Segovia: “Music For The Guitar”

Continuing my exploration of the history of the guitar as a concert instrument, today I am digging into “Music for The Guitar”, an LP released in the late sixties/early seventies featuring the immortal titan of classical guitar, Andrés Segovia.

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Guitar Music & Songs of the Spanish Renaissance

Guitar Music & Songs of the Spanish Renaissance (LP, 1968, Everest)

Today being Thursday, I am exploring the ultimate throwback in the form of the earliest surviving compositions for the guitar, contained on this remarkable and arcane slab of vinyl.

The King Is Dead

Wherein Sam Taylor and I come to terms with the passing of a legend…

In Conversation With Daniel Lanois @ TIFF

Last night I had the supreme pleasure of attending an evening billed as “In Coversation With Daniel Lanois” the the TIFF Bell Lightbox. Any time I get a chance to hear a great artist, an icon, talk about their work, I jump at the opportunity.

Jason Sadites: “Tales”

Jason Sadites: “Tales” (2014)

The ultimate goal of musicianship, as I understand it, is to reach a point where personal expression is not limited by external factors like technical ability or straightforward commercialism. Once you’ve reached a point where you can play anything that comes to mind, then the great infinite plateau of musical ideas stretches out before you like an ocean of time. On his latest release, guitarist and composer Jason Sadites has further shed the trappings of the concept of “genre”, and entered into a rich world of diffused pure instrumental expression. By tapping a couple of world-class musicians to accompany him, he has exponentially multiplied the sonic possibilities of the guitar as a composition tool. Unbound by mechanics, he is free to roam his own particular universe as a guitar-wielding free radical.

Some Reminiscences on Black Sabbath

Here is something you should drop to your knees for, and worship…

When I was about 17 or 18, I spent a couple of weeks during the summer working at a “fun park”, the kind of place where they have mini-golf and go karts and so-on. Sounds alright, doesn’t it?

Interview: Sam Taylor

Roots rocker Sam Taylor of Sam Taylor & The East End Love.

Sam Taylor has had a strange and wonderful journey as a musician. He began as a professional jazz singer when he was a child, and he eventually found his way to the guitar and inevitably to the blues. Since then has been plying his distinct trade in Toronto venues and across Southern Ontario. His music is a potent mix of roots genres, which he dubs “soul rock”. With his band The East End Love, he’s been scorching Toronto bars for the last few years.

Craig Mainprize: “Positively Falling Apart”

Craig Mainprize, “Positively Falling Apart” (LP, 2014)

If falling apart is a necessary part of the process of self-discovery, then the key is to let the pieces fall into some kind of recognizable pattern. On his latest release “Positively Falling Apart”, Craig Mainprize is deconstructing his previous identity as an indie/folk-rocker and recreating himself as a kind of neo-soul electronic poet.

Will Gillespie: “Learning How To Let Go”

“Learning How To let Go” by Will Gillespie

“Move as quickly as you can/ you’ll never be this young again.”- Never Be This Young

Will Gillespie’s latest album “Learning How to Let Go” is intimate in the extreme. You can hear fingers touching guitar strings. You can hear the air in the studio. You can practically hear the dust floating around the room. Gillespie’s voice is completely unadorned and closely recorded, like he’s singing into your ear without any amplification. The percussion is simple and unobtrusive, letting the guitar and the odd instrumental solo take centre stage, along with the voice. Then there are otherworldly touches of analogue drum machine, which places the album firmly in the present musical climate. It’s an electro-jazz-folk-rock album by a fidgety songwriter who is looking within to find the guidance he needs to navigate the external world.

Lee Ranaldo & The Dust- “Last Night On Earth”

I find it fascinating how Sonic Youth has split up so neatly into its constituent parts. Kim Gordon is exploring abstraction and noise with Body/Head, Thurston Moore is riffing his way through the history of punk and metal with Chelsea Light Moving, and Lee Ranaldo is making arguably the biggest gains by marrying his extensive range of guitar techniques and tones to what might be called traditional rock song craft.