Nandos - The Montessori Files (2021)

At the CCPS, we absolutely love it when artists and/or labels fully embrace the cassette medium an its possibilities. This new tape from Nandos (released via Edmonton's Pseudo Laboratories) is such a case. Packaged in an amazing box, with a random piece of electronics (our copy included a.... rectifier diode?) and posters, this tape begs to be held and played.

Nandos is the project of Alexander Steinitz, and while a certain international fast food chain may come to mind at first, don't let that put you off. This is a great blend of sound collage and electronica; "Dystopian Bacchanalia" is an uneasy dance track that'll have you, well, dancing uneasily.

Get it via the Pseudo Laboratories bandcamp. 

Antisocial Club - 7 Songs/Live at CJSW (2020)

Medicine Hat's Wasted Wax has been putting out a pile of great stuff in recent years (don't sleep on their Spastic Panthers comp or the new ep from River Jacks spin off Quit It!), and somehow we missed grabbing a copy of this posthumous tape from Antisocial Club last year. Oh, yeah, we know why we missed this - the pandemic. 

The A side of this tape was recorded in 2007 with Casey Lewis; the B side is from CJSW circa 2005. In some ways the trio's brash punk feels like it's absolutely from that era, but in other ways it kind of feels timeless. Antisocial Club is a juggernaut, with songs crashing through at breakneck speeds, clocking in at two minutes max. Amazing.

The physical tape is limited to 50 copies, available via Wasted Wax; downloads are at the Antisocial Club bandcamp.

Yankee Yankee - Segments (2014)

Somehow we missed picking up this tape for the many years it sat on a shelf at Hot Wax. We think we thought we already had it, for some weird reason. Ah, well - we've corrected that past error now.

Last year, before things went goofy and live music became a non-thing, Whitney Ota had just started performing his improvisational electronica under his own name, rather than as Yankee Yankee. Po-tay-toe, po-tot-oe. This is an excellent, evolving set of synthesis that really makes us yearn for the return of live music (especially Bug Incision shows).

It looks like the Unit Structure Sound Recordings distro is gone, but you can grab the download via their bandcamp. 

XV Olympic Winter Games Organizing Committee - Come Together In Calgary

Well, here's a random tape from the shelves at Hot Wax. What? Who? Why? These are all questions we have. In general, but also specifically about this tape. We haven't been able to figure out who the authors/artists behind this is - all we know is that this tune was dubbed the official theme of the 1988 Winter Olympics. Says the Canadian Encyclopedia:

The official theme song 'Come Together in Calgary,' first recorded in 1981, was re-recorded in 1988 and incorporated into the film score of Calgary 88: Soon the Glory Begins. The LP Dream on the Horizon: A Tribute to the Olympic Spirit featured Rik Emmet of Triumph, Liona Boyd, and Alex Lifeson of Rush, and was produced by Keith Elshaw (Chartwell WSC-331).

That doesn't really help us. Are these three versions the re-recorded versions or the 1981 versions? Who knows. 

Ah, well - relive the glory here.

Gordie West - My Calgary Home

There was great debate in the CCPS offices about whether to label this tape as Miscellany, as it wasn't recorded (or released?) anywhere near Calgary. But it looks like Gordie West was born and raised near Calgary, and returned here in the 90s after spending the late 70s and 80s in the UK - where we think this tape is from. 

West bills himself as the Calgary Cowboy, and this tape shows why - while he's playing the tunes of country legends like Wilf Carter and Gene Autry (with a few of West's own tunes in the mix), he's managed to find a pile of songs that, well, reference Calgary. Which we totally appreciate - keep an eye out here in coming weeks/months for dives into both Calgary-themed songs AND songs that exploit the Calgary Stampede. The odd part of this is the amount of chorus pedal on the electric guitars.

Yahoo?

Josef - Just Because... (1997)

We really wish we could tell you something about this tape beyond what we've cribbed from the liner notes and inferred by listening to this tape. But we can't - so, as you can guess, this a well-produced pop affair (thanks to the work of engineer and keyboardist Jerry Proppe). This also may be one of the first tapes we've posted which thanks a dog in the liner notes.

Maybe?

Ivan Daines - Ivan (1981)

Here's a fun thing that we didn't know existed until we found it in a local record store's crowded cheapo room... we knew this was released on vinyl (our copy is signed by Mr. Daines!), but it looks like this is also a Doug Wong Music cassette release - which we think is a fairly rare thing. We'll go down a Doug Wong Music rabbit hole later, though...

Ivan Daines is a rodeo star-turned country musician - that Calgary Stampede poster is the legit 1981 item, with Daines on a bucking bronco. 

Yahoo!

Karen Cunningham - Songs By Karen Cunningham (1991)

Ah! We're not through the Sundae Sound content! We actually have stuff from TWO MORE BOXES in the wings. But first, we're going to catch up with a few tapes that have come into the CCPS collection in recent months. And the first of those was, well, recorded at Sundae Sound (and produced by Rob Bartlett)!

We tried to find out a bit more about Karen Cunningham, but kind of hit a dead end - other than ads for her and her band playing around town at venues like the Highlander Hotel's Royal Scot Ballroom. Also, our scanner could not process the neon green paper this cover is printed on - we could have taken a photo, but we're lazy. And Gene's no help with this one - he says this tape makes him want to go listen to early Kirsty MacColl Records.

Maybe it's the hair?

Various - Sundae Sound Sampler

Well, the time had to come. We're at the end of the tapes from Sundae Sound. We really thank Rob Bartlett for reaching out to us, this has been really fun and weird to go through. 

So we're going to end with something equally fun - this is a sampler tape from the studio - 15 minutes of snippets of tracks they recorded, intended (we assume) to showcase their abilities. It's pretty great - pop, country, rock, metal, new wave... this covers it all. Just like that studio did. 

What a great place.

Larry Lee and Straight Clean and Simple - Larry Lee and Straight Clean and Simple (1993)

Ah! We can tell you something about this Sundae Sound tape! It's by Larry Vannatta, who is a proven songwriter and was awarded songwriter of the year by the European Country Music Association (ECMA) in 2011. He is a two-time Canadian Juno nominee and was nominated for best male artist and fan choice award by the Association of Country Music in Alberta. Yes, we DID steal that from his youtube page!

Still, it's something!

Paul Faber - Paul Faber (1998)

We swear we're going to be able to do something other than post tapes we have no info for... someday. But, we have nothing on Paul Faber, so today is not that day.

Sigh.

 

Melody Dawn - Melody Dawn

Ah, another day, another letdown of a post from the CCPS. We couldn't find anything about Melody Dawn either.

Well, at least we're being consistent.

Jack Jackson - Jack Jackson

We're kind of letting you down with a few of these Sundae Sound tapes. Who is Jack Jackson? Why did he make this gospel country tape?

We have no answers, just downloads.

Kristopher Bonnett - The Oldest Trick In The Book

Next up! Kristopher Bonnett and a one-track tape (same song both sides) - we can tell you NOTHING about this one, sadly.

At least we've got the download.

 

Kickstart - Kickstart (1998)

Next up on the j-card-less Sundae Sound tapes is this three-track affair from country act Kickstart. We tried to find out about the band, but could only summon up this article celebrating bandmember Lana Floen's opportunity to duet with superstar Shania Twain:

Get your kickstart here!

Myrol & Myrol - Myrol & Myrol (1992)

We're into the part of Rob Bartlett's Sundae Sound box that don't have j-cards. But! We'll forge on anyways. This is a selection of track by the late Allana Myrol and brother Randy Myrol (so, they're not to be confused with the mother-daughter duo that makes up Myrol). One of the standout tracks on here is "Running Shoes" - despite being able to find very little about this duo on the interwebs, we were able to find a fan-uploaded track (with artwork by the wrong Myrol, of course):

<iframe width="450" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/beUS_mZ7U3E" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Get running!

Various - Alberta Dreams (1990)

Here's another compilation from the Sundae Sound box... sadly, the scan of this cover doesn't properly capture the foil treatment on the old school Alberta logo. Looks like only two of the tracks on here have a Sundae Sound connection - the rest are a curious round up of songs that in one way or another conjure Alberta. Although, most of them are via the song titles, there are a few non-Alberta artists on here. Also, "Balzac Boogie" does not appear to have anything to do with the Joker song.

Dream on!

Various - A Cure For Christmas

Given the number of Christmas-themed tapes in that box from Rob Bartlett, we're really regretting the waves of procrastination that 2020 had us under. If only we had posted this six weeks ago! We'd actually by thinking about Christmas, and not British post-punkers The Cure!

Looks like this is a compilation that was put out... in the early 90's? We think? Most of this was recorded at Sundae Sound, with the exception of... three tracks? But we're not really telling you anything that's not on the liner notes.

Get the cure here!

Wild Rose All-Stars - Wild Rose All-Stars (1992)

Of all the genres of music we're always surprised to hear in Calgary, Dixieland jazz is the surprising-est. Maybe it's the vast difference in our climate from New Orleans'? Anyways, this of standards and favourites by the Wild Rose All-Stars is the spiritual if not literal successor to the Westmount Records nugget New Orleans North. Oh, did we tell you that the CCPS collection has started to reach across all years, genres, and formats? It a storage and cataloguing crisis in the making.

But don't let that distract you from this tape!

Monika With A "K" - Breaking Free

 

Next up in the Sundae Sound box is a tape from country singer Monika Vetter, who chose to go by Monika With A "K" on her recordings. This tape doesn't have a year on it, but it's likely from the late 80's or early 90's, based on this Herald article:

Break free here!

Anne Brown - Santa Fe Sessions (1989)

Our next Sundae Sound tape features musician, artist, and writer Anne Beverly Brown (here as Anne Brown). This tape is an odd one in the mix - it doesn't appear to have any connection to the studio, other than being in a box with other tapes from there. This tape of three folk songs penned by Brown was her first release - but was subsequently re-released on her 1993 CD, which you can get via her bandcamp.

Lana Skauge - The Perfect Tree (1990)

AH! We did it! We managed to break out losing streak and find out something about this next tape! Lana Skauge is a local storyteller who has been performing and writing since the early 1980's. This tape features two of her stories, "The Skywatcher" and "The Perfect Tree," nestled in among a selection of seasonal tunes. Well, seasonal if it were Christmas. 

Too bad we didn't think of posting this six weeks ago, right?