Reviews from the last 90 days that ran in the mainstream continuously newspapers the Kitchener-Waterloo Record and the Guelph Mercury.



Bibio – Vignetting the Compost (Mush)

In an alternate domain, Bibio is a nice little acoustic folk band, the kind you stumble across at a local café or a tree-laden side level at a folk festival. As it is, the music of this one-man project sounds like the British folk music that Bibio’s Stephen Wilkinson grew up with—if it were being played on old belt machines that were deteriorating during the recording process (much like the compost of the title, perhaps). Everything sounds off-kilter, broken and a wee bit wobbly, which only adds to the preternaturalism and charm of this oddball album, which is firmly rooted in folk traditions but treated with enough psychedelic discombobulation to take it to a whole other elevation. Bibio was discovered by the equally entrancing Boards of Canada; if that duo ditched their synths and drum machines to go unplugged, it might safe something like this. (K-W Record, February 26)



Neko Case – Middle Cyclone (Anti)

That Neko Encase is a powerful singer is a given. That she’s meticulous in the studio is also clear from her increasingly abstract output of minor-key and erratic waltzes. But while she’s always been a fine lyricist, the key step forward on Middle Cyclone is her way with imagistic wordplay, coupled with some of the more private lyrics she’s written in years.

It’s suitable, then, that these dreamlike images are accompanied by dusty music boxes, detuned guitars, a barn full of deteriorating pianos (in fact—as she explains in every recent interview), saxophones, and analog synthesizers, which all take full advantage of the tabula rasa that her open-ended songs require.

Her 2006 album Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, which was years in the making, suffered from the sound of being overcooked: every small moment...

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This is a tremendous warm up for beginners and intermediate trumpet players. Warm ups for professionals are easily obtained on the internet. This warm up is practical for players who have less time or who are not playing every day. It covers some of the basic skills in a short time. If you are just taking out your trumpet for a excitable session, these exercises will get you playing at your optimum in a hurry.

The following steps can be extended as time permits. Note: finest warm ups should be between thirty and forty minutes.

A good pre warm up is to listen to some professional players warming up before you start. Try to emulate the heartiness and tone, not just on the trumpet but on the mouthpiece and even in the lip buzzing.

Breathing – this is probably the single most important exercise and forms the main ingredient of all wind instrument skills.

1. Start by expelling all air out from lungs then take a full breath, hold air in lungs without the use of throat or lips using unbiased your diaphragm. Do this for 20 seconds and extend the time with practice.

2. Remove mouthpiece and first slide. Now take full breaths and outlaw air directly into trumpet tube as quickly as possible. Repeat 3 times.

3. I have combined three skills into this exercise. Singing, buzzing on maw piece and buzzing on lips. Start with nine crochets at 80 beats per minute. From C-G and then down to C again. Sing, then buzz then contend with mouth piece. Then take it up a tone and so on. As high as is comfortable. Don't neglect to sing with a good tone as this is skilful warm up for the ear. Do this for 3-4 minutes.

4. Have a short rest, then blow the lips like a horse, then say Ahhh and Ohhh with lips stretched and access as wide as possible for Ahhh and rounded for Ohhh

5. Buzz mouthpiece from low C as high as possible and back down again. Do this within 5 seconds and as smoothly as imaginable applying NO lip pressure. Repeat for about 1 minute.

6. Soft long tones at 60 beats per min. Play 4...

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