brasstronaut & isenseven & russia

While there are no official music videos for any songs on Mt. Chimaera, here's an out-take from the brand new German Isenseven snowboard vid, set to our song hand behind. Just click off the annoying Coors ad when you hit play.

Tonight we're playing in SHEFFIELD UK!

Tschüss :)

Screen shot 2010-10-13 at 1.13.05 AM

Screen shot 2010-10-13 at 1.13.05 AM, originally uploaded by icepackbackpack.

Londonandonandon

We are now inside the mother England. After not sleeping for almost 35 hours played our first show at the Brixton Windmill to a surpisingly room full of welcoming people. Last night at the "Underbelly" was also great, followed by a Vietnamese feast somewhere in Hackney. Jetlag isn't so bad this time, but that's thanks to someone tipping me off about the anti-jet-lag diet.


thomas crook airlines

rental lorry







hoof & mouth

our gracious host Laura Kim! Thank you Laura.

Echo Prize WIN!

Thanks to everyone who voted for us to win the Echo Prize. Today was a very happy day and I can't even begin to express the immense elation we felt upon hearing the news. Just ate a big bowl of pho and am now celebrating by listening to the new Luke Abbott album, Holkham Drones, really really loudly. See you in England next week, and I'll be posting regular updates right here. -edo

A few days ago Gilles Peterson played Insects on his BBC1 show!

You can still listen to the mix by going to this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00twxzr

This nice surprise comes just in time for a post about our UK tour next month.

Clubs listed below>>>>

Oct 10 - Brixton Windmill - London

Oct 11 - Underbelly - London

Oct 12 - The Bull & Gate - London

Oct 13 - In The City - Manchester

Oct 14 - Bungalows and Bears - Sheffield

Oct 15 - Stereo - Glasgow

Oct 16 - The Old Bridge Inn - Aviemore

Oct 17 - Hootananny - Inverness

Oct 18 - Oporto - Leeds

Also, Bryan and I will be playing a duo acoustic show in Amsterdam, Holland on Oct 26th. Check back on myspace for the location and time.

VOTE BRASSTRONAUT FOR ECHO PRIZE 2010!

Every year 5 Canadian songs are nominated for the Echo Prize a national songwriting award hosted by SOCAN with the winner decided by public vote.

Our song HEARTS TROMPET is currently in the running, and we NEED YOUR WEB VOTE! Just go to this LINK and vote only once, since multiple votes will nullify your entry (that is if you are voting from the same computer).

So yes, please vote, because if we win then we won't be wildly in debt for plane tickets that we just bought to go to the UK in October.

big up my own self

New Forms Festival (NFF 10) is happening again in Vancouver. I have a solo minimal electro project called RESORTS. Sam plays EWI with me sometimes, and it's very different from Brass. You can check out our public debut next Friday, Sept. 10th at the W2 space, which is part of the new Woodwards building complex.

We have no myspace or any songs available online, so you must come to see the live act to hear the tunez.

-edo

start making sense

First of all Kickstarter rulz. Secondly the Pirate Bay story is one that deserves a proper documentary. Check out the trailer below.

Justin and Tim are two really nice and talented guys who run Stedfast Media. They shot this footage of us playing a new, untitled song at Hillside last weekend. Thanks so much dudes.

PETER BRAH + MTL + QC >> Toronto tonight

Woke up today to an incredible breakfast in Peterborough made by our couch-surf host Stephanie. Our show last night at the Red Dog had been booked last minute as a result of the Ottawa hoopla, but was one of my favorites this year. An intimate audience pulled a bunch of couches in front of the stage and we turned amps down for quiet one before what should be much more of a party at the Garrison tonight. Very special thanks to Ryan for pulling through at the last minute, and to Dave for sound.

Look at these friendly locals!

And some shots of the past week...

Hillside:

holy fuck killing it.

Quebec City:

pre-show tourism with shapes + sizes

Coincidentally our good friend Chris Wang from LOVE DANCING was in Montreal while we were. He came up and DJ'd the QC show with Braids & Shapes & Sizes. Super fun night. We even saw a FREE Cirque Du Soleil show beneath a highway underpass. Thanks to J-C and Le Cercle for hosting us.

Thank you Hillside! Apologies Ottawa.

Hillside show, originally uploaded by icepackbackpack.

We had an incredible show at Hillside fest last night. Was about 30 degrees in the Island stage tent, John took this shot somewhere near the end of the set. Such a friendly festival, beautiful grounds, and lots of happy people. A very nice way to start off on a tour.

OTTAWA, we are very sorry that we are not playing in your city this time around. Unfortunately, due to some very hapless and petty nightclub promoters in your city, we got panned and lost our original show and then another backup.

If you take issue with this, email us directly and we will tell you who to complain to: these megalomaniac douchbags who prevented us from playing to you.

Till MTL monday.

happy birthday bryan!

Yes, that's right. And since we're celebrating in a very muggy, stinky, dirty van somewhere near Detroit, I thought it would be nice to portray Brasstronaut in the way in which our name might most obviously suggest. This is Bryan, and he plays the trumpet. Exclusively.

And this is our drummer. He played a lead role in the unrated version of Caligula.

vancouver - guelph

Canada Summer Tour 2010

Bsummer2010flyerALLdates, originally uploaded by icepackbackpack.

We left Vancouver yesterday headed for our first tour date in Guelph. Camped in Revelstoke and fell asleep to the sounds of thunder and freight trains creaking in the night. Having a big Guilty Simpson day driving cross the praries and picking up Brennan in Winnipeg. Happy to be on the road again.

Here's the dates:

GUELPH, HILLSIDE FEST - FRI, JUL 23
MONTREAL, CASA POPOLO - MON JUL 26
QUEBEC CITY - LE CIRCLE - TUES JUL 27
PETERBOROUGH - RED DOG - WED JUL 28
TORONTO - GARRISON - THURS JULY 29
WINNIPEG - LO PUB - TUES AUG 3
SASKATOON - AMIGOS - WED AUG 4
CALGARY - BROKEN CITY - THURS AUG 5
CANMORE - COMMUNITEA - SAT AUG 7

TOUR!

It wasn't written. De Jong should have received a red card anyway.

NEXT WEEK we'll be touring again. Shows & locations are listed all on our myspace, and we'd love to have you out.

ORANJE!

ed, telling me about the wonders of the sage, salvia.

deerhoof. i was very impressed by this show. they are an incredible live band.

coen on the fire

bonobo & brasstronaut at commodore ballroom - June 30th

apologies for the REVOLTING sound in above clip.

Canadian copyright Bill C-32 - what does it mean for us?

Recently, you may have heard in the news about Canada's new copyright bill: C-32. There is also a good analysis here at ZeroPaid.

A couple weeks ago I was invited to share some opinions on CBC's Early Edition with Rick Cluff. Unfortunately a public archive of that show is not available online, so I'll give a brief recap here:

There are new provisions in the bill that make illegal the act of breaking a digital lock for the purpose of reproducing a sound recording, or other type of media (film, videogame, etc.). Since most CDs are not sold with digital locks, this has little implication for artists like ourselves.

There are other provisions that make it possible for copyright enforcers/holders to demand ISP (your address) information from internet providers, like Rogers or Shaw, when they suspect a customer may be involved with illegal downloading. This is a potential gateway step towards more draconian individual downloading penalties as exhibited in current French copyright laws, especially when C-32 goes further to include the following:

"A differentiation of commercial copyright violation versus individual violation. Individuals found violating copyright law could be liable for penalties between $100 and $5,000, which is below the current $20,000 maximum."

To me this says: let's set up a new, lower penalty bracket for for the personal violator (ie. myself, you and everyone else who downloads illegally on the internet), distinct from the commercial violator, so that record companies can more conveniently go after these petty cases.

So the question becomes: what kind of record companies or musicians will be able to follow up on these types of cases in court? The answer is simply, only the richest ones who can afford legal representation. Major label executives from the physical-format music industry days of bygone are desperately lobbying for legislation that will aid in gleaning whatever profit scraps can be purged from a dinosaur system.

For better (mostly) and worse (not so much) illegal downloading has become an important, if not integral way for emerging bands to become known to the public. I've even heard it referred to as "the radio of the future". A more progressive government might acknowledge this trend and relate it to artistic development and innovation. It might say: hey, since we're making all sorts of cuts to arts funding, lets see what we can do to monitor downloading for the purpose of figuring what artists might be worth endorsing in order to further enrich our nation's culture.

Music piracy is here to stay, forever, period. There is little point in spending tax dollars on prosecuting individuals who deliberately choose to procure music in illegal ways online because for every one caught, there will be tens of thousands at large (like you and me). Instead, there exists a need to sponsor an organization in Canada similar to the UK's Featured Artists' Coalition, which aims to establish a closer connection between artists and fans in order to make the public aware of the new financial plights experienced by musicians emerging in a digitally dominated record industry.

Let's educate the public about the crude reality that for every one new record bought legitimately, CD, vinyl, or digitally, hundreds and thousands more are downloaded illegally. New copyright bills should include provisions for methods for supporting a national arts community in a collaborative and innovative way. Preventative legislation will not stop all the downloading.

edo

Mt. Chimaera makes Polaris long list

http://www.polarismusicprize.ca/

This is really nice. Special thanks to my mom, Costco, free bus ticket booklets, and national student loan collections. But really, this is awesome.

Lisa O Piu & some tour news

Lisa O Piu , originally uploaded by icepackbackpack.

Was just listening to BBC 6 and heard a beautiful ode to rural life: "Dreams of Goats" by Lisa O Piu. It's a song about goats, but not in a joking way. A serious song about goat dreams. Makes these 'neue pastoral' bands look like posers.

See her myspace here: http://www.myspace.com/lisaolillportan

Dreams of Goats doesn't appear to be on that player, but do some surfing and you should be able to find it streaming somewhere. Or even better, go buy the album.

In other news:

Brasstronaut will be playing the Commodore Ballroom with Bonobo (Ninjatune) on June 30th for Jazz Fest. He'll be playing with an 8 piece live band, I've been told, so should be a very special show. Tickets are available through the Coastal Jazz website.

We will also be touring out to Hillside Festival in Guelph next month. This will include most Canadian cities west of Quebec City. Sorry maritimes, but we'll be sure to make it out there next year.

Heading back to the studio tonight to work on some new songs. Three have been written since getting back from the last tour. Also lots of recording to do for the mixtape.


edo

, originally uploaded by icepackbackpack.

Familiarity breeds content, originally uploaded by icepackbackpack.

In the house

backflip on unicycle, originally uploaded by icepackbackpack.

Circus hippie people gone wild. I took this vid while doing sound for this troupe at the "In The House Festival" in East Vancouver.

NANOMAN

NANOMAN, originally uploaded by icepackbackpack.

And you thought you had your shit together?

back in grey

Hi

It's been forever, I've missed you, so let's just jump right back in.

We've been working on a new recording scheduled to come out sometime before the end of August. It's not a record, nor is it an EP. It came out of the desire to use some ideas that don't really work as songs, but more as movements of a mixtape. We'll be paying hommage to some of our deeper trip hop, disco, and electronica influences. I played a section for my friend Liam and he said it sounded like "Buddha Bar" music (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha_Bar). A wave of insecurity was quelled by some research into the genre, where on Volume 2000 Mixed by DJ Claude Challe we see that track 5. Deepak Chopra (feat. Demi Moore) - "Desire". If Deepak is behind buddha bar, then it's ok for us.

edo

Some upcomings:

CBC R3 in-studio session Monday, Feb 15th

CODE live olympica show Thursday, Feb 18th

Canada/us tour Feb - Apr 2010

Canadian release Mt. Chimaera - Mar 2

U.S. release - Mar 24

Free download of new song "slow knots" at www.myspace.com/brasstronaut

New track "lo hi hopes" on myspace

SXSW Pop Montreal showcase

SXSW Sled Island dayparty