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August music reviews: The classic cottage soundtrack
Ahhh, the cottage. A place of refuge from the daily grind of city life.
By Larissa Primeau
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The cottage is as Canadian as beer, hockey maple syrup and swindling federal governments. If you're lucky enough to have one of your own (or to have friends with such benefits), the cottage is the greatest place to spend those lazy, hazy summer days. Just you, the fresh air, the untouched wilderness and hours to read, play boggle and most importantly -- listen to music.
Yes, we all know how important the cottage soundtrack is and it wouldn't be August 2008 if we didn't bring up classic cottage albums while also listing some new favourites.
Someone tell Marty McFly to gas up the Delorian because we're going to head back in time to some of our favorite classic cottage albums.
4. Over 60 Minutes with David Wilcox (1987)
There was a time when the sweet sounds of David Wilcox came out of radios in Ford Tempos all across Canada. He had a coiffed ‘do, donned a Bill Cosby sweater and loved booze and dope as much as Kim Mitchell loved his hair. You may not go directly for this album these days (unless you still rock the mullet, but this Labour Day long weekend give it a try. There's no doubt you'll get the crowd singing along to classics like Riverboat Fantasy, Bearcat and Bad Apple. Don't lie, you know the words to these tunes! Aside from a few drug references, this album is inoffensive and can be thrown on without worrying about Granny busting out her rosary beads and Little Johnny Jr. repeating any musical F-bombs.
3. Steve Miller Band Greatest Hits 1974-1978
Ok, it's another "Greatest Hits" record out of a million, but there's a reason those tracks were put together on one CD: they're great! This album is catchy, sing-able and won't ruffle too many Loon feathers if you blast it in cottage country. Tune up all of the Miller classics, including karaoke fave The Joker, classic rock radio fave Jet Airliner and my fave, Jungle Love. Aren't you just salivating for a sip of Labatt 50 while tanning on the dock right now?
2. Singles Soundtrack
Right when grunge music was making its mark in the early '90s, Cameron Crowe wrote and directed a quirky romantic comedy starring Brigit Fonda, Campbell Scott, Kyra Sedgwick and Matt Dillon. The film pales in comparison to the soundtrack. Singles cashed in on the trends of angst-ridden music and compiled the best grunge had to offer at the time including, Alice in Chains, Mother Love Bone, Screaming Trees and Pearl Jam. Although the movie didn't cash in at the box office, the soundtrack became a bestseller three months before the release of the film, thus becoming a cottage must. I don't know if anyone over 50 will be into this one, but that's what Steve Miller is for.
1.The Tragically Hip - Any album
We simply couldn't have a cottage music list without including The Tragically Hip; it may possibly be illegal in these parts. The Hip are the quintessential Canadian cottage soundtrack band and I couldn't imagine picking one particular album; any or all of The Hips discography will do. Go back to the beginning with Up To Here or Road Apples then go ahead and throw on their latest effort, World Container. No matter what album you reach for, you know you're going to put on a crowd pleaser when you reach for The Hip. The Tragically Hip top this year's list of classic cottage albums because of their musical talent and, well, hipness.
I could possibly get shot for not including these in the top 5, but honorable mentions go to:
Neil Young-Harvest Moon
Barenaked Ladies-Gordon
Lenny Kravitz-Mama Said
Pearl Jam-Ten
…. there are way too many to mention. Let me know what your classic cottage album is at larissa@ellecanada.com!
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