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Lo Signal Brings Local Electronics to the Airwaves

CKUT and Lo Signal are proud to present five in-studio performances from some of Montréal’s most sophisticated electronic music selectors and performers.

Starting May 26th, five guests will enter the CKUT studios over the span of six weeks to deliver their own unique performances. We’ll also get a chance to chat with the artists and gain some insight into the local electronic scene.

Turn your dial to 90.3FM or stream via www.ckut.ca every Monday night from midnight until 1:00am for CKUT’s Canadian electronic programme, Lo Signal, and tap into the pulse of Montréal underground electronic community.

Schedule:
May 26 – M4CRO
June 9 – Alicia Hush
June 16 – Marc Levesque
June 23 – CMD
June 30 – Flandez

**Lo Signal is an experimental and electronic music programme on CKUT 90.3FM, hosted every Monday at midnight by Wiklow (http://www.wiklowmusic.com). The show focuses on Canadian and Montréal-based artists and collectives.

CKUT TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE CHARTS::: May 19, 2015

Hi friends,

We had a long weekend up here in Canada so I took full advantage of the chance to get the heck outta the city and catch up with some friends in middle-of-nowhere, Ontario. The weather was pretty beautiful for the most part, and I got to hang out with a lot of nice folks and cute animals — including the awesome pup pictured above. I also got to pet a domestic raccoon, almost hit a wild turkey with our car, and got plenty of mosquito bites. Ahhh, rural living!

IMPORTANT: I am on vacation from May 25th – June 4th, so there will be no charts or tracking during those dates. And hey, tell me your favourite things to do in Barcelona! I will be hitting up Primavera as well so if anyone from your station is gonna be there, let me know so I can say hi.

xo
joni

:::WHAT’S UP AT CKUT:::
We’re really psyched to be partnering up with the rad folks at the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair this coming weekend for the Autonomous Media Room, a space to sharpen your DIY media skills in a whole range of areas. We’re offering workshops on street reporting, encryption & hacking, building transmitters, and more! Plus, we’ll be doing a live remote broadcast from the bookfair from 2:00-4:00pm so if you’re around be sure to check it out and see firsthand how the CKUT crew makes kickass radio.

:::CHARTS:::
ckut top 30 – may 19, 2015
1. colleen – captain of none – thrill jockey
2. loc-nar – hotter water – don’t fall CC *
3. circuit des yeux – in plain speech – thrill jockey
4. socalled – peoplewatching – dare to care CC *
5. bill fay – who is the sender? – dead oceans Continue reading →

CKUT TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE CHARTS::: May 12, 2015

Hi friends,

We are riding high on a celebratory wave after CKUT took a triple-header win in local publication Cult Montreal’s annual city-wide Best Of poll: best station, best show, and best host. Montreal is truly a great creative environment, and it feels so good to make kickass risk-taking radio and have it embraced by the community. Thanks to all who have shown us support and who keep us inspired to keep coaxing brave sounds out over the airwaves.

:::WHAT’S UP AT CKUT:::
You guys know how much we love dogs at CKUT, right? Well, we were extra excited to have local man-about-town Socalled visit the studio last week along with his canine sidekick, Poopsie. They joined hip hop whiz The Narcicyst in the studio during If You Got Ears (which airs every Wednesday, 12-2pm) and it was a pretty memorable time. In case you missed it, hear the episode on our archives — and don’t forget to dig the remainder of Narcy’s CKUT residency, every Wednesday in May.

:::CHARTS:::
ckut top 30 – may 12, 2015
1. adam basanta – memory is the residue of thought – kohlenstoff CC *
2. socalled – peoplewatching – dare to care CC *
3. bombolesse – vice & versa – self-released CC *
4. colin stetson & sarah neufeld – never were the way she was – constellation CC *
5. buffy sainte-marie – power in the blood – true north CC Continue reading →

CKUT TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE CHARTS::: May 5, 2015

Hey friends,

Spring (or perhaps summer?!) is upon us: students are free, the sun is out, and half our staff is a sneezy mess of allergies (including yours truly). Got any tips on how to fight the hayfever? We’re all ears over here…

This weekend we threw an amazing three-day concert series called Total Eclipse, and it was great times all around — but my personal highlight was an outdoor gig on a very hot, gorgeous Sunday afternoon full of weird & wonderful performances. Plus there were dogs! Getting to hang out with cute pups at a rad show in the sun is basically my dream come true.

xo
joni

:::WHAT’S UP AT CKUT:::
A new month is here, and that means it’s time to welcome a new host for our award-winning Montreal Sessions radio residency program. For the month of May, we’re excited to welcome local (yet global) sound pioneer Pierre Kwenders into the studio. The Juno nominee will be exploring the intersection of traditional Congolese music with modern electronics, digging deep into afro-futurism and beyond. Hear him live on CKUT every Tuesday in May from 3-5pm — and if you miss it in the moment, download it after the fact from our trusty audio archives.

:::CHARTS:::
ckut top 30 – may 5, 2015
1. suuns & jerusalem in my heart – s/t – secret city CC *
2. moon – s/t – bruised tongue CC
3. benoit pioulard – sonnet – kranky
4. a sacred cloud/anarchist mountains – split – howl!/jeunesse cosmique CC *
5. lightning bolt – fantasy empire – thrill jockey Continue reading →

CKUT TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE CHARTS::: April 28, 2015

SUPERWAX & CKUT PRESENT

Hi friends,

It’s finally sunny and warmish in Montreal, the semester is wrapping up, and we’re celebrating it all with another edition of CKUT’s legendary Total Eclipse concert series… see below for more info, it’s gonna be a doozy.

xo
joni

:::WHAT’S UP AT CKUT:::
We’re real excited to be throwing a triple whammy of killer gigs this coming weekend, each curated by a specific CKUT show. We’ve got something for everyone, whether you dig political hip hip or enjoy thrashing to lo-fi punk jams. Here are the full deets:

Friday May 1st @ Poisson Noir, Superwax presents:
Baked Goods
Moss Lime
Blanka
Sam Shalabi

Saturday May 2nd @ L’escogriffe, Groundbreakers & The Rebel Beat present:
Taliwah (of Nomadic Massive)
Project Toombz
Emrical
Nazim Elnur

Sunday May 3rd (afternoon, 3pm) @ Van Horne & St. Urbain (outside), If You Got Ears presents:
Brusque Twins
Enfant Magique
Effet Werther
Pierre-Luc Simon
DJ Markus Floats

All three of these shows are gonna be pretty special, and we’d love to see you there if you find yourself in Montreal with thirsty ears this weekend.

:::CHARTS:::
ckut top 30 – april 28, 2015
1. suuns & jerusalem in my heart – s/t – secret city CC *
2. lightning bolt – fantasy empire – thrill jockey
3. adam basanta – memory is the residue of thought – kohlenstoff CC *
4. quatuor d’occasion – musica in camera – & records CC *
5. benoit pioulard – sonnet – kranky Continue reading →

CKUT TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE CHARTS::: April 21, 2015

Hey folks,

Keeping things short cuz things are super busy ‘round the office, but I do wanna give props to Silk Statue (above) and Ylang Ylang, both of whom played really stellar sets on CKUT’s The Montreal Sessions last week… they are two of my favourite local projects and come highly recommended by the ears of the music department. Check ‘em out if you’re looking for some new sounds.

xo
joni

:::WHAT’S NEW AT CKUT:::
We’re hiring a new music librarian. Come work with us! Full job description and application info are available here. Obviously I’m biased, but working here is pretty great. You’d dig it, just sayin’.

:::CHARTS:::
ckut top 30 – april 21, 2015
1. suuns & jerusalem in my heart – s/t – secret city CC *
2. adam basanta – memory is the residue of thought – kohlenstoff CC *
3. white hills – walks for motorists – thrill jockey
4. moon – s/t – bruised tongue CC
5. the key-lites – s/t – self-released CC * Continue reading →

TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE CHARTS::: April 14, 2015

Hey friends,
I hung out in Ottawa for the weekend with some old pals and dashed back to Montreal in time to catch Noveller on Sunday night — she’s great! Plus, it finally feels like spring here so there are good vibes all around. I dig it.
xo
joni

PS – Whitney at CJSW beat me to the punch to rave about the Liebezeit/Mertin collab album Aksak, but holy smokes does it ever rule.

:::WHAT’S UP AT CKUT:::
We’re really psyched to be teaming up with TVM, McGill’s student-run TV station, to present a killer show this Thursday featuring the likes of Notta Comet, Girl Arm, Dories, and Magic Perm. CKUT and TVM have worked together to film videos for all of these rad local acts, and to celebrate we’re turning them loose in the beautiful Piccolo Rialto to play some celebratory end-of-semester jams. We’re keeping things good & cheap ($5 !!!) so if you’re in Montreal you have no excuse to skip out. Bring yr earplugs, and check the full details here.

:::CHARTS:::
ckut top 30 – april 14, 2015
1. a sacred cloud/anarchist mountains – split – howl!/jeunesse cosmique CC *
2. adam basanta – memory is the residue of thought – kohlenstoff CC *
3. cheap wig – magic idea – self-released CC *
4. suuns & jerusalem in my heart – s/t – secret city CC *
5. jack dejohnette – made in chicago – ecm Continue reading →

Concert Review: Skin Tone, Buffalo MRI, Thin Gaze @ Concordia Greenhouse

The Concordia Greenhouse, tucked away into the clouds above Concordia University’s Hall building, greets you with a warm humidity and lush scent, once you find your way to the thirteenth (no need to be scared) floor. Last Thursday photosynthesis was not the only creative process occurring.

Arriving before the concert started, I stopped to rub my fingers on a purple-flowered herb – annis hyssop, a delicious tea – and to smell the incredible flowers of the lime (!) tree. So different from the urbanity just a hundred feet or so below, I and the rest of the audience was enchanted by the greenery surrounding us. Nestling between and behind ferns, bushes, trees and hand-built nooks, we settled in for the music to begin.

Skin Tone opened the show with a super short but just as sweet set, opting to ditch the pedals entirely by the end to give us raw, unfiltered saxophone sounds. This was followed by Buffalo MRI, who could barely be seen, as she was tucked to the side of the stage (the stage being no more than an open wooden box, a demonstration balcony garden). But all that needed to be observed were the plants, listening more intently and silently than any of the humans present, absorbing these otherworldly yet earthly tones. Thin Gaze closed out the show with a more human, vocal touch, but mixing the same elements of computer and organic for a thought-provoking twenty minutes or so.

The music ended but the humans remained, unable to step away from this sonic rainforest. Just for a moment, it finally felt like spring.

Review and photo by Carol Fraser

EP Review: Warm Wave – PyongYang Suntan

PyongYang Suntan is the third release from Montreal quartet Warm Wave, following an eponymous cassette and CD titled Holy Sun Come on Down (See What You Have Done). The EP traverses wide stylistic terrain packed into a compact 22 minute journey.

The title track has little discernable Korean influence, rather borrowing from 60s psychedelia. A shimmering soundscape with backwards guitars is cut by a razor sharp acoustic guitar, reminiscent of Hawkwind’s “Hurry on Sundown.” Chanted vocal lines punch in as the background turns to undulating waves of burbling bass and sculpted white noise. “God’s Bad Poems” starts out like Brinsley Schwarz, country steel guitars accompanying drawled harmonized vocals backed by military march snare rolls, but a metal crunch soon stomps out the campfire to blaze its own burning buzz. Montreal rapper Sonny Do guests on “Cthulhu Beaucoup Cthulhu,” a Damo Suzuki influence suggested in the breathy whispering and trebly processing which leaves just ghost traces of vocals, while the track churns along like Ege Bamyasi era Can. “The Milk Witch” is another rocker, slowly building tension from a sparse start through a grinding guitar solo to its noisy climax and back down again.

While the above reference points may give the false impression of a band shuffling through various genres, PyongYang Suntan filters their impeccable tastes into a unique blend of modern pop’n’roll. Overall, a highly accomplished and gripping EP, not to mention the perfect band name to nudge us out of the Montreal winter blues.

Review by Lawrence Joseph

CKUT TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE CHARTS::: April 7, 2015

Hey friends,

Hope you all had a nice long weekend — although it’s still pretty snowy here in Montreal, I did manage to squeeze in the first terrace beer of the season and plenty of outdoor strolling over the past few days… If everyone just acts like it’s spring that’ll make things warm up faster, right?

xo
joni

:::WHAT’S UP AT CKUT:::
We are very excited to welcome the Howl! Arts Collective into our studios to curate the April edition of The Montreal Sessions. Howl! is a Montreal-based collective of cultural workers, artists and activists working for social justice via artistic expression.

In addition to their ever-growing, prolific recorded catalog and an ongoing flurry of rad events, they’re pooling their efforts this month to host a Howl! concert series, rooted in Montreal’s fiercely creative independent arts community. From music to dance, spoken-word poetry to film, Howl! features a diversity of local, national, and international artists. Howl! aims to challenge corporate-directed musical modes by celebrating grassroots artists actively building bridges between the arts and activism for social justice. Hear them take over the CKUT airwaves every Tuesday in April from 3-5pm EST: stream it live here, and catch past episodes here.

:::CHARTS:::
ckut top 30 – april 7, 2015
1. cheap wig – magic idea – self-released CC *
2. a sacred cloud/anarchist mountains – split – howl!/jeunesse cosmique CC *
3. matana roberts – coin coin chaptet. 3: river run thee – constellation
4. kappa chow – collected output as of now – self-released CC
5. stefan christoff & nick schofield – reves sonores a montreal – howl! arts collective CC * Continue reading →

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