90’s alternative

Would You Believe I Just Bought A Cassette! Or Metric – The Shade EP

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The last time I bought a cassette, well… I’m not sure I remember. It was definitely in the late 80’s or maybe 1990, but it’s all rather fuzzy. To some extent vinyl had always kept a small touch of cool, but cassettes were popular only because they were portable. When CD’s took over that market, they became obsolete. Still, there is that touch of nostalgia and I fully admit to having a tape deck hooked into the stereo as I was making ‘mixed tapes’ into the late 1990’s.

So imagine my surprise when the latest Metric release came in two formats only: digital download and limited cassette. (Actually, I’ll be honest, I find it pretty awesome!) Over to the old AIWA deck I go and watch two wheels turn a thin strip of plastic. There it is, that new single (“The Shade”), introduced to The Edge just a day or two before their Sugar Beach performance, starts pumping out the speakers. The green and red lights are bouncing a storm on the cassette players level reader. It’s all so… mesmerizing. Fortunately, so is the music.

Heavy on the synthesizer, The Shade takes the exploration of those sounds found on Metric’s 2012 release Synthetica an extra step away from 80’s synth-pop and 90’s alternative  only to mix it up with a slight industrial tinge. The result is a band that has managed to show growth and range with every new release and an ep that is catchy without being crass.

The title track with its repeated chorus “I want it all” speaks to living in the moment. “Cascades” finds tenderness in electronica, “Too Bad, So Sad” comes off as a post apocalyptic self-help manual, and the final cut “Office Towers Escalate” builds a heavy drum &keyboard jam into a Matrix like dance revue.

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As if the music wasn’t incentive enough, Metric adds to the ‘collectibility’ of the cassette by signing autographs on the inside of the cover. Not that I think ‘the cassette’ is coming back in style, but I wonder if I need to get a head cleaner?

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You can find The Shade ep at ilovemetric.com

Youth Anthem Gets Reissue or Supergrass – I Should Coco Twentieth Anniversary Edition (coming soon)

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Give three teenagers a bit of cash to make a record and what do they do? If they’re Gaz Coombes, Mick Quinn and Danny Goffey they record Parlophone’s biggest selling debut record since the frickin’ Beatles released Please Please Me. Now, twenty years after that monumental moment, Parlophone and Rhino records are releasing an anniversary edition of the Supergrass debut I Should Coco.

Supergrass originally appeared in 1994, as a part of the Brit-Pop scene, with a sound that differentiated them from other acts by following a collection of influences. While Oasis and Blur were mining a vein of Beatles inspired melodies, Coombes & co. threw a concoction of ingredients into a blender that included the Buzzcocks, The Jam and Kinks. The result was a band that rocked louder and looser than their peers.

Their collective ages played a large part in the success of I Should Coco. Without even trying, the band created a great collection of songs that spoke to the teenage experience. “Caught By The Fuzz” was about Coombes’ bust for pot possession at age 15 and “Alright” with its opening “We are young, we run green” has continued to be a youth anthem long since the band were youths themselves. The album itself is a touchstone of the 90’s alt-rock movement and this reissue is definitely overdue.

With that in mind, both the CD and vinyl twentieth anniversary editions include some great things for fans.

The 12” re-master will be pressed on 180 gram black vinyl with cover art that has been re-photographed in high resolution from the original artwork created by The Moody Painters. It will also include a bonus 7” of the bands’ cover of Jimi Hendrix’s classic “Stone Free” which had initially been released only with the first 40,000 copies of I Should Coco. The 7” will be printed on red vinyl with a vintage reworking of the classic Parlophone red/yellow 45 label.

Alternatively, the 3 CD set will be jam packed with extras. The first disc will have the re-mastered I Should Coco. The second will contain all the b-sides that were released with their debut singles; while the third CD will include live material. Also included will be a 20 page booklet featuring one very enthusiastic live review from a 1995 Glasgow show, unpublished photos of the band and all the cover art from the singles.

To summarize, it is going to be one very cool set that fans will be eagerly waiting to get their hands on.

The 20th Anniversary Edition of I Should Coco will be released on Sept 4.

Comes With Big Explosions or Muse – Drones

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It’s hard to gain respect when you are the world’s most bombastic band. Ask ELO or Queen about critical reception and there will always be those critics who point out the over the top nature of such artists. On top of this Muse can’t shake the fact that vocalist/guitarist Matthew Bellamy phrases his singing like The Bends era Thom Yorke and plays flashy guitar reminiscent of Brian May. Thing is, if you were to describe the ingredients of a great sounding record, you could do much worse than those guys.

The only thing that can save artists from the line of ‘artistic achievement’ and ‘unholy disaster’ is a group of songs that both the band and their fans can embrace as “really f’in cool.” So now you have Drones, an album that uses the mechanical bringers of death as a metaphor for the loss of humanity, identity and empathy. It shoots for the stars and attempts to play more like a rock opera on the movie screen than a mere record put out in 2015.

Odd as it seems, they make it work. Sure you get the impression that they listened to a few popular 80’s records along the lines of The Power Station and Foreigner to update their previous sounds, but damn, it’s fun and they sell it with conviction. You might accuse them of being pretentious; an honest criticism in their case, but the basic fact is that Drones is entertainment. Think of it this way, not every war film made is about the consequences of violence; some are released so that people can watch big explosions and stuff popcorn in their face simultaneously…  and there is nothing wrong with that.

So when Bellamy sings “men in cloaks / always seem to run the show / mercy / from the powers that be” you can either roll your eyes or turn up the volume, but there is just no way you can ignore it.

Now for the purchase details.

Muse does know how to treat their fans and make a few bucks. You can buy Drones on all the usual physical mediums or you can buy this gorgeous gem.

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In a tri-fold cover, the deluxe edition contains two 180 gram red vinyl discs, CD, DVD, download card and two litho art prints. It’s pricey and you’ll need to cover shipping… but damn, it looks pretty sweet.

Self Sabotage Genius or The Replacements – Pleased To Meet Me

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Pleased To Meet Me should never have worked, yet it stands tall as a masterpiece. Lead guitarist Bob Stinson was out because of substance problems and the remaining band members were stumbling at best. Paul Westerberg’s songs were all over the map, and still the album is full of such gems that you can hardly tell that they had begun to disintegrate.

Recording at Ardent Studios in Memphis with producer Jim Dickinson, it really shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone that the band sound was less their typical brilliant boozy swagger and more an awesome well practised piece of power-pop. Of course, like his hero Alex Chilton, Paul Westerberg attempts to self sabotage his own career aspirations with tunes designed to be hated. The reaction therefore is that fans and critics alike see it as a ‘sign of genius’ – ‘a change of direction’ and rightfully heap praise.

Jazz and soul undertones (“Nightclub Jitters” & “Skyway”) mixed with punk pathos (“I Don’t Know” & “Red Red Wine”) and the aforementioned power-pop gems (“Alex Chilton” & “Can’t Hardly Wait”) help to create an album that demands devotion.

So it seems strange that since its initial release in 1987, Pleased To Meet Me didn’t see a re-master and reissue until 2008. For vinyl there are only two choices, finding an original used copy, which will cost you $50 and up

Or

the 2008 Rhino reissue on 180 gram vinyl. New and unopened copies of Pleased To Meet Me start around the $40 mark and even get some resellers asking as much as $100. While there is a new Replacements 2015 box out right now, there has been no vinyl release date set as of yet.

Your best bet is to hit your local retailers and see if you can track down the 2008 vinyl reissue while you still can.

Punk Before Anyone Coined The Phrase or The Sonics – Here Are The Sonics!!!

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No one quite did early garage rock like The Sonics. They were a musical mess of fuzzy guitar, earth pounding drums, screaming vocals and lyrics that were dirty and just plain asinine at times. This was the early sixties and while The Beatles were singing “Love Me Do” The Sonics were belting out “she’s gonna make you itch / ‘cause she’s the witch” (from the song “The Witch”) and as the Stones sang about “Mother’s Little Helper” these guys were blasting out a tune named “Strychnine.” It was a sound that reverberated from the 60’s and had enough impact to influence everyone one from The Stooges to Nirvana. The fact is that they were punk long before anyone even coined the phrase.

That The Sonics are not a household name is more at testament to poor timing than quality of expression. They were loud and crass before it became popular, and when they tried to move in a more commercial direction, that sound changed again and the band wasn’t thrilled about their new path anyway. Their debut, Here Are The Sonics!!!, was released in 1965 and by ’68 they called it a day. However, punk in the 70’s and grunge in the 90’s brought renewed interest in the band. Nirvana and later the White Stripes and Hives hailed them as influences while cover versions of their songs were played by the Flaming Lips, The Fall, L7, The Cramps, LCD Soundsystem and more.

If you are considering giving these guys a try the best place to start is with Here Are The Sonics!!! which provides the best overall example of their sound. On vinyl, you have a few choices, but your best bet is actually the 1998 mono edition released on regular vinyl. Mono being how it was originally recorded, it sounds far better. The great thing is that it is still widely available, NEW, for around the twenty dollar mark. A re-united Sonics has been touring and recently released a new album, This Is The Sonics.

Living In The Li… well you get the point! Or Sebadoh – “Limelight”

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Many many many (did I say many) alt-rock luminaries have a love for Rush. So, in honour of the Canadian rock gawds 40th anniversary, Sebadoh have recorded a cover of the Rush hit “Limelight” from the 1981 album Moving Pictures. The original batch of 978 picture discs sold out.

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However, the good people at Joyful Noise have done another printing on clear vinyl for those of you who feel you missed out the first time. You can order it here.

You can also check out the original recording of “Limelight” by watching the video above.

 

Musical Memories – Get The F#!K Outta My Way! Aug 18, 1993: Neil Young w/Booker T & the Mg’s / Pearl Jam / Soundgarden / Blues Traveller

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Sitting alone on the bus bound for Toronto I looked down at my feet and exclaimed “Oh shit!” louder than I should have. People turned to see this large man who looked more biker than student, wearing a pair of headphones shaking his head at his own stupidity. Sandles… I was wearing sandles to a freakin’ big ass concert at the Exhibition Stadium. Worse, it was general admission floors and I realized that I had made a huge mistake.

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I hook up with my girlfriend at the bus station, and meet with my roommate at the show as Blues Traveller put on a set that was entertaining to the few people who had arrived. I had expected a large crowd for Soundgarden who were still touring Badmotorfinger but that didn’t really materialize either. Despite low turnout for their set Cornell and co. put on a great performance. When they left the stage, that’s when things started getting weird. The crowd started filling in, but it wasn’t too bad until Pearl Jam walked on and the opening chords of “Go” rang out. Finishing the last dates supporting Ten, and having just finished the as yet unreleased VS. Pearl Jam was at the top of their popularity. Suddenly every kid who had a seat relinquished it and started breaking for the floor. Security was helpless as hundreds of people started to rush the stage.

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I was perhaps 50 – 60 feet from the band when this started and within just a few seconds I was thirty feet from them; except I had not taken a single step. It was a current of kids turning into rapids. My girlfriend started to stumble. At that moment a mixture of fear, anger and adrenaline took over. I grabbed my future wife, said excuse me to the first couple people, and with no other choice just started pushing through the crowd sideways. Each step I became angrier and despite the music I could hear screams of pain in the distance. Finally, the three of us came into a bit of a clearing when some poor kid, who had my height but was twig thin, ran straight into me.

BANG!

He looked down, went white and murmured, “I’m sorry.”

I didn’t have to look down to know what had happened. His Doc Marten kicked my big toe nail, and ‘pop’ my foot was now a bloody mess. All that adrenaline went straight to my chest and I bellowed “GET THE F#!K OUTTA MY WAY!!!” He disappeared in a shot. We went to a concession stand got a few napkins and then watched the rest of Pearl Jam’s set from the furthest seats of the stadium. Pearl Jam finished with a rousing rendition of the Who’s “Baba O’Riley” and left the stage. As they did so did the Pearl Jam fans. Hundreds just left.

We made our way back to the floor which was now civilized and found ourselves pretty much where we were standing before all the chaos.

Neil Young took the stage with the legendary STAX band Booker T & the MG’s and knocked through a set that pulled from both his acoustic and electric sides. The crowd was mostly in awe at the aging veterans who were putting on an awesome spectacle. For the first encore Young pulled out his harmonica and began to play the familiar whistle opening to the late Otis Redding classic “(Sittin On) The Dock Of The Bay” (Booker T &b the MG’s play on that Redding original). Unlike other covers by artists like Michael Bolton, Young didn’t use the song as some opportunity to emote through musical masturbation of vocal range, instead he stuck to the true dreamy nature of the original. Then he went electric again and broke into the Dylan stomper “All Along The Watchtower.” When the band finished everyone left the stage.

For the second encore Young & the MG’s were joined by Pearl Jam for “Rockin’ In The Free World” which delighted fans both young and old.

My girlfriend decided to drive me home when the radio started announcing several injuries due to the crush of people. I looked at my foot, considered myself lucky for only losing a toe nail, and popped Harvest Moon into the tape deck. That was the last time I ever went to Exhibition Stadium. It was torn down in 1999.

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The Best Album of 1993 or Liz Phair – Exile In Guyville

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Some records are great sounding and personal. Some records are great sounding and important. Then there was Exile In Guyville which was all that and so much more. 1993 was an awesome year for music seeing releases by Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Breeders, U2, Belly, Porno For Pyros, Sloan, The Cranberries, Blur, Counting Crows, PJ Harvey and so many more. All those records and yet Spin and the influential Village Voice both picked Guyville as the number one record of the year.

It wasn’t just that Phair was writing about sex as bluntly or as graphically as any ‘guy’ had before her. It wasn’t just that a so-called feminist view hadn’t been placed in music to the extent that she now had. It was that Exile In Guyville had seventeen kick-ass songs that talked about the female experience without having to make proclamations. This wasn’t Helen Reddy singing “I Am Woman” or Courtney Love warning you that “someday you will ache like I ache.” Instead Phair’s vocals are so matter of fact you feel that anger and sarcasm would be out of place. These are the stories of women in love, lust, distress and having sex told in a style where shock seems both out of place yet warranted.

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Spin recently ranked the Top 300 albums since 1985 and Exile In Guyville ranked #7. The only albums to rank Higher were:

Radiohead – OK Computer

The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead

Daft Punk – Discovery

Prince – Sign O’ The Times

Wu Tang Clan – Enter The Wu-Tang

Nirvana – Nevermind

Quite the company eh!

So when I talk about wanting to have not only albums I love, but also essential albums in my vinyl collection – Guyville fits both bills.

Strangely, Exile In Guyville has only two vinyl options. The original 1993 Matador release came with two basic black vinyl discs and an insert detailing the album info. You can find used copies on the internet for about $50.00.

In 2008, ATO Records released a 15th anniversary edition that was re-mastered and placed on two 180 gram vinyl pieces. With them also came a bonus 7” of unreleased B-sides and a copy of the re-mastered CD. Oddly, the reseller markets are asking over $60.00 for the 2008 reissue. It is still available at local record stores and online retailers for much less.

If you haven’t heard it – listen here. Then BUY IT!

Proclamation, Explanation, Reclamation! or Barenaked Ladies – Silverball

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The first person narrative has long been a device in rock music. So whether it is self proclamation (“Get Back Up”) or explanation (“Say What You Want”) or reclamation (“Piece Of Cake”) the only question to ask:  Is the Barenaked Ladies road still worth travelling?

It sort of depends on where your music tastes start and stop. Silverball leans heavily on the pleasant sounds of the eighties, happily playing in a mix of Huey Lewis & the News, Katrina & the Waves, and the Live Aid era pop that saw the dangerous (Jagger & Bowie) become outrageous as they danced in the streets. Sure, “Get Back Up” is a song that looks at the band as having nothing left to prove, but that doesn’t mean nothing left to say.

In the Barenaked Ladies world growing older doesn’t mean much more than gaining perspective. When Robertson sings “maybe we got much better at looking at the others heart” on “Hold My Hand” it’s a gentle reminder to a partner that not only is everything golden, but that he wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s these kinds of personal reflections that give the record a good natured charm.

Silverball is good, really good in fact. It’s well produced, the lyrics are meaningful and you can play it in the background on a Saturday afternoon with a few friends gathered in your backyard as the bbq burns a few hot dogs. Which really, if Silverball has a point, it’s that after all these years it’s just fine to live for the little things.

With hand claps and horns announcing that the Lords Of Austin have returned… or Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

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There was a point a few years ago when I was pretty well convinced that the only American ‘rock’ band left that really mattered was Spoon. Starting with 2001’s Girls Can Tell, Spoon put together a string of four back to back records on Merge, with each new brilliant album being slightly better than the last. Their sound wasn’t based on 60’s surf, 70’s classic, 80’s synth, or 90’s alt-rock… it was, just a groove that made your head nod and forced you to pay attention. You see, Britt Daniel and Co. are more subtle than to give you an obvious influence and instead channel elements of opposing song writing giants to play off of. You get a bit of Costello, a smidgen of the Clash, a hint of the “wall of sound” with a touch of Bowie and then mix in a heaping of original creepy grooves and the result is Spoon.

2007’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is the fourth and finest of the Merge years taking on all the elements of their previous work and then adding a kind of studio wizardry that arrives from the production of Jon Brion. Britt Daniel can be as depressing as all hell, but the vibe is so intoxicating that you feel compelled to be entertained by the misery. He sings “I want to forget how conviction fits, but can I get out from under it” on “The Underdog” but despite the hostility of the lyrical delivery it plays against type with hand claps and horns “for the Lords of Austin have returned.” (Yes that is a Lord of the Rings reference!)

So, with all this enthusiasm, you know I have to add this to my vinyl collection. Of course the choices are limited to only two. The first is a still widely available regular black vinyl that comes with a download card.

The second, released by Newbury Comics in 2014, is a very limited run of 500 in 180 gram red translucent vinyl that also includes a download card. As you can see, it is gorgeous.

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While you can get the standard black for about $20.00, you can expect to pay at least $50.00 on the reseller market for the Newbury edition. Just hoping I can find a copy on a trip to the U.S. so I don’t have to pay a ton in shipping costs.