Free Consumer Goods Downloads

"The Consumer Goods are a critical and absurdist project committed to creating delicious and addictive pop songs undermining everything for which contemporary liberal capitalism stands." They are also the latest band in the podsafe download section. Beyond that I don't know what to say about them that hasn't been said by the nation's music critics - please see the graphic below, shamelessly stolen from the Consumer Goods Myspace Page.

Fringe in the Winter: The Next Stage Theatre Festival

The Toronto Fringe Theatre Festival is kicking off it's 20th Anniversary with Next Stage.

The Next Stage will provide eight companies with the opportunity to nourish their creative appetite, showcase their work and ultimately invigorate Toronto's art community with energy and new ideas. This curated event will feature some of the most exciting indie theatre artists who have previously produced an artistically and critically successful production in the Fringe and will feature several past Fringe hits as well as new works.

The Next Stage lineup includes

A Quiet Place By Brendan Gall Directed by Geoffrey Pounsett

BASH'd! Written and performed by Chris Craddock and Nathan Cuckow Directed by Ron Jenkins Music by Aaron Macri

Conservatives In Love By Dave Carley Directed by Sue Miner

DON'T WAKE ME By Brendan Gall, Chris Hanratty, Kate Hewlett, Mike McPhaden, and Christopher Stanton Directed by Chris Hanratty

JESUS CHRIST: The Lost Years By Ryan Gladstone, Katherine Sanders and Bruce Horak Directed by Bruce Horak

Moving Day By Cathy Elliott Directed by Jeannette Lambermont-Morey Musical direction by Konrad Pluta

Random Acts of Love By Bruce Gooch Directed by Janet Laine Green

and

The Corner Written and directed by Jason Maghanoy

For more information visit the Next Stage event on Facebook or NextStageFestival.com.

A program for Next Stage (PDF) is also available here.

RVT: Bran Van 3000 - Drinking in LA

There are constant rumours of more from Bran Van - but only time will tell I guess

Breaking Links: Wednesday, December 12

The Toronto International Film Festival Group has released it's top 10 list for the year.

Via TV-eh? Canada gets tv on iTunes.

"Upon launch, the Canadian iTunes Store won’t carry a ton of content, but it’ll certainly get the ball rolling. Users will begin to see shows from CBC, CTV, and a handful of shows from US networks."

Spacing invites you to rate the walkability of your neighborhood.

"It compiles the location of specific types of amenities in your neighbourhood (grocery stores, bars, cafés, restaurants, parks, fitness, bookstores, libraries, hardware stores, etc.) and measures how far away they are. The lower the distance, the better the score. What it doesn’t rate is urban/pedestrian design, block lengths, and accessibility to public transit (!). All the locations and amenities are culled from Google Maps API."

People who visit saidthewhale.com on December 19 will be able to download free EP from the band according to their blog

"So, in the spirit of Christmas and Hanukkah and holidays and giving, we are offering you a FREE EP for download from our website. "The Bones of Winter" which is already playable on our myspace page will be included, as well as one more little winter-inspired ditty."

A new interview with Ryan and Adrian of the Most Serene Republic is up on Radio 3.

Free Downloads from Matias

Matias Rozenberg is an ex-Hidden Camera, a current Phoneme and an accidental artist as well. The songs now in the download section though are part of something else, which apparently remains to be determined.

Matias is a person. Matias is a band. The band goes by many names: They often have the word "Matias" in them, such as "The Matias Band". One day, we will decide on a name for the band. Regardless, my name shall remain Matias. Matias Rozenberg. (that's me) I play in The Phonemes. The 'Sleepy' EP will hopefully cure your insomnia. The 'Summer' EP will hopefully cure your winter. That is all. bye bye.

RVT: The Imponderables Do Bourne (kinda)

From Toronto Sketch Comedy troupe the Imponderables (more fun than a bag of soup).

Pay to Play? You can't steal what doesn't exist.

Discussion has headup up recently on the topic of copyright/copyleft and downloading. John Paolozzi at Radio 3 and I were talking about this on the Radio 3 blog in the wake of yet another collapsed copyright bill. A bill, I should add, that failed because it was only a business document that took neither artists nor comsumers into account.

So, with all of that in mind I have a hpyothetical for you.

It occurs to me that a person cannot steal your car if it is still a pile of parts in a factory in Windsor and you cannot download an album that hasn't been made yet. So what if the album went on sale before the band went into the studio. What if the band went to the core of their fan base and said

$15 will get you a copy of the album as soon as it's done - before it's on iTunes or in stores.

$25 will get you a signed copy of the album

$40 will get you a signed copy of the album, and an invite (free admission) to the CD release party (or to any single show on the tour)

$60 will get you all of the above and a limited run T-shirt available only to people who take this option.

Now let's say your 100 biggest fans take the $60 option. Another 100 take the $40 option, 200 take the $25 option, and 400 people take the $15 option. Bearing in mind that you have to actually produce all the stuff you've offered (not to mention the arthritis from signing 400 CDs) that gives you $21,000 before you've even gone into the studio.

Now this is just a hypothetical. Some bands will do better than this, some won't do as well. All of it will depend on the artists ability to connect with and communicate with fans and to continue to build that fan base ('one fan at a time'.) It would probably be a good idea, for example, to keep your fans informed. Give them the occasional update on how things are going. Maybe an advanced preview of what it might sound like (an early .mp3 for people who have already bought the album).

The goal though, I think, would be to get to a point where you've broken even on the CD before it's even finished and you're broken even on the CD before anyone can possibly download any of it.

Breaking Links: Thursday, December 11

Kenny Hotz and Spencer Rice (a.k.a. Kenny and Spenny)interviewed in the New York Magazine

"Imported to America by Matt Stone and Trey Parker after three blockbuster seasons on Canadian television, the show began its run on Comedy Central a few weeks ago, and it's hilarious. Thirty-six-year-old Kenny Hotz is the nihilistic, cheating sadist, who wins almost every contest over Spencer Rice, 37, the naïve masochist who insists on playing by the rules. To secure victories, Kenny has spiked Spenny’s orange juice with LSD, locked him in a closet overnight, and forged a letter from the Canadian government convincing him he had AIDS."

Stephen Harper's Republicans (a.k.a. Conservatives)continue to lead the charge against the Environment in Bali.

"The EU and developing countries want industrialised nations to start talks on a further set of emissions targets.
But this is being resisted by a number of parties led by Canada."

In Mississauga a father has been charged with murdering his daughter apparently because she refused to wear a Hijab. Demonstrating once again that religion, taken to extremes, will ultimately cause people to abandon their faith. This is not the act of someone who has faith in anything.

"Muhammad Parvez, 57, has been charged with murder in connection with the death of his daughter, Aqsa Parvez. He will appear Tuesday in a Brampton court.
The victim's 26-year-old brother, Waqas Parvez, has been charged with obstructing police."

and a brand new Galacticast is out today!!

Pine Tarts Downloads

So it turns out Laurie Fuhr from the Lonely Hunters is in another Calgary band that's been tearing up western Canada a bit of late. It also turns out that the other band the Pine Tarts is the latest addition to the podsafe download section and the latest addition to the Band Blogs ... quite the coincidence no?

From their Myspace page

A lust for all that is lovely and loamy and slippery and sun-licked coupled with the fervent desire to crawl all over peoples of this same persuasion, inspired these kids to attempt to make contact with kindred spirits through the mass-communication possibilities of a dusty little scrum of a rock n roll band. Too impatient to learn their instruments, they instead forced their instruments to learn what their fingers could already do, and immediately began recording demos. Too poor to afford proper gear, they were forced to use ghetto blasters as amps, and rather than replace strings as they broke on their no-name guitars they simply fiddled with the tuning. Finally one day they took the bottles back and bought a used rental 4-track. Pine Tarts are Mess, Jenny Pie, Jester Suzuki, Adam, and Laurie. They are ever searching for the sounds to fill joydrunken hearts with love and fire. They want small shows, not big ones, they want to drink wine in the parking lot with the audience after the gig and jump in lakes with all the beautiful boys and girls they meet. They have been spotted, on midsummers' eve, when the green aurora casts its claws above Cascade, on Banff Avenue with an elk skeleton.

voracious appetites

I have to admit, I was starving when I came out of The Canadian Stage Company's production of Little Shop of Horrors, now playing at the St. Lawrence Centre.

Maybe it was all those cries of "feed me, Seymour!".

It you're looking for something to take the kids to, that isn't the syrupy-sweet silliness of Peter Pan, but isn't quite the nasty darkness of Sweeney Todd, swing by Little Shop of Horrors.

Certainly, while the piece, directed by Soulpepper regular Ted Dykstra, isn't serious theatre, it is a good spot of fun, in a decidedly dark way.

While little ones may find some scenes a bit frightening, older kids will find the morbid humour and send-up of 50s -style musicals, with ironic modern touches, hilarious. The tunes are pretty catchy, too.

The story begins with loser Seymour (Ron Pederson), a lowly (and clumsy) clerk in Mushnik's Flower Shop. At the urging of his beloved fellow worker Audrey (a perfectly cast Patricia Zentilli), he puts his own invention, the "Audrey 2", in the window to attract business.

But this is no ordinary plant, having been thusly afflicted by suspicious alien activity during an eclipse. Unbeknownst to our hero, his plant has a certain taste -and it isn't for coffee grounds or pine needles.

Dancing their way through Seymour's seamy successes and acidic ascendency are an assortment of colourful characters, including Sheldon Davis as a entertainingly frazzled Mr. Mushnik, and Rejean Cournoyer as the oily Orin (talk about your Demon Dentist of Skid Row). Camp factor is provided not only with big hair, loud makeup and tacky dresses, but is personified in the forms of Chiffon, Crystal and Ronette, who act as the every-women characters, and were apparently cast in the small, medium, and large variety, upping the campiness even more.

But after two hours of tunes like Grow For Me, Git It and Suddenly Seymour, as well as the sight limbs sticking out of a gigantic plant (with an admittedly luxurious-looking velvet-lined mouth -I wanted to curl up in it for a nap, really) I had worked up a real hunger for some actual food.

Thank goodness JK Wine Bar is around the corner.

Ruminating over the to-die-for selection of lovely mezes-style dishes my companion and I ordered (velvety hangar steak, fragrant flatbread, saucy squid), I couldn't help but wonder about the bleak, if sarcastic, ending of Little Shop.

Unlike other, more festive fare around town, the good guys don't really win the Ashman/Menken world. To quote Audrey's tune, the whole world becomes 'someplace green' -though probably not half as nice as the mixed greens at JK.

Still, if salty, not sweet, is your preference this holiday season, check out Canstage.
And then follow it up with frites around the corner.

Forget asking Seymour -Jamie Kennedy's your man.

Little Shop of Horrors runs at the St. Lawrence Centre (Bluma Appel Theatre) until December 15th.

For more information, go to www.canstage.ca

For more information on JK Wine Bar, go to www.jkkitchens.com

Free Downloads from They Shoot Horses Don't They?

Vancouver's They Shoot Horses Don't They? is the latest group to agree to have stuff in the Podsafe Download area of the site. If you haven't heard them it's definitely worth your time to grab a couple of songs.

According to Spin.com:

"Sharing the name of a 1969 film wherein contestants endure a grueling dance marathon, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? craft oddly danceable songs that combine the sound of a circus with a bombastic punk aesthetic, and lite avant garde threads for an affair worthy of Barnum and Bailey's three-rings. Pick Up Sticks is full of indie pop tunes dressed to the nines with beating horns ("The Guest"), tinny guitar riffs ("One Last Final Push"), and ranting harmonies ("Wrong Directions") -- it's an exuberant, gypsy-like, folk-tastic cacophony for fans of early Modest Mouse, XTC, and Mr. Bungle."

Breaking Links: Monday, December 10

Micheal Geist has taken the liberty of destroying Jim Prentice's talking points on DMCA before Prentice even gets a chance to make them.

"While some attendees were disappointed that Industry Minister Jim Prentice was not more responsive to the copyright questions posed at this weekend's open house, I found the comments very insightful since they provide a roadmap for how Prentice is likely to justify tomorrow's introduction of a Canadian DMCA.  I expect that the launch will include some well co-ordinated laudatory comments from groups like CRIA and the CMPDA, yet the Minister is likely to focus on four points to justify his "framework legislation": "

Via Radio 3: US Congress blocked from editing Wikipedia because of past vandalism.

Bookninja weighs in on DMCA.

"I can’t help but wonder about the motivations behind any law introduced by this arts and culture-hating government, corporate ass-sucking government. If anyone thinks this is actually about protecting artists, I have some slightly damp land to sell them."

Chromewaves on the Horseshoe's Birthday:

"All of the local media articles commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Horseshoe Tavern (officially celebrating its birthday yesterday) have run off a list of the unforgettable shows that have earned the Queen West institution its adjective "Legendary" - Golden Smog, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Rolling Stones", to name a few. And while I've seen my share of great shows there over the years - hell, over the past week - the venue's own birthday party on Thursday night was one for the ages."

Copyright Bill Delayed For Now

It was just announced on the CBC Radio 3 blog that Jim Prentice's US - DMCA style copyright reform is going away for the time being.

From the CBC (full article):

A controversial bill that seeks to reform Canadian copyright laws, expected to be introduced early this week, may be quashed after a groundswell of opposition erupted over the past week.
The government last week filed a notice indicating the bill would be introduced this week, leading industry experts to expect it to happen on Tuesday. But a spokesperson for Industry Minister Jim Prentice, who was to introduce the bill, said it would not happen on Tuesday and could not say if it would happen this week.

Which is a bit of a relief, but from the Radio 3 blog

"Fair copyright in Canada found its voice. It will be silent no more," writes Michael Geist. Maybe so, but the question many artists in Canada must be wondering is... when will fair copyright in Canada start buying some effing music so they can pay their rent?

Personally, I buy alot of music, and yes I take advantage of free downloads when they're offered. I go to shows, I buy CDs, I help promote artists I like, I've suggested some measures that I think might help all artists. I believe that I'm doing everthing I (reasonably) can.
I don't think that I, or anyone involved in "Fair Copyright" thinks that all music should be free and artists should work for nothing (ok maybe a few but in the end they aren't going to get their way.) I think what we want is a system that is, as the name suggests fair.
Personally I'd like to see something that

Reasonably compensates artists I actually listen to and not 'the industry' as a whole.

Does not allow music industry lawyers to have access to personal date, through my ISP or otherwise.

Contains provisions for 'fair use', parody, and educational use.

Does not allow lawsuits where a single mother is fined $222,000 for 24 'illegal' songs

As I said above I'm even in favour of a tax system that treats artists as a special class of citizens and recognizes their importance to society. If any of that sounds unreasonable, or if there's something I could be doing that I'm not - please let me know.

I Liked the Book Better: The CBC's 'Pagan Christ'

Before I say anything I should quantify it by saying that I almost never like a movie based on a book if I liked the book. I should also add that I loved "the Pagan Christ" by Tom Harpur.

With that said I can now say that the CBC Doc Zone presentation of "the Pagan Christ" should have been a series, not an episode. Given the format and time constraints the doc is barely more than a trailer for Harpurs book.

The book on which the documentary was based goes into painstaking detail on Harpur's research into early Christianity and covers not only his questions about Jesus, but about several other points which might damage 'the bible as history.' It also goes to great lengths in explaining how, as an Anglican Priest, Harpur feels Christianity can be strengthened by abandoning the literal, historical translation of the Bible.

On the flip side there are many deeply thoughtful, scholarly works that seek to refute Harpur. The Doc Zone presentation barely had time to skim the surface of some, but hardly all, of Harpurs evidence and theories and had even less time for those who disagreed with them. It was almost as if the opposition was put there just to take the curse off of it; As if they were saying "If Harpur's theories upset you here is a 'well known biblical scholar' to tell you it's not true." I am a fan of documentaries and think this is exactly the type of programming that television, especially the CBC, should be doing but please give the topic the depth and time that it needs to be meaningful.

Event Reminder: Sunday, All Day Music Fest For Parkdale Food Bank

Have a drink, listen to live music and feed some of Toronto's most vulnerable citizens, all at the same time!

There are Facebook events being created for this event left and right. (I think every band playing Sunday has their own). For those of you who still don't know the Parkdale Food Bank is in danger of going under. They operate on a mere 33,000 a year. So this Sunday there is a fundraiser happening at the Cadillac Lounge (1296 Queen Street West. )

The event goes from 1 until 8 pm (that means you get to sleep in and can still make your xmas party that evening. It is Pay What You Can and if, like everyone else, it's a busy time of year for you, you can come for just part of it. Stop in, have a drink, listen to some live music and help feed some of Toronto's most vulnerable citizens for another year.

If you can't make it to the fundraiser but would like to contribute, you can donate to the food bank by sending a cheque to:

St. Francis Table
1322 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M6K 1L4

Be sure to mention it's for the Parkdale Food Bank in the memo section of the cheque.

Now for those of you coming the lineup for Sunday looks like this

1:00 - 1:30 : The Tiny Alligator Quartet
1:35 - 2:05 : The Book of Gnomes
2:10 - 2:40 : Ronley Teper
2:45 - 3:15 : Rob’s Collision
3:20 - 3:50 : Frank Horvat 3:55 - 4:25 : Up All Night
4:30 - 5:00 : The Parkdale Revolutionary Orchestra
5:05 - 5:35 : The Ugly Bug Band
5:40 - 6:10 : Kanaka 6:15 - 6:45 : Calamity Royale
6:50 - 7:20 : The WG's
7:25 - 8:00 : Michael Holt

Free Downloads from Pink Dead Whale and Baby Control

Toronto's Pink Dead Whale ("The future of electronic music is here my friends, oh yes it is, in the form of a 6ft1 skinny white boy from Scarborough Ontario...") and Vancouver's Baby Control ("...fuzzy indie rockers Baby Control have provided a tonal treat...") have both been added to the Podsafe Download Section of Publicbroadcasting.ca

Poor Boys Club - Director Talkback and Contest.

On Saturday Dec 15th the First Weekend Club is presenting a TalkBack with director Clement Virgo in Toronto following the 4pm screening of his new film Poor Boys Game on at The Royal (608 College Street West), with a reception to follow. Director and other guests from the film will be in attendance. Location of reception TBA.

FWC is also sponsoring a "Knock Out Contest"

First Weekend Club wants to put you in the ring! In the spirit of the latest film we are promoting, here’s a contest that even Rocky would sweat over! So get your game on, be a total knock-out and enter our contest for your chance to put up your dukes with some boxing lessons! 

visit www.firstweekendclub.ca/poor-boys-game-contest.html for details.

Breaking Links: Sunday, December 9

Natalia Yanchak has another update on the new Dears album that's in the works.

"Murray moved the recording into another studio. Today he finishes working there, and he’s completely exhausted. The other day he was lying on the couch, barely awake, saying: “It’s weird being so tired and so inspired at the same time.” The songs are perpetually shape-shifting, taking new unexpected directions with every element he adds."

The Chart Readers Poll is up but most of the categories are pretty lame.

400 P.E.I. Households enter their 6th day without power.

"Heavy, wet snow and driving winds in the storm late Monday night and early Tuesday morning led to more than 350 power poles coming down. At the worst point, on Tuesday, power was knocked out to as many as 16,000 households."

A plan to eliminate tariffs on green technology has fallen apart in Bali.

"U.S. and European trade officials hoping to open a new front in the global warming battle have failed to win approval for a proposal to eliminate tariffs on environmentally friendly technologies."

Aids Wolf has some video, interviews, reviews and other misc. up on their blog.

Free Bob Wiseman Downloads

Ok, technically I already announced these but now I have permission to move them into the podsafe area. So once again, free, guilt free, Bob Wiseman video in the downloads section.

Free Downloads from the Diableros

I've talked about them quite a bit lately, the new album "The Diableros Aren't Ready For the Country" is brilliant so, obviously, I'm thrilled that The Diableros are the newest addition to the Podsafe Download section. That means, for those of you who haven't been following along, that there are two free songs from the Diableros that you can download for free (and add to your podcast if you do that sort of thing).