#MoNM Day 18: Cave’s Pure Moods
Cave – Pure Moods (Drag City) A short one today – Pure Moods, a 12” single from Chicago’s Cave. If you saw them at Sled Island, you have a good sense what this is all about; if you missed out, it’s blissed-out Krautrock with a healthy dose of classic rock swagger. With only three tracks … Continue reading
#MoNM Day 17: Dexys Midnight Runners’ Searching for the Young Soul Rebels
The title of Dexys Midnight Runners’ debut says it all: this isn’t just an album, it’s a call to arms. Sweet and sour homemade soul, with excessively fussy vocals and punchy-but-never-quite-right horns, the album courts its rebels through sheer passion and sincerity – it’s not asking for political upheaval, just a bit of earnestness. Which … Continue reading
#MoNM Day 16: Girl Talk’s All Day
It starts with Black Sabbath’s version of war and ends with John Lennon’s version of peace. In between is all-encompassing po-mo pop, an all-singing, all-dancing cavalcade of hits. It’s got a beat, and you can dance to it. It’s the world’s greatest name-that-tune night. It might be a party, or it might be art, or … Continue reading
#MoNM Day 15: The Bachs’ Out of the Bachs
Another long-forgotten psychedelic slab. Like Trip Thru Hell the other week, this 1968 gem started off with a limited pressing that only gained in mystique thanks to its rarity and its oddball production – Chris Dadge tells me it was recorded by a producer who’d only ever done classical work, hence the distant guitars and … Continue reading
#MoNM Day 14: Jenny Omnichord’s All Our Little Bones
Jenny Omnichord is a girl after my own heart. Smart, quirky, self-referential… heck, her latest album doubles as a board game if you shell out for the vinyl. Not a bad deal. But while the packaging is in line with her previous projects (the last album of hers that I bought was packaged in plywood), … Continue reading
#MoNM Day 13: Gonjasufi’s A Sufi and a Killer
I realize I’m running the risk of turning this #MoNM blog into a string of sheer positivity. I think every entry so far has boiled down to either “This is really good” or “This is pretty good and I should give it a chance to get better.” For anyone who thinks that negativity or cynicism … Continue reading
#MoNM Day 12: The Cape May’s Central City May Rise Again
A.K.A. It’s shameful that I haven’t heard this yet: Calgary edition. To be sure, I have heard The Cape May. I wouldn’t even hesitate in citing Glass Mountain Roads as one of the best albums to come out of this city. It’s one of those albums that comes across as almost unprecedented, so crisp, so … Continue reading
#MoNM Day 11: The Talking Heads’ More Songs About Buildings and Food
Part of this #MoNM thing is, I guess, admitting to albums that I should have listened to but somehow never got around to. That could be sidestepped by only listening to brand new discs, but I’m just going to suck it up and admit – despite Remain in Light being one of my all-time favourite … Continue reading
#MoNM Day 10: Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Caution: Nerdiness to follow. I was five years old and living in suburban Winnipeg when It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back was released. Suffice to say, the album didn’t make much of an impact on me at the time. My tastes were still largely dictated by my parents, so if I … Continue reading
#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
The Consumption 