Playlist for July 27, 2009

No theme for this week's program as well. Though some songs were played in order to tie-in with current events. Kraftwerk's "Tour De France" was played in conjunction with the Tour De France race held this month, where, for the fourth year in a row, a Spaniard wins (Alberto Contador to be specific, who also won the 2007 Tour De France). Similarly, Depeche Mode's "Clean" was played in conjunction with seeing them live in Toronto on the 24th of July. The show was spectacular, as expected, but driving in and out of Toronto was an ordeal. If I ever were to live there, I'd rely on public transit.

The playlist:
1) Viosac- January 1991 (You are Planning to Enjoy the Apocalypse)
2) Stravinsky- Song of the Nightingale (The Nightingale)
3) Amon Tobin- Mee The Reapers (inFAMOUS Soundtrack)
4) Tchaikovsky- Le Prologue: Scene Dansante (Sleeping Beauty)
5) Kraftwerk- Tour De France (Tour De France Soundtracks)
6) Fritz Helder & The Phantoms- All Over the Place (Greatest Hits)
7) Le Bus- Atom Love (Fission, Friction, Frequency)
8) Thavius Black- Absinthe (Urban Subsonic)
9) Depeche Mode- Clean (Violator)
10) Alcest- Sur L'Autre Rive Je T'Attenrai (Souvenirs De Autre Monde)
11) Slowdive- Slowdive (Blue Day Singles Collection)
12) Tortoise- Minors (Beacons of Ancestorship)
13) Dark Mean- China (Frankencottage)

Playlist for July 20, 2009

Just a regular show today, though a juxtaposition was given to Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and Blackstar. Mos Def's new album The Ecstatic was recently released, and it is his best one since Black on Both Sides. Thus, I decided to compare and contrast the music of Mos Def and Talib Kweli solo, with them working together on Blackstar.

The playlist:
1) Acid Mothers Temple- Eleking the Clay (Lord Vishnu of the Underground: Vishnu and the Magic Elixir)
2) Francois Couture- Metro (Tape Speed Ins./Sec.)
3) Dynamo Coleoptera- Megagurushi Uta (S/T)
4) Megilla Funk Conduit- Notorious B.A.G.* (New Set New Sound)
5) Inspectah Deck- The Uncontrolled Substance (The Uncontrolled Substance)
6) Mos Def- Auditorium [feat Slick Rick] (The Ecstatic)
7) Talib Kweli- Around my Way [feat. John Legend] (The Beautiful Struggle)
8) Blackstar- Astronomy (Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Blackstar)
9) Obituary- Fields of Pain (Darkest Day)
10) Fuck the Facts- Secret Asian (Collection of Splits 2002-2004)
11) Iron Maiden- Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Flight 666)

* B.A.G. stands for Big Ass Gorilla, I found that quite amusing.

Hanging with my friend Chris: Playlist for July 13, 2009

Wow, I am really late with this post. And I really have no excuse, I've merely been a slacker. I will try my best to get posting sooner (does anyone even read this blog?)

On the July 13th show, my good buddy Chris Kerr sat in with me and chose some of the songs, his selections will be highlighted in blue. Now on to the playlist:

1) Sunn O)))- Alice (Monoliths and Dimensions)
2) Electric Wizard- Return Trip (Come My Fanatics)
3) The Peace Leaches- The Party (ROYGBIV)
4) Citywide Vacuum- Sweet Kraut (Pact)
5) Kraftwerk- Tour De France Etape 3 (Tour De France Soundtracks)
6) Black Dice- Kokomo (Load Blown)
7) Broadcast- I Found the F (Tender Buttons)
8) Front 242- Felines (Front by Front)
9) Do Make Say Think- You, You're Awesome (You, You're a History of Rust)
10) This Quiet Army- Death of a Sailor (Unconquered)
11) Elfin Saddle- Running Sheep (Ringing for the Begin Again)
11) Portishead- Silence (Third)

Phog Phest: Playlist for June 6, 2009

I'm sure everyone know about the Phog Lounge winning CBC Radio 3's Best Live Venue award, and the performances to celebrate the honour. If not, I'll just tell you that this Saturday July 11, 2009 is going to be one for the ages, so checking it out will definitely be worth the while.

The playlist is below, and the acts playing at Phog Phest are highlighted in red.

1) Can- Halleluhwah (Tago Mago)
2) Orphan Choir- Everything in Past Tense (ST)
3) What Seas What Shores- Bonaparte (ST)
4) Sigur Ros- O Friour (Saeglopur)
5) Beef Terminal- No Robbers, No Kidnappings, No Fires, No Floods (Anger Do Not Enter)
6) Actors and Actresses- Dig to China (Arrows)
7) Square Root of Margaret- Hollywood Will Find a Way (Telegram Photeur)
8) Julian Marley- Oh Girl [feat. Mr. Cheeks] (Awake)
9) Ziggy Marley- I Love You Too (Family Time)
10) D.A.F.- Der Mussolini (Alles Ist Gut)
11) Bibio- Haikuesque [when she laughs] (Ambivalence Avenue)
12) Laibach- Get Back (Let it Be)
13) Holy Fuck- Chopper (EP)

Playlist for June 29, 2009

No theme again, but there are things worth talking about, and this week's program had a nice variety of soothing, heavy, and chilling music. Highlights include the Meiko Kaji double-bill, featuring the main themes to two of her most popular films, the notorious woman-in-prison film Female Prisoner 701, and Lady Snowblood, a film that perhaps had the highest level of influence on Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. Meiko Kaji was an accomplished pop singer and was the most popular actress in Japanese revenge/exploitation films during the 1970s. Kaji may have not been the most accomplished actress from a technical standpoint, but like Clint Eastwood, she had a presence, and her stoic eyes could communicate more than words often could.



Below is the playlist, which also features a hilarious new rendition of Spinal Tap's "Sex Farm," with a very funky Sly Stone feel to it that fits perfectly with the lyrical content of the song.

1) Al Di Meola- Flight Over Rio (Elegant Gypsy)
2) Mr. Something Something- Only the Maker (Shine Your Face)
3) Bomba- Y Tu Que Te Pensabas (Cuatro Caminos)
4) Toronto Tabala Ensemble- Tongue Twister Two (Second Palla)
5) Meiko Kaji- Urami Bushi (Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion Soundtrack)
6) Meiko Kaji- The Flower of Carnage (Lady Snowblood Soundtrack)
7) Spinal Tap- [Funky] Sex Farm (Back From the Dead)
8) Halford- God, Bringer of Death (Resurrection Remastered)
9) 1349- Maggot Fetus (Revelations of the Black Flame)
10) Nameless Grave- King of all Scum (13 Songs from the Grave)
11) Meshuggah- Concatenation (Chaosphere)
12) Dinosaur Jr.- Ocean in the Way (Farm)
13) Sonic Youth- Posion Arrow (The Eternal)
14) Coeur De Pirate- Berceuse (ST)
15) Pigface- KMFPF (6)
16) Tiga- Mind Dimension (Ciao)

The Return of Coalesce and other goodies

The return of Coalesce wasn't a theme per se, but today's program opened with two songs off of their stunning new album Ox, their first one since 1999s 0:12 Revolution in Just Listening. Coalesce, along with Converge and Botch, are the what I consider to be the three most important hardcore bands to come from the late 1990s/early 2000s and influence countless pale imitators. Another minor theme in today's program was Elliott Smith, for his music was featured in the form of Nadja's cover of "Needle in the Hay," and from Elliott Smith himself with "Ballad of Big Nothing." Overall, I was rather pleased with today's program, and I think it turned out to be among my best. Stream it from cjam.ca if you get the chance.

The playlist:
1) Coalesce- The Plot Against My Love (Ox)
2) Coalesce- In My Wake, For My Own (Ox)
3) Lithica- Retaliation on Heaven (Invokation of Satan Within)
4) Nadja- Needle in the Hay [Elliott Smith Cover] (When I see the Sun Always Shines on TV)
5) Entombed- Living Dead (Clandestine)
6) Field Assembly- Out of the Arms (Broadshades & Ephemera)
7) Nick Drake- River Man (Five Leaves Left)
8) Elliott Smith- Ballad of Big Nothing (Either/Or)
9) Luxury Pond- Caving In (S/T)
10) The Peace Leeches- Safe Sex (Roygbiv)
11) Tangerine Dream- Betrayal (Sorcerer Original Soundtrack)
12) Black Dice- Nite Creme (Repo)
13) Drumbo- Take me Higher (Def3 & Factor)
14) Plex- Better Days (Brainstorm)
15) Slakah- Enjoy Ya Self V2
16) A Tribe Called Quest- Butter (The Low-End Theory)

25 years of From Her To Eternity. Playlist for June 15, 2009

Like last week's celebration for Unknown Pleasures, this week's program marks the 25th anniversary of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds debut album From Her to Eternity. Rising from the ashes of Nick Cave's previous band, The Birthday Party, The Bad Seeds have been one of the most consistently great bands of the last three decades, with Nick Cave ranking among the highest of songwriters.

While Nick Cave is the only remaining member from the From Her to Eternity line-up, core Bad Seeds members Mick Harvey and Blixa Bargeld (who also fronts legendary German experimental band Einsturzende Neubauten) are present on guitars, while Cave's early muse Anita Lane co-wrote the lyrics to the title track.

Apart from Nick Cave, this week's program featured new music from the long-awaited new Toritoise album, Beacons of Ancestorship, along with classic cuts from Berlin's Einsturzende Neubauten and Atari Teenage Riot. I will also mention Montreal's Pawa Up First, an experimental rock act with influences ranging from Ennio Morricone, Jaga Jazzist, Wu-Tang Clan, Fugazi, and Miles Davis. When I saw all those influences listed on their myspace page, I got really excited, and the song played was stunning. Imagine someone rapping over Tortoise or Don Caballero, and that's what Pawa Up First's "In a Hurry to Nowhere" sounded like.

This is the url to their myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/pawaupfirst. Check it out!

The playlist:
1) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds- Cabin Fever (From Her to Eternity)
2) Caledonia- We Are America (We Are America)
3) Flowers of Hell- Forest of Noise (Come Hell or High Water)
4) Flogging Molly- Paddy's Lament (Float)
5) Pawa Up First- In a Hurry to Nowhere (The Outcome)
6) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds- From Her to Eternity [Wings of Desire version] (From Her to Eternity)
7) Einsturzende Neubauten- Vanadium-I-Ching (Zeichnungen des Patienten O.T.)
8) Bethlehem- Veheiking Du Krone Des Todeskultes (Dictius te Necare)
9) Atari Teenage Riot- Destroy 2000 Years of Culture (The Future of War)
10) Fancy- Chinese Eyes (Get Your Kicks)
11) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds- The Moon is in the Gutter (From Her to Eternity)
12) Boo Hoo- Married to the World (Don't Die)
13) Tortoise- The Fall of Seven Diamonds Plus One (Beacons of Ancestorship)
14) Kara Kieth- Monsters (Visions Fugitives)
15) Mike Evin- Good Watermelon (Good Watermelon)

From 1984 to 1990, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds primarily operated out of West Berlin. As expats in the city, this convieniently allowed them to appear in Wim Wenders wonderful 1987 film Wings of Desire. Below is the clip from the aforementioned film, where the band performs 'The Carny' (from their 1986 album Your Funeral, My Trial) and the title track to the album celebrated.