Dec. 7 + 14 show rundowns… with Inlet Sound and Dave Norris & Local Ivan

Finally! And actually, this is the perfect time to be talking about our Dec. 7 show with Michael Wexler from Inlet Sound — they just premiered their new music video for “Mademoiselle” on AUX.TV this week! You can check out the video — which was also directed by Wexler — online here. And as for the tracks we played on Dec. 7:

Inlet Sound – Mademoiselle
Bon Iver – Holocene
Himalayan Bear – Only Dreams Let Me Hold You
Inlet Sound – The Peculiar Disappearance of Marion Bojangles
Hollerado – Got To Lose
Noah and the Whale – Blue Skies

And for our briefly-back-in-Ottawa show on Dec. 14 (well, sort of!) with Dave Norris of Dave Norris & Local Ivan:

Fevers – My Heart Is In The Basket On The Front Of Your Bicycle
Doldrums – I’m Homesick Sitting Up Here In My Satellite
The Darcys – 100 Mile House
Dave Norris & Local Ivan – Song For an Ad
Dave Norris & Local Ivan – Alma Mater
Dan Mangan – Rows of Houses
Said the Whale – Heavy Ceiling
Behind Sapphire – Tahera
We Are The City – Dark/Warm Air
Acres of Lions – Reaction
Kathryn Calder – Five More Years

Be sure to check out Inlet Sound’s Dream Awake EP on Bandcamp here and Dave Norris & Local Ivan’s debut full-length, Alma Mater, on Bandcamp here. Both are pretty darn cheap ($5 and pay-what-you-can, respectively!), which is pretty darn sweet.

In more exciting news: be sure to tune in on Wednesday, December 28th for our end-of-year, best-of-2011, four-hour mega-blowout show! From noon to 4pm EST, we’ll be broadcasting live from the CHUO studios in downtown Ottawa, inviting you to call in/tweet/Facebook/comment with YOUR best-of-the-year picks — and we’ll have guest appearances and giveaways, too! We’ll also be unveiling our fabulous new look, just in time for the new year.

Get excited — and be sure to start thinking of your best-of-2011 picks now! If you have favourite tracks released this year that you’d like to hear on air, comment below, tweet at us @nowplayingradio or send your picks in an email to emma [at] nowplayingradio [dot] com and be sure to tune in at CHUO.fm on the 28th!

Oct. 26th show rundown (that re-aired this past week!)

While round two of an unfortunate cold took away any remaining voice I had to record a new show, re-airing the Oct. 26th show at least allowed us to re-air some more awesome music again. And if nothing else? We’ve got some sweet, sweet shows coming up over the next few weeks… read on for more info!

What we (double-)spun:

The Coppertone – Last Goodbyes
Belgrave – Distance
Paper Lions – Lost The War
Dan Mangan – Starts With Them, Ends With Us
Grey Kingdom – Haunted
Inlet Sound – The Peculiar Disappearance of Marion Bojangles
Right By Midnight – Hey Rialto (don’t forget: you can help these guys fundraise for their new album here)
Kathryn Calder – Who Are You?
The Darcys – Shaking Down The Old Bones
Dave Norris and Local Ivan – Alma Mater
Arkells – Bloodlines
Hey Rosetta! – Seventeen

Coming up this week: great friends of the show hotshotcasino were in town this weekend and graciously gave me a hand in co-hosting the show. No, really – they picked out songs and everything. Tune in this Wednesday at 1pm, CHUO 89.1 FM in Ottawa or online at chuo.fm. And keep your eyes peeled for yet another exciting announcement, about next week’s show…

Sept. 21st (and repeated on the 28th!) show rundown

Hey folks — as we get ready to spin new tunes this week, here’s a rundown of those that were played over the last two weeks (because, yes, we did indeed pull a good ol’ show-repeat):

Dan Mangan – About As Helpful As You Can Be Without Being Any Help at All

Bruce Peninsula – In Your Light

Northcote – Mechanical Hearts

Ra Ra Riot – Too Dramatic [WEEKLY IMPORT]

Coeur de Pirate – Adieu

Rich Aucoin – 10,342 Cuts for the US

Braids – Same Mum

Land of Talk – Ghosts (Wintersleep cover – “Weighty Ghost”)

Arcade Fire – We Used to Wait

Florence and the Machine – Shake It Out [WEEKLY IMPORT]

Stay tuned this week for more fresh tracks from some of your favourite Canadian artists, folks.

“I think ‘yeah’ and ‘baby’ were the most common lyrics…” – Graham Wright phoner + July 13 show rundown

Today’s show was one of our most jam-packed yet, with new tracks from Ohbijou and Dan Mangan, spins from Polaris Prize shortlisters, a chat with our pal and Polaris juror Josh O’Kane about that very prize and the recently announced shortlist, and an interview with Tokyo Police Club’s Graham Wright, who just released his solo album “Shirts vs. Skins” at the end of last month.

Live phoner with Graham Wright on Now Playing, CHUO 89.1 FM

And of course, all that we played:

Ohbijou – Niagara
Dan Mangan – Oh Fortune
Hey Rosetta! – Bricks
Graham Wright – Leftovers
The Arcade Fire – Suburban War
Ron Sexsmith – Get in Line
The Weeknd – The Morning
Timber Timbre – Bad Ritual

Many thanks again to both gents for joining us, and don’t forget — you can catch Graham and Tokyo Police Club this weekend at the HOPE Volleyball Summerfest, alongside CHUO/Now Playing favourites the Balconies.

Oct. 27 show playlist

Wednesday, October 27 heralded the wonderful return of the show to the CHUO studios! Here’s the deliciousness that was spun:

Andrea Simms-Karp – Silvering
Kalle Mattson – A to Z
Wooden Sky – Call If You Need Me
Yukon Blonde – Brides Song
Loon Choir – Microcosm
Rah Rah – Beaches
Lykke Li – Get Some (WEEKLY IMPORT)
Bent By Elephants – Salinity Blues
Basia Bulat – Run
Dan Mangan – Journal of a Narcoleptic
Cuff the Duke – By Winter’s End
Brett Caswell & The Marquee Rose – A Friend in Need
Dan Mangan – So Much for Everyone

Tune in this week — Wednesday, November 3rd at 1pm on CHUO 89.1 FM — for some more tasty tunes, including another Weekly Import from Sweden (!) and the return of our Mix/Mash of the Month.

‘Til then!

It’s all about the groove. The Golden Isles interview + Sept. 22 show recap

Montreal’s The Golden Isles were in town last week to play the awesome Avant Garde Bar (so awesome, in fact, that one of the two fellas I interviewed, Adam, was inspired to make a wonderfully descriptive monologue during the interview) and I got a chance to sit down with one third of the band (make that two members, Adam and Richard) to chat about what brought them together, what the Montreal scene is like, and their first time bringing their tour to Ottawa.

As always, we spun some sweet tracks this week, too:

Wintersleep – Preservation
Bend Sinister – Jimmy Brown
Library Voices – Party Like it’s 2012
Karkwa – Les Chemins de Verre
Owen Pallett – Midnight Directives
Tim Gilbertson – Holga 120’s
The xx – Night Time (Weekly Import – ’cause since we played 2010 Polaris winners Karwka, we had to play the 2010 UK Mercury Prize winners, too)
Noah – Mannequin
The Acorn – Kindling to Cremation (Megafun remix)
The Golden Isles –  Don’t Tell Me
The Eatons – One More Night
Dan Mangan – Tina’s Glorious Comeback

Be sure, sure, sure to check out our Local Listings page as some badass shows are just around the corner (Winter Gloves, anyone?) — in fact, a bunch of the artists we spun today are making their way to Ottawa soon. Just whom, you ask? Well you’ll just have to head on over to the listings page. Do it.

Get out and see some shows, folks — support local and Canadian music. ‘Til next week!

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.