Veda Hille

this is what my husband likes to do after work: imagine himself as a happy forest creature.

in other news: our dec 12 concert at the vancouver east cultural centre is ready to listen to at cbc online. some songs with the old quartet, some songs with the current 9 piece extravaganza. some clapping. you know the type of thing.

what else has been going on? i just finished a little piece for the standing wave ensemble, a 2 minute remembrance of parks from my childhood. that will premiere on may 10 in vancouver. i’m working on music for the new theatre replacement show Greatest Cities in the World, opening march 9 in vancouver and travelling to montreal, ottawa, and kitchener. i have to start collecting complaints for a song for the vancouver complaints choir: send them in! and we’re still working on the new fits record, aiming to get that out for the summer time. and peter panties carries on, new songs coming without my even asking for them. ok, i think i need a nap.

hey team. here begins my little series of presents for you. there’ll be a free song up every day or so until christmas. kind of like a stunted advent calendar!

 

 First in your laboratory [5:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

ok, so i guess it is not Nostalgia Month. that was last week. last week i was all about Nostalgia, this week i am all about The Now. maybe next week is The Future, but more likely The Crash And Burn.

so in the spirit of the now, here are some Fresh Songs that i sold at the Red Square Christmas Bazaar last saturday. basically, people gave me donations, i asked them a few questions, and then i played them their song. on some casios and a metronome. it was really fun, and brings me to wonder why i spend so darn much time on composition. so here you go, happy Now to you all. (Continued)

 christine's song: Download
 eric and fred's song: Download
 darien's song: Download
 lyndsay's song: Download
 geordie's song: Download

this is one of my favorite photos. matthew alexander henson was a member of the peary expedition, and may have been the actual discoverer of the north pole. and just look at that face. where the heck is he, a cave made of cotton whisps?

at the lamplighter on monday there was a band called no gold that i really liked. nice to see the kids kicking it up to the old talking heads style african pop.

site stuff appears to be getting better, thanks to weston’s work. he thinks he’s figured out the ordering problem, which is always hard with intermittent problems but i think we’re back on track. and the other problems were just my failings in the language of html. i always try to put punctuation where there should be no punctuation. anyway, to celebrate figuring that out, here’s a demo version of cowper’s folly. the album version has worked out well, but i continue to have a fondness for this demo. particularly the way we made larissa and patsy (the other singers) sound like tiny little compressed birds. from another century. (Continued)

 cowper's folly: Download

so, yesterday i spent a happy saturday going through the archives, otherwise known as cleaning the office. and i found all these old pictures, and a bunch of recordings. so i hereby declare this december to be Nostalgia Month here at hille inc. or Retro Days. or How Did I Get All These Lines On My Face?. Are They “Character” Or Just “Age”? How Come I Didn’t Know I Was So Cute? I Look Like My Niece. anyway, i digress. i think i’ll do a whole page of old promo shots. there’s something particularly odd and touching about the ways one presents oneself to the media. i’ll get that done in a few days.

in the meanwhile, this is a photo of the band circa 1997. barry, me, ford, martin. the classic hille combo, before everyone went salt and pepper. deborah dunn took this picture. and i have about 200 copies of it, because this was back in the days when you had to make hard copies of your photos. i have so many promo shots from the 90s! in fact, anyone who wants one can have one with their order for the next while. if you have any interest, just let me know.

and music! this is a little song that never finished itself, or maybe it was just fine the way it is. this is called “in the end”, and is from a demo for kildeer. from back in 2002, i think i made it at the end of the auditorium shows. a little happy/sad brecht rip off. more to come, i just have to keep sorting things out. happy Nostalgia Month! (Continued)

alright, we have truly reached the end of the little ep. this is one of my favorite tracks from silver, and so i have saved it as the last download. i hope you enjoy it, and raise a glass in my general direction. i’ll be raising one right back. (Continued)

 a toast: Download

well friends, we’ve made it back from the frozen north, and the buds are on the trees here at home. here comes spring!

the podcast of me talking about songs on kildeer is up now on the ape site, head over here to listen. and also in apely news, kildeer and the whole ape catalogue will be released in the USA on april 7th. this is exciting, as i haven’t had a release in the states since the last millenium.

and here is one of the three remaining songs from silver. this is a silly version of instructions, tailor made for the vancouver folk music festival. i’ve noticed a steady trend towards ridiculousness as i get older. and speaking of which, i have to run to rehearsal now, to put on my polar bear head and sings songs about the winter olympics. (Continued)

 Other Media: Download

well folks, as i have mentioned we recorded last week’s show at the cultch. the second set of new songs, called this riot life, is fairly bombastic and presented some recording difficulties. dave sikula, our engineer, battled masterfully with a wide range of volume and energy levels. that set has some great moments on tape and some that are better left to the lovely memory of the live show. but i just sat down and listened for the first time to the first set, which was a performance of field study with full band. it’s a very nice recording. very nice. so that is something that we might make available as a special internet record this year. maybe with a few of the new songs thrown in…..

anyway, let me refresh your memory as to the Swell Band. we have skye brooks on drums, martin walton on bass, jesse zubot on violin, peggy lee on cello, ak coope on clarinet, and patsy klein on vocals, keyboard, flute, and percussion. a deadly team. and here is us playing plants, on january 28 2007 at the vancouver east cultural centre. (Continued)

 plants live 07: Download

so in fact, there are still 3 songs from silver left to post! here is the track order (also listed in the music pages): 1. Bedlam 2. You know that song? 3. A Toast 4. Instructions 5. Stepdaughter’s Delight 6. Nostalgia Song 7. Comrades 8. Who will protect them? 9. The Heart 10. Road to Nowhere

silver is a bit of a motley beast, made quickly and energetically. it has alot of flaws, in my opinion, but also alot of spirit. not a bad trade off, really. so here is track 2 for you, a medley that the fits have recently taken on. the fits had a grand time at the railway club this past weekend, by the by. queen fans may have noticed that we are adding one song from A Night at the Opera to every set. by the summer we should have the whole album down. and that’s a threat.

p.s. i know that “alot” is not really a word. it’s something i’ve stuck to since the 1st grade. (Continued)

 Other Media: Download

so last night after a long day of charting songs and making demos, me and the husband hunkered down to watch Predator, the late 80s schwarzenegger vehicle. it had everything! muscles, blood, cigars, quips (sample quip: after a guy has had a knife flung through his midriff, pinning him to his simple guerilla tent pole, arnie spits out “stick around!”), early cgi, primitive regression, and carl weathers. alright, maybe that’s not everything but it was alot.

and here’s something else. this song follows “the heart” on silver, which i posted for you last week. you may have noticed that “the heart” ends kinda abruptly. that’s because it connects directly to this, one of my favourite songs of all time. when we performed silver at the vancouver folk music festival one of the reviewers complained that choosing this song as our finale was meaningless. i disagree. i think this song embraces nothingness and ecstasy in one big warm hug. i cry every time i hear the band kick in. (Continued)

 Other Media: Download