The Alphabet Part 1: A to Z Music You Need right now: Listen, Watch, Download

Three large posts, a truckload of music, little-to-no editorialising (or even editing). It's the A-Z of what's been catching Scruffy's ears, too much for one post Afghan Whigs">Afghan Whigs are back with a new album, Do to the Beast. Their new songs sound Afghan Whigsy, which is good, all dramatic and noir, passionate and perhaps insidious.



Afghan Whigs - The Lottery


Algiers


Lovecrimes


ATO Records spring sampler - Featuring Drive-by Truckers, Kaiser Chiefs, Old 97's, Built To Spill, Midlake, and 8 more! Free!




Beachwood Sparks - Make it Together


Neneh Cherry is back. She always had a unique voice and attitude.


Neneh Cherry - Out Of The Black (featuring Robyn) Everything Buffalo Stance

Dearly Beloved are getting ready to release a new album called Enduro.

 Dearly Beloved - Aimed Right At Me Dearly Beloved - To Better Days

Where We Been, a cover of Dinosaur Jr.’s Where You Been?, by Felled Trees, a collaboration that includes members of Knapsack, Samiam, Thrice, Texas is the Reason, and more. Felled Trees - Dinosaur Jr. - Watch the Corners

Gord Downie, The Sadies, And The Conquering Sun have now releades their album, and you can stream it at their website. Gord Downie, The Sadies, And The Conquering Sun - Crater

  Drive-by Truckers' new album English Oceans is finally out. You know the band is the best. Don't you think all those radio stations that play Lynyrd Skynyrd and 38 Special and whatever else someone calls southern rock should sneak in these guys every once in a while?
 Pauline Hawkins Drive-by Truckers - Pauline Hawkins Shit Shots Count Cooley's voice reminds me of Willie Nelson in Made Up English Oceans.

 Drivin' n Cryin' s latest, ‘Songs For The Turntable,’ available on Blank Records, is the fourth in a series of as-promised four EPs released over the past 18 months - pretty apt as tomorrow is Record Store Day. More on this soon. Songs for the Turntable Drivin' N' Cryin' - The Little Record Store Just Around The Corner Space Eyes Also check out the indiegogo fundraising for a doc called Scarred but Smarter: Life n Times of Drivin' n' Cryin'.

Echo & the Bunnymen have a new one coming out called Meteorites.

  Echo & the Bunnymen - Market Town Lovers on the Run

Failure is back together and playing shows, I'm sure hoping there's going to be new record coming too. Stuck on You

  Neil Finn - Dizzy Heights

 Not new at all, but this Matthew Good song was a nice surprise when pointed out to me recently.

  Matthew Good - Extraordinary Fades



Grant Hart is not trading on past glories with his newest album The Argument, which seems to call on psychedelic pop and garage rock as much as it does his earlier work. It Was a Most Disturbing Dream

Haunted Hearts - Johnny Jupiter

The Henry Millers - Posies

Higgins Waterproof Black Magic Band - The Blast, the Bloom
Hugh Beaumont is Dead

The Hours are from Winnipeg, methinks, but they sound British, lazy, hazy, shoe-gazey. Here's Steady Glazed Eyes.

You miss the Smiths. Here's The Holiday Crowd - While She Waits.

Beloved Australian band Hunters & Collectors recently reunited as well as having a tribute album released in their honour featuring people like Neil Finn, Eddie Vedder, Paul Kelly, The Living End and Avalanches (you can stream it here).

Holy Grail When the River Runs Dry Do You See What I See? Throw Your Arms Around Me The Slab

Gord Downie, The Sadies and Conquering Sun - Crater

No flies on Gord Downie. Or The Sadies. They are always doing something, I bet they don't have time for things like getting haircuts or watching The Walking Dead or picking one name to fit all of them, or choosing an album title.

So the project is called Gord Downie, The Sadies and The Conquering Sun. The album is called the same thing. It will be out April 15. You can pre-order it and get a download of the single Crater from the website. Crater brings some heat, like the rifferest roosterin' Stooges, pounding drums and crashing cymbals kicking down your door. Some of the pics on the band's site even glow with that red-orange fire like on the Stooges' Fun house album cover. Oh, and your picture might be on the album cover, you better check. Interestinger and interestinger.

What Scruffy Loved Listening to This Year, Pt. 4

Everyone's got a best of the year list. Sorry, not here. But you do get a bunch of music that I loved in the past year (some of which may have been released prior to 2010, I don't care), some of which I've blogged about already, and some of which I didn't get around to sharing with you. So here it is, Part Four (and of course by This Year I mean last year).


One thing I listened to a lot is various stuff from captains dead. The guy who blogs under the psychedelic skull with the vinyl halo doesn't try to dazzle with words, just speaks his mind briefly and lets the music do the talking. And singing, whispering, screaming, humming, crying, and so on. Guided by Voices, Twilight Singers, The Replacements, Matthew Sweet are mixed with newer acts I've come to love like Ox. No hipper-than-thou vibe here, the same tunes and artists hyped on every other blog won't be found here, but oftimes a rock combo you don't expect shows up.

The Dodos' Fables is not a new song, in fact their new album will be out March 15, but it's still rattling around my head.

The Dodos - Fables by elysse

Gord Downie & the Country of Miracles' The East Wind threw quickly-strummed percussive acoustics at us, added snappy drums, topped it with a tasty twangy guitar line, then layered on some more shimmery, shaky sounds (I know not what, exactly), covered it with a short, sharp chorus that may be the catchiest in Downie's repertoire, and ended up with a shivery, danceable radio hit. Or a drunken sea shanty for landlubbers and pirates alike. Huh.



Adam Franklin and Bolts of Melody gave us the sublime Yesterday Has Gone Forever (from the album I Could Sleep for a Thousand Years), which nods back to his days fronting shoegazers Swervedriver, but also winks at Teenage Fanclub's Bandwagonesque era, too. Get it free by going to his site. Beauty.

Yesterday Has Gone Forever - Adam Franklin & Bolts of Melody by scruffy the yak



'Nother cool blog Herohill put together Herohill and Oates, which ain't Christmasy at all but is all about artists (mostly Canadian?) covering Hall and Oates. Scruffy faves Brian Dunn and Ox contributed tracks.

Imaginary Cities did not put out an official release yet, but the Hummingbird EP will be out on Grand Hotel Van Cleef Records on January 14th, and the full length album will be out February 22 in Canada on Hidden Pony records.

Imaginary Cities - Temporary Resident by goodsouldept

Japandroids' Art Czars single starts so abrasive, yet hooked me in with bare bones rock and roll. "Here's yer money back, here's yer punk rock back!"

Japandroids - Art Czars by Somethingfortheweekend

Winnipeg's Les Jupes' tune Myth # 3 (The Mountain) was a late addition, with dramatic vocals over a careening carnival keyboard ride

01 Myth #3 (The Mountain) by Les Jupes

Saw some lukewarm reviews for the Freedy Johnston single Don't Fall in Love With a Lonely Girl, but it's prime powerpop to me. Get it free by going here.

La Roux might be the artist most unlikely to be suggested by Scruffy, but that chorus is the catchiest thing going, acoustic or not.

La Roux - Bulletproof by rodeoclown

La Roux "Bulletproof (Acoustic Version)" by OnTheRecord



Music Ruined My Life is a meticulously-researched, impassioned blog, mostly about artists of yesteryore, but sometimes featuring newer troubadours. More punk than you can shake a stick at, more power-pop than you can eat at once, still managing to unearth hard to find boots or rare treats from Springsteen, Dylan, Strummer, Graham Parker, Billy Bragg, DOA, Jerry Jerry, Jason & the Scorchers, Elvis Costello, and so on. Consistently one of the best blogs out there.



The fine Muzzle of Bees blog dropped Wisco, a Wisconsin tribute to Wilco's Summerteeth album. Strange and amazing.

Ottawan Chris Page gave the world a joyous ode in Two Twenty Twos.

Chris Page-Two Twenty Twos by scruffy the yak



The Rowdymen released a fine record, Gas, Liquor and Fireworks, and didn't get the kudos. No one should write songs this good and not get recognized.

The Rowdymen - Ode to Possum



The Rowdymen - Rode Hard



The Shins didn't put out an album this year, but this wistful take on Squeeze's Goodbye Girl turned my crank.

Goodbye Girl - The Shins (Levi's Pioneer Sessions Revival Recordings) by nealroscoe

The Soft Pack. C'mon! I still haven't decided if I like the band name The Soft Pack, but I definitely enjoy the hurry-up-and-get-down vibe, and the chorus says it all. Two minutes thirteen seconds of fuzzy energy and crashing cymbals bliss, who needs Red Bull?

The Soft Pack by The Soft Pack

Call Superchunk's Digging For Something a comeback if you want, it's even more hooky, well-produced angsty lovable yelps. Dancin' on the propane tank, indeed. Oh oh oh!

SUPERCHUNK- Digging for Something by goripack

Teenage Fanclub are still sweet. Baby Lee proves it, chiming guitars, easy harmonies, done.

Teenage Fanclub - Baby Lee by dtamba

Young Rival are still putting out the indie guitar rock Scruffy is a sucker for, and they know it.

Young Rival - Got What You Need by Alexandre Diogo

So there you have it. Honourable mentions go to Hanson for their cover of Radiohead's Optimistic, Jason & the Scorchers return with Moonshine Guy, The Afterbeat's Unity, Alex Gruenberg's Hey Katy Hey, and Luke Doucet's The Ballad of Ian Curtis. If you didn't like anything Scruffy recommended in this series of four posts, you are in the wrong place. Go print out the yak at the top of the post and get your crayons out, there won't be anything for you here. If there was anything for you, feel free to leave a comment, that's what the comments section is for, and my dogs appreciate it.

For 2011, Scruffy's looking forward to (or hoping for) new R.E.M., Sons of York, The Cars, Scott Nolan, Urge Overkill, Apex Manor, Crooked Fingers, Buffalo Tom, Quinzy, Robyn Hitchcock, Rupert Hine, Wilco, Matt Epp, Ox, JP Hoe, Pixies, and The Watchmen. Okay, so we'll probably never see the last two, but I can still hope.

The Alphabet

photo used under Creative Commons by fedecomite


A is for Albatross, not just an old Monty Python catchword, but a nifty litle tune from the new Besnard Lakes disc, The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night.



The Besnard Lakes-Albatross by inertiamusic



B is for Bad Religion, who celebrate 30 years of corrosive yet melodic punk. A live album is your for the asking, go here.

C is for C'mon by The Soft Pack.

The Soft Pack by The Soft Pack

D is for Dio. And Tenacious D.







E is for Elephant Stone. Because everyone loves a gratuitous Rickenbacker shot.



F is for Flaming Groovies. Is this the best power pop song ever?



G is for Gord Downie, the last Renaissance Man.



H is for Hoodoo Gurus, back with a new album and a poking-fun-at-Metallica video.

Hoodoo Gurus - Crackin' Up [Official Video] from Hoodoo Gurus on Vimeo.

I is for Infinite Arms, the new album from Band of Horses. You can also check out thee band's newest video, For Annabelle, here, as well as hearing the whole thing.

J is for Jim Kerr and his new thing, Lostboy. Get a free download here.




K is for Kathryn Calder (New Pornographers, Immaculate Machine), who will be releasing her debut solo record Are You My Mother? on August 3rd. Cool-lookin' cat, huh?



Kathryn Calder- Slip Away by scruffy the yak

L is for Lefty by Wheat Pool. Walking in high heels in the snow, big white sky, Manitoba mention in the lyrics - that's the prairies.



M is for Martha and the Muffins - Mess. It ain't Echo Beach, or even Danseparc, but it's all right for a comeback single.




N is for New Inheritors, the song Wintersleep want you to stick on a mixtape.

O is for Orono by The Wilderness of Manitoba. Of course, the band's from Toronto, not the keystone province, but The Wilderness of Ontario was not rustic or romantic enough for a nom de plume. I'm guessing.

THE WILDERNESS OF MANITOBA - Orono Park from Mitch Fillion on Vimeo.

P is for The Police. The always fine Music Ruined My Life blog has given us a series of posts sharing earlier stuff, and it is good, very good.



Q is for Queensryche. And Dio.





R is for Rome by Dog Day, dreamy indie-pop with a pretty little zombie video. Why are zombies so popular these days? Recently, a couple of kids in my grade 10 English class tried to sneak zombies into every conversation and every assignment. Although I'm not one of those zombie-obssessed fellows, my reading material has taken on a living dead bent lately. John Ajvide Lindqvist, the author of Let the Right One In, has written a thankfully unique take on coming back to life, Handling the Undead. I recommend it. I also picked up The Dylan Dog Case Files, which weirdly enough contains a scene in which a stereotypical "punk" band plays Somebody Super Like You from the Phantom of the Paradise soundtrack.

Rome - DOG DAY from Seth Smith on Vimeo.

S is for San Antone by White Oklahoma Cowbell. Free download here.



T is for Winnipeg's The Telepathic Butterflies. From the new album out June 15, Wow & Flutter!, here's Circle Man, as well as A Scathing Report from 2008's Breakfast in Suburbia.

The Telepathic Butterflies-Circle Man by scruffy the yak

Telepathic Butterflies - A Scathing Report by Skeebop

U is for ukelele and Sanfordandsongs's bluegrass blitz.





W is for When Will This Heartache End from the upcoming (June 1st) reissue of The Blue Shadows record On the Floor of Heaven. You remember Winnipeg's Jeffrey Hatcher, don't you? Billy Cowsill? These guys were both ahead of their time and excellent revivalists, I hope they get noticed this time around.

The Blue Shadows-When Will This Heartache End by scruffy the yak

X is for the Goo Goo Dolls Extended available from the aforementioned Music Ruined My Life blog. Covers of I wanna Destroy You by the Soft Boys, Hit or Miss by The Damned, a couple more good ones and a couple I'm not sure about - tell me what you think.

Y is for a Free Yep roc sampler featuring:

1. The Apples in Stereo - Atom Bomb
2. Chuck Prophet - Bring On The Love
3. Bell X1 - The Snowman
4. Peggy Sue - Alice In The Kitchen
5. Dave Alvin - Krazy and Ignatz
6. John Doe - The Big Blue House
7. Liam Finn - I Will Explode
8. Drink Up Buttercup - King Day
9. Paul Weller - Rise and Fall
10. Los Straitjackets - Twist and Slide
11. Reckless Kelly - Pickin' Up Cans
12. Robyn Hitchcock - No Way Out of Time
13. The Gourds - Drunk Song



Z is for ZZ Top.



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