Friday, July 13, 2007

Hi everyone!As I have mentioned before, I'm interning at CKUA radio in the music library for the summer. I spend most of my time basking in the wilderness of theWorld Music LPs. The head librarian, the lovely Susan, thought it would be a nice idea for me to keep everyone posted about some of the gems and oddities that I come across while wading waste deep into the underbrush of the second floor library, and I thought it would be nice to post my finds here too.

Why all the references to the great outdoors, you ask? Because for my very first update, I shall pass along the secret treasures of the R 1 section, otherwise know as the Great White North (Canadian folk music, that is). Only one section in, and I've already discovered some fascinating stuff...

FOUND GEMS:

Saskatchewan Jubilee – The Young Sound (Vol. 1)
- Released for Saskatchewan’s Diamond Jubilee in 1965
- I just had to include this album as a sweet look back at what was considered ‘the young sound’ in 1960’s Saskatchewan. As a side note, the blue and yellow cover art reminds me why the Ukrainians so often made the prairies their home: the vast blue skies and golden fields of wheat were so much like the familiar landscape of the homeland, just as it was represented on the Ukrainian national flag.

Lumbering Songs from the Ontario Shanties (Folkways recording)
- This is a fascinating collection of folk songs that came from the hard-living lumber shanties of the nineteenth century. In the liner notes, Edith Fowke (no joke!), the compiler of this album, talks about the borderless nature of American and Canadian culture in the shanties, where young workers would often cross the border to find work. This cross-pollination of stories makes for a colourful collection of shanty tunes.

Cape Breton Pipe Selections
The MacDougal Girl’s Pipe Band and Piper Deanie Munroe
- According to the Big Pond (NS) website, Piper Deanie Munroe “was the first female piper to release a recording of bag pipe music”. http://www.bigpondns.ca/big_pond_CD.htm
Besides this fantastic example of ‘Girl Power’, you have to check out this album just for the psychedelic cover art!

Coast to Coast in Canada with Canadian Artists
- When I researched this album, I discovered that it included a selection by Olaf Sveen, who worked at CKUA in the late 60’s to the early 70’s! I just love it when that happens.

Canadian Folk Songs
- This massive 9 album collection is probably one of the greatest caches of Canadian folk music in the LP library. It explores both Anglophone and Francophone standards by some of the top artists of the day. Also known as ‘The Centennial Collection”, it was released by the CBC in 1967 to mark “a hundred years of Confederation”. Each album/volume in the set follows a theme. So the first volume is “Riddle Songs and Traditional Ballads”, followed by “Legendary Ballads and Historical Songs” and so on.

Finally, here is a list of the Canadian folk songs that keep popping up on all kinds of albums in this section:
When the Ice Worms Nest Again (I watched a documentary about these creatures once; strange little squirmy black things that huddle together in masses of Arctic ice)
Concerning Charlie Horse
A Great Big Sea
(which I believe is where the band got its name)
Black Flies of Ontario
(we all remember this one from the CBC's animation)
Squid Jiggin’ Ground
Tickle Cove Pond
The Shantyboy’s Alphabet


Happy listening!

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