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Post by riley on Sept 6, 2005 18:52:20 GMT -5
Lots of activity up here in the GWN so far in 2005. My take on all of it 8 months in, for what it's worth, with complete license to update as I please before end of December.
Best 2005 Canadian releases so far, including leaked pre-release versions.
Buck 65 - Secret House Against The World
Wolf Parade - Apologies to The Queen Mary
Russian Futurists - Our Thickness
Metric - Live It Out
Most Serene Republic - Underwater Cinematography
Joel Plaskett - La De Da
The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
Novillero - Aim Right For The Holes in Their Lives
Wintersleep - st
Broken Social Scene - st
The Constantines - Tournament Of Hearts
Great Lake Swimmers - st
Hot Hot Heat - Elevator
A Silver Mt Zion - Horses In The Sky
Cuff The Duke - st
Destroyer - Your Blues
Caribou - The Milk Of Human Kindness
Mediocre:
Kathleen Edwards - Back To Me
Esthero - Wikked L'il Grrrls
Shitty:
Matt Mays & El Torpedo - st
David Usher - If God Had Curves
Nickelback and Our Lady Peace have new stuff out too. I haven't heard any of it, but I know it's shitty.
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Post by Dr. Drum on Sept 6, 2005 20:10:52 GMT -5
Great list, Riley. My additions in approximate order of appeal:
Martha Wainwright
Greg Keelor – Seven Songs for Jim
A Northern Chorus – Bitter Hands Resign
Tom Wilson and Bob Lanois – The Shack Recordings, Vol. 1
The Rheostatics – The Whale Music Concerts
Bontempi – What Keeps Us Awake
Sexsmith and Kerr – Destination Unknown
54.40 – Yes to Everything
Daniel Lanois – Belladonna
Blue Rodeo – Are You Ready
Emm Gryner – Songs of Love and Death
Stripper's Union Local 518
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Post by riley on Sept 6, 2005 20:14:58 GMT -5
I passed on the BLue Rodeo this time around. I'll probably get there eventually Doc, but I got the impression they had maybe finally started to sound too samey even for big fans. True?
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Post by Dr. Drum on Sept 6, 2005 20:21:15 GMT -5
Well, you know, they do what they do, Riley, and I don't think we're likely to see a whole lot of innovation from them at this point. Within context, they do try a few things... Pretty workmanlike set but there are a few good cuts on it.
I prefer Keelor's disc, though, which is uniformly excellent.
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Post by riley on Sept 8, 2005 19:41:56 GMT -5
I need to hear that. I have Cuddy's solo effort from a few years back and it was quite good as well.
The HHH is losing momentum for me, much like their last after time, and the new Cons isn't as good as their last two. Losing interest in Buck's latest as well too. Not sure why. He can be a bit cheeseball at times.
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Post by Dr. Drum on Sept 9, 2005 6:20:26 GMT -5
Sorry to hear that about the Constantines, Riley – that was one I was looking forward to.
What I’d heard in advance of the latest HHH hadn’t sufficiently motivated me to pick it up yet… So should I just give it a miss?
Buck’s somewhere in the middle of the pack for me. I mean, I like it and all but there’s so much other stuff around that he does tend to get squeezed out a bit.
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Post by riley on Sept 9, 2005 6:23:47 GMT -5
The new HHH is probably better than Make Up The Breakdown in terms of maturity and less posturing, and there are a couple tracks that are near perfect. I might grab it used down the road Doc if you see it. Good enough to own, but not killer or anything.
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Post by tuneschick on Sept 13, 2005 8:13:33 GMT -5
I feel so, so left out! I can't believe I've heard hardly anything on either of your lists - how sad is that?
To be honest, it just hasn't been a great year for CD buying... with the wedding and all, I've been a little more strapped for cash than usual. Beyond the New Pornographers disc, the new Johnny Cash boxset, Metric, some Willie Nelson and a Dandy Warhols EP (all bought on vacation) I don't remember what else I've even purchased this year.
Time to start listening online and making my Christmas list, perhaps...
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Post by Rit on Sept 13, 2005 8:21:01 GMT -5
that is a fantastic roundup of CanCon 2005.
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Post by riley on Sept 13, 2005 8:23:32 GMT -5
I feel so, so left out! I can't believe I've heard hardly anything on either of your lists - how sad is that? To be honest, it just hasn't been a great year for CD buying... with the wedding and all, I've been a little more strapped for cash than usual. Beyond the New Pornographers disc, the new Johnny Cash boxset, Metric, some Willie Nelson and a Dandy Warhols EP (all bought on vacation) I don't remember what else I've even purchased this year. Time to start listening online and making my Christmas list, perhaps... In fairness Tunes, some of the stuff I've heard is downloaded, but much like last year, I plan on doing a major purchase catch up at Xmas bonus time. |
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Post by riley on Sept 18, 2005 6:21:29 GMT -5
I'm a bit iffy on the new Metric. It's less immediate than Old World Underground, and maybe the comparison is unfair, but I find I just like and don't love it.
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Post by Dr. Drum on Sept 18, 2005 15:08:48 GMT -5
It is less immediate but to me it feels like a step forward for them. Great band dynamic – they sound great together – and I like the fact that already on record no. 2 they're willing to depart from the whole 'new wave' thing. I mean, the influence is still there but the music is moving away from anything generic. Very confident outing.
Some of it I do love, too – "Too Little Too Late", "Poster of A Girl", "Monster Hospital" – good stuff.
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Post by riley on Oct 17, 2005 20:18:08 GMT -5
A few more to add to my personal list since original posting
Chad Van Gaalen - Infiniheart
Contrived - Dead Air Verbatim
Great Lake Swimmers - Bodies & Minds
Jason Collett - Idols Of Exile
The Holy Shroud - Ghost Repeaters
Trick Woo - First Blush
C'mon - In The Heat Of The Moment
New BUffalo - The Last Beautiful Day
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Post by JesusLooksLikeMe on Oct 18, 2005 6:55:52 GMT -5
I'll be making my way through that list, at least via the odd song sample here and there.
While I found the new HHH slightly disappointing, this Wolf Parade album is starting to sound sensational after half a dozen listens. Broken Social Scene and A Silver Mt Zion are top of my wishlist for Christmas. I feel very positive about Canadian music (despite hearing the new Nickelback single on Kerrang! radio last week) and I hereby assert my right to switch nationalities with that well-known Anglophile tuneschick.
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Post by luke on Oct 18, 2005 10:01:33 GMT -5
Can't decide if I merely "like" that Tricky Woo or if it totally rocks out. Parts of it sound like Danko Jones singing over the Nuge, which isn't something I particularly dislike, some of it has that old school Thin Lizzy feel, and the rest gets pretty wild. I definitely like it, and I've looped it quite a few times in the car, but I think I'm going to give it a listen on the ol' "home theatre" before I rank it.
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