Sunset Sessions is my new mix series that is appearing as a part of Sunset Collaboration's weekly series of music. I will be doing a mix every three months as my contribution. Here we have some of the best music since last August, in my opinion. Starts off with downtempo, moves into breaks, progressive, and finally something which I don't know what genre to call - doesn't matter, it's quite enjoyable. Enjoy!

Tracklisting:

1. Faskil - It Puts Me To Sleep (Prelude mix) [Frisky Records]
2. Oleg Zubkov - New Parallels (Fretwell remix) [Mistiquemusic]
3. Michael Cassette - Kilimanjaro (Solarity remix) [Anjunadeep]
4. Gemma Hayes - At A Constant Speed (Faskil remix) [White Label]
5. Dave Horne - Q.E.D. (Original mix) [Anjunadeep]
6. Proff - Starstruck (Solarity remix) [Silk Royal]
7. Mat Zo and Tyler Michaud - Battle Royal (Original mix) [New School Recordings]
8. Sander Van Doorn - Ninety (Original mix) [Doorn Records]
9. Mat Zo - Nuclear Fusion (Original mix) [Anjunabeats]
10. Christian Luke and Chardy - Because We Want To (TV Rock Remode) [Neon Records]

For me, one of the most interesting thing about the 2010 Winter Olympics is how it has affected a city I know fairly well: Vancouver. There were all sorts of ramifications for transportation, accommodation, etc. The build-up has been around us for years; we've lived through government spending cuts, apparent increased real estate prices, and enjoyed federal infrastructure money as well as provincial. Needless to say, the expectations for these games were high before the economic crisis. After the economic crisis, the expectations have become simply unrealistic - no one truly believes these games can replace what they have taken, and so some are protesting simply on that notion. On Friday, we got off the Skytrain and walked into the middle of 25,000 such people, walking on Georgia Street to BC Place.

I'm not crazy about the Olympics to be completely honest. During this stage, I do want them to be successful so that not too much money is lost. I suspect that many feel the same way. Rationally, it is too late to cancel them - it must be time to enjoy the sporting aspect of it, and the festivities.

After a few minutes of watching the protest swarm around us, we found our way to Granville Street again, in the middle of a bunch of public art. I remember watching the police close down the streets (to make way for the protestors), and I said "We most certainly live in a democracy."

I didn't end up taking a lot of photos on Granville Street for whatever reason, and the ones I did take did not do the art justice. After a minute or two of being surrounded by art, I turned around and noted the interesting mix of art, protest, and commerce in the form of 5 story tall advertisements for the Olympics on the side of The Bay.

That's about as detailed as I am going to get here. I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking. Very interesting weekend.

» Continue reading "on the edge of the olympics"

Some things in life cannot be won by, you know, skiing really fast or spinning lots in the air over ice. Those things are a little thing I like to call "Beyond Gold." You know what I'm sayin'? Yeaaah.

I'm headed over to Vancouver later today. I hear there is something going on over there and my camera is coming with me!