Happy Birthday Marc Bolan

Remembering Marc Bolan on his birthday with the 2007 documentary Marc Bolan: The Final Word. 

R.I.P. Mono Men guitarist John "Mort" Mortensen

Remembering Mono Men guitarist John "Mort" Mortensen with a couple of performance clips. He'll be greatly missed. 

One For The Weekend: Michael Rault

Michael Rault just put out a new seven-inch, pairing "Exactly What I Needed" with the unissued "What Happened?"

You can get copies of Michael's latest LP and singles at the merch desk at his Horseshoe gig with Pearl Charles on Monday (Oct 3). 

Happy Birthday Roy Campbell

Remembering trumpet titan Roy Campbell on his birthday with a 2007 performance of his Akhenaten Suite with Billy Bang. 

Danko Jones named guest musician juror for Polaris Heritage Music Prize

Hmm... interesting that a great but obscure album by Wayne McGhie made the shortlist the same year that Danko Jones is a juror.  

You can vote for your favourite shortlisted album right here. Listen to Wayne McGhie's "Dirty Funk" below.

Martin Phillipps shares a page from his Soft Bomb archive

Check out Martin's illustrated lyrics for "Soft Bomb," his reflection on the good old days of the lively Dunedin scene.

Writes Martin Phillipps....

"During the making of the documentary 'The Chills: The Triumph and Tragedy of Martin Phillipps' I was asked to produce a few pages of illustrated lyrics. This is the one I did for the song 'Soft Bomb' from 1991 and it is basically me mourning the passing of the early Dunedin-sound era, the wonderful bands and the fantastic times. "

Celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Soft Bomb album with The Chills at The Horseshoe in Toronto on October 18th. Tickets are available right here: https://www.horseshoetavern.com/event/the-chills

Play De Record film Drop The Needle screens at Hot Docs Cinema Oct 22

Robert Freeman & Neil Acharya's Drop The Needle doc is a story about Eugene Tam's Toronto record shop and much more. 

Here's the scoop...

In August 1990, Eugene Tam opened a small family-run record store on Yonge Street. Through word of mouth, Play De Record quickly became a magnet for college radio and club DJs who spun new sounds far from the mainstream. Through Tam’s contagious work ethic and steady guidance, the store became more than the sum of its parts: an essential hub for up-and-coming dance, hip-hop and electronic artists and a vital part of Toronto’s underground music ecosystem. Today its impact on the music scene in Toronto—and, by extension, Canada—is without question. This is the story of Play De Record.

Join director Robert Freeman and co-producer/co-writer Neil Acharya for a live post-screening Q&A, moderated by Hot Docs programmer Mariam Zaidi.

Watch the trailer below. Also screening at the Fox Theatre on Tuesday (Nov 8), Saturday (Nov 12).

Midweek Mixdown: DJ Format's Hindsight Psych Mix

Check out DJ Format's creepy cool and slightly bent psych selection straight from the Devil's Workshop right here.

Caitlin Rose shares equine-enchanced clip for "Nobody's Sweetheart"

"Nobody's Sweetheart" is off Caitlin Rose's forthcoming CAZIMI album due November 18th. You can pre-order it right here.

Here's the scoop...
The latest release from Nashville-based Caitlin Rose, CAZIMI captures a voice which is equal parts honeyed and world-weary, and sees her singing self-aware songs of self-destruction, documenting proclivity and impulse control, bad habits in life and in romantic pursuits. She skips across genres, combining new wave influences with pop stylings and the melancholy folk songwriting that made her such a staple of the Nashville rock scene. 

Check out the video for "Nobody's Sweetheart" followed her previous single "Black Obsidian" below.

 

Finnish jazz great Eero Koivistoinen strikes again with Diversity

The powerful new Diversity album by the Eero Koivistoinen Quartet is out now digitally with vinyl to follow in late October.

Here's the scoop from Svart Jazz...

The grand old man of Finnish Jazz, Eero Koivistoinen, has not kept still in his old age. Far from it, he's played with rappers from the younger generation, Argentinian tango singers, you name it. The Eero Koivistoinen Quartet, onto its 10th year in existence, is his outlet for what he knows by heart like no one else - cool quartet jazz in which Eero is aided by younger luminaries from the scene. Alexi Tuomarila is on the grand piano, Jori Huhtala on bass and Jussi Lehtonen on drums. 

Diversity presents, as the title implies, a diverse selection of Koivistoinen's latest compositions plus a striking interpretation of the timeless Thelonius Monk classic Played Twice, here performed by tue duo of Koivistoinen and pianist Tuomarila. 

Svart Records has released the Koivistoinen quartet's previous records as well, including Hati Hati (2015) which made it to the Finnish charts and Illusion (2017), Following the release of Diversity Koivistoinen proceeds to release his long-awaited autobiography. 

Get a copy of Diversity right here. Check out a couple of tracks from the album along with  a recent live performance below. 

R.I.P. record collector Joe Bussard, 1936-2022

Sadly, legendary record collector and musician Joe Bussard died today. His wit, wisdom & enthusiasm will be greatly missed. 

LINKS

Washington Post A saviour of abandoned American music contemplates his collection

NPR Joe Bussard, the collector who preserved early American recordings, has died at 86

Happy Birthday KoKo Taylor

Remembering blues great KoKo Taylor with a 1967 performance alongside Little Walter and Hound Dog Taylor. 

Whaddya mean you don't know unitarist Willie Joe Duncan

Check out what Detroit's Willie Joe Duncan is puttin' down on his electrified unitar. 

Saxophonist Chip Wickham issues Cloud 10 on Gondwana Records

UK saxophonist/flautist Chip Wickham shows off a more lyrical side on his new Cloud 10 album out now. Listen below. 

Here's the scoop...

Saxophonist, flautist Chip Wickham takes us to Cloud 10 with his most soulful and lyrical album to date 

Chip Wickham is a jazz musician and producer who divides his time between Spain, UK and the Middle-East and who has made a name for himself with a series of beautifully crafted solo albums that draw equally on the hard swinging spiritual jazz of Roland Kirk, Yusef Lateef and Sahib Shihab, alongside the music of British jazz legends such as Tubby Hayes and Harold McNair and the more contemporary sounds of Jazzanova, Kyoto Jazz Massive and Robert Glasper. 

Originally from Brighton, Chip studied in Manchester and became involved in the 00's UK jazz, soul. trip-hop and funk scenes, working with the likes of The Pharcyde, The New Mastersounds and Nightmares On Wax as well as playing with Matthew Halsall's Gondwana Orchestra. And his relationship with Gondwana Records goes right back to the very beginning as he played on Halsall's 2008 debut Sending My Love. 

Cloud 10 is his debut album for Gondwana Records – following the Astral Traveling 12" EP of three Lonnie Liston Smith covers in May) and it is a wonderful, timeless, lyrical, slice of hard-hitting, soulful, spiritual jazz and modal hard-bop with a distinctly UK flavour - driven by Chip's deftly funky flute work and hard-hitting tenor. Underpinned by Chip's restless energy and driven by his desire to connect with the listener on a deeper level. 

"My albums are my legacy. Each one is a statement to the world of music and my contribution to its growth, its energy and ultimately it's history." 

Cloud 10 features pianist Phil Wilkinson, vibes player Ton Risco, bassist Sneaky and drummer Jon Scott (all veterans of previous albums) together with harpist Amanda Whiting and percussionist Jack McCarthy whom Chip met touring in the Gondwana Orchestra, and rising star Irish trumpeter Eoin Grace who also doubles on flugel horn. The album was recorded at the legendary all analogue Estudios Brazil in Madrid, with the band spending a week at Chip's house in the mountains just outside the city, eating and drinking together, listening to music till the small hours and recording all day. It was a magical time and the positivity seeped into the recording. 

"It was a beautiful week of pure music and joy, I think you can hear it in the recording and that's the inspiration for the title: Cloud 10 is a place of a great happiness, way out beyond Cloud 9!" 

Get a copy of Chip Wickham's Cloud 10 album via your platform of choice right here. Check it out below. 

Jim McCall & Benny Birchfield vs. Johnny Fuller

Guitarist Jim McCall (right) and pickin' pal Benny Birchfield thought Johnny Fuller's "Haunted House" would work bluegrass style. 

Happy Birthday Bryan Ferry!

Raising a glass to Bryan Ferry on his 77th birthday with three vintage Roxy Music workouts from 1972 and '74.  

TIFA: Martha Wainwright @ Harbourfront's Fleck Dance Theatre, Oct 2

Martha Wainwright will be discussing her recently published tell-all Stories I Might Regret Telling You on Sunday at 4:30 pm. 

Here's the scoop...

Singer/songwriter Martha Wainwright will swing by the Toronto International Festival Of Authors on Sunday (October 2) to discuss her memoir about growing up in a bohemian musical family. Daughter of folk legends Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III, and sister of genre-defying singer Rufus Wainwright, Martha grew up surrounded by music royalty, but struggled to find her own voice. Stories I Might Regret Telling You (Random House) is an honest, thoughtful and moving account of navigating love, loss, motherhood, divorce, the music industry and more. Martha digs into her life with the same emotional honesty that has come to define her music – don’t miss your chance to go on this journey with one of the most talented singer/songwriters in music today.

Martha will be interviewed by Michael Barclay who writes about contemporary Canadian pop music.

Ticket Info:

Date & Time: Sunday, October 2 at 4:30pm ET

Where: Fleck Dance Theatre (Harbourfront Centre)

Duration: 60 minutes

Ticket prices: $17 – Regular; $12 – Youth; or Get a TIFA Pass

Note: This event will be followed by a book signing

Get tickets here: https://festivalofauthors.ca/event/stories-i-might-regret-telling-you/. 

Watch Martha discuss writing her memoir with Jill Wilson from The Winnipeg Free Press conducted back in April below. 

Dungen shares "Skövde" from long overdue new album out Oct. 7th

Skövde is off Dungen's much anticipated new album En Är För Mycket och Tusen Aldrig Nog.   Photo: Isak Berglund Mattsson-Mårn   

Here's the scoop...

Dungen just released “Skövde,” the third single from their forthcoming album En Är För Mycket och Tusen Aldrig Nog, due October 7th from Mexican Summer. Named after the small Swedish town where singer/songwriter Gustav Estjes grew up, the album’s opening track expands a bright, strummy melody into a bittersweet and nostalgic atmosphere that makes it feel like a latter-day Wilco tune. “It’s about my elder brother and a bunch of friends,” explains Ejstes. En Är För Mycket och Tusen Aldrig Nog is available for pre-order right here.

“Skövde” follows previous singles “Om Det Finns Något Som Du Vill Fråga Mig” and “Nattens Sista Strimma Ljus,” which earned much praise from writers at various North American media outlets, despite having no idea what Gustav Estjes is singing about. 

Translated to One is Too Much and a Thousand is Never Enough, Dungen’s first proper studio album since 2015’s Allas Sak finds the core band of Ejstes, Reine Fiske, Mattias Gustavsson, and Johan Holmegard now decades-deep in collaborative focus and elevating their trailblazing psychedelia to new heights. The nine-track album was recorded in pieces beginning in 2017 in Gothenburg, Sweden, with producer Mattias Glavå, who last worked with Ejstes on Allas Sak. Glavå’s creative input was crucial to the record, and helped Ejstes to challenge his preconceptions of how his own music might sound. “We’d be in his studio, where he has all this amazing gear, and he’d be encouraging me to go with every weird idea and not to feel any pressure,” Ejstes says. “He would say, ‘Let’s use this rhythm box or this sample or this loop,’ and I’d be like, ‘can we do that on a Dungen record?’” Likewise, Ejstes’ bandmates—guitarist Fiske and bassist Gustavsson, in addition to drummer Holmegard—encouraged him to push his ideas further. “It really took a lot of courage to go to the guys and play this stuff for them,” he says.

Since breaking out with Ta det lugnt, Gustav Ejstes has used Dungen as a way to chase down and take apart the music that he finds interesting, whether it’s Scandinavian folk, freak-fried acid rock, jazz, or jungle. That sense of constant movement, of itching to see where else he can go, has meant regularly pushing himself through new incarnations of himself. “Some artists, you feel like, ‘stick to your guns, the first three albums were so much better.’ But I can’t stay in one box,” he says. On En Är För Mycket och Tusen Aldrig Nog, Ejstes finds that the wildest trips lead within.

Listen to Dungen's tunes "Skövde," “Om Det Finns Något Som Du Vill Fråga Mig” and “Nattens Sista Strimma Ljus,” below. 

Diana Panton announces release of her 10th album 'blue' on October 28th

Hamilton-based jazz vocal stylist Diana Panton's 'blue' completes the three-album narrative arc that began with 2009's pink.

Writes Diana...

"After three years of powering through pandemic constraints, I'm sooo pleased to announce the release of our 10th album, blue, on October 28th.

"blue is the final instalment in the trilogy which began with pink and later RED.  

"Don Thompson wrote exquisite arrangements to showcase spectacular playing by Phil Dwyer, Reg Schwager, Jim Vivian and The Penderecki Quartet.  Of course, Don is exemplary in his piano-playing as well.  Sonic superiority delivered by master engineer Chad Irschick at Inception Sound Studios.

"Lovely album photos care of Jose Crespo.

"I hope you are as excited about hearing this new music as we are to present it to you.

"A sincere thanks in advance for your continued support of our musical endeavours,"

Diana

You can get a digital version of blue from your favourite platform right here: https://lnk.to/DPblue with a hard copy version available on October 28th. Further details about 'blue' will soon be posted on Diana Panton's site: https://www.dianapanton.com. 

For more on Diana Panton's 'blue' album, read Michael Major's article for Broadway World right here. 

Check out the audio clip for "The Trouble With Hello Is Goodbye" followed by Diana's "Love Songs" instalment from her Live Studio Concert Series with Reg Schwager and Don Thompson. 

 

 

Big Star's Jody Stephens & Terry Manning talk about No. 1 Record

Listen to the Life Of The Record podcast with Jody Stephens, Terry Manning and Alex Chilton biographer Holly George-Warren.

Eliades Ochoa's Vamos A Bailar Un Son album gets expanded reissue

The updated version of Elides Ochoa's 2020 album – out October 28th – includes three previously unheard bonus tracks.

Here's the scoop...

Eliades Ochoa recently announced a new partnership with World Circuit/BMG. Ochoa is well known worldwide as a Cuban sonero and guitarist who has been recording and performing for over 40 years, including as part of the multi-million selling ‘Buena Vista Social Club’ album, released by World Circuit in 1997. 

The first release will be a Special Edition reissue of Ochoa’s latest album ‘Vamos A Bailar Un Son,’to coincide with the start of Eliades’ European tour on October 28th. Originally released in 2020, the album features Eliades’ interpretations of songs by important Latin American composers like Ñico Saquito and Agustín Lara, as well as two compositions written by Eliades himself, one of which is the title track whose accompanying video has so far clocked over 2.6million views. The new Special Edition will be released on CD, LP and digital formats and features three previously unheard bonus tracks, two of which are also written by Ochoa. You can pre-order it right here. 

The first of the 3 bonus tracks, titled ‘Ay Mama Que Bueno’, is available now, along with a brand new video you can watch below followed by a clip for the title track.

Eliades Ochoa on tour in Europe

November 2nd Groningen (Netherlands) Oosterpoort

November 3rd Heerlen (Netherlands) ParkStadt Limburg Theaters

November 5th Rotterdam (Netherlands) De Doelen

November 6th Utrecht (Netherlands) Tivoli Vredenbourg

November 11th London (UK) Barbican Centre

November 12th Gent (Belgium) Handelsbeurs

November 13th Turnhout (Belgium) De Waranda

November 14th Jena (Germany) Volkshaus

November 15th Darmstadt (Germany) Centralstation

November 18th Palencia (Spain) Teatro Ortega

November 19th San Sebastián (Spain) Teatro Victoria Eugenia

November 24th Guadalajara (Spain) Teatro Buero Vallejo

November 25th Zaragoza (Spain) Sala Multiusos

December 2nd    Barcelona (Spain) Teatre San Cugat

R.I.P. jazz great Pharoah Sanders, 1940-2022

Legendary jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders passed away peacefully at his L.A. home this morning. He'll be greatly missed. 

Happy Birthday Jack Costanzo!

Remembering the late great Jack "Mr. Bongo" Costanzo with a 1957 performance accompanying Ann Miller and a short doc. 

Whaddya mean you don't know Blaoui Houari

Oran-born composer/producer Blaoui Houari wrote more than 500 songs yet he remains largely unknown outside Algeria.  

Keb Darge stars in Frank Popp Ensemble's "Torn Up" video

Jet-setting UK DJ Keb Darge shows off some fancy footwork in the entertaining video for "Torn Up" by the Frank Popp Ensemble. 

Soul survivor Bettye LaVette chats with Margo Price

Soul great Bettye LaVette talks about singing for her fan Barack Obama and the early influence of Bobby 'Blue' Bland.

Listen to Bettye LaVette on Runaway Horses with Margo Price right here.

Watch Captain Beeheart's "Ice Cream For Crow" video

Back in 1982, Captain Beefheart's "Ice Cream For Crow" video was apparently "too weird" to air on MTV. Check it out.

One For The Weekend: Frances Faye

Here's Frances singing "September In The Rain" from 1955.

R.I.P. Anton Fier, 1956-2022

Sadly, drummer/producer Anton Fier (The Feelies, Lounge Lizards, Golden Palominos) has passed away. He'll be greatly missed. 

LINKS

NME – Anton Fier, Golden Palominos founder and early Feelies drummer, has died 

Rick McGinnis – Some Old Pictures I Took: Anton Fier

Toronto's mighty Biblical returns to rock the Monarch Tavern

Biblical headline Paulapalooza with Mother Tongues & Rockford at the Monarch Tavern. Watch a clip from the show below. 

Happy 80th Birthday Marlena Shaw!

Celebrating Marlena Shaw's 80th birthday with a 1973 version of "Woman Of The Ghetto" and two more performance clips.

B-Side Wins Again: John Lee Hooker

Gotham hid John Lee Hooker's rockin' "My Daddy Was A Jockey" on the flipside of a 78 credited to 'Johnny Williams.' Sneaky!

Happy Birthday David Hood!

Cheers to Swampers bass ace David Hood! Here's an interview with Jake Feinberg and the Muscle Shoals documentary.

Watch the fab Tammi Savoy & Chris Casello Combo in action!

Here's Tammi Savoy tearin' it up with the Chris Casello Combo and covering Shirley Gunter's "Crazy Little Baby." Check it out.  

Grab a copy of Tammi Savoy's single "It's So Good" b/w "What Makes You So Cold" via her site right here.