Two Ds from Winnipeg: July 28th show recap

A low-key show today? Perhaps. But that doesn’t mean the music was any less awesome:

Stars – I Died So I Could Haunt You
The Details – The Original Mark
Departures – Being There
Hey Rosetta! – Black Heart
Nightwood – Gretta at a Window
Wintersleep – A Long Flight
Blitzen Trapper – Below The Hurricane (This week’s Weekly Import.)
Tokyo Police Club – Favourite Food
The Acorn + Ohbijou – Darcy
Broken Social Scene – World Sick

Yeah, The Details and Departures are from Winnipeg. I like alliteration, okay? Also, I talked about some exciting new shows that have been announced: Wintersleep, The Besnard Lakes, and Hey Rosetta! are all playing various dates at the Capital this October, and Broken Social Scene will be playing the Bronson Centre in December! Advance tickets for that show are available at galleryac.com. Check out more show listings via our brand-spanking-new listings page.

‘Til next week! Though I’m sure there’ll be new, awesome stuff to talk about before then.

“He can’t see over the steering wheel” – July 21st show recap + updated show listings

This week’s show (our eighth one! Wow, “eighth” is a really weird word) featured a quick over-the-phone-at-a-McDonald’s-from-somewhere-between-Toronto-and-Windsor conversation with Steve St. Pierre from local alt-country foursome Old Crowns, who have recently embarked on their first-ever tour:

Steve St. Pierre from Old Crowns – phone-in (click to listen, right-click to save file)

They’ll be back in the nation’s capital this Friday the 23rd with tour mate Brett Caswell and Sudbury’s Life Blown Open at the Elmdale Tavern — doors are at 9:30pm and it’s only five bucks.

This week’s playlist:

Boxer The Horse – Mind Eraser
Tim Gilbertson – Second Opinions
Old Crowns – Two Birds
Loon Choir – Bricks
The Gallop – Been Spoiled Ripe
Sandman Viper Command – Strawberry Quick
Eastborough – Shuffle and Slide
Local Natives – Wide Eyes
Bloomistry – The All About A Girl
Mother’s Children – What’ll Happen To All The Girls
Dance Movie – Light Bright Tonight

As I briefly mentioned last week, we’ll be continuing with our “Weekly Import” feature — ’twas Silver Lake/LA’s Local Natives this week (think Vampire Weekend, but a little more mature and streamlined… definitely worth checking out). Also, there are some listings that I definitely need to fix/update/add to. Here’s whatch’ya better be checking out this weekend (and for weeks to come):

• Shapes and Sizes (Montreal) and Braids (also from Montreal, but originally Calgary) at Zaphod’s on Wednesday, July 21st (eight bucks, 8pm) — that’s tonight!
• Royal Canoe (Winnipeg), Giant Hand (Ottawa), and The Amalgamation (also Ottawa) at Zaphod’s on Thursday, July 22nd (eight bucks, 8pm)
• Bravestation (Toronto), Loon Choir (Ottawa!), and Trevor James and the Perfect Gentlemen (Montreal) at Cafe Dekcuf, on Friday, July 23rd (I got the wrong date earlier, oops — eight bucks, 9pm)
• Old Crowns (Ottawa!), Brett Caswell (Barrie), and Life Blown Open (Sudbury) at the Elmdale Tavern on Friday, July 23rd (five bucks, 9:30pm)
• Sandman Viper Command (Toronto/Burlington), The Panama (Ottawa), Ornaments (Ottawa) at Cafe Dekcuf on Saturday, July 24th (six bucks, 8pm)
• In-Flight Safety (Halifax), Right By Midnight (Ottawa), and The Gallop (Ottawa) at Zaphod’s on Monday, July 26th (ten bucks in advance, 8pm)
• Kele (of Bloc Party, from the UK) and Jessica 6 (Brooklyn) at the Capital Music Hall on Friday, July 30th has been cancelled — PunkOttawa.com says refunds are available at point of sale
• Dog Day (Halifax) and Apollo Ghosts (Vancouver) at Raw Sugar Cafe on Thursday, August 5th (ten bucks, 8:30pm)
• New Teeth (Ottawa), Cotton Mouth (Montreal), Nightwood (Montreal), The Gallop (Ottawa) at Cafe Dekcuf on Friday, August 6th (six bucks, 8pm)
• Forest City Lovers (Toronto) at Raw Sugar on Friday, September 17th (ticket price tba, 8:30pm)

I also talked about i(heart)music‘s 5th annual festival — check out the incredible lineup (including Ottawa faves Old Crowns, Loon Choir, Giant Hand, Paramedics, and The Love Machine… and awesome Arts & Crafts-ers Still Life Still and The Most Serene Republic) and get more info about the three-night Rideau Street party August 26th to 28th over here.

Enjoy the weekend! No, seriously; go check some of that stuff out.

July 14th show recap

This week, I got the chance to knock back some Pepsi and nachos and chat with the four great guys from Ottawa’s on Right By Midnight, fresh off their first-ever tour. Listen to Charles, Kris, Alex, and Joey explain their love for strobe lights, among other things:

Charles, Kris, Alex, and Joey from Right By Midnight (click to listen, right-click to save file)

Some fantastic tracks were also spun, largely influenced by certain acts I’ve checked out at this year’s Bluesfest (DAN MANGAN) and certain records I’ve been playing on repeat on my iPod (FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE):

Dan Mangan – Basket
The Balconies – 300 Pages
Forest City Lovers – Phodilus + Tyto
Right By Midnight – Along The Way
Michou – Growing Younger
Young Galaxy – Firestruck
Florence and the Machine – Cosmic Love
Brasstronaut – Slow Knots
Sound of Lions – Passive Attack
Crystal Castles – Violent Dreams

Speaking of Florence and the Machine: she’s awesome. No, but actually, as much as I love to expose CHUO listeners to new local and Canadian music, I’d love to take the opportunity to play some artists who may not be from our home and native land. Now Playing will now feature a “Weekly Import,” a track from artists hailing from countries around the world.

I’m pretty excited. You should be excited, too. Mostly because the show now has a legit domain name (nowplayingradio.com) and it looks like we’ll be checking in with the incredible local duo Sound of Lions soon. Seriously: give them a spin here http://soundoflions.com/?p=music.

‘Til next week, fellow music fanatics.

July 8th show recap

The Polaris Prize Short List was announced Tuesday — which gave us some fabulous content this week on Now Playing:

Born Ruffians – Nova-Leigh
Royal Canoe – Me Loving Your Money
Dan Mangan – Road Regrets
Broken Social Scene – Chase Scene
Shad – Yaa I Get It
The Sadies – Another Day Again
Radio Radio – 9 Piece Luggage Set
Tegan and Sara – Don’t Rush
Owen Pallett – Lewis Takes Off His Shirt
The Besnard Lakes – Chicago Train
Caribou – Odessa

Okay, yes, those first two tracks had nothing to do with Polaris. And, yes, we forgot Karkwa (here’s something to make up for it. And we’ll play ’em next week). But hey — those first two tracks? Still awesome. And both bands are making a stop in Ottawa soon — Born Ruffians are hitting up the York St. Pop Life Stage as part of Bluesfest on July 10th at 7:15pm, and Royal Canoe will be playing at Zaphod’s on July 22nd at 8pm (see previous post).

That’s about it for now. Still keep your eyes peeled for album and show reviews comin’ your way soon.

Just because there’s a lot to get excited about. (Updated with more excitement!)

Sure, Bluesfest is coming up — but there are some more incredible, non-Bluesfest-affiliated shows just around the corner too. I needed to post some listings up here — if for no other reason than to remind myself what I need to attend in the next few weeks.

• Shapes and Sizes (Montreal) and Braids (also from Montreal, but originally Calgary) at Zaphod’s on Wednesday, July 21st (eight bucks, 8pm). [I’m digging Braids’ track “Lemonade” over at Hype Machine.]
• Royal Canoe (Winnipeg), Giant Hand (Ottawa), and The Amalgamation (also Ottawa) at Zaphod’s the next day on Thursday, July 22nd (eight bucks, 8pm). [I don’t even know how to describe Royal Canoe, except that Me Loving Your Money sounds like your little brother’s mashed mix of squeaky-clean ska/punk/reggae, with some mellow guitar beats thrown in the middle. They also say “French pop” on their MySpace, which works. Essentially, awesome.]
• Bravestation (Toronto), Loon Choir (Ottawa!), and Trevor James and the Perfect Gentlemen (Montreal) are playing at Cafe Dekcuf, also on the 22nd (eight bucks, 9pm). [Loon Choir is definitely a must-see live. These guys are earnest, hard-working rockers who set the stage on fire last time I saw them at Dekcuf. Do yourself a favour and listen to Woodlands and get out to this show.]
• Old Crowns (Ottawa!) and Brett Caswell (Barrie) are back at the Elmdale Tavern on Friday, July 23rd (tickets and doors tba). [I know I talk about ’em a lot, but I really can’t stop spinning Keep Calm and Carry On.]
• In-Flight Safety (Halifax) and Right By Midnight (Ottawa) at Zaphod’s on Monday, July 26th (ten bucks in advance, 8pm). [Currently loving Model Homes by those Maritimers… and I’ll be interviewing Right By Midnight for the July 14th show.]
• Kele (of Bloc Party, from the UK) and Jessica 6 (Brooklyn) at the Capital Music Hall on Friday, July 30th (twenty bucks, 9pm). [The ticket price is higher but I’m impressed he’s making an Ottawa stop, with Toronto and Montreal as his only other Canadian dates. I spun Kele’s Tenderoni on last week’s show and definitely enjoyed the Brooklyn trio’s Fun Girl.]
• Dog Day (Halifax) and Apollo Ghosts (Vancouver) at Raw Sugar Cafe on Thursday, August 5th (ten bucks, 8:30pm). [I’m rooting for Apollo Ghosts to at least make the Polaris Short List this Tuesday — they’re currently strengthening the B.C. contingent on the Long List — and can’t stop listening to Coca-Cola Admen.]
• Forest City Lovers (Toronto) at Raw Sugar on Friday, September 17th (ticket price tba, 8:30pm). [Their latest album, “Carriage” was just released this past week and is worth checking out. Can’t help but smile at Light You Up.]

More happening that you know about and I apparently don’t? Drop me a line at nowplayingchuo [at] gmail [dot] com and spread the love. Also, look forward to this week’s show when I further dissect the actual Polaris Short List and spin some new tracks from some of the fabulous artists mentioned above. And — keep your eyes peeled to this space over the next week or so. I’m going to try to do a bi-weekly or monthly post of a few album reviews for both local and Canadian releases that are worth checking out.

As always, stay tuned.

June 30th show (and hey, Happy Canada Day!)

We had a sweet show lined up for the last day of June, featuring — as always — some fabulous tunes from our home and native land (plus a few tracks from the UK in honour of the Queen’s visit):

Tokyo Police Club – Favourite Colour
Rah Rah – Duet for Emmylou and the Grievous Angel
Stars – We Don’t Want Your Body
Kele – Tenderoni
Ou Est Le Swimming Pool – Dance the Way I Feel
Forest City Lovers – Sea to Land
The Property Line – All Together
Tegan & Sara – Night Watch
You Say Party – There is XXXX (Within My Heart)

Huge note to make — which I somehow neglected to announce on air — but Forest City Lovers will be swinging by Ottawa early this fall, playing the Raw Sugar Cafe on Sept. 17. Definitely something to check out!

And in advance of the announcement next Tuesday, we also chatted about Polaris Short List predictions. Here’s Now Playing’s Officially Unofficial Polaris Short List Prediction List:

Basia Bulat – Heart of My Own
Brasstronaut – Mt. Chimaera
Jason Collett – Rat A Tat Tat
Frog Eyes – Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph
Dan Mangan – Nice, Nice, Very Nice
The New Pornographers – Together
Shad – TSOL
Tegan and Sara – Sainthood
Young Galaxy – Invisible Republic
You Say Party – XXXX

Your thoughts? Think we’re on the mark, or totally off in left field? Leave a comment — or better yet, drop us a line at nowplayingchuo [at] gmail [dot] com and send us your ten picks/predictions for the Short List. Get ’em in by next Monday and the person with the most picks that actually end up on the List will get a li’l prize from Now Playing.

Just for fun, I made a “sentimental” list of who I’d simply prefer to see make it through:

Apollo Ghosts – Mount Benson
Bahamas – Pink Strat
Basia Bulat – Heart of My Own
Brasstronaut – Mt. Chimaera
Hannah Georgas – This Is Good
Ghostkeeper – Ghostkeeper
Dan Mangan – Nice, Nice, Very Nice
You Say Party – XXXX
The Wooden Sky – If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone
Yukon Blonde – Yukon Blonde

I’m pretty excited to see what happens. Catch all the action next Wednesday at 1pm on CHUO 89.1 FM. ‘Til then, enjoy your Canada Day!