DEFINITIVE RECORDS: The 3 Albums That Anchor The Tastes Of Super Vancouverites

Definitive Records asks interesting Vancouverites to pick the three albums that anchor their musical tastes. Today, we hear from the founder of Miss 604…

Pearl Jam – Ten | LISTEN | “It was the first tape I stole from my sister and I played it non-stop until I knew every word to every song. Then I would listen to the songs again to focus on individual instruments or lyrics. It saved me from my New Kids on the Block phase.”

Less Than Jame – Hello Rockview | LISTEN | “When I was a teenager I got into punk/ska — the shows were cheap, I liked the pace, and I could find MP3s online. When Less Than Jake came out with Hello Rockview I was tinkering more with web publishing and created my first website, which was a fan page with discography, show pics, tour dates, and more. It was the first time I wrote and published something online.”

Death Cab For Cutie – Is This It | LISTEN | “My husband sent me the album, song by song, when we were first dating. He was living in Iowa and sharing our favourite music with each other was something that helped us get to know each other even more. We eventually had Death Cab (and Postal Service) songs at our wedding.”

ALL DEFINITIVE RECORDS

SOUNDTRACKING: With The Frontman Of “Psychic Ills” Before Their Electric Owl Gig

by Daniel Colussi | For the past ten years New York’s Psychic Ills have bobbed around the fringes of the modern psych/art/freak-rock scene. Over four albums and more than a half dozen singles and EP’s they’ve covered a lot of ground. Their debut, Dins, was a masterstroke of psychedelic space rock. Universally acclaimed, it placed them way above their contemporaries. Less celebrated were their middle years – an abruptly stark second album and several EPs of throbbing, meandering group jams. During these wilderness years Psychic Ills threatened to drift away from planet earth completely, and the critical response was generally along the lines of, “What the fuck am I supposed to think of this?”. Personally, I dug their commitment to aimlessness; I’d throw on a record and let it waft through my apartment while I puttered around. On their brand new long player, One Track Mind, the band pull out the rug from under us once again. Never have they sounded so reigned in. It’s an album of concise jams – with recognizable choruses and hooks even(!) – recorded by the legendary Neil Michael Hagerty of Royal Trux fame. Currently on a three month tour of North America and Europe, frontman Tres Warren kindly responded by email and helped put Psychic Ills’ career in context for us, in particular their very excellent new album (which you can stream in full here).

What’s it like to transition from long, freeform, almost aimless jam music to the last two albums, which are more concise, direct, classic rock sounding? I’m still a big fan of freeform and aimless stuff, but I’m concerned with expanding the parameters of the music inside me. Sometimes I want it more concise. I don’t spend too much time making sense of it.

Does it feel fresher to be playing more direct music nowadays? I think it just feels fresh when you’re playing your newest stuff – the stuff you’re most interested in at the time.

Do shows feel different? They may be more dynamic. More song-oriented.

Did your approach to writing lyrics change with the last two albums? It just became more about writing a song. Sitting down when the idea is there. I was reluctant to do that before.

Does working in a more classic rock mode change what you want to sing? No. I just sing about simple stuff.

Tell me about working with Neil Michael Hagerty – how’d that come about? I had gotten in touch with him a while back about doing something, but the timing wasn’t right. It’s almost a coincidence that he worked on the stuff from One Track Mind because he got back to me right around the time we were going to start working on it.

I imagine you’re a Pussy Galore/Royal Trux fan. I heard Royal Trux first and worked back. I used to work at a few different record stores and found them that way. They were almost done by the time I got to them.

What did Hagerty bring to to the table? He brought an outside ear to the mixing. That’s what I was looking for. Someone from outside the band to apply their approach to the mixing.

How much was it a collaboration? He played some guitar on I Get By. I didn’t give any direction on that. He did backup vocals on Might Take A While. I had recorded back ups but wanted him to re-do them with him singing, and I think it’s better for that.

Did you record in Colorado, or did he come to NYC? We did it in Brooklyn and Neil’s stuff happened in Denver.

You recently toured China. How was that? It was crazy. That place is one of the last great mysteries. We loved it. The people we met were great.

How did that come about? We were brought over by a label that puts out bands from China and also brings foreign bands over to play. We were lucky. The band has logged extensive tour time over the years. I would tour forever if it was possible. Playing music and seeing different places and meeting new people is pretty cool.

What do you guys do in NYC when you’re not on tour? Play music, hang around and work different jobs to pay the rent.

(photo credit: Samantha Casolari)

Psychic Ills, Follakzoid (from Chile!) and Student Teacher play the Electric Owl Sunday March 3. Tickets at Zulu, Red Cat and Highlife.

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Daniel Colussi is the Music Editor of Scout Magazine and a contributing writer to Ion Magazine. A veteran employee of Zulu Records and tuneage aficionado, he DJs on an infrequent basis (about four times a year) and is a musician around town who plays in several ensembles.

SCOUT LIST: 10 Things That You Should Absolutely Do Between Now & Next Week

by Michelle Sproule | The main objective of this website is to scout out and promote the things that make Vancouver such a sweet place to be. We do this with an emphasis on the city’s independent spirit to foster a sense of connectedness within and between our communities, and to introduce our readers to the people who grow and cook our food, play the raddest tunes in our better venues, create our most interesting art, and design everything from what we wear to the spaces we inhabit. The Scout List is our carefully considered, first rate agenda of super awesome things that we’re either doing, wishing that we could do, or conspiring to do this week. From our calendar to yours… Read more

ZULU REPORT: All The Awesome Sounds That You Should Be Listening To This Week

by Nic Bragg | From Kitsilano’s Zulu Records, we once again present our weekly Scout feature, the Zulu Report. Within, we provide The Track - the song that is on heavy rotation in the shop this week; The Playlist - which is pretty self-explanatory; The Gig - the ‘must see’ show of the week; and The Glance - which details the best live acts that are on the immediate horizon. From our ears to yours, enjoy… Read more

SOUNDTRACKING: Five Minutes With “Blues Control” Before Their Show At Electric Owl

by Daniel Colussi | First of all, the name Blues Control is pretty misleading: the music that New England duo of Russ Waterhouse and Lea Cho make doesn’t recall any Saturday night jam session that you may have drunkenly stumbled upon down at the Yale. So what is it? I guess Blues Control is just what happens when Cho’s Guaraldi-esque piano melodies combine with Waterhouse’s fuzz-damaged guitar. There could be some drum loops and tape hiss thrown in there, too. It’s this really unique thing, some kind of alchemical reaction brought about by a sincere love of classic rock music. Life-partners as well as bandmates, Cho and Waterhouse formed Blues Control in 2006. The two share the same psychic abilities common to long term collaborators. In their music (and over the telephone) they pass ideas back and forth until a point becomes clear. They haven’t played Vancouver since 2009, so come out and make them feel welcome at the Electric Owl on March 1st!

You’re about to embark on a pretty lengthy tour. Are you excited?

Lea: Well, the last time we tried to do it was in ’09 and that went well, but we didn’t think we’d ever do it again. But we’re excited.

Russ: We’ve been so busy lately we haven’t had time to even reflect on it.

Lea: It’ll sink in the minute we leave. Then we’ll be excited. But until then there’s too much to do. We’re excited to travel again and see some old friends and go to new places and play with new bands. It’ll be good.

Valley Tangents is a really nice album, and it must be the cleanest, most hi-fidelity recording from Blues Control…

Russ: When we made Local Flavour in ’09 it was done pretty quickly. It was done in a studio but mostly done live, with pretty minimal editing. There was time spent on the mix but it was pretty much live.

Lea: Yeah, we just played live and recorded it as if it was a show.

Russ: And then the engineer there at Black Dirt said we should definitely think about piecing it together, multi-tracking — which is the way most people make records.

Lea: Local Flavour came out sounding more…I guess “lo-fi” is the term…than it sounds in real life. I mean, it does sound dense in real life.

Russ: I like that record, but…

Lea: The fidelity could’ve been a little better.

Russ: Yeah, or it could’ve just sounded bigger or something. So when we were writing this new record we were thinking about ultimately recording it piece by piece. So that’s what we did; multi-tracked the whole thing and that gave us a lot more flexibility in the mixing. So that was exciting. That was the first time that we approached a record in that way. And also Drag City gave us a little bit of money. Read more

DEFINITIVE RECORDS: The 3 Albums That Anchor The Tastes Of Super Vancouverites

Definitive Records asks interesting Vancouverites to pick the three albums that anchor their musical tastes. Today, we hear from the creative director of local branding/design shop Cause + Affect (home to the spanking new Brand Academy)…

Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge over Troubled Water | LISTEN | “This was the only record my parents owned when I was young that was not Nana Mouskouri or The Platters. Good for all occasions as it kinda makes you feel happy when you’re sad and sad when you’re happy.”

U2 – WAR | LISTEN | “This album came out when I was 10. I remember it as much for its music as its cover artwork. I had a backpatch of it sewn onto my jean jacket that was – up to that time – probably the coolest thing I had ever owned. Also, it sort of ended my love affair with U2 until I was in my thirties and decided it was ok to like them again.”

The Strokes – Is This It | LISTEN | This album came out at the beginning of the 2000′s I think and provided the soundtrack for a number of my years in London, including my wedding day, I believe. To this day, I can still feel the city in the songs.”

ALL DEFINITIVE RECORDS

SCOUT LIST: 10 Things That You Should Absolutely Do Between Now & Next Week

by Michelle Sproule | The main objective of this website is to scout out and promote the things that make Vancouver such a sweet place to be. We do this with an emphasis on the city’s independent spirit to foster a sense of connectedness within and between our communities, and to introduce our readers to the people who grow and cook our food, play the raddest tunes in our better venues, create our most interesting art, and design everything from what we wear to the spaces we inhabit. The Scout List is our carefully considered, first rate agenda of super awesome things that we’re either doing, wishing that we could do, or conspiring to do this week. From our calendar to yours… Read more

SOUNDTRACKING: Fervent Local Music Lover Mark Richardson Spins A Scout Mix

by Daniel Colussi | Photo: Steve Louie | In the interest of providing you with the best and brightest music that this city and the world has to offer, I give you the second all-original Scout playlist (the first is here). This mix was curated by one of Vancouver’s most fervent lovers of music, Mark Richardson – Music Waste programmer, Color Magazine Music Editor, and host of CiTR’s long running Pop Drones program (Wednesdays at 10 am). This mix is thirty minutes of primo cuts from some overlooked, underdog titles of 2012 that you may not have encountered before. It spans the broad terrain of modern pop and features acts from various reaches of the globe – Australia, NY and Victoria,BC (!) are all represented. Do you need to know more? Sure, Mark has kindly provided further clarification and context after the jump. Enjoy.

Parquet Courts | “Master Of My Craft”
Probably my most listened to record of 2012, and I only heard it in December! One of the dudes was in the mostly forgettable Fergus & Geronimo, which had me overlooking a press release that landed in my inbox one day. I eventually gave it a shot and they pulled me in instantly with album opener “Master Of My Craft” and they never let up throughout the oh-so perfectLight Up Gold. Never before has an album revived my faith in indie rock, a genre that has basically had the life sucked out of it by being mis-labeled and watered down so often. Ultra-catchy, quick, snide, and, above all, smart, Parquet Courts deserve your attention if you feel the same way I do about the recent state of so-called indie rock.

Peak Twins | “Only Sun”
Something is happening in Australia right now. Maybe the overheated continent and global-warming warning signifier is causing the kids to take shelter in their garages and bang out some of the best contemporary odd-ball punk and garage before everything bursts into flames. Peak Twins, alongside Total Control, UV Race, Woollen Kits, Lower Plenty, East Link, and too many more to bother listing here, have been steadily releasing a slew of top notch singles and albums, draining the bank accounts of collector nerds who snap up the pricey imports quicker than they can be released. Luckily for those of us on this continent Iowa City-based Night People Records dished this great split release, with the formidable Scott & Charlene’s Wedding (named after some sort of Aussie inside joke based on a soap opera) on the flip. Peak Twins hit a sweet spot between not-so-subtle Phil Spector teenage dramas and primal basement pop.

Freak Heat Waves | “Correction”
One of the stand-out “new” bands that I had the joy to see during last year’s Music Waste Festival. I had little expectations going into their show at They Live Video, but they had a new fan after they hypnotized that room with their elliptical, kraut-heavy drawl. I had the pleasure of putting on a show for them at Pat’s Pub last December and they were even better than that first time. Head to yer local grocer and grab their self-released debut LP as soon as you can.

King Blood | “Vengeance, Man”
It doesn’t get too much heavier than this one-man wrecking crew from heavy-hitters Snake Apartment, who are on a bit of hiatus right now. Looped guitar lines are intertwined and overblown with fuzz as Mr. Blood shreds on top of it all. Fans of bombed out psych-ers Les Rallizes Denudes oughta do themselves a favour here and giver a listen.

Fabulous Diamonds | “???”
Another great Aussie import, this duo has been slugging it out quietly for several years, having already released two great LPs on Siltbreeze Records. Their third record, Commercial Music, is probably about as close to Commercial as these two have ever gotten. Featuring repetitive organ and tribal drumming, this is probably what it would have been like if Terry Riley fronted a post-punk band.

U.S. Girls | “North On 45″
U.S. Girls (aka Megan Remy) has been a bit of a puzzle to me since her debut LP, released 2008 on the great Siltbreeze Records label. While her earlier releases were much more experimental, her last few have seen her make some big leaps in production, practically going straight pop on her newest LP, Gem, though it should be no surprise she took this direction, as she once covered Monica & Brandy’s “The Boy Is Mine”. Produced and partially written by her new musical partner, Toronto’s Slim Twig, Gem is a damn near a perfect record of retro-futuristic pop that has to be one of 2012’s most overlooked.

Koban | “Down In The Well”
These two have been at it in Vancouver for about three years now. The duo, who is also a couple off the stage, began as kind of dark surf outfit with the regrettable name Mantaraygun. A quick name change and a slant towards UK post-punk gave Koban some traction around town. A pretty killer seven inch single and a 4 way split single.

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Daniel Colussi is the Music Editor of Scout Magazine and a contributing writer to Ion Magazine. A veteran employee of Zulu Records and tuneage aficionado, he DJs on an infrequent basis (about four times a year) and is a musician around town who plays in several ensembles.

DEFINITIVE RECORDS: The 3 Albums That Anchor The Tastes Of Super Vancouverites

Definitive Records is a new Scout column that asks interesting Vancouverites to pick the three albums that anchor their musical tastes. Today, we hear from local chef…

Bob Dylan – Blood On The Tracks | LISTEN | “The album that makes break ups seem romantic.”

Dan Bern – Fifty Eggs  | LISTEN | “My mom dragged me to a Dan Bern concert at the Gabriola Island community hall when I was 15 and I was an instant convert.”

Neil Young – Ragged Glory | LISTEN | “Out of all the amazing eras of Neil, this is my favourite.”

ALL DEFINITIVE RECORDS

SCOUT LIST: 10 Things That You Should Absolutely Do Between Now & Next Week

by Michelle Sproule | The main objective of this website is to scout out and promote the things that make Vancouver such a sweet place to be. We do this with an emphasis on the city’s independent spirit to foster a sense of connectedness within and between our communities, and to introduce our readers to the people who grow and cook our food, play the raddest tunes in our better venues, create our most interesting art, and design everything from what we wear to the spaces we inhabit. The Scout List is our carefully considered, first rate agenda of super awesome things that we’re either doing, wishing that we could do, or conspiring to do this week. From our calendar to yours… Read more

ZULU REPORT: All The Awesome Sounds That You Should Be Listening To This Week

by Nic Bragg | From Kitsilano’s Zulu Records, we once again present our weekly Scout feature, the Zulu Report. Within, we provide The Track - the song that is on heavy rotation in the shop this week; The Playlist - which is pretty self-explanatory; The Gig - the ‘must see’ show of the week; and The Glance - which details the best live acts that are on the immediate horizon. From our ears to yours, enjoy… Read more

DEFINITIVE RECORDS: The 3 Albums That Anchor The Tastes Of Super Vancouverites

Definitive Records is a new Scout column that asks interesting Vancouverites to pick the three albums that anchor their musical tastes. Today, we hear from local filmmaker…

Beastie Boys – Ill Communication | LISTEN | “The first Beastie Boys album I listened to over and over again…”

Rage Against The Machine – Self-Titled  | LISTEN | “This album blew me away…FUCK YOU I WONT DO WHAT YOU TELL ME…over and over again…and the cover, a photo of a monk burning himself to death…jeez louise…as an impressionable kid in a small town this album got me all riled up, to say the least. It still stands up as such a solid album to this day, and probably my favourite of all time.”

Rancid – And Out Came The Wolves | LISTEN | “This album is great for shotgunning beer to. It’s hillbilly punk-rock drinking music. Every song is memorable. Matt Freeman’s bass playing is unreal – technical and funky, and Lars’ raspy vocals are gritty and awesome. Also the album art really stuck with me when I got into graphic design.. I love that stark, raw look.”

ALL DEFINITIVE RECORDS

SCOUT LIST: 12 Things That You Should Absolutely Do Between Now & Next Week

by Michelle Sproule | The main objective of this website is to scout out and promote the things that make Vancouver such a sweet place to be. We do this with an emphasis on the city’s independent spirit to foster a sense of connectedness within and between our communities, and to introduce our readers to the people who grow and cook our food, play the raddest tunes in our better venues, create our most interesting art, and design everything from what we wear to the spaces we inhabit. The Scout List is our carefully considered, first rate agenda of super awesome things that we’re either doing, wishing that we could do, or conspiring to do this week. From our calendar to yours… Read more

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