Econoline Crush

You've probably noticed that I've started using the imeem player to embed songs. Why, you ask? Well, Google/Blogger have been cracking down on TOS violations lately (and I'm wondering if that's why I had at least one post of mine disappear inexplicably one day), so to cover my ass in that regard, I had been looking around for streaming players that have a well-stocked catalog of songs. As soon as I realized that imeem has nearly all the artists I've featured on my blog lately (including the relatively obscure one I'm featuring today), and that they even provide iTunes and Amazon search buttons right alongside the player, I decided it was the one for me. Sure, you can't actually download the songs (at least not easily), but since it's free you can't really complain -- plus, you can go right to the artist's catalog on imeem and hear more of their songs! Sounds like a pretty sweet compromise to me.

ECONOLINE CRUSH
"BRAND NEW HISTORY"
(EMI Canada, 2001)


If any of you out there are just starting to read this blog, then in a way it's pretty good timing: this post juxtaposed with the last one do well to illustrate the wide variety of things I listen to. I was going to start this post by saying that Econoline Crush was an "anomaly" in my music collection, but I honestly have a little bit of everything in my library, so I probably have so many "anomalies" that the ordinary stuff looks like the out-of-the-ordinary. But anyway, this is yet another artist whose CD I stupidly traded in years ago, only to find it on the used rack for five dollars and buy it back in a pang of nostalgia. (Yes, I've said that about two other artists I've featured on here before ... pathetic, I know.) As with the others, I don't know how or why I let myself get rid of it, but I won't make that mistake again.

Econoline Crush is one of Canada's best-kept secrets, having yielded only one marginally popular single in the U.S. They're the only group I listen to that's classified in the "industrial rock" subgenre; basically, they play hard rock with some electronica overtones. Of course, for their two major-label outings the band did tone down their sound and make it more accessible to mainstream listeners, but it makes for a bit of an adventurous listen nonetheless. The opening track, "Make It Right", and the closer "You Don't Know What It's Like", provide the aggressive punch characteristic of Econoline Crush (thanks in part to production by veteran Metallica producer Bob Rock), along with the near-thrash of "Trash" and "Go Off". "Tomorrow Starts Today" and "By The Riverside" show a more mellow side of the band, but still keep the guitars turned up to a decent level, thank you. And just in case the rest of the album is too loud, the band takes a breezy sidestep into Sugar Ray-like territory with the cool "May I Go".

Oddly, just when the band seemed to be hitting their stride, with two solid albums (this one preceded by the more successful 1998 set "The Devil You Know") solidifying their popularity in their native Canada, Econoline Crush seemed to drop off the face of the earth. It would be seven years before they re-emerged with a new album, 2008's "Ignite". I haven't bought it yet, but the sound clips on Amazon have me interested, so I'll probably end up getting it. Like I said, I don't know what it is about Econoline Crush that I like ... the sporadic bursts of guitar ... Trevor Hurst's distinctive raspy howl in the vocals ... the electronic flourishes? Who knows ... and why question it?

Make It Right - Econoline Crush

Basia

BASIA
"IT'S THAT GIRL AGAIN"
(Koch, 2009)


For not having a drop of Latin blood in her, Polish chanteuse Basia sure has a way with a Latin groove, especially in the Brazilian stylings of Samba and Bossa Nova. Basia Trzetrzelewska (no wonder she only goes by her first name as a recording artist) hit the peak of her popularity back in the late '80s and early '90s, and before that was a member of jazz group Matt Bianco. She reunited with Matt Bianco for their 2004 album "Matt's Mood", but other than that, this -- the tongue-in-cheekly titled "It's That Girl Again" -- is Basia's first album of new material in 15 years.

I'm delighted to say that neither she nor her music seem to have aged a day. Her voice is as robust and enchanting as it ever was, and this batch of songs is as much a breath of fresh air now as her early albums were a decade and a half ago. I'd have to go back and listen to them again to be sure, but I think this album may have a wider variety of sounds than any of her previous discs. It's tough to lull Basia into a true ballad on this album, but "A Gift" and the idyllic "Two Islands" come close. The frantic chorus of the appropriately urgently titled "I Must" is as energetic as the album (and Basia in general) gets; and "Love Lies Bleeding" is more laid back and -- I guess "whimsical" would fit as well as any other word -- than its title would suggest. Throw in the Polish-language song "Amelki Smiech" (with its swaying verses contrasting against a militaristic chorus), and you've got as eclectic a Basia album as you might ever see.

Basia's three early studio albums (and the EP nestled amongst them) have never left my collection since I bought them as new releases, and though I haven't listened to them quite as often as I probably should have been during the last 15 years, I was nonetheless looking forward to this album as soon as I heard it was coming, nearly a year before it dropped. I only hope this signals the beginning of a new, ongoing phase of Basia's solo career, because her beautiful, airy voice, with its appealing lilt of what I can only assume is a Polish accent, brings back so many warm memories of the beginnings of my obsession with music.

Blame It On The Summer - Basia

Paula Abdul Leaves "American Idol"!

Wow ... how are we possibly going to get the same joy out of "American Idol" now that we know Paula Abdul isn't going to be a part of it next season? It might be tough for me to express my feelings at a time like this, but let me try....

You have been truly wonderful, and ... the light you shine is ... it's what you do, and ... you do it so well, that ... it's hard to express the ... the joy and energy and goodness that you create is ... it's beyond description ... I am so happy that ... this world has had a chance to experience ... your beautiful ... talent and presence and ... I can't wait until ... the next step in your life ... becomes a reality and illuminates the world because ... you deserve the world ... you truly do, and that's ... I just can't put it any more clearly than that.