Rock Plaza Central

One of the more pleasant surprises for me personally is seeing Rock Plaza Central getting such good reviews from many sources including Pitchfork.

Way back about ten years or so ago, a friend of mine that I traded mix tapes with recommended RPC to me. I ended up grabbing the first CD, Quantum Butterass, just based on her opinion and I've been a fan ever since.

So with some buzz going around RPC these days I thought I'd post some of my favorite songs from that first album here. Click on the link below to get three songs (as always zipped and on Rapidshare).

Rock Plaza Central from Quantum Butterass (1997)

-Que Sara?
-Birds
-Magic (Truckin' '91)

Also you can download songs from his last two albums here, including the great song...

Rock Plaza Central-"my children, be joyful"

Going to do a post from another RPC album in the future but enjoy this for now.

Interview with Ian MacKaye (Fugazi, Minor Threat, The Evens) Online

This week's interview on CFRU's Mich Vish Interracial Morning Show was Ian MacKaye now of the Evens but also of Fugazi and Minor Threat.

Interview with Ian MacKaye

The interview lasts about forty minutes and starts right after the news. It'll be available for a 30 days after original airing.

Canadian Campus Radio Top Ten For November 28

Here are the Canadian campus radio charts for the week ending November 28, from Earshot, the official publication of the NCRA.

1 Joanna Newsome YS Drag City
2 Beck The Information Interscope
3 Shotgun And Jaybird Trying To Get Somewhere Sappy
4 The Decemberists The Crane Wife Capitol
5 Tom Waits Orphans Anti
6 And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead So Divided Interscope
7 The Stolen Minks Family Boycott New Romance For Kids
8 Lily Frost Cine-Magique Aporia
9 Immaculate Machine Les Uns Mais Pas Les Autres Mint
10 The Blow Paper Television

To see the full Canadian chart go here.

Now for the CJAM chart.

1 Pas/Cal Dear Sir Le Grand Magistery
2 Tom Waits Orphans Anti
3 Beck The Information Interscope
4 Avia Gardner Mill Farm Intr-Version
5 Ben Folds Supersunnyspeedgraphic Sony BMG
6 Destroyer We'll Build Them A Golden Bridge (Reissue) Scratch
7 Gomez Five Men In A Hut Virgin
8 Shotgun And Jaybird Trying To Get Somewhere Sappy
9 Animal Collective Hollinndagain Paw Tracks
10 Bonnie Prince Billy The Letting Go Drag City

For the whole CJAM chart you can go here.

Brand New Zunior Compilation Info

Once again Zunior comes up with a sweet new free sampler for all to enjoy. Here's the songs...

1 mount up and ride - Rock Plaza Central The World Was Hell To Us Rock Plaza Central
2 Woody - Hayden Elk-Lake Serenade Hardwood Records
3 Steeples + Peoples - The Phonemes The Phonemes blocks
4 NYC - Ruth Minnikin Marooned and Blue Ruth Minnikin
5 Clockwork Crows - Run Chico Run Slow Action Boompa Records
6 Gotta Get Out - The Bicycles The Good, The Bad & The Cuddly The Bicycles
7 The Price - Wax Mannequin The Price Wax Mannequin
8 Peace and Hate - The Submarines Declare A New State Nettwerk Music
9 I Can See the Moon - NQ Arbuckle The Last Supper in a Cheap Town Six Shooter Music
10 The Last One - The Weakerthans Fallow G7 Welcoming Committee

Amazing line-up of songs here. Maybe one of the best that I can remember. Classic stuff from Hayden and The Weakerthans. Newer stuff from Ruth Minnikin and Rock Plaza Central. Add in NQ Arbuckle, The Bicycles and Wax Mannequin and you can't go wrong.

For full info on how to get these songs for free go here.

The Sweet Static Menage A Trois (Cover Songs) From November 24

Every week on the radio editon of Sweet Static on CJAM 91.5 FM in Windsor/Detroit, I have the Sweet Static Menage A Trois. Three cover songs that I play and then also put them up here on the blog for download. Anyways here are the three songs from the November 24 show.

This week's Menage A Trois was a tribute to Robert Altman with his passing this week. All songs came from Carolyn Mark and the Room-Mates' A Tribute to Robert Altman's Nashville. It came out in 2002 on Mint Records and featured a ton of the label's artists as well as many friends (as you can see on the songs I picked including Neko Case and The New Pornographers' Carl Newman).

I've taken three songs, along with one spoken word track that leads into the first song. They are...

-Speech #1-Steve Lang
-200 Years-Dave Gowans
-Memphis-Carl Newman
-Rolling Stone-Neko Case

To download all the songs click here.

As usual they are in zip file on Rapidshare.

The Sweet Static Menage A Trois (Cover Songs) From November 17

Every week on the radio editon of Sweet Static on CJAM 91.5 FM in Windsor/Detroit, I have the Sweet Static Menage A Trois. Three cover songs that I play and then also put them up here on the blog for download. Anyways here are the three songs from the November 17 show.

Nick Buzz-River (Joni Mitchell) from "Circo" (Dark Light Music-1996)
The Band-Atlantic City (Bruce Springsteen) from Born to Run: The Best of The Boss Volume one (Uncut Magazine-2003)
Willie Nelson-Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen) from Songbird (Lost Highway-2006)

To download the Menage A Trois for November 17 click here.

As always it's on Rapidshare as a zip file for all three songs.

Enjoy all.

Another New Dave Bidini Song

Once again Dave Bidini of the Rheostatics, has put up another song in progress on his website. Once again it's done with Dave Merritt of The Golden Seals. It's a what if scenario if the Rheostatics were in a plane and it crashed. Here's the link for the song.

Dave Bidini-"Desert Island Poem"

For all the songs he's posted you can check out his music page here.

Interview with Joel Plaskett Online

This week on CFRU's Mich Vish Interracial Morning Show, the interview guest was Joel Plaskett. He wasn't plugging anything but was in the area for a live show. Normally I've listened to the interview but this week I missed it. Don't worry though I'm sure it's as excellent as always. It'll be available for a month.

Interview with Joel Plaskett

The Sweet Static Menage A Trois (Cover Songs) From November 10

Well back on Halloween I did my annual all covers show. After that I had the idea to keep it up each week and hence was born, the Sweet Static Menage A Trois. Three covers song, every week around 11am, that I'll also post here on the blog version. No real theme or nothing, just whatever three songs I feel like. The songs for this inaugural version are...

Jerry Lee Lewis w/Jimmy Page-Rock and Roll (Led Zepplin) from Last Man Standing (Shangri-La-2006)
Chris Cornell-Billie Jean live (Michael Jackson)
The Presidents of the United States Of America-Cleveland Rocks (Ian Hunter) from Pure Frostings (Sony-1998)

As usual, these are together in a zip file and on Rapidshare.

To download all three songs above.

Hope you enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving (to them Americans who stop by) And A Sweet Static Update

Well it's Thanksgiving (in the US) and I've got a four day weekend from work (using up leftover vacation time)

I've been slacking here lately but going to use the time off the next couple of days to get up some stuff I've been meaning to get around to. So be ready for the first ever Sweet Static mix CD, posts on Rock Plaza Central and Dave Bidini and finally a new regular post on bands that are no longer going.

So come back later as I'll start posting while watching football.

Canadian Campus Radio Charts For November 21

Here are the Canadian campus radio charts for the week ending November 21, from Earshot, the official publication of the NCRA.

1 Beck The Information Interscope
2 Les Georges Leningrad Sangue Puro Dare To Care
3 Shotgun And Jaybird Trying To Get Somewhere Sappy
4 Lily Frost Cine-Magique Aporia
5 The Decemberists The Crane Wife Capitol
6 The Dears Gang Of Losers Maple Music
7 Ox American Lo Fi Weewerk
8 B.A. Johnston Call Me When Old And Fat Is The New Young And Sexy Just Friends
9 Tom Waits Orphans Anti
10 Immaculate Machine Les Uns Mais Pas Les Autres Mint

To see the entire chart for Canada you can go here.

Now my home station's chart, the mighty CJAM.

1 Destroyer We'll Build Them A Golden Bridge Scratch
2 Shotgun And Jaybird Trying To Get Somewhere Sappy
3 Emily Haines And The Soft Skeleton Knives Don't Have Your Back Last Gang
4 Henri Faberge And The Adorables Henri Faberge And The Adorables Independent
5 Gomez Five Men In A Hut Virgin
6 Lady Sovereign Public Warning Def Jam
7 Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start Girls Names Independent
8 Ben Folds Supersunnyspeedgraphic Sony BMG
9 Converge No Heroes Epitaph
10 Mayor McCa Cue Are Es Tea You We Are Busy Bodies

For the whole CJAM chart go here.

Interview With Joe Lally (Fugazi) Online

This week the Mich Vish Interracial Morning Show returned with an interview with Joe Lally of Fugazi. The show has been on but they were interviewing politician. He's recently released a solo album, There To Here, and he discusses it on the show.

The interview will be archived for the next month and you can get it from the CFRU website from their archives, or just click on the link below to get it. It's right after the news.

Joe Lally (Fugazi) interview.

Zunior's Free Compilation

Here's the latest free compilation from Zunior.

1 Awake Chaos - As The Poets Affirm Awake Zunior
2 New Materiology - The Barcelona Pavilion It's the Barcelona Pavilion! blocks
3 The Ride - Dearly Beloved You Are The Jaguar Kindling Music
4 The Horseshoe - The Sadies Tales of the Rat Fink Original Soundtrack Outside Music
5 When Robots Attack Beats for Beginners Don't Fly into the Sun Aporia
6 One by One - David Macleod Strange Biology Ships At Night
7 my hands up - Trespassers William Having Nettwerk Music
8 My Eyes are Dim - Camp Radio Camp Radio Kelp Records
9 J. Tailor - Destroyer We'll Build Them a Golden Bridge Scratch Music
10 Tilsonburg - Peter Mansbridge and the CBCs Love in the Country Songs
Peter Mansbridge and the CBCs

Not a lot on here that I'm familiar with. The big names are The Sadies and Destroyer. I'm curious to check out Camp Radio, since it's from Kelp Records, who I've always dug a lot of their stuff.

For information on how to get this free compilation you can go here.

Canadian Campus Radio Charts For November 14

Here are the Canadian campus radio charts for the week of November 14, from Earshot, the official publication of the NCRA.

1 The Stolen Minks Family Boycott New Romance For Kids
2 Beck The Information Interscope
3 The Decemberists The Crane Wife Capitol
4 Shotgun And Jaybird Trying To Get Somewhere Sappy
5 Shout Out Out Out Out! Not Saying Just Saying Nrmls Wlcm
6 Ox American Lo Fi Weewerk
7 B.A. Johnston Call Me When Old And Fat Is The New Young And Sexy Just Friends
8 Born Ruffians Born Ruffians Warp
9 The Dears Gang Of Losers Maple Music
10 Woodpigeon Songbook Rectangle

To see the whole national chart, go here.

Now with the end of pledge drive and other fun local matters here are the CJAM charts.

1 Kasabian Empire RCA
2 The Hold Steady Boys And Girls In America Vagrant
3 Fucked Up Hidden World Jade Tree
4 What Seas What Shores Summer 2006 Tour Independent
5 Measured In Angles Lo Standards For Hi-Fi Independent
6 Shout Out Out Out Out! Not Saying Just Saying Nrmls Wlcm
7 Hot Snakes Thunder Down Under Swami
8 Brazilian Girls Talk To La Bomb Verve Forecast
9 Feuermusik Goodbye, Lucille Independent
10 The Thermals The Body, The Blood, The Machine Sub Pop

For the whole CJAM chart, go here.

Sweet Static Playlist For 11/17

You can listen to Sweet Static, every Friday from 10:30am to noon on 91.5 FM in Windsor/Detroit. Or you can tune in on the internet at
-http://cjam.ca, under listen or
-opening a url on whatever player you use and put in http://137.207.3.11:8050/

New and improved broadband stream from the station, as well as the original lo-fi stream.

The show is archived for a month at http://web2.uwindsor.ca/cjam/nvd_mp3.php with a new, easier to navigate layout.

as always...

cc-canadian content
*-in rotation
r-request
mp3-from an mp3 blog

the pixies-here comes your man (live acoustic) from pixies: 4 track audio sampler (eagle vision-2006) *
catfish haven title track from tell me (secretley canadian-2006) *
the hold steady-hot soft light from boys and girls in america (vagrant-2006) *
blood meridian title track from kick up the dust (outside-2006) cc *
andre ethier-in with the prim from secondathallam (paper bag-2006) cc *
the new pornagraphers-the bleeding heart show from twin cinema (mint-2005) cc r

the sweet static menage a trois (covers set)

nick buzz-river (joni mitchell) from "circo" (dark light music-1996) cc
the band-atlantic city (bruce springsteen) from born to run: the best of the boss volume one (uncut magazine-2003) cc
willie nelson-hallelujah (leonard cohen) from songbird (lost highway-2006) *

spirit of the west-save this house from two headed: new & used sampler (warner-1995) cc
shadowy men on a shadowy planet-plastics for 500 bob from sport fishin' accessories sampler (cargo-1993) cc
people from earth-you! from growing up from the ground (drog-1995) cc
the inbreds-wanna be your friend from it's sydney or the bush (pf/tag-1996) cc
the thurstons-monday is the new sunday from I have to live forever (indie-2006) cc *
henri faberge & the adorables-rub&suck&tug (til my vacation's over) from self-titled album (indie-2006) cc *
justin rutledge-I'm gonna die (one sunny day) from the devil on a bench in stanley park (six shooter-2006) cc * r
rock plaza central-baby we know from fig. 3: the things that bind you (indie-2002)
scott matthew-upside down from shortbus soundtrack (team love-2006)
they might be giants-the statue got me high from apollo 18 (elektra-1992)
ben folds-all u can eat from supersunnyspeedgraphic, the lp (sony-2006) *
the gothic archies-we are the gothic archies from the tragic treasury: songs from a series of unfortunate events (nonesuch-2006) *
ray lamontagne-barfly from till the sun turns black (rca-2006) *

Canadian Campus Radio Charts For November 7

Here are the campus radio charts for Canada for the week ending November 7 from Earshot, the official publication of the NCRA.

1 Les Georges Leningrad Sangue Puro Dare To Care
2 Beck The Information Interscope
3 Shotgun And Jaybird Trying To Get Somewhere Sappy
4 Emily Haines And The Soft Skeleton Knives Don't Have Your Back Last Gang
5 Califone Roots And Crowns Thrill Jockey
6 Sandro Perri Plays Polmo Polpo Constellation
7 The Dears Gang Of Losers Maple Music
8 Various CBC Radio 3 Sessions Mint
9 The Decemberists The Crane Wife Capitol
10 Great Aunt Ida How They Fly Northern Electric

To see the entire chart for this week go here.

No CJAM chart due to the pledge drive (I'm guessing)

Canadian Campus Radio Charts For October

Here is the monthly campus radio chart for Canada in October from Earshot, the official publication of the NCRA.

1 Chad VanGaalen * Skelliconnection Flemish Eye/Sub Pop
2 The Dears * Gang Of Losers Maple Music
3 The Hidden Cameras * Awoo Evil Evil
4 Yo La Tengo I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass Matador
5 TV On The Radio Return To Cookie Mountain Interscope
6 Junior Boys * So This Is Goodbye Domino
7 Emily Haines And The Soft Skeleton* Knives Don't Have Your Back Last Gang
8 Les Georges Leningrad * Sangue Puro Dare To Care
9 Golden Dogs * Big Eye Little Eye True North
10 Shout Out Out Out Out! * Not Saying Just Saying Nrmls Wlcm

To see the entire monthly chart go here.

Sweet Static Playlist 11/10

Back to the normal show. Thanks to everyone who donated to the CJAM pledge drive for 2006. We made our goal of $20,000 and it was the most successful pledge drive ever.

This week is the debut of a new feature on the show, the Sweet Static Menage A Trois. Around 11am I'll be playing three cover songs. The songs will also make an appearance as a post on the site here sometime.

You can listen to Sweet Static, every Friday from 10:30am to noon on 91.5 FM in Windsor/Detroit. Or you can tune in on the internet at
-http://cjam.ca, under listen or
-opening a url on whatever player you use and put in http://137.207.3.11:8050/

New and improved broadband stream from the station, as well as the original lo-fi stream.

The show is archived for a month at http://web2.uwindsor.ca/cjam/nvd_mp3.php with a new, easier to navigate layout.

as always...

cc-canadian content
*-in rotation
r-request
mp3-from an mp3 blog

treble charger-even grable from self=title (bmg-1995) cc
sean lennon title track from friendly fire (capitol-2006) *
rufus wainwright-one man guy from poses (dreamworks-2001) cc
the pogues-if I should fall from the grace of god from the very best of... (warner-2001)
carolyn mark & the silver hearts-north county fair from just married: an album of duets (mint-2005) cc
the decemberists-the crane wife 1&2 from the crane wife (capitol-2006) *

the sweet static menage a trois (three covers)
jerry lee lewis w/jimmy page-rock and roll (led zepplin) from last man standing (shangri-la-2006)
chris cornell-billie jean (michael jackson) mp3
the presidents of the united states of america-cleveland rocks (ian hunter) from pure frostings (sony-1998)

land of talk-summer special from applause cheer boo hiss (dependent-2006) cc
rhume-bienvenue from jeu de puissance (kelp-2002) cc
rock plaza central-my children, be joyful mp3
the hold steady-southtown girls from boys and girls in america (vagrant-2006) *
pernice brothers-zero refills from live a little (ashmont-2006) *
rheostatics-stolen car (first version) from the nightlines session (drog-1998) cc
malajube-montreal 40 c from tromple-l'oeil (dare to care-2006) cc *
the neutron stars-vampires from home's not where the heart is (indie-2003) cc
sharon jones and the dap-kings-my man is a mean man from naturally (daptone-2005)
brother john withersppon-that's enough from eccentric soul 10: good god! a gospel funk hymnal (numero group-2006) *
kevin hearn and thin buckle-map of the human genome from the miracle mile (celery-2006) cc *

CJAM's Annual Pledge Drive

I just thought I'd take a moment from my regular posting to mention that my home station, CJAM, is having it's annual pledge drive.

There's full details on how to pledge on the CJAM website, that you can check out here.

The money is used to help keep the station going, getting new equipment, overhead costs, etc.

But we just don't just ask for money, we also offer incentives. Everything from CJAM swag to CD's. For details on the cool stuff you can get for helping out CJAM you can go here.

The pledge drives continues on until Monday. So listen in online and if anyone has any questions let me know in a comment and I'll get back to you. Thanks.

Canadian Campus Radio Charts For October 31

Here are the Canadian campus radio charts for the week ending October 31 from Earshot, the official publication of the NCRA.

1 Les Georges Leningrad Sangue Puro Dare To Care
2 Shotgun And Jaybird Trying To Get Somewhere Sappy
3 The Decemberists The Crane Wife Capitol
4 The Dears Gang Of Losers Maple Music
5 Beck The Information Interscope
6 The Bicycles The Good The Bad And The Cuddly Fuzzy Logic
7 Classified Hitch Hikin' Music Urbnet
8 Emily Haines And The Soft Skeleton Knives Don't Have Your Back Last Gang
9 Lily Frost Cine-Magique Aporia
10 B.A. Johnston Call Me When Old And Fat Is The New Young And Sexy Just Friends

To see the entire chart go here.

No CJAM chart this week (I'm assuming due to our pledge drive)

Zunior's New Free Compilation For Download

Once again Zunior has it's new free compilation out. Some really good stuff in here. Recent Pitchfork reviewee Rock Plaza Central, ex-Guthrie member Ruth Minnikin, indie Canadian all-star group The Hylozoists are among the highlights. Lots of great stuff on here. Definitely recommended. Here's the full listing.


1 Enchantment - Lily Frost Cine-Magique Aporia
2 Oh Rebel - Ben Gunning Beigy Blur Zunior
3 Lovers of the World Be On Time Tonight- Shotgun & Jaybird Trying To Get Somewhere Sappy Records
4 Pounding In The Cave - Nassau Machines To Paradise Outside Music
5 my children, be joyful - Rock Plaza Central Are We Not Horses Rock Plaza Central
6 Admirable Admiral - Ruth Minnikin Folk Art Ruth Minnikin
7 Man Who Almost Was - The Hylozoists La Fin du Monde Boompa Records
8 The Groovy Grotto - Luther Wright and TheWrongs Instrumentality Snakeye Muzak
9 1 2 3 4 5 - The Diskettes Weeknights at Islands View Beach blocks
10 Unsung - Jenny Whiteley Dear Black Hen Music

For full details on how to get these songs for free go here.