― sundar subramanian, Sunday, 31 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Mr Noodles, Sunday, 31 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Damm now I feel like reviving that Sloan thread. mmmmm Sloan.
― Sean Carruthers, Sunday, 31 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Kim, Sunday, 31 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― keith, Sunday, 31 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Ain't that the truth. But more than the content rule it really is the border deal. Thus, the Hip aren't worth spit here near LA, but as you might imagine tons of bands from Mexico and all over Central and South America can sell out arenas without even trying.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 31 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― anthony, Sunday, 31 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Though I wont bite on the Sloan troll sorry.forgot one more destory: How much they are played on the radio. There is a saturation point and the hip are well past it. Retro, AOR, alt.rawk, life crisis "Mix" stations and lowIQ Network all have 3 or 4 songs in rotation at once it seems.
I thought that was a pretty darned good album. The lyrics to "Fireworks" are priceless and "Something On"--the ode to Ice Storm '98--is wick.
― cybele, Sunday, 31 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Chris Barrus, Monday, 1 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Music@Work's all right - I liked "Stay" something much. Day For Night's probably their best: "Grace, Too" is terrific, and the lyrics to "Nautical Disaster" are unmatched... "Fireworks", off Phantom Power, is happenin'...
Gordon Downie's solo album, Coke Machine Glow is terrific. Spans genres, with touches of Hayden-like acoustic folk, Clive Holden-evoking spoken-word, and even a brush of bluegrass. The track "Chancellor" is fan-fuckin-tastic, and "Vancouver Divorce" ain't half-bad either.
― Sean, Monday, 1 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― anthony, Monday, 1 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Whaddya know.
― Smith6079, Monday, 1 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
i only heard part of gord downie's solo album but i found it really, really good. it's a very modest, unassuming record production-wise. but the way he plays that cheap sounding acoustic guitar is fantastic. it's not encumbered by the pointlessness of the four other members of the hip.
― fields of salmon, Tuesday, 2 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
definitely the most psychedelic and 'head' of the hip albums. No argument there, my friend.
― Sean Carruthers, Tuesday, 2 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
you are all crazy: my favourite album is "music @ work". wonderfully dark moodiness. the second half of the album is very spooky and intimidating, capped off by the absolutely goregous 'as i wind down the pines.'
― derrick (derrick), Sunday, 10 September 2006 01:54 (seventeen years ago) link
After hearing "Fifty Mission Cap" a couple of times on a long road trip, I've decided that I've held out too long. I need to finally start giving this band's full albums a chance. How loaded with hits is Fully Completely? Also, how crazy is it that it's 17 years old?
― Sundar, Thursday, 13 August 2009 17:45 (fourteen years ago) link
Did they ever record the "Limelight" cover BTW?
― Sundar, Thursday, 13 August 2009 17:47 (fourteen years ago) link
Hm, Music @ Work is really good.
― Sundar, Thursday, 13 August 2009 20:57 (fourteen years ago) link
Had a live album years ago, didn't do much for me aside from "Courage" which was outstanding, though I prefer the cover version from the "The Sweet Hereafter".
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 13 August 2009 22:04 (fourteen years ago) link
I have also been thinking that it's about time that I finally buy some Tragically Hip albums (decision unrelated to road tripping). I think there's some kind of unwritten rule where every Canadian living abroad must own "Fully Completely" (I have never owned it!)
"Music At Work", the song, is surely their most underrated single? And Sundar, how can you hate on "Wheat Kings"?
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Thursday, 13 August 2009 22:25 (fourteen years ago) link
I like it a lot more than I did 7 years ago!
― Sundar, Thursday, 13 August 2009 22:43 (fourteen years ago) link
Every single time I hear the line "It's not the band I hate, it's their fans" from Sloan's "Coax Me", I think of these guys.
― King of Snake (j-rock), Friday, 14 August 2009 04:13 (fourteen years ago) link
Fully Completely has the hits but I think Music @ Work is much more creative and interesting musically. I downloaded Day for Night as well but I'm not sure what I think. "Nautical Disaster" is classic though. I should probably check out Phantom Power next.
― Sundar, Friday, 14 August 2009 13:52 (fourteen years ago) link
phantom power is their best imo
really? in my experience theyre a group almost everyone can agree on to at least some extent but no one ever gets obsessive about because it feels like theyve always just existed as a fact of life if you grew up in canada over the last 30 yrs or so.
― rent, Friday, 14 August 2009 14:17 (fourteen years ago) link
"Fifty Mission Cap" really annoys me lyrically, because there aren't any lyrics, just words. It's as if Downie wrote the song for the sole purpose of retelling the Bill Barilko legend, and didn't bother to put anything personal or poetic or vivid into what amounts to a mere anecdote. Unless I'm missing the big picture and it's a metaphor for something-or-other (quite possible.)
― Myonga Vön Bontee, Friday, 14 August 2009 15:15 (fourteen years ago) link
Ha, I just learned what a "fifty mission cap" is from the Wikipedia page. I think this might actually weaken the song a little for me. I'd assumed it was just a term for a cheap hat from the Salvation Army or something that a kid who was obsessed about hockey might wear. I thought it was a song about a kid learning a piece of history from a hockey card. So it's actually about a WWII vet who learned the story from a hockey card even though he was probably in his 30s-40s during the time period in question?
― Sundar, Friday, 14 August 2009 15:49 (fourteen years ago) link
I mean, I think the lyrics work OK with the music.
― Sundar, Friday, 14 August 2009 15:50 (fourteen years ago) link
Just heard the new Gord Downie single on Radio 2. It's nice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETUZ9Dhe_UI
― Sundar, Wednesday, 2 June 2010 22:11 (thirteen years ago) link
Hm, streamed the whole album on his website. I like it. Surprising extended instrumental passage on "Broadcast".
― Sundar, Thursday, 3 June 2010 00:01 (thirteen years ago) link
Does anyone who's not Canadian give half a cardboard shit for these guys?
(Full disclosure: I'm canadian and I have ambiguous feelings 'bout them; the above is a serious question)
― a reprehensible gentility of trouser (staggerlee), Thursday, 3 June 2010 04:39 (thirteen years ago) link
i'm canadian as well, and aside from the singles, i really cant' say i care much about them.
― borntohula, Thursday, 3 June 2010 04:44 (thirteen years ago) link
They're popular in Buffalo.
― Sundar, Thursday, 3 June 2010 04:53 (thirteen years ago) link
holds up hand
I'm British and I like them. Mind you, when I saw them play in London a few years ago I felt like I was the only British person in the audience.
― anagram, Thursday, 3 June 2010 06:00 (thirteen years ago) link
Probably a bunch of beefy thirtysomething dudes with sports shirts on screaming "WOOOOOOOOOO! FUCKIN A!" making up the Canuck contingent, yes?
I find this interesting. Anagram, if you don't mind playing 6 questions:
How did you first hear them, what was the first album (&/or singles) you heard from them, and can you articulate their appeal to you?
― a reprehensible gentility of trouser (staggerlee), Friday, 4 June 2010 02:00 (thirteen years ago) link
Well I'm hardly an expert on their back catalogue, there are just a few songs I've heard of theirs that I really like. And of course I didn't discover them for myself, there was a Canadian involved – a girlfriend who made me a mix CD which included "Bobcaygeon". I treasure that song, it has this beautifully loose, loping quality which I love and the lyric kind of moves me in a strange way as well. So then I got the album it came from, Phantom Power, and the other standout track on that was "Fireworks" which I think is a blazingly powerful song. The only other album of theirs I have is Fully Completely and off of that one I adore "Wheat Kings" for its forlorn acoustic guitar and the note of bruised longing in the guy's voice.
Am I the only person who hears a resemblance to REM, especially Document-era? The first time I heard Downie's voice I thought I was listening to Stipe, they sound so similar. The lyrics may not be as enigmatic but (especially on a song like "Fireworks") they share this tumbling wordiness that I like. And there's a crunchiness, a kind of swagger to a lot of Hip songs that puts me in mind of REM sometimes.
― anagram, Friday, 4 June 2010 09:49 (thirteen years ago) link
Probably a bunch of beefy thirtysomething dudes with sports shirts on screaming "WOOOOOOOOOO! FUCKIN A!" making up the Canuck contingent, yes?from what i've seen, yes. but it's always fun to yell "play some fuckin' hip" at a show.
― borntohula, Friday, 4 June 2010 20:21 (thirteen years ago) link
They do sound a lot like REM.
― Sundar, Sunday, 6 June 2010 21:08 (thirteen years ago) link
Does anyone who's not Canadian give half a cardboard shit for these guys?(Full disclosure: I'm canadian and I have ambiguous feelings 'bout them; the above is a serious question)
My husband is a really big fan.
― Nathalie (stevienixed), Monday, 7 June 2010 17:53 (thirteen years ago) link
new hip record coming out october 2nd, now for plan a
http://www.thehip.com/images/TTH-NFPA-CVR_500.jpg
01. At Transformation02. Man Machine Poem03. The Lookahead04. We Want To Be It05. Streets Ahead06. Now For Plan A07. The Modern Spirit08. About This Map09. Take Forever10. Done And Done11. Goodnight Attawapiskat
first two singles are bangin':
http://soundcloud.com/the-tragically-hip/streets-ahead
http://soundcloud.com/the-tragically-hip/at-transformation
also i love that last downie solo record. hope abandoning bob rock to his toys has done them good
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Wednesday, 22 August 2012 20:46 (eleven years ago) link
Listening to Road Apples for the first time in a while. They really perfected that Athens-not-Athens sound for a while, yet I feel like a tourist when I'm listening to them. They definitely have US fans, but they should've had many more.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 30 September 2014 18:58 (nine years ago) link
downie is my favorite lyricist
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, 30 September 2014 19:00 (nine years ago) link
I've never paid close attention, but phrases definitely jump out at me from time to time.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 30 September 2014 19:07 (nine years ago) link
well for instance in "at the hundredth meridian"
a raven strains along the line of the roadcarrying muddy old skullthe wires whistle their approvaloff down the distance.
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, 30 September 2014 19:27 (nine years ago) link
or this line in "throwing off glass" which reminds me of the character charlotte douglas in a book of common prayer
and just like after she heard the word "iridescent" and everything was iridescent for awhile
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, 30 September 2014 19:35 (nine years ago) link
Ooh, I like that one.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 30 September 2014 19:37 (nine years ago) link
it's been 25 years since i lived in canada; while i was aware of them -- i managed to dub someone's cassettes of the first two albums -- my friends were mostly dead/neil-heads who thought the hip were a little too edgy or something. i didn't realize how pan-canadian they'd become until gord's sickness was announced -- i saw someone today comparing it to the u.s. reaction when springsteen goes, which doesn't quite seem to capture it
rip
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 18 October 2017 23:36 (six years ago) link
Yeah--a little bit, but there's a better analogy out there...I don't know: Johnny Cash? Tom Petty? Quintessentially "Canadian" (whatever that means) in the same way they're quintessentially "American" (whatever that means). Springsteen feels like an abstraction to me; Canadians who were really affected by Downie's music seem to feel like they knew him.
Even as someone who loves one-and-one-only song ("Fireworks"), I can see that. That song comes from somewhere I know.
― clemenza, Thursday, 19 October 2017 00:14 (six years ago) link
"phantom power" was an unbelievably meaningful record to anyone who lived through the great 1998 ice storm like me (albeit on the other side of the border), as one of the only real pieces of media that ever directly referenced an event that absolutely devastated a very small part of the us and canada and intensely affected that region long after everyone had more or less forgotten about it.
of course they were a kingston band, so they wouldn't not write about something like that, but it always struck me as a good microcosm of downie's ability to find these little squirreled-away events in canadian history and turn them into great songs. years from now that storm is going to be as distant a memory as all the other obscure historical references in hip songs, and i really hope there's another gord downie someday to keep writing about them.
― the portentous pepper (govern yourself accordingly), Thursday, 19 October 2017 00:31 (six years ago) link
^^^ otm
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Thursday, 19 October 2017 00:33 (six years ago) link
i don't think there is a good analogy. they're much younger than anyone who could possibly be an american analogue, for one thing. and the fact that they *didn't* move to california, unlike many of their predecessors, is key -- there's no comparable act for any of the 'quintessentially american' candidates
― mookieproof, Thursday, 19 October 2017 00:34 (six years ago) link
fwiw john k samson still lives
― mookieproof, Thursday, 19 October 2017 00:36 (six years ago) link
fair point, and samson is extremely good at it too, but he's never quite caught on with the crucial drunk-leafs-fan demographic
― the portentous pepper (govern yourself accordingly), Thursday, 19 October 2017 00:39 (six years ago) link
watched the final concert with my best friend from highschool, he was a huge fan then and still is, and I always sort of heard them by proxy with him. Seeing all the support and empathy for Downie and the celebration of him as an artist was a beautiful thing.
― Week of Wonders (Ross), Thursday, 19 October 2017 01:47 (six years ago) link
Downie makes me proud to be a canadian tbh
― Week of Wonders (Ross), Thursday, 19 October 2017 01:50 (six years ago) link
Canadians who were really affected by Downie's music seem to feel like they knew him.
Just like that killer whale.
― MarkoP, Thursday, 19 October 2017 02:31 (six years ago) link
Also I don't think there is a british equivalent.
― Van Horn Street, Thursday, 19 October 2017 03:05 (six years ago) link
50 Mission Cap. pic.twitter.com/fdMDy0ZGyY— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 18, 2017
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 19 October 2017 03:16 (six years ago) link
For Gord. pic.twitter.com/5OJLWyyrV6— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 18, 2017
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 19 October 2017 03:25 (six years ago) link
The coverage up here has included one hockey player after another being interviewed; Downie was the lead story on TSN (Canada's ESPN). He and Bobby Orr were supposed to be in close contact the past couple of years.
― clemenza, Thursday, 19 October 2017 03:29 (six years ago) link
the documentary long time running (which i think will be available on netflix later this month) is one of the most beautiful and well-composed rock documentaries i've ever seen. i cried multiple times ofc
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Sunday, 5 November 2017 15:38 (six years ago) link
also the new gord album is v hard to listen to but is full of wonderful songs that feel almost improvised sometimes in their austerity and specificity. drew's production glows
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Sunday, 5 November 2017 15:40 (six years ago) link
it’s on netflix, i really highly recommend it https://www.netflix.com/title/80205085
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Thursday, 30 November 2017 03:32 (six years ago) link
Not on Canadian Netflix doh.
― -_- (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 30 November 2017 04:38 (six years ago) link
i believe it's streaming on crave tv (?) in canada
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Thursday, 30 November 2017 16:45 (six years ago) link
oh i have that, cool!
― -_- (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 30 November 2017 17:35 (six years ago) link
i watched it again last night and cried again
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Thursday, 30 November 2017 17:35 (six years ago) link
Yeah, I blubbed like a big girl, the bit when they're about to go on stage and he's whispering in his colleague's ears, broke me.
― MaresNest, Thursday, 30 November 2017 19:17 (six years ago) link
seeing the fans crying at the shows just kills me
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Thursday, 30 November 2017 19:23 (six years ago) link
Damn much music did a retro lunch special today and played only tragically hip
― synonym toast crunch (Ross), Monday, 4 June 2018 23:17 (five years ago) link
the new (only) hip book, never-ending present, is p good so far. some filler (there's an early chapter about hip cover bands which is just barely interesting) prob bc the band apparently didn't participate in it much (which sounds like them) but still fascinating and full of amazing downie quotes
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Monday, 9 July 2018 21:39 (five years ago) link
i knew their origin story pretty well but not at this level of detail, and the bill barilko chapter is just extremely heartening
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Monday, 9 July 2018 21:40 (five years ago) link
"opiated" gets a few sentences in the book, and between that and its appearance the documentary, i'm belatedly realizing it's one of my favorite hip songs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzxoGcBsk-8
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Monday, 9 July 2018 21:43 (five years ago) link
book has gotten me so deep into this band again that i'm watching old live sets on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn83UvFzbjg
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Thursday, 12 July 2018 12:41 (five years ago) link
i ponder the endlessness of the starsignoring said same of my father
either it'll move meor it'll move right through mefullycompletely
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Thursday, 12 July 2018 12:46 (five years ago) link
i love the chapters in that book that swerve away in weird directions - barclay's curiosity isn't bounded by his fandom, he lights up by the unexpected digressions etc, and i do too.
― sean gramophone, Thursday, 12 July 2018 13:53 (five years ago) link
i'm deeper into it and i'm starting to agree! the openers chapter was nice if only as a snapshot of the impact they had on the careers of other canadian bands
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Thursday, 12 July 2018 15:29 (five years ago) link
however i'll never forgive barclay for being kinda needlessly dismissive of music@work
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Thursday, 12 July 2018 15:30 (five years ago) link
you're beau-tifulterrific
your eyesemptypacifics
manmachinepoem
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Monday, 16 July 2018 14:08 (five years ago) link
^^ what a song and lyric
oh i finished the barclay book last year and it’s fine. it makes a lot of choices i wouldn’t have. the manager interviews/stories are both numerous and tedious
but it did make me realize that man machine poem is an even better record than i thought at the time. kind of a masterpiece, up there with day for night and music @ work
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Wednesday, 6 February 2019 20:52 (five years ago) link
Thanks for alerting ilx/us, well *moi*, to the book. Might give Thom as a valentine present. He's a massive fan.
― nathom, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 21:27 (five years ago) link
Gord's birthday today.
― dorsalstop, Wednesday, 6 February 2019 22:11 (five years ago) link
i was wondering why i felt so bad
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Wednesday, 6 February 2019 22:30 (five years ago) link
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-covid-19-kills-nine-infects-34-staff-at-bobcaygeon-nursing-home/
― clemenza, Monday, 30 March 2020 16:34 (four years ago) link
there's a dream he dreams where the high school's dead and starkit's a museum and we're all locked up in it after darkthe walls are lined all yellow, grey and sinisterhung with pictures of our parents' prime ministers
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Tuesday, 18 August 2020 22:23 (three years ago) link
new gord solo album is awesome, i prefer it to the more sketch-oriented introduce yerself. a lot of the lyrics share lines with man machine poem songs so it feels like the gord solo version of that record. the production's kind of obnoxious with vocal effects and instrumental shifts but i am here for it bc it reminds me of battle of the nudes
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 23 October 2020 20:01 (three years ago) link
the "new" tragically hip "album" (aka EP-length collection of lost songs) is good, if you love road apples it'll hit the spot
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 24 May 2021 14:24 (two years ago) link
Well, the medicine man started seeing redYou think the snake just dreams up the poison in his head
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 24 May 2021 14:42 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXPTu_lqgXU
― Maresn3st, Monday, 9 August 2021 12:18 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTsm1fM59Lc
― Maresn3st, Monday, 9 August 2021 12:22 (two years ago) link
This is kinda amazing -
https://www.straight.com/movies/weird-connection-made-between-folk-horror-and-hip
― Maresn3st, Saturday, 18 September 2021 22:54 (two years ago) link
I honestly had been wondering about the name of that album a few weeks ago!
― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Sunday, 19 September 2021 00:21 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6bRuOyJTVo
― MaresNest, Wednesday, 17 January 2024 22:36 (three months ago) link