Vinyl Tap

By Alex Hudson

Anyone who's ever formed a band knows the difficulty of picking a name. Cary Pratt, however, was born lucky. When it came time for the Vancouver singer/keyboardist to choose an alias, he just switched around a couple of consonant sounds in his given name and Prairie Cat was born.

On October 27, he issued his second album under the Prairie Cat moniker, It Began/Ended with Sparks. Like his 2007 debut Attacks!, the disc favours quirky piano pop with deadpan vocals and lyrics that are melancholic and hilarious in equal measure (sample lyric: "She treated me fairly / She treated me fairly badly"). Unlike the earlier disc, however, It Began/Ended with Sparks also finds Pratt branching out into new stylistic territory: "Given Up" is sun-kissed '70s rock, with swooning swings and dueling guitar solos, while "We Tried" builds from an unaccompanied piano ballad to a bouncy cabaret strut laden with blaring horns.

To gain more insight into Pratt's stylistic forays, BeatRoute took the singer-songwriter to Dandelion Records to receive a few record recommendations. He was asked to choose five of his favourite albums, and his selections were even more eclectic than anyone would have guessed.

Blonde Redhead
Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons
"This record is the turning point where the band had the right mix of everything. Their early stuff was punk, with baritone guitar and drums, and now their new records are a wash of synth and strings. This is the album where they started to branch off and were just getting into a bigger sound.”

Emitt Rhodes
Emitt Rhodes
“Emitt Rhodes plays all the instruments and recorded it himself. I like that concept – I'm going to limit this to only what I can do myself. Because otherwise, how do you know when your album's done if you're not sticking to a guideline? He plays piano, bass, guitar and drums, and he recorded it at home during a time when not everyone could go and get GarageBand.”

Harry Nilsson
Nilsson Schmilsson
"It's got that 'lime and the coconut' song. I love that he always has a touch of irony. His lyrics have a little quirkiness to them but he can still be serious. 'Coconut,' which is a pretty fun, nonsensical song, follows 'Without You,' which is a rad rock ballad. 'I can't live if living is without you / I can't give, anymore." Such a good rock song, and he follows it up with a joke."

Sparks
Kimono My House
"On this album, the guitars sound great, the pop writing sounds great, and so do the harmonies. They make transitions that you wouldn't necessarily think would fit together but they make it sound seamless."

Gabor Szabo
Spellbinder
"I love this record because it starts off with the coolest groove that's all percussion. He combines Brazilian musicality with pop sensibilities. I love that in a band. I'd rather listen to Os Mutantes than the Beatles."