On the Playlist 22MAR2019…

OMG! I can't believe I have been doing this for over nine months now and haven't mentioned the Beatles yet. So, was on a forum and people were talking about the newly mastered version of "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" and I got to thinking about that album and decided to put it on. I have the newly mastered version of it but honestly don't really notice the difference. I have always loved this album for two reasons, it is an album and not just a collection of catchy tunes like most of the other earlier Beatles Albums and secondly it has some strangeness on it that I enjoy. If you have been following these posts for any amount of time you know I like music that is a bit different. So is this the best Beatles album? I know there are a lot of arguments out there about this. I would say it is. Although some of my favorite Beatles songs (Michelle, Hey Jude, Eleanor Rigby) are not from this album. As someone who loves concept albums this is the original and one of the best. 

Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

On the Playlist 8JAN2019…

On the playlist today is Feist and her album "The Reminder". I crossed paths with this Canadian artist (yes, I checked) very early in her career when I was in graduate school in Calgary as she was in a local punk band called "Placebo" I remember hearing at some event. When I later discovered her music I hadn't made the connection. Honestly, I am not sure I would remember much from that evening but I do remember the name of the band. Anyway, this album has a pop/folk sound to it that is fun to listen to. Where you will have heard of Feist is from the song 1 2 3 4 that was a surprise hit after being featured in an Apple iPod commercial. It was a surprise as Feist is an independent artist and is therefore not heavily promoted by the large music labels.

Feist - The Reminder

On the Playlist 15OCT2018…

Listening to a project my Jay Crocker who is originally from Calgary but lives in Nova Scotia now. This project is MUIXX and the album "Joyful Talk" it is an interesting blend of pop like sounds but with an avante garde twist to it. Jay uses homemade digital instruments but they are all recorded analog so there is a bit of a rawness to the sound.

MUIXX - Joyful Talk

On the Playlist 9OCT2018…

Listening to Clara Venice and her album "Electric Dream." Her music is dreamy bouncy pop music. Clara Venice is also the only musician in the world who plays the Theremin as instrument in her music. She also plays a bunch of other instruments as well but it is the Theremin which she is famous for. She is from Canada (of course - ha ha!). Her performances are apparently quite something and got even more interesting as she incorporated her LED Twitter shoes which the audience can interact with through Twitter. According to her bio on her website her signature visual style variefs from 21st century pop princess to Harajuku spacegirl as she draws listeners into her playful and melodic world. The best song from this album is "Ordinary Day" which is a very fun tune. 

Clara Venice - Electric Dream - "Ordinary Day"

On the Playlist 10SEP2018…

Jackpot! Found a stash of old CDs that my wife had collected. They are a mix of cheap Chinese knock-offs of varying quality. Half of them can't even play through but I am working through them and ripping them. Decided to listen to some of the ones that I hadn't heard before and discovered All Saints and their album by the same name. A British Girl band similar to Spice Girls. A couple songs on their album were catchy and a couple I had heard before. Not my cup of tea but a fun listen.

All Saints - All Saints

On the Playlist 25JUL2018…

Best party dance band ever in my opinion Doug and the Slugs and their album "Cognac and Blogna". Yes, I know I may be opening myself to an argument about this but, whatever, I know I am right. My top two best concerts I ever went to were in Edmonton to see Doug and the Slugs. First was a show with several friends in a club with Norm MacDonald the comedian opening. We laughed our asses off! Then Doug and Slugs came on and we danced our asses off. These guys put on a show. Incidentally, my business parner Gord was at this show too. Second best concert was Doug and the Slugs at the Kinsmen fieldhouse - an indoor soccer field. The University of Alberta Mechanical Engineers had booked them cheap into this venue as they were playing somewhere else in town the next night. Word got out and this was a show to remember. A bit of a riot broke out at one point and the beer pretty much flowed non-stop - it was engineers afterall. Yes, drinking age was 18 so university parties did include drinking. Although I was only 17 in my first year of university it didn't stop me. This album is also the most expensive one in my collection. Although I have the LP vinyl version of this it is a but played out. Many years later I discovered they had released a CD double album of this album and "Wrap It" (their first two albums). It is rather rare and even rarer to find a new clean copy of it. Well I have one. It cost me well into triple digits. Doug Bennet passed way in 2004 from liver cirrhosis brought on by excessive drinking. No kidding - the guy was a party animal and put on a show!

Doug and the Slugs - Cognac and Bologna/Wrap It!

On the Playlist 28JUN2018…

Who remembers one of the hottest songs from the summer of 1982. I was in grade 11 and I totally remember what was playing on the radio that summer. It was an Aussie invasion with Men at Work and their songs "Who Can It Be Now" and "Down Under" were playing everywhere. This was the summer my brother and I won a sailboard from 630 CHED a local pop radio station and we learned how to sail it with the large radio station logo on the sail. I had just got my driver's license and my parents had bought us a beat up 1970 Chevelle as our car. I went to the lake every weekend so I could to learn how to sail it. What a great summer! The version I am playing is an actual digital recording of the album. Yes, I still have the vinyl version of the album and a couple years ago I spent most of the summer recording all my old vinyl albums to digital files. Sounds amazing!

Men At Work - Business As Usual