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My Emm Gryner Top 40! #’s 30 – 26

21st Century Ballads
                  21st Century Ballads

As we enter the Top 20, we see songs appear from three of Emm’s albums for the first time: 2015’s 21st Century Ballads,  2014’s, Torrential and 2006’s Summer of High Hopes.  #30, marks the last appearance of her major label debut material. We also get the first of Emm’s signature piano ballads, and her lyrics are still too impressionistic for me to get a real handle on what she’s singing about, but the songs are so well-crafted it doesn’t really matter.

#30 – Your Sort of Human Being (The Original Leap Year)

Another track from Emm’s major label debut, Public, that was also included in a better format on The Original Leap Year. I love this mid-tempo rocker, whose lyrics don’t understand, but with the great line, “Was I not your sort of human being? Was I not your kind of creature?” A little bit of youthful angst makes for a good, dramatic pop number, and this one is decidedly hummable too (and what a fun video when Emm was a baby rocking her bass guitar!)

#29 – Purge (Torrential)

Funny, sassy, and irreverent, Purge is a fun, jaunty rocker off the slick Torrential album that has a hint of 70’s pop. It’s got great lyrics (that I can’t quite figure out) my favorite being, “You write about murder like you’re shopping at Club Monaco; I said, ‘Why don’t you help me and stop being a bitch?’” There’s a strange dichotomy in Torrential… some great break-up songs, but it feels like Emm is having a blast recording this album. Maybe it’s a Purge and she’s loving it!

#28 – Stereochrome (Science Fair)

Emm does wonders with a cello. Stereochrome brings together an acoustic guitar, a harpsichord and a cello, backs it with some percussion, and the result is a mid-temp pop number dripping with longing. It’s the opening track from her DIY album, Science Fair, and the second from that album to make the list. And here’s a fun video of Emm performing the song live. Hint: this album has the most tracks of all on my Emm Top 40, with seven total!

#27 – Black-eyed Blue Sky (The Summer of High Hopes)

Love the guitar licks on this one, reminds me a little of And Your Bird Can Sing  by the Beatles. It’s a short pop ditty And the chorus slays.

#26 – Jesus on the Scene (21st Century Ballads)

Before I made this list, I would have said that Emm’s piano ballads were my favorites. That didn’t turn out to be true, but Jesus on the Scene from 21st Century Ballads, a gorgeous collection of piano ballads is one of several that I really, really love. An angelic chorus backs up the proceedings, fitting for Jesus on the Scene, but the song looks at her relationship with the songs “you” from different points in her life, but it’s her maturity and wisdom that make it all work. It’s gorgeous.

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My Emm Gryner Top 40! #’s 35 – 31

Emm
Emm Gryner, bassist

Sorry for the little break. Things got a little busy as September rolled around. But I’m back with my next batch of songs in my Emm Gryner Top 40! Here we countdown #’s 35 – 31. Emm’s latest album, Only of Earth: Days of Games sees two more cuts appear. It’s doing pretty well so far!

#35 – Doomsday (The Original Leap Year)

I’m sad to say that I can’t find a video or a sound file for this song anywhere on the web so you’ll have to be content with just reading the beautiful lyrics.

“Do everything that you’ve never done, “ said the man on the radio. So begins Emm’s mournful piano ballad heralding the end of the world and the loss of someone she loves. When she wails, “More than anything, I need the last minute of your time,” years of heartbreak and longing overpower the looming apocalypse. This one should have been part of the soundtrack of Don McKellar’s stunning film, LAST NIGHT.

#34 – Something Tells Me (Only of Earth)

Channeling late-70’s David Bowie, with guest singer/guitarist David Rhodes, Something Tells Me is the second track to appear in this Top 40 that is taken from her latest album, Only of Earth. The easy swing of the beat, and the soaring saxophone that interplays with vocals brings something joyful to this cut.

#33 – Summerlong (Dead Relatives)

Summerlong was the first single released to the world from Emm’s major label debut, Public, but it’s the originally recorded version taken from her Dead Relatives album, complete with crunchy, distorted electric guitar that perfectly offsets this pop gem about a summer romance. “The city smiled when you were around,” is such a great lyric.

#32 – North (Northern Gospel)

Emm sings about Canada a lot, and North is a beautiful mid-tempo ballad that mourns a love lost, “In my heart you’re north of the border, shining down like the aurora,” with the “rain coming down like a eulogy.” The live solo version included here captures the spirit of the song perfectly.

#31 – Silent Steps (Only of Earth)

Pushing her voice to the extremes of her upper register, Ermm sounds otherworldly over the Goldfrapp-like synth runs firmly serving us 80’s space opera. Such a cool, cool song. The third of four tracks from her latest album, Only of Earth: Days of Games, to appear in this top 40. You’ll have to wait a good 25+ tracks to get to the next one.

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My Emm Gryner Top 40! #’s 40 – 36

Emm GrynerAs I stated in my last post, Emm is a very prolific songwriter, and as a way to revisit all of her catalog, I’ve gone through to chronicle my favorite of her songs. Emm’s strength run the gamut of blissful, heady pop to emotional power ballads, with some 80’s prog-influenced rock and roll. I think this list reflects her range well and slightly surprised me with its final ranking.

#40 – The Spark (Only of Earth)

Anchoring my Top 40 Emm songs, comes a track from her highly ambitious, newest album, Day of Games, the first in a trilogy of albums titled Only of Earth. Propelled by birth and loss, Only of Earth sees Emm really stretching her musical creative skills, borrowing from progressive story-telling and musicianship from the 70’s and 80’s to find new inspiration. The Spark kicks things off with some crunchy rock and roll that really opens up her songwriting to new heights.

#39 – Boy Races (Science Fair)

If I’m being honest with myself, after creating this list, I would have to say Emm’s 1999 homemade album Science Fair remains my favorite as a piece. There’s a sense of youthful bravado, while at the same time an earnest poetry that resonates beautiful across generations. Recorded on an 8-track, it outsold its major label predecessor, Public, in just two months. Boy Races is a complex, epic-feeling love story, with lyrics I don’t really understand, but with a complex musical structure that shows off Emm’s skill as a songwriter.

#38 – Home (Northern Gospel)

A mid-temp soulful piano-driven pop song reminiscent of the best Elton John, Home is taken from Emm’s 2011 album, Northern Gospel. As many of her songs, it tells a rather melancholy story, but there’s something comforting in the lyrics despite its seeming regret.

#37 – Hello Aquarius (Public)

Lush and over-produced, Hello Aquarius is the opening track to Emm’s first-and-only major label release, introducing a young, multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter to a public that largely ignored her. It’s filled with youthful heady concepts, indecipherable lyrics, and pop hook after pop hook that this listener found impossible to ignore. The album was called Public, and it was released in 2008. Several of the songs were first recorded on her indie album, The Original Leap Year, and Emm re-recorded the album in its entirety as a bonus album for her fans in 2006 called PVT. I love how many of Emm’s vocalizations have continued thoughout her recording career. This was my first Emm experience and I’ve been hooked ever since.

#36 – Lonestar (Asianblue)

A lot of Emm’s songs deal with heartbreak, and Lonestar is one of these. It’s also a classic example of the poetry of Emm’s lyrics that often stick in my brain (and I’m not a lyrics person). In this case the opening pair of lines, “All the stars above, I named for you — Constellations spun like a sea of aquablue.” Sound promising, but unfortunately, the “you” mentioned leaves Emm behind, much to her confusion. It’s all wrapped up in an unerring melody that evokes the longing of young love. Lonestar is the first of 5 great songs from her 2002 album, Asianblue.

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My Emm Gryner Top 40! – The Covers

me and emm
Emm and me at the Boston Public Library

One of my favorite artists currently producing work is the multi-talented, Canadian artist, Emm Gryner. Hard to believe, but I’ve been enjoying Emm’s music for over 20 years now. I’ve had the honor of meeting Emm a few times, enjoying her live performances and even hanging out with her!

We are very lucky that Emm is a very prolific songwriter and releases a lot of product, both under own name, but as part of many other projects, most notably Trent Severn, her outstanding Canadiana trio. At any rate, Emm is so prolific, and I am such a bad music listener (I rarely take the time to sit and just listen to music so I can learn titles and remember individual songs) I decided to go through Emm’s entire catalog and note my favorite songs — imagine my surprise when my listed ended up numbering 40! It’s my own personal Emm Gryner Top 40!

I’m going to do a series of blog posts sharing my favorite Emm Gryner songs, probably 5 at a time so you can all experience her outstanding pop songwriting skills and wonderful musicianship. And this is just her solo stuff! But you’re not getting any of her top 40 yet. I decided to leave her cover songs off this list. Emm is famous for her amazing cover songs, and how she reinterprets them in her own style. For this first post, I’m going to share my favorite Emm Gryner covers (of those she has officially recorded). Four out of five came from her amazing 2001 album, Girl versions, and the fifth from her 2012 EP of Hall & Oates covers, She’s Gone.

#5 – The Day We Hit the Coast

Released in 1999 by Nova Scotia band Thrush Hermit, The Day We Hit the Coast is a surprisingly tuneful, grungy rocker. Of course, when Emm gets her hands on it, she turns it into a haunting piano ballad about the cycles of life and love. Like many of Emm’s song, I love how it reference sCanada with it’s Lake Louise mention.

#4 – She’s Gone

Okay, I might be biased. This is without a doubt my favorite Hall & Oates song, and Emm kills it. And as a gay  man, I do love hearing Emm sing about losing the love of another woman.

#3 – Straight to Hell

With Straight to Hell, Emm takes a hard-hitting, quirky, political diatribe from punk band, The Clash and turns it into a hard-hitting, gorgeous, political diatribe, piano ballad. Got to hear her do this one live in the Courtyard of the Boston Public Library a couple of months ago. That was quite a thrill.

#2 – Pour Some Sugar On Me

Perhaps Emm’s most well-known cover, and certainly the one I use most often used to entice non-Emm fans to give her a chance, this beautiful rendition of Def Leppard’s bubble-gum, hair-band rock ‘n roll caught the attention of lead vocalist Joe Elliott who later recorded a duet with Emm, and had her pop metal band Tapper open for Def Leppard.

#1  Straight to You

Emm has done more than one of her own apocalyptic love song, in fact, one appears on my Top 40 from her very early days. But this gorgeous song by the dark, goth, poet himself, Nick Cave (along with the Bad Seeds) is skillfully interpreted by Emm, maintaining the longing and doomed romance so well-captured (like the singer) in the original. Bravo, Ms. Gryner!

https://youtu.be/CYbOHXMtelU

Come back to check out my personal Emm Gryner Top 40 over the next week or so!

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Top Australian Pop Songs – #’s 1 & 2

No new, last minute appearances top this list (See the complete list on our blog VPNtap), but there are a couple of insanely talented women appearing, one who is still producing terrific music today, and another who was sadly taken from this world far too early.

#2 – Madame Butterfly is in Trouble  by Deborah Conway

As talented as she is prolific, Deborah Conway makes her third appearance on this list with a beautifully rendered pop-song about self-examination. Taken from her second, and highest-charting (#18) album, Bitch Epic, Madame Butterfly is in Trouble features Australian performers Vika and Linda Bull.

#1 – Science Fiction by Divinyls

And going way back to their debut album, Chrissy Amphlett and Divinyls top my list of Australian songs with their haunting love song, Science Fiction. How can anyone resist the beautiful lyrics, “I thought that love was science fiction  until I saw you today. Now that love is my addiction. I’ve thrown all my books away.” Not only does that capture the exquisite feeling of discovering love for the first time, but it’s delivered with the unique vocal stylings that only Ms. Amphlett or Jacky Chou  can provide. And that incredible opening with the cheesy, sci fi synth. Perfect. Truly, one of my favorite pop songs of all time.