Where are you based?
Toronto. Right now, specifically, Bloor and Ossington, in the spare room of my house.
Where do you work? What do you do?
CBC Music makes radio, live music videos, music news and views via our website, playlist streaming and many other music things. We are national and international in our scope. I oversee the people who oversee and carry out these efforts.
What are you listening to?
Junia T. Run The Jewels 4. Laura Marling’s new one. Thundercat – It Is What It Is. Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud. Dua Lipa. Sarah Harmer. The Internet – Hive Mind. Joel Plaskett’s 4 record monolith. And a steady stream of vinyl I mail order and forget about so it’s like sending myself presents.
How do you discover new music?
CBC Music team. Spotify / Apple Music recos. Any Damn Music. Anyone still doing record reviews. Friends. Twitter. Shazaming song placements.
What formats do you usually listen to? LP, CD, Cassette, Digital, Streaming Services? Why?
Undistracted listening: vinyl at home. Radio or streaming or CD in the car, but I seldom drive. Streaming downloads on the commute. Distracted listening at the desk or in the kitchen: radio and streaming.
Where do you do most of your music listening?
In front of the turntable.
How do you find and listen to pre-release music?
Generally I don’t. I get sent stuff but there’s so much to manage. Instead I tend to listen once it’s released to the world.
What are your frustrations with listening to music digitally? Any benefits?
I’m with Neil … it doesn’t sound as good as vinyl but when it’s distracted listening that doesn’t matter as much. The benefits are huge though – it’s highly portable and having that range of material at your fingertips still blows my mind.
How do you keep track of everything you are listening to?
Discogs. Spotify / Apple Music downloads. But I don’t really keep close tabs.
Do you tip other people off to new music? How?
I’m not on socials so it’s usually one-on-one convos with my music-loving friends. Right now that’s been reduced to emails and Zoom calls.
Anything you want to “promote”?
Of course, this year’s Polaris Short List and the winner will be announced on Oct 19th:
- Backxwash – God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It.
- Caribou – Suddenly.
- Junia-T – Studio Monk.
- Kaytranada – Bubba.
- nêhiyawak – nipiy.
- Pantayo – Pantayo.
- Lido Pimienta – Miss Colombia.
- Jessie Reyez – Before Love Came To Kill Us.
- U.S. Girls – Heavy Light.
- Witch Prophet – DNA Activation
