Green Eggs and Ham: I'll Be Alright

The last of the late playlists! I don't even know what to say. This show was last week.

Wild Nothing - "Paradise"
Stars - "Backlines"
Evening Hymns - "Asleep In The Pews"
Love Cuts - "Hi Smile Wave"
Peace - "Your Hand In Mine"
The Weakerthans - "Wellington's Wednesdays"
Thee Oh Sees - "Flood's New Light"
The Mouthbreathers - "Quicksand"
Wavves - "Hippies Is Punks"
Ladyhawk - "You Read My Mind"
Drift Dive - "The Antlers"
Echo Lake - "Breathe Deep"
Dirty Beaches - "Elizabeth's Theme"
Passion Pit - "I'll Be Alright"
Hot Chip - "How Do You Do?"
Niki & The Dove - "Somebody"
Diamond Rings - "I'm Just Me"
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - "Kinski Assassin"
Wax Mannequin - "Body Black / Body White"
Fergus & Geronimo - "Roman Nvmerals"
Bad Company - "Bad Company"
Jason Collett - "I Wanna Roba A Bank"
A.C. Newman - "Not Talking"
Moon Duo - "Sleepwalker"
The Black  Lips - "Drugs"
Moon King - "Sleeping In My Car"

Green Eggs and Ham: Woah-lympics!

Ok, it's a week late. Or two. Ok, it's two weeks late. I've been busy, I guess?
Two weeks ago, I did the closest thing to recognizing the quadrennial Olympiad on the show: playing songs as loosely associated with sport as USA Today is with journalism.  See if you "get" how each song fits! It's like a game! The Rah Rah song "Arrows" is pretty straightforward, as Archery is an Olympic sport, but there might be a few stumpers. Here's the playlist:

Silkken Laumann - "On The Mend"
Tokyo Police Club - "Breakneck Speed" (Andy Rourke Remix)
Vampire Weekend - "Run"
Echo Lake - "Swimmers"
Patrick Watson - "Swimming Pools"
Real Estate - "Pool Swimmers"
Rah Rah - "Arrows"
Bidiniband - "Big Men Go Fast On The Water"
Hollerado - "What's Everybody Running For (Part II)"
Austra - "Darken Her Horse"
Zulu Winter - "We Should Be Swimming"
The Ruby Suns - "Olympics On Pot"
Fuck Buttons - "Olympians"
Broken Social Scene - "Meet Me In The Basement"
Miike Snow - "Paddling Out"
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - "Bicycle"
Giorgio Moroder Project - "To Be Number One"
Wolf Parade - "You Are A Runner And I Am My Father's Son"
Winter Gloves - "Jump"
The Super Friendz - "Karate Man"
The Meters - "Funky Miracle"
Javelin - "Doug Flutey"
Kurt Vile - "Runner Ups"

         - this week's Slice of Cheese

Green Eggs and Ham: It Ain't Over

Sure. Life gets in the way. I've somehow gone from posting plenty of "interesting" and varying types of things here, to just posting playlists, to doing even that super late. Sorry. Whoah. Rest assured that I'm going to shape it up, though it's summer so that rest is bound to be difficult to achieve what with sweat, heat and all that stuff. But try and get some sleep. Do it for me, will ya? I don't like it when you're all irritable and whatnot.
Here's LAST week's playlist:

Born Gold - "Alabaster Bodyworlds"
Maserati - "The Eliminator"
Deerhoof - "The Trouble With Candyhands"
Lou Wreath - "Mother / Daughter"
The Tallest Man On Earth - "Revelation Blues"
Fine Times - "High Brow Low Times"
Halls - "White Chalk"
Patrick Watson - "Fall"
Fiona Apple - "Werewolf"
Miesha & The Spanks - "She Wolf"
Ringo Deathstarr - "Rip"
Seapony - "Prove To Me"
Brazilian Money - "Can't Make Up Your Mind"
Mister Lies - "Dionysian"
Sepalcure - "Me"
The Presets - "Youth In Trouble" (Green Velvet Remix)"
Moon King - "Only Child"
Parlovr - "4000"
Slates - "New Beginnings"
The Cars - "Hello Again"     the slice of cheese   
Shad - "It Ain't Over"
Laika - "Pangaean Drift" ft. AWOL One
Slim Twig - "Still The Same"
Animal Collective - "Honeycomb"
The Luyas - "Fifty Fifty"

Green Eggs and Ham: We Never Sleep

The new stuff peppers this week's show, but songs like "Ritual" by Blood Diamonds and "Art and a Wife" from Regina's Rah Rah are so much more than mere seasoning. Here's the playlist:

The High Dials - "My Heart Is Pinned To Your Sleeve"
Superchunk - "Cursed Mirror"
Sloan - "People of the Sky"
Honheehonhee - "We Never Sleep"
Mode Moderne - "Foul Weather Fare"
Stars - "Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It"
Chad VanGaalen - "No Panic / No Heat"
Bat For Lashes - "Laura"
Lord Huron - "Time To Run"
Teenage Kicks - "Shook Our Bones"
The Undertones - "Teenage Kicks"
Blood Diamonds - "Ritual"
Lorn - "Weigh Me Down"
Crystal Castles - "Plague"
Purity Ring - "Ungirthed"
Gillian Welch - "The Way It Goes"
Drive-By Truckers - "Guitar Man Upstairs"
Beachwood Sparks - "Sparks Fly Again"
Elton John - "Tower of Babel"
No Joy - "Shame Cave"
Nu Sensae - "100 Shades"
Shooting Guns - "Sky High and Blind"
Fergus & Geronimo - "No Parties"
The Mountain Goats - "Cry For Judas"
Rah Rah - "Art and a Wife"

Green Eggs and Ham: Double Down

Last Thursday, I actually did 4 hours of radio. The following playlist is for the first 2 only. Partly because it's a week late and I feel bad, partly because in the second set of two hours I took advantage of a largely different audience from my regular one to play lots of stuff I've played before (although there were requests for Woodhands and MC5 thrown into the mix). What follows will have to do. It was pretty rad:

The Mountain Goats - "Up The Wolves"
Hot Panda - "Future Markets"
Black Mountain - "In Sequence"
Cinderpop - "Summers in the Shelter"
Islands - "Can't Feel My Face"
Shearwater - "Pushing the River"
Dinosaur Jr. - "Watch The Corners"
Chelsea Light Moving - "Groovy & Linda"
Dusted - "(Into The) Atmosphere"
Muneshine - "The City"
Handsome Furs - "Dead + Rural"
Divine Fits - "Would That Not Be Nice"
Quadrant Khan - "It's Your Dying Wish"
Mr. Oizo - "WC"
Diamond Rings - "I'm Just Me"
Beck - "I Just Started Hating Some People Today"
Mark Davis - "Eliminate The Toxins"
Shadow Folk - "Heaven's Gate"
New Kids on the Block - "This One's For The Children"
The xx - "Angels"
Jets Overhead - "Beach Dream"
Mark Sultan - "Misery's Upon Us"
The Spits - "Wanna b A.D.D."
Talk Normal - "Bad Date"

Green Eggs and Ham: What's The Rush?

I was a little bit late this morning. Of course, I could blame my lateness on Saskatoon's crushing heat wave and my noisy neighbours spontaneously conspiring to render my ability to achieve a sleep-state as impossible as Iceland's summer Olympic hopes or I could face facts and admit I'm bad at mornings. That's why I kicked off the show with the classic Pursuit of Happiness gem "I'm An Adult Now". It's time to take responsibility for my shortcomings. Wait, I was only 10 minutes late? I arrived in time to do everything I'm supposed to do? Ok, forget about all that "taking responsibility" malarky, I'm going to shirk like nobody's business. Here's this morning's playlist:


Pursuit of Happiness - "I'm An Adult Now"
The Danks - "What's The Rush?"
Apollo Ghosts - "Why Can't I Be The Man On Stage?"
COUSINS - "Thunder"
Cold Showers - "Double Life"
Polysick - "Smudge, Hawaii"
Cold Cave - "Believe In My Blood"
Bend Sinister - "Don't You Know"
The Darcys - "Deacon Blues"
Young Benjamins - "Bones"
Twin Shadow - "Golden Light"
MNDR - "Faster Horses"
Dirty Projectors - "About To Die"
Hot Panda - "Holidays"
Howie Beck - "Everybody Sold Out"
James Irwin - "Nothing At All"
Foreigner - "Urgent" **
The People's Temple - "Looter's Game"
Omma Cobba - "Up And Run"
METZ - "Headache"
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - "Only In My Dreams"
Tame Impala - "Apocalypse Dreams"
Taken By Trees - "Dreams"




**This week's Slice Of Cheese

Green Eggs and Ham: Turn Up The Radio

I may have veered towards weird this morning. Any place of business that had the wherewithal to turn on CFCR and the fortitude to leave it on may have been met with consternation and skepticism from their clientele: if that did happen, it's simply proof that the clients aren't cool enough. Personally, I found this morning's mix of mainstream-esque pop with one-off misdirects of strange sounds kept it fresh. Maybe it's just me. Here's the playlist:


Los Campesinos! - "Tiptoe Through the True Bits"
Spools - "Spool VI"
Wolfcow - "Caveman Bones"
Peer Support - "Kremlin Gremlin"
One Hundred Dollars - "Work"
Foxygen - "Waitin' 4 U"
Thee Oh Sees - "Lupine Dominus"
Ty Segall Band - "I Bought My Eyes"
Father John Misty - "I'm Writing A Novel"
Royal Wood - "When the Sun Comes Up"
Elk - "Every Girl That I Meet"
Cat Power - "Ruin"
Mungolian Jetset - "Toccata"
Fur - "Knots"
Purity Ring - "Fineshrines"
Unicorns - "I Don't Wanna Die"
Unnatural Helpers - "Hate Your Teachers"
Caymans - "Hard Feelings"
Seapony - "What You Wanted"
Fist City - "The Creeps"
Colonel Abrams - "Trapped"**
Ice Choir - "I Want You Now And Always"
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - "The Body"
Sheer Agony - "She's An Artist"
Korean Gut - "If You Want"
Camp Radio - "Turn Up The Radio"
Young Guv & The Scuzz - "Heal Over Time"

**This week's Slice Of Cheese

Green Eggs and Ham: Summer Spectacular 2012

A full 2 hours of summer fun this morning, with songs that evoke heat in the forefront. From your road trips, to your ocean dips, to tornadoes (the theme so far in Saskatchewan this year), the show was designed to soundtrack the season. It's an annual tradition now. Here's the playlist:

King Tuff - "Bad Thing"
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - "The Mighty Sparrow"
PS I Love You - "Princess Towers"
Young Rival - "The Ocean"
Frankie Rose - "Pair Of Wings"
Echo Lake - "Even The Blind"
Chromatics - "At Your Door"
Hey Ocean! - "Islands"
We Were Lovers - "Islands"
Islands - "Jogging Gorgeous Summer"
Crocodiles - "My Surfing Lucifer"
Robin Ward - "Wonderful Summer"
Magic Kids - "Summer"
Breakbot - "Summerparty"
Teen Daze - "Cold Sand"
The Parish of Little Clifton - "It's Okay, Roseanne"
The Golden Seals - "Summer Side Of Life"
Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet - "Summer Wind"
Actual Water - "Summer In The End"
Shotgun Jimmie - "Summer Sound"
Richard Marx - "Endless Summer Nights"**
Drive-By Truckers - "Tornadoes"
The Rural Alberta Advantage - "Tornado '87"
Cannon Bros - "Soft View"
Real Boys - "Vacation"
Superchunk - "This Summer"
Japandroids - "The Nights of Wine and Roses"




**This week's Slice Of Cheese

Green Eggs and Ham: The MoSo With The MoSo-est

This week's show was simple: 2 hours of songs by bands and artists playing this year's MoSoFEST in Saskatoon. It's going to take over the city's nightlife this weekend, so I let it take over my show. This thing is going to be absolutely terrific. Here's the playlist:


Smokekiller - "Jenny"
Eamon McGrath - "I Am The Deer"
Slow Down, Molasses - "Wake Me Up at the Coast"
Snailhouse - "I Never Woke Up"
Zachary Lucky - "Back In The Fall"
Bry Webb - "Get You Up In Peace"
Factor - "Cassette Tape Hiss" (ft. Jeans Boots)
Moka Only & Ayatollah - "Come Along"
Feral Children - "Magic Sacred Ritual"
Zombifyus - "City Heads"
Breaker Breaker - "You're A Machine"
Eyebats - "Who Made You Government Baby"
C'mon - "Feeding Off the Dirt"
Junior Pantherz - "(jammer)"
Teen Daze - "Brooklyn Summer"
Form - "Celery"
economics - "Night Shift"
The Karpinka Brothers - "When the Storm Clears"
Andy Shauf - "Sam Jones"
B.A. Johnston - "Raised by the Wooden Spoon"
Ketamines - "Evil Intentions"
Shuyler Jansen - "Wedding Band"
Damien Jurado - "This Time Next Year"
Shotgun Jimmie - "That's Not Joel"
Cannon Bros - "Out Of Here"
The Dudes - "Tear it Up"

Green Eggs and Ham: Space Will Follow

From an 80's pastiche of an opening, to brand spanking new tracks from Grizzly Bear, Cold Warps, Cookie Duster and No Joy, this show was fun to do. It's always fun when it's wall-to-wall good times. Here's the playlist:

Chromeo - "The Right Type"
Hall & Oates - "Out Of Touch"
Chairlift - "Amanaemonesia"
Octoberman - "Waiting For Christine"
The Crackling - "Ashen"
Tacoma Hellfarm Tragedy - "Your Wild"
Crocodiles - "No Black Clouds For Dee Dee"
Boxer the Horse - "Bridge to the U.S.A."
White Lung - "Those Girls"
Trailer Trash Tracys - "Candy Girl"
SFV Acid - "Granmasmitza"
Handsome Furs - "When I Get Back"
Cut Copy - "Sun God"
Cold Warps - "Slimer"
No Joy - "Junior"
Stella Ella Ola - "Little Black Rope"
Milks & Rectangles - "Hospital Patience"
John Waite - "Missing You"**
Wintersleep - "Unzipper"
Grizzly Bear - "Sleeping Ute"
Cookie Duster - "Space Will Follow"
Young Liars - "Marathon"


**This week's Slice of Cheese

Green Eggs and Ham: Drink To Moving On

There is so much good music out there; this week is no different. Some grand and brand new tracks from Cellphone, Kestrels, King Tuff, Weed and We Were Lovers graced the airwaves, Tenacious D returned only to end up as the slice of cheese, and I paid tribute to the fact that I'm moving today with a few semi-related jams. Here's the playlist


Soft Mirage - "Courtyards of Atlantis"
David Simard - "The Knife"
Parlovr - "Now That You're Gone"
Kestrels - "The Field Where I Died"
King Tuff - "Anthem"
The Sadies & Andre Williams - "One Eyed Jack"
Drive-By Truckers - "Dancin' Ricky"
Japandroids - "Fire's Highway"
Weed - "Ben's Tour"
Wintersleep - "In Came The Flood"
Grand National - "Drink To Moving On"
The National - "Apartment Story"
Billy Joel - "Movin' Out"
We Were Lovers - "Islands"
Young Galaxy - "B.S.E."
Blood Diamonds - "Phone Sex" (ft. Grimes)
Lower - "Craver"
Fist City - "Buried"
Cellphone - "One Last Shot"
Tenacious D - "Rize of the Fenix"**
Zeus - "Strong Mind"
Rah Rah - "Little Poems"
Monomyth - "Sacred Hand"
Army Girls - "T W I C E"
PS I Love You - "How Do You"


**This week's Slice of Cheese

Green Eggs and Ham: Time Flies

I love it when a plan comes together. Or, in the case of this morning's show, disparate items cohere into a unit that strongly resembles a plan. Take the opening "Shine A Light" themed set: not planned; the finishing "girls" themed set: not at all planned; The Nick Lowe / Elvis Costello book-tune 1-2 punch: decided in 5 minutes in advance. I also couldn't have planned for somebody requesting a song by Mariachi El Bronx, a band I'm still not sure I enjoy. It all worked out, though. Here's the playlist:

Adam Franklin - "Shine A Light"
Constantines - "Tiger & Crane"
Rolling Stones - "Shine A Light"
Arkells - "Coffee"
Joel Plaskett Emergency - "Time Flies"
Nick Lowe - "When I Write The Book"
Elvis Costello & The Attractions - "Everyday I Write The Book"
White Ash Falls - "Your Song"
Cold Specks - "When the City Lights Dim"
John Southworth - "So Glad It's Finally Spring"
Houses - "Endless Spring"
Alice Cooper - "Sun Arise"
Lemonade - "Softkiss"
Girl Unit - "Wut"
Baauer - "Harlem Shake"
Mariachi El Bronx - "Revolution Girl"
Actual Water - "Brighton"
Chad Vangaalen - "Burning Photographs"
The Jam - "I've Changed My Address"
Will Smith - "Men In Black"**
Metric - "Speed the Collapse"
In-Flight Safety - "I Could Love You More"
The Dudes - "American Girl"
Best Coast - "Better Girl"
The Mohawk Lodge - "Wicked Nights (Canadian Girl)"
M83 - "Graveyard Girl"


**This week's Slice Of Cheese

Green Eggs and Ham: Point Of Return

I don't really have much commentary. Y'know the usual mix of certified "hitz" and brand spanking new "hitz in the makin'". Oh yeah, and The Carpenters doing a song about sausage. The usual. Here's the playlist:

Wolf Parade - "Shine A Light"
Mike O'Neill - "Calgary"
Krief - "Tell Yourself"
Fang Island - "Asunder"
Zeus - "Messenger's Way"
Brasstronaut - "Francisco"
Ohbijou - "Sligo"
Beach House - "The Hours"
The Intelligence - "(They found me in the back of) The Galaxy"
Apollo Ghosts - "Landmark"
OFF! - "Cracked"
d'Eon - "Al-Qiyamah"
Lazer Sword - "Point Of Return"
Napolian - "False Memories"
Yamantaka // Sonic Titan - "Queens"
Crocodiles - "Endless Flowers"
The Carpenters - "Jambalaya (On The Bayou)"**
Light Asylum - "Pope Will Roll"
Wild Nothing - "Nowhere"
Young Benjamins - "To Stay Here"
The Tallest Man On Earth - "1904"

**this week's Slice Of Cheese

Green Eggs and Ham: Swingin' Party

I think the playlist speaks for itself. Plenty of über-new selections, a little bit of this, a bit of that; my mediocre attempt at a tribute to the late, extremely great Adam Yauch; some rock, some disco, some R & B; oh yeah, and then there was Aerosmith. I think I played about 3/4 of the song before gettin' out of Dodge. Here's the aforementioned playlist:

Kalle Mattson - "Water Falls"
Big Star - "Ballad of El Goodo"
The Schomberg Fair - "Black Train"
Yukon Blonde - "Breathing Tigers"
The Murmaids - "Popsicles And Icicles"
Ty Segall & White Fence - "Easy Ryder"
The Cribs - "Come On, Be a No-One"
Hot Sweet Noise - "Gypsy Love"
Mode Moderne - "Nightly Youths"
Spoons - "Conventional Beliefs"
Geist - "Fissures"
Beastie Boys - "Sure Shot"
Tomas Barfod - "November Skies"
Lone - "Lying in the Reeds"
Jimmy Edgar - "U Need Luv"
Heavenly Beat - "Messiah"
Doug Hoyer - "Little Things"
Jessica Jalbert - "Swingin' Party"
Aerosmith - "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing"
     *This week's Slice of Cheese
Brazilian Money - "Can't Make Up Your Mind"
Cannon Bros. - "String Lights"
Teenage Kicks - "I Get What You Give"
Ice Choir - "Teletrips"
DIIV - "How Long Have You Known"
Lower Dens - "Alphabet Song"

Green Eggs and Ham: Little House of Savages

Lots of new songs this week, with Metric, Doctor Ew, Twin Shadow, Kuhrye-oo, Eternal Summers and Mr. Oizo tracks all released this week alone. There were a couple of trips into the back catalog, a look at The Watchmen in 2004 and now, and a trio of songs by artists added today to the list of those playing MoSo Fest (Ian Blurton, Bonjay and Slow Down, Molasses). Local flavour throughout, too, with some innovative stuff from Poler Bear and Form. Enough outta me. Here's the playlist:

Doctor Ew - "You Can't Mistreat Me"
Eternal Summers - "Millions"
Les Jupes - "If This is the Light"
A. David MacKinnon - "One Hundred Fires"
Poler Bear - "5am"
Dirty Projectors - "You Against The Larger World"
The Walkmen - "Heaven"
The Walkmen - "Little House of Savages"
Van Morrison - "Moonshine Whiskey"
Kathleen Edwards - "Mint"
Dope Body - "Weird Mirror"
Mr. Oizo - "Textes"
Dent May - "Best Friend" (Prins Thomas Remix)
Form - "ZZYZZYXX"
Kuhrye-oo - "Give In (For The Fame)"

PS I Love You - "Saskatoon"
Disappears - "Hibernation Sickness"
Sleepy Sun - "Open Eyes"
Tina Turner - "Steel Claw"
     *this week's Slice Of Cheese
Slow Down, Molasses - "Sometimes We All Fall Apart"
Bonjay - "Stumble"
C'mon - "Cut Me Down"
Metric - "Youth Without Youth"
Twin Shadow - "Five Seconds"

Green Eggs and Ham: Forget The Song

Another Thursday, another metric tonne of new music. New songs form Wintersleep, Purity Ring, King Tuff, Olivier Jarda and Cadence Weapon graced the airwaves, a couple of Phils weighed in on girls who'll "take your heart, but you won't feel it" and I took a few minutes to play my Record Store Day acquisitions. But enough about all of that. I need to go listen to the Purity Ring song about 8 dozen more times. Here's the playlist:

Hüsker Dü - "I Apologize"
Eamon McGrath - "Rabid Dog"
King Tuff - "Bad Thing"
Real Estate - "Younger Than Yesterday"
The Acorn - "On The Line"
Olivier Jarda - "Piece of Fiction"
The Jezabels - "Horsehead"
Lioness - "Thunder"
Patrick Watson - "Lighthouse"
Uncle Tupelo - "That Year"
Beachwood Sparks - "Forget The Song"
Lee Hazlewood - "Won't You Tell Your Dreams"
SBTRKT - "Wildfire"
Para One - "Lean On Me" (Salva Remix)
Rustie - "Cry Flames"
Purity Ring - "Obedear"
Moonface with Siinai - "Yesterday's Fire"
Cadence Weapon - "Conditioning"
Wintersleep - "Resuscitate"
Phil Collins & Phil Bailey - "Easy Lover"
     *this week's Slice Of Cheese
Real Boys - "Marly"
Beach Velvet - "Orange Krush"
Doug Paisley - "Sad Sinner"
MV & EE - "Too Far To See"

Green Eggs and Ham: Traces To Nowhere

I may have had a lot of fun this morning. What with the set of doo-wop-inspired songs (and an actual doo-wop relic to boot), the individual moving parts of Constantines juxtaposed, the weird and wooly songs from Halifax, Calgary, Baltimore and beyond, not to mention the capper of 90's jams to round out the show, it's no surprise. I play what I like. What's your excuse? Here's the playlist:

Chairlift - "Take It Out On Me"
Active Child - "Ancient Eye"
Blouse - "Pale Spectre"
Gary Numan - "Metal"
Kids And Explosions - "Use Your Words"
Baby Eagle & The Proud Mothers - "Bone Soldiers"
Constantines - "New King"
Bry Webb - "Asa"
Timber Timbre - "Lonesome Hunter"
Hunx And His Punx - "Lovers Lane"
King Khan and BBQ Show - "I'll Be Loving You"
The Moonglows - "I Knew From The Start"
Doldrums - "Egypt"
CFCF - "Exercise 2 (School)"
Tycho - "Melanine"
The Cable-Knits - "Leejay's Peejays"
Apollo Ghosts - "Newcastle"
The Soupcans - "Shocked!"
Ed Schrader's Music Beat - "Car"
The Memories - "Softly"
Each Other - "Traces To Nowhere"
Kix - "Cold Blood"
     *this week's Slice Of Cheese
Frank Turner - "Peggy Sang The Blues"
Said The Whale - "We Are 1980"
Moss Icon - "Guatemala"
Blurtonia - "Won't You Ride?"

Today's Tune: Cookie Duster - "Two Feet Stand Up"

I never get what I want on Record Store Day. I'm never on time and the diehards always snag the ultra-limited things I've had my eye on. I walk out of my local record shop on RSD with an armful of records that, while great, aren't exactly what I had my hopes up for. That's why this year, I decided not to seek out the ever-changing list of RSD releases, in the effort to make whatever I end up with this year to seem as special as can be.

At least until Cookie Duster came... cookie... dusting...

Cookie Duster, a project featuring Brendan Canning (known for being in a lil' ol' band by the name of Broken Social Scene), are set to release their second album, and first for 11 years, When Flying Was Easy on May 15th. Before that, the world can hear the first single "Two Feet Stand Up", a jangly, upbeat number that would be right at home replacing BSS's (s?) "Shoreline" on the band's excellent eponymous 2005 album. Oh yeah, and it's coming out as a 7" single for Record Store Day. I guess I'll look for it on eBay.

Green Eggs and Ham: Society Is My Friend

This morning's show was a lot like a season of Doctor Who: kind of confusing with no strict time period. Tunes from the recent past, the farther past and... well, The Pointer Sisters were involved. There were plugs for shows (namely John K. Samson with Shotgun Jimmie, Miesha and the Spanks with Ketamines, and the sold out Plaskett show) and a look at Camouflage Nights in "context". Just read the dang list:

Extra Happy Ghost! - "True Love Leaves No Traces"
Kurt Vile - "Society Is My Friend"
Great Lake Swimmers - "The Knife"
Memoryhouse - "Heirloom"
When Saints Go Machine - "Bittersweet Symphony"
The Elwins - "Come On Out"
New Pornographers - "Mystery Hours"
Two Hours Traffic - "Wicked Side"
Cracker - "The Riverside"
Fruit Bats - "Tony the Tripper"
John K. Samson - "Cruise Night"
Kano - "Ikeya Seki"
TRST - "Chrissy E"
LCD Soundsystem - "Drunk Girls" (Holy Ghost! Remix)
Camouflage Nights - "United Airlines"
Thrush Hermit - "Hated It"
Joel Plaskett Emergency - "Tough Love"
Pointer Sisters - "Baby, Come And Get It"
      *this week's Slice Of Cheese
Shotgun Jimmie - "Masterpiece"
Miesha and the Spanks - "Highway Baby"
Real Boys - "Wilderness"
Little Chords - "Always / Never"
Zulu Winter - "Silver Tongue"
Bear In Heaven - "Noon Moon"

Green Eggs and Ham: Things I Could Live Without

This morning's show had some new music from weird familiar faces (Dirty Projectors, Black Moth Super Rainbow), a pair of covers straight out of the cold war (Japandroids, Les Jupes), raucous rockers from Alberta and beyond (Grown-Ups, Mandates, Thee Oh Sees) as well as new music from Gold & Youth, TOPS, The Karpinka Brothers and more. Here's the playlist:

Minotaurs - "Nothing New"
Destroyer - "Streets of Fire"
TOPS - "Rings of Saturn"
Gold & Youth - "Time To Kill"
Chromatics - "Lady"
The Mandates - "Take You to the Dance"
Grown-Ups - "The Things I Could Live Without"
Ceremony - "Adult"
Thee Oh Sees - "Crushed Grass"
Les Jupes - "First We Take Manhatten"
Japandroids - "Jack the Ripper"
Rustie - "After Light"
Sebastian - "Yes"
The Arkells - "Michigan Left" (Young Galaxy Remix)
The Karpinka Brothers - "Until You"
Hank Snow - "I Wonder Where You Are Tonight"
Cuff the Duke - "Drag Me Down"
Manfred Mann - "The Runner"
      *this week's Slice of Cheese
Breaker Breaker - "You're A Machine"
Michael Rault - "Let Me Go Out"
of Montreal - "Wintered Debts"
Black Moth Super Rainbow - "Spraypaint"
Dirty Projecters - "Gun Has No Trigger"

Green Eggs and Ham: Rock 'N' Roll With Me

It's no fun dealing with a springtime cold, especially when you have to get up earlier than should be legal to do 2 hours of radio. That's precisely what kept me going this morning, though; that, and some new music from all over the country, some bumpin' electro at 7 and some excellent older jams from Bowie, Janet, and Doug. Take 2 and call me in the morning.
Here's the playlist:

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - "Jello and Juggernauts"
Skeletones Four - "Pick Up The Pieces"
David Bowie - "Rock N Roll With Me"
Money In The Banana Stand - "Korean Radio Blues"
Doug and the Slugs - "Opinions"
Ghost House - "Not Everything Ends"
Cass McCombs - "Mystery Mail"
Best Coast - "The Only Place"
Cannon Bros. - "Left in a Hurry"
Siamese Twins - "We Fall Apart"
Lee Ranaldo - "Off the Wall"
Health - "We Are Water" (Azari & III Remix)
Casiokids - "Fot i hose" (Axemax & Big P Remix)
ZZT - "The Worm"
Harvest Breed - "After Dinner Meditation"
Dale Murray - "My New World"
The Ramblin' Ambassadors - "Meat Sweats"
The Wooden Sky - "City Of Light"
Janet Jackson - "Love Will Never Do Without You"
      *this week's Slice Of Cheese
Eight And A Half - "Go Ego"
Pop Etc. - "Halfway To Heaven"
Sleigh Bells - "Comeback Kid"
PS I Love You - "Princess Towers"
Japandroids - "The House That Heaven Built"

Today's Tune: Japandroids - "The House That Heaven Built"

They're back. The Vancouver duo responsible for non-too-few awesome summer nights and quite probably a high amount of hearing loss (concert-go responsibly, folks), Japandroids, return June 5th with their sophomore album Celebration Rock. 

The first single, "The House That Heaven Built" is everything fans of their blistering debut Post-Nothing will find familiar: a bittersweet kiss-off that's equal parts celebratory and mournful; a road-ready jam that will find it's rightful place being belted out by the front row or just pumping from a lonely kid's Beats By Dre; the kind of anthemic nightlife shout-along that makes me use this many semi-colons in a single sentence. Raise a glass.

Japandroids - The House That Heaven Built

Green Eggs and Ham: So you think SOCAN dance

Besides spending a bit of time in the Mammoth Cave, tipping the hat to dancey cover tunes and playing a few brand spanking new blockbusters, much of the show this week was spent playing as many local tunes as would fit (and make sense together in the big picture of the show as a whole). Anything to get those SOCAN-dues-payers a little bit more scrilla for the spring. Here's the playlist:

Bidiniband - "Big Men Go Fast on the Water"
Elliott Brood - "West End Sky"
Bright Eyes - "A Machine Spiritual (In The People's Key)"
Dumb Angel - "Work Of Art"
Red Cedar - "Tsi'los"
Slow Down, Molasses - "Walk Into the Sea" (Factor Remix)
economics - "Neon Love"
Bocce - "Robot Servant"
Eamon McGrath - "Saskatoon, SK"
Ride 'Til Dawn - "Don't Cry No Tears"
Titus Andronicus - "Upon Viewing Oregon's Landscape With the Flood of Detritus"
Diamond Rings - "Mellow Doubt"
Zapp and Roger - "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"
Giorgio Moroder - "Knights in White Satin"
Beach House - "Myth"
Lotus Plaza - "Strangers"
The Shins - "Bait and Switch"
Starship - "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"
     *this week's Slice Of Cheese
TOPS - "Diamond Look"
B.A. Johnston - "Best Day Ever"
Real Boys - "Vacation"
The Famines - "Real Love Is A Sales Technique"
Ketamines - "Ketamine Babies"
Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet - "Zombie Compromise"

Today's Tune: Real Boys - "Vacation"

Tags can say a lot about a band. Take Vancouver's Real Boys, for instance. The four-piece, made up entirely of guys from bands with a yen for exclamation marks (Everett Morris of Oh No! Yoko, Stephen O'Shea formerly of You Say Party and at least one person from Abbostford post-hardcore math-rock unit GSTS!), whose bandcamp tags include "fun", "pop", "summer" and... well, that's it.

That says it all, really. Take "Vacation", the band's first single. From the get-go, the straight-ahead guitar riff and plaintive vocals conjure images of hitting the road with your best buds (and maybe a few beers), shimmering sun on blacktop highways and just a little bit of heartbreak. OK, maybe a lot.
The first EP from Real Boys is out March 27th. Catch them on their Western Canadian tour, and in Saskatoon on April 11th at Vangelis.

Today's Tune: Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet - "Zombie Compromise"

The knowledge that the always excellent Lethbridge-based Mammoth Cave Recording Co. was planning to re-release the complete discography of Toronto-via-Calgary surf-psych stalwarts Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet at some point in 2012 has been knocking around in my noggin for a number of months (methinks Paul Lawton let it slip at a B.A. Johnston/Moby Dicks show back in the fall). Today's news of a release date (the roll-out starts June 1st with 1990's Savvy Show Stoppers, a compilation of tunes from the 80's) was pleasing enough to hear, but coupled with the fact that the surviving members (Reid Diamond, the original bassist, passed away a number of years ago) would be reuniting at this year's Sled Island festival in Calgary, I've got no choice but to be shuffling around my house to their retro-rock riffs unabashedly for the next three months and longer. Surf's up!

Green Eggs and Ham: Wasted Days

This week's show featured a epic, jammy start and didn't let up until it's haunted, mellow finish. We danced - as always - at 7, tripped out to highlights from the "Bloodstains Across the Prairies" EP from Mammoth Cave, paid tribute to Canuck bands of yore (or, more specifically, the 1990's) and did what we always do: played some new quality music. I'm not sure where all this "we" business is coming from. Here's the playlist:

Cloud Nothings - "Wasted Days"
Islands - "Never Go Solo"
First Aid Kit - "Blue"
Yukon Blonde - "Stairway"
Cub - "New York City"
Thrush Hermit - "Pink Is The Colour"
Limblifter - "Cellophane"
Damien Jurado - "Nothing Is The News"
Sharon Van Etten - "Magic Chords"
Beirut - "Payne's Bay"
Mylo - "In My Arms" (Popular Computer Remix)
Crystal Castles - "Celestica"
Ladyhawke - "Black White And Blue" (Treasure Fingers Remix)
Beni - "Last Night" (Brodinski Remix)
Microdot - "End Credits Roll"
Auld Beak - "Queen of the North"
Caves - "Feed the Plow"
Haunted Souls - "Hairy Prairie"
This Hisses - "The Long Slow Crawl"
Jerry Reed - "She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)"
     *this week's Slice Of Cheese
Leeroy Stagger - "Dirty Windshields"
Octoberman - "Thank You Mr. V"
Lambchop - "2B2"
Perfume Genius - "Normal Song"
Jordan Klassen - "Go To Me"

Green Eggs and Ham: Women In Paris

Some surprises this morning (whoever thought I'd play something form Watch the Throne just after 7 AM?), but also a whole heckuva lot of women. It's International Women's Day after all, but I didn't make any special effort to "include" the fairer sex. There's just always a lot of women making damn good music. Just like - if not as good as -  men make. (*Note: fake sexism used for comic effect). I'll quit while I'm ahead. Here's the playlist:

Colleen Green - "Goldmine"

Sunparlour Players - "Sleep"

Fanfarlo - "Tunguska"

Amelia Curran - "Hands on a Grain of Sand"

Zachary Lucky - "Saskatchewan"

Grimes - "Be A Body"

Food Pyramid - "Southside Blacktop Beat"

TRST - "Dressed For Space"

Caracol - "Horseshoe Woman"

Your 33 Black Angels - "Patient Love"

The Young - "Don't Hustle For Love"

School Of Seven Bells - "Lafaye" (Scissor Sisters Remix)

Sepalcure - "The One"

Graphics - "MacGrackleton"

Katy B - "Witches Brew" (Diplo Remix)

Jay-Z & Kanye West - "N****s In Paris"

Little Scream - "Cannons"

Boxer The Horse - "Party Saturday"

Change - "Change of Heart"   *this week's Slice of Cheese

Topanga - "Mabu"

The Just Barelys - "Lions"

The Men - "Oscillation"

Julia Holter - "In the Same Room"

Paper Beat Scissors - "Folds"

Today's Tune: Zachary Lucky - "Saskatchewan"

Zachary Lucky has an old soul. Although still not quite at the age range known as the "mid-to-late-twenties", Lucky manages to consistently craft mature missives to basic human needs: love, home, a place to belong. It's no shock, then, that his new EP (although, let's face it, it's an album) Saskatchewan is a stirring collection of such songs.

The blend of voice, acoustic guitar, pedal steel (provided by Lucas Goetz of The Deep Dark Woods), cello and piano isn't exactly new;  roots music is so-called for a very good reason. Lucky's decision to focus his songwriting on his home, however, makes this particular batch of music particularly resonant.

"Saskatchewan" perfectly captures an interesting blend of nostalgic longing, reverent tribute and sheer gratitude with just a tincture of restlessness (although that might just be the pedal steel getting to me). It also manages to evoke Zachary Lucky's actual personality. An example of true-to-self expression from an artist to watch.

I urge you to visit Zachary Lucky's bandcamp page to download the whole EP, or to order a physical copy.

Green Eggs and Ham: Frontwards

A detour into French (and French-Canadian) dystopic electro, a few new songs, a few old songs, and a capper of songs that would sound great over the end credits to a movie. That and more. Here's the playlist:

The Dears - "Yesteryear"
Pavement - "Frontwards"
Mary Jane Stole My Girl - "Dylan Thomas"
Whitehorse - "I'm On Fire"
Bleating Hearts - "Walls Come Tumbling Down"
Tindersticks - "Chocolate"
The Wooden Sky - "Malibu Rum"
Dr. Dog - "Do The Trick"
Tanlines - "All Of Me"
Frankie Rose - "Daylight Sky"
Danielle Duval - "Ambulance"
Police des moeurs - "Ville souterraine"
Liz & László - "Rien a Paris"
Chevalier Avant Garde - "Axion"
The Ketamines - "Teenage Rebellion Time"
Royal Headache - "Girls"
War - "Brodermordet"
PS I Love You - "Sentimental Dishes"
Billy Ocean - "When The Going Gets Tough"
     *this week's Slice Of Cheese
Rococode - "Blood"
Sharon Van Etten - "Give Out"
By Divine Right - "Help Me Find A Place To Land"
Hey Rosetta! - "Welcome"
Jason Collett - "I'll Bring The Sun"

Today's Tune: PS I Love You - "Sentimental Dishes"

Say hello to the new rock gods.

I didn't think it was possible for the music of Kingston, ON duo PS I Love You to get more anthemic and more noisy without sacrificing a bit of pop quality. I was wrong. "Sentimental Dishes", off their upcoming sophomore album Death Dreams, does just that. From the opening count-in, it's all stomp-along riffs, sing-along choruses, and virtuoso solo-ing. When it all ends in a squall of feedback, you'll be restarting the track. If anybody actually tries to do dishes to this song, watch out.

PS I LOVE YOU 'Sentimental Dishes' by Paper Bag Records

Green Eggs and Ham: Tales of the Unexpected

The unintentional theme this morning seemed to be unexpected developments. Weird sets with songs that didn't really obviously relate to each other; the fact that I played an Usher song and it wasn't in the Slice Of Cheese segment; the news that Feist will be headlining this year's Jazz Festival. I would have been remiss if I hadn't finished the show as I did, with a tribute to the late Chris Reimer (of Calgary band Women and a touring member of The Dodos) whose tragic and extremely untimely death caught us all by the worst kind of surprise.

Here's the playlist:

Horse Feathers - "Fit Against the Country"
Bahamas - "Okay, Alright, I'm Alive"
Mike O'Neill - "Henry"
Neon Indian - "Halogen (I Could Be A Shadow)"
Giorgio Moroder - "Stop"
Electric Six - "Improper Dancing"
Cousins - "Khyber"
Camp Radio - "Reinventing the Laugh Track"
Cannon Bros - "Out Of Here"
Sam & Dave - "Broke Down Piece of Man"
Cadence Weapon - "88"
Ohbijou - "Turquoise Lake"
Feist - "Undiscovered First"
Usher - "Climax"
Charli XCX - "I'll Never Know"
Turing Machine - "Slave to the Algorithm"
Baby Eagle & The Proud Mothers - "Brave Women"
Lake Forest - "Coming Through Slaughter"
Gregory Abbott - "Shake You Down"  
            *this week's Slice of Cheese
Black Mountain - "Mary Lou"
Crocodiles - "Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9)"
Women - "Penal Colony"
The Dodos - "Companions"

Green Eggs and Ham: Bedbugs and Ballyhoo

"Up and at them" as Rainier Wolfcastle would say. That's what I went and got. This week's show featured a trip into 70's style rock (with a true classic thrown into the middle), a look at the former members of Sister Suvi (namely, Pat Jordache and Merrill Garbus), new music from The Elwins, B.A. Johnston, Cuff the Duke and Heartless Bastards, and one truly sassy slice of cheese. Here's the playlist:

The Drums - "Hard To Love"
Winter Gloves - "Gym Class"
Echo & The Bunnymen - "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo"
Diamond Rings - "Give It Up"
The Soft Pack - "Answer To Yourself"
Cuff The Duke - "Cold Blooded Old Times"
Elliott Brood - "Hold You"
Zeus - "Anything You Want Dear"
Blitzen Trapper - "Fletcher"
Lighthouse - "Lonely Places"
Band of Skulls - "The Devil Takes Care of His Own"
Heartless Bastards - "Parted Ways"
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - "Nothing But Our Love" (Kasper Bjørke Remix)
Les Petits Pilous - "Dodo Electro"
Joy Orbison - "J.Doe"
Rustie - "Ultra Thizz"
Paper Beat Scissors - "Season's Rest"
The Elwins - "Paper In Your Pocket"
702 - "Where My Girls At"    *this week's Slice of Cheese
B.A. Johnston - "Raised by the Wooden Spoon"
Junior Boys - "Second Chance"
Sister Suvi - "L Train"
Pat Jordache - "Song For Arthur"
tUnE-yArDs - "Killa"

EXCLUSIVE: Miesha & The Spanks - Rock 'n' Roll Riot

Last weekend I had a chance to sit down and chat with Miesha and Stu from Calgary stomp-inducers Miesha & The Spanks. The conversation touched on C'mon (the Spanks opened up at their final show ever), and featured the inaugural (and possible only ever) edition of "The Lightning Round". You can check out the interview, and some live footage below.







For more stuff like this, including conversations with Ohbijou and Shotgun Jimmie, just click on the "flatstastic" username on the YouTube page. Internets!

Green Eggs and Ham: Finn, Foonyap & Valentines

The mood was a bit all over the place this morning, but it was kind of according to plan. Solid songs from Saskatoon and Alberta predominated, with Foonyap, Miesha and Dirty Ghosts making waves for the fairer sex. The show also included a look back at the career of Craig Finn, one of the worst "Slice of Cheese" segments ever and a mini-Valentines show packed into 3 awesome tracks. Here's the playlist:

Shearwater - "Breaking the Yearlings"
Okkervil River - "Hanging From A Hit"
Marine Dreams - "Fold The Sky"
Synthcake - "House Love Ground"
Foonyap and the Roar - "The Leviathan"
Dirty Ghosts - "No Video"
Bishop Morocco - "Old Boys"
Beach Fossils - "Shallow"
CFCF - "Exercise 3 (Building)"
Lifter Puller - "Nice, Nice"
The Hold Steady - "Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night"
Craig Finn - "No Future"
Shout Out Out Out Out - "Procrastinator's Fight Song"
Soul Clap - "Lonely C"
Holy Ghost! - "Wait and See"
Breakbot - "Baby I'm Yours"
Miesha & The Spanks - "Night Danger"
Shuyler Jansen - "Totally Anonymous"
Young Benjamins - "Tunnel Mountain"
Will to Power - "Baby I Love Your Way / Freebird"    
           *this week's Slice of Cheese
Boxer The Horse - "Rattle Your Cage"
Bruce Peninsula - "Adrenaline"
Shotgun Jimmie - "Valentines Day"
Spoon - "The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine"
Drive-By Truckers - "Feb 14"

Today's Tune: Teen Daze - "Brooklyn Sunburn"

All around me are signs of seasonal affected disorder. It's suicide month, as my friends remind me cheerfully. That deep, dark part of winter that makes you want to alternate between shouting into the abyss and curling fetally under the downiest of blankets, sleeping until summer.

Thanks to the mental ray of sunshine that always seems to accompany a new Teen Daze track, that feeling can be staved off, at least for a little while. "Brooklyn Sunburn" is the first single off the B.C. solo curiosity's first true full-length album, All Of Us, Together. You can't grab a copy of it until May 22 (whoah!), but take a listen to how far Teen Daze has come. Not content to simply be labelled "chillwave" and left for dead, this new song seems as relevant as it does nostalgic. The mellow pulse will have you awash in summer vibes at least until next Wednesday (at which point I suggest restarting the track).

Green Eggs and Ham: The Skin of our Teeth

I'm an idiot. Needless to say, the situation I found myself in was completely of my own doing. Here I am, supremely tired and unable to realize that the input selector for connecting my computer to the board in the studio was switched to be used with the cassette deck. Not realizing this at all, and simply assuming that something was broken, I quickly put on a Godspeed song while I scrambled through the station library to find 2 hours of music. It went well in the end. Here's the playlist:

Charlotte Cornfield - "All of the Pretty Mistakes"
Fruit Bats - "The Banishment Song"
Kathleen Edwards - "Chameleon / Comedian"
Mark Lanegan Band - "Ode To Sad Disco"
Rococode - "Empire"
Foam Lake - "Force and Matter"
Perfume Genius - "Take Me Home"
John K. Samson - "Letter in Icelandic from the Ninette San"
The Warped 45's - "Widows' Well"
Joker - "The Magic Causeway"
M83 - "Steve McQueen"
Justice - "Parade"
Erin Passmore - "Downtown"
Library Voices - "Regina I Don't Want To Fight"
Father Figures - "Cold Shadows"
Prozzäk - "Europa "    *this week's Slice of Cheese
The Big Pink - "1313"
Tigre Benvie - "Black Bolt"
Jon McKiel - "Confidence Lodge"
The Beets - "You Don't Want Kids To Be Dead"
Cloud Nothings - "Fall In"

Today's Tune: Erin Passmore - "Downtown"

"Time to find a new interest in a town with nothing to do" sings Erin Passmore at the outset at the eponymous first single from her debut Downtown EP.  Recognizably about Passmore's hometown, Regina, this telling lyric is enough a justification of her continued pursuit of music as anything I've ever heard in a song. Besides, the song is as catchy as anything Passmore has released with her band, and must-see-live party-in-band-form Rah Rah. There's some more justification right there.

The Downtown EP comes out February 28 on Hidden Pony Records. You can stream the entire thing, with flavours of soul, doo-wop, bossa nova and folk at Erin Passmore's site, and you can download "Downtown" for free in exchange for an e-mail address (I suggest your own) below.

Today's Tune: Patrick Watson - "Into Giants"

When Patrick Watson sings the refrain "Started as lovers / Don't know where it's gonna end" on "Into Giants", off the upcoming album Adventures In Your Own Backyard (out on April 17th in Canada on Secret City Records, on Domino elsewhere), it feels painfully bittersweet. The plaintive repetition evokes the best kind of passionate relationship, whether it be a romantic one between two people or that between a musical artist and their most ardent fans. As can now be expected in Watson's songs, the unexpected rears it's head. In this, it's in the form of a fanfare-like trumpet that turns this adorable but otherwise ordinary pop gem into something altogether more anthemic and celebratory. Stream the song and download it for free at Patrick Watson's official site.

Green Eggs and Ham: Faster, Harder

This morning started, as perhaps all should, with a drum-and-bass flurry courtesy of Björk. From there, I plugged the upcoming house concert with The Low Anthem, explored how many downers I could play before feeling depressed, rocked some local colour with Powder Blue, danced, drank wine and rocked my body. Lots of stuff happened. Not all of it was memorable. Here's the playlist:

Björk - "Crystalline"
Doug Hoyer - "Oh, the Wind Will Blow"
Trailer Trash Tracys - "Dies In 55"
DJ Shadow - "Give Me Back The Nights" (economics version)
Rheostatics - "Who is that Man, and Why is he Laughing?"
The Low Anthem - "To Ohio"
Broken Records - "I Used To Dream"
Drawn Ship - "Silent Auction"
Nordic Nomadic - "Worldwide Skyline"
Powder Blue - "I Can Go On Forever"
Shigeto - "Huron River Drive"
Blondes - "Wine"
Shadow Dancer - "What Is Natural"
The Darcys - "Peg"
Steely Dan - "Peg"
Twin Sister - "Kimmi In A Rice Field"
Weed - "With Drug"
The Deele - "Body Talk"   *this week's Slice Of Cheese
Royal Baths - "Faster, Harder"
Shimmering Stars - "When I See You Again"
Paper Beat Scissors - "Rest Your Bones"
Patrick Watson - "Into Giants"

Today's Tune: Paper Beat Scissors - "Rest Your Bones"

I have a man-crush on Tim Crabtree. Originally from England, the one-man heartmelter known as Paper Beat Scissors now calls Halifax home. I'm happy, because we Canucks can now pretend to claim him as one of our own (we like to do that here). He's a legal citizen. It's cool.

It's been a couple of years since the Paper Beat Scissors Flicker EP came out, and Crabtree - road warrior that he is - has been touring Canada relentlessly behind it ever since. It must have caught the attention of Michael Feuerstack (Snailhouse, Bell Orchestre) because his label, Forward Music,  is releasing the debut self-titled album (which he co-produced) "around 01 March" on CD and limited edition LP.

Take a listen to the album version of "Rest Your Bones", a favourite of mine. Live, PBS loops himself to create the glorious vocal harmonies. One can be a bit more expansive with recordings, and the song has been augmented with restrained horns and ethereal (I might even go as far as to say "Bon Iver-esque") backing vocals. Also below, the Here On Out video for "Rest Your Bones", made by Phil Creamer last year.

 

On the DL: The Darcys - AJA

If you're a critically acclaimed prog-folk band from Toronto, how do you follow up your excellent debut album (on Arts & Crafts, no less) that - in addition to selling physically - you gave away for free digitally?

Apparently, you strap on the guitars and record every song from the 1977 Steely Dan album AJA and give it away for free digitally. Bad business plan? Maybe not. As it says on The Darcys' website after the AJA download link is clicked,  "It is very important to us that this album is accessible and can be enjoyed easily. We are eager to have the world hear what we have spent a great deal of time creating. We would rather have you as a fan tomorrow than have a little of your money today." Absolutely amazing.

It's a fascinating tribute. Upon first listen,  AJA proves itself a worthy adaptation of a seminal work. It'll end up being a collector's item, too, as this second of 3 planned albums from The Darcys is also out today on limited edition coloured vinyl. Get downloading.

The Darcys - AJA by Arts & Crafts

Green Eggs and Ham: Edge of Darkness

Everything old is new again. This week featured new tunes from the likes of Bear In Heaven, Teledrome and Rae Spoon mixed in with oldies/goodies from The Diodes, Eno & Cale and Cracker. That's right, no theme. But sometimes you've just gotta play 2 hours of solid music and hope for the best. Here's the playlist:


Eno & Cale - "Spinning Away"
Ferriswheel - "Feed Your Lion"
Young & Sexy - "The Fog"
jj - "Ice"
Miracle Fortress - "Tropic of Canada"
The Diodes - "Edge of Darkness"
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - "Bottled Up In Cork"
The Deadly Snakes - "High Prices Going Down"
Each Other - "Odd Body of Water"
Black Dice - "Pigs"
D-Sisive - "The Unkown" (ft. Birdapres & Cadence Weapon)
Himanshu - "Computers"
Miike Snow - "Devil's Work"
Manitoulin - "The Grotto"
Rihanna - "We Found Love" (Star Slinger refix)
Bear In Heaven - "The Reflection of You"
Sans AIDS - "These Eyes"
Teledrome - "Dial Tone"
Laura Branigan - "Self Control"   *this week's Slice Of Cheese
Austra - "Lose It" (Paper Bag Sessions)
Eight And A Half - "Scissors"
Rae Spoon - "I Can't Keep All of Our Secrets"
Cracker - "Sweet Potato"
Yuck - "Stutter"
EMA - "Milkman"

Video Diary: Sled Island 2011 Part 1

It's bone-chillingly cold in Saskatoon right now, so in an effort to warm you and keep your circulation going I've decided to share footage from Sled Island 2011 with you. Funny thing about going to a crazy jam-packed festival and bringing a video camera: a person might get a little carried away with the beers, might get a bit too endorphin-ey. So it looks like I suffered from an inability to hold the camera still, opting instead to rapidly zoom every 10 seconds. It's like watching a Shaw Brothers movie without any of the awesome fight scenes. You can also check out my Sled aftermath essay from back in the summer here. Huge thanks to CFCR for making this possible in the first place. Check back for future instalments.

Today's Tune: Kathleen Edwards - "Empty Threat"

It's interesting that the cover art for folk/country/adult-alt-saviour Kathleen Edwards' new album Voyageur (out today) features the shape of the great lakes. These massive bodies of water spanning a significant (at least in terms of significance) piece of the USA/Canada border could almost be seen as a metaphor for Edwards herself. She is one of the rare artists (and one of the even rarer good artists) who has "crossed over", enjoying success in her homeland and the fallen empire below the 49th alike.

Interesting, too, that in the opening song on the album, the titular "empty threat" is that she is going to move to America. After recording an album this fantastic with somebody as influential right now as Bon Iver (née Justin Vernon), after transforming her already punchy sound into something as ethereal as the memory of her impressive vocal ability after the last note has faded away, she's bound to multiply her cross-border appeal by at least an order of magnitude.

Friday Finisher: Teen Daze - "Let's Groove"

One wouldn't expect B.C.'s Teen Daze, one of the artists initially saddled with the "chillwave" tag, to craft a disco pounder. It seems that's exactly what has happened. Not just any horn-blaring, undeniably catchy number will do. It's almost a perfect exploration of the genre. Billed as a new year's gift to his fans, Teen Daze posted the track up on his bandcamp right around the turn of the year. It's not just an NYE jam.  It'll do for just about any party. Get groovin'!

Green Eggs and Ham: Peer Into The Crystal Ball

This week's show was a look ahead at 2012: music from releases coming out in the next few months by bands as diverse as Bidiniband, Frankie Rose and The Shins. I also paused to look at some of the bands we lost in the past year, with Broken Social Scene, C'mon, and Moby Dicks leading in to this week's slice of cheese, a miserable (ahem) classic from Soul Asylum. Wrap it up in a neat bow, call it the future. Here's the playlist:

Islands - "This Is Not A Song"
Georgia Anne Muldrow - "Seeds"
Cold Specks - "Holland"
Memoryhouse - "The Kids Were Wrong"
Joel Plaskett - "You're Mine"
Bidiniband - "Last of the Dead Wrong Things"
The Twilight Sad - "Another Bed"
Ceremony - "Hysteria"
Frankie Rose - "Know Me"
La Sera  - "Please Be My Third Eye"
Plants and Animals - "Lightshow"
Tanlines - "Brothers"
Grimes - "Genesis"
Trust - "Bulbform"
Broken Social Scene - "Sentimental X's"
Moby Dicks - "Spiders"
C'mon - "Too Bad For The Tin Man"
Soul Asylum - "Misery"    *this week's Slice of Cheese
The Shins - "Simple Song"
John K. Samson - "Stop Error"
Kathleen Edwards - "Change the Sheets"
of Montreal - "Dour Percentage"
Mac Demarco - "Baby's Wearin Blue Jeans"

Today's Tune: Trust - "Bulbform"

If you saw my year-end best of list, you know I love Austra. Since I can only listen to that album so many times before craving at least a new scrap or tidbit, I was happy to be exposed to Trust's  "Candy Walls".

The duo of Robert Alfons and Maya Postepski (who happens to be in another band by the name of... Austra) fashion mid-tempo minimal techno like dark chocolate truffles: bittersweet and bracing with a glisteningly moist centre. After their 7" release of "Candy Walls", the excellent Sacred Bones Records (home to Zola Jesus, among others) released a second 7" single: "Bulbform". Darkly erotic dance music won't be ignored for long, though, so it looks like Trust have been snapped up by Arts & Crafts and are set to release their debut full-length, TRST, on February 28th.


Trust - Bulbform by Arts & Crafts