Every week, CKUA’s hosts submit their songs for our weekly House Blend playlist: an exciting new release, a beloved classic or just an old personal favourite. We mix it all together to create a sonic concoction that’ll help kick off your week. Check out what’s on this week’s playlist.
The Playlist
The Picks
Orest Soltykevych: Bryn Terfel, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Paul Bateman, “If I Were a Rich Man”
Welsh-born Bryn Terfel is one of the world’s top bass-baritones. He has a dozen recordings to his name, and in 2013 he won a Grammy for his performance in a recording of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. This famous song is from the 1964 Broadway hit, Fiddler on the Roof, which was the first musical theatre run in history to surpass 3,000 performances.
Baba: Lee Harvey Osmond, “Forty Light Years”
Tom Wilson’s Lee Harvey Osmond keeps getting finer in their art and act. It is a personal journey for Tom Wilson, a journey of discovery. This is brand-new single from an upcoming album, Mohawk. “Forty Light Years” is a “cannonball prayer straight to my mother’s longing heart,” says Tom Wilson.
Meg Wilcox: Maggie Rogers, “Light On”
I’m waiting with bated breath for Maggie Rogers’ album debut, Heard It In A Past Life, which will be out January 18, 2019. Here’s something to enjoy in the meantime.
Lark Clark: Tri-Continental, “Stackerlee”
Classic straight-ahead blues from three great Canadian guitarists.
Grant Stovel: Sarah Harmer, “Just Get Here”
How inspirational is the poetry of the late Al Purdy? Well, this new all-star musical tribute to Purdy features contributions from Purdy fans like Gord Downie, Leonard Cohen and Bruce Cockburn. And although Sarah Harmer hasn’t released a new record in nearly a decade (!), she chimes in for this compilation, Al Purdy Was Here, with a beautifully inviting new song. “Just Get Here” was inspired both by Purdy’s poetry, and by accounts of his rural Ontario A-Frame house, which served as a hangout and creative hotbed for his fellow writers for many years.
Amy van Keeken: Ex Hex, “Cosmic Cave”
The first single from the long-awaited sophomore album by Ex Hex. It’s Real is out March 22 on Merge Records. Mary Timony, Betsy Wright and Laura Harris are Ex Hex. “Cosmic Cave” is catchy-crunchy-goodness topped with Timony’s killer vocals.
Hayley Muir: Mattiel, “Baby Brother”
Soulful bass, vintage brassy horns, a healthy dose of sha-la-la’s and the incredible voice of Mattiel Brown come together for a perfect two minutes twenty-two seconds. Mattiel draws from a lot of different genres across her debut solo record, but “Baby Brother” pulls a retro vibe into the modern day. She’s a graphic designer-illustrator turned songwriter. She is turning her keen eye for aesthetics from the visual realm to sound and it’s working very, very well for her.
Matt Masters: Harry Manx, “Summertime”
On his album, Faith Lift, Harry Manx overlaps the Hindustani death melody, the Gurjari todi, with Gershwin’s “Summertime.” It’s a pairing Gershwin couldn’t have imagined but it fits perfectly, in keeping with Manx’s tradition of deftly weaving eastern and western sounds.
Lionel Rault: Billy Joel, “The River of Dreams”
A Grammy-award-winning song from the 1993 album of the same name. It hints at heretofore unguessed-at depths of Billy Joel and his music.