Art & Culture Maven

From a media release:Fall for Dance North Debuts 2020 Festival
Captivating Live + Digital Experiences on Newly Enhanced Digital PlatformToronto’s premier international dance festival launches curated collection of original content and proprietary programs on new custom-built websiteTORONTO, ON — Fall for Dance North (FFDN) proudly presents the 6th edition of its esteemed international dance festival, The Flip Side, from Sept. 29–Oct. 18, 2020. 
Featuring a new, Netflix-style digital platform, an enhanced line-up of free programming, and a ticketed signature livestream presentation featuring six world premieres by Canadian dancemakers, FFDN has reimagined the festival experience to offer audiences an intimate connection to the art form of dance during these extraordinary times.Starting on Sept. 29, free programs will be released at ffdnorth.com daily, including an original podcast, a quirky interview series in a bathtub, a poetry + music album, a new dance film featuring 46 Ryerson Schoo…

Single:
jefff - R U Hip 2 the Revolution
(Conch Town Music / 21 August 2020)Stream It On SpotifyR U Hip 2 the Revolution combines spoken word and song in a hip hop-ish vein. Its strengths are a hypnotic rhythm and jefff's expressive vocals.
The track builds in momentum, with anthemic chord progressions that ramp up the intensity. It's danceable, with a nice melodic keyboard line.The song's somewhat reminiscent of Marcy Playground's Sex & Candy - an irresistible rhythm and clever lyrics, although here, they're about global politics and not a furtive hook-up.Listen for yourself.

Electro-acoustic singer-songwriter:
Dan Tuffy - Letters of Gold
(Independent / 24 April 2020)Stream It On SpotifyThere's an organic, acoustic feel to Dan Tuffy's Letters of Gold, even where he introduces electronic effects. That kind of seamless synthesis is just the point.
His music is rhythmic, with the emphasis on his nuanced and expressive vocals, and the words he's singing. From Can't Contain My Feeling,Snow fell at daylight
My eyelids fluttered...He talks about the album in a media release."What's vital to me about this album is our success at welding electronic and organic sounds together in a way that supports the songs/themes you hear. I'm very happy about the sonic world we have created and how it pushes the boundaries of the roots/songwriter genre."He has an intimate sound. It's evocative and poetic in effect. A sense of urgency comes fromthe rhythm. Often the electronic and electrified sounds are used for atmosphere. Here, the electric gui…

Acoustic Fusion:
Mark Vickness Interconnected - Interconnected
(Independent / 15 September 2020)Interconnected is a new instrumental album of acoustic fusion by Mark Vickness and Interconnected - with the album of the same name. The album contains four solo pieces and four new original pieces for the ensemble that includes two time Grammy winning violinist, Mads Tolling, cellist Joseph Hebert, Dan Feiszli on upright and electric bass and tabla virtuoso, Ty Burhoe. Known for his fingerpicking guitar style, Vickness gets percussive as well as melodic sounds from the guitar. Three videos have been released so far.Interwoven is a piece that begins with acoustic guitar and mournful cello. Gradually, those layers are overlaid with a violin and then tabla. The play of melodies and rhythms is absorbing. Is it neoclassical, or classical crossover - it doesn't matter.Hot Apple Stuff was created for the Tiny Desk Competition 2020. In it, the ensemble creates sonically intriguing layers that buil…

Contemporary Americana:
Eric Anders and Mark O'Bitz - American Bardo
(Baggage Room Records / 30 July 2020)Stream it on SpotifyNeocountry, or contemporary Americana, with a minimalist aesthetic and a penchant for a guitar that sounds ghostly and full of echoes, the sound created by Eric Anders and Mark O'Bitz is hard to pin down into today's streaming slots.  I liked the effect on Masterbloomfight (Revisited) with its lost highway guitar and vocals in a melodic tenor that sings over a sparse drum beat. Bury Me has lovely harmonies between the strings and acoustic guitar, with electric guitar that makes its way in later, once the mood has been set.Northern Californian singer-songwriter, Eric Anders, and southern Californian guitarist-composer, Mark O'Bitz are veterans of the music business in Cali. American Bardo was inspired by the book Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (who won the Mann Booker Prize for it). Eric, who wrote all the songs along with Mark, says the tr…

#TIFF2020:
For The Love Of Short Films
Short Cuts Programme #3Check it out from 6pm todayShort Cuts Programme 03 (2020)
Short Cuts, Drama, Life Experiences, Women In Film, Canadian • 1h 36m • Canada, France, Senegal, United StatesShort films have to capture a key moment in an ongoing story, which is what the seven films in this programme do well. In each story, the characters face a pivotal situation.With your stream of all seven shorts, you'll also get roundtable talks about the films, and other video material to complete your film festival experience.
The Archivists
Director Igor Drljaca
Noah Reid, Bahia Watson, and Maxwell McCabe-Lokos star in this Canadian film about keeping the past alive in a dystopian future. It was shot in 16mm, and delivers a message about the ghosts of the past. Benjamin, Benny, Ben
Director Paul Shkordoff
A young man is on his way to a job interview. Intense and anxious, his journey begins to unravel. I recognized good old Hamilton, Ontario as the filming locati…