Tag Archives: silver speakers

New recording: Aaliyah + Banjo

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This came together relatively quickly; I’ve been a huge R. Kelly fan for a long time, and exploring Aaliyah’s music is an extension of that… he was an influential person in her life, and though these covers come from her “One in a Million” record, I really hear his influence in the way she sings. So, as “One in a Million” climbed around in my brain and took hold, I decided the only way to answer that was to get inside the songs themselves, see how they tick, and see how they sound stripped of their electronic-ness, their vocal gymnastics and pop moves. Listen for yourself, but I’m pleasantly surprised that despite these “best” songs from “One in a Million” only have 2 chords or so, Timbaland and Missy Elliot (the songwriters of “Four,” “Three,” and “One”) really knew what they were doing on the melodic side of things — not just on those insanely future-looking beats. Enjoy!

Silver Speakers does Handsome Furs acoustic style!

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Silver Speakers does Memories of the Future and Cheap Music by the Handsome Furs

While working on the new “Silver Speakers” record, I took a break to record these covers from the latest Handsome Furs record, “Sound Kapital.” The songs are “Memories of the Future,” which I think really compliments and resonates with the themes I’m exploring on the new Silver Speakers record, “Never Was,” and “Cheap Music,” which I think is an anthem for New Music as we know it/create it today.

Let me know what you think, the “sound” is similar to what I’m approaching for “Never Was” as well, kind of like a low-key acoustic take, instead of the dusty/smokey atmosphere of last year’s “Iceland.”

The cassettes for “Iceland” have arrived!

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Instead of copying CDs that end up being used once for burning, and sit on the shelf, I thought for this release I’d put together something a little more unique, and could be used more like a keepsake.  So for “Iceland,” I’m only going to be releasing the album on a super-limited run of audio cassettes, which you can see above here. The album is also streaming online at my basecamp, and if you buy the cassette, you’ll also get a download of “Iceland” as well.

Silver Speakers on the CBC Radio show Bandwidth

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"Silver Speakers" performing at the Boat in Toronto's Kensington Market, Dec. 2008.

My recording/performing outfit, “Silver Speakers” has always gotten a lot of love from CBC Radio, and I’m pleased every time they select one of my songs to play on their shows. The latest, which I’m pleased to share with you, is an inclusion on the CBC Radio show “Bandwidth,” on their not-quite-Christmas special, hosted by Amanda Putz with Intern Meg Wilcox. They played “A Warning From Santa Claus” with an intro I recorded for them, and then talked about my new Christmas EP, “Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, R. Kelly.” You can click here to read about the special on NXEW.ca (Canada’s most prolific music blog), or download it directly here. You can hear my segment starting around the 15 minute mark . Thanks again CBC!

It’s been a big day, and it’s time to relax

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With a day spent in the Junction (post to come) and hearing “Silver Speakers” getting played on CBC Radio (post to come on that too), I’m just about ready to kick back for a while… might as well slip on these brand-new bad boys and paddle ’round the ‘partment.

I’m not really a “slipper” guy, and though I haven’t been shy about lugging around a pair of Vans to people’s houses when it’s party-time, it was time. Normally, this isn’t something I’d normally write about either, but I wanted an excuse to write about John and Juli’s new “pure Scandinavian” shop, Mjolk. I’ve been reading their blog, “KITKA design toronto” for a while now, and it was nice to finally meet them in person.

Since starting their blog in order to enhance and compliment Toronto’s presence of all things design online (inspiring many readers to drop their own notes on interior design, myself included), they’ve now opened a shop crammed with some of the finest Scandinavian selections I have ever seen in the city before.

Despite being all the way out in Toronto’s Junction neighborhood (Dundas and Keele), it’s worth making the trip out there… even just to check out the unique charred wood exterior and stunning wood feature wall. I didn’t waste my time taking photos on my phone, you can check out Juli’s great shots here. (No, this is not an advertisement).

So I knew that when I made it down there for the shop’s first Saturday in business (it opened earlier this week), I knew I had to get something. This is a dangerous affliction I feel all of the time… it isn’t healthy.

What I ended up with were these awesome wool-felt slippers, created by Swedish designer Pia Wallen. Here’s a blurb from their site:

The Unisex slipper was first designed in 1992 for Progetto/Orgetto Cappelini. The slipper was inspired by the Scandinavian tradition of using wool linings inside boots, to survive the cold Swedish winters. Designed with the use of minimal pieces and a clever construction, the slipper reminds us of industrial materials updated with a fine level of finish and detail. Functionality, simplicity and comfort are why this model remains poplular today

Very cool! And this is going to sound strange, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the same price they are listed at on piawallen.se is only about 3 Canadian dollars less than what they were listed at in Mjolk. I figured that because many (if not all) of their items are imported from overseas, that they would be marked up like crazy… but that’s not the case.

And now that someone else in the apartment has discovered how nice and soft they are, it looks like we’ll be making a trip back for another pair.