Where I find new music: Part 14 - my son

Wow, the following was drafted about 6 years ago.  It’s a problem I have - drafting some ideas and never completing the piece and posting it.  There’s so many that they could make up a new chapter.  Sadly, I didn’t write down the name of the band he’d found - do you remember buddy?

My son found a great new song on CFNY today and came downstairs to tell me about.   I could tell he was excited about a new find that he thought I'd like.  And he was right.   Unusual opening, catchy beat and melodies and champion-like rhythms.  Happy to see the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree.

Kind of related to part 1 of this series.

I found this draft while chilling to the smooth sounds of BadBadNotGood while enjoying a lovely summer afternoon on our cabana in our urban back yard...

Champion: a music formula that works (for me)

The band: Champion; the sound: DJ Champion, aka Maxime Morin. The guitarists: the G Strings. Singers: Betty Bonifassi originally, now Pierre-Philippe (Pilou) Côté. Formula: Base of electronic beats; generous handfuls of hard rocking guitars x 5; interesting singers with straight up blue inspired lyrics. I've only been clubbing in Montreal a few times, but from what I recall from a great night at Fou Founes Electriques, Champion personify all that is cool in the Montreal music scene.

The first time I heard and saw Champion was on TV as they closed the Juno awards back in 2007, and right away I was hooked.

Their 2004 debut album, Chill ‘Em All, won a 2005 Felix Award for Album of the Year in the electronictechno category. Chill ‘Em All went Gold and The Remix Album was nominated for a JUNO for Dance Recording of the Year in '07. They also released a DVD called Champion at ses G Strings that perfectly shows the energy of their lives shows, especially playing in hometown Montreal at Metropolis.

They released the second album Resistance yesterday. I had a quick listen at home last night, but it wasn't until I got a chance to listen to the album properly today with headphones that I can now say I like it. It don't think it's as strong as Chill 'em all and the upbeat tracks are definitely closer to the rock curve. I'm not big on lyrics, and some may find the lyrics somewhat repetitive, but they work well for me as sing-a-long words for the driving, thumping electro-rock sounds. There are a few interesting tracks that explore more electronica and trance themes, with Champion's signature instrumental layering and building of electronic intros and groundwork with guitar riff crescendos and intricate rhythm patterns.I saw Champion at Lee's Palace a couple of years ago and it still remains one of my favourite concerts of all time. Unfortunately I attended solo and there's no photos or video. On a trip out to BC days after the show, my skills of persuasion failed when I couldn't sell my friends on the idea of going to see their Vancouver show. I think one of my Quebec work colleagues has seen Champion perform live (as they do a lot more shows in Quebec) but I don't know anyone else that has seen their fantastic shows in the past. But quiet a few of my friends have loved the music on the first listen ! I've waited a couple of years to see them again, and was over the moon when I found out they were going to play a free concert at Yonge Dundas Square to open the Toronto International Film Festival.

I'm proud to say my 12 year old son is a big music fan (across rock, alternative and electronic music) and in combo of learning to play guitar, he's a fan of Champion just like his old man. So I took him to the concert on Thursday. We got there nice an early as I wanted to make sure we got a good spot so he could see and I could take photographs. We chatted with a few photographers and music fans, including Stranger #22 - Sherlon. With the exception of not playing one of my faves (The Plow), Champion delivered an awesome show. What makes Champion's compositions and performances unique is that while he's live mixing the electronic side of the equation he directing the guitarists with the intros and transitions with hand signals (as you can see in some of the photos on flickr). On the DVD he talks a lot about this technique and I'm still a little amazed at how he pulls this off and creates such a well "produced" sound. I'm not certain how many fans were present, but I'm sure there were plenty of new fans afterward. The free tent in the square was pretty packed and everyone quickly fell into step with Champion's mix of driving dance beats with hard rocking guitars. New male lead singer, Pilou added strong vocals and the special appearance of Canadian Opera diva Measha Brueggergosman topped off the evening perfectly.

A little clip of the YDS crowd showing how you just can't stop moving to the Champion sound ! ( I love the guy in suit and tie holding up his BB on the left at the beginning of the clip)


Playing their hit No Heaven as their encore (poor sound, but you get the idea)

So, for me, Max has created a fantastic formula for an alternative to the often sterile sounds of pure electronic music and the dime-a-dozen unimaginative rock bands who struggle to find that killer riff and a recognizable lead vocal sound. I think his mix of his laptop creation of electronic dance beats and intricate orchestrated guitar melodies, riffs and movements is pure genius.

TIFF

The Toronto International Film Festival starts today. In the festival's early years, I attended quite a view events and made time to see some more obscure movies, however I don't have any set plans this year. But, I do plan on enjoying some of the free events and also trying to take some photos, incl. candid shots of celebs and fans outside some of the gala events. There are a quite a few free events this year, especially at Yonge Dundas Square where I just enjoyed a light lunch while watching Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man under the tent. Plus a treat I'm really looking forward to tonight is the opening night concert by DJ Champion. The new single is out and the album due next Tuesday. If you're reading this today and within striking distance and like some hard groovin' electro beats and guitar riffs, check it out, you won't be disappointed. On the movie front, I'm going to use the festival as an excuse to watch some quality movies at home. I have a few queued up, incl. The Wrestler and Water.

Photo Blog #12: Luminato Long Wave

This is one of the reasons I haven't been blogging much these days. I've been immersed in a couple of photography projects: 100 Strangers and capturing all the wonderful things to see at the Luminato Festival that is running thru next weekend here in Toronto.

Twitter overflow

I haven't been twittering a lot recently and now I find I'm a bit behind. Engage Twitter overflow blog mode.

Even though I've had to work a little this weekend and my shoulder is still causing 4am wake times, I'm enjoying this long weekend.

We went to the Ontario Science Centre today. I've never been a big fan since I always feel it's very disorganized and many exhibits are not working properly. But, the interactive exhibitions always seem to be hit with the kids and it got their brains working hard for 3 hours.

Catching up on a few movies too this weekend, Forgetting Sarah Marshall was hilarious and we just watched Benjamin Button tonight, which was a little different to what I expected. Can't say I loved it was but a curious story well told. Hot music of late includes Pete(r) Doherty, White Lies and S&R just introduced us to Bash for Lashes after dinner last night.

I enjoyed shopping with the kids yesterday and especially liked my son's rare fashion sense kick in with a pair of white and red Ferrari logo'd Pumas, sweet !

I've been taking a ton of photos this weekend. I went to Vistek on Friday and rented a couple of lenses (Nikon 18-200mm VR and Nikon 50mm 1.4) and a Nikon SB-800 speedlight for the weekend (pretty good deal I think). Although I'm constantly trying new photographic techniques, camera settings and subjects, I think I'm gradually getting a little better, but adding some quality lenses hasn't produced instant wows. Probably a good thing considering the price tags.

Sports - keeping it brief, Arsenal put up a decent performance to hold ManU to a scoreless time at Old Trafford, which gave The Red Devils the point the needed to clinch the Premiership. It's been a difficult season for a Gunner fan, but I'm sticking with them and hopeful for next season if they can add a little muscle and height at the back. Sorry hockey fans, still haven't invested time into the NHL playoffs yet, I'll probably wait until the next round. F1 is looking interesting this year, big shake up with Brit boy Jenson Button leading the pack - worth watching some new faces get the time at the front !

My sports, unfortunately Ive had to cancel a number of golf tournament and my ultimate season due to this frozen shoulder injury. I think I've stabilized it a little, but it hurts like a bugger now and again and very uncomfortable at night (to say the least).

As some readers may know I like coincidences. In fact with a few recent events and a story from SEH I'm actually thinking of spinning up a new blog to log coincidences - I think there's enough to make you go hm.

And to finish, today is my 18th wedding anniversary. We're planning on spending the afternoon doing the West Queen West walk, taking in some galleries exhibiting during this month's Contact Photography Festival and having a nice cafe lunch. Can't end without saying she's the most amazing woman and perfect for me.

Black Watch

Theatre review from the subway: I just saw Black Watch at the Luminato festival. It is the tragic tale of the noble causes of a powerful military regiment brought to humble and worthless ends. It lived up to the hype but was a little different to what I expected. It was a tremendous blend of drama, political commentary, history lesson, humour, music and dance. Yes the language was very profane (I don't think I've heard the C word said that many times in my whole life). But the violence was not as much as I anticipated and offset with lots of lad's laffs. Wonderful, energetic performances from the whole cast. Passionate and personal acting. Fantastic. Thanks to Jessica for the great recommendation.

Photography

I'm wondering who was my first family relative to buy a camera and take a photograph ? Whether if it was that original family camera pioneer or perhaps, the first one that took a photograph for artistic reasons, it's nice to think that photographs could be seen as a chronological artistic link within my family.

I'm not sure when I first saw photography as an art form and not just as a way to document an event or record pictures of the family. I don't mind taking the odd photo during family events (except the banal dining table or gift opening poses), but I make the best of having a camera in my hands and look for the more unusual shot, the candids, the unusual perspectives, close-ups, etc.

I'm happy to say, photography is a family hobby.

• My Dad was a keen photographer and taught me how to use an SLR.
• My uncle was a photographer with an artistic eye.
• My brother has taken his fair share of artistic shots.
• My cousin is the first in the family who has made a living through photography, see www.sportarts.co.uk.
• My sister-in-law spends a lot of time behind the lens shooting for her blog - Pedestrian Typography.
• My wife is always looking to capture the elusive sports action shot.
• My daughter is the latest photographer in the family, her favourite subjects being animals, nature and food.
• And I'm dabbling in it again too, see my photostream on flickr.

I'm still undecided on the best way to organize, edit and share my photos. At the moment, I'm using a combination of Picasa and Flickr. Flickr seems to have a better online experience and is a better known cyber destination for photographers, while Picasa's desktop application has some easy to use, but reasonably powerful management and editing tools. I should point out at this time, before my wife completely blows her stack, that she is a consultant for Creative Memories and uses Memory Manager software to organize our family photos at home.

For quite a while I've been drawn to online photography galleries and photo blogs. My favourite is a local photographer who I think does a wonderful job of transforming everyday places (many right by my office) and people into lovely works of photographic art. I think this is one thing that draws me to photography - you can walk by a building or park everyday and not notice it's beauty, but when an artistic photo is taken of that place it helps tune your eye to all the beautiful things around us. His photo blog is Daily Dose of Imagery. I can spend a lot of time wandering through the cyber galleries on Flickr, but also love to spend a little time with news photo galleries.

As a lover of tech and toys and always looking for technology upgrades (much to my wife's annoyance). I've been researching new cameras and indirectly finding some great online sources of information, whether you're looking for new equipment or getting the most out of your point-and-shoot digital camera. For instance, after learning a little more about white balance, I've now started to use settings other than auto and getting much better results. I won't go into the technical definition, but it's basically how the colour of your subject is influenced by the light source. I'm pretty sure the concept isn't anything new in photography, but now with digital, the white balance can be adjusted in-camera or left to post processing in your editing software. For an amateur tip, white balance settings are pretty easy to set and are typically designated by words (or images) related to weather or lighting, e.g. cloudy, sunny, tungsten, etc.

The other catalyst to my recent rekindled interest in photography is the Contact Photography Festival that's currently happening here in Toronto. I took my daughter to visit some of the exhibitions at MOCCA a few weeks ago, but we enjoyed our informal visit to the downtown west galleries just as much, especially when you get to ask the photographer a few questions about their work. We especially liked Lucy Molnar Wing and Ramesh Kamath (978 Queen Street West).

A few other favourites:

• My favourites on Flickr
• Kent Ferguson
• Robert Burley

Robert Burley's photo Demolition of Buildings 65 & 69 has been a key image during the festival and one whose story says a lot about the world of photography today. We saw the print at MOCCA and it has also been reproduced as a mural in the courtyard outside (some of my Flickr pictures show closeups) for the festival. When I first saw the image, it looked like something from 9/11 or The Kennedy Space Center. When I read that it was actually a picture of the demolition of two of Kodak's large manufacturing facilities in Rochester, the picture was clear. Viewed by hundreds of people, the event surely tells the story of change in the digital age.