NEWS
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Read news from the past:
May 20, 2006 - Episode 1 of the Ambientia podcast is released. Being a holiday weekend the download response was slow to start. However, it picked up in the following days.
May 11, 2006 - The Ambientia podcast has not yet released Episode 1, only 3 prequels, and today's subscriber count is a whopping 50! Episode 1 will be coming out in the next few days so stayed tuned. You can subscribe to the feed from the home page on this site.
April 28, 2006 - Arms Full of Sound updates the website to reflect the SPRING portion of the Journey to Ambientia SEASONS project. Also, a second teaser podcast is produced and published.
April 22, 2006 - Arms Full of Sound appears on the radio show 'Diversions' on CHRY 105.5FM.
April 19, 2006 - Arms Full of Sound is confirmed to appear on the radio show 'Diversions' on CHRY 105.5FM on Saturday April 22, 2006 at 12am. Also confirmed is an appearance on the radio show 'Electric Storm' on CKLN 88.1FM on Sunday April 30, 2006 at 11:30pm.
April 17, 2006 - The Ambientia podcast prequel is released to the world! Tune in via iTunes or by the feed found on the home page! Stay tuned in the coming weeks for the firts episode!
April 6, 2006 - A new letter from Ambientia is published.
April 4, 2006 - Work is underway for the Arms Full of Sound podcast that is due to debut later this month.
March 31, 2006 - A new letter from Ambientia is published.
March 27, 2006 - Arms Full of Sound has been invited by the National Archive of Canada to submit all of its current and past works to be archived in the National Canadian Archive, as well as each future published work. This is an important step for the art as this music will be forever archived in Canada for review by any person in the country and possibly around the world. The package will be assembled and sent to the Archives in the coming weeks.
March 17, 2006 - A new Letter from Ambientia is published.
March 10, 2006 - A new Letter from Ambientia is published. Now that the email is working in some sort of manner, everything is back on track. Also today, The Ambient Ping confirms that Arms Full of Sound is signed on for shows for the Summer and Autumn portions of the Journey to Ambientia 2 Series.
March 6, 2006 - After much tinkering and experimenting, the sending ability of the AFOS eMail is back up. An update was released as well as the first letter of the Journey to Ambientia 2 project. Now for the updates:
The Podcast show Ultima Thule has taken an interest in the music of Arms Full of Sound. This is a weekly Ambient radio show broadcasting out of Australia that is also broadcast to the world as a podcast. A full media kit will be sent out to them in the coming week.
Arms Full of Sound is still set to appear on the inaugural podcast for a recently retired Ambient radio show in Toronto. The expected release of this podcast is later this month. Official details will be release as they become available.
Arms Full of Sound has started work on its 4th CD release. The CD is not yet named, but is due out in the Autumn portion of the Journey to Ambientia 2 concert series.
Currently, Arms Full of Sound is working on finalizing a production deal for its own podcast. Not yet named, this podcast is slated to start broadcasting in April of this year. The podcast will offer up the music of Arms Full of Sound and shed some light on the creative process of making the music, as hosted by the artist himself, Paul Needler.
February 11, 2006 - The sending ability of the AFOS eMail is still down and is currently under repair.
February 8, 2006 - The eMail service for Arms Full of Sound is experiencing some technical issues. We can still receive email to afos@phpro.info, but cannot send. We ask for your patience while this gets corrected. Thank you!
February 7, 2006 - "Journey to Ambientia 2: Seasons" project opens with "WINTER" the first of four installments of this project. Arms Full of Sound performs at The Ambient Ping at Hacienda to a moderate audience. No visual images were used as in previous shows, and the music spoke for itself. This show was recorded as both audio and video, notably in widescreen, film look.
February 5, 2006 - Appearance on the radio show Electric Storm. This was a phone-in interview as the winter weather was really bad for driving. Arms Full of Sound carried over its debut of the 2 new songs, "In Orbit of the Mind" and "Return to Familiar Sound", both slated to be on the upcoming CD release later this year.
February 4, 2006 - Appearance on the radio show Diversions. Arms Full of Sound debuts 2 new songs from the upcoming CD release later this year. "In Orbit of the Mind" and "Return to Familiar Sound" enjoyed a world premiere on the show.
January 29, 2006 - The songs "Horizon" and "Scortch" are played on the radio show Electric Storm/Missing Sense to promote the upcoming interview. Also, it is confirmed that the music of Arms Full of Sound will appear on Episode 1 of a podcast due out in Mid-February. This podcast stems from a very popular weekly radio program. More details follow once the Podcast is released. Lastly, Diversions has requested a 20 second promo spot for regular circulation on the show, to promote Arms Full of Sound and the show. This will go into circulation this coming Saturday, Feb. 4.
January 24, 2006 - An appearance on the radio show Electric Storm/Missing Sense is confirmed for Sunday February 5, 2006.
January 23, 2006 - An appearance on the radio show Diversions is confirmed for 12:15am Saturday February 4, 2006.
January 14, 2006 - The first notice of the Arms Full of Sound 2006 season is sent out to over 100 people via eMail. Andrew Dhama joins the production crew for this season in the role of Special Effects Manager. He has a background in lighting and other stage effects and will handle the live lighting and atmospheric effects for the live shows.
January 1, 2006 - Happy New Year! This site is updated and work begins on a new website for Arms Full of Sound.
December 31, 2005 - Arms Full of Sound appears Episode #49 on the podcast Spacemusic bringing his wishes to the host of that show and to the listeners around the world. Visit the website for a download or subscribe to it in iTunes or the RSS feed at http://spacemusic.libsyn.com/rss
December 20, 2005 - Arms Full of Sound has secured its second date for 2006 at The Ambient Ping. Check out the Shows page for more details. The Seasons project will now launch each of its four seasons at the Ping venue. More dates between these Ping events are being sought at other venues, turning the project into a mini-tour.
December 4, 2005 - Arms Full of Sound officially firms up the details of the 2006 project entitled "Journey to Ambientia 2: Seasons". The premise of this project will be the return to Ambientia and the experiences of spending the four seasons there. Arms Full of Sound also secures a spot on the premiere podcast coming out in the new year, put out by a recently off-the-air Electronic and Experimental radio program. More details to follow as they become available.
November 25, 2005 - Arms Full of Sound secures the first date of its 2006 project with The Ambient Ping. Check out the Shows page for more details.
Summer 2005 - Arms Full of Sound goes back into the studio and starts experimenting with new sounds. Negotiations begin for a 2006 project.
February 20, 2005 - Paul Needler's son, Conrad is born. Mom and Baby are doing well, and Paul is holding up as well.
January 4, 2005 - Arms Full of Sound was picked as one of the favorite Canadian releases of 2004 by FeedBack Monitor. This is the second year in a row that AFOS has be honoured with this distinction by the radio show.
December 18, 2004 - AFOS appears for the final interview of 2004 on the radio show Diversions. This show shed some light on the Journey to Ambientia project, and a live set of three laptops was pulled off for almost 45 minutes! A treat indeed. This was recorded for future release considerations.
December 13, 2004 - The appearance on the radio show Diversions is confirmed for December 18th at 12:00am. This show is will be a live to air event where AFOS will perform a set on a suite of laptops.
December 9, 2004 - An appearance on the radio show Diversions is tentatively set for December 18th at 12:15am. This show is expected to be a live to air event. Rumour has it that AFOS will perform a 20 minute set on three laptops.
December 7, 2004 - Journey to Ambientia, Part 2 at the Gladstone. AFOS pulls of a two set night of creative improv. This show marks the end of the Ambient Ping Gladstone series as they move on to the Tequila Lounge in January. This show is shot on video and recorded to disk. The show is the best one yet with the splendor of the smoke and the visuals.
December 1, 2004 - "Opposite Infinity" and a newly discovered piece from Ambientia, "Horizon of Morgea" are released as MP3 downloads, exclusive to the Arms Full of Sound website.
November 30, 2004 - AFOS appears on Feedback monitor and airs the world premiere of the first song from Ambientia, entitled "Opposite Infinity".
November 28, 2004 - The latest letter from Ambientia is released. Also, Electron Music announces that the complete library of Arms Full of Sound appears with other artists in its Indy-Electronic Listening Station, seen here and here. Lastly, Arms Full of Sound considers a return on air visit to Diversions, the Ambient radio show on CHRY 105.5FM for sometime in December.
November 27, 2004 - AFOS gets its own web presence by registering the domain armsfullofsound.com
November 24, 2004 - AFOS is confirmed for an on air session on Feedback Monitor for November 30 at 11pm. The structure of the show will be different in that a live performance will be featured.
November 17, 2004 - A new letter from Ambientia is posted.
November 3, 2004 - A new letter from Ambientia is posted.
October 19, 2004 - The AFOS website is updated in the News, Sound, Shows and Journey sections. The largest change is the rework of the Sound page with separate links to each album.
October 19, 2004 - The second "Letters from Ambientia" is released through an eMail blast, and posted on this website on the Journey page.
October 8, 2004 - AFOS announces the review of "Air is the Means" on the PingThings website. See the Sound section for more under this album.
October 2, 2004 - One of the first "Letters from Ambientia" is released through an eMail blast, and posted on this website on the Journey page.
September 8, 2004 - Feedback Monitor, on CIUT FM 89.5, confirms that Arms Full of Sound is to return for an on-air session of live music. It is uncertain at this stage if the mucus will be live from CIUT studios or taken from a live recording during a performance.
September 7, 2004 - Arms Full of Sound performs at The Ambient Ping's debut location at The Gladstone Hotel. With much confusion due to renovations, the setup takes place in the corner of the bar in what is called "The Melody Room". After much toying with the power supply, the show begins with a mysterious opener that sets the stage. During the first set, electrical supply problems knock out two of the synthesizers used, and forces a mid-set break for troubleshooting. Sticking to album material, the show opens with Massive Synth, and then embarks on the promised journey to Ambientia. The second set came off much better than the first, despite haunting electrical issues that kept knocking out the laptop driven Virtual Synth.
August 31, 2004 - Arms Full of Sound appears on CIUT 89.5 FM on the show Feedback Monitor. In this return engagement, Paul talks about the new CD, the upcoming show, and the future of the Arms Full of Sound project. Earlier this day, Arms Full of Sound firms up a deal with Queen West Records. This deal is for AFOS music to be represented online on the QWR label as distribution, and for the management of promotion.
August 29, 2004 - The final preparations for the upcoming show begin. Cameras have been acquired, recording units are in place, and all is ready to go. The daunting task of learning some of the key songs from the CD's has also begun. This is difficult, remember, as the CD's were recorded in the moment, and live with no prior arrangement.
August 28, 2004 - Arms Full of Sound appears on the York University Radio Show "Diversions" on CHRY 105.5FM. The show was a success, and even had one late-night caller just as the show began. However due to a technical difficulty at the station, could not be answered.
August 24, 2004 - Arms Full of Sound begins negotiations of a sales and promotion deal with upstart music sales outlet Queen West Records. This label's site is expected to be fully up and running by early-September. Queen West Records is headed up by long time best-friend of Paul's, Andrew MacMillan.
August 21, 2004 - "Air is the Means" is officially released at Electron Music in Toronto. Discussions of a late-September or early-October in-store event take place.
August 17, 2004 - The updated Arms Full of Sound website is launched with an active Equipment section, and major updates to News, Shows, Bio, Media, and a lot more to come. Electron Music confirms an order for 3 more copies of "Pieces of a Larger Experiment" and an advance order of 4 copies of "Air is the Means". Tentative in-store event is set for mid-September.
August 16, 2004 - All three CD's are sent to Riyaz Khan at CHRY Radio to prepare for the upcoming interview. An advance copy of "Air is the Means" is also sent to Greg Clow at CIUT FM for the August 31 interview.
August 12, 2004 - The complete artwork for "Air is the Means" is completed and the CD enters reproduction stages. Talks begin with Electron Music for an in-store event for the release.
August 8, 2004 - "Air is the Means" comes out of the final production stages as a 5 song CD at just over 1 hour of music. Release date is tentatively set for August 21, 2004.
August 1, 2004 - The production team for 2004 assembles and the initial production schedule is handed out. Joe McDonald from PH Pro, Andrew MacMillan from AmCan Music, and Jennifer Needler of Shire Music are all on the production team.
July 29, 2004 - The work for "Air is the Means" is complete and totals over 2 hours of music. It is determined that this will be the first album to have extensive production work to bring the album down to one CD. Artwork production begins for the CD.
July 26, 2004 - Arms Full of Sound firms up an interview time with CHRY Radio 105.5FM on the show "Diversions" for Saturday, August 28, 2004 at 12:15am.
July 25, 2004 - Arms Full of Sound confirms a return booking on Feedback Monitor on CIUT 89.5FM University of Toronto Radio for Tuesday, August 31, 2004 at 11:30pm.
July 22, 2004 - The Ambient Ping organizers announce that a new venue has been secured at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto. The venue debut is September 7, thus making the first show of Journey to Ambientia the opening show for the Ping.
July 15, 2004 - Word from The Ambient Ping is that they are trying to secure a new venue in time for the Sept 7 show, but nothing has been firmed up yet. Work continues on "Air is the Means" with about 1.5 hours of music in the can.
June 25, 2004 - Arms Full of Sound is invited to send in material for an upcoming interview on Diversions, an ambient radio show on 105.5 FM CHRY York University Radio. The host, Riyaz Khan found the music on this website.
June 2004 - Work continues on the new CD. The title has been established as "Air is the Means", based on the statement that air is the common means of the sound.
June 5, 2004 - Word from The Ambient Ping is that there may not be a venue for the upcoming shows. Rent has escalated and the Ping organizers have to scramble for another gig. At this point, the Journey to Ambientia project may be in jeopardy of ever getting off the ground.
May 2004 - Recording begins on the third Arms Full of Sound CD. Preliminary artwork suggests a theme of air, flight, and travel.
April 23, 2004 - Initial planning begins for the "Journey to Ambientia" shows for later this year. Word has it that a small crew will be assembled to manage a filming and photography unit, a lighting unit, an effects unit, and a live recording unit.
April 22, 2004 - Arms Full of Sound is granted membership in SOCAN. The extensive membership application process was completed and now AFOS is a registered SOCAN artist.
April 21, 2004 - PingThings online music store reports a near sell out condition for "Minework in G". The store only has one copy left in inventory. This is interesting as this online store has had an opposite sales strength to the store front of Electron Music.
April 12, 2004 - Electron Music reports that sales of "Pieces of a Larger Experiment" have picked up as 2 more CD's were sold over the weekend. The CD was playing in the store, prompting customers to snatch up the CD. Sales of "Minework in G" are expected to increase as well.
April 9, 2004 - The Ambient Ping has confirmed the 2004 shows for Arms Full of Sound to be September 7, and December 7. Arms Full of Sound has determined that these two shows will be directly related to each other, called "Journey to Ambientia" parts 1 and 2. The shows will be engineered so that the second show picks up where the first one ended. See the Shows page for more info.
April 6, 2004 - Electron Music confirms that it has listed the two current CD's "Pieces of a Larger Experiment" and "Minework in G" in their online sale catalogue. Also, "Stuff of Evil" is featured in the April download of Electron's MP3 Radio show.
April 5, 2004 - An interview with PingThings.com is published on their website. Check out more on this revealing interview in the Media Space section of this site.
April 5, 2004 - Two shows are confirmed at The Ambient Ping for 2004. Check out the Shows page for more info. The shows will be "An Evening With" on August 24, and December 7.
April 2, 2004 - Arms Full of Sound was picked as one of the favorite Canadian releases of 2003 by FeedBack Monitor.
April 2, 2004 - A tentative performance date of August 24, 2004 to perform at The Ambient Ping, has been set. Also, check out the updates to the Sound section of this website for reviews of the current CD's by Arms Full of Sound.
April 1, 2004 - Word is received from Electron Music that Arms Full of Sound will be officially featured in the stock listing of the store's website. Also, AFOS will be featured in an April MP3 broadcast on the site, Electron Music.
March 20, 2004 - Arms Full of Sound secures a CD sales deal with Electron Music, in Toronto, where both current CD's will be sold in the store, and online. The sales start date is effective immediately. The music will also be featured on the website and broadcast in an upcoming MP3 show from Electron Music.
March 18, 2004 - Arms Full of Sound starts the registration process with SOCAN, the music rights body in Canada.
March 15, 2004 - Arms Full of Sound receives word that its music has been played on CIUT-FM since the radio interview in December, and also has made an appearance on Ryerson Radio, in Toronto, in January 2004.
February 25, 2004 - Arms Full of Sound contacts The Ambient Ping, soliciting for performance dates in August and October 2004.
February 7, 2004 - After reviewing the live recordings from The Ambient Ping show in December, Arms Full of Sound decides to hold back a CD release from this show. Instead, Track One of the second set from that show will be re-recorded as the start of a third album. Cover photographs and artwork begin to be collected for this album.
January 29, 2004 - Sound samples are posted on PingThings.com in RealAudio format. They differ from the samples found on this site, but end up being responsible for selling 1 copy of Pieces of a Larger Experiment.
January 10, 2004 - Arms Full of Sound debuts on the front page of PingThings.com with both of the current CD's up for sale. Sound samples are to be posted soon and an interview deal is worked out for March 2004.
December 12, 2003 - Arms Full of Sound seals deal with PingThings.com, the CD sales site that stems from The Ambient Ping.
December 9, 2003 - Arms Full of Sound performs at The Ambient Ping. The event was standing room only, with an audience of over 60 people. The two set show went off with flying colours and brought the listeners on the journey that was intended. The evening opened with "Massive Synth" and "Wow!". Then, gears shifted into "Minework in G" and other favorites. Set 2 was more improvised, and the first song grabbed the audience and took them on a journey to far away places. One audience member remarked after the show "I imagined walking through a dense forest, covered in moss, surrounded by fog". CD sales were very strong at the show. As a special promotion, Arms Full of Sound was giving away the Interview from CIUT FM to those who bought both "Pieces of a Larger Experiment" and "Minework in G". This show was recorded live, filmed, and photographed. Check out some footage here. Check out pictures of the show here. Listen to some sound samples from the show here.
December 2, 2003 - Arms Full of Sound appears on CIUT FM in Toronto and gives a 30 minute interview. Opening with "Cindra Morgea", the interview then runs over top of "Minework in G". After a great detailed discussion on the two current releases, upcoming music, the history of Arms Full of Sound, and the upcoming show on December 9, listeners got a chance to hear the debut of "Massive Synth". The show was recorded live, filmed and photographed. Check out the interview here. Check out pictures here.
November 30, 2003 - Arms Full of Sound confirms the First Set for the upcoming December 9 show. The opener will be the favorite "Massive Synth" followed by "Minework in G". To end the set it is still unknown if the last song will be an improv-piece or not. The second set has yet to be finalized, but is rumored to open with "Cindra Morgea", then "Haunting", and close with "Stranger Part 2".
November 28, 2003 - PH Pro's music division, Shire Music, confirms that the upcoming show at The Ambient Ping "An Evening With Arms Full of Sound" on December 9 will be recorded live. Both sets will be recorded directly to CD for an upcoming release. In addition, the event will be shot on video and photographed for a possible DVD release. The music label also announces that the December 2nd radio appearance on Feedback Monitor will be recorded as a companion track to the upcoming live release.
November 24, 2003 - The appearance on the Feedback Monitor radio show is confirmed for December 2, 2003. Paul and his music will be on the show around 11:30pm to showcase his music and talk about the whole Arms Full of Sound concept. Tune in at 10pm Dec. 2, on 89.5FM.
November 23, 2003 - The Arms Full of Sound website is posted on the Internet. Final rehearsals begin for the upcoming show at The Ambient Ping on Tuesday December 9, 2003. eMail blast is sent out making everyone aware of the re-introduction of Paul Needler to the music scene.
November 22, 2003 - A tentative radio interview and song preview date is set up with Feedback Monitor for Tuesday, December 2, 2003. Indications are that the Toronto radio show (CIUT FM 89.5) will play selected songs from both albums with an opportunity to hear from Paul Needler, the arms that is Arms Full of Sound.
November 21, 2003 - Arms Full of Sound completes its second album "Minework in G" and sends it as well as the first album "Pieces of a Larger Experiment" off to Greg Clow at Feedback Monitor for review. There are discussions about appearing on the Radio Show, prior to the upcoming live gig at The Ambient Ping.
November 12, 2003 - Arms Full of Sound puts out its second album based on the recording sessions from the summer, entitled "Minework in G". This album sticks to the purist form of Ambient that was laid out in the first album, but ventures into longer songs. This 4 song album is AFOS's first venture into deep Ambient music.
Summer 2003 - Arms Full of Sound experiments with the ambient sound. Many recordings are made of these experiments, including an experimental piece with drummer Andrew MacMillan.
April 2003 - Scott M2 of The Ambient ping grants Arms Full of Sound a two set evening for December 9, 2003, thus making it An Evening With... event.
March 2003 - What was started as a demo CD for The Ambient Ping, turns out to be the first CD release of the newly created Arms Full of Sound. "Pieces of a Larger Experiment" is submitted to Scott M2 at The Ambient Ping, and within a week a show is set up for December 9, 2003.
February 2003 - Paul Needler starts the preliminary talks with Scott M2 of The Ambient Ping and gets the ok for a demo to be submitted in hopes of getting a gig.