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THE MONTHLY ALBUM SELECTIONS

Listen to our Sonic Collective member explain the selection for the month. Be sure to follow up the next month to hear the reviews from the group.

The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico

March 1, 2023 / Alain Dupuis
For March 2023 we will listen to and share our thoughts on The Velvet Underground's 1966 debut and almost self-titled album, "The Velvet Underground and Nico". This album is said to have been one of the biggest influences on rock and alternative music ever, but when it was first released, it was a flop, largely in part to its controversial subject matter. How does it hold up to modern tastes and sensibilities? Will any of us enjoy this album? Tune in at the end of the month to see our review.
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King Crimson: In the Court of the Crimson King

February 1, 2023 / Scott Coates
For February 2023 we will listen to and share thought on King Crimson's 1969 debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King. They have been cited by countless, legendary bands as a major influence and In the Court of the Crimson King, their debut album, noted as their best and also an inspiration to a slew of bands. Enjoy the listen ahead!
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Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here

January 5, 2023 / Darren Scott
Our podcast album review selection for January 2023 by Darren Scott, is Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. Listen to Darren explain why he thought this particular album was worth revisiting and why you should probably make some time to listen to this classic. Pink Floyd were at the forefront of exploring concept albums, atmospheric and ambient sounds and experiences. Does this 1975 album stand the test of time? Listen along and join us at the beginning of February for the album review.
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What Connects These Albums - Pt 4

What Connects These Three Albums? – Part 4

December 6, 2022 / Alain Dupuis
For the next four months we are changing up our format to try something fun. Each of us will pick three albums that share a common thread. We want you to listen to these albums and try to figure out what the common thread between them is. Member Alain Dupuis is up this month and he chose A Trick of the Tail by Genesis, The Real Thing by Faith No More, and Human by 3 Days Grace
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What Connects These Three Albums? – Part 3

November 2, 2022 / Scott Gregory
For the next four months we are changing up our format to try something fun. Each of us will pick three albums that share a common thread. We want you to listen to these albums and try to figure out what the common thread between them is. Member Scott Gregory is up this month and he chose Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin III, Simon and Garfunkle's Bookends, and Lynyrd Skynyrd's Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd.
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What's the connection?

What Connects These Three Albums? – Part 2

September 30, 2022 / Scott Coates
For the next four months we are changing up our format to try something fun. Each of us will pick three albums that share a common thread. We want you to listen to these albums and try to figure out what the common thread between them is. Member Scott Coates is up this month and he chose The Stone Roses self-titled album, Black Sabbath self-titled album and The Darkness Permission to Land album.
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What Connects These Three Albums? – Part 1

August 31, 2022 / Darren Scott
For the next four months we are changing up our format to try something fun. Each of us will pick three albums that share a common thread. We want you to listen to these albums and try to figure out what the common thread between them is. Member Darren Scott is up first and he chose The Modern Lovers self-titled album, R.E.M's Reckoning album and Sonic Youth's Goo album.
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Lady Gaga – Born This Way

August 5, 2022 / Scott Gregory
Lady Gaga's second studio album pushed boundaries and many of the tracks became anthems for marginalized communities, pushing important topics into public discourse. Join us in exploring this important album.
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Alice in Chains

Alice in Chains – Dirt

July 1, 2022 / Alain Dupuis
Alain here, with our pick for July 2022. A couple of months ago, my girlfriend seemed to have stumbled onto the band Alice in Chains for the first time, and very quickly began extolling their music, and specifically their album Dirt as being pure genius. High praise from someone who has never really demonstrated much interest in 90s alt rock. So I pretty much HAVE to check it out, right? And why not bring the Sonic Collective family along for the ride!
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The Monthly Reviews

Each month our members rotate picking the artists or theme to be reviewed, dissected and discussed. Join us!

Review of King Crimson: In the Court of the Crimson King

March 1, 2023 / Scott Coates
February 2023 saw us listen to King Crimson’s debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, which was released on 10 October 1969 and hit #1 on the UK charts.We went into this with pretty high expectations being how many times we had read about this album being a major influence on bands like The Who, and cited by many rock publications as one of the best ever prog rock albums. Well… let’s just say we weren’t that wow’d and don’t really get how it has cultivated the legacy it has.
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Review of Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here

February 1, 2023 / Darren Scott
After completing a fun series of shows that spotted connections between albums, we have gone back to our roots and started a new round of reviews of classic influential albums. Darren picked this Pink Floyd album that followed their success after Dark Side of the Moon. This album is familiar Pink Floyd, but yet a bit darker and more serious than their previous concept albums. Listen to this review to hear what we discovered, and if we think you should spend your time revisiting this Wish You Were Here album.
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What connects these albums Pt 4

THE REVEAL EPISODE – What Connects These Three Albums? – Part 4

January 10, 2023 / Alain Dupuis
For the next four months we are changing up our format to try something fun. Each of us will pick three albums that share a common thread. We want you to listen to these albums and try to figure out what the common thread between them is. We listened to Led Zeppelin 3 by Led Zeppelin, Bookends by Simon and Garfunklel, and Pronounced 'Leh-'Nerd 'Skin-'Nerd- by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Three very bluesy albums that we all seemed to enjoy
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THE REVEAL - What connects these thee albums Pt 3

THE REVEAL EPISODE – What Connects These Three Albums? – Part 3

December 7, 2022 / Alain Dupuis
For the next four months we are changing up our format to try something fun. Each of us will pick three albums that share a common thread. We want you to listen to these albums and try to figure out what the common thread between them is. We listened to Led Zeppelin 3 by Led Zeppelin, Bookends by Simon and Garfunklel, and Pronounced 'Leh-'Nerd 'Skin-'Nerd- by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Three very bluesy albums that we all seemed to enjoy
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THE REVEAL EPISODE – What Connects These Three Albums? – Part 2

October 31, 2022 / Scott Coates
For the next four months we are changing up our format to try something fun. Each of us will pick three albums that share a common thread. We want you to listen to these albums and try to figure out what the common thread between them is. We listened to Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath, The Stone Roses by The Stone Roses and Permission to Land by the Darkness. Three very different bands and albums and for the most part, everyone seemed to enjoy the musical journey.
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Reveal Episode - 3 Albums Connected

THE REVEAL EPISODE – What Connects These Three Albums? – Part 1

October 3, 2022 / Darren Scott
For the next four months we are changing up our format to try something fun. Each of us will pick three albums that share a common thread. We want you to listen to these albums and try to figure out what the common thread between them is. Member Darren Scott is up first and he chose The Modern Lovers self-titled album, R.E.M's Reckoning album and Sonic Youth's Goo album. Listen along as we reveal our thoughts and Darren reveals the connection.
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Review of Born This Way by Lady Gaga

September 2, 2022 / Scott Gregory
Sonic Collective member Scott Gregory picked this album to give us a chance to explore 2010s pop with a message. Check our pick for August, 2022.
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Alice in Chains - Dirt Review

Review of Dirt by Alice in Chains

July 31, 2022 / Alain Dupuis
Sonic Collective member Alain Dupuis picked Alice in Chain's album Dirt after his girlfriend randomly talked about how much she enjoyed it. All of us knew the band pretty well, however none of us had taken time to listen to a full album before. Find out how we felt after ruminating on Dirt throughout the month of July 20.
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Review of Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division

Review of Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division

July 2, 2022 / Scott Coates
The boys overall were underwhelmed with Joy Division’s debut album Unknown Pleasures. All in all it was a bit too glum. Listen along to reveal what we learned about this album and why we think it might not quite stand up for the average music fan.
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Musical Musings

Sometimes we just find cool music stuff on the Interwebs that we just have to share.

4 Bands People Love to Hate

Four bands people love to hate

July 30, 2021 / Alain Dupuis
For April 2021, The Sonic Collective member Darren Scott has chosen the Sleaford Mods, Divide and Exit album. This new and edgy working class electronic punk music is minimalist, raw as hell and has a distinctly new sound. With our world is so much chaos, we need more voices like this, telling it like it is. Enjoy Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn as the Sleaford Mods.
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A Conversation with Danko Jones

April 27, 2021 / Darren Scott
For 25 years, Danko Jones has kept rock n’ roll alive and strong. Over the course of 10 studio albums, from 2001s’ I’m Alive and on Fire’ to 2021’s upcoming ‘Power Trio’, the sound has remained solid, he’s continued to push boundaries, and consistently rocked. On this special episode of The Sonic Collective we chat with band founder Danko Jones about the history of the band, look to the future, and learn what he loves about music and performing.
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WiL

Getting to Know WiL

January 19, 2021 / Darren Scott
Welcome to the Sonic Collective. On this special episode we’ll get to know a very talented musician from western Canada. From early days in the Calgary bar scene, building his name as a solo artist, to playing with two supporting players, singer-songwriter WiL has built a loyal following many musicians would love to have. In this fickle business, what’s kept him going for so many years, what does he still love about music, and what’s next?
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A Chat with Sam Roberts - All of Us

A Chat with Sam Roberts – All of Us

November 16, 2020 / Darren Scott
On this special episode of The Sonic Collective, we chat with Sam Roberts, of the Sam Roberts band, about their October 2020 release, All of Us. He goes deep about how the songs were written and sharing it with the world in a time of COVID. But we start by going back in time, with Sam sharing what it feels like to have been recording professionally for almost two decades, being the son of parents from South Africa who immigrated to Canada, what it means to be Canadian, and even some of his musical guilty pleasures. Get ready to hear a very candid Sam Roberts share on multiple levels. Enjoy the musical ride!
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Albums that changed our musical tastes

Albums that Changed Our Musical Tastes

October 13, 2020 / Scott Coates
Scientists say your musical tastes are formed by what you enjoyed in your teens. You hear a song, it resonates, and that style guides your musical tastes moving forward. There’s those monumental albums you can still remember hearing for the first time, all these years later. You likely remember where you were, the time of year, perhaps even what you were wearing, who you were with, and the smell in the air when you first heard it. Today we’re going to chat about just that - albums that influenced and changed our musical tastes.
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An Exploration of Musical Supergroups

July 20, 2020 / Darren Scott
Welcome to the Sonic Collective, and another one of our exploratory podcast episodes. In this episode, we’ll explore musical supergroups. So what is a supergroup? Well, for us, it’s a musical performing group of three or more persons, whose members have successful solo careers, are members of other groups, or are well known in other musical professions. They come together to form an epic alignment of mighty musical talents. For us, this isn’t a duo and they must have released at least one full-length album. These supergroups can also come from any genre. The term can sometimes also be applied to a group that has no specific preferred genre. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, and today, we’ll touch on a few that fall in both categories and some in between.
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What Makes a Great Album? Featuring Broadcasting Legend Alan Cross

May 13, 2020 / Darren Scott
There’s been one common thread regardless of genre, time period, or concept, that’s run through each of our album selections. The search for a great album. The entire package. A group of songs that work together to create more than just a few good singles, rather an experience and journey for the listener. So what makes a great album? This is the question and discussion we had with Alan Cross, an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. Enjoy.
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Boredom Cures for the Music Fan

March 22, 2020 / Darren Scott
To help you pass some time and discover some new music, here are my music recommendations for some of my favourite Spotify Playlists, Podcasts, Music Documentaries, YouTube Music Channels and even a link to my vinyl collection that I invite you to look at and you can ask me any questions about.
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Soundtracks that matter

4 Movie Soundtracks That Matter

December 1, 2018 / Darren Scott
We all know that around the holiday season there is nothing better than watching a good movie. It also is a great way to avoid that weird uncle with bad
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The Sonic Collective Members

Meet our team of music lovers.

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Scott Coates

Bangkok, Thailand

Scott has lived in Southeast Asia since 1999, when he co-founded what became one of the region’s most respected luxury travel companies, Smiling Albino. There, he designed and led adventures throughout SE Asia and Nepal before selling out of the business in 2013 to try his hand at other pursuits. While working as a Team Building Consultant, he developed a keen interest in how people learn and grow which led him to serve as Director of People Development with one of the region's largest travel companies, EXO Travel. \An enthusiastic mountain biker, runner, and explorer, he also very much likes bobbing his head to AC/DC while sipping beers.

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Alain DuPuis

Calgary, Canada

Alain is a native Calgarian with a longstanding love of music. Groomed on post-grunge and 90s alternative, he seeks to expand his audio horizons ever further, exploring all the genres he once looked down upon. When he's not busy working six days a week like some sort of maniac, he enjoys gaming, obsessing about whisky, working out or frequenting seedy karaoke bars around town.

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Scott Gregory

Calgary, Canada

Scott Gregory is the newest dad of the group and brings his love of melody and music to the Sonic Collective. Scott is always full of facts and seems to have an uncanny love for the women in music. He likes to push the Collective into areas that we may otherwise overlook. Scott loves his new little family, the New York Rangers and all the music he can consume between diaper changes.

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Darren Scott

Calgary, Canada

Darren currently lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada where he can often be found in the best live music venues in town (Palamino, Commonwealth, King Eddy's, Broken City, Cafe Koi, etc.) and he is used to being "The old guy" at the young punk shows. Darren likes to know the stories behind the music he listens to and enjoys the musical journey of it all. A "say it like it is" guy in his own words, he tends to go a little off the cuff from time to time. Ok, all the time. He loves his family, friends and Flames and has a sense of humour he thinks is hilarious.

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