Saturday 30 May 2015

Nicolas Field - a collection of songs 2007-2012 (2015)



Here's the other tape we bought at the library the other week, a newer release from Pint-Sized Records. This is solo work by La Luna/Wicked Healing guitarist Nicolas Field. Given how different those two bands are (and how much we like both of them), we had to check this out.

This tape occupies a different space than both of those bands. These are quiet, introspective pieces with (mostly) just Field and his acoustic guitar, recalling Nike Drake more than anything. This is quite a treat.



Order it via Nicolas Field's bandcamp.

Friday 29 May 2015

Lunatique - Live on CJSW (2015)



We got to live out one of our fantasies a couple of weeks ago, and went to a punk rock show at the central library. And, even better, we came away with a tape (a couple of tapes, actually - this is the first one).

We've got to hand it to Lunatique - these young punks have taken advantage of the excellent sound quality of CJSW's live band room (and head live radio sound guy Whitney Ota's fine work) and put out a tape of the four songs they recorded there earlier this year. This is, for lack of a better description, Tubby Dog punk rock. The great kind of chaotic, fun stuff that happens at that bastion of all ages rock on the weekend.

These songs are the more melodic (dare we say, radio friendly) that the band has to offer in their live set. There were some fairly spectacular bursts of pure feedback in their set at the library - which our creeping tinnitus is pleased hasn't been captured here. But they did manage to capture tiny snippets of Contramandatum host Dave Shiroky's angelic voice, so there is that.

We've seen this tape at Sloth, or you can get it via the Lunatique bandcamp.

Thursday 28 May 2015

Oscar Lopez - Dancing On The Moon Contigo (1994)


Okay, we have to break whatever it is we've fallen into and head off into another direction for a moment. We're not sure where Gene Poole got this from or how, but it seems like a good thing for this moment.

We remember seeing Oscar Lopez playing around town around this time this tape came out, and we were always impressed by his guitar playing and charisma (especially when paired with James Keelaghan). Sure, it's pretty easy to lump this in as New Age Schmaltz, but Lopez's sense of humour pokes through in places on this tape, saving it from that label. Although we still kind of prefer seeing him live...



Go Dancing here.

Wednesday 27 May 2015

F*** Off Dad - F*** Off Dad (2013)



Oh, snap! We bought another Unit Sound Structures Recording tape, despite all our best efforts not to. You see, Melodiya-minder Eddie Dalrymple had just reorganized his store's tape display, and well, our eyes fell on this, and, uh, he said it was one of his bands, and, you know, he just looked so hopeful, and, well YES WE HAVE A CASSETTE PROBLEM, OKAY?!

Anyways, so this is Fuck Off Dad's tape from two years ago. The duo, make up of Eddie and Eric Hamelin (hey, how the heck have we not posted anything with Hamelin on it yet?!) recently changed their name to Crun, perhaps for obvious reasons (the folks at the Peak Project said they'd have a better chance at getting in this year with a new band name). This is noisy improv, with Hamelin's drums crashing around while Eddie does godawful things to his guitar, coaxing feedback and shrieks out of it. Although the tape does settle into a nice droney bit partway through side two.

Get the tape (like we did!) from Melodiya, the USSR web site, or bandcamp.

Thursday 14 May 2015

Burro - Tangerine Rising (2013)



As you may have noticed, we at the CCPS are sometimes sloooow to get into certain things, usually because we're afraid of the slippery slope they might lead us down. Whitney Ota's Unit Structure Sound Recordings label is one of those, in a similar way to Bug Incision - there's a staggering number of releases, of the type of stuff our tiny insect-brains can barely comprehend.

But, that all changed when we finally got off our collective asses and hustled down to the Palomino to catch a set by Ota's band, Burro. Our faces were melted in a way that we can barely put into words... the band's visceral, pulsating momentum is pretty easy to get lost in. Burro plays somewhere between noise and psych rock, and we like it. If, like us, you've slept on seeing Burro, we suggest you change that.



You can order this tape through the USSR distro, or download if from the Burro bandcamp.

Wednesday 13 May 2015

Cold Water - 2 deer not stoked about logging (2015)


One of our favourite things at the CCPS is getting back to the office to find records in the mailbox. An even more favourite thing is finding records AND tapes in our mailbox. We were treated to the latter this weekend, with a special delivery of the new Cold Water LP, accompanied by this bonus tape.

Kevin Stebner's Cold Water project has undergone an evolution since their first tape, perfecting the genre that he has coined "full stack folk." It's the sort of thing that you want to listen to under a summer sky, drinking bourbon and looking up at the stars, the songs hanging in the air beside you. But it's spring, and so we've been listening to these three songs in the CCPS bunker, awaiting warmer nights (and stoking ourselves with gin). Still, the effect is approximately the same.

This tape was part of a special deal for those who pre-ordered the new Cold Water LP. It looks like, as of this evening's gin, the offer still stands on the Revolution Winter website.

Sunday 10 May 2015

Lab Coast - CS031 (2015)



Back to Calgary proper, we've got a new release from the ever-prolific Lab Coast. This little tape comes to us via Craft Singles, and while it's a short little thing, it's still super, super good (we'll admit it, we're super-biased when it comes to Lab Coast - they're probably one of our local favourite bands right now).

This tape kind of follows the same format of Editioned Houses, with one side of their low-fi pop and another side of noisy experimentation. The two bursts of pop include a pretty great cover of the Pursuit of Happiness' "She's So Young," which serves as a good reminder of the genius of Moe Berg's songwriting.

You can probably get the tape from Hot Wax, and if not grab if via the Craft Singles bandcamp.

Friday 8 May 2015

Open Channels - Radar (2015)


While we're down in Lethbridge (and on our way back to Calgary, we promise), we might as well post this one. We've been back and forth on whether to post this as Miscellany, and since we can't decide, we won't (because we're lazy and don't want to type the work Miscellany again).

This is the band's third offering, continuing the fine hooky, electronic-tinged lo-fi pop that they've been cranking out in past releases.

Looks like a few tracks from this are on the Open Channels bandcamp... we've seen past tapes at Sloth, though you might have to make the trek to Blueprint to find a copy.

Wednesday 6 May 2015

CCPS Miscellany: Unameds - First Door On The Left (1996)


Phew! This is the last tape from the collection that David Tighe passed to us (thanks, David!). And we end with another Lethbridge band we know nothing about. We wonder it they meant to call them selves the Unnamed, but didn't have the benefit of a spell checker? Anyways, we kept hoping that one of these Lethbridge tapes would feature a baby-faced Paul Lawton, but no dice.

Get the Unameds here.

Tuesday 5 May 2015

CCPS Miscellany: Jil - Masked Avenger (1995)


Here's another Lethbridge tape, courtesy of David Tighe. We didn't expect to find anything about this band (whose name at first we thought was Jiz, thanks to the typography on the j-card), but, lo and behold, they have a facebook page!

Which means you have something to browse while you grab this tape.

Monday 4 May 2015

CCPS Miscellany: Product Four - Your Name Here (1995)


Here's some more Lethbridgian (wait, is that right?) pop punk from Todd Harkness and Product Four. We should note that this tape, along with that split with Racer Ten we just posted, was recorded at Jeff Burns' basement studio.

Uh, that's all we got. Go grab the download.

Sunday 3 May 2015

CCPS Miscellany: Racer Ten and Product Four - The Big 10-4 (1995)


Let's head to southern Alberta now, shall we? This split tape features some good old late 90's pop punk (or punk pop?) from Medicine Hat's Racer Ten and Lethbridge's Product Four. David Tighe was good enough to tip us off to the fact that the Todd in Product Four is thee one and only Todd Harkness (later of Porter Hall, Sloth Records and other stuff in Calgary).

We don't know anything more about Product Four, and weren't holding up much hope for finding info on Racer Ten. Thankfully and quite surprisingly, their Tripod page is still active.

We have no idea if there's any way to listen to the Realplayer files on their site; instead, maybe just grab this tape?

Saturday 2 May 2015

CCPS Miscellany: Confront - Refuse to Merely Dream of Liberation (1999)



Back to the hardcore! This time David Tighe's donations are taking us out of Calgary, all the way up to Edmonton. We don't know who these guys were, but they're (a) political and (b) growly. And it sounds like there may be a drum machine involved in this.

Get it here.