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

Glamour in the Hammer?

Sadly, I have no MP3 to post this week. CJSR's server was down for a good chunk of time and my show was one its many victims. It's a shame not only because of the great slew of tracks you'll see listed below, but also because I got to discuss the upcoming Grey Cup final (to which I am mostly completely oblivious) with Trevor. Earlier on Monday morning, he had sent in a request for the Whitehorse song "No Glamour in the Hammer," a tribute to his hometown Tiger-Cats who'll be facing off against the Saskatchewan Rough Riders in Regina this Sunday. And although I'm pretty naive when it comes to Canadian (or American) football, I do know that when you play against the Riders in Saskatchewan, the odds will not be in your favour. Hamilton needs all the help it can get. Trevor came by the show to provide more context for his requested song. The "Hammer" refers, of course, to Hamilton (I embarrassingly failed to pick up on this) and the song contains a bunch of other references to the underdog Ontario city.

So that was the show's highlight and I'm sorry if you missed it. All things considered, I'll probably spin a bunch of these tracks again next week. Maybe we'll be celebrating a Hamilton win and I'll have another opportunity to play Trevor's request.

"This Lonely Morning" - Best Coast
"No Glamour in the Hammer" - Whitehorse
"Forgiven/Forgotten" - Angel Olsen
"Uninvited Guest" - Eamon McGrath
"Tugboat" - Joanna Gruesome
"Sleepsick" - Dinosaur Bones
"Love You Here" - Sebadoh
"Walking on Ayr" - Lab Coast
"Sure As Spring" - La Luz
"Cash In" - Solange
"Minstrel Rock" - Old and Weird
"Anytime" - Monomyth
"Can't Question Desire" - The You Are Minez
"Dust in the Gold Rush" - Swearin'
"Sleigh Ride" - Fuzz

Cold signs

Since Saturday evening's snowfall, it's been impossible to ignore the sad fact that winter is here. Indeed, we're all heading down the "Winter Road," as Bill Callahan somberly put it in the show's opening song. But it wasn't all self-pitying ballads about the cold signs of our current climate. We heard a highlight from Julie Doiron's recent classic I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day, some dreamy shoe-gaze from Philidelphia's A Sunny Day in Glasgow, and a lackadaisical jam from Kurt Vile latest, Walkin' on a Pretty Daze.

The show's centrepiece, however, was a pair of back-to-back tracks from Bruce Cockburn. After spinning his jazzy bummer "The Coldest Night of the Year," I had to let Bruce deliver a more traditional pick-me-up, this time from 1978's Further Adventures Of. I'm a real sucker for the jazz flute. From there, we headed to Montreal to hear from a 30-piece orchestra known as Land of Kush and to witness some fantastic noise work from Tim Hecker. Julia Holter's eerie track from Loud City Song allowed us to transition out of Hecker's ambient experiments into the hook-driven garage rock of Edmonton's Switches and Bass Drum of Death (with an expansive new track from Yamantaka // Sonic Titan thrown in for good measure).

Before I could continue, I was politely interrupted by Trevor, a recurring guest on the show, who had just returned from the Conservative Party convention in Calgary. Don't worry. He wasn't there celebrate our country's embarrassing status quo -- he was there as a reporter for one of CJSR's flagship news shows, Terra Informa.

We ended the hour somewhat bashfully, with a crowd-pleaser from the Arcade Fire, you know, because they're having such a rough go of it right now. And just in case you're not yet tired of hearing about them, you can follow this link to read my take on their new album.



"Winter Road" - Bill Callahan
"Heavy Snow" - Julie Doiron
"100/0 (Snow Days Forever)" - A Sunny Day in Glasgow
"Snow Flakes Are Dancing" - Kurt Vile
"The Coldest Night of the Year" - Bruce Cockburn
"Laughter" - Bruce Cockburn
"The Big Mango" - Land of Kush
"Amps, Drugs, Harmonium" - Tim Hecker
"This is a True Heart" - Julia Holter
"Roomate" - Switches
"Lamia" - Yamantaka // Sonic Titan
"Shattered Me" - Bass Drum of Death
"Here Comes the Night Time" - Arcade Fire