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Today marks the release of Neil Young's highly anticipated solo album Le Noise.  Produced by fellow Canadian Daniel Lanois , this album features 8 acoustic songs that sound like something completely different. Lanois' studio wizardry takes the acoustic guitar to a whole new level, and he came up with a new sound, as he says in an interview, "50 years at the back end of rock and roll". Young is known as the "Godfather of Grunge" and his signature sound, deftly enhanced by Lanois, comes through loud and clear on these songs. I am very fond of the opening song, " Walk With Me ". Without an accompanying band, Neil is left unprotected and he wails, fights, and implores the listener to care just as much as he does. The lyrics are accessible yet poetic enough to warrant repeat listens. This is a beautifully crafted yet raw album.  I can think of very few other singer-songwriters who could pull off some serious rock magic with just a mic, a guitar,...

Thought I would share some songs that are the kind of gems that take me out of myself and put me elsewhere...You know, the songs that take me on a journey when I listen to them. There are fewer of such songs amidst the cacophony of graffiti that passes for music these days. I encourage you to get comfortable, lower the lights and put on your head phones. No, not those ridiculous ear things that come with iPods. I mean real head phones...the kind that make you look like Episode IV Princess Lea. You know what I am talking about. So lay yourself down with those clunky suckers and enjoy some songs to take you out of yourself.... " Vervaceous " by James I have every James album in my collection. James formed in 1982 in Manchester and you probably know them from "Laid", their 1993 college radio hit. "Vervaceous" is a different beast altogether. This awesome live version really launches around the 3:10 mark.  " Take it Back " by Pink Floyd. You ...

Legendary Canadian actress Jackie Burroughs has passed away peacefully. While her film and stage career stretched back over 40 years, Ms. Burroughs is most well known and beloved for her role as "Hetty King" in the TV adaption of Road to Avonlea , which aired from 1990-1996. I adored this show and I particularly adored Ms. Burrough's one-of-a-kind portrayal of the kind but firm spinster school teacher. Burroughs is survived by Zoe Yanovsky, her daughter with the late Zal Yanovsky . May she rest in peace.

U2 are currently on tour in Europe, Bono having recovered from emergency back surgery, and they have been delighting fans by throwing in new songs here and there. These songs are believed to be the core of a new album rumoured to be titled Songs of Ascent that should arrive in stores before the end of the year (How's that for noncommittal?).  Anyway, thought you might like to hear the eagerly-awaiting new material. Keep in mind that most of these are unfinished and still being tinkered with. U2 are essentially test-driving these songs in front of tens of thousand of people. Thanks to fans who put these up on YouTube!! " Return of the Stingray Guitar " The tour's new opening song, a great little instrumental gem of riff and drums. " Soon " This was the opening song for the tour in 2009. Used to be called "Kingdom of Your Love". Many expect this will be the opening track on the new album but who knows? " North Star " This is a l...

For the third year in a row the World Economic Forum has named Canada's banks the soundest in the world. Hear some commentary on this ranking from Queen's School of Business professor Louis Gagnon on BNN .

Canada, for unknown reasons, has produced an astonishing roster of female singers and songwriters. For the past 40 years there has always been a Canadian songstress serving notice on the music charts, and by the 1990s Canadian women were in fact dominating the charts across genres. I thought it would be nice to highlight some of the amazing women from Canada that have ventured out from the Great White North to delight, inspire, and influence popular music. This list is not exhaustive but features some of the impressive female talents that have surely put Canada on the music map. Anne Murray (b. June 1945) The first Canadian female solo artist to have a #1 hit in the USA and the first Canadian to earn a Gold record from RIAA, Anne Murray hails from Springhill, Nova Scotia. I fondly remember watching her on various variety shows in the 70s and 80s on CBC. Ms. Murray has many beloved songs, none more than her 1970 cover of " Snowbird ".  Joni Mitchell (b. November 1943)...

The common device in filmed productions to provide an immediate context for viewers is to open a scene with an establishing shot. The establishing shot would show us the Eiffel Tower, for example, to let us know the action is to happen in Paris; or we'll see a fly-by of the Palace of Westminster to indicate that the events are set in London. For three decades pretty much any movie or tv show set in New York opened with a shot of the World Trade Center, either from the harbour or from midtown. Once in a while there would be a tracking shot from a helicopter just above the twin towers. These establishing shots were ubiquitous to the point of being cliche. These establishing shot images became part of the post-modern cinemegraphic iconography. Indeed, it would be an interesting challenge for a filmmaker to shoot in New York and not once feature the usual cliche images of the WTC, Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, etc.  Someone once made the comment, upon visiting New York ...