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15 Years of Cables 'n Knobs
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
This is an article I've been meaning to write for years now, since at least 2006, but I just never got around to it. Well today I decided to get around to it. Join me as I walk back through the years and look at all of the different incarnations my dj gear has taken...
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Non-DJ Performance: Univox presents
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
It's Christmas concert season again, and Univox has a great show lined up this year. I'm really loving a lot of the music Dallas has put together for this concert, and it's really beautiful stuff, a mix of classical and modern choral Christmas music. The choir is also sounding amazing, even more so that we've grown in size: we're up to 70 people now!
The concert will feature works by local composers Sarah Quartel and Ben Ji-Soo Kim. Quartel’s Snow Angel is a beautiful and unique piece that incorporates dramatic narratives between choral music and piano, cello and percussion accompaniment. We are honoured to welcome Samuel Bisson on cello once again this year.
We are also fortunate to perform a carol composed by new Toronto resident Ben Ji-Soo Kim, an accomplished composer who has had works published with Earthworks and premiered by the renowned Los Angeles Master Chorale. You can listen to Ben's A Christmas Carol here.
The concert will also include contemporary favourites, Ave Maria – Franz Biebl, A Hymn to the Virgin, and Stroope’s All My Heart this Night Rejoices.
Details: Univox present Snow Angel
Dec 10, 8pm
Christ Church Deer Park
1570 Yonge Street
Tickets are $15 in advance either through me or online. $20 at the door.
Facebook Event
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Heading out on Moby's Trip
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
It's been a long time since I put up a new dj mix - almost a year actually - and I didn't want to make another post without actually having a dj mix to share with you...so if I'm posting, that means I have something. :)
I give you Moby's Trip, a deep tech house mix with some progressive house shiney bits. On Mixcloud and Soundcloud.
The mix was originally inspired by my Mom, not so much the musical choices but the little "trick" I've set up in the mix. My Mom was a Suzuki piano teacher, where you learn how to play a musical instrument by ear rather than by sight reading. She had these "endless" cassettes that had a mechanism that would loop the tape, so her students could listen to the song over and over again, with out end.
So I put this mix together so that you can put it on loop and it will seamless mix the end into the beginning, allowing you to play mix indefinitely with no break. 'Cuz you'll totally want to do that. :)
As for the title, it's a little math joke courtesty of my friend Mike and has nothing to do with Moby at all. If you don't get it right away, check out the mix cover on Mix- or Soundcloud, it might help. :)
Hope you enjoy it!
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Spinning at Everyone's a DJ @Disgraceland, July 9
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
If you're in Toronto this upcoming saturday night, I'll be dropping a short 20 min set at Disgraceland, in the 10pm slot as part of the monthly Everyone's a DJ party. Haven't quite settled on a set yet, but there's some banging funk tunes from groups like The Basement Freaks and The Heavy that will likely figure into the evening.
Come by for the eclectic song selection, stay for the brews and excellent fries. (Did I mention Disgraceland also has deep fried twinkies on the menu?)
Everyone's a DJ @Disgraceland
965 Bloor Street West
Full schedule on the facebook event page
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Non-dj Performance: Univox, "Prayer and Rememberance"
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
Long time, no post, mail out, anything! Truth be told, the winter chill's got to these here dj bones, and I've been hibernating a bit, cutting down on my multi-tasking and trying to focus on one project at a time (in this case, some family audio archiving and restoration), and generally trying not to start new things. Basically taking some personal time, so I haven't really been on the decks or djing much. I've also been listening to a lot of folk music. Hey, it happens. :)
In the meantime, my choir Univox will be performing some uplifting, beautiful music at our winter concert on March 20th.
The 411: A choral concert featuring the premiere of two new works — A Katyn Prayer, and Through Snowy Winds — by Univox Composer-in-Residence, Norbert Palej. Also including Svyati, Song for Athene, and Funeral Ikos by John Tavener. With cellist Samuel Bisson and Gary Diggins on didgeridoo. (Yup, didgeridoo!!)
Tickets are $15 in advance online or $20 at the door.
What: Prayer and Remembrance
Who: Univox Choir
Where: First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto
175 St.Clair Avenue West (West of Avenue Road)
When: Monday Dec 13th, 8pm
How much: $15 in advance
Buy tickets online: http://univoxchoir.org/tickets
FB Event Page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=152255798161339
Also, like I said, I've been listening to a lot of folk music lately, 'n I had a chance to check out local girl-folk band The Billie Hollies at their CD release party last weekend. They do really great, quirky, honey-dipped folk music that feels like it's wrapping you up in a blanket, perfect for this dead-of-winter weather we're having in Toronto lately. They have a really thick sound, thanks to their varied and interesting instrumentation (french horn, glockenspiel, autoharp, bass clarinet!)
You can check them and their here: www.myspace.com/thebilliehollies
They have a show coming up at the Tranzac Club, Sun, Mar 13 at 3pm, and I can't think if a better way to spend a lazy afternoon. (Except possibly for the nap I'm going to go have right after I hit send on this)
FB event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=158808700841056
That's it for now. Hopefully see you at the concert on the 20th, and keep an eye out for new mixes 'n maybe another party in the coming months.
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Thanks! Plus Univox Gig, Christmas DJ Mix, and the Right Amount of Har
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
First, a big big thank you to everybody who came out to Heart For The City on friday night! We had a great crowd near capacity at the Bang Bang Bar, collected several boxes of food for the Sharing Place and had a great time while doing it.
Also a big thanks to Jai and Chris for throwing down some dope, dance floor rockin' beats! Always a pleasure working with these two.
In case you missed it, you can listen 'n download my Heart For The City preview mix at the following, fine websites...
Stream: http://www.mixcloud.com/djshagz/heart-for-the-city-preview-mix/
Download: http://soundcloud.com/dj-shagz/heart-for-the-city-preview-mix
Second, just a reminder about my choir, Univox, is having our Christmas concert next monday night! Shaping up to be a really good show, we practice the Dave Matthews song with our guest artist on monday night, should be really magical. :) And Eric Whitacre's "Lux Aurumque" is heavenly...you can hear it here, performed by the first virtual choir on YouTube. (Sorry, none of Univox is that vid, alas and alack)
Tickets are $15 in advance (available online at http://tickets.univoxchoir.org), $20 at the door. You can still get 'em through me in person, but I'll have to work to get you sorted out on that front.
What: The Light That Shines
Who: Univox Choir
Where: Christ Church Deer Park (1570 Yonge Street, 1 block North of St. Clair)
When: Monday Dec 13th, 8pm
How much: $15 in advance (tickets online, or through me in person)
What again: A holiday concert featuring music from the secular, Jewish and Christian traditions, including traditional choral works by Francis Poulenc, Eric Whitacre, Healey Willan, and contemporary popular Christmas songs as performed by Dave Matthews, Amy Grant, and John Denver. Come have your hearts warmed by the spirit of the season!
Buy tickets online: http://univoxchoir.org/tickets
FB Event Page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=131955186861098
Lots of lounge and heart warming cheer from the greats like Lou Rawls, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee and more, plus updated beats 'n remix from Ohmega Watts, A Skillz and others. It's all win, really. :)
And lastly, been meaning to post this for awhile...the vinyl vs. mp3, turntable vs. laptop debate has been going on for (what seems like) years, but I've never heard the argument framed quite like this: are turntablists just ticked off that laptops have made it *easy* to dj? And if so, how do laptop jockeys compensate?
Another excellent post from DJ Tech Tools.
This is probably my last mail out of 2010 as well, so I'll also wish you a very blessed and safe Christmas. Despite all the sadness in my life these past 12 months, there's a been a lot of great times as well, and I have definitely been at my happiest when I've been dropping beats for you guys, be it through an mp3 flipped across the www, or seeing your the sweaty smiles in person on the dance floor.
Thanks for making it such a great year to dj, hope to see you all again in the next one.
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Interview with Podcast Blast up!
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
I couple weeks ago I got an email from a Clevland-based web magazine, Podcast Blast, to do an interview. The interview went up last week and I'm quite happy with it! Just basically talking about trends in djing, where things were and where they're at now, where they're going. Head on over and check out page 4 & 5 for the interview!
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TIFF 2010 Reviews via Twitter
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
I love this time of year, love the weather. The crisp air, the clear blue skies...there's a certain energy about it.
And it also reminds me of the Toronto Film Festival!
Each of the previous years I've tried to post my reviews of all the movies I've seen in the fest, with varying amounts of success. Last year I didn't post anything though. This is mainly because I saw so many (about 16 or 17). It was definitely too much, I was falling asleep in the theatres near the end.
So this year I'm doing things differently. I'm seeing less films (about 11) and I'm posting micro reviews on my Twitter feed. So if you love film and you want to know what to watch out for in the coming year, just follow me on Twitter and you'll get just the essential bits you need to know. :)
Happy festing!
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Film Fest 2008 Reviews...a few days before TIFF 2009 starts :P
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
So, I never did get around to posting my reviews from TIFF 2008, and the 2009 edition is right around the corner. I'm ashamed. I think I explicitly promised that I would write more frequently last year, get the reviews out of my head soon after watching the flicks instead of waiting until after the festival. But no luck, not with a packed schedule of 15 movies (a new record for me),
So, here's my quick, off the cuff reviews of the 2008 Toronto Film Festival.
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The Lost Fingers
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
Pretty cool jazz/folk band from Quebec, doing originals but spice it up with covers of 80's tunes. They turn You Shook Me All Night Long into a late night drunken sing-a-long, which is way more fun than the original...but it's their jumping gypsy-jive swing versions of Pump Up The Jam and Billie Jean that are going to get the party started!!
(Thanks to Andrew for the recco!!)
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There's some great Canadian cinema in theatres right now.
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
Not sure how this started, but I've been on a bit of Canadian movie kick lately.
First was Charles Officer's Nurse.Fighter.Boy (trailer), a great little indie urban romance that takes place in Toronto and features a heavy Jamaican influence/connection. (Dope soundtrack too)
Then Lars and The Real Girl. (ok, not *really* Canadian, but it was filmed in Canada and Ryan Gosling's a Canadian)
Today I saw Pontypool, a pretty creepy/scary, darkly comedic (in a Canadian way) "zombie" thriller starring Stephen McHattie and directed by Bruce McDonald (of "Hardcore Logo" fame). It's a great flick, I highly recommend it if you like zombie films or thrillers or Bruce McDonald. (Also check out Fido, another great Canadian zombie flick)
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The Watchmen
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
A visually stunning and ridiculously faithful envisioning of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's seminal graphic novel. Visually stunning...and a bit too long.
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Video Games, Music and DK Jungle Beat
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
A short missive and look back at one of my favourite games on the GC, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat by Boing Boing's video game site, Off World. Author Margaret Robertson makes an interesting (and strangely obvious, once you hear it) comparison between games and musical instruments, code and orchestral scores, players and, well, players.
I contest that Harmonix knew all along what they were doing when they made Guitar Hero, that they made the explicit connection between musical rhythm and game rhythm. I think they just transferred Dance Dance Revolution onto a fret board.
What I'd like to see is more games like Jungle Beat, where a musical instrument control device is used to play something other than a musical simulation game. Imagine a House of the Dead rails shooter controlled by guitar, or an RTS played on a 32-note keyboard?
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A Note From My Dad
Posted By: Shagz
Date:
My Dad shared a thought with me today, inspired by President-Elect Obama's win yesterday in the US Elections. He commented that for him, the big historic election was 1960 with JFK, at a time when "everyone thought that a Catholic couldn't become President".
I clearly remember my father saying something similar as we watched the Berlin Wall fall on TV back in the early 90's. And had we been in the same room, I'm sure a similar conversation would have ensued when the WTC towers collapsed. We have been, and are currently, living in very important, rapidly changing times.
Earlier today, I wasn't really seeing Obama's election as necessarily "historic" or "ground breaking". I just saw it as a foregone conclusion, I suppose. That Barack should win the US election was a given, something that just made sense with the times we were living in, he was the man for the moment. I'm not quite sure I'm explaining it right. I guess my response is less "This is amazing, I never thought I would see the day" and more "It totally makes sense that he won, the US and the world need an intelligent, calm leader at the head of the world's most powerful nation; there was never any doubt".
But my Dad's comment really brought it home: this really is a big deal. I'm not American nor am I black, but you don't have to be either to know that race issues in America are incredibly complex and dirty. The fact that Obama, being black and having a middle name of Hussien, still managed to win, says a lot, either about how much America has changed and grown, or just how desperate they are for a new direction.
Very important times, indeed.
Obama now has a lot riding on his shoulders. Regardless of the issues that come with his race, experience or age, America's in a pretty bad spot right now and there's a massive challenge ahead. I believe he's up to the task, but it doesn't stop me from hoping and praying that after all this, America made the right choice.
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