For my 29th birthday, my great buddy Luke is getting me a pair of Grado headphones. I’M STOKED! I came across them for the first time when I went over to his place. He then immediately told me to check the sounds out of these headphones. He handed me his pair of Grado’s, and played a piece from the record, “Twelve Dreams of Dr Sardonicus,” by Spirit. And then some of St. Vincent’s “All Born Screaming.” At that point, my mind was blown away from their superior sound. And for years I was convinced that Marshall headphones were superior! And please don’t get me wrong because they do have a superior sound, where it’s not overpowered with bass, and everything is beautifully balanced. But Grado headphones just win. I was hearing sounds that I thought never existed before, or that were tucked away, hidden in the background, were suddenly now revealing themselves.

Now this is the challenge that I’m going to have to face as soon as I get those headphones. What’s the first record that I’m going to listen to? This is a difficult question that I’m going to have to face because there’s so much good stuff out there, and at the same time, you want to get the full audio experience. RIGHT! And let me tell you that I’ve got a great couple of albums in mind. Maybe I should go with our British classics like, “Abbey Road,” or “Srgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” by The Beatles? Yeah they grasp that full sound experience, but the thing is that I’ve heard them so many times. Maybe I can go with “Some Girls,” by The Rolling Stones, where you wanna try to grasp that experience as if Keith Richards, and Mick Jagger are jamming “Beast of Burden” in front of you. That’s what I would classify a “Badassery” of an experience, and one of the best Rolling Stones songs that was ever written. HANDS DOWN! But what about French, because there are so many great French musicians. Take for instance “Histoire de Melody Nelson,” “Jane Birkin,” or even “L’Homme a Tête de Chou,” by the one and only Serge Gainsbourg. Those records capture different musical harmonies, and melodies that are being accompanied by Gainsbourg’s vocals. How about “Random Access Memories,” by Daft Punk, where it’s one of my all time favourite records. I mean the musical genius behind this record is mind blowing, and still sells to this day, ten years later. French music is great, but what if we dig a little bit deeper, and dive right into Quebecois music. Beau Dommage’s self-titled record is so good. Just their vocal harmonies amazes me. And not to forget Boule Noire’s self titled record for that funky disco experience. But if you’re daring enough, how about the Quebec rock spectrum with “Illegal,” by Corbeau, and Offenbach with their “En fusion avec le Vic Vogel Big Band” record. A solid combination between your rock band being accompanied by a jazz big band. WOW! They are tough decisions to consider since there’s so much great music out there. And well I know me, so most likely what I’ll do is I’ll just randomly pick out a record that I’m in the mood for that day, and see how it goes. Guaranteed that it’s gonna be one with different sounds, and a fantastic melody. But we’ll see which one once we get there!