible, obviously. She consistently makes beautiful albums that are good from first to last song, and will stand the test of time. I'll be listening to Begin to Hope long after I've forgotten about most of the bands on my iPod. I'll be annoying people in my nursing home with that shit. So bear in mind that when I say "insane" I mean it with great love.


"But Larissa," you're saying,"You can't just call people insane without proof."
To which I say "Fair point, crazy person talking to the internet. I do have proof."


First off, she's a Russian emigree which says loads. I live in Moscow so if I know anything about Russians it's that they're all at least a little crazy. Maybe it's the government, or the fallout radiation, or the fact that as babies they have to learn a language that drives fully-grown adults insane, I don't know. But even on the low end of the spectrum they're all quirky at the very least.


Second, there are her lyrics. I know many of the greatest songs don't make lyrical sense, and that songs don't even have to. That's the beauty of poetry. That said, over the years Ms Spektor has offered us the following:

• "Remember that month/ When I only ate boxes of tangerines?...Hey remember that other time/When I would only read the backs of cereal boxes?" 
• "They made porcupine love/ Porcupine lo-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-apchu!" 
• "Maybe you should kiss someone nice/Or lick a rock.Or both/ Maybe you should just cut your own hair/ 'Cause that can be so funny/ It doesn't cost any money/ And it always grows back"
• "The world is everlasting/Put dirtballs in your pocket."
• "Eet,eet, eet/ Eet, eet, eet"

This could go on forever, so I'll stop there for now. (I love her crazy lyrics, but that fact does not make them any less pertinent to this argument.)


Thirdly and finally, I submit to you this:

This is really my only necessary argument.

So, forgive me if I have her pegged as, say, the kind of person who would get super high on something home made from antidepressants and tooth whitener, then post how-to videos on youtube about decorating hockey sticks with teddy bear heads. But I think you can agree that, given the evidence, it seems like a plausible find.  And I love this version of her I have for myself. But then normalcy has to rear it's tragic head. Because despite my impressions of  endearing madness, Ms Spektor is painfully camera shy. Totally, self-consciously, normal person-y camera shy.

Seriously.

Which is why--despite having a totally awesome open taping policy at her concerts-- she has never released a concert video until now. This month Regina Spektor gets past her issues with being filmed to release her first concert video Live in London.  Filmed mainly at the Hammersmith Apollo Theatre, it contains 22 songs, 19 from her from her existing catalogue (including On the Radio, and Apres Moi, my two favourites), and three that have only been performed live.

You can buy it on Regina Spektor's website on DVD, Blu-Ray, and CD. 


I'll still be scouring youtube for the crazy hockey stick videos though. I'm not convinced they're not out there.

*This post is for Katie's birthday. Happy birthday Bug---I told you about something you can go buy yourself! Don't spend it all in one place.