Paul Weller’s Platinum selling ’22 Dreams’ album is to be re-issued on vinyl as a double-LP set, and will be available on July 22.
’22 Dreams’ is Weller’s ninth solo studio album. At the time of release (2008) the album received huge critical acclaim – The Guardian calling it “… a triumph of the most unexpected kind”, Uncut… “easily Weller’s finest solo album to date”, Q Magazine saying “… constantly rewarding musical odyssey”, Rolling Stone “…a genre-leaping set of 21 tracks”, Allmusic “…it’s rich in sound and feeling, possessing a shimmering dreamy quality” and the Observer Music Monthly “…a set of distinctive, strangely addictive songs”, ” – to name but a few.
Featuring a host of guest appearances throughout including Noel Gallagher, Gem Archer and Graham Coxon, it went straight in at number one in the U.K. album chart. A double-LP with gatefold sleeve, this first-time-on-vinyl version includes a 12″ x 36″ black and white poster with printed lyrics, tracklist and credits on the back side and includes an 8-page booklet titled “The Missing Dream AKA Dream # 22” by Simon Armitage.
’22 Dreams’
Side 1
Light Nights
22 Dreams
All I Wanna Do (Is Be With You)
Have You Made Up Your Mind
Empty Ring
Side 2
Invisible
Song For Alice
Cold Moments
The Dark Pages Of September Lead To The New Leaves Of Spring
Black River
Side 3
Why Walk When You Can Run
Push It Along
A Dream Reprise
Echoes Round The Sun
One Bright Star
Lullaby Für Kinder
Side 4
Where’er Ye Go
God
111
Sea Spray
Night Lights
The National Music Centre (NMC) is pleased to announce Buffy Sainte-Marie: Pathfinder, a new retrospective exhibition by an innovator of digital art, which will make a stop at Studio Bell, from June 3 to August 1. The travelling exhibition is in partnership with NMC and Paquin Entertainment.
NMC will also host a public lecture with Buffy Sainte-Marie on Saturday, June 18 at 8:00 pm. The living legend will discuss her retrospective exhibition and the stories behind her digital artworks. Tickets for the lecture are $40 and on sale now at studiobell.ca/whats-on. Tickets for NMC Members are $35. To become an NMC Member, visit studiobell.ca/members.
Buffy Sainte-Marie is a world-renowned Oscar-winning composer, musician, visual artist, activist, educator. The Cree singer-songwriter has been an informative pathfinder and advocate for Indigenous rights, a continually evolving artist, and a contributor of positive thinking and resiliency amid difficult issues. She has spent her whole life creating, and her artistry, humanitarian efforts, and Indigenous leadership have made her a unique force in multidisciplinary arts.
Buffy Sainte-Marie’s retrospective exhibition, Pathfinder, presents a rare and unique window into the evolution of one of the early innovators of digital art starting with the purchase of her first Macintosh personal computer in 1984. Within this unassuming cube, Sainte-Marie quickly discovered the power, flexibility, potential, and infinite possibilities presented to her through this sudden democratization of technology. The Macintosh presented a transformational and enlightened way of developing and processing a lifetime’s worth of imagery and memory. The works presented in this exhibition provide a unique insight into her creative process, and represent the most comprehensive survey of her digital paintings to date.
The exhibition will take over the Cloud Lounge on Studio Bell’s fifth floor. Featuring 16 of her digital paintings, this exhibition compiles personal photos, sketches, and items such as her son’s Wolf Child cradle board, her hand-embellished performance jacket, and handmade instruments such as the bird whistle Buffy played on the iconic recording, “Now That the Buffalo’s Gone.” Her humble 128K Macintosh computer – the very terminal on which many of the images were created – leaves a lasting impression. This mindful selection of articles and artifacts speak directly to this respected icon’s unique perspective of her own multidisciplinary life and culture and the experiences that inspired her to create these dynamic visual pieces.
“Buffy Sainte-Marie is one of Canada’s most revered artists and a three-time Canadian Music Hall of Famer,” said Andrew Mosker, NMC President and CEO. “Her body of work, from music to activism to visual art, is inspiring and truly remarkable. While Buffy’s music and advocacy work are currently featured in NMC’s Speak Up! exhibition, the Pathfinder exhibition will reveal a lesser-known side to the artist through her digital artworks. This is also the first travelling exhibition that NMC has sought out for Calgary, and we look forward to bringing many more to Studio Bell in the future.”
“This exhibition acknowledges Buffy as an innovator at the forefront of the digital era, framing her multidisciplinary creative contribution as a cultural leader, educator, and advocate through the lens of digital visual art,” said Natasha Lowenthal, Curator of Buffy Sainte-Marie: Pathfinder. “Whether you are a lifelong fan of Buffy’s music or are discovering her art and activism for the first time, you will leave enriched by her heart and humour and inspired by her art and intellect.”
Sainte-Marie’s approached the digital medium as she has with every facet of her diverse career — with trailblazing ingenuity. Reflect back to 1984—a time when the internet was almost unheard of and home computers were in their infancy— Sainte-Marie was there, building pieces of this collection within the confines of the very first versions of MacPaint on the earliest Macintosh models. The technology was nothing like the digital production resources we have today, and was used primarily as tools for marketing and graphic design rather than for creating fine art with emotional impact. Being void of prefabricated filters or options for multiple layers, the process of creating artful images required dexterity and patience. Rising above the limitations of the software, she injected as much depth of tradition and attention to detail with pixels as one would with intricate beadwork or classic oils. Meticulously blending scanned images of her wet studio paintings and in-progress drawings and sketches with those of real fibers, feathers and beads, Sainte-Marie crafted these digital tapestries with the precision and care of a natural-born storyteller. The visual and intellectual brilliance of this collection is undeniably ahead of its time.
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Pathfinder opens on June 3 and runs until August 1. It is accessible with pay-what-you-can admission. Studio Bell is open with extended spring hours, Thursday to Sunday, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, allowing music fans more opportunities to see this exhibition and several others.
Pink Floyd will today join TikTok for the first time with the Pink Floyd catalogue launching globally on the platform at 2pm BST.
Users will be able to access official Pink Floyd sounds from each track featured across Pink Floyd’s 15 studio albums. They can acquire a comprehensive library of official Pink Floyd music for their own TikTok video creations. Each user will be able to utilise audio clips from the band’s career including tracks such as See Emily Play,Money,Another Brick in the Wall (Part II), Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here and High Hopes to name just a few.
As well as featuring in the TikTok Sound Library, the band will use the platform to regularly post unique video content. Throughout the band’s long and distinguished career, Pink Floyd has always used spectacular visuals and their introduction to the TikTok platform will see them extend their reach digitally.
The 30th May also denotes an important moment in the Pink Floyd timeline, marking 50 years to the day since the band entered the studio to start recording TheDark Side Of The Moon.
TikTok is a market leader in short-form video-based social networking, and is currently utilised by over 1 billion users. It’s global reach has seen it grow rapidly as a platform, and has subsquently launched the careers of many of its users. In joining the platform, Pink Floyd adds their name to a long, diverse list of notable acts whose music can also be accessed via the app.
In giving the global platform access to their music, Pink Floyd encourages innovative film making through these unique mediums.
The guitar market size is expected to grow byUSD 1.14 billionfrom 2020 to 2025. However, the growth momentum is likely to decelerate at a CAGR of 5.38% as per the latest market report by Technavio. The guitar market is the growing popularity of music-related leisure activities. People across the globe are opting for various leisure activities, such as music, traveling, and sports. These activities offer a break from their hectic and monotonous lifestyles. One of the leisure activities gaining popularity across the globe is learning to play musical instruments. People belonging to all age groups are gradually taking part in music-related leisure activities, such as playing guitar. Many parents are also encouraging their children to adopt music as their career or extracurricular activity for their overall development. Moreover, the rising disposable income of people is supporting the adoption of different musical instruments and their enrollment in music classes. In addition, the number of live music shows and those attending such shows is overgrowing across the world. This is further motivating people to adopt music as a career and encouraging them to learn to play different types of guitars. Thus, the growing popularity of music-related leisure activities across the world is likely to augment the growth of the global guitar market during the forecast period.
The competitive scenario provided in the Guitar Market report analyzes, evaluates, and positions companies based on various performance indicators. Some of the factors considered for this analysis include the financial performance of companies over the past few years, growth strategies, product innovations, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.Don’t wait, Make a strategic approach & boost your business goals with our Guitar Market Forecast Report – Buy Now!
Guitar Market: Product Landscape
The guitar market share growth by the acoustic will be significant for revenue generation. The dominant share of this segment is attributed to the high adoption of acoustic guitars in developing countries. Acoustic guitars are designed so that they do not require any electric amplification for modulation or the projection of sound. Acoustic guitars have a hollow body that amplifies the string vibration and projects sound acoustically through the air. The demand for acoustic guitars is almost stagnant in developed markets, such as the US and the UK.
Guitar Market: Geographic Landscape
40% of the market’s growth will originate from North Americaduring the forecast period. US and Canada are the key markets for guitar in North America. Market growth in this region will be faster than the growth of the market in Europe regions. The launch of innovative products, the growing use of online platforms to shop for guitars, and the surging demand for designer guitars will facilitate the guitar market growth in North America over the forecast period.
Companies Covered:
The guitar market is fragmented and the vendors are deploying growth strategies such as focussing on procuring high-quality raw materials and product-related R&D to compete in the market.
Brimming with emotion and a wink of southern charm, Orange County troubadour, multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter Doug Schmude draws on his journey crossing state lines to reveal his adventurous new single, “On The Run.”
Eloquently plucked guitars fill the ears as Schmude’s latest single instantly evokes the open road and the myriad of new experiences that await the bold. A pseudo-road trip song about fearless couples who hit the highway together for months with no direction in mind, the new song is the latest to land from the troubadour’s recently released 2022 EP, One Shy Of A Six Pack.
The song’s sentiment touches on a chapter-change fast-approaching for Schmude, and his admiration for uninhibited travel has inspired the exploration of a more nomadic lifestyle that favours life’s simple pleasures. “My kids are approaching college age, and my wife and I keep talking about buying a Sprinter van,” he reveals. “I’m not sure if it will happen, but this tune always takes me to that life, regardless.”
His latest in a series of singles, Schmude has been refining his songwriting chops and musicianship with each subsequent release. “Finding my voice both literally and figuratively has been a journey, for sure.”
Accompanying the rhythmically satisfying guitar and percussion work is Schmude’s distinct vocal style punctuated by first-hand experience and a lyrically imaginative landscape.
“We’ve been watching the thunderheads form
The driver’s side since the morn
The lightning’s sure putting on a show
But were too far off to hear the thunder roll.”
Doug Schmude’s natural ability to conjure relatable worlds through music is being recognized by a multitude of radio hosts and music publications from across the globe.
Americana UK says “Doug displays a wealth of talent on a plethora of instruments, not least of which his voice, which simmers like a snake threatening but never quite needing to strike,” while Music City Blues Society says “Doug Schmude’s guitar work has that certain energy about it, a feeling that makes you believe that these things come just plain ole naturally for him.”
Hailing from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Doug Schmude (rhymes with moody) has been honing his craft as a musician and songwriter in the Colorado area around the dawn of the new millennium. Having spent considerable time living across a number of states has provided a unique perspective on life and art that Schmude doesn’t take for granted.
Currently residing in southern California, Schmude’s debut album, A New Century, was nominated for an Orange County Music Award. Outside of his own music outfit, Schmude is an accomplished session guitarist and producer that has lent his talents to a number of recordings.
There’s that wistful, scary realization many of us have on the cusp of becoming adults that nothing – absolutely nothing – is going to stay the same. Canadian pop-country songbird Sylvia Kay captures that heady mix of emotions so beautifully in her new single “Legacy” — available now.
“Legacy” starts out shimmering with mellow beats underneath, and then Kay’s voice comes in ethereal and crystalline, painting a watercolor of her hometown — the blue skies, the violets, the dusty, tree-lined backroad where her dad used to speed. She’s looking around, soaking it in, taking mental snapshots, and taking us along on this journey to adulthood. “What does living on the edge of seventeen even mean? / All these people tryna tell me who they want me to be,” she sings.
It was in the process of sitting down to write “Legacy” that the realization came to the Caledon East, Ontario-based artist that she was right on the precipice of a whole new life. “In August of 2021, the songwriting process really began and it hit me that this was my last year of high school, my last year in this hometown, and the last time I’d see a lot of these people ever again,” Kay recalls. “The whole first half of the song is exactly that: reminiscing and the nostalgia behind it all. The second half is all about the process to maturity — that there was something so much greater beyond, a whole world I hadn’t discovered yet.”
Fittingly, she started writing the song on an old piano in her parents’ basement, which she had had since she was five years old. She finished the song with VEC Entertainment Group’s Bruno Vecchio and Acrylic Recording’s Harley Tamblin, who helped her focus the lyrics and add a killer guitar line and some gorgeous harmonies.
Sylvia Kay is a bright new talent who lived most of her life in a small town in Ontario. As a child, she had terrible stage fright, but with the help of some beloved music teachers, Lisa and Nick Carione at INKey Music Studio, she overcame her shyness. Ten years later, the stage feels like her home, and she is a Music Minister at her parish and writes music any chance she gets.
Kay got her start playing live shows last year at Bolton’s Journey of Hope and, in February 2021, released her first single, “Wild,” a direct reflection of her feelings, a diary in the shape of song lyrics and melodies.
Under the soaring redwood forest canopies of Bonny Doon, California, folk-roots artists Dan Frechette and Laurel Thomsen tell the tale of dark money interests within the hopeful and positive community call-to-action that is their new single, “Money Shouldn’t Talk That Strong.”
Complete with an accompanying video, the new song accompanies a list of harmonic pleasures on the duo’s recent studio album, After The Fire. Drawing on their collective experience traveling the American landscape and witnessing the devastating effects of poverty and addiction, the verses about nonspecific problems set the stage for the shift, “in the vibe of the song, of course — but hopefully also in policy, focus, and more,” they share.
While heading back to California from a Canadian prairies tour in 2019, the impending US presidential election, combined with hostile economic conditions, made the issue hard to turn away; “from politics to the housing and homelessness crises, to climate and catastrophes, the common thread seemingly being that money often gets the last word.”
Accompanying Dan Frechette’s moody guitar playing are Laurel Thomsen’s inspirational lyrics — which are derived from the hope of those negatively affected by public policy in a non-partisan way. With ease, the song emphasizes “universal sentiments, dreams, and goals rather than putting weight into past grievances or the stance of any particular race, religion, or side of the political spectrum.”
“Overall, the song is intended to leave people feeling uplifted and inspired and — with Dan’s rocking backing band and my violin, viola, and cello trio — reinvigorated to do what they can to help create a fairer world,” Thomsen adds.
“Just bubbles in a bathtub
But poison was seeping to the bone, alone
In times the sages warned
No sign of a savior, we mourn, no
When selling off our decency ain’t a crime
Sends empathy cowering to the corners of our minds”
After meeting in 2012 and forming a once-in-a-lifetime connection Pinawa, Manitoba’s Dan Frechette and Monterey, California’s Laurel Thomsen have been dazzling audiences across North America. Frechette and Thomsen’s lush sonic palette has also taken them across international borders to several European countries, further proving the duo’s resilience and dedication to their harmonic craft. Between Frechette’s experience as an established songwriter and Thomsen’s classically informed compositional work as an accomplished violinist, this duo has only scratched the surface of their collaborative potential.
Their fifth studio album release, California’s Covid-19 stay-at-home order gave Frechette and Thomsen the necessary time to form After The Fire.
The potent title of the album comes from the forest fires that continue to sweep the California region; the duo was directly impacted after a freak lightning storm located near Frechette’s home studio led to several hundred houses being consumed by a ferocious blaze. Thankfully, all the band equipment and music were rescued before the studio fell to ash.
“After our evacuation to the safe haven of a friend’s home, After the Fire marks the end of an era, and a fresh start,” they share.
The new track from post-hardcore outfit GURTH is a simple request and, after one spin, you’ll be ready to accept; “Take Me Home” from the Canadian rockers is available now.
The band — Taylor Martin (Frontman, Vocals, Guitars), Brody Post (Vocals, Guitars), Vadim Balanyuk (Bass), and Daniel Goldstein (Drums) — have laid down a screamo anthem for the ages. An understated plea that builds to a begging bellow, infused with a haunting melody that coils your heart along the way, this hard-hitting rock track is punk at its core, alternative in its layers, and metal on the fringes.
“Take Me Home” explores Martin’s introspection in the aftermath of a love gone very wrong. He describes his “vulnerability to her hook” in the lyrics:
You were built to tap into my anxiety,
I was built to build the need for you to rescue me,
There are kinds of hardened wounds that travel deeper than the bone…
My straw heart was always filled by the place I laid my head,
And in your arms I starved or over fed.
He recalls “cycles of chaos, of extreme love bombing, to ice-cold indifference — the latter always leaving me yearning for the former…”
“At the time, I felt this experience was significant, but unique to me,” he continues. “Looking back, I realize it’s a pretty normal thing many people go through.”
This realization fueled by formidable courage to scream, pound, and playout raw, painful truth results in the resonating power of the entire album.
The creative power of The Well, an apt image synonymous with a dark, subconscious force, suggests that music needs Martin just as much as he needs it. More than a mere breakup album, “The Well represents an awakening: the shift from autonomic, robotic movement through life to self-awareness, and a conscious understanding of why the hell I got myself into this mess,” he continues. “I already feel nostalgic for this period of instability, pain, transformation, and growth; an indication that I need music to deal with the discomfort I feel in times of peace.”
As a band, GURTH’s birthplace was in 2015 in Toronto, the heart of Canada’s indie music mecca, when Martin and Goldstein first met and began developing a distinctive sound. They released two experimental EPs — Autophage in 2018 and A Better End in 2019 — both well-received by the hard-rock community of the 6ix.
Building on that early success, they fleshed out the lineup with Post and Balanyuk, and set out to write and record their forthcoming debut LP, The Well.
The Well highlights GURTH’s iconic blend of contrasting sound: the sweet highs of euphoric infatuation and deep lows of eviscerating heartache, “Take Me Home” begins soft and builds like a rollercoaster, taking us on a wild ride through intense obsession, barreling toward the inevitable reckoning.
This ride is the maniacal muse for ensnaring melodies, electrifying beats, and crushing lyrics — all demonstrating GURTH’s mastercraft. Beyond first-rate composition, The Well is all heart.
These four musicians from Toronto have seen love in the dark. They’re not afraid to bring it into the light and take it home.
“Take Me Home” is available now. The Well is set for release on Friday, June 24th, 2022.
Racing along the thin, permeable line between blues and rock is the high octane, precision-crafted, musical muscle car driven by Canadian power blues quartet Jim Dan Dee. On the way to delivering their much-anticipated second full-length album, they’re stopping just long enough to drop a hot and heavy appetizer, their searing new single “Bleed Me Dry.”
At the fiery crossroads where Thorogood, the Fab Thunderbirds, and the Stones meet you’ll find Jim Dan Dee’s “Bleed Me Dry” revving up and running the red. It’s a raw, hard-rocking lament about giving it all that revels in those desperate, after midnight moments of total careless abandon.
I need a break cuz it’s never enough
Knock ‘em down and they jump back up
What happens next, I don’t know
Caught between a spoonful and diggin’ a hole
Featuring Jim “Dan Dee” Stefanuk on vocals/guitars, Bobby Sewerynek on saxophone, newcomer Dwayne Lau on bass, and Shawn Royal on drums, this Southern Ontario-based four-piece has a tight, interlocked sound only a multitude of live shows can foster. Their recordings, including this one, give the listener that heady sense of ‘being there’ as all that good stuff was laid down from the stage, not the studio.
“Nothing is more important to us than our live show, and that energy is what we tried to capture on this record,” notes Stefanuk. “The band recorded with the same amplifiers and instruments we use on stage to keep our performance and tone authentic.”
Authentic blues infused with a modern rock swagger is what will be found on the band’s upcoming second album Real Blues — set for release May 13. Real Blues follows the group’s self-titled first album released in 2018, and an EP, Five Stiff Shots, that introduced the band in 2015.
“Bleed Me Dry” is the lead single from Real Blues’ dirty near-dozen tales of struggle, loneliness, love, and lust, with co-writes by Stefanuk, Sewerynek, and Royal. A rugged, brawny cover of Eddie “Guitar Slim” Jones’ “The Things That I Used to Do” sets the tone for the rest of the tracklist that creates the feeling that you just heard, felt, and saw a killer live set from the group.
“We tried for a no overdubs approach whenever possible; listeners will get about as close as they can to the live band experience without leaving their homes,” Stefanuk explains. “We really wanted this album to breathe; all the squeaks, breaths, clicks, and buzzes remain on record, so the quiet moments have a life of their own. You’ll understand when you hear it.”
Listeners will also understand that this raw and honest creative statement from Jim Dan Dee was formed from the unprecedented and life-shaking experience we’ve all experienced during two years of dealing with a global pandemic.
“Real Blues comes out of a dark and unprecedented time for most of us on planet Earth,” says Stefanuk. “Fighting an unseen enemy in a battle that lasted years instead of weeks, we’ve lost careers, mobility, hope, and sometimes even the people we love.”
Turning to the innate healing power of music was a natural response for the group, who’ve shared major festival stages with Canadian legends such as Big Wreck, I Mother Earth and The Trews.
“Music may be one of the only ways to describe the individual battles we all fight within our own minds, and it may have saved more than a few lives.”
Jim Dan Dee, which takes its name from the expression “everything is just Jim Dandy,” is a foursome of survivors, thrivers, and prolific creatives. The 10 original tracks they chose to record for Real Blues were picked from a pile of sixty songs and span the full spectrum of dark to light subjects and emotions.
“Over the ‘damndemic’ we got to know the dark sides of ourselves a little better. We lost some people. We strengthened some bonds. It was a war of self-awareness and patience.”
With Real Blues, the band also wanted to pay reverence to the 100-plus-year-old music genre that has been the foundation and framework of their own music.
“We hope the album can bring Blues fans great joy and remind them at least a little of the incredible giants whose shoulders we humbly sit on.”
With the May 13th album release date quickly approaching and a summer of shows starting to pile up in Ontario and the Maritimes, so far, Jim Dan Dee will get many chances to show off their prowess at paying tribute in their own, exciting and unique style.
“Real Blues has 11 stories, some relate to this viral prison we’ve lived in, and some are a beautiful distraction that harkens to better times in the past and a future that is opening up…fast.”
Opening up fast for Jim Dan Dee and the whole world of music.
Canadian folk-pop artist Kele Fleming’s song future-fuelling song “Me Oh My” gets a 90s-infused rock-remix glow-up with singer/songwriter and producer Marty Zylstra.
Originally recorded for Fleming’s 2016 album, No Static, the song’s very roots are woven with collaboration; written solely by Fleming’s longtime collaborator and friend, Ron Yamauchi, Fleming was up to the challenge of interpreting her friend’s song as she was navigating big life changes herself at the time.
“I can still hear the intensity of the emotion I was feeling at the time in my vocal performance,” Fleming notes. “I was hopeful and fierce that the shifts and changes I was following in my life would bring me peace and love.”
With the original video for “Me Oh My” described by Fleming as “walking as a life metaphor” and “a love letter to Vancouver,” the current video features a candid video chat with Zylstra talking about the song, the remix, and all things music.
Never devoid of muse or inspiration, Fleming continually produces singles, songs, tracks, albums, and anthems seasoned with her charming blend of authenticity and poetic license. “Me Oh My”s remix is the latest in a string of acclaimed releases from the British Columbia-based artist — including 2016’s No Static, 2010’s World in Reverse, and 2020’s The Song I’ll Write For My Whole Life.
A fearless and gifted songwriter with the ability and agility to encapsulate the environment around her, Fleming’s ethereal twist on traditional roots and folk music sets her uniqueness apart from her peers in the genre. Bridging from her deeply talented vivaciousness as a wordsmith, her undeniable attention to detail in lyrics is matched solely by the music it’s mounted against. Soothing tones, upbeat tempos, changing melodies — Fleming knows no bounds in her prowess to create music that suits the score of the song at hand.
A transplant from Ontario, the indie songstress began her professional songwriting journey fronting the 90s indie outfit “Hazel Motes” of BC before branching off into the solo artist we know today. She has performed on stages, festivals, and performance halls, where she thrives in front of live audiences. Included among her impressive roster of appearances include gigs at Vancouver’s world-renowned venues like The Cultch, The Railway Club, and the Wise Hall.
