Alternative Airwaves

#42 - NHL All-Star Weekend

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:18:36 PST

It's the NHL All-Star weekend here in Ottawa, and I am excited! I don't normally worry very much about things like making sure I record the skills competition if I'm going to be out for the night (like tonight), or getting HD for this very occasion, but it's in my home town and I have been waiting for this for a long time. Too long. Lots of great music today, plus some All-Star trivia! (Trivia courtesy Liam McGuire/Slam Sports)

Brad Sucks - Making Me Nervous (I Don't Know What I'm Doing, 2003) - Website
Emerald Park - Things (Single, 2012) - Bandcamp
Terrace - Love Dub (Pollen, 2011) - Bandcamp
Frostwire Feature: The Please & Thank-Yous - Dear Allie (Mind Yr P's & Q's, 2010) - Bandcamp
Emily Baker - House of Cards (House of Cards, 2011) - Bandcamp
Phoenix Imago - Someone I Can Be Alone With (Respect, 2012) - Website
Martina Matwiejczuk - Give Me A Reason (Extended Play, 2011) - Bandcamp
Marvin Gaye - Got to Give It Up, Part 1 (Gigamesh Edit) [2011] - Bandcamp
MUTE - Cry (10 A.M., 2012) - Blocsonic | Facebook | Tha Silent Partner | Formula

Weekly Airwave #24 :: Barrence Whitfield and the Savages : Ship Sailed at Six

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:13:07 PST

ARTIST: Barrence Whitfield and the Savages (http://www.barrencewhitfield.com)
TRACK: Ship Sailed at Six
ALBUM: Live on WFMU's Cherry Clossom Clinic, Dec 3rd, 2011

Review: Kellee Maize - Integration (2011)

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 07:30:05 PST

Two years ago, Kellee Maize released her album Aligned Archetype, which has been downloaded over 400,000 times according to her website. That album also received several accolades, but more importantly, was well-received by fans of the music: Maize was the #1 most downloaded artist on amazon.com, frostwire.com, and the #1 Google search result for "female rapper".

Her follow-up album, 2011's Integration, is no different: it is definitely a success. I can't find any download numbers, but suffice it to say, it's insanely popular. And from what I've heard, that's no surprise - Integration is, by all accounts, a fantastic hip hop album.

Maize leads off the album with what I believe is its strongest track: "Mad Humans". The corresponding video is a treat to watch - I believe it is an homage to the TV show Mad Men, from what I remember. I don't want to try to analyze the lyrics, because I'd do a horrible job, but I believe "Mad Humans" talks about the oppression of women in society. Don't quote me on that, please.

While that is what I consider to be the "strongest" track, it speaks volumes about the quality of the album when I don't even deem it my favourite. That honour goes to "The Fact Is", a neat little track 5 songs in. The rest of the album is energetic and a treat to listen to. I wish I was a better music reviewer, so that I could actually say even nicer things about it. I guess what you need to take from this is that I really liked the album, and I'd give it a 5 out of 5 stars. Definitely download it!

It's a wonder that Maize continues to release her albums for free - I am positive she would make a killing because her fans definitely would buy her music. I know I would! It just goes to show - she's doing this for the love of the music.

Oh, and I mentioned that Maize has a cool video for "Mad Humans"; in fact, she has a lot of videos for several songs from Integration. The production is always high quality stuff, and worth checking out. Here's the "Mad Humans" video:

Weekly Airwave #23 :: Silver Rocket : Failure and Disaster

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:42:17 PST

ARTIST: Silver Rocket (http://www.silverrocket.net)
TRACK: Failure and Disaster
ALBUM: Old Fashioned

#41 - Big Wilson River, We Used to Exist, MUTE

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:21:19 PST

The first podcast of 2012! I switched things up a bit from the last regular podcast, and I think things will continue this way for a while. I mention in the podcast that I'm going to try to throw a few more features from time to time; but more on that another time. Enjoy for now!

Big Wilson River - Dandelion - Bandcamp | Facebook page
Keep Tidy - Goochie Main - Website | Facebook | Twitter
Keep Tidy - Simpsons Quotes
City of Glass - Sticks and Stones - Website | Bandcamp | Twitter | Facebook | iTunes
We Used to Exist - Someone is Calling Me - Website | Bandcamp | Facebook
MUTE - When the Chips Are Down - Blocsonic | Facebook | Tha Silent Partner | Formula
Brad Sucks & The HipCola - SOS - Brad Sucks | The HipCola

Weekly Airwave #22 :: R9 : LoveMeHateMe

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:32:16 PST

ARTIST: R9
TRACK: LoveMeHateMe
ALBUM: The Sounds of Region 9
GENRE: Pop

New Feature (sort of) (not really)

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:05:50 PST

I made a vague mention of this on Twitter today: all of a sudden, I felt overcome with a feeling of excitement and enthusiasm for the blog/podcast for 2012. Basically, as per my resolution, I want to try some new things in an effort to bring some more unique content, instead of offering up a bland "Here are some songs I liked" mixtape.

So I bring you a (sort of) new(ish) feature: Songs I Like From the FMA. Here's why I'm doing it: I find that most songs available at the FMA are - while enjoyable - live recordings, which I don't tend to throw in my listening loop very often. You see, the songs I pick for the podcast are generally songs that I will be happy to have show up when I put my iPod on shuffle.

Plus, sometimes I get confused by the wording of the FMA licenses - particularly with the stuff curated by CBC Radio 3. While I highly doubt that the CBC is going to come after me for playing one of their uploaded songs in a podcast, I usually try to stay on the legal side of things. So I will be making random posts throughout 2012 highlighting some of the songs I've found on the FMA that I enjoyed, but did not see fit to include them in a podcast (although some of these might wind up in a podcast).

We'll start with an offering from Hey Rosetta, and a live performance of their most excellent song, "Yer Spring" from Seeds (2011). I'd love to give you some more information on the performance itself, such as where and when this took place, but the page is unusually bare.

Hey Rosetta is one of those bands where I have to really be in the mood to listen to them, or else I only enjoy blasting one or two of their songs while driving in the car. I'm very choosey, but "Yer Spring" is one of those few songs that sticks with me.

"Yer Spring" is available for free download over at the Free Music Archive. Please note, there may be some strong language in this song so if you have sensitive ears nearby, please plug them at your discretion.

New Year's Resolutions

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:52:07 PST

Only 5 days late - which I think is acceptable.

I asked on Twitter if anybody had any New Year's Resolutions. Resolutions are not a thing I do very often, because it seems that they are at the same time either somewhat useful or somewhat silly - I'm on the fence, essentially.

However, I think they will be useful to give me some focus for the podcast this year. So here are my resolutions for 2012 for the podcast:

1) Make the podcast more than a playlist with talking by creating more unique content - interviews, more research, etc. This is probably the hardest one for me, but I will endeavour to do my best with this.
2) Find music outside of FrostWire and Jamendo. Not really difficult to do, and somewhat related with #1.
3) Keep to a schedule; honestly, this is the most difficult thing for me.

Three seems like a decent number. Here's to 2012!

#40 - New Year's Eve

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 11:56:02 PST

Unfortunately, no special podcast planned - just a list of songs I haven't played in a long time. It's also a short podcast, clocking in at under 25 minutes!

Rock Creek Ramblers - Anchortown
The Dead Rocks - Sonic Stars
Singleton - Before the Rain
Ward Bones - Island of Bones
Catfish Haven - Please Come Back
Studebaker's Blacksmith Shop - Wings
The Destroyed Room - It's All Happening Now
Brad Sucks - Bad Attraction

#39 - The Penultimate Edition

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 12:24:10 PST

Penultimate in the sense that this is the second-last podcast for 2011! I have some new tracks from 2011 (plus one FROM THE FUTURE aka January 2012 release from AF Music), and some more favourites from 2011 podcasts. I'm still undecided re: what to do for the December 31st podcast, but I have a couple of weeks to figure that out. Here's the playlist!

The Ugly Club - Visions Part II (Visions of a Tall Girl EP)
Fine Young Firecrackers - Landslide (From the Ground Up)
Tin Armor - Just So I Know It (Life of Abundance)
The Julys - Springsteen (The Julys)
The White Soots - If I Go (The White Soots)
Hot Fiction - Start it Off (Dark Room)
Sick of Sarah - Overexposure (2205)
When I Was 12 - Vanilla Vodka
Swear and Shake - The Promise (Extended Play)
Silver Rocket - That's Life (Frank Sinatra Cover - Old Fashioned, 2012 Release)

Weekly Airwave #21 :: Snowy O. McSnowerson : Feliz Navidad

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:45:50 PST

ARTIST: Snowy O. McSnowerson and the Oh So Snowly Snowers
TRACK: Feliz Navidad
ALBUM: Thee Christmas Mix Tape 2010

Weekly Airwave #21 :: Lóngtrigger : Get Up

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:45:01 PST

ARTIST: Lóngtrigger
Track: Get Up
Album: Superstar [2009]

#38 - Looking Forward, Looking Back

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 09:33:12 PST

Welcome to the first of the last two podcasts for 2011! Lots of great stuff this week, with new releases in the first segment and the last segment filled with some of my old favourites from 2011. Plus, a special timely cover to end off the podcast. On with the show!

Segment 1 - New Releases

Winter Severity Index - "The Wiser" (Winter Severity Index EP, Dec 9 2011)
Rozwell Kid - "Rocket" (The Rozwell Kid LP, Sept 5 2011)
CABAU Philippe - "Thsoe Reporters" (Just For You, Nov 30 2011)
Boy Things - "Dirty Dancing" (Boy Things EP, Oct 14 2011)

Segment 2 - Looking Back

The Easton Ellises - "Endorphin" (EP One)
Mouth's Cradle - "Front Porch, Back Porch"
Ellus Bellus - "Sticks, Stones and My Bones"
Sliimy - "Womanizer" (Britney Spears cover)

Weekly Airwave #20 :: NYCO: Out of My Head

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:25:16 PST

ARTIST: NYCO
TRACK: Out of My Head
ALBUM: Realize PPO

Neat pop tune I discovered on the Jamendo Pop/Singer/Songwriter radio station.

#37 - Battling Back a Cold

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 13:36:39 PST

Welcome to another podcast! I was afraid I might not be able to talk as much for this episode because of a cold, but luckily it subsided long enough so that I wasn't interrupted every few seconds by coughing. The new release section is a bit light on music, but overall there's some great stuff this week.

Section 1 - New Releases
Praverb the Wyse - Blue Collar (feat. Don Streat) from Professional Hobbyist (Oct 15/2011)

Painted on Silent Blue - Jealosy from This Could be Just One of Those Silly Dreams (Nov 11/2011)

Amanda Palmer - Ukulele Anthem single (Oct 31/2011)

Malones - Bandera from Capitulo #1 (Oct 11/2011)

Section 2
Bloody Lovely Audry - See Me from Animal EP (Jul 16/2010)

Captain Stu - Siamese Twin from Free Music EP (Jun 6/2010)

Five Minutes On: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (2008, Tor Books)
Awards won: 2009 White Pine Award, 2009 Prometheus Award, 2009 John W. Campbell Memorial Award; nominated for Hugo Award for Best Novel (Neil Gaiman won for The Graveyard Book in 2009). For instructions on how to make things from Little Brother, see http://www.instructables.com/member/w1n5t0n/

frontRegen - Dead Corner from That Dance EP (Aug 28/2011)

Busby Marou - Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper cover)

New Releases - Week of November 15, 2011

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:38:41 PST

Sorry for the late post, but I was sick yesterday and had a busy weekend. Excuses portion over now, here's what's new this week (and since last week):

Empathie by Rebentisch - November 11, 2011 - From German label afmusic, this is - err, well, an interesting release. Afmusic is known mostly for goth-influenced music, and that's no different here.

Pray for Rain by Mutts - November 8, 2011 - Bluesy band Mutts have a new CD out called Pray For Rain; it's available to purchase now, but apparently it will be available for free/pay-what-you-can download December 13th, 2011. Keep an eye on this band.

PrixQuills by Ram Hoss - November 9, 2011 - Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based artist Ram Hoss has released an electronic-y album via netlabel 23 Seconds. Only 7 tracks / 20 minutes long, this is actually a side project from band Azeda Booth.

That's all I have for now - as I mentioned before it's hard to find new release schedules from most netlabels.

New Releases - Week of November 8, 2011

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 07:00:25 PST

Welcome to a new blog feature! This one is actually quite simple - it's just a run-down of new releases scheduled for the week. I'm not covering anything released on Jamendo because it's not scheduled...they kind of just pop up unexpectedly.

Here's what you can expect for the week of November 8th, 2011:

Beyond Time & Space - Selknam Records Compilation - November 7th, 2011 - Okay, bit of a cheat, but the well was a little dry for tracking down new releases from various netlabels. Selknam Records is a new label, focusing on "progressive psytrance" - whatever that is. Check out more releases at Ektoplazm.

Jorge Saxon - Something Like Jazz (PHONOcast 1) - November 7th, 2011 - I sense a theme here, and that theme is "maybe I should say week of November 7th". This release comes from Good Netlabels, which specializes in Nujazz, Downtempo, and Hip-Hop. Something Like Jazz looks like it has a little of all of those genres mixed in there. Check out similar releases from Good Netlabels.

Joe Frawley - Curious Perspectives - November 8th, 2011 - This is an interesting-sounding album. It's a solo piano effort from the Clinical Archives netlabel by New London, Connecticut pianist Joe Frawley. The description from Clinical Archives says it's an homage to French mathmatician and painter Jean François Niceron. Too much detail to go in here, but suffice it to say his work was all about geometrically distorting images to create something new. Sounds neat! Check out more releases from Clinical Archives.

Dustmotes - None For The Crow EP - November 2nd, 2011 - This offering is from Dusted Wax Kingdom, and the album is described as "a magical ambient, lo-fi, abstract hip-hop sound-therapy medicine, boosting the spiritual energy and turning the state of mind in a lovely hypnotic reverie." Check it out! Hat tip to Blocsonic for sending this my way on Twitter.

That's all I have this week. There was a Blocsonic release scheduled, unfortunately there were some technical difficulties involved and it's delayed until next week. I'm going to try and collect more new releases for next week well before Monday so that I have a better list next Tuesday. Enjoy for now!

#36 - New Hip Hop and New Features

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 08:39:27 PDT

Podcast 36 features lots of new hip hop, plus a new feature debuting! It's called "Five Minutes On" and this week is reviewing His Girl Friday (1940). Plus there's a new theme (based on TenPenny Joke's song "Sense"), and a few new elements thrown in that may or may not have come across properly. At any rate, I fixed the microphone problem from #35. Here's the playlist!

Kellee Maize - Mad Humans (Integration)

Download Integration for FREE from FrostWire

Garmisch - Rent (The EPs XE) [4:04]

BADLUCK - Got Hits (Renaissance 2011) [7:15]

Praverb the Wyse - Everlasting Struggle (The Professional Hobbyist) [9:43]

Go to Praverb's website to pick your favourite song from Professional Hobbyist!

The Bear Season - Trainwreck (If We Sink Together EP) [14:41]

Bearstronaut - Sensual Sanctuary (Satisfied Violence)[18:15]

Five Minutes On: His Girl Friday (1940) [23:58]

Lorenzo's Music - Intro (Solamentes Tres Polabras) [29:02]

Lorenzo's Music - I'm Doin' Fine (Solamentes Tres Polabras) [29:23]

The Bear Season - Just Dance [34:03]

* Notes: Check out http://freealbums.blogsome.com/ to take a look at older Free Albums Galore posts

Weekly Airwave #19 :: Conway Hambone : Thrift Store Twist

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:00:06 PDT

ARTIST: Conway Hambone
TRACK: Thrift Store Twist
ALBUM: H-BONE-RE-ISSUE-ROCK

Info In Brief: Conway Hambone plays some cool retro rock; Thrift Store Twist is some great surf rock, and perfect for an evening drive down the highway.

Weekly Airwave #18 :: Lorenzo's Music : Went Your Way

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 10:00:04 PDT

Original Air Date: Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
NOTE: Support CKCU! Pledge now at http://www.ckcufm.com/

ARTIST: Lorenzo's Music
TRACK: Went Your Way
ALBUM: Solamente Tres Polabras

Info in Brief: This track was chosen for two reasons: 1) It sounded really cool, 2) it sounds a lot like Hawksley Workman. "Solamente Tres Polabras" was released in 2005, published to Jamendo in 2009.

#35 - October 22, 2011

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 08:02:15 PDT

No fancy title today, my mind was a little blanked. A couple of notes for this episode before you listen: one, I was trying a new method of recording (that ended up being much less convoluted), so there are going to be a couple of hiccups here and there - especially at the beginning, where my voice is overpowered by the music. Woops! Two, because of the microphone I have and the method I used, my mic had to be on at all times, so there may be some background noises throughout the podcast. As I warned on Twitter, my dog probably makes a frequent appearance in the first segment.

Now that's out of the way, onto the show notes!

Intro

- Tab the Dead Poet - RubixBox (0:00:10)
- From Tab & A.U.R.C: Grayscale Ballads {EP} released October 19, 2011
Segment 1 - New Releases
- Principe Valiente - In My Arms (0:03:45)
- From the debut album Principe Valiente released October 21, 2011; preview at MySpace
- M!R!M! - No Way (0:07:57)
- From It's Not Enough Anymore EP, released October 14, 2011
- Tobias Borelius - Billy (0:13:22)
- From Du känner mig för väl, farväl, released October 8, 2011
- Sean Wright - Glint of Light (0:16:04)
- New single Glint of Light released October 9, 2011
- The Art Punk Band - I Can't Complain (0:20:42)
- From Three Fishermen, released October 18, 2011

Segment 2 - Relaxo-Time

- Tokyo Police Club - Party in the USA (excerpt) (0:23:47)
- From the 10 Days, 10 Covers, 10 Years album
- Brittani Louise Taylor - Everything's Gonna Be Okay (0:24:58)
- Cover/Single ** No longer available on Jamendo
- Robin Grey - The Winter Blues (0:28:11)
- From the album I Love Leonard Cohen, available at Jamendo.com
- InAshton - It's OK...It's OK (0:33:13)
- From RED album; new video can be found on YouTube
- First Rate People - Summer Job (0:36:24)
- From Someone Else Can Make a Work of Art EP

Wrap-up

- Uniform Motion - An Island (0:40:57)
- From One Frame Per Second

InAshton - It's Ok...It's Ok Official Video

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:00:03 PDT

Just thought I'd pass along a cool video; I'm sure you know I've talked about InAshton plenty of times before. Well, they just released their official video for their song "It's Ok...It's Ok", and it's a really darn good video! It's professionally done, and looks really cool.

Well, here it is!

Weekly Airwave #17 :: Fresh Body Shop : Losing Control

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:00:04 PDT

Artist: Fresh Body Shop
Track: Losing Control
Album: Bring Me Down (Released March 2011)
Genre: Rock / Electronic

Info in Brief: Fresh Body Shop is based in France, and have released a staggering 9 albums on Jamendo.com, all under a Creative Commons license. They're extremely popular on that website, and are frequently featured in the Top 100 tracks week to week. I liked the sounds in this track, and the vocals reminded me a little of Finger Eleven. Check it out! Also, their most popular track is "The Middle Line", which features a lot more electronic sounds than this one; it's worth a listen to experience their varying sounds from album-to-album.

Weekly Airwave #16 :: I Am Not Lefthanded : The Place That Won't Take Me Back

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 19:20:57 PDT

Sorry about the late Weekly Airwave! Unfortunately, due to a Thanksgiving weekend trip I took I wasn't able to record the Airwave this week. However, I still chose an awesome track for you, and it deserves a post just the same.

ARTIST: I Am Not Lefthanded
TRACK: The Place That Won't Take Me Back
ALBUM: Time To Leave EP
GENRE: Indie / Alternative

Info in Brief: They're playing three shows in Toronto this week as part of IndieWeek: Thursday at The Peacock, Friday at The Hideout as part of the Irish Showcase, and Saturday at Czehoski (your guess is as good as mine for pronounciation...maybe like Czech Republic?). All shows are All Ages, get more details at http://www.iamnotlefthanded.com or http://www.indieweek.com.

#34 - New Format, Same Struggles

altairwaves@gmail.com (Stephen Gower) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:00:00 PDT

Well, the debut of a new podcast format did not come without its stumbles. It's still very much a work in progress, and I can only improve from here. I apologize for the poor mic quality - that's also something I need to fix again. Some great music this week though, so click away and listen! Here are the show notes!

Intro
- Paper Plane Pilots - Places (0:13:00)
Segment 1 - New Releases
- The Open Up and Bleeds - I Don't Wanna Die (Anymore) (0:03:51)
   - An Act of Love and Violence was released October 4th, 2011
- Bernie Bandicoot - Positive (0:06:28)
   - Lorraine was released October 4th, 2011
- Professor Kliq - Bollywood Blades (0:11:23)
   - from Blocsonic's netBloc 34 released September 27th 2011)
Segment 2 - Honourable Mentions
- The Morning Light Project - Slicer (0:16:08)
   - From the album Interface
+ Mentioned latest FrostWire promo for Azoora and Gracielita from the 23 Seconds netlabel- Tsars - Intro / Whispers (0:19:58)
   - From the Whispers EP, released August 8 2011
- Derek Klegg - Be Free (0:25:34)
   - From the album Across Town, released September 2, 2011
Wrap-up
+ mentioned Start Your Own Rebellion Mixtape
- Charles Hurts - Guess Again (0:30:15)
   - From the Tough Love Records compilation Young & Research II; hear more music from Charles Hurts   on Myspace

With exception to Charles Hurts' "Guess Again", all tracks are licensed via Creative Commons.