Tag: Revival

Vinyl

Vinyl love: Engineers “Engineers”

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date November 13, 2022
2 Comments on Vinyl love: Engineers “Engineers”

(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: Engineers
Album Title: Engineers
Year released: 2005
Year reissued: 2022
Details: Gatefold sleeve, 2 x 180 gram, white, numbered 502/1500

The skinny: Of all the great albums released during the first shoegaze revival wave of the early 2000s, Engineers’ self-titled debut was one of my favourites. The group formed as a four-piece – Mark Peters, Simon Phipps, Dan MacBean, and Andrew Sweeney – in London back in 2003. I happened upon the debut shortly after its release and latched on to a great many of the songs, recognizing in Engineers’ aesthetic the bands of my youth. Though some of their later work was pretty great as well, I wasn’t as immediately enamoured with it, always holding it up to this fantastic debut. It had been on my wishlist from pretty much the beginning of my collecting days but given what I perceived as their cult-like status, I didn’t think my chances were great at finding a copy on vinyl. My hopes were raised earlier this year when I saw that Music on Vinyl was reissuing Engineers’ debut EP, “Folly”, for Record Store Day, especially given that label’s track record of reissuing other classic shoegaze works. Then, I caught wind of this reissue of the debut LP on 2 x 180 gram slabs of white vinyl and jumped headlong aboard the pre-order train. It’s a thing of beauty.

Standout track: “Come in out of the rain”

Tags 12", 180 gram, 2000s, Alternative, Alternative Rock, Coloured vinyl, Double LP, Dream Pop, Engineers, Indie, Indie rock, Limited edition, Music on Vinyl, Reissue, Revival, Shoegaze, White vinyl

Tunes

Best tunes of 2011: #5 Dum Dum Girls “Bedroom eyes”

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date November 5, 2019
5 Comments on Best tunes of 2011: #5 Dum Dum Girls “Bedroom eyes”

<< #6 | #4 >>

Lots has changed for Kristin Gundred since 2011, when she released “Only in dreams”, her second full-length as leader of the group, Dum Dum Girls. At that time, she was performing under the name “Dee Dee” (not “Dee Dee Penny”, as many have erroneously reported, including myself) and she had just released an album with a full band that many critics were seeing as the start of something. However, we would unfortunately only see one other LP* released under the Dum Dum Girls name, 2014’s “Too true”, on which Gundred returned to recording by herself and moved ever so slightly away from the noisy, wall-of-sound washes and 60s girl group melodies. Afterwards, she dispensed with the idea of Dum Dum Girls completely and rebranded herself Kristin Kontrol, going all synths and glam. Somewhere amidst all this, she also divorced with her husband and sometimes collaborator, Crocodiles frontman Brandon Welchez.

“Only in dreams” was my introduction to Gundred and her beautiful voice, an asset that she was only just starting to showcase on this particular album. It happened to also be my gateway to a few other likeminded bands that had somehow escaped my notice to this point, bands like Best Coast and Vivian Girls that riffed on the 60s girl group but upped griminess factor on the wall of sound. I had, on the other hand, already been exposed to the similar ethos of The Raveonettes, a band with whom I compared this album when trying to get others as hooked on them as I was. It didn’t surprise me, then, when I read in the album’s liner notes that it was co-produced by The Raveonettes’ Sune Rose Wagner.

“Bedroom eyes” was the second single released from “Only in dreams” and also appears second in order of play. It has all that noise and peppy beat that you’d expect and Gundred imbues her vocals with longing, singing about missing her now ex-husband while they were both away on separate tours. It transports you back to a simpler time but doesn’t leave the current age so far behind that you forget how that so-called simpler time wasn’t so simple. Beneath the glorious jangle and shine and chiming backing harmonies is a toughness. Just watch the video that plays on all the videos that might have been made at the time. Kristin and her band members are all decked out in black, sexy and sneering, not at all like the delicate flowers the influencing groups back in the day would’ve been portrayed.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 2011 list, click here.

* And an EP

Tags 2010s, 2011, Alternative, Alternative Rock, American rock, Best tunes, Dee Dee, Dream Pop, Dum Dum Girls, Indie, Indie rock, Noise pop, Revival, Wall of sound

Live music galleries

Live music galleries: Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats [2017]

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date September 12, 2019
2 Comments on Live music galleries: Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats [2017]

(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.)

Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats in 2017

Artist: Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
When: September 14th, 2017
Where: Main stage, CityFolk festival, Lansdowne Park, Ottawa
Context: So Ottawa’s CityFolk festival starts tonight, the music fest that unofficially draws the summer to a close every year. I’ve been attending it pretty regularly for the last three years. This year, though, marks the first time in the same period that I didn’t purchase a full festival pass in advance. But that’s only because I wasn’t sure I’d be in town. Have no fear. I’ll be attending two of the four nights and hopefully, get some great weather to catch some great music. The pics here are from a headline performance by Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats from two years ago at CityFolk. I had stumbled across the song below on YouTube late one night and since that serendipitous introduction, had fallen in love with Mr. Rateliff’s revivalist soul. His powerful lungs and very talented backing band had us dancing into the night.
Point of reference song: “S.O.B.”