The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century

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(Photo taken last weekend at Eldon’s stag party, held in Pete Sutton’s cottage in Picton. More details later.)

Self-Defense with Jo is an odd but entertaining series of instructional videos created by Jo Bonten. He’s got a YouTube channel chock-full of short episodes featuring quickie self-defense tips. The newest series of videos in his channel is called Out in Nature…

…and the first installment is titled Fast Movement Through Nature:

Feel free to click on any of the pictures in this article; they’ll take you to the video, which must be seen to be believed.

In this video, Jo demonstrates a couple of techniques for evading “prosecutors” (perhaps he means “pursuers”) who are after you. He starts out on his bike…

…which he dismounts, and then portages across a field that he could’ve easily biked across.

“It is smart to take the bicycle with you,” he says, explaining why he carried the bike across the field, “since it can be useful again.”

With the “prosecutors” still on his tail, Jo ditches the bike (as well as the bright orange reflective vest, the exact opposite of what you should wear when being chased) and opts for a water route. “When you don’t have another choice, you must leave the bicycle behind and continue with swimming!”

The swimming’s the slowest-paced part of the video, but it’s a short segment, and the background music helps liven things up.

Having reached the other side, he crawls through reeds, presumably so that his pursuers won’t see him. However, as he crawls, he’s carving a very obvious trail:

After a little more crawling and wanton wetland destruction, he stands up.

“I think I have lost my prosecutors!” he declares at the end. Nicely done, Jo.

Once she’s grown up and you give her a gun and opportunities for gratuitous violence, Dora the Explorer’s not so bad. Kind of cute, even. I wouldn’t kick her out of bed for eating churros.

And now, more music that’s been getting heavy rotation on my various music-playing devices. These all fall under the rather vague category of “electronica”.

Black Moth Super Rainbow: Born on a Day the Sun Didn’t Rise

Yes, I like my music a little weird, and nobody does "a little weird” quite like the Pittsburgh-based Black Moth Super Rainbow, who aren’t afraid to dose their electronica with equal parts indie rock, folk, psychedelia and that sixties sound that can come only from the Mellotron. Born on a Day the Sun Didn’t Rise is probably my favourite Black Moth Super Rainbow track; it comes from the 2009 Album Eating Us.

I’ve heard that they’re pretty good live, and if this video of them performing Sun Lips in 2007 is any indication, I’d love to catch one of their shows:

Gramatik: Happiness on a Leash

If you like your electronica served up with a side of funk, Gramatik is your go-to guy. Chances are, if you’ve been drinking in any bar on “West Queen West” in the past couple of months, you’ve probably heard a Gramatik track – most likely Moar Jive – in the background. This track, Happiness on a Leash, is one of my fave ones off the latest album, Beats and Pieces, Vol. 1.

Want to hear more? You’re in luck: Gramatik’s label, Pretty Lights Music, has the album available for download for free – just visit their page (and if you like the album, please consider donating).

Handsome Furs: Repatriated and What About Us

I was in university during the age of grunge, so when you say that an artist is on the Sub Pop label, I naturally assume their music is some sort of grunge/fuzz/noise rock (after all, they gave us Nirvana, L7, Soundgarden, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr. and Pigface). Not so with Sound Kapital, the latest album by Canadian husband-and-wife duo known as Handsome Furs. Dan, the husband of the pair, has the guitar as his primary instrument, but for this album, he chose to compose entirely on keyboards as a way of putting a twist on his writing and to make it easier to write while on the road. The end result is an eighties-tinged synth-fest that made me double-check who the artist was when I first heard their stuff on satellite radio while zipping down the 401 from cottage country on Sunday.

The video above is for Repatriated, while the one below is for What About Us. Be warned that the video below, even though it’s the censored version, might still be a bit too racy for your workplace. It’s sort of tame for my workplace, but you must remember that my workplace in the mornings is my home office, which is pants-optional until 10:00 a.m..

If you’re at home or a workplace that tolerates it, you might want to check out the uncensored version here. Nudities abound.