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| Enya' s AAnd Winter Came to Be Released November 11th By: Christine Albrecht |
| 10.18.08 (11:09 am) [edit] |
Visit SwanktrendzTwenty years after arriving on the scene with her memorable, Watermark, album, Enya, is set to release her seventh studio album, And Winter Came. As a well known artist selling 70 million albums worldwide, we can expect Enya's latest effort to garner brisk sales when it arrives in stores on November 11, 2008. And Winter Came took Enya two years to craft at Aigle Studios near Dublin, Ireland. Once again, she sought partnership with producer, Nicky Ryan, and lyricist, Roma Ryan. The album was originally envisioned as a Christmas themed release, but as recording progressed, it became apparent that a broader seasonal theme had emerged.  During her career, Enya has collected four Grammy Awards, winning Best New Age Album for Shepherd Moons, The Memory of Trees, A Day Without Rain, and Amarantine, as well as three World Music Awards in 2002 for Best Selling Female Artist, Best Selling Irish Artist and Best Selling New Age Artist.Enya has also earned an Oscar nomination for Best Song Written For A Motion Picture, both in conjunction with her musical partners Nicky and Roma Ryan, for the song, May It Be, which was written and recorded for the movie, Lord Of The Rings - The Fellowship Of The Ring. May It Be was written at the personal request of director, Peter Jackson. The song also won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association award for Best Song and was also nominated for a Hollywood Golden Globe Award.Check out your local music store on November 11.
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| Ruby's Chicky Boil-Ups (Radio Nowhere) By: Terry Lowe |
| 10.18.08 (2:23 am) [edit] |
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I love well-made radio almost as much as I love print media, so Internet podcasts are catnip to me. I found Ruby's Chicky Boil-Ups by following a link from my favourite podcast, The Bike Show, broadcast from London by Jack Thurston on Resonance 101 FM (link below). The Bike Show, not surprisingly, focuses mainly on cycling. Ruby (who, it turns out, is Jack's cousin) focuses entirely on music. She chooses a loose theme for each show, then chooses a surprising range of music to fit each theme. She also finds a well-informed someone to talk to about this theme, and includes music that this person chooses. The result is eclectic, unusual, and wonderful. How surprising? How eclectic? A few themes and playlists are shown below. Scroll down and have a look... Sunday ServiceGospel Train - Sunbury Junior Singers of the Salvation Army Heaven's Radio - Molly O'Day and the Cumberland Mountain Folks Female Jesus - Men in Gray Suits Dominique - The Singing Nun Saved - Lavern Baker Jesus in His Pomp - The Chimps Six and Seven Books of Moses - The Maytals as The Vikings Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho - Paul Robeson Soul Train - Judith Angels Laid Him Away - Mississippi John Hurt Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet - Gavin BryarsTour De France Rockin’ Bicycle - Fats Domino En Bicicleta - Manuel Jiminez La Troisiéme Roue De Ton Velo - Antoine A Bicyclette - Yves Montane Motorcycle - The Rumble Strips Gravel Rash - Cookin' on Three Burners Pedal Pusher - Abdominal Tour De France - Kraftwerk Bravo Eddy - Jean Narcy Blood on the Saddle - Tex Ritter Henkie de Fiets - Henkie The Highway Code - The Master Singers Waiting At The Bus Stop - Kay-Gees La bicyclette - Annie DuparcThe Great Outdoors I Came Out of the Wilderness - Pete Molinari Arizona Yodeller - DeZurik Sisters Building a Boat - The Rumble Strips Run Rabbit Run - Harry Smith Country Death Song - The Violent Femmes Moonlight & Roses - Tommy Sanderson Francis, Day & Hunter The Valleys - Electrelane Inakano Musume - Ban Ban Bazar Goodbye California - Jolie Holland Puszta-Fox - Orchester Barnabask von Geczy Roam - B52s La Montagne - Choeur des Armaillis de la Gruyere Whispering Grass - The Ink Spots Lord Blow the Moon out Please - Hem Down by the Riverside - Lesley First Man Walks Among Us - Jonathan RichmanArchitecture The Smoke Comes Out My Chimney Just the Same - Skeets McDonald Do The Whirlwind - Architecture in Helsinki This is the House that Jack Built - Willy Whyton London Calling - The Clash Luton Bungalow - John Hegley First Row Balcony - The Gaylords Love Breaks Down - Prefab Sprout Home is where the Hatred Is - Gil Scott-Heron I Wish to Build a Mosque - Markos Vamvakaris In Your House - The Cure Crying in the Chapel - Elvis Living on the Ceiling - Blancmange Maison Rose - Emmanuelle Parrenin Underneath the Arches - Billy's Banjo Band My Head is My Only House Unless it Rains - Captain Beefheart Lara’s Castle - Yann Tiersen Come on Feel the Illinoise! - Sufjan Stevens Build - The Housemartins Christopher Robin at Buckingham Palace - Anne Stephens We Built this City on Rock and Roll - Starship Enjoy! I certainly do, and hats off(!) to Ruby.
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| Durham County Television show review - by Lezah WIlliamson |
| 10.18.08 (2:21 am) [edit] |
Visit SwanktrendzThere was once a time when Canadian TV shows were guaranteed to be dull, unappealing, and have a really low-budget appearance.Then came Durham County.Six episodes premiered back in May, 2007, on The Movie Network and Movie Central; this year, you can catch the repeats on Global, as well as Showcase (at 9:00). Season 2 is just starting production this month, and the first episodes are set to air in the spring of 2009. I'm predicting a surge in audience numbers by that time: the first episode of Durham County has been nominated for 13 Gemini Awards, including best series, best writing, best directing, best photography, best editing, and best sound (to name but a few). And well it deserves any accolades that come its way.There is more art to be found in one episode of Durham County than you would find in any gallery in Canada. In scene after scene, there are shots that are just masterful. The images are incredibly evocative.Most episodes open with, or feature at some point, a shot of the power lines that run through Durham County. Between the images, the symbolism, the mood that is set and the story itself, this is TV that easily tops every that is out there right now. It is almost Lynchian in its presentation, and frequently juxtaposes images and ideas that tell you much more, and much more quickly, than you are learning from the characters themselves. And that is just part of its magic.Durham County is a police procedural with a family drama backstory; each episode is not resolved, but rather, the story builds as the season progresses. The show stars Hugh Dillon as Detective Mike Sweeney; Sweeney has left Toronto following the death of his partner, and the near death of his wife (to cancer). Still dealing with the emotional after-effects of both of those emotionally traumatic events, Sweeney is plunged right into the middle of a serial killer hunt in his new hometown, the suburb of Durham County. Complicating matters further, it turns out a nemesis from his youth lives directly across the road; as well, the young woman he fell in love with at the cancer support group turns out to be his daughter's high school English teacher.In addition to the adult cast, the teens in this film are especially noteworthy. Laurence Leboeuf stars as Sweeney's daughter, an independent young lady who enjoys recreating crime scenes in her doll house during her spare time; her counterpart is the shy, artistic son of his father's nemesis. Rounding out the cast is the youngest daughter, a character who appears in most shots wearing an over-sized Sailor Moon mask. Altogether, the story is a convoluted, twisting journey through an everyday neighbourhood where good and evil co-exist.Not to be missed.
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| AC/DC's Latest Release Sold Only in Wal-Mart By Terry Lowe |
| 10.18.08 (1:32 am) [edit] |
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AC/DC has announced that its forthcoming CD (title widely speculated about, but in August, had yet to be confirmed) will be sold exclusively in Wal-Mart stores in the USA. With that, their credibility has dropped through the floor. AC/DC, in its early days, was a fun band; a sort of guilty pleasure – who couldn’t like the bouncy raunch of "Girls Got Rhythm?" But Wal-Mart? Say it ain't so, boys. Wal-Mart may be the world's biggest retailer of CDs, but... Wal-Mart is evil. Don't get me started, or I'll rant all night. Information on Wal-Mart's cancerous "race to the bottom" tactics is not hard to find: just Google the term "Wal-Mart is evil" and you'll find lots. And most of what you'll find is both sad and nauseating. The most interesting (and balanced) item I found was from the Markulla Center For Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, who considered the question "Is It Ethical to Shop at Wal-Mart?" and concluded: It is unethical to shop at Wal-Mart? However, refusing to shop at Wal-Mart is an insufficient response to its gross effects on the values of shared prosperity. You could do more, such as: AC/DC joins has-beens John Mellencamp, James Taylor, and The Eagles in the "Wal-Mart only" new release sales brigade. No further comment should be necessary, apart from noting that Bon Scott must be whirling in his grave. Rumour has it that AC/DC is in Vancouver at the moment, putting finishing touches on this release. Anyone want to track them down and call them out on this? If so, I'm in. |
| Concert Revierw: TV On the Radio by Christine Albrecht |
| 10.18.08 (1:29 am) [edit] |
| TV on the Radio has been spinning in my player since late 2006. I was onto other sounds for most of 2007, but rediscovered Return to Cookie Mountain just prior to May, thus giving me my summer soundtrack. This band consistently puts me in a good mood, so, to say I am glad I received tickets to see TVOTR perform would be an understatement. I was ecstatic.TVOTR's alternative jazz/rock vibe is accompanied by intriguing, occasionally obtuse lyrics. Anyone who can write a line like "there's a purple stain spat up on interstates" immediately gets my attention. As I have often mentioned, I am a huge believer in lyrical importance over beat. The September 7th, Commodore Ballroom gig, was sold-out and I anticipated the usual Commodore sardine-can experience, but it wasn't there. The venue did not even appear sold-out in comparison to past sold-out shows e.g. The John Butler Trio. The audience's age appeared to average around 25+; males outnumbering females (this bodes well for the band's career longevity). The fans were not decked out in distracting, image conscious get-ups.Within the first three chords of Young Liars, the formerly missing, full-house audience appeared from out of nowhere. The stage floor was packed with fervent TOTR-heads.Christine's typical aside: There should be a height limit for stage leeches. I am just as bad as the next music lover, staying as close to the front as possible, straining for any and all giveaways that the talented performers are indeed humans with everyday realities. But come on... A six foot, drunken young male does not need to be clinging to stage edge with a planet-sized noggin eclipsing a 4-person viewing opportunity!The negatives for the performance: the bone-numbing bass feedback that stayed throughout the show, and the mumbled lyrics whose blame could not be sloughed onto the sound engineer. Tunde Adebimpe hurls through his lyrics throughout the set, just as he does on their CDs. Mind you, can this man move, or what...? I ask you. So liquid in his movement, then frenetic in the next; for a moment I forgot his singing... and briefly wondered if he ever considered a career in dance. Jaleel Bunton is the driving force behind TVOTR's sound. Each song begins with a unique drumming intro, and frankly, Jaleel is satisfying eye candy. I was impressed with Kyp Malone's falsetto vocal accompaniment which sounded as consistent as his contributions to their CDs. Gerard Smith and David Andrew Sitek filled out the rest of TVOTR.TVOTR's members appear to have class. You won't find Tunde and Kyp inserting f**k as either adjectives and/or adverbs during their acknowledgement of Vancouver or the fans. There was the requisite nod to 'the great grade' of people, a sly nod to our world wide reputation of having the best pot/ganja in North America. They performed a variety of songs: Young Liars, I was a lover, Province, Dreams, Wolf Like Me, Blues From Down Here, Golden Age, Wash the Day, Shout and Sattelite. The encore was comprised of Stork and Owl, Dancing Choose, Method, and Staring at The Sun. The last song sent the audience over the edge, as the fans' vocals threatened to drown out Tunde's.Alas, my second fave TVOTR tune, Dirtywhirl was not performed. Overall, splendid performance. 9/10 |