What Scruffy Loved Listening to This Year, Pt. 2

Everyone's got a best of the year list. Sorry, not here. But you do get a bunch of music that I loved this 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 to sharing. So here it is, Part Two, come on back for the next parts.

The Decemberists' new one The King is Dead ain't out until January 18, but single Down By the Water is already giving out goosebumps. Colin Meloy has been showing off his knack for melody for years, but add on Peter Buck imitating himself circa Fables and then Gillian Welch lending vocals? Nicely done.

The Decemberists -- Down By The Water by JoshApos

Nada Surf are always worth a listen, power pop for now people like you. An album of covers can be dodgy, but not this band's.

Nada Surf - Electrocution by Royalty Central



Winnipeg's Royal Canoe brought the humour, the falsettos, and the hip-shakin' back.

Royal Canoe - Kasparov by scruffy the yak



Sanford finally released songs I've had in my head for years, and actually they were better than I remembered them live. 'Pegger Rob Pachol is Sanford, and he told me he just recorded these tunes to get 'em out and done with. So no shows, no promo, and probably not a big following for this project, which is a shame.

Sanford - Complicated Shoes by scruffy the yak

School of Seven Bells told me I missed shoegaze. Huh. Guess I did.

School of Seven Bells - Babelonia by VagrantRecords

School Of Seven Bells - 'I L U' by stripeyjumper

Shout out Louds make passionate, classy pop. Unapologetically catchy, not joining the forced artiness brigade. Hard not to enjoy Shout Out Louds, don't you think?

04 Shout Out Louds Fall Hard by djeddieo

Shout Out Louds - Can't Explain by barbabajs

Shout Out Louds - Walls by The Muse In Music

Shout Out Louds - Show Me Something New from Ted Malmros on Vimeo.

Come oooooooooooooonnnnnn, leave a comment or two. come back for Part 3, too.

Recycling: Sanford, Brian Dunn, Wintersleep, Morning Benders

Okay, some problem with Soundcloud and Hype Machine and maybe even Blogger meant that barely anyone saw posts I dropped on Sanford, Brian Dunn, Wintersleep, and The Morning Benders. This pisses me off to no end, especially since the first three are Canadian artists that deserve attention. So I'm recycling. In fact, I'm also recycling some other mp3s that I think got missed by too many. If you already checked these songs out, thank you. If not, go to the original posts to get the full story and buying info. A real new post will follow soon.

Sanford - Complicated Shoes (phony drawl version)
Sanford - Complicated Shoes by scruffy the yak

Broken by Brian Dunn by scruffy the yak

Wintersleep -- Trace Decay by scruffy the yak

The Morning Benders - Big Echo by The Drift Record Shop

The Morning Benders - Dreams by dannon81

The Cold Wave - Clouded by scruffy the yak

Chris Page-Two Twenty Twos by scruffy the yak

The Parson Red Heads - Punctual As Usual by scruffy the yak

Oomalama by Eugenius by scruffy the yak

Buttermilk by Eugenius by scruffy the yak

Superchunk - Skip Steps 1 & 3 by scruffy the yak

Cruise Night by John K Samson by scruffy the yak

Royal Canoe-Me Loving Your Money by scruffy the yak

Scott Hinkson-A Miracle Complete by scruffy the yak

Kathryn Calder- Slip Away by scruffy the yak

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

The paperbacks-perpetual autumn by scruffy the yak

The paperbacks-a dizzy chain of bees by scruffy the yak

01 The Best Words - Red Vienna by scruffy the yak

Commetoujours by scruffy the yak

Halomary by scruffy the yak

Sanford: New E.P. - Exit Strategy

Five or so years ago, I went to see The Turnstiles open up for Joel Plaskett - or maybe it was The Paperbacks, how the hell am I supposed to rememeber these things? Fronted by Rob Pachol (The Telepathic Butterflies, The Wind-Ups, The Rowdymen, hell, almost everyone in Winnipeg's played with him) and Sean Buchanan (Western States, Jackpine), The Turnstiles seemed to create music that didn't know the 80's and 90's ever happened. Recording ensued, but Buchanan and Pachol refused to make anything available for public consumption, citing dissatisfaction with the sound. The band faded away into wherever it is that lost rock and roll goes, and the songs went along into the ether.

Fast-forward to now. Winnipeg's Sanford (AKA Rob Pachol) has finally released songs that have been waiting years and years to reach your ears. Backed by local stalwarts Chris Mama Bauer, Rejean Ricard, and Lloyd Peterson, the tunes are pretty difficult to describe, but what do you expect from a guy who lists Graham Parker and pre-beard Waylon Jennings in his list of influences? The Turnstiles sometimes recalled Gram Parsons or The Jayhawks, but Sanford probably fits better between The Long Ryders and Elvis Costello.

Sanford - Complicated Shoes (phony drawl version)
Sanford - Complicated Shoes by scruffy the yak

Buy it now in digital form at Cd Baby, iTunes doesn't have it yet but should soon.

The Telepathic Butterflies Wow, Flutter, Pop and Crackle

Not everyone has the time, inclination, ambition or guts to put that extra bit of time and work into their songs to make them timeless. And there's nothing wrong with recording live or bashing one out.

But Winnipeg's The Telepathic Butterflies have clearly put Herculean efforts into crafting the kind of songs and recordings that add up to more than just the sum of their parts. It's that kind of songcraft that made The Kinks great, The Who...you get where I'm going here, right? Telepathic Butterfly singer/songwriter/guitarist Réjean Ricard once felt strongly enough about a conversation I was having with a friend to jump in and correct my misconception about the one Nick Lowe song I didn't like; he seems like a scholar of rock, a fanatic about not just The Yardbirds and Buzzcocks but lesser-known greats such as Winnipeg's Grand Theft Canoe and The Flashing Lights. It shows in their music, a nod to past greats and future classics.

Go ahead and download away, hit the downwards arrow again and again, then buy their albums - come on, at least the new one, Wow & Flutter. Admit it, it's a brilliant blend of singalong harmonies, smart but not too clever lyrics, jagged and jangly gee-tar, and powerful secret weapon drums. And you know Rob Pachol is a shit-hot lead player - a spoonful of Mick Ronson, a dash of Rick Nielson, a cup of Paul Weller - give this chef his own show, for crying out loud. I've been listening to this band everyday for a while now, and so should you.


Three tracks from Wow & Flutter:

Circle Man

The Telepathic Butterflies-Circle Man by scruffy the yak

Between the Lines

Between the Lines - The Telepathic Butterflies by scruffy the yak

Aloha




Two tracks from Breakfast in Suburbia:

A Scathing Report

A Scathing Report - The Telepathic Butterflies by scruffy the yak

Telescope

Telescope - Telepathic Butterflies by scruffy the yak


Two tracks from Songs From a Second Wave

Bohemie

Bohemie - Telepathic Butterflies by scruffy the yak

The Cutting Elm

The Cutting Elm - Telepathic Butterflies by scruffy the yak


A track from The Telepathic Butterflies (self-titled):

A Final Word

A Final Word - Telepathic Butterflies by scruffy the yak

Need more? Listen to a whack of tracks here. Buy the music at any decent store or online retailer (or go here for now), or you can try Rainbow Quartz Records, the online store should be back up soon, I hope.