David Bowie Star Special

My friend Matt passes along this Bowie DJ set from 1979:

Indie 88

Toronto's new "indie" radio station bills itself as '32 Flavours of Not Vanilla', then lists a pretty vanilla bunch of artists. I can't find a pic online but you can see it in plenty of bus shelters around the city.

The fact that "indie" as a genre has reached a level commercial viability negates the core idea upon which the station markets itself. Indie has evolved from its origins as an anti-mainstream term into a vague genre into a mainstream radio format.

Apparently the station is eating the other so-called alternative station's lunch (CFNY/The Edge). I suppose if this continues then CFNY will have to dump their brand in a box and go with something else.

Here's a classic CFNY fan page, doesn't look like it's been updated in some time.

Galaxie gets an update

Not the Quebec band I so admire, but the cable/satellite music channel service, which as I learned writing this post, is no longer run by the CBC.

If you haven't checked those channels in a while, they've finally brought the service into the new millennium by setting each channel to a rotating been bunch of stock photography shots.

I dig that they've finally refreshed the stale visuals (or lack thereof), but the 'next song' updates have killed my little game of guessing the next track in rotation.

In any case, that was a nice surprise for my between-program channel flipping. The new owners got around to doing what the CBC probably couldn't fit into their budget.

Money for Nothing - Still illegal on Canadian airwaves

CBSC Releases Decision on Song "Money for Nothing"

Sunday night blues

Last week I mentioned I saw some posters advertising the Spirit of the Edge... Must have been some extra posters lying around from five years ago, cause I tuned in last night to the usual music I've come to expect from the radio station.

So now, in an effort to distract you from whatever it is you had planned on doing for the next couple hours, I present a link to the awesome CFNY fansite Spirit of Radio. 

Check out their chart lists... the 1989 chart is especially interesting because the station went to a top 40/pop format after being a truly alternative station for most of its existence.  By 1991 they seemed to be back on track, and we probably have Nirvana to thank for that.  Then again, 1997 has Our Lady Peace... Not that I can complain, they were actually one of my favourite bands at the time. 

The Spirit of Radio also has the epic 1002 songs of all time chart from 1999, which is pretty fascinating, as it features a lot of very cool artists, (Bowie, Devo, Tool, NIN, Talking Heads) among other more obvious choices (Pearl Jam, U2, The Hip, U2, Nirvana, U2...) 

It's an interesting document as it shows the way people were viewing alternative rock music at the time, right before Y2K and of course, before Kid A.

Return of Spirit of the Edge?

On Queen Street West there are a bunch of posters on the lamp posts advertising the return of the Spirit of the Edge, aka Saigon Sunday, aka one of my favourite radio programs of all time. 

The Edge-CFNY website doesn't mention the show, and it still lists the Dr Drew radio show as holding the Sunday night slot.  However, the poster says Lori Alan is the host, and she doesn't appear on the host list on the website. 

Going to the live to air show was a university staple for me, and those nights were about the extent of  the "clubbing" I've done.  Part of me wants to check out the event just to see if any of the old crew were there... those nights certainly could draw interesting crowds for damn sure.

I think bringing this show back would also help soften the blow of losing long time personality Alan Cross... but that could just be me, oh so tired of hearing Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, or Nirvana every single waking hour of the broadcast day.  Those are fine, fine bands, but let's cut down on their play, you know... maybe ten percent?

Anyway, back to the point - Sunday night will be exciting for me if I tune in at 9pm and hear a song like this instead of the Foo Fighters....

That little millionaire

Dire Straits' "Money For Nothing" deemed derogatory:
Use of Derogatory Word for Gays in a Song Breaches Broadcast Codes

A listener complained that the word "faggot" is discriminatory to gays. The broadcaster argued that the song had been played countless times since its release in the 1980s, that it has been a very popular song since that time, and that it has won music industry awards. The complainant then pointed out that OZ FM does indeed edit other songs that contain other types of offensive language.

Well, I guess it had to happen sooner or later. I always took it as tongue-in-cheek, but then again, I'm not easy to offend.

What about the Flintstones having a gay old time? Slippery slope, I tell ya.

Apparently the original video by the band led by the Knopflosaurus isn't available on YouTube, so here's Weird Al's hilarious version from one of the greatest comedies of all time, UHF:

First listen to Rap with a book critic

Listening to the Anthology of Rap

[via Angry Robot]

Interesting article on the future of radio in Canada

My friend Adam sends me this link: Audio column: Why are Canadians stuck in an AM/FM world?

News came out the other day that one of the most popular worldwide music streaming sources, Pandora, has put its plans to expand into Canada on hold. That’s because the royalty rates we’re demanding “are astronomical,” according to Tim Westergren, who founded the California-based music service.

It also features a choice quote from industry stooge Graham Henderson, president of the Canadian Recording Industry Association:

[He] cited widespread illegal music downloading in Canada as the real reason why services like Pandora wouldn’t want to come here. “Why would you spend a lot of money trying to build a service in Canada when Canadians take so much without paying for it?” he said.

I'm pretty tired of hearing this argument... if anything the Canadian music industry has weathered the digital storm and ensuing cloud pretty well, as the article mentions later, in regards to CBC Radio 3. Might I also mention the wonderful Polaris Prize?

"Old" media is changing, as is "new" media... 100 years from now people will laugh at the brief period in human history where music was commodified in a absurd fashion for 50 years. To oversimplify an extremely complex argument, the music/audio/radio industry has to adapt.

A brief history of "urban radio" in Toronto

The fight of Drake's life: a battle for Toronto black radio [Mondoville]

So that's it for FM radio

I've been meaning to post about this for a little while, cause I'm pissed.

Toronto's Edge 102 has replaced their only show worth listening to, Saigon Sunday aka Retro Sundays aka the only reason I have 102.1 still programmed on my radio presets, with a fucking Dr. Drew show. A part of me is officially dead inside.

Of course the show hasn't been the same since the late great Martin Streek (RIP), a guy who always had time to chat at the venues and had an inspiring passion and knowledge for music. I'll always remember the days at the old 'Joe' club (now home to CHUM radio), tearing up the dance floor and not always leaving the place under my own power.

The show was basically alternative 'club-type music' aka upbeat, rockin', danceable tunes, from 1976-1993 (the last couple years they pushed it to 98-99) The radio broadcast would go from 9-2 on Sunday nights while the doors to the actual club would open at 10 and wouldn't shut down to nearly 3 on some nights.

As for the tunes, luckily for me (and for you) I've been compiling the playlist to end all Saigon Sunday playlists over the last four years, and I have decided I will officially take up the torch of keeping the 'spirit' of that music alive. I intend to make it a point to post songs and videos on Sundays, and I have thoughts of eventually doing it in podcast form. Wouldn't that be sweet.

So here it is, a nice big first installment of Saigon Sunday (yah yah, on a Tuesday):

RATM for Xmas

On the BBC:

Weird Al on NPR

http://bit.ly/8VU9IQ
From Twitter

Also... Follow me on Twitter... Why not?

Kraftwerk audio doc

Alex Kapranos narrates this documentary about synthesizer pioneers Kraftwerk, featuring a bunch of interviews. Cool stuff.

Awesome Beatles radio show

From about a month ago, here's a very cool episode of NPR's All Songs Considered about the Beatles' self-titled double album, a.k.a. The White Album.

On this edition of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen talks with Bruce Spizer, author of The Beatles On Apple Records, about the groundbreaking White Album and how it came to be.

Very interesting listen for Beatles fans and music fans in general.

Cross' still got it; Chris... not so much.

Locally renown music geek Alan Cross has a new project called ExploreMusic, a website and radio show dedicated to selling CD's at HMV introducing people to terrific new music.

I caught a bit of the show last night, which was on CFNY during the 8:00 hour. It's an interesting mix of news and new tracks, and differs from the Ongoing History of New Music in that it's much more timely, and covers current music events.

Here's something from the show's news section that really caught my attention: Timbaland is producing tracks for Chris Cornell's new album. You read that correctly.

Timbaland is producing tracks for Chris Cornell's new album.

And yes, it's just as awful as you imagined.

PLEASE, sit down for this:



So what's worse, Timbaland's Jesus complex or Chris Cornell's Jesus complex? Yeesh.
This one has been a long time coming for Mr. Cornell.

Anyway, ExploreMusic should be interesting. I've already bookmarked it, even though I don't buy anything from the iTunes store.

The '80s: Were They Really That Bad?

Yes, they were.

At times, the 1980s were fucking awful. Today I listened to a podcast from NPR's All Songs Considered and they discussed this very question.

The panel's discussion of the cheeziness of Hall & Oates made me think of how "You Make My Dreams Come True" was used in Adam Sandler's The Wedding Singer. That soundtrack featured a wide range of 80s' smashes and trashes. Somehow, songs that are truly terrible when they're released accumulate stock in irony as the years go by, becoming a sort of touchstone that people can rally around, all in agreement of the vile nature of the song yet somehow, someway are able to enjoy it.

How else do you account for the popularity of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'"? No matter which way you slice it, that song is a total piece of garbage. The worst part is about it is the way it gets stuck in your head - "...belieeeeeiiiiivinn' Whoaaa--ooooo--ahhhhhhhhhh!!"

More key points in the podcast included mention of the cornerstone/bane of the 1980s studio, Yamaha's DX7 synthesizer. Still in use today, though used much more sparingly and as a "creative decision". Apparently even hardware can accumulate irony stock.

"Let's Hear It for Rock Bottom"

Apparently The Offspring are still making "music".

Too bad, because the well has run dry. The new single, "Hammerhead", finds Dexter Holland riding the cutting edge, with lyrics about school shootings. Someone should let him in on the secret... you know, the one about how he's no longer the most relevant pop culture 'Dexter'.
(editor's note: mind the volume...)
Probably time for a new pseudonym.

Tepid, un-listenable single aside, the new album & cover is a real piece of work. The title is Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, which is dangerously close to the Foo Fighters' Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace...

and the plot thickens further. Check out the album artwork:

And check out the cover of another Foo Fighters album.

Is this just me being picky/paranoid, or do The Offspring wish they were spawned from Dave Grohl's perfect rock and roll sperm?

Barbershop of Seville

Check out this awesome musical blend that can hardly even come close to the description of "genre-busting", Hip Hop-Opera. A CBC Arts reporter checks it out... here's the description from the Editor's Choice podcast site:

"Hip Hop and Opera are not the music titans they once were. Rap music sales dropped last year by more than thirty percent, and the future of Opera appears to rest with an aging audience. The Canadian Opera Company in Toronto is running an experiment called "Hip Hopera" to see if the two genres can help each other out. CBC Arts Reporter Eli Glasner was at the premiere."

This is really cool, and great to see people forging ahead into the unknown, and taking musical risks. It's these early steps of experimentation that musicologists look back on in the future as, possibly, a turning point. Of course it's foolish to say that this is any sort of revolution, for all we know, hip-hop and indeed rock and roll itself may just be one tiny blip in the musical cosmos. In any case, this is a very interesting musical nugget, and something to keep an eye on in the future.
---

MP3 Link: CBC Editor's Choice - May 9th: Hip Hopera (Runs 2m 45s)

Canadian Opera Company - Free Concert Series

Cool classical

So I'm going through the Coast to Coast bumper music list, putting together a mother of a mixtape, and I'm reminded of Mason Williams' classic track, "Classical Gas". It's one of the rare instances where Rock, Pop, and Classical music are blended seamlessly together.



Links:

Classical Gas [Wikipedia]