Teenland

After dinner at Ryoji, I wandered over to Revival Bar for a book launch. Recent Toronto transplant Jillian Tamaki was releasing SuperMutant Magic Academy. This was originally a long-running web comic on tumblr. Previously, she had drawn two award-winning graphic novels with her cousin.

Before her interview with Anna Fitzpatrick, a writer for Rookie Mag and other on-line publications, Tamaki did a short presentation. Sketches, inspired by tweets from teenagers, were shown while she read the tweets. They were greeted with hilarity because people can't help but shake their head over how intense everything seems at this age including boycotting overpriced cafeteria cookies, pining after crushes, and the myriad injustices in the world. The "feels" as the kids may say ... or not.

Though it might seemed like a good segue, Tamaki admitted that the comic wasn't really about the teenage experiences of its cast of characters because she was decades removed from that scene. She accidentally proved that point when her 90s references in her answers, such as the 1992 Degrassi movie School's Out, got no recognition from the crowd of 20-somethings.

The strip was a way for Tamaki to spontaneously work through some recent or past issue. Yet she noticed that once the strips were gathered in book form, themes did emerge. The rougher, "simpler" style also allowed her freedom from the meticulous and detailed work of not only her previous graphic novels but also her job as a commercial illustrator.

Tamaki was an engaging and honest interviewee. She got a lot of laughter from her anecdotes and asides, especially her on-going buttered tart quest with a fellow comic artist.

Return To Ryoji

I attended the opening night Ryoji Ramen on College St.  It was a mistake with rushed and slow service. But now that things have settled down, I decided to give it another go on Tuesday. The Japanese restaurants here don't seem to be as busy as in other parts of town, but at least it means you get attentive service.

I ordered a seasonal Okinawan tofu dish ($5) to start. It was a mixture of raw mackerel and green onions sitting on top of firm tofu. It was nice balance between the mild and dense tofu with the sharper fish. It was a bit too salty but a good dish. Then it was on to “Nanaban” Fried Chicken ($12). This southern Japanese dish had a very interesting batter, soft and flavourful. The soy always went great with the tartar sauce. It wasn't too greasy and stuffed with tender chicken.
My main was a mini spicy miso ramen bowl ($8). At first, I was taken aback with the large dollop of chili. It turned out to be a pile of ground pork mixed with some spicy condiment. It was a rich broth with tasty chasu pork slices. The noodles was a bit disappointing, too thin to really give that great chew. For dessert it was Sata Andagi ($6). These Okinawan doughnuts came out sliced in two accompanied by vanilla ice-cream. They tasted like a cross between a timbit and a cakey cookie. The dessert wasn't too sweet which was a bonus.

Clit-Kicker

Though it was a late show on Sunday, I decided to head to The Dakota for some week-end rock and roll. The head-liner Sate did an early and late set, so I was pleasantly surprised to get a chance to hear them. I have seen Saida Baba Talibah before helping on back-up vocals with other groups, but I wasn't sure what to expect with her new band.

What a shock! It turned out they played heavy, hard rock full of chunky chords, loud drums, and frenetic bass. Whether it was numbers like Try or their radio release Warrior, it was in-your-face music. And no one was doing that more than Talibah. She often jumped onto the stage riser to roar into their crowd with her huge vocals. Even blues song My Babe (Little Walter) got the power treatment. It was quite a sweaty performance but Talibah pointed out that you've got to "grab life by the clit."

Hill (Kourkotis) and The Sky Heroes did the middle set as a duo, with some backing tracks. But since Talibah used to sing with her, it was no surprise that she came back to help out on funky rock tunes: The Moon and Doctor, Doctor. Kourkotis took a 2-year hiatus (which included touring with Serena Ryder) and her new music has become, in her words,  "more dance-pop". So we got new songs like slow-vibe Feel It or the four-on-the-floor The Flame. Ryder was seen in the crowd singing and dancing along to the latter. But it wasn't such a surprising evolution; turn down her wah-wah guitar, turn up the beat and bass and you could draw a line from one to the other.

Two exciting performers made for a great night of music. Unfortunately,  I couldn't stay for Sate's second set. But the rest of the packed crowd didn't seem to be in any hurry to go home.

Corp Rock

Corp Rock is usually an epithet, denoting soul-less music. But the folks of Blimp Rock embrace that "moniker", if only ironically. And enough people like their brand of smart-assed music that they held a CD release show at The Dakota for their 2nd album (Sophomore Slump). It was a bonus that it was at an early time slot on Saturday.

Their bassist took to the stage first as solo project "Tyson's Casio Fiasco". Although it was true that he backed himself with typical synth-generated beats and strings, his main effort was ping-ponging between various guitar effects. Overall, the set didn't work for me. You need some great arrangements to overcome those cliché accompaniments. Furthermore, the abrupt guitar changes seemed clumsy.

There was a full crowd there, who was more than happy to chant "profit, profit", to cheer on the 15-minute PowerPoint presented by the CEO of Blimp Rock Enterprises. The gist: they need about $700,000 to host the world's only music festival held inside a blimp (with cover bands and sophisticated mixed drinks). The 1st CD only made $80 in profit, so this was another crack at it. Amazingly, the "marketing team" comprised of some great musicians. So we got the wry Sophomore Slump ("My first crush didn't talk to me"), sweet Sensitive Boys, and a genuine dance-floor hit Let's All Stay In Tonight. The audience also cheered for old numbers like Lake Ontario Lifeguards and The Love That Treats You Right. Some who were new seemed a bit confused: the whole thing is a joke, but the music is good. Blimp Rock probably didn't raise $850,000 tonight, even with funny accounting. But they are developing an appreciative fan-base.