Saturday, January 4, 2020

Who We Lost in 2019

Every year, I try to highlight some of the musicians that have passed away in the past twelve month. This isn't a complete list, but I do try to focus on the Canadian musicians (marked with an asterisk) that have passed away.

Randy Nauert (The Bel-Airs)
Fred Foster
Doug Sandorn (The Who)
Hal Blaine (The Wrecking Crew)
David Zafer*
Dave Samuels (Spyro Gyra)
JR Cobb (Atlanta Rhythm Section)
Doris Day
Mike Wilhelm (Flamin' Groovies)
Dennis Famon*
Ralph Murphy*
Dr. John
Bushwick Bill (Geto Boys)
Adam Litovitz*
Jerry Carrigan
Dave Bartholomew
Ian Gibbons (The Kinks)
Katreese Barnes (Juicy)
Lizzie Grey (London)
Mitch Podolak*
Rita Steblin*
Jimmy Johson (Muscle Shoals)
Eddie Money
Robert Hunter (Grateful Dead)
Larry Junstrom (38 Special)
Doug Lubahn (Clear Light)
Martin Armiger (The Sports)
Jerry Naylor (The Crickets)
Leon Cole*
Juice WRLD
Robert Creech*

Top 10 Albums for 2019

1) METZ - Automat (Sub Pop)
2) Orville Peck - Pony (Royal Mountain)
3) Goon - Heaven is Humming (Partisan)
4) Snapped Ankles - Stunning Luxury (Leaf)
5) Kim Gordon - No Home Record (Matador)
6) Fontaines DC - Dogrel (Partisan)
7) Necking - Cut Your Teeth (Mint)
8) Girl Band - The Talkies (Rough Trade)
9) Ride - This is Not a Safe Place (Wichita)
10) Anemone - Beat My Distance (Luminelle)

Honourable Mentions: Dumb - Club Nites (Mint), Black Midi - Schlagenheim (Rough Trade), Beck - Hyperspace (Capitol), Black Mountain - Destroyer (Dine Alone), Lungbutter - Honey (Constellation)

Monday, December 30, 2019

Best of 2018 #1: Idles - Joy as an Act of Resistance (Partisan Records)

This band is a rare one that I discovered not in Canadian campus radio, but at KEXP in Seattle. I tend to listen to KEXP when work is slow, or I have nothing to do at home but clean up the house or play video games. Every time this band came on, I had to stop what I was doing and see what the heck the song was that was playing. Idles, from the UK, are a hybrid of post-punk precision, punk-rock bravado and working class British values. Their second album has a cocky swagger to it that rivals the best of UK 77 punk, and the teary vulnerability of mid 80s UK pop, backed with a wall of sound musicality that would make David Gedge or Mark E. Smith twist up their face a little. Political, raw, loud, unapologetic, unrelenting. They released a thunderous live album in 2019 and are set with a follow up in 2020, which is bound to be in consideration for my albums of the year for 2020.

Best of 2019 is coming next week!


Wednesday, December 18, 2019

DNTTA Playlist for December 13, 2019

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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Righteous Rainbows of Togetherness - Cloud Sea Moonrise* - Astrobiology (Independent)
Cassius - Feeling for You - 1999 (Matador)
Trentemoller - In the Garden - Obverse (In My Room)
Fejka - Olson - Reunion (Ki)
yuutsu - Haze* - Lost (Independent)
JPOD - On the Cusp* - Circadian Rhythms (Addictech)
DJN - Super Nova* - Gartija (Independent)
Cares - Our Problems Are Your Problems* - Control Isn't Real (Communion)
Jakob Rehlinger - Homeward Voyage* - Powehi (Arachnidiscs)
E1sbar - The Replicas* - The Legend Of (Independent)
S.P.O.C.K. - Never Trust a Klingon - Never Trust a Klingon (Energy)

DNTTA Playlist for December 6, 2019 - Outsider Music

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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Bloo Boi - Mudbogging* - All Mod Leprechauns (Independent)
Jack Mudurian - Song Medley - Downloading the Repetoire (Arf! Arf!)
Bretton Lee John - Hospital Coffee* - Find Yourself Missing (Independent)
Langley Schools Music Project - Calling Occupants* - Innocence and Despair (Bar/None)
Daniel Johnston - The Spook - Rejected Unknown (Gammon)
Hasil Adkins - The Banana Boat Song - Peanut Butter Rock and Roll (Norton)
Partch Ensemble - Twelve Intrustions (1-2) - Sonata Dementia (Bridge)
Jad Fair and R. Stevie Moore - Evil Eyes - FairMoore (Old Gold)
Half Japanese - Possum Head - Fire in the Sky (Safe House)
Jad Fair and Phono Comb - The Beast Within* - Monsters, Lullabies and the Occassional Flying Saucer (Shake the Record Label)
The Shaggs - My Pal Foot Foot - Philosophy of the World (Light in the Attic)
David Ivan Neil - I Feel it All* - What is Love (Independent)

DNTTA Playlist for November 29, 2019

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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Debate Club - Understanding Protocols* - Phosphorescent (Michel)
Actors - Face Meets Glass* - It Will Come to You (Artoffact)
Bombnivores - Watching the Heat Curve* - Metamorphonic (Independent)
Joey Chaos and the Ghosts - Distortion* - Elegy (Bad/Good)
Chunder Buffet - Crash* - Lemon Sleazy (Independent)
Counterfeit Jeans - Osiris* - Good Morning (Kingfisher Bluez)
nehiyawak - Secret* - nipiy (Arts and Crafts)
Jesus and Mary Chain - Never Understand - Psychocandy (Warner)
Sandveiss - Dead Inside* - Saboteur (Sexy Sloth)
Bridal Party - Nectarine* - Too Much (Kingfisher Bluez)
The High Dials - Primitve Feelings* - Primitive Feelings (Hook and Prayer)
Corbo - One 4 Dirac - Quatro Treses (Chewing Foil)
Pigface - Little Sisters - Gub (Invisible)

DNTTA Playlist for November 22, 2019

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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Frihavn - Diesel Fumes* - Demo (Independent)
Guadalcanal Diary - Trail of Tears - Standing in the Shadow of the Big Man (Elektra)
Guadalcanal Diary - Watusi Rodeo - Standing in the Shadow of the Big Man (Elektra)
The Safes - Make or Break - Winning Combination (Independent)
Lisel - Hollowmaker - Angels of the Slope (Luminelle)
Sandro Perri - Floriana* - Soft Landing (Constellation)
Babe Rainbow - The Wedge - Today (30th Century)
Sarah Page - Stasis* - Dose Curves (Backwards)
Bob Mould - See a Little Light - Workbook (Warner)
Bob Mould - Sunshine Rock - Sunshine Rock (Merge)
Walrus - Marcel* - Cool to Who (Outside)
Paragon Cause - Drop Me In* - Lies Between Us (Independent)