2017 was a hell of a year for me. To say that there was a lot of upheaval is putting it mildly. After being out of full-time work for over two years, I suddenly found myself back in the workforce. I was just starting to get settled when a member of my family was diagnosed... Continue Reading →
Teenage kicks all through the night
A few months ago, there was a meme going around Facebook where people posted the albums that influenced them the most during their teenage years. I had an interesting discussion with my friend Rik about it over drinks one night. Rik is a fellow music aficionado and writes his own excellent blog called A Pile... Continue Reading →
RIP John Lever, The Chameleons: We’re all souls in isolation
It was just a few weeks ago, wasn't it, that I said I was sick of writing RIP posts. I actually had a different post planned for today, and I still plan to write it. But this one needs to be written first. Because this time, it's personal. This is a post mourning someone I... Continue Reading →
Book Review: Clothes Clothes Clothes Music Music Music Boys Boys Boys – Viv Albertine
I was introduced to Viv Albertine's autobiography by a friend of mine who raved about it. Viv Albertine is, of course, the guitarist for The Slits, the seminal all-girl punk band. I confess that I wasn't hugely familiar with The Slits when I started reading Viv's book. I knew of them, but had heard very... Continue Reading →
We are ugly but we have the music: Remembering Leonard Cohen
It's taken me two months to write about Leonard Cohen. I'm not sure why. Maybe I was sick of the fact that every blog post I wrote last year was about the death of one of my heroes. Maybe it was that Cohen died the same week that the most unheroic cowardly man possible was... Continue Reading →
How a new wave kid fell in love with The Tragically Hip
It was the late 80s when I first heard The Tragically Hip. There was a family I babysat for often and the dad had a massive record collection. Ken would often send me home with mixed tapes full of music, and on one of those tapes was the Tragically Hip's self-titled debut album. Now, you... Continue Reading →
Turn and face the strange
I started to write this post yesterday as part of my ongoing attempt to deal with and understand my grief over Bowie's death. Then I woke up this morning to the news of Alan Rickman's death. Another hero gone. Also just 69 years old. Cancer, again. Fuck cancer. Fuck it straight to hell. First Lemmy,... Continue Reading →
Remembering David Bowie
David Bowie is dead. Those words don't seem real yet. I can't make myself believe them. My husband sat on the edge of the bed this morning and told me to stay in bed as long as I could. I asked why. He said today was a day I would want to put off as... Continue Reading →
Riot Fest 2015, aka The Return of Mudfest!
It's been interesting watching Riot Fest evolve over the three years I've been attending. The first year, it was still at Fort York. The past two years, it's been held at Downsview. Last year, we got four stages instead of two and a corresponding larger number of bands. Toronto still lacked a lot of the... Continue Reading →
My Custom Schedule for Riot Fest Toronto 2015
Source: Rock 'n Roll Animal - Custom Schedule for Riot Fest Toronto 2015 Yessiree, Riot Fest 2015 is almost here. I've got all my "must see" bands planned out, with lots of spare time built in to relax in the shade, check out new bands and take in the circus sideshow. The weather looks to... Continue Reading →
Rock 'n' Roll Animal 