Tag: British rock

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Tunes

Best tunes of 2001: #16 Lupine Howl “Vaporizer”

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We moved Victoria and our cat Lucy up to Ottawa from Toronto, as well as the majority of my stuff, at the end of July 2001. I remained in Toronto to close up the rental store I was running at the time and moved up at the end of August. Pretty much right away, I started in at my new job with Enbridge gas and Victoria started her master’s studies. Victoria had a few friends but I didn’t really know anyone. She was almost immediately immersed and busy in her studies so I was left to my own devices quite a bit. And since we weren’t exactly rich either, I stuck around the house quite a bit, reading or surfing the Internet, searching for new music. And I spent hours doing this last.

It was during these hours of searching and surfing that I came across Lupine Howl. It probably won’t surprise you that it was the fact that the band was formed by ex-members of Spiritualized that first attracted my attention. There are plenty of stories about how it went down but apparently Jason Pierce sacked bassist Sean Cook, guitarist Mike Mooney, and drummer Damon Reece after the gruelling tour in support of “Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space”. (You might remember that this was my number one album in my best albums of 1997 list.) The trio quickly formed a new band and got right to work writing new material.

“Vaporizer” was released as a single in 2000 but appeared on their debut album, “The carnivorous lunar activities of Lupine Howl”, in 2001. It is also the first song I heard by the band and caught my ear right away. Partially because it actually sounded nothing like Spiritualized but also because it is catchy as all get out. The sound is psych rock but not spacey. Instead, they look back in time, manifesting a funk and jive. It’s got a grooving bass line and funky guitar flourishes. It’s a song for sunglasses and cruising the mean streets real slow, the windows open and the volume cranked.

It’s one of those songs that begs repeat listens so I have played it and continue to play it in bunches. Enjoy.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 2001 list, click here.

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: James “Whiplash”

(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: James
Album Title: Whiplash
Year released: 1997
Year reissued: 2017
Details: Double LP, Black vinyl, 180 gram

The skinny: James’s seventh studio album found itself a place at number four on the top albums of 1997 list I just wrapped a few weeks ago. The fact that I ranked it so high in a year that had so many quality releases shows highly I think of this album and how truly underrated I feel this band truly is. Always grand and deep, James is awesome and this copy of Whiplash will likely spend a lot of time on my turntable.

Standout track: “Waltzing along”

Categories
Tunes

Best tunes of 1991: #23 Morrissey “Sing your life”

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Pretty much whenever I hear Morrissey, I can’t help but think of my old friend John, whom I grew up alongside. I vaguely remember when his family moved into the neighbourhood, a handful of houses around the corner. We were both very young. We were in Boy Scouts together and though we went to different elementary schools and high schools, we hung out quite a bit after school and on weekends. Much later, when I was in university, he moved to Toronto too. We were housemates for a couple of years but grew apart after we all gave up the apartment and went in our separate directions. I haven’t spoken to him in a long time but will always remember that he introduced me to Morrissey. And looking back, it is obvious now that he emulated the Moz in many ways, was definitely as theatrical and put upon the image of tortured soul.

It was the “Kill uncle” CD that John first lent me, Morrissey’s second solo album. And though “Mute witness” was the first song on it that caught my ear, the song I would rewind over and over again on my cassette recorded copy of the album, “Sing your life” would grow on me to become my favourite on the album. It would also become my wife, Victoria’s gateway to Morrissey when I put it on one of the many mixed tapes I made for her in our early years together. And well, what a great tune it is, albeit slightly unrepresentative of Morrissey’s other work, given its upbeat nature. He appears to be instructing us on how to write songs, hinting that it isn’t all that hard.

“Any fool can think of words that rhyme. Many others do. Why don’t you?”

The funny thing is that I don’t think he ever used this template for his own songwriting. He definitely doesn’t just list the things he loves and loathes. Indeed, “Sing your life” might very well be his most straightforward written song, as if he was attempting a light pop song. But even here, he’s a little jaded.

“And make no mistake, my friend. Your pointless life will end.”

And oh yes, before I go, I’d be remiss and Andrew Rodriguez would have my head if I didn’t mention the rockabilly version Morrissey recorded after the fact with a different set of musicians than appeared on the album. Both are great in my opinion. Cheers.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 1991 list, click here.