Saturday, April 23, 2011

Forgotten Music #5: Hoodoo Gurus - Death Defying

(Reposted from my Livejournal, Oct. 21, 2008)

In the late 80s, I really fell in love with the sound of Australian rock. Midnight Oil were (and still are) one of my favourite bands at the time. I enjoyed the gritty, driving rock sound that most bands had, as well as the rootsy sound they often melded with it. Hunters and Collectors really captured the roots-rock sound perfectly (I'll feature them in the future), but the Hoodoo Gurus I really got into. They used a power pop/psychedelic sound, full of catchy hooks. "What's My Scene" was one of my favourites, but I think the song I love the best from them is this one, "Death Defying".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRHvTrfpiTI


For one, it's one of the few songs they performed that has a strong roots feel to it. It also really shows off the underrated voice of Dave Faulker, usually awash in guitar fuzz, he really stands out in this song. "Death Defying" also heralded a softer, less-ramshackle sound for the band. Note that Dave finally cut off his long hair around this time.

The Gurus have a vast musical legacy in Australia but are almost unknown in North America, save for a few tracks played on college radio during their heyday. If you like what you hear here, check out their albums Mars Needs Guitars and Magnum Cum Louder for their best work. This song is from 1985's Mars Needs Guitars

Monday, April 18, 2011

Why Record Store Day is Important

This past Saturday was the bi-annual Record Store Day. While I didn't get out to buy vinyl for myself this year (I got the Devo 12" and Elvis Costello 7" last year), I was there in spirit.

Record stores are starting to disappear except in large cities like Vancouver and Seattle. In some ways, the record store seems like a quaint holdover from old times, like campus radio, championing dead or dying music forms. But, this is far from the truth. Vinyl record sales have been on the upswing in the past two years. And there's something to be said for holding a piece of music in  your hand, rather than having it as a digital file on your mp3 player of choice.

I've always said art is an artifact, in that, it needs to be a physical object in order to be fully appreciated. If you'll excuse some sentimentality, the days when you could hold a full length album in your hand, with full cover artwork, and artwork on the inside of the album in some cases, showed you more insight into who the band was. Even a CD case gives you a booklet of liner notes you can read in addition to enjoying the music. That sense of effort put into a piece of art is lost if you just have a digital file. You have the name of the artist, the title and the song itself. What about the lyrics? Or the producer? Or even the record label? All that is lost with strictly digital music. You can't sense what went into making it. At the very least, you lose out on the little things. Similarly, you could look at a high quality megapixel photograph of the Mona Lisa, but wouldn't you rather go into the Louvre and see it for yourself?

Another aspect is what is called the Loudness Wars. Back when CDs were brand new, there was a lot of talk about their benefits as recording technology, namely, their dynamic range. Vinyl records had a dynamic range of 60 dB, which meant you could push the volume up to 60 dBs before the sound started to distort. CDs have a dynamic range of 100 dB, which meant you could push them even louder without distortion, which meant the sound was much clearer and less prone to distortion. If you give a listen to a CD made in the late 80s, you can hear how quiet they are recorded in comparison to a CD produced in the last ten  years. Once the CD became accepted, instead of seeing more recording exploiting that dynamic range, engineers and producers were instead pushing the initial recording volume up, so instead of starting at 0 dB base, they'd start at 40, 50, even 60 dB as a base, wiping out the dynamic range that a CD format gave as a benefit. So, the CD format is now *LESS* dynamic than vinyl and sounds worse than vinyl in terms of distortion. This is one of the reasons why vinyl is making a comeback, because it sounds better than CDs. Most vinyl fans also say that vinyl sound warmer than CDs as well. It's also a factor in why big record labels are taking a beating in sales right now, but that's a post for another day.

Adding into this is the digitalization of music, which flattens out the sound of music. Digital music is compressed in order for it to take up less space, which means that the extremes of the music are usually clipped off. This means that louder sounds sound quieter and quiet sounds are loudened up, making everything sound flat. A trained ear can hear a digitally compressed track immediately. Modern engineered rock music is over-produced, recorded to loud and lacks the subtlety an older, more properly engineered album does. The only CDs you hear today that fully exploit the range of a CD format is high end classical and jazz albums. The modern rock CD is like comparing a caveman's club to a diamond-headed drill of a vinyl album.

Perhaps the most important part of Record Store Day are the special incentives, which are produced strictly for the music fan and the record store lovers of the world. You get lovingly crafted vinyl, with coloured vinyl, unreleased tracks, special pressings and other goodies. Most of the major record labels don't get too involved in RSD outside of a few special releases, which means we get to support the artists themselves.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Cancon Round Up for April 14, 2011

I haven't done one of these in a while because the Soundscan charts were not updated for a good month. Now that I have a new one, we can continue.

Cancon on the Top 40: Alyssa Reid (highest Canadian at #7), Martin Solveig and Dragonette, JRDN, Avril Lavigne, Three Days Grace, Kristina Maria, Shawn Desman, Fefe Dobson, These Kids Wear Crowns (9/40=234%, still below the legally required Cancon requirement)

Notes: The Black Keys have their first Canadian Top 40 single, with "Howlin' for You" checking in at #40. I also suggest that Wiz Khalifa do a Canadian version of his new song "Roll Up", called "Roll Up the Rim (to Win)".

Saturday, April 9, 2011

The March 30 Day Song Challenge Part 6 Final

Day 26 – A song that you can play on an instrument: Devo - "Satisfaction"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jadvt7CbH1o



I can't really play any instruments, but I took a crack at drums in high school. The drum rhythm is simple enough, I think I could do it.

Day 27 – A song that you wish you could play: Husker Du - "Could You Be the One"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjEsw9lxtRw



If I could play guitar, I'd play it exactly like Bob Mould.

Day 28 – A song that makes you feel guilty: The Cars = "Heartbeat City"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKIJVKzgoSc



I couldn't think of a good one for this question, but this song reminds me of someone I know (and still am friends with) that I wish I could have treated better when we were very close. Hint, she's mentioned in the song.

Day 29 – A song from your childhood: Charlie Pride - "Kiss an Angel Good Morning"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib0DI8jjm8E



I listened to this song so many times as a kid. One of my mom's favourite songs.

Day 30 – Your favorite song at this time last year: Magnetic Fields - "California Girls"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2EQxrGU7Yc



I was on a big noise/shoegazer thing around early spring last year. Ironically, I'm back into it again, listening to Jesus and Mary Chain lately.

Monday, April 4, 2011

The March 30 Day Song Challenge Part 5

Day 21 – A song that you listen to when you’re happy: Golden Boy with Miss Kittin - "Campari Soda"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHMUDFv7cYg



Undeniably camp and too bubbly not to enjoy ironically.

Day 22 – A song that you listen to when you’re sad: The Beatles - "In My Life"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI0Q8ytD44Y



The Beatles have a way of cramming hills of emotion in just a few chords. This is a great song and it always makes me sad.

Day 23 – A song that you want to play at your wedding: Elvis Costello - "Wave a White Flag"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC2f_j1zPtc



I suggested this to a past girlfriend to use as the wedding march. She didn't see the humour in it...

Day 24 – A song that you want to play at your funeral: DEVO - "Beautiful World"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIwnIQT1lOA



Devo's outlook on the world is similar to mine: vaguely optomistic, but ultimately brutally realistic.

Day 25 – A song that makes you laugh: Weird Al Yankovic - "CNR"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLnapb-30hA



A spot on parody of the White Stripes.