Friday 19 December 2014

CCPS Miscellany: Various - The Compilation of Hope!


There was a bit of debate as to whether to post this last tape from Alex Kurth. See, there are NO Calgary bands on here (although one of our favourite Edmonton bands, Slates do make an appearance). BUT it's on Bart Records, and you know we LOVE Bart Records, so we gotta post this.

It looks like this is a circa 2010 compilation of bands from across Canada that somehow overlooked the city in which the label is based. We know this is getting tedious, but no link to downloads again due to the age of the release - although you can hear a bunch of the tracks over at Weird Canada.

Wednesday 17 December 2014

Memory Screen - EP (2010)


Here's another tape that comes to us via Alex Kurth. This one's pretty much from the complete other end of the spectrum as Brain Fever - Memory Screen is cinematic and lush, making music for comforting, not confrontation.



This tape is credited to Mark Webber, although there's a great video of a full band performance that includes some impressive double drummer action in the vein of Tortoise.

As with out last tape, we're not posting due to its recent-ish release, although it looks like Memory Screen's only web presence is on, uh, myspace.

Update: we think enough time has passed, we'll let you grab the dl here.

Monday 15 December 2014

Brain Fever - Brain Fever


Alex Kurth passed us a few tapes, including this one of Brain Fever (who morphed into La Luna at some point). This band - fronted by Vanessa Gloux - mix hardcore, math rock and ye olde punk rock in unequal parts. This is an early live recording of the band, and it sounds like there are two guitars on this (La Luna is a four piece, so we're not sure at when they lost guitarist #2). Clearly, though, that didn't dilute the intensity of this tape:



Since this tape appears to have been released in the past five years, we're not going to post a link to the mp3s. We're not sure where else you can get this, but it looks like a bunch of the tracks also appear on their self-titled record.

Saturday 13 December 2014

Richard Harrow - Richard Harrow (1981)



Sometimes the record bins at the local record stores yield unexpected treasures. Or, in this case, unknown treasures.

Gene was flipping through the bins at Hot Wax last month, and stopped partway through the H's when he saw today's featured LP (still in shrink wrap, even!). Clearly, we hadn't done all of our homework on Living Room Records guru Richard Harrow and didn't realize he had put out a bunch of records himself. 

This looks to be his third LP, despite being self-titled. It's a very pop affair - no KBD PUNK here - but still entertaining. There's a sly sort of humour behind the songs, like when he sings "it's a wonderful world/But sometimes it stinks." The humour is kind of candy-coated - but then it's hard to imagine that someone with a home studio who has made a career of recording would do anything lo-fi. And a quick look at his youtube channel shows that he's still working in the same vein.

Saturday 6 December 2014

Vault of Evil - Live at the Long Bar (1st gig) and first live gig with Pete (1983)


Gene's been in a bit of a funk since realizing we don't have physical copies of those two Bittermen CDs, but we think we've finally found something to lift his spirits. David Lewis got in touch with us (after much cajoling by Mike Tessier), and offered up a live tape of his first band, the ominously-named Vault of Evil.


This is actually two shows from 1983, both from the infamous Long Bar. This band is basically a precursor to the Bowness Back Yard Blues Band, with Lewis on drums, Tessier on bass, Todd Devini on lead vocals, Greg Dinwoodie on guitar and Pete Linckens on second guitar (for the second show on this tape - which we're not sure where it begins...). The performance is understandably raw, but kind of fun. The band has the some cheeky originals, but pads their set liberally with covers ranging from the Stooges' "Real Cool Time" to the Saints' "Demolition Girl."

Lewis also gave us a few photos of the band, providing a great document of what a punk band in Calgary looked like in 1983.




We think Lewis is wearing a combination of rugby pants and a sleeveless Dead Kennedys t-shirt, which is perhaps one of the most daring fashion combinations we've ever seen - perhaps punk at its most extreme. 

Or maybe not. But at least you can give Vault of Evil's live show a listen here