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Hello friend,

When we geared up for our first fundraising campaign, I wanted us to do something a little extra, a cool added bonus, and that's where the seeds for the idea behind this compilation were planted. CJLO 1690AM and its volunteers have always been strong supporters of the great local talent we have, and we thought this compilation would be an amazing way to pay tribute to both the music Montreal has produced and to Montreal in general. We've always had this joke at the station that anyone who's ever worked for CJLO 1690AM (a CJLOxican) is...

Posted by Omar Goodness on April 26, 2012 in Article | 0 comments.

CJLO 1690AM's first fund drive is in effect! Over the years CJLO 1690AM has grown exponentially, both in profile and in size.  We've gone from a small DIY group of radio and music lovers to a large award winning, internationally recognized community radio station.  Bands we've supported have gone on to major success and international acclaim, and more importantly, volunteers of ours have flourished within the CJLO 1690AM community, and have gone on to do great things in and of their own. 
...

Posted by Omar Goodness on March 7, 2012 in Blog entry | 0 comments.

One of the best sessions we've ever been priviledged to have at CJLOChuck Ragan (Hot Water Music) and Dave Hause (Loved Ones, Paint it Black) recorded five songs, collaborating on each others' songs with one of them being an exclusive cover of Canadian singer-songwriter Northcote's song "Worry".  Both Chuck and Dave wanted to give our listeners...

Posted by Omar Goodness on December 16, 2011 in Blog entry | 0 comments.

Brisbane, Australia's An Horse stopped by CJLO's studios to record a stripped down acoustic session for Hooked on Sonics.  The band was on tour supporting their debut full length record Rearrange Beds and were making their first visit to Montreal.  Oddly enough, singer/guitarist Kate Cooper now resides in Montreal.  Maybe it was the charm of CJLO that convinced her to move?  Maaaaybe...

...

Posted by Omar Goodness on December 8, 2011 in Session | 0 comments.

 

*INTERVIEW TO BE POSTED ASAP - stay tuned*

One of my personal highlights of working at CJLO was when we welcomed modern punk legends Chuck Ragan (Hot Water Music) and ...

Posted by Omar Goodness on November 8, 2011 in Session | 0 comments.

CJLO correspondent and View from the Venue videographer Julia Hoelscher caught up with vocalist/guitarist Chris Cresswell from The Flatliners on their tour of eastern Canada in support of their “Count Your Bruises” 7” EP.  The ska-punk band from Toronto, Ontario who have been making legitimate music together since before they had their drivers licenses.  If that doesn't impress you, their most recent full length release, Cavalcade, most...

Posted by Omar Goodness on November 4, 2011 in Article | 0 comments.

Returning to the CJLO environment for their second session recording, Kingston noisepop duo PS I Love You recorded a set for Dirty Work, here's a little write up on the session by Dirty Work host...

Posted by Omar Goodness on November 4, 2011 in Session | 0 comments.

The timing behind when we were offered the possibility of a session with Zola Jesus, aka Nika Roza Danilova, was perfect.  October 15th turned out to be the birthday/anniversary of 3 years of CJLO being on the AM airwaves.  One of those moments when all the CJLO staffers came together to make something happen, we worked so hard to make sure we could nail this session down - our Production Director...

Posted by Omar Goodness on October 18, 2011 in Session | 0 comments.

After releasing their critically acclaimed (and much buzzed about) debut full length Meet Me at the Muster Station on one of our favourite labels around CJLO, Paper Bag Records, Kingston noise-pop duo PS I Love You dropped by the CJLO studios to record a ...

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CJLO - Hooked on Sonics - PS I Love You Interview

Posted by Omar Goodness on April 10, 2011 in Article | 0 comments.

[**Click HERE for the ...

Posted by Omar Goodness on April 6, 2011 in Session | 0 comments.

Montreal post-punk/no-wave trio ManyMental Mistakes recorded a set for Dirty Work, here's a little write up on the session by Dirty Work host Denis:

"Back in January 2011, we were...

Posted by Omar Goodness on March 21, 2011 in Session | 0 comments.

 

*Recorded live in the CJLO Studios January 12, 2011
*Session engineered and mixed by Lachlan Fletcher
*Videos filmed and edited by Gareth Sloan
*Aired on Hooked on Sonics

Posted by Omar Goodness on March 21, 2011 in Session | 0 comments.

Sometime in January of 2005, Mike Feuerstack aka Snailhouse dropped by the CJLO Studios to record a session for the staff-favourite-but-now-defunct CJLO show Lessons in Lo-Fi.  Having already been by CJLO with the then-reunited Wooden Stars around late 2004, Mike played fantastic stripped down renditions of 2001's The Opposite is Also True's "Repetition", and Bell from the A New Tradition EP.  He also gave us an exclusive preview of "God Created Monsters" from...

Posted by Omar Goodness on March 19, 2011 in Session | 0 comments.

 

Remember those old CJLO reviews of yore? The “Goodness Goes to the Emo Show”?  Ah yes, they brought many a smile to your indie rock/hipster curmudgeon faces.  I’ve been a fan of New Brunswick, New Jersey’s Thursday for quite a while. Their album Full Collapse was probably one of the last vestiges of good music from the emo/screamo scene that was picking up steam in the early 2000s.  Frankly, from whatever wave of "emo...

Posted by Omar Goodness on February 23, 2011 in Article | 0 comments.

Nashville's Blacklist Royals stopped by CJLO's studios on the evening of their Saturday night show in Montreal, sent our way courtesy of publicist extraordinaire, the lovely Melanie Kaye.  Opting to do something a little special and stripped down for the Hooked on Sonics show, the band lugged up an amp and a Les Paul and did it "Billy Bragg-style with frontman Nat playing most of the songs solo...

Posted by Omar Goodness on January 17, 2011 in Session | 0 comments.

After (correctly) being told by a few friends that I'd love Montreal-via-Halifax's Play Guitar and finding out that ex-CJLOixcan Jackson MacIntosh was now playing with the band, I contacted the group to see if they'd be interested in recording a live session @ CJLO for Hooked on Sonics.  

The group (pared down to a trio for the session due to scheduling conflicts) performed 4 songs,...

Posted by Omar Goodness on January 17, 2011 in Session | 0 comments.

 

Nashville's Blacklist Royals stopped by CJLO's studios on the evening of their Saturday night show in Montreal, sent our way courtesy of publicist extraordinaire, the lovely Melanie Kaye.  Opting to do something a little special and stripped down for the Hooked on Sonics show, the band lugged up an amp and a Les Paul and did it "Billy Bragg-style with frontman Nat playing most of the songs solo,...

Posted by Omar Goodness on January 17, 2011 in Session | 0 comments.

[**Click HERE for the Interview**]

Dropping by Montreal for the M is for Montreal industry showcase festival, Kingston noise pop duo ...

Posted by Omar Goodness on January 17, 2011 in Session | 0 comments.

You know what's gonna rule? The new Mogwai record.  Already topping my list of "Top 10 Most Anticipated Records of 2011", if you (for some completely inexplicable reason seeing how they are one of the few consistently great bands out there) have doubts about this, the album title, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, should put you at ease.

I was treated to a preview of the record at this past CMJ...

Posted by Omar Goodness on January 14, 2011 in Blog entry | 0 comments.

It's been a long time since I last did a large exhaustive Year End post-mortem, mainly cuz the last few years have not really done much for me musically.  I know, I know, it sounds jaded, but honestly, the last few years have seen some okay records, but only a handful stand out in any sort of fashion.

So, without further ado, click on any of the lists below, and peruse/waste your time away...

Top 15 Favourite CJLO Related Moments
Top 30 Favourite Albums of 2010...

Posted by Omar Goodness on January 4, 2011 in Blog entry | 0 comments.

Ex-CJLOxican Georgia Wisdom-Kuhns used to co-host "Hooked on Sonics" with me and the results were always amazing (we even got nominated for a CJLO Diego Award for "Funniest Show").  We did a couple "Mopefest" episodes on "Hooked on Sonics" where the idea was to play the best in "depression-rock", even toying with one day hosting a late night show on the CBC called "Suicide Watch".  Ah, those were the days.  Anyhow...Georgia recently asked me to send her some depressing songs to help her out in a bad time, and immediately this came to my mind.  So this one's for you, Georgia. 

...

Posted by Omar Goodness on December 4, 2010 in Blog entry | 0 comments.

I can't even put into words how absurd this is...if you think it's ridiculous from the get go, you have NO idea how far this goes...they really pulled out all the stops and went full-throttle for the ending..you need to watch the whole thing to believe me...I-I still don't know what to say here...

Posted by Omar Goodness on December 3, 2010 in Blog entry | 3 comments.

 

SONICS SELECTION - Walter Schriefels and the gang are back with a new Rival Schools record called Pedals due out in March of 2011.  The whole original lineup is back intact and it looks like the band is well on it's way to carry the momentum their debut album United by Fate had implied.  Here's an early taste of what's hopefully something that's gonna...

Posted by Omar Goodness on December 2, 2010 in Blog entry | 0 comments.

It's been a running joke between me and frequent Hooked on Sonics listener Tenni about crazy in love/stalkeriffic she is with Superchunk drummer/Scharpling & Wurster funnyman ...

Posted by Omar Goodness on November 29, 2010 in Blog entry | 0 comments.

Coco et Co. is the new duo that Andrew Sisk (Share, Sleepless Nights) is working on these days after relocating from the East Coast to Montreal.  Stripped down, lo-fi arrangements featuring light keys, guitar, and drum...

Posted by Omar Goodness on November 25, 2010 in Blog entry | 0 comments.

Posted by Omar Goodness on November 24, 2010 in Session | 0 comments.

Hooked on Sonics  Magneta Lane patented "controller.controller challenge"©, we got two brand new tunes from Magneta Lane

Magneta Lane old session
...

Posted by Omar Goodness on November 24, 2010 in Session | 0 comments.

*INTERVIEW TO BE POSTED ASAP - stay tuned*

Julie Doiron dropped by CJLO to record a staff favourite session for Hooked on Sonics on a packed day of Pop Montreal related session recordings (the Salteens and Run Chico Run...

Posted by Omar Goodness on November 24, 2010 in Session | 0 comments.

*INTERVIEW TO BE POSTED ASAP - stay tuned*

Nashville's Blacklist Royals stopped by CJLO's studios on the evening of their Saturday night show in Montreal, sent our way courtesy of publicist extraordinaire, the lovely Melanie Kaye.  Opting to do something a little special and stripped down for the Hooked on Sonics show, the band lugged up an amp and a Les Paul and did it "Billy Bragg-style with frontman Nat...

Posted by Omar Goodness on November 24, 2010 in Session | 0 comments.

How's that for an enthusiastic blog title?  Zing!  If you've stumbled over here haphazardly by mistake, I'll briefly introduce myself: I host a primarily indie rock/post punk new music show called "Hooked on Sonics" on CJLO (as well as being the Head Music Director around these parts). ...

Posted by Omar Goodness on November 22, 2010 in Blog entry | 0 comments.

After the Salteens did a session here at CJLO many moons ago, Salteens member and Boompa go-to guy Rob has constantly kept an influx of the label's roster into the CJLO session studios.  This time we got something truly special...

Posted by Omar Goodness on November 22, 2010 in Session | 0 comments.

In town for Pop Montreal in October of 2007, and following an amazing stint on CJLO's charts with their landmark record Hidden World, we managed to get Toronto hardcore band Fucked Up in for a session for Hooked on Sonics and the now dearly departed The Kids Are So-So show.

Emailing back and forth with Mike/10,000 Marbles, he asked if it'd be...

Posted by Omar Goodness on November 9, 2010 in Session | 0 comments.

This session was recorded for an old CJLO show, The Kids Are So-So, so to give us a little blurb on the session, here's the show's ex-host, Josh Mocle:

"On a rainy March afternoon in 2007, Colorado's Fear Before the March of Flames made their way into the CJLO studio for one of the loudest sessions in CJLO's history. The energetic spastic-metalcore five-piece  had just released The Always Open Mouth just a few months...

Posted by Omar Goodness on November 9, 2010 in Session | 0 comments.

Hot off the heels of their critically acclaimed self-titled debut record, Calgarians Women dropped by CJLO one Friday afternoon and recorded what turned out to be the first LIVE session ever for   The Reaktor.  Hijinks ensued, as Stabby Abby aka Starr-Girl did her first live CJLO interview, and ...

Posted by Omar Goodness on November 9, 2010 in Session | 0 comments.

Everyone at CJLO is aware of my great love for LA noise pop/psych/post-shoegaze/whatever-you-wanna-call-it trio Autolux. Having been a fan of the band since their fantastic debut record, Future Perfect, a veritable groove-oriented sonic wallop of pop songs ensconced in at times aggressive, at times soothing white noise freakouts, I've pretty much been singing this band's praises for years.  Future Perfect came out in 2004, and their follow-up only appearing now in 2010...An entire lifetime in musical years. Having seen them twice live before, I...

Posted by Omar Goodness on September 24, 2010 in Article | 0 comments.



*Closing out CJLO’s Disorientation 2010 is influential Chapel Hill, NC indie rock band 
Superchunk, back after a nine year hiatus. ...

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Hooked on Sonics - Superchunk Interview Pt 2/2

Posted by Omar Goodness on September 20, 2010 in Article | 0 comments.



*Closing out CJLO’s Disorientation 2010 is influential Chapel Hill, NC indie rock band 
Superchunk, back after a nine year hiatus.  Hooked on Sonics...

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Hooked on Sonics - Superchunk Interview Pt 1/2

Posted by Omar Goodness on September 20, 2010 in Article | 1 comments.



Public Enemy
is one of three bands (the other two being Bad Religion and Fugazi) that had a pretty profound impact on me with regards to deciding to question the "system" and learn about what exactly was going on with respect to current events and politics in general.  I always found it hilarious to see PE head MC Chuck D being a guest on Ted Koppel's Nightline on ABC back in the day.  Probably the last vestige of the so-called Golden Era of Hip Hop before rap/hip hop's focus shifted towards the G-funk and gangsta rap of the early-to-mid '...

Posted by Omar Goodness on August 27, 2010 in Article | 1 comments.



*Minneapolis MC Brother Ali paid CJLO a visit April 11, 2010 to record a session for Hooked on Sonics.  I got to sit down and talk with him about a range of subjects from his conversion to Islam, religion in general, culture, identity, and how far he goes to put himself out there personally in his music.

NOTE - Audio for the interview is available below. Transcription courtesy of...

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Sonics - Brother Ali Interview Pt 1/4

Posted by Omar Goodness on August 13, 2010 in Article | 1 comments.



*Minneapolis MC Brother Ali paid CJLO a visit April 11, 2010 to record a session for Hooked on Sonics.  I got to sit down and talk with him about a range of subjects from his conversion to Islam, religion in general, culture, identity, and how far he goes to put himself out there personally in his music.

NOTE - Audio for the interview is available below....

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Sonics - Brother Ali Interview Pt 2/4

Posted by Omar Goodness on August 13, 2010 in Article | 0 comments.



*Minneapolis MC Brother Ali paid CJLO a visit April 11, 2010 to record a session for Hooked on Sonics.  I got to sit down and talk with him about a range of subjects from his conversion to Islam, religion in general, culture, identity, and how far he goes to put himself out there personally in his music.

NOTE - Audio for the interview is available below....

You may need: Adobe Flash Player.

Sonics - Brother Ali Interview Pt 3/4

Posted by Omar Goodness on August 13, 2010 in Article | 0 comments.



*Minneapolis MC Brother Ali paid CJLO a visit April 11, 2010 to record a session for Hooked on Sonics.  I got to sit down and talk with him about a range of subjects from his conversion to Islam, religion in general, culture, identity, and how far he goes to put himself out there personally in his music.

NOTE - Audio for the interview is...

You may need: Adobe Flash Player.

Sonics - Brother Ali Interview Pt 4/4

Posted by Omar Goodness on August 13, 2010 in Article | 0 comments.

brother ali

[**Click HERE for the Interview**]

It's not a secret that I'm a huge hip hop fan, as Hooked on Sonics occasionally dabbles in the...

Posted by Omar Goodness on August 10, 2010 in Session | 0 comments.



Aaaaaaah, Crowded House.  When I saw them pop on the list of possible shows to review I jumped at the chance, more out of a weird sense of nostalgia, instead of... Being an actual fan.  See, I don’t actually own any Crowded House records (actually, I think I may own one), but I remember them being a mainstay on the radios in my sisters’ rooms when I was growing up.  What made it even better was that my sister, who lives out of town, was visiting the date of the show and I managed to convince her to come along.  The funny part?...

Posted by Omar Goodness on July 28, 2010 in Article | 0 comments.

On the afternoon of December 12, 2004, the CJLO studios were paid a visit by Toronto's Uncut and Magneta Lane, dropping by to record respective sessions and interviews for Hooked on Sonics.  Now, bands always come late for sessions, but as a precaution, whoever's responsible for the...

Posted by Omar Goodness on January 22, 2010 in Session | 0 comments.

Aussie new-wave pop punkers (and really tall people) Sekiden dropped by the CJLO studios June 6, 2004.  Showing up in town to find out their gig was cancelled, they were still determined drop by CJLO and record a live session for Hooked on Sonics. The trio plugged in and powered out a high energy set, complete with backing vocals from Sarah Tesla (their publicist and tour manager from ...

Posted by Omar Goodness on January 22, 2010 in Session | 0 comments.

Trucking in all the way from the west coast, Vancouver, BC’s the Salteens brought their peppy power pop to CJLO  September 30, 2004 in town to headline the CJLO  sponsored Boompa Records showcase at the Pop Montreal music festival.  Unfortunately, the Salteens got to be part of what was probably the most problematic Sonics...

Posted by Omar Goodness on January 22, 2010 in Session | 0 comments.

Along with Uncut, Toronto power trio Magneta Lane also gets the title of being the "First Band to Ever Come on Time" to CJLO (see the Uncut session profile for more details) when they visited CJLO to record a session and interview for...

Posted by Omar Goodness on January 22, 2010 in Session | 0 comments.