I created another product to help teachers and parents during the current Teachers’ Strike raging in British Columbia right now.
From the makers of the Pit-hole & Daycare. and the Pit-hole & Daycare & Tailings Pond comes….
The CLASSROOMBA!
“The Classroomba sweeps away the issue of class size.”
***
Producer: Sheldon Hovdee
Talent: Chelsea Coulter & Caleb Kirby
Graphics: Webmeister Bud
Go with yourself.
Posted in radio, The Zone @ 91-3 | Tagged BCED, BCTF, Classroomba, commercial, radio, satire | Leave a Comment »
Remember that old Edmonton band Ten Second Epic? We used to play those guys on The Zone a bunch back in 2007.
The band announced they were done earlier this year but guitarist Daniel Carriere has a new project called Royal Tusk. I’ve been listening to the ep Mountain all morning. Solid stuff.
The single is called “Shadow of Love.”
I dig it, but the real gem is the next cut, “Engine.”
Royal Tusk will be in Victoria on September 27th to support Big Wreck.
Go with yourself.
Posted in music | Tagged Royal Tusk, Ten Second Epic | Leave a Comment »
Back to the grind in Victoria….well except for my 6-year-old Madelyn, she is enjoying more summer as there is a teacher’s strike in British Columbia.
We’ve been enjoying summer. My wife and I try to get the kids out to many adventures. There was a fair in Saanich over the long weekend. Here is a picture of our little guy Jack enjoying the TORNADO! (we didn’t actually ride it, but the Carnie thought it would be a funny picture).
Yesterday at the radio factory, Bossman Johnny turned me on to a new one from Andrew McMahon. Andrew McMahon was in a group called Something Corporate in the 2000s and then he fronted Jack’s Mannequin.
Today Andrew performs as Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness.
Buzzfeed does a pretty good job of running through the timeline of events that led to Andrew’s new solo record coming out in October.
The first single is called “Cecilia and the Satellite.” The song was inspired by the birth of his daughter. You’ll definitely hear the vibe of those old Drive-Thru 2000s emo rockers on this cut…but all grow’d up for the year 2014. When Bossman Johnny and I sat down to listen to this we both went, “oh, this could be a radio hit.”
I hope it is for the man, sounds like he has worked hard chasing the dream. The Buzzfeed article talks about him setting his sights on a hit;
(…)McMahon is quick to reveal his mainstream aspirations.
“I still want to win. With every record I’ve ever made, I’ve shot for radio,” he said. “It’s not that I want fame. I want to write music and I want to have the most people humanly possible hear it.” His hope isn’t without reason: The music he’s making under his new moniker sounds like stuff that would fit right in on Top 40, bookended by a Maroon 5 jam and a Sam Smith ballad. It’s less Something Corporate, and more Fun.
Go with yourself.
Posted in music | Tagged Andrew McMahon, Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness, Buzzfeed, Jack's Mannequin, Something Corporate | Leave a Comment »
Getting into the latest Caribou single “Our Love.”
Caribou’s new album is also called “Our Love” and will be out on Merge Records, October 7th.
Reading in Pitchfork they talk about “Our Love,” “It’s also a shared, intimate dance amongst strangers in a club at 2 a.m. You worry it might suddenly come to end, even while it feels like it could stretch out to infinity.”
Go with yourself.
Posted in music | Tagged Caribou, Merge records, Our Love | Leave a Comment »
The new BROODS song “Four Walls” is on repeat today. The song is sad, melancholy and achingly beautiful. Their record Evergreen is set for an October release in North America.
This line crushes, “I wanna make you feel now how I feel when I’m, missing it to love songs.”
I saw this article about being depressed but also being in a loving relationship…. I dunno, but I feel like this song touches on that?
Go with yourself.
Posted in music | Tagged BROODS, Evergreen, Four Walls | Leave a Comment »
Sitting in the office getting my work done and listening to Chicago’s Bailiff. The song is called “Love Like Mine.” Its a pretty big sounding indie anthem. I’ve been enjoying it enough today that it has invited some repeat plays.
Go with yourself.
Posted in music | Tagged Bailiff | Leave a Comment »
Sorry SONY, you should have picked a more attractive model to review your headphones.
Back in July I received an email from SONY asking if I’d be interested in receiving and reviewing their new MDR-1R Headphones. I said yes and a few weeks later they arrived.
I’ve been using SONY headphones at The Zone pretty much since I touched down in Victoria back in 2003 (I rock Sennheisers for my live DJ sets for those keeping score).
I have pretty much always been a headphones guy…from as early as I can remember. I bought my first set of muffs in the 90s. They had an area on the cord that required a battery to activate the “bass boost.” It caused the headphones to rattler during the bone-crushing bass lines. Pretty much the worst gimmick. But the headphones sounded great drifting off to sleep listening to my REM or Alice in Chains records as a kid.
After I moved to Victoria, the headphones came with me. But in the series of moves and the complexities of life, those original headphones have evaporated. I bought a pair of SONY MDR-V150s for work at The Zone. And then I have bought that type of headphone for radio or home since. Great headphones for the price.
The new MDR-1R is a different beast all together. Off the hop, they look great. A vintage looking silver with a brown faux-leather ear muff. When you imagine what a high-end set of headphones should look like, you’ll get the MDR-1R. Its a sophisticated look for someone who isn’t 12 and sporting Beats. The Souls of my Shoes is a fashion blog (I think) and she really liked the look and feel saying, “The faux leather padding makes for a comfortable fit around the ears sealing in the sound, which is clear like a pair of Swarovski earrings; a big step up from those ear bud contraptions I’ve used.”
The head feel is light. The band doesn’t pinch your head and give you chipmunk face like some headphones can. The muffs pet your ears.
The sound is superb. But at close to $300, it should be. Wired says, “(…) the sound is crystal-clear. The separation of the various instruments, and the lack of bombastic bass you get with lesser headphones, pulls you fully into the recordings.”
I’ve using my headphones for about month now…they have come on a few adventures and they are standard issue on my walks. I tend to enjoy indie rock or lighter, brighter beats, and the response pops.
PocketLint talks about the sound quality of the MDR-1R, “the mids have a lot of that “clap”, while the higher frequencies – said to output as high as 80,000Hz – have plenty of sparkle too.”
The headphones have a 40 mm Liquid-Crystal Polymer film diaphragm which will allow the headphones to generate frequencies as low as 4 Hz (which humans can’t hear or feel, but I’m glad they’re there?) and as high as 80 kHz. 80 kHz is pretty insane and not really required… but hey anything higher than 20 kHz is going to quality in the audiophile territory and creates that “airy” feel in music.
The headphones don’t kick huge on the low-end…but they generally have a warm, neutral sound. When you read words like “sparkle” and “bright” in a review of the headphones…those words are great descriptions for what you’ll experience with the MDR-1R.
The cost of the SONY MDR-1R can be as high as $300, which puts them up in the premium headphone price point. But then… well look at that, SONY has them on their website right now for $200.
Thank you for sending me a pair of headphones SONY. I hope this review was helpful for you.
Go with yourself.
Posted in life or something like it, neat-O gang | Tagged Headphones, MDR-1R, Sony, Sound Evolved | Leave a Comment »
Wild Cub principle Keegan DeWitt took a pause in the rock & roll tour schedule to call into The Zone. Here are a couple clips from that chit-chat.
Keegan shares the origin story for their much mega hit, “Thunder Clatter.” Keegan says the idea for the song happened the week he met the woman who would eventually become his wife!
Then I asked Keegan about the song “Colour” which also touches on relationships. But this song talks about those tumultuous partnerships we enjoy in our 20s.
We’ll get a chance to see Wild Cub when their tour with Bleachers rolls through Vancouver on November 8th. The concert will be at The Rio Theatre.
Go with yourself.
Posted in music, radio, The Zone @ 91-3 | Tagged Bleachers, Colour, Interview, Keegan DeWitt, radio, Thunder Clatter, Wild Cub | Leave a Comment »
It is still summer. Let us end strong!
One of my all time best friends, Paul, got married last weekend on Salt Spring Island.
It was a wonderful night. Celebrating in the harbour of Ganges. In the fun and revelry of the night, Paul and his new bride Amy didn’t get to a first dance song. Until Shaggy’s “angel” came on!
And one of the groomsmen, Jon, was telling me about this old Mortal Kombat song… Chinese Ninja Warrior? So weird….so great. Sub Zero WINS!
Go with yourself.
Posted in music | Tagged Misun, Mortal Kombat, Salt Spring Island, Sub Zero | Leave a Comment »
Summer continues to rage on the west coast. The Baker tribe spent some time in Edmonton, then back to the coast to hit a wedding on Salt Spring Island.
It’s time to get settle into the radio factory and focus on the fall….hammer out the final DJ gigs of the season…and get ready for Rifflandia! Before taking off on summer holiday…we announced the final acts for Victoria’s version of the fall classic. No wait… it’s still summer!
One band I am jazzed to check out at Rifflandia this year is Half Moon Run. The Montreal based band jams some beautiful folky harmonies. Big sweeping songs. Occasionally a little darkness seeps into their sounds. I have more than a couple favourites.
The song “She Wants To Know” … I’m all about it.
and a remix!
Another song that really shows this band off is called, “Full Circle.”
Half Moon Run will be playing a couple shows at Rifflandia. Saturday night at Alix Goolden Hall and then Sunday in the park. Pencil them into your Blackberry, you won’t miss these guys.
Go with yourself.
Posted in music | Tagged Half Moon Run, Rifflandia | Leave a Comment »
The Morning After 