CiTR -- Exploding Head Movies

Part IV of our annual Oscars profile looks at Alberto Iglesias' nominated score to Pedro Almodóvar's 2021 film Parallel Mothers. We also pay tribute to Mark Lanegan (1964-2022) and the continued Ukraine resistance. 1. PJ Harvey: Ballad of the Soldier's Wife (September Songs: Music of Kurt Weill, 1997) Sony Classical 2. Robert Fripp: Elegy [Nashville 2006 March 1] (Music for Quiet Moments, 2021) Di...

As Oscar season continues, we dive into Nicholas Britell's nominated score to Adam McKay's satire Don't Look Up. We also explore music associated with a defiant Ukraine and wars since apparently, a pandemic wasn't enough strife on this planet. Go invade yourself; we aren't doomed despite how the sky feels. 1. Gavin Friday: You Me and World War Three (Shag Tobacco, 1995) Island/Polygram 2. Aidan Ba...

Part 2 of our annual Oscar nominee profile dives into the world of Encanto, the recent Disney film with a nominated score by Germain Franco and a song by Lin-Manual Miranda. We also profile plenty of associated Colombian and Latin urban music amidst tributes to Dallas Good, Bappi Lahiri and the completed Beijing Olympics. Happy Family Day! 1. Spoon: The Hardest Cut (Lucifer on the Sofa, 2022) Mata...

Oscar season is upon us again, so since the nominees for the 94th Academy Awards were announced last week, we bring our profiles on the nom'd scores and songs by focusing on Jonny Greenwood's score to the 2021 film The Power of the Dog, allowing us to also discuss other recent soundtrack work by the Radiohead member for films like Spencer and Licorice Pizza. It's also Valentine's Day and our first...

It's Fundrive time again at CITR! This year's theme is "Plenty of Fish in the Sea...Eye Tea Arrrrr" so amongst some vague piscine themes, we'll profile music from Edgar Wright's latest film, 2021's Last Night in Soho. If you can, donate today during the month of 2022 February: https://www.citr.ca/donate Fundrive programming will go until February 10th. Des chansons pour des poissons: 1. The Marvel...

In honour of actor/director Sidney Poitier (1927-2022), we feature some of the music associated with his long history in filmmaking, which shares some overlap with songwriter Marilyn Bergman (1928-2022) who worked on many a Hollywood song. February also marks the start to Black History Month and the Year of the Tiger so let's begin the beguine. 1. St Vincent: Year of the Tiger (Strange Mercy, 2011...

With Matrix: Resurrections widely released, we listen to Johnny Klimek & Tom Tykwer's score from that film along with Don Davis' music from the original series from 20 years ago. We also pay tribute to Vancouer singer Megan MacDonald who died suddenly last weekend. 1. Mount Eerie: Do Not Be Afraid (Singers, 2005) self-released 2. Roland Kayn: Matrix (Simultan, 1977) Colosseum 3. The Poison Dart: A...

24 Hours of Radio Art lands on a Monday this year, so Exploding Head Movies morphs in honour of all the noise that mixes field recordings from parts of the world that feel even further away during a pandemic along with newish experimental music and tributes to those composers who recently left us, including the main chair sitter himself Alvin Lucier (1931-2021). [01] Socotra Soundscapes: 2013-03-1...

Prepped for this year's 24 Hours of Radio Art but missing a cutoff time, this is a superlong version of Alvin Lucier doing his seminal sound art piece I Am Sitting in a Room from a 1980 recording. You can hear that generation loss and overtone frequency collection build up over the 45 minutes. This will eventually air at a later time on CITR as part of a capsule radio art episode via Bepi Crespan'...

gak marks 14 years on CITR with a long-overdue countrified episode tied to Merle Haggard (1937-2016), the western sound of Bakersfield, California and music from the video game Red Dead Redemption 2. Yeehaw! 1. Laura Cantrell: 14th Street (Humming by the Flowered Vine, 2005) Matador 2. Jeff Gunn, Koi Anunta & Mike Sleath: Spiritus Momentous [Never Give Up, Opus 2] (Momentum, 2022) self-released 3....

The year is 2022 and despite all our hopes, we enter uncertain times, which we'll underscore since this new year is the setting of the 1973 dystopian science fiction film Soylent Green with music by Fred Myrow. We play catchup with recent departed souls along with digging up some best-of songs from 2021 whilst teasing at music already due out this year. 1. Ann-Margret: New Year's Greetings (Christ...

As 2021 draws to a merciful close, we take stock of the music released this year and focus on Japanese Breakfast, who had a busy year, including the soundtrack to the video game Sable. We don't do "best of"'s here; we review the past 12 months and press forwards. 1. CFCF: welcome. WAV (Memoryland, 2021) BGM 2. DJ Harrison: 2021 Disco (Tales from the Old Dominion, 2021) Stones Throw 3. Floating Poi...

For our 14th annual holiday episode, Mr Graig Kent of Toronto nobly volunteered to sift through hundreds of weird Christmas songs to come up with a joyful selection of atypical carols amidst the doom & continued gloom that is Covid Christmas II. Tweaks were made for airtime amongst other breaking tune as we profile Henry Mancini's & Leslie Bricusse's music from 1985 Santa Claus: The Movie. Ho ho h...

Tonight, tonight, we pay tribute to the great American musical composer Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021), tackling only some of his notable pieces in his glorious songbook (since he wrote a lot of great pieces), leading up to the recent Steven Spielberg remake of West Side Story. 1. David Bowie: New Angels of Promise [Omikron: The Nomad Soul version, remastered] (Brilliant Adventure 1992-2001, 2021) P...

In honour of Finnish Independence Day today, we celebrate one of my homeland's most wonderful exports: the Moomin! Tove Jansson's characters have been adapted into multiple television & film adaptations, so we'll sample many of the sounds found in that valley, along with the rest of Finland and some of its Canadian diaspora. All responsibilities are only a nuisance. YKSI/ The Tragically Hip: Montr...

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) was primarily known as a painter but he also dabbled in film & music, which intersect in Downtown 81, originally released in 2000 after some rework. Along with the mutant disco & no wave sounds of the Lower East Side, we'll also mark Hanukkah, some recent deaths and events in Vancouvertown as 1st Advent has also passed. 01. Hiss Golden Messenger: Hanukkah Dance (O...

It's amazing to think that 50 years into their career, Sparks keep building up momentum. Your favourite band's favourite band are the subject of the 2020 documentary The Sparks Brothers along with providing the story and songs to Leos Carax's 2021 film Annette, so our profile focuses on Russell & Ron Mael. #1 The Books: We Bought the Flood (The Way Out, 2010) Temporary Residence #2 Jex Opolis: Sof...

gak walks without rhythm as to not attract the worm. With Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Frank Herbert's scifi series Dune finally out in theatres (though just Part One for now), we'll profile Hans Zimmer's score from that film along with Toto's soundtrack to David Lynch's failed though charming 1984 version. 1. The Luvmenauts: Spice Always Flows (Extravehicular Activity EP, 2021) Do Right! Musi...

With the latest James Bond film No Time to Die finally screening in theatres after a pandemic delay, we profile Hans Zimmer's nostalgic score to 007's latest adventure. We also touch upon other spy themes as we catch up on non-horror news, paying tribute to Chicago house legend Paul Johnson, production music library maestro Alan Hawkshaw, lyricist Leslie Bricusse and one misunderstood shark. 001 T...

With Hallowe'en this Sunday, this episode truly brings the horror as we profile David Julyan's score to the 2011 film The Cabin in the Woods. This I offer in humility and fear. 01. Trailer: Last House on the Left (Exploitation Radio Spots, 1972) Funky Frolic 02. The Velvet Underground & Nico: All Tomorrow's Parties (The Velvet Underground: A Documentary Film by Todd Haynes OST, 2021) Republic 03....

October horrors continue in the lead up to Hallowe'en as we look into the mirror and call the Candyman, both the 2021 version scored by Robert AA Lowe and the 1992 original by Philip Glass. 1. Bob Stone: Sweet Talking Candyman [1st version] (Beyond the Valley of the Dolls OST, 2004) 20th Century Fox 2. Lyra Pramuk & Kara-Lis Coverdale: Returnless (Delta, 2021) Bedroom Community 3. Tirzah: Colourgr...

For your Canadian Thanksgiving enjoyment, this perfectly tailored episode will ease with the digestion of any meals whilst reminding of you others as we profile Ludwig Göransson & Nathan Matthew David's electro score to the 2018 horror comedy Slice. I. The Murk Family with Accompanist Betty Bowman: We Gather Together (Holiday Musicale, 196?) MFM II. Gordon Grdina's Nomad Trio: Thanksgiving (Nomad,...

As we kick off our annual Hallowe'en Horror Month for the first October episode of 2021, we profile Mark Korven's score from the 2016 film The VVitch. We also continue with our 40th Vancouver International Film Festival profiles and pay tribute to Cabaret Voltaire's Richard H Kirk (1956-2021). 1. Bijou Noir: Start a Revolution (Expatriarch, 2021) Give/Take 2. Ricardo Villalobos: Neunachi (Neunachi...

This jam-packed episode will attempt to recap the music category winners from the recent Emmy awards whilst standing by for a live announcement of the 2021 Polaris Music Prize winner. Our main profile will be on Montreal act Le Matos and their score to the web series Exode. 1. Willie Dunn: School Days (Creation Never Sleeps, Creation Never Dies: The Willie Dunn Anthology, 2021) Light in the Attic...

We dip into the Ennio Morricone archives to bring you il Maestro's score to the bleak 1968 Western The Great Silence. We also pay tribute to actors Jean-Paul Belmondo & Nino Castelnuovo, composer R Murray Schafer and wrap up our 2021 Polaris Prize nominee profile on a mostly indifferent Canadian Election Day. 1. storc: Now (II, 2019) Birdface 2. The OBGMs: Cash (The Ends, 2020) Black Box 3. Do Mak...