aes so + Stuff ’ve Been Petting: A Very Special Animal-themed Edition of Stuff ’ve Been Listening To Luke Simcoe, OP Contributor Downloaded: Nothing... but I did get a new a cat! She’s black and her name is Sabbath. I didn’t name her and don’t really want a reminder of Ozzy’s awful lyrics scampering around the house, so if anyone writes in with a name I really like, I promise to get them some form of free swag, even if I have to pay for it myself. Listened To: Les Savy Fav - The Cat ¢> the Cobra Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs Rancid - And Out Come the Wolves blink 182 - Cheshire Cat Modest Mouse - The Moon ¢» Antarctica Warren Zevon - Genius: The Best of Warren Zevon Les Savy Fav - The Cat ¢» the Cobra Like many of you, my introduction to Les Savy Fav came in the form of Inches, a compilation of the group’s 7 inches that somehow managed to be their most coherent statement to date. Unlike many of you, I didn’t get halfway through Inches before I was rabidly downloading the rest of the band’s back catalogue. LSF is one of the only bands that has the musical chops and the right grasp of aesthetic distinction to actually merit being referred to as art-punk. In addi- tion to having some reference to animals in the album title and a great album cover, The Cat ¢” the Cobra is the closest studio rendering of the band’s utterly unique live show (not that I’ve been fortunate enough to attend, but I’ve nerded out on YouTube). It’s also the most experi- mental of the band’s LPs, and consequently it has the most replay value. Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs I mostly only ever listen to “Fake Palindromes,” but I’m really sorry that I missed out on his two sold-out shows at the Media Club earlier this year. Bird’s got a great voice, great lyrics, and a really unique sound that still sounds familiar the first time you listen to it. Plus, I hear he hooks his violin up to an effects pedal during his shows. Rancid - ...And Out Come the Wolves When alien anthropologists visit Earth 300 years from now and ask our historians “what was this punk-rock?,” we should just hand them a copy of ...Anud Out Come the Wolves. The album’s gritty and raw, but still poppy enough that “Timebomb,” and “Ruby Soho” were probably played at your high school dances. Despite the album’s brief flirtation with MTV, Rancid didn’t lose a single shred of their credibility, and it harkens back to a time when Transplants songs weren't being used in shampoo ads. Oh, and Matt Freeman’s bass solo on “Maxwell Murder” is still the stuff of legend. blink-182 - Cheshire Cat There was a time when blink-182 was my band. I know it’s hard to believe, but a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I was a little 15-year old skate-rat who spent more time pining for girls than actually talking to them and Mark Hoppus, Tom Delonge and Scott Raynor really under- stood me. I spent hours learning “Carousel” on guitar, and to this day, I vividly recall the sor- row and confusion that I felt the first time I saw “Dammit” on MuchMusic. Modest Mouse - The Moon ¢ Antarctica For some reason, I resisted Modest Mouse for years. I eventually came around, but I’m getting sick and tired of every other singer trying to sound like Isaac Brock (Wolf Parade, Tapes n’ Tapes, The Arcade Fire, I’m looking in your direction). Warren Zevon - Genius: The Best of Warren Zevon I own this Warren Zevon (R.I.P.) collection for one reason and one reason only: “Werewolves of London.” His hair was perfect... ‘nuff said. lain W. Reeve, Web Animal Ever since the early days of the internet weirdo pet enthusiasts have used it as a vehicle to show off their Bee Dogs, Tubcat & Cats That Look Like Hitler websites to make it around the net. While the website started with a feature of a single enormous orange 8 THE OTHER PRESS NOVEMBER 30 2006 I found it on teh interweb! pets. I can remember the mid ‘90s, seeing random peo- ple’s Geocities or Angelfire websites devoted to Scruffy, Mittens, or Toonsis. These poorly constructed HTML abortions look more like a six year old’s cut and paste project than a website. This tradition of animal fetishism — no, not like that you pervert — continues today. Here are some of the more ey depraved instances. i www.beedogs.com is the winner of i award for most unusually prolific niche website — the runner up _ being that site that teaches you how to have sex with __ your car... Pm not kidding, google “sex with car.” Now sveuge this i is where IT would | go into ‘great detail dling than the fact that someone created this website is just how many pictures of dogs in bee ‘costumes there antennae and stingers. They also have a “lost your bee dog” and “adopt a bee dog” : section. Did 1 mention they have a mailing list?! ' worwnubent com is one e of the: aes famous animal tabby, it has quickly grown to include others. Not good for much more than laughing at pictures of enormous kitties who are probably not long for this world. How _ they can éven —— if they can even — caer tiie enor- mous bulk around is puzzling, werwv. catsthalcolliicelalven coast is stictbier 6 one of those sites that makes me wonder where ideas for web- sites come from. Like the others, the site is pretty straightforward. It allows you to browse pictures of cats that look kinda like Hitler, usually because they have lit- tle black mustaches, or head colour patterns that look like the Fuhter’s classic middle part hair. The site allows _ you to view the best and latest “Kitlers.” It also allows you to add your own, rank those available, and voice res. It just tures of dogs... dressed as _ your love or hate for the goose-stepping felines. The bees... Sa hoki lot of them. The only diag shee lee: : letters in support and protest are quite amusing, I like this site best out of the three just because it has more 2 - depth. are. It’s staggering. Page after page of mutts with cutesy Stic pet anc eke ioe: abane die eked chingh : that people manage to use their pets for. If nothing else ‘we can be amused by the ridiculousness in others, con- fident that our relationship with out li - Pooky is ee more normal. oe y we