Music

Felt like a Rockstar at day 2 of the Web Summit

Written by Sabine Demosthenes

MONTREAL – The feeling I had when I woke up last Wednesday was super happy and confident. I suddenly felt like a rockstar! Before I left for the summit, I grabbed a big glass of orange juice and my dear friend for the week, Grace, a beautiful dog whose home I was staying at, along with amazing hosts: Ana, Bruno, and Paola. Grace was looking at me with those big beautiful eyes and this look: “Oh no you are leaving…” I told her that today (Wednesday) would be a fabulous day at the summit and I would be back that night to tell her all about it.

Yes, I do have conversations with dogs. They are such good listeners… I think.

On my metro ride to the Summit, a young lady introduced herself. She saw my media bracelet and she asked me if I was going to the Summit.

I was happy to tell her yes. Her name wasDiana. She is a young, smart journalist for the Youth Association of Journalists in Lisbon (I hope I got the name right). Diana was a dear companion during the rest of the summit. We met every now and then and I truly cherished our new friendship.

One highlight of the day before I forgot to write about was walking through the Alexis Ohanion Sr interview for CNN. I kept my cool and I tried to listen. At the end of his interview, as I was on my way out and without any expectation, I told him to go see a talk on the main stage that I will tweet a picture of. I heard him say “oh ok cool”.

As I promised, I tweeted the picture I took. I didn’t expect that in the next 5 minutes, he would have liked the picture and retweeted it. Boom!!!

Only at the Web Summit things like this happen, or maybe in the subway.

Back to Day 2. I was sitting in the main auditorium during the early afternoon (around2 pm) to see the amazing Dr. Ben Goertzel of Hanson Robotics, a company creating expressive, life-like robots with friendly personalities. Dr. Goertzel wasn’t on stage by himself, Sophia and Hunt were rocking the stage with him.

Who are Sophia?

Here is Sophia:

Interview with Sophia

It’s so amazing to see them and to have to privilege to be invited to the press conference given by Dr. Goertzel and Sophie The Robot. Good questions were asked.

The Internet wasn’t at it’s best, so Sophia was under the weather, unfortunately. We did witness all the beautiful work that the Hanson Robotics Family has been building. The future looks promising for all of us.

Thirty minutes later, I went to another press conference. This time, it was with the brilliant artist, Imogen Heap. She is such a multi-talented musician, producer, engineer, philanthropist, and a kick-ass woman (yes, kick ass).

Mycelia is a research and development hub for music makers (Hallelujah!).

I even got the opportunity to ask her a quick question!

After this beautiful day, I went back to the place I was calling home for the week I was in Lisbon. Grace (the dog) and I hung out and she listened (again) to all the adventures I had during that fabulous day.

The next thing you knew, I was dreaming about the next day, the last day of the Summit with dear Grace next to me.

https://www.reddit.com

http://myceliaformusic.org

http://www.hansonrobotics.com

Lisa Marie’s Homecoming

Written by Sabine Demosthenes

There are some songs that make your little universe stop for a few minutes.

They give you the feeling of being in the room with the people singing and you stop thinking about all your troubles and doubts. You are now hooked on the melody and the emotions of the singers putting their souls into their beautiful voices.

When this duo is a father and daughter, it makes the song a lot more powerful and ethereal.

That’s how I felt this week when I listened to Elvis and Lisa Marie Presley duet “Where No One Stands Alone” on the new gospel album of his father “Where No One Stands Alone”.

Below, you can click to access The Rolling Stone for the article and the bittersweet video.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/hear-elvis-lisa-marie-presley-duet-on-revamped-gospel-song-704932/

For me, Lisa Marie is the type of songwriter I have always admired. She doesn’t sugarcoat her lyrics and what you see, is what you get.

I have always been attracted to people that kept everything real and have die-hard authentic souls. When you listen to Lisa Marie’s songs such as “High Enough” from her debut album, “Now What”, you feel the authenticity and her vulnerability. Gosh, the girl is so passionate!

This week, Lisa Marie is back home in Graceland for the Elvis Week Celebration. There will be an exhibition exploring her childhood and career.

Can we expect a new album and a new tour from Ms. Presley in 2018?

Something tells me…

Yes!

We will continue to enjoy her musical journey and she will gladly invite us to join this beautiful journey her way.

Lisa Marie Presley and Jenna Bush Hager Today’s interview

The Festival Season Opener: The Santa Teresa Festival and the Power of Love

Written by Sabine Demosthenes

This past weekend was such a nice weekend.

It was something we actually needed with all of the bad news we have been getting and the state of this world lately.

For some of us, we witness this weekend the power of love (I just love Reverand Curry).

For others, they meditate on how we can make this world a better place.

And for the young at heart, they dance the night away at the best music festival on the North Shore of Montreal, the second edition of the Santa Teresa Festival.

I pretended I was still a young twenty-something ingenue this past Sunday; trying to act cool like in my twenties with the young folks but, my age betrays me. I still manage to party like it was still 1999 (my favorite sentence).

The atmosphere was electrical.

Everyone was happy. For a split second, I didn’t think about how the world was falling apart. I must have still been under my “Power of Love Spell”. Festivals like this are good opportunities to discover new talent.

I was impressed with the Mount Kimbie band from the UK, just by seeing the crowd sing along, you could tell Montrealers were enchanted.

Mount Kimbie and King Krule Santa Teresa 2018

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

In my mid-twenties, I was a die-hard fan of electronic music and synth-pop. Listening to Mount Kimbie made me fall in love with this style of music all over again.

Many others artists were there too: Feist, Charly Bliss, Rose Bush, Milk & Bone, and many more.

For a small suburban community like The North Shore, they sure know how to get us to groove like there was no tomorrow!

I can’t wait to see round 3 next year!

https://www.santateresa.ca/en/

Let’s not throw the first stone at Kanye … Yet

Written by Sabine Démosthènes

When I first listened to Kanye’s “The College Dropout” album, I felt like I was rekindling my love story with hip-hop. It was during the era of Ja Rule, DMX and Nelly. I wasn’t feeling the love anymore and had not been discovering new artists.

And then, Mr. West came into my life in an epiphany kind of way.

With his sophomore album, I was still in Kanye’s land. Until this day, listening to both his albums, I had the feeling he was one of my big brother’s childhood friends and I was listening to their conversations discussing the greatest NBA players to who shot Mr. Burns in The Simpson’s (we all know it was Maggie Simpson).

On those two albums, Kanye was saying some pretty hard cold truths about life in a very clever way. I have to applaud his song writing during that period.

But, as the years passed and the social media empire took control of so many things, including the option of thinking before writing or saying something that could end up being the stupidest thing you read, not of the day but of the minute! Kanye seemed to have been more lost and less focused.

He married a woman whose entire empire and fan base was in big part due to social media creations (and that is okay) but I always expected Kanye to be with a woman of substance. Someone with more going on in the brain department, more an academic girl (hmm hmm like me) or an intellectual. But, it wasn’t the case.

And then, he goes from someone that was not afraid to tackle the subject of slavery in a very smart and clever way, like in his song “We Major” featuring Nas The Great and Really Doe to supporting the current president of the so called free world (I really don’t see what the free world stands for anymore).

In my mind, something seems odd. Last week, Kanye brought up the subject of slavery again. It was as well put, just as he sang in his first two albums. This is what I thought at first, since I didn’t see the video but read the headline on a website that I won’t name because I’m ashamed. I was just numb.

But then, (and of course my brother tried to make see his comment in a different light), I realized the problem with Kanye is that he takes himself way too seriously. When you are really listening to what he said, it’s not almost crazy. The way it came out was damn crazy! As the very black girl that I am, I know that this subject always brought us into discussions.

Actually, in a funny kind a way, Kanye is making us think about this delicate subject. My problem is why do you go to TMZ (of all organisations) instead of having a very intelligent conversation with Christiane Armanpour at CNN or Gayle King at CBS. Those journalists would have pushed the envelope and asked him to be more clear.

No, he went to TMZ.

For him to be a supporter of the man that is the so called Commander-In-Chief of the Free World is so weird. Especially for someone that had blasted George W. Bush. But, can we assume that maybe he is supporting this person for a very selfish reason?

Maybe, because he is going to be less rich, he needs this person?

It’s only a question I’m asking.

Please, don’t throw the first stone at me. I am innocent.

The weeks to come will be something!

We will listen to the upcoming albums and maybe after one song, we will be so mad at ourselves for even listening to it, or maybe, it will be another masterpiece. For the masterpiece part, I wrote it because one of his collaborations will be (if it’s still happening) with Nas. So, it could really be good.

In the meantime, let’s hold our breath for the next Kanye moment.

And let’s not throw the first stone at Kanye… Yet.

Collision 2018 week – A conversation with Beatie Wolfe

This is a special week in the tech world. New Orleans is the place, not only for its festive atmosphere but also for the 2018 edition of The Collision Conference.

How to start this special week with Beatie Wolfe? She is a very special singer-songwriter that is not afraid to be curious. She is an innovator and sound creator. The perfect musical scientist in my book!

I couldn’t be there in person for this year conference, but Beatie and I managed to squeeze in a really fun interview.

Let’s enjoy the ride.

SD: What are you looking for this year at the Collision 2018 Conference?

BW: Meaningful connections and conversations with like-minded people who wish to inspire and uplift.

SD: Every time I listened to your album, Raw Space, I feel like I’m in a bubble. It’s a very pleasant sound environment.

Can you explain to us how you created this special atmosphere?

BW: That’s very kind. I honestly don’t know. I think that I give an intense amount of focus to the songwriting, arranging and production process and I really do believe that God is in the detail.

I was also aware that the stage for the album would be the Bell Labs Anechoic Chamber (the ultimate raw space!), which absolutely makes you feel like you’re in a bubble, so I think that influenced the recording/producing process too.

SD: You are the co-founder of a research project that is looking at the influence of music on people that are living with dementia. What inspired you to take part in this amazing project?

BW: I was inspired by neurologist Oliver Sacks and his incredible work looking at the power of music to heal and move us, even when nothing else can.

While reading Musicophilia, I felt that there was no greater application of music than that: pulling people back from the most extreme neurological states, and when I heard that some of my family members had developed dementia, I felt compelled to start applying what I had been reading about.

The amazing thing about the ‘Power of Music & Dementia’ study is that it was the first study to prove the power of music, outside of memory, (new music) for people living with dementia and this was something that Sacks had theorised but not yet tested, stating that “…music does not have to be familiar to exert its emotional pull…” and “…music is a necessity for those with dementia.”

SD: As a very proud Montrealer, I can see some of Leonard Cohen’s inspiration in your lyrics. Other journalists and bloggers can see it too. Are Leonard Cohen’s poetic lyrics what inspired you to be a songwriter?

BW: It is a funny story because Cohen did become a big influence on me, but only after I had played a number of shows and people in the audience would come up and say: “Are you a Leonard Cohen fan? Your music reminds me so much of his.” And back then I had no idea who he was (this was when I was about 16/17).

Then, one guy from a show in Portugal gave me a CD mix of his favorite Cohen songs and from the first time I listened, I was hooked!

I realized that there was someone else who cared as much about the words as I did, someone who was so true to the story, that the music had to serve it.

Cohen was such an incredible wordsmith, poet, and writer in his own right, that I ended up doing my dissertation on him for my English Literature degree, even though the University advised against it, thinking he could not be classed as a writer.

Writing that paper, even against the advice of my professors, was what ended up opening a dialogue with Cohen and his team and at one point, just before he passed away, there was a conversation about him adopting one of my musical formats (the intelligent deck of cards) for “I Want It Darker.”

SD: When you see the words “Musical Innovator”, what kind of emotion does that bring to you?

BW: I think it’s definitely something different to just being a musician or singer-songwriter. For me, the music is always at the core, it is the reason I do everything.

But I love creating worlds for each of my albums and allowing people to feel some of the old school magic that I felt for records at a kid, by creating new formats that combine the best of the old and the best of the new.

So in that way, I am happy to be a musical innovator!

SD: Can we expect a show in the near future in Montreal?

BW: Yes… 110%!! It is a place I have been meaning to visit and play in for so long.

Leonard Cohen’s city welcomes you, Beatie, with open arms!

Written by Sabine Démosthènes

Photography credited to Beatie Wolfe

Thank you Collision 2018

https://collisionconf.com

https://www.beatiewolfe.com

Advice for the young at heart

Dear Beyoncé fans,

Yes, you guys, even other celebrities.

I would like to address my concerns about your sanity.

Back in the day, we were amazed when Michael Jackson moonwalked his way across the stage at every concert. We were the generation that wanted to be the epitome of cool. We were a Wu-Tang Nation, a Tribe Called Quest Squad. The Brandy and Monica drama was our lunchtime discussion, no hashtags required. Whitney and Mariah were the Diva Queens, but we were reminded that they too were human and flawed. Not the goddesses of planet Earth.

Today, it seems Beyoncé is the only being a walking supreme Mother Earth mother and everything she does is worshipped like she was the Messiah.

There are some problems guys…

Did she find a cure for any disease? Did she create a new technology with the purpose to give people a better life? Did she fight the good fight, to relentlessly bring justice to the less fortunate?

No.

She is an entertainer, a good one. I do respect her dedication to entertaining us mortals, but that’s it. I respected her more when she was keeping her life more private. Now, all I see is a brand, not a human being.

Madonna, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Cindy Lauper, Joan Jett, Reba McEntire, Bonnie Raitt, Salt’n’Pepa, MC Lite and Lauryn Hill were the ultimate warrior women in the music industry. Yes, they were admired for the passion they brought to their art and that was pretty much it.

I’m tired of reading about or listening to people that put Beyoncé on a pedestal like she was the next best thing after the creation of Nutella (I love Nutella – my life depends on it). I feel even worse when I read about other celebrities acting like total stupid groupies.

Come on, have some self-respect.

To the Beyhive crazy crowd, please chill out. I mean it.

She is not a God. She is an entertainer, one that may take herself a little too seriously (remember the pregnancy pictures of her twins, last year’s Grammy performance with the Mother Mary theme, her Lemonade video clip, and many other examples, unfortunately).

I still believe she could be a really cool person to hang out with, but you guys are not obligated to be fanatics and idolize her. Admiring her accomplishments as an entertainer, ok, but being a crazy-ass fanatic, hell no!

Beyoncé is a human being, like the rest of us. She is not perfect. I want to see a bit more authenticity from her through sharing less of her private life. By not making a grand spectacle of her every outing with the crazy outfits and the entourage.

Damn, could she be more like Tina Turner?

Be the big diva on stage and give everything you got, but after, please just be human.

So Beyhave’s army, you may want to send me some hateful emails and I guess you will put my name on your blacklist, but please, consider my advice to you, the young at heart.

Just breathe.

Written by Sabine Demosthenes

The Eliot Effect

I still remember it like it was yesterday, when I heard the song Bohemian Love for the first time.

The voice I heard sounded a little familiar but with something special and unique to it. I couldn’t put my finger on it. I felt like someone had just cast a spell on me, or should I say, into my soul.

The group I Blame Coco was making its way into my musical library. I had everyone from my mother to my colleagues at the office, listening nonstop to my new obsession, Bohemian Love.

But, I had a feeling that Eliot was still searching for her true self.

She seemed to have realizeed it because she said no more to I blame Coco and she started her quest of finding her voice and her true self.

She found it and I love everything about it.

Amen!

Eliot Sumner makes me think of a mix of Patti Smith, PJ Harvey, and of course, her father.

He was one of the members of the group The Police. Maybe you have heard of his solo songs in the 80’s, 90’s and today.

But Eliot is her own person and she is creating her legacy in her own way.

Her 2016 album Information is beautiful jewelry. You can have a taste of Electro-Pop, something synth-rock-like with a psychedelic twist. For me, this is heaven to my ears.

The first song of the album gave me some serious goosebumps and listening to it was so visceral.

Dead Arms and Dead Legs is a masterpiece in its simplicity.

Dead Arms and Dead Legs music video

The rest of the album is a beautiful ride into this world Eliot created.

I’m crossing my fingers that she

will do a little show in Montreal.

She did make it to Toronto in 2017, but maybe we can hope that she will jam with us in our beautiful city for The Santa Teresa Festival or Osheaga.

I fell in love, musically, with another Sumner.

I guess I won’t be the only one.

Eliot Sumner Website

Eliot Sumner Instagram

Written by Sab Demosthenes

The Chronicle