Back in the 90s, industrial music was a cool thing. After Nine Inch Nails and their followers brought industrial into the public consciousness, every bald dude with a sampler and a drum machine was making industrial music. While some bands cashed in during the 90s, there were bands like Germany's Die Krupps who were grinding out industrial in the early 80s, long before it was cool.
The band wasn't well known outside of Europe (save for die hard rivetheads), but they suddenly became relatively well known after their album called A Tribute to Metallica was released in 1993. Back in the 90s, it was quite common to see industrial bands covering rock or pop tunes and "industrializing" them up. Cleopatra Records probably made more from this concept than from anything else they released, and I'm sad/proud to say I have quite a few of their industrial tribute comps in my own collection. Some of these, like KFMDM's cover of U2's "Mysterious Ways", were brilliant in their own way. Most, however, feel flat as fads do.
As an album, A Tribute to Metallica has it's own unique charms. Hearing Metallica's usual grinding, shredding guitars replaced by angular, pulsing electronics had a novel effect at one point. Sadly, this EP hasn't weathered the years well, but will remain as a neat touchstone when industrial music was being paid attention to.
http://youtu.be/FeoLnwM98aE
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Adam Cohen on music
Last week, while driving later at night, I caught part of an interview on Q with Adam Cohen, son of the legendary Leonard Cohen, talking about his father's influence on music and on Adam himself as a musician. Adam talked about music losing it's "cultural relevance", telling a story that when some thieves broke into his car, they didn't touch all the of the great music he had lying around on CD, but they took everything else they could grab. He said this was, in part, to music not being valued.
Adam has a point, but not because the thieves passed up his awesome CD collection. Music, like most types of media, is around and available for free (or almost free) more than ever in the age of the internet. Not only is copyrighted and legally released music pirated as soon as it's released, and made available in very easy to find ways, more and more artists have been releasing their music with little or no expectation of being compensated for what they do. Part of this is a need for a fan base. A band can put out their music on bandcamp or other service for free and people can come by and check it out with no expectation to buy it. This makes new fans quickly. But, is there an incentive to actually buy the music after sampling it for free?
In 2007, Radiohead caused a controversy by offering their album In Rainbows up on their website for "pay what you want". Fans could download the album then, if they wanted, send the band some money for the music. There was no expectation to pay for it though. The album was downloaded 1.2 million times. While Radiohead never released sales figures, they have said they did quite well with the strategy. Some critics say that Radiohead were cutting off their noses to spite their faces, offering up a critical and financial success of an album for basically nothing. This probably set the ball rolling for the free digital download we all enjoy today.
It's a hard road for any up and coming musician. You need people to consume your music, by buying it or by coming to a concert, but few people will take chances on an unknown quantity. Offering up music for free may get you heard, but it takes food out of your mouth.
Adam Cohen was right about music being less culturally relevant, in as much as we've begun to consider music not as something we need to pay for, but as something that we are deserved for free. In addition, the age of the album is slowly starting to disappear. Music is much more ephemeral, with artists riding more and more on a hot single rather than a hot album, sometimes to disappear after they're not the flavour of the month anymore. One can't fault the thieves for not stealing his TV on the Radio CDs, not because they didn't know who they were or know how awesome their music was. Rather, the thieves were interested in monetary value, not cultural value. Making money on music is a hard slog now, both as a musician and as a thief. No one will buy something that they can get for free, unless the artist is offering something of quality, and something that is well known. It's less a cultural issue than a changing musical financial landscape. Until there's a better model of how to market and sell music in a digital age, the CD, the album and the physicality of music will be a relic to all but music collectors and avid fans, like me and Adam.
Adam has a point, but not because the thieves passed up his awesome CD collection. Music, like most types of media, is around and available for free (or almost free) more than ever in the age of the internet. Not only is copyrighted and legally released music pirated as soon as it's released, and made available in very easy to find ways, more and more artists have been releasing their music with little or no expectation of being compensated for what they do. Part of this is a need for a fan base. A band can put out their music on bandcamp or other service for free and people can come by and check it out with no expectation to buy it. This makes new fans quickly. But, is there an incentive to actually buy the music after sampling it for free?
In 2007, Radiohead caused a controversy by offering their album In Rainbows up on their website for "pay what you want". Fans could download the album then, if they wanted, send the band some money for the music. There was no expectation to pay for it though. The album was downloaded 1.2 million times. While Radiohead never released sales figures, they have said they did quite well with the strategy. Some critics say that Radiohead were cutting off their noses to spite their faces, offering up a critical and financial success of an album for basically nothing. This probably set the ball rolling for the free digital download we all enjoy today.
It's a hard road for any up and coming musician. You need people to consume your music, by buying it or by coming to a concert, but few people will take chances on an unknown quantity. Offering up music for free may get you heard, but it takes food out of your mouth.
Adam Cohen was right about music being less culturally relevant, in as much as we've begun to consider music not as something we need to pay for, but as something that we are deserved for free. In addition, the age of the album is slowly starting to disappear. Music is much more ephemeral, with artists riding more and more on a hot single rather than a hot album, sometimes to disappear after they're not the flavour of the month anymore. One can't fault the thieves for not stealing his TV on the Radio CDs, not because they didn't know who they were or know how awesome their music was. Rather, the thieves were interested in monetary value, not cultural value. Making money on music is a hard slog now, both as a musician and as a thief. No one will buy something that they can get for free, unless the artist is offering something of quality, and something that is well known. It's less a cultural issue than a changing musical financial landscape. Until there's a better model of how to market and sell music in a digital age, the CD, the album and the physicality of music will be a relic to all but music collectors and avid fans, like me and Adam.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Canadian Indie Band Round Up #2
Has it really been a year since I featured three up and coming Canadian indy bands? Let's fix that right away. Here's three Canadian acts you need to check out:
1) Foam Lake
Foam Lake are seasoned veterans of the Canadian indy rock scene, having been in bands like The Blood Lines, Slow Down Molasses and The Warbrides. Foam Lake just put out their debut album, Force and Matter, in November 2011.
The band sound a lot like Wire crossed with Depeche Mode. They have solid post-punk and indy rock sensibilities, and add in a nice flourish of electronics in many places in their first album.
http://foamlakeband.com/
2) Rob Crooks
From Winnipeg, Rob Crooks plays a noisy mix of indy rock with plenty of experimentation. As a member of hip-hop collective Magnum K.I,, he made some intriguing hip-hop. Hearts, his 2012 release, sees him abandon hip-hop (for the most part) for oddball experimentation, feedback and singer-songwriter sensibilities. Thing of him as a low-rent, mosquito bitten Canadian version of Beck and you have a close approximation as to how he sounds.
http://www.robcrooks.com/
3) House of Daggers
From Vancouver, House of Daggers is a collaboration between DJ Tone and alt-pop singer Nothingilistic. Nothingilistic has released three albums of weirdly skewed pop so far, but House of Daggers is a dirty, dancable mix of electro-rock. Having been familiar with Nothingilistic's career to date, House of Daggers sounds like nothing he'd produce ever. It's a fascinating departure and the music is driving, noisy and challenging. Their debut EP is called Lightning Swords of Death.
http://www.myspace.com/565073443
http://youtu.be/_Vu7dExkmiI
1) Foam Lake
Foam Lake are seasoned veterans of the Canadian indy rock scene, having been in bands like The Blood Lines, Slow Down Molasses and The Warbrides. Foam Lake just put out their debut album, Force and Matter, in November 2011.
The band sound a lot like Wire crossed with Depeche Mode. They have solid post-punk and indy rock sensibilities, and add in a nice flourish of electronics in many places in their first album.
http://foamlakeband.com/
2) Rob Crooks
From Winnipeg, Rob Crooks plays a noisy mix of indy rock with plenty of experimentation. As a member of hip-hop collective Magnum K.I,, he made some intriguing hip-hop. Hearts, his 2012 release, sees him abandon hip-hop (for the most part) for oddball experimentation, feedback and singer-songwriter sensibilities. Thing of him as a low-rent, mosquito bitten Canadian version of Beck and you have a close approximation as to how he sounds.
http://www.robcrooks.com/
3) House of Daggers
From Vancouver, House of Daggers is a collaboration between DJ Tone and alt-pop singer Nothingilistic. Nothingilistic has released three albums of weirdly skewed pop so far, but House of Daggers is a dirty, dancable mix of electro-rock. Having been familiar with Nothingilistic's career to date, House of Daggers sounds like nothing he'd produce ever. It's a fascinating departure and the music is driving, noisy and challenging. Their debut EP is called Lightning Swords of Death.
http://www.myspace.com/565073443
http://youtu.be/_Vu7dExkmiI
Monday, May 7, 2012
Forgotten Music #13: The Cramps - "Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon"
This is the last repost of Forgotten Music from my livejournal. The next installment will be all new content!
RIP Lux Interior.
---
The Cramps are one of the best bands ever to play psychobilly and horror-punk. Cited by some as the inventors of psychobilly, a style of music that merged rockabilly with punk, The Cramps formed in 1976 in New York City. The band had a rotating membership, but always used the core of vocalist Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy. Active in the early CBGB's punk scene, The Cramps released their landmark first album, Songs the Lord Taught Us, in 1979. They recorded and toured steadily up until Lux Interior's death early in 2009.
I became aware of this band late in their career, after hearing the 1990 album Stay Sick at CKUL. I fell in love with their sound and look immediately. They combined the visuals of 50s rock with B-movie horror film and sleazy erotica. Poison Ivy often posed in skin-tight vinyl and played her guitar in a sensual way. At the time, "Bikini Girls With Machine Guns" was making its way up the college charts, but "Creature From the Black Leather Lagoon"'s manic approach really appealed to me. The video is one of the most playfully demented things I've ever seen. If you like this, go listen to "Human Fly" and especially "Garbage Man", featuring Ivy in skin-tight gold pants!
http://youtu.be/Zt4lf6aR15Y
RIP Lux Interior.
---
The Cramps are one of the best bands ever to play psychobilly and horror-punk. Cited by some as the inventors of psychobilly, a style of music that merged rockabilly with punk, The Cramps formed in 1976 in New York City. The band had a rotating membership, but always used the core of vocalist Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy. Active in the early CBGB's punk scene, The Cramps released their landmark first album, Songs the Lord Taught Us, in 1979. They recorded and toured steadily up until Lux Interior's death early in 2009.
I became aware of this band late in their career, after hearing the 1990 album Stay Sick at CKUL. I fell in love with their sound and look immediately. They combined the visuals of 50s rock with B-movie horror film and sleazy erotica. Poison Ivy often posed in skin-tight vinyl and played her guitar in a sensual way. At the time, "Bikini Girls With Machine Guns" was making its way up the college charts, but "Creature From the Black Leather Lagoon"'s manic approach really appealed to me. The video is one of the most playfully demented things I've ever seen. If you like this, go listen to "Human Fly" and especially "Garbage Man", featuring Ivy in skin-tight gold pants!
http://youtu.be/Zt4lf6aR15Y
Friday, March 30, 2012
The problem with Cancon
I complain about Cancon laws a lot, but I'm glad we have laws that protect Canadian culture. The problem with the laws is the way they're implemented, which encourages laziness, especially in the commercial radio sector. I got another clear indication of this in the past few weeks.
One of the problems is that Canadian commercial radio rarely throws its weight behind a genuine Canadian artist. The only time this happens is when American radio picks up on a Canadian artist, then the Canadian stations really start pouring out the love for the artist. Admittedly, this can be hard to track just from listening to a Canadian commercial station. The proof in the pudding comes in the Top 40 Charts.
Two weeks ago, Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen cracked the Top 20 singles on Billboard, the American Top 40 singles charts. Before this, Jepsen was a token Canadian hovering in the low teens on the Canadian Top 40 singles charts. It's actually pretty rare for any Canadian artist to crack the Top 5 in Canada. I know this because I log both the US and Canadian charts each week as part of my job, and for the last year, I've been blogging about the Top 40 Canadian commercial charts on this very blog. Now, once the US charts got behind Jepsen and started playing her, the Canadian charts immediately responded, The week Jepsen cracked the US Top 20, Jepsen shot up to #3 on the Canadian charts. Before this, it had been at least a year and a half since a Canadian artist cracked the Top 5 in Canada.
Here is the reluctance of Canadian radio to play Canadian artists, and truly support them, laid out in black and white. It's very rare to see an truly Canadian grown artist get support on Canadian radio in the form of chart action. The last artist I can think of that we grew ourselves was Jann Arden. It usually takes US radio saying, "Hey, this is pretty good, we'll play it!" before we are able to say, "Hey, you know, this Canadian artist is pretty good! We'll play it too!". It's almost like commercial radio says, "We're not sure if we can support this Canadian act. Let's play some more American acts we know will work before we take a chance on this one." Why can't we say, "This is a great artist. Who cares if they're Canadian or not, we'll play them!"
One of the problems is that Canadian commercial radio rarely throws its weight behind a genuine Canadian artist. The only time this happens is when American radio picks up on a Canadian artist, then the Canadian stations really start pouring out the love for the artist. Admittedly, this can be hard to track just from listening to a Canadian commercial station. The proof in the pudding comes in the Top 40 Charts.
Two weeks ago, Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen cracked the Top 20 singles on Billboard, the American Top 40 singles charts. Before this, Jepsen was a token Canadian hovering in the low teens on the Canadian Top 40 singles charts. It's actually pretty rare for any Canadian artist to crack the Top 5 in Canada. I know this because I log both the US and Canadian charts each week as part of my job, and for the last year, I've been blogging about the Top 40 Canadian commercial charts on this very blog. Now, once the US charts got behind Jepsen and started playing her, the Canadian charts immediately responded, The week Jepsen cracked the US Top 20, Jepsen shot up to #3 on the Canadian charts. Before this, it had been at least a year and a half since a Canadian artist cracked the Top 5 in Canada.
Here is the reluctance of Canadian radio to play Canadian artists, and truly support them, laid out in black and white. It's very rare to see an truly Canadian grown artist get support on Canadian radio in the form of chart action. The last artist I can think of that we grew ourselves was Jann Arden. It usually takes US radio saying, "Hey, this is pretty good, we'll play it!" before we are able to say, "Hey, you know, this Canadian artist is pretty good! We'll play it too!". It's almost like commercial radio says, "We're not sure if we can support this Canadian act. Let's play some more American acts we know will work before we take a chance on this one." Why can't we say, "This is a great artist. Who cares if they're Canadian or not, we'll play them!"
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
My Top 20 Disks
I was talking with my girlfriend about this last night, I think it bears re-posting,
--
Not necessarily the best albums in the world, but 20 albums that changed how I view music:
Growing up, grade school and junior high
1) To it and At it - Stompin' Tom Connors (1973): I grew up on old classic country like George Jones, Conway Twitty, Charlie Pride, Porter Wagoner and Loretta Lynn. But this was my favourite as a kid. It's just a fun album and sing song enough to appeal to a kid. The title track is absolutely infectious. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVjWCwZ8MI8
2) Highway to Hell - AC/DC (1979): I got this in Grade 7 as a secret Santa Xmas present from a friend I figured traded in the classroom to get my name for the gift (Thanks Andrew!) This was one of the first albums I ever owned and started me down the road to liking metal, if you call this and Def Leppard metal... I'll admit, my cousin who was living with us at the time also influenced me into metal. The funniest thing I remember about this album is how I didn't understand anything anyone said. I listened to the album on headphones many many times trying to figure out the lyrics, then suddenly, something clicked and I understood them.
3) The Cars - Heartbeat City (1984): In junior high, I started reviewing music for the school newspaper. The Cars were one of the first albums I reviewed and one of the first albums I owned on tape. I count this album as my introduction to new wave and the start of my life long love of the genre.
4) Rush - Grace Under Pressure (1984): This was the soundtrack to my junior high days. I never really enjoyed Rush's progressive stuff, but their synth-drenched stuff from the 80s appealed to me. I loved the video for "Distant Early Warning".
Senior High and Early College
5) Devo - Freedom of Choice (1980): I heard this for the first time in 1986 and it changed my life. I learned a lot about music during my grad years in 1986-87. New wave at it's finest. This album taught me that music didn't have to be generic to be good and that I didn't have to like everything else my peers liked. Devo's anti-establishment, geek-culture style appealed to me deeply at the time, and still does to a certain extent. Some of what they say becomes truer as each day goes by.
6) Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bullocks (1979): More music I heard for the first time in my grad year. I had never heard music so angry before. This, along with #7, got me into a brief punk phase which I grew out of really quickly.
7) The Ramones - Rocket to Russia (1978): More punk, this appealed to me because it was angry, melodic and kind of goofy. I'm less of a Ramones fan now, but this album affected me quite a bit.
8) Depeche Mode - Black Celebration (1986): Late 80s music was hair metal and the start of the shoegazer movement. Black Celebration spoke to this confused and depressed teenager a bit more than Jesus and Mary Chain's "Psychocandy" which was also in high rotation at this time.
9) Men Without Hats - Folk of the 80s Part III (1984): My intro to synth-pop. Driving, insistent and insanely catchy. I still love this band dearly, despite them being seen as a joke by most people.
10/11) Big Black - Atomizer (1986)/Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel - Hole (1984): A friend of mine gave me an unlabelled tape with both of these albums on it. I had no idea who or what I was listening to, but it changed me. The music was offensive and talked about things that no normal human being would talk about. This was my first introduction to industrial music, though I didn't know what it was at the time.
University, College Radio and Beyond
12) REM - Green (1988): One of my go to albums during my first years of university, melodic, moody and a bit frothy. Not a great album, but it was a fave at the time.
13) Skinny Puppy - VIVIsect VI (1988): My other go to album from university. It was my solace against the constant crap music my roommate played, who liked Lee Aaron, Honeymoon Suite and Alice Cooper. Depressing and violent, fit my disturbed mood at the time perfectly and it was another step along the road to my love of industrial.
14) Ministry - Land of Rape and Honey (1988): If I could pick one album that changed my life, I'd pick this one. A friend introduced me to Ministry in my first year in university and I fell in love with industrial (thanks Craig!). This album had the perfect balance between primal rage and musical precision. It remains one of my favourite albums of all time.
15) Elvis Costello - Blood and Chocolate (1986): This is the other album that I'd pick that changed my life. A friend at the college radio station lent it to me and the earnestness of the songwriting and rawness and ramshackle nature of Elvis's music spoke to me like nothing had before. It really took me a while to twig onto his work, I didn't buy my first Elvis Costello album until 1993, and it was one of his lesser albums, "Spike", but now he's my favourite musician of all time. I own every album he's put out.
16) Talking Heads - Fear of Music (1979): After I got into college radio, my tastes in music really expanded. I had discounted the Heads as a one hit wonder, but when I began to listen to their catalogue, I quickly changed my mind. The texture and feel of this album falls together so easily and flawlessly, it's hard not to love it.
17) The Pixies - Doolittle (1989): Not much needs to be said about this album. Perfect mix of quiet and loud. Shaped music for years to come.
18) The Beatles - Rubber Soul (1964): Hard to believe I didn't get into the Beatles until the 90s, but that's the truth. This was the first Beatles album I owned (given as a gift, thanks K!). I own every Beatles album after it now, but nothing before it. It's beautiful in it's own oddly structured way. Abbey Road is my fave Beatles album, but this was my first.
19) Pan Sonic - Aaltopirii (2001): My first real excursion into electronic minimalism. This album is stark, composed mainly of static, sparks and drones with no lyrics. Altered again the way I look at music and how it's constructed
20) Polysics - Hey! Bob! My Friend! (2001): Polysics are my current obsession. They take the oddball new wave sound of Devo and add in the energy of hardcore punk. Both Dadaist and rump-shaking at the same time.
Honourable mentions: Excitable Boy - Warren Zevon, Straight Outta Compton - N.W.A., Beck - Sea Change, Cub - Betti-Cola, They Might Be Giants - Flood.
--
Not necessarily the best albums in the world, but 20 albums that changed how I view music:
Growing up, grade school and junior high
1) To it and At it - Stompin' Tom Connors (1973): I grew up on old classic country like George Jones, Conway Twitty, Charlie Pride, Porter Wagoner and Loretta Lynn. But this was my favourite as a kid. It's just a fun album and sing song enough to appeal to a kid. The title track is absolutely infectious. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVjWCwZ8MI8
2) Highway to Hell - AC/DC (1979): I got this in Grade 7 as a secret Santa Xmas present from a friend I figured traded in the classroom to get my name for the gift (Thanks Andrew!) This was one of the first albums I ever owned and started me down the road to liking metal, if you call this and Def Leppard metal... I'll admit, my cousin who was living with us at the time also influenced me into metal. The funniest thing I remember about this album is how I didn't understand anything anyone said. I listened to the album on headphones many many times trying to figure out the lyrics, then suddenly, something clicked and I understood them.
3) The Cars - Heartbeat City (1984): In junior high, I started reviewing music for the school newspaper. The Cars were one of the first albums I reviewed and one of the first albums I owned on tape. I count this album as my introduction to new wave and the start of my life long love of the genre.
4) Rush - Grace Under Pressure (1984): This was the soundtrack to my junior high days. I never really enjoyed Rush's progressive stuff, but their synth-drenched stuff from the 80s appealed to me. I loved the video for "Distant Early Warning".
Senior High and Early College
5) Devo - Freedom of Choice (1980): I heard this for the first time in 1986 and it changed my life. I learned a lot about music during my grad years in 1986-87. New wave at it's finest. This album taught me that music didn't have to be generic to be good and that I didn't have to like everything else my peers liked. Devo's anti-establishment, geek-culture style appealed to me deeply at the time, and still does to a certain extent. Some of what they say becomes truer as each day goes by.
6) Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bullocks (1979): More music I heard for the first time in my grad year. I had never heard music so angry before. This, along with #7, got me into a brief punk phase which I grew out of really quickly.
7) The Ramones - Rocket to Russia (1978): More punk, this appealed to me because it was angry, melodic and kind of goofy. I'm less of a Ramones fan now, but this album affected me quite a bit.
8) Depeche Mode - Black Celebration (1986): Late 80s music was hair metal and the start of the shoegazer movement. Black Celebration spoke to this confused and depressed teenager a bit more than Jesus and Mary Chain's "Psychocandy" which was also in high rotation at this time.
9) Men Without Hats - Folk of the 80s Part III (1984): My intro to synth-pop. Driving, insistent and insanely catchy. I still love this band dearly, despite them being seen as a joke by most people.
10/11) Big Black - Atomizer (1986)/Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel - Hole (1984): A friend of mine gave me an unlabelled tape with both of these albums on it. I had no idea who or what I was listening to, but it changed me. The music was offensive and talked about things that no normal human being would talk about. This was my first introduction to industrial music, though I didn't know what it was at the time.
University, College Radio and Beyond
12) REM - Green (1988): One of my go to albums during my first years of university, melodic, moody and a bit frothy. Not a great album, but it was a fave at the time.
13) Skinny Puppy - VIVIsect VI (1988): My other go to album from university. It was my solace against the constant crap music my roommate played, who liked Lee Aaron, Honeymoon Suite and Alice Cooper. Depressing and violent, fit my disturbed mood at the time perfectly and it was another step along the road to my love of industrial.
14) Ministry - Land of Rape and Honey (1988): If I could pick one album that changed my life, I'd pick this one. A friend introduced me to Ministry in my first year in university and I fell in love with industrial (thanks Craig!). This album had the perfect balance between primal rage and musical precision. It remains one of my favourite albums of all time.
15) Elvis Costello - Blood and Chocolate (1986): This is the other album that I'd pick that changed my life. A friend at the college radio station lent it to me and the earnestness of the songwriting and rawness and ramshackle nature of Elvis's music spoke to me like nothing had before. It really took me a while to twig onto his work, I didn't buy my first Elvis Costello album until 1993, and it was one of his lesser albums, "Spike", but now he's my favourite musician of all time. I own every album he's put out.
16) Talking Heads - Fear of Music (1979): After I got into college radio, my tastes in music really expanded. I had discounted the Heads as a one hit wonder, but when I began to listen to their catalogue, I quickly changed my mind. The texture and feel of this album falls together so easily and flawlessly, it's hard not to love it.
17) The Pixies - Doolittle (1989): Not much needs to be said about this album. Perfect mix of quiet and loud. Shaped music for years to come.
18) The Beatles - Rubber Soul (1964): Hard to believe I didn't get into the Beatles until the 90s, but that's the truth. This was the first Beatles album I owned (given as a gift, thanks K!). I own every Beatles album after it now, but nothing before it. It's beautiful in it's own oddly structured way. Abbey Road is my fave Beatles album, but this was my first.
19) Pan Sonic - Aaltopirii (2001): My first real excursion into electronic minimalism. This album is stark, composed mainly of static, sparks and drones with no lyrics. Altered again the way I look at music and how it's constructed
20) Polysics - Hey! Bob! My Friend! (2001): Polysics are my current obsession. They take the oddball new wave sound of Devo and add in the energy of hardcore punk. Both Dadaist and rump-shaking at the same time.
Honourable mentions: Excitable Boy - Warren Zevon, Straight Outta Compton - N.W.A., Beck - Sea Change, Cub - Betti-Cola, They Might Be Giants - Flood.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
RIP Christopher Reimer
His name may not be well known, but Chris Reimer put his stamp on many western indy rock fans souls. Reimer died in his sleep at the age of 26. Reimer was a member of the much loved, noise and drone rock band Women, who had released a landmark album back in 2010 called Public Strain. I named it one of my favourite albums of 2010. He was also a member of the electro/noise/rock band Azeda Booth.
It's not know what Reimer died of, but he did have an irregular heartbeat and sleep apnea. His family have set up a blog and music bursary in his name. If you have anything to add to remember the legacy of Reimer's contributions to the Calgary and Canadian indy rock scene, please post:
http://christopherjohnjosephreimer.com/
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2012/02/22/christopher-reimer-tributes/
http://youtu.be/-LElqwoBOJE
It's not know what Reimer died of, but he did have an irregular heartbeat and sleep apnea. His family have set up a blog and music bursary in his name. If you have anything to add to remember the legacy of Reimer's contributions to the Calgary and Canadian indy rock scene, please post:
http://christopherjohnjosephreimer.com/
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2012/02/22/christopher-reimer-tributes/
http://youtu.be/-LElqwoBOJE
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