Peter Moller and Randy Hutton - Ringside Maisie (1980)

Well, it's been a while, huh? Normally, we'd come up with an excuse, but... well, there just hasn't been a lot to post recently. Except this, which we had to go to Seattle to finally find a copy to call our own.

Ringside Maisie is (a) a 1941 film starring Ann Sothern and (b) an album of improvisational music featuring percussionist Peter Moller and acoustic guitarist Randy Hutton. Hutton is unknown to us, but we're quite familiar with Moller's works with the Rip Chords, Ten Foot Henry's and last year's collaboration with ex-Lucy Show (and former Calgarian) Mark Bandola. Unlike the sugary pop that colours Moller and Bandola's Sacrificial Leaves, Ringside Maisie is sparse and, uh, improvised.

Get your ringside seat here.

Calisthenics - Demo (2017)

Here's a tape we got post-Sled Island (at the rejuvenated Hot Wax - have you been since Melodiya took over ownership? You should!), of a band whose set we caught the very end of during the festival. Wait, is that proper English? We think Stampede might be degrading our cognitive functioning.

Calisthenics are anchored by the rock-steady drumming of Andy from Soft Cure/Lunatique/Slut Prophet, and there's a circus-like feel to some of the tracks on here that elevate this beyond its mix of yelping vocals, bass grooves and angular guitars. What's missing, though, is the spectacle of their front man climbing the walls of the Palomino and writing on the floor.

Looks like you can grab a download via the Calisthenics bandcamp.

CCPS Miscellany: Various - Cups N Cakes Compilation Vol 1

Okay, here's a good thing. Not just for the packaging (we're suckers for well-conceived packaging, and this is right up there with Th' Legendary Few's Smokes), but the selection of bands that Edmonton's Cups N Cakes has pulled together, which includes three Calgary faves.

This is a pretty rock-focused tape, so the inclusion of Valiska is a great breather, with their trademark atmospherics closing out side one. But instead of giving folks a breather at the end of side two, Night Committee and Napalmpom double down on the rock with both bands joining forces on a rave up of the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hanging On," throwing in novelty song "Captain Groovy and His Bubblegum Army" for shits and giggles. Hearing Andrew Wedderburn trade vocals with PJ Lavergne is amazing - it sounds like the best party ever.

The rest of the tape is packed with some heavy-weight non-Calgary content, too: Edmonton's Screaming Targets, Lethbridge's Body Lens, Vancouver's Dumb, and Ottawa's Expanda Fuzz. Come for the packaging, stay for the great tunes.

Looks like you might still be able to get a copy of this limited-edition tape if you act fast - copies are still available via the Cups N Cakes bandcamp.

Knots - White River of White Lies (2011)

For some reason we missed picking up a copy of the first Knots tape when it came out, so we were super happy to grab a copy from Bart Records mastermind Kevin Stebner during Sled Island.

This release is a much different affair from their second, power pop-focused tape. This is folky, pastoral and restrained. Perfect hammock music.

Tapes are still in print, and you can also pop over to the Knots bandcamp for a taste.

Allovers - Demonstrations Volume 1 (2018)

Despite their significant contribution to our tinnitus, the Allovers are one of our favourite lounge/power pop combos. And even if two thirds of the band are based in Edmonton (and even if singer/guitarist Matt Pahl is originally from Edmonton), we're claiming them for Calgary. And don't try to tell us different, we can't hear you over the ringing in our ears.

After years of lounging around the scene (and chasing up and down highway 2), these guys have finally put out a full-length album (which sounds amazing and we are quite enjoying). To accompany it, they've released a tape full of low-fi demos of their stuff. Which still has all the charm of their proper recorded sound and captures their Paul-Anka-fronting-the-Ramones-on-amphetamines sound.



We're not sure where you can get this. Word is it was available at Blackbyrd in Edmonton, but that's not really helpful for us in Calgary, is it? Otherwise, hit the Allovers bandcamp for their full-length LP.

Singing Lawn Chair - The Door In the Window Cassette (2018)

We wish we could tell you more about Singing Lawn Chair. But the top hit for Singing Lawn Chair is our post of their last tape. But we did find this lovely video, with a soundtrack by them:



We picked this tape up at Sloth; maybe there's another copy there?

Uncanny Valley - Demo (2018)

Uncanny Valley feels like the logical next step for Aiwass, with Ryan Von Hagen and Gwen Morgan adding a full band to delivery their blasts of dark wave punk. Yelping vocals, Cure/New Order bass lines, propelling drums, chorus-y guitars and icy synths. What more do you want? One of our must-sees for Sled Island.

Get it via the Uncanny Valley bandcamp.

Pre Nup - Oh Well (2018)

New tape time! This one has been sitting in the CCPS office tape deck (one of them, anyways) since it came out last month. Pre Nup is like the, well, grown up version of Josiah and Sarah Hughes' former band, Grown-Ups. There's a sense of exhaustion to this tape, despite the songs barreling along at something just shy of a breakneck speed. When Josiah sings, "Music is my life a living hell and the product of my privilege - oh well," we get the feels. We also get a distinct Wedding Present vibe off of this, which means we're probably mishearing something.



Get the download from the Pre Nup bandcamp, or the tape from the good folks at Debt Offensive.

Long Named West Coast Band - Sick Trees Yellow Leaves (1989)

This tape comes to us via the former proprietor of Golden Rock (the blog, not the record label). We're not overly-familiar with this band (read: we have no idea who these guys were). We suspect these guys somehow became Defoliator, but that's all we got.

Get it here!

A-Team - Sampler (1995)

We're inching towards the 11th anniversary of the CCPS, so we figure we should get our heads at least partially out of our asses and post something. We've had a few tapes sitting on in the queue for a while, so here goes.

This one comes from us via Eddie at Melodiya, who dug this out of who knows where. There's nothing new or surprising on this tape - all of these songs show up on other A-Team recordings we've posted. But, hey, it's a new (old) tape, and that's a pretty rare find for us these days.

I'm (still) a truck!

Cold Club - The Cold Club (1995)

We're going to shift gears from our usual alt/indie/punk-rock fare, and dig into the folk/roots/blues scene with this CD of, well, some pretty remarkable musicians. The Cold Club brought together flamenco guitarist Oscar Lopez, blues guitarist Amos Garrett, jazzy violinist Karl Roth, multi-mandoist David Wilkie, and the sadly departed keyboardist Ron Casat. This is well-played (of course), well-arranged and - most importantly - fun. Even if it is outside the standard CCPS fare.

Get cold here.

Busman's Holiday - 3 Credit Head (1995)

More catching up after that wave of 1998 CDs... we just realized we have another Busman's Holiday CD. This one doesn't offer up any more hints about the band. What it does is replace the issue Gene had with the lack of an apostrophe with an antagonizing inconsistency in apostrophe usage.

But still, we continue to offer the download.

Chixdiggit - Chixdiggit (1996)

How on earth did we miss posting this? The first Chixdiggit album, an absolute classic. We said that Born on the First of July had a lot of our favourite Chixdiggit songs? Okay, then this one has more.

Hey, remember when Chixdiggit got signed to Sub Pop?



Hey, remember when Chixdiggit got dumped off Sub Pop?

Looks like this is still in print, and we don't want to get sued by Sub Pop. So, uh, maybe just dig out your old copy from the back seat of your car?

Busmans Holiday - Showtime (1998)

We don't know much about Busmans Holiday other than these three things:

1. They may have been a fixture of Morgan's Pub in the late 90's;
2. Their drummer was punk rock legend Marty Chatrin; and
3. The lack of an apostrophe in their band name is a real sticking point for Gene. 

Still, we offer the download here.

Belvedere - Because No One Stopped Us (1998)

Okay, this CD we do have the original version of. Which is weird, because Gene hadn't actually seen the frantic punk attack of a Belvedere show until just last month, when he took in their concert at Dickens. Gene tells us that he probably should have spent a few weeks training for the show, working his way up to music that's as fast as these guys; going from Red Autumn Fall to Belvedere is a sure-fire recipe for whiplash.

We suggested to Gene that he should have watched videos of the band playing to packed houses in Japan, South America and Spain to get a sense as to what he was in for. He's watching this one at 0.75x right now, and he says he thinks it's easier to handle:



Thankfully, the CCPS CD player works at full speed.

Knucklehead - Little Boots (1998)

We feel like we've let you down, folks. What we have here is actually the 2003 reissue of Knucklehead's 1998 CD, Little Boots. Oh, and we also blew our segue streak by not leading with the fact that this was produced by the drummer from the last CD we posted, Young Dave Alcock.

Sigh.

Well, while we're contemplating all of our errors, enjoy this 18-year old clip of the band:



Oi!

Chixdiggit - Born on the First of July (1998)

If you took the time to read the liner notes from yesterday's Red Autumn Fall CD, you likely noted that the first band thanked was Chixdiggit - who also released a CD in 1998 (ha! another perfect segue!)! This second Chixdiggit full-length sees Young Dave Alcock taking on drumming duties, but to no less effect.

We forgot how many of our favourite Chixdiggit songs are one here - not the least of which is Calgary Songs Project finalist "Chupacabras," which we mention not just to relive the fun we had with that project, but also so we have another excuse to post this amazing video again:



This was re-issued not that long ago, so pick up a copy (if you don't have it already), or visit the Chixdiggit bandcamp.

Red Autumn Fall - Departure (1998)

Speaking of Britpop (we did it! we NAILED that segue!), here's the kings of the scene, Red Autumn Fall. We've poked fun at RAF a fair amount over the years, but we're mellowing in our age, or something. When we posted their second CD a couple of years ago, we noted how... good it was.

And, uh, this one is also quite good. We like how compact Debutant is, but this one sounds better (is it the production? The mixing? The mastering? Our tinnitus?). And it's got both "Josephite" and "The Revenge of the Blazer Boys", so Gene is pretty happy.

If anyone wants us, we'll be sitting on the steps of the building that once housed the Republik, sipping gin from a thermos and listening to RAF on our Discman.

Lux - The Lux EP (1998)

If we had been astute (if we were astute?), we would have included a note in yesterday's Dino Martinis post that the band featured one-time CJSW Station Manager, which would have been a great segue into today's post, because we would have mentioned that the Lux also featured a one-time CJSW Station Manager, Maizun Jayoussi. Which would have been a lot more effective and readable that whatever words we just mashed into our keyboard.

The Lux is basically Brass with Jayoussi as a frontperson instead of Todd Kipp. So, the ever-present Britpop from the mid-90's Calgary scene. Which is a bit of a move from the first tape we saw her on, GASP! Maybe it's that 90's sound and Jayoussi's voice, but this reminds us a bit of Jale's second album. Which is a pretty obscure thing for us to be reminded of.

Anyways, get it from here.

Dino Martinis - Steak and Comedian Night (1998)

One of favourite things is opening a CD case and discovering something that's not a CD. As long as it's not, you know, poop or something. So we were really happy to rediscover the toothpick tucked into this Dino Martinis' release. 

Last time we posted about the Dino Martinis, we mentioned that their jump blues sound makes us want to go for a cocktail at Ming; with Ming closed, we're not sure what their spiritual successor is - Milk Tiger, maybe?

Wherever we end up, we hope there's some fine brown liquor to go with this download.

Anne Loree - Beyond Cinderella (1998)

We've made a big deal of Anne Loree before; her mega hit "Insensitive" (featured on this disc in the form of a live, piano-focused version) is just a hint of her narrative-driven songwriting. The highlights for us on this disc are the tracks where she's paired with the gals from Same Difference. 

Go beyond here.

Airship One - Summers Ago (1998)

Still randomly pulling from the 1998 pile of CDs, here's what might be the earliest CD-R in our collection. We have find memories of dragging through the city in search of deals on CD-Rs in the late 90's. Okay, not really all that fond, since this involved going to Costco.

Anyways, we do have fond memories of this era of Airship One, when Chris Zimmel was accompanied by drummer Jay Wooley. Still the same introverted indie pop, but with percussion!

Get it here.