Green Eggs and Ham: The Divisive Edition

We had a mighty fine show this morning (once again, that's 6-8 AM CST on CFCR 90.5 FM and streaming at cfcr.ca), but not everybody would agree. I fielded two phone calls within 8 minutes of each other that were polar opposites. First, during the epic Shooting Guns dirge "Harmonic Steppenwolf", there was the older gentleman caller who had this to say: "This isn't rock! This isn't the kind of music to wake up to! It's just noise! Thank you and goodbye!". After the next talking break, in which I ruminated on making CFCR an acronym for something, an older woman called who had this to say: "I just thought of Canadians for Community Radio. Well, keep up the good work!". Basically what I'm trying to say is, you can't please everybody, which is why I just please myself. Wait...

Here's this week's playlist:


Johann Johannsson - "Melodia (Guidelines for a Space Propulsions Device)"
economics - "Labrador"
Tim Hecker - "Studio Suicide"
Ringo Death Starr - "Imagine Hearts"
Dog Day - "Neighbour"
Reading Rainbow - "Must Be Dreaming"
Efterklang - "Scandinavian Love"
T H O M A S - "How's Everyone"
We Were Lovers - "Partners in Crime"
Purity Ring - "Ungirthed" (AIDS remix)
Ellen Allien - "Ever" (Aux 88 Black Tokyo remix)
Crystal Castles - "Not In Love" (ft. Robert Smith)
Shooting Guns - "Harmonic Steppenwolf"
Black Mountain - "Rollercoaster"
Journey - "Keep On Runnin' "         *this week's slice of cheese
Will Currie and the Country French - "Tommy Douglas"
Zeus - "Kindergarten"
R.E.M. - "It Happened Today"
The Hidden Cameras - "In the Na"
TV on the Radio - "Caffeinated Consciousness"

Today's Tune: Will Currie and the Country French - "Tommy Douglas"

It's been a while since we've heard new music from this talented group of Sloan-endorsed guys, so it's nice to hear that they haven't lost any of their groove, punch, or lyrical talent with their new song (available for FREE) "Tommy Douglas". Is this their way of stating their politics now that our country finds itself embroiled in another federal election? Is this just a history lesson? OK, it's probably both, with timely lyrics like "Give me Pierre Trudeau / to give me some confidence in confidence votes", and a youthful revolutionary spirit that is lacking in our current political climate. Tommy Douglas (as a member of the CCF and later the NDP) helped usher in Medicare, and Will Currie and the Country French have got the musical cure for what ails you.

                                   

Juno Jots

Oh, the annual celebration of Canadian marketing disguised as a music awards show, the Junos. There is nothing negative or positive that I could go at length to say that hasn't already been said. Regardless of any complaints about the actual awards show, the annual Juno fest in the host city is enough to justify this bloated behemoth's continued existence. This year's nominees were peppered throughout with commendable artists, though most of them didn't see the light of the telecast. It's the nature of the beast. Here are my random musings, in short form, from throughout last night's 40th annual Juno Awards.

...First of all, in the age of the internet, why doesn't the show air live? There are a lot of time zones in Canada, but seriously CTV. You decided that airing The Amazing Race at it's regularly scheduled time across the nation was a priority over letting the country experience something like the Juno awards collectively. If you could just Google the outcome before the show was over in your province, it made the show that much more skippable.

...The Drake / Bieber bromance you foisted upon us was just a bunch of synergy. Promotion was the name of the game, with CTV News, the hockey playoffs, Tim Hortons and Degrassi all getting lip service.

...Down with Down With Webster. I didn't realize it took that many band members to suck so hard. All due respect.

...Chilly Gonzalez is great. He absolutely carried that bit, AKA the only time all night that Drake didn't seem COMPLETELY narcissistic. 

...I'm so glad Will Butler kissed Deadmau5's mask cheeks. That was beautiful.

...Shania almost gets ensnared on the walkway of leech-like fake fans, before pronouncing her love of "our bush". This is weird.

...People who don't actually live in Canada don't have a hard time thanking Canada for everything. 

...Robbie Robertson has come out of his cave to present a montage about Toronto. The theme? Toronto is great. OK, I'll give you that it's BIG and that it's size is largely attributable to it's ability to collect talent like lint on velcro. 

...The first good performance comes a full hour into the broadcast (the all-star tribute). Upon this realization, I start wondering if there's something better I could be doing with my evening.

...Even though he was presenting with the always intense Buffy Sainte-Marie, Shad seemed kind of bummed. Somebody should have gotten him some McDonald's cheeseburgers; I hear he loves those.

...Meaghan Smith? Are you f*%#ing kidding me?! All due respect.

...Drake manages to belittle the show he is HOSTING by seeming to go off-script and talking about how awesome Grammys are. 

...Justing Bieber thanks his siblings, although he talks about them like they're house pets. "Cute" and "loveable"? Is your little brother a chocolate lab puppy, Bieber? 

...The first truly emotional moment in a celebration of an emotion-based art form comes 2 hours and 5 minutes into the show. Thank you, Neil Young. Always interesting, and always quotable; "perfume on a dirty body", indeed.

...Neil Young exlcaims "what year is this?" after receiving Artist of the Year. I'm really not sure, man. The award was even presented by Randy Bachman. In terms of the Junos being kind of out of touch, I'm sure we ain't seen nothin' yet.

...I just realized that the highlight for me was the montages sprinkled throughout as transitions from the commercial breaks. Not the show, the montage bumpers. 

...Said the Whale are lurking behind Drake as he introduces Chromeo (by extolling the virtues of Air Canada Centre's bartenders). Nice to see you, guys.

...Well, that's a piece of my life that I could've used more productively. Oh well, at least I didn't watch the e-Talk red carpet show, so I still have the will to live.

Green Eggs and Ham: "Ask Me If I Care" Edition

Whoever is responsible for convincing me to dance and enjoy adult beverages last night is, I think, partially to blame for my mental state upon waking this morning. Once again, despite being muddy-minded, and in spite of a intolerable caffeine deficit, another 2 hours of glorious radio was broadcast with my hands steady on the tiller. Here's the playlist:

Coconut Records - "Microphone"
The Violet Archers - "Fool's Gold Rope"
The New Pornographers - "Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk"
Wool On Wolves - "Ports of Glass Harbour"
Austra - "Lose It"
controller.controller - "Disco Blackout"
Ha Ha Tonka - "Jesusita"
The Zombies - "Beechwood Park"
Justin Rutledge - "I Have Not Seen The Light"
The Mountains & The Trees - "Goodbye Little Town"
Chilly Gonzalez - "Knight Moves"
Lovelock - "Pino Grigio"
Young Galaxy - "We Have Everything"
Vampire Weekend - "Give Up The Gun"
The Presidents of the United States of America - "Boll Weevil"
Les Breastfeeders - "Mes lunettes noir"
Billy Paul - "Your Song"     *this week's slice of cheese
The Strokes - "You're So Right"
Diamond Rings - "Pre-Owned Heart"
PS I Love You - "Breadends"
Ween - "Mountains & Buffalo"
Meligrove Band - "Halflight"

Today's Tune: Memphis - "I Am The Photographer"

It's been 4 years since Memphis, the duo of Chris Dumont and Torquil Campbell (of Stars notoriety) has released an album, but they haven't been forgotten. Their latest effort, Here Comes a City (released on Arts & Crafts) is poised to be their most successful to date, and for good reason. It's obvious from the outset that the vocals and, presumably, the lyrics contributed by Campbell, though integral, won't do much to set this project apart from older Stars albums (it is massively different from last year's The  Five Ghosts, however). It's what these two bring to bear with the arrangements and instrumentation provide the necessary distance from projects of yore.

Take for example, the song "I Am The Photographer"; a now-typical Torquil Campbell yarn about love and art, but with compulsive momentum and enough atmosphere to make the hardiest mountaineer of music light-headed. It, along with the tune "I Want The Lights On After Dark", is available for free in exchange for an e-mail address. Take a listen.

Today's Tune: PS I Love You - "Get Over"

Though it contains enough vomit to make your own stomach churn, this video from Ontario's P.S. I Love You is a recent favourite of mine. It manages to capture the Canadian nightlife pretty effectively, from the barren wintry landscapes to the reliable morning-after breakfasts, and all the puke in between. I guess we'll see how much hurling takes place when this two-piece hit the stage at Amigos this Thursday with Diamond Rings.

"The Wearing of the Green" Eggs and Ham

It being St. Patrick's Day, I couldn't resist but to both bust out my brogue on the air as well as spice the show up with some celtic flavour. Drinking songs, sea shanties, Irish punk... you get the idea. Not to mention the Irish artists on the show, in addition to the songs that simply had "Green" in the title. Here's this week's playlist:

Hylozoists - "The Island of Seven Cities"
Slow Down, Molasses - "As Meant To Be"
Olenka and the Autumn Lovers - "Motel Blues"
Joni Mitchell - "Little Green"
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - "Pure Radio Cosplay"
Orthodox Celts - "St. Patrick Was A Gentleman"
Glen Hansard - "Say It To Me Now"
Toro y Moi - "Go With You"
Toro y Moi - "Causers of This"
Hooded Fang - "Green River"
Real Estate - "Green River"
Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Green River"
Irish Descendants - "Barrett's Privateers"
The Mahones - "Drunken Lazy Bastard"
Mother Mother - "Baby Don't Dance"
Broken Social Scene - "Texico Bitches"(Star Slinger Remix)
Weezer - "The World Has Turned And Left Me Here"
Patrick Watson - "Luscious Life"
Great Big Sea - "The Old Black Rum"
Bing Crosby - "St. Patrick's Day Parade"  *this week's slice of cheese
U2 - "Where the Streets Have No Name"
Shotgun Jimmie - "Bar's Closed"
Future Clouds + Radar - "Green Mountain Clover"
Junior Boys - "ep"
Arthur Russell - "Make 1, 2"
Flogging Molly - "To Youth (My Sweet Roisin Dubh"

Slow Down, Molasses: music is awesome

Saskatoon's own Slow Down, Molasses recently released their second album Walk Into The Sea. They celebrated it's release with a pair of shows; an all-ages intimate affair at Caffe Sola, and a Friday night ruckus at Amigos. I was at both, camera in hand, ready to capture a bit of their essence. Here's what resulted:

Today's Tune: Junior Boys - "ep"

It was with great excitement that I learned about the new Junior Boys album. It's All True comes out in June, and they duo have released a preview in the form of the track "ep".
The song is available as a free download at the Domino records site in return for an e-mail address.

The first minute of the song is the same sort of lush new-wave-tinged arrangement we've come to expect from these guys, but with some of the most soulful vocals I've ever heard on a Junior Boys song it leaves me expecting something great when the album drops. Get the song, check out the cover art below.

Green Eggs and Ham: "Over Easy" Edition

Green Eggs and Ham is a daily 4-hour morning show on our local community radio station CFCR. I host the 6-8 AM edition every Thursday morning. Here is this week's playlist:

Dan Mangan - "You Silly Cat"

John Southworth - "So Glad It's Finally Spring"

Shout Out Out Out Out - "Guilt Trips Sink Ships"

Mark Sultan - "Don't Look Back"

Anna Calvi - "Jezebel"

The Alley Cats - "Puddin' N' Tain"

Thee Oh Sees - "Everything Went Black"

Raised By Swans - "Drag the Morning"

Soft Cell - "Bedsitter"

tUnE-yArDs - "Bizness"

Trentmøller - "Shades of Marble"

El-P - "Honda Redux"

Siriusmo - "Einmal in der Woche schreien"

Huron - "Bloodfire"

Wintersleep - "Mausoleum"

Bill Withers - "Take It All In And Check It All Out"

Jason Donovan - "Too Many Broken Hearts"     *this week's slice of cheese

Hilotrons - "Deep River"

Scott Dunbar - "The Canadian National Anthem"

Jon McKiel - "Motion Pictures"

Born Ruffians - "Higher & Higher"

Ponytail - "Easy Peasy"

Processed Cheese: February 2011

And now, the inauguration of a new feature here at Sonic Safe House. Be back here on the first Friday of every month for a look back at the previous month's selections from my show's "Slice of Cheese" segment. If a song is significantly cheesy, there's bound to be a video that is equally (if not even more) so. This proved to be true this month.

First we've got Donna Allen wearing a canary-yellow spandex unitard and a belt that kind of looks like it's made out of flattened bullets. What better way to get the attention of your neighbourhood toughs than to leave the safety of your apartment, fling yourself overtly at them and insist on their being "serious" only to spurn them for somebody else after engaging in a choreographed basketball court dance number? Oh, the '80's.

Now, bear witness to former adult star Traci Lords in what appears to be a music video made to promote the forgettable 1995 movie Virtuosity. Never have explosions, leather-clad pornstars, and lasers been so boring and unwatchable. Enjoy.

Meat Loaf and Kelis weigh in with a couple of live videos, bringing to the stage their own brand(s) of eccentricity. Kelis gives a wooden performance of a repetitive song to a mildly enthusiastic Vevo crowd while insisting she is there to "pleasure herself", while Meat Loaf insists (almost sarcastically) that his Rotterdam audience circa 1994 "really fucking sing great" before allowing them to sing along to "Heaven Can Wait". And oh, that ponytail...

Green Eggs and Ham: The "I Shot First" Edition

Well, first I suppose I should explain the title above. It's a dumb reference to Han Solo, since today I did the show by myself (I mentioned the joke being dumb, right?). This morning went well, and featured a special DJ mix by Liam Hart, aka Waveracer64, to promote the night I'm organizing for this Saturday at Caffe Sola. DJ's, good times, 5 bux. Here's the playlist.

Minotaurs - "Lazy Eye"
Laura Peek - "What It's For"
Jerry Lager - "Wrong Kind of Girl"
Waylon Jennings - "Listen, They're Playing My Song"
Toques and Beards - "Big Hip Girl"
Bright Eyes - "Haile Selassie"
Shearwater - "Landscape At Speed"
Matthew Joel - "Moraine Lake"
13 & God - "Old Age"
The Salteens - "If Love Is Gone Where Do We Go From Here"
Gentleman Reg - "Rewind"
D-Sisive - "Long Ago" (feat. Muneshine)
Liam's Demo Mix: (track list on the Soundcloud page)
Demo Mix for show On March 5th by WaveRace64
Jim Bryson & The Weakerthans - "Wild Folk"
Robin Beck - "First Time"  *this week's slice of cheese
In-Flight Safety - "The Warning"
Snowblink - "Green To Gone"
Sloan - "Follow the Leader"
Japanese Motors - "Better Trends"
Electric Six - "Countdown to the Countdown"
James Brown - "Wake Up And Give Yourself A Chance To Live"

Today's Tune: The Depth - "Everything Is As It Should Be"

Prince Albert, SK's The Depth (formerly known as The Architech, pun intended) are hard to categorize. Take this song, for example. You don't expect something that starts off with the quiet noise of croaking toads to explode into a melodic electronic assault. Combining elements of electro, dubstep, and acoustic pop, "Everything Is As It Should Be" sounds a lot more coherent than it has any right to. It makes a good case for anyone in the Saskatoon area to head to the band's CD release show at Amigos Cantina on March 12th. In the interim, take a listen (or download) to this tightly wound track.

The Depth - "Everything Is As It Should Be"

Today's Tune: Esben and the Witch - "Argyria"

Sometimes we all need to feel kind of epic. The lead track on Violet Cries, the debut album from Brighton, England's Esben and the Witch, is a great way to accomplish that end. Starting almost inaudibly, the song builds up massively until the 4 minute mark, at which point the noise and reverb give way to sparse guitar, simple percussive sounds, and the haunting vocals of Rachael Davies. More than just perfect music for your next pre-emptive Halloween party, this trio (signed to Matador Records) will make these last bitter weeks of winter much more bearable.