#MoNM Day 8: Bran Van 3000’s The Garden
When I was asked to take part in a survey to name the 100 best Canadian singles ever, the first song that came to mind was “Drinking in L.A.”. There’s some weird bottled-lightning magic in Bran Van 3000’s breakthrough single that was irresistible even to my then-punk-rock-loving self. Naturally, the song didn’t even make the … Continue reading
#MoNM Day 7: Al Green’s I’m Still in Love With You
Al Green – I’m Still in Love With You As smooth and sensual a slab of soul as you could ever hope for. Green’s voice is a powerhouse, but he doesn’t oversing a single line. In fact, restraint might just be his greatest strength – the quietest song on I’m Still in Love With You, … Continue reading
#MoNM Day 6: C.A. Quintet’s Trip Thru Hell
C.A. Quintet – Trip Thru Hell A forgotten psych-rock opus from 1968, Trip Thru Hell has made a name for itself in crate-digger circles despite selling fewer than 1,000 copies the first time around, with two unofficial reissues in the ’80s and ’90s and a more comprehensive release on Sundazed in 1996. That’s version the … Continue reading
#MoNM Day 5: Elliott Smith’s From a Basement on the Hill
Even having never listened to it before, there’s something comfortably familiar about From a Basement on the Hill. As an Elliott Smith album, it fits. The melodies have the same minor-key melancholy that he perfected a decade before this album was released. The arrangements, while on the whole more restrained than XO or Figure 8, … Continue reading
Kris Ellestad – No Man is Land
I’m not going to post a formal review of Kris Ellestad’s new album, No Man is Land, which is available for streaming right now for free. Kris is a good friend of mine, and that kind of bias is too hard to work around. But now that he’s officially releasing it to the public, I … Continue reading
#MONM Day 4: Television’s Double Exposure
Television – Double Exposure Is it stretching the definition of MoNM to check out a bootleg? I think you can make the case, and given that Double Exposure features a pre-Marquee Moon Television recording session with Brian Eno manning the boards and Richard Hell still in the band, I’d also say it’s pretty darn necessary. … Continue reading
#MoNM Day 3: REM’s Reckoning
REM is a fairly significant musical blind spot for me. I know they’re “important”, that they helped define a major part of the college rock sound of the ’80s, but aside from mid-period singles like “Losing my Religion” and the monster hits from Monster, my exposure is pretty limited. Before this morning, the only albums … Continue reading
#MONM Day Two: Fond of Tigers’ Continent and Western
Fond of Tigers — Continent and Western (Drip Audio) “Soheb,” the opener on “post-everything” Vancouver septet Fond of Tigers’ latest, is a hell of a track to wake up to. Starting with a simple melodic line, it quickly descends into swirling madness and atonal skronk, eventually returning to its opening theme by increasingly demented routes. … Continue reading
#MONM Month of New Music day one: Lullabye Arkestra’s Ampgrave
First off, a note: I’m going to have to be realistic about this Month of New Music thing. I won’t have time for elaborate posts about every album I listen to, so some of these will be quick blurbs. Others might ramble a bit longer (like this one). I’m not one for live-tweeting, so I … Continue reading
An interview with Danny Michel
“I guess it’s just a natural kind of evolution of me just trying to write songs. I just kind of got really sick of rock music. I got really sick of – I find it all really whiny, you know? And myself included, I pointed a finger at myself, too, but I find that there’s probably more to say in the world other than whining about breaking up with somebody.”
The Consumption 