Winter Blues Playlist

Every winter I find my self unintentionally coming back to the same songs/artists. While everyone goes to catchy big band holiday jungles, im always falling back into Darkwave and early Industrial. I recently thought about this when I stumbled across an old iPod I hadn't used in about 3 years. For some strange reason, without consciously thinking 'better get the winter blues playlist going again', it just happens. I bet it is just the most appropriate soundtrack for the freezing walk home from the bus station at about midnight after a long day at school or the horrible 45 minute walk home from your buddies (fuck you, I cant afford a cab). There is something strangely comforting in cold cavernous depressing songs that match the cold and depressing environment and attitudes of people around you during winter. Maybe its just me, I don't know, but these songs almost only ever get played on winter nights. I urge you (Pretty much I'm thinking specifically Ingham, Kyle and Gerry, fuck, maybe even Brent) to give this playlist a spin and share the feels. So here it is, another top 10, the winter blues playlist (songs for night).

10. Scorn - White Irises Blind: This song is downtempo eerie magic. Hands down my favourite song on the album and probably by the band. For some reason iv always associated this song with the movie Requiem For A Dream (presumably got into this record around the same time I saw the movie) and iv always associated that movie with winter (yay christmas spirit). The movie and song bring images of isolation to mind, which is perfect for a cold walk home in winter. That and it is also perfect if you feel like looking over your shoulder every 30 seconds, which this song makes you do.

9. Killing Joke - Love Like Blood: The guitar tone in this song and the opening riff literally remind me of the sound of shoes or boots on fresh packing snow. That kind of crunch you get right after a good heavy snow fall. The keys in the background also sound similar to the kind of weird whisper you hear on a windy winter night. Sound pretentious enough? Fuck you, get an imagination, thats what it sounds like. 

8. Joy Division - Autosuggestion: Joy Division? Seriously? What a hipster, so predictable. Well shut up, its a Joy Division song no one ever listens to or talks about.  Wait...fuck. That isn't helping my case.  This song needs little explanation as to why it would be a good winter blues mix. Ian Curtis was the living embodiment of the winter blues.

7. Ministry - The Angel: Here is one that was downloaded and listened to for about 3 seconds when I was a lot younger but some how never got deleted. I stumbled across this again around the same time I discovered Skinny Puppy, the winter of grade 12. The calming whisper like vocal delivery on this song makes it feel like some kind of dark winter lullaby, but also holds a hard enough beat to make you think you should be walking into some matrix like rave full of pale vampires and universities students souring off of E.




6. The Chameleons - Here Today: Ready for some more pretentious bile? Good. Its coming. The guitar chords that ring out overtop of the verses remind me of the thin layer of ice that appears on top of a thick layer of snow after a small bout of rain. You know the kind that was hard enough that when you were a kid you could run and slide across? Also have you noticed that these last 5 songs have heavy amounts of reverb on the drums? Thats gotta have something to do with it.

5. Dead Can Dance - The Cardinal Sin: This song for no particular reason reminds me of Russia, which reminds me of winter. That and it reminds me of the mission in Hitman 2 when you are in Russia and its snowing. Probably the classiest song on this playlist. It sounds like walking down a street in a very old upperclass neighbourhood where nobody has coloured christmas light, they only have the all white lights and then you walk into the house with wood floors, a wood fireplace made of river rock and a large library full of leather bound books.





4. Skinny Puppy - Assimilate: I had to resist putting this one at number one. To me this one is the soundtrack to the winter blues. But I think thats just out of association because of how much I listened to this song one winter years back. Still is one of the best songs for a lone cold bitter winter night. A song about isolation as well as a vocal sample in the background that sounds like a dry cough? Perfect.








3. Xymox - Obsession: Another song/band I got into around the same time as Skinny Puppy and Ministry (man, how fucking depressing was that winter? Jesus). This song reminds me so much of winter that I only ever listen to it during winter (like most of the songs on this list), other wise it doesn't feel right. Im not sure if that is just me though. The other ones definitely sound like winter, if you disagree with me your an asshole! But ill let this one be debated. Eitherway, great song, great album and great way to take solace in the fact that other people are as bitter as you, just maybe for different reasons. They lost love, you lost sun and warmth, whatever, roll with it.





2. The Cure - A Forest: If you've ever walked through Heart Lake or any forest during winter, this is essentially what it sounds like. Dark and barren. Also how much does the album cover look like dripping iceicles formed on top of a camera lens that is taking a picture of a forest in winter. They definitely picked the album cover with this song in mind. Also if you've ever seen the music video to this song, the green light that is on them the whole time is the same colour as green christmas lights. Side note: How shitty is it that The Cure never did anything nearly as good as this song?







1. Death In June - Break The Black Ice: Even the title of the song is winter themed. You know why? Because this song sounds more like winter blues then anything else I can think of. If you can think of a song that sounds more like winter blues, you send it to me and I will quickly tell you how wrong you are. I don't really have a whole lot of words for this song. It speaks for itself. If your trying to hunt it down and you hear a version with female vocals, its good, but its not the version I'm talking about. Im talking about the one that Douglas P sings himself.
Side note: How well does this song go with The Cardinal Sin by Dead Can Dance?

Review: Rättö ja Lehtisalo - Spiritismi 7" (2013)

Yeah Yeah, I know I said id keep this blog alive and well this year, whatever, like two people were interested in it and I was being productive! Fuck, get off my back! Anyways, I felt compelled to do a review and share some new music, Ironically by the same individuals who drew me back to blogging in the first place. 





Rättö ja Lehtisalo is a strange Kraut-Rock revival duo made up of Jussi Lehtisalo and Mika Rättö of Circle fame. If you'd like more background info on these guys and or Circle, then id say go back and look at my review of Circles End Of Time 7". Right now I'm just in the mood to talk about this release. 

This record technically hasn't even been physically released yet, but thanks to the Ektro records sound cloud page I was able to preview it. With that in mind, I'm not sure which song is on the A-side or B-side, but for the sake of this review lets assume that the A-side is made up of the track Spiritismi and the B-side Pilvivuori.

The A-side, Spiritismi, is a very etherial, folkie/jazz number revolving around a very bright and hypnotic acoustic chord progression. On top of this is a very soft whisper like vocal performance by Rättö, which sounds far more reserved then his vocal performances on Circle records. The chorus (If you could call it that) is one of the most unexpected turns in a song ever. Dark, frantic and random are the only words that come to mind when you hear it. What makes it even more strange is that the drummer does not pick up his playing at all, he maintains the same soft, tight jazzy drumming while everything else erupts into chaos. This creates a very strong atmospheric effect, as do the vocal synths that appear near the end of the song. Over all this song has one of the strangest moods iv ever heard. Calm, dark and pretty, but also momentarily frantic. After reading that review you wouldn't think that would be a winning formula for a cathy song, but it somehow gets stuck in your head (and iv always thought its a true testament to strong song writing when something so strange, without lyrics in English can get stuck in your head). 

The B-side, Pilvivuori, follows the almost identical musical formula as Spiritismi. The only different is that the chorus is less dark and frantic and the verses are slightly more up-beat and less mellow. The vocal performance on this song also brings a bit more energy and melody to this song. Overall both songs are a lot more concise and tight then previous ep's and albums by both Rättö ja Lehtisalo and Circle. 

As strange as these songs are, they are tremendously catchy. Its impressive to see after so many albums and so many years of writing music that both Lehitisalo and Rättö are able to keep things fresh. This is easily my favourite release under the moniker Rättö ja Lehtisalo and is something I can see myself coming back to for a long time. My only complaint is that both songs follow such a similar formula. After being blown away by the first song, I was easily able to see where the second one was going and didn't get that same feeling of awe (even though I prefer the song Pilvivuori to Spiritismi). 

Check it out and decide for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUPtucPZ3zE



Final Score: 7.8/10

January: 80's Pop/Rock Playlist

When most acquaintance and friends think of me, they think of music (due to the fact that most of my day is spend praising or complaining about it). Most of them closely associate 80's metal with me, but the real close few associate me with nearly every old genre of music under the sun (metal just happens to be the one i have the longest and most illustrious history with). The obvious roots of my varied taste in music lye with what my parents raised me on. My father raised me on a healthy dose of 70's hard rock (B.T.O., Boston, Alice Cooper...) and my mother raised me on mainly cheesy 80's pop and christmas music (Dire Straights, Yaz, Bing Crosby...). While these bands quickly were moved on the back burner of my listening priority list. But every once and a while the uncontrollable urge to binge on them takes over.

This month has easily been a very Introspective/Retrospective month for me. Iv gone out less and have focused a lot more energy into music, trying to better my bass playing all around, better my guitar solos and diversify my song writing more (This has all taken place while also recording with two bands, who I'm sure will be spoken about in great detail in the future). So due to the fact that I have been looking into myself, as well as the past (and being somewhat of a very productive hermit) I have spent the bulk of this month not discovering new music so much as rediscovering songs from artists I liked but often overlooked or didn't appreciate as much. This goes for 80's pop and 80's metal, some albums and songs I never payed as much attention to are now my favourite by the bands. So heres my list from the softer half of my January. My Top Ten 80's Pop/Rock Songs For January:

10. Red Rider- Human Race (1983): It was inevitable that a Canadian band would wind up on the list. When i was younger i loved Lunatic Fringe and knew Tom Cochranes solo work (was never a fan, lets be honest, Life Is A Highway is a shit song) but I wasn't familiar with anything else by Red Rider. It wasn't until recently I stumbled across this song again and had one of those 'Oh fuck this song is by them?' moments. The walking bassline and warm ambient guitar and key board sound help conjure up images of speed boats, high waisted bikinis and mountains of cocaine, which is what a good 80's pop song should do. 

9. Johnny Clegg & Juluka - African Litany (1981): I first stumbled across Johnny Clegg a few ago, either at the end of my last year of highschool or the beginning of college when I was trying to get into world music (Note: this is not world music). I was pretty into the song Scatterlings Of Africa by Johnny Clegg & Savuka for a while, but unfortunately his music didn't have a lasting effect on me like Paul Simons Graceland did (another sort of South African pop album i got heavy into around the same time, and haven't stopped listening to since). I was always more into Savuka, but recently I decided to give Juluka more of a chance, and I'm glad i did. This song in particular has managed to stick a little more then anything else iv heard by Johnny Clegg thus far. Its like a shittier South African version of a Men At Work song, and I mean that in the nicest way. Not overly drenched with synth, pretty tasteful for the time, my only gripe is that the production is a little thin. 

8. Def Leppard - Armageddon It (1987): For years I avoided this band on the basis of only having only heard Pour Some Sugar On Me (Which i still think is a totally cheesy shitty song), but by grade 11 I stumbled across a tape of On Through The Night for 40 cents and gave it a chance. I then found that they wrote kick ass catchy songs that still had enough balls to keep my attention. But I always maintained that only On Through The Night and High N' Dry were worth listening to. Once again this year I stumbled across Hysteria on tape for pocket change and decided id finally give it a chance.  While its pretty sappy and over produced, there are some undeniable catchy songs on it, none more catchy then Armageddon It. Don't let the stupid song title fool you, its as catchy as they come. 

7. Grace Jones - Use Me (1981): First off, I have a slight bias toward Grace Jones. I knew her first from James Bond and Conan, so she can almost do no wrong in my eyes and is an instant badass. Sometime last year I found out about her music and once i heard it I cant say I was surprised. Its about as weird and she is, though from how tough I was still hoping it'd be more like The Plasmatics. But I still wasn't disappointed. The reggae tinged new wave rendition of the classic Bill Withers song somehow strikes a chord. I normally hate cover that largely deviate from the original, and even though this one does that (on top of stripping away most of its groove and soul) its still oddly badass for reasons unknown (just like Grace Jones herself). 

6. Billy Squire - Emotions In Motion (1982): Ever since i watched Billy Madison as a kid, iv had a soft spot for Billy Squire (though maybe its been developed over time after being told I look like Adam Sandler when he pulls up to his first day of highschool while The Stroke is playing on multiple occasions)... Moving on, this was another impulse thrift store buy. I didn't know what to expect, but judging from the cover I hoped it was a more synth drenched 80's version of Billy Squire. While it does have some synth, its stylistically no departure from his earlier work. Upon first listen I was a little bummed it wasn't as cheesy as I hoped, but by the second listen this song caught my ear in a serious way. The simple bass groove carries this song for what seems to be a lifetime, but when it finally ends you find your self lifting the needle and starting it all over again. On top of that Freddie Mercury apparently makes a guest appearance on back up vocals for this song, further perpetuating the cool factor this song has. 

5. Gary Numan - Warriors (1983): Every one loves Cars, but if you care to look deeper into Gary Numans dense discography, you will find some gems (particularly the first 5 albums after The Pleasure Principle). The funky basslines dominated this era for Numan and this is easily most evident on the track Warriors. The deep moody synth intro perfectly opens the song up for its its smooth and funky verse and choruses, which wont exactly get stuck in your head, but will plant a seed in your mind. This seed will eventually bud and someday in the near future you will wake up with a sudden fully grown urge to crank the funky bass driven sound of Warriors, then follow it up with a quick viewing of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. 

4. Platinum Blonde - Red Light (1985): Take everything good about Duran Duran and The Police, add a little bit more punch and you've got Canada's own Platinum Blonde. The album this song comes off of (Alien Shores) is one of the best kept secrets. It doesn't get enough attention in AOR or New Wave circles. The only ones paying heavy attention of Platinum Blonde these days are metal heads, and even then they favour Standing In The Dark. This song is a perfect example of what the band has to offer, funky, heavy, catchy with some pretty thick production. An oddity for the band seeing as its one of few songs that seems to be led by a keyboard lick, but don't let that turn you off this song if your not a fan of heavy keyboard driven music. Im a firm believer that Platinum Blonde has something to offer for everyone. 

3. Level 42 - 43 (1981): While some would put Level 42 under the dreaded dad rock category, I certainly would not. Known more for their later Pop/New Wave material, Level 42s early works often go unnoticed (and its a god damn shame). This instrumental is a pure mixture of Jazz, Funk and New Wave (and in my opinion a perfect transition from the 70's to the 80's). The first half of this song is the manifestation of Howard Moons (from The Mighty Boosh) ideal sound. The middle section after around the 3 minute mark is like a funkier loading menu song for Wave Race. 43 is nothing short of a shining example of letting the music do all the talking, and if i could, id listen to it talk for hours. 

2. The Police - O My God (1983): This band, album and song about about as cool as they come. Some time ago I decided to dig through my mother and fathers record collection and pulled out Synchronicity. I spun it pretty heavily during the spring of 2012, but when i came back to it recently I found my self in awe of this track. From the second this song starts and you hear the light saxophone and wind like guitar sound, you know its going to be a treat. The lyrics and atmosphere of this song almost equate to an outer-bodily experience, like some how you've been mentally transported to a desert oasis where your sitting in the shade drinking apple cinnamon tea. The lyrics, the production value, the individual performances on this song are all perfect. For me there is nothing to dislike about this song. If you want a good way to start a day, don't have a coffee, listen to this track while your getting dressed or brushing your teeth. 

1. Men At Work - Overkill (1982): The only reason I played this song way more then O My God is simple, the lyrics to this song are perfect. I rarely get caught up in the lyrics to a song, as a guitar and bass player I'm all about the music (not to say lyrics aren't important, they are usually the last thing I pay attention to). Overkill is about a man who suffers from insomnia due to anxiety (presumably a personal account from Colin Hay). Due to my frequent inability to sleep, I suppose I 'get it' for once. The earnest journal entry like lyrical approach and honest vocal delivery lead me to not just like the song but respect it above all. Its a simple, straight forward, catchy pop rock song. But if you've ever had insomnia, you'll definitely have a greater appreciation for the song. 

Review: Circle - End Of Time 7"

Review: Circle - End Of Time

The hardest part of writing any essay, e-mail or pointless music blog post is always the beginning, and no band proves more puzzling to talk about then Circle. Circle are a band from Pori, Finland who throughout their prolific history have dabbled in kraut rock, ambient, avant-garde, progressive rock, art rock, hard rock, heavy metal and more. Their latest effort, End Of Time, consists of two covers from the equally obscure Jesters Of Destiny, whom you may know best from  their appearance on the Metal Blade comp "Metal Massacre 5" (Also featuring the likes of Voivod, Hellhammer, Fates Warning and Metal Church to name a few). 

But enough about the history and on with the review! Due to the fact that this is a cover, I will not dissect the song writing to much, rather point out why i prefer the Circle versions. 

The a-side to this 7" inch contains possibly a cover of Jesters Of Destiny's most 'well known' song End Of Time. End Of Time is a strange but catchy arab-eque ditty with a simple but driving beat that'll be sure to get it stuck in your head for a couple hours. Circle undoubtably improves on the original in a big way. To keep it simple, it has a better vocal performance (provided by original Jesters Of Destiny vocalist Bruce Duff), a much thicker and fullers guitar and drum tone which bring a much needed energy missing in the original. Circle even some how adds an extra bit of atmosphere to the bridge/ jam section near the end of the song which sealed the deal for me. 

The b-side, God Told Me To is easily my favourite of the two tracks. The song comes right out of the gate with a catchy and crunchy riff that immediately grabs your attention. The hypnotic pre-chorus is a perfect example of Jesters Of Destiny's dynamic song writing capabilities and the chorus is undoubtably catchy. As i previously stated with regard to the a-side, the level of production is not even comparable to the original. Rarely does a band cover a 25 year old song and add more warmth and texture to it. On top of that, the guitar riff seems to flow much nicer in the cover then the original. This goes for the guitar solo to (which i believe to have been performed by original Jesters Of Destiny guitarist Ray Violet). If End Of Time gets stuck in your head for a couple hours, God Told Me To will be stuck in your head for weeks. Take one listen and im sure you'll find yourself walking around the house humming "god told me to" over and over again. 

As you may have been able to tell from my top 5 ep/split list of 2012, i am in love with this record. I hold tremendous amounts of respect for Circle for not only paying tribute to an underrated and overlooked band, but also building upon it while maintaing its original integrity by having those who wrote the song play and sing on it. Circle have done for me what only Voivod have before and that is make me love a cover more then the original.

Score: 9 out of 10