From UK's Q Magazine:
50. Steve Mason - Boys Outside
49. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
48. Edwyn Collins - Losing Sleep
47. Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History
46. Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me
45. Cherry Ghost - Beneath This Burning Shoreline
44. Villagers - Becoming A Jackal
43. Skream - Outside The Box
42. Tom Jones - Praise & Blame
41. Belle And Sebastian - Write About Love
40. Peter Gabriel - Scratch My Back
39. I Am Kloot - Sky At Night
38. Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid
37. The Coral - Butterfly House
36. The Roots - How I Got Over
35. Everything Everything - Man Alive
34. The Dead Weather - Sea Of Cowards
33. Tricky - Mixed Race
32. The Drums - The Drums
31. The Chemical Brothers - Further
30. Brandon Flowers - Flamingo
29. Interpol - Interpol
28. Avi Buffalo - Avi Buffalo
27. Midlake - The Courage Of Others
26. Klaxons - Surfing The Void
25. Kings Of Leon - Come Around Sundown
24. Bryan Ferry - Olympia
23. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
22. Corinne Bailey Rae - The Sea
21. Band Of Horses - Infinite Arms
20. Take That - Progress
19. Grinderman - Grinderman 2
18. Manic Street Preachers - Postcards From A Young Man
17. John Legend & The Roots - Wake Up!
16. Foals - Total Life Forever
15. Yeasayer - Odd Blood
14. Hot Chip - One Life Stand
13. Beach House - Teen Dream
12. Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here
11. The Black Keys - Brothers
10. MGMT - Congratulations
9. Paul Weller - Wake Up The Nation
8. The National - High Violet
7. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
6. John Grant - Queen Of Denmark
5. Vampire Weekend - Contra
4. Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can
3. Plan B - The Defamation Of The Strickland Banks
2. Robert Plant - Band Of Joy
1. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Oddball covers
One aspect of music I love is strange covers. Like people who have no business covering other songs. Like William Shatner covering Pulp's "Common People". Sometimes I run across a cover song so strange that I have to expose it or play it on my radio show. I've talked about the Slits covering "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" earlier.
One fun thing is finding a song you didn't know was a cover. A fellow music lover tipped me off to a Youtube user called funktuall, who specializes in tracking down samples in hip-hop, but also has several videos featuring covers you didn't know were covers. Here's the first edition.
Two of my favourites: Joan Jett's "I Love Rock and Roll" was first done by 70s rock band The Arrows, and Blondie's "Tide is High" is an early reggae single from the Paragons:
As a total sidebar, here's John Holt of the Paragons doing "Ali Baba", one of my favourite reggae tunes:
One fun thing is finding a song you didn't know was a cover. A fellow music lover tipped me off to a Youtube user called funktuall, who specializes in tracking down samples in hip-hop, but also has several videos featuring covers you didn't know were covers. Here's the first edition.
Two of my favourites: Joan Jett's "I Love Rock and Roll" was first done by 70s rock band The Arrows, and Blondie's "Tide is High" is an early reggae single from the Paragons:
As a total sidebar, here's John Holt of the Paragons doing "Ali Baba", one of my favourite reggae tunes:
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Symphony Sale for November
Every six months or so, the Kamloops Symphony holds a used book and music sale. The November sale just finished up. I always go, though I never find anything spectacular, I usually find a couple of interesting things. This year, I found the "Cat People" score by Giorgio Moroder and a beat up copy of "Thunder in the East" by obscure Japanese hair-metallers Loudness. It also gives me a chance to indulge my other collecting hobby: maps and altases. I picked up a road atlas of the UK and Ireland, and a road gazetteer of Australia put out in 1969 by an Australian oil company, Ampol.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Canadian Top 40 Cancon Roundup for November 25, 2010
In the Top 40: Nelly Furtado (highest charting Canadian at #14), JRDN, Fefe Dobson, Michael Buble, Johnny Reid, Shawn Desman, My Darkest Days, Finger Eleven, Fefe Dobson (again), Down with Webster, Marianas Trench (11/40= about 27%, still under the 35% needed for Cancon regs)
Interesting bits: Nothing much in the Canadian charts, but Cee-Lo Green's "Forget You/F**k You" climbed into the Top 10 singles this week. This song is a pox on music right now. It's not clever, it's crude and annoying. Cee-Lo has made good music (like with Gnarls Barkley), but this is an awful song. It's not even good parody. And the Glee version is at #11 on the US charts. As predicted, the 4 Glee songs from last week slid right out of the Top 30 (still one in the low 30s, a cover of Teenage Dream).
Interesting bits: Nothing much in the Canadian charts, but Cee-Lo Green's "Forget You/F**k You" climbed into the Top 10 singles this week. This song is a pox on music right now. It's not clever, it's crude and annoying. Cee-Lo has made good music (like with Gnarls Barkley), but this is an awful song. It's not even good parody. And the Glee version is at #11 on the US charts. As predicted, the 4 Glee songs from last week slid right out of the Top 30 (still one in the low 30s, a cover of Teenage Dream).
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Rediscovering Country Music
My parents were big country music fans. I grew up listening to it, and disliking it. Though, in the past 10 years or so, I've gained a lot of respect for the genre and the early performers of the music. The less said about the pop music currently masquerading as country, the better, in my opinion.
Mom liked George Jones, Charlie Pride, Dolly Parton and Porter Wagonner for the most part. Dad liked Conway Twitty. Both disliked the so-called "outlaw movement" (Cash, Nelson, Jennings, etc.). After revisiting these artists, I have a deep respect for the work of George Jones. No one can touch him as a vocalist. His voice is so earnest, the emotion in his work is almost palpable. Patsy Cline also had an amazing voice, innocent and experienced at the same time.
One thing, I've been discovering lately is the humour in a lot of country music. Jones has a wonderful track called White Lightning that makes me smile every time I hear it. A lot of clever novelty music came out in the 60s that tended to be associated with country music. I'm sure everyone my age growing up had a copy of one of those Goofy Greats or Wacky Wonders albums. One of the mainstays was Roger Miller's "You Can't Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd":
Miller's work straddled novelty and conventional country. His biggest hit was "King of the Road", a fairly mainstream sounding country act and a song I associate with my youth. My family used to travel across the country in an old station wagon, eating at gas station diners, and "King of the Road" reminds me of the people we might meet at these places, and some of the food we ate too.
Miller's creativeness is more apparent in his novelty tracks though. Besides "Buffalo Herd", he's had minor hits with "Do Wacka Do", "Chug a Lug", "Dang Me" and, a recent discovery of mine, "My Uncle Used to Love Me But She Died". I came across this song due to some live footage from country act The Sweetback Sisters, and I tracked it back to Miller.
Roger Miller is close to me for one main reason, the song "England Swings". One of my most fond memories is my grandmother rocking me on her legs singing "England Swings" to me. The song always makes me smile.
As a footnote, I got very confused when discovering Roger Miller's name for the first time. As I'm sometimes wont to do, I discover mainstream artists through more obscure artists. I found the band Mission of Burma back in the late 80s when I first started in community radio, then discovered the side project No Man, who usually put on their albums "No Man is Roger Miller". I thought Roger Miller was part of the name of the band, but Roger Miller is also the name of the guitarist of Mission of Burma. So, was the band referring to the country singer or the guitarist? And who was this country singer that was being referred to by a post-punk band? Yes, I rediscovered Roger Miller (the country artist) through Mission of Burma, not the other way around.
Mom liked George Jones, Charlie Pride, Dolly Parton and Porter Wagonner for the most part. Dad liked Conway Twitty. Both disliked the so-called "outlaw movement" (Cash, Nelson, Jennings, etc.). After revisiting these artists, I have a deep respect for the work of George Jones. No one can touch him as a vocalist. His voice is so earnest, the emotion in his work is almost palpable. Patsy Cline also had an amazing voice, innocent and experienced at the same time.
One thing, I've been discovering lately is the humour in a lot of country music. Jones has a wonderful track called White Lightning that makes me smile every time I hear it. A lot of clever novelty music came out in the 60s that tended to be associated with country music. I'm sure everyone my age growing up had a copy of one of those Goofy Greats or Wacky Wonders albums. One of the mainstays was Roger Miller's "You Can't Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd":
Miller's work straddled novelty and conventional country. His biggest hit was "King of the Road", a fairly mainstream sounding country act and a song I associate with my youth. My family used to travel across the country in an old station wagon, eating at gas station diners, and "King of the Road" reminds me of the people we might meet at these places, and some of the food we ate too.
Miller's creativeness is more apparent in his novelty tracks though. Besides "Buffalo Herd", he's had minor hits with "Do Wacka Do", "Chug a Lug", "Dang Me" and, a recent discovery of mine, "My Uncle Used to Love Me But She Died". I came across this song due to some live footage from country act The Sweetback Sisters, and I tracked it back to Miller.
Roger Miller is close to me for one main reason, the song "England Swings". One of my most fond memories is my grandmother rocking me on her legs singing "England Swings" to me. The song always makes me smile.
As a footnote, I got very confused when discovering Roger Miller's name for the first time. As I'm sometimes wont to do, I discover mainstream artists through more obscure artists. I found the band Mission of Burma back in the late 80s when I first started in community radio, then discovered the side project No Man, who usually put on their albums "No Man is Roger Miller". I thought Roger Miller was part of the name of the band, but Roger Miller is also the name of the guitarist of Mission of Burma. So, was the band referring to the country singer or the guitarist? And who was this country singer that was being referred to by a post-punk band? Yes, I rediscovered Roger Miller (the country artist) through Mission of Burma, not the other way around.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Indie Band Roundup #3
Time for three more unsigned Canadian bands you need to check out!
The SSRIs: This is a new band from Vancouver that plays an upbeat and almost-dancy style of noise rock. They've been around in the Vancouver scene for about 4 years and have just released their debut full length, amusingly titled "Effeminate Godzilla-Sized Windchimes". There's a link to download their music on their website.
It Kills: This three-piece from Halifax plays a dense mix of pop, jazz and drones. They've just released a self-titled independent album. They remind me a bit of Fond of Tigers or a jazzier Mogwai.
Mid Pines: Mid Pines is a minimalist electronic project fronted by Laura Bell, who lives in Ontario somewhere. There's almost no information online about this project, and seemingly nowhere to buy her album, called "Unmeasure". But, there is a review here. If you manage to find this album, let me know so I can get myself a copy!
The SSRIs: This is a new band from Vancouver that plays an upbeat and almost-dancy style of noise rock. They've been around in the Vancouver scene for about 4 years and have just released their debut full length, amusingly titled "Effeminate Godzilla-Sized Windchimes". There's a link to download their music on their website.
It Kills: This three-piece from Halifax plays a dense mix of pop, jazz and drones. They've just released a self-titled independent album. They remind me a bit of Fond of Tigers or a jazzier Mogwai.
Mid Pines: Mid Pines is a minimalist electronic project fronted by Laura Bell, who lives in Ontario somewhere. There's almost no information online about this project, and seemingly nowhere to buy her album, called "Unmeasure". But, there is a review here. If you manage to find this album, let me know so I can get myself a copy!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Canadian Top 40 Cancon Roundup for November 18, 2010
Two things first. Turns out Edward Maya isn't Canadian. He's Romanian. So Cancon on Top 40 radio is even lower than what I thought it was. Second, the Glee Cast has four songs debuting in the American Top 40 this week. I can almost guarantee they won't be there next week. I feel a turgid, spit-flecked rant about Glee coming on...
In the Top 40 this week: Nelly Furtado (top Canadian at #12), Michael Buble, JRDN, Shawn Desman, Johnny Ried, Fefe Dobson (twice), Down with Webster, Finger Eleven, Sweet Thing (10/40, 25%, well below the neede 35% Cancon).
No weirdness on the charts this week, though I will note it's been about 6 weeks since any Canadian artist was in the Top 10 singles. Isn't Canadian radio supposed to be championing Canadian music?
In the Top 40 this week: Nelly Furtado (top Canadian at #12), Michael Buble, JRDN, Shawn Desman, Johnny Ried, Fefe Dobson (twice), Down with Webster, Finger Eleven, Sweet Thing (10/40, 25%, well below the neede 35% Cancon).
No weirdness on the charts this week, though I will note it's been about 6 weeks since any Canadian artist was in the Top 10 singles. Isn't Canadian radio supposed to be championing Canadian music?
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