Comments on: Shakespeare… My Butt

By: Arn

Arn — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 08:29:24 +0000

I pretty much hate Toronto and yet this post is clearly on the money (and not just because Shakespeare… coincided with my own undergrad years (in Ottawa). I saw the Low several times in O-town (even drinking, sorta, with them in the Bytown Tavern before an ear-splitting Penguin show) and they never failed to deliver a tight, electric set. Shakespeare was the apotheosis of that early-90s sound, all jangly and brushwork on the drums. And, yes, so very Toronto.

By: Tualla

Tualla — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 05:58:45 +0000

Love to see a contest for the worst Toronto album. Lee Aaron? Lynx? The 'Wine'?

also wish that the Lost Dakotas got remembered in one of those best of lists. I still play 'Last Train to Kipling' every once in a while.

By: Karim Amir

Karim Amir — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 00:22:04 +0000

Sam's gone...*sniff*
I had some great times with my dad there in my younger days.
CFNY...*sniff*
Best radio station ever.

By: mike

mike — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 20:46:09 +0000

My one and only time seeing Lowest of the Low live was as part of the Taste of The Danforth festival in 2005. I wasn’t nearly as fanatic about them during their heyday as you were but "Shakespeare, My Butt" was one of the first Canadian indie releases I ever bought. Maybe I’ll pull it out and give it another listen.

By: David Topping

David Topping — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 15:53:24 +0000

Ick, sorry about the HTML Frank. You can modify as you please (this comment included).

By: David Topping

David Topping — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 15:52:46 +0000

http://torontoist.com/2007/…">The list that Torontoist’s staff put together for SoundProof (in the post that you linked to) totally includes Shakespeare My Butt. Our staff was semi-outraged when SoundProof’s list didn’t include ‘em. We tried, really, we tried!

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 13:45:41 +0000

I always enjoy reading your blog but this was probably my favourite post to date. The incredibly articulate way in which you express your love of music always makes me envious and this post in particular brought me back to a great time for Canadian music. I remember when 102.1 was THE BEST place to go for new music. Hard to believe now. LOTL, along with Northern Pikes, Grapes of Wrath and TPOH were basically the soundtrack of my high school life. Thanks for taking me back Frank.

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 11:52:19 +0000

the "fashionability" comment was past tense – I admit that was a factor in my not keeping up with the reunion proceedings six or seven years ago. I’m older and wiser now, hence this post. I hadn’t even listened to Shakespeare before last week for months, maybe even years, but now I can’t stop.

By: xcanuck

xcanuck — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 11:50:13 +0000

A great look back at the Low, Frank. But I’m disappointed you gave them a pass based "Partly because of what I think was the band’s perceived (lack of) fashionability…". Good music doesn’t always come from the fashionable or those otherwise anoited by the hipsters. And if you gave them a pass, you missed out on some find music in "Sordid Fiction" and some great shows. Did you catch the workshop they did with The Weakerthans at Hillside a few years back? Shame on you if you missed out on one of the best shows of that fabled weekend.

I saw them last summer in Buffalo and they stated that they were going back on hiatus so my criticisms are moot, perhaps. I don’t want to detract from a nicely written post – just expressing some disappointment that "fashionability" plays a part in determining who you listen to (or worse, don’t).

By: barclay

barclay — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:07:21 +0000

nice work. there’s a lot of cultural amnesia on that list, and it’s nice to see people responding and taking up individual causes.
this is indeed a quintessential toronto album, one that struck a deep chord in many. someone actually once sent me an unpublished novel loosely based on the low. i don’t know what went wrong with the reunion album–you’re not missing much there–but it didn’t measure up even to the solo album ron hawkins put out just before it. no matter, some bands really do only have one major spurt of brilliance, and there’s nothing wrong with that. one amazing album that speaks to so many people is much more than 99% of other artists can conjure up.

and i highly recommend the weekend brunch at the only. it’s right at donlands station.