The first week of my staycation is alsmost over and so far I haven't experienced anything even remotely like this:
I'm not a greedy man, so I don't need to have five bathing beauties with big 80s hair to consider my vacation well-spent. Two would suffice.
Maybe the fact that I've mostly been relaxing around my neighbourhood and working on Dynamic Range Radio's playlist has prevented me from experincing summer romance or fun in the sun. I also felt lousy and barely left my apartment for the first few days so that didn't help matters any.
The good news for you listeners is that I set myself a target of adding at least fourteen hours of music to the playlist during my staycation. An hour per day is not that difficult when I'm able to dedicate myself to the station full-time, and it hasn't felt like work at all. It's something I haven't had much time to do lately so I'm actually enjoying it. Not as much as I would enjoy spending time with a young Jane Wiedlin, but you can't have everything.
Everybody sing along now:
Staycation, not quite what I wanted
Staycation, can't afford to get away
Staycation, guess I'll just stay at home
I've been waving the Canadian flag a lot lately in honour of Canada Day, but I didn't want my American listeners to feel left out, so here's a classic piece of Americana given a modern twist by a true American hero, Neil Young.
(Just kidding. Neil Young is Canadian, but us Canucks enjoy a bit of Americana now and then as well.)
Despite the occasional break in the clouds, here in Vancouver the weather this June has been pretty dismal, earning the nickname Juneuary. Now that it's officially over, here's one last parting shot at a regrettable, forgettable month.
Good riddance, Juneuary. You sucked, and no one will miss you. Hopefully July will offer a few sunny afternoons. Here's two classics from the Kinks to send you on your way...
Canada Day is right around the corner, so I thought I'd put together another Canada Day playlist, pulling the best I could find from YouTube.
I then decided to focus on my favourite Canadian music videos from the 80s, because every time I start searching on YouTube I inevitably find something that sends me on a nostalgic journey into the past.
YouTube is to today's kids what MuchMusic was to me in the 80s, so consider this playlist a tribute to the glory days of The Nation's Music Station, which was MuchMusic's awesome slogan at the time. I wonder if they're still using that one, because it's a slogan I would happily steal.
This playlist includes a few songs that will be familiar to regular listeners of Dynamic Range Radio, but I also included a bunch of rarities that I haven't been able to find anywhere apart from YouTube. There's also a bit of the inevitable 80s cheese that I would feel a bit guilty playing as part of the regular rotation. And because Dynamic Range Radio is an eclectic station, I threw in a couple of modern songs at the end of this playlist that are very much inspired by the sounds of the 80s.
As usual, I apologize for the poor quality of some of these YouTube videos, and the occasional fluctuations in volume. Those are things I avoid on Dynamic Range Radio, so if you're new here I recommend tuning in after listening to this playlist and I hope you'll hear the difference.
And if you want to hear my first Canada Day Playlist featuring a wide array of artists from different decades, click here.
In honour of Father's Day, here's my Dad's favourite song, "Someone's In The Kitchen With Dinah".
My Father only knew two songs, which he would start singing at random times for no apparent reason. This was one of them, and the other was "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth."
I did not inherit my Dad's taste in music, but some of his absurd sense of humour did get passed on to me.
Apparently there are several other verses to the song, but my Dad only ever knew the one, so this is just how I remember it.
There must have been a secret meeting among all bands with the word "big" in their name because three of them have decided to reunite over the past few months.
First up was Big Audio Dynamite, Mick Jones' first project after he left the Clash, who reunited for a tour in 2011. As far as I know there are no plans to record any new material, so here's a decent quality live video of B.A.D. performing two of their better known songs.
Grade: B+
Big Sugar are one of my favourite Canadian bands of all-time, and Gordie Johnson had recorded several decent albums with his Texas-based side project Grady, so I had slightly higher hopes for this reunion than most, but my general feeling that lightning rarely strikes twice seems to have held true again.
All the pieces of the puzzle are here, but I feel like the inspiration is missing. It's as if Big Sugar's biggest hits were fed into a computer program that spat out Roads Ahead as an amalgam of all the band's biggest successes.
Grade: B-
And finally, here's something I never thought I'd have the chance to say again: Big Country have a new single out. Sort of.
I don't care what anyone says, as far as I'm concerned this new project is not Big Country. The idea of Big Country without Stuart Adamson is akin to Nirvana without Kurt Cobain.
If the surviving members of Big Country want to work with Mike Peters on new material, more power to them, but they shouldn't be using the name. I think this new project would be taken more seriously and would carry a lot less emotional baggage if it were operating under a new name, ala Audioslave or Foo Fighters.
I know there are many Big Country fans, myself included, who will never accept Big Country without Stuart Adamson, and there must be a lot of Mike Peters fans who would much rather see an Alarm reunion.
Grade: C+
(If the band were using a different name I might have given this a B.)
It looks like my feeble attempt to convince people on Twitter that BC Day actually refers to Burton Cummings Day has been futile, but every good meme has to start somewhere so here's Burt and his bandmates in their pre-mustache prime.
Since Burton Cummings Day isn't catching on just yet, here's something to help you celebrate the old-fashioned, passe holiday some uncool people still refer to as British Columbia Day.
I don't have a lot of time to revamp last year's Canada Day playlist, so here it is again with a few surpries thrown into the mix.
Clicking play will take you through the videos one by one, and you can read my commentary on each song if you scroll down. And if want even more videos, check out my Canada Day Playlist - 80s Edition.
"Oh Canada" - Big Sugar
Few bands wore their Canadian pride on their sleeves quite like Big Sugar. They even went so far as to re-record their final album with French lyrics for the Quebec market. That disc, "Brothers And Sisters Are You Ready?", also featured their version of "Oh Canada", which was obviously inspired by Jimi Hendrix's performance of "The Star Spangled Banner". This live version comes from the Mike Dullard Show, but you can poke around YouTube to find the studio version as well as Gordie Johnson performing the anthems at the opening of an NHL game.
"Big League" - Tom Cochrane & Red Rider
Before Tom Cochrane found worldwide MOR success with Life Is A Highway, he was successful on the homefront thanks to his years fronting the band Red Rider. What could be more Canadian than this story of a small town boy practicing hockey every morning with hopes of escaping a cold, dead-end town by making it to the NHL. And in typical Canadian fashion, Cochrane doesn't tack a Hollywood ending on to the story, making it all the more poignant.
"Gold In Them Hills" - Ron Sexsmith
If respect from your peers lead to album sales, Ron Sexsmith would be a billionaire by now. Elvis Costello once appeared on the cover of Q magazine holding up a Ron Sexsmith album, K.D. Lang covered one of Sexsmith's songs on her "Hymns Of The 49th Parallel" CD, and other artists regularly mention him as one of the greatest songwriters working today. Alas, not even guest vocals from Coldplay's Chris Martin on this track could help Sexsmith cross over into the mainstream.
"Hallelujah" - K.D. Lang
Speaking of great Canadian songwriters and K.D. Lang, here's her version of Leonard Cohen's oft-covered classic, "Hallelujah". I must admit that I liked K.D. Lang a lot better when she was confusing the crap out of country music fans everywhere, and even though everyone and their dog has recorded a version of this song by now, I must admit that she nailed it during this live performance at the Junos.
"Dance Me To The End Of Love" - Leonard Cohen
Speaking of the man, here he is with one of own distinctively eccentric performances. In many ways, Leonard Cohen is Canada's answer to Tom Waits. Both have voices guaranteed to alienate 97% of the human population, but their status as songwriting geniuses can not be denied, which is why both of them have been covered so many times. Note to Scarlett Johansson: don't even think about it!
"Fiddle Medley" - Ashley MacIsaac
From one of the country's most noted wordsmiths, we move on to a gifted instrumentalist. Ashley MacIsaac was a child prodigy on the fiddle, and this clip shows both sides of his musical personality at the peak of his powers. Like many child prodigies, the early adulation went to his head and his career quickly imploded, but "Hi, How Are You Today?" remains essential listening, and his early traditional albums are very fine indeed if you're into that sort of thing.
"Something To live For" - Barney Bentall & The Legendary Hearts
If Barney Bentall could have continued writing songs like this and the equally wonderful "Come Back To Me", he would have been huge. This song has all the best elements of Bruce Springsteen while replacing the bombast with an easy-going, West Coast charm. For whatever reason, none of Bentall's later work made much of an impact, and now he's just one of the million Bobby's across this land who used to have real big plans. Still, his family's stinking rich, so I can't feel too sorry for him.
"Anna Is A Speed Freak" - Pure
Pure were a terrific Vancouver band who were probably too eclectic and unpredictable for their own good. Their first full length was produced by Jerry Harrison of the Talking Heads and drew upon the dance rock sound coming from the UK. Their next album brought some incredibly meaty guitar riffs to the forefront, and songs like "Anna" and "Denial" got heavy airplay on modern rock radio here in Vancouver. Their next album tried to combine elements from both previous efforts, and even though I enjoyed each of their albums very much, success had eluded the band. They called it a career soon thereafter, but "Generation 6-Pack" remains one of my favourite Canadian albums of all time.
"Have Not Been The Same" - Slow
For such a short-lived band, Slow certainly had an eventful and memorable career. After one single and an EP on a local indie label, the band managed to start a riot at Expo 86, nearly got arrested, and broke up soon thereafter. You can read all about it on their Wiki page, and you'll also get an idea of how they became a benchmark for indie cool in Canada. And I'm not saying that Slow invented grunge, but considering that this was released in 1985 and that Seattle is only 100 miles away, there may have been an influence there.
"Rebellion (Lies)" - The Arcade Fire
Just to prove I'm not completely stuck in the past, I added my favourite song from The Arcade Fire, one of the hottest, hippest indie bands on the planet. They hail from Montreal, and they're one of the main reasons the international press has focused on Montreal as a scene in much the same way they focused on Seattle during the grunge era.
"Take Me To The Riot" - Stars
It used to be so easy to make fun of pop music from Quebec. It used to be all about Roch Voisine, Mitsou, and Men Without Hats, with the occasional decent song from the likes of the Doughboys. But now, thanks to bands like the aforementioned Arcade Fire, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Wolf Parade, The Stills, Broken Social Scene, and Stars, Quebec can almost be forgiven for unleashing Celine Dion on us. Almost.
"Viewmaster" - Eric's Trip
When a band takes their name from a Sonic Youth song, what would you expect them to sound like? If you said "Sonic Youth" you'd be correct. Eric's Trip is the only band on this list that hails from my home province of New Brunswick, and for that they'll always have a special place in heart. You see, when I was a kid, nothing cool had ever come out of New Brunswick, and Eric's Trip threatened to change all that. It never quite happened, but Viewmaster remains a favourite to this day.
"Last American Exit" - The Tragically Hip
It just wouldn't be Canada Day without the Hip. If you're not from Canada, you can't appreciate just how iconic this band is at home. They've had at least two albums awarded Diamond status, which means they've each moved a million units in Canada, where the population is just 33 million. And yet, despite selling out stadiums nation-wide, the band is still respected by critics and hipsters from coast to coast. There are probably people in Canada who hate the Hip, but they usually don't dare admit it in public. I was a bit surprised when this track was excluded from the Hip's Greatest Hits CD, "Yer Favourites". This song came from their debut EP, which wasn't a big hit, but I clearly remember the video getting lots of airplay on MuchMusic back in the day. It's not the greatest song they've ever done, but certainly one of the most patriotic.
"Hockey Night In Canada Theme"
I started this off with "Oh Canada", so it's only appropriate that I finish with our unofficial national anthem. When I first heard that the CBC was no longer willing to pay for the rights to the HNIC theme, I initially thought that it was a typical CBC blunder, doing away with one of the few things on the network that the average Canadian actually enjoys. But, later, I realized that the CBC was probably doing the right thing since that weekly dose of nostalgia isn't worth spending a ton of taxpayer money on. And now that the privately owned CTV has picked up the theme, the melody will live on and it didn't cost any of us a dime.
Well, that's the end of the playlist. If you listened to the whole thing, your ears are probably hurting from the horrible sound quality featured on most YouTube videos. I'll bet you wish there was a place online where you could listen to great music with sound quality that's vastly superior to what's offered by YouTube or conventional radio.
Dynamic Range Radio is one of the few radio stations, internet or otherwise, that adds no dynamic range compression to its audio signal. To learn more about what this means and why I think Dynamic Range Radio offers the best sound quality possible, watch this video:
Dynamic Range Radio is pleased to announce its third annual Halloween broadcast which will begin at one minute after midnight on October 1st and repeat for the entire month leading up to Halloween.
You can read the official press release here, spread the word on Facebook by clicking here, or visit the Last.FM page dedicated to the Halloween show by clicking here.
If you tuned in last year you have some idea of what to expect, and I've added more than three hours worth of new music to the mix to keep things fresh.
To read a recap of the previous Halloween broadcasts, click here, and to get you into the mood, here's a selection of videos from YouTube to give you an idea what you'll be hearing once the Halloween broadcast is up and running.
As always, I apologize for the extremely poor sound and video quality offered by YouTube. Tune in to my Halloween show, or my normal broadcast, and I think you'll hear the difference.
And if you like what you hear, and if you can afford to lend some support to independent, commercial-free radio, then please consider dropping a few dollars in my tip jar. Just look for the PayPal icons on the left-hand side of the page.
Or take advantage of Amazon.com's special Halloween offer and I'll receive a small commission on whatever you purchase.
Arcade Fire - Keep the Car Running I was initially unimpressed by the album Neon Bible, so I set it aside and didn't listen to it for a long time afterwards. My disappointment was partly due to the endless adulation the band was receiving from Canadian critics, and I saw the re-recording of No Cars Go as a sign that the band was running out of ideas. After the hype had died down, I heard Keep The Car Running on some other station and saw it in a whole new light. I'll have to re-visit the album one of these days.
Bloc Party - Hunting For Witches The first time I saw a Bloc Party video I was quite surprised to learn that their lead singer was black. It's not a racial thing, but when I hear a band I tend to form a rough image in my mind of what the singer looks like, and Kele Okereke's voice made me think of a stereotypical skinny, pale, greasy-haired Brit like Jarvis Cocker. It's similar to years ago when I first heard the Eurythmics and imagined Annie Lennox as a sultry platinum blonde diva, only to be stunned by her bright orange closely-cropped haircut and men's suits. What does this have to do with anything? The riff from Hunting For Witches does sound a bit like Sweet Dreams if you think about it.
Bat For Lashes - What's A Girl To Do? In addition to being one the best songs of the year, this is my choice for the best video of the year, as I mentioned a few days ago. There are quite a few terrific songs on the album Fur And Gold, so Bat For Lashes just might be around for years to come, although I am concerned about Natasha Khan's safety. If you're being stalked by the rabbit from Donnie Darko and his cohorts, I think a bike helmet would be in order .
The White Stripes - Icky Thump I could have just as easily put You Don't Know What Love Is on this list instead, but I decided to go with the title track just for the hell of it. Jack White is a twisted kind of genius, and no offense to the other guys in the Raconteurs, but it seems like he does his best work with Meg at his side. She either brings out the best in him or simply doesn't get in his way. In either case, I'm glad that red and white were back in fashion this year.
Queens Of The Stone Age - Make It Wit Chu This was another tough choice because there were several other songs from this album I could have gone with, and plenty from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club as well. Maybe my comments for these last two songs have given away too much and revealed that neither of these tracks will be getting my vote. Maybe so, but they deserve to be nominated so don't let that influence your choice. You'll have to follow this link to watch the video because embedding has been disabled, which is ironic because there's a lot of embedding going on in the video.
Now that you're informed enough to make the most important decision of your life so far, you can click here to cast your vote for Song Of The Year as well as all the other categories in the first of what I hope to be many Dynammy Awards.
Dynamic Range Radio, your eclectic alternative, offers up its choice for the finest video of the year, What's A Girl To Do by Bat For Lashes.
I've been working on a Best Of 2007 feature, and when I tried to put together a list of the best videos I was having trouble coming up with five measly candidates. So I decided to cut my losses and honor Bat For Lashes for the only video that really caught my eye this year.
The lead singer, Natasha Khan, looks a lot like Lily Allen without the snotty attitude, and the video has a nice spooky quality which suits the song very well, and offers some unexpected twists along the way.
The staff here at Dynamic Range Radio (ie. me) doesn't pay much attention to videos anymore, so there may have been lots of great ones we missed. Feel free to point out any we may have overlooked.
Any stay tuned for the Best Of 2007 feature, coming sometime between now and the new year.
I was looking through my top artists list on Last.FM when I noticed that I haven't been playing nearly enough Concrete Blonde. I plan to remedy that situation in the coming weeks, but when I was going through my Concrete Blonde collection, I came across another track I'd love to play but probably shouldn't because of its rather obvious use of the "F" word. So that means it's time once again for Dynamic Range Radio After Hours.
I remember seeing the censored video for "Still In Hollywood" in regular rotation on Muchmusic several years before "Joey" captured the mainstream's attention, and it was one of my favourites back then. That riff is still one for the ages, but now that I'm much older and ostensibly wiser, the use of the "F" word in this song seems a bit forced and immature. It screams out "Look at us! We're cursing in our video! Aren't we edgy?" But I do love the elderly Jewish gentleman at the end. And seeing that this was released way back in 1986, you could probably make a case that Concrete Blonde was a major influence on the Seattle sound.
Now, here's the uncensored video in all its exuberant, youthful NSFWness.
I try to keep my playlist reasonably worksafe, which means that there are songs I love that I won't play on account of the lyrics. I'm far from a prude, but I'm well aware that more than 50% of internet radio listening is done from the office, so the last thing I'd want is for one of my listeners to get in trouble with their boss because of something that was played on my station. You'll still hear the occasional swear word on Dynamic Range Radio, but I try to avoid it as much as possible, especially when the obscenity is impossible to miss.
So when I come across a track like Beck's latest single "Timebomb" which has a very obvious obscenity at the beginning, and a couple of more subtle ones near the end, I'm torn. I love this track, but I probably shouldn't play it, so the best I can do is offer up a YouTube link here on the blog for those of you who haven't heard the song yet, and remind everyone that the lyrics are definitely not safe for work. Unless you have a really cool boss.
PS - This appears to a user generated video, and if so it's a pretty impressive piece of work. This is better many "official" videos I've seen.
After posting about Steve Earle's brilliant new track "Satellite Radio" a few days ago, I've just heard Bruce Springsteen's excellent new single "Radio Nowhere" and there are some interesting similarities to the lyrics. "Satellite Radio" is written from the POV of a DJ, a role that Steve Earle played for a few years on XM or Sirius or whatever they're calling themselves since the two corporations merged, and "Radio Nowhere" is from the perspective of a listener, but they both repeat variations on the phrase "is there anybody out there" several times. The Boss's track is more of a straight-ahead rocker while The Hardcore Troubadour's song is more musically inventive, but both tracks have excellent pounding rhythms and would make great driving songs.
Here's the official video for "Radio Nowhere", but I still can't find anything for "Satellite Radio", although Amazon does have a cool in-studio performance/interview clip featuring the song "City Of Immigrants", a terrific duet with his wife Alison Moorer. Yes, Steve Earle's wife is the stunning Alison Moorer. Have you seen what Steve Earle looks like these days? Watch the videoand be baffled. This relationship makes the Billy Joel/Cindy Crawford marriage seem perfectly natural.
Today I went looking to see if I could find a video for Steve Earle's brilliant new song Satellite Radio (no such luck) but I did stumble upon this excellent promo clip for Steve's outstanding 1996 album "I Feel Alright". This clip features bits from several of the album's best songs including the title track, "More Than I Can Do" and the chilling "CCKMP" (Cocaine Cannot Kill My Pain).
This was the first album of entirely new material Steve Earle recorded after being released from prison on drug charges, and you can hear his pent-up energy in every note. I couldn't recommend it more highly.
I've updated the blog with a nice, new layout that I like a lot more than the one I was using, plus I added in a bunch of cool new features like the Featured YouTube Videos and Google News Reel. If you notice any wee glitches, feel free to let me know, and I'll try to fix them ASAP.
And I may as well give a quick update on the station as long as I'm posting something.
I graduate from the self-employment course I'm taking on August 9th, and after that I'll be dedicating myself full-time (and then some) trying to make Dynamic Range Radio one of the leading stations in its genre. I've got until April to start earning a decent living from the station, and if I'm not, I'll be forced to take another soul-crushing, mind-numbing day job. Even if that happens, I'll still be working on DRR in my spare time, but I'd like to avoid going back to work for someone else if at all possible. I don't fit well into a corporate environment, so being my own boss is definitely the best thing for me and everyone around me.
Over the next few months I'll be doing a lot of work expanding the playlist so that it can go for at least a week without repeating. I'll also be developing new website features and implementing premium services for subscribing listeners. In the meanwhile, everyone has access to everything Dynamic Range Radio has to offer for free, but it won't always be that way, so enjoy it while it lasts. And if you've been enjoying the station so far, I sure would appreciate any money you could toss in my tip jar. The PayPal buttons over on the right are feeling lonely and neglected because nobody over uses them. Poor little PayPal buttons. Won't you ease their pain by making them feel useful and sending a little money through them?
, Mick Jones' first project after he left the Clash, who reunited for a tour in 2011. As far as I know there are no plans to record any new material, so here's a decent quality live video of B.A.D. performing two of their better known songs.
and be baffled. This relationship makes the Billy Joel/Cindy Crawford marriage seem perfectly natural.
