Matt Mays Interview!

 

 

Well the end of the year is upon us which means the end to the “Top 5’s of 2012” lists from all you readers.

 

I really enjoyed reading all of the lists and it showed me some great albums that I missed over the year. I have had lots of positive feedback from everybody regarding the lists. So thanks!

 

The winning album with the most votes was Matt Mays' newest LP “Coyote”!

 

I too am a big fan of this album. It has strong songs throughout and the production Mays personally did on the album is amazing!

 

Matt Mays was nice enough to answer a few questions for the blog!

 

So without further ado! Matt Mays!

  

Maritime Vinyl - A quote from Bob Mersereau’s review of “Coyote” from his blog on CBC:“You can hear the quest in this disc, Mays pushing himself to write and record an album that's going to stand up to the road, to time, to the fans, and most of all, to his own high standards.”

This album has only been released since September and it has been at the top of most collectors’ lists on Maritime Vinyl’s site as their album of the year! Regardless of the short time this album has been out, this praise already tells me it will stand up to the test of time as Bob mentioned in his review. Is this lasting effect of a record your number one goal when recording an album? Are your standards as high as Bob mentions?

 

Matt Mays - For me it doesn't really come down to anything that can be put into words. It's more of just a big search for the sound I hear. I work until I get as close to that sound as possible. Sometimes I get really close other times I can't get there.

 

 

Maritime Vinyl - Besides being the sole songwriter on this album you are also the producer. How much more freedom does producing the album allow you? Songs like “Dull Knife” seems like there was plenty of time in the studio judging by the vocal overdubs and amazing studio work done. Are songs like this written by yourself envisioning all of this great studio work being done or does the studio work ideas just come to mind when you are actually in the studio recording it?

 

Matt Mays - I wrote Dull Knife on a really shitty guitar walking around this garden I had in my backyard in San Francisco. The song came in really fast. It wrote Itself. I had it done in about an hour. For me everything has to paint a big picture even on an acoustic guitar or piano etc. on its own. If it holds up in that form its only gonna grow in the studio.

 

 

Maritime Vinyl - “Coyote” really seemed to cater to us music collectors! The vinyl was on beautiful white vinyl and the CD packaging was in a very attractive cardboard mini LP sleeve. Are vinyl and CD collectors kept in mind when album packaging is made great like this one or is it your personal (and the label’s) preference?

 

 

Matt Mays - I wanted to have something that felt like it had worth. Like when you hold it in your hand it feels like a good album even before you listen to it. I'm a collector myself so packaging is very important to me.

 

 *** I would like to thank Matt Mays for taking the time to do this interview! I always look forward to hearing from my favorite artists!***

Top 5's of 2012! - Tim Sarty!

Next up for our "Top 5's of 2012" we have Tim Sarty! (Check out Tim's interview here!) Tim, like a lot of us, could not keep it to just 5 which is great with me! I love seeing all the albums that everybody has been listening to! I only said 5 because I wanted to keep everybody's work to a minimum!

 

 

Here is Tim's list!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Dead Sara- Dead Sara

 

Kathleen Edwards- Voyageur

Deftones- Koi No Yokan

Bruce Springsteen- Wrecking Ball

Joel Plaskett Emergency- Scrappy Happiness

The Lumineers- The Lumineers

Frank Turner- England Keep My Bones

Stars- The North

Charlie Simpson- Young Pilgrim

Corb Lund- Cabin Fever

Matt Mays- Coyote

Jenn Grant- Beautiful Wild

Muse- The 2nd Law

Smashing Pumpkins- Oceania

Slash- Apocalyptic Love

Top 5's of 2012 - Chris Doyle!

Next up on our "Top 5's of 2012" we have my buddy Chris Doyle! Chris is not a record or CD collector but he sure is a big fan of music. Plenty of time over the years we have discussed our favorite artists and I am always curious to find out what he has been listening to! You can follow Chris on twitter as well at @cdlawrence.



Take it away Chris!

First, I'd like to thank Brad for asking me for my Top 5 albums. It made me realize that while I do listen to a lot of music, there isn't a lot of newer music that spends time on my IPhone. I am totally a digital music collector. (I don't hear much difference in the music between different formats, but blame that on too many years wearing headsets) so for full albums to make it is even rarer. But here they are, in no particular order, the 5 albums that spent the most time on my portable music device in 2012.

 

Zac Brown Band - unchained: I caught a HDnet special on these guys when the first album, "the foundation" came out and I have been a fan ever since. A fun album that has its meloncolley moments with songs like "Goodbye in her eyes", it takes the Zac Brown band reputation as a country jam band to the next level.

 

Don't miss: Day that I Die (feat. Amos Lee), The Wind

 

Amos Lee- Mission bell: "Day that I Die" on the Zac Brown Band Album was my first run in with Amos Lee and led me to get all of his albums. This 2011 release is one that shows a folky laid back style that really fills up a room and perfect for just hanging out. Also from these sessions is an EP called 'As the crow Flies" that is worth a try as well.

 

Don't miss: El Camino (there is a version out there with Amos Lee and Willie Nelson that is amazing but doesn't appear on the album)

 

Edwin McCain- Mercy Bound: This album has a permanent place on my iPhone. I have been a fan of Edwin McCain all the way back to "I'll be" and the "Misguided Roses" album but this one blows the rest of them right out of the water.

 

Don't miss: Sober, The Boy who cried Love

 

Ed Sheeran - +: One thing that I have grown to appreciate is entertainment from England (If you haven't watched the BBC version of "Sherlock", take some time out and do it, you won't be sorry). I've spent a lot of hours at my desk listening to this album and is a go to.

 

Don't miss: "You need me, I don't need you", The City, Drunk

 

Alan Doyle- Boy on bridge: My list would not be complete without a Album from the Great Big Sea boys. Sean Mccann was the first to go the solo route, but Alan Doyle has taken the best parts of a GBS album and distilled them down to something that he can pull off himself.

 

Don't Miss: 'Testify feat. Colin James, Break it Slow

Top 5's of 2012 - Shawn Williston!

Next up on our "Top 5's of 2012" we have fellow blogger Shawn Williston! (Check out Shawn's interview here!)



Shawn writes his own music blog called "Sound Bites'. You can find it at www.soundbitesrocks.blogspot.ca. Every year Shawn does his own countdown of the years best which I always enjoy reading so be sure to check it out!



Take it away Shawn!

1. DEFTONES: Koi No Yokan

All but buried in nu-metal's rubble nearly a decade ago amongst diminishing returns and infighting, Deftones bought themselves more time with 2010's marginal return to form Diamond Eyes. Most (myself included) assumed it to be a late-career highlight, a pleasing effort to nod our heads and slow clap to as they rode off into the sunset. As it turns out, that was just the appetizer to the feast of riffs, textures and melody that is Koi No Yokan. Not only does the album achieve a near-perfect balance of beauty and brutality, it also sustains its momentum for the entirety of its 52-minute runtime. More than a return to form, Koi No Yokan is a new career high for Deftones.

Check out: Tempest, Swerve City, Rosemary

 

2. BARONESS: Yellow & Green

A pretty bad bus crash in August left most of Baroness injured (thankfully, no fatalities) and, while it was undoubtedly tragic, perhaps the bigger tragedy is that the crash is what people will remember Baroness for in 2012. Also tragic is that it took the Georgian rockers away from promoting their sprawling and ambitious double-album Yellow & Green. In every conceivable way their best collection of songs yet, Yellow & Green is the album that sees Baroness crawling out from under the shadow of metalheads' expectations and producing high quality tunes free of any pesky genre one would choose to pigeonhole them into. Cathartic, elaborate and wholly sensational, Yellow & Green provides all the proof you need that honest and original rock music is still being made.

Check out: Eula, March to the Sea, Board Up the House

 

3. THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM: Handwritten

What's always bugged me about public opinion, especially on blogs, is the notion that a band ceases to be exciting once they sign with a major label. The leap from indie label SideOneDummy to Mercury has only reaped positive results for The Gaslight Anthem; Handwritten benefits not only from the expert production skills of Brendan O'Brien, but also from the lessons of the band's past successes and failures. This album proudly wears its Springsteen and Petty influences in its grooves, but also refines frontman Brian Fallon's knack for big hooks and earnest lyrics. It's telling that Blue Dahlia, a song that rocks with the same urgency and heart of Gaslight's most popular past singles, is a mere bonus track on Handwritten; the album proper's 11 tracks are a cohesive and consistent unit, making for one of the year's most exciting album experiences. Take that, indie snobs!

Check out: "45", Biloxi Parish, National Anthem

 

4. DEAD SARA: Dead Sara

It may be unfashionable in 2012 to wear flannel and shit kicking boots, but don't say that to Emily Armstrong. The Dead Sara frontwoman has been called "the female Eddie Vedder" and, if you've seen any of Dead Sara's incendiary live performances, you can imagine her climbing up to the rafters during an extended instrumental and throwing herself into the crowd like Vedder did twenty years ago. All the spectacle can take attention away from the quality of the music, however. On Dead Sara's debut album, stripped of that spectacle, the songs stand up on their own. Showing more balls and grit than most male-fronted bands, Dead Sara have released a visceral yet vulnerable collection of songs. Whether Armstrong is crooning beautifully or screaming violently, one can't shake the feeling that they're experiencing something special. That the world hasn't caught on to this band yet is baffling.

Check out: Weatherman, Test On My Patience, Monumental Holiday

5. JACK WHITE: Blunderbuss

During the end of The White Stripes' run, Jack White had his fingerprints on a lot of different side projects, and the collected influences threatened to become too much for the deliberately basic duo to contain. Five years have passed since the last White Stripes record, and Jack has kept plenty busy with assorted projects and his own label. But, until 2012, he'd never released a solo record. Blunderbuss is a culmination of not only all of Jack's inspirations, but in ways a microcosm of the entirety of rock's history. From swampy groove blues to Motown soul to gospel to garage rock to punk to new wave to hip-hop, etc. There are so many strains of DNA on Blunderbuss, it's impossible to call it anything but a monster, a mangled aberration of styles and genres that has absolutely no business being as awesome as it is.

Check out: Sixteen Saltines, Freedom At 21, Trash Tongue Talker

 

Top 5's of 2012! - Keith Dodge!

Next up on our "Top 5's of 2012" we have Keith Dodge! (Check out Keith's interview here!) Keith went beyond the 5 albums as well which is great!




Take it away Keith!

 

 

 

Favourite Albums of 2012

 

 

1. Van Halen – A Different Kind of Truth

 

2. Of Monsters and Men – My Head Is An Animal

 

 

3. The Cult – Choice of Weapon

 

4. Wintersleep – Hello Hum (the more you listen, the more you’ll discover)

 

5. Bob Mould – The Silver Age (Fantastic album, full of loud guitar)

 

 

Honourable Mentions (albums):

 

 

We’re Doomed – How To Destroy Something Beautiful (post modern rock/math rock from Halifax)

 

 

Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball

 

 

Rush – Clockwork Angels

 

Top 5 singles

 

 

1. Alabama Shakes – Hold On

 

 

2. Gotye – Somebody That I Used to Know

 

 

3. I Mother Earth – We Got The Love (they returned in 2012 with a cool single)

 

 

4. The Sheepdogs – Feelin Good (rock from Saskatchewan baby, saw ‘em twice this past year)

 

 

5. Tragically Hip – At Transformation (very cool single, from a middle of the road album)

 

Honourable Mentions (singles):

 

 

JEFF The Brotherhood – Sixpack (for fans of 1990s weezer)

 

 

World At Large – Stavanger (Norway rock and roll)

Top 5's of 2012! - Kent Fackenthall!

Next up on our "Top 5's of 2012" we have Kent Fackenthall! (See Kent's interview here!)



Still havent met Kent yet even though he literally lives right down the street from me. I also got Bob Mersereau' "Top 100 Canadian albums" book for Christmas which kent did the design for. Going to have to make it a new years resolution to get my ass down the street and introduce myself.



Kent had more than 5 albums which is great!



Take it away Kent!

I didn't buy that much new stuff this year. Here's what I listened to a lot, thinking back, in no particular order:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Deftones - Koi No Yokan

 

Bob Mould - Silver Age

 

Shiner - The Egg

 

Oli Brown - Here I Am - well all 3 of his records actually

 

I listened to Tool a lot - the whole catalog

 

Rush. I always listen to Rush. Every year. All the time.

 

 

Listened to the new Cult record a lot. - Choice of Weapon

 

 

Divine Fits - A Thing Called Divine Fits

 

 

Ken Andrews - Secrets of the Lost Satellite Tour 2007 (live)

 

 

Craig Finn - Clear Heart Full Eyes

 

 

Ross Neilsen - The Shack Up Sessions

 

The Darcys - Self titled

 

 

The new How To Destroy Angels EP - An Omen

 

That's all I can think of right now. Scattershot and esoteric enough for you?

 

-Kent