Devin Townsend Band - Storm LIVE

A live performance so great, it is worth the bad audio quality. 

Ziltoid 2 - Universal Choir

Should I tag this as 'upcominggigs', maybe. Biggest gig of my career...! Haha!

Hey, Devin fans... so... maybe you know that Devin Townsend has put forward a call for people to record vocals to be a part of the next Ziltoid album?

http://universalchoir.insideoutmusic.com

I've been bragging to everyone about it for ages now... and now he is currently calling for submissions. The deadline is about a week away, and I wanted to share the project just in case you haven't heard about it yet.

Anyone already involved with Ziltoid 2? I hope to record my little contribution over the weekend. I've been practicing and listening to Devin a lot. I think it's a very cool thing to be involved with. It is like recieving personal lessons from the man himself as I practice in my study... 

Mail

I received a few really lovely things in the mail yesterday from all over the world. Feeling loved from Canada, Iceland and New Zealand. 

And yes - signed copy of the new Devin Townsend 'Casualties of Cool' album! It was my first ever 'pledge' item. I gave it a good listen to last night - it has a very intriguing sound - very different, but still very Devin. I look forward to further listens and definitely adding a few tracks to the wedding playlist (I've promised Ben that heavy Devy will not dominate the playlist too much)... maybe a little Ziltoid... (we dance to Ziltoid together in our loungeroom).

How I begin to wade the waters to new music genre territory.

During my young formative music discovery years, I had always been interested in the fringes of blues, jazz, and experimental, but wasn't really too sure how to approach it. I likened it to a sense of not being ready for certain aspects of the genres; complex rhythms, strong emphasis on sound, vast history and cultural significance, and the difficulties of knowing where to start.

I look for music fans that get so excited about their genre that they are excited to speak with you about it on a level deeper than most general music conversation. It is an approach that works well for me as I approach the doors of a new sound. I've been lucky in finding a few associations such as these in the past few years. 

One dear friend and future groovy sister helped me to become more familiar with the sounds I had a curiosity about; through dinner parties, gifts, CD lending, recommendations and open access to browse her (and my brothers) collection. I was able to 'weed out' sounds I wasn't really keen on - in effort to hone in on what I was really looking for. This search of mine led to the following that now rotate in stereo time and are a stepping stone to other alternative artists I hear from time to time on FM frequency radio. I find myself approaching the genres with a little more confidence having met and pursued that connection with an excited fan.