The Interview with Kat Burns of Kashka – S09E14

Three consecutive days to writing a blog entry is astounding. It’s a nice way of making it up from a month’s absence in October. All I have to say that it was a great weekend as I attended Ottawa Pop Expo.
This week’s radio show on CKCU-FM had the interview with Kashka. It is fronted by former Forest City Lovers, Kat Burns. It’s been awhile since I last saw her.
As mentioned elsewhere, it’s the last music interview of 2013 as I will be getting into the festive tunes and the year end countdowns. Back to Kashka, Burns was in Ottawa on Friday night for her tour and in support of the second album, Bound. It was released in late November. For those who don’t know, Kashka’s music takes the term of ‘folkpoptronica.’ A blending folk, pop and electronic music into one. You can listen to the interview below.
I started the show with a tribute to Nelson Mandela. I played the song Glorious Days by Hong Kong rock band, Beyond. It’s a homage to Mandela back in 1990. It was inspired by his fight for inequality and the song is now used for demonstrations fighting against anti-racism and for freedom. The music video is posted below with English subtitles. Even though, it’s in Cantonese, there’s images of the late great Mandela. Long live Madiba!

You can check the playlist over at this link.
Lastly, if you’re listening from the blog, I played the full versions of Make Me A Mirror by Ark Analog and the brand new song by St. Vincent, Birth In Reverse.

Wrapping Up Season Eight & The Interview with Born Ruffians – S08E46

I can’t believe the blog has gone on for eight seasons and as usual, it’s that time to wrap up the blog and radio show (currently on season four) for the Summer. On this week’s show, there was the interview with the Toronto band, Born Ruffians as they were in Ottawa on the weekend for the Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival. You can listen to the interview below the entry. Note: The version on the blog is a full version as we discussed about social media. The radio show version was edited.
Apologies for the image as I forgot to get a photo with the band members.

Also on the show was the conclusion to the tribute to Beyond’s Wong Ka Kui as June 30th marks the 20th anniversary of his death. The song choices for the Cantopop segment are the well-known Beyond tracks. One track I played was unusual choice and it’s an English song called Long Way Without Friends. Another classic song played which had significance back in 1990 and it was about Nelson Mandela. That song is 光輝歲月, which is translated as Glorious Days. We’ve been hearing about Mandela’s health in the news recently. It’s just fitting to play that song one more time as it’s another tribute to a fearless leader.

Due to the length of last week’s entry, I’m reposting the interviews with Chris Ho and Crissi Cochrane. In case you weren’t able to find it. They are posted alongside the Born Ruffians interview.
Maestro Fresh Wes takes the number one spot for this week to end the month of June on The Wild 10 Countdown.
The playlist from the June 26th radio show (season finale) can be seen at this link.

Still having a bit of NXNE/Toronto withdrawal and if you kept up to date on my Facebook page, I posted a link from the CBC Music Presents The Beetle Roadtrip Sessions where there was a finale party in Toronto. Yes, I appear in the video. If you’re wondering why I have been wearing an aqua coloured vintage adidas jacket, it partly due to attending the 2012 edition House of Paint. I decided to wear the track jacket and wore it during my high school days in the 1990s, which still fits me.

Last thing, this ends the blog for another wonderful season. I know it’s confusing that it’s season eight and the radio show is season four. A big thanks goes out to Candice So as she helped out and contribute for the blog. We also had a great time interviewing bands and musicians. You’ve been awesome!
Another shoutout goes out to Lauren Bridle in joining me for the first half of season four of the radio show on CKCU.
The blog will be back in the Fall for season nine but expect a few Summer specials on the blog.

Have a great Summer.
NOTE: I will not be doing any music interviews for the Summer. They will return in the Fall.

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.

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!

Chinese New Year 2013: The CNY & Valentine’s Day Show – S08E25

Gong Hei Fat Choy again!
It’s an annual thing to do the Chinese New Year edition of the radio show. I finally got Candice to join me for this year’s occasion as I previously wanted her to join me on the 2012 edition of the CNY radio show but she was busy with other things. This year made it happier for myself as we got to talk about the traditions and festivities of Chinese New Year.
As usual, we played the Chinese music related to the holiday, no matter how we scoffed at the cheesy tunes played, it can be similar to Christmas music being played non-stop. There were a few “snake” songs played as this year is “the year of the snake.”

The photo shown has us holding Chinese New Year goodies and decorations. It’s the second year to bring the addictive rice crackers and cannot stop eating those.

Aside from Chinese New Year, we also played some love songs for Valentine’s Day. It was pretty jam packed to playing CNY and V-Day songs and both themes have become a yearly staple for my radio show. For the Valentine’s Day show, I would always play a couple of Cantopop love songs and one in particular has been played on V-Day, which happened to be 情人 (translated as Lover) by Beyond.
To my own astonishment, Candice did not know Firestruck by Young Galaxy. I thought she heard songs from their 2009 album, Invisible Republic.

This week’s Wild 10 Countdown has Hayden at the top spot. The summary and other songs played are over at this link.
You can check the playlist from the CNY & V-Day show over at this link.
Lion dance performances have slightly calmed down after Monday and anticipating for the parade in Ottawa Chinatown this Saturday afternoon. Hope to see you there.

The Mother’s Day Show and New Shoes – S07E38

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.
[audio http://archive.org/download/WildworksOnCkcu-fmForMay92012/WildworksMay92012.mp3]

It’s a Six, Folks (Season Finale) – S06E45

It’s been an exciting sixth season on the blog and a second season for the radio show at CKCU-FM. Apologies that it sounds confusing between radio and the blog.
On my radio show, I wasn’t sure about having co-hosts but it became helpful to myself as I didn’t have to mess up compare to hosting alone. I have to give credit to the Italian co-host who joined in the first half of 2nd season as she was able to broaden my music horizons. She was there for a couple of months and I still miss her presence. As for the second half of the season, I had a returning host from a former radio show and was helpful to my show. Then there was a new co-host as she’s studying in Journalism at Carleton University. It was helpful for her in gaining some experience and is into the Canadian indie music, which certainly helped on my radio show. How could I not forget about Digory as he’s appeared on and off and there were a few people who came on as well.
I could not forget about the countless of interviews I’ve done with musicians and bands. The people who inspired me to make the show interesting are Ellie Davis, George Stroumboulopoulos and Nat & Marie (second half of the season).
To clarify, I will still be on the air but airing reruns on the interviews. I didn’t explain on The Wild 10 Countdown as that will continue in podcast/pre-recorded form.
Speaking of The Wild 10, there were two debuts in the form of Matthew Barber and Graham Wright. For the third week in a role, Lose It by Austra is still number one.
For the second year to Cantopop listeners/fans, there was a tribute to the Hong Kong rock band, Beyond on the live part of the radio show.
Last but not least, the playlist for the June 29th show is at this link. The audio is posted below.
As usual, the blog will be on a Summer break, even though Ottawa has a bunch of Summer festivals happening. Don’t worry, there will be a few Summer special entries.
Have a great summer! New season (series 7) returns in September.

Audio/Podcast
The June 29th Radio Show (Season Finale) – Press play to listen.

The live part/second hour of the show is posted up on Podomatic. Click here to listen.

Wrapping Up Season 5 – S05.2E10 (Season Finale)

Summer Extra
I posted up the three Canada Day audio interviews at this link. The site is at the Wild 5 Countdown site.

Part 2 (June 30, 2010)
Finally, I finish up this entry as Wednesday’s radio show wrapped with the conclusion to the Young Galaxy interview and final original interview at venues with Born Ruffians.
The playlist what I played is at this link.

This is it for the Summer as I won’t be writing too much entries but expect a few Specials on the blog. The radio show will continue on with specials and re-airings.
Without further ado, here’s the audio links to listen.

The Full Radio Show for June 30th, 2010. Press play to listen.

WildWorks Extra – 2nd hour: Songs by Beyond. A Tribute to Wong Ka-Kui, who passed away on June 30th, 1993.
Press play to listen.

Band Interviews
Part 2 of Young Galaxy: Press play to listen or download it.

Born Ruffians Interview: Press play to listen or download it.

This ends Season 1 for the radio show and Season 5 (full) on the blog.

It’s Basically The Whole Month of May Entry – S05.2E08

Updated on May 26, 2010
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to chat with Leif Vollebekk at the 1st May Whee Festival at Zaphod Beeblebrox.
Wednesday’s radio show will be fully updated later but for now, the Leif Vollebekk audio interview is posted up. You should enjoy the interview as it became a hilarious interview. I even made some goof-ups on the interview. I apologize for messing up on the question about The Balconies. He didn’t form the band, he helped gave Jacquie, Stephen and Liam the name.
Also on the radio show was an expanded edition of the countdown. For this week only, my Wild 5 Countdown became the W10 Countdown.

The W10 Countdown for Week of May 5, 2010.
1. Fixed – Stars
2. Forced to Love – Broken Social Scene (new entry)
3. Your Hands (Together) – The New Pornographers (new entry)
4. The Right Time (feat. Tyler Bancroft) – Hannah Georgas
5. Laura Palmer’s Prom – You Say Party! We Say Die! (was #1 last week)
6. No Ghost – The Acorn (new)
7. Celestica – Crystal Castles (new)
8. Breakneck Speed – Tokyo Police Club (new)
9. Authentic – Young Rival (new)
10. Ghost Pressure – Wolf Parade (new)

The Language-Arts Interview and Another Mishap – S05.2E05

Wednesday’s radio show had an airing the lovely band from Vancouver, BC, Language-Arts. The interview was recorded back in March and here’s a video that I helped filmed for Bands Undone at Canteen Art Shop + Gallery.

Since it’s another week that retrieving the audio for my radio show has been difficult due to issues surrounding the software. In short summary if you missed it, after the Language-Arts interview, I played Coughdrop and mentioned that I had been sick for a week and took some coughdrops. Let’s say that I briefly sang, “Ricola.”

The recap of the Wild 5 Countdown has 2 new entries and 3 songs slipping down a notch.
The Wild 5 Countdown for April 21, 2010
5. Search for Sarah Jane – Hawksley Workman
4. Fake It – Plants and Animals
3. Fixed – Stars
2. Odessa – Caribou
1. Laura Palmer’s Prom – You Say Party! We Say Die!
The reason for choosing Laura Palmer’s Prom was because of drummer, Devon Clifford, who passed away on Sunday, April 18, 2010. It’s been sad for Canadian music fans and the Canadian music industry because it was a sudden shock. As previously written on the last post, it was a privilege to see the band back on April 3, during the Easter holiday. Devon was the last person we chatted before heading back for a long walk to the hotel. Devon, Becky, Stephen, Krista and Derek of YSP! WSD! are the nicest people I have met. Without Devon’s humourous presence during their performance, it wouldn’t be same. I’m still pleased to see them several weeks and giving them their full support.
Also on show were brief mentions for Ottawa Bluesfest’s lineup (only played Metric and Basia Bulat), played 3 versions of Wavin’ Flag by K’Naan (one was a Chinese version) and Sandy Lam songs (her birthday is on April 26th)

Here is the show for April 21st, but the audio quality is not the best. You can check the playlist at this link. There’s a possibly of replaying some songs again in a few weeks when the host returns from his vacation in England and Europe.
http://www.archive.org/download/WildworksShowOnCkcu-fmForApril212010/wildworksapr21.mp3″

Interview with Language-Arts – press play to listen or download it.