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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The Sonic Collective has decided to pick a round of influential country music artists. Member Scott Coates explains why he chose Willie Nelson’s Shotgun Willie album. Listen to this selection and then join us back on February 1, 2021 to hear our review of this classic Willie Nelson album.
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Our first pick of our country music round of four influential country music artists started with member Darren Scott. He chose one of America’s greatest songwriters, Dolly Parton and her Jolene album.
Please go back to our last episode to listen to why Darren chose this album and then dive into this review and find out what we liked, and did not like about this classic album.
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For our last pick of our double-album round, Sonic Collective member Scott Gregory picked this ambient, synth-pop, adored album, M83’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. Listen to this full review as we chat about how we enjoyed our pick for November 2020, which marks the 6th anniversary of our podcast. Have a listen to how the album impacted us and what our impressions were.
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The Sonic Collective has decided to pick a round of influential country music artists. Member Darren Scott explains why he chose Dolly Parton’s Jolene album. As we look to explore the most influential albums, a person cannot ignore that the title track Jolene, and another little song that did ok for her and Whitney Houston, I will Always Love You, have to be two of the most influential songs in our lifetime.
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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!
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.
The River – Bruce Springsteen
Generation Terrorists – Manic Street Preachers
Daydream Nation – Sonic Youth
Please read Alain DuPuis’s pick, Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Welcome to the Pleasuredome, before reading and listening to our reviews below.
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 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
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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Please read Scott Coates’s pick, The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland, before reading and listening to our reviews below.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland
The group collectively agreed that this was an album we really enjoyed. Between Jimi Hendrix’s incredible guitar skills, the songwriting, and the production value, this one didn’t feel like a chore to get through. Quite the opposite, in fact. Is anyone surprised? This album sits at the precipice of bluesy, proto-hard rock, which makes for a really interesting musical journey. As our recommend score indicates, this isn’t an album to miss, so you should give this one a listen and let us know what you thought.
Overall opinion: 4.9
Would we recommend?: 4.8
Influenced our tastes: 3.4
Our Individual Review Scores
Scott Gregory
Overall opinion: 4.5
Would I recommend?: 5
Influenced my tastes: 3.5
Alain Dupuis
Overall opinion: 4
Would I recommend?: 4
Influenced my tastes: 4
Scott Coates
Overall opinion: 4
Would I recommend?: 5
Influenced my tastes: 4
Darren Scott
Overall opinion: 5
Would I recommend?: 5
Influenced my tastes: 5