Cancon Round up for July 28, 2011

We finally have a new Canadian Top 40 Chart! Let's get to it!

Cancon Roundup: Simple Plan (at #7, the highest Canadian artist), Martin Solveig and Dragonette, Karl Wolf, Fefe Dobson, Alyssa Reid, JRDN, Anjulie, Raghav, Kristina Maria, Down with Webster, The New Cities, These Kids Wear Crowns (12/40=30%, still under the nationally mandated 35% Cancon)

Chart Talk: With a month between this chart and the last Canadian chart, there are some new faces on the Top 40, which is good. Raghav, Anjulie and Down with Webster are at least homegrown talents, which proves promising. In the state, that insufferable "Party Rock Anthem" is at #1, but low in the Top 40 is the brand new Red Hot Chili Peppers, debuting at #38.

Yet Another Punk Rock Museum

This one is in East Germany. Imagine what it must have been like playing punk rock in the Eastern Bloc!

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/20/us-germany-punks-archive-idUSTRE76J2B320110720

Forgotten Music #7: Squeeze - "Cool for Cats"

(Another classic post from my Livejournal)

In honour of Rock Band 2 (and hopefully getting to sing this song next time I play), I'm selecting an nice new wave nugget from Squeeze. Squeeze are probably the most overlooked band of the new wave era. The songwriters for the band, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, were as comfortable with the quirkyness of new wave as they were with the simple pop song. In fact, they excelled at straight ahead pop. Unfortunately, interest in pop was waning as Squeeze were making their best music from 1980-1985. If it weren't for the rise of hair metal, Difford/Tilbrook might have been mentioned in the same tones as Lennon/McCartney are today. I ask you to listen to "Tempted", "Labelled with Love", "Domino" or "Another Nail for My Heart" and tell me I'm wrong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JAk_UZ7xF8&feature=related



"Cool for Cats" is an odd song from 1979's album of the same name, penned at the time when the band was stradling their early years in pub rock and finding their way into new wave and pop. It's notable for the broad use of British slang and the lower class accent from Difford, who takes a rare try at lead vocals. The wordplay is quite remarkable as well, deftly moving from nonsense lyrics about cowboys and indians into the language of the British pub. "Cool for Cats" was a big hit in the UK, but almost unheard in North America. Interestingly, Squeeze's only Top 40 hit in the US, was "Hourglass" from 1987, long past the best days of the band.

George Harrison vs. Queen

I heard an instrumental piano version of George Harrison's "All Those Years Ago" a couple of weeks ago and though it sounded exactly like the opening to Queen's "Killer Queen". There's almost nothing on the internet about similarities or plagiarism for this track. Any one else here the similarity?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85Smw33PKJA



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVjOK2KCwqg

Vancouver Punk Rock Library.

I was thumbing through the latest issue of BC Musician and say a great article about Simon Fraser University compiling a library on the Vancouver punk scene. Being an avid, frothing fan of Canadian music, I was very interested. The physical library is available to view and research at SFU, but the library has a virtual aspect too:

http://www.lib.sfu.ca/special-collections/punk

I just started looking through the images. I'd love to get a look at the library of music they have too, though that's a bit of a haul to Vancouver to see it. Maybe when I have a serious amount of time to burn when I'm next in Van...

New Earshot Reviews

Candelora - S/T

Cecile Monique - S/T EP