Category: ambient music

The organization’s first showcase of the new year features ambient trio G. Dix and multimedia artist eryn tempeste Sunday afternoon at at Co*Lab

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New Music Edmonton has been presenting and promoting some of Edmonton’s most unique music and sound art for nearly four decades. First founded in 1985 as a concert series, NMW has endured and evolved through the years and is kicking off 2023 with two groups that align beautifully with its purpose, “to advocate and support the always-intriguing and ever-evolving categories of sound-inclusive art production.” 

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Queer, non-binary multimedia artist, dancer and performer eryn tempeste explores intangible elements such as movement, imagination and emotion, interpreting the meaning and translating it using texture, tone and technology. Their latest project, Blushing Phantom, is partly inspired by their parents who also appreciate unusual objects and materials.

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Also on the bill is the band G. Dix. The local trio — Jared Epp, Alena Manera, and Jacqueline Ohm — morphs musings on the sometimes dull, quirky and industrial life in Edmonton into ambient, experimental sounds. The band will play a half-hour set mixing rehearsed and spontaneous material, synchronized with a video projecting some of Edmonton’s most iconic sites and cultural moments.

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The New Music Edmonton showcase happens Sunday afternoon at Co*Lab (9641 102A Ave.) and is also being live-streamed. It’s an early show with a 2 p.m. start at general tickets are $15 while a live-stream ticket is $10, available at newmusicedmonton.ca.

ART

Thru 1/14: Give Me Tomorrow (Mitchell Art Gallery)

Thru 1/14: Heather Shillinglaw: miyotamon nananis (Strathcona County Hall)

1/17-2/10: Jill Miller; Alcuin Society Awards (FAB)

Thru 1/19: Mosaic (AGA)

1/27-2/25: D.N.E. (Collins Studio Gallery)

Thru 1/31: David Shkolny (Metro)

Thru 2/1: group exhibition (Peter Robertson)

2/2: Maigan van der Giessen (Aviary)

Thru 2/17: Tammy Salzl’s Emerald Queendom and Breanna Barrington’s Shorthand Forest (Harcourt House)

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2/21-3/18: Know Thyself as a Virtual Reality (FAB)

Thru 2/26: Conjured Images: Spirit Photography; BEHOLD|EN (AGA)

3/28-4/8: BDes Graduation Show (FAB)

Thru 3/31: Ancestors (Bruce Peel Special Collections)

Thru 4/16: Dean Drever: Pass the Hat (AGA)

4/18-29: BFA Graduation Show (FAB)

6/16-6/10: KIAS 15th Anniversary (FAB)

Thru 11/26: ᐋᐧᐸᑲᐧᓃᐊᐧᐣ Wâpakwanîwin (To bloom, it has many flowers) (AGA)

Thru 12/31: Damian Moppett (AGA)

BOOKS

1/14: Jessica Johns’s Bad Cree (Glass)

4/11: Elizabeth Gilbert (Winspear)

COMEDY

1/13-14: Jim Gaffigan (Winspear)

1/19-21: K Trevor Wilson (Comic Strip)

1/31: Brian Regan (Winspear)

4/11: Kevin Hart (Rogers)

5/20: Gerry Dee (Winspear)

EXHIBITIONS

1/12: Secrets of the Sea director meet-and-greet (Telus World of Science)

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Thru 3/1: (De)Coded: Deciphering the Dialectics of Dress (U of A)

Thru 4/10 Out of the Depths: The Blue Whale Story (Telus World of Science)

FESTIVALS

1/21-22: Deep Freeze (Alberta Avenue)

1/23-29: WinterruptionYEG (various venues)

1/24-29: Ice On Whyte (Dr. Wilbert McIntyre Park)

2/1-4: Flying Canoe Volant Festival (various venues)

2/10-20: Silver Skate (Hawrelak)

2/10-27: Canadian Birkie Ski Festival (Ukrainian Village)

2/25: Afro x Latin Festival (Starlite)

3/2-12: SkirtsAfire (various Old Strathcona venues)

3/13: The 2023 JUNO Awards (Rogers Place)

MUSIC

1/12: Counted Among Saints (Starlite)

1/14: Ellen Doty (Arden)

1/14: Cikwes (POSTPONED)

1/17: Junior Boys (Starlite)

1/17: Gordie Tentrees Trio (Arden)

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1/19, 21: ESO’s Brahm’s First Piano Concerto (Winspear)

1/20: ESO’s Tchaikovsky & Shakespeare (Winspear)

1/20: Mbira Renaissance (Allard Hall)

1/21: John Wort Hannam (Parkview Community)

1/21: Hacked Apart (Starlite)

1/21: Marauda (Union Hall)

1/24: Garneau String Quartet, Philip Chiu (Muttart Hall)

1/25: Beppie (City Arts Space, St. Albert)

1/25: Tony Yayo (Starlite)

1/26: Streetheart (River Cree)

1/26: Tenille Townes (Winspear)

1/27: Kat Danser and the Tall Tales (St. Basil’s)

1/27: Graffiti (Winspear)

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1/28: Pierre Kwenders (9910)

1/28: Open Eyes, Lacorator (Aviary)

1/29: Aaron Goodvin, Hailey Benedict (Arden)

1/29: ESO’s Heavenly Mozart (Winspear)

2/2,4: Michael Kaeshammer (Winspear)

2/3: Lights (Midway)

2/8: Bruce Cockburn (Winspear)

2/10: Diyet and the Love Soldiers (St. Basil’s)

2/10: Gord Bamford (River Cree)

2/10: Kid Koala (Starlite)

2/11: Cassie and Maggie w/ John Hewitt (Parkview Community)

2/11: Thomas Rhett (Rogers Place)

2/11: Spring w/ Copland & Schumann (Winspear)

2/12: EdMetro Chamber Choir: Happy Together… Men make Music (Trinity Lutheran)

2/15: Dune Rats (Starlite)

2/17: Lúnasa (Arden)

2/18: Alternative Symphony: Dr. Dre (Starlite)

2/18: Beethoven Lives Upstairs (Winspear)

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2/18: Sickick (Union Hall)

2/22: Mad Caddies (Starlite)

2/23-25: Elgar w/ Brett Mitchell (Winspear)

2/24: Alex Cuba (Arden)

2/24: Dub FX (Starlite)

2/24: Rosier (St. Basil’s)

22/25: The Don Berner Big Band, Lina Allemano (Ottewell United)

2/25: Mod Sun (Union Hall)

2/25: Old Man Luedecke (Parkview Community)

2/25: Honeymoon Suite and Headpins (River Cree)

2/26: Loud Tournée Aucun (Temple)

2/26: Loud (Starlite)

2/26: Tenille Townes (WInspear)

2/27: Papa Roach (EEC)

2/27-28: Vance Joy (Winspear)

3/2: Wayne Newton (River Cree)

3/3: Field Guide (Aviary)

3/3: 54-40 (Midway)

3/3: Rare Americans (Starlite)

3/3: Simon Doty (Chvrch of John)

3/3-4: Organ Symphony of Saint-Saëns (Winspear)

3/4: The Flatliners (Starlite)

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23/7: Born of Osiris (Starlite)

3/8: Quicksilver Baroque Ensemble (Westend Christian Reformed)

3/9-11: The Power of the Orchestra (Winspear)

3/10: JP Cormier and Dave Gunning (Arden)

3/10: Alvvays (Midway)

3/10: Kacy & Clayton (St. Basil’s)

3/10: Martin Kerr (Union Hall)

3/11: Sloan (Station)

3/11: Women of Folkways (Parkview Community)

3/11: Andy Shauf (Winspear)

3/16-18: Shostakovich (Winspear)

3/17: Kyle Watson (Chvrch of John)

3/21: Songs from Nashville (Winspear)

3/22: The Valencia Baryton Project (Westend Christian Reformed)

3/24: The Slocan Ramblers (Arden)

3/24: DVSN: (Union Hall)

3/24: Ben Sures; Over the Moon (St. Basil’s)

3/24-25: Bugs Bunny at the Symphony (Winspear)

3/25: The Travelling Mabels (Parkview Community)

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3/27: Edmonton Metropolitan Chorus: Allan Bevan’s Nou Goth (Winspear)

4/2: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (Jubilee)

4/2: Koo Koo Kanga Roo (Starlite)

4/4: July Talk (Winspear)

4/4: Sonreal (Union Hall)

4/6: Samantha Carpenter (Union Hall)

4/8: Bentall Taylor Ulrich (Parkview Community)

4/8: Suzie Vinnick, Lloyd Spiegel and Charlie A’Court (Arden)

4/11: Garneau String Quartet, Rosebud String Quartet (Muttart Hall)

4/14: Mom Jeans, Bearings (Union Hall)

4/14: John Reischman and the Jaybirds (St. Basil’s)

4/15-16: Thrill of a Lifetime (Winspear)

4/20: Love is a Battlefield (Winspear)

4/21-22: The Mambo Kings (Winspear)

4/26: The Interrupters, Frank Turner (MacEwan Hall)

4/28-29: Sara Daravis Buechner plays Rachmaninoff (Winspear)

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5/4: George Thorogood (River Cree)

5/4-6: Beethoven & Joy (Winspear)

5/5-6, 11/12: Shania Twain (Rogers Place)

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5/8: Chris de Burgh (Jubilee)

5/11: The Stampeders (Winspear)

5/13: Charlot & Mlle Cello (Winspear)

5/14: EdMetro Chamber Choir: Broadway Our Way (Strathearn United)

5/19: Dark Patterns (Winspear)

5/27: The Don Berner Big Band: The Music of the Super Heroes (Ottewell United)

6/2-4: Great Hollywood Adventures (Winspear)

6/3: Luke Combs, Riley Green (Commonwealth)

6/5: Garneau String Quartet, Roman Rabinovich, Diana Cohen (Muttart Hall)

6/9-11: Tchaikovsky & Brunch (Winspear)

6/11: Edmonton Metropolitan Chorus: Ibero-Americano (First Presbyterian)

6/14: Thorgy and the Thorchestra II: The Regal Sequal (Winspear)

6/18: Raffi (Jubilee)

6/18: Murray MacLauchlan, Cindy Church, Marc Jordan and Ian Thomas (Winspear)

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6/29: Blink 182 (Rogers)

8/15: Rod Stewart (Rogers)

10/31: Ne Obliviscaris (Starlite)

THEATRE/DANCE

Thru 1/22: Freaky Green Eyes (Backstage)

1/21-2/5: Deafy (Citadel)

2/4: Ivo Dimchev: Selfie Concert (MZD Society)

2/4-19: The Royale (Citadel)

2/9: A Dinosaur Tale (Arden)

2/10-11: Alberta Ballet’s Love Rocks (Jubilee)

2/11-3/12: Jersey Boys (Citadel)

2/17-3/5: The Exquisite Hour and Love is for Poor People (Varscona)

2/21-26: Anastasia (Jubilee)

2/24-25: Creo (Triffo Theatre)

3/7-26: Joni Mitchell’s Songs of a Prairie Girl (Roxy)

3/9-11: Alberta Ballet’s Giselle (Jubilee)

3/11-4/2: Pride and Prejudice (Citadel)

3/16-18: Jen Mesch Dance Company (MZD Society)

3/23-4/16: Trouble In Mind (Citadel)

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3/30-4/1: Going Solo (Citadel)

4/11-16: Pretty Woman: The Musical (Jubilee)

4/13-15: eryn tempest: Parallax (MZD Society)

4/22-5/14: First Métis Man of Odesa (Citadel)

4/25-5/14: Sexual Misconduct of the Middles Classes (Roxy)

5/5-6: Consentus (Triffo Theatre)

5/5-6: Alberta Ballet’s Botero (Jubilee)

5/6-28: Prison Dancer (Citadel)

5/11-13: Shadow of a Doubt (MZD Society)

5/16-27: Boy Trouble (Backstage)

5/26-6/11: Listen, Listen (Varscona)

5/27: Magic Men — Australia (Starlite)

7/14-30: Everybody Goes to Mitzi’s (Varscona)

7/18-30: Reeling: Dance on Screen (MZD Society)

If you have events you’d like amplified, or have any corrections or updates, please email jfeniak@postmedia.com.

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The definition of guilty pleasure, as per the word nerds over yonder at Merriam Webster is, “something pleasurable that induces a usually minor feeling of guilt.”

Examples of guilty pleasures include but are not limited to booze, processed foods, Nora Ephron movies, UGG boots, eating in bed, everything on the Lifetime Network, wearing pajamas all day, using someone else’s toothbrush, the music of Nickelback and anything else that brings a heady mix of joy and shame.

The advent of the internet has blessedly made it easier to share in these guilty pleasures and to find community in and through our bad or embarrassing behaviors.

As an unrepentant, pleasure principled Taurus, my god is more and my attitude towards guilt is no thanks. I encourage all of you to celebrate what makes you feel good even if it falls on the other side of cool, decent or healthy. Shame is the thief of joy so indulge freely and proudly with the knowledge that we all harbor habits that ride the line. Read on to learn more about the guilty pleasures and shameful indulgences of the signs.

ARIES (March 21 – April 19) Picking a fight





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Aries folk love to take a literal swing or a metaphorical jab. Emil Lendof

Aries folk loathe nothing more than boredom and will often pick a fight or instigate an altercation just to get their heart rate up and their nipples hard. Whether it’s making an inflammatory statement on Reddit, breaking a glass in the kitchen, picking a fight with their partner or inciting a riot at a sports bar they take pleasure in pushing buttons and boundaries.

TAURUS (April 20 – May 20) Online shopping

Taurus rules the second house of valuables and self-worth and when bulls feel at a lack for the latter they double down on acquiring the former. Other placements in the birth chart will indicate whether the Taurus in question is a QVC shopper, a home goods hoarder or a clothes horse but whatever the ilk, the operative word is more and the Gollum voice of their deepest wounds whisper ‘never enough.’

GEMINI (May 21 – June 20) Doom scrolling





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A Gemini actively choosing doom over sleep or sustenance. Shutterstock see also





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celebrity astrology Which three zodiac signs are most likely to cheat and destroy hearts?

Geminis uses language to make sense of the world and stories to self-soothe. At the highest level this makes them deeply curious folks and at their most indulgent it makes them two bit gossips and chronic doom scrollers. Whether its diving head long into the black hole of a stranger’s Instagram feed, looking for people they know on PornHub, identifying the zodiac sign of their ex’s new partner via a social media stalk, or swiping right on everyone in a chaos move that trips the algorithm of dating apps, if its a toxic screen habit that makes their minds fray and eyes burn, Gemini is into it.

CANCER (June 21 – July 22) Trauma bonding

Cancer uses pain like a sailing knot to keep them tied tight to those they love and love to be needed by. Being intimately familiar with the trauma of others keeps Cancer feeling both connected and indispensable. Bonus: treading water in the emotional maelstrom of others saves them from having to investigate the turbulent tidal pools of their own bull***t.

see also





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forecast Nostradamus predictions for 2023: An antichrist arrives, World War III and the monarchy dies LEO (July 23 – August 22) Googling themselves/fabricating reality

Leo is not so much self-centered as self-seeking, ever looking for the dopamine hit of recognition. Oxygenated by attention, good or bad, they take to the interwebs to search for signs of themselves and comb social media to make sure any unflattering photos are expunged. These people are about presentation which makes them equally guilty of crafting an enviable social media identity that champions a healthy lifestyle, emotional independence and rich friendships. Yet, the higher the sparkle factor of that online curation the higher the likelihood the lion in question is ugly crying in the dark about their perceived facial asymmetry, lack of intimacy and the tepid public response to their ecstatic dance routine on Snapchat.

Astrology 101: Your guide to the stars

see also





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Which zodiac signs are good with money? These are destined for riches VIRGO (August 23 – September 22) Being right

Virgo is the sign of instantaneous judgement or discernment as they see it. They know within moments if their friend’s significant other is a trash monster, if the food will be good, if you’ve dressed appropriately for the sartorial assignment, if they want to be your friend etc. and they get no greater thrill than when their instincts, opinions, arguments or unheeded advice turn out to be absolutely correct. Better than an orgasm and equal to a clean kitchen.

LIBRA (September 23 – October 22) Being a sugar baby

Ruled by luxury loving, work avoidant Venus, Libras want all of the spoils and none of the toil. Thus, their guilty pleasure is lavishness on someone else’s dime, freebies, impersonating a first class passenger, anything on the house, a hotel room upgrade, there friend’s parents beach house, an open bar, an “influencer” perk, cutting in line at a club, a swag bag etc.

SCORPIO (October 23 – November 21) Romantic comedies





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Scorpios secretly love the simple promise and easy dopamine of a rom com. iStockphoto

Scorpio would never cop to it, but inside the dark vault heart of each and every one, under the overgrown ivy, around the barbwire and beyond the ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE graffiti lives a basic b**ch romantic that believes in “the one” and worships at the altar of the meet cute, the fairytale, and the everlasting love story.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 – December 21) Gambling





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Life is roulette wheel to the archer who always believes they are one spin away from coming out on top.Getty Images/iStockphoto see also





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death The three doomed zodiac signs destined to die alone

Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, planet of luck and expansion which gives natives a supernatural optimism and the problematic belief that they can, should and will always win. That’s the kind of concentrated confidence that makes a mothertrucker roll the dice, bet the ponies, go all in on an average hand, pull the lever and never, ever pull out.

CAPRICORN (December 22 – January 19) Exiling their enemies

Capricorn is daddy energy and these people LIVE to punish and not always in a sexy way. Sea goats love to take stock of every slight they have suffered and every person who has failed them and then emotionally vanquish them to a desert landscape where they will be starved of the bankable resource that is the favor of a Capricorn.

AQUARIUS (January 20 – February 18) Binge watching reality television





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The Kardashians are bige watch catnip to an Aquarius.E! News see also





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reality tv Here’s which reality TV show should you binge based on your zodiac sign

Aquarius loves to observe human nature in all of its myriad messiness; hair pulling, betrayal, survivalism, tenderness etc without actually having to participate in it. Blessedly for these water bearing, ivory tower dwelling, moon boot wearing weirdos, they can watch it all and satisfy their signature blend of emotional remove and probing curiosity through the glut and gullet of reality television.

PISCES (February 19 – March 20) Everything

As the last sign in the zodiac, Pisces has a heavy load to bear, specifically the unchecked psychic baggage of all the signs that come before it. As such, these fish scaled folk need a lot of space for escape be it drugs, drinking, drum circles, sexual depravity or a selective sensory deprivation chamber filled with ambient light, bean bags and the sound of ocean spray.

Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture and personal experience. She is also an accomplished writer who has profiled a variety of artists and performers, as well as extensively chronicled her experiences while traveling. Among the many intriguing topics she has tackled are cemetery etiquette, her love for dive bars, Cuban Airbnbs, a “girls guide” to strip clubs and the “weirdest” foods available abroad.

If you or your family love everything Disney, you’ll soon be able to connect with the Magic Kingdom from the Amazon Alexa voice assistant on your Amazon Echo device. I got an early demo of the new “Hey Disney” last week at CES 2023, an upcoming Alexa Skill for Alexa-enabled devices. It lets fans communicate with a Disney-themed voice assistant that works hand in hand with Amazon’s voice assistant.

People who purchase the Hey Disney Alexa Skill, or who have a subscription to Amazon Kids+, the company’s curation of books, movies and games starting at $5 a month, will get a voice assistant that turns the Disney dial to 101 Dalmatians. Here, people can ask basic questions like “What’s the weather like?” or set alarms, and will get a randomized response from one of 25 different Disney characters, like Donald Duck, C-3PO, and Fozzie the Bear — and the cast of featured characters is expected to grow.

Don’t miss: Mind-blowing audio, TVs, more: The most exciting tech coming your way in 2023

Alongside games and bedtime stories, Hey Disney also comes with Soundscapes. It plays hours of ambient music and sound effects themed to a location from a movie — but this is not from any existing movie soundtrack. A soundscape from Star Wars sounds like you’re sitting on the forest moon of Endor as Ewoks talk and run past you. There’s also a soundscape to feel like you’re walking in the Magic Kingdom, hearing other tourists as a trolley and steam train pass in the background.

“It’s really important for us to continue to find ways for guests to engage with the brand, right? And we do so well with that in our parks,” said Steve Flynn, director of digital experience at Disney. “Being able to have something like this, that extends into the home, so our brand can become part of the guests’ daily life, that’s always something that’s really important to us.”

Since many Disney customers also own Echo devices, the partnership between Amazon and Disney makes good sense, Flynn added. 

When Hey Disney can’t do a certain task, such as play music or answer questions, it’ll pass off the job by saying “I’ll ask Alexa for that,” and the familiar Alexa voice begins to chime in.

Disney continues to be a dominant force in entertainment, with an estimated value of over $50 billion. The conglomerate owns ABC, ESPN, 21st Century Fox, Marvel and Star Wars. Its wide repertoire of franchises and lovable kid-friendly movies create a fandom that, for some, can last a lifetime. Disney funnels its loyal following into experiences at its theme parks and cruises around the world, giving families memorable, if expensive, vacation experiences. Bringing that experience home gives families and kids daily interactions with the Disney brand, which could strengthen its loyal following.

While you won’t be able to communicate directly with Mickey Mouse or a number of other iconic mascots, Disney voice assistant and instead went through auditions to find a voice actor who epitomized a certain Disney feel. 

The company landed on voice actor Nicolas Roye, known for his video game and anime work, who brings a jovial, if somewhat hammy, performance that should play well with kids. There will be plenty of cameos from Disney characters, however.

Disney is starting to roll out the assistant at its Polynesian Village Resort in Florida by installing Echo Show 5 devices in rooms — which are programmed with privacy protections for guests. Disney is committed to putting the Echo Show 5 in all of its hotel rooms this year at the Disneyland Resort in California and Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. It’s a substantial order — Disney has over 30,000 rooms in Florida alone. Largely, the experience that guests have at Disney hotels will be similar to when Hey Disney comes to people’s homes later this year, minus the ability to request fresh towels.

Amazon has worked with hotels before to put Echo devices in rooms, but Disney has the first assistant to launch with Amazon’s Alexa Custom Assistant program, letting companies make their own assistants tailored to a brand personality or special customer need. But behind the scenes, the tech is all from Amazon.

“The goal of the Alexa custom assistant technology is one, to support, again, customer choice and interoperability, but then two, to help brands to extend their brands into AI and voice, to do it in a way that is simple and also cost-effective,” said Aaron Rubenson, vice president of Alexa.

Disney also showed off interactions with its MagicBand Plus, a light-up wearable used at Disney theme parks that can work as park tickets or to interact with certain attractions. The MagicBand Plus and Hey Disney can work together to play certain games, or start buzzing when timers go off.

Expanding Alexa to work alongside other branded assistants could be an important way to for Amazon to continue growing the brand. Late last year, Amazon laid off 10,000 workers, primarily from its Alexa division due to lower-than-expected earnings. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said this week that the company would be laying off an additional 18,000 workers, hitting human resources and retail operations.

Correction, Jan. 9: This story initially misstated the number of rooms at Disney World. Disney says Florida theme park has over 30,000 rooms.

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With the rise of music streaming services, you can now listen to music legally and enjoy them in high quality. However, the biggest turnoff is that you’ll often need to pay to download the songs.

This article covers the best MP3 download sites that legally allow you to download music for free. Some of them also allow you to use their free music in videos without fear of violating copyright rules.

The YouTube Audio Library is where you’ll find lots of aesthetic music you’ve mostly heard in vlogs. It’s mainly aimed at people who need royalty-free music for YouTube videos. As long as you have a YouTube account, you can access the library via YouTube Studio and download as many songs as you wish.

According to the library’s terms and conditions, you can use the tracks in any content you create; it’s not just limited to videos. You can also use the songs in monetized videos on the YouTube platform. In addition to free music tracks, the YouTube Audio Library also includes sound effects.

Each song has a sample available, which you can listen to by hitting the small Play icon. If you like what you hear, click the adjacent Download button. Attribution is not required unless the track carries a Creative Commons license.

The Free Music Archive has been around for many years but remains as popular as ever. It is one of the best places on the web to download music for free.

WFUM—an independent freeform radio station in New Jersey—is the site’s founder. Most of the free song downloads are from lesser-known artists, but occasionally you will see a famous name pop up. Regardless, it is a great way to discover new music.

You don’t need to worry about legality, as all the tracks on the site are perfectly free to download and listen to. However, if you’re planning to alter the songs in some way or use them in a commercial setting, you need to check the license associated with each individual recording and follow the correct attribution format.

Jamendo is a platform that allows independent artists to easily distribute their music to their fans. The site has two sections: Jamendo Music and Jamendo Licensing. At Jamendo Music, all the songs are free and legal to download and play for personal use.

The music is built around “Communities.” Navigating a particular community (for example, rock) will introduce you to its leading tracks, albums, and artists. You can sort the music by all-time popularity, what’s trending, and the latest releases. If you want to test the waters before you commit to a download, you can tune in to one of the site’s themed radio stations.

Take note that you can’t stream Jamendo Music tracks in a public location or use them in a commercial project. Only music under Jamendo Licensing can be utilized for this purpose. You can download low-quality samples for free and later pay for the subscription if it’s what you need.

They say there’s no such thing as a free lunch. And if you use NoiseTrade, that’s partly true.

The artists who have listed their music on this site want something in return for the free download, typically a postal code or an email address. The idea is for the bands to easily connect with people who like their music—perhaps to advertise an upcoming tour or highlight the launch of a new album.

At NoiseTrade, you’re more likely to find artists you recognize. Although you’re not going to find The Killers’ latest release, most bands are already signed to a record label and have albums available.

What if pop, rock, and other mainstream genres aren’t your thing? If you’re more into classical music, you’re in luck.

Musopen is a great free music download site for classical music lovers. It has recordings from some of the most famous musicians of all time. You’ll find everything from Bach and Beethoven to Tchaikovsky and Holst. You can search by composer, instrument, period, and mood to locate the content you want.

The site extends beyond music downloads; you’ll also find lots of free sheet music and educational resources.

Many people don’t realize that Amazon can be a source of free music downloads. Under Music by Price in the search filter, just select Free to obtain a list of free downloadable songs.

Unfortunately, Amazon has removed the feature that allowed you to filter the free music by genre. As such, you’ll need to go through each page of Amazon’s search results and do the digging yourself.

To download the free song or album, tap on it in the search result. Next, hover over Purchase Options and click MP3 Music, which will display the price as $0.00. Then, simply check out your Amazon purchase as usual.

Did you know that the Internet Archive is useful for much more than only laughing at how bad the web looked in 1999? It’s also a fantastic free music website.

For a music lover, the best part of the site is the Live Music Archive. It was built in partnership with etree.org and features shows and concerts from a range of leading artists. All the bands in the collection are “trade-friendly,” meaning they’ve granted fans the right to trade some of their music for non-commercial means freely.

The library doesn’t just cover music; it’s also one of the best websites to download audiobooks. And you’ll also find old news and public affairs talks, radio shows, and poetry readings.

ReverbNation is a great site if you’re an up-and-coming band that wants to sell music online. Since the site is primarily aimed at new bands, you’re not going to find tracks from the current chart-toppers. Don’t let that put you off, though.

ReverbNation has launched the careers of many top bands, including the Alabama Shakes and Imagine Dragons. That means you can be the coolest kid at school by downloading music from tomorrow’s hippest artists before they become famous.

To download an artist’s music, you need to create an account on the site first, head to the artist’s profile, and tap the Become A Fan button. The Download icon will then appear next to the selected songs available for users to download.

Owned by Paramount Global, Last.fm is a large music website that tracks your music and recommends new songs accordingly. One of the goodies the site offers is a list of free music downloads. Just tap the Download icon next to the track, and you’re good to go.

While you can download the music for free, it’s best only to play them for your personal enjoyment because the site does not state that the free songs can be used for commercial projects.

Like so many of the sites on this list, SoundClick mainly features new artists who seek to share their music and step into the music industry. To download the music, just create an account, type a keyword in the search field, and from the results, tap the Download icon on the song you want.

However, not all the songs on the site are available to download for free; the artist has to make each track available on a case-by-case basis, and some require a small payment.

SoundClick’s terms and conditions state that while you can legally download the songs for personal or educational use, you cannot modify them or stream them at a public venue.

CCTrax offers free music downloads that are covered by a Creative Commons license. It specializes in electronica, dub, techno, and ambient tunes.

You can download every song on the site, and no payments are involved anywhere. However, be alert to the Creative Commons license. You can filter the music by license type on the main page so that the tracks from the resulting list can be utilized without legal repercussions. ​​​​​

BeatStars is a global music marketplace for producers and artists. Despite the platform’s commercial nature, it still serves as a good free and legal music download site for casual listeners.

Under the Free Beats category, you can filter the songs by tags such as hip-hop, trap, soul, and more. Once you find a song you like, just tap the Free Download icon to download the MP3 file to your device.

You may notice that there is a price listed next to the icon. The price details the purchase and usage terms if you intend to use the music for a song recording, video, public performance, or other similar purposes.

Legally Download Music for Free

The sites above mostly specialize in helping you download music from unknown and upcoming artists rather than current stars. It’s largely inevitable, as the latter does not need to distribute their music for free. Generally, if a site offers a free download of Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift’s latest album, it’s probably illegal.

If you want to legally download the latest mainstream singles, you still need to use paid services like Spotify. But if your goal is to discover gems by independent artists or get free songs for your YouTube videos, all these sites will meet your music needs well.

Artist Émilie Monnet reconnects with Anishinaabe roots in trilingual monologue.

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PuSh International Performing Arts Festival 2023 — Okinum

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When: Feb. 2, 3, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 2-5, online

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Where: Anvil Theatre, 777 Columbia St., New Westminster

Tickets/info: pushfestival.ca

Falling, flying, failing to make it to a lecture or test on time. These decidedly mundane topics are well documented by sleep researchers interested in recurring dreams. But what plays out deeper in our psyches has long been a source of inspiration for artists across the ages.

In her award-winning work Okinum, Canadian multidisciplinary artist and playwright Émilie Monnet enters into a recurring dream to reconnect with her Anishinaabe ancestry and language and delivers an empowering message of identity and self-discovery.

In the Anishinaabemowin language, okinum means dam. Interpreting her recurrent dream about a giant beaver who gives her magical words to say, Monnet breaks down cultural walls to find personal truths in a tale relayed in Anishinaabowim, English and French. The multimedia voyage deciphering what the words mean includes live score by sound designer Jackie Gallant incorporating the sounds of beavers, plus other voices with immersive lighting and visuals.

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Okinum was nominated for a 2021 Governor General’s French language award.

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Now the Productions Onishka show comes to the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival 2023 presented with Anvil Theatre, Touchstone Theatre, AnAku and KVS Production. It is also available in book form.

“The dream came first, then the show and the book was published a year later in French,” said Monnet. “My writing is very directly influenced by sound and the use of sound and video in the show is a very different experience than reading it. The immersive nature of it was more important than even the words at first because I’m so interested in the coexistence of sounding and breathing and how the body is engaged psychically in different ways by different languages and what that means.”

Specifically, the English translation of Okinum was 10 pages shorter than the original, which reflects the differences in observation and world view of different cultures’ communication. Monnet was fascinated by what she discovered in the form of her work as she shifted between languages in performance.

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“Indigenous languages are very image and action-based, so you really see the images as you are discussing them,” she said. “As I enter the dream world and the invisible, I find that I connect much better with that realm in Anishinaabemowim. It enriches the images because it has the words to describe them.”

Monnet’s grandfather’s first language was Anishinaabemowim, but it was not transmitted to her growning up. Her first language was French and she was rooted in that culture. Her artistic practice has been spent often collaborating or speaking with elders to strengthen her Indigenous ties. Her mother is an Anglophone, who grew up on reserves, and her father is French from Brittany. So all of the languages in Okinum define who its creator is as well.

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“I started writing back and forth in French and English because I was funded by two different playwright’s associations in Montreal followed by an Indigenous theatre company in Toronto,” said Monnet. “So it made a lot of sense to keep those two languages and cultures as well as Anishinaabe in the final work. It’s always been a question of where I find myself in those identities.”

As she was completing the piece, she was diagnosed with throat cancer. This meant the beaver dam became a beautiful metaphor for all the women in her family whose voices were blocked or denied and how to unblock those barriers to allow the emotional and spiritual truth to flow. Now in full recovery, Monnet says that Okinum has become a launchpad for future work.

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Her first play, it has garnered international acclaim and will tour to French Guiana and play to Indigenous peoples along the Marigny River in that French overseas department. A new collaborative work with an Indigenous artist in the Amazon is in development to premiere in 2023.

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5 shows to see at the 2023 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival

When: Jan. 19 – Feb. 5, various times

Where: Various venues and online

Tickets/info: pushfestival.ca

With its wide range of performances, the PuSh Festival can seem daunting when it comes to selecting which shows to attend. Fortunately, the PuSh Passes provide opportunities to see shows at reduced rates and allow for mixing and matching selections. Those who aren’t feeling the vibe of being in a full venue can consider the digital pass which provides access to five of the digital shows at the 2023 event.

Note: There are specific dates for digital pass performances which provide an excellent option for those whose schedules don’t permit in-person attendance. Visit the complete schedule at the PuSh Festival website.

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Here are five shows to see.

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A Percussionist’s Songbook

When: Jan. 25, 26

Where: Orpheum Annex

Canadian premiere: An album of “songs without words” is how percussionist Burgess explains his latest release. Incorporating inspirations from Arabian folktales to Michael Ondaatje’s prose, he takes the crowd on an aural tour.

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Afternow

When: Jan. 28 – Feb. 5

Where: Roundhouse Exhibition Hall, 181 Roundhouse Mews

Coming from Zimbabwean/American performer Nora Chipaumire, this sound and visual installation bridges African spirituality and contemporary art to make a booming statement about resistance and reclamation.

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Le Cri des Méduses

When: Jan. 27, 28; Jan. 27 – 30, online

Where: Vancouver Playhouse

Western Canadian premiere: Taking inspiration from the artist Théodore Géricault’s famous painting The Raft of the Medusa transposes elements to the live stage. Canadian Choreographer Alan Lake blends ambient music, shifting scenes and tones with a nonet of dancers interpreting.

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Lontano + Instante

When: Jan. 26 – 28; Jan. 26 – 29 online

Where: Scotiabank Dance Centre, 677 Davie

Utilizing the Cyr wheel, a weighted metal ring designed for continuous motion, the acrobats in this show demonstrate the dynamic and physical interface between human and object. This is a great all-ages presentation for anyone with a taste for contemporary circus arts.

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Selfie Concert

When: Feb. 2, 3

Where: Left of Main, 211 Keefer St.

Bulgarian cabaret crooner and camp crap disturber Ivo Dimchev brings audiences a performance with no stage, no hierarchies and, well, no show. Until people are taking selfies with him, when the synth pop ditties begin to flow. Deconstructing contemporary performances asking “who is the focus of the show?”

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Express News Service

A Saturday night of live jazz music with vocals accompanied by your favourite mocktail and delicious food sounds like the perfect way to spend your weekend. BTL, the live music bar in Egmore, the latest addition to the city’s bar scene  is all set to indulge in creating memories of a relaxing party scene for its customers. With soft ambient lighting and walls painted with warm colours, the first impression of BTL on its grand launch on Saturday spelt swanky.

A melodious welcome
The casual crowd and couples on date night gathered around the live performance of soulful music accompanied by instruments. “As a pub where the centre of attraction is music, we hope to provide an exclusive space in the city dedicated to good food and music. Since I am a big fan of music and have an eye for good DJs after learning DJ-ing, it was my dream to set up a place that would match my passion,” shared Manit Arora, owner of BTL. Manit runs the bar along with Sunny Arora and Kunal Jain.

He ventured into the event management business 13 years ago and concluded that entertainment coupled with music is the best way. Team BTL hopes to present live music for all genres not restricting them to any particular one. Apart from the regular artistes, it will also be a platform for independent artistes to showcase their talents. The guest singer for the inauguration was Lavita Lobo. “I have been in Chennai for the past few years and this pub is a great addition to the city. Here, music is the central point and everything else revolves around that. This will be a good place for artists to showcase their talents,” shared the artiste.

On the menu
As a North Indian living in the city for a long time, Manit also caters to party-goers from the north. A menu brimming with chicken, mutton and a few vegetarian options creatively curated under the guidance of chef Pradeep Perumal brings into the frame a long list of North Indian items. The chef, specialising in continental dishes, has been creating fusion foods for the past 14 years in the UK and USA. For his first job in India as BTL’s head chef, he brings in varieties from all over the world with a traditional twist and uniqueness.

“The menu highlights include the special tandoori items, Malaysian and Indonesian flavours, eggless brownies and cakes and flavoured ice-creams,” he shared.  Welcoming us with a virgin mojito rich with mint flavour, Pradeep presented a special artichoke garlic bread and artichoke sauce. Created with freshly-made dough, it offered a buttery thin crust with a creamy addition.

The curried broccoli patties stuffed with tender mashed potatoes and mozzarella cheese accompanied by Thai-style dip, leave a milky aftertaste. “This dish is specially created for children as it is neither too spicy nor too sweet,” he shared emphasising that BTL is also a place for families to hang out. Afghani chicken tikka prepared with a blend of chillies, cashews and lemon, with its tender and juicy texture and slightly spicy flavour is an instant hit. The chef’s special mint chutney, a mix of mint, cream, yoghurt and chaat masala complimented the chicken tikka. “The menu also has plenty of seafood options. Another highlight is that we provide Jain food, cooked with no onion or garlic,” he said.

Food, drinks, music — BTL ticks all the boxes. They aspire to turn it into a place of social interaction for artistes and build a community. With flavours and fusion, BTL promises an affordable luxurious experience. 

<br> A Saturday night of live jazz music with vocals accompanied by your favourite mocktail and delicious food sounds like the perfect way to spend your weekend. BTL, the live music bar in Egmore, the latest addition to the city’s bar scene  is all set to indulge in creating memories of a relaxing party scene for its customers. With soft ambient lighting and walls painted with warm colours, the first impression of BTL on its grand launch on Saturday spelt swanky.

A melodious welcome
The casual crowd and couples on date night gathered around the live performance of soulful music accompanied by instruments. “As a pub where the centre of attraction is music, we hope to provide an exclusive space in the city dedicated to good food and music. Since I am a big fan of music and have an eye for good DJs after learning DJ-ing, it was my dream to set up a place that would match my passion,” shared Manit Arora, owner of BTL. Manit runs the bar along with Sunny Arora and Kunal Jain.

He ventured into the event management business 13 years ago and concluded that entertainment coupled with music is the best way. Team BTL hopes to present live music for all genres not restricting them to any particular one. Apart from the regular artistes, it will also be a platform for independent artistes to showcase their talents. The guest singer for the inauguration was Lavita Lobo. “I have been in Chennai for the past few years and this pub is a great addition to the city. Here, music is the central point and everything else revolves around that. This will be a good place for artists to showcase their talents,” shared the artiste.

On the menu
As a North Indian living in the city for a long time, Manit also caters to party-goers from the north. A menu brimming with chicken, mutton and a few vegetarian options creatively curated under the guidance of chef Pradeep Perumal brings into the frame a long list of North Indian items. The chef, specialising in continental dishes, has been creating fusion foods for the past 14 years in the UK and USA. For his first job in India as BTL’s head chef, he brings in varieties from all over the world with a traditional twist and uniqueness.

Manit Arora, Sunny Arora | J Allen Egenuse“The menu highlights include the special tandoori items, Malaysian and Indonesian flavours, eggless brownies and cakes and flavoured ice-creams,” he shared.  Welcoming us with a virgin mojito rich with mint flavour, Pradeep presented a special artichoke garlic bread and artichoke sauce. Created with freshly-made dough, it offered a buttery thin crust with a creamy addition.

The curried broccoli patties stuffed with tender mashed potatoes and mozzarella cheese accompanied by Thai-style dip, leave a milky aftertaste. “This dish is specially created for children as it is neither too spicy nor too sweet,” he shared emphasising that BTL is also a place for families to hang out. Afghani chicken tikka prepared with a blend of chillies, cashews and lemon, with its tender and juicy texture and slightly spicy flavour is an instant hit. The chef’s special mint chutney, a mix of mint, cream, yoghurt and chaat masala complimented the chicken tikka. “The menu also has plenty of seafood options. Another highlight is that we provide Jain food, cooked with no onion or garlic,” he said.

Food, drinks, music — BTL ticks all the boxes. They aspire to turn it into a place of social interaction for artistes and build a community. With flavours and fusion, BTL promises an affordable luxurious experience. 

LISTS
Rare Shoegaze Gems From All Eras Unearthed

By

Joe Trainor

·
Illustration by

Marine Buffard

·
January 09, 2023

Shoegaze, one of the most misunderstood subgenres of rock music, currently tends to fall into two camps: brutish, somewhat metal-adjacent dirges or tuneless pedal washes that have no sense of dynamics or songwriting. Both fully miss the point of what made the classic shoegaze era so good: the mixture of sound design with strong tunes and much more inclusivity than it is often given credit for (many of the original shoegaze bands had female members).

As a gay man coming from the hardcore scene, I always struggled with the combination of masculine and feminine elements inside myself, and shoegaze was the perfect mix of both. Like hardcore, it possessed a physical wall of sound that you felt in your bones, but unlike hardcore, it wasn’t overtly masculine. Bands like Lush, My Bloody Valentine, and Dinosaur Jr.—who, it could be argued, were proto-shoegaze in their use of pedals—started out as punks. For me, the euphoria of playing shoegaze shifted something fundamental in myself, changing how I thought about sound, dynamics, chords, and energy.

It’s often said that shoegaze has been more or less stagnant in the decades since its emergence, but for all the talk of the genre’s lack of experimentation, it should be noted that Slowdive’s 1995 record Pygmalion was itself a mix of electronic, IDM, and ambient music, and showed the band drifting away from loud volumes, consistent rhythms, or even regular song structures. Hated at the time, Pygmalion can now be understood as the next logical step forward in the evolution of shoegaze.

Below is a list of new and old shoegaze bands who are taking the genre into more avant-garde or electronic directions, staying true to the inclusive spirit of its originators while pushing the boundaries of what the genre can be—and it doesn’t have to just be in the context of a rock band.

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Experimental Shoegaze

Guitar
Sunkissed

Guitar is one of the many projects of German artist Michael Lückner. Sunkissed, released in 2002, is much closer to dance and electronic music, taking what My Bloody Valentine started with “Soon” and making a full record out of it by melding rave music with guitars. The drums are looped to create a trance-like feel, the audio has sharp edits to bend what normal loud/soft dynamics can be, and the fuzz is overwhelming. This is music meant to move the body and create a sensory experience that takes you out of yourself for a time.

Jefre Cantu-Ledsema
Love Is A Stream

Released on Type Records (who originally released Grouper’s Dragging A Dead Deer), Jefre Cantu-Ledsema’s Love is a Stream strips away anything remotely accessible about shoegaze, leaving only the sheer noise. This pushes the genre into the avant-garde, with ghostly vocals bleeding in and out of the mix and overwhelming waves of distortion, in a similar fashion to MBV’s “To Here Knows When.” Dynamics are still at play; this isn’t just pummeling sound. As Ledsema’s waves ebb and flow, the tide drowns out everything else—a truly immersive experience.

Gilah
From Where I’m Standing

Brooklyn-based Gilah released the From Where I’m Standing EP during the pandemic, and it definitely feels like a product of forced isolation: insular, claustrophobic, and unburdened by the prospect of playing live. The band mixes field recordings, loops, collaged tape manipulations, lo-fi aesthetics, and noise into music that feels like it’s moving in and out of lucidity, pushing shoegaze’s sound design and manipulation to further extremes without losing sight of quality songwriting.

Kraus
Path

Kraus, which is more or less the solo project of musician Will Kraus, uses the euphoric walls of noise/feedback similar to Jefre Cantu Ledsema and Loveliescrushing but reins things in with pop song structures. The sound design is more reminiscent of electronic music, using loops and samples throughout, while dynamic drumming keeps it all moving forward and more approachable. There are even hints of hyperpop production in his records. This is rock music using modern tech to create exciting new sounds.

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Recent Classics

No Joy
Wait To Pleasure

Although easily the best-known modern band on this list, No Joy is still deeply underrated. Solely based on 2013’s Wait to Pleasure, Jasamine White-Gluz’s project should by all rights be the most popular current shoegaze band in the world, even if 2020’s Motherhood is maybe their more experimental and accomplished album. Wait to Pleasure is the modern shoegaze record to beat: a perfect blend of tunes, production, and sonic experimentation. White-Gluz understands that great songs and melodies come first, pedals second.

Blue Smiley
return

There’s a distinct quality to Blue Smiley‘s guitar tone on return—sharp but watery—that most bands would kill for. The songs explode with perfect amounts of noise, melody, and, most importantly, brevity. This is like Loveless in miniature, full of fluid dynamic shifts and fantastic guitar work. Sadly, the tragic 2017 passing of Brian Nowell, the driving force behind Blue Smiley, left the band’s potential unfulfilled and represents a real loss for music.

Big Hush
Who’s Smoking Your Spirit

Washington, D.C.’s Big Hush (featuring Owen Wuerker and Emma Baker, now of Flasher) understands what made the classic shoegaze era great: killer tunes that use the guitar as a generator of sound, not as an extension of the ego. What further sets Big Hush apart is their use of vocal harmonies, which are closer to folk and sunshine pop, with all four members singing, weaving in and out of each other to create the swirling feeling that all the best shoegaze contains. This EP, along with 2014’s Wholes EP, was collected into a single 12-inch released by Robotic Empire.

Technicolor Teeth
teenage pagans

Where did one of the best but most underheard shoegaze bands of the modern era come from? Appleton, Wisconsin. These are punks from the middle of nowhere absolutely blasting you with sound. Featuring Amos Pitsch from well-known punk band Tenement, who also runs the label/studio Crutch of Memory/JAC World, on drums, Teenage Pagans is fully home-recorded and full of the spark that comes from people just being excited to be making music, throwing ideas and sounds around with reckless abandon in the best possible way.

Blue Ocean
Blue Ocean

Much has been made of the current Bay Area fog pop scene due to the great music being made by bands like April Magazine and The Present Electric. But there is also a more shoegaze-influenced scene happening with groups like Welcome Strawberry, Blue Zero, and Blue Ocean. Blue Ocean, who have released two EPs so far, keep their songs catchy and uptempo, using soundplay as a tool to enhance their affection for pop. Hewing close to OG shoegaze underdogs Moose, Blue Ocean hits you with tape loops, feedback, and killer hooks.

Knifeplay
Animal Drowning

Hailing from Philadelphia, Knifeplay sit somewhere between shoegaze’s modern downtempo sound and the aforementioned bands with more experimental production, utilizing blaring saxophone, feedback, and acoustic instrumentation. On Animal Drowning, the band draws influence from slowcore, the volume dynamics of classic shoegaze, and the hand-on-your-heart sway of Mazzy Star. This release is certainly on the more “rock” side, but there’s no denying they are experimenting with the genre forward, with songs like “Ryan’s Song” that forgoes all the tropes and is just a beautiful blissed-out ballad.

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Classic Era

Should
A Folding Sieve

Originally released in 1994—basically at the very tail end of the classic shoegaze era—and reissued by Captured Tracks in 2011, Should come through with some serious bedroom pop gems on A Folding Sieve. Supposedly all the guitars are edited and looped due to Marc Ostermeier’s poor guitar playing. “Own Two Feet” is a lost classic, a perfect pop tune with noisy guitar loops, a simple drum machine, and an infectious melody.

Secret Shine
Untouched

Sarah Records is most well-known for their jangle and twee bands, but Secret Shine holds the honor of being the only true shoegazers on the roster. Untouched shines as a great example of how to pair good energy and vocals with lots of atmosphere. The guitar line on “Underworld” serves as an immediate hook, but a highlight of this record throughout is the drumming. It keeps the momentum up in places where it could fall prey to the “all slow no go” approach common to shoegaze.

Astrobrite
pinkshinyultrablast

For real heads only, Astrobrite, the solo project of Scott Cortez from Lovesliescrushing, shines in the pantheon of lo-fi, self-recorded shoegaze. 2002’s pinkshinyultrablast signaled a lot of things to come in DIY music, from early Atlas Sound to more recent projects like My Guitar Is Trying To Kill Me. It’s all blown-out noise, with great pop songs buried beneath.

Bailter Space
Robot World

Flying Nun Records is mostly known for the Dunedin sound of The Clean, The Chills, and The Bats; Bailter Space are perhaps the sole shoegaze band on the seminal label. Armed with some of the best guitar tones of the ’90s, Bailter Space offer blasts of semi-motorik noise, soft vocals, and subtle hooks. 1993’s Robot World is their best record, featuring unrelenting walls of sound that the band had already mastered coming into hyper-focus with great tunes that match their equally masterful sound design.

At CES 2023, Disney was inside the Amazon booth giving early demos of “Hey Disney” an upcoming Alexa Skill for Alexa-enabled devices like the Amazon Echo. It lets fans communicate with a Disney-themed voice assistant that works alongside Alexa.

Disney opted not to go with Mickey Mouse, or a number of other iconic mascots as its voice assistant, and instead went through round of auditions to find a voice actor who epitomized a certain Disney feel. 

The company landed on voice actor Nicolas Roye, known for his video game and anime work, who brings a jovial, if somewhat hammy, performance that should play well with kids. There will be plenty of cameos from Disney characters, however.

People who purchase the Hey Disney Alexa Skill, or who have a subscription to Amazon Kids+, the company’s curation of books, movies and games starting at $5 a month, will get a voice assistant that turns the Disney dial to 101 Dalmatians. Here, people can ask basic questions like, “what’s the weather like?” or set alarms, and will get a randomized response from one of 25 different Disney characters, like Donald Duck, C-3PO, and Fozzie the Bear — and the cast of featured characters is expected to grow.

Alongside games and bedtime stories, Hey Disney also comes with Soundscapes. It plays hours of ambient music and sound effects themed to a location from a movie — but this is not from any existing movie soundtrack. A soundscape from Star Wars sounds like you’re sitting on the forest moon of Endor as Ewoks talk and run past you. There’s also a soundscape to feel like you’re walking in the Magic Kingdom, hearing other tourists as a trolley and steam train pass in the background.

When Hey Disney can’t do a certain task, such as play music or answer questions, it’ll pass off the job by saying “I’ll ask Alexa for that,” and the familiar Alexa voice begins to chime in.

Don’t miss: Mind-blowing audio, TVs, more: The most exciting tech coming your way in 2023

“It’s really important for us to continue to find ways for guests to engage with the brand, right? And we do so well with that in our parks,” said Steve Flynn, director of digital experience at Disney. 

“Being able to have something like this, that extends into the home, so our brand can become part of the guests’ daily life, that’s always something that’s really important to us, and I think that checks the strategic objective,” Flynn said, adding that since many Disney customers also own Echo devices, the partnership between Amazon and Disney makes good sense. 

Disney continues to be a dominant force in entertainment, with an estimated value of over $50 billion. The conglomerate owns ABC, ESPN, 21st Century Fox, Marvel and Star Wars. It’s wide repertoire of franchises and lovable kid-friendly movies creates a fandom that, for some, can last a lifetime. Disney funnels its loyal following into experiences at its theme parks and cruises around the world, giving families memorable, if expensive, vacation experiences. Bringing that experience home gives families and kids daily interactions with the Disney brand, which could lead to more loyal followings.

Disney is starting to roll out the assistant at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort in Florida by installing Echo Show 5 devices in rooms — which are programmed with privacy protections for guests. Disney is committed to putting the Echo Show 5 in all of its hotel rooms this year at the Disneyland Resort in California and Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. It’s a substantial order — Disney has over 30,000 rooms in Florida alone. Largely, the experience that guests have at Disney hotels will be similar to when Hey Disney comes to people’s homes later this year, minus the ability to request fresh towels.

Amazon has worked with hotels before to put Echo devices in rooms, but Disney has the first assistant to launch with Amazon’s Alexa Custom Assistant program, letting companies make their own assistants tailored to a brand personality or special customer need. But behind the scenes, the tech is all from Amazon.

“The goal of the Alexa custom assistant technology is one, to support, again, customer choice and interoperability, but then two, to help brands to extend their brands into Ai and voice, to do it in a way that is simple and also cost effective,” said Aaron Rubenson, vice president of Alexa.

Disney also showed off interactions with its MagicBand Plus, a light-up wearable used at Disney theme parks that can work as park tickets or to interact with certain attractions. The MagicBand Plus and Hey Disney can work together to play certain games, or start buzzing when timers go off.

Expanding Alexa to work alongside other branded assistants could be an important way to for Amazon to continue growing the brand. Late last year, Amazon laid of 10,000 workers, primarily from its Alexa division due to lower-than-expected earnings. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said this week that the company would be laying off an additional 18,000 workers, hitting human resources and retail operations.