The House & other Arctic musings

Where was I?

It has become the great measuring stick for iconic events. Do you remember where you were when "X" happened. And it is one we heard of with great frequency this past weekend of remembrance and anniversary. And for the record, 10 years ago on September 11th, I was sitting in my office at the Detachment in Arctic Bay when a friend popped his head in to say some airplane had hit the World Trade Centre, and when he returned a short while later to say a second one had, I went home to turn on the news.

But this measuring stick works, I suppose, because we take in everything during momentous events, and lock them away with the event. While other memories fall to the wayside, the lessor details don't because of the big event that surrounded them.

My earliest conscious memory was the JFK assassination, even though I had just turned five. I remember my mom crying watching TV in our living room. I don't think I'd seen her cry before that. I remember the funeral train, I remember the funeral procession and the horse drawn wagon with the coffin. But mostly I remember that initial scene in our living room.

I remember where I was when the Eagle landed on the moon, and where I was when Neil Armstrong set foot there.  I remember where I was when Elvis died (although I have no idea why, he wasn't that big of deal to me). It by the way, was in my parent's van on Portage Avenue, near Main in Winnipeg. I couldn't tell you, though, where I was when Michael Jackson died, which ought to tell you where he fits on my scale of importance, and important events.

But music, as important as it is to me, seems to have few of these moments. Led Zepplin II was an album I played over and over, but I can't tell you about the first time I heard it. Ditto almost every single bit of music that I hold or held dear. With one exception, I remember vividly where I was the first time I head Cat Stevens.

My friend Dean and I went through school together, and although we were good friends early on we sort of went separate ways as we reached high school. But when we were 13 or so we hung out a fair amount. He had older sisters (misery loves company) and one day they were trying to get us to be quiet while they played some new music they just got.  It was Cat Steven's "Teaser and the Firecat". I was dumbstruck.

After listening to both sides (this was 1971 kids. Back in the old days we had things called records, which had to be flipped over to hear the whole album) I asked if they had any others and they played "Tea for the Tillerman".  Cat Stevens was a musical revelation to me. He was relevant, unique, and eminently listenable. I went home and dug up a Colombia House (yeah, I know) application and ordered both LPs.

It is great music and I can't for the life of me tell you why that moment still remains. So much of what he did before he dropped out of the music business, taking the name Yusef Islam after his conversion to Islam. Not everything he did was great certainly, anyone here have "Banapple Gas" on their playlists? Didn't think so (and unfortunately its stuck in my head right now). 

But I do know why I'm thinking of it now, as I just saw a portion of a documentary on Yusef Islam on TV. The world could use more people like him, and more albums like "Tea for the Tillerman" and "Teaser and the Firecat".

Music at the time, my favourite

Okay, leaving #1 off the list was a cheap attempt at driving people back to the blog in eager anticipation of my favourite album bought in 2010. And that would be the sound of crickets.

My favourite group of 2010, was one I discovered from last year's Rolling Stone top 30 albums list. Thanks Townie Bastard (who is more responsible than anyone for ensuring my credit card remains maxed out this time of the year). I bought both of their albums last year, and they've another being released next month. Decidedly different, a band that at times is haunting, at times it is music to stomp your foot to. They are labeled "Indie Folk" whatever the hell that means, I'd label them "unique". They have a penchant to use a number of off beat instruments, from saws to a Great War era organ to crotales to, yes, banjos.

The band is The Low Anthem. And the album is Oh My God Charlie Darwin (and how cool is it that the album is named after my greatest hero). What the Crow Brings would easily have made the top ten list also if my completely arbitrary rule of including only one album per artist on the list wasn't in place.

So there you have it, my top ten albums bought in 2010. I hope you find something you like that you may not have discovered before. And whereever you musical tastes run, just remember music piracy hurts artists. Support your favourite artists so they will continue to make the music you love.

And by way of apology for the stunt of making you wait until today for number one I give you my favourite musical moment of 2010.  The absolute best musical performance I've ever seen on television. P!nk's Glitter in the Air at the Grammys

 

Music at the time

I don't normally post lists like this. I'm not a music critic or reviewer, I have neither the skills nor the inclination for that. But a casual mention on FaceBook that my top ten list for 2010 seemed to have a lot of banjos in it, brought a couple of requests for the list so what the heck.

This isn't a list of music from 2010. It is a list of my favourite albums that I bought in 2010. Some of that music is decidedly older. It also, with the possible exception of banjos, has no particular theme to it. I have eclectic tastes in music, fitting I suppose with my lack of focus. I simply like what I like. With almost 8000 songs on my iTunes you get that sort of thing.

Now these are also just from the albums I bought, I also downloaded some single songs. I tend though to get complete albums of things, a throwback I suppose to my early years when one bought either a 45 or a LP (vinyl album), and I fell firmly into the LP camp. I've also included only one album from an artist, even if I bought more than one, and they would each make the top 10.

So, the top ten, the order of which (and make up for that matter) would probably change with the exception of the top one.

10.  Soundtrack to Black Snake Moan - Various artists.  I like soundtrack albums. In fact it was a toss up between this one and another one for the tenth position.  Really good Delta Blues, including some passable songs from Samuel L. Jackson, who I understand learned Blues guitar for the movie.

9.  My Aim Is True (Deluxe Edition) - Elvis Costello and the Attractions. Definitely not made in 2010, and its age is all that keeps it this low.  This version (I own a vinyl one) includes a lot of bonus tracks, live versions and demos.

8. Sigh No More - Mumford & Sons - The first album on the list with banjos. A very cool album, although I'm not as fascinated with it as I was a couple of months ago.  Just try to keep Little Lion Man out of your head.

7. The SteelDrivers - The SteelDrivers - A band out of Nashville, and the second banjo album.  Bluegrass, but so much more.

6. Wake Up! - John Legend and the Roots - Soul but so much more.  A fairly recent addition to the playlist. The cover of Bill Withers' I Can't Write Left Handed alone is worth the price of the album. Surprisingly though, there are no banjos.

5. Genuine Negro Jig - Carolina Chocolate Drops - Whew, back to banjos.  One of two of their albums I bought this year, it was a toss up which one made the list.  Old time mountain music done right. Beware though, your friends might wonder why you are singing "Cornbread and Butterbeans" over and over.

4. No Fool For Trying - Madison Violet - Yes! Banjos. A band I was surprised that I had never heard of before.  Again with a bluegrass flavour to them, and thoroughly lovely harmonies. They are a Canadian duo to boot, and one half of the pair (Brenley MacEachern and Lisa MacIsaac) is Ashley MacIsaac's sister.

3. Band Of Joy - Robert Plant - I know what you're thinking. Thank god, its Robert Plant, he of Led Zepplin fame, at least there won't be banjos.  Well your thinking is flawed.  There are banjos. A very strong, surprising album.  It would probably be number 2 but for sentimental reasons. It is a album of mostly covers, but of covers that you might not be familiar with. From Los Lobos to Townes Van Zandt. Perhaps not that surprising if you are familiar with Raising Sand, his collaboration with Alison Krause.

2. The Wind - Warren Zevon - Warren Zevon is hands down my all time favourite artist. This was his last album before his death, an album he made while he was very much aware he was dying. That knowledge adds so much to an already strong Zevon album. Not that recent of an album, it released in 2003, shortly after his death. If you only know Warren Zevon from Werewolves of London you owe it to yourself to change that quickly. He was a bad boy (think Hunter S. Thompson bad), and a musical genius.

1. Oh my look at the time.  I should finish this up tomorrow.  Kitchen renovations to work on and what not.

Wind Don't Blow

I had another post in mind for today, and I might get at it later, after I run my head around what I want to say exactly. But, in the mean time, do yourself a favour and have a listen to my friend's, (Karen MacKenzie, of Port Town Ghosts fame) music.

She just released a CD Wind Don't Blow.  Doesn't look like its on iTunes yet, so I'll be buying my first CD in years.  Listen here, buy here.

Glowworm

After reading a couple of posts over at A Passion for Nature about Glow Worms I ended up really curious about some things. Specifically I got thinking about glowing as a strategy when you're a relatively sedate small organism. It makes sense as a strategy for a winged animal, but less so (to me) for an earth bound one. The little bit of reading I've done so far though has shown some explanations (ie. some of them are toxic so it is a form of advertising ("Don't eat me, I taste bad") similar to brightly coloured diurnal animals. And also, in some cases, it is used as a lure for smaller insects, to predate them, similar to lure fish of the dark ocean depths.

But the best thing I found in my brief on-line searching was by far this... the best two minutes you'll have today. The Mills Brothers singing "Glow Worm"

Gallow's Pole

I meant to post this earlier, a congratulations to New Mexico for becoming the fifteenth State to abolish the death penalty. It didn't come from a realization that the Death Penalty is fundamentally wrong, but from the, almost as important, realization that justice systems, despite their best efforts otherwise, are unable to guarantee that no one will be wrongfully convicted, and that innocent people will be (and have been) executed.

The abolition on March 18th, 2009 is something that New Mexico should be very proud of. It is unfortunate that Montana squandered the same opportunity just a few days later, and even more unfortunate that there remains 35 States where execution has not been abolished.

In honour of New Mexico's decision here is one of Robert Plant's and Jimmy Page's most powerful songs. Thank you New Mexico.

I ain't got a card to sign

Steve Earle is a brilliant song writer, and his song Valentine's Day is beautiful and you know, just know, that it comes from his screwing up on Valentine's Day. But it is also a wonderful expression of his love for his wife (the one he married twice "Our divorce didn't work out.").  When it came up on the iPod last week I thought I came up with the perfect gift. I would sing Valentine's Day for Leah, put it on a DVD and give it to her.

Now I like to think I can sing. In reality I'd probably be one of those contestants on Idol that just doesn't get it ("No? Let me sing one more song. Just one more, you'll see." "Stupid judges. I am an Idol, wait until I make it big. I'll buy them!" - That sort of thing.). But I got a hold of a friend of mine, who does have talent, and asked him if he'd accompany me on the guitar. I must have listened to the song every waking moment, well every waking moment that Leah wasn't home. This was going to be good.

Dwight wasn't able to open the copy of the song I emailed him, so he simply downloaded, but he downloaded another version. When he got here Friday we had about an hour an a half to get our act together, and get the song recorded. He shone. Me not so much. But its the thought that counts right? When he finally had to leave we had about three recordings of the song, the last one the best but far from perfect (and I'll stress again that it was my singing not the guitar playing).  I even shot some close up footage of his playing the bridge so I could fade it in during that portion of the song.

So I had some footage, that while imperfect, was heartfelt and that is the main thing. I now had a few hours to edit and burn the DVD. My computer wouldn't let me. My poor old G4 is in the grips of senescence, it could not handle the video in Final Cut. I could listen to the clips but I couldn't view an entire clip of video. I also have Final Cut on the Powerbook that I use as another desktop, but it wouldn't load, and tht means I have to find the software and reinstall it.

After a couple of hours of this I threw my hands up in submission, hoping against hope that Leah was getting me a brand new 8 core Mac Pro for Valentine's. In the end I played the raw footage for her this morning, I really had no other cards to play. Her initial reaction was that she didn't understand the words, so I sang it to her in person, something I should have done in the first place.

You know, I'm not sure, but I think she liked it. She didn't even ask where her roses were.

Committees, coffee and clouds

Okay, I've been a bad blogger. And I can't help it. Well I can, but I've been occupied of late and tired, and so when I sit in front of a blank composing screen my mind matches it, blank. I actually almost fell off the office chair a couple of days ago when I fell asleep in front of the "Compose Post" screen.

I've got things to write about, its not a lack of material by any means. I finally got to watch Passchendaele the other day and want to write a review, but I've got so many expectations and come at it from different interests and levels and I still can't decide whether I like or dislike it.  Probably both.

Mostly I've been spending time in meetings and committees and such. Four this week. And they've been long, or some have. Kids to the dentist, a pile of work for the B&B (and that sound was a deadline swooshing by), and endless pots of coffee for meetings taking place at the House and it seems like I actually work for a living for a change.

Clouds? Well, today the sun was supposed to be above the horizon, but the weather gods, with their infinite sense of humour decided it was time for the first truly overcast day in weeks. There was a beautiful sort of lemony light at noon today though. So I suspect the sun still exists, and the human sacrifice worked yet again. Tomorrow is supposed to be clear, so perhaps there will be photos.  And a video if an idea comes to fruitation.

Edited note: The Sun was back yesterday. Proving that 1) I have no clue what date it is. 2) I apparently ignore my son who told me about the Sun last night and 3) I apparently don't look outside.

While I'm rambling all over the place. It's Bob Marley's birthday.  Do yourself a favour and go to your iPod and play some Marley.  A lot of it actually.  And if you don't have some on there, for shame.

I had another poem that I planned on sharing with you today but it will wait for the return of the Sun post. Instead, here is one from the Writer's Almanac today that made me chuckle.

Uncle Jim

by Peter Meinke

What the children remember about Uncle Jim
is that on the train to Reno to get divorced
so he could marry again
he met another woman and woke up in California.
It took him seven years to untangle that dream
but a man who could sing like Uncle Jim
was bound to get in scrapes now and then:
he expected it and we expected it.

Mother said, It's because he was the middle child,
and Father said, Yeah, where there's trouble
Jim's in the middle.

When he lost his voice he lost all of it
to the surgeon's knife and refused the voice box
they wanted to insert. In fact he refused
almost everything. Look, they said,
it's up to you. How many years
do you want to live? and Uncle Jim
held up one finger.
The middle one.

Musical interlude

My time hasn't been my own the last couple of days, and though I've sat down to write a couple of things my eyes start rolling back in my head and I end up not writing anything.  Perhaps tomorrow.  In the mean time, I just discovered that Michael of Canadian CKayaker, in addition to being an interesting blogger deserving of your visits, is a heck of a guitar player.  Check out his video, taken from his blog.
Guitar Piece from Michael Bradley on Vimeo.

Bound by harmony

I used to say that police work would be a lot better with a soundtrack. And safer, when the ominous music rose you'd know that you were in for something serious. While you occasionally hear people refer to the music they listen to as the soundtrack to their lives, it really isn't the same. For the most part our music, while perhaps important to us and not just background music, doesn't function the same as a soundtrack. For a good soundtrack enhances, or even sets, the mood of a scene. Music can be a powerful tool in filmmaking.

I own several soundtracks in my music, mostly because they can make for some great compilations. More often now, in the iTunes world of today, I just cherry pick from them. I increasingly discover that I already have some of the music already. The other day we watched Ghosttown and as the credits rolled the music had me thinking I'd need (I love that - need) to look up the soundtrack. The song was a Wilco song, and I had it.  Hmm, can't be because I have too much music. No, that can't be it, that would be like having too many books.

Several years ago, after watching Truth or Consequences New Mexico I thought to myself, man I've got to get that soundtrack, but was never able to find it.  On ocassion I'd look for it but it seems it was never released. The other night I just looked up the songs on the internet and went looking for them. I must have been in a way different space then, because it sure wasn't the powerful album I'd always thought it was (although I did already have a couple of the songs - notably Lucinda Williams' and Van Morrison's songs).  That just may be another aspect of soundtracks, sometimes the music is more as a part of the film than it is on its own.

The job of chosing a soundtrack generally falls to someone other than the writer. There are of course exceptions, writers/filmakers such as the Coen Brothers or Quentin Tarantino feel that the musical choices are an integral part of the writing.  But they also make the films, giving them alot more freedom. Generally it is the job of someone else, and someone skilled at it can greatly enhance the film.

When I started Ghosts of Vimy I had no illusions that one, it would actually become a film, and two, if it did that I would have any choice in any soundtracks. Being a period piece it also changes the nature of the soundtrack. I did/do though have a sense of what I'd like. I don't know if you are familiar with the movie Cal but the soundtrack is by Mark Knopfler (who has done a few music scores) and I imagine a similar treatment for the movie that plays in my head, but with a highland flavour rather than Irish.

In the screenplay though there are three, no make that four, spots that I suggest music. Two of them can't be considered "soundtrack" per se as the music forms part of action (bagpipes). But two of the suggestions are songs that in my mind fit so well that I can't imagine a better song for the background of the particular scene. To me they do exactly what a good soundtrack piece should do, fit the scene seamlessly and set the mood for what is unfolding.