The Scene Not Heard

All Hail David Celia And His Positive Outlook

Submitted by Chris Burland on Wed, 06/09/2010 - 9:45am
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) June 9, 2010 9:45 am
This week the world will have the opportunity to hear the new album by the Mississauga-born and bred singer-songwrtier David Celia. Entitled I Tried, the new CD once again tugs the heart strings with a collection of country-tinged urban folk pop songs. This overly complex description is necessary for Celia's musical output because he easily...
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The Radio Dept. Calls For The Destruction Of The Bogus Capitalist Process... In A Nice Way

Submitted by Chris Burland on Wed, 04/07/2010 - 12:41pm
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) April 7, 2010 12:41 pm
Swedish popsters The Radio Dept. are about to release Clinging To A Scheme, their first album in four years. The new disc features the usual smooth vocals backed by ethereal electronic-tinged rhythms. Second track "Heaven's On Fire" begins with a spoken word monologue from a left-leaning music/culture critic ranting about the...
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You Can Call Me Gary: The Guess Who Through The Looking Glass

Submitted by Chris Burland on Wed, 03/31/2010 - 10:08am
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) March 31, 2010 10:08 am
I was searching through the CHARTattack archives for information regarding Yo La Tengo's chart success over the years when I came across one of my old Charty Chart Chat columns. Back then, I had some licence to wax poetic about music and culture before delving into the serious business of chart analysis. Here's a pre-blog blog from July 2003...
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The Long Winters' Roderick's A Brilliant Poet!

Submitted by Chris Burland on Fri, 03/26/2010 - 12:24pm
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) March 26, 2010 12:24 pm
I've spoken of The Long Winters before in my blog about the music from 2003. Well, I'm currently listening to The Long Winters' When I Pretend To Fall. And the album is giving me goosebumps for the umpteenth time. I don't know what it is about this album I pulled out of the chuck pile (that's where albums that are doubles or unreviewed go...
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The Lawn's CMW Reunion: A Gig For The Ages

Submitted by Chris Burland on Fri, 03/19/2010 - 2:49pm
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) March 19, 2010 2:49 pm
Last week during CMW 2010, I had a chance to feel young again and it didn't involve trying to slide into tight straight-legged jeans, attempt the embarrassing comb-over or even settle for a DIET-PEPSI instead. The Lawn played for the first time in 16 years and the first time with this line-up since drummer, Mike Duggan's departure two decades...
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Three Albums For 2010 I'm Dying To Hear

Submitted by Chris Burland on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 3:53pm
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) February 2, 2010 3:53 pm
A couple of weeks ago Outside Music sent out an email with a list of upcoming releases. Included were three albums I've been jonesing for new material from. I know what you're thinking: a new Motorpsycho album. I haven't heard that one either, but no... They are Jaga Jazzist, Josh Rouse and The Apples In Stereo. What a trio of album. They all...
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Can't Find Large Rheos, Supersuckers & Souljazz Covers?

Submitted by Chris Burland on Wed, 01/27/2010 - 9:54am
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) January 27, 2010 9:54 am
On the day when the world is raving over the latest technology from the ever-expanding minds of the Apple Company, I thought I'd add a bit of focus on content needed for these new techno-gadgets. I'm the proud owner of a 80-gig iPod and when I add some older music from my vast CD collection, I like to add a good-sized scan of the cover....
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The Decade's Best: 2003 - Part Three

Submitted by Chris Burland on Mon, 01/04/2010 - 3:41pm
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) January 4, 2010 3:41 pm
In the last of a three part special, we look back at the best year during the last decade. The Scene Not Heard has already discussed the brilliance of Josh Rouse, The Decemberists, Isolation Years, The Long Winters and The Notwist. Now let's the top it off with some more. The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow I was introduced to this album in 2004...
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The Decade's Best: The Year Of 2003 - Part Two

Submitted by Chris Burland on Tue, 12/29/2009 - 4:28pm
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) December 29, 2009 4:28 pm
2003 was the year when the whole indie pop community got together and recorded  many, many different quality discs on both sides of the pond. While Josh Rouse's personal life was in a turmoil, his musical output was growing by leaps and bounds. The completion of his transformation from quiet, somewhat introspective roots-based singer-songwriter...
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This Century's Best Year For Music... So Far! Part One

Submitted by Chris Burland on Wed, 12/09/2009 - 11:48am
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) December 9, 2009 11:48 am
With many of the recent music editorials proclaiming the top albums of the first decade of the 21st Century include the whole Radiohead catalogue, I'll take a different tact by discussing the best year of music among the first ten, that being 2003. I came to this determination using the following criterion — what year featured albums with the...
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Disappointments In 2009 — Who Didn't Release New Music

Submitted by Chris Burland on Wed, 11/25/2009 - 4:17pm
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) November 25, 2009 4:17 pm
It's that time of the year when we look back at the year gone by to see the good, the bad and the mistaken. First up for this blogger is the bands from whom we didn’t hear any new material. The Essex Green: It’s been 3½ years since this Brooklyn-based trio released any new material. Back in the spring of 2006, the folky-tinged pop band released...
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Blitzen Trapper Had A Good Year

Submitted by Chris Burland on Wed, 11/11/2009 - 11:14am
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) November 11, 2009 11:14 am
I must state this right off the bat, I'e never been one for enjoying the live musical experience. I've been at my share of great musical moments like Mogwai's musical blast out at the Horseshoe in the fall of 1999, Royal City's sonic bliss during CMW 2003 as part of ChartAttack's Horseshoe showcase that was broadcast live on CBC Radio 2 and The...
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Taylor Swift's "'Lost" Acceptance Speech

Submitted by Chris Burland on Tue, 09/15/2009 - 1:32pm
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) September 15, 2009 1:32 pm
I don't want to condone Kanye West's irritating self-importance, nor do I give a rat's ass what pretty girl won the best looking female video, but at least Mr. West's actions did spare us from another boring acceptance speech. Here's probably how it would have played out: Taylor Swift (looking dumbfounded even though her handler told her to get...
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The Apples In Stereo: A Band Out Of Time

Submitted by Chris Burland on Fri, 09/11/2009 - 1:46pm
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) September 11, 2009 1:46 pm
Last week, The Apples In Stereo released a best of CD called #1 Hits Explosion. For those (really) old enough to remember those K-Tel compilation LPs from the '70s, The Apples In Stereo chose a title to honour those greatest hits packages that came out every three or four months throughout that decade. Those compilations were called things...
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Is Twice Removed Still The #1 Canadian Album?

Submitted by Chris Burland on Tue, 08/25/2009 - 11:30am
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) August 25, 2009 11:30 am
Back in 1996 Chart Magazine published the first Top 50 Canadian Albums Of All-Time and created a ton of controversy with the eventual #1 album, Sloan's Twice Removed. Many peaple thought we rigged the results in order to to favour a band we covered in the magazine. The contributers to the poll were industry folks ranging from label publicists to...
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And The World Is Full Of Energy... New Hope For Good Music

Submitted by Chris Burland on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 9:38am
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) July 10, 2009 9:38 am
As we are heading towards the end of the first decade of the 21st Century, it may be time to start looking at the decade as a whole stacks up to previous periods. One of the biggest evolutions came out of necessity. Traditional avenues of cultural dissemination, radio and television have for a long time been co opted more and more by established...
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Have Ever Heard Of Isolation Years?

Submitted by Chris Burland on Wed, 06/03/2009 - 8:27am
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) June 3, 2009 8:27 am
Exactly one month to the day after 9/11, I got on a flight to Berlin to visit my former roommate, Kim who had returned to that city after a year of studying abroad in Toronto. On the itinerary along with visiting Kim and the half dozen of his Berlin friends who had come to visit him in Canada during his stay, was to attend Stickman Records'...
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Remain In Light ... Still Brilliant!

Submitted by Chris Burland on Fri, 12/05/2008 - 4:35pm
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) December 5, 2008 4:35 pm
Just listened to Talking Heads' Remain In Light (1980) in its entirity on my iPod, man... if that's not one of the most brilliant pieces of vinyl ever recorded. The careful merging of American New Wave/Punk with the growing interest in new world rhythms powers this album to new heights compared to their previous album, Fear Of Music (1979)....
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Holland: From A Musician’s Prospective

Submitted by Chris Burland on Sat, 10/18/2008 - 9:10am
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) October 18, 2008 9:10 am
I’ve been at this music criticism/admiration business for quite a while, beginning with a long stint as a radio DJ doing a weekly show for over 10 years for then critiquing album releases for another decade plus. Whenever I was in conversation with musicians, they always have had the guard up about their opinions of other musician’s music. Some...
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Avoid The Hype And Sebastien Grainger

Submitted by Chris Burland on Sat, 10/11/2008 - 9:16am
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By Chris Burland (CHARTattack) October 11, 2008 9:16 am
Dear Friend, I just had the wind taken out of my sails. I was about to rail against  the current crop of indie rock know-it-alls who believe they are the  be all and end all to rock criticism. Sure they get something’s right  like the debut records by Interpol, The Strokes et al. But after listening to the latest musical output by ex-Death...
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