Brian Damage – George The Knight (1985)
Brian Damage – Refrigerators (1985)

Frantic, urgent basement drum-machine pop from the bowels of Vancouver, BC. The opening track on Freedom reminded me of Sean Savage‘s ode to Eamon McGrath (one of Sean’s best songs, despite the lyrics) and I was immediately hooked. Contained within are imaginative combinations of mystery and electronics, acoustic reverberations and brooding stagnation, wasted solos and wrecked drumming; sounds that demand more and, dammit, I want it now. I’ll have to settle for the “Candy” diskette single (yes, on old 3.5″ floppies) or the noisier Stamina Maggot cassette. I love you Casio.
GR8-2000 – spirit
GR8-2000 – da sea
GR8-2000 – lawnmower; my true enemy

I was not prepared for Cresting’s beautiful basement-pop macabre. I had a fist-full of spaghetti (dinner related) half-way through An E.P. when I suddenly realized my whole environment had changed. The combinations of cassette-warmth and sharp, repetitive percussion drenched in brilliant grey-scale low-end formed continuous sequences of pop hyperbole too advanced for my supper preparations. With this in mind, An E.P. is suitable for: late-night/early-morning bike-rides, not being homeless and waking up in a park at 2pm, realizing you got punched in the face because you’re 16 and deserved it, blowing cigarette smoke into a flashlight so you can pretend you’re film-noir, and contemplation. I’m at the contemplation stage of my Cresting cycle so let me gush: this album is thoroughly convincing, clever, innocent, wonderful, pastiche, subtle, and vivid. Do the right thing and listen while you’re sitting down. And make sure you purchase the beautifully packaged CD from Fixture Records whose aesthetic reminds me that compact discs are still a viable format.
Cresting – Sashes
Cresting – Sprained Ankle

There are pockets of exciting, creative energies hidden all over Canada. I can’t find them all, so credit for this discovery goes to Jenni from Illfit Outfit. She e-mailed me to the effect of “I like your blog. There is this guy that makes great music in his basement.” Fairly typical story I thought, until I landed on his myspace page and was immediately wooed by the triumvirate of bursting lo-fi pop, sensitive-and-sweet basement loner folk, and scattered noisescapes. A few convincing MySpace messages later and I get a CD in the mail that (very quickly) peels my wig back (to use the parlance of mid-90s rap gangstery). Aaron Read, performing under Arron, has a sweet, boyish, and endearing voice suited well for his combination of frenetic pop lonertude and campfire folk. Lyrically, he crafts narratives and hooks with a psychedelic edge, keeping us immersed in his own personal snow-globe. It’s the kind of CD I expect to come from Calgary, an artifact left in the wake of bands like Women and Hunter-Gatherer; thankfully, these streams of ingenious melodies seem to pop up everywhere.
Arron – Fog Legs
Arron – Coyote
Arron – Costco Drumz

This week’s **Space obsession is dedicated to the mysterious Calgarian weirdo Braden Funchner. Braden released a very limited CDR demo distributed to radio stations via CJSW‘s campus-radio-mail-out program initiated by as-of-this-writing Music Director Myke Atkinson. I listened to the demo and promptly found out Braden played his last (and possibly only) show at the 2008 Sled Island music festival (if my memory serves me well). Damnit! Whatever, it’s good stuff. I wish he’d release more. Or maybe even just release something.

Braden Funchner (Calgary, AB)
File Under: Basement pop
::web/sounds::