nostalgia | timotheories

But The Fire Is So Delightful (Michael Bublé, Christmas review)

Posted on December 19, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

In my family it’s pretty common to listen to the same three or four Christmas albums over and over and over again. Bing Crosby’s Merry Christmas, Burl Ives Have A Holly Jolly Christmas, Christmas with The Chipmunks featuring Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Christmas with Boney M.

It’s like clockwork. But every so often, my parents slip and let one of us take the helm, and that’s when I get to put on my favourite Christmas album.

Michael Bublé – Christmas
released October 24, 2011
******** 8/10

Michael Bublé is a Canadian well known for his abilities as singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. In fact, he has won several awards and honours, multiple Juno Awards, and four Grammy Awards.

His first album BaBalu charted the top ten in both Canada and the UK, but it wasn’t until his fourth album, It’s Time, that Bublé found a worldwide audience. Then his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible did even betters – it was able to reach number one in Canada, the UK, the US Billboard 200, Australia and several European charts.

Bublé’s 2009 album Crazy Love debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 after just three days of sales… It was also his fourth number one album on Billboard’s Top Jazz Albums chart. But His 2011 holiday album, Christmas, did the best yet as it was in first place on the Billboard 200 for the final four weeks of 2011 and then for first week of 2012, totalling five weeks atop the chart.

Christmas is a big deal for Bublé, and no I’m not talking about the holiday, I’m referring to the album. In fact, I’d say his album is a big deal to a lot of people. It was the first holiday album to win a Juno award for album of the year.

I was reading reviews of the top holiday albums ever and Michael Bublé really is in good company with this record. You often see artists like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Elvis, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Mariah Carey, and The Beach Boys on those kinds of lists, but there is something special about this Canadian crooner that allows him to fit right in with both the old and the new Christmas jams. He does a great job reimagining Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You, has some fun on his duet with the Puppini Sisters for Jingle Bells, and really gets into the big band mode with It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas.

Silent Night is hauntingly beautfiul and simple in it’s delivery, and the gender twist on Santa Baby is pretty cute, sparking a few laughs from me each time I listen to it. Also the duet with Shania Twain on White Christmas is something special for fans of both artists.

If you like Michael Bublé this album will suit you just fine. If you like classic Christmas music, this album will suit you fine too. If you don’t typically like either Michael Bublé or Christmas music, then I caution you to avoid this, because it’s a lot of fun and maybe you don’t like fun, so why are you even reading this post in the first place.

This is hands down my favourite holiday themed album, and there are some excellent ones out there to be sure. Why I enjoy this over other is because it offers an excellent mix of old and new, and it’s length is perfect for unwrapping presents, take a short trip out of town to visit the in-laws or while you are lounging with brandy and wine after Christmas dinner. This really will get you in the holiday spirit friends, and I hope you have a holly, jolly Christmas. This is my last album review of the year, check back on January 2nd for something new. And come back tomorrow for my favourite Christmas movie, reviewed just for you!

Tim!

Learning To Keep Pace (Cross Talk Ep. 14)

Posted on December 18, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

Christmas drives me absolutely nuts dear readers. I have to run around at a breakneck pace in order to keep up with all of the events, people, and deadlines. And that doesn’t even factor in my day job or running timotheories dot com. Now to be fair, I’m not telling you this to ask for sympathy, because the fact of the matter is that we are all running around like idiots.

It’s the nature of the beast. Every year Christmas gets bigger and bigger, We want to tap into that nostalgia, fuel the fire of Christmas cheer, and be even more generous with our giving. It’s enough to make you sick. In fact, I bet dollars to doughnuts, that a large number of us are going to get sick just as the madness settles down and we are able to enjoy the day.

It’s Murphy’s Law. Anything that can happen will happen. But what if there is a happy medium my friends?

What if you don’t have to be the tortoise or the hare? What if I were to tell you that pacing does matter and that you can achieve it? Well you’d probably tell me that I’m nuts.

But here’s the thing, when it comes to art, we all know that old adage, about it imitating life, and the best films have incredibly tight pacing, no matter who you ask.

In case you don’t know what pacing means in film, I’m going to share a little quote with you from Wikipedia;

All time arts – music, dance, drama, film – are enormously concerned with pacing – with rhythm or tempo. As the film director translates events in a script into actions that make up scenes and sequences, that is, as the director shapes the actors’ performances and stages the other actions in front of the camera, one of his paramount concerns is pacing, making the action swell, subside, and swell again. The director does this to keep the scene from losing its energy and intensity. Later, after the shooting is over, the director, working with the film editor, will further control, construct, and perfect the pacing in the way he builds shots into scenes and sequences.

In order for life to flow properly, there needs to be proper transitions and rates of change. When you run a mile a minute for a month straight, life is gonna course correct you in turn. HARD.

This is probably one of my favourite topics when it comes to film; Chris and I are stoked to talk about it, and you can really see the passion between us flair up quick when we discuss the importance of pacing in a film. Both Andre and Singh backed out of this one, because they couldn’t handle the heat. It should be a good one. timotheories presents episode fourteen of Cross Talk.

And now I’m theoried out for the year my creative cuties. Check back over the next four days for a couple of Christmas themed movie and music reviews, some wisdom on the season, and a convenient update. Otherwise, please comment, subscribe, and share this video with friends. We want to hear your feedback!

Tim!

Sweet Release (July Talk, Touch review)

Posted on September 19, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

Ever wanted to dial back the clock, dear readers?

Once we learn that time is the most precious commodity we’ll ever have, it becomes something that a lot of people beg and plead over. When really they should just appreciate the time they have and make the most of it. And sometimes when we are good little boys and girls, we get rewarded with things like July in the month of September.

July Talk – Touch
released September 9, 2016
********** 9/10

July Talk is a Canadian alt rock band, and one of the hardest working acts in town. Well not necessarily in my town, but across Canada, the United States, Europe, and even Australia, they’ve been touring almost relentlessly since they first got traction with their debut self-titled album in late 2012.

Then in 2013 they released a deluxe version of the album with four additional tracks, and I bought that album. A couple years after that point, July Talk were gaining the attention of the US market so they released another version of their album with another three additional tracks.

But they just kept touring and touring. And it’s probably why they were able to keep releasing singles from that first album, and to help us Canucks fall in love with them.

Then July Talk decided to release their follow up album this month, it’s called Touch, and quite frankly, I can’t get enough. Previously Dreimanis and Fay would play their voices off of each other, but they are starting to grow into their sound all the more, and exploring more collaboration and synchronicity between them. If the first album was about trying things and experimenting with who the leader should be, Touch is a recognition of the old adage that playing together is more fun than alone.

And that’s what this album is even stronger than the first one. There is a unity to it’s overall message, what happens when we lose connection with one another? Opener Picturing love has a wonderful piano lead-in and gets our minds out of the old July Talk mechanisms right-quick. The following track Beck + Call confirms that this is not a one man or one woman show, or even a him VS her kinda album – Fay does her part to guide us in, and Dreimanis keeps us boxed in with his howls.

The energy between the two lead singers is tight throughout, and I personally think best demonstrated in Push + Pull, whether that is obvious and cliche can be your call.

There are of course some softer songs like Strange Habit, Jesus Said So, and the title track (which is also the end track). My second favourite track is Lola + Joseph, which fits snuggly between their new material and what we know of their past, and the pacing falls somewhere in the middle too. This is disco-blues after all folks, so we are going to get a wide range of emotions and sounds, but those waves of building sounds are represented well here.

I fully expect July Talk to continue to grow as a band, and if I’m being honest with myself, they’ll probably round out my top 20 bands within the next year or two.

I was almost at the point of emotional overload when I found out that July Talk was releasing a new album in September friends. I might have mentioned this already, but they were my first ever Melodic Monday entry almost exactly a year ago (October 5, 2015). And while I think they deserved that 8 I gave their deluxe album, this one is a 9 all on it’s own, without the benefit of time and rereleases.

If you want to travel back a couple of months, you should probably listen to to July Talk. But that’s just a theory.

Tim!

I Have Been Over The Rainbow (The Avalanches, Wildflower review)

Posted on July 18, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

We’ve witnessed lots of absenteeism in music over the years, but my all-time favourite probably came from Guns ‘n Roses and their lack of interest in seeing Chinese Democracy arrive in a timely manner, at all.

So I skipped out on it, I mean fuck’em right? Well not so, well, not entirely. Chinese Democracy didn’t have the hitmaking power of Appetite for Destruction, nor the sweeping epic of Use Your Illusion I & Use Your Illision II, but it’s a pretty solid album on it’s own. Just thirteen years later.

Well today, we look at an album sixteen years in the making.

The Avalanches – Wildflower
released July 8, 2016
******** 8/10

The Avalanches are an Australian group that started spinning records back when I was still in junior high school. Or to put it another way, way, way back in 1997. They were making plunderphonics back before I even knew that that was a cool way to make music.

I don’t want to dwell too much on what plunderphonics is, but if you are familiar with pretty much any other existing audio recording ever, than you’ll understand that combining existing samples and/or altering them allows for a track to enter into the mix. Pun intended.

The Avalanches current lineup consists of Robbi Chater, Tony Di Blasi, and James Dela Cruz, but they’ve gone through a huge rotation with five other band members coming and going. Incidentally this has something to do with the fact that the group released their debut album Since I Left You in 2000, but haven’t put any studio albums out since that first one.

The reason for this is because of many personal issues the band faced, between Chater being ill for three years, and issues of too many songs to choose from, the band was faced with the problem of genius and perfectionism. And so here we are sixteen years later. But you know what, Wildflower is still a delight to listen to. It reminds me of The Go! Team, Beastie Boys, Gorillaz, Jackson 5, and Canadian favourite Caribou all mashed together into one giant happy, fuzzy, sleepover with rainbow pillows and unicorn blankets.

Remember when I mentioned a while back that jazz music has been making a resurgence via successful acts like Leon Bridges and Kendrick Lamar? Well, The Avalanches are hopping on this bandwagon of rather raw music and the results are coming up nicely. It never feels like a strong narrative, but it doesn’t produce nostalgia.

For instance, those tweeting birds on Zap! takes me right back to the soundtrack of that Sleeping Beauty movie from the 1950s.

I would be remiss to break down this review into particular tracks and emotions, because I think that you’ll get more out of it just diving right in and considering the source material. Seriously.

Now it is a little sad that founding member Darren Seltmann opted out before the album finished, but it is comforting to know that co-founders Robbie Chater and Tony Di Blasi are still there for us. And for such a nostalgia trips, this feels very present in our time space. It is both jazz and pop infused, and good music fans know that those genres are very “lit” right now.

I would argue that The Avalanches have produced a much cooler vehicle than Guns ‘n Roses, but it does help that they sampled the Mega Man 2 death sounds and featured cereal eating alongside their hip hop.

It’s not a perfect record, but it is very accessible if you are a fan of generation sweeping music. I hope you listen and I bet you’ll find some great samples that make your own heart all weepy.

See ya tomorrow with another nostalgia trip, this time a movie about the 1980s.

Tim!

Feelings (The Offspring w/ GOB)

Posted on January 14, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

In what seems to be a week (or maybe weak) of nostalgia related thoughts, I decided to share more with you lovely readers and expand upon yesterday’s post. This is especially cool for the local Edmonton crowd, but I of course think it will be rather relevant for my larger group of loyal international readers too.

Remember your first love?

We’ve all been there.

We all had an album we listened to over and over again, where loved ones were driven nuts by the first sound on the record.

But we were just kids, and we loved that artist or group so much it hurt.

They spoke to us personally. It was like they made the music just for us. Whether the songs were about fun, love, dancing, partying, breakups, anger, rebellion or general heartache. It was our music and we wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Hi Fidelity has this line I think of whenever I get nostalgic for the past, and especially when I think about lost love and my first musical experiences.

What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?

The music that sticks with you is the album you choose yourself for the first time. And there’s a power to it. A kind of power that can purify or corrupt, so it’s important to nurture that relationship with your favourite music so that it empowers you and keeps you on your life path.

Ever heard of the love myth? There are tons of articles/videos on the subject if you haven’t, but I’ll let you take a look at this one if you need some help getting started/. Essentially the myth goes like this – love needs to be irrational, unique, random and always passionate. This myth perpetuates western culture like a virus.

But what the heck does this have to do with music, Tim?

Well, my point is that in many cases we are drawn to some music for a season and a reason, but it isn’t true companion based love. And I think that a lot of first love musical interests end up this way, unless you nurture the relationship properly.

Which is how I feel about The Offspring!

I’ve been a fan ever since I was given my first CD at 13 years old.

At the time, Pretty Fly For A White Guy was popular on the radio and in my crowd of friends. Living in Canada, I’ve been fortunate to have a mixed ethnicity group of friends wherever I go and no matter what I do, and when I was in junior high, I was the odd man out in my social circle. Suddenly being a white kid was strange and foreign, so one my friends bought The Offspring’s Americana for me as a birthday gift, and to reinforce this humility in me.

Little did he know, he was providing me with an outlet to exercise my interest in music beyond my parents and the typical fare on TV and the radio. A band that represented subversion, political ideas, raw feelings, and general satire. All of this further building my identity and belief system.

And so I slowly collected their back catalogue and also bought new albums upon release, all the while listening to other music too. Some of my music library looks weird today, and the mix of it all doesn’t really match or appear to be influenced one way or the other, but I’ve always had a fondness for punk rock music because of The Offspring.

Now for the timely part – I found out yesterday morning, mere hours before the presale went online, that The Offspring would be touring this year and that Edmonton is one of their stops on the circuit in March! I have to give full credit to my girlfriend, because she knows how much I love this band, and she was the one who heard about the show on the radio.

So what else could I do but purchase a membership pass to a presale code website? So that I could buy the tickets ahead of the regular crowd, just in case.

I’ve missed seeing this band previously because I wasn’t paying attention and made excuses for why I couldn’t afford it. That is no longer a valid excuse, so I am going this spring. And it will be awesome! Musical heroes are important, and at the root of who we are as people. They hold a special place in our hearts and can reinvigorate when we are feeling lost.

It might be a theory, but try it yourself. Listen to your favourite music when you are feeling off, and see what happens. Who are your musical heroes? Leave some comments, and I’ll see you on Sunday friends!

Tim!