[chagrinfalls]

Lol, I just wanted to add:

Think about the sound of the 'Jaws' theme--those iconic notes you only need to hear once or twice before they & their suggestions are permanently embedded in your psyche--it's all bassline, isn't it? :wink:

[Killer Whale Tank]

No sh!t, "Streets Ahead" - infectious groovy bass line

The bass on that track basically makes the song. It really has no melody - the bass IS the melody.

Gord S is a tremendous bassist and sadly under-rated. Glad to see this thread giving him some love, because his contributions are absolutely essential to their best work.

[sean.bonner]

For me, a standout Sinclair moment is 'The Bear'.

[Killer Whale Tank]

Johnny Fay:

"The feeling is you’ll never really take The Hip out of our music and the elements of what makes us and I think number one, the most important instrument is the bass. It kind of is always dictated and so [bassist] Gord Sinclair and I, and he’s a really good guitar player too, so he’s really both those elements."

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://canadianmusician.com/blog/2013/11/20/cm-talks-drums-with-the-tragically-hips-johnny-fay/#sthash.UHgv0XrS.dpbs">http://canadianmusician.com/blog/2013/1 ... v0XrS.dpbs</a><!-- m -->

[cochise]

Coincidentally enough, new study that just came out.......

http://www.guitarworld.com/news/study-fi...mber/30789

[chagrinfalls]

I had to delete my last post due to error. For anyone who read what I wrote abt Brian Wilson, beach boys genius, DELETE IT FROM YER MEMORY, lol. I went back & watched the video again--he said he writes from chords up, not bass up. I would guess, since in almost every video he's sitting at a piano, that he composes on piano. He was the band's original bass player tho.

Gah. Sorry, y'all!

[sean.bonner]

Fake news created by the Hipbase media.

[edgoffin]

Fake news created by the Hipbase media.

There were some good Wilsons in the Beach Boys, and some bad Wilsons in the Beach Boys. Good and bad on both sides.

[chagrinfalls]

Fake news created by the Hipbase media.

There were some good Wilsons in the Beach Boys, and some bad Wilsons in the Beach Boys. Good and bad on both sides.

Here's the thing tho. Carl had permits. Carl may have showed up with steel pipes & AK47's, but he had them carefully wrapped in permits & confederate flags. (sorry Carl, I've sacrificed your good name for satire)

[Flamenco]

So Hard Done By

[sean.bonner]

So Hard Done By

You mean, slowed down Fully Completely?

[chagrinfalls]

So Hard Done By

Yep, the whole album really, is a peak Gord-GordS artistic collaboration, in a way. Not that I think the other guys have minor role or anything like that. Interesting tho, & maybe not accidental, that sorta informally on here it's maybe considered their best album.

I'm actually curious to know how people listen to that album. Do folks run it start to finish, or are there songs you generally skip. I tend to slide into repeats of single songs, but it's actually one of only 2 or 3 of their albums I tend to play as a whole (with a few songs skipped) rather than plucking singles I love & playing them on repeat.

14 tracks. My playlist is 1,3,4, 6, 8, 10, 13. Every other song, almost. Played that way, it's like the greatest album of all time. Every roadtrip this summer, that playlist has been my accompaniment, chewing up the miles--volume up, windows down, while the fields flash by & the Ontario blacktop shimmers in the heat. Favourite moment was when I glanced casually to my left as I rambled down a dusty road & noticed a beautiful white-tailed deer like a statue set in the shade of the trees. SLAMMED on the brakes, backed up, & it was still there. For about 5 minutes neither of us moved--just me & that deer listening to Gord & Day For Night.

Dang. What I really miss, tho, is listening to Gord Downie on my way to seeing Gord Downie.

[schaggs]

I'm actually curious to know how people listen to that album.

I skip "Emergency" and listen to "Terrarium" twice.

[Killer Whale Tank]

We're now pre-empting the inevitable DFN thread!!

I agree on skipping "Emergency." I listened to it the other day and thought it worked better than I remembered; the best part of the song is actually the very end of it, where it very suddenly fades out - creating the impression that this song emerged spontaneously out of a studio jam and giving it the air of a mysterious artifact. The power chords in the chorus are exciting. But Downie singing close to the top of his range has never been my favourite, the "endless emergency without end" is a sloppy bit of lyrical redundancy, and on the whole the song is unworthy of the excellence surrounding it. It would have worked much better on a weak outling like IVL, where, no doubt, it would have stood out as a killer cut.