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
Lisa Wilton: Peter & The Wolves , “Hot Foot Woman”
A little boogie-woogie piano here, some rockabilly flair there. “Hot Foot Woman” is one of my favourite tracks on Howlin’ and Prowlin’, the latest album from Calgary’s Peter & The Wolves. It’s a fun, exuberant throwback to 1950’s rock ‘n’ roll that will definitely make you want to take up swing dancing. It’s no surprise these guys were invited back to one of the biggest, if not the biggest rockabilly festival in the world, Viva Las Vegas, this year.
Orest Soltykevych: Deanna Witkowski, “Prelude in E Minor (op 28 no. 4)” by Frederic Chopin
Frederic Chopin published his Opus 28 set of 24 preludes in 1840. He created a prelude for each of the 24 keys: 12 major keys and 12 minor keys. Here is one of the better known of these preludes, arranged and performed by an American jazz pianist.
Baba: Loreena McKennitt, “Sun, Moon And Stars”
Loreena McKennitt is a national treasure, her music is so wide ranging, yet so is her brand. This instrumental song’s got flavours of Celtic and Arabic along with original touches.
Amy van Keeken: Damien Jurado, “Allocate”
Damien Jurado released a new album, The Horizon Just Laughed, on May 4th. “Allocate” is the opening track. Gentle, understated with his trademark languid vocals, the song grooves along softly, taking you on a beautiful sonic ride. Some lovely strings perch above the mix complimenting the organ pads grounding everything.
Grant Stovel: Jennifer Castle, “Texas”
Ontario singer-songwriter, Jennifer Castle, says it was a sad confluence of events that inspired the writing of this new record. On the very day that she began to read “The Year of Magical Thinking”, Joan Didion’s groundbreaking book on death and grieving, Jennifer`s beloved dog, Ribbon, was hit by a car and died. So, it’s a heavy record. Themes of death, loss, and mourning run throughout. And yet, somehow, it`s quite an amazingly-uplifting album. Maybe it’s because she and her band banged out these ten songs live-off-the-floor over the course of a single weekend at a rural church-turned-recording-studio. Their performances really imbue the tracks with great verve and passion. Or maybe it’s because this is really a collection of songs about life and how to enjoy it. It’s so very beautiful and moving.
Try to keep it together through “Texas”, a song about Ribbon’s death and Jennifer’s grandmother. But if you don’t, that’s okay.
Kodi Hutchinson: Kent Sangster, “In The Moment “
Great JUNO-nominated ensemble from Edmonton showing how diverse jazz can be!