March 10th, 2010
From the Planet D residing citizen named Jesse Locke:
With their second transmission from the heart of the black hole sunrise, Edmonton’s Krang continue their clusterfuck of stoner rock, noise-haze and squiggly electronics. The band’s debut self-released EP was a voyage in its own right, but until now, they’ve never been able to bottle the total gnarlitude of the extended space jams doubling as their live shows. Happily, with the addition of fourth member Dean “The Ram” Watson on guitar, this five-song flummox released via Eamon McGrath’s Cassettes Records has finally captured the experience on CD-R. Faithful followers will recognize the bass line from “Farmer” within seconds, along with Krang’s trademark echoed harmonica. Cold Bebop’s standout banger “Ships” has been re-recorded with the addition of Watson’s desolate licks, and finally “Snakes on the Brain” closes things off with some furious Danzig-on-psychedelic-fungi freak-outs. Best of all, the new and improved line-up can still melt faces live.
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Krang – Farmer
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Krang – Snakes on the Brain
File under: cassette records // eamon mcgrath // experimental // jesse locke // psych
Categoria!! New Canadiana :: alberta :: compact disc | No Comments »
February 23rd, 2010
From the post-pubescent sludge of Jesse Locke:
From The Cramps (radical) to Mates of State (barf) to the Plastic Ono Band (radical barfing), musical married couples are nothing new. However, what sets thee Grown-Ups’ Sara and Josiah Hughes apart is that they’re cuter than a pair of bulldogs on snowboards that know how to turn up the rock and turn down the suck. Joined by third member/producer Darrell on “dad guitar” (nice Conchords reference, guys), they’ve now teamed with the almighty Bart for tape release number two. Eight songs of angry punk sludge that sound just as pitted as their debut but now with more Crazy Horse guitar solos (see: opener “Meat”) and Art Brut-esque motivational meta-songs (see: “Start A Band!”). This is the soundtrack for the skateboarding video game you invented in your brain. The musical equivalent of a cherry-coke slurpee with a stolen chocolate bar tucked in the cup. The creepy-lovable cover photo rules too, but I really just wish it was a drawing of Odie crossed with Jughead.
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Grown-Ups – Meat
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Grown-Ups – Start A Band!
File under: bart records // jesse locke // punk // sludge // teen angst
Categoria!! New Canadiana :: alberta :: cassette | No Comments »
February 23rd, 2010
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Colic
Best to Your Family
(Self Released)
Edmonton, AB
::web/sounds::
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From the colic cleanse of Aaron Levin:
Colic resides as my favorite left-field discovery of 2009, splintering my identity with an onslaught of pop-sprinkled atonal adjective-everything. Best to Your Family reads like a distasteful Japanese stereotype: hyperactive occult meanderings, bent reflections from unknown metals, and piercing waves of inter-dimensional origin. Imagine Big Mac handed you his demo tape after a weird inter-terrestrial mind-meld; it’s addicting, unearthly, and completely fringe. Yet, it’s greatest strength is making the whole rite-of-passage engaging by burying the subtle popyness within layers of instrumental shreddery. A certified unique listening experience. Genuinely strange artifacts of this ilk are rare. File-under ??????
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Colic – Keys
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Colic – Cold Time
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Colic – At 30,000 ft.
File under: adjective-everything // art-punk // experimental // outdoor miners // wyrd
Categoria!! New Canadiana :: alberta :: compact disc | 6 Comments »
February 12th, 2010
From the laboratory disaster of Jesse Locke:
Not since the glory days of Thomas Dolby has the world been gifted with such catchy songs about science. Following their debut 7” released via the HoZac Records Hookup Klub, Leth/Death/Methbridge’s Myelin Sheaths are back with another Bunsen-burnt four-song platter, this time stamped with the imprint of Bachelor Records from Austria. AUSTRIA! Big ups, guys. A-side opener “Stackticon” is a scrappy, foaming-at-the-mouth cheerleader chant rocker, clocking in at 1:40 and blown the eff out just like Paul Lawton loves it. “SPF70” is a moody instrumental with tasteful guitar wrangling that almost sounds surf-y in places, which, now that I think about it, the suntan lotion song title is assuredly alluding to. On the flip, the head-bashing repetition of “Laboratory Disaster” and garagey girl groupisms of “Fun With Science” will be familiar to anyone who’s caught these cats live or copped their O.G. self-released CD. For all your fuzzy, skuzzy weirdo rock needs, the Mammoth Cave keeps on churning out the goods.
[Levin's Note: Austria! Wild!!]
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Myelin Sheaths – Stackticon
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Myelin Sheaths – Fun w/ Science
File under: bachelor records // garage // punk // science // weird punk
Categoria!! 7" :: New Canadiana :: alberta | 2 Comments »
February 5th, 2010
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Various Artists
Dove Project No. 9
(Self Released)
Calgary, AB
Originally Released: 1970
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From the partially-ordered, semi-continuous grippage of Aaron Levin:
We have witnessed the possessed meanderings of teenagers pushed to the creative fringe for years. It’s not uncommon these days for some residential weirdo to emerge from their suburban cave with a MySpace full of damaged sounds teetering on the edge of unsanity. This was not the case for Canada’s underground rock scene of the 60s, whose output pales numerically to our American counterparts, owing to a lack of custom pressing plants and home-recording equipment. Which is why it’s incredible that Calgarian Doug Wong, at the tail end of 1969, when psychedelic music delivered its last blow to the world’s unsuspecting youth, decided to package the last issue of his high-school newspaper with a 7″ of school “rock bands” (I’ve posted the full story here). The resulting 7″ has become a truly bewildering artifact of Canada’s marginalized fringe music community: a compilation of unfettered teenage expression; trashy, face-melting, fuzz-drenched glorious hard-rock mingling amongst Dylan-inspired folk and sunshine pop. A beautiful peak into the small lives of folk-club weirdos at a time when their sounds usually withered and vanished. Amazing and incredibly rare. This is the third time I’ve written about this record and it still astounds me.
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Wrinkled Pumpkin – Hello
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Sundance Reunion – I’m Leaving
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Dusk – Three Thirty Two
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File under: diy // doug wong // hard rock // psych
Categoria!! 7" :: Departures Revisited :: alberta | 3 Comments »
January 22nd, 2010
From the compiled danglings of Jesse Locke:
The Comp of Hope starts off with a serious wallop: the 1-2-3 whirligig of Vancouver’s Damages, Nova Scotia’s Minivan Halen (snagging the prize for Best New Band Name) and Toronto’s Place Hands, three groups with distinct yet equally imposing approaches to the post- / proto- / avant- / eff-it-let’s-just-get-rowdy hardcore continuum. Bart Records founder Kevin Stebner seems to favour the tuff gnarl stuff, with seven of the comp’s 10 acts setting their phasers to beatdown. From the spazzy attack of Abbotsford’s GSTS! to the rastafried “turbo jamz” of Edmonton’s Slates, Missisauga’s Whiskey Priest and unfuckwithable label faves Gift Eaters closing it off, this cassette could provide the perfect aggro soundtrack for any hesher’s backyard mini-ramp sesh. The softer side of weird Canadiana is also represented with the Strokes-meet-a-blown-out-Casio addictiveness of Swwords (the former project of this very site’s founder), Montreal’s math-pop dangereux duo Special Noise and a live jam from the inimitable dd/mm/yyyy. Another top-notch tape release from Bart, with awesome foldout liner art (front & back) from Calgary’s Heather Kai Smith.
[Levin's Note: This has the most links of any review on Weird Canada. Which means you get to virtually travel across Canada, all thanks to Bart Records. Benjoy!]
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Special Noise – Fitness
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Minivan Halen – Epic
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SLATES – blooloend
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swwords – The Hit
File under: bart records // compilation // experimental // hardcore // math-pop // pop // punk // rock
Categoria!! New Canadiana :: alberta :: british columbia :: cassette :: manitoba :: nova scotia :: ontario :: quebec :: saskatchewan | 1 Comment »
January 14th, 2010
From the cave-dwelling hive-mind of Paul Lawton:
This xmas I got a Peace for Bombs CDR and a book outlining the history of Wowbam Records label directly from the source, Jeff King, who writes and releases music under a legion of pseudonyms and (fake) band names (though The Square Waves and Favour have been his most well-known, mainly because he has actually assembled musicians to play those songs in a live setting). The Wowbam discography is remarkable – 31 releases over ten years, ranging from noise, to punkrawk, to straightpop; a catalogue that features some astonishing works such as the Folk 6 collection that spans seven discs and 300 songs (!). With the newest Wowbam release, Peace for Bombs, King plays secret hit-maker working within his limitations, six anthemic songs built around that shitty-drum setting you found on every toy-keyboard in the 80’s and layers of synths and guitars that gives this lost classic feel – one that no one has heard, but everyone has heard-about.
[Levin's Note: "Anthemic" is an understatement.]
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Peace For Bombs – Summerstory
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Peace For Bombs – Want 2 Belong
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Peace For Bombs – Peace For Bombs
File under: anthems // lo-fi // pop // wowbam
Categoria!! New Canadiana :: alberta :: compact disc | No Comments »
December 23rd, 2009
From the Gameboy™-gripping hands of Jesse Locke:
As far as music made on old school handheld video game systems goes, GreyScreen (a.k.a. Bart Records founder and retro pop culture fanatic Kevin Stebner) is the Michael Jordan of Caddilacs. The Charles Bronson of Chiptune? From the immaculate Value Village bargain bin packaging to the poetic RPG-inspired song titles (and of course the 8-bit chirps, burps and bleeps that make up these 22 songs), everything about GreyScreen’s debut tape reminds of a more innocent time spent agonizing over Alien Olympics 2044 AD in your parents’ basement. Of course, Stebs also uses modern technology like Nanoloop and LSDJ to concoct these micro-epics, but his DIY punk rock ethos is maintained all the same. Need more proof? Check his killer cover of Black Flag’s “Spray Paint” by downloading this comp.
[Levin's Note: The world was so much simpler when everyone had a Gameboy™. All a we had to do was level-up and the monsters went away. How do the kids sleep at night today? Look back to the dot-matrix; listen to the trailing ends of MIDI; and always remember to keep a fairy in the jar. Poppa don't hit me no mo'.]
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Greyscreen – The Sea in Jars
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Greyscreen – Water Drawn from Wells
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Greyscreen – From Heaven Fought Stars
File under: 8-bit // bart records // gameboy // nintendo // nostalgia
Categoria!! New Canadiana :: alberta :: cassette | 4 Comments »
December 18th, 2009
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Brazilian Money
Friendly Neighbor EP
(Self Released)
Edmonton, AB
::web/sounds::
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From the flat-broke pockets of Aaron Levin:
The immense planning that entailed Wyrd Fest resulted in a deep, sexual relationship between myself and Wicked Awesomes! guitar-player Tyler. During one of our many Magic-ticket-making missives, he looked in my eyes and whispered: “Aaron, have you heard our bass player’s solo project?” That was my first foray into the wildly contagious world of Brazilian Money. Fast-forward a month and I finally have some “official” recordings. It was sudden impact: vocalist-and-everything-else-as-well Garret’s grizzled nasal, his omnifarious pop-filtrations, and the swampy sensations ensnaring every ear-movement. I was knocked-out, surprised and excited by the EP’s stranglehold. Thankfully, with every listen came newly rewarding energies. A recommended soundtrack for the shower (replacing my current shower favorite: Mobb Deep’s Tha Infamous). Sing along and get clean, mayne.
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Brazilian Money – We Could Just Stay (In The Dead Of Night)
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Brazilian Money – Ghetto Lungs, GET ALONG NOW
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Brazilian Money – Why Am I Still Standing Here
File under: garage // indie // lo-fi // pop // wicked awesomes
Categoria!! New Canadiana :: alberta :: compact disc | 9 Comments »
December 14th, 2009
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Phil Dickau
This City, And You
(Self Released)
Edmonton, AB
::web/sounds::
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From the sub-zero-not-just-plain-zero Aaron Levin:
Never has there been a more appropriate time to dive into Phil Dickau’s ambient journey through the derelict channels of Edmonton, Alberta. Step outside right now and you’ll enter Edmonton’s absurd tundra-vortex; it’s -46°C outside and I’ll cry if I want to. Using a mix of concréte and synthesizer work-outs, This City, And You acts as a euphoric reminder to mellow out; it’s a harsh world out there, and it doesn’t matter how cold it is: Phil Dickau is here, standing on the edge of your mental cliff, with a synthesizer in his hands, telling you Edmonton’s story (this actually happened). This City, And You is a montage of audible simplicity; standing waves of municipal saturation and industrial escapism. Phil shreds and his record is the opposite of shred, which is why it also shreds. Shred mellow on, brother!
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Phil Dickau – A Candle
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Phil Dickau – An Empty House
File under: ambient // electronic // new age
Categoria!! New Canadiana :: alberta :: compact disc | 4 Comments »
