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Ií¢â‚¬â„¢ve been physically cut-off from the musical community Ií¢â‚¬â„¢m used to for the past couple of months. Now, Vancouver isní¢â‚¬â„¢t exactly a musical Mecca even as far as Canada goes. I would argue that Edmonton has a more vibrant scene then the Terminal City at timesí¢â‚¬ ¦ But as far as exciting and progressive forms of music, Nelson B.C. isní¢â‚¬â„¢t a contender as far as Ií¢â‚¬â„¢ve noticed. The near by summer neo-hippy fest known así‚  Shambhaula is the nearest this town gets to breaking new talent. As saving grace for the city Nelson is their ability in securing í¢â‚¬Å“big nameí¢â‚¬  acts. This is probably due to the transient nature of the cityí¢â‚¬â„¢s ten thousand person population. The fact that this is the un-declared pot capital of BC doesní¢â‚¬â„¢t hurt either especially in securing such dope disciples as those in the Ninja Tune and Hieroglyphics crews.

Wanting a nibble of Nelsoní¢â‚¬â„¢s home grown talent I caught an unexpected treat. Ok, now doní¢â‚¬â„¢t judge a spandexed banger by, well, his spandex. Yes, he does nothing but covers like í¢â‚¬Å“Low Riderí¢â‚¬  and í¢â‚¬Å“Bust a Moveí¢â‚¬  but McRorie is an entertainer. In this case you can and should judge the musician by his looks and not just his sound. Besides the tank top, spandex or kilt, long straight hair, tongue out high-tops, and two keytars as limbs, McRorie has electric drums stuck to as many areas of his body as possible. As McRorie told the sparse audience at a Nelson bar one night, he wanted to be his own band. And thanks to technology there is one more social anomaly living out his musical fantasy with so much raw rock you can do nothing but love í¢â‚¬Ëœem. Ití¢â‚¬â„¢s musicians like McRorie that remind me of the power of song. In most circles McRorie would be considered the anti-cool. I say í¢â‚¬Å“mostí¢â‚¬  because musical irony is a kin to ironic mustaches amongst so call í¢â‚¬Å“hipstersí¢â‚¬  and therefore McRorie could be thought of as a sort of anomaly to revere in for being so bad heí¢â‚¬â„¢s good.

But thereí¢â‚¬â„¢s something in that. MCRorie is not unlike one of Pitch Fork Mediaí¢â‚¬â„¢s latest darlings Dan Deacon . Heí¢â‚¬â„¢s a guy that is as nerdy as they come. But take a listen to his records or catch one of his shows and life is a little brighter having done so. Rewind a few years ago and you couldní¢â‚¬â„¢t find a hipster in a 50 block radius of an Arcade Fire concert that owned or had even heard of Dan Deacon. So whatí¢â‚¬â„¢s the lesson to be learned here dear Robot? Here it is: Keep those musical/social/fashion anomalies close at hand. While theyí¢â‚¬â„¢re uncool you can covet them and fend off nay sayers by saying theyí¢â‚¬â„¢re too obscure you them. And when they do get the major attention they deserve serve those same nah sayers with a hearty, í¢â‚¬Å“I told you youí¢â‚¬â„¢d like themí¢â‚¬  and sit back with youí¢â‚¬â„¢re holier than everyone smile while simultaneously patting yourself on the back.

Robert Robot