Tag: CBC

Old Fellas New Music Episode 60

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Taylor Swift – “Shake It Off “(Taylor’s Version)

Okan – La Reina Del Norte (OKantomi)

The Lemon Twigs – “My Golden Years”

The National – Crumble feat. Rosanne Cash – (Laugh Track)

Durand Jones – “Wait Til I Get Over”

Grian Chatten – Last Time Every Time Forever– (Chaos for the Fly)

Liam Gallagher and John Squire – “Just Another Rainbow”

Lonnie Holley and Sharon van Etten – None of us have but a little while (Oh Me Oh My) 

SPRINTS  –  “Adore Adore Adore”

Our show on Mixcloud

This is our second show of the best of for 2023. I chose my songs from a variety of best of lists – CBC Top 100 Canadian Songs, The Guardian – for The National (they were everywhere), The Guardian again for Grian Chatten, and The New Yorker‘s list for Lonnie Holley. These are all solid suggestions and write-ups so I have included them all here. I will include a few additional notes in some spots.

Okan – La Reina Del Norte (OKantomi)

Taking their name from the word for heart in the Afro-Cuban religion of Santeria, OKAN is an award-winning, women-led ensemble that fuses Afro-Cuban roots with jazz, folk, and global rhythms in songs about immigration, courage, and love. (Chamberfest Ottawa)

The open secret to Okan’s brilliance is the palpable creative chemistry of its married co-leaders Elizabeth Rodriguez and Magdelys Savigne. Their dynamic interplay — Rodriguez’s violin and lead vocals and Savigne’s percussion and backing vocals — is an enthralling dance, and evident in every aspect of their music. Okantomi, their third and most ambitious record yet, is a testament to the ways in which they’ve grown together as a band but also as individual musicians and composers. The artists draw on their shared Afro-Cuban roots and musical cultures to craft a brilliantly lush sonic garden of genre-defying jazz-classical-pop that’s as personal as it is experimental. Dance along to the joyful liberation of “La Reina del Norte,” exchange flirty glances to the sultry Afro-Latin pop of “Iglu,” and witness the urgent, fervent hope of the richly layered “Oriki Oshun,” which Rodriguez composed in the wake of a miscarriage and as a prayer for protection in her next pregnancy. — AW

CBC Best 100 2023

And from Errol Nazareth (CBC)

Okan, which comes from the word for heart or soul in Santeria religion, is an Afro-Cuban Latin jazz ensemble led by Elizabeth Rodriguez and Magdelys Savigne. The composers, multi-instrumentalists and vocalists are both from Cuba and have Afro-Cuban roots, but it wasn’t until they moved to Canada that they met and fell in love. The married duo released their first album as Okan in 2019 (Sombras) and followed that up with 2020’s Espiral, which won a Juno for world album of the year.

Taylor Swift – “Shake It Off “(Taylor’s Version) from 1989 (Taylor’s Version)

What can you say about Taylor Swift that hasn’t been said already? So there’s no need here to dispense with any biographical details.  However, in  2019,   Swift came in dispute with her former record label, Big Machine Records over the ownership of the masters of her first six studio albums.  This led her to release the re-recorded albums—Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Red (Taylor’s Version), Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), and 1989 (Taylor’s Version)—from 2021 through 2023 to gain complete ownership of her music.   

Rolling Stone magazine loves 1989: 

“Everybody here wanted something more,” Taylor Swift sang on ‘Welcome To New York’, the opening track to ‘1989’. “Searching for a sound we hadn’t heard before.”

And the search for that sound is what led Swift here, to her 2014 magnum opus in the all-bangers, no-clangers 1980s pure-pop tradition of Madonna’s ‘True Blue’ and Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’.

The Lemon Twigs – “My Golden Years”  – single

This is the  Lemon Twigs third appearance on the podcast.  The new single “My Golden Years” harkens back to the power pop sound of the early 70’s. The song is very reminiscent of the Raspberries. While all three Lemon Twigs selections are wonderful, the jury is still out on listening and enjoying a whole album by the band.  Here’s an interesting take on the band.

Back in the dark days of COVID lockdown, I wrote two extensive buyer’s guides to Todd Rundgren and Utopia. I am proud of those pieces, in part because, I was unafraid to point out the bad along with the good, something most disciples and fanboys just won’t do, as if the news would get back to the artist and then suddenly, no more Christmas cards from Mr. Rundgren. I love Todd with all my heart, but I also know when he either phones it in, or purposely sabotages an absolutely perfect pop song, something he’s done a little too often over his almost 60 year career. 

Everyone writes shitty songs or has shitty ideas. Everyone. Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Ray Davies, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Prince, David Bowie, Pete Townshend. EVERYONE!

Burning Wood blog also encapsulates this song the best. https://burnwoodtonite.blogspot.com/2024/01/that-bridge-that-coda.html

Durand Jones – “Wait Til I Get Over” from Wait Til I Get Over

I picked the title track from Durand Jones’s first solo lp.  The album is a  musical departure from his work with his main band, the Indications.

 

Jones really explores his gospel Louisiana roots on this number.

…

The National – Crumble fea. Rosanne Cash – (Laugh Track)

As frontman Matt Berninger confronted a debilitating breakdown towards the end of 2019, the National wondered if they would ever even make another album. Then they made two, of which Laugh Track was the surprise second release this year – and which proved that they hadn’t just regrouped but revitalised. For the first time in several years, they sounded like five guys hunkered down in the engine room, smelting lean, light-headed epics such as Deep End and Dreaming, and leaning on a quarter-century’s worth of trust to get out of their own way, letting classic ballads remain unfussed (Laugh Track) and manic dirges untrammelled (Smoke Detector – maybe their best ever song). And almost losing it all gave Berninger’s lyrics a newfound clarity about what’s worth holding on to, most strikingly expressed in Space Invader, which conveyed a kind of panicked gratitude for having recognised love and pursued it years ago when it could so easily have dissolved in a letter that went unwritten, a subway stop missed. LS

33
Grian Chatten – Last Time Every Time Forever– (Chaos for the Fly)

Fontaines DC remain a going concern, but their frontman made this solo release feel anything but a between-albums diversion. There are forays into new sounds for him, such as the breezy Rat Pack backing of Bob’s Casino and cosmic trip-hop on East Coast Bed, but what remains the same is his strength as a lyricist: he tramps moodily towards misanthropy, but a deep love for humanity prevents him from ever quite getting there. Chatten writes the way a sketch artist draws, in deft, sure lines – whether describing New York’s freezing sidewalks getting salted (“the whole of the city was seasoned to taste”) or pinpointing toxic acquaintances (“they will celebrate the things that make you who you’re not”). BBT

Liam Gallagher and John Squire – “Just Another Rainbow” single

Fellow Mancunians  Liam Gallagher (Oasis) and John Squire (The Stone Roses) team up for a song that sounds a lot like both their former bands. 

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/dec/21/liam-gallagher-and-the-stone-roses-john-squire-album

It’s nothing more the a sturdy melodic rock number and there’s nothing wrong with that. . https://pitchfork.com/news/liam-gallagher-and-the-stone-roses-john-squire-join-forces-for-new-song-just-another-rainbow-listen/

SPRINTS  –  “Adore Adore Adore” from Letter to Self

Sprints are an Irish garage punk band, formed in Dublin in 2019. Their debut album, Letter to Self, was just released last week. This a wonderful album full of scuzzy guitars and great melodies.  The video for Adore Adore Adore is charmingly over the top. 

Karla Chubb, Sprints’ lead vocalist, explains the song::

“Adore Adore Adore is a guttural reaction to my experience of criticism, gender and misogyny. People can’t seem to stop pressing their idea of what being a woman or acting like a woman is or should be upon us. You can’t act like this, you can’t say that, you have to be born with this or that and it’s exhausting.

There is still a different standard of behaviour expected from me vs even the other members in Sprints. There is a different set of invisible rules I am supposed to abide by – I am supposed to fit their mould and give them what they want – and not deliver what it is I am here to do.So at a time when trans rights are under attack, people are trying to force upon us what they think a woman is or should be, this is the outward expression of my own frustration, struggle and rage.”

Here’s just one of the many overwhelmingly positive reviews of Sprints debut record.

8. Lonnie Holley, “Oh Me Oh My” (Jagjaguwar)

None of us have but a little while – Lonnie Holly, Sharon van Etten

At seventy-three, the visual artist and musician Lonnie Holley still seems to be discovering new worlds. I don’t know how to describe this music in a way that feels true to its magnitude or its singularity: there are strains of free jazz, folk, ambient, and gospel, but mostly it feels like the apotheosis of a genre that we don’t have a name for yet. Michael Stipe adds vocals to the title track, which, like all of Holley’s best and strangest songs, reckons with trauma and God and perseverance and joy. “I suggest you all go as deep as you can,” Holley sings. His delivery is gentle, but it doesn’t seem like the kind of advice anyone can afford to ignore.

The subject of this album is the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children.

COTTON PICKING, 1902. /nPicking the school cotton crop at Mt. Meigs Institute, Alabama. Photograph by Frances Benjamin Johnston, 1902.

Pitchfork has written a great piece about Holley here

Here is the opening:

The Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children was the kind of educational institution that traumatized its students more than it educated them. Founded in 1911, after the state of Alabama took over a large farming campus in the Mount Meigs community near Montgomery, the juvenile correctional facility became infamous for the horrific abuse and torture it inflicted on poor Black youth. In 1947, inspectors visiting the school found 300 boys “cooped up in cramped quarters with nothing to do or occupy their energies except to eat and live like hogs.” By the 1960s, a century after the Emancipation Proclamation, young inmates were forced to pick cotton from sunrise until sundown; beatings and sexual abuse were common. “This was functionally a slave plantation,” concluded the journalist Josie Duffy Rice, who spent a year and a half researching the school’s history for a podcast series.

sources

New Yorker Best Music of 2023

Episode 59 The New Year’s Edition!

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This Week!! Featuring

Brendan Hendry – Lonely

Bar Italia – Jelsy

Tobi – Flatline

Carly Rae Jepsen – Psychedelic Switch

Olivia Rodrigo – All American Bitch

Janelle Monáe – Only Have Eyes 42

​​Paramore –  ‘This Is Why’

Lankum – Newcastle

Nemahsis – I Wanna be Your Right Hand

Notes

Brendan Hendry – Lonely

all my notes this week are directly taken from different best-of lists supplied by Bob.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/dec/27/best-songs-this-year-small-artists

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-2023-1234879538/

https://www.cbc.ca/music/top-100-canadian-songs-of-2023-1.7043304

They make for interesting reading as each list has a different set of criteria for establishing what they consider the best. I am starting with one of the choices from the Guardian – The best songs of 2023 … you may not have heard

I like this list as it features a Canadian I have never heard of before. The description is interesting and the video is worth watching. A great start to my list!

The Guardian

In Canadian singer-songwriter Brendan Hendry’s self-directed video for Lonely – made with “$2, a box of wigs, some friends, and a 90s music video dream!” – he starts by placing a battered cassette in an equally battered boombox. What follows is a frayed-around-the-edges post-bar house party featuring flying wigs, snogging and the briefest flash of a bottom encased in leather chaps. The throwback visuals are anchored by a song that fits perfectly with our ongoing obsession with bratty, emo-coded power pop, from Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts album to Kelly Clarkson’s viral chat show cover versions to the return of 00s UK pop-punkers Busted. Hendry also continues the video’s queering of that 90s aesthetic, pairing a lo-fi drum machine, earworm acoustic guitar and big crunchy riffs with his tale of gay dating woes – essentially men are flaky and freakout at the first suggestion of real emotions. If the early verses grapple with the choice between dispassionate sex or no sex at all – “every now and then I still miss you in my mouth” Hendry sighs at one point – then the pogoing, top-tier chorus, which ramps up the emotional catharsis as the song grows sweatier, reaffirms the idea that being alone is better than being a fool. Michael Cragg

Bar Italia – Jelsy

bar italia –  “Jelsy” from Twits

bar italia, is a London-based rock band who released not one but 2 albums in 2023.  Both Twits and Tracey Denim are rather marvellous.  If you are fan of Wet Leg and the  Velvet Underground, this is a band for you.  All three memebrs contribute deadpan vocals with lots of fuzzy guitars.  “Jelsy” is the latest single from the November release Twits.  https://www.stereogum.com/2238511/bar-italia-jelsy/music/

Exclaim! review

…

8. ‘Flatline,’ Tobi

CBC

I really like this song. Once heard, it is hard to forget. This selection is part of a CBC 3-hour feature – The top 100 Canadian songs of 2023 by Pete Morey. Haven’t listened to this yet, but you can get the whole broadcast here.

they even give you a breakdown of the show:

Joined by friends and special guests, host Pete Morey rewinds the musical highlights of 2023 and cues up what 2024 has in store. The 23 best Canadian albums of 2023 at 00:00:00 The breakout stars of 2022 at 55:50:00 Albums to look forward to in 2024 at 1:21:15 Songs turning 20 in 2024 at 1:33:54 The top 10 Canadian songs of 2023 at 1:50:13

“Flatline” is the embodiment of Tobi’s self-described style of “unapologetic soul music.” Exploring the theme of power — who has it, how one seizes it, etc. — the Toronto rapper weaves the personal and political into one bold, ambitious track. Jabbing piano notes anchor “Flatline” as Tobi effortlessly raps around the beat, covering a swath of topics including the Land Back movement and Black death, as he unabashedly points out: “How they gon’ steal the wave? We on stolen land.” Pain is inevitable, but here, Tobi encourages listeners to transform that pain into power: “Flatline” is the motivational anthem that we needed this year. 

Carly Rae Jepsen – Psychedelic Switch

Carly Rae Jepsen  is a Canadian pop star who of course had an international mega hit with “Call Me Maybe” in 2012.  Her sixth album The Loneliest Time, was released in October 2022. It’s  companion album, The Loveliest Time, followed in July 2023.  This record is a collection of B-sides and tracks left off The Loneliest Time.  The track we chose is a wonderful pseudo Daft Punkish disco number “Psychedelic Switch.”  Don’t ponder the lyrics, just dance!

from Pitchfork

5 Olivia Rodrigo, ‘Guts’ (Album)

All American Bitch

The next two selections come from the Rolling Stone list – The 100 Best Albums of 2023

This is a great list that I want to return to for our next show. We have played lots of these artists over the year so we must be doing something right. I had to add Olivia Rodrigo, I just really like the sense of humour in her music. AND, this album is mentioned in the piece by the Guardian above.

On Guts, Olivia Rodrigo captures the insurmountable challenges of coming to fame while coming of age, with its romantic betrayals, vampiric exes, and fair-weather friends. Throughout the album’s heart-tugging ballads and sneering pop-punk cuts, the 20-year-old maintains a cutting lyrical precision — while unafraid to poke fun at her own shortcomings and social faux pas — that has cemented her as one of her generation’s best pop songwriters. As if to push herself out of the predictable path of “torch singer” and reject the well-mannered vision of femininity she skewers on “all-american bitch,” she delivers the full emotional breadth of teenager girldom through manic screaming, sarcastic sing-speak, and rage-fueled grit. —M.H.K.

Janelle Monáe – Only Have Eyes 42 –   The Age of Pleasure

Janelle Monáe Robinson  is of course is an immensely successful  singer, songwriter,  and actor. She has received ten Grammy Award nominations, and won a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Emmy .  In April 2022, she came out publicly as non-binary.  The song “Only Have Eyes 42” is about being in a polyamorous relationship and being open about it.  According to Songtell, the lyrics appear to be an account of a consensual and satisfying threesome.

More here

The song samples Derrick Harriot’s 1967 rock steady reggae classic , The Loser  

and Dick Powell’s 1934 version of I only have Eyes For You 

…

​​6. Paramore, ‘This Is Why’

Right after Olivia Rodrigo, a song that caught my attention. Don’t know anything about the band, but that’s pretty normal for me. But, read below – this band has been around for twenty years.

Hayley Williams, Taylor York, and Zac Farro made their return on This Is Why as masters of existentialism, and their deep familiarity with impending doom and self-destruction made from some rich emotional mining. Set against expertly executed post-punk and New Wave, they explore their fascination with the complexities of the human condition. Williams wonders about what it means to be a good person who isn’t able to save everyone, including herself. As the first album in the band’s 20-year career that was made with the same lineup as their last one, it was the first new Paramore LP that didn’t require them to rebuild themselves from ruins. What better way to begin building on that newfound foundation than by using the external world as a lens for self-examination? —L.P.

Lankum – Newcastle – False Lankun

Lankum  are an Irish folk music group from Dublin, consisting of Ian Lynch, Daragh Lynch, Cormac MacDiarmada and Radie Peat.  They have released the albums Cold Old Fire in 2014 and Between the Earth and Sky in 2017. In 2018, they were named Best Folk Group at the RTÉ Folk Music Awards.  The band were nominated for the RTÉ Choice Music Prize Irish Album of the Year in 2017 for their album Between the Earth and Sky, and won the prize in 2019 for their album The Livelong Day.  The band’s fourth studio album, False Lankum (2023), was released to widespread critical acclaim and  was nominated for the Mercury Prize and placed highly on several end-of-year lists. The selected track “Newcastle” is an absolutely haunting centuries old ballad.

Lankum – “Newcastle”

The Guardian gave a 5 star review to a recent performance. 

I Wanna be Your Right Hand,’ Nemahsis

This is another selection of the CBC list. A new artist, she seems to be putting out lots of music including the EP track (Eleven Archers) that we played at the beginning of the show.

This song makes it to #10 which is pretty impressive.

Palestinian Canadian pop artist Nemahsis expresses her love language on “I Wanna be Your Right Hand,” with her voice desperately reaching out to someone as she begs to be of service — to be useful in the name of showing her love and devotion. Over an acoustic riff that’s reminiscent of the Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979,” Nemahsis sounds equal parts steadfast and free, playing with her voice in ways she hasn’t in previous releases. While she’s already established her talent for writing heart-wrenching ballads — as displayed on her 2022 EP, Eleven Achers — “I Wanna be Your Right Hand” proves that the rising star has a much wider range that has yet to be fully explored. We can’t wait to hear where she takes her music next. (Songs You Need to Hear, March 22)

Here is a link to her interview with Tom Power

Old Fellas New Music Episode 46

On By paulmcguire2013In MixCloud, Old Fellas New MusicLeave a comment
This week’s show
and our updated Spotify playlist

This week

The Felice Brothers – Jazz on the Autobahn

Beach House – Holiday House

Allison Russel and Mumu Fresh – 4th Day Prayer

The National –  The Alcott (feat. Taylor Swift)

Kelly Fraser – Sedna

PJ Harvey – A Child’s Question, August

TEKE:TEKE – Gotoku Lemon

The Gaslight Anthem – Positive Charge

Hurray for the Riff Raff – Broken Arrows

  • TAMPA, FLORIDA – APRIL 14: EDITORIAL USE ONLY Taylor Swift and Aaron Dessner perform onstage during “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour” at Raymond James Stadium on April 14, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Octavio Jones/TAS23/Getty Images for for TAS Rights Management)

The Felice Brothers – Jazz on the Autobahn

well, I didn’t know this – The duo craft these vivid, at times even violent, images through a sweet, sweet melody, an ironic balance of sound and content. As the song’s starring sheriff does, “Jazz on the Autobahn” drives us “through the principalities of unreality” in its whimsical, albeit tragic version of the end of the world. 

Sparky

Listening to the Felice Brothers, I don’t think I agree with this. But, this review was written in 2008. This song is from their upcoming album.

From Pitchfork:

Who knows whether or not the Felice Brothers– brothers Ian, Simone, and James, plus a friend called Christmas– are actually, consciously trying to come as close as possible to replicating Dylan an/or the Band on their self-titled latest. Regardless, the point is, whether they intended to or not, they’ve come eerily, awkwardly, creepily close to capturing that familiar mix of mood, mystery, atmosphere, and aesthetic.

The Felice Brothers

Allison Russel and Mumu Fresh – 4th Day Prayer

Allison Russell – 4th Day Prayer [feat. Mumu Fresh] – dim star Remix (official audio)

Allison Russell has won or has been nominated for an incredible number of awards and from Rolling Stone a look into her upcoming work.

ALLISON RUSSELL STOPPED by Jimmy Kimmel Live to deliver a raucous, soulful performance of her song “4th Day Prayer”. Backed by a live band that included the duo Sista Strings and singer-guitarist Joy Clark, Russell gave the song a vibrant sensibility that matched the colorful stage backdrop.

“4th Day Prayer” comes off the singer-songwriter’s debut solo album Outside Child, released last year. The album is nominated for three Grammys — including Best Americana Album and Best American Roots Performance for single “Nightflyer.” Russell performed that track on Jimmy Kimmel Live last year, with accompaniment from Brittney Spencer and Brandi Carlile.

Rolling Stone

And from Wikipedia, a really impressive list of award nominations and wins

Kelly Fraser – Sedna

From her album Sedna released in 2023. Kelly Fraser tragically died by suicide in 2019. From a CBC article:

The death of musician, advocate and Indspire youth laureate Kelly Fraser was met with shock and sadness by those who knew her, her music and her advocacy work.

When Fraser released her Inuktitut cover of Rihanna’s Diamonds in 2013, it quickly went viral. Her success was followed by a Juno nomination for her second album, Sedna, and a 2019 Indspire Youth Award, which honours the outstanding achievements of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people.

You can see her performing Sedna in this CBC appearance from 2018

TEKE:TEKE – Gotoku Lemon

Terrific Montreal-based Japanese psych-rock band has been on the show before. This is from their upcoming album and their music has such incredible energy.

From GhettoBlaster: (interesting name)

Acclaimed Montreal-based Japanese psych-rock band TEKE::TEKE have released “Gotoku Lemon,” the second single from their upcoming sophomore album, Hagata, out June 9 via Kill Rock Stars

and this

The result is something of a drunken bluesy calypso, with a lingering intensity just below the surface.

That could be a new genre of music!

Finally…

Translating to “Lemon Enlightenment” in English, the track sees lead vocalist Kuroki spinning a whimsical short story about a world in which glow-in-the-dark lemons are found to be the cure for all ills

Hurray for the Riff Raff – Broken Arrows

again, another band that I have never heard of (my bad) but Hurray For The Riff Raff has been around for 17 years.

From Pitchfork:

Fifteen years ago, Alynda Segarra of Hurray for the Riff Raff chose their band name to celebrate outsiders who threatened the status quo: “the riff raff” being “the weirdos and the poets,” they once said, “the rebellious women and the activists” whom society disregarded. These were the people who kept Segarra going as they carved an itinerant path from their fractured Bronx upbringing to their longtime home in New Orleans,

— Pitchfork

Now I realize I know this – here is a song from 5 years ago – Living in the City

Beach House – “Holiday House” from the Become EP

Beach House is an American band that has been kicking around since 2004.  For lack of a better term,  Beach House is often categorized as “dream pop”.  They have released 9 albums to generally favourable reviews.  The new EP was an official Record store Day release.  To quote the band, “The Become EP is a collection of 5 songs from the Once Twice Melody sessions. We didn’t think they fit in the world of OTM, but later realized they all fit in a little world of their own. To us, they are all kind of scuzzy and spacious, and live in the spirit realm. It’s not really where we are currently going, but it’s definitely somewhere we have been. We hope you enjoy these tunes”.

Here’s the official video 

The National – “The Alcott” (feat. Taylor Swift)  from the album  First Two Pages Of Frankenstein

The National is an American band based in Brooklyn.  Band members are Matt Berninger , twin brothers Aaron Dessner and Bryce Dessner (guitar, piano, keyboards), as well as brothers Scott Devendorf and Bryan Devendorf. They produced a couple of indie albums and in 2005, released their breakthrough lp, Alligator. The National have now released 9 albums in total garnering Grammy nominations along the way.  Since 2020 Aaron Dessner has co-wrote and produced several blockbuster albums for Taylor Swift.  Here, Swift returns the favour by performing a wonderful duet.   

The Atlantic has  a great piece on this collaboration.   

…

PJ Harvey – “A Child’s Question, August” – single

Polly Jean Harvey  is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. She has been creating music since the late eighties to overwhelming critical acclaim. Among the awards Harvey has received are both the 2001 and 2011 Mercury Prize for Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea  and Let England Shake.  She has also eight Brit Award nominations, seven Grammy Award nominations and two further Mercury Prize nominations. “A Child’s Question, August” is from her upcoming 10th studio album I Inside the Old Year Dying.  Any song that references both Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Elvis in the space of 2 and half minutes is alright in my books.

Here’s nice little capsule review/summary of the song. 

The Gaslight Anthem – “Positive Charge” – single

The Gaslight Anthem is a New Jersey rock band formed in 2006.  Possibly their finest moment was the 2008 release The ‘59 Sound which updated the urgency of Bruce Springsteen for a new generation.  The band took a break in 2015, returned briefly in 2018.  In March 2022, the band announced that they had reunited and returned to “full time status”, and that they had begun writing their sixth studio album which would be the band’s first new music release in nine years. “Positive Change”  is the lead single for the upcoming album.    

Speaking of New Jersey, here’s The Gaslight Anthem with Bruce himself  

Old Fellas New Music Episode 7 Notes

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The promised video by Boy Wonder

Why this video? From Exclaim magazine:

As is Faist’s trademark, the new single comes with an accompanying video, shot on his trusty 16mm film camera. The “Hoodwink” clip features the dancing stylings of cowboy hat-clad Lee Kennedy, who busts some moves outside Toronto’s Dufferin Mall with her trusty scooter by her side. 

Said Faist about the video’s star, “The video features Lee Kennedy, who I met in Kensington Market on her scooter one day. She was dressed in pink head-to-toe, and I took her photo while we drank coffee. I remembered her enthusiasm and tracked her down because I wanted to put her in a video. She showed up to Dufferin Mall on her scooter, danced for a minute and a half, and then we went home.”

Songs this week

Bob’s songs

Dinosaur Jr. – I Ain’t 

Guided By Voices – Trust Them Now 

Yo Le Tengo – Shades of Blue 

Teenage Fanclub – The Sun Won’t Shine On Me

Paul McCartney – Winterbird /When Winter Comes

Paul’s songs

Alvvays – In Undertow

Groupie – Thick As Glue

Du Blonde – I’m Glad We Broke Up

Kobo Town – Scarborough Girl

Boy Wonder – Hoodwink

Our Spotify Playlist for this week
Here is this week’s episode!

Before we get started, we have to put in a note about John Peel, the legendary DJ we talk about at the beginning of the broadcast. If you want to listen to some, or many of his broadcasts your can download them off this great blog – The Perfumed Garden.

More about John Peel here:

Mairi McGuire has been asking for the Alvvays for a few weeks, so here they are! A great band with deep Maritime roots. I am including a full KEXP session here so you can listen to more of their great music.

Alvvays – Full Performance (Live on KEXP)

The band consists of Molly Rankin (vocals and guitar), Kerri MacLellan (keyboards), Alec O’Hanley (guitars), Brian Murphy (bass) and Sheridan Riley (drums). Their second studio album, Antisocialites, was released on September 8, 2017 and would go on to win the Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year. Both albums have been short listed for the Polaris Music Prize.

From Wikipedia

I have to give a nod this week to Pitchfork for some of my stories this week. What a great resource for new music!

Yo La Tengo

Bob tells an mazing story about how the band got it’s name – you really need to listen to this on the show.

This is an excellent interview with Georgia Hubley and Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo

This video from 2013 shows the band’s more heavy guitar “skronk”approach

Groupie

I like this song and the story from Pitchfork is really interesting. The song is Thick as Glue and you can read more about this new band below:

Groupie began when Ashley Kossakowski put out a call for bandmates on Craigslist, which was answered by guitarist Johanna Healy. Now a quartet, the Brooklyn band recently released a full-length debut, Ephemeral, an invigorating collection of post-punk leaning tracks about identity, nostalgia, and female empowerment. On the dreamy centerpiece, “Thick As Glue,” they interrogate the myth of the male artistic genius: “Young woman idolizing heroic men singing about heroin/Tried to keep it cool, now it’s my turn too. Who you think you’re looking up to?” –Quinn Moreland – Pitchfork

Guided By Voices

This best of Guided By Voices album is the best way for the uninitiated to approach the band.  Solid from beginning to end.

Ever the contrarian, Robert Pollard left their most “radio-friendly” and well known song off this collection. From the TV show Scrubs:

Du Blonde

Song: I’m Glad That We Broke Up from the album Homecoming

I really had to add this video – this really defines who Beth Jeans Houghton is all about.

More about Du Blonde from the Guardian:

If you want something done right, do it yourself: so Newcastle’s Beth Jeans Houghton resolved for her third record as Du Blonde. Tired of feeling limited by the industry, she wrote, recorded, produced and released Homecoming herself, right down to tie-dying her own merch. Despite this bravura show of self-reliance, she still makes space, in a record bursting and bouncing with fuzzy, pop-grunge hooks, for guests from Garbage’s Shirley Manson (on the heat-hazed, delirious Medicated) to Ezra Furman (the glam-punk scrap of I’m Glad That We Broke Up) and Andy Bell of Ride (the alternately dreamy and hard-rock-anthemic All the Way). Houghton is always centre stage, though, right from opener Pull the Plug, whose sweet, surfy melody and low, scuzzy riffs recall early Frank Black, as does the divinely nonchalant I Can’t Help You There.

The whole album conjures the catchiest moments of 90s Boston indie rock – Pixies, Belly, the Breeders. It’s a style appropriated by many, but invoked by a genuine, dedicated kook like Houghton, those dynamics live and breathe. Smoking Me Out, in particular, is a riot – a campy, monstrously distorted vocal on the verse contrasted with a blissfully sweet, sharp powerpop chorus: DIY at its wilful, weird finest.

Guardian

Teenage Fanclub

Here’s Teenage Fanclub playing at Reading 1992.  This was gig Nirvana blew open their popularity. Kurt Cobain is sometimes credited as calling Teenage Fanclub “the best band in the world”

The “Fannies” were often compared to 70’s cult heroes Big Star.  There is an excellent film on Netflix documenting Big Star’s unlucky foray into the music business .

Kobo Town

Scarborough Girl album – Where the Galleon Sank

Kobo Town was played on Frequencies on May 4th. A great song and an amazing episode!

Again from Exclaim Magazine:

Founded and fronted by émigré Trinidadian songwriter Drew Gonsalves, Kobo Town’s music has been variously described as “an intoxicating blend of lilting calypsonian wit, dancehall reggae and trombone-heavy brass” (Guardian) and a “unique, transnational composite of rhythm, poetry and activist journalism.”(Exclaim!) From their home in Toronto, the JUNO-nominated group has brought their distinct calypso-inspired sound to audiences across the world, from Port-of-Spain to Paris and from Montreal to Malaysia.

The wonderful Errol Nazareth from CBC Frequencies

Boy Wonder – Toronto

Song – Hoodwink – it was hard to get information on Boy Wonder, I went to Exclaim magazine to get this information. You can also go to Revibe Toronto to see a live version of his song – Smile Moma off his 2019 EP

And from Exclaim’s article by Matt Bobkin

Published Apr 30, 2021

Talented Torontonian Ryan Faist is a filmmaker by day, boy wonder by night. The garage rock project is set to drop a new album, Kinda Blue Too, on June 4 via his own Rainbow Land label, alongside a live concert film, Fear In Public. A month ahead of the album’s release, Faist has released new single “Hoodwink.”

The 95-second blast pairs sturdy rock chords with Faist’s reverbed-to-hell vocals, as he raspily howls about a mutually destructive relationship: “Would ya sell your soul for a buck or two? / ‘Cause if you’ve got me, then I’ve got you.”

In a statement, Faist told Exclaim!:”Hoodwink” is about the beginning of the end of compassion and kindness between us. It’s about the ugly parts of the world, the people who benefit off of people’s misery. I feel like that their wave is gonna rip-curl soon though. Kindness will shine.

The song is an ode to my dad’s old Brit garage rock records that I grew up listening to. Three chords. Less than two minutes. No bridge or breakdown. I love how those songs always trimmed the fat. In and out, like your favourite drive-thru.

This week we played an extra track to get us to 90 minutes

I read about Yasmin Williams first in the New York Times.

Yasmin Williams has described her approach to acoustic guitar as a kind of creative problem-solving. Drawn to the instrument after mastering Guitar Hero 2, she dreamed of tapping along the fretboard like rock virtuosos before her. Unable to replicate their style, she laid the guitar on her lap, tuned the strings in harmony with each other, and played it like a keyboard. Drawing from a love of hip-hop, she sought an underlying rhythm throughout her wordless, melodic compositions. Without an accompanist, she attached a kalimba—a type of thumb piano—at the bottom of her instrument, plucking it with her right hand while her left navigated the strings.

New York Times May 2

“I don’t want my music to be limited by being the ‘Black guitarist,’ but somebody had to start doing something,” Williams said. “With all the horrible stuff in 2020, it seemed like it was time.”

Credit…

Amr Alfiky/The New York Times

Living in the age of incivility – the impact on racialized youth in Ottawa

On By paulmcguire2013In incivility, Life in the Times of COVID - 19, Speaking Truth to PowerLeave a comment

Dempsey’s community programs have been closed to local youth at the whim of an uncaring city

In this series, I am writing about incivility, injustice, and in this case racism in our local community. This article has a lot to do with racism – a word we don’t like using in Canada. But when you enact a policy that negatively impacts young racialized people that is racism and it needs to be called out.

It is hard to write about stories where poor, racialized communities are forgotten in a time where their needs are not seen as important or even relevant.

The story. In the east end of the city, a community rink was converted into a homeless men’s shelter at the height of the pandemic. As parents and community members began to organize protest against the usurping of their place for hockey and pickleball, the City of Ottawa Housing Department looked for a new location.

They fixed on Dempsey Community Centre.

Dempsey Community Centre in the heart of social housing in the near-by Alta Vista neighbourhood was chosen as a replacement. You can read about this here in the only article written about all this in Ottawa. The article makes no comment, no editorial, no judgment on the move. The article misses the important fact that local families were not consulted even though they had signed their kids up for recreational programs with Christie Lake Kids, a city-wide foundation that runs recreational programming in low-income neighbourhoods.

In better days, Dempsey was a place for Russel Heights youth to play and take part in important community partnerships. Here is an example from two years ago where the Ottawa Police played basketball with Russel Heights youth at Dempsey.

I hope you watch this video and read this article from the Ottawa Citizen – ‘Ball is life:’ How Ottawa police are building relationships through basketball.

The beauty of Dempsey is that kids could walk over from their homes and participate in a wide variety of programming through Christie Lake Kids – all that programming is now gone.

Understandably, Christie Lake Kids has been silent about the loss of one of their key centers for community programming. What can they possibly do? For them at this point to advocate for their youth would risk losing more programming from the City of Ottawa.

This is one of the essential problems with programs based on charity. It is always a handout. We do this because we are in power and we can – but don’t ever challenge us. Don’t ever question our decisions.

The City Councillor Jean Cloutier has defended the move saying all the right people were consulted, no one objected. His level of advocacy for marginalized youth in his own community is a disgrace. When contacted he assured us that he had followed all the requisite steps. His conscience is clear.

These are racialized youth, these are underrepresented families. These are people with no power. This is a racist act made by people who have nothing to fear – no one speaks up for these people. They know they don’t have to worry about decisions that affect people in this neighbourhood.

A few weeks ago there was a huge furor on the local  Ottawa CBC when a backyard youth Shakespeare group was shut down by local by-law officers for making too much noise. We heard about this story every second day. A quick Google search turned up 18 separate articles about this! Through the advocacy of people with power, the troupe was moved to one of the premier theatres in Ottawa to complete their performances.

Good for them but there were some big differences between the troupe and Russell Heights. They came from a well-off mainly white neighbourhood. They got the support of local (CBC) media because it was a ‘good’ story. They had an effective voice. They had real power.

The kids and families have none of these advantages. CBC showed very little interest in the story – who cares about poor neighbourhoods in Ottawa. The press coverage was minimal – again who cares?

Situations like this make me angry. The injustice and overt racism in this story are incredible. This is tragic.

Yes, this is an example of the growing incivility of our times. Should the men’s shelter exist – of course. Did it need to displace fully enrolled children’s programs at Dempsey – of course not.

This is a case of inattention by City staff and a City Councillor who really didn’t care. Why should they? They knew no one in Russel Heights would protest. These people are used to stuff like this, why would they object?

No one sees them.

If people don’t start caring in the times of COVID when will they start caring? Why can’t we be understanding and compassionate for all communities, not just the rich, white ones? Why does no one seem to care?

 

 

Make it a Story – Climb for Kids Kilimanjaro

On By paulmcguire2013In InnovationLeave a comment

So yesterday I got this encouraging note from Allan Neal of CBC Ottawa.

This was in response to my tweet about wanting to get some media coverage for Climb for Kids – a pretty difficult thing to do in the very crowded stage of radio and television coverage. I do agree, telling the story is what it is all about. Having a hook that will get people’s attention is a challenge, when there are so many stories out there in our city.

Elia Saikaly, an Ottawa native shot this video of the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro using a drone – this is where we plan to be in early August 2020

So, here we go. Here are some of the stories:

  • in 2017, middle -age, freshly retired and very tired principal climbs Mount Kilimanjaro with an organization that has raised over $1 Million for Ottawa organizations;
  • family decides – in collaboration with Christie Lake Kids Foundation (CLK) – to initiate Climb for Kids combining philanthropy with travel adventures and personal challenges;
  • over $67,000 is raised in two years;
  • 17 climbers ranging in age from 21 to 72 trek Apu Ausangate (Rainbow Mountains) in Peru reaching heights of 5200 metres; the next year, 14 trekkers trek 170 km around the Mont Blanc Massif, walking for 11 days through difficult terrain and heatwaves;
  • kids living across Ottawa, ranging in age from 8 – 16 years, benefit directly from the fundraising in sports and STEM programs;
  • local bands, businesses and individuals contribute time and money to Climb for Kids, including “Barry and the Blasters”;
  • in 2019, a growing group of new and old trekkers prepare for the climb to the Roof of Africa, July 2020.

The full story we wrote for CBC can be found here.

There are so many ways to start a story like this. From Paul’s perspective, he comes at this from a few angles. First, the climbing. “I am 61 years old and I fell in love with trekking in 2017 when I joined a group of 31 trekkers who climbed to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise money for programs for local charitable organizations here in Ottawa. The climbing was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. I was able to raise over $9,000 for local programs. “

The following year, my partner, Heather Swail, and I decided to develop our own program so we could channel money and support to Christie Lake Kids (CLK) – an organization here in Ottawa that supports children in low-income families across the city. CLK has been and continues to be an important part of our own family story.

We know Christie Lake Kids through many perspectives: all three of our own kids have worked at the camp; Our eldest, Liam, currently is the associate director of the organization; Heather and I have taught and worked with many of the CLK kids who attend recreation programs and summer camp. We know firsthand what a difference caring adults and skill-building programs make to kids and their families.

Poverty and bad luck are situational: they should not define and restrict opportunities for kids. Through truly transformative, recreation programs – e.g., hockey, music lessons, cooking, leadership programs, they are doing something unique – day by day, trying to break the cycle of poverty firmly entrenched here in Ottawa and empower children to change the direction of their lives.

Because Christie Lake Kids is really a social justice venture we are propelled to recruit people every year to bring them trekking. We help them with their training, we pick the routes and we put on a series of great fundraising parties throughout the year.

Our year I team at our first fundraiser at Fatboys in the Market

We know we are going in the right direction, every year we pick up new partners and friends who are helping this to become a really dynamic project here in Ottawa.

Our group members really make this special. We have some people who have been with us for three years now, others join us for a year but continue to support us and spread the news. Our group members support each other and learn to work together, not only to train but to raise money. In the first two years of Climb for Kids, we have raised close to $60,000. This year, we plan to raise an additional $40,000.

Here is a short video from Tara Howlett, one of our trekkers in Peru – Year I of Climb for Kids

Our climbers are great. The video above was taken by Tara Howlett, one of the trekkers who joined us in Year I. Tara took many more videos like this during the five-day high altitude trek in the Ausangate Range in Peru. Her journal became the basis for the film we created about the first year journey.

On the Year II trek around the Mont Blanc Massif, another one of our climbers, Jodie Beyer actually broke her foot on the fourth day of a twelve-day trek. She kept on trekking in incredibly hot and dry conditions and only realized she had broken her foot when she returned to Canada.

These treks are really hard. Our first trek in Peru was over 4800 m for five days. Many suffered through the cold and high altitude, but everybody made it. Last summer, we trekked over 170 km through France, Switzerland and Italy, camping the whole way. It was simply beautiful but many times it was also a real struggle.

A video
paul took at the top of the Col de Tricot – one of the hardest climbs we did on the TMB

So this year we are taking on Mt. Kilimanjaro. This will be another great challenge. Kilimanjaro is very hard for a regular trekker. It is a long seven to eight-day trek, all at high altitude. We will climb through five ecological zones. While we start in the rain forest, by summit day we are living in arctic tundra. The summit is at 5,895 metres (19,341 ft) and as we climb altitude sickness becomes a real concern for everyone.

Our group in 2017 – scrambling up the Barranco Wall

I know this will be a very challenging climb and we are hoping to bring lots of trekkers with us. This is not for everyone and the process of recruiting people to take on the trek is a very slow one – one that drives me a little crazy! Right now we have 13 climbers and we would love to eventually have 20 people on the journey. We want to make it to $40,000 this year so we can reach the $100,000 mark for Christie Lake Kids.

In all of this there is lots of adversity, but maybe this is just a reflection of the challenges many of the kids CLK supports face every day. There needs to be change, there needs to be hope – this is why we do this – Communities Move Mountains.

Paul McGuire, Heather Swail Ottawa, November 2019

Climb for Kids Year II TMB

Self-Regulation and Evangelism in Education

On By paulmcguire2013In Fads in Education, school reform, Social emotional learning, The Class Struggle Podcast5 Comments

Why and how did Canadian elementary schools become so enthralled with “mindfulness” and “self-regulation”?  What critical education issues were either obscured or ignored in pursuit of pseudo-scientific cures for today’s classroom challenges? What will be the legacy of turning the younger grades into therapeutic classroom environments? What does all of this portend for Canadian K-12 education in 2017 and beyond?

Dr. Stan Kutcher

Many years ago I travelled to the Dominican Republic with some of my students. This was easily a transformative experience for me. I witnessed true poverty and injustice in the streets of Dominican towns and especially in the hovels of the sugar cane plantations called bateys.

a batey in the Dominican Republic. Modern-day slavery

Everything is wrong about how people, especially Haitians, are treated in the Dominican Republic, but there is one thing that really stuck out during my visits. One constant presence on the bateys were the evangelical churches.

I bring this up here for a post on the self-regulation movement because there is a link I want to explore. The evangelicals were very popular on the bateys because their ministers did not call into question the injustice of their situation on the plantations. Their reward was elsewhere – not in protesting against the grinding poverty they suffered so we could all have cheap sugar.

Here is the link. Self-regulation never calls into question a system that lends inadequate support to educators in their struggle to teach in a peaceful environment. Rather, self-regulation or mindfulness calls on the educator to transform their inner self and the inner selves of their students to create a peaceful environment in the classroom.

There is no need to advocate for change because the change is within us.

In the past few days, I have received a fair amount of push back for posting about the self-regulation movement. Fair enough, the conversation is a healthy one. We are gearing up for an episode of the Class Struggle podcast on this topic, but we aren’t ready yet. More conversation is needed.

What I find interesting is the push back. People are writing about how self-regulation has transformed their lives and has saved their careers. People write stories about how they were able to transform a situation with a hug while other staff looked on.

Statements like this make me uncomfortable. They have a certain whiff of evangelism. You just need to see the light and your classroom will be at peace. Nothing else is necessary.

My former school board loves self-regulation. Why wouldn’t they? By putting it back on educators to transform their students there would no longer be a need to spend more on educational assistants. There would be no need to lobby the government to change the way we approach the education of our children.

It’s a simple solution.

At one point, our local ‘self-regulation consultant’ came to see me to complain about a new teacher in our school. During her observations, she did not see any ‘evidence of self-regulation in the classroom.’ I think she expected me to march right in and get that fixed. To be honest, I really didn’t know what she wanted or expected. I did know that we weren’t following the new orthodoxy and that this needed to change.

Nothing changed and the consultant moved on to spread more of the good news.

Self-Regulation is based on Mindfulness and Mindfulness is heavily influenced by Buddhism. I think Mindfulness is really great and I have practised it for many years. It is intensely personal and takes years of practice to get good at it. From a Buddhist perspective, you never really get good at this, your whole life is spent working on getting better.

Paul Bennett has written a series of articles (Teaching ‘Stressed-Out’ Kids: Why is the Self-Regulation Movement Spreading?) on self-regulation. They are worth reading. I won’t summarize his writing here, but he makes some very good points about the nature of the self-regulation movement and the approach it is taking in our schools.

I got into this most recent debate not because I wanted to write about self-regulation. I wanted to highlight the important CBC piece on the Sunday edition about violence in schools. This became a bit of a rant about self-regulation when it was suggested that the solution to violence in schools is self-regulation.

I have to push back against this idea. No one idea will save our education system. An idea based on developing a stronger sense of self puts an undue burden on the educator. There is a strong current of evangelism in the current self-regulation movement that blurs our vision when it comes to what is truly needed in our schools.

Violence is tearing at the heart of our education system, we need to keep a clear focus on the problem and avoid distraction.

 

The Podcast Broadcast – This week, it’s all about music!

On By paulmcguire2013In Leaning in, The Podcast Broadcast, voicEd Radio2 Comments

I took a little break from podcasting and blogging in November. There are lots of things going on here that kept me away from my computer and it didn’t hurt to be away in Italy with our son Liam for two weeks.

Now I have a great reason for getting back to writing. I am preparing for another episode of the Podcast Broadcast with Stephen Hurley that will be on VoicEd Radio later this week. I have spent a few days combing through tracks and I think I am ready to go. This week, I am trying the thematic approach and we are focusing on podcasts about music.

artwork for The Gav Session, a new podcast coming out of Belleville all about teaching music at the elementary level.

So, I tried something different. I went into VoicEd Radio and did a search on music. I also sent a note to Stephen and asked him for podcasts on music. Together, we came up with some really interesting material. This shows that the ever-evolving database of VoicEd Radio podcasts is a great resource for educators no matter what you are teaching. Making the podcasts more searchable is something we will continue to work on.

So this week we will be looking at work by Gavin Foster, a music teacher from Belleville, the  Bedley Brothers, Shane Lawrence, and Mark Carbone. They are all talking about music and education. Pretty ambitious for one podcast, but I have been away for around a month now, so I need to do some catching up.

When I moved to elementary, I found that one of the most important subjects was music. Generally, there was only one music teacher in the school and they had the responsibility to teach everyone in the building about music. In many cases, by grade 7 and 8, this might be the last formal music instruction students would get – ever.

When you think about this, it is a pretty immense responsibility.

We talk and write lots about math these days, especially in Ontario where math scores on EQAO have become a regional obsession. It would be great to step away for a while from the imbalance this is creating and look instead at how we are developing an appreciation for art in our schools.

I have to throw in at least one reference to our Roman holiday here. What endures now in the Eternal City is not so much the math that was done by ancient scholars but the beautiful artwork that still graces the city. Art is universal and it speaks to all of us at some level.

art endures

Back to podcasts – Gavin Foster is new to podcasting and he is doing some really interesting reflections on his current teaching practices. This is important work – I think we need more teachers broadcasting about what is working and sometimes not working in their classrooms.

He starts out in a podcast entitled ‘Tech Fail’ by talking about a new program called BandLab and relates how he tries to set up one of his classes almost as they walk into the room. I can certainly relate to that, this is easily something I would do!

Although this first attempt doesn’t work too well, he persists and by the next podcast, Bandlab has become one of his teaching tools.

You can hear him here as he discusses how to develop a great reflection on the iconic Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot.

I like how Gavin flips his classroom, it must be really great to be a student in his class. He is willing to try new types of technology and he readily shares what he is learning with others.

The next podcast is from the Bedley Brothers. Apart from the fact that they have the best intro for an education podcast, the brothers always have interesting guests and topics on their eclectic broadcast. In this one, the main topic is all about using music to engage students. The interviewee here is not a music teacher but uses music to keep his social studies students engaged.

Tal Thompson uses songs like Hall of Fame, by Script a song about confidence and being the best you can be. A pretty important message for kids to hear every day. He also uses current pop songs and changes the lyrics to fit the content. For example, what is the greatest break-up song ever?  Taylor Swift, ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ – sings America to King George. There must be a Canadian equivalent!

I never did this as a history teacher but as a principal, we always played a song over the PA at the end of the day on Fridays. This was a pretty cool thing to do – the kids loved it!

Music engages.

Shane Lawrence always does great interviews about the teaching life. This one is called  – ‘Music for Rebels’ with Emily Langerholc. This is a great conversation and Emily is really entertaining. She has so much to say about teaching music, I could really listen to more from her. She has a great attitude and a terrific sense of humour!

This is from her blog masthead

Welcome! My name is Emily and I teach music. If you’re looking for teachable moments in popular music, you’re in the right place. Commentary and free teaching goodies are also included.

Content is available on the blog, which you can read here!

Teachable pop songs are listed & organized here!

I teach traditional ensemble music classes (band & chorus), but my after-school class materials are sponsored by Little Kids Rock.

To find out more about people all around the country (and world!) who are involved in Popular Music Education, I urge you to look into and join the Association of Popular Music Education, aka APME.

If you are so moved, you can support my writing/conference travel/etc. by buying me a coffee!

 

 

This blog is an amazing resource. If you are reading this and you know a music teacher please share this with them. I did already.

The podcast ranges all over the landscape of teaching music in elementary school. One part I found particularly interesting has to do with using pop music in the classroom. Her question is interesting – why would you not use the tool of popular music in the classroom. If you are teaching time signatures for example, why not challenge your students by betting if any song on the radio is in 4:4 time (she does this).

Finally, Stephen Hurley put me on to this podcast. It is by Mark Carbone and it can be found here on his blog. Soon it will be on VoicEd Radio and I will be certain to tag it under ‘music’.

This one really blew me away. It is an interview with former CBC broadcaster and Peabody Award Winner Jowi Taylor. We used to listen to Jowi Taylor on Saturday nights on CBC. He hosted a ground-breaking show called Global Village that was all about international music. It was a weekly tour around the world that actually encouraged travellers to record their own features that were later broadcast on the show. The show was cancelled in 2007 and there has been nothing like it since.

The interview with Mark is all about a current project by Jowi called ‘Six String Nation‘. It started while he was still hosting Global Village and it continues to this day.

The idea has a real nation-building quality to it. A guitar called Voyageur was constructed from 64 pieces of bone, metal, wood, stone and horn. It was constructed to act as a symbol of national unity and its contains pieces come from across the country.

Jowi describes the project here

This is pretty exciting stuff and it is really wonderful to hear the entirety of Mark’s interview. I took four clips from the 26-minute broadcast and I don’t know if I will get them all in, it is that good of a segment.

I will get in a short clip at the end of Mark’s podcast. Near the conclusion, Jowi’s challenges the audience (you) to help him come up with focused, coherent workshops for students in different grades. This is a great challenge and I hope this is something that VoicEd Radio will be involved in starting in 2019.

Here is the final clip

This would be a great way to truly integrate music, story-telling, art and country into a workshop – what a great opportunity!

This is lots for one podcast. We will see how far we get. Writing all this down is a sort of pledge to get it all done. I hope you listen to us – let’s see (or hear) how it goes!

 

Talking Nationally About Violence in the Schools and Looking for Solutions

On By paulmcguire2013In Christie Lake Kids, Climb for Kids, Hope, Innovation, Poverty in Schools, school reformLeave a comment

Cross-country Checkup is a good way to measure what issues are of interest to Canadians every week. This CBC show has been on for many years and it has always been a good barometer of public opinion. This week, the topic is violence in the schools and the danger staff face on a regular basis.

This became a public issue last week when an Ottawa teacher went public with a violent incident that ended his teaching career.

One issue that is being brought up this afternoon is the very dangerous situation educational assistants (EAs) find themselves every day. While I don’t know many teachers who have been injured on the job, I regularly witnessed EAs being injured. They were also verbally abused by students and parents and were seldom able to seek any recourse for what happened to them.

Is this a systemic problem? Why are we hearing so much about this now that a floodgate has been opened?

I think it comes down to an overemphasis on individual rights over collective rights. When I suspended students, it was to protect the collective. The individual had lost the right to be part of the school community, therefore they were suspended. I used this line with parents and it (of course) was not appreciated. However, suspension, especially starting in grade 7 was an effective tool and I hope high school vice principals are still able to use it. Our job was to protect staff and students. 

On the other hand, you could say that ejecting a student doesn’t solve anything. Suspension is a necessary sanction, but what is happening that leads to behaviours that lead to a suspension?

Education is an incredibly labour-intensive field. Typically, when governments want to save money on education there is only one way to do this, staff gets cut or the necessary staff are not hired.

From my perspective as an administrator, the best way to assist children, especially those with emotional or mental health issues is to have enough staff in the building to care for these students. This means more EAs, more social workers, and more in-school therapists.

The conversation continued long after the show and it included tweets like this:

Obviously, we didn’t reach any conclusions, but it is an important discussion.

I let this post sit for a few days. It is a sad topic and it is really hard to find the positives. Then last night, I attended the information meeting for a new fundraising program we are starting – Christie Lake Climb for Kids! I have written about this before on this blog. It’s an exciting opportunity and I hope we get 16 participants for this first expedition.

a reason for hope – our Christie Lake Kids meeting last night

What was really refreshing for me last night was the presentation on Christie Lake Kids. This program offers a wide variety of recreational services for low-income kids. They run a terrific summer camp along with programming throughout the year including cooking classes, a fully funded hockey team and a whole variety of after-school programs in some of the most challenging neighbourhoods here in Ottawa.

I think I needed to be reminded that while we have some really challenging problems in our schools, there are some really forward-thinking organizations like Christie Lake that are offering solutions.

More suspensions and more blame will not ease the problems of violence in our schools. Progressive recreational programming like Christie Lake will offer solutions that at least will address some of the challenges we are facing in our schools.

It has been an interesting week. Lots of discussion on how we are facing a crisis in our schools and one really positive way to find a solution that really helps kids.

For my part, I want to focus on some progressive solutions. I hope others do too!

From CBC’s The 180 – It’s Time to End Public Funding for Catholic Schools

On By paulmcguire2013In Catholic Schools in Ontario, governance and public education, school reformLeave a comment

This morning on CBC’s The 180, there was a great 7-minute feature on public funding of Catholic schools. You can listen to the piece here.

The piece is really interesting. Charles Pascal, a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, has been making the argument that Ontario should have one secular school system for some time.

The topic is re-emerging in Ontario since OPEN – One Public Education Now launched a court challenge stating that public funding of Catholic schools violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Two points struck me in this piece. First, politicians in Ontario are terribly risk-adverse and are not willing to challenge a political decision that was first taken back in the days of Egerton Ryerson to publicly fund Catholic schools. Pascal raises the question of why legislators are so afraid. Similar moves have been made in Newfoundland and Quebec in the past few years and the sky did not fall.

In Ontario, touching funding of Catholic schools is considered the ‘The Third Rail’ According to Wikipedia, the third rail of a nation’s politics is a metaphor for any issue so controversial that it is “charged” and “untouchable” to the extent that any politician or public official who dares to broach the subject will invariably suffer politically.

The second point that was very interesting had to do with public opinion about Catholic schools. According to Pascal, up to 70% of Ontario’s population is in favour of one public system, but the 30% in favour are powerful and as Pascal characterizes it ‘voracious’ in their support of the system.

I can understand this. Everytime I post on this topic, I get all sorts of negative comments and sometimes these attacks come from Catholic educators, some I worked with for years. I will get more negative comments after this post – mostly in the vein of not being ‘loyal’ or being naive about how the world works etc, etc. I will be unfollowed or blocked by more Catholic educators. So it goes.

To be clear, I worked in the Catholic system for 31 years the last six as a principal. Based on my experience, there is no logical reason for keeping this system in place. I was a committed Catholic educator for all these years, but to me fairness and equity are more important that propping up a system that is now an anachronism.