Our favourite part of THIS article is that it features the Jameses sipping pints at the Ship and Anchor. Sigh.
And, again for A Recent Future, we'll point you to Spotify for the listening.
Here's a tape that came to us via Danny Vescarelli, and another band that somehow slipped our notice in the 90's. Which is probably because Passado is, uh, metal-ish, and you know that's only marginally a world we understand. But we're getting better. We certainly know enough to know that these guys are more akin to Tool and Korn than, say the NWOBHM bands. Thankfully, we can fall back on internet sources to fill us in on Passado's story, including this Calgary Herald article from 2003:
And this great bit of live footage of the band:
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Get their demo here.
No False Suns sees Stebner treading new ground - this isn't the post-hardcore of Prepared, it's not the ragged folk rock of Cold Water, nor is it the glitchy electronica of Greyscreen. It's ten intrumental tracks that follow the same type of groove as Yo La Tengo's quiter moments (think "Saturday" or "Tired Hippo") - these have a deeply meditative feel that's perfect for decompressing and listening to during long walks in the snow. Layers of shimmering guitars, sparse drums, and occasional keyboards make this a highly recommended listen.
Get the digital version via the No False Suns bandcamp.
Here's a second tape from the Boat Dreams From The Hill archive, and a nice follow-up to the first Slow Kids Playing Fast tape that we posted... AND, dumdums we are, we now see that someone had very nicely pointed us to the BDFtH website in the comments on that page FOUR YEARS AGO. If nothing else, we at the CCPS excel at missing obvious clues.
Chris van der Laan has some amazingly honest notes to accompany this tape:
The second tape Slow Kids Playing Fast released in 1998, I'm pretty sure the original run was in the neighborhood of 90 copies. Not changing their name was probably a bad move as they decided emo with typical random angsty outbursts was their true calling on this release and only even bothered pretending to be fast on a couple of the tape's nine tracks. Their friend Bryce recorded four of these songs in his basement, the rest were once again done by the same disinterested engineer that recorded their first tape in his trailer. This tape doesn't hold up as well as their first, the band apparently had never heard of "digital clipping" and it sometimes gets in the way of the songs, which are about as memorable as you'd expect coming from people between the ages of 15 and 17.
Oof. Get the tape on the Boat Dreams From The Hill website.
My memory is hazy on this one. Justin agreed to play bass for Slow Kids Playing Fast if I could play bass for his heavy metal band. We rehearsed these 4 songs a few times and booked a few hours at a local studio (EK was the name, I believe). We recorded live and Justin did vocals afterwards while Dave and I sat on the floor in the control room with our friend Nick, who would've been the bass player if he had figured out how to play bass. Pretty sure Justin and Dave's parents were with us. It was my first time in a recording studio, good times.
Get it via the Boat Dreams From The Hill website.
Here's another bandcamp discovery - and a very happy one. Eine Kleine China is a one-person (mostly) electronica project that we weren't previously familiar with.
Coming to us via Vancouver label Boat Dreams From the Hill (run by former Calgarian Chris van der Laan), this tape is a nice bounce through experimental electronica, minimal wave, and synthpop. These are short pieces, but meatier than throwaway doodles. Our favourite tracks on here strangely remind us of minimalist versions of Chicago experimentalists Tortoise - especially "Big Data" and the almost eponymously-titled "Eine Kleine Human Fly."
Huge thanks to Eine Kleine China for getting this into our grubby hands (well, mailbox). You can grab the download via their bandcamp.
VERY occasionally, we do leave the CCPS offices (wearing a mask, carrying hand sanitizer, maintaining appropriate distances) and visit our local record stores. So big thanks to Eddie at Melodiya for pointing this tape out to us on one such visit.
This tape came with a sticker that proclaims "make EMO socially acceptable again," which we appreciate - we've always liked bands/albums that give us a clear thesis statement. Ghost Story are unapologetically emo - these songs DRIP with the feels. Gene is already at work storyboarding introspective videos for each track on here.
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Get this via the Ghost Story Bandcamp.
Continuing with the random Bandcamp purchases, here's a spankin' new tape from Trigger Warning. We've seen their name around town on posters for electronic/noise shows, but hadn't actually heard them until now.
Trigger Warning is the project of Mary Cleland, who we think we've seen as part of the very excellent Slut Prophet. This tape is a pretty great thing - kinetic, metallic beats throb and pulse in ways that make us JUST uneasy enough. If you've ever wished for a dirtier, nastier version of, say, Corinthian, Trigger Warning is for you.
Get it via Bandcamp.
Despite having featured what feels like a bazillion tapes by Iron Tusk, we haven't yet had the pleasure of featuring Carlin Black Rabbit's other band, the skaterock-leaning No More Moments. Until now!
Considering how long they've been around, we're kind of stuck on what to say about No More Moments. Thankfully, there's this excellent doc to take care of that:
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This tape is an excellent blast through five tracks, with "Everyone But Me" being the standout, with its ode to the joy of going to rock shows and finding a place where you can be yourself. It reminds us of some of the best moments of Calgary's all ages scene.
Get the tape from the No More Moments bandcamp.
We had an argument about whether to tag this as a miscellany post, and ultimately we realize it maybe doesn't matter. Even though Gawdie's Sara Jean Hughes is now based in Montreal, we're calling this one ours.
Getting out from behind the drum kit and eschewing the pop punk tendencies of her past bands Grown-Ups and Pre Nup, Gawdie sees Sara Jean Hughes exploring the realm of moody synth pop and electronica. Whispered vocals, traces of guitar, and minimalist synths carry these four short songs through bliss and just the right amount of tension (side two's "Maladaptive" is a standout).
Get it from the Gawdie bandcamp.
Sheldon Overboard was Chris dela Torre's all-Filipino mall punk band, prior to the formation of his Axis of Conversation. A rock-focused band made up entirely of people of colour is a very, very rare thing in Calgary - and dela Torre hints that they sometimes didn't have the warmest of welcomes in this article. Which is probably not completely unexpected, but is completely dumb - this is CD is pretty great.
Go overboard here!
