Shellac and Vinyl: 2017

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

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

--

The Book of Lists - Moon Balloon* - The Book of Lists (Scratch)
Grim - Let's Be Sinners* - Monsters (Independent)
Teenanger- Two Middle Fingers* - Teenager (Telephone Explosion)
Ornament and Crime - Treatable* - Burglaries (Independent)
Crystal Eyes - High Moon* - The Female Imagination (Independent)
Swane - Average Bear* - Biota (Independent)
Gesture - In a Clearing* - No Past, It Started All Over Again (Independent)
Needles//Pins - Miracle* - Goodnight, Tomorrow (Mint)
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Lord of Lightning - Murder of the Universe (ATO)
Abrdeen - Secret Handshake* - Endless Nights and Dreamlike Mornings (Independent)
Slates - Coyotes* - Summery (New Damage)
Killing Joke - Wardance - The Singles Collection (Spinefarm)

Saturday, December 9, 2017

DNTTA Playlist for August 4, 2017

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

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

--

MoonMuseum - Edge City* - Eternal Return (Independent)
Do Make Say Think - A Murder of Thoughts* - Stubborn Persistent Illusions (Constellation)
Civvie - Drift* - Inheritance (Independent)
Pond - Paint Me Silver - The Weather (Modular)
Triptides - Rewind - Afterglow (RPUT)
Mundy's Bay - Strange Feeling* - Wandering and Blue (Blue Skies Turn Black)
Blve Hills - I'm So Lost* - Come on In (Independent)
Hermetic - Smoke* - Postscript (Big Smoke)
Co-Op - Don't Turn the Page* - Co-Op (Independent)
Prairie Cat - Crib Talk* - Is Cary Pratt (Fuzzy Logic)
Bill Nelson - Flaming Desire - The Love That Whirls (Mercury)

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Forgotten Music #27: Michael Penn - No Myth (1989)

A few songs are simply lightning in a bottle. They are released, they are seemingly inescapable for a few months, then they disappear. M's "Pop Musik" comes to mind. And so does this track.

I was standing in line waiting for a prescription to be filled and heard the opening guitar riff come over the grocery store PA system. I thought... "I know this song". And then it hits you. A song so familiar to you it's impossible to forget, it sat stirring about in your subconscious for years and years, waiting for a time when you heard it again to get you singing along with the lyrics. And you wonder how you could have forgotten what this song sounded like.

Michael Penn is the brother of actors Sean and Christopher Penn. He recorded with a band called Doll Congress before releasing his debut solo album, March, in 1989. It was an immediate critical success and the song "No Myth" rose into the Top 20 in the US, Canada and in Australia. One couldn't go anywhere in 1989 and 1990 without hearing this song. He also won the Best New Artist at the MTV Music Awards in 1990. The album was his only commercial success though, and the song his only Top 40 hit.

He released albums up until 2005. He's also found fame as a film score composer (he did the score for Boogie Nights), and as a producer (producing the Wallflowers and Aimee Mann) amongst others. His work also appeared on the soundtrack for Lena Dunham's project, Girls. He married Aimee Mann in 1997. He continues as a score composer to this day.

"No Myth" was from Michael Penn's 1989 debut March.

Saturday, November 4, 2017

Video Playlist #17: Sweet Stuff

I had this done late on Wednesday night, but a huge snowstorm (the first of the winter season) has kept me away from home, and catching up on errands after the storm prevented me from publishing til now.

In honour of Hallowe'en here's some candy sweet music for you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewpbwBMpZck&list=PL0QOmyo1JgZeB17lAqG5IzxwmUZPhgx9E

1) The Mighty Lemon Drops - Out of Hand
2) Sugar - Gee Angel
3) Chocolate Genius - Half a Man
4) Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
5) The Candy Skins - Wembley
6) Candi and the Backbeat* - Under Your Spell
7) Glass Candy - Feeling Without Touching
8) The Chocolate Watchband - She Weaves a Tender Trap
9) Sugar Ray - Fly
10) The Sugarcubes - Motorcrash
11) Universal Honey* - Afraid of My Heart
12) Death By Chocolate - Give Me a Reason
13) A Taste of Honey - Boogie Oogie Oogie
14) Mudhoney - Here Comes Sickness

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Video Playlist #16: Turkey Birds

Well, I got the playlist half done for last week, then completely forgot about it til the weekend. Then I forgot about it again until yesterday.

October's playlist in celebration of Canadian Thanksgiving, which takes place in the more civilized month of October. Tracks are by bands named after birds.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0QOmyo1JgZdZyx7Xg4rWRMFRM7590-Xd

1) Falconhawk* - Nine Things That Are True
2) Eagles of Death Metal - Speaking in Tongues
3) Cock Robin - When Your Heart is Weak
4) Red Sparowes - The Sixth Extinction Crept Up Slowly
5) The Wrens - Everybody Chooses Sides
6) Super Chikan - Down in the Delta
7) Chicken Chest - Raggamuffin Selector
8) Chicken-Like Birds* - Soup Stone
9) The Duhks* - Out of the Rain
10) Ducktails - Killin' the Vibe
11) The Swans - God Damn the Rain
12) Cygnets* - Sick Device

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Forgotten Music #26: Mono Puff - "Unsupervised, I Hit My Head" (1996)

Mono Puff was a briefly active side project of John Flansburg of the brillaint pop-pranksters They Might Be Giants.

Mono Puff formed in the mid 90s as a quick EP, but morphed into a full-fledged side project with 1996's Unsupervised. Their sound wasn't too far away from what They Might Be Giants were doing at the time.

What set Mono Puff apart was the fuller sound they had. TMBG often simply revolved around the two Johns, their vast array of musical talent, and studio tools, with a huge touring band following them as they trekked around the globe. Mono Puff was a full band with an impressive resume.

The band, of course, was fronted by John Flansburgh, and also featured Steve Calhoon of Enon and Skeleton Key, Yulav Gabey of Soul Coughing, the legendary singer/musician Trini Lopez, plus actresses Mary Birdsong, Kate Flannery and Elina Lowensohn, amongst others.

Mono Puff stuck around for about 2 years, releasing 4 EPs and 2 full length LPs. The band is on hiatus due to many members moving out of the New York City area, but John F has said he'd love to revive the band some time down the line.

"Unsupervised, I Hit My Head" is from their full length debut, Unsupervised, released on Rykodisc in 1996.

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

RIP Grant Hart

Husker Du changed my life.

I bet there are a lot of people out there who can say that. Husker Du were not just a great band, they were an important band. They had a musical vision that was unique, one that straddled the sound and fury of a great punk band, and the knowing ennui of suburban youth.

Husker Du, the trio made up of guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, drummer/vocalist Grant Hart and bassist Greg Norton, were one of those bands that seemed to be more than they were. A band where fans heaped their hopes and dreams on their backs and wished them the best, to carry their dreams along with the band.

When I heard the band for the first time, I think it was about 1988, just after I had my punk phase in about 1987. I had heard bands like the Sex Pistols, UK Subs, The Exploited, all the old-school bands and fell in love with the sound. I had never heard music so loud and angry before. Sure, there were a lot of metalheads in high school, but that music didn't speak to me. Punk did.

Then when I heard Husker Du, there was something different about their approach to punk. Less nihilism, less noise, more melody. It was more mature. It wasn't exactly punk. While I didn't know it at the time, it was probably my first exposure to post-punk.

My exposure to their music came at the end of their career, with their two albums for Warner Brothers, 1986's Candy Apple Grey and 1987's Warehouse: Songs and Stories. By then, the band was a melodic noise-rock band, propelled by Mould's stellar guitar playing and both Hart and Mould's songwriting. "Could You Be the One" was a tour de force, an all-encapsulating song about what the band was and what it represented.

Grant Hart and Bob Mould shaped the Husker Du sound together. I immediately became a Bob Mould fan, but Grant Hart's music eluded me. It was subtler, denser, more difficult. And he was less prolific than Mould, so his work was harder to find. Remember, these were the pre-internet days, when you wanted an album, you had to go find it.

Hart's first band post-Husker Du was Nova Mob, who recorded for almost a decade before breaking up. Hart struck out on a solo career after that, recording sporadically up until his death this past week in 2017. His last album, 2013's The Argument, was introspective, and reminded me a lot of David Bowie.

Hart died at the age of 56 from liver cancer on September 13th, 2017

Thursday, September 14, 2017

Go Review That Album #1: Daedelus - Rethinking the Weather (Mush, 2003)

The start of a new feature here on the blog, this one called Go Review That Album. The germ of this came several months ago, when looking over my collection and deciding which album to listen to next. Often, I'll pick something I'm familiar with, or something that will fit the mood of what I'm doing. Too often, music fans and reviewers fall into the trap of continually listening to what they are familiar with. This might soothe one's ego, but it doesn't expand one's range, nor does it challenge one's perceptions. This series is going to look at albums in my collection I rarely listen to, and, indeed, some that I have copied, put onto my iPod and forgotten about.

I picked up this album at Ebenezer's in Vernon, BC, a couple of years ago, along with Daedelus' 2005 album, Exquisite Corpse. Daedelus is the alter ego of Los Angeles-based electronic musician Alfred Weisberg-Roberts or Albert Darlington. Interestingly, he took his wife's name (Laura Darlington), both of whom play in the band The Long Lost. Sadly he is not the maker of the labyrinth that caged the Minotaur, nor is he the devious flying wizard from the Mighty Hercules cartoon.

Without knowing it, I've chosen a remix album for my first review. This is a remix project or, perhaps more accurately, a re-imagining of The Weather, an album Daedelus did with alt-hip-hop artists Busdriver and Radioinactive. As a result, this album has the "throw everything in a blender" style of genre-bending that was so prevalent in the late 90s and early 2000s. Listening to an album like this in 2017 is a nice breath of fresh air. Modern electronics takes itself too seriously, is too weighed down by the (faux) constraints of it's micro-genre, or money-grubbing cash ins to mainstream radio (cough David Guetta! cough). Instead, this album throws together glitchy and spacy electronica, crazy, soulful hip-hop beats, a bit of rapping, some rock guitar squeals and some tasty vocal samples into a short album of engaging and fun electronics. It's not exactly danceable, nor is it particularly catchy, but it is fun and entertaining. It reminds me to that hip-hop used to be fun. Again, too many rappers, especially on the college radio side of underground hip-hop take themselves way too seriously.

Without hearing the original album, it's hard to make of how it compares to it. Needless to say, this album is entertaining and deserves a few listens, especially if you like the old-school end of underground hip-hop.

3.5 stars out of 5

Sunday, September 10, 2017

DNTTA Playlist for July 28, 2017

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

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

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Change of Heart - Puppet Show Revival* - Honeysuckle (Cargo)
Suicide Helpline - No Maps, Only Battles* - Pink Jazz (Independent)
Walrus - Step Outside* - Family Hangover (Madic)
Late Spring - Monsoon Song* - Trembly Fog (Independent)
Crack Cloud - Image Craft* - Anchoring Point (Independent)
Thurston Moore - Cusp - Rock and Roll Consciousness (Caroline)
No Museums - The Abandoned Reel* - Surfers to the Beach (Independent)
Yoo Doo Right - Whilst You Save Your Skins* - Yoo Doo Right (Second Best)
Ho99o9 - Street Power - United States of Horror (Toys Have Powers)
Tonnes - In Trouble* - The Tower (Independent)
Guide to Bizarre Behavior - Caught in a Net - Vol. 4 (Shangorilla)
Technical Kidman - A Stranger Voice* - Sounds from the Basement (Independent)

Saturday, September 9, 2017

DNTTA Playlist for July 21, 2017

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

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

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The Pink Noise - Mickey Mouse Operation* - Subtext (Not Unlike)
Ron Samworth - Rapid Eye Movement* - Dogs Do Dream (Drip Audio)
Sick Boss - Ruthless Waltz* - Sick Boss (Drip Audio)
Ce Qui Nous Traverse - Aube Latente et Premieres Lueurs*
Bill Frisell/Thomas Morgan - Wildwood Flower - Small Town (ECM)
Trombone Shorty - Dirty Water - Parking Lot Symphony (Blue Note)
Eric Legnini - I Want You Back - Waxx Off (Independent)
RimeRadio - Affluenza - NuJazz (Gramercy)
Rakkatak - Dreaming* - Small Pieces (Independent)

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Video Playlist #15: Back to School

Another genre-crossing thematic playlist! Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0QOmyo1JgZckEnGWR_Jd751BTEHbEqa2

1) Barenaked Ladies* - Grade 9
2) Nirvana - School
3) Handsome Boy Modelling School - I've Been Thinking
4) Girlschool - Race with the Devil
5) Schoolly D - Saturday Night
6) Deaf School - Taxi
7) Green Magnet School - Windshield
8) Film School - Compare
9) Ninja High School* - Jam Band Death Cult
10) The Invisible College - The Raining Rooms
11) The Dead Kennedys - Straight A's

Saturday, September 2, 2017

DNTTA Playlist for July 14, 2017

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

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

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Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees - You Don't Miss Me* - Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees (Independent)
Vikings - Doing Work* - Animal Kingdom (Head in the Sand)
Jamiroquai - Superfresh - Automaton (Virgin)
Sylvan Esso - Radio - What Now (Loma Vista)
Jackal - Summer in Your Arms - Endorphins EP (Independent)
Archive X - Pilgrim
AM Static - Half a Mind* - Rise and Shine (Independent)
Fashion - Love Shadow - Fabrique (Arista)
An Ant and an Atom - Locked in Adrift* - Exterior (And an Earth)
Dixie's Death Pool - Heavy Metal Sunset* - Twilight, Sound Mountain (Independent)
Purveyors of Free Will - Sunday's Child* - Blood Like Ink, Unbidden... (Baffled Octopi)
Daniel Ouellette and Shobijin - Les Filles du Roi - Lepidoptera (Meannie Jeannie)

Thursday, August 31, 2017

DNTTA Playlist for July 7, 2017

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

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

--

Picture Comes to Life - Cross My Heart*
Adam Strangler - Hard to Lose* - Key West EP (Independent)
Tusk - Accupuncture* - Headroom EP (Independent)
Po Lazarus - Bovine* - O Body (Independent)
Skim Milk - Before and After* - Ghosts of Jazz (Independent)
Brasstronaut - Six Toes* - Mount Chimaera (Independent)
Carole Pope - Edible Flower* - Transcend (True North)
Moulettes - Patterns - Preternatural (Navigator)
Longwalkshortdock - Wreck It* - Squashing Machine EP (East Van Digital)
Communism - Dr. Feelbad* - Get Down Get Together (Zunior)
Rae Spoon - Can't Go Right* - Armour (Coax)

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

August Earshot Reviews

More like summer Earshot reviews. It's been a while since I've posted these...

Alexis Baro - Sugar Rush

Andrew Collins Trio - And it Was Good

Drive-By Truckers - American Band

Heat - Overnight

Jenny Wren and Her Borrowed Wings - A Soup

Needles//Pins - Goodnight, Tomorrow

Ohama - Grrlz Monosynth Tower

Old 97's - Graveyard Whistling

Parallels - Metropolis

Todd Rundgren - White Knight

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Salmon Arm Roots and Blues 2017

This year was the 25^th annual Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival. I've seen some pictures of the first festival, which was held on a single stage in the community hall, and mostly had local acts. Today, the festival is world renowned and attracts musicians from all over the world.

This year's festivals headliners were Booker T and Ricky Skaggs, but I rarely come to the festival with the intent to see the big names. The real action always happens on the smaller stages with the up and coming bands, and with the workshops.

I took my time getting out to Salmon Arm this year, taking the drive slow, and stopping in Chase and Sorrento to take in some of the lake scenery. I got to the festival just after 12 Noon and, after a bit of a mix up at the sign in table, got into the Barn stage for the first act, Vishten.

I should mention that the festival had a different layout this time around. Usually, the Barn stage is open and has a beer garden fenced in behind it. This year, the entire stage was fenced in and the beer garden was open, so you could wander out into the crowd with your beverage if you wanted to. They had security at the one place in too, so people couldn't take their booze out. The big courtyard which was usually kept for the water misters was turned into a huge kids zone, and every stage, save for the Barn stage, had a kids area. They worked really hard at making the festival family friendly this year.

On to the music. Vishten are a French and Celtic folk band, and they were a great act for the middle of the day. Upbeat, friendly and personable, they slid effortlessly through sad Celtic love songs, to rollicking kitchen party bits and boozy French Canadian reels.

I stuck around the Barn stage for my first workshop, led by Alex Cuba, and featuring members of Maqueque (Jane Bunnett's Cuban band), Asani and Talking Dreads. This is where magic usually happens, if the performers are up to jamming with each other. All the performers were up to the task, thankfully. Asani are a First Nations music band, three woman who work in vocal harmonies and hand drums. Their work was surprisingly deep and melodic for the mostly acapella style of music they played. They are top-notch vocalists too, singing both in Cree and in English. Alex Cuba did a bit of Cuban music with Maqueque, and did some reggae-Cuban mix with Mystic Bowie of Talking Dreads (more on them later). Bowie led the ensemble in a afro-Cuban-reggae version of Bob Marley's “One Love”. High energy set, lots of musicians playing off each other. This is what the workshop stages should be like.

I popped over to the Shade stage for my next concert (and some poutine from Smoke's Poutinerie, the bacon poutine is highly recommended from me!), Irish Mythen. I had heard her work before, but she was an entirely different entity live. Originally from Ireland, now living in the Maritimes, she's best described as a blues singer that plays Irish music. Lord, she had some pipes on her. She could sing like Bonnie Raitt and quip like any drunken Nova Scotian sailor. Visciously funny and amazingly talented. She finished up her set with an acapella version of a song called “The Old Triangle” which was totally amazing. See her if you ever get the chance.

I stuck around for Braden Gates, an Edmonton based country and folk musician. Compared to Irish Mythen's brash sense of humour, Braden's self-effacing humour was a nice change of pace. Slow, earnest country mixed with his own fiddle playing, sing alongs with the audience and fun storytelling, this was a nice, laid back concert for late in the afternoon.

Second showcase at the Shade stage again, Canadian Classics II. This one was hosted by Dana Wylie, an Alberta folk singer, and also had Braden Gates, Asani (second time seeing them) and Jay Gilday, a First Nations folk artist originally from Yellowknife. Asani were again standouts here, doing a version of “O Canada” in Cree, and an acapella version of Joni Mitchell's “Big Yellow Taxi”. Jay Gilday was also great, his voice deep and resonant, almost like a more polished Joe Cocker or a grittier Gordon Lightfoot. Not much collaboration here, but solid performances.

The Main Stage performers kicked off after this concert, so it was dinner time and also time to watch April Verch. I was hoping to see her live. She's a fiddler from the Ottawa valley with a broad range of influences. She plays bluegrass, French Canadian, Celtic and lots of other fiddle styles, while singing and step-dancing, sometimes all at the same time. She did one song where she sang and fiddles, then danced and fiddled at the same time. How she does it, I'll never know. She's also cute as a button. Great set of music and dancing from her.

Asani did a short set in between April and the next act, making it the third time I saw them that day.

Stephen Fearing was up next. He's a versatile folk and roots performer, having his own solo career and his work with seminal roots rock band Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. Sardonic and earnest, his work is a lot like Bruce Cockburn or Bruce Springsteen. He put on a very entertaining show of blistering roots rockers, and skewered Donald Trump a few times.

Back to the Barn stage for Talking Dreads, who were the big highlight of the day for me. When I saw them in the morning, Alex Cuba explained that they did reggae versions of Talking Heads songs. I rolled that idea around in my head for a while and thought, “That makes perfect sense”. The Talking Heads were early adopters of worldbeat music, and hip-hop and soul, using it with punk and new wave. Their 1980 album Remain in Light is basically a new wave/worldbeat album. “This Must Be the Place” is practically an acoustic reggae song. Then I found out that Mystic Bowie, the lead singer, had worked with Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz in the Tom Tom Club, and everything fell into place. They took lots of popular Heads' songs and a few obscure ones (like “Slippery People” and “Love Goes to a Building on Fire”) and turned the Barn stage into a dance party. They even made more mopey and paranoid songs like “Houses in Motion” and “Psycho Killer” into a party, which is very impressive. I had to get up and dance to them! They said they had an album out, but there was nothing in the merch tent, nor online when I got home to check. (I did find a nice Hasil Atkins album though). I'll be ordering their album as soon as it's available, that's for sure.

As the sun set, so did my time at the festival. Wasps were all over the place during the festival, probably due to the lingering forest fire season (there was a touch of haze in the air), and they came out in force with the sun going down. Driving back to Kamloops, I found I had a tape copy of Remain in Light in the cassette carrier in the backseat, so I listened to that all the way home.

Saturday, August 19, 2017

DNTTA Playlist for June 30, 2017

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

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

--

Cerulean - I am Not You* - I am Not You (Independent)
Wilkow - Snaps Like a Twig* - Artificial Nature (Independent)
Form - Ailment* - Soho (Independent)
Mercedes Benz - Underpinning* - Journey to a Friend (Independent)
Fifth Column - Schizocrush* - 36C (K Records)
The Buzzing Bees - Nice Track Marks, Where's the Race?* - You'll Wish You Were Deaf (Independent)
Hot Little Rocket - Attention Reptiles* - How to Lose Everything (Saved by Radio)
Lipstick - Fight Back* - II (Independent)
This Motor Oil - Any Day*
Avenue One - The Optics of Moving Bodies* - Avenue One (Independent)
Elevator - The Endless Winter* - Darkness to Light (Blue Fog)
Holy Data - Vacation* - Holy Data (Independent)
Anatole - L'Agence* - Lesbo Vrouven: Je Re-Reviens Genevieve (Independent)
Below the Sea - We Waved Goodbye and Stared*- Les Arbes Despeyont D'Avantage (Where Are My)

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Canadian Indy Round Up - August 2017

Time to look at three more new Canadian bands you need to check out!

Melted Mirror

Another fine band from the vibrant Calgary scene, this band channels the lush post punk of the mid-80s. Think Echo and the Bunnymen, OMD, Gang of Four, The Cure, that sort of thing. They're dark, and they love vintage synths. What's not to like?

Crims and Flow

Another Calgary band, and another band that worships at the altar of the 80s. Crims and Flow owe a bit more to no wave bands like The Contortions and Suicide, or the herky-jerky new wave of DEVO or Pere Ubu. They merge demented new wave, electronic noise and shouted vocals into difficult but short songs.

RE/GEN

RE/GEN are from Vancouver, and they have a sludgy psychedelic vibe mixed with indy rock and noise. Canada has been doing lots of great psychedelic music, and Vancouver in particular has been leading the pack. RE/GEN are a bit more scrappy than an average psychedelic band though, they keep their songs short and punchy.

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Covers Courageous #12: The Pixies - Sweet Honey Pie

The Pixies are icons in the college radio world, and that's an understatement.

I picked up the Live at the BBC Sessions by The Pixies at a used record store a few months ago and finally got a chance to listen to it. Overall, the Pixies make a decent live band. What they lose in precision, they more than make up with energy.

The lead off track on Live at the BBC (and also included in their 1988 Peel Sessions, where the track is taken from), is a version of The Beatles "Wild Honey Pie". This is an interesting choice for a cover, considering the original is widely considered the worst song on The White Album. The original is a shrill, meandering and short slice of psychedelic pop. At best, it's just a couple of minutes of filler on an otherwise incredible Beatles album.

The Pixies, however, turn it into a noise-rock paean. Instead of the high-pitched singing of the original, the lyrics are screamed by Black Francis. The music is sped up, noised up and brutalized. In a lot of ways, the cover resembles "Rock Music", a primal, unhinged song with the power of punk, but none of the subtlety of alt-rock.

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

DNTTA Playlist for June 23, 2017

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

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

--

Construction and Destruction - The Anchoress* - Noli Timere (The Quarantine)
Severed Heads - Estrogen - Cuisine (Nettwerk)
Akropolis Reed Quintet - Gallimaufry - The Space Between Us (Innova)
Petit Biscuit - Sunset Lover - Petit Biscuit (Independent)
Sylvan Esso - Die Young - What Now (Loma Vista)
The Gift - Big Fish - Altar (La Folie)
Rheostatics - Lyin's Wrong* - Brave New Waves Session (Artoffact)
Jad Fair and Phono-Comb - Evil Eye* - Monsters, Lullabies and the Occasional Flying Saucer (Shake!)
Ultra Mega - Mariah* - Ultra Mega (Transistor 66)
Cartoon Lizard - Aliver Than Ever* - Not Punk Not Raw EP (Independent)
Lali Puna - B-Movie - Faking the Books (Morr)

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Video Playlist #14: Superheroes

In honour of recent superhero movies Wonder Woman, Spider-Man and the upcoming Justice League, here's a playlist of superhero songs:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0QOmyo1JgZeFw3OMjXvUer2H1VKX2s0K

1) Katrina and the Waves - Spiderman
2) The Kinks - (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman
3) R.E.M. - (I am) Superman
4) The Clique - (I am) Superman
5) Laurie Anderson - O Superman
6) Crash Test Dummies* - Superman's Song
7) Captain America - Buttermilk
8) Thor* - Keep the Dogs Away
9) Foxy Shazam - Holy Touch
10) Guided by Voices - Matter-Eater Lad
11) Entombed - Wolverine Blues
12) Anthrax - I am the Law
13) XTC - Sgt. Rock is Going to Help Me
14) "Weird" Al Yankovic - Ode to a Superhero
15) The Ramones - Spider-Man
16) Wesley Willis - I Whupped Batman's Ass
17) John Zorn and Naked City - Gotham

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Forgotten Music #25: The Jack Rubies - "Mona Lisa" (1988)

Another band from my earliest days in college radio, and another band that totally disappeared after an album or two.

The Jack Rubies hailed from London, England, but sounded like an American band from the same time period of late 80s college rock. Think REM but with a more of a power pop edge. They also had an ultra-hip record label behind them, TVT Records, home to Nine Inch Nails amongst other bands.

The band wasn't particularly original. I did have a copy of their debut album, See the Money in My Smile, and really enjoyed it for what it was, unassuming and pleasant jangly power pop. They broke no new ground, and they failed to capture many ears.

The band only put out one more album, in 1989, Fascinatin' Vacation, also on the TVT label. They broke up in the early 90s, and members went on to form other band that plied in obscurity: The Milagro Saints and the Screaming Windsors.

"Mona Lisa" was the lead off track from 1988's See the Money in My Smile.

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Meet the 2017 Polaris Award Short List

(This blog post is likely to come off as cynical. Take it as you will...)

The Polaris Prize used to mean something. Since 2006, the award has been given to a Canadian artist deserving of merit by artistry, not by album sales. But, like all awards as they age, it's lost its shine and has started to become irrelevant.

This year's crop of ten shortlisted albums doesn't seem like a particularly strong one. Though there are some great albums here, this seems cobbled together by tin-eared hacks looking to make a statement of some sort.

I was a Polaris juror once upon a time, just a few years ago in 2010. The online debate over what albums should be included in the long list, then the final ten, and the final voting, are something I'd like to forget. You can boil down the jury into three camps. 1) Those jurors with the loudest voices, self-aggrandizing and arrogant, vain believers that they are the taste-makers of Canada. 2) Jurors looking to make a statement, advocating for whatever artist made a social or political statement, regardless of the quality of the album in question, and 3) music fans who like music and want to celebrate that. Sadly, the first two seem to be the loudest groups, and the smallest in size, but the ones that generally get the most attention.

My own participation was earnest at first, but when the conversation degenerated into non-music topics, like the politics of the performers, or the ethnic background or sexual orientation of the artists, I quickly lost interest. I don't believe I even participated in discussion once the short list was announced.

I've talked about this in the past, and referenced Johnny Regalado's infamous blog post, "I Was a Polaris Juror, and it Sucked". Regalado's on the other side of the fence from me as to the ethnic make up of the musicians (I think it doesn't matter at all, it's the music that counts), but he's spot on about the talk about the music in general. It's juvenile, and dominated by a few louder voices.

This year's nominees:

A Tribe Called Red - We Are the Halluci Nation
BadBadNotGood - IV
Leonard Cohen - You Want it Darker
Gord Downie - The Secret Path
Feist - Pleasure
Lisa Leblanc - Why You Wanna Leave, Runaway Queen?
Lido Pimienta - La Papessa
Tanya Tagaq - Retribution
Leif Vollebekk - Solitude
Weaves - Weaves

Looking at the list, I see what you would call a nice Grammys style mix there. We've got a few great albums, some albums on the list because the artists pulls at the heart strings or represent some political or social ideology, and some safe picks there because the albums are decent, but not great.

Falling into the first part are my two picks for best albums, likely Weaves and Leif Vollebekk. Weaves I picked for one of my favourite albums of 2016, and I truly think it's a groundbreaking and innovative. Vollebekk has simply made a really enjoyable indy-rock/folk album that's a joy to listen to from front to back.

I'd put Tanya Tagaq and A Tribe Called Red in the first group too, with both albums straddling genres and blurring the lines between First Nations traditional music and modern indy rock and electronic styles. Though these albums do have the distinction of also being First Nations artist, which is going to muddy the waters a bit. The question will come up, "Are they being recognized for the music or for their background?" I point back to the strange win of Buffy Sainte-Marie's thoroughly mediocre album in 2015 for my cynicism there.

Gord Downie and Leonard Cohen are the Grammy style nominees this year, the "sorry for your personal problems, here's an award" award. Cohen's album was quite average. Downie's album was fairly decent, but his diagnosis of cancer is going to colour his nomination.

Then the safe picks. Feist has already won the prize twice before. Pleasure is an average album. Lisa Leblanc's work was groundbreaking gritty country, up until this latest album, which is very plain. Same with BBNG, a plain album that pales in comparison to their previous album, but this one has more big name guest stars.

I've not heard the Lido Pimiento album, so I can't comment on it.

If I were a gambling man, I'd go with A Tribe Called Red this year. Their album was a stunning statement, a wildly ecclectic album, confronational, genre-bending album, difficult to listen to but awarding once dug into. I'd love to see Weaves take the prize, but I think it's a long shot at this point.

Saturday, July 15, 2017

DNTTA Playlist for June 16, 2017

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

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

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Woodhawk - The High Priest* - Beyond the Sun (Independent)
Slow Death Lights - Dirty Chores* - Slow Death Lights (Independent)
Floating Widget - I am the Temple* - The Sounds of Earth (Independent)
Animal Slaves - Thoughts Fall* - A Fine End (Spiral)
Beth - Code of Thieves* - Beth (Independent)
J Blissette - Love Letter* - J Blissette EP (Independent)
Radio May Wave - Blind - Anybody Cares? (Independent)
Kristin Witko - Blue Light* - Union EP (Independent)
BB Gabor - Soviet Jewelry* - BB Gabor (Anthem)
Hakan Kursun - Gamsiz - Kuark (Independent)
KMVP - Vegetarian GF* - KMVD Revenge EP (Independent)
Gawker - Moneyshot* - Hulk Hogan Sex Tape (Independent)

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Video Playlist #13: Birds and Bees

A new playlist, about the Birds and the Bees

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0QOmyo1JgZeFh3rGf24tB6UaP2g2V4Er

1) The Bird and the Bee - Polite Dance Song
2) Babybird - You're Gorgeous
3) Birdheat* - Courage
4) Andrew Bird - Capsized
5) Bird Gets the Smile - Here and Gone
6) Fish and Bird* - Mark My Grave
7) The Mutton Birds - Anchor Me
8) Birds of Wales* - Philanthropist
9) Band of Bees - Hourglass
10) Beekeeper* - Oh Hi!
11) The Kingbees - My Mistake
12) Husking Bee - New Horizon
13) Persephone's Bees - City of Love
14) Ghost Bees* - Erl King
15) Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees* - You Don't Miss Me

Monday, July 10, 2017

DNTTA Playlist for June 9, 2017

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

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

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Amy Brandon - VL* - Scavenger (Independent)
Cornelius Dufallo - Bayolo: Tusch - Journaling 2 (Innova)
Crystal Mooncone - Leeward Side - Listening Beam Five (Innova)
Minotaurs - Don't Turn Away* - Aum (Independent)
Jasshauze - Clusters - Jasshauze (Independent)
Five Alarm Funk - Power of Funk* - Sweat (Independent)
Ed Palermo Big Band - Eleanor Rigby - The Great Un-American Songbook (Cuneiform)
Microscopic Septet - Migrane Blues - Been Up So Long, It Looks Like Down to Me (Cuneiform)
Peregrine Falls - Eating Crow* - Peregrine Falls (Drip Audio)

Saturday, July 1, 2017

150 Obscure Canadian bands for Canada150

For Canada150, I decided to do a post about obscure Canadian bands. But, working in campus radio, focusing on modern obscure Canadian bands seemed to easy. And I could easily come up with 150 well known bands. So, I limited myself to bands before about 2000.

I am a huge, huge, HUGE fan of Canadian music, especially the obscure stuff, and I LOVE sharing older, obscure Canadian underground bands. I have a huge amount of them in my own collection. I spent a good week looking through my collection, digging around the internet and wracking my own brain to come up with enough bands. I'll also be linking to a website or Youtube video if I can find something for the bands, so you can enjoy them too.

Got a band you loved that I missed? Comment! We just might do this again next year!

Note: Now that this is finished, I actually found bands I know exist but have no presence on the internet at all (no one remembers Din, The Magnetic People, The Puritans, The Whirligigs, Supercar, The Trees, The Sturgeons, The J. Jonah Jamesons and so many others!)

1) 6cylinder (Vancouver, late 70s/early 80s - roots/indy)
2) Alien Heirs (Vancouver, early 80s - new wave)
3) Alta Moda (Toronto, late 80s - R&B/funk)
4) Animal Slaves (Vancouver, early 90s - indy/post punk)
5) Annihilator (Ottawa/Vancouver, mid 80s to present - metal)
6) Asexuals (Montreal, late 80s - indy)
7) Bamboo (Toronto, mid 80s - reggae)
8) The Battered Wives (Toronto, late 80s/early 80s - new wave/punk)
9) Bloody Chicletts (Calgary, mid 90s - alt-rock)
10) Blue Northern (Vancouver, early 80s - roots rock)
11) Blue Peter (Toronto, late 70s/early 80s - new wave)
12) Bob's Your Uncle (Vancouver, mid 80s - indy)
13) The Bonaduces (Winnipeg, late 90s - indy/punk)
14) Boys Brigade (Toronto, early 80s - new wave)
15) Monte Cantsin (Montreal. mid 80s - electronic/experimental)
16) Cats Can Fly (Toronto, mid 80s - new wave)
17) Chalk Circle (Ottawa, late 80s - indy/new wave)
18) Change of Heart (Toronto, late 80s/early 90s - indy)
19) Chixdiggit (Calgary, mid 90s - punk)
20) Colour Me Psycho (Calgary, mid 80s - goth-rock)
21) cub (Vancouver, early 90s - "cuddlecore")
22) Curse of Horseflesh (Calgary, mid 80s - surf/roots)
23) Darkest of Hillside Thickets (Vancouver, 90s-present - horror rock)
24) Dayglo Abortions (Vancouver, 80s-present - punk)
25) Decoded Feedback (Montreal, 90s-present - industrial)
26) Deja Voodoo (Montreal, 80s - garage rock)
27) The Demics (London, ON, early 80s - punk/new wave)
28) The Deserters (Toronto, early 80s - new wave)
29) The Dice (Toronto, early 80s - rock)
30) The Dik Van Dykes (Hamilton, ON, 80s - punk/garage)
31) The Dinner is Ruined (Toronto, 90s - rock/experimental)
32) The Diodes (Toronto, 80s - new wave/punk)
33) The Dishrags (Vancouver, early 80s - new wave/punk)
34) Disappointed a Few People (Montreal, mid 80s - indy)
36) Eight Seconds (Ottawa, early 80s - new wave)
37) Elevator to Hell (Halifax, late 90s - indy)
38) The Enigmas (Vancouver, early 80s - punk/garage)
39) Eric's Trip (Moncton, NB, 90s - indy/garage)
40) Exciter (Ottawa, 80s - metal)
41) The Extras (Toronto, early 80s - new wave)
42) The Extroverts (Regina, early 80s - new wave)
43) Family Plot (Vancouver, late 80s - post punk)
44) Fifth Column (Toronto, early 80s - punk)
45) Forbidden Dimension (Calgary, late 80s/early 90s - horrorpunk)
46) The Forgotten Rebels (Hamilton, 80s - punk)
47) Funeral Factory (Calgary, 80s - goth pop)
48) BB Gabor (Toronto, mid 80s - new wave/rock)
49) Go Four 3 (Vancouver, late 80s - indy)
50) Golden Calgarians (Calgary, mid 80s - indy)
51) The Gruesomes (Montreal, 80s - garage)
52) Bruce Haack (Edmonton, 60-80s - electronic)
53) Hardship Post (Halifax, early 90s - indy)
54) hHead (Toronto, 90s - grunge)
55) Hissanol (Victoria, 90s - indy/punk)
56) Huevos Rancheros (Calgary, 90s - surf/punk)
57) Iko (Montreal, early 80s - electronic)
58) Images in Vogue (Vancouver, early 80s - synthpop)
59) The Inbreds (Halifax, 90s - indy)
60) Industrial Artz (Toronto, early 90s - industrial)
61) Insex (Vancouver, early 80s - punk)
62) Interstellar Root Cellar (Calgary, 90s - funk)
63) Jale (Halifax, mid 90s - indy)
64) Jerry Jerry and the Sons of Rhythm Orchestra (Edmonton, late 80s - indy)
65) Sherry Kean (Toronto, mid 80s - pop)
66) Kick Axe (Regina, mid 80s - metal)
67) King Apparatus (Toronto, late 80s - ska)
68) King Lettuce (Edmonton, mid 89s - alt-rock)
69) Kish (Toronto, late 80s - hip-hop)
70) Konkan (Toronto, mid 80s - dance/pop)
71) Lava Hay (Toronto, late 80s/early 90s - folk/indy pop)
72) The Leather Uppers (Toronto, 90s - punk)
73) The Look People (Toronto, 80s/90s - indy)
74) Manteca (Toronto, 60s - jazz/fusion)
75) The Mants (Victoria, BC, 90s - garage/punk)
76) Maow (Vancouver, early 90s - indy/punk)
77) Mecca Normal (Vancouver, 80s-present - indy/experimental)
78) Mendelson Joe (Toronto, 70s-present - folk/experimental)
79) Belinda Metz (Edmonton/Toronto, mid 80s - pop)
80) Minutes from Downtown (Toronto, mid 80s - new wave)
81) The Modernettes (Vancouver, early 80s - punk/new wave)
82) Monuments Galore (Winnpeg, mid 80s - indy)
83) My Dog Popper (Calgary, 80s - punk)
84) Nash the Slash (Toronto, 70s/80s - new wave)
85) National Velvet (Toronto, early 90s - indy rock)
86) Neo A4 (Edmonton, mid 80s - radio pop)
87) New Regime (Toronto, early 80s - new wave)
88) Nihilist Spasm Band (London, ON, 60s/70s-present - experimental)
89) The Nils (Montreal, mid 80s-present - punk)
90) No Fun (Vancouver, early 80s - punk)
91) Noise Unit (Vancouver, 90s-present - industrial)
92) NoMeansNo (Victoria, 80s-present - punk/noise)
93) Numb (Vancouver, late 80s/early 90s - industrial)
94) Offenbach (Montreal, 80s/90s - blues rock/French)
95) John Oswald (Toronto, 90s-present - experimental)
96) Oversoul Seven (Vancouver, late 80s - indy)
97) Painted Thin (Winnipeg, late 90s - indy/punk)
98) Perfume Tree (Vancouver, 90s - post punk/electronic)
99) Personality Crisis (Winnipeg, early 80s - punk)
100) Phono-Comb (Toronto, early 90s - surf/roots)
101) Picture Comes to Life (Toronto, late 80s - new wave)
102) The Primrods (Calgary, early 90s - indy/post punk)
103) Plumtree (Halifax, early 90s - indy)
104) The Pointed Sticks (Vancouver, late 70s/early 80s - new wave/punk)
105) Poisoned (Vancouver, late 80s - indy/punk)
106) Polyrock (Canadians based in New York, early 80s - post punk)
107) Psyche (Calgary, late 80s/early 90s - industrial/synthpop)
108) Purple Knight (Moncton, late 70s/early 80s - garage/punk)
109) Raggadeath (Toronto, 90s - reggae/punk)
110) Random Killing (Toronto, mid 80s - punk)
111) Rational Youth (Montreal, early 80s - new wave)
112) Ray Condo (Vancouver, 80s/90s - country/rockabilly)
113) The Razorbacks (Toronto, late 80s - rockabilly)
114) Removal (Vancouver, 80s/90s - punk)
115) The Ripcordz (Montreal, 80s/90s - punk)
116) Scott B. Sympathy (Toronto 80s - indy/roots)
117) The Scramblers (Vancouver, 80s - punk/rockabilly)
118) The Secret V's (Vancouver, early 80s - punk/indy)
119) Showbusiness Giants (Victoria, 80s/90s - indy/punk)
120) SIANspheric (Hamilton, 90s/present - drone/post punk)
121) The Silver Darts (Toronto?, 80s - indy)
122) Simply Saucer (Hamilton, 60s/70s - proto-punk)
123) Slow (Vancouver, mid 80s - punk)
124) The Smugglers (Vancouver, late 90s - punk/garage)
125) SNFU (Calgary, 80s/90s-present - punk)
126) Sons of Freedom (Vancouver, late 80s - punk/indy)
127) The Stand GT (Toronto, late 80s - punk)
128) Strange Advance (Vancouver, early 80s - synthpop)
129) Stretch Marks (Winnipeg, early 80s - punk)
130) Stunt Chimps (Toronto, mid 80s - electrorock)
131) The Subhumans (Vancouver, early 80s - punk)
132) The Super Friendz (Halifax, mid 90s - indy)
133) Tankhog (Vancouver, late 80s - punk)
134) Teenage Head (Hamilton, early 80s - punk)
135) Thrush Hermit (Halifax, 90s - indy)
136) Trans-X (Montreal, early 80s - electro/new wave)
137) Tristan Psionic (Hamilton, 90s - indy)
138) U.I.C. (Exeter, ON, 80s - punk)
139) UJ3RK5 (Vancouver, early 80s - punk/new wave)
140) Uzeb (Montreal, 80s/90s - jazz rock)
141) The Viletones (Montreal, late 70s/early 80s - punk)
142) The Vindicators (Calgary, 80s - punk/garage)
143) Voivod (Montreal, 80s-present - metal)
144) The Von Zippers (Calgary. 80s - punk)
145) Wagbeard (Calgary, 90s - punk/indy)
146) Weeping Tile (Kingston, ON, 90s - indy/roots)
147) The Wooden Stars (Sackville, NB, 90s - indy)
148) The Young Canadians (Vancouver, early 80s - punk)
149) Zon (Toronto, 70s - prog rock)
150) Zuckerbaby (Calgary, 90s - alt-rock)
151!!!!) Zumpano (Vancouver, 90s - indy rock)

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Forgotten Music #24: The Housemartins - "Five Get Over Excited" (1987)

Hull, UK's Housemartins were an odd band, but not necessarily in a musical way. Many times, they stood on the brink of stardom, only to walk away from the limelight and retreat back into obscurity. Their style was a mix of happy alt-pop with stunning vocal harmonies, mixed with gospel and cabaret style pop. They sang about love and politics. And they're oddly known for the bands they spawned and not the original band.

The band started as a busker duo in 1983, but quickly expanded into a quintet. They put out some recordings in 1985, made a Peel Session, then in 986, they scored their first hit single with "Happy Hour". They followed that up with a number one single with an a capella version of the Isley Brothers "Caravan of Love". Their first album, London 0 Hull 4 was a huge hit in the UK, and their follow up in 1987, The People That Grinned Themselves to Death, was a similar success, and saw the band getting a lot of college radio airplay in the States.

The band is well known for their sunny dispositions and their strong left-wing stance, which was often portrayed in their music. One of their later hits was "Me and the Farmer" a folky pop song about the importance of farming in society, and the plight of the working man.

They broke up in 1988, but often help out with each other's projects. Most of the band went on to form The Beautiful South, who are still together today, playing mopey Smiths style Brit-pop. And the other big name to come out of the band was Norman Cook, better known as the electronic superstar Fatboy Slim.

"Five Get Over Excited" comes from The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death, from 1987.

Thursday, June 22, 2017

DNTTA Playlist for June 2, 2017

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

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

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Melted Mirror - Flying Fortress* - Borderzone (Independent)
Goldfrapp - Become the One - Silver Eye (Mute)
Andrew Franey - Maybe Life Goes On* - Human (We Are Droid)
Ghost Twin - Saturn Swallows the Sun* - Plastic Heart (Artoffact)
Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks Theme - Twin Peaks OST (Warner)
David Bowie - Fill Your Heart - Hunky Dory (Virgin)
Nine Inch Nails - The Perfect Drug - Lost Highway OST (Nothing)
Jarvis Cocker and Chilly Gonzales - Tearjerker* - Room 29 (Deutsche Grammophon)
Family Band - Solitude* - Four Standards (Egg Paper Factory)
Julien Sagot - Bleu Corail Electrique* - Bleu Jane (Simone)
Alpha Six Romeo - Want it Back - Flint Loves Silver (Independent)

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Covers Courageous #11: Tin Huey - I'm a Believer (1979)

As a fan of new wave, I know there's an incredible amount of obscure music, trivia and "also ran" bands in the music lexicon. Tin Huey qualifies as one of those "also ran" bands.

Tin Huey were part of the Akron/Cleveland new wave scene that grew up alongside the NY punk/new wave scene in the late 70s. Tin Huey were from Akron, which spawned bands like The Dead Boys, The Pretenders, Rubber City Rebels and, yes, Devo. The band ran with the Akron scene and the Cleveland bands of the time (Pere Ubu, Electric Eels), touring through Ohio and on to the New York scene.

Tin Huey released a few EPs and just two proper albums, 1980's Contents Dislodged During Shipment (their only album for a major label, Warner), and 1999's Disinformation, plus a B-sides compilation in 2009.

The band is still together and tours in the US Midwest.

Their cover of The Monkees' "I'm a Believer" comes from 1980's Contents Dislodged During Shipment.

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

DNTTA Playlist for May 26, 2017

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

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

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Kytami - Renegade*- Renegade (East Van Digital)
Kytami - Silk Road* - Renegade (East Van Digital)
Kytami - Hello Friend* - Renegade (East Van Digital)
Kytami - Sirens* - Renegade (East Van Digital)
Blue Hawaii - Lilac* - Blooming Summer (Arbutus)
Factory Floor - Ya - 25 25 (DFA)
Lou Canon - Coma* - Suspicious (Paper Bag)

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Video Playlist #12: That Eastern Country

With Russia being all up in our North American area lately, here's bands named after Russia, about Russia and from Russia.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0QOmyo1JgZdCz2sy_CaSZMoukXpEjmTI

1) The Beatles - Back in the USSR
2) BB Gabor* - Soviet Jewelry
3) Russian Circles - Vorel
4) White Russia - Papertown
5) Radio Moscow - The Escape
6) Soviet Soviet - Ecstacy
7) Forward Russia - Nine
8) Gorky Park - Try to Find Me
9) Warsaw Pakt - Believe Me Honey
10) Kremlin - Ghost Flyers
11) Zoviet:France - I Felt the Breath of My Assassin
12) The Vulgar Boatmen - You Don't Love Me Yet
13) t.A.T.u. - All the Things You Said

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

DNTTA Playlist for May 17, 2017

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

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

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METZ - Wasted* - METZ (Sub Pop)
Soundgarden - Get on the Snake - Louder Than Love (A&M)
Heavy Living - Level the Ground* - Heavy Living (Independent)
Gun Control - Jimmy and Janice* - Volume 1 (Independent)
Soul Mates - Empty* - Snake Oil (Independent)
Mi'ens - Challenger* - Challenger (Kingfisher Bluez)
Blessed - Endure* - EP 2 (Kingfisher Bluez)
Crims and Flow - Lizard People* - Nightmare Food in the Vacuum Room (Independent)
Prepared - Ohio Glory* - Trust Me (Revolution Winter)
Re-Gen - Mercury* - GEN II (Independent)
Blood and Glass - Whiskey* - Punk Shadows (Independent)
Okilly Dokilly - White Wine Spritzer - Howdiddly Doodilly (Independent)

Monday, June 12, 2017

DNTTA Playlist for May 12, 2017

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

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

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Little Scream - Wreckage* - Cult Following (Dine Alone)
Lush Buffalo - Jane the Ripper* - Lush Buffalo (Independent)
No Joy - Slug Night* - Wait to Pleasure (Mexican Summer)
The Garrys - Druscilla* - Warm Buds (Independent)
Dim-Sum - Things Just Don't Add Up* - Dim-Sum (Big White Cloud)
Thinking Plague - Thus We Have Made the World - Hoping Against Hope (Cuneiform)
Ghostkeeper - This is Our Love* - Sheer Blouse Buffalo Knocks (Independent)
Music Maul - Manhours* - Special (Independent)
B.A. Johnston - Alley Beers* - Gremlins III (Wyatt)
Kele Fleming - Mosaic* - No Static (Tin Forest)
Midnight Oil - The Power and the Passion - 10 to 1 (Columbia)

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Canadian Indy Band Round up, June 2017

Been a while since we've focused on new Canadian indy talent that you (yes YOU!) should check out.

Soul Mates

Saskatchewan has been a real hotbed for indy bands lately, from country and folk to more experimental and noisy bands. Soul Mates are a new band from Saskatoon and are in the noise rock/post punk/hardcore punk vibe. Their debut album just came out, and it's called Snake Oil.

Elephant Skeletons

From Fredricton, NB, Elephant Skeletons are a jazzy, dancy electro-rock band. They run the gamut from spacy, playful indy rock, to dance floor raves, to jazzy house. Their first album is called The Traveller and is a fun, disco-tinged electronic romp.

Apollo Suns

Apollo Suns are a sprawling, seven-member jazz-rock collective from Winnipeg, MB. Their debut EP, Each Day a Different Sun, only has 5 songs, but all clock in around 5 minutes or more. Their style is a mix of rock, prog, jazz and experimental rock.

Thursday, June 1, 2017

DNTTA Playlist for May 5, 2017

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

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

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Celebrity Traffic - Chains* - We Bleed Blood (Independent)
Elephant Skeletons - Metals* - The Traveler (Independent)
Kytami - Silk Road* - Renegade (East Van Digital)
Pavel - Laziness or Fear* - [sic] (Independent)
Soldout - Breaks - Forever (Flatcat)
Moby and the Void Pacific Choir - Don't Leave Me - These Machines Are Faling (Arts and Crafts)
Mome - Hold On - Panorama (Mercury)
Kele - The New Rules - The Boxer (4AD)
Mid Pines - Winds* IIVIXIXXX (Circuit Song)
Moon:and:6 - Welcome to Space* - A Brief History of Space Travel (Maisonneuve)
Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society - Ride Under Trees - Delia Derbyshire Apprecation Society (Six Degrees)
Magic Sound Fabric - Heaven's Coming Down - Observer (Spiralight)

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

When They Ruled Canada: The Pursuit of Happiness.

While doing some research for this article, I came across a Youtube comment that struck home for me. They said that The Pursuit of Happiness (TPOH) were a band that could only have become successful in Canada. The USA was deep in hair metal at the time, and TPOH were a straight ahead rock band with a sardonic and intelligent take on the music. In the UK, they were awash with vapid pop and the lingerings of synth-pop. In 1988, TPOH were much to heavy for a UK audience. But they were perfect for Canada, standing beside bands like Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo and the Cowboy Junkies.

TPOH were my soundtrack through the early years of college. I was fresh into college and my first, abortive, year of university. I had a tape collection and Love Junk, their 1988 album, was one of my go to albums, along with VIVIsect VI by Skinny Puppy and the Midnight Oil back catalogue, among other albums. It was their earnestness, their sense of humour and their rock sound that drew me in, and the sound was almost uniquely Canadian. While I'd say the sound of the music had a lot in common with my love for Midnight Oil at the time, it was TPOH's sense of fun that drew me into their music. They're still one of my favourite rock bands of all time.

TPOH are fronted by Edmonton-born singer and guitarist Moe Berg, but the band started in Toronto. They formed as a three piece in 1985, then released their first 12” in 1986. The A-Side, “I'm an Adult Now”, became a fairly big hit for them, with the independent video being played a lot on MuchMusic at the time. What TPOH did at the time was unusual, since the Canadian music scene was still really coming into it's own. While most bands waited to get attention from a major label, TPOH released their 12” independently with no label behind them. Soon after came another single, 1988's “Killed by Love”. Both singles displayed Moe Berg's weary take on daily life, the uncertainty of love and struggles of adulthood, abandoning the naivete of youthful ideals of the world and love, and embracing the confusion of adulthood.

Love Junk came out in 1988, on Chrysalis Records, and was produced by alt-rock legend Todd Rundgren, who's melodic take on rock was perfect for the band. Chrysalis was a great label for them to be on too, with artists like Billy Idol, Pat Benatar, The Art of Noise, Cyndi Lauper and a lot of other hip and popular bands recording for it. “I'm an Adult Now” and “Killed by Love” were re-recorded for the album. The re-recordings were good, but lacked the ramshackle, punk tinge the 12” versions had. “I'm an Adult Now” was also the only song they recorded that got much airplay outside of Canada. The album also saw guitarist Kris Abbott and vocalist Leslie Stanwyck joining the band. “She's So Young” and “Hard to Laugh” were released as singles as well. “She's So Young” has the same adult-weary vibe that would come to define Moe Berg's songs, and “Hard to Laugh” taps into Berg's sexual perversion and insecurity about relationships which he would plumb over his career.

1990 saw their follow up, One Sided Story, which spawned the singles “Two Girls in One” and “New Language”, both of which got play on rock radio at the time. “Food” gets the sexual aspect of the album going right away, along with “Shave Your Legs” (another song about Berg's uncertainty about relationships) and “Something Physical”, which is about physical attraction trumping love, which also comes up often in the band's songs. “Runs in the Family” is about the innocence of youth and how it gets crushed by experience and adulthood. Leslie Stanwyck and bassist Johnny Sinclair left the band after this album, and went on to form Universal Honey, which had a few big hits in the early 90s in Canada.

TPOH released The Downward Road in 1993 on the Mercury record label. This album had “Cigarette Dangles” (another raunchy sex song), and the more innocent “Pressing Lips” as the singles. This album didn't do as well commercially, but it's one of my favourite albums from the band. It's more raw in style than One Sided Story, but also has a maturity that fits well with the band at this point in their career. Once again, sex features prominently (“Honeytime”, “Bored of You”, “Ashamed of Myself”, “Nobody But Me”, “In Her Dreams”) along with the loss of youthful innocence, (the wonderful “Heavy Metal Tears”). The best track here, in my opinion, is “Villa in Portugal”, a snarky tale of lost love framed by a postcard sent from abroad.

By 1995's Where's the Bone, TPOH's star had begun to fade. “Gretzky Rocks” and “Kalendar” were the biggest songs, but were largely underplayed on rock radio. 1996's The Wonderful World of the Pursuit of Happiness, was the band's last album, and featured “She's the Devil” as the main single. The band have never officially broken up, and continue to play shows here and there, and record singles.

In 2000, they released a best of called Sex and Food, which featured some b-sides, like “Edmonton Block Heater”, which they recorded for Hard Core Logo. Another hits collection came in 2005, called When We Ruled, and included the original demo version of “I'm an Adult Now” and a version of Prince's “When Doves Cry”. In 2006, the band was inducted into Toronto's Canadian Indies Hall of Fame.

Moe Berg has recorded as a solo artist and worked extensively as a producer for many Canadian bands. His first solo album came out in 1997, called Summer's Over. He also performs as a member of the Trans-Canada Highwaymen, featuring Chris Murphy of Sloan, Steven Page of The Barenaked Ladies and Craig Northey of the Odds.

This year, Artofact Records is releasing several Brave New Waves sessions (that beloved CBC 2 late night radio program that featured new and emerging music... how I miss it!) and TPOH are of the bands to be featured. This is a live-to-air recording with an interview by Brent Bambury included!

Saturday, May 27, 2017

DNTTA Playlist for April 18, 2017

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

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

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Smokey and the Feeelings - Build a Hole* - Smokey and the Feeelings (Mangled)
Caapi - Ornette* - Caapi (Cuchabata)
Ugly Beauties - Open My Eyes* - Strange Attractors (Independent)
Micheal Snow and Jesse Stewart - Abstraction* - Live at the National Gallery (Independent)
Theo Bleckmann - Fields - Eley (ECM)
Mostly Other People Do the Killing - Bloomsburg - Loafer's Hollow (Hot Cup)
Allan Holdsworth - Funnels - All Night Wrong (Favored Nations)
Apollo Suns - An Iberian Peninsula* - Each Day a Different Sun (Independent)
Talking Heads - Girlfiend is Better (live) - Stop Making Sense, Deluxe Edition (Sire)

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Best of 2016 #1: Minor Victories - Minor Victories (Fat Possum)

The race for #1 was a close one, between glitchy and difficult electronica and all-star post punk, and my love lately for modern post punk won out.

Minor Victories are a bit of an all star band, featuring Rachel Goswell, of recently-reunited shoe-gaze legends Slowdive, and quirky folk rockers Mojave 3, Stuart Braithwaite of menancing Scottish drone-rock band Mogwai, and Justin Lockey of Brit-alt-rockers The Editors. Given that I already love Slowdive and Mogwai, it seemed natural I'd love this band.

As a band, they are equal parts of the bands they came from. Goswell brings the slow-paced disaffection and dreamy vocals of Slowdive. Braithwaite brings the drums of Mogwai, along with the slowly rising wall-of-noise assault that Mogwai is known for. Lockey brings more of a melodic, indy pop feel to the band. The result is a cascading melange of sound, at times dark and brooding, and at times soaring and orchestral.

The range of the album is remarkable. You'll find yourself bouncing from emotion to emotion as the songs change through the album, and often as the songs progress.

Sadly, this band likely won't be long for this world. This was their debut and with Slowdive reuniting and already having released an album this year, Goswell will likely be focusing on her first band. Nevertheless, this is an amazing album, and a must for lovers of drone, post punk and shoegaze.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

DNTTA Playlist for April 21, 2017

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

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

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Numb - Painless* - Death on the Installment Plan (Metropolis)
Lets Eat Grandma - Chocolate Sludge Cake - I, Gemini (Transgressive)
Louise Burns - Moonlight Shadow* - Young Mopes (Light Organ)
Dear Criminals - Lone Ride* - Seven Songs for Nelly (Independent)
Geoffroy - Sleeping on My Own* - Coastline (Bonsound)
Velvet Vice - Urban Instinct* - Velvet Vice (Independent)
Lutra Lutra - Miser Remedy* - Lutra Lutra (Independent)
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Sleep Drifter - Flying Microtonal Banana (ATO)
Backbiters - Sourdough* - Backbiters (Independent)
Silverfish - Petal - Crazy EP (Creation)
The Alarm - 68 Guns - Declaration (IRS)

Monday, May 22, 2017

DNTTA Playlist for April 14, 2017

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

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

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Silkken Lauman - House of Common Problems* - Not Forever Enough (Independent)
Kid Koala feat. Emiliana Torrini - Fallaway* - Music to Draw To: Satellite (Arts and Crafts)
Pinkcourtesyphone - A Dark Room Full of Plastic Plants - Please Pick Up (I/O Sound)
Honeybeard - Celestial Bodies* - Dreamless Sleep (Independent)
Pick a Piper - Further and Further* - Distance (Tin Angel)
Elaquent - Gyoza* - Worst Case Scenario (Urbnet)
Fantastic Plastic Machine - Honolulu, Calcutta - Luxury (Emperor Norton)
Cygnets - Amnesia* - Isolator (Negative Gain)
Common Deer - Settle Down* - 1 EP (Independent)
Himiko - Soul and Spirit Extraction* - Skin Removal (D-Trash)
Jen Gloeckner - Ginger Ale - Vine (Spinning Head)
Psychedelic Furs - Love My Way - Forever Now (Columbia)

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Looking California and Feeling Minnesota: RIP Chris Cornell

I'm a Soundgarden fan, and I have been since the beginning. Back when my radio career started at CKUL way back in 1989, I remember when Louder Than Love came into our station. That album was passed around through many hands of the serious music fans there. This was long before the internet, when you shared music by actually sharing it. We'd say, "You have to hear this album!", and we listened to this album, which didn't sound like anything we had ever heard before.

Soundgarden, along with Green River, were the first band I'd heard from the up and coming grunge scene in Seattle. The heavy guitar sound mixed with the punk leanings of the band appealed to my ears at the time, given my interest in punk at the time, and the use of feedback in the guitar sound had never really been done before. Nirvana, of course, would take this sound even further in a couple of years, but for the time, Soundgarden were unique. Louder than Love got the crap played out of it at CKUL in 1989, at least by those who were digging into the underground. It was because of Louder than Love that I dug into the grunge scene and became a huge fan, both of the mainstream acts, and lesser known bands like The Treepeople, Tad, The Fluid, Naked Raygun and more.

Soundgarden were the first grunge act to sign to a major label, in 1989, to A&M Records, but were one of the last grunge bands to really make waves in mainstream music. In 1987, they released their first single, "Hunted Down" for the fledgling Sub Pop label, and Sub Pop used it as its hold music on its phone lines, allowing them to get discovered by A&M. With that came the seed to make Sub Pop into an actual record label, which, of course, spawned the entire grunge explosion.

Their first full album, Ultramega OK, actually came out in 1988 on SST Records, a legendary punk label home to bands like Black Flag. Chris Cornell said that SST didn't really understand the grunge sound, and produced the band like a punk band. They had a heavy punk sound, like the Stooges, but filtered through a Sabbath-esque guitar virtuosity, and the unique addition of feedback to the guitar sound. The album is an anomaly in their catalogue, a truly punk sounding album that sticks out oddly in their catalogue. Strangely, for me, as a fan, I didn't hear Ultramega OK in it's entirety until the late 90s.

Of course, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, The Screaming Trees and other hangers on like the Stone Temple Pilots came next. Soundgarden put out Badmotorfinger in 1991, and with the rise of other grunge bands, they began to get some play on radio and on MTV. "Rusty Cage", "Outshined" and "Jesus Christ Pose" were the stand out singles, though MTV banned "Jesus Christ Pose" for it's controversial religious imagery. This lead to a stint at Lollapalooza in 1992, and a re-release of Badmotorfinger with the EP Satan Oscillate My Metallic Sonatas, which remains a holy grail of sorts for my collection, since it's hard to find and has a Devo cover on it that I really want.

It wasn't until 1994's Superunknown that the band really became well known. "Black Hole Sun" was a huge hit and the album debuted at #1 on the Billboard album charts. The album was compared to Nirvana's In Utero, which was released the same year, in terms of darkness, lyricality and the albums' struggles with themes of depression and death. Ironic given that Kurt Cobain killed himself soon afterwards, and Chris Cornell took his own life just last night.

Down on the Upside came out in 1996 and saw the band moving away from heavier guitars and into more textured, melodic hard rock. They did a stint at Lollapalooza in 1996 after being invited by Metallica, then broke up in 1997 due to internal tensions and "being eaten up by the business", again, much like Nirvana was.

Chris Cornell released a solo album in 1999 called Euphoria Morning, then formed the supergroup Audioslave in 2001, with three members of Rage Against the Machine. They released three albums until Cornell left the band in 2007, leading to the band breaking up. Cornell released his second solo album, Carry On, in 2007, and the strangely out of character album, Scream, in 2009, which was produced by Timbaland, of all people.

Soundgarden reunited in 2010. A compilation came out called Telephantasm, with a new song called "Black Rain", which also debuted on Guitar Hero (member Guitar Hero?). In 2012, the album King Animal came out. By this time, Soundgarden had a real mainstream rock quality to their music, and this album didn't appeal to me at all. It's the only Soundgarden album not in my collection.

2014 saw a three CD rarities collection called Echo of Miles came out, and the band began working on their new album. Cornell also released another solo album, Higher Truth, in 2015.

Chris Cornell committed suicide on May 17th, after a show in Detroit. He was found with a band around his neck in his hotel room. He was 52.