The WildWorks Station

It was an exciting time on Saturday afternoon for Chinatown Remixed as there were activities happening through out Ottawa Chinatown. There were so many events happening on Saturday, May 12th, it was nice to see a good turnout for Chinatown Remixed. As previously mentioned elsewhere, it was a privilege for CKCU-FM to take part in the event. As the community radio station, it needs to get the exposure from attending various cultural events since the station has other multicultural programs. It was awesome that they were able to set up the tent and get DJ 2 Creamz spinning tunes throughout the afternoon. Since the event has been running for four years, it was the first time to have the Success Lion Dance Troupe participate. It’s my second time to check out the event. Kudos to the organizers for bringing an excellent event to Ottawa Chinatown. A big thanks goes to Chris White of CKCU-FM and DJ 2 Creamz for taking part and being enthusiastic to the event.
I was able to take photos as they are posted up on my Facebook page at WildWorks.
This week’s radio show was the continuation of the Asian Heritage Month theme with playing Canadian bands and musicians with Asian backgrounds. There were new songs from Scary Bear Soundtrack and Hexes & Ohs. Then a classic song by The Acorn as there were past members with Asian roots.
How could I forget about the new Beach House album, Bloom. All I can say that it’s probably one of my favourite albums of 2012.
Prior to that, there was the Wild 10 Countdown and a new number one song this week.
The playlist for the May 16th show is at this link.

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

It’s becoming a yearly tradition on my radio show at CKCU-FM to play songs for Mother’s Day. I am following the way that Hong Kong radio does as they play songs for Mother’s Day. I know that Cantopop is usually about love ballads but there are a few songs that mentions mothers. It’s always a privilege to play the well-know songs for Mother’s Day every year. As usual, the important songs being played were Bless by Sally Yeh and Truly Love You by Beyond as their songs brings a message about caring for you loved one. There was a dedication to a person from Toronto because I read her website and it almost brought me to tear having to read about her mom. I decided to play a song called 祝福 (Bless) by Jacky Cheung. It’s the same name from the Sally Yeh song but different.
Before the Mother’s Day songs, there was a tribute to Teresa Teng as May 8th was her passing. May 8, 1995 to be specific was when she tragically died and music fans in Asia mourned the loss of an incredible singer.
Apologies on the lack of a good photo. I recently got the Vibram FiveFingers KSO shoe at MEC. So far, it’s been comfortable wearing these minimal shoes. Walking with them feels pretty good and I don’t lose balance. As what people say, it does feel like you are walking barefooted.
As usual, the Wild 10 Countdown and a tribute to Adam Yauch, known as MCA from the Beastie Boys were played on the first part of the show.
The full May 9th radio show playlist is posted at this link.

Audio/Radio Show
The May 9th Radio Show – Press play to listen.

It’s now May and a brand new month but first thing to mention, I had a great time on Monday night at the Ottawa International Writers Festival for the All In A Day Songwriters Circle: The Stage Name Summit. From the photo shown above, there was Masia One with DJ 2 Creamz and CBC’s Alan Neal. Other performers for the songwriters circle who attended were Snailhouse, Oh Susanna, Socalled and Joe Keithley (from the punk-rock band, DOA). Out of the five performers, the ones I’m familiar with were Masia and Snailhouse since I usually see them from time to time and been a great supporter to their works.
Overall, it was nice to watch the performers be witty among one another and giving their best performances to the audience on the final night of Writers Festival. The photos will be posted below.

The SOCAN Edition
Wednesday’s radio show was SOCAN week and to be unique, I decided to play Canadian bands and musicians with Asian backgrounds as May is Asian Heritage Month. It was a bit difficult finding a Canadian musician with Asian descent but I was able to pull through the live show. On the first part of the show, the new song by Metric got played and as usual, the Wild 10 Countdown with a new number one song to begin May.
The playlist is over at this link.

Audio/Radio Show
The May 2nd Radio Show – Press play to listen.

Photos from the All In A Day Songwriters Circle
  
 

Record Store Day is becoming quite popular every year. There were line ups at one of the local record store in downtown Ottawa. Unfortunately, I did not go for it as I opted to do grocery shopping but my brother was able to pick up the vinyls on Record Store Day. On Wednesday’s radio show, I played three tracks that were released on Record Store Day. Being a sneaky person and spying on various show playlists, none of the other shows on CKCU-FM before Wednesday haven’t played tracks that were released on Record Store Day. After all, how could I not play a new remixed version of Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) by Arcade Fire. The Damian Taylor remix of Sprawl II was released on Record Store Day. So far, friends have said that they like the Damian Taylor remix of Sprawl II. That’s a good thing for people missing out on it.
For the past month, I’ve been playing the new Beach House on rotation. Finally, a new Beach House song released on RSD helped changed the weekly rotation. Lazuli is another lovely and dreamy song from the Baltimore duo, whom will be releasing their fourth studio album, Bloom on May 15. Last, but not least, a Feist and Mastadon collaboration called Feistodon. Feist covers Mastadon’s song and vice versa.
Overall, Record Store Day is a great way to support local, mom & pop record/music stores as they offer these unique vinyls and other incentives.
The last part of the live show was on Sandy Lam because her birthday is April 26th. Don’t forget to listen to the audio. The Wild 10 Countdown is included. Great Lake Swimmers is number one for the second week.
Lastly, the playlist for the entire radio show is at this link.
Enjoy!

Audio/Radio Show
The April 25th Radio Show – Press play to listen.

It was a close call for Wednesday’s show because I had a equipment failure on Saturday night as I was doing a pre-recorded interview with Adaline. Luckily, there was a second chance as I did a live phone interview with her. It was almost a disaster because CKCU-FM doesn’t do long distance calls as I would need a long distance card to call outside of Ottawa. Aside from the slight setback, it was smooth sailing from then on as I got to do the interview. You can listen to the interview in the audio section. What I forgot to mention were the opening acts from Saturday’s show. They were Factory Owl and The Watters Brothers. Up and coming local bands. I’ve seen The Watters Brothers perform and they bring a style of Blues which is marvellous. It was the first time to check out Factory Owl and their use of orchestral instruments sounded pretty lovely. Overall, it was good Saturday night to enjoy live music.

What was played on the live radio show were songs from Hong Kong films as this Sunday will be the 31st Hong Kong Film Award. It’s become a yearly tradition to play past winners from the Best Song Film category leading up to the award show. As far as I know, it will be broadcast on RTHK Radio 2 and will definitely listen in.
Aside from the live show was the top 10 countdown and I haven’t made a set date on resuming the top 10 entries.
The playlist is over at this link.

Audio/Interviews
The full show – Press play to listen.

The Adaline Interview

Read the rest of this entry »

On Friday, CKCU-FM announced that they got new chairs in the on-air studio. The response to these swanky and stylish chairs have been positive. I gave the new chair a try and so far, it’s comfortable but I was sure about fiddling around with the height and positions for the chair. The only minor setback were the arm rest as it was set low. Overall, a great addition and also looking professional at the radio show.
Aside from the new chairs, today’s show had two interviews. They were Ben Caplan from Ben Caplan & The Casual Smokers and Teenage Kicks. The audio will be posted below.
After the interviews, I decided to continue with the Leslie Cheung tribute as April 1st was not too long ago and a radio show on RTHK Radio 2 have been playing Cheung’s songs. There were a few favourites that I wanted to play as I wanted to finish off the yearly tribute.
The playlist from the show is posted at this link.
Easter weekend is upon us and wanting to wish you a good long weekend.

Audio/Interviews
The April 4th Radio Show – Press play to listen.

The Ben Caplan Interview

Teenage Kicks Interview

March is ending in a few days and this week’s radio show was filled with a lot materials from the first part to the live part of the show. DJ Digs returned to the show and Lauren is there as usual.
After the top 10 countdown from the first hour, we played the local acts that are performing at JunoFest and then played the favourite bands and musicians who are nominated for the Juno Awards.
The live part of the show had the interview with Minus the Tiger from the Netherlands and the yearly tribute to Leslie Cheung. April 1, 2003 was when it happened and it’s now nine years since his tragic death. He is still missed among Hong Kong fans and abroad.
This year’s tribute was a bit shorter than previous editions. It’s still nice to play his hits from Monica and others.

The fun part to this week’s show was The Charlatan coming in to shoot video (their second attempt) and giving them a glimpse on how we prepare and going live for the radio show. It was great to have someone from The Charlatan come in and check out my radio show as I try to make it fun in playing good music. Aside from that, the written article on myself and the radio show is posted at the Charlatan over at this link.
This week’s playlist has the live part of the show posted there. You can go over at this link. Don’t forget to listen to the interview with Minus the Tiger.
Have a good week!

Audio/Interview
The March 28th Radio Show – Press play to listen.

The Live/Second Hour of WildWorks on CKCU-FM – March 28, 2012

The Interview with Minus the Tiger

From Thursday’s Fundamentally Sound, the freestyle rap challenge. Aired on March 29, 2012.

Read the rest of this entry »

On March 15, 2012, I had the opportunity to have my co-host, Lauren help me in interviewing Vancouver’s Hey Ocean! I wasn’t thinking how it would happen but at the spur of the moment, it was luck to getting to do the interview with the band. It’s been over two years that I last saw them. What was surprising was one of the members remembered me from the Bands Undone session. It was nice that they have a good memory. One of the funny parts in the interview was asking them about their use of Instagram as the mobile app has become very popular among iPhone/iPod touch users.
The interview got aired on CKCU-FM today (March 21) and it went off without a hitch. As usual, there were new songs from Beach House and Santigold as I’m getting hooked on the tracks and the impeding release of the album.
Another thing that’s happening was The Charlatan trying to do interview with me for their Perspectives piece. I would not expect to have interest from volunteers because I get to do a radio show. It’s nice and flattering to get some buzz. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, they couldn’t get the camera working to shoot the video. The second attempt will happen for next week.
The Wild 10 Countdown is still going on a delay. I totally apologize the inconvenience.
Don’t forget to check the March 21st playlist over at this link.
The audio interview and radio show are provided from below. Seeya around.

Audio/Interview
The March 21st Radio Show – Press play to listen.

The live show – Press play to listen.

The Hey Ocean! Interview

Sorry for the delay because plans from Wednesday fell through and it got pushed to Thursday (March 15). The March 14 radio show was posted on my Facebook page. This week’s show was mainly a music show and due to the fact that CKCU-FM had Camp Radio for the kids on March Break. The other part was hanging out for Fundamentally Sound from 12-2pm on Thursdays and the fun part were the live performance from a 13 year old and the kids at Radio Camp hanging out at one point of the show.
I’ve been posting a lot of photos at CKCU as Instagram is still the population destination for social media fanatics and avid photographers like myself. You can view the Instagram photos to click here.

Lastly, it was a great opportunity to interview Hey Ocean! as they were in Ottawa for a show on Thursday. They were originally scheduled to perform back in November but due to the lead singer’s health, they had to cancel. It was nice to see the trio back in fine form. The coolest part was one of the members remembering as it has been over 2 years that I haven’t seen the band. Expect the interview to be aired for March 21 on CKCU-FM.
Enjoy the materials below. Read the rest of this entry »

Last Saturday night (March 3rd), I had the opportunity to chat with some of the members of the Toronto band, Little City. They were preforming at the Avant Garde Bar.
I’ve been playing their songs on the podcast and live parts of the radio show. It’s nice to give a band some support. If you listen to the interview, there were mentions of a few prominent members (mostly part-time) in the band. There were some funny points to the interview as I mentioned a “rival” radio host. It’s all in good fun. Overall, give a lot of support for Little City.
You can listen to the interview in the audio section from below.
On the radio show, it was the return of Lauren on the airwaves as she has been away. She was there for the live part of the show. She got to listen to the interview. There were new tracks from the likes of Arcade Fire, Said The Whale (also played on the countdown) and a live track from The Naked & Famous for Daytrotter. It was a great show because of the interview and the tracks I played. I couldn’t be pleased with today’s live radio show and a relief that Lauren made it for the show.
I hope to do a review of Little Mountain by Said The Whale.
On another note, there will be delays to the Wild 10 Countdown blog as I got bogged down with various things. In case you wanted to know, Plants & Animals were on top for 4 weeks and right now, Said The Whale is number one this week as Little Mountain got released this week. I apologize for the delay for the current and past countdown entries.
Without further ado, the playlist for the March 7 show is over at this link.
Last thing, don’t ask me about the new iPad. I haven’t looked up much information.

Audio/Interview
The March 7th Radio Show (Full 2 hours) – Press play to listen.

The interview with Little City