Wednesday 30 December 2009

Teens For Decency - The End of Decency (1997)

Teens for Decency

We posted the first TFD tape quite a while back. For this outing, they're sporting a new bassist and drummer (Corey Martens went onto infamy with Helvis). The first side of this tape are studio tracks, but it's the second side, recorded live at the Night Gallery, that gives a better taste of hee-haw punk rawk flavour of these guys, as well as showing off Ian Doig's penchant for telling very strange historical tales.

As an aside, this tape is another we've borrowed from the CJSW archives. We'll be back at CJSW tomorrow, on our pal Adam Kamis' show, the Failed Pilot (12-2 pm MST), playing some of our favourite tapes. Which means it'll be a solid two hours of Primrods. And maybe a bit of Brass.

Phosphorescent rocks!

Monday 28 December 2009

Nine Miles to Morgan - Nine Miles to Morgan (1998)

Nine Miles to Morgan

We've partly traced the Scott Bennie arc, through Rosco Pecoe and Splitsville. This is probably one of the bands he was best known for, and we're fond of them, despite the emo tag.

The old Gauntlet has an archived article on Nine Miles to Morgan you might want to read.

Or you might just want to hit the download.

Update: we were way wrong with this. Apparently there was a pre-Bennie configuration of Nine Miles to Morgan, headed up by Al Fraser. Just goes to show: never trust anything you read in the Gauntlet. Or here.

Sunday 27 December 2009

Spy Lemon - Spy Lemon (1993)

Spy Lemon

We had not idea what a Spy Lemon was, until we happened upon the art for the Anything that Happens compilation. It looks like Spy Lemon evolved from Delusions of Reality, who we saw here earlier.

Well, that's one puzzle solved.

Wednesday 23 December 2009

Various - CJSW Christmas (1993)

We here at the CCPS have been oft-accused of being grinches, among other things. We're trying to turn over a new leaf (really!), and would like to offer this seasonal gift.

Many years ago, CJSW persuaded several local bands to record Christmas tunes with Bobby McAlister. We dug this out of a mysterious box in a CCPS member's basement earlier this year, and have waited patiently for an appropriate time to post it. No j-card, since this wasn't an official release. But our notes indicate the track list is:

1. Sky Suspended - We Three Kings
2. Plaid-Tongued Devils - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
3. Holly Jolly Christmas - The Parkades
4. Santa Claus - Pussy Monster
5. What Child is This - Edward and Life
6. Silent Night - Red Autumn Fall

It's a bit of a weird mix of stuff, the garage rock of Pussy Monster up against the britpop of Red Autumn Fall.

But that's Calgary for you.

Sunday 20 December 2009

Sky Suspended - Stop Staring at the Ground (1994)

Sky Suspended

Sky Suspended-2

We've been a bit lax with posting over the past few days, mostly because of the usual seasonal eating/drinking cycles we've fallen into here at the CCPS. So we're pleased to present this for your consideration, the second Sky Suspended tape.

Sky Suspended prompt us to ask several questions. First, how did Aaron Booth turn from this (we'll call it Disintegration-era Cure) to the sensitive singer-songwriter type? Second, how did Aaron Smelski go from bass with this to shoegaze guitar with Hot Little Rocket and heat-ray? And finally, what is up with all the Teddy Boys on the inner sleeve?

Maybe it's not for us to know.

Saturday 19 December 2009

Poplydia - Poplydia (1993)

We really don't know/remember much about Poplydia, all we have is a vague association of these guys with the mid-90s Britpop scene in Calgary. The missing j-card isn't helping. We believe guitarist Craig McCaul went on (eventually) to play with the Cape May.

The liner notes of the Play compilation tell us that "Poplydia singlehandedly disprove Pete Townsend's theory that good musicians can't make good rock music."

Them's fightin' words!

Thursday 17 December 2009

Anne Loree - Anne Loree (1991)

Anne Lorree

We'll take things off in a different direction here. Anne Loree is probably best known for writing Jann Arden's breakthrough hit, and - according to the Wikipedia - was also a member of Jr Gone Wild. We didn't know that last part, never would have guessed it. We suspect this is her first tape; we seem to recall that "You're So Artistic" got a lot of airplay on CJSW.

Anyways, we saw Anne Loree play a show about a year and a half ago. She reminded us of a piano teacher we once had. In a good way.

Wednesday 16 December 2009

Merkins - Bon-Bardo (1995)

Merkins

This is the second tape we have from the Merkins. It's less muddy than yesterday's posting, thanks in part to a midnight session at Sundae Sound. Jeff tells us that "Bizarro" was put down in one take. Which is the opposite of what at least one of us at the CCPS did in a similar midnight session (the individual in question may have spent the entire 8 hours recording a song that was one and a half minutes long).

Anyways, we're drifting from the main point of concern with this tape, which is the cover art. We've seen a lot of appropriation in terms of imagery here at the CCPS, but this is the first instance where we've seen a cover outright stolen.

But, really, it's not about the art. It's about the music. Which is a sort of art, so we suppose it is about the, uh, art.

Tuesday 15 December 2009

Merkins - The Merkins

The Merkins

We had been emailing with former Merkins drummer Jeff Sulima at the tail end of the summer, in another ongoing saga of a band member who hadn't kept a copy of his bands tapes. Thankfully, the CJSW archives have ended that dilemma, and we're pleased to present this first tape from the Merkins.

We remember the Merkins for two main reasons: their name, which caused much mirth for the permanent adolescents among us here at the CCPS; and the band's musical ability. The drone-y songs on here are a bit muddy, but so's our memory.

Get wiggy!

Thursday 10 December 2009

25 Cent Peep Show - Substance Test Pilot (1993)

25 Cent Peep Show

We've just spent the past two hours staring at computer keyboards here at CCPS HQ, trying to figure out when the cent symbol was removed. It doesn't help that we've been drinking rye and listening to this, the second tape we've found from 25 Cent Peep Show. Just like the one we posted a while back, this proto-Puritans recording is good and sludgy. We're puzzled by the date on this - it bears the same year as the other tape we've featured here, but the extra-sludgy sound leads us to suspect that this was the first of the two, maybe before they had enough money for a better recording? Or maybe its the second of the two, and they had ceased caring about things like audio quality?

Who knows?

Wednesday 9 December 2009

Calliope - Calliope (1994)

We're still pretty pleased that we haven't yet had a cease and desist from Universal Records for posting Zuckerbaby's debut album a few months back. Never ones to play it safe, we're pleased to present tonight's tape, which is sadly lacking any cover art.

However, there's a wealth of internet knowledge out there, reminding us that before they were Zuckerbaby, Reed Shimozawa and Andy Eichhorn headed up the "groove oriented" Calliope.

We have our own suspicions about what that's secret code for, but we'll leave it to you to listen and decide for yourself.

Tuesday 8 December 2009

Zoo Story - Generation Whatever (1995)

Zoo Story

Uncovering Zoo Story Play Their Hits in a Toilet was a highlight of our summer, so we were quite pleased to find another Zoo Story tape in the CJSW library. Although this one doesn't have a year of release, it does provide insight into the band's membership. It also contains a pile of songs from the tape we first brought you - a trick we've seen from more than one band.

Do the monkey!

Update: Thanks to Cathie for filling in the date for us!

Monday 7 December 2009

Public Service Announcement: CJSW's 25th Anniversary



You heard about this already, right? CJSW is turning 25 next year, and to celebrate the milestone, they're having a bit of a party on January 23. With a couple of our favourite disbanded bands, rebanded for one night: Color Me Psycho and Wagbeard. We were hoping for a Primrods reunion, but only because we have to find fault with everything.

Shinolas - Shampler (1995)

The Shinolas

Now, as much as we like Brass around these parts, we like The Shinolas infinitely more (our mathematics expert came up with a formula to describe this, but he made the mistake of writing it on the back of the office copy of Beatroute, which someone threw on the fire last night). This four song tape adds to our ongoing fascination/obsession with this garage rock trio. Most notable is "Passed Out (at the Door of Your Heart)," which alone is worth the price of admission.

Which, in these parts, is free.

Sunday 6 December 2009

Brass - Brass (1992)

Brass

Brass-2

A funny thing happened when we went to pay our CJSW funding drive pledge the other week. It turns out Music Director Myke Atkinson has been following our ramblings over here, and offered us a chance to dig through what's left of the station's tape library. Years of heavy airplay and theft (we suspect mostly theft) mean that sadly there's not a whole lot left in the library, but we're always happy to root through tapes.

What this means for you, dear reader/listener, is that we've got a pile of stuff coming over the next few weeks. A few oddities mixed in - things we didn't know existed and also some that we've been looking for.

We're going to start with this, assumedly the first release from Brass. Why? Well, why not.

For a good time, call Todd!

Wednesday 2 December 2009

Purge - Purge (1994)

Scan-091107-0002

Scan-091107-0003

We know nothing about this, other than it came from Donovan's plastic bag. It sounds very much like you expect early 90s alt-rock to sound like. You can almost see the flannel shirts.

But you can get it here.