Tag: Can Con

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Vinyl

Vinyl love: The Box “The best of The Box”

(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 Box
Album Title: The best of The Box
Year released: 2024
Details: RSD2024 release, 2 x LP, fluorescent orange & fluorescent green, foil cover, gatefold sleeve

The skinny: I’ve been participating in Record Store Day festivities for more than a decade but with the diminishing amount of exclusive releases to catch my interest, it’s been a number of years since I’ve actually ventured out early enough to get stuck in lines and get involved in the crush and the rush of the crash and grab. This year, though, there were a few on my wishlist and I ventured out before the clock even reached ten. I got coffee and queued up for hours outside and inside a couple of my local shops and in the end, found three of the four that I had my eye on*. One of these was a Canadian RSD release of a new compilation called “The best of The Box”. I wrote recently how I realized that I was a fan of The Box (without even knowing it) when I posted about their single “L’affaire Dumoutier (Say to me)” for my Eighties Best 100 Redux. Listening to this vinyl the other night only reinforced for me how underrated and how talented the Canadian new wave band was at writing an ear worm that stuck with you throughout the decades. This release is pressed to two discs in fluorescent colours (orange and green)** and comes in a foil wrapped gatefold sleeve. Definitely a successful RSD for me.

Standout track: “Ordinary people”

*I wasn’t expecting to find the fourth one here in Canada but am still on the hunt for it and closing in.

**They were an 80s band, you know.

Categories
Albums

Best albums of 2010: #5 Stars “The five ghosts”

Stars are a five-piece Canadian indie rock band that originally formed as the duo of Torquil Campbell and Christopher Seligman back in 2000. After their debut album, “Nightsongs”, was released in 2001, they began adding members. By the time “Heart” was released two years later, the band was up to their current roster size, after adding Evan Cranley, Amy Millan, and Patrick McGee, and the lineup has remained pretty much unchanged ever since. What I find interesting is that most, if not all of the band’s members grew up in Toronto, but the band has never been based there, finding its roots in New York City originally and then, later, relocating to Montreal.

I got into Stars around the same time as pretty much everyone else: shortly after “Set yourself on fire” was let loose on the public in 2004. This was fortuitously right in the middle of the Canadian indie rock renaissance, when all of a sudden, the world realized that music was being made in that gigantic country north of the United States. “Set yourself on fire” is widely considered Stars’ best album and admittedly, it is still my favourite out of all their albums. This is mostly because I know it so well, having listened to it incessantly when I first got a copy of it. Nevertheless, I love all of the albums Stars have since released (including this one, obviously), and if not loved, was able to appreciate the music on their first two when I went back to discover them. And I fully expect that any new album that they come out with next will be great as well, which is why I’ve rarely hesitated in pre-ordering each new album for my vinyl collection without so much as test driving one song. I can do something so rash with an ease of mind because they’ve established a consistency with each album, a sound that is recognizably their own and for us fans, is as comfortable as sitting in our jammies at the kitchen table with a warm cup of coffee and often, makes us want to interrupt our convalescence to get up and dance.

I remember succumbing to the elegance and beauty of Stars’ fifth album, “The five ghosts”, right away, much like I did for “Set yourself on fire”, but unlike its predecessor “In our bedroom after the war”, which started a bit tart but aged like a fine wine. They were on the vanguard of the resurgent trend of duelling male/female lead vocals, a quality that led me to make comparisons to The Beautiful South in the early days of my relationship with the band. On “The five ghosts”, Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan share the duties almost fifty-fifty and on those songs that they spar, the battle of the sexes is played out like the work of art that it is. Campbell doesn’t hide away his love for Morrissey and The Smiths and also channels Paul Heaton and well, Millan’s soft but smart delivery often makes you feel like she could break you in half without you even knowing she’s doing it.

The song titles and lyrics on “The five ghosts” are dark, evoking the macabre with words like death, bones, and haunting, but the album is very much alive. It’s a game Stars play well, much like The Beautiful South (okay, maybe I’m belabouring the comparison now), this juxtaposing of somber themes with seemingly fluffy and cuddly pop music. Not that you should surmise their music is simple, throwaway schlock. Stars are a complete unit, a stylistic package. The music is as intricately designed as one could wish, each layer a delight to pull away and examine in your hands, like the wisps of a cobweb dripping with dew. So yes, let the sun break through fog and delight in it.

If you’re not already listening to Stars, put them on now, preferably “The five ghosts”. If it’s not in your musical arsenal, have a crack at my three picks for you, just a few of the great pieces off the album:

“Changes”: Track seven is peppy and retro, it harkens back to the golden days of the movie musical. I’m thinking ‘Singing in the rain’ here. A synthesizer programmed drum machine sets the tone, abracadabra, confetti, and a sweet bass line starts the microwave to melt your soul like butter and Amy Millan’s lilting turn on vocals, invoking that of Kirsty MacColl, does the rest just fine. “Changes, I’ve never been good with change. I hate it when it all stays the same.” And before you all start crying nudity foul at the NSFW video, it’s an artsy-fartsy thing, playing on some sort of metamorphosis theme, good versus evil, light versus dark, ballet in the buff, and it was shot in the beautiful Winter Garden theatre in Toronto, which makes it all okay.

“Dead hearts”: The opening track on the album features the trademark Campbell and Millan call and response vocal work. It might almost be considered a tad precious with the chiming arpeggios, the graceful strings, and pitch perfect harmonizing if it weren’t for the fact that you knew by the title that they were singing about not just broken but, dead hearts. It was number seven on my Best tunes of 2010 list and in that particular post I also talked about the “gentle jingling guitars, the lonely tinkling piano, the string explosion, and [the] push/pull harmonies [that] all call to mind a fantastical world of a creative child’s imagination.” Haunting and wonderful and joyful in its misery and in its hope. “It’s hard to know they’re out there. It’s hard to know that you still care.”

“Fixed”: “You, you hold my heart. You, you won’t let up. After when I’m caught, touch turns into fisticuffs.” Much like the previous song, this one appeared on my Best tunes of 2010 list, this time at number twenty. It’s one of a good handful of dance floor fillers on the album. Millan takes the lead for this one, sounding almost hopeful and glorious, set against 80s synths and Madchester drums. As I’ve said before, “The drumming is peppy and the synths keep pace, urging any and all listeners to get up and dance, no matter where they are, the bus, a crowded sidewalk, or with a broom in the kitchen, and forget everything but the beat.” This is what makes Stars so great. They can challenge you to think at the same time is they are encouraging a great time. But let’s not lose the plot here. Finish that drink and let’s get out the on the floor.

Stay tuned for album #4. In the meantime, here are the previous albums in this list:

10. Diamond Rings “Special affections”
9. Bedouin Soundclash “Light the horizon”
8. LCD Soundsystem “This is happening”
7. The Drums “The Drums”
6. The New Pornographers “Together”

You can also check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.

Categories
Albums

Best albums of 2010: Albums #10 through #6

So it feels like just yesterday that I wrapped up one of these series counting down my favourite albums of a select year, long past. In reality, it was only about a month ago but that one that I did for the year 2000 took almost two years to complete! Given this, you might think I would be reticent to start up another of these series, at least not right away, but not so. It’s almost like it feels like there’s something missing without one of these Best Albums series on the go.

This time around I am jumping ahead a decade to revisit 2010, a year that was actually quite amazing musically. I counted down my thirty favourite tunes of the year on these pages just over five years ago and I already did a similar countdown of my favourite albums for the year on my old music blog a bunch of years before that. Thus, it’s familiar territory we’re treading here (but not too familiar), many of the albums that will grace this list have a place in my vinyl collection, and those that aren’t there already are definitely on my wish list.

If you’ve followed me through one of these series before, you’ll recognize today’s post as the tease, introducing the five albums that round out the latter part of my top ten. From here, I used to out my five favourite albums for the year on a weekly basis and then, I tried stretching that to a bi-weekly basis. For this series, I make no promises but I am aiming to wrap this up in three to four months so maybe we’ll see a post every two to three weeks?

But before we go further, I’d like do a bit of a spoiler and a bit of indulgence and share a handful of albums (in no particular order) that didn’t quite make the list but are still worth your while:

  • Steve Mason “Boys outside” – the solo debut by the ex-Beta Band frontman is all kinds of psychedelic groove
  • Delphic “Acolyte” – another debut, this one the first of only two albums from the enigmatic, alternative dance group from Manchester
  • The Like “Release me” – the all-female quartet led by Z Berg went from alt rock to retro girl group, beach blanket bingo on their sophomore record
  • Frightened Rabbit “The winter of mixed drinks” – with their third record, the Scottish indie rock sextet continued a string of amazing albums that didn’t end until frontman Scott Hutchison’s death in 2018
  • Beach House “Teen dream” – the Baltimore-based dream pop duo found their footing with their third record and never looked back

With those out of the way, let’s delve into my top ten for reals. And of course, as we do, I’d love to hear your thoughts, both on my picks and what your own would be, if you had to rank your top ten albums for 2010, in the comments section provided with each post.

#10 Diamond Rings “Special affections”

John O’Regan made two records under the moniker Diamond Rings back in the early part of the previous decade. I remember seeing the album cover of the first of these, “Special affections”, for the first time and thinking that the image portrayed by Diamond Rings on it was an amalgam of Morrissey, David Bowie, and David Gahan of Depeche Mode. It’s no surprise, then, that there’s a definite 80s edge to the record. Its ten tracks ran the gamut, creating an expansive play school for O’Regan’s inner frontman to let loose in and laid down a solid base for his astonishing voice. The most obvious comparison point for his vocal work might’ve been Ian Curtis with his deep hued baritone timbre but there was more swagger here, invoking the glam of, say, Jarvis Cocker, Brett Anderson, and yes, David Bowie. For me, “Special affections” was a blast of pure oxygen the first time I listened to it, energizing my every fibre. Oh… and it sounded great on the dance floor.

Gateway tune: “Wait & see”

#9 Bedouin Soundclash “Light the horizon”

Kingston, Ontario-based Bedouin Soundclash’s fourth record, “Light the horizon”, was easily my favourite of the ska/reggae band’s albums. It is a solid ten tracks that leave it all on the floor, as opposed to the previous two albums that had as many forgettable moments as they did memorable ones. From the opening number, “Mountain top”, you can hear a subtle difference in their sound. I had always tended to attribute it to the addition of the incredibly talented Sekou Lumumba on drums here but perhaps it is more than that. There really is plenty of exuberance to go around, in not just with the drumbeats but also in Eon Sinclair’s bass lines, which you can feel dancing up and down your spine. Frontman Jay Malinowski, too, riffs along as if newly inspired and his pseudo edgy vocals keeping things real.

Gateway tune: “Brutal hearts (feat. Coeur de Pirate)”

#8 LCD Soundsystem “This is happening”

There was very little dispute that LCD Soundsystem’s third album, “This is happening”, belonged on the multiple end of year lists that it appeared on for 2010, given its pretty much universal acclaim and the belief at the time that it would be James Murphy’s final album under that moniker. Of course, hindsight being 20/20, we now know that the group reunited a few years after that “final” 2011 show at Madison Square Garden, released a studio album and another live album and continue to tour these days, but we won’t hold that against “This is happening”. The dance punk album is only nine tracks long but it clocks in at well over an hour, every song save for one is longer than five minutes. It’s like Murphy enjoyed playing with these songs so much that he couldn’t let go of them or perhaps decided that the remixes were much more fun than the original recordings. I, for one, trust his judgement on this point. The songs on “This is happening” end exactly when they should, like perfect guests at the wildest of house parties, they never overstay their welcome.

Gateway tune: “I can change”

#7 The Drums “The Drums”

The Drums’ self-titled, debut album and their last as a proper four-piece was like an extended ode to all music that is considered retro. If I were to reduce my thoughts on “The Drums” to three words, they would have to be “energy”, “energy”, and “energy”. Each song is bursting with (and pardon the oxymoron here) fresh sounding retro vitality. Channelling and blending the sounds of their influences in the post-punk of the eighties and the free and easy pop of the sixties, The Drums take peppy doowop rhythms, speed them up to double time and blast it all with synthesizer melodies that climb and slide down all kinds of staccato scales. I’ve heard them compared to The Smiths, Joy Division, and The Cure and I’d have to say: “yes, yes, and yes”. So if you’re a fan of these bands, as I am, the chances are good that you might enjoy more than a couple of the twelve tracks on the album.

Gateway tune: “Best friend”

#6 The New Pornographers “Together”

The fifth album by the supergroup/indie rock collective based out of Vancouver, British Columbia is complex and simple, quiet and bombastic, raw and fey, earthy and alien. And I’m not purposely being contradictory here. A lot of people have bemoaned the fact that The New Pornographers have gotten away from the punchy edge that coursed through their first two or three records but that has never bothered me. Even though I also enjoy their early work, right up until this year’s release, “Challengers” and “Together” were my two favourite New Porno albums. It is here that their sound has grown, either Newman had given in a bit to Bejar’s bizarre ideas or he himself had lost some of his marbles. The band has never sounded typical but on “Together” they felt like they were exploring the periphery of their own boundaries and the results are slightly darker (if that’s possible) and more cohesive but not. I know. Contradictory.

Gateway tune: “Crash years”

Stay tuned for album #5 on this list. In the meantime, you can check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.