Show #58 (I think) Playlist, etc. + LONG-PLAY TUESDAY!

What’s that? Special end-of-the-year two-hour vinyl show, you say?

Tune in tonight at 7:00 PM all the way to 9:00 PM for some of the best music you’ll hear all winter season, including some long-time favourites, some great new finds, some funky numbers, some chilled-out selections, some weird electro stuff and selections from my top 5 albums of 2010!

Pour yourself some tea, put on those headphones and let me ease you on into the new year.

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Oscar Peterson, gone three years.

It’s already been three years since music lost this amazing man. Oscar Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was one of the most important figures in his idiom and played an invaluable part in putting Canada on the world map of jazz. One of the few regrets of my life is never having been able to see him in performance.

Here he is with Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen in a 1964 performance of Hymn To Freedom:

Show #57 (I think) Playlist, etc.

Well, it’s that ridiculous time of year again. The herds are shuffling through the gift-wrapped troughs at Mach speed, throwing elbows around like wrapping paper and drooling in single-file towards the registers.

Christmas just brings out the best in people, doesn’t it?

Anyway, despite my best attempts to avoid the annual winter commercial season, it finds ways to haunt me, every year. So: I’d better make the best of it.

I’ve invited a very special guest host to help me close up 2010 and I’m giving free reign to run an hour-long Christmas special. That’s right: Christmas special. All I can say is you won’t hear the traditional tunes you’re thinking of. Well, probably. Maybe. Just pour yourself some tea, put on your favourite ugly sweater, your best pair of slippers and your headphones and let us take you on a cinnamon-scented journey! 🙂

Update (please be sure to check back later for full details – this is just a quick list of what went down):

1. James Brown – I Can’t Stand It “76”
2. Kyrie From Mass For Christmas Day
3. Oratorio Society of New York – Alleluia Chorus
4. The Robert Shaw Festival Singers – Bogoroditsye Devo
5. Chinese Dance
6. Joni Mitchell – River
7. Hoja – Oh Holy Night
8. Jack Semple – Silent Night
9. Kokopelli – Christmas Angel
10. Straight No Chaser – Twelve Days of Christmas
11. Reba McEntire – The Christmas Guest
12. Bing Crosby – White Christmas

Thanks, as always for listening, and super-awesome-fantastico thanks to my special holiday guest Mandy McArthur for providing everything except James Brown tonight! It was a hoot!

Captain Beefheart Dead at 69

Captain Beefheart, aka Don Van Vliet, died Friday. According to Entertainment Weekly, the avant garde rocker passed away at a California hospital due to complications from multiple sclerosis. He was 69.

The Captain, mostly remembered today as an icon from a certain time and place in American history, had command over an impressive four-and-a-half octave range. And while he had a vast working knowledge of a seemingly incongruous mix of genres — from acid jazz to modern classical — which he employed in his own blend of rock ‘n’ roll, truth be told, his unique fusion is best remembered as being, simply, true psychedelia.

Read more at Spinner.ca.

More change? Why?

As you may have noticed, things look a little different around here again. There are a couple of reasons for this…

When I started this blog in December, 2009, the first layout involved a lot of black and grey and orange, and while it was easy on the eyes, it was a little too Hallowe’enie.

So I changed it (ironically, very near Hallowe’en, this year) to something that wasn’t quite as easy to look at, but looked pretty neat. I teetered on whether or not I liked it, every time I looked at it and finally decided that change is once again necessary.

I’m digging what I’m seeing for now. Easy to look at and read, colorful, straight-forward. All good!

That said, sorry for all of the (admittedly superfluous) changes, but the content is what really counts! Keep coming back for updates about the show and the station and keep listening to Regina Community Radio! 🙂

Into The Void

It’s been a good run, but after five long years, they finally fired me. No more radio program – ever.

Okay, that was a lie. Sorry.

I’ve only been around for one year and I’ve a volunteer, so they can’t fire me. Can they? I don’t think so, anyway. I am, however, taking the night off. There will be no What Planet Is This?! tonight, due to conflicting schedules. Hey man, even I have stuff going on, you know.

Fear not, though. After Mouth Radio (7:00 – 8:00 PM), The Shadow of the Night is prepared to fill you with TWO HOURS of hard rock-n-roll on That Rock Show!

I’ll be back next week (Tuesday, December 21st) at 8:00 PM with a special musical guest host. Keep the dial on 91.3 FM and check this page for updates!

Biopic Soundtrack

Stole this from someone’s facebook page. Give it a try and build the soundtrack to your life.

How it works:

1. Open your computer music library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc.)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For the first question, type the song that’s playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button TWICE
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool…just type it in man!

Opening Credits: The Game feat. Eazy-E – Love For Dem Gangstaz
Waking Up: Slayer – Here Comes The Pain
First Day at School: Roy Eldridge – Ball of Fire
Falling in Love: Fiona Apple – Criminal
Fight Scene: Ibrahim Ferrer – Marieta
Breaking Up: Me First And The Gimme Gimmes – Uptown Girl
Prom: Mighty Mighty Bosstones – The Impression That I Get
Life/Career: Eels – Dirty Girl
Mental Breakdown: Dan The Automator – It’s Over Now
Driving: Roberto Goyeneche & Nestor Marconi – Como Abrazado A Un Rencor
Flashback: Hank Williams – Please Make Up Your Mind
Getting Back Together: Lionel Hampton – Airmail Special
Wedding: Herbie Hancock – St. Louis Blues
Losing Virginity: Imogen Heap – Little Bird
Birth of Child: Man Man – Skin Tension
Final Battle: Our Lady Peace – Superman’s Dead
Death Scene: Thunderheist – Jerk It
Funeral Song: Corrosion of Conformity – Shallow Ground
End Credits: Rob McConnell & The Boss Brass – Phil Not Bill

Copy my results above, the click “Leave a comment“, below, paste the whole thing, then fill in your own answers. 🙂