Tag: Indie

Vinyl

Vinyl love: Camera Obscura “My maudlin career”

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date June 20, 2021
No Comments on Vinyl love: Camera Obscura “My maudlin career”

(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: Camera Obscura
Album Title: My maudlin career
Year released: 2009
Details: Black vinyl, gatefold sleeve

The skinny: For part three of this mini Vinyl Love series on Scottish indie pop band Camera Obscura, we have their fourth record and the first on 4AD, “My maudlin career”. After the success of “Let’s get out of this country”, the group decided to once again work with that album’s producer, Jari Haapalainen, and though the aesthetic and quality is similar, it’s far from being a lazy reproduction. Yet as much as I love all the delicious heartbreak, the original pressing of this album actually only came to be a part of my collection almost two years ago. It came to me on one of my last ever visits to the brick and mortar record stores in Toronto. I haven’t gotten to the Big Smoke as often as I would have liked in the last year and a half (for obvious reasons) and none of the few times that I did have afforded the opportunity to visit the shops. Things are looking up, though, and I’m feeling that those happy times will return soon… but I digress. This is an excellent album that gets the nostalgia flowing so it’s worth another spin.

Standout track: “French navy”

Tags 12", 2000s, 2009, Alternative, Camera Obscura, Indie, Indie Pop, Scottish, Twee

Vinyl

Vinyl love: Camera Obscura “Let’s get out of this country”

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date June 13, 2021
1 Comment on Vinyl love: Camera Obscura “Let’s get out of this country”

Artist: Camera Obscura
Album Title: Let’s get out of this country
Year released: 2006
Year reissued: 2009
Details: Black vinyl, 180 gram

The skinny: For their third album, Camera Obscura really did as the title suggested and got out of Scotland, travelling to Sweden to record it with producer Jari Haapalainen. They really wanted to shake things up after founding member John Henderson had left following the recording and touring cycle of their previous record. All of the tracks on this album were written and sung by Tracyanne Campbell, giving the band a static face and sound. The twee aesthetic is still there but there’s definitely a 60s motown influence about the whole proceedings. Indeed, “Let’s get out of this country” was where the band really built their name and I was lucky to score a copy of this reissue off Amazon at a decent price before they all disappeared. It hasn’t been reissued since and to get a copy of my favourite album by the band would cost me a heck of a lot more nowadays.

Standout track: “Lloyd, I’m ready to be heartbroken”

Tags 12", 180 gram, 2000s, 2006, Alternative, Camera Obscura, Indie, Indie Pop, Reissue, Scottish, Twee

Live music galleries

Live music galleries: Kalle Mattson [2014]

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date June 10, 2021
No Comments on Live music galleries: Kalle Mattson [2014]

(I got the idea for this series while sifting through the ‘piles’ of digital photos on my laptop. It occurred to me to share some of these great pics from some of my favourite concert sets from time to time. Until I get around to the next one, I invite you to peruse my ever-growing list of concerts page.)

Kalle Mattson and his band at Bluesfest 2014

Artist: Kalle Mattson
When: July 5th, 2014
Where: Claridge Homes stage, RBC Bluesfest, Ottawa
Context: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again that one of the great things about Ottawa’s biggest music festival, RBC Bluesfest, is the organizers’ focus on promoting local talent. The years that I purchased a pass and attended on multiple days exposed me to a lot of bands and artists (many of them local) that I might not have ever experienced otherwise. Kalle Mattson, who came to the nation’s capital by way of Sault Ste. Marie for school, is a talented indie folk singer/songwriter that I had already seen opening for Cuff the Duke a few years prior, but his early afternoon set in 2014 really won me over. The weather that afternoon was sunny and humid and hazy, a perfect suit for his dusty and languorous tales of heartache. I would later purchase that year’s Polaris prize nominated album, the Gavin Gardner produced, “Someday, the moon will be gold”, and jumped at the chance at Mattson perform with his friends once again the following summer.
Point of reference song: “A love song to the city”