A fall of firsts! And our Sept. 5th show rundown

We’re back in our “second home” of Toronto, dear listeners — after an always-fun live show back in Ottawa at the end of August — and we’re thrilled to announce that the first of several NOW PLAYING RADIO Presents showcases kicks off next week! For our inaugural show, we’re featuring some terrific up-and-coming local talent, including Philip James, Carlo Meriano, Daniel Mager Band, and Michael Wexler (of great friends of the show Inlet Sound) playing a solo set. It all goes down at Rancho Relaxo next Wednesday, September 12th — doors are at 8:30pm and music starts at 9:20 — and only costs five bucks. Check out the Facebook event for more information, including links to tracks from each act (get a taste of what to expect, right?).

We also spun a couple of tracks from the above artists, plus new songs from some of our perennial faves:

Michael Rault – I Wanna Love You
Divine Fits – My Love Is Real
White Wires – Everywhere You Were
Jenn Grant – I Want You Back
John K. Samson – When I Write My Master’s Thesis
Hey Rosetta! – Yer Fall
Carlo Meriano – To Serve Man
Philip James – Mountain Limbs
Aidan Knight – A Mirror
Hooded Fang – Younger Days
Bahamas – Already Yours
Said the Whale – Curse of the Currents

Next week: more about our upcoming showcases and, as always, fresh tracks from some of your favourite Canadian artists. ‘Til then!

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…

“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.

April 27th show rundown

Très exciting show last week, folks, featuring artists playing Westfest, the Jazz Festival, and Bluesfest this year (definitely check out those lineups!):

The Pack A.D. – Crazy
Ruby Jean & The Thoughtful Bees – Trustfund
The Beauties – Hearts are Down
Hey Rosetta! – Seventeen
The Peptides – For Those Who Hate This World
The Murder Plans – Hurt Somebody
Hexes & Ohs – Looking to Fight
The Arkells – John Lennon
Mother Mother – Original Spin
Death Cab for Cutie – You Are A Tourist [WEEKLY IMPORT]
Black Keys – Everlasting Light [WEEKLY IMPORT]
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below [WEEKLY IMPORT]
Jill Barber – Tell Me
The Sheepdogs – Please Don’t Lead Me On
Ohbijou – To Rest In Peace on Righteous Tides

THIS WEEK: The boys from hotshotcasino will be stopping by to chat about their upcoming Cinco de Mayo party, plus KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED for a very special, very awesome surprise coming down the pipe from Now Playing for CHUO‘s funding drive! (Help support campus/community radio by clicking here.)

The mysterious show rundown that never appeared – flashback to March 23rd

I knew something was missing here. Just in case you tuned into the show from two weeks ago and was like, wait, hey, what did they play that day? (Rhyme completely intentional.) We also had an interview with Kalle from Kalle Mattson on that show, too — we’ll try to get that online sooner than later, too!

Dream Jefferson – Vampyroteuthis
Chikita Violenta – All I Need’s A Little More
Geoff Burner – The Victory Party
Phantom Shores – Walking in the Night
Hey Rosetta! – Bricks
Crimes in Paris – Tonight
Kalle Mattson – A Deepened End
Kalle Mattson – Singing Knives
The Wilderness – Triste
Austra – Lose It
Friends Electric – Big City Nights
Little Scream – Cannons

Also, you can look forward to a live session with Ottawa’s Phantom Shores this week! Heading into the studio today to record ’em — be sure to tune in this Wednesday at 1pm to catch it!

It accidentally aired an hour earlier, but… our Feb. 23 show rundown

Don’t worry, I was surprised too! A small scheduling glitch forced this week’s episode of Now Playing to be aired an hour earlier, at noon instead of 1pm this past Wednesday, the 23rd. Nevertheless, this is what we spun:

The Love Machine – We Are Squirrels, And This Is Nuts
Eve Hell & The Razors – Zombie Love
Olenka & The Autumn Lovers – No Coins
Sound of Lions – One
Great Bloomers – Honey Blanket
Dave Norris and Local Ivan – Goodbye Michelle
Jenn Grant – Parliament of Owls
Giant Hand – Another Step Down
Brad Kells – Let It Go Girl
The Head and the Heart – Down In The Valley [WEEKLY IMPORT]
Doctor Ew – Let’s Make It Legitimate
Hey Rosetta! – Yer Fall
Rebekah Higgs – Wilderness Girls (A.A. Wallace Remix) [Mix/Mash of the Month]

And next week? Oh boy, next week. Next week’s show is going to be just incredible. It’s going to feature TWO LIVE INTERVIEWS + SESSIONS, if you can believe it. No, I can’t believe it either. Toronto’s Hooded Fang just dropped by the studios a few hours ago to record some killer new tracks from their upcoming EP-that-will-actually-probably-be-an-album, and Ottawa’s very own hotshotcasino will be stopping by CHUO on Tuesday to jam and chat before they play Cafe Nostalgica next weekend.

All in all, it’s a show you won’t want to miss.

I’m excited about Hey Rosetta! — are you?! Feb. 16 show rundown

I’m so excited, I had to spin a track off their new album, Seeds, which was just released this past Tuesday — and I had to mention this Saturday’s concert again. Yes, folks, it’s sold out — but you never know what happens if you pay close enough attention to Twitter or Kijiji — you never know where you can find tickets! And hey, if you can’t go this Saturday, well there are a slew of awesome shows coming up for which tickets are still available — click on “Local Listings” up on the right-hand side, there, and go have some fun.

Speaking of fun, we played a whole lotta fun tracks today:

Hey Rosetta! – Welcome
The Liptonians – Hey! Hey! Help Is On Its Way Now!
Spring Breakup – It’s Not Me, It’s You
Meligrove Band – Make Believe It
Jenn Grant – Oh My Heart
Cowboy Junkies – Wrong Piano
The Peptides – For Those Who Hate Each Other
New Grammar – Calling Card
Shotgun Jimmie – Late Last Year
Noah and the Whale – Wild Thing [WEEKLY IMPORT]
Mother’s Children – Shaky Sue
Wildlife – Drunken Heart
Harlan Pepper – Little Miss Sunshine
Kit Wilson-Yang – Why Go Out A Killin?
My Dad Vs Yours – Hip to Hip

If anyone out there is hitting up the Rich Aucoin show on Friday or the Hey Rosetta! show on Saturday, leave a comment — maybe I’ll see you there! Happy live-music-ing this weekend, folks.

We’re back! (after bit of a hiatus, apparently…) Jan. 26th show rundown

A handful of killer Canadian releases have just dropped over the last week or so: today we spun some new Jenn Grant, Destroyer, The Olympic Symphonium, and even Hey Rosetta! (who will release Seeds on February 15.)

Jenn Grant – Walk Away
Ladner – Learning By Doing Stupid Things
Michael Rault – You Can Leave It If You Want To
Dragonette – Take It Like A Man
Two Hours Traffic – No Advances
Destroyer – Savage Night at the Opera
Hey Rosetta! – Yer Spring
The Olympic Symphonium – Settle Down
Jeremy Fisher – All We Want Is Love
Sleigh Bells – Infinity Guitars [WEEKLY IMPORT]
Wolf Parade – Ghost Pressure
Andrea Simms-Karp – Lone Picture
The Withering Pines – Kate or Katherine
Deadhorse – Big Blew Sky

Of the artists we played this week, Hey Rosetta!,Jenn Grant and Ottawa’s own The Withering Pines are all playing shows soon — not to mention Dragonette, who will hit up Babylon tomorrow night! Check our recently updated show listings over on our “Local Listings” page for more info.

‘Til next week!

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.