I've been working on a tabla solo blog called 52 Kaidas. The original aim was to record a kaida (a type of tabla composition) a week, but I was clearly insane to think I could pull that off. Plus I've upped the production values, so each recording takes longer than I originally expected.
The Signal 'Baker's Dozen' Canadian Album Contest. Posted by Laurie Brown on Nov-23-09 at 12:16 PMComments209Recommend32 We're giving away three complete collections of The Signal's best Canadian albums for 2009. You remember the list? Here it is again:
Bell Orchestre - As Seen Through Windows Brandi Disterheft - Second Side Patrick Graham - Rheo The Henrys - Is This Tomorrow Alice Ping Yee Ho - Ming: The Music of Alice Ping Yee Ho Hylozoists - L'Ile de Sept Villes Luxury Pond - Luxury Pond Patrick Watson Band - Wooden Arms Saint Dirt Elementary School - Ice Cream Man Dreams Charles Spearin - The Happiness Project Timber Timbre - Timber Timbre Ugly Beauties - The Ugly Beauties Years - Years
What do you have to do to win these thirteen CD's? You need to answer not much of a skill testing question in your comment below. The question: what was the first piece of music you ever bought?
There's a story there, I know it. So, in addition to the music, tell us the story of that first purchase. Did you save up your paper route money? Is it music that you now find embarrassing? Did it change you life? That's it. Leave your comment before December 12th at midnight and we're going to accumulate all of them and pick the three best entries. We'll let you know by email if you've won (you don't need to include your email address in your blog post).
Thirteen CD's delivered to your door in time for the holidays. The Signal heartily endorses all the music on this list and encourages you spreading the music around.
Happy holidays from The Signal team.
Last Updated ( Thursday, 21 January 2010 )
City of Lakes
Written by Ed
Monday, 23 November 2009
This is the first version of City of Lakes, released to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal disaster, on December 3rd, 2009. Click image above for more info.
City of Lakes is a project to raise funds for the Sambhavna Clinic in Bhopal, via the Bhopal Medical Appeal. See www.bhopal.org
On December 3rd, 1984, the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India accidentally released over 40 tons of toxic methyl isocyanate gas, exposing hundreds of thousands of people, especially in the community immediately surrounding the factory. The best, accepted estimates say that 8,000-10,000 people died within the first 72 hours of the leak. It is estimated that 20,000 have died since the accident from gas-related diseases, and another 120,000 people are estimated to have permanent injuries and chronic medical conditions that require constant healthcare. The Bhopal Disaster is widely considered the worst industrial disaster in history. Info on the disaster here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster
The Sambhavna Clinic provides free care to survivors of the disaster, and operates solely on donations.
Currently, the "album" consists of one song. Remixes of the song, with additional instrumentation, will appear here in the future.
The album and each track are name-your-price, starting at $0.00. Proceeds will go to the Sambhavna Clinic.
If you would prefer to contribute directly to the Bhopal Medical Appeal, you can do so here, and still download the song for free: legacy.bhopal.org/donations/
If you download the album (or track) now, you can come back and download new versions at any time, either for free, or for an additional donation.
To be kept up to date on new versions as they become available, please sign up on our Facebook page, Twitter or email list.
Please share the song with your friends (via the helpful share link above).
If you're a video artist, we are looking for someone to make a video of the song.
Please note that this song is released with a Creative Commons license.
We're grateful to the project participants, who have all generously donated their time and creative energy.
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 24 November 2009 )
Serendipity, Small World Stories and Rainbows, oh my!
Written by Suba
Friday, 02 October 2009
Here’s a continuation of Patrick’s Prague Blog, called Meeting Friends on the Road. I’m calling this one SERENDIPITY, SMALL WORLD STORIES AND RAINBOWS, OH MY!
It is indeed a warm, fuzzy feeling when you see old friends while on the road. Some live in the places you are playing, others are from Canada who are there for some other reason. Either way, it feels great to stay connected with people, especially when you’re treading on new land, sleeping in new beds and feeling transient. It keeps one feeling grounded.
As there are so many friends to name and dates to mention, I’ll go in chronological order as to those we met on the road on this tour:
Nehru Centre, London, Aug 19: Autorickshaw meets up with Julie Kench, former Swingle Singer – Great to meet up again and thanks for all your help with the gig!
Belfast, Aug 29: Autorickshaw shares some pints with Debashis Sinha (former Autorickshaw drummer), who was touring his own music at the ISEA electronic art symposium.
London, Sept. 2: Suba and Dylan visit with former Swingle Singer Johanna “Chewy” Marshall with gorgeous newborn Noah. Dylan’s friend and colleague, producer Dr. Richard Niles, comes to the Vortex and hears/meets Autorickshaw. Suba bumps into Rathi Kumar (former singer from Scott Leithead’s Kokopelli Choir in Alberta) before the gig. Rathi heard about the show through our dear friend Kevin Fox, current Swingle Singers’ baritone, courtesy of facebook. Spent an amazing evening with Tobi, current Swingles’ bass/beatboxer, who made this evening (and much of the UK touring) possible. Tobi shows us a great time at the Jazz Bar, the post-gig hangout spot.
Prague, Sept. 5: Ed and Patrick meet up with Ganesh Anandan.
Prague, Sept. 11: Dylan escorts Ed, Patrick and I to the local Czech radio station for a live concert featuring big band and a cappella group Voxtet (that’s Dylan’s small world connection). This show was recorded live for broadcast and we hang out with Voxtet after their show.
Voxtet...gotta love the space!
Okay, here’s a crazy story of serendipity: Dylan’s brother, Brendan, approximately. 4 years ago, went to Prague and took a beautiful black and white photo of a man playing hurdy-gurdy on the streets. Four years later, Dylan and I, on our last day in Prague, walking the streets, find the same guy. We take the same picture and have yet to send it back to Brendan!
Hurdy Gurdy man!
Serendipity x 2: On the same day, moments after we walk away from the hurdy-gurdy guy, we “feel” our way through some side streets and stumble upon some distinctly symphonic sounds. A side door was open, so we slip in and listen from side stage. They’re just finishing a grandiose work. We thought it was a rehearsal, but on the final crash of the cymbals, the place explodes with applause! We realize that we’ve stumbled upon a Czech Symphony concert and got to listen to it from side stage, for free!
Hamburg, Sept. 13: Autorickshaw meets with Dylan’s/Suba’s colleagues/friends Martin and Kathrin Carbow (and their kids Titus and Mia) and go for a boat ride on the Alster. The Carbow family as well as friends Rakhee Arora-Hodges (and her family), Chrissi Voss and Britta Hauck all attended our concert that closed the Festival der Kulturen.
Martin and Titus
Alkmaar, Holland, Sept. 18: Dylan and I meet Joep Hopstaken and Claudia Appel (from our previous Holland workshops) at our concert.
Amsterdam, Sept. 20: Dylan, Ed and I meet Kees Kool (from Dylan and Suba’s previous Europe tour in May/June and member of Improzo vocal group) who has organized all of our concerts and workshops in Holland. Thank you Kees, Jane, Simon (owner of La Vigilantie, Alkmaar) and Nicoline for a wonderful experience in Holland!
Vigilante, outside
...and inside
We were planning on seeing former soprano of the Nathaniel Dett Chorale (and founding member along with Dylan and I) Nicole Jordan, in the Hague where she now resides. Things got crazy and we didn’t manage it, but that just gives us yet another reason to return!
Serendipity story #3: As mentioned above, Dylan and I, as the FreePlay Duo, toured Germany and Holland in May -June of this year (supported by the Ontario Arts Council). There was one group that we did a workshop with that we had no contact information for. We knew the were musical theatre gals who lived in Amsterdam, and that was it! So, fast forward to an hour before our workshop on Sept. 20th. We meet with the director of Improzo, Nicoline Snaas, at the nearby university café called CREA (where our workshop is taking place) to discuss the workshop, and lo and behold, we see the group of girls that we worked with back in May! Their group is called De Meisjes Loos and it was great to reconnect with them!
Some things are just meant to be, or so I believe. I realize that this blog might not appeal to everyone as it’s a lot of namedropping, but I think it’s important to acknowledge all of the people who have touched our lives, people we really connect with, who leave their imprint on us, who we are blessed to reconnect with, when circumstance (or serendipity) allows. I think every artist will tell you that it’s “who you know” in the business that gets you places. This includes all of the friends you make along the way. To me, this feeling of connectivity is somehow very Canadian.
Hamburg Maple Leaves...leafs..?
Rainbows!!! And now, I must explain the rainbow fetish. Actually, the rainbows were thrust upon us – the number of rainbows encountered on this tour outnumbers all of the rainbows I’ve encountered in my life up to this point. Unbelievable. We saw several rainbows (and double rainbows) in Ireland and northern Ireland, which makes sense considering the Irish leprechaun’s hiding place! We also saw some in Prague, and in Hamburg. This speaks to the number of days of rain that we encountered as well, but there’s always a bright side - sometimes even a multi-coloured arch if you’re lucky! This is the kind of optimism one needs when traveling for 6 weeks. Thanks Mama Nature - we appreciate the help!
Leprechaun PARTY!
Czech Leprechauns do it in the sky, man...
Hamburg
A wee mélange
Written by Ed
Friday, 18 September 2009
I'd like to point out that I'm posting this blog from a train, while it's moving, like, a brazillion km/h. Well, we're not actually going that fast right now, but we will...
three hundred and fifteen MILLION kilometers per hour
I love VIA Rail as much as anyone, but VIA, can we go faster? Can we please have a dining car like this one?
Next on the Discovery Channel: NASA has started printing Spacebucks (pounds in spaaaaace):
how much is that tribble in the window?
Trivia: did you know that in Northern Ireland, the banks print their own money (like the Northern Bank above)? How scary is that..."I'm sorry sir, your bank has folded...your money is no good anymore". Horror. And that when you leave Northern Ireland, and go back to London, everyone looks at you like some sort of inept counterfeiter when you try to pay for things? "Cute! He's trying to pay with space money".
Musical instrument Museum, Prague. Très cool. From a piano that Mozart played on to 1950's Russian synthesizer technology, from a quarter-tone piano to more sackbuts than will slide in a sack (oh, I'm good...), from a modern audio-visual installation to multiple calliopes and automated one-man band machines, this place is not to be missed.
Yuri, can you hear me now?
oooonce...ooonce...ooonce...
I'd love to program some sequences with a hammer...i'm good with a hammer
Things that go well with beer.
'nuff said.
Things for bands to do together:
• Go for a paddle boat ride on the Vltava river.
Suba pushed us all off the boat right afterwards...
•Go to Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris.
• Stand on the odd cliff.
Me feet tingle just looking at this pic...
• Herd some sheep
run sheep...RUN!
These things will make a happy band.
awwww....
Hot Water: Not as easy to come by as you might think. I am going to make my hot water heater a nice dinner when I get home.
please...be hot...
And finally...henceforth, the following photo replaces our backstage rider completely. Just do it like this. This was nice. Thanks to Borek and the Respect Music crew at Palác Akropolis in Prague.
yes....YEEEESSS!!!
Last Updated ( Friday, 18 September 2009 )
Food Blog #2- September 8th
Written by Patrick
Wednesday, 09 September 2009
The Czech Republic is a country of Roasted Meats. This is good news for the highly carnivorous members of Autorickshaw: Ed and Dylan. They are eating well, and relishing the experience (see illustration below). Suba on the other hand has it a little rougher right now, as there is less of a variety of tasty veg cuisine as what we have been able to get in some of our other stops along the way. But she is a Trooper. And because she has consumed so much Plant Material (i.e. Chlorophyl) in her lifetime, she is extremely Sensitive to the Sun..... yes, Loyal Readers, Suba has been enjoying, indeed, basking, in something we have not seen much during this tour: The Sun. That bright, warm Ball of Gas which heats our Earth and makes us all much more agreeable people. The Wet Period (19 days total of consistent rain) has now been broken by two Gloriously Warm and Sunny (!) days. Something for everyone.
Dylan with a single serving of meat
Last Updated ( Friday, 18 September 2009 )
September 5, Prague: Meeting Friends on the Road
Written by Patrick
Wednesday, 09 September 2009
One of the best and fuzziest feelings one can experience while touring is Meeting-Up with Old Friends in Far-Flung Places. In Belfast, the whole band had a wonderful, beer-soaked afternoon (in the rain, of course) with Toronto-buddy Deb Sinha. Last night, Ed and I rendez-vous-ed with one of my best mates, Ganesh Anandan (www.fingerworks.org). Ganesh is composer, multi-instrumentalist, instrument inventor, and Nouveau Bohemian Mad-Man, who is now based here in Prague. The two of us have had the good fortune of traveling a fair bit together (Tokyo, Shanghai, Nashville, Vancouver...) and we released a duo CD a few years ago. Ganesh, Ed and I spent a great evening in Kampa Park, under a full moon, sipping Becherovka, watching traditional Czech wedding lanterns float up into the night sky. There was then a quick pilgrimage at the local statue of Beethoven (a fellow musician who traveled a fair bit...) and a midnight tour of the Charles Bridge. These whirlwind meetings are especially meaningful when you are on the road a lot. You never quite know when or where you might meet again...
