It Begins - Best of 2010 Lists

From UK's Q Magazine:

50. Steve Mason - Boys Outside
49. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
48. Edwyn Collins - Losing Sleep
47. Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History
46. Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me
45. Cherry Ghost - Beneath This Burning Shoreline
44. Villagers - Becoming A Jackal
43. Skream - Outside The Box
42. Tom Jones - Praise & Blame
41. Belle And Sebastian - Write About Love
40. Peter Gabriel - Scratch My Back
39. I Am Kloot - Sky At Night
38. Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid
37. The Coral - Butterfly House
36. The Roots - How I Got Over
35. Everything Everything - Man Alive
34. The Dead Weather - Sea Of Cowards
33. Tricky - Mixed Race
32. The Drums - The Drums
31. The Chemical Brothers - Further
30. Brandon Flowers - Flamingo
29. Interpol - Interpol
28. Avi Buffalo - Avi Buffalo
27. Midlake - The Courage Of Others
26. Klaxons - Surfing The Void
25. Kings Of Leon - Come Around Sundown
24. Bryan Ferry - Olympia
23. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
22. Corinne Bailey Rae - The Sea
21. Band Of Horses - Infinite Arms
20. Take That - Progress
19. Grinderman - Grinderman 2
18. Manic Street Preachers - Postcards From A Young Man
17. John Legend & The Roots - Wake Up!
16. Foals - Total Life Forever
15. Yeasayer - Odd Blood
14. Hot Chip - One Life Stand
13. Beach House - Teen Dream
12. Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here
11. The Black Keys - Brothers
10. MGMT - Congratulations
9. Paul Weller - Wake Up The Nation
8. The National - High Violet
7. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
6. John Grant - Queen Of Denmark
5. Vampire Weekend - Contra
4. Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can
3. Plan B - The Defamation Of The Strickland Banks
2. Robert Plant - Band Of Joy
1. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Oddball covers

One aspect of music I love is strange covers. Like people who have no business covering other songs. Like William Shatner covering Pulp's "Common People". Sometimes I run across a cover song so strange that I have to expose it or play it on my radio show. I've talked about the Slits covering "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" earlier.

One fun thing is finding a song you didn't know was a cover. A fellow music lover tipped me off to a Youtube user called funktuall, who specializes in tracking down samples in hip-hop, but also has several videos featuring covers you didn't know were covers. Here's the first edition.



Two of my favourites: Joan Jett's "I Love Rock and Roll" was first done by 70s rock band The Arrows, and Blondie's "Tide is High" is an early reggae single from the Paragons:





As a total sidebar, here's John Holt of the Paragons doing "Ali Baba", one of my favourite reggae tunes:

Symphony Sale for November

Every six months or so, the Kamloops Symphony holds a used book and music sale. The November sale just finished up. I always go, though I never find anything spectacular, I usually find a couple of interesting things. This year, I found the "Cat People" score by Giorgio Moroder and a beat up copy of "Thunder in the East" by obscure Japanese hair-metallers Loudness. It also gives me a chance to indulge my other collecting hobby: maps and altases. I picked up a road atlas of the UK and Ireland, and a road gazetteer of Australia put out in 1969 by an Australian oil company, Ampol.

Canadian Top 40 Cancon Roundup for November 25, 2010

In the Top 40: Nelly Furtado (highest charting Canadian at #14), JRDN, Fefe Dobson, Michael Buble, Johnny Reid, Shawn Desman, My Darkest Days, Finger Eleven, Fefe Dobson (again), Down with Webster, Marianas Trench (11/40= about 27%, still under the 35% needed for Cancon regs)

Interesting bits: Nothing much in the Canadian charts, but Cee-Lo Green's "Forget You/F**k You" climbed into the Top 10 singles this week. This song is a pox on music right now. It's not clever, it's crude and annoying. Cee-Lo has made good music (like with Gnarls Barkley), but this is an awful song. It's not even good parody. And the Glee version is at #11 on the US charts. As predicted, the 4 Glee songs from last week slid right out of the Top 30 (still one in the low 30s, a cover of Teenage Dream).

Rediscovering Country Music

My parents were big country music fans. I grew up listening to it, and disliking it. Though, in the past 10 years or so, I've gained a lot of respect for the genre and the early performers of the music. The less said about the pop music currently masquerading as country, the better, in my opinion.

Mom liked George Jones, Charlie Pride, Dolly Parton and Porter Wagonner for the most part. Dad liked Conway Twitty. Both disliked the so-called "outlaw movement" (Cash, Nelson, Jennings, etc.). After revisiting these artists, I have a deep respect for the work of George Jones. No one can touch him as a vocalist. His voice is so earnest, the emotion in his work is almost palpable. Patsy Cline also had an amazing voice, innocent and experienced at the same time.

One thing, I've been discovering lately is the humour in a lot of country music. Jones has a wonderful track called White Lightning that makes me smile every time I hear it. A lot of clever novelty music came out in the 60s that tended to be associated with country music. I'm sure everyone my age growing up had a copy of one of those Goofy Greats or Wacky Wonders albums. One of the mainstays was Roger Miller's "You Can't Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd":



Miller's work straddled novelty and conventional country. His biggest hit was "King of the Road", a fairly mainstream sounding country act and a song I associate with my youth. My family used to travel across the country in an old station wagon, eating at gas station diners, and "King of the Road" reminds me of the people we might meet at these places, and some of the food we ate too.



Miller's creativeness is more apparent in his novelty tracks though. Besides "Buffalo Herd", he's had minor hits with "Do Wacka Do", "Chug a Lug", "Dang Me" and, a recent discovery of mine, "My Uncle Used to Love Me But She Died". I came across this song due to some live footage from country act The Sweetback Sisters, and I tracked it back to Miller.



Roger Miller is close to me for one main reason, the song "England Swings". One of my most fond memories is my grandmother rocking me on her legs singing "England Swings" to me. The song always makes me smile.



As a footnote, I got very confused when discovering Roger Miller's name for the first time. As I'm sometimes wont to do, I discover mainstream artists through more obscure artists. I found the band Mission of Burma back in the late 80s when I first started in community radio, then discovered the side project No Man, who usually put on their albums "No Man is Roger Miller". I thought Roger Miller was part of the name of the band, but Roger Miller is also the name of the guitarist of Mission of Burma. So, was the band referring to the country singer or the guitarist? And who was this country singer that was being referred to by a post-punk band? Yes, I rediscovered Roger Miller (the country artist) through Mission of Burma, not the other way around.

Indie Band Roundup #3

Time for three more unsigned Canadian bands you need to check out!

The SSRIs: This is a new band from Vancouver that plays an upbeat and almost-dancy style of noise rock. They've been around in the Vancouver scene for about 4 years and have just released their debut full length, amusingly titled "Effeminate Godzilla-Sized Windchimes". There's a link to download their music on their website.

It Kills: This three-piece from Halifax plays a dense mix of pop, jazz and drones. They've just released a self-titled independent album. They remind me a bit of Fond of Tigers or a jazzier Mogwai.

Mid Pines: Mid Pines is a minimalist electronic project fronted by Laura Bell, who lives in Ontario somewhere. There's almost no information online about this project, and seemingly nowhere to buy her album, called "Unmeasure". But, there is a review here. If you manage to find this album, let me know so I can get myself a copy!

Canadian Top 40 Cancon Roundup for November 18, 2010

Two things first. Turns out Edward Maya isn't Canadian. He's Romanian. So Cancon on Top 40 radio is even lower than what I thought it was. Second, the Glee Cast has four songs debuting in the American Top 40 this week. I can almost guarantee they won't be there next week. I feel a turgid, spit-flecked rant about Glee coming on...

In the Top 40 this week: Nelly Furtado (top Canadian at #12), Michael Buble, JRDN, Shawn Desman, Johnny Ried, Fefe Dobson (twice), Down with Webster, Finger Eleven, Sweet Thing (10/40, 25%, well below the neede 35% Cancon).

No weirdness on the charts this week, though I will note it's been about 6 weeks since any Canadian artist was in the Top 10 singles. Isn't Canadian radio supposed to be championing Canadian music?

Forgotten Music #3: The Godfathers - "Birth, School, Work, Death"

Another classic LJ posting:

I remember when I first got into campus radio back in the late 80s and really started to understand what it was for. I began to listen, really listen, to music outside of what I already know about myself and started to discover amazing bands. Bands that, given a chance, made music just as catchy and palatable as what I was hearing on mainstream rock radio. The Godfathers from the UK were one of those bands. I got into them with their 1988 album "More Songs About Love and Hate", but quickly found their earlier work was much more appealing. "Birth, School, Work, Death", the album and the song, came out in 1988.



The band mixed the oh so late 80s college radio power pop sound with just enough punk swagger to make their work jump out at you. The subject matter is here is less dense than my previous pics, but it hardly matters. The Godfathers are about controlled punk energy and the subject matter is pure punk anger combined with indy rock angst. Just sit back and enjoy it.

Canadian Top 40 Cancon Roundup

In the Top 40 this week: Edward Maya (top Canadian at #11), Nelly Furtado, Micheal Buble, JRDN, Shawn Desman, Johnny Reid, Fefe Dobson (twice), Down with Webster, Finger Eleven, My Darkest Days, Sweet Thing (12/40=30%, under the required Cancon of 35%)

Weird note: Canadians seem to love Reba McIntyre or, as she's known now, Reba. I've seen four singles of hers in the Canadian Top 40 in the last two years (Her current song "Turn on the Radio" is #25 this week) and never see her in the American Top 40. She's in the country charts of course, but never the pop charts in the US.

More on Cancon

One idea I'm kicking around right now is beginning to host another radio show, this one for the internet. I know a group I've been talking with called Ghettoradio, who have DJs booked around the clock and around the world (for the most part), doing 1-2 hour shows. I'm working on a all Canadian show, focusing on obscure Canadian artists from all eras of music and avoiding the artists well known outside of our border. The show will be called Beaver Tail Radio. The first step is to get my Canadian CDs uploaded onto my computer (because the broadcasting program doesn't seem to detect my iPod), then I'll have a good base to start the show. Then, I want to get an mp3 turntable and start digitizing all the obscure Canadian new wave I have on vinyl.

Speaking of vinyl and continuing my obsession with Canadian music, I had another nice score at a used record/comics/games store downtown today:

Alien Heirs - To Heir is Divine EP (Canada, Independent, 1985): Synth-pop act from Vancouver, album engineered by Dave Ogilvie. One member, called Twin, looks a lot like Bif Naked, but apparently isn't.
Marshall Crenshaw - Field Day (USA, Warner, 1983)
Philip Glass - The Photographer (USA, CBS, 1983)
The Motels - All Four One (USA, Capitol, 1982)
One To One - Forward Your Emotions (Canada, Bonaire, 1985): Radio pop band from Ottawa, kind of the last gasp of new wave in Canada.
Parachute Club - Small Victories (Canada, Current, 1986)
The Planets - Goon Hilly Down (UK, Rialto/Polygram, 1979)
Silver Darts - Feel Like a Target EP (Canada, Rio, 1981): Almost nothing online about this band, looks to be from Montreal.
Spoons - Talkback (Canada, Ready, 1983): Classic Canadian new wave, one of the legends.
Thompson Twins - Side Kicks (UK, Artists, 1983)
The Tubes - The Completion Backwards Principles (USA, EMI, 1981)
V/A - Modern Rockers (Warwick, 1982): British import compilation, bands like Ian Dury, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Squeeze, Boomtown Rats, etc.
V/A - Asylum 83 (Kelly's, 1983): This album has a Warner Record stamp on the album itself, but it looks to be a promo album sent to a record store called Kelly's (which looks to be based in the UK) and wasn't for sale. Bands includes Echo and the Bunnymen, U2, Planet P, Blanket of Secrecy, Berlin, Men Without Hats and Greg Kihn.

Elvis Costello makes the rounds

Nov. 2 was the release date for Elvis Costello's newest album National Ransom and Slicing Up Eyeballs has a good run down of his recent talk show circuit performances and interviews. Check it out:

http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2010/11/06/elvis-costello-fallon-letterman-colbert-morning-joe/

I know what's going to be in my CD player for the next month or so (once Amazon delivers it, that is)

Cancon and the Top 40 Charts

Those of you who don't live in Canada (and maybe some who do) may not have heard of Cancon, or Canadian Content, laws. They dictate that a certain amount of content on any station broadcasting in Canada must be Canadian. This was brought in first as a tactic to prevent our own culture from eroding from the massive media presence of our next door neighbours (the USA), and to encourage Canadian artists to make their own music, films and TV through grants and encouraging stations to air this content.

Whether or not Cancon has worked is a matter for debate. Canada has an extremely strong music scene now and many of our artists are internationally known. But TV and movies still seem anemic in comparison. In addition, commercial radio stations will stack their playlists with artists that are already familiar with listeners, so Cancon on commercial radio usually means "The 15 or so bands and artists that got a hit in the United States". Truly homegrown artists in Canadian commercial radio are fairly rare. Also, only Canadian artists on a major label will usually get played, but this is a problem endemic to commercial radio in general, not just in Canada.

Every week I scan the Canadian and US Top 40 as part of my job, and lately I've been counting the Cancon on the Canadian charts to see if they line up with Cancon laws. By law, Canadian radio must play 35% Canadian artists, so about 1 out of every 3 songs needs to be Canadian. The Canadian charts are by no means an authoritative sampling of what's being played on commercial radio in Canada, but it remains an interesting exercise to examine them to see what's going on. Also, the charts the public have access to (Soundscan) aren't the charts that the industry uses. Those charts, you have to be a broadcaster and you have to pay to get access to them.

Each week, when I have time, I'll take a quick look at the Soundscan charts for Cancon. You can check out each week's charts every Thursday here.

Canadian artists in the Top 40 this week: Edward Maya, Michael Buble, JRDN, Nelly Furtado, Shawn Desman, Johnny Reid, Fefe Dobson, Finger Eleven, Down With Webster, Sweet Thing, Girlicious, My Darkest Days (12/40 = 30% Cancon, under the 35% needed)

Canadian artists in the Top 100 this week: Edward Maya, Michael Buble, JRDN, Nelly Furtado, Shawn Desman, Johnny Reid, Fefe Dobson (2 times), Finger Eleven, Down With Webster, Sweet Thing, Girlicious, My Darkest Days, Hedley, Doc Walker, These Kids Wear Crowns, K'Naan, Andrew Allen, Aleesia, Jake Matthews, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Three Days Grace, Dean Brody, Emerson Drive, Paul Brandt, Jann Arden, Marianas Trench, High Valley, Gord Bamford, Stef Lang, Billy Talent, Sarah MacLachlan, Bryan Adams. (34/100, 34% Cancon, closer to the mark)

Homegrown artists in the Top 40: Edward Maya, JRDN, Shawn Desman, Johnny Reid, Fefe Dobson, Down with Webster, Sweet Thing, Girlicious (8 out of 40)

Interesting blip on this week's charts: American artist Brad Paisley at #24, he's not on the American Top 40 chart anywhere.

Driving music

I've been creating a playlist for a short road trip and thinking about good driving music. Some say "Red Barchetta" by Rush is the best driving song of all time:



I'm fond of Kraftwerk's "Autobahn";



But, I'd like to make a plea for Sugar's "Needle Hits E":

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/s/Needle+Hits+E/3rOwF