Wednesday, November 26, 2008

shame on me for my delinquence



Hey - it's almost snowsliding season - here's a little stoke-a-thon for you, from the last time neon and bad hairdos were cool.

Hello friends;

My name is greg - bless me for I have fallen asleep at the wheel yet again. It has been a whole month since my last blog post. I feel shame.

But I also feel a little tiny bit justified. I threw my shit down getting ready for funding drive (then y'all threw yo' shit down during funding drive - thanks!), and I forsook a lot of regular every-day lifey stuff to do it. I've spent the time since funding drive sleeping, working, celebrating the end of Dubya-dome, turning twenty-seven-teen, and trying to get some wood in before winter.

Thanks to everyone who helped CJSW raise over $208 g's during funding drive - but extra-special thanks to Jen, Henry, Noel, Wayne, Justin, Monika, Mom, Brian, Dave, Scott, Rachelle, Doug, Bart, Yori, Carl, Denis, Hamish, Misha, Jennifer, David, David, Brian, Daniel, Bryson, Tasya, Richard, Danny, Robin, Christian, Curtis, Michael, Kim, Glenn, Rachel, Tracy, Katie, Jeremy, Michael, Kevin, and Jamie, for throwing your support behind the mighty derby!

All of you who pledged on my show are eligible for the GRAND PRIZE DRAW for a sweater I knit (see below), which will take place tomorrow morning at around 10:30 or thereabouts. tune in for the draw, plus multiple rants on Alberta's myopic resource management, Calgary's crapshoot public transit, and militant pro-lifers on campus.

Do you want to know what happened over the last little while? Well, here are a couple of setlists:

November 13th - doo-de-doo-de-doo-doo, de-doo - birthday show!
1. smile! - guitar*
2. all is full of love - bitone*
3. mighty mighty - charlie hunter 4tet
4. smile - sierra leone's refugee all-stars
5. in the morning - corey harris
6. dub bari - ojos de brujo
7. mariel port, spanish harlem - up, bustle & out
8. viente annos (live) - buena vista social club*
9. orishas llego - orishas
10. kyoto - curumin feat. blackalicious & lateef the truth speaker*
11. le premier matin - heliodrome*
12. the strongest person - the streets*
13. dishwasher - fujiya & miyagi*
14. mach dich los - dancer vs. politician*
15. brittania - chris gheran*
16. intentions alone - the olympic symphonium*
17. i feel like the mother of the world - smog
18. freight train blues boogie - smokin' 45's*
19. long legged guitar-pickin' man (live) - johnny & june carter cash*
20. crazy eyes - old crow medicine show*
21. today's empire, tomorrow's ashes - magnificent 7's*
22. words of advice for young people - william s. burroughs vs. disposable heroes of hiphoprisy.

November 6 - thanks for funding drive, not-much-talkin', black white house show!
1. chocolate city - parliament funkadelic
2. one day - fishbone
3. track #3 (no listings!) - thievery corporation*
4. fumi - loop guru
5. marina gasolina (radio edit) - bonde do role
6. in a green space - koushik*
7. get right - ling ling feat. addiquit*
8. rangoon creeper - isotope*
9. papa was stoned - fort knox five*
10. simple - bourbon tabernacle choir
11. the grieved soul - rick moody & nina katchadourian*
12. other side - angela desveaux & the mighty ship*
13. dakota from the hebrew - priya thomas*
14. jet stream - jay crocker*
15. in these hearts - daniel martin moore*
16. buddha (for the reverend RON!) - al tuck & no action
17. l.a. freeway - brittle siren*
18. history lesson part II - minutemen
19. drove up from pedro - mike watt & friends
20. big fenders - shanker & romps*

Okay, I'm outta here - gotta go get ready for a show tomorrow. Thanks for listening, thanks to all who gave during funding drive, thanks to all Americans reading this who got off yer asses and voted for something a little different (hope-hope-hopefully), and thanks for your patience if you've spent the last month wondering if I've given up on this blogging thing.

Talk t'yis tomorrow,
g

PS for those of you who like to dig on the skateboardin', check out this holy-shit-inest new stuff from plan b (i don't think i can hate on sheckler any more):



This is the Ryan Sheckler part - but go to planbtv to check out the whole thing (go to plan b tv, click "superfuture promo" ...

Saturday, October 25, 2008

two setlists and... FUNding drive!




Hi everyone;

I hope you will forgive me missing a post last week - I have had my hustle on to prepare a kick-ass funding drive show and lots of sweet treats for y'all loyal listeners! The big prize on the soapbox this year is a stylized norwegian ski sweater, hand-knit by yours truly! Look super-fly on the slopes and apres-ski this winter with this cjsw-ified classic! BTW those are 45-adapters in the place of the more traditional snowflakes - cool, huh?

Here's what the sweater looks like on me:


I made it according to a "men's medium" pattern 'cos I figured that would make it fit the maximum number of folks. Right now it fits more like a large, but I think it will likely shrink a bit after it's washed as it's made from 75/25 acrylic/wool mix.

The sweater goes home with the lucky winner of a raffle, which will be drawn about a month after my funding drive show this coming thursday. Your name goes in the hat one time for every $25 you pledge on my show - so $75 gets your name entered 3 times, $250 gets you 10 raffle tickets, and so on. Oh yeah, and you have to pay your pledge before the draw date to be eligible.

Good luck, and thanks to everyone who pledges their support to CJSW - on my show or elsewhere!

OCTOBER 16TH SETLIST:

Well, the election came and the election went, and the deck was shuffled slightly, but the only real tangible change is that our country is $330 Million dollars the poorer. The 16th was a post-election reflection kind of show. Here's how it went:

what's goin' on? - marvin gaye
put the funk back in it - brand new heavies
hey world - watts prophets
vad forgive me - dj vadim vs. bullfrog
foggy mountain - augustus pablo
white man from hammersmith (live) - the clash
don't take that attitude to your grave - ben harper
satanic reverses - disposable heroes of hiphoprisy
insight - fort knox five feat. asheru*
cut chemist suite - ozomatli feat. jurassic 5
tower of babel - dragon fli empire
rafiki - zap mama feat. the roots
5 years time - noah and the whale*
las vegas with the lights out - geggy tah
neighbourhood - david byrne
making gestures - the pack a.d.*
lovin' machine - jon spencer blues explosion vs. dan the automator
below the ocean over part 24 - jay crocker*
old world lies - brasstronaut*
split decision - brass bed*
the moon's appeal - a gentle forest*
alarms part 2 - mark berube and the patriotic few*
narwhal horn - lesser gonzalez alvarez*


OCTOBER 23RD SETLIST:

This past week's show was all about grassroots NGO's working to make a difference in Uganda - in the second half of the show we were visited by a bunch of people working in really inspiring ways to make the world a better place.

First off, Geoff and Paula Owen and Dax Xenis came to tell us about an organization that Geoff and Paula founded called GARD (grassroots assistance in rural development) - they have been helping rural Ugandan communities to build rain-collection and primary water filtration systems, thus laying the foundation for healthier communities. Dax made a film about one of GARD's projects, called "catching rain" - it's world premiere was this past thursday night at the uptown.

We also heard from Carissa Hayward and Paul Locke, who are organizers of this year's GuluWalk event in Calgary, which took place world-wide today (apologies to the GuluWalk folks for not getting this post up sooner - too much funding drive going on right now!). GuluWalk is an annual, symbolic walk of solidarity with the child night commuters of northern Uganda - check the GuluWalk link above for more information. I hope you were able to get out to GuluWalk this afternoon - and if you live elsewhere, maybe you'll be able to organize a GuluWalk in your town next year!

Tunes:

early in the mornin' - sonny terry, brownie mcghee, lighnin' hopkins, & big joe williams
sallie, queen of the pines - alvin youngblood hart
the place - big mama thornton
champion of the arena - jackie mittoo
tadoussac - namori*
one love is the law - alex kajumulo*
calypsoul - clarence curven & his mod sounds*
that's how it was - spanky wilson & quantic soul orchestra
square biz - galactic feat. ladybug mecca & nino moschella
two can win - j.dilla
paper planes - m.i.a.
straight to hell (live) - the clash
young americans - danny michel
always something - yo la tengo
haliko chijende (let's walk) - hukwe zawose & michael brook
poye - issa bagayogo*

Okay kids, that's it for now - I gotta go and put together some mix cd's to offer up as incentives - right now the plan is to make one that's all about gettin' down and groovin', and one that's all rootsy and rocky and such. But we'll see how I'm able to manipulate time between now and this Thursday.

Just in case you haven't heard it a jillion times - the CJSW funding drive pledge-your-love line is 403.220.5000.

Hope to hear form you on Thursday!

PEACE,
greg

Thursday, October 9, 2008

October 9, 2008 Setlist - Art for Canada's Sake



This photo (copyright la culture s'enflamme) sums up a lot of what the soapbox was all about today - "No Culture, No Identity / No Identity, No People / No People, No Country" Art has value for it's own sake - but it also has value for the sake of bettering humanity.

Thanks for tuning in today. Before I get to more serious matters, here is a list of the tunes that were played. In case you forgot, "*" means this record is on the CJSW playlist right now - so if you call 403.220.3991 and request it, the DJ has one less excuse not to play it!

rentstrike - groove collective
beans for breakfast - blktop project
moon bump - greyboy
funky manifesto - mossman
shepherd's bush - o'luge*
pepper rock - prince jazzbo
champagne & reefer - muddy waters
compacto - curumin*
night shift - dennis rollins
baaki - emmanuel jal*
we shall not be moved - mavis staples
decadencia de civilizacion - saint alvia*
sing their souls back home - billy bragg
waiting (live) - greg brown
muscle energy - alexander ferguson school*
living in the future - john prine
humdinger - old crow medicine show*
the drinking song - loudon wainwright iii*
the mine is closed - rae spoon
built for comfort - howlin' wolf
in the news - kris kristofferson
donnybrook - d.o.a.* (in honour of the beginning of hockey season!)

Okay, that's that - now on to the serious business:

1. VOTE! - It's the very least you can do to participate in a democracy. Vote for the candidate that best represents your values, or vote strategically to make sure that the candidate that affronts your values doesn't get in. In either case - VOTE! And if (in my case, when) the person you vote for is not elected, write to your MP and let her or him know that you didn't vote for them, but they are obliged to represent your values and your views in parliament anyway!

2. LOCALIZE! - There's a lot of scary shit going on right now in the global economy, and a lot of it is the direct result of a bunch of corporate fatcats getting ruthlessly greedy and taking some serious liberties with our (yup, all of our) money. Shit is totally unstable right now, and all the beancounters are recommending that you invest in gold - I've got a better idea - invest in your community and local economy. There are a number of great advantages to this approach: first, you get to participate in building something better where you live. Second, you don't have to rely on politicians or big business to make sure that value and jobs stay in your community. And third, you generally deal directly with the people with whom you are exchanging goods and services, which greatly reduces the chances that they'll try to pull an "AIG shimmy" on ya. If you live in Calgary, check out calgary dollars; if you don't, look for a local currency project in your area, or build one yourself!

3. MY CANADA EMBRACES THE ARTS! My good pal Noel Begin came by today to share some of his thoughts and concerns around the treatment of the arts by the conservative government, and particularly by Mr. Harper. Noel has written an open letter/manifesto on the subject, which he read on the air today - it is included below for your consideration, and Noel encourages you all to get back to him with your thoughts, suggestions, criticism, edification, etc.

The current discussion around the arts and government funding for them begins from the premise that artists somehow exist outside of the rest of Canadian culture - that artists are some elite and eccentric group of tuxedo-and-gown-wearing, canape-and-champagne-fuelled, fancy-gala-attending yuppity folk that the rest of us "ordinary Canadians" can't expect to relate to. This "us-and-them" cultural view is not just divisive, it undermines the necessity of arts to a functional, inclusive, productive and enlightened culture. It encourages us to think of arts as cultural experiences that happen only at prescribed times and in prescribed environs, rather than as a spontaneous, organic, essential part of our daily lives. Good art encourages you not only to think critically about art, but to think critically about everything - to live a culturally active existence, to seek opportunities to grow as a person, and to engage your community in thoughtful discussion. These are not lofty ideals to be aspired to exclusively by the elite of society - there are things that matter to everyone, and good art serves to remind people of the things that matter, and of the need to work towards the strengthening of those things.

Here are some examples of opportunities to engage in good art in Calgary, going on right now:

M:ST4 Festival: http://www.mstfestival.org
Springboard/FLUID Festival: http://springboardperformance.ca/
PCC Calgary: http://www.performancecreationcanada.ca/calgary08/

And here is a website that Noel said provided some inspiration for his letter, and here is one that that website reminded me of. Here's a link to the rockridge institute - a US outfit who is working to reclaim the ideas and reframe the discussion around "american values".

Finally, here is Noel's letter - please send him an email (weareletter[at]gmail[dot]com) if you have some thoughts or impressions that you would like to share on the matter.

Thanks for listening - talk to you next week!
Don't forget to VOTE,
g

_______________Letter_______________

Tuesday, October 7, 2008


In response to arts cuts and Stephen Harper's divisive statements.

Let's cut our losses. Harper's minority government is costing Canadians money, country, and culture. It's in our power to stop him.

To our fellow citizens of Canada

Don't let Stephen Harper sell you short. While we appreciate that Harper sees artists as extraordinary, we are ordinary Canadians too, but we find that the term "ordinary Canadians" was slyly used by Harper to divide Canada's citizens. Many of Harper's recent statements attempt to pit you against us, but WE ARE YOU. Harper says ordinary Canadians don't want the kinds of creations that cultural producers make with your tax dollars, but we think you're proud of what we make, proud of how carefully this small fraction of your tax dollars are spent, and that you're impressed by how difficult it is to receive public support.

The arts are a dynamic yet ordinary sector of the Canadian economy like any other sector. The difference is that art is something we invest in as a nation because it is less about your bank account and more about your heart and mind, less about making a living and more about understanding the nuances of existence.

The Canadian system of arts funding is envied the world over for how it ensures that monies are distributed only to artists and arts groups who maintain a high standard of professional excellence. Our system exists to expose the myriad ideas of a living culture. If the cultural industries are to maintain their integrity and continued innovation, then our system needs to remain free of the censorship Harper seeks to assert.

Some art is created for children, and some art is created only for adults, some art functions as art regardless of age. Harper's attempt to seduce voters with a plan that will ultimately under-fund children's classes also serves to reduce the Canadian public's perception of art as an activity for children, and distract voters from the fact that this should be an essential part of a properly funded education system.

Suggestion is a powerful form of influence. Stephen Harper suggests that artists are elitist and exist in ivory towers, but each aspect of the arts is a specialized field, with specialized and technical language no different from the specialization of any professional industry. When Harper suggests that ordinary Canadians don't want to support the arts, he acts to divide us from you, but again, we are you. One must ask why a Prime Minister would seek to drive a wedge into the Canadian economy, or between groups of citizens. As artists and ordinary citizens of Canada we are sure that Stephen Harper is not an acceptable choice for Prime Minister of the great country of Canada.

We are stronger together as a nation, and we want as a nation to be proud of our accomplishments in business, in science, in the arts, etc. We as artists are ordinary Canadians - we are you. We invite you to become engaged in the arts, to discover where and why a small fraction of your tax dollars are put to use, and to participate in the dialogue of art on a daily basis, consuming a byproduct of our combined strength.

A letter initiated by Noel Bégin, with input from Calgary artists, festival directors and programmers, curators, and others.

Friday, October 3, 2008

october 2 setlist - all kinds of deficits! - and a CONTEST!



This photo (copyright Tom Hanson/Canadian Press) is definitely the funniest one I could find from last night's debate, and I propose we have a bit of fun with it. Let's have a caption contest! Submit your best captions (you know, something like "I came this close to beating that guy in the triathlon, thanks to this fancy watch!", or "I am holding you in my hand, and CRUSHING YOUR HEAD!") by commenting to this post. The funniest caption will receive a prize that is more valuable than pocket lint, and less valuable than a new bike.

I spent a lot of time ranting this week, about $700 Billion bail-outs, stupid excuses people find not to participate in a democracy, and the decimation of the 200-year-old UNB woodlot in my hometown (Fredericton). Oh and I offered a long-overdue tribute to one of the best storytellers ever, a source of hope and inspiration to many, Mr. Bruce "Utah" Phillips.

Here's the low-down:

blue mode - reuben wilson
how we get along - jurassic 5
195 lbs - nightmares on wax*
politricks - terry lynn*
the cave - culver city dub collective vs. joey altruda
so lonely (so dub) - okada feat. big youth*
90% of me is you - amral's trinidad cavaliers steel orchestra*
sol tapado - thievery corporation
higher - carlos nino & li'l sci*
wanda vidal - sound directions
back home (the return) - common market*
crime to be broke in america (tv track) - spearhead
h20gate blues - gil scott-heron
money is the only thing that rolls uphill - the rocky fortune
trees falling - chuck brodsky*
darn folksinger - bob snider
bum on the rod - utah phillips & ani difranco
starlight on the rails - rosalie sorrels*
suitcase in my hand - ry cooder
i am a rich man - old man luedecke
energy bomb - sheglank'd shoulders*
song #1 - fugazi

well, that's it for this week - good luck with the caption contest! Thanks for tuning in, and I'll talk to you all next week.

PEACE,
g

PS The biggest reason I started up this blog was to give you all an avenue through which to holler back about some of the stuff I talk about on the radio, which by design creates a fairly one-sided discourse. If you've got something to say, this is definitely the place.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

triple set list - i know - you've heard all my excuses.



In honour of hurricane season, I thought I'd post this cool little video depicting dubya's response to hurricane katrina

Hello friends;

Someday, I just might manage to get my shit together. But in the meantime, here are the set lists from my last three shows. At least I got the September 25th one out inside of a week.

September 25th, 2008 - 700 Billion Smackers:

I went off a little on the hypocrisy of bailing out the kings and queens of the "free market" with tax payers' green on this show. For the record, $700B is approximately $102.22 US for every man, woman and child on the planet at the time I write this. And you know if they can figure a way to make us pay, they will. Tunes:

your mom's favourite dj, side 1 - kid koala
rainbow town - up, bustle & out
shine - lee scratch perry*
it's you - toots & the maytals
come together - peter tosh
forest - big blue ball*
contradictions - azeem
crash with no cushions - the high decibels*
strange thing happen every day - olu dara
people turn around - delta spirit*
walmart killed the country store - reverend peyton's big damn band*
tiny montgomery - bob dylan & the band
brian jones - andy swan
my hands are a city - fembots*
ruben - elizabeth cotten
learn to love another - lucky sonne
nothing's alright - one hundred dollars*
the many lead the one - aaron booth
does the day feel long - devon sproule
the breeze - dr. dog*
blackwater drive - the herbalizer*


September 11th, 2008 - Just Fucking VOTE! I'm serious, dude.

Election's coming up - do you know who you're going to vote for? Here are some resources to help you decide: Elections Canada will tell you who's running with links to all your candidates' web sites. The Suzuki Foundation has a pretty good set-up for helping you make your vote count for the environment. These dudes just wanna get dusted and vibe on some wicked tunes - like these ones:

sugar water (acoustic version) - cibo matto
metaphysical (a good day) - handsome boy modeling school featuring mike d and miho hatori
sproing-a-dub - burning babylon*
brothers on the slide - the dynamics
strength of my life (live) - israel vibration
belgrade riddim - sub swara*
70's 80's - nightmares on wax
clap your hands - the herbalizer featuring jessica darling*
space out - threat from outer space*
bong bong - c-rayz walz & kosha dillz*
carimbo - sonantes*
peregrino - zuco 103
st. petersburg - brazilian girls*
so here we are - bloc party vs. four tet
new city - bob wiseman
j'suis pas d'ici - thomas dutronc*
joining another - angela desveaux & the mighty ship*
failure - laura marling*
obadiah in oblivion - death vessel*
city smile - conrad ford*
(i'd like to) buy some science - gunther*


August 28th, 2008 - the Acoustic Motorbike



There is no better way to travel than by BIKE!

On August 28th, I had the pleasure of hosting my pal Justin Brown, one of the founders of the University of Calgary Bike Club and the Associated Bike Root bike shop. We talked about bikes. Check them out sometime, and think about joining the club! Here're some tunes to ride your bike to:

radio attack - prefuse/73
dunu kan - issa bagayogo*
a few words in defense of our country - randy newman*
ganja time/legalization (live) - culture
no compromise - burning spear*
chooga cane - lee scratch perry*
original sample - project bicycle
pizza boys bike - sun ok papi ko
acoustic motorbike - luka bloom
soundsystem - m. franti & spearhead*
rock & tree - bob wiseman*
simple song - lucid 44*
all day - human highway*
dollar signs - snailhouse*
bookworm - margot & the nuclear so&so's*
kensington - azeda booth*
bbbeat - balkan beat box
fly paper - k-os
who knew duke - the high decibels*
the pressure - presto featuring rahsaan ahmad
mr. johnson - left lane cruiser*

Whew - what a marathon! That should be motivation enough for me to post a week at a time rather than three shows at once! Anyway, thanks for all of you who continue to tune in, and especially to those of you who patiently wait for me to get around to posting set lists.

I'm knitting a super-bad-ass sweater as an incentive for pledging on my show during funding drive this year - I will try to post some pics next week.

Take Care,
g

Friday, August 15, 2008

one more thing...

If the Reverend ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!

have a good weekend!
greg

Whatchoo talkin' bout, Willis? Set list for August 14, 2008.

This photo appears in the fast forward article by Adrian Morrow, mentioned below. I wonder if that dude knows where tattoo culture comes from?

Hi everyone;

Thanks for tuning in this week. As it often does, the show gave me a chance to air out some stuff that has been on my mind lately, especially since reading this excellent article in ffwd weekly, by Adrian Morrow, about the burgeoning white supremacy movement here in Calgary. I'm not going to dwell on it much, 'cos by now you probably all know my feeling on the matter - suffice to say that, although I support the efforts of anti-racist groups in our city, I would just as soon devote my energy to building the kind of inclusive, tolerant, diverse, vibrant, respectful, forward-thinking, and forward-moving community that I know is possible here. Make some noise if yer wit' me!

Aside from rantin' and a ravin', I also managed to play a tune or two:

on ne vernyoolsyah ees boyah (he didn't return from the battle) - vladimir visotsky
vsyeh droozhney v radui somknyomsyah (rough translation: what's so funny 'bout peace, love, and understanding?) - canora doukhobor choir
learning - mothers vs. kid loco
heights of paranoia - dubblestandart feat. camel
caged in - michael st. george (coming to reggae fest!)
natural progression - aswad (yup, them too)
rude boy - myself*
ya playin' yaself - jeru tha damaja
protest - buck 65
les autres - abdal malik*
relations humaines - mc solaar
do the dog - the specials
billy jack - curtis mayfield
nazi punks fuck off - dead kennedys
so much more - brett dennan
we ain't got no home - stark raving chandler
slow down - bullfrog
drifter - little bang theory*
i'm so lonesome i could cry - nation beat*
sweet thing - drew brown*
livid in a madman's hell - money mark
forest - big blue ball*

Okie doke. I hope you have a great weekend. Maybe I'll see you down at the reggae festival? I'll be in the cjsw booth in the late afternoon/early evening. There's all kinds of cool stuff happening this weekend, including an art show in a basement and a free concert at olympic plaza, brought to you by the mighty cjs-lovin'-you!

peace,
love,
and understanding,
greg

Monday, August 11, 2008

what a useless tool - set lists for july 24th and 31st, 2008

If you think I'm a useless tool, apparently you haven't seen this. "Here, honey - brace this for me while i sharpen my lawnmower blades!". $35 and it's yours!

Hi friends;

I keep posting my setlists to this blog with completely irresponsible delinquence. I am also really crappy at returning books to the library or videos to the video store on time. My Uncle Allan (RIP) always said "excuses are for people who make them" In my case, the same applies for promises to be better and more efficient in the future, so I guess I'll spare myself the typing and you the future disappointment.

Here's the setlist for July 24th - when I filled in for Mark and we were entertained by a fabulous band from Winnipeg called the Paperbacks. Here's a link to something about them on CBC Radio 3 - check here soon for a podcast of their live performance on CJSW. The tunes (I played a lot of stuff to get people primed for folk fest this year -which was pretty damn fine!):

who knows? (live) - jimi hendrix and a band of gypsies
cheese & crackers - deja voodoo
farmaciennomane - ouanani*
stand firm - peter tosh
medicine - guru feat. ini kamoze
(rock the) belz - socalled
think about it - metermaids*
african dialects - peter king*
birds of paradise - basia bulat
georgie buck - carolina chocolate drops
poor man rich city - beija flor
i'm new here - smog
~~then we talked with the paperbacks and they played us some songs~~
holocaust art - the paperbacks
pissing on everything - jim bryson
time bomb - los straitjackets

On July 31st, I soapboxed about building strong communities and being the kind of change you would like to see in the world, about the mormon youth brigade that has taken over u of c campus, and some crazy shit going down on the prairie. Oh yeah, and I incorrectly stated that mojo nixon is dead. whoops.

in the battle of sun versus curtains, sun loses and we sleep 'til noon - woodpigeon*
bacalao con pan - grupo fantasma*
let's reggae all night - css*
two chord skankin' - ljx (coming to reggae fest this weekend!)
hello jamaica - lee scratch perry (dammit, his sept 4th calgary show is cancelled! dammit!)
full up - sound dimension
bone riddim' - burning babylon*
spiritual masterkey - talvin singh vs. osmani soundz
just won't stop - herbaliser feat. yungun aka essa*
turn it down - peter project*
looks like to kill - sonantes*
surf song - the saturday knights*
golden years - susumu yokota*
never had a problem - andre williams and the new orleans hellhounds*
funky women - maceo parker & all the kings men
pink-o boogie - ry cooder*
move together - ndidi onukwulu*
nehemiah's misfortune - agnostic mountain gospel choir*
key to the highway - memphis slim & jazz gillum*
lightnin's piano boogie (live) - lightnin' hopkins
chicken drop - mojo nixon (not dead! alive!) & skid roper
100 years - dr. dog

Oh crap - I forgot to tell you about my pal Kory, who called in to let me know about the annual rally and debauching of the apocalypse scooter club - they did a whole bunch of cool stuff last weekend (two weekends ago? f@#k me, i really truly suck!) that you might have known about if I wasn't such a delinquent boob. Hey Kory, maybe you can come on the show next year before the rally and let us all know about it! Better yet, send me a comment and let me know how the rally went this year.

Thanks for tuning in everyone - talk to you later this week. Check this blog for future setlists in 2009 (tee hee)...

tee hee hee hee,
g

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Playlist July 10

Artist - Track [Album] *On CJSW's Playlist

Elliot Brood - The Valley Town [ Mountain Meadows]*
Silver Jews - San Francisco, BC [Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea]*
Leonard Cohen - Chelsea Hotel No. 2 [New Skin For The Old Ceremony]

9:20 is the new 4:20

The Royals - Peace, Love, and Dub
Katchafire - Collie Herb Man
Eek-a-mouse - Ganja Smuggling
Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Chase the Devil

King Khan and the Shrines - Fool Like Me [The Supreme Genius of King Khan and the Shrines]*
Videotape - He The Moon [My Favourite Thing]*
Pierre Lapointe - Moi
Wolf Parade - The Grey Estates [At Mount Zoomer]*
Run Chico Run - Slow [Rocket Surgery]*
Styrofoam - Microscopes (Feat. Blake Hazard) [A Thousand Words]*
Sound Tribe Sector 9 - Shock Doctrine [Peaceblaster]*
Solvent - A Panel Of Experts (Lowfish Remix) [Solvent City]
Leila - Little Acorns [Blood, Looms and Blooms]*
DJ Food - Ageing Young Rebel (Feat. Ken Nordine) [Kaleidoscope]
Ocote Soul Sounds & Adrian Quesda - La Reja [The Alchemist Manifesto]*
Nu:Tone - Jnr Breaks
Staeldyther - Track 2
Alex Moulton - Flaming Swords [Exodus]*
The Orb - A Beautiful Day [The Dream]
Bootlickers - The Wasp
Coldcut - Walk a Mile in my Shoes [You Don't Know, Ninja Cuts]*

Thanks for listening!

Mark

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Playlist For The Morning of the 26th Day of June in 2008

Here's June 26th's playlist, Artist - Title [Album] *On the CJSW playlist

1. Boards of Canada - Roygbiv [Music Has The Right To Children]
2. My Milky Way Arms - Unbearable Lightness of Being*
3. Laura Barrett - Track 3*
4. Sixtoo - Jackals and Vipers [You Don't Know Ninja Cuts]*
5. Dr. Octagon - Earth People [Dr. Octagonycologist]
6. The Extremities - Warp Drive*
7. DJ Food - Brass Neck
8. Fatlip - What's Up Fatlip (Breakbot Rmx) [Delicious Vinyl Rmxxology]*
9. Baron Zen - Money (Arabian Prince Mix)
10. Kid Koala - Music For Morning People [Carpal Tunnel Syndrome]
11. Emperor Penguin - Tammy
12. Drums and Machines - NAFTA
13. Governor Bolts - The Owl and the Pussycat
14. Odd Nosdam - Hollow Me*
15. Cool Kids - Mikey Rocks*
16. Rob Swift - Rob Swift Gets Busy [Return of the DJ vol 1]
17. Flux - Chemical Girl
18. Head Like A Kite - Listen Young Stunners*
19. Quasimoto - Bartender Say [The Further Adventures of Lord Quas]
20. Bonde Do Role - Solta O Frango
21. Dan Deacon - Wham City [Spiderman Of The Rings]
22. 65daysofstatic - Dance Parties (Mechanical)*
23. Kelley Polar - Rosenband [Body Language 6: Mixed By Junior Boys]
24. SmithNhack - Space Warrior [Body Language 5: Mixed By Chateau Flight]
25. Ratatat - Tacobel Canon [Classics]
26. Reverie Sound Revue - Walking Around Downtown

Thanks for listening. Greg's away next week but the fully qualified Jenn Abel will be filling in so be sure to tune in!

Mark

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Mid-June, Nice-Weather Setlist

Hey Listeners!

Here's my June 19th setlist. Sorry for the constantly changing format.

Artist - Title [Album] *On the CJSW playlist

1. Ariane Moffatt - La Fille De L'iceberg*
2. Genevieve et Matthieu - El Noranda*
3. Neighborhood Council - Souls*
4. Reverend Horton Heat - Where in the hell did you go with my toothbrush? [Holy Roller]
5. Andre Toussant - Little Nassau [Putumayo: Calypso]
6. The Percentie Brothers - JP Morgan [Putumayo: Calypso]
7. The Heptones - Party Time
8. MF Doom - Rhymes Like Dimes [Operation: Doomsday]
9. Threat From Outer Space - Space Out*
10. Dragon Fli Empire - Headphones Dub [Intermission EP]*
11. Deltron - Love Story [Deltron 3030]
12. RjD2 - Good Times Roll Pt. 2 [Deadringer]
13. Souls of Mischief - 93 'til Infinity
14. Peter Project - Turn it Down
15. Ladytron - Deep Blue [Velocifero]*
16. Atmosphere - Hockey Hair
17. Pete Samples - The Jumper Cables [The Jumper Cables]*
18. Quitzow - Cats R People 2*
19. BMX - Refero Beach
20. Black Devil Disco Club - Constantly No Respect [28 After]
21. The Young Punx! - Never Be The Same Again [Your Music Is Killing Me]*
22. Jupiter - Starlighter
23. Daniel Wang - All Flowers Must Fade [Milky Disco]
24. Matthew Dear - You Know What I Would Do? [Junior Boys Body Language Mix]
25. Booka Shade - Charlotte [The Sun and the Neon Light]*
26. Health - Triceratops (CFCF Remix) [Disco]
27. Black Turtleneck - Discontinued Parts [Musical Chairs]

As I said, the hip hop was very well received so I'll be revisiting it next week for sure. If anyone has any preliminary requests feel free to post them and I'll throw them in.

I also want to reiterate the Pesticide Free Parks campaign being put on by the Coalition for a Healthy Calgary. Right now, as far as I know, calgarys only city park that isn't sprayed with cosmetic pesticides is New Edinborogh Park thanks to the Sunnyside Community Association. But we're close to having a bylaw passed banning the use of them citywide. The Standing Policy Committee of Utilities and Environment will vote on whether to send the pesticide-ban bylaw to city council for ratification on June 25th. Make sure you let your alderman know how you feel about the issue, by calling 311 or 268-2340.

Calgary is the largest city in Canada without a ban, its time to change that.

Thanks for listening, tune in next week!

Mark

Saturday, May 31, 2008

ADVENTURE RACING! Set list for May 22, 2008

Hello there;

On May 22nd my buddy Mike Melnick came around to talk to us about adventure racing. My feelings regarding the sport are similar to the ones I harbour for ultimate frisbee, and with a similar lack of justification in terms of real world experience: I'm hung up and slightly resistant to the idea of imposing structure and competition into an environment where, in my mind, it doesn't really fit. That said, maybe I should hang up my hang-ups, put away my prejudices, and give it a try. Mr Melnick certainly has a contagious enthusiasm for adventure racing - and if anything could inspire me to give it a shot it might be him. Hopefully you feel the same way, and you enjoyed our chat. In any case, I asked Mike to send me some links so I can pass them on to y'all, so here are links to the AB Adventure Racing site, a local adventure race in June, another one in July, and Mike's adventure racing team (from whom I nicked the above photo - taken during their recent race in Costa Rica). Thanks to Mike for coming on the show, spreading the love around, and broadening our collective horizon.

I also played some music on May 22nd:

1. hang up your hang-ups (live) - herbie hancock (for r. hadrock!)
2. the souk - global noize*
3. guns of brixton (live) - the clash
4. africa irie - chief checker*
5. wayfarin' stranger - spearhead
6. little bit of feel good - jamie lidell*
7. ok? ok - peter project*
8. trouble is - common market*
9. teenage beer drinkin' party - teenage head* (for the mclean creek meatheads)
10. tin cheejha - dj rekha*
11. pluck - ananda shankar experience & the state of bengal
12. night life - the reveries*
13. les rockstars - call me poupee*
14. spring flowers - the great outdoors*
15. new friend - david myles*
16. children's games - enoch kent*

Some friends of mine remarked that I came on a little strong against the mud-boggers. Allow me this opportunity to state plainly that I do not advocate a wholesale banning of off-road vehicles from Alberta's public lands - i just want people to be a little more considerate of the land and the others that use it. I have a lot more to say about this, but the issue isn't going anywhere, so maybe I'll save it for later. Of course, if you want to weigh in, you can always drop us a line...

I've been promising for a number of weeks (bordering on months) to post some photos of our travels over the last little while - so here you go:

In early April I went "home" to New Brunswick, to visit with my folks and help them with the annual maple sugaring fun times. Above is a picture of the cabin my dad and I built in 1988, and it gives you a good idea of why the floods were so severe this spring.

Then at the end of April, the missus and I went on a two-week jaunt to the desert lands of Utah and Arizona - I dedicated my May 8th show to this trip. We saw a lot of pretty inspiring landscape, including Bryce Canyon...





Zion National Park (this pic is of the big bend underneath Angel's Landing)...







and the mother of all Canyons - el grande! It was really an awesome experience, and one I recommend to anyone and everyone - I know it's cliche, but you definitely have to go there at least once in your lifetime if you have the opportunity.





That's it for this post I guess - thanks a lot for tuning in. Sorry for the continued delinquence on my posts, but the fact of the matter is, I most often have other things I'd rather be doing than sitting in front of a computer (no offence...)

See ya!
g

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Mark's Playlist from May 29th

Sorry, no albums this time. I'm just a little too busy. If you have any questions about finding stuff just ask!

*On the CJSW Playlist

1. Light City Fiction - Up Here*
2. Parallel Worlds - Into the Caves of the Mind*
3. Fidgital - ...It's Aurora Over Streets...
4. Carleton and His Shoes - Love Me Forever
5. Dubmatix - Burning Fire Dub*
6. Islands - Creeper*
7. RUby Coast - Neighborhood*
8. Kids on TV - We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off
9. Hot Panda - My Tugboat*
10. Pepi Ginsberg - The Waterline*
11. Death Set - Had A Bird*
12. Minotaur Shock - Somebody Once Told Me It Existed But They Never Found It
13. Boyskout - Back To Bed
14. Portishead - Machine Gun*
15. Ratatat - Tacobel Canon
16. Kano - Now Baby Now*
17. Revolution 9 - Computer Girl (Erotic Robotic Remix)
18. Natalie Portman's Shaved Head - Beard Lust*
19. Changeless - Twentyseventh Day
20. Ladytron - Deep Blue
21. Matmos - Polychords*
22. Music Go Music - Light Of Love
23. Vive La Fete - Touche Pas
24. Scuola Furano - Rooster

Thanks for listening!

Mark

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Playlist For May 15

Here it is: Track - Artist (Album)

1. Carmella (Four Tet Remix) - Beth Orton (Four Tet Remixes)
2. Sinking Feeling - Mixel Pixel (Lets Be Friends)*
3. High Tide Low Tide - Bob Marley
4. Popcorn Reggae - Soul Agent and the Soul Defenders
5. Outlaw Heart - Tiger Army (Tiger Army)
6. Lonesome Rambler - Ramblin Ambassadors (Vista Cruiser Country Squire)*
7. Science and Honour - Phenomenauts (For All Mankind)*
8. Lions on the Astroturf - Zibra Zibra (777)
9. Picking a Lock at the Speed of Light - These Modern Socks (Picking a Lock at the Speed of Light)*
10. The Kids Take Control - Voyager One (Afterhours in the Afterlife)*
11. The Galaxist - Deerhoof (Friend Opportunity)
12. Lovely Allen (Minotaur Shock Redevelopment) - Holy Fuck
13. je Veux Tout - Ariane Moffatt (Tous les sens)*
14. Roland Radcliffe - Black Turtleneck (Musical Chairs)
15. Shine A Light - Wolf Parade (Apologies to the Queen Mary)
16. I Don't Play Piano - Christa Couture (The Wedding Singer and the Undertaker)*
17. I Exist Therefore I Sing - Tobiah (check out micromusic.net)
18. Actual - Copy (Hair Guitar)
19. No Ends - Jim Brown as Rank Nubah (Slo Burn)
20. Magnetic Love Song - Fur Cups For Teeth (Fun Luck You Keep)*
21. It's Yours - Doc Scott
22. Brown Paper Bag - Roni Size/Reprazent (MTV's Amp 2)
23. No Kinda Man - Junior Boys
24. Cool And Bored - Le Corps Mince de Francoise
25. Love Juice (Moulinex Remix) - SymbolOne

*On the CJSW Playlist

Thanks for listening, tune in next week for Greg's show, and tune into CJSW all the time.

Mark

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

HAYDUKE LIVES! two-for-one lackadaise-o-rama

Hi everyone;

I am a slacker.

The fact of the matter is, I spend all day long at a computer, and when the work day is done, the last thing I want to do is sit back down and tickle the keyboard for a while. The result is that you guys don't get as regular blog postings as you may like, and I get to go outside and enjoy myself a bit more. It's almost a win-win, except I guess I'm mostly the one who's winning.

I will add photos of my trip to the desert and back home to NB at some point - just not today...

set list for May 1, 2008

sans ohmm - off the international radar*
the state - destroyer*
river niger - sly dunbar*
world peace riot - chango family
groovy spirit - jackie mittoo
robot dub jam - guerilla funk monster
double on back - kid creole & the coconuts*
sure shot - one step beyond
when all the shy folk finally get it on - bourbon tabernacle choir
the city - dragon fli empire
grand scale - dl incognito*
saint john river - hot toddy
another obscure death in the history of the american indian movement (AIM) - bob wiseman
burn the house down - cour de lane*
without piano - jim bryson
just like a river - old man luedecke*
one day - david myles
do you want to talk all night - john tielli*
from the muskeg - ghostkeeper*
pour la destinee - les breastfeeders

set list for may 8, 2008

rounder - rabnett5*
the bomb - bitter:sweet*
desmond dekker came first - toots & the maytals
this one is about flying - dubblestandart
noah sugar pan - the upsetters
soul glo - akrobatik*
27 - blue scholars*
you will see this dog before you die - the oh sees*
i got mine - the black keys*
broken heartbeats sound like breakbeats - los campesinos*
hot corner - b52's*
they get mexico - the culls*
corona - calexico
half a ghost town - utah phillips & ani difranco
for a few dollars more - hugo montenegro & his orchestra
river theme from pat garrett & billy the kid - bob dylan
two little feet - greg brown
when i was a cowboy - alvin youngblood hart
hot white sun - pray for rain
journey to arnhemland - jamiroquai
keito - ali farka toure
camel rock - chirgilchin
long long nite - mano negra

Okay, I'm outta here. Thanks for listening, and make sure you check out Mark tomorrow. I'm on my way over to meet him so we can record a show intro/theme music - with any luck we'll christen that sucka tomorrow.

Next week (May 22nd), I'll be playing host to my pal Mike Melnick, who's going to tell us all about adventure racing. "What the heck is that?", you ask? Tune in and find out - but for now here's a little teaser:



okay bye!
g

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Three weeks but unfortunately only one playlist

Hello fans of the CJSW Soapbox. I haven't posted for a long time and its definitely overdue. Unfortunately the playlists for my two previous shows have vanished into the ether of the cjsw archives and disappeared from my eyes forever, but I do have todays for any of you keen listeners.

1. Trance Like Turn - Violens
2. Cop Song - Entire Cities
3. Raquel - Neon Neon
4. Jah Love Music - Brigadier Jerry
5. Eleanor Rigby - Bernie Lyon
6. Two Sevens Clash - Culture
7. One Two Three - Nat Baldwin
8. Moving Notes - Jane Vain and the Dark Matter
9. Swimmer - Four Tet
10. Around The World - The Death Set (Fantastic Album!)
11. Out The Seams Pt. 2 - Oldfolks Home
12. Cruisin The Chev - Ghostkeeper (new and local!)
13. Tomorrow - Clinic
14. La Marche - Music For Money
15. Blueprint - Culture Reject
16. Applegate (I) - Little Teeth (Demo from San Francisco Group... keep an eye out)
17. War - BMX (Current blog darlings)
18. Ava - Black Molly
19. Main Theme - Balloon Fight
20. Jazz Rats - Yip Yip
21. Hold On - Holy Ghost!
22. My Oh My - Vincat
23. Danse en France - Fischerspooner
24. High Waves - Tr + Tr
25. Weird Science - Does it offend you, yeah?
26. He Keeps Me Alive - Sally Shapiro
27. Digitalism - Pogo (The Horrors Remix)

Send me a message or post something if you have any questions. Thanks to everyone who listened, and make sure you tune in next week for Greg's return to the soapbox!

Mark

Friday, April 18, 2008

two-for-one overdue blogathon! set lists for march 27 and april 10, 2008

(that's my folks' place this winter - NB got a lot of snow, to say the least!)

'sup y'all?

So here's the deal.

The work I do is most busy at this time of year, but I had two impossible-to-pass-up opportunities to go away and take a little vacation in April. At the beginning of the month, I went to New Brunswick to chill with my folks and make maple syrup in the woods (I'll post another picture or two sometime in the future, okay?). And as soon as I wrap this shit up, I'm leaving to go hike the Grand f&$kin' CANYON! So to make a long story short, I've had to squish a month (or more) worth of work into about two weeks, and haven't had much time for bloggin'. Here's my attempt at atonement (pretty lame, eh?):

March 27 rant-a-thon - the 'box was hot on the 27th, yo! And the 9:20 segment came courtesy of the lankiest of linemates, Monsieur Richard Larson.

1. elyne road - toumani diabate*
2. bullet in the blue sky - vieux farka toure*
3. eltsuhg ibal lasiti - daktaris vs. mad professor*
4. six million dollar version - king tubby
5. rocking universally (armagiddeon style) - willi williams
6. truth will reveal - souljah fyah*
7. reputation - evan voytas*
8. they live in the meadow - black moth super rainbow
9. metronomes - cassettes won't listen*
10. iodine - gordon withers*
11. suggestion - fugazi
12. we're gonna rise - the breeders*
13. blitzed - raveonettes*
14. you put the "i" in team - dr. manhattan*
15. cassius clay - jon hardy & the public*
16. nevada desert - rae spoon*
17. these days - tyler ramsey*
18. shake that medication - the mumlers*
19. om mani padme hung - yungchen lhamo (for the tibetan freedom movement)
20. bridge is over/black cop/south bronx medley - krs-one
21. down here on the ground - grant green*
22. if the papes come - tribe called quest

april 10 aga-khan-a-thon - i got to chat with laurie peters from the aga khan foundation about their exhibit at the university of calgary's nickle arts museum, called bridges that unite. If you missed it here, hopefully you'll get a chance to check it out elsewhere. Tunes:

1. life of a salesman - beija flor*
2. untitled (live on cjsw) - remote kid* (download the rk ep for free, here!)
3. zimbabwe - bob marley & the wailers (for the people fightin' for democracy in zimbabwe)
4. gin & juice - prince fatty* (for the bsd'ers gettin' loose on campus today!)
5. herb eye - junior delgado
6. makuta - culver city dub collective feat. q-ba
7. get up, stand up (live) - ojos de brujo*
8. rebel satellite - up, bustle & out
9. me cai - pacifika*
10. free - sacha silva*
11. 100 years - tommy guerrero
12. brukpocket's lament - the heavy*
13. sourpuss - fishbone
14. my friend - jimi hendrix
15. glory glory/jesus on the mainline - rebirth brass band (for my moms 'n' pops)
16. how to handle grown-ups - ruckus roboticus*
17. oppressor - think of one*

Okay, I'm out. Thanks for listening, and thanks a lot for your patience through the dark, busy days that have maybe come to pass.

PEACE,
g

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Hello from the Soapbox,

Here's this week's playlist:

1. The Vagabond - Air (10,000hz Legend)
2. Aurora - Kyrie Kristmanson (The Kyrie K Groove)*
3. Early 70's Gymnastics - Black Moth Super Rainbow (Start A People)
4. I Am That I Am - Peter Tosh (Equal Rights)
5. Oh Mr. DC - Sugar Minott
6. Circus - C-Mon and Kypski (Where The Wild Things Are)
7. Never Born At All - Adam Mowery (Saint John 3: BBQ Records Compilation)*
8. Captan - Scary Mansion (Every Joke is Half The Truth)*
9. Introducing Angels - Destroyer (Trouble In Dreams)*
10. (I'll Be Your) Ashtray - Ladyhawk (Shots)*
11. Perspective - Clock Hands Strangle (Redshift/Blueshift)*
12. Starman - David Bowie (Ziggy Stardust)
13. Hangin' Round (Acoustic) - Lou Reed (Transformer)
14. Too Long 'Till Morning - Mannequin Depressives (Girls Are Evil)
15. Listening Wind - Talking Heads (Remain In Light)
16. Caffeine and Sugar - Braden Funchner (Duthie Birthday Demo 2008)*
17. Lenine Rock - Sinequanon (Lenine Rock)
18. Teenage Wildlife - San Serac (Professional)
19. Pristine White - Lowfish (Burn The Lights Out)*
20. Send Me Shivers - Mouse On Mars (Radical Connector)
21. Dame de Lotus - Emilie Simon (The Flower Book)
22. Death Smells - Team Robespierre (Everything's Perfect)*
23. Theatre of Disco - Larry (Theatre of Disco)
24. Rocket In The Pocket - Console (Rocket In The Pocket)
25. Someone Great - LCD Soundsystem (Sound of Silver)

Not feeling particularly soapboxish today, but I would like to mention once again that the Mannequin Depressives will be holding a CD release party tonight at the Warehouse to support their new full length 'Girls Are Evil'. Be sure to check it out.

Tune in Next week for greg's show.

Mark

Saturday, March 15, 2008

fighting democrapathy - sbd for march 13th

whoa - stelmach rookie card? That's super rare. I'll play ya nearest-the-wall against my grant devine jailbreak special edition... (courtesy of vue weekly out of edmonton)

Good Mornin' to y'all.

Here's what went down on the March 13th edition of the soapbox derby:

1. now - nomeansno
2. out of time - jason collett*
3. vince goes home - the neighbourhood council*
4. what is it? - the consummates
5. healing of the nations - roots tonic meets bill laswell
6. 7 nation army - the dynamics*
7. theme olympique/absolument - spreepark*
8. from the cell doot to the gallows - william elliot whitmore
9. no disappointment in heaven - dock boggs
10. georgie buck - dink roberts
11. not high - greg brown
12. crash into the sun - jim white*
13. mia - 40 thieves*
14. evil ways - black mountain*
15. 7/4 (shoreline) - broken social scene (for melanie and bruce the puppy)
16. brown dirt - jj cale (for some dude that didn't give his name)
17. dounia - toumast/ishumar*
18. electric boogie remix - ursula 1000 vs. fort know five*
19. do this my way - blackalicious
20. microphenia - divine styler
21. countdown - dj vadim feat. rashan ahmad*
22. ethical considerations - soviet sound factory*
23. carimbaeo - nacao zumbi*
24. information contraband - money mark

As I said in my last post, and Mark said in his, the recent provincial election left me feeling shocked and, to say the least, somewhat out-of-sorts. But i figure you can only dwell on how much something sucks for so long before you have to find some more productive way to express your frustration (which, by the way, is one of the main reasons i do radio). I've decided the best response in this case is to do whatever i can to foster a democratic environment in what appears otherwise to be a democratic vacuum.

Here is the open letter to my new MLA that I read at the beginning of the show, and that I am mailing today. I urge you do do something similar, if you are so inclined...

Honourable Lindsey Blackett,
Conservative MLA, Calgary - North West

Dear Mr Blackett;

My name is Greg Chernoff. I live in Ranchlands, and I'm writing you in your new capacity as my elected representative in Edmonton. I didn't vote for you, but you represent my riding in the legislature anyway, and I want you to know that I intend to hold you accountable to myself, and to the thousands of other constituents that either voted for someone else, or didn't vote at all.

In fact, province-wide, the vast majority of votes were disappointingly not cast for anyone. The democratic deficit carried the day, and the only real winner in the election was apathy. Your party got over 50% of votes cast, but only 20% of all possible votes. Why do you think so many voters "elected" not to bother? And what does the low turnout say about your party's mandate to govern?

I voted. I believe that voting is the bare minimum contribution one should make to the democratic process. Those that don't care much about politics should at least vote, and consider it an "easy way out" of a bigger responsibility. But personally, I exercise my democratic rights every day. I vote by riding my bicycle or skateboard, or by taking public transit to work, by keeping a pesticide-free lawn and garden, by recycling despite our city's best efforts to discourage me, by making consumer choices that reflect my values, by working in my professional and volunteer life towards the type of change and the type of community that I feel would make the world a better place. I also vote by freely expressing my opinions whenever I get a chance.

Democracy doesn't stop at the ballot box. Albertans could have taken the "easy way out" by voting on March 3rd, but they didn't. Now I'm promising to do all I can to make sure Albertans take part in the democratic process. Too bad for them, now it'll have to be the hard way.

Your party ran on the slogan "change that works for Albertans". Personally, I'm not convinced that a regime that has been in power for almost four decades can be the party of revolution, but I feel pretty strongly that we need one in this province. If you are going to create change that works for me, you'd better start working for change. Right Now.

I'll be watching....
Sincerely,
Greg Chernoff

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Setlist for March 6th. 2008

I didn't mention the titles of the last two tracks I played, I got a little mixed up. So here is the complete setlist

Track - Artist (Album) *On CJSW's Playlist

1. Passages Part One - Humanoid (Remembering Universe)*
2. The Boilerman - The Urbane Decay (53 Mondays)*
3. Future Ghost - Hinterland (Pan Pan Medico)*
4. Baby Why? - Cables (9:20 is the new 4:20)
5. In The Craters On The Moon - The Mountain Goats (Heretic Pride)*
6. The Dragons Claw: Chpt 1 - Justice of the Unicorns (Angels With Uzis)*
7. Lucky Lucky Luck - Evangelista (Hello, Voyager)*
8. Evil Ways - Black Mountain (In The Future)*
9. Vince Goes Home - Neighbourhood Council (Live At CJSW)*
10. Kali Yuga - Experimental Aircraft (Third Transmission)*
11. The Gum Saloon - Beat Circus (Dreamland)*
12. Beginning To See The Light - Scenics (How Does It Feel To Be Loved)*
13. Lady Madonna - The Better Beatles (Mercy Beat)*
14. Je T'ecris D'un Pays - Les Visiteurs Du Soir (BIPPP: French Synth Wave 1979-85)*
15. What Use? - Tuxedomoon (Half Mute / Scream With A View)
16. Lies - Mannequin Depressives (Girls Are Evil)*
17. Wanderlust (Ratatat Remix) - Bjork
18. Where You Gonna Run To? - Solid Gold*
19. Mnemonic - Robots In Disguise (Disguises)
20. Heaven (Pink Skull Remix) - Health
21. Lost In The K-Hole - Chemical Brothers (Dig Your Own Hole)
22. Bubble Life - Squarepusher (Hello Everything)
23. Widow (Eats Tapes Megamix) - Lucky Dragons
24. Price Gun Baby - Captain Comatose (Going Out)
25. Remote Control - Solvent (Apples and Synthesizers)
26. Terroriste - Vox Dei (BIPPP: French Synth Wave 1979-85)*

And I think It's time I got up and joined Greg on the soapbox regarding this week's election results. What I was most surprised about was that the heavily critical media coverage of the PC campaign was so disconnected from the ultimate voting results. Why? Was the media just wrong? That's too simplistic since their campaign judgements were subjective. Do Albertans simply ignore the media wholesale? That's hard to believe. Or do Albertans not feel a need to fall in line with media reactions? That might not be such a bad thing, unless it leaves them in a state of ignorance.

But what was perhaps most disappointing was the way that as the results were coming in the media were completely changing their tune, suggesting Stelmach ran a comprehensive and complete campaign, 'which shored up his support across the province'. Saying Taft who the day before had been praised was a failure. The morning after, newspapers that had previously called the stelmach campaign a disaster were calling him an 'Ed the Emperor'.

It is scary to think that, although there are certainly some problems with gerrymandered ridings and poll station debacles, an essentially fair election with an uncensored media turned out an almost hegemonic voting result. Mussolini and Franco and Stalin would have sure been pleased to have a public so supportive of authoritarianism.

Mark

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

28 february set list - and talkin' climate change blues



Well, good evenin'

This just in - Conservatives defeated in Alberta Election!

Know who the real winner - the new Premiere of Alberta - is? Apathy. Mr. and Ms. "I'm too lazy and complacent to get off my ass, take 15 minutes out of my day, and exercise a right I have automatically, but many have fought and died for" won the election in a landslide. Can you believe that shit? 950,000 people voted, out of 2.3 million. That to me is absolutely f#&king shameful. It's infinitely more depressing to me that we could have made some real change happen in this province, at a time when I think we really need it, than it is that the tories are going to run the show (and run it with even more swagger and impunity than they had last term) for another 4 long, likely painful years.

I'm not giving up on democracy (or change) though - I plan to get a little more creative in the ways I participate. Because you know, democracy doesnt begin and end with an X on a ballot. It's what we do in between elections that now has become our only source of redemption. First thing I'm gonna do is write my new MLA a letter, and let him know that, even though I (along with about 40% of the people who voted in my riding) didn't vote for him, he is now my elected representative, and that sumbitch better effin' represent! I don't wanna give away too many surprises - I'll read the letter to y'all on march 13.

Last week's show was all about climate change and what we can do to engage ourselves in constructive discussion about it. Here are the tunes that framed it all in (below are a tonne of resources):

1. i know why the caged bird sings - buckshot lefonque feat. maya angelou
2. kindred - akrobatik feat. chuck d (!) & brenna gethers*
3. take it all in & check it all out - bill withers
4. the wiff - daddy rings*
5. garvey meade - ring craft posse
6. people can be so stupid - andru branch*
7. talkin' world war iii blues - bob dylan
8. cabidela - mombojo*
9. el microfono - mexican institute of sound*
10. tibiri tabara - cafe tacuba
11. je ne t'aime plus - manu chao
12. horses - cqmd
13. le chauffeur - urbs
14. a l'oree des bois - plants & animals*
15. we must destroy - jane vain & the dark matter*
16. stingray blues - the grass*
17. how electricity really works - mike ladd*
18. heatwave - buck 65*

So, this dude Mishka Lysack came in and told us about some really cool things that are happening to try and get people to give a shit about something, anything - but specifically in this case, climate change - here's some of the suggestions he had for tapping in:

Mishka was talking about a teach-in that happened on campus back a little while ago. The idea is to get normal people with varying degrees of scientific understanding of the issue to talk about climate change and how it effects them. It comes from an initiative called focus the nation that is growing and holding teach-ins all across the world. The group was started by this dude, who wrote a book about it.

Another grassroots group working to raise awareness and engage debate related to climate change is called step it up - they've started a new chapter in Calgary, and one of the main cogs in the global wheel is a dude named Bill McKibben.

One other group to check out for the more sciencey side of things - the intergovernmental panel on climate change.

Here are some books that Mishka recommends if you want to inform yourself:

Flannery, T. (2005). The weather makers: How we are changing the climate and what it means for life on earth. Toronto: HarperCollins Publishers.

Goodstein, E. (2007). Fighting for love in the century of extinction: How passion and politics can stop global warming. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont Press.

Kolbert, E. (2006). Field notes from a catastrophe. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.

McKibben, B. (2006). The end of nature. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks.

McKibben, B. (2007). Deep economy: The wealth of communities and the durable future. New York: Times Books, Henry Holt and Company.

Monbiot, G. (2006). Heat: How to stop the planet from burning. Toronto: Doubleday Canada.

Woodbridge, R. (2005). The next world war: Tribes, cities, nations, and ecological decline. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

And here's one I would add - about the kind of paradigm shift we need to start acting on these issues - it's called dancing at the dead sea, by Alanna Mitchell.

This totally aggro dude called up right after Mishka and I got off the air, demanding to know when we were going to host a "real scientist", and wondering why media is so biased towards those who believe that climate change is actually an issue. He recommended that we all look into a fella called Dr Tim Ball - here's an interview with him, and he's also speaking at the university soon (although I couldn't find anything on the website about it...) - who is dying to tell us all why we're not actually changing the climate.

Anyway, I guess me and Mishka were naively assuming that we've all moved beyond the "is climate change even an issue?" debate, and on to the "what are we gonna do about it?" quagmire - I wonder if my caller wasn't partly expressing his frustration and hostility about the world moving on and leaving him behind. In any case, as I said last week, regardless of whether climate change is (in your opinion) a symptom of the stupid things we're doing to this planet or not, the FACT remains that we humans do some really incredibly phenominally dumb things to this planet, mostly stemming from the misapprehension that we're never going to run out of anything.

So, the tories won the election. So, there are people in this town (that listen to CJSW) that still don't think there's a problem with how we're treating the planet. So, almost no one gave a shit enough to go vote this monday. Does all this mean that democracy and hope for humanity are dead? I'd say it's up to you, and I can only speak for myself, but I'm not ready to give up. If anything, the last week's experiences have strengthened my resolve to hop up on the highest perch and let you all know why you must, at least, give a shit about something.

I'll let you stand on my box if I can stand on yours (I think Bob Dylan said that...)

A la prochaine,
greg

Friday, February 22, 2008

louder than a bomb! soapbox derby black history month edition 21/02/2008

Howdy.

This week I offered up a musical sampling of the African Diaspora, in honour of Black History Month. Thanks to everyone who tuned in and called in - to the guys that requested songs, I promise I'll get them on next week, okay?

Here's the skinny (every one's a winner, baby....):
1. go slow - fela anikulapo kuti
2. wooba skooba - lee "scratch" perry*
3. rockit - the dynamics*
4. downpresser - peter tosh
5. white boy a follower - nine-mile rastafari bredren
6. weapon conflict - sierra leone's refugee allstars
7. i'm a pilgrim - john dee holeman & the waifs band
8. my heavy load (live) - big mama thornton
9. what makes a work song leader? - alan lomax and bama
10. early in the mornin' - 22, little red, tangle eye, and hard hair
11. queen bee - taj mahal, toumani diabate & ramatou
12. kpindigbee - s.e. rogie
13. de la vie a la mort - zap mama
14. message to the messengers - gil scot-heron
15. dial 7 (axioms of creamy spies) - digable planets
16. louder than a bomb - public f#@kin' enemy!
17. i against i (live) - bad brains

Think the FBI are the only ones that tap telephones? check out the privacy commission's report on the exempted data banks that the RCMP have been taking some pretty serious liberties with since the towers fell. Read this report, and think about what it says about the value of our rights to free expression nowadays. Then get really mad and write your MP and tell them you won't stand for these kinds of violations. It's time to make people know that the "war on terror" can't be used as an excuse for orwellianism any more.

Chef Wayne (host of the trop funkay south louisiana gumbo radio show, Mondays from 7-8pm MST on CJSW 90.9fm) called in to tip me off on an awesome collection of alan lomax' writings. Check it out if you are so inclined, and make sure you tune into Wayne this and every Monday - homie throws DOWN!

Most importantly, there's a provincial election coming up in a few short weeks. I'm at once excited because I think we have a real chance to see some positive change in Alberta, and scared shitless that apathy will win the day and those of us with enough willingness to participate and faith in democracy will be forced to put up with the same old shit for another four effing years.

And then we'll be out for beers with our pals and we'll all be moaning about the government and they'll be all like "this sucks", and i'll be like "yeah i know, but at least we all voted and did what we could to voice our choice", and they'll go "what? vote? you vote? votings lame, unless it's for hockeyville or skater of the year or whatever!".

And then I'll chug my beer and go find somebody with half a clue to hang out with.

Go here to get the skinny on the election. Check this out if you wanna think about the good of the environment when you vote. And for the love o' Socrates, vote on march 3rd.

Next week it's me and Mishka Lysack, talking about climate change. talk t'ya then

PEACE,
g

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Everyone Loves Music on Valentine's Day

Okay, here's this week's list, I'll put in the albums for the ones that I know. If you have trouble finding anything leave a comment and I'll post more info. So the format is [Track] - [Artist] (Album) *On the CJSW playlist:

1. Sunny Meadows - Del Tha Funkee Homosapien (I Wish My Brother George Was Here)
2. Staralfur - Sigur Ros (Hvarf Heim)*
3. The Sun's Gone Dim - Johann Johannson
4. Smells Like Nirvana - Laura Barrett (Earth Sciences)*
5. T. Hatch Say 'Round Every Corner - P:ano (Ghost Pirates Without Heads)
6. Secret Tongues - Adam Green (Friends of Mine)
7. Watchmaker - Tom Fun Orchestra (You Will Land With A Thud)*
8. Cherrry Chapstick - Yo La Tengo (And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out)
9. Dragnet - The D'urburvilles (We Are The Hunters)*
10. It Was A Time Of Mad Scientists - 60 Watt Kid (S/T)*
11. William, Clap Your Hands - Unicorns (Unicorns are people too)
12. Stories - The Azmyth (S/T)*
13. Walking With The Dead - Jon McKiel (The Nature of Things)*
14. Cripple Creek Fairies (Curl Up And Die)*
15. Frontwards [Live] - Pavement (Slanted And Enchanted: Luxe And Redux)
16. Shining Knight - Willy Rosario (Fabric Podcast: Episode 5)
17. Mind Your Own Business - Delta 5 (Disco Not Disco)*
18. Stockton to Malone - The YMD (This Is the Yeah Mos Def)*
19. Howling For Judy - Jeremy Steig (Droppin Science)*
20. Zeppelin - Fidgital (Departure)*
21. One Pure Thought - Hot Chip (Made In The Dark)*
22. Clown - Ssion (Fool's Gold)*
23. Merrymaking At My Place - Calvin Harris (I Created Disco)
24. In The Morning - Junior Boys (So This Is Goodbye)
25. Arguments - Robots in Disguise (Disguises)*
26. Comets - Fridge (The Sun)

I also wanted to again encourage everyone to check out the Fabric Podcast. It is a fabulous series of London's musical luminaries playing and describing tracks that have influenced their musical development. Check it out.

Tune in for Gregs show next week and make sure to also tune in the following week, the 28th, to hear Greg and guest Mishka Lysak hold an open and serious discuss climate change. There's been more than enough rhetoric, now its time to really get into the issue. Thanks for listening!

Thursday, February 7, 2008

February the Seventh Playlist

Hello Derby Fans,

Here's the list for today's show:

1. Right Away - Pattern is Movement*
2. La La La - Rough Skeletons*
3. Never More (Than Just Enough) - Two Lone Swordsmen
4. Side 2, Dangerous Match 4 - Scientist
5. De cigarro en cigarro - [I'm not sure who the artist is, the comp is called Cigar Music]
6. Black Sunrise - The Black Seeds
7. Biz Harmony - Biz Markie
8. Gotta Get Ridda Rick (James Pants Mix) - Baron Zen
9. Dans Ma Bulle - Shadow Lowee
10. Mahjongg - Problems*
11. Valor - Lucy Bland*
12. Heavens - Katy Stelmanis*
13. Under Pressure - Xiu Xiu*
14. The Spiderbite Song - Flaming Lips
15. Bird's Song - Jane Vain and the Dark Matter*
16. Dance Floor Drama - I Blame Robot*
17. Ashes - Soviet Sound Factory*
18. Wild Wind - Black Mountain
19. Beasts And Superbeasts - If I Was A House*
20. Don't Lose Control (Dance Version) - Material*
22. Impossible (Dan Deacon Remix - The Death Set
23. Narrowed Scope, Sharpened Knives - Tempo No Tempo*
24. Love No (Teenagers Cover) - Soko
25. Worms - The Presets
26. Adolescent (The Royalists Light Mix) - Dandi Wind
27. Jungle Dolls - Chris Joss*
28. Aw Ah Ah Ah - Dan Deacon
29. New York I Love You, But You're Bringing Me Down - LCD Soundsystem

I'm sorry that I haven't been listing the albums, I'll try starting next time. Thanks for listening, tune in for Greg's derby next week!

-Mark

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Daewon-o-rama! Set List for January 31, 2008



Howdy y'all - thanks for tuning in this morning. Sorry I wasn't as ranty as normal - I'm trying to fend off a virus, and have a bit of a scratchy throat. It'll be a friggin miracle if i make it through this year without getting sick (touch wood).

Here is a link to some Daewon Song videos on the DVS shoes website (check the first hand party video - that's the one that's set to the kinks' tune i played today - the echo commercial and the thrasher soty thing are also cool). Here's another cool Daweon link, with everything you never wanted to know about the guy. Here's a link to a cool band from Culver City, where Daewon grew up. This is getting a little like that old BBC show, connections.

Here's what you heard today if you tuned in:

1. when winter comes - rheostatics
2. picture book - the kinks
3. broke, bored, & sober - oh! the pretty things (playing at broken city tonight!)
4. a it mek - greg milka crowe*
5. mulata descolora - macaco*
6. miss you - the dynamics*
7. alir pukai - alir pukai stringband feat. bob brozman
8. curukurombo - curumin
9. augusta, angelica, & consolacao - tom ze
10. surya - zaman8 & hafez modir
11. brittania rules the waves - chris gheran*
12. fire house - beija flor*
13. yoyo bye bye - dump vs. why?*
14. taking turns - ruckus roboticus vs. skratchmatik*
15. karma hunters - pinker tones vs. mexican institute of sound*
16. t.i.b.w.f. - the budos band vs. hank shocklee*
17. mind your own business - delta5*
18. now a daze - shad*
19. on one/one - g+d*
20. saskatoon - dj vadim feat. young blood brass band*
21. i'll fly away - blind boys of alabama feat. the hot 8 brass band*

That's it for this week - thanks to everyone who tuned in. Lock on to cjsw 90.9 fm through the month of february for great programming to honour black history month. Also, make sure you tune into the soap box derby on valentine's day - apart from dusting off the eight-track, spritzing on a little of the ol' aqua-velva, turning on the lava lamp, and getting all isaac-hayes-y with y'all, I'll be joined by Mishka Lysack, a person in your neighbourhood who is working to engage calgarians in some real meaningful debate about climate change and climate change policy. Fire me an email if there's something you think Mishka and I should talk about.

Take care of yourselves, stay warm, and don't forget to tune in for Mark's show next week.

PEACE,
g

Thursday, January 24, 2008

January 24th Playlist

My First Post and Playlist! There will be more to come in the way of thoughts and info but for now I'll start with what I've played.

[Track] - [Artist] *On the CJSW playlist

Rolling Down the Hills - Glass Candy
I've Got Some Friends - Akron/Family
Rendering Equipment Tender - Barmitzvah Brothers*
Opposite Sides - The Epochs*
Bad Luck On Me - Derrick Morgan
Melody Life - Marcia Griffiths
A Love I Can Feel - Dennis Alcapone & John Holt
I Love Music - JT
Tropiikin Kuuma Huuma - Shogun Kunitoki
Central Cavern - Certain Breeds*
The Names Of All The Trees - Soso*
Debbie (U-Tern Mix) - Architecture In Helsinki
Amour Du Sol - Yelle
Fair Weather Friends - Daedelus*
Lovely Allen - Holy Fuck*
Already Gone - The Whitsundays*
Patience - Revolution 9*
The Birds - Beija Flor*
Fire Drill - The Ostrich*
Regent Park - Hollowphonic
Pluxus - Agent Tangent
Cornelius - Gum*
...Out Dream - Sleeping People*
Turn On - Fischerspooner
Going Nowhere - Cut Copy
I Wanna Be A Style Crusader (David E. Sugar Remix) - Big Face

Monday, January 21, 2008

ready... set... GO! ! ! !

Hi - and welcome to the infobahn home of the soapbox derby radio show. Check out www.cjsw.com for lots of information about the best damn campus and community radio station in the world.

This show is hosted by me (greg chernoff) and my pal mark shields, and takes the place of the much-loved and dearly-departed airport bison radio.

The show name encompasses two of my favourite pastimes: going fast down hills on rickety machines, and speaking my mind. If you want to engage in the cultural debate locally and globally, hear some good (i think) tunes and maybe a funny story or two (i've been known to ramble a bit), and while away the morning (or evening, or whatever time it is where you are) at a pretty agreeable pace, then i humbly suggest that you make a habit of tuning in every thursday.

Drop us a line if there's anything you'd like to contribute to the free speech flotilla that is - SOAP BOX DERBY! (Instructions for contacting us are over there --->)

PEACE,
g