17 May 2010

We Interrupt This Siesta With Breaking News!

Yeah, it’s been kinda quiet on the RadioChas front ... not as much time for album listening as I expected, and the situation is about to get worse (but that actually means better ... for you and me!).

So anyway, this is Jane Siberry. Sometimes known as Issa, but mostly as “that weird Canadian singer who’s not KD Lang.”

Jane Siberry has been putting out albums more or less continuously since 1981, and she is rated a firm “mostly awesome” by the experts here at Chas Laboratories.

If you are particularly cool, you may have heard here ethereal and angelic voice on “Calling All Angels,” a song on which KD Lang also appears in a supporting role, and which has been on a number of compilations. If you are cool and pretty old now, you may also remember her from songs like “Everything Reminds Me of My Dog” and “Bound By the Beauty.” If you are cool, old and lesbian, you’ll probably know Jane Siberry for “When I Think of Laura Nyro,” an off-kilter Sapphic standard.

But wait, there’s more!

Along with being a Gifted Songwriter and Luminescent Singer, Jane Siberry is also a Certified Flaky Chick. She may be far, far more folky than Nina Hagen or Lene Lovich, but she’s no less zany. And just recently, she managed to top herself in the crazygrrl sweepstakes by making all of her previous albums available completely free of charge.

That’s right. Free music. Better yet, free good music. No strings, nothing to sign up for.

Obviously, donations are gratefully accepted and really, those of you who are just going to grab this because its free have no idea what a motherlode of cool you’re getting into, you really should pony up at least a modest donation based on what you take. This is the woman who invented the “pay what you want” digital model five years ago.

I have no idea when her meds will kick back in and she’ll take this down, but most of the albums are available in both lossless AIFF and lossy MP3, with liner notes, lyrics and album covers. Grab this while you can, and as the lady says “pay it forward.” Again, most of you haven’t the slightest clue what a gift this is. Those of you who do -- you know what to do.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're just now getting acquainted with the Artist Formerly Known As Jane Siberry® and her leap of faith! I told Tom years ago about her music giveaway store and also her divestiture of material wealth. She sold her house and her possessions and now lives an itinerant musician's life. If you want to have an Issa concert, all you need to do is put her up for a few days and provide a space for people to gather. It's that simple!

Ron Kane said...

Yes, but you probably have to live in Canada...

Anonymous said...

Actually, she's used this method to go far afield to far-flung territories that could not support a tour date via the limited capitalist method. She's been all over; places like Australia, Scandinavia and even the US southeast via this method! She did not do this to play in Canada, but rather, all of the countries where people wanted to see her but the money did not justify. Remove money from the equation, and it's a much simpler matter.

You've got me on how she manages to afford all of the transportation, though. I guess she's paying for that with the proceeds of her home purge.

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