Carl's Notes

It's kind of disappointing to find out that the albums you listened to as a kid are no longer available to buy, and even more disappointing to find out that there's hardly any record that they were even released at all.

Case in point: "Canada: A Land and its Songs"

It was released in 1987 (about 25 years ago) on tape and was a bunch of folk songs written about Canada written by a bunch of Canadians.
My favourite track that I can sing along to is called "Christian Island" and talks about a man's love for his boat.
There's also "Squid Jiggin' Ground", "Acadian Saturday Night", and "Moody Manitoba Morning", to name a few.

Search Google for that without quotes, and you get lots of pages that don't talk about the album.
Search for 'Canada "a land and its songs"' instead, and you get all of two pages, which are both on Dick Nolan's site, who was one of the artists on that album.

I think the tape is now dead, as I haven't been able to play it recently.
It's fortunate that my dad had converted it to MP3s a while ago, but unfortunate that he hadn't removed all the background noise (the tape hiss for example), and several songs that faded out were cut short.
(the noise removal can be done now, but the cut off fades can't be repaired unless we can get another recording off another copy)

Video Games Live is a "concert experience" where an orchestra, chorus, and some additional instruments play the soundtracks from a bunch of video games in front of live audiences.

I managed to borrow a copy of one of their albums from one of the libraries in the area, and rather enjoyed listening to it.

They have a couple of DVDs out, the latest of which I'll be carefully considering getting a copy of (it's only around $18CDN, possibly plus shipping), in addition to possibly getting their latest album.

They're also coming to Vancouver sometime in April this year, though the tickets look like they'll cost as much $40 or $60.

Listening to: Houston, by Dean Martin

According to the liner notes for Dino: The Essential Dean Martin, (as written by daughter Gail Martin Downey), the distinct percussive instrument you hear at the beginning of the song is an empty glass Coca-Cola bottle.
Interesting how a "found instrument" such as that could make a hit song, eh? =^.^=