Definitive Records asks interesting Vancouverites to think hard and select the three albums that anchor their musical tastes. Today we hear from the Matt Senecal-Junkeer, the endlessly inspired owner of The Birds & The Beets. The popular Gastown cafe not only slings damn good lattes and a tasty miso barley bowls, but it has also helped to nurture others through pop-ups, facilitating such gastronomic talents of Jefferson Alvarez, The Dallah Menu and Juno Kim. It is also home to a permanent floral pocket shop by The Wild Bunch, so it often smells as sweet as it looks too. Matt’s three records go far in explaining why the cafe’s soundtrack is so consistently good.
Good News for People Who Like Bad News – Modest Mouse | LISTEN
“My family made the move from Montreal to BC when I was in my teens. Modest Mouse’s then newly released album became the soundtrack to my rapid adoption of a west coast identity. I find myself coming back to it on drives to Tofino, Salt Spring, etc.”
Jazzmatazz – Guru | LISTEN
“Guru’s ’93 album overlays a live jazz band with hip hop and rap. I find that combination to be musical fusion at its best, and this is probably the album I overplay the most at the cafe.”
Destroyer – Five Spanish Songs | LISTEN
“I walk home to Strathcona from work most evenings, and Destroyer’s albums are generally my wind down soundtrack. Five Spanish Songs is my go-to after a particularly long day. It’s so poetic, melodic and transportive, and as a non-Spanish speaker it frees my from overthinking the lyrics.”