Categories
Tunes

Best tunes of 1993: #5 Teenage Fanclub “Hang on”

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I’ve previously shared words on how I discovered Scottish alt-rock quartet Teenage Fanclub while watching music videos on CityLimits back in 1991. It wasn’t long after this that someone in my group of friends picked up a copy of the band’s third album, “Bandwagonesque”, and I was able to record a copy to cassette for constant consumption in my walkman. To say that I became a fan of the fannies was only putting it mildly*. And I wasn’t the only one, obviously, because the album actually did surprisingly well here in North America. And although their success continued afterwards in Europe, interest mostly waned after ears were mostly tuned to everything coming out of Seattle.

For my part, I was practically foaming at the mouth when word came of the impending release of “Thirteen” and I wasn’t disappointed in the least**. I purchased it on compact disc as soon as I was able and put it through its paces, not caring in the least that the raw and often shambolic messes from the previous record had been cleaned up some, the juvenile pranks replaced by well-crafted pop songs, each tip-toeing along the razor wire between rough and smooth sounds. I caught these differences right away, with track one, “Hang on”, a beautiful (almost) ballad penned by Gerard Love.

“Been bought and I’ve been sold
And I’ve forgot what I’ve been told
And now I need someone”

Those are the words that kick off Love’s crooning. But before that, we are awoken by a muscular guitar lick and punishing drums to match. It builds in power, threatening some metal antics, drumming becomes rapid fire and guitars speed up towards thrash zone. And then suddenly, it all melts away into Beatle-esque heaven, complete with angelic harmonies to Love’s own soft touch. The muscular guitars are still there but they just a backdrop and then, when the flutes kick in towards the last third of the song, it doesn’t seem out of place at all. You just close your eyes and get lost in the melody.

*Indeed, it’s still my second favourite album in a great year for music releases.

**I also jumped at the chance a ticket to see them live for the tour for this album, with Yo La Tengo opening, my second ever concert!!!

For the rest of the Best tunes of 1993 list, click here.

Categories
Tunes

Best tunes of 2003: #14 The New Pornographers “From blown speakers”

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I’ve said it before and it’ll likely come up again: I was an avid user of Ottawa’s public library services back in the early 2000s.

I didn’t have a lot of money after relocating to Canada’s capital so almost as soon as I updated my drivers license with my new address, I checked out the main branch to start borrowing books. When I discovered they also loaned DVDs and CDs, I started borrowing those as well, often spending hours perusing their virtual shelves on their website for material to request and consume. The three week loan period for CDs allowed for plenty of opportunity to explore and to discover music before making a decision to purchase for the long haul.

I’d previously heard friends talk about The New Pornographers so when I saw the library had one of their albums in their collection, I put in the request and didn’t even have to wait that long for it to arrive at my local branch for pickup. So in this way, “Electric version” was my introduction to Canada’s indie rock supergroup. Of course, I only really googled them for more info after they made a great first impression and I learned then of their background and the various members’ collective experience as part of the Vancouver area music scene. Of their membership, I’d only heard of Dan Bejar (of Destroyer) and Neko Case before, the latter from my friend Tim, who I think was in love with her at the time, and thinking back, he was probably one of the friends that had talked up The New Pornos as well.

“Electric version” was the group’s sophomore record and was seen by those familiar with “Mass romantic” as a tighter and more polished effort, the sound of a real group finding its footing, rather than a collective of individual artists collaborating on a one-off piece, which is what many expected the debut to be. On the followup, there were lots of catchy power pop gems to shake sticks at, but none as immediately captivating as track two.

“Just a contact high, one in every mood I’ve ever declined to fight
One in every single exchange you might find
From blown speakers, time came out magical”

“From blown speakers” is just shy of three minutes and features call and answer guitars and keys, as well as Carl Newman harmonizing with the lovely Neko Case and a plethora of exclamation marks on the snares. It’s an obvious high that we never wanted to come down from.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 2003 list, click here.

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: The Airborne Toxic Event “The Airborne Toxic Event”

(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: The Airborne Toxic Event
Album Title: The Airborne Toxic Event
Year released: 2008
Year reissued: 2020
Details: Limited edition, 180 gram, white with red splatter, signed by some of the band members

The skinny: I’ve been back collecting vinyl for well over a decade now and have quite a few great pieces in my ever-expanding collection, as you might have noticed by these very posts. And though I do try to spin them quite regularly, what I have found that I don’t do enough of is what my wife might call listening to them “with intention”. So I started changing that this year. Instead of putting on discs while doing something else, I’ve been focusing on devoting time to just listening to the full album, examining the artwork, and reading the lyrics and liner notes. In fact, I started this routine back during the second week of the year, working my way through my collection, from A to Z, a couple of days a week and documenting each with photos on my Instagram* account. The first couple were Adorable’s “Against perfection” (for which I’ve already done a ‘Vinyl love’ post) and this one, The Airborne Toxic Event’s self-titled debut. I was all over this album when it was originally released back in 2008, mostly on the back of the excellent track referenced below, and then, I got to see them live at V fest that fall. I’ve seen them live a few more times since and enjoyed their following records as well, but never quite as much as I did the debut. So when they announced a reissue in late 2020, pressed to coloured 180 gram vinyl and signed to boot, I was all over it.

Standout track: “Sometime around midnight”

*If you’re interested in following along, go find and follow me on the Insta and I’ll likely follow you back.