Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Bum- Shake Town!


Happy Canada Day!!
I thought as a tribute to this great day (and mid-week day off from work), I should post a truly great piece of Canadiana, but since I don't have any Gordon Lightfoot, Guess Who or Nickelback (thank goodness!) available, instead I will post something from one of my favourite Canadian bands, Bum. Their best known album, Wanna Smash Sensation was and still is a underappreciated gem, if you're into indie-powerpop from the early 90's, this Victoria, BC band blasted it's way into my record collection with several 7"ers, LP's and CD's, many of which were released in Spain. Instead of posting WSS (you can download it by clicking the link), I'm posting their hard to find live CD, Shake Town!, which I think I bought through mail-order from Midnight Records back in the day.

For some reason many bands have had a big (if not bigger!) following in Spain more than in their home countries. Bands that come to mind are the Jayhawks (who reunited their mid-90's lineup there) and Jonathan Richman, while several bands have recorded their live albums (and toured extensively) in Spain, such as Young Fresh Fellows, Model Rockets, Smugglers and Bum. Bum's live album called Shake Town was recorded at the Revolver Club in Madrid, Spain on May 27, 1994, more than 15 years ago. This recording is a fine example of their energetic live show and showcases what a fun and powerful band Bum was live. I had the pleasure of seeing them in a small club twice and though both shows were poorly attended the band still put on a killer set. After both shows I had a chance to talk to the band and get some 7"ers signed...nice guys and a great band!
(For Bum's 7"ers, the blog, Wilfully Obscure has posted a collection on his site...very recommended!!)

BUM
Shake Town!
1. Debbie Speak
2. I Wanna Be
3. When She Walked
4. Instant Kool Ayd
5. Lift Up Your Hood
6. Wedding Day
7. 1983
8. Why Go Out Your Way
9. Eternal Ideal
10. A Promise Is A Promise
11. Hi-C Half
12. Your Name Was Next To Mine
13. I Hardly Breathe
14. Mrs. Rock-n-Roll
15. Sea And Sand
16. Depression

download: BUM-Shake Town! .rar

2 comments:

binky said...

The reason I haven't added any new posts for the last week is that this blog is locked and under review because apparently this blog has been suspected of being a SPAM blog. I obviously am not a computer program, but a warm caring sharing person who is anxious to post something new.

Help eliminate Spam blogs!!
Stay tuned, I'll be back soon!
-Bink

Anonymous said...

hey man! i saw them live in spain that year too; had that vinyl since then but it's a little destroyed; thanks for posting it.

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