Today's Tune: Motëm - "True Douglas" (Diamond Rings Remix)

It's no secret that I'm a fan of Diamond Rings (I've worn my "Stay Fierce" T-shirt enough that even my Dad has started saying it), so go figure that his ongoing Remix Rainbow project is giving me a weekly dose of happy. Rainbow, you ask? For 6 weeks, leading up to the global re-release of his album Special Affections, he is releasing a free remix of a different artist that has inspired him from somewhere along the musical "rainbow". So far we've been treated to the colours of Miracle Fortress and Austra, both available on the Diamond Rings site.

Now we come to Motëm, Hamilton's answer to the question "who likes to party?" (OK, admittedly, that answer is probably B.A. Johnston). "True Douglas", already a fun little groove, gets an epic dose of synths and charm once given the Diamond Rings treatment. Get set to hear this song at the BBQ's of true Douglas' across the land this summer. Download below.

DOWNLOAD => Motëm - "True Douglas" (Diamond Rings Remix)

And while you're at it, check out this rad track from Motëm's Soundcloud. It's called "Dave Coulier" (y'know, that guy from Full House), presumably because it samples "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette (allegedly inspired by her break-up with...Dave Coulier). Makes sense, right?

DAVE COULIER by Motëm

Friday Finisher: Com Truise - "Cathode Girls"

Let's take a trip to New Jersey, where it seems exciting music is being made at an almost obscene rate. Exhibit A: Seth Haley, also known as Com Truise. Inspired by 80's sounds and 80's sights, this guy is making his own funky brand of electro that can go in any direction he wants. Right now, it seems that direction is up. He's even inspired a pretty cool Tumblr dedicated to his work. Check out Cathode Girls, and enjoy your weekend.

Cathode Girls by Com Truise
(Com Truise's album Galactic Melt will be out in July)

Green Eggs and Ham: Rapture, Tom-Toms and Smooth Talk

For this week's edition of the show, we talked about Tom-Tom Rock, I practiced my smoothest, deepest voice, we dedicated a couple of songs to the rapture that never was and Cameo made a cameo as the slice of cheese. Remember to tune in every Thursday from 6-8 AM CST on CFCR 90.5 FM in Saskatoon, or streaming at cfcr.ca. Here's the playlist:


Eamon McGrath - "Headless Horseman"
Northcote - "Free Tonight"
Gold-Bears - "Record Store"
Wolf Parade - "Oh You, Old Thing"
Handsome Furs - "Repatriated"
Mother Mother - "Far In Time"
Matters - "Get In Or Get Out"
Mewithoutyou - "A Sweater Poorly Knit"
Elbow - "The Night Will Always Win"
Style Of Eye & Slagsmålsklubben - "Homeless" (Busy P & Neus Remix)
Einzeller - "Schwarzfahrer"
S.C.U.M. - "Summon The Sound" (Purity Ring Remix)
The Ronettes - "You Came, You Saw, You Conqured"
Hunx and His Punx - "Lovers Lane"
Reading Rainbow - "Wasting Time"
Cameo - "She's Mine"  *this week's Slice Of Cheese
The Hold Steady - "How A Resurrection Really Feels"
Memphis - "Apocalypse Pop Song"
Timber Timbre - "Lonesome Hunter"
Chad VanGaalen - "Sara"

Wednesday Wisdom - Bob Dylan

Green Eggs and Ham: Brendan and His Dream of Horses

K.C. Accidental - "Nancy and the Girdle Boy"
Oh Susanna - "Drunk As A Sailor"
Jets Overhead - "Heading For Nowhere"
John Southworth - "You Look So Good This Evening"
Queens of the Stone Age - "Mexicola"
Wavves - "Horse Shoes"
Big Troubles - "Phantom"
Papermaps - "Reunion"
Volcanoless In Canada - "House of Souls (Artistry Vs. Fame)"
Bright Eyes - "Shell Games"
Zombi - "Slow Oscillations"
Austra - "Darken Her Horse"
Compuphonic & Kolombo - "Antimatter"
Siriusmo - "Sirimande"
Fucked Up - "Queen Of Hearts"
Stuck Out Here - "Quiet Bears"
Nicki French - "Total Eclipse of the Heart"    *this week's Slice of Cheese
The Russian Futurists - "Tripping Horses"
d'Eon - "Telepathy"
Okkervil River - "Rider"
The Dears - "Unsung"
Bon Iver - "Calgary"

Wednesday Wisdom - Thurston Moore

I think this speaks for itself.

Today's Tune: Austra - "Darken Her Horse"

Austra - "Darken Her Horse" => stream @ NPR

Today marks the release of the album Feel It Break (on Paper Bag in Canada, on Domino elsewhere), the debut from Canuck trio Austra, and I couldn't be happier with the result. Check out the opener "Darken Her Horse", and epic drama in miniature. Yes, the music of Austra has already been desribed as a sort of dark electro goth-pop in the vein of Bat For Lashes, but that's a little too reductive. It's dark, yes, but also lush, addictive and hypnotic. Think of your greatest dance-floor experiences, those times when everything falls away to reveal the primal beauty of the groove, and you're getting closer to the feeling conjured by Austra.

Above you can stream the song and even the album in it's entirety (for a limited time).

Today's Tune: Bon Iver - "Calgary"

It's been nearly 4 years since Bon Iver, the heartbreaking folk project helmed by Justin Vernon, released For Emma, Forever Ago. In fact, it feels like it was forever ago. In the time since, Vernon has worked with Kanye West, been covered by Peter Gabriel and generally taken a significant chunk of the world by storm.

It comes as no surprise, then, that today's release of the new song "Calgary" (off the forthcoming eponymous album) has already created a flurry of online chatter and excitement. I guess I'll add to that.

"Calgary" kicks off with placid keyboards, a sign of things to come, evoking thoughts of Vernon's work with Gayngs. From there, things progess in an urgent, yet restrained, fashion. We want more, we're getting more - until, suddenly, we're not. This is a pop gem, rooted deeply in raw human emotion. It's probably already in a bunch of movies we haven't seen.

Download it free below.

Processed Cheese: April 2011

Be back here every month for a look at the previous month's selections from my show's "Slice of Cheese" segment. If the song is significantly cheesy, there's bound to be a video equally (if not more) so.

For April: The Pointer Sisters weigh in (one assumes the featherweight class) looking unconvincingly male before they look unconvincingly fashionable with bad '80's hair doing really lazy dance moves, "Young and Innocent" from St. Elmo's Fire bizarrely gets the Aragorn / Arwen treatment, and Princess kicks up a bunch of leaves with an ex-boyfriend. I couldn't find a suitable video for the final instalment of cheese this month ("Leave That Boy Alone" by Poussez), but feel free to Google it. It's pretty awesome.

Green Eggs and Ham: Sloan and Johan Down By the Schoolyard

A bright and sunny morning, a surprisingly epic slew of songs and a large amount of rambling quips made for a seemingly quick two hour time-slot. Highlights this week included a retrospective of Sloan's work, the frequent repetition of the name Johan Agebjörn, a new tune from The Provincial Archive (who are playing a free concert tomorrow), and new music from Fleet Foxes, One Hundred Dollars, and Wild Beasts. Here's the playlist:


Brasstronaut - "Hand Behind"
One Hundred Dollars - "Black Gold"
The Guest Bedroom - "Tough Luck"
Johan Agebjörn - "Casablanca Nights"
Small Sins - "Never Again"
Wild Beats - "Bed of Nails"
Elliott Brood - "Northern Air"
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band - "Eagle on a Pole"
Fleet Foxes - "The Plains / Bitter Dancer"
Ruby Jean & The Thoughtful Bees - "Trustfund"
Tokyo Police Club - "Breakneck Speed" (Andy Rourke Remix)
The Juan MacLean - "The Future Will Come"
How To Destroy Angels - "BBB"
Sloan - "Your Daddy Will Do"
Sloan - "Hollow Head"
Sloan - "Marcus Said"
Gwen Guthrie - "Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But The Rent"
                        *this week's Slice of Cheese
tUnE-yArDs - "Gangsta"
The Liptonians - "Hey! Hey! Help Is On The Way!"
Ten Years After - "I'd Love To Change The World"
The Provincial Archive - "Drive"

Green Eggs and Ham: Prog Sells, But Who's Buying?

A bright sunny morning today energized me for the regular 2-hour block of tunes. With little rumination, except for a couple of jokes at the expense of Ryan's bladder, the show was about cranking out the songs and dancing (or just listening) along. A brilliant new gem from The Burning Hell, punchy and upbeat thoughts from Techromancer, and a profoundly bad song from the Yes album Open Your Eyes were all highlights.  Here's this week's playlist:


Autechre - "redfall"
Techromancer - "Summerjams"
Cocteau Twins - "Lorelei"
The Albertans - "May"
Frederick Squire - "Pretty Bird"
Alex Winston - "Locomotive"
Magic Kids - "Candy"
Giant Hand - "Starting As People II"
Deadhorse - "Glam Central"
The High Dials - "Open Up the Gates"
The Seeds - "Out of the Question"
Casiokids - "London Zoo"
Com Truise - "Polyhurt"
Radiohead - "Supercollider"
Doctor Ew - "I'm Getting Fat"
The Burning Hell - "Kings of the Animal Kingdom"
Yes - "Fortune Seller"   *this week's Slice of Cheese
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - "Summer Of All Dead Souls"
Miracle Fortress - "Everything Works"
Chad VanGaalen - "Beehives"
Teenage Kicks - "Beasts of England"
D-Sisive - "Wannabe" (feat. Pink Eyes)