A Chat with Sam Roberts – All of Us

A Chat with Sam Roberts - All of Us

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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M83: Hurry up, we’re dreaming

Hi all you people out there in Collective land. It’s me, Scott G, here to present our pick for November 2020, which is also the last of the double album round. As you know, Alain picked our last band, Frankie Goes to Hollywood. This was right up my alley because I’ve spent a lot of time with 80s and 90s Brit synth and pop.

I was really torn on what to pick for this round. Looking through a bunch of top-10 lists there were a lot of great options. I was leaning heavily towards Bruce Springsteen’s The River, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd…lots of solid, safe picks.

But stretching out into top 50 lists, the band M83 caught my eye. First, because the name was unusual, and as far as I could tell I’d never even heard of them before. Their double album’s from 2011 and is called Hurry up, we’re dreaming.

Coming off a Brit synth pop from the 80s, I thought it’d be cool to pair it with some more synth from 30 years later and across the channel. Will there be cultural differences we can detect in the album? Will there be an evolution we can trace back? How will it feel coming off an overtly sexually charged album into something more atmospheric?

Their sixth studio album, coming in at a tight 73 minutes, I’m really hoping for a  polished and deeply immersive double record. I don’t usually listen to a lot of ambient music, and I hope this is as new and interesting for you all as it will be for me.

So with that, let’s start our journey together with the Sonic Collective’s November, 2020 pick: M83’s 2011 double album, Hurry up, we’re dreaming. See you at the end month.

 

Links

Apple music

Spotify

Wikipedia  

Other albums considered

The River – Bruce Springsteen

Generation Terrorists – Manic Street Preachers

Daydream Nation – Sonic Youth

Review of Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Welcome to the Pleasuredome

Please read Alain DuPuis’s pick, Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Welcome to the Pleasuredome, before reading and listening to our reviews below.

The Summary

  • Would we recommend?
  • Influence us and our tastes?
  • Overall?
2.5

Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Welcome to the Pleasuredome

For our 3rd selection in this round of influential double-albums, Sonic Collective member Alain Dupuis reached back to 1984 and this first Frankie Goes to Hollywood album, Welcome to the Pleasuredome. This albums contains the 6th and 20th best selling singles in the U.K., for Relax and Two Tribes. But how did this stand up as a whole album? Can we all finally relax? Well, this review didn’t go as we thought. Listen along and see why we struggled with this 80s classic. Hint: It’s the cover songs and the bi-polar sound of this album.

Perhaps the producer was over zealous, perhaps the band wasn’t in control, perhaps this lives just perfectly in 1984 and should stay there. What do you think?

Overall Scores

Overall opinion: 2.6
Would we recommend?: 2.3
Influenced our tastes: 2.5

Our Individual Review Scores
Alain Dupuis
Overall opinion: 3
Would I recommend?: 2.5
Influenced my tastes: 1

Scott Gregory
Overall opinion: 3
Would I recommend?: 3
Influenced my tastes: 5

Scott Coates
Overall opinion: 2
Would I recommend?: 1
Influenced my tastes: 1

Darren Scott
Overall opinion: 2.5
Would I recommend?: 2.5
Influenced my tastes: 3