le fabuleux destin de jane man

the first of firsts | day 1 of 2013

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 23:59:00 -0500

“It is nothing to die. It is frightful not to live.” — Victor Hugo, Les Misérables Today is the...

Melanie C. ft. Emma Bunton - I Know Him So Well My new favourite...

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 18:23:19 -0500

Melanie C. ft. Emma Bunton - I Know Him So Well

My new favourite song.

I believe. johnnyminardi: Never too late.

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 23:33:21 -0400

I believe.

johnnyminardi:

Never too late.

Go to The Peak and enter the clouds.. Share a place you...

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 02:36:55 -0400

Go to *The Peak* and enter the clouds.. Share a place you recommend.

Find me at Sugar Beach just lake, sand, and me.. Where does...

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 02:12:00 -0400

Find me at *Sugar Beach* just lake, sand, and me.. Where does everybody know your name?

Love. This. cosascool: HANDMADE TYPE a typography experiment...

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 01:11:16 -0400

Love. This.

cosascool:

HANDMADE TYPE a typography experiment by Tien-Min Liao

Best meme ever. Ironically appropriate. A fan made this for...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 01:08:18 -0400

Best meme ever. Ironically appropriate.

A fan made this for #OwnTheThrone.

I can’t wait to go to Vancouver!

"There are many writers out there who will not kick you in the groin."

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 01:02:35 -0400

“There are many writers out there who will not kick you in the groin.” - — George R.R....

New Music Monday #9 - Merdan Taplak Truth be told, I knew...

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 01:02:00 -0400

New Music Monday #9 - Merdan Taplak

Truth be told, I knew nothing about Merdan Taplak until 34 hours ago. The Artist Manager of some friends mentioned me in a tweet:

Some Doug, all the way from Canada, just bought @merdantaplak’s debut album. Love! #initforthehoney (@janeccman)

Sidenote: Don’t you just love Canadian connections? I do. Send them all my way!

My curiosity was immediately piqued. New music? I’m there. Plus, if “some Doug” from Canada liked his music, maybe I will too. I eventually landed on Merdan Taplak’s website and on the Video page—since the Music page wouldn’t load on my iPhone and I was too lazy to load up my SoundCloud app. The first thing I played was the video above for “Nice to Be A Girl” featuring Eline Mabilde from Gent, Belgium (is everyone from Gent?!) (She’s really pretty, by the way.) The song is cute, and, as a girl, I love the lyrics, but the video with the kids playing house puts it over the top. I mean, did you see the way their feet dangled under the table? They couldn’t even reach across to play footsies. And the boy wore a fedora to his show and killed it!

Sometimes I wish I was a boy
Sometimes I just want to destroy

Merdan is a DJ/producer from Antwerp, and his debut In It For The Honey, which I’m listening to right now on SoundCloud, came out only a month ago. Pretty cool that he’s even got Princess Superstar as a guest artist (among others) on the album. There are so many instruments on all the tracks; it blows my mind. I think my favourite, besides “Nice To Be A Girl” is “JIMS”.

Honestly. When did I start listening to techno?

Merdan Taplak
Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | SoundCloud

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New Music Monday highlights my favourite new musical discoveries. The series will encourage me to actively seek new music and (hopefully) encourage others to open their ears to something new. Got a recommendation? Write me!

Sucré - "When We Were Young" (Music Video Premiere)

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Sucré - "When We Were Young" (Music Video Premiere): New Music Monday #8 - Sucré I’m only a...

"Le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point."

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 23:28:14 -0500

“Le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point.” - — Blaise Pascal, 17th century...

"Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like an armor, and it can never..."

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 22:29:00 -0500

“Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like an armor, and it can...

New Music Monday #7 - Horses on Fire It’s Monday, and...

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 22:57:00 -0500

New Music Monday #7 - Horses on Fire

It’s Monday, and I’m listening to one of my new favourites on repeat, and—for once—I’m not entirely exhausted from work and le social life, so here I am!

I honestly cannot recall how I found out about Horses on Fire. I also have no idea how popular they are in Belgium. All I know is that for a band that doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page, Horses on Fire feels like a band I’ve listened to for years. I love their album. Love.

They call themselves “Belgium’s best-kept guitar secret. Up until today, at least.” I might have to agree with that. They have that vintage rock sound the modern radio desperately needs, to counter all the ridiculous teen pop and angry, dirty hip hop. And I can definitely imagine Horses on Fire becoming a huge hit on 102.1 The Edge. Perhaps, it’s their familiarity that has me in love with them. Sadly, I’m awful at pinpointing who bands sound like, i.e. they are a touch of x with a mix of y and the vocals of z. I can’t do that. (Which is why I can never be a professional music critic.) You tell me: who do they sound like?

Their untitled debut album was released only three weeks ago on February 6th, 2012. Their Belgium album release show was five days ago, and their Netherlands show isn’t even until Thursday. The band is comprised of Thijs De Coledt on guitar, Michélé De Feudis on vocals and guitar, Alessandro De Feudis on drums and Anthony Statius on bass guitar. My three favourite songs on the album are “Draw The Line” (see music video above), “Raw Meat”, and “Better Than You”. Stream their album in its entirety and tell me which is your favourite.

I also love their music videos. That robot kills me. “I’ll 11011 you ‘til you drop, love.” <- That needs to be on a t-shirt.

If these guys get famous in North America, I want to be credited as the girl who made them that. Keep that in mind, k?

[Edit:] I lied. I think I figured out how I learned about them. Studio Brussel’s YouTube channel, duh. As always. It was their cover of Easy that had me hooked.

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Download Lana Del Rey's Born To Die for FREE for a limited time on iTunes right now.

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 03:11:00 -0500

Download Lana Del Rey's Born To Die for FREE for a limited time on iTunes right now.: I’ve...

“XO til we overdose…” Part of me is mad...

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:16:21 -0500

“XO ~~til we overdose…~~”

Part of me is mad at Drake (aka Aubrey Graham) and The Weeknd (aka Abel Tesfaye) for bringing everyone into my world of XO.

Yes, I claimed it to be my own. There is something so beautiful about the marriage of the letters x and o that had/have me loving the idea of ~~kisses~~ ~~hugs~~ ~~intimacy~~ ~~relationships~~ love. It’s simple, meaningful, yet so tragic.

When I began this post, I had The Weeknd’s “Next” at the top. I have been listening to the Echoes of Silence mixtape on repeat despite thinking, just months ago, I’d never fully enjoy his music. How wrong was I to dismiss him and his work. Browsing through Tumblr just now, I stumbled upon Beatrice Martin (Coeur de Pirate)’s reblog of The Weeknd’s posting of that song. When I went to The Weeknd’s Tumblr, I was reminded of the XO symbol now so ubiquitous and popularly associated with him and Drake. The “XO Gang,” they call themselves.

I was suddenly reminded of what XO means to me—what it meant to me, not now but years ago when things weren’t so…what’s the word…composed.

If Elliott Smith was still alive today, he would be turning 43 this August. I can only imagine how his life would have turned out: I dream of a world that becomes inspired by his music, his talent, and his emotions; but the reality is likely that the same tragic ending would nonetheless have occurred somewhere down the road. It almost seemed inevitable that he would part from us too soon, his life too short-lived (but maybe that’s all/what he wanted/needed).

Elliott Smith’s 1998 album titled XO changed my…life—I hesitate to use this word in fear of demeaning what I’m getting at, but I have no better way to put this. His music effectively changed my outlook; He made me feel like I belong; I could relate to him, although I knew I could never understand all that he went through and how he felt.

He empowered me to love. And all that I can do to thank him for his influence is to live my life as happily and confidently as I can, always seeking the positive in every situation, person, success, and mistake.

Looking out on the substitute scene
Still going strong
XO, Mom
It’s ok, it’s all right, nothing’s wrong
Tell Mr. Man with impossible plans to just leave me alone
In the place where I make no mistakes
In the place where I have what it takes

Part 2 of Sook-Yin Lee’s interview with Elliott Smith

The No.1 Cardinal Sin of Twitter

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:48:54 -0500

The number one cardinal sin of Twitter a brand can commit (according to me) is the improper use of...

Late Night Cravings - 1/3/12

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 02:10:17 -0500

It’s almost 2am, and I’m hungry. I haven’t been able to eat very much because...

New Music Monday #6 - Selah Sue Maybe my New Music Monday...

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 23:30:00 -0500

New Music Monday #6 - Selah Sue

Maybe my New Music Monday feature is more biweekly than weekly. So what? I’ve been discovering and listening to a lot of new music lately. I just haven’t been very good at documenting these discoveries through my blog. One night, I even stayed up ‘til the wee hours of 4am (on a work night, I think!) to download new music. Oopsies.

Since my trip to Belgium in September, I’ve continued listening to Studio Brussel online, partly to listen to a show hosted by a new friend I made while there, and partly for new music. Canadian radio has nothing on Belgian radio; I wish radio stations here would give more exposure to international and especially European artists. We are missing out!

Studio Brussel has a charitable initiative in collaboration with the Red Cross called Music For Life. Did you know diarrhea is the leading killer of children under five worldwide? I certainly did not. This year, the Music For Life theme song is titled Zanna, by Selah Sue, Tom Barman (of the rock band dEUS, which I’ve also started listening to) and The Subs, who I had the pleasure of seeing live while in Belgium.

If you have heard Cee-Lo Green’s album The Lady Killer, you’ve probably heard Selah’s voice on the song “Please”. Real name Sanne Putseys, Selah is Belgian and only 22. Not to mention she is gorgeous. She’s sold out headlining shows in Belgium, France and the Netherlands, and even played at Prince’s 2010 concert in Antwerpen, Belgium. Right now, I’m really loving her self-titled album that debuted in March 2011, but not as much as I adore the Music For Life 2011 theme song (in video above). And if you’re digging the song as well, here’s a live version from the Music For Life festivities two weeks ago!

Selah Sue
Website | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter

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New Music Monday #5 - Cardinal Chase I’m sure no one...

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 02:00:00 -0500

New Music Monday #5 - Cardinal Chase

I’m sure no one noticed, but I missed yet another Monday. Whoops. Only five days until Christmas (since it’s past midnight), and, well, here is lucky number five!

Last Friday, I went to the third annual illScarlett Christmas Party with one of my oldest friends Ruby. It had been 7.5 years since I saw illScarlett live for the first time, and 5.5 years since I last saw them perform, which I believe was at Edgefest 2 in 2006 (my first illScarlett show was in 2004 at The 360s on Queen St. That club no longer exists.) And at the Christmas Party at The Opera House, there were three opening acts; Cardinal Chase was the third.

As soon as CC came out, you could tell they looked young. As it turns out, they are only 19. To be frank, I was expecting a crappy high school band and prepped myself for a long set of dreaded music. But within a minute into their set, the four guys from Mississauga blew me away. They had a good set of vocals, clearly knew how to rock out with their instruments, and did not look like a bunch of teenage amateurs.

Cardinal Chase did two covers, which we particularly loved: Foster The People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” (view here) and Linkin Park and Jay Z’s “Numb” (see above video). I want to type in full caps: the really cool guy with the dreads even played a frickin’ bass! They even had their own horn section of three guys in white button-up tops, sunglasses and suspenders. Nineteen-year-olds from suburbia GTA have never looked this cool and sounded this good.

If they keep this up, I wouldn’t be surprised if they make it big.

Cardinal Chase
MySpace | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

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New Music Monday #4 - The Elwins So, um, oops. I totally forgot...

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:50:00 -0500

New Music Monday #4 - The Elwins

So, um, oops. I totally forgot to do New Music Monday last week. Can you blame me? I barely got any sleep the weekend prior. I’m no good with no sleep. Anyway, here is number four!

I learned about The Elwins through my sister’s boyfriend’s mix~~tape~~ CDs. He names these mixes after berries, i.e. Strawberry mix, Blackberry mix, Blueberry mix—because they are “jams”, like strawberry jam…get it? I know. Moving on. On one of his CDs, he had one (or more) fun, catchy tune(s) that I just could not get out of my head. My sister asked him about the band since we had trouble Shazamming the song. Turns out, he’s friends with one (or more) of the guys from that band—a band called The Elwins, from Newmarket, ON. Sidenote: does everyone in Newmarket know each other? Just kidding.

The song was catchy, but it wasn’t just that. The lyrics were kind of silly, cheesy and memorable (though I’ve forgotten the song now). The band seems to be a wild bunch with a great sense of humour—you could tell from their Tumblr alone. I love their videos, photos from shows and hangouts, and the ridiculously wide array of instruments they use: I just watched a video where a melodica was used (love those things). And they take Movember seriously; though it seems they take Movember seriously 12 months of the year anyway.

And, I’m now obsessed with the song “Sittin’ Pretty” from the video above. And the video itself, too. I love one-take performance videos like this (à la Blogotheque’s Take Away Shows where they walk through Paris while playing.) Surely I will get to see them sooner than later since they are (only) from Newmarket. Hurray for local bands!

The Elwins
Website (MySpace) | Tumblr | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

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