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Smalltown DJs

Video of the Week:

Smalltown Romeo featuring Shad K. -- Boom Ha

óè bit.ly/smalltown_boom

Recently featured in Lena Dunham's HBO show Girls and in the Jonah Hill movie The Sitter, Calgary's Smalltown DJs have been on a roll lately. Not only did they get to DJ Shaun White's gold medal party at the Olympics last winter, they have also released a bunch of new music this year that has been getting support from mega stars like Philadelphia's Diplo, Montreal's A-Trak and the BBC's Annie Mac.

They'll be performing on Thursday, Nov. 15, at The Greenroom, 108 Osborne St., as part of a cross-Canada tour. Montreal's Grandtheft (one-half of Team Canada) is also on the bill.

Instagram Introduces Web Profiles

óè on.mash.to/ZwuPuS

Once a virtually closed network for image-loving iPhone users and, later, Android adopters, Instagram is moving its presence on the web -- its new owners at Facebook are taking it out of the sheltered mobile world and giving users a public profile, which looks exactly as you might expect, comin g from the social media giant who developed the Timeline design.

After spending $715 million dollars in September to buy Instagram (Mark Zuckerberg and his team were worried about the momentum and users Instagram was gaining and wanted to be able to control its growth), it isn't surprising that Facebook has rolled out these public profiles.

While users can opt out and only show their images to users they have approved to follow them, there are obviously privacy issues that will come into play. Some users are struggling with what the new web profiles mean and how they impact the types of photos they are sharing. Do you lock down your profile and only allow friends to see it or do you take a closer look at the images you are uploading and keep your profile open?

Other than Facebook, Instagram is at the heart of photo sharing on the web. How will this impact its growth and users' perception of the tool? Will early adopters start looking for the next big thing in photo-sharing apps? Will the fact it has a web component drive some users away? Will it gain even more market share as a flood of new users come on-board? Only time will tell.

Track of the Week:

Neil Young and Crazy Horse -- Twisted Road

óè bit.ly/twisted_road

With a nine-year hiatus between Crazy Horse albums -- the last one was Greendale in 2003 and before that, Broken Arrow, 16 years ago -- some fans felt it was a curious choice to release Americana, a covers album that reimagined some folk classics with band's ragged rock edge.

If Young and Crazy Horse's reinterpretations didn't do much for you, his second new album this year, Psychedelic Pill, demonstrates why he has the nickname "The Godfather of Grunge." From an opening song that meanders for nearly half an hour to the type of sonic fuzz that made him an icon of bands like Pearl Jam, Young is jamming out his emotions and turning out some of the best work of his long, critically acclaimed career.

Even on the slow burning Twisted Road, where Young revisits the impact artists like Roy Orbison and The Grateful Dead had on him, he comes out the other side with a perspective and vitality that few artists of his generation are able to maintain.

Young performs with Crazy Horse at the MTS Centre on Friday, Nov. 16. Los Lobos and the Sadies will open the show.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 15, 2012 C20