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We are bringing the two Signals together under one Blog, there will be more posts, more music tips and more frequent posts. The new home to The Signal Blog is up above.
Much thanks
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
It’s all in the La-La-Las
We kick this weekend off with a new tune from Sigur Ros. It’s called “Gobbledigook” and it includes several sections where the words are just la-la-la. I just couldn’t help myself, I was singing along almost as soon as I heard the piece. We’re also playing “Henry Lee,” an older duet from Nick Cave and PJ Harvey. It also has la-la-las, but in this case they’re a bit sinister – not quite serial killer crazy, but I’d be watching my back.
All this got me thinking about why there are times when we leave the words behind in a song and just go for some nonsense syllables. Sure, it makes it easier to sing along, but there seems to be a barrier where words have to stop, so the stronger emotions can take over. In “Death By Ninja (A Love Song),” Woodpigeon tell us about all the horrible ways they can kill (metaphorically speaking), so they can move in on the object of their desire. But then the words disappear and we get a strange chorus of la-la-las as the courtship ensues. Veda Hille uses ah’s in “Book of Saints,” Born Ruffians try La-da-da in “Red, Yellow and Blue” and Jorane, well, she goes for something closer to “oh” in most of her vocalizing for the soundtrack to Je n’aime que toi.
I am more of a composer, than a songwriter, so I do have a habit of getting carried away with the notes and not always catching the words. I have to admit that I thought the Destroyer song we have on Saturday night was “Introducing Ninjas,” when it’s really “Introducing Angels” – big difference, even if some Angels have a habit of fighting.
It’s a real challenge for anyone combining music and words. At times you want to appeal to the higher brain functions with slick word combinations. I like how Timber Timbre uses references to classic songs like “Twist and Shout” to pull all kinds of memories and emotions out of us – just by repeating a simple phrase that’s so well known. Owen Underhill brings together words from over a millenium’s worth of writers in his “World of Light.” But then he uses the orchestra to create sound visions based on those ideas. I don’t know if we should consider that a lower brain function, but the more powerful emotions seem to grow out of a place where the best we can do is sing is la-la-la.
All this got me thinking about why there are times when we leave the words behind in a song and just go for some nonsense syllables. Sure, it makes it easier to sing along, but there seems to be a barrier where words have to stop, so the stronger emotions can take over. In “Death By Ninja (A Love Song),” Woodpigeon tell us about all the horrible ways they can kill (metaphorically speaking), so they can move in on the object of their desire. But then the words disappear and we get a strange chorus of la-la-las as the courtship ensues. Veda Hille uses ah’s in “Book of Saints,” Born Ruffians try La-da-da in “Red, Yellow and Blue” and Jorane, well, she goes for something closer to “oh” in most of her vocalizing for the soundtrack to Je n’aime que toi.
I am more of a composer, than a songwriter, so I do have a habit of getting carried away with the notes and not always catching the words. I have to admit that I thought the Destroyer song we have on Saturday night was “Introducing Ninjas,” when it’s really “Introducing Angels” – big difference, even if some Angels have a habit of fighting.
It’s a real challenge for anyone combining music and words. At times you want to appeal to the higher brain functions with slick word combinations. I like how Timber Timbre uses references to classic songs like “Twist and Shout” to pull all kinds of memories and emotions out of us – just by repeating a simple phrase that’s so well known. Owen Underhill brings together words from over a millenium’s worth of writers in his “World of Light.” But then he uses the orchestra to create sound visions based on those ideas. I don’t know if we should consider that a lower brain function, but the more powerful emotions seem to grow out of a place where the best we can do is sing is la-la-la.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
June 20, 21, 22
The Signal with Pat Carrabré- Friday JUNE 20, 2008
This evening Pat samples the intensity of the acclaimed Penderecki String Quartet. There will be new sounds from Sigur Ros, John Zorn, Human Bell and Will the Circle. Then chill out when Pat brings you tonight’s concert: David Kristian, one of Canada’s premier experimental/techno artists. The concert comes to us from Radio Canada's very excellent Bande A Part The whole evening is set to be one smooth ride.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, JUNE 21, 2008
Tonight a very special concert: a re broadcast of Tomson Highway’s world premier of The Journey, a music drama he collaborated on with composer Melissa Hui and choreographer Michael Greyeyes. Pat will spin new music from Garth Stevens, El Perro Del Marr and Mogwai. Pat also quickly slips into a cape and some blue tights for some superhero music. We should all have our own theme song, don’t you think?
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, JUNE 22, 2008
We have reached the summer solstice, join Pat tonight on the Signal when he celebrates the light with a cello-tastic evening. Tonight three concerts have been brought together from across Canada: one by Owen Underhill from Vancouver, A cello-tastic world premiere by David R. Scott with a little help from The Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and from Montreal two pieces, one by Claude Vivier and more cello from Sean Ferguson. The vibrations continue into the night when Pat samples a film soundtrack composed by Montreal singer/cellist Jorane.
This evening Pat samples the intensity of the acclaimed Penderecki String Quartet. There will be new sounds from Sigur Ros, John Zorn, Human Bell and Will the Circle. Then chill out when Pat brings you tonight’s concert: David Kristian, one of Canada’s premier experimental/techno artists. The concert comes to us from Radio Canada's very excellent Bande A Part The whole evening is set to be one smooth ride.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, JUNE 21, 2008
Tonight a very special concert: a re broadcast of Tomson Highway’s world premier of The Journey, a music drama he collaborated on with composer Melissa Hui and choreographer Michael Greyeyes. Pat will spin new music from Garth Stevens, El Perro Del Marr and Mogwai. Pat also quickly slips into a cape and some blue tights for some superhero music. We should all have our own theme song, don’t you think?
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, JUNE 22, 2008
We have reached the summer solstice, join Pat tonight on the Signal when he celebrates the light with a cello-tastic evening. Tonight three concerts have been brought together from across Canada: one by Owen Underhill from Vancouver, A cello-tastic world premiere by David R. Scott with a little help from The Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and from Montreal two pieces, one by Claude Vivier and more cello from Sean Ferguson. The vibrations continue into the night when Pat samples a film soundtrack composed by Montreal singer/cellist Jorane.
Friday, June 13, 2008
June 13, 14, 15
The Signal with Pat Carrabré- Friday JUNE 13, 2008
Lucky or unlucky, it is Friday the 13th and tonight Pat digs into the idea of luck and fortune with music from Halifax composer, pianist Peter Allen and Montreal’s Besnard Lakes. In concert this evening, also from Montreal, the high energy of electronics collides with jazz when Misteur Valaire take the stage. Pat also samples the many vintages of England’s electronica genius: Four Tet.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, JUNE 14, 2008
Tonight Pat will blow your mind with a concert from Halifax; the verbosity of Buck 65 joins arm in arm with the elegance of Symphony Nova Scotia. In high rotation tonight the latest release from Katie Stelmanis plus Pat will be giving away tickets to Calgary’s fab Sled Island Music Festival. Music from Montreal’s Matt Haimovitz, Iceland’s Múm and New York string quartet Ethel will also be woven into the night.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, JUNE 15, 2008
Tonight Pat will musically toast all the papas out there on Father’s Day. Sound track Sunday features music from the stress fest, Oscar winner Little Miss Sunshine with music by Toronto composer Michael Danna and Denver neo-gypsies Devotchka. This evening’s concert is all about memory but titled Requiem for a Polka from Winnipeg’s Groundswell music series. The performance features work by composers Claude Vivier, Jim Hiscott and James Harley.
Lucky or unlucky, it is Friday the 13th and tonight Pat digs into the idea of luck and fortune with music from Halifax composer, pianist Peter Allen and Montreal’s Besnard Lakes. In concert this evening, also from Montreal, the high energy of electronics collides with jazz when Misteur Valaire take the stage. Pat also samples the many vintages of England’s electronica genius: Four Tet.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, JUNE 14, 2008
Tonight Pat will blow your mind with a concert from Halifax; the verbosity of Buck 65 joins arm in arm with the elegance of Symphony Nova Scotia. In high rotation tonight the latest release from Katie Stelmanis plus Pat will be giving away tickets to Calgary’s fab Sled Island Music Festival. Music from Montreal’s Matt Haimovitz, Iceland’s Múm and New York string quartet Ethel will also be woven into the night.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, JUNE 15, 2008
Tonight Pat will musically toast all the papas out there on Father’s Day. Sound track Sunday features music from the stress fest, Oscar winner Little Miss Sunshine with music by Toronto composer Michael Danna and Denver neo-gypsies Devotchka. This evening’s concert is all about memory but titled Requiem for a Polka from Winnipeg’s Groundswell music series. The performance features work by composers Claude Vivier, Jim Hiscott and James Harley.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
The Matrix Remixed!
For the last year or so I’ve been wondering what the next step is beyond post-modernism. If that hasn’t been the burning question on your mind, I can’t blame you. I think that most people don’t even notice it any more. The easy availability of digital copies of almost everything has made the creation of new meaning from artistic artifacts that already exist part of our everyday life.
In contemporary music, this has been going on since the late 70s. Luciano Berio’s amazing tour-de-force, his “Sinfonia,” is a great example and on the other side of the spectrum is John Oswald’s Plunderphonics. He was obviously an early adopter on the non-classical side and he paid for that, when the industry didn’t really know how to deal with what he had created – and chose to make him take it off the market. Since then, the whole DJ genre has evolved, based on using records that already exist, as a way of creating new music in a new context.
Remixing and re-making is nothing new, but it just seemed to hit me when I was working my way through the music for this weekend’s shows. There’s a maturity and depth to some of these musicians who aren’t just using bits and pieces that already exist, but are building the foundation of their craft on this idea of renovating art. Early on Friday night, we’ll hear Tortoise and Bonnie Prince Billy doing Elton John’s “Daniel” and right afterwards, its Margaret Leng Tan’s quirky version of “Eleanor Rigby.” They’re just a warm-up for Four Tet and his awesome re-thinking of Caribou’s “Melody Day.”
But the real shocker for me was learning that the Montreal band Misteur Valaire are releasing their CDs under The Creative Commons Copyright license. This is a whole new way of thinking about what we create. It goes way beyond so called “fair use” or peer-to-peer sharing. It assumes that we can make use of things that already exist, while it continues to recognize the role of the original creator. Up to this point, most remixing has been done in a rigidly controlled environment, often to give new life to music that’s already sold itself silly in the market. The results can be great, like Psapp’s take on Astrud Gilberto’s “Bim Bom” from the new Verve Remixed 4, that’ll show up in the first hour of Saturday’s show. But think about Aphex Twin’s famous 26 Mixes For Cash. At that point, the industry was chasing him all over the place, because an Aphex Twin remix had the potential to rejuvenate a career with the same kind of certainty that appearing in a Quentin Tarantino movie would for an overexposed actor.
In the end it’s probably all about the money – as usual. Our consumer culture has given us access to the whole world of art. All we have to do is watch the commercials and put up with the banner ads. But as we move into the new on-demand world, somebody has to come up with a new way of making sure the artists get paid. For their part, artists have to learn to accept that once they’ve finished their creation that it might take on a life of its own. Think about the Rolling Stone’s iconic anthem “Satisfaction.” How many times have you heard it used to sell stuff on TV? On the other hand, listen to Prince’s take on Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” or Stina Nordenstam’s re-think of Prince’s “Purple Rain.” For me, they’re in the same league with Glenn Gould’s interpretations of Bach. Blasphemy? Maybe, but they all present compelling artistic statements that reflect the “remixing” artist as much or more than they do the originals.
There are still lots of new original voices appearing in our world – despite what we might think after a particularly bad run of TV shows. I’ll just give one example. CocoRosie have a new single out for download and it’ll kick the show off on Saturday night. But this idea of renovating music that already exists is appealing. It’s no different aesthetically than taking an old house with good bones and completely overhauling it, so you can have a to-die-for bathroom or kitchen. I might not do it to a Frank Lloyd Wright original, but you have to be a pretty special person to live in a house that unique anyway.
So I welcome the remixers. They’ve already taken on classics like Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time” and Handel’s “Messiah.” I think this new “genre” is just beginning to spread its wings.
In contemporary music, this has been going on since the late 70s. Luciano Berio’s amazing tour-de-force, his “Sinfonia,” is a great example and on the other side of the spectrum is John Oswald’s Plunderphonics. He was obviously an early adopter on the non-classical side and he paid for that, when the industry didn’t really know how to deal with what he had created – and chose to make him take it off the market. Since then, the whole DJ genre has evolved, based on using records that already exist, as a way of creating new music in a new context.
Remixing and re-making is nothing new, but it just seemed to hit me when I was working my way through the music for this weekend’s shows. There’s a maturity and depth to some of these musicians who aren’t just using bits and pieces that already exist, but are building the foundation of their craft on this idea of renovating art. Early on Friday night, we’ll hear Tortoise and Bonnie Prince Billy doing Elton John’s “Daniel” and right afterwards, its Margaret Leng Tan’s quirky version of “Eleanor Rigby.” They’re just a warm-up for Four Tet and his awesome re-thinking of Caribou’s “Melody Day.”
But the real shocker for me was learning that the Montreal band Misteur Valaire are releasing their CDs under The Creative Commons Copyright license. This is a whole new way of thinking about what we create. It goes way beyond so called “fair use” or peer-to-peer sharing. It assumes that we can make use of things that already exist, while it continues to recognize the role of the original creator. Up to this point, most remixing has been done in a rigidly controlled environment, often to give new life to music that’s already sold itself silly in the market. The results can be great, like Psapp’s take on Astrud Gilberto’s “Bim Bom” from the new Verve Remixed 4, that’ll show up in the first hour of Saturday’s show. But think about Aphex Twin’s famous 26 Mixes For Cash. At that point, the industry was chasing him all over the place, because an Aphex Twin remix had the potential to rejuvenate a career with the same kind of certainty that appearing in a Quentin Tarantino movie would for an overexposed actor.
In the end it’s probably all about the money – as usual. Our consumer culture has given us access to the whole world of art. All we have to do is watch the commercials and put up with the banner ads. But as we move into the new on-demand world, somebody has to come up with a new way of making sure the artists get paid. For their part, artists have to learn to accept that once they’ve finished their creation that it might take on a life of its own. Think about the Rolling Stone’s iconic anthem “Satisfaction.” How many times have you heard it used to sell stuff on TV? On the other hand, listen to Prince’s take on Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” or Stina Nordenstam’s re-think of Prince’s “Purple Rain.” For me, they’re in the same league with Glenn Gould’s interpretations of Bach. Blasphemy? Maybe, but they all present compelling artistic statements that reflect the “remixing” artist as much or more than they do the originals.
There are still lots of new original voices appearing in our world – despite what we might think after a particularly bad run of TV shows. I’ll just give one example. CocoRosie have a new single out for download and it’ll kick the show off on Saturday night. But this idea of renovating music that already exists is appealing. It’s no different aesthetically than taking an old house with good bones and completely overhauling it, so you can have a to-die-for bathroom or kitchen. I might not do it to a Frank Lloyd Wright original, but you have to be a pretty special person to live in a house that unique anyway.
So I welcome the remixers. They’ve already taken on classics like Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time” and Handel’s “Messiah.” I think this new “genre” is just beginning to spread its wings.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
The Years Abroad.
There’s a long tradition of artists leaving home to explore the wider world. Some bring back a lifetime’s worth of experiences that enrich their work for years to come. Then there are others who need to stay in exile for a while. Being away from home seems to set them free from whatever’s been holding things back and gives them the courage to jump to a new level. It’s a bit like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon.
This Saturday night we’ll be putting the new CD by Gonzales into High Rotation. It’s called Soft Power. He lived in Paris for years and that great city has long been a magnet for artists seeking out creative inspiration. Feist, Buck 65 and Sarah Slean have also spent time there, and the American sister group CocoRosie have set up shop in the Eiffel tower city too. We’ll play their Rainbow Warriors on Friday night.
This year marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City. While, I’m not much for the news, the controversy surrounding Michaëlle Jean’s visit to France has certainly reminded us about the link that still exists between Canada and France. A tour there is often the first big step for Quebec artists as they start to make their mark beyond our borders. That’s how it worked for Jorane, who’s gone on to break down lots of musical barriers. On Friday and Saturday night we’ll be playing her music. For me, she is one of the most interesting artists around. Jorane takes her classical training and fearlessly explores the feast of sound possibilities that are available to a musician in our time. Look down this page a bit to find a video of her performing with Bobby McFerrin at the Montreal Jazz Festival.
Friday night, we also have a concert set from Ghislain Poirier. He played Paris last month as part of a European tour. His dance floor DJ style is another example of a multi-stylistic fusion.
Maybe we live too close to the supposedly mono-lingual US, but we often seem to be afraid of a multi-lingual future. I spent my exile years in New York City and I can tell you that the ads in the subway are often in Spanish (that was actually the first time that I realized the word cucaracha meant cockroach – listen to Jorane’s song Cucaracha on Friday night around 11:45).
From my experience Canada’s multi-cultural foundation is really valued in the broader world. We’re seen as a place where people aren’t just free to express themselves, but that conformity to some approved style isn’t possible – because we don’t have one. So what does it mean to be Canadian – other than being nice and polite? Perhaps it means really finding your own voice.
This Saturday night we’ll be putting the new CD by Gonzales into High Rotation. It’s called Soft Power. He lived in Paris for years and that great city has long been a magnet for artists seeking out creative inspiration. Feist, Buck 65 and Sarah Slean have also spent time there, and the American sister group CocoRosie have set up shop in the Eiffel tower city too. We’ll play their Rainbow Warriors on Friday night.
This year marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City. While, I’m not much for the news, the controversy surrounding Michaëlle Jean’s visit to France has certainly reminded us about the link that still exists between Canada and France. A tour there is often the first big step for Quebec artists as they start to make their mark beyond our borders. That’s how it worked for Jorane, who’s gone on to break down lots of musical barriers. On Friday and Saturday night we’ll be playing her music. For me, she is one of the most interesting artists around. Jorane takes her classical training and fearlessly explores the feast of sound possibilities that are available to a musician in our time. Look down this page a bit to find a video of her performing with Bobby McFerrin at the Montreal Jazz Festival.
Friday night, we also have a concert set from Ghislain Poirier. He played Paris last month as part of a European tour. His dance floor DJ style is another example of a multi-stylistic fusion.
Maybe we live too close to the supposedly mono-lingual US, but we often seem to be afraid of a multi-lingual future. I spent my exile years in New York City and I can tell you that the ads in the subway are often in Spanish (that was actually the first time that I realized the word cucaracha meant cockroach – listen to Jorane’s song Cucaracha on Friday night around 11:45).
From my experience Canada’s multi-cultural foundation is really valued in the broader world. We’re seen as a place where people aren’t just free to express themselves, but that conformity to some approved style isn’t possible – because we don’t have one. So what does it mean to be Canadian – other than being nice and polite? Perhaps it means really finding your own voice.
JUNE 6,7,8
The Signal with Pat Carrabré- Friday JUNE 6, 2008
Tonight on The Signal expect the crackle of electricity when Pat heads to Ottawa for live electronica and heavy beats at a Ghislain Poirier concert. Then chill out in Pat’s happy place- the music of Montreal cellist and singer-songwriter Jorane. There will be a ticket giveaway to Calgary’s Sled Island festival and new music from James, Panda Bear, and Tycho. In the last hour suit up, ‘cause a hard rain is a gonna fall.
Friday Grab bag question: What river runs through Calgary
(send answers and contact info to: thesignal@cbc.ca)
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, JUNE 7, 2008
Tonight our Jorane positive weekend continues here on The Signal. Pat will dip in and out of an extraordinary Jorane concert, recorded live in Montreal, throughout the evening. The bar remains high all night long as Pat puts Canadian ex-pat Gonzales’ new CD into high rotation. But wait there is more: you will even have a chance to win that Gonzales CD and new music will be spun from The Tiny, Sea Wolf, Alex& Sam and a track inspired by the Tate Modern’s Rothko collection.
Saturday Grab bag question: What city does Gonzales live in?
(send answers and contact info to: thesignal@cbc.ca)
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, JUNE 8, 2008
Tonight Pat features a concert by Pulitzer Prize winning composer George Crumb including the stunning piece Black Angels. Inspired by the beat poetry of Ginsberg and Kerouac, Pat has dug up a wide range of pieces that riff on the spoken word. Stepping up to the mic will be Montreal’s D. Kimm, Laurie Anderson, Winnipeg’s Poor Tree and Halifax’s Buck 65 to name a few. The evening will also include a work inspired by the poetry of Leonard Cohen by composer Kelly- Marie Murphy. Basically it is an evening of talk radio.
Tonight on The Signal expect the crackle of electricity when Pat heads to Ottawa for live electronica and heavy beats at a Ghislain Poirier concert. Then chill out in Pat’s happy place- the music of Montreal cellist and singer-songwriter Jorane. There will be a ticket giveaway to Calgary’s Sled Island festival and new music from James, Panda Bear, and Tycho. In the last hour suit up, ‘cause a hard rain is a gonna fall.
Friday Grab bag question: What river runs through Calgary
(send answers and contact info to: thesignal@cbc.ca)
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, JUNE 7, 2008
Tonight our Jorane positive weekend continues here on The Signal. Pat will dip in and out of an extraordinary Jorane concert, recorded live in Montreal, throughout the evening. The bar remains high all night long as Pat puts Canadian ex-pat Gonzales’ new CD into high rotation. But wait there is more: you will even have a chance to win that Gonzales CD and new music will be spun from The Tiny, Sea Wolf, Alex& Sam and a track inspired by the Tate Modern’s Rothko collection.
Saturday Grab bag question: What city does Gonzales live in?
(send answers and contact info to: thesignal@cbc.ca)
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, JUNE 8, 2008
Tonight Pat features a concert by Pulitzer Prize winning composer George Crumb including the stunning piece Black Angels. Inspired by the beat poetry of Ginsberg and Kerouac, Pat has dug up a wide range of pieces that riff on the spoken word. Stepping up to the mic will be Montreal’s D. Kimm, Laurie Anderson, Winnipeg’s Poor Tree and Halifax’s Buck 65 to name a few. The evening will also include a work inspired by the poetry of Leonard Cohen by composer Kelly- Marie Murphy. Basically it is an evening of talk radio.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
To Study or not to Study?
Should indie pop musicians go to University and study music or not? This week, that, is the question. I’m still reverberating from that “one-man band” article in the New York Times a week or so back. When that paper calls a musician “unabashedly articulate” you wouldn’t normally think they were writing about an indie pop sensation like Final Fantasy. The roots of modern pop music are more on the iconoclastic and anti-establishment side (never mind “sex, drugs and rock and roll”). After all, the Beatles were still learning how to play their instruments when they were already an international sensation.
When I was a student in music school most of the young composers were coming in with a stronger background in rock than in classical. Some had gotten bored with formula driven pop music and were looking for something more substantial. They wanted to create music that would be more complex. New classical was just the thing. It could be as intellectual and intense as you wanted. Studying the classical tradition, usually at a university school of music, was the normal road to follow.
On Sunday I’ve lined up a crop of tracks from musicians who have solid training in classical music, but who’ve turned their talents and creativity to alternative pop music. Alexandre Désilet, Son Lux, Julia Kent, Ólöf Arnalds, and Patrick Wolf all fit this profile, and every week I seem to come across more.
Are they running away from classical music? That seems unlikely. You don’t have to do a lot of research to know that there are pop musicians who get ideas from listening to classical music. PJ Harvey and Elvis Costello are just two who are happy to acknowledge that they listen to new classical music.
What good does it do a would-be pop star to study how Beethoven planned the modulations in his piano sonatas or how Stravinsky used the octatonic scale? I teach in a school of music and I’m not sure of the answer to that question. We seem to be going through one of those major shifts in musical history. They do happen every once in a few hundred years, like when European musicians discovered the joys of writing music for more than one part (that happened during the move from Gregorian Chant to polyphony in the Medieval period). The same kind of shift happened in the Baroque period when classical tonality caught on. In our time we’re moving through the “post-everything” period to the “what the hell do we do now” phase. Our university music schools are mostly stuck in the past, with curricula that haven’t changed much in a hundred years. Yeah, some have added jazz programs, but they’re still mostly butting heads with the required classical courses.
A few years back universities started giving out honorary doctorates to aging pop stars. Neil Young, Cat Stevens, Bono, The Guess Who, Nick Cave and Tom Cochrane are just a few who can now be called Dr. So now that university senates have legitimized pop, how can we continue to indoctrinate our students that classical music is “better” than any other kind of music? Outside my office at Brandon University I have a blurb taken from Parmela Attariwala’s website. We’ve played Parmela’s music on The Signal many times. She’s working on a doctorate in music and her dissertation will be about “the impact of globalization and post-colonialism on contemporary music-making.” She’s asking some pretty tough questions about how our programs should be structured and who should be welcome in the hallways.
This isn’t the first time that this has happened. Sixty years ago classical music performers weren’t welcome in the university. They were trained at independent conservatories. As North American universities grew after the Second World War, classical performers and composers edged their way in and seem to have forgotten that not long ago they were outsiders. Creating us and them camps is mostly destructive. After ten years of studying classical music at university, I had drawn a pretty narrow circle around myself. I thought I knew what music was worth considering and what wasn’t. Then I met Leonard Bernstein and he pretty much trashed my little world. For him, there were only two kinds of music – good and bad. He was just as excited about Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the Kronos Quartet’s arrangement of Jimi Hendrix as he was about the Rite of Spring he was conducting that week.
I can’t help but think that if we look at all the music being made in the world, that we’ll find a crazy amount that’s good, if not great. The mix tape we create at The Signal each week is just a window into the world of “new” music that’s being made outside the boundaries. I think that university music professors need to learn from their students on this one. We’ve fallen too far behind the curve. It’s time to get with the program!
When I was a student in music school most of the young composers were coming in with a stronger background in rock than in classical. Some had gotten bored with formula driven pop music and were looking for something more substantial. They wanted to create music that would be more complex. New classical was just the thing. It could be as intellectual and intense as you wanted. Studying the classical tradition, usually at a university school of music, was the normal road to follow.
On Sunday I’ve lined up a crop of tracks from musicians who have solid training in classical music, but who’ve turned their talents and creativity to alternative pop music. Alexandre Désilet, Son Lux, Julia Kent, Ólöf Arnalds, and Patrick Wolf all fit this profile, and every week I seem to come across more.
Are they running away from classical music? That seems unlikely. You don’t have to do a lot of research to know that there are pop musicians who get ideas from listening to classical music. PJ Harvey and Elvis Costello are just two who are happy to acknowledge that they listen to new classical music.
What good does it do a would-be pop star to study how Beethoven planned the modulations in his piano sonatas or how Stravinsky used the octatonic scale? I teach in a school of music and I’m not sure of the answer to that question. We seem to be going through one of those major shifts in musical history. They do happen every once in a few hundred years, like when European musicians discovered the joys of writing music for more than one part (that happened during the move from Gregorian Chant to polyphony in the Medieval period). The same kind of shift happened in the Baroque period when classical tonality caught on. In our time we’re moving through the “post-everything” period to the “what the hell do we do now” phase. Our university music schools are mostly stuck in the past, with curricula that haven’t changed much in a hundred years. Yeah, some have added jazz programs, but they’re still mostly butting heads with the required classical courses.
A few years back universities started giving out honorary doctorates to aging pop stars. Neil Young, Cat Stevens, Bono, The Guess Who, Nick Cave and Tom Cochrane are just a few who can now be called Dr. So now that university senates have legitimized pop, how can we continue to indoctrinate our students that classical music is “better” than any other kind of music? Outside my office at Brandon University I have a blurb taken from Parmela Attariwala’s website. We’ve played Parmela’s music on The Signal many times. She’s working on a doctorate in music and her dissertation will be about “the impact of globalization and post-colonialism on contemporary music-making.” She’s asking some pretty tough questions about how our programs should be structured and who should be welcome in the hallways.
This isn’t the first time that this has happened. Sixty years ago classical music performers weren’t welcome in the university. They were trained at independent conservatories. As North American universities grew after the Second World War, classical performers and composers edged their way in and seem to have forgotten that not long ago they were outsiders. Creating us and them camps is mostly destructive. After ten years of studying classical music at university, I had drawn a pretty narrow circle around myself. I thought I knew what music was worth considering and what wasn’t. Then I met Leonard Bernstein and he pretty much trashed my little world. For him, there were only two kinds of music – good and bad. He was just as excited about Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the Kronos Quartet’s arrangement of Jimi Hendrix as he was about the Rite of Spring he was conducting that week.
I can’t help but think that if we look at all the music being made in the world, that we’ll find a crazy amount that’s good, if not great. The mix tape we create at The Signal each week is just a window into the world of “new” music that’s being made outside the boundaries. I think that university music professors need to learn from their students on this one. We’ve fallen too far behind the curve. It’s time to get with the program!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
May 30, 31 & June 1st
The Signal with Pat Carrabré- Friday May 30, 2008
Be sure to have a box of tissues on hand tonight when Pat plays a heart-wrenching concert by Ms Julie Doiron woven through all three hours. Pat will also swirl the sounds of cello iconoclast Matt Haimovitz while sampling his work over the years. There will be a full hour of la musique francais and Pat will spin the sounds of Mr. Gnome, T-Bone Burnett, and Lucky Dragons.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, May 31, 2008
Pat puts the cinematic existential sounds of Montreal’s Bob and Bill into high rotation tonight. In concert the acclaimed violinist Rolf Schulte and pianist James Winn take on the dust and wind etched work of three prairie composers; ALLAN GORDON BELL, DIANA MCINTOSH and MICHAEL MATTHEWS. There will also be a seven-inch give away that has The Constantines and Feist reveling in Dolly Parton.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, June 1, 2008
Tonight join Pat at ringside when two generations of composers go head to head for avant-guard supremacy. Young classically trained whippersnappers like Alexandre Desilet and Julia Kent who crossed into pop take on the old guard like Andrew P. MacDonald and Paul Dolden who crossed over from rock and roll. Tonight’s concert features work by a heavy weight contender from the old guard: Canadian-Argentinean composer alcides lanza. He is infamous for marathon concerts and juggling electronic sounds with almost everything. Tonight’s Sunday soundtrack feature will be music from the dark Danish film- After the Wedding.
Be sure to have a box of tissues on hand tonight when Pat plays a heart-wrenching concert by Ms Julie Doiron woven through all three hours. Pat will also swirl the sounds of cello iconoclast Matt Haimovitz while sampling his work over the years. There will be a full hour of la musique francais and Pat will spin the sounds of Mr. Gnome, T-Bone Burnett, and Lucky Dragons.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, May 31, 2008
Pat puts the cinematic existential sounds of Montreal’s Bob and Bill into high rotation tonight. In concert the acclaimed violinist Rolf Schulte and pianist James Winn take on the dust and wind etched work of three prairie composers; ALLAN GORDON BELL, DIANA MCINTOSH and MICHAEL MATTHEWS. There will also be a seven-inch give away that has The Constantines and Feist reveling in Dolly Parton.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, June 1, 2008
Tonight join Pat at ringside when two generations of composers go head to head for avant-guard supremacy. Young classically trained whippersnappers like Alexandre Desilet and Julia Kent who crossed into pop take on the old guard like Andrew P. MacDonald and Paul Dolden who crossed over from rock and roll. Tonight’s concert features work by a heavy weight contender from the old guard: Canadian-Argentinean composer alcides lanza. He is infamous for marathon concerts and juggling electronic sounds with almost everything. Tonight’s Sunday soundtrack feature will be music from the dark Danish film- After the Wedding.
Friday, May 23, 2008
I can’t image where the world of music would be without technology. And I don’t just mean how we listen to music. I’m thinking about how it’s made. So much of what creative musicians do these days couldn’t happen without help from technology. I read an article about Final Fantasy (Owen Pallet) in the New York Times last weekend. It describes him as he’s testing out a computer program he wrote to coordinate the sound of his violin through a group of daisy-chained amplifiers. Owen usually performs as a one-man band, using technology to create a full sound all on his own. An amazing number of musicians perform that way. This weekend we hear from Mad Eskimo, Lucky Dragons, Jay Bharadia and Culture Reject, to name just a few. We wouldn’t be able to hear any of that music if it wasn’t for these new technologies.
One of the most interesting genres of the last few years is the remix. Sampling and sequencing software make it all possible. Radiohead recently opened a site where anyone could submit their own remix of the song Nude, from their album In Rainbows. A whopping 2252 remixes were submitted. That’s a whole lot of people who were willing to pay to download the stems (individual strands of music) and tweak the sounds to come up with their own vision of the song. How much better than karaoke is that!
On Sunday night I’ll be playing a piece by Frank Zappa. He was an early adopter – someone who jumps on board at the beginning of a new technology and rides the rocky road of system crashes and programming bugs. His instrument of choice was the Synclavier. It was one of the first big jumps forward in computer-aided composition, sound sampling and FM synthesis. When I was a graduate student, I was lucky enough to work on a Synclavier II at the University of Western Ontario. It had a 20 Megabyte hard drive (my phone currently has 4 gigabytes) that wasn’t very robust. If you were in too much of a hurry and closed the door to our studio quickly, the hard drive crashed and whoever was working had to re-boot and start all over again. This was before computers could really produce graphic notation for music (something that composers take for granted these days, the same way we all use word processors). I was particularly interested in trying to use the computer to help write music. At the time, I was obsessing over a musical language that could be described with a mathematical formula. The computing power of the Synclavier could run the calculations and play a passage I had designed. That way I could try things out in the same way I would improvise at the piano, but I didn’t have to stop and calculate a bunch of numbers.
On Saturday night we’ll play some music by the Icelandic composer Kjartan Olafsson. He’s deeply involved in computer-assisted composition. He’s even written a computer program, called CALMUS, that helps solve compositional problems as they come up during the process of writing music. A lot of indie pop groups and laptop musicians are using a program called GarageBand. It can set up beats and loop patterns of notes and chords, so you can improvise over top.
It used to be that only the rich or those attached to big Universities could have access to the computing power needed to do anything useful with technology in their music. Now almost anyone can set up a home studio and let their imagination run wild. Another Icelandic musician, Mugison, was in our Studio a few weeks back and he was telling me about how he worked for almost a year on one piece – all on his home computer – only to trash what he’d done and go with a studio session of that song with his band. Computers are very useful tools, but the don’t generally save on creative time.
Saturday night we’ll also hear a track from Paul Linklater. His new double CD and bonus EP are out on the Jibcut label. The whole purpose of that project is to elevate the aesthetic of DIY music, which usually involves recording directly to a laptop.
We live in a time of extremes. On one hand there’s a group of happy DIY knob twiddlers, exerting total control over the music they make in their basements and bedrooms. On the other side we have high-end studios, where sophisticated production teams work in tandem with multiple creators with the objective being to produce something that’s more than the sum of the parts.
Either way, those of us who like our music to be unique and unexpected end up the winners.
One of the most interesting genres of the last few years is the remix. Sampling and sequencing software make it all possible. Radiohead recently opened a site where anyone could submit their own remix of the song Nude, from their album In Rainbows. A whopping 2252 remixes were submitted. That’s a whole lot of people who were willing to pay to download the stems (individual strands of music) and tweak the sounds to come up with their own vision of the song. How much better than karaoke is that!
On Sunday night I’ll be playing a piece by Frank Zappa. He was an early adopter – someone who jumps on board at the beginning of a new technology and rides the rocky road of system crashes and programming bugs. His instrument of choice was the Synclavier. It was one of the first big jumps forward in computer-aided composition, sound sampling and FM synthesis. When I was a graduate student, I was lucky enough to work on a Synclavier II at the University of Western Ontario. It had a 20 Megabyte hard drive (my phone currently has 4 gigabytes) that wasn’t very robust. If you were in too much of a hurry and closed the door to our studio quickly, the hard drive crashed and whoever was working had to re-boot and start all over again. This was before computers could really produce graphic notation for music (something that composers take for granted these days, the same way we all use word processors). I was particularly interested in trying to use the computer to help write music. At the time, I was obsessing over a musical language that could be described with a mathematical formula. The computing power of the Synclavier could run the calculations and play a passage I had designed. That way I could try things out in the same way I would improvise at the piano, but I didn’t have to stop and calculate a bunch of numbers.
On Saturday night we’ll play some music by the Icelandic composer Kjartan Olafsson. He’s deeply involved in computer-assisted composition. He’s even written a computer program, called CALMUS, that helps solve compositional problems as they come up during the process of writing music. A lot of indie pop groups and laptop musicians are using a program called GarageBand. It can set up beats and loop patterns of notes and chords, so you can improvise over top.
It used to be that only the rich or those attached to big Universities could have access to the computing power needed to do anything useful with technology in their music. Now almost anyone can set up a home studio and let their imagination run wild. Another Icelandic musician, Mugison, was in our Studio a few weeks back and he was telling me about how he worked for almost a year on one piece – all on his home computer – only to trash what he’d done and go with a studio session of that song with his band. Computers are very useful tools, but the don’t generally save on creative time.
Saturday night we’ll also hear a track from Paul Linklater. His new double CD and bonus EP are out on the Jibcut label. The whole purpose of that project is to elevate the aesthetic of DIY music, which usually involves recording directly to a laptop.
We live in a time of extremes. On one hand there’s a group of happy DIY knob twiddlers, exerting total control over the music they make in their basements and bedrooms. On the other side we have high-end studios, where sophisticated production teams work in tandem with multiple creators with the objective being to produce something that’s more than the sum of the parts.
Either way, those of us who like our music to be unique and unexpected end up the winners.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
May 23, 24, 25
The Signal with Pat Carrabré- Friday May 23, 2008
This evening sparks will fly on The Signal during a live concert recording featuring the dynamic song skills of Lily Frost. Pat dips into the dark waters of Nick Cave’s career then brightens things up with a little music by, for and about Robots. Also music by Jean Martin, aMute and E.S.L.’s take on Venus in Furs.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, May 24, 2008
Tonight on The Signal Pat will be playing music from Iceland featuring the premiere of an acoustic Signal session by Icelandic singer songwriter Mugison. There will also be a CD giveaway: a tribute to Montreal’s Snailhouse - you can’t win if you don’t listen. Pat also dips into multiple tracks from a new CD by Toronto’s electronic - international - folk - soul - protest music band: Lal. All that plus music by Tinariwen.
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The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, May 25, 2008
No it is not in your head- tonight on the Signal: Incessant Bells – with the Bergmann Piano Duo recorded at Calgary’s Grand Theatre, featuring a reinterpretation of that classic black-light special: Tubular Bells. The night remains prog-tacular when Pat features multiple tracks from the Rheostatics’ penned soundtrack- Whale Music. There will also be more man-boy friendly music from Brian Eno, Danny Elfman, Squarepusher, Aphex Twin and yes, Zappa. So get out your D&D dice and let 'em roll.
This evening sparks will fly on The Signal during a live concert recording featuring the dynamic song skills of Lily Frost. Pat dips into the dark waters of Nick Cave’s career then brightens things up with a little music by, for and about Robots. Also music by Jean Martin, aMute and E.S.L.’s take on Venus in Furs.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, May 24, 2008
Tonight on The Signal Pat will be playing music from Iceland featuring the premiere of an acoustic Signal session by Icelandic singer songwriter Mugison. There will also be a CD giveaway: a tribute to Montreal’s Snailhouse - you can’t win if you don’t listen. Pat also dips into multiple tracks from a new CD by Toronto’s electronic - international - folk - soul - protest music band: Lal. All that plus music by Tinariwen.
View Larger Map
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, May 25, 2008
No it is not in your head- tonight on the Signal: Incessant Bells – with the Bergmann Piano Duo recorded at Calgary’s Grand Theatre, featuring a reinterpretation of that classic black-light special: Tubular Bells. The night remains prog-tacular when Pat features multiple tracks from the Rheostatics’ penned soundtrack- Whale Music. There will also be more man-boy friendly music from Brian Eno, Danny Elfman, Squarepusher, Aphex Twin and yes, Zappa. So get out your D&D dice and let 'em roll.
Friday, May 16, 2008
The Path to Creativity
A few years back I was an airport person, logging too many nights in hotels and thinking as much about management styles as I was about music. One day while I was waiting for a plane, browsing through the airport bookstore, I came across Patricia Pitcher’s Artists, Craftsman and Technocrats. In my opinion, it’s a brilliant piece of work that really puts creativity into context. Dr. Pitcher traced the life of a big company and found that the number of truly creative people – the ones who came up with the new ideas – were few and far between. She also came to the conclusion that maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. People with that kind of creativity are unpredictable and not always good at bringing those ideas into reality. It was the “craftsman,” the ones who had worked their way up in the business, who had the practical understanding of what would work. They could take those new ideas and figure out how to make them fly. Fortunately for me, I was creative enough to be able to segue my way out of University administration and into the position of Composer-in-Residence with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. That led to one of the most creative periods in my life.
It was around that time that I was asked to be a guest speaker at the Canadian Arts Summit and my topic was supposed to be creativity. As I thought more about the whole concept, I came to the conclusion that context is everything, that the creative mind works best coming up with solutions to limitations. For an audience at a classical symphony orchestra concert, Anders Hillborg’s Rap Notes might be a stunning revelation. To a hip-hop audience, it might sound a bit cheesy, or even lame, and they might not get the reference to Mozart in the last section, which to me, is an amazing post-modern stroke of genius. On Saturday night we’ll be sampling music from an Art of Time Ensemble concert, where Artistic Director Andrew Burashko asked some of his favorite singer-songwriters to get inspired by Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet. If you just heard David Wall’s piece What’s On My Plate out of the context of that concert, you would likely think the words were funny, but when you know the melody he uses from the Schumann its hilarious.
It was seeing Matthew Barney’s film Drawing Restraint 9 that got me going again on this topic. Barney uses this idea of working against resistance to challenge creativity. I must admit that I went to see the movie because Bjork wrote the music and I am playing some of it on our Soundtrack Sunday feature this week. I’m not usually a huge fan of performance art and this film has to be one of the biggest scale performance pieces ever mounted. Its part of a whole series based on the idea of working against resistance, just like athletes uses resistance training to improve their performance. Looking at history, it’s hard to argue with the concept. Beethoven struggled against his deafness to create some of the most amazing music ever written. The new classical composers who came out of the repressive Soviet regime, like Alfred Schnittke, Sofia Gubaidulina, Arvo Pärt and others, overcame official restrictions to develop individual styles and establish several new artistic movements. The whole idea of indie rock is based on groups fighting to play outside the stylistic boundaries set by the recording industry. We kick Friday’s show off with No Friend Oh! from the new Xiu Xiu disc. They’ve made a career out of exploring society’s forbidden topics, like alternate sexual orientations and suicide.
Up to this point in world history, there has generally been an official artistic voice. All others have usually been silenced, sometimes forcefully. It’s only been a relatively short period of time since music by women has been openly celebrated. On Friday night we’ll spend some time sampling the musical evolution of Veda Hille. Her unique view of the world pulls in sounds and concepts that challenge us to hear and think differently.
The last few generations have pushed against Society’s restraints and that has led to an unparalleled time of creativity in contemporary music. I know a lot of people are worried about where things are going in the music and media business, afraid of total collapse. But I say bring it on. Our inherent creativity will find a solution to the limitations of the current situation. Great, interesting music is being written in all genres and there is an audience out there hoping to hear it. The problem is making the connection. This music is not always easy to find. Let me invited you to make The Signal your happy place, where you can come and test out some new artists. We are doing what we can get overcome the contextual restraints.
It was around that time that I was asked to be a guest speaker at the Canadian Arts Summit and my topic was supposed to be creativity. As I thought more about the whole concept, I came to the conclusion that context is everything, that the creative mind works best coming up with solutions to limitations. For an audience at a classical symphony orchestra concert, Anders Hillborg’s Rap Notes might be a stunning revelation. To a hip-hop audience, it might sound a bit cheesy, or even lame, and they might not get the reference to Mozart in the last section, which to me, is an amazing post-modern stroke of genius. On Saturday night we’ll be sampling music from an Art of Time Ensemble concert, where Artistic Director Andrew Burashko asked some of his favorite singer-songwriters to get inspired by Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet. If you just heard David Wall’s piece What’s On My Plate out of the context of that concert, you would likely think the words were funny, but when you know the melody he uses from the Schumann its hilarious.
It was seeing Matthew Barney’s film Drawing Restraint 9 that got me going again on this topic. Barney uses this idea of working against resistance to challenge creativity. I must admit that I went to see the movie because Bjork wrote the music and I am playing some of it on our Soundtrack Sunday feature this week. I’m not usually a huge fan of performance art and this film has to be one of the biggest scale performance pieces ever mounted. Its part of a whole series based on the idea of working against resistance, just like athletes uses resistance training to improve their performance. Looking at history, it’s hard to argue with the concept. Beethoven struggled against his deafness to create some of the most amazing music ever written. The new classical composers who came out of the repressive Soviet regime, like Alfred Schnittke, Sofia Gubaidulina, Arvo Pärt and others, overcame official restrictions to develop individual styles and establish several new artistic movements. The whole idea of indie rock is based on groups fighting to play outside the stylistic boundaries set by the recording industry. We kick Friday’s show off with No Friend Oh! from the new Xiu Xiu disc. They’ve made a career out of exploring society’s forbidden topics, like alternate sexual orientations and suicide.
Up to this point in world history, there has generally been an official artistic voice. All others have usually been silenced, sometimes forcefully. It’s only been a relatively short period of time since music by women has been openly celebrated. On Friday night we’ll spend some time sampling the musical evolution of Veda Hille. Her unique view of the world pulls in sounds and concepts that challenge us to hear and think differently.
The last few generations have pushed against Society’s restraints and that has led to an unparalleled time of creativity in contemporary music. I know a lot of people are worried about where things are going in the music and media business, afraid of total collapse. But I say bring it on. Our inherent creativity will find a solution to the limitations of the current situation. Great, interesting music is being written in all genres and there is an audience out there hoping to hear it. The problem is making the connection. This music is not always easy to find. Let me invited you to make The Signal your happy place, where you can come and test out some new artists. We are doing what we can get overcome the contextual restraints.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
May 16,17,18
The Signal with Pat Carrabré- Friday May 16, 2008
Tonight the Signal features a quirky little hoedown with a live session from Toronto’s Sunparlour Players, so gussy up. Pat will also take a gander at the incredible and varied musical career of Veda Hille. Just when you are ready to call it a night the dust refuses to settle when new music from Portishead, Xiu Xiu, the Cinematic Orchestra and Hanna Hukelberg takes a spin. So grab your partner and listen up.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, May 17, 2008
Tonight Pat puts a new collaboration by Jazz musicians Scott Thomson and Lori Freedman into high rotation. That same CD titled PLUMB, will also be offered up as a loot-bag give away. You can’t win if you don’t listen. In concert from Toronto the constantly stylish Art of Time Ensemble with interpretations and inspiration courtesy of Schumann. Some of the guests will include Justin Rutledge, Andy Maize, John Southworth and Kyrie Kristmanson. Pat will also spin cds from Ayal Senior, Julia Kent, and The Inhabitants.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, May 18, 2008
Tonight there will be no moderation when Pat dips into the Bjork composed soundtrack for Mathew Barney’s epic art film: Drawing Restraint Nine. Pat will also listen in on the Canadian performances recorded live at this year’s prestigious Eckhardt-Gramatté new music competition. Hear Canada's newest voices: competition winner Kristin Mueller-Heaslip also sings with the Parkdale Revolutionary Orchestra. And Vania Chan volunteered the winning performance of "Involuntary Love Songs" by Vancouver composer Jocelyn Morlock. Other Canadian gems are by Claude Vivier, John Greer, and Jose Evangelista. Plus there will be new music from the Silver Mount Zion Orchestra and Meredith Monk.
Tonight the Signal features a quirky little hoedown with a live session from Toronto’s Sunparlour Players, so gussy up. Pat will also take a gander at the incredible and varied musical career of Veda Hille. Just when you are ready to call it a night the dust refuses to settle when new music from Portishead, Xiu Xiu, the Cinematic Orchestra and Hanna Hukelberg takes a spin. So grab your partner and listen up.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, May 17, 2008
Tonight Pat puts a new collaboration by Jazz musicians Scott Thomson and Lori Freedman into high rotation. That same CD titled PLUMB, will also be offered up as a loot-bag give away. You can’t win if you don’t listen. In concert from Toronto the constantly stylish Art of Time Ensemble with interpretations and inspiration courtesy of Schumann. Some of the guests will include Justin Rutledge, Andy Maize, John Southworth and Kyrie Kristmanson. Pat will also spin cds from Ayal Senior, Julia Kent, and The Inhabitants.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, May 18, 2008
Tonight there will be no moderation when Pat dips into the Bjork composed soundtrack for Mathew Barney’s epic art film: Drawing Restraint Nine. Pat will also listen in on the Canadian performances recorded live at this year’s prestigious Eckhardt-Gramatté new music competition. Hear Canada's newest voices: competition winner Kristin Mueller-Heaslip also sings with the Parkdale Revolutionary Orchestra. And Vania Chan volunteered the winning performance of "Involuntary Love Songs" by Vancouver composer Jocelyn Morlock. Other Canadian gems are by Claude Vivier, John Greer, and Jose Evangelista. Plus there will be new music from the Silver Mount Zion Orchestra and Meredith Monk.
Friday, May 9, 2008
For me, it’s the listening and the seeing that count.
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. This Friday, May 9th, The Signal spends most of the evening lining up music that’s been influenced by or makes a reference to the visual arts.
Some people’s creativity is both aural and visual. Arnold Schoenberg wasn’t just a ground breaking avant-garde composer, he was also a member of the Blaue Reiter group of painters. The legendary folk singer Joni Mitchell’s painting has taken up more of her creative energy as the years have passed and Temple Bates and Amy Bowles from Pony Da Look split their creativity between music and the visual arts. A recent show at the Whippersnapper Gallery in Toronto showcased the visual work of a number of Canadian indie-rockers, from Buck 65 to Chad VanGaalen.
Some composers are just inspired by the visual arts. Gunther Schuller used his Seven Studies on Themes by Paul Klee as a platform to bring jazz into new classical music in the late 50s. Harry Freedman gave up his dream of being a visual artist, but wrote quite a few major works inspired by paintings and his friends who were painters, including Harold Town. The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s new Composer-in-Residence, Vincent Ho has tried to transmute the emotion of the visual medium into music in his Nighthawks (interpreting the famous painting by Edward Hopper) and Four Paintings by Leestemaker – we’ll hear the second movement on the show.
Is it possible to convey the same emotions or sensations that can be expressed with visuals in the temporal dimensions of sound? I’m not sure that’s answerable, given the current state of scientific research. But I don’t think there’s any question that all of the different art forms try to express the spirit of their times. And in our diverse age, there are many simultaneously existing aesthetics. The ultra polished and DIY often appear side by side. We value the pure emotion of Kyrie Kristmanson singing a cappella in her Song for a Blackwind and we’re thrilled by the total control that comes through in Cornelius’s Fit Song (The Books Eat White Paint Remix). The extremes of the virtuoso and the naïve seem to attract us. Perhaps it’s the non-verbal nature of most music and visual art that allows them to take in the same territory. We desperately need the grey area that exists beyond language, so we can indulge in our own creativity –interpreting what we hear and see, putting our own kind of order on the world around us.
I’ve given up worrying about the technicalities of this debate. There’s just too much good music and art to experience. For me, it’s the listening and the seeing that count.
Some people’s creativity is both aural and visual. Arnold Schoenberg wasn’t just a ground breaking avant-garde composer, he was also a member of the Blaue Reiter group of painters. The legendary folk singer Joni Mitchell’s painting has taken up more of her creative energy as the years have passed and Temple Bates and Amy Bowles from Pony Da Look split their creativity between music and the visual arts. A recent show at the Whippersnapper Gallery in Toronto showcased the visual work of a number of Canadian indie-rockers, from Buck 65 to Chad VanGaalen.
Some composers are just inspired by the visual arts. Gunther Schuller used his Seven Studies on Themes by Paul Klee as a platform to bring jazz into new classical music in the late 50s. Harry Freedman gave up his dream of being a visual artist, but wrote quite a few major works inspired by paintings and his friends who were painters, including Harold Town. The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s new Composer-in-Residence, Vincent Ho has tried to transmute the emotion of the visual medium into music in his Nighthawks (interpreting the famous painting by Edward Hopper) and Four Paintings by Leestemaker – we’ll hear the second movement on the show.
Is it possible to convey the same emotions or sensations that can be expressed with visuals in the temporal dimensions of sound? I’m not sure that’s answerable, given the current state of scientific research. But I don’t think there’s any question that all of the different art forms try to express the spirit of their times. And in our diverse age, there are many simultaneously existing aesthetics. The ultra polished and DIY often appear side by side. We value the pure emotion of Kyrie Kristmanson singing a cappella in her Song for a Blackwind and we’re thrilled by the total control that comes through in Cornelius’s Fit Song (The Books Eat White Paint Remix). The extremes of the virtuoso and the naïve seem to attract us. Perhaps it’s the non-verbal nature of most music and visual art that allows them to take in the same territory. We desperately need the grey area that exists beyond language, so we can indulge in our own creativity –interpreting what we hear and see, putting our own kind of order on the world around us.
I’ve given up worrying about the technicalities of this debate. There’s just too much good music and art to experience. For me, it’s the listening and the seeing that count.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
May 9, 10, 11
The Signal with Pat Carrabré- Friday May 9, 2008
Get out your eyeliner, tonight Pat delves into the multifaceted Jaz Coleman- composer, keyboardist and lead singer for England’s Killing Joke. The sounds of Winnipeg’s Christine Fellows will also get spun along with Cornelius, Vincent Ho, and Don Byron. In concert from Toronto the sweet collision of two distinctive pianists: Canada’s John kameel Farah and Germany’s Hauschka.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, May 10, 2008
Electronics, guitars, ballads and improvisation are put under the microscope tonight when Pat slips Eric Cheneaux’s new CD into high rotation. If you tune in you might also walk away with a loot-bag full of Ghost Bees. In concert from Kitchener ‘s Open Ears Festival work by Peter Hannan and Linda Catlin Smith that challenges and embraces the idea of orchestra. All this wrapped in a burrito of Four Tet, Ween, Gavin Bryars and Bell Orchestre with extra sour cream.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, May 11, 2008
This evening Pat tips his hat to Winnipeg’s Nuna Now Icelandic Festival with music from Mugison, Sigur Ros and Kyrie Kristmanson. For Soundtrack Sunday Pat slips on his backpack and follows the musical path led by the globe trotting Oscar winner Babel. The Signal also stops in on Toronto’s New Music Concerts for a live recording of work by Chris Paul Harman, Juan Trigos, Alice Ho and So Jeong Ahn and Rodney Sharman. Don’t forget your water filter.
Get out your eyeliner, tonight Pat delves into the multifaceted Jaz Coleman- composer, keyboardist and lead singer for England’s Killing Joke. The sounds of Winnipeg’s Christine Fellows will also get spun along with Cornelius, Vincent Ho, and Don Byron. In concert from Toronto the sweet collision of two distinctive pianists: Canada’s John kameel Farah and Germany’s Hauschka.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, May 10, 2008
Electronics, guitars, ballads and improvisation are put under the microscope tonight when Pat slips Eric Cheneaux’s new CD into high rotation. If you tune in you might also walk away with a loot-bag full of Ghost Bees. In concert from Kitchener ‘s Open Ears Festival work by Peter Hannan and Linda Catlin Smith that challenges and embraces the idea of orchestra. All this wrapped in a burrito of Four Tet, Ween, Gavin Bryars and Bell Orchestre with extra sour cream.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, May 11, 2008
This evening Pat tips his hat to Winnipeg’s Nuna Now Icelandic Festival with music from Mugison, Sigur Ros and Kyrie Kristmanson. For Soundtrack Sunday Pat slips on his backpack and follows the musical path led by the globe trotting Oscar winner Babel. The Signal also stops in on Toronto’s New Music Concerts for a live recording of work by Chris Paul Harman, Juan Trigos, Alice Ho and So Jeong Ahn and Rodney Sharman. Don’t forget your water filter.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Music Monday
Music Monday is on its way this coming week. It’s a big celebration of how music enriches our lives, with a special focus on music in the schools. I’m not generally a fan of our public education system. It seems to me that the emphasis is too often placed on conformity and obedience – not on developing the skills to help you learn on your own or the desire to challenge conventional wisdom and search out the new. After all, an educated population isn’t so easy to control!
I do know first hand how important a good music teacher can be. With the talented students you never really have to worry about teaching them – from my experience, they mostly learn on their own. But they do need support. You have to open a few doors, help them to keep asking the right questions and be there when they doubt themselves.
I don’t know Michel Gonneville personally, but he must be a great teacher. I do know one of his former students - André Ristic - and André is a great example of the kind of unique musical voice we like to celebrate on the Signal. He’s developed a personal language that easily handles all the contradictions and “isms” in our modern musical world. He always seems to be challenging himself and us with new ideas and new technologies. We’ll hear music from both Michel and André on Sunday night in a live concert recording from Toronto’s New Music Concerts. They put together a program of music by Michel and some of his former students – including Nicolas Gilbert, Benoit Coté, Charles-Antoine Frechette, Maxime McKinley, and Frans Ben Callado.
Frans Ben Callado is supposedly the only student ever expelled from the Conservatoire de Musique de Montreal. That type of distinction fits in better with the indie side of our musical world. Moby is the focus for our vertical tasting this weekend. He dropped out of College to pursue his musical dream and so did Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood. I hope that same fate doesn’t fall on Will Curry and the Country French. They’re all students in the music program at Wilfred Laurier and on Saturday night we’ll hear a tune from their first album.
Will Curry and the Country French.
Success is great and it’s very seductive if it comes early. But if it puts you out there too soon, before you’ve had time to fill up your tool kit and find your own creative centre, then you risk having a very short career. In the end it’s all about balance. You have to have new ideas, which are usually messy – and you need to develop the craft to do something with them.
Over the last year, we’ve done a series of city and region profiles on the Signal. And in every region we seem to have great places that support the development of young musical talent. Some are formal institutions, like Mount Royal College in Calgary (full disclosure here, my daughter’s a student there). I was amazed to hear so many Alberta musicians give credit to the environment there as they were finding their feet. Some are Festivals with long standing workshops, like the Creative Music Workshop that Jerry Granelli does at the Atlantic Jazz Festival in Halifax. I know that Ensemble Contemporain de Montreal’s Generation project has been a jumping off point for quite a few careers – and the list goes on (sorry I can’t mention them all).
So in the lead up to Music Monday, we salute all those who support the development of musical talent in our country whether it’s the elementary school teacher who inspires you to open up your mouth and sing for the very first time or the experienced Professor who’s read all the books in the library.
I do know first hand how important a good music teacher can be. With the talented students you never really have to worry about teaching them – from my experience, they mostly learn on their own. But they do need support. You have to open a few doors, help them to keep asking the right questions and be there when they doubt themselves.
I don’t know Michel Gonneville personally, but he must be a great teacher. I do know one of his former students - André Ristic - and André is a great example of the kind of unique musical voice we like to celebrate on the Signal. He’s developed a personal language that easily handles all the contradictions and “isms” in our modern musical world. He always seems to be challenging himself and us with new ideas and new technologies. We’ll hear music from both Michel and André on Sunday night in a live concert recording from Toronto’s New Music Concerts. They put together a program of music by Michel and some of his former students – including Nicolas Gilbert, Benoit Coté, Charles-Antoine Frechette, Maxime McKinley, and Frans Ben Callado.
Frans Ben Callado is supposedly the only student ever expelled from the Conservatoire de Musique de Montreal. That type of distinction fits in better with the indie side of our musical world. Moby is the focus for our vertical tasting this weekend. He dropped out of College to pursue his musical dream and so did Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood. I hope that same fate doesn’t fall on Will Curry and the Country French. They’re all students in the music program at Wilfred Laurier and on Saturday night we’ll hear a tune from their first album.
Will Curry and the Country French.
Success is great and it’s very seductive if it comes early. But if it puts you out there too soon, before you’ve had time to fill up your tool kit and find your own creative centre, then you risk having a very short career. In the end it’s all about balance. You have to have new ideas, which are usually messy – and you need to develop the craft to do something with them.
Over the last year, we’ve done a series of city and region profiles on the Signal. And in every region we seem to have great places that support the development of young musical talent. Some are formal institutions, like Mount Royal College in Calgary (full disclosure here, my daughter’s a student there). I was amazed to hear so many Alberta musicians give credit to the environment there as they were finding their feet. Some are Festivals with long standing workshops, like the Creative Music Workshop that Jerry Granelli does at the Atlantic Jazz Festival in Halifax. I know that Ensemble Contemporain de Montreal’s Generation project has been a jumping off point for quite a few careers – and the list goes on (sorry I can’t mention them all).
So in the lead up to Music Monday, we salute all those who support the development of musical talent in our country whether it’s the elementary school teacher who inspires you to open up your mouth and sing for the very first time or the experienced Professor who’s read all the books in the library.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
May 2, 3, 4
The Signal with Pat Carrabré- Friday May 2, 2008
Tonight polish up your dancing shoes because Pat takes a look at the roller coaster ride that is the career of MOBY. In concert from Vancouver’s GUITARS! GUITARS! Festival, an epic piece by Nicolas Bragg - The Burial of Count Orgaz: 2 guitars, loops and enough affects pedals to sink a small tugboat. Pat also peels the wrapping off a few fresh CDs and spins some Sadoceanspacebear, Animal Collective, Baby Dee, Destroyer and more.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, May 3, 2008
This evening Pat slips Matt Haimovitz’s new CD - Vinyl Cello into high rotation- five tracks from this former child prodigy and now Canadian resident. In concert great imrov from the Ottawa Jazz Collective with work from Yves Martel, Petr Cancura, Michael Fahie and Mike Essoudry. And still there is time for new music from Montreal’s Islands, Toronto’s Pony Da Look, Wolf Parade and Woelv.
The second question for The Jesus and Mary Chain catalogue contest is: What festival did The Jesus and Mary Chain reunite for in 2007? Answer last weeks question and this one and send your answers to TheSignal@cbc.ca.
Wishstick
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, May 4, 2008
In cahoots with the Music Monday celebration tonight Pat pulls out his inner child, takes a time out and then spins music by, for and about the kids. The Gryphon trio, Kara Keith, Laura Barret and Oliver Knussen’s Children’s opera for Sendack’s classic- Where the Wild Things Are. In concert it is an evening of protégées when The Signal heads to Toronto for a celebration of Montreal composer Michel Gonneville and his exceptional students.
For more information on the Ondes martinot go here
Tonight polish up your dancing shoes because Pat takes a look at the roller coaster ride that is the career of MOBY. In concert from Vancouver’s GUITARS! GUITARS! Festival, an epic piece by Nicolas Bragg - The Burial of Count Orgaz: 2 guitars, loops and enough affects pedals to sink a small tugboat. Pat also peels the wrapping off a few fresh CDs and spins some Sadoceanspacebear, Animal Collective, Baby Dee, Destroyer and more.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, May 3, 2008
This evening Pat slips Matt Haimovitz’s new CD - Vinyl Cello into high rotation- five tracks from this former child prodigy and now Canadian resident. In concert great imrov from the Ottawa Jazz Collective with work from Yves Martel, Petr Cancura, Michael Fahie and Mike Essoudry. And still there is time for new music from Montreal’s Islands, Toronto’s Pony Da Look, Wolf Parade and Woelv.
The second question for The Jesus and Mary Chain catalogue contest is: What festival did The Jesus and Mary Chain reunite for in 2007? Answer last weeks question and this one and send your answers to TheSignal@cbc.ca.
Wishstick
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, May 4, 2008
In cahoots with the Music Monday celebration tonight Pat pulls out his inner child, takes a time out and then spins music by, for and about the kids. The Gryphon trio, Kara Keith, Laura Barret and Oliver Knussen’s Children’s opera for Sendack’s classic- Where the Wild Things Are. In concert it is an evening of protégées when The Signal heads to Toronto for a celebration of Montreal composer Michel Gonneville and his exceptional students.
For more information on the Ondes martinot go here
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Where to from here?
Is classical music dead? And if it is, where does that leave “new classical music?” Last week, the concept of “post-classical” music came up in my blog entry. That’s the idea that it’s more or less impossible to keep the so-called traditions of any classical music alive in our time. I say so-called because most of our western concert music traditions aren’t really “classical.” They came into being during the early part of the 20th Century and we just think they’re written in stone. Even in Chopin’s time, the audience would clap between movements – try doing that at a Symphony concert and you’re likely to get shushed.
A big disconnect has developed between the non-commercial music of our time and the ever growing audience of culturally aware people who should be its natural audience.
On Sunday night’s show, I’m playing Tim Brady’s Dark Matter (Primal Pulse). It’s from his new CD with the Australian group Topology. They’ve been actively involved in defining this evolving concept of “post classical” in what they do and the American group Eighth Blackbird have also jumped onboard with the concept. Writers like Kyle Gann, Greg Sandow, Joseph Horowitz and Stephen Brookes have written about it and DePauw University even offered a Symposium on the subject last year.
A lot of the ideas seem to focus on changing the concert experience. Musicians are trying to make it more engaging and sometimes even interactive. There might be open discussions, multimedia (live video or film), a blending of music from different genres and some kind of conceptual intellectual hook. Tan Dun’s The Map is a good example. Canadian groups like the Art of Time Ensemble and Numus often program this way. On the other side of the equation, Indie/Alternative folk like PJ Harvey and Johnny Greenwood list living “classical” composers among their influences.
In working with musicians from different traditions, I’m usually struck by how hungry we all are for good new music. The sky may be falling on some traditional ways of presenting music, but I think the audience potential is much bigger than it ever has been before. But we all need to work together to share the great music we find and to help define new ways to find our audience. I hope that The Signal is becoming your go-to place to find interesting links between styles and across genres.
A big disconnect has developed between the non-commercial music of our time and the ever growing audience of culturally aware people who should be its natural audience.
On Sunday night’s show, I’m playing Tim Brady’s Dark Matter (Primal Pulse). It’s from his new CD with the Australian group Topology. They’ve been actively involved in defining this evolving concept of “post classical” in what they do and the American group Eighth Blackbird have also jumped onboard with the concept. Writers like Kyle Gann, Greg Sandow, Joseph Horowitz and Stephen Brookes have written about it and DePauw University even offered a Symposium on the subject last year.
A lot of the ideas seem to focus on changing the concert experience. Musicians are trying to make it more engaging and sometimes even interactive. There might be open discussions, multimedia (live video or film), a blending of music from different genres and some kind of conceptual intellectual hook. Tan Dun’s The Map is a good example. Canadian groups like the Art of Time Ensemble and Numus often program this way. On the other side of the equation, Indie/Alternative folk like PJ Harvey and Johnny Greenwood list living “classical” composers among their influences.
In working with musicians from different traditions, I’m usually struck by how hungry we all are for good new music. The sky may be falling on some traditional ways of presenting music, but I think the audience potential is much bigger than it ever has been before. But we all need to work together to share the great music we find and to help define new ways to find our audience. I hope that The Signal is becoming your go-to place to find interesting links between styles and across genres.
April 25, 26, 27
The Signal with Pat Carrabré- Friday April 25, 2008
The Signal takes a whirlwind gander at music inspired by all those great big cities that speckle our planet. Pat will spin music from the likes of Gonzales, Antoine Berthiaume and Tim Brady. In Concert the crackle and pop of Vancouver’s piano driven Attics and Cellars will entertain. If all this leaves you far to cheery, hold up- Pat will also be sharing an in-depth listen to the music of siren PJ Harvey.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, April 26, 2008
Tonight in high rotation Pat will sample the music of Ottawa’s neo folkys Muskox. Our concert will take us to Prince Edward Island for an incredible musical experience featuring Kiran Ahluwalia and the saxophone of Mr. Danny Oore. The hype will also get under way for a massive loot-bag give away: one artist’s entire catalogue(think dark clouds + late 80s), earplugs optional. There will also be music from “Will the Circle”, DBR and Goldfrapp.
PRIZE ALERT:
And the question is- What band did Bobby Gillespie form after leaving Jesus and Mary Chain. This is part one of two questions- one this week and one next week, since the prize is so massive: The Jesus and Mary Chain catalogue, yup you read right.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, April 27, 2008
Tonight in concert Pat pulls out the cocktail shaker and pours a round of the effervescent Esprit Orchestra: with Claude Vivier, Philip Cashian and Doug Schmidt. Later in the evening, fresh from a secret marinade, Pat dishes out some prime cut samplings from the International Rostrum of Composers; this week from Austria, Germany and Italy. Plus there will be fireworks from Veda Hille, Andrew Bird and Son Lux.
The Signal takes a whirlwind gander at music inspired by all those great big cities that speckle our planet. Pat will spin music from the likes of Gonzales, Antoine Berthiaume and Tim Brady. In Concert the crackle and pop of Vancouver’s piano driven Attics and Cellars will entertain. If all this leaves you far to cheery, hold up- Pat will also be sharing an in-depth listen to the music of siren PJ Harvey.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, April 26, 2008
Tonight in high rotation Pat will sample the music of Ottawa’s neo folkys Muskox. Our concert will take us to Prince Edward Island for an incredible musical experience featuring Kiran Ahluwalia and the saxophone of Mr. Danny Oore. The hype will also get under way for a massive loot-bag give away: one artist’s entire catalogue(think dark clouds + late 80s), earplugs optional. There will also be music from “Will the Circle”, DBR and Goldfrapp.
PRIZE ALERT:
And the question is- What band did Bobby Gillespie form after leaving Jesus and Mary Chain. This is part one of two questions- one this week and one next week, since the prize is so massive: The Jesus and Mary Chain catalogue, yup you read right.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, April 27, 2008
Tonight in concert Pat pulls out the cocktail shaker and pours a round of the effervescent Esprit Orchestra: with Claude Vivier, Philip Cashian and Doug Schmidt. Later in the evening, fresh from a secret marinade, Pat dishes out some prime cut samplings from the International Rostrum of Composers; this week from Austria, Germany and Italy. Plus there will be fireworks from Veda Hille, Andrew Bird and Son Lux.
Friday, April 18, 2008
I just can’t see the CBC as a big museum for European culture.
I never could resist controversy, so it’s time for my second instalment on the classical versus “post-classical” controversy at CBC (I’ll leave the concept of post-classical for a later blog entry). Today’s Winnipeg Free Press (April 18, 2008) features an editorial in which my name appeared rather prominently.
William Neville has been writing about the impending program changes at CBC. He’s not happy! Now, I haven’t actually spoken to Mr. Neville, he’s referring to some brief comments attributed to me in the Free Press last Saturday. I spoke to columnist Morley Walker when a small group gathered out front of the CBC building here in Winnipeg. I went out to talk to a few friends and ended up chatting with Morley for a few seconds.
I should probably back track a bit. I am a composer of what we might call “new classical music” – whatever that means. I have a Ph.D. in Music, so I’m at least not uninformed about the history of music – although what we learn at University is almost exclusively the history of “western art music.” I can discuss the great masters of western music history and I do love the music. But! And I’m talking a big BUT, the last few years have brought me to a very different place in my thinking about where music is going. This all started with a piece I wrote for Katajjaq singers and orchestra. It was the first piece I was asked to write for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra when I became their Composer-in-Residence. At first I didn’t want to write the piece, but after I did a bit of thinking, I came to the conclusion that it was an incredible opportunity – one I shouldn’t pass up just because I felt a little out of my element.
It was a life altering experience. I worked with two wonderful singers from Rankin Inlet (Pauline Pemik and Inukshuk Aksalnik). The piece eventually became a “recommended work” at the International Rostrum of Composers and it broadcast in many countries around the world (incidentally, we’ve been playing works from last year’s Rostrum on The Signal on Sunday nights – around midnight).
Pauline and Inukshuk come from a musical tradition that was almost stamped out when Southerners (dare I say white Christian clergy?) forbid the Inuit their traditional customs. But there’s now a younger generation who have learned this incredible style of singing (mostly from their grandparents) and they are taking it to the world. Tanya Tagaq is probably the best known in popular music circles – as she’s performed all over, including a recent project with the Kronos Quartet.
This whole experience made me realize two things. The first was that you can’t freeze a tradition in time. If an art form is going to remain vital it has to change. The second was that my view of the musical world was painfully small. I kind of knew that already, but this experience forced me to deal with it. Since that time, I’ve worked on several large pieces that brought together musicians from different cultures and my idea of what music should be in our time has changed dramatically.
So back to the changes at CBC. Western classical music stands among the greatest achievements of humankind. The new programming at CBC will continue to keep that traditional alive and available – nobody has said it’s going away. However, we need to make room for the music of our time and our country. This is really important and it is far easier for an audience to access quality recordings of classical music than it is to find out what is being created in our country – beyond those artists who have the support of the commercial music industry.
I hope that music lovers will find the new CBC format to be the perfect place to hear good music – no matter what genre or historical period. Take this Sunday night’s show on The Signal for example. We’re celebrating the 75th birthday of Canada’s best known composer, R. Murray Schafer and we’re putting the music of Quebec cellist and indie-rock sensation Jorane up close to Vancouver composer Mark Armanini’s Dance of Many Colours. It features traditional Vietnamese instruments mixing with a Western “classical” orchestra.
William Neville has been writing about the impending program changes at CBC. He’s not happy! Now, I haven’t actually spoken to Mr. Neville, he’s referring to some brief comments attributed to me in the Free Press last Saturday. I spoke to columnist Morley Walker when a small group gathered out front of the CBC building here in Winnipeg. I went out to talk to a few friends and ended up chatting with Morley for a few seconds.
I should probably back track a bit. I am a composer of what we might call “new classical music” – whatever that means. I have a Ph.D. in Music, so I’m at least not uninformed about the history of music – although what we learn at University is almost exclusively the history of “western art music.” I can discuss the great masters of western music history and I do love the music. But! And I’m talking a big BUT, the last few years have brought me to a very different place in my thinking about where music is going. This all started with a piece I wrote for Katajjaq singers and orchestra. It was the first piece I was asked to write for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra when I became their Composer-in-Residence. At first I didn’t want to write the piece, but after I did a bit of thinking, I came to the conclusion that it was an incredible opportunity – one I shouldn’t pass up just because I felt a little out of my element.
It was a life altering experience. I worked with two wonderful singers from Rankin Inlet (Pauline Pemik and Inukshuk Aksalnik). The piece eventually became a “recommended work” at the International Rostrum of Composers and it broadcast in many countries around the world (incidentally, we’ve been playing works from last year’s Rostrum on The Signal on Sunday nights – around midnight).
Pauline and Inukshuk come from a musical tradition that was almost stamped out when Southerners (dare I say white Christian clergy?) forbid the Inuit their traditional customs. But there’s now a younger generation who have learned this incredible style of singing (mostly from their grandparents) and they are taking it to the world. Tanya Tagaq is probably the best known in popular music circles – as she’s performed all over, including a recent project with the Kronos Quartet.
This whole experience made me realize two things. The first was that you can’t freeze a tradition in time. If an art form is going to remain vital it has to change. The second was that my view of the musical world was painfully small. I kind of knew that already, but this experience forced me to deal with it. Since that time, I’ve worked on several large pieces that brought together musicians from different cultures and my idea of what music should be in our time has changed dramatically.
So back to the changes at CBC. Western classical music stands among the greatest achievements of humankind. The new programming at CBC will continue to keep that traditional alive and available – nobody has said it’s going away. However, we need to make room for the music of our time and our country. This is really important and it is far easier for an audience to access quality recordings of classical music than it is to find out what is being created in our country – beyond those artists who have the support of the commercial music industry.
I hope that music lovers will find the new CBC format to be the perfect place to hear good music – no matter what genre or historical period. Take this Sunday night’s show on The Signal for example. We’re celebrating the 75th birthday of Canada’s best known composer, R. Murray Schafer and we’re putting the music of Quebec cellist and indie-rock sensation Jorane up close to Vancouver composer Mark Armanini’s Dance of Many Colours. It features traditional Vietnamese instruments mixing with a Western “classical” orchestra.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
A Canadian Music Network
Last week I waded into the debate about classical versus non-classical on the CBC. The quote in the Winnipeg Free Press was a bit out of context, but not much. I said something like “if you want to listen to the dead German guys, you can buy a CD.” Don’t get me wrong, I love the dead German guys. But I think our public broadcaster should be the place where Canadians can hear Canadian music.
In the early days of the New Music Festival in Winnipeg, I remember Glenn Buhr asking a bunch of us if we knew all of R. Murray Schafer’s String Quartets. They were still difficult to get hold of in those days, so most of us hadn’t heard them all. Glenn’s point was that it’s almost impossible to come up with a shared musical identity if you don’t even share a core repertoire as a reference.
So when this debate started, I had to decide if my allegiance was more to the European art music tradition or to the rest of Canada’s musicians who create new music – no matter what the genre. We’re not really talking about commercial music, but I’m sure some of that will find its way onto our airwaves as its own kind of reference point.
It’s still too early to know what the new shows will be like, but my experience with The Signal is that there is a jaw dropping diversity in Canadian music. There are so many great acts out there – like The National Parcs, Veda Hille, Inhabitants, Shout Out Out Out Out, John Kameel Farah, vitaminsforyou, Woodhands (who I just saw last night!), and the list goes on. I think that Canadians should have a national radio service where they can share Canadian music – in all its forms.
The dead German guys are great, but you will still be able to hear their music on CBC – and you can buy their CD’s way more easily!
In the early days of the New Music Festival in Winnipeg, I remember Glenn Buhr asking a bunch of us if we knew all of R. Murray Schafer’s String Quartets. They were still difficult to get hold of in those days, so most of us hadn’t heard them all. Glenn’s point was that it’s almost impossible to come up with a shared musical identity if you don’t even share a core repertoire as a reference.
So when this debate started, I had to decide if my allegiance was more to the European art music tradition or to the rest of Canada’s musicians who create new music – no matter what the genre. We’re not really talking about commercial music, but I’m sure some of that will find its way onto our airwaves as its own kind of reference point.
It’s still too early to know what the new shows will be like, but my experience with The Signal is that there is a jaw dropping diversity in Canadian music. There are so many great acts out there – like The National Parcs, Veda Hille, Inhabitants, Shout Out Out Out Out, John Kameel Farah, vitaminsforyou, Woodhands (who I just saw last night!), and the list goes on. I think that Canadians should have a national radio service where they can share Canadian music – in all its forms.
The dead German guys are great, but you will still be able to hear their music on CBC – and you can buy their CD’s way more easily!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
April 18, 19, 20th
First off don't forget Record Store Day this Saturday. head out to your local indie record store and buy some, hold-in-your-hand, sweet CDs or vinyl.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré- Friday April 18, 2008
Tonight on the Signal the premier of a new piece performed by pianist Marilyn Lerner in concert with Halifax’s Upstream Ensemble. Pat will also explore the musical career one of the most eclectic composers out there today - Osvaldo Golijov [Goalie – hov]. Plus sweet sounds from Sandro Perri, toy piano tinkling by Margaret Leng Tan, a Caribou remix and something from the new Erykah Badu CD.[Erica Badoo]. So put on your thinking caps.
Here is the link to the SXSW music file and here is the link to LOOPER
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, April 19, 2008
Tonight on the Signal Pat takes the new Woodhands recording for a spin, wonders if he is a very good dancer and ends up offering up some copies of the CD as prizes in the Loot-Bag give away. Then batten down your hatches, when Pat heads out to Vancouver for a concert featuring the wild sounds of Vancouver’s Fond of Tigers. All this plus Montreal’s Inuit spoken word artist Taqralik Partridge.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, April 20, 2008
Tonight on The Signal’s Soundtrack Sunday, music by Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood in the brutal film “There Will Be Blood”. In concert there will be Snowmobiles and orchestra when R. Murray Shafer’s works are featured including his very precise piece “ No Longer Than Ten Minutes”. Pat will also play compositions inspired by the wind, so hold on tight.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré- Friday April 18, 2008
Tonight on the Signal the premier of a new piece performed by pianist Marilyn Lerner in concert with Halifax’s Upstream Ensemble. Pat will also explore the musical career one of the most eclectic composers out there today - Osvaldo Golijov [Goalie – hov]. Plus sweet sounds from Sandro Perri, toy piano tinkling by Margaret Leng Tan, a Caribou remix and something from the new Erykah Badu CD.[Erica Badoo]. So put on your thinking caps.
Here is the link to the SXSW music file and here is the link to LOOPER
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, April 19, 2008
Tonight on the Signal Pat takes the new Woodhands recording for a spin, wonders if he is a very good dancer and ends up offering up some copies of the CD as prizes in the Loot-Bag give away. Then batten down your hatches, when Pat heads out to Vancouver for a concert featuring the wild sounds of Vancouver’s Fond of Tigers. All this plus Montreal’s Inuit spoken word artist Taqralik Partridge.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, April 20, 2008
Tonight on The Signal’s Soundtrack Sunday, music by Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood in the brutal film “There Will Be Blood”. In concert there will be Snowmobiles and orchestra when R. Murray Shafer’s works are featured including his very precise piece “ No Longer Than Ten Minutes”. Pat will also play compositions inspired by the wind, so hold on tight.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
April 11, 12, 13 - East Coast Weekend
The Signal with Pat Carrabré- Friday April 11, 2008
Tonight is the first night in The Signal’s east coast weekend extravaganza. Lobster free. Halifax’s Jill Barber joins forces with the Symphony Nova Scotia in a heart trembling concert. Pat will spin music from The Just Barelys, the St John String Quartet, Danny Oore and the genius that is the Lost Wax Guild. Pat will also feature the Peanuts to improv career of drummer Jerry Granelli.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, April 12, 2008
It is flutes not fiddles tonight when The Signal continues its East Coast weekend. Buck 65 performs live, 24 frames a second, at The Atlantic Film Festival. Pat will also offer up an east coast gift bag give-away and feature multiple tracks off of a new CD from the elusive Yellow Jacket Avenger. From Newfoundland comes the electronic sounds of Hello This Is Alex and Halifax’s Patricia Creighton and Peter Allan take on Michael Colgrass.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, April 13, 2008
The final night of The Signal’s East Coast weekend goes off with a bang when Mark Fewer and The Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra perform Edgar Meyer’s violin concerto in concert. But this is only the tip of the iceberg, Pat will also play skronk from the Benghazi Saxophone Quartet, brand new music from Live Animal and the ethereal sounds created when you combine bass clarinet, cello and pipe organ and call it Halifax’s Sanctuary.
Tonight is the first night in The Signal’s east coast weekend extravaganza. Lobster free. Halifax’s Jill Barber joins forces with the Symphony Nova Scotia in a heart trembling concert. Pat will spin music from The Just Barelys, the St John String Quartet, Danny Oore and the genius that is the Lost Wax Guild. Pat will also feature the Peanuts to improv career of drummer Jerry Granelli.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, April 12, 2008
It is flutes not fiddles tonight when The Signal continues its East Coast weekend. Buck 65 performs live, 24 frames a second, at The Atlantic Film Festival. Pat will also offer up an east coast gift bag give-away and feature multiple tracks off of a new CD from the elusive Yellow Jacket Avenger. From Newfoundland comes the electronic sounds of Hello This Is Alex and Halifax’s Patricia Creighton and Peter Allan take on Michael Colgrass.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, April 13, 2008
The final night of The Signal’s East Coast weekend goes off with a bang when Mark Fewer and The Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra perform Edgar Meyer’s violin concerto in concert. But this is only the tip of the iceberg, Pat will also play skronk from the Benghazi Saxophone Quartet, brand new music from Live Animal and the ethereal sounds created when you combine bass clarinet, cello and pipe organ and call it Halifax’s Sanctuary.
Friday, April 4, 2008
APRIL 4, 5, 6
The Signal with Pat Carrabré- Friday April 4, 2008
Tonight Pat will take you on a Vertical tasting of the Kronos Quartet, with a focus on their extraordinary collaborations. Then hitch a ride on a Big Rig with Buck 65’s soundtrack work for a trucker documentary and later in the show he pairs up with Halifax drummer Jerry Granelli. Pat will also spin music from Chicago’s Sea and Cake, the crafty sounds of Iceland’s Amiina and Montreal’s VitaminsforYou.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, April 5, 2008
Sarah Slean has just released a new CD, but tonight on The Signal Pat will sample her collaboration with the Art of Time ensemble live in concert. Sarah takes on the work of some of our finest song-writers; Leonard Cohen, Ron Sexsmith and Feist to name just a few. Pat will also play a few tracks from the new CD from Guelph band Tin. There will also be music from Francois Houle, The Cinematic Orchestra, Squarepusher and Lightspeed Champion.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, April 6, 2008“Brem” is Palm or rice brandy in Balinese, something to remember tonight when The Signal presents a concert inspired by the flavours of BALI. Cocktail shaker and lemon zest at the ready, Pat plays music by Colin McPhee, Alexina Louie, Marcel Bergman and more. Spicy and refreshing. Then as a chaser, Pat will pour a round of cello shots by the likes of Rasputina, Matt Haimovitz, and Colleen.
Tonight Pat will take you on a Vertical tasting of the Kronos Quartet, with a focus on their extraordinary collaborations. Then hitch a ride on a Big Rig with Buck 65’s soundtrack work for a trucker documentary and later in the show he pairs up with Halifax drummer Jerry Granelli. Pat will also spin music from Chicago’s Sea and Cake, the crafty sounds of Iceland’s Amiina and Montreal’s VitaminsforYou.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Saturday, April 5, 2008
Sarah Slean has just released a new CD, but tonight on The Signal Pat will sample her collaboration with the Art of Time ensemble live in concert. Sarah takes on the work of some of our finest song-writers; Leonard Cohen, Ron Sexsmith and Feist to name just a few. Pat will also play a few tracks from the new CD from Guelph band Tin. There will also be music from Francois Houle, The Cinematic Orchestra, Squarepusher and Lightspeed Champion.
The Signal with Pat Carrabré - Sunday, April 6, 2008“Brem” is Palm or rice brandy in Balinese, something to remember tonight when The Signal presents a concert inspired by the flavours of BALI. Cocktail shaker and lemon zest at the ready, Pat plays music by Colin McPhee, Alexina Louie, Marcel Bergman and more. Spicy and refreshing. Then as a chaser, Pat will pour a round of cello shots by the likes of Rasputina, Matt Haimovitz, and Colleen.
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