#30 Los Saicos - Demolicion!

Munster, 2010

Genre: Garage rock, Peruvian garage-surf

I can't remember exactly how I got turned on to Los Saicos, but I remember getting the record. It must have been summer 2013, right before I moved back to Halifax from the country. I bought it and The Monks - Black Monk Time at a record store in Toronto, at quite a cost. I remember this because of the odd coincidence that Paul, my new roommate in Hali, also knew about and was enthusiastic about this band. It resulted in some great living room listening. Jake also started playing them up at Gus's pub, so I guess maybe it was one of those "in the know" kinda things. Must've been name dropped to me at some point by a fellow psych-garage enthusiast.

I was huge into psych-garage and power pop at that time (in fact, I still am), and Los Saicos are an excellent band in this genre. They're fun, rocky, and far out. The tunes are melodic and catchy, and there are lots of crazy psychedelic hoots and wails, a la Roky Erikson. I never get tired of it, even though I've now heard it many, many times. No regrets about this purchase.

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#75 Bob Dylan - Slow Train Coming

Columbia, 1979 Folk Rock/Blues This one Stu brought to the collection. While I listened to a lot of Dylan in my younger days, it was mostly from his acoustic and early electric period, so this album was not familiar to me. It's great! That probably doesn't come as a surprise to you, readers, but that was my thought when I played it, so true to form I record it here. This album is a mood; it has a hard spirit and an attitude, and a feeling of reflection. Like all Dylan's stuff, it has great lyrics that pull you in, and an excellent sound profile. I will definitely be returning to this album in the near future.

#73 Tyrannosaurus Rex - Unicorn

Blue Thumb Records, 1969 Psychedelic Acoustic Folk This album is very important to me. Those who know me, know I am fond of T Rex, but this pre T recording is extra special. I first remember hearing it in grade 8, and I fell in love with it entirely. It resonated with me a on strangley personal level, considering how far out the lyrics are. Warlord of the Royal Crocodiles was my jam. My friends were forced to listen to poorly dubbed cassettes every weekend, because that was the easiest way to copy and share music on the North Mountain in 1998. I had always listened to my dad's record (from whence came the cassette) and didn't have my own copy when I moved out, so I was very excited when I found it at Taz---the old spot on, what was it, Grafton? Two locations ago. It was like finding treasure, though I spose that's always what second-hand vinyl shopping feels like to me. Maybe it was more like finding the Arkenstone. I remember being super excited, and Bob telli...

#23 Cinnamon Toast Records - Trim Crusts if Desired

Cinnamon Toast, 1995 Genre: Halifax Alternative This album was gifted to me by the most excellent Shawn Duggan in the fall of 2015, following a summer playing softball together on the Gus's Pub Patties. I didn't bring a lot of skill to the team (and was very memorably struck in the face by a softball as a result), however I did have fun and make friends, which is really the point. In one of our discussions about music, it came up that Shawn had some extra copies of this record in storage, as he was instrumental in running the label. He brought it by Roger's Drive, where I was living at the time, and it was so awesome! These bands all have that Halifax sound that permeated my formative experiences with the music scene. I was too young to see most of them play shows (I narrowly missed the Cafe Ole years) but I was old enough to hear them played by my older, cooler friends and sibling. I wasn't able to find these records in the shops, so relied on hearing th...

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