Greg Neufeld

I thought it might be time to get to know each of the Idols a little better. I'm starting with Greg Neufeld even though he's already been eliminated, because I think there are a lot of people (including me) who believe Canada messed up and Greg should really still be on the show. I'll do similar posts on the remaining Idols over the next couple of weeks.

Stuff that you can find out over at the CTV Idol site: Greg Neufeld is a 23 year old singer/songwriter and house framer from Abbotsford, BC... plus more generic biographical information.

Stuff that you can find out at The Abbotsford News site: He would love to meet Dave Matthews, his first CD was "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor and he describes himself as weird, spontaneous, chill.... plus more trivia.

Watch Greg's first audition for Canadian Idol in 2006.

Check out Di Marco, Greg's band, on the Di Marco site or their MySpace site. And speaking of MySpace, there's a site just for Greg, too.

And if you want to try to help Di Marco get the attention of a record company, there's a petition that you can sign at: http://www.petitiononline.com/recorddm/petition.html

Hope you guys enjoy these links. I'll try to come up with some stuff on the remaining idols soon. (And if anyone has any links or suggestions, please let me know.)

Updates: For those of you that don't read the comments, you can find a collection of Greg's Idol performances and a few mp3 downloads at gregneufeld.blogspot.com. Thanks to the anonymous commenter who left that link! I've now uploaded one of those mp3s to My Music Box in the sidebar for your listening pleasure: "False Accusatins" by Di Marco.

Also, there's a good article about Greg's reaction to the elimination posted over at Idol Stalker.

Estrum

Estrum is one of the many cool bands that I've discovered on MySpace. Self-described as "female fronted progressive, melodic metal" this band is somewhat reminiscent of Evanescence but still entirely unique. Zena's vocals are powerful and haunting and the soundscape is dark and gritty but beautiful at the same time. Watch live footage of an Estrum show at the Dirty Dog Bar put to a recording of the song "Yours":


If you like their music, you can buy their EP here.

The Carnival of Rock and Roll

I was over visiting Blog Carnival trying to "get my blog on," as it were, and found a Carnival of Rock and Roll. I decided this one was right up my alley so I submitted Let Me Hear You Say Hallelujah and it got selected for this month's carnival over at The Soul of Rock and Roll (a blog that is recommended reading for any music lover). So go check it out!

Every Little Thing They Do Is Magic

Speaking of music in the 80s, I'm sure most people are already aware that The Police are on tour again! Unfortunately, they're not coming to Calgary, just Edmonton on June 2, but I'm bloody tempted to make the trek for the concert. (If only it was the following weekend... I'm heading up there already for my cousin's wedding.)

I still remember the annual Police Picnics that they held in Toronto back in the 80's. I was lucky enough to go to the last one and even meet the band afterwards. They were great and they even signed my cast! (I'd gone to the concert with a broken arm.) I wanted to save the cast when it was taken off but it was just too gross. Fortunately, I did have their autographs on paper, too... but the cast would have been a really cool memento!

Ugly Side

Originally posted 1.25.2007 on Limes with Orange

I noticed that someone landed on my blog searching for the meaning of the Blue October song "Ugly Side." You can listen to sample from "Argue with a Tree", their live album — this is my favourite version — or stream the full version from "History for Sale" below.

Although on the one hand I think the general meaning is self-evident, I decided to write about it because the specific lyrics might seem a little odd to some people.

Ugly Side lyrics:

I must have sneezed
On knees I freeze
I mean I just choked up
Somehow I slept
I dream, I mean
I dreamt of nothing

Able to breathe
A sweet relief
Now that you're here with me
A northern degree
Dove into me
Now I'm recovering

[Chorus]
I only want you to see
My favorite part of me
And not my ugly side
Not my ugly side

Read more...

Hook up a C.B.
Wave a way
For conversation flow
I'm shoved in your cave,
to wage this rage
Don't let me go

A kick and a scream
is all that seems
To mean a lot thus far
I won't let you on
my stage, my page
You can't know
Yet you have to know

[Chorus]

So calm... and now it's dark
I look for you to light my heart
I'm in between the moon and where you are
I know... I can't be far

The most general interpretation is simply how hard it is to share your those parts of yourself that you don't like with someone that you actually want to share your whole self with. More specifically, I believe it relates to Justin Furstenfeld's history with drugs, his recovery and his ardent desire not to have to share that part of his past and himself with someone he's starting a new relationship with.

As for specific phrases that may or not make grammatical sense… I say don't analyze that stuff too deeply. It's poetry. It elicits an emotional reaction of confusion and melancholy and fear and love. In "Writing Down the Bones", Natalie Goldberg writes:

"The aim is to burn through to first thoughts... to the place where you are writing what your mind actually sees and feels, not what it thinks it should see and feel. It's a great opportunity to capture the oddities of your mind. Explore the rugged edge of thought."

I believe these lyrics are definitely the stuff of "first thoughts." Not to say that I don't have my ideas about what Justin means in certain phrases, but I'm more concerned with what he's feeling and how he makes me feel. So my advice is not to try to deconstruct the song, just feel it.