Entertainment

The Rewind Button: London Calling

by Reb Stevenson on May 11, 2012

The Rewind Button is a group blogging project instigated by Rachel Tynan. As part of her New Years’ Resolutions for 2012, she set out to listen to Rolling Stone’s top 50 albums of all time. I thought it would be fun if a group of bloggers listened to the same albums at the same time, then posted their reactions. Starting today, we’re going through the Top 40 and will be continuing with a new album every Thursday. Want to join in? We’d love to have you. Email me if you have a blog, or just offer up your two cents in my comments area below.

Last week’s album (I’m late due to travelling): London Calling (1979)

I didn’t listen to London Calling in London, but I got pretty close: I listened to it on a train cutting across the English countryside.

Did that help me connect with it? No. In fact, it was very much at odds with the sheep, green rolling hills and stately homes that greeted me beyond the window. This is an urban album. It makes me think of graffiti, tattoos and cement.

London Calling strikes me as the other side of England – the Trainspotting England. The council houses. The track suits.

And yet, despite the social commentary and the rebellious tone of the album, it’s so upbeat. That’s a typical English thing, one that Bill Bryson touches upon in Notes from a Small Island – a “this is bollocks but let’s make the best of it, mate” attitude that I really admire.

It’s funny, too, to think that this is “punk” when you hear that horn section rocking out in “The Right Profile.” Have a look at the hardcore, guitar-smashin’ cover image when the trumpets really kick off. If these guys are punks, they’re nice punks. Punks that you’d let babysit your kid.

London Calling is the type of album I’d have tried to force myself to like in high school. Something gritty enough to be cool but not so gritty it’s inaccessible to a middle class girl. It’s an album you could jump up and down to in your clunky Doc Martens without fearing you’ll be reduced to a pulp in the mosh pit. Like Rancid, a band that was obviously heavily influenced by The Clash. I recall feeling so relieved when I heard “Timebomb” on that Rancid tape.

Alas, now, as then, punk or any variation thereof doesn’t do it for me. Maybe I just prefer the countryside?

Fave Songs: Death or Glory and Lost in the Supermarket

Least Fave Song: The Guns of Brixton

Note: Better on the second listen.

Who else rewound London Calling?

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The Rewind Button: Exile on Main St.

by Reb Stevenson on April 27, 2012

The Rewind Button is a group blogging project instigated by Rachel Tynan. As part of her New Years’ Resolutions for 2012, she set out to listen to Rolling Stone’s top 50 albums of all time. I thought it would be fun if a group of bloggers listened to the same albums at the same time, then posted their reactions. Starting today, we’re going through the Top 40 and will be continuing with a new album every Thursday. Want to join in? We’d love to have you. Email me if you have a blog, or just offer up your two cents in my comments area below.

This week: Exile on Main St. (1972)

Last week, fellow blogger Rachel Doerksen wrote something funny about Marvin Gaye’s album.

She wrote:

I was ready for a full set of “whoa Rachel, why has it taken you this long to listen to this album?” Instead I got “whoa Rachel did you really just skip a song titled save the children?”

That’s how I feel about many of the albums on the list…that I’m waiting to be blown away by “the album that got away.” I imagine it would feel that way to see Ghostbusters for the first time in 2012. “Zuul, Keymaster, GOZER – where have you been all my life!?”

Alas…Exile on Main St shall stay in exile, at least for me.

The blues is not my co-pilot. I’ve never liked it, and I can’t imagine I ever will. I find it monotonous, masculine and masturbatory. The only Exile on Main St song I enjoyed to any degree was Sweet Virginia, because it sounded like you were eavesdropping on a casual house party and the singalong felt authentic. The oppressive heat rippling in through the open kitchen door was almost palpable. And that’s pretty awesome, considering they recorded it in France.

As for the rest of the album – I can’t even be bothered to carefully dissect it like some kind of jeans-with-blazer-wearing rock n’ roll academic because it’s just that aurally annoying.

The mix. THE MIX. It’s positively obnoxious, with horns and piano and a basic roadhouse drum beat regularly drowning out Mick Jagger’s vocals. I feel like I could stride into any given bar with blinking neon signs, motorbikes parked outside and an overripe blonde slut grooving alone on the dance floor and the band inside would be indistinguishable from this mess. And yet this is the 7th greatest album of all time, according to Rolling Stone?

Now, in case you’re wondering how the rankings came to be, here’s Rolling Stone’s description of the process:

An eclectic and stellar panel of experts — including the Rolling Stone editors, Fats Domino, Flea and Britney Spears — voted on the following albums, by everyone from Abba to ZZ Top, from Robert Johnson to the White Stripes, in 2003.

I suppose, as someone who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, I’m a bit miffed that every album we’ve heard so far was released in the ’60s and ’70s. For the record (or the CD, as it were) there are newer offerings in the top 500 – artists like No Doubt, Madonna and Pearl Jam. I know we should respect our elders, but it begs the question: is older automatically better?

Or do you think those ragged antiques Richards and Jagger just got extra points because their band bears the same name as the magazine, hmmm?

Listen along! Next week we’ll be chatting about: London Calling, The Clash

Who else rewound Exile on Main St.?

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A Good and Lovely Night

by Reb Stevenson on April 26, 2012

Last night, I took my Dad on a date to see The Good Lovelies perform at Hermann’s Jazz Club in Victoria.

You like them already, don’t you? That’s the thing – they selected such a winning band name that you’re smitten before they’ve even strummed a single chord. It’s like my aunt’s friend Candy. Did I ever meet Candy? Heck, no. I only her name come up in conversation. But there was no doubt in my mind that Candy was the nicest woman in the world.

Now, I dunno about Candy. But here’s the thing about The Good Lovelies: they do not disappoint. This Toronto-based trio is every bit as charming as the name implies.

Maybe even more charming. “The Good Perfect Lovely Enchantresses” might be a more fitting moniker.

I’d like to claim that I discovered The Lovelies when I used their song Lie Down in my 2009 YouTube video “Southern Cowlifornia,” (with permission, of course), but many, many have been seduced by their gorgeous three-part harmonies. In fact, they received a Juno in 2010 for Roots/Traditional Album of the Year.

Instead of me attempting to describe their sound, I shall now harness the power of the internet to create a virtual concert. Once again, I triumph over blogs that use the traditional quill and parchment method!

I’m sure you can gather that I’m also a huge fan of their style (ahoy, dresses!) and playful spirit! Look at their adorable publicity photos:

Last’s night show was A+++, and I was very pleased to see how much my dad enjoyed it. The girls even played a song about the Trans Canada highway, which was especially poignant for me, having just crawled along that beast for two weeks.

(Side note: I really dug the venue, which I was visiting for the first time. Hermann’s has a pleasant, hospitable vibe.)

(Side note on the side note: Wow, I just realized that “hospitable vibe” could easily be misread as “hospital vibe.” And despite what you may have heard about Victoria’s mean age, I assure you this wasn’t the case).

They also played a cover of this, a beloved NFB interstitial short that any of my Canadian peers should recall. The way the archival black and white footage turns into a cartoon – magic. Also…is it just me, or is log driving completely mental?! Somebody get these boys helmets and life jackets, stat.

Speaking of interstitial material, while their songs are great, what really impressed me last night was the banter. All three of The Lovelies – Kerri Ough, Caroline Brooks and “Lady” Sue Passmore, are absolutely hilarious! They regularly had the crowd in stitches.

And that, my friends, pleases this girl completely.

British friends please note: The Good Lovelies are off to please the UK in May! My Lewes friends are in for a special treat as they’re infiltrating the Elephant and Castle on May 23. Make me proud and show these ladies the Lewes love! See the complete gig list here.

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