Special NxNE podcasts, episode 2.

I went to the North by Northeast music festival accredited to Zygiella.com. Welcome to my coverage! In these five special podcasts you will hear the interviews I conducted with musicians, writers, bloggers, photographers, and others during the festival. In addition you will also hear songs by artists who performed (and a couple who didn't) during the five days of NxNE. Highlights include a new D'Urbervilles song feat. hip hop artist New Slang, brand new tracks by METZ and La Casa Muerte, and as-yet unreleased songs by Burn Planetarium, The Schomberg Fair, and Evening Hymns. All the songs were chosen by the people I talked to. The conversations you'll hear touch on a variety of subjects, including the state of the music industry, the excitement and diversity of the festival, the travails of independent bands, and the music scenes in other cities. My sense from my travels and talks was that this year's NxNE was well programmed, more embracing of a variety of music styles, and felt more like a festival than in previous years. The bands I spoke with were having a good time, the fans were enjoying themselves, and everyone was finding something exciting to go see and hear.

Episode 2: Thursday afternoon (18 June 2009)

I got home really late on Wednesday night, but I was keen to get an early afternoon start on the official first day of the festival. I started at the Hyatt Regency, where I picked up my press pass and chatted with Fezz Stenton from Green Go. Then I sat in on the round table discussion featuring a dozen members of the (mainstream) Canadian music industry. I took a breather after that bizarre session to debrief with Leif Vollebekk, Scott Bouwmeester, and Stefan Banjevic. After seeing Dinosaur Bones perform a spirited set at Sunrise Records, I interviewed a couple members of that band, Joe Strutt from Mechanical Forest Sound, and NOW Magazine's Jordan Bimm. Spiral Beach was by then entertaining a good crowd at Yonge-Dundas Square, where I talked to Elvis Mondays' William New and Bo and Brandon from La Casa Muerte. Featuring songs by Green Go ("Brains For Breakfast"), Leif Vollebekk ("Northernmost Eva Maria"), Kids on TV ("Breakdance Hunx"), Parallels ("Reservoir"), Dinosaur Bones ("Life In Trees"), The Swallows ("Glorious"), and La Casa Muerte ("Cut It Out").

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The first episode, covering Wednesday, is here. Stay tuned for the next 3 episodes, covering Thursday night, Friday, and Saturday and Sunday.

Photo of Daniel, Maddy, Dorian, and Airick (Spiral Beach) performing at Yonge-Dundas Square by Ming Wu.