Happy Chinese New Year 2012 & Year of the Dragon – S07E22

Happy Chinese New Year, Kung Hei Fat Choi - 恭喜發財
2012 should be shaping to be a great year as it’s the year of the dragon. The dragon brings power and luck for anyone who’s born. There’s a bit of decoration at the CKCU-FM on-air studio with the red envelopes and a cute lion or dragon hanging on the window.
This year’s music theme on my show happens to be songs with “dragon.” It was quite a rush job trying to find certain song names with dragon in it. As usual, Lauren joined for the second year and got immersed with the Chinese New Year culture. The new CKCU Volunteer Coordinator, Chris White came on the show to talk about CKCU’s participation for the Chinese New Year celebration on Ottawa Chinatown for Saturday, January 28th. There will be a lion dance performance and CKCU will be at the Raw Sugar Cafe to join in the festivities. CKCU hosts from China Album and The Mix and others will be at the Raw Sugar Cafe. Drop by and say hi to them.
Another part to this year’s CNY show was bringing some food. There were rice crackers, some New Year food mix and a rice cake. You will see the photos from below and then a few photos from the performance on Monday, January 23rd, the start of Chinese New Year.
The playlist to the show (including the podcast to the first part of  the show) is at this link. The Wild 10 Countdown summary will be posted later.

Audio/Podcast
The full January 25th show – Press play to listen.

The Chinese New Year show aired on CKCU-FM – Press play to listen

Photos
 

From Chinese New Year Lion Dance Performances
  

Blame It on SOPA and a Certain Lion – S07E21

Do I really need to blame anything that happen on Wednesday? It was certainly a crazy day as so many things happened with a morning lion dance to enduring morning traffic and certain websites going down due to an online protest. I didn’t get too highly involved because of the hectic morning and of course, the radio show. I am in support against SOPA because I post materials on my blog and I do worry about getting in trouble because of copyright laws and other factors.
Aside from that, I could bring a blame on the Chinese lion because I had to delay part of my radio/podcast show. The live radio show was a farewell to a favourite TV show, Chuck. Although, the series finale airs on January 27, 2012, it got pushed up a week because of the Chinese New Year themed show. The songs I picked were my favourites and people who are not familiar with Chuck would be surprised that certain Canadian indie bands were played on the show. There was a segment from an unaired interview with In-Flight Safety, which was recorded in the Summer of 2010. It was with the front man of the band, John Mullane as we chatted about their song being used on NBC’s Chuck.
Hope you enjoy this week’s shows. After the farewell to Chuck edition, it’s The Wild 10 Countdown as there are a couple of new entries.
Before you listen to the audio, the playlist from the January 18th show is at this link. The Wild 10 Countdown summary is over at this link.
Exciting news! The WildWorks Station is on the shortlist for the 2011 Canadian Weblog Awards nomination. The blog is in the category for Best Weblog About Music. It’s nice to get support from friends as they were happy that I got on the shortlist. Thanks!

Audio/Interview
The January 18th Show – Press play to listen.

The January 19th Show (The Wild 10 Countdown) – Press play to listen.

The Short Chat about Chuck with John Mullane of In-Flight Safety (Recorded back in 2010)

It’s Still Cold Outside But There’s New Music To Guide You Along – S07E20

The second radio show of January 2012 were interesting and fun as I had some new tracks to play and the return of Lauren as she returned from her holiday. To start off, there’s a going to be a bunch of new albums coming out for January and February. On the live part of the show, there were new tracks by Sleigh Bells, The Wooden Sky, The Darcys (again), and Joel Plaskett Emergency.
Halfway through the show, Lauren and myself talked about the Coachella lineup and then ending off with the 2nd anniversary of Haiti earthquake. With the Haiti earthquake, I had the opportunity to give my support to the wonderful organization, Kanpe Foundation through DAVIDsTEA. Kanpe is really dedicated to help rebuild Haiti and they’re still continuing with the achievements to keep Haiti strong.
Back to the Coachella lineup, one song I played was pretty nostalgic as it was Fade Into You by Mazzy Star. It’s quite a surprise that the band is still around after all these years. It was fitting to play it even though it’s a bit sombre to listen to the song.
In other CKCU related stuff, my entry for the favourite artist of 2011 is posted at this link. It’s about Emmy The Great.
The playlist for January 11th’s show is posted at this link.
The Wild 10 Countdown summary is at this link.

Audio/Radio Show
The full January 11, 2012 show – Press play to listen.

The live part of WildWorks for January 11, 2012 – Press play to listen.

Hello 2012! Finishing Up My Best in Music for 2011 – S07E19

Happy New Year! 2012 is now here and 2011 was an interesting year to say the least. From protesting to occupying and a lot of elections, there was so much craziness happening around the world. Aside from that, the music in 2011 was pretty good as indie music continued to be strong as Arcade Fire won every awards and seeing the rise of new bands and artists from the likes of Cults and Lana Del Rey.
The radio show to begin 2012 was a wrap-up to my best of 2011. The top 11 of 2011 time is the non-Canadian indie music. There were a good variety of indie music outside of Canada. My top 11 were my favourites throughout 2011. One song (and album) in the top 11 was technically released in 2010 but it was released in North America in March of 2011.
There was the return of the Wild 10 Countdown as it resumes from the holiday. Expect to hear new Canadian releases in the months to come.
You can check out the playlist at the link. The Wild 10 Countdown beginning 2012 is posted at this link.
What began 2012 was getting my MOO Minicards. You can see it from the photo on top.
Have a good start to 2012!

Audio/Radio Show Archive
The January 4th Radio Show – Press play to listen.

The Sodas, Christmas Programs and Year-End Countdown Guide – S07E18

Updated on December 31, 2011

It’s the yearly festive time as I play a lot of Christmas songs on my radio show at CKCU-FM. Aside from the tunes, I decided to get these unique holiday flavoured sodas by Jones Soda. The flavours were Candy Cane, Gingerbread, Pear Tree and Sugar Plum.
One of the CKCU shows I hung out, we tried the Candy Cane Soda. The host’s verdict was that it tasted like something out of the dentist. It’s not in a bad way but he didn’t mind the taste of it.
This will be the 2011 edition holiday guide to the shows I hosted at CKCU-FM.
I was on the air for Christmas Eve and just played a bunch of Christmas songs and then a few past Christmas #1 UK songs. It was great to play the Christmas tunes everytime. There were a few requests through Twitter and hopefully some were pleased.

The full Top 50 of 2011 is over at this link or on the top right of the blog.
The playlist for the December 21st show is at this link.
I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Finishing Up The Top 50 of 2011 for December 28, 2011
The third part of my Top 50 of 2011 is completed. Instead of playing the top 10, I’ve decided to play the top 11 as it’s fitting that 2011 is ending. This week’s show is slightly different as the first hour would usually be podcasted on this blog. It’s a bit of a flip-flop as the first hour was live and the second hour is for the blog. Both are splitter up for your listening convenience.
The playlist for December 28th’s show is at this link.

A New Year’s Eve Update
I had the opportunity to do a fill in for a Friday night radio show. I wasn’t expecting to have another final show of 2011. Thanks to the guys from Friday Night Derailment for the last minute fill in.
The playlist from the December 30th show is at this link.
Happy New Year!

Audio/Radio Show
The December 14th Radio Show – Press play to listen.

The December 21st Radio Show – Press play to listen.

From Both Kinds of Music’s Both Kind of Xmas Show – press play to listen.

The December 24th (Christmas Eve) Radio Show. The playlist is at this link. Press play to listen.

The December 28th radio show.
Hour 1  - press play to listen.

Hour 2 – press play to listen.

The December 30th radio show.  Press play to listen.

Photo
Here’s a photo of cupcakes I got at The Cupcake Lounge on Christmas Eve.

It Was a Fabulous and Fun Friday – S07E17

I had a great time going to some events on December 16, 2011. To begin, I found out through Twitter that Arcade Fire released a music video to a favourite song that everyone loves from The Suburbs, it was Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains). I couldn’t stop watching and listening to the song.
The next exciting part was attending CBC All In A Day for Share Central at Ben Franklin Place. Performing there were Kool Krys and Natalia & Montuno. It was nice to see Kool Krys as I gave her the wonderful Kanpe Tea for DAVIDsTEA. In return, she gave me her second album, Listen To Your Art. Overall, I had a good time there and had a Beavertail.
Last but not least, I headed over to Raw Sugar Cafe to see Joey Wright and Rolf Klausener (of The Acorn) for a show. It was a good show filled with funny humour and not so keen language.
You can view the photos from below.
Oh yeah, since I didn’t post an entry for Wednesday, the radio show from Wednesday will be posted. I played part 1 of my Top 50 of 2011. The playlist is over at this link via CKCU-FM.

Audio/Radio Show
The December 14th Radio Show – Press play to listen.

Photos
CBC All In A Day – Share Central
    
Raw Sugar Cafe – Joey Wright and Rolf Klausener
 

From a Feast/Feist to a Near Disaster – S07E16

Due to the unfortunate nature of CKCU-FM and two other Ottawa radio stations being off the air. A fire burned down the antenna for CKCU over at Camp Fortune. The positive part has been that CKCU is still broadcasting over the Internet as the repairs to the antenna will take several days. In a way, my own show was normal as usual and I always post the show on this blog for anyone misses it live.
It seems to be a yearly holiday tradition as I happen to get more than two people joining me on the show. As usual, Lauren and Digory joined the show. A newcomer came on the December 7th show and it’s Stephanie. She’s been helping another show on Sunday mornings at CKCU.
What will be memorable for this Internet only show was Stephanie saying “feast” instead of Feist. Hence, the photo of the Feist albums and signed by the lovely singer. Despite the slight disaster, the show was still good with the hilarity and slip-ups.
Overall, it was nice to have the new guest co-host enjoy the radio show.
I forgot to mention on the show that it’s final The Wild 10 Countdown of 2011. Don’t worry, it’s not ending, it will be pre-empted until the new year. Adieu by Coeur de Pirate is number one for the 4th week.
The playlist for the December 7th show is over at this link. The summary for the Wild 10 Countdown for December 7, 2011 is posted at this link.
If you missed out on the live radio (or Internet only) show, you can listen to it again. Last thing to mention that I slightly revived my Flickr account. Even though I am not using a pro account, I will upload photos taken from my iPhone 4S. The photos are posted on the Flickr sidebar to the right.

Audio
The December 7th radio show. Press play to listen.

A TV Ad from Hong Kong I’ve Been Hooked On
Since I found out on the Anita Mui fan page on Facebook, a watch company came out with a TV ad for their Time is Love campaign. What intrigued me was the use of the classic Anita Mui song. It slightly put me in tears because it’s like a love story. Here’s the entire version of the ad campaign.

The Last Day of November 2011 and The Interview with The Darcys – S07E15

I can’t believe that November has gone by quickly and the odd thing has been the early Christmas specials being aired so early on the television. It’s a couple of weeks away until Christmas. My own festive mood will certainly kick.
Today’s radio show was 2 hours live on the airwaves in Ottawa. I was supposed to have guest co-host, Candice So, join me but there was a complication as she couldn’t help me on the show. At least she was able to drop by for a bit and gave her a lovely holiday tea as an early Christmas gift. No one is to be blamed with the miscommunication.
Saving the show was the return of Lauren as we counted down the top 10 Canadian indie songs.
The second hour of the show had the interview with The Darcys. They were in Ottawa recently and I had the chance to chat and talk about their new album.
Without further ado, the playlist is at this link.
The Wild 10 Countdown summary is over at this link.

Lastly, it was a privilege to have Candice So on the show for the previous two weeks. All I can say that you’re wonderful and awesome to be around. Wished you were there for the November 30th radio show. The photo of us is posted below as well as the interview and the radio show. Enjoy!

Audio/Interview
The November 30th radio show – Press play to listen.

The Darcys Interview

Photo
Lenny & Candice

Blame It On The Snow & The Bruce Peninsula Interview – S07E14

Update on Sunday, November 27, 2011 – Added Friday’s radio show.

Today’s entry is brought to you by the object, snow. That’s right! Snow walloped Ottawa causing slowdown on traffic for Wednesday morning. The radio show and podcast was almost fallen into place because of the weather. Candice So made a return to the show and we had an enjoyable and funny time on the show, despite the gloomy weather. For this edition, So was the host and I was the co-host/sidekick. The recording for the top 10 songs got reversed because of the snowy weather.
Also on the show was the interview with Neil Haverty of Bruce Peninsula. The band was in Ottawa last week for a show. It was a nice opportunity to conduct an interview with the band and to my own amazement, I did a good job on the interview itself.
The audio is posted below. Have a good week!

The playlist of the radio show is at this link.
The Wild 10 Countdown summary is at this link.

Audio/Podcast
The November 23rd radio show – Press play to listen.

The Bruce Peninsula Interview

The November 25th Radio Show – Filling in for Friday Night Derailment. The playlist is at this link.
Press play to listen.

Joined By a Guest Co-Host for November – S07E13

It’s been a thrill to get a guest co-host because the regular co-host has been missing for weeks. A miracle happened as I got someone who’s on Carleton’s Journalism radio program airing on CKCU-FM. The spin-off program airs on Friday afternoon and I’ve been told that a lot of students signed up for the program and had to be split up. When I listened to Week’s End, some of the reporters use Twitter and I decided to contact one of them. That person who I contacted happened to be Candice So and to my own surprise, she’s very enthusiastic about indie music and radio. The rest is history as Wednesday’s show has Ms. So joining as a co-host for the next few weeks. The show’s slightly not perfect because the guest co-host told me she didn’t have much sleep and busy with projects.
Overall, the show was not perfect as we messed up on some parts but it was fully enjoyable and witty with two people hosting. It’s great to have Ms. So’s presence on my radio show as she likes the music that I play and just having fun all around. It’s also been awhile that I haven’t played The Naked & Famous in quite awhile. The opening theme doesn’t count. It was great to hear Punching In a Dream as it was played on MuchMusic’s The Wedge a week ago.
Don’t forget to listen to the radio show below.
The playlist for the radio show is at this link.
The Wild 10 Countdown summary for November 16th is at this link.

Tech Talk
For anyone who’s been bugging me for several years since its release, I finally got an iPhone. The iPhone 4S to be specific. I was just frustrated with the BlackBerry as the battery was getting drained quickly. It was time to upgrade a cell phone and a friend tweeted me to go for the iPhone 4S, which I did.
The part I need to get familiar is the high image quality for the camera. I’ve been accustomed to lower image quality the iPad and iPod touch. The 8 megapixel camera on the 4S is a big step for me. I’ve taken some photos and one is posted above and another is posted at The New Midnight Jamz on Facebook. Since it uses 1080p resolution, I have not tried to shoot video yet.
I’m glad with the upgrade on the cell phone.

Audio/Radio Show
The November 16th Radio Show – Press play to listen.