21 April 2022 - Tracy Bonham - The One

I own The Burdens of Being Upright, which was Tracy Bonham's debut album.  I know when and where I bought it.  

March 12, 1997, Circuit City, Henrietta NY.  

I still almost forgot this song existed, and that's a shame, because it's a great song. It opens with some manic VIOLIN playing by Bonham, and ping-pongs between noise-filled frenzy and quiet thoughtful verses.  It is a nearly perfect and criminally overlooked song.

20 April 2022 - Curve - Already Yours

One of the biggest absences from Spotify, in my opinion is Curve's debut album, Doppelgänger.  It is a brilliant, grungy album that was overshadowed by others in its time - but it was ahead of its time.  

Co-written by Toni Halliday and Dean Garcia, who were Curve, this was the lead track from that album - and it hits in the face with its combination of overwhelming power-pop and gothic undertones.  Unlike other bands in the "shoegaze" genre that was so popular in the early 1990s, Toni Halliday's vocal is right out front, not at all mumbled. 

19 April 2022 - Roky Erickson - Don't Slander Me

Roky Erickson was a pioneer of psychedelic music and founded a band called the 13th Floor Elevators, who were true pioneers.  

Then he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.  Which was probably a boon to his music and the lyrical imagery, but did cause a lot of personal problems for him.  

He did get treatment, and his musical career never stopped.  In 1982, he recorded a solo album called Don't Slander Me. This, the title song, is one of my favorites by him.  This performance is one he did with a reunited 13th Floor Elevators.  

18 April 2022 - Missy Higgins - Secret

Wicked Guilty Pleasures had been running at a breakneck pace for almost two years straight.  So we took a little break.

But we're back now.

And we're going to pull out this song, which was covered by both Billie Eilish and Maisy Stella.  If you are familiar with those covers (and they're on Totally Covered, so why aren't you?!), you'll notice that Higgins sings it in a different key - and the song is actually simpler than those two ladies made it.  There's only a few chords that make up this extremely sparse song (the original recording is only a little less sparse).  

Lyrically, it's so rich and powerful to hear it from the songwriter.

14 April 2022 - k-os - No Bucks

Since I'm doing a bad job at writing this blog, I have to dip into my #MapleLeafMarch candy bag.  So, here you go.

Do you get the feeling that k-os wants to say a different word than "bucks"?

Well, that's not really his style.  The Canadian rapper (born Kevin Brereton) would rather reference hockey pucks than swear.  And his knowledge of self (k-os - get it?) has served him well over his long career.  

So, enjoy Kevin's original sound (there's that k-os again).

6 April 2022 - Cœur de Pirate - Crier Tout Bas

I had this one song, "Crier Tout Bas", that I wrote a long time ago.  It talks about depression; it talks about opening up a conversation with somebody when you're feeling down and low and, I think, after the Paris attacks, that song took a different meaning to me.  I would see people at shows, because, you know, we toured right after that happened, and I would see people at shows comforting themselves in that song, even though it didn't really talk about that. So, I mean, that's the beauty of it, that's the beauty of feeling strongly about certain issues. You know, you get to actually navigate through them through your music without specifically talking about them. - Béatrice Martin

4 April 2022 - Fairground Attraction - Perfect

While writing a bunch of stuff for Maple Leaf March, I stumbled upon a cover of this song by The Stellas, and I went to link to my existing "Perfect" post.

Turns out, I had never posted this absolutely delightful song, ever.  It was a throwback in 1988 when it was originally released, and it has a timeless sound that endures today.  Eddi Reader's vocal is unique, and the band from a different era.

Fairground Attraction didn't last long, mostly because Eddi was just too big a talent to be contained.  That doesn't mean she turned her back on her old songs.... this is a performance from 2020.