Original Six Electro-clash: Toronto

Again, nothing current comes to mind for Toronto, so a vet will have to come out of retirement. I do not have the resources or the inclination to do crazy "here is a white label Konk 12-inch I stole from Arthur Baker's sock drawer" stuff, but I will do what I can to celebrate the overlooked album cut. One of the calamities of shifts in media, LPs to CDs, CDs to whatever, is that even as the choices expand, the range narrows. If you are a middle aged music consumer, in the 70s, you owned Earth Wind & Fire LPs, bought their new stuff when it came out and it was good. Then you moved to the city, left your records to moulder in the garage, and bought a greatest hits cd or 2 when it came out. Now, you can just cherry pick a few of your favorites from EW&F on iTunes, along with all of your other favorite bands. With a one-hit wonder, the process is even more extreme, in that there are a host of bands that end up on Best of the 80's type compilations--Quick! Name two songs by Dexy's Midnight Runners--album tracks get lost, and never make it in to the shuffle. If you saw Go, and you did, go on and admit it, you remember "Steal My Sunshine," from Len. This song is also on a record called You Can't stop the Bum Rush, and I liked the song well enough to buy it, after a weekend of not being to escape it on the 401 in and out of an evening in Toronto. Canadian content.  Lots to like: if you buy the soundtrack, or a greatest hits of the 90s comp, you do not get the guest appearances by Nikki Sixx and the Diabolical Biz Markie on the same record.  This song has neither, but is charming in its own way. The album is compulsively eclectic, which is usually a recipe for commercial disaster, but they pull it of fairly well musically: I like to imagine them as the house band at the doomed hotel in the Comedians, trying to convince the Tontons Macoute that they are in fact specialists in all styles. They are practically giving it away on the internet, so why not add one to your next order from your preferred music retailer? You can hear Biz rhyme the following words: Tale, Gail, Nail, Yale,  Scale, Ale, Jail, Stale, Grail, Fail, Female, Sail, Prevail, Dale, Bail, Mail. And they make fun of Kraftwerk. 
Len: "Man_of_the_Year "You Can't Stop the Bum Rush" Sony ,1999

Comments

[Lee]

Nice choice. A pleasant album. Too bad the label collapsed pretty much as soon as the CD was released. Really stole their sunshine.

Also, as for electro-clash (maybe) isn't peaches from toronto?

[lee]

As for Dexy's Midnight Runners, "Come on Eileen," of course, and also "Dance Stance," from The Last Stiff Records Compilation. That last, better song, is the only one I know of to chant Laurence Sterne's name, not to mention all the other Irish authors listed therein.

[grand canyon tours]

You're also voting with your dollars and encouraging the airline to have more direct flights.