Amanda Putz Returning to the CBC Airwaves

I've just learned that Amanda Putz former host of Fuse one CBC Radio 1 and Waking Up With a Putz on CBC Radio 3 is returning to her roots this fall as the host of Bandwidth.

Now, the obvious downside to that is that it's an Ottawa local music program. It is only heard in Ontario and not in Toronto so if you haven't yet grab your I Heart Radio starter kit so you can listen to the Ottawa broadcast via iTunes.

Sadly there are no plans by the CBC to podcast the show which is a shame. However, if someone were to figure out a good way to record from iTunes, it's possible hypothetically of coure that such a person might slip and accidentally pass the show around via torrent or something. Of course doing so would be wrong and I and NxEW definitely discourage anyone from attempting such a thing unless, as I've said, such distribution were a complete accident which obviously can't be helped, obviously.

Bandwidth will be back in the fall, along with all the other regular CBC programming. Hit up Putzy's Fan Page on Facebook or follow her on Twitter @AmandaPutz to keep up with the details!

I Heart Radio 2.0 - 127 Channels of Independent Canadian Radio for your iTunes

On July 17 I posted I Heart Radio 1.0. I put the 1.0 up there because I knew that people would respond and hand me more radio feeds and ... they did. While the original post had 32 channels of Canadian independent (campus, community and public) radio for you to choose from. This one contains 127 Channels of streaming audio. I felt that this warranted a 2.0 instead of a 1.1 if only for the sheer number of additions to the list.

The new file includes:

46 campus and community stations from across the country.

Improved (mp3 quality) streams of the four Radio 2 web only streams (composers, classical, jazz and songwriters) and 5 CBC Radio 2 streams (from Edmonton, Halifax, Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg).

The Radio 3 stream

19 CBC Radio 1 Steams from various locations across Canada - so you can check out local programming, or you can time shift (if you missed your favorite national program in Toronto you can listen to it on the Vancouver stream.)

51 Radio Canada (French) streams - including local stations across Quebec and around the country, 9 Bande A Part music streams (the Francophone cousin of Radio 3), and the Espace Musique stream (roughly the equivalent of CBC Radio 2)

The Radio Canada International (multilingual) and RDI streams.

it is also worth mentioning that I still can't include stations who have only a windows media, or ream media stream - those don't work in iTunes.

So that's 127 channels (the extended cable of radio) without anyone trying to sell you anything. All of these stations are publicly funded and/or run by volunteers and while some of them are allowed a few ads no one on any of them is really trying to sell you anything, no one is telling you anything for their own financial gain they are programmed based on what people (staff or volunteers) feel is important, relevant, interesting or entertaining without the need to impress advertisers. It's not that money isn't a consideration - they don't have the money to do the things they might like to do, but they're not doing it to make money and that makes a huge difference. They are also not doing it for ratings. With their financing secure they don't feel the need to play popular (if icky) music, or the need to sensationalize anything to get ratings. Most of these stations (with the exception of some of the CBC Radio ones) have small audiences and are content with that. Try emailing the host of a university radio show sometime - they'll be thrilled and you will nearly always get an immediate and direct response.

By the way, if you have an iPhone and no one has told you yet you can get an app that lets you listen to all of the CBC Radio stuff from anywhere. I also need to thank the folks at CBC Radio 3 and CBC Radio 2 - especially Steve Pratt and the folks at The National Campus and Community Radio Association for their help in finding all of the feeds.

Let's move on to how to set it up.

If you didn't get the first post and haven't set this up yet:

1) Create a folder in your iTunes called Radio (or anything you like really)
2) Download the file Radio2.zip
3) Put the folder somewhere on your computer where you will be able to find it again (you'll notice it says 1.0 up top there).
4) Drop the files in the Radio folder into the iTunes playlist. Do it a few at a time - for some reason a few of them didn't copy over the first time I tried, but they all did eventually.

If you already set it up under 1.0:

There are going to be some duplicates (obviously) the best way to make sure you avoid this is probably do dump the old stuff (toss out the folder - clear the playlist) and then repeat the steps above. Other than that I'll leave it to you. I'm sure you can figure out how to get rid of duplicates but keep the stuff you want.

The full file list, in case you think I've still missed something:

radiocanada-rdi-64.m3u
radiocanada-premierechainewindsor-64.m3u
radiocanada-premierechainevancouver-64.m3u
radiocanada-premierechainetoronto-64.m3u
radiocanada-premierechaineseptiles-64.m3u
radiocanada-premierechainewinnipeg-64.m3u
radiocanada-premierechaineottawa-64.m3u
radiocanada-rcimultilangue-64.m3u
radiocanada-premierechaineregina-64.m3u
radiocanada-premierechainequebec-64.m3u
radiocanada-premierechainemoncton-64.m3u
cbc-songwriterhi-192.m3u
radiocanada-premierechainesherbrooke-64.m3u
radiocanada-premierechaine-64.m3u
radiocanada-pcmobilewinnipeg-64.m3u
radiocanada-premierechainetroisrivieres-64.m3u
radiocanada-premierechainecharlottetown-64.m3u
radiocanada-premierechainebk-64.m3u
radiocanada-premierechainechicoutimi-64.m3u
radiocanada-mobilepremierechainebk-64.m3u
radiocanada-premierechainehalifax-64.m3u
radiocanada-pcmobilerouyn-64.m3u
radiocanada-pcmobileottawa-64.m3u
radiocanada-pcmobilequebec-64.m3u
radiocanada-pcmobilehalifax-64.m3u
radiocanada-bapurbaine-128.m3u
radiocanada-pcmobilecharlottetown-64.m3u
radiocanada-bapelectronique-128.m3u
radiocanada-pcmobileedmonton-64.m3u
radiocanada-mobilerdi-64.m3u
radiocanada-pcmobileregina-64.m3u
cbc-r2vancouver-128.m3u
radiocanada-pcmobileseptiles-64.m3u
radiocanada-bapobsedee-128.m3u
radiocanada-pcmobilevancouver-64.m3u
radiocanada-bapextreme-128.m3u
radiocanada-pcmobilesherbrooke-64.m3u
cbc-r1winnipeg-96.m3u
radiocanada-espacemusique-128.m3u
cbc-r2toronto-128.m3u
cbc-r2winnipeg-128.m3u
radiocanada-mobilepremierechaine-64.m3u
radiocanada-bandeapart-128.m3u
cbc-r1goosebay-96.m3u
CKUW_UofWinnipeg.pls
cklu_LaurentianU_Sudbury.m3u
CJMP_PowellRiver_BC.pls
CJLY_Nelson_BC.m3u
CJAI_AmherstIsland.pls
CIWS_Stouffville_ON.pls
CIVL_AbbotsfordBC.m3u
CILU_LakehadU_ThunderBay.m3u
CIDO_Creston_BC.pls
CHLY_Nanaimo_BC copy
CHLI_Rossland_BC.m3u
CHCR_Killaloe_ON.m3u
cfxu_TheFox_XavierU_Antigonish.pls
CFUR_PrinceGeorge_BC.m3u
CFRC_Kingston.pls
CFMH_StJohn_NB.pls
CFBU_Brock_StCath.m3u
cfbs_Blanc-Sablon_QC.mp3.m3u
cbc-r1calgary-96.m3u
cbc-jazzhi-192.m3u
cbc-classicalhi-192.m3u
radiocanada-premierechainerouyn-64.m3u
cbc-canadiancomposershi-192.m3u
capr_sydney.m3u
canoefm_Haliburton_ON.mp3.m3u
radiocanada-pcmobiletoronto-64.m3u
radiocanada-premierechaineedmonton-64.m3u
radiocanada-pcmobilemoncton-64.m3u
radiocanada-pcmobilewindsor-64.m3u
cbc-r1edmonton-96.m3u
radiocanada-pcmobilechicoutimi-64.m3u
UMFM_Winnipeg.pls
LURadio_ThunderBay.m3U
CKUT_Montreal.m3u
CKUS_Winnipeg.pls
CKLR_QuebecCity.mp3.m3u
CFFF_Trent_Peterborough.m3u
CFBX_Kamloops.pls
CBCRadio3.pls
CKLN_Toronto.m3u
CKDU_halifax.pls
CKCU_Ottawa.mp3.m3u
CJSW_Calgary.m3u
CJSR_Edmonton.m3u
CJSF_Burnaby.m3u
CJMQ_Lennoxville_QC.pls
CJLO_Concordia_Montreal.m3u
CJAM_Windsor.pls
CIUT_Toronto.pls
CITR_Vancouver.mp3.m3u
CHUO_Ottawa_FR.m3u
CHUO_Ottawa.m3u
CHRY_Toronto.pls
CHRW_London_ON.m3u
CHMR_StJohns.pls
CFUV_Victoria.pls
CFRU_Guelph.pls
CFRO_Vancouver.pls
cbc-r1london-96.m3u
cbc-r1victoria-96.m3u
cbc-r1quebeccity-96.m3u
cbc-r1thunderbay-96.m3u
cbc-r1inuvik-96.m3u
cbc-r1halifax-96.m3u
cbc-r2halifax-128.m3u
cbc-r1vancouver-96.m3u
cbc-r1kelowna-96.m3u
radiocanada-baptranquille-128.m3u
radiocanada-pcmobilerci-64.m3u
cbc-r1whitehorse-96.m3u
radiocanada-pcmobiletroisrivieres-64.m3u
cbc-r1iqaluit-96.m3u
radiocanada-bapenracinee-128.m3u
cbc-r1charlottetown-96.m3u
cbc-r1yellowknife-96.m3u
radiocanada-premierechainerimouski-64.m3u
cbc-r1ottawa-96.m3u
radiocanada-bapmetal-128.m3u
radiocanada-baprockeuse-128.m3u
cbc-r1toronto-96.m3u
cbc-r1princegeorge-96.m3u
radiocanada-pcmobilerimouski-64.m3u
cbc-r2edmonton-128.m3u

Weakerthans on Vinyl Cafe Podcast

Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe was in Winnipeg for this weeks show (thanks to Julie Penner for the tip) and what do you do when you're hosting a show in Winnipeg? You get the Weakerthans to be your musical guest:

Have a listen



or just download it and take it with you.

Get the CBC on Your iPhone

Back in July I posted I Heart Radio - which told you how to build a playlist of campus, community and public radio stations across Canada. An update on that is in the works with even more stations but - it's not enough to have it all at home or work is it? The CBC has launched a new application for the iPhone and iPod touch which will let you listen to CBC Radio 1, 2 and 3 as well as audio from CBC Television and even more:

Highlights:
Works on any iPhone or iPod Touch with OS 2.2.1 or higher’
Thousands of hours of audio content from CBC Radio One, Radio 2 and Radio 3
Easy access to live programs and on-demand shows through Favourites option
Sleep timer
Browse CBC.ca content while listening to audio

Best of all - it's your CBC and you already pay for it which means that the application to get all of this stuff is totally and completely free just visit cbc.ca/mobile/iphone!

CBC's the National on House Concerts

I dunno why Amanda didn't post this herself maybe she didn't have time but there is a story on the CBC site that has everything - it has Amanda, Amanda's house, Mark Berube and info on the who, how and why of house concerts: I've mentioned Home Routes here before (we have a permanent link to them in the sidebar --- >) They also mention Acoustic Roof who I didn't really know about but now need to check out. So if you're interested in the entire concept of concerts at your house, a friends house, your parents house while they're out of town or generally not at a bar or traditional venue - check out the story here: http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/video/arts/home_concerts.html!

CBC Radio on Canada Day: Justin Rutledge, Julie Doiron & Maybe Smith

This year, for the second time, I spent Canada day in Ottawa. I went up to Parliament Hill around noon and had a look at the massive crowds then wandered over to nearby Magor's Hill park to see what was going on there. CBC Radio was about to start their songwriters circle with Justin Rutledge, Maybe Smith, Julie Doiron and the Sojourners. Unlike Parliament Hill I was able to walk right up to the stage - so I decided to hang out. Sadly I couldn't find a good camera angle for the Sojourners - every time they stood up they were blocked by a railing on the stage and I couldn't actually see them. There were a few songs by the others that I missed for various reasons (mostly technical.) This should give you some idea though:

Justin Rutledge at CBC Canada Day Songwriters Circle Pt 1



Julie Doiron at CBC Canada Day Songwriters Circle Pt 1



Maybe Smith at CBC Canada Day Songwriters Circle Pt 1



Justin Rutledge at CBC Canada Day Songwriters Circle Pt 2



Julie Doiron at CBC Canada Day Songwriters Circle Pt 2



Maybe Smith at CBC Canada Day Songwriters Circle Pt 2



Justin Rutledge at CBC Canada Day Songwriters Circle Pt 3



Julie Doiron at CBC Canada Day Songwriters Circle Pt 3



Maybe Smith at CBC Canada Day Songwriters Circle Pt 3

>

The Boycott that Wasn't

This morning I logged onto Twitter and found this from CBC Radio 3's Grant Lawrence:

"Did Canadian music blog @nxew really boycott #nxne?! why?!?"

I had no idea this was a question. Nowhere on the blog, or anywhere else as far as I know, did anyone say that we were boycotting. There were in fact several - posts - promoting NXNE Events and encouraging people to attend - including people who couldn't be in Toronto. I even said last night several hours before Grant's post:

"Yesterday (Saturday, June 20, 2009) NxEW.ca turned 3 months old. Of course yesterday was also the biggest day of the North by North East music festival (because I'm in Toronto) that means I am playing catch up. Starting a few weeks before the festival began I was deluged with email and requests pertaining to the festival. I still have alot of email to wade through and several hours of video to check."

So I was really surprised by the question and responded:

"@GrantLCBCR3 @adammacisaac @unjoyeuxluron - No @NxEW didn't boycott #nxne - where did that come from? - JB"

Note: @adammacissac and @unjoyeuxluron were not a part of the rumor, they simply re-tweeted Grant's question and so were included in the response.

There was no direct answer to the question and to the best of my knowledge no one involved with NxEW.ca was asked about the rumor before hand. Grant has asked if I'd be interested in being on this afternoon's show to talk about it, I've responded with a definite maybe and haven't heard anything since (though I asked again where it was coming from.

I was, as a matter of fact at CBC Radio 3's NXNE Showcase on Saturday - I didn't talk to Grant but I did run into Craig Norris. I was really impressed with the crowd chanting "CBC" have a look (part of the several hours of video I mentioned)):



So, no idea where this is coming from and may or may not be on Radio 3 talking about it this afternoon, but I'd really love to hear where this is coming from. I sincerely hope that there is a good source for it and it's not just unsubstantiated crap to give Radio 3 something to talk about. I mean, it is unsubstantiated (and untrue), but given that I talked to someone at Radio 3 at NXNE on Saturday I hope that there is a point to this exercise.

It's bad enough that the MMVA's were allowed to be turned into the Great American Douche Fest - Canadian music doesn't need the National Enquirer treatment.

Rock Plaza Central Co-Hosting Bandwidth + Limited Edition Vinyl

Chris Eaton of Rock Plaza Central reports that tomorrow (Sat May 23) he will be talking "Good and Evil" with Alan Neal on Bandwidth (CBC Radio One at 5:05 p.m.). If you're outside Ontario (or if you live in Toronto - where the CBC punishes us by not giving us Bandwidth) just go to cbc.ca/bandwidth at 5:05 EST and click on Listen Live.

On the Myspace Blog Eaton adds "And seriously, get into their comments and let them know how much you think I should always co-host this show. Screw touring. I'm going back to hosting radio!"

There is also a heads up about a limited edition vinyl pressing of "At The Moment Of Our Most Needing or If Only They Could Turn Around, They Would Know They Weren't Alone". Only 300 copies are (or will be) available but while they last they can be ordered over here.

A Little Canadian Gravy

Earlier today on Q with Jian Gomeshi actor Billy Bob Thorton said that "Canada is like mashed potatoes without gravy ...' he also said that he had more musical credibility than younger artists who Jian might interview and that Canadian audiences just sat there. So, by way of response I'd like to present a little Canadian gravy: Bands who are younger than Billy Bob but are doing what he is trying to do only they're doing it better. In large part they are better because they have their own distinctive sound and approach, where as Billy Bob's Boxmasters are little more than a mediocre, average, unremarkable country band with less musical credibility than Bruce Willis. You'll also notice in some of these live clips that, if you're any good at what you do, audiences don't just sit there.

Elliott Brood - Wrote It All Down For You



Rock Plaza Central - Anthem for the Already Defeated



Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir



United Steel Workers of Montreal



The Burning Hell (long clip)



The Pack A.D. - All Day Long

A Bloggy B.Day Card for A.Putz

Radio 3 is safe and will be on the air for another year, but Amanda Putz is still not on the air anywhere. Hopefully someone at the Ceeb will wake up and fix that soon.

Amanda is one of the most passionate advocates of and for Canadian music, especially among people who are on the air. She was the host of the best music program on Radio 1 : Fuse (you can still find recordings of the show at that site) - then Fuse got cancelled. Then Amanda became the host of everyone's favorite Radio 3 show Waking Up With a Putz - that got cancelled too. She is also the person who brought you the first Country version of the Radio 3 Podcast which featured Corb Lund, Kathleen Edwards, Ridley Bent, Meredith Luce, Luke Doucet and Matt Masters among many others and she brought you the first episode of the Radio 3 Podcast for Kids.



She brought you the truth about beards


and then proved to be a master of the eggshaker


She also hosts concerts in her living room


and if the city of Ottawa ever (egg) shakes it's reputation as being dull and bureaucratic it will be largely thanks to her efforts and if the CBC doesn't find a way to get her back on the air it will be a sure sign that talent and passion are not factors they consider when making programming decisions.

Amanda is working behind the scenes on Canada Live now but this Sunday is her birthday and I thought it was a good time to remind her that even if she's not on the air, we haven't forgotten about her.

Happy Birthday Putzy!

CBC Cuts Go Deep But Radio 3 Lives On

Steve Pratt has a Radio 3 site outlining the changes coming to CBC Radio 3 but the important part is that it will go on.

Live recordings will be less, the budget will be lower and there may be staff reductions (they won't know until May) but the important part is that Radio 3 will remain. Thanks to everyone who chimed in, emailed the CBC, joined up on Facebook, signed the petition, posted to your blogs and did whatever else you did to help make this happen.

From Steve's post (do read the whole thing for details on the changes):

"This is a bad day for CBC Radio 3. There is no doubt about it.  However, it could have been much worse and for that I think we are all thankful.  We are moving forward with a very strong radio station, a brand new version of the website coming within a couple months, and a powerful, passionate community of artists and music fans.  Despite today’s bad news, I’m personally very confident that Radio 3 will continue to grow and prosper in the future and that impact of the cuts to our budget has been minimized at best as humanly possible.

I would personally like to thank each and every one of you who raised awareness online about the risks to Radio 3 since the infamous ‘unload Radio 3’ quote was seen in the media.  Your support and the visibility of that support was heard loudly inside the company and I hope was a factor in making today’s news considerably less than it might have been otherwise."

The rest of the CBC is also sharing the pain. Cuts are coming to news, radio, sports, drama and regional programming. A full list of the damage is available at http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/03/26/cbc-layoffs.html?ref=rss.

cross posted to publicbroadcasting.ca

"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture"

First, a confession: I am not a music critic. Yet, I'll often share my enthusiasm whenever I listen to good music. This time I wanted to jump right in with a quick overview of some of the recent CDs launched in Montreal. Marie-Pierre Arthur's self-titled debut album would have been a good start. And then I realized that it is impossible to write about her without first mentioning Karkwa. Not only are they featured as musicians on her album but they also have produced it. They represent such an interesting example of the creative indie/alt Montreal scene. So, may I recommend instead that you listen to both albums? http://tiny.cc/ffhji http://tiny.cc/6xIZd Of course, you may want to listen to Karkwa & Marie-Pierre Arthur when they came to Studio 12 / Radio-Canada (also featuring Plants & Animals) http://bit.ly/K3zHu
Finally, should you feel curious to discover more of the French-speaking scene artists, I would truly recommend Jim Corcoran's show "À propos" on CBC http://www.cbc.ca/apropos who has done an outstanding job presenting and sharing his passion for over twenty years!