Katharsis Dec. 29 '08

Thanks to Timothy Heck for another fabulous showfill. You can download the first hour (Aubrey's Shindig) here and the 2nd two hours here.

Have a happy new year! I am planning to return on Jan. 5 and am hoping to do a review of my musical highlights from 2008. Stay tuned; my picks will be documented here.

The recording is in .ogg vorbis format recorded directly from the cjsw stream. I prefer vorbis files to mp3’s due to their better fidelity at similar bit rates (ie. an .ogg vorbis file sounds better than an mp3 file of a similar bitrate) and the fact that vorbis is open source (ie. non-proprietary). Most computer audio software programs can play .ogg files but I realize that not all hardware music players (such as the iPod) can play .ogg files. If you want to convert the show recording to an mp3 or AAC file so that you can load it on to your iPod I recommend FreeRIP for PC users.

There is always some quality degradation with conversion between compression formats but as the cjsw .ogg stream is at a higher bitrate than the .mp3 stream converting the .ogg recording to an mp3 of similar bitrate shouldn’t sound any worse than a recording of the mp3 stream.

Read more...

Katharsis Dec. 22 '08

Thanks to Timothy Heck for a fabulous showfill. You can download the first hour (Aubrey's Shindig) here and the 2nd two hours here.

Hope you had a merry Christmas! Timothy will be filling in for both Aubrey and I again tonight (Dec. 29). I am planning to return on Jan. 5 and am hoping to do a review of my musical highlights from 2008. Stay tuned; my picks will be documented here.

The recording is in .ogg vorbis format recorded directly from the cjsw stream. I prefer vorbis files to mp3’s due to their better fidelity at similar bit rates (ie. an .ogg vorbis file sounds better than an mp3 file of a similar bitrate) and the fact that vorbis is open source (ie. non-proprietary). Most computer audio software programs can play .ogg files but I realize that not all hardware music players (such as the iPod) can play .ogg files. If you want to convert the show recording to an mp3 or AAC file so that you can load it on to your iPod I recommend FreeRIP for PC users.

There is always some quality degradation with conversion between compression formats but as the cjsw .ogg stream is at a higher bitrate than the .mp3 stream converting the .ogg recording to an mp3 of similar bitrate shouldn’t sound any worse than a recording of the mp3 stream.

Read more...

Katharsis Dec. 8 '08

Thanks to Aubrey & Stan for covering for me this week. Have a listen here.

While I am home helping look after a new baby (due to arrive any day now) Aubrey has a special 3 hr. on-air party complete with live band (The Sharp Ends) planned for Monday Dec. 15. Timothy Heck will be doing the show on Dec. 22 and 29. Enjoy!

The recording is in .ogg vorbis format recorded directly from the cjsw stream. I prefer vorbis files to mp3’s due to their better fidelity at similar bit rates (ie. an .ogg vorbis file sounds better than an mp3 file of a similar bitrate) and the fact that vorbis is open source (ie. non-proprietary). Most computer audio software programs can play .ogg files but I realize that not all hardware music players (such as the iPod) can play .ogg files. If you want to convert the show recording to an mp3 or AAC file so that you can load it on to your iPod I recommend FreeRIP for PC users.

There is always some quality degradation with conversion between compression formats but as the cjsw .ogg stream is at a higher bitrate than the .mp3 stream converting the .ogg recording to an mp3 of similar bitrate shouldn’t sound any worse than a recording of the mp3 stream.

Read more...

Katharsis Dec. 1 '08

This week's recording...

mistakes and all: Guitar (leftover from Aubrey's Shindig), Hush Arbors, Benoît Pioulard, Boduf Songs, Lorna, Erik Enocksson, Heidi Elva (from New Zealand, not Sweden - sorry), Landing, Yellow6, Rothko, July Skies, The Acorn, David Grubbs (Storm Sequence not Holy Fool Music - sorry), Remote Kid, Jenks Miller, Michael Brook (2 tracks from the Into the Wild film score), James Blackshaw (from Hastings, not Leeds, UK - sorry), Quinimine, Tren Brothers, Gregor Samsas, Rudi Arapahoe, Haruka Nakamura, The Abbasi Brothers, and Ezekiel Honig.

The recording is in .ogg vorbis format recorded directly from the cjsw stream. I prefer vorbis files to mp3’s due to their better fidelity at similar bit rates (ie. an .ogg vorbis file sounds better than an mp3 file of a similar bitrate) and the fact that vorbis is open source (ie. non-proprietary). Most computer audio software programs can play .ogg files but I realize that not all hardware music players (such as the iPod) can play .ogg files. If you want to convert the show recording to an mp3 or AAC file so that you can load it on to your iPod I recommend FreeRIP for PC users.

There is always some quality degradation with conversion between compression formats but as the cjsw .ogg stream is at a higher bitrate than the .mp3 stream converting the .ogg recording to an mp3 of similar bitrate shouldn’t sound any worse than a recording of the mp3 stream.

Read more...

Katharsis Nov. 24 '08

The show this week...

was a little dark, noisy and abstract: Menace Ruine (continued from Aubrey's Shindig), Bass Communion, The Fun Years, Bohren & der Club of Gore, I Heart Lung, Tarentel, Zak Riles, Grails, Psychic Pollution, Antony & the Johnsons, Talk Talk, Goldmund, Barbara Buchholz, Fennesz, Immune, Michael Brook, Slaraffenland, and Aidan Baker & Tim Hecker.

The recording is in .ogg vorbis format recorded directly from the cjsw stream. I prefer vorbis files to mp3’s due to their better fidelity at similar bit rates (ie. an .ogg vorbis file sounds better than an mp3 file of a similar bitrate) and the fact that vorbis is open source (ie. non-proprietary). Most computer audio software programs can play .ogg files but I realize that not all hardware music players (such as the iPod) can play .ogg files. If you want to convert the show recording to an mp3 or AAC file so that you can load it on to your iPod I recommend FreeRIP for PC users.

There is always some quality degradation with conversion between compression formats but as the cjsw .ogg stream is at a higher bitrate than the .mp3 stream converting the .ogg recording to an mp3 of similar bitrate shouldn’t sound any worse than a recording of the mp3 stream.

Read more...

Katharsis Nov. 17 '08

In this week's recording...

Kaki King (covering the Cure), +/-, Longwave, Jesu (covering the Cure), Guitar, Halou, Richard Pinhas & Merzbow, Aiden Baker, Stafrænn Hákon, Adrian Klumpes, Rafael Anton Irisarri, Fennesz/Brandlmayer/Dafeldecker, Klimek, Machinefabriek & Soccer Committee, Woven Hand, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Yo La Tengo, Sumner McKane, The Twilight Sad, The Standard, Au, Immanu El, and Helios.

The show recording is in .ogg vorbis format recorded directly from the cjsw stream. I prefer vorbis files to mp3’s due to their better fidelity at similar bit rates (ie. an .ogg vorbis file sounds better than an mp3 file of a similar bitrate) and the fact that vorbis is open source (ie. non-proprietary). Most computer audio software programs can play .ogg files but I realize that not all hardware music players (such as the iPod) can play .ogg files. If you want to convert the show recording to an mp3 or AAC file so that you can load it on to your iPod I recommend dBpoweramp Music Converter (dMC) for PC users.

There is always some quality degradation with conversion between compression formats but as the cjsw .ogg stream is at a higher bitrate than the .mp3 stream converting the .ogg recording to an mp3 of similar bitrate shouldn’t sound any worse than a recording of the mp3 stream.

Read more...

Katharsis Nov. 10 '08

Available for download here

This week: Murcof, Colleen, Hauschka, Benoît Pioulard, Machinefabriek & Soccer Committee, Talkdemonic, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Barbara Buchholz, Chequerboard, Rumpistol, Funckarma, Tobias Lilja, Tujiko Noriko / Lawrence English / John Chantler, Guitar, Azeda Booth, Alias, Christopher Willits, Dot Tape Dot, School of Seven Bells, Fabio Orsi, Stephan Mathieu, Windy & Carl, Grouper, and Fennesz.

The show recording is in .ogg vorbis format recorded directly from the cjsw stream. I prefer vorbis files to mp3’s due to their better fidelity at similar bit rates (ie. an .ogg vorbis file sounds better than an mp3 file of a similar bitrate) and the fact that vorbis is open source (ie. non-proprietary). Most computer audio software programs can play .ogg files but I realize that not all hardware music players (such as the iPod) can play .ogg files. If you want to convert the show recording to an mp3 or AAC file so that you can load it on to your iPod I recommend dBpoweramp Music Converter (dMC) for PC users.

There is always some quality degradation with conversion between compression formats but as the cjsw .ogg stream is at a higher bitrate than the .mp3 stream converting the .ogg recording to an mp3 of similar bitrate shouldn’t sound any worse than a recording of the mp3 stream.

Read more...

Katharsis Nov. 3 '08

enjoy

Very mellow selections tonight: Jenks Miller, Gregory and the Hawk, Juana Molina, Lucid 44, Rayna Gellert & John Paul Jones, David Grubbs, Richard Buckner, Mount Eerie (featuring Phil Elverum, Julie Doiron &, Fred Squire), Jenks Miller (again), Rodney "Guitarsplat" Brent, The Nels Cline Singers, Bohren & Der Club of Gore, Beach House, Earth, Voice of the Seven Woods, Heaven And, The Beans, Damien Jurado, Max Richter, Shearwater, Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh, The Durutti Column, Jay Crocker, Crooked Fingers, Dreamend, and Yellow6.

Thanks again for your support during last week's funding drive!


The show recording is in .ogg vorbis format recorded directly from the cjsw stream. I prefer vorbis files to mp3’s due to their better fidelity at similar bit rates (ie. an .ogg vorbis file sounds better than an mp3 file of a similar bitrate) and the fact that vorbis is open source (ie. non-proprietary). Most computer audio software programs can play .ogg files but I realize that not all hardware music players (such as the iPod) can play .ogg files. If you want to convert the show recording to an mp3 or AAC file so that you can load it on to your iPod I recommend dBpoweramp Music Converter (dMC) for PC users.

There is always some quality degradation with conversion between compression formats but as the cjsw .ogg stream is at a higher bitrate than the .mp3 stream converting the .ogg recording to an mp3 of similar bitrate shouldn’t sound any worse than a recording of the mp3 stream.

Read more...

Thank-you! Thank-you! Thank-you!

The cjsw funding drive is over for another year...

and thanks to the support of our amazing listeners, we surpased our goal and ended up raising $205,000! (& a little over $1200 of that was raised on Katharsis). To those who pledged, thanks so much for your support! Now on with our regular programming... Read more...

FUNDING DRIVE!

Tonight is your opportunity to express your appreciation...

for this show and for cjsw in general.

Every year once a year we ask our listeners for monetary support to help keep the station operating and healthy. Go check out the details here.

As incentives to pledge I will be offering the following:

$ Prefuse 73 – Preparations CD

$ John Vanderslice – Emerald City CD

$ Jim Bryson – Where the Bungalows Roam CD

$ Clinic – FunF CD

$ Jose Gonzalez – In our Nature CD

$ Great Lake Swimmers – Ongiara CD

$ Local Pack 1: Azeda Booth – Mysterious Bodies CDEP
Clinton St. John – Black Forest Levitation CD
Sea of Is – Honest(l)y CD

$ Local Pack 2: Veritas – Black Dark/Black Cold CD
Lint – Lint CD
Gerry Hebert Quartet – The Beat Niq Sessions Volume 2: Constructive Interference

Due to burner issues I may not be able to offer mix cd's this year. The mixes are done, I just can't get them off my pc in a physical format (sorry).

There are many other valuable incentives listed here. The biggest incentive is another year of great programing. Please tune in and support spontaneous, free-thinking, independant, adventurous, non-commercial radio.

Thanks in advance!

Read more...

Katharsis Oct. 20 '08

download link

Captured on the recording this week: The end of the last song in Lucid 44's live performance on Aubrey's Shindig (he did 2 songs solo on acoustic guitar), Manhattan Love Suicides, David Grubbs, Psychic Pollution, Land of Talk, Deerhoof, Deerhunter, Mamiffer, Murcof, Tujiko Noriko/Lawrence English/John Chantier, Guitar, Jesu, Lowfish, B. Fleischmann, Swod, Nest, Library Tapes, Hauschka, Dot Tape Dot, Helios, Library Tapes (again), Port Royal, and The Green Kingdom.

Next week, funding drive!


The show recording is in .ogg vorbis format recorded directly from the cjsw stream. I prefer vorbis files to mp3’s due to their better fidelity at similar bit rates (ie. an .ogg vorbis file sounds better than an mp3 file of a similar bitrate) and the fact that vorbis is open source (ie. non-proprietary). Most computer audio software programs can play .ogg files but I realize that not all hardware music players (such as the iPod) can play .ogg files. If you want to convert the show recording to an mp3 or AAC file so that you can load it on to your iPod I recommend dBpoweramp Music Converter (dMC) for PC users.

There is always some quality degradation with conversion between compression formats but as the cjsw .ogg stream is at a higher bitrate than the .mp3 stream converting the .ogg recording to an mp3 of similar bitrate shouldn’t sound any worse than a recording of the mp3 stream.

Read more...

Katharsis Oct. 13 '08

Enjoy

Heavy on the orchestral/post-rock/ambient this week. This is what cbc radio 2 should be blanketing the nation with rather than their new watered-down roots/pop/jazz CKUA-lite daytime format. Exciting, innovative (post-)classical music is still being created and deserves to be heard be those who can't stay up late to listen to The Signal (the only program half-worth listening to on the radio 2 and still nowhere near as vital as Brave New Waves).

The music: James Blackshaw, Max Richter, Johann Johannsson, Stafraenn Hakon, Anoice, Mogwai, Lawrence English, Bohren & Der Club of Gore, Simon Fisk/Chris Gestrin/Jerry Granelli, Hauschka, Max Richter, The Clogs, Baja, Jacaszek, Koushik, Bright Black Morning Light, Juana Molina, Erik Enocksson, Atlas Sound, and the Vancouver Chamber Choir.

The show recording is in .ogg vorbis format recorded directly from the cjsw stream. I prefer vorbis files to mp3’s due to their better fidelity at similar bit rates (ie. an .ogg vorbis file sounds better than an mp3 file of a similar bitrate) and the fact that vorbis is open source (ie. non-proprietary). Most computer audio software programs can play .ogg files but I realize that not all hardware music players (such as the iPod) can play .ogg files. If you want to convert the show recording to an mp3 or AAC file so that you can load it on to your iPod I recommend dBpoweramp Music Converter (dMC) for PC users.

There is always some quality degradation with conversion between compression formats but as the cjsw .ogg stream is at a higher bitrate than the .mp3 stream converting the .ogg recording to an mp3 of similar bitrate shouldn’t sound any worse than a recording of the mp3 stream.

Read more...

Canadian Federal Elections Tuesday February 14, 2008

Canadian voters:

I trust you are aware of the major issues in this federal election. Here are some web sites with some valuable information and comparisons of the party platforms:

• a quick comparison

• a little more in depth comparison

• listen to/watch the leaders defend their views: cross country check-up interviews and debates

• strategic voting

For the following reasons I am planning to vote for the Green Party candidate in my riding:

Each of their policies has been examined through the following lenses:

• Does it advance the common good?

• Does it advance global security, in environmental and geo-political terms?

• Does it address the needs of children?

• Does it ensure Canada’s continued quality of life and economic health?

• Does it make families more secure?

• Does it protect, enhance and restore the life support systems of the planet?

• Does it promote systems -- cultural, institutional, technological -- that are resilient and capable of adapting to shocks in a more unpredictable world?

Arts & Culture:

The Green Party advocates:

* Increasing funding to all of Canada’s Arts and Culture organizations including The Canada Council for the Arts, Telefilm Canada, orchestras, theatres and publishers. The goal will be to make increases in this sector commensurate with increases in support over the years for other sectors of the economy such as transport, the auto industry, health care, and the oil and gas industry.

* Providing stable base-funding for the CBC so it can continue to provide quality Canadian content television and radio programming in both official languages to all Canadians.

* Ensuring that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) reserves more bandwidth for independent and non-profit stations.

* Enacting legislation that requires cinemas and video chains to have at least 20% Canadian content.

* Restoring and improving arm’s length principles in the governance of arts and cultural institutions and agencies under the federal jurisdiction. In keeping with such a position, we believe that the heads of Canada’s cultural organizations such as the CRTC, Canada Council, CBC and Telefilm Canada should not be appointed by the political party in power but by an arm’s length committee made up of competent people representative of the various diverse stakeholders in Canadian society.

* Eliminating current legislation before the Senate that would give politically-appointed censors the right to deprive films of the right to a tax credit if their content is deemed “unfit.” In such a context films by some of Canada’s most internationally celebrated film-makers--including Egoyan, Cronenburg, and Arcand--would likely never have been made.

* Increasing support for community arts programs and facilities across Canada by establishing stable base-funding at a set percentage of the federal budget.

* Equalizing federal funding for Arts and Culture among provinces, territories and municipalities to make it consistent with the provinces and municipalities that have the highest current standards.

* Providing incentives to all provinces and territories to restore and improve Arts and Culture components to schools and extra-curricular activities not only in urban but also in rural areas.

* Extending income tax relief and incentives to artists (on the very successful models established by Ireland and the city of Berlin). Doing so will:
- encourage artists to settle in Canada and build businesses here
- result in other (usually) white collar “clean” industries that follow the arts jobs and dollars
- help to provide meaningful jobs to university and college graduates
- enrich schools and their offerings thereby attracting immigrants to settle in rural areas
- revitalize and discover talent in communities where traditional industries are declining and young people are leaving

* Following and implementing recommendations of Canadian Conference of the Arts in order to enable artists to access various social programs including Employment Insurance, Worker’s Compensation and Canada Pension Plan.

* Changing the Canada Revenue Act to allow arts and culture workers to benefit from a tax averaging plan that will take into account the fact that lean years often precede and follow the good year when a show is produced, a book is published and a grant or a prize is won.

* Protecting Canada’s cultural identity during trade negotiations.

* Restoring the government provided transport service (eliminated by the Harper government) to allow the transport of exhibitions between museums and galleries;

* Protecting the copyright for artists such that they are not surrendered to museums and galleries in the process of permitting exhibits.

Economic/Tax Policy:

* They support “Income-splitting” to reduce the tax burden on middle class couples, allowing for more parents (who would like to) to be able to stay home with and raise their children themselves rather than working just to pay someone else to raise their child. The current tax regime is discriminatory and forces many parents to have to try and find alternative child care outside the home so that they can both work to support the family. If more children could be raised by a full-time stay-at-home mother or father our society would be dramatically improved for the better. They also support universal access to excellent childcare and early childhood education.

* They call for the elimination of income tax for those earning $20,000 or less

* They would provide increased tax breaks for Canadians who donate to charitable societies.

* As originators of the Green Shift idea they would: Lower taxes on desirable/beneficial things like income, payroll, savings, investment and spend more money on good things like public transportation and infrastructure, education, healthcare and research. Raise taxes on harmful/undesirable things like pollution, toxic chemicals, inefficient/wasteful/environmentally damaging industrial processes, weapons manufacture, etc.

* Return the GST to six per cent, to invest in infrastructure. Expand the exemptions on food items, and extend them to children’s clothing and books and Arts and Culture products. Provide rebates for rural Canadians.

* They support moving to "true" or "full-cost” accounting, whereby products and services are priced according to the positive or negative impacts they cause throughout their lifecycle.

* They support the implementation of the Genuine Progress Indicator (or Index of Well-being) rather than just Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as an indicator of the countries well-being.

* They advocate would establish a minimum of three weeks paid vacation and a managed reduction in the standard work week to 35 hours, to promote public health and well-being and increase productivity.

* The Green Party believes in living within our limits, ecological and fiscally. They are committed to a balanced budget and to reducing the national debt and would set a disciplined schedule to gradually pay down the debt while meeting immediate social and environmental needs, increasing debt reduction over time but starting with modest targets to permit investment in critical programs.

Environmental Measures:

* They support only bio-fuels that actually save carbon emissions and don’t distort food supplies or prices. That means no corn- or grain-based ethanol.

* They call for an end to asbestos mining and export to developing countries.

* They call for a moratorium on new projects in the tar sands as recommended by no less than past Alberta premier Peter Lougheed, the City of Ft. McMurray and energy industry leaders.

* The phase out of nuclear power and uranium mining. (no more depleted uranium munitions)

* Phase in regulations mandating that a (steadily increasing) proportion of disposable cutlery and dishes used in fast food establishments be sourced from recycled and/or biodegradable sources.

International Relations:

* They support a continuing role in Afghanistan but within a transformed U.N. mission, legalizing and regulating the poppy trade for medicinal use, and bringing in more Islamic nations into the peace-keeping, security efforts in Southern Afghanistan through the U.N. to lessen the perception of a Western/Christian crusade.

* Meet the United Nations’ target that 0.7 per cent of Canada’s GDP go to Overseas Development Assistance.

* The six month notice to get out of NAFTA with immediate re-negotiation of key provisions to place more emphasis on fair trade.

* The reform of the Divorce Act to make family law less of a battleground.

* The legalization of marijuana, to be controlled, regulated and taxed like alcohol and tobacco. Raise taxes on these regulated substances to discourage their use.

* Scrap the Security and Prosperity Partnership (ie. Canada becoming the next Peurto Rico)

Democratic Reform and other good ideas:

* Support for open source software and net neutrality.

* Rejection of draconian copyright regulations that restrict fair use and benefit only large media companies rather than artists/content creators.

* Parliamentary and electoral reform (ex. proportional representation, preferential voting, MP recall). Borrow practical reforms from other healthy democracies.

* Fixed election dates.

* Strengthening government accountability and transparency.

Agriculture/Food & Water Safety:

* National shift to GE-free, organic agriculture and regional food self-sufficiency.

* Support the family farm. Provide GST rebates and compensation for protecting ecological services, such as wildlife habitat.

* Encourage production and consumption of Canadian agricultural products, especially organically grown.

* Protect drinking water at its source. Pass federal legislation to prohibit bulk water exports.

* Amend the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to enshrine the right of Canadians to an ecological heritage that includes breathable air and drinkable water.

* Establish a National Parks completion budget; protect at least half of Canada's Boreal Forest in a network of large interconnected protected areas as called for in the 2003 Boreal Forest Conservation Framework

* Zero waste, including laws requiring lifetime stewardship of products

* A cancer prevention strategy that includes a toxic-free Canada -- taxing toxics and pollution; ending the production and use of the most dangerous toxic chemicals by 2012.

For the nitty gritty of the Green Party platform go here

Read more...

Katharsis Oct. 6 '08

available here

This week: TV On The Radio, Bitcrush, Pivot, The Banjo Consorsium, Alias, Manual, Dot Tape Dot, Mamiffer, SubtractiveLAD, Aiden Baker & Tim Hecker, Taylor Deupree, Stars of the Lid, Gregory & the Hawk, Azeda Booth, Epic45, Windy & Carl, Kellarissa, and Psychic Pollution.

The show recording is in .ogg vorbis format recorded directly from the cjsw stream. I prefer vorbis files to mp3’s due to their better fidelity at similar bit rates (ie. an .ogg vorbis file sounds better than an mp3 file of a similar bitrate) and the fact that vorbis is open source (ie. non-proprietary). Most computer audio software programs can play .ogg files but I realize that not all hardware music players (such as the iPod) can play .ogg files. If you want to convert the show recording to an mp3 or AAC file so that you can load it on to your iPod I recommend dBpoweramp Music Converter (dMC) for PC users.

There is always some quality degradation with conversion between compression formats but as the cjsw .ogg stream is at a higher bitrate than the .mp3 stream converting the .ogg recording to an mp3 of similar bitrate shouldn’t sound any worse than a recording of the mp3 stream.

Read more...

Katharsis Sept. 29 '08

Voilà

Music played: Mick Turner, Castlemusic, The Low Lows, Rae Spoon, Snailhouse, Land of Talk, Damien Jurado, Manual, Mamiffer, Helms Alee, Aiden Baker & Tim Hecker, Jim O'Rourke, I Heart Lung, Swod, Baja, Tarentel, Because of Ghosts, Sgt., Gutterawl, Woven Hand, and Boduf Songs.

The show recording is in .ogg vorbis format recorded directly from the cjsw stream. I prefer vorbis files to mp3’s due to their better fidelity at similar bit rates (ie. an .ogg vorbis file sounds better than an mp3 file of a similar bitrate) and the fact that vorbis is open source (ie. non-proprietary). Most computer audio software programs can play .ogg files but I realize that not all hardware music players (such as the iPod) can play .ogg files. If you want to convert the show recording to an mp3 or AAC file so that you can load it on to your iPod I recommend dBpoweramp Music Converter (dMC) for PC users.

There is always some quality degradation with conversion between compression formats but as the cjsw .ogg stream is at a higher bitrate than the .mp3 stream converting the .ogg recording to an mp3 of similar bitrate shouldn’t sound any worse than a recording of the mp3 stream.

Read more...

Katharsis Sept. 22 '08

Here

In keeping with the season, this episode was mostly autumnal and ambient in nature: Fax, The Fun Years, Belong, Alias, Lawrence English, Yellow Swans, Matthew Robert Cooper, Nico Muhly, Johann Johannssonn, Marsen Jules, Michael Brook, Max Richter, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Christopher Bissonnette, Goldmund, and Port Royal (remixed by Minamo).

The show recording is in .ogg vorbis format recorded directly from the cjsw stream. I prefer vorbis files to mp3’s due to their better fidelity at similar bit rates (ie. an .ogg vorbis file sounds better than an mp3 file of a similar bitrate) and the fact that vorbis is open source (ie. non-proprietary). Most computer audio software programs can play .ogg files but I realize that not all hardware music players (such as the iPod) can play .ogg files. If you want to convert the show recording to an mp3 or AAC file so that you can load it on to your iPod I recommend dBpoweramp Music Converter (dMC) for PC users.

There is always some quality degradation with conversion between compression formats but as the cjsw .ogg stream is at a higher bitrate than the .mp3 stream converting the .ogg recording to an mp3 of similar bitrate shouldn’t sound any worse than a recording of the mp3 stream.

Read more...

Katharsis Sept. 15 '08

Recording available here.

From meaty guitar rock to ambient (with a little post-rock for good measure): Brittle Siren, Günther, Jr. Pantherz, Poorfolk, TV on the Radio, The New Year, Because of Ghosts, Psychic Pollution, Yellow 6, Beaten By Them, Voice of the Seven Woods, Esmarine, Slow Six, Nox, The Alps, The Shipping News, Canyon Country, Near the Parenthesis, Swod, Twine, and Seaworthy.

The show is in .ogg vorbis format recorded directly from the cjsw stream. I prefer vorbis files to mp3’s due to their better fidelity at similar bit rates (ie. an .ogg vorbis file sounds better than an mp3 file of a similar bitrate) and the fact that vorbis is open source (ie. non-proprietary). Most computer audio software programs can play .ogg files but I realize that not all hardware music players (such as the iPod) can play .ogg files. If you want to convert the show recording to an mp3 or AAC file so that you can load it on to your iPod I recommend dBpoweramp Music Converter (dMC) for PC users.

There is always some quality degradation with conversion between compression formats but as the cjsw .ogg stream is at a higher bitrate than the .mp3 stream converting the .ogg recording to an mp3 of similar bitrate shouldn’t sound any worse than a recording of the mp3 stream.

Read more...

Katharsis Sept. 8 '08

Download away.

Lucid 44 ended off Aubrey's Shindig! and that led directly into Woven Hand, Miss Murgatroid & Petra Haden, Liz Durrett, Giant Sand (a PJ Harvey cover from proVISIONS - I was mistaken, Joey Burns and John Convertino are not back with Howe Gelb in Giant Sand), The Walkmen, Benoit Pioulard, Damien Jurado, Alt-Ctrl-Sleep, Conrad Ford, Marsen Jules, Grouper, Ida, Lambchop, Takka Takka, The Sea & Cake, Banjo Consorsium, Snailhouse, Chad vanGaalen, Department of Eagles, Woodpigeon, Gianna Lauren, Hauschka (remixed by Frank Bretschneider), So, Alias, Nomo, Dosh, and The Drift (sorry, Uncanny Valley was unintentionally abbreviated in favour of I Had A List And I Lost It).

Read more...

Katharsis Sept. 1 '08

Show recording available here.

A night of fewer artists and longer songs, post-rock to abstract electronic to saturated drone/noise: Beaten By Them (last song of Aubrey's Shindig), Günther, Collections of Colonies of Bees, Grandfather Fire & The Holy Morning, Jasper TX, Can, Tujiko Noriko/Lawrence English/John Chantler, Miss Murgatroid & Petra Haden, Tagaq, Gas, The Bug, Signal, Kangding Ray, Alias, Organic Stereo, Ulrich Schnauss, and Bass Communion.

Read more...

Katharsis Aug. 25 '08

Have a listen

The show felt a bit scattered this week. Artists played: Tindersticks, Gianna Lauren, Don Caballero, Gunther, The New Year, Lights Out Asia, Pram, The Banjo Consorsium, The Green Kingdom, Galerie Stratique, Machinefabriek, A Lily, The Abbasi Brothers, Max Richter, Boy In Static, Hammock, Near The Parenthesis, Goldmund, Hauschka, & Bitcrush.

Read more...

Katharsis Aug. 18 '08

Show download via this link

Many thanks to Peter Hemminger for filling in for me this week. As music & film editor for ffwd magazine (a free local weekly and a must-read for those in Calgary & area looking for an independent and alternative perspective on local/national/international news and events) Peter is privy to all kinds of great music both new and old. His show was wonderfully eclectic, as the recording will attest. Music captured on the recording: Slim Twig (Aubrey’s last song), Karl Hector & The Malcouns, King Khan & The Shrines, Adam & The Amethysts, Elliott Brood, Dr. Dog, Snailhouse, Nico Muhly, Euros Childs, The Neighbourhood Council, Reverie Sound Review, Lhasa, DeVotchKa, Love, The Acorn, Dappled Cities, Lucid 44, Randall of Nazareth, Royal City, Sigur Ros, Matmos, Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid, Azeda Booth, Health, Sun Ra, Nomo, and The Inhabitants.

Read more...

Katharsis August 11 '08

Recording here

When preparing for my show I usually have a rough idea of what I want to play but I'm usually throwing stuff together on the fly and trying to incorporate last-minute discoveries (there's always ~500+ recently or yet-to-be-released cd's in the dj booth). I usually have plenty of great new tracks that I've stumbled across throughout the week on my own. As often happens when I intend to take things in one direction I often end up going in a completely different direction. I had brought a bunch of new experimental electronic and minimalist classical music but this show ended up being mostly guitar-based mellow pop and rock. At the 11:30 mark, I thought I might change tack but it didn't really pan out. This spontaneity keeps things interesting for me at least. We ended up with: Palodine, Woven Hand, Lucid 44, Heaven And, The Walkmen, Bodies of Water, Sam Phillips, Voice of the Seven Woods, Clinton St. John, Lotte Kestner, Kris Delmhorst, Lownote, Snailhouse, The Middle East, The Neighborhood Council, Machinefabriek, Gianna Lauren, Julie Doiron, Lonely Hunters, Smog, Harris Newman, A Lily, Azeda Booth, Jesu Tagaq, & The Green Kingdom.

Read more...

Katharsis August 4 '08

Listen here

Electronic and ambient pop this week: Milosh, The Abbasi Brothers, Lights Out Asia, Near the Parenthesis, Pornopop, Simon Fisk (+ Chris Gestrin & Jerry Granelli), Alva Noto, Fourtet, SJ Esau, The Notwist, Boy In Static, Bitcrush, Nico Muhly, Balmorhea, Gregor Samsa, Sian Alice Group, Ateleia, Adem, Snailhouse, Shearwater, Paul Duncan, and Triosk.

Read more...

Katharsis July 28 '08

The recording for this week's show can be found here

Extra heavily weighted towards ambient/psychedelic music this week. Dim the lights and strap on the cans. Feel free to zone out.

Artists played (plus error corrections and interesting tidbits): Fax (vocals by Florencia Ruiz), Klimek, Pivot, Azeda Booth, Bitcrush (from Enarc), Fax (aka Rubén Tamayo not Ricardo Tamayo; whoops), Women, Belong, Christopher Bissonnette (Same Places - Slow Version), Lawrence English, Yellow Swans, Aidan Baker & Jakob Thiesen, Dixie's Death Pool (Lee Hutzulak now lives in Vancouver, but some of Scarlet Lake was recorded while he still lived in Victoria), Twine (Endormie - check out the video here), Jefre Cantu-Ledesma & Paul Clipson, and Tim Hecker.

Read more...

Katharsis July 21 '08

Hooray! The recording worked this week (get it here)...

Katharsis begins around the 6 min. mark on the recording. Artists played: Calexico*, Tanya Tagaq, The Middle East, The Luyas, Torngat*, A Hawk & A Hacksaw*, Andrew Bird*, The Neighborhood Council, One Little Plane, The Consonant C*, Lotte Kestner, Great Lake Swimmers*, James Yorkston (he's Scottish not Irish and Paul Webb from Talk Talk produced his Year of the Leopard cd, not Mark Hollis; yikes, sorry!), Woodpigeon*, Neil Halstead, Tindersticks, Lucid 44, Bonnie Prince Billy, James Blackshaw (from London, not Leeds; ey-yi-yi...), and Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh. My memory was obviously misfiring this night.

* Artists appearing at this year's Calgary Folk Music Festival (this week)

Read more...

Emberexi

In the absence of recent show recordings I have a link to some fantastic mixes by an old friend…

Some longtime listeners or local scenesters may remember Joel Danielson from his involvement with the l’hiver events here in Calgary, or his work with many local bands such as Red Not Evil, Woodpigeon, Francis Cheer, or his own Bumblebee project. Joel also dj trained on Katharsis and went on to host his own late night show on cjsw for a time. Over the last while he has been working away on a series of mixes as a creative outlet while he prepares for a relocation to China. I’ll let him describe it:

some of you may know about this project, some may not yet... anyway here's the news:

i've completed a second series of mixes for the emberexi moniker i began to use about three years ago for my music compilation and djing.the first series, "pain vs progress" was an attempt at creating emotional moments that seem to fit with significant milestones throughout the process from life to death. each of the 12 mini-mixtapes in that series had a unique title beginning with a letter of the alphabet, from A to L, and the titles tell the life story:

- a child is born
- birthday cake
- chills and high fever
- daddy was your first word
- every second wind knocked out
- friends move away so chase them
- get on a plane to somewhere
- hurry home before dark
- internal bleeding
- journal entries
- know the enemy
- last will and testament

the second series is called "amphibiography" and contains 14 mixes with titles beginning with letters M through Z, picking up where the previous series ended.

- morning has barely broken
- natural disposition
- oneiric discourse
- panic / boredom
- quality is of an intentional order *
- reflections of a watered silk
- science of signs
- textuality ***
- une sorte de curiosité
- visages et figures ***
- words instead of fingers
- xiang ***
- yet glottic
- zone of language

* 33 minute dj mixset
*** cd-length dj mixsets

amphibiography seemed a fitting title for the second series, because it picks up the life story, moving beyond the death of the first series into a new plane of existence. just as amphibians exist both on land and water, so we as humans with spirits live not only on earth, but also in a spiritual realm. living beyond our senses, running parallel with the divine, is a mystery i wanted to continue exploring in the second series.

interestingly, the word "amphibiography" showed up in an online thesis paper by a student who studied roland barthes and semiotics, which is the field of study of symbols and meaning. the titles are bits of text either taken from the essay, or from quotes of roland barthes himself. the study of symbols is very much a part of my every day learning in design, communication, music and culture, and the way we interpret things visually relates very strongly to the meaning and direction of a spiritual life.

so there's the story.

http://emberexi.org

please feel free to share this link with anyone you know who might be interested in a boatload of great electronic music i have been digging up for years. there's so much great stuff out there.

disclaimer - none of the music was produced by me (except for two tracks produced under my "bumblebee" moniker, one in "friends move away so chase them", and one in "reflections of a watered silk").

ps - emberexi is an anagram of "bee mixer".

enjoy.

+

joel

Read more...

Katharsis July 14 '08

The automated recording failed again (sorry)...

and I haven't been able to figure out the problem yet (something is making wget cut out). For those keeping track, this week I played: Elliott Brood, The Ramblin' Ambassadors, Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir, Quest for Fire, The Walkmen, Eef Barzelay, Fleet Foxes, Amiina, Bill Hetherington & The Asian Tigers, Iron & Wine, SJ Esau, The Notwist, Jan Jelinek, Twine, Azeda Booth, Colophon, Yellow 6, Jasper TX, and Jesu.

I'll do my best to get the recording working again.

Read more...

Katharsis July 7 '08

Unfortunately something interrupted the recording after the first half hour...

All that was captured this week was Eric’s Trip (end of Aubrey’s Shindig leftover), Wooden Shijps, The Black Angels, Indian Jewellery, Deerhunter, Beach House, and Frightened Rabbit (chopped off). It's a shame too as the rest of the show featured Erik Enocksen, Holler Wild Rose, Slaraffenland, Swell, Damien Jurado, Seaworthy, Grizzly Bear (remixed by Efterklang), Colleen, Chieko Mori, Tara Jane O'Neil & Daniel Littleton, James Blackshaw, Adrian Klumpes, Voice of the Seven Woods, and Sam Phillips.

Hopefully next week's show will be available for download in its' entirety.

If the link expires just leave a comment and I'll re-upload.

Read more...

Katharsis June 30 '08

Have a listen.

Sled Island was amazing and I am still recovering; hence a particularly mellow set tonight: Adem, Clinton St. John, Tanya Donelly, Joan of Arc, RF & Lili De La Mora, Vlor, Triosk Meets Jan Jelinek, Arve Henriksen, Dixies’s Death Pool, Eric Chenaux, Dosh, High Places, The Bird Ensemble, Trespassers William, Gregor Samsa, Eluvium, Solo Andata, Chihei Hatakeyama, Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto, Fleet Foxes, and Emmylou Harris.

If the link expires just leave a comment and I'll re-upload.

Read more...

Katharsis June 23 '08

Download

Finally, it's the week of Sled Island and as I've been doing for the past several weeks, I featured several artists playing this fantastic festival. Have a listen: Tren Brothers, Steven Hess/Miles Tilmann, Eyvind Kang, J. Spaceman, Spiritualized, Collections of Colonies of Bees, Wire, Deerhunter, Bil Heatherington & The Asian Tigers, South San Gabriel, Tape, Autistic Daughters, Sam Phillips, Portastatic, Okkervil River, Au, The Neighbourhood Council, Spires That In The Sunset Rise, Lucky Dragons, Laura Barrett, and Keith Fullerton Whitman.

If the link expires just leave a comment and I'll re-upload.

Read more...

Katharsis June 16 '08

Show archived here.

The music this week: Odd Nosdam, My Brightest Diamond, The Notwist, Arden, Jacaszek, Murcof, Erik Levander, Spring Heel Jack, Heaven And, Lucid 44, Clinton St. John, Bundy K. Brown/Doug Scharin/James Warden, RF remixed by Sawako, OK Vancouver OK, The Great Outdoors, Shearwater, The Microphones, Fennesz, Entire Cities, Bodies of Water, Retribution Gospel Choir, Bonnie Prince Billy, Nina Nastasia, & Loscil.

If the link expires just leave a comment and I'll re-upload.

Read more...

Katharsis June 9 '08

The show recording technology is finally working again. This week’s show can be downloaded here.

Captured on the show recording this week: Clinton St. John (end of Aubrey’s Shindig), Au, Arc Lab, Dosh, Lucky Dragons, Women, Kayo Dot, Tape, Sigur Ros, M83, Broken Social Scene Presents: Brendan Canning, Russian Circles, Atlas Sound, Deerhunter, Silver State, Grizzly Bear, Junior Pantherz, The Twilight Sad, Hammock, The Neighbourhood Council, Team Building, and Sun Kil Moon.

If the link expires just leave a comment and I'll re-upload.

Read more...

Post-Everything May 30 '08 (showfill)

I filled in for Stan this week on his fantastic show Post-Everything (Friday mornings, midnight to 2 am)...

Stan does a great show, definitely one of my favourites on the station. Stan is off on a musical vacation to Montreal where he is attending Mutek arguably one of the world's finest if not the best avant garde electronic music festival and Suoni Per Il Popolo (Sounds for the People), a festival of "avant garde and experimental liberation music" put on by Godspeed You! Black Emperor bassist, Mauro Pezzente and his partner Kiva Stimac, founders of the infamous Casa del Popolo (The House of the People) and La Sala Rossa (The Red Room) clubs in the Mile End district of Montreal). Casa Del Popolo is a family-run neighborhood vegetarian restaurant, part fair-trade café, part music venue, part bar, and part art gallery. The Arcade Fire, Sam Roberts, Dears, Stars, Metric, and Patrick Watson and many other now widely-acclaimed Montreal acts played some of their first shows here. La Sala Rossa is just across the street and is a beautiful room in a historic Montreal building built by the left-wing Jewish community in 1932 and has also hosted an amazing array of musical performances.

Hopefully Stan won't have his mind so blown by the astounding plethora of incredible musical performances over the next few weeks (and by the beautiful city of Montreal) that he decides not to come back.

In Stan's absence, I played some Spring Heel Jack, Arve Henriksen, Bohren & Der Club of Gore, Kangding Ray, Murcof, Jacaszek, Klimek, Steven Hess & Miles Tilmann, Erik Levander, Christopher Bissonnette, Bersarin Quartet, Marsen Jules, Skyphone, Tim Hecker, Growing, Max Richter, and Sonic Youth. Sorry, I was not able to record the show as my computer is in the hospital.

Read more...

Katharsis May 19 '08

Sorry folks, no show recording this week as my home computer is out of commission. I will try and make alternate arrangements to record next week's show.

It's a shame too as this week we played some new Fall, Mt. Royal, Young & Sexy, ShipShape, and some not so new Nina Nastasia, The Cape May, Royal City, Barzin, and Sonic Youth (and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember right now). Next week Peter will be doing half the show as part of his ongoing on-air training.

Read more...

Katharsis May 12 '08

Have a listen here

This week and for the next three weeks my new dj-trainee, Peter Hemminger is sitting in on the show with me. As music & film editor for ffwd magazine, a free local weekly and a must-read for those in Calgary & area looking for an independent and alternative perspective on local (and international) news and events, Peter has his finger on the pulse of the local music scene. Both Peter and fellow programmer Aubrey McInnis (host of Aubrey’s Shindig heard from 9-10, prior to Katharsis) were also recently chosen for jury duty for the 2008 Polaris Prize. They and other members of an independent panel of over 150 jurors from the fields of music journalism and broadcasting from across Canada will select a shortlist of 10 nominated Canadian Albums of the Year which will be announced to the media July 10, 2007. This speaks very highly of their reputation for critical and journalistic excellence within the Canadian music industry. With Peter’s considerable musical knowledge and insight, the next few week’s shows should be well worth listening to.

The music this week: The Ramblin Ambassadors (end of Aubrey’s Shindig), Eric Chenaux, Retribution Gospel Choir, Jonathan Kane’s February, Kayo Dot, Collections of Colonies of Bees, Yellow 6, Animal Collective, Aaron Booth, Francis Cheer, Joan of Arc, Graham MacRae, Vetiver, Field & Stream, Entire Cities, Willard Grant Conspiracy, Silje Nes, James Blackshaw, Frightened Rabbit, The River Pilots, and Christopher Bissonnette.

Read more...

Katharsis May 5 '08

This week a special treat...
(download here)

Brendan Fraser, who was lead man for Grandfather Fire and the Holy Morning (now on hiatus) and now performs solo as Forest Tate Fraser filled in for me this week. Brendan is a past intern office manager at cjsw and co-hosted The Audible Smile (with Kallen Law) heard until recently on Thursday afternoons on cjsw. He has a great ear and is a talented musician/producer/recording wizard. He also has impeccable taste in music and is well-versed in the stories behind the music and the connections betweens various rock-related genres and scenes (both local and international).

As expected, Brendan did a fantastic show. Have a listen to the recording and make sure to catch one of his upcoming live shows if you get the chance.

Read more...

Sled Island 2008 (update)

Sled Island organizers have revealed the (almost) complete line up of artists playing this year’s festival June 25-28 ’08 at various venues in Calgary...

and it's very impressive! Along with many of the most exciting up-and-coming local & western Canadian underground/indie/whatever musicians some fantastic international artists will be performing such as:

Wire
Mogwai
Deerhunter
Yo La Tengo
Dan Deacon
The Dodos
Grizzly Bear
No Age
Jose Gonzales
Portastatic
Nina Nastasia
Tren Brothers (2/3 of the Dirty 3)
Scout Niblett
The Gutter Twins (Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan)
No Age
Of Montreal
Jonathan Richman

Go here for the full line-up.

This year it looks like many of the bigger shows will be at outdoor venues such as Mewata Field & Olympic Plaza, with the rest happening at various indoor downtown venues. With this many bands playing, there will probably be some agonizing decisions about which gigs to hit. Full armband passes are $190 plus service charges can be purchased at www.sledisland.com.

I've been underwhelmed with the line-ups announced so far for the inaugural Calgary Virgin Festival the weekend before and the Calgary Folk Music Festival happening the following month, but live music fans in Calgary will certainly have plenty to choose from this summer.

Read more...

Katharsis Apr. 28 '08

Yours here.

This week (after the ad): Girls Against Boys, 16 Horsepower (live Joy Division cover), Retribution Gospel Choir, Portishead, the Thalia Zedek Band, Paramount Styles, Bauhaus, Do Make Say Think, Foxhole, Sholi, Entire Cities, Gerry Hébert Quartet, A.K.A.C.O.D., Spring Heel Jack (w/ J. Spaceman on guitar), Belong, Atlas Sound, Dosh, Steven Hess/Miles Tilmann, Four Tet, Venetian Snares, Erik Levander, and Hammock. It's all brand new music with the exception of the Girls Against Boys, 16 Horsepower and the Venetian Snares.

If the links expire just leave a comment and I'll re-upload them.

Read more...

Katharsis Apr. 21 '08

Can be downloaded here.

Indie pop to post-rock/ambient (again; seems to be a bit of a pattern…). In the show recording this week: Sun Kil Moon (last song of Aubrey’s Shindig), Vailhalen, Pepi Ginsberg, The Breeders, Menomena, The Acorn, Glorytellers, Francis Cheer, Kaki King, Knots, Adem, Team Building, The Notwist, Will The Circle, Mogwai, The River Pilots, Bundy K. Brown/Doug Scharin/James Warden, The Drift, Spring Heel Jack, Yndi Halda (remixed by A Lily), Pelican (remixed by Prefuse 73) & Christopher Bissonnette; all brand new music with the exception of the Menomena and the Yndi Halda & Pelican remixes.

If the links expire just leave a comment and I'll re-upload them.

Read more...

Katharsis Apr. 14 '08

Get it here.

This week: Tindersticks, DeVotchka, Mark Eitzel, Grizzly Bear, Triple Burner, L'Ocelle Mare, Voice of the Seven Woods, Steven R. Smith, Codeine, Bedhead, Gregor Samsa, Rachel’s, Clogs, Christopher Bissonnette, Marsen Jules, Jacaszek, Krill.Minima, Monolake, Cloudland Canyon, SubtractiveLAD, & Adrian Klumpes.

If the links expire just leave a comment and I'll re-upload them.

Read more...

Katharsis Apr. 7 '08

Sorry, no show recording this week due to a computer screw-up. Check back again for next week's show.

It's a shame too as I played some new Sun Kil Moon, Hayden, Fink, Dodo's, Why?, The Photographic, Portishead, Atlas Sound, Deerhunter, Amon Tobin, Trentemoller, Takahiro Kido, Glowworm, Collections of Colonies of Bees, Maserati, & Port Royal.

Read more...

Katharsis Mar. 31 '08

Download the show here.

Aubrey ran a little overtime with her Shindig so the recording of this week’s Katharsis features the end of her show (a new Aaron Booth track and a new Bauhaus track). This week’s Katharsis started off dark & heavy with Heaven And…, Earth, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra & Tra-la-la Band, Foxhole, The Constantines, and Ladyhawk before mellowing out into some Sean Smith, Beach House, Baltic Fleet, Spiritualized, Murder By Death, Pacific UV, Tstewart, Kurt Vile, Jim White, These Hands, and Kerosene Daydream; all brand new music. Enjoy!

Read more...

Sled Island 2008

Sled Island organizers have revealed a partial list of artists playing this year’s festival June 25-28 ’08 at various venues in Calgary...

and so far it's looking great! Scott Kannberg aka Spiral Stairs (Preston School of Industry, Pavement) is the token guest musical curator and will be performing along with some fantastic artists that I never thought would ever make it to Calgary such as:

Wire
Mogwai
Deerhunter
American Music Club
Jose Gonzales
Portastatic
Miss Murgatroid and Petra Hayden
The Gutter Twins (Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan)
No Age
Of Montreal
Jonathan Richman

The full line-up will be announced May 1. Early bird armband passes will be $140 plus service charges up until May 1 and can be purchased at www.sledisland.com.

With the inaugural Calgary Virgin Festival the weekend before and the Calgary Folk Music Festival happening the following month it will be a busy June/July for live music fans in Calgary. If I had to choose to attend only one of these due to time or money constraints Sled Island would definitely be my pick.

Read more...

Katharsis Mar. 24 '08

Download the show here.

A trip from pop to ambient and back, the recording of this week’s Katharsis features music from Fink (last song from Aubrey’s Shindig), Francis Cheer, Plants & Animals, No Kids, David Karsten Daniels, Joseph Arthur, Forest City Lovers, Fennesz, The Autumns, Unwed Sailor, Valet, Fourtet, Burial, Christopher Willits & Ryuichi Sakamoto, Windy & Carl, Klimek, Taunus, Sun Kil Moon, Gerry Mitchell & Little Sparta, Balmorhea, and Laura Barrett (remixed by Joshua Von Tassel); all brand new music except for the Windy & Carl and Klimek. Enjoy!

Read more...

Katharsis Mar. 17 '08

Show recording archived here.

After a rocky start to the show due to a faulty patch cable/music player connection (I actually have nightmares about these sorts of dead air episodes) we got right into some brand new Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Mark Pickerel & His Praying Hands, Ladyhawk, Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, Jim White, Bitcrush, Bark Psychosis, Below the Sea, Bon Iver, Gregor Samsa, Port Royal, Efterklang, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Signal, Fennesz, He Can Jog, Skyphone, and L'Ocelle Mare.

Read more...

Toxic Alberta

Toxic Alberta is a highly provocative documentary on the oil sands (or more accurately "tar sands")...

It is by VBS TV (an offshoot of Vice Magazine) so you have to mind the salty language and the biased slant, but the pictures they show and the stories they portray of the environmental and social consequences of the tar sands development are very unsettling and should prick at the conscience of any oil consumer who sees them. I imagine the Tar Sands, The Selling of Alberta documentary that will be broadcast on CBC TV on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 9pm and on Saturday March 15, 2008 at 10pm ET/PT on CBC Newsworld will address some of the same issues.

Public awareness is growing about this quagmire. With Alberta's and Canada's direct and indirect dependence on the tar sands do we have the will or the capacity to properly deal with this issue and will we or the rest of the world allow this development to continue and at a pace only limited by what the market will bear?

Scary times...

Read more...

Katharsis Mar. 10 '08

Thanks to a computer that apparently didn't make the adjustment to daylight savings time on its' own only the second hour of the show was recorded (get it here).

I hate daylight savings. In my opinion, the effort to reset all the household clocks & timers and the jet lag and fuzzyheadedness caused by messing with our internal clocks every 6 months is not worth the few extra hours of daylight in the spring and fall. Recent studies have also indicated that practicing “daylight savings” may actually result in overall increases in energy consumption and in risk of accidents.

So what’s the point? It would be a lot simpler to just stick to a standard time year round. I suspect my computer thinks so as well as it did not make the jump forward on the weekend and thus the show recording from this week is missing the first hour. There was lots of great new music in that first hour too. Argg!

Music played in the first hour (but missed in the recording): Destroyer, No Kids, A Weather, The Neighbourhood Council, Balmorhea, Plants & Animals, The Low Lows, Beach House, Hanne Hukkelberg, and Kaki King.

The selections that were captured in the recording of the 2nd hour were: Sylvian Chauveau, Bohren & Der Club of Gore, The Dead Science, The For Carnation, Dub Trio, The Big Sleep, Epic 45, American Music Club, School of Language, and Takeshi Nishimoto.

The show recording is in .ogg format taken directly from the cjsw stream. Due to the reduced size I was able to post it to zshare.net.

Read more...

Katharsis Mar. 3 '08

Show archived here.

Some of this week’s musical selections were, in mood at least, a musical response to the disappointing Alberta election results. The Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta, a party whose policies, actions & inactions over their 37 years of uninterrupted rule have proven them to be neither remotely progressive nor conservative (except when it comes to conserving their own power and entitlements) won a huge majority in the Legislature. The Conservatives have again been propped up by only 53% of the 41% of eligible voters that bothered to cast a ballot. Some mandate. With the already hugely disadvantage opposition parties being further decimated and shut out, democracy appears to be in serious trouble here. Thanks to the collective apathy and wilful negligence of the majority of the people living here, we can look forward to another 4 years of neglected and inadequate public infrastructure, education & healthcare and unfettered corporate-sponsored desecration/exploitation of the environment while money and natural resources flow out of the province. At this point Alberta is nothing more than a petro-fueled cash machine. Corporations and workers come here, extract as much as they can and leave, while investing as little of themselves as possible. When this oil-fueled boom is over we will be in a sorry state. In this land of greed and oil where the vast majority appears to be completely brainwashed, blinded by ideology, bound by tradition, or corrupted through personal or business connections to the PC party, it’s every man woman and child for themselves. With the way things are going here, how much longer will we even have the freedom to express such dissent?

The music: Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-La-La Band, Hills Like White Elephants, 65 Days of Static, Remote Kid (Remixed by Morgan Greenwood), Bitcrush, Tim Hecker, Arrington de Dionyso and Bryce Panic, Tarentel, White Rainbow, Atlas Sound, Burial, Murcof vs. Hugo Amezquita, Lali Puna, Unrocognizable Now, & Bedhead.

The show recording is in .ogg format taken directly from the cjsw stream. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to share the files (Badongo, vs. Megaupload, vs. ???? The files are usually in the 140MB range so my options are a little more limited. Some of the free file hosting services are less cumbersome to use than others (ie. have shorter waiting times, less restrictive download/upload limits, faster uploads/downloads, don't split up the file, no pop-up ads, etc.). Feel free to comment with any suggestions.

Read more...

Katharsis For Hedgehogs Feb. 25 '08

A nasty cold prevented me from doing the show. Many thanks to Timothy Heck for doing another fantastic showfill.

The show recording is in .ogg format taken directly from the cjsw stream. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to share the files (Badongo, vs. Megaupload, vs. ???? The files are usually in the 140MB range so my options are a little more limited. Some of the free file hosting services are less cumbersome to use than others (ie. have shorter waiting times, less restrictive download/upload limits, faster uploads/downloads, don't split up the file, no pop-up ads, etc.). Feel free to comment with any suggestions.

Read more...

Katharsis Feb. 18 '08

Archived here.

This week, music from The Big Sleep, Film School, Yeasayer, The Mercury Program, Carsick, Morphine, Sam Shalabi, Ida, Ashley & Amber Webber (Burquitlam Plaza), Laura Barrett, Black Mountain, Tindersticks, Ral Partha Vogelbacher, Pinetop Seven, Painted Saints, Daniel Ledwell, Darren Frank, Idaho, The Boxhead Ensemble, & The Posies.

The show recording is in .ogg format taken directly from the cjsw stream. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to share the files (Badongo, vs. Megaupload, vs. ???? The files are usually in the 140MB range so my options are a little more limited. Some of the free file hosting services are less cumbersome to use than others (ie. have shorter waiting times, less restrictive download/upload limits, faster uploads/downloads, don't split up the file, no pop-up ads, etc.). Feel free to comment with any suggestions.

Read more...

Katharsis Feb. 11 '08

Download the show here.

In order of appearance (after the end of Aubrey’s Shindig): Spreepark, Brad Laner, Cornelius, The Constantines, The Color Fred, Xiu Xiu (w/ Michael Gira), The Magnetic Fields, Atlas Sound, Mark Kozelek, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Bon Iver, Kris Ellestad, Steve Rokosh, Tarentel, Balmorhea, Need New Sources, Marsen Jules, Adrian Klumpes, Muscle Beach, Johann Johannsson and Kutin. (everything except the Mark Kozelek, Kris Ellestad, Tarentel, Adrian Klumpes, Muscle Beach and Johann Johannsson, is from relatively recent or brand new releases)

The show recording is in .ogg format taken directly from the cjsw stream. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to share the files (Badongo, vs. Megaupload, vs. ???? The files are usually in the 140MB range so my options are a little more limited. Some of the free file hosting services are less cumbersome to use than others (ie. have shorter waiting times, less restrictive download/upload limits, faster upload/download, don't split up the file, no pop-up ads). Feel free to comment with any suggestions.

Read more...

Katharsis Feb. 4 '08

Link to download here

This show featured selections from Cat Power, Painted Saints, American Music Club, Garry Louris, Liam Finn, Chris Gheran, Andrew Bird, Lucky Dragons, Destroyer, Friends of Otis, Okay, Belong, Matt McCormick, EF, Tobias Lilja, Chihei Hatakeyama, Last Days, & Near the Parenthesis. Everything except the Chihei Hatakeyama is taken from brand new releases.

The show recording is in .ogg format taken directly from the cjsw stream.

Read more...

Katharsis Jan. 28 '08

Download

Coldest night of the winter yet here (-33 C). Brrrr. Mostly mellow indie pop tonight: Jane Vain & The Dark Matter, Damien Jurado, Prints, Monade, Low, Animaltown (who have apparently changed their name to Dryer), more from the beautiful new Ida record, Patrick Phelan, The Innocence Mission, Clock Hands Strangle, Colleen Brown, Sam Shalabi, RF & Lilly De La Mora, Yo La Tengo, Radar Bros., Andrew Bird, and a nice long instrumental track from Slow Six.

The show recording is in .ogg format taken directly from the cjsw stream. Due to the size of the file Badongo has split it up.

When you download the split files, you will notice that they have file extensions such as .aa .ab .ac etc...

You will also have to download a file with the .badongo extensions.

Make sure you download these files into the same directory.

The easiest way to merge the files back together is to use Badongo’s free Badongo Buddy software for Windows or their free File Merger for Mac OS X.

If you don’t want to or can’t install the Badongo software onto your computer, you can download the small filemerger.bat file. This file is a simple batch file that will copy the split files back together into one piece. If you would like to inspect the contents of the .bat file, you may open it in notepad or Word.

If you run Linux or FreeBSD, you can simply use the “cat” command to put the files back together.

For example
cat filename.ext.aa > filename.ext
cat filename.ext.ab >> filename.ext
cat filename.ext.ac >> filename.ext

Read more...

Katharsis Jan. 21 '08

Here's the entire 3 hour show recording (I covered for Aubrey so the show started an hour earlier).

The first hour featured music from Viva Voce, Lightspeed Champion, Six Organs of Admittance, Om, Grizzly Bear, The Besnard Lakes, 60 Watt Kid, Avey Tare & Kria Brekkan, Beja Flor, Mount Eerie and others. The second hour offered Nina Nastasia & Jim White, The Dead Science, Ida, Dolly Sillito, Okay, Mice Parade, The Inhabitants, and more. The 3rd hour had selections from The Depreciation Guild, SubtractiveLAD, Daniel Maze, Fax, Chris Miller, Michael Harrison, Brian McBride, and Stars of the Lid and others. Enjoy.

The show recording is in .ogg format taken directly from the cjsw stream. Due to the size of the file Badongo has split it up.

When you download the split files, you will notice that they have file extensions such as .aa .ab .ac etc...

You will also have to download a file with the .badongo extensions.

Make sure you download these files into the same directory.

The easiest way to merge the files back together is to use Badongo’s free Badongo Buddy software for Windows or their free File Merger for Mac OS X.

If you don’t want to or can’t install the Badongo software onto your computer, you can download the small filemerger.bat file. This file is a simple batch file that will copy the split files back together into one piece. If you would like to inspect the contents of the .bat file, you may open it in notepad or Word.

If you run Linux or FreeBSD, you can simply use the “cat” command to put the files back together.

For example:
cat filename.ext.aa > filename.ext
cat filename.ext.ab >> filename.ext
cat filename.ext.ac >> filename.ext

Read more...

Katharsis Jan. 14 '08

Jan. 14 '08 edition of Katharsis here


Highlights this week were selections from Christopher Willets, Wire, Slaraffenland, Sybarite, Slow Six, Soso, Fridge, Disenterested, Decomposure, Piano Magic, Amon Tobin and others.

The show recording is in .ogg format taken directly from the cjsw stream. Due to the size of the file Badongo has split it up.

When you download the split files, you will notice that they have file extensions such as .aa .ab .ac etc...

You will also have to download a file with the .badongo extensions.

Make sure you download these files into the same directory.

The easiest way to merge the files back together is to use Badongo’s free Badongo Buddy software for Windows or their free File Merger for Mac OS X.

If you don’t want to or can’t install the Badongo software onto your computer, you can download the small filemerger.bat file. This file is a simple batch file that will copy the split files back together into one piece. If you would like to inspect the contents of the .bat file, you may open it in notepad or Word.

If you run Linux or FreeBSD, you can simply use the “cat” command to put the files back together.

For example
cat filename.ext.aa > filename.ext
cat filename.ext.ab >> filename.ext
cat filename.ext.ac >> filename.ext
Read more...

Katharsis Jan. 7 '08 - Best of 2007

This show highlighted some of my favourite music released in 2007. Here is my Best of 2007 list:

Noteworthy 2007 releases from artists currently at (or near) the top of their game that caught my attention. Maybe not their career-defining release yet solid none-the-less and definitely worth a listen:

A Northern Chorus - Millions Too Many (Sonic Unyon) Possibly their most succinct understated and accessible songs to date.

Akron Family - Love is Simple (Young God) Named by Michael Gira (Swans, Angels of Light, Young God Records) as one of the best bands on the planet; so good that he has used them as his backing band for Angels of Light.

Aloha - Light Works (Polyvinyl)

Amon Tobin - Foley Room (Ninja Tune) Tobin continues to expand the frontiers of avante garde electronic music this time eschewing record samples for field and live recordings that he sourced himself.

Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha (Fat Possum)

Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (Domino)

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (Matador)

Azeda Booth - Mysterious Body (Indie) A striking debut, but the band has evolved significantly since this recording and only those who have heard them live (with the full line-up) truly understand what these guys are capable of. 2008 will be their year…

Bill Callahan - Woke on a Whaleheart (Drag City) Lovely ‘solo’ record from Mr. Smog.

Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Ask Forgiveness (Drag City)

Eluvium - Copia (Temporary Residence)

Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone (Temporary Residence) The bonus remix disc was the real highlight for me.

Feist - The Reminder (Arts and Crafts) Deserving of every Grammy it is nominated for.

Film School - Hideout (Beggars Banquet) Driving, propulsive, shoegazey rock.

Fridge - The Sun (Temporary Residence) A long awaited return that takes some time to get into but buries into your consciousness after repeated listens.

Grinderman - S/T (Anti) Nick Cave and some of his fellow Bad Seeds rock out in a way that belies their age.

Guitar - Dealin' With Signal & Noise (Onitor) Lovely shoegazer electronica.

Harris Newman - Decorated (Strange Attractions Audio House) Takoma-ish ‘american primitive’ solo acoustic guitar instrumentals for fans of Fahey, et al.

HRSTA - Ghosts Will Come And Kiss Our Eyes (Constellation)

Inhabitants - The Furniture Moves Underneath (Drip Audio) My kind of jazz.

Jesu - Conqueror (Hyrdahead) & Pale Sketches (Avalanche) Jesu’s split EP with Eluvium on Temporary Residence was wonderful as well.

Joanna Newsom - Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band EP (Drag City)

Low - Drums and Guns (Sub Pop) A return to their more musically stark and challenging roots.

Lucid 44 - and God Gave Me Legs (Tonto is Jesus) Awesome voice; “sad bastard death folk”.

Maserati - Inventions for the New Season (I Have a Dagger) Post-rock lives.

Max Richter - Songs From Before (FatCat) More brilliant post-classical from this ambient electronica-influenced composer.

Mice Parade - S/T (Fatcat) More fantastic electronic post-rock from Adam Pierce's Mice Parade, featuring contributions from members of Mum & Stereolab (among others).

Mick Turner/Tren Brothers - Blue Trees (Drag City) Beautiful captivating work from the Dirty Three's Mick Turner and Jim White.

Mono - Gone: A Collection of Ep's 2000-2007 (Temporary Residence) A stunning collection of some of Mono's best rarities.

Mum - Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy (Fat Cat)

Nina Nastasia & Jim White - You Follow Me (Fat Cat) Nina Nastasia's exceptional songs are almost eclipsed by Jim White's brilliant drumming, expertly recorded by Steve Albini.

Off the Sky - Form Creek (12k) One of several 2007 releases for the very prolific Jason Corder; fantastic experimental ambient electronic.

Odessa Chen - The Ballad of Paper Ships (Indie)

Piano Magic - Part Monster (Important) Latest impeccable work from Glen Johnson's Piano Magic produced by Guy Fixsen (Laika). Rock reminiscent of Kraftwerk and New Order that beautifully expresses the frustration of modern urban living.

Pinback - Autumn of the Seraphs (Touch and Go) When does Rob Crow sleep?

Sea and Cake - Everybody (Thrill Jockey)

Shannon Wright - Let in the Light (Quarterstick)

Sigur Ros - Hvarf/Heim (XL) The acoustic renderings of some of their favourites, stripped of their signature guitar sound are strikingly beautiful and really show the strength of the underlying song writing.

Sir Richard Bishop - Polytheistic Fragments (Drag City)

The Besnard Lakes- Are the Dark Horse (Jagjaguwar)

The Innocence Mission - We Walked In Song (Badman)

The Summerlad - City of Noise (Saved By Radio)

Thurston Moore - Trees Outside the Academy (Ecstatic Peace!)

Ulrich Schnauss - Goodbye (Domino)

Vic Chesnutt - North Star Deserter (Constellation) Recorded at Hotel 2 Tango in Montreal with A Silver Mt. Zion (!!!).

Viva Voce - Lovers, Lead The Way (Amore!Phonics)

Wintersleep - Welcome to the Night Sky (Labwork)

Wooden Stars - People Are Different (Sonic Unyon)

2007 releases by artists that I discovered this year, was fairly impressed by and hope to hear more of in the future:

Arc Lab - No Spectre (N5MD)

Arve Henriksen - Strjon (Rune Grammofon)

Benni Hemm Hemm - Kajak (Morr)

Chris Miller - S/T (Indie)

Damiak - Micalavera (N5MD)

Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings (Carpark)

Doveman - With My Left Hand I Raise The Dead (Brassland) The more I hear, the more I like….

Howard Hello/Greenness - S/T (Sickroom) Howard Hello were brilliant and criminally overlooked.

Ian Wyatt - S/T (Indie)

Ilad - National Flags (Indie)

Kutin - Menora (Karate Joe)

Kyle Bobby Dunn - Music for Medication (This Generation Tapes)

Last Days - These Places Are Now Ruins (N5MD)

Le Loup - The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly (Hardly Art)

Les Petits - Mighty Antlers of Songs EP (Saved By Radio)

Lights out Asia - Tanks and Recognizers (N5MD)

Lint - S/T (Indie)

Michael Harrison - Revelation (Cantaloupe) Hypnotic kaleidoscopic solo piano played on a uniquely tuned piano that evokes Indian ragas.

mwvm - Rotations (Silber)

Near The Parenthesis - Of Soft Construction (N5MD)

Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)

Prism Of Eternal Now - 100% Pure Audio Soundscapes (Kranky)

Proem - A Permanent Solution (N5MD)

Rachel Smith - Famous Secrets (Indie)

Radical Face - Ghost (Morr)

Run Return - Sum of an Abstract (N5MD)

Seaworthy - Map In Hand (12k) Beautiful ambient instrumental post rock from down under, in the same vein as the Dirty 3.

She Is So Beautiful/She Is So Blonde - S/T (Science of Sound)

Slaraffenland - Private Cinema (Hometapes) Dynamic, experimental, post rock from the Danes' answer to Sonic Youth.

Sleeping People - Growing (Temporary Residence)

Snake Mountain - S/T (Indie)

Spider - The Way To Bitter Lake (Story Board)

Subtractive LAD - No Man's Land (N5MD)

The Bird Ensemble - Migration (Indie) Beautiful exuberant post rock in the vein of Explosions in the Sky.

The Consonant C - S/T (Indie)

Tobias Lilja - Time is on My Side (N5MD) Dark brooding experimental post-Talk Talk music reminiscent of David Sylvian's recent work with Fennesz.

Tunng - Good Arrows (Thrill Jockey)

Unrecognizable Now - In A Cave or a Coma (Pehr)

Mind-blowing. Albums that are the best thing that I have heard from these artists yet. Some are brand new artists and some have been putting out great music for years that I am just catching on to. These albums will be hard for these artists to follow up. Highly recommended:

Angels of Light - We Are Him (Young God) Backed up by the Akron Family, Michael Gira picks up where 16 Horsepower and Lullaby for the Working Class left off and the results are captivating.

Apparat - Walls (ShitKatapult) Sascha Ring's (co-founder of the iconic Berlin techno label Shitkatapult) strongest and most accessible album yet. Kinetic and invigorating.

Bracken - We Know About the Need (Anticon) Stunning debut album from Chris Adams (Hood). Highly recommended for fans of The Books and Bark Psychosis.

Colleen - Les Ondes Silencieuses (Leaf) Brilliant. Stunning. Beautiful.

Deerhunter - Cryptograms (Kranky) & Fluorescent Grey EP (Kranky) Noisy & chaotic yet hypnotic and affecting. Hopefully these guys don't self destruct.

Do Make Say Think - You, You're A History In Rust (Constellation) Their best album yet (and that's saying a lot).

Efterklang - Parades (Leaf) Epic, bombastic, sweeping, ethereal, jubilant and much more organic/less electronic than their previous work.

Grandfather Fire and the Holy Morning - S/T (Indie) The core of this band used to call themselves Red Not Evil, but they evolved so significantly that it was felt that a name change was required. A bass/drums/multi-guitar feast recorded live at a cabin in the woods by the band that oozes chemistry and soars to new heights.

Hammock - Raising Your Voice Trying to Stop and Echo (Darla) Ethereal uplifting shimmering guitar-based shoegaze.

James Blackshaw - The Cloud of Unknowing (Tompkins Square) & O True Believers (Important) Lush, hypnotic, eastern-inflected, instrumental 12 string acoustic guitar bliss.

Klimek - Dedications (Anticipate) Sebastian Meissner is an experimental ambient master in the vein of Tim Hecker and Stars of the Lid (his aptly-titled previous album was called Music to Fall Asleep). This release sees him paying tribute in song to people that have inspired him (from Michael Gira to Mark Hollis to Steven Spielberg to Marvin Gaye...) yet sounding only like Klimek.

Mark Templeton - Standing On A Hummingbird (Anticipate) A huge leap forward for Edmonton (soon Montreal) based Mark Templeton that has been earning him widespread acclaim in the experimental electronic world; right up there with the work of Tim Hecker, et al.

Marsen Jules - Golden (Genesungswerk) After Last.fm kept feeding me Marsen Jules tracks and loving everything I heard, I was so impressed that I had to get all of his solo albums to date, including this masterpiece. Stunningly beautiful experimental ambient.

Miracle Fortress - Five Roses (Secret City) (Maybe) like what Brian Wilson fronting My Bloody Valentine would sound like. I could not get enough of this cd last year. Of the many strong records nominated for the Polaris Prize this one would have been my pick.

Murcof - Cosmos (Leaf) Cosmic, celestial, deeply moving work from Fernando Corona, an electronic artist light years ahead of almost everyone else in his genre.

Nadja - Touched (Alien 8) Dense, dark, soul-destroying ambient doom.

RF & Lili De La Mora - Eleven Continents (Time Release) Dreamy, delicate, ethereal, melodic, blissful pop.

Ral Partha Vogelbacher - Shrill Falcons (Monotreme) This was originally released in the UK in 2006 but made it's way to our shores in 2007. Sinewy, seething, tension-filled indie rock.

Slow Six - Private Times in Public Places & Nor'easter (Western Vinyl) Slow Six are carrying on where the Rachels appear to have left off.

Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of the Decline (Kranky) Another 2 disc ambient opus from SOTL.

Tarentel - Ghetto Beats on the Surface of the Sun (Music Fellowship/Temporary Residence) This was originally released as 4 LP's on The Music Fellowship that were so mind-blowing I had to play them uninterrupted in their entirety on my show. Now released on 2 CD's by Temporary Residence this is a sprawling 2-1/2 hr. journey to musical regions previously unexplored.

Twilight Sad - 14 Autumns & 15 Winters (Fat Cat) I'm a sucker for the well-crafted, cathartic, Scottish quiet-loud rock that these guys deliver.

Special Mention:

Various - (CJSW Live Sessions) A Sound Experiment Incredibly strong collection of Calgary artists recorded live on various programs on cjsw (Katharsis included). Awesome!

Best new music festival:

Sled Island. It was no Tanned Tin but finally, Calgary gets a musical fiesta of big-name international ‘underground’/indie/cutting edge rock/pop/whatever augmented by some of the best bands in the country/region. The success of the event may have enticed Richard Branson to bring his Virginfest to Calgary this year, but I expect Sled Island 2008 will still provide a more musically enriching experience. Now if we could only get something akin to The Wordless Music Series or Mutek it would be heavenly…

The show recording is in .ogg format taken directly from the cjsw stream. Due to the size of the file Badongo has split it up.

When you download the split files, you will notice that they have file extensions such as .aa .ab .ac etc...

You will also have to download a file with the .badongo extensions.

Make sure you download these files into the same directory.

The easiest way to merge the files back together is to use Badongo’s free Badongo Buddy software for Windows or their free File Merger for Mac OS X.

If you don’t want to or can’t install the Badongo software onto your computer, you can download the small filemerger.bat file. This file is a simple batch file that will copy the split files back together into one piece. If you would like to inspect the contents of the .bat file, you may open it in notepad or Word.

If you run Linux or FreeBSD, you can simply use the “cat” command to put the files back together.

For example
cat filename.ext.aa > filename.ext
cat filename.ext.ab >> filename.ext
cat filename.ext.ac >> filename.ext

Read more...