Of course I named the show after the great album by the Smittens and I pay homage to the band by using a clip of their song 11:11 for my theme. I hope the band doesn't mind, but when I have talked to various members of the band after shows they seem like nice people whom I think would be good with it.

I also use this name for my DJ night happening occasionally at the Jane Bond in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

Note that the links to shows older than 6 months might not be working, if you really want those shows please send me an email and I can get them to you. (Note that prior to 2018 I called my podcast FireballXL5, so don't be confused if you look at an old setlist)

Special thanks to Jeff Woods for finding my a place to host my mp3s!


December 17, 2007

Theme: Christmas Time
On Air: Frank

I played a few new Christmas songs and a few old Fireball XL5 standards, but when all is said and done the best holiday song is still Elisa Gabbai's Winter In Kanada.

Not much else to say about the show, but I just wanted to mention that most of the new songs I played I stole from this podcast:
http://notquiterocketscience.com/2007/12/pop-christmas.html

TALK-Theme
Lucky Lucky Pigeons - Red Santa
Amelia Fletcher and Hit Parade - Christmas Tears
The Fireflys - Xmas Song
Shumai - California Christmas
David Carswell and Megan Barnes - I Wanna Kiss You This Christmas (C)
TALK
Irene - Christmas On The Beach
Shadetree - Christmas Peace
Hello Saferide - Ipod Xmas
Higher Elevations - All These Summer Nights
Buck - Christmas In My Heart (C)
TALK
Belle and Sebastian - Santa, Bring My Baby Back
Dada - My Baby Fell For Ol' St Nick
Louis Armstrong - Zat You, Santa Claus?
New Birth Brass Band - Santa's Second Line
Jaymz Bee And The Royal Jelly Orchestra - Jingle Bells (C)
TALK
The Gems - Love For Christmas
The Diskettes - Noel (C)
Young and Sexy - Santa Claus Likes Rich Kids Better (C)
Bobby Baby - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Montt Mardie - I Wish Everyday Could Be Christmas
Rose Melberg and Gregory Webs - Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)
TALK
Lucky Soul - Lonely This Christmas
Eux Autres - Another Christmas At Home
Oh! Sweet Music - Oh! Sweet Christmas
Parker Lewis - Xmas Carols NYC
Stars - Fairytale Of New York (C)
TALK
Carolyn Mark - The Christmas Song (C)
Relient K - I Ain't Getting Nuttin For Christmas
Yo La Tengo - Rock'N'Roll Santa
Arcade Fire - Jingle Bell Rock (C)
The Decemberists - Please Daddy (Don't Get Drunk Tonight)
El Perro Del Mar - Oh What A Christmas
Darryl Reimer - Merry Big Ole Christmas (C)
Elisa Gabbai - Winter In Kanada
TALK
The Knife - Christmas Reindeer


(C) Denotes Canadian Content

December 7, 2007

Theme: Spotlight on HHBTM
On Air: Frank

I got through a lot of great music this show that I had stored up the weeks and months before. I also did two sets highlighting a great record label with a great name: Happy Happy Birthday to Me. I came upon them reading a blog that described bands as having that "HHBTM" sound, I like the band so I did some research and found out what HHBTM stood for and found the record label's website. Most of the bands have the Indie-Twee sound that I'm into so it was a fortuitous find.

You can find out more about the label and listen to many of bands here: http://www.hhbtm.com

Just one other note that the song my Murray Dear sounded to me so much like the Magnetic Fields that I had to play them immediately after. In other Magnetic Fields news their new album is due out in January something that I'm very much looking forward to hearing.

TALK-Theme
Rilo Kiley - Silver Lining
The Sadies - Higher Power (C)
Bughouse 5 - Ten Lost Years (C)
Hot Kid - Ties That Bind (C)
Andrew Vincent and the Pirates - Martha (C)
TALK
The Weakerthans - Civil Twilight (C)
The Evaporators - Grassy Jack (C)
Cut Off Your Hands - Expectations
The Purrs - She's Got Chemicals
TV On The Radio - Wolf Like Me
We All Have Hooks For Hands - The Man Is Trying To Outfox Us All
TALK
Murray Dear - Deserter
The Magnetic Fields - I Thought You Were My Boyfriend
Tellus About The Moon - Hate
Postal Blue - Weather Sensitive
The Assistants - Stop Dead (C)
TALK (HHBTM Set 1)
Keith John Adams - Never Look Down
Patience Please - I'll Have What She's Having
The Smittens - Stop The Bombs
Casper and the Cookies - Eux Autres
TALK (HHBTM Set 1)
James Ausfahrt - Lucy Ferocious
Slumber Party - Sooner Or Later
Spring Factory - Get Out Of Bed
The Dreamers - A Place I Know
TALK
Lykke Li - Little Bit
B'Ehl - Jammers Like Me (C)
Paint By Numbers - Deep In The Snow
The Lovely Feathers - The Only Appalachian Cornfield (C)
The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir - I Never Thought I Could Feel That Way For A Boy
TALK
DJ Champion - No Heaven (C)


(C) Denotes Canadian Content

November 23, 2007

Theme: Fun with Bruce
On Air: Frank

My top song this week was by a band from Florida called the "Black Kids" and their great tune called "I'm Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend To Dance". As opposed to the Shout Out Louds songs (see the August 17 setlist) that sounded like it was a cover of a song by The Cure that I had not heard about before, this song sounds like a song the The Cure might write in the future.

By the way it came from a great podcast that highly recommend, it is the KEXP song of the day ( http://kexp.org/podcasting/podcasting.asp ) every weekday you get a new song, it is hit and miss but when I love a song I really love it like this one.

Yes, I promise this was the last time I will do a direct comparison between Jens Lekman and Jonathan Richman, but if you listen to the two songs the "Bum-ba-bum-ba-bum-ba-bum-ba-bum-ba-bum-ba-bum" part is identical. I'm not alone in thinking this as I managed to find 2 other references to this similarity:
http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviewcomment.php?ID=3596
http://users.livejournal.com/_shmoo/

Congratulations to Dave and Michael who won the tickets to "Control", the movie about Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis.

TALK-Theme
Black Kids - I'm Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend To Dance
All Girl Summer Fun Band - Girl #3
Postal Blue - Puzzle
Edson - Sunday, Lovely Sunday
TALK
Masonic - Way Gone By **See Note 1
Neverending White Lights - Always (C)
Shock Hop Arousal - Rhythm Thief (C)
The Hives - Won't Be Long
TALK
Joy Division - Ice Age **Suggested by Dave F.
Joy Division - Decades **Suggested by Michael T.
New Order - Waiting For The Siren's Call
Small Sins - It Keeps Me On My Toes (C)
TALK
Hidden Cameras - Smells Like Happiness (C)
Ostrich - Ice Cold Killers
TIAC - Catalogue of Failures
The Evaporators - Do The Eggbeater (C)
TALK
Jonathan Richman - Walter Johnson
Jens Lekman - Sweet Summers Night on Hammer Hill
Jens Lekman - You Can Call Me Al
The Pipettes - Judy
TALK
The Brunettes - If You Were Alien
Basia Bulat - Before I Knew
Chicklet - Whitewashed
Lykke Li - Tonight **See Note 2
Belle and Sebastian - A Century of Fakers **Thanks to Karen
TALK
The Golden Dogs - 1985

Note 1: I got this song from Derek's Bury Me Not MP3 Blog - www.burymenot.com

Note 2: She is supposed to be the next Robyn.

(C) Denotes Canadian Content

November 9, 2007

Theme: Fun with Bruce
On Air: Frank and Bruce

I was lucky enough to have a guest on this week's show in the form of Bruce who came all the way from Saskatoon just to be there (well actually he might have had a meeting in town or something like that as well). As a result of having a guest you might notice from the length of the setlist that we talked a lot and didn't play nearly as many songs as a usual week.

For the first time in a while I played a funky/jazzy/dancy kind of set, I know it has been a while as some of the songs came from the CDs I made a few months ago. The rest of the show was a mish-mash of whatever Bruce and I felt like playing, but overall we mixed up picking out most of the music so I didn't note who picked what on the list.

One thing we didn't really talk much about till nearly the end of my show was recent trip to Chicago, but I did manage to get in my two stories that came from riding on the Chicago subway (you will have to listen to podcast to find out more). But I didn't have the time to properly talk about the main reason that I went to Chicago was to see Jens Lekman, so I'll try and do a better recap on the next show.


TALK-Theme
The Sonics - Stychnine
Immaculate Machine - Broken Ship (C)
Chuck Prophet - Doubter of Jesus (All Over You)
The Fiery Furnaces - The Old Hag Is Sleeping
The Voom Booms - Nine Ships
TALK (funky/jazzy/dancy set 1)
Stan Getz - The Girl From Ipanema
The Trinidad Steel Band - Sissy Strut
Ruby And The Romantics - Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore
Time Box - Beggin'
Roisin Murphy - Let Me Know **See Note 1
TALK (funky/jazzy/dancy set 2)
Gorillaz - Rock The House
Buck 65 - Dang (C)
David Bowie with The Pet Shop Boys - Hallo Spaceboy
Small Sins - I Need A Friend (C)
Thievery Corporation - Vivid
TALK
Eugene Ripper - Banks Of Newfoundland (C) **See Notes 2 and 3
Dog Day - Oh Dead Life (C)
Neverending White Lights - The World Is Darker (C)
The Weakerthans - Sun In An Empty Room (C)
Jens Lekman - Sipping On The Sweet Nectar
TALK
Feist - I Feel It All (C)

Note 1: Out of all the songs I played this week this is the one I have listened to the most since the show.

Note 2: The last time Bruce and I had seen each other was at a conference in St. John's, Newfoundland at a conference, thus this song seemed appropriate.

Note 3: Another note about this song was that it came from a CD that was sent to me by Eugene Ripper.

(C) Denotes Canadian Content

October 26, 2007

Theme: Party rock to Twee
On Air: Frank

Once again I had to make a comparison between Jens Lekman and Jonathan Richman (and I know I promised that this would be the last time during the show but I might have to do it just one more time). In both of these songs they narrate a little story about their past that goes along with the song, they even have some of the same articulation. In the case of Lekman, this version of the song is 7 minutes long from the digital-only EP that was released before the album and it gives a lot more background on the story than the 4 minute version that is on the CD.

Not much else to say about the rest of the show: a set about upcoming shows, a party rock set, and a few random sets of great songs. A few notes about a few of the songs are shown below.


TALK-Theme
The Brunettes - Baby
Strawberry Whiplash - Falling Through
Heavenly - Three Star Component
The San Marinos - Guess How Much I Love You
TALK (Upcoming show set)
Bella - None Will Ever Know (C)
Knock, Knock Ginger - Syllables (C)
Square Root of Margaret - Time Bomb (C)
The Pipettes - Dance & Boogie **See Note 1
TALK (very Twee)
Jens Lekman - Postcard For Nina
Jonathan Richman - Monologue About Bermuda
Oh! Sweet Music - Four Long Years
Tullycraft - The Punks Are Writing Love Songs
TALK (party rock)
Shout Out Out Out Out - Chicken Soup For The F*** You (C) **See Note 2
The Russian Futurists - These Seven Notes (C)
Bocce - Again Again Again Again (C)
The Go! Team - Doing It Right
TALK
Tokyo Police Squad - Box (C)
The Sequins - Lost Art Of Friendship
Chuck Prophet - Doubter Out Of Jesus
Simply Saucer - Bullet Proof Nothing (C)
Small Sins - On The Line (C)
TALK
Juni Jarvi - Asleep

Note 1: I don't like that the Pipettes put a couple of extra songs on the US release of album after I bought the import version last year.

Note 2: Saw them at the Starlight the night before the show, crazy crowd, great show.

(C) Denotes Canadian Content

October 12, 2007

Theme: Some old time garage rock
On Air: Frank

I've been listening to the first set of this show over and over again, it was just a really, really good set.
Anchored by the incredible new release by Swedish pop sensation Jens Lekman (he actually did have the number 1 album
in Sweden for a week). The album is called "Night Falls Over Kortedala" and it reminds me a lot of the great songs
that Jonathan Richman was recording in his prime, so of course I had to play Richman in the set. Interestingly,
Lekman's sound is not for everybody and I can see how he might not be eveybody's cup of tea, but for those who are
into him they are usually really into him and so you should give him a shot as he might just become one of your
favourite artists.

The second set ended with Shout Out Out Out Out. Interesting fact I found out about the band while I was listening
to a session they did on CBC radio was that their lead singer is the son of a guy who used to be in band called
Wilfrid N and the Grown Men. I might be wrong on this but I think that I used to listen the them back in the day.
In this case "the day" was back in the late 1980s when I used to listen to a bunch of "garage" bands and I think
they were one of them.

Not only was it kind of cool that he was able to cover a song by his dad it also gave me a great idea for set of
music by garage bands (with the added bonus of making me feel old). Many of the songs I played are available as
free downloads from the London music archive provided by CHRW, the UWO campus radio station where I used to be a DJ.
Many of the songs from the set I played were from cassette compilations that came as part of homemade music "zine"
called What Wave. You can see the archive that contains the What Wave compilations here:
http://chrwradio.com/lma/LMA1990.htm

TALK-Theme
Jens Lekman - Friday Night At The Drive-in Bingo
Jonathan Richman - Our Swingin' Pad
Juni Jarvi - If We Just Want To
Irene - End Of The Line
Murder Mystery - What My Baby Said
TALK
Small Sins - Drunk e-mails (C)
Stars - Midnight Coward (C)
The Go! Team - Grip Like A Vice
You Say Party! We Say Die! - What's The Hold Up? Where's The Fire? (C)
Shout Out Out Out Out - For Ever Indebted (C)
TALK
Wilfrid N And The Grown Men - Sad New Day (C)
Misc S - Real World (C)
Colour Me Psycho - October God (C)
The Gruesomes - You're Not The Boss Of Me (C)
The Empty Hours - Same Time, Same Place (C)
TALK
Those Dancing Days - Hitten **See Note 1
Novillero - Lost Possibilities (C)
Stuffy And The Fuses - Joe C (is an idiot)
Sun Parlour Players - The Detroit River Is Alive (C)
The Zoobombs - Highway A Go-Go **See Note 2
TALK
Sunny Intervals - Sixty Seconds To Fall In Love
Everyday Sensations - Things We Never Had
Little Name - Picked Out The Line
Amida - Virtue Was Your Downfall
The Saturday People - Man Without Qualities
Pipas - Sorry Love
The Doers - Just Saying (C)
TALK
Mission Of Burma - That's When I Reach For My Revolver **See Note 3


Note 1: I really got excited when I first heard about this all girl band from Sweden

Note 2: I saw the Zoobombs at the Starlight the week before the show

Note 3: There was a description of the recent UN humanitarian envoy to Mynamar (formerly Burma) as a "Mission from Burma", so of course I had to play this song

(C) Denotes Canadian Content

September 28, 2007

Theme: Another poppolar.com set
On Air: Frank

As a carry over from the last show, there were still lots of new releases at the station that I played for this show. I also got in a set of new CDs that came in the mail from www.poppolar.com , the best place to get Indie pop in Canada. Erico had the new album by Irene on his website a week after it was released in Sweden.

And I had to wait some 30 odd years, but I finally got to play the Shadowy Men From A Shadowy Planet song "5 American, 6 Canadian" and say "They will have to rename the song 5 American, 5 Canadian". However, it was difficult to plan it out so that my show would come on the first day since 1976 that the Canadian dollar finished the day worth more than the American one, but it was worth it for the joke in the end.

TALK-Theme
Murder Mystery - Love Astronaut
Theoretical Girl - It's All Too Much
Taken By Trees - Julia **See Note 1
All Girl Summer Fun Band - Grass Skirt
TALK
Stars - The Ghost Of Genova Heights (c)
Square Root Of Margaret - Things People Do (c)
Pender - Laundry In London (c)
Hot Little Rocket - Like Killers (C)
TALK (poppolar set)
Irene - Last Forever
The Saturday People - Conditonal Tense (Now It's Gone)
California Snow Story - Brook Line
The Go! Team - The Wrath Of Marcie
TALK
Junior Senior - Like Music
Galactic - Bounc Baby
Russian Futurists - Why You Gotta Do That Thing? (c)
DD/MM/YYYY - Twin Star (c)
TALK
Little Name - I Always See The Sunrise
Honey Bunch - Mine Your Own Business
Emma Pollock - Paper and Glue
Rocketship - Your New Boyfriend
TALK
Bella - Give It A Night (c)
Sylvie - Rise And Fall (c)
Neighbourhood Noise - Another Face In The Crowd (c)
The Weakerthans - Civil Twilight (c)
Arthur and Lu - The Ghost Of Old Bull Lee
TALK
Shadowy Men From A Shadowy Planet - 5 American 6 Canadian (c)
Tin Bangs - The Skinny (c)


Note 1: This is the newest project from Victoria Bergsman, the former lead singer of the Concretes, but of course most people know her when she joined Peter, Bjorn, and John for the song "Young Folks"


(C) Denotes Canadian Content

August 31, 2007

Theme: Pop songs your new boyfriend is too stupid to know about
On Air: Frank and Milosz

Another week, another guest on the show, this time it was Milosz from the band Knock, Knock, Ginger who came on without his band so we could talk about music. It was also good that Milosz brought his music enabled phone as one of the CD players at the station was broken so it was difficult for me to play consecutive MP3s. His influence can be seen in the second half of the show where we pretty much swapped songs and we also had some good conversations including an interesting one about the importance of editing in music.

Milosz supplied me with my top song of the week, The Ladybug Transistor song "Like A Summer Rain" which to me sounded a lot like the Magnetic Fields so I had to play them right after.

As it happens, in the two weeks before the show I was made aware of a Tullycraft song from two different people, strange as the song is a couple of years old. The name of the song is "Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend Is Too Stupid To Know About" and in it he mentions other bands that he likes to listen to, so the rest of the set contains some of those bands.

I ended with a song from the movie "24 Hour Party People" which is a movie about the Manchester music scene and in particular about Tony Wilson the found of Factory Records (Factory Records released such legendary Manchester bands Joy Division, New Order, and the Happy Mondays). The reason I played the song was that Tony Wilson passed away a few weeks before the show, and here is an interesting tidbit from his Wikipedia entry (of course this means it might not be true): As with everything else in the Factory empire, Tony Wilson's coffin was also given a Factory catalogue number - FAC 501. This will be the last Factory catalogue number.


TALK-Theme
The Ladybug Transistor - Like A Summer Rain
The Magnetic Fields - Busby Berkeley Dreams
Page France - The Ruby Ring Man
Bellevue - Carry On (C)
Griffin and the True Believers - Tivoli (C)
All Girl Summer Fun Band - Later Operator
TALK (Funky set)
Calvin Harris - Merry Making At My Place
The Grey Boy Allstars - Still Waiting
Champion - The Plow (C)
Azure Ray - New Resolution
Wild Magnolias - Somebody's Got (Soul Soul Soul)
TALK
The Flirtations - Nothing But A Heartache
Belle and Sebastian - For The Price Of A Cup Of Tea
Crowded House - Even A Child
Acid House Kings - Say Yes If You Want Me
Vampire Weekend - Mansard Roof (Live at KEXP) **See Note 1
TALK (Tullycraft set)
Tullycraft - Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend Is Too Stupid To Know About
The Pastels - Mandarin
Alan Clap and His Orchestra - Something Strange Happens
Cub - New York City (C)
Heavenly - Hearts and Crosses
TALK
Stars - Take Me To The Riot (C)
Miracle Fortress - Maybe Lately (C)
Ohbijou - The Woods (C)
The Beautiful South - You Keep It All In
TALK
Happy Mondays - 24 Hour Party People

Note 1: Saw them at Sneeky Dees in Toronto the week before the show.


(C) Denotes Canadian Content

August 17, 2007

Theme: The Stolen Minks Interview
On Air: Frank, Tiina, and Erica

I was very excited before this show as for the first time in a while I was going to have a band come and visit me. I first had the idea when I saw that the Stolen Minks were playing Waterloo the same night as my show, so I e-mailed them and they agreed to come to CKMS before their gig. Unfortunately on the day of the show, they called a little after 6 saying they were just leaving London and didn't know if they would make it to the station time and suggested perhaps making it a phone interview. That's why I might seem a little frazzled in the first half of the show as I was running around looking at the logistics of doing a phone interview.
Luckily, they managed to make it to the station around 7:15 pm and drop of two members of the band, Erica and Tiina (yes that is how she spells it) who came on the show for a couple of great interview segments. They talked about touring across Canada in a van, their albums, day jobs, and there was even a reference to Henry Rollins. It was a lot of fun and they put on a great show that night that I had the pleasure of witnessing.

Before the Ladies came to the show I got in a ska set that stemmed from my top song of the week: a great, great song by Tim Armstrong (former lead singer of Rancid) called "Into Action" that is guaranteed to get you moving. I also played an Elvis set as the show was a day after the 30th anniversary of his death. In looking around the web for songs to play I found the Belle and Sebastian song "Century of Elvis" from an EP back in 1997. As it was back in the days when Stuart David was part of the band he does one of his telling a story over the music type songs, it is funny and definitely worth a listen.


TALK-Theme (Ska Set)
Tim Armstrong - Into Action
The Planet Smashers - Explosive (C)
The Planet Smashers - Raise Your Glass (C)
Chris Murray - Dangerous Hearts (C)
Dappled Cities - Beach Song
TALK (Elvis Set)
Deja Voodoo - Elvis Is Dead (C)
Belle and Sebastian - Century of Elvis
New Pornographers - Graceland (C)
Chris Houston - Baby Jesus Looked Like Elvis (C)
Elvis Presley - Hard Headed Woman
TALK
Lucknow Pact - A Few Drinks, A Few Laughs
The Rosebuds - Get Up, Get Out
The Brilliant Corners - Trudy Is A Squeel
The Bartlets - You Are Still Beautiful
Two Hours Traffic - When We Finish (C)
TALK
Karen Dalton - Something On Your Mind **See Note 1
Jens Lekman - Black Cab
Katie Stelmanis - Hittem (C)
The Guest Bedroom - We Need Trips (C)
The Stolen Minks - Stop Talking (C)
TALK (Stolen Minks Interview Part 1)
The Stolen Minks - Peppy Twist (C)
The Maynards - Kustom 250 (C)
TALK (Stolen Minks Interview Part 2)
Ray Condo and His Hard Rock Goners - Sunset Blues (C)
All Girl Summer Fun Band - Later Operator
TALK
Shout Out Louds - Tonight I Have To Leave It **See Note 2
The Cure - Friday I'm In Love
TALK
Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson - Cleanhead Blues **See Note 3

Note 1: One more Hillside throwback, I heard cover versions of both this song and the next while at Hillside.

Note 2: As Derek wrote to me, the song sounds so much like the Cure that it should have been called "In Between Fridays I'm in Love Just Like Heaven"

Note 3: I played this song as it was from the first CD I every purchased, a blues compilation that I picked up the same day as I bought my first CD player in 1989 in Edmonton.

(C) Denotes Canadian Content

August 3, 2007

Theme: Hillside Review
On Air: Frank

This was the first show since the Hillside Festival so I played a couple of the bands that made an impression on me during the festival. My biggest surprise was a band that was probably the youngest band to play the festival as they were the winner of the Guelph high school band contest. They are called "Dance Hall Free For All" (just say that out loud a couple of times, it makes you feel good) and have a great funky sound that really impressed me. Other highlights of the festival were Mother Mother, Immaculate Machine, Two Hours Traffic, and in their first North American show Los Campensions. I won't go into detail as you can read my full review here: http://www.stillepost.ca/boards/index.php?topic=86678.0 (near the bottom of the page as Steve Zodiac of course).

The rest of the show was a mix between a slow set, a funky set, and a set of a few leftovers from the last couple of shows. The funky set started with a song going out to Mary who likes the Red Hot Chili Peppers cover the Sly and the Family Stone song "If You Want Me To Stay". If you remember I saw Sly in concert during my recent trip to Italy and he was actually on stage during this song.

I ended with The Zombies "Time of the Season" because The Immaculate Machines covered it as their last song when I went to see them at the Jane Bond the week before the show. Then I was watching a documentary on the 60s a few days later and sure enough I heard the songs once again.

TALK-Theme
Saturday Looks Good To Me - The Girl's Distracted
Lucky Soul - Get Outta Town!
The Envelopes - It's The Law
The Electric Pop Group - Don't Bring Me Out
All Girl Summer Fun Band - Dreamy You
TALK (Hillside Review)
Dance Hall Free For All - Tomorrow In Thailand (C)
Mother Mother - Dirty Town (C)
Immaculate Machine - Nothing Ever Happens (C)
Two Hours Traffic - Jezebel (C)
Los Campensinos - It Started With A Mix
TALK (slow set)
Keren Ann - In Your Back
Griffin and the True Believers - The Cat (C)
Paul MacLeod - Tomorrow (C)
The Bird And The Bee - Because
TALK (funky set)
Sly And The Family Stone - If You Want Me To Stay **For Mary
John Legend - Slowdance
Clarence Carter - Too Weak To Fight
Otis Redding - Mr. Pittiful
Broadcast - Before We Begin
TALK
Ghost House - Mail Lady (C)
Hallelujah The Hills - Wave Backwards To Massachusetts
The Planet Smashers - Raise Your Glass (C)
Sea Wolf - You're A Wolf
The Geraldine Fibbers - California Tuffy
TALK
They Might Be Giants - Bee And The Bird Of The Moth
California Snow Story - Out Of Time
The Sweet Homewreckers - Nineties On Your Side (C)
Boy Omega - By Midnight We'll Give It A Go
Liechtenstein - Stalking Skills
TALK
Zombies - Time Of The Season

(C) Denotes Canadian Content

July 20, 2007

Theme: Italy review and Hillside Preview
On Air: Frank

If I sound a bit tired during this show, it is because I woke up that morning in Rome, got on a plane to Toronto, got back to Waterloo, had half an hour at home, and then had to get on my bike for the radio show. So when the show ended it was the equivalent of 2 am for me.

I didn't pick up any CDs during my recent trip to Italy and Poland however I did see a very unique show as the conference I was attending was happening in the same city as Umbria Jazz festival. It turns out this is a pretty major jazz festival in Europe and it made certain aspects of the conference pretty cool in that there was live jazz music on one of the free stages from noon to midnight. On the bad side it made finding a place to stay difficult, I ended up finding a place way out of town that required a bus ride and then calling the B&B owner to pick me up.

The last day I was there, I noticed that both Solomon Burke and Sly and the Family Stone were playing as part of the jazz festival so I had to get a ticket (even though it meant getting back to my B&B at 12:30 am and having to wake up the owner).

Burke is so large that he has a large throne from which he does most of his songs, he was wearing a three piece suit and part way through the concert he took of his jacket to show of his very tight vest and very large man boobs. Unfortunately he stuck with the classics, if he had done "None of us are free" I would have lost it.

Sly was probably on stage for about 15 minutes, his band played for about 25 minutes, then he came out, sang a few songs hunched over the microphone and played a few chords on his keyboards (to be fair to him there were some technical difficulties with his keyboards). Then he stood up, gave the double peace sign and walked off. I don't think he was coming back but I had to leave.

Nothing like a couple of Hillside preview sets to boost up that Canadian Content. For those who don't know, Hillside is an annual festival in Guelph that features great music, great food, and just a great vibe. For this show I previewed some of the bands that were playing Hillside and next week I'll have my Hillside review

There was also a set of CDs that I got in the mail from www.poppolar.com , my favourite place to order music on-line.
.

TALK-Theme
The Juju Orchestra featuring Carolyn Leonheart and Terry Callier - What Is Hip?
Supreme Beings Of Leisure - What's The Deal?
The Toasters - Nighttrain To Moscow
Justice - Valentine
TALK (Poppolar set)
Pele Carlberg - Pamploma
Amida - It Started In Naples
The Electric Pop Group - Don't Bring Me Out
Lucky Soul - Lips Are Unhappy
TALK (Hillside Preview I)
Chumbawamba - Big Mouth Strikes Again
Golden Dogs - Construction Worker (C)
Immaculate Machines - Roman Statues (C)
The Dears - Ballad Of Human Kindness (C)
Shout Out Out Out Out - Procrastinator's Fight Song (C)
TALK (Hillside Preview II)
Los Campesinos - Frontwards
Two Hours Traffic - Stuck For The Summer (C)
Memphis - Into The Wild (C)
Ron Sexsmith - For A Moment (C)
Ohbijou - Misty Eyes (C)
TALK (a couple of Italian related songs)
Sly And The Family Stone - I Want To Take You Higher
Solomon Burke - None Of Us Are Free
Keren Ann - In Your Back
Lionheart Brothers - Hero Anthem
TALK
Most Serene Republic - Ageless Beauty **See Note 1
Hall and Oates - Maneater (Podcast only bonus) **See Note 2

Note 1: Venice was referred to as the "Most Serene Republic"

Note 2: Heard this on the radio in Poland, I had to turn it up, much to the chagrin of Erin.



(C) Denotes Canadian Content

July 6, 2007

Theme: More Calvin Johnson than you can stand
On Air: Frank

Another week another show. Between the Denver set (where I purchased the latest Calvin Johnson album) and the set of music highlighting his recent shows, there was a definite Calvin Johnson bent to a lot of the show. After seeing him at the Music Gallery last Saturday with Julie Doiron I found out that he was playing a backyard show in Guelph on Wednesday. I liked him so much the first time I had to see him the second time.

It is a good time for the new release section at CKMS with lots of good stuff to play including a couple of surprises such as Code Pie and the Immaculate Machines. There was also a new album by Carolyn Mark, there used to be a time when I would have been very excited by this, but I don't know if I have been all that excited by her recent stuff. However, she and Geoff Berrner are playing the Jane Bond in September and I'll probably go and see them.

The second last set had a mish-mash of ideas:

- the Rubinoos song (thanks Dan) that is the centre of the controversy with Avril Lavigne (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/308830/avril_lavigne_sued_over_girlfriend.html )

- the original of the song that was my top song last week

- and a small feature on a recent great commercial song for Maynard's candy, the one with the girl in the red polka dot dress walking along a street and then splits into different versions of herself. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ7pGMfVNVg ) After much research I think I am correct that the band is a Canadian band called Major Maker and the song was written for the commercial and there are no plans to create a full version of the song. However, one of the members of Major Maker is Lindy, so perhaps I will one day be able to ask him as he plays the Jane Bond every once in a while.

TALK-Theme
The Ethnobabes - My Favourite Fool
Los Campensions - We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives
La Buenavida - En Bicicleta
Code Pie - Conway Killjoy (C)
Superfantastics - As The Lights Go Down (C)
TALK (New Releases)
The Pipettes - Guess Who Ran Off With The Milkman?
Shapes And Sizes - Diggy (C)
Grant McLennan - Lighting Fires
Immaculate Machines - Small Talk (C)
Carolyn Mark - Pictures At 5 (C)
TALK (Calvin Johnson and related set)
Griffin And The True Believers - Carnival (C)
Matias - Tea (C)
Beat Happening - Indian Summer
Calvin Johnson - Your Eyes
TALK (CDs from Denver)
Calvin Johnson And The Sons Of The Soil - Banana Meltdown
Sea and Cake - Too Strong
Electronic - Tighten Up
VHS or Beta - Heaven
TALK
Rubinoos - I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
The Zutons - Valerie
The Maynards - Pauline's Jeans (C)
Major Maker - Over It (C)
Major Maker - Candy Song (C)
TALK
Rah Rah - Winter Sun
Brown Recluse Sings - Lazy Bones
The Diskettes - Art (C)


(C) Denotes Canadian Content

June 29, 2007

Theme: Halifax a go-go
On Air: Frank

This was my first show in over a month so of course I had lots of music to play and not enough time. As such, it wasn't just a top song to start the show but more of a top set as any song in the first set could have been the top song of the week. If you are an Amy Whinehouse fan do yourself and favour and check out the first song, Amy Whinehouse covering the song "Valerie" originally by the Zutons, hear it once and it will be in your head all day.

I was out east at the beginning of June, and as this was the first show since then, I finally got to play all of the music that I collected out there. Only two of the artists were actually from Eastern Canada, the rest I just happened to buy out there. I was very surprised to see the "I'm From Barcelona" CD in a used record store in Halifax (well actually Michelle found it) also surprising is how much I like the songs on the album that I had not already heard. The Smokey Robinson CD was a from a bargin bin in Wolfville just to have something to listen to in the car, and I'm surprised with how many of the songs I recognize and enjoy.

My usual routine is to play 5 songs in each set (maybe something to do with my engineering mind always wanting order in the world) but for this show the sets just worked out better having 6 songs. There was also a weird coincidence in that there was a streak of about 10 songs between Brideshead and The Stolen Minks of songs that featured female lead singers.


TALK - Theme

Mark Ronson featuring Amy Whinehouse - Valerie
Amida - Class of 2000
The April Skies - Rise and Rise Again
Brideshead - Love Makes The Sun Shine Bright
The Ethnobabes - Make Some Sound
The Fiery Furnaces - Benton Harbor Blues
TALK
Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars - Dance Music (C)
Frida Hyvonen - You Never Got Me Right
The Pipettes - Guess Who Ran Off With The Milkman?
The Russian Futurists - The First Five Times (from Do You Trust Your Friends by the Stars) (C)
Au Revoir Simone - Stars **Suggested by Milosz
Taken by Trees featuring Victoria Bersman - Lost and Found

TALK (Maritime set)
The Gentle Waves - Sister Woman (Dave's Records - Newfoundland)
The Stolen Minks - Rip It Up (C) (CD Plus - Halifax)
The Superfantastics - Glitter (C) (Taz Records - Halifax)
I'm From Barcelona - Over Sleeping (CD Plus - Halifax)
LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends (Dave's Records - Newfoundland)
Smokey Robinson - Just To See Her (Bargin Bin - Wolfville)
TALK
Volcanoes In Canada - She Moves (C)
Wax Mannequin - Animals Jump (C)
Immaculate Machine - Jarhand (C)
Pinto - This Picture Needs A Frame
They Might Be Giants - Upside Down Frown
The Bravery - Fistful Of Sound (C)
TALK
I Walk The Line - When I'm Gone
Robert Forster - 121
The Postmarks - Goodbye
Los Campesinos - Don't Tell Me To Do The Math(s)
TALK
Knock, Knock, Ginger - Virginia Black (C) **See Note 1



Note 1: KKG played the north campus of the University after the fireworks on Canada Day

(C) Denotes Canadian Content

May 25, 2007

Theme: Clever Girls and Cleverer Boys
On Air: Frank

I had three songs that were neck and neck for my top song this week, in the end "Summer 2005" by Seymore Saves The World was the one that won by a nose. I first heard it on CHRW, the campus radio station in London, which by the way this was the station that gave me my start in radio during high school so many years ago. The second contender was a song by Pelle Carlberg that has the best (and longest) title of any song I know: Clever Girls Like Cleverer Boys Much More than Clever Boys Like Cleverer Girls. Unfortunately I was away when he played Toronto recently, but I heard it was a great show. The third song was a cover of a Kaiser Chiefs song done by Mark Ronson featuring Lilly Allen, but I'll say more about him on the next show.

During my previous show, I ran out off time before playing another set of "strange" music so I finally got to it this show. The reason for the set was that I found an off-beat song by Robert Forster (formerly of the Go-Betweens) on a children's album and I needed somewhere to play it. The album looks cool, it is called "Songs for the Young at Heart" and also has songs from Bonnie Prince Billy, Jarvis Cocker, and Stuart Murdoch. The set ended with a great cover of "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off" by Kids on TV.

A few days before this show, I went to see the Joel Plaskett Emergency and Peter Elkas at the Starlight, it was a great show albeit very uncomfortable with the hot temperature that day and the sold out energetic audience. I followed their songs with a set of music of bands from the Maritimes. This was timely as right after the show I went to both Newfoundland and Nova Scotia for a couple of conferences. This was also the reason that I ended the show with Rawlins Cross, the only band from St. John's that I know.


TALK - Theme

Seymore Saves The World - Summer 2005
Pelle Carlberg - Clever Girls Like Cleverer Boys Much More Than Clever Boys Like Cleverer Girls
Mark Ronson (Featuring Lily Allen) - Oh My God
The Bird and the Bee - Again and Again
Young Galaxy - Calendar Girl (C)

TALK
Joel Plaskett Emergency - True Patriot Love (C)

Joel Plaskett Emergency - Snowed In/Crusin' (C)
Eric's Trip - Girlfriend (C)
Jale - Nine Years Now (C)
Plumtree - I'm Not Moving (C)
TALK
Peter Elkas - Party Of One (C)
The Earaches - Not The Kinda Man I Am
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - The Unwanted Things
Lonnie James - Piano In The Sand (C)
Los Campsinos! - You! Me! Dancing! ** See Note 1
TALK
Robert Forster - Uncle Sigmund's Clockwork Story
Sage Francis - Broccilude
Eleni Mandell - Girls
Kids On TV - We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off
TALK
Don Lennon - My Resume
Pistepirkko - I Know
The Album Leaf - Always For You
Electrelane - At Sea
The Bravery - Bad Sun (C)
The Faintest Ideas - You're Beautiful
The Sea and Cake - Lightning
TALK
Rawlins Cross - Open Road (C)


Note 1: I swear that during the past week I've heard this song a couple of times a day on CKMS.

(C) Denotes Canadian Content

May 11, 2007

Theme: Arrivals and Departures
On Air: Frank

My favourite album for the year so far is one that came as a direct result of the show I did a few weeks back on commercial music, when I got reacquainted with The Icicles and ordered their new album called "Arrivals and Departures". I also went to see them in concert the week before the show and keeping with the title of their album, the women in the band dressed like stewardesses and the male member was a pilot, they also covered the song "Leaving on a Jet Plane". Needless to say I loved it.

Thanks to everybody who sent in suggestions for the "Arrivals and Departures" set, even if for some of them I only sort of got the request correct. Doing research for the set I found out that there are tons of covers of "Getting on Jet Plane", in fact even the most famous version by Peter, Paul, and Mary is a cover of the original by Bob Denver. I ended up playing a version by Lisa Loeb.

There were four songs that could have been by top song for this show, in the end I made it two weeks in a row for a Canadian artist with the band Young Galaxy. Another side project by a member of the Stars, is also makes for a lot of story about the band with headlines that are a variation of "Young Galaxy made of Stars".

And I know I'm late on the bus, but I finally saw the movie "The Forty Year Old Virgin" the week before the show. Apart from being scared of the number of parallels between myself and the Steve Carrel character, the movie also featured some great musical moments. Playing the Asia song "Heat of the Moment" when he was going after the girl at the end of the movie was a brilliant reference to the Asia poster in his apartment. (Of course you had to be of a certain age to recognize the joke) The song "Got Lucky Last Night" that was played over the ending credits is also a great song that I knew I had to play on the show the moment I heard it.


TALK - Theme

Young Galaxy - Outside The City (C)
The Cinematics - Keep Forgetting
Ghost Story - The Upper Ten/The Lower Five
The Two Koreas - Cloth Coat Revolution (C)
The Golden Dogs - Yeah! (C)
TALK (Poppolar.com set) **See Note 1
Annemarie - Bubble Gum I See
Cats On Fire - End Of Straight Street
Lovedance - It Sometime Brings Me Down
++The Airborne Toxic Event - Does This Mean You're Moving On
Monster Baby - The Burning Ambition Of Early Diuretics
TALK
++Lucky Soul - Add Your Light To Mine, Baby
Tracey Thorn - Its All True **See Note 2
Everything But The Girl - Wrong
Run DMC - RockBox
Wally Jericho - Fleamarket (C)
TALK (Airplane Set)
The Icicles - Regret
The Archers of Loaf - All The Nations Airports (Suggested by Garth)
Robert Pollard - Supernatural Car Lover (Suggested by Peter)
Paul Weller - Arrival Time (Kind of suggested by Stephen P)
Bob Wiseman - Airplane On The Highway (C) (Suggested by Derek)
Lisa Loeb - Leaving On A Jet Plane
TALK
Rock Plaza Central - When We Go How We Go (C)
The Wooden Stars - Orphans (C)
Local Rabbits - Play On (C)
Elbow Beach Surf Club - Wonder Worry Wart (C)
Bellevue - Smile (C)
TALK (40 year old version ending set)
++Joboxers - Lucky Last Night
**Special Bonus**
Asia - Heat Of The Moment


++ song competing for best song of the week

Note 1: The first three songs her are from my latest purchases from www.poppolar.com

Note 2: Tracy Thorn is the lead singer from Everything But The Girl, I also found out that the name Everything But The Girl comes from a slogan used by a small furniture company where they used that slogan to say that everything was on sale in the store but the sales girls.

(C) Denotes Canadian Content

April 27, 2007

Theme: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
On Air: Frank

No overall theme to this show, just a lot of random ideas strung together:

- I had to play the band "Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin" after Boris Yeltsin passed away last week. I also played The Russian Futurists for the same reason.

- The Stephin Merrit songs comes from a release called "Plague Songs" that has "10 Songs - 10 Plagues - 10 Artists".

- When I found a song called "Sideways" by American band Let's Go Sailing I had to play the song by Men Without Hats with the same name (but it wasn't a cover song like I had hoped).

- Both Peter Elkas and Joel Plaskett are playing the Starlight on May 24th.

- Memphis is one of the bands playing this year's Hillside Festival, more on this later

TALK - Theme

The Sweet Homewreckers - Wild America (C)
The Salteens - Time You Have Been Wasting (C)
The Yokocasinos - Loose Cannon
Hera - Don't Play This
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Oregon Girl
TALK
Skeeter Davis - Let Me Get Close To You
Francoise Hardy - On Dit De Lui
Lucky Soul - One Kiss Don't Make A Summer
Belle and Sebastian - Legal Man
Stephin Merrit - The Meaning of Lice
TALK
The Russian Futurists - The Science Of The Seasons (C)
LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great
B. Fleischman - Le Desir
Wally Jericho - Kuryakin (C)
TALK
Ladybug Transistor - Her Words Hang In The Air
Leopold - Work
You/Me - To Live
Morning Bride - Time Delay
Thomas Dybdahl - A Love Story
TALK
Let's Go Sailing - Sideways
Men Without Hats - Sideways (C)
Lapko - All The Best Girls
Peter Elkas - Fall Apart Again (C)
Joel Plaskett Emergency - Nothing More To Say (C)
TALK
The Sea and Cake - Too Strong
Sondre Lerche - Airport Taxi Reception
Elbow Beach Surf Club - Our Hood (C)
The Icicles - Crazy
TALK
Memphis - A Little Place In The Wilderness (C)



(C) Denotes Canadian Content

April 13, 2007

Theme: Commercial Music
On Air: Frank

It seemed like I did a lot of talking this show, but I was happy with how it went, as I think I had pretty interesting things to say. Thanks for the suggestions on the commercial music set and as always the site www.adtunes.com was an invaluable resource. I have tried to put in links to web versions of the commercials the best one is for Axe that uses the Israel Kamamawin'ole version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". IZ as he was known, was a very large Hawaiian man who looked very strange playing this tiny ukulele, unfortunately he passed away in 1997 of health related problems.

Another band that I was happy to find out about doing research for the set was the song "Suger Sweet" by the Icicles, not only is it a great song but I also realized that I have played them before doing their song "Snowman". I have now ordered both of their CDs, going to prove that getting a song played on a commercial can pay dividends.

After the show I couldn't get the song "Do the Freddie" out of my head, it was a novelty song back in the 60s by a British band called "Freddie and the Dreamers". It reportedly did start a bit of dance craze, but the Wikipedia description of the dance itself seems pretty boring "stand in place, then in rhythm with the music first extend the left leg and left arm, then the right leg and right arm. Repeat until the song's conclusion". Apparently there was a reference to the dance in the movie "Troop Beverly Hills" that I'm intrigued to see now.


TALK - Theme

I'm From Barcelona - Treehouse
The Legends - Lucky Star
Bermuda Triangle - It Feels Good
Sissy Wish - DWTS
Midlake - Young Bride
TALK
Hot Hot Heat - 5 Times Out Of 100 (C) **Request for Laura
Firefly - Unsinkable (C)
The Wooden Stars - Microphone (C)
Elbow Beach Surf Club - Surf Theme (C)
Elbow Beach Surf Club - The Letter (C)
TALK
Freddy and the Dreamers - Do The Freddie
Caribou - Handelschnapp (C)
Bullfrog - Ya-Ya (C)
Quadra - Grey Something (C)
Reality Sandwich - Blue (C)
TALK (commercial music set)
Israel Kamamawin'ole - Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Wonderful World (Rice Krispies) link to ad
Nouvelle Vague - I Melt With You (GMC) **Suggested by Garth link to ad
Beck with The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize (Mitsubishi) **Suggested by Stephen P
Royksopp - Remind Me (Geico) link to ad
The Jam - Start (Cadillac) can be seen on this site
The Salteens - Nice Day (C) (Zellers) **Sort of suggested by Derek link to ad **See Note 1
Icicles - Sugar Sweet (Motorola) link to ad
TALK
The Besties - Rod'n'Reel
California Snow Story - Suddenly Everthing Happens
Sonic Youth - The Diamond Sea
Marit Larsen - Under The Surface
TALK
Marmoset - Sky Phenomenon **See Note 2

Note 1: I love the fact that this song has the lyric "I know you think that I'm gay", of course that part isn't used in the commercial.

Note 2: This is from a compilation out of the American record label Secretly Canadian, to celebrate their 100th release they had their artists cover each other's songs. This is a cover of a song originally by Jens Lekman.


(C) Denotes Canadian Content

March 30, 2007

Theme: Equations and Johnny Marr
On Air: Frank

There were two themed sets this show:

The Johnny Marr set - highlighting the various bands that he has played in since his start in the Smiths and ending with his current membership in Modest Mouse

The Equation set - it was hard to even find 4 songs to fill out this set, but I managed to do it with some help from Derek.

As I mention in the setlist below, watch out for the very high cheese factor in the second set.

The opening song was "Runaway Lane" by Jerry Jerry and the Sons of Rhythm Orchestra, I played this because I heard it on the last broadcast of CBC Radio 3 on terrestrial radio (it is now satellite only). I have always loved this song and it was great to hear somebody apart from me playing considering it is now over 20 years old (I have it on cassette).

I ended with the great piece by Bruce McCulloch (formerly of Kids in the Hall) about being a Doors fan, the reason was that I have see advertisements recently about a recent "Very Best of the Doors" compilation and in the McCulloch's song he specifically says that Best of albums are for "housewives and little girls".

TALK - Theme

Jerry Jerry and the Sons of Rhythm Orchestra - Runaway Lane (C)
The Stooges - Trollin'
The Eels - Hey Man Now You Are Really Living
The Clash - White Man In Hammersmith Palais
The Fall - Victoria
TALK (watch out for the cheese)
The Crash - Pony Ride
Orbit - Electric
Rubik - City and the Streets
Lio - Comix Discomix
Kristoffer Ragnastram - Breakfast By The Mattress
TALK
You Say Party! We Say Die! - Opportunity (C)
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (C)
Collapsing Opposites - Will (C)
Cub - Way To Go (C)
TALK (Johnny Marr set)
The Smiths - Panic
The The - Dogs of Lust
Electronic - One Day
Modest Mouse - Dashboard
TALK (equations set)
The Kissaway Trail - Smother + Evil = Hurt
Sekiden - 1 + 1 = Heartache
Ivana Santilli = Sun + Moon = Tomorrow
Haircut 100 - Love + One **Suggested by Derek
TALK
Loney Dear - I Am John
Sally Shapiro - I'll Be By Your Side
You/Me - Through Four Kinds
The Bicycles - I Know We Have To Be Apart (C) **See Note 1
Hilotrons - Stuck In The Sound (C)
TALK
Bruce McCulloch - Doors (C)


Note 1: I went to see both The Bicycles and the Hilotrons in Ottawa at a place called Zaphod Beeblebrox, it is the legendary place to see a band in Ottawa. The show was great and as an added bonus as it was Easter weekend the bar was decorated by Kinder Surprise eggs. There is no better way to kill time waiting for a band then putting together Kinder Surprise toys. By the way for anybody who doesn't know how the bar was names see this Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaphod_Beeblebrox




(C) Denotes Canadian Content

March 16, 2007

Theme: In the Hall of Fame
On Air: Frank

Thanks for all the suggestions about the Hall of Fame set, as you can see below I tried to stay away from the most popular songs by the artists and used a Van Halen cover instead of the real thing. I got a lot of suggestions for an REM song, but I had to defer to Derek on that one as he is the biggest REM fan I know. I thought that "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was a bit to obvious, so I went with "White Lines". There is also some controversy about the song as to whether or not Grandmaster Flash (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandmaster_flash).

I have complained in the past few months about not finding a lot to play from the CKMS new release section, however this has really turned around lately. Combined with the many different websites I have found highlighting the Scandanavian bands playing the recent South by Southwest music festival in Texas it meant that I had lots of songs to play for the show (and lots of songs leftover). Here are some of those sites about SXSW:

sixeyes.blogspot.com/2007/03/scandinavia-comes-to-sxsw-mp3s.html
www.popmatters.com/pm/features/article/31476/bylarm-2007-part-1-the-music

I got an e-mail from a band from the United Kingdom call the Hit and Runs, they had seen my setlists and thought their music would fit into my show. So I checked them out and liked them, you should check them out at www.thehitandruns.com

TALK - Theme

Charlotte Gainsbourg - Don't Forget To Forget Me
Ane Brun - To Let Myself Go
Leopold - Johnny
Air - Once Upon A Time
Moi Caprice - For Once In Your Life Fight For Something You Believe In **See Note 1
TALK
Marit Bergman - No Party
You Say Party! We Say Die! - Downtown Mayors Goodnight, Alley Kids Rule (C)
Annemarie - The Living Model
Deacon Blue - A Is For Astronaught **See Note 2
The Saturday People - Slipping Through Your Fingers **See Note 2
The Hit and Runs - Low Tops and Make-up **See Note above
TALK
Jeremy Fisher - Remind Me (C)
Nich Worby - Oh, Little Bonez (C)
Sondre Lerche - Well Well Well
Sean Clarke - No Phone Before Regina (C)
Geoff Berner - Good Luck Now (C)
TALK (Hall Of Fame Set)
Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five - White Lines (Don't Do It)
Patti Smith - Kimberly **Suggested by Dan
REM - Harborcoat **Suggested by Derek
Aztec Camera - Jump (of course a Van Halen cover)
The Ronettes - Do I Love You?
TALK
Adaptor 45 - Keep on Groovin' (C)
Steady, Garcia - Pretend Girlfriend (C) **See Note 3
Peter Elkas - Sweet Nancy (C)
The Gruesomes - Out Of Our Tree (C)
TALK
Arcade Fire - Ocean Of Noise (C)

Note 1: I thought this song was an unknown song by the Flaming Lips the first time I heard it.

Note 2: Stolen from the podcast The Great Leap Forward

Note 3: I loved the title of the album this song is from: "Bring me the head of Steady, Garcia", this reminds me of one of my favourite sketches written by my friend Cat Sullivan called "Bring me the head of Poncho Garcia". This was back in another life when we used to co-host a radio comedy show called The Frank, Frank, and Frank show. Of course they both were taken from the Sam Peckinpah movie "Bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia".

(C) Denotes Canadian Content

March 2, 2007

Theme: Hard to listen to songs
On Air: Frank

I started out in a funky groove beginning with the top song by Ruth Brown. The set also included a song from the Light in the Attic release "From Jamaica to Toronto", it is a compilation that was released last year featuring acts that came from the West Indies and settled in Toronto. The morning of the show I saw a performance by some of the acts from the CD on Breakfast Television publicising a show that they were doing that night in Toronto, I couldn't make it but that would have been cool to see. Another Light in the Attic release I'm looking forward to is their collection of music from Bollywood movies of the 60s and 70s.

I ended up playing more songs that I had planned in the "hard to listen to" set, see if you are able get through the 7 song endurance test. After that set the rest of show was pretty laid back, I promise more happy, poppy stuff for the next show.

I know it is buried near the end, but the song by Keren Ann "Lay Your Head Down" is a really great song that has really grown on me since the show. It was fighting for the top song spot but didn't quite make it, however do yourself a favour and make sure you give it a listen.

TALK - Theme

Ruth Brown - 5,10,15 Hours
B'Ham Rhythmn Section - I've Been Lonely For So Long
Howard Tate - She's a Burglar
Wayne McGhie and the Sounds of Joy - Fire (She Need Water) (C)
Professor Longhair - Go To The Mardi Gras
TALK
Bellevue - KC Thugs (C)
The Gruesomes - You Were Not Using Your Head (C)
The Fussy Part - Dog Food Thumb
Jim Ried - I'm Stranded
The Organ - Memorize The City (C)
TALK (The hard to listen to set)
Karen Dalton - Something On Your Mind
The Sixth with Odetta - Waltzing Me All The Way Home
Geoff Berner - Can't Stay Dry (C)
Daniel Johnston - Mind Contorted
Calvin Johnson - When You Are Mine
Tom Waits - Filipino Box Spring Hog
The Comedian Harmonists - Wenn ich vergnugt bin, muss ich singen **Suggested by Derek
TALK
Ron Sexsmith with Bob Wiseman - Trains (C)
Steven McKay - The Other Bums (C)
Friday Morning's Regret - When Lost at Sea (C)
Jeremy Fisher - American Girls (C)
Sondre Lerche and the Faces Down - Say It All
TALK
Dean and Britta - Teen Angel
Airport Girl - Show Me The Way
Keren Ann - Lay Your Head Down **Almost the top song of the week
Holden - Ce Que Je Suis
Ukjent - My New Hang Up
The Pipettes - A Winter's Sky **See Note 1
TALK
Jarvis Cocker - Don't Let Him Waste Your Time

(C) Denotes Canadian Content

Note 1: I saw the Pipettes at their first ever North American show at the Rivoli in Toronto on March 9. They were totally awesome, they only allowed 100 people into the venue because of a violation the night before. So although the show was "sold-out" the venue was only about half full. See another review with pictures here. You can also see many different videos from the show on youtube.com.

February 16, 2007

Theme: Labrador Records spotlight
On Air: Frank

I started the show with one of the few vinyl albums I have acquired in the last few years. I got it at a showing of the Canadian movie Monkey Warfare ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0832906/ ) at the Princess Cinema, the director, Reginald Harkema, was at the showing and answered questions after the movie. A few of the questions were about the music in the movie and in particular how much is costs to use a song in a movie (answer: about $500 to the person who performed the song and another $500 for the rights owner of the song). He also mentioned that the bands agreed to have the songs part of a limited edition 1000 vinyl pressing and that he had some copies of it with him. So after the questions were over I was second in line to get a copy. The first two songs were from the soundtrack along with some bonus dialogue from the movie.

Most of show ended up being a spotlight on the Labrador Records label ( http://www.labrador.se/ ). This idea came to me after using a quote from the band Suburban Kids With Biblical Names for my UW weather Station contest ( http://weather.uwaterloo.ca/contest2007/contest2007_entry.htm ). So I thought that I should play at least that song, but when I was looking at the band's record label and saw the rest of the great bands they have put out I started downloading all the songs I could from the record label's website. The label also has just came out with their 100th release, and to celebrate they have released a four CD set featuring a song from each one of their releases, it has the very humble title of "The Complete History of Popular Music".

I ended the show with two songs (a rarity as I usually end with a single song) featuring a couple of people that I saw a few days after the show playing at the Jane Bond. Bob Wiseman did a multimedia show playing various videos from his laptop, playing along with some while others were just funny videos, while Geoff Berner was his usual comical self.

TALK - Theme

The Fugs - Kill For Peace
Wierd War - Girls Like That
The Gruesomes - Wat Dat? (C)
The Gruesomes - Three Men One Coffin (C)
Books On Books - One Page At A Time (C)
TALK
Saturday Looks Good To Me - Since You Stole Me Heart
Of Montreal - Cato As A Pun
The Fiery Furnaces - Single Girl
Spirathon - Cherry Girl (C)
Elvis - I Need Your Love Tonight
TALK (Labrador records set 1)
Suburban Kids With Biblical Names - Funeral Face
S'Ambassadeur - New Moon
Lasse Lindh - The Stuff
Pelle Carlberg - Riverbank
Starlet - When The Sun Falls On My Feet
TALK (Labrador records set 2)
Henry Morgan Solokarriar - One Day, Any Day
Laurel Music - No One Want's Forever
Corduroy UTD - Daddy's Boy
South Ambulance - Hanging In A tie
Leslies - Collins
TALK
Knock, Knock, Ginger - The Makeout Song (C)
The Poison Dart - Occupations (C)
Friday Morning's Regret - Poor Caroline (C)
The Postage Stamps - Turning Off (C)
Lindy - Beautifully Done (C)
The Fembots - Countdown Our Days (C)
The Bicycles - Australia (C)
TALK
Geoff Berner - Would It Kill You (C)
Bob Wiseman - You Don't Love Me (C)



(C) Denotes Canadian Content

February 2, 2007

Theme: Not Groundhog Day
On Air: Frank

I didn't have anything to play for Groundhog Day so I decided not to force the issue as a result there was no set on that theme.

Yet another song from the swedesplease.com website was the top song of the week.

The second set was based on bands that I had either seen just before the show (Camera Obscura and Essex Green) or just after the show (Knock, Knock, Ginger, the Sourkeys, and Bocce):

You can hear my review of the Camera Obscura/Essex Green show on the podcast. And no The Clash didn't somehow reform (and resurrect Joe Stummer), the reason I played the Clash was that it was their "Super Black Market Clash" CD that was played between the bands at the Opera House that night.

The other concert highlighted in that set occurred right after the show at a small art gallery in Kitchener that featured a great bill of local bands, an giant inflatable alien being thrown around the crowd and local band Bocce blurring the line between the band and the audience (see evidence here, only the guy in the red toque is in the band http://www.pbase.com/owencherry/image/73913070 ).

I ended the show with a couple of sets that were a bit more rockin' than most of the music I have played in quite a while (a break from playing all that twee), and I had some initial positive feedback during the show.

TALK - Theme

The Sanmarinos - Super Sexy TV Girl
The Positions - Summer Nights
Hot Shot Robot - Kiss My Chernobyl (C)
Oh! Custer - Spoiler

Bellevue - Special Skills (C)
Bellevue - Those Blues (C)
TALK
Camera Obscura - If Looks Could Kill
Essex Green - Cardinal Points
The Clash - City Of The Dead
Knock, Knock, Ginger - Upsala (C)
The Sourkeys - Anywhere But Here (C)
Bocce - Disco Juan (C)
TALK
Don Lennon - Dance Music
HelloGoodbye - Here (In Your Arms)
Henry Morgans Solokarriar - An Attempt To Tip The Scales
Math and Physics Club - April Showers
Dean and Britta - Singer Song **See Note 1
TALK
The Hands - So Sweet
Kooks - Naive
Deerhoof - +81
The Trucks - 3 AM
Robyn Hitchcock - The Authority Box
TALK
Heavens - Patent Pending
Novillero - Abbey (C)
The Hold Steady - Chips Ahoy
The Acorn - Dents (C)
Jerry Jerry and the Sons Of Rhythm Orchestra - Miller's Cave (C)
TALK
Shiela E - Holly Rock (from the Krush Groove soundtrack)


Note 1: Apparently Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips (former members of Luna) are now going by just Dean and Britta

(C) Denotes Canadian Content

January 19, 2007

Theme: Best of 2006 Leftovers
On Air: Frank

In past years I often tried to play only songs from the new release section of CKMS during the first real (ie. non-specialty) show of the new year. But now I find that most of the new music I play comes from podcasts and blogs and the new release section doesn't really intrigue me as it once did. So most of the stuff I played on this show was new along with some of your suggestions for the Best of 2006.

A few random notes on some of the other songs from the show:

I played the The Cardigans' Lovefool as it was part of an episode of The Office, when Jim was trying to annoy an office mate by singing the lyrics. At first I couldn't place the lyrics but a web search revealed the name of the song.

And for anybody in need of their Indian pop music fix be sure to check out Pretty, Pretty, Priya (which I found out is common female Hindu name also from the web).

I ended with the George Krantz song Din Daa Daa which was used in one of the commercial's in the Cannes Best of 2006 commercial movie that I saw the week before the show. I thought the song sounded familiar and when I did some research I saw that it was on the Breakin' 2 Electric Boogaloo soundtrack ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086999/ ) , I actually thought I might own the vinyl of this soundtrack but I was getting it confused with the soundtrack to Krush Groove ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089444/ ). Krush Groove was obviously cooler starring the likes of: Sheila E., the Beastie Boys, The Gap Band, Run DMC, and the Fat Boys.


TALK - Theme

Math and Physics Club - Last Dance
Knock, Knock, Ginger - The Great Escape (C)
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - I Am Warm And Powerful
S'Ambassadeur - The Only Living Girl
The The - Slow Emotional Replay
TALK (Other people's Best of 2006)
Barmitzvah Brothers - Hollow Time Of The Night (C) **Suggested by Milosz
Beirut - Postcards From Italy ** Kind of suggested by Sari
Glissandro 70 - Portugal Rua Rua (C) **Suggested by Derek
Destroyer - European Oils (C) **Suggested by Michelle and Derek
TV On The Radio - Hours **Suggested by Michael T.
TALK
Amy Whinehouse - Rehab
Gems - I Can't Help Myself **Also suggested by Derek
James Brown - Get On The Good Foot
Jenny Wilson - Summertime (The Roughest Time)
Todd Rundgren - I Saw The Light
TALK
The Cardigans - Lovefool
Dressy Bessy - All The Right Reasons
Jale - All Ready (C)
Plumtree - Sodium Chloride (C)
The Awkward Stage - We're Going For A Ride (C)
TALK
Anand Prayag and Chorus - Pretty, Pretty, Priya
Niza - El Much Acho De Los Otos Tristes
The Pursuit of Happiness - Hard To Launch (C)
Dave Rave - Everybody Needs Somebody (C)
Statues - Quality Assurance (C)
Swan Lake - The Partisan But He's Got To Know (C)
TALK
George Krantz - Din Daa Daa


(C) Denotes Canadian Content

January 5, 2007

Theme: Best of 2006
On Air: Frank

Nothing much to say about this one, the first half were my top singles of the year while the second half were my top albums. By definition my best show of the year.

You can see all of my top choices listed in order here : http://www.civil.uwaterloo.ca/frseglen/archive/setlists/2006/best_of_2006.htm

The astute among you may notice that I didn't play The Math and Physics Club on this show but they appear on the Best of 2006 page. In my own defense, I did mention during the show that I had not heard the album and they might make the top 10.

Behind the songs I have done my best to list where I first heard about the song, see the legend below the setlist.

TALK - Theme

Peter, Bjorn and John - Young Folks (popcasting)
The Concretes - Chosen One (The Wedge)
Essex Green - Don't Know Why (You Stay) (bury me not)
Cats On Fire - Higher Ground (poppolar)
The Tidy Ups - Dizzy Heights (indiepopradio)
TALK
The Stolen Minks - Peppy Twist (C) (CKMS)
The Doers - We're Open (C) (CKMS)
Henry Faberge and the Adorables - Out Of Your League (C) (Live - Grad House)
Lake Holiday - Press Record Then Play (C) (poppolar)
Lovely Feathers - Right Where You Are (C) (Live - Hillside)
TALK
Amp Fiddler - Right Where You Are (The Wedge)
Herb Alpert - Whipped Cream (Zulu Records)
Blaze presents UDA featuring Barbra Tucker - Most Precious Love (The Wedge)
Hard Fi - Hard To Beat (The Wedge)
Bocce - Bicycle Cops (C) (Live - Starlight)
TALK
Good On Paper - The Message (indiepopradio)
El Perro Del Mar - God Knows (You Gotta Give What You Get) (KCRW Song of the Day)
Regina Spektor - Fidelity (myboytheriotgirl)
Psapp - Hi (KCRW Song of the Day)
The Gresham Flyers - Shiftwork (indiepopradio)
TALK
Knock, Knock, Ginger - Love Renee (C)
The Bicycles - Paris Be Mine (C)

TALK
Memphis - In The Cinema Alone (C)
Junior Boys - In The Morning (C) (myboytheriotgirl)
TALK
Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken (myboytheriotgirl)
Yo La Tengo - Mr. Tough (bury me not)
TALK
The Pipettes - Pull Shapes (poppolar)
Irene - Little Things That Tear Us Apart (poppolar)

TALK
Belle and Sebastian - Sukie In The Graveyard


popcasting - http://www.geocities.com/popcastingpop/
indiepopradio - http://indiepopradio.blogspot.com/
bury me not - http://www.burymenot.com
poppolar - http://www.poppolar.com
CKMS - http://www.ckmsfm.ca
Hillside - http://www.hillside.on.ca/
Zulu Records - http://www.zulurecords.com/
The Wedge - http://www.muchmusic.com/tv/thewedge/
KCRW Song of the Day - http://www.kcrw.com/
My Boy the Riot Girl - http://www.myboytheriotgirl.com/

(C) Denotes Canadian Content