Off To NXNE (2013 Edition) – S08E44

For the second year, I will be heading to Toronto for NXNE and this week’s radio show consisted of acts who will be playing at the music festival in Toronto. On this edition of the show, played were Chris Ho, Gold & Youth, The National and a bunch of others.
Starting off the live show was a brand new song from Maestro Fresh Wes as he will be releasing his new album, Orchestrated Noise. It will be out on June 25th. The track played featured Canadian soprano, Measha Bruggergosman. It’s a unique track as Hip-Hop meets Opera. To my own surprise, Bruggergosman tweeted with excitement that it was played on CKCU-FM.

It’s the second week play another tribute to Beyond’s Wong Ka Kui as this year is the 20th anniversary of his tragic death.
This week’s song choices were from the 1988 album, Secret Police (秘密警察). The album cover is shown above for this week’s image pick. Although, the two songs didn’t have Wong Ka Kui on vocals and I forgot to mention on-air that it was Paul Wong, who did the vocals for the two songs. Ending the Beyond set was the song, Morning Train (早班火車), as I will be hopping on the train on Friday morning, barring no disruptions.

On the Wild 10 Countdown, Said The Whale is still number one for the third week. You can read the summary over at this link.
You can check the playlist from the live radio show over at this link.

Have a great week and I will have a great time at NXNE in Toronto.

Hong Kong Milk Tea & The Radio Show – S08E43

I was a bit stumped in writing something as I haven’t had any music interviews for the past month. Instead, I decided to blog about making Hong Kong Milk Tea as DAVIDsTEA came out with a recipe to making Hong Kong Milk Tea. It caught my attention as I like things about Hong Kong.
I decided to buy Kenyan Tinderet and didn’t expect to see the tea leaves looking like coffee. Worse part was not getting sweetened condensed milk until later in the night as I walked to the supermarket and bought one. It costed around three dollars as I’m not too familiar with it.

Onto making the tea, I boiled one litre of hot water (95 degrees Celsius) and added four spoonfuls of Kenyan Tinderet in a teapot. I didn’t use a pitcher as it got used for storing water. Later, I put 1/2 cup of sweetened condensed milk. I didn’t know it was gooey and sticky compared to liquid-y condensed milk. Mixed it together on a cup and measuring cup due to not using a pitcher (photo shown above). Added ice and it was done. The silly part was drinking from the measuring cup.

The verdict: It tasted sweet and nice. There was hint that you’re not really drinking tea. On their website, it mentioned “light honey” and I did felt a bit of a slight honey taste. Another thing that I was reminded of drinking Vitasoy.
Overall, a nice drink but had a complicated time in making due to not using a pitcher. I’ll definitely make another drink again.

X Marks The Spot on Arts & Crafts – S08E42

On this week’s radio show, there were several new music being played and one album got released this week happens to be Arts & Crafts: X. The album consists of collaborations from bands and artists from the Arts & Crafts lineup. In a way, I decided to play some of the tracks before Ryan’s show, Whatever’s Cool With Me (also on CKCU-FM).
Played on the show were Anamanaguchi, Camera Obscura, Braids and Geneva. A mix of 8-bit/electronic to alternative to soul/R&B to indie rock. It’s a variety mix of great music for this week.
Sad news in the Ottawa music scene. The drummer of The Love Machine‘s father passed away on May 25th. I was searching on Facebook for info as I don’t have any of the members on Facebook. I decided to play Love Is On Your Side from their 2010 album, Sweater Weather.

On The Wild 10 Countdown, Said The Whale takes the top spot to end off May. You can check the top 10 summary over at this link.
For the podcast, there were new songs from Scary Bear Soundtrack, CHVRCHES and the usual from The National, She & Him, and Daft Punk.
The playlist for the podcast can viewed below. As usual, you can listen to the entire show below.

The playlist from the live show is over at this link.
It’s a pretty short blog entry to end May.

Too Hooked on Daft Punk’s New Album – S08E41

On the show this week, it’s the post-Victoria Day weekend edition and the buzz being Daft Punk’s new album, Random Access Memories as it got released this week. There’s been a lot of talk because the robotic duo haven’t released new materials for several years and so far, Get Lucky is still number one on the UK Singles Chart for the fourth week.
Aside from the album and the opening intro for the live radio show, I stumbled on a mash-up track done by The Melker Project and played it on the radio show at CKCU-FM. She & Him was played as I Could’ve Been Your Girl got released as a music music. Something about Zooey Deschannel makes her so quirky as she directed the music video. I did watch the season finale of New Girl last week. Wish I could watch more of the tv show.

Also on the show, local band, Fevers released a new single and they will be having a concert on Saturday night at Ritual Nightclub. The band will be giving away the single free for the concert for Saturday night. Opening up for them are adaline, Glenn Nuotio and Birthday Girls. There’s some Canadian indie music added to the mix.

On the Wild 10 Countdown, Gold & Youth is still number one this week. Check the recap over at this link.
The playlist for the radio show is over at this link.
The audio for the radio show is below.
Have a great week!

The Interview with The Doctor Who Society of Canada – S08E40

This is an epilogue to writing about Ottawa Comiccon. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned on my radio show at CKCU-FM. The interview with the Doctor Who Society of Canada hit a snag as I did not get the audio file when the radio show was happening. As I make up for the error, The audio interview is posted for the blog version of the radio show as well as a separate link. Apologies on the technical difficulties that happened on Wednesday.
I had the opportunity to interview one of the members of the Doctor Who Society of Canada at Ottawa Comiccon. Aside from being a comic book fan, I’m also a diehard Doctor Who fan and it was with great privilege to chat with the not-for-profit organization. Luckily, I was able to do the interview as Saturday before the crowds got hectic throughout the day.
Even though, I didn’t buy anything at the convention, I was able to buy a one year membership for the society and hopeful that an Ottawa chapter of the DWSC will happen.
As I don’t want to spoil much about the interview, you can listen to the interview from below.

On the radio show, there were new songs from Bravestation, Austra and A Tribe Called Red. For the non-English music part, I played Moonlight Densetsu by Moon Lips (the theme to Sailor Moon S & Super S) as a nod to Monica In Heels because she and her friends were dressed up as Sailor Moon and gang at Ottawa Comiccon. This ends the post about Ottawa Comiccon.
Lastly, an event to check out this Saturday is Chinatown Remixed. On the radio show, Silkken Laumann was played because they are performing at Chinatown Remixed. A nice way to promote the month long event.
The Wild 10 Countdown this week has Gold & Youth on the top spot. You can check the top 10 over at this link.
The playlist from the live show is over at this link.
The audio for the radio show is split into two parts due to the error.

Lastly, it’s the Victoria Day weekend. Have a safe holiday!

For This Week… – S08E38

On this week’s edition of the radio show at CKCU-FM, it was tribute to the late Teresa Teng and the annual songs for Mother’s Day. It’s quite fitting to commemorate on May 8th as it’s the 18th anniversary of Teresa Teng‘s death. She passed away in 1995. Teng was revered and beloved throughout East Asia as her music has garnered older and younger fans alike. I was able to play Faye Wong‘s version of Wishing We Last Forever (但願人長久). One of the Teresa Teng songs played was called Red Bean. A funny story was my former co-host, Candice, made a tweet that I am weird for not liking red bean. The tweet along with a photo can found here. Kudos to China Album for the support.
As usual, Mother’s Day is this Sunday and every year, I play certain songs for Mother’s Day. This year, I added Keep Shining by Shad as the song is an ode to strong females.
On the Wild 10 Countdown this week, New Summer by Young Galaxy takes the top spot as Ottawa was having warm Summer-like temperatures for the past week. The summary can be checked over at this link.
The playlist from the live show is over at this.

On the podcast part of the show, new tracks from likes of Vampire Weekend and She & Him were played. I’m still enjoying the new Daft Punk song, Get Lucky (featuring Pharrell). This week’s podcast used the M-Rock’s Bangin’ Disco Mix of Get Lucky. Starting off the podcast was playing a new Shad track called Peace but it’s a rough mix/demo, which won’t be on his upcoming album. Briefly mentioned the lineup for the Wolfe Island Music Festival as it was announced last week.
Playlist from the podcast is posted below. Red highlights Cancon.

This weekend, I will be checking out Ottawa Comiccon. Wish me luck when I see people in “unique” costumes and experience the geek/nerd culture. It’s been awhile I’ve gone to a comic book convention and it’s the first time to attend a major convention in Ottawa. The previous conventions I attended were in Toronto.

Lastly, I didn’t have an image to use and again, I used Vinylize Me to create the entry for this week.
Have a great week and wishing everyone a great Mother’s Day for Sunday!

A Lovely Warm Spring Day To Begin May & Asian Heritage Month – S08E37

What a way to start May with Summer like temperatures. With the lovely weather, the slight disappointment I had to endure was the O-Train being out of commission. Arriving to CKCU-FM a bit later will be the growing pain for Spring and Summer.
Aside from that, today’s show was focusing on Canadian bands and musicians with Asian background as May is Asian Heritage Month. This week featured music from Hooded Fang, Scary Bear Soundtrack, Dirty Beaches and Kid Koala.
It’s unlikely I will be playing a lot for the month of May but I will be playing known and emerging talents from Canada with Asian backgrounds. The image was made on the iOS app, VinylizeMe.
Lastly, as Summer is nearing, May and June are considered a slow point to the radio show and blog as the season draws to a close. Slightly having withdrawal as I had help with Candice for the past four month and she’s now in Toronto, I have to get used to doing things on my own. I will continue to play exciting indie music.

On The Wild 10 Countdown, Born Ruffians is still number one for the second week. To check the top 10, you can check the summary over at this link.
You can check the playlist from the live show over at this link. As usual, you can listen to the entire radio show below.

A Goodbye to Candice – S08E36

It’s been a fun time having Candice on my radio show. Wednesday was her final show as she’s moving down to Toronto. I’m trying not to rehash what was said on the show but it’s been a great privilege to have someone on the show with enthusiasm towards Canadian independent music.
All I have to say that we had a great time interviewing bands, interacting with them and going to the venues prior to soundcheck. It seemed like an adventure. The last and funny part was having to be at Second Cup in downtown several time to go through the questions. It was almost like a daily routine.
Another thing I forgot to mention on the show was getting to meet some of the hosts at CKCU.
Lastly, as much as you’re a worrywart and kept “cattle-prodding” me, I’ve been very easy-going, calm and made sure things were fine.

Prior to Candice’s final show, she decided to bring her adidas track jacket to slightly match the style that I’m wearing. The photo shown above. Unfortunately, the Polaroid pics didn’t turn out so well.

Song played today had new tracks from Louise Burns and Aidan Knight. The Cantopop segment was on Sandy Lam as her birthday is on April 26.
The send-off songs to Candice at the end of the show were I Was A Fool by Tegan and Sara and Take Care by Beach House. Videos posted below.
Also on the radio show, we played Genesis by Grimes as she won for electronic album of the year at the 2013 Juno Awards. What I didn’t know was that she posted on her Tumblr page about sexism. It was trending on Facebook and Twitter, so we didn’t get a chance to mention on the air what was happening as it was very sudden.
In my opinion, I rarely watch Grimes’s music videos and when playing her song on Wednesday, I was dancing along to the song and not think the image or anything in particular. Call it an ironic day by playing a musician and not knowing the buzz surrounding it.

On the Wild 10 Countdown, Born Ruffians take the top spot as we end the month of April. The countdown entry is over at this link. If you’re listening on the blog, the songs played on the podcast is posted from the countdown blog and no longer on the CKCU playlist.

The playlist from the live show is over at this link via CKCU-FM.

So long and enjoy Toronto, Candice!
You’re the best!

The Interview and Performance with Paterson Hall – S08E35

Hey friends, Candice here bringing you a quick recap of April 17′s edition of WildWorks.

Today we decided to switch things up a little. Usually we like to chat with bands at venues and pre-record our interviews, but today we were lucky enough to get a band live and in-studio. Local band Paterson Hall joined us in CKCU Studio B today, and not only did we have a good talk, but we also got to hear some live music from them on-air at CKCU. Today we heard “On the Shoulders of Giants,” “Time Travel” and “I’m a Lion.”
Interesting little factoid – “I’m a Lion” is a reference to Tyrion Lannister, a character from HBO’s Game of Thrones.

Awesome!

Paterson Hall, a six-piece band based here in Ottawa, also has a very strong connection to Carleton University. All six members are Carleton students, and they juggle both school and the band on a regular basis. And while they’ve only been playing together since November 2012, they’ve already released three songs and were happy to say they have an EP in the works for this summer. They’re playing this Friday, April 19 at 9:00 p.m. at Avant-Garde Bar as part of a Showcase Your Band event. Thanks again to Paterson Hall for swinging by, especially in the midst of exams!

Elsewhere on the show, we also heard from some JUNO Award nominees, as the JUNO Awards are scheduled for this Sunday, April 21 in Regina, Saskatchewan. Michael Bublé will be hosting.

We played tracks from Yukon Blonde, Grimes and Japandroids, all of whom have got nods at the Junos.

And before we heard from Paterson Hall, as always, we started with the Wild 10 Countdown. This week saw Victoria artist Chris Ho take the top spot with “Story of the Flood,” from his album, City of Dust. The album has a great summer pop feel to it.
You can find the countdown here. (Note: Songs played in the first part of the show are listed in the countdown blog).

The playlist for the April 17 th show is over at this link (Note: Songs posted is from the live show).

Interviews with Language Arts and FIRExFIRE / Chatting Hong Kong Films – S08E34

After several weeks of Candice writing on the blog, it’s nice to be back and writing. I decided to give her a break for this week.
On the April 10th edition of WildWorks on CKCU-FM, myself and Candice had the opportunity to interview with Toronto-based bands, Language Arts and FIRExFIRE. Both bands were in Ottawa last Friday as they were playing at venues. Language Arts was at Raw Sugar Cafe, opening up for Gianna Lauren. FIRExFIRE was playing at Cafe Dekcuf. It was definitely a busy Friday.
Overall, both were great and it was a privilege to see Kristen (of Language Arts) again and finally meet the members of FIRExFIRE. Thanks again to the two bands.

To listen to the interviews, the audio are posted below.
The interview with Language Arts has two versions. The one posted to Soundcloud is the entire version, while the one aired on CKCU-FM (and on their On-Demand) had a segment edited out.

On the Wild 10 Countdown, New Summer (Doldrums Remix) by Young Galaxy takes the top spot this week. The summary and playlist for the podcast can be seen here.