Joshua Van Tassel

(on facebook? it’s not going to let you hear anything. Go to www.joshuavt.com)

A long while ago, maybe even 2 years now, geez, I started putting some music up called onepiecepieces. These little one minute vignettes are the product of me taking one sound or item and squeezing 60 seconds worth of entertainment out of it. I haven’t done it in a while, and just as thousands of people out there are making and breaking resolutions to exercise their bodies, I remembered that doing these are a great work out for my imagination. So, in keeping with a very organized and reasonable schedule modeled after the organized and reasonable Christine ( who covered the entire Beach Boys record Pet sounds at the Tranzac last night and it was fantastic), Tuesdays and Thursday I’ll be doing my damnedest to regal you with pieces that are short and hopefully sweet, and let u all hear things in a different way.

First up on the onepiecepiece block, I used a little clip from the sound of deflating balloons I put up last week. Here she is. Why is this one a she? I’m not sure.

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( on facebook? go to www.joshuavt.com for this to make any sense at all)

Trying ( between upstairs neighbors talking on speaker phones) to work on a couple different things today, getting back on track. Some stuff like this

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and some other stuff like this

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If you’re smart you’ll go see Christine Bougie play at the Tranzac tonight at 730. I consider myself of average intelligence so that’s where I’ll be headed.

(on facebook? you’re missing half the fun, go to www.joshuavt.com for the full post)

The Tranzac club in Toronto is one of my favorite places on this big blue earth.

When I first decided to move from a small Nova Scotian town to the dirty city I had visions of dark, mysterious looking streets filled with small doorways that all lead into jam packed smoky clubs that housed music of all kinds, with people of all shapes and colors and hair lengths. Places that would disregard the notion of housing one specific style of music and focus more on the quality and integrity of the artist. Run by people who really really care, the Tranzac ended up being all these things ( minus the smoking and alleyway entrance) and a whole lot more. With it’s 3 different rooms it’s completely normal to stand n the hallway and simultaneously hear solo piano, crazy avant jazz, and straight up blue grass at the same time. It’s unbelievably inspiring and exciting to know that any night of the week there’s a place I can go where I’m guaranteed to see  not necessarily a show I’ll love, but definitely something I’ll find interesting, motivating, or exciting.

Like most really special arts related things in Toronto, the Tranzac relies heavily on public support. If you feel so inclined, visit their website and make a donation, become a member, or even just write down their address and go by for a visit. You may hear something like this, the bet version of Oh Canada I’ve heard in years as played by a very drunk church organist I ended up befriending at 2 am Thursday night.

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God bless the CBC and for posting this incredible, ridiculous, and incredibly ridiculous Daniel Lanois show at Massey Hall that I couldn’t go to and was seriously pissed about missing. The recording quality is top notch and the music is prettttttty sublime.

Played a fun show last night with Ronley and it was the usual hi jinx and fun. The Tranzac just got some new carpeting which is nice and cozy. After we were finished, someone who had a few beers started to play piano some piano quietly in the corner while I was packing up, and there was something about it that seemed like it was exactly the sound I wanted to hear at that moment.Here it is -

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A nice end of the night type feeling. Also, I have a weekend off!!! Let me know if there’s anything fun going on that I can come a steal sounds from….

Val’s fresh new epk, looks great.

Ronley Tepers new video for “rose”. The record release for this album is March 19th at the Tranzac, and I think it should be magic magical. It’s a 13 piece band featuring mellophone, guitars, basses, me making noises, saw, and whoever else shows up with an instrument or woodsman like tool that produces a tone.

I love these ladies and am super proud to be part of their stuff.

…can you walk in randomly on a Saturday night and see a bassoon quartet. I love this place so much.

In other non musical or sound news, I ended up at a dance bar last night. and I danced. And it was really fun. The only thing that really bothered me about the place ( besides the fact that it was packed with monkeys who came from an ugly sweater christmas party and “ladies” who only communicate by shrieking at one another) was the way dj’s in these bars play music.

All in all, the songs that he played were generally pretty good, lots of hip hop, soul, and even a good old 80′s set. The problem is that he would play maybe 30 seconds of each song. I totally respect the art of bpm matching and mashing tunes, but it’s gotten to such a point where it’s like listening to an ipod shuffle gone completely crazy with a big loud kick drum happening underneath throughout the night.

I’m not sure if it’s the product of our generations lack of attention and the way we treat music in little bite size forms, or the ease of accessing music in general via downloads/etc. Either way, it’s a little much to handle for a full night, and you know it’s bad when I actually want to hear 2 verses of the latest New Kids on The Block tune.
and ps, when did Smells Like Teen Spirit become a dance floor banger?? It was the only tune all night that didn’t get the techno mix treatment. Awesome.

I know I’ve said that I try to update this site daily, but try is the operative word. Lot of things happening, had a great weekend. I spent some time -

in a car hearing things like this ( which I think is a really nice sound)

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getting a speeding ticket ( which I don’t like at all, but the officer was actually quite friendly. Also, am I legally or morally obliged to tell him I was recording?)

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I checked out the tenori-on ( which I think is not that great to be honest)

I did some recording -

and I made a bunch of music with a bunch of good friends in Montreal, and at the Pride stage, and the Tranzac, and my home. Ok, we’re all caught up now. Happy Canada Day, and I’ll see you tomorrow, I promise…

Here’s a couple tunes that I needed to write in the past couple days. I’m not sure if they’re done, but they’re fun and I accept them for who they are, you know?

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Also, there’s 3 things that I want to tell you about, shows specifically. I hate to make this an advertisement for myself, but then again, it’s my site right? Anyway -

TONIGHT @ the Tranzac – I’m playing duo with the fantastic Joel Schwartz, 730 pm. He’s bringing two amps, you don’t have to bring any. No cover and good fun on an early Sunday evening.

Monday June 23rd - My good friend David Myles is having his cd release party at Hughes Room and I’ll be playing with him and wearing a tie. He’s Nova Scotia’s finest and we always have a good time.

Tuesday June 24th – Ainsley McNeaney is releasing her cd at the Music Gallery, and on top of having myself and a rhythm section, she literally hired a full orchestra, 40 people playing. That’s almost as many as Broken Social Scene ( no disrespect intended, I think those guys are great). It should be a really good show.

Ok, self promotion done. Speaking of promotion, musicians seemed to have picked up on a new way of advertising their shows, which is by text messaging everyone in their phone’s contact list. I don’t know how I feel about this. There’s SOOO many ways that we get bombarded by advertising with every step we take, and having to deal with it on my telephone seems a little over the top. Thoughts?

Every Sunday this month I’m doing a weekly gig at the Tranzac at 730. Last night was the first night of it, and Joanna Borremeo and Devon Henderson both came down to have some fun. And that’s what it’s about.
Were lots of people there watching? Did we make lots of money? No and definitely no. But we had a lot of fun. We were talking about the whole idea of “playing music” and how it’s called playing because it’s fun and should be enjoyed, and sooo many of us who are musicians forget that and get completely caught up in the business end of things. I’m not trying to under value a good business sense, I’m just saying if we all took some more play time with music and our lives in general, we’d probably be happier people. Anyway, we’ll be there being happy every Sunday this month, so come by if you’re in the neighborhood. Here’s a clip from last night – -

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Last night I went to see a play loosely based on the life of Jerry Lee Lewis called “Fire“, and it was really great. Good acting, totally interesting set, and the music was played amazingly well. Melanie Doane arranged all the vocal harmonies, and there were lots of ‘em, all sounding straight out of Arkansas just like the should. There was a packed house and everyone seemed to really enjoy the show. Except for one small thing that people need to remember – -

JUST BECAUSE MUSIC IS BEING PLAYED DOESN’T MEAN IT”S TIME TO START TALKING TO YOUR HUSBAND/WIFE/WHOEVER.

Seriously folks. It’s a show about a musician, so naturally I’d assume if you pay $30 plus dollars, you have at least some fleeting interest in the music they were playing. It seemed like every time a song would start, at last 20 people would take that as their cue to have a quick conversation with whoever was willing to listen. Maybe I sound like a super crotchety old man lecturing elementary school children, but please Toronto, lets show a little more respect for our artists.

Oh, and to the person with the intelligence level of handicapped primate who cell phone went off 3 times in the second act….well, my parents read this blog so I’ll keep it civil. You’re a bonehead.

This isn’t an isolated incident either. Tranzac Club, 2 night ago watching a super crazy/unique songwriter named Anhai perform, and some monkey was in the very front row with his phone sitting on the table. Here’s what it sounds like to be an asshole ( listen for at 41 seconds in)

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I wonder which provider has the best customer service for monkeys? Probably Fido, there’s a fair number of them working there.