myboytheriotgirl

I’ve just been programming this week’s show, and I’m pumped that I get full control because I’m the birthday boy. For some reason, society bends to the will of people when they approach arbitrary age milestones, so I’m using this fleeting sense of power to time-warp back ten years to listen to [wikipop]Rilo Kiley[/wikipop]’s debut album, Takeoffs and Landings.

We’ll hear a few songs from that album on this week’s show, just ‘cus, but in the meantime, here’s one of my personal favourites to help get me through Monday…

[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)

We’ll be putting up this week’s podcast later this evening, but in the meantime, you might want to take a listen to the upcoming album from the [wikipop]Fleet Foxes[/wikipop]. Helplessness Blues is currently available via the National Public Radio website, so take a listen. I’m on my second listen-through of the new disc, and have nothing to complain about so far.

We’ll most certainly be airing a track or two from Helplessness Blues next week, but on this week’s show (#229) you can look forward to new tracks from [wikipop]TV on the Radio[/wikipop], [wikipop]Chad VanGaalen[/wikipop] and [wikipop search=”Low (band)”]Low[/wikipop]!

Also, if you’re a reader like me, you might be interested in this article from the latest Harper’s Magazine, named after Camera Obscura’s 2004 album.  Entitled “Underachievers please try harder: Indie rock reunites on the English coast“, it’s a pretty neat insider’s look at [wikipop search=”All Tomorrows Parties (music festival)”]All Tomorrow’s Parties[/wikipop], the hipper-than-hip indie music festival(s) put on at old holiday camps in the UK.

We spite the cold weather with some springy pop tunes this week, including your doctor recommended dose of Swedish pop (now with vitamin-D)! We’ve got some new [wikipop]Peter Bjorn & John[/wikipop] and [wikipop]Acid House Kings[/wikipop], as well as some [wikipop]Lykke Li[/wikipop] by listener request (now pronounced 100% more accurately, thanks Michael!).

Also, in anticipation of a new album (Was I the Wave? due out next week), we’ll hear a new track from the Polaris short-listed [wikipop]Miracle Fortress[/wikipop], and also a new releases from [wikipop]The Kills[/wikipop] and Winnipeg’s Imaginary Cities, who will be opening for The Pixies when they play Wednesday in Hamilton.

We’re rounding out the show with a (long) track by [wikipop]Godspeed You! Black Emperor[/wikipop], who have re-formed for a tour and will be playing in Toronto all weekend. The track, based on an interview with some rambling guy on the street (identifying himself as Blaise Bailey Finnegan III), is dedicated to all those hopeful and nostalgic types like us who thoroughly enjoyed that moment back in the late 90s and early 2000s when it seemed, if only for a second, that people would work together to fight for a socially-just world.

Well, instead we got an economic crash, Smartphone Zombies and high unemployment, but hey, the future’s a wide open place and people keep reminding me that another world is possible. Maybe a little dark but hopeful music is just what we need to be reminded of that fact…

1. Imaginary Cities – Hummingbird (Temporary Resident EP)
2. Grouplove – Getaway Car (Grouplove)
3. Connan Mockasin – Megumi The Milkyway Above (Please Turn Me Into The Snat)
4. The Kills – Pots And Pans (Blood Pressures)
5. Miracle Fortress – Raw Spectacle (Was I the Wave?)
6. Peter Bjorn And John – Breaker Breaker (Gimmee Some)
7. Jens Lekman – A Postcard To Nina (Night Falls Over Kortedala)
8. Acid House Kings – Would you say stop? (Music Sounds Better With You)
9. Lykke Li – Sadness Is A Blessing (Wounded Rhymes)
10. Jill Barber – Daydreamin’ (Mischievous Moon)
11. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Blaise Bailey Finnegan III (Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada)

[wikipop]Godspeed You! Black Emperor[/wikipop] are doing a four-show stint at Lee’s Palace this upcoming Easter weekend, and Megan and I can’t wait to see them. I was originally intending on dedicating a show to the band and its many associated acts on the Constellation label, but couldn’t be sure if all our listeners would share my endless enthusiasm for dark yet explosively redemptive post-rock.

But hey, what better music for the somber-yet-ultimately-joyous holy week? So in lieu of a full hour of GY!BE acts, this Wednesday’s MBTRG will include some new music and listener requests, along with a mere 1/4 hour for a GY!BE track.  We haven’t decided which one yet, but I think BBF3 is the front-runner, since we can now answer the question:

“What d’you think this country’s gonna look like in the year 2003?”

Anyone who remembers Blaise’s answer knows that he wasn’t too far off.

Another week packed full of new releases, including a new album from Montreal’s [wikipop]Timber Timbre[/wikipop], who will be playing a pay-what-you-can concert at Centenary United Church here in Hamilton on Thursday, April 7th. This is yet another great show put on by the New Harbours Music Series folks, who keep bringing cutting edge new music to the city.

To make up for last (and next) week’s absence of a new MBTRG episode, we’ve tried to get as much as possible into this one, which features tracks from new albums by [wikipop]The Pains of Being Pure at Heart[/wikipop] and [wikipop]Jill Barber[/wikipop]. We’re also playing some tracks from the latest releases by [wikipop]Radiohead[/wikipop], [wikipop]The Mountain Goats[/wikipop], [wikipop]Mother Mother[/wikipop], and [wikipop]Lykke Li[/wikipop], along with a stand-out track from Halifax’s Molly Rankin (who has an undeniable Canadian music pedigree). Long live youth!

1. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Belong (Belong)
2. Weezer – The Good Life (Pinkerton)
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Sheena Is a Punk Rocker (War Child – Heroes, Vol. 1)
4. The Mountain Goats – Estate Sale Sign (All Eternals Deck)
5. Molly Rankin – Way Home (She EP)
6. Peter Bjorn And John – Objects Of My Affection (Writer’s Block)
7. Lykke Li – Rich Kids Blues (Wounded Rhymes)
8. Mother Mother – Original Spin (Eureka)
9. Shout Out Out Out Out! – Your Shitty Record Won’t Mix Itself (Not Saying / Just Saying)
10. You Say Party! We Say Die! – Teenage Hit Wonder (Re-Styled by Camp America) (Remik’s Cube)
11. Radiohead – Morning Mr Magpie (King of Limbs)
12. Jill Barber – Mischievous Moon (Mischievous Moon)
13. Timber Timbre – Creep On Creepin’ On (Creep On Creepin’ On)
14. PJ Harvey – The Colour Of The Earth (Let England Shake)
15. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Heart in Your Heartbreak (Belong)

Maybe it’s the influence of the very experienced Flood as producer, or Alan Moulder’s work mixing the album, but [wikipop]The Pains of Being Pure at Heart[/wikipop]’s latest, Belong, sounds like a [wikipop]Smashing Pumpkins[/wikipop]-redux.  Actually, with all the soaring pop riffs and bittsweet melodies, you’d be excused for thinking that the band is also referencing some of the [wikipop]The Cure[/wikipop]’s best pop 20 or 30 years after the fact.

Maybe not as strong as their explosive 2009 self-titled debut (which was our co-pick for album of the year, along with [wikipop search=”St. Vincent (musician)”]St. Vincent[/wikipop]’s Actor), but worth a listen nonetheless.

Our newest episode, out Wednesday, will feature a couple of tracks from Belong, including the great lead/title track, which you should listen to ASAP, via YouTube.

Spring has sprung (we say, looking out at the snow), and with it comes a whole whack of new releases.  We’ve delved into the latest from [wikipop search=”Destroyer (band)”]Destroyer[/wikipop], [wikipop]Young Galaxy[/wikipop] and [wikipop]Smith Westerns[/wikipop] recently, but this week you can hear brand new tracks from [wikipop]Deerhoof[/wikipop], and [wikipop]The Mountain Goats[/wikipop], who are releasing a new album next week.

We’re also welcoming in Spring with some standouts from SXSW in Austin last week: some tracks from [wikipop search =”Braids (band)”]Braids[/wikipop], [wikipop]The Vaccines[/wikipop] and No Joy are on tap, along with some older favourites.

So turn up your speakers, plant your seedlings, and get ready for more sun–even if it’s reflecting off a fresh blanket of snow…

1. Noah and the Whale – The First Days of Spring (The First Days of Spring)
2. Smith Westerns – Weekend (Dye It Blonde)
3. Atlas Sound – Walkabout (w/Noah Lennox) (Logos)
4. Braids – Lemonade (Native Speaker)
5. The Vaccines – Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra) (The Vaccines – EP)
6. No Joy – Heedless (Ghost Blonde)
7. Architecture in Helsinki – Spring 2008 (Fingers Crossed)
8. Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins – You Are What You Love (Rabbit Fur Coat)
9. Destroyer – Chinatown (Kaputt)
10. Handsome Furs – Dead + Rural (Plague Park)
11. Deerhoof – Super Duper Rescue Heads! (Deerhoof vs. Evil)
12. Young Galaxy – The Angels Are Surely Weeping (feat. Hanna) (Shapeshifting)
13. My Dad Vs. Yours – … The Behinder We Get (After Winter Must Come Spring)
14. Sarah Harmer – Weakened State (You Were Here)
15. The Mountain Goats – Age of Kings (All Eternals Deck)