KMA Sunday Service Week 40: Supplemental

I forgot to tell a couple of stories in the KMA Sunday Service Week 40! Now you get even more KMA-y goodness! You lucky kids!

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Parenting: Izzy Edition

Driving to school one morning this week, and Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds came on the MP3 player, great tune called Somebody Knockin’. My daughter started rocking out in the back seat, and said “Daddy! I REALLY like this song!” Her happy dance, while strapped into a seat belt, was really something to see. Then the next track on the album, Pressure Drop, came on and my son said “Dad I know this one! Turn it up!” Of course I did just that. I like to think those tunes gave them the lift they needed to get through their school day…

Parenting: must be doing something right…

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More Radio Adventures At Work

There’s a song that comes on regularly, and I didn’t know who did it or what it was called, but the ladies all sing along… mostly. Herein lies a tale…

I Googled it, and it’s a band called A Great Big World, and the song is called Hold Each Other. It’s a catchy enough tune, suitable pap for lite FM radio, but with (I think) a bit of a celtic lean to it, especially in the chorus… like something Rod Stewart would have sung on Vagabond Heart.

Anyway, the song goes on long enough as it is, and then, as they sometimes inexplicably do with these things, there’s a bit of a rap part in the middle. Some guest rapper (Futuristic) wrecks the flow of the tune with their crap. The best part about all of this, for me, is listening to the ladies singing along with the song, and then abruptly stopping as soon as the rapping starts. Then starting again when it’s over.

Wanna know how to kill a tune for people? Guest rappers can do it! Hire one now! And oh, I’m sure there are examples where rappers inserted into the middle of pop songs works out just fine, but in this case… nope.

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Some Cool Additions To The Collection

I scored a couple of cool LPs at work, this week (therefore $1 each). They’re all in great shape. I’m sure I’ll get around to reviewing them some day! Check it out…

Elvis Presley – Elvis’ Christmas Album
Burton Cummings – Woman Love
Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson – Highwayman
Buddy Holly – The Best Of Buddy Holly

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OK, and that (I think) is everything I know about last week! Thanks for stopping by!

 

KMA Sunday Service Week 40

Here we are. It’s been a while since a Sunday Service.

40 weeks (with several in between).

The only thing we can do is give ‘er!

 

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It’s a weak post, but I have a few things to go through before beginning a new (busy) week here. For the record (natch), the kids are done school on Wednesday. My boy will be done Grade 1 (he’s 7), and my girl will be done her first year in school, in Junior Kindergarten (she’s 4). I remember the days they were born like they were yesterday, hell I cut the cords myself, and yet here they are so big and bright and beautiful. These little milestones hit us and we can only roll with it, and marvel at the amazing people they are becoming.

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Sunday Funnies

First up, this one is for Sarca, and her recent foray into the Kurt Cobain story:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, a very good question:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, for whatever it is worth all these years after the last time I was in a concert band, here is the conductor:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Blue Rodeo In My Town

Blue Rodeo played in my town, last night. I really wanted to go. Perfect weather for it, and I love the band. Also, I still (!) have never seen them in concert.

So why not go? Because I can’t stand the beer swillers in this town, they’d surely wreck the experience completely. They always do. Some people know how to drink and still have a good time, but in my town, they drink (and drink) and become assholes.

Also, tickets were about $80 each, and I couldn’t see paying $160 for my lovely wife and I to go stand in our shitty-ass park (which is a terrible venue for shows) and be surrounded by the beer swillers and their redneck fishing derby idiocies just to hear Blue Rodeo play Lost Together. I have live CDs that cover that.

Sorry, Blue Rodeo. This was not for me.

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Marvin Gaye

 

 

 

 

 

I am very excited about these three boxed sets.

Marvin Gaye – Volume 1 has 1961-1965 (7 discs).
Marvin Gaye – Volume 2 has 1966-1970 (8 discs).
Marvin Gaye – Volume 3 has 1971-1981 (7 discs).

Mind. Blown.

I wants them all, the precioussssss….

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Shakira Gazelle Dixie Chick?

So we watched Zootopia with the kids, this week. They’d already seen it, when my folks took them to the theater to watch it, but this was the first time through for my lovely wife and I. The film is OK, pretty smart and yet dumb enough for kids to find it funny. My daughter found the altered animals scary, so we had to fast-forward through parts of it.

Movie aside, the big song is by Shakira, called Try Everything. They play it several times throughout the film, because beating you over the head with the big song for a major production is way better than being normal about it.

But something bothered me about the song, I knew I’d heard the verse lines before. Then it hit me. Dixie Chicks, Goodbye Earl. I dunno, maybe I’m hearing things, maybe I’m not. Forget everything but the vocal line. Try it for yourself:

 

 

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For The Love Of The Beans

I reported the other day that I have been without coffee for two weeks, now. This remains true. I thank you all for your support, and I understand if the idea of completely giving up on the black gold is foreign to you. I, myself, love it. I grew to love the taste, its effects were secondary (though no less useful).

No doubt I’ll have a cuppa someday soon, but right now I have to report that my belly feels a whole lot better without it.

 

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The Shark Attack

The Shark Attack (our kids’ band) almost played a concert for us, this weekend. The kids spent some time in their room, prepping their next performance, but then the gig fell apart when they got distracted by their big pile of Legos.

I can only hope that whatever they had planned is eventually played for us, and soon!

 

***

And there you have it, folks. No reviews. No albums on which to report. We’ve been so busy, running here and there, doing this and that, I haven’t even had a chance to listen to my usual amount of music. I could say that I’ll make certain that next week I will make a point of hearing more, but I’ve learned that for whatever control I believe I may exert on nything, I also need to roll with it and let things happen as they will.

When I hear something (and I have many things upon which I want to report), you’ll be the first to know!

Have a great week, and thanks for reading. It’s you, Dear Readers, who make all of this what it is.

KMA Sunday Service Week 39

Welcome to yet another KMA Sunday Service!

All set?

LET’S GO!

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Sunday Funny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Notes From A Busy Guy

So I haven’t had much time in the Man Cave this week. Lovely weather has led to most of our time being spent outside, away from my turntable. I KNOW! While it’s nice to get our veggie garden planted, it is still my aim to get back into the Hit It Or Quit It series big time. I miss it. I also have a ton of other LPs to get through… I also wanna finalize my What Owns Me (WOM) list… and then there’s the new (to me) stuff I got and haven’t even managed to look at…

I need to get paid to do this so it can be my full time job!

And here’s what was in my ears this week!

Quite a bit of nostalgia. It was nice!

 

Seven Mary Three – American Standard

I loved this record, back in the day. We even saw them live at Edenfest in 1996, a great set. Would I still like this CD the same now, in 2016? Heck yes. Yeah the big hit Cumbersome is here, and the harrowing Water’s Edge (still so satisfying). But the deep cuts here are just as strong, some full-on rockers, some lovely acoustic tracks, all with poetic lyrics and a real knack for melody. Yup, I still dig this record tons. Right on!

Rusty – Sophomoric

Our Canuck Readers will likely remember these guys. I was right into Rusty had their other CDs too. Happy pop rock punk with a lightly raspy-voiced singer and very tuneful, bouncy tunes. I remember Doin’ Fine being everywhere for a while. It was nice to revisit this. Not sure how much I’d play it on regular rotation, but hey. I still really liked it. This CD has energy, swagger, and it’s doin’ fine indeed!

Soundgarden – Down On The Upside

The Audible Stew reviewed this record recently, and it inspired a re-visit for me. I like this record tons, always did. Discussion on it brought up this possibly being lesser than Badmotorfinger and Superunknown, but my point was that it takes the best of both and tries to go forward too. A tall order, and well done! Lots of great tunes here, to many to list so just trust me. This one’s a corker.

I Mother Earth – Dig

Oh hell yes. I could play this anytime. I’m just dropping this here to say that this is one of my favourite records of the early 90s. It has everything from huge vocals, heavy guitars, pounding drums and throbbing bass. All those smart, intricate and tasteful tunes… goddamn.

It’s definitely of its time, but that’s just another reason to love it. I played this one a lot, and I see no reason to ever change that. WHAT A RECORD!

Rolling Stones – Sympathy For The Devil Remix

I got this EP at Sonic Boom in Taranna when we went there with James. What can I say, I’m a sucker for Stones stuff.

Lots of interesting stuff here, I guess, with three different artists doing remixes, both Radio Edits and Full Versions. In each case, the Full Version is just more of the same as the radio edit.

First up is the Neptunes Remix, which adds thumping bass drum and adds east Indian drum breaks, and an acoustic guitar breakdown. It’s fun, and it works.

Then we move on to the Fatboy Slim Remix which tries to, um, make it into a dance track? Or something? Actually, he tried to turn it into Praise You. So, um, yeah.

Finally, it’s the Full Phatt Remix, which chops the tune up into a staccato and adds synths to the bass line. A lot of stopping and starting, and somebody grunting now and again. Seriously.

The disc rounds it all out with the original album version by the Stones, to cleanse our palates.

I know why this was cheap, but it’s still fun to hear it. And I just listened to Sympathy seven times in a row.

Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms

Total classic. What an opening 1-2-3 punch combo, with So Far Away, Money For Nothing, and Walk Of Life. I mean, they could’ve stopped right there! But there was tons more to come. I likely don’t need to tell you about this one, too much, you likely know it from top to bottom just like the rest of us. You know that the production is crisp and clear, you know that the deep cuts are just as great, you know that the title track is another hit for sure.

This record is atmospheric, and so very smart. My ear is so drawn to Knopfler’s guitar it ain’t even funny.

No surprises here. As you were.

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And that’s it, short and sweet. I hope to get more posted throughout the week, though.

Thanks for tuning in! See you soon!

KMA Sunday Service Week 38: Supplemental, The Day After

I meant to add these into my last Sunday Service. Alas.

Anyway, here’s a heads-up on some upcoming new releases that have me salivating. All of them are dropping on June 17. Looks like I need to hide my VISA card on June 16…

Jake Bugg – On My One

I reviewed his other stuff in these pages, and I seem to recall I may be about the only one who could be excited about this… no matter, I’m excited!

I’m super-happy for more new Jake Bugg.

 

Tragically Hip – Man Machine Poem

A must-buy. Not because of Gord Downie’s recent news, but because I have been a first day buyer of all of their records since the early 90s. Long-time fan here, and this will be coming home oh yes.

Pictured is a cool edition that comes with the LPs, CD, and a mountable vinyl holder frame.  It’s almost $60, I won’t buy it, but it’s a fun idea.

Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool

I probably don’t need to remind you of this. I’ll be getting it!

 

 

 

Neil Young & The Promise Of The Real – Earth

It’s a bit like rubber-necking a car wreck, sometimes, but Neil usually keeps things interesting enough that new releases still catch my eye as worthwhile.

 

 

UPDATE: Gojira – Magma

Our benevolent HMO rightly pointed out that I was remiss in excluding this monster of a release. Thanks Scott!

Gojira! Gojira! Gojira!

 

 

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And of course I could remind you about the new Red Hot Chili Peppers, but last time I mentioned it, most of you weren’t thrilled, so I’ll keep that one for me. 😉

 

 

 

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Not On June 17

Don’t forget that TUNS comes out on August 26!

WOOHOO!!

 

 

 

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Thanks for checking out this supplemental post.

This stuff should’ve gone into yesterday’s thing, but first goes the mind, and all that… I wonder if I’m going slightly mad… Probably!

Enjoy your Monday!

KMA Sunday Service Week 38

Welcome to yet another (whoa nelly) KMA Sunday Service!

As you’ve noticed, I have been posting all week. So has James.

You lucky kids, look at all the content you’ve had available for your enjoyment!

So it turns out that I had things to say and didn’t wanna wait til Sunday. Cool! Probably happen this week too. Maybe I’m learning that I suck at schedules and should just do whatever whenever and stop stressing myself. PERSONAL GROWTH! Imagine.

I haven’t got a whole lot for you, since I’ve been posting all week, but I thought I’d show you some (music) porn, and tell you a funny story.

Alright, let’s roll up the sleeves and get in there, shall we?

Yes indeed. Yes we shall.

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Sunday Funny

This Mazda driver gets it…

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Vinyl Porn

Behold all of this MAJESTY!

 

These are limited edition 12” singles from the Atoms For Peace album, Amok.

All three are:

45 RPM, Single, Limited Edition of 2000 or 3000*

Embossed Foil:

Front sleeve has embossed glossy writing
Rear sleeve has four embossed rectangles
Plain white inner centre holed sleeve

From L-R in that shite photie:

Judge Jury And Executioner (XL Recordings XLT 592)

A: Judge Jury And Executioner
B: S.A.D.

Default (XL Recordings XLT 584)

A1 Default
B1 What The Eyeballs Did
B2 Default (Instrumental Edit)

Before Your Very Eyes (XL Recordings XLT 605)

A: Before Your Very Eyes
B: Magic Beanz

In Sum:

Just look at them again. So much glory. So much beauty. Wonderful days! I sent this shite photie to 1537. He said I was hanging out with crazy people online too much. He’s probably right, but it’s too late for me. I can’t change now…

* Sources on the amounts of the limited pressings vary. Discogs and Amazon say either 2000 or 3000 for each. Either way, it ain’t very many!

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And since we’re on the subject of Atoms For Peace, and before you go thinking it’s all studio trickery, have a gander at this video of them live in 2013.** Once you start watching, you just can’t stop…

** I got all excited and sent this link to 1537 and he has already seen it. In fact, he’s already linked to it in his own post about the band. So there’s me paying full attention!

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Funny Story

So I got really rather drunk on Friday night. Rather sloshy, and on red wine that was as cheap as fuck, too. It was highly enjoyable. But then I subjected myself to Oasis. 2 CDs of it. You’ve read that report already, and again I say all deference to their fans, I am but one Canadian calling it as I see it. I don’t understand them like you do (and I don’t want to). Anyway yes, I bashed even their hits set, Stop The Clocks, pretty hard. It ain’t my cup of tea.^

So Mike chimed in and said I needed their set of b-sides, The Masterplan, more than I needed their 2CD hits set. First of all, what sort of band names their b-sides collection The Masterplan? Wouldn’t your a-sides have been the masterplan? I really don’t fathom these people. Anyway. Mike seemed to think the solution to my not liking them was to hear more of them. Interesting logic! Fair play!

What’s funny about this story? Why am I building a watch, here? Well, I went into work yesterday to get a pay stub, and didn’t they have The Masterplan on CD sitting right there. Still in the fucking shrink wrap. So, based on Mike’s recommend, I bought it (for $1.50). Why, when I have never, ever liked this band? The Force is strong in Mike, and if he says it’s better than the hits, I believe him. So I’ll try it! And yes, this is even after giving their 2CD best effort hits set a resounding MEH.

I will review this CD in these pages, at some point. No way am I gonna listen to it sober, so it looks like some other weekend I’ll need to get me some more super-cheap red wine…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

^ See what I did there? ‘Cos the British really like their tea… You picked up on that right away, so, as you were.

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And that’s it.

What, you say? No reviews? No Hit It Or Quit It? I’m not even done my first coffee yet, how can the KMA Sunday Service already be over?

Well, if I hadn’t posted it as I went, all of that content I slapped up through the week would have been crammed into here, that sure would have padded it out, eh?

Thanks for being a constant reader. We love you. You are always welcome here. See you next week!

 

KMA Sunday Service Week 37

Welcome to yet another Sunday Service! Hallelujah!

You’ll have noticed that I’ve broken my ‘keep it to one post per week’ thing this week. Bad Aaron! BAD! Hahaha… You know, every once in a while I think about posting more often. I might still. You just NEVER KNOW!

It’s been a great week of listening! Are you ready? ‘Cos I’m READY!

Let’s GIVE ‘ER!

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Sunday Funny

First up, all I’ve got is this photograph but it’s not enough…

 

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Kallaxed Again

Another feature of our trip to the city last weekend for our meet up with James (SO. AWESOME.) was the world’s fastest stop at IKEA in Vaughan. Seriously, we were in and out of there in ten minutes (or less). Must have been some sort of landspeed record.

I was in need of more LP storage in the Man Cave. You see, I have an 8-cube unit already, from back when they were called Expedit. It was pretty much full. Plus there were boxes of LPs over in the corner…

The new units are called Kallax. They’re almost identical to the Expedit, just 1/2” narrower in the frame. No matter. So, I got another 8-cube and away I go! My Dad and I put it together last Sunday, took about 15 minutes – it would have taken less but we’d reversed one side so the anchoring holes didn’t line up. We are amazing.

Now I’m very good to go! And the Man Cave continues to take shape!

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Upcoming Shows

Blue Rodeo is playing in our shitty little park here in our town, on June 25. I’d love to go, as I have never seen them in concert and this has always been a huge oversiiiiiight on my part. But tickets are $80 per person. To go to that shite park and be jostled by the beer swillers in this town? Haha I think the fuck not. I’d rather spend $12.99 and get the Massey Hall live CD.

Sloan is playing in Kincardine on July 2. That’s not all that far from here, and Mike‘s cottage is over that way, and it’ll be the Canada Day weekend… sounds yummy to me!

Speaking of Sloan, they played the Phoenix in Toronto last Saturday night, when we were hanging out with James. Why the fuck didn’t we go??? Well, I would’ve, and James would’ve too. And my lovely wife has never seen them… But we only had the day in town, no arrangements made to stay overnight, no extra clothes brought, and no arrangements with my parents (who were awesomely watching our kids) for us to stay longer than the one day. And we’d have gotten out late, with a 3 hour drive home that would get us there in the wee hours… Ah well.

Alright let’s get into what I put into my ears this week!

Black Flag – The First Four Years

You know something, I have already written about this record in these pages. I don’t care, here it is again! I love this CD. A collection of tunes by the band with the first bunch of singers (pre-Rollins). They went through many line-up changes blah blah blah. All you need to know is that these tracks kick serious ass. Like, punk bands out there just wish they could have one (just one) song as good as any of the songs here, and the Flag gave us a whole CD of them, because why not. Haha it’s embarassing (for everyone else). Seriously. These guys were SO GOOD.

Turns out, this CD is the perfect length for my current walk/jog/drag my carcass around the neighbourhood thing that I’ve been doing lately because I need to get into better shape. This disc motivates me. It’s 16 songs of the most wrenching, blasting, amazing music ever.

You need this.

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And now some stuff I got in Taranna at Sonic Boom with James last weekend!

The Duran Duran Tribute Album

Remember Mojo Records? All those ska and punk bands? Did you know they made a compilation of some of those bands playing Duran Duran songs? Well, they did! And it’s actually really, really friggin’ good! Haha fun times!

I mean, first track, Goldfinger does Rio and squeezes in a lyric of Minor Threat, and even rocks out 80’s rawk style and name checks Ronnie James Dio… Other highlights include Reel Big Fish’s swanky Hungry Like The Wolf, Less Than Jake’s The Reflex and GOB’s A View To A Kill. Hell, even Deftones offer up The Chauffeur. Lots of cool stuff here!

You know something, I used to own a ton of these punk/ska compilations, and I now have a memory of owning this disc ages ago. A lot of this sounds very, very familiar to me. AWESOME!

Ripcordz As Fuck

Another tribute compilation, this time to Montreal’s Ripcordz. Man, Ripcordz have been going so long, they seem to just have always been there, so it’s easy to take them for granted. But I’m glad these bands got together and gave tribute to this mighty band.

Bands you might know, here? Local Rabbits (I saw them open for Sloan, ages ago!) doing Silicone Teens. Random Killing doing Big Wet Kiss. Punchbuggy covering Tearing Us Apart. Planet Smashers (another great band!)’s version of Cheez Metul… you get the idea. This disc kicks all sorts of ass.

Yay for Ripcordz!

Headstones – One In The Chamber Music

Damn, I love me some Headstones. Funny thing, I didn’t even know this 2014 disc existed. How did I miss it? Anyway, it’s a bunch of Headstones classics done acoustic (or, at least, as near as Headstones can get). I loved this disc so much, I played it twice. FREAKING FANTASTIC STUFF!

Tracks: Colourless / Smile And Wave / Tweeter And The Monkey Man / Pinned You Down / Swinging / Laugh Lines / Cemetery / Look Away / Without A Sound / When Something Stands For Nothing / Million Days In May / Three Angels / Won’t Wait Again / Cubically Contained

Ani DiFranco – Ani DiFranco

Y’all know I’ve made a project out of collecting up all the Ani albums. I love Ani. It’s no small task to get them all, though, given how bloody prolific she’s been, over the years! These days, I don’t think I need too many more… But for whatever reason, in my travels all these times digging the bins, I’d never come across a copy of this one, her first record. Well, here it is now!

How cool was it, in 2016, to hear her on her first full length recorded effort (from 1989)? Amazing. It shows how brilliant she was right from the beginning. Wow. Just WOW.

Tracks: Both Hands / Talk To Me Now / The Slant / Work Your Way Out / Dog Coffee / Lost Woman Song / Pale Purple / Rush Hour / Fire Door / The Story / Every Angle / Out Of Habit / Letting The Telephone Ring

Oh yes.

Danny Michel – Tales From The Invisible Man

For some dumb reason I don’t own all of Danny’s amazing records (this one makes 3, now – I also have Feather, Fur & Fin, and Sunset Sea), but when I saw this one I snapped it up in a hurry. I’m happy to give it a good home, and I love the others I already have, but also it has a James connection to the story of last week, as you’ll know doubt read shortly. It was meant to be.

Do you need me to remind you of what’s on here? You already know it’s full of super-smart and incredibly catchy pop rock tunes, each of them so good you wish you’d written it yourself.

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And one disc I bought, but didn’t get (haha whut):

Yo La Tengo – Little Honda

When I got home from Toronto, I was surprised to find out that the CD inside this single’s case was actually CD2 of the 30th anniversary remastered release of David Bowie’s The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust. No Yo La Tengo anywhere in sight!

I called Sonic Boom and there’s no way of getting the disc back, so they just refunded my $2.99 to my Paypal. That was cool, but it’s still a shame, because a) it means out there somewhere is someone who bought the David Bowie set and was disappointed when they found Yo La Tengo in the case, and b) I was disappointed because I wanted to hear Yo La Tengo do a Beach Boys tune! Alas.

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And discs I bought just to have them:

Atoms For Peace – Amok

Yes, I already own this CD. But (in the New Arrivals bin) they had a copy of the gorgeous deluxe edition that folds out a bunch of times to reveal more artwork and just looks so damn sexy. I couldn’t leave it.

 

Kathleen Edwards – Voyageur

The amazing Boppin already sent me his download code from his LP copy of this record because he wouldn’t ever use it and because he knew I needed this record (he was right, it’s amazing, I love Kathleen Edwards’ records!). Anyway, I found a copy of the CD at Sonic Boom and it was a no-brainer purchase. Now I have it in digital and physical copies!

 

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And one disc I bought that I already had!

Sadly, my WOM (What Owns Me) list is looong out of date, and so I bought a copy of Kathleen Edwards’ Asking For Flowers CD (I would always buy her CDs!), thinking I didn’t have a CD of it, but when I got home I discovered that I indeed do have it already! Ah well. So much for my memory. I know I’ve played it, and loved it, but I suppose I thought I had it digital only or something? I dunno.

Anyway, now there are two copies here.

 

There were some other discs I got on this most recent foray into Sonic Boom, I’m pretty sure. I just have to remember what the hell they were…

***

And that’s it for now. What a week!

Thank you so much for reading.

See you next time!!

KMA Sunday Service Week 36 Supplemental: The KMA Brothers Meet!

As most of you know, yesterday we were in Taranna for the day. But we had great reason to be there:

We met up with JAMES!!!

Yes, my KMA brother these last (almost) ten years was in town for the week on holiday! Sadly, his lovely wife could not join him for this trip, which means we have still never even met the lady. Bad form! Now, Saturday was the only day we could meet up (what with jobs, and kids in school, through the week). It had been 8 years since we last saw James. Crazy.

We bombed down to the big shitty in the morning, through pouring rain and a whole lot of nimnod drivers. Seriously, people, why does some rain make you forget how to drive properly? Ferfuckssakes. Anyway. It took us A LOT longer to get there than we’d planned. We kept giving time estimates to James via text, and then having to change it to later… I recalled my last trip back from Taranna, after the Iron Maiden show, and Wilf and I driving 4 hours through a snow storm…

Finally we got to Bloor and Yonge to the reference library and met up with James and his buddy Steve. I’ve gotta say, SO GOOD to be in the same place as James again. That Dude should totally live next door to us. And we remembered Steve from last time James was in Taranna and he’s awesome and it was all good!

We went to TCAF (Toronto Comic Arts Festival)! We were really impressed at the turnout, it was crawling with people, which is awesome because it means comics are alive and well and that makes me happy.

James got some cool stuffs, and we ran into some people from our town and Steve met many people he knew. Cool beans!

We were on the street deciding where to get lunch when James says “hey see that guy?” at the back of some dude walking up the street, headed away from us. “That’s Ed Robertson from Barenaked Ladies!” I shouted HI! at Ed’s back but he didn’t hear me and dammit he was moving fast. Ah well. Ed, if you Google your name and read this, I’d have enjoyed meeting you!

After lunch we made the decent hike over to Spadina, where we checked out a Play De Record (is this new? I don’t recall this being here), and sadly Steve had to leave to go to a work thing, and then we went on to Sonic Boom. This was James first trip there! So awesome. Many good finds, of course (I’ll be posting about these, of course). Then we went and got a coffee at Moon Bean, and across Dundas to Eaton Center so my lovely wife could get a book she wanted. Dinner at the (haunted) Keg Mansion, with the most amazing steak ever (applewood-smoked bacon-wrapped filet with blue cheese and garlic cloves OMG) and a double-baked potato with bacon in the stuffing. Holy crap I wanted four more plates. SO GOOD!

Then it was time to go. The afternoon disappeared so quickly, but to say that it was good to meet up with James would be understatement of the year! Safe journey on the way home, James. RAWK ON!

KMA Sunday Service Week 36

Welcome to yet another KMA Sunday Service! Jeez, 36 weeks. Numbers like this, makes me think we’re tracking the development of a baby…

Let’s give ‘er, shall we?

 

***

Phone Call

Friday night, we heard this weird ringtone in the house. It wasn’t my usual iPhone ringtone (which sounds like an old telephone, because I am old). But it was, indeed, my phone, and the caller was listed as Unknown. Of course I answered, and it was Deke! YES! Our Superdekes put through a call and totally made my day.

Y’all know I love Community, and a phone call is just what the doctor ordered. Thanks heaps, Deke, you called at a great time, as I was just hooking up a Yamaha keyboard so the kids can make some noise and get a sense of actually making music. That they used it to make cow noises and drum machine beats is perfect, for now.

Rock on Deke! Thanks for the call!

***

Sunday Funny

That fucking Weeknd song. That fucking spelling of Weeknd. I can find nothing I like about any of this. At least we have Ralph.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***

And this is a tribute to the gym regimen of our beloved HMO.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***

Ghomeshi Apologizes, Charge Dropped This Week

Part of the deal to avoid trial, and a peace bond.

No admission of guilt. READ ABOUT IT HERE.

 

***

Alright! Let’s get into what was in my ears this week! Or as Deke might put it, let’s see what I stuck in my ears!

Herbert Von Karajan (w. Berliner Philharmoniker) – Beethoven: Complete 9 Symphonies (1963)

I have spent the majority of this week with this 5CD set. I walk every morning in the cool, crisp air (we still have frost, early on), the sun giving promise of a warmer afternoon. With headphones in my iPod, Beethoven’s symphonies washing over me, I cover a respectable distance in a short time (I am trying to get exercise from it all).

They say that classical music is good for the brain, but they usually talk about Mozart, or maybe Vivaldi, when such things get mentioned. Beethoven… well, he makes me want to invade a small European country… beautifully. There’s something stirring, invigorating, visceral in these pieces. It’s not altogether uplifting or gentle, some of it’s damn heavy, but the moments of mind-blowing beauty are everywhere, too, and they are enough in themselves to make him essential, of course.

I’m no expert on the surely near-infinite list of varying versions of Beethoven’s work out there. But this set is an old friend, I’ve been playing it for years, and I would tell you on any given day that it is my favourite renditions I’ve ever heard. Fully recommended listening.

Bonus: I also own this as an 8LP boxed set, it was in the boxes of LPs that Brother Craig gave me. It’s so gorgeous…

***

And now we shift gears without a clutch…

So I got a 2-for-$20 deal at my local HMV. Check it out…

1 of 2: Iron Maiden – From Fear To Eternity: The Best Of 1990-2010 (2CD)

20 years on 2CDs? Haha man, now THAT was an unenviable task! Still, they managed it – this set is amazing.

Funny, though. I don’t think I needed this, really. As I own all the albums, most of the tracks here will be duplicated in my collection. The live tracks may be new to my collection, though, as I don’t own all the live records… No matter, $5 per CD was too good to pass up, especially given the track selection. Another piece in my Maiden collection. Nice one!

You probably know the track list already, but just in case:

CD1: The Wicker Man / Holy Smoke / El Dorado / Paschendale / Different World / Man On The Edge* / The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg / Blood Brothers / Rainmaker / Sign Of The Cross* / Brave New World / Fear Of The Dark*

CD2: Be Quick Or Be Dead / Tailgunner / No More Lies / Coming Home / The Clansman* / For The Greater Good Of God / These Colours Don’t Run / Bring Your Daughter (To The Slaughter) / Afraid To Shoot Strangers / Dance Of Death / When The Wild Wind Blows

* live versions

2 of 2: Ghost – Meliora

If you’ve heard Ghost before, you’ll know the sound. This is a Ghost album. It’s better than the last one, which I don’t think I’ve even reviewed here, but I came away from Meliora with a better feeling than I did Infestissumam. The riffs are memorable, and it rocks heavily (I do recommend full volume for full effect, of course).

Strapping yourself in to one of their records is a known quantity by now, and this one does not disappoint. I liked it!

***

And here is my other listening from this week:

Rollins Band – The End Of Silence

A total bomb going off in your ears. A truth bomb. This line-up of players were certified rock killers. Listen to the muscle and aggression and funky jazz metal in this music. Let Rollins give it to you straight.

You know, I don’t know how many times I have played this album, over the years, but it is many, and it never, ever fails to invigorate me in a way no other artist or album does. It’s the kind of record that makes you make new years resolutions with yourself… in May.

Yes, I own multiple versions of this, with bonus tracks and all that good stuff. But this week I was playing my old original copy, and it was more than enough for me. As always.

Guess Who – Running Back Thru Canada (Live) (2CD)

Here is all you need to know about this amazing live set:

Cummings / Bachman / Peterson / McDougall / Wallace

CD1: Runnin’ Back To Saskatoon / Guns Guns Guns / These Eyes / Rain Dance / Glamour Boy / Lookin’ Out For #1 / Sour Suite / No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature / Talisman / Let It Ride / Undun / Follow Your Daughter Home

CD2: American Woman / Albert Flasher / Hand Me Down World / Orly / Takin’ Care Of Business / Laughing / Clap For The Wolfman / Bus Rider / No Time / Share The Land

In sum: WOW.

***

And that’s what I heard this week. It was awesome! Thanks for tuning in, your particpation and attention is so very appreciated. Seriously. Without you Constant readers, the KMA would just be firing this stuff off into the ether without audience or (honestly) reason! You RAWK!

See you next week!

KMA Sunday Service Week 35

Welcome to yet another in this series of KMA Sunday Services!

This week I didn’t get as much time in the Man Cave, because I selfishly used some of that time to exercise. How am I ever gonna get any work done if I keep interrupting the work to try to take better care of myself? It’s a conundrum, for sure.

OK, let’s get to it!

***

Sunday Funny 3-Fer Of Hipsters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***

Happy New Year 2012

Here’s a fun video for you… Steven Tyler, Alice Cooper and, yes, Weird Al together on New Year’s Eve 2012, at Mala Restaurant, Wailea, Maui.

***

All That I Did Leave Behind

This week at the thrift shop , someone donated most of their U2 collection. Many of the studio albums, and a whole shit-ton of the singles, even as far back as Joshua Tree. The collector urge in me thought “Ooo I should buy those, they’re probably worth something. I could sell them on.” And then I remembered I don’t even really listen to U2 anymore, and they would just sit. Also I don’t have the energy to try to get anything for them.

Out of curiosity, I looked and most of them had scuffs, so it was moot anyway, but I think it indicates where I’m at with that band right now. It wasn’t just the Edge’s ‘gravitas’ bullshit in that Fender guitar ad. I’m just tired of their shit. All of it. I stopped at Achtung Baby, and that was 1991*. So I think 25 years is long enough to be able to say ‘you know what? I’m just not caring anymore.’

There was a stack of Pet Shop Boys and Westlife too, but they didn’t even register, for me.

* I looked Achtung Baby up on Wiki, and saw this: “Stung by criticism of their 1988 release, Rattle and Hum, U2 shifted their musical direction to incorporate influences from alternative rock, industrial music, and electronic dance music into their sound.” Who was criticizing Rattle And Hum?? I loved that record. Still do. Wrong move, U2. Wrong move.

***

And now it’s time for what was in my ears! You lucky devils! 

First up, from the collection…

Bryan Adams – You Want It You Got It, and Cuts Like A Knife

Ah, nostalgia. When YWIYGI saw release, I was 7 years old, and I was 9 years old for CLAK. How many times have I heard these records? Seriously? I couldn’t tell you. Oodles.

YWIYGI is a classic, holy crap. I dunno, maybe it was because I grew up hearing these songs, it was so formative for me, that I just take them as part and parcel of life. Not a bad track here.

And CLAK? Hahahaha WHOA. Find a song on here that ISN’T a hit (or shoulda been). This guy was absolutely nailing it, back then. I played this album (on cassette) so many times… unreal. It just sounds and feels so good, like it’s supposed to. This record is like a well-worn leather coat. Put it on, and it’s like a second skin… It also has the greatest album closer of the 80s** in The Best Was Yet To Come. At that point, he was just showing off. He KNEW he had it.

Wanna get crazier? This was all before the third record, and that one was Reckless and, well… kaboom, right? Seriously, get these two if you ain’t got ‘em. Essential.

** You could probably prove me wrong, and I wouldn’t disagree. But holy hell what a track!

Charles Mingus – Changes One

I’ve already done Changes Two right here if you wanna read it.

And, at the time, I added this one to my Must Get list, because I loved Two so much, and because I love Mingus, but also because I cannot own Two without One. The set must be completed! And what’s here? Brilliance. All of it. Seriously. HOLY FUCK.

Want a great write-up of it? Go read Marshall Gu’s post on it, right here at the excellent Free City Sounds blog.

Otherwise, get you some of this and play the hell out of it. You can thank us later.

Jimmy Cliff – The Harder They Come OMPS

It was 1537 that got me listening to this again***, and bless him for it. I’d asked (in another post) if you had a life motto song, and 1537 chose The Harder They Come (after mucking about with some emo radiohead goof). But the Cliff, man, that was an excellent choice.

Every spin is a treat. It’s been ages since I’ve seen the movie, I ought to remedy that. As for the music, well, you don’t need me to tell you about it, do you? No. You already know it and love it and have it ingrained in your DNA. But you can go read 1537’s excellent write-up on it right here.

*** I’ve still never seen a vinyl of it in the shops. Maybe his ease of finding it, as he reported, was a UK thing. 

And now for some thrift shop finds. Fun times!

Depeche Mode – People Are People

This was a total nostalgia purchase, as I have a very specific memory of this album. I’d gotten it from Columbia House on cassette, and listened to it quite a bit as a kid. Time passed, I thought less and less about it and I moved on into jazz. In my sophmore year of high school, I was talking to a girl who said she really wanted a copy of that album, so I gave her my my old one. There isn’t anything else to the story. I just remember how happy she was to have it, and that she really enjoyed it. That’s cool. COMMUNITY!

This isn’t my usual music, not by a long stretch. I knew people who loved these guys, and Pet Shop Boys, and all that lot. I tended towards jazz, at the time. But when I saw this, I bought it for both nostalgia and curiosity’s sake. And you know something, I can’t get the damn title track out of my head. I think it was always in there, and finding this just brought it back out. Odd. But the song asks a decent question, and I find the album, in general, to be one of thoughtful, introspective songs. That they are presented with a lot of electronic music and sound effects is maybe what kept me from always having this album. Shame, that. It has a lot going for it.

There were a bunch of other albums by this band on the shelves that day, but this was the only one I wanted.

And then, in some sort of weird unplanned musical event, I was reintroduced to People Are People’s angry, emo younger brother…

Nine Inch Nails – Pretty Hate Machine

I loved this CD, back in the day. It was all the things that most of what I was listening to weren’t… Add on The Downward Spiral and The Fragile and I spent quite a while with Mr. Reznor as my soundtrack. PHM was electronic, but metal, angry but feeling, articulate and organized. Of course, I ditched my copy, for some dumb-ass reason.

Listening to it now, I found it very trebly, as though the bottom end wasn’t the focus. But even that doesn’t detract from the strength of the songs. At $1.50, this was a total score as a replacement copy.

Bjork – Vespertine

I love the feel of this record. It’s laid back, gentle, thoughtful, introspective, and sexy. Of course, it all sounds like Bjork, but overall this one has a mood, and it’s glorious. Wow. It’s all so beautiful. By the time she’s chanting “I love him… I love him…” in Pagan Poetry, you know it’s for real. And that’s only 5 tracks in. It’s all (to not use the owrd lightly) genius.

It’s dreamy, ethereal… an exploration. On this one, she totally nailed it.

Eric Clapton – Tears In Heaven (cassette single)

I wasn’t gonna leave this behind.

Two harrowing tracks, one written after the death of his son, and one for a film about addicts, this cassette single has a weight to it.

A worthy addition.

 

Billy & The Boingers

 

 

 

 

 

And perhaps my greatest prize, this week, was a beautiful copy of Berke Breathed’s Bloom County book Billy & The Boingers Bootleg. Now, I do love me some Bloom County, and am always happy to add them to my collection. But the real score here was that the tipped-in flexi-disc of Billy & The Boingers was still intact! Never removed! Oh it’s a beautiful thing.

And what do we get? I’m A Boinger b/w U Stink But I Love U*.

Glorious. Absolutely glorious.

I’ll just leave these here…

* the tuba bass drop is classy.

***

And that’s it for this week.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and for being a constant Reader. I slap this crap up once a week, and you folks keep on coming back, and I can’t even begin to thank you for your patience.

See you next week!

KMA Sunday Service Week 34

Welcome to the KMA Sunday Service! Once again, we’re gonna do a little goofy shit, and then get into what records I heard this week.

This week is a little different, in that I have focussed solely on LPs.* Yes! For the past couple of weeks, my turntable has been going neglected (the poor thing), so I thought it was overdue for me to dedicate some time to it. And as always, I was working in the Man Cave again, and had plenty of time to drop the needle and spin the black circles.

Let’s get in there and Give ‘Er!

* it’s OK if you confuse me with 1537. We’re both dashingly handsome young men who love LPs. It’s an easy mistake to make. The way to spot the difference between us, of course, is that he has way more gravitas than I do.

***

Sunday Funny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sunday Philosophical Dinosaur

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Here’s What Was In My Ears!

First up, I went through some more LPs from that pile of boxes that Brother Craig gave me ages ago, so let’s Hit It Or Quit It!

Ready? Me too!

Go!

Be Bop Deluxe – The Best Of And The Rest Of Be Bop Deluxe (1978)

I didn’t know what to expect from this 2LP set, as I didn’t know anything by the band prior to listening to this. They are definitely of their era, but that guitar work! The instrumental sections were what struck me the most.

Hit It Or Quit It? I’m torn. I see the value in a 2LP set of hits and also-rans, but I just don’t know how often I’d play it… I know I’m not supposed to waffle on this, gotta be definitive, so… Quit it. It’s in great shape, but I just don’t see me listening to it that often.

Be Bop Deluxe – Drastic Plastic (1978)

Hey Drastic Plastic, the 80s called and they wanna steal everything from you. Wowzers. Synths and new wave galore, this would be something Molly Ringwald would really have dug, back in the day. Best song here was Love In Flames, because it rocked the most.

Hit It Or Quit It? Quit it. Honestly, I’m not gonna play this.

 

Harry Belafonte – Ballads, Blues And Boasters (1964)

I can see you rolling your eyes. Isn’t he that calypso guy? Yes, he is. BUt this record is more blues, folk and spirituals than calypso. It’s another side of the man’s talents that really works well. What stands out the most for me is his voice. So warm and clear and open. A lot of singers today force it to try to sound this good, and they still fail. Meanwhile, this guy was doing it and making it seem effortless.

Hit It Or Quit It? Hit it. I really liked this LP. I would definitely play this again.

 

George Benson – Breezin’ (1976)

Of course you know the title track here. Well, imagine a whole album of like-minded tunes. It’s light jazz, waiting room hits but with some really great guitar work.

Hit It Or Quit It? Hit it. I liked it!

 

Berlin – Pleasure Victim (1982)

Synth-pop experimentalism didn’t do much for me. I never dug on new wave, and while there’s some interesting bits here, it just isn’t for me. You probably know the single, “Sex (I’m A…).” I did really enjoy the line-up list on the back of the LP’s cover, though. It lists Terri Nunn (who looks racy in the band photo) as offering services for “Vocals, BJs.” Well alrighty, then.

Hit It Or Quit It? Quit. Meh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big Country – The Crossing (1983), Steeltown (1984), and The Seer (1986)

What a great band! I knew OF them before playing these records, but other than the one hit I didn’t know what to expect. And what I got was straight-up smart rock pop with a really, really pleasing sound. I will definitely be playing these LPs by this bunch of Scottish blokes again!

Hit It Or Quit It? Hit! Hit! Hit!

Elvin Bishop – Struttin’ My Stuff (1975)

Yeah, the hit Fooled Around And Fell In Love is here, and it’s as sexy as ever. But the whole record is a funky bluesy good time. Cool stuff.

Hit It Or Quit It? Hit. I enjoyed this.

 

 

Black Oak Arkansas – High On The Hog (1973)

Holy Southern rawk boogie, Batman! It’s soulful, and full of great moments. You might know the song called Jim Dandy. That’s here, and plenty besides.

Hit It Or Quit It? Hit. Fun countrified rock.

 

Gary U.S. Bonds – Dedication (1981), and On The Line (1982)

Like yourself some Springsteen? Southside Johnny? E Street Band? Meet Gary U.S. Bonds, whose records here are both so goddamn strong that I can’t believe you don’t own them both. Produced by Mr. Springsteen, with excellent original tunes and covers of the Boss, Dylan, and the Beatles, and featuring most (if not all) of the E Street Band (including Clarence Clemons sax solos!), as well as other great musicians. Bonds’ huge vocals sound like a cross between Rod Stewart and Springsteen, and it totally works. These were great LPs.

Hit It Or Quit It? Hit! Hit!

Roy Buchanan – Roy Buchanan (1972)

Guitar hero, masterfully giving us country and the blues… and playing everything flawlessly. What a great sound. The internet says he plays with power, and I agree. How had I spent so long without this album????

If you need more info, here’s from Wiki:

“Roy Buchanan (September 23, 1939 – August 14, 1988) was an American guitarist and blues musician. A pioneer of the Telecaster sound, Buchanan worked as both a sideman and solo artist, with two gold albums early in his career, and two later solo albums that made it on to the Billboard chart. Despite never having achieved stardom, he is still considered a highly influential guitar player. Guitar Player praised him as having one of the “50 Greatest Tones of all Time.”

Also:

“In 1958, Buchanan made his recording debut with Dale Hawkins, including playing the solo on “My Babe” for Chicago’s Chess Records. Two years later, during a tour through Toronto, Buchanan left Dale Hawkins to play for his cousin Ronnie Hawkins and tutor Ronnie’s guitar player, Robbie Robertson. Buchanan plays bass on the Ronnie Hawkins single, “Who Do You Love?”. Buchanan soon returned to the U.S. and Ronnie Hawkins’ group later gained fame as The Band.^“

Hit It Or Quit It? Hit! Fantastic stuff. I’ll keep this copy until I can find a nicer one (this one has a lot of noise to it).

 

Jimmy Buffet – Son Of A Son Of A Sailor (1978)

This great album, full of hits and shoulda-beens, is a superb follow-up to Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes. Fully recommended.

Hit It Or Quit It? Hit, for sure.

 

 

***

On a final note: 

On Wednesday of this week, I asked you if you had a motto song, a tune that sums up your life philosophy and how you would like to be in this life. We got some great answers, thanks to all who participated!

And, of course, I’m a super star and neglected to include my own. Simple: Rollins Band, covering the Pink Fairies’ Do It.

 

***

Thanks for tuning in to the KMA Sunday Service!

See you again soon!

 

KMA Sunday Service Week 33

Welcome to another KMA Sunday Service! 

Compared to last week, this week sort of exploded on me, and I actually got less time to listen to music than normal. It happens.

But I still did manage to get a few things into my ears, so let’s get into it!

***

Sunday Funny

I wonder if this picture was taken in Rio…

***

The Edge Is Apparently A Ponce

Seriously, Bono’s enough of a twat, and now this… this is from a Fender Guitars email blast about their new Edge artist series guitar. The fucking pickguard gives it ‘a certain gravitas?’ Hahahahaha fuck right off, Edge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Updated Mix CD

A while ago, I posted about a mixed CD I’d made that kicked all sorts of ass. Well, I realized it needed Slipknot (doesn’t every mix?), so here’s the new track list. It maxed out the CD-R at 712MB. This CD rules!

Solstafir – Lagnaetti
Tool – Lateralus
Slipknot – Before I Forget
Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage
Dillinger Escape Plan – Gold Teeth On A Bum
Mastodon – All The Heavy Lifting
Baroness – Take My Bones Away
Killer Be Killed – Wings Of Feather And Wax
Dream Theater – As I Am
Isis – Threshold Of Transformation
Opeth – Porcelain Heart

Hot damn!

***

Eric Clapton – Back Home

I’m so glad I got this at the thrift shop for so little. It should have been so much better. The list of players is impressive, with Steve Winwood, John Mayer, Billy Preston, Nathan East, Andy Fairweather-Low, Doyle Bramhall II, Robert Randolph… he covers the Spinners, George Harrison… hell, Vince Gill co-wrote a track and plays guitar… Oughta be pretty sweet, right? Wrong. It’s the most middle of the road thing I’ve heard in ages. Opening track So Tired should have been the album’s title. There’s some reggae feel, some lite FM blues pop, most of it laid back and droning. Some of it was feel-good stuff, and I knew the track Say What You Will, but it all just blended together. Some reviews said to give it more spins, it grows on you. Maybe, I’d still be willing to try, over time. I also read that this record was made around the same time as his Me And Mr. Johnson set. They are night and day.

Gipsy Kings – Greatest Hits

Oh man, this totally takes me back to the Red Pepper restaurant in Saskatoon. The owner there had this CD in the player and it was on rotation all the time. I never once heard a song by anyone else, any other time we were in there. It became a running joke: will they be playing Gipsy Kings? YES. Nostalgia!

And now I’m hungry. I want some Red Pepper food. I looked it up online, they’re still there! I wonder if they’re still playing that CD.

I don’t need to tell you about these guys, do I? And for a one CD attempt at covering their stuff, this hits set is really quite excellent. Of course, you can probably think of more songs to add, so there’s another set out there called the Very Best Of, and it includes their Spanish mix of Hotel California, and a 2CD Essential set if one CD isn’t enough for you. The Red Pepper guy needs that one!

Scorpions – Best Of Rockers ’N’ Ballads

I got this at the thrift shop, which looks like it was a bit of a deal based on Amazon prices. I’m not a Scorpions afficianado, and until Mike sent me a couple of their albums (and then I returned one, on request!), I had never gone out of my way to get any of their stuff. I knew the hits, of course. They’re one of those bands, for me, where I knew more songs than I thought I did, and everything I heard I rather liked!

Anyway, they did a great job naming this album, as that’s what’s here. You know, I’ve seen Best Of Ballads discs, and best of Rockers discs, but never both… unless you simply count every other rock band’s Hits collection ever, as they usually contain both, right? Anyway.

I remembered The Zoo from my listen to Animal Magnetism (with Mike and Deke). Their cover of the Who’s I Can’t Explain is fun times too. I’ll let you more knowledgeable Scorpions fans let us know in the comments if they missed tracks, or should have swapped out tracks. Does anyone else have this? Thoughts?

Rock You Like A Hurricane / I Can’t Explain / Still Loving You / Big City Nights / Love Drive / Holiday / Blackout / Rhythm Of Love / No One Like You / You Give Me All I Need / Hey You / The Zoo

Joel Plaskett – Three

“You put some gas in your tank, you put some air in your lungs ‘cos you know that there’s a song that’s gotta get sung, ‘cos it’s a long long way to Winnipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeg!” (Wishful Thinking). Haha damn straight, Joel. Damn straight.

Immaculate shape, I got this whole 3CD set for $1. Ahhh life is good… I keep telling James that I need to get into Plaskett’s solo stuff. I always liked Thrush Hermit, so it would make sense that I followed him later on, wouldn’t it? But then again, when have I ever made sense?

There’s a lot of listening here, of course, but it’s all awesome. These are smart and fun, soulful and bluesy pop songs. The playful upbeat songs made me think of summer, rolling up the highway to the beach, the windows down and that warm wind not cooling anything but it hardly matters because the promise of the day outweighs the need to roll up your damn windows and crank the A/C. The slower songs are for when the sun is going down and everyone gathered around a campfire on the beach, singing along and dragging the day out as long as you can.

And here’s a question: what the hell was he doing putting these out as a 3CD set? Most bands, with this many great songs, would have spaced it all out as three seperate albums. He could’ve coasted on this much greatness for a couple of years at least! But nope, Good Guy Joel puts it all together and says here, have it all at once. Oh man.

Seriously, I can’t even begin telling you highlight tracks, as they’re all so good. If the rest of his solo stuff is as good as this, I really have been remiss in not collecting it all, by now.

Nirvana – ICON

I remembered Mike not liking this set, but I found it for $1 still in the shrinkwrap and couldn’t leave it.

Here’s Mike’s review:

“NIRVANA – Icon (2010 budget compilation)

The Icon series of compilations is mostly shit.  One of the stinkiest of the shit is Nirvana’s installment of Icon.  Where’s “Sliver”?  There’s not one song here from Bleach.  “About A Girl” is from the Unplugged CD and “You Know You’re Right” was a “new” song added to Nirvana’s first and only official greatest hits set, Nirvana.  In fact, every song here can be found on Nirvana.

Rather than bitch bitch bitch about how shitty this CD is, and how pissed Kurt would be to have his music released in configurations that nobody in the band authorized, I’d rather just rate it and change the subject.

1/5 sharts”

Haha probably the shortest review he’s ever written. And not even stars. Sharts!

Here’s the breakdown from this 11 track thing:

*Bleach: 0
*Nevermind: 4
Incesticide: 0
*In Utero: 4
MTV Unplugged: 2
From The Muddy Banks Of The Wishkah: 0
Live At Reading: 0
Nirvana: 1

The new track isn’t all that great. And when making a 1CD comp of a band a big as Nirvana, which only had three studio albums anyway*, skipping entire discs is shitty shit shit. Actually, a 1CD set is worse than useless. May as well be 2CDs. And then you may as well just buy the fricking albums and be done with it.

Even for $1, this wasn’t really worth it.

(Swedish) Death Polka – Judith Judith
(hand-numbered 62/1000)

Haha talking about false advertising in a band name. These people are not Swedish, this is not polka music, and at no point does it emulate “death” music, polka, metal, or otherwise.

This is “Neo-classical-ambiant-pop since 2003” from Québec. Their Facecrack page says “Composers of obscurity with medallions of contradiction, this chamber music assembly from Québec City, formed in 2003, gives an impromptu ride into the burlesque, the superficial, the delicate. Their harmonic development, minimalist, uncentered and textured, recalls the European international architecture style of the 1930s. You can see a great superficiality in style, in particular in the softness of the subject: the words, mainly composed of various facts of modern society (doubtful body aesthetics, bombarded orphanage, Berlin swing dance) are in fact an ode to joy, to discovery and pleasure. At times accompanied by a string quartet and a braces choir, sometimes only as a duo with a mysterious diva and a visual support projected on flat surfaces, (swedish) Death Polka is a happening, may it be in the living room or on the dance floor.”

Well, alrighty then! And what’s on this disc of ‘happening?’ Lots of beautiful piano  and strings work. The vocals and lyrics are sometimes pretty bad, but so would mine be if I had to sing in Québeçois French. The 80s electro-pop doesn’t do anything for me, but I never liked it at any point in my life, so if they read this, they shouldn’t be offended. The trippy experimental elements sound like an art school project, so… meh. There is real music here, and when they get it right, they really do well. What a weird record, it seems to have no map. I’m glad I heard it, but I don’t know how often I’ll play it.

***

And that’s it for this week. No LPs again, which is terrible because I got a pile of neat LPs this week, but didn’t play any of them! And no Hit It Or Quit It on my old LPs, either. I swear, I haven’t forgotten the series! So, I am dedicating this week to the LP. Beginning tomorrow. Brace yourselves.

Thanks for tuning in. See you soon!

KMA Sunday Service Week 32

Welcome to another KMA Sunday Service!

How did I do it, you ask? I mean, didn’t I just do an entire week worth of albums with Mike in The Best Fucking Collaboration Week Ever!, Pt.2? Why yes, yes I did!

In fact, our 3-person collaboration (me, Mike and Dekester!) review of the Scorpions went live at 00:01 this morning!

And how did I manage to hear more, even with all of that to do? Well friends, the stereo is always on, in both house and car. And the iPod is loaded for my daily walks. I can always find time to hear tunes!

So. Got a coffee? Got your feet up? Then let’s GIVE ‘ER!

***

Sunday Funny

Our Sunday Funnies today come to us from Boppin, who forwarded them to me (all images from Metalsucks). I think they’re a hoot! Thanks Bop!

***

Iron Maiden Trooper Beer: Limited Edition ‘666’

When I did my -re-review of the Scorpions’ Animal Magnetism for this morning’s posting, I was into the beer… and it shows… Anyway, I was drinking this beer, which I found at my local LC yesterday!

15th July 2015 13:00

In celebration of TROOPER Premium British Beer smashing through the 10 million pint barrier in just over 2 years, a special limited edition bottled brew, TROOPER 666, will be made available to TROOPER and IRON MAIDEN fans in many countries around the world from the 1stOctober 2015.

At the request of fans, and following the huge success of TROOPER, Robinsons will make an even stronger ABV limited edition of the original brew. Again created by IRON MAIDEN vocalist Bruce Dickinson in collaboration with ROBINSONS BREWERY of Cheshire, this supercharged 6.6% version of the 4.7% bottled version will be available this autumn for a limited period only.

Of course, this beer tastes awesome. Not just because it’s a Maiden beer, but because I really (really) liked the Trooper beer, which I already reviewed in these pages. This one is indeed a wee bit darker, and a helluva lot stronger. The label is fun, and even the cap has Eddie on it. Slàinte! \m/  \m/

***

Record Store Day 2016

Congratulations to Mike, who managed to get a copy of the Iron Maiden Empire Of The Clouds limited edition picture disc LP. He was first in line, and he snagged one! Attaboy!

As I don’t have anywhere in my town that participates in RSD, I’m gonna see if I can find a copy online this week. It’ll maybe cost more, but we love that song, here in our house, and that’s a collectible worthy of inclusion in the collection!

***

Alright, let’s get into what filled my ears this week (above and beyond all the Collaboration Week albums)!

Ronnie Wood – Gimme Some Neck (LP)

I’ve been really fortunate in all my most recent trips to Toronto, I’ve found Ronnie Wood solo records each time. Which means I’ve been on a Ronnie Wood kick, of late, and that is never, ever a bad thing. Gimme Some Neck is another absolute keeper, I can’t believe they only charged me $6 for it!

It’s a rock and roll party, with great riffs and really fun tunes. It’s hard for me to pick favourites, so I won’t. The internet tells me that Seven Days is a previously unheard Bob Dylan original song, so that’s pretty cool. And there’s a whole whack of awesome players here. I’m lazy so I just copy/pasted the list, check out this majesty!

Personnel:
Ronnie Wood – lead vocals, guitar
Mick Jagger – guitar, backing vocals
Keith Richards – guitar, backing vocals
Dave Mason – guitar
Mick Taylor – bass, guitar
Robert “Pops” Popwell – bass
Charlie Watts – drums
Jim Keltner – drums
Mick Fleetwood – drums
Ian McLagan – keyboards
Swamp Dogg – piano
Harry Phillips – piano
Bobby Keys – saxophone
Jerry Lynn Williams – piano, backing vocals
Jon Lind – backing vocals

That oughta tell you everything you need to know!

Disturbed – The Sickness

Boppin was talking about these guys, so when I saw this disc in the thrift shop I grabbed it. It’s really saying something when the first four songs were singles (Stupefy, Down With The Sickness, Voices, The Game). There’s a lot of energy and aggression here, but also a lot of melody. I didn’t dig on all of it, I tend to like it heavier and angrier (hello, Slipknot). There’s something Limp Bizkit/Korn to this… and yes I know they’re better than that and a different band, but it’s all the gibberish parts, I think. The lyrics make it better, some good stuff here. Anyway, I wanted to like it more than I did, but this was still fun to hear. Not sure how much I’ll play it, but who knows!

Miles Davis – Best Of

I really don’t eny the person at Columbia whose job it was to put this together. A one disc best of Miles? Hahahahaha GOOD LUCK!

They did a decent job, even though we can all think of a bunch of other tracks worthy of inclusion.

Here’s all you need to know:

Someday My Prince Will Come
‘Round Midnight
So What
Seven Steps To Heaven
I Loves You, Porgy
Milestones
My Ship
E.S.P.
In A Silent Way
Miles Runs The Voodoo Down
Time After Time

Drake – Take Care

I got this at the thrift shop, and thank goodness for it being cheap. What even made me buy it? I still have my spirit of adventure, I guess.

As for this record, I don’t get what the big deal is. Maybe I’m old. I like rap (some of it), and I think I can recognize good stuff when I hear it, even if I don’t like it for myself. And this? Well… I liked some of the tunes themselves, but his rapping didn’t do much for me at all.

Even the special guests didn’t help. Rihanna, Weeknd (He still can’t spell. And can he feel his fucking face yet?), Birdman, Nicki Minaj (she was terrible), Rick Ross, Lil Wayne and Andre 3000 reads like a wishlist of big, current names, but even at that… I dunno. I looked on Amazon and there are only 4 and 5-star reviews, so I’m the odd man out, I guess.

Clifton Chenier – Zydeco Dynamite: Anthology (2CD)

Rhino nailed it with this collection. The first time I heard this was when I borrowed the Saskatoon Public Library’s copy, over a decade again. When I saw it in the thrift shop, it was in my cart so fucking fast I don’t even think my brain registered what my arm and hand had done. Even better, it’s in pristine shape, like no one ever played it! And the huge booklet is intact too.

This is feel good, get down, happy dancing music. It’s bluesy and 50s rock sound and zydeco and… goddamn, I can’t even begin to describe my love for this set. Essential!!

Paul McCartney – Standing Stone

I’m well on record for not being the world’s biggest McCartney fan, but when I saw this set at the thrift shop (I paid $1), I figured it was worth a plunk. I was curious enough about what he’d do with the London Symphony Orchestra. Turns out, this is his second attempt at classical music (see also 1991’s Liverpool Oratorio), and was released just after Flaming Pie in 1997. It was also his last release before his wife Linda died. The internet told me all of this.

And how’s the music? Composed from a poem McCartney wrote, and conducted by Lawrence Foster at Abbey Road Studios, it’s very interesting, an immersive listen. I don’t think I’d recommend just putting one track at a time… you’d be better to set aside the time and play the whole thing, if it was something you were wanting to do. It feels connected, all of a piece.

I have a hard time writing about classical music in a way that conveys to you, the Reader, what it was like to listen to this or that piece. All I can do, really, is recommend this to you as an excellent disc. It’s a long way from She Loves You (yeah yeah yeah), I can tell you that!

Andy Stochansky – 100

We saw Andy Stochansky in concert in Saskatoon (I can say Stochansky!). I’d forgotten who else was on the bill, but James confirms it was Emm Gryner for whom he was opening that night, at Louis’. I’d seen Emm Gryner one other time, opening for Tom Cochrane, at Lulu’s in Kitchener years before… Anyway, Stochansky was a really good opening act, set up Gryner perfectly with his smart pop tunes.

Stochansky used to play drums in Ani DiFranco’s band (and we all know I love me some Ani), and there’s no question he’s an excellent songwriter in his own right. It’s all good! You might know his song Superman, maybe even 22 Steps…

This album, produced by Goo Goo Dolls’ Johnny Rzeznik, is from 2005, which is the year we left Saskatoon, so we must’ve seen him in concert before this was released (probably touring for his previous album, Five Star Motel, then?). Did he play some of these songs that night? I have no idea! No matter, 100 is really, really frickin’ good. I like his vocals, I like how he playfully messes with the expected, making his songs layered and interesting, even on repeat listens.

And as a bonus, there’a second disc thrown in, a collection of live tunes. Brilliant! Great memories for me of the show we saw, and it all sounds great. It’s a really well-done recording job. Feels like I’m back in the Louis’ dank, enjoying his show!

If you see his records, buy them. You won’t be disappointed.

***

And that, dear friends, was a MONSTER week of listening to music. I heard all of the above, as well as all the collaboration discs with Mike.

A week full of music is mighty fine by me!

Thanks for tuning in, see you next week!

KMA Sunday Service Week 31

Here we go with another Sunday Service.

I heard A TON of music, in the past several days. You see, I spent quite a bit of time at my desk, doing other things, and the good headphones pretty much molded themselves to the shape of my head…

Got a coffee? Got your feet up? Alright, let’s give ‘er!

***

Sunday Funny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Springsteen Cancels Show

Bruce Springsteen cancelled a show in Greensboro, North Carolina this weekend, in protest over the governor signing into law a bill that refused proper bathroom uses for LGBT people. It is definitely a human rights issue, one which North Carolina screwed up by signing this into law. I agree with Springsteen, it is absolutely not right. This is not in dispute.

But it’s not something to cancel an entire concert over. Think about the logistics of a tour on the scale at which Springsteen operates. Think about how much hassle shutting down the operations of a whole show would cause, to everyone in Greensboro, in the crew, the crowd, everyone. Yes, everyone in the crowd is entitled to a refund, but that’s beside the point. Think of how many people in that crowd of thousands would agree with him on this issue. Think of how many people saved up and bought his expensive concert tickets and were disappointed when he took that away from them. It’s just so wasteful. And it misses the point, and it misses an opportunity.

Musicians have taken a stand forever. Hell, Bruce probably thinks Pete Seeger would be proud of him over this. But I seriously doubt Pete Seeger wouldn’t have cancelled the goddamn gig. He’d have stood on that Greensboro stage and ranted for as long as it took to have his full say, plain and clear. And then he’d have gotten on with the goddamned show. Cancelling the show doesn’t prove a damn thing, Bruce. Rant all you like from the stage, we encourage it! And you’d be right to do it – this is a terrible law that sets everything back decades. But you don’t need to cancel your show to prove your point. That’s just idiocy.

Let your presence be your message. And let your words from the stage drive it home.

***

Story

I was sending some mail, this week, and it came up in conversation with the lady behind the desk at the post office that we’d been to see Iron Maiden last weekend (because I mention it to absolutely everybody because it was so awesome). She reminisced about seeing Joe Cocker open for Lynyrd Skynyrd (yes), and how she was seated right next to Frank Zappa (YES). She said she could still remember Zappa and his bodyguard as clear as day. She also remembered how thick the pot smoke was… Said it was only a couple of weeks later that the Skynyrd plane crash happened. What memories!

***

Can’t Feel My Face

There’s a radio at work. I’ve been mostly successful at tuning it out as I’m not too near it, but every now and then I catch wafts of the music, and I heard this song about how this guy can’t feel his face when he’s with this other person. Apparently, he likes it.

But I can’t for the life of me imagine what this person is doing to him to make him unable to feel his face. Is he having a stroke? Is it drugs? Is this other person some sort of facial muscle Magneto? Am I just old and I don’t get some sort of joke? I asked one of the young turks who work around me, and he said “it’s all in how you interpret it, man!” But what the fuck does THAT mean? That wasn’t helpful at all!

The more I thought about it, the more the inanity of it all bothered me.

And then it turns out that this numb-faced person can’t even spell the word ‘weekend.’ Weeknd? Really? Fuck off.

And now this whole thing just pisses me off.

Screw you and your dumb song, WEEKEND.

***

Build Your Own

Yes.

Now you can have your own Ed Force One. 

You know you want one.

 

***

What Was In My Ears This Week

Of course, I was at Iron Maiden on Sunday night. That FUCKING RULED! I’ve made many posts about that already. Seriously, that was a lifetimer gig. What a show!

And now let’s see what else I got up to!

Taranna Record Shopping (Again)

I know. I KNOW! I was just there two weeks ago, with my Dad, but last Sunday we were in town for the Maiden show, and Brother Wilf has just started his vinyl collection. He’s on that early slippery slope, still full of that beginner’s enthusiasm for buying things as he sees them. So it was all Brother Wilf’s fault, really, that I ended up in the record shops again. I was coerced. Yup. He made me do it. Totally his fault…

So you see, I had to buy things, just to keep up appearances, you understand…

Kops Records (on Bloor)

I gotta be honest. I haven’t had time to be in the Man Cave long enough to spin a whole LP, this week. I will get to these, though, I promise! Also, I didn’t do any listening for the Hit It Or Quit It series this week, so… maybe I can make a post mid-week, dedicated to LP? We’ll see.

Anyway, here’s what I found at Kops…

Junior Kimbrough & The Soul Blues Boys – All Night Long

Limited edition. 180g LP.

Brand new, still in the shrinkwrap. Only $9.99.

Like I was gonna leave THAT behind!

 

Ronnie Wood – Gimme Some Neck

Bought on the strength of the last solo record of his I heard (1234), last week (also bought in Taranna). And on the strength of my being a huge fan of Ronnie Wood overall (natch).

It was $6, in pristine condition. I can’t wait to dig into this one.

Hells yes for Ronnie frickin’ Wood.

 

BMV (On Bloor)

LP

Spirit – Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus

I bought this for $4. I had my reservations, as it has some surface marks on it. Nothing deep, I am sure it will play. Even the sticker on it said Check Condition, As Is. But it has come so highly recommended from others in this group (I think J., mostly?) so, since I had never seen it in the shops before, I thought I’d better get a copy and get it into my ears. I can (hopefully) find a better copy later.

 

CD

Jurassic 5 – Quality Control

This one was just a replacement copy for me. Somehow my old copy got scratched up, so when I saw this one for a good price I snapped it up.

Total classic, I love Jurassic 5, and this record is an absolute keeper. You all have this already anyway, right, so you know what I mean. Yes!

 

From the 3-for-$10 bin:

Cult – The Cult

I don’t know as much as others about the Cult past the 80s (like most people, probably), but I quite enjoyed this album. It’s very different. Sometimes darker, sometimes heavier, and a bit more willing to experiment. I really like the moments when Astbury wasn’t screaming over top of the music. The man can really sing! What matters is that whatever they’re up to, the songs are strong, and it just sounds like them. I loved the Doors-like (yet still Cult) sound of Joy, and kept coming back to the album opener Gone. That’s a monster track. Listening along, I couldn’t help but imagine how awesome all of these songs would sound live, in a small venue. Hells yes.

Cult – Beyond Good And Evil

Holy hell, this thing has a lot of HEAVY! Wow, I loved it. I had the good headphones on and the opening riff of Rise tried to take my head off! This record is just huge all over, and I mean that in a good way – huge songs, huge sound, huge everything. There are gentler tracks, but they don’t lose the overall feel. They really left everything out there after this one. Album closer My Bridges Burn proves it, and leaves me wanting more! Damn!

 

Tonic – Lemon Parade

Bought because Mike’s recent post in the Where Are They Now Series brought back a wave of nostalgia for me. I loved this album back in the day, and now in 2016 I loved it all over again. These are solid pop rock songs that have withstood the test of time with aplomb. This band had a knack for memorable tunes, for sure. Of course the hits Open Up Your Eyes and If You Could Only See are here, but all the others are just as good (I always loved Mountain, and…).

Interesting thing: I still knew every word to quite a few of the songs. Apparently I have been carrying Tonic lyrics around in my head for two decades.

Matt Costa – Unfamiliar Faces

Strummy poppy singer-songwriter sunny feel good goodness from Costa. This is on Jack Johnson’s Brushfire Records, if that helps you ballpark it… 🙂

I really liked this album. Strong, creative pop songs, perfectly realized and executed.

 

I Mother Earth – Scenery And Fish

Wow, this took me back. I played the absolute hell out of this album, back in the day. I Mother Earth was so damn good. I still always liked Dig better (which I happily found in the 3-for-$10 bin on my last trip to Taranna), but this one has song after song of big guitar, slinky bass, distinctive vocals and gigantic songs. The muscianship here is out of this world. You probably know One More Astronaut, from this one. Lots of other tunes to love here too, like the 1-2-3 perfection of Pisser, Raspberry, and Songburst And Delerium. Now that’s a late-album keeper trio, just for example. The rest is just as good.

Mötley Crüe – Mötley Crüe

I grabbed this and was very happy to have found it! I was telling Brother Wilf about it, he seemed interested. We went about our day, and saw Maiden… And then, in the car on the way home, battling through the snowstorm that threatened our very lives the whole way (two other people did die on our route, that night), it occurred to me out of the blue that I totally didn’t need to buy that CD – I already have it! On the Music To Crash Your Car To boxed set (Vol. 2). Haha oh well. Now I own it with liner notes with original artwork? If that matters? Hm.

A fave track of mine is the crushing velocity of Smoke The Sky (wowzers!). I also liked the slinky blues rock of Hammered. A lot of these songs are muscular, heavy and fucking awesome. Even the slower tunes stand up mighty fine. Betcha Vince was jealous when he heard this! Hell yes.

In Sum:

I didn’t spend all that much (not nearly as much as I could have), but I still got a shit-ton of greatness, and this week I was kept very happy by all of these discs. Taranna FTW! Again!

***

Other Tunes In My Ears This Week

Good Bad Kid

I got this disc at the dollar store (yup, brand new for $1). Not even sure what made me buy it, except the cover grabbed my attention and it had the FACTOR Canada thing on it, and a label from Toronto. Local music? Yup, I’ll drop $1 on that.

There’s something timeless 70s/classic to what this band does, pop songs that aren’t just pop songs. They can be very much like the Beatles, but not limited to that at all. They’re also sometimes psychedelic, sometimes country twang, more often soul-ful, and always pop perfect.

They have a Facecrack page that seems fairly current (I think?), so I can only hope they’ll make another record! This was quite good, indeed. I hope they make more!

Trooper – Thick As Thieves

There is only one band that sounds like Trooper. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve heard any one song or not, you just know it’s them. Perhaps it’s all the exposure from classic rawk radio in my formative years, perhaps it’s the album copy we all receive, as Canadians, at our birth.*

No matter. Every song is pure classic rock Trooper. It’s in our DNA. Raise A Little Hell, indeed, in that sweet pop rock way that only Trooper does it.

* not strictly true, but it may as well be!

***

Whew! Another week down. Iron Maiden on the Sunday night, about which I have posted many times \m/   \m/, and lots of greatness found in the bins in Taranna. Plus more stuff kicking around here demanding my attention!

As I said above, I’ll try to get some time with the Rega in the next couple of days, see if I can’t put together some LP reviews for you. I’ll try!

Thanks so much for reading. Really! Without you, I’d just be slapping this crap up into the ether and no one would care. Our KMA Readers are the best. Thank you! You rawk! \m/   \m/

See you next time!

KMA Sunday Service Week 30

Welcome to another KMA Sunday Service. Can you believe it has been 30 weeks? Well, more than that really, if you count January when I flew off the handle…

This is posting at midnight on the day that I am heading to Toronto to see Iron Maiden. I’ll be around for Sunday morning, and then we’re outta here. Despite the snow flurries. Despite the state of emergency flooding just south of us. After all these months of waiting, I am super-excited that the show is finally here and I would drive a monster truck over every fucking obstacle to get there! UP THE IRONS!!  \m/  \m/

You can expect a review of the show afterwards, of course, although we won’t get home til (likely) 03:00 am Monday morning, and I have to get back up to take the kids to school, and then go to work… The upside is, I’m driving, so I won’t be hung over! Anyway, I’ll do my best to get it posted ASAP. I want it out of my head while it’s all still fresh!

Let’s get into it, shall we?

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Sunday Funny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Discuss:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Organization

I’ve got a question for you: how do you organize your music collection?

For mine, I have it alphabetical by artist:

Band name first letter: e.g. Rolling Stones is under ‘Ro.”
Person name is first letter of last name: e.g. Adams, Bryan is under “Ad.”

Then I have it chronological within each artist section, so Rolling Stones starts at England’s Newest Hitmakers (1964) from L-R up to current.

The thing is, iTunes organizes everything by first letter no matter what, so my Rolling Stones is still under “Ro,” but my Bryan Adams is under “Br,” not “Ad.” This seems like a lot of extra work for my brain, to have two different systems.

I could reorganize my music to match iTunes and then everything would go in one system, digitally and physically. It’d be a bit of work, but not too bad as it wouldn’t be the whole collection being re-done.

The only downside I could see is in my Search/Want list that I have in my phone. When I go to the shops, they’re always alphabetical, of course, but Bryan Adams would be under “Ad” in their bins, not “Br,” so I’d be doing the same mental work there that I do here. Of course, I don’t get to the shops that often…

Or maybe I think too much about this! Your thoughts?

***

Stones Project

Y’all know I love the Stones. And I was in the mood to make a mix of some kind, so I had an idea. What if I made a mix where I placed every album-opening track, in chronological order, into a mix?

The result was a 2CD (24 track, 12/CD) slice of opening salvo bliss. I’ve listed the tracks, and then the studio albums used. Check it out!

 

The Track List:

(cd1) Not Fade Away / Around And Around / She Said Yeah / Mercy Mercy / Everybody Needs Sombody To Love / Paint It, Black / Let’s Spend The Night Together / Sing This All Together / Sympathy For The Devil / Gimme Shelter / Brown Sugar / Rocks Off

(cd2) Dancing With Mr. D. / If You Can’t Rock Me / Hot Stuff / Miss You / Dance (Pt.1) / Start Me Up / Undercover Of The Night / One Hit (To The Body) / Sad Sad Sad / Love Is Strong / Flip The Switch / Rough Justice

Damn. That’s a mighty fine mix! Album openers!

Source: The Studio Albums:

(cd1) England’s Newest Hitmakers / 12×5 / The Rolling Stones, Now! / Out Of Heads / December’s Children (And Everybody’s) / Aftermath / Between The Buttons / Their Satanic Majesties Request / Beggar’s Banquet / Let It Bleed / Sticky Fingers / Exile On Main St.

(cd2) Goats Head Soup / It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll / Black And Blue / Some Girls / Emotional Rescue / Tattoo You / Undercover / Dirty Work / Steel Wheels / Voodoo Lounge / Bridges To Babylon / A Bigger Bang

***

Hit It Or Quit It!

I managed to hear a couple of LPs, this week, in my series.

Let’s see how they did!

Babe Ruth – Kid’s Stuff (1976)

More funky rock jams from a band that’s already proven to me they can play. More 70s funk synths this time around.

This record came later in their career, replacing the amazing Jenny Haan with Ellie Hope. It still sounds fine, but some of the power in the vocals left. I think. Real highlights here include Bernie Marsden (pre-Whitesnake) on guitar, Neil Murray (does he need an introduction?), and Don Airey (again, you know who this is, right!).

I like this record, though not as much as the earlier ones I heard in this series by this band. The musicianship is stellar, though. One downside, the track Welcome To The Show, which sounds like sour grapes, a tune about people at the show to be seen and say they were there, not actually to see the show. I get it, he’s probably right, but as Side A track 2? Hm.

Hit It Or Quit It? Quit. Side B Track 1 has serious jumps in it, despite my cleaning the LP, and this is a punch-hole copy. If I saw another in the shops for cheap I might be tempted to grab it just for the work of the sidemen. UPDATE: I found a second copy of this, from the same boxes Brother Craig gave me, still shrink sealed! Still punch-holed! Haha man.

John Baldry – Good To Be Alive (1975)

Frickin’ gorgeous British blues awesomeness rock LP. Plenty of Baldry originals, and covers of Bo Diddley, Rod Stewart/Ron Wood, and Chris Ethridge/Gram Parsons, among others!

Total feel good record. So good I wanted to start over again as soon as it stopped.

Hit It Or Quit It? Hit. Hit hit hit!!

***

Further To My Taranna Scores

Ronnie Wood – 1234 (LP, 1981)

The title track, 1234, is almost-gibberish vocals over a rock party track. He’s channeling Keef here, big time. The rest of the record blasts through sweet soul and bad-ass rock blues. Like a Stones record that never was…

Redeyes (Instrumental) was inspired by Mick, Priceless was produced by Rod Stewart… Hell, given the players involved it practically IS a Stones record – Charlie Watts, Nicky Hopkins, Bobby Keys, Ian McLagan… and then you throw in the amazing Jim Keltner and Carmine Appice on drums, Bobby Womack, Waddy Wachtel, Andy Johns… and then you have Alan from DEVO, Anita Pointer (Pointer Sisters), Clydie King… among others!

WHOA!

Yup. I loved this LP. A total frickin’ steal at $6. Thanks heaps, She Said Boom!

***

Here’s what else was in my ears this week!

Iron Maiden – The Book Of Souls

All in the lead-up to tonight’s show, baby. I’ve been listening to this a lot, ‘cos I wanna be able to sing along at the show!

\m/  \m/

 

 

Megadeth – Countdown To Extinction: Live

A $5 find in the bin at Mall-wart, this disc is fun times! The sound is absolutely huge. I had it on through the amp and the good Kenwoods while I cleaned the house Friday morning, and it made the whole house sound like I was right there in that giant room with them!

We blast through Trust, a massive Hangar 18, and Public Enemy.

Then Mustaine announces from the stage that they’re gonna play all of Countdown To Extinction, in order, in honour of its 20th anniversary. And they do! We go through Skin O’ My Teeth, Symphony Of Destruction, Architecture Of Aggression, Foreclosure Of A Dream, Sweating Bullets, This Was My Life, Countdown To Extinction, High Speed Dirt, Psychotron, Captive Honour, and Ashes In Your Mouth. Whoa!

And then, if that isn’t enough, they then rip through She-Wolf, Peace Sells, and close the whole thing out with a fave of mine, Holy Wars… The Punishment Due.

What a set!

You know something, I often Mustaine’s vocals annoying. Whiny, nasal… but here, it’s a much more pleasing growl and I was totally fine with it. Maybe I just need to see them live!

I’d give two thumbs way up but I’m too busy with \m/  \m/.

Wu-Tang Clan – Iron Flag

This week I watched The Man With The Iron Fists, directed (with Eli Roth) and starring RZA. With Lucy and Gordon Liu, Russell Crowe, Dave Bautista, and many others. Fabulous film (I have a love for this style of thing. You might not. That’s OK).

Anyway, the soundtrack (which I need to find on CD!) was lovely, and it reminded me it’d been a couple of weeks since I jammed the Wu-Tang, and that just will not do. I scrolled to their section (complete with all studio albums) in my iTunes, and on impulse I clicked on this album.  Beautiful.

It was just what I needed to hear. I don’t care what others say. This owns. Ain’t nobody does it like Wu-Tang does it.

Hells yes. I love this album.

O Brother Where Art Thou OMPS

It’s been ages since I jammed this CD, and the time passed has not diminished my love for it at all. Do I even need to tell you about it? Lots of highlights, like Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch, Chris Thomas King, and the amazing Emmylou Harris. The Soggy Bottom Boys stuff is fun, and there ain’t a bad track here.

I love getting my roots music on, though I am not A Man Of Constant Sorrow, not even close! But every now and again, I love being transported back. This suited me just fine!

Robbie Robertson – How To Become Clairvoyant

Wanna know how to become clairvoyant? Get Eric Clapton to guest on several tracks on your album. Oh, and throw in Robert Randolph, Steve Winwood, Trent Reznor, and Tom Morello, in case that isn’t enough! Then write a pile of brilliant songs (as Robertson always does), spreading your ideas over different moods and grooves, and sing with a breathy rasp that can only come from years of kicking ass. There’s your recipe…

Oh my goodness. What a fantastic frickin’ record.

Seriously, just go buy this. I can’t stop listening to it!

Bachman Cummings – Jukebox

Another fucking gem. These two together? Fuggedabouttit. Covering a bunch of classic tunes (and doing it really, really well)? Hells yes. What a set. Even sticking Not Fade Away into Who Do You Love. Goddamn, boys. And an updated American Woman? Yes! Get yer dancing shoes and turn it the hell up. The masters are giving a lesson. Pay attention, please.

Here’s a list of songs covered (with original artists listed):

Equals – Baby Come Back
Bo Diddley – Who Do You Love
Beatles – I’m Happy Just To Dance With You
Jimmy McKracklin – The Walk
Cliff Richard & The Shadows – Don’t Talk To Him
Shadows – Man Of Mystery
Fats Domino – Ain’t That Just Like A Woman
Chuck Berry – Little Queenie
Sam Cooke – Good Times
Bob Dylan – Like A Rolling Stone
John Fred & The Playboy Band – Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)
Huey ‘Piano’ Smith & The Clowns – Don’t You Just Know It
Georgie Fame – Yeh, Yeh
Edwin Starr – Agent Double-O Soul
Box Tops – The Letter
Elvis Presley – Ain’t That Loving You Baby
Guess Who – American Woman 2007

John Lee Hooker – Gold

This 2 CD is exactly as it’s titled. Frickin’ gold.

I love JLH, don’t you? 🙂  I don’t always buy these Gold sets, but this one was a no-brainer.

Here’s all you need to know:

 

CD1 Boogie Chillen / Sally Mae / Hobo Blues / Crawlin’ King Snake / Huckle Up Baby / John L’s House Rent Boogie / Louise / Leave My Wife Alone / I’m In The Mood / Please Don’t Go / Walkin’ The Boogie / Sugar Mama / Bluebird Blues / It’s My Own Fault / Baby Lee / Dimples / I Love You Honey / I Need Some Money / No Shoes / Boom Boom

CD2 Big Legs, Tight Skirt / It Serves You Right To Suffer / Shake It Baby / One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer / The Waterfront / I’m Bad Like Jesse James / The Motor City Is Burning / Think Twice Before You Go / Backbiters And Syndicaters / Burning Hell / Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive / Red House / The Healer / I’m In The Mood / Tupelo

Oh my my. Yes!

Various – Legendary Harley Davidson Road Songs

This set hits fucking hard… for the first three songs. Then it devolves into standard fare from your local animal-themed classic rock station. Don’t get me wrong, I love every song here. They’re all classics. I just felt the promise of the first few songs wavered a bit. Of course, by the time you get to Purple, Blue Öyster Cult, Lizzy and Scorpions, it improves again…  It’s a good mix. More than a little uneven in the playback (hello, Poison!), is all I’m sayin’… My son loved the motorcycle sounds intro, though.

Intro – Legendary Harley-Davidson Road Songs
Whitesnake – Still Of The Night
Cult – Sun King
Helix – Runnin’ Wild In The 21st Century
George Thorogood and the Destroyers – Move It On Over
Steve Miller Band – Rock’n Me
Bob Seger – Fire Lake
Heart – Crazy On You
Bachman Turner Overdrive – Roll On Down The Highway
Grateful Dead – Touch Of Grey
.38 Special – Hold On Loosely (live)
Deep Purple – Smoke On The Water
Blue Oyster Cult – (Don’t Fear) The Reaper
Thin Lizzy – The Boys Are Back In Town
Scorpions – Rock You Like A Hurricane
Billy Idol – L.A. Woman (edit)
Poison – Ride The Wind
Outro – Legendary Harley-Davidson Road Songs

Various – Harley Davidson Road Songs Vol. 2 (2CD)

Alright, anything that starts with Queen is alright by me! But just like the first edition, this mix is a real hit and miss mix of somebody’s favourites, a few cool and more rare tracks (for this type of mix), and some straight-up cheese. Still, it was fun in the car. The kids loved the guitar solo in Rebel Yell when he does that machine gun thing…

And still, after 3 damn CDs of this stuff, there’s no Doors (except a Billy Idol cover of them, and that doesn’t count), and WTF, there’s no Mountain – Mississippi Queen. I was waiting for that one…

Anyway, I get it. These sets are for the motorcycle people, those who want to wear leather to set themselves apart from the straights, and use classic rock to define how tough and individual they are (as they ride along on the same motorcycles as everyone else, listening to the same music as the rest of us). Whatever. There are plenty of cool tunes here, and a few questionable ones too.

For what little I paid, these were fun times, generally.

CD1
Queen – Keep Yourself Alive
George Thorogood & The Destroyers – Bad To The Bone
Montrose – Bad Motor Scooter
Gregg Allman – Midnight Rider
Jimi Hendrix – Look Over Yonder
Uriah Heep – Easy Livin’
Ted Nugent – Motor City Madhouse
Styx – Renegade
Billy Idol – Rebel Yell
Rainbow – Street Of Dreams
Deep Purple – Highway Star
Eddie Money – Two Tickets To Paradise
Grand Funk Railroad – We’re An American Band
Pat Benetar – Shadows Of The Night
Blackfoot – Highway Song
Harley Davidson – fade out

CD2
Robin Trower – Day Of The Eagle
Whitesnake – Here I Go Again
Molly Hatchet – Flirtin’ With Disaster
Steppenwolf – Magic Carpet Ride
Steve Miller Band – Livin’ In The U.S.A.
.38 Special – Hold On Loosely
Foghat – Drivin’ Wheel
Alice Cooper – Under My Wheels
Bad Company – Gone, Gone, Gone
Spencer Davis Group – I’m A Man
Great White – Face The Day
Jethro Tull – Locomotive Breath
Judas Priest – Heading Out To The Highway
James Gang – Walk Away
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Free Bird
Harley Davidson – motorcycle effects

***

And that’s another week. Thanks for reading!

Next time you hear from me, I’ll have Iron Maiden stories to tell you!

I am a lucky boy.  \m/  \m/

KMA Sunday Service Week 29

Welcome to the Sunday Service!

It is true that the bulk of my listening from this week has already been reported yesterday, in the KMA Saturday Service Week 28 6/7. But there were a few odds and sods to clear up, and a couple of other great CDs I heard, so I thought I’d slap up this (admittedly shorter than usual) Sunday Service just to keep us all up to date!

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Sunday Funny

This is doubly awesome because I just posted yesterday about my find of the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon soundtrack CD…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sunday Serious

Y’all know this already. But, on Thursday of this week, Jian Ghomeshi was acquitted on all charges of sexual assault.

I’ve been following this trial enough to know this is gonna cause a shitstorm.

Go have a read for yourselves HERE  HERE  or HERE.

 

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Iron Maiden Is Imminent!

That’s right, folks. One week from today, Sunday April 3, at 7:30 pm, I will be ensconced in my seat at the Air Canada Center in Toronto and ready to be thrilled by the mighty Iron Maiden!

In fact, if you click this link (or on the Countdown To Iron Maiden link in the sidebar at the top of this page), you can see how much longer I have to wait right down from days to hours, minutes and seconds!

One week to go!! Up The Irons!   \m/    \m/

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Hit It Or Quit It!

I did not get any LPs spun this week, as already evidenced by the three LPs from my Taranna scores that went unplayed. Nope, this week it had to be MP3, mobile. I haven’t had a whole lot of time to sit in the Man Cave. I’ll rectify this issue shortly, I promise.

All the records on the chopping block got a week-long stay of execution haha!

***

Parenting: You’re Doing It Right!

Our kids made handmade cards for my in-laws, most of whom have birthdays in April and May. So the kids got out the markers and went to town decorating. One drawing my daughter (she’s 4) did made us ask what it was. Was it a fish? A skateboard? “No,” she said brightly, “it’s the blimp from the song in the car!”

She had drawn the R101 from the Iron Maiden epic Empire of The Clouds, a track she adores and asks for in the car.

It’s moments like this where you realize, with parenting, you definitely do get out of it what you put in. 🙂

Up the Irons! \m/  \m/

Also interesting: My son loved this comparison chart, showing the relative size of the R101. Like the song says, the Titanic would fit inside! As a 6 year old boy, this kind of thing blows his mind, because he actually tries to imagine putting a whole ship inside a balloon! So awesome. I wish we’d never lost our child-like sense of wonder…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Also In My Ears This Week

Yes, I am crazy, this week. I have played music almost non-stop, as yesterday’s post of all my Toronto scores will attest. But there’s more, you say? Yup. Here’s what I heard this week that wasn’t part of the Taranna haul!

Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball

I’m far too biased to be objective with this guy’s output, by now. But I do have to say that this is one of the strongest later-years albums I’ve heard from him. Every song feels perfect, whether he’s making you dance, think, question, cry…

In fact, I get some anger out of this record. He was looking at his country (and the world), seeing what was going on, and telling us to wake up. Like always. No one else can do it like Bruce can, because that anger and indignation comes packed with hope, understanding, and the offer of a helping hand.

At this point, the man is a master at what he does, and this disc fits proudly in his discography. I really liked it.

NB: There is another version that has two bonus tracks on it, which of course I would prefer to have, but I got this one for $1 and that’s good enough for me, for now!

The Hand Of Doom Orchestra Plays Iron Maiden’s Piece Of Mind

Haha this was a fun thrift shop score. And you know something, this is ably done. They do all of the tracks from Piece Of Mind in order and, while you’d think it wouldn’t work well, there’s something in Maiden’s music that lends itself to classical interpretation, so it actually totally does work!

I do not mind at all that I paid $1 for this one.

 

John Williams And London Symphony Orchestra – Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (2CD)

I’ve had this one in the car all week (when I’m not playing Maiden in preparation for the upcoming show!), and it’s just so bloody gorgeous. Same as the Star Wars: A New Hope that I covered in Sunday Service Week 25, it’s absolutely perfect music, no one could have done it better for feel and emotion and power. And all this for what many consider to be the best film of the series!

This was another thrift shop score (I know!), so now all I need is for someone to turn in the Return Of The Jedi set in the same edition, and I’ll be all set!

Izzy Stradlin – 117°

I’ve already talked (raved) about this album in these pages. But we had occasion to make the drive to the in-laws this weekend for Easter (an awesome trip, all around) and this album came up in the cue while we rolled down the highway.

We all know it’s an excellent record. But for whatever reason, my lovely wife had never heard it before, and she really, really dug it. Every song that came on, she’d say “oh I like this one!”

I knew she was a keeper! 🙂

***

Like I said, this Sunday Service was a shorter batch of remainders, but I’m glad we’re all caught up! If you need more KMA (and who doesn’t, let’s be honest!), check out yesterday’s post about my Taranna trip scores.

Thanks so much for tuning in, and keep the tunes rockin’!

KMA Saturday Service Week 28 6/7

Welcome to the KMA Saturday Service, Week 28 6/7!

I am releasing this post into the wild today, a day earlier than the usual Sunday Service, as Mike had planned to do a big reveal of his record shop scores from his Ottawa trip WHICH YOU CAN READ ABOUT RIGHT HERE so I said I’d be up for a collaboration post of my own Taranna scores from my recent trip. Collaboration! COMMUNITY! Woooo!

So. Last Sunday, as I mentioned in last Sunday Service, I went to Taranna with my Dad. We just like to go hang out, walk around, look at all the everything that’s different from our hometown. We love the culture mishmash and the… well, we love everything about it. We also eat excellent food. Yes!

And as part of the day, my Dad, great guy that he is, gave me time to dig in the record shops! And holy hell, even though I didn’t have a whole lot of time in each place (not nearly as much as I would take if I was there by myself or with Mike), I still found scores that absolutely had to come home… of course. I think it would be impossible for me to go into these places and walk out with nothing. Seriously. I don’t think it can be done.

Alright, enough yammering. Here’s the big reveal. And because I love you all, review-like blurbs (which is all I can seem to manage, these days, you lucky souls!) are included for almost all items!

SONIC BOOM

LP

Jack Johnson – Live From Third Man Records

Aaaaaand let’s start off with one I haven’t gotten to yet! Haha I’m a superhero! But I have a good reason, so read on…

You see, I had Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew all set to go, but then I happened to walk past the vinyl bin for ‘J’ and saw Jack Johnson’s section with this beauty parked at the front. Begging me to pick it up and take it home… Sorry Miles, I can get my replacement copy of Bitches Brew another time. This Johnson LP, though… What a thing of beauty!

Also super-cool, it’s 12 tracks recorded live, directly to acetate at Third Man. It’s gonna be sweeeeeeet!

Truthfully, I haven’t even opened the plastic on it yet. I’m not done just looking at it…

CD

Good, Pinsent & Keelor – Down And Out In Upalong (2CD)

CD1: Beautiful songs, beautiful words, stellar guitar work. This disc is a gem. Just like the musicians here, when you mix both Sadies and Blue Rodeo sensibilities (and a healthy feel of down east house party), very, very good things happen. Hot damn.

CD2: Spoken word versions of the lyrics (which started as poems) for the songs here, with different musical accompaniment. Some of them sound like Johnny Cash covering the originals! You know, handled poorly, this could have been a useless addition, but honestly I like these versions as much as the album versions. It’s a 2-fer!

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Controversial Negro

Damn! YEAH! The blues is #1!! Haha holy fuck this live disc was a blast. Tracks 1-20 were recorded 1996-11-25, and tracks 21-29 are from 1994-10-30, both dates in Tuscon, AZ .

This one was on my want list for a long time, and I never saw it in the shops. I could probably have found it online, but for some records, the thrill of the hunt is as satisfying as actually finding the damn thing. I found this remaster and it thrilled me, and because it is JSBX, it kicks serious ass. Blues Explosion! Damn! Awww come on! YEAH!

Phil Selway – Familial

This album is friggin’ gold. It’s like radiohead, but also different. In a good way. Does that even make sense. It’s a beautiful drift through tracks that are smartly written, intriguing and beautiful, quite hypnotic. Selway sings well, and clearly. Perhaps that’s the difference. I love the soul horns on A Simple Life, and… oh hell, I loved a lot of things about this. And I get the feeling that repeated plays will offer even more reward. Brilliant.

Sadies – Pure Diamond Gold

Oh boy I do love the Sadies. I’d snap up everything by them, but everytime I go to Sonic Boom their CDs are always full new price and I like to maximize dollars spent and quantity of music bought, so I usually leave their stuff behind. But this one was a used copy at a silly cheap price and I may actually have said ‘yoink!’ as I grabbed it from the bin. Total score.

Crazy instrumentals (what musicianship!), and excellent vocal tunes too. It’s all here. That western feel, the damn blues, that energy, that awesome that only the Sadies properly do. Lots of guests (many named Good, natch), as well as Kelly Hogan and Greg Keelor. It’s Nothing To Me was always a favourite of mine, I’m so glad to have it here.

I love this CD. Love love love love love.

Thank you, Sonic Boom! Once again you have provided me with fantastic goodies!!

SHE SAID BOOM!

LP

Ronnie Wood – 1234

Here’s another one I haven’t gotten to, yet. But I will! I love Ronnie’s playing, and I haven’t heard a bad solo record by him yet, so I have to think this one will be worth it. I got it, in bloody new pristine shape ferchrissakes, and for only $6! Imagine!

Review forthcoming in these pages!

 

CD

Robert Johnson – The Complete Recordings (2CD original Columbia long box, with book intact!)

I used to own this, and then for some inexplicable reason, at one point I ditched it. I always regretted that choice. I did receive the 2CD jewel case RM version as a gift, and I’ve enjoyed that very much, but it was always in the back of my head that if I ever saw another reasonably-priced long box, I’d buy it. So I was in She Said Boom! looking for a book for my lovely wife (which I did not find, sadly). I turn around and Boom! (natch), there it was on the top rack above the CDs. A beautiful condition copy of the original old long box, at $14.99. That’s an instant purchase of an absolute classic set!

I’ve already talked about this one in these pages, but you don’t even need to go read it. You know the wonders of Johnson’ work already. As you were.

Thank you She Said Boom!, I never fail to find gems in your shop.

BMV

They have a ton of vinyl, when they used to have none, but I only had time to quickly skim through (my Dad was ready to go before I was even really started haha!), and I got to dig through the 3-for-$10 CD bin. As seems to be tradition now, the Legendary Klopeks CD was still there. Will anyone ever buy it? Part of me hopes yes, because it’s a fun disc, but part of me will be sad if we go there and it’s gone. It’s like visiting an old friend every year!

LP

Gowan – Strange Animal 

33 1/3 promo single, for performance only, not for sale. Contains three alternate mixes of the tune, including the Jungle Mix, the Video Mix, and the Animal Oriented Radio (AOR, natch) mix. Sweet!

Sadly, I have not had time to listen to it yet, but I will! I also need to take my own picture of the LP itself, as I could not find an image of it anywhere online. The image above is a still from the Strange Animal video. You knew that.

All in good time! Hm. That’s 3 LPs so far that I haven’t had a chance to spin, this week! Clearly i am not spending enough time with my turntable…

CD (all from 3-for $10 bin)

Aerosmith – Gems

Well this was a fucking blast! I grabbed this because I own the red covered 10 track Greatest Hits disc. But I knew there was another version out there with extra tracks on it, and I’d never seen that one in the shops, and I was looking for Chip Away The Stone… So here it was! For $3! And what a great disc of bluesy ballsy rock. It’s real testimony to the strength of early Aerosmith that they could put out two Hits sets without any duplication of tracks, and have it all be so rockin’ and pleasing. In fact, I’d say both discs should go hand in hand for a full picture! I will say that the sound quality can really vary from track to track, so whomever did the collection didn’t spend a whole lot of time on getting the volumes matching. But who cares? Highly enjoyable.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon OMPS

When I was going through the 3-for-$10 bin I got 5 discs easily. The 6th seemed elusive, until I came across this one in the very last row of the bin. I love this film, and I knew the soundtrack was strong, so I was happy to snag this one. Tan Dun and Yo Yo Ma (and orchestra) did a stellar job on this music. I was right back in the film, as I listened, the stunning scenery, the epic fights, the powerful story… Through the good headphones, I swear you can even hear him breathing as he plays. Damn.

Now, I found A Love Before Time cheesy then, and I still find it cheesy now (both English and Mandarin versions are included here). Sorry, CoCo Lee, it ain’t for me. It sounds like those CDr discs they’re schleping from sidewalk tables in Toronto’s Chinatown (only better produced). I’d stick to the epic soundtrack tracks, thank you very much. They’re incredible.

Greg Keelor – Gone

I sure do love me some Blue Rodeo, so when I found a Keelor solo record in the bin, it was an instant no-brainer. Album opener When I See You feels like Greg’s best Leonard Cohen impression, and I liked it. Most of the album is stripped back, acoustic and piano late night introspective songs, it has a real good feel. There are a couple of tunes that seem like they might pick up speed, but they don’t really mean it. I didn’t like need the last track, Land Of Crow, with its spoken word whatever. And the first track I played was track 8, because it says Lucknow in the title, which is a town near to where I was raised. I didn’t like the lyrics of the song, he doesn’t seem to know what he wants. Ah well. In all, I can’t knock the album for those two tracks. It’s a great effort. Recommended for turning the lights low, having a tasty beverage at hand, and letting the late night become the wee hours.

I Mother Earth – Dig

I owned this album way back in the day, and I remembered loving it. As usually happens, at some point I decided to ditch it for other things. I’ve always been silly that way.

So how does it sound today, in 2016? Fucking great! It’s grungy as was popular at the time, and it’s funky punky like early Chili Peppers, and jazzy bluesy metal as hell too (also awesome). There’s a level of musicianship and ability here that transcends a lot of the other bands of the time, and the whole thing came back to me as though I hadn’t ever sold it off and had just played it last week. This is the real shit, pure and simple. Welcome home, friend.

Slipknot – Slipknot, and Iowa

Back in 1999 this would have fit right in. I suppose this is called Nu Metal (?), heavy metal with a some electronics mixed in, and wearing its influences on its many sleeves. I heard Ministry, Slayer, Prodigy, Primus, other bands of this genre, almost rap in places, and so on… Make the lyrics very angry and scream/growl them, wear horror masks that obscure identities, number the band members, call your fans maggots (which they’re proud of), play loud, super-fast, and make it all fucking heavy (which I liked!)… and you get Slipknot.

There are big songs spread over these two albums, like the singles Wait And Bleed, Spit It Out, Left Behind, My Plague… and many others that I found satisfying. With song titles like People = Shit, Eyeless, The Heretic Anthem, and Disasterpiece, it’s pretty easy to figure out what these guys are selling. And they sold a ton.

I won’t listen to these all the time, but sometimes there’s an itch that only Slipknot can scratch, and I happily paid $3 each for these.

Thank you, as always, BMV! I wish I’d had more time in your shop. I get the feeling I could have spent A LOT more…

IN SUM:

A fantastic day of finds, and all of that with only a few minutes in each place. Imagine what I could have done with more time… No matter, I am very happy with all of these scores!

PS: I also got a CD for Mike at Sonic Boom, but I’ll let him reveal that one (should he choose to do so with a review? hm? 🙂 ) when he receives it. It should be at his place shortly…

KMA Sunday Service Week 28

Welcome back to the KMA Sunday Service!

Today I will be in Toronto, with my Dad. We’re just headed down for a wander, to see what we can see. It’s good to get out and go to different places now and again. Our town is pretty homogenous, so it’s good for us to take in other cultures and sights and sounds! And if I play my cards right, I might get a few minutes in a record shop or two. We’ll see what happens, and if I gets some scores, you can be sure I’ll report back to you all here, in these pages!

And you. You’re all so beautiful. I mean, look at you! Mm. Damn! Hotness! Rarr!

Let’s GIVE ‘ER!!!

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Sunday Funny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sunday Question

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Alright, let’s get to it shall we? Yes we frickin’ well shall!

Hit It Or Quit It!

Yes, this week I delved into a few more LPs from my collection that have gone unheard (thus far), and here they went on the chopping block!

Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express – Straight Ahead (1974)

Side A is two long bombers. Beginning Again (9:22) is cool music but the vocals make it cheesy and of its time. My fave track on the LP is next, the instrumental Bumpin’ On Sunset (10:57). Classic tune. Side B has the title track which is funky but, again, could do without the vocals. Change is the same, but with bongos. You’ll Stay In My Heart closes off the album with total cheese.

Overall, cool jams that would’ve made a brilliant instrumental record.

H or Q? Q. One track isn’t enough to keep it.
Discogs: VG is at about $10, but this one’s not that nice.

Babe Ruth – Babe Ruth (1975)

Here’s one I knew nothing about. This whole thing has a cool 70s rock blues swing to it. Damn, Jenny Haan can sing! Total sound of the Wilson sisters on these vocals, hot damn, and Rush too (on Sad But Rich). There are even covers of Ennio Morricone’s A Fistful Of Dollars, and Curtis Mayfield’s We People Darker Than Blue.

 

H or Q? H. Great fun, but I’ll want a nicer copy.
Discogs: about $6 (I’d ask less for this one, for sure)

Babe Ruth – Stealin’ Home (1975)

Freakin’ fantastic stuff. Funky 70s space rock and soul, all heart-felt and with a great belter in vocalist Jenny Haan. She sounds like Heart and, at certain pitches, like Geddy Lee or Robert Plant, too. What a voice! Awesome rockers and sweet gentleness too.

 

H or Q? H. For sure! Same as above, I’ll want a nicer copy.
Discogs: about $15? Wow. This one ain’t worth that much.

 

John Baldry – It Ain’t Easy (1971)

Holy hell. This album rules! Side A was produced by Rod Stewart, Side B by Elton John. Ron Wood plays, Madelene Bell (among others) adds her backing vox. Remember the Stones song Gimme Shelter? Yeah. Lots of cover tunes here (Leadbelly, Willie Dixon, Randy Newman, and others) and originals from both producers. This is soulful blues and rock, clear and strong.

 

H or Q? H! H! H! Really need a nicer copy of this one.
Discogs: $5, but I’d rate this copy’s condition lower.

Also: Check this out!

The Liner/Sleeve Notes:
“He has been called Long John Baldry for most of his life, possibly because he’s 6 feet 7 inches tall and sometimes wears hats that brush the ceilings. He’s very famous and successful and has a history throughout England and most of the civilized wolf – except America.

Back in 1961, before the Beatles were the Beatles, John Baldry was a folk singer for four years, touring England with Ramblin’ Jack Eilliott (a hero over there himself). In 1962 John Baldry stopped being a folk singer when he found Alex Koerner and formed Blues Inc. It was the first electric white blues band anyone had ever seen in England, and John thinks it might have been the first anywhere. Blues Inc. featured Charlie Watts on drums and a slender fellow named Mick Jagger doing backup vocals.

John spent most of 1962 in Germany for reasons unknown, after which he returned to England to join Syril David All Stars, which lasted until 1964 when John founded the Hoochie Coochie Men. Rod Stewart was the vocalist.

The H.C. Men disbanded in 1965, whereupon John teamed up with Rod again and Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll (the latter two became members of the Brian Auger Trinity). Drummer Mickey Waller (Jeff Beck Group most recently), guitarist Vic Briggs (until two years ago guitarist with Eric Burden’s Animals). This amalgamation was christened Steam Packet.

Each group seemed to last one year, through no one’s fault or design. In 1966 the group became Bluesology, John hired a young organist/pianist called Reg Dwight, who later combined the names of Elton Dean, Bluesology sax player, with John Baldry’s name and came up with Elton John.

In 1968 John Baldry abandoned the idea of a group and started making pop records with lush orchestrations by Tony Macauley. And it was then that he became huge. Housewives everywhere loved him and bought his records by the millions. He did a Royal Command Performance and crooned on countless television shows. “Let the Heartaches Begin” was his biggest, the year’s fastest-selling single in England. It rested Number One in the English charts for weeks, and only the Beatles’ “Lady Madonna” dislodged it.

Early in 1971 John Baldry signed with Warner Bros. and returned to his blues/rock roots, “although I never really left them. I was never a Perry Como type.” John prefers to compare his pop experience with that of Brook Benton of O.C. Smith.

Side one of this album was produced by old friend Rod Stewart, Side Two by old friend Elton John. This is his first album released in the U.S. since the now out-of-print Long John’s Blues, recorded with the Hoochie Coochie Men and released by United Artists in 1964.

 It Ain’t Easy is the eighth of ninth musical incarnations of John Baldry, which awesome quantity has been ably countered here with awesome quality.

– Judith Sims”

Wow!

***

Dio  \m/   \m/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Other Things In My Ears This Week!

Black Sabbath – The End

Folks, I have said this countless times over the years, but it’s so true: James rules. Rules! No aw shucks, James! It’s true!

See, he asked  if he should go see Black Sabbath while he was in Calgary, and I was not to just answer YES!!! without giving good reasons. So I answered YES!!!! and then gave him many reasons why he should go besides. And he went! Read about it here!

James also bought copies of The End (a CD only available at shows, right now) for himself, myself, and Mike! The CD arrived here at KMA’s Eastern offices this week. And even crazier, he says it’s my birthday present! Thanks HEAPS, James!! YEAH!!! \m/   \m/

There are 8 tracks here, and it clocks in at just under 55 minutes of solid fucking SABBATH!

Season Of The Dead starts us off with that inimitable Iommi riffery. Seriously, where the fuck does he come  up with all of this amazing stuff? By the time Ozzy started singing, I was already blissfully lost in the music. Yes! Cry All Night keeps things stomping heavily with such aplomb and menace. Oh my goodness. Take Me Home maybe speeds things up a bit, and throws in some brilliantly-placed Spanish guitar… and Isolated Man is an absolute killer metal tune with spacey vocals and mind-blowing bass and guitar section around 3:14… holy hell, this is all so incredibly good (this may be my favourite of the four new tracks today)…

Folks, how did these tracks not make it onto 13? How, I ask you?! HOW?? There are so many bands who would all give their left testicles to have one songs as good as any of these! And here they are, b-sides for one of the greatest acts ever. Wow.

But we’re not done yet. Oh hell no. Now we shift into four live tracks!

First up is the single God Is Dead? (live from Sydney, AUS on 2013-04-27). It’s a bang-on awesome version. I’d swear you’d never really know this wasn’t a slightly different studio version from the album until the little bit of crowd noise at the end.

Under The Sun (live from Auckland, NZ on 2013-04-20) chugs along with typical Sabbath savagery, built on yet another riff designed to strip paint and crush cars… and then the pace doubles and the drummer (Tommy Clufetos) goes absolutely bonkers with the fills. It’s awesome! This really must’ve been something to behold in a live setting.

End Of The Beginning (live from Hamilton, ON, Canada on 2014-04-11) plays pitch perfect and even manages to add even more edge to the track live, and then Ozzy tells everyone to go nuts, and they all do! What a track! To have been there.. hot damn.

And finally, Age Of Reason (also live from Hamilton, ON, Canada, on 2014-04-11) starts off hilariously. Is Ozzy making cuckoo noises at the crowd? Haha wtf. But then there’s lift-off, and this track rips us a new one with buzzsaw guitars and that inimitable Sabbath groove.

In Sum:

1) The CD fucking RULES. Every track is a monster, and an incredible testimony to the power, longevity, and brilliance of this once in a lifetime band. I really hope that it sees wider release, some day. I get that it’s a nice add-on for the dedicated fans who went out to the shows (and were lucky enough to get a copy). But there are so many more fans out there who need to hear these tracks. Exclusivity will only last for so long, with a total gem like this one.

2) James RULES> Thak you James, for getting this amazing CD into my hands, and for making it my July birthday in March!

Also, you all should go and read Brian’s review of this same CD RIGHT HERE. He wrote it up way better than I have, and he was at that very Hamilton show, so the man’s got perspective on it. Go go go!

 

AC/DC – Back In Black

That damn 1537 slapped up a great post about this heat seeking missile and it inspired a full album, full volume jam session in my living room when no one else was home but me and the cat. The cat gave up and went downstairs. Alas.

Anyway, you know this record. As you were. And turn it the fuck UP! \m/   \m/

 

CASA

This is a brilliant, jazzy swingin’ groove mix for parties, or just chilling in your own casa of an evening. It’s a great international mix of 23 smooth tracks. I loved this top to bottom.

I tried looking up what CASA was, from the included web site, and it’s a TV station in Québec that seems to focus on home improvement and cooking shows. So this CD must’ve been a promo for them. Great choice of tunes!

Check out the track list!

Lynda Thalie – Mi Casa Es Tu Casa
Nat King Cole – L-O-V-E
Eartha Kitt – Je Cherche Un Homme
Andy Williams – Under The Skies Of Paris
Bïa – Baby Neném
Fred Astaire – Puttin’ On The Ritz (remix)
Stéphanie Lapointe – Bang Bang
Monogrenade – Ce Soir
Ann-Margret – C’est Si Bon
Robert Lafond – 5 p.m. At Café De Flore
8 ½ Souvenirs – Le Poinçonneur Des Lilas
François Hardy – Le Temps De L’Amour
Blossom Dearie – Plus Je T’Embrasse
Alex Nevski – L’Hiver
Serge Gainsbourg – La Chanson De Prévert
Miriam Makeba – Pata Pata
Nina Simone – Tomorrow Is My Turn
Marilyn Monroe – I Wanna Be Loved By You
Waldeck – Bei Mir Bist Du Schön
Ozark Henry – Le Temps Qui Reste
Magali Noël – Fais-Moi Mal Johnny
Claude Nougaro – Le Jazz Et La Java
Tom Jobim – Garota De Impanema

Metallica – Ride The Lightning

Once again it was clean-up time at the house, and the kids wanted Metallica as their clean-up music again. But this time my boy wanted to choose which record. He chose this one because the lightning on the front cover looked dangerous.

I really don’ tneed to tell you about this album, do I? So much greatness. I really like early Metallica. The riff on For Whom The Bell Tolls is built to crush, and Fade To Black sounds like a template for The Unforgiven (I may have said that before, in these pages?). Anyway, you already knew that. Creeping Death, the title track, Fight Fire With Fire, and… and… oh man. Classic. Turn it UP!! \m/  \m/

***

And that’s it for now. Not as much as the past couple of entries, but enough to call this a successful week of music listening! Thanks, as always, for making the KMA Sunday Service a part of your complete breakfast. See you next time!

KMA Sunday Service Week 27

Welcome to the Sunday Service!

It’s another long haul this week, folks. Maybe even longer than last week! So make sure your ass is comfortable before you dive into this pile of gibbering!

Oh, and coffee. You’ll need lots and lots of coffee… Just like always!

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Sunday Funny: Cannot Be Unseen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sunday Piss Off
or, The Pinterest Nitwits Are At It Again

Yes, Jeff Healey sang that song, so this isn’t entirely incorrect. But if you want to credit the lyrics, it’s a tune that John Hiatt and Fred Koller wrote for him.

So if you’re gonna do something like this, make sure you damn well do it correctly.

It matters, you know. Probably only to me, and it may be nitpicking, but it matters, dammit!

 

***

RIP Keith Emerson

Simply put, 2016 has been hard on musical legends and heroes. I’ve owned ELP stuff over the years, and am well aware what a loss this is.

Rest in peace, Keith.

 

Aaron’s Grail List Item Score!

I finally found me a reasonably-priced new copy of the first Jake Bugg LP! Oh happy day!!! As I’ve stated in these pages a few times, I’m a big fan of Bugg’s work (as is my daughter), and while I easily found his second album (Shangri La) on LP, I could never find this first (self-titled) LP.

If my researches are accurate, it looks like it was only released in Europe on vinyl, and shops here just weren’t carrying it. So it was always import prices online, and with shipping these days, it was always waaaay too pricey for my budget.

But now, here it is! And it’s a gorgeous set, nice heavy vinyl.

I am so VERY happy. Happy happy happy.

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Another Cool Find

I found a 1-track promotional single by the Jeff Healey Band. It’s for I Got A Line On You (originally by Spirit, written by Randy California). It’s on the excellent Cover To Cover album, where it sits perfectly between Stuck In The Middle With You and Run Through The Jungle.

I couldn’t find this promo on Discogs at all, and Google Images didn’t have the cover art for it (hence my own inferior pic, here).

Since I already own Cover To Cover, it’s a bit redundant. But I’d never seen this single before and, for $1, I couldn’t leave it behind. Maybe it’s a collectible! Haha.

***

Thrift Shop Scores

So we had to know that my getting a job at the thrift shop was gonna be hell on my pay cheque. Well, they just took in an entire collection of LPs from somebody. Must’ve been 15-20 boxes of them. They’re slowly going through them and getting them out on the floor.

Keep in mind, there was a ton of shitty stuff in there too (James Last, anyone?), but here’s a list of what I got. All are basically perfect, some look never played. A couple of them have minor hairlines on them, but I know just from eyeballing them that they won’t interfere with play.

Here we go:

Beach Boys – Endless Summer (2LP)
Cars – Candy-O
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Chronicle (2LP)
Doors – Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mine (2LP)
Elton John – Greatest Hits
Elton John – Greatest Hits Volume II
Eric Clapton – At His Best (2LP)
Frank Sinatra – Strangers In The Night
KISS – Destroyer
Led Zeppelin – III
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Gold & Platinum Band (2LP)
Neil Young – Decade (3LP)
Neil Young – re-ac-tor
Robert Plant – The Principle Of Moments
Who – Quadrophenia (2LP)
Who – The Kids Are Alright (2LP)
Who – Who’s Greatest Hits
Who – Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy
Who – Who’s Next (mastered at half speed version)
ZZ Top – Eliminator

Whew! Isn’t that amazing! I was beside myself with glee. Totally exciting. And just as soon as I got done digging through the bins and just pulling everything out (to check quality later), another couple immediately arrived and started digging through.

Now, I did all the legwork (the KMA goes above and beyond for you!) and, via the release information and country of origin for each LP, I got current pricing on Discogs for all 20 records. I did all as VG+/VG+… some are M or NM, some are maybe a VG, so a VG+ seemed a fair overall compromise. So. If I were to order all 20 albums via that site, it’d be $216. And don’t forget, you’d still have to pay shipping individually on all 20 LPs, so let’s say $5 each, which is another $100. Bringing a likely total over $300. And me? For the whole lot, I paid $20.

Life is good!

***

Wobbly Pops

So I had a couple of amber beers last week (precisely, I had two beers, total. Hardcore!).

The first one, Hurry Hard, is an amusing curling-related beer. It pours a great head, but one can was enough for me. Dark ambers aren’t really my thing. If I’m gonna have a dark beer, I’ll have a Guiness. The nectar of the GODS.

On the other hand, I wish I’d bought eight cases of Mill St.’s 100th Meridian (wahoo Hip reference!). That stuff is awesome. I last had it in Taranna last June, when I made sure to mention that I “whistled my approval off down the distance.”

Both are amber beers, but you can see how much darker the Hurry Hard is.

 

 

 

 

 

Well, there you have it, folks. The KMA is staying on the front lines to bring you the real news you expect from your hard-hitting KMA correspondents. All in the interests of, um… science! Well, if this is science, then hells yes! I’d like to science, please! I’d like to science until it’s time for a drunk review! Hahaha.

***

Stuff

1) I’ve spent every night this week in the Man Cave, and it’s coming along nicely. I need to finalize the shelving decisions for the west wall, and then all the rest can be sorted out quickly. I can actually see the carpet on the floor in there! And as you’ll see in the next section, my time in there has led to me playing a lot of musics!

 

2) James sent the full RSD 2016 list, in case you missed it. IT’S HERE.

I want the Buzzcocks, Johnny Cash, Green River, a shit-ton of jazz like Bill Evans, Lester Young… oh my. Given unlimited funds I could go crazy on RSD…

Now, James seems most excited about the Judgment Night OMPS on LP. For me, if it’s reasonably priced, I’ll be another body murdered… for buying another damn LP! 🙂

Also, I doubt I’d get lucky enough to get the Coltrane (only 4500 copies) or the live JSBX (3000 copies), but it’s nice to dream!

3) I’m still working away on my WOM list, but I’ve been doing it offline. You guys likely don’t check it all to often (if at all) anyway, so I’m just gonna get ‘er all done and then BOOM! drop it on you all in one big chunk! Saves updating you every time I do more work on it.

I’m gonna do the same thing with the Uncategorized posts in our back catalogue of stuff nobody reads. One day, I’ll just say “It’s Done!” and then you can sleep better at night, because I know it’s been bothering you.

 

4) The Shark Attack played a third public performance this week. Our kids worked up another show, this time involving collaborative play and then long, wild soloing time. And then, in a brilliant bit of audience participation, they decided that they would be the audience and we had to play for them! I got the plastic guitar, my lovely wife got the plastic trumpet, and we made them howl with our version of a punk song. Great times. Parenting rules!

***

And now we get to the meat of this week’s post!

Brace yourself! I’ve Started A NEW SERIES!!!!

And I’ve dubbed it: Hit It Or Quit It

You see, I did a huge alphabetization of my entire LP collection, this week. Previously, it had somewhat been in order… but there were boxes, and stacks, and leaning piles of LPs all over the place and, well, it had quickly gotten out of hand. A lot of them are still the ones Craig gave to me ages ago but many of them have been acquisitions since then, too. So much music, so little time!

Anyway, as I went, I also did a long overdue cull of the whole collection, and have sorted out several boxes of LPs to play and assess. Will I keep them, or will I move them along? If I love it, it stays (Hit It!). If I don’t, or if I just know I don’t need it here, I’ll sell them, share them, donate them, whatever suits (Quit It!).

I’ll be making a section every week in which I manage to hear an LP (or LPs) that were on the chopping block. I’ll even try to have a look for its current value on Discogs (all prices in CDN) which, while unlikely, may colour my decision. Of course, since the alphabetization project got done, I’m likely to just go through them in order I find the in the boxes.

This’ll take me forever, and it’ll be a hardship (haha gasp! I’ll have to spin vinyls!), but I’m more than man enough for the task. Boil it down, I just really need to finally get through all of this music sitting here. Let’s get in there and Give ‘Er, shall we? Oh hells yes.

I declare the Hit It Or Quit It Series officially open!

Alabama – Mountain Music (1982)

As much pop as it was country, this record was just ok. The title track was a hit, of course. There are maudlin tracks, a couple that edge closer to rock. Changes Comin’ On really overstays its welcome, and You Turn Me On may be the funniest damn track I’ve heard in ages. It was probably supposed to be serious and sexy, but I howled with laughter. Before we had kids, I’d have said Never Be One was a cheap emotional poke. Now, well, it got to me a bit because I remember those days! There’s even a cover of CCR’s Green River, which wasn’t entirely awful but not different or interesting enough to be worth it.

Hit It or Quit It? Quit. I can’t see me playing this too often.
Discogs: NM ≈ $5

Ananta – Night And Daydream (1978)

An odd, slightly cheesy art rock prog spacey world music-ish expedition, but not really in a good way (for me).

I tried really hard not to hate on this one, because the musicianship is quite good, but if I were honest with myself, this one really wasn’t for me. Maybe it needs more spins, or me in a different mood/frame of mind… Ah well, fair play. Can’t win ’em all! Good try, Ananta!

 

Hit It or Quit It? Quit. I wouldn’t jam this very often, though it was interesting to hear.
Discogs: NM ≈ $4

Audience – The House On The Hill (1971)

I took this from an Amazon review: “If was (sic) to describe Audience’s 3rd album for the eclectic Charisma Records label – it would be ‘Beautiful Rock’. Sometimes a band that starts out thrashing about making their own unique kind of Roxy Music meets The Move meets The Electric Light Orchestra sound madness – settles down and actually produces that gorgeous melodic wonderwork everyone who signed them thought them capable of in the first place. Housed in its cool and striking Hipgnosis sleeve – 1971’s “The House On The Hill” is that album.”

For myself, I didn’t really dig the sounds here. I get what that reviewer was saying, but while I know it was trying to be good, it just didn’t quite get there. Some olde English sounds woven into what Discogs called Art Rock and Prog. This copy is a fairly hacked up, but it played OK.

Hit It or Quit It? Quit. I am unlikely to play this again.
Discogs: G+ (scuffs and hairlines but plays OK) ≈ $3

Audience – Lunch (1972)

I liked this one soooo much better than The House On The Hill. I couldn’t tell you precisely why, the tunes just hit me better, felt better. Which is interesting, considering that, by this point (as I learned from my online readings), this was a band on the verge of breaking up.

Another Hipgnosis sleeve, but I still don’t think I need to keep this copy. I just don’t see me playing it all that much. I was glad to discover they could do better than House, though.

Hit It or Quit It? Quit. I liked it but storage space is at a premium.
Discogs: G+ goes for ≈ $4

Brian Auger And Julie Tippets – Encore (1978)

I frickin’ LOVED this LP. Jazzy bluesy funky R&B country world soul music. Tippetts can really sing, and the music’s a blast.

I stole this from Amazon… it’s like I’d written it myself! “Brian Auger and Julie Driscol did a few albums in the late 60s that featured Hammond Organ, a mix of soul and avant jazz, and the social themes of the era. After this they went their own directions, and Julie married King Crimson sideman Keith Tippet, hence the name change. In the mid-70s, they came back with Encore.

Encore plays its hand very smartly. Gone are the Hammond organs and protest lyrics. These two musicians left the 60s behind. Instead, Encore features female backup singers, pollished Fender Rhodes and funky 70s bass, and a laid back yet substative rock jazz feel. Driscols voice is more restrained, and classy, but has not lost its clear bell impact. They do some very enjoable originals, and cover “Don’t Let me be Misunderstood,” and “Rope Ladder to the Moon.”

All the music here is sublime yet effective. It is never commercially slick, nor does it ever fall into 70s prog meandering. A great album from start to finish.”

Hit It or Quit It? Hit! Straight back into the collection with you, baby, yeah!
Discogs: VG selling at ≈ $5.

***

And here’s what else was in my ears this week!

Yup, as if listening to those vinyls wasn’t enough, I managed to cram in some more listening time this week!

First up, some more new-to-me (though older) Jim Dead! This made me inordinately happy. You need to own all of their releases. Post-haste.

Let’s see what’s up!

Jim Dead – Demo EP

This two track demo from the inimitable J. over at resurrectionsongs and his band is amazing. A lot of demo tapes are rough, the band trying to sound pro but needing time and funding to get there. Not this demo! I listened to this on the good headphones and, if these are the first recordings done, Jim Dead sprang into the world fully formed!

This demo is from 2009, and both album versions were left off Go Tell The Congregation (see next review below this one), but both tracks appear on the 2001 release Ten Fires.

Bone Blue Moon hews pretty close to the eventual album version, though it’s minutely faster, the bass sound is deeper and fuzzier (yeah!), and the production is a little less rounded off, here. It’s all a bit more raw, but the kernel of the song has strength in spades. All of which means it’s awesome. You already know it well. I love the line “put on my boots and drove into town.” So simple, so innocuous, but also deeply evocative and full of possibility. A great opening line for a short story! This one’s a hit song, sure fire.

Jim Landstrom Must Die is very different from the album version. It, too, is faster, and it sounds more live, like a soundboard recording from a small club gig. There’s an echo on the vocals that slays me, here, and I love the Johnny Cash shuffle stomp of the rhythm section (on both versions). This was always a strong song, and I love this demo version!

You need this, and great news! You can go download this two tracks of goodness for free right here! That’s what I did! Go go go!

Jim Dead – Go Tell The Congregation

I paid to download this 2009 effort from the brilliant J. at resurrectionsongs, and I swear it’s the best use of your funds, too! Go here to get you some!

Whistle Of A Distant Train soars beautifully, gentle yet strong (you know what I mean). When he gets to the line “I can’t help myself, how can anyone else?… have faith, have faith…” you know you’re in the presence of a master.

Hell Is Hot is another gorgeous acoustic guitar-driven pure poetry song, with Jim Dead right in your ear holding your attention fully. Wow.

My Oh So Sweet starts out quiet but brings so much lift at the chorus that you can’t help but sit up and take notice. What a gorgeous tune, and I love the harmony vocals at the key points.

Devil On The West Bound 3:10 brings dark country to the fore, with brilliant backing electric guitar. I hung on every word.

Tea At The Crossroads starts out with “I won’t drink with the devil, even if he’ll drink with me” and I’m immediately hooked. Completely minimal acoustic guitar and wow, as powerful as a full band track!

A Sweet Sound builds into a spiritual that makes me want to go to whatever church plays this sort of amazing music.

The Hallelujah Revolver also appeared on Ten Fires (2011). The version here has a hypnotic acoustic chug to it, bluesy and satisfying, and then it drops off and gets you with all the beauty…The version on Ten Fires is three minutes longer, and benefits from the full band as it plays at a much slower pace, and with a lot more dripping blues and heaviness. I love both version so much!

Before I Die (also on Ten Fires, 2011) is, here, a haunting, visceral blues with just vocal and guitar guiding us through the pain and torment and unutterable beauty. On Ten Fires, it’s two minutes longer and much, much slower, but no less gorgeous. When the drums come in and every beat is like a blow to the sternum, and the build at the chorus is so powerful and go-for-broke… oh hells yes. Another track where I love both versions. Love!

Sadly, Those Birds Refuse To Sing had me laughing at first. I somehow (accidentally) punched the mute button on my keyboard as this track was starting, and so the silence made me say that the title of this song title was well-played, J. Well-played, indeed! Then I realized my mistake and, after un-muting the sound, discovered another Jim Dead acoustic masterpiece. That guitar, those vocals. Total signature tune.

Darlin, I’ve Been Dreaming haunts me as much as the rest of the tracks here, but for as gorgeous as the vocals and acoustic guitar are, it’s the backing electric guitar that nails this track completely. All together – wowzers. I played this track three times in a row.

Travel Well takes me back to 1920s blues tracks and I love every twangy metallic-stringed lovely second of it.

In Sum:

OMG get this. Do it right here! Go go go go go go go go go!!!!!!!!!

Iron Maiden – The Book Of Souls

The Toronto show is April 3 (precisely three weks away!), and I’ve got this whole album of awesome on repeat in the car.

Yes!

\ m /     \ m /

 

The Roots Of Rock ‘N’ Roll: 26 Original Recordings That Inspired Elvis

Well, this was a no-brainer.

Oh my goodness do I ever love the early days of rock ‘n’ roll. Blues, roots, you name it. This stuff is mostly from the late 40s, and it’s all bloody gorgeous.

I don’t need to tell you anything about it except this:

Wynonie Harris All Stars – Good Rockin’ Tonight
Wild Bill Moore – We’re Gonna Rock, We’re Gonna Roll
Big Joe Turner With Albert Ammons And His Rhythm Kings – Sally Zu-Zas
Lonnie Johnson – Tomorrow Night
Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup – That’s All Right Mama
Walter Brown With The Jay McShann Quartet – Now Confessin’ The Blues
Big Joe Williams With Sonny Boy Williamson And Alfred Elkins – Baby Please Don’t Go
Champion Jack Dupree – Gin Mill Sal (Junker Blues)
T-Bone Walker – Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just As Bad)
Lowell Fulson And His Trio – Don’t Be So Evil
Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup And Jump Jackson – So Glad You’re Mine
Louis Jordan And His Tympani Five – Keep A Knockin’
Louis Jordan And His Tympani Five – Ain’t That Just Like A Woman
Charles Brown With Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers – Merry Christmas Baby
The Ravens – Send For Me If You Need Me
Amos Milburn – Down The Road Apiece
Big Maceo – Chicago Breakdown
Ella Mae Morse With Freddie Slack And His Orchestra – House Of Blue Lights
Ivory Joe Hunter – Pretty Mama Blues
T-Bone Walker – Lonesome Woman Blues
Roy Brown – Long About Midnight
Hank Williams And The Drifting Cowboys – Move It On Over
The Delmore Brothers – Freight Train Boogie
Johnnie Lee Wills And His Boys – Milk Cow Blues
Arthur Smith And The Crackerjacks – Guitar Boogie
Bill Haley – Wreck On The Highway

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Whew! If you made it this far, you are a brave and intrepid soul.

Hope you enjoyed!

Thanks for reading, and see you next week!

 

KMA Sunday Service Week 26

Welcome everyone to this week’s Sunday Service.

Fair warning, this one’s got A LOT in it.

It’s totally understandable if you need to go and come back a couple of times, as it’d be quite a bit to take in all at once…

That said, here’s your checklist for reading:

1. Got a coffee (or the happy drink of your choice)?
2. Wearing comfy clothes?
3. Have you used the facilities before you get started? [I have small kids, I ask this a lot]
4. “Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin…”

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Funny #1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Parcel From LeBrain!

Mike said a parcel was in the mail, and that when it arrived I would “poop turds of joy.” [actual quote]

Holy shit, that was an understatement!

I am blown backwards by these incredible donations to the always thrilled Aaron Audio Adoption Agency (AAAA). Check out all of this majesty!!

On CD
Deep Purple – Copenhagen 1972 (2cd) (was still in shrinkwrap!!!)
Def Leppard – Mirrorball: Live & More (2cd/1dvd)
Evilyn Strange – Evilution
Jethro Tull – Too Old To Rock ’N’ Roll, Too Young To Die (w. bonus tracks)
Scorpions – Animal Magnetism

On LP
Foo Fighters – Saint Cecilia EP

And a Transformers tin that used to hold Autobot Strawberry Sours. Fun! Now, the candies were gone but I don’t dig on sour candy anyway. Makes the sides of my face tingle just thinking about it, so it’s more than OK. 🙂

Have I ever got a ton of reviewin’ to do!!! Bliss!!!

Folks. Holy crap. Whooooaaaa!

Mike. THANK YOU!

***

And how can I top that brilliance? With the boring shit, of course!

Stuff

1) If you have a click on that handy Countdown To Iron Maiden link in the upper right-hand corner of our site, you can see that I have only 4 weeks to go until the Iron Maiden concert in Toronto! After waiting for months, it feels really, really good to be getting closer!  \m/   \m/

2) Not that anyone likely cares, but back at the New Year I declared I would read all of Ernest Hemingway’s novels as my personal To Be Read challenge for 2016. I read the first two (The Torrents Of Spring, and The Sun Also Rises) and found them to be as dry as a popcorn fart. Halfway through the third novel (A Farewell To Arms), I honestly thought “this is also really, really fucking boring. I can’t watch paint dry anymore.”

All deference to those who dig him. And I did think, you know, maybe I should stick it out, maybe he gets better. I mean, I love The Old Man And The Sea, so it’s possible, right? But this is non-refundable lifetime I’m playing with here, and if I got 2.5 novels into his bibliography and I still don’t give a shit, it ain’t likely to happen. No more Hemingway for me, right now.

3) Remember my issue with replying to threads in the Reader? It’s still ongoing, but I figured out that I can click on the title of your posts in the Reader, which takes me to your sites themselves, and then I can reply to the thread as usual. It’s an extra click, for me, but it circumvents whatever is fucking up with WP on the commenting issue.

***

Fantastic News

I’ll just leave this, taken from the Rheostatics’ web page to save me re-typing it all, for your edification. This news fills me with joy!

Rheos return to Massey Hall April 29 2016 

Rheostatics at Massey Hall, Toronto, April 29, 2016. This will be the first time playing here — and the first time playing anything other than Music Inspired by G07 — since 2007, which was intended to be our final show. Our experiences reforming and playing in September w/ Hugh Marsh and Kevin Hearn were so great that we thought we’d walk down this road a little more, and try and bring new life to older material, as well as new works, which we hope to debut in the spring. The tickets here are only 30 dollars top price — everyone should be able to go, we hope — ticket info can be found on the Massey Hall site. Thanks to everyone who listens. We’re excited about this. We love you.

This is really great news! Yay for Rheos!!

***

Thrift Shop Scores

[reviews forthcoming]

Bill Frisell – Good Dog, Happy Man

I recently played This Land, and loved it. I was thrilled to find another of his albums! Can’t wait to dig into it.

 

 

 

Glenn Miller – The Lost Recordings: The American Band Of The AEF

Total no-brainer purchase at $2, this 2cd set of 36 tracks is gonna be amazing.

 

 

 

A Tribute To Joni Mitchell

I’m not the world’s biggest Joni fan (as I’ve stated here before), but the list of artists on this disc (packaged in a lovely, shiny slipcase) made this disc too impressive to leave behind. Maybe I’ll like other people doing her songs better than hearing her do her own songs!

 

 

Hothouse Flowers – People (LP)

I loved these guys, back in the day. I got this LP, in beautiful shape and with the lyrics-printed paper sleeve intact, for $1. Score!

 

 

***

What Filled My Ears This Week

Last Sunday afternoon, it was house clean-up time. When asked what they wanted to hear as clean-up music, both kids shouted “Metallica!!” My daughter even jumped around on the couch making devil horns. So…

Metallica – Metallica

At this point, I don’t even need to say a goddamn word about this album. Of course I knew every word, every note, and every drum hit. The kids loved it, bouncing around, pretending to clean the house.

 

 

So then, after a brief break and no one paying much attention after the Metallica ended, Daddy chose the next clean-up album…

Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um

I’ve already mentioned this one in these pages.

It’s still gorgeous.

 

 

***

The Roots – Do You Want More?!!!??!?

Not long ago, I scored a Grail List item in the first Roots album, Organix. I loved that one. And I’ve totally been in an old school Roots mood this week. Is there ever a week when I’m not? Haha not likely.

This is a mature, absolutely perfect release. I always see it in the shops for $5, brand-new, and I am floored. It’s worth waaaaaay more than that! This is my favourite rap act, and they’re nailing it here, track after track. It has a jazzy groove, immense soul and a great bounce and a crushing bottom end. The flow of the MCs takes a lot of rappers to school. Perfection. LOVE IT!

The Roots – Illadelph Halflife

Following up on the brilliance of Organix and Do You Want More?!!!??!? comes more typical fluid Roots genius in Illadelph Halflife. Immensely tuneful (and even better when you remember that they play their own instruments), the lyrics are thoughtful and thought-provoking, and the whole thing is just so damn smooth. Jazz funk soul hip hop gorgeousness all over this record.

Honestly, this band has a chemistry, a level of skill… they’re untouchable. One of a kind!

***

Funny #2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***

Alright, let’s get back to the music!

I Made A Mixed CD!

Yes. A CDr. Converted the MP3 files to WAV files, just like in the old days. How nostalgic! And I sat with it and mixed the tracks into order myself, choosing which tracks worked best from each artist, then placing them carefully into the mix. This took a lot longer than I remembered it taking, and I didn’t mind one bit. Listening to all the tracks, getting it sequenced just right… It’s still a labour of love, just like it was all those years ago when I got my first 2x CDr burner. My current one burns at 52x. Anyway.

I am inordinately proud of this mix. I was going for a feel, and for the mix to grow and become and have a sound that made sense all the way through. I think I nailed it!

It’s ten tracks and almost fills the whole CD. It sounds frickin’ GREAT in the car.

Dig this track listing:

Solstafir – Lagnaetti
Tool – Lateralus
Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage
Dillinger Escape Plan – Gold Teeth On A Bum
Mastodon – All The Heavy Lifting
Baroness – Take My Bones Away
Killer Be Killed – Wings Of Feather And Wax
Dream Theater – As I Am
ISIS – Threshold Of Transformation
Opeth – Porcelain Heart

Hot damn! I think I’ve still got the Knack Of The Art Of The Mix! If anyone wants a copy, let me know. I can hook you up.

radiohead – In Rainbows

There was some talk in one of the other blogs/comments about this record, which inspired me to give it another spin this week. I thought it was gorgeous. Interestingly, I’ve already mentioned this one in these pages too, and it doesn’t seem like I enjoyed it quite as much then* as I did now. I came away from this spin of it thinking “wow, they really, really nailed it, with this one.” Excellent.

* Jeez, that was 2007-12-05. 

10,000 Maniacs – The Wishing Chair, and Our Time In Eden

I haven’t spent nearly enough time with the albums of this incredible band. I found these two CDs, in pristine shape, at the thrift shop. Unreal.

Of course I know who these people are, and I know the hits, and I love Natalie Merchant’s solo work. But I’ve been wasting time, not listening to this group. Wow!

The band is a well-oiled machine that plays with such energy and lift, such beauty and grace. And Merchant’s vocals soar, fitting the sound perfectly and drawing you in further. Why have I not been listening to these albums all along? They’re so good!

rage against the machine – rage against the machine

Another one I’ve already done here**, and who cares? Every time I play this damn record, I blast it at top volume and get very indignant and ready to destroy some stuff. I also play viscious air drums with the whole thing. Oh my yes. I love this record. I’ve heard it a million times (and then some) and every time feels like perfection.

** haha wow, I wrote that on 2006-12-18. I’m old!

Neil Young – Unplugged

What can I reasonably say about this amazing performance? How do I not descend into hyperbole?

I’ve played this many times, over the years, and I’ve always loved it. I have to play it when my lovely wife is not around (she loves his lyrics, and the music, but strongly dislikes the sound of his voice). That’s OK. We have a lot of common ground, musically, but I’m happy to keep Neil all to myself if she chooses to not partake.

I still sometimes skip Helpless. I know it’s a great song, a classic, but I’m fairly tired of it. This is a nice version still, with piano, accordion, and harmonica. And people clapping along and hooting happily during The Needle And The Damage done is just gross. It’s a hard, sad song and they’re clearly not listening to the words. Even when he says “I know that some of you don’t understand…” Sigh.

Here’s all you need to know about this one:

Old Laughing Lady / Mr. Soul / World On A String / Pocahontas / Stringman / Like A Hurricane / Needle And The Damage Done / Helpless / Harvest Moon / Transformer Man / Unknown Legend / Look Out For My Love / Long May You Run / From Hank To Hendrix

Tom Cochrane & Red Rider – The Symphony Sessions

Recorded live in 1989 with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, this album is an old friend, to me. I have played and loved it many, many times. These run-throughs of their classic tunes are perfect – just different enough to be interesting, yet still totally recognizeable as themselves. There are too many highlights to list them all here. I mean, they even cover Leonard’s Bird On A Wire, and right before playing Boy Inside The Man and Lunatic Fringe, for crying out loud. The whole thing’s fantastic. If you don’t already have this, get it. Hells yes.

And now, it’s time to get harsh:

Owl City – Ocean Eyes

I got this one for $2 at the thrift shop, because it looked neat and I’d never heard of them. A total spec buy.

And… it really ain’t my thing. After getting a couple of tracks into it, I thought maybe this should have been a drunk review. But the level of drunk I’d need to be to hear this any differently would render me unconscious and unable to write a review.

I get it, people like this Mix One-Oh-Whatever FM radio-sounding crap, because you don’t have to pay attention to it and it blends into the background and gets you through your wait in the dentist office’s waiting room. It’s too precious and fluffy to be taken seriously. Take electronic blips and bleeps (think Casio keyboard) with drum machines, and autotune on the vocals, then mix in shite high school diary lyrics (my favourite was “there’s an underwater ferris wheel…” Haha WTF) and the occasional precious acoustic guitar dinkery and you’ve got this whole CD of I am never gonna listen to this again.

***

On another note:

Parenting: You’re Doing It Right

I was quite proud of my daughter (she’s 4) yesterday. We were in the car and the Watchmen’s most excellent In The Trees album came on. She and her brother had been fighting back and forth, as is their wont, but when the music came on she immediately sat up, told her brother very clearly to leave her alone, and focussed all of her attention on the music. She rocked out and sang along (without knowing any of the words) and had a great time. When we got home, I asked her what she thought of the music, and she said “That was great, Daddy!”

That’s my girl!

***

Funny #3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***

Alright, that’s enough for one week, isn’t it? It seems like a lot. But what fun!

Huge thanks once again to Mike for this amazing parcel of amazingness. Wowzers.

And for everyone, if you’ve made it this far, I thank you very much, and commend you for your exemplary patience. Feel free to comment on any, all or at least more than one thing you saw here. We love comments. They’re so tasty. So sexy.

Thanks for stopping by! See you next week!

KMA Sunday Service Week 25

Here we go with another Sunday Service! You lucky buggers!

Still kinda sick around here, been a bit lazy. Still got some tunes in the ol’ ears, though.

Grab a coffee and let’s give ‘er.

***

Here’s a Sunday Funny and a Sunday Truth for you.

I Want To Brick Free!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***

Site Crap

1) I fixed up a few more uncategorized posts. You won’t notice or care, but it’s good to be slowly getting them straightened out.

2) The collection integrity project got underway this week. I went in thinking I could get rid of a bunch… and apparently I need to be more ruthless! Haha I have a hard time letting things go, apparently. I need to take some lessons from 1537.

3) Work on the WOM* list continues, now that the GBV WOM* list is done.

4) I updated the TBR-A* list, as well as the Movies-A* list.

* see tabs at top of page.

***

This One’s For Geoff

Recently, on Geoff’s excellent blog, he was talking about the trifecta, when a band’s name, album title, and a song on the album all have the same name. For example, the song Black Sabbath, on the album called Black Sabbath, by the band Black Sabbath.

Anyway, I was thinking this was pretty rare (there’s Iron Maiden, Porno For Pyros…), but then I spent 10 seconds on Google and found a site that claims they’ve found over 1000 instances of the trifecta.

So, apparently, it’s not so rare.

SEE IT HERE.

 

Cool Thrift Shop Finds

1) Barenaked Ladies’ Yellow Tape.

Found another copy of this gem. I always rescue them when I find them (tapes are $0.99).

This makes my fifth copy.

 

2) Jelly Roll Morton – Centennial: His Complete Victor Recordings

This is on 5 cassettes, in a boxed set! Still in the shrink wrap! 77 songs, with all known alternate versions too, to total 111 tracks. I tried looking it up on Discogs and could only find the CD version. The cassette version isn’t even listed there. A rarity? Or no one cares?

 

 

***

What I Took In This Week

54-40 – La Difference

BIG score this week! Labelled $10 at Wally, rang through at $8. It’s worth sooo much more anyway. This new 2016 release contains new renditions of some of their biggest songs. They list it as acoustic, but it’s not just that, there’s a lot more going on here, with interesting instrumentations (horns!), funky grooves, the addition of female vocals, and that sweet, sweet 54-40 magic. Vive La Difference! These versions are different enough that some even sound like new songs… except they’re still our old familiar friends at the same time. Awesome. You need this.

Tracks: Ocean Pearl / She La / Since When / One Day In Your Life / Baby Ran / I Go Blind / One Gun / Crossing A Canyon / Casual Viewin’ / Lies To Me

Black Crowes – Warpaint

I’ve already reviewed this album in these pages, and I agree with my past self completely.

It’s been too long since I played it, and I quite enjoyed the whole thing on this run through.

 

 

Black Crowes – Warpaint Live (2CD)

The songs translate well live, but something about Chris’ vocals here sometimes don’t quite jive with me on some tracks. He’s shrill or grating, or something. I’m sure it was better when you were in the room while he did it, the recording probably doesn’t do it justice. And get them into the deeper bluesier tracks and I’m all over it. Even when he’s mumbling gibberish, on those tracks, it all still works. And for a 2CD set, there’s still a lot to drool about. I just enjoyed the music more than the vocals for some of it, is all.

 

John Williams and London Symphony Orchestra – Star Wars: A New Hope (2CD)

A thrift shop score (sorry Mike, it ain’t the hologram version), this was like visiting old friends. Amazing, really, how evocative the music for this film really was. I was sitting listening and I was picturing the scenes of the film as I did so… of course, it helps we’ve all seen that film a zillion times, but still. Williams is a friggin’ genius at emotion and movement and power in his music. Gorgeous, and this set is insanely good.

 

Johnny Cash – Out Amongst The Stars

Touted as The Lost Album in 2014, here are 13 previously unreleased tracks from the Man In Black. There are duets with June Carter Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Minnie Pearl. Liner notes are from his son, John. The opening, title tracks starts out with “It’s midnight at a liquor store in Texas…” just so you know what you’re getting into haha. Beautiful tracks, and brilliant to hear new (to us) stuff. Really hard to imagine them not releasing this in the 80s when he did them. Loved it. Better, I got it at Wally for $5 in the impulse rack at the checkout.

***

And there you have it. Not a whole lot heard, this week, but what I did hear was of mighty damn fine quality. Thanks for tuning in. See you next week!

KMA Sunday Service Week 24

Welcome all, once again, to the Sunday Service.

The whole house was sick all week. I did manage to hear a bit, but mostly not.

Here we go.

Your Sunday Funny (this one’s for Mike):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Site Crap

New What Owns Me (WOM) Page – Aaron’s GBV Edition!

A new Page went live this morning called GBV WOM – A (see top of page). It’s an ongoing list of all the Guided By Voices/Robert Pollard/related stuff that I have here at the moment.

This is also a sort of unofficial Grail List in reverse. This lists what I have. If you see things in your shops that aren’t listed here, let me know!

Uncategorized

Not that (m)any of you would notice or care – but for whatever reason, we had over 500 posts marked as Uncategorized. I’m going back and fixing them all (slowly). So – you’re welcome?

KMA Retro

Does anybody actually like the KMA Retro posts, or am I just doing it for me? I’m maybe just tired and sick this week, but the KMA Retro posts seemed like way too much work. I have one ready, I think, but I may be losing steam on the project. I’ll look at streamlining it, maybe. Leave it with me.

Collection Integrity

I’ve been working away in the Man Cave and realized I have too much stuff. I have piles haphazardly on top of other piles, while boxes hold more. It’s crazy. Working through the WOM list proves it too. So, it might be time for a cull. Everything essential stays. But I’ll bet I can find a bunch I’m not so crazy about or don’t really, really need. Spring’s coming. Time for a cleaning.

Valentine’s Day

We’re still romantic sucker enough to wanna do something nice for each other on this Hallmark holiday. It’s OK, we do nice things for each other year anyway.

This year, my lovely wife found these for me:

 

 

 

 

 

Margaret Atwood – In Other Worlds (her memories of reading sf as a kid)
Willie Nelson: An Epic Life

I’m greatly looking forward to reading both of these! And amongst the things I found for her, I had to get her this one:

 

 

 

 

 

I’m hoping to read it when she’s done with it! 😉

What I Took In This Week

IT Crowd Rules

We’ve been watching the IT Crowd. It’s quite funny, reminiscent of the old British comedies in feel. Most endearing to me, the character of Roy seems to be a Guided by Voices fan. Posters on the office wall, a band t-shirt he wore, one time Game Of Pricks playing on a stereo in the office. And in Season 3, they even get a mention! Check it out here!

Hello! Magazine – David Bowie tribute

Read this at my Mom’s. It’s a total puff piece, of course. It was nice enough, until they quoted Kanye West about Bowie’s influence…

I think the look on David’s face, there, says it all.

 

 

Aretha Franklin – The Essentials

Total classic. Listening along I am reminded of what’s missing from modern R&B. If this set doesn’t put a smile on your face, you weren’t gonna smile today anyway.

 

 

Oh What A Feeling Vol.2: A Vital Collection Of Canadian Music

Yes, another 4CD set of Canuck tunes. The first collection is, I figure, essential. This one is very good too, and picks up a lot of the bands I found lacking in Vol.1 (like Gowan, Platinum Blonde, Helix, and 54-40, and all the 90s bands like Sloan, Hip, Tea Party, OLP, etc). CD2 is, especially, a great chunk of the rock.

Lots of favourites here, of course. Happy to see Barney Bentall make the cut, I like that guy. Dream Warriors always makes me smile (and not just because of Austin Powers), and I enjoyed Choclair’s Let’s Ride. Snow’s Informer? Haha not so much. King Of Spain was a bit bittersweet though it’s still a fun song. Actually, you know, this is a really strong collection overall.

Put the two sets I have together and it’s a really good swath of Cancon. I suppose now I need to find Vol.3 to be complete.

And yes, 1537, this means I now own two Celine Dion songs.

CD 1
01 Shania Twain – Man! I Feel Like a Woman!
02 Sarah McLachlan – Building a Mystery
03 Alanis Morissette – Thank U
04 Jann Arden – Insensitive
05 Chantal Kreviazuk – Before You
06 Tal Bachman – She’s So High
07 Len – Steal My Sunshine
08 Bran Van 3000 – Drinking in L.A.
09 The Moffatts – Misery
10 Sky – Love Song
11 Souldecision – Faded
12 Amanda Marshall – Birmingham
13 Céline Dion – My Heart Will Go On
14 Deborah Cox – Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here
15 Dream Warriors – My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style
16 Snow – Informer
17 Choclair – Let’s Ride
18 Rascalz ft. Checkmate, Kardinal Offishall, Thrust, Choclair – Northern Touch

CD 2
01 Loverboy – The Kid Is Hot Tonite
02 Aldo Nova – Fantasy
03 Prism – Spaceship Superstar
04 Red Rider – Lunatic Fringe
05 Trooper – We’re Here for a Good Time
06 Bachman–Turner Overdrive – You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
07 Bryan Adams – Summer of ’69
08 Barney Bentall and the Legendary Hearts – Something to Live For
09 Rush – The Spirit of Radio
10 Lee Aaron – Whatcha Do to My Body
11 Toronto – Your Daddy Don’t Know
12 Headpins – Don’t It Make Ya Feel
13 Helix – Rock You
14 54-40 – One Day in Your Life
15 Matthew Good Band – Hello Time Bomb
16 Sloan – Underwhelmed
17 The Tea Party – Heaven Coming Down
18 Our Lady Peace – Clumsy
19 The Tragically Hip – Ahead By a Century

CD 3
01 The Guess Who – Share the Land
02 Lighthouse – Sunny Days
03 Keith Hampshire – The First Cut Is the Deepest
04 Copperpenny – Sitting on a Poor Man’s Throne
05 Dr. Music – One More Mountain to Climb
06 The Band – Up on Cripple Creek
07 Pagliaro – Lovin’ You Ain’t Easy
08 Anne Murray – Danny’s Song
09 Nick Gilder – Hot Child in the City
10 Platinum Blonde – Crying Over You
11 Max Webster – A Million Vacations
12 Klaatu – Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft
13 Gowan – A Criminal Mind
14 Burton Cummings – Break It to Them Gently
15 Doug and the Slugs – Too Bad
16 Men Without Hats – The Safety Dance
17 Crash Test Dummies – Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
18 Kim Mitchell – Go For Soda
19 The Northern Pikes – She Ain’t Pretty
20 The Kings – Switchin’ to Glide / This Beat Goes On

CD 4
01 Neil Young – Heart of Gold
02 Joni Mitchell – Help Me
03 Gordon Lightfoot – Carefree Highway
04 Bruce Cockburn – Wondering Where the Lions Are
05 Murray McLauchlan – On the Boulevard
06 Leonard Cohen – Bird on the Wire
07 Susan Aglukark – O Siem
08 Spoons – Nova Heart
09 Jane Siberry – Mimi on the Beach
10 Rheostatics – Claire
11 Blue Rodeo – 5 Days in May
12 Holly Cole – I Can See Clearly Now
13 Diana Krall – Peel Me a Grape
14 Loreena McKennitt – The Mummer’s Dance
15 Daniel Lanois – Still Water
16 Ashley MacIsaac – Sleepy Maggie
17 Great Big Sea – Ordinary Day
18 Moxy Früvous – King of Spain
19 Barenaked Ladies – One Week

The End

Thanks for tuning in this week! Hopefully I’ll be feeling better for the next installment. Have a great week, everybody!

KMA Sunday Service Week 23

Welcome back to the KMA Sunday Service!

Here we go!

 

 

***

Happy Valentines Day to all you lovely souls out there…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sunday Funny, for a snowy February:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Recap Of This Week:

The Shark Attack: Part Two

Like last weekend, our kids treated us to a (second) concert this weekend, as their band The Shark Attack. It’s jangly noise music with performance art body movement. True punks, this show only lasted about a minute and a half. Fabulous.

 

Jian Ghomeshi Trial

Ghomeshi’s lawyer has done her homework, discrediting his accusers by showing initiated contacts with him after the alleged incidents, the details of those later contacts not provided to the court during their statement submissions. She’s calling for acquittal. The defense claims the inconsistencies have been explained.

Trial arguments are over, the verdict will be handed down March 24. Story here.

Eddie Condon and the Dixieland All-Stars – Midnight In Moscow

Dropped the needle on this LP of superb dixieland and glorious jazz. Cool covers and old traditionals, this will brighten any day. I got it for $1.99, and it’s the original 1956 monaural release.

The vinyl itself looks like it was never played. Well, it has been now!

 

Alan Cross – Over The Edge: The Revolution And Evolution Of New Rock

This book, about 90s “alternative” music, has lists galore, cool stories, facts, figures and more. It’s the kind of book you wish you’d written.

Alan Cross nails it again, as always.

 

 

“Turn up the good! Turn down the suck!”

Had free tickets to an OHL hockey game on Wednesday night. Too bad our home team thought it was amateur night.

Anyway, the only lift I felt was when the Tragically Hip’s Fifty Mission Cap broke out over the loud speakers. I played air guitar.

 

Mudhoney – Five Dollar Bob’s Mock Cooter Stew

Jangly fuzzy grungey slacker punk muddy bluesy awesome sauce.

This 1993 EP was a great nostalgia trip.

 

 

Paul McCartney & Wings – Wingspan: Hits And History

Jammed this 2CD hits/history set while I folded laundry and did housecleaning. It seemed the thing to do.

Now, I’m well on record as not being a Paul fan (gimme George any day). However I thought I’d give this a try. Gotta be something decent in 40 tracks for $3, right? It’s tuneful, I’ll give him that. Fun hearing their cover of Guns ’N Roses.* Lots I knew, a few tracks I’d repeat. The rest… probably not. A little too saccharine for me.

One trick I learned, while listening to this, was to imagine Robert Pollard singing all of these songs. That improved things immensely! I mean, try Jet in your head right now… it works, doesn’t it!

Ah well, at least I tried.

* Haha I know it’s the other way around.

Billy Bragg – Don’t Try This At Home

Y’all know Bragg and his incredible song-writing abilities. He really runs the gamut here, an English Springsteen, sometimes with a celtic feel to it, and it’s a master class for lesser mortals.

Released in 1991, this is timeless.

 

54-40 – Since When

I love 54-40. This is another slice of genius. They have a sound all of their own (even when tracks like Lost & Lazy are pure R.E.M.) it still sounds like them. I could listen to the title track all day long.

The majority of this album have a sweet and beautiful slow groove, and it’s all a thing of beauty.

 

54-40 – Sweeter Things: A Compilation

Holy moly.

Collected here are 17 of their major early tracks. It’s a smorgasbord of 54-50 brilliance.

That oughta tell you everything you need to know about it!

 

***

Thanks for tuning in. See you next week!

KMA Sunday Service Week 22

“Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin…”

Welcome back to the KMA Sunday Service. As noted in a recent post, I cannot be trusted to blog responsibly when left alone, and wound up with almost 100 posts on my own (James put up a few, making it exactly 100 total) in the month of January! That’s fun, it’s crazy, it’s not really sustainable. This monkey flung a lot of shit at the walls. Thanks again for putting up with me.

When I announced that the Sunday Service would be coming back, it seemed to me that most people were in favour. Cool beans. Boppin has always said that he would (at minimum) hope for a Hump Day post to help him get through the week, so I will strive to continue the KMA Retro project, or cough up some other future brain fart, on those days.

As for the numbering system of the Sunday Servies, I could logically have started this 2016 series at Week 1, but that seemed unnecessary. 2015 ended with Week 21, and there were 4 weeks in January 2016, so technically this could be week 26, but I was all willy nilly and not doing weekly posts in that month. So, I’ll just pick up where I left off with the Sunday Services counter at Week 22. Give ‘er!

I am gonna cut out the old (pasted in every week) intro and ending stuff. Let’s just get into it, brass tacks, with the return of the Sunday Service!

And folks, what a week I have had! Holy shit.

***

Driving A Great Karma

I want to start this post with a gigantic thank you to Brian at Boppinsblog.

Dude. THANK YOU.

As you may recall, I recently mentioned a (possible) R.I.P. for my Sony 5CD changer. I wrote that Boppin was sending me videos for tear-downs/repairs, as well as Kijiji ads for different units for sale in my town. Awesome. It was all really, really helpful!

Then, on Wednesday, an unexpected parcel delivery at my house. Big cardboard box. From Boppin.

And inside? A Sony 5CD changer!

I had to sit down. Oh my goodness.

So I emailed him, he said he wouldn’t take anything for it. Said his good karma would follow him (ed: it surely will), and that no Man Cave is complete without a CD player (ed. it is so true). He also said Community… Well, if there’s one magic word that the KMA lives by, it’s Community! He got me right in my wheelhouse! But still, holy crap!

Even now, typing this, I am a little in disbelief… and yet here it is, and it is beautiful.

So I said the first song I’d play, after I got it hooked up, would be the Beatles’ With A Little Help From My Friends. He said no, it had to be a track from (or the whole album of) Rush’s 2112, or the deal was off. Well then! We’re off to see the priests of the temples of Syrinx! I plugged it in, cued up Rush, and it worked perfectly. It is a thing of beauty.

It is essentially a direct replacement of the unit of mine that was screwing up. Same 5CD, same simplicity (elegance, really) in hook-up and usability. I am floored.

Dude. THANK YOU.

Community!!!

BOPPIN ROCKS!

***

Grail Item Found! Mostly!

Yes. Oh yes.

Y’all know I am a huge fan of the Roots. Have been for years. But one album of theirs that has eluded me all of these years is their first, dubbed Organix (1993). It’s been on my Grail List forever, and I have never, ever seen a copy in all of my years (and travels) of searching record shops. Online, copies can be had, but reliably good copies are always priced well outside of what I would pay for a single CD. Amazon.ca right now has one for $147, if you’re interested, though that’s not the norm. Worse, it’s been issued twice – even the reissues are expensive. And you really have to watch, as some are 9 tracks, and some are 17 tracks!

And then, this past week, Mike’s old store got a copy in stock. I ordered it so fast I think my VISA is still dizzy. Now, as a used CD store, they cannot gurantee that what you order is in stock. They have to go to the shelf and get it. If someone off the street walked in and bought it before they came to check for your order, you’re out of luck. I’ve had that happen to me and it’s frustrating as hell, though I totally understand it. Anyway, this time the disc was mine! I emailed to find out which version it was, and it was the 17 track! Bonus! It was all going my way!

It arrived on Friday. And its packaging is damaged. It didn’t happen in transit – there were no obvious impact visible marks to the envelope at all. But most of the teeth were broken off of the center spindle (though only three little teeth were loose inside the case), and there is a hole punched right through the booklet (it’s simply one sheet folded in half). Yup, there’s a tear in the front cover right through to the back page. This was obviously there before they shipped, and no mention was made, and no discount was offered. And I paid a premium price for it on the order. It should be noted that the disc itself is pristine, just the packaging was wrecked.

Of course, I emailed immediately, and they rectified this situation as best they could on the very same day I received the disc. I will say that their customer service is always excellent. But I was still quite disappointed to wait all week for delivery of an album I’ve been waiting years to find, only to have it not be perfect (as items from that company almost always are). And sure, it’s the disc that matters, but as a collector, this will only appreciate in value, and a damaged copy like this simply won’t.

So, hooray! I finally have a copy of the Roots’ first album! But I still feel like I need to continue my search, and if another copy comes up years from now, I’ll order it to replace this one. I will not be removing it from my Grail List. I mean, it’s weird. I have it, but I don’t quite!

Stay tuned (below) for my review of the album, too!

***

Grail List

After all of that, I feel it necessary to remind all of you of the most helpful Master Grail List tab to be found at the top of the main KMA page. If you have a list of items you simply cannot find, send it to us and we’ll get it up there so we can all help you find what you want! Community! And if you have a list there already, but you need adjustments to your list, same thing. Let us know! Carry that list with you (I put it in my phone) so you can help your fellow Readers out!

***

Sunday Funny

I believe it was Vinylconnection who mentioned hoping that the Sunday Funnies section would stick around as we return to the Sunday Service, so of course it stays in. And this one’s funny because it’s true:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***

Site Crap

1) I’ve changed attack on the WOM* (What Owns Me) list. In listing everything I own, I got ahead of myself in the listings and lost track of what I had already reviewed and what I hadn’t! So I’ve gone back to the top of the list and am double-checking that everything on there has been reviewed as well as been listed.

2) I don’t know if anyone checks the TBR-A* (To Be Read-Aaron) list. But if anyone does care, I added all 229 books that I read in 2010 to the list. Up next, 2009…

3) Also r.e. TBR-A, I stopped writing little blurbs for each book. I’m sure no one reads the blurbs anyway, and visually, all of that extra text makes it too hard to scan through the list of titles.

4) As for the Movies* page, I’ve stopped writing blurbs for those, as well.

5) I also fully intend (per a GBV-love conversation with Vinylconnection)  to create a new WOM (What Owns Me) page dedicated solely to all of the various and wonderful things I own that are Robert Pollard/GBV/and related releases. There is enough here to warrant its own page, trust me. If I mixed it into the full list, it would feel like it all got lost. It needs its own page. Give me time! Coming soon!

* To be found at the top of the KMA main page!

***

In My Ears This Week

The Shark Attack

Last weekend, our kids worked up a song and did a show for us. There were drums, a waaaay out-of-tune plastic guitar, a toy trumpet, and a lightsaber involved. The song was untitled, but their band name was The Shark Attack. It was the most refreshing interpretive music I’ve heard in ages. They even did up a concert poster and taped it to my son’s door (see above)… Did I ever tell you I love my kids? 🙂

Speaking of awesome kids…

Parenting: You Know You’re Doing It Right!

Thursday was a PD day from school, so I had the kids at home all day. By the time my lovely wife got home from work, the house was in an absolute tip (because we had a blast playing all day). Clean-up time (before bed)! We always jam some tunes when we’re cleaning up, and I asked the kids what they wanted to hear. My 4-year-old daughter, quite brightly said (and fully meant it), “Play the Tinkertrain song!” at the same time as my son loudly shouted “Metallica!” Well, we had Metallica last time, so this time it was Ozzy all the way*. My girl danced and posed out more than she cleaned up, it was awesome. At one point, she misheard some lyrics and excitedly ran up to me, bright eyed and said “HE KNOWS MY NAME!!” Oh sweetheart. Anyway, the work did, eventually, get done.

Just doing my part for the future generation, folks. 😉

* I’ve already reviewed No More Tears, a long time ago. I think it already appeared in the KMA Retro posts, so that’s an ancient one…

Roots – Organix

Ah, the Roots in 1993. What a jazzy, groovin’ slice of beauty! All the elements are here but, even though it’s early days, this already sounds like a classic band on its tenth album. Absolutely amazing.

This is an incredibly strong debut. I mean, Wu-Tang’s 36 Chambers, A Tribes Called Quest’s People’s Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm, De La Soul’s 3 Feet High And Rising, NAS’ Illmatic, Notorious B.I.G.’s Ready To Die… Damn, this one ranks amongst those and better still than some!

And the real beauty is, hearing this now, I know that they built on this astounding debut and never looked back. There was no sophomore slump, no slump at all, after this. True greatness. I am now sad that I had to wait so long to get this into my ears!

Bryan Adams – Reckless

I’ll be honest: I tried writing this up four times. But I kept scrapping it, because what the hell does one say about this now, in 2016?

You already own this. You (likely) already love it.

As you were.

 

Bryan Adams – Into The Fire

How the heck was Bryan gonna follow up the gigantic monster that ate everything which was Reckless? With a thoughtful, well-crafted, more mature record, that’s how! Every single track here is just what it needs to be, and it’s all awesome. I mean, there were 6 singles (Heat Of The Night, Hearts On Fire, Victim Of Love, Only The Strong Survive, Into The Fire, and Another Day), and the deep cuts were great too. Another fave of mine was the powerful message of Remembrance Day. You know, I knew people who were disappointed that this record wasn’t another Reckless. Fools. This one’s a keeper for sure.

5,6,7,8s – Bomb The Rocks

What a freaky rock ’n roll party! You probably know their song Woo Hoo from Kill Bill. Anyway, here we have three rockin’ Japanese ladies, jamming 50s and 60s surf swing and rockabilly music while singing with an endearing ESL charm and Ramones chutzpah, and having a blast tearing the roof off the mothersucker. This CD is 27 tracks of classic bliss.

In other words, I am in love!

Oh What A Feeling: A Vital Collection Of Canadian Music

Released in 1996 for the 25th anniversary of the Juno Awards (the Canadian Grammy), and named after the Crowbar song of the same name, this boxed set is (quite honestly) really, really splendid. Seriously, whomever put this together hit a lot of the big names and tunes, with this one.

I could review this, and bore you by trying to write about every track, but to be perfectly honest, this is all you need to know:

CD1
01 The Guess Who – American Woman
02 Lighthouse – One Fine Morning
03 Crowbar – Oh, What A Feeling
04 Steppenwolf – Born to Be Wild
05 Sweeney Todd – Roxy Roller
06 Downchild Blues Band – (I Got Everything I Need) Almost
07 Powder Blues Band – Doin’ It Right
08 Trooper – Raise A Little Hell
09 Chilliwack – Fly At Night
10 Triumph – Magic Power
11 Saga – On the Loose
12 A Foot in Coldwater – (Make Me Do) Anything You Want
13 Burton Cummings – Stand Tall
14 Bachman Turner Overdrive – Takin’ Care of Business
15 Rough Trade – High School Confidential
16 The Pursuit of Happiness – I’m An Adult Now
17 Martha And The Muffins – Echo Beach
18 Cowboy Junkies – Misguided Angel
19 Parachute Club – Rise Up

CD2
01 Rush – Closer to the Heart
02 Loverboy – Turn Me Loose
03 Bryan Adams – Cuts Like A Knife
04 Corey Hart – Sunglasses At Night
05 The Payolas – Eyes Of A Stranger
06 The Jeff Healey Band – See The Light
07 Colin James – Just Came Back
08 Kim Mitchell – Patio Lanterns
09 Honeymoon Suite – New Girl Now
10 Glass Tiger – Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone)
11 Maestro Fresh Wes – Let Your Backbone Slide
12 Bruce Cockburn – If I Had A Rocket Launcher
13 Barenaked Ladies – If I Had A Million Dollars
14 The Tragically Hip – New Orleans Is Sinking
15 Tom Cochrane – Life Is A Highway
16 Moist – Push
17 Alanis Morissette – You Oughta Know

CD3
01 Anne Murray – Snowbird
02 The Guess Who – These Eyes
03 Stampeders – Sweet City Woman
04 Five Man Electrical Band – Signs
05 April Wine – You Could Have Been A Lady
06 Mashmakhan – As The Years Go By
07 The Poppy Family – Which Way You Goin’ Billy?
08 Motherlode – When I Die
09 Blood, Sweat and Tears – Spinning Wheel
10 The Band – The Weight
11 Ocean – Put Your Hand In The Hand
12 The Bells – Stay Awhile
13 Frank Mills – Music Box Dancer
14 Skylark – Wildflower
15 Ian & Sylvia – Four Strong Winds
16 Leonard Cohen – Suzanne
17 Valdy – Play Me A Rock ‘n Roll Song
18 Murray McLauchlan – Farmer’s Song
19 Ian Thomas – Painted Ladies
20 Terry Jacks – Seasons In The Sun
21 Andy Kim – Rock Me Gently
22 Hagood Hardy – The Homecoming
23 Edward Bear – Last Song

CD4
01 Céline Dion – Where Does My Heart Beat Now
02 Roch Voisine – Hélène
03 Gino Vannelli – I Just Wanna Stop
04 Alannah Myles – Black Velvet
05 Jann Arden – Could I Be Your Girl
06 k.d. lang – Constant Craving
07 The Rankin Family – Fare Thee Well Love
08 Gordon Lightfoot – If You Could Read My Mind
09 Neil Young – Helpless
10 Dan Hill – Sometimes When We Touch
11 Anne Murray – You Needed Me
12 Rita MacNeil – Flying On Your Own
13 Luba – How Many Rivers to Cross
14 Blue Rodeo – Try
15 Robbie Robertson – Showdown At Big Sky
16 Sarah McLachlan – Hold On
17 Crash Test Dummies – Superman’s Song
18 Northern Lights – Tears Are Not Enough

Yeah, it means I have Celine Dion and Rita MacNeil in my collection (not something I’d choose myself), and I really think Disc 2 should’ve had a Gowan track on it (his omission here is quite glaring). Heck, maybe even Platinum Blonde. I’m sure there are a ton of others missing.

And it’s pretty telling of the quality and variety here that big names like Leonard Cohen and The Band are way deep on CD 3, while Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Anne Murray and many others are buried down on CD 4. And yet the set still flows very well. They even included the Canadian version of We Are the World’s mass group song as the last track (Tears Are Not Enough).

In Sum For Oh What A Feeling:

Every time I play this set, I get to feeling like a guy could only own Canadian artists’ music and be a pretty happy man. So much good music comes from this country, across a wide variety of genres. And while we are not nearly the marketshare of other places, and going Canuck-only would exclude a lot, sets like this make it pretty damn tempting. This 77-track set is (mostly) really the bee’s knees.

There were two other boxed sets, Oh What A Feeling 2 (for the 30th anniversary) and Oh What A Feeling 3 (for the 35th anniversary), and they pick up a lot of the bands I found missing here in Volume 1. Weirdly, Volume 3 repeats 9 tracks from Volume 1. Um, guys who made these sets…? WHY?).

For my money, it’s this first edition which is the one to get. That said, if I were ever to see the other two at reasonable prices, I’d definitely be tempted to snap them up, too.

***

And that’s it for this week. And what a week it was! Huge thanks, again, to Brian at Boppinsblog for keeping the CD tunes spinning here at the KMA eastern offices!

If you read this far, we hope you dug the return of the Sunday Service!

See you next time…

KMA Sunday Service Week 21: Christmas Loot Edition

Welcome one and all to this special Christmas Loot Edition of the KMA Sunday Service.

First we’re gonna have a look at all of the wonderous sounds with which I filled my ears, and then we’ll also see what I got from Santa!

You’d better go get a coffee or three. This one is of epic length!*^

*that’s what she said…
^ that’s the second week in a row I’ve used this one. 🙂

***

Here’s a Sunday Funny For You!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And because it’s almost the New Year, here’s another Sunday Funny for you. Both Scott and James sent this to me within hours of each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

***

Stuffs:

1) You gotta read this: James SENT ME THIS. My first thought was ‘well, given this guy’s previous work expeience, I’m sure it’ll go just fine!’* But wow, what a flashback to childhood, eh? Crazy.

*NOT! [read in a Borat voice]

2) Hey WordPress. You know what I want for Christmas? The ability to sort our pics in the media folder as a .wordpress.com blog. I assume the paid blogs can do it, so this really isn’t much to ask. You spend so much time mucking up the Editor, why not put that back the way it was (when it worked just fine) and give us the simple ability to create folders within the media folder? If you could go ahead and do that, that’d be great, OK? Yeah.

***

And now for what was in my ears this week!

 

Opeth – Heritage

This was overloaded with beautiful, proggy Opeth goodness! It’s full of moments that make you stop and go “ohhhh that was gorgeous!”

It’s also intricate, and clearly full of thought and care. Beautiful record. Mine is the CD/DVD special edition with the lenticular cover because Awesome.

 

Motörhead – ICON

Easiest commenting ever:

 

 

 

 

 

Izzy Stradlin – 117°

This was a Taranna score from my most recent foray into the city with Mike, bought for $2.50 (brand new) at Kops Records on the hearty recommendation of J. at Resurrection Songs. He was absolutely right – I really, really dug this record. It seemed to me, at first, that many of the songs sounded vaguely like other songs by other people, but I couldn’t place any of it. Then I realized that it’s not ripping anything off, it’s just his influences coming through and he’s nailing it song after song. Super-solid effort. I will play this one many times.

Massive Attack – Blue Lines, Protection, and Mezzanine

On Tuesday afternoon, we went into an odd holding pattern as we were booked to go see the new Star Wars film at 9:45pm. We bathed the kids, I did the dishes, but mostly we waited to go. As we did, I pushed play on Massive Attack in my iTunes and we drifted along with all three of the Massive Attack records I own. It’s an absolutely impressive trio, all three albums I (seriously) would never be without. It was perfect music for the mood.

Road Trip!

We visited the inlaws yesterday, and that’s a 1.5 hour drive. I got to hear music on the way there (see below). But the tunes stayed off on the way home as it poured rain (for you Scots: somewhere between bouncin’ and chuckin’ it down) and it was pitch black on the highway, so with visibility so shite I needed to concentrate fully on the road. Anyway.

Dave Brubeck – This Is Jazz 3

Ah, glory. A superb, sweet compilation.

I do love me some Brubeck when I’m… well, hell, I’d listen to him anytime.

 

 

Bill Evans Trio – Sunday At The Village Vanguard

This one was a little harder to hear, in the car. Only the drums sat on top of the mix versus the hum of the snowtires at highway speed. That gorgeous piano just sort of disappeared into pleasant, barely-heard tones underneath. And turning it up more would only cause the kids to complain and, on roadtrips, we all know we definitely don’t want that! Anyway, I know and love this record and it seems it’s better for play around the house.

 

***

So now let’s take a look at what music-related goodness I got for Christmas this year! I was very, VERY spoiled.

Lepy LP-2020A Hi-Fi Stereo Digital Audio Adaptor

This will allow me to use my kick-ass Kenwood speakers with my iMac for bigger, better sound! Nice! My thanks to Boppin for helping me figure out which was a good one to add to my Amazon wishlist! Now we’ve just gotta get me that headphone/speaker switching hub…

 

Give ‘Em The Boot IV

I do love me some Hellcat Records, and my lovely wife said she’d read that this one came highest rated in the series. If my count is right, 17 of its 26 tracks are unreleased. Sweet!

 

 

Harry Connick, Jr. – What A Night! A Christmas Album (Barnes & Noble Deluxe Exclusive Edition)

Generally, I hate Christmas music. My lovely wife has made it a mission to get me palatable Christmas music, one CD per year. Last year was Blue Rodeo, the year before was Wynton Marsalis… Anyway, she wins again this year by getting me Harry (I do love Harry’s records). In fact, I already own this album, but this one is an exclusive deluxe edition (Mike just sat up!) with 3 bonus audio tracks, and a bonus 23 minute DVD featuring an  interview with Harry, in-studio photos and 3 music videos. SO. AWESOME.

Bob Dylan Revisited

I had this comic artwork collection from the library and loved it completely. All 13 representations of his songs visually are stunning.

This book really is something else. And now here I have my own copy! Glorious.

 

 

3 TV Show DVD Sets!

Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Last Man On Earth, and Happy Endings. All of them are Season 1, of course, because these are the gateway drug! Haha, well, we’ve not heard of or seen any of these, so we’ll be very happy to get into some new-to-us viewing pleasure that comes to us James Approved. Thanks heaps, my KMA Brother!

Led Zeppelin – Presence (2LP Deluxe RM)

Ever onward in my quest for having all of the Zep re-issues on deluxe LP, here comes Presence. I cannot wait to dig into it!

And now I only have two more left to get to complete the set!

 

 

Atoms For Peace – Amok

I had been looking for this CD when I was in Taranna with Mike in November, and didn’t find it. I did see the LP but $30 seemed high for one record with 9 tracks. I’m cheap. Anyway, here it is in CD form, as a Christmas prezzie! I’ve been wanting to hear this one for a long while, so I’m very excited to see what it’s all about.

 

 

And then, the giant bomb I wasn’t expecting at all:

i.t. Innovative Technology USB Turntable (ITUT-400)

Yep, that’s right. A turntable that will let me make MP3s of all of my LPs! I just about had a heart attack when I opened this one. THINK OF THE IMPLICATIONS! I have so many LPs that I don’t own in any other format, so this will add hundreds of albums to my digital collection. I… I think I am in love…

Truly, this one was a shock. I cannot wait to get this one hooked up!

***

Our Thanks

And with that, I guess you can see how awesome this week, and Christmas/Boxing Day, was for me around here! And the next time we meet, it’ll be 2016. Have a safe and Happy New Year, everybody!

We’d like to thank you very much for joining us for another KMA Sunday Service. We hope you enjoyed your stay, and that you’ll leave a small offering of a comment or two in the comment collection plate as it is passed around, though of course, as always, this is merely a suggestion and not an obligation. We invite you all to join us again next week, when we once again bring you the KMA Sunday Service!

 

KMA Sunday Service Week 20: Best Of 2015 Edition

KMA Sunday Service 20: Best Of 2015 Edition

Welcome one and all to this special Christmas edition of the KMA Sunday Service. Not only does this mark the 20th week (already!) that I’ve been doing this Service series, but it is also time for my annual listing of the great new music I bought during the year, and my selection of my Best Of 2015!

First up, we’ll look at what I heard this week, then we’ll dig into my year’s best.

You’d better go get a coffee or three. This one is of epic length!*

*that’s what she said

***

Here’s a Sunday Funny for you:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***

Stuffs:

1) I’ve had Neko Case’s early album Canadian Amp (on CD) on my Grail List for a long time. Never found a copy in my ballpark price range. Recently, I went looking to see how copies were doing, price-wise, and they’re just… gone. Discogs. Amazon. Even Neko’s  official web page! Everywhere I thought to try, it can’t be had. Well fuck.

2) Watch Henry Rollins bring the Christmas RIGHT HERE. [thanks for the link, James!]. I have to say I’m pretty happy to see Henry moving back into our consciousnesses again. ROLLINS!

3) I know this isn’t really music-related, except that I constantly use Wiki to look up information about music/albums/bands, but Fuck You, Wikipedia. Please stop with your invasive requests for money. Last time I was on there, a giant banner ad crushed half my screen and I had to X it out. Then I got another, smaller banner ad. After clearing THAT one out, I got a third! Seriously, three? On one search? Ferfucksakes stop, Wiki. Just stop. If you bother me that much in your obnoxious need for my coffee money, I am highly unlikely to give you a damn cent. Ever.

***

And now for the stuff that was happily in my ears this week! Of course, I went through a couple more of my AMAZING scores from my Taranna trip with Mike…

Thee Headcoats – The Messerschmitt Pilot’s Severed Hand

I’ve long enjoyed the garage punk rockabilly blues joy of Billy Childish’s output. When I found this CD of Thee Headcoats in Taranna on my trip with Mike, it was a no-brainer purchase. I may actually have uttered the word “YOINK!” when I grabbed it up [True Story!]

This was a total score, too. What a great record, with song titles like We Hate The Fucking NME, Blood Piss And Sperm, Where Are The Children Hitler Kissed?, and I’ve Been Fucking Your Daughters And Pissing On Your Lawns, it’s impossible to deny. What it lacks in sound quality it makes up in sass, verve and plain ol’ kick-ass rawk with that inimitable Childish sound.

So. This is a standing request that does not require the Grail List: If any of you find more Billy Childish output on CD at reasonable used CD shop prices* (I paid $5.99 CDN for this one!), grab them for me and I’ll pay you back post-haste! Be forewarned: He’s worked under a lot of band names, as you can see RIGHT HERE. Thanks folks!**

This CD was fuckin’ fantastic. If they were playing this in every record shop I ever go into for the rest of my life, I would be totally thrilled!

*I looked on the Canuck Amazon and a lot of his CDs are $40+, so maybe I oughta Grail List them all! Seriously, cheap copies only, for me!

**For information’s sake, I own the following already:

Billy Childish – Crimes Against Music: Blues Recordings 1986-1999
Billy Childish – 25 Years Of Being Childish (2cd)
Billy Childish and the Blackhands – The Original Chatham Jack
Thee Headcoats – The Messerschmitt Pilot’s Severed Hand

That still leaves us a metric shit-ton of stuff to find!

Beastie Boys – Sure Shot (CD1 of 2 part set)

I’m a sucker for Beasties singles I don’t already have, and this Taranna trip only coughed up this one. And it’s a fun one!

First up is the album mix of Sure Shot and, let’s face it, I could play that one a million times and never get tired of it. Next up is Mullet Head, which builds into a Beasties punk fuzz blast. Great bass line. “Cut the sides and don’t cut the back!” Haha fun!

Son Of Neckbone is a sweet instrumental track that we know well already, from both The In Sound From Way Out record and from the Sounds of Science 2CD anthology (I now own this song three times!). And lastly, it’s Sure Shot again, this time the Nardone Mix, which really messes with it. The vocal tracks are the same, but the music for it is way different. So many elements coming at us, a big fat ass bass line, a soul organ line, stabs of a flute? Haha wow it’s like a different song in a lot of ways.

Neato. I sure do love me some Beasties.

Marillion – Script For A Jester’s Tears

Mike has been getting me into Marillion (I never got to them, back in the day), and I snagged this one on my way out the door of Sonic Boom, a last-minute grab. Am I ever glad I did!

The first time I spun it this week, I was cleaning up in my Man Cave and I was only sort of half paying attention to it. I really liked what I heard of it, but I knew that this method of playback was a total disservice to it. So, for my second spin, I played it on the good headphones and BAM. There it was in full, large as life. Just… wow. It pleases me so much that bands make records like this. I heard it the whole way through with full attention and then found myself going back for tracks here and there throughout the week.

I’m not even sure I can properly express what I felt when I heard this one. It’s unlike any other band I’ve heard, so I’m pretty sure all I have to say is Marillion and you’ll know what I mean.

Just an idle query that maybe one of you Marillion fans can answer for me: this album was from 1983, and Misplaced Childhood (which I also own and love) was from 1985… So were these meant to be companion albums? I mean, I’d believe that as much as I’d believe it’s just this band’s sound at this stage in their career and they both just sound so great. So which is it?

Whatever the case, this was brilliant.

***

Alright! Now let’s get to my Best Of 2015!! LET’S GIVE ‘ER!!

I didn’t buy alot that was released this year, but what I got was all GREAT…

First, let’s look back at my past winners. By the way, can you believe I’ve been doing these lists for 9 years?

Past Winners

2014  Leonard Cohen – Popular Problems / Sloan – Commonwealth (tie)
2013  Black Sabbath – 13
2012  Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas
2011  Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton – Play The Blues: Live From Jazz At The Lincoln Center
2010  Jack Johnson – To The Sea
2009  Leonard Cohen – Live In London
2008  Metallica – Death Magnetic
2007  Carolyn Mark – Nothing Is Free / Immaculate Machine – Fables (tie)
2006  Sloan – Never Hear The End Of It

***

Alright, I’ve broken down 2015 into a few parts. Let’s give ‘er!

Part One: Robert Pollard (et al.)

Ricked Wicky – I Sell The Circus
Robert Pollard – Faulty Superheroes
Ricked Wicky – King Heavy Metal
Ricked Wicky – Swimmer To A Liquid Armchair
Guided By Voices – Suitcase 4: Captain Kangaroo Won The War (4CD)
Circus Devils – Stomping Grounds

Yup, they get their own category. Another excellent year for Mr. Pollard and crew(s)!

***

Part Two: 2015 New Releases I Bought

Jim Dead – Pray For Rain
Leonard Cohen – Can’t Forget: A Souvenir Of The Grand Tour
Slayer – Repentless
Tom Cochrane – Take It Home
Hawksley Workman – Old Cheetah

I was thrillled to learn that J. had a new record coming out, and placed my order post-haste! A review of it is forthcoming in the new year! Any new Leonard also pleases me greatly, and this live set is full of great versions. As for SLAYER!! well, it was pretty much SLAYER!! and all is therefore right with the world. The new Tom Cochrane blew my socks off, what a great record. And the new Hawksley was half great and half weird-good and all Hawksley goodness. Wahoo!

***

Part Three: A Free Download Album

 

 

 

 

 

Wilco – Star Wars

Thank you, Wilco!

***

Part Four: A Gifted Record (In More Ways Than One)

 

 

 

 

stealth – …listen

I’m a big fan of Kathryn Ladano’s Open album, so when I learned there was a new album coming out, I placed my order! And I was given a copy! And it’s fantastic. As you can see by my review in these pages, it’s truly an experience, and one well worth having. Go get yours, it’s awesome. Thank you Kathryn!

And now, without further ado…

Part Five: Aaron’s Top Album Of 2015

 

 

 

 

 

Iron Maiden – The Book Of Souls

A total no-brainer. Metal horns raised, this record  continues to impress the more I play it. They’ve really out-done themselves with a super-pleasing album that hits all my happy buttons. And I’ll get to go see them live in April on this tour! Hot damn! HOT DAMN!  \m/   \m/

***

Part Six: Stuff From 2015 I’d Still Love To Get

Keith Richards – Cross Eyed Heart (I heard this one, still need to buy it)
Kathryn Calder – Kathryn Calder
Bjork – Vulnicura
Baroness – Purple
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba – Ba Power
Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Asunder, Sweet And Other Distress
Motörhead – Bad Magic
Wild Billy Childish & CTMF – Acorn Man
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Freedom Tower: No Wave Dance Party 2015
Gary Clark, Jr. – The Story Of Sonny Boy Slim
Dead Weather – Dodge And Burn

And surely there were a zillion others. 

***

Our Thanks

We’d like to thank you very much for joining us for another KMA Sunday Service. We hope you enjoyed your stay, and that you’ll leave a small offering of a comment or two in the comment collection plate as it is passed around, though of course, as always, this is merely a suggestion and not an obligation. We invite you all to join us again next week, when we once again bring you the KMA Sunday Service!

And a happy and safe holidays to you and yours, everybody!

KMA Sunday Service Week 19

KMA Sunday Service 19

Thank you for once again joining the congregation at our Sunday KMA Service, where we give thanks for that which Keeps Us Alive (that sweet, sweet music!!).

It’s been a busy week around here, as my contract at the library winds down, but I still made room to jam some tunes!

 

***

Here’s a Sunday Funny for you…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***

Stuffs:

1) Henry Rollins is in a new movie! And it looks fuckin’ AWESOME!

2) Can you guess who bought the Wu-Tang’s one-of-a-kind, don’t-open-it-for-100-years album? Only the man with soulless eyes and the world’s most punchable face. Gah. As the stomach turns.

***

Site-Related:

Just in time for last minute Christmas shopping, the KMA Master Grail List has been updated to the best of my knowledge. If anyone has items they want added/deleted, or if you have a new list to add, let us know and we’ll handle it post-haste! You can find the Grail List up there at the top of the page. Give ‘er!

***

Mr. Books:

I finished reading a music-related book this week!

Rich Terfry – Wicked And Weird: The Amazing Tales Of Buck 65

This book was a hoot to read. Terfry has a natural story-teller’s gift of flow, and everything is kept tight and clear. Some of the stories are unbelievable, in the manner of Tom Waits’ ramblings, but it just adds to the fun. I highly recommend this book if you’re looking for a good chuckle and some great stories. If you’re a fan of Buck 65, you’ll have read this already.

Very highly recommended.*

 

* Seriously, you should read this book! James has recommended the music of Buck 65 to me many times, as well. I suppose one of these days I better start collecting some of it and give it a whirl…

***

The Musics:

As for what’s been in my ears this week, it was all scores from my recent trip to Taranna with Mike! Let’s get in there…

Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings The Flood

I snagged this because I am sadly lacking in actually owning a lot of Neko’s records. Now, I already love Neko a whole lot, so this record was like shooting fish in a barrel for me. I loved every moment. Neko does that thing only she can do, and she drew me in with every track. There are a ton of great players on here too, like Garth Hudson, Kelly Hogan, Sadies, Calexico, Howie Gelb, and Rachel Flotard.

I don’t know what else you really want me to say about this record except Holy Shit This Was AMAZING! ‘Cos it really, well and truly is. I was remiss to live so long without it.

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Dirty Shirt Rock ’N’ Roll: The First Ten Years

DAMN! THE BLUES IS #1! YEAH! DAMN!

Ah JSBX… They’re a wild and hairy bunch, but they always bang out sweet blues rock jams unlike any other act on this planet, for which I love them all like brothers. This 22-track comp of the first ten years (1992-2002) is the absolute shit. We get album tracks, singles, collaborations, and Fuck Shit Up (live) from the Controversial Negro record. The instrumental ‘Buscemi’ is a mild rarity, though I have it on the Wail single.

I found this in an Amazon review and laughed out loud: “Dirty Shirt deserves more attention from Amazon reviewers, music magazines, blogs and all that. This is my bit for the cause. Please, do what you can. Did you know that just a couple of listens to the distilled spirit of rock & roll helps ward off bands like U2?”

This CD was a total score. I already had all the tracks but do I care? Hell no. This has SOUL. I loved it this!

BELLBOTTOMS! BELLBOTTOMS! BELLBOTTOMS!

Dillinger Escape Plan with Mike Patton – Irony Is A Dead Scene

Mike recommended this one to me, during our foray to Taranna. I had no problem getting it. I’ve seen DEP live, so I sort of guessed what to expect: crazy, heavy, mindfuck. Add Mike Patton to the mix and, well, here ya go! Mixing DEP sound with FNM, smooth bits mixed with all the jagged and screamo… These four tracks are insane. The track When Good Dogs Do Bad Things has parts that sound like he’s doing that BRBRBRBRBRB thing kids to with their lips and their forefingers. You know that sound…

Haha wow, if you like your hand held by your music, this EP is not for you! I LOVED IT!

The Philadelphia Experiment

I had no idea what this was, when I saw it in the bins at Sonic Boom, but it was $5.99 and it had ?uestlove on it and that was all more than enough for me! I sure do love me some Roots, and if ?uestlove’s involved, I’m in!

Two seconds-worth of internet searching coughed up this on Amazon*:

“In the ’40s, a time-travel experiment allegedly occurred in a Philadelphia naval yard. This fantastic combo of Philly musicians–pianist/keyboardist Uri Caine, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson of the rap combo the Roots–takes its name from that fictional event, and combines fusion, mainstream jazz, and R&B styles from the ’70s to today. Augmented by guitar-legend Pat Martino and trumpeter John Swana, Thompson lays down some tricky jungle beats on the title track, while the threesome venture into the avant-garde on “(Re)moved” and into Latin on “IIe Ife.” The group reincarnates Sun Ra’s “Call for All Demons” as a funky instrumental, and they brilliantly revisit Marvin Gaye’s “Trouble Man,” while Elton John’s “Philadelphia Freedom” is redone as a classical-style McBride/Caine duet. The late saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. was Philly’s patron jazz saint, as evidenced by Caine’s reverent solo piano rendition of Washington’s hit “Mr. Magic” and McBride’s funky, overdubbed one-man electric bass version of “Just the Two of Us.” This threesome reminds us that the City of Brotherly Love still swings. –Eugene Holley Jr.

* I don’t usually copy/paste so much text, but that paragraph saved me a helluva lot of typing my own explanation of it!

Now, for those of you who enjoy studying up on a bit of history in your spare time, this was the incident in the 40s.

And this record? Oh baby, what a sweet jazzy soul groove. I loved its gorgeous swing so much I spun it three times. Honestly cannot wait for the fourth! You should all own this. Holy shit it’s amazing!

Creedence Clearwater Revival – The Best Of Creedence Clearwater Revival

This is a 2CD compilation I owned years ago, and while Chronicle may be better (discuss as you see fit), and even more to the point I should probably just own the frickin’ albums already, this is the track ordering to which I grew accustomed.

Now, I honestly cannot remember what happened to my old copy of it, though it was probably loaned out and never returned. I’ve always meant to replace it, and it was on my list to seek out while Mike and I were in Toronto. Sadly, I totally forgot to look for it. It was probably there. Alas.

However, Mike’s old store had it cheap, and it arrived here and, well, here’s all you need to know about its majesty:

CD1:
Proud Mary / Bad Moon Rising / Susie Q / Up Around The Bend / Run Through The Jungle / Good Golly Miss Molly / Someday Never Comes / Commotion / Who’ll Stop The Rain / Green River / I Heard It Through The Grapevine / Lodi / Lookin’ Out My Back Door / Have You Ever Seen the Rain

CD2:
Travelin’ Band / Down On The Corner / Born On The Bayou / Cotton Fields / Hello Mary Lou / The Midnight Special / Walk On The Water / Bootleg / Hey Tonight / Fortunate Son / I Put A Spell On You / Sweet Hitch-Hiker / Night Time Is The Right Time / Long As I Can See the Light

Oh hells yes. It’s great to have this back here again.

***

Our Thanks

We’d like to thank you very much for joining us for another KMA Sunday Service. We hope you enjoyed your stay, and that you’ll leave a small offering of a comment or two in the comment collection plate as it is passed around, though of course, as always, this is merely a suggestion and not an obligation. We invite you all to join us again next week, when we once again bring you the KMA Sunday Service!

KMA Sunday Service Week 18

KMA Sunday Service 18

Thank you for once again joining the congregation at our Sunday KMA Service, where we give thanks for that which Keeps Us Alive (that sweet, sweet music!!).

***

Here’s a Sunday Funny for you…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***

Stuffs:

1) RIP Scott Weiland

A lot of people have already put up posts more eloquent and knowledgeable than I could ever be on the passing of Scott Weiland. I am a STP fan from back in the mid-90s, but never got to the solo stuff or other bands. I guess I drifted away from his work. It happens.

I only saw him live once, in 1994, with STP as opening act for the Rolling Stones at the Ex in Toronto. We were 35th row center on the floor, it was an excellent gig.

We all knew he had his demons, sure, but 48 is way too young to go. One wonders what he might have accomplished. RIP, Scott.

2) Unlocked

On school mornings, if the kids are getting ready in good time, I’ll let them watch a video on Youtube while they finish breakfast. Friday morning, I asked what they wanted on and, unprompted by me, they both shouted METALLICA! My daughter even made metal horns at me. So we watched Blackened and Harvester Of Sorrows from the Orion Festival 2013 while they finished eating. It was a great start to the day, actually.

I feel as though I’ve unlocked some sort of Parental Achievement. Just doing my part for the next generation!

3) Motörhead Man

He’s still coming in to the library, every morning, rockin’ it out. I really like this guy.

***

As for what’s been in my ears this week…

I’ve gotta be honest. It was all Stealth’s …Listen record (see post from Friday).

It really took over, around here.

 

 

 

But I did do a bit of other sleuthing work:

Headstones – When Something Stands For Nothing

I snagged this single at Kops on Bloor for $2.50. Mike was excited about it, at the prospect of three previously unreleased tracks…

Here’s the story:

 

Tracks as listed on this 1996 single:

01 When Something Stands For Nothing (album track)
02 Three Angels (previously unreleased)
03 Hindsight (previously unreleased)
04 Won’t Wait Again (previously unreleased)

So.

Tracks 01, 02 and 04 are from 1993, because they appear on the Picture Of Health record.
Track 03 is copyrighted 1995 and is indeed from the Teeth And Tissue record from 1995.

*Important note: Near as I can tell, the “previously unreleased” tracks on this single are the album versions. I played them against the album tracks and they’re identical, though maybe the single was mixed a bit louder. Maybe I missed something? If anyone can tell me otherwise, I’ll gladly mention it here.

So, how can tracks 02-04 be “previously unreleased” in 1996 if they’re all from albums released in 1993 and 1995?

Because she is very often more insightful than me, my lovely wife asked if it was a different record label, perhaps they re-released tracks that way. Nope, it was MCA all the way. Maybe someone at MCA decided to re-release tracks from the first two records in 1996, perhaps in preparation for the release of 1997’s Smile & Wave album. Why they marked those songs as previously unreleased, though, is beyond me.

Unless, as I said, I missed something in comparing the tracks, as I listened through…

Ah nevermind. It was still fun listening to them. I like Headstones, and these are four damn strong songs.

***

And that’s all I’ve got for you this Sunday Service, folks. Short and sweet. I had one record take over my listening time, and another turn out to be a bit of false advertising (but it was still rockin’ enough to make me happy). It happens!

***

Our Thanks

We’d like to thank you very much for joining us for another KMA Sunday Service. We hope you enjoyed your stay, and that you’ll leave a small offering of a comment or two in the comment collection plate as it is passed around, though of course, as always, this is merely a suggestion and not an obligation. We invite you all to join us again next week, when we once again bring you the KMA Sunday Service!

KMA Special Service Week 17

KMA Special Service Week 17

This past Saturday (November 28), Mike and I did our annual Mike And Aaron Go To Toronto record shopping excursion. It was a GREAT day. The weather held, it was a blast to get back to our old haunts, and it’s always super-cool to hang with Mike.

Now, I’d like to apologize to everyone who has items on the KMA Master Grail List: I didn’t find a damn thing for any of you, on this trip. We just have to keep hoping that they’ll turn up eventually…

***

First up, I wanna give a huge THANKS to Mike. He always makes these trips awesome hilarious adventurous fun. And he usually videos me being a doofus (so, um, thanks for that too?). But it’s so great record shopping with a like-minded guy: the mission is the music. Thanks Dude!

For Mike’s awesome post on this very trip, GO HERE! SERIOUSLY, CLICK HERE! GO!!

And as if that isn’t enough, on these annual trips Mike always gives me a pile of amazing loot that he has stockpiled for the AAAA. I always try to reciprocate, but have a look for yourself, I dunno how to top all of this…

 

 

 

 

 

Stealth – …Listen

This is the newest album from Mike‘s sister, Kathryn Ladano. I definitely had my order in for this one, and was gonna send cash monies to support the artists, but somehow this ended up in my loot bag from Mike. And it’s even autographed by both Kathryn herself, and Richard Burrows (percussion on the album)! SO GREAT. A review of this is definitely tops of the heap in the coming Sunday Services. Keep your eyes peeled!

And then he gave me a pile of books (!):

Philip K. Dick – The Man In The High Castle
Sem Hadland – Metallica: Fuel & Fire
Lauren St John – Hardcore Troubadour: The Life And Near Death Of Steve Earle

Lemmy (with Janiss Garza) – White Line fever: The Autobiography
Neil Peart – Travelling Music: The Soundtrack To My Life And Times
Chris Welch – Led Zeppelin Dazed And Confused

Mike. Seriously. THANK YOU!!!

***

And now, as promised, here’s a look at the loot that I scored during this year’s foray. These are not reviews – this post is simply eye candy to show off all the greatness!^

^All are CD, unless noted… interestingly, I only got one LP, this trip… And somewhere Mr. 1537 shudders…

Let’s GIVE ‘ER!

***

First stop was BMV. This place sometimes looks like it doesn’t have much, in its bins, but most things in there are the good stuff. Quality over quantity.

Dillinger Escape Plan with Mike Patton – Irony Is A Dead Scene EP
Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
Wynton Marsalis Quartet – Live At Blues Alley (2CD)
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Dirty Shirt Rock ‘N’ Roll: The First Ten Years
Thee Headcoats – The Messerschmitt Pilot’s Severed Hand

And, as always, we hit up the 3 For $10 Bin. These three (below) were my scores:

Big Shiny Tunes 6*
Pavement – Slanted And Enchanted
The End Of Violence OMPS

* This one is for James.

***

After lunch at our usual haunt, Pauper’s Pub, we hit up Kops Records. They had CDs on blow-out, 2 For $5, so I got two:

Izzy Stradlin – 117°
Headstones – When Something Stands For Nothing

I also got one LP at Kops, brand new:

 

 

 

 

 

R.L. Burnside – Mr. Wizard

***

For our final stop, we hit the big kahuna, Sonic Boom. It takes all the restraint I have not to go nuts in there and start planning for a second mortgage on the house…

To that point, I’d like to offer a thought about our trip to SB this time:

Over all of these years of going to SB, they’ve had a plethora of discs at $2.99 (or less), mixed in with those priced higher. I love getting inexpensive music, and $3 a pop is great. I noticed for the first time (on this trip) a lot of the discs that would have (historically) been $2.99 were now $5.99. Those previously $5.99 were $7.99, and so on.

My lovely wife surmised that perhaps the rent has gone up on their location. I thought maybe they just adjusted it because Toronto.

It affected my total number of discs bought, overall. And it might not be anything: maybe nothing has changed and this trip was just bad timing for quantity of $3 CDs. Only another trip there, another time, might tell me more… Twist my arm, if you must. I’ll go back again, in the interests of science, you understand…

Alright, here we go:

Beastie Boys – Sure Shot
Marillion – Marbles (2CD hardcover)
Marillion – Script For A Jester’s Tears
The Philadelphia Experiment
David Gray – Sell Sell Sell

 

Jim Bryson & The Weakerthans – The Falcon Lake Incident
Guided By Voices – Bulldog Skin
Wingless Angels – S/T
Emmylou Harris – Wrecking Ball

***

And The Ones That Got Away…

Of course, I left behind a zillion other desirable albums, but mainly some Roots I still don’t have (priced used at close enough to new to make me go hmmmm). Also the LP of Atoms For Peace’s Amok… $27 was too rich for me, when deluxe CD would suit me better. I also forgot to look for the CCR green/gold hits set. It was high on my list, and was probably there… And lastly, the Criterion edition DVD of the Stones’ Gimme Shelter. I won’t pay $42.95 (+ tax) for one DVD. I’ve never put it on my Grail List, as it is readily available, but that was too steep for me.

IN SUM:

Because I don’t get to do this very often, and my town has no good record shops at all, I always hope I can make it worth my while during these excursions. This time, I feel very, VERY good about what I got on this trip.

Thanks again to Mike, for all of this amazing AAAA loot, and for the great travelling companionship. Here’s to next year’s Taranna trip!!

And don’t forget to CLICK HERE for Mike’s post on this trip!

Comments on all of this stuff are forthcoming, as I go through it all. Oh baby!

Thanks for tuning in!

KMA Sunday Service Week 17

KMA Sunday Service 17

Thank you for once again joining the congregation at our Sunday KMA Service, where we give thanks for that which Keeps Us Alive (that sweet, sweet music!!).

This is a special week indeed. Yesterday was our annual Mike and Aaron Go To Toronto Record Shopping Extravaganza! I will (of course) regale you with all of the stories and loot that I found… in a special post, coming soon to a KMA near you! But I’m sitting here on Saturday night and, after doing all of that driving and searching and then more driving, I’m a little baked. I sure can’t have it ready for today’s post.  Soon, though! Be ready!

 

***

Here’s a Sunday Funny for you…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***

Stuffs:

1) James sent me this link to an awesome Henry Rollins development… Read the whole blurb, it’s hilarious.

2) At my library job, I’ve processed items from a wide range of the collection. This week, I was privileged to work in the non-fiction music section. Biographies, how-to-play books, I saw the whole pile. It was AWESOME. I wanted to read them all, all at once! Just put it all in my brain right now, dammit!

***

And now let’s get to the musics I had in my ears this week!

On Tuesday, I had from 10:30am to 2:30pm to myself. What did I do? I cleaned the house. I know, I know, I Am A Wild Party! Anyway, while I cleaned, inspired by Deke, I rocked one band the whole time. I just pushed play on my iTunes and it went right through chronologically…

1) Van Halen – Van Halen (1978)

That opening 1-2-3-4  punch combo of Runnin’ With The Devil, Eruption, You Really Got Me and Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love always blows me away. Damn! And the rest of the album is a screamer too. It’s bluesy, it’s rockin’, it’s just a damn good time from top to bottom. All of the players here are just phenomenal, and Eddie sits on top just blowing it all away with crazy pyrotechnics… ‘On Fire,’ indeed! What a debut!

* Fun Deep Cut: Ice Cream Man

2) Van Halen – Van Halen II (1979)

Only one year later, the band comes steamin’ back with a follow-up that, let’s be honest, plays seamlessly back-to-back with the first record. I didn’t know a lot of these songs by title, but it hardly matters. It was all fantastic. I did know Dance The Night Away immediately on hearing it, and the rest was just more fun VH mayhem. Seriously, played back-to-back, these first two records aren’t even fair to other bands. Hot damn!

* Fun Deep Cut: Beautiful Girls^

^ Turns out, this track was a single. And rightly so.

3) Van Halen – Women And Children First (1980)

And The Cradle Will Rock is an OK track, but a single? Hm. I would’ve said Everybody Wants Some! would have been better. Cradle’s still a cool tune… I wonder. Ah well, here’s their third record in three years (insane!) and it’s another corker. This band has a real feel for tempo and dynamics and the friggin’ blues. It’s easy to forget that, when all you hear (mostly) are the singles… There’s high energy, Sabbath-y moments, wacky blues like Could This Be Magic?, and that inimitable VH chutzpah. I’m three albums in and there isn’t a bad track yet. CRAZY!

* Fun Deep Cut: Loss Of Control

4) Van Halen – Fair Warning (1981)

Four albums in as many years? Whoa. Of course I knew Unchained and So This Is Love? right off the bat… There’s a different feel here. Darker? I don’t know how to explain it, or even if I’m correct. I mean, there’s still a ton of fun, high energy and blistering musical workouts here, but there’s an edge of something heavier to it. Maybe it’s the bass, or the twist of the riffs… maybe it’s tracks like the left-field sludge of Sunday Afternoon In The Park… I like it, whatever it is! Wiki confirms what I heard, and it was Eddie’s doing, so there you go. I was also shocked, looking it up, that Mean Street was not a single. Whut?

* Fun Deep Cut: The slinky, VH-meets-Stones-y ‘Push Comes To Shove’

5) Van Halen – Diver Down (1982)

I have an enduring memory of this record: a DJ on 89X out of Detroit once played this entire record commercial free while he went out for a smoke (or three). Fun times.

This is now 5 albums in 5 years. This is insane. And to have them all be this strong… Seriously, it’s like playing a gigantic greatest hits. This band just nailed it, time after time after time after time… Ever-restless, they’re exploring beyond more boundaries to see how far they could go. I mean, 5 of the songs here are covers! You know, I think a lot of bands miss that aspect. There’s a reason that a band like VH was so great, and it isn’t just that they were excellent players writing hits (duh). It’s that they never rested on that, they were always pushing. It’s easy in retrospect to look back and say wow, but to be doing it at the time it must have been heady indeed!

Singles we all know were (of course) Where Have All The Good Times Gone (really? Hm), (Oh) Pretty Woman, and Dancing In The Street. Gone (mostly) is the heavier aspect of Fair Warning, with some more fun, slinky, even jazzy (!) and poppy stuff. Even Happy Trails haha WTF so great! I can tell you that, playing all of this in order, without a break, it all sounds awesome!

* Fun Deep Cut: Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)

6) Van Halen – 1984 (1984)

Here come the synths! Really, do I even need to tell you about this record? No, I probably don’t. Jump. Panama. Hot For teacher. Jeez. And the rest of the record hits just as hard and with that original, enviable VH excellence. Whatever happened to make DLR leave after this, he went out at the top of the game. There’s nothing here to even pass off as mediocre.

* Fun Deep Cut: Girl Gone Bad (holy guitar Batman)

IN SUM:

Well, there you have it. I played all of the early-era DLR Halen albums in under four hours.^^ Back to back. Am I crazy? Hells no! That was FUN! I feel like I could take anybody in a fight! And I come away with a great overview perspective on a band that was so amazing, innovative and fuckin’ rockin’ that I really doubt I would have gotten if I’d gone one album a day or something like that. As one great big picture, this was a stellar use of my time (and I got a lot of cleaning done, too). Wooooo!!!

^^ The Times:

35:34 – Van Halen
31:36 – Van Halen II
33:13 – Women And Children First
31:11 – Fair Warning
31:24 – Diver Down
33:17 – 1984

Total:
3 hours, 16 minutes, 15 seconds
11, 775 seconds
196.25 minutes
3.2708 hours

***

And now you’re gonna say, ‘but Aaron, that was only Tuesday! What about the rest of the week?’ And that’d be a fair question, the answer to which is that that was my only sustained listening this week. Everything else was heard in snippets and random songs here and there. I’d love to tell you that I heard a ton more, but… nope. I worked, I kid-wrangled, repeat etc. Maybe hearing that much Van Halen early in the week set my brain to play them on repeat in my head and I didn’t need any more tunes this week. I’d believe it!

Anyway, don’t forget to keep checking your inbox for a post about our Taranna excursion. It’s coming soon!

***

Our Thanks

We’d like to thank you very much for joining us for another KMA Sunday Service. We hope you enjoyed your stay, and that you’ll leave a small offering of a comment or two in the comment collection plate as it is passed around, though of course, as always, this is merely a suggestion and not an obligation. We invite you all to join us again next week, when we once again bring you the KMA Sunday Service!

KMA Sunday Service Week 16

KMA Sunday Service 16

Thank you for once again joining the congregation at our Sunday KMA Service, where we give thanks for that which Keeps Us Alive (that sweet, sweet music!!).

This week was full of musical greatness. Sometimes it just all falls together, and this was one of those weeks! Some of it fell together drunkenly… READ ON!

***

In honour (and may he RIP) to Phil ‘Philthy Animal’ Taylor (1954-2015), here’s a Sunday Funny for you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***

Stuffs

1) This week’s WOM is brought to you by the letter “J.” No, not our illustrious Reader (and new Daddy) J. The letter J. And only for CD and CS. LP still to come…

2)   \m/   \m/

As you know, I’ve been working at the library for the past couple of weeks. There’s a guy who comes in every morning right at opening, gets onto the computer and fires up Youtube. With the headphones on, he rocks Motörhead at really high volume, swaying his body and banging his head to the music. He does this for his full hour session on the computer.

Later this week, he upped his game. He started singing along. We were working away and suddenly heard “I swung a saber and I was a young Hussar / I was a Cossack, fighting for the Czar / I was a Viking, Berserker from the North / A Roman Gladiator murdered just for sport… I was with Bonaparte I died at Waterloo / I was a Frankish Knight, a Polish Jew…”*

…which was right around the time where one of the library staff asked him to keep it down.

I’ve taken to calling him Motörhead Man. I like him, and I think he’s making excellent use of the library’s resources.

* from the song Death Or Glory, on the 1993 Bastards album.

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And now let’s get to what I had in my ears this week!

Baroness – Yellow & Green

I’ve been rocking all the Baroness I have, in preparation for the release of Purple on December 18. As for this record, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played it but it’s a lot. Pure love, that’s what I have for this 2cd set.

Everyone should own it. Just WOW!

 

Them Crooked Vultures – S/T

Got this, in great shape, at the thrift shop (I know!). Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul frickin’ Jones. It rocks, it grooves, it swings, it’s a little bit off-kilter (in a good way)… Lots to love here. It’s an involved listen, not something for background music. Another strength, beyond everything already mentioned, is that it harkens back to a 70s rawk album feel (the JPJ connection perhaps), with enough to keep it feeling updated too. This record is a heavy trip. I really enjoyed it.

 

Tom Cochrane – Take It Home

I got this for $6.99 as a new release (the week it came out), thinking they were nuts for selling it so low. And then I played it and was blown away. And with each subsequent play, it only gets stronger. WHAT A RECORD! I wrote more about this, and erased it all. Here’s what counts: Without hyperbole, this is pure greatness from a master.

Instant classic. GET THIS!

 

Lucinda Williams – Car Wheels On A Gravel Road

I don’t know how many times I’ve spun this CD, but every time I do, it’s like a visit from an old friend. You know that comfortable feeling of familiarity and real quality, the conversation picking up like no time has lapsed since the last time you saw them. Not a bad song here, hell, not even a mediocre track either. I’ve probably already told you all how much I love this album.

If I had to pick a Lucinda record to recommend to someone, this would be it.

 

***

And finally, I reward Scott’s patience (impatience?) with my (yes) Drunk Review of the new Def Leppard record…

Def Leppard – Def Leppard

This merlot is making me feel warm and expansive. Yes! I was really tired when I started drinking, and I’ve gone past tired into this wonderful haze state of happily typing. This oughta be FUN. Will it be coherent? Who the fuck knows?

I must preface this by saying that my knowledge of DL ends at Pyromania, except for the hits after that. Mike sent me a Sparkle album that was later in the years but it’s not hitting my mind right now. Anyway, I own only the first three records. If that helps. I am aware of their SOUND, anyway.

Now, Deke says I don’t need to be drinking to hear this record and like it. Fair enough. Scott says I should try it drunk, as he found the record a little same-y. Mike’s holding off on buying it, and Jompa gave it an 8/10. What will I think from within my cups (and oh baby I am WELL into my cups)? Just gotta give ‘er…

Here’s a track-by-track…

Let’s Go fades in and asks me if I really want to do this now? Um, yes? Unless it’s inconvenient for your schedule, I mean, I could maybe do this another day? Not really an auspicious question to start an album, such dumb lyrics, but hey. Haha no matter, it’s Pour Some Sugar On Me, with some weird Kelly Clarkson “oh-oh-oh-oh-oh” pasted into the chorus of it. The acoustic breakdown and spacey lyrics in the middle are superfluous. But holy hell, I know this song and I’ve never heard it before! It’s pure DL and that isn’t a bad thing. They do what they do because what they do works (and sells records, except to Mike).

Dangerous has an awesome riff and I like the drums. Chuggy punk rock by Def Leppard. Good energy and drive. I like this track. The guitars in the background are busy in excellent ways. Is this a single? It should be. Holy hell this would’ve sold a shit-ton of copies in the 90s.

Man Enough has a 70s funk bass intro. Hello Sly Stone! Well, we’ve shifted gears without a clutch but I can dig it. It builds, but the pay off is a bit thin, sterile. I like the guitars but wow it sounds over-produced somehow. Haha it’s DL. Of course it is! Am I man enough? Ask around. Fuckin’ right I am. Now, am I man enough to be your girl? Depends on who’s asking, big boy! Also, sort of a fun play on Pearl Jam’s Hail, Hail lyrics, where they ask if you’re “woman enough to be my man.”

We Belong is the mid-tempo rawk ballad that builds and lifts us up with U2-esque guitars. It’s alright, but I feel like I’ve heard this song before. It has a big, echoey sound to it, if nothing else.

Invincible has a good start from the battery, it promises a peppy punky tune. It flips into decent 80s DL rawk soon enough. The verses have more bite than the chorus but hey, we’re millionaires selling records based on a sound we’ve perfected. LOVE US!

Sea Of Love is not a Honeydrippers cover, as I hoped it might be. Instead, it’s a big rawk tune that chug rawks its way through funky-enough verses to a typical DL lite chorus. Again they do this to me. I know it’s the chorus that sells, but you can’t have a riff like that in the verses and instrumental bits and then go all pussy in the chorus. Dudes! Seriously! Cut out the choruses and this song rocks well.

Energized is bad electronic whatever with lyrics pasted in yet maintaining the DL sound. All at mid-tempo MAYBE. Then the chorus says they’re felling “energized” but I ain’t feeling it! Holy Savage Garden (as covered by DL), Batman!

All Time High brings the rock. I actually sat up a bit at this intro, it’s got a great energy. Again the chorus sort of makes it radio-ready, but I like the rest. A lot. Maybe a fave track here.

Battle Of My Own brings the acoustic guitar Led Zeppelin-style. But the vocals are DL! WTF! Wait, I need more wine… Ah, that’s better… except they’re still doing Zep. Does Zep know about this? You’ve got “a battle of my own,” have you?  Hm. A big fan of Zep and wanna show it (and capitalize on it) somehow, is that your battle? Zep, Zep, Zep.

Broke ’N’ Brokenhearted is balls-out rawk. Let’s just go, and I love how he so prettily sings the first verse. It take a bit out of the bite. The chorus (again) makes it blah. This deep into it, though, I can’t even complain about the choruses anymore. I know what they’re doing. They put all the hard work and gritty stuff into the verses and solos (like here, nice solo!) and then the chorus sells records to even they unwary passersby. He’s singing about “you’ve got no soul!” but I don’t think he’s dumb enough, at this point, to be referencing himself?

Forever Young has a cool switch in time signature/ear trick thing going on. It hangs there and then rocks up on you even though you think it shouldn’t work. Also, I don’t want to be forever young. Not unless I can know then what I know now.

Last Dance. Ah. The acoustic ballad. So middle of the road, so full of cliched lyrics, I skipped ahead and didn’t miss a goddamn thing.

Wings of An Angel is totally owned by the guitar. It’s a DL rock song, but nothing else they do here can hold a frickin’ candle to that guitar. Yes yes yes to the guitar here.

Blind Faith is not a tribute to the band. Instead, he’s still asking if this is really all just whatever and whatever. Dude, seriously, you’ve been doing this so long, is this the best you can do, lyrically? You don’t still believe this shit is deep, do you? You aren’t still slipping notes into high school lockers are you (because that’s just wrong)? This track? I like the pay off (with the record’s only falsetto) at the end. But the rest of it is meh. Not enough wine to sell it to me tonight.

In Sum:

I am really fucking drunk. I hope this has been comprehensible.I feel really good. This hasn’t happened in a very long while. You know, for all of that, I liked this record. But only in so far as I know DL and my own expectations were totally met (because it sounded like what I expected it would). Those who know the difference between albums might say differently. Thanks to Deke for making sure that these tunes got into my ears! And thanks to everyone else for their reviews, which I’m gonna go back and read a little more closely no that I’ve been through it myself. Also, I’ll do it sober, tomorrow. Not now. Right now I’m gonna go lie down and sleep the sleep of the dead.

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Our Thanks

We’d like to thank you very much for joining us for another KMA Sunday Service. We hope you enjoyed your stay, and that you’ll leave a small offering of a comment or two in the comment collection plate as it is passed around, though of course, as always, this is merely a suggestion and not an obligation. We invite you all to join us again next week, when we once again bring you the KMA Sunday Service!

KMA Sunday Service Week 15

KMA Sunday Service 15

Thank you for once again joining the congregation at our Sunday KMA Service, where we give thanks for that which Keeps Us Alive (that sweet, sweet music!!).

Tempus fugit! If you can believe it, it’s been 15 weeks since I decided to start doing these weekly blatherings. Imagine!

So far, I’d say that this has been an interesting, and mostly excellent experiment. For myself, I like saving things up for a weekly post. I don’t feel nearly the pressure (self-imposed) that I did when I was doing daily stuff. It’s become more fun than when I was doing more! Funny, I’d have thought the opposite would be true, but there you go. But I do enjoy just keeping a text file on the desktop and adding to it as I go, then firing up the whole shebang for Sunday morning. I could see me doing this for a while, yet. I do sometimes still get the urge to do more, but then I just lie down until the feeling goes away.

Now, what about you? Are you enjoying this system? Do you want more? Less? Do you skip sections altogether, or skim read the whole thing? Do you tap out after more than two minutes of reading, or devour every word and are left panting heavily wanting more? Am I not saying enough about the records I hear, by keeping things to short paragraphs? Should I just focus on the music I’m hearing (and ignore the Admin, news, Sunday Funny – any or all of the above)? Maybe you think I oughta hang up my skates for good and keep my opinions to myself!

Whatever the case, I won’t know until you let me know, so drop a comment (below) and let’s see if we can make the KMA the best for all of us!

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First up, here’s another Sunday Funny for you…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Site Admin:

This week’s WOM update is brought to you by the letter ‘I’ (all CD/LP/CS).

And that’s all I managed to get done! Ah well, the journey of a thousand miles, and all that… I’ll get to the end eventually!

 

 

***

In The News:

Horrific Attacks in Paris

You’ll all have heard about the horrifying attacks in Paris this week, for which the terror group ISIS (not the metal band, duh) has claimed responsibility. And why do I mention this world news here? Ordinarily I wouldn’t, except we’re a music site:

“The worst-hit spot was the 1,500-seat Bataclan concert hall, where people were taken hostage and shot at during a show put on by the U.S. rock group Eagles of Death Metal.”

UPDATE: The merch guy for EoDM was killed in the attack. Check it here.

 

Baroness!

Baroness will be releasing the Purple album on December 18! This is FANTASTIC news! And I was just listening to the Blue Record last week…

I’m sure, like all the others, that this new record will be an excellent excursion and well worth your hard-earned to get a copy! Check it out here.

 

 

Wu-Tang Sadness Continues

Things just keep getting worse for the RZA. He was away in Texas, and his kids threw a party at his house in New Jersey.

And people got stabbed. Hooboy.

 

 

Follow The Leader…

Turns out, U.S. President Barack Obama is NOT, by his own admission, the lead singer of Korn. Well, there goes my theory.

Check out the story here.

 

 

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And now, let’s get to what was in my ears this week! I continue to be the melting pot!

Massive Attack – Protection

Looking for a good groove, I threw on this classic and was immediately rewarded. I love me some Massive Attack, and this one (along with Blue Lines and Mezzanine) are absolute staples around here.

“Stand in front of you, take the force of the blow,” indeed!

 

Beck – Mellowgold

I am instantly transported back to residence during first year university. Loser was everywhere, and it was adopted as (one of) the official drinking songs of our floor and sister floors. At the time, this record was just so crazy and everyone revelled in its oddity. While it sounds a bit dated these days, it’s still decent, and a great companion for One Foot In The Grave and Stereopathetic Soulmanure.

I wish they’d included MTV Makes Me Want To Smoke Crack on the album proper, here. That song (on the CD single for Loser) cracks me up every time.