- RACHEL SANDERS -

THE BIRTH OF CANADIAN INDIE: MONTREAL

rachel — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 07:01:31 +0000

Montreal is, without question, Canada’s indie Mecca. Even aside from the Grammy/Juno/Polaris winners, Montreal has a wealth of indie talent these days — both homegrown and transplanted from elsewhere on the continent. Why is the city host to such musical bounty? Amy Millan of Stars describes the inspiring atmosphere of her adopted hometown:

“When you’re walking down the street and it’s covered in snow and there’s a clown juggling next to you in his crazy pants and everyone’s speaking French, you feel taken outside of your life.”

But there’s more behind Montreal’s colossal indie rep than just its European-tinged romance. And it hasn’t always been a bastion of independent music. In this episode of The Birth of Canadian Indie we’ll hear about Montreal in the 1980s, a time when underground music had few live venues and little support from the disco-loving public…

CBC Radio 3
CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO
7:27 MINUTES

FOAM LAKE: FORCE AND MATTER

rachel — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 04:18:59 +0000

Published by Exclaim! Magazine
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Foam Lake’s music has deep family roots. The four Ross brothers from Saskatoon, SK have come together to produce an album that grew out of a diverse set of influences and a desire to be closer to family.

Daisy DeBolt

rachel — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:00:35 +0000

Canadian musician Daisy DeBolt passed away last week. Such a shock when I heard. My first thought was: “my Facebook’s just not going to be the same without your feisty comments, Daize.” And my second was, man, I am so lucky to have been able to meet her last year and tell the story of her iconoclastic 70s psych folk band Fraser and DeBolt. Her presence is such an important part of the documentary and I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to pay tribute with it to her indomitable spirit and her incomparable voice. In light of her passing, CBC’s Inside The Music is re-airing the documentary this Sunday (October 16) at 3 pm on Radio 2 and 9 pm on Radio One.

Thanks for the interview, Daisy. May your music and your spirit live on.

If you’d like to hear the documentary on Fraser and DeBolt you can stream it right here:

An Overnight Sensation: The Story of Fraser and DeBolt

Thanks for listening!

Stormy weather

rachel — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 20:39:01 +0000

This has been an exceptionally rainy year for us so far, both literally and metaphorically. Spring was wet and stormy. Summer was grey and cool. And we didn’t even get our usual dry, warm September. Now that it’s October, the rain has returned in earnest. Things have been turbulent at home as well; we’ve had losses, moves, frustrations and general disorder since the beginning of the year. Surprisingly, the kids have handled the frequent squalls and tempests with grace. To them, after all, excessive rain just means more puddles to jump in.

And besides, when the rain does let up, the views are beyond compare.

Book launches

rachel — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 18:50:01 +0000

It’s been a book-launchy kind of week. Haven’t been out for drinks in months but made it out twice this week to hear excerpts from new music-related books by Vancouver authors. First to the launch of Walk Like A Man by Robert Wiersema at Red Cat Records. The book is about growing up with the music of Bruce Springsteen and he read from, I think, the final chapter. Very entertaining. The reading was followed by live covers of Springsteen songs by local musicians.

Second, we went to the launch of Kaitlin Fontana’s Fresh At Twenty: The Oral History of Mint Records at the W2 Media Cafe. Book excerpt was lively and fascinating and was followed by a fun singalong of Cub songs led by Lisa Marr (and her 98-year-old grandma who held the cue cards) and super tasty snacks by the Re-Up BBQ.

One of these days, I will find time to read both of these books. I will. I swear it. Reading is one of the things I miss the most since having kids.

That and showering.

Apple season

rachel — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 18:24:09 +0000

It’s officially apple season at the UBC farm. Picked up a bag of gorgeous Galas that make supermarket apples look like pathetic knock-offs.

They almost made up for the absence of the coffee stand this week. Our collective horror at the lack of coffee at the farm was eye-opening, actually. And here I’d thought that the reason for our weekly farm visit was to pick up flavourful carrots and expose the kids to pastoral bliss.

But apparently, it’s mainly for coffee.

Hope our friends from the AGRO Cafe return next week. Only a few scant weeks left to enjoy Saturday morning coffee at the farm.

THE BIRTH OF CANADIAN INDIE: EDMONTON

rachel — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 05:30:25 +0000

Affectionately referred to as “Dirt City” by many in its local music community, Edmonton inspires mixed feelings in its denizens. Its long winters and remoteness from Canada’s larger centres can make it a challenging place to live. Especially for touring musicians. But at the same time, the city produces some of Canada’s freshest and most innovative indie music. Edmonton country luminary Corb Lund says that Edmonton musicians are risk takers.

“It’s a little different than some other cities,” he says. “People are very willing to step out on a limb.”

And Edmonton indie has always been on the leading edge. Musicians in that city have been pushing boundaries and crossing genres since the early days of the underground music scene. In this episode of The Birth of Canadian Indie, we’ll hear about 1980s Edmonton, where the musical inventiveness resulted in a mash-up of country music with good, old-fashioned punk rock.

CBC Radio 3
CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO
8:08 MINUTES

Great pumpkins

rachel — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 04:39:51 +0000

Nothing says “summer’s over” quite like a field full of massive pumpkins at the UBC farm.

Sweet ride

rachel — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 04:38:32 +0000

Bike racks, 3:30.

Spare

rachel — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 04:36:42 +0000

Cloudy, nearly-autumn days are for bowling a few frames with friends.