Welcome to Shift, where Tom Allen takes you on a daily musical journey from the stalwarts of Classical music to the cutting edge of Contemporary tunes. Join us here on CBC music for a round-up of the stories of the day, some videos of music (or maybe just videos interesting to music fans) and a place to speak your voice.
Monday October 29th
Thanks to those who participated in the 7th week of Rainbow Battle. It was our second last week of putting the best renditions of "Over the Rainbow" head to head. This time, Eva Cassidy came in as defending champion. Her competition? Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. Cassidy's story is painfully poetic, but could she hold off the powerful Hawaiian ukelele?
It turns out that the "IZ" had a potent enough story himself. Eva Cassidy's valiant attempt was merely that: an attempt. Congratulations to Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, who we'll see next week in the FINAL week of Rainbow Battle.
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How important is a sound mixer to the music you listen to? In today's music landscape, it's huge. Even "acoustic" artists are increasingly altered in post-production. Today, we honour the incredible mixing work of Ned Mann. Who even as ALS slowly took away his life, he continued to mix somehow with his nose. Ned Mann is truly an inspiration from behind the glass.
Do you have photos you forgot you took? With digital photography, it's easy to take a hundred pictures just to ensure you get the one you want. Arthur Grace, professional photographer, found a book's worth, and in going through them he discovered America.
In other news, Bill and Lou worked at one college for 10 years, but need to retire. The dean thinks the students should just eat them.
Does Modern Art get you down? All those random lines and shapes, could they really carry meaning? I mean... all these art goers must be pretending they understand... Wait, you're telling me that bees get it, too?
In honour of Blue Rodeo's 25th year as a band, we're giving you as much Blue Rodeo as you can handle. They've re-released some of their best albums, and we've dedicated streams of music to playing those albums all day and night. You can pick to stream from Outskirts, Diamond Mine, Casino, Lost Together, and Five Days in July. All those albums have been compiled for their brand new box set, called Blue Rodeo: 1987-1993.
You can contact us at SHIFT with your ideas, questions, or anything else by sending us a message on our Facebook page. Through email, you can reach show producers Alison Howard ( alison.howard@cbc.ca ) or Alex Redekop ( alex.redekop@cbc.ca ).