Feist

Feist is joining efforts to raise funds in support of relief efforts in Haiti. This Friday, January 31st in Hamilton, Ontario, news bulletins report Feist "may play solo, she may play duo, she may play two, or a few. She may play new." The line-up includes an ever-growing list of many.



Tickets for the event are $25 and will be available through Ticketmaster and the Copps Coliseum box office. The concert is happening at Hamilton Place.



Proceeds will be distributed to three agencies: Canadian Friends of Albert Schweitzer Hospital, Joy and Hope of Haiti and International Child Care.

Here's a new Oar song, one just released from the steady hands of Captain Beck, a worthy man helming the ship B.H. Recording Club. Feist and Jeff Tweedy sing leagues above the sea below.

Record Club: Skip Spence "Broken Heart" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

Beck has been uploading more video-songs from the Skip Spence Oar session. In the video below, Feist takes the lead.



In another arena, the Olympic stage, Feist also steps up to the podium. The microphone podium. Details of the British Columbia shows are emerging, as are contest details. Go West for more.

Record Club: Skip Spence "Weighted Down" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

Feist's blue Harmony guitar is strumming for greener pastures.



Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi have created an auction to support Farm Sanctuary through Charity Buzz. Farm Sanctuary works to end cruelty to farm animals and promotes compassionate living through rescue, education and advocacy.



Please visit the auction here to bid on Feist's guitar!



(Since I don't have a picture of the guitar, I borrowed a cow from Farm Sanctuary.)

Rolling Stone wrote a little article about Beck's project Little Hands a few weeks ago, and have now followed with a record review. Click on the little picture to our left.

A few months back, Leslie told me a story about a day, a day or two, moments which rolled into an unplanned loopy adventure, loopy like rolling tape. Every minute earned its own portrait, a fantastic memory, and I can only think that time must have felt a bit slower, if time were even a thing at all.



Beck, the Californian one-and-only, began a Record Club awhile back. His website says, in part:



Record Club is an informal meeting of various musicians to record an album in a day...Nothing is rehearsed or arranged ahead of time. A track is put up here once a week. As you will hear, some of the songs are rough renditions, often first takes that document what happened over the course of a day as opposed to a polished rendering...



You can read the rest on his website.



Below is a video of Beck, Feist, Wilco, Brian Lebarton and Jamie Lidell recording Skip Spence's song Little Hands from the album Oar. Feist says you also catch a glimpse of the photographer Autumn de Wilde.



But read no more until you have stopped to read about Skip Spence. Here. He led a troubled and colourful life. I didn't know he was Canadian? He was a member of Jefferson Airplane. He had a hand in The Doobie Brothers. And if ever you're going to break free from a mental institution, follow his lead. I hope his middle name started with a U, and then he would be S.U.Spence.

Record Club: Skip Spence "Little Hands" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

Raise the scroll bar in your memory and venture back a few months, back to when we were announcing the details of the Dark Was the Night fundraising double-disc compilation and show(s). You will see some details and names coming into focus, memories now present again, with musicians like Sufjan Stevens, Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear and Feist ticker-taping in front of you.



The profits have begun to tally and 4AD just announced that $668,358 American has been raised to date for the Red Hot Organization (dedicated to AIDS awareness and education).



Read complete details on the 4AD site.

Training season has begun and Leslie is running lamps around her amps, getting ready for this announcement.



Feist will be playing two shows as part of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics celebration in British Columbia. O Canada.



In skiing circles (moguls?), Whistler/Blackcomb is considered one of the World's top ski resorts. No wonder that it is the host venue for several 2010 Olympic and Paralympics events. A brand new venue has been built in Whistler Village, a building called the Whistler Celebration Plaza, and Feist will be performing a FREE, all ages show on Februrary 16th. This show will be outdoors, so look for an Olympics-sized stage heater or Feist's head atop a big puffy coat.



On February 17th, a day known to some as Alberta Day, Feist will be playing The Orpheum. Years ago, some time in Calgary and in the year 1988, thousands of kids were running around a field making beautiful shapes, like crop circles but Olympic, for the vantage of cameras above. Little Leslie Allison Feist was one of those runners, and if you see the photo attached, you might catch just a glimpse of the 1234 video to come years later.



But the good news is that you don't have to practice for months and months like Leslie did, or jump through six coloured hoops, to see Feist at the Olympics. You just have to keep reading.



Here is the ticket information for the second performance at The Orpheum. Tickets go on sale October 30th.



Ticket provider: Tickets.com or 1-800-TICKETS

Prices: $49.50, $42.50, $37.50 + service charges



If you live in Vancouver, ZULU Records will be selling tickets, also beginning October 30th.

Gonzales—friend, figaro and figurative frère to Feist—is crossing the pond. Fresh from breaking the Guinness World Record for persistent performance (27 hours, 3 minutes, 44 seconds), Gonzo will deliver his choppiest chops to North America on the cusp of Autumn.



If you're scanning for a cheat sheet, or simple summation, this might help frame his portrait: Gonzales collaborates with many musicians like Feist, Peaches, Jamie Lidell and Mocky. I've added one of my favourite videos below.



Here are his dates. Stay tuned for SURPRISE guests and SURPRISE audience.



LOS ANGELES • SEP. 23 • Henry Fonda Theatre — with the Together Ensemble, presented in PianoVision

NYC • SEP. 25 • TWO SHOWS • Joe's Pub — featuring Jamie Lidell, Piano Talk Show, presented in PianoVision

MONTREAL • SEP. 26 • eXcentris Theatre — Piano Talk Show

TORONTO • SEP. 30 • The Mod Club — Piano Talk Show with surprise guests