Best of 2020 #8: Protomartyr - Ultimate Success Today (Domino)

Detroit's post-punk masters Protomartyr have long been a favourite of mine. I picked Relatives in Descent for my best of in 2017. This years album, Ultimate Success Today, has the band in familiar brooding post punk territory, but also sees them pushing in new directions. Some of the punchy, blue-collar noise punk of Idles has begun creeping into their songs. And this album has a decidely freejazz feel to it, with blaring saxophone somewhere in every song. Bandleader Joe Casey's howling and obscured vocals echo Ian Curtis and Mark E. Smith most of the time. This is angry, despondent and defeated inner city post punk at it's best.

DNTTA Playlist for April 30, 2021

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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Reykjavictim - The Sound Where My Head Was* - Nostalgia (Independent)
Helena Deland - Truth Nugget* - Someone New (Luminelle)
Brad Laner - Old Cold - Neighbour Singing (Hometapes)
Badge Epoque Ensemble - DIY* - Self-Help (Independent)
Viagra Boys - Creatures - Welfare Jazz (Year 0001)
Plants and Animals - In Your Eyes* - The Jungle (Secret City)
Chad VanGaalen - Earth from a Distance* - The World's Most Stressed Out Gardener (Flemish Eye)
Teal Amour - Colours of the Sun* - Good Morning, I Love You EP (Independent)
Eve Parker Finley - The Rules* - Chrysalia (Coax)
Trevor Sloan - I’m Your Friend* - Green Reflections (Independent)
Debraska - Awakening* - Apathy (Independent)
Jaill - While You Reload - Traps (Sub Pop)
Hood - The River Curls Around the Town - Cold House (Domino)

DNTTA Playlist for April 23, 2021

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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Suuns and Jerusalem in My Heart - In Touch* - Suuns and Jerusalem in My Heart (Secret City)
Thisquietarmy x Away - Beta 0000 0100* - Singularities Phase One (Independent)
Ubinqu - The Spirit of Paradise* - The Cosmic Moth (Cuchabata)
Ravine Angel - The Emperor* - Major Arcana (Independent)
The Vast and the Curious - Call to Adventure* - Radical Acceptance (Independent)
Charles Spearin and Josefin Rumsteen - Time is a Measurement of Desire*  - Thank God the Plague is Over (Arts and Crafts)

DNTTA Playlist for April 16, 2021

 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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Peach Kelli Pop - Close to You* - Lucky Star EP (Lauren)
Bad Hoo - Don’t Like People* - Right as Rain (Independent)
Bike Club - Where Do We Go On* - Find Romance (We Are Busy Bodies)
Wet Cigarette - Speed* - Uncut (Independent)
Mi’ens - Ice Cream Ponies* - Future Child (Kill Rock Stars)
Freak Heat Waves - Dripping Visions* - Zap the Planet (Telephone Explosion)
Teenanger - Touching Glass* - Good Time (Telephone Explosion)
New Fries - Bangs* - Is The Idea of Us (Telephone Explosion)
Pogo Car Crash Control - Qu’est-ce qui va pas* - Tete Bleme (Independent)
Pegboy - Never a Question - Fore EP (Quarterstick)
Dead Kennedys - Chicken Farm - Frankenchrist (Alternative Tentacles)
Mudhoney - Let it Slide - Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge (Sub Pop)
Ape War - Single Entendre* - EP 2020 (Independent)

Best of 2020: #9 - Crack Cloud - Pain Olympics (Meat Machine)

Vancouver's Crack Cloud were on my radar thanks to two stellar independent EPs, Crack Cloud in 2016 and Anchoring Point in 2017. Both EPs were full of spacy, dense post punk. Their debut full-length was, decidedly, not what I was expecting them to follow up with. It's got the post punk, but it's also mixed in and buried under with dance pop, spoken word, electronic soundscapes and noise rock. The band is a sprawling collective of musicians, performance artists and multimedia artists. The album merely captures the band's musical end: their live performances are a sight to behold, with multimedia to go along with the music and dance routines on stage while the band plays. The members are recovering or recovered drug addicts or people that struggled with mental illness, with performing and making music as a vital part of their healing. This isn't an album, it's a cathartic experience, one that takes you places you didn't think you'd be going when you started listening.

DNTTA Playlist for April 9, 2021

 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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Vanden Dool - The View From Here* - The View from Here (Independent)
Maandala - Hot Funk* - Second Circle (Independent)
Deep Covers - Repeater* - Dark World (Independent)
Die Scum Inc. - Vivisection* - Flight of the Infinite (Independent)
Harga Descending - Dreading Changes* - Communal Scream (Independent)
Mihai Popoviciu - El Classico - Motion Manifold (Poker Flat)
Acid Pauli - Life Polarizer - MOD (Oiue)
Nickelman - Shine - Butterwax (Urbnet)
West Indian Girl - Hollywood - West Indian Girl (Astralwerks)
Stereolab - Au Grand Jour - Switched On (Duophonic)
Microstoria - Per Format - _snd (Thrill Jockey)
Manitoba - Bijoux* - Up in Flames (Merge)

DNTTA Playlist for April 2, 2021

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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Itchy Self - Reprobate* - Here's the Rub (Celluloid Lunch)
Austra - Mountain Baby* - HiRUDiN (Pink Fizz)
DK5600 - Atmospheres Explosibles - Distancas Katrias 5600 (Bugs Crawling Out of People)
Operators - Control* - Blue Wave (Last Gang)
The Herbaliser - The Missing Suitcase - Very Mercenary (Ninja Tune)
Beck - Cold Brains - Cold Brains EP (DGC)
The Organ - Memorize the City* - Grab That Gun (Mint)
Showbusiness Giants - Vampire Hookers* - Let's Have a Talk with the Dead (Virgin)
Jennifer Castle - NYC* - Monarch Season (Idee Fixe)
Flaming Lips - Dinosaur on the Mountain - American Head (Warner)
Screaming Trees - More or Less - Sweet Oblivion (Universal)
Devastations - Rosa - Yes U (Beggar's Banquet)