Sound Salvation Army

A friendly reminder from your favourite u-loving neighbours from the north: It’s Canada Day. For five more minutes! Hooray!

I used to love Canada Day when I was a kid. Because it meant that somewhere, somebody would be serving vanilla cupcakes with white frosting and red and white sprinkles. Today, I was sadly without sprinkles. Unless you count the rain, which meant very sad fireworks. But I do have a six-pack of Sleeman’s in the fridge and an iTunes playlist filled with songs that contain a bunch of Canadian references Americans won’t get. That’s gotta count for something.

We’re so weird up here with our snow, our maple syrup, our free health care and our great, unknown musicians. We have more amazing musical acts nobody’s ever heard of than you can shake a stick at! I’m both resentful and resigned to that fact. Like, it’s AWESOME and you don’t know what you’re missing, you ignorant buffoons who think of Canada and think of Nickelback and Anne Murray and Celine Dion! On the other hand, get away from my favourite bands, America! Get your own! KnowwhatImean?

It’s rare that I just go buy an actual physical album without worrying if it will be any good. Rarer still is the purchase of a TRIPLE album without worrying if it will be any good. Who the heck even MAKES a triple album nowadays? Probably the same guy who makes a concept album about being a teenage rocker in the Maritimes. Probably the same guy who rhymes Saskatchewan with Catchin’ On. Probably the same guy who falls asleep with the TV on because at 3 a.m. they play O Canada. Probably the same guy who owes a lot of his recognizance to the fact that Canadian store Zellers used his song in a commercial. Probably the same guy who writes a song about loving a town (Halifax) with the same ferociousness that he hates another (Kelowna).

Joel Plaskett is the PERFECT example of a guy who is incredibly popular in Canada, yet will probably never become a HUGE success in the U.S. And I’m sure he’s fine with that, just as I am sure many people don’t understand why he’d be fine with that. Sometimes, it’s enough that your countrymen and women love you.

Hell, I could be wrong about that, though. Because other times, it’s nice to have Sir Paul McCartney hand pick you to open his only Canadian show on July 11 in Nova Scotia. It’s fitting, since to me, Plaskett’s music has always felt like hallowed middle ground between the seedier side of the Beatles and the friendlier side of the Stones. Macca can’t go wrong to have an intensely local artist with cross-country appeal open his show.

Plaskett has always stayed true to his roots. He relentlessly tours the country, but calls Nova Scotia home. His shows sell out everywhere (except maybe Kelowna) because he just keeps throwing out pop songs that are both extraordinarily catchy and deeply personal. In short, he does exactly what all great artists should do: Makes everybody who listens to his music feel like he wrote the song just for them.

Down at the Khyber is an album full of straight ahead rock and roll that is perfect to listen to if you happen to be driving anywhere in Canada. And not just because Plaskett liberally sprinkles his songs with references to cities across the country. The title track has Plaskett in Edmonton, longing for home and the Musquodoboit Harbour. Meanwhile, the tune It’s Catching On brilliantly rhymes the title with Saskatchewan, Light of the Moon relates the touring artist’s feeling that “this country’s a coalmine and I’m a canary” and tells of the desire to “flirt with the waitress in Sault Ste. Marie.” And what to say about True Patriot Love? Who among us (Canadians) hasn’t fallen asleep with the TV on, only to wake up to the CBC’s end of programming music — the national anthem. Oh, Canada! True patriot love, and all that jazz.

Lest you think all Joel Plaskett is good for is referencing Canadianisms, there is Through and Through and Through. In a world that loves singles, he is endlessly experimenting with the album format and Three is probably his craziest venture yet. It’s three albums, each with nine songs apiece, many with one word repeated three times as the title. Three is a magic album and Through and Through and Through is the first single that reminds us that “good things come in threes.”

I think you should help make it THE JAM of this summer because the imagery? It’s beautiful, thanks for asking. If anybody ever wrote the lyrics “I’m the Berlin Wall, I’m a communist/You’re a wrecking ball in a summer dress” for me, I’d be hopelessly devoted. I love the harsh horns and the lazy licks and its lyrics are achingly sweet and tasty, like a melted Freezie. The female vocals featured on Three are a welcome addition that allow Plaskett to ease up on his falsetto, but his witty lyrics and hooky pop sensibilities are still there. Gosh, he’s so great! All I want right now is a balcony or a back porch so I can laze around and listen to this slice of summer on repeat.

What’s that? You want a few MORE songs about Canadian cities by a couple of my favourite Canadian bands? Who am I to protest?

Hello City is from the Barenaked Ladies’ first album Gordon. Pat and I have both said that we would unironically include Gordon in our top 10 desert island records. It’s fucking awesome, both for the novelty songs the Ladies were peddling (the sweet and funny Be My Yoko Ono, the painful truth of Grade 9 and the very pointed New Kid On the Block), the more serious and wistful laments (Wrap Your Arms Around Me, What a Good Boy and the Flag) and stuff that sits somewhere in the middle (like Enid, Brian Wilson and Hello City).

Hello City is about Halifax. I don’t know why I like songs about Halifax so much, maybe because I’ve never been there, but long to go. Before I moved to Ontario, I had a really specific idea of what it would be like to live here. Like I’d feel more Canadian somehow. I remember hearing postal codes from Ontario at the end of TV shows I’d watch as a kid. I used to think those that started with N and M were so exotic. Much better than boring ol’ S. Now that I’m here, I feel a pull to head even further East because that’s clearly where the magic happens.

Anyway, I love Hello City both for its references to Halifax and its musicality. BNL are much more than a gimmick band with one hit. They’re accomplished musicians and vocalists. Somebody from America once asked me how embarrassed I was that the Barenaked Ladies were from Canada. After I stopped choking to death, I was all “What the what?” Why would I ever be embarrassed of the Ladies? It’s not my fault America turned them into a one-hit wonder. One Week isn’t TERRIBLE, but if you ask me, Stunt is where it all starts going wrong, mostly because other people found out about them. See? I jealously guard my favourites. I should’ve stayed a little closer, I guess, because after Steven Page left the band, I don’t know if they’ll ever be the same. I miss their earlier music, which you can buy on iTunes and Amazon.

On the other end of this equation is The Parkas. On the edge of being known beyond their southern Ontario beginnings (and Emmet’s blog), they are good. Really, really good. Their lyrics are clever, their song titles are witty, their music is dirty, country/rock-tinged fun and you should buy their albums. I’m partial to their song My Life of Crime from the album Now This is Fighting (on sale now at Endearing Records), because it is full of references to Guelph. Yep. The Parkas are good little Royal City rock and rollers who name check Goldie Mill, the Speed River AND St. George’s Square. But the lyrics are only part of the reason I love it. Right at the heart of the song, there’s this sparse bit populated by just a lonely bassline and that urgent, growling vocal. The moment is broken by a guitar riff straight off the Dazed and Confused soundtrack. The song slowly builds back up into a whirling, sorrowful dirge that laments their lack of funds and wasted ambition.

The Parkas are releasing their third full-length album later this month in Toronto. If you’re in the T dot on Saturday, July 25th, head down to the Silver Dollar and check out The Parkas play a raucous show with Whitebelt Octopus. Get it while you can. From the latest state of the nation on their website, it sounds like they might be getting ready to take an extended break.

 

 Joel Plaskett - It's Catchin' On: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Joel Plaskett - True Patriot Love : Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Joel Plaskett - Love This Town: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Joel Plaskett - Through and Through and Through: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Barenaked Ladies - Hello City: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 The Parkas - My Life Of Crime: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tanis entries Barenaked Ladies, Canada Day, Canadian content, Guelph, Joel Plaskett, Saskatchewan, The Parkas

I’m sad because I’ve been so busy lately that I barely had time to acknowledge Stephen Page’s departure from the Barenaked Ladies. Luckily, Pat did a more than awesome job of it for me. As far as I know, Pat and I don’t share a TON of the same daily musical tastes. Like, we both like Springsteen and the Gaslight Anthem and Joe Strummer, but some of the tunes he loves, I have never heard of and I’m sure that goes both ways.

But one thing I know we both agree on is that if we were forced to live on a desert island with a limited supply of five albums, the Barenaked Ladies’ Gordon would be on both our lists. I love “What a Good Boy” so much that I want to take it out behind the middle school and get it pregnant. I will miss the superb songwriting duo of Robertson and Page.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

********************

Now, let’s talk about newspapers. You might have heard that they’re in trouble. You might even have heard some prominent Republican politicians rejoicing over this fact on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Boooo for news and opinion in the printed form! Hooray for the death of being well-informed and smart!

Everyone who writes for this blog either works for the media or has family that does. So we understand. I hope you’ll bear with me as I try to explain and write about a subject that is near and dear to my heart.

The daily newspaper I work at in Guelph recently laid off 11 people in a newsroom of 21.

I am one of those 11.

There are no more copy editors. Because who needs accuracy, am I right? Our jobs will now be done by people in Kitchener who work at The Record. I don’t begrudge them their jobs. I wish them luck. I worry that in a year or two, the company will wonder why they are even paying reporters to cover stories in Guelph at all and some of the most talented, professional people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with will join me in the unemployment line.

I think the company is vastly underestimating the importance of what the loss of three copy editors, two senior editors, one photographer, a sports editor, an entertainment editor, an opinions page editor and a city hall reporter will mean to a newspaper in a city the size of Guelph. People who no longer read newspapers do not write letters to the editor. They don’t hold out hope that things will change. They simply stop picking up the paper. They don’t renew their subscriptions. They are a speaking silently, telling you that you need to fix your product so they feel they’re getting their money’s worth. Maybe this is just me, but I don’t think lowering the quality of the news we produce will do that.

There is another story going on right now in the Royal City. And it has to do with the Family Thrift Store, which is owned and operated by Ray Mitchell. Ray sells junk. The people who buy it sometimes turn it into art. They sometimes re-purpose it for their own use. All I know is, there is no other place in this city where I can buy an old-timey metal container of boracic acid that directs me to use it “full strength” as an “eye lotion.” The city recently bought the land on which Mitchell’s store is located. He rents and his landlord handed him an eviction notice a couple of days ago.

Now, the land is going to be put to good use. It’s where the new library will go. And the city desperately needs a new library. The old building is a leaking mess. And I wholeheartedly support that.

But without a local newspaper, people who live in Guelph would never know that the city had an opportunity to buy the old post office building that is on the same block of the same street where the new library will be. But they didn’t take that opportunity, despite the fact that it would have cost them far less to do so than to building a new library, parking garage, condos, etc.

In addition to losing the Family Thrift Store, there are several low-rent apartments above the businesses that will be demolished. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Ray Mitchell does far more than sell junk. His daughter is Jenny Omnichord, who also has played with the Burning Hell and the Barmitzvah Brothers. He has provided many local bands and artists places to practice, places to sleep and places to perform. The place is a curiousity shop that will be remembered long after it has gone. Over the years many, many, many bands have performed among the stacks of old furniture, clothing and tchotchkes. The Arcade Fire’s Win Butler bought his engagement ring for Regine Chassagne at the Family Thrift Store.

Ray Mitchell supports independent musicians and artists and that is something that is invaluable, especially in a community like Guelph, which prides itself on independent solutions to problems.

That kind of support should most definitely be recognized and celebrated. And I would ask that the same people who support Ray Mitchell’s Family Thrift Store and local musicians be very aware that if there is no local newspaper, nobody will cover their gatherings and protests, nobody will explain things to them in depth, nobody will take award-winning photos of them and nobody will champion their cause. Nobody will write about local music and artists and nobody will offer critical and informed commentary on local politicians and activities.

Local news is what will save the newspaper industry. I wish I could tell you why newspaper companies don’t understand that. But I can’t. The industry is dying. And put simply, once it’s gone, you can’t get it back.

Which brings me to Gentleman Reg.

Tomorrow, I am going to do something I rarely do. I’m going to get up before noon and go to the University of Guelph campus courtyard to see Gentleman Reg play.

You might know Reg Vermue from around. Though he’s now based in Toronto, he came of age in Guelph and got his start in this city’s bustling music scene.

He’s played with the Hidden Cameras and Broken Social Scene. He released his first album, Darby and Joan on the now-defunct Guelph label Three Gut Records. He had a small role in John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus, where he claimed to be an albino. Personally, I think he’s just very pale and very blond.

But if you haven’t heard of Gentleman Reg, you will soon. His new album, Jet Black, is available from Arts & Crafts and you should go buy it immediately because the songs on it are energetic and poppy and well-crafted. They show off Reg’s superb and unique voice and also feature some more fantastic Canadian musicians including members of Great Lake Swimmers, The Constantines, Land of Talk and The Organ.

He’ll be at the U of G’s Student Centre tomorrow afternoon for a free concert. Come out and see him. I’ll see you there.

[display_pocast]

Albums, albums, albums:

 

 Gentleman Reg - You Can Get It Back [3:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Pat entries Arts & Crafts, Barenaked Ladies, Family Thrift Store, Gentelman Reg, Guelph, Newspapers, Ontario, Steven Page

Sad and surprising news this week as one of Canada’s best bands is seeing one of its founding members pack it in. Steven Page, one of the singers and guitarists from the Barenaked Ladies, left the band on Wednesday, changing one of the country’s finest bands forever.

I’m no stranger to being mocked for my love of all things Barenaked Ladies. Unlike a lot of my fellow countrymen, I’ve stuck with the band album after album since they hit it big with their first release of youthfully energetic and catchy (some would say kitschy) songs. It’s sort of funny to talk to people who are only familiar with songs like “Grade 9” and that sort-of rap song that was a hit single a lot of years ago because their collected body of work is a lot more varied than some of the goofier songs might suggest.

There’s an underlying tone of malaise or darkness in a lot of their tracks that contradict their bright and playful melodies, and that streak comes courtesy of now-former member Steven Page. He was the one behind one of their biggest hits, “the Old Apartment,” which was something of a tortured lament of lost love. But there are numerous other examples of very serious topics addressed in popular song.

He’s had a roller coaster ride in his personal life in the last year or two, not only divorcing from his long-time wife but also getting busted in his new home in New York for cocaine possession. While the group says that isn’t the sole reason for this week’s break-up, it undoubtedly played a big part. The band will continue on without him, but I’m not sure how that’s going to go; the duality between Page and Ed Robertson is the heart of the group’s writing and I just don’t know if things will be the same. One way or another, they’ll be recording in a couple of months time so we can expect to see the results before the year’s end.

So in memory of better days, here are some of my favourite Barenaked Ladies tracks penned by Steven Page.

 

 Barenaked Ladies - Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank [3:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Barenaked Ladies - the Wrong Man Was Convicted [5:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Barenaked Ladies - War On Drugs [5:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Barenaked Ladies - You Will Be Waiting [3:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This appears to be where you buy BNL music, but this might work too.

Pat entries Barenaked Ladies, Canadian content, pop, Steven Page