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Knives Don’t Have Your Back, originally uploaded by racreations.

I meant to get this a long time ago but I simply forgot about it (stupid me). Anyway I was listening to some CBC Radio 3 Podcasts, and was reminded that Emily Haines actually had a solo tour a while ago (how the fuck did I miss that, there must be a hole in my brain). So immediately I went out to my favorite record store and bought a copy of this CD.

I always liked Emily Haines for that subtle yet edginess in style. She really can steez it out effortlessly. I loved the stuff that she did with Broken Social Scene, and of course as the front woman for Metric. Metric songs are really fun and hip enough to be featured on a snowboard video (Dead Disco is one of my favorites). At the end of the day, however, I always found myself coming back to mystic songs such as “White Gold”, “London Halflife”, “Ending Start”, or “Love Is a Place”. I always wished that there were more songs like them. Well, this CD answers my wish right there.

I think Emily Haines is a terrific songwriter who can not only come up with original ideas but also transform and execute them as presentable products (for lack of a better word). She talks a bit about it during this interview. Ok if you don’t want to listen to the whole thing: She explains that these solo materials were sort of like the “orphans” that were put aside while writing Metric songs, but also says that she can turn them into Metric songs if she wants to.

I’m not even going to attempt to dig into her lyrics because I’m obviously not literate enough to understand the vast majority of them. I can say though, from the small parts that I pick up, this whole album feels like it can become a movie.. this video for “Doctor Blind” is a cool example:

I was listening to this song while walking in the city on a rainy day just before the sunset. It made me feel like I was in a movie, and everything around me was moving in half-speed… maybe I was just too hungry and hallucinating, but anyway it was cool.This just in: there are more that I missed (ya big surprise). Apparently there’s an EP with more original songs. I can actually get it bundled with a book by Emily’s late father Paul Haines who was a poet and experimental jazz lyricist. Should be an interesting combo considering the songs on the EP presumably has close connections with Paul Haine’s works.So this is where my economic stimulus payment will go. Actually, this and my new camera… in other words, federal dollars sent to Canada and Japan on behalf of the IRS. Thanks a million Dubya!

I am so going to get audited this year…