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.
Today, Katherine Duncan is sitting in for Tom Allen.
From now on you'll be able to stream SHIFT at your convenience in its entirety. Click on the AUDIO tab on this blog to listen.
Everybody could use a boost in mental vitality. Who would say no to such a thing? It turns out you don't need herbal medicines, or the right fruits and vegetables (though it couldn't hurt). Instead, the music of Vivaldi does the job.
(our on-air broadcast featured this piece being performed by the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra)
In the past, when you got a brand new CD there was a good chance you were the first person you knew to have it. You could call your friends and they'd rush over to listen to your copy. It was a listening party. Today, things have changed a bit. Even if you bought the CD, it was available weeks before online. British artist Dido wants to bring back the experience of a listening party. She launched her new album, then coordinated her listeners on twitter to start the music at the same time. You can follow the transcripts, and listen to her record streaming for free on CBC Music.
Serena Ryder knows how to edit her work. In 2010, she released her singe "A Little Bit of Red" with a video. It consisted mainly of Serena walking around in a wintery park with an electric guitar that wasn't plugged in. Later on, she went back and made a second video for the same single. This time, it involved visual effects that made it look like her finger could make 3D structures of red paint. It was all one long shot, and looked much more polished. All the hard work earned her a Juno for Video of the Year. Sometimes, even if it isn't broken, you can fix it. Check out the two videos below:
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, Alex Redekop alex.redekop@cbc.ca or Pete Morey peter.morey@cbc.ca