Wig Bubbles

Today’s word is hypocrisy.

Taylor Swift is a hypocrite, it says here, because she decried Apple’s attempt to not pay artists while maniacally smashing cameras at her shows. Neil Young is a hypocrite for asking Donald Trump for money, then condemning the next President of the United States for using Rocking in the Free World without first asking. And we’re all hypocrites for hailing Kurt Cobain as a god while derogating Amy Winehouse as “a mess.”

Where to begin?

Ms. Swift is a performer who has dared to stand up to Spotify. More recently, she went after the biggest game of all: Apple. She’s a regular Peggy Lee for the 21st Century — standing up for artists’ rights and all. What’s not to like? Moreover, her stance is a wise longterm career move, in that she certainly was not placed on this earth to sing on-key.

And hey, word is she now credits photographers when she reuses their images. So no harm done, eh? All it took, as Apple learned this week, was a high-profile squeaky wheel. Well done, Ms. Swift, to a degree. Well played, photographers. Continue reading →

Some years ago, during a visit to Phoenix, I happened upon a sight that has remained with me.

Strolling down a sun-baked Arizona street came a pair of goths. Clad head-to-toe in not-very-breathable black, with appropriate accessories to complete the outfit, they stood out in the midday sun. The temperature that afternoon topped 100°F. (For you Canadians, that’s near enough to 40°C.)

Yet, the pair seemed unfazed by the sweltering heat. If they were melting inside, they hid it well.

Now, that, thought I, is commitment.

I’ve never been a goth, here or elsewhere; though, I enjoy a jolly Nick Cave tune. I’ve also never been mistaken for an industrial music aficionado; though, I occasionally dust off my old Throbbing Gristle and Killing Joke LPs. (Does Killing Joke qualify? I would have said Front Line Assembly, but I don’t have any on LP.)

Much of what I do know of the more intense side of the musical spectrum, I owe to stalwart industrial engineer DJ Leslie. And when I think of Leslie, again the word commitment comes to mind. Continue reading →

Today, June 15, marks the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta.

Perhaps you’d heard.

(You can view a copy of said document at the Canadian Uncivilized Museum, doncha know. Just across the river.)

The days leading up to Magna Carta‘s octocentennial have given many a scribe an excuse to ponder the document’s significance. Depending on whom you trust, it is either a blueprint for democracy, a feminist manifesto, or an outdated and overrated scrap of paper. (After all, you’re only as good as your last charter.)

Scholars prefer to think of it as an item of great influence on our society. Members of Canada’s Senate, perhaps not so much. Continue reading →

A century ago, I sat next to one Kim Clarke Champniss as a panelist at the ‘first annual’ Capital Music Conference. I believe we were there to discuss music, or the music industry, or media, or something.

What I do recall is the cynic in me — i.e., me — being skeptical of the value of staging an ambitious conference and series of musical showcases in Ottawa, in the hope of inspiring jaded industry types from Toronto to take notice of what was then a particularly strong local and diverse music scene. Industry types from Toronto, it seemed to me, know all too well the ambitious Ottawa-based artist will inevitably come to them. Travelling to Ottawa need not figure into it.

Little about that reality has changed. Yet, this weekend, Ottawa will play host to its third series of music-industry-inspired showcase performances, seminars and discussions in less than 12 months. The Capital Music Conference is set to present live bands and DJs at a variety of venues, and to offer advice and a sympathetic ear to aspiring artists and presenters during two days of talks at Maker Space North. It is not being billed as the “first annual” OIMC, which is wise. (One should never refer to an event as annual until at least its second year. Just ask Ottawa Freshfest organizers… though, their Bluesfest seems to be doing fine.) Clearly, though, organizers see this as something worth repeating. Continue reading →