Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: Metric “Old world underground, where are you now?”

(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”

Categories
Playlists

Playlist: New tunes from 2019, part one

I guess it was just a matter of time before playlists became a thing on this blog. The only surprise to me is that it took me this long to break down and post a Spotify playlist to these pages. And I’m already imagining this won’t be the last. Hence, the “part one” adjunct at the end the title above.

These here twenty-five songs are all from albums that have been released in the first three months of 2019 and are amongst my faves from said albums. Indeed, these are the songs that have soundtracked a very long winter up here in Canada’s capital, making my morning and afternoon commutes to and from work that much more bearable.

Highlights include:

      • “Not so proud”, track five off the self-titled debut album by Tallies, a four-piece dream pop outfit from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
      • A track (“Dylan Thomas”) by the surprise collaboration between Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers, from the album titled “Better Oblivion Community Center”
      • “Motor city steel”, one of the few highlights off an otherwise disappointing outing from Dandy Warhols, an alternative rock favourite in my books
      • “First world problems”, a song I wanted to hate off Stone Roses’ frontman, Ian Brown’s latest solo effort because its title is oh so millennial… but I just can’t help myself…
      • Reviews have been decidedly mixed for the debut album by (don’t call us a) supergroup Piroshka, who include ex-members of Lush, Moose, Modern English, and Elastica, but I love the single “Everlastingly yours”
      • “Tough enough” by Ex Hex is so so so 1980s in a Go-gos, Bangles, and Pat Benatar kind of way

For those who don’t use Spotify or if the embedded playlist below doesn’t work for you, here is the entire playlist:

1. “Not so proud” Tallies (from the album Tallies)

2. “About the light” Steve Mason (from the album About the light)

3. “Her cold cold heart” Night Beats (from the album Myth of a man)

4. “[10 good reasons for modern drugs]” The Twilight Sad (from the album It won’t be like this all the time)

5. “Seventeen” Sharon Van Etten (from the album Remind me tomorrow)

6. “Death in midsummer” Deerhunter (from the album Why hasn’t everything already disappeared?)

7. “Dylan Thomas” Better Oblivion Community Center (from the album Better Oblivion Community Center)

8. “Motor city steel” The Dandy Warhols (from the album Why you so crazy)

9. “Sequence one” TOY (from the album Happy in the hollow)

10. “Spiked flower” Swervedriver (from the album Future ruins)

11. “Mexican dress” Blood Red Shoes (from the album Get tragic)

12. “Five on it” Spielbergs (from the album This is not the end)

13. “First world problems” Ian Brown (from the album Ripples)

14. “Gallipoli” Beirut (from the album Gallipoli)

15. “Bellyache” Yak (from the album Pursuit of momentary happiness)

16. “Everlastingly yours” Piroshka (from the album Brickbat)

17. “Until the fire” Ladytron (from the album Ladytron)

18. “Jonatan” Desperate Journalist (from the album In search of the miraculous)

19. “Pressure to party” Julia Jacklin (from the album Crushing)

20. “One last night on this earth” Sundara Karma (from the album Ulfila’s alphabet)

21. “Exits” Foals (from the album Everything not saved will be lost, part 1)

22. “Woman” Karen O and Danger Mouse (from the album Lux Prima)

23. “Tough enough” Ex Hex (from the album It’s real)

24. “Look at you now” Sleeper (from the album The modern age)

25. “Wasted youth” Jenny Lewis (from the album On the line)

Enjoy.

For those of you who are on Spotify, feel free to look me up. My user name is “jprobichaud911”.

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: The Charlatans “Us and us only”

(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 Charlatans
Album Title: Us and us only
Year released: 1999
Year reissued: 2019
Details: Limited edition, limited to 1000 copies, Record Store Day exclusive, clear vinyl

The skinny: So perhaps my expectations were unreasonable, as were my hopes that our local stores would somehow manage to track down some of the US and UK exclusives, but I have to admit to a modicum of disappointment with this year’s Record Store Day. Unless you count the free disc I scored with one of my purchases, the only RSD exclusive I picked up today is this one, though I did take advantage of the sales to procure a few records I’ve had my eye on for a while. Still, rather than dwelling on what I didn’t find, let’s have a look at this excellent clear vinyl reissue of The Charlatans’ 1999 album, “Us and us only”, that I did find. One of the many great albums by one of my favourite bands, this release was one of the few bright spots for me in the year it was released. And it sure does sound sweet on vinyl.

Standout track: “My beautiful friend”