ESB PLAYLIST 3/18/05

a low energy show this week, but according to CIUT program director Ken Stowar, he was "enthralled by the show and totally attentive for the whole hour". he gave us some feedback on ESB in general which made the following points: 1) we're to the point, say what we need to say and let the music breathe; 2) we're doin something interesting that no one else is doing in the context of campus radio magazine style music programming; 3) we're a very low maintainance show and easy to deal with week to week; 4) we're excellent programmers.

here's what i have to say about ken: 1) he rocks; 2) he knows his shit, as he takes himself to where the music is instead of waiting for it to come to him; 3) he's been a huge part of ESB's revival in toronto after its departure from CFRC at kingston last year. ken has been all over the place and experienced some legendary musical-cultural moments of the 20th century. london in the late 70s? he's been there. mariposa folk festival scene in the 70s and 80s? he's done it. he's got an extensive resume and was one of the first program directors in toronto to put latin and black artists on the airwaves when he was program director for HITS 103.5fm. he came to CIUT a couple of years ago and helped turn the station around.

my favourite conversation with ken had to do with a certain classic single from grandmaster flash, melee mel and the furious five: "around 1980, i was a club dj in the city. 'the message' had only recently come out and hip hop was the newest thing in music and as of yet still fairly underground. i felt like i was taking a chance when i played the track for a crowd of sweaty, dancing people, but immediately they really started to get down, and i mean REALLY get down. i'd never seen anything like it and it will go down in my memory as a transcendental moment." by the way, i'm totally putting word in his mouth. it's not like i was there to record this candid story, besides, ken's too cool to use stupid shit words like "transcendental".

he's got a fa-bo-lus show on CIUT every sunday afternoon called Global Rhythms and it defies all that junk nonesense they've clipped into "world music."

et maintainent, le playlist, s'il vous plait! we had no show last week, so all the music is stuck in the time machine from a week and a half ago...

JANS LEKMAN - Are Birthdays Happy?
* this guy just toasted Toronto a couple of times this past weekend, once for Matt Blair's Dynamite Soul night at the El Mocambo, where he joined The Republic of Safety on stage, and then of course at Wavelength on Sunday where he headlined the show.

side note: check out Dynamite Soul's promo mix here. they're taking their act to kingston tomorrow night for the Transient Orange farewell show. i should get together with Mr. Blair and get drunk, as we've both said goodbye to our creations in that fabled land that is the Limestone City (my own band, FUN!, had our final gig there last weekend, and it was tragically enjoyable).

side note #2: The Republic of Safety are hosting their CD release party for their debut album at Stone's Place tomorrow night, 1255 Queen St. W. $5 cover, but if you pay $12 at the door, you get a copy of the new disc, which i can assure you is stellar.

THE ZOOBOMBS - Highway A Go Go
THE ZOOBOMBS - Jumbo
* read our review of their first CMW show here and another one here.

MICAH BLUE SMALDONE - My Angel's Wings
HARRIS NEWMAN - Continental Drift
KEPLER - Oh MY Other
KEPLER - You Must Admit
* all artists that have played or will play at Wavelength this month.

GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS - Bodies and Minds (title track of their new album)
* congrats to these guys for releasing an album to quick acclaim. an eye cover and several fantastic reviews have followed the swift emergence of this album into the national indie scene. it's already one of my favourite discs this year.

XPLODING PLASTIX - Tintinamputation
XPLODING PLASTIX - Treat Me Mean, I Need the Reputation
R-QUIEM ft. LOWBSS - Ad Hominem
* both of these groups have some relationship with local electro label Synaptic Plastic, who have just put together a website.

MELISSA WELCH - Stuffing Life Revised
* i take back all the bad things i've ever said about 16 year old girls from california. read about her and download her excellent, top notch self-produced tunes here. she also has a blog.

M. WARD - Vincent O'Brien
M. WARD - Big Boat
SIKTRANSIT - Testrock You Man
* my good friend Hally sent me these tunes, which i love. the last one is his own, and you've alreayd heard all kindsa wicked jazz about Siktransit on this show, so i'll let you find his music on your own. (hint: search for "Siktransit" on the information superhighway)

tune in next week, friday at noon hour et on CIUT 89.5fm in T-dizzle, or listen live from around the world for a FUCKING MONSTER of a show. we're doin a profile on 20 Jazz Funk Greats so it's bound to get hard and sick and dirty and all those adjectives that are in a literal meaning bad but actually connote goodness in modern slang.