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Time for yet another installment of the Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda Files, where we blow the dust off of a forgotten favorite and give its lack of chart success a once-over.
Artist: Blinker The Star
Song: August Everywhere, 1999
What happened: Long before the Canadian indie-rock scene took off, Montreal act Blinker the Star was considered a great white hope for the Great White North, thanks to frontman Jordon Zadorozny’s songwriting smarts (he received a lone songwriting credit on Celebrity Skin, meaning that he probably actually wrote half the album). August Everywhere was the group’s DreamWorks debut, and it went straight to the used bins; you can now get it for as low as a penny on Amazon.
Why it should have been a hit: August takes some of ’90s alt-rock’s most familiar styles–wall-of-guitar shoegaze, Pixies-esque clamor–and refurbishes them with crisp production and melody; there’s not a bad song on the set, and that’s probably due to Zadorozny’s dedication to finding a perfect pop hook in every moment. Trust us, this will be the best penny you’ll spend all year.
Blinker the Star – Below The Sliding Doors [MP3, link expired]
Blinker the Star – Pretty Pictures [MP3, link expired]
Blinker the Star – I Am A Fraction [MP3, link expired]
Blinker the Star [Official Site]
This album is seriously one of the greatest pop/rock records ever made, and it’s a crime that it’s available for a penny. Look for Blinker’s self-released follow up, which was available via CDbaby, and his new band, Abbey, which adds a female vocalist to come up with something more akin to Tegan and Sara’s last record. Both have tons of great pop hooks and are well worth searching out on that interweb-thing.
you guys are really tripping me out with all this mtl stuff.
What really sucks isn’t that this album and the one before it sell for pennies, but that the first self-titled one sells for so much! I honestly can’t remember if I liked it enough to want to buy it again at an inflated price.
Another reason it shoulda been a hit…or, actually maybe why it wasn’t: I believe Courtney Love was all up on the singer’s junk around this time, and she gushed about the band in some interviews (I guess around the time Hole was touring for Celebrity Skin). Good album though.
I fucking love this album. Thank you thank you thank you for posting about it.