What's Good.

Here are a few things making this week easier to get through:



THE RETURN OF THE 99cent ARIZONA GREEN TEA CAN!!!

Regular readers may remember that I listed this giant among drinks as a minor obsession a while back... only to be later crushed when it was taken off the market for some sort of recall (lead paint?). The funny but troublesome way I found out it was being recalled was when I stopped in at Mazzuca's on York to grab a can. I got up to the counter and John said, "Yeah, they're recalling these... something wrong with the tops or pull tabs or something.... Anyway that's $1.13."

GOOD MAGAZINE.

Most of my normal magazine purchases have some musical connection, no matter how tenuous. But today I was feeling like I wanted to read about something else, so perusing the rack I came across the above eye-catching design. I flipped through it and saw articles about Buckminster Fuller, Chrisine Hefner, Mormons.... It essentially is a magazine about conservation and environment, but viewed from a design perspective. So they want to make the world better, but prettier too. I've only skimmed through it and read the first small sections... but one thing that also stood out was the subscription leaflet that flittered to the floor advertising the usual percentage savings available... but also that your full subscription fee would be donated to a charity organization of your choice (from their list that includes WWF, Unicef, Oceana and others). Pretty cool.



Mohawk Lodge - Wildfires (White Whale Records)

From Black Mountain to Ladyhawk to Chet to Lightning Dust... I've been impressed with the wealth of cool bands coming out of the Vancouver area over the last couple of years. White Whale doesn't (yet) have the high indie profile of a Scratch or a Mint records... but they sport a solid roster of dark folkie rock artists. This is Mohawk Lodge's second release and while the other had some sparkling moments this one is out and out gorgeous... with many invited guests on a chamber orchestra's worth of instruments... it stands up against the best recent albums by Magnolia Electric Co., Okkervil River or Micah P. Hinson. You can listen to tracks here.



Pjusk - Sart (12k)

More pretty (if a little ominous) Norwegian minimal electronics. Listen for yourself (sound samples from 12k):

Rim

Anelse

----