Author: Megan

Back in the summer that the [wikipop]Warsaw Pact[/wikipop] was dissolved, the [wikipop]SNES[/wikipop] was released, and [wikipop]rave[/wikipop] was beginning to give way to [wikipop]trip-hop[/wikipop], we were just ignorant children, unaware of all the great music that we’d have to catch up with when we got into our teens.This week we take a quick look back at some tracks one or both of us missed 10, 15 and 20 years ago (and due to the magic of aging, are now wise enough to appreciate).

From 2001 there’s [wikipop]Scout Niblett[/wikipop] and [wikipop]Sparklehorse[/wikipop], and from 1996 we hear [wikipop search=”Weeping Tile (band)”]Weeping Tile[/wikipop] (summer being the season everyone medically requires extra doses of Sarah Harmer’s voice). Going back further to 1991, we play songs from Blur’s debut album, a hit by the [wikipop search=”Sugarcubes”]Sugarcubes[/wikipop] ([wikipop]Bjork[/wikipop]’s old band) and something off of [wikipop]Primal Scream[/wikipop]’s [wikipop]Mercury Prize[/wikipop] winning album, [wikipop]Screamadelica[/wikipop].

Of course, we’ve got plenty of new music too, including tracks from the upcoming albums from [wikipop search=”Beirut (band)”]Beirut[/wikipop] and Hooded Fang. HF’s debut, Album is long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize, as is [wikipop]Land of Talk[/wikipop]’s Cloak and Cypher (which we eschew in favour of a song of their 2006 debut). The short-list is to be announced this afternoon, and when we’re back from vacation we’ll be sure to have a show dedicated to the short-listed artists.

We hope you enjoy the show, and we’ll be back in late July!

1. Beirut – Santa Fe (The Rip Tide)
2. Hooded Fang – Vacationation (Tosta Mista)
3. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – I Wanna Go All The Way (Belong 7″)
4. Land of Talk – Summer Special (Applause Cheer Boo Hiss)
5. Weeping Tile – Joint Acc’t (Cold Snap)
6. Japandroids – Wet Hair (Post-Nothing)
7. Lykke Li – Get Some (Wounded Rhymes)
8. Kelli Schaefer – Black Dog (Ghost of the Beast)
9. Scout Niblett – Check Out The Maker (Sweet Heart Fever)
10. Sparklehorse – Piano Fire (It’s A Wonderful Life)
11. EMA – Milkman (Past Life Martyred Saints)
12. The Sugarcubes – Walkabout (Stick Around for Joyl)
13. Blur – Come Together (Leisure)
14. Primal Scream – Slip Inside This House (Screamadelica)
15. Arctic Monkeys – Brick By Brick (Suck It And See)
16. The Weakerthans – Bad Time to Be Poor (Civil Twilight single)

Well the year is now halfway through, and what better way to mark the occasion of Canada’s [wikipop search=”Gross (unit)”]gross[/wikipop] birthday than with  two hours of pure CanCon?

Plus, there’s a huge 15-song uninterupted set of old and new stuff, mixing some classics with some new arrivals, as well as highlight a few of the talented folks from the recently released Polaris Longlist.

Featuring a couple of tracks bookending [wikipop]Sloan[/wikipop]’s 20 year career, along with Little Scream, the [wikipop]New Pornographers[/wikipop], and artists from coast-to-coast (including a bunch straight out of our [wikipop search=”Southern Ontario”]backyard[/wikipop]).

Crack a cold one, sit back, relax and from both of us, have a very happy Canada Day!

1. Sloan – Underwhelmed (Smeared)
2. The Pack A.D. – 1880 (We Kill Computers)
3. Rush – Working Man (Gold)
4. Holy Fuck – Casio Bossa Nova (Holy Fuck)
5. Jason Euringer/Sarah Harmer – Summertime (Songs for Clem)
6. Little Scream – Cannons (The Golden Record)
7. Jenn Grant – Heart Of Sticks (Honeymoon Punch)
8. Molly Rankin – Tricky Fellows (She EP)
9. Breagh Potter – I Want Down (Hey There July)
10. Armistice – City Lights Cry (Armistice)
11. The New Pornographers – Streets of Fire (Twin Cinema)
12. Manitoba – Kid You’ll Move Mountains (Up In Flames)
13. Sam Roberts Band – Sang Froid (Collider)
14. The Tragically Hip – So Hard Done By (Day For Night)
15. Jason Collett – Lake Superior (Rat A Tat Tat)
16. Harlan Pepper – Great Lakes (Young and Old)
17. Great Lake Swimmers – Don’t Cry No Tears (Borrowed Tunes II: A Tribute To Neil Young)
18. One Hundred Dollars – Waiting On Another (Songs Of Man)
19. The Sadies – Another Day Again (Darker Circles)
20. Arkells – Heart of the City (Jackson Square)
21. Luke Doucet and the White Falcon – Sundown (Steel City Trawler)
22. The Arcade Fire – Une Année Sans Lumiere (Funeral)
23. Sandro Perri – Dreaming (Plays Polmo Polpo)
24. Controller.Controller – Silent Seven (History)
25. Grimes – Crystal Ball (Darkbloom)
26. Austra – Spellwork (Feel It Break)
27. Jim Guthrie – Lone Star (Sword & Sorcery)
28. Sloan – Beverly Terrace (The Double Cross)
29. Stan Rogers – Night Guard (Northwest Passage)

Some days are rainy, too, so we’ve got a bit more of a low-key episode this week in advance of our two-hour Canada Day special next week (featuring 30 tracks by some of your favourite Canadian indie artists).

After being haunted by ‘Hunted By A Freak’ for months, Mike finally presses play on some classic [wikipop search=”Mogwai (band)”]Mogwai[/wikipop], followed up with new [wikipop]Chad VanGaalen[/wikipop], who will be playing some festivals this summer in support of his new disc, Diaper Island.

We also hear more from the latest releases by [wikipop]Bon Iver[/wikipop], [wikipop search=”The Antlers (band)”]The Antlers[/wikipop], and [wikipop search=”Gomez (band)”]Gomez[/wikipop], as well as a (possible?) [wikipop]Radiohead[/wikipop] cover of a [wikipop search=”Portishead (band)”]Portishead[/wikipop] tune. The internet throws around a lot of impossible sounding fakery, but that track does sound suspiciously like Thom Yorke in a live setting, no?

And before we get to a couple of tracks off this hard-to-miss album by [wikipop search=”Cults (band)”]Cults[/wikipop], we hear from The Dodos, who were in Toronto last week for NXNE, and the Polaris long-listed [wikipop]Miracle Fortress[/wikipop].

Yes, the Polaris nominations are out, and we’re happy to see so many of the artists that we listen to on that illustrious list of the best artistic accomplishments in Canadian music. You’ll be sure to hear plenty of samples of their music next week on our Canada Day show, featuring tracks by [wikipop]Luke Doucet[/wikipop], [wikipop]Jenn Grant[/wikipop], Little Scream, [wikipop search=”Sloan (band)”]Sloan[/wikipop], and many, many more!

1. Mogwai – Hunted By A Freak (Happy Songs For Happy People)
2. Chad VanGaalen – Peace On the Rise (Diaper Island)
3. Swans – Reeling The Liars In (My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky)
4. Connan Mockasin – It’s Choade My Dear (Please Turn Me Into The Snat)
5. Emiliana Torrini – Nothing Brings Me Down (Fisherman’s Woman)
6. Bon Iver – Towers (Bon Iver)
7. The Antlers – No Widows (Burst Apart)
8. Radiohead(?) – The Rip (Portishead Cover)
9. Gomez – Options (Whatever’s On Your Mind)
10. Miracle Fortress – Everything Works (Was I the Wave?)
11. Grandaddy – Summer…It’s Gone (Just Like The Fambly Cat)
12. EMA – Milkman (Past Life Martyed Saints)
13. The Dodos – Sleep (No Color)
14. Cults – Abducted (Cults)
15. Cults – Go Outside (Cults)

We’re back at it this week, getting by with a little help from our friends through requests. Things start off with Iowa-via-Montreal’s Little Scream. The Golden Record has been renting a lot of time in our heads lately, so give it a listen.

Continuing the ladies’ rock out is Kelli Schaefer, who was recommended by Michael. She’s a west-coast indie with the voice and cadence reminiscent of Bjork, and her Ghost of the Beast is one of those rare albums that creeps up on you and quietly blows you away.

Megs stumbled upon this cool Adult Swim Singles Project, and we play a track featuring [wikipop search=”Chairlift (band)”]Chairlift[/wikipop]’s Caroline Polachek with [wikipop]Washed Out[/wikipop], along with the other side to a release by the mysterious Purity Ring.

Leading with a track sent along to us by Amy, we even fit in a summer pop set with some LA artists, and play a fantastic track by [wikipop]Family of the Year[/wikipop], as well as a track by Seattle’s [wikipop]The Cave Singers[/wikipop], an off-shoot of [wikipop search=”Pretty Girls Make Graves (band)”]Pretty Girls Make Graves[/wikipop].

Next week: [wikipop search=”Gomez (band)”]Gomez[/wikipop], [wikipop]Chad VanGaalen[/wikipop], [wikipop]Miracle Fortress[/wikipop], and [wikipop search=”Cults (band)”]Cults[/wikipop].

1. Little Scream – Red Hunting Jacket (The Golden Record)
2. Kelli Schaefer – City Morgue (Ghost of the Beast)
3. Papercuts – Do What You Will (Fading Parade)
4. Smith Westerns – Still New (Dye It Blonde)
5. The Vaccines – Norgaard (What Did You Expect From the Vaccines)
6. Purity Ring – Lofticries (Ungirthed 7″)
7. Junior Boys – Kick the Can (It’s All True)
8. Washed Out feat. Caroline Polachek – You and I (Adult Swim Singles Project)
9. Broadcast – Black Cat (Tender Buttons)
10. Foster the People – Houdini (Torches)
11. Family of the Year – Let’s Be Honest (Songbook)
12. Grouplove – Naked Kids (Grouplove)
13. The Cave Singers – Swim Club (No Witch)
14. No Joy – You Girls Smoke Cigarettes (Ghost Blonde)
15. CJ SLEEZ – Hammer Down (Rock Action)

So, I’m nearly 30.  Mike tells me that from his two weeks of experience, that it isn’t all that bad.  As noted a few weeks ago, it’s tradition at myboytheriotgirl, that we each get to program our respective birthday show, disregarding all rules and standards for playlist formatting.  As Mike opted for a bunch of Rilo Kiley, I’ve taken this opportunity to play a bunch of new tracks from one of my favourite artists, [wikipop]Darren Hayman[/wikipop] of [wikipop search=”Hefner (band)”]Hefner [/wikipop]’fame’.

I also took this opportunity to play some of my favourite tracks by[wikipop] the Mountain Goats[/wikipop], [wikipop]Sarah Slean[/wikipop],[wikipop search=”Hooded Fang (band)”] Hooded Fang[/wikipop] and the [wikipop]Yeah Yeah Yeahs[/wikipop].  And just because we like you, some new stuff from [wikipop]Bon Iver[/wikipop] and Little Scream.

Also, Zooey Deschanel from [wikipop search=”She and Him”]She & Him[/wikipop], has a new sit-com out this fall, and seeing the trailer reminded me that I like the music and should play some for you.  Cheers!

1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Soft Shock (It’s Blitz!)
2. Sarah Slean – Sweet Ones (Night Bugs)
3. Destroyer – Blue Eyes (Kaputt)
4. Little Scream – Guyegaros (The Golden Record)
5. Bon Iver – Holocene (Bon Iver)
6. Martha Wainwright – Baby (I Will Internalize)
7. The Mountain Goats – San Bernardino (Heretic Pride)
8. Hooded Fang – Green River (Hooded Fang – Album)
9. Metric – Grow Up And Blow Away (Grow Up And Blow Away)
10. Florence And The Machine – Dog Days Are Over (Lungs)
11. She & Him – Don’t Look Back (Volume 2)
12. Darren Hayman – My Dirty Widow (January Songs)
13. Darren Hayman – My Miniature Band (January Songs)
14. Darren Hayman – I Know I F****d Up (January Songs)

Thanks to the weather gods (Thor, is that you?) a potentially washed out long-weekend ended up being super, and I think we all need a few days to recover.  As such, we’ve tried to load this week’s show up with some mellower music, while still sustaining a bit of that pre-summer momentum.

Things start off with a brand new track from the [wikipop]Junior Boys[/wikipop]’ soon-to-be-released It’s All True. After being uninspired by the first song the Boys released from the new disc, “Second Chance” is literally that, and it doesn’t disappoint.  We also hear a track from Toronto’s Digits who encroach (ever friendlily) on the Junior Boys’ turf in more ways than one: Digits will be playing the Casbah Lounge this upcoming Saturday, and the Junior Boys will be launching their tour June 8th at Leander Boat Club.

We round things out with some new material from Canadians [wikipop search=”Zeus (band)”]Zeus[/wikipop], the Sam Roberts Band, [wikipop]Chad VanGaalen[/wikipop], and Snowblink, and cap it all off with a great 2003 cover of the Velvet Underground by [wikipop]Keren Ann[/wikipop] and [wikipop]Barði Jóhannsson[/wikipop] (aka [wikipop search=”Lady and Bird”]Lady & Bird[/wikipop]).

1. Junior Boys – Second Chance (It’s All True)
2. Austra – Beat and the Pulse (Feel It Break)
3. The Field – Over The Ice (From Here We Go Sublime)
4. Digits – Lost Dream (Lost Dream)
5. Sam Roberts Band – The Last Crusade (Collider)
6. Zeus – permanent scar (Permanent Scar / The Darkness 7″ Series Vol. II)
7. Tune-Yards – You Yes You (W H O K I L L)
8. Tortoise And Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – The Calvary Cross (The Brave And The Bold)
9. The Grates – Sukkafish (Gravity Won’t Get You High)
10. Chad VanGaalen – Burning Photographs (Diaper Island)
11. Snowblink – Ambergris (Long Live)
12. Camera Obscura – Houseboat (Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi)
13. Lady & Bird – Stephanie Says (Lady & Bird)

A treasured tradition at myboytheriotgirl, every year we each get to program our respective birthday show, disregarding all rules and standards for playlist formatting, and just programming the show with absolute abandon.  This year, Mike’s opted to take a trip in the time-machine/closet back ten years to 2001 to re-listen to a personal favourite album.

So, along with a tracks off the newly released LPs from [wikipop]The Vaccines[/wikipop], [wikipop search=”The Antlers (band)”]The Antlers[/wikipop], [wikipop]Okkervil River[/wikipop], and EMA, you’re going to hear three tracks off of [wikipop]Rilo Kiley[/wikipop]’s 2001 debut album, Take Offs and Landings. The band is now on hiatus (probably forever), but their ability to pen catchy pop songs helped launch the solo careers of [wikipop]Jenny Lewis[/wikipop] and [wikipop]Blake Sennett[/wikipop] (aka The Elected), two of our favourite artists.

Mike dedicates this show to Rory, the first person to recommend the band to him: “You were right, buddy!”

1. The Vaccines – If You Wanna (What Did You Expect From the Vaccines)
2. The Arcade Fire – Month of May (The Suburbs)
3. Metric – Black Sheep (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World)
4. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – Higher Than The Stars (Higher Than The Stars EP)
5. Rilo Kiley – Go Ahead (Take Offs and Landings)
6. Okkervil River – The Valley (I Am Very Far)
7. The Antlers – No Widows (Burst Apart)
8. Thao & Mirah – Folks (Thao & Mirah)
9. Rilo Kiley – Plane Crash in C (Take Offs and Landings)
10. Saturday Looks Good To Me – Make A Plan (Fill Up The Room)
11. EMA – California (Past Life Martyed Saints)
12. Jenn Grant – Parliament Of Owls (Honeymoon Punch)
13. Rilo Kiley – Salute My Shorts (Take Offs and Landings)
14. Andrew Bird – The Happy Birthday Song (Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production Of Eggs)

[wikipop search=”Sloan (band)”]Sloan[/wikipop] was formed in 1991 and twenty years later they’re still putting out catchy, punchy pop tunes that make you stop and listen. This week we tip our hats to the four boys from Halifax who are celebrating their platinum anniversary with The Double Cross (2 X, get it???) by playing the first three tracks off the new disc. These songs (which showcase the members’ varied songwriting styles) run together so well that we thought they were all just one sprawling track.

Also on the agenda for this week is a new track from [wikipop]Santigold[/wikipop] featuring the [wikipop]Yeah Yeah Yeahs[/wikipop]’ [wikipop]Karen O[/wikipop], and perhaps signalling that some new material from Santigold is on the horizon.

We also get to a few requests and dedications as well. To Amy, Michael, Alison & Chris: the name of the [wikipop]Do Make Say Think[/wikipop] song says it all!

1. A.C. Newman – Miracle Drug (The Slow Wonder)
2. Grouplove – Colours (Grouplove EP)
3. New Order – Love Less (Technique)
4. Luke Doucet & The White Falcon – The Lovecats (Blood’s Too Rich)
5. Santigold & Karen O – Go
6. Malajube – Synesth+ (La Caverne)
7. Stereolab – Everybody’s Weird Except Me (Not Music)
8. Fleet Foxes – Grown Ocean (Helplessness Blues)
9. Sun Kil Moon – You Are My Sun (Admiral Fell Promises)
10. Best Coast – When You Wake Up (Summer Is Forever – EP)
11. Heartless Bastards – So Quiet (The Mountain)
12. Do Make Say Think – You, You’re Awesome (You, You’re A History In Rust)
13. No Joy – Ghost Blonde (Ghost Blonde)
14. Sloan – Follow the Leader (The Double Cross)
15. Sloan – The Answer Was You (The Double Cross)
16. Sloan – Unkind (The Double Cross)

Well, it’s not all bad news in Ottawa today (although maybe we should have saved our [wikipop search=”Godspeed You! Black Emperor”]GY!BE[/wikipop] track for this week…), so here’s a sunny, orange-coloured setlist arranged back when the results were still pundit-projections and bad guesses.

Maybe we should have aimed for a majority of Canadian artists, but nonetheless, we turn to Quebec to provide the show with some nice momentum with tracks from [wikipop]Malajube[/wikipop] and [wikipop search=”The Dears”]The Dears[/wikipop]’ latest releases. Also, a neat track from some inscrutable band called Purity Ring (not that emo band [wikipop search=”The Promise Ring”]The Promise Ring[/wikipop], as Mike erroneously identifies them on-air).

But the show is dominated by songs from American artists (perhaps in honour of our Dear Leader’s penchant for all things American, including wedge politics): we’ll hear songs by San Francisco’s [wikipop]Papercuts[/wikipop], Philly’s [wikipop]Kurt Vile[/wikipop], and new material from Seattle’s [wikipop]Fleet Foxes[/wikipop]–their new disc Helplessness Blues can still be heard free online.

So press play and cast your vote for myboytheriotgirl!

1. Papercuts – Do You Really Want to Know (Fading Parade)
2. TV On The Radio – Second Song (Nine Types Of Light)
3. Of Montreal – Famine Affair (False Priest)
4. The Rural Alberta Advantage – Barnes’ Yard (Departing)
5. Malajube – Radiologie (La Caverne)
6. The Dears – 5-Chords (Degeneration Street)
7. Deerhoof – Behold a Marvel in the Darkness (Deerhoof vs. Evil)
8. Grouplove – Don’t Say Oh Well (Grouplove)
9. Family of the Year – Stairs (Through The Trees EP)
10. Kurt Vile – Baby’s Arms (Smoke Ring For My Halo)
11. Cut Copy – Alisa (Zonoscope)
12. Purity Ring – Ungirthed
13. Braids – Lammicken (Native Speaker)
14. School Of Seven Bells – Babelonia (Disconnect From Desire)
15. Fleet Foxes – Bedouin Dress (Helplessness Blues)

We start off this week’s show with a new track from [wikipop]TV On The Radio[/wikipop], a band that had tragedy befall it this past week when bassist Gerard Smith passed away from lung cancer.  Smith was only 36, and some reports state that he found out about his cancer less than two months ago.  Very sad news, indeed, and though the band cancelled a few shows after Smith’s death, they will continue to tour in support of their new album, Nine Types of Light.

Our second set of the show slowwwwws things down quite a bit, with some tracks by Toronto’s Loom, Ottawa’s His Clancyness, and Calgary’s [wikipop]Chad VanGaalen[/wikipop]. We also spin a track from the latest release by slow-core pioneers [wikipop search=”Low (band)”]Low[/wikipop], before getting into some more classic-sounding pop/rock/folk tracks by Jason Collett and Iron & Wine (among others). And, because her website says she’s working on a new album, we’ll hear a neat live version of a [wikipop]Kathleen Edwards[/wikipop]’ track.

Lastly, we round things out with some new [wikipop search=”Explosions in the Sky”]Explosions in the Sky[/wikipop] and wonder, is there some post-rock revival going on? GY!BE reunions, recent discs by Mogwai and Explosions–we could get used to this!

1. TV On The Radio – Caffeinated Consciousness (Nine Types Of Light)
2. The Strokes – Games (Angles)
3. The Ting Tings – That’s Not My Name (We Started Nothing)
4. Luke Doucet and the White Falcon – Thinking People (Steel City Trawler)
5. Loom – intro
6. His Clancyness – Dover (Hissometer Cassette)
7. Low – Majesty/Magic (C’mon)
8. Chad VanGaalen – Sara (Diaper Island)
9. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Anne with an E (Belong)
10. Timber Timbre – Bad Ritual (Creep On Creepin’ On)
11. Jason Collett – Feral Republic (Pony Tricks)
12. Iron & Wine – Half Moon (Kiss Each Other Clean)
13. Kathleen Edwards – 12 Bellevue (Live Session – EP)
14. Explosions in the Sky – Postcard from 1952 (Take Care, Take Care, Take Care)