Holiday Wrap Up 2009

We’re inching closer towards the end of 2009 and ringing in 2010. It’s also the end of the decade called the noughties. I won’t be resuming my Series 5 entries until after the new year as this is another special entry for the Christmas holidays.
January 1, 2010 update: Happy New Year to everyone!

The best of 2009 edition for Wednesday morning’s radio show at CKCU is now posted and you can listen to it.
Here’s a previous audio which is moved to this entry since it’s a wrap up to 2009. Here’s the embedded player to listen.
From the December 16, 2009 radio show, my top 10 Canadian albums of 2009. Press play to listen.
http://www.archive.org/download/WildworksTop10CanadianAlbumsOf2009/Top10CanadianAlbums2009.mp3″

Here’s the December 30, 2009 edition of ASR and my radio show. Press play to listen to the entire show.
http://www.archive.org/download/AsrWildworksShowOnCkcu-fmForDecember302009/ASRDec30.mp3″
Press play to listen to my Best of 2009 edition. At the end of the show, I played a famous Chinese song by the late Anita Mui. It was December 30, 2003 when she passed away.
http://www.archive.org/download/TheWildworksShowOnCkcu-fmForDecember302009/WildWorksDec30.mp3″
Playlist is at https://wildworks.wordpress.com/radio/

Yeah Yeah Yeahs -My Favorite of 2009
I picked the Yeah Yeah Yeahs as my favorite for 2009 and since I explained a bit on-air, I forgot to mention on-air that there’s this clip from NME’s YouTube site had the Yeah Yeah Yeahs talk about It’s Blitz track by track. It’s funny how they explained the first 2 tracks as “party, party, party!” Here’s the YouTube clip.


Remembering Anita Mui
At the end of the radio show, I played an Anita Mui song in a way of remembering her. Here’s a YouTube from her final concert in 2003 and she was ill but continued to perform under pain. The ending when she leaves the stage will put you into tears.

Holiday Listening 2009

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 https://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.
http://www.archive.org/download/TheBalconiesChristmasInterview/ASRDec23.mp3″
Here’s my radio show from 11-11.30am. Press play to listen.
http://www.archive.org/download/WildworksShowForDecember232009OnCkcu-fm/WildWorksDec23.mp3″
The Balconies Christmas Interview
Press play to listen or download it.
http://www.archive.org/download/TheBalconiesChristmasInterview_956/TheBalconiesChristmasInterview.mp3″
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.
http://www.archive.org/download/TheWildworksShowForDecember212009OnCkcu-fm/wildworksdec21.mp3″

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.
http://www.archive.org/download/MidnightJamzOnCkcu-fmForDecember192009/MidnightJamzDec192009.mp3″

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.
http://www.archive.org/download/TheWildworksShowForDecember162009OnCkcu-fm/wildworksdec16.mp3″

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.
http://www.archive.org/download/TheWildworksAndHorsesSpilledMilkHolidayShowOnCkcu-fm/wildworksdec14.mp3″
Happy Holidays!

Two Bands Undone Sessions to Almost End 2009 – S05E29

Note on December 28, 2009: The two Bands Undone weren’t the final sessions of 2009. There was one on December 27, 2009. There’s a slight change in the title.

There were two jam-packed sessions for Bands Undone on December 11, 2009. First, it was Vancouver, British Columbia’s Mother Mother. They are on their Canadian tour and opening up for The Mathew Good Band. Even though the band was tight on schedule, they delivered an excellent performance. The funny part was the frontman of Mother Mother, Ryan Guldemond, messed up on the lyrics, it was unnoticeable. It was nice to hear Body of Years as their 2nd song because hearing Molly Guldemond and Jasmin Parkin’s parts was just wow! It was also nice to see a good crowd at Bands Undone and even though it was on a Friday during lunch time. As for the upcoming interview, it was short and hopefully the finished product will be good because there were parts where I goofed up. Overall, awesome band and no wonder why Mother Mother was the winner for CBC Radio 3’s 2009 Bucky Awards for Best Live Act.
Next up was Laurent Bourque, originally from Ottawa but now resides in Montreal, Quebec. He’s an up and coming singer. The host of Bands Undone was impressed with his music days before his performance. I wasn’t sure what to expect. When he performed, it caught my attention because his voice was smooth and his music had a softer Pop/Rock feel. I did do an interview with for my radio, which will be scheduled to air in January. It’s most likely I will be delaying my interviews until January due to the fact that I will playing Christmas songs and year-end top 10’s.
Photos from both performances can be checked out at this link.

The Most Serene Republic Interview Added With a Snowstorm – S05E28

What a way to start Wednesday morning with a blast of snow. Even though my blog is snowing (until January 4, 2010), it’s not as intense and cold compared to outside in Ottawa. I was able to make it to CKCU through blizzard conditions. The bus ride took me over an hour. Yep, Winter has arrived. During the show, I had to endure Lady GaGa by surprise, thanks to the host. Go ahead as you laugh it off. Today’s show included some several Christmas tunes and the interview with one of the members of The Most Serene Republic.
I still can’t stop playing You Say Party! We Say Die! Enjoy listening to the show.
Can’t wait to check out Bands Undone for Friday as it will be Mother Mother and Laurent Bourque at different times.
Here’s Wednesday edition of Audio Sensory Resuscitation and my show combine. Press play to listen.

Here’s my show. Press play to listen.

Due to the sound quality from the radio show being not so great, you can listen to the interview with Emma of The Most Serene Republic separately. Press play to listen or download it.

Caledonia – Bands Undone and Zaphods – S05E27

It was a tight packed session at Canteen as Caledonia dropped by for Bands Undone. Let’s just say that the band brought the whole equipment for another stellar performance at the art shop & gallery.

The funny part for myself when Caledonia sang the first song was continuously eating Humpty Dumpty Party Mix due to the face that the lead singer kept saying “hunger!” It led me to keep eating on the pretzels and ringalos. They performed 4 terrific songs and it wowed the small audience.

The funny part with the separate interviews was Kara (the host) and myself had trouble saying ECMA (East Coast Music Awards) and it was unusual because the name looks easy because we had trouble saying it.

I didn’t expect to have a long Saturday as I decided to join the two Brian’s to go to Zaphod Beeblebrox for Caledonia (again) with Matt Ouimet and Sarah Hallman. Due to the competing gigs elsewhere in downtown Ottawa on Saturday and the Santa Claus Parade being held at night-time, it was not busy at Zaphods but there were several went to see Caledonia. Overall, they’re a great band from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Hallman and Ouimet’s performances were enjoyable.
You can view the photos at this link.
The Bands Undone review is now posted up.
Here’s the video taken by Brian. YouTube version also available.

The Ohbijou Interview and What’s Ahead for December – S05E26

I had to fill-in for the host of Audio Sensory Resuscitation on CKCU-FM for Wednesday. Luckily, I was prepared to play whatever songs and I started off with What’s Going On?, a cover from the classic Marvin Gaye song. Done by the All Star Tribute, it was for the fight against AIDS Worldwide in 2001, following the 9/11 attacks. It was the day after World AIDS Day, which takes place on December 1. It’s fitting that I played “What’s Going On” and the new song by Alicia Keys because I’ve been a supporter of the (Red) campaign. From the Hallmark cards to the iPod nano, it’s all for a good cause. What’s unique this year was having to participate via Twitter by using red texts and watching the Alicia Keys live concert through YouTube as part of World AIDS Day.

Aside from that, I finally aired the interview with two members of Ohbijou. Mind you, there were funny moments that I didn’t edit out in the interview. My segments throughout the show was a coast to coast starting from Joel Plaskett of Halifax all the way to British Columbia from bands like Said The Whale, You Say Party! We Say Die! and etc. Then I played this connecting theme from Silver Starling to Stars and Arcade Fire. There were some shoutouts to people I called out during the B.C. set.

You can listen to Wednesday’s show by pressing play. Slight apologies on the sound because it seems like it’s back to the mono-like sound quality.

The Ohibjou interview. Press play to listen or download it.

Don’t forget to check the playlist.
I can’t wait for the return of Corey & Erica on the airwaves because their presence has been missed. They will be on sometime next week. We also need Kristal of Kristal’s Method to return on the radio too. I also can’t wait to play some Christmas tunes.

What’s happening in December? I’m starting off by participating in the YouTube Battle at Babylon Nightclub this Friday. Presented by Artengine, Canteen and Disorganized.

As usual, I will be attending Bands Undone with Caledonia, Mother Mother and Laurent Bourque.