Tales of the Salty Bag

In the spring of 2010 I saw a notification that Brother Ali was to tour through the prairies. Since this was the first chance I had to see the black albino since I got into his music I jumped at the chance to see him perform. Initially I could find no mention of a Winnipeg show, there was however a Saskatoon date. My sister was living in Saskatoon at the time so what better excuse to visit than what I could only assume would be a stellar rap show. The opener for the tour was listed as Fashawn, I had never heard of him before but that wasn't overly surprising. I took it upon myself to check out Fashawn's myspace in the weeks leading up to the show so I would at least be familiar with a few of his songs. Upon first listen of Boy Meets World (his Oct 2009 debut album) I was hooked. The production (from Exile), lyrics, flow.. everything was absolutely top notch, dare I say flawless. Fast forward to April 6, 2010..Brother Ali, BK One and Fashawn blew me away. I was now hooked on Fa...

Peanuts and Corn is one of the most important labels in Canadian rap/hip-hop/(whatever you want to call it). Shit, they're one of the most important labels in independent music. Rod Bailey has consistently produced/released some of the most top notch rap albums that North America has to offer. If you are unfamiliar with P&C you should try to change that and celebrate their entire catalogue. With that said, today I am specifically focusing on one release from Peanuts and Corn, 2004's Nothing is Cool from mcenroe and Birdapres . I am not a rap aficionado, I dabble here and there, but I honestly believe that this is a Classic album. This masterpiece was produced by mcenroe with co-production from Birdapres and cuts from DJ Hunnicutt. The beauty to this albums production (as with all P&C releases) is that it's timeless. There was no trend hopping, just perfectly curated beats from music lovers who have obviously seen a crate or two in their time. The lyrics througho...

The Gaslight Anthem is boring. If you asked me in 2010 to recommend a band, I would have very enthusiastically directed you towards The Gaslight Anthem. Sink or Swim, Senor and the Queen and The '59 Sound were damn near perfect. They had energy, heart and were catchy as hell. American Slang was a slight departure with an overall slower tempo than I had grown accustomed to however it was still a very strong effort. Since then, each subsequent album has grown slower and more subdued. About 3/4 of each of their last 2 albums seem to be dedicated solely to slow dances or meticulously inspecting your shoes. To me it doesn't even feel like the same band. What was The Gaslight Anthem now feels like the Brian Fallon vanity project; it feels like one mans vision masquerading as a band. What's left of a once majestic beast is the bland shell of a band that had so much potential. The energy is all but gone, majority of the songs feel forced..it's time for a name change.   My ba...

Winnipeg is starting to develop a fairly solid pop punk/beard punk/orgcore (whatever you want to call it) scene. Every once in a while the bands brave the shitty highway for a couple hundred kilometres and play Brandon. This doesn't happen often (and when it does I usually don't hear about the show until it's too late). This past January I saw a poster that billed both Dangercat and Elder Abuse (2 bands that in my opinion slay). I didn't recognize any of the other bands on the bill but just seeing those 2 names on the poster made me want to brave the frigid early January temperatures (it ended up being around -30°C that night). I convinced a few other people to come with me and made sure that I arrived reasonably early so that I didn't miss any of the Winnipeg bands. The first 2 bands happened, didn't leave much of an impression on me. Next up was a band that goes by the name of Mobina Galore. Mobina Galore consists of 2 people; 1 plays guitar and sings lead whi...

The great thing about independent record labels is that they're run by music lovers..and generally don't have very many cooks in the kitchen.The result from this is that the owner usually curates a specific sound or ethos, not because it sells a nutload of units or is popular but because it's what they dig (within reason). When you find a label that jives with your musical taste it's a glorious day. For me one of these labels is It's Alive Records. It's Alive has released some of my favorite albums from the past 10 years (if you want any recommendations hit me up) and hasn't released a single dud. I will purchase anything that they release without even hearing a note, let alone a song. It is because of their track record that this past September I ordered The Capitalist Kids - at a loss. With the name of the band I was expecting something with skatepunk/crusty leanings..nope. The Capitalist Kids, surprisingly, have a mid to late 90's sound somewhere betw...

I like pop punk. Ramonescore..Lookout, Recess, Red Scare, It's Alive records; you know, that ilk. Majority of what I'm exposed to (or expose myself to) is either American or based out of GTA/Ottawa areas. For some reason, it's rare for me to get a record and find out that the band is from the prairies or western Canada. This is not to say that there aren't killer pop punk bands in these regions, it just takes more digging to find them. (I know, you're angry and yelling Chixdiggit! at the screen right now. There's always exceptions). One of these amazing Canadian pop punk bands is based out of Vancouver and go by the name of The Hextalls. I had heard their name before but never really gave them a listen until last January (2014) when I got their LP "Rock You to Sleep". Shit is fantastic. Catchy, cheeky without turning themselves into a joke; straight forward pop punk. With heavy nods to the bruddas, I would be more than surprised if at least a few of th...

Raised Fist was coming to Brandon....again. Every music scene has an ebb and flow to it. From what I am told, Brandon had a huge punk..that turned somewhat metal..scene in the mid to late 90's. I can't attest to that. I can however attest to a punk/metalcore scene in the early to mid 2000's that was anchored by 1 band from Winnipeg (that consisted of a few Brandonites), Volition. I was lucky in high school that there was a local all ages scene for me to take part in and learn from. I can't remember the frequency of shows but I do remember that whenever I heard of a Volition show there was bound to be a packed house. Crowd surfing, a respectably sized pit (more often that not void of those dick swinging, spin kicking, windmilling, slam dance douchebags) and electricity in the air. Park Community Centre (primarily, along with other community centres around Brandon) was alive with youthful indiscretion. It was after a Volition show in 2003 that myself, along with my frie...