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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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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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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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!
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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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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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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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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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 breath, ha ha.
Sonic Collective member Scott Coates suggested we all pick a movie soundtrack that we really felt made the movie better. A great movie soundtrack can create an emotional connection to the characters, the environment and the story. Though there are many to pick from, listed below are the four our experts say you need to watch and listen to. We will all spend December watching and listening and then we will release our podcast that will allow our experts to tell you why the movie and soundtrack blended together so nicely. Happy holidays and enjoy the movies and music.
Listen to our podcast and check out the details below.
Selected by Scott Coates
Released July 9, 1996
Few movies have made as strong an impact and stuck with me as Trainspotting has. While it’s an incredible movie, the soundtrack plays an indelible role in cementing the film. Songs I didn’t know before and some I did, came together to elevate mood and moments in a manner rarely achieved. The songs and movie are the better for it. Truly one of the best curated soundtracks that works in complete symbiosis.
Track Listing
Wikipedia Page
iTunes
Spotify
Amazon
Selected by Scott Gregory
Released 1996
The Romeo + Juliet movie attempted to update the classic story for a 90s audience, and the soundtrack called upon quintessential 90s artists to set help set the stage. It’s a great blend of existing songs and ones written just for this album. It went triple-platinum, reaching #2 on the Billboard 200 Album charts.
Track Listing
Selected by Alain DuPuis
Released December 2017
The Greatest Showman original soundtrack accompanies the movie of the same name, recanting a very creatively liberal musical interpretation of the story of P. T. Barnum’s creation of the Barnum & Bailey Circus. Stars Hugh Jackman, Zac Effron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, and Zendaya all lend their singing voices as well as acting chops to their roles. While I’m not personally a big fan of musicals or long, elaborately choreographed dance numbers at the best of times, I’ve gotta admit, this movie is really damn good. Particularly when the cast starts singing their songs. Holy shit, these people have serious talent. Most of the songs from this album are really catchy, and have found a home in my permanent playlists on Spotify. That’s how good I think the soundtrack is. And maybe by the end of the month, you’ll find yourself agreeing with me!
My recommendation: watch the movie! The songs will make way more sense in context of the story, and then the emotion will really shine through.
Track Listing
Selected by Darren Scott
Released December 2017
I’ve always liked a wide variety of music and I love the Soul and Funk. Though I had heard some of the music before by Curtis Mayfield from the movie it wasn’t until I saw Super Fly at one point in the early 2000s that I understood what an awesome soundtrack can do for a movie. It was funky, awesome, hilarious and sometimes cheesy to me but I ate it up. Released in 1972, this was Curtis Mayfield’s 4th album and is very recognized for the history it made. It is one of the few soundtrack albums that actually outsold the movie box office earnings. Ranked by Rolling Stone as the 69th album in their Top 500 of All Time List I invite you to listen to this funky gem and watch the movie with us this month. I hope the rest of the group and our listeners love it as much as I do.
Track Listing
My good friend Ian Pullen @VonPuhlen sent along this great list of the best albums year by year as compiled by art36 Reddit User. I’m a little surprised that The Beatles took the top 5 positions ’65-’69 but otherwise I feel this list is closer to my tastes than any I’ve seen before. What do you think?
Here are the first 10 years. Read the rest here: The Top 50 Albums from the Past 50 Years According to /r/music
1965: Rubber Soul – The Beatles
1966: Revolver – The Beatles
1967: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles
1968: The Beatles (White Album) – The Beatles
1969: Abbey Road – The Beatles
1970: Paranoid – Black Sabbath
1971: Led Zeppelin IV – Led Zeppelin
1972: Ziggy Stardust – David Bowie
1973: The Dark Side of the Moon – Pink Floyd
1974: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway – Genesis