Some of these records are much older than others, but they’re all from B.C. and have merit.
■ Mecca Normal always will be an acquired taste. The duo of Jean Smith and David Lester never has been a commercial proposition, admirably putting its art and politics ahead of everything else. With Empathy For the Evil (a nifty pun on Sympathy For the Devil) there are slight signs of compromise as producer Kramer has fleshed out their sound with bass and other instrumentation and Lester continues to broaden his palette as a guitarist.
■ Dave Cormier, by contrast, is a basic rocker, supported by Vancouver and Victoria musicians and seemingly with one foot in the garage (A Lot Like You, Let Me Remind You) and not far from ’70s riff- rock. Fans of Tom Petty might like his Little Pieces.
■ Stephen Spender‘s Crowded Heart is a blend of folk and country, a tad introspective and sad on See You in the Morning underlined by a little touch of steel guitar. He is more upbeat elsewhere, such as on Wild River. Such a record can’t escape the Bob Dylan influence, which comes to the fore on Baby Blue (though not Dylan’s It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue).
■ Mark Branscombe‘s All Over Me is remarkably jaunty for a song about bad news, but then Branscombe is a deceptive writer. He has an observer’s eye for detail and any album titled after a neighbourhood, Grandview, has a sense of place. Nothing on his album really stands out (although Whole Lotta Water comes close) but collectively it’s likable as is the personality who is responsible for the songs.
■ City Walls is a four-piece rock band that shoots off in several directions — slide guitar suggesting southern-rock, harmony closer to the West Coast, These 4 Walls evoking country, plaintive vocal, pulsing bass and lithe guitar on Never Enough or the drama of Engines needing to be heard. There is plenty to like about the album, Engines, but City Walls is a combination of elements that never really defines itself.
■ It’s a similar appeal and problem of Shuyler Jansen‘s The Long Shadow. The album gets off to a messy start with Idle City — busy drums — but soon settles into a reverb-drenched folk-rock with melodramatic aspirations (Unknowing Heart, Treasure Trove). Just as Engines asks what is City Walls, The Long Shadow asks who is Shuyler Jansen? He gives you a few good songs but no answers.
■ The CITR Pop Alliance, Vol. 4 is like every compilation, uneven depending on your taste. Released through Mint Records, it has some of Mint’s idiosyncrasy, but if this year’s theme is one of building cultures, it’s narrow in scope. There’s a lot missing — world music, for instance or hip hop. However, it starts with Ora Cogan‘s lilting Move, proceeds to The Shilohs‘ 60s-rooted folk-rock, touches on Captain Beefheart with Genderdog‘s Aquarium Apartment, hits on punk (Jerk Jails, Poor Form), ’80s English pop (Mourning Coup, the treated guitar of Ace Martens’s Hiding is reminiscent of Cocteau Twins), and finishes with minimal violence‘s electronic Body As Landscape.
