Morning Stretch

Another morning of light stretching with Toby the Cat, who I must say, is all excited purrs these days for our renewed morning routine.

This morning then we’re listening to a self-titled EP by P.S. I Love You.

This is another CD from which I have no idea how I ever acquired it.

Hailing from Kingston, Ontario, Canada, noise pop duo P.S. I Love You formed in 2006 as an outlet for songwriter Paul Saulnier. Originally writing songs on guitar, pedal organ, and a Casio keyboard, Saulnier eventually made a rhythmic upgrade, recruiting drummer Benjamin Nelson to replace his less than trusty keyboard on percussion. Together, the pair created a manic sound that’s atmospheric while remaining almost relentlessly bright, allowing waves of melody to force their way through dense layers of reverb and rumbling organ.

This five track EP was released in 2013 on Paper Bag Records.

Morning Stretch

They’re certainly not long nor detailed yet, but they’re a start.

Toby sure loves them anyway.

This morning I’m listening to an old EP called This Is the Only Life by the Turton-Bougie Band.

Recorded in 1999, this was a popular local act in St. Catharines back when I was still working at the Merchant ale House.

Little did I know back then I would later be using this to do yoga with.

Morning Stretch

THREE DAYS.

Who’s the man?

Anyway, this mornings leisurely stretch is to the Funky New Orleans albums by Dr. John with the Donald Harrison Band.

Playing in front of an invited studio audience, Dr. John is featured with a full-scale jazz ensemble on this 1991 session Funky New Orleans.

Alto saxophonist Donald Harrison Jr. is the leader of the date, which allows Dr. John to concentrate not only on piano and vocals but also his guitar playing. A hand full of Mac Rebennack and Harrison originals are mixed with the dirty blues of Shave em Dry and a nod to Professor Longhair and Earl King on Big Chief. Also, two instrumental straight-ahead jazz pieces are explored on Hu-Ta-Nay and Walkin Home.

This really isn’t a Dr. John recording as much as an honest portrayal of these (mainly) New Orleans musicians in an extremely loose and funky setting…especially for an early morning on the mat session with Toby the Cat.

Morning Stretch

Two days in a row.

Look at me go.

I’m still not calling them “workouts”, but I’m still going with the flow and getting some sweating–albeit some very light sweat–on my mat.

Anyway, whatever it is, this morning I am listening to Roger’s Waltz by Luther Wright & the Wrongs.

And that’s TWO Canadiana albums to boot.

Some heroes don’t always wear capes.

Essentially, a collection of songs recorded on our back porch during the summer of 1998.

Aaaaaaaaand, that’s about all I got…

Time to shower and get my ass to work.

Morning Stretch

I wouldn’t say it was yoga, per se, nor was it a very dedicated workout. It was, however, the first time I’ve done anything health-wise in the morning in a helluva long time.

So this it, hopefully, the turning of a new leaf.

We’ll see.

Anyway, this morning’s intro-workout was set to Bob Wiseman‘s More Work Songs from Planet of the Apes.

Appropriate, don’t ya think?

It was released in 1997 and, that’s about all I can find.

How did I end up with it?

Beats me.

Have I ever listened to it before?

Definitely not.

Was it cool?

Shit, yeah!

Absolutely an under-appreciated taste of avant guarde Canadiana.

Breakfast Vinyl

It’s been a hot minute — or a few billion — since my last post and, truthfully, I have a lot to catch up on still.

However, as it is, I was asked to put “appropriate” for breakfast time and this is what we’re listening to.

C’mon.

How awesome a choice is this?

It’s Indiana Jones for Pete sakes, and who doesn’t love themselves some John Williams orchestral arrangements early in the morning?

Raiders of the Lost Ark: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 1981 Steven Spielberg film, Raiders of the Lost Ark. The music was composed and conducted by John Williams, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. The soundtrack received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score, but lost out to Vangelis‘ score for Chariots of Fire.

Kelly found this, believe it or not, at a local Goodwill too — and it’s mint.

Vinyl Sunday

Kelly and I went to see the Great Lake Swimmers–with whom, they just finished their first “national tour”–at the FirstOntario Center for the Performing Arts. Of course, we’ve seen them before and they’re great but, honestly, we went to see the opener, Minuscule.

This is their debut album.

Laurel Minnes is a Niagara-based performer and songwriter offering fresh choral arrangements and a new force for feminist pop, the culmination of many years of musical exploration and backed by a supporting band, creating a powerful new form of pop music.

Harnessing the power of an all-female choir and an eclectic backing band (including my buddy Joe Lapinski), her project Minuscule released their debut album Great in February 2020. The title track secured Minnes’ recognition as Songwriter of the Year at the Niagara Music Awards and was featured on CBC’s Q. Minnes has collaborated with genre-spanning Juno- and Polaris-nominated artists, from wistful indie-folk group Great Lakes Swimmers to epic heavy-metal duo Vile Creature – the latter for which she received a Juno nod for her choral arrangements.

And they’re pretty awesome to boot.

Personally, the track Lukewarm Love has become my “go to” song for whenever I’m feeling blue and need to stew a little bit. Having said that, Great will usually pick me right back up again.

How awesome I can get that kind of roller coaster ride in one record.

Vinyl Sunday

Kicking-starting our “Vinyl Sunday” celebrations–at least with a new record anyways–with this new album by Elliott BROOD, Town.

With a familiar “1, 2, 3…” Elliott BROOD count in a new album cycle, Town, that explores the people and places that shape our lives, wherever we call home.

On Part One of a two part series, Town, Elliott BROOD rumble and rock over a map of the towns and cities that populate their experiences and imaginations. With their brand of nitty gritty city folk mixed with retro nods, be it classic country or 60s surf, the band take us on a highly entertaining trip.

Who better to write an ode to Windsor, ON (Rose City) than the band that has become the city’s unofficial ambassadors. The band’s cover of Jenny Lewis’s Rise Up with Fists, which came out this summer, is also included.

I gotta say, I’m kinda excited for Part Two.

Vinyl Sunday (Part 4)

It’s been a good day for music today, and we still have more to go.

(Time and records).

Next up on the Thanksgiving playlist is this Future Blues album by Canned Heat.

The final Canned Heat album to feature co-founder Alan Wilson, Future Blues was also one of their best, surprisingly restrained as a studio creation by the band, the whole thing clocking in at under 36 minutes, as long as some single jams on their live discs.

It was also one of their most stylistically diverse efforts. Most of what’s here is very concise and accessible, even the one group-composed jam — Alan Wilson’s Shake It and Break It and his prophetically titled My Time Ain’t Long (he would be dead the year this record was issued), which also sounds a lot like a follow-up to Going up the Country until its final, very heavy, and up-close guitar coda.

Other songs are a little self-consciously heavy, especially their version of Arthur Crudup’s That’s All Right, Mama. Dr. John appears, playing piano on the dark, ominous London Blues, and arranges the horns on Skat, which tries for a completely different kind of sound — late-’40s-style jump blues — than that for which the group was usually known. And the band also turns in a powerhouse heavy guitar version of Wilbert Harrison’s Let’s Work Together.

Vinyl Sunday (Part 3)

Decided to change it up a bit for this Thanksgiving, this Curtis/Live! record by Curtis Mayfield.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my cheesy morning Vinyl Sunday records but, well, it can’t remain that way all day, can it?

Curtis/Live! is, simply, one of the greatest concert albums ever cut on a soul artist, and one of the legendary Live albums of all time.

Cut in January of 1971 during four nights at The Bitter End (then Greenwich Village’s leading music venue) in New York, the resulting double LP transcended any expectations in both its programming and execution — Mayfield performed numbers off of the Curtis album ([Don’t Worry] If There’s a Hell Below We’re All Going to Go), as well as exciting and urgent new versions of songs originally performed by the Impressions (We’re a Winner, People Get Ready, Gypsy Woman), plus a very moving R&B version of We’ve Only Just Begun.

This is all beautifully stripped-down work by a quintet consisting of Mayfield (vocals, guitar), Craig McMullen (guitar), Tyrone McCullen (drums), Master Henry Gibson (percussion), and Joseph “Lucky” Scott (bass) — a solid, intense performance, with quietly elegant guitar playing against a rock-solid rhythm section, as Impressions hits are rethought and reconfigured in a new context, and Mayfield’s early solo repertory comes to life in newer, longer live versions.