(Vinyl Love is a series of posts that quite simply lists, describes, and displays the pieces in my growing vinyl collection. You can bet that each record was given a spin during the drafting of each corresponding post.)
Artist: Metric
Album Title: Old world underground, where are you now?
Year released: 2003
Year reissued: 2015
Details: Black vinyl
The skinny: So Metric is doing a show tonight at Ottawa’s TD Place with another Canadian indie rock success story, July Talk. I’m not going (though I’m sure it’ll be a great show). I’ve seen both bands live already and in the case of Metric, a couple of times. But it got me thinking about their humble beginnings during the hey day of Canadian indie rock and I thought I’d give their debut a spin. Metric is another band that I came across as a result of discussions with my friend Jez (whom I mentioned a few days ago in connection with Neutral Milk Hotel) and it’s with whom, I had a few chances to see the group live at some tiny, intimate clubs in Ottawa before they really hit it big. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a lot of cash in those days and only finally got to see them live five or so years later at Bluesfest, circa 2009, with a larger crowd (though perhaps not as large as tonight). “Old world underground, where are you now?” is a very sturdy debut for an indie band with an ear for the past and hints for the future… And as my friend Mark might say, Emily Haines is a rock goddess.
Standout track: “Combat baby”
My (life in) music lists 
6 replies on “Vinyl love: Metric “Old world underground, where are you now?””
Quite possible that Broken Social Scene was the main focus over here, cause I don’t remember much being said about Metric.
Anyhoo, I like the labels on that LP.
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Funny you mention BSS (or perhaps it was on purpose) because Emily Haines (and I think James Shaw) performed with them in their early days. She is also friends with Amy Millan of Stars, who also performs with Broken Social Scene. The Canadian indie rock scene was very much a community back in the 2000s.
Metric is pretty big here in North America now. No more small clubs but this album is definitely a memory of those days.
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Yeah, I had associated them with Broken Social Scene (well, I think every Canadialander has been part of that collective at some point, huh?). But aye, some made it across here, but I think Broken Social Scene and Arcade Fire overshadowed most others.
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I think I even had a stint in Broken Social Scene. Or perhaps I dreamt that…
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Haha! I’d be surprised if you didn’t!
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[…] Winstead made the group the quartet that we now know and love. As I wrote in that aforementioned Vinyl Love post, I was aware of the group from their early days because of my friend Jez. He saw them a number of […]
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