small venue, big music (stream of passion and unexpect)

Stream of Passion
Originally uploaded by kill eat exploit the weak

Several years ago now I got a chance to interview Stream of Passion vocalist Marcela Bovio for Unrestrained!. I was enchanted by the band's first album Embrace the Storm and it was a delight to chat with her about it. New record The Flame Within hadn't really registered with me the same way (or really had the chance), but when I found out the band was doing a small Canadian tour I knew I had to go see them perform.

The opening bands initially gave me a few extra frown lines (read Natalie Zed's review at Hellbound if you want to know more) but by the time the third group, Manahil, got underway I was starting to feel it. Their vocalist's lower-pitched melodies didn't always make it through the mix, but otherwise their laid-back keyboard-heavy sound started lulling me into a better mood. Still, I hung back for the time being, waiting for the main event.

I had seen Bovio and at least one of her bandmates during Manahil's set so I wasn't surprised by the tiny woman:big voice ratio (or the high-heeled boots and short skirt), but I might have been otherwise. The band and their equipment filled up most of the small stage at Sneaky Dee's, and sadly, the crowd in front of them didn't take up a whole lot more space. Intimate might be an understatement. But Stream of Passion played to make it count anyway and every single note struck deep. I wish Bovio had played more electric violin, and a longer set would have made me happy. Beyond that they completely mesmerized me for however long they performed (I completely lost my sense of time) – it was dramatic and powerful, soulful and melodic, and totally hit the spot.

Post-set hunger pangs had me slipping downstairs for a wrap with guacamole and tofu (heavenly!) but I made it back upstairs in time for most of Unexpect's wonderfully frenetic closing set.

I've been wowed by the band's live performance several times now (and really, live is the only way I can appreciate them), beginning with Northern Lights Fest in 2004 (which I had the pleasure to shoot).They delighted me, as always, like a bizarre otherworldly organic musical machine. If you missed it there's no truly effective way to convey in words the experience that is an Unexpect show but you can at least get a visual taste (photos on Hellbound by Adam Wills - I think image 8 is my favourite).

alternative radio in canada

It's been a few years now since I sat behind the microphone in a broadcast studio (though I did get to drop into McMaster's CFMU a couple times this past summer). Still, my hiatus from radio doesn't mean I've lost interest in the medium, and last week I got a chance to bring it all back to the surface for a visit to Wilfrid Laurier University's third year "Alternative Media" class in Communication Studies, taught by my friend and former colleague, Brent Hagerman.

Digging into my research and writing on radio in Canada and on CKMS (100.3 FM Radio Waterloo) specifically. I talked a bit about the role of campus and community radio, its promises and its challenges. I also had a few minutes to critically reminisce about my time at CKMS, how the station operated, and what I tried to do with my show, Kill Eat Exploit the Weak.

There's actually a fair bit of Canadian radio history online between sites run by the Canadian Communications Foundation (affiliated with Ryerson University), the CBC, the CRTC, and even a radio museum in Guelph. But these organizations don't say much about campus or community radio, so for easy access to that history the NCRA is the likeliest and most helpful resource. There's a growing body of academic research on campus and community radio but it's still a fairly small pool of work and there's more yet to be done, especially here in Canada.

Thanks to Brent and the students for allowing me to visit, for listening, and for engaging with me in a discussion of campus radio.

missing stories: government slaughter of Inuit dogs

The story (a seemingly pieced-together one) is half a century old but this is the first I've heard of it. It has to do with the (enforced) transition from nomadic to settlement life Baffin Island Inuit went through in the 1950s and 60s, and the role of government and sled dogs in that shift. This Canadian Press story doesn't offer a lot of information but it's enough to get my back up and to make me want to investigate further.

"Slaughter of Inuit sled dogs misguided policy that needs apology: report"

cyborgs (including Scott Kelly)

If you needed another reason to take an interest in Neurosis (and if you haven't already, what are you waiting for?), wander over to Hellbound.ca, where Justin Nortin asks guitarist/vocalist/lyricist Scott Kelly why he has called himself "a self-made psychedelic cyborg."

And, speaking of cyborgs, thanks to the International Association of the Fantastic in the Arts mailing list, I discovered that the term cyborg is now 50 years old. Wow. Get the dish from The Atlantic, "The Man Who First Said 'Cyborg,' 50 Years Later."

If that wasn't enough cyborg (and who can ever really get enough cyborg?), there's a new online journal up called Cyborg Subjects. And just so you don't think I forgot about the music, here's am intriguing little Cyborg Subjects article called "DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC VIOLINS? Music and the Posthuman."

(I'm not going to bother denying my cyborg fixation. But I also like robots. And metal. And cats. Teleporters would be cool if someone could just get around to figuring that tech out.)