As promised, the second part to my best of 2014 countdown. This list is from #20 to #1 and it’s the best part of the year ender to Canadian independent music. The countdown for the past few years has no repeats from an artist and band. It’s based on the album and when it was released.
Without spoiling much, the top 10 has half of the entries by female musicians. 2014 has been an important year to female rights and violence against women. Without spoiling much, the playlist is posted below. Several entries have a lot of returnees as artists and bands have released their follow-ups to their previous albums. Some have been critically acclaimed.
As usual, you can listen to the audio.
Happy New Year and hello to 2015.
Audio – #20 to #1
Press play to listen.
It’s back for another year but in a slightly shorter list as I had issues from the radio station in early 2014.
I didn’t pay attention to a lot of Canadian independent music due to the problems stemming from the station. I was able to compile album towards the end of the year thanks to friends, various radio programs and music websites.
I’m closing off 2014 with some of the best albums from Canada. In the first part, the countdown is from #40 to #21.
You will hear music from the likes of Brave Shores to In-Flight Safety to Kevin Drew and various others.
For those who missed me on the airwaves, I got you.
Here’s the first part of the audio and the playlist is posted below. Happy New Year’s Eve and the second part will be posted on New Year’s Day.
2013 wasn’t finished yet on this week’s first radio show of 2014 on CKCU-FM. This time, it was the Top 10 Non-Canadian Indie Music of 2013 and considered to be the fourth part of the year end countdown. It’s become a yearly tradition to do two different year-end countdowns. One strictly for Canadian music and the other being non-Canadian music. The non-Canadian list is shorter as I place more emphasis on the Canadian music scene.
Myself and Lauren were counting the best albums from outside of Canada. There were good releases from the top 10 played.
Bands like The Naked and Famous, Vampire Weekend, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The National had highly anticipated albums and there were surprises from HAIM as their popularity exploded in 2013.
There are two different versions of the countdown. The one aired on CKCU was the top 10 while the entry from the Best of 2013 page is the top 13 Non-Canadian Indie music of 2013.
The radio show version had three new Canadian indie tracks for 2014, they were Crissi Cochrane, The Balconies and Silkken Laumann.
The blog version has Hot Natured (recommended by the host of CKCU’s The Cloud), Best Coast and Foals played on the top 13 of 2013. At the end, leftovers of 2013 were “Your Life Is a Lie” by MGMT and Byegone by Volcano Choir.
To check out the CKCU-FM version, you can go to this link. The On-Demand audio is available to listen over there.
To view the full list, go to The Top 50 of 2013 page is over at this link.
This wraps up the best of music for 2013. Onwards to 2014! Continue reading →
I had to split the entries this week because of the tribute to Anita Mui running on the same day. On this edition of WildWorks, it was the top 10 Canadian indie music of 2013. It’s considered the third part to The WildWorks Top 50 of 2013. 2013 had some good releases from Canadian musicians and bands. Myself and Lauren counted down to the 50 albums and EPs that came out this year. The number one for this year is Basia Bulat because Tall Tall Shadow (her third record) is considered a strong album and some of the songs showed some emotions as it dealt with loss.
Rounding out the top 10 are Shad, Arcade Fire, The Darcys, Born Ruffians, Young Galaxy, Austra, DIANA, Louise Burns and Gold & Youth.
The full list will be posted up on New Year’s Day.
Before airing the top 10, there was a pre-show as I played the best of 2013 where I forgot to add bands and musicians left out of my top 50 of 2013.
You can check the playlist over at this link. You can listen to the audio below.
It’s that time of festive season where I’ll be playing Christmas music. This year is a bit different in terms of music format as I decided to play J-POP Christmas songs on CKCU-FM. After a debacle from last year’s radio show where I played Christmas UK #1 songs, it’s a better way to play it safe by choosing Christmas tunes from the Far East.
Played were Cream, B’z, L’Arc~en~Ciel, BoA and KinKi Kids. For Cantopop, there was Lonely Christmas by Eason Chan as it’s become part of the yearly Christmas playlist.
As usual, I was joined by Lauren as we decided to play through the festive tunes and it’s her last live show for 2013. She will still be on the air for the year end countdown show.
We were joined by Erica who made a surprise appearance. We also had fun taking some instant film photos using The Impossible Project film to the Polaroid camera. It was two hours full of fun music and wearing Santa hats.
The playlist can be checked over at this link. You can also listen to the audio below. Continue reading →
Hello 2013, it’s a new year and what a nice way to have the radio show on the day after January 1st, new year’s day. On this edition, I brought in a guest on the show because the regular co-host’s away on her holiday break. The guest is Brianna Harris and she’s a student at Carleton University. She is also an indie music fan but more on the folk genre. It was a privilege to give her a listen to various Canadian indie music from 2012. I left several Canadian artists and bands out from my top 50 of 2012 as it was a difficult choice to put them as there were so many good album and EP releases in 2012. Overall, she enjoyed the radio show and liked the music that were played.
Also on the January 2nd show was the conclusion to the year-end countdown. This time, it’s the top 12 non-Canadian indie music of 2012. The segment was pre-recorded as I wanted my co-host (Lauren) to experience the excitement in counting down the tunes of 2012. The top pick from the list of 2012 was Beach House because Bloom was basically our favourite album. Their music makes me happy, dreamy and putting me into tears. I’m reminded from a former co-host from Italy who got me to like the band and a former host from RTHK Radio 3 (now living in England) who had Teen Dream as one of her picks from 2010. Without those two, I wouldn’t have fallen in awe with Beach House.
The list for the top 12 is posted below.
It’s the yearly festive time as I play a lot of Christmas songs on my radio show at CKCU-FM. Aside from the tunes, I decided to get these unique holiday flavoured sodas by Jones Soda. The flavours were Candy Cane, Gingerbread, Pear Tree and Sugar Plum.
One of the CKCU shows I hung out, we tried the Candy Cane Soda. The host’s verdict was that it tasted like something out of the dentist. It’s not in a bad way but he didn’t mind the taste of it.
This will be the 2011 edition holiday guide to the shows I hosted at CKCU-FM.
I was on the air for Christmas Eve and just played a bunch of Christmas songs and then a few past Christmas #1 UK songs. It was great to play the Christmas tunes everytime. There were a few requests through Twitter and hopefully some were pleased.
The full Top 50 of 2011 is over at this link or on the top right of the blog.
The playlist for the December 21st show is at this link.
I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Finishing Up The Top 50 of 2011 for December 28, 2011 The third part of my Top 50 of 2011 is completed. Instead of playing the top 10, I’ve decided to play the top 11 as it’s fitting that 2011 is ending. This week’s show is slightly different as the first hour would usually be podcasted on this blog. It’s a bit of a flip-flop as the first hour was live and the second hour is for the blog. Both are splitter up for your listening convenience.
The playlist for December 28th’s show is at this link.
A New Year’s Eve Update
I had the opportunity to do a fill in for a Friday night radio show. I wasn’t expecting to have another final show of 2011. Thanks to the guys from Friday Night Derailment for the last minute fill in.
The playlist from the December 30th show is at this link.
Happy New Year!
Audio/Radio Show
The December 14th Radio Show – Press play to listen.
The December 21st Radio Show – Press play to listen.
From Both Kinds of Music’s Both Kind of Xmas Show – press play to listen.
The December 24th (Christmas Eve) Radio Show. The playlist is at this link. Press play to listen.
The December 28th radio show.
Hour 1 – press play to listen.
Hour 2 – press play to listen.
The December 30th radio show. Press play to listen.
Photo
Here’s a photo of cupcakes I got at The Cupcake Lounge on Christmas Eve.
Happy New Year!
To start off 2011 on my radio show, I did two top 10 countdowns. One was finishing up my own year end countdown and the other was the return of the Wild 10 Countdown. Due to time limitations from the December 29, 2010 show where I played 40 out of the 50 songs from my year end countdown. As for who’s number one for the Top 50 of 2010, it’s a no-brainer that Montreal’s Arcade Fire tops on my year ender because I have been playing The Suburbs a lot on CKCU-FM. As for the return of the Wild 10 Countdown to begin 2011, it’s also Arcade Fire as I heard Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) on various radio shows because the hosts said that it’s their favourite song from The Suburbs.
Also on the show was a new co-host as it’s her first time to be on the radio. Another guest on the show was none other than DJ Digs, who does his show on early Thursday morning.
There was a voice cameo appearance the two hosts of The New Midnight Jamz on Saturday nights on CKCU-FM. They were there to introduce the number four song from the Top 50 of 2010. It was none other than Shad with Rose Garden (YouTube link).
I have been playing Beach House lately as radio shows have made it one of their picks of 2010. I got to give credit to my former co-host, Marzia for getting me into the Baltimore band. The worse part is not leaving a dry eye because their songs from their third album, Teen Dream are so dreamy and very emotional.
If you are wondering what was played on the show, check out the playlist by clicking here.
For the first part of the year end countdown, the playlist is at this link.
I posted the full top 50 of 2010 at this link.
The return of The Wild 10 Countdown for January 5th is at this link.
Audio – Radio Show for January 5, 2011 Press play to listen.
WildWorks 