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In Vancouver at least: Last two A&B stores in Vancouver have closed (News 1130)
Photo: “A&B Sound Closed” by Eric Eggertson
For most of the 1990s, I have bought a lot of my CDs, and even a stereo, from A&B Sound. It has been a local institution, mainly through its “legendary” Boxing Day sales. But it really hasn’t been the same since it filed for protection from creditors and was subsequently purchased by Seanix Computers earlier this decade. The last time I went there was to its flagship store on Seymour Street last month. I knew it was the beginning of the end when they started to sell everything at a 50% discount.
Even though there are still five stores in operation, A&B will likely go the way of Sam the Record Man and Music World – hit by a double-whammy of being unable to compete with big-box outlets and the advent of music downloads, they just weren’t able to make the transition.
All is not lost in Vancouver, however: Zulu, Scratch, Red Cat, and many other fine independent outlets provide great selections for the discerning music fan, and hopes are that they will continue to thrive despite the dramatic changes in music retail.
Just finished watching jPod 1-08 – “The Last Shot”, after finally catching up this week on the previous CBC repeat airings from the PVR. It looks like it jumped ahead; the previous episode aired was “The Hero’s Journey” (1-06). Seeing that since “The Last Shot” had Ethan and Cowboy heading off to China, it seemed appropriate, given that the CBC aired an Olympics preview immediately after that.
I could given the CBC another thrashing about the missed episode, but I’ll save that for when they do something stupid to the airing of Doctor Who series 4. It doesn’t matter, because jPod is being released on DVD. But notice that the cover gives it as “Season 1″, so there might be some hope on a resurrection…
Elsewhere on the boob tube, Torchwood series 2 finally premieres in Canada tonight (Friday) at 18:00 PDT on Space. Follow the link for the longish preview video, and/or avail yourselves of the trailers from BBC and BBC America, where series 2 has aired a long time ago:
BBC News: Sara Bareilles’ fairytale success
A few weeks ago, Sara Bareilles’ name suddenly popped into my head, without any context or trigger. Unsure of what I’d find, I cautiously googled her name (I even got her last name spelled correctly), and one of the first links was to NPR. Being a sucker for singer-songwriter types, especially pretty singer-songwriter types, I was hooked even before I even played the profile. I followed that up with a visit to her myspace to preview other songs, and that clinched it – I picked up her album.
Little Voice was released in 2007, and peaked in Billboard’s 200 at #7, and somehow it slipped past my radar. But better late than never, I suppose. The 12 songs on the album have a variety of tempos, and it’s spread around, so there isn’t a lot of repetition from one song to the next. I personally find the ones that feature guitars and drums prominently better than the piano-driven songs. “Vegas” became a favourite early on, but only because I had been preparing for a weekend trip there. After going through the album a few more times, “Come Round Soon” and “Love on the Rocks” also emerged as two songs that caught my ear.
Sara is credited as writer (or co-writer) for all the songs; there is a depth in most of them that show Sara’s maturity in composition, despite this being her debut album. “Love Song” has a particular history [wiki], with Sara’s frustrations to find an acceptable single for her label showing through. Overall, I think Little Voice is a modest, yet pleasing start for Sara Bareilles; hopefully there will be more from her in the future. What a subconscious find!
Sara Bareilles official site
Sara’s YouTube page
Live performance for “Love Song”:
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