Marketing Magic to a Thumping Beat.

It’s tough to find new ways to bend traditional forms of music like “The Blues” into a unique, personal and original approach that honours the blues rich history and tradition, but is wholly one’s own. Paul Reddick has been pulling off this mighty and under-appreciated feat since his dearly departed Toronto band “The Sidemen”. The songs on Sugar Bird resonate with earthy blues tones that are twisted, hammered and shaped into stunningly modern takes on a musical from so often stuck in a stylistic rut. Accordions wheeze under Garth Hudson’s fingers as Colin Linden’s gritty guitars and Reddick’s bruised vocals and ever-present harmonica paint grey landscapes shot through with flickers of quivering light. Ashen dreams mix with fresh hope to create a new vivid blues perfect for the 21st century.

Adult pop, contemporary jazz or adult contemporary take your pick of labels. Daniela Nardi is a pianist and vocalist that prefers her music soft and soothing. It is sophisticated, but a little dull with muted guitars deadened piano, endless drum machines, tapped congas and been-there-done-that synth pads. “The Rose Tattoo” lacks passion and somewhere along the line I came away feeling distant and uninspired. Making music too refined is a bit like making sugar. Pull out all the funkiness in the refining process and you end up with a pure white sweetness that adds little complexity to the resulting flavour.

When I open my iTunes and look at the song that received the most play at my house Snow Patrol’s Chasing Car’s has a lock on the number one slot. I never play it, so I have to assume the women in my life are the perps. Crack the Shutter’s is the first single off the new record from a band that lives and dies on airplay. This band has their formula down pat and all potential singles start out quiet and build to the rather obvious crescendo. Take Back the City is the best of the bunch with a staccato guitar line and rousing chorus built for radio. Get ready ladies, Dr. McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey) will be puckering up to this tune on Grey’s Anatomy this season.

Drifting back to back to the 1920’s and 30’s is easy to do on these hot tropical winds. Cuba’s most famous export The Buena Vista Social Club make a triumphant debut at Carnegie Hall on this outstanding recording. Many of these musicians are in their 70’s, 80, and even 90’s but they can still swing in a graceful, yet passionate, style that is more refined than much of today’s Latin music and is the better for it. Congas, pianos, guitars trumpets and cowbells propel each cha-cha, mambo or bolero. It’s all infused with joy and a showmanship not seen since the heady days of America’s flagship big bands. Many songs are from the original recording, but who cares, it still sounds fresh, fun and alive.

The protest song, a dusty vestige of the ‘60’s or a contemporary tool of social change? Jackson Brown has spent the better part of his nearly 60-years taking on those who wield power. “Time the Conqueror” tackles the big issues like the drums of war, the Cuban blockade and hunger. But, it also dives into the more personal like men’s sexual appetites, the progression of time and looking backwards to see things going forward. Browne’s voice is rich and familiar while the arrangements remain reminiscent of his best pop-folk.

Calgary Jazz troublemakers Heather Blush and the Uppercuts take us on a tour of life’s dark side from drinkin’ and addiction to busted hearts and broken lives. Blush’s smoky voice slides flat on occasion and because the instrumentation is sparse, I found it frequently annoying. It’s odd that with all the ProTools and studio tricks that no one bothered to ensure her vocals stayed in tune. The band is great providing that late night, slightly inebriated, laidback vibe that goes down like a beer chaser after a night of paling around with Mr. Jack Daniels.

Hoist is a gentle rock/pop band that has a thing for certain pink plastic pig that graces the cover and every photo in the disc. Two Alexiuk brothers, Luke and Rick, and Brad Cerasani use keyboards, guitars and drums in creative ways on this, their debut, to present an interesting and engaging bit of Rock lite. The solos are crisp and purposeful and all these guys can play. Vocally they are stronger than most young bands and this alone invites listen. Their writing is solid and obtuse enough to invite speculation. You can have the window seat is a solid first effort from a new band.

Blonde bombshell Welsh singer Duffy is riding the Amy Winehouse 60’s girl group sound. The album opens with the title song the slow to build burner “Rockferry”. Amie Duffy’s uses her lower register to begin the song and then busts out singing higher and stronger propelling the song to new heights on just the strength of her beautiful, husky voice. Standout tracks include “Mercy”, “Warwick Avenue” and “Stepping Stone”. Duffy is going to be huge and may have the best album of 2008 on her hands.

Darrell Scott is a Nashville insider who pens tunes for country stars looking for songs deeper than the usual “New Country, Big Hat” crowd. Here, Scott pays respect to those who influenced him from Canadian’s like Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell to Americana idols like Kris Kristofferson, Paul Simon and Hoyt Axton. Clever arrangements, simple melodies that are sung with feeling adds up to a great set of covers lovingly renewed. Highlights include Lightfoot’s “All the Lovely Ladies” and Mickey Newbury’s “Frisco Depot”.

Guys, we all know we basically suck at getting Holiday gifts for those in our lives. It’s not that we don’t care; it’s just that we HATE shopping. If we could do all our shopping at the Tim Horton’s drive through we would. “Get in and Get out” that’s any guys shopping motto. So let’s get at it… here’s the list and where to get ‘em. The Wife or Girl Friend She probably has an iPod you bought her a couple of years ago right. But what guys don’t get is the feminine set care more about having an assortment of colours than they do about how many GIG’s it holds. It’s an accessory, like shoes, a necklace or earrings they have to have more than one to match their mood, outfit, or … yes their shoes. Apple has just released a new series of iPods in a pile of cool new colours from pink, red and purple to yellow, green and orange as well as silver and black. Want to shuffle the songs… give it a shake, turn it on its side and the display changes from portrait to landscape perfect for those “Young ...

Late November, time to hit the malls looking for the perfect tech toys for all the good people in your life. This year getting it on sale should be no problem so let’s jump in Santa’s sleigh and go through his big red bag of goodies. Flash Drives These little hard drives have tumbled in price and soared through the roof in capacity. It’s no problem to find 1 or 2 GB models from Kingston, VGI, SanDisk, and others for less than $20. I have seen 4 GB and 8GB models for $40 and 16 GB’s for under $100. 16 GB is larger than the hard drive in my first apple laptop back in the 1990’s. They attach using a USB port and are the perfect little transport or storage devices. USB hubs If you use a laptop you know how frustrating it can be when you have more toys to plug in than you have USB ports available. The Source caries the Nexxtech 7 port powered hub that will give you all the space to plug in your gadgets you’ll ever need for around $30. Computer Games Are you worried the grandkids will become...

Time Magazine recently released their choices for top websites and while the list was interesting and I have included many of them here, I think they missed a bunch that you might find interesting and useful. Music Reviews Pitchforkmedia.com and Exclaim.ca are the sites for new music, but if like me, you like a little local and a few old favourites thrown in try Uptownmag.com. Internet Radio Live360.com, iTunes, and Last.fm all stream online radio. But if you want to have a bit of fun head for the college stations like CJAM 91.5 out of Windsor/ Detroit. http://web2.uwindsor.ca/cjam/index.html. Classified ads I have had some success with Craigslist and Kijiji locally but you can’t go to wrong with the Winnipeg Free Press site either at http://www11.xpresssites.com/fp/wfp/classified/def.jsp How To Need to know how to adjust the derailer on your 10-speed or how to refinish a table? Check out Howcast.com or Fixya.com Shopping Gasbuddy.com is becoming more popular with every cent gas prices...