Saturday 30 January 2010

Drench - Drench (1993)

Drench

After we posted the tape from Von Hipple's Shak a bit ago, Ben Docktor got in touch with us and offered up this little demo (in an ongoing theme, while he kept track of the tape, he's managed to lose the j-card - but bandmate Stuart de Vries has found it for us!). Ben tells us that this was recorded at Airwaves, back in the day when bands actually used studios and not a basement and Garageband (see this week's f-word for the latest casualty of this trend).

After this great little noise-pop band, Karrie Galvin and Jeff Kirker would go on to play with a guy featured in yesterday's post, Bob Keelaghan, in Loudmouth.

Get it here.

Friday 29 January 2010

Rabbit Has Brain - All Humans Are Stupid (1993)

Rabiit Has Brain - All Humans are Stupid

We're not sure how this one has eluded the posting process for so long. It's a tape we love and cherish here at the CCPS, and we'd turned into an iPad-friendly format years ago. How'd we miss it? Probably has something to do with the drink.

Rabbit Has Brain, in retrospect, was a weird mix of folks. Led by the ever-quirky Mark David Stewart, featuring the shred-tastic guitar of Puritan/Agnostic Bob Keelaghan and backed by Tom Kennedy of Joe 90, the Ted Clark Five and Huevos Rancheros and Chris Wharton (who?), this probably shouldn't have worked as well as it did. Although the focus is on MD's songs, the two that Tom Kennedy contributes are also fantastic; they leave us wishing we could hear more from both of these guys.

We remember a few great Rabbit Has Brain shows at clubs that no longer exist, and whose location we can't quite remember (maybe they're just figments of our imagination?). We also remember Tom Atikinson of the Shinolas playing with these guys for at least two of those shows.

Get Stupid.

Monday 25 January 2010

Various - Play: 28 Tunes That Say "Howdy" (1995)

We're trying to bring the Good Ship CCPS out of the Miscellany and back into our true mandate, so we're grabbing the one CD off our desk that seems to always be in reach. For us, this CD captures so much of the mid-90's Calgary scene, good (with the exception being the Primrods) and bad (the exception there being Brass).

This CD was put out by CJSW in partnership with the Brad Simm/Mike Bell joint venture that was Cry Baby Records. This CD would have come out at a time when most bands could barely afford to put out their own discs, so it was a good way of getting the tunes out in a reasonable format. This is perhaps one of the more diverse compilation CDs from the era - certainly moreso than the Bloodback comps or Oooh, I'm So Pretty.

There are some interesting bits of history on here. Much of this was recorded at Jeff Burns' basement studio, as his was probably the most accessible (ie cheapest) digital studio in town at the time. We just noticed, after coveting this thing for 15 years, that it was mastered by Tona Ohama. Lola, the Brad Simm, er, vehicle on here, features Leslie Feist on backing vocals. The Manhattan Jump Blues Revue morphed into the Dino Martinis. And the late, great James Muretich plays drums with the Walking Dead.

Here's the tracklisting, to give you a sense as to what to expect:

Disk 1
Elmo's Dream - Astro Girl
Wagbeard - Gooch
The Merkins - Fly
Placebo - Spike
25 Cent Peep Show - Freakweasel
Aysim - Flakey Boy
Bent On Barbi - Like This
Field Day - Enough For Two
Rabbit Has Brain - Debbie Like I Do
Forbidden Dimension - Little Red Schoolhouse
Pussy Monster - Modern Girls
The Parkades - Practically Mine
Glider - Never Trust An Actor
Toledo Speedway - Impala's Dream

Disk 2
Fire Engine Red - Dime
The Plaid Tongued Devils - Scar
Drench - Vic Vega
Ramada Gods - A.A.S.S.
Red Autumn Fall - My Friend Deceiver
Poplydia - Come On
Six Digit Fix - I Fucked Up
Maud - 1-95
The Manhattan Jump Blues Revue - Kick You Out The Door
The Walking Dead - Match Made In Hell
G.A.S.P. - Waiting
Lola - Miles Ahead
The Fricks - Contagious
Rogue Pope - Castles In Spain

Here's an article from James Muretich, to help fill in a few more missing pieces:



Over the past year and half or so, we've been pretty pleased to find tapes from most of our favourites covered on here. Still MIA are tapes from Rogue Pope, G.A.S.P. and Maud.

Howdy! (And Heidi!)

Sunday 24 January 2010

CCPS Miscellany: Pal Joey - Repent Sinners (1993), Demo (1996)

Pal Joey

Pal Joey-2

Pal Joey-3

Last night's festivities had us listening to Wagbeard's back catalogue this morning (if you missed the show last night, word is they're playing at Bamboo ce soir), and chance led us (via the Primrods, 'natch) to Pal Joey. We already posted a demo of this great Edmonton band's last spring, although we completely goofed up most of the facts around that tape (in our defence, it did give us reason to post one of the best rock photos ever to come out of this city).

So we're going to try to make things right with a collection of another two tapes from Edmonton's great purveyors of Replacements gone roots power pop. The first is their 1993 tape, Repent Sinners, which predates Lorrie Mattheson's involvement. A comment in last year's post indicates that this their second tape, and it's pretty damn good. To our ear, it has a lot in common with Fire Engine Red's fantastic 1530 (we had to drop a Fire Engine Red reference in here somewhere - they're one of the bands we'd really like to see play again. Please take note, Mr. Jett Thunders, for the next CJSW anniversary bash).

The second tape is a demo from 1996, featuring one more song by Trent Buhler and Lorrie Mattheson's "Sadie Hawkins" (we think this is the same version that shows up on Local Band Seeks Fans). To also bring things back to Wabeard, we were pretty excited to see Lorrie joining the Beardos onstage for TNT last night. But mostly because at first we thought they playing a Primrods cover.

Also in the comments of our previous PJ post, Pal Joey Alumni Janice Frisch pointed us to some additional tunes; you can repent or get the demo here.

Saturday 23 January 2010

CCPS Miscellany: Bartok Guitarsplat

Bartok Guitarsplat

Bartok Guitarsplat-2

Bartok Guitarsplat-3

We neglected to mention the intent of these Miscellany posts when we started them up. While our focus is primarily on cassettes recorded by Calgary bands, there are occasionally items that we come across that are either (a) cassettes that are somewhat linked to the Calgary scene or (b) important recordings by Calgary bands that were released on other media.

With this in mind, we're pleased to present a trio of cassettes by Bartok Guitarsplat, also known as Rodney Brent. These recordings of experimental-improvisational electro-acoustic music were done by the former Sacred Heart of Elvis guitarist while in Vancouver during the late 80's and early 90's. It's worth noting that while in Toronto, Bartok Guitarsplat made a name for himself in the local scene, and contributed to recordings by yesterday's Miscellany focus, Lost and Profound.

Brent/Guitarsplat has been back in Calgary for a while now (we like this f-word article, which helps explain the Guitarsplat/Brent thing as well as why the Toronto time was so important to him). We saw him onstage pretty much five years ago to the day, playing with a re-united Sacred Heart of Elvis for CJSW's 20th anniversary.

Another thing we like about these cassettes: they're home taping approved!

Friday 22 January 2010

CCPS Miscellany: Lost and Profound - National Hotel (1989)

Lost and Profound

Lost and Profound-2

We're getting pretty darned excited about tomorrow night's festivities, so we're going to take a bit of a detour to Toronto for tonight. There's an interesting trend of Calgarians moving to Toronto, sometimes returning, sometimes not. We're puzzled as to why anyone would go there in the first place, but then we rarely leave the city limits.

Lost and Profound was Allen Baekeland, Terry Tompkins and Lisa Boudreau. They met in Calgary and then relocated to Toronto and, in the early 90's, released a couple of records on a major-ish Canadian label. We're interested in this tape for a few reasons. First, Baekeland is a significant player in the history of our favourite radio station. Second, he and Tompkins also played in the Now Feeling (with another of our favourites, Joe McCaffery) - and this tape includes a Now Feeling tune. Finally, this tape - though recorded in Toronto - features a Calgary landmark (which narrowly avoided being turned into crappy condos). Oh, and fourth, now that he's back in Calgary, Baekeland plays in the always entertaining Rembetika Hipsters, who will be on the bill tomorrow night.

We'll see you there.

Thursday 21 January 2010

Katana - Short Demo Recorded Live at Sparky's Diner (1988)

Katana

Back in 1988, folks didn't know what an at sign was, and accordingly used proper English grammar and punctuation. Hence the title of this cassette, we suppose.

Anyways, we've ignored the dire warning on this tape, and hope you enjoy this little slice of coffeeshop folk.

We're hoping the title of the first track is Hard Ride, and not Hand Ride, as one of our archivists insists.

Wednesday 20 January 2010

G. Fournier - Random Structures (1990)

G Fournier

Just to prove we're not all just form and order over here at the CCPS, tonight we're bringing you a tape with a very different bent. We're not sure who Mr./Ms. Fournier is, but we found his/her tape of ambient soundscapes in the CJSW archives.

Random, to be sure.

Monday 18 January 2010

Calspur - Food Chain (1995)

Calspur

This is the second Calspur tape from the CJSW archives. It's another in a long line of recordings featuring a cartoon of the band members.We like to categorize such drawings into two groups: Tom Bagley and not Tom Bagley.

It's a crude, yet effective system, and it hasn't let us down yet.

Sunday 17 January 2010

Calspur - Calspur (1995)

Calspur-2

We don't know much about Calspur. This tape is distinguished primarily by its unorthodox (read: batshitinsane) folding method.

They have a myspace (without songs, and only 4 friends!), but it doesn't explain why this tape folds the way it does.

Saturday 16 January 2010

Alien Rebels - C.B.C. Bee Jeebies

We don't have a j-card or any indication of year for this second Alien Rebels tape.

And we already used the word twang a few times in our last description, so we're pretty much tapped out...

Tuesday 12 January 2010

Alien Rebels - Unofficial First Offering (1991)

Alien Rebels

We saw a brief appearance from the Alien Rebels on the CJSW compilation Local Band Seeks Fans, so it's nice to have unearthed this early cassette from these twangsters. This is great roots rock - fun, catchy and, uh, twangy.

The Alien Rebels have a myspace that appears to repurpose content from a long-deceased website. It reminds us of the pedigree of this band - since this tape, the band has drawn on the talents of a pretty impressive roster. Plus, members have also done turns in Jr Gone Wild and... other bands. Plus, they've been on the CBC a pile.

Did we mention the twanginess?

Sunday 10 January 2010

Interstellar Root Cellar - Interstellar Root Cellar (1995)

Interstellar Root Cellar

To be honest, we blew most of what we know about Interstellar Root Cellar with yesterday's post.

Honestly, we only saw them once, and may have had them confused with Phish.

Saturday 9 January 2010

Interstellar Root Cellar - Roots (1994)

Interstellar Root Cellar-2

Another chinook is upon us, so perhaps the best way to celebrate is with a dose of "freak-funk-reggae-rock" from this 6-piece band that was a regular part of the Calgary scene through the mid- to late-90's. We recommend this article from f-word, which will save us from writing too much and let us get on with enjoying the headache this weather (and a late night of garage rock at Broken City) have brought upon us.

Get funky here!

Monday 4 January 2010

Von Hipple's Shak - Von Hipple's Shak (1992)

Von Hipple's Shak

We usually don't like to divulge our sources here at the CCPS, but we'll share one secret with you: we keep the Bell/Simm Play compilation close by our fingertips at all times, as it's proved to be a fantastic source for sorting out some of the players in mid-90s indie rock. One of the pieces it's helping us sort out today is the mystery that is this extremely brief tape.

Von Hipple's Shak is basically Ben B. Docktor, who would go on to play with Drench. Their track on Play feels like it's about as long as this whole tape.

Which you can grab here, 'natch.

Sunday 3 January 2010

Plad - Plad (1993)

Plad

Plad-2

The problem with the Barenaked Ladies is that, in the early 90s, a whole bunch of similar bands sprouted up.

It might be unfair to slot Plad into that group, but we're going to do it anyways.

Saturday 2 January 2010

Tinderbox - Tinderbox

Tinderbox

Before he took on the great stage name of Kris Demeanor, this songwriter/spoken word artist put out a couple of releases with his sister Monika and percussionist Ron Burland. This is a nice little preview of things to come; Kris' voice sounds younger, his delivery perhaps isn's as assured as it is now, but the songs are definitely coming from the same place - lots of quirky storytelling, driven by Kris' sometimes manic acoustic guitar.

We're not sure of the year on this - we're guessing at 1995 (their CD came out in 1996). We're pretty sure the cover art is by Ian Doig, though.

Also, our hand-delivered copy of FFWD arrived late this week. We just noticed that Tinderbox will be playing that CJSW 25th anniversary show we're so excited about.

Get it here.

Friday 1 January 2010

CCPS Miscellany: The Failed Pilot

We crashed our pal Adam Kamis' radio show yesterday, and played a bunch of our favourite tapes. You can take in the resulting chaos here, thanks to the CJSW audio archives.

In case you're curious, here's the playlist:
1. Riot 303 - Nightmares Of Another Kind
2. Ninth Configuration - Stalin's A Vampire
3. The Fricks - First One
4. The Primrods - Santa Lucia
5. Color Me Psycho - Suffocation Girl
6. Th' Legendary Few - Poo Poo Pee Pee
7. Forbidden Dimension - Dig That Crazy Grave
8. The Choads - Another Day Another Man
9. Huevos Rancheros - Huevosaurus
10. Rabbit Has Brain - Not Very Clever
11. 25 Cent Peepshow - 1936
12. Shoutin' Abner Pim & The Puritans - Junk Bonds
13. Bad Housekeeping - Whipping Boy
14. The El Caminos - Tainted Love
15. Yr Scapegoat - Can't Stab An Ocean
16. Fire Engine Red - Black Day
17. Ted Clark 5 - No. 10 Nirvana
18. Joe 90 - Fifth Of July
19. The Quitters - Levitation
20. Little Canada - Hey Little School Girl
21. Rot Gut - Brains
22. Ded. Souls - I Feel Like The Only One Who Wants To Be Here
23. Wagbeard - Too Easy
24. The Shinolas - Go Go Girl
25. Zoo Story - Nothing Happened To Me Today
26. Teens For Decency - aka Snow Drift
27. Elmo's Dream - Seeing Things
28. The Infernos - Saturday Night