July 2012
65 posts
This is another one of the few albums I was familiar with before getting into my epic journey of long list-nominated album listening. As I had said before and during the Polaris Salon I was a panel member of (which you can listen to HERE if you missed it, click podcast #1): the Azari & III album is fantastic! Like I also said, I can probably count the number of truly great (non-compilation/DJ Mix) house music albums on two hands and this just might be one of them. The album references early, classic Trax Records vibes but gives them a fresh, shiny coat of paint so it feels modern and new and not dated or like a pastiche.
I was privy to some discussions that tried to justify the worth of this album because of the sociopolitical subtext of the lyrics and their commentary on AIDS, addiction, homophobia etc. I think that’s cool but I actually don’t have an issue with celebrating a record that is “just dance music” or a “soundtrack to partying” if it’s great at being that. What’s wrong with being excellent within those parameters anyway? Do you know how hard that is to make an album that works as music a real DJ could credibly play in his sets at the club and also as an at-home listening experience? Azari & III managed to thread that incredibly tough needle and do both with their album.
If you love dance music or even if you’re on the other end of the spectrum and think electronic music is not ‘real’ music or something that makes for a great album listening experience and should stay in the clubs, then you need to check this out. On my short list and proudly so!
[album stream via Hypetrak]
Have to admit, the Kook Soul album by Parlovr wasn’t too bad. It was a solid listen all the way through and there were tracks I dug. “Married on a Sunday” had a bit of a vaguely Bloc Party feel to it the way the vocals were delivered and I also dig “4000.” Overall though, while it was good it wasn’t transcendentally good to my ears. I already had three picks locked in for my short list ballot that I had voted onto the long list one and there were just other albums I like more than this to fill my final two slots.
[album stream via Exclaim!]
Solo outing by the lead singer of Winnipeg group, The Weakerthans. Yes, you guessed it: more folky flavored singer-songwriter indie sounds. To be fair, it actually did sound pretty good (click the player above to hear for yourself) but honestly, how much of this f-cking stuff does the world need??! Sometimes I get frustrated ‘cos I can’t get people excited by what I think is an exceptionally well-made hip hop album. And I’ve dismissed other albums for Polaris nomination advocacy consideration on my part that turn out to dust the floor with a lot of these long list-nominated albums I’ve been listening to the past couple of weeks and, in hindsight, maybe I should have given that shot to after all. Or maybe that’s just me.
Back to Mr. Samson though. I guess credit due for being able to write a song out of a real life petition he launched? Or is he just another privileged white dude writing about privileged white guy problems? Well not to end on a provocative or negative note though. I did like the track, “The Last And” and if anyone can tell me what prayer he swiped the melody for “Stop Error” from, I’d appreciate it because it’s driving me crazy trying to recall it.
[album stream via exclaim!]
This album was, to my ears, a blend of the folk-y indie sound that, as a genre, seems to dominate the Polaris list year after year but mixed with power pop (by way of oddly, New Order maybe??) which, by Polaris standards, actually rates as making this progressive, relatively speaking. As you can probably guess if you’ve been reading my reviews, just by dint of being a decent but not exceptional execution of that sound, this didn’t rate high in contention for me when I was figuring out my short list ballot picks although some tracks did appeal (like “Plan Rock”, “Glow” and “Just Anybody” to name just some).
Another Francophone album. Competently executed but exciting only in parts. I’d say check out the album and decide for yourself but homegirl (or her label) decided to only post two tracks from the album on her music store page (powered by bandcamp which absolutely allows you to stream an entire album). Who the f-ck does that in 2012??!
Of course, she has like ten gazillion options on how to buy the album there but if you actually like want to check out what you’re buying beforehand, heaven forbid and the standout tracks to me (like “All Right”, “Encore là”, “Chanson Pour Dan” and “Pour Une Fois”) are not either of those two tracks! Bone-headed decisions like that actually turn me off artists who I might actually like. Social music marketing #FAIL! Get your promo game up, girl!
This isn’t my usual bag and acts that are usually media buzz darlings like Kingston, ON duo, PS I Love you (they were simultaneous cover stars for NOW and Exclaim! magazines a couple months back) generally don’t score high with me, but you know what? Death Dreams was f-cking fantastic. Love singer/guitarist, Paul Saulnier’s off-kilter vocal style and anyone who has a track called “Toronto” and can brazenly rip off the drum track from the Rolling Stones’ iconic track, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and actually do something that sounds fresh and new with it (on “Don’t Go”, also above) deserves maximum props in my book. Salute! Hit the jump to hear the entire excellent Death Dreams album via the group’s bandcamp page.
I was actually really digging the dirty instrumental rock sound of Shooting Guns’ Born To Deal In Magic: 1952-1976 album a lot. My (semi-)contemporary rock references might not always be on point but my best guess is, if you dig Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Jesus and Mary Chain, or Spiritualized, you might could wanna check this out. I didn’t vote for this on my short list but I wouldn’t be mad if it made the cut. Solid!
I have it on good advice that Joel Plaskett Emergency is a staple of Canadian sub-genre of rock known as dock rock (is having a song titled “Harbour Boys” an acknowledgement of this fact, I wonder??). At various points Scrappy Happiness reminded me of J. Geils Band, Tom Petty, a mellow version of Everclear and (I’m being extremely charitable here) Nick Lowe. It had it’s moments and was well-produced but overall, this wasn’t really my bag. Stream every track from the album on Joel’s site here or make it easy for yourself and subscribe to RDIO and check it out in one easy-to-use player below:
More Francophone pop courtesy of Cœur de Pirate, the alter ego of 22 year old, super-tattooed Béatrice Martin. Think a modern take on the 60’s chanteuse-style pop like Françoise Hardy, as channeled via Adele (or something…). Stella Artois should look into maybe licensing one of her tracks for their throwback, continental style TV commercials. Just sayin’….
Bonus (not on the Blonde album):
MP3 Download: Coeur De Pirate - Wicked Games (The Weeknd Cover) | Alt. download link: MP3
I can’t say I really can give the Francophone albums like this one a fair shake because of the language barrier, years of middle, high school and college French be damned. That being said music (and love) are truly the universal languages and you can still feel the emotion conveyed in a voice even if you don’t understand the language the lyrics are written in and that’s no less the case with Astonomie. Musically this is far more than just competent but as even more folky, country-tinged indie music, wasn’t sure this was superlative, unique-sounding or ground-breaking enough to be considered a serious contender to be either shortlisted or a Polaris winner. I did like the track “Deux Colleys” a lot though. Hit the Bandcamp above to see for yourself and drop a comment with your thoughts.
This was a frustrating album to listen to for me. Prior Polaris Prize winner, Fucked Up’s David Comes to Life is a period ‘rock opera’ set in a fictional English town called Byrdesdale Spa in the 1970s/80s. If that’s not already enough to make you say, ‘Huh?’ trying to follow along with the story by simply listening to the album will likely only lead to even more frustration for you. Lead singer, Damian Abraham’s endless shout-yelling singing style on every track renders any nuance within the narrative or character exploration of this four act musical work kind of moot. I actually thought the album was pretty amazing from a purely musical point of view, possibly on par as a commercial proposition with Green Day’s mega-hit concept American Idiot album, but the vocals kinda ruined it for me. Damn shame. With some ‘regular’ singing this coulda been a contender….
Really, rap fans didn’t want to go see The Art of Rap??! Smdh…
[via @RapRadar3]
If I wasn’t working I’d take a run out the east end to check this….
On Tuesday July 3rd from 2PM to 4PM, Ernie Pannicioli, who has photographed everyone from the late Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. to Eminem and Lauryn Hill will be presenting his works to Scarborough youth at the Scarborough Civic Centre inside the City’s council chambers. During this one of a kind presentation Ernie will be showing a slideshow of the iconic, eye-catching photography he has done over the years, as well as showing The Other Side Of Hip-Hop, a documentary of the life, politics and photography of Paniccioli. Following the exhibition, there will be a moderated Q&A period which will allow audience members to hear from Ernie, who is also a motivational speaker and ask him questions about his journey and career highlights.
Who: Ernie Pannicioli, Premiere Hip-Hop Photographer in America
What: Presenting exhibit of work, showing of The Other Side Of Hip-Hop Documentary & Speaking Engagement for Scarborough Youth (presented by East Metro Youth Services and Manifesto)
When: Tuesday, July 3, 2012 @ 2 to 4 p.m.
Where: Scarborough Civic Centre
About Ernie Pannicioli
Regarded by most to be the premier “Hip-Hop photographer in America”, Paniccioli first made his foray into the culture in 1973 when he began capturing the ever-present graffiti art dominating New York City. Armed with a 35-millimeter camera, Paniccioli has recorded the entire evolution of Hip Hop. From Grandmaster Flash at the Roxy (a popular Manhattan nightclub of the late 70’s and early 1980s), to the athletic moves of the legendary Rock Steady Crew, to the fresh faces of Queen Latifah, Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Eminem, and Lauryn Hill.
CLICK HERE to learn more via the Facebook event page
June 2012
91 posts
If you read this blog regularly, you already know about Stasia Irons and Catherine Harris-White aka Stas and Cat of THEESatisfaction. If you live in the T.Dot/GTA region and you have at all dug what they do, then you need to be at their performance tonight at the Third Anniversary celebration for the local urban progressive artist collective, 88 Days of Fortune. Don’t sleep, NOW magazine knows what’s up and featured the event in this week’s issue that just hit newsstands this morning. Check it:
88DAYS OF FORTUNE 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY & PERFORMANCE
FEATURING:
THEESATISFACTION {SUB POP RECORDS}
WITH PERFORMANCES BY:
LES FEMME FATALES
88 DAYS
PROGRESS {REDPILL MUSIC}
HOSTED BY: DAINTY BOX
DJ SUNSUN , DJ CAT & STAS ALL NIGHT LONG!
DATE: THURSDAY JUNE 28TH
TIME: DOORS @9PM SHOW @10PM
PLACE: CINECYCLE 129 SPADINA
PRICE: $12 IN ADVANCE - ticketzone.com [click link to buy tix]
$18 AT THE DOOR
*LIMITED CAPACITY
19+
CLICK HERE for more info at the Facebook event page.
Still not convinced? Then check the 88 Days’ latest Time Travelers mixtape (Side A and B):
[mixtape via Brendan]
This is one of the few nominated albums I was already familiar with before the Polaris long list was announced last week. Not to toot my own horn but I was the person largely responsible for getting The Weeknd short-listed last year. But as you know if you read this blog regularly, neither The Weeknd’s Thursday or Echoes Of Silence mixtapes made it onto my Long List ballot for this year.
I think Abel is an important artist, not just for ‘urban’ music in Canada but music in general but if I had to keep it one hunid, I’d say House of Balloons is still his best work to date. That being said, compared to a lot of the albums I’ve been listening to on the Long List this past week, Echoes of Silence might actually be competitive for Short List consideration after all. BTW: not sure what’s going on but the amazing cover of Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana” he opened EOS with has been excised from this soundcloud embed for some reason so this is not technically the real, full album posted above.
[via]
