Northern Edge
Work on the Northern Edge started almost immediately after The Network Man released the Cool Down Now album in the Autumn of 2009. The first song written was Looking Forward, which was heavily influenced by the major economic meltdown that occurred that year. The song calls for change and suggests that we are really looking forward to such change, whether it happens or not. This cautious optimism has a sharp edge to it. The second song written was Just Watch Me. It is about the early days of Pierre Trudeau’s political career. It is a tough celebration of a fascinating time in Canadian history. It also notes that “things didn’t always work out well”.
These first two songs shaped the theme, and ultimately the title, of the new album. It was further developed to include a mix of softer and harder sounding songs, while respecting core themes. Musical styles are principally rock and pop. However, the song Connect and Disconnect maintains a blues style and there are two instrumentals from the Milo animation soundtrack.
Ultimately, this album is a blend of optimism, cautions, successes and failures, change, the desire for change, and a celebration of Canada – something with a Northern Edge to it.
© Copyright 2015 Network Man Productions.
Looking Forward
This was the first song The Network Man worked on after the release of the Cool Down Now album. Starting out on some rather dark notes, it was heavily influenced by the 2008-09 financial meltdown. However, it later offers some suggestions for how we might make a difference while we are “Looking Forward to change, whether it happens or not”.
Just Watch Me
Just Watch Me looks at Pierre Trudeau’s early days in Federal politics (deciding to run in 1964) up to the contentious October crisis of 1970. The song concludes by suggesting that despite the many ups and downs of the Trudeau years, Canada became a more open and just society thanks to his influence.
Big Ben
Composed in the spring of 2012 with the London Olympics very close at hand, this song looks at Ben Johnson’s rise and fall. While not being apologetic for Ben’s use of performance enhancing drugs, it asks questions about how many others were doing the same. In the end, the song suggests that the success of some human endeavors may be predicated upon not getting caught (i.e. “The world’s running like Big Ben”),
Wave Riders
This song captures the many slices of life that make up our society. Wave Riders transcend time and space because a myriad of personalities makes up a society, regardless of geography or which century they live in. Strange or not, at times we are all Wave Riders.
Broken Arrow
Written about the rise and ultimate fall of the Avro Arrow jet fighter, also known as the CF-105. Canada’s supersonic fighter program was initiated in the early 1950s and quickly expanded to include not only an airframe development, but also an advanced engine design as well. The song suggests, with hindsight, that despite the challenges with the size and cost of the Arrow program, it would have been better to stay the course and maintain Canada’s leading edge industrial capacity. Instead, the program was cancelled and the planes were scrapped.
Undone
Undone was substantially completed in 2010 although the lyrics were first penned in November of 2001. This song reflects the challenges and discouragement that many people faced in 2001 as the world wrestled with enormous geopolitical and economic challenges.
Party Song
This is a short and simple rock’n’roll song about offsetting the daily grind with some fun – and partying on.
The lyrics for this song were first penned by Scott in the studio on May 5th 2011 and recorded as a rough voice track by Scott on the same night. The musical arrangement tries to stay ‘fidèle’ to Scott’s original melody but varies when it comes to the Chorus. The song was performed live at Scott’s birthday party well before it was completed in the studio. It is a fun song to play live but requires alot of lung power due to the lack of breaks between contiguous parts.
Connect and Disconnect
This song wrestles with the importance of being connected to one’s world – and with the seemingly contradictory need to be disconnected from it, in order to gain perspective. For the first time, The Network Man features a female vocalist, Marie Lefebvre.
The Storm
Challenge and change blow through companies, industries, cities and nations. Regardless of the enterprise, people of all kinds are involved.They all respond to The Storm differently, and yet, each one may leave with plenty of what they never lacked.
Milo
Written/Directed/Produced by Corinne Gibeault & Patrick Lafrance.
Dragon*Con
Atlanta Georgia
September 2-5 2011
New York City International Film Festival
August 18-24 2011
Milo Soundtrack
In this soundtrack to the award-winning ‘Milo’ animated short film by Corinne Gibeault & Patrick Lafrance, a young girl grieves at the grave of her recently deceased dog, Milo. When she turns to leave, a bark calls her back.
The Milo Short film soundtrack is composed of 5 parts: a quick piano intro, the sad orchestral intro, the music box part, the orchestral music box part, ending with a quick piano outro. For those interested in ancient history, the original music box theme was composed in the 1990s on the 128 step sequencer of a Roland JX3P synth.
Milo Punk
This song was to be a candidate for the closing credits but was found to be slightly too energetic and not matching the sad nature of the short film. Based on the same music box theme as in the Soundtrack, it’s very cool. You be the judge!
Glassholes
Glassholes wrestles with the way people and organizations treat each other. Despite the hardship that this causes, this song offers some suggestions for resolving such situations.
In addition to its very natural fit into the main theme of the new album, one of this song’s potential claims to fame is that the text was written before the author ever heard of the term “Glassholes” and before it ever started to be used in more common parlance*. The proof of that is not only in the dates on the original manuscript, but the very fact that the song does not deal in any direct way with those owners of the now-infamous eye ware.
*The urbandictionary.com describes a Glasshole as: A person who constantly talks to their Google Glass, ignoring the outside world. “Glass do this, Glass do that.”
*The Wire article on the rise of the term ‘glassholes’
Turn It Around
No matter how much change is at hand, or what plans exist to resolve problems, people need to find the determination and resilience to make things work.
Cool In Abitibi
A story of Jack, Sophie and new beginnings supported by a rich Canadian backdrop of geography, culture, language and sport.
The theme for Cool in Abitibi must have rolled around in Scott’s brain for some time before it was first captured in the studio. Originally intended to be a “rocker”, the song didn’t quite turn out that way as inspiration would guide us; but we maintained the original theme quite faithfully.
We think that the juxtaposition of the Canadian Anglo and Franco realities of the two young people in the song (Jack and Sophie) comes through most strikingly in the phrase “….in the home of Dave Keon and Jacques Lapperière”.
We really hope you enjoy “Cool in Abitibi”.