Rites of Spring #32 Interview and CD review - Farrell Spence · Tuesday June 8, 2010 by colin newell
Andrea and I relax over brunch with Vancouver singer/songwriter, Farrell Spence, and her long-time friend and fellow Winnipeg ex-patriot, Boyan, at Vancouver’s Marmalade Kitchen & Grill
On, quite arguably, the first brilliant sunny day of the year we talk about the subject of travel, life in Vancouver and Ireland, Farrell’s debut album from 2007, and the final few months leading up to her anticipated follow up project and second CD that she wrote in Ireland and recorded in Italy with Neapolitan
musician, Francesco Forni.
Farrell looks out onto English Bay with her piercing blue eyes and gestures at
the grandeur… “This is the most beautiful day of the year – and me with no sun
block on…”
Despite the weather forecast, a pristine teal sky illustrates the collision of
geography and architecture that makes Vancouver what it is. Farrell muses on the balance and imbalance that international living creates– “Between living in Vancouver, Ireland and spending a great deal of time in Italy and the UK, these places and spaces, people I have met and bonded with, are the fabric that brings my music together… Each city and each person contributing a puzzle piece to the bigger picture.”
So, it is no surprise that Farrell is remembered in places like Cork, Dublin
and Rome. When you are keeping company with the likes of The Paperboys and The Be Good Tanyas – the osmosis alone is going to create some crazy good music and some even better live shows.
I played Farrell’s debut album “A Town Called Hell” about a month back while
running a gauntlet of Saturday morning errands. My Honda (with its beefed up
audio system) is where I proof audio projects: The reasoning being, if a CD sounds great in my car, it will sound great anywhere – and at the same time reveal any sonic flaws that might not reveal themselves in a more ideal environment.
“A Town called Hell” is a matrix of post-adolescent angst that is, at times,
raw in its honesty and casually literal in its invitation into Farrell’s world.
I found the 10 songs on the album thematic and contiguous – not unlike some AOR
classics from the late seventies – and resonant in its ability to reach into my
memories.
Between bites of a very good brunch at Marmalade, Farrell explains… “A Town called Hell is every small town that many of us grew up in – where progress marches on, industry breaks down, jobs are lost…where hearts are broken and lifelong friendships are forged. In ‘Those Were the Days’ the lyrics step back into the time of adolescence where a sense of wonder still reigned supreme… and in ‘I Drink’ the lyrics illustrate the
visceral universality of familial fragmentation, loneliness and resignation in its
barest form.”
Up close, Farrell is an amalgam of the classic beauty and techno-geek personified.
By being hands on with virtually every stage of production during production of
her music, and knowing the tools inside and out, there is an element of clarity
that is present on every track. Her love of Old-Time Radio and (of all things)
Shortwave Radio, are things that will percolate to the surface on some songs on
the expected new album.
Farrell loves coffee and starts her day with an Americano made in a Bialetti on
her gas-range. The special relationship she holds with caffeine imbues a creative energy into her endeavors from writing music to simply rising from bed each morning.
We wrap up our lunch with a collective sigh at the spectacular weather and beauty of Vancouver B.C.‘s skyline.
Farrell continues to work on her latest project and we are looking forward to it. You can hear some of Farrell’s work over on cbc 3 – and her CD is on CD Baby
Check it out.
Rites of Spring #26 From Seed to Cup fundraiser - Black Stilt · Thursday May 27, 2010 by colin newell
On Thursday, June 3 The Black Stilt Coffeehouse will host an event to help
raise awareness of, and funds for, coffee farm families and, in particular,
sport and education programs for the children. Funds raised will be
distributed through the Oughtred Coffee Trust.
Black Stilt will offer special fundraising purchases which will include its
photo-journal book, From Seed-to-Cup: A portrait of great coffee and its
limited-edition Rio Negro coffee.
One free cup of Rio Negro coffee will be offered to everyone who purchases a
product fundraising item.
Hillside location: 1633 Hillside Avenue Hours: 7:00am-8:00pm (250)
370-2077
Jubilee location: 1769 Fort Street Hours: 7:00am-6:00pm (250)
590-8230
“We want to make a positive impact in the lives of the people who work so
hard to bring us our wonderful coffee,” says Dave Crothall, Black Stilt’s
owner and barista.
“We traveled to Costa Rica to learn all we could about our coffee and came
away with new-found knowledge about the people. It strengthened our
commitment to be a leader in promoting and educating our customers about
ethical coffee.”
To this end, The Black Stilt, in conjunction with Oughtred Coffee and Tea,
has written and produced a high quality photo-journal book. It tells the
story of the process and the people in ethical coffee’s remarkable
seed-to-cup journey. The book has been manufactured with wind power and
100% post-consumer waste recycled paper (FSC certified).
Rio Negro – of which there are only 80 lbs available – is a Rainforest
Alliance coffee of which Crothall is particularly proud. “It’s a first for a
barista like me to be able to share personal stories with customers about
every step of this ethical coffee’s seed-to-cup journey, and how it has
helped, not harmed its farmers and its environment.”
“The third wave of coffee has been around for awhile,” explains Crothall.
“Now people want to know that they coffee they are drinking is positively
impacting the countries of origin.”
The Black Stilt Coffeehouse, established in 2005, is a triple-bottom-line,
carbon-neutral company that leads by example with what is needed to create
healthy, sustainable communities. Additional information can be found at their website –
www.theblackstilt.com
Rites of Spring #25 - Pecha Kucha Night Number Two Tonight · Thursday May 27, 2010 by colin newell
Pecha Kucha (ペチャクチャ?), usually pronounced in three syllables as “pe-chak-cha”, is the onomatopoeic Japanese word for the sound of conversation. The equivalent English term is “chit-chat”.
Click on photo at left for a bigger, better, sharper view…
And the Victoria Event Center welcomes the 2nd ever Pecha Kucha night on May 27, 2010. Events coordinator, Elisa Yon has been in touch with me about doing a presentation…
On what I ask? Have to think about that.
Anyway. Going tonight to check it out.
So. What is Pecha Kucha anyway?
Pecha Kucha Night was devised in 2003 by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Tokyo’s Klein-Dytham Architecture (KDa), as a way to attract people to Super Deluxe, their experimental event space in Roppongi, a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous as home to the rich Roppongi Hills area and an active night club scene..
Pecha Kucha Night events consist of around a dozen presentations, each presenter having 20 slides, each shown for 20 seconds.
Each presenter has just 6 minutes 40 seconds to explain their ideas before the next presenter takes the stage.
6 minutes and 40 seconds. I could humiliate myself in seconds if I apply myself.
Conceived as a venue through which young designers could meet, show their work, exchange ideas, and network, the format keeps presentations concise, fast-paced and entertaining.
Young designers? That is a scratch for me. I was young about 30 years ago.
In 2004 PKN began running in a few cities in Europe, and has since become a worldwide phenomenon, now running in more than 260 cities in almost every corner of the globe. Now it is in Victoria Canada – the last event had over 200 in the audience. Click on the above photo for the big picture.
See you there!
Gear fest - Playing with the Worlds Best Coffee Maker by NEWCO · Wednesday May 19, 2010 by colin newell
In the World of fast cars, cool watches, great shoes and exotic destinations… there has to be the best of the best. And so it is with coffee machines.
Whether they are making espresso, simple stove top coffee or dripping an awesome pot of joe, there is a pecking order where coffee machines are concerned.
And in the opinion of the Coffeecrew.com machine review team, there can only be one truly great drip coffee maker. There are, for the record, two remarkable machines by two different manufacturers; the Technivorm KBT Mocca series and the NEWCO OCS-8 and OCS-12.
BBC Sales, under the watchful eye of Ken Robyn, was kind enough to send us the 2 flagship OCS brewers for some of our semi-destructive testing.
And this is merely the teaser blog on the feature. The whole review will be over on the coffeecrew.com website – hopefully I will be done sometime this weekend. I have some playing to do, some drinking ahead of me – and many photos to take.
Quick summary. The Newco OCS-12 and OCS-8 brew 60 fluid ounces and 40 fluid ounces of coffee respectively. Their commercial powerplant is a 1500 Watt heater. The brew basket temperature is very near the ideal 205 degrees (F). Brewed coffee in their thermal carafe is between 170 and 180 degrees (F) depending on whether or not you pre-heat the carafe. That is chop scalding hot and the ideal way to brew.
Considering that the average serving size in home-office coffee world is around 12 fluid ounces, these are ideal for small offices and big families of coffee drinkers. And on top of that, these machines can be plumbed into domestic water supplies for batch after batch of great coffee. Brew time is about 7 to 8 minutes for full batches.
Tonight I brewed a 1/3 pot of Guatemalan Liquidamber from Discovery Coffee.
So, so good folks. So, so good.
By the by: These machines might be free samples… in which case, some lucky coffeecrew blog reader might be taking one home! They retail for around $179 to $200 – they are built like tanks. I bought my first one 6 or 7 years ago and it has been running 5 days a week twice a day without a single hiccup.
Now that’s coffee brewing!
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