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The Best of 2014 Countdown Part 2 (S10E13)

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As promised, the second part to my best of 2014 countdown. This list is from #20 to #1 and it’s the best part of the year ender to Canadian independent music. The countdown for the past few years has no repeats from an artist and band. It’s based on the album and when it was released.

Without spoiling much, the top 10 has half of the entries by female musicians. 2014 has been an important year to female rights and violence against women. Without spoiling much, the playlist is posted below. Several entries have a lot of returnees as artists and bands have released their follow-ups to their previous albums. Some have been critically acclaimed.
As usual, you can listen to the audio.

Happy New Year and hello to 2015.

Audio – #20 to #1
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The Best of 2014 Countdown Part 1 (S10E12)

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It’s back for another year but in a slightly shorter list as I had issues from the radio station in early 2014.
I didn’t pay attention to a lot of Canadian independent music due to the problems stemming from the station. I was able to compile album towards the end of the year thanks to friends, various radio programs and music websites.

I’m closing off 2014 with some of the best albums from Canada. In the first part, the countdown is from #40 to #21.
You will hear music from the likes of Brave Shores to In-Flight Safety to Kevin Drew and various others.

For those who missed me on the airwaves, I got you.
Here’s the first part of the audio and the playlist is posted below. Happy New Year’s Eve and the second part will be posted on New Year’s Day.

Audio
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A Very Merry Christmas & The Top 50 of 2013, Part 2 – S09E16

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WW Vinyl December 23

It was an epic day as I was on the airwaves from 7-10am and then the regular show at 11am on CKCU-FM. First, it was the Monday Special Blend and I was joined by Canadian Spaces host, Chris White as we had Shannon Rose & The Thorns. Rose has a new song which is fitting for Christmas and it’s called North Star. She performed three songs live on the airwaves. First was North Star, the second was Phoenix and lastly, a Bing Crosby cover song, I’ll Be Home For Christmas. Luckily, Ottawa didn’t bear brunt of the ice storm which hit Toronto on the weekend. Overall, it was a great morning to have guests like Chris White and Shannon Rose. From the image above, it was shot on a Polaroid.
The next show to help out was The Filibuster and we basically played Christmas songs ranging from the popular one to Metal to Canadian indie music. It was a nice mix of tunes to play as I was joined host, Ben James for the Filibuster.
To my own show, I played the favourites from Jill Barber, Basia Bulat and Nat Jay. It’s become a yearly tradition to play those wonderful festive songs. There were a few new tracks from Mounties, The Mountain and the Trees and a new Said The Whale.
You can check the playlist over at the this link. You can listen to the audio below. It will be a lengthy listen. Happy Holidays!
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The Christmas Edition and The Top 50 of 2013, Part 1 – S09E15

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WW Vinyl December 16

It’s that time of festive season where I’ll be playing Christmas music. This year is a bit different in terms of music format as I decided to play J-POP Christmas songs on CKCU-FM. After a debacle from last year’s radio show where I played Christmas UK #1 songs, it’s a better way to play it safe by choosing Christmas tunes from the Far East.
Played were Cream, B’z, L’Arc~en~Ciel, BoA and KinKi Kids. For Cantopop, there was Lonely Christmas by Eason Chan as it’s become part of the yearly Christmas playlist.

As usual, I was joined by Lauren as we decided to play through the festive tunes and it’s her last live show for 2013. She will still be on the air for the year end countdown show.
We were joined by Erica who made a surprise appearance. We also had fun taking some instant film photos using The Impossible Project film to the Polaroid camera. It was two hours full of fun music and wearing Santa hats.
The playlist can be checked over at this link. You can also listen to the audio below.
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The Interview with Kat Burns of Kashka – S09E14

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WildWorks Vinyl December 9

Three consecutive days to writing a blog entry is astounding. It’s a nice way of making it up from a month’s absence in October. All I have to say that it was a great weekend as I attended Ottawa Pop Expo.
This week’s radio show on CKCU-FM had the interview with Kashka. It is fronted by former Forest City Lovers, Kat Burns. It’s been awhile since I last saw her.
As mentioned elsewhere, it’s the last music interview of 2013 as I will be getting into the festive tunes and the year end countdowns. Back to Kashka, Burns was in Ottawa on Friday night for her tour and in support of the second album, Bound. It was released in late November. For those who don’t know, Kashka’s music takes the term of ‘folkpoptronica.’ A blending folk, pop and electronic music into one. You can listen to the interview below.
I started the show with a tribute to Nelson Mandela. I played the song Glorious Days by Hong Kong rock band, Beyond. It’s a homage to Mandela back in 1990. It was inspired by his fight for inequality and the song is now used for demonstrations fighting against anti-racism and for freedom. The music video is posted below with English subtitles. Even though, it’s in Cantonese, there’s images of the late great Mandela. Long live Madiba!

You can check the playlist over at this link.
Lastly, if you’re listening from the blog, I played the full versions of Make Me A Mirror by Ark Analog and the brand new song by St. Vincent, Birth In Reverse.
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The Lonely End of the Rink with Grant Lawrence – S09E11

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With Grant Lawrence Polaroid Vinyl

Grant Lawrence was in Ottawa on Friday, November 29, 2013. He was there to promote his new book, The Lonely End of the Rink – Confessions of a Reluctant Goalie. The event was held at Pressed, which is a great place for sandwiches and other food.
I had the chance to interview with Lawrence and talked about the details on his second book, which is on the hockey side. You can listen to the interview below.
It was great to see the venerable radio host on CBC Radio 3 come to the Nation’s Capital and say positive things about Ottawa. His second book has connections to Ottawa, be sure to look for it at bookstores.

December 2nd Radio Show
Aside from the interview, there were new music from the like of The Balconies and MORI. MORI released a music video to this song, I Know It’s Over. If you watch the music video, a certain appearance from Cadence Weapon and Miracle Fortress are in it. Keep an eye on it.
The Balconies will be releasing their new album, Fast Motions in the new year, keep a look out on it.

As usual, Lauren joined me for the second half of the show and talked about HAIM as we approach the end of the year and have our yearly best of 2013 countdown coming up.

Performing this week in Ottawa is Kashka at Raw Sugar Cafe for December 6, 2013.
To check out the playlist from the radio show, click here. You can listen to the audio below.
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Finally! The Interview with Motel Raphael – S09E10

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WW Vinyl November 25

I have been holding it off for awhile but I finally aired the interview with the Montreal band, Motel Raphael on CKCU-FM. It was originally recorded in the Summer and my radio show doesn’t do new music interview segments around the Summer months. The reason for holding it off was to wait for their album but it’s been pushed back as I last checked. As 2013 is ending, it’s best to air it sooner and have it without music in the background. The nice part was that I didn’t have any music interviews to conduct and it was just convenient timing to air the Motel Raphael interview. There were recently on a reality show and it had to do with a kitchen makeover.
Overall, it was great to meet the lovely band as they had an awesome 2013 since they made it to the Top 16 of CBC Music’s Searchlight Contest, placed fourth for Best Musical Act according to Cult Montreal,  their crowd funding for their album and finally getting to see them live in Montreal (missed out their performance in Ottawa). You can listen to the interview below.
The playlist for the radio show is over at this link.
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Celebrating Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary – S09E09

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WW November 18 Vinyl

On this week’s radio show on CKCU-FM, I decided to pay tribute to Doctor Who as it celebrates its 50th anniversary. It couldn’t happen at a right time as I brought along the sonic screwdriver toys to the station and poke fun with a few hosts. It will be exciting when The Day of The Doctor airs on Saturday afternoon (Ottawa time) on Saturday, November 23rd. The day when Doctor Who first aired in 1963. I’ll be happy to see the Tenth Doctor return to the small screen. David Tennant was named the “nation’s” best Doctor and Matt Smith has been a great Doctor as well.
Aside from that and the sounds of the sonic screwdriver, I re-aired the interview with The Doctor Who Society of Canada as I had technical difficulties airing it back in June following Ottawa Comic Con. It was fitting to play the interview on the airwaves in Ottawa and go back in time. You can listen to the interview again from below.
Also on the show, I had Lauren joining me for the second half of the show and talked about the weekend as we went to a launch party but we didn’t bump into each other.
Played this week were three songs which came out as a music video. They were Forgive Me by Austra, Jasper by Louise Burns and Permanent Hesitation by Born Ruffians.
Then there’s the usual tracks from Basia Bulat, The Darcys and Rebekah Higgs.
You can check the playlist over at this link.
Have a great week!
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The Hannah Georgas Interview – S09E08

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WW Nov 11 Vinyl Blog

It’s November 11th and it’s the day where everyone observes and pay their respects to the soldiers and veterans who fought in wars. Wars are still continuing throughout parts of the continent and we still reflect the sacrifices that soldiers face in combat and defending peace. Remembrance Day this year marked the 95th anniversary of the end of WWI. Lest We Forget.

Radio Show
On the this week’s radio show, Lauren returned to the program after a month’s absence. It was a good timing as I aired the interview with Hannah Georgas. Georgas was in Ottawa last week for two shows at the NAC for NAC Presents. It’s the first time to finally interview her as she’s been busy touring and it was a nice opportunity to do so. It’s been awhile I have seen her live and in the interview, I got to ask about the emotional process that she brought in her 2012 self titled album. Played on the show was her cover rendition of Rihanna’s Stay. Myself and Lauren have found her version to be raw and powerful. It almost put me in tears when I listen to the song. Her song is available on iTunes. Played on the show this week are new tracks from Rebekah Higgs, Kashka and the usual artists and bands like Basia Bulat and Arcade Fire.
I got a message on my Facebook page and played Jess Hart.
You can listen to the interview and the radio show below.
The playlist for the radio show can be seen at this link.
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Using Instant Film Cameras – S09E06

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Instant Cameras Blog

Since June, I have been using instant film cameras and so far, it’s been a total shift to how I take photos. Even though it’s costly getting instant film sheets but the response to people seeing me use Polaroids have been quite a surprise because they haven’t seen the cameras in quite a long time and I get asked where I get the instant film sheets.
Recently, I loaded the sheets to the Polaroid SX 70 camera (photo shown on top row) and the results have been not perfect as the film runs on 125 ISO speed and there’s no flash on the camera itself. I’ll most likely have to shoot outdoors with the camera.
The photos are posted below. The results to using The Impossible Project have been mixed as I have messing around the dark/bright slider on the two Polaroid cameras. It’s been a work in progress to shooting Polaroid/instant film cameras and it’s challenging and fun. I have success on using the Fujifilm Instax Wide 210 (photo shown on bottom right) and the Polaroid Land Camera 600 (Autofocus 660) as the film speeds are not as volatile compared to the PX 70 film by The Impossible Project.
I have made a rule of sorts that taking instant film photos is like making three wishes from a Genie bottle as I have to carefully shoot carefully and be sure it’s fun and creative. Analog photography has rapidly decline since the convenient use of digital photos from smartphones and cameras. It’s still good to cherish instant photos in a very artistic way. Recent photos are posted below, check them out.
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