Friday, December 25, 2009

Synthosaurus Holiday Science Silly Mix '09

Mp3 Download (128kbps)


Tracklist:

1. Matthew McGuigan - Vidjagame
2. Beautiful Unicorn - Distance
3. Beautiful Unicorn - Valencia
4. Synthosaurus - Alien Rocket Skateboard Cat
5. Synthosaurus - Poco Madre
6. Beautiful Unicorn - Robot Bambi Finds His Mother
7. Beautiful Unicorn - FutureDance
8. Beautiful Unicorn - Spin Dash

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Siyahamba - Audrey Gunther Tribute

MP3 DOWNLOAD

A massive THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to the recording project - I've had a great deal of feedback from various folks saying how much they appreciated what we did. I think it was a great way to Honour Mrs. Gunther, so kudos to all for your efforts! Shout outs are given to you below!

Musician Credits
-----------------

Laurie Callao - Soprano voice

Jessie Soong - Alto voice

Richard Lee-Ying - Tenor voice

Matthew McGuigan: Bass voice/flutes/clarinet

Erin Macleod: Soprano voice/double bass

Jillian Beacon: Alto

Heather Gamber: Tenor voice/bassoon

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Audrey Gunther Tribute Recording

Alright everybody, as you may be aware, the 3rd anniversary of Mrs. Gunther's tragic passing is next weekend (Oct 17). I know there's more than a few people out there who miss her every bit as much as I do, and if you're one of those people, I think you'll probably agree that we might as well try to do what we can to commemorate her amazing life and the impact she had on all of us.

Since I'm living away from Calgary, I'm not going to be able to attend any memorial gatherings in town, which I'm very sad about. Nonetheless, I was throwing ideas around with one James Billingsley a little while ago, and we came up with what I thought was a pretty nifty tribute idea.

What we want to do is produce a recording of the tune "Siyahamba" that we always used to sing in choir, with as many ex-Gunther students as we can get singing on it. I've prepared a compressed folder download with the full 4-voice arrangement, as well as the 4 isolated vocal parts, played on piano. What we need YOU to do is this:

1. Download the recording template folder

2. Using Garageband or whatever audio recording method is convenient for you, record yourself singing your vocal part along with the template download (wear headphones so the keyboard track doesn't get picked up by your microphone!). Singing along with the template will allow us all to be in unison tempo and pitch, even though we're all doing this in different places. If you need a little bit of help, here's a few links:

"siyahamba" sung by an actual choir (in case you forget how the words go and stuff!)
"siyahamba" printed lyrics

3. send me the recording of JUST YOUR VOICE (by email, or zshare, mediafire, whatever) so that I can compile all the different voices and mix together a master recording of everyone singing together. Please email me at brendanmcguigan@shaw.ca

And that's it! What I would really like to do (pipe dream maybe?) is release the master recording next weekend as a charity download mp3, with all proceeds going towards starting a fund for an Audrey Gunther Memorial Scholarship Fund. HOWEVER, in order to do that we need to make the recording first! So, if you have the equipment and technical know-how to record yourself, or if you know someone else who does, please consider taking the time to add your voice to what I hope will be a lovely tribute to a very meaningful teacher who meant the world to a whole lot of us. If you have any other questions please do not hesitate to email me at brendanmcguigan@shaw.ca

Oh, and please don't worry about trying to make a note-perfect, high-quality recording. I don't want anybody losing any sleep over this. It is not a big deal if your recording has a tiny difference in rhythm from the template, or if it's a little hissy, or quiet, or whatever. Just send me whatever you can throw together, and I'll handle the rest. I think the most important thing is to have as many different people on this recording as we can, so don't let trying to make a professional-sound recording stand in the way of you getting your track to me. That being said, if you can send the recording in .wav format, that would be ideal.

Thanks guys and gals, and hope to hear from you soon!

Oh, and happy Thanksgiving! Everyone chill with your families and take 'er easy now

-Brendan

Friday, September 11, 2009

sept 11 2009

all of me
when you're smiling
busted (ray charles)
let's go get stoned (ray charles)
see you in my dreams
kiss to build a dream on
sunny side of the street
daydream - (lovin spoonful)
That's life (sintra)
You make me feel so young
All the things you are
mack the knife
you rascal you
I dont care if the sun don't shine

fly me to the moon
that's amore
Makin' whoppee
Cheek to cheek
you've got a friend in me (randy newman
I don't care if the sun don't shine (elvis)
I've got you under my skin
lonesome town (ricky nelson)
My romance
a nightingale sang in berkeley square
old man river
somewhere over the rainbow
rainbow connection
Night and Day
Don't get around much anymore

Friday, September 4, 2009

My New Address!

14 Denison Square
Toronto, ON
M5T 1K8

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

August 24 - Auburn

The Field - Yesterday and Today
The Field - I Have the Moon, You Have the Internet
Bill Frisell - Blues for Los Angeles
Bill Frisell - I Heard it Through the Grapevine
Medeski, Martin, Scofield and Wood - Little Walter Rides Again
Medeski, Martin, Scofield and Wood - Legalize It
Wilco - You Never Know
The Sea and Cake - Up On Crutches
Tennishero - Midnight Love
Phoenix - Fences
Phoenix - Lisztomania (Classixx remix)
Death From Above 1979 - Romantic Rights (Erol Alkan's Love From Below Re-Edit)
Cut Copy - Rendezvous
Michael Jackson - Don't Stop Till You Get Enough
Nina Simone - Sinnerman (Felix Da Housecat's Heavenly House Mix)
Cut Copy - Saturdays
Lo-Fi-Fnk - City (The Teenagers Remix)
Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (The Teenagers Remix)
Prince - I Wanna Be Your Lover
James Brown - Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses)
The Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive (Teddybears Remix)
Empire of the Sun - Walking On a Dream
Lemon Jelly - '76 (Stay With You)
Bob Dylan - Rocks and Gravel (Jahbil Remix)
Dire Straits - Money For Nothing
Classixx - I'll Get You (feat. Jeppe)
Chromeo - Needy Girl (Bloc Party Remix)
Athlete - Hurricane (Camp America Remix)
M.I.A. - Paper Planes (DFA Remix)
Lemon Jelly - The Staunton Lick
Florence and the Machine - You've Got the Love
The Teenagers - Make it Happen
The Twelves - Episode II
1 - Zeigeist - Humanitarianism (The Twelves Replay)
2 - Radiohead - Reckoner (The Twelves Replay)
3 - Mirwais - Naive Song
4 - Of Montreal - Gronlandic Edit
5 - David E. Sugar - To Yourself
6 - The Virgins - Rich Girls (The Twelves Replay)
7 - Daft Punk - Voyager
8 - Jupiter - CHIP
Metro Area - Dance Reaction
Cut Copy - Feel the Love
Junior Senior - Headphone Song
Hey Champ - Cold Dust Girl
La Roux - In For the Kill (Lifelike remix)
Pnau - Baby (Breakbot remix)
80Kidz - Getting You Off (Feat. Hey Champ)
Michael Jackson - P.Y.T.
Marina and the Diamonds - I Am Not a Robot (Starsmith remix)
French Horn Rebellion - Beaches and Friends (Hey Champ remix)
Calvin Harris - I'm Not Alone (Deadmau5 remix)

Then my laptop shut down unexpectedly! Good Night Everybody!

Friday, August 21, 2009

Canadian Dance Party Tour?

Hey guys and gals!

Here's the deal: I'm moving to Toronto at the end of this month (leaving calgary around the 30th) and I'm thinking of using it as an opportunity to rock a guerilla-style dance party DJ tour. Bascially, I am going to be greyhounding from Calgary to Toronto, so if you live between those two cities and you want to host a party, I will make a stop in your town and put on a mad dance party show! I think this could be a real cool project, which, if successful, will be proof that we can use the internet to do unbelievably cool things! (not that we didn't know that anyway)

My first show in Toronto is on sept 4, so any shows would need to happen between aug 30 and sept 4. Small window, I know.... short notice, I also know! But I just had this idea today and I though, well, why not see what my internet friends/fans think!


Cool? If you're interested in helping me move to Toronto in style and have a synthpop tour on the way, give me a shout via my website and we'll make this happen!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Long and McQuade

wedding rental

4 mains
4 monitors
snake
a bunch of xlr cables
5 58s
5 stands
3 DIs

firebox - doesn't have midi? is there one that does?

gtr strings (12s)
picks

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Swiss Hips

Swiss Hips rehearsal archive

Brad Stanton - Gtr/vox
Brendan McGuigan - Bass
Kirk McVean - Keys
Dave Marshall - Drums

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Chicken with tomatoes and garam masala

INGREDIENTS

5 Tbsp veg oil
3/4 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 inch of cinnamon
6 whole cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon whole peppercorns
6 oz onions, peeled and finely chopped
7 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 inch cube of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 lb fresh tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped (you peel a tomato by soaking it in hot water... then you can just peel it off by hand)
3 lb chicken (skinned)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garam masala


- heat oil in pot (med-high heat)
- add cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaves, peppercorns
- stir once, add onions, garlic, ginger
- Stir until onions turn speckled brown
- add tomatoes, chicken, salt, cayenne pepper
- stir to mix, bring to boil
- cover tightly, turn heat to low and simmer for 25 mins (until chicken is tender)
- Remove cover, turn up heat to med.
- sprinkle in garam masala, cook for 5 additional mins (reduces amount of liquid)

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The B52's - Deepsleep
Blonde Redhead - Top Ranking
Camera Obscura - French Navy
Chromeo - My Girl Is Calling Me a Liar
David Bowie - Moonage Daydream
Deerhoof - The Galaxist
Devotchka - Till the End of Time
The Duhks - Mighty Storm
Mykonos - Fleet Foxes
Harry Belafonte - Jump in the Line
The Hidden Cameras - Hump from Bending
JJ Cale - Mama Don't
James - Runaground
Joy Division - Decades
The Knife - Lasagna
Lau - Hinba
Legendary Pink Dots - Blacklist
The Magnetic Fields - Strange Powers
Mark Farina - Dream Machine
Kate Bush - Them Heavy People
La Roux - Fascination
Mew - Special
Mr. Beasley - Right as Rain
Neko Case - That Teenage Feeling
New Order - Thieves Like Us
The Psychedelic Furs - Dumb Waiters
Radiohead - Jigsaw Falling Into Place
Rainer Hass - Packin' Heat at the Speakeasy
Rogue Wave - Lake Michigan
Roxy Music - If There is Something
Sebastian Tellier - La Ritounelle
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - Standed in Your Love
Sons & Daughters - Monsters
Stephen Merrit - The Meaning of Lice
The Sugarcubes - Hit
Talking Heads - Making Flippy Floppy
Vassar Clements - Kissimmee Kid

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Hooo man, was the DJ tonight ever deadly! Zoe and I popped into a little pub known as Variety in downtown Glasgow for a pint, and chilled and listened to some tunes. Have yet to track down mp3s, but here's some bands that the DJ was spinning:

Paul Haig
Aztec Camera
The Fall
Go-Betweens
Eugenius
Bodines
Orange Juice
His Master's Voice

Can't wait to check out some swell new albums (well, new for me anyway; most of it was super retro-style!)

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Synthosaurs T-shirts Now Available!


Whoa geez you guys, I'm really excited about this! I finally put in my order last week to get Synthosaurus T-shirts made, and they arrived yesterday! I picked them up and MAN DO THEY EVER LOOK GREAT!

I haven't yet had the chance to get a good photo of a sexy friend wearing the shirt, but imagine, if you will, the above image no your chest for all to enjoy!

The artwork was done by the incredible Fiona Staples, whose world-class artwork can be seen in a variety of comics and graphic novels including North 40, Done To Death, and a recent Wolverine cover! Wow! I still can't believe that she agreed to do artwork for Synthosaurus; I'm very honoured and extremely grateful! Thanks Fiona!

Also, a big shout out to Mitch Rutherford and Band Merch Canada for doing a fastastic printing job in a timely, professional and completely hassle-free manner. If you have a band and want to make merch, I recommend them without hesitation; great work guys!

Anyway, if you would like to have the Synthosaurus and his pterodactyl friend on your bod, I am going to be selling these guys around town for $30. Obviously, if that is more than you can afford , we can totally work something out - I'm not trying to rip anybody off here, but at the same time the shirts were really expensive to make, and I'm trying to make sure that this little investment of mine doesn't leave me completely broke. That said, my main priority is hooking people up with something I think is really cool and original, not bringing in massive dollar billz.

I'm going to try and setup a PayPal thing on my blog ASAP so you can buy them online, and hopefully I can sell them through some local record stores as well. If you are operate a music store (or other store as well!) and would like to help me out by having some Synthosaurus shirts available for purchase, please let me know! I'll also be making a point of having a handful on me when I'm walking around downtown, so if you see me across the street or something, be sure to run over and yell in an excited voice "HOLY COW BRENDAN I WILL HAVE TWENTY T-SHIRTS PLEASE!" so that other people may hear and follow your example!*

I'm leaving for England very shortly, but I'll be around town this weekend, especially on the Stampede grounds! I'll be updating this post with more info on how and where the shirts can be picked up! Thanks in advance for your support, friends!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

July 8 @ the Auburn

Wooow, what a great time we had last night! The Auburn was pretty quiet until about midnight, when the cast & crew of the Calgary Stampede Grandstand Show rolled in, and brought the party in a big way! I was pretty stoked when a handful of dedicated partygoers set off the dancefloor - we kept 'er going till about 3 am! Awesome!

Anyway, if you were hanging with us last night, here is what you heard:

Beck - Guero
Moby - Porcelain
Broker/Dealer - Every Other Sunday
Mr. Scruff - Give Up to Get
Booka Shade - Numbers
Burial & Four Tet - Moth
Tennishero - Midnight Love
Gang Gang Dance - House Jam
Tom Vek - Cover
The Album Leaf - The MP
Bob Dylan - Trying to Get to Heaven
Stereolab - Metronomic Underground
Blondie - Rapture
Michael Jackson + Telepopmusik - Remember the Time (Sleeper Heartbroken Remix)
Whitest Boy Alive - Inflation
Gui Borrato - Beautiful Life
Deadmau5 - Brazil
Phoenix - If I Ever Feel Better
The Shins - Phantom Limb
Solus - Now You're Here
PNAU - Embrace (feat. Ladyhawke) - Fred Falke Miami Horror Mix
The BPA - So It Goes (feat. Oily Hite)
Flight of the Conchords - Inner City Pressure
Cold Cut - People Hold On
Cut Copy - Lights and Music
Friendly Fires - In the Hospital
Purple Flash - Purple Flash
Michael Jackson - Get On the Floor (Holy Ghost Edit)
Florence and the Machine - Cosmic Love
Reverie Sound Revue - Arrows
Cut Copy - Saturdays
Michael Jackson - Rock With You (Frankie Knuckles Remix)
Florence and the Machine - Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) - Leo Zero Remix
Jensen Sportag - Cocktease (Max Tundra Remix)
LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous!
Shinichi Osawa - Star Guitar
Friendly Fires - Paris (Aeroplane Remix feat. Au Revoir Simone)
Bjork - Big Time Sensuality
Michael Jackson - P.Y.T.
Corey Hart - Eurasian Eyes
Tahiti 80 - Separate Ways
Empire of the Sun - Walking On a Dream (Treasure Fingers Remix)
Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)
Friendly Fires - Skeleton Boy (Grum Remix)
Radiohead - Everything In Its Right Place (Gigamesh Remix)
Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal (Telemitry Remix)
Holy Ghost - I Will Come Back
Michael Jackson - Baby Be Mine
Chromeo - So Gangsta
Chromeo - Fancy Footwork (Russ Chimes Remix)
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
Blur + Justice - Song 2 D.A.N.C.E. (Sebwax Mashup)
Bit Funk - Love Scientific
Kelis - Bossy (Feat. Too Short - Alan Braxe & Fred Falke Remix)
Michael Jackson - The Way You Make Me Feel
Futurecop! - Nasa
Futurecop! - Ain't That Fresh!
Futurecop! - Tonight's Hero
Futurecop! - Transformers (Ghosthustler Remix)
Treasure Fingers - Cross the Dancefloor (Chromeo Remix)
Passion Pit - Sleepyhead (Neo Tokyo Remix)



So fun! A definite highlight for me was the three dudes who requested Max Tundra (how often does that happen?), as well as the couples who were doing swing-style dancing to Futurecop! Can't wait till next time!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Max Tundra to Tour with Passion Pit!

Uber- Eccentric synth-popper Max Tundra has just announced that he will be supporting the massively-hyped Passion Pit on their October U.K. tour, along with the Joy Formidable (who will also be supporting Editors earlier in the month). Tour Dates are as follows:

PASSION PIT + MAX TUNDRA + THE JOY FORMIDABLE

21st Oct: Sheffield Leadmill
22nd Oct: Newcastle Northumbria University
23rd Oct: Glasgow Garage
24th Oct: Manchester 02 Club Academy
26th Oct: Oxford 02 Club Academy
27th Oct: London Koko
30th Oct: Bristol Anson Rooms
31st Oct: Southampton University
1st Nov: Birmingham 02 Academy 2

Unreal! If you are a fan of ultra-blissy indie pop and live in the U.K., well, lucky you!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Miss Kittin - Professional Distortion (Modeselektor remix)


mp3

myspace

official website



Many thanks to Zoe for introducing me to this tasty banger, which can be found on Miss Kittin's Mixing Me EP. Do listen to the rest of the album, it is just so great. Also very worth checking out is the unstoppable Modeselektor. Enjoy!