Wade and David Myles @ Toc Toc

David Myles is currently on tour across Canada promoting his new album Things Have Changed. We played a show together at Toc Toc, a laid back pub in Montreal on June 22.

Sometimes I think that the male singer/songwriter thing is dead. Thanks to people like James Blunt and John Mayer, I cringe whenever I see someone take the stage with just their guitar.

Luckily, that's far from the case with David Myles. He's more blues or folk than singer/songwriter (in the context I used it above). But however you want to classify his sound, it's worth a listen. His songs are enough to convince anyone within earshot that its still ok for a guy to get on stage with a guitar and nothing else (other than of course, his sharp touring suit).

His new album builds on his 2005 debut Together & Alone. The new album is more upbeat than his last and it chugs along at a toe-tapping pace. The guitar work is superb and the additional instruments and vocals are a welcome addition to the sparser Together & Alone. During live shows Myles tells great stories, both during and in-between songs. But the melodies are what steal the show. Whether singing about a killer hangover or the guises we put on in our various relationships, Myles excels at extracting the important details of any sentiment and setting them to appropriate chords and rhythms.

He's probably stopping in your city, so go check him out and buy his CD
Or, if you prefer the lazy route, here's a video clip of David and I from Toc Toc.

David Myles - Take a Bow
Wade - Broken Record

Repeating the Live (part 2)

Generally, the use of recorded tracks during a live performance is perceived as a no-no in (rock music). From Milli Vanilli to Ashley Simpson, playing along with recordings just seems fake. The intrusion of technology is seen as unnatural and antithetical to a true live music experience. Technology is blamed for creating an inseparable divide between audience and performer and operating technology is seen as a different, and less valuable skill, than playing an instrument. This is why critics are quick to jump on electronic music, DJs and host of other musical practices involving machines.

A sad consequence of this kind of thinking is that the idea/act of repetition has become tarnished. Repetition, for critics, represents automation and the increasing presence of technology (and thus the decreasing presence of the natural and the live). But It is important to realize that technology itself does not imply repetition, nor does repetition imply a technological source. Music made with greater amounts of technology (e.g. electronic music featuring drum machines) is not necessarily any more repetitive than music made without that technology (e.g. folk songs or classical music). Almost all music is based in repetition. There are always elements that repeat. The repetition may occur on a variety of levels (notes, chords, phrases, melodies, harmonies, beats, rhythms, verses, refrains, etc.) but its presence is undeniable. While some musical styles or genres foreground repetition more than others, repetition is inherent to most music.

The green machine (pictured above, introduced in last post) represents a repetition of the live; it is an insightful example of how live performance and recording are increasingly mirroring each other. Here, elements normally associated with recording become central to the performance itself. The DL4 not only incorporates repetition but foregrounds repetition as a key element of the musical process. The allure of the pedal is not necessarily the individual loops but rather the process of repetition and pattern-creation that is on display for the audience.

If we reconsider repetition as an inherent feature to most music, regardless of genre or context (i.e. live, recorded), then technological devices that encourage and enhance repetition do not seem as strange. After all, should we really be surprised by technologies that enhance the repetitive elements in music when repetition acknowledged as a central principle. Repetitive musical behaviours such as looping are not an effect of technology. Rather they represent a musical practice that, on occasion, musicians delegate to specific technical objects.

Repeating the Live (pt. 1)

I played my first live show in Montreal a few weeks ago. Playing without the New Math is strange, not only because solo performances present different challenges than group ones, but because playing solo means crafting songs in a different manner. There is no band to set the rhythm, no one to cover for you when you forget the lyrics.

I tried to make up for the loss of the band by adding the Line 6 DL4 digital delay pedal to the performance. I call it the green machine. One of its functions allows users to record fourteen seconds of sound, which can then be played back. During playback, users can add additional sounds (overdubs) to the original phrase. The sounds (loops) repeat endlessly.

Click here or on the photo above or here to see the green machine in action.
If you're interested, my next post will talk about why I think pedals like this represent an important facet of musical creation.