[Killer Whale Tank]

I second these emotions. Too often, writing about music focuses on what is essentially gossip. What I like are insights into the creative process itself, or else really good analysis of the work. This interview is a great example of the former. :thumb:

I'd love to hear some of these lost versions. If I have a single criticism of the Hip over the years, it's the basically conservative approach they took to their own sound. They certainly did grow and evolve as a band - primarily, I believe, driven by Gord D's relentless experimenting with lyrical approaches and changes in his voice - but when Bob Rock's retrograde and highly dated stylings are the furthest you step away from the staple sound in your entire discography, that speaks to a tendency to err on the side of that sound. Without turning them into Radiohead, I'd have liked to see them integrate technology a little more (as say, the Shins have done at times) - and I've long wished they had done one mostly acoustic album building on that 'heavy folk' sound they did so well on cuts like 'Ahead by a Century,' 'Fiddler's Green,' or 'Morning Moon.'

One thing this interview does is make you realize how vast, probably, the treasure trove of unreleased and alternative cuts must be. I really, really hope they release much of that stuff, and that they allow even things that made them uncomfortable to come out.