Basia Bulat: Tiny Desk Concert

Artist: Basia Bulat: Tiny Desk Concert Performance Date: September 2010 I guess I must be feeling a little homesick … was pleased to see Polish-Canadian Basia Bulat featured at this Tiny Desk Concert http://www.npr.org/2011/01/21/133113463/basia-bulat-tiny-desk-concert?live=1 at NPR. I had recently cataloged her 2010 CD Heart of My Own for my library back home and I remember her being [...]

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Ella … of Thee I Swing

Title: Ella … of Thee I Swing Artist: Nikki Yanofsky Date: 2008 Style: Jazz Mood: Upbeat, happy, joyous Another young Canadian artist to watch out for. In this album, Nikki is performing live at the 2007 Montreal Jazz Festival, at the tender age of 13. Some of my favorite tracks include  Lullaby of Birdland, Relax Max, [...]

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Hallelujah Chorus

Title: Hallelujah Chorus / Christmas Food Court Flash Mob Artist: Handel / Chorus Niagara Date: November 2010 Since this blog is about how music serves as a ladder for the soul, I felt this was a really good example of this. As a Baha’i, I believe that all religions come from the same divine source, [...]

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The Essential Canadian Brass

Title: The Essential Canadian Brass Artist: The Canadian Brass Date: 1991 Style — Classical crossover Mood — happy, jovial, quirky Good for — relaxing, chilling out in an energetic sort of way A fun mixture of classical, pop, and jazz elements. I was very impressed with Canadian Brass’s Zarathustra Fanfare which almost fooled me into [...]

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Goldberg Variations

Title: Goldberg Variations Original title: Aria mit verschiedenen Veranderungen (‘Aria with Diverse Variations’) BWV 988 Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Artist: Glenn Gould Date:1982 Style: Baroque Mood: Turbulent, calm, distracted Good for: Writing, working, catharsis, staying awake Supposedly Bach wrote this piece for a Russian ambassador who had trouble falling asleep at night. If you [...]

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Goldberg Variations

Title: Goldberg Variations Original title: Aria mit verschiedenen Veranderungen (‘Aria with Diverse Variations’) BWV 988 Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Artist: Angela Hewitt Date:1999 Style: Baroque Mood: Calming, peaceful, brilliant, an anchor in a sea of peace Good for: Reading, writing, working, relaxing, catharsis I needed something to work to again. So I decided to [...]

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The Reminder

Title: The Reminder Artist: Feist Date: 2007 Style: Indie rock Mood: Pensive, thoughtful, contemplative, melancholy Good for: Long drives on the Trans-Canada highway So this is the album of the 1234 fame. I think everyone should listen through the album at least once since it’s so well-known. Although for me, I found the content of [...]

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Let it die

Title: Let it die Artist: Feist Date: 2004 Style — Indie rock Mood — melancholy, earnest, bittersweet Good for  — getting a feel for Feist in her pre- 1234 days, but for the most part I found that this album was a bit too sad for me. On first listen, I got the feeling that Feist [...]

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Something Beautiful

Title: Something Beautiful Artist: Great Big Sea Date: 2004 Style? Alternative Rock, Indie, Celtic Rock, Folk Rock Mood? Upbeat, happy, hopeful, fun, at times irreverent What I learned? GBS is known for their interpretations of traditional Newfoundland sea shanties kicked up a notch with their own indie/rock twist. This album, however, is supposedly a departure [...]

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When I look in your eyes

Title: When I look in your eyes Artist: Diana Krall Date: 1999 Believe it or not (okay, maybe you believe it now), I have not picked up a Diana Krall CD before. Yes, I’ve heard her on the radio, but I had never bothered to go to the library to borrow an actual CD. Her [...]

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