Radiohead’s King of Limbs to be broadcast worldwide
Radiohead’s new album the King of Limbs will be broadcast live this summer, and BBC Worldwide has scored the rights to the performance.
The performance will mark the first time the band’s eighth album will be heard live. It was released physically in March 2011, following a digital release of the album the previous month.
Radiohead's Kings of Limb will be televised (Oktobr)
In a press statement Salim Mukaddam, VP Music Television at BBC Worldwide said, “It is a real honour to be working with Radiohead on this project. Radiohead are a band that rarely performs for television, but when they do, it’s a moment to savour. There is already huge anticipation for this performance and we’re delighted that they’ve decided to work with us at BBC Worldwide, confirming our position as market leaders in Music Television. As a fan I cannot wait to see these beautiful songs brought to life in this programme.”
The 55-minute show is part of the From the Basement series, created by the band’s longtime producer Nigel Godrich. It will be titled Radiohead – The King of Limbs: Live from the Basement and will air July 1st.
Below is Radiohead performing “Reckoner” from In Rainbows: Live from the Basement:
Minotaurs: Nathan Lawr mixes it up
From the Constantines to Feist, Nathan Lawr has his drum kit behind many well-known Canadian indie music acts. But not until the Minotaurs has the drummer stepped out from behind the kit to take control of his own project, and even become centre stage.
The afrobeat sound supporting Lawr’s songwriting in the Minotaurs has come from years of yearning to experiment with the unique drum sound.
It may be surprising Lawr would opt for vocals and keyboards in the band, leaving the drumming up to Don Kerr, but Lawr is clear about where his intentions are in his role as frontrunner.
“When I drum, I just want to get absorbed in it. Basically, I like the freedom of not being tied to the drum kit when I’m not the drummer” he said in an interview with NOW magazine.
Minotaurs's first album, The Thing
The jazz-tinged melodies in many of the tracks off the band’s only album, The Thing, are thanks to the large instrumentation, including brass and saxophone that is included in the group.
The beginning of the opening track, “Caught in the Light” sounds more like a Latin-influenced jazz tune than anything else playing around the indie music scene lately. It’s probably the best setup for the rest of the album, as The Thing splits these jazz melodies with colourful solos and light vocals for the duration of the album.
Lawr’s history and rep in the music scene in Canada have put the Minotaurs in a position to be noticed by critics and fans alike, but it’s the beat and the jazz influence that will keep people interested.
The kids of the TCHC
The controversies surrounding the Toronto Community Housing Corporation have been everywhere lately. Although no one knows how the impending changes to the TCHC will impact funding from the city, the people who might be the most kept in the dark are the people that live in these buildings.
Take the kids of the Eglinton Markham apartments in Scarborough. Two years ago, a community organization called the Scarborough Village Advisory Committee proposed a plan for a new walkway for the residents. The plan was that the kids who were interested would attend art workshops to make mosaics for their walkway.
In the end, the art finished by the kids has not been put into place even though the path was put in last fall.
Kids made mosaics like this one (Randy Son Of Robert)
The neighbourhood that surrounds the apartment has one of the highest concentrations of children and teens in all of Toronto. These kids are living in an area with high rates of crime, and TCHC buildings have become notorious for their poor conditions inside and out.
Kathy Costello was the tenant representative when the walkway initiative was put in place. “Once their work is displayed, you’ll see things changing,” she said. “Because the kids are very enthusiastic and they have all this energy and they want to see that their designs mean something to the community.”
No one really knows where the artwork is or what the plans are for the mosaics. As it stands now, everything is up to the TCHC, and they haven’t made any changes since the fall.
John Rutherford is a retired art teacher who ran the workshops for the kids. He said, “any activity is good for kids who are bored with life, and I think some of them are. It’s the person who is bored who becomes dangerous.”
Even when activities are organized for the kids of social housing, their efforts seem to have no effect on the end result. Maybe it’s something more than can be seen.
Below is a video blog explaining the method of the art classes.
Plants and Animals: A true live band
It’s Sat., March 5th and Lee’s Palace, one of the city’s staples for live music, is packed. Even though tickets were still available that night, Montreal band Plants and Animals have managed to fill the venue.
Francophone and Polaris Prize winning band Karkwa began the night and seemed a good match for Plants and Animals. They grabbed the attention of everyone in the bar, and their light indie sounds were a great start to the headliner.
Plants and Animals playing in Montreal (sfllaw)
Plants and Animals did a good job at balancing songs from their two full-length albums throughout their set that ran just over an hour long.
Their album Park Avenue, released in 2008, had more folk elements to the songs, but played live they became more dynamic and well-rounded to match the edgier elements of their most recent record from 2010, La La Land.
Plants and Animals didn’t fall into any live show standard, playing their radio hit, “the Mama Papa” in the middle of their set, and encoring with an acoustic, “Brokedown.”
The band consists of three members, Warren Spicer on guitar, Matthew Woodley who plays drums and Nicolas Basque who multitasks on keyboards, bass, guitar. All three members share the vocal responsibilities.
Towards the end of the night, Spicer apologized for the last time the band was in Toronto, saying they were “off their game.” This night showed the band’s transformation to a live act that is a force to be reckoned with.
Below is a video from that night I took of Plants and Animals’s “The Mama Papa”
BlogTO also wrote a review of that show for more information.
Ignatieff roles out $1 billion post-secondary education plan
Michael Ignatieff announced the Liberal Party’s Learning Passport program Tuesday at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ont.
By getting rid of two education tax credits and canceling planned corporate tax cuts, the Liberal Party would make $1000 available for post-secondary students every year. The funds would be placed into Registered Education Saving Programs for students.
Ignatieff released his proposed education plan Tuesday (Michael Ignatieff)
For low-income students, up to $1500 would be made available each year for education.
The money would be made available for any student in an accredited college or university.
If students have not used the full amount by the time they have finished their degree, the remaining funds would be kept in the RESP for possible further secondary education.
“I can say without exaggeration, that this is a real evolution in learning and training in Canada. And that will give us the means of becoming the most competitive society in the world” said Ignatieff Tuesday.
Conservatives slammed the plan, saying that the Liberals were changing it too much.
Ignatieff said that if the Liberals win the upcoming election, this plan would be put into effect immediately.
Here is a video of Ignatieff speaking at the University of Toronto at the Mississauga campus about education.
Sourced from the CBC.
Fourth charged with Halifax robberies
Stephen Anthony Ryan, 19, will face charges of robbery and one count of mischief in Halifax Provincial Court March 8.
Ryan will be at the Halifax Provincial Court (BigAssSuperBlog)
Ryan is being charged with an alleged connection to two robberies that took place in South Halifax on Jan 2 and Jan 6th this year.
Three men aged 17, 20 and 21 have already been charged prior to Ryan, who was arrested March 8 at 9:30 a.m. in Halifax.
The first robbery took place Point Pleasant Park at 6:43 p.m. AST, the second robbery occurred at 6:39 p.m. at Lundy Lane and Wellington Street.
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Sourced from the Halifax Regional Police.
The Green Wave sheds light on the future of Iran
Peaceful protests led to beatings, beatings led to imprisonment, imprisonment led to torture, and in many cases, death.
The Green Wave, directed by Ali Samadi Ahadi, is a documentary about the 2009 election in Iran. On Feb 22, the film had its Canadian premier at the opening night of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in Toronto.
But the film wasn’t all about the horrible events that unfolded after the election.
Promo for the Green Wave (humanrightsfilmfestival)
A speech before the screening by Dr. Payam Akhavan, a lawyer and human rights advocate, set a hopeful tone for the documentary. By citing the recent events in Egypt, Akhavan spoke about the power of the Middle Eastern people and how someday Iran will be liberated.
The film uses the blogs and twitter feeds from Iran during the post-election protests to frame the entire piece. The many bleak moments of their stories were portrayed with dark, animated imagery that reflected the content of what the citizens wrote about.
These stories were followed by interviews with journalists, protesters and advocates. It was only at the end of the film that it was made known to the viewers that these people interviewed were all forced to flee from Iran.
Candlelight vigil for those who died in the protests (Steve Rhodes)
In the interviews, people expressed frustration with the government in Iran and sadness for their people. The more important message that these people talked about was a hope that the citizens of Iran may one day be able to truly take part in a democratic society.
With so much history surrounding Iran of, there can be a risk with being too broad of a documentary. Instead, The Green Wave focused in on the events that happened after the election and it was able to connect those events with Iran’s fate as a country.
Overall, the Green Wave was a film that successfully shared Iran’s heartbreaking stories of brutality, torture and death, while being able to possibly generate hope for a better future for Iran.
Below is a soundslide featuring a segment of the speech given by Akahavan before the Canadian premier of the Green Wave.
