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: The English BeatI “Confess”
Musically, it’s a bouncy, fun, danceable track. The lyrics, however, add some levity to this brilliant 1982 song from Dave Wakeling and The English Beat. One of the best songs from the legendary British ska band.
Lionel Rault: Mudcrutch “Dreams of Flying”
Tom Petty’s last record project: a sentimental journey back to the friends and music that shaped his stellar career — a wistful but toe-tapping track from Tom’s pre-Heartbreakers’ crew.
Lark Clark– Abbey Lincoln, “Learning How To Listen”
Abbey recorded this song at age 77 after a lifetime career in jazz, movies, and civil rights activism.
Baba: Pink Floyd, “Wish You Were Here”
Pink Floyd’s even darker 1975 follow-up to The Dark Side of the Moon, the title track has great understated production and profound lyrics questioning the reality we accept as normal.
Grant Stovel: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings “Matter of Time”
Sharon broke a lot of hearts when she died last year, but she left her fans this one last gift: she’d completed work on a new album that’s set to be released next month. “Matter of Time” is the uplifting advance single from Sharon’s final album, The Soul of a Woman.
Monica Miller: Little Miss Higgins, “Put The Needle On”
Yay! Jolene Higgins is back and sounding fabulous. In this song, she extols the virtues of vinyl. She brought her new album, My Home, My Heart, to Alberta this week
David Ward: Dhani Harrison, “All About Waiting”
There’s something in the relentless forward motion of this song and the hypnotic refrain of “not like it used to be” that keeps me pressing the repeat button.
Baba: Alt-J, “Lovely Day (Hidden Track)”
First; just the discovery that there’s this ‘hidden track’, not studio chatter or some acoustic jam, a real song! Secondly; it is Bill Withers’ song, covered.
Tony King: Sky Ferreira, “Easy”
The Baby Driver soundtrack continues to knock me out. Guess I’m not the only one, as Finn Wolfhard also has it in his collection. Who is Finn Wolfhard you may ask? He’s that brilliant 14-year-old Canadian actor from Stranger Things. He also plays in an indie rock band and counts himself among the many who are fans of Mac DeMarco. Sky Ferreira’s version of the Commodores’ “Easy” is just dark enough to add a little edge to what could be a cheesy cover — and check out that guitar solo!