What's say we go someplace exotic now? That's right, I'm thinking we should take a little trip to Canada. Not to Toronto, mind you. Oh no, too typical. Montreal? Forget it. Vancouver? Yawn. Winnipeg? Maybe next time.
No, today, we're off to London, Ontario -- which is somewhere roughly halfway between Toronto and where I live here in the States. I once took a train through London, Ontario. I seem to remember that the station was graffiti-free. That's about all that I remember about it.
But now we have something else to remember London, Ontario, Canada by -- and that would be the band A Block of Yellow. ABOY break down as follows: Anthony Nastasi sings and plays guitar; Alex Whalley ALSO sings and plays guitar (the seeds of their ultimate break-up are probably sown right here). Dan Tomas has the good sense to play bass and keep his mouth shut. Likewise, Paul Everest -- no troublemaker he -- is content to sit quietly in the back and play his drums.
Temporarily putting aside thoughts of their inevitable future crash-and-burn ego clashes, I can tell you that A Block of Yellow traffics in what they like to call "Hip Pop." In short, it's music that's meant to make you feel GOOD (odd lot, these Canadians). They cite the Clash and the Quarrymen as influences. But also: the Supremes. And ABBA. And: "the Kinks having a pillow fight with Modest Mouse."
So... these guys either have very well-rounded musical tastes, or... they're simply too damned isolated up there in the Great White North to have any idea that some of these artists DO NOT SOUND ANYTHING LIKE some of the OTHER artists. Well, let's leave them in their blissful ignorance, shall we? Canadians are cute that way. Like puppies.
But don't think for a minute that Canadians don't have a yen for making a buck (to mix a monetary metaphor). For, you see, these boys also have product to peddle. They not-so-very-long-ago released their four-song EP, Grow Up or Grow Out, and would no doubt be happy as "Hip Pop" if you shelled out the very few bucks (or yen) required to purchase said EP. In fact, you can do just that by clicking [here]. Or, get it on iTunes, if you prefer. Either way, the four lads of A Block of Yellow (ABOY) will be tickled pink (to mix a color metaphor). Now... somebody break open a Molson.A Block of Yellow on MySpace.
[MP3] "It's Almost Over"
[MP3] "Helping Juliana (With Pilgrim Hands)"
Veruca Salt... now THERE'S a blast from the past. "Seether," baby! Wherefore art thou, mid-'90s grunge?
A full twelve years after releasing their first and only big Buzz Bin hit (and eight years after co-leader Nina Gordon got the hell out of Dodge), Louise Post has cobbled together yet another incarnation of the band and released the appropriately titled IV. What's stunning is how little the group's sound has changed in all those intervening years. It seems that Ms. Post may be under the delusion that hard alt-rock's popularity never declined, or that it's due for a sudden, miraculous revival.
While it certainly tends to be true that what goes around comes around, and that history -- musically and otherwise -- has a way of repeating itself, Veruca Salt's latest effort seems far better suited for the dust bin than the Buzz Bin. Sure, it may represent an improvement over the ragged mess that was 2000's Resolver, but that provides scant solace, what with its outdated dynamics and recycled riffs. Maybe the mistake is in thinking that Veruca Salt -- even in its original configuration -- was anything more than a passing fad to begin with. They were, after all, a poor woman's version of the Breeders, who themselves were a poor woman's version of the Pixies. Everybody knows what happens when you make a copy of a copy. Clarity is lost. Quality suffers. And, ultimately, you end up going back to the original in search of satisfaction. Wherefore art thou, Frank Black?
Veruca Salt on MySpace.
From the LP IV, 2006 >>>
[MP3] "Blissful Queen"
[MP3] "Sun"
From the LP Eight Arms to Hold You, 1997 >>>
[MP3] "Volcano Girls"
[MP3] "Sound of the Bell"
What and the hell is a blue merle? Well, it's a type of Great Dane, for one thing. Led Zeppelin knew this -- referring to the creature in "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp." Remember that reference? Okay, maybe you don't, but it's there... somewhere.
I know this because the Nashville band Blue Merle took their name from that reference, so there you go. The band is led by singer-songwriter Luke Reynolds and bassist Jason Oettel, and their mellow sound has been compared to Counting Crows and Toad the Wet Sprocket. For my money, though, Reynolds' voice is almost an exact amalgam of Coldplay's Chris Martin and Dave Matthews Band's... um... Dave Matthews. See if you agree.
The songs below are taken from Blue Merle's debut LP, Burning in the Sun.
Blue Merle on MySpace.
[MP3] "Every Ship Must Sail Away"
[MP3] "If I Could"
Here's a recent discovery for me -- 1982's Eligible Bachelors by the Monochrome Set. They were from London. Pop music with literate lyrics. Music to remember the Falklands War by. [I would write more, but I'm fucking sick and tired of Blogger knocking me off-line and forcing me save drafts every five seconds.]
[MP3] "The Jet Set Junta"
[MP3] "I'll Cry Instead"
[MP3] "The Devil Rides Out"
Some time ago, I received an e-mail from somebody requesting that I re-post one of my earlier '60s mixes. As I'd long intended to finish off the current series by posting Volume 3, I certainly consider myself sufficiently goosed in the ass at this point to do just that. Hopefully, the "somebody" in question will find some tracks here that he likes just as well as those from the last batch. Hopefully, you will as well.
Please left-click [HERE] to nab the following tunes...
TRACKLIST >>>
01) Bob Dylan/Like a Rolling Stone
02) The Cyrkle/Red Rubber Ball
03) The Mamas & The Papas/Go Where You Wanna Go
04) The Drifters/Under the Boardwalk
05) Dion/Abraham, Martin and John
06) The Righteous Brothers/Unchained Melody
07) Patsy Cline/Back in Baby's Arms
08) Mason Williams/Classical Gas
09) Tammy Wynette/Stand By Your Man
10) Zager and Evans/In the Year 2525 (Exordium and Terminus)
11) Peter, Paul & Mary/If I Had a Hammer
12) The Beach Boys/God Only Knows
13) Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood/Summer Wine
14) The Doors/Break on Through
15) Jefferson Airplane/Somebody to Love
16) The Animals/House of the Rising Sun
17) Connie Francis/Where the Boys Are
18) Nat King Cole/L-O-V-E
19) Paul Mauriat/Love is Blue
20) Simon and Garfunkel/The Sound of Silence
21) Neil Diamond/Solitary Man
22) Louis Armstrong/What a Wonderful World
23) Barry Sadler/Ballad of the Green Berets
24) Linda Ronstadt/Different Drum
25) Roy Orbison/Crying
26) The Ronettes/Be My Baby
I've never been a huge fan of Athens, Georgia's Now It's Overhead. It seems as though I should like their songs more than I do, seeing as I tend to appreciate the individual parts of those songs. But something about how Andy LeMaster & friends string things together has always turned me off. Or, at the very least, has always managed NOT to turn me ON.
That pattern seemed to be holding true as I listened to their latest LP, Dark Light Daybreak, yesterday afternoon. Certainly, the songs seemed to have some sharper edges than in the past (which was welcome), but there remained a certain unsatisfying drone... a certain lumbering quality to the note and chord progressions....
But then, lo and behold, certain of the tracks started to come together for me. Before I knew it, I was liking a full half of the album. Time will tell if more listens will unlock some of the other tunes to these still somewhat skeptical ears, but I'm glad I stuck with this one till the end. And I have no qualms whatsoever about recommending the songs below...
[MP3] "Day Light Daybreak"
[MP3] "Believe What They Decide"
[This'll probably have to be it for today, folks. I'm off to my brother's to eat White Castles and watch the Lions embarrass themselves on national TV. Just like last year. And the year before that. Etc. Ad infinitum.]
Recently, I've been listening to some older albums that slipped under my radar back in the day, rather than focusing so heavily on 2006 releases. One such LP was The Soundtrack of Our Lives' 2002 effort, Behind the Music.
Though hailing from Sweden, TSOOL don't play the slick and/or sophisticated pop game that so many Swedish artists excel at. Instead, they've made a career of being magpies and shape-shifters, albeit always with one collective foot firmly planted in '60s psychedelia. While I'm not familiar enough with the band at this point to compare this particular record with their other efforts, I can certainly raise my voice in praise for Behind the Music's impressive range of influences and moods (not to mention: tempos). I've tried to provide you with a few examples of that range below, so step on up to the smorgasbord....
This December, the Soundtrack of Our Lives will be Down Under >>>
Dec 1 8:00P/The Tote/Melbourne
Dec 2 8:00P/Corner Hotel/Richmond, Melbourne
Dec 8 8:00P/Annandale Hotel/Sydney
Dec 9 8:00P/Meredith Music Festival/Meredith
Dec 12 8:00P/The Tote/Collingwood, Melbourne
In the meantime, you can find them on MySpace.
[MP3] "Sister Surround"
[MP3] "Nevermore"
[MP3] "In Your Veins"
