Soundscapes - 572 College Street Toronto

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Sunday

Dec152013

HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS 2013

Sunday, December 15, 2013 at 05:30PM

Our Staff Best Of 2013 list is now posted, as is our earlier write-up re: the new Nick Lowe and Elizabeth Mitchell holiday releases, but in the meantime since the season is now upon us, this gift guide will hopefully help you hit the right notes for all the music lovers on your list (current availability cannot be guaranteed):

FOUR LADS FROM LIVERPOOL (and a Muswell Hillbilly)

THE BEATLES: The BBC Archives 1962-1970 (hardcover)
THE BEATLES - On Air: Live At The BBC Volume 2 (CD/LP)
TUNE IN: The Beatles - All These Years, Vol. 1 (hardcover)
THE JOHN LENNON LETTERS (paperback)
RAY DAVIES - Americana: The Kinks, The Riff, The Road: The Story (hardcover)

HELP FOR THE HOLIDAY BLUES

BLUES IMAGES 2014 CALENDAR: Classic Blues Artwork From The 1920s, Vol. 11 (CD included)
VA - Chimpin' The Blues with Jerry Zolten & R. Crumb (ft. between-track commentary)
VA - R. Crumb's Heroes Of Blues, Jazz & Country (book + CD)
VA - The Rise & Fall Of Paramount Records, Volume One (1917-27) (800-song USB drive, 6LPs and two books [art book + discography] enclosed in ultra-deluxe wooden 'wonder cabinet'!)

SOUL, R'N'B, ROCK'N'ROLL & GOSPEL

RESPECT YOURSELF: Stax Records And The Soul Explosion (hardcover)
VA - New Orleans Funk 3: Two-Way-Pock-A-Way, Gumbo Ya-Ya & The Mardi Gras Mambo
VA - Purple Snow: Forecasting The Minneapolis Sound (2CD + book/4LP + book)
THE T.A.M.I. SHOW: Collector's Edition (DVD)
OST - Muscle Shoals
VA - Jukebox Jam! Volume Two
OXFORD AMERICAN - Annual Southern Music Issue (magazine + 2CD)
VA - I Heard The Angels Singing: Electrifying Black Gospel From The Nashboro Label 1951-1983 (4CD)

MOPERS & MOPEDS: IVO, ELLIOTT, MOLLY, MOZ N' ROSES

FACING THE OTHER WAY: The Story Of 4AD (hardcover)
TORMENT SAINT: The Life Of Elliott Smith (hardcover)
MOLLY DRAKE - S/T (CD/LP)
MORRISSEY: Autobiography (hardcover)
MORRISSEY - 25: Live (DVD/Blu-ray)
THE STONE ROSES: Made Of Stone (DVD/Blu-ray)

PUNKS vs. HIPPIES

THE CLASH - Sound System (11CD + DVD)
VA - Punk 45: Kill The Hippies! Kill Yourself! The American Nation Destroys Its Young
PUNK 45: The Singles Cover Art Of Punk 1976-80 (paperback)
UGLY THINGS #36 (Fall/Winter 2013)

MUSIC FANS-IN-TRAINING

THE POINT: Definitive Collector's Edition (DVD)
LEARN TO SPEAK MUSIC: A Guide To Creating, Performing And Promoting Your Songs (paperback)
BUN B'S RAP COLORING AND ACTIVITY BOOK (paperback)
OST - Sesame Street Old School Volume 1 (3CD)
VA - Smithsonian Folkways Children's Music Collection

LIFELONG STUDENTS OF MUSIC

DAVID BYRNE - How Music Works (new paperback edition/hardcover)
THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON MUSIC: The Science Of A Human Obsession (paperback)
UNDERSTAND RAP: Explanations Of Confusing Rap Lyrics That You & Your Grandma Can Understand (paperback)
1,000 RECORDINGS TO HEAR BEFORE YOU DIE: A Listener's Life List (paperback)

SASSY CHANTEUSES, PARK-BENCH POP & HAZLEWOOD'S STABLE

YE-YE GIRLS OF '60s FRENCH POP (paperback)
VA - Saint Etienne Presents Songs For A Central Park Picnic
VA - There's A Dream I've Been Saving: Lee Hazlewood Industries 1966-1971 (4CD/4CD + DVD + book)

SHAKEY, VAN, THE BAND & THE MAN (In Black)

NEIL YOUNG - Live At The Cellar Door (CD/LP)
VAN MORRISON - Moondance (2CD Expanded Edition/4CD + Blu-ray Deluxe Edition)
THE LAST WALTZ (DVD/Blu-ray)
THE BAND - Live At The Academy Of Music 1971 (2CD Expanded Edition/4CD + DVD Deluxe Edition)
JOHNNY CASH - The Life (hardcover)

INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS OF FANCY

VA - Longing For The Past: The 78 RPM Era In Southeast Asia (4CD + book)
VA - Angola Soundtrack 2: Hypnosis, Distortions & Other Sonic Innovations 1969-1978 (CD/LP)
VA - Red Hot + Fela

THE GIFT OF MUSIC

TICKET STUB DIARY (to store/record memories of your showgoing year)
GIFT CERTIFICATES (which can be written out in any denomination)

Happy holidays!

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Thursday

Dec052013

NICK LOWE - Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection For All The Family / ELIZABETH MITCHELL - The Sounding Joy: Christmas Songs In And Out Of The Ruth Crawford Seeger Songbook

Thursday, December 5, 2013 at 01:40PM

This year's batch of new holiday music includes titles from Erasure, Bad Religion and the two releases highlighted here, so if you've played out Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas and Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift For You, why not explore some new holiday tunes? Also, be sure to check out Jingle Bell Rocks!, screening at the Bloor Cinema over the next few days, for more off-the-beaten-track festive sounds.

"[Quality Street] is an amalgamation of Christmas classics, unusual covers and some newly written original songs. Ron Sexsmith contributes a song especially written for the album, along with a new Ry Cooder/Nick Lowe tune. It's the new songs written by Nick Lowe, though, that are the heart of the album—'Christmas At The Airport' is a playful take on the travel tie-ups we've all experienced, complete with Ray Conniff-style backgrounds punctuated by terminal PA voiceovers. Meanwhile, the stunning 'I Was Born In Bethlehem' unfolds as an inventive retelling of the nativity. Lowe says, 'It’s this amazing story that everyone knows, but I was trying to write it as if you'd met Jesus on a plane, and he just started chatting away about that night. I tried to make it very conversational and sort of matter of fact.'" - Rockshot UK

"The Sounding Joy is a spirited collection of folk carols drawn from Ruth Crawford Seeger’s 1953 songbook American Folk Songs For Christmas. Featuring Elizabeth Mitchell and a luminary list of her musical family, friends, and neighbors, this album celebrates the spirit of community and homespun traditions that existed in times before the commercialization of Christmas. Natalie Merchant, Aoife O’Donovan, Amy Helm, John Sebastian, Dan Zanes, Happy Traum, and many others including special guest Peggy Seeger all add their voices to pay tribute to a collection revered in the canon of American Music." - Smithsonian Folkways

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Folk/Singer-songwriter,

Holiday,

Pop/Rock

Tuesday

Dec082009

2009 HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS

Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at 10:00AM

Since it's nearing the gift-giving season, here are some ideas for all those music lovers on your list, for budgets both big and small...

BOOKS

DA CAPO BEST MUSIC WRITING 2009
DAVID BYRNE - Bicycle Diaries
OUR NOISE: The Story Of Merge Records
MERGE RECORDS COMPANION: A Visual Discography Of The First Twenty Years
GIG POSTERS: Rock Show Art Of The 21st Century
ULTRAVIOLET: 69 Classic Blacklight Posters From The Aquarian Age And Beyond

Here's just a smattering of the many music books for sale here at our shop, with many more titles listed below by theme. Speaking of lists...

LISTS

MUSIC LISTOGRAPHY: Your Life In (Play) Lists
INVENTORY: By The Writers Of The A.V. Club
HANG THE DJ: An Alternative Book Of Music Lists

Making lists seems to come naturally to the minds of most music fans, and the writers of these books are looking for a few likeminded list-loving readers. Know of any on your list?

CHILDREN

LEARN TO SPEAK MUSIC: A Guide To Creating, Performing & Promoting Your Songs
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Yo Gabba Gabba!: Music Is Awesome!
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS - Kids Go! (book/DVD)/Here Comes Science (DVD/CD)

Kid-catering picks from this past year come in the form of a terrific how-to by this very website's former editor (!), a CD from the Nick Jr. network's biggest series, and two new creations from Brooklyn's best-known pair of songwriting Johns.

DVDs

SCOTT WALKER: 30 Century Man
ANVIL!: The Story Of Anvil
NIRVANA: Live At Reading
WOODSTOCK: 2-Disc 40th Anniversary Edition (Director's Cut) (DVD/Blu-Ray)

These and many more music-related feature films, documentaries and concert videos are stocked in our extensive DVD section (now supplemented by a select but growing assortment of Blu-Ray discs).

POP/ROCK

BIG STAR - Keep An Eye On The Sky
THE BEATLES - The Beatles In Mono/The Beatles Stereo Box Set
TOM WAITS - Glitter And Doom Live/Orphans (LP Box Set)
LOWSIDE OF THE ROAD: A Life Of Tom Waits
TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS - The Live Anthology
NEIL YOUNG - Dreamin' Man Live '92/Neil Young Archives, Vol. 1
THE ROLLING STONES - Get Your Ya-Ya's Out! (40th Anniversary 3CD/DVD)

New box sets, live collections and books abound by and about these (and many more) much-loved classic rock stalwarts.

PSYCH/GARAGE

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Where The Action Is!: Los Angeles Nuggets
UGLY THINGS - Issue #29
THE MASTER'S APPRENTICES - S/T (2CD Deluxe Edition)
LOVE - Love Lost

From the newest installment in Rhino's ongoing Nuggets sequels to long-running fanzine Ugly Things, current UT cover subjects The Master's Apprentices and yet more unreleased Love unearthed by the folks at Sundazed, the lysergically-inclined are well-covered here.

PUNK/NEW WAVE/ART-ROCK/PROG

DEATH - ...For The Whole World To See
THE FEELIES - Crazy Rhythms/The Good Earth
DEVO - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!/Freedom Of Choice
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND - White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day By Day (book)/New York Art (book)/An Illustrated History Of A Walk On The Wild Side (book)/Singles 1966-69 (7" box set)
KRAFTWERK - Reissues/12345678: The Catalogue/Kraftwerk And The Electronic Revolution (DVD)
ON SOME FARAWAY BEACH: The Life And Times Of Brian Eno
33 1/3 SERIES: Another Green World
HARMONIA & ENO '76 - Tracks And Traces

If this lot of reissues, videos and writings is anything to go on, 2009 was a bumper year for oddball oldies. Got any black sheep to buy for?

AMERICANA/FOLK

OXFORD AMERICAN MAGAZINE - Southern Music Issue #11
HANK WILLIAMS - Revealed: The Unreleased Recordings
WOODY GUTHRIE - My Dusty Road
LEONARD COHEN - Live At The Isle Of Wight/Live In London
THE LEVON HELM MIDNIGHT RAMBLE: Photographs By Paul LaRaia

Oxford American's annual Southern Music Issue inevitably sells out by the end of the holidays, and the enclosed CDs (as with last year's issue, it's now a two-disc set) are a surefire means to new discoveries.

SOUL/R&B/BLUES

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Can You Dig It?: The Music And Politics Of Black Action Films 1969-1975
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Sweet Soul Music
R. CRUMB'S HEROES OF BLUES, JAZZ AND COUNTRY: 2010 Calendar
CLASSIC BLUES ARTWORK FROM THE 1920s, VOL. 7: 2010 Calendar (w/ CD)
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Light: On The South Side

Calendars and compilations from such trusted labels as Soul Jazz, Bear Family and Numero Group deliver the goods with class. If you've got the means, Light: On The South Side is one particularly badass book/LP package!

JAZZ

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Freedom, Rhythm & Sound: Revolutionary Jazz 1965-80 (2CD or book)

Speaking of Soul Jazz, this coffee-table tome and related two-disc compilation from the aforementioned UK label do a great job of outlining the do-it-yourself ethic and black-power tenor of the times from the beginnings of the free-jazz era and beyond.

WORLD

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Ghanian Blues 1968-1981
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Africa Boogaloo: The Latinization Of West Africa
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Panama! 3: Calypso Panameno, Guajira Jazz & Cumbia Tipica On The Isthmus 1960-75

Some of the newest picks from our African and South American sections, courtesy of the always-reliable Soundway and Honest Jon's labels.

HIP-HOP

THE RZA - The Tao Of Wu
PEANUT BUTTER WOLF - 45 Live
EDAN - Echo Party

The RZA follows up on The Wu-Tang Manual with an in-depth look at his life, business and production methods, while Peanut Butter Wolf and Edan both tackle Traffic Entertainment's disco-rap and old-school holdings in their own ways. Wolf's is a more extensive and hands-off affair, while Echo Party takes a hyper-edited micromix approach, with layers of added synth, drum machine, and even a bit of kazoo!

NOISE/EXPERIMENTAL/ELECTRONIC

THROBBING GRISTLE - Gristleism
THE WIRE PRIMERS: A Guide To Modern Music
HOLD ON TO YOUR DREAMS: Arthur Russell And The Downtown Music Scene, 1973-1992
VARIOUS ARTISTS - Warp 20: Chosen/Recreated (2CD)/Unheard (2CD)/Box Set (5CD+5x10"+book)

Noiseniks can bask in the clangour of Gristleism, the successor to the Buddha Machine (co-designed by FM3's own Christiaan Virant with TG); crack open either The Wire editor Rob Young's anthology culling from the magazine's popular column or Tim Lawrence's long-promised definitive Arthur Russell biography; or covet the 20th anniversary monolith put out earlier this year by Sheffield techno-not-techno mainstay Warp Records.

GIFT CERTIFICATES

And as always, if you're still stuck, gift certificates are available in any denomination.

Happy holidays!

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Friday

Dec042009

VA - A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector + Christmas Album Genre Guide

Friday, December 4, 2009 at 10:00AM

spectorp.-christmas.jpg No list of Christmas music would be complete without this album, what many consider to be the greatest holiday set ever cut, so it's with much celebration that we mention this recent reissue of the long out-of-print A Christmas Gift For You, originally released back in 1963.

While there's no question that most of us would balk at the thought of actually having Phil Spector himself over for the holidays, this record is truly something special. The marriage of his 'wall of sound' production style, a roster including Darlene Love, The Ronettes and The Crystals, and some of the most popular carols is divine.

If you're still stuck for some seasonal sounds to stuff into that stocking, let us direct you to our Christmas Album Genre Guide, with choice CD picks from this most maligned of album genres, running from classic and classy to modern and novel.

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Rock n' Roll/R&B/Rockabilly,

Holiday,

Soul/Funk

Thursday

Dec112008

2008 HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS

Thursday, December 11, 2008 at 12:05PM

To help you get your shopping in order (and to supplement our Christmas Guide), here are some suggestions that haven't been previously posted in these pages, a few gift ideas for all those music lovers on your list...

BOOKS

THE PITCHFORK 500: OUR GUIDE TO THE GREATEST SONGS FROM PUNK TO THE PRESENT
SLEEVEFACE: BE THE VINYL

We'd also recommend the recently-reviewed Rough Guide To The Best Music You've Never Heard, but those partial to lists or sight gags will respectively burn through either of these new books, both indebted in their own way to this digital age.

MAGAZINES

OXFORD AMERICAN SOUTHERN MUSIC ISSUE 2008
SPACING HOLIDAY GIFT PACK

Although we regularly stock a wide assortment of monthly music magazines, these two items will only be available in the coming month or so, so now's the time to grab them. The 10th annual Southern Music Issue of the Oxford American features high-quality essay-length musings by the likes of Greil Marcus, Robert Earl Hardy, Grant Alden, Peter Guralnick and many more, as well as a 2CD set of songs from such article subjects as Jerry Lee Lewis, The "5" Royales, Neko Case, Furry Lewis, Ella Fitzgerald, and even The Residents! For something somewhat different and much closer to home, the amateur urban geographer of the family might prefer a Spacing Holiday Gift Pack, with all three '08 issues and three postcards handily wrapped in a TTC route map.

BLUES

CLASSIC BLUES ARTWORK FROM THE 1920s, VOL. 6: 2009 CALENDAR (w/ CD)
R. CRUMB'S HEROES OF BLUES, JAZZ, & COUNTRY (book & CD)
EARLY BLUES/JAZZ/COUNTRY GREATS (trading cards)

For the oldtimey-obsessed among us, may we recommend: this coming year's installment of the Classic Blues Artwork Calendar, full of full-sized promotional paraphernalia from the Golden Age of the blues (it also includes a 19-track CD); the book that gives you the biographies of the storied lives of R. Crumb's personal heroes of blues, jazz and country, similarly including a CD, and accompanied by full-colour Crumb illustrations, naturally; or the spinoff trading cards that shrink all that info down to just the stats, ma'am.

AMERICANA

HANK WILLIAMS - The Unreleased Recordings (3CD)
VA - Dim Lights, Thick Smoke & Hillbilly Music, 1945-1950

For tastes that veer more towards mid-century honkytonk, this Time-Life 3CD box of never-before-heard Hank Williams recordings could do the trick, as could this Bear Family single-disc series of Country & Western hit parade classics.

SOUL

JAMES BROWN - I Got The Feeling (3DVD)
CURTIS MAYFIELD - Movin' On Up (DVD)
OTIS REDDING - The Legacy Of Otis Redding (DVD)
VA - Respect Yourself: The Stax Story (DVD)
VA - Stax/Volt Revue: Live In Norway 1967 (DVD)
VA - Stax Double Feature (2DVD)
PARLIAMENT-FUNKADELIC - The Mothership Connection Live 1976 (DVD)

This heaping stack of Stax, JB, Curtis and P-Funk videos will surely end your search for what to get that soul aficionado of yours!

CLASSIC ROCK

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL - Reissues
THE WHO - At Kilburn 1977 (DVD)
THE ROLLING STONES - Shine A Light (DVD/soundtrack CD)
AC/DC - No Bull: The Director's Cut (DVD)

All of the above feature tried, tested and true rock legends at their live best; even the CCR remasters are now each appended with energetic bonus live recordings.

'80s & '90s POP/ROCK REISSUES

THE CLASH - Live At Shea Stadium (regular/deluxe CD)
THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN - The Power Of Negative Thinking (4CD box)
THE REPLACEMENTS - Reissues
R.E.M. - Murmur (2CD Deluxe Edition)
THE SMITHS - The Sound Of The Smiths (regular/deluxe 2CD)
NEW ORDER - Reissues (2CD Collector's Editions)
WEEN - At The Cat's Cradle 1992 (CD/DVD)
PAVEMENT - Brighten The Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition (2CD)

Many classics of the punk rock, college rock, alt-rock and indie-rock eras (as well as previously unreleased live material) have been reissued as remastered discs, deluxe editions and box sets over the last year, so it's high time for hardcore fans of the above acts to complete and supplement their collections.

CHILDREN'S

THE POINT! (DVD)
VA - See You On The Moon!: Songs For Kids Of All Ages
VA - Mamma Yamma And Friends
JENNY OMNICHORD - Charlotte Or Otis: Duets For Children, Their Parents, And Other People, Too

For the youngest listeners (and their parents, and other people, too, to quote Jenny "Omnichord" Mitchell), try the animated cartoon musical adaptation of Harry Nilsson's classic kid's fantasy, Paper Bag's 2006 set of Can-Con all-stars, the CBC's brand-new disc honouring Kensington Market's TV puppet chef par excellence, or Ms. Mitchell's ode to the then-impending birth of her child.

GIFT CERTIFICATES

And if you're still stuck, there are always good old gift certificates, available all year round in any denomination.

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