DNTTA Playlist for June 20, 2014

Artist - Song - Album (Label)
* indicates Canadian Content 

Listen to Do Not Touch This Amp every Friday 8-9 PM Pacific at www.thex.ca 

Crown Land - Popstars and Politicians* - Crown Land (Humboldt Valley)
Conrad Clifton - Crystal Handgun - Picture in Picture (Independent)
Sohn - Ransom Notes - Tremors (4AD)
Chet Faker - Talk is Cheap - Built on Glass (Downtown)
Pigeon Breeders - Whirlwind* - Pixxx 4 (Unit Structure Sound)
Bitter Fictions - Little Joy* - Pixxx 4 (Unit Structure Sound)
Dixie's Death Pool - Wind Plays Tricks w/ Sleep* - Twin Galaxies (Leisure Thief)
Meat Beat Manifesto - Prime Audio Soup - Actual Sound and Voices (Nothing)
Leisure Cruise - Earthquake* - Leisure Cruise (Last Gang)
Christian Loffler - Young Alaska - Young Alaska (Ki)
Disco Dollies - Super Trouper - Thank You for the Music: An Electro-Pop Tribute to ABBA (Independent)

Record Review: The Pixies - Indie Cindy

Before tackling this review, there's an elephant in the room that needs to be dealt with. When the Pixies first reformed and started touring in the mid 2000s, there was always the rumour that new music would be coming soon. But, there's a problem when a band so critically acclaimed reforms. Their output will never compare to what they have already put out. Especially for a band as mythic as The Pixies, who's back catalogue is among the most revered in music critic's and hipster's circles alike. Given the band's acrimonious attitude towards each other at times, it seemed that any material released would be fraught with controversy regardless. Bassist Kim Deal left the band shortly before they decided to lay down the tracks that would become the 3 digital EPs, that would eventually come together as the album Indie Cindy. The band replaced Deal with the wonderful Kim Shattuck (of the equally wonderful punk/grunge band The Muffs), and summarily dismissed her after just two months. Then the cries from fandom came: How could this be the Pixies without Kim Deal?

The primary problem here isn't the music on Indie Cindy. After repeated listening, this is a solid album. The problem is trying to compare this album to the rest of the Pixies catalogue. Let's face it, the Pixies aren't likely to release anything as iconic as Doolittle again. Indie Cindy isn't Doolittle. It's not even Trompe Le Monde, recorded 23 years before Indie Cindy. But it is a Pixies album, Kim Deal present or not. And it's a great album. The first single we heard, "Bagboy", has the Pixies growl and snarl to it, the sarcasm and the wall of noise, but it's also identifiable as a new direction for their sound. There are drum loops here, plus keyboards and samples. This song is a bit idiosyncratic of the rest of the album, which careens the way a Pixies album should, from bombast and feedback wails ("What Goes Boom", "Blue Eyed Hexe") to more melodic guitar blasts ("One Toe in the Ocean", "Silver Snail"). To compare this to their back catalogue is inevitable, but pretty unfair to the band. Truth be told, this album is one of the most solid rock albums of the year. If Doolittle never existed, this album would likely stand by itself as good as the bulk of The Pixies and Frank Black's solo work. Don't punish this band by expected them to relive what they've already done. They've matured, and you'd expect them to tone it down a bit, but they haven't really. They've taken their experiences, used what they know now and what they knew then and made something just as enjoyable as anything they're released. Let it stand by itself and enjoy it!

DNTTA Playlist for June 13, 2014

Artist - Song - Album (Label)
* indicates Canadian Content 

Listen to Do Not Touch This Amp every Friday 8-9 PM Pacific at www.thex.ca 

U-J3RKS - Eisenhower and the Hippies* - Last Call: Vancouver Independent Music 1977-1988 (Zulu)
Xevi Reija - John's Song - Resolution (Moonjune)
Biblical - All Justice No Peace* - Monsoon Season (New Damage)
Odonis Odonis - Mr. Smith* - Hard Boiled Soft Boiled (Buzz)
Chemistry Set - Underground - Sub Pop 200 (Sub Pop)
Screaming Trees - Change Has Come - The Grunge Years (Sub Pop)
Sultan Bathery - Flowers of Evil - Sultan Bathery (Slovenly)
Blind Horses - M51* - Blind Horses (Independent)
Whoop-Szo - Is it Day or Is it Night* - Qallunaat/Odemin (Out of Sound)
Memo - Lay With Lions* - Suicide Forest (Independent)
Catholic Girls - American Scream* - Sheila Joined a Cult (Independent)
SIRR - Let My Horses Run* - Plus (Independent)
Skaters - Miss Teen Massachusetts - Manhattan (Atlantic)

DNTTA Playlist for June 6, 2014 - A Love Letter to Vancouver

Artist - Song - Album (Label)
* indicates Canadian Content 

Listen to Do Not Touch This Amp every Friday 8-9 PM Pacific at www.thex.ca

Download - Pleck* - III (Nettwerk)
Pink Mountaintops - The Second Summer of Love* - Get Back (Jagjaguwar)
Bison - These Are My Dress Clothes* - House of Burners (Pre-Rock)
Shearing Pinx - Deep Trench* - Infinite Siblings III (Independent)
Lie - Pressure* - Masters EP (Independent)
Skinny Kids - Cool Fetish Girls* - Skinny Kids (Independent)
Cult Babies - Cult Baby Blues* - Cult Babies (Independent)
Thee Ahs - Love Sleep* - Corey's Coathangers (Independent)
Blank Cinema - What You Have* - Eras (Independent)
The Pointed Sticks - What Do You Want Me To Do?* - Waiting for the Real Thing (Sudden Death)
The Modernettes - Suicide Club* - Get it Straight (Sudden Death)
The Modernettes - Barbra* - Get it Straight (Sudden Death)
Sex with Strangers - Slaves to the Night* - You Know Something We Don't? (Independent)
Bear Mountain - Everybody Wants to Rule the World* - 7" (Last Gang)

DNTTA Playlist for May 30, 2014

Artist - Song - Album (Label)
* indicates Canadian Content 

Fond of Tigers - Sept. 16th, 2005* - Continent and Western (Drip Audio)
Paul Richey and the Fusionauts - The Grass is Always Bluer* - Paul Richey and the Fusionauts (Independent)
Ari Brown - Groove Awakening - Groove Awakening (Delmark)
The Spandettes - Let's Go to the Beach* - Spandex Planet (Do Right!)
Brad Mehldau and Mark Guiliana - Hungry Ghost - Taming the Dragon (Nonesuch)
Dewa Budjana - Capistrano Road - Surya Namanskar (Moonjune)
The Grassy Knoll - Floating Above the Earth - The Grassy Knoll (Nettwerk)
Husker Du - Don't Wanna Know if You Are Lonely - Candy Apple Grey (Warner)
Failing - Golden Palms* - The Apple in the Pig's Mouth (Independent)
Diamond Mind - Closed Circuit* - Fake Tapes (Independent)
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks - Duplex Trip - Enter the Slasher House (Domino)