Sunday, September 25, 2016

Download: NoMeansNo

One of my all-time favourite bands announced their retirement yesterday. Nomeansno were the first "punk" band that I truly loved, that suggested that punk could be so much more expansive than one particular set of sounds or gestures. And the fact that there was this legendary Canadian band hidden in plain sight set me off looking for so many other things. I managed to see them live twice (and their alter agos, The Hanson Brothers, once) though only the last of those was in my show-taping era. That night at Lee's was a marathon hour-and-three-quarters, digging through their deep catalogue but also throwing in some newer stuff. Never a dinosaur act, Nomeansno goes out with a pretty solid discography under their belt, including a handful of stone classic albums. Old age will get us all — but in every defeat, there will be victory.

Nomeansno - Jubilation

Nomeansno - Theresa, Give Me That Knife

Nomeansno - Something Dark Against Something Light

Nomeansno - Victory

Grab the full set here:

NoMeansNo - Live at Lee's Palace, April 4, 2011 [MFS #679]

Meanwhile, here is also my favourite NMN live recording. I bought this "official bootleg" on cassette back when I lived in Winnipeg, and for my money, this is a more-fierce set than the contemporaneous "official" Live and Cuddly. (Do note: this isn't my rip.)

Grab it here:

NoMeansNo - Live in Warsaw [QQRYQ Records, 1990]

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