🎶 Notes on Notes (2021–03–03)

Kickstart my rock ‘n roll heart.

So depending on the recipient, at times these notes can seem like a love letter to Canadian musicians or like a deluge from a whole new music scene that’s yours to discover. These notes aren’t wholly Canadian - but they more than meet the CanCon broadcast requirements. I’ve noticed a tendency in a lot of notes (this one included) where I’m referring to other Canadian musicians for comparison and if you’re in the former group that’s not a problem, but if you’re in the latter… having a band you’ve never heard of compared to another band you’ve never heard of might present a bit a problem. I’ll do my best to ease up on the comparisons.

👀 Goings On About Music

Let us take a look at some new(ish) albums and singles…

💿 Albums

• Charlie Hickey - Count the Stairs ( Apple | Spotify )

  • At some point I’m going to have to acknowledge that Phoebe Bridgers is my undisputed new favourite artist. She keeps popping up during my media consumption travels online. The SNL performances, discovering Punisher way too late, and having the YouTube algorithm suggest a great, but not really recent, cover of Fake Plastic Trees with Arlo Parks. Then I heard the song Ten Feet Tall by Charlie Hickey a week or two ago and it grabbed me immediately. I couldn’t quite place the era or the bands, but something about the vocals and music reminded me of music I used to listen to. I later learned that Pheobe Bridgers sings some backing vocals as well. The rest of the album was very enjoyable. It’s a bit slow, but not in a depressing way, and definitely folksy.

• Julien Baker - Little Oblivions ( Apple | Spotify )

  • I’d entertain a debate about whether this is a net positive or negative, but one of the best ways we tend to understand things is by comparing them to things we already know. When I included a single from Julien Baker earlier this year I compared their music path with Dallas Green in terms of starting with a sparse singer + guitar sound and fleshing it out with a full band. Listening to the rest of the album now, it seems to hold true. There are some stripped down piano-only tracks, and Heatwave features a very cool theremin-sounding keyboard, but overall it’s just a nice progression to a more full sounding record.

🎵 Tracks

• Motorbike James - Automatic

  • I used to go to a lot of concerts - not the Ticketmaster-arena-tour kind of shows, but small-to-medium sized bands in bars and clubs for $10-$30. I was so into that scene that I actually attended a true “house show” - twice! - where I saw bands play in someone’s actual house. One of those times was for a band named Winter Gloves. When I heard this Motorbike James song, I immediately thought of them. They both have that same crisp-yet-bubbly keyboard sound and they both know when to amp it up with some chugging guitar. This track came out of nowhere for me and now I can hardly wait for the full album.

• Madisyn Gifford - Voulez-Vous

  • Now this track gets me back into my other wheel house. Aside from quote-unquote indie music, female-led power pop is my other jam. No cap, as the kids say. Madisyn Gifford only has two singles and it sounds like they are working towards an album in the near future. I liked the synthesized brassy keyboards on this and the not-quite-but-similar-to-Amy-Whinehouse old-timey vocal style.

• Skullcrusher - Song for Nick Drake

  • Do you ever get stuck in a YouTube loop of videos and then have your entire recommendation algorithm push you further and further down that path? This isn’t quite the same, but lately it feels like I’m surrounded by young musicians who grew up on a whole genre of introspective singer songwriters that I have very limited experience with. Nick Drake, Sufjan Stevens, and Elliott Smith to name a few. Even with my limited experience, I can hear the influences but I don’t think I’ve come across something as direct as this song that is effectively being sung to Nick Drake. It’s interesting and I suspect for someone better versed in the source material, it would be even more enjoyable. Now if you want to talk about Heart Songs by Weezer, or A Praise Chorus by Jimmy Eat World, then I can relate.

🎧 In My Queue

I’ve got a dozen or so random tracks that I’ve been playing the last week or two but there were also another handful of singles from upcoming albums that I’ve spent some time with. I’ll try my best to keep these playlists under ten tracks so they are manageable but it might be a challenge.

Can a song be mellow and make you tap your toes? The answer is yes and it’s What’s The Point? by beaux. I almost wrote off Ritt Momney for the silly reason that I struggled to pronounce the name. Glad I didn’t because inspite of that uniquely-my-problem obstacle, I’ve enjoyed the sampling of tracks I’ve listened to and the mellow vibe fits with the rest of the tracks this week.

1. Rostam - These Kids We Knoew

2. Ritt Momney - Not Around

3. Julien Baker - Favor

4. Skillcrusher - Song for Nick Drake

5. Motorbike James - Automatic

6. Madisyn Gifford - Voulez-Vous

7. beaux - What’s The Point?

8. Charlie Hickey - Ten Feet Tall

Subscribe to the In My Queue playlist on Apple Music or Spotify. It’s updated weekly with the new tracks.

You can also find just this week’s playlist on Apple Music or Spotify in a version that won’t change week-to-week.

Check out my profile on Apple Music.

🤘.