The Pop Montreal 2013 Wrapup and Basia Bulat Interview – S09E04

It was a wonderful weekend with to end September as I was in Montreal for Pop Montreal and my expectations exceed for this year because I checked out several bands and went to several venues. It was all in thanks to using Airbnb as the gracious host was accommodating and I was able to use the Bixi bike to get around to places.

The first live music to check out was at Divan Orange and it was Michael Feuerstack. It was unexpected because the place I was staying at was close by. Afterwards was getting to Pop Quarters  to get media pass and later going for two discussion panels. The first was a panel called “Some of the Smartest People We Know Discuss: Musicians, What Are your Intellectual Property Rights Now, and What Do We Want That to Really Mean?” That’s such a long title. It was formative discussion as the panellist consisting of Patrick Watson, Justin West (Secret City President), Susan Abramovitch (entertainment lawyer) and moderator, Reuven Ashtar (new media lawyer). It was quite informative as musicians like Watson need to get money to feed his family and how companies are using music for use as a property.

The second panel I went was definitely the one I wanted to check as it was The Polaris Music Prize Salon. Finally got to meet Polaris founder, Steve Jordan. The funny thing was that he thought I would be at the Ottawa salon as I was away to Toronto. The Montreal salon was one of the surprises to appear and it was a way to make up to missing out the Ottawa salon. Jordan was joined by Montreal jury members, Pierre Landy (CBC), Christine Fortier (CISM) and Erik Leijon (freelance/Montreal Gazette)

It was days after Godspeed You! Black Emperor! won best album for the 2013 edition. All were in support of GYBE winning and still being a good album. The band’s statement on their win and criticizing Polaris still left a lot of debate and discussion.

From Nuit Blanche to Polaris Music Prize – S09E03

It’s been an eventful last week in Ottawa. I was away in Toronto when the tragic news of the OC Transpo being hit by a VIA Rail train. It’s sad to hear the lives lost. Condolence goes out the lost ones affected by it.
Aside from that, what a weekend when I checked out Nuit Blanche Ottawa-Gatineau. It’s the second year that the artistic and wonderful event has been held. It started at 6:20pm to 4:20am. It’s a basically a long night to experience the unique fun.
I missed out on the first edition as I was in Montreal for Pop Montreal. Even though it was raining throughout Saturday, it didn’t help deter people checking out unique arts and crafts located at various places in Ottawa. I was able to check out the downtown and Gatineau for Nuit Blanche.
One unique thing I got was a firefly. As the website explained that it’s hackable (open software) and when interacting with other fireflies, it create a unique light pattern. You’ll see a photo below as I tweeted to someone that I got the lumipendant.
Overall, it was a fun event and hope the 2014 edition doesn’t have rain in the forecast. I posted some photos below. Check it out.

Monday’s Radio Show
On this week’s radio show, it’s the Polaris Music Prize edition as it’s day of the gala. Ten nominees are vying for the $30,000 prize to claim the best album of the year. As mentioned everytime, the Polaris Music Prize is based on artistic merit and judged by over 200 jury members from radio, tv, print and Internet.
I had the opportunity to chat with Ryan of CKCU’s Whatever’s Cool With Me as he’s jury member and in Toronto for the gala. He also explained on the show that this year’s shortlist is the strongest for artistic merit and had a difficult time choosing the albums. It was a fun chat as I don’t usually interact with a lot of CKCU hosts.
Who will win the prize? We’ll find out in due time

You can check the playlist over at this link. You can listen to the audio below.
Have a great week and I will be going to Montreal this weekend.

Continuing to Shoot Polaroids and New Music – S09E02

As you noticed that I’ve been shooting and showing instant film photos from Polaroid and Instax cameras. This week’s photo has another silly picture of me and it was taken by Lauren. Towards the end of the show, Lauren and I talked about analog photo looking nicer than on digital photos. As we all know that film is getting less and less used as digital cameras and smartphones have become more convenient. The thing I brought up was that I hope I’m not being a trendsetter with shooting instant film photos. I did not think of a hipster way.
The Polaroid camera currently being used is having some problems because it takes so long to get the photo because as a young kid, I was fooling around with the camera and it’s missing a piece from the shutter button. All in all, it still works but there’s a delay in getting the photo as you see from the picture posted above.
Another issue with instant film is the price. The ones done by The Impossible Project costs over $25 for 8 sheets while Fuji’s Instax costs $25 for 20 sheets. It’s tough choice because you have to shoot wisely.

Radio Show
On the radio show, there were new music as bands are coming out with new albums this week. The Naked and Famous, The Darcys and Said The Whale are releasing new albums. It’s an exciting time to hear a lot of great music.
There was a new song by Ottawa rapper, The Joynt. It’s called “What I Do” and it has an important and inspiring message as it deals with bullying and stuttering that the rapper experienced when being at schools.
Also on the show was a theme of Summer officially ending and Fall arriving next week. There were moon songs as a way to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. I finally had Lauren listen to the classic Sailor Moon theme as the cartoon is soon to be returning in Winter. We talked fondly about the Anime and and a funny part where I told her which character she dressed up as, which was Sailor Jupiter. It’s funny to still have the knowledge of Sailor Moon.
You can check the playlist over at this link.

The Wild 10 Countdown is back and you can check it over at this link.

Have a great week and I’m off to Toronto for a couple of days.
You can listen to the show (link below).

WildWorks on CKCU-FM – September 16, 2013 by Wildworks on Mixcloud

Season Nine – Interview with Leif Vollebekk, The Return of Lauren and Shooting Polaroids (S09E01)

It’s a brand new season of WildWorks. Nine seasons, I can’t believe it’s going on for pretty long. The radio show is now onto its fifth season. I know it’s confusing to track what season is what for the blog and radio show.
To start off the ninth season, I had the opportunity to check out the 2013 edition of Ottawa Folk Festival. It was a privilege to see some of the musicians and bands again. Just great to see The Belle Game and Leif Vollebekk.
In kicking off the new season of WildWorks on CKCU-FM, I aired the interview with Vollebekk as he came out with a new album in early 2013. It’s been awhile I have seen him in Ottawa as he’s mostly residing in Montreal and touring around. You can listen to the interview below the entry.

Also returning was Lauren as she was away for over nine months and due to a change in the co-hosting positioning earlier this year and the change in the scheduling for this season.
It was awesome to have her back as the new Arcade Fire song was unexpectedly leaked prior to the 9/9/9pm release date. All I have to say that the new song, Reflektor is a catchy and funky track. I mentioned on-air that it feels like “Sprawl II” all over again.
It was a good show as new music from The Darcys, Stars, Basia Bulat and Jenn Grant were played. There are new albums being released next week (September 17th) and onto October. It’s an exciting time for any music fans around.
You can check the September 9th show’s playlist over at this link. The audio is posted below.
Programming note, as with the schedule change, The Wild 10 Countdown will now be separate. Expect a split on the audio. The expected return for the Wild 10 will be around next week.

Since the Summer, I have been shooting photos through instant film. It’s becoming a fun way to shoot photos and in a way, I feel like it’s becoming a bucket list on who to take photos with. You’ve been seeing the photos over the Facebook Page, Instagram, Flickr and the blog. You’ll be seeing more photos from the Instax and Polaroids. I can’t say that I’m being a trendsetter with shooting instant film photos. Although, people are astounded seeing the cameras as everyone is used to shooting on digital camera. Instant films and Polaroids have been making a slow comeback because of its quality and feel of the photo.

Lastly, I had a great time on Sunday night as an old friend was in Ottawa for a wedding. We met over at El Camino as it’s a popular spot for good tacos in the Nation’s Caption. It was a privilege to meet his wife and baby son. I already posted the photos on Instagram.  All in all, what a great way to start the new season.

Summer Special #5: Wrapping Up The Summer Edition

It’s September and its time for a new season for the blog and the radio show to start soon. Summer has unofficially ended and people are returning to school and work as the Summer specials  on the blog concludes with this entry.

On Monday and Tuesday, I was doing back to back radio shows, at different times. One was wrapping up the Summer edition of WildWorks and the other was filling in for a show. The show happened to be Debaser on CKCU-FM. On that show, it’s considered a pre-season five show as I was playing some unique music and play acts who are performing at Ottawa Folk Festival.
In starting off the fill-in show, I played Ohbijou as the band will be taking an indefinite hiatus.
As mentioned on the show, I had the opportunity to chat with the band and watch them live at concerts. The band is moving on but each of the members will be doing other things. At least they will be still around but not together as a band.
Thanks goes out to the regular host of Debaser for letting me fill in.

The audio from the fill in show is unavailable at CKCU’s On-Demand but you will be able to listen on here.
The playlist for September 2nd can be viewed here.
The playlist for September 3rd can be viewed here.
If you notice on the playlist that there’s been images been posted up. It’s been created on an iOS app called VinylizeMe.

Have a great week and get ready for the new season. If you listen to the two radio show, there’s a hint of cartoon soundbites as it’s part of the opening theme. You will have a laugh when you find out where it’s from.