It's always a joy when something you love returns when you aren't expecting.
Today's iteration of that phenomenon is a new edition of Stacey May Fowles' Baseball Life Advice coming to my inbox. Fowles, like our mutual influence Roger Angell before her, is so adept at describing exactly how the sport of baseball works its way into the lives of its true fans. I'm always willing to admit that she is an influence on how I write about the sport and does "I love baseball and I've got feelings" much, much better than I do. As I wonder whether recent developments are making me lose faith in the sport and I feel like I'm drowning in an ocean of snow, this immediately reminds me of why baseball is one of the best things in the world.
Rather that posting an excerpt, do yourself a favour and subscribe. It's wonderful.
Baseball Life Advice
Read her book too!
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Monday, February 10, 2020
Man, I'm Gettin' Too Old for This Shit
A brief addendum to today's post:
Ska: It's still good!
When I listen to music this pop-punk a voice in my head tells me that it's too immature or something and that I should put on a 50-minute shoegaze record instead. Reality is of course that I like it a lot and the lyrics have a good perspective. You've gotta get out of your own way sometimes. It's great music and I can't wait to see what else the band does!
Ska: It's still good!
When I listen to music this pop-punk a voice in my head tells me that it's too immature or something and that I should put on a 50-minute shoegaze record instead. Reality is of course that I like it a lot and the lyrics have a good perspective. You've gotta get out of your own way sometimes. It's great music and I can't wait to see what else the band does!
Act Like You've Been There a Thousand Times Before
I had heard many horror stories about winters in Québec before moving here, so I braced myself for the worst before the move. I was glad that I was moving in June, since the summer would do a better job of acclimatizing me to my new home. Through December and January in Montreal, I thought that I was coping with the winter fairly well. It was colder to be sure, and we had already surpassed the amount of -20° days that we had had over the last 4 years combined in Ontario. There was more snow and the parks would often be deeper than the tops of my boots while I walked the dog. It sucked, but it was an incrementally worse version of what I was familiar with in Ontario. I could deal with that jump.
Then it snowed for two straight days this weekend. Like 45 centimeters! On top of that, it also hovered around -15° for the whole time. This combination of cold and snow was something completely foreign to me. I had never seen this much snow in my life. Cars were fully covered in the street. Most sidewalks were nonexistent. Snowbanks were up around seven feet. I was shocked. That storm was one of the craziest things I had ever seen.
THEN, it snowed even more this morning. WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!
Fortunately, I don't have any engagements today, so I can work on an abstract, do some reading, and beg students to come to a meeting over email. All things considered, that isn't the worst case scenario.
Two nights ago, I watched the finale of BoJack Horseman. The whole last season was wonderful and managed to deal with heavy subjects in a smart and compassionate way. Amazing stuff.
When the show first came out, I knew it as a "new Aaron Paul thing" because my friend Mark was a huge Breaking Bad fan and introduced the show to me in that way. It was a fun stonery and clever cartoon, but it also folded in some dark material in interesting ways. For some reason or another, I was always trying to convince myself that the show was worse than it was, probably because it was popular and I wanted to be ahead of the curve when it came to recognizing that it had fallen off. But it just kept being really good and ended up sticking the landing better than any show in recent memory. Kudos to its creators and crew as they made something wonderful.
Baseball is now on the horizon and I must admit that I'm a little less enthused about it than I have been in years past. The Jays seem to be making only slow progress in developing their young talent and building around and the part of me that used to revel in bad baseball is having a harder time digging into that long trudge. Part of it is due to being increasingly upset with how the game is run and how players are treated, the Mookie Betts trade last week upset me in particular, and part of it is due to the Raptors being just so good and so fun and so well-run, that the Blue Jays' future seems so much darker in contrast.
Maybe that will change in a couple of years. Maybe my intense love of baseball will emerge along with the grass once the snow melts. Maybe me even saying all of this, while I'm freezing in three feet of snow, is proof enough that it's still there.
I feel like my self-reflection and self-criticism skills aren't as sharp as they used to be and that is starting to show itself in my schoolwork. Why could that be? How do I get them back up to par? Think about myself more? That seems silly. Here's to hoping they magically come back around when I need them most.
Just anything to get me through this winter, you know?
Then it snowed for two straight days this weekend. Like 45 centimeters! On top of that, it also hovered around -15° for the whole time. This combination of cold and snow was something completely foreign to me. I had never seen this much snow in my life. Cars were fully covered in the street. Most sidewalks were nonexistent. Snowbanks were up around seven feet. I was shocked. That storm was one of the craziest things I had ever seen.
THEN, it snowed even more this morning. WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!
Fortunately, I don't have any engagements today, so I can work on an abstract, do some reading, and beg students to come to a meeting over email. All things considered, that isn't the worst case scenario.
Two nights ago, I watched the finale of BoJack Horseman. The whole last season was wonderful and managed to deal with heavy subjects in a smart and compassionate way. Amazing stuff.
When the show first came out, I knew it as a "new Aaron Paul thing" because my friend Mark was a huge Breaking Bad fan and introduced the show to me in that way. It was a fun stonery and clever cartoon, but it also folded in some dark material in interesting ways. For some reason or another, I was always trying to convince myself that the show was worse than it was, probably because it was popular and I wanted to be ahead of the curve when it came to recognizing that it had fallen off. But it just kept being really good and ended up sticking the landing better than any show in recent memory. Kudos to its creators and crew as they made something wonderful.
Baseball is now on the horizon and I must admit that I'm a little less enthused about it than I have been in years past. The Jays seem to be making only slow progress in developing their young talent and building around and the part of me that used to revel in bad baseball is having a harder time digging into that long trudge. Part of it is due to being increasingly upset with how the game is run and how players are treated, the Mookie Betts trade last week upset me in particular, and part of it is due to the Raptors being just so good and so fun and so well-run, that the Blue Jays' future seems so much darker in contrast.
Maybe that will change in a couple of years. Maybe my intense love of baseball will emerge along with the grass once the snow melts. Maybe me even saying all of this, while I'm freezing in three feet of snow, is proof enough that it's still there.
I feel like my self-reflection and self-criticism skills aren't as sharp as they used to be and that is starting to show itself in my schoolwork. Why could that be? How do I get them back up to par? Think about myself more? That seems silly. Here's to hoping they magically come back around when I need them most.
Just anything to get me through this winter, you know?
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
Losing Is Too
I listened to Orville Peck for the first time today. Pretty good! To be honest, when it comes to pastiches of old timey country, it's hard to top Daniel Romano's early records, but this is still good. One of my colleagues described him as a little Lynchian, and I guess that I agree with that. The combination of old americana with a new contemporary element is enough to get that across.
Thinking about "Lynchian" things then led me to re-visit some of the music from Lynch's Twin Peaks, since what could be more Lynchian that that? The music from the show is such an integral part of the aesthetic of the show. The combination of elements that have been cemented into the American identity, like old country music, along with extremely different contemporary elements, like all the synths, communicates exactly what the show is going for and is probably more integral to the coolness of Twin Peaks than anything else.
Also, I know that all of the shoegaze, synthpop, and dream pop from the last five years or so isn't only because of Twin Peaks, but the show has to be one of the biggest contributing factors, right?
Twin Peaks holds a special place in my heart because it was the first show that Rebecca and I watched together. Early in our relationship, there were a lot of nights that were the two of us lying down stoned and enjoying Twin Peaks. It was a special thing to share and it feels like the show is one brick in the foundation of our relationship. I can think of my life with Rebecca without thinking of Twin Peaks, but I can't do the inverse.
Listening to Orville Peck made me think of my favourite song from Twin Peaks, James performing "Just You" with Donna and Maddy.
While Rebecca and I were watching Twin Peaks: The Return in 2017, I mentioned that this was my favourite song and spoke about the memory of watching the show. I remember being extremely stoned, but also so comfortable and relaxed lying down beside them. The scene with this song resonated strongly with me and I think of it as an important episode in Rebecca and I falling in love.
Rebecca joked and asked "Is that when you caught feelings?"
Sure was.
Thinking about "Lynchian" things then led me to re-visit some of the music from Lynch's Twin Peaks, since what could be more Lynchian that that? The music from the show is such an integral part of the aesthetic of the show. The combination of elements that have been cemented into the American identity, like old country music, along with extremely different contemporary elements, like all the synths, communicates exactly what the show is going for and is probably more integral to the coolness of Twin Peaks than anything else.
Also, I know that all of the shoegaze, synthpop, and dream pop from the last five years or so isn't only because of Twin Peaks, but the show has to be one of the biggest contributing factors, right?
Twin Peaks holds a special place in my heart because it was the first show that Rebecca and I watched together. Early in our relationship, there were a lot of nights that were the two of us lying down stoned and enjoying Twin Peaks. It was a special thing to share and it feels like the show is one brick in the foundation of our relationship. I can think of my life with Rebecca without thinking of Twin Peaks, but I can't do the inverse.
Listening to Orville Peck made me think of my favourite song from Twin Peaks, James performing "Just You" with Donna and Maddy.
While Rebecca and I were watching Twin Peaks: The Return in 2017, I mentioned that this was my favourite song and spoke about the memory of watching the show. I remember being extremely stoned, but also so comfortable and relaxed lying down beside them. The scene with this song resonated strongly with me and I think of it as an important episode in Rebecca and I falling in love.
Rebecca joked and asked "Is that when you caught feelings?"
Sure was.
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Divide and Conquer
A couple of years ago I did a list of my favourite TV shows to accompany my annual music list. That was a great distraction to write up at my old job, but I don't know that I have the same drive to do that now. Instead, I'll just do a list of what I thought was really good this year:
Watchmen (HBO)
Barry (HBO)
Pen15 (Hulu)
The Mandalorian (Disney+)
Dark (Netflix)
Fleabag (Amazon Prime)
The Righteous Gemstones (HBO)
True Detective (HBO)
A few years ago, I presented at an art history conference at the University of British Columbia. While spending the weekend in Vancouver, I grew to intensely dislike one of the other presenters that was around for the whole weekend. He never stopped name-dropping the people he had read and when when you mentioned anything you had worked on, he immediately asked if you had read this or that article on something tangentially related to make himself seem more well-read than you.
Example:
*Teacher from the school is asking me about my research topic. As I explain how I look at Manet, he speeds across the room and interrupts our conversation.*
"Have you read (the name of some article whose title I've forgotten)? It's the best thing I've read on Manet in years."
"Oh, is it related to his critics (my field of study and what we speaking about)."
"Oh, no."
Like, why are you coming over to do that? Fucking rude and shitty bro.
He also spent a lot of time putting down everyone else's work in snide and petty ways. He talked at length about how dumb he thought T.J. Clark was and how biography was an out of date way to look at artists. He would then not listen when I explain that I'm looking exactly at how biography can be problematic.
I was on cloud nine when, after having given a pretty empty talk delivered with sass to make it seem interesting, a woman from the crowd piped up with "I don't think your topic is as revolutionary as you think it is."
This is all to say that while reading an article for one of my classes this week, I realized that homeboy's talk was basically just this article with a couple of minor tweaks and additions.
Next time you want parade around like you're the biggest head in the room and everyone's beneath you, at least put a footnote at the end of the sentence. Fuckin' kiss my ass.
Watchmen (HBO)
Barry (HBO)
Pen15 (Hulu)
The Mandalorian (Disney+)
Dark (Netflix)
Fleabag (Amazon Prime)
The Righteous Gemstones (HBO)
True Detective (HBO)
A few years ago, I presented at an art history conference at the University of British Columbia. While spending the weekend in Vancouver, I grew to intensely dislike one of the other presenters that was around for the whole weekend. He never stopped name-dropping the people he had read and when when you mentioned anything you had worked on, he immediately asked if you had read this or that article on something tangentially related to make himself seem more well-read than you.
Example:
*Teacher from the school is asking me about my research topic. As I explain how I look at Manet, he speeds across the room and interrupts our conversation.*
"Have you read (the name of some article whose title I've forgotten)? It's the best thing I've read on Manet in years."
"Oh, is it related to his critics (my field of study and what we speaking about)."
"Oh, no."
Like, why are you coming over to do that? Fucking rude and shitty bro.
He also spent a lot of time putting down everyone else's work in snide and petty ways. He talked at length about how dumb he thought T.J. Clark was and how biography was an out of date way to look at artists. He would then not listen when I explain that I'm looking exactly at how biography can be problematic.
I was on cloud nine when, after having given a pretty empty talk delivered with sass to make it seem interesting, a woman from the crowd piped up with "I don't think your topic is as revolutionary as you think it is."
This is all to say that while reading an article for one of my classes this week, I realized that homeboy's talk was basically just this article with a couple of minor tweaks and additions.
Next time you want parade around like you're the biggest head in the room and everyone's beneath you, at least put a footnote at the end of the sentence. Fuckin' kiss my ass.
Monday, January 20, 2020
I Remember the Stones on the Beach
In December of 2016, I felt creatively unfulfilled after the end of Beat Noir and decided that I needed to fight that feeling by outlining some writing and music goals on the blog. By writing it down here, it would be more real and some people would know about it. Maybe that would make it more important? I referred to it as "the project" to myself that year.
Jesus Christ, IMU is so navel-gazey. I'll try to not be so nostalgic and talking about past things I've done so much in the future. This is a tendency in myself I don't like and try to work against.
Second note: Each IMU title is usually taken from a song I'm listening to while writing the post. Though I enjoy making references to other things I enjoy, it can sure make it hard to find the specific post I'm trying to reference.
It took a while, but most of those project actually got done. The baseball zine came out later that year and the short stories that I thought were actually good ended up on the wordpress.
By far, the hardest part for me was the songs. For whatever reason, finishing songs has never been in my DNA, which is probably why I functioned much better as Beat Noir's long-term hired gun on bass. I've (mostly) consistently tried to write my own songs since I've played bass and guitar, but I've never been able to get over the hump that comes after the initial burst of ideas that generates something new. Maybe it's because I've never made the jump of working on them with other people. Maybe it's because I am bad at writing songs. Maybe it's because I'm scared of finishing them.
I wanted to get five songs down with the hope of making a demo and eventually I did that. Then I realized that some of those ideas sucked and I moved onto new ones. Then I decided I didn't want to make a 5-song demo.
Ultimately, the songs were the ones that project that petered out the most. It was easy to just put the other stuff out into the internet and have them live there. The songs required a lot more effort and needed me to learn how to do new things, like recording at home, that were a lot of work. I looked into getting some equipment to do that, but then gave up. I downloaded Reaper to get started on some tracks, but then gave up.
I'm still working on them, albeit in the most minimal way possible. I even came up with a name, The Vice (a reference to Northrop Frye, not the website) and had a pretty solid vision of what it would be like that has mostly stuck (all songs in DAEAC#E, emo meets 80's power pop with Tony Molina aesthetic). Three-ish years later, I have 7 songs with lyrics (and two covers that are original enough that they get a mention here) and have moved onto the idea of only doing 2-song digital singles, should I ever do enough work to release them (I probably won't). I got into playing to drum loops for a while and feel like that will stick.
I write all of this because putting it down somewhere makes it feel more real, even if posting it on IMU is, for all intents and purposes, shouting into the void. To me, writing it out here is a way of me affirming to myself that it's real, even when I haven't been giving it much attention.
A tepid and, to be honest, pretty cowardly way of doing that, but a way nonetheless. Maybe one day The Vice will come to life in a more tangible way.
Jesus Christ, IMU is so navel-gazey. I'll try to not be so nostalgic and talking about past things I've done so much in the future. This is a tendency in myself I don't like and try to work against.
Second note: Each IMU title is usually taken from a song I'm listening to while writing the post. Though I enjoy making references to other things I enjoy, it can sure make it hard to find the specific post I'm trying to reference.
It took a while, but most of those project actually got done. The baseball zine came out later that year and the short stories that I thought were actually good ended up on the wordpress.
By far, the hardest part for me was the songs. For whatever reason, finishing songs has never been in my DNA, which is probably why I functioned much better as Beat Noir's long-term hired gun on bass. I've (mostly) consistently tried to write my own songs since I've played bass and guitar, but I've never been able to get over the hump that comes after the initial burst of ideas that generates something new. Maybe it's because I've never made the jump of working on them with other people. Maybe it's because I am bad at writing songs. Maybe it's because I'm scared of finishing them.
I wanted to get five songs down with the hope of making a demo and eventually I did that. Then I realized that some of those ideas sucked and I moved onto new ones. Then I decided I didn't want to make a 5-song demo.
Ultimately, the songs were the ones that project that petered out the most. It was easy to just put the other stuff out into the internet and have them live there. The songs required a lot more effort and needed me to learn how to do new things, like recording at home, that were a lot of work. I looked into getting some equipment to do that, but then gave up. I downloaded Reaper to get started on some tracks, but then gave up.
I'm still working on them, albeit in the most minimal way possible. I even came up with a name, The Vice (a reference to Northrop Frye, not the website) and had a pretty solid vision of what it would be like that has mostly stuck (all songs in DAEAC#E, emo meets 80's power pop with Tony Molina aesthetic). Three-ish years later, I have 7 songs with lyrics (and two covers that are original enough that they get a mention here) and have moved onto the idea of only doing 2-song digital singles, should I ever do enough work to release them (I probably won't). I got into playing to drum loops for a while and feel like that will stick.
I write all of this because putting it down somewhere makes it feel more real, even if posting it on IMU is, for all intents and purposes, shouting into the void. To me, writing it out here is a way of me affirming to myself that it's real, even when I haven't been giving it much attention.
A tepid and, to be honest, pretty cowardly way of doing that, but a way nonetheless. Maybe one day The Vice will come to life in a more tangible way.
Monday, January 13, 2020
I Wish I Could Hear What They Say
Since I started university for the third time, something that's been at the forefront of discussions around the school has been "impostor syndrome". Impostor syndrome is the name given to the constant feelings of inadequacy that you feel when you enter a new situation in your life, like you somehow managed to weasel your way into something you feel you aren't qualified for. It's exceptionally pervasive in graduate students, as everyone thinks they aren't as smart as those around them and that the university made a mistake in accepting them.
There's been many times in my life that I've succumbed to impostor syndrome and I had it especially bad during my master's. It sucks, because it can really destroy your work habits and it makes it easy for anxiety to take a shit on your abilities, which are what you got you to where you are in the first place. Since starting my PhD, I've gotten better at trusting my instincts and skills and I haven't really had a problem with impostor syndrome this year.
This may be unique to me, but when things got hard in school, I could kind of lean on IS as a way to explain why it was so tough. Of course this is hard and overwhelming, you don't even deserve to be here you idiot!
Now, what's funny is things getting difficult when I'm confident that I do deserve to be here. I know that I was accepted to the program for a reason, but also know that I'm a little out of my depth with the courses I'm taking. How the fell will I think about what to write about? How do I write capably about a subject I'm relatively new to? How can I get these short, dark, wet, and cold days to fuck off forever?
In some ways, I guess that this is just IS with a new jacket on. Kind of stupid that I can look it square in the face and recognize it, but not do shit about it, right?
I think I'm deep into the part of winter when I can say it's officially gotten to me. Everything is so cold and wet. The sky is an even grey for the entire day and I can't tell where the sun is. I caught a reflection of myself in a car window the other day and I looked so pale and sickly. Everything about the outside is so overbearing and overwhelming and it makes me so sad. People always make light of how much I hate the winter, but it really does shake me to my core and profoundly effect how happy I can be.
I can't tell if it's worse in Montreal than it was in Toronto. People say it's colder and there's more snow, but I'm so miserable that I can't really tell the difference. Was Brandon Drury better than Richard Ureña? Why quibble over two bad things?
Editor's note: I saw Dicky Beisbol walk off the Orioles on pedestrian groundball after Biagini threw 8 innings. He is better.
I'm playing Steel Pulse and The Harder They Come soundtrack to help fight off the gloom, but it's hard. I really need some sun and weather that doesn't wear me down as soon as I'm in it. Everything feels a little off, like I'm a meal that's being prepared in a pan that's too big.
Monday, January 6, 2020
Try to Walk Through Walls
A post about how January is a time of transition and change.
I hate this and find these sorts of statements corny as they usually accompany something about how you're going to make a giant change or commitment. Why talk about that or make that effort now, but not the rest of the year? I don't value you saying you're going to do it. I value you doing it. Talk is cheap, you know?
I guess that I've always hated huge public statements about what you're doing or planning for yourself. Though I think that's a good thing, as I enjoy the fact that I don't have a bank of unfulfilled public declarations in my social media archive and instead, they exist only in my mind and notebooks. And here too. Hypocrisy, thy name is Chandler.
It's also a drawback of mine. I'm a terrible self-promoter and that is something that, though it sucks, is incredibly important to being in a band, which is probably why Beat Noir never really took off, and also to my current profession. To some degree, being an academic depends on the public perception of your skills and research. I should better and telling people what I do right?
I guess so.
Originally, I thought that this post would be a collection of small ideas, but it really didn't turn out that way. My brain is a real foggy mess lately and the things I can normally articulate clearly aren't coming out the way I hope they do. It feels like there's a blockage in my lungs that's holding my thoughts down.
Montreal is starting to feel like home. While Becks and I were back in Ontario over Christmas, it felt amazing to see my family and I started to miss them the second we left on Christmas night. Part of me wanted to turn around and stay longer, but another part of me couldn't wait to get back to our apartment in Hochelaga. I'm starting to identify with the area and being proud that I live in the east end, even though I have no claim to that whatsoever. More so than I ever felt about the Annex.* People are weirded out that we don't like in the Plateau and I like that. If people are weirded out by anything you do, that's a good sign. Unless it's directly affecting other people negatively. Then it's a very bad sign.
But damn, would it kill you to get a decent barbershop Hochelaga? Fuck sakes.
*One time some old loser tried to lecture Becks and I on the fact that since we lived on the south side of Bloor, we technically lived in Harbord Village and not in his precious Annex. Fuck outta here bro.
To return to the first sentence, though I hate that sort of phrase, it's undeniably true. School just started again and I already feel so at home being back at Concordia. It's nice. I didn't have any classes today, but I'm back here trying to get over the hump of bumming around the apartment and watching TV turning into schoolwork. Not quite there, but it will come.
This was all over the place and I don't have an ending, but these sorts of posts are necessary. It's winter cleaning time here at IMU folks, and you'll all have to endure it.
I hate this and find these sorts of statements corny as they usually accompany something about how you're going to make a giant change or commitment. Why talk about that or make that effort now, but not the rest of the year? I don't value you saying you're going to do it. I value you doing it. Talk is cheap, you know?
I guess that I've always hated huge public statements about what you're doing or planning for yourself. Though I think that's a good thing, as I enjoy the fact that I don't have a bank of unfulfilled public declarations in my social media archive and instead, they exist only in my mind and notebooks. And here too. Hypocrisy, thy name is Chandler.
It's also a drawback of mine. I'm a terrible self-promoter and that is something that, though it sucks, is incredibly important to being in a band, which is probably why Beat Noir never really took off, and also to my current profession. To some degree, being an academic depends on the public perception of your skills and research. I should better and telling people what I do right?
I guess so.
Originally, I thought that this post would be a collection of small ideas, but it really didn't turn out that way. My brain is a real foggy mess lately and the things I can normally articulate clearly aren't coming out the way I hope they do. It feels like there's a blockage in my lungs that's holding my thoughts down.
Montreal is starting to feel like home. While Becks and I were back in Ontario over Christmas, it felt amazing to see my family and I started to miss them the second we left on Christmas night. Part of me wanted to turn around and stay longer, but another part of me couldn't wait to get back to our apartment in Hochelaga. I'm starting to identify with the area and being proud that I live in the east end, even though I have no claim to that whatsoever. More so than I ever felt about the Annex.* People are weirded out that we don't like in the Plateau and I like that. If people are weirded out by anything you do, that's a good sign. Unless it's directly affecting other people negatively. Then it's a very bad sign.
But damn, would it kill you to get a decent barbershop Hochelaga? Fuck sakes.
*One time some old loser tried to lecture Becks and I on the fact that since we lived on the south side of Bloor, we technically lived in Harbord Village and not in his precious Annex. Fuck outta here bro.
To return to the first sentence, though I hate that sort of phrase, it's undeniably true. School just started again and I already feel so at home being back at Concordia. It's nice. I didn't have any classes today, but I'm back here trying to get over the hump of bumming around the apartment and watching TV turning into schoolwork. Not quite there, but it will come.
This was all over the place and I don't have an ending, but these sorts of posts are necessary. It's winter cleaning time here at IMU folks, and you'll all have to endure it.
Monday, December 30, 2019
The 2019 I Musical Genius Music Revue
Back again for another year folks. Here is all the stuff that I really enjoyed from this year in music. An insane amount of great stuff came out this year and I think that, more so than any other year in recent memory, it was tough to narrow down what would come on and what wouldn't. It may sound insulting to say that there was a big "middle class" in music this year, stuff that was very good, but not necessarily the best, but I think that speaks to an overall jump in quality across the board, which is a great thing.
As per the last couple of years, I haven't numbered anything. Maybe oso oso would take number 1. I don't know and care and I can't imagine you would.
The Berries - Berryland
Chastity - Home Made Satan
Skatune Network - Pick It the Fuck Up!
Sheer Mag - A Distant Call
Like shoegaze, I think that post-punk is getting to its saturation point and most of the new releases just don't have enough substance to keep me interesting beyond a couple of listens. Woolworm is the exception, as they perfectly balance the effected vocals, big guitars, and mountains of chorus and reverb pedals to produce something that nods to its influences without being a shitty imitation of them.
Wayfarer - Reckless Spring
Ancient Shapes - A Flower That Wouldn't Bloom
Fury - Failed Entertainment
As per the last couple of years, I haven't numbered anything. Maybe oso oso would take number 1. I don't know and care and I can't imagine you would.
oso oso - baking in the glow
This was absolutely my most anticipated release this year, as their last album the yunahon mixtape, quickly became one of my all-time favourites. The more tossed-off approach on this one put me off as first, as yunahon was fussed over, but I eventually came to appreciate that as a different side of the band. Some of their very best songs on this one.
field medic - fade into the dawn
Folk music doesn't normally do it for me, as I find it difficult to not read it as incredibly pretentious. field medic gets around that by having honest lyrics about substance abuse and relationships and putting some added production, like fake drums and lo-fi guitars and bass, in just enough places around the acoustic guitar. Though not included on the album, their 2019 single "I Want You So Bad It Hurts" is also one of the best songs of the year.
Punks all started listening to Neil Young this year and no band did a better job of bringing all the best parts of Crazy Horse into the present than The Berries. Huge vibe on this one. Guitars, guitars, guitars.
Chastity - Home Made Satan
Beautiful shoegaze about killing cops and klansmen? Yeah bro. Most importantly, the album's a tight 10 songs in 26 minutes, getting around the useless vamping that gaze bands sometimes lean on. Tons of hooks and vocals that aren't buried under production.
Skatune Network - Pick It the Fuck Up!
I think a lot about what the future of ska will be like, as a lot of the genre has been stagnating in the sound of the 90s for a long time. This album by Jeremy Hunter, which consists of ska covers of the emo bands on Counter Intuitive Records, is hopefully a sign of interesting and valuable things to come. More genuine earnest stuff like this, less jokey shit in the future.
Sheer Mag - A Distant Call
On their second record, Sheer Mag tightened everything up and went a little heavier. Though less hyped then the debut, this one works better as a full album. The Mag have their sound completely figured out, so it will be interesting if they continue to put out punk/hardcore/arena rock every couple of years, or decide to make a big a change in how they approach their music.
Woolworm - Awe
Like shoegaze, I think that post-punk is getting to its saturation point and most of the new releases just don't have enough substance to keep me interesting beyond a couple of listens. Woolworm is the exception, as they perfectly balance the effected vocals, big guitars, and mountains of chorus and reverb pedals to produce something that nods to its influences without being a shitty imitation of them.
When I heard Wayfarer play "Fifteen" last year, I knew that this album would be good. Kyle lowered himself to write a merely "normal" album instead a concept record and the results are amazing. Another amazing Wayfarer release from a band that will continue to be slept on because everyone is stupid.
Re: the question I asked about Sheer Mag. Ancient Shapes bucked the trend of their earlier '77 style punk pastiches by leaning heavier into power pop and glam influences and the result was my favourite record by them. The songs are exactly what they need to be and there's no wasted space or effort. Romano's best work since Modern Pressure.
Blood Orange - Angel's Pulse
White Reaper - You Deserve Love
I admit that I was much later to the Blood Orange train than others, but this album won me over. Wonderful mix of poppy R&B with occasional forays into other genres. "Gold Teeth" was the song I listened to the most this summer. I'm sucker for Triple 6 features.
White Reaper - You Deserve Love
You Deserve Love doesn't have the same sort of ironic sense of humour that White Reaper's last album did, like piped-in crowd noise to start the album. Instead the album is a cross-section of early 80's rock radio and it works in the best ways. This band's amazing.
Young Thug - So Much Fun
So Much Fun came out while it was still summer in Montreal and it was everything I wanted from a rap record. Perfect to listen to while BBQing on my back deck with a joint.
Fury - Failed Entertainment
The thing that makes this record great is that it balances the newer influences working their way into most rock music (grunge and somehow nu metal) with the exact type of hardcore I love (Snapcase). Fury knows when to hold back with all of that to not make anything corny and then allows it to hit huge when it needs to.
Monday, December 2, 2019
Caught Amongst Ourselves
A quick to post to plug Threadpuller's new EP Negative One.
This thing is mostly the work of Tyler Savage, formerly of the excellent bands The Decay and Mold Maker. Tyler is one of my favourite songwriters and I am really excited to see output from him in a new band. Plus, playing in a noisey post-punk thing is great excuse to throw 20 years of gear into one rig!
This thing is mostly the work of Tyler Savage, formerly of the excellent bands The Decay and Mold Maker. Tyler is one of my favourite songwriters and I am really excited to see output from him in a new band. Plus, playing in a noisey post-punk thing is great excuse to throw 20 years of gear into one rig!
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