Archive for Ian Thomas

JAIMIE VERNON – EVERYTHING OLD IS STU AGAIN

Posted in Opinion with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 1, 2015 by segarini
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

There’s a Renaissance of sorts happening in the music business right now by which music we’ve lost track of, or have ignored outright, due to the current ubiquity of pop music is crawling out from the primordial ooze and is being reborn as something new. New masters, new packaging and/or new formats are moving in to replace the gaping hole left by marginilized MP3 files and the impending death of CDs.

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Doug Thompson: A NEW BOOK ON THE CANADIAN MUSIC SCENE IS IN BOOK STORES OR ON KINDLES, OR HOWEVER YOU READ BOOKS THESE DAYS

Posted in Opinion with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 15, 2015 by segarini

Doug Thompson headshot

Before I begin my review, I have to say that I have the utmost respect for anybody who sits down (or stands up for that matter) to write a book…whether fiction or non-fiction.  The amount of time and effort in research and the blood, sweat and tears that it takes to actually write it, can be monumental.  Having contributed to over a dozen books, I know that it takes true dedication and can’t be undertaken lightly.  Writing a book can (and often does) take over your life.

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JAIMIE VERNON – OH! CANADA? THE OTHER SONGS OF MY PEOPLE

Posted in Opinion with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 28, 2014 by segarini

vernon_1997Tuesday marks the 147th birthday of this great Dominion known as Canada.  Though we’re not quite as old as our brother to the south, our European lineage dates back to May 2, 1670 when the Dread Pirate Ernie Hudson got his ship stranded in the northern waters of the arctic looking for a direct passage to Santa’s Workshop. He and the crew survived on nothing but Her Queen’s Own Biscuits, Tea Hudsons BayCandles and striped blankets knitted from the wool of extinct mammoths. The native population had already been here 11,000 years longer and resented the idea that you now had to trade 10 beaver pelts to get a birch bark canoe. We’ve come a long way since then but still pride ourselves on our cultural diversity, beavers, hockey and fornicating while watching hockey. Oh, and we seem to be able to write a mean ditty (not “diddy” you internet meme idiots).

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Frank Gutch Jr: If You Don’t Like To Read, Maybe You’re Reading The Wrong Stuff: Books On Music… Plus Notes

Posted in Opinion with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 4, 2014 by segarini

FrankJr2I worked with a guy for four or five years who had never read a book after college.  He read, he just didn’t read books (which had me scratching my head until I developed a bald spot).  Books have always been part of my life.  As a child and even toddler, books were a never ending source of pleasure.  So how is it, I ask myself, that people hate to read?  And I think I have found the answer.  They haven’t found anything which, to them, is worth reading.  Books are like music in the forest for the trees idiom.  There are so damn many choices, one has no idea where to start.  Well, for people who love music, the obvious starting point is books about music (or would that be “are”?).  Like soul?  Find a book about soul music.  Love country?  There are tons of biographies of country artists, past and present, and even books about country’s musical past.  Blues?  The same.  Rock?  Too many to count.

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