This is not a countdown

Here it is: my last episode of 2013, split below into two mp3s. Of course, 2 hours wasn't nearly enough time to play everything I wanted, but I think I managed put together a decent range of genres and artists. The show includes some heavy hitters as well as some newer material that never really seemed to fit within my regular, indie-rock-saturated playlists. Basically, you'll hear me saying so-and-so had a "big year" a few too many times.

Overall, it's a mix of some of my favourite tracks of the year and some of the music that's going be buzzing from now till Christmas. I'm not going to go through the whole line-up like I usually do when I post an episode, but I do want to give a shout out to some of the artists that could've just as easily thrown into mix (and, in retrospect, probably should have --- I mean, do we really need more people playing Daft Punk?). Follow the links to check out White Poppy, The Dodos, Lab Coast, Doug Hoyer, Anamie, Hooded Fang, Bill Callahan, Crosss, Frog Eyes, Alex Calder, Palehound, Shotgun Jimmie, and I could keep going.

Next year, I'm gunning for a three hour finale.

*We begin at the end of "Making Whoopee"
*And then there's 5 minutes of news from the BBC
"Inter" - Baths
"Retrograde" - James Blake
"White Noise" - Disclosure feat. AlunaGeorge
"In Two II" - Blue Hawaii
"Dropped" - Atoms for Peace
"Thor's Stone" - Forest Swords
"Button Fumbla" - Royal Canoe
"Doin' It Right" - Daft Punk
"Punk (la vie anterior)" - Deerhunter
"Husbands" - Savages
"KV Crimes" - Kurt Vile
"Night Still Comes" - Neko Case



"Metal Swing" - The Range
"Clipped On" - Blood Orange
"Lonely" - Danny Brown
"Fam Jam" - Shad
"One Half" - Julianna Barwick
"Horns Surrounding Me" - Julia Holter
"Mute" - Youth Lagoon
"Library" - Julia Brown
"Coast to Coast" - Waxahatchee
"Dust in the Gold Sack" - Swearin'
"Nu Sundae" - The Courtneys
"Swim and Sleep (Like a Shark)" - Unknown Mortal Orchestra
"Luella" - Ghostkeeper
"Patients" - The Ketamines
"New You" - My Bloody Valentine

Head south?

Despite the blizzard raging outside, today's show went off without a hitch, thanks in part to some familiar stand-bys. I felt pretty "on" today. It probably had something to do with the fact that my homework was done and my lunch was prepared prior to the show. (Usually I'm scrambling to make it to class on time and I end up skipping lunch.)

Following Deerhunter's already timeless "Back to the Middle" from this year's Monomania, we took an early electronic detour with a winter jam from Montreal's Braids, an off-kilter romp from Winnipeg's Royal Canoe, some sounds of isolation from Halifax's Ryan Hemsworth, and a heady new track from Beck.

Next, Winnipeg's Greg Macpherson joined Haley Primrose for slow-burner from his new effort, Firecracker. He was followed rudely by former Edmontonian Mac DeMarco (who lets out a classy belch right before launching into a romantic number from last year's 2); after Mac redeemed himself, we heard a sobering classic from Cat Power's Chan Marshall and a brand new track from Halifax lo-fi bruisers Dog Day.

Part 2 of the show began with Texas crooners Shearwater putting their stamp on St Vincent's "Cheerleader," one of a dozen covers from their just released album Fellow Travellers. From there we heard a live take of Jason Molina's Magnolia Electric Co. playing their Crazy Horse inspired "The Dark Don't Hide It." Next, Spencer Krug delivered a song based on the motif of Noah's ark and The Hold Steady's Craig Finn donated a song to Slim, the former guitarist for the Replacements and namesake of a new compilation album raising money to help him pay for his outrageous medical bills. Today's show ended without much fuss: after some acoustic grunge from Brooklyn's Palehound and we closed with sensibly titled song from Modest Mouse. Head south? For this guy, that means going to Winnipeg.



"Back to the Middle" - Deerhunter
"December" - Braids
"Button Fumbla" - Royal Canoe
"Still Cold (feat. Baths) - Ryan Hemsworth
"Defriended" - Beck
"Tourists" - Greg Macpherson
"Still Together" - Mac DeMarco
"Nude as the News" - Cat Power
"Sunset" - Dog Day
"Cheerleader" - Shearwater
"The Dark Don't Hide It" - Magnolia Electric Co.
"Everyone is Noah Everyone is the Ark" - Moonface
"Isn't It?" - Craig Finn and Friends
"Pet Carrot" - Palehound
"Head South" - Modest Mouse