Our weekly (or however often) roundup of this week’s discoveries and old faves. Usually it’s friends of mine or just music I like. Now including “liner notes” to help guide you through this journey and hopefully introduce you to some new, great music!
BRIGHT EYES –AT THE BOTTOM OF EVERYTHING
My old drummer Beate used to be really into Bright Eyes and I’m sure it was she who introduced me to him. This track is one of the coolest opening tracks ever with this long story and then such a great folk song after. I like most of what he releases.
WEEN –IT’S GONNA BE A LONG NIGHT
Ween is one of these bands that used to pop up on best of the year lists when I was younger and I never checked them out. For shame though because I really dig everything I hear from them now. I also like that this album is called “Quebec”! If any of you know the significance, let me know!
THIS MAD DESIRE –NO SURPRISE
I wrote this song around when I was playing with Beate so it made sense to me to include this in my mini-nostalgia trip here. I really like the lyrics in this one. I was going through a breakup and contemplating new romance and sometimes all of those messy feelings lead to interesting songs! I played this live with Mike Trebilcock on guitar once and he said this reminded him of Death Cab For Cutie, which also makes sense as bands like that were really popular on CFRU, where I was working at the time.
SENTRIDOH –LOSERCORE
Back in the days before streaming, I once (ONCE!) heard this on CBC’s Brave New Waves and then searched for it forever. As a fan of Lou Barlow and Sebadoh, I searched high and low in Thunder Bay and then eventually in Toronto, I didn’t want to pay the import fees. Anyway, now anyone can listen to this at any time! Also fun is that the cover image here in Spotify is for an album I did have and which did not contain this song. LOL. This is the crazy lo-fi world Lou Barlow inhabits. I am releasing a cover of his Brand New Love close to Valentine’s this year so Look Out!!!
LOU REED –LEGENDARY HEARTS
Another Lou! One of the few Lou Reed songs I never learned how to play but what a great song this is. I think that’s Fernando Saunders on bass and his sound just gets me every time.
TERRA LIGHTFOOT –NEVER WILL
Getting back to the future here, this is Terra Lightfoot from Hamilton and… I’m not sure if I’ve ever met her in person. Hmmmm…. Anyway, this is a great song!
MICKEY DE SADIST –SCUM FUCK TRADITION
Mickey is a Hamilton punk rock legend. My uncle was a fan of the Forgotten Rebels back when we lived in Winnipeg and so he was, along with Cadillac Bill, one of the only people I’d ever heard of from Hamilton’s music scene before I moved here. I'm about 95% certain I walked by him in the supermarket the other day and it only kind of clicked a few seconds later because although we’re friends on Facebook and I’ve seen him perform, I’ve only met him once in passing on James North (a very cool strip in Hammertown) and I just don’t associate him with the supermarket, but hey, even rock stars need to get groceries!
JESUS & MARY CHAIN –BLUES FROM A GUN
I’ve been a fan of J&MC since I first saw them in 1992 in Minneapolis. This album Automatic is one of their more revered records but I have never really listened to it all that closely so I’m making up for lost time here.
PIXIES –HEAD ON
I love Pixies and this track is a cover of the Jesus & Mary Chain’s track Head On. Such a great song!!
GREGOR SAMSA –O
I don’t know if this band is still around and I’m no longer in touch with any of the members but we played a number of shows together in the UK and Europe. One night we went out dancing after our Luxembourg gig and that night, I was approached by a strange woman on the dance floor, and so I followed her away from the Gregor Samsa girls and my friend Barzin and the club owner of the bar where we had played. They had a good laugh because seconds after we started dancing, this chick got really angry and turned from me and stormed off. Of course, everyone wanted to know what happened. She asked me where I was from and said, “Canada.” That was all it took. She must have had a real thing against Canadians! Lol. Usually the opposite is true while traveling. Oh well…
MATT EDIBLE & THE OBTUSE ANGELS –STAIRGAZING
I met Matt in Hull, UK, on that same tour. We correspond once a year or so. This track reminds me a bit of Smashing Pumpkins.
FONDA 500 –HELICOPTERS
I met Bod Fonda the same night as I met Matt. I like that they all named themselves after the band. That shows true dedication to their cause!
TIFFANY –I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW
Don’t even ask me what inspired me to look up this track. It’s actually better than I remember!
HALESTORM –MINE
I really like Halestorm and although this is on their new album, it sounds a world apart. The whole record is mostly “nu-metal” and songs that sound like their first record and then there’s this one which comes straight out of the 1980s and would not have sounded out of place on Judas Priest’s Turbo album. I quite like it!
VELOURS –FLOWERS IN A WASTELAND
New track from Velours, who I’m pretty sure was my first TikTok follower. She’s moving to Toronto from Saskatchewan, which is probably a good idea career-wise. So much more happens here. This new song of hers is probably my fave one I’ve heard from her. Great job, Velours!
MOLLY HEALEY –US AND THEM
I don’t know anything about Molly but thought this track was interesting.
JOE JACKSON –GOT THE TIME
Such a great track. I first heard the Anthrax cover on Persistence of Time and that version is also incredible. A real “pump me up” kind of jam!
GINGER ST. JAMES –SOMEBODY SHOT ME
Another Hamilton artist! I played a show with her a million years ago. My part was awful. I was going through a divorce and then we had this crazy issue where my blind bassist somehow recalibrated my tuner to be at 442 after he tuned to 440 and I couldn’t figure out why my guitar sounded so wrong. And then my ex showed up and it totally threw me off my game. Ginger was great though!
THE FLAMING LIPS –TURN IT ON
I have received several favorable comparisons to the Flaming Lips in the past year so I’ve been checking them out more. I really like everything I hear. They seem to really exist outside of the LA/NYC/Nashville music world.
PUBLIC ENEMY –YOU’RE GONNA GET YOURS
You can’t mess with Public Enemy.
PJ HARVEY –WHO BY FIRE
I think of myself as a PJ Harvey fan and I didn’t even know she sang this. I always find that Leonard Cohen’s songs sound great no matter who sings them.
And with that, this wraps up this week’s playlist. Hope you enjoyed it!!
If you like this playlist, please share it and follow these artists. Music is the fuel that fills our soul.
If you are an artist that would like to be included in the future, reach out anywhere and I’d love to check out your tunes!
Yours in music,
Mac