Each day, Rich Terfry and Radio 2 Drive wraps up your day with music and stories about the interesting things going on in the world.

Rich's Pick:

"Diesel Smoke" by Billy Strange:

Junk In The Trunk: 

Cute overload - a kitten in a box of ducklings: 

In 1962, a group of renowned Brazilian musicians travelled to New York City to record an album of bossa nova songs under the direction of famed producer Creed Taylor.

One of those songs was written by Antonio Carlos Jobim about a 19 year-old girl he often saw walking through his neighborhood.

Taylor thought the song could be a hit, if only the vocal was in English. He asked if anyone in the room knew English well enough to sing a translation. None of the musicians did. However, guitarist Joao Gilberto's girlfriend Astrud, who made the trip so she could see New York City, did. She had no musical experience whatsoever, but Taylor coaxed her into the vocal booth.

Because her voice was untrained, simple and unpretentious, it was a perfect fit for the song. Everyone in the studio agreed that Astrud captured the spirit of the girl in the song perfectly. And Creed Taylor's hunch that the song could be a hit was right. When the song, "The Girl From Ipanema", was released, it shot to the top of the charts and a star was born.

The public fell in love with young Astrud's voice and she went on to become a recording star in her own right, releasing 16 albums between 1964 and 2002. "The Girl From Ipanema" sold over a million copies and won a Grammy Award.

Here's the song that turned a young woman on a sightseeing trip into an international recording star. This is "The Girl From Ipanema" featuring Astrud Gilberto on Rear View Mirror.

Here are some other great editions of Rear-view Mirror:

Norman Greenbaum/Spirit in the Sky

Elvis Presley/Blue Suede Shoes

Johnny Cash/Ring of Fire

The Kinks/You Really Got Me

The Beatles/Yesterday

Al Green/Let's Stay Together

Simon and Garfunkel/The Boxer

Smokey Robinson and the Miracles/Tracks of my Tears

Elvis Presley/Heartbreak Hotel

Bruce Cockburn/Lovers In A Dangerous Time

The Doors - Light My Fire

Bob Dylan & Jimi Hendrix/All Along The Watchtower 

The Clash/London Calling

Phil Spector and the Ronnettes/Be My Baby

Os Mutantes/Ando Meio Desligado

The Diamonds/Little Darlin

Captain Beefheart/Yellow Brick Road

Elton John/Bennie and the Jets

Hank Williams/Long Gone Lonesome Blues

R.E.M./What's the Frequency, Kenneth?

Tom Waits/Jockey Full of Bourbon

Neil Diamond/Sweet Caroline

The Who/Pinball Wizard

Buffalo Springfield/For What It's Worth

Five Man Electrical Band/Signs

Band Aid/Do They Know It's Christmas

John Lennon/Imagine

The Ugly Ducklings/Nothin

Bob Dylan/Tangled Up In Blue

The Beatles/Norwegian Wood

The Pursuit of Happiness/I'm An Adult Now

Bruce Springsteen/Born To Run

Arcade Fire/Wake Up

Gnarls Barkley/Crazy

Big Joe Turner/Shake Rattle and Roll

Martha and the Muffins/Echo Beach

Wilson Pickett/In The Midnight Hour

The Band/The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Fleetwood Mac/Go Your Own Way

The Animals/House of the Rising Sun

Ian and Sylvia/Four Strong Winds

James Brown/Please Please Please

John Cougar Mellencamp, 'Pink Houses'

Leonard Cohen/Suzanne

The Ramones/I Wanna Be Sedated

Blue Rodeo/Try

The Guess Who/American Woman

U2/I Still Have't Found What I'm Looking For

Janis Joplin/Me and Bobby McGee

Gordon Lightfoot "If You Could Read My Mind"

The Byrds "Eight Miles High"

Simon and Garfunkel "The Sound of Silence"

Bill Haley and his Comets "Rock Around The Clock"

The Velvet Underground "I'm Waiting For The Man"

Johnny Cash "Folsom Prison Blues"

Bobby Fuller "I Fought The Law"

Big Star "September Gurls"

The Hollies "Bus Stop"

Joy Division "Love Will Tear Us Apart"

Booker T and the MGs "Green Onions"

Jimi Hendrix "Hey Joe"

Neil Young "Rockin' in the Free World"

Dolly Parton "Jolene"

The Left Banke "Walk Away Renee"

Lou Reed "Walk On The Wild Side"

James Taylor "Fire And Rain"

The Clash "Should I Stay or Should I Go"

Marvin Gaye "Sexual Healing"

Radiohead "Paranoid Android"

M.I.A. "Paper Planes"

The Animals "We Gotta Get Out of this Place"

Dusty Springfield "Son of a Preacher Man"

Screamin' Jay Hawkins "I Put A Spell On You"

Cheap Trick "Surrender"

Mott The Hoople "All the Young Dudes"

Beach Boys "Sloop John B"

Amy Winehouse "Rehab"

New York Dolls "Personality Crisis"

Modern Lovers "Roadrunner"

George Jones "He Stopped Loving Her Today"

Bruce Springsteen "Born in the USA"

The Beatles "With A Little Help From My Friends"

Rolling Stones 'Miss You'

The Coasters 'Run Red Run'

Elvis Costello, 'Alison'

James Brown, 'Hot (I Need to be loved loved loved)'

Inner Circle, 'Tenement Yard'

Ray Charles, 'I Don't Need No Doctor'

Curtis Mayfield, 'Freddy's Dead'

Gang Starr, 'Beyond Comprehension'

Bo Diddley, 'Bo Diddley'

Aretha Franklin, 'Rocksteady'

CCR, 'Have You Ever Seen the Rain'

Howlin' Wolf, 'Smokestack Lightning'

Bobby Womack, 'Across 110th Street'

Roy Orbison, 'In Dreams'

Foggy Hogtown Boys, 'Man of Constant Sorrow'

Pink Floyd, 'Wish You Were Here'

Neil Young, 'Cortez The Killer'

Bob Dylan, 'Subterranean Homesick Blues'

Little Eva, 'Loco-Motion'

Elvis Costello, 'Watching the Detectives'

Jimmy Cliff, 'The Harder They Come'

The Verve, 'Bittersweet Symphony'

Roberta Flack, 'Killing Me Softly with his Song'

R.E.M., 'Radio Free Europe'

Radiohead, 'No Surprises'

Led Zeppelin, 'Ramble On'

Rolling Stones, 'Beast of Burden'

The Daily Mail is reporting that ISIS militants in Libya are burning musical instruments because they are considered "un-Islamic."

Drums, saxophones and other instruments were reportedly confiscated by religious police then set ablaze near the port city of Dema, in Eastern Libya.

Photos released this week to the media included a message saying, "Hesbah seized these un-Islamic musical instruments in the state of Warqa [Dema]." It adds that they were "burnt in accordance with Islamic law."

Earlier this year, musicians in Syria were reportedly beaten and lashed for playing "un-Islamic" instruments such as keyboards.



At the same time, Mother Jones reports that the extremist group is creating songs and music videos to recruit fighters, rally support and encourage violence.

According to the report, ISIS, as well as most other Sunni jihadist organizations, forbid musical instruments, but they do allow a cappella songs called nasheeds, which are played during military parades, recruitment drives and proselytizing events.

Phillip Smyth, a researcher of Middle Eastern affairs at the University of Maryland, says that violent videos set to nasheed soundtracks are ideally suited to the young men ISIS wants to attract.

"If you are really trying to recruit and indoctrinate people, music is a fantastic way to do it," he told Mother Jones. "It's like Wagner being set to Apocalypse Now."

To read more, check out the full story in Mother Jones.

Oliver Sacks, one of the most renowned scientists in the field of brain research, has revealed that he has terminal cancer and only a few months left to live.

In a touching op-ed in the New York Times, the British-born physician, NYU professor and bestselling author, who has often explored the power of music on the brain, wrote about his response to the diagnosis, and about how he's seeing his life as it comes to an end.

"I feel a sudden clear focus and perspective. There is no time for anything inessential. I must focus on myself, my work and my friends. I shall no longer look at 'NewsHour' every night. I shall no longer pay any attention to politics or arguments about global warming," wrote Sacks, who has written numerous books including Awakenings, which became an Oscar-winning film, and Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, which became a PBS and Nova series. Sacks' work also provided the foundation for the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, where he is an honourary medical advisor.

"This is not indifference but detachment — I still care deeply about the Middle East, about global warming, about growing inequality, but these are no longer my business; they belong to the future. I rejoice when I meet gifted young people — even the one who biopsied and diagnosed my metastases. I feel the future is in good hands."

Last year, CBC Music published an article about how music is helping to unlock the minds of people with Alzheimer's Disease, and Sacks appears in the first video, speaking about the dramatic effects of the music on patients. You can find that video here.

Related:

The memory key: how music is unlocking the minds of people with Alzheimer's

Music therapy: something for everyone, funded by (almost) no one

Want to feel powerful? Science says turn up the bass

Listen Up: New Study Says Students’ iPods Are Too Loud

The Science of Pop Music

Astronaut Julie Payette on space, science and choral music

'Is Somebody Singing': Ed Robertson on the art of science and math

The science behind Adele



When Canadian musician Joshua Bartholomew and his wife Lisa Harriton started dating, they had no idea that their shared passion for music would lead them all the way to the Oscar stage.

But that's exactly what's happening this weekend when the song "Everything is Awesome," which they co-wrote for the blockbuster hit The Lego Movie, goes up for an Academy Award for best song.

Now married, Bartholomew and Harriton, who go by the production name Jo Li, write and produce songs for artists, films, TV shows and video games. In their individual careers, they have also performed with musicians from Randy Bachman to Kesha.

The first incarnation of "Everything is Awesome" was written by Shawn Patterson; it was then turned over to Jo Li to rework and rewrite. In the movie, there are actually multiple versions — including one that has the duo performing the vocals, and one featuring Tegan and Sara and the Lonely Island that runs over the end credits.

CBC Music caught up with the pair just ahead of the big night, and talked with them about their newfound fame, their romantic bond and about how a song they made while dancing in their socks in their living room landed them on the red carpet.

Congratulations! It must be exciting times for you guys.

Lisa Harriton: Very exciting. Oh my goodness.

Joshua, where in Canada are you from?

Joshua Bartholomew: I’m from the Toronto area. A little town called Alleston, it’s where I spent most of my time. But I grew up moving around a lot. We were a military family. [Harriton grew up in Los Angeles.]

Have you ever had a brush with Oscar fame?

Harriton: No, this is the first time.

Bartholomew: This whole thing has been so surreal. It’s the best word to describe everything. The Grammys were amazing because they’re the music awards and we’re musicians. But the Oscars, that’s the pinnacle of entertainment achievement. It’s the biggest awards show of the year. So it’s crazy that something we did is a part of that.

And you two are a couple. It’s rare enough to land an Oscar nomination — but even rarer to get there with your significant other.

Harriton: It’s so exciting, especially because we get to share this together. For me, that’s one of the biggest joys. We’re so lucky to be able to do what we do, and the fact that we have a song that has had such success together is so much fun.

Bartholomew: It’s pretty awesome to be able to have the love of your life be on the ride with you.

Tell me about the moment you found out you were nominated.

Bartholomew: We were actually lying in bed. We’d had a late night the night before and we woke up to a bunch of text messages and voicemails and emails from people going, "Oh my God, you guys are nominated for an Oscar!" It almost doesn’t even compute.

Harriton: The Grammy was the one that really shocked me. A friend was watching Grammy tweets and she called me and just started screaming.

In what ways has it changed your life?

Bartholomew: It’s been pretty fantastic. Both Lisa and I work really hard all the time. We’re kind of workaholics. So we’re always working on music, whether we’re writing or doing our own things as artists or producing or playing in different bands. This has just solidified that — and we’ve definitely met some really, really great people along the way. So we’re having a great time riding the wave, and just keeping our feet on the ground and moving forward doing what we love.

How did you come to be involved in the project?

Bartholomew: Basically magic. [Laughs] There’s that old adage, especially in the entertainment industry, about being at the right place at the right time, and we just happened to have our ears open to the right conversation. And I grew up playing with Lego; it was one of my favourite toys as a kid. So when we heard they were doing new music for a Lego movie, it was just a no-brainer. So that’s where it all started and it turned into something way beyond our wildest imaginations.

Once you were brought on board, what happened?

Bartholomew: We were sent various versions that Shawn Patterson had written, and we did our own thing based on that. We had no idea whether it was going to work out because we knew a ton of writers and producers and artists were working on songs for the movie. But we worked on it until we thought it would be the perfect fit and we sent it in and the initial response was that they loved it. Then we didn’t hear anything for almost a year and a half. But we were always cautiously optimistic.

Harriton: Our passion was so great for the project that we never lost our excitement. Then a couple months before the movie came out we heard they were going to use the song and we were so thrilled. After that it was just like boom, boom, boom, boom and quick, quick, quick, quick, and here we are. So exciting.

When you set out to remake the song, what was the process like?

Harriton: We were in our living room, and we had a bare bones studio setup, and we were just shoes off, socks on, dancing around the room. We were having fun. And we just wanted to make sure that lyrically the song was a good fit as an anthem.

What was the biggest challenge?

Harriton: It was the duality: it had to be the anthemic ending, the sound of the characters' freedom, and also the sound of their enslavement at the beginning of the movie. And that was a hard line to toe. It couldn’t be too dark, because then it wouldn’t suit the end of the film, so lyrically it was a bit tricky. But we just went with our gut.

Bartholomew: We didn’t overthink it too much, because as everyone can hear, it’s ultimately just a really fun song. So the main thing was to keep it super fun and cheery — but it had to serve that dual purpose. So that was definitely the challenging part. The best part was that we worked on it together. A little trivia side note: Lisa and I were just dating at the time, and it was actually the first thing that musically we collaborated on together — which is pretty crazy given what it’s turned into.

Did you have any sense of how central the song would be to the movie?

Harriton: Having not seen the film, we didn’t understand the role of the song in the movie, or know the reach. And the writers of the film are so incredibly talented and wrote such an incredibly beautiful, relatable story, with the song being almost like a character in the movie. And once we saw the movie we understood. We got a little choked seeing just what a special role the song has in the movie, and the overall message.

Bartholomew: We didn’t even see the movie until the premiere — we saw it for the first time with the entire world — and we didn’t know the scope of it and how big a role it played in the movie until we saw it. It was crazy to go in and see it, and five minutes in here comes the song, and it goes in and out throughout the movie — and then Tegan and Sara's awesome version plays over the credits. People were leaving the theatre singing the song. It was so crazy.

This is a huge weekend for you. What’s your mantra going in?

Harriton: Have fun.

Bartholomew: Exactly. Of course we hope it’s not the case, but I think most people would consider it a once-in-a-lifetime experience, especially as musicians. To be involved in the Oscar weekend is pretty insane. So we’re just going to enjoy every minute and have way too much fun.

Related:

'Everything is Awesome': Canadian songwriters talk Oscars, true love and their 'surreal' ride to Lego Movie stardom

From ‘Over the Rainbow’ to ‘Let It Go’: the 22 best Oscar songs of all time

Dreamgirls to The Sound of Music: the 38 greatest music movies

Disney's Frozen: the best covers that will make your heart sing

6 Wes Anderson-influenced music videos

20 of the most overused songs in film

Imma not let you finish: a supercut of Oscar winners being played off

From Rush to Broken Social Scene: Canadian musicians in movies



"Lanois was a walking concept. He slept music. He ate it. He lived it." - Bob Dylan

The Strombo Show will be running the gamut this Sunday night, keeping the spirit of radio alive by delivering the best records in the best order. It's a show for music lovers by music lovers, ranging over three hours of commercial-free music to honour both old and new.

George Stroumboulopoulos will be joined by an iconic Canadian producer and musician, Daniel Lanois for an acoustic performance and intimate interview in the House of Strombo.

Like Quincy Jones or Phil Spector, Daniel Lanois is one of the few Grammy-winning producers whose name on a record means as much as the artist's: U2, Peter Gabriel, Willie Nelson, Robbie Robertson, Bob Dylan, Neil Young - Lanois has produced career-changing albums for all of them. Her's also released several himself, including his latest noisy headphone album, 'Flesh And Machine'.

We'll also revisit some of the most unforgettable cinematic opening sequences to honour the Academy Awards. We'll trip from Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn with the sounds of Chuck D to Jim Morrison's growl over Vietnam.

As always, we'll be tipping our hats to those ground-breakers and game-changers with a Nod to the Gods, spinning the best new tracks, paying tribute to Tom Waits on Ten with Tom and we'll send you into the horizontal with the Big Lie Down.

Lock it. Crank it. Join the collective!

For further musical exploration with George Stroumboulopoulos, tune in to The Strombo Show every Sunday night on CBC Radio 2 or CBC Music from 8 to 11 p.m. for three hours of uninterrupted music for music lovers.   

Each week, CBC Radio 2's In Concert looks at new classical music releases and selects one recording that you need to know about. Here's your classical disc of the week for Feb. 22, 2015.

Album:Trans4mation
Artists:Guitar4mation
Repertoire: Transcriptions of Chopin, Schumann, Jobim, Corea, Gismonti
Label:Gramola Records

The transcription has a long history in classical music: piano transcriptions of symphonic works abounded in the 19th century; Bartók transcribed Hungarian folk music; Messiaen transcribed birdsong; and the Swingle Singers made jazzy transcriptions of Bach.

Guitar ensembles are used to playing transcriptions, since there isn't much repertoire composed expressly for them, and Guitar4mation's latest release, Trans4mation, captures one of the Austrian ensemble's more popular concert programs, focusing primarily on transcriptions of piano repertoire.

In addition to playing faithful, impeccable arrangements of piano miniatures by Chopin and Schumann, they dabble in a bit of stylistic transformation. A Viennese waltz morphs into a bossa nova; Argentinian tango paves the way for tracks by jazz greats Pat Metheny and Chick Corea. It's amazing how the stylistic differences among these pieces appear to vanish once they're united in one recital by these four guitar masters.

It's also worth noting the beautiful recorded sound on this album, giving not only a full ensemble sound but also a clear picture of the individual guitarists.

Follow Robert Rowat on Twitter: @rkhr

CBC Music fan favourites Hey Rosetta! are touring across Canada with fellow beloved indie veterans Stars. Reports and reviews coming in from the shows indicate it's a double bill of pure magic, and luckily for us, it's also a great excuse to revisit Hey Rosetta!'s most recent album.

Lead singer-songwriter Tim Baker took a break from the road to take us on a guided tour of the band's critically acclaimed Second Sight, which you can order here via iTunes.

Second Sight guided tour

"A song praising the night. A song about struggling through the day, with all of its expectations to be productive, responsible, occupied, communicative, punctual, etc., and really wanting only the escape of the night, with its sweet, stress-less release and easy, imaginative hours."

"A sort of present-day continuation of the famous Ron Hynes song 'Sonny's Dream,' in which a Newfoundland farm boy dreams of leaving his small town and his lonely (guilt-tripping) mother and seeking out the excitement of the big city. Well, since that song it seems the story has changed and these days it’s more often everyone is leaving rural Newfoundland to find work and soon after dreaming of going back home to their bays and farms, as opposed to the other way round. This is a song that explores both yearnings — ultimately a meditation on one's inability to ever feel whole and satisfied in one place."

"A song about daydreams and fantasies and how important they are — not necessarily as an escape but as something that actually directs your life and becomes truly possible. As Joan Didion wrote, 'The dream teaches the dreamers how to live.'"  

"That mythic, pre-destined true love. About finding it, after so long doubting it existed. About its manifestation, really, in your life. The verses look at the mythic mechanisms of destiny: cupid's arrow, the 'line of fate,' 'God's plan,' the outro, the power of love, so to speak, to make one impervious to fear, pain, death, despair. Basically, it should be a good track to kiss to."

"This is about underachieving; about not living up to your potential. Being poor and unmotivated and unemployed but knowing better. And feeling and connecting and thinking well above your pay grade. About having done nothing worth mentioning but wishing that everyone could see you instead in terms of this big, beautiful, completely unrealized, but completely incredible promise within you."

"It's about needing to be very careful with your sense of wonder. It’s this powerful, invaluable thing but also it’s so delicate. Age and education weaken and destroy it. It's about having to handle your child-like sense of imagination and trust with 'kid gloves.' It is something we had when we were kids (and actually felt and held the world with kids’ gloves) but it is something we lose so easily. The song will probably be seen as a sort of 'drug narrative,' which is fine but unfortunate, since it's just proving the point: that we think any change of perspective, any sudden belief in the misunderstood and invisible, any sudden lifting up is the result of drug use instead of the re-animation of our long-dead childhood minds."

"This is about getting a raw deal. When your life feels like one big succession of f--kups as you foray into the complete unknown with zero help or guidance from above or below or anyone else. It's so easy and natural and tempting to think that you are not in control, that life is happening to you and there's nothing you can do to affect this game of dice that the powerful and distant have rigged. The solution perhaps, as suggested in the bridge, is to do one small thing. To be in control of one small thing, one pursuit, one craft and to do your best with it … to do your best and then let it go, offer it up like an arrow shot into the giant seething, swirling, nebulous, anarchic nothingness of existence and then see how that makes you feel. It usually makes me feel better."

"Kintsukuroi is the ancient Japanese art of mending broken pottery with gold, highlighting the faults and flaws, with the belief that it’s actually more beautiful having been broken. Through that conceit, this is a song about breaking up and breaking apart and through all the trauma actually growing closer and being together with a love that’s stronger, more significant and more beautiful than it was before."

"You are at a party and you are well underneath everyone else — sad, lonely, cut off, depressed even. Then you see someone who appears likewise. You meet, you speak, you are hoisted up, maybe by the mere realization that you’re not alone in what you feel. The power of a commiserator is often under-guessed. But also there is an attraction that lights you up. Where before there was watery greyness, now there is lava and there is the realization that these things can happen and do happen and will happen again. You get up. Perhaps you dance."

"A letter from an incarcerated man to his victims, to his family, to everyone, to you."

"A song about Harriet, who lives in her books and movies and Netflix and every time she leaves the house, the image she has built of herself collapses in the wind and the action of the real world. But we know the real Harriet — the protagonist inside, the potential, hope, strength, beauty. Because we are like her. We ask to be remembered for what we intend, not what we do. To be remembered for us before we get lost in translation from what we want to be to what we end up being."

"A song for a dear friend, a mother, a survivor."

Find me on Twitter: @_AndreaWarner

Searching for the soundtrack to your dreams? This trio from Halifax’s got you covered.

Aqua Alta is the musical project of Jenn Grant, musician/producer Charles Austin (the Super Friendz, Buck 65) and producer/engineer Graeme Campbell (Buck 65), and they have been making beautiful electro-pop music for two years now. On March 3, Aqua Alta will release its debut full-length, Dreamsphere, in Canada, and you can stream it above one week in advance.

Aqua Alta began simply enough: Austin and Campbell sent Grant their tracks while she was on tour a few years ago, and she would write lyrics and sing the vocal melody. The project continued to grow, and the result is the weaving of Grant’s recognizably gorgeous voice in and around the catchy synth-pop rhythms from Austin and Campbell. On album opener "BTOcean," Grant’s "ooooo"s catch you as soon as the beat begins, and she never lets you go (save for one song, "Dream the Day After," which has choruses of "do, re, mi" sung by a group of children). Aqua Alta’s music is self-described as "undersea dream pop,” and it’s a sea in which you could easily float forever.

The first single off of Dreamsphere, "Epic Sweep," is nominated for an East Coast Music Award, and this album release marks the group’s first tour. Check out the dates here. Pre-order Dreamsphere ahead of its release.

Tracklist

1. "BTOcean"
2. "Polar"
3. "Blue is the Rain"
4. "Epic Sweep"
5. "Awaken Waiting"
6. "Dream the Day After"
7. "Coral Castle"
8. "Sparse"
9. "Norwegian Jewel"
10. "Silvery Tones"
11. "You were a Kid Too"

Related:

Aqua Alta on new and emerging bands to see during Halifax Pop Explosion

This week's staff pick: Tundra Songs by Kronos Quartet featuring Tanya Tagaq. Stream it in advance below until March 2.

The great composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein once explained, to a rapt audience of well-dressed schoolchildren, that music is meaningless. "No matter how many times people tell you stories about what music means, forget them," he instructed his eager pupils. "Music is never about anything. Music just is. Music is notes."

It’s a buzzkill of a concept. What well-adjusted child or adult would prefer to think of the William Tell overture as a sequence of E-flats and F-sharps than as a fanciful sonic adventure story?

Alas, Bernstein was right. All of the most glorious melodies you've ever heard are completely devoid of meaning. Music notes do not tell stories — not without help from words or pictures, anyway.

But, far outside the walls of the concert hall and the recording studio, there lives a different kind of sound: the fearsome call of a predator. The squeals of children playing games. The whistling wind, which carries upon it the tales of all those who’ve perished in the wilderness, and those who’ve thrived there.

Derek Charke's music is about these sounds — the sounds that can tell stories on their own. It's about traditional Western instruments crashing into and being overwhelmed by sounds that live outside of the concert hall.

(Design: Samantha Smith/CBC Music)

On Tundra Songs — a new disc of Charke's music performed by, and mostly commissioned for, the Kronos Quartet — the sounds in question come from Canada's far north. For Charke, the Arctic is a place that feels like home — and that has been, at some point in the past.

On the disc's two most substantial tracks, Cercle du Nord III and the title composition, the quartet finds itself surrounded by chirping birds, howling wind and crunching snow. The "meaningless" constructs of harmony and rhythm couple with documentary evidence of a story in progress — be it a decaying ecosystem or a hockey game.

This is how you pay tribute to a place that you love: you let the place tell its own story.

But for all that Charke's soundscapes take centre stage on Tundra Songs, they're bolstered by committed performances from Kronos and throat-singing iconoclast Tanya Tagaq. The title composition of Tundra Songs was composed specifically for these distinctive artists, and it's almost impossible to imagine it being performed by anybody else.

Here's a claim I bet even Bernstein wouldn't dispute: Tundra Songs is about the Canadian Arctic, singularly and resolutely. This music is the inviting warmth and the invigorating cold. It is notes, and it is stories, and it is life. And it is wonderful.

Tracklist

22 Inuit Throat Song Games
1. Lullaby
2. Throat Song

3. Cercle du Nord III

22 Inuit Throat Song Games
4. Song of a Name (For a Boy)
5. Dogs

6. Tundra Songs (feat. Tanya Tagaq) 

Follow Matthew Parsons on Twitter: @MJRParsons

Around here at CBC Music, we like a good challenge. Last year, we ranked the 50 best Canadian albums of the '90s. That experience brought longrepressedmemories flooding back, so much so we dedicated a whole week to our collective nostalgia.

Well, that experience felt so good we decided to do it again. Welcome to the second edition of '90s Week! This year, we thought it was time to tackle the decade’s best songs.

Ranking songs turned out to be a much different experience than ranking albums. Here, we got to re-listen to all our favourite music but we were also allowed to indulge in all the guilty pleasures and one-hit wonders the decade had to offer. If you peruse the list in the gallery above, you’ll be sure to see some names you haven’t thought about since, well, the '90s.

From songs about basement apartments and drinking in L.A. to the not-so-dulcet tones of the undisputed queen of angst rock, here we present you with the 50 best Canadian songs of the '90s. Listen to a playlist of it below.

What is your favourite Canadian song from the '90s? Did we miss any classics in our list? Let us know in the comments below or tweet using #90sweek.

Related:

'90s Week: best songs, girl groups and the Eurodance boom

Whether you were 13 or 19 in the '90s, chances are you shed a tear to a song that just got you, you know? Back then, I would listen to a song on tape, stop it and write the lyrics down for committing to memory. Some songs didn't even need a pen and paper — I would just play them over and over again until they were etched in my brain. And when heartache hit, the lyrics were ready.

Whether you had a licence to drive while cry-screaming the song to your ex or you just curled up beside your cassette player in angsty, physical pain over unrequited love, the '90s had a song for you. Here are 10 to get you started.

Do you remember the '90s? What were your favourite songs to cry-drive to? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @CBCRadio3.

Related:

'90s Week: best songs, girl groups and the Eurodance boom

The hunt for Canada's best new musical act is back.

We are partnering with CBC Radio One to find the best local music acts to compete for the crown. The winner will receive $20,000 in gear from Yamaha Canada Music, a gig at a major festival and more.

Here's another wrinkle: you can vote for up to 10 acts a day in each region. That means you and your friends in other bands can work together to help promote the local music scene and support each other, and can carry that support on to the national round. There is also a panel of celebrity judges at the national round, so we can balance the voice of the fans with an impartial jury of music experts.

Even though Searchlight doesn't officially launch until March 16, you can enter as of March 2. Here's why you should enter early: CBC producers start listening to submissions as soon as they begin to arrive. The music we hear is the basis for the songs we recommend to regional stations, play on radio, mention to other journalists who are covering Searchlight and so on. Entering earlier, when there are fewer entries, is the best way to make sure your music gets heard, and increases your chances of winding up on the air and in print.

We want you to enter. Your town wants you to enter. Canada wants you to enter. So how do you enter?

You'll need a CBC Music account. If you don't have one, sign up for a CBC Music artist account (and fill out the bio and upload a picture, because it will make it easier for journalists covering the contest to do stories about you). Then you'll need a song that's been written by you or the roster of musicians performing in your band (it should be under five minutes, too).  

We want new bands (and solo acts, duos, combos, etc.) to step up, and bands who entered last year to put their experience to work and try again this time around.

If you have any questions, email us at searchlight@cbc.ca.

Listen to some of our favourite discoveries from last year, and find out more about them in this gallery.

For more on Searchlight, follow @mikeminer.

Last summer, Canadian composer and banjoist Jayme Stone launched a Kickstarter campaign in hopes of raising the funds required to finance a new recording. He reached his goal, and now that recording is real.

Jayme Stone's Lomax Project is the artful reimagining of some of the field recordings of Alan Lomax. It covers a wide variety of musical styles including sea shanties, Appalachian ballads, fiddle tunes and work songs, with nothing sounding out of place. The timing of Jayme Stone's Lomax Project coincides with the centenary of Lomax's birth, but this project is not about the collector — it's about the songs and the way Stone and his musical team take them to new, often harmonious, heights.

This is the sort of collection that commands at least two listens. The first time you take it as it is, a folk record. But on the second listen, dig into the history — perhaps using the extensive, superb liner notes written by folklorist Stephen Wade — and allow that knowledge to blow the doors off of what you just heard.

Jayme Stone's Lomax Project will be released on Borealis Records on March 3. You can stream the album in its entirety by clicking on the player above. When you're ready for those liner notes, you can pre-order the album here. 

Tracklist:
"Lazy John"
"Before This Time Another Year"
"Shenandoah"
"Goodbye, Old Paint"
"Sheep, Sheep Don'tcha Know The Road"
"I Want To Hear Somebody Pray"
"T-I-M-O-T-H-Y"
"Hog Went Through The Fence, Yoke and All"
"What Is The Soul Of Man?"
"Now Your Man Done Gone"
"The Devil's Nine Questions"
"Bury Boula For Me"
"Julie and Joe"
"Susan Anna Gal"
"Maids When You're Young"
"Prayer Wheel"
"Old Christmas"
"Whoa, Back, Buck"
"Lambs on the Green Hills"

You were likely waiting all night but fell asleep before all of the envelopes were opened. Don't worry, we've got you covered.

First-time Oscar host Neil Patrick Harris opened up with a captivating tribute to the movies:

The nominees for best original song provided pleasant interludes from the NPH shenanigans such as his "super secret" Oscar predictions, dad-like quips (complete with mugging) and tired jokes about this year's Oscars snubbing people of colour.

Maroon 5's Adam Levine kicked things off for the best original song performances with a weak and wobbly version of "Lost Stars" from Begin Again. Canada's Tegan and Sara were up next to sing "Everything is Awesome" from The Lego Movie, along with Lonely Island.

It was a quirky, high-energy performance, complete with both dancing cowboys and construction workers, Questlove as Robin, a Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh and mini Lego Oscar statuettes. It was un-Oscars-like, and welcome at that point in the show.

Glen Campbell's song "I'm Not Going to Miss You" was powerfully set up by the story, but Tim McGraw's raw, emotional performance drove it home:

Rita Ora powered through the signature song from Beyond the Lights, called Grateful," and John Legend and Common brought the audience to their feet and a tear to Chris Pine's eyewith their performance of Selma's "Glory":

What might have been one of the weirder performances was a tribute to The Sound of Music with medley sung by Lady Gaga. Gaga's fine range was on display throughout the performance, as she continued on her quest to be taken seriously as more than just a pop singer.

And the winner is:

Best original song

– "Everything is Awesome" from The Lego Movie (music and lyric but Shawn Patterson)
– Winner: "Glory" from Selma (music and lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn)
– "Grateful" from Beyond the Lights (music and lyrics by Diane Warren)
– "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" from Glen Campbell ... I'll Be Me (music and lyrics by Glen Campbell)
– "Lost Stars" from Begin Again (music and lyrics by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisbois)

Whiplash, a film about a maniacal music teacher, was one of the big winners of the night, taking home the award for film editing, sound mixing and a best supporting actor award for J.K. Simmons.

Of course, there were plenty of other awards given out over the course of the nearly four-hour show. To save you hunting around on the internet, here are the big winners:

Best original score

– Winner:The Grand Budapest Hotel
– The Imitation Game
– Interstellar
– Mr. Turner
– The Theory of Everything

Best actor

– Steve Carrell (Foxcatcher)
– Bradley Cooper (American Sniper)
– Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)
– Michael Keaton (Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
– Winner: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) 

Best actress

– Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night)
– Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything)
– Winner: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
– Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)
– Reese Witherspoon (Wild)

Best picture

– American Sniper
– Winner:Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
– Boyhood
– The Grand Budapest Hotel
– The Imitation Game
– Selma
– The Theory of Everything
– Whiplash

Best director

– Winner: Alejandro G Iñárritu (Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
– Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
– Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher)
– Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
– Morton Tyldum (The Imitation Game)

A complete list of award winners in every category can be found here.

Related:

'Everything is Awesome': Canadian songwriters talk Oscars, true love and their 'surreal' ride to Lego Movie stardom

From ‘Over the Rainbow’ to ‘Let It Go’: the 22 best Oscar songs of all time

Dreamgirls to The Sound of Music: the 38 greatest music movies

Disney's Frozen: the best covers that will make your heart sing

6 Wes Anderson-influenced music videos

20 of the most overused songs in film

Imma not let you finish: a supercut of Oscar winners being played off

From Rush to Broken Social Scene: Canadian musicians in movies

Clark Terry, a master jazz trumpeter, bandleader and advocate of music education died on Saturday.

Terry's musical career spanned 70 years including time spent playing sides with Count Basie and Duke Ellington and collaborating with many of the big names in jazz, including Miles Davis, Quincy Jones and Charles Mingus among others. In demand as a musician, Terry has been credited on literally hundreds of recordings.

Terry also spent 10 years employed by NBC as a member of the Tonight Show Band, making him the first African-American staff musician on a US television network.

Later in life, after diabetes forced him to cut back on touring, Terry became a mentor for others. Most notably, a young jazz pianist named Justin Kauflin. Their unique relationship became the subject of the 2014 documentary film, Keep On Keepin' On.

Clark Terry entered hospice care to manage his advanced diabetes on Feb. 13, 2015. He died on February 21. He was 94.

Every week, Rich Terfry looks back in our Rear-view Mirror at a great song from the good ol’ days. This week, Captain Beefheart with "Yellow Brick Road."

Was one of the most influential album of the 60s written by a man who never existed? How could that be?

Here are some other great editions of Rear-view Mirror:

Elton John/Bennie and the Jets

Hank Williams/Long Gone Lonesome Blues

R.E.M./What's the Frequency, Kenneth?

Tom Waits/Jockey Full of Bourbon

Neil Diamond/Sweet Caroline

The Who/Pinball Wizard

Buffalo Springfield/For What It's Worth

Five Man Electrical Band/Signs

Band Aid/Do They Know It's Christmas

John Lennon/Imagine

The Ugly Ducklings/Nothin

Bob Dylan/Tangled Up In Blue

The Beatles/Norwegian Wood

The Pursuit of Happiness/I'm An Adult Now

Bruce Springsteen/Born To Run

Arcade Fire/Wake Up

Gnarls Barkley/Crazy

Big Joe Turner/Shake Rattle and Roll

Martha and the Muffins/Echo Beach

Wilson Pickett/In The Midnight Hour

The Band/The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Fleetwood Mac/Go Your Own Way

The Animals/House of the Rising Sun

Ian and Sylvia/Four Strong Winds

James Brown/Please Please Please

John Cougar Mellencamp, 'Pink Houses'

Leonard Cohen/Suzanne

The Ramones/I Wanna Be Sedated

Blue Rodeo/Try

The Guess Who/American Woman

U2/I Still Have't Found What I'm Looking For

Janis Joplin/Me and Bobby McGee

Gordon Lightfoot "If You Could Read My Mind"

The Byrds "Eight Miles High"

Simon and Garfunkel "The Sound of Silence"

Bill Haley and his Comets "Rock Around The Clock"

The Velvet Underground "I'm Waiting For The Man"

Johnny Cash "Folsom Prison Blues"

Bobby Fuller "I Fought The Law"

Big Star "September Gurls"

The Hollies "Bus Stop"

Joy Division "Love Will Tear Us Apart"

Booker T and the MGs "Green Onions"

Jimi Hendrix "Hey Joe"

Neil Young "Rockin' in the Free World"

Dolly Parton "Jolene"

The Left Banke "Walk Away Renee"

Lou Reed "Walk On The Wild Side"

James Taylor "Fire And Rain"

The Clash "Should I Stay or Should I Go"

Marvin Gaye "Sexual Healing"

Radiohead "Paranoid Android"

M.I.A. "Paper Planes"

The Animals "We Gotta Get Out of this Place"

Dusty Springfield "Son of a Preacher Man"

Screamin' Jay Hawkins "I Put A Spell On You"

Cheap Trick "Surrender"

Mott The Hoople "All the Young Dudes"

Beach Boys "Sloop John B"

Amy Winehouse "Rehab"

New York Dolls "Personality Crisis"

Modern Lovers "Roadrunner"

George Jones "He Stopped Loving Her Today"

Bruce Springsteen "Born in the USA"

The Beatles "With A Little Help From My Friends"

Rolling Stones 'Miss You'

The Coasters 'Run Red Run'

Elvis Costello, 'Alison'

James Brown, 'Hot (I Need to be loved loved loved)'

Inner Circle, 'Tenement Yard'

Ray Charles, 'I Don't Need No Doctor'

Curtis Mayfield, 'Freddy's Dead'

Gang Starr, 'Beyond Comprehension'

Bo Diddley, 'Bo Diddley'

Aretha Franklin, 'Rocksteady'

CCR, 'Have You Ever Seen the Rain'

Howlin' Wolf, 'Smokestack Lightning'

Bobby Womack, 'Across 110th Street'

Roy Orbison, 'In Dreams'

Foggy Hogtown Boys, 'Man of Constant Sorrow'

Pink Floyd, 'Wish You Were Here'

Neil Young, 'Cortez The Killer'

Bob Dylan, 'Subterranean Homesick Blues'

Little Eva, 'Loco-Motion'

Elvis Costello, 'Watching the Detectives'

Jimmy Cliff, 'The Harder They Come'

The Verve, 'Bittersweet Symphony'

Roberta Flack, 'Killing Me Softly with his Song'

R.E.M., 'Radio Free Europe'

Radiohead, 'No Surprises'

Led Zeppelin, 'Ramble On'

Rolling Stones, 'Beast of Burden'

Glen Campbell, 'Wichita Lineman'

Fire is a fine metaphor for music. How it flickers and sways, layers and shifts, consumes and warms. The fire pit, a gathering circle; the fireplace, how it changes a room. 

On The Firewatcher's Daughter, Seattle alt-country artist Brandi Carlile doesn't necessarily depart from her sound, but pokes at the embers of what makes it roar, bringing her pop-rock influences — from Elton John to Crosby, Stills & Nash — to a crackle. 

On tracks like "Wherever is Your Heart," Carlile runs at her most raucous, and seems to be simultaneously making a play for country radio domination while snubbing her thumb at the entire concept. On quieter tracks, like standout "The Eye," Carlile quietly, powerfully harmonizes with her longtime bandmates Tim and Phil Hanseroth (also known as the Twins),  drawing the listener into her intimate circle. 

The album's title came to Carlile while pondering beside a bonfire. So go on, pull up a chair and listen.

Tracklist

1. "Wherever is Your Heart"
2. "The Eye"
3. "The Things I Regret"
4. "Mainstream Kid"
5. "Beginning to Feel the Years"
6. "Wilder (We're Chained)"
7. "Blood Muscle Skin & Bone" 
8. "I Belong to You"
9. "Alibi"
10. "The Stranger At My Door" 
11. "Heroes and Songs"
12. "Murder in the City"

Follow Brad Frenette on Twitter:@bradfrenette

There's so much music and yet so little time to listen to it. Which means you barely have enough time to find it. Let us help you with this little roundup of some of the albums that you can stream online this week.

Artist: Tuxedo
Album: Tuxedo
Where:NPR Music

Detroit DJ Mayer Hawthorne "links up with Seattle boom-bap specialist Jake One to form the group Tuxedo, on a mission to push the funk back to the forefront."



Artist: Gang of Four
Album: What Happens Next
Where:Exclaim.ca

"[T]here's no question that this is the Gang of Four for a new millennium."

Artist: Ghostface Killah and BadBadNotGood
Album: Sour Soul
Where:Consequence of Sound

"BadBadNotGood have created a cinematic musical staging for Ghostface Killah’s vivid storytelling."

Artist: Jayme Stone
Album: Jayme Stone's Lomax Project
Where:CBC Music

"[T]he artful reimagining of some of the field recordings of Alan Lomax."

Artist: Vessels
Album: Dilate
Where: The Guardian

"For their third album Dilate, the band have added an electronic pulse to their work, aligning their passion for post-rock wig outs with dance music’s communal rush.'"

Artist: Darren Hanlon
Album: Where Did You Come From?
Where:The Guardian

"The work was conceived in the dusty, remote town of Broken Hill in far western New South Wales, but follows an extensive journey through the US including an artist in residence at Seaview, Washington state and stops in the country’s musical heartland: New Orleans, Nashville and Memphis." 

Here they are, your top 30 Canadian indie songs this week! 

:: Click here to vote on next week's chart! ::

The R3-30 Canada’s Top Indie Songs for February 23, 2015
30. Del Bel "The Stallion"
29. Weed "Thousand Pounds"
28. Programm "Like The Sun"
27. The High Dials "Echos and Empty Rooms"
26. Century Palm "Cold Reflection"
25. Dagan Harding "Naked Eye"
24. Nancy Pants "Happy"
23. Astral Swans "September"
22. Shred Kelly "Family Oh Family"
21. Mobina Galore "Skeletons"
20. The Gay Nineties "Hold Your Fire"
19. Faith Healer "Again"
18. The OBGMs "Beat Up Kidz"
17. Moon King "Roswell"
16. The Golden Dogs "Do It For You"
15. Napalmpom "Seamstress"
14. The Matinee "Call of the Wild"
13. Dear Rouge "Black To Gold"
12. Thomas D'arcy "All Over Your Face"
11. Purity Ring "Push Pull"
10. Hollerado "Firefly"
9. Michael Feuerstack "The Devil"
8. Jordan Klassen "Firing Squad"
7. Rich Aucoin "Yelling in Sleep"
6. Mardeen "Silver Fang"
5. Dan Mangan "Mouthpiece"
4. New Pornographers "Champions of Red Wine"
3. Operators "Ecstasy In My House"
2. Rural Alberta Advantage "This City"
1. The Elwins "So Down Low"

And now on to... the Listener List!

Every week, we take a little detour from the R3-30 to play a few of the tracks you've chosen around a theme, we call it the Listener List. This week, it’s time to celebrate the best collectives, those bands with many offshoots and beautiful family trees.

And now for a new theme! Coming of age. There’s something about adolescence that will always be captured in song. It’s the time when you’re finding out who you are, making mistakes and learning lessons with your friends. It’s the time we often look back on through the rosy tingled glasses of nostalgia, and a time that often is referenced in songs.

What tracks remind you of growing up and the trials and tribulations along the way?

Post your comments on the blog or tweet @cbcradio3

These days, there really are no limits on how artists can deliver their recordings. This month, we've checked out some unique vinyl releases and limited-edition bundles you probably don't want to miss from Ghostface Killah with BadBadNotGood, Dan Deacon, Cancer Bats, Modest Mouse, Awolnation, Twin Shadow, Chilly Gonzales, the Prodigy, Death Cab for Cutie, Calexico and Silverstein.

Get started with the gallery above.