Catching up and looking ahead...

Wowzers. Totally flaked on keeping on top of things here. There've been five shows since I last wrote a "How It Went Down" so I'll point you in the direction of my showlogs on UMFM's website with a little blurb about each show in a minute.

But first I want to plug this coming Friday's show - it's the 13th of January (inauspicious start to what the Mayans indicated would be our last year). I spoke to Marina Endicott about her novel The Little Shadows - which made the Globe & Mail's Top 100 for 2011 - when she came through town and have yet to find a moment to air it, but I'm finally going to broadcast our feature chat.
Earlier today I spoke with the creators of HBO Canada's Less Than Kind, a show filmed/set here in Winnipeg that enters its third season this Sunday the 15th dealing with the death of its star Maury Chaykin.
And I'll be joined in studio by Lyzie Burt for both an interview and a live performance of material from her new album Cigarettes And You, which gets its release on January 20th at the LO Pub.

Also wanted to give a heads-up that over the next few weeks, my show will be preempted for Bison Hockey broadcasts so there will be no show on January 20th, February 3rd and 10th.

Here's what happened on previous episodes of TGIFR:

Friday December 2nd - my interviews with Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, known collectively as Jay & Silent Bob. Mewes is no stranger to Winnipeg as he films Todd & The Book Of Pure Evil here in town, and Smith - being a huge hockey fan - admitted to considering buying Jets season tickets despite living in LA.


Friday December 9th - all about the live music as I was joined for live sessions by three local acts. Metal band Forged In Fire, retro-rockers The Noble Thiefs and roots-rockers The Magnificent 7s.

Friday December 16th - I sat down with historian (and friend) Richard Brignall to talk about his new book, Forgotten Heroes: Winnipeg's Hockey Heritage, and talked on the phone with Adam Dorn, known to music fans as Mocean Worker.

Friday December 23rd was pretty much all talk as I sat down with John Einarson to discuss his latest (and dream) project, a biography of Ian & Sylvia entitled Four Strong Winds, and I also spoke with the award-winning author Ami McKay who followed up The Birth House with The Virgin Cure.

I didn't do a show on the Friday December 30th as I was under the weather.

Friday January 6th was a real treat as Jenny Berkel came in and blew me away with her amazing voice and songwriting. We discussed her new album Here On A Wire, and then I was joined by the organizers of the Big Fun Festival to talk inspiration and line-ups.

On-Air-Versary - August 5 2011

This Friday is a special edition of TGIFR. August 12th is my fifth wedding anniversary with my wonderful wife Michelle. To mark the occasion, the show will be an 'On-Air-Versary' party featuring some of her favourite artists and music. I won't talk details so as to not spoil the surprised, but suffice it to say the typical format will remain with interviews, live performances and new music aplenty. Tune in and join in the celebration!

Last week, this week, every week.

Wow. Apparently I've been pretty bad about updating this here show blog. Apologies if you follow me!

So I just wanted to recap last Friday's (May 28th) show and make mention that my confirmed guests for this Friday (June 4th, birthday of my boyhood baseball idol Tony Pena) are James Struthers and Keith Price. Price will be holding a fundraiser show on June 7th at the Park Theatre to raise money for his group to attend the Montreal Jazz Festival. Struthers, meanwhile, will be launching his fantastic EP Nadia at the Park on June 12th. Both shows are highly recommended.

Here's what I played last week (a whole lot of music and one guest: Sarah Michaelson, co-editor of 1234V):

Set One: 6:30 - 7 PM

Murs & 9th Wonder - Fornever [SMC Recordings]
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Give It Back [Daptone]
Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek are Reflection Eternal - Ends (feat. Bilal) [Blacksmith]
Courier News - We're On The Horizon [Independent]
Royal Wood - Do You Recall [Six Shooter]
The Telepathic Butterflies - Elegy [Rainbow Quartz]
Lab Coast - Happy Go Lucky [Independent]
The Black Keys - Everlasting Light [Nonesuch]
The Mohawk Lodge - A Crime Of Passion [White Whale]


Set Two: 7 - 7:30 PM

Interview with Sarah Michaelson
Deer Tick - I Will Not Be Myself [Partisan]
Bent By Elephants - Can't Have You [Independent]
Factor - Ain't Nothin' Gonna Change [Fake Four]
Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse - Jaykub (feat. Jason Lytle) [Lex/Capitol]


Set Three: 7:30 - 8 PM

Pearly Gate Music - Gossamer Hair [Barsuk]
Telegraph Canyon - Into The Woods [Spune]
Broken Social Scene - World Sick [Arts & Crafts]
Bark Hide and Horn - Animal Mind [Swollen Nation Music]
Broken Bells - The High Road [Sony]
The Flaming Lips - Powerless [Warner]

The Royal "We" Have Royal Wood On...

I've actually already put tomorrow's episode to bed because I'll be attending a wedding when I'm normally on air. This special pre-record features an amazing live-in-studio set from Royal Wood who played Islendingadagurinn last weekend and the Park Theatre this Wednesday. He was also gracious enough to sit down for an interview which will air during the second set. All sorts of great new music on tomorrow's show including lead-off track "Trapped In The New Scene" by White Whale recording artist Octoberman. His new record Fortresses is a pretty solid rock album in the vein of Wilco's more recent 'dad-rock.'

Here's what will air in my stead:

Set One: 6:30 - 7pm

Octoberman - Trapped In The New Scene [White Whale Records]
The Envy Corps - Screen Test [Tempo Club]
Vincat - Bells & Whistles [The Hive]
Jesse Matheson - Orgy In Portland [Copperspine Records]
Lightning Dust - The Dreamer [Jagjaguwar]
The Penelopes - Saved [Citizen / Module]
Stew Gunn Band - The Dart [Independent]

Set Two: 7 - 7:30pm

Royal Wood - Weigh Me Down [Live at UMFM]
Royal Wood - I'm So Glad [Live at UMFM]
Royal Wood - Thinking About [Live at UMFM]
Royal Wood - Found [Live at UMFM]
Interview with Royal Wood

Set Three: 7:30 - 8pm

Velodrome - Sonic Triptych (First Panel) [Arctodus]
Velodrome - Sonic Triptych (Second Panel) [Arctodus]
Kronos Quartet - Mugam Beyati Shiraz [Nonesuch]
Yppah - Sunflower Sunkissed [Ninja Tune]
Amanda Blank - Shame on Me [Downtown]
Aufschlag - Begleitautomat [WWFREC]

Rainy Days and Fridays Seem To Get Me Down...

Man, what a miserable day in Winnipeg today. Nothing but rainy gray skies hanging over our heads all day. I didn't even have any guests or interviews to liven things up on the show tonight as I was originally planning to head to Gimli for Islendingadagurinn tonight.

Here's what I played:

Set One: 6:30 - 7pm

The Jayhawks - Blue [American / Legacy]
Ryan Dahle - Chop Chop [Limblifter Records]
The Lazy MKs - Granum Fire [Young Soul Records]
Spoon - Got Nuffin [Merge]
Volcanoless In Canada - House Of Souls (Artistry vs. Fame) [Independent]
The Skeletones Four - Let It Snow [No-Fi Records]
The Woodlands - Until The Day Dims [Tinderbox]
Nadia & The Tchotchkes - Doo Wop Blues [DNA Productions]

Set Two: 7 - 7:30pm

Falcao and Monashee - Teleportation [Borne]
Summer Cats - Hey You [Slumberland]
Pissed Jeans - Dominate Yourself [Sub Pop]
The Junction - My Love Was There [Fontana]
The Wooden Sky - (Bit Part) [Musebox]
Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks [Warp]
The Other Brothers - Points Of View [Independent]

Set Three: 7:30 - 8pm

Joe Henry - The Man I Keep Hid [Anti-]
Magnolia Electric Co. - Shenandoah [Secretly Canadian]
Parlour - On The Phone [Independent]
Kestrels - Our Velocity [NoYes Records]
Gregory Pepper - I Was A John [Fake Four Inc.]
The Hush Now - Sadie Hawkins Dance [Noelleon / Pirate]
Ocote Soul Sounds & Adrien Quesada - Tres Ratas [ESL]

Last Week And This Week: (Re)View and (Pre)View

So here's what I played on Friday's show:

Set One: 6:30 - 7pm
Jackson 5 - Never Can Say Goodbye [Motown]
Precious Fathers - Swells [White Whale Records]
The Hold Steady - Stuck Between Stations (Live) [Vagrant]
The Got To Get Got - Rattle Off [Noyes Records]
Subcity Dwellers - Gastown [Transistor 66]
East Side Death Squad - Blitzkrieg Advertising (from Vancouver's Punk As Fuck) [Independent]

Set Two: 7 - 7:30pm
Deer Tick - Easy [Partisan Records]
The Playing Cards - What Time Is It Mr. Wolf (from Transit Collective) {[Manitoba Music]
Starlight Mints - Black Champagne [Barsuk Records]
Tereu Tereu - All That Keeps Us Together [Independent]
Renata Lu - Faz Tanto Tempo (from Black Rio 2) [Strut]
The Heavy - Coleen [Ninja Tune]
Quantic & his Combo Barbaro - Arianita [Tru Thoughts]

Set Three: 7:30 - 8pm
Heidi Happy - You And Your Moods [Do Right!]
The Most Serene Republic - The Old Forever New Things [Arts & Crafts]
Land Of Talk - Some Are Lakes [Independent]
Cryptacize - Gotta Get Into That Feeling [Asthmatic Kitty]
Eamon McGrath - Holy Roller [White Whale Records]
Cut Off Your Hands - You & I [Frenchkiss Records]
Codename: The Sharks! - Cardio [Independent]
Buckwheat Zydeco - Too Much Time [Alligator]
Mr. Something Something - What Are You Waiting For? [World Records]

As for what's happening this Friday, July 3rd, I'm still stewing up one final guest/segment but the two confirmed guests are Pat Thornton (star/writer/creator of the Comedy Network show Hotbox), and Toronto Afrobeat band Mr. Something Something (who will be playing the LO Pub on July 7th).

Your Opinion Matters To Us...

Still hashing out details for the June 26th episode of TGIFR, but while I'm working on that, I leave you with the following question:

Which of these complete rip-offs of a great song, re-worked into a new song, manages to transcend the rip-off?

Simply Red - Sunrise


Angie Stone - Wish I Didn't Miss You (embedding's been disabled).

How It Went Down: Friday June 19, 2009

So here's what was played on tonight's show:

Set One: 6:30 - 7pm
Chairlift - Bruises [Columbia]
Quantic - Cali Cartel [Tru Thoughts]
Ocote Soul Sounds & Adrian Quesada - The Revolt Of The Cockroach People [ESL Music]
Solidaze - Distractions [Balanced Records]
Interview with Guru and Solar
Guru - Lost And Found [7 Grand]

Set Two: 7 - 7:30pm
Guru - Best Of My Yearz [7 Grand]
Magilla Funk Conduit - That Funk (feat. Cadence Weapon) [Self-Released]
Interview with Jenn Grant
Jenn Grant - Heartbreaker [Six Shooter Records]


Set Three: 7:30 - 8pm
The Sea & Cake - Exact To Me [Thrill Jockey]
Interview with Jackpine
Jackpine - Red River Jig [Live at UMFM]
Jackpine - Rick Danko Died [Live at UMFM]
Jackpine - Brand New Good Old Days [Live at UMFM]
Reverie Sound Revue - An Anniversary Away [Boompa]

AND WHILE I'M AT IT...
I totally forgot to post the showlog from last week's hip-hop extravaganza so check that one out here.

This Friday: June 19, 2009

Quick update about this Friday's show and who will be on:

Already in the can is an interview with hip-hop legend GURU (Gang Starr, Jazzmatazz) who talks about being in the game so long, his new record 8.0 Lost & Found, and more. We talked last week and I had to sit on it to fit in all my local hip-hop guests for the show.

Tomorrow afternoon I'll be joined at the UMFM studio by local band Jackpine. You might not have heard of them yet, but you will very soon when they release their debut CD, Brand New Good Old Days on Dollartone Records. They're like a Winnipeg roots supergroup with membership comprised of Jaxon Haldane, Adrien Sala, Sean Buchanan and Jesse Reimer. We'll be recording a special live set and an interview for broadcast on Friday in advance of their CD release show at the Park Theatre on June 25th.

And finally I'll be talking to Haligonian pop-songstress Jenn Grant (pictured above) about her latest CD Echoes in advance of her Winnipeg show at the LO Pub on Friday June 26th.

Tune in for TGIFR, this Friday at 6:30-8pm CST on 101.5 UMFM or online at www.umfm.com

Friday, June 5, 2009 Playlist

Busy show tonight - part of it pre-recorded earlier this week, a phoner and an in-studio. This is one of those nights when being producer as well as host makes it tricky. Like juggling a kitten, a bucket of paint and a chainsaw; you certainly don't want to drop any of those.

Anyway, here's the scoop on what was played.





Set One (6:30 - 7:00 PM)

Dirty Projectors - Stillness Is The Move [Domino]
The Western States - Right Of Return [Live at UMFM]
The Western States - Outstanding Balance [Live at UMFM]
The Western States - I'll Be Free [Live at UMFM]
Interview with The Western States
The Western States - Backslider's Wine [Live at UMFM]

Set Two (7:00 - 7:30 PM)

Interview with Dog Day
Dog Day - Wait It Out [Outside Music]
Codename: The Sharks - Starry-Eyed Conspirators [Independent]
Sights & Sounds - Pedal Against The Wind [Smallman]
Precious Fathers - Swells [White Whale Records]

Set Three (7:30 - 8:00 PM)

The F-Holes - Holding Out [Live on UMFM]
The F-Holes - Can't Share My Life [Live on UMFM]
Interview with the F-Holes
Portland Cello Project (feat. Thao) - Beat (Health, Life and Fire) [Kill Rock Stars]
Eels - Lilac Breeze [Vagrant]