CoeacanthDance playing @ Cathedral Village Arts Festival 2010
The band is excited to be playing at the 2010 Cathedral Village Arts Festival Thursday, March 27 at the new venue Artesian on 13th
REVIEW: Joss Stone and the Dancing Fish- by Fraser Wareham - Moose Jaw Times Herald
“They” want me to do a review on the well known and famous. “They” say if you cater to the bigger names, the shakers and players will send more CD’s to be reviewed. “They” imply Joss Stone’s new album “Colour Me Free” would be a prime example. Well, I could tell you how fantastic Miss Stone delivers a vocal and what a great talent she is, but you already know that. I could make such bold statements as Joss Stone has more soul in the tip of her left pinkie than a busload of pop tarts pulling up for a day of shopping at the Foot Locker, but anyone who has heard or seen her perform would be well aware of such obviousness. And it would come as no surprise, when looking for an evening of amour with your one and only, Joss Stone playing out the speakers is a natural fit. I could go on and on gushing over the sweet, sultry songstress but I have other fish to fry so I’ll just let you be aware that the amazing Joss Stone has released her new album “Colour Me Free” , and with such funky, soulful, bluesy tunes as “Free Me”, “Could Have Been You” and “Lady” you can not go wrong with this solid disc available right now!
But of course what I would really like to do is to go against the mainstream, up the less traveled tributary; swimming against the current where in the deeper clear waters we might discover the ancient prehistoric “Coelacanth Dance”. Yes, I have through a chance meeting with Steve McDonnell come across Regina’s own “Coelacanth Dance” and his album “Sonic Excursions and Audio Spasms”. A wondrously hypnotic fifty three minutes and thirty four second jam that you can effortlessly ride and groove to. As I write this my fingers simply dance over the twenty six letters making up our alphabet to the sounds of “GumboLounge”, “BeyondThis”and “RainDreams”. What “Coelacanth Dance” was, what it currently is, and what it will be tomorrow is up to the evolutionary flow. As Steve explains:
"The music of CoelacanthDance started as a one person project composed, played - on guitar, bass, keyboards and drum programming, and recorded by myself at my home studio 'Crying Fish Studios', and released as an independent CD titled: 'Sonic Excursions and Audio Spasms' in 2007.
Shortly after the release of that CD the full band version of CoelacanthDance was (spawned) and although the band plays - and expands - on the original compositions on the CD, the music has evolved and morphed into a kinetic, energized jam band. So right now, when we present a physical press kit to a venue, we don't even include the original CD that I recorded - 'Sonic Excursions and Audio Spasms' , as it doesn't accurately represent what CDance is now, so we give them a three song sampler taken from the live recording.”
Of course as a fan , I will state that this does not lessen the value of “Sonic Excursions and Audio Spasms” as it quite appeals to me as I spin my wrenches in the garage and I would wholly hope you would explore from conception to wherever it goes this musical journey. And lifted from the website a better description I can not give:
“Come explore the deep blue sonic sea and beyond with the strawberry cumin jam band named after everyone's favourite semi-extinct primeval fish - CoelacanthDance (Pronounced: SEAL-a-kanth Dance). We all come from the sea, some of us are adapting to life on land better than others, but all can agree that dancing is the best way to adapt! So, come shake your tail fin, grow some gills, then head back to the ocean, smiling and spicily satiated."
I have yet to capture the band’s performance LIVE but there are many chances to as they play regular gigs in the city of Regina. The mentioned LIVE CD is very cool and you can have a listen at the website: www.cdance.ca
Now this music is gonna expand your mind so don’t fear the depths, just wade in and let the tide engulf ya..
Also of note check out the myspace site: www.myspace.com/coelacanthdance
Reverbnation/MicroSoft Sponsored Songs Program
CoelacanthDance was one of 1,000 bands (selected from over 400,000 at ReverbNation) to be part of the newly launched Sponsored Songs program that Microsoft sponsored.
Bands were selected by Reverbnation based on a combination of fan counts, song plays, song downloads, and profile visits, leveraging fan activity to drive the selection process.
1000 handpicked ReverbNation artists were featured on www.MySpace.com/Windows from June 24 through September 24, 2009 and their songs were available for download for free. Participating artists will be compensated by Microsoft for every free download to the tune of $0.50 in exchange for a Windows advertisement embedded on the digital artwork. The three-way partnership is a potentially break-through digital distribution model, providing corporate brands with the means to tap into new, music-centric audiences and creating a fund for independent artists to finance their marketing and distribution activities.
CoelacanthDance's track 'KarmaZone' was downloaded a total of 1012 times.
COELACANTHDANCE on CBC Radio 2 - 'The Signal'
Weekend host of 'The Signal', Pat Carrabré, played 'Rain Dreams' on Sunday, February 15, 2009.
The Signal is a brand new program of recorded and live contemporary music with an emphasis on homegrown Canadian creators and performers. It's a time to discover a wide range of cutting edge sounds: from "new" classical to electronica, world, improvised, and cross-genre styles. It's the music of now: as wide-ranging and diverse as the world we live in.
Laurie Brown is the perfect late-night-radio companion. She brings knowledge and enthusiasm and warmth to everything she presents. Her curiosity and passion for all kinds of music set the mood for the show and for the night.
The Signal beams all weekend as well. Composer Pat Carrabré takes over Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, pushing the contemporary music boundaries even closer to the edges with a great mix of recorded music and live performances from across the country. Pat likes Thai curry!
Discover the best in contemporary music on The Signal with Laurie Brown and Pat Carrabré.
REVIEW: COELACANTHDANCE: SONIC EXCURSIONS and AUDIO SPASMS
CoelacanthDance
Crying Fish Music
7.5-out-of-10
Sit back for an amazing musical journey as you start to spin Sonic Excursions and Audio Spasms from Regina's uniquely named Coelacanth Dance.This is another one of a growing number of one-man CD efforts that seem to be popping up in the musical field.In this case the man behind the music is Steve McDonnell. He basically provides all the guitars, bass, keyboards, drum programming/percussion. The CD is recorded at Crying Fish Studio in Regina, which again is McDonnell's baby. He even did the CD design, right down to its fantastical artwork. So it's pretty clear this is an effort that is near and dear to the creator's heart. Sometimes when you get a deeply personal album it simply means the writer/musician is flogging something no one else would touch. In this case Coelacanth Dance is a name you should associate with fine music.The sound is strongly electronica influenced, although on a cut like the opening Gumbo Lounge there is a jazz feel that pops through the musical veil quite often.That splash of jazz is something you hear several times here.At other times McDonnell slows the music down, such as on Rain Dreams, and you end up with a relaxed, melodic musical experience, filled with dream moods. A key here is that McDonnell borrows a trick from the best of jazz, and serves up long pieces that allow larger musical tapestries. The shortest work among the eight cuts logs in at 4:37, with five eclipsing six minutes, the longest; Karma Zone at 11:11.This is a relaxing musical effort, one that can provide a nice background to a small gathering, or simply be enjoyed any day you need to chill. It's a good vibes CD.
CALVIN DANIELS: From the Desk of Calvin Daniels
-- Review first appeared in Yorkton This Week newspaper Nov. 26, 2008 - Yorkton, SK. Canada
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