Our favourite part of THIS article is that it features the Jameses sipping pints at the Ship and Anchor. Sigh.
And, again for A Recent Future, we'll point you to Spotify for the listening.
Our favourite part of THIS article is that it features the Jameses sipping pints at the Ship and Anchor. Sigh.
And, again for A Recent Future, we'll point you to Spotify for the listening.
Here's a tape that came to us via Danny Vescarelli, and another band that somehow slipped our notice in the 90's. Which is probably because Passado is, uh, metal-ish, and you know that's only marginally a world we understand. But we're getting better. We certainly know enough to know that these guys are more akin to Tool and Korn than, say the NWOBHM bands. Thankfully, we can fall back on internet sources to fill us in on Passado's story, including this Calgary Herald article from 2003:
And this great bit of live footage of the band:
<iframe width="450" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NskYQfGYKL4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Get their demo here.
Which probably should mean that Vince comes as little surprise in terms of (a) the quality of musicianship and (b) it's level of fun. From the opening "Peace Poser," the tone is set - this is tight, but not uptight. Broom's guitar playing is phenomenal (did we expect anything else?), and the songs are solid but don't take themselves too seriously. And kudos to Kari Watson for preserving the promo sticker that came with the tape:
No False Suns sees Stebner treading new ground - this isn't the post-hardcore of Prepared, it's not the ragged folk rock of Cold Water, nor is it the glitchy electronica of Greyscreen. It's ten intrumental tracks that follow the same type of groove as Yo La Tengo's quiter moments (think "Saturday" or "Tired Hippo") - these have a deeply meditative feel that's perfect for decompressing and listening to during long walks in the snow. Layers of shimmering guitars, sparse drums, and occasional keyboards make this a highly recommended listen.
Get the digital version via the No False Suns bandcamp.
Here's a second tape from the Boat Dreams From The Hill archive, and a nice follow-up to the first Slow Kids Playing Fast tape that we posted... AND, dumdums we are, we now see that someone had very nicely pointed us to the BDFtH website in the comments on that page FOUR YEARS AGO. If nothing else, we at the CCPS excel at missing obvious clues.
Chris van der Laan has some amazingly honest notes to accompany this tape:
The second tape Slow Kids Playing Fast released in 1998, I'm pretty sure the original run was in the neighborhood of 90 copies. Not changing their name was probably a bad move as they decided emo with typical random angsty outbursts was their true calling on this release and only even bothered pretending to be fast on a couple of the tape's nine tracks. Their friend Bryce recorded four of these songs in his basement, the rest were once again done by the same disinterested engineer that recorded their first tape in his trailer. This tape doesn't hold up as well as their first, the band apparently had never heard of "digital clipping" and it sometimes gets in the way of the songs, which are about as memorable as you'd expect coming from people between the ages of 15 and 17.
Oof. Get the tape on the Boat Dreams From The Hill website.
My memory is hazy on this one. Justin agreed to play bass for Slow Kids Playing Fast if I could play bass for his heavy metal band. We rehearsed these 4 songs a few times and booked a few hours at a local studio (EK was the name, I believe). We recorded live and Justin did vocals afterwards while Dave and I sat on the floor in the control room with our friend Nick, who would've been the bass player if he had figured out how to play bass. Pretty sure Justin and Dave's parents were with us. It was my first time in a recording studio, good times.
Get it via the Boat Dreams From The Hill website.
Here's another bandcamp discovery - and a very happy one. Eine Kleine China is a one-person (mostly) electronica project that we weren't previously familiar with.
Coming to us via Vancouver label Boat Dreams From the Hill (run by former Calgarian Chris van der Laan), this tape is a nice bounce through experimental electronica, minimal wave, and synthpop. These are short pieces, but meatier than throwaway doodles. Our favourite tracks on here strangely remind us of minimalist versions of Chicago experimentalists Tortoise - especially "Big Data" and the almost eponymously-titled "Eine Kleine Human Fly."
Huge thanks to Eine Kleine China for getting this into our grubby hands (well, mailbox). You can grab the download via their bandcamp.
VERY occasionally, we do leave the CCPS offices (wearing a mask, carrying hand sanitizer, maintaining appropriate distances) and visit our local record stores. So big thanks to Eddie at Melodiya for pointing this tape out to us on one such visit.
This tape came with a sticker that proclaims "make EMO socially acceptable again," which we appreciate - we've always liked bands/albums that give us a clear thesis statement. Ghost Story are unapologetically emo - these songs DRIP with the feels. Gene is already at work storyboarding introspective videos for each track on here.
<iframe width="350" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FprTb984rVo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Get this via the Ghost Story Bandcamp.
Continuing with the random Bandcamp purchases, here's a spankin' new tape from Trigger Warning. We've seen their name around town on posters for electronic/noise shows, but hadn't actually heard them until now.
Trigger Warning is the project of Mary Cleland, who we think we've seen as part of the very excellent Slut Prophet. This tape is a pretty great thing - kinetic, metallic beats throb and pulse in ways that make us JUST uneasy enough. If you've ever wished for a dirtier, nastier version of, say, Corinthian, Trigger Warning is for you.
Get it via Bandcamp.
One of the things about being shut in this year is that we've been going a bit squirrely with not being able to get out to live shows. To make up for it, we've been trawling through Bandcamp and trying to find tapes and discover new bands. So, this one!
Not being metal guys here at the CCPS (DESPITE Gene having grown up in Rundle), we haven't had a lot of visibility into that side of our city's scene. Thankfully, we can turn to the Encyclopaedia Metallum for the low-down - which tells us that we're late to the party, and this is Traveler's second full-length. BUT we have enough of an ear to tell us that these guys are mining the New Wave of British Heavy Metal sound of bands like Judas Priest - without sounding like copycats. Soaring vocals and driving riffs make this an epic journey we're more than happy to take.Get it (tape, LP or download) via the Traveler bandcamp.
Despite having featured what feels like a bazillion tapes by Iron Tusk, we haven't yet had the pleasure of featuring Carlin Black Rabbit's other band, the skaterock-leaning No More Moments. Until now!
Considering how long they've been around, we're kind of stuck on what to say about No More Moments. Thankfully, there's this excellent doc to take care of that:
<iframe width="350" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dkCK7u5srs0" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This tape is an excellent blast through five tracks, with "Everyone But Me" being the standout, with its ode to the joy of going to rock shows and finding a place where you can be yourself. It reminds us of some of the best moments of Calgary's all ages scene.
Get the tape from the No More Moments bandcamp.
Kerry Maguire's excellent Wish Lash is back with a second tape, this time from her temporary (?) base in Austin, Texas. Which is maybe another cause for a Miscellany tag and an argument in the office, but... you know.
This tape is a further honing of the experimental electronica/dark techno that made Wish Lash's first outing such a tasty treat. To our ear, this is darker, denser, and moodier than that first release, which probably suits the dumpster fire that is 2020.
<iframe width="350" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ayarJBf9tbI" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Get the download via the Wish Lash bandcamp, or order the tape from Glow Code.
We had an argument about whether to tag this as a miscellany post, and ultimately we realize it maybe doesn't matter. Even though Gawdie's Sara Jean Hughes is now based in Montreal, we're calling this one ours.
Getting out from behind the drum kit and eschewing the pop punk tendencies of her past bands Grown-Ups and Pre Nup, Gawdie sees Sara Jean Hughes exploring the realm of moody synth pop and electronica. Whispered vocals, traces of guitar, and minimalist synths carry these four short songs through bliss and just the right amount of tension (side two's "Maladaptive" is a standout).
Get it from the Gawdie bandcamp.
Over the spring and summer of ’90 I moved on to form 21st Inheritance with Dave Berezan (bass). We knew each other from the Warehouse and The Republik, and we were joined by John Bland (drums). John and I were from Oakridge, and we’d both attended Wise Wood; we jammed in John’s dad’s basement.
That was short lived, and the three of us found rental rehearsal space at Swamp Productions at 116 Forge Road S.E. in Fairview. We auditioned a couple of vocalists before finding Chris Stevenson – another Wise Wood alumnus. We recorded a demo tape that we delivered to Wes Hegg, and a comment from Wes led me to believe it was Chris’s vocals that landed us two 1991 shows at the Westward Club, once opening for my old bandmates Red Autumn Fall on April 11 and another show on May 31 opening for The Grain, Windwalker and One Fell Swoop.
Shortly after, to accommodate Chris’s impending move to New York to attend acting school, 21st Inheritance disbanded. I jammed with John a few times, tried to find someone else to work with, but finally decided there were those who could play the guitar, and those who really just wished they could. I was in the latter camp.Greg tells us that while he have up the guitar, 21st Inheritance drummer John Bland went on to play with bands in Vancouver and Chris Stevenson fronted a few bands out east. It's bassist David Berezan that we find pretty fascinating - he's gone on to an accomplished career as a composer and academic. If you want a rabbit hole to fall down, we suggest digging into his amazing SoundRunner project.
Not only did we have yesterday's Day of Eden tape sitting unposted for years, but so was this one... Huh. Who knew?
And remember how we said their first tape was dramatic? This one is even more so, with a first epic track that takes us thru seven minutes of feels. This whole thing knits together like a rock opera. Based on the cover art, we think that's the intent...
Catch a Spark here.