Fireball XL5 is the name of an indie-pop show hosted by Frank Seglenieks that for 18 years was on CKMS 100.3 FM Radio Waterloo. However, as a result of a format change in mid-2008, Fireball XL5 is now heard only as a podcast.

Of course I stole the name of the show from the 60s British Supermarionation program, which featured puppets kind of like the movie Team America.

I play alternative music that usually classified as indie-pop with the occasional feature on a particular artist or theme as well as discussions on pop culture topics of the day. I start off each show with the best song that I have heard since the last
show.

Note that the links to shows older than 6 months might not be working, if you really want those shows please send me an email and I can get them to you.

Friday, August 31, 2007

August 31, 2007

Theme: Pop songs your new boyfriend is too stupid to know about
On Air: Frank and Milosz

Another week, another guest on the show, this time it was Milosz from the band Knock, Knock, Ginger who came on without his band so we could talk about music. It was also good that Milosz brought his music enabled phone as one of the CD players at the station was broken so it was difficult for me to play consecutive MP3s. His influence can be seen in the second half of the show where we pretty much swapped songs and we also had some good conversations including an interesting one about the importance of editing in music.

Milosz supplied me with my top song of the week, The Ladybug Transistor song "Like A Summer Rain" which to me sounded a lot like the Magnetic Fields so I had to play them right after.

As it happens, in the two weeks before the show I was made aware of a Tullycraft song from two different people, strange as the song is a couple of years old. The name of the song is "Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend Is Too Stupid To Know About" and in it he mentions other bands that he likes to listen to, so the rest of the set contains some of those bands.

I ended with a song from the movie "24 Hour Party People" which is a movie about the Manchester music scene and in particular about Tony Wilson the found of Factory Records (Factory Records released such legendary Manchester bands Joy Division, New Order, and the Happy Mondays). The reason I played the song was that Tony Wilson passed away a few weeks before the show, and here is an interesting tidbit from his Wikipedia entry (of course this means it might not be true): As with everything else in the Factory empire, Tony Wilson's coffin was also given a Factory catalogue number - FAC 501. This will be the last Factory catalogue number.


TALK-Theme
The Ladybug Transistor - Like A Summer Rain
The Magnetic Fields - Busby Berkeley Dreams
Page France - The Ruby Ring Man
Bellevue - Carry On (C)
Griffin and the True Believers - Tivoli (C)
All Girl Summer Fun Band - Later Operator
TALK (Funky set)
Calvin Harris - Merry Making At My Place
The Grey Boy Allstars - Still Waiting
Champion - The Plow (C)
Azure Ray - New Resolution
Wild Magnolias - Somebody's Got (Soul Soul Soul)
TALK
The Flirtations - Nothing But A Heartache
Belle and Sebastian - For The Price Of A Cup Of Tea
Crowded House - Even A Child
Acid House Kings - Say Yes If You Want Me
Vampire Weekend - Mansard Roof (Live at KEXP) **See Note 1
TALK (Tullycraft set)
Tullycraft - Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend Is Too Stupid To Know About
The Pastels - Mandarin
Alan Clap and His Orchestra - Something Strange Happens
Cub - New York City (C)
Heavenly - Hearts and Crosses
TALK
Stars - Take Me To The Riot (C)
Miracle Fortress - Maybe Lately (C)
Ohbijou - The Woods (C)
The Beautiful South - You Keep It All In
TALK
Happy Mondays - 24 Hour Party People

Note 1: Saw them at Sneeky Dees in Toronto the week before the show.


(C) Denotes Canadian Content

Friday, August 17, 2007

August 17, 2007

Theme: The Stolen Minks Interview
On Air: Frank, Tiina, and Erica

I was very excited before this show as for the first time in a while I was going to have a band come and visit me. I first had the idea when I saw that the Stolen Minks were playing Waterloo the same night as my show, so I e-mailed them and they agreed to come to CKMS before their gig. Unfortunately on the day of the show, they called a little after 6 saying they were just leaving London and didn't know if they would make it to the station time and suggested perhaps making it a phone interview. That's why I might seem a little frazzled in the first half of the show as I was running around looking at the logistics of doing a phone interview.
Luckily, they managed to make it to the station around 7:15 pm and drop of two members of the band, Erica and Tiina (yes that is how she spells it) who came on the show for a couple of great interview segments. They talked about touring across Canada in a van, their albums, day jobs, and there was even a reference to Henry Rollins. It was a lot of fun and they put on a great show that night that I had the pleasure of witnessing.

Before the Ladies came to the show I got in a ska set that stemmed from my top song of the week: a great, great song by Tim Armstrong (former lead singer of Rancid) called "Into Action" that is guaranteed to get you moving. I also played an Elvis set as the show was a day after the 30th anniversary of his death. In looking around the web for songs to play I found the Belle and Sebastian song "Century of Elvis" from an EP back in 1997. As it was back in the days when Stuart David was part of the band he does one of his telling a story over the music type songs, it is funny and definitely worth a listen.


TALK-Theme (Ska Set)
Tim Armstrong - Into Action
The Planet Smashers - Explosive (C)
The Planet Smashers - Raise Your Glass (C)
Chris Murray - Dangerous Hearts (C)
Dappled Cities - Beach Song
TALK (Elvis Set)
Deja Voodoo - Elvis Is Dead (C)
Belle and Sebastian - Century of Elvis
New Pornographers - Graceland (C)
Chris Houston - Baby Jesus Looked Like Elvis (C)
Elvis Presley - Hard Headed Woman
TALK
Lucknow Pact - A Few Drinks, A Few Laughs
The Rosebuds - Get Up, Get Out
The Brilliant Corners - Trudy Is A Squeel
The Bartlets - You Are Still Beautiful
Two Hours Traffic - When We Finish (C)
TALK
Karen Dalton - Something On Your Mind **See Note 1
Jens Lekman - Black Cab
Katie Stelmanis - Hittem (C)
The Guest Bedroom - We Need Trips (C)
The Stolen Minks - Stop Talking (C)
TALK (Stolen Minks Interview Part 1)
The Stolen Minks - Peppy Twist (C)
The Maynards - Kustom 250 (C)
TALK (Stolen Minks Interview Part 2)
Ray Condo and His Hard Rock Goners - Sunset Blues (C)
All Girl Summer Fun Band - Later Operator
TALK
Shout Out Louds - Tonight I Have To Leave It **See Note 2
The Cure - Friday I'm In Love
TALK
Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson - Cleanhead Blues **See Note 3

Note 1: One more Hillside throwback, I heard cover versions of both this song and the next while at Hillside.

Note 2: As Derek wrote to me, the song sounds so much like the Cure that it should have been called "In Between Fridays I'm in Love Just Like Heaven"

Note 3: I played this song as it was from the first CD I every purchased, a blues compilation that I picked up the same day as I bought my first CD player in 1989 in Edmonton.

(C) Denotes Canadian Content

Friday, August 3, 2007

August 3, 2007

Theme: Hillside Review
On Air: Frank

This was the first show since the Hillside Festival so I played a couple of the bands that made an impression on me during the festival. My biggest surprise was a band that was probably the youngest band to play the festival as they were the winner of the Guelph high school band contest. They are called "Dance Hall Free For All" (just say that out loud a couple of times, it makes you feel good) and have a great funky sound that really impressed me. Other highlights of the festival were Mother Mother, Immaculate Machine, Two Hours Traffic, and in their first North American show Los Campensions. I won't go into detail as you can read my full review here: http://www.stillepost.ca/boards/index.php?topic=86678.0 (near the bottom of the page as Steve Zodiac of course).

The rest of the show was a mix between a slow set, a funky set, and a set of a few leftovers from the last couple of shows. The funky set started with a song going out to Mary who likes the Red Hot Chili Peppers cover the Sly and the Family Stone song "If You Want Me To Stay". If you remember I saw Sly in concert during my recent trip to Italy and he was actually on stage during this song.

I ended with The Zombies "Time of the Season" because The Immaculate Machines covered it as their last song when I went to see them at the Jane Bond the week before the show. Then I was watching a documentary on the 60s a few days later and sure enough I heard the songs once again.

TALK-Theme
Saturday Looks Good To Me - The Girl's Distracted
Lucky Soul - Get Outta Town!
The Envelopes - It's The Law
The Electric Pop Group - Don't Bring Me Out
All Girl Summer Fun Band - Dreamy You
TALK (Hillside Review)
Dance Hall Free For All - Tomorrow In Thailand (C)
Mother Mother - Dirty Town (C)
Immaculate Machine - Nothing Ever Happens (C)
Two Hours Traffic - Jezebel (C)
Los Campensinos - It Started With A Mix
TALK (slow set)
Keren Ann - In Your Back
Griffin and the True Believers - The Cat (C)
Paul MacLeod - Tomorrow (C)
The Bird And The Bee - Because
TALK (funky set)
Sly And The Family Stone - If You Want Me To Stay **For Mary
John Legend - Slowdance
Clarence Carter - Too Weak To Fight
Otis Redding - Mr. Pittiful
Broadcast - Before We Begin
TALK
Ghost House - Mail Lady (C)
Hallelujah The Hills - Wave Backwards To Massachusetts
The Planet Smashers - Raise Your Glass (C)
Sea Wolf - You're A Wolf
The Geraldine Fibbers - California Tuffy
TALK
They Might Be Giants - Bee And The Bird Of The Moth
California Snow Story - Out Of Time
The Sweet Homewreckers - Nineties On Your Side (C)
Boy Omega - By Midnight We'll Give It A Go
Liechtenstein - Stalking Skills
TALK
Zombies - Time Of The Season

(C) Denotes Canadian Content