Magpie Alibi

Dyck's Pycks is dead! Long live Magpie Alibi!
 

Limits of the Diaphane

Like he did for the week of Mother's Day, Mark Kozelek (aka Sun Kil Moon) opened this week's show with a meditation on parenthood, this time in the form of a belated Father's Day tribute. "I Love My Dad" isn't quite as sappy as "I Can't Live Without My Mother's Love" (and perhaps a bit more tongue in cheek), but it's got the same rambling, self-effacing honesty that runs through the whole Benji, without a doubt one my favourite releases of the year so far.

Our show originally aired the day after Bloomsday and we couldn't resist making mention of the annual celebration James Joyce's Ulysses (from which this week's rather pretentious title comes), a novel certainly interested in mothers and fathers, both real and imagined. We'll try to make more of our literary cross-overs in future episodes. For now, let's enjoy them as digressions.

This week Trevor and I were especially both captivated by the catchy garage rock of Cold Beat, the project of Lillian Maring (of Grass Widow), which I discovered through a mixtape that another featured favourite, Each Other, had put together for Under the Radar's Sled Island preview. Following the carefree melodies of Cold Beat, we met with the latest from Matador: Lower, four-piece punk ensemble from Copenhagen, whose intensity is truly chilling.

After hearing from Each Other's Being Elastic, we had a chance to play one of many highlights from the re-released Frog Eyes album Carey's Cold Spring. Former Edmontonian, now Montrealer, Sean Nicholas Savage provided the most sultry and poignant contribution to this week's playlist with "Heartless" from his recent LP, Bermuda Waterfall. "Heartless" was a fitting precursor to the moody, slow-rocking "Hotel," the centerpiece from Antlers' brand new effort Familiars.

Carey's Cold Spring wasn't the only Polaris Prize nominated album on our playlist. Manitoba-based Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq delivered an inspired cover of the Pixies' song "Caribou" from her new album, Animism. Next we heard the latest from the Dan Snaith, whose monikers Caribou and Daphni arrived back-to-back: first, with a new, impossibly addictive single "Can't Do Without You," and next with a reworking of a track by the Nigerian funk pioneer William Onyeabor, which comes courtesy of David Byrne's Luaka Bop label.

Our show ended with an additional pair of unannounced electronic artists: Tobacco (Thomas Fec of Black Moth Super Rainbow) and Germany Germany (an independent artist from Victoria, BC).

"I Love My Dad" - Sun Kil Moon
"Worms" - Cold Beat
"Lost Weight, Perfect Skin" - Lower
"Scared Witless, Really" - Each Other
"The Country Child" - Frog Eyes
"Heartless" - Sean Nicholas Savage
"Hotel" - Antlers
"Caribou" - Tanya Tagaq
"Can't Do Without You" - Caribou
"Yea" - William Onyeabor (Daphni remix)
"Pool City, McKnight Road" - Tobacco
"Find Your Way" - Germany Germany

Made in Manitoba (Pt. 1)

Our show this week featured exclusively Manitoban artists (mostly from Winnipeg, but there were a few outliers). It's the first of several episodes that aim to collect some of the best music from one of Canada's most under-appreciated cities.



"Winnipeg Is A Frozen Shithole" - Venetian Snares
"Can We Run Away?" - The Lytics
"Zulumatic" - Mahogany Frog
"Breaking Breaking"- Old Folks Home
"Borealis Buffalo" - Animal Teeth
"Marblemouth" - Boats
"Out of Here" - Cannon Bros
"Teepee in the Forest" - Microdot
"Steady Glazed Eyes" - The Hours
"Since We Last Talked" - Slow Dancers
"Hey Stranger" - Demetra Penner

"Tristesse Suspendue" - Chic Gamine

Mother's Day

This week we aired our Mother's Day special: another eclectic playlist with a some semi-relevant, mother-themed tracks thrown in for good measure. From silly folk songs to heart-wrenching ballads and indictments of systemic injustices, it's an odd mix of tunes from across the map.

After Robert Pollard's tale of how he met his mother, we heard Neil Young and Crazy Horse's social commentary and Ghostface (Killa's) tribute to struggling moms. Next, we took a brief detour into some brand new stuff from Abbotsford, BC (Open Letters) and Montreal (Ought), and we heard what was arguably the creepiest song of our playlist (though Billy Corgan wasn't far off) from The Knife. The title track from Damon Albarn's new solo release was another off-topic selection that managed to make the cut. But from there onward, we stuck to songs about mothers or the lack thereof. Mary Gauthier pondered her own journey to adulthood without a mother, while Sun Kil Moon's Mark Kozelek revealed his mother's potential absence to be his greatest fear. Next, we heard an off colour song from the Yukon's Spring Breakup about mothers and wives, and, finally, we endured the rare treat of listening to Billy Corgan' remarkable tribute to his late mother from 1998's Adore.
    

"How I Met My Mother" - Guided by Voices
"Welfare Mothers" - Neil Young and Crazy Horse
"Mamma" - Ghostface
"This Song Was Supposed To Be Called 'Existence Is Futile' But Revocation Stole It From Us" - Open Letters
"Habit" - Ought
"We Share Our Mother's Health" - The Knife
"Everyday Robots" - Damon Albarn
"Mother Here, Mother Gone" - Mary Gauthier
"I Can't Live Without My Mother's Love" - Sun Kil Moon
"Mother and Wife" - Spring Breakup
"For Martha" - Smashing Pumpkins

Unsafe, unsure

Start at 1:15 to hear Halifax ex-pats Each Other kick things off with an assortment of brash melodies. Some darker, dancier stuff came next from Calgary's Mark Mills, Toronto's Think About Life, and Brooklyn provocateurs Liars. Next, we heard from Germany's endearing indie poppers The Notwist, a new project by Gord Downie and the Sadies, and revived 90s hard rock heroes The Afghan Whigs. Our newly established "Pick of the Week" (name subject to change) was claimed by Edmonton singer-songwriter Marlaena Moore, who followed EMA's tortured concept art and Coeur de Pirate's respectable Linda Ronstadt cover. The show came to an end with a pair of torch songs: the first, Future Islands' enchanting anthem "Spirit"; the second, Germany Germany's bandcamp-approved "Reconnect."
 

"Swell Patterns" - Each Other
"Escape Artists" - Mark Mills
"The Velt" - Think About Life
"Vox Tuned DED" - Liars
"Kong" - The Notwist
"Crater" - Gord Downie, the Sadies, and the Conquering Sun
"Matamoros" - The Afghan Whigs
"When She Comes" - EMA
"Heartbeats Accelerating" - Coeur de Pirate
"Unsafe, Unsure" - Marlaena Moore*
"Spirit" - Future Islands
"Reconnect" - Germany Germany


*Pick of the Week (or something)

Interrobang

Trevor and I found ourselves trading favourites on this week's show. He had his Japandroids and Jenn Grant, I had my Archers of Loaf and Hush Pup, and the airwaves were grateful. (The way Archers of Loaf singer Eric Bachmann sings the word "weird" is pure 90s magic.) We also heard new stuff from Timber Timbre and Chad VanGaalen among others.

If the title of this week's show is unfamiliar to you, have no fear: we explain it partway through the show. Or you could just ask the internet.

Skip ahead about four minutes to arrive at the beginning of our show.



"One" - Yamantaka // Sonic Titan
"The House That Heaven Built" - Japandroids
"Web in Front" - Archers of Loaf
"War Between" - Huron
"The Fighter" - Jenn Grant
"Curtains!?" - Timber Timbre
"Décapote" - La Patère Rose
"Sign 11:11" - Hush Pup
"Monster" - Chad VanGaalen
"Lucky" - Magnetta Lane
"Shy-Town" - Gorillaz
"Hate" - Charisma.com
"Black Panther" - Crystal Castles

Contested ground

This week's show was an attempt to incorporate more independent music by First Nations artists into our usual playlist (which has, in the past, been rightly accused of being dominated by white males). While this sort of thing isn't at all uncommon in North American indie rock, it's led to some fairly stable ideas of what independent music should sound and look like. Of course, such perceptions are hardly representative of the diversity in Canada's independent music community and can create real barriers for voices that need to be heard.

Part of our inspiration came from witnessing the powerful and harrowing stories of residential school survivors at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which concluded this past weekend in Edmonton. We were able to see a free concert, featuring Cris Derksen and a host of other artists (from many different backgrounds).

Below, you'll hear music from aboriginal and non-aboriginal artists. Our goal with these selections was to steer our show in a more attentive direction and showcase several artists (such as Cris Derksen, Quillbox, Flying Down Thunder and Rise Ashen) that don't get much airtime, as well as some that do (Ghostkeeper, A Tribe Called Red, Kinnie Starr). It's a small step, but hopefully it's something we'll be able to build on.



"Pow. Wow. Wow." - Cris Derksen
"Talkin' Bout a Revolution (Tracy Chapman cover)" - Art Napoleon
"Passing Out Pieces" - Mac DeMarco
"Sadlands" - Rebekah Higgs
"Mountain/Relief" - Picastro
"Well, Well, Well" - Ghostkeeper
"Molina Blues" - Slates
"Unity of Culture" - Flying Down Thunder and Rise Ashen
"Look At This" - A Tribe Called Red
"Get the Show On the Road" - Canadian Winter
"Kiss It" - Kinnie Starr
"Spirit" - Future Islands
"Nii Mi" - Quillbox