Adri Music & Blog, Canadian Female Indie Electronica.

This Saturday June 2nd at 8PM the choir I belong to is having a big concert at the Chan Centre in Vancouver. We are fun and funky group -- a multi-belief choir singing sacred music from the many faiths around the world. Our fearless director Brian Tate is a super talented guy, full of passion and entertaining gesticulation. We have a great set list, with lots of fabulous soloists and great arrangements you are unlikely to hear anywhere else. The evening promises to be an inspiring and groovy ride!

Tickets are available through ticketmaster, and also most likely at the door.

Lately I've taken to listening to the stations at IdealSound.ca - particularly their VinylSlot stream... in iTunes it's described as "A Slutty Blend of House, Electro, Breaks, Progressive and More." I'm a bit particular about how I like my house flavoured, and this stream meets my critearia for awesomeness. It's also got a huge amount of variety, it can be radically different from hour to hour, yet consistently good. What's not to like about that?

I think my cats like it too, as they keep congregating around the speakers when I listen to it.

I just ran across the most romantic nerd cake I've ever seen.

If you don't get this cake, then you are not geeky enough yet!

Saturday was really musically satisfying. Sometimes you just have a day that is so musically satisfying that you might as well been having great sex all day. Maybe you are touched by the fire of inspiration, or perhaps you witnessed musical greatness. These days are hard to forget.

In the daytime I did a vocal workshop with the wonderful and magical Brian Tate, giver of help and guardian angel of person suffering from musical blockages. He has been teaching me and others how to improvise, how to free our voices and get out of our own darn way. In my musical history I was at one time so paralyzed with fear and anxiety that I could hardly utter a sound when singing. I've definitely made progress in this area, to the point that I'm almost loathe to talk about it in case I jinx myself... But then aren't we all just a work in progress?

In the evening I was lucky enough to join some dear old friends to see an Air concert. I have had a long standing love-affair with Air's music for years. Ever since their killer tongue in cheek ambient album Moon Safari I can't get enough of their music. Last time I saw them was at the Commodore and they pulverized the minds of the whole crowd and played about five encores. It was one of the very best shows I've ever seen hands down. Surprisingly, this show was in a smaller venue, at Richards on Richards. It was a great show, full of exciting new material and favourite classics... and completely different from the last one. I had a really great time.

To my great delight, the fabulous Kate Havnevik was opening for Air. I really love her music. Her show was great. She was funny and charming onstage and that only made me like her more. After her set, she was selling her own merch and I picked up her new CD. She was very friendly and we had a brief chat where she mentioned that us electronic music girls have to stick together... I couldn't agree more.

For it's true, making electronic music as a girl, you are unlikely to run into many others -- especially not in these parts. Sometimes it gets a little lonely, and you start to wonder if anybody ever 'gets' you... But deep down I know I'm not alone.

Lately I've been way obsessed with photography. I keep going out on little photo expeditions to try to catch a shot. I should really try to keep my focus 100% on finishing my album, but it seems like creativity breeds more creativity. As long as I'm being creative I think I'm basically satisfied in life. It's like my default state making stuff, any kind of stuff. When I was little I used to spend hours cheating my bedtime by sewing little dolls and their tiny clothes. I don't know if my parents knew how late I stayed up...

But I digress. I think the reason I like photography so much lately is that it's the polar opposite of music. It's totally instant, especially with a digital camera. Snap. That's how long it takes to suddenly make something wonderful. No hours toiling in front of the piano, no retake after retake, no slow methodical editing of parts... It's just BOOM and you're done. You might do a few tweaks later, but the satisfaction is basically instant. Also, you take in the whole thing in an instant. A song is something that has an arc that develops over time, usually about 5 minutes, which makes it harder to assess. With a photo you get that immediate yes feeling.

Of course, some shots take longer - anything involving a tripod or night-time. For example:



Wouldn't it be nice if I could wave a wand and a song suddenly appeared?