The Grand Bounce - Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles - Printable Version
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Re: The Grand Bounce - Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles - direwolf74 - 05-25-2010
Beat me to it! I was just about to post that review. The more I listen to this album, the more I love it. Can't wait to finally get my hands on a physical copy on June 8th.
Re: The Grand Bounce - Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles - borgs - 05-25-2010
Good One.
Re: The Grand Bounce - Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles - Remi_Gaudet21 - 05-26-2010
Played on 105.3 The Fox, in Fredericton. Havnt heard it enough to get into it yet.
Re: The Grand Bounce - Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles - Tthip - 05-26-2010
gorddownie: Check out your local indie stores for The Grand Bounce on vinyl this Saturday. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://bit.ly/a8j2LJ">http://bit.ly/a8j2LJ</a><!-- m -->
Re: The Grand Bounce - Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles - direwolf74 - 05-28-2010
Another cool review:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.chartattack.com/reviews/85904/gord-downie-and-the-country-miracles-the-grand-bounce">http://www.chartattack.com/reviews/8590 ... and-bounce</a><!-- m -->
"I'm so jealous of Gord Downie. And it's not because he's considered a Canadian icon, or knows Harry Sinden, or because he's an independently wealthy rock star in The Tragically Hip.
No, it's because I increasingly get the sense that Downie lives his life in a world of magic realism, where the mundane frequently and suddenly becomes the fantastical and with a simple technicolour whirl of his wrists every newspaper clipping or geographical peculiarity he encounters transforms itself into a song.
Meanwhile, I'm back here down on earth worrying about my cat puking more when it gets really hot outside and trying to figure out why my hydro bill is 20 per cent higher.
In short, I'm jealous because Downie gets to be the art. With each passing year it feels more and more like he's transforming into some kind of art elemental, a living-in-his-own-head supernatural vacillating between our terrestrial world and a more sparkling one of his own creation.
The latest prompt for this jealous bolt would be The Grand Bounce, Downie's third solo record. Produced by Death Cab For Cutie's Chris Walla, it's outwardly the most straight-forward and least "arty" record of his solo career, but that should be considered with some context.
When Downie released Coke Machine Glow (along with a book of poetry) in 2001 and The Battle Of The Nudes in 2003, the it's-not-the-band-I-hate anti-Hip stigma was probably at its peak and arguably spurred him on.
Fingerprinted with The Dinner Is Ruined and Dale Morningstar's eccentric hand, those were defiant albums, filled with found sounds, spoken word snippets and purposefully avant touches. Downie was showing and proving to the doubters that there was more to him than freeform killer whale rants and blues riffs.
With The Grand Bounce, however, it feels like Downie has shed those base concerns and focused instead on a more pure and simple direction. The hash-hazed sonic adventuring of the old records has been effectively compartmentalized in favour of a more zen approach and the end result is some of the best songs in the Downie canon.
"The Drowning Machine" is particularly excellent. An urgent, macabre number, it's one of those uniquely Downie riddles where it's an impenetrable mind-boggle if you don't know what he's talking about. That doesn't lessen its worth any, but when you find out the song's about how people accidentally drown in a waterworks station on the Pow River in Alberta it adds a whole different layer.
The meandering sad of "Yellow Days" is a uniquely Canadian ode to summer. More specifically, how sad it is that as soon as summer arrives it's on its way out again. It's no Beach Boys track for sure, but it'll probably slay folk festival crowds this summer when Downie rolls it out right around the time sunset hits.
Best, though, is probably the bouncy "Retrace." A reflective tale of looking into one's past, it's Downie's top vocal spot, and reinforces the notion of him as some otherworldly phantasm who can call up images of the past at will for us regular mortals to contemplate.
There are other moments, to be sure. It's not an accident that "The Dance And Its Disappearance," Downie's salute to modern dance and its practitioners' uniquely brave decision to pursue that artform, is sandwiched next to "The Hard Canadian," what just might be a condemnation of the gruff Don Cherry Canuck-o-type.
In fact, those two songs might be the most telling thing about The Grand Bounce. In the space of seven minutes, Downie has the bravery to challenge the value of that stoic make-do attitude so romanticized in most Canadians — and, by extension, most Canadians who identify themselves as Hip/Downie supporters — and instead puts forth a proposal that we should all learn to embrace the grace and beauty of modern dance.
That's a brave stance for one of the pillars of Can-rock to take. And it's why I'll always envy Gord Downie. I'm not going to complain too much about being shackled to a world of Friday night beers, hockey games and Sunday morning grocery runs, but knowing that there's another, more artful world just one listen away will always leave me a little green-eyed."
Re: The Grand Bounce - Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles - Joe - 05-28-2010
Great review. That guy sounds like a true fan.
Re: The Grand Bounce - Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles - Joe - 05-29-2010
This sounds amazing on vinyl! Gotta love the early release on the black circle!
Re: The Grand Bounce - Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles - BrenTheodore - 05-29-2010
Called around the Saint John area, but couldn`t find it. Did anyone in not in bigger cities find the record today on vinyl?
Re: The Grand Bounce - Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles - hotmetal401 - 05-30-2010
Joe Wrote:This sounds amazing on vinyl! Gotta love the early release on the black circle!
I plan on picking my copy up somewhere in Toronto Wednesday before the TFC game. Does it come with a coupon for a free digital version, like so many new release vinyls do? "Retrace" is begging to be on about every one of my mix CDs this summer, starting about three weeks ago.
Cheers,
Pat
Re: The Grand Bounce - Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles - Joe - 06-01-2010
hotmetal401 Wrote:No Download, but I did score a sweet double-sided promo poster with gord playing his acousic on one side, and the pic of him wearing a wool coat and his hip touque on the other side with the cover as the background.Joe Wrote:This sounds amazing on vinyl! Gotta love the early release on the black circle!
I plan on picking my copy up somewhere in Toronto Wednesday before the TFC game. Does it come with a coupon for a free digital version, like so many new release vinyls do? "Retrace" is begging to be on about every one of my mix CDs this summer, starting about three weeks ago.
Cheers,
Pat
Re: The Grand Bounce - Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles - The Heron Outside - 06-02-2010
Tthip Wrote:gorddownie: Check out your local indie stores for The Grand Bounce on vinyl this Saturday. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://bit.ly/a8j2LJ">http://bit.ly/a8j2LJ</a><!-- m -->
Anybody find it yet? Specifically, anybody in Vancouver? I've had no luck as of yet...
Re: The Grand Bounce - Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles - Debob - 06-02-2010
I found the vinyl in Ottawa at compact music in the glebe. they had about 10 copies. you can order it online too i think or call them and tell them to put it online <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.compactmusic.ca/">http://www.compactmusic.ca/</a><!-- m -->
I am listening to it now. And i agree with the above comment. It sounds amazing on vinyl!!!!!!!!!!! Also i love that he put it 45rpm on a 12 inch vinyl. I think it makes it sound that much better
Re: The Grand Bounce - Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles - Tthip - 06-02-2010
Someone said:
I’ve got a copy of the LP to give away. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want The Grand Bounce” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body and get that to me before midnight, June 8 – contest open to residents of Canada.
Re: The Grand Bounce - Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles - hotmetal401 - 06-02-2010
Debob Wrote:Also i love that he put it 45rpm on a 12 inch vinyl. I think it makes it sound that much better
Hmm. That kind of sounds more like a pressing error than something that was done on purpose. I bought it today at Criminal Records on Queen Street (may have been their last copy - not too sure). Won't get back to Port until tomorrow though, so I'll have to wait until the dinner hour to give it the first spin.
Cheers,
Pat
Re: The Grand Bounce - Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles - let_me_out - 06-03-2010
hotmetal401 Wrote:Debob Wrote:Also i love that he put it 45rpm on a 12 inch vinyl. I think it makes it sound that much better
Hmm. That kind of sounds more like a pressing error than something that was done on purpose. I bought it today at Criminal Records on Queen Street (may have been their last copy - not too sure). Won't get back to Port until tomorrow though, so I'll have to wait until the dinner hour to give it the first spin.
Cheers,
Pat
A lot of records are coming out this way. 180-200gram discs at 45 rpm. The ones i remember off the top of my head are the recent Metallica re-releases. I own 3 or 4 45rpm albums from them. The 33.3 rpm ones are available from them also, both remastered at half speed. I have versions of each for different albums and they both sound great. Slightly more aggressive sound on the 45's IMO.