Category: Music

They don't love you like I love you

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I have a special fondness for good bands who take bad pop songs and make them awesome. I picked a few of my favourites, and let me tell you…it was only Gordon Lightfoot’s general awesomeness that kept me from putting The Dandy Warhols‘ version of “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald” on here.

The Bird And The Bee . “Don’t Stop The Music” (Rihanna)

Cat Power . “Sweedeedee” (Michael Hurley. Who? Okay, I realize Michael Hurley isn’t a famous pop star, but that version of “Sweedeedee” is just so good I listen to it every chance I get.)

Elbow . “Independent Woman” (Destiny’s Child)

Flaming Lips . “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” (Kylie Minogue)

Frontline Assembly . “Justify My Love” (Madonna)

Johnny Cash . “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” (Moby…kinda…I think Johnny wouldn’t have recorded this except that Moby had popularized the riff a few years back)

Lissie . “Bad Romance” (Lady Gaga)

Ted Leo . “Since U Been Gone” (Kelly Clarkson) Please note: any partial awesomeness in the middle of the song is exempt from any “bad song” label.

Travis . “Hit Me Baby One More Time” (Britney Spears)

White Stripes . “Jolene” (Dolly Parton)

Best songs of the year so far

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment
  • shearwater . “castaways”
  • hidden cameras . “he falls to me”
  • titus andronicus . “four score and seven”
  • titus andronicus . “the battle of hampton roads”
  • besnard lakes . “like the ocean, like the innocent part II”
  • frightened rabbit . “things”
  • black francis . “six legged man”
  • avi buffalo . “what’s in it for?”
  • vampire weekend . “white sky”
  • vampire weekend . “holiday”
  • kissaway trail . “beat your heartbeat”
  • dead weather . “gasoline”
  • national . “bloodbuzz ohio”
  • national . “vanderlyle crybaby geeks”
  • band of horses . “bartles + james”
  • mates of state . “long way home”

Now we're gonna be face-to-face

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Last night, as part of nxne, about a zurbillion of us crowded into Yonge-Dundas Square to see the godfathers of punk: Iggy and the Stooges. Unfortunately Nellie and I arrived too late to see The Raveonettes play; dinner at the nearby Queen and Beaver dragged a little.

Though I could barely see them from where we were, I could certainly hear them. And feel them. They kicked off with “Raw Power” and “Search and Destroy”, and covered the other things everyone was waiting to hear…”I Got A Right”, “Fun House” and most especially “I Wanna Be Your Dog”. In fact, during the last, a mosh pit broke out…well, pretty much right on top of me.  So I got a little bruised while shielding Nellie from drunk 45-year-olds who never quite let go of grunge. I blame Mudhoney‘s show at the square two nights before.

No matter; a hearty thank you to nxne and Toronto for giving me the chance to see a living legend for free in my back yard.

Best songs of 2010 so far

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment
  • shearwater . “castaways”
  • spoon . “mystery zone”
  • hidden cameras . “he falls to me”
  • titus andronicus . “four score and seven”
  • titus andronicus . “the battle of hampton roads”
  • besnard lakes . “like the ocean, like the innocent part II”
  • frightened rabbit . “things”
  • black francis . “six legged man”
  • avi buffalo . “what’s in it for?”
  • kissaway trail . “beat your heartbeat”
  • dead weather . “gasoline”

Currently in the 'I keep meaning to listen to these but I have no time' pile

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment
  • avi buffalo . avi buffalo
  • band of horses . infinite arms
  • black francis . nonstoperotik
  • black keys . brothers
  • bonnie prince billy & the cairo gang . wondershow of the world
  • circa survive . blue sky noise
  • dead weather . sea of cowards
  • for a minor reflection . reistu thig vid, solin er komin a loft
  • jónsi . go
  • kissaway trail . sleep mountain
  • lcd soundsystem . this is happening
  • national . high violet
  • new pornographers . together
  • yellow swans . going places

The ten best albums of the last decade

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Yes, I know we haven’t really begun a new decade yet. And yes, I know we’re already a month into the “new” decade. But everybody else did it, so me too me too me too.

Here are, in my opinion, the best albums released between 2000 and 2009:

    1. The Arcade Fire . Funeral
    2. And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead . Source Tags And Codes
    3. Radiohead . Kid A
    4. Sigur Ros . Agaetis Byrjun
    5. Spoon . Kill The Moonlight
    6. Sleater-Kinney . The Woods
    7. The New Pornographers . Mass Rmantic
    8. The Hidden Cameras . Mississauga Goddam
    9. Mates Of State . Bring It Back
    10. Regina Spektor . Begin To Hope

      The weird thing about this list is that there’s nothing later than 2006. In fact only two albums from 2009 made my initial cut-down list, and none from either 2007 or 2008. Were those three years devoid of great music? Or have my music consumption habits changed so much that I no longer absorb and appreciate great albums? Both possibilities worry me.

      "All is lost, you can't go home"

      Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

      Two tragedies caught my attention last week. One was massive and horrible in scale, the other rather more private.

      I tend to associate songs with feelings or memories, often for no particular reason. This past week, while absorbing scenes of destruction in Haiti following the massive earthquake, a friend emailed me news of the passing of musician Jay Reatard. Of course the two events don’t compare in scale — Reatard (whose real name was Jimmie Lee Lindsey Jr.) was one man, a fairly obscure musician — but on reading the news of his death his songs swam into my head the same way those photos of Haitian ruins imprinted on my brain (especially this one) and Reatard’s “There Is No Sun” became, in my mind, the sad soundtrack of the Haitian disaster.

      That night, on my commute home, my mp3 player randomly started playing Reatard’s “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me” and it shook me a little. Eerie enough to hear Reatard singing “All is lost, there is no hope for me” over and over again on the day of his death, but positively chilling to think of all those for whom those lines were so true, lying trapped beneath rubble or searching for family amidst the ruins.

      There’s no logical tie between Jay Reatard and the disaster in Haiti, but they’re now inextricably linked in my mind. Reading the stories, watching the news, donating to the Red Cross, even hating Pat Robertson…for me, Watch Me Fall is now the score to it all.

      Best songs of 2009

      Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

      Lo and behold, my twenty favourite songs of 2009, listed according to artist:

      • and you will know us by the trail of dead . “fields of coal”
      • the antlers . “two”
      • dan auerbach . “heartbroken, in disrepair”
      • neko case . “middle cyclone”
      • drummer . “mature fantasy”
      • florence and the machine . “dog days are over”
      • john frusciante . “unreachable”
      • great lake swimmers . “still”
      • the heartless bastards . “be so happy”
      • japandroids . “heart sweats”
      • lightning dust . “i knew”
      • now, now every children . “everyone you know”
      • the rural alberta advantage . “the dethbridge in lethbridge”
      • the thermals . “when i died”
      • ume . “the conductor”
      • the von bondies . “chancer”
      • william elliott whitmore . “old devils”
      • wye oak . “tattoo”
      • the xx . “crystalised”
      • the yeah yeah yeahs . “heads will roll”

      The list is a bit of a cheat, as I tried not to have more than one song per artist, even though “Kettering” by Antlers, “Ascending” by …Trail Of Dead, “Diamonds To Shake” by Drummer and Wye Oak‘s “Mary Is Mary” are all on my ‘favourite songs of the year’ playlist.

      Somebody's got to lose

      Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

      All week Maclean’s has been issuing ‘best-of-decade’ lists, focusing only on Canadian content. Best Canadian TV shows, best Canadian movies, and so on. Today was the one I was really waiting for: the best Canadian music of the decade. In true Canadian spirit, it is both indie-focused and very safe.

      1. Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004)
      2. Broken Social Scene – You Forgot It In People (2002)
      3. Black Mountain – Black Mountain (2005)
      4. New Pornographers – Mass Romantic (2000)
      5. Wolf Parade – Apologies To The Queen Mary (2005)
      6. Sarah Harmer – You Were Here (2000)
      7. Tangiers – Hot New Spirits (2003)
      8. Sam Roberts – The Inhuman Condition (2002)
      9. The Constantines – Shine A Light (2003)
      10. Feist – The Reminder (2007)

      I don’t see how anyone could argue with #1, and while #2 is probably a widely accepted choice, I am just unable to love BSS the way everyone else seems to. I’m pleased to see the likes of Black Mountain, The New Pornographers, Wolf Parade beat out Sarah Harmer, Sam Roberts and Feist. I do think The Constantines deserved to be higher (and, in truth, it should have been Tournament of Hearts) but all in all that’s a pretty respectable list.

      The full article contains the Maclean’s writer collective’s opinions on each album, as well as this piece of begrudging awesomeness:

      HONOURABLE MENTION: Nickelback – Silver Side Up (2001)
      Yes, it’s stupid arena rock, but they own that stuff. So make fun of them if you want, but they’re way more famous than Arcade Fire will ever be. And they accomplished it with a lead singer sporting a woman’s haircut and a goatee.

      Fair point.

      Best albums of 2009

      Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

      We’ve entered the time of year where there aren’t really any more new albums coming out that I care about, so here are what I consider the ten best to be released this year.

      • and you will know us by the trail of dead . the century of self
      • the antlers . hospice
      • neko case . middle cyclone
      • drummer . feel good together
      • the heartless bastards . the mountain
      • japandroids . post-nothing
      • lightning dust . infinite light
      • jay reatard . watch me fall
      • the rural alberta advantage . hometowns
      • william elliott whitmore . animals in the dark

      Those are in alphabetical order, obviously. If I were to pick my favourite of the year I’d probably land on Japandroids or The RAA, but top to bottom that’s a pretty strong lineup, even without the likes of The Dead Weather, Fanfarlo, The Thermals, The Xx or Now, Now Every Children, all of which I quite liked.

      And for the bonus round, here are my two favourite albums from past years which I only discovered in the last twelve months:

      • the black angels . passover
      • the plastiscines / lp1

      So…what’d I miss?