east coast

xmas

this instagram thang sure is fun! here are some shots from xmas times in quebec (oh and one from the east coast - the angel is from my brother's christmas tree. so cute!).

roadtrip

went on a roadtrip in december. peep these highlights!

music makes the world go round

august? for real?

i am a bit slow to post this week, only because this week has been - to borrow a phrase - a "roller coaster of love, baby baby". and i mean love in the broad sense; love for the city, the people, the work, the food, the summer, etc.

ANYHOW. this week's playlist is a winner! golden sound waves of aural pleasure. from me to you!

sleep over - romantic streams

gardens & villa - black hills (easy tiger remix)

tycho - hours

cassius - les enfants

maluca - lola (ging danga)

danny daze - your everything (feat. Louisahhh!)

litttle dragon - ritual union

roots manuva - watch me dance

pink skull - bee nose

geoffrey o'connor - whatever leads me to you

johnny flynn - the wrote and the writ

grandin funk railroad +1

Jaycie Jayce joined me in the booth on Monday and shared with the listenership some serious dance floor currency. Leading up to the show, I sent him the following message:

In preparation for Monday's show please answer the following questionnaire about dance party music. You may be as specific or obtuse as you like. For each descriptor, please indicate a specific song you like to play and (where relevant) the time when you would play that song (for example, 11:00pm or "when the club be jumpin' jumpin' o'clock"). You may also specify qualifiers such as "only at weddings" or "this track always gets a high five."

Ready? Let's party!

The Dance floor Dissected with Jaycie Jayce (his answers are in italics)

1. Finish up your cocktails, let's take this party to the next level.

- Stevie Wonder - Higher Ground. Fitting title, huh?

2. By request only, and maybe not even then.

- R. Kelly - Ignition (Remix). It's hard not to laugh a lil and groove to this lil diddy. It's even fun to sing along!

3. The Tipping Point.

- Michael Jackson: Billie Jean. The question isn't really whether people will enjoy or even dance to Billie Jean, because everyone who has ever DJ'd knows this to be the case; the question is what can possibly be played afterwards that will keep any of said people interested from this point forward.

4. Nostalgic guilty pleasure.

- Elton John - Crocodile Rock. I used to take the Elton John greatest hits cassette with me on every roadtrip as a kid. We took a lot of roadtrips, and thus I have probably listened to Crocodile Rock more than almost any other song.

5. Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now).

- Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up. Inspirational AND danceable! Not moving/sweating to this track in some way is sinful, really.

6. There's a good chance some of you will be pregnant when this song is over. AKA The Booty Shaker/Baby Maker.

- Marvin Gaye - Got to give it up. It's hard to imagine anyone not giving it up for Marvin, right?

7. Traditional Closer.

- Still Going - Spaghetti Circus. B/c it's hard to mix out of a track with a rippin' guitar solo AND/OR Purple Rain.

dawson city, yk

some shots from a recent trip to the great white north.

pals shout out out out out were playing the music festival and they kept a diary (awwww) of their adventures which you can peek at here.

long weekend, long playlist!

I did an extended version of Grandin Funk Railroad this week (download playlist below!). I'm experimenting with how I post the playlists as I'm not loving the 8track player so much. It's easy enough to use (good news for a cavewoman like myself) but I think we can do better! Any thoughts on this are welcomed, please feel free to leave a comment.

Shout out to my pals who visited this weekend! It was a treat to have you in Dirt City, come back soon!

I'm off to a magical lake this weekend - something that I have been looking forward to all summer. As someone who grew up with an ocean for a backyard, it's pretty tough to get used to the prairie summers - lovely as they are. This playlist will be a great soundtrack to a weekend of water, sun, wine, and pals!

download this week's playlist here

alex ebert - truth (feat. rza)

cults - go outside (menahan street band remix)

pegasvs - el final de la noche

pack a.d. - sirens

generationals - trust

real estate - it's real

m83 - midnight city

neon indian - fallout

foster the people - houdini

marley muerto - senior gobierno

dj javier estrada - 100 anos (pedro infante remix)

twin shadow - slow

crystal fighters - at home

grand analog - take it slow (spaces + places)

agesandages - no nostalgia

dirty gold - california sunrise

blackbird blackbird - sunspray

the ross sea party - broken arrows

washed out - before

au revoir simone - tell me (clock opera remix)

teen daze - saviour

el guincho - bombay

space ranger - plastic romance (motor city drum ensemble vocal remix)

GFR July 4th

Crikey! I noticed that I never did post the playlist from July 4th, how rude of me. 1000 appologies! Here it is, not particularly patriotic for one country or another, but hopefully it will add some character to an otherwise average summer day (or night).

gold panda - mpb

class actress - keep you

dent may - fun

clap your hands say yeah - same mistake

charlotte gainsbourg - trick pony

deerhunter - fountain stairs

wintercoats - windmill

little scream - red hunting jacket

light vibes - wish we had

the static jacks - girl parts (bodega girls remix)

GFR July 26 Playlist

August is just around the corner, best rock out the summer jams while we can! Here's to bike rides and fresh food and long, sunny days!

shotgun jimmie - late last year

big troubles - misery

white denim - drug (bjorn remix)

mkrni - humedad

adrianigual - me gusta la noche

theophilus london - why even try? (rac remix)

shabazz palaces - are you...can you...were you?

ghibli - mountain time

grizzly bear - cheerleader (neon indian remix)

st. vincent - surgeon

summer camp - round the moon*

shout out out out out - dude you feel electrical

*be sure to check out the video for this track - too cute!

summer maxim

via here

mix-tape dissected with kuhrey-oo

Calvin rocking his favourite outfit - the Canadian Tuxedo!

Calvin McElroy (aka Kuhrey-oo) was in the hot seat on this week's episode of Grandin Funk Railroad. He was a great sport to put up with my Larry King-style journalism, answering all sorts of probing questions and I had him bring in some music to share, too. It was really fun to have him in the booth and the time just flew by. Time passed so quickly in fact that I didn't even have a chance to get to my mix-tape pop quiz so here it is now for you to read. Most excellent choices, Calvin! You can make a mix-tape for me anytime. Feel free to leave a comment with your mix-tape picks as well.

1) Crackerjack first track? Alix Perez - Forsaken

2) Feel-good hit of the summer? Teams - Anml Life

3) Song to make the ladies feel a bit excited? frank ocean - songs for women

4) Best make-out track? alicia keys - unthinkable

5) Song to stay home and cry to? Burial - Stolen Dog

6) If you're not into this song, you're not a friend. Four Tet - Sing

7) Traditional closer? Drake - Fireworks (Deadboy Slo Mo House Edit)

the last bit of june

It's officially July yet I still owe you a playlist from June. And lucky for you, it's a double playlist! I filled in for Kent while he was at Sled Island (lucky guy!) so there are two hours worth of radio-tastic tracks. There's a couple great new songs including ones from YACHT, Soft Metals, Washed Out and Best Coast - and lots of oldies this week for good measure (Pale Saints! The Cure!).

plastic bertrand - ca plane pour moi

soft metals - psychic driving

yacht - dystopia (the earth is on fire)

the juan maclean - give me every little thing

shriekback - my spine is the bassline

kazino - binary

washed out - amor fati

the cure - in between days

best coast - gone again

pale saints - sight of you

bodies of water - mary, don't you weep

memphis slim - no mail blues

the cool kids - one two

theophilus london - flying overseas (soul clap remix)

liquid liquid - optimo

sebastien tellier - kilometre (a-trak remix)

the neanderthals - speed bump

the soft pack - answer to yourself

the reatards - you build me up just to bust me back down

downliners sect - outside

mermaid - forgiven in the awakening of sand

arthur russell - hey! how does everybody know

superhuman happiness - gmyl

another week, another mix!

GFR June 13th Playlist

a couple more

and

I owe at least one playlist from Grandin Funk Railroad! Coming soon!

silver lining

time capsule

I got the first batch of photos back from the AGA Refinery Party and there are some true gems! I thought I'd share some of my favourites here, there are literally hundreds which I think the AGA will publish on their Flickr page. Stay tuned! Either way, they will go in the Time Capsule for future generations to enjoy.

factory party!

the AGA has asked me to do a project for their upcoming Refinery event which is an Andy Warhol style factory party (FUN!!). i'm in charge of making a time capsule for the event. i have a couple of fun things planned and i decided to include a photography component for the time capsule whereby party-goers can borrow a special silver camera and snap some party shots but must return the camera to the time capsule at the end of the night. i'll get the film developed and i will include the developed photos in the time capsule.

this idea was inspired by actual events in which, i went to a party with a disposable camera, left it unattended and it was taken by a bandit who kindly left if for me at the end of the night in the same spot where they nicked it from earlier in the party. it was really intriguing to get the film developed and the results were spectacular! see below for some highlights.

the culprit!