This is the return of the so-called holiday specials as it will not be linked to my usual entries. This time, these entries will be connected to the radio shows I have been doing. So far, I have played the usual Christmas songs by U2, The Pogues, Mariah Carey, Band Aid and Wham! There’s been a heavy dose of Fairytale of New York being played from the radio show.
Don’t forget the playlist is at http://wildworks.wordpress.com/radio/

December 24-25, 2009 – Merry Christmas to everyone! Hope you take your time reading and listening through this blog entry. I should thank North by East West for providing the new Christmas songs by Canadian independent bands and musicians. Without them, I would not be able to play good Christmas music on my radio show at CKCU-FM.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009 wrapped up the Christmas edition of the radio shows. Played several new Christmas songs by Said The Whale, In-Flight Safety with Jenn Grant and Library Voices. Surprised that I have played Fairytale of New York four times but the other 3 are cover versions. Also on the radio show was The Balconies Christmas interview that I did on a cold Friday, December 18, 2009, prior to their concert at Cafe Dekcuf.
Here’s the full radio show from 10-11.30am. Press play to listen.
Here’s my radio show from 11-11.30am. Press play to listen.
The Balconies Christmas Interview
Press play to listen or download it.
Due to sound quality issues, if you couldn’t listen to In-Flight Safety & Jenn Grant’s version of Fairytale of New York clearly, you can download the song for free at this site via NxEW, http://www.nxew.ca/2009/12/free-download-in-flight-safety-and-jenn.html
The same goes for Said The Whale, here’s the link to download the free Christmas songs, http://www.saidthewhale.com/christmas.html

Monday, December 21, 2009 was my final Monday afternoon show. I started the final show by playing the Christmas #1 song in the UK for 2009. That’s right, it’s Rage Against The Machine. The song that trumped the 2009 X-Factor winner was Killing In The Name.
I had a special guest on the show. It was Ben Welland of Sadie Hell. We played our favorite Christmas songs and I did live interview (first time) with Welland as he is promoting his debut album and the gig on January 2, 2010.
Without further ado, you can press play to listen to Monday’s show.

Saturday, December 19, 2009 was not Christmas related as I got to be a guest on Midnight Jamz, alternating on Saturdays from 8-10pm on CKCU. Actually, there was talk of Christmas in one of the host break. This radio show mainly plays Hip-Hop, R&B, Dance and Reggae. Near the end of the show, we were all singing along to It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday by Boyz II Men off-air. I had no clue why I was singing along to it with no mistakes.
Press play to listen.

Wednesday, December 16 continued with several Christmas songs being played. Past Christmas #1 songs in the UK were also played and my top 10 Canadian indie albums of 2009. Joel Plaskett and Metric were battling for the 1-2 punch.
Press play to listen.

Monday, December 14 kicked off the Christmas themed show. It was the return of the duo of Horses Spilled Milk and we basically played the Christmas tunes by the mainstream artists and bands.
You can listen to the Dec. 14th Christmas edition radio show by pressing play.

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Music Videos – The Ones I Have Played So Far

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – Darlene Love (Performed on Late Night With David Letterman – Dec. 23, 2009) [youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3loxU-lOI2g”] Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – U2 [youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnXuBbiHoIw”] Fairytale of New York – The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl [youtube=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCr30OVMjHA”] Last Christmas – Wham! [youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3354flS1KJs”] Christmas In Hollis – Run DMC [youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR07r0ZMFb8″] Do They Know It’s Christmas – Band Aid (1984)/Band Aid II (1989)/Band Aid 20 (2004) [youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9ZOr8cxsfo”]

A House Party I Attended – The Best of 2009 and Top 10 Canadian Albums of 2009

I went to a house party on December 12th and people brought their mixed CDs where they picked their best of 2009 songs. Here’s a snippet that I took but I didn’t stay too long at the party.

[vimeo=”http://www.vimeo.com/8162964″]

Here’s my Top 10 Canadian Albums of 2009, which was played on the December 16th show.
My Top 10 Canadian Albums of 2009

1. Three by Joel Plaskett (Played Through & Through & Through)
2. Fantasies by Metric (Played Gimme Sympathy)
3. XXXX by You Say Party! We Say Die! (Played Laura Palmer’s Prom)
4. Islands Disappear by Said The Whale (Played Camilo (The Magician))
5. Silver Starling by Silver Staring (Played Ghosts)
6. Nice, Nice, Very Nice by Dan Mangan (Played Robots)
7. Beacons by Ohbijou (Played New Years)
8. High On Jackson Hill by Immaculate Machine (Played Sound The Alarms)
9. Invisible Republic by Young Galaxy (Played Destroyer)
10. Family by Think About Life (Played Sweet Sixteen)

Not So Christmas – Friday Night’s Gig

Here’s 300 Pages by The Balconies, performed at Cafe Dekcuf on December 18, 2009. The video can be viewed on HD at this link, http://vimeo.com/8279191.
[vimeo=”http://vimeo.com/8279191?hd=1″]