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Chris Kelly
Let us travel across the Salish Sea to the land of glass condo towers and Lululemon pants…. Vancouver.

Chris Kelly is a radio producer at the CBC.  He puts together the sketch comedy show This is That and he also shows up on CBC 3.

His new record is called Company Man.  Quality, fun, bar rock.  Though I did not hear one song (yet) that might break-through, the whole record is good.  I don’t think there is one throw away or half-baked cut on the record.

The record was produced by Kurt Dahle (Age of Electric, Limblifter, The New Pornographers).   The female vocals come from Ashleigh Ball (Hey Ocean) and Louise Burns (Lillix).

Here are a few songs that I liked.

and the DJ always saves the slowest song for last… this song is about Chris and his father making the trip to Newfoundland for his Grandfather’s funeral.

Go with yourself.

Mikal Cronin

They call it garage revival?  Today I was reading Spin and they were talking about some bro playing with the fuzz and the distortion peddle and I thought… I better hit play on that.

The man’s name is Mikal Cronin. His record MCII is out on May 7th on Merge records.

That song is pretty groovy.  I searched on Soundcloud to see if he had anything else going on and found this lo-fi beauty.

The note about this song says, “a greg oblivian & the tip tops cover!”

Go with yourself.

photo(1)
How good was Hannah Georgas last night at Upstairs Cabaret in Victoria, BC?

Before the amazing concert, she stopped by the Radio Factory to make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck with THIS!

We also had a chance to have an interview…. here it is.

We talk about the songs “Shortie,” “Somebody” and “Enemies.”  Her time as a UVic student partying at the club formally called The Red Jacket.  She talks about calling her sister to get inspired to write a song and leaving it all behind for 8 days to create on Salt Spring Island.

The Zone Afternoon Show Promo

Go with yourself.

hannah georgas
Just stop talking for three minutes and forty-six seconds and listen to this!

You know what’s crazy….  its possible that Hannah Georgas was at The National show at Richards on Richards in 2007, and I was at the show.  whoa.

Now I’m not saying the song is about me, but it probably is, whatever.  I’ve moved past it.

I want to believe.  Go with yourself.

Black Mountain rollercoaster
Popped into Ditch Records yesterday morning before coming into the Radio Factory.  Picked up the John Denver Tribute record and the 33 1/3 series book on Let It Be.

They had some groovy on the store stereo… I asked the dude wearing the Vancouver Grizzlies hat what it was… Black Mountain!  Of course.

The band is currently on their Queso or Death Tour…I had to track down their most recent single, 2012’s “Mary Lou” from the Year Zero surf film soundtrack (which their label calls a “45-minute acid tab of music.”)  and for good measure, 2011’s “Rollercoaster.”

Will there be some new music from Black Mountain soon? That would be cool.

Go with yourself.

Junip-Your-Life-Your-Call-608x608

I have the new Junip single “Your Life, Your Call” on repeat today.  Such a pretty song.  Junip is a Swedish band that feature Jose Gonzales.  We know and love him from his amazing solo covers, which include an excellent spin on The Knife’s “Hearbeats.”

The new Junip record is self titled and the reviews are generally positive.

I never really gave much thought till I hit go on “Your Life, Your Call.”  Its a pretty simple song, but just wormed right into my brain and captured my imagination.

Go with yourself.

metric-rfcover-web
Neat.  Yesterday we talked about Blondfire’s “Where the Kids Are” and I compared them to Metric.  Check the gmail today…and I got a Metric remix from Ron Flieger.

“Stadium Love” was a big radio song on The Zone in Victoria.  I am sure this remix will show up on Boitano’s Friday Mixtape.

“Every living thing, pushed into the ring. Fight it out to wow the crowd!”

Its a dance song, but its about the environment, maaaaaaan.

Go with yourself.

Blondfire

Yesterday when Family of the Year were in studio, Christina spotted a poster with Mother Mother on it.  She remarked, “I know those guys… they toured the US with our good friends Blondfire! (and Awolnation)”

Blondfire are a popular band in the US… we don’t play them on The Zone and I don’t think they get many spins in Canada.  I’d liken their style to Metric.  If you like Metric, well, there is more of that for you.

Rolling into the Radio Factory today, I got a message from the Lucky Basstarts out of Germany.  They have a remix of the Blondfire single “Where the Kids Are.”  With the weather turning sunny and warm in the Rain Forest Kingdom…this song fits with the patio sips of Vic Fest Beer!

“All roads leave Kansas.”  Hey Blondfire, I live on an Island….

Go with yourself.

Head of the Herd
CFOX Seeds winners and Vancouver neo-blues rockers Head of The Herd came by The Zone on Monday to spread the gospel on their single “By This Time Tomorrow.”

They set up in the studio and also performed a cover song for us.  The song is a Shel Silverstein called “25 Minutes to Go.” The song was made famous by Johnny Cash on his At Folsom Prison record.

Go with yourself.

Family-of-the-Year-Loma-Vista
Wow, last night Family of the Year dominated at Upstairs Cabaret.  An amazing set of high energy, positive, and fun music.

Before the LA band crushed the Bastion Square nightclub… they stopped by the Radio Factory for a chit chat and live performance. Joe, Christina, and James played “Buried” and their radio hit “Hero.”

Family of the Year just started their Canadian tour, last night was night one in Victoria.  Tonight they are in Vancouver, then Edmonton, Calgary and so on.  GO TO THE SHOW.

Go with yourself!