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
Lionel Rault: Aimee Mann, “Save Me”
Top-drawer singing and songwriting from Aimee Mann: my introduction to her music — memorable!
Baba: Bob Snider, “How to Build a Fence”
Its simplicity is profound. It is just so, IT. And practical!
Oskar Zybart: Doug Hoyer, “New Recruit”
Doug Hoyer rings in the summer with new, mellow musings on the modern world and middle management for MOEKE Records.
*This song is not available on Spotify. Listen to it here.
Kodi Hutchinson: Donny McCaslin, “New York City (Bonus Track)”
Music from one of the most important saxophonists and band leaders on the jazz scene today. Donny McCaslin shows off the band that David Bowie used for his final recording, Blackstar. From his recent album, Beyond Now, recorded in honour of David Bowie just three months after his passing, the music demonstrates the fusion of jazz and pop at the highest level. Donny McCaslin will be performing in Alberta as part of the TD Edmonton International Jazz Festival on June 27th. www.edmontonjazz.com He will also be a special guest on A Time For Jazz on Saturday June 24th at 2 pm.
*This song is not available on Spotify.
Orest Soltykevich: Angele Dubeau & Pieta, ” If I Were a Rich Man”
It’s the famous song from the 1971 film, Fiddler on the Roof, which was adapted from the 1964 Broadway musical of the same name. The music was written by Jerry Bock. In 1965, he won a Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist. Fiddler on the Roof also won a Tony for Best Musical.
Terry David Mulligan: Georgie Fame, “Survival”
First, it’s Georgie Fame. Yes, he was part of the British Invasion in the mid-’60s, but never attained the fame of lesser bands and artists. Fame was far more interested in the roots of American jazz and blues. This cut is eight minutes long. It starts low and slow, but begins to slow boil halfway through, then explodes in a wave of horns and lifts to riff heaven. Goose bump city, my friends.
*This song is not available on Spotify. Listen to it here.
Allison Brock: Sam Baker, “Peace Out”
Sam’s brand new album, Land Of Doubt, was released on June 21, the summer solstice. Not a happy-go-lucky piece of summer fluff, the album really needs to be “listened” to in its entirety, like reading a novel. Hear “Peace Out” as a highlighted paragraph. Former CKUA CEO Ken Regan put it nicely in a tweet reply the other day: “…when I hear one of Sam’s songs, the lyrics are so well-crafted it’s like a little movie playing in my head”.
Monica Miller: Cold Specks aka Ladan Hussein, “Wild Card”
Initially, she held her identity close to her chest. Then, she revealed her given name. Now, she tells us that she is Somali-Canadian and that this new single was inspired by seeing her mother offer help to a newly-arrived Somali man, “a stranger from familiar place”. It’s lovely. Cold Specks plays the 2017 Interstellar Rodeo in Edmonton.
Tony King: Red Snapper, “Village Tap”
When you look at the cover for Red Snapper’s Hyena, from which this song is taken, the image says it all. Ready yourself for something that has deep grooves piping down through the African diaspora, but wait, this soulful melange would also find a worthy companion in DJ Shadow and contemporary downtempo sounds. Perhaps this ability to avoid a label is what makes Red Snapper’s music all the more appealing!
Lisa Wilton: The Verve, “Sonnet”
This year marks the 20th (!!) anniversary of The Verve’s excellent Urban Hymns album. Released at the height of Britpop, Urban Hymns has aged better than many other albums in that genre. Case in point, “Sonnet”. Though not as anthemic as “Bittersweet Symphony” or “Lucky Man”, there’s a quiet power to “Sonnet”. Plus, there were few better lead singers during that era than Richard Ashcroft — at least in my humble opinion.
Mark Antonelli: Philadelphia Orchestra, Aaron Copland: “Billy The Kid: Suite: Mexican Dance & Finale”
This recording is the very first classical piece I heard outside of a Bugs Bunny cartoon. I was eight years old. My father had one of those massive, component stereo systems. I also remember the front cover: a strange hybrid of ballet dancer and gun. Not only did I hear classical music but also a couple of well-known cowboy tunes Copland used in the score: “Git Along Little Dogies” and “Goodbye Old Paint”. Whenever I hear the music, the cowboy tunes rattle around in my head for hours on end! “Billy The Kid” remains one of my favourite pieces of music.
Amy Van Keeken: Iron & Wine, “Call It Dreaming”
New, dreamy single from Sam Beam and Co., aka Iron & Wine. I saw him at the Edmonton Folk Festival one year. This song brings back memories of sitting at one of the side stages on a beautiful, summer day, surrounded by friends and folk fest folk (friends!) listening to him sing and share his songwriting craft with us. “Beast Epic” releases this August 25.
Dianne Donovan: Marvin Gaye, “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)”
Just one of the amazing songs from what is arguably the greatest album of all time, What’s Going On. The album is timeless. This song, in particular, resonates perhaps even more today than when it was released in 1971. It was Marvin Gaye’s vision: he produced it and he also played numerous instruments. Berry Gordy passed on it — his loss was our gain.
Grant Stovel: The Band, “Time to Kill”
I can’t help but think of this song each year when the first, gloriously carefree days of summer come around: “And we’ve got time to kill, what a thrill, June and July.” Happy summer, friends!
David Ward: Broken Social Scene, “Skyline”
The seven-year drought is almost over. The new album, Hug Of Thunder, is now only days away from release. If the rest of the album is this energetic and rich, then it will become an important part of our soundtrack for the summer of 2017.