Wednesday 30 December 2020

James Keelaghan - A Recent Future (1995)


Another James Keelaghan tape! You know what that means, right? Another article about the songwriter by James Muretich! 

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.

Tuesday 29 December 2020

James Keelaghan - My Skies (1993)


We're about to get a bit... niche (to put it mildly) at with our posts in the next while, but FIRST we're going to clear through a few more tapes that we've picked up over the past year. Starting with this, James Keelaghan's 1993 release. We think we've said most of what we're able to with our prior posts about this great songwriter, so we'll turn it over to James Muretich, from his Herald article which, uh, heralded the release of this tape:


Our favourite piece of the article is this quote from Keelaghan: "The alternative rock scene functions in much the same way as the folk scene: in small, dark clubs somewhere out of the way, places you have to really look for but when you find them the music's great." Cheers to that!

No download for My Skies, as it's available via Spotify.

Monday 28 December 2020

Passado - Passado (1997)

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:

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Get their demo here.

Sunday 27 December 2020

Vince - Hello, my name is... (1992)


Huge thanks to the inimitable Kari Watson for passing this tape our way - it's one from a band we have no recollection of, despite the pretty amazing list of people in it. We think this is the first bona fide Russ Broom band we've ever featured, somehow - we all know he would go on to fame as, among other things, making records and playing with Jann Arden. And Pat McGannon and Brent Kawchuk would go on to entertain legions with the Dino Martinis. 

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:

Give Vince a listen here.



Saturday 26 December 2020

No False Suns - Jubilee Me (2020)


As we close out 2020 and have a bit of time on our hands, we're going to kick the old CCPS tape-posting machine back into operation. And for good reason - Kevin Stebner, one of our favourites, has given us a copy of the tape from their new pandemic project. And it's super good.

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