Canadian Political Events

Matt Mays, of Dartmouth Nova Scotia.


Matt Mays is so cool that I didn't even know he was Canadian until I researched him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRGXqP6fdUI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xeKcZNJfZ8

 -k

Augh.  Well... I am going to listen to these but I have to be mentally ready.

Honestly, Mike, I'm just sitting here drinking way too much alcohol and posting some Canadian shit that I've had on my playlist for a while.  "Why these?"  Because I like them and I felt like sharing.  I'm not suggesting that these are nation-defining cultural milestones or anything.

 -k

STOP!  CAN-CON TIME!


In appreciation of Canada Day Long Weekend, we are obligated to bring you more Can-Con.


Tom Cochrane and Red Rider, from Toronto:


Aside from being a Can-Con staple, I gather this one also became a cult-classic on US radio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp9852hq0W0


And this I just liked the instrumental intro... sounds very "Tron" for some reason.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1BW1fvQNUc


 -k

As Canada Day long weekend comes to a close, we conclude our Can-Con with a couple of Canada's most beloved rock performers.


Neil Young, of Winnipeg:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeDADr2M6qo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO8kTRv4l3o

 -k

The gambler's mournful lament... Loser....

"All that I am asking for is ten gold dollars, and I can pay you back with one good hand."

Pathetic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmUPGgbrGS8

Gary Clark Jr is a strange duck. Sometimes I REALLY like his songs, but then other times they're just awful. He's hit and miss.

Steve Earle recently said, basically, that most modern country music sucks.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/steve-earle-country-music-nashville-chris-stapleton-kendrick-lamar-oasis-a7791486.html

"The best stuff coming out of Nashville is all by women except for Chris Stapleton," he said. "The guys just wanna sing about getting f***ed up. They're just doing hip hop for people who are afraid of black people.

"I like the new Kendrick Lamar record, so I'll just listen to that."

"Hip hop for people who are afraid of black people" is the funniest thing I have heard said about country music in a long time.  A close second is the observation that with the advent of the self-driving car, country music singers will be able to lament that their trucks left them too.

Steve Earle, at the height of his success, had an image as a tank-top wearing, bad-ass tough-guy type, but his sympathies were always more with the Dixie Chicks... a guy with a strong anti-war, anti-hate viewpoint, which came out in some of his later music.  But first and foremost Steve Earle is a storyteller.

His biggest commercial hit, Copperhead Road, remains a staple of "classic rock" radio and is probably as popular today as when it was first released.  It tells the story of John Lee Pettimore III, a descendant of Tennessee moonshiners who came back from his service in the Vietnam war with "a brand new plan."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhMO9azmKNU


"The Devil's Right Hand" tells the story of a young man whose enthusiasm for pistols lands him in a whole heap of trouble. The lyrics of the song-- the references to the cap-and-ball Colt and the Peacemaker-- suggest it starts in the 1860s, and ends somewhere around 1880. "when daddy left to fight the big war" refers to the American Civil War.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqW2x1knqq0


 -k

...but why have fake Morricone when you can have real Morricone?

The blood-curdling "Silhouette of Doom" is from the 1966 movie "Navajo Joe", but is far better known to younger audiences from the "Kill Bill" movies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1OYXamk2Vc


Ennio was a busy man in 1966! The Ecstacy of Gold is from the 1966 movie "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly", but younger audiences might be more familiar with it by way of Metallica, as Metallica have long used The Ecstacy of Gold as an intro for their concerts. "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" main theme itself is, of course, one of the most iconic motion picture themes ever, but The Ecstacy of Gold is one of those pieces of music that just makes my spine tingle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYI09PMNazw

 -k