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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Jerk in a Can - Crush My Heart* - Big Crime Baby (Sometimes)
Chairlift - Romeo - Moth (Columbia)
Empire of the Sun - Ride - Two Vines (Astralwerks)
TheVital - Tiny Fishes* - TheVital EP (Independent)
Chocolat - Looloo* - Rencontrer Looloo (Dare to Care)
Foxhart Fishman - Hubble* - FHFM EP (Independent)
Telecomo - Someday* - Telecomo EP (Independent)
Algiers - In Parallax - Algiers (Matador)
Rampant Lion - Endless Night, Nameless City* - Rampant Lion (Independent)
She Serpent - Black Swan* - She Serpent EP (Independent)
We Are Wolves - Unknown Flowers* - Wrong (Fantome)
The Hazytones - Fool's Paradise* - The Hazytones (Independent)
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Weird World of Old Records #5: John Carradine - "Night Train to Mundo Fine"
For this edition of the Weird World of Old Records, we're going to tackle something that was huge in the 50s, 60s and 70s, and even into the 80s: actors recording records.
There was a movement to get movie stars to record music as a way to capitalize on their popularity on TV or movies. Certainly, shows like The Monkees, The Archies and The Partridge Family contributed to this. See the Monkees play a song on the TV show and own a record of them singing the same song. That's a natural marketing technique.
But it went farther than that. Actors with little to no experience recorded albums. Jack Webb recorded albums. So did Wink Martindale. And of course, the infamous albums from William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy are legendary.
Then that brings us to today's entry: John Carradine. Not only does this let me indulge my interest in weird (and sometimes unlistenable) music, but my love for bad, bad movies.
I'm a huge fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000. For those who aren't familiar, the concept is that a guy and his two robots are forced to watch horrible movies and they make jokes about the movies while watching them. It's a natural extension from anyone who has ever seen a movie so bad it makes you cringe, or laugh. You'd make fun of them too. An infamous director of bad movies that got skewered by MST3K was Coleman Francis, an inept maker of boring movies from the 60s. One of those movies is called Night Train to Mundo Fine, or, among fans of the show, it's also known as Red Zone Cuba.
John Carradine, his best years of acting long behind him in 1966, has a bit part in this as a train engineer who appears at the beginning and end of the movie. Coleman Francis, always looking to work on the cheap, hired Ray Gregory and the Melmen, a tuneless garage band with some ties to his actors (I believe Ray Gregory was a friend of Francis' regular Anthony Cardoza), and had Carradine sing the song. Carradine's performance is... odd. Gravelly and atonal, it wouldn't sound too out of place in a Tom Waits album, if Waits had no concept of music, that is.
There is an absolute raft of stuff like this out there. This is truly a place to find the weird and the oddball, the type of music where you think, "Who on Earth would record this, and who on Earth would want to hear it?" Me for one. I love this kind of stuff.
There was a movement to get movie stars to record music as a way to capitalize on their popularity on TV or movies. Certainly, shows like The Monkees, The Archies and The Partridge Family contributed to this. See the Monkees play a song on the TV show and own a record of them singing the same song. That's a natural marketing technique.
But it went farther than that. Actors with little to no experience recorded albums. Jack Webb recorded albums. So did Wink Martindale. And of course, the infamous albums from William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy are legendary.
Then that brings us to today's entry: John Carradine. Not only does this let me indulge my interest in weird (and sometimes unlistenable) music, but my love for bad, bad movies.
I'm a huge fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000. For those who aren't familiar, the concept is that a guy and his two robots are forced to watch horrible movies and they make jokes about the movies while watching them. It's a natural extension from anyone who has ever seen a movie so bad it makes you cringe, or laugh. You'd make fun of them too. An infamous director of bad movies that got skewered by MST3K was Coleman Francis, an inept maker of boring movies from the 60s. One of those movies is called Night Train to Mundo Fine, or, among fans of the show, it's also known as Red Zone Cuba.
John Carradine, his best years of acting long behind him in 1966, has a bit part in this as a train engineer who appears at the beginning and end of the movie. Coleman Francis, always looking to work on the cheap, hired Ray Gregory and the Melmen, a tuneless garage band with some ties to his actors (I believe Ray Gregory was a friend of Francis' regular Anthony Cardoza), and had Carradine sing the song. Carradine's performance is... odd. Gravelly and atonal, it wouldn't sound too out of place in a Tom Waits album, if Waits had no concept of music, that is.
There is an absolute raft of stuff like this out there. This is truly a place to find the weird and the oddball, the type of music where you think, "Who on Earth would record this, and who on Earth would want to hear it?" Me for one. I love this kind of stuff.
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Forgotten Music #24: Robert Palmer - "Looking for Clues" (1980)
Thomas Dolby is often described as a musical chameleon. He can seamlessly run from one genre to another and sound equally at home in most of them. I'd argue that Robert Palmer could take that nickname too. While Dolby's work is much more cerebral and satisfying, Palmer has had much more commercial success with his approach.
As I was working out this week, Palmer's "Looking for Clues" came on my iPod, inspiring this post. "Looking for Clues" is just a perfect snapshot of new wave, and it comes from a person that picked up new wave on a whim, which makes it even more endearing and cute.
Palmer's career started in the early 70s, with his first big outing as part of the British R&B band Vinegar Joe, who broke up in 1974. His solo career took off quickly afterward, with Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley in 1974, which brought him is first hit, "Sailing Shoes". His first album was more on the R&B/Blues side that Vinegar Joe started out playing, but he branched out his sound soon afterwards.
1975's Pressure Drop was a reggae album and he toured with blues-rockers Little Feat to promote the album. 1978's Double Fun was a rock album with a deep Caribbean influence to it and it featured "Every Kinda People", which has become a reggae and pop standards, and a cover of "You Really Got Me". 1979's Secrets was a straight up rock album, featuring the big hit, a cover of Moon Martin's "Bad Case of Loving You"
It was in 1980 that Palmer went new wave, with Clues, which was produced by the Talking Heads' Chris Frantz and dark electro-pop icon Gary Numan (there's a cover of Numan's "I Dream of Wires" on this album too). The disaffected and moody "Johnny and Mary" was the biggest hit on the album, but "Looking for Clues" also got some airplay, the video for which was played on the first day of broadcast on MTV.
Palmer went on to huge mainstream success as a member of supergroup The Power Station in the mid 80s, then got even bigger after "Addicted to Love" in 1986 and "Simply Irresistible" in 1988, with their iconic videos were played to death on MTV and commercial radio.
Palmer passed away back in 2003 from a heart attack.
I love the video for this song, it's so fun and cheesy. It's a perfect slice of the 80s. The song itself is really cute too, with the oddball vocal shift in the second half.
As I was working out this week, Palmer's "Looking for Clues" came on my iPod, inspiring this post. "Looking for Clues" is just a perfect snapshot of new wave, and it comes from a person that picked up new wave on a whim, which makes it even more endearing and cute.
Palmer's career started in the early 70s, with his first big outing as part of the British R&B band Vinegar Joe, who broke up in 1974. His solo career took off quickly afterward, with Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley in 1974, which brought him is first hit, "Sailing Shoes". His first album was more on the R&B/Blues side that Vinegar Joe started out playing, but he branched out his sound soon afterwards.
1975's Pressure Drop was a reggae album and he toured with blues-rockers Little Feat to promote the album. 1978's Double Fun was a rock album with a deep Caribbean influence to it and it featured "Every Kinda People", which has become a reggae and pop standards, and a cover of "You Really Got Me". 1979's Secrets was a straight up rock album, featuring the big hit, a cover of Moon Martin's "Bad Case of Loving You"
It was in 1980 that Palmer went new wave, with Clues, which was produced by the Talking Heads' Chris Frantz and dark electro-pop icon Gary Numan (there's a cover of Numan's "I Dream of Wires" on this album too). The disaffected and moody "Johnny and Mary" was the biggest hit on the album, but "Looking for Clues" also got some airplay, the video for which was played on the first day of broadcast on MTV.
Palmer went on to huge mainstream success as a member of supergroup The Power Station in the mid 80s, then got even bigger after "Addicted to Love" in 1986 and "Simply Irresistible" in 1988, with their iconic videos were played to death on MTV and commercial radio.
Palmer passed away back in 2003 from a heart attack.
I love the video for this song, it's so fun and cheesy. It's a perfect slice of the 80s. The song itself is really cute too, with the oddball vocal shift in the second half.
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Best of 2016 #10: Liima - ii (4AD Records)
I'll be moving my regular blogging day to Wednesdays for the time being, since my spring Masters class is on Thursdays.
We'll begin my countdown of my Top 10 albums of the year today.
Liima is not exactly a new band. Liima is the project of the three members of Danish electro-pop band Efterklang and Finnish percussionist Tatu Ronnko.
While this band's sound doesn't stray too far away from where Efterklang normally toils, it's different enough to make my ears perk up. Efterklang are a great band, but they've not strayed too far from where they started their careers.
Liima put Ronnko's skills to good use on this album, with the music being much more percussive and fuller sounding than the sometimes spacy sound of Efterklang. The music has the textured and angled pop styles of Brian Eno, pushed in a bit more of an aggressive and melodic direction. The vocals are very reminiscent of John Cale, detached, but melodic and emotional.
Sometimes it takes a new person's vision to push a band out of a rut. It seems Efterklang found an similar minded collaborator that can enhance their sound and push them in new directions.
We'll begin my countdown of my Top 10 albums of the year today.
Liima is not exactly a new band. Liima is the project of the three members of Danish electro-pop band Efterklang and Finnish percussionist Tatu Ronnko.
While this band's sound doesn't stray too far away from where Efterklang normally toils, it's different enough to make my ears perk up. Efterklang are a great band, but they've not strayed too far from where they started their careers.
Liima put Ronnko's skills to good use on this album, with the music being much more percussive and fuller sounding than the sometimes spacy sound of Efterklang. The music has the textured and angled pop styles of Brian Eno, pushed in a bit more of an aggressive and melodic direction. The vocals are very reminiscent of John Cale, detached, but melodic and emotional.
Sometimes it takes a new person's vision to push a band out of a rut. It seems Efterklang found an similar minded collaborator that can enhance their sound and push them in new directions.
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Top 10 Albums of 2016
Here's my picks for best album of 2016. We'll be doing the review countdown starting next week, and on my radio show on Friday, January 13th.
1) Minor Victories - Minor Victories (Fat Possum)
2) Factory Floor - 25 25 (DFA)
3) White Lung* - Paradise (Domino)
4) Duchess Says* - Sciences Nouvelles (Bonsound)
5) Savages - Adore Life (Matador)
6) David Bowie - Blackstar (Columbia)
7) Merchandise - A Corpse Wired for Sound (4AD)
8) Weaves* - Weaves (Buzz)
9) Bear Mountain* - Badu (Last Gang)
10) Liima - ii (4AD)
Honourable Mentions:
Cygnets* - Alone/Together (Negative Gain), MSTRKRFT* - Operator (Last Gang), Haelos - Full Circle (Matador), LNZNDRF - LNZNDRF (Brassland) , Greys* - Outer Heaven (Carpark)
1) Minor Victories - Minor Victories (Fat Possum)
2) Factory Floor - 25 25 (DFA)
3) White Lung* - Paradise (Domino)
4) Duchess Says* - Sciences Nouvelles (Bonsound)
5) Savages - Adore Life (Matador)
6) David Bowie - Blackstar (Columbia)
7) Merchandise - A Corpse Wired for Sound (4AD)
8) Weaves* - Weaves (Buzz)
9) Bear Mountain* - Badu (Last Gang)
10) Liima - ii (4AD)
Honourable Mentions:
Cygnets* - Alone/Together (Negative Gain), MSTRKRFT* - Operator (Last Gang), Haelos - Full Circle (Matador), LNZNDRF - LNZNDRF (Brassland) , Greys* - Outer Heaven (Carpark)
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