Toaster Schmoaster

>> Featured Artist: The Weakerthans

Somewhere someone is speaking mangled French, taught by penguines. Far from there, a cat rants against its self-pitying owner. Still on another side of the world an indie rock band is writing a ditty mocking/honoring its hometown.

Tonight it's all happening at the 9:30 Club when the Weakerthans come to town. Mister Toaster has been known to go to shows BY HIMSELF at a foreign (to him) college student union bar/coffeehouse to see these guys. And by all accounts the 2004 tour pleased.

They're back, but sadly this time without a new album to promote. Apparently, Winnipeg is very busy. And important.

Here's the aforementioned cat rant, "Plea From a Cat Named Virtue," for your listening pleasure.

You look like Shackelton.


>> Album Lookout: News and Tributes

The Futureheads - Released: June 13, 2006 Vagrant

We were all very pleased by the raucous "Decent Days and Nights" of 2004 and, with all those indie kids eating up News and Tributes like it was a custard cone (it starts with slow, joyous licks and tiny bites of before it turns into a frantic, sticky mess), we weren't about to let the Futureheads latest effort pass us by.

We were taken aback, however, when we saw smack dab in the middle of the tracklist and dig at yours truly.

Let us remind the audience that the Toaster Talks does not react kindly to accusations of "Burnt" anything. Nor does Mister Toaster like to be reminded of his two episodes of severe second-degree sunburn. Still, after the brief moments of self-aggrandizement subsided, the little Toaster iPod never wanted to play it. It would whimper a bit and move on to the next track, probably something by Deep Blue Something.

Now it's July. Things are getting burnt all over the place. The Toaster is braced and lathered generously with supposedly scentless (we can smell it!) sunscreen. And what's that? Is that an acoustic guitar intro? Are those keen three-part harmonies on catchy chourses?

What were we worried about? Probably this.


>> Reverting to: 1968

Harry Nilsson was, by all accounts, drunk a lot in the '70s; many times he was seen hitting the nightlife with ex-Beatle John (on the latter's "Lost Weekend"), getting kicked out of bars for heckling the Smothers Brothers and trading chord chnages and stock tips. The Toaster appreciates any man who issues an album title that belittles his own name and much more an artist who releases almost exclusively titles that belittle it.

Any road, the lovely "Everybody's Talkin'" is not his (it's a Fred Neil cover), but his version featured in Midnight Cowboy sure hit the big time.

Love the "rah-ow" and falsetto breakdown at the end. Yum. Toast all around.