Moved!!

Road 2 Nowhere has had a makeover! It can be found over here:

Road 2 Nowhere

I'm looking forward to seeing you there!

Blog Action Day - Poverty and Music

Good Folk of Vancouver (Raphael Borja)

Today is Blog Action Day! Bloggers all over the world, including myself, are focusing their efforts on the important topic of poverty, to change the conversation for one day.

Living in Vancouver, BC I see a great deal of poverty in my day to day life. Living next to one of the many bridges in the city, I often have to tip toe under the bridge on my way to work, careful not to wake the varied homeless individuals who have been able to find a dry place to sleep for the night. I've habitualized the emotionless head shake in response to the many panhandlers that pepper the downtown streets just like everyone else. Though, my heart does ache every time I see the look of desperation and hopelessness in the eyes of an old man on the streets who's options have clearly dwindled down to very few.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives recently calculated the living wage in Vancouver to be $16.74 an hour. This living wage is the hourly wage a two income family of four needs to make ends meet. There is consideration for savings or debt repayment in their calculation of this figure. It takes nearly $17 per hour to cover the basics in this city, yet the minimum wage in BC remains at $8 an hour, where it has been since 2001. Reading these figures it's really not surprising that there are so many people living on the streets.

Lets, at least for one moment, turn our attention from the well dressed sad and happy Wall Streeters who are fretting over billions of dollars, and consider the millions of people who are fretting over hundreds of dollars. Here are 3 great tracks that tackle the issue of poverty each in very different ways.

Fast Car - Tracy Chapman

Tracy Chapman (1988)

A heart wrenching telling of one woman's struggle to make ends meet while working a dead end job and dealing with inescapable problems. Chapman won a Grammy in 1988 for this now classic track that highlights the generational nature of poverty. Impoverished children are born to impoverished parents; a very difficult cycle to break, except in the imagination, where one can drive away in a fast car to escape the weight of poverty.

Mr Wendle - Arrested Development

3 Years 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life of-- (1992)

This uplifting take on poverty sheds light on the individuals behind the faces of the homeless on the streets. Speech, the leader of Arrested Development, tells about getting to know a particular homeless man who offers him wisdom and makes him think differently about 'civilized society'. Arrested Development's unique style of hip hop is both fun and playful, despite the fact that they are constantly tackling serious issues. Where are Arrested Development now? Still working their butts off making music and touring the world! Find out more and send them some love over at mySpace!

I had to include the video for Mr. Wendal, because it's so colourful!



All Tomorrow's Parties - The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)

One of The Velvet Underground's greatest songs that showcases Nico's unique vocals. All Tomorrow's Parties asks the question of:

What costume shall the poor girl wear
To all tomorrow's parties
A hand-me-down dress from who knows where
To all tomorrow's parties

Highlighting the pressure to keep up with ones peers, wanting to have the great outfit to show off on Saturday nights, while not having the means to purchase such extravagances. The never attainable goal of keeping up with the Jones' underlines this song. The blind greed that entices people to constantly want more perpetuates and increases the gap between the rich and the poor, creating more want for the rich, and more need for the poor.

Doin' My Thing

Do Your Thing - Basement Jaxx

Rooty (2001)

I don't need no TV, I don't need no news
All I need is a bumpin' beat to bump away my blues
I don't give a damn what the people say
I'm gonna do it, gonna do it my way
Gonna let it all out an do my thing
Boom boom boom an a bang bang bang

This is my "Cheer me up" song. When I get into a funk, I give this song a listen, and by the midpoint I'm feeling great and dancing along to the upbeat tempo. The track boasts confidence and an unconventional sexiness with unforgiving abandon. The upbeat piano and percussion is peppered with fun electronic bleeps and bloops that are brought into full splendor with soulful vocals.

The creative pair, Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe that are Basement Jaxx, hail from the UK, where they have been releasing their unique blend of House music since 1999. They have recently released the EP Planet 2 in the UK, and have announced that they will be touring through the UK in February 2009. Too bad I live 4700 miles away!

Waiting for the Right Track

The Velvet Underground

My iTunes library has gotten terribly large, and unruly, with too many duplicates, and poorly tagged tracks! An Anonymous commenter alerted me to a mispost of I'm Waiting for the Man. I intended to post the original by The Velvet Underground, but I uploaded a live cover version by David Bowie, which is still a good track, but I've got to make this right!

Here's the original: I'm Waiting for the Man - The Velvet Underground

Thank you for letting me know Anonymous!

DJ Mujava

Township Funk - DJ Mujava

Viva La Vida (2008)

DJ Mujava has been getting plenty of attention lately with the recent release of Township Funk. The young DJ's career is skyrocketing, from humble beginnings in South Africa to getting signed with the UK's Warp Records. Apparently, according to Iyare over at 6 Mix, DJ Mujava got started by passing his demo CD to taxi drivers around town, who in turn passed the word around. That's grass roots at it's finest!

The track reminds me of Booka Shade & MANDY's track Body Language, as it has that very 'now' dance sound, with interesting synth melodies over the ever present beat. Please enjoy it! Check out DJ Mujava's Showcase Mix on 6 Mix, and show him some love over on myspace

Why Does Coldplay Have to Be so Predictably Good?

Strawberry Swing - Coldplay

Viva La Vida (2008)

Coldplay... they never miss. Why is that? When their newest album Viva La Vida was released a few months back, I was overwhelmed with the huge reaction from the blogsphere... everyone and their blogging dog was going gah gah for a fresh disk full of Coldplay goodies. The singles were flying over the airwaves, into the malls and cafes. The sensitive sounds of Chris Martin's voice over beautiful instrumentations could not be escaped! Even though I adored their previous releases, I rebelled! I wanted nothing to do with this new album. Yes, I was sure that its good... but its formulaic. Its typical. Its exactly what you would expect from Coldplay. After all, their previous albums all contained gems of pure beauty, which capture the soul to take you away to a distant land where the only things that matter are harmony, beauty, and love. Great... just what I need!

I gave in this week. I could no longer resist it's call. Vida la Vida is in my hot little hands, and I don't plan to let it go. Yes it's formulaic, but the formula belongs only to Coldplay. Try as I might, I cannot do anything but adore their music. Please Coldplay, continue to be typically you! I will not resist again.

I've posted my favourite track from the album: Strawberry Swing. It is beautiful with Coldplay's masterful interplay of strings with guitar, a calming yet uplifting rhythm.

Talk (Junkie XL Remix)

Talk (2006)

I had to include the best remix of any Coldplay song anywhere, in my very humble opinion. Junkie XL's remix of Talk is nothing short of breath taking. The track is a long one, clocking in at over 11 and a half minutes, a beautiful journey that is not to be missed.

Jacques Lu Cont Hard at Work With The Killers

The Killers

I just heard from Pretty Much Amazing that The Killers have been hard at work with producer extraordinaire, Stuart Price, aka Jacques Lu Cont. I am a huge fan of Jacques Lu Cont, and have long loved The Killers! The combination of the two is unstoppable. Jacques Lu Cont's remixes and slick production skill are always fresh, and on point, while The Killers capture the ears with interesting rhythm, melodies and lyrics.

The new Killers album, Day & Age is set to be released in November 25th 2008. The first single Human is set to "debut" today, so best to keep your eyes and ears peeled!

If you can't stand the anticipation of the new album, distract yourself with the Jacques Lu Cont remix of Mr. Brightside to get an idea of what might be in store for us in late November.