Category: Listed

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20 Musical Musings – 2026 (Part 1)

Posted on by Michael

The Beatles’ Anthology 4 has not been met with the same rapturous praise that their recent expanded albums have received. Nonetheless, there are some delights to be found on the newest anthology addition that stretches from the band’s earliest recording days right up to 2022. A few highlights include “I’ve Just Seen A Face (Take 3)”, “All You Need Is Love (Rehearsal For BBC Broadcast)”, and “Baby, You’re a Rich Man (Takes 11 & 12)”.  Perhaps a bit inessential for some but it would take more than two hands to count highlights from the 2 disc set.

The two main songwriters from British Britpop/Shoegazers Lush have released very good albums in the past few years. Emma Anderson’s Pearlies + the Piroshka albums that Miki Berenyi has released. Early in 2025, Miki released Tripla under the Miki Berenyi Trio moniker. Excellent songs include “8th Deadly Sins” and the dreamy “Ubique”. These next generation of releases by the Lush ladies have been a joy.

The much acclaimed Big Thief has been one that I’ve struggled to get into.  I appreciate them more than really enjoyed their albums. That changed with last year’s solo album from singer Adrienne Lenker and continued with the band’s latest release, Double Infinity. Finally, their music clicked on an album that many others loved as well.  All this time it’s been me with the issue, not you.

While others have long since listened, I’m still working my way through the David Bowie box sets that have been released over the years. The boxes that collect all the official releases and group by certain eras has been a bit of a mixed bag at times but finally reaching his Berlin Years on the brilliant A New Career in a New Town (1977-1982) released in 2017 was a glorious listen. It’s been one where each new album listen made me excited for the next to hear the next one. A highwater mark in the legend’s career, this will be a set returned to again and again.

I ordered Kim Deal’s 2024 album from a local record store with normally fast shipping times but this one seemed to take ages, to the point of thinking I already had it in the collection when the call came that it had arrived. It took a minute to finally have in my hands but the impression of the album was immediate, Nobody Loves You More could have been released some time in the 90s and would not sound out of place with the great records from that period. Several decades later, Deal sounds as relevant as ever as she sings, “coming around is easy/coming down is rough”.

The world has genuinely been a scary place at times this year. War, bombs, rampant racism/antisemitism, random violence, drug abuse, homelessness, etc. I don’t make it out to as many local band shows as I used to but did attend the Death Cassette show at Winnipeg’s fantastic Blue Note Park venue. The punk rock energy was a cathartic release from all of the world’s turmoil. The beers were cold and the energy was electric. Punk rock lives, the kids are alright.

When walking through the hallways of high school in the late 80s/early 90s, sounds from the golden age of hip hop was regularly being blasted. Some albums I was fully onboard with and others passed me by.  One of those albums that got away from me was the classic 3 Feet High and Rising from Long Island, New York’s De La Soul.  Famously the disc has not been re-released in years due to original record label Tommy Boy not bothering to get clearances for the sample heavy tracks. That changed in 2023 when it finally saw the light of day again, in slightly altered form. Well worth the wait to finally hear daisy chain era tracks like “The Magic Number” and top 40 hit “Me Myself and I”, among the many.

I heard about the new Geese album when it released and knew it was getting some great reviews. I made the mistake of listening to the Sound Opinion podcast guys who completely trashed the experimental album.  So it sat in my playlist for ages before finally getting back around to it months later. The podcast guys got it all wrong – Getting Killed was a helluva album that was chaotic at times but also had the melodies and tunes to back it up.  My pick as album of the year – this one is a classic.

The last I had heard about Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires was from the excellent 2023 documentary Running With Our Eyes Closed. I hadn’t heard about their relationship since then and was sad to hear that they have gone their separate ways. Isbell’s newest album, Foxes in the Snow talks a lot about old and new relationships. Working with engineer/producer Gena Johnson, he put out the album that is heavy on acoustic guitar and personal matters. When he played the Winnipeg Folk Festival in July of this year, the acoustic guitar was put to the side several times so he could riff heavily with his band The 400 Unit.  One of the great concert moments of the year.

For those of us that hit the drinking age in the 90s, 2025 was a big year for nostalgia.  Suede released a terrific album as did their former tour partners, Manic Streat Preachers. It was their album, Critical Thinking that caught my attention. Never short on ear catching songs, “People Ruin Paintings”, “Brushstrokes Of A Reunion”, and “Decline and Fall” all held up through the year.

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20 Musical Musings – 2026 (Part 2)

Posted on by Michael

Right in the middle of Britpop renaissance of 2025 was the live return of the Gallagher brothers in a reformed Oasis line-up. Thrillingly for longtime fans, 3/5ths of the original band were included with Bonehead joining on guitar – a thrill to see one of the main members joining in on the fun.  Drummer Joey Waronker was included along with Gem Archer and Andy Bell to round out the main band.

Sticking to Oasis’ heyday, the group ran through the highlights of the 1994-97 era. With their most elaborate stage show ever, the band played the exact same set every night including the second night of the Toronto shows which we saw. The devotion, intensity, love, and excitement was in the air as the Adidas wearing crowd sang along to every lyric including all the B-sides. Doing the Poznan to “Cigarettes and Alcohol”, the Noel sung “Half The World Away”, a reminder of who is the “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” and closing with “Champagne Supernova” – The hype was real, this was a remarkable live comeback.

It had been 24 years since we got an actual album from Jarvis Cocker with his old mates in Pulp. Sadly, More is the first album since the passing of bassist Steve Mackey. Still, he would be proud of what the band produced with several highlights including  the upbeat “Spike Island” and the mature, “Farmers Market”.  They’ve done many tours throughout the years, here’s hoping that it doesn’t take as long to release another album.

Author Peter Ames Carlin has written several music biographies on musicians such as Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney.  In late 2024 he published a book on alternative rock heroes R.E.M. called The Name Of This Band Is R.E.M. Carlin writes about each member’s early childhoods, their days in Athens, signing with IRS Records, then right through their ascendency to rock superstars (then back down again). Thankfully there is little in the way of salacious gossip but doesn’t shy away from a few incidents of controversary. A really good read about one of America’s greatest bands.

Sadly, the British trio Saint Etienne announced their retirement in 2025, bowing out with two new albums. In our musical journey, we reached way back to the deluxe edition of their 1993 debut, Foxbase Alpha that was released in 2016.  It’s an eclectic mix of 60s pop, indie rock and club beats. Original tracks like “People Get Ready” stand alongside magnificent covers including Neil Young’s “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” and the spellbinding take on Field Mice’s, “Kiss And Make Up”. The extra disc of rarities almost eclipses the actual album. 

One distinct memory of high school was having a substitute math teacher quote Paul Simon’s 1973 single, “Kodachrome” with the line, “When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school”. I’m not sure if the teacher was disgruntled or trying to be edgy but I may have been one of the few in the class that knew the lyric but not much of the rest of the song. While reviewing the album it appears on, “Kodachrome” really sunk into my conscious and remained there for months. Singing about the joys of owning a Nikon camera that captures the green of summer and makes everyday seem sunny swirled in my head, now making it one of my favourite Paul Simon songs.

I’ve owned The Supremes’ greatest hits album Gold for years now. Listening to the hits, especially the unbeatable one-two punch of “You Keep Me Hanging On” and “You Can’t Hurry Love”.  This was the year I finally did a deeper dive into the singles released with and without Diana Ross. With a staggering twelve #1 hits, it felt like barely scratching the surface to do a review. Still, it was a exciting to find other tracks to listen to like the excellent “Stone Love” and dancefloor filler “Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart”.

Honestly, I bought Thompson Twins’ deluxe edition of Into The Gap on a whim. It was a favourite tape from the early 80s that I had never bought on CD.  After seeing it advertised many times, I took the plunge into the three disc version released in 2024.  Filled with several top ten UK hits including “Doctor Doctor”, “You Take Me Up” and worldwide hit “Hold Me Now”, the original record plays like a greatest hits. Adding in countless versions of all the songs on the album, it was a fun listen to a great album from an era where songs were reworked constantly for the dancefloor.

Dean Wareham made his name with his bands Galaxie 500 and Luna. He’s mostly been on the periphery of my music listening – always around but rarely front and centre. That changed immediately with the release of his sixth solo album, That’s The Price Of Loving Me that came out in the spring. The album has appeared in a few critics top albums of 2025 but for others got lost in the mix. The sun dappled record was often dreamy and hypnotic, bookended by two excellent songs including the closer – “The Cloud Is Coming”.

North Carolina band Wednesday made waves in 2023 with their album, Rat Saw God and continued that momentum with this year’s critically acclaimed, Bleeds. One of the highlights of the album was the lap steel guitar sounds of “Elderberry Wine”. The track sees singer Karly Hartzman lovingly stretch to hit the high note in the chorus before later harmonizing with guitarist MJ Lenderman.  A memorable sing-a-along single from a really good album.

Wet Leg exploded onto the scene in 2023 with several singles including the enduring, “Chaise Lounge”. They would have been forgiven for hitting a sophomore slump after the initial clutch of songs but leaders Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers were having none of that.  Adding their touring band into the official line-up, the now five piece band came back with the excellent moisturizer. Love was the main focus of the album, including on the track “CPR”  but the band was just as feisty as ever on the threatening “Catch These Fists”.

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Favourite Albums of 2024

Posted on by Michael

5. The Libertines – All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade: Truth be told, this is not the fifth best album of 2024 hence why I always title these lists as “favourite albums”. As a fan for over 20 years, The Libertines were welcomed back with their first album since 2015. With all their troubles, the tabloid headlines and the “highs and the lows”, this band should not still exist today but here we are. First single “Run Run Run” has Pete Doherty and Carl Barat’s classic knees-up sound while “Shiver” is full of graceful beauty in a modern rock song. A now classic British rock band.

4. Idles – TANGK: Others jumped on the Idles train long before I did. Their hard edge sound wasn’t quite for me but I always enjoyed the introspective interviews with singer Joe Talbot. Finally in 2024 the band released an album with slightly softer edges that drew me in. The attention grabbing video for single “Grace” was mesmerizing and the album would later get plenty of spins on car rides home from work. The band haven’t gotten better, I just started to pay more attention. Time to investigate the back catalogue….

3. Jessica Pratt – Here In The Pitch: The American singer-songwriter’s fourth studio album came out to universal critical acclaim in the late spring. The dreamy, atmospheric country lounge sound is timeless. Starting with the wonderous single, “Life Is”, the short album is the perfect length in which to float into the listeners conscious before disappearing again into the ether. A truly unique talent.

2. Fontaines D.C. – Romance: Since appearing on the international scene in 2019, this Dublin band has made frequent appearances on this blog’s year end lists. For their 2024 album Romance, the band’s appearance has taken on a look of a Nu Metal band from 1997. For other bands it would be the moment that they jumped the shark, however, on Romance the band sound as vital as they did on their debut. Songs like “In The Modern World”, “Favourite” and “Starburster” rank among their very best. Ones to really believe in, they don’t make rock bands like this very often anymore.

1. English Teacher – This Could be Texas: The young band’s debut album won the prestigious Mercury Music award in the fall of 2024. Five of the album’s tracks were released as singles and showcase singer Lily Fontaine’s unique generational voice and lyrics. However, this is a true band as each of the four members shine throughout on tracks like “The World’s Biggest Paving Slab” and double time beat of “Nearly Daffodils”. Each song inhabits it’s own world on this brilliant debut album.

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10 Favourite Songs of 2024

Posted on by Michael

10. Marshmello and Kane Brown – Miles On It: The cheese factor gets ratcheted up to 10 on this club ready country track. The country style verses of double entendres while singing about a truck gets cranked up when the beat kicks in on the chorus. I probably heard this about 20 times while driving the family around Nova Scotia on a family vacation and every time it came on, the radio got turned up a little bit louder.

9. Shaboozey – A Bar Song (Tipsy):  When this track first started getting airplay in the spring, I was shocked that it was a new song and not something that’s been around for 10 years. After really listening, its easy to hear why.  The song incorporates J-Kwon’s 2004 hit “Tipsy” and the acoustic guitar strumming sounds very similar to Oasis “Wonderwall”. Another country song about drinking is not what the world needed but Shaboozey takes all these influences and makes it his own on the infectious single. 

8. The Smile – I Quit: The downtempo track appears towards the end of The Smile’s second album, Wall of Eyes. I first heard the lyrics “I quit/This is the end of my trip” shortly after abruptly quitting a new job that did not work out as expected. I heard it while out walking on a gloomy wintry day that was more wet than cold. To hear that in that moment was exactly what I needed. I started a terrific new job just a few weeks later.

7. Vampire Weekend – Capricorn: A lyrically unique song tipping it’s cap to those born late in the year. Ezra Koenig’s vocals sound echoey that give the song a dreamy quality over a bed of music that is percussion heavy but with pretty piano lines and deep bass. It’s a really well crafted, terrific single from a solid album.

6. Travis – Bus: Somewhere along the line I lost track of Scottish band Travis. They’ve continued releasing albums while I had moved onto other things. While listening quite a bit to their second album, The Man Who this year, I decided to give their newest album The L.A. Times a try. A fine record that starts with this classy single. It’s a wistful track that sounds lovely with the mournful string section. Travis is back and for the first time in ages, I was back with them.

5. The Libertines – Shiver: The Libertines returned in 2024 with their first album in 9 years. Released early in the new year, “Shiver” is a look back over the majesty of the Albion empire. It’s a classically, elegantly wasted track that is one of their finest.

4. English Teacher – R&B: An updated version of a song the band originally released in 2021, Lily Fontaine’s sings of writing songs for others and not herself on this fiery anthem. The grungy bass of Nicholas Eden gives the track an edge of menace that really bursts into life in the final outro. Listening to Fontaine makes me feel how I felt the first time I heard Poly Styrene from punk band X-Ray Spex. A vital new voice in indie rock music.

3. Idles – Grace: One of the eye catching images in 2024 was seeing Coldplay’s video for “Yellow” on the screen while Idles’ single “Gossip” played over top. The song has a strong low end while singer Joe Talbot sings of “make me pure” and “love is the thing”. It’s a mantra tailor made for these times before it all ends with a snippet that sounds like The Beatles’ “A Day In The Life”.

2. Jessica Pratt – Life Is: The first song on her latest album, “Life Is” sounds like a country song beamed in from another planet. The dreamy vocal makes it sound timeless. While the music doesn’t change too much throughout the tune, it’s Pratt’s voice that swirls around and captures the emotion. It’s a song that can be listened to again and again and discover something new in every repeat.

1. Fontaines D.C. – Starburster: The first single off the band’s 2024 album sounds exactly like it’s title. The track sees singer Grian Chatten spitting out words like a champion rapper on a song that always keeps the kick drum kicking until the relief of the breakdown. It’s a genre smashing track that is an anthem, the chaotic lyrics will have listeners wishing for a new salamander and feel like they can take on the world, burstering some stars along the way. The appearance on Jimmy Fallon was my go to listen as it captures the band in full flight. Iconic.

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Favourite Distant (Re)Discoveries of 2024

Posted on by Michael

5. Pink Floyd – Set Controls for the Heart of the Sun (Song): Early in 2024 I had a job that required me to regularly travel on wintry roads in rural Manitoba. One of the few highlights of those trips was listening to this Pink Floyd song from 1968’s A Saucerful of Secrets album. The spacey, atmospheric track is both eerie and calming at the same time. On my travels, blowing snow and passing cars would light up the starlit night while white knuckling it home.

4. Air – Moon Safari 25th Anniversary Edition (Album): Through it’s 25th anniversary release, it was a treat to get to go back and re-listen to Air’s 1998 debut album over and over and over again. While I travelled through Europe in 1999, the modern sounding retro album was still regularly being played in hostels and pubs across the continent. The singles “Kelly Watch The Stars” and “Sexy Boy” still make the skin tingle with their greatness. The 25th anniversary edition adds another disc of odds and sods to this essential 90s album.

3.  David Bowie – Station to Station (Album): Working through the catalogue of David Bowie is a labour of love.  His tenth studio album is one I had been looking forward to as it is critically acclaimed and favoured by a few knowledgeable friends. Incorporating some of the soul and funk sounds he had been exploring on past albums, this one adds a cocaine European sheen to it. The 10 minute title track takes up 25% of the album’s run time and keeps shifting it’s sound while “Golden Years” is one of his best songs. Another classic Bowie album just before the Berlin years start. 

2.  Bob Marley & The Wailers – Legend (Album): I’ve had this album for years and had never played it. The songs on this greatest hits set are ubiquitous –  they will appear on the radio, TV, youtube, etc all throughout the year. To actually fully listen to these songs one after another is staggering.  Each person will have their own favourites as each one is a classic. The work of a genius with his stellar band. 

1. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (Concert):  Not the typical item we would write about in this yearly blog post but the Bruce Springsteen concert at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg on November 13 was extraordinary.  One of my top bucket list performers to see, Bruce and the band did not disappoint. Barely stopping for breath between songs, they tore through 27 songs over approximately 3 hours. While I didn’t know many of the songs and there were a few tracks I would like to have heard, the performance was virtually flawless.  Absolutely inspiring.