Posted by Li Robbins on September 1, 2008 at 07:16 PM
Tom Allen and Rich Terfry, hosts of two of the new weekday shows, Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.-10 a.m.) and Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) respectively, (both launch tomorrow), join Laurie Brown tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.). They'll chat a bit about their shows, play some music, possibly swap notes with Laurie about the thrills and terrors challenges of starting up new daily radio shows...but seriously, I'm sure they're totally excited about the prospect.
Rich will talk with Laurie about playing music with Tanya Tagaq, btw, which I can only imagine would be one of the more intense experiences a musician could ever have, having seen her perform not long ago with the Kronos Quartet. (Parts of that performance were truly electrifying.)
And before I let you go, as it were, some other music I'd like to draw your attention to on this evening's broadcast -- Inner Cities (No.'s 6 and 7) by composer Alvin Curran, performed by pianist Eve Egoyan. (Curran's writing on all of his Inner Cities makes for a great read, fyi.)
Posted by Li Robbins on August 31, 2008 at 08:00 PM
Tonight is the final night of The Signal's (10 p.m.) east coast weekend. They'll be broadcasting a concert with the eclectic violinist (and east coaster) Mark Fewer and the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, performing Edgar Meyer’s Violin Concerto. Also, some skronk from the Benghazi Saxophone Quartet.
Are scratching your head and saying "skronk, say what?" Though a great word it is not in common parlance, I wouldn't say, so you are likely not the only one. As a way of describing music the term has been attributed (by some) to music critic Robert Christgau, to represent a sound that's kind of, well, skronky. (Of course it means other things as well, as Skronker will tell you.)
Posted by Li Robbins on August 30, 2008 at 08:40 PM
The Signal (10 p.m.) is featuring music from the east coast this weekend. And part two features Buck 65 (a.k.a. Rich Terfry, host of one of the shows being launched Tuesday Radio 2 Drive) performing live at the Atlantic Film Festival.
Posted by Li Robbins on August 29, 2008 at 08:17 PM
This weekend The Signal (10 p.m.) pays tribute to the east coast and its musicians, with a concert from Halifax's Jill Barber (pictured here, and a lovely picture it is) with the Symphony Nova Scotia, and music from The Just Barelys, the Saint John String Quartet, Danny Oore and the Lost Wax Guild. (Didn't realize that Lost Wax had a guild, but I guess if there's a Lollipop Guild, why not.)
Pat will also feature the Peanuts-to-improv career of drummer Jerry Granelli. Yes, Halifax-based Granelli will forever be connected to Peanuts, as in the soundtracks to the TV specials, and there's nothing wrong with that. But he's been much, much more than Charlie Brown's drummer. As PopMatters said in reference to one of his most recent projects, Granelli's "kind of an underground legend in the jazz and psychedelic music world."
Posted by Li Robbins on August 28, 2008 at 08:45 PM
Quiet Is Not Silent is the name of a concert commissioned by CBC R2 in conjunction with the CBC special Truth & Reconciliation: Stolen Children that took place a few months back. Tonight, The Signal (10 p.m.) broadcasts music from that concert.
Posted by Li Robbins on August 27, 2008 at 08:30 PM
Synthesize My Soup, please. Impossible not to want to make some joke about the title -- possibly involving Scotch broth and minestrone. But Synthesize My Soup is actually the name of one of the most provocative and interesting concerts from the most recent WSO New Music Festival.
Tonight you can hear music from this concert on The Signal (10 p.m.). recorded live at the Manitoba Centennial Concert Hall. Musical guests along with the WSO include violinist Jesse Zubot (pictured here) and pianist Glenn Buhr, among others.
Also on the broadcast is the WSO's performance of composer Nicole Lizee'sArcadiac, which includes the gritty 8-bit sounds of early arcade games like Choplifter and Star Wars, and David Eagle's digitally manipulated work Soundplay 2.
Posted by Li Robbins on August 26, 2008 at 08:00 PM
A couple of of weeks ago, flipping through the pages of one of the local weeklies, NOW magazine, I came across a piece by Robert Priest (called Remaking An Impression) that featured one of my fellow students from music school days, (Mark Sepic) playing musical instruments made from trash. The reason? To "liberate our landfills and heal with new sounds." But I know it's also because, well, it's fun.
Fun with found instruments has definitely been a trend of late, (of late being the past few years), and it's also the theme on The Signal (10 p.m.) tonight, when you can hear Physics Of A Unicycle by Clouddead, New And Used Furniture Music by Gordon Monahan, Junctures for Stone Drill Cores by Jesse Stewart, and Gearbox Therapy by Recyclone and Soso.
Meantime, there's Mark with "bathtubs, bedpans, an auto roof rack, frying pans, discarded aluminum cookers, cutlery, cast-off Weed Wacker wire, fishing line, plumbing pipes and tubing and even some drill core samples from a diamond mining expedition."
Posted by Li Robbins on August 23, 2008 at 09:00 PM
Part two tonight of The Signal (10 p.m.) special on Albertan music, featuring Kara Keith, pictured here. She performs what she calls "melodramatic popular song/2-step/show tunes," maybe intended to be a little bit tongue-in-cheek, but it's actually a pretty apt description. Also featured is a man The Signal Team calls an electronic "wizard," Mark Templeton.
Pat will also present a concert this evening from cellist Shauna Rolston and pianist Heather Schmidt. If you'd like to read a little about that partnership (an ongoing creative venture since the early part of this century) here you are .
Posted by Li Robbins on August 22, 2008 at 09:00 PM
Last week, the Peg, this week, the Calg. (OK, Cowgary, how's that.) Actually, it's a celebration of the music of Alberta all weekend long on The Signal (10 p.m.), not just Calgary.
But the city's Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir are featured. (Well liked over in Belfast, apparently. A recent review in the Belfast Telegraph said of their last recording that it's an album that: "sounds as old as the hills and as deep and dark as the muddy Mississippi."
Also featured, Edmonton's Cadence Weapon, and the work of Albertan composer Allan Bell. And that's just tonight, Saturday and Sunday Pat will delve into other music from across the province.
Posted by Li Robbins on August 21, 2008 at 08:00 PM
I think it's fair to say that the relationship between human beings and animals, (sometimes called Anthrozoology), both domesticated and wild is changing -- because of increased urbanization, climate change and likely deep cultural shifts that are being explored in dissertations even as we speak.
So it stands to reason (us being the animal able to do so after all, although that thinking is being challenged more and more -- see Pill Popping Pets) there would be a growing body of musical work connected to critters.
Tonight The Signal (10 p.m.) explores just that, with tributes to apes, foxes, cats and even the mystical phoenix. (Can the mystical phoenix count as a critter? On The Signal, yes, absolutely.)
Posted by Li Robbins on August 20, 2008 at 08:00 PM
The numbers of people -- musicians and otherwise -- inspired by Glenn Gould are vast. But of course it's the musicians who translate that influence in the way Gould knew best, through music.
Last autumn ten Canadian composers wrote preludes and fugues inspired by Glenn Gould -- and ten pianists performed them. Appropriately enough, it was called So You Want To Write A Fugue.
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear some of that music, featuring Stewart Goodyear's Prelude And Fugue and pianist Gregory Oh's performance of Andre Ristic'sPrelude et Fugue.
Sometimes Gould's influence manifests itself in some less positive ways though. For instance through some fakery -- as uncovered by the ever-vigilant folks at the Glenn Gould Foundation. Here's what they uncovered:
"Recently we were startled to see a series of audio recordings on YouTube that purported to offer Gould, as one half of a duet, performing the complete Ninth Symphony of Beethoven, in a two-piano transcription by Liszt.
The series was posted on August 5, by “ehttsinaip,” a student in St. Petersburg, Russia. (“My name is Marco,” he wrote. “I like math, anatomy, physics, astronomy, telephone numbers, car number plates, and classical music.”) But the posting was clearly made in error. There is no evidence of any such recording by Gould, and the likelihood that he made one could conservatively be estimated as only slightly higher than zero. Gould’s supposed duet partner was given as the French pianist Alain Planes, so we assume that the recording of the Ninth in question was the one that Planes made with Georges Pludermacher. Anyway, Marco seems to have been set straight rather quickly, and after a few days the recording was taken down."
They do go on to point out some good (and authentic) Gould performances on YouTube though, so if you're interested, please continue reading.
Posted by Li Robbins on August 19, 2008 at 09:00 PM
A bit of a musical tour of wilderness destinations on The Signal (10 p.m.) tonight, according to the Team Signal. They tell me that this evening "Granny’Ark starts you at Home; then Absent Sound takes you on a Highway in Canada. En route, you’ll experience Life in a Day by No Man's Land, and let yourself be Sundrenched by The North Atlantic Explorers."
Guess it's one of those "tune in to find out" stories. Though I will say, the gorgeous vista on Absent Sound's homepage is such that one could just stare at it forever. Or one could check out the wilderness of the scene in the Winter Solstice video embedded on that page (also by clicking on that last link). Giant snow monsters in bars! Cool.
Posted by Li Robbins on August 18, 2008 at 09:00 PM
The Signal (10 p.m.) heads east tonight for music from this year’s Newfound Music Festival. It's a small contemporary music festival that includes work by established and emerging composers, as well as students. But I sadly cannot seem to find a festival website to give you any more info.
Less sadly, at least I can tell you that it's held every February in St. John's, and is run by composer Clark Ross. Tonight's performances on The Signal's broadcast include Untouchable, a work by Rob Power for marimbas and vibraphone.
Posted by Li Robbins on August 17, 2008 at 09:00 PM
The Signal (10 p.m.) wraps up its weekend in Winnipeg tonight by celebrating the city’s new music scene. Pat begins with a composition from the Winnipeg Symphony’s present composer in residence, Vincent Ho, followed by a work from composer Randolph Peters.
You can also hear music from a concert recorded in in Winnipeg featuring mezzo-soprano Rosemary Vanderhooft and keyboard player Cheryl Pauls, followed by a Trevor Grahl piece, recorded during Winnipeg’s third New Music Festival.
Speaking of Winnipeg, as Pat has been all weekend on The Signal, stumbled on a nice Peg (mostly indie) music blog, Painting Over Silence. Love that name.
Posted by Li Robbins on August 16, 2008 at 08:00 PM
It's Winnipeg Weekend Part Two tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) as Pat presents music from the talented and idiosyncratic Christine Fellows, electronica from Blunderspublik and hip hop from Lil Disciples.
Also, in the third hour Pat plays music from Clive Holden’s experimental film Trains Of Winnipeg. (Not to be confused with other experimental trains of Winnipeg, for instance Guy Maddin's.
No, Trains Of Winnipeg is a multimedia, multidisciplinary art project -- a website, an audio CD, a book, and a feature-length cycle of films. From the website's mouth:
"The post modern era shattered the boundaries between art's dominant paradigms, and we've entered the 21st century far less able to specialize on a single artistic focus, various lenses are required to see clearly in this new multilateral world. And which clothes should we wear? What music are we supposed to like now? Is low art the new high art? Is hate the new love?"
Posted by Li Robbins on August 15, 2008 at 08:45 PM
Ah, the wintery Winnipeg jokes, they're like mother-in-law jokes in the Catskills or something. (But hey, it's a dry cold, right?) When I was growing up there I never ever called it Winterpeg, but in the missive I received from the weekend crew of The Signal (10 p.m.) (who are based in my hometown) the very first line was "drop your bathing suits and put on your parkas." Maybe they meant as a shield against the mosquitoes? Ba dum dum.
But anyway, to the music, which is indeed a celebration of musical Winnipeg. Tonight Pat begins with The Weakerthans, and then samples the soundtracks of Winnipeg directors Deco Dawson and Guy Maddin. The legacy of Glenn Buhr is celebrated and then there's some klezmer from Marilyn Lerner (surely a former Winnipeger, I ran into her in T-town not long ago). Plus, a Klezmer Suite by Sid Robinovitch.
Posted by Li Robbins on August 14, 2008 at 08:30 PM
"It was something that could only happen in Halifax" - Stephen Pedersen, Halifax Chronicle Herald.
The something Pederson was referring to was the collaboration between Symphony Nova Scotia and hip hop artist/songwriter (and soon to be CBC host) Buck 65. He worked with conductor/composer Dinuk Wijeratne to create a programme featuring arrangements of some of Buck 65's hits, like Way Back When and Cries A Girl, and a new CBC commission of a brand new work written by Wijeratne - a triple concerto for cellist, turntablist and percussionist.
Tonight you can hear this collaboration on The Signal (10 p.m.), and come September you can hear Buck 65, under his real handle, Rich Trefry, hosting a new daily afternoon programme from 3 pm. to 6 p.m.
Posted by Li Robbins on August 13, 2008 at 08:00 PM
Eve Egoyan specializes in contemporary solo piano music, so it's not a surprise that she would take on Alvin Curran's epic work for solo piano, Inner Cities. Curran has been working on this expanding body of work since 1996, and one listener has described it as "by turns charming, maddening, annoying, gorgeous, funny, thoughtful, reckless, tedious, dull, stunning -- a fully realized sonic portrait... and a long distance journey you will savor..."
Tonight The Signal (10 p.m.) broadcasts excerpts, of course, it's too humongous to play more than that. What you can hear is a set of "contradictory" etudes, which the composer offers as "autobiographical fragments like a drawer full of fossilized imprints".
Curran's writing on all of his inner cities makes for a great read, by the way, with passages like this:
Posted by Li Robbins on August 12, 2008 at 08:30 PM
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) Laurie updates the notion of the one man (or woman) band, with music from solo artists who are less likely to be tricked out in Rube Goldberg-like concoctions, more likely to rely on laptops, samplers, loopers and keyboards for their one-person musical performances.
And speaking of...if you missed this back in May, you might be interested to read The Return Of The One-Man Band, a fairly in depth look at the contemporary one-m/w-band, exploring some of the reasons for the trend (if it is a trend), beyond the obvious shifts in technology.
Posted by Li Robbins on August 11, 2008 at 08:55 PM
Geof Holbrook's composition Glitch is inspired by the electronic music of Aphex Twin (great homepage -- you oughta click on that link) and Squarepusher, but performed entirely on acoustic instruments. If you know Squarepusher's music you may find that hard to imagine -- but you can hear how it worked out for yourself tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.).
Glitch is performed by the sax quartet Quasar in collaboration with Montreal percussion ensemble Sixtrum. They'll also perform Indonesian/Dutch composer Roderick de Man's composition called Zest. So, a little glitch, a little zest, and you have a uni-syllabic evening of music that's anything but.
re: the photo -- it's Squarepusher, a.k.a. Tom Jenkinson, taken at the John Peel Night of BBC's Electric Proms a couple of years ago. He's there, lurking on the right.
Posted by Li Robbins on August 10, 2008 at 07:45 PM
If you were in the UK this winter, and of a certain age and musical predisposition, you might have noticed a name in the classical music charts that made you take a second look -- Mike Oldfield. Yup, Oldfield was charting for the first time in three decades, with an album called Music Of The Spheres.
But back in the 70s it was all about Tubular Bells. The impact of that recording was huge -- as Calgary pianist Marcel Bergmann will attest to -- his teenaged passion for the music led him to arranging some of it for piano, actually for four pianos.
You can hear some of this music tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) as part of a collaboration commissioned by One Yellow Rabbit, organizers of the annual High Performance Rodeo, a multi-disciplinary theatre fest. Bergmann's arrangement is performed by The Bergmann Duo, Jeroen Van Veen from the Netherlands, and Hong Xu from China -- on four Steinway grands.
Posted by Li Robbins on August 9, 2008 at 08:45 PM
You have to like a show that plays all three of the above artists in one go. Well, you don't have to, but if you have eclectic tastes in music you probably will. That show is The Signal (10 p.m.), and tonight Pat will indeed be playing music from Iceland's Mugison, the premiere of an acoustic Signal session. And as Mugison fans know, live Mugison is a good thing. Take it from Chimpomatic:
"I insist that you make the effort to see Mugison live, as more than anything his recorded work serves as an exhilarating document of his enthralling live shows..."
And as advertised, Pat also plays music from Toronto’s electronic - international - folk - soul - protest music band, LAL, and from the world's best known Touareg band, Tinariwen.
Photo of Mugison and beautiful but unnamed Icelandic pony by Ari Magg.
Posted by Li Robbins on August 8, 2008 at 08:45 PM
The weekend Signal team says that tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) with Pat Carrabré "the sparks will fly." Without yet knowing the music featured I can only assume they have some stirring and/or sensual stuff lined up.
I do know some of the featured artists -- a concert from Lily Frost, and featured recordings from Nick Cave, Jean Martin, Amute and E.S.L. Nothing to do with English as a second language, of course, everything to do with a Vancouver band who cover, among other songs, Lou Reed's Venus In Furs.
Speaking of Lou Reed, apparently the Julian Schnabel concert film, Lou Reed's Berlin, will be out in October on DVD. The 1973 album it's based on, which was essentially the story of one couple's downward spiral told in song, is often cited as an example of the most depressing recording ever made.
The movie, should you not have heard of it, is a re-creation of the album in concert, performed a couple years ago in four sold out concerts in New York -- performing the music live for the first time. And this on that from Rolling Stone:
"The story still thrills as it repels, the way Reed, with a poet's ear and a reporter's eye and no intruding moral comment, renders both artificial ecstasies (booze, speed, reckless sex) and real-life horror (beatings, blood on the sheets)."
Posted by Li Robbins on August 7, 2008 at 08:20 PM
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) Laurie presents a concert that features BNL singer Steven Page with pianist Andrew Burashko's Art of Time Ensemble. Page performs some of his own favourite songs but in new arrangements which were commissioned by CBC -- so for example Leonard Cohen arranged by Gavin Bryars, Philip Glass & Paul Simon arranged by Phil Dwyer, and Jane Siberry arranged by Glenn Buhr, among other compositions.
You can also hear this concert online, at Concerts On Demand: Art Of Time Ensemble With Steven Page. The opening track (playing on my computer as we speak) has quite a neat arrangement of John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats' song Lion's Teeth, arranged by Jim McGrath. Nice to hear Page in a non-BNL setting. Nice to just talk about Page and music, too.
Posted by Li Robbins on August 6, 2008 at 08:00 PM
This evening a reprise on The Signal (10 p.m.) of a concert by Jean Derome and Les Dangereux Zhomes + 7, recorded at La Sala Rossa in Montreal.
It's music that has aspects of rock, jazz, funk (I almost wrote "fun," not funk, and that too is true) folk and a whole swathe of other sounds -- Derome is famed for, as his own website accurately puts it, "mixing together a vast range of elements and re-expressing them in an eclectic language that is completely contemporary."
The concert includes Traquenards, a world premiere piece to mark the 25th anniversary of the concert’s organizer, Traquen’Art. The work was, in Derome’s own words, “a kind of check-up on the state of things in today’s creative musics.”
Posted by Li Robbins on August 5, 2008 at 03:00 PM
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), the third movement of Christos Hatzis' Juno award winning piece, Constantinople, called Odd World. It is apparently thus named because of its eclectic musical content, which includes hints celtic fiddling, Stravinsky and Brahms. (Also thus named because of its rhythmic structure.)
And another featured piece, this one I've not heard, Swarm, from vocalist Theo Bleckmann and guitarist Ben Monder. According to The Signalites, "they approximate the sounds of all sorts of flying insects. Time Out, for a second point of reference, calls it "skittery improv." Both intriguing descriptions (if a bit daunting in the height of a Canadian summer).
Posted by Li Robbins on August 3, 2008 at 07:30 PM
Pat Carrabré spent a lot of time at this year's edition of the WSO's New Music Festival as one of the on stage hosts, and so has the insider's perspective, which he brings to this Sunday's edition of The Signal (10 p.m.). As well as lots of music, of course, with new works by Nicole Lizée, Glenn Buhr, Jesse Zubot, Pierre Michaud and David Eagle.
It being time for Soundtrack Sunday he also features some music from the Coen Brothers movie that changed the world (or if not the world, at least the world's perception of bluegrass) O, Brother Where Art Thou, as well as some music by Michael Nyman.
Speaking of Michael Nyman, the way his music has been used in the the new documentary Man On Wire has created some controversy. The doc itself sounds really interesting -- it tells the story behind the stunt pulled by French daredevil Philippe Petit in 1974 when he walked back and forth for many minutes on a cable stretched between the towers of the world trade center.
But the Nyman music is drawn from some of his earlier soundtracks -- causing dismay in certain quarters. In a blog called The House Next Door blog-keeper Godfrey Cheshire says:
"The movie’s soundtrack contains frequent borrowings from the Michael Nyman scores of well-known Peter Greenaway films (as well as couple of other Nyman tracks, including one from Jane Campion’s The Piano).
This, for me, totally destroyed the experience of watching Marsh’s film. I would be trying to follow the story when, every three or four minutes, that familiar music would blare out and my mind would be whipsawed back to the images and moods of The Draughtsman’s Contract, Drowning By Numbers, A Zed & Two Noughts or another film. Eventually I realized this distraction would continue throughout, so I left."
Leaving a movie because of the music -- that's a pretty intense reaction. Of course music highly identifiable in one context (particularly attached to visuals as memorable as Greenaway's) does seem an odd choice for another film. Regardless, the doc rocked the world at Sundance -- winning Grand Jury Award for Best World Cinema Documentary and Audience Award for Best World Cinema Documentary.
Posted by Li Robbins on August 2, 2008 at 03:05 PM
Not at all like a "senior moment" (although I've been having those since about the age of twenty). No, this Signal (10 p.m.) moment is just to point out a few highlights on tonight's edition of the show: music from Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra, the new live CD from jazz pianist Brad Mehldau, and more music from Toronto-based composer, keyboardist and electronic musician John Kameel Farah.
Posted by Li Robbins on August 1, 2008 at 08:48 PM
John Kameel Farah fuses elements of jazz, techno, classical, ambient and middle-Eastern music into his own large-scale works, and tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear him in performance with German pianist/composer Hauschka, who you have likely heard on the show before -- with his intriguing prepared piano work.
Note: Should you miss the broadcast, you can also hear this performance online at Concert On Demand, John Kameel Farah and Hauschka.
Tonight Pat also spins discs from a wide range of performers, including music from the multifaceted Jaz Coleman (that link takes you to a fan site, but according to said fan, Coleman "acquiesced" to having it posted). Coleman, as you probably know, is a composer, keyboardist and lead singer for England’s Killing Joke.
It used to be that musicians who played music that was not easily described tended to hate having to attempt to do so. These days it seems to have become a creative process unto itself. (Just trawl through the self-descriptions on MySpace for proof...)
Take the the minimalist "neurotic sci-folk" of Laura Barrett, for example. Perfectly evocative, and no one has to stumble around going 'well, kind of you know, folkish, but not really, and then there's that kalimba thing she has going...' Anyway, tonight neurotic sci-folk (and annoyingly non-neurotic, earthbound folk too) are welcome to hear her music on The Signal (10 p.m.).
You can also hear music from Hylozoists, recorded live-in-concert. Shan't offer any description, though they have been known to write soundtracks for imaginary movies, so if pressed I'd say (on MySpace the band says "crucial hang," as well as indie/classical/emotronic) "Imaginary Soundtrack Music."
One more highlight to mention -- Laurie features some music by Gowns called Red State. It's been called (not sure by whom) "a digitally ruptured, gospel valentine to the heartlands." Which sounds vaguely terrifying, and for some reason reminds me of the movie Paris, Texas. But that's neither here nor there. Also not the heartland, but still. I get what they mean though, listening to the music on the Gowns aforelinked MySpace page. But you can also tune in tonight to hear just what a digitally ruptured gospel valentine sounds like.
Now, you could interpret that subject heading in any number of ways. First, that everyone is charging en masse to listen to The Signal (10 p.m.), which may well be true. Or maybe it is a kind of rallying cry. (Although that would work better if there was a comma: Rush On, The Signal!) On the third hand, maybe it means Geddy Lee is putting in an appearance?
If you picked Door #3 you'd be almost right, since tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), Laurie will indeed be playing some music by the iconic Canadian rock trio, Rush. Not with Mr. Lee singing though, in this case it's some Rush interpretations, from bands like The Bad Plus and The Section Quartet.
Speaking of Rush, they were in the news recently with their appearance on the Colbert Report -- their first TV appearance in 30 years -- which you can watch here.
And for those of you who have been following the saga of the woman who was obsessed with dish washing, the third and final installment of Lullaby Baxter's musical Garden Cities Of Tomorrow, recorded live at Calgary's One Yellow Rabbit Performance Theatre, will be aired on the show tonight.
Laurie plays some of her favourite spoken word artists tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), including Shane Koyczan and Christian Bok. (btw, you can hear samples of both of their work on their respective websites...strong stuff... )
As well, a musical tribute to the women known as the Hiroshima Maidens (pictured here). These young Japanese women were seriously disfigured at Hiroshima in 1945, and were subsequently taken to the U.S. for multiple reconstructive surgeries. (That link will take you to a CBC archives feature about these women, with excerpts from radio broadcasts of the time.)
As for the musical work connected to the "Hiroshima Maidens" that you can hear tonight -- it's by composer Robert Een, and was written for a puppet/theatre piece on their story.
Tonight The Signal (10 p.m.) rebroadcasts part one of a three-part performance -- Lullaby Baxter's musical Garden Cities of Tomorrow. Among other things, it's about a woman who just adores doing dishes. (I always knew there had to be one, somewhere.) You can also hear this concert online at Concerts On Demand: Garden Cities Of Tomorrow: Lullaby Baxter.
Laurie also features music from Third, the latest recording from the band Portishead, whose sound was inseparable from the mid-1990s. But then they went away -- it's been ten years between albums. One reason is the band hated performing live, in part because vocalist Beth Gibbons is deeply private.
But they're back, and tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) Laurie will be playing music from the newish CD. As well, some music from Canadian band Plants And Animals, including a tune that has the perfect response to an axiom I've never really believed: "that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger." The P&A song is called What Doesn't Kill Us Can Only Make Us Stronger... That Is Of Course If It's Not Making Us Weaker.
Plants And Animals were recently Pitchforked, btw -- their recording making the "Overlooked Records Of 2008" list.
Sunday's concert feature on The Signal is by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer George Crumb (pictured circa 1968) and includes the stunning composition for electric string quartet entitled "Black Angels, Thirteen Images from the Dark Land".
Posted by Philly Markowitz on July 26, 2008 at 09:20 PM
Catch the fresh electronica of Vancouver's The Hermit this Saturday night in the concert portion of The Signal. FYI - The photo shows Gottfried Scholenateuer, the bell ringing hermit of Saalfelden, in the mountains of Austria, dated 1955... not the band.
As well, guest host Odario Williams will take the new Brendan Canning (of Broken Social Scene) CD for a spin, sampling five off-beat tracks. Also, music from Ratatat, Tippy Agogo and Kathleen McLean, to name just a few.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on July 25, 2008 at 08:54 PM
What's in a name? Well if it's the name of the band in tonight's concert feature on The Signal, the name poses a bit of a problem. The name contains a word not generally used on radio - especially on CBC. So how about a clue? It begins with "Holy" and the second word rhymes with "duck". (Pictured is "catboy", the band's official mascot.)
I'll admit I've said it - on air, in fact (in the wee, wee hours on Nightstream, and not without a little hesitation) - and your regular blogger Li Robbins reproduced the name in this very blog when she noted that the band had been short-listed for the 2008 Polaris Prize. But why push the point? Needless to say, the band name must pose a real problem on the marquee any place they play.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on July 24, 2008 at 09:05 PM
Tonight, the Signal takes us on a one-way ride to Paradise. Among other things, you'll hear music from Patrick Watson’s 2007 Polaris Prize winning CD, Close to Paradise. Music from Jeff Bird'sSelf Mastery will get us going in the right direction, and along the way we’ll also hear the heavenly voice of counter-tenor Daniel Taylor, in a song by Bob & Bill.
This may not qualify as music from Paradise per se, but this interesting video demonstrates what is considered by some to be a heavenly musical system found on the walls of Rosslyn Chapel in Midlowthian, Scotland. The previously placid chapel has been over-run by tourists lately, ever since it was used as a location for the film version of the DaVinci Code.
As interpreted by Scottish composer Stuart Mitchell, the vaguely floral symbols carved into the stone of Rosslyn Chapel create an ingenious form of musical notation based on cymatics and give rise to beautiful "new-old" music. You'll hear excerpts from Mitchell's Rosslyn Motet in this video.
Post-viewing fun: if you've never done it before, try singing to a drum covered in fine sand or salt some day. You'll be amazed at the beautiful patterns you can create.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on July 23, 2008 at 06:55 PM
Pity Steven Page. BNL's front man has been all over the news of late, and not for any of the right reasons. With all the clamour and gossip, it may be difficult to focus on what is still very much the case: Page remains a fine musician and an entertaining storyteller.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, Steven Page joins Andrew Burashko (pictured) and the Art of Time Ensemble for a concert from the AoT's ongoing "Songbook" series. For this special concert (which took place over 2 nights on June 20 and 21, 2008), Page created a list of his favourite songs, and CBC Radio commissioned completely new arrangements of those songs by a variety of musical minds. We’ll hear Leonard Cohen arranged by Gavin Bryars, Philip Glass & Paul Simon arranged by Phil Dwyer, and Jane Siberry arranged by Glenn Buhr.
The all-star ensemble boasted some of Canada’s finest musicians including Phil Dwyer (sax), Rob Piltch (guitar), Igor Gefter (cello), Joe Phillips (bass), Steven Sitarski (violin) & Andrew Burashko (piano).
N.B.: Tonight's Signal concert is also available as a Concert on Demand.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on July 22, 2008 at 07:48 PM
Tonight on The Signal, film composer Danny Elfman turns his hand to a large-scale contemporary work, Serenada Schizophrana.
The first thing you need to know about Elfman is that he is entirely self-taught and has never had any formal musical training. Perhaps this contributes to his unique signature sound. The Serenada is Elfman's first work written specifically for the concert hall, although since it's Carnegie Hall debut in 2005, the music has been appended to the IMAX film Deep Sea 3D. Elfman found the creation of this music an interesting challenge. Cut adrift (so to speak) from the confines of visual prompts, Elfman said of the process: I began composing several dozen short improvisational compositions, none of them related. Slowly, some of them began to develop themselves until I had six separate movements that, in some abstract, absurd way, felt connected.
Elfman's playful and dramatic themes are among the most recognised in the world: he penned the catchy theme to "The Simpsons", scored virtually all of Tim Burton's films (which included singing the songs of the lead character, Jack Skellington, in The Nightmare Before Christmas) and created the music for Sam Raimi's Spider-Man film franchise. For a real treat, sit down with the Corpse Bride DVD one day and go exploring in the "extras" section. There you'll find beautiful documentary footage showing Elfman at work with a full orchestra in a Hollywood studio. Truly a master at work.
Off the top of my head, there are a few other film score composers I can think of whose music is as instantly recognisable as Elfman's: Nino Rota, Philip Glass, Ennio Morricone, A.R. Rahman, Tan Dun, Bernard Hermann, John Williams and yes, Randy Newman. After jotting down the arbitrary and incomplete list you see here, I went online and googled "film score composers". That's how I found this user-created list of the "100 Greatest Film Score Composers", which ranks Elfman at #15 out of 100.
Also on The Signal tonight: “Thru The Wounded Sky” by The Glenn Buhr Ensemble, and “My Greatest Fear” by The Tiny, and concert highlights featuring two musically open-minded virtuoso artists, violinist Parmela Attariwala and percussionist Shawn Mativetsky. Together, as the Attar Project, they weave a tapestry of sound that combines contemporary composition and classical virtuosity with improvisation and traditional Indian rhythms.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on July 21, 2008 at 09:45 PM
Tonight The Signal’s post-modernist hero returns to present his latest masterpiece!
Toronto’s John Kameel Farah is a virtuoso musician: he fuses elements of jazz, techno, classical, ambient, and middle-Eastern music into his own large-scale works. Tonight we’ll hear the new work “Unfolding” – it’s been called “a lifetime of knowledge distilled into 50 minutes of pure inspiration!”.
Want some inspiration of your own? Watch this 2-handed origami artist's work unfold -- well, fold -- before your eyes. This has nothing whatsoever to do with tonight's music, but I enjoyed watching it. Hope you do, too.
Pat is back in the host chair on this evening's edition of The Signal (10 p.m.) and he celebrates, (belatedly), the 60th birthday of composer Marjan Mozetich, as well as paying tribute to the late Canadian composer John Weinzweig. And as usual he has a Soundtrack Sunday feature, tonight with music from Deepa Mehta’s film Water, written by Canadian composer Mychael Danna.
Now, maybe because it is so hot while I am writing this I find it a bizarre coincidence (rather than utterly trivial) that just as I wrote the word "water" I happened to glance down and notice something on my desk about the band Headwater, who are featured in concert Monday night on Canada Live (8 p.m.). They play what they like to call "Tractor Jazz," which has forever endeared them to me.
But I am getting ahead(water) of myself. Ms. Philly Markowitz will be around tomorrow to tell you more about this band, as well as lots of other great music coming your way for the next seven days, since I am signing off now for a week's vacation. Which, come to think of it, will involve lolling about in water. Cool, clear water. (Clearly it's time to say goodnight now. Goodnight now.)
Odario Williams guest hosts The Signal (10 p.m.) again tonight, and presents some of Lullaby Baxter's musical Garden Cities Of Tomorrow.
It's said to be a fable about a woman who just adores doing dishes. Clearly that is indeed a fable. (Though perhaps it would be more so if it had been about a woman who loved to wash walls, or scrub behind the toilet. ) Odario, by the way, will also be showcasing music from SoCalled, everyone's favourite klezmer hip hop artist.
The last time Odario Williams guest hosted The Signal (10 p.m.), one listener/blog reader wrote:
"Williams really knows his music and has obviously done his research. Enjoyable guest-host with intelligent commentary and nice addition to the new Radio 2."
Tonight is his first stint as weekend Signal host though, sitting in for Pat Carrabré, and he'll be featuring a concert of music by Caribou, whose recording Andorra is on the shortlist for the Polaris Prize.
Right now Caribou is/are (Caribou being the alter ego of Dan Snaith) on tour, with dates in the U.S., Switzerland, Taiwan, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Germany, France, Belgium, England and Wales.
The concert you can hear tonight was a club date from Toronto's Lee's Palace (see photo) that den of, well not iniquity (though maybe that too), much good music. You can also hear the show online, at Concerts On Demand: Caribou.
After last night's broadcast, one listener wrote in to say that the featured concert work, the Credo from Apocolypsis was, and I quote, "amazing." Tonight's concert may well amaze too -- it's Schafer's Scorpius, performed by the Esprit Orchestra. (In fact the Esprit commissioned the piece back in 1990, with some help from the Canada Council -- you can hear it on the Esprit's Iridescence.)
The concluding segment of Eitan Cornfield's documentary about Schafer is also broadcast tonight, and in it Schafer talks about what's involved in creating massive and multi-disciplinary works, as well as blurring the traditional separation between performers and audiences, something Schafer is famous for. Plus you can hear some selections from his Patria cycle, including the evocatively titled And Wolf Shall Inherit The Moon.
Here's where you can find out more about Schafer's large scale environmental music-theatre, the Patria Cycle. And here's where you can hear some of the fine concerts CBC R2 has recorded of Schafer's music, available online at Concerts On Demand.
Canadian composer, writer, educator and musical philosopher R. Murray Schafer is featured all week on The Signal (10 p.m.), and tonight you can hear a performance of the Credo from his massive work, Apocalypsis -- 500 voices strong. Robert Sund conducts twelve (!) choirs in a live performance recorded at Massey Hall in Toronto.
And it's also part 3 of Eitan Cornfield's documentary on Schafer -- in it he talks about what he sees as the beauty of communal ritual, and the experience of music in the natural environment.
Note, there are some great concerts of Schafer's music online at Concerts On Demand.
Musical Pointers says that Eitan Cornfield's "admirable" documentary about R. Murray Schafer, (in CD form with the relevant music also provided) provides "an engrossing picture of the creation of a new music culture in a country without an earlier tradition to build upon or challenge."
That culture is thriving in no small part due to Schafer, whose work is celebrated all week on The Signal (10 p.m.). In Part Two of the documentary, broadcast tonight, Schafer discusses his feelings about how music was taught when he was a student, and how he developed his own approach to teaching -- what he calls "creative hearing."
You'll also hear about some of his involvement with other composers, including Barry Truax, through the World Soundscape Project. As far as the music goes, the playlist includes Epitaph for Moonlight and a concert feature - a performance of Schafer's String Quartet No. 3.
The Signal (10 p.m.) continues its week long Schaferathon, in honour of composer R. Murray Schafer's 75th birthday this week.
Tonight, part one of Eitan Cornfield's documentary on the life and career of Schafer. In it Schafer talks about the notion of "authentic" artistic experience and the creative process, among other things.
You can also hear several Schafer works, including In Memoriam Alberto Guerrero and his Concerto for harpsichord and winds, and Cortege, performed by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra at this year's Winnipeg New Music Festival.
Schafer is famous for (among other things) projects involving music in natural settings, and most recently some of his music accompanied the unveiling of a sculpture in Cambridge, Ontario. Called Solar Collector, it gets its energy from the sun -- and responds to public input. You're probably curious about how this works, and you can find out more at Solar Collector.
How legendary is he? Well, Yehudi Menuhin put it this way.
"His strong, benevolent, and highly original imagination and intellect, a dynamic power whose manifold personal expressions and aspirations are in total accord with the urgent needs and dreams of humanity today."
I don't think I need to say much more, other than to tell you that all week The Signal (10 p.m.) will celebrate Schafer's music, on Sunday night with some of his "greatest hits" (as well as a kind of companion piece of music inspired by Schafer’s great passion - the environment.
And Monday night you can hear the first part of Eitan Cornfield's documentary on the life and career of Schafer. In it he talks about the notion of "authentic" artistic experience and the creative process, among other things. And you'll also hear several Schafer works, including In Memoriam Alberto Guerrero and his Concerto for harpsichord and winds. As well, Cortege, performed by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra at this year's Winnipeg New Music Festival.
The Schafer special continues until next Friday, July 18th, when hopefully there will be champagne and cake. Or at least cake.
By the way, there are some fun photos of Schafer at Dyanne Wilson Photography -- Wilson photographed him in action, conducting a choral workshop at the U. of Ottawa this past winter. The accompanying post says it's "always such a joy to photograph people doing what they love and being who they are." That is plain (and a joy) to see.
Tonight's concert feature on The Signal (10 p.m.) is the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Seht Die Sonne by Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg. The title, which translates to See The Sun, comes from Schoenberg's Gurrelieder. Its finale features a huge chorus saluting the rising sun. No, not like downward dogs, and it probably doesn't end up with anyone saying namaste, either, since the conclusion represents the night in which "the ghosts of the cursed king Waldemar and his men have ridden the sky."
Also on the show, also from a northern country -- Pat samples music from Icelandic iconoclast Mugison’s newest, Mugiboogie.
Montrealer Mitchell Akiyama describes himself as an "avant garde electronic musician, who incorporates "traditional instruments and real world sound sources in his compositions, fusing the organic and digital."
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) Pat explores some of that fusion, as well as the beats of Grand Analog, (those beats are mostly hip-hop, dub and soul) led by sometime Signal guest host, Odario Williams.
Organic and digital, sounds like a slogan for the 21st century, doesn't it. Or maybe for The Signal itself...
The Signalites describe some of what you'll hear tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) as "perplexing music," from Montreal guitarist and composer Bernard Falaise. Perplexing in a good way:
"Falaise blends elements of jazz, chamber music, noise, and free improvisation into something unlike anything you've heard before."
"Falaise name checks Anthony Braxton, Captain Beefheart, Igor Stravinsky and Robert Wyatt as influences, so you know there’s never a straight path between two points. Sometimes the writing is a little tight assed, with strangled, carnival-esque riffing from the horns and trombone redeemed only by drummer Jean Martin’s powerful groove in Tricheur. There’s a Zappa influence at work as well, with a knack for snaky, highly orchestrated melodies and sudden shifts into loopy solos evident especially in Falaise’s guitar work."
The latter, I would say, is not perplexing but is quite satisfying, particularly if played when your nerves are feeling a tad jangled. (So tonight's show will potentially both perplex and satisfy, which is really what a good radio show should do.)
And finally, in the second hour of the programme a concert performance, Art of Time Ensemble’s Source And Inspiration, featuring new songs from Kyrie Kristmanson and Nick Buzz, inspired by Robert Schumann's Piano Quintet In E flat.
And should you wish to read a review of the entire concert, The Gazette's Arthur Kaptainis was there. Of Brian Cherney's piece, a premiere, Kaptainis said it "invited us to notice the similarities between Bach's right-hand decorations and Mussorgsky's, all in the context of a Debussian sonority balancing the extremes of the keyboard. I think. It was a clever synthesis rather than an original composition, but effective enough."
Hmm, not exactly damning with faint praise. Maybe piquing curiosity with perplexing praise, not always a bad thing to do, in the world of music criticism.
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), proper acknowledgment of things small. (Coming from a long line of short people, this has special resonance.)
The celebration of it's a small small world after all includes music from the Swedish alternative group The Tiny, a selection of Little Things from Norway's Hanne Hukkelberg, some Micro Melodies from California's The Album Leaf, and a remix of Lali Puna's Small Things by Montreal-based Sixtoo.
p.s. Abbott and Costello, circa 1955, playing a Uke and a child-sized gardening tool.
Just a typical night on The Signal (10 p.m.). Starlight, Delusions and High Romance. Sort of Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, 21st century style.
But actually it's Starlight as in a composition by Jillian Lebeck, Delusions by violinist Jesse Zubot, and High Romance by guitarist Michael Occhipinti. (Still, a nice phrase.)
Speaking of Occhipinti, his Sicilian Jazz Project was just released, and he's touring with that music this summer. You can find out more about that at Occhipinti's MySpace site. (It's a neat musical project mixing Sicilian folk and jazz.)
Sunday night The Signal (10 p.m.) with Pat Carrabré presents a three hour special devoted to a composition by Olivier Messiaen.
There are many reasons to be interested in Messiaen's work, but one of the greatest ("imho," as they say) is because of his fascination with birdsong. Messiaen (born 100 years ago this December) thought of birds as being pretty much musicians themselves -- unlike some who think of birdsong as some sort of automated natural response to daybreak or hunger or mating or what have you. From his teens Messiaen collected birdsongs, notating them in great detail. And he famously incorporated birdsong into his own composition.
"I speak of faith to atheists, I speak of birds to people who never got up at four in the morning to listen to the awakening of birds," Messiaen once said.
Tonight you'll hear Halifax’s Scotia Festival Of Music's presentation of Catalogue D'Oiseaux (Catalogue of Birds). The seven "books" of Olivier Messiaen's Catalogue D'Oiseaux were composed between 1956 and 1958, and because it's such a massive piece it's rarely performed in entirety -- so tonight is your chance to hear it performed as intended. The work is performed by pianist Simon Docking and narrated by CBC host Peter Togni, reading Messiaen’s poetry.
Kiran Ahluwalia grew up in Toronto, got her MBA at Dalhousie, and then became one of the best known ghazal singers in the world, outside of India. You can hear her tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) in concert with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra.
For this concert composer Glenn Buhr arranged pieces Ahluwalia sings, and showcased two of his original compositions "inspired by the east." Of those new works, What's On Winnipeg's review said the following:
"Buhr's new works, Chant of Wind and Thunder and Chant of Water and Sky, received world premieres, the latter a beautiful, pastoral song representing an idyllic day at Lake of the Woods. Ahluwalia sang in unison with the strings as modal changes transitioned into an Eastern tune, cellos taking the melody. The song came to rest softly, with Ahluwalia's lovely vocals soaring above."
P.S. Pat also features some new music from jazz multi-instrumentalists Jean Martin and Colin Fisher on tonight's show, for you fans of jazz multi-instrumentalists, and I know you are legion.
Meredith Monk has a new recording out, Impermanence (also the title of her most recent inter-disciplinary work); this may have been the impetus for Pat to profile her work in depth tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.).
And there is much depth to plumb. Four four decades she's been an unconventional performer who has moved between music and theatre and dance and film, winning awards for her groundbreaking work, including a MacArthur "genius award."
But despite all the many-arts, much of Monk's work comes back to the voice. As John Knelman points out so aptly in his review about Impermanence:
"The human voice may well be the most expressive instrument of all, capable of the subtlest of nuance and the most dramatic exclamation, but few have explored its full range as thoroughly as Meredith Monk."
In June at the Music Gallery as part of the soundaXis Festival, the newish new music group, Transmission (Lori Freedman, clarinet; Guy Pelletier, flutes; Clemens Merkel, viioin; Julie Trudeau, cello; D’Arcy Gray, percussion; Brigitte Poulin, piano) performed a programme of late 20th century composition.
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear some of that concert, including works by Iannis Xennakis and Claude Vivier.
Showtimemagazine.ca had a sparky review of the concert; here's just an excerpt of the part of the review concerning the Xenakis:
“Plekto (1993) by Xenakis is a confrontation of strong materials of contrasting textures, meters, and chording whose overlapping variations suggest hostile aggression, such as one associates with land-and-sky war. The satirical, hallucinatory and horrifying albeit riveting paintings of Goya, Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud came to mind. This music is not shy. It ended with a bray and a loud bang and the audience loved it."
Argentinean-Canadian composer, conductor, pianist, teacher Alcides Lanza has long been committed to promoting new music performance.
Tonight The Signal (10 p.m.) pays tribute to Lanza, with a concert that features several works, including Sensors Six. It was inspired by the first moon landing by the Apollo Eleven astronauts, or more specifically, by the devices that sensed the astronauts’ vital signs and then transmitted them through space to technicians on the ground. That, and by the connections between the sensors and the astronauts’ senses. Fascinating.
btw, for a brief but interesting interview with Lanza, go to Yakity-Yak.
If you need one reason to tune in tonight to the The Signal (10 p.m.) here it is: Veda Hille singing Neil Young. (Or as she puts it, "gently attacking neil young.")
Hille sings songs such as Ohio and After The Goldrush, inventively arranged for orchestra by Giorgio Magnanensi. (OK, so that's two reasons.) Hope you enjoy this nightcap to R2's day long Canada Day programming!
The Cusp Of Magic is a beautiful work for the pipa and strings, composed by Terry Riley. Am listening to it as we speak, and it does have moments that really do feel magical.
Funnily enough, the inspiration for the piece did not come from the lute-like Chinese instrument, nor from a string quartet, but from the granddaughter of one of the members of The Kronos Quartet, her toys and noisemakers. They became the 'magical' element of the work, ultimately performed by The Kronos Quartet with Wu Man on pipa -- and tonight you can hear this music on The Signal (10 p.m.)
That said, the piece was also a commission by Kronos, in honour of Riley's 70th birthday. As for the music, the L.A. Times said: "with its lullabies and entrancing Chinese songs and sweet disposition, brims with joy."
(Which would have worked better were the composition called "The Cup Of Magic." But either way it's strong praise.)
Also Pat plays music from the SuperNova String Quartet and the Evergreen Club Gamelan coming together in Halifax to premiere works by Montreal’s Ana Sokolovic, Toronto’s Linda Catlin Smith and Marjan Mozetich.
Gamelan and new music have quite a history, although Pat sees the traditions as coming from very different places, and he'd be right. As he puts it on the new, unified Signal Blog:
"Why even try to cross such a great divide? The simplest reason is probably because musicians are a curious bunch. The first time Western composers heard the Gamelan was at the Paris Exhibition in the late 19th Century. Claude Debussy immediately set to work trying to imitate what must have been a mind blowing sound. The result was his amazing String Quartet."
Pianist Christina Petrowska-Quilico is one of the foremost Canadian interpreters of new music, and she has a brand new CD out (actually a two-CD set) called Ings, the title evidently taken from the Henry Cowell set of pieces called Ings: floating, frisking, fleeting, scooting, wafting and seething.
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) no seething, that I'm aware of, but there will be some sampling, as in sampling music from Petrowska-Quilico's new disc.
The concert feature is Winnipeg’s David R. Scott, with some new music for North Indian tabla, featuring Canadian percussionist Shawn Mativetsky.
On a web related Signal note -- Pat and Laurie have merged their Signal blogs, (only makes sense), and their new home is right here.
Who among us has not gently thumped a pumpkin or perhaps idly kept time with a carrot? What, you're saying that's just me? I don't believe it. No, I think the urge to treat fruit & veg as potential instruments is primal. Though perhaps not as primal for some of us as it is for members of the Vienna Veg Orch. You can hear for yourself tonight, when Pat showcases some legume music on The Signal (10 p.m.).
And just because we can...here's a little preview:
Nice sound on that carrot, eh?
Note: Aside from the vegetable matter, you can also hear Toronto’s new classical group Continuum and Diane Labrosse on the show, as well as a concert from Ohbijou and music from clarinetist Francois Houle.
Last autumn ten Canadian composers wrote preludes and fugues inspired by Glenn Gould -- and ten pianists performed them. Appropriately enough, it was called So You Want To Write A Fugue.
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear some of that music, featuring Stewart Goodyear's effervescent Prelude And Fugue and pianist Gregory Oh's dramatic performance of Andre Ristic'sPrelude et Fugue.
And here's your Fugue (sans prelude) Fact Of The Day: Gould, famously speaking about Bach's Art Of Fugue, once said it was "the most extraordinary piece that a human mind ever conceived."
I doubt that too many people still think Newfoundland music is mostly fiddles and accordions. (Not that there's anything wrong with fiddles and accordions, some of my best friends etc. etc. But it is the not entirely accurate stereotype.) Anyway, for those who might, or for those who want a bird's eye viewing (or hearing) of some of the new music activity on the island, tune in tonight to The Signal (10 p.m.).
Laurie presents highlights from the 2008 Newfound Music Festival, a contemporary music festival held every February in Newfoundland, run by composer Clark Ross. Tonight's performances include Untouchable, a work by Rob Power for marimbas and vibraphone.
Buck 65, DJ, electronic and spoken word artist (and soon to be CBC host, come the fall), teams up with Symphony Nova Scotia tonight on The Signal.
SNS conductor/composer Dinuk Wijeratne's own concerto, performed by cellist Norman Adams, percussionist Terry O'Mahoney and Buck 65 on turntables is the featured work (and a commission by the CBC).
An ambitious project, Buck summed it up before the performance, speaking to The Coast:
"It's totally insane," he says of the show. "You don't play with the symphony everyday....Just to hear my stuff taken to these places, it's really hard to describe the way it's made me feel."
An early bulletin today about The Signal (10 p.m.): Michael Ondaatje joins Laurie Brown this evening to talk about the intersection of music and literature.
A great topic, and I'm sure Ondaatje will have many interesting things to say. As you may know, he has a strong interest in music and musicians (just one example being Coming Through Slaughter, his book about Buddy Bolden).
Tonight Ondaatje will talk about his fascination with Billy the Kid, as well as the piece of music that inspired him to write his award-winning novel Divisadero.
Check out Laurie's blog for a little bit more about how her conversation with Mr. Ondaatje evolved.
Riding a bus is possibly the best place for eavesdropping on conversations, other than when people are talking in public on their cell phones. Then the potential pleasure of eavesdropping (for those of us fascinated by other peoples lives, or maybe just nosy) is usually overridden by the fact that the person is shouting.
But the bus is much more rewarding since you hear both sides, and generally more sotto voce. Recently I heard a couple on a bus debating whether or not one of them had really invented the word "jellofied." She claimed she made it up to describe the moment when jello is ready to eat, when it's been in the fridge long enough to quiver in semi-solidity.
I don't know about "jellofied," but I do think the folks at The Signal (10 p.m.) may have coined the term "cello-tastic." That's how they describe this evening's show -- where cello-centric concerts have been brought together from across Canada. They include a world premiere from David R. Scott with a little help from The Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, and music (doubling as a Soundtrack Sunday special) from a soundtrack composed by Montreal singer/cellist Jorane.
Tonight, the full broadcast of the first ever Cree opera, Tomson Highway'sThe Journey (Pimooteewin). Highway collaborated on this with composer Melissa Hui and choreographer Michael Greyeyes.
It's based on an Aboriginal myth tracing the journey of Weesageechak (the trickster) and Misigoo (the Eagle) to a magic island where the spirits of the dead dance every night by the light of the moon. The featured soloists are soprano Xin Wang and tenor Bud Roach, and the work is narrated by Cara Gee.
To get the lowdown from the irrepressible Tomson Highway, you can read an interview he did with CBC News online here. In it he says:
"...Cree is...the garden of joy, of pleasure, from which the English language was evicted 4,000 years ago — to put it in theological terms. It’s hysterical. When you speak Cree, you laugh all the time. Every syllable is a kick in the arse. So when I want to laugh, I speak Cree. When I want to make money, I speak English. When I want to make love, I speak French."
Penderecki String Quartet are the subject of Pat's weekly in depth look at one artist or group's body of work tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.). So he samples from various time periods -- in the case of the Penderecki, they have a couple of decades of recording to choose from, playing music from Haydn to Zappa.
You can also hear some new music this evening from the following: Sigur Ros, John Zorn, and Human Bell, as well as a concert from experimental/techno guy David Kristian.
Kristian, who has been making electronic music for about as long as the Pendereckis have been playing, has been called "half spooky sci-fi buff, half innovative music producer." (What would simplify that would be to say "spooky sci-fi buff/music producer," but I digress.) Here's the really spooky thing. Kristian, who has scored numerous films and videos, once performed a film soundtrack with the Penderecki Quartet.
Coincidence that Pat is playing music from both artists tonight? I think not.
A special broadcast coming up later this evening -- excerpts from Tomson Highway's Cree opera The Journey (Pimooteewin) -- the first Cree opera in the world. Highway collaborated on this with composer Melissa Hui and choreographer Michael Greyeyes, and tonight some of that work is broadcast on The Signal (10 p.m.). (The full broadcast of the opera is on the Saturday edition of The Signal with Pat Carrabré.)
It's based on an Aboriginal myth tracing the journey of Weesageechak (you know Weesageechak, that Trickster), and Misigoo (the Eagle) to a magic island where the spirits of the dead dance every night by the light of the moon. The featured soloists are soprano Xin Wang and tenor Bud Roach, and the work is narrated by Cara Gee.
Back in February CBC News online did an interview with Tomson Highway, which you can read about at here. (As always, great to hear from the expressive Tomson Highway!)
Also on this evening's Signal, more music from Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq -- in the second hour of the programme, a composition by Régent Levasseur called Farewell To The Warriors, performed by the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra.
If you heard part one of the concert Quiet Is Not Silent last night on The Signal (10 p.m.) and were intrigued, tune in this evening for the rest. It's a mix of spoken word, live electronics, bass and violin, featuring Taqralik Partridge with Guido Del Fabbro, Philippe Brault and special guest DJmadeskimo, recorded live at the McCord Museum in Montreal.
(As my witty colleagues over at The Signal put it, "urban meets tundra.") It also includes a piece commissioned by the CBC called No Sleep For The Wicked Ain't Right. To hear the concert online, you can go to Concerts On Demand: Taqralik Partridge - Quiet is Not Silent.
How true. You note this in a literal way all the time, for instance lying awake in the middle of the night. (The creaking, the humming, the rustling.)
But you note it in a profound way when a culture has been repressed, and that is what this particular "quiet is not silent" refers to. Quiet Is Not Silent is the name of a concert commissioned by the CBC that you can hear this evening on The Signal (10 p.m.), as part of their series in conjunction with the CBC special Truth & Reconciliation: Stolen Children.
After last Wednesday's apology by Prime Minister Harper on behalf of the government of Canada to aboriginal people who were forced into Residential schools, the actual commission that results from that apology will now begin. For the next five years the commission will hear from aboriginal people who were in those schools.
On The Signal (10 p.m.) this week you'll hear concerts and programming focusing on aboriginal artists and music, as a way of noting this. Tonight, music from Inuit artists (who have a unique place in the whole Truth & Reconcilation process...as this post on Nation Talk shows.)
CBC is doing work on all the "platforms" as they say (in other words, radio/TV/the World Wide Web) about the Truth & Reconciliation process, and for more on that, go to Truth & Reconciliation: Stolen Children.
I heard sometime earlier this week the theory that Father's Day is just an add on, that it's really Mother's Day that is the big deal. This is probably true in commercial terms, and admittedly there has been a suspicious lack of Father's Day programming today. Knowing a few great fathers (most of all my own) makes me say this: frankly, this second class dad's day notion is just wrong.
Fathers can be purveyors of significant lore, and I'm not talking about BBQing. Musically, for example -- the music some of us are lucky enough to learn from our fathers stays with us our whole lives. (Even when it involves such lyrics as "flat foot floogie with a floy floy." Or maybe especially when it does.)
So I was glad to see that Pat Carrabré salutes Fathers (we'll give Dads a Cap in honour of the occasion) musically this evening. One of the ways he does this is via Soundtrack Sundays, with music from the score (by Canadian composer Mychael Danna who also did the music for Atom Egoyan's latest, Adoration) to the movie Little Miss Sunshine. I guess that's touching on some of the trials of being a father? (Though it worked out in the end, van pushing and all.)
Well, it sounds better than unlucky 13. Superstition is such an odd thing. Are you of a numerically superstitious ilk? Do you think elevators will plummet or fish will grow fangs and attack you, or whatever other fears you secretly harbour -- just because it's Friday the 13th?
Regardless, tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) Pat explores the ideas of luck and fortune with music -- some of it from pianist Peter Allen and Montreal’s Besnard Lakes.
And as luck would have it, for you fans of electronics/jazz musician Misteur Valaire, Pat will also be broadcasting a Valaire concert tonight on the show.
Italian composer Luciano Berio wrote some of the most "moving and beautiful scores of the post-war period," as his 2003 obituary in The Guardian aptly put it. Among his most famous work is the cycle for solo instruments called the Sequenza, started in 1958 and added to as the years went by.
Tonight you can hear some of the Sequenza, performed by the contemporary music ensemble Transmission. They're six Canadian musicians who play chamber music -- dating from 1908 and beyond. (You can also hear this concert online, at Transmission: Suoni Italiani.)
On a very much related note, if you're interested in Berio and the Sequenza, you may want to check out this interview the NYTimes did with Berio in 1989, Luciano Berio Speaks Of Virtuosos And Strings.
Sofia Gubaidulina is a Russian composer born in the Tatar Republic of the Soviet Union in 1931. She's had a fascinating career, some of which did not go over all that well with the Soviet musical establishment. But she persevered, and her work has been commissioned by performers including Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Mstislav Rostropovich, the Kronos and Arditti Quartets.
Her music is still very much on the minds of performers and presenters -- one recent review of a concert including the composition De Profundis said (of the accordion playing the piece), "It positively breathed. . . and gasped, spluttered, whistled and wheezed. It sounded like an animal caught in wild weather."
You can hear some of Gubaidulina's music tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.).
Also on the playlist, music from Montreal percussion ensemble Sixtrum teaming up with the saxophone quartet Quasar .
Someone on the radio just used the phrase, "indifference to correctness," which strikes me as a potential way of describing the music of Alvin Curran, a composer famed for integrating all manner of musical contradiction. He works with a vast array of compositional techniques -- improvisation, tonalism, atonalism, minimalism (and maximalism!).
Tonight The Signal (10 p.m.) plays an excerpt from Curran's cycle of music called Inner Cities, featuring pianist Eve Egoyan. The Live Music Report reviewed this concert, concluding by saying: "Eve Egoyan's focused desire to serve all of the music was compelling. She seemed the ideal interpreter."
As for the composition itself, the inner cities in Curran's mind are:
Halifax-based musician Jerry Granelli will forever be connected to Peanuts, as in the soundtracks to the TV specials, and there's nothing wrong with that. But he's been much, much more than Charlie Brown's drummer. As PopMatters said about one of his most recent projects, Granelli's "kind of an underground legend in the jazz and psychedelic music world."
Tonight The Signal (10 p.m.) is broadcasting music from that project, Granelli's V16 Project, recorded live at the 2007 Atlantic Jazz Festival. Billed as "16 cylinders of raw improvisational power," the band takes its name from a rare 1930 Cadillac. Granelli is joined by his son, J. Anthony Granelli on bass, and Christian Koegel and David Tronzo on guitars.
George Crumb (Grammy AND Pulitzer prize winning George Crumb) has written some intensely beautiful music, and one of his best known works, Black Angels: Thirteen Images From The Dark Land, , is being broadcast tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), performed by the Tokai String Quartet. The piece has had tremendous resonance, particularly when it was first performed. As the magazine New Music Connoisseur put it:
"1970 was a tough year for America. Memory of the recent assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, as well as the immolations of American black inner city neighborhoods hovered darkly, acridly, in the air. It was, above all else, the ongoing nightmare of Vietnam that engulfed the national consciousness, casting a huge shadow over virtually all human intercourse.
It was into this lurid zeitgeist that George Crumb's amplified string quartet Black Angels was premiered. The music crystallized the composer's uncanny ability to project ferocity and the beatific in the same voice. New music in 1970 was still dominated by emotionally constricted serialism, and Crumb's direct sensuality had an explosive effect. Black Angels was an instant classic, and has since been recorded ten times, a remarkable, perhaps unprecedented statistic for contemporary art music."
To accompany this concert Pat is featuring a range of pieces riffing on the spoken word, including Montreal’s D. Kimm, Laurie Anderson, Winnipeg’s Poor Tree, Halifax’s Buck 65, and a work by composer Kelly-Marie Murphy inspired by the poetry of Leonard Cohen.
Just a quick note to say that Pat plays more music from the idiosyncratic cellist/singer Jorane tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.). Jorane is from Charlesbourg, Quebec, and from the age of five she was fascinated by music, first piano then guitar, but eventually settling on cello, or should I say, cello and voice -- sometimes at the same time.
Her unique approach has led to collaborations with the likes of Michael Brook and Daniel Lanois, among others. And tonight you can hear her throughout The Signal, as Pat excerpts a concert recorded live in Montreal.
DJ producer Ghislain Poirier doesn't need recommendations from the likes of the New Yorker, but it probably doesn't hurt him any that Sasha Frere Jones featured him a few months back in a column called Lazer-Guided, saying "You will be hooked, and spend all week (O.K., several minutes) thinking about where this magical music could have come from and how the French Canadians got involved."
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) Pat Carrabré features some of Ghislain Poirier's music from a concert in Ottawa, and also the music of another Montreal musician, cellist and singer-songwriter Jorane. Plus there's a Loot Bag giveaway that features tickets to Calgary’s Sled Island Festival. Good prize, check out the lineup.
Geof Holbrook's composition Glitch is inspired by the electronic music of Aphex Twin and Squarepusher, but performed entirely on acoustic instruments. Great sources of inspiration (although it's not necessarily easy imagining the fierceness of Squarepusher totally translating acoustically).
But you can hear for yourself how it works out, tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), when Glitch is performed by the sax quartet Quasar. Quasar collaborated with Montreal percussion ensemble Sixtrum in this concert, and more music from that collaboration will also be featured, including music by Indonesian/Dutch composer Roderick de Man, a composition called Zest. (And thus a subject heading was born. )
Because I'm listening to Squarepusher as I write (faster and faster) I thought I'd also post a photo (S.Pusher is actually Tom Jenkinson), taken at the John Peel Night of the BBC's Electric Proms a couple of years ago. He's there, lurking on the right.
It continues to be "All Leonard All The Time," what with Cohen's tour and all the ensuing reviews. (I'm very fortunate to have tickets for one of the shows, next week in fact, something I am preparing for by a kind of inverse channeling of The Future. I'm sure the concert won't be murder.)
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear highlights of a concert called The Great Canadian Songbook II that feature the music of Cohen, as performed by Ndidi Onukwulu, Veda Hille and Michel Rivard.
And those who are happily in the "All L.C. All The Time" mode will be interested to note that the much-heralded documentary about Leonard Cohen, If It Be Your Will, will be repeated on Inside The Music on June 14th. [12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m.: locally in Ontario, Quebec, Central, Mountain and Pacific/1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Maritimes/1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Nfld.] And on Radio 1 on Sunday June 15th at 8 p.m.
Vincent Ho is a composer whose work has been played by many of the country's orchestras and ensembles. His work, Fallen Angel, was initially inspired by a chance meeting with American photographer Richard D'Amore and later transformed into a spiritual journey after news of D'Amore's tragic death.
It's a composition that was performed recently during Esprit Orchestra's New Waves Concert Series, and tonight you can hear excerpts from that festival including Fallen Angel on The Signal (10 p.m.).
Clarinetist Lori Freedman has been called a "fearless improvisor" and a "musical revolutionary." John Corigliano also once said that “Lori Freedman is the best thing that ever happened to New Music."
With that buildup you may be curious about what Ms. Freedman has to say about music -- and you can hear some of her thoughts this evening on The Signal (10 p.m.). She'll talk with Laurie Brown about a range of related subject matter, including "finding her unique voice on the clarinet, gender politics, and her work with the contemporary music collective Transmission."
Pat Carrabré is not just the weekend host of The Signal (10 p.m.), he's also a composer and he also teaches music. And, when he has time, he blogs about music as well, at The Signal With Pat Carrabré.
I was interested to read his response to the article about "one man bands" that ran in the NYTimes mag recently, something I read with rapt fascination as well. (Second only, perhaps, to the more recent Sunday magazine article by former-Gawker blogger Emily Gould about the terrible things that lie in wait for those who become compulsive bloggers. I think Pat and I are OK, and if not, we'll form our own support group, and maybe invite Laurie to join too.) I shan't reprise Pat's thoughts, but just suggest that you check it out for yourself.
And now to this evening's edition of The Signal. Tonight, new music composers who have moved in various ways from classical to pop and rock, or the other way around, with music by Alexandre Desilet, Julia Kent, Andrew P. MacDonald and Paul Dolden. The concert feature is a programme of music by Canadian-Argentinean composer alcides lanza, famous or perhaps infamous for marathon concerts and juggling electronic sounds with almost everything.
...no not Doug, but and Bill. Tune in tonight to The Signal (10 p.m.) to hear the "existential cinematic sounds" of Bob And Bill of Montreal.
And the concert feature is violinist Rolf Schulte and pianist James Winn, who perform the work of three three prairie-based composers – Allan Gordon Bell, Diana McIntosh and Michael Matthews.
As always, there's "The Loot Bag," and rumour has it it brings together the Constantines, Feist and Dolly Parton. (So now you know -- why the photo?)
The weekend Signal (10 p.m.) team declares that we'll "need a hankie tonight as Pat plays heart-wrenching highlights from a concert by Julie Doiron," woven throughout the programme.
Maybe she just sings her song, No More over and over? It pretty much sums up the end of a relationship in a pithy way -- No More, No More, No More.
As well as possibly inducing weepiness Pat will also profile one of the country's most notorious cellists, Matt Haimovitz. More and more classical musicians play in atypical classical music venues these days, but he was one of the first -- playing rock clubs, bars and coffee houses across North America.
He got a lot of press for it too. For instance this, from ABC's NIGHTLINE: "When we first discovered Matt Haimovitz, he was preparing to play New York's famed CBGB, an underground rock club that had never featured a classical artist. This was part of the Listening-Room Tour, Matt's effort to bring classical music to venues where people of his generation could listen to classical music in a relaxed setting."
Tim Brady is one of the country's more prolific guitarists and composers. Just one bit of proof -- since 1988 he's put out 14 CDs as both a composer and a performer on Justin Time and on Ambiances Magnétiques. He's also a very interesting musician who provokes equally interesting responses. (I like this line from a review in Hour magazine, "Montreal's Tim Brady is a true mad scientist of guitar sound, placed here on Earth, it seems, to smash the barriers between high and low culture."
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) Laurie Brown presents Brady's spectacular Double Quartet, recorded live in concert in Montreal. As well, intrepid new music reporter Andrew O'Connor (not too many people can make that claim) brings a report from the Victoriaville International Festival Of Musique Actuelle featuring Tim Brady.
One-man bands used to be guys dripping percussion, maybe with a woodwind or harp in mouth. Now, thanks to laptops, samplers, loopers and keyboards the possibilities are vast, far beyond percussion and tambourines affixed to your head. (I'm thinking about Washboard Hank here.)
Tonight The Signal (10 p.m.) features some of the musical and technical chops belonging to solo artists including Laurie Anderson, Squarepusher, Final Fantasy (Owen Pallett), and Martin Tétreault.
This reminds me, there was a feature in the Sunday New York Times magazine just a few weeks ago (quite a bit of it on Owen Pallett). Pallet had some interesting things to say, as did the writer, John Wray. Fer example:
"The boundaries of what I’m doing as Final Fantasy define the whole project: I choose to perform solo, and to write songs in the pop idiom, so neither of those two things are limitations. They’re choices I made.” When I asked whether both those decisions had the same objective — liberation through a kind of radical economy of means — Pallett bobbed his head enthusiastically. “Absolutely. I feel liberated by them every day.”
But tonight The Signal is part of that special broadcast because the winner of the competition will be announced live on the show.
And because the focus of this year's competition is the piano, Laurie will feature a performance from the winning pianist as well as several beautiful contemporary piano selections from brand new CDs by Brigitte Poulin and Christina Petrowska Quilico.
If you are tuning in to hear The Signal (10 p.m.) please take note, it may be joined in progress due to the Montreal International Music Competition this evening (and tomorrow as well).
But whenever you join the programme, this is what host Laurie Brown has in store for you: the minimalist "neurotic sci-folk" of Laura Barrett meets the ethereal, carnival-esque music of the Hylozoists, recorded live-in-concert. Barrett writes sweet oddball songs featuring the kalimba (thumb piano) and The Hylozoists have been known to write soundtracks for imaginary movies, so I'd say they were well-matched.
Think of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells. What image comes to your mind? I'm willing to bet it's an album cover featuring a giant pipe twisting and hulking against a cloud filled sky.
Fortunately there are also positive, musical associations. (Though for me it's more about that wonderfully silly song Oldfield wrote about horses, ("big brown beastie, big brown face, I'd rather be with you than flying through space..."), The Horsey Song.
Calgary pianist Marcel Bergmann was so passionate about Tubular Bells as a teen that he arranged some of it for four-pianos, which you can hear tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), and online, at Concerts On Demand: Tubular Bells.
This simply can't be a coincidence. Just earlier today I was rooting wildly for Iceland in today's Eurovision Final, and lo and behold Pat is playing music from Iceland on tonight's edition of The Signal (10 p.m.)!
He probably won't be playing Iceland's contender, Euroband though. Even so, it'll be worth tuning in, for the premiere of an acoustic Signal session by Icelandic singer/songwriter Mugison.
As for the usual weekend Loot Bag, today's prize is a CD tribute to Montreal’s Snailhouse. But you know what they always say, You Don't Plays The Game, You Don't Takes Your Chances. In other words, tune in. Lots more music on the show tonight too of course, including some from the incomparable Tinariwen.
Lily Frost has a new recording, a tribute to Billie Holiday, which got a nice little review last week in Exclaim.
And tonight you can hear her in concert on The Signal (10 p.m.). I confess I'm not sure if she'll be doing music from the Billie tribute in this concert. I can't believe she won't do that little ear worm, Enchantment. But just in case, here you go!
Some "post-mountain jazz" from Norway is promised tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.). Well, earlier we had "tractor-jazz" (see previous post). However, "post-mountain" is, I suspect, a tad more specific a term. It's a way of trying to describe the reaction to the ambient and landscape-inspired jazz produced in Scandinavia in the 1980s. I'm thinking like Jan Garbarek, but certainly there were other artists playing music in that vein, and some in more of what you could call a "new-age" way.
Anyway, pianist/keyboardist Bugge Wesseltoft fuses the technology of electronic and dance music with Scandinavian music, to form what he calls "a new conception of jazz," a.k.a. post-mountain, so listen in, and up.
And a reminder -- tonight the programme is guest hosted by Odario Williams.
P.S. The photo? It's circa 1965, the village of Naerodal (if you squint) on the banks of a river in Norway.
Producer, DJ, actor, rapper, artist and musical philosopher (he really is all that) Odario Williams (you may know him from Grand Analog) is guest-hosting The Signal (10 p.m.) today and tomorrow.
Among other music, he'll be presenting a concert by Berlin-based guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, from a live performance at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Rosenwinkel leads a group that includes some excellent jazz musicians, including Aaron Parks on piano and Mark Turner on tenor saxophone.
Now this is intriguing. The Signal (10 p.m.) is presenting some music from what they describe as "a new musical crime drama." (I don't think it's a terribly exhaustive genre.) Anyway, it's called The Crime Report, and it's from Bob & Bill, a.k.a. Guy Dubuc and Marc Lessard of Montreal. If you go to that link you can watch the "trailer."
Also, John Zorn fans take note! Tonight Laurie is playing tracks from the latest recording by the prolific Zorn, pictured here performing in 2002. I'm guessing this is the Zorn collaboration with Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson? There's a great trio if ever there was one.
Jean Derome, one of the most important figures of the musique actuelle scene, is known for music that's imaginative, sometimes funny, and frequently challenging. The Signal (10 p.m.) likes him, no wonder.
Tonight they broadcast a concert featuring Derome with 11 other musicians, four of whom belong to his core band, the charmingly named Les Dangereux Zhoms. You'll hear some recent arrangements of Derome's work, concluding with a piece that marked the 25th anniversary of the concert's organizer, Traquen'Art.
According to Derome this 45-minute work, scored for all 12 musicians, is "a kind of check-up on the state of things in today's creative musics".
A small bit of additional trivia -- when the event took place it coincided with the release of a book entitled Jean Derome, l'homme musique , published by Varia Editions, in a series of portraits of remarkable contemporary Quebecois artists.
Sunday rolls around again, and while tonight there may be some early birds running about with sparklers, Pat plans to stay inside with The Signal (10 p.m.) and listen to the movies. This week's Soundtrack Sunday feature is music from the soundtrack Bjork composed for Mathew Barney’s epic art film, Drawing Restraint 9.
Pat spotlights Plumb on The Signal (10 p.m.) tonight. It's a new collaboration by improvising musicians Scott Thomson on trombone and Lori Freedman on clarinet. I don't believe she will be playing the piano. And it's a plum coup to win the Loot Bag contest this week too, with a copy of this recording up for grabs.
If you go to that first link you'll find the liner notes to Plumb, which I quite enjoyed reading -- and only after the fact realized they were written by Mark Miller, longtime and excellent Canadian jazz journalist. Here's an excerpt:
"The proof of the music, they all seemed to realize, would be in the playback. That’s where the internal details are; that’s where things get really interesting, where – as Cecil Taylor has been known to say – the stuff is. "
Also on the show this evening, a concert from the Art Of Time Ensemble (pictured here), who seem to be making their life's work the exploration of collaborations between classical and non-classical musicians. This concert is of music inspired by Schumann, and features guests from very different musical genres - Justin Rutledge, Andy Maize, John Southworth and Kyrie Krystmanson. It's also available online, as Concerts On Demand: Art Of Time - Schumann: Source & Inspiration.
There's what the Signalites describe as "a quirky little hoedown tonight" on The Signal (10 p.m.), with a live session from the Sunparlour Players.
Ever wondered where the SP's are from, huh? Huh? Here is the definitive answer -- see the comments at the bottom.
As well as the rambunctious Sunparlours, once of Leamington, Pat will also play music from the incredible and varied musical career of Veda Hille. I've been listening a lot lately to her most recent recording, This Riot Life, and it's good, yes it is. Killer opening track. I see that she describes it as: "Veda and a large gang of brilliant musician friends play ecstatic songs about life, death, and japanese bathhouses."
Something for everyone. Just like the Signal, come to think of it.
According to the niftily named website, Obsolete.com, the Ondes Martenot was the first successful electronic instrument. (Named for its inventor, Maurice Martenot, a cellist and radio telegraphist.)
Jean Laurendeau is one of the best known "ondists," and he here he demonstrates its many charms:
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear the instrument as the voice of a whale in a composition by Michel Gonneville, played by Laurendeau. (The voice of the whale's lover comes from Max Christie's clarinet.) The piece is performed by the New Music Concerts Ensemble at Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, and The Signalites describe it as music that "plumbs the depths of the ocean, communes with nature, and explores the farthest reaches of the creative process."
Now, you could interpret that subject heading in any number of ways. First, that everyone is charging en masse to listen to The Signal (10 p.m.), which may well be true.
Or maybe it is a kind of rallying cry. Although that would work better if there was a comma: Rush On, The Signal!
On the third hand, maybe it means Geddy Lee is putting in an appearance?
If you picked Door #3 you'd be almost right, since Wednesday night on The Signal (10 p.m.), Laurie will indeed be playing some music by the iconic Canadian rock trio, Rush. Not with Mr. Lee singing though, in this case it's some Rush interpretations, from bands like The Bad Plus and The Section Quartet.
And for those of you who have been following the saga of the woman who was obsessed with dish washing, the third and final installment of Lullaby Baxter's musical Garden Cities Of Tomorrow, recorded live at Calgary's One Yellow Rabbit Performance Theatre, will be aired on the show tonight.
Laurie plays some of her favourite spoken word artists tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), including Shane Koyczan and Christian Bok. (btw, you can hear samples of both of their work on their respective websites...strong stuff... )
As well, a musical tribute to the women known as the Hiroshima Maidens. They were 25 young Japanese women who were seriously disfigured at Hiroshima in 1945, and were taken to the U.S. for multiple reconstructive surgeries. That link takes you to CBC archives, with excerpts from radio broadcasts at that time about the women.
But back to the work you'll hear tonight -- it's by composer Robert Een, and was written for a puppet/theatre piece on the Hiroshima Maidens story, and was performed in New York City.
I had no idea until reading this about the back story -- that the band hated performing live, and that vocalist Beth Gibbons was so painfully shy. That certainly makes the ten years between second and third album, (which has just come out, called Third) more understandable.
So interesting, musicians who prefer that the documented (static if you will) representation of their music -- the recording -- is the best way to convey their music. Perfectly legitimate in my view, but it really flies in the face of the many who feel that music is ultimately most meaningful as a live experience shared between performers and audience.
Anyway, tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) Laurie will be playing music from the new CD, as well as recent music from the Canadian band Plants And Animals. (Including a tune that has the perfect response to an axiom I've never really believed: "that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger." The P&A song is called What Doesn't Kill Us Can Only Make Us Stronger... That Is Of Course If It's Not Making Us Weaker. Agreed.)
And speaking of live performance, the feature on tonight's show is part one of a three-part broadcast of Lullaby Baxter's musical Garden Cities of Tomorrow. (The image accompanying this post is from that performance.)
It's said to be a fable about a woman who just adores doing dishes. Clearly that is indeed a fable. (Although it would be even more-so were it about a woman who just adored scrubbing behind toilets.)
The Nuna Icelandic Festival (nuna means "now" in Icelandic) is an eight day arts festival that takes place in Winnipeg, and explores some of the similarities between Iceland and Manitoba. As the festival's website describes it: "Isolated, strange, cold and hermetic, each breeds their own distinct brand of creativity and imagination." I've not spent time in Iceland, but I did live in Manitoba for a while, and I would not disagree. Tonight The Signal (10 p.m.) salutes the festival with music from Mugison, Sigur Ros and Kyrie Kristmanson.
As it is Sunday it's also time for...drumroll...Soundtrack Sunday. Tonight Pat features music from the Oscar-winner Babel, a movie I meant to see but somehow never did, so I can't comment on the music. But this is what Music From The Movies has to say about it. (Calling it both "a musical assault on the senses" and "a real voyage of discovery.")
Sunday night's show also includes some highlights from a recent concert presented by Toronto’s New Music Concerts, including of work by Chris Paul Harman, Juan Trigos, Alice Ho and So Jeong Ahn and Rodney Sharman.
According to the team of The Signal (10 p.m.), weekend edition that is, tonight's show spotlights "electronics, guitars, ballads and improvisation."
Rather a lot of scope there, don't you think? Among the electronics, guitars, ballads and improvisations is Eric Cheneaux’s new CD.
And as always there is the Loot Bag -- free stuff! In this case it's the Ghost Bees CD, which I've heard some of lately. Interesting, in a vaguely Joanna Newsomish way, though a little more, dare I say, fun? Joanna Newsom fans go to town.
"There’s a strong link between music and the visual arts. French Impressionism found its realization in the paintings of Monet and the music of Debussy. American minimalism evolved in the music of Steve Reich and the paintings of Frank Stella. Found objects started showing up in the visual arts around the same time that found sounds or samples insinuated their way into contemporary music."
That's just an excerpt of what Pat Carrabré says on his own blog about the connections between music and vis art -- something he explores tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.).
And, just so you know, there will also be a broadcast of two quite distinctive pianists: Canada's John Farah and Germany's Hauschka -- a concert also available online at Concerts On Demand: John Kameel Farah And Hauschka (the former pictured here).
One of the pieces performed during the Esprit Orchestra's 25th anniversary was the world premiere of Chris Paul Harman's14 Chorale Melodies. When it was performed live, a review in the Globe lamented that it was not possible to hear the piece again. But lo, it is possible, tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), and also online, by going to Freedman, Schafer, Schnittke, Harman, Gougeon.
The work itself is based on J.S. Bach's 69 Chorale Melodies.
Also on the show tonight, and also from Esprit Orchestra, you can hear a performance of Alfred Schnittke'sConcerto For Piano And String Orchestra.
Let me count the ways. The Signal (10 p.m.) counts a few of them tonight, as Laurie takes a look at how keyboards, turntables, digital effects, and laptops have changed how music is made. A fascinating and vast subject, which Laurie illustrates with music from Tim Hecker and Laurie Anderson, among others.
Tonight you can also hear a concert from the popular Caribou (a.k.a. Dan Snaith), featuring a recent performance by the DJ, re-mixer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist (and mathematician!).
In a related note...if you have a particular interest in this subject you probably already know about McGill's Music Technology programme, but if you haven't come across it you might want to check it out -- they're into "the study and development of new and flexible strategies for sound analysis, processing, synthesis and control, melodic pattern recognition, auditory display, symbolic manipulation of formal music representations, as well as the psychoacoustics of musical sounds and structures."
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) the Attar Project: violinist Parmela Attariwala and tabla player Shawn Mativetsky, who combine contemporary composition (and classical virtuosity) with traditional Indian rhythms.
You may be wondering what that actually might be like, and you could do worse than the description from the Attar Project's Myspace site..."virtuoso violin (sometimes dancing) meets Benares gharana tabla meets country fiddle meets contemporary Western composition meets improvisation meets contemporary bharata-natyam choreography."
It's a project that's been evolving since 1995 -- collaborators have included tabla player Ravi Naimpally (of TASA) and ghazal singer Kiran Ahluwalia.
As Attariwala puts it, she uses the Attar Project name to describe music that "seeks intersections between seemingly disparate musical genres."
Richard Marsella (a.k.a. Friendly Rich) is a musician, and also the Ontario Regional Director of the Canadian Music Centre, Canada's premiere organization devoted to new music composition.
So it won't come as any surprise that his interests in music education might fall under that handy dandy term "alternative" (sometimes used much the same way "avant garde" once was, a signifier indicating more about what it is not about than what it is). Anyway, his alternative music education programme is called The Parade of Noises and it sounds like a lot of fun. Really, he should run it for adults too, we'd all go.
But in its incarnation for kids he brings together around 700 school children to build their own instruments, write their own music, and parade their joyful cacophony through the streets of Brampton, Ont.
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear Laurie's interview with Friendly Rich, and it will be up soon on CBC's Music Monday website in its full glory at some point soon too.
Also on tonight's show, The Signal's Music Monday edition, excerpts from Elijah’s Kite, an original opera about the problem of bullying. It's by Canadian composer James Rolfe, with libretto by Camyar Chai. Bonus -- Madonna Hamel’s documentary about the creation of this opera will be broadcast as well.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on May 4, 2008 at 08:40 PM
The Signal with Pat Carrabré gets a head start on Music Monday this Sunday night. Pat spins music by, for and about children. You’ll hear the Gryphon Trio, Kara Keith and Laura Barret.
Pat's also got Oliver Knussen’s opera based on the Maurice Sendak classic, Where the Wild Things Are. The fantastical 1960's book is about to get a film adaptation by director Spike Jonze for release in 2009. I'll admit I have mixed feelings about this. Hollywood seems unable to let good books remain good books, preferring to milk the collective childhood memories of the baby boomers and re-make, re-model and re-market them - shiny and new-ish - to the next generations. Prepare for licenced Wild Thing products to hit store shelves everywhere, and prepare to become bored (6 months later) with Sendak's marvellous characters and images which will undoubtedly be emblazoned on everything from plastic crowns to underwear. Sigh.
The concert segment tonight features musical protégées, as Montreal composer Michel Gonneville showcases some of his exceptional students in a Toronto performance.
By the way, Pat keeps his own blog for The Signal: visit to see his post about Music Monday.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on May 4, 2008 at 05:25 AM
In co-operation with the Coalition for Music Education in Canada, the nation-wide celebration of music-making and music education begins today on CBC Radio 2.
You'll hear special programming today starting with Choral Concert, and including contributions from In the Key of Charles and The Signal - all of whom plan to feature music by, for and about children.
Here's the schedule, including tomorrow's programming highlights, as well.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on May 3, 2008 at 09:20 PM
This evening Pat Carrabré slips the new CD from rock'n'roll cellist Matt Haimovitz, “Vinyl Cello” into high rotation, playing five tracks from this former child prodigy (and now Canadian resident).
In concert, it's great improv from the Ottawa Jazz Collective with work from Yves Martel, Petr Cancura, Michael Fahie and Mike Essoudry.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on May 2, 2008 at 07:13 PM
Polish up your dancing shoes because tonight on The Signal, Pat takes a look at the roller coaster ride that is the career of electronic music producer, social commentator and vegan activist - Moby.
As someone with a few Moby CDs in my own collection, I can attest to the fact that the quality of Moby's output is unpredictable. His famous collaborations with superstars including David Bowie, Lou Reed and Michael Stipe have ranged from fabulous to ho-hum, but Moby remains an artist whose work is highly anticipated and appreciated with rabid fervour by his many dedicated fans.
Also, In concert from Vancouver’s GUITARS! GUITARS! Festival, an epic piece by Nicolas Bragg-The Burial of Count Orgaz: 2 guitars, loops and enough effects pedals to sink a small tugboat.
And finally, Pat peels the wrapping off a few fresh CDs and spins some “Sad Ocean Space Bear”, Animal Collective, Baby Dee, Destroyer and more.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on May 1, 2008 at 08:07 PM
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra celebrates the keyboard as part of the New Creations Festival tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown. Anthony Newman shines in the Harpsichord Concerto by minimalist master Philip Glass.
Then, Jean Laurendeau takes you deep into the complex musical world of Olivier Messiaen, performing on the rare and fascinating electronic keyboard, the Ondes Martenot. Also from this concert, The Gryphon Trio playing Equilateral by Canadian composer Jeffrey Ryan.
I have a very tenuous connection to the music of Messiaen, a "six degrees of separation" that actually involves the Gryphon Trio. A couple of years ago, a friend directed me to a study taking place at the University of Waterloo under the direction of Daniel Smilek. Smilek was studying syneasthesia - the condition that prompts some people to blur sensory perceptions so that they "taste" sound, or "see" music.
I have a very mild from of what might be called "proto-syneasthesia", whereby I associate colours with numerical values. All the women in my family seem to have it. Through my discussions with Smilek's team and with Sean Day, director of the American Synesthesia Association, I was invited to talk to Roman Borys of the Gryphon Trio. Borys was preparing a show of Messiaen's music (to debut in June 2008), and with the knowledge of Messiaen's own music-colour syneasthesia in mind, Borys was looking to interview anyone who might be able to help create the multi-media component of the show.
Sadly, I didn't have much to offer. I don't see dancing colours in front of my field of vision when I hear music. However, I became preoccupied with the amazing numbers of composers who were and are syneasthetes, and have a new appreciation for the work they create (the list includes Nikolai Rimsky-Korsikov, Duke Elligton and Franz Liszt).
To bring this all back to tonight's keyboard celebration, you may want to have a look at the Lumigraph: a "colour organ" keyboard that was designed by Oskar Fischinger to project colours as the notes were played.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on April 30, 2008 at 08:42 PM
Edgar Meyer is an immensely talented bassist and a versatile composer who works the ground between classical music and American folk. When the Tennessee-based composer decides to write a violin concerto, there are bound to be shades of bluegrass and country fiddling in it.
Tonight on The Signal, hear violinist Mark Fewer team up with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra to play Edgar Meyer's Violin Concerto in Two Movements.
NOTE:: The Signal with Laurie Brown will be heard tonight at10:30 (11 NT), right after the Choral Competition special on CBC Radio Two.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on April 30, 2008 at 09:05 AM
Here are 2 things you need to know for an optimal day of listening today:
1 - The two special edition Canada Live Podcasts recorded at the Junos and hosted by Jian Ghomeshi are only available for a limited time. If you'd like to give them a listen, you'd better download them soon: they'll only be available until the end of the day Friday May 2nd Monday 2 June. The shows feature music from Joel Plaskett, Jeremy Fisher, Serena Ryder, Alex Cuba, Tegan Quin, Jay Malinowski and Corb Lund.
2 - Our broadcast schedule will be adjusted again this evening for the special live-to-air edition of Canada Live from the Choral 2008 Finals. As a result, Tonic will run for one hour between 6:00 and 7:00 (you know the deal for NL). The Choral 2008 special begins at 7:00 (7:30 NL) and runs roughly 3 1/2 hours... which also means a late start for The Signal.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on April 29, 2008 at 08:46 PM
Dan Snaith (a.k.a. Caribou) began recording music in rural Dundas Ontario when he was only 14 years old, but it wasn’t until the release of his debut album Start Breaking My Heart – then under the artist name Manitoba - that anyone noticed.
His debut was praised worldwide as a uniquely organic-sounding electronic release, and subsequent albums continued to impress and confound. After a bizarre lawsuit over the rights to the name Manitoba, Snaith changed his stage name to Caribou.
His stage persona has changed too - he's moved from being primarily an electronic performer and DJ to performing swirling electro-acoustic psychedelic bubblegum pop with a four-piece band. The music ranges from crystalline sweetness to pure fuzzed-out rock barrages, and songs on the latest album, Andorra, have been compared to the compositions of Brian Wilson for the Beach Boys.
If that's not enough, Snaith also has his Ph.D. in mathematics.
Tonight's concert on The Signal was recorded at the cavernous and storied Lee's Palace in Toronto in March. Shortly after this show, the band lost the capable skills of drummer Brad Weber when he fell from a ladder and fractured his wrist in two places. We at CBC Radio 2 wish Brad a speedy recovery.
To set the tone: at live shows the audience is treated to the mesmerizing sound of Caribou and the images projected behind the band as they hammer away at Dan’s compositions. For photos (and to listen to this concert any time), the concert is also available as a Concert on Demand.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on April 28, 2008 at 08:34 PM
According to Canadian composer Christos Hatzis, at any rate.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, you'll hear Odd World, the third movement of his magnificent Juno Award-winning theatrical masterpiece Constantinople. Odd World gets its name from both its eclectic musical content - including nods to Celtic fiddling, the music of Igor Stravinsky and more - and its peculiar rhythmic structure, which keeps you counting.
For a preview, here's a trailer.
Innovation and novelty (dare I say oddness) continues late into the night with the strange sounds of creative jazz group Heernt, plus mouth music from vocalist Theo Bleckmann and guitarist Ben Monder, as they approximate the sounds of all sorts of flying insects in a piece called Swarm.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on April 27, 2008 at 08:51 PM
Tonight on The Signal Pat Carrabre brings us the third concert of Esprit Orchestra's 2007-2008 season featuring the World Premiere of Douglas Schmidt's A-Fair.
Creative Sparks is the sub-title of this concert and refers to a new program of exchange between the Esprit Orchestra and the Royal Academy of Music in London. English composer Philip Cashian, head of composition at that school, was at the concert to hear the Canadian premiere of his work Tableuax.
Later, Pat will share a few prime cuts from the International Rostrum of Composers; this week from Austria, Germany and Italy. Also on the bill of fare, fireworks from Veda Hille, Andrew Bird and Son Lux.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on April 25, 2008 at 09:21 AM
There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes here at the R2 blog. In some ways, the page you're reading now is just the tip of an information iceberg.
Many questions get asked, and I endeavor to answer them as best I can via emails to listeners. Sometimes show producers help me out, and sometimes listeners come through with answers to questions posed on air or as comments on this blog. For your edification, here are a couple of answers to recent questions.
Question 1 comes from a recent listener comment to this blog: "Can anyone tell me the full name of the theme song to the intro music to The Signal?"
Answer: The music is in fact a collage, made up of excerpts from a number of pieces. In the words of CBC Music Producer Sarah Michaelson "I suppose you could call it a 'mash up' of sorts... it consists of Bjork, Morgan Doctor, Lemon Jelly, Kronos Quartet, Psapp...these songs have been combined to represent the range of music listeners hear on the program."
Question 2 was raised by Gregory Charles, who wondered aloud on air (on In the Key of Charles, natch) where a person might find a recording of 'Lavender's Blue'.
Answer (from many listeners): Lavender's Blue has been recorded numerous times, perhaps most famously by Burl Ives. Here's Burl singing the song in his melodious and playful baritone.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on April 24, 2008 at 08:44 PM
On the final night of Schafer Week on The Signal, you'll hear a concert performance of R. Murray Schafer's Scorpius by the Esprit Orchestra, recorded live at the Jane Mallett Theatre in Toronto.
In part four of Eitan Cornfield's documentary, Schafer discusses the challenge of creating large scale works that blur the lines between theatre, music, and the traditional separation of audience and musicians.
You'll also hear several selections from his immense and ambitious Patria cycle, including 'Ra', 'And Wolf Shall Inherit The Moon' and 'The Crown of Ariadne'. What a grand finale indeed for a monumental week of music.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on April 23, 2008 at 09:17 PM
Yesterday on this blog, I mentioned R. Murray Schafer's monumental work, Patria. To say that tonight's featured work is "big" is an understatement, of, well, Patria proportions.
Tonight, The Signal continues to celebrate the music of R. Murray Schafer by unleashing the power of 500 voices in a recording of the Credo from Schafer's massive work Apocalypsis.
You'll hear Robert Sund conducting and ensemble of twelve (yes, twelve!) choirs in a live performance, recorded at Massey Hall in Toronto. You'll also hear part three of Eitan Cornfield's documentary, where Schafer explains the beauty of communal ritual and the experience of music in the natural environment.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on April 23, 2008 at 10:47 AM
Just a little reminder: it's R. Murray Schafer week on CBC Radio 2's The Signal, and to help celebrate we've compiled a list of Schafer pieces available at Concerts on Demand. If (like me) you're not a "night person", this is a great way to catch all the concerts that are being aired on The Signal between 11p.m. and 1a.m. (11:30 and 1:30 NL) all week long.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on April 22, 2008 at 09:45 PM
It's Earth Day on The Signal (and everywhere else). How better to celebrate than with the music of R. Murray Schafer, the composer who created his monumental work Patria specifically to be performed in situ in a Canadian forest?
In part two of Eitan Cornfield's documentary, R. Murray Schafer discusses the challenges of how music was taught when he was a student, and how he developed his approach to teaching what he calls "creative hearing." You'll hear his famous piece 'Epitaph for Moonlight' and explore his involvement with other composers such as Barry Truax in the World Soundscape Project. The concert feature is a performance of Schafer's 'String Quartet #3', recorded live by the Quatuor Molinari in Montreal as part of their 'Shafer @ 75' concert.
What's more, there will be music from other environmentally "tuned" composers including Hildegard Westerkamp, Vitamins For you, Fred Frith, and John Cage.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on April 21, 2008 at 08:45 PM
All this week, The Signal is celebrating renowned Canadian composer, writer, educator and musical philosopher R. Murray Schafer. You'll hear plenty of Schafer's music tonight, including highlights from concerts across the country given in honour of Schafer's 75th birthday.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, part one of Eitan Cornfield's documentary from the Canadian Composers Portraits Series on the life and career of R. Murray Schafer. You'll hear Schafer discussing the nature of "authentic" artistic experience and the creative process in all its forms.
Tonight's Signal will also present several of Schafer's works, including the early works In Memoriam Alberto Guerrero and his Concerto for harpsichord and winds. Just a thought: I've learned Schafer's expansive wit looms large in his compositions, and something he calls a "concerto" may be something quite different, indeed, from what you'd expect.
Finally, to round things out, the concert feature is a recording of Schafer's 'Cortege' as performed by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra at the 2008 Winnipeg New Music Festival.
Posted by Li Robbins on April 20, 2008 at 08:30 PM
All this week on The Signal (10 p.m.), the work of R. Murray Schafer, the renowned Canadian composer, writer, educator, and musical philosopher.
His work has been praised by many, including Yehudi Menuhin, who once said that Schafer's "strong, benevolent, and highly original imagination and intellect" was "a dynamic power whose manifold personal expressions and aspirations are in total accord with the urgent needs and dreams of humanity today."
Tonight Pat begins the Schafer special with a concert performance of the mischievously named composition, No Longer Than Ten Minutes. (There's an entertaining post about this work at Soho The Dog that you might want to read -- it includes some of Mr. Schafer's own words about the composition.)
Throughout the course of the week you’ll hear a documentary profile of Mr. Schafer, plus concert recordings of his works and excerpts from interviews.
Please continue reading for details of all of the broadcasts.
Posted by Li Robbins on April 19, 2008 at 02:59 AM
Here's what's up Saturday night on The Signal (10 p.m.) --- Pat spins the new Woodhands recording, and then offers up some copies of the CD as part of the weekly Loot-Bag giveaway.
I'm glad it's a good prize. Just the other week I bought some cracker jack (I was taking myself out to the ball-game), first time in years (the cracker jack, that is, go to ball-games all the time). Much to my dismay, not only were there hardly any peanuts, the prize was an incredibly lame joke on a sticker that had no adhesive! Another tradition dishonoured. But not on The Signal, Pat only gives away good stuff.
And when he's not giving away good stuff, he's playing it -- tune in for a concert as well tonight with Vancouver’s Fond Of Tigers, (pictured here) and some sounds from Montreal’s Inuit spoken-word artist Taqralik Partridge.
Posted by Li Robbins on April 18, 2008 at 09:37 PM
You can hear the premier of a new piece performed by pianist Marilyn Lerner in concert with Halifax’s Upstream Ensemble this evening on The Signal (10 p.m.).
Also, Pat explores the musical career one of the most eclectic (and written about) composers today - Osvaldo Golijov.
Fans of the weekend Signal and of Pat Carrabré will also be interested to know, if you don't already, that Pat has both a Signal Blog and his own Myspace site, T Patrick Carrabré -- at the latter you can hear some of his music.
But the weekend edition of the show has a MySpace site too -- The Signal With Pat Carrabré Myspace. So go forth and enjoy all things weekend Signal...but don't forget about the radio broadcast -- particularly with both the Lerner premiere and the Golijov feature tonight...
Posted by Li Robbins on April 18, 2008 at 09:18 AM
Here's a heads up about some special programming coming up, beginning Sunday on Radio 2's The Signal (10 p.m.). It's a week-long celebration of the work of renowned Canadian composer, writer, educator, and musical philosopher, R. Murray Schafer.
A large portion of each night's program will be dedicated to Schafer's music, including highlights from concerts across the country performed in honour of Schafer's 75th birthday. You'll also hear interview clips with the composer, as well as Eitan Cornfield's complete documentary from the Canadian Composers Portraits Series, and music from other artists who have been influenced by Schafer's work.
Posted by Li Robbins on April 17, 2008 at 08:00 PM
Bet that got your attention.
It wasn't entirely a cheap ploy though, since the music of Willie Nelson will indeed be played tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), but re-imagined by what the Signalites describe as the "creatively inebriated sound of Canadian band The Reveries."
Tonight you can also hear a concert that featured the world premiere performance of The Seven Last Words by composer Paul Frehner. It's based on the seven last phrases uttered by Jesus Christ before his death, exploring themes like forgiveness, love, suffering and humanity. (Not unlike, come to think of it, some of the songs of Willie Nelson.) Frehner's work features singer Michael Maniaci with the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, conducted by Ivars Taurins.
And because you're probably still curious, here's more info on The Revieries-Willie Nelson connection, at Rat Drifting.
Posted by Li Robbins on April 16, 2008 at 03:00 AM
Back to back Signal posts, for you night owls. Wednesday night on The Signal (10 p.m.) a feature piece from Jean Derome and Les Dangereux Zhomes + 7, recorded at La Sala Rossa in Montreal.
It's music that has aspects of rock, jazz, funk (I almost wrote "fun," not funk, and that too is true) folk and a whole swathe of other sounds -- Derome is famed for, as his own website accurately puts it, "mixing together a vast range of elements and re-expressing them in an eclectic language that is completely contemporary."
The concert includes Traquenards, a world premiere piece to mark the 25th anniversary of the concert’s organizer, Traquen’Art. The work was, in Derome’s own words, “a kind of check-up on the state of things in today’s creative musics.”
Posted by Li Robbins on April 15, 2008 at 08:00 PM
Spring Heel Jack shows up in literature, in songs, sometimes as a bad guy, sometimes as a kind of superhero. It's believed (by some, anyway) that he was based on a real life character in Victorian England, a guy who jumped over walls and onto rooftops, generally while laughing in the faces of those in pursuit.
What, you may be asking, has this to do with music? Spring Heel Jack is also the name of Ashley Wales and John Coxton's band, who play jazz/ambient/electronica. Consequently their music has been covered by sources as diverse as All About Jazz and Pitchfork. And you can hear them tonight when Laurie plays some music from their new recording on The Signal (10 p.m.).
The second part of the show is devoted to more new music premieres recorded live at Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto on Friday. You'll hear the Canadian premiere of works by Juan Trigos and So Jeong Ahn, performed by the New Music Concerts Ensemble under the direction of Robert Aitken. And yes, So Jeong Ahn's piece is the very one previously blogged about in Sounds Of The (Sub)way.
Posted by Li Robbins on April 14, 2008 at 08:26 PM
From the Glenn Gould Studio on The Signal (10 p.m.) tonight -- Postludio a rovescio, the work by Chris Paul Harman that won this year’s Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music. Also, new works from Alice Ho and Rodney Sharman. They’re performed by New Music Concerts, the long running new music organization (founded in 1971 by flutist and composer Robert Aitken and composer Norma Beecroft).
This concert took place on Friday, and also features the work by So Jeong Ahn that I wrote about last week in a post called Sounds Of The (Sub)way, a piece that got quite a bit of media attention in my hometown, called Sub, using samples from the Toronto underground. That piece can also be heard on The Signal this week -- it's scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday now, not Thursday as previously advertised.
Note: Also on tonight's programme: music from the Canadian duo Ghost Bees, from their brand new CD Tasseomancy. You know, tasseomancy, originating in the Middle Ages and stemming from ceroscopy and molybdomancy? No? See if your local library has The Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology, Fifth Edition, Vol. 2 edited by J. Gordon Melton, for more info.
Posted by Li Robbins on April 13, 2008 at 09:00 PM
Tonight is the final night of The Signal’s East Coast weekend. They'll be broadcasting a concert with the eclectic violinist Mark Fewer and the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, performing Edgar Meyer’s Violin Concerto. Also, some skronk from the Benghazi Saxophone Quartet (plus brand new music from Live Animal).
It is possible you are scratching your head and saying skronk? Say what? If so, fear not, you are in plenty of equally unsure company. In terms of music it's a not widely used way of describing a sound that's well, skronky. It's a term some attribute to music critic Robert Christgau.
Of course it means other things as well, as Skronker will tell you.
Posted by Li Robbins on April 12, 2008 at 08:00 PM
The Signal (10 p.m.) is featuring music from the east coast this weekend, with a recording of Buck 65 performing live, 24 frames a second, at the Atlantic Film Festival. Also, the weekend Signal Loot Bag tradition continues with an "East Coast gift bag" give-away. I hear it has lobster paté and scenic drives. You have to play to win though, and you have to listen to play. (Boy, did that ever sound like a cheesy slogan, but hopefully you know what I mean.)
Posted by Li Robbins on April 11, 2008 at 02:30 PM
Many of us are tuned in to the sound of our city or town or bucolic setting -- the rhythms and melodies you hear in nature and in things man made. That's part of why I find the Sea Organ (an organ using the action of sea waves to create sound) so appealing, and also why I'd like to mention a new composition that's premiering tonight at the Glenn Gould Studio called Sub, as part of a concert featuring a number of Canadian composers, presented by New Music Concerts.
It's by So Jeong Ahn, and while it isn't environmental art, the way the Sea Organ is, it is another variant on the theme. In this case it's music inspired by the sounds of the subway -- and includes samples of things like the squeak of escalator, subway door chimes, the wind around the station door, as well as more conventional instrumentation.
The composer told cbc.ca news that to her the subway is "a kind of jewelry box that contains a variety of sounds." She also describes her piece as "the music of communications between the Toronto subway and my own musical language." Love it. (Timely too, given the possibilities of a transit strike in Toronto, but that is mere coincidence). You can hear this composition yourself next week on The Signal (10 p.m.) -- it's scheduled for broadcast on Thursday.
If you're wondering what's happening on The Signal (10 p.m.) a little sooner though, tonight there is a concert broadcast with Halifax singer Jill Barber and Symphony Nova Scotia.
Posted by Li Robbins on April 10, 2008 at 09:00 PM
Quatuor Molinari (who say that their mandate is to "perform works from the 20th and 21st centuries repertoire for string quartet, to commission new works and to initiate discussions between musicians, artists and the public") can be heard this evening on The Signal (10 p.m.), playing the music of the great Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu.
Laurie will also present a performance of Alfred Schnittke'sString Quartet Number 2 this evening, a work that's based on an ancient Russian sacred song -- this performance was recorded at McGill University in Montreal.
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) Laurie Brown has highlights from a Montreal concert that featured works by Canadian composer Claude Vivier. Vivier’s works explore everything from the expanse of the cosmos to personal mysticism and the ritual of the Catholic mass. As you may know, his life ended in a most shocking way, back in 1983 -- he was murdered, and the circumstances of his death were mirrored in a composition he was working on at the time.
But the tragic end of his life aside, it is his music that is remembered to this day. It's present enough in people's minds that recently R2 presented a documentary about Vivier, called In Search Of Claude Vivier, and just back in March a concert devoted to Vivier was presented online -- by the contemporary music group, Psappha. If you are interested in Vivier's work, you may want to read this article in The Guardian about the "pioneering online concert" of Viver's work -- Soul's Rebirth. You can also view the performance at Lancaster International Concerts.
Everyone has favourite ways to procrastinate. For me, as well as moodily standing in front of the cookie cupboard wondering why it's so difficult to get really good chocolate-covered digestive biscuits, there's reading certain music blogs, there's reading certain non-music blogs, and then there's reading the life/style/lightweight section of any newspaper at hand, generally while enjoying whatever second-rate cookies are available.
The other day, indulging in the latter pastime with the Globe's Life section, I flipped the page to one of my favourite non-essential columns, where some well-known Canadian talks about their exercise regime, and then a sports expert proceeds to tell them why they need more carbs, or warns them that their knees are going to give out if they keep on like that.
This week's column had a photo featuring a herd of marathon runners, and right in the centre of the pack was a familiar face -- Laurie Brown, host of The Signal (10 p.m.)!
Yes, Laurie Brown is out of the closet as being one of JeansMarines! I'm impressed.
Tonight, (in between rock climbing and downward dogs), Laurie will present a concert from new music trio Toca Loca. They asked composers to create new works incorporating contemporary culture, and the results are Nicole Lizee's piece Promises, Promises, which was inspired by the styles of synth-punk, post-punk, and new wave music. There's also Andrew Staniland's musical commentary on overseas manufacturing, Made In China, and Quinsin Nachoff's pop and jazz-influenced dedication to the group, aptly titled Toca Loca.
Jean Derome'sSeven Dances for Nine Musicians is one of the featured pieces tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.). It has everything from march music to references to the Peter Gunn theme, to quotes from the jazz standard Round Midnight.
As well as music from Montrealer Derome, you can also hear virtuoso guitar tapping from Montrealer Erik Mongrain. Yes, guitar tapping. It involves "left-hand rhythm patterns with percussive harmonic parts played with the right hand," as Mongrain says on his website -- where you can also get tutorials on the technique -- and videos, which he doesn't want to see on YouTube, so out of respect for that I'm not even going to look to see if they are there. However, I urge you to go to Airtap to watch him using this technique -- it's quite captivating.
Brem is palm or rice brandy in Balinese. Should you have some in your collection of indigenous alcohols from around the world (I know some people are fond of collecting bottles as they travel the way others collect international stamps), you may want to dust it off and pour yourself a glass to accompany tonight's concert on The Signal (10 p.m.). Of course if you are a connoisseur there will be no dusting involved.
Regardless, the concert includes music by Colin McPhee, Alexina Louie, Marcel Bergman and others, music inspired by the distinctive musical traditions of Bali, gamelan and more. Very nice on a Sunday evening. Or any evening, for that matter. And you can hear it any evening, for that matter, (at least with some of this music), at Concerts On Demand: Ancient Cultures -- New Sounds.
Art of Time Ensemble, led by pianist Andrew Burashko, takes an adventurous approach to classical music. Burashko is unabashed in saying that collaborating with musicians better known outside the classical world is one of the ways classical music can refresh itself, stay relevant and draw in new and younger audiences. In other words, all of the things that most classical music organizations are eager to do.
Tonight you can hear one outcome of this attitude as The Signal (10 p.m.) presents the Art of Time performing mostly Canadian songs, with new arrangements by the likes of Aaron Davis, Phil Dwyer, Roberto Occhipinti and Gavin Bryars. Sarah Slean does the singing, and songs are by by Mary-Margaret O'Hara, Ron Sexsmith, Hawksley Workman, Feist, Leonard Cohen and others.
The Kronos Quartet have made something of a one-band industry of interesting collaborations, including one of my favs, with Asha Bhosle, who is performing in Canada tonight. (OK, casting modesty aside here's my article on Asha in yesterday's Globe, 13,000 Songs And Still Going Strong.) But tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear Pat thoroughly explore Kronos' many collaborations, in the regular Vertical Tasting series.
Also on tonight's show, Buck 65’s soundtrack work for a trucker documentary, music from Halifax drummer Jerry Granelli, Chicago’s Sea and Cake, Iceland’s Amina and Montreal’s Vitamins for You.
The Signal cognoscenti describe some of the music you'll hear tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) as "new and perplexing music," and it comes from Montreal guitarist and creative composer Bernard Falaise. Here's what they mean by "perplexing."
"Falaise blends elements of jazz, chamber music, noise, and free improvisation into something unlike anything you've heard before."
And if you want it from another source, here's an excerpt from a review by David Dacks, writing for Exclaim:
"Falaise name checks Anthony Braxton, Captain Beefheart, Igor Stravinsky and Robert Wyatt as influences, so you know there’s never a straight path between two points. Sometimes the writing is a little tight assed, with strangled, carnival-esque riffing from the horns and trombone redeemed only by drummer Jean Martin’s powerful groove in Tricheur. There’s a Zappa influence at work as well, with a knack for snaky, highly orchestrated melodies and sudden shifts into loopy solos evident especially in Falaise’s guitar work."
Perplexing, you might say. On the other hand, also intriguing.
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), proper acknowledgment of things small. (Coming from a long line of short people, this has special resonance.) This celebration of it's a small small world includes music from the Swedish alternative group The Tiny, a selection of Little Things from Norway's Hanne Hukkelberg, and some Micro Melodies from California's The Album Leaf, among other music.
It would be a sad joke to say that Dave Bidini is guest hosting The Signal (10 p.m.) tonight, as was announced and anticipated, since unfortunately Dave is under the weather and can't make it this week after all. (I'm sure there will be a rain-check.)
Besides, I've always hated April Fool's jokes, they're kind of the verbal equivalent of pulling a chair out from beneath someone who is just about to sit down. Ha ha. So funny.
So tonight it's an "encore performance" of The Signal (10 p.m.), as Laurie is busy hosting Radio 1's Q this week. It's a holiday-appropriate "encore" though, since you can hear Laurie pondering an old April Fool's Day edict, apparently created by disgruntled school teachers, prohibiting pranks after twelve noon. (I vaguely remember this from school days, the relief when it was officially over, the dismay when people ignored the edict and pulled chairs out anyway.) Don't know what Laurie's take on the whole thing is though, but you can tune in and find out.
Musically speaking there will be some "night-themed music" from Japancakes and Jillian Lebeck, and creative jazz pianist Vijay Iyer teams up with spoken word artist Mike Ladd to examine the world of 24-hour news channels with the album Still Life With Commentator.
Posted by Li Robbins on March 31, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Just a quick note to say that this afternoon Laurie Brown is guest hosting for Jian Ghomeshi at R1's "Q," the arts and entertainment afternoon show.
Now, you may have heard that hockey playing, Rheostatics playing, book writing guy Dave Bidini would be sitting in sitting in for Laurie on The Signal (10 p.m.) tonight, but due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, he can't make it tonight, but should be in the guest host chair the rest of the week.
Posted by Li Robbins on March 30, 2008 at 09:10 PM
There was much buzz about the WSO New Music Festival, and taking part in that buzz was weekend Signal host Pat Carrabré, who was on stage hosting for some of the event. Tonight on the show he plays some highlights from this year's festival, including music from Nicole Lizée, Glenn Buhr, Jesse Zubot and others.
And if it's Sunday there must be Soundtracks -- thus the new tradition, (if a tradition can said to be new) on The Signal (10 p.m.) called Soundtrack Sunday. Tonight Pat plays some music from the Coen Brothers’ O Brother Where Art Thou, some Final Fantasy and music by Michael Nyman. Now Pat, you wouldn't play the track from O Brother with those little girls singing, would you? No, you wouldn't. Phew.
Posted by Li Robbins on March 29, 2008 at 09:11 PM
There are some band/artist names that for some reason stick in your mind (or at least my mind). Names I'm fond of thinking about, from time to time, like Sheep Look Up, for example, or The Bad Plus, or Prince Nifty. You can't hear the first two tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), but you can hear the latest from third, when Pat samples new music from Toronto based performance/sound artist Prince Nifty. Dunno why I like the name, I just do. Maybe because it's kind of nifty.
Also on the show tonight, a concert performance by one of LA’s top improvisers; trombonist Michael Vlatkovich, with Toronto's own talented improvising saxophonist David Mott.
Posted by Li Robbins on March 28, 2008 at 09:00 PM
I can't think of another musician who has polarized audiences in recent years in exactly the way Joanna Newsom has. People don't seem to 'kind of like' Newsom, or think, 'ho hum, I can take her or leave her.' No, it's more of a love or hate thing. Why? Because of her highly unusual voice, and her highly unusual long, multi-verse story songs.
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), Pat explores some of her music...and presumably weighs in on the Newsom divide.
Also on tonight's show, a mostly acoustic concert from Malajube.
Posted by Li Robbins on March 27, 2008 at 08:58 PM
This is quite interesting -- music by Brian Harnetty based on traditional field recordings from Appalachia. He's taken old radio programs and oral history recordings (with that distinctive Appalachian dialect) and created new music -- some of which you can hear tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) You can hear some samples on his website as well, if you're curious.
Also on the show tonight, some beautiful music performed on the kora (the West African harp-like instrument) performed by Toumani Diabaté, the world's best known kora player, from his brand new album The Mandé Variations. I've been listening to that album, and in an odd way it reminds me of some minimalist music. Odd because it is certainly not minimalist, but the shifts are subtle and significant in a way that made me draw that comparison. Anyway, if you're not familiar with Diabaté, do check it out, when it's signaled later tonight.
Posted by Li Robbins on March 26, 2008 at 09:00 PM
Montreal percussion ensemble Sixtrum teams up with the saxophone quartet Quasar tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), in a programme recorded at the University of Montreal. The concert features Geof Holbrook's composition Glitch, inspired by the electronic music of Aphex Twin and Squarepusher, but performed entirely with acoustic instruments. Plus a very lively and percussive work from Indonesian/Dutch composer Roderick de Man, aptly titled Zest.
Posted by Li Robbins on March 25, 2008 at 08:48 PM
Jean Derome and his group, Les Dangereux Zhoms perform 5 Reflections On Hard Rubber (5 Pensees Pour Le Caoutchouc Dur) tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.). The Signal team describes the concert as "swinging from wild chaos to longing wails, to the snappy march of madness." (Try stepping in 2/4 to that!)
And in case you missed this the last time I mentioned it, Derome is the subject of a recent book, Jean Derome, l'homme musique, published by Varia Editions, as part of a series of portraits of remarkable contemporary Quebecois artists.
Posted by Peter Cook on March 24, 2008 at 09:01 PM
The term 'multi-talented' seems a bit of an understatement when talking about Danny Oore. Danny is a pianist, writer, film maker, juggler, painter and computer animator. And he happens to be a world-class saxophonist, as well. So, seeing as juggling and painting don't show up too well on the radio, Laurie Brown will feature a live concert from Danny Oore on sax, with Dan Weiss on drums, Matt Brubeck on 'cello and Christian Koegel on the guitar, at the Atlantic Jazz Festival in Halifax.
10:00 PM (10:30 NT) on The Signal. Complete Playlist.
Posted by Peter Cook on March 23, 2008 at 09:39 PM
Tonight on The Signal (10:00 pm, 10:30 NT) Pat Carrabré will ease your chocolate hangover with spring and Easter flavoured music from Veda Hille, Ivan Moody, Christos Hatzis and Lily Frost. Soundtrack Sundays will feature a few pieces from Martin Scorsese’s “The Last Temptation of Christ”.
Tonight’s concert is spicy blend of East and West from the Turning Point Ensemble with the Gamelan Gita Asmara. And in the third hour Pat will dip into music from last year’s International Rostrum of Composers.
Posted by Peter Cook on March 22, 2008 at 08:47 PM
These days - ok, apart from at this time of year - the term "easter egg" is probably more commonly used to refer to the virtual kind. An easter egg is a surprise hidden in a computer program or video game or even a DVD. You press some bizarre keyboard combination or go through some extremely unlikely sequence of steps and suddenly you are presented with a visual or sonic treat.
The Signal's variation on this theme tonight will be a Morrissey CD give away following a skill testing question.
And of course Pat Carrabré spins music to accompany Easter Egg shenanigans with multiple tracks from the new Plants and Animals CD. And there's a basket full of music including Vancouver's Piano, Germany's De-Phazz, One Ring Zero's take on Alice in Wonderland and the freshly recorded Soundstreams concert of Sofia Gubaidulina's stunning "Seven Words".
The playlist reveals a veritable schmorgesborg (I'll be happy to accept spelling corrections on that one!) of Easter-themed titles.
Posted by Peter Cook on March 21, 2008 at 08:45 PM
The Signal from Winnipeg reports: "Tonight Pat Carrabré steps onto the Easter weekend roller coaster and plays the sounds of elation and sorrow, chocolate and rabbits. Chad Van Gaalen, Rachel Yamagata, Sheri-D Wilson and a Sufjan Stevens profile are just some of the sounds to be experienced on this Good Friday night. Pat will also play Osvaldo Golijov’s gorgeous take on the Passion play."
I'm thinking Chad Van Gaalen (who as also new to me prior to his arrival at CoD) is elation, sorrow, chocolate and rabbits all rolled into one.
Posted by Peter Cook on March 20, 2008 at 09:14 PM
Tonight on The Signal, (10, 10:30 NT) Laurie Brown presents the world premiere performance of The Seven Last Words by composer Paul Frehner. The work resonates with the universal themes of forgiveness, love, suffering and humanity. It's meditative music inspired by the seven last phrases that Jesus spoke before his death.
The concert features male soprano Michael Maniaci, the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, and the Soundstreams Chamber Ensemble conducted by Ivars Taurins.
Before and after you're got Radiohead, Kronos Quartet, Jean Derome et les Dangereux Zhoms, Sigur Ros . . . my oh my. See for yourself at the playlist.
Posted by Li Robbins on March 19, 2008 at 03:00 AM
The Signal (10 p.m.) turns One today. In both its weekday version with Laurie Brown, and in its weekend edition with Pat Carrabré, the cast and crew has done some very creative and satisfying radio, programming a wide range of contemporary music. But don't just take it from me, here's one take on the show by a listener who wrote in to the blog:
"This is the coolest show to come out of radio in a long, long, time! Kudos to the CBC for being able to air a mixture of artistry, innovation and intelligence."
To celebrate their big first, Wednesday night the show takes a look back at some of their favourite music from the past year. So, music from Juana Molina, Andy McNeil, B For Bang, and Brian Current, among many others.
The show also wants to ring the bells to mark the day -- and naturally, they do this Signal style, with music that some listeners were very intrigued by when it was first broadcast -- Calgary pianist Marcel Bergmann's piece inspired by the 1972 minimalist-pop hit Tubular Bells. It explores bells, and minimalism. Bells. Minimalism.
Let's see, what else. The concert highlights include Joy – A Minimal Overture, by contemporary Dutch composer Carlos Michans. Then, more bells! The Sunken Cathedral by impressionist composer Claude Debussy, and the concert is closed with Marcel Bergmann’s own composition Incessant Bells.
Posted by Li Robbins on March 18, 2008 at 08:30 PM
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), from Montreal, the Sixtrum percussion ensemble joins forces with the Quasar Saxophone Quartet to present a concert titled: In Tempo! You'll hear Salomon’s Sound-Houses by Dutch composer Roderik De Man, which has been described as "a fantastical exploration of all kinds of weird and wonderful sounds: quarter tones, dainty bells, tremblings, warblings, the sounds of beasts and birds, shrill, soft, and deep." Lovely description, certainly makes one want to hear the music. The piece, by the way, was inspired by the fiction of Francis Bacon.
Posted by Li Robbins on March 17, 2008 at 08:28 PM
Interesting how loosely creatively the folks at The Signal (10 p.m.) interpret St. Patrick's Day -- for their special St. Patrick's Day edition you'll hear the Esbjorn Svensson Trio "searching for the jazz gold at the end of the rainbow" with their fast-running piece Goldwrap. You'll hear "green music" from Yoon Sun Choi and Andy Creeggan ("his pieceGreen is impossibly short - some might say leprechaun-esque - clocking in at 9 seconds"). Ah yes, nothing like a good thematic stretch, I know it well.
After that, they ran out of green-ness, although they are also playing some music described as "spring-like" from Takagi Masakatsu, as well as a celebration of the month of March, by So Percussion.
Posted by Li Robbins on March 16, 2008 at 08:45 PM
The Signal (10 p.m.) continues its Soundtrack Sundays series with music from a great soundtrack, Genghis Blues, the story of a blind blues musician's journey to Tuva to compete in a national throat singing competition.
And the concert feature on tonight's show is music inspired by jazz, folk, pop and politics --written by composer Frederic Rzewski, performed by pianist Milton Schlosser and soprano Kathleen Corcoran of the Augustana School of Music. That range of sources is no surprise, given it's Rzewski -- as Kyle Gann once said, reviewing Rzewski's music in The Village Voice: "Listening to one of his pieces, I can't even predict whether the music will be tonal or atonal, serially structured or improvised, quoting Three Blind Mice or roaring out revolutionary workers' songs, five measures from now. The guy darts all over the place. And I'm happy to follow."
Posted by Li Robbins on March 15, 2008 at 08:45 PM
No one would dispute that Danny Boy has been sung a lot. A lot a lot. But I have to say I was surprised when The Signal (10 p.m.) team said that it's been ranked among the 25 most depressing songs of all time. If you can get past the ubiquity factor, it is a beautiful song. OK, yeah, maybe a little depressing too. (But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying, If I'm dead, as dead I well may be. Ye'll come and find the place where I am lying. And kneel and say an Ave there for me.)
Anyway, I guess Pat is worried about scaring you off in their St. Paddy's Day special, so he assures you he will not be playing it. In fact, I think his St. Paddy's Day special is kind of an anti-special, since here are the musical highlights for tonight's show: music from Julia Kent, Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra, and a featured concert from John Kameel Farah, which I should point out you can also hear online, at Concerts On Demand: John Kameel Farah and Hauschka.
Posted by Li Robbins on March 14, 2008 at 08:35 PM
You know that the weekday version of The Signal (10 p.m.) has a new blog? They do, The Signal Blog, check it out.
But the weekend incarnation of the show sends its own signals loud and clear, from the particular perspective of host (and composer) Pat Carrabré, and tonight he'll be presenting the following:
-A concert from Montreal’s Feu Thérèse.
-Music of another Montrealer, guitarist and composer Bernard Falaise.
-And new music from Jean Martin, The Mountain Goats and Cornelius.
-PLUS a very interesting cover of Dolly Parton’s Jolene.
Posted by Li Robbins on March 13, 2008 at 08:00 PM
George Crumb (Grammy AND Pulitzer prize winning George Crumb) has written some intensely beautiful music, and one of his best known works, Black Angels: Thirteen Images From The Dark Land, , is being broadcast tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), performed by the Tokai String Quartet. The piece has had tremendous resonance, particularly when it was first performed. As the magazine New Music Connoisseur puts it:
"1970 was a tough year for America. Memory of the recent assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, as well as the immolations of American black inner city neighborhoods hovered darkly, acridly, in the air. It was, above all else, the ongoing nightmare of Vietnam that engulfed the national consciousness, casting a huge shadow over virtually all human intercourse.
It was into this lurid zeitgeist that George Crumb's amplified string quartet Black Angels was premiered. The music crystallized the composer's uncanny ability to project ferocity and the beatific in the same voice. New music in 1970 was still dominated by emotionally constricted serialism, and Crumb's direct sensuality had an explosive effect. Black Angels was an instant classic, and has since been recorded ten times, a remarkable, perhaps unprecedented statistic for contemporary art music."
Also on the show tonight -- Crumb performed by The Art of Time Ensemble. with Voice of the Whale - music exploring the powerful forces of nature, inspired by the singing of the humpback whale.
Posted by Li Robbins on March 12, 2008 at 08:38 PM
Finally, what all height-challenged people have been waiting for, a celebration of wee things, acknowledgment of the truism of good things/small packages, and so forth and so on. This celebration of it's a small small world is on The Signal (10 p.m.), with music from the Swedish alternative group The Tiny, a selection of Little Things from Norway's Hanne Hukkelberg, and some Micro Melodies from California's The Album Leaf. Closer to home, there's a remix of Lali Puna's Small Things by Montreal-based experimental artist Sixtoo, and instrumentalists Jean Martin and Colin Fisherwith music from their new album, Little Man On The Boat. Take that, Randy Newman.
Posted by Li Robbins on March 11, 2008 at 08:00 PM
The idea of "steam punk" wherein new technology is clothed in yesteryear's garments, (for example a laptop computer using old typewriter keys and brass fittings), seems to have gathered steam in recent years (bad pun intended). There are probably many reasons for this -- but among them, I think, is a genuine appreciation for the technology of previous eras, and the aesthetics of that technology.
I was recently on an old train in France, the kind where you sit in close quarters in a compartment with eight or so people, face to face, as the train hurtles through some of the most beautiful countryside in Europe. It made made me muse, as always, on the lasting glories of train travel, and of trains themselves. Viva le train!
Posted by Li Robbins on March 10, 2008 at 09:00 PM
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) Laurie "ventures out into the wilderness" with outdoor sonic art from Hildegard Westerkamp, self described as a "composer, radio artist and sound ecologist." Westerkamp, as you may know, is originally from Germany but has firmly established herself in Canada since the late 1960s, and has been very involved with making music connected to the acoustic environments we live in, rural and urban.
By the by, if you are interested in the ideas behind the acoustic environment and composition, I'd recommend going to the World Forum For Acoustic Ecology. (If for the tractor on the staff paper alone...)
So much interesting contemporary music is written for movies. Just the other day I saw There Will Be Blood, (there's not much, but there is lots of oil and greed), and the soundtrack was a huge part of its impact. The third movement of the Brahms Violin Concerto, and the original music by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead.
Some of Greenwood's music was quite beautiful, some of it overtly suspense-creating, if you know what I mean, but either way at times it almost overpowered the movie. When you find yourself in the middle of a movie wondering what it would be like without the music you know some balance isn't quite right. But of course it also points to the power of music in movie soundtracks.
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) Pat begins a features called “Soundtrack Sundays,” and he'll kick it off with music from Deepa Mehta’s film Water by composer Mychael Danna.
Also -- a belated celebration of composer Marjan Mozetich's 60th birthday with with a concert featuring musicians Gisel Dalbec, Wolf Tormann, Donelda Gartshore and others. This concert is also available at Concerts On Demand : Marjan Mozetich's 60th Birthday Celebration.
And finally, tonight The Signal also pays tribute tonight to the late Canadian composer John Weinzweig with his Divertimento, performed by flutist Robert Cram.
The IWD theme continues (that's International Women's Day, for those not used to tossing off the acronym) tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), when Pat spins music written by, inspired by and involving women.
Throughout the night on High-Rotation, (it's kind of like capitalizing High Fidelity, or these days Wi-Fi, which is so much nicer with its French pronunciation, don't you think, "we fee?" but I digress) it's Veda Hille's new CD: This Riot Life. Alex Varty, in a concert review for the Georgia Straight featuring the new material described the songs as "pulsating with life."
And the concert portion of the programme tonight is The Sappho Project, featuring the Constantinople Ensemble, Lori Freedman, Shannon Mercer and a new commissioned work by Constantinople's A.D., (similarly on the acronym front -- Artistic Director), composer Kiya Tabassian.
Here's how pianist clarinetist Lori Freedman describes what she does:
"I am a performer who plays music for contrabass, bass, A, B-flat, C and E-flat clarinets. I play written and improvised music, ranging in settings from orchestra, concerti, chamber ensemble and solo. I write concert music as well as music for dance, film and theatre. I perform in all of these arenas both live on stage and in the recording studio. As well as touring extensively I teach contemporary and improvised music for all instruments internationally and at McGill University in Montreal as well as at my private home studio."
Here's how The Signal (10 p.m.) describes her career: "Incredible."
You can hear Pat's profile of Ms. Freedman tonight on the show...
And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Friday's Loot Bag give away -- and tonight's prize is veryyyy nice, no crackerjack, and gone are the bags of gummy bears too -- no, it's all musical, with the new Kronos Quartet CD with pipa virtuoso, Wu Man.
Oh sorry, one more mention (a must, as someone who admires this musician) -- there's also a concert segment from guitarist Bill Frisell.
Tonight you can hear Gilles Tremblay'sMusique du feu performed by the Ensemble de la Société de Musique Contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ) on The Signal (10 p.m.). The composition deals with the subject of the apocalypse, and is said to "employ the dissonant growls of the SMCQ's trombone section to great effect."
And from the Canadian Encyclopedia of Music entry, a mind-expanding quote about Tremblay's work, and the notion of sonority:
"The aesthetic of Gilles Tremblay is concerned above all with sonority. Yet we should hesitate to reduce so rich an output to one word. It therefore seems necessary to dismantle the word 'sonority' and reassemble it in a more subtle form in which the notion of timbre is both encompassed and extended. Far from referring solely to original combinations of timbres, the word should invite us to consider sound as a complex network of events, both material and immaterial, real and potential - in other words to examine sonority according to a number of dual perspectives, all necessary for a precise and full understanding of the inner meaning of Tremblay's work."
Gamelan music continues to fascinate both audiences and performers, in both traditional forms, and via new music composition. Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear highlights from a concert titled Dual Eclipse: Orchestras of Two Worlds, which features Vancouver groups The Turning Point Ensemble and Gamelan Gita Asmara, together in their exploration of the sounds and complex rhythms of the Balinese Gamelan tradition. Featured soloists include clarinetist Francois Houle and pianist Jane Hayes.
Tonight The Signal (10 p.m.) goes to church, at least, musically speaking. The Choir Practice is singing from the same hymn sheet, Laurie reads the Book of Saints from Veda Hille's new album This Riot Life, (an album title that is pleasing in much the same way that the long ago Cowboy Junkies recording, Caution Horses , is pleasing) and even donates an organ with music from DJ Shadow. And you'll also hear what has been described as "the sonic contradiction" that is Howe Gelb and Voices of Praise.
In light of that "donates an organ remark" I can't resist posting this...quite hypnotic...
Allen Ginsberg's Howl is one of the most identifiable symbols of the beat generation, running a close second to Kerouac's On The Road. Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear a musical interpretation of the poem, from the Art Of Time Ensemble.
In this version composer Jonathan Goldsmith created music for the poem, using piano, bass, quarter-tone trumpet, and a brand new instrument which is half trumpet, half saxophone. (Saxo-Trump? Traxo?)
The Signal (10 p.m.) concludes its weekend from out west, the west as in Alberta that is. (If you're in B.C. you're obviously thinking otherwise...and currently the bloggist is in Europe, where east and west are much more muddled.) Anyway, the music is indeed from Alberta, and tonight Pat features a concert from the Western Canadian Music Awards, work from composers Allan Gilliland and George Andrix, among others. Also, music from Falconhawk, and composer David Eagle’s, with his piece called Soundplay.
The Signal (10 p.m.) continues with music from Alberta this weekend, featuring music from Kara Keith, (who performs what she calls "melodramatic popular Song /2-step/show tunes," and although she may have intended this to be a little bit tongue-in-cheek it's actually a pretty apt description) and electronic wizard Mark Templeton.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 29, 2008 at 08:00 PM
On the weekends The Signal (10 p.m.) sometimes likes to dedicate itself (well, its producers and host do) to the music of one city or province, and this weekend it's Alberta, as Signalites put it "rich in oil and rich in music."
And then there's The Loot Bag. Yes, The Loot Bag, the new weekend prize giveaway, the one where you just grab it and hope for the best. This weekend it looks good too, Pat's used up all the dollar store stuff, and instead he's offering prizes care of Calgary’s wonderfully named Saved By Radio record label, featuring The Summerlads. This is good, since no one really needs another badly painted shot glass, do they?
Posted by Li Robbins on February 28, 2008 at 08:00 PM
Eric Dolphy used to play flute with the birds singing outside his window; I've always wondered if they sang back. (And according to this 1962 interview in Downbeat, indeed they did.) The influence of bird song on improvised and composed music is actually surprisingly extensive -- to cite one famous example, Olivier Messiaen, who notated birdsongs from around the world, incorporating it into much of his music.
Closer to home, composer R. Murray Schafer wrote his tenth string quartet on his farm, in the country, in winter – the coldest time of the year, but also the quietest time of the year. (At least, if there is no phalanx of snowplows coming down your street.) From that experience he composed Winter Birds, and you can hear that composition tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.). If you miss the broadcast, you can always listen to this performance by the Molinari Quartet at Concerts on Demand.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 27, 2008 at 08:09 PM
Jean-Pierre Gauthier is a composer, performer and artist (of the installations variety), known for his electro-mechanical instruments which he’s built for himself. He's paired up with Mirko Sabatini, who plays toy electronic instruments, under the name Duo Travagliando. Tonight The Signal (10 p.m.) broadcasts a concert from the duo, recorded at the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Montreal.
And here's a little preview of some of their work, avec visuals.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 26, 2008 at 08:00 PM
John Kameel Farah is a musician who fuses elements of jazz, techno, classical, ambient, and middle-Eastern music into his own large-scale works. And tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear his composition, Unfolding – it’s been called “a lifetime of knowledge distilled into 50 minutes of pure inspiration!” He's in performance with German pianist/composer Hauschka, who you have likely heard on the show before -- with his really interesting pieces exploring prepared piano.
Note: Should you miss the broadcast, you can also hear this performance online as a Concert On Demand, John Kameel Farah and Hauschka.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 25, 2008 at 07:23 PM
Sometimes it seems everywhere you go, you hear Glenn Gould. (Someone oughta make that into a bumper sticker.) But it's true I seem to hear Gould -- playing the Goldberg Variations -- when travelling almost as regularly as I hear it at home in Canada. Most recently, in passing at the Cite de la Musique, a marvelous instrument museum I visited in Paris on the weekend.
But tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear a brand-new set of Goldberg Variations, consider it variations on the variations. Four contemporary composers were each asked to create a variation with a new and distinct flavour, and that they did -- Fred Hersch, Derek Bermel,Fred Lerdahl, and Brian Cherney. They were performed by pianist Sara Laimon at the Montreal Bach Festival and are broadcast by Laurie Brown tonight.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 24, 2008 at 08:00 PM
Tonight Pat "Francophiles" The Signal (10 p.m.), focussing on music from from Quebec and France. The featured concert is by Quebec’s Quasar ensemble and features six of Montreal's foremost percussionists. You'll also hear Jorane, Feu Thérèse, D. Kimm and a tribute to singer Michel Polnareff.
I like the way RFI describes him, within the same paragraph. On the one hand he is considered "one of the French music scene’s more unconventional figures," and barely a sentence later he has "earned a famous reputation for his wildly non-conformist lifestyle." Yup, I'd say that qualifies him as "more unconventional."
Fortunately, he has also also "made a name for himself with his legendary melodies." Now frankly I feel more than a bit remiss for not knowing his music, particularly as I do know he is quite a, how do you say, unconventional figure. I plan to rectify that asap...meantime, you can hear him tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.).
Posted by Li Robbins on February 23, 2008 at 08:10 PM
Jean Derome had been making innovative, exploratory music from Quebec for many years, and as he says, for him "modernism still exists." His influence is extensive, as both a musician and composer, and as a co-founder of Ambiance Magnetique. Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear a concert featuring his multi-instrumental talents.
There's also a contest/giveaway tonight. (Whoo hoo, free stuff!) But I suspect there will be a skill testing question in order to win the prize. No, not dollar store candles covered in hearts and odd sayings in various languages, but copies of the new Metric DVD, Live at the Metropolis, which was edited by cinematic wizard Deco Dawson -- Pat will also play music from this disc tonight.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 22, 2008 at 08:24 PM
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) Pat puts on his top hat and tails in anticipation of The Oscars, with music from Requiem For A Dream, The Triplets Of Belleville and excerpts from the original King Kong.
There's also a feature on the work of the great Canadian soundtrack composer, Mychael Danna, who has created soundtracks for directors Atom Egoyan and Deepa Mehta, though he may be most famous for his work on the Oscar winning Little Miss Sunshine.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 21, 2008 at 07:45 PM
Dérive 2, by Pierre Boulez, had its Canadian premiere in the early winter at Victoria's Phillip T. Young Recital Hall, performed as part of a concert called "Northern Lights" presented by the Aventa Ensemble.
The descriptions I've read of this piece are mouth watering, if one's mouth can be said to water for music.
Case in point: Anne Ozorio of Seen and Heard International describes it as "surprisingly sensual music, exquisitely vivid and expressive with lyrical passages where snatches of near-melody flit past, tantalizingly elusive."
Elissa Poole, writing in Opus: "Listen to Dérive II, 2007, and you know that there is no limit to 'continual expansion.' You've had a glimpse of infinity, and lo and behold, it's a nice place to be."
And someone at The Signal (they're very modest) says that it's like "an essay in notions of time."
Tune into The Signal (10 p.m.) tonight to hear for yourself.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 20, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Wednesday night The Signal (10 p.m.) comes from Victoria, B.C., with part one of a concert entitled Northern Lights by the Aventa Ensemble.
Lichtbogen, by Kaija Saariaho, is a work inspired by the movements of the immense, silently shifting Aurora Borealis, and during in medias res, by Gregory Lee Newsome, musicians play chunks of music at different speeds, creating eerie shifts in sound.
Of Lichtbogen, journalist Elissa Poole said: "By no means a minor work, Lichtbogen (inspired by the Northern Lights and superficially reminiscent, in its languorous glide and shifting timbres, of Debussy’s Nuages) was a well-chosen counterpart to the Boulez." (The Boulez piece, Dérive II, was also on the programme.) "The transformation of material, the supple transitions from one frame to another, and the composers’ shared textural inventiveness staked out compatible, albeit quite contrasting territory."
Posted by Li Robbins on February 19, 2008 at 08:00 PM
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), highlights from a concert titled Dual Eclipse: Orchestras Of Two Worlds.
Vancouver groups The Turning Point Ensemble (dedicated to "increasing the understanding and appreciation of music composed during the past hundred years, linking the music of earlier times to the music of today") and Gamelan Gita Asmara come together to explore the sounds and complex rythms of the Balinese Gamelan tradition.
And if you happen to live in Vancouver and have an interest in learning to play gamelan -- Gamelan Gita Asmara does offer occasional workshops -- just check out their web-page. (Which isn't to say that you too will be immediately playing gamelan in recordings broadcast on The Signal, but you never know what the future holds...)
Posted by Li Robbins on February 18, 2008 at 08:00 PM
Synthesize My Soup, somebody, please. It may sound like some bizarre twist on a take my wife joke, but that's just silliness, in fact Synthesize My Soup is the name of one of the most provocative and interesting concerts from this year'sWSO New Music Festival.
Tonight, hear it on The Signal (10 p.m.), in a special broadcast with Laurie Brown recorded live at the Manitoba Centennial Concert Hall.
You'll hear quite a range of new music, performed by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Musical guests included violinist Jesse Zubot (pictured here) and pianist Glenn Buhr, among others. On the broadcast is the WSO's performance of composer Nicole Lizee'sArcadiac, which includes the gritty 8-bit sounds of early arcade games like Choplifter and Star Wars, and David Eagle's digitally manipulated work Soundplay 2.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 17, 2008 at 08:05 PM
Much excitement that some of the concerts CBC recorded at the WSO New Music Festival are being broadcast -- and made available online, as CODS, as we shorthand the Concert On Demand portion of what CBC R2 is doing these days.
Some of the CODs are up yet, some not, but what is up, or on, I should say, the radio tonight is a very special night for The Signal (10 p.m.) -- as Winnipeg host Pat Carrabré was of course at the New Music Festival, recording live -- and some of that is presented tonight.
You'll hear music and conversation with R. Murray Schafer, Veda Hille and Sid Rabinovitch. (The photo is of Pat interviewing Veda, btw.)
Also, a CBC Radio commission from Veda Hille, who wrote a choral based work for the festival called The Raft Of The Medusa. The University of Manitoba Singers join Veda at her grand piano.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 16, 2008 at 08:32 PM
This really seems to be Sarah Slean's moment in the sun, doesn't it. Her collaboration with the WSO at the recent New Music Festival will be played tomorrow on Sunday Afternoon In Concert, and tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear her with the Art of Time Ensemble. Plus she has a new recording coming out soon, called Baroness, due in early March.
Sarah Slean Trivia Bulletin: For a mere $3.50 you can download her song Get Home as a ringtone. Merely text SS to 311311. (Personally I find this completely weird, but then, I find ring-tones completely weird. Much better just to listen to the music, which you can also do via Concerts On Demand, the latest opportunity being that performance at the WSO New Music Fest, with the symphony -- right here.)
Posted by Li Robbins on February 15, 2008 at 08:25 PM
The loot bag is a curious notion. You go to a party (presumably you are under the age of ten when this occurs), and you are given a sack of cheap stuff that someone's mother probably spent hours parcelling out. Why? We don't know.
But we do know that The Loot Bag as a contest -- initiated this weekend on The Signal (10 p.m.) -- promises to be more fun, without having forced anyone into shopping at a dollar store. Though there are prizes -- Pat will test your knowledge, and you can get some...some what? He didn't say, actually, so if it does turn out to be a plastic toy, my apologies for misleading you.
Also on the show tonight -- music by that electronic manipulator/mathmatics PhD guy, Caribou. And some cover tunes by Xiu Xiu and Montreal’s Laura Barrett. And, since Pat figures most folks will either be cursing, coveting or enjoying love the night after Valentines day, he celebrates and consoles with Daft Punk, Frou-Frou and Original Recipe.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 14, 2008 at 09:00 PM
If you find Valentine's Day just a little too saccharin, fear not. Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), Laurie will explore the darker side of the day, the loneliness, the disappointment, the rejection, the arghhhhhhhhh, someone hand me the scotch bottle please, or at least pass the kleenex!
But Laurie will do this substance-abuse free of course, just with music, from the likes of Susanna and The Magical Orchestra taking on the melancholy music of Joy Division, as well as Paul Dolden's maximalist composition The Heart Tears Itself Apart With The Power Of Its Own Muscle.
I bet you've never seen that expression on a Valentine's Day card.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 13, 2008 at 08:30 PM
And we're not talkin' hockey wives. No, Most Valuable Player in this case is the name of an upcoming release by bassist Nat Baldwin, who opens up The Signal (10 p.m.) tonight.
There's also music from the Tenniscoats andAkufen, but I particularly want to alert you to the concert feature tonight, from the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, with several works by emerging Canadian composers such as Hee Yun Kim and Darlene Chepil Reid. Reid has said what she's trying to do is avoid the loss of music into the wash of everyday sound:
“I think in our world, we ignore things so easily. I try to write music that fights against this.”
Posted by Li Robbins on February 12, 2008 at 08:30 PM
Johnny Hollow sounds like a character from film noir, and there is a rather dark side to the band. (As far as I know, there is no "Mr. Hollow.") The band Johnny Hollow is featured tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), with tracks from their new recording that just came out, Dirty Hands. (Take a look at their website if you're curious about that "rather dark side," all will be revealed -- it's spooky but nifty.)
Also on the show, some cello and voice and electronics from Claire Goldfarb, plus concert highlights from the incredibly dynamic (read: really quiet to really loud) Vancouver band Fond Of Tigers, recorded live at their CD launch at the Biltmore Cabaret.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 11, 2008 at 08:27 PM
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) with host Laurie Brown, you can hear some music the team describes as "new and perplexing." It's from Montreal guitarist and creative composer Bernard Falaise, a recording called Clic that mixes elements of jazz, chamber music, noise, and free improvisation.
Also on the programme this evening, music from DJ Martin Tetreault and playful electronica from William Orbit. (Check out his website if you have time -- pleasingly playful it is!)
Posted by Li Robbins on February 10, 2008 at 08:01 PM
Black Angels is a composition by Pulitzer Prize winning composer George Crumb, inspired by the Vietnam war.
According to its composer, the work was "conceived as a kind of parable on our troubled contemporary world. The numerous quasi-programmatic allusions in the work are therefore symbolic, although the essential polarity -- God versus Devil -- implies more than a purely metaphysical reality. The image of the 'black angel' was a conventional device used by early painters to symbolize the fallen angel."
You can hear a concert of this work tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), as well as a range of music inspired by the beat poets, including Montreal’s D. Kimm, Laurie Anderson, Winnipeg’s Poor Tree and Halifax’s Buck 65, plus a piece inspired by the poetry of Leonard Cohen by composer Kelly-Marie Murphy.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 9, 2008 at 08:00 PM
Allen Ginsberg's Howl is probably the most identifiable symbol of the beat generation, well, maybe a close second to Kerouac's On The Road. Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear a musical interpretation of the poem, from the Art Of Time Ensemble.
Also, the first in a new "weekend Signal" series called Song Cycles. Song Cycles is an album feature — tonight Pat will play multiple tracks drawn from the striking new release by Toronto’s Loitering Heroes.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 8, 2008 at 09:00 PM
It's always seemed odd to me how reviled Yoko Ono is. Whatever her role in terms of The Beatles, the hostility towards her is normally the kind reserved for evil dictators, or people who do private grooming in public places. So I was glad to see that tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), host Pat Carrabré plays some music by Yoko Ono -- and imparts some perspective.
Also on deck is new music from Hayden, (been hearing that a lot lately -- it's quite nice) Vancouver’s Hinterland, Montreal cellist/singer Jorane, and composer percussionist Rick Sacks. Plus, what Pat's people call "cultures colliding" with Montreal’s DJ Mad Eskimo. Hmm, not sure what that means. The culture of the mentally unstable with the culture of the Inuit? Well, he grew up in Iqaluit, but I sense the craziness is more of a musically creative kind.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 7, 2008 at 08:30 PM
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), from the 2007 Atlantic Jazz Festival, a concert from their Music Makers series, a combination of local musician/composers paired with performers coming to the festival from around the world. They get a mere two rehearsals and then voila! They're on stage in front of an audience quite curious to hear how it turns out.
This concert features Halifax saxophonist Danny Oore, and according to the Signal team, "it's an astonishing concert -- because they are all astonishing players." Can't beat that commendation.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 7, 2008 at 12:00 PM
You could not be blamed for thinking, "synthesize my soup," -- say what?!? I guess the soup in question refers to the number of ingredients that go into a concert being held at the WSO New Music Festival in Winnipeg today -- featuring full orchestra, video games, dancing, lights and electronics. Some soup!
There are two works being performed featuring improvising soloists, one by Glenn Buhr, who is also the improvising piano soloist -- with the orchestra. The other is a CBC commission from Jesse Zubot, (pictured here) called Intolerable Distance, featuring the violin soloist improvising with the orchestra as well. This concert will be broadcast on The Signal on February 18th.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 6, 2008 at 08:00 PM
The Attar Project are violinist Parmela Attariwala and tabla player Shawn Mativetsky. Attariwala describes what The Attar Project is all about like this: "The Attar Project as a 'band' name is for projects that seek intersections between seemingly disparate musical genres and that push the boundaries of collaborative possibilities."
If you check out that myspace site, the first link, you can get a sense of the kinds of boundaries they push. And tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear more than a sample with a concert broadcast during the show.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 5, 2008 at 07:00 PM
I suspect we all have our own, personal political agendas for music.
Yours might include Public Works -- say, more music for tubas played in malls. Or perhaps you might might focus on Minority Rights, for instance "improving conditions for acoustic bass players," your slogan being "every doghouse has its day."
On The Signal (10 p.m.) tonight, host Laurie Brown campaigns for contemporary music, and her platform includes Education, with music from Saint Dirt Elementary School, Foreign Affairs, as evidenced by music from Israel's Avishai Cohen, and she even ventures into matters of Defense, with the Italian collective, B For Bang.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 4, 2008 at 08:55 PM
It's just another New Music Monday, but you don't have to wish it was Sunday, hey, Monday can be your funday, your don't have to runday, as The Signal (10 p.m.) plays, not The Bangles, but newly-unwrapped CDs and just-downloaded mp3s representing the latest in contemporary music from Canada and around the world.
Tonight, some of Tenniscoats quirky-sweet album Tan-Tan Therapy, and music from the new album of folk, jazz, and free-improvisation from Jean Martin and Colin Fisher called Little Man On The Boat. Also, tonight's concert highlight tonight is a long-form improv from Halifax, performed by acclaimed composer and creative musician Pauline Oliveros leading an ensemble in the work Adapt Incandescent Luminous Diamond'.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 3, 2008 at 07:30 PM
The Signal (10 p.m.) wraps up it’s weekend in Winnipeg tonight by celebrating the city’s significant new music scene. Pat begins with a composition from the Winnipeg Symphony’s present composer in residence, Vincent Ho, followed by Canada’s most successful opera composer, Randolph Peters.
Tonight’s concert, recorded in Winnipeg, features mezzo-soprano Rosemary Vanderhooft and keyboard player Cheryl Pauls followed by a Trevor Grahl piece recorded during Winnipeg’s third New Music Festival.
And of course right now the 2008 WSO's New Music Fest is in full swing, with some concerts being recorded for future broadcast on various R2 shows. If you happen to be in Winnipeg, tomorrow there's a concert and panel discussion provocatively titled-- And You Call This Music?
The panelists include Tamara Bernstein, a freelance writer with the Globe & Mail, Bartley Kives with the Wpg. Free Press, composers Paul Steenhuisen and Trevor Grahl, and Vincent Ho (the aforementioned new WSO composer in residence).
Can something be new and aforementioned? It is now.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 2, 2008 at 09:05 PM
The all-Winnipeg weekend on The Signal (10 p.m.) continues tonight with a concert by Winnipeger Christine Fellows. Fellows released her critically acclaimed recording Nevertheless in November -- and Exclaim rightly called her "one of Canada's most interesting and innovative pop writers."
Also, in the third hour Pat plays music from Clive Holden’s experimental film Trains Of Winnipeg. Possibly a nice companion piece to Guy Maddin's Winnipeg, in which, as you will recall if you have seen it, trains figure heavily. Sleep figures heavily too, nighty night.
Posted by Li Robbins on February 1, 2008 at 08:11 PM
A while ago I was taken to task for harping about how cold, how very cold, it gets in Winnipeg. One blog-reader told me that I was exaggerating, misremembering my misspent Winnipeg youth.
So I felt somewhat vindicated when the weekend crew of The Signal (10 p.m.) sent me a message about tonight's show, suggesting that listeners "put on their parkas," because the show comes from Winnipeg tonight.
"Ha!" I thought, "Straight from the horse's mouth. The cold horse's mouth."
Not only that but last week I heard from a Winnipeg friend of mine who emailed, and I quote: "It's a minor heat wave today, it's supposed to get up to minus 15!"
But here's the thing. I have a theory that one of the reasons Winnipeg's music scene is as vibrant as it is is because for a good portion of the year, what else are you gonna do? Staying inside and playing music is a logical way to spend your time.
So this weekend Signal host Pat Carrabré celebrates music from Winnipeg, and it's an embarrassment of riches. He begins with observations from The Weakerthans, and then samples the sound tracks of Winnipeg directors Decco Dawson and the iconic Guy Maddin. The classical legacy of Glenn Buhr is celebrated and then some Klezmer from Marylin Learner and a Klezmer Suite by Sid Robinovitch and Bramwell Tovey.
I should also note that the Winnipeg New Music Festival begins this weekend -- much more about that in days to come.
Posted by Li Robbins on January 31, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Thursday night the The Signal (10 p.m.) features compositions for strings. First, Edgar Meyer'sViolin Concerto, as performed by violinist Mark Fewer and the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. Edgar Meyer himself is a bass player (apparently he started studying bass at the age of five, which I would have thought an impossibility -- but presumably there are child sized basses, just as there are wee violins). And if you think you don't know his music, but have ever seen the Ken Burns documentary on World War ll, think again, because you have.
Posted by Li Robbins on January 30, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Back to back mentions of what's up on The Signal (10 p.m.), so you can start readying your ears early for Wednesday night's show. On it, Laurie explores the world of Chamber Pop music, in the first hour.
In a world of musical categorizations that struggle to convey some sense of what the music actually sounds like, I think chamber pop is one of the more meaningful terms. As the Signalites put it, "it's a style that blends indie pop and rock with a classical chamber music aesthetic."
Some examples that you can hear on Wednesday -- the absolutely idiosyncratic, faintly mediaeval sound of harpist Joanna Newsom, the choral-based pop of Polyphonic Spree and the music of violinist Owen Pallet's Final Fantasy.
Posted by Li Robbins on January 29, 2008 at 08:04 PM
Who can ever get enough of them? Certainly not the organizers of the Vancouver New Music Festival, whose series Guitars! Guitars! resulted in a wide range of interesting guitar music, including the performance you can hear tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.)
Vancouver-based guitarist Gordon Grdina draws on a wide range of influences, from contemporary jazz to Arabic music to free improv, and in this performance you can hear him solo, on archtop guitar, resonator guitar, and the oud. (Admittedly not a guitar, but at least a cousin. Maybe next year they'll have a series called Ouds! Lutes!)
Posted by Li Robbins on January 28, 2008 at 09:02 PM
Laurie Brown has a crystal ball, a ouija board, and reads tea leaves...or possibly she and her producers just dig up a ton of good music from all eras of The Signal's repertoire to play on her show.
Tonight that last theory is supported, as on The Signal (10 p.m.) she peers into the past, present and future of Canadian music via the following selections:
In the present, you'll hear new releases from Calgary's Jane Vain & The Dark Matter, as well as Toronto-born vocalist Yoon Sun Choi and pianist Jacob Sacks and their tribute to the muppety music of Joe Raposo.
As a nod to the future, Laurie presents selections from a concert of emerging composers at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The event was dubbed A Celebration of Future Classics and features music from Scott Good and Carl Schimmel.
And looking back to the past, some pioneering electronic/orchestral music from Montreal-based composer alcides lanza.
Posted by Li Robbins on January 27, 2008 at 08:00 PM
Speaking of women, as I was in the last post, tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) Pat travels between Sweden and Canada to bring you some music from two women the Signal describes as "really strong." Karin Rehnqvist is from Sweden, while Ana Sokolivic is a Serbian-Canadian composer, and they’re both in the spotlight tonight.
As well, Pat pays tribute to recently deceased composer Talivaldis Kenins, with a broadcast of his 3rd Piano Sonata.
Posted by Li Robbins on January 25, 2008 at 08:10 PM
Apparently Global Belly Laugh Day took place yesterday, but somehow I missed it. (I think I chortled once, but failed to belly laugh, damn.)
Anyway, if you missed it as well, tonight you can make up for that with The Signal (10 p.m.), as host Pat C., explores laughter in music -- selections include Jens Lekman, Apostle of Hustle and Andy Creeggan.
Pat also has electronic producer Vitaminsforyou, (who seems to celebrate Global Fanged Laughter day, if that link is any indication) on to chat about his latest project, a new album called He Closed His Eyes... So He Could Dance With You.
Plus there's a concert recording of music by Mark Templeton, music sometimes referred to as "white noise requiems," and a performance of Brian Current'sConcertino For Flutes And Strings.
Posted by Li Robbins on January 24, 2008 at 08:55 PM
Many of us probably know Colin McPhee best as a composer/musicologist who was fascinated by the music of Indonesia, but he was also a pianist, writer, and, in World War II, he was a "musical adviser" to the US Military Information Office. I'm not sure exactly what that entailed, though I'm fairly certain there must be a thesis or two out there that would answer that question...
Some of his interest in the music of Bali is showcased tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), with a live recording of what is one of his best known works, Tabu-Tabuhan: Toccata for Orchestra, performed by the Esprit Orchestra as part of their 25th Anniversary Gala concert.
If you're interested in learning more about McPhee, you should check out the online archives, the Colin McPhee Collection at UCLA.
Posted by Li Robbins on January 23, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Folk has been loved and revered and mocked and turned into the somehow less freighted (and possibly more encompassing) term "roots." Then there's anti-folk and pysch-folk and urban-folk, it's enough to make you shake your head and ask, what the folk?
One answer is to be found on The Signal (10 p.m.) Wednesday night, when Laurie explores some of that mighty mass of music that is lumped into the giant cauldron (or maybe that should be a mighty casserole, or no, better still a crockpot) of what gets called folk.
Fer instance: some quirky, imaginative music from Christine Fellows, Mendelson Joe, Devendra Banhart, and William Shatner. (Yes, William Shatner. You'll just have to tune in.)
Posted by Li Robbins on January 22, 2008 at 08:45 PM
There's something about that phrase, "perfect rythmic tilings," that has instant appeal. It sounds so, so exact, so complete. Interestingly enough, as a way of describing certain music the term, coined by American composer Tom Johnson, is based on the elegance of mathematics.
The Signal (10 p.m.) will be playing some of this beautiful minimalist music from Montreal tonight from a live concert recording of Quatuor Bozzini, a performance of Tom Johnson's Combinations.
As to the derivation of the phrase, my understanding of it is that Johnson is fascinated by combinations of single shapes (sounds) that can be tiled or placed side by side so that there are no holes or overlaps (like tiles in a mosaic). But you might want to have a look at this if you want to start exploring the idea.
Posted by Li Robbins on January 21, 2008 at 08:30 PM
If you're a regular listener of The Signal (10 p.m.) you may have done a double take at the subject heading of this post -- but of course, it's not classic rock, it's classical covers of rock tunes that Laurie will be playing tonight.
Music includes a string quartet take on the music of Arcade Fire, and Susanna and The Magical Orchestra revamp an old AC/DC song. Violinist Nigel Kennedy rocks out to the music of the Doors, and Rush get a classical make-over from The Section Quartet. Rock on, dudes! (But with strings.)
Posted by Li Robbins on January 20, 2008 at 08:00 PM
Scat singing is one of those things that when done well, is as hair raising as any brilliant instrumental solo, and when not...well, it's really not. There is no hiding, with the human voice.
Then from wordless music, to music based on manipulating words -- some of William Blake's poetry provides the basis for a composition by Jacob ter Verhuis, The Garden of Love, featuring oboe and boombox. (Which I have to say is one of the more unusual combinations to come down the pike recently. Now, oboe and turntables, that's as common as dirt.)
Also on this evening's show, a sample of music from several festivals, including concert recordings from the Byzantine Festival, Scotia Festival and Tuckamore Festival, with a highlight on composer Michael Oesterle.
Posted by Li Robbins on January 19, 2008 at 08:30 PM
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), music from a concert featuring Sarah Slean and Toronto's Art of Time Ensemble, performing songs written by Hawksley Workman, Martin Tielli, and arranged by composers like Gavin Bryars, Aaron Davis, Michael Occipinti and more. (btw, this performance is also available as a Concert On Demand.)
As well, Francois Houle's Italian inspiration, the "glitch-hop" of Prefuse 73. (As opposed to the glitch-hop you occasionally hear on air, the unintentional kind involving skipping CDs and some poor technician's heart rate wildly accelerating.) And finally, also on the show tonight, some non glitchy music from Marjan Mozetich, The Passion of Angels for two harps and orchestra.
Later, Pat brings some of his favourite (and somewhat extreme) cover tunes... from cello-rock outfit Rasputina to Robert Wyatt, it's some of the less-expected musical homages.
btw, that marvellous photo was taken by Alan Chandler, and can be found on Marilyn Lerner's website...
Posted by Li Robbins on January 17, 2008 at 08:00 PM
Cell phones, cameras, computers, they're all getting smaller. In fact the last miniature device I purchased is so small that sometimes I think I imagined buying it, and forget to even use the damn thing. Which wreaks havoc with the accounts when I think that the bill must be imaginary as well. Digression alert. (Or no, I guess that should have come at the beginning of the paragraph.)
Anyway, the impact of nanotechnology is felt in music, too, for instance with some compositions called Nanosonatas, by composer Frederic Rzewski. He's interested in biomolecular nanomachines as well as music, which led him to the idea of compressing the long form of 19th-century sonatas into seven very small segments.
TheNanosonatas were composed specifically for Albertan-based pianist, Milton Schlosser, and you'll hear him perform them live in concert, recorded at The University of Alberta in Camrose, and broadcast tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.)
For those of us who do not compose music, we must seek our nanothings elsewhere. For example in the opening paragraph of this post, a kind of thinking I refer to as Nanothoughts. But you were probably already thinking that.
And on a less frivolous note, you may want to check out the blog, Nanoscience And Nanosociety, for a post on Rzweski's interest on biomolecular nanomachines.
Posted by Li Robbins on January 16, 2008 at 12:01 AM
Every instrument and every player of every instrument has particular concerns. One of the big concerns when it comes to electric guitars and guitarists, is the sustain -- how long will a note on this particular guitar ring out? And guitarists can't really achieve the equivalent of circular breathing, sadly.
On the other hand, they now have the technology to sustain until the cows come home, and Wednesday night on The Signal (10 p.m.), you'll hear some seriously long notes from guitarist Oren Ambarchi, in an improvised piece he calls October 17, for guitar and electronics, that stretches out over half an hour. It was recorded live at the Vancouver New Music Festival, from the series Guitars! Guitars!
Posted by Li Robbins on January 15, 2008 at 08:05 PM
Laurie Brown goes circumpolar tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), with music from the northern regions of Denmark, Sweden, Iceland and, of course, Canada. You'll hear music from Mum, Jaga Jazzist, Élisapie Isaac, and Innu drummer Cyrille Fontaine.
Also tonight, a Celebration Of Future Classics -- highlights from a contemporary music concert at the National Arts Centre, featuring composer John McCabe'sRainforest 1.
Posted by Li Robbins on January 14, 2008 at 08:00 PM
I've yet to see There Will Be Blood, just the trailer. Maybe my slight reluctance to see it has something to do with having seen the trailer before watching Sweeney Todd, and after that I had a little less stomach for more. But I have been quite curious about the soundtrack for There Will Be Blood, music written by Radiohead member Johnny Greenwood, and tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), Laurie will be playing some music from that soundtrack recording.
Also, it being New Music Monday, you can hear some of same. First, the latest recording from Canadian composer Andrew Paul MacDonald, performed by the Penderecki String Quartet. And in hour two of the show, some concert highlights from the great and eclectic guitarist Bill Frisell, recorded at the Vancouver New Music Festival series Guitars! Guitars!.
Posted by Li Robbins on January 13, 2008 at 08:30 PM
Pat Carrabré wraps up his musical profile of Toronto this Sunday on The Signal (10 p.m.) And that includes music by Brian Current, Maryem Tollar, Autorickshaw, and Gary Kulesha.
Posted by Li Robbins on January 12, 2008 at 08:30 PM
Once a month The Signal (10 p.m.) explores the music of a specific city, today it's the city so much of the country loves to hate -- yup, you guessed it, Toronto! That's OK, as a Torontonian I understand how annoying it must be NOT to live in the Centre Of The Universe.
But Pat Carrabré doesn't mind trundling from the boonies (hey, I lived in Winnipeg for years, great town, really) to play Toronto music -- from musicians like The Hidden Cameras, composer Omar Daniel and the Singing Saw Shadow Show. (They do indeed feature the saw, by the way, and it's quite an amazing sound -- at times sounding like a kind of sawrchestra.)
But before he gets too filled with Toronto envy loathing Pat peeks outside the city limits, playing music by Guelph's Barmitzvah Brothers, London's Basia Bulat and Hamilton's Junior Boys.
Also, around 11:30, a couple pieces from the tribute concert Don't be Frightened. Mr. Gould Is Here... DJ and improviser Martin Tetrault and composer Chantale Laplant both create music inspired by Glenn Gould.
And it was a nice surprise when weekend Signal host, Pat Carrabré, dropped me a line to say that this weekend, as part of their Toronto profile, they're featuring more from composer/bari sax player David Mott -- Friday there's a "vertical tasting," the Signal's nickname for a feature where they play a number of tracks from an artist's career, and then on Saturday they're playing his piece Eclipse, part of which was taken into space by astronaut Steve Maclean.
Also on the Toronto tip -- T.O. indie pop acts including,Stars, Metric, Nifty, and the Parkdale Revolutionary Orchestra, plus music from Chan Ka Nin, Mark Duggan and Woodhands.
But when it comes to reviews, sometimes mixed responses are the best, implying that the work was challenging, not ordinary, provocative enough to be subject to a wide spectrum of interpretation. (Or sometimes it just means criticism is totally subjective.) Anyway, you can decide for yourself as some music from this collaboration is broadcast tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.)
As well, the second part of Music For Art's Sake. I surmised correctly that each part does focus on one of the three composers involved in this project, and tonight it is David Occhipinti, "guitar conceptualist", pioneering the genre of chamber jazz.
Posted by Li Robbins on January 9, 2008 at 08:00 PM
Music might be for money's sake, for vanity's sake, for Pete's sake or any number of other sakes, but not tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.). No, tonight it's strictly for art's sake, as part one of a three part concert that goes by this name (Music For Art's Sake) is played on the show.
It was recorded at the Glenn Gould Studio, and features new works by saxophonist and composer Quinsin Nachoff, written for jazz ensemble and string quartet. Presumably parts two and three have music by the other composers involved, David Occhipinti, and Romina Di Gasbarro, but when I get that info I will confirm. Meantime, hope you enjoy the Nachoff segment of the performance.
Posted by Li Robbins on January 8, 2008 at 07:15 PM
Yesterday I wrote about (sometimes I do prefer to "write about" rather than "blog about," usually when I'm sipping tea and feeling a trifle genteel) the collaboration between David Mott and Michael Vlatkovich, in a post called Black Triangles, Yellow Corn And Pink Medicine Drops.
And I am delighted to report that tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) Ms. Laurie Brown will be playing "more of the energetic improvisations and compositions from trombonist Michael Vlatkovich and saxophonist David Mott," recorded live at the Bus Stop Theatre in Halifax.
Posted by Li Robbins on January 7, 2008 at 08:00 PM
David Mott has influenced countless musicians in this country, (and some of us who are lapsed), through his work as a prof at York U. But he's also done that admirable thing many find difficult -- maintained a composing and performing career at the same time as having a thriving teaching career.
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear him with trombonist Michael Vlatkovich, recorded live at the Bus Stop Theatre in Halifax, performing a work called Black Triangles, Yellow Corn And Pink Medicine Drops.
Curious about that title? Of course you are. Here's an excerpt of a review of Vlatkovich's disc, ALiveBUQUERQUE, from Sequenza 21, that clarifies the origins:
"From the first gesture of Black Triangles, Yellow Corn, and Pink Medicine Drops through the 'oom pah pah' section to the freewheeling bari solo and then the punchy trombone/sax duet that gradually pulls everyone in, etc. and so on, there is a real Zappa-esque feeling throughout the disc. We go to unexpected places within a single track but each move, no matter how drastic, sounds right. The music seems to come from a place of serenity and organicism. I’ve known a number of people who respond this way to time in New Mexico and it seem the Michael Vlatkovich Quartet has fallen under the same spell."
Posted by Li Robbins on January 6, 2008 at 08:00 PM
Pat Carrabré goes minimal, stark minimal tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), with a concert from the Bozzini String Quartet and the beautiful Henryk Gorecki composition, Symphony No.3.
Also, music to build (simple) furniture to, by Sigur Ros, Julia Kent and more. Or wait, shouldn't that be, "and less?"
Posted by Li Robbins on January 5, 2008 at 08:00 PM
Just as you probably have artists who enter your collection and have a period of high rotation, (like your own personal all-star roster), so do radio shows. And tonight The Signal (10 p.m.) celebrates some of those artists, with music from Caribou, Kid Koala, Björk and Radiohead.
Also, a feature concert from Vancouver's The Inhabitants, an exploratory improv group that reminds me, at times of Bill Frisell, Miles Davis...not bad things to be reminded of, not at all.
Downbeat described their self-titled release in 2005 as "an aural introduction to a dream," which strikes me as pretty accurate. (And rather nicely put as well.)
Posted by Li Robbins on January 4, 2008 at 08:00 PM
I haven't come across too many "ghost tracks" on CDs lately (thankfully, I always found them kind of annoying, particularly when falling asleep at the end of a CD), but the intro album track remains an essential part of the sound of any recording. And tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) Pat Carrabré plays intro album tracks by hip hopper Common, Montreal's Bell Orchestre, producer RJD2 and others.
On tonight's show he also takes a look (a listen, to be more exact) at/to music for the prepared piano by the likes of Vancouver's Chris Gestrin and Dusseldorf's Hauschka.
Posted by Li Robbins on January 3, 2008 at 08:46 PM
"A world of fine music, classical, jazz, maritime and world, is to be found at the Indian River Festival, held annually through July and August at St. Mary's Church, located in beautiful, picturesque Prince Edward Island (PEI)."
That's how the Indian River Festival describes their annual event, and tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear music recorded at this year's incarnation: highlights from a concert featuring soprano Patricia O'Callaghan, ghazal singer Kiran Ahluwalia, percussionist Anne-Julie Caron, pianist Robert Kortgaard and others -- quite a blend of musical styles and traditions.
Posted by Li Robbins on January 3, 2008 at 01:08 PM
Ask and ye shall receive -- some of you wanted to see the complete list of Top Ten Trends of 2007 assembled by the weekend crew of The Signal (10 p.m.) -- and here they are, along with a couple of performers or bands featured in each category:
THE SIGNAL'S TOP 10 TRENDS OF 2007
Clapping (Basia Bulat, Bell Orchestre)
Shouting! (Yeasayer, Woodhands)
Whistling (Andrew Bird, Ariane Moffatt)
Nature Sounds (National Parcs, Kyrie Kristmanson)
Choir (The Choir Practice, Christine Fellows)
Glockenspiel (Patrick Wolf, Ohbijou)
Baritone Ukelele (Beirut, Krista L. L. Muir)
Banjo (The Weakerthans, Butane Variations)
Brass Band (Emily Haines, Bjork)
Harp (Múm, Joanna Newsom)
The Signal also asked the question. "Mirror mirror, on the wall, who was the trendiest 2007 artist of all?"
The Answer: Hint, rhymes with "mice." (Mice if you added a "t" to the end of it, that is.)
Posted by Li Robbins on January 2, 2008 at 08:13 PM
It's always so interesting to hear musicians covering music that isn't typical of the genre, or genres of music they are usually associated with. Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), Laurie plays a few covers of that ilk, including Bill Frisell’s re-working of Bob Dylan’s A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall (Though admittedly you'd be hard pressed to be too dogmatic about which genres Frisell is connected to, the Dylan song still seems a bit unexpected.) Also The Bad Plus with their jazz version of the Tears For Fears classic Everybody Wants To Rule The World -- much fun.
Posted by Li Robbins on January 1, 2008 at 08:30 PM
Laurie Brown kicks off 2008 tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) with the eerie sounds of the theremin, performed by Canadian composer Gordon Monahan. Plus the latest from experimental folksters, Tunng, as well as instrumental music from Daniel Lanois.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 31, 2007 at 08:00 PM
Not to be a misanthrope, but to be a misanthrope, I've always found the concern over what to do on New Year's Eve irksome. I've spent several of the things doing absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, consequently waking with a clear head to greet the dawn of the New Year. (Well, the lazy holiday version of the dawn, at any rate.)
But the one thing about New Year's Eve I do rather like is the count down. There's something so pleasantly silly and kind of vaguely tatty about it, in a Times Square kind of way. So I was glad to hear that Laurie Brown will be ringing in the New Year tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) in a nice old-fashioned manner, with a count down with The Signal team, a little bubbly, and Spike Jones and His City Slickers. And before that she'll share her ten "Dos and Don'ts" for successful New Year's celebrations. Hmm, I wonder if being slightly misanthropic about the whole thing is on the "don'ts" list?
So since I'm probably going to be asleep by midnight, (or perhaps wake up just for the countdown then go down for the count again), you heard it hear first, unless you're in Australia or something: TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN, SIX ETCETERA...HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Posted by Li Robbins on December 30, 2007 at 09:00 PM
The other day I was thinking how exhausted I was from the holidays. All that challenging eating and drinking and making small talk. And as lovely as visiting family is (in my case, I know this is not true in all, and yes, I consider myself fortunate) there is something of a relief in finding oneself alone in one's own home again.
Or, as the weekend crew of The Signal (10 p.m.) put it, "houseguests are like fish, they start to go off after three days." So tonight on the show Pat plays beautiful music to "sit back and chill to," with no obligations other than to listen.
First the choral concert, Byzantine 2007, where UK composer John Tavener collaborated with Greek-Canadian composer Christos Hatzis. Among other compositions, Pat features Hatzis' piece The Troparion of Kassiani, featuring the voice of Patricia Rozario.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 29, 2007 at 09:00 PM
The X Avant Festival is a fest run by The Music Gallery, a real hub for new and improvised music, based in Toronto. Naturally The Signal was there to record some of the music, including the performance you can hear tonight (the show begins at 10 p.m.) by the Madawaska String Quartet.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 28, 2007 at 08:00 PM
For weeks now Pat Carrabré has been having fun looking at Musical Trends of 2007 -- you know, things like SHOUTING, CLAPPING, playing UKULELES, and so on. (Why are they in CAPS? No particular reason, really, it's just that the word SHOUTING always seems to demand that, and the others fell into place.)
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), Pat does a grand count down of all the trends, awarding the one performer or band in 2007 who exploited and used the greatest number of top ten trends in just one song. I really couldn't hazard a guess as to who managed to SHOUT and CLAP and play UKULELE and bring in the BRASS BAND and the NATURE SOUNDS etc. etc. all in one piece.
Unless maybe Feist got together with Ohbijou and National Parcs and Beirut when I wasn't looking?
Posted by Li Robbins on December 27, 2007 at 08:35 PM
There's been quite a buzz in recent months about the band Ohbijou, led by a young singer named Casey Mecija, who have a very au courant sound, with glockenspiels and melodicas and ukuleles turned pop/indie/folk --it's quite charming. And you can hear for yourself tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), as they feature the band.
Also on the show, a concert from the Glenn Gould Studio featuring the music of Gary Kulesha and Michael Hynes.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 26, 2007 at 12:00 AM
I don't know about you, but when I think of Kylie Minogue (which is almost never, except at weddings) my next thought is not, "oh, I hear her all the time on The Signal."
Well, Wednesday night Kylie has her Signal moment, albeit one that has been created by the imaginative guitarist Noel Akchoté.
And on a more expected but equally interesting note, you can also hear Gorecki'sHarpsichord Concerto, recorded live in concert by the Composers Orchestra at Glenn Gould Studio. Let it never be said that The Signal (10 p.m.) walks a musically ordinary path...
btw, can't seem to find a website for Noel Akchoté, but here is an interview with him from SKUG magazine that's a few years old, but quite unbridled, and interesting.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 23, 2007 at 08:00 PM
Composer Arvo Pärt is featured tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), with a piece commissioned by London's Tate Gallery and performed there in 2003, entitled Lamentate. Lamentate is a composition for piano and orchestra, and was inspired by Pärt’s encounter with the enormous sculpture Marsyas, by Bombay-born artist Anish Kapoor. The sculpture is 150 metres long, and it was installed in the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall for a year.
And in case you happen to be listening to the music while reading this -- the piece is three huge steel rings connected by red PVC membrane -- intended, apparently, to suggest blood and the body. Kind of like the opening of the TV series Dexter, but with different elements. But seriously, the sculpture was huge, it dwarfed the viewer, so you may want to have that in your mind's eye as you listen. And of course it also made a huge impression on those who saw it, including Arvo Pärt.
He's been quoted as saying: “My first impression was that I, as a living being, was standing before my own body and was dead – as in a time-warp perspective, at once in the future and the present. ... In this moment I had a strong sense of not being ready to die. And I was moved to ask myself just what I could still manage to accomplish in the time left to me.”
Posted by Li Robbins on December 22, 2007 at 09:00 PM
The Signal (10 p.m.) features music by Philip Glass, Andrew Bird, and Caribou tonight. (For some reason this made me start thinking, Glass, Bird, Caribou, which is a satisfying combination of words. Try it yourself.
Anyway, there is also a feature tonight on Polaris winner Patrick Watson, plus variations for guitar and orchestra by John Corigliano.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 21, 2007 at 08:00 PM
The brass band trend is one that I'm all for -- love the sound of brass in indie bands. And tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) Pat celebrates this trend as the final Top 10 Trend of 2007. So you can hear some of the likely suspects (eg. Beirut) and also Bjork and Emily Haines as they get on the brass bandwagon.
Later in the show, music from Arvo Part, as Pat takes a look at the composer’s legacy.
And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Pat will also be playing a REMIX of Handel's Messiah. Curious to hear that. Certainly one doesn't need to sample and repeat the word "hallelujah," that's pretty much built in.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 20, 2007 at 12:01 AM
Earlier this fall, singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens announced his Christmas song contest, the Great Sufjan Stevens Song Exchange. The deal was you had to write an original Christmas song, and send it into his label, Asthmatic Kitty. They picked a winner, and got rights to the song -- but in exchange, you got rights to a new song by Sufjan.
Apparently they got tons of entries, and when I last glanced at the Asthamatic Kitty (what a name) site, they were on the verge of deciding. But what will the winner do with the Stevens song? Re-gift it, along with the I-didn't-have-a-clue-what-to-get-you-Body Wash and the took-the-easy-out-bottle-of-sweet-liqueur? Doubt it.
Meantime, on The Signal (10 p.m.) on Wednesday night, you can hear selections from Sufjan Stevens's own Songs For Christmas - a five CD set from the prolific Stevens, including several weird and wonderful arrangements of traditional carols.
Also tonight, part two of the Soundstreams Canada Byzantine Festival concert, featuring Michael Oesterle's Big City, Small City and John Tavener's The World. Speaking of the latter composer, I heard the most beautiful Tavener piece a few weeks back, the composition Svyati, from Steven Isserlis Plays The Music of John Tavener. Maybe you already know it, but if not, do listen if you get a chance, very sombre, very beautiful.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 19, 2007 at 12:30 PM
Radio listening habits are funny things. Just as some people seem to listen mostly to weekday radio, but not weekend, or vice versa, I figure some of us listen to daytime, but not evening. So I thought I should sometimes make sure to let you know about music coming up at night in the day. (This is starting to sound like a bad paraphrase of a Cole Porter song...)
Anyway, all that to say that on The Signal (10 p.m.) tonight, you can hear choral music by Eric Whitacre, a composition called Winter, scored for voices and sitar, and performed by The Choral Project. (Not sure who the sitarist is.) And in keeping with the season, the concert music tonight features the music of Michael Oesterle, with sopranos Patricia Rosario and Agnes Zsigovics performing Oesterle's Chaucer Canticles I, and violinist Annalee Patipatanikoon playing In ricordanze in feste.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 18, 2007 at 09:00 PM
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) it's part two of a seasonal piano concert from Barbara Pritchard in Halifax. You can hear Barbara (who does not seem to have a website -- anyone know any different?) performing George Crumb's A Little Suite for Christmas and Ian Crutchley's Nativitas. Also on the show, improvising Neil and Joni -- new music (on CD) from pianist Andy Milne, where he interprets famous (Canadian) songs from the likes of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 17, 2007 at 08:39 PM
As is The Signal's (10 p.m.) wont, Monday's are New Music Mondays and today that means latest music from Colleen who, bizarrely, I heard opening up for Beirut earlier this year...kneeling on stage playing her various instruments, performing for a rather confused seeming but ultimately receptive audience.
And concert material tonight includes music from pianist Barbara Pritchard, recorded live in Halifax at St. Mary's University Art Gallery -- performances of selections from Olivier Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur L'Enfant-Jésus and Peter Togni's O Magnum Mysterium.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 16, 2007 at 08:00 PM
In case you missed this post miles ago when it first went up, here it is again - - closer to broadcast time...
As I'm sure you know, the brilliant composer Karlheinz Stockhausen died recently. Sunday night the weekend edition of The Signal (10 p.m.) honours his genius with an hour-long tribute. I only say "weekend," as I know some of you may have heard Laurie Brown's tribute on the weekday version of the show -- but Pat Carrabré is presenting different pieces of music, as well as his own take on the composer's life and work.
He explores the composer's attitude towards new music in society, as well as how his style evolved over the years, starting with earlier works like Zyklus, composed in the late 50s, and moving onto Klavierstucke XI for piano, and Hymnen, based on national anthems from around the world. Finally, a concert recording of one of Stockhausen's most performed pieces, Zodiac.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 16, 2007 at 12:01 AM
As I'm sure you know, the brilliant composer Karlheinz Stockhausen died recently. Sunday night the weekend edition of The Signal (10 p.m.) honours his genius with an hour-long tribute. I only say "weekend," as I know some of you may have heard Laurie Brown's tribute on the weekday version of the show -- but Pat Carrabré is presenting different pieces of music, as well as his own take on the composer's life and work.
He explores the composer's attitude towards new music in society, as well as how his style evolved over the years, starting with earlier works like Zyklus, composed in the late 50s, and moving onto Klavierstucke XI for piano, and Hymnen, based on national anthems from around the world. Finally, a concert recording of one of Stockhausen's most performed pieces, Zodiac.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 15, 2007 at 08:37 PM
The Signal (10 p.m.) takes a little trip back to the 50s, with a story from poet/musician C.R. Avery that they describe as a little "beat." Then it goes offbeat, heh, with much syncopation and all things percussive at Toronto’s Cool Drummings festival, featuring Nexus - marimba, piano, steel drums and anything else a mallet can smack.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 14, 2007 at 08:02 PM
The Signal (10 p.m.) goes into the wilds for this week’s top ten musical trend - NATURE SOUNDS. Yes, absolutely a trend, right up there with CLAPPING, and SHOUTING, and UKULELES and the rest of the '07 trends that Pat has been duly noting.
Along with the trendometer, Pat also explores Montreal composer Linda Bouchard’s career, and music from Halifax’s I See Rowboats, Vancouver’s sweet Bells Clanging and The Sea And Cake. (Now, this strikes me as another trend, the obscure but evocative titles trend.)
And in the final hour Pat features Newfoundland’s Sound Symposium, with a concert from Parisian composer Olivier Coupille.
Black Angels, and Vox Balaenae (Voice Of The Whale). Both were recorded at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto as part of the concert America And The Black Angel.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 12, 2007 at 12:00 AM
John Kameel Farah is someone who "revels in 16th century keyboard music," and has also been described (by the Toronto Star) to be "re-defining electronica." Clearly the two are not incompatible, and Kameel Farah is known in Toronto circles for performing with all kinds of musicians, playing all kinds of music.
So not a surprise he was voted top keyboardist of 2006 by Now Magazine, which tends towards the populist vote. So there you are. To hear where you are though, tune in Wednesday night to The Signal (10 p.m.) (harpsichord meets laptop!) for a concert recording from the Music Gallery in Toronto -- which also includes a set by Germany's Hauschka.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 11, 2007 at 09:00 PM
Danny Oore is a pianist, writer, filmmaker, juggler, painter and computer animator. (What doesn't he do? Windows, maybe?) Anyway, he also happens to be a sax player and it's in this guise that you can hear him tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.).
The concert was recorded at the 2007 Atlantic Jazz Festival in Halifax, and features Dan Weiss on drums, Matt Brubeck on cello and Christian Koegel on the guitar.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 10, 2007 at 05:21 PM
As you've probably heard, the legendary, groundbreaking, controversial and inspiring composer Karlheinz Stockhausen died on December 5th, 2007. Tonight The Signal (10 p.m.) will present a tribute, with concert performances and selections from his famous vocal work Stimmung, as well as highlights from his early electronic repertoire and interview clips with Stockhausen himself.
There have been any number of obits over the weekend, and I will just point you to a comprehensive list on ANAblog for that. But but I'd also like to point you to some music before The Signal gets underway -- the mid-1950s electronic work Gesang der Jünglinge. It's like walking in a forest of sound...and presages much sampling to come in all forms of music.
Also, a colleague forwarded me the official press release that was sent out following Stockhausen's death, and it is, well, "unusual" might be the best way of describing it. Perhaps it's the translation into English, I couldn't say. See for yourself in Continue Reading, below.
But before I get to that, one other quick note about tonight's Signal broadcast -- you can also hear the "long lost" piece by John Cage, Dance Music for Elfrid Ide which he wrote in 1940, but filed away. Nearly sixty-five years after it was originally written, it was revived by Vancouver's Fringe Ensemble, who performed the Canadian premiere of this work as part of an all-night event sponsored by the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 9, 2007 at 08:00 PM
Tonight The Signal (10 p.m.) features a concert from Victoria by the new music ensemble, Aventa. They're presenting the Canadian premiere of Pierre Boulez piece called Derive II. Here's what Aventa say about the piece:
"Drawing on influences of Ligeti and Nancarrow, Dérive II revolves around the phenomenon of periodicity and the way we perceive. In this work Boulez overlays several differently structured periodic processes, which blithely intersect, concealing their periodicity rather than revealing it."
And they go on to say that the piece has been described (by Anne Ozorio of Seen and Heard International) as "surprisingly sensual music, exquisitely vivid and expressive with lyrical passages where snatches of near-melody flit past, tantalizingly elusive."
Posted by Li Robbins on December 8, 2007 at 07:30 PM
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) it’s a very special concert by multi instrumentalist Anthony Braxton, who conducts an orchestra of Toronto musicians...also, music from Hauschka, Torngat, Ween, Quebec songstress Gaele, and a track from Montreal’s Plants and Animals.
Plants and Animals (on Secret City Records, same label as Polaris winner Patrick Watson) are going to release their first full length CD, Parc Avenue (can you tell they're from Montreal?) in the new year, btw. I imagine the track Pat is playing tonight is from their EP that came out in the fall, described by Exclaim! Mag as, “powerful yet gentle, profound yet unpretentious, this is the kind of stuff that can make people cry and fist pump at the same time.”
I have to say, crying and fist pumping at the same time has never been that big a draw for me, but I like the music on the EP too. It made me want to sit down and listen -- at the same time! (Sorry, Exclaim!, feel free to rag about something I've written any old time.)
Posted by Li Robbins on December 7, 2007 at 05:00 PM
I knew it was only a matter of time before the weekend edition of The Signal (10 p.m.) got to one of my favourite trends of 2007, what they describe as "the lowly uke." Now, I would only take issue with that word "lowly." Even though I have been guilty of having a little fun with uke obsession myself, I actually really love the sound of the instrument.
Anyway, quibbling over language aside, tonight Pat Carrabré takes a look at the ukulele in some of its recent, revivalist glory.
btw, in terms of traditional uke playing, you should check out Canadian ukulelist James Hill's concert online here at Radio 2's Concerts On Demand. It's a peach.
P.S. In case you're wondering who the lady with the uke is, it's actress Amy Gordon.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 6, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Thursday night on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear music from the Esprit Orchestra's 25th Anniversary Gala, recorded at the St. Lawrence Centre in Toronto. It's a live performance of Sinfonia by Dutch composer Tristan Keuris, and Overtime by Canadian composer John Rea, celebrating the 25th year of Canada's premiere contemporary orchestra.
Allow me to quote one of our own -- Radio 2's Robert Harris -- writing in the Globe, about the Esprit:
"It's time to put aside ancient prejudices about 'new' music and taste the delicious range of musical art being produced today. And there's no better place to do so than with the Esprit Orchestra, Canada's only orchestra devoted to contemporary and new music. Expand your horizons. You won't regret it."
Posted by Li Robbins on December 5, 2007 at 08:00 PM
The Signal (10 p.m.) describes The Inhabitants as "purveyors of post-rock/amplified jazz goodness." To find out what they mean by that -- tune in tonight for a concert recording.
But in the meantime, here's what I can tell you about them. They're a four-man instrumental band from Vancouver, with a sound that's shaped (among other things) by trumpet and trumpet effects. All of these musicians are active in Vancouver's music scene, so you may have heard them with bands like Fond of Tigers, the Veda Hille Band, etc. and in collaborations with people like François Houle and Peggy Lee.
Down Beat magazine apparently described their debut self-titled CD of a few years back as "an aural introduction to a dream." Which, if the music on The Inhabitants MySpace site is anything to go by, is not a bad description at all.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 4, 2007 at 07:00 PM
Way earlier today some of us got our knickers in a knot over Christmas music -- specifically, The Little Drummer Boy and I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, two songs Tom Allen invited listeners to "vote off the island" as it were, in a Cage Match.
Thankfully there is some Christmas music that does not tend to arouse this degree of ire. It's a subjective, personal thing of course, but I'll go out on a limb here (a very scrawny, Charlie Brown Christmas tree type limb) and say that I think that Vince Guaraldi's music, composed for that show, is usually better received. OK, I like it. There, it's OTR.
But did you know that the drummer for that music was Halifax-based Jerry Granelli? Yes? Well, guess you actually don't learn something new every day. But if you didn't know, that trivia might interest you. Either way you can hear Granelli tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) in a completely different context, with his group, (named for the power of a tour bus), The V16 Project.
The concert is Granelli with guitarists Christian Koegel and David Tronzo, and bass guitarist J Anthony Granelli in a performance recorded live at the 2007 Atlantic Jazz Festival in Halifax.
Posted by Li Robbins on December 3, 2007 at 08:20 PM
It's Monday, the beginning of a week that launched itself, in my neck of the woods, with snow then ice then rain. Tonight, appropriately enough, you can hear some music that the folks at The Signal (10 p.m.) describe as "wintery improvised music perfect for the wee hours."
This includes the latest recording from Chris Gestrin and Wayne Horvitz. Also highlights from an intense and passionate concert by the Art of Time Ensemble -- Allen Ginsberg's Howl narrated by Ted Dykstra, plus songs by Woody Guthrie performed by Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson of The Skydiggers. (btw, Andy and Josh are just about to perform another show with Art of Time, called Source and Inspiration ll, coming up in mid-December.)
Posted by Li Robbins on December 2, 2007 at 07:30 PM
The weekend's Vancouver city profile on The Signal (10 p.m.) comes to an end tonight. Pat plays music from composers Jocelyn Morlock, Jesse Zubot, Veda Hille, Jeff Ryan and Owen Underhill. Also, you can hear composer Bradshaw Pack's work in a concert by the Turning Point Ensemble.
Alex Varty at The Georgia Straight talked to Pack about the collaboration with the Turning Point Ensemble, and the composition The Madonna in the Banana Leaves, in an article called Passionate Logic. You may want to read that to accompany your listening!
Posted by Li Robbins on December 1, 2007 at 09:00 PM
You know, I think I failed to mention that this is VANCOUVER weekend, all weekend on The Signal (10 p.m.) Tonight, Pat gets on the horn with with Vancouver musicians Jason Zumpano and Carla Gillis. (As opposed to sitting across the table them and talking into mics, that kind of horn.)
Plus a Pete Samples give-a-way and a concert broadcast featuring the work of Milton Barnes and Keon Birney. All that, and as they say, much, much more.
Posted by Li Robbins on November 30, 2007 at 07:30 PM
Pat continues his exploration of 2007’s top musical trends tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.). I was wondering when he'd get to this one...the harp. (Can you say, Joanna Newsom?) And I know this made the rounds a while ago, but it is a propos, at least, if you're of a certain snarky frame of mind -- a "letter" from Newsom's harp to Idolator. OK, Newsom fans, take a deep breath...
Also on the show, music from Vancouver -- with an overview of the work by iconoclast singer songwriter Veda Hille. And new music from P:ano, Francois Houle, and Prairie Cat, and a concert performance of Elizabeth Knudson'sYarilo. Knudson, btw, has been composing since "at least the age of two." Hmm, so was I, come to think of it, if random humming and burbling can be considered composition. Something tells me she might mean something a little more specific though...
Posted by Li Robbins on November 29, 2007 at 09:07 AM
There's something about that phrase, isn't there? It immediately conjures mystery, exploration, and inspiration. At least this is true for Laurie Brown on The Signal. And Wednesday night this comes true musically, with a performance of Montreal composer Michael Oesterle'sThe Agate Rosary, by pianist Jean Saulnier and cellist Yegor Dyachkov.
The Agate Rosary is based on the story of Galileo Galilei and his daughter, Sister Maria Celeste, who refused his gift of an agate rosary because of her vow of poverty. Her gift to Galileo was to share her ideas of the wonders of the universe from her cloistered world.
Note: this special broadcast is in hour two of the program, along with music from Gavin Bryars and Vincent Ho.
Posted by Li Robbins on November 28, 2007 at 12:00 AM
The Signal (10 p.m.) broadcasts music Wednesday night from the 2007 X Avant Festival at the Music Gallery in Toronto. It's cross-border improvisation, with New York saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa and Toronto bassist Rich Brown.
Rudresh incorporates the musical culture of his Indian ancestry (among myriad influences) into his music, and has so many musical ideas that he leads or co-leads seven, count 'em seven groups. He's been getting quite a bit of attention "stateside," as they used to say -- he was named "Rising Star" on alto by the Downbeat International Critics Poll for the past four years.
And Rich, well, if you follow the Canadian music scene you'll know his playing -- he plays with Autorickshaw, has worked with artists from (formely) Jane Siberry to Steve Coleman -- he's a great bass player. Here's a nice line from Rich: "I wanted to sing like Stevie, play like Miles, and phrase like Scofield and do it all on the same instrument."
Posted by Li Robbins on November 27, 2007 at 12:01 AM
I suspect it's probably time to stop identifying Emily Haines via her Metric and Broken Social Scene cred, strikes me these days that she's just as known for her own solo work. Case in point, the concert being broadcast Tuesday night on The Signal (10 p.m.) which wowed 'em at the 2007 Hillside Folk Fest. OK, so next time, no BSS/Metric references, promise.
Meantime, I like what Robert Wyatt (Soft Machine/writer/activist) had to say in the liner notes for her solo recording that got such a (deservedly) positive response, Knives Don't Have Your Back. In fact I like it enough that here it is, verbatim:
"Haines doesn't take a predictable route to the inside of your head. No grandstanding. She's a true daughter of the revolution, and has inherited wisdom beyond her years. So how does she reach us? By quietly closing the stage door behind her, dodging the limelight glare for now. She slips around the edge of the stage, almost disappears, keeps to the shadows like her parents taught her, then is suddenly positioned right beside your ear. She's speaking your language but don't be so sure you know what she's thinking - this might be all in code. She's drawn in breath and drawn you in, too. You're hooked but it's not her fault; maybe she was just saying 'Hello.'"
-Robert Wyatt
And not, of course, to steer you away from the radio broadcast, but in case you can't tune in (maybe you're sleeping or comparison shopping for snow shovels or something, whatever, people's lives have their own rhythms), I did want to point out that this performance is also available as a Concert On Demand.
Posted by Li Robbins on November 26, 2007 at 07:20 PM
...continue on The Signal (10 p.m.) with brand new recordings from Akron/Family, 230 Divisadero. The latter is one of those bands whose website features a (non-music related) trend I'm all in favour of -- that I'm just calling The Photo Of The Forest. (I'll have to start keeping a list and pass it over to Pat on the weekends for his next "trends roundup.")
But back to music. Also on tonight's show, a group of people who had an idea for a movie score for a movie that already existed -- and so they went ahead and created their own. They're known as The Valerie Project, and they created an alternate score to an avant-garde Czech film: Jaromil Jires' Valerie and Her Week of Wonders.
One other highlight to mention, flutist Catherine Potter leading the Duniya Project with a live recording of the group, her original fusion of North Indian classical music with jazz/contemporary composition.
Say, why exactly have bands/ensembles/groups become "projects," anyway? Is the term more open, more all-inclusive? I'm open...to explanations...
And I recall the last time the Duniya Project was broadcast on CBC R2, the response was very positive, so if you get a chance, do tune in.
Posted by Li Robbins on November 25, 2007 at 09:10 PM
Actually, more of a Signal bulletin, just to alert you to the fact that the show celebrates the music of Bali tonight. Or at least, music inspired by Bali to be more accurate, with music composed by Colin McPhee, Alexina Louie, Marcel Bergman and others.
Posted by Li Robbins on November 23, 2007 at 07:30 PM
The weekend Signal has been exploring musical trends of 2007, you know, clapping and the like. Tonight it's SHOUTING! (Remember how when email was in its infancy people would warn you off using CAPS because they said it was like being "shouted at?" Well, I'm not a fan of it in correspondence, music or real life -- though I'm curious as to which musical examples Pat will play tonight.)
But of course the entire show will not be devoted to music with SHOUTING, there's also a special guest appearance by Christine Fellows, whose new recording, Nevertheless, came out earlier this month. I believe it features that great song of hers that rhymes "renaissance collage" with something about a lobster and a homage. Homage and collage, I mean. Anyway, Christine drops by The Signal's Wpg. studios to chat and play D.J.
And one last feature to mention -- a look at the music of Toronto’s Sandro Perri, a.k.a. Polmo Polpo.
Posted by Li Robbins on November 22, 2007 at 08:00 PM
Maybe the Upstream Music Association was named for the effort and energy required to swim against the current of everyday music-making. No question that for many music organizations this is the reality...
But that tenacity and dedication pays off, as you can hear tonight on The Signal, when Artistic Director Paul Cram leads the Upstream Orchestra in a concert at the aptly named Sonic Courage Festival in Halifax. (btw, there's a nice piece on the 2006 version of the fest at Halifax writer/musican's Stephen Patrick Clare's Notes from the Underground.)
A highlight: the live recording of the world premiere of Without Roots conducted by composer Harris Eisenstadt.
Posted by Li Robbins on November 21, 2007 at 12:01 AM
Consider yourself warned! Tune in and turn up, to hear Vancouver's 4-piece instrumental jazz/post-rock group The Inhabitants the way they were meant to be heard, loud. The performance, braodcast Wednesday night on The Signal at 10 p.m., is from a live concert recorded at the 2007 Guelph Jazz Festival, replete with snarling guitars, rumbling bass, and distorted trumpet.
Now to some singing of their praises:
The Georgia Straight called them “nothing short of spectacular,” and the 2006 Moers Festival in Germany described the quartet as “the most exciting new band in Canada.”
Blog reader Mike Lewis wrote in not long ago, saying he'd heard Braxton speak at Guelph, and I'd just like to excerpt what he had to say about that:
"He's intensely analytical and his playing can seem cerebral and abstract, but he's one of the warmest people I've ever encountered. He made a great point with something along the lines of, 'I used to think I knew it all and now I realize how much I don't know. So I'm just a student like all of you.'"
Seems an attitude that would benefit many to adopt...
Posted by Li Robbins on November 19, 2007 at 07:09 PM
Take baroque harpsichord, add some laptop-generated loops and rhythms, what do you have? A collaboration between Canada's John Kameel Farah (said by the The Toronto Star, to be "redefining electronica") and Germany’s Volker Bertelmann, a.k.a. Hauschka (the prepared piano guy). It's part of The Signal's broadcast (10 p.m.) of highlights from a concert recorded at the Music Gallery in Toronto.
Speaking of pianos, and their occasional evolution, did you see the picture of the black & white, 16-foot grand designed by architect Daniel Libeskind for the Royal Ontario Museum's "Crystal" space? Here's the Globe and Mail piece about it, In the Key of Libsekind, and Blog TO's entry - a better image. Pretty wild. In my opinion almost anything would make the controversial Crystal more interesting -- were I of the beat generation, upon entering for the first time after hearing all the hype, my response would have been, "Dullsville." So I look forward to the piano, though thousands do not.
Posted by Li Robbins on November 18, 2007 at 08:03 PM
A rather international lineup tonight on The Signal, with music from the quartet Amiina, plus some (yup, you guessed it), music from Bjork.
Back in Canada, music from Montreal’s Bell Orchestre, and a concert by the University Voices from Montreal, including performances of James Rolfe'sWhen Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd and John Estacio'sEulogies.
And leaping back to the other side, some music from the Latvian Radio Chamber Singers, performing Andris Dzenitis' Les livres de ton silence: Unfinished Symphony.
Posted by Li Robbins on November 17, 2007 at 08:10 PM
Tonight on The Signal, at 10 p.m., a broadcast of the collaboration between Sarah Sleane and the Art of Time Ensemble, performing music composed by some of Canada’s most eloquent men – like Leonard Cohen and Ron Sexsmith. btw, not to make you steer away from your radio --never! -- but this concert is also available online as a Concert On Demand.
Also, while we're on the subject of Concerts On Demand, or "CoD's" as we affectionately call them in blogland, there are a bunch of new shows that have recently been added, including one from singer-songwriter/jazz chanteuse, Lori Cullen, performing with a biggish band including members of True North Brass.
OK, now I'm feeling that I'm neglecting The Signal though, not my intention.So I should say, aside from The Sleane/Art of Time concert, Pat is also playing a bunch of new discs, from artists like Kristin Hersh, Sandro Perri, Prefuse 73 and Japancakes.
Posted by Li Robbins on November 16, 2007 at 07:00 PM
Mark Mothersbaugh has had a pretty fascinating musical career to date -- known for the "anti-music" of his band Devo, the music of Pee Wee's Playhouse, and of course the film scores for the terminally "wacky" and "quirky" director Wes Anderson. (Sorry, just not a huge fan. Some of my friends are though, but all of them are home watching their Wes Anderson DVDs for the millionth time right now, so think I'm safe.) Anyway, that's no slight against Mothersbaugh's music, and tonight you can hear some of it on The Signal. (10 p.m.)
Also, the show continues its ongoing look at top indie/arty trends of 2007. So far they've done clapping and whistling and another one I'm forgetting (the glockenspiel?), this week, it's CHOIRS!
And one final highlight on The Signal tonight I wanted to point out -- a concert recording of Toronto's Art of Time Ensemble performing a signature piece from Christos Hatzis, Old Photographs.
Posted by Li Robbins on November 15, 2007 at 08:30 PM
Pioneering guitarist Fred Frith is on The Signal tonight,(10 p.m.) from a concert recorded at the Music Gallery. He's playing with two hometown musicians, cellist Anne Bourne and saxophonist John Oswald. And if you can't make a date with your radio, this concert is also available as a Concert On Demand.
Posted by Li Robbins on November 14, 2007 at 12:01 AM
Wednesday night's edition of The Signal includes some new music from from Buck 65, The Inhabitants, Efterklang, and Fond of Tigers. Now, Vancouver's Fond Of Tigers, who call their music Experimental/Jazz/Progressive (and have a hilarious picture of the band on their MySpace site -- the last link) seem to elicit strong love/hate type reactions, sometimes even in the same magazine, this case, two reviews, mere months apart, in The Nerve Magazine. (Not, obviously, the same writer...)
Posted by Li Robbins on November 13, 2007 at 09:00 PM
There is more to union music than Union Maid, as proved tonight on The Signal, with Louis Andriessen's piece Worker's Union - a symphonic movement for "any loud sounding group of instruments." That gives performers a lot of leeway. (In this incarnation it's performed by the McGill Percussion Ensemble, but just think, presumably it could be for anything, bucket drummers, tubas, ukulele orch., anything)
Anyway, Andriessen says of the piece, "Only in the case that every player plays with such an intention that his part is an essential one, the work will succeed; just as in the political work." (Perhaps this explains why so frequently political work fails?)
Posted by Li Robbins on November 12, 2007 at 08:31 PM
One more consideration of the theme of war in music tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown. In this case, music on the theme of remembrance from jazz pianist Vijay Iyer and musings on the nature of war and peace by Ryuichi Sakamoto.
The show also plays three pieces commissioned by the CBC about a very different kind of remembering, in this case the musical and philosophical contributions of the great Glenn Gould. Canadian composers Louis Dufort, Chantale Laplante, and Martin Tetreault speak about the influence Gould has had on their music.
Posted by Li Robbins on November 11, 2007 at 01:00 PM
Just a reminder of some Remembrance Day programming coming up later today...on Canada Live, a concert called Of War and Peace, featuring Canadian baritone Russell Braun and Canadian soprano Monica Whicher, performing a programme featuring songs by Mahler, Britten, Morawetz, Pete Seeger, Jacques Brel and Sting.
This is followed by America and the Black Angel, a concert opening with Black Angels, a string quartet inspired by the Vietnam War as “a parable on our troubled contemporary world” by George Crumb, performed by the Art of Time ensemble.
Also, Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson sing protest songs by Dylan and Pete Seeger, and Ted Dykstra narrates Allen Ginsberg’s iconic 1955 poem Howl, in a new CBC commission from Jonathan Goldsmith.
And finally, the Sunday night broadcast of The Signal explores music that honours those who fought -- and the lives of those not lucky enough to have returned from battle. Music featuring Canadian composer Oscar Morawetz, Coleen, The Most Serene Republic and a concert by John Kameel Farah and Hauschka. The evening will end with the epic piece An American Requiem by Richard Danielpour, which celebrates life -- and the afterlife.
Posted by Li Robbins on November 10, 2007 at 08:58 PM
Not a menu fixe, no, tonight The Signal is a la carte, with selections from all over their musical menu. There's the Art of Time Ensemble in concert with Sarah Slean, Andy Maize, Martin Tielli, and John Southworth.
There's a world premiere of The WoodhandsDancer remix. And host Pat Carrabré also plays new music from Radiohead, PJ Harvey and Christine Fellows.
Posted by Li Robbins on November 9, 2007 at 03:00 AM
Growing up with folkies as parents ensures a number of things. You develop a taste for jazz. (Sorry, parents, couldn't resist.) You can sing basic harmonies, most of the time. And you experience the power of song as a way of rallying people.
Having marched (or been dragged/carried, I was very young) along with thousands of people singing against one war, I can appreciate that it isn't only bagpipes that can cause other hearts to quake. Not being snarky about out-of-tune singing either -- people singing together can feel like a pure expression of humanity.
But do songs of protest -- specifically against war, or in response to war -- make any actual, tangible difference, quaking aside? Do they make governments or politicians or even individuals change their minds about involvement in war? I think not.
Over at the "Your View" section of CBC's website, there's an in-depth feature about how musicians have responded to war through songs -- and many people have chimed in with war-related music to add to that list.
But for all those songs, some of them great and moving, it still leaves me wondering whether we should even expect songs written about or against war to have any tangible impact. But maybe that's not the point. What SHOULD music written about war do? Should it indeed "do" anything? I'd be curious to know what you think.
My best hope is that now, with the days of mass anti-war rallying seemingly in the past, music can at least provide an opportunity for deeper reflection. And that's a valuable thing in itself -- in fact for me that's really what Remembrance Day is about. Not protest, and certainly not glorification.
On Radio 2, Remembrance Day programming begins on Friday, with Here's To You, playing Remembrance Day requests, including: Jenkins' Benedictus from Armed Man - A Mass for Peace.
And on Studio Sparks, music written for a day of remembrance by Kingston, Ontario composer, John Burge -- two movements from his work, Flanders Fields Reflections.
Friday evening The Signal broadcasts Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, which he wrote while imprisoned in a concentration camp.
On Saturday morning on The Vinyl Cafe, host Stuart McLean's special musical guests are Martha Wainwright and John McDermott, and he tells the story of how Dave, while renovating his house, finds a postcard of an old soldier caught between the walls.
Then Rick Phillips plays a recording of music composed by inmates in the Terezin concentration camp, that's on Sound Advice.
On Sunday -- the 11th -- on In The Key Of Charles, Gregory Charles plays music inspired by war: renaissance polyphony by Clément Janequin, symphonic poems by Franz Liszt and Gustav Holst, contemporary choral music by Stephen Chatman and David del Tredici, and pop songs featuring Edith Piaf, Harry Nilsson, Sting and others.
Later on Sunday, on Canada Live, a concert called Of War and Peace, featuring Canadian baritone Russell Braun and Canadian soprano Monica Whicher, performing a programme featuring songs by Mahler, Britten, Morawetz, Pete Seeger, Jacques Brel and Sting.
This is followed by America and the Black Angel, a concert opening with Black Angels, a string quartet inspired by the Vietnam War as “a parable on our troubled contemporary world” by George Crumb, performed by the Art of Time ensemble.
Also, Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson sing protest songs by Dylan and Pete Seeger, and Ted Dykstra narrates Allen Ginsberg’s iconic 1955 poem Howl, in a new CBC commission from Jonathan Goldsmith.
And finally, the Sunday night broadcast of The Signal explores music that honours those who fought -- and the lives of those not lucky enough to have returned from battle. Music featuring Canadian composer Oscar Morawetz, Coleen, The Most Serene Republic and a concert by John Kameel Farah and Hauschka. The evening will end with the epic piece An American Requiem by Richard Danielpour, which celebrates life -- and the afterlife.
Posted by Li Robbins on November 8, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Thursday night on The Signal (10pm) you can hear the the 25th anniversary concert performed by the Esprit Orchestra, the only orchestra in Canada exclusively devoted to commissioning, performing and promoting new orchestral music.
Two works were performed at the gala event: Alexina Louie's Shattered Night, Shivering Stars, and Portals Of Intent, composed by the Esprit Orchestra's conductor and music director Alex Pauk.
Showtime Mag's blog, reviewing the gala said: "These performances demonstrate once again, that there is no limit to the load Alex Pauk will shoulder in order to bring music he considers worthwhile in full scale display to his public."
Posted by Li Robbins on November 7, 2007 at 12:00 AM
I've written about the Guelph Jazz Fest before, and recall that at least one person commented on that post, saying it would be nice to hear some of the music I was talking about on CBC R2. Of course you can, from time to time on shows like Canada Live and The Signal.
Posted by Li Robbins on November 6, 2007 at 12:00 AM
The Duniya Project is a Montreal based group that blends North Indian classical music, jazz and "contemporary sounds." (That gives them a lot of leeway...)
It's led by the flutist, Catherine Potter, a disciple of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, a very respected musician from India, who calls the flute, "the symbol of the spiritual call," as I've mentioned before. (As a former flute player I find that an intriguing idea...though I'm pretty certain my flute playing was not in that sphere.)
But back to the Duniya Project, along with Catherine, the ensemble is made up of tabla-player Subir Dev, guitarist Joy Anandasivam, double-bassist Nicolas Caloia, and drummer Thom Gossage.
This concert, being broadcast on The Signal on Tuesday night was recorded live in concert at the 2007 Guelph Jazz Festival. What I've heard on CD is quite lovely, atmospheric but still sometimes at times dramatic -- I expect this concert reflects that sensibility too, though I've not yet heard. Let me know what you think, if you're able to tune in.
Posted by Li Robbins on November 5, 2007 at 09:00 PM
As well as the Canada Live broadcast earlier, featuring some of Canadian composer Gary Kulesha's work, tonight on The Signal you can hear his piece inspired by filmmaker Peter Greenaway's speculation on the kinds of books that Prospero might have taken with him when he was exiled in Shakespeare's play, The Tempest.
Kulesha's work is called The Book Of Mirrors, and is performed by Toca Loca, who claim to be "saving the world one 14/37 measure at a time." Well, someone has to, right?
Posted by Li Robbins on November 5, 2007 at 11:00 AM
Studio Sparks meets The Signal today, as Laurie Brown drops in on Eric during a trip to Ottawa, bearing music from The Signal's vast library. Actually, I don't know that they have a vast library, having only been on the air for a relatively brief period of time, but they certainly have an eclectic one. I look forward to hearing what Laurie brings in for S'Sparks listeners to enjoy...
Posted by Li Robbins on November 4, 2007 at 08:34 PM
Au revoir, Montreal! Tonight The Signal concludes its first in a series exploring Canada's cities, musically, with some music from performance artist D. Kimm, and music from musicians Tim Hecker, Matt Haimovitz, Veronika Krausas and Denis Gougeon.
Now, that Montreal is a musical town is not news. In fact, it became such a suchness in reportage south of the border, (most famously the 2005 New York Times piece, which got everyone in quite a lather) waxing enthusiastic about the scene, that for a while there was almost a backlash, people refuting the notion it was all one big happy musical family, any more than any other town with plenty of talent.
But that's the thing, there is plenty yof talent, and there are plently of people blogging about that talent, and/or life in the city of Montreal. Fer' instance:
The Signal's Montreal city profile continues Saturday night, the thought of which gives me an instant craving for a bagel and lox. (Not such a fan of smoked meat, myself, though I know some who say that a cherry coke and a smoked meat sandwich are as close to heaven as one can get. Perhaps followed by poutine?)
Anyway, moving away from the undeniably appealing food specialties of the city, there is much to whet the musical appetites too, as you can hear tonight, with brand new music from Plants and Animals, Orillia Opry, Jean Derome and a Signal fave, National Parcs.
Also, a reprise of a concert with Parmela Attariwala's Attar Project, recorded in Montreal.
Even that lox cream cheese would do, it doesn't have to be actual lox. Sigh. Why can't people make Montreal bagels, everywhere?
The Signal (10pm) has a new series that begins tonight, a profile of cities, starting with Montreal. Montreal songwriter & ukuleleist Krista Muir (who used to go by the delightful stage name of Lederhosen Lucil) calls in to chat with Pat about the scene, and there's new music from Snailhouse, Sunset Rubdown, Robert Normandeau and SoCalled.
Plus, Pat takes a look at another one of the Top Ten Trends -- last week it was clapping, this week, whistling. Funny, I don't feel I've heard that much whistling, at least, not compared to all the peppy clapping that goes in in indie music...but maybe I've just been too busy clapping to notice. Anyway, Pat will dissect the trend tonight.
Yeah yeah yeah, I hear you say, but what about the free stuff?
OK, so here's the deal. The Signal's very first give away is tonight, but that's really all I can tell you about it. You'll just have to tune in to find out what you can get, and how. Who knows, maybe you have to whistle. You know how to whistle, don't you? You just put your lips together -- and blow.
A quick reminder that the world premiere of Canadian composer Christos Hatzis's composition, Tongues Of Fire, will be broadcast tonight on The Signal. It's a concerto for percussion and orchestra based on the theme of the emotional and psychological states of Christ's disciples during the early days of the church.
Musically it sounds typically Hatzis -- that is to say it's informed by a unique combination of diverse styles, in this case including 1960s rock and pop, and traditional songs of the American south.
Hatzis has said that among other things, the composition is "a reflection on the turbulent times that we live in presently and our desperate search for some semblance of structure in the midst of ever growing discontinuity and fragmentation."
This is what Canadian composer Christos Hatzis says he is trying to accomplish with his music:
"I am trying to force a tiny opening in the clouds that will allow His Light to shine through. At best, I am a follower, not a master, and my MASTER holds the patterns and patents of my being and work."
This perspective on music, on life, is reflected Thursday night on The Signal, with a concert from the Scotia Festival of Music in Halifax. It's the world premiere of Hatzis' Tongues Of Fire - a concerto for percussion and orchestra based on the theme of the emotional and psychological states of Christ's disciples during the early days of the church.
This isn't to say the music will sound like most ideas of traditional church music -- this work was influenced by diverse styles, including 1960s rock and pop, and traditional songs of the American south.
Hatzis says that among other things, the composition is "a reflection on the turbulent times that we live in presently and our desperate search for some semblance of structure in the midst of ever growing discontinuity and fragmentation."
Hillside is an immensely popular folk festival in Guelph, Ontario, and tonight The Signal broadcasts some performances from the main stage, featuring the Toronto-based band Do Make Say Think, and singer/pianist Emily Haines.
And some Halloween-related music, (though the trick or treaters should be in bed by time of broadcast, stomachs aching slightly), with what the show describes as "scary music from Bjork, horrifying organ music from John Zorn, and the terrifying tale of a werewolf from Coco Rosie." Yikes!
Because of the mysterious ways of a website, I first posted this many hours ago, and am afeared that you might have missed this info about a very interesting broadcast on The Signal tonight, so I draw it to your attention now.
It features the piano duo (and married couple) of Elizabeth and Marcel Bergmann performing the music of Colin McPhee, which in turn is inspired by the music of Indonesia. (A quick note on the Bergmanns -- the publication Music And Vision said: "...[They] play as one pianist with a supernatural sense of ensemble. They are both superb musicians and pianists able to infuse music with genuine, deeply felt expression." So there you go.)
As for the music, Montreal-born composer and ethnomusicologist Colin McPhee's famous interest the gamelan of Bali, (a large ensemble of tuned gongs etc.), began in the 1930s, when he travelled to Indonesia and ended up staying there for some years, studying the music and composing. This concert explores some of the Balinese music that McPhee transcribed for two pianos (and subsequently recorded with Benjamin Britten). I guess that would make it very old indeed, all though playing it on two pianos? Anyway, the old/new question is ultimately of less consequence than the music, and what you think of that.
And there is indeed more music on this broadcast -- you can also hear a fusion of Balinese and Carribean music with the late John Wyre's composition Island of Silence, performed by the Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan with guest Graham Hargrove on steel drum.
When it comes to music, it's hard to tell, isn't it -- what's new, what's old, and how old is it if it's been used as part of contemporary composition? That's pretty much the story on Tuesday night's concert broadcast featuring highlights from a programme called Ancient Cultures/New Sounds. You can hear it on The Signal, and it was originally recorded at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.
And it's also time for Older But Vital Jazz Monday's too, with a studio session from Montreal bassist Normand Guilbault and his tribute to Charles Mingus, The Mingus Project.
Pat Carrabré features a concert by Canadian pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico playing music mostly by David Mott,the Canadian composer, baritone saxophonist, improviser and Quigong master. (Also my former composition teacher, way back in the weeds of time, and a very nice man to boot.)
Mott compositions featured include Tango Under the Winter Moon and Dark Masque Masks.
Did I mention that's on The Signal? Now I have. My work is done. For the moment. À demain!
I kind of forgot this is Halloween weekend. It's an annual absent mindedness. I don't view it as any great weakness though, and haven't since it began at around the age of 15. The only thing I honestly miss about Halloween are those little molasses kisses in orange wrappers, which have become increasingly difficult to find. (And if you do find them they are usually so wizened and desiccated you just know your dentist is already shaking his head in despair.)
But the musical reminder provided by The Signal tonight is another matter -- in honour of the day they're broadcasting Ghost Opera, by composer Tan Dun – featuring the Kronos Quartet. It's a five-movement work for string quartet, pipa, water, metal, stones, and paper. Apparently inspired by memories of shamanistic "ghost operas" of Chinese peasant culture -- a tradition that's about 4,000 years old -- it explores the idea of humans and spirits of the future and the past communing.
I was so glad to see that tonight Pat Carrabré looks into the appealing and yet bordering on annoying trend of clapping. Not random clapping on city streets. Not children returning to games of a more innocent time. This trendoid clapping is the slightly goofy clapping in indie music. (Like Feist, not sure who else they're playing but there's tons of examples of that peppy clapping going on.)
Actually I confess I kind of like it, it's just that it's veering towards being overdone, just as the glockenspiel is bordering on being played too much, and grown women singing like little girls is ditto. (Funny, I never tire of palmas, the clapping in flamenco. But maybe that's because it's never cute, and it's such an essential part of the sound.)
A few other notes about The Signal tonight though -- they'll also be playing music from Vancouver’s Prairie Cat, brand new music from Buck 65, and a Vertical Sampling of Montreal guitarist/composer Tim Brady's career to date.
A funny thing about blogs. If you post something in, say, the wee hours of the morning, by this time of day it has essentially gone the way of the dodo.
So in case you missed this much earlier post, here is the nut of it. Tonight The Signal broadcasts a concert they're calling "virtuoso violin meets country fiddle," a bit tongue-in-cheek, methinks, since they're talking about contemporary Western composition meeting South Asian improvisation.
Parmela describes what The Attar Project is all about like this: "The Attar Project as a 'band' name is for projects that seek intersections between seemingly disparate musical genres and that push the boundaries of collaborative possibilities."
Maybe more than any other instrument, the violin seems to have two distinct images -- usually represented by classical/jazz (the violin) vs. folk/roots (the fiddle). Same instrument, different music. But more to the point, sometimes it seems that depending on the kind of music, there are different perceptions of the instrument's gravitas, if I may use the Latin. Of course I may, since no one is here to stop me. (But am I using it correctly? I trust that if I am not and there is a Latin scholar among you I will be duly notified, thank you in advance.)
But back to the topic at hand. If you listen to any great country fiddler you know just how virtuosic the music can be, whatever you want to call the instrument. Still, tonight, when The Signal broadcasts a concert they're calling "virtuoso violin meets country fiddle" the "divide" takes on a whole new shade of meeting. In this case it's contemporary Western composition meets South Asian improvisation with The Attar Project, featuring violinist Parmela Attariwala, and tabla player Shawn Mativetsky recorded live in concert in Montreal.
Parmela describes what The Attar Project is all about like this: "The Attar Project as a 'band' name is for projects that seek intersections between seemingly disparate musical genres and that push the boundaries of collaborative possibilities."
Patti Schmidt, host of the new R2 programme, Inside The Music, in performance! Well, reciting poetry, at any rate, as part of a live concert recorded at Pollack Hall in Montreal, broadcast tonight on The Signal.
It features (more clarinet music!) clarinetist Lori Freedman, who as you probably know is one of the more adventurous clarinetists in the world, (as well as being a composer) and Patti reciting the words of the Ancient Greek lyric poet Sappho -- as part of Freedman's improvisations.
The Signal celebrates the latest generation of songsmiths in their explorations of "technology, strange sounds, and new philosophies" tonight -- as Laurie plays new and soon-to-be-released albums from Beirut, Christine Fellows, and Sandro Perri.
I would say "new philosophies," (or perhaps the ever revolving cycles of philosophies and music) have much to do with the work of these artists. In the case of Beirut, it's the idea that what has been thought of as "world music" for most of the past two decades is actually made up of distinct musical cultures. And that, say, the sound of Balkan-esque brass band music is not incompatible with indie rock. And using that sound does not mean that your indie band is suddenly part of something marketed as world music.
There's also not a lot of concern about appropriation, as there was the last time this cycle in pop/rock music emerged -- but I think that's because so many bands are influenced by various kinds of music without actually using specific music, or employing musicians from the culture they're influenced by. In other words, it ain't no Graceland. Which isn't to say that some of the same concerns might not be relevant.
Not long ago I blogged about the Guelph Jazz Festival, about some of the v. interesting work they do there, both musically and through discussions about improvised music; tonight on The Signal you can hear a sample of both -- through a performance recorded at the festival with sax player/composer Anthony Braxton heading The Association of Improvising Musicians Toronto, and some thoughts from Braxton about the nature of improvisation.
So many music festivals, so few frequent flyer points...or to be more accurate, I keep using them up as soon as I accumulate them. Anyway, every time I read about another music festival in Canada (or elsewhere, for that matter) that I haven't been to, I feel a ping of envy. (Yes, a ping. Large-scale envy is reserved for those who don't have to think about accumulating points. Strikes me that the best benefit of being wealthy would be limitless travel. On the other hand, there'd be the accompanying carbon guilt.)
But the point, and yes, I'm getting to it, is that it is possible to be somewhat mollified re: the limited travel, via the ongoing concerts presented by both Canada Live and The Signal. And tonight, on the latter programme, you can hear a bunch of different artists performing at the Indian River Festival in Prince Edward Island. It's a festival I've never been to, which started this whole train of thought.
The Signal is doing a feature on Beatles covers tonight, with music from the new album Across The Universe Of Languages by B For Bang. Let's put it this way, it's not the (largely) wistful sweet takes of Beatles songs a la the terrific movie, Across The Universe. But quite beautiful in its own way.
Katia Labeque is one of the musicians in B For Bang, and here's part of an explanation of the project from her website.
"If re-interpreting the songs of The Beatles is no easy task, just as challenging is to transform them into images to create an architecture of sound and vision where performance and narration mix. Across the Universe is therefore much more than a concert with images....the spirit animating aesthetic research and reflection on the encounter of new and traditional languages, however, must not become a dialogue between few, but must be shared by bigger audiences, which are increasingly becoming more receptive to cultural experimentation and innovation. This was the consideration behind the choice of reinterpreting the songs by the Liverpool band."
The Signal bangs the drum slowly this Sunday night, (as long as they don't also play the fife lowly, I think we're OK) with music composed for mallets, voice and organ by Steve Reich.
Pat also features work by Canadian composers Kelly-Marie Murphy and Allan Gilliland. And from that non-Canadian, but Canadian favourite, England's Gavin Bryars, with Nine Irish Madrigals.
Back in 1972 The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra did something that would forever change the way the orchestra saw themselves, and musical possibilities -- they played and recorded with Procol Harum. The results were stunning. (And if you're curious, you can read about it from the band's perspective on Procol Harum's website. But here's a quick excerpt:
"Remember, this was a full symphony orchestra that had never played with a rock band before. One of the violin players was wearing a crash helmet in order to cut down the volume...Then came the concert, and when the classical musicians saw the reception they were getting from the fans they were delighted."
Since that time the orchestra has continued to team up with artists from other, very different genres. And Sunday night you can hear one of those collaborations on Canada Live, when the ESO performs with multi-award-winning Canadian country star Aaron Pritchett and his band. Aaron, as quoted in Country Music Canada says, "we had a ball working with the ESO.”
On the weekends, as you may or may not know, The Signal comes from Winnipeg, the town in which I misspent my teenage years. These days the city seems like it would be a more fun place to misspend your youth, or even spend wisely -- so much more music going on, so many bands. You can hear one of those musicians tonight on the show, Christine Fellows, with some brand new tunes.
She's the gal with what I think of as the chiclet piano (click on that last link, you'll see what I mean). On Christine's MySpace site she describes her music as minimalist/showtunes, which actually is a pretty good, if tongue-in-cheek description.
What I've heard of her music so far is charming. I quite like it. So do the folks chatting about her music over on The Ectophiles Guide -- not music critics, just fans of good music.
Why are there so often all-women Cuban bands? This is something I wonder about. If you have the inside story, do tell. Anyway, you can hear one of those all-female Cuban ensembles, Camerata Romeu, tonight on The Signal.
Hey! I just clicked on that The Signal link to see that there is a new picture of weekend host Pat Carrabré. Nice hair Pat! (I remember when I heard he had cut it, and was somewhat dismayed, as I am a fan of upwardly mobile hair. But this seems like just a variation on a hair theme, rather than a radical departure.)
Also on the show tonight -- Pat of the good haircuts will talk about the life work of Kid Koala, one of the world's best known D.J.'s, from Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Posted by Li Robbins on October 11, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Thursday night: contemporary music and beer, together at last.
OK, I didn't actually write the above line, someone at The Signal World HQ did, but it amused me so I thought I'd crib.
Although I'd wager those new music types certainly know how to hoist a pint or two. But it's true that it is not common to find the music playing at the same time.
Not so on Thursday night, when the aforementioned Signal (comma The) presents highlights from the New Music In New Places series, presented by the Ottawa Chamber Society as they bring new compositions to the bar. Specifically Maxwell's Bistro in Ottawa.
What a great idea, we should lobby more pubs o'er the land to give it a go. My local tends towards cabaret, blues, folk and Julie London tribute nights, but maybe they could be persuaded...
Posted by Li Robbins on October 10, 2007 at 08:30 PM
It probably tells you something about sax player Quinsin Nachoff that his website opens with a close up of a beautifully tarnished saxophone, next to it what looks like watercolour painting on rice paper. At the very least a keen sense of aesthetics, and of colours, both visual and aural.
Nachoff is known for blurring the lines between classical, jazz, and contemporary music, as he does tonight in a concert featuring both his regular quintet as well as a string quartet, recorded at the Royal Conservatory of Music and broadcast on The Signal.
Posted by Li Robbins on October 9, 2007 at 08:15 PM
"Minimalist extravaganza" seems some kind of contradiction, but makes sense in the context of it being the theme on The Signal of late, continuing today with another of Steve Reich's famous works, in this instance Electric Counterpoint. It's performed by Montreal musician Paul Audy, in a concert from The Spectrum in Montreal. (I'm sorry not to find out more about Monsieur Audy -- please do contribute if you have more info...)
The piece requires the soloist to pre-record something like ten guitar parts (and a couple bass parts too), then play the final part live. If you want a wee preview, you can hear an excerpt from one performance of the work on Reich's MySpace page.
Posted by Marty Flanagan on October 8, 2007 at 08:46 PM
One of Steve Reich's best known pieces is what has been called "a magnum opus of minimalism," the composition Drumming.
Tonight, in honour of Reich's 70th birthday, The Signal broadcdasts the University of Montreal's Percussion Studio performing that work.
And if you're interested in what Reich has to say these days, here's a piece from the New York Times, an an interview with Reich and a look at some of the celebrations taking place in connection with his birthday. (Some have already happened, but you can always hear Drumming tonight.)
Often when writing about the highlights of a show, I have some advance info from the producer of that particular programme. And often I have my way with it, as you may have inferred, if you happen to read this blog on a regular basis.
But this time I give you a verbatim explanation of the main event on Sunday night's broadcast of The Signal with Pat Carrabré. Here goes:
"Pat gets jiggy with a classically trained Turkey, explores the wishbone variations and ponders three compositions just stuffed with goodness on this Thanksgiving Sunday edition of The Signal."
I only wish I was there to see it. They do offer a translation too though:
"What does all that mean? Well Pat offers up a gift: a world premier performance of The Dog Done Gone Deaf, a piece based on an American Indian legend recorded in Montreal. As a side dish there will also be a few pieces by the Gen-X composer crowd including Abigail Richardson. And to help you digest a concert: The Ergo ensemble harvest concert."
Hmm, I think I hear that second piece of pumpkin pie calling...
Pat Carrabré gives musical thanks tonight, with some of his personal favourites, so if you've ever wondered what Pat likes to listen to when not thinking strictly in radio-host mode, now's your chance to find out! (Spoiler alert -- fave tracks include Philip Glass, Andrew Bird, Feist and Caribou.)
Also, The Signal will also toast Patrick Watson. What with his big Polaris Prize win he must be the most thankful musician in the land.
Although you know, I heard him interviewed after the award, and was glad to hear him say how much music is NOT a competition in the sense of an athletic event. And that really, to win does not mean you are the best band or whatever, it means that on that particular day, those particular judges/critics achieved some kind of consensus of the moment.
Though the money was going to come in handy, paying a whopping $16,000 bill the band had just received, something to do with an incident with their rental van while on tour....the Polaris is worth $20,000...so, enough left over for a very good party, anyway.
The prolific Kronos Quartet are a perfect band for Pat Carrabré's Vertical Tasting, a feature every weekend where he looks at an artist's career, over time. So tonight Pat samples some of the many and eclectic Kronos collaborations. (I don't know which collaborations he's focussing on, but as an indication of their diversity, they've worked with, among many others, Bollywood singer Ashe Bhosle, soprano Dawn Upshaw, and Taraf de Haidouks.)
Also on the show -- did I mention I'm talking about The Signal, Friday night version? -- the premier of new music from Buck 65, from the soundtrack to the trucker documentary film BIG RIG. That's right, Buck 65, and a trucker documentary.
New music from Newfoundland tonight on The Signal. The program features highlights from a concert by Canadian guitarist Sylvie Proulx, from this year's Newfound Music Festival in St. John's. OK, this is the second day in a row I have found myself website-location-challenged -- cannot find a link to said Newfound Fest. Any help out there? I'd like to know more about the Newfound, it's a great name, at any rate.
The Windspiration Edmonton Organ Festival (who do not appear to have a website, but the conference was sponsored by the Royal Canadian College Of Organists) presented some new music this summer, with a kind of "flower power" type theme. Tonight The Signal takes its turn and presents some of that music on Radio 2.
Songs of the Seven Strings by composer Siaw Kin Lee tells the story of thousands of flower petals dropped from the sky by a playful nymph. Oh those playful nymphs, you want to watch out for them.
Aso, a piece called Blumen, for organ and string orchestra by composer Charles Stolte, which takes its inspiration from the spring flower awakenings out of "mud, water, warmth and seed." Yes, Canadian spring is around the corner...musically, if nowhere else. (Not that I'm complaining, it's been crazily summer-like where I live. I say bring on the snow! Who knows, perhaps then there'll be motivation for more composers to write spring-related music...)
There's been a fair bit of talk of Gould's Idea Of North documentary in recent days, as a source of musical inspiration, as a starting point to consider Canada's north. But I don't think the "sound documentary" has been aired until tonight.
So you read it here (if not first, close to, I'll bet): This evening The Signal plays the whole documentary.
And here's one idea of what the north meant to Gould, from the official record co. Glenn Gould website:
"To him, the North represented solitude, independence, reasonableness, courage, elusiveness, spirituality, strength of character, adherence to laws, moral rectitude, and peace."
Tonight's Signal programme also includes the Fantasia And Fugue by composer Chan Ka Nin, commissioned by the CBC and performed in honour of Glenn Gould's 75th anniversary by pianist Lydia Wong.
Pat Carrabré had a question one day. Or maybe his producer did. Or most likely, knowing how these things happen, they both had the same idea at around the same time. (Kind of like Madame Curie and those other scientists who narrowly missed the boat, but different.)
This was that question: "What is up with all those huge pipe organs in churches and the fact that no one seems to be appropriating that great sound into pop music?"
But you'll have to tune in to The Signal on this Sunday evening to hear the answer. (And I suspect he found some exceptions to that rule.)
Pat takes a slightly different look at the concept of country music Saturday night on The Signal, and he’ll let Neko Case "light the first firecracker."
From that I'm guessing we won't be hearing a lot of Shania. Not that there's anything wrong with Shania, but I just don't think That Don't Impress Me Much kind of firecrackers are what he's getting at. I'm guessing it's more "insurgent country" oriented than that. (A term which for some reason always sounds medical to me, "Doctor, we've got an outbreak of insurgent country on our hands.") Anyway, since I admit I have skeletal (ha ha) info on the nature of these firecrackers, there's only one way to find out. Tune in!
It's funny how the word "orchestra" has become popular for all sorts of ensembles that by no means resemble the traditional classical orch. You know, art-pop bands involving multiple instruments, perhaps strings even, but also electric bass and drum kit. Maybe it's because it has a kind of cheeky irony, maybe it's because everyone secretly hungers to play in an orchestra. Perhaps all will be revealed this evening on The Signal as Pat takes a look at (and a listen to) the zeitgeist of orchestras...that aren’t.
And another episode of Vertical Tasting, which despite what you might think, does not take place in an elevator with a wine flight. No, it is an audio sampling of one artist’s best vintages over time, and this evening it's Canadian composer Christos Hatzis.
Sylvie Proulx is featured tonight on The Signal, coaxing the sounds of toy soldiers from her guitar, in a live recording of Nikita Koshkin's work The Prince's Toys.
And more interesting guitar on the show -- from Brit guitar icon Fred Frith, from his project with percussionist Evelyn Glennie.
Did you know Evelyn Glennie was a Dame? Not that kind of dame, involving cigarette smoking and duplicity in black & white, but a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Somehow I missed that. I wonder if she ever gets together with Helen Mirren and Judi Dench for tea?
Also, new music from Hassle Hound (who aren't kidding when they say they "voraciously sample everything in their paths" -- check out their MySpace site or better still, listen to the radio!) and a bit of minimalist fun from the Marc Mellits Consort with a piece called The Misadventures Of Soup. I've had misadventures with soup myself, (usually involving spillage) but never known soup itself to have misadventures. Curiouser and curiouser.
Tonight, The Signal wraps up a special series of concerts from the X Avant Festival from Toronto. Local bass wizard Rich Brown teams up with New York saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa for a concert of jazz, improvised music, and laptop experimentation.
And if you've ever asked yourself, "What is laptop music?" here is a brief history of that very thing, from The New Music Box.
More music on The Signal from the most interesting 2007 X Avant Festival, presented by the Music Gallery, (that link will take you there) and featuring experimental electronica, free-jazz, contemporary chamber music, minimalist composition etc., hosted by The Signal’s Laurie Brown. Tonight the concert broadcast is by the Madawaska String Quartet.
You know, there are an awful lot of anniversaries being celebrated in classical music, Glenn Gould's, Grieg's, Buxtahude's...and they tend to be celebrated as the number of years reaches some nice tidy sum, 75ths, 100's 300s...
So I admire Pat Carrabré for swimming against the tide by getting a running start at celebrating the 101st birthday of composer Dmitri Shostakovitch this Sunday on The Signal. Why not? 101 is nothing to sneeze at.
To mark the big day Pat will play recordings commissioned by the CBC from the likes of Marilyn Lerner, Richard Moody, Phil Dwyer, Robert Lepage and others.
You know, I've never actually seen someone put a rose between their teeth. It's always struck me as kind of hazardous. But it remains the great cliche of the tango. Somewhat like the way racing chili peppers at the ball-game seem to symbolize, to some, Mexican culture. But that's all a matter for those more deeply involved in analyzing the tenacity of cultural stereotypes than I. (And I confess, it's true, despite my misgivings I laugh like a hyena when the chili peppers hit the dirt, gets me every time.)
Tango is one of those art forms that despite its trad. image, has actually evolved in leaps and bounds in the last couple of decades, and tonight The Signal plays some musical examples, from the Gotan Project and from Canadian composer Doug Schmidt.
And go ahead if you want, of course -- grab the rose and strike the pose. Just make sure to de-thorn first.
Winnipeger Christine Fellows' inspirations range from spinsters to pigeons. She also has lovely multi-hued keyboard, presumably upon which to create her self-styled minimalist/showtunes, as you will see if you click on that link. And as you will hear, if you tune into The Signal tonight, where some of her music will be played.
It's also time for another installment of the new feature, Vertical Tasting, where Pat samples one artist’s best vintages over time -- tonight it's pop-electronica from Caribou.
Now here's an interesting idea. What would it sound like if you took (electronic) music by David Bowie, Brian Eno and Philip Glass, and performed it using only acoustic instruments?
The contemporary music ensemble Contact decided to try it, and you can hear the results on The Signal tonight.
As Des Cailloux etc. he plays techno/house/ambient music, in this instance made by building layers of sounds, including those produced by chopsticks and Lego blocks.
Funny, it's hard to imagine what kind of sound you could get from a Lego. My childhood memories of them (other than arguments over ownership), is that they are very brittle, and would not produce much sound at all. Mind you, I never tried to play them with chopsticks.
Montreal DJ Marc LeClair, a.k.a. Akufen, doesn't mess around with the inconsequential, the or the merely entertaining. At least, not in the piece 5mm. In it he explores the concept of the evolution of human life itself.
It's based on the fact that by the time cells have finally migrated and are forming a humanoid shape, the human embryo measures approximately 5 millimetres. (Somehow this reminds me of that Neneh Cherry/Youssou N'Dour song, Seven Seconds, hmm...)
Anyway, The Signal plays a recording of a live glitch-electronica performance that features Akufen performing and talking about this composition, from the X Avant Festival.
Glitch, btw, is not that moment when you think you've finished writing your masterpiece and then your computer does a graceless fade to black before you've saved, forcing you to tell those who are waiting for the delivery of your masterpiece that you've had "a little glitch." Although it bears some similarities, as it is music that tends to use mechanized and non-natural sounds. Certainly the sound you make when your computer fades to black sounds unnatural.
The Hard Rubber Orchestra are a "post-modern, new music ensemble, consisting of many of Vancouver’s finest musicians under the leadership of composer, conductor and trumpeter, John Korsrud, plays daring, unpredictable, high energy music that draws on the influences of John Zorn, Krzysztof Penderecki, Public Enemy, John Cage and Miles Davis." (John Korsrud, btw, cites J.S. Bach as one of his myspace friends.)
Anyway, the above description of the group is from the horse's mouth, the band's own description. Alex Varty, writing in the Georgia Strait, describes them in less musical but rather more evocative terms, as the "Godzilla of the Vancouver jazz scene, a big, goofy monster that stomps through complex charts with the swagger of big swing band and the heat of a thermonuclear explosion."
How can you resist? Tune in tonight to The Signal, they'll be broadcasting a concert of the HRO recorded at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre.
The Signal is not a themed show tonight. That's OK. One doesn't always need a theme for an interesting and varied show. In fact I only mention it because I do enjoy The Signal's themes, which are often unexpected, from musical connections to hair or families. (Two of life's most fascinating subjects.) But tonight? No theme, but quite an array of music. For example:
Music for mallets, voice and organ by Steve Reich.
Music by Canadian composers Kelly-Marie Murphy and Allan Gilliland. (btw, here's an interesting bit of an interview with Ms. Murphy that CBC's Katherine Duncan posted during the Banff International String Quartet Competition.)
The National Parcs are a Montreal band who go into the woods and record the sounds (including some which are man-made, like paddles slapping, and axes axing) and incorporate those sounds beautifully into their music.
If you've time, check out that website -- there are some great visuals of the lengths to which they went to record their latest, Timbervision, including a charming shot of them standing in a slough, shouldering recording equipment!
And if you're near a radio tonight, tune into The Signal, who are featuring them on the show.
Rewriting Tolstoy (hey, it's a blog, we can do these kinds of things), I'd venture to say that every family is dysfunctional in its own way (happy or otherwise).
Tonight The Signal weighs in on the function and dysfunctions of the family dynamic -- musically -- with Brother Danielson, Great Lake Swimmers and the Department of Eagles.
Plus just a note for fans of Do Say Make Think and Emily Haines --you can hear concerts tonight from both artists, recorded at Guelph’s Hillside Festival.
AND this is very cool, a new segment on the show called Vertical Tastings, a sampling of one artist’s best vintages over time. Host Pat Carrabré inaugurates Vertical Tastings tonight with Iceland’s Bjork.
No, not that kind of sampling, although you can bet there will be samples within the samples of new releases Laurie Brown features tonight on The Signal. Included in the mix are releases from Montag and Caribou.
Also, Joanna Newsom plucks her harp/sings as no previous harpist has ever plucked/sung, the Art Of Time Ensemble tries a hand at gambling, (I'm guessing this means a performance of Gavin Bryars' Man In A Room Gambling No. 9), and there's a live concert recording from Toronto post-rock band Do Make Say Think.
Margaret Atwood has done it. Canadian composer Gordon Monahan still does. All you have to do is raise your hands in the air, wave them in the right place and in the right way, and an eerie sound emits. If, that is, you're playing a theremin (the instrument that took the pop world by surprise on the Beach Boys’ Good Vibrations).
You can hear how Monahan uses the theremin tonight on The Signal, as well as the latest from experimental folksters Tunng, and Daniel Lanois -- sans vocals.
About eleven hours from time of writing, you can hear Laurie Brown hosting The Signal. And tonight on the show, early music becomes new music. For some reason this reminds me of Mourning Becomes Electra. But no, this has nothing to do with Eugene O'Neil, everything to do with composer Gavin Bryars. Bryars, the prolific Yorkshire-born composer known for works such as Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet (and for his opera Medea, speaking of things Greek and tragic) has composed and arranged new settings for 13th and 14th-century songs from Italy, featured tonight on The Signal.
I like what author Michael Ondaatje once said about Bryars music (and I'm sure Bryars likes it too):
Earlyish morning distant early warning for a concert this evening jazz fans will be interested in...Montreal saxophonist Chet Doxas leads his trio, Byproduct along with a string quartet in a session recorded for the CBC, tonight on The Signal.
Doxas, whose original compositions have been said (by All About Jazz) to "demonstrate a depth and degree of complexity beyond his years" has also been called "a jazz star in the making," by our own Katie Malloch, and she should know.
OK, so the guy is still in his 20s, is starting to get great reviews (from the likes of Downbeat magazine)...all that, plus he has a perfect jazz name, don't you think? "Chet Doxas," what else could he do but play jazz?
The Canadian premiere of Amanzule Voices for cello and tape, by Swedish composer Orjan Sandred (inspired by an excursion to Africa) is featured tonight on The Signal.
In case you are wondering what Amanzule is -- it's a lake near the coast in western Ghana. As described by Orjan Sandred, on the lake there's a village built on stilts, reachable only by canoe, in a marshy lagoon thick with aquatic vegetation. This was where his journey began, a journey which inspired this piece -- and contributed to it hugely through the sounds he recorded there.
So many times I've thought, walking through a woods, or lying awake in a tent at night listening to the sounds of the natural world, 'oh, I should record this.' Of course, then there would be the small matter of writing for cello. Fortunately others have that figured out.
White noise, in music, is defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica as "the effect of the complete range of audible sound-wave frequencies heard simultaneously, analogous to white light, which contains all the frequencies of the light spectrum." In other words, a wash/wall of sound that is not identifiable as discreet pitches, and works to mask other sound. At least, that's my understanding of it, but feel free to correct me, science/physics etc. is not my strong suit. (I think grade 10 biology was where I left off.)
Anyway, I do vaguely know about white noise. But only recently did I hear about "pink noise," and I still think it's a bit of a send up. However Merriam Webster defines it as "a constant background noise; especially one that drowns out other sounds; meaningless or distracting commotion, hubbub, or chatter."
And here I thought that was just a typical day in the office.
I also didn't know, until now, of the "white noise requiems" by Edmonton's Mark Templeton. But tonight they are performed on The Signal, a live show from this year's Mutek Festival in Montreal.
Host Pat Carrabré takes a trip on The Signal into the "wild west" tonight, with what The Signal posse describe as "twang-inspired music" from Coco Rosie, Ohbijou and Hudon-Placard.
"Twang," as a word, is enormously satisfying. As is "plush" or "hullabaloo" or "frozilator." (The thing that changes channels on a television.)
As a description of music it's intriguing. According to Merriam-Webster, "twang" could mean one of three things:
1. A harsh quick ringing sound like that of a plucked banjo string
2. A nasal speech or resonance/the characteristic speech of a region, locality, or group of people
3. An act of plucking
I think twang is typically used in reference to music as a kind of short-hand to something connected, however loosely, to country music, but I also think there's something implicit in its usage that suggests it's not to be taken too seriously. If any of the music being played on the show was genuine from-the-genre country, that word twang would probably never enter into our conversation. Am I over-thinking this? Probably. Maybe I'll go take an underthinking break with the frozilator for a while...
Tonight on The Signal, hear contemporary classical music recorded live at Maxwell's Bistro and Club in Ottawa, where the clinking of beer glasses mingles with the music of Kelly-Marie Murphy, Eldon Rathburn, Evan Ware, Frank Levin, and Roddy Ellias. (Sorry if you read this earlier and saw a different bunch of composers listed -- the line up had a last minute change!)
Now, some might find this objectionable. Keith Jarrett, for example. But others are more willing to tolerate the happy clink of glasses if it means that their music is being heard in new places. (Expanding his audience is probably not a major concern of Jarrett's.)
In related matters, guitarist Marc Ribot, who is speaking at the Guelph Jazz Festival this morning, on a panel called The Crisis In New Music Vanishing Venues And The Future Of Experimentalism In New York City, wrote a very interesting essay on this very subject not too long ago. He started by calling it "the care and feeding of a musical margin". It's about how new music and improvised music ties into the marketplace, and it's a thorough exploration of one (informed) man's view of funding the fringes of musical culture. Not the jolliest of reads, but quite thought provoking.
The good news? Last season when the Ottawa Chamber Music Society presented that new music night in a bar - the aforementioned Maxwell's Bistro and Club on Elgin Street in the heart of Ottawa -- the show sold out so quickly that and a second one was added.
Tonight on The Signal you can hear Halifax drummer Jerry Granelli's band The V16 Project, recorded live at the 2007 Atlantic Jazz Festival. Billed as "16 cylinders of raw improvisational power," the band takes its name from a rare 1930 Cadillac. Granelli (who among many musical matters was the drummer on the Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack) is joined by his son, J. Anthony Granelli on bass, and Christian Koegel and David Tronzo on guitars.
Who among us has not placed hands on a stranger's hips and tottered about gracelessly while singing the deathless line, "Come on, come on, and do the Locomotion with me." You haven't? You must go to the wrong weddings. Or I do.
Anyway, even if you haven't endured group wedding dance hell to Kylie Minogue, you may well still get a kick out of her music re-imagined and re-designed by guitarist Noel Akchote, as broadcast on The Signal this evening.
On a non-Kylie note, you can also hear Gorecki's Harpsichord Concerto, recorded live by the Composers’ Orchestra at Glenn Gould Studio.
Alex Varty, writing in the Georgia Strait, called The Hard Rubber Orchestra "the Godzilla of the Vancouver jazz scene, a big, goofy monster that stomps through complex charts with the swagger of big swing band and the heat of a thermonuclear explosion."
Whoah. There's an image. For the audio to accompany it, you can tune into The Signal tonight, as The HRO plays Keith Hamel's composition, Off-Ramp, recorded live in concert.
Also on the show tonight, R. Murray Schafer's classic work of acoustic ecology, Wolf Music.
...features music from and for specific places tonight on CBC Radio 2.
On Canada Live -- from the East Coast Music Awards, the very popular Song Circles, where singer-songwriters swap songs and stories. One of the best this year featured Cape Breton’s Stephanie Hardy, Newfoundland indie rocker Mark Bragg, Folk and Female Artist of the Year nominee Amelia Curran, with special guest Sarah Slean. The host for the session is the “father” of the ECMA Songwriters Circle and winner of 9 East Coast Music Awards, Bruce Guthro.
And on The Signal, the geography of music -- music inspired by mountains, rivers and gardens. John Burge, Christos Hatzis and Bright Sheng contribute their “music for specific places." As well, highlights from this year’s International Rostrum of Composers.
I think it's no gamble to say that if you were to do a statistical breakdown of what songwriters write about, love would come up trumps. Tonight The Signal plays Signally type songs of love, from Yacht, Bob Wiseman and the Happy Campers.
Also on the show, some globetrotting sounds from Eccodeck, Gigi, Maryem Tollar and Autorickshaw -- all Canadian-based musicians, I should point out (with the exception of the Ethiopian singer, Gigi).
Sampling and tangoing, both honourable past-times, both celebrated on The Signal tonight. The former with sample-rich tunes from the duo Original Recipe, producer Lampshade, and DJ Kid Koala. The latter from Astor Piazzolla, Osvaldo Golijov and the Gotan Project.
If you were a string quartet celebrating your 20th anniversary, how would you mark the moment? Pulling out the old photos of concerts, the recordings, perhaps a few moist-eyed reminiscences, maybe a glass or three of champers?
Well, The Lafayette String Quartet decided to celebrate their 20th with custom-made music, so they commissioned R. Murray Schafer to write a work just for them. Thus Schafer's String Quartet Number 11 was born, and you can hear it tonight on The Signal.
Mallets are flying tonight on The Signal, in a concert from Lula Lounge in Toronto at the 2007 Cool Drummings Festival. It's called Marimba Madness, and features percussionist Beverly Johnston.
Note -- in case you can't tune into The Signal, this concert is also available online as a Concert on Demand -- also titled Marimba Madness.
But of course there are other reasons to listen to The Signal, for example music from some of this year's Polaris Music Prize nominees, and the latest project from Kieran Hebdan, a.k.a. Four Tet. (Who some like to call "folktronic.")
And by the way, if you've time you should go to Four Tet's website, the way it opens is like watching the beginning of an inventively shot movie -- really quite lovely, and to my mind a perfect reflection of the kaleidoscopic qualities of the music.
Some kind of synchronicity -- scarcely hours ago I blogged (whenever I say that I imagine a classroom full of people learning English and conjugating: I blog, you blog, he/she blogs...seems somehow so absurd) about evidence of a ukulele revival.
And now what happens? The Signal plays Ohbijou, the Toronto-based indie band who play, among other au courant instruments (like the ubiquitous glockenspiel) the ukulele!
I should also make note of a non-uke concert tonight on The Signal for Gary Kulesha and Michael Hynes fans -- a concert from Glenn Gould Studio featuring the music of both composers.
You can hear pianist Janina Kuzmas on Canada Live tonight with a concert of Mozart Sonatas and Fantasies. And the second concert of the evening is with bass-baritone Garry Gable, from Convocation Hall at the University of Saskatchewan. It sounds like quite a diverse programme, with songs in four languages -- Chinese, Russian, French and English -- and works by Canadian composers Malcolm Forsyth, Violet Archer and Paul McIntyre.
Speaking of Canadian composers, if you aren't familiar with it already, you may want to virtually visit the Canadian Music Centre, a great resource.
And speaking further of Canadian composers, the great John Weinzweig is celebrated tonight on The Signal. Weinzweig died a year ago at the age of 93, and this tribute to him is a concert called The Radical Remembered, recorded at Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.
The biography of Mr. Weinzweig at the aforementioned Canadian Music Centre, begins with this delightful quote from the composer about his start in music...thought it was too endearing not to share:
"Between the ages of 14 and 19, I studied the piano, mandolin, tuba, double bass and tenor saxophone, as well as harmony. I played and conducted school orchestras, dance bands, weddings, lodge meetings and on electioneering trucks for a range of fees between two dollars and a promise. I played Pirates of Penzance, Poet and Peasant, Blue Danube, St. Louis Blues, Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies, Chopin waltzes and Tiger Rag. At age 19 I got serious and decided to become a composer."
Sometimes The Signal is themed, sometimes it is not. Tonight it is not, it is what you might call a mixed bag, and inside the bag are some very interesting performers. For instance, Mother Mother, Apostle of Hustle, and a remix of the band Stars, as well as Julie Doiron, Alexis O'Hara and Joanna Newsom.
Speaking of Joanna Newsom, she's one of those performers people seem to either love or hate. (In fact if you google her name and Love Hate you will find pages of entries saying that very thing -- she's that intriguing or annoying, depending on your tastes.) Anyway, those in the love category really, really love the harpist/singer/poet. And for those who it's "love," you will be interested to know that this autumn Newsom tours with a 28 piece orchestra, performing those wonderful Van Dyke Parks arrangements from her last recording, Ys.
Certain instruments seem to be taken less seriously than others. Sometimes, that's a matter of context. (As a former jazz flute player I should know. True, there was Eric Dolphy and Hubert Laws and Canada's own Bill McBirnie, but unless you could play like that you were consigned to being forever covertly sneered at by sax players...)
Sometimes it's a matter of the instrument itself. Like, say, the tambourine. I admit it, I hear tambourine, I think wispy back-up singers. But tonight The Signal makes a case for the tambourine as underrated and under-appreciated, with music by Ammoncontact, Miracle Fortress and Lily Frost.
When you think of the Rheostatics guitarist Martin Tielli chances are the first thing to come to your mind is not the music of Arnold Schoenberg. However, Tielli does Schoenberg tonight on The Signal.
And I can't resist posting this Schoenberg trivia Tielli has on his website about the composer who invented the 12-tone compositional technique. (Taken from Uncle John's Ahh-Inspiring Bathroom Reader.)
"Schoenberg was born September 13, 1874, and believed he would probably die on the 13th as well. He predicted it was most likely he would die on a Friday the 13th, and in 1951, when he was 76 (7+6=13). July 13, 1951 fell on a Friday, and Shoenberg stayed in bed that day, awaiting death. In the evening, his wife went to his room to scold him for wasting an entire day so foolishly. When she opened the door, Shoenberg looked up at her, uttered the single word 'harmony,' and dropped dead. Time of death: 11:47 p.m. ... 13 minutes before midnight."
A few musical highlights on The Signal tonight you might want to tune in for. (Oh go on, tune in for the whole show, Laurie's so cool.)
From (prepared) pianoman Hauschka, the song Belgrade, and "a cowboy’s recollection on his first visit to the Wild West" in Dodge City, performed by the Maple Mountain Sunburst Triolian Orchestra. Now there's a name. Not quite as associative as Conway Twitty of course.
Karaoke and Idols have meant that listening to people performing covers of well known songs can be, well, let's be generous and just say "a tad wearying." And even instrumental cover versions (where one is not forced to endure unwanted singing) can be egregious. (So much for generosity.)
But tonight The Signal plays a couple of cover tunes which I think you'll find neither wearying or egregious, quite the opposite in fact. Bill Frisell’s version of the Bob Dylan classic A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall, and The Bad Plus with a beautiful, slow take on the Tears For Fears hit Everybody Wants To Rule The World.
(Remember all the fuss made by The Jazz Police about Miles Davis covering Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time, whether or not it was a discredit to his integrity as a jazz musician? Were he with us still I wonder if he'd be covering contemporary pop songs, or if he would have moved onto something else, now that practically every jazz band and their dawg are doing it.)
The Signal plays highlights tonight from a concert at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music, featuring the Quinsin Nachoff Quintet. Nachoff blends jazz, classical, new music (and the proverbial more) into his composition African Skies, heard tonight.
I recall that the last time Nachoff's music was featured on R2 some listeners wanted to know more about the sax player, but had a hard time figuring out how to spell his name -- so there you have it, Nachoff's myspace page and all too, just in case you want a little preview.
And of course if you are looking for info about what was played on any show, don't forget there is a link on the left hand side of the website to the playlists...
Music seems to run in the family. Your mother plays the kazoo, so you play the autoharp. Your great-great-great grandfather wrote sea shanties, your "Disco Lives" band plays aboard cruise ships. And so on.
But seriously, folks, there is often a familial musical link, and tonight on The Signal that link is explored in the form of music composed by fathers and performed by their children. So tune in to hear the offspring of Malcolm Forsyth, Harry Freedman and many other classical composer dads -- tonight, on The Signal.
What exactly does "electronic music" mean, anyway? Is it different in classical and in pop music? Tonight The Signal asks the question and plays some answers, from electronic pioneer Hugh le Caine'sDripsody (an etude for variable speed recorder) to some of Canada's newer electronic players, like Caribou and Inclination.
Also, Bryce Kushnier, a.k.a. vitaminsforyou, drops by to give his take on electronic music making. Later, a concert from the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art that explores the possibilities of electronic toys and mechanical instruments, in the hands of Duo Travagliando. That link, btw, will take you to a video of a performance in 2000 at the MMCA.
Pat Carrabré plays with hair tonight on The Signal. This does not totally surprise me, clearly he knows from hair. I have long admired his own "do," which you can see for yourself if you click on the previous link.
But kudos to him for finding a hair/music connection, as he does on tonight's show with music from Caribou, Blonde Redhead and a remix of Nina Simone... all on the topic of hair, hair colour and haircuts.
The Signal folks also sent a note saying that apparently Mr Carrabré has had a trim! Not too much, I hope. The world needs fun hair. Not to mention hair music.
Andrew Burashko, pianist and leader of the Art Of Time ensemble, likes to push perceived musical boundaries. And tonight he joins Laurie in studio on The Signal, to talk about just that. Specifically, about a concert called Franz Schubert: Source and Inspiration, where five noted Canadian singer/songwriters from non-classical musical genres were asked to come up with original music inspired by the Second Movement of a Schubert Piano Trio. You can hear how Martin Tielli, Sarah Slean, John Southworth, Andy Maize, and Danny Michel weave Schubert's music into their own.
And if The Signal leaves you wanting more, the entire concert is also available online at CBC.ca, also called Schubert, Source And Inspiration, as part of Radio 2's Concerts On Demand.
In related matters, should you wish to hear Art Of Time with singer-songwriter Sarah Slean in concert, that too is available on the website at Concerts On Demand.
Which came first, the words or the music? If you can answer that question definitively, in terms of the evolution of humankind, you will get some kind of prize. Probably one that says Nobel on it. (And if you are a journalist and ask that question in an interview with a musician, ach, for shame...)
Tonight on The Signal host Laurie Brown examines the former question, exploring how we form words and thoughts, and how our vocal cords affect our musical tastes. Fascinating stuff. (I've heard that dementia may affect musical taste, but never that vocal cords might be the culprit.)
btw, examples on the show as part of the language/music/taste theme include the music of Tunng, Jason Moran, and Questions in Dialect.
Thinking about gamelan, as I was when I saw that Canada's long-standing gamelan ensemble, the Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan, was being played tonight on The Signal, I found myself wondering what was new lately in the gamelan world. Or to be more accurate, what was making news.
So giving into temptation, (wasn't terribly difficult to fail to resist) I did a google news search on gamelan. The results? Less than, well, newsworthy. A few concert reviews, some articles no longer available in The Jakarta Post, a clutch of references to gamelan being one of about a billion influences in this or that composition of non-gamelan music.
But search on video and it's another story. You could spend days watching and listening to gamelan concerts, all from the comfort of your own computer chair. And not just concerts -- also came across this quite lovely video showing how gamelan instruments are made.
Part of that is down to the release of the Beatles remix-CD, Love, part of it likely the attention given the Cirque Du Soleil show of the same name. And the third part (parts generally come in threes) is probably just because The Beatles music is so good, and continues to inspire other artists. Case in point, you can hear jazz pianist Brad Mehldau's interpretation of Martha My Dear tonight on The Signal.
And although I have no specifics, I hear there will be "some surprising tuba music" broadcast on The Signal tonight. (As opposed to the unsurprising kind, presumably.)
In the first hour, Pat looks at one of Turner's past students, David R. Scott. (If I'm not mistaken Pat also studied with Mr. Turner, so I imagine he will have a particularly interesting perspective on this subject.)
Pat also will showcase other Canadian student/teacher composer duos in Canada, including Allan Bell and Kelly Marie Murphy. And to cap things off, highlights from a Groundswell concert in Winnipeg celebrating Robert Turner.
According to journalist Gareth Huw Davies: "British musician David Hindley slowed bird song down and discovered parallels between the skylark's blizzard of notes and Beethoven's Fifth Symphony; between the woodlark's mind-numbingly complex song and J.S.Bach's 48 Preludes and Fugues. It changes its tune according to the rules of classical sonata form."
How fascinating. Me, I just like to lie awake at dawn and hear the birds begin to sing. (Well, sometimes not so much the lying awake part, but definitely the listening to the birds waking up with song.)
Tonight The Signal is for the birds. Veda Hille calls in to explain about birdcalls and love, Andrew Bird plays around with the meaning of his name, and Signal host Pat Carrabré finds an old bird-inspired piece from the Rheostatics.
Ah, the tap tap tap of the keys...some of us, of a certain age, can still get nostalgic at that sound. For me it conjures my father's Underwood typewriter, the one where the "b" always got stuck. (The quick fox jumped over the lazy bbbbbbbbbrown dog.)
So I'm happy to hear that Winnipeg's trio of poets, Poor Tree, incorporate the clickety-clack of old keys on their vintage typewriters into their music.
Phones also enter into music played on The Signal tonight. (That I'm less enthused about, how can one get nostalgic about phones? Unless it's the 1940s two-piece phones, the kind you'd call a horn, and be obliged to say something like "Operator, get me Pennsylvania 6-5000...)
Anyway, more contemporary phones make it into music this eve -- Andy Creegan records a phone conversation with his dad, and vitaminsforyou transform phone messages into interludes.
Chris Paul Harman took the last of J.S. Bach's collected chorales (number 371) as musical inspiration for his composition, 371.
The instrumentation might have intrigued Bach -- piano, toy piano, and celeste.
Tonight on The Signal you can hear pianist Gregory Oh (whose myspace "motto" states, "Celine used to be a really cool name") with the new music ensemble, Toca Loca, (their motto? "saving the world one 14/37 measure at a time"), performing Harman's 371.
One of the things I love about The Signal is the way the show takes little side-roads, journeys through ideas, creativity...and music.
For instance tonight they look at music and machines, including the mechanical contraptions of Maxime Rioux, aka Maxime de La Rochefoucauld, and the futuristic sounds of The Books. (I hope they play their composition Smells Like Content, a personal favourite.)
A full hour of guitar music tonight on The Signal, recorded at the 2007 Newfound Music Festival in St. John's. Guitarist Sylvie Proulx coaxes the sound of dolls and toy soldiers from her guitar in her performance of Russian composer Nikita Koshkin's The Prince's Toys.
"It seems strange that emotions can be aroused by a piece of music based on clocks but this is just what Koshkin manages to achieve, to capture the mechanical flavour of his 'Piece with Clocks' (Tempo di Tick-Tock is indicated on the score). Koshkin uses an eleven string guitar which he describes as 'prepared' using cork, a foam mute and matchsticks to extend the effects that are already a feature of Koshkins music. Tambora, left hand slurs, pizzicato, string bends, various percussive techniques together with the full range of dynamics and sound colour available to the guitarist are all part of his formidable technique. Yet at no time are these devices used simply for novelty value or randomly. They all have their place always enhancing the musical structures."
Ask me how do I feel about something called (in these parts) Simcoe Day? I haven't given it much thought, actually. But I do support the attitude suggested by the subtitle of this article explaining why some of us have the first Monday in August off work, A Holiday With History: "On Simcoe Day it's your civic duty to have fun." Alright! Whoo hoo! If I were a bell I'd be ringing! I knew there was a reason I should play hooky and go to the ball game this aft.
Speaking of bells, (nifty segue, eh), they are the inspiration for much of the music tonight on The Signal.Incessant Bells is the name of one of the featured concert pieces tonight, composed by Marcel Bergmann. Interestingly, it was not inspired by bells, per se, but by Indonesian gamelan music. And you can also some bell-like music from Henry Kucharzyk.
So happy listening on Simcoe Day to all. Hope you have a ringa-ding-ding time.
Hearing music and seeing it in literal colours is a fascinating form of synesthesia. Apparently there's research suggesting that a number of composers (Liszt, Scriabin and others) were in fact "synesthetes." And there are also modern day musicians like Laura Rosser who are said to have the condition. She hears D-flat as periwinkle blue. How nice.
Tonight The Signal exlores synesthesia with Ottawa composer Kelly-Marie Murphy's This Is The Colour Of My Dreams. Speaking of Kelly-Marie, her "They Hate Me, They Really Really Hate Me" section of her website, featuring less than positive reviews, is a nice touch, v. funny...(There are some great reviews on the site too, so don't let that put you off at all.)
But I digress. Also on The Signal tonight: four world premieres from Winnipeg's contemporary music chamber series, Groundswell, including music by Jerry Semchyshyn and David R. Scott.
There's Joy Luck Club, then there's No Luck Club, a hip hop/sound-scapey trio. (There's also "If I Didn't Have Bad Luck I'd Have No Luck At All Club," a blues band just waiting to be formed.)
You can hear the No Luckers tonight on The Signal, as well as producer/DJ Susumu Yokota, Toronto duo Feuermusik and minimalist master Arvo Part.
All contribute to tonight's theme of carnivals, where they know something about luck.
In the Extra! Extra! Read All About It! file: No Luck Club is working on a musical, a show based on Brian Eno and David Byrne's seminal album, My Life in the Bush Of Ghosts! We'll be staying tuned...
Apparently one of Giuseppe Verdi's favorite things was to give his friends his best recipes (and send along the groceries so they could cook them up just right). And this well before that gruesome term, "foodie."
The Signal celebrates the culinary composer tonight, with what they're calling a full-course meal:
Nu-Jazz and House producer Rise Ashen brings the chicken soup, Joanna Newsom the sprouts and beans, and Hawksley Workman tops the meal off with his delicious chocolate cake. Bonus, Pat's trademark recipe for chicken wrapped in prosciutto. (Presumably we get to that before the chocolate cake.)
In honour of the passing of filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni, who died on Monday, I was watching part of Blow-Up yesterday. And was amused all over again at the scene of the Yardbirds in an ultra cool 1960s club, with Jeff Beck getting more and more frustrated with a faulty amp, until he finally smashes the guitar in sheer frustration.
Guitars do have to take it on the chin sometimes. But rock isn't the only genre to give the electric a little rough treatment on stage. Tonight on The Signal, Elliott Sharp bows and plucks and pounds on his guitar in his live improvisation Sixteen X, recorded in Beijing.
I'm pretty sure no instruments were harmed in the making of music by Tandava and Zakir Hussein, also on tonight's show.
In case you missed this earlier in the day, don't forget to tune into The Signal tonight for Land's End. No, we're not talking downscale J. Crew,* we're talking the romance of place and name.
"Lands End, in Cornwall, England, reaches out into the Atlantic Ocean into what were uncharted waters before the time of Columbus. The chamber ensemble of the same name was created to explore the boundaries of contemporary music, and to create compelling aural experiences."
Tonight you can hear performances by the ensemble featuring the work of British composer John McCabe. (Born in Liverpool, so not exactly land's end, but coastal at least.) It's from a concert recorded at the University of Calgary, which also includes the winning composition from this year's Land's End Composers Competition - Sean Clarke's Supplication.
(I'm told Laurie will also "spin the latest electro-sonic assault from XXL, along with soothing sounds from Vashti Bunyan and Rodge Glass." I'd like to see that.)
*CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for all and any fashion commentary on the Radio 2 Blog.
Land's End, the place that is, has such a romantic ring, don't you think? (I've always thought that Mile End does too, although I tend to associate it with the romance of bagel.) Anyway, Land's End, both as a notion and as an actual geographical place, is the inspiration for the Lands End Chamber Ensemble. And this is how they describe their muse:
"Lands End, in Cornwall, England, reaches out into the Atlantic Ocean into what were uncharted waters before the time of Columbus. The chamber ensemble of the same name was created to explore the boundaries of contemporary music, and to create compelling aural experiences."
The Signal travels to Land's End tonight with performances from the ensemble, featuring the work of British composer John McCabe. (Born in Liverpool, so not exactly land's end, but coastal at least.) It's from a concert recorded at the University of Calgary, which also includes the winning composition from this year's Land's End Composers Competition - Sean Clarke's Supplication.
I'm told Laurie will also "spin the latest electro-sonic assault from XXL, along with soothing sounds from Vashti Bunyan and Rodge Glass." I'd like to see that.
Now, here's a question I asked earlier today, but one that can never be asked too many times: Would you throw a fish into a piano? No? Well John Cage would. And did. Many found it laughable. That was OK by Cage, he said he'd rather people laugh than cry. (btw, the fish appears at around 5:50 in...)
If you're curiuous about other innovative things done to and with the piano, (a.k.a. prepared piano), tonight The Signal also presents the work of Hauschka. He specializes in messing about with the piano’s conventional sound. So the strings buzz and ring and thunk and make all sorts of sounds not typically attributed to the 88's.
But wait, there's more! You can also hear Hauschka’s music remixed by artists such as Mira Calix, and Chica And The Folder.
(Wonder if there's ever been a remix of John Cage's fish...what would the results be, Splake?)
Would you throw a fish into a piano? No? Well John Cage did. Many found it laughable. That was OK by Cage, he said he'd rather people laugh than cry. (btw, the fish appears at around 5:50 in...)
If you're curious about other innovative things done to and with the piano, (a.k.a. prepared piano), tune into The Signal tonight to hear the work of Hauschka. He specializes in messing about with the piano’s conventional sound. So the strings buzz and ring and thunk and make all sorts of sounds not typically attributed to the 88's.
But wait, there's more! You can also hear Hauschka’s music remixed by artists such as Mira Calix, and Chica And The Folder.
(Wonder if there's ever been a remix of John Cage's fish...what would the results be, Splake?)
Choral music buffs take note! Tonight The Signal features contemporary choral music from around the world.
The evening includes contemporary Canadian selections, the late Harry Freedman's Keewaydin and Steve Chatman's Due North, as well as highlights recorded earlier in July at the Festival 500 in St. John's, Newfoundland. What I've heard from this festival so far has really rocked. (Sorry, couldn't resist, but I do mean it).
Tonight, the following choirs: Newfoundland's "Lady Cove", (what a totally delicious name), the Gondwana Voices from Australia, New Zealand's Tower Youth Choir and the Saskatoon Children's Choir.
In one of these incredible synchronistic moments that keeps happening, (like the one the other day involving Tonic and Canada Live), this evening's Radio 2 roster began with Tonic playing talk show house bands, and then hours later we have The Signal's theme of house and home!
Putting aside these amazing, incredible coincidences for the moment, you may be wondering, how can house and home be a musical theme? According to the always-creative minds at The Signal, this is how:
The band Beirut does some interior decorating, Toronto's Snailhouse provides the hospitality, and Montreal duo Avia Gardner explains what to do if you lose your key. (The answer is throw away the house). And from Estonia, Veljo Tormis performs his beautiful song How Can I Recognize My Home.
Later, the Gryphon's Annalee Patipatanakoon takes on composer Jeff Ryan's Bellatrix, as she simultaneously yells, grunts, and plays violin. But can she rub her stomach and pat her head at the same time? I don't think so. Unless someone builds a little stand, a la the harmonica stand, for the violin. Say, Annalee, you might want to look into that...
They're a modern stone-aged...No, wait a minute, wrong century. And you won't be hearing the music of Hoyt Curtin tonight, but you will hear music from Simpsons theme song composer Danny Elfman this evening on The Signal, in a musical prelude to the release of the much-hyped Simpsons Movie.
Take note, Simpsons fans, you can also hear tracks featuring Lisa Simpson's favourite instrument, the saxomophone, er, saxophone. You'll hear the sax in a short processional from Canadian composers Nonloc (a.k.a. Mark Dwinell) and Violet Archer.
On the non-Simpsons beat, The Signal also has a concert highlight from this year's Mutek Festival in Montreal, featuring Mark Templeton and Aaron Munson, and a delightful work from this year's International Rostrum of Composers called Appalachia.
Here's a different kind of sidewalk sale -- Marimba Madness! Everything Must Be Hammered!
Tonight it will be, (at least musically speaking), as The Signal features virtuoso percussion performances from this year's Cool Drummings Festival, with Beverly Johnston’s performance of Fertility Rites by Christos Hatzis, and Anna-Julie Caron letting the mallets fly in a performance of Oleksa Lozowchuk's Le Rencontre.
Now this is intriguing. The Winnipeg new chamber music series Groundswell "honours plants and other natural forms with music tied to nature from two disparate corners of the world - Canada and Bali."
The concert is called Gardens In The Air and you can hear it on The Signal tonight, along with some acrobatic guitar playing from Erik Mongrain, plus music from the self-described "salon orchestra" known as the Saint Dirt Elementary School.
You know, if there was a prize for which R2 show played the bands with the most imaginative names, The Signal would take it, no contest. Yup, the show is special in many ways -- and their brand of specialness is not as common as dirt. Sanctified or otherwise.
The Canadian composer Oskar Morawetz passed away in June, and tonight The Signal broadcasts a memorial concert in his honour. Fittingly, it features his famous Memorial To Martin Luther King.
Also on the show, two other King memorials - from Luciano Beriano and Nina Simone. As well, music by two of Morawetz's former students, and the premiere of Gary Kulesha's Third Symphony.
"If you come in, make sure you can get back out," is a lyric (or possibly a slight paraphrase of a lyric) I remember from a song Shirley Horn used to sing, called The Great City.
Just quoting (or maybe misquoting) that one line doesn't do the the mood the song evoked justice though, a mood that reflected the intensity of a city, of lonely, struggling lives.
Cities as source of musical inspiration have another turn tonight on The Signal, with music from composer Richard Danielpour, as well as performers like Meredith Monk and Beck.
Also, music inspired by Mexico City via Cuba with Camerata Romeu, the Cuban women's ensemble who perform Metro Chabacano, a composition written in honour of the opening of a subway stop.
(Wonder if there's a Toronto composer already working on a dirge for a certain subway stop here in hogtown?)
The city has its own kind of music -- if you believe music can be created without intent. The rhythms of voices and traffic, the snatches of conversations, radios played in passing cars, the streetcar bell, a child aimlessly singing...
Tonight on The Signal Pat Carrabré gears up for tomorrow's urban theme, with favourite songs featuring street sounds, from Beirut, The Books, and Evelyn Glennie.
Plus some music not from the city, but from Brantford, Ontario -- the chamber pop of Ohbijou. Also something new from Caribou, and Tuvan throat singers Chirgilchin.
I have a feeling that fans of The Signal probably already read Carl Wilson's Zoilus blog, but just in case you haven't encountered it yet, you may want to check out his thoughts on new music/improvising cellist Erik Friedlander, who is playing a show tomorrow in (sorry!) Toronto.
Friedlander's newest recording is called Block Ice & Propane, (love that), which refers to memories of family camping trips.
Much more positive than the title that leapt into my mind: Bunjee Cord Wounds and Black Flies...
How's this for a teaser: Tonight on The Signal Laurie recounts the challenges of catching escaped domesticated rodents, using the music of Alvin Curran as a backdrop.
Perhaps this is the moment to share my childhood trauma over the day my hamster Cinnamon escaped. No? OK, I'll leave the domesticated rodents stories to Laurie and Alvin.
Somehow Laurie manages to move from rodents to the comforts of bedtime storytelling and the sound of music boxes. And broadcasts a concert recording of the Bergmann Piano Duo performing Balinese and Sundanese music at Glenn Gould Studio. All in a night at The Signal.
Ever since I first heard Milton Nascimento singing with Wayne Shorter I've been hooked on Brazilian music. Guess that's almost like saying ever since hearing Milton I've been hooked on music though, the vast and spectacular range of Brazilian styles being what they are.
And tonight The Signal is hooked too, playing tracks from some newer, fast-rising Brazilian artists like Cibelle, as well as broadcasting a concert from Brazilian-Canadian Celso Machado, recorded at Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.
The New York Times called Machado "inventive and unbuttoned." How pithy! How true! Come to think of it, "inventive and unbuttoned" is a pretty good description of a lot of Brazilian music in general.
And here's to the power of Brazilian music to help sustain through the hardest of hard times, which certainly many in Sao Paulo must be going through right now...
What do you think a "watery sound" would be? The Signal World Headquarters sent me a missive saying that there would be all sorts of "watery sounds" on tonight's show. (From Jim Guthrie, Patrick Watson, and Caribou.) Curiouser and curiouser.
For some reason, let's just call it lateral thinking, this puts me in mind of a bike ride I had last night following a flamenco dance lesson. The flamenco dance lesson has nothing to do with this, but it gives a context that seems marginally more interesting than a mere bike ride.
Anyway, I had the chorus of the Feist song Mushaboom, stuck in my head -- a real ohrwurm to use the German, as I am not wont to do. (But it sounds so much better than the English "earworm.") OK, finally, here's the point. That "sha boom, sha boom" sound is irresistable. Why? What is it about certain combinations of consonants and vowels have that effect? Could it be that they are..."watery sounds?"
Probably not, but I really wanted to work in the shaboom thing. (Fear not, will not ramble this much in every post.)
Also on tonight's show: seaside impressions of the south of Italy, with Michael Occhipinti's concert project Canzone Del Sud.
The Signal gets jazzy tonight, with a session from the Lina Allemano Four, and music from Tunng, Brad Mehldau, and Freeworm's Fish Orchestra. That's right, Montreal's Freeworm, aka Vincent Letellier. He's sort of a sound environmentalist (not a comment on his mental health, but on aspects of his musical approach).
Freeworm likes to sample forest sounds from Quebec and incorporate them into drum 'n'bass, jazz and hip hop. (So no, it's not like that "nature sounds to get oiled up to" CD your massage therapist puts on where you can hear the same damned bird sampled over and over again. Thankfully.)
Tonight, a world premiere on The Signal! Yes folks, tune in for the first broadcast of R. Murray Schafer's String Quartet No. 11, commissioned by the Lafayette String Quartet to celebrate their 20th anniversary.
And some musical quotations: Wagner, Haydn, Claude Vivier and Elvis Presley get the po-mo treatment by Walter Boudreau, Jose Evangelista and Michael Daugherty.
Funny the fine line between musical quotes and musical theft. The notion of quoting is of course totally acceptable in some idioms, like jazz. And maybe that's because a. The songs being quoted are more often than not in the public domain and b. The quoting is blatant and c. it's frequently quite charming.
C. is true particualarly when it's a song that seems incongruous. For example the not infrequently quoted In An English Country Garden. Huh? Always wondered why jazzers quote that. But whatever the reason it's appealing. In a surreal English country garden kind of way.
There's not much that's conventional about The Signal, so if they say they're presenting "a collection of waltzes that aren't the most conventional," I'm most curious to hear what they are.
Also on tonight's show, tunes from Winnipeg's Nathan, Austria's B. Fleischmann, Japan's Rainstick Orchestra, and one from A Hawk and a Hacksaw that involves a tuba. Plus, some classical music with "a real beat." Hmm, there's a teaser...
A lot of people are fascinated with numbers. I don't get this myself, but then, I bailed out of math classes as soon as was allowable. But even if you're not a numbers freak yourself, you probably know someone who is. The friend who is always saying things like:
"Do you realize your phone number is my birthday backwards plus the day we met and if you invert the whole thing it represents the dimensions of my living room?"
Anyway, it being Friday the 13th, The Signal makes their show a numbers game, playing with math equations, significant house numbers, and anything else numerical. So Feist counts up to four; Bob Wiseman sings a tale of Three Men; and the Weakerthans sing about One Great City.
They also have a little fun with unusual time signatures. And I mean unusual -- Christopher O'Reilly plays a Radiohead song in 10/10, while Malcolm Forsyth composes a song in 17.
Parisian sonic sculptress Cecille Schott a.k.a. Colleen, has used samples, loops and baroque instruments such as the viola da gamba and the spinet in her music.
Atmospheric and cool.
You can hear for yourself tonight on The Signal. And speaking of atmospheric and cool, you can also hear Dusseldorf's experimental prepared-piano-man, Hauschka tonight on the show.
Hauschka is another a.k.a., in his case, for Volker Bertelmann. Cecile, Volker, we hardly knew ya!
But seriously folks, both are very interesting musicians.
And in case you're wondering what Hauschka prepares his piano with, here's a short list, to be found on the strings or hammers: wedges of leather, felt, rubber, aluminium paper, rough films, crown cork, guitar strings.
Why rough, not smooth films...maybe it's a slippage issue?
Tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré, from a performance at the Mutek Festival in Montreal, Pat presents Hauschka.
He's the German pianist and composer Volker Bertelmann who makes it his business to explore the full potential of the prepared piano.
Plus, laughs, giggles and even the odd chortle shows up tonight in a set of laughter music - Apostle of Hustle, the Happy Campers and Bob Wiseman bring the guffaws.
That's kind of appropriate because whenever I think of prepared piano, I think of John Cage. And whenever I picture John Cage, I picture him laughing.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, still more from the Cool Drummings festival - tonight featuring Canada's premier pioneering percussion ensemble, Nexus.
Staying with drummers, the legendary Moondog (born Louis Hardin, Kansas, 1916) who was in many ways the quintessential American iconoclast. He taught himself music by ear and by braille (he was blinded in an accident at the age of 12) and moved in circles that included many native American musicians as well as classical and jazz icons like Leonard Bernstein and Charlie Parker.
Also on the show, the return of desert gothic poet Jerry Granelli and the Cinematic Orchestra.
The Cool Drummings Festival in Toronto assembled all kinds of percusso-centric music from around the world on a variety of stages and fitting to a variety of tastes - from Steve Reich to Beverly Johnston, from Latin to African to avant-garde. Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, you'll hear more excerpts from the festival (different from the ones you heard on last night's show).
Plus, the mysterious and slightly somnambulistic poetry/music of Jerry Granelli, New Orleans group Garage a Trois, the amazingly weird and wonderful San Francisco performance artist Kevin Blechdom and Laconnor - the side project of Jesse Zubot, Francois Houle and Jean Martin.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, "Improvisations on Four Inventions by J.S. Bach" by Oscar Morawetz from Thursday night's concert - available in full on the Concerts On Demand panel.
Also, hear some excerpts of Nexus performing in the Cool Drummings festival this past May and more of the weird-and-wonderfulness you've come to expect.
It's a Canadian tradition - making that trek from east to west just to remind ourselves of the breadth of this extraordinary country. And I mean breadth in every sense of the word.
On tonight's edition of The Signal with Pat Carrabré, Pat rounds out his all-Canadian weekend by making that journey across the breadth of Canada's new classical composing landscape. Clark Ross, Paul Cram, Alistair MacLean and Richard Gibson all round out the east coast. And check out prairie boy Randolf Peters' science-inspired piece "Three Quarks for Muster Mark," as well as BC's Jocelyn Morlock's "Dervish".
Kid Koala scratches some squawks on "Like Irregular Chickens", Amy Millan from Stars joins Montag for a tune and 12 choirs sing R. Murray Schafer's mammoth "Credo".
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 29, 2007 at 08:12 PM
Back in October, I attended the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals Conference in Ottawa. At one point a young woman came up and introduced herself to me. I knew her father through work on a project for the National Capital Commission but he hadn't told me he had a daughter who was a musician.
Moments later she picked up the guitar and showed just what kind of a musician she was. Kyrie Kristmanson is an utterly unique voice in music. The closest thing that comes to mind is Regina Spektor but there's a gentleness in Kyrie's singing the weaves into her quirky arrangements and brilliantly poetic lyrics that adds an element of mystery not found in Spektor's cabaret delivery.
Kyrie Kristmanson is just one of the artists featured tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré as Pat kicks off and All-Canadian weekend in honour of Canada Day on Sunday. Also on the show, electronic duo Original Recipe and "psychedelic jazz" group Inhabitants.
And there's lots of Canadian "classics" - speaking in a groundbreaking, contemporary manner - like the Zmf Trio, Marilyn Lerner and west coast composer Douglas Schmidt. Plus, Melissa Laveaux calls in about "My Boat," the love song she dedicated to her guitar.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 28, 2007 at 08:18 PM
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, a work from this year's Montreal Nouvelles Musiques Festiva International.
You'll hear the Continuum Ensemble perform James Rolfe's award-winning composition "raW". And it's not just 'War' backwards. In fact, it was written by filtering J. S. Bach’s "Second Brandenburg Concerto" through Bob Marley’s "War", Burning Spear’s "The Invasion", and John Philip Sousa’s "Stars and Stripes Forever".
Not surprisingly, "raW" was composed during the buildup to the American invasion of Iraq.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 27, 2007 at 08:11 PM
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, more music from the Esprit Orchestra under the direction of Douglas Schmidt - this time with a freaky fairy tale edge.
The 19th century Germans seemed to know how to scare the kids with cautionary tales. You'll hear a piece based in part on the story of a thumb-sucking child who lost his digits to an evil tailor.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 26, 2007 at 08:10 PM
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown - highlights from a concert recorded live at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
You'll hear one of the most original artists in contemporary jazz - Quinsin Nachoff - as he melds jazz improvisation on sax with strangely beautiful string arrangements.
This recording is with his ensemble Horizons ensemble but he has several other groups as well, including one called the Rhodes ensemble built around the distinctive sound of - what else - the Fender Rhodes electric piano.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 25, 2007 at 08:12 PM
Tonight's edition of The Signal with Laurie Brown features Sarah Slean performing classic Canadian songs that have been rearranged in new and inventive ways by the likes of Gavin Bryars, Phil Dwyer, and Roberto Occhipinti, and performed in concert with The Art of Time Ensemble.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 23, 2007 at 08:07 PM
On tonight's edition of The Signal with Pat Carrabré, smashes and crashes make up part of the percussion section. Pat finds music that brings out the kid in us (the one banging on pots and pans)... Dustin Cole and the Specialest, The Books and Boats! all bring their best "smashy" moments.
Later, Pat heads down the Silk Road with Maryem Tollar, Autorickshaw and the Safa Ensemble.
Duo Original Recipe, producer Lampshade and turntablist Kid Koala combine sound effects, old jazz records, found sounds and field recordings into thrilling combinations.
I'll say it again, Kid Koala is a genius so this should be interesting.
Later, Pat gets tied up in the tango music of Astor Piazolla, Gotan Project and more.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 21, 2007 at 08:20 PM
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, highlights from a concert of Sicilian folk music, arranged with a jazz twist by guitarist Michael Occhipinti.
Michael used original source material, recorded by ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, as the basis for his intricate jazz arrangements of this traditional southern Italian music. The concert features Alessandra Belloni on vocals, and percussion, along with the rest of the Sicilian Jazz Project gang, led by Michael Occhipinti.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 20, 2007 at 08:11 PM
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, music from the Esprit Orchestra’s first New Wave Composer’s Festival. Although there's no Duran Duran, Blancmange or Knack on the programme, you will hear Michael Colgrass's piece "Side by Side". A work that reviewer Stanley Fefferman dubbed "Harpo Marx with bats in his belfry playing on a movieola piano". (When exactly did he make that comment, I wonder?)
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 19, 2007 at 08:13 PM
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, everything old is new again with Ancient Cultures, New Sounds.
It's new music performed on the ancient instruments from Bali and environs. You'll hear the Evergreen Club Gamelan Ensemble, recorded in concert at Glenn Gould Studio.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 18, 2007 at 08:12 PM
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, a live recording of the music of John Weinzweig from a tribute concert to the late Canadian composer earlier this year. You'll hear his "Prologue to a Tango", performed by Jean Stilwell and the Canadian Opera Company Quartet.
Of course, you can't have a prologue to a tango without a bit of actual tango, so you'll also hear a selection from Astor Piazzolla as played by Les Violons du Roy.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 17, 2007 at 08:15 PM
Being a dad, Pat Carrabré fully intends to celebrate Father's Day tonight on The Signal ... with music composed by fathers, performed by their children. You'll hear the kids of Malcolm Forsyth, Harry Freedman and many other classical composer dads.
In the second hour, you'll hear Canadian guitarist Sylvie Proulx in a concert recorded in St. John's Newfoundland. Her program includes a Suite called "The Prince's Toys," music from a "Secret Garden" and an homage to Alfred Hitchcock.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 16, 2007 at 08:06 PM
Most days, my music listening is random - the computer generates a mix (tweaked now and then by me) from my collection and it keeps things pretty interesting. When I get new music, I tend to give each album a thorough listen-through a couple of times at least before it goes into the mix.
Then there are days when I just want to listen to one thing. Once, I listed to twelve straight hours of Iranian classical music. Another time it's Tom Waits or Nick Cave. And sometimes I want to saturate with electronic music. Feels like this day is going to turn into one of those. Keeping the plug in after Canada Live's visit to Mutek, The Signal with Pat Carrabré continues with a show dedicated to the theme of electronic music.
What exactly does "electronic music" mean anyway? Is it different in classical and in pop music? Pat plays with this idea... from electronic pioneer Hugh le Caine's "Dripsody" to some of Canada's newer electronic players, like Caribou and Inclination.
Plus, Bryce Kushnier, a.k.a. vitamins for you, drops by to give his take on electronic music making and later, we head to a concert from the Musee d'art Contemporain de Montreal exploring the possibilities of electronic toys and mechanical instruments from Duo Travagliando.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 15, 2007 at 08:12 PM
Tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré, songs from Blunderspublik, Stars and Kinnie Starr - all artists that have used the lilt and cadence of speech for inspiration.
And, with his hair freshly trimmed, Pat teases out music from Caribou, Blonde Redhead and a remix of Nina Simone... all on the topic of hair, hair colour and haircuts.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 11, 2007 at 08:14 PM
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, an expandeded re-listen to some of Andrew Burashko's wonderful Art Of Time Ensemble recorded live in concert with the music of Franz Schubert à la Martin Tielli, Andy Maize, John Southworth, Sarah Slean, and Danny Michel.
Laurie will also peel back the shrinkwrap on new CDs by The Acorn and Azeda Booth.
That wacky Pat Carrabré on The Signal: last night it was a focus on the tambourine. Tonight it's the banjo, with Julie Doiron, Alexis O'Hara and Joanna Newsom all playing the instrument in fresh ways.
[I've got my fingers crossed for an all-Zither Zunday!]
Also on the show, lots of great new stuff from Canadian musicians, including Mother Mother, Apostle of Hustle, and a remix of Stars from their latest CD comprised of remixes of their songs by many of their musical friends.
No, tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré it's all about the first instrument many of us ever picked up - the one that gave Davey Jones something to do in The Monkeess – of course it’s the tambourine, and tonight Ammoncontact, Montréal's Miracle Fortress and Lily Frost all demonstrate the qualities of this underrated instrument.
I'm telling you right now, though, Pat - if you don't have some Calabrians in there, you're missing some virtuosic tambourine tradition.
Later, it’s the music of the movie "Donnie Darko" which, interestingly, you may recognize as a couple Tears For Fears cover songs - one of which was used to great effect in a recent first-person-shooter video game commercial.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown it’s a remix of traditional songs from The Outaouais region of Quebec by The Acorn, an exploration of the many uses of salt from the duo Belanger/Guilbeault, and a topical piece by Henry Kucharzyk on the state of affairs in North Korea. The piece was commissioned especially for The Signal, and it's performed by a mystery vocalist, whose initials may or may not be L.B.
When the wind and rain carve a rock, the eerie formation that results is called a hoodoo. Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, hear how a creative jazz outfit from Drumheller Alberta performs the musical equivalent to a hoodoo.
Then some live jazz from the Quinsin Nachoff Quintet; and progressive jazz from the Bad Plus who rearrange the Tears For Fears hit, “Everybody Wants to Rule The World.”
If you look at the arts in Indonesia, you'll see a tremendous influence from Indian culture in singing, poetry, visual arts and so on. But the history of the gamelan - the largely metallophone orchestra - predates the Hindu-Buddhist culture that dominated Indonesia in its earliest records. So we're looking at a musical form that goes back probably 10 centuries and maybe more.
It is so unique that it's not surprising it has long been the ultimate "exotic" music. It was hearing the music of the gamelan that so inspired composers like Debussy, Satie and, of course, Canadian Colin McPhee, who ended up living in Bali with his anthropologist wife and conducting the first thorough western study of the music.
In fact, this music that has been around for so long and lived within western culture
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, The Bad Plus revisits the progressive rock era, but with a creative jazz angle. You'll hear their version of Rush's "Tom Sawyer" from the new album "Prog".
There's also something of a percussion extravaganza in the second hour of the show with a solo performance of "The Waldo" by percussionist Rick Sacks, and NEXUS playing up a military sound with the piece "Away Without Leave" (a.k.a. AWOL).
Tonight's edition of The Signal with Pat Carrabré explores the world of student/teacher relationships - and he doesn't mean that in a National Enquirer kind of way. Composers such as David Scott, Vincent Ho, and Kelly-Marie Murphy all get thrown in the mix.
Then, music from Groundswell's Robert Turner Celebration concert, featuring the music of - not surprisingly - Robert Turner, for harp, string quartet and more.
BTW, have you ever seen the list of musicians who studied under the French composer and conductor Nadia Boulanger? Seriously, take a look.
Tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré, Veda Hille gives her impressions of bird calls, Andrew Bird uses word play and chirping samples, and Kid Koala plays music for the early birds out there.
Later on, for you night owls, Pat plays Henry Gorecki's "Little Requiem for a Polka".
By the way, can I just say that Kid Koala's version of "Moon River" (written by Henry Mancini, lyrics co-written by Johnny Mercer, sung by Audrey Hepburn in "Breakfast at Tiffany's") is one of the greatest performances I've ever heard. You can watch this extraordinary turntablism performance on video here and another version here - each offering different glimpses into his extraordinary craft. I defy anyone reading this to watch this video and tell me this is not footage of a virtuoso and a musical genius.
Tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré, a musical salute to the typewriter in all of its old fashioned glory! Winnipeg's trio of typewriting performers Poor Tree 'returns'. Plus a concert recording of Moritz Eggert's unbelievably musical "Symphony for 12 Mechanical Typewriters".
Later in the show, Pat looks at another everyday object we don't often think of as musical - the telephone; vitaminsforyou and Andy Creeggan both incorporate the telephone into their definitive styles.
My friend Chris just alerted me to the availability of some video of composer John Cage on a 1960 game show called "I've Got a Secret". Interestingly, the host very quickly abandons the pretense of the game in order that Cage get the maximum amount of time to perform his composition "Water Walk". As he was to the end of his life, in this video you get a sense of a person who is intelligent, thoughtful, unfailingly polite, fearless and with a wonderful sense of humour and sense of play.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, seven hundred fourth graders from Peel Region in Ontario come together to make a 'Parade of Noises' - new music from the next generation of composers, and young musicians who even made their own instruments for the occasion.
Then it’s time for 'Attendance' with pianist and composer Andy Creeggan and after the bell you can kick it old school with William Shatner. Don't be fooled - his "Has Been" CD with Ben Folds is a tour de force.
Laurie looks at the way we speak, how we form words and thoughts, and how our vocal cords affect our musical tastes. You'll hear examples in the songs of Tunng, Jason Moran, and the electronic sounds of Questions in Dialect.
My question is whether or not she'll be playing Kurt Schwitters' "Ur Sonata".
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, highlights from a concert by the Chris Tarry Quintet. Tarry plays heavy bass with a light touch on his piece "In The Beginning".
Plus, you'll hear a performance of Daniel Nelson's "Romantachycardia" by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. It'll get your heart all a flutter.
Minds of out the gutter - I'm referring to the early Ford automobile models.
They used to show up - along with Packards and Studebakers and various other vintage cars - in the driveway of my childhood friend Brian. His dad was an antique car enthusiast (as was Ernie Coombes - Mr. Dress-Up - who sometimes visited too!).
Anyway, that whole family seemed to really love cars so it wasn't a surprise that in my lootbag at one of Brian's birthday parties, when I was about 6, was a colouring book about cars. It had Stanley Steamers and Model A's and T's and Bugati racers and Thunderbirds and a whole bunch more.
There's this (guy/girl) I work with.....
......
...... what should I do?
Signed, Sally Solo or Don Duo
Tonight, The Signal with Pat Carrabré presents a second round of music by marrieds:
Gary Kulesha and Laryssa Kuzmenko, Alexina Louie and Alex Pauk, Alice Ho and Chan Ka Nin.
Plus, Pat explores the percussive, melodic and other musical uses of the piano.
Tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré, Pat starts off with music made by bands built around married couples. No, there will be no Captain & Tenille or Sonny & Cher. However, you will hear The Dears, the Arcade Fire, and Hexes & Ohs.
Then, Part One of a concert from the Music Gallery in Toronto: singer/cellist extraordinaire Anne Bourne reunites with guitarist Fred Frith and saxophonist John Oswald. They're joined onstage by Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy) on violin and Wilbert deJoode on bass for a memorable musical collaboration.
Smokers can get into a shrink-wrapped pack of smokes in micro-seconds. Manufacturers provide handy tabs for their addicts/customers to get at their nicotine as quickly as possible.
So why is it that the manufacturers of CDs - even when they do provide pull tabs - seem determined to keep me from my music addiction as long as they can. They've even gone to the extent of putting an extra layer of barrier - sometimes two - in the form of those plastic stickers that never peel off cleanly.
There is a special place in hell reserved for the person who came up with the idea of adding those to CD packaging.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, the Penderecki String Quartet performs the George Crumb work "Black Angels"; perhaps the only quartet to have been inspired by the Vietnam War. It's a kind of parable on a troubled world, and it draws on a wide variety of sounds including whistling and whispering as well and maracas and crystal glasses.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, music backwards and forwards. They'll reverse-engineer a song by Avey Tare and Kria Brekkan to hear what it sounded like before they turned it on its head.
You'll also experience the global soundscapes of Chris Cutler and his travelling band of sound recordists. And there's a highlight from a concert featuring the renowned Penderecki String Quartet, performing R. Murray Shafer's "'Waves' String Quartet #2".
I think it was an article in the New Music Express back in the mid-'80's in which the author argued that the 20th Century had given birth to a brand new aesthetic - the aesthetic of speed. The article was in context of a review of a Simple Minds album and he certainly had that right (although Simple Minds themselves sadly slowed right down a few years later) but it was territory mined by a number of artists and writers including J.G. Ballard.
It seems we are living in that aesthetic to an increasing depth - from the pace of editing and the crawl of
The "Ring in a Day" broadcast pre-empts the first two hours of The Signal tonight, but at midnight (12:30 NT), Laurie Brown and her crew will come out ringing (or perhaps I meant swinging) with music from the Books, Cibelle, Do Make Say Think and Bill Frisell.
Tonight, The Signal celebrates Asian Heritage Month with music written, performed or influenced by Eastern tradition. You'll hear music based on the rhythm of haiku by Ray Luedeke, plus music for solo pipa by Chinese composer Liu De-hai and music for flute and piano by Chinese-Canadian composer Chan Ka Nin.
Plus music about storytelling -- from bedtime fairytales to creepy ghost stories. Vancouver avant-jazz crew Inhabitants present their version of a princess story, and experimental popsters Deerhoof take you through both a day and a night in the forest.
Call me a snob but this drives me crazy: people who make the whooshy-whooshy movement when declaring they like Indian classical music because it's "so mellow".
While some ragas are certainly intended to reflect a late night or early morning kind of reflection (in that sense, Indian musicians are the inventors of the "3AM Eternal" chill-out lounge), for the most part, even just a few minutes spent learning the fundamentals of Indian music would reveal it to be heard as some of the most riveting, involving, thrilling, edge-of-your-seat-listening music in the world.
Geoff Berner is a musician I keep encountering at festivals across the country. We've had some interesting conversations (slightly drunken and otherwise) and I have a huge admiration for his performances, which always seems to hover on the edge of good taste and right when you think he might teeter over that edge he delivers some piece of wisdom or poetry or insight so beautiful or so appropriate that you just have to gasp.
He's an accordion player - great as a solo artist or within a group - who
Just going through the playlist from tonight's edition of The Signal with Laurie Brown and it looks as if they've been at my CD collection again.
I have this theory that maybe they're sneaking into my place while I'm out and making curating my collection according to their own impulses. It's actually kind of a neat way of re-discovering music you may have forgotten. We develop habits, skip certain tracks, concentrate on others, pair certain things.
But it's all there: from David Sylvian to the Amici Strings to Broken Social Scene to William Orbit to the Aphex Twin to Bruce Cockburn - all strung together in a fascinating way. Now there is some stuff in there that they must have added in from their own collection but I'll have to have a word with them anyway
Steve Reich is known as the Grand Master of minimalist music. And he's the darling of percussionists around the globe - he's kept many of them in paying gigs for many years (including the core of Toronto's Nexus ensemble who were regular members of his own earliest groups).
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, hear a concert built around one of his works, "Music for Mallet instruments, Voices and Organ", played by l'Atelier de Percussion de l'Universite de Montreal.
Catch a creative jazz session from the Lina Allemano Four tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown Lina's trend-setting trumpet playing sets the tone for explorations in contemporary jazz that include the sounds of a busy Manhattan street in the piece 'Gridjam', and a playful re-imagining of "Baubles, Bangles and Beads", called "Baw Baw Be". Lina is joined by Brodie West on alto saxophone, Nick Fraser on drums, and Andrew Downing on bass.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, music made by machines, from the Frankenstein-ian mind of Maxime De La Rochefoucauld - wonderful and strange mechanical musicians that make surprisingly beautiful sounds.
You'll also hear from Patrick Watson, Bjork, and Cor Fuhler (all very much human musicians... as far as we know).
Tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré, composer/pianist Heather Schmidt plays music inspired by cell phones...along with music that inspires her dog named Echo.
Plus the three finalists from the Eckhardt-Gramatte Competition for the performance of Canadian music.
It could be like a computer game where the click of the mouse takes you down one path, never to return to what might have been.
Click.
"It was a dark and stormy night, and we'd spent a fortune on black clothes and eyeliner. All we needed was some appropriately dark music."
Click.
"It was an optimistic, zippy kinda night. All we needed was some buoyant inventive fiddle playing."
Fortunately The Signal is not a computer game. They don't work that well on radio. Also fortunately, it frequently finds it not at all difficult to tell all kinds of musical stories within the same show.
Take tonight, for example. Pat Carrabré continues his series of Gothic picks, and checks in on the evolution of fiddler extraordinaire Jesse Zubot.
Really low. So low that your overtones will start to whistle. Tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré: Part Two of the Low-Note Showdown, featuring Tuvan throat singing.
Funny to think that not so long ago Tuvan throat singing was practically unheard of, outside of the communities who practiced it. For generations, Tuvan herdsmen were busy singing and riding and being oppressed on the grasslands of Central Asia without anyone else paying much attention.
No more. Nowadays it's, well, maybe not quite all the rage, but certainly part of the fabric of international musical culture.
To find out more about Tuvan doings, check out FOT, aka Friends of Tuva.
And tune into The Signal tonight, for some truly thrilling music.
The folks at The Signal describe tonight's concert of improvisation from guitar legend Fred Frith, cellist Ann Bourne and alto sax player John Oswald (of Plunderphonics fame) as being "out of thin air."
Think on that for a minute. Is the music there when no one is playing it? (Sort of an audio version of the tree and the forest thing?)
Then there's an expression Canadian composer/sax player David Mott uses: "Music always ever was."
Yes, a really old joke. But kind of nice to be able to use it again, in the context of a really great group, led by saxophonist Quinsin Nachoff. They're called the Rhodes Quartet, and you can hear them tonight in concert on The Signal. David Braid is the man on the Fender Rhodes, btw.
I have to admit, I associate the Rhodes with a certain kind of lounge. Not the nicest of associations, either.
And not one that its inventor, Harold Rhodes, would share. He invented the Rhodes in the second world war, so that injured servicemen could practice while still in bed. (Really!)
Besides, there's piles of music that wouldn't be the same, were it not for the Rhodes. Say, Herbie Hancock on "Miles in the Sky," or on a zillion other recordings. The Doors "Riders On The Storm." The entire canon of Weather Report!
Influence peddling sounds like a term William Safire might gleefully dissect in his Sunday New York Times Magazine column.
Influence peddling might come on the heels of someone saying something about "government corruption," or "preferential treatment."
Influence peddling? It's a bad, bad thing.
Apparently not always.
In the case of music on The Signal this evening, influence peddling takes on a whole different shade of meaning, as Laurie plays music that's inspired other genres, music ahead of its time. Tonight, the influence being peddled is by Stockhausen. You'll hear a performance of "Stimmung," a piece for six voices and six microphones that Stockhausen wrote back in 1968.
"Fascinating rhythm, you've got me on the go, fascinating rhythm, I'm all aquiver..."
Got a little rhythm that pitter pats in your brain? Well, one cure for being stuck in some unwelcome syncopation is to go the other way -- to what The Signal is calling "hypnotizing rhythms." In other words, music less likely to have you tapping your foot, more likely to induce some kind of trance-ish state.
(So maybe an appropriate update of the Gershwin lyric for tonight's edition of The Signal might go something like this: "Hypnotizing rhythm, you've got me on the, you've got me on the, you've got me on the...")
But seriously folks, tune in tonight to listen through the subtle shifts of music from the likes of The Dastan Ensemble, Gaia, and Legion of Green Men.
I was listening to The Signal with Pat Carrabré on Saturday night, and he was playing a version of Radiohead's Paranoid Android, arranged for string quartet. Radiohead songs get covered a lot. Sometimes this is good -- Brad Mehldau's take on that same song, for instance. Sometimes this is not, as is the case with this Radiohead medley, performed by a college marching band. But the impulse to interpret the music of bands like Radiohead is no surprise, not when you realize that songs like Paranoid Android are about as awe inspiring as one could wish music to be.
So it's very cool that so many musicians are blurring the lines between chamber music, new music, jazz and non-commercial pop in various ways these days. (Hands up all you art-pop musicians currently using string arrangements...huh, that was everyone in the room.)
There was some good writing not long ago on this very subject by New Yorker critic Alex Ross.
And there's also some good music coming up on tonight's version of the Signal too -- more on that a little later.
I've seen my share of all three today en route from London to Malaga to Periana.
But tonight on the Signal with Pat Carrabré, they travel the globe in search of new music in their PT&A special. From Do Make Say Think to Christos Hatzis to Carsick, Pat and his team explore the collision between music and transportation.
Plus the first in a series: Pat goes Gothic with a selection of dark and scary music, including Kilar's "Dracula." Then, it's off to the Eckhardt-Gramatte competition this weekend in Brandon, Manitoba, to hear the pianists compete in the semi-finals.
Tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré, the harp descends right into your radio. You'll hear music for harp by Jenn Grant, R. Murray Schafer, and Joanna Newsom.
Then the first installment of a new feature - the Low-Note Showdown, in which Pat and the gang ask just who can sing the lowest note. This week, The Blankket versus Tom Waits.
And, after all the kerfuffle over Prince's cover of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You" (which I think is fabulous, omitted Canada references aside) you'll hear the remarkable Sufjan Stevens' take on "Free Man in Paris"
Tonight on the Signal with Laurie Brown, it's all about Sanctuary.
Paul Frehner wrote a work called "Sanctuary" in response to the cataclysmic tsunami that struck parts of Asia on December 26, 2004. You'll hear it played by the Esprit Orchestra. You'll also be invited to take refuge in the beautiful music of the Halifax-based group Sanctuary and their album 'The Heart Has Its Reasons'.
If Handel were alive today, would he be composing with violas and harpsichords, or turntables and samplers? Hard to say, but he would surely find that water remains as compelling a theme for composers today as it was in the 18th century. Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, you'll hear liquid sounds from a live concert by the Esprit Orchestra featuring the music of Brian Current and Gyorgy Ligeti. There's also thirsty music from the desert by Tinariwen, and water-themed tunes from the Legion of Green Men and Colleen.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 30, 2007 at 08:00 PM
I've written about him hear before and you've heard him on Canada Live and Concerts On Demand but tonight Celso Machado illuminates The Signal with Laurie Brown.
Celso Machado can coax the most amazing sounds from his guitar, his voice - and his body. Tonight you'll hear Celso imitate a samba line in Rio and a common (or not so common) housefly - and play some mean guitar in the process. Plus the latest in Brazilian music from Bebel Gilberto and Cibelle.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 29, 2007 at 08:13 PM
It's Made in Manitoba music Sunday night on The Signal with Pat Carrabré. From a Groundswell concert recorded in January, four world premieres by Manitoban composers. The featured performers are also Manitoban, including soprano Charlene Pauls and guitarist Ian Hodges.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 28, 2007 at 07:55 PM
Tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré - the return of Vancouver's thoughtful DJ pioneers, the No Luck Club. They - along with composer Betsy Raum, producer/DJ Susumu Yokota, and minimalist composer Arvo Part - all contribute to the night's theme of carousels, carnivals and even the House of Mirrors.
Later in the program, you'll hear Gavin Bryars' "south downs" and Malcolm Forsyth's "Eclectic Suite" performed at the Music at Memorial concert in St. John's.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 27, 2007 at 07:38 PM
I met the Spanish trade commissioner at a party a year or two ago. I asked him what he thought accounted for the rise of Spanish cuisine on the international scene. He told me the roots of it went back to the death of Franco. Franco, of course, saw food as an industry and Spain was a major exporter. After the death of the dictator, democracy returned not only to politics but also to food. The country was divided into régions - much like wine country in France or Canada - for all sectors of the food economy. Very quickly, the idea of food as culture began to reassert itself as specific producers fought for recognition as producers of the best ham, best olive oil, best whatever. Regional dishes rose to the forefront and food lore came into the discourse about culture.
I just find this stuff fascinating - especially since Canada seems to be paying more and more attention to its regional cuisines and regional produce. Quebec is far ahead on this front in many areas, it seems and the result are some spectacular cheeses. What does this have to do with tonight's edition of The Signal with Pat Carrabré, you ask?
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 26, 2007 at 07:55 PM
Tonight on the Signal, Laurie Brown delves into sound and image - .music inspired by paintings. You'll hear Harry Freedman's 'Images' as performed by the Amici Stings, as well as the Rheostatics' homage to The Group of Seven. Plus many more opportunities for hearing colours and tasting sounds.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 25, 2007 at 08:04 PM
A few things about Franz Schubert:
First of all, one of my favourite pieces of music is Kraftwerk's "Franz Schubert" but I don't know for the life of me why it's called that. Is it based on a Schubert phrase? Is it simply a tribute? Any ideas, please make a comment below and let me know.
Second, Schubert really struggled for most of his career. He came from modest circumstances and had only modest success. His music didn't really take off until after his death. And yet, when he asked to be buried next to Beethoven upon his death, his wishes were honoured. Can you do that? Can you just say "I'd like to be buried next to [insert celebrity name here] and have it happen?
Music doesn't exist in a vacuum, so tonight on the show, Laurie explores the musical lineage of some of her favourite artists. You'll hear how Joni Mitchell inspired Bjork and how Radiohead changed the way Brad Mehldau played jazz. There's also a selection from The Harry Smith Project - revisiting traditional folk music in new and interesting ways.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 23, 2007 at 11:25 PM
Tonight on the Signal: driving music.
Songs that, for some reason, sound better in motion. Music that evokes the open road and destinations unknown. You'll hear selections from Caribou and Boards of Canada, and in case you're not so fond of long drives, a cut from the Vancouver band Carsick.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 22, 2007 at 07:48 PM
The four elements that formed the leitmotif last night on The Signal with Pat Carrabré continue tonight with Alissa Poole and Teresa Doyle's "Earth, Water, Fire, Air" concert feature. Then, explore the fiery jazz of Joe Henderson and the ambient sound art of Winnipeg's duul_drv, as well as a beautiful piano composition by Rob Ellis entitled "Symphonies of Wind-Up Instruments."
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 21, 2007 at 08:00 PM
At least that's the case tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré - from Beirut's "Interior of a Dutch House" to Final Fantasy's "Furniture" to Snailhouse's "Hospitality," it's all about where we hang our hats.
Later in the night, gallop alongside Sofia Gubaidulina's "Rider on the White Horse" in concert plus Psapp's "Velvet Pony," and George Gao whinnies on his erhu.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 20, 2007 at 07:51 PM
One of the most transporting art performances I ever saw was by Daniel Barrow - a young artist from Winnipeg who uses hand painted acetates on a good old overhead projector. He moves through the images, using simple manipulations on some to create "animated" effects while he narrates the story. I imagined what it must have been like when Victorian families gathered in parlours to watch "magic lantern" shows. Instead of piano accompaniment, Daniel Barrow used music by the Russian Futurists. Not the actual Russian Futurists, but the project of Toronto electronic musician Matthew Adam Hart.
His "Russian Futurists" lead a pack of solo project bands on tonight's edition of The Signal with Pat Carrabré that also includes That One Guy and Julie Feeney.
Later on, the non-disco version of Earth, Wind and Fire drives the show; as musicians such as Feist, Patrick Watson and Junior Boys all get inspired by the four elements.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 17, 2007 at 08:37 PM
It's a whole new world on The Signal with Laurie Brown tonight. The spotlight's on contemporary world music: genre-bending artists from across the globe demonstrate the versatility of world traditions and new technology.
You'll hear Cuban music fused with DJ stylings from Omar Sosa, trance-like African beats from Eccodek, and the sounds of "Heavy Traffic" from Indo-Canadian jazz-fusion group Autorickshaw.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 15, 2007 at 08:02 PM
Something old, something new, and yes - something borrowed and something blue...
Tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré it all goes beyond the wedding march: audio of Chet Baker talking is combined with the Quasar Sax Quartet in a concert performance of Jacob ter Veldhuis's "Pitch Black;"; new music shows up on the harpsichord, and DJs such as Akufen and the Rip-Off Artist borrow samples from old blues records.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 14, 2007 at 08:14 PM
Tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré, the tuba finally gets a bit of the spotlight - thanks to folks like Beirut, Betsy Raum and David Long.
After midnight, a trip into the world of movie music: David Shire's piano compositions for film have spanned decades, while Bjork's music is a little newer on the scene.
Plus New Mexico's A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Japan's Rainstick Orchestra and B. Fleischmann of Germany all revise the sound of the waltz.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 13, 2007 at 08:38 PM
Inspired by the fact that the 10th episode of The Signal with Pat Carrabré lands on Friday the 13th, Pat and the crew decided to celebrate numbers and all that they mean to us. Whether it's the Jurassic 5 sampling science equations, Tan Dun's 2,000 passions or pianist Christopher O'Reilly covering Radiohead's "Everything in its Right Place" (which is played in a time signature of 10/8), take a listen to all things numerical.
Pat, I'm putting in my request for BT's "Fibonacci Sequence".
You'll hear soundtracks and scores galore. Laurie plays the music from your favourite films, and asks you to re-create the scenes in your mind. You'll hear cinematic sounds from Michael Nyman, Michael Danna, Francis Dhomont and many others.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 11, 2007 at 08:15 PM
I find the whole notion of the "cover" song so interesting.
Of course, the history of the term is that white artists like Pat Boone would "cover" black artists like Little Richard. It was a version that literally covered up the fact that it was black music by a black artist.
The term doesn't mean that anymore. Usually, it is a kind of hommage. The rise of the singer/songwriter as the basic unit of popular music meant that it was assumed that most artists did their own material or at least a large percentage of it. So when an artist decides to "cover" a song by another artist, it really has become this sort of statement about the attitude of one artist toward another or about the depth and flexibility of a song that it can withstand multiple interpretations and take on different voices and meanings.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown she'll focus on a bunch of old songs covered by new artists. That's the other part of it - giving old songs new life in a new context.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 10, 2007 at 07:55 PM
If you've never been to Newfoundland, you really have to go. It is an extraordinary place. It gets just a little bit more extraordinary around the time of the Newfoundland Sound Symposium in St. John's. You'll get a sense of that tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, which features a concert from St. John's in which tubas try to sound like didgeridoos, and the xylophones are made of mirrors.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 9, 2007 at 08:33 PM
I blogged about the "Combo to Go" programme in Calgary earlier today and you may be listening to the Calgary Philharmonic with Jerusalem Ridge on Canada Live as you read this! But it doesn't stop there...
The Calgary Philharmonic also makes an appearance tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown performing Andrew P MacDonald's "Symphony Number 1: The Red Guru".
Also, you'll hear one of the most unusual Nordic singers out there. And I don't mean Bjørk. If Bjørk represents 11 on the dial of dynamic range, Stina Nordenstam (from Sweden) is somewhere around 2. Her voice trembles and whispers and conveys a kind of wide-eyed sweetness - even when she's covering a song by The Doors. It's perhaps a bit of an overused term, but if anyone sounds elfin, it's her.
Plus, Autorickshaw takes Leonard Cohen for a ride with their rendition of "Bird on a Wire", and The Legion of Green Men consider the implications of "Letters Never Sent".
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 8, 2007 at 08:23 PM
Tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré, hear Jim Hiscott's "Spirit Reel," a piece inspired by the Cree and Ojibway spirit world, written for violin and button accordion.
You'll also hear some concert recordings hot off the audio press: Gary Kulesha's "Fireworks and Procession" and Mark Anthony Turnage's viola concerto "On Opened Ground" were both performed by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at the 3rd New Creations Festival in February.
And for the electronic music fans out there, something brand new from Amon Tobin's latest release, "The Foley Room".
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 7, 2007 at 08:05 PM
You know how you're playing Scrabble and you've got a mix of consonants and vowels and although they don't spell any word you can think of, surely they must spell some word you simply don't know?
I always have the laptop open playing Scrabble now with the dictionary bookmarked on the Hasbro website. And inevitably, the little search window displays the result: not found.
And yet, last night I was at the movies watching the credits scroll by and thinking: how marvelous, the endless number of letter combinations that actually make up people's names. If only you could use names in Scrabble!
What is in a name? Well, apparently, some really great music tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré. You'll hear Nobody, New Buffalo, I Am Robot and Proud, and The Nuts. And that's just in the first hour. Later in the show, you'll get a wake-up call with music about sleep - Patrick Watson's "Sleeping Beauty," Electric President's "Insomnia," and "Lullaby" from Lori Freedman. Plus New Zealand composer Gillian Whitehead's "Hineputehue".
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 6, 2007 at 08:30 PM
I have long been intrigued by the phenomenal artistic output of the city of Winnipeg. Although I had come through briefly on a sleepless, stopless, cross-Canada bus trip as a penniless 20 year-old, I hadn't had an occasion to really visit the city until more recently.
I had sort of imagined a place just oozing activity out of every doorway. And yet, when I finally arrived to do some hosting at the Winnipeg Folk Festival (an AMAZING festival, I should add) I was surprised to find mostly empty streets. I should have got my first clue from the doorman at the Fairmont hotel at one of Canada's most famous corners, Portage & Main...
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 5, 2007 at 08:31 PM
Barry Truax is a very interesting guy: a veteran - no, wait, a founder - of the Canadian Electroacoustic music scene, a performance artist and professor of both Communication and Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. I'd seen him perform a bunch of times and collected his recordings through the Canadian Music Centre but I really only met him by showing up at the same time as him at the old apartment of my friend, the percussionist Ben Grossman.
There's a lot to know about Barry Truax in the realm of music. But did you know he is also a breeder of champion Glenfraser Scottish Terriers? 'Struth!
You'll hear the music of Barry Truax (without barking) tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown. Plus, the Esprit Orchestra with a performance of Joseph Schwantner's "Aftertones of Infinity" (really it will only take about 15 minutes) and the snappy music of Psapp.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 4, 2007 at 07:50 PM
John Cage was famous in the mainstream as a provocateur, though I'm not sure he would ever have thought of himself as such. Perhaps a bit mischievous but mostly just a gentle but brilliant figure with a wonderful sense of humour.
My friend Katrina was working on a Cage piano piece many years ago and finding herself drawn deeper and deeper into the piece and more and more anxious about getting at the heart of it for her performance. So, she called up John Cage in New York. He answered the phone and they talked for a while until she finally blurted out the suggestion that she come to meet with him. "What's your time like in August?", she asked.
"August would be fine. What time?" was his reply. Typically Cageian.
So many aspects of Cage are reflected in the work of his students, including Gavin Bryars - the British composer who seems to have a strong affinity with Canada and the CBC in particular. Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, Bryars' "Porazzi Fragment" performed in concert by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra as part of the 2007 New Creations Festival. You'll also hear the late night sonic wanderings of Colleen (the alter ego of twenty-something Parisienne Cecile Schott) and her ramshackle collection of found instruments and playful tunes.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 3, 2007 at 08:00 PM
Or so says Futurama philosopher Philip J. Fry.
That may sound dangerously like nerd talk but after tonight's edition of The Signal with Laurie Brown, you may just agree. You'll hear highlights from Sound Symposium XIII in St. John's, Newfoundland. It’s an exaltation of sound from percussionists John Wyre and Trichy Sankaran improvising on a 'neighbourly' theme.
John Wyre was one of the founding members of percussion group Nexus - along with Steve Reich Ensemble alumni Bob Becker and Russ Hartenberger.
Trichy Sankaran - apart from being a master of the mrdangam, the South Indian double-headed drum, is the Founding Director of Indian Music Studies at York University in Toronto and is passing on his rhythmic genius to a new generation as an award-winning music prof.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 2, 2007 at 08:33 PM
Tonight on The Signal, Laurie Brown will have a feature on contemporary Chinese music, including Coco Zhao (Shanghai's answer to Billie Holiday) and highlights from a concert with pipa (Chinese lute) virtuoso Wei-Wei Lan. Also, a song from Sufjan Stevens' album of music for the Chinese Zodiac, and great music from Broken Social Scene and Susanna and the Magical Orchestra.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 1, 2007 at 01:46 PM
And yet, this is not a post about the show Fuse (which is pre-empted today by the Juno Songwriter's Circle - more on that in a later post) but rather about today's editions of Skylarkin' and The Signal.
I know I've already written glowingly about the new CD from Tinariwen but I'll do it again. It's called "Aman Iman: Water Is Life" - perhaps not a surprising sentiment from a band whose home turf is the edges of the Sahara desert in Northern Mali. Their music is raw and insistent - the very basics of rock and roll bound up with the traditional modalities of the Tamashek people. It's been in very high rotation in my iTunes lately.
Well, on Skylarkin' with Andre Alexis today, he finds in that desert common ground between Tinariwen and the writing of Yasunari Kawabata, the first Japanese Nobel Prize winner for Literature. A Skylarking that imagines shifting sands, first love, and the secret connections between distant worlds.
Later, on The Signal with Pat Carrabré, world music meets classical, featuring songs by Iranian-Canadian santur maverick Amir Amiri and New Zealand Maori singer Mihirangi. Also, a work commissioned by CBC for turntable and ensemble. Call it a concerto for turntable: Montreal composer Nicole Lizee's "This Will Not Be Televised," a world-premiere performance recorded at Winnipeg's New Music Festival.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 31, 2007 at 08:44 PM
How incredibly gracious! The Signal has kindly relinquished its first two hours to Canada Live at the Junos tonight. But when host Pat Carrabre finally does take over the airwaves, he'll have a great change of pace for you - a one-hour good old mix of experimental electronic music.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 30, 2007 at 08:32 PM
Oliver Schroer is a national treasure - a genre-busting violinist/fiddler who makes his own beautiful records when he's not making everyone else's sound just that much better. He wasn't nominated for a Juno Award this year but for making his "Camino de Santiago" album, he certainly deserves a medal.
The trek along the pilgrimage trail to Santiago de Compostela in the Galicia, Spain, is a rite of passage for many Catholics and a regular old challenge for many others (I went on the bus from Porto, Portugal - I guess that doesn't count). The faithful take mementos of loved ones - Schroer took a small recording studio and stopped to make music all along the way - using the journey and the destinations as inspiration. You'll hear part of that journey tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown.
You'll also hear the homegrown talent of Blunderspublik from his performance at the New Music Festival in Winnipeg tonight on The Signal. Blunderspublik combines synthetic and organic sounds using his computer, his guitar and his voice.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 29, 2007 at 08:00 PM
I'm not a scientist or a geek or any kind of technician. Once systems are set up I'm pretty comfortable working with them but I'm prone to panic if anything goes awry.
Funny then, that I'm so enamoured of various geeks and scientists. Einstein, Richard Feynman, Richard Dawkins, Reginald Fessenden, Nikolai Tesla....
When we were in Belgrade with Global-Village in 2001, I visited the statue in his honour in front of the University. He was a Macedonian, I believe, though he is claimed by Serbs as well. Born in 1856, he imagined a world that his inventions in the late 19th century ushered in and that is only now coming to resemble his ultimate dreams. Between Marconi, the Russian Alexander Popov, Canada's Fessenden and Tesla, it was actually Tesla who was credited by the Supreme Court in the U.S. with having invented radio.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 28, 2007 at 08:07 PM
Sample the Toronto Symphony Orchestra New Creations Series tonight on The Signal, including 'Scherzi' from Simon Bainbridge, and Julian Anderson's 'Book of Hours'. And speaking of books, tune in to hear host Laurie Brown's deconstruction of "The Lemon of Pink" from the band the Books
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 26, 2007 at 08:28 PM
Have you heard the new EP from Feist? Picked it up at the iTunes store last week and loving it. It's called "My Moon Man". She'll be touring across Canada starting May 15th in Victoria. Tonight on The Signal, Laurie Brown features a couple of very familiar Fiest hits, redone in surprising ways.
Plus, you'll hear a Silent Shout from The Knife, and we'll learn about the fascinating history of rust with Do Make Say Think.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 24, 2007 at 03:41 AM
I'm just listening to the late stream of The Signal with weekend host Pat Carrabré. I tuned in around the Dun Tan mark and listened through to the end. The revelation for me was that track "Broken Arrow" - reminding me very much of possibly my favourite ambient chamber electronic album, "Pop Loops for Breakfast" by B. Fleischman. And the Ann Southam and Gavin Bryars pieces played by Christina Petrowska Quilico that ended the show were just stunning.
Pat is doing the 3-day weekend shift at the Signal. Earlier this afternoon, I emerged from an appearance on the Homestretch show from Radio One in Calgary to find a friendly guy in the guest lounge. We talked for a little while before properly introducing ourselves. It was Tonic's 2-day weekend host, Tim Tamashiro. He was in to do a little sample spinning for the drive home crowd and to prep them for his new gig.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 22, 2007 at 06:16 PM
I was recently asked to cast votes for my top ten Canadian albums for an upcoming book. It's a ridiculous task, frankly. There are so many possibilities by so many artists from every part of the country in so many genres. Ten? They; asked dozens of other people as well, of course, so maybe something interesting will emerge from a vast averaging of opinions.
One that I put on the list that I hope lands on enough others to get her into the book is Mary Margaret O'Hara. She is elusive and mercurial and has really only two of her own albums as a legacy, though she appears as a guest on a hugely diverse group of other artists' albums. One eventuallly appeared as the soundtrack to a film called "Apartment Hunting" (I think) but the other is the celebrated "Miss America".
To this day, it stands as one of the most innovative and striking debuts ever released. She's just one of the features tonight on The Signal. Also, a psychic cat comes between Lily Frost and her significant other, and a feature on the music of Charles Mingus, performed by Montreal's Normand Guilbault Mingus Project.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 21, 2007 at 07:30 PM
Did you see that movie?
It's John Sayles' 1987 film about a union drive in a company mining town in West Virginia in 1920.
It stars James Earl Jones and many of Sayles' regular company: David Strathairn and Chris Cooper, Mary McDonnell (Battlestar Galactica) and Kevin Tighe (Emergency! - remember Johnny Gage and Roy DeSoto? - It's Roy!). It also features a 10-year-old apprentice preacher played by Will Oldham. Oldham went on to form a band called Palace Brothers and now has a solo career as Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. He is one of the most unique voices in American music today. I saw him open for Bjork at Toronto Island a couple of summers ago and he was a total inspiration (as was Bjork and as was Kid Koala, the other opener that day).
Well, you'll hear him in a couple of different configurations tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown. You'll also hear Bjork reconfigured by Larry Goldings. You'll hear two of my favourite Canadian remixers (Rise Ashen and Dan Snaith), two of my favourite Canadian guitarists (Bruce Cockburn and Kevin Breit), two of my favourite Canadian speak-vocalists (Buck 65 and William Shatner) and two of my favourite songwriters (Patrick Watson and Sufjan Stephens). Plus, two Quasar arrangements of Frank Zappa, Craig Armstrong, the Stars and much more.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 20, 2007 at 08:00 PM
There's a record store in Austin, Texas with no sections. It's all alphabetical. I think it's a fantastic idea and mirrors my own filing system at home. Why bother with the distinctions? That's not to say there aren't other taxonomic issues to deal with.... but more on that in another post.
I bring this up because there's this great band from the U.K. called Tunng. They've been identified in the genre - either by critics or by themselves - of Future Folk. I'm not sure what that means, really. And I'm not sure that if you opened that section in your local CD shop that it would be very big, last very long or attract that many new customers.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 19, 2007 at 08:15 PM
It's one of the most historic places in Canada - perched high atop the mouth of the narrows out past the Battery in St. John's Newfoundland. I've been up there when you could see so far you thought you could just make out Ireland and I've been up there when you couldn't see more than a metre in front of your face.
It's a controversial spot in the history of radio too (as Laurie Brown makes history tonight on Radio Two ;->)
For one thing, it's not 100% certain that the wireless signal Marconi had sent from Poldhu, Cornwall on December 12, 1901 was the signal he received with his kite at the Cabot Tower on Signal Hill. The particulars and technicaliites are still a matter of debate among radio scientists.
But it was success enough to bolster his company and put the fear into the barons running the communications racket in St. John's, which was the communications gateway to North America - with ships tossing their load of message canisters near the shore to be retrieved by what would have been the pre-radio-age equivalent of service-providers.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 16, 2007 at 08:43 PM
Hello. Hello.
HELLO.
It's me. Jowi Taylor
Here in the middle of the page.
Welcome to the new CBC Radio 2. This is it kids. This is the place you want to be for music in Canada. This is your hub. This is where you conduct your own radio experience.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 16, 2007 at 08:26 PM
I can't tell you how many guys - when I tell them I know Laurie Brown - confess to me their long-harboured crushes on the New Music journalist/goddess. She was certainly the coolest chick any of us had ever scene when scrappy CityTV in Toronto basically invented pop-music journalism for television. But what was so cool was how she grew into the role. Even as TV began looking for ditzier VJs to cover ditzier music, Laurie Brown remained the keen-eared journalist with the great hair and an even greater sense of what was worth exploring behind the creative process (or behind the music industry curtains).
I think it's fair to say that the relationship between human beings and animals, (sometimes called 
The numbers of people -- musicians and otherwise -- inspired by 
A bit of a musical tour of wilderness destinations on The Signal (10 p.m.) tonight, according to the Team Signal. They tell me that this evening "Granny’Ark starts you at Home; then Absent Sound takes you on a Highway in Canada. En route, you’ll experience Life in a Day by No Man's Land, and let yourself be Sundrenched by The North Atlantic Explorers."
It's Winnipeg Weekend Part Two tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) as Pat presents music from the talented and idiosyncratic 
Ah, the wintery Winnipeg jokes, they're like mother-in-law jokes in the Catskills or something. (But hey, it's a dry cold, right?) When I was growing up there I never ever called it Winterpeg, but in the missive I received from the weekend crew of The Signal (10 p.m.) (who are based in my hometown) the very first line was "drop your bathing suits and put on your parkas." Maybe they meant as a shield against the mosquitoes? Ba dum dum. 
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) Laurie updates the notion of the one man (or woman) band, with music from solo artists who are less likely to be tricked out in 
The weekend Signal team says that tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) with Pat Carrabré "the sparks will fly." Without yet knowing the music featured I can only assume they have some stirring and/or sensual stuff lined up. 
Now, you could interpret that subject heading in any number of ways. First, that everyone is charging en masse to listen to The Signal (10 p.m.), which may well be true. Or maybe it is a kind of rallying cry. (Although that would work better if there was a comma: Rush On, The Signal!) On the third hand, maybe it means Geddy Lee is putting in an appearance?
Tonight on The Signal, film composer Danny Elfman turns his hand to a large-scale contemporary work, 
Pat is back in the host chair on this evening's edition of The Signal (10 p.m.) and he celebrates, (belatedly), the 60th birthday of composer 
Tonight is the last night of The Signal's (10 p.m.) "Schaferathon" ( a tribute to composer 
The Signal (10 p.m.) continues its week long Schaferathon, in honour of composer 
This Friday legendary Canadian composer 
Montrealer 
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), proper acknowledgment of things small. (Coming from a long line of short people, this has special resonance.) 
Sunday night The Signal (10 p.m.) with Pat Carrabré presents a three hour special devoted to a composition by 
If you need one reason to tune in tonight to the The Signal (10 p.m.) here it is: 
An early bulletin today about The Signal (10 p.m.): 
Riding a bus is possibly the best place for eavesdropping on conversations, other than when people are talking in public on their cell phones. Then the potential pleasure of eavesdropping (for those of us fascinated by other peoples lives, or maybe just nosy) is usually overridden by the fact that the person is shouting. 
After last Wednesday's apology by Prime Minister Harper on behalf of the government of Canada to aboriginal people who were forced into Residential schools, the actual commission that results from that apology will now begin. For the next five years the commission will hear from aboriginal people who were in those schools. 
I heard sometime earlier this week the theory that Father's Day is just an add on, that it's really Mother's Day that is the big deal. This is probably true in commercial terms, and admittedly there has been a suspicious lack of Father's Day programming today. Knowing a few great fathers (most of all my own) makes me say this: frankly, this second class dad's day notion is just wrong. 
Well, it sounds better than unlucky 13. Superstition is such an odd thing. Are you of a numerically superstitious ilk? Do you think elevators will plummet or fish will grow fangs and attack you, or whatever other fears you secretly harbour -- just because it's Friday the 13th? 
Italian composer 
It continues to be "All Leonard All The Time," what with 
Pat Carrabré is not just the weekend host of The Signal (10 p.m.), he's also a composer and he also teaches music. And, when he has time, he blogs about music as well, at 
...no not Doug, but and Bill. Tune in tonight to The Signal (10 p.m.) to hear the "existential cinematic sounds" of 
Signalites take note, The Signal (10 p.m.) may be joined in progress due to 
Some "post-mountain jazz" from Norway is promised tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.). Well, earlier we had "tractor-jazz" (see previous post). However, "post-mountain" is, I suspect, a tad more specific a term. It's a way of trying to describe the reaction to the ambient and landscape-inspired jazz produced in Scandinavia in the 1980s. I'm thinking like Jan Garbarek, but certainly there were other artists playing music in that vein, and some in more of what you could call a "new-age" way. 
Now this is intriguing. The Signal (10 p.m.) is presenting some music from what they describe as "a new musical crime drama." (I don't think it's a terribly exhaustive genre.) Anyway, it's called The Crime Report, and it's from
Let me count the ways. The Signal (10 p.m.) counts a few of them tonight, as Laurie takes a look at how keyboards, turntables, digital effects, and laptops have changed how music is made. A fascinating and vast subject, which Laurie illustrates with music from 
Bet that got your attention. 
Many of us are tuned in to the sound of our city or town or bucolic setting -- the rhythms and melodies you hear in nature and in things man made. That's part of why I find the 
The Signal (10 p.m.) turns One today. In both its weekday version with Laurie Brown, and in its weekend edition with Pat Carrabré, the cast and crew has done some very creative and satisfying radio, programming a wide range of contemporary music. But don't just take it from me, here's one take on the show by a listener who wrote in to the blog:
The idea of "steam punk" wherein new technology is clothed in yesteryear's garments, (for example a laptop computer using old typewriter keys and brass fittings), seems to have gathered steam in recent years (bad pun intended). There are probably many reasons for this -- but among them, I think, is a genuine appreciation for the technology of previous eras, and the aesthetics of that technology.
Wednesday night The Signal (10 p.m.) comes from Victoria, B.C., with part one of a concert entitled Northern Lights by the 
It's always seemed odd to me how reviled 
I suspect we all have our own, personal political agendas for music. 
Ask and ye shall receive -- some of you wanted to see the complete list of Top Ten Trends of 2007 assembled by the weekend crew of The Signal (10 p.m.) -- and here they are, along with a couple of performers or bands featured in each category:
Not to be a misanthrope, but to be a misanthrope, I've always found the concern over what to do on New Year's Eve irksome. I've spent several of the things doing absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, consequently waking with a clear head to greet the dawn of the New Year. (Well, the lazy holiday version of the dawn, at any rate.)
The brass band trend is one that I'm all for -- love the sound of brass in indie bands. And tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) Pat celebrates this trend as the final Top 10 Trend of 2007. So you can hear some of the likely suspects (eg. Beirut) and also Bjork and Emily Haines as they get on the brass bandwagon. 
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