CKUWho? Band for Band (Fridays, 3 – 4 pm)

by Maggie A. Clark

I’m not on social media anymore (except when I have a new issue of the magazine to promote to the dozen-odd people who follow us on Bluesky!), but back when I used to be, I recall having seen just enough posts containing the phrase “band for band” to be able to reconstruct its meaning from context. And it’s a good thing I did! I wouldn’t have wanted to embarrass myself in front of my new pals Winnie and Christina, the hosts of a radio show with that very title. Our interview is printed below with the usual “edited for clarity, etc.” proviso.

Stylus: Your bio on the CKUW website describes you as “former pretentious iTunes collecting zillennials.” I’m curious where the emphasis is on “former.” Are you formerly pretentious, or do you no longer maintain an iTunes collection?

Christina: I think it’s the iTunes collection.

Winnie: The thing is, the “former” is a misnomer now. I’ve gone back to iTunes now. Now that I have a flip phone, I’ve been dealing with a lot more actual audio files than back when I was just using streaming. So it is a bit of a misnomer; we’re both still pretentious.

Stylus: So then, Christina, how do you prefer to mediate your music consumption these days?

C: I use a lot of Bandcamp and Tidal mostly. We both divested from using Spotify for very obvious reasons, particularly their lack of ability to pay artists and also their [airing of recruitment ads for] ICE and the IDF. Like, why am I paying to support that? So, I am a Tidal user. It’s not great, but—

Stylus: Yeah, your money is just going to end up in some evil bastard’s pocket somewhere, ultimately.

C: But I control that it’s someone slightly less evil. I also really have been trying to be intentional about how I consume music. I don’t think having the world be your oyster is great for music consumption because I find that you don’t appreciate full bodies of work as much. So I have been trying to step away from that and not [keep] doing the thing that I have been doing probably for the last 10 years of having streaming — being like, “oh, these 10 albums just came out. I need to listen to every single one!” and [instead] probably focusing on three or four for at least six months, and just paying attention to those, and learning more about those artists, and supporting those artists as well.

W: I don’t think either of us rely on the algorithms from streaming anymore at all. It’s Bandcamp or maybe radio, or—

C: I listen to a lot of radio. I listen to KEXP livestreams every single day, and that’s how I’ve been finding a lot of new music.

W: And CDs in the dollar bin at Sally Ann.

Stylus: So, about the show, how long have you been on the air?

W: It’s almost been a year.

C: Since September of 2025, I think?

Stylus: Describe the premise of Band for Band.

W: I think the way we pitched it [originally] has shifted a little. In some ways, maybe the way I would describe it comes across [as] boys who realize they want to do a podcast. But we’ve got banter and we have some competing tastes in music occasionally. We have lots of overlap, but the initial idea was that we would go, quote unquote, “band for band.”

C: Which is a Central Cee song. Initially, it started as a joke. We realized that the way that we consume music always leads to debates in our living room. So, we were, like, wouldn’t it just be fun to be able to do that [on the radio]?

Stylus: Yeah, there is a sort of weird, performative, competitive aspect to music consumption sometimes.

W: So the show has its fair share of ribbing and making [fun]. Even today, [May 8, 2026], we were playing songs from 2016, and in promoting it, we both revisited some cringe moments, photos that we’d taken, [reflecting on] where we were at 10 years ago, and—

Stylus: I don’t want to think about that!

W: Yeah, and that’s the thing. It was weird.

Stylus: Do either of you have a favourite theme you’ve dealt with so far?

W: One that we want to [become an] occasionally recurring episode is on our favourite bass lines. That was fun. Occasionally, the ones that get us talking too.

C: I think today’s was really fun. Sometimes, when we try to find hyperspecific things, I feel like it takes the fun out of it and feels a little bit too pretentious. [to Winnie] I know you have a playlist from, like, a million years ago that’s songs with really good cowbell, or—

W: Tambourine. I really want to do it. I’m gonna do it someday.

Stylus: How stringent are you in your adherence to theme? Are there any songs you’ve been wanting to play but keep having to cut because the connection is too tenuous, or do you just crowbar things in regardless?

C: That happens. There have been instances where one of us can’t do the show, so [the other one does] a solo set. It’s always really funny because I’ve created this ridiculous theme called “Tina Time,” where I essentially just play songs I know you do not like at all.

W: Which is so overstated! And then another time, you called it “Teacher’s Gone, Party’s On” ’cause I was not there to police your music taste — which is an awful thing that never happens, guys!

C: And we talk about it on-air, too, which is so funny. And the first time I did that, the first song [I played] was “Temporary Secretary.” And then, something happened to the board, so it started playing and then stopped. It played for, like, a minute, but I couldn’t hear it. So I essentially played the song twice in a row. And I thought it pretty much exemplified our relationship to the show, and how much you hate that song.

Stylus: The fun of it, [“Temporary Secretary”] — it does taper off a bit towards the end. It’s, like, ehhh [makes gesture indicating indifference].

W: The song goes on too long. But sometimes, we have songs that we’re really enjoying and we try to find a theme that could [allow] us to play that.

Stylus: Do you have any go-to record labels you’ve been listening to lately?

C: Cooked Raw, out of Toronto. But selfishly, because they’re friends [of mine]. I feel very passionate about the stuff they’ve been releasing. I think the band Accelerant is on Cooked Raw, [as is] cootie catcher. They’re having their moment right now. I think they might have switched labels […] What about you?

W: Another Canadian one. You’ve Changed Records. It’s Daniel Romano’s label. And I think the artist that I’ve listened to the most that has come out of that is Jennifer Castle. I really love her stuff.

C: But also, [the] classics. Mainly — because I’ve been listening to a lot of KEXP, which is based out of Seattle — Sub Pop.

Stylus: Oh, yeah. That’s one of the [main] ones.

C: And I feel like they’ve been signing a lot of really good people. They just signed the band PISS. But yeah, historically, everyone probably listens to at least one or two artists that either initially was on that label or [is] still on that label.

Stylus: What are your top five albums? And, in the spirit of going “band for band,” we can go back and forth on this.

W: That’s a good question.

C: Like, are we talking all-time?

Stylus: It could be. I’m not going to prejudice your answer by answering that.

W: OK, one I think you’re going to agree with is Aretha Franklin, [Aretha Live at Fillmore West].

C: Yeah, that’s a great album.

W: Aretha Franklin is just untouchable. Such an incredible live album. The band is so, so good, and you can feel the energy of the crowd. I adore that album.

Stylus: Miles Davis, In a Silent Way. Really good album. Jazz fusion. A lot of people at the time were kind of [suspicious] of his pivot to his electric era. I think those people are wrong. [But] it’s also irrelevant now because it’s a very popular album, so I don’t even know what sort of oppositional stance I’m trying to stake here by saying that one of the greatest jazz musicians of all-time made a good album.

W: I think it’s indicative when an artist angers a lot of fans when they’ve been big.

C: We’ve all seen the videos of people coming out of the Bob Dylan show and they’re like, “he’s gone electric! I hate this so much! It’s so terrible!”

W: And then look at that. It was wildly important, as [with] Miles Davis.

C: The two that I can really think about off the top of my head [are] Talking Heads: 77 and Entertainment!, Gang of Four. Those are two of my all-time favourite albums, mainly because that was my introduction to post-punk [and] kind of weird sampling, but also experimentation in rock music. I spent a lot of my adolescence listening to rap and jazz, and sampling being a part of both those worlds so heavily. But seeing David Byrne being really obsessed with polyrhythms and finding a way to implement that into post-punk. I just feel like those albums are incredibly classic. No skips, every single time I listen to them.

Stylus: I don’t skip. I don’t skip songs, period. If I’m listening to an album, I’m just gonna listen to [the full thing]. Even if [it has tracks] that are weaker [than the rest], I’ll just listen. Whatever. I already have it on, you know?

C: Yeah, that’s so fair.

W: Before we had computers and CDs, no one was skipping songs in that way.

Stylus: I guess you’d just kind of have to, like, [gestures moving a record player stylus closer to the centre of a record]. Maybe on the B side of Sgt. Pepper, somebody doesn’t like fuckin’ “[Being for the] Benefit of Mr. Kite!” [Except] that’s a good Beatles song. Whatever.

W: Another one for me is Mule Variations by Tom Waits. […] Tina has come around a little to Tom Waits.

C: I don’t reeeeealllly like him. I don’t care for it. Occasionally, though, because of all the playlists you’ve made me, some songs off of that will come on shuffle. Whatever.

W: Well, that’s the thing. That album has something for everybody. It’s got the most drop-dead gorgeous piano ballads and his lyrics, the way he sings them, he’s just so clearly in love with his wife, Kathleen Brennan. And then—

Stylus: Wife guy music. That’s a theme, maybe! I don’t know.

W: Wife guy music! Oh my god. Yes, thank you! We gotta do it. So, there’s his wife guy songs, but then there’s also these songs where he’s got someone hitting a tin pan while he’s yelling into the mic and someone’s strumming these weird, folky, on-the-road rock songs. And then there’s these songs like “What’s He Building?,” which is just him reciting this weird, long poem over creepy barn sounds, […] and it’s awesome. It’s just so awesome.

C: I feel like I’m gonna lose this one on a technicality, but I’m gonna say Arthur Russell’s whole discography.

W: You gotta choose an album!

Stylus: Arbitrarily!

C: OK. He didn’t actually release any of those albums while he was alive, except for World of Echo. And everything else, his estate turned into compilation albums, so who knows if he would have ended up putting any of those songs [together]?

W: Oh, hey, Love Is [Overtaking Me] is being reissued on vinyl. I want to get it.

Stylus: One I’ve been listening to a lot lately is The Four Louies by Bill Orcutt. Because I both want [my list] to include Bill Orcutt and “Four Organs” by Steve Reich, and this is a mashup album where he puts “Four Organs” and the song “Louie Louie” together. It’s basically a shitpost, but it’s just really enjoyable. Bill Orcutt [is] mostly a guitarist, but he sometimes ventures into weird sound collage, I guess.

C: SUN MILK by Little Kid. Little Kid’s a Toronto band. They kind of do everything. I feel like they have songs that are very in line with alternative rock [and] then, folk country, kind of. I just really love that album because it is just so, so beautiful. Kenny Boothby, who’s the lead singer of the band, he’s just an amazing lyricist and has the wackiest kind of warbly, Bob Dylan-ish vocal style. And I love them mainly because they have really tried to not fully go for it, commercially. They all have regular day jobs and are quite content with it and have been making music since the 2000s and they’re local heroes, I would say. Like, everyone in Toronto knows about them, but I feel like very few people outside of Ontario do.

W: They’ve had an opportunity to get bigger scenes—

Stylus: —but chosen not to. That’s awesome.

C: It’s so amazing. They’re great people. They’re great musicians, and that album is just so beautiful.

W: It makes me enjoy listening to the music more, knowing that they care a lot about things.

C: They’re slowcore-ish.

W: Slowcore-ish indie folk, yeah. Maybe my last pick that I’ll have here is Dirty Mind by Prince. There’s so many [of his albums] I could choose — maybe Sign o’ the Times as well — but Dirty Mind is pretty short and it’s great. It was his third album, and it was finally [when he] found a bit of a stride. [His] sound wasn’t totally emulating other people’s stuff like his first two, For You and self-titled. But yeah, it’s such a good album. It’s very sexy, it’s kind of weird. He played all the parts himself. Yeah, it’s great.

Stylus: Christina saying “slowcore” unlocked Low, [Things] We Lost in the Fire. […] Beautiful.

C: I really love that album. I also really love The Curtain Hits the Cast and I Could Live in Hope. I think like those three albums and even HEY WHAT, [which] came out [five years ago]—

Stylus: Yeah, that was a really good album. It’s a shame that Mimi Parker died. Oh, well. Alas… [to Winnie] Other ones? I think we’re at three now.

W: [frantically] OK, OK, OK, gimme a second.

C: This is really hard!

Stylus: Well, I’ll just say Rafael Toral, Spectral Evolution, while we’re waiting. It’s a 40-minute guitar piece with occasional theremin interlude. It’s really beautiful. It’s just gorgeous stuff. Came out a couple years ago and I just revisit it so often whenever I notice myself in need of a mood boost.

C: There’s a Bill Evans [album] that I find myself—

W: Moon Beams? The one with [the cover art of a woman] lying down.

C: I mean, Waltz for Debby is OK for me. […] And also Explorations, in the vein of just listening to an album that makes you feel incredibly calm or centred. I would say I listen to those two a lot, and I don’t really want to think about it anymore. I’m just driving myself insane. But Space 1.8 by Nala Sinephro is a really awesome album. I love psychedelic harp music.

W: How do I choose? I mean, Tracy Chapman, self-titled, really holds up so well. And [REDACTED]. That’s five.

Stylus: And then I’ll say — oh, man, feels like cheating to take a different Talking Heads album.

W: No, it’s not cheating.

Stylus: I’m gonna say Remain in Light.

C: Yeah, that’s a great one.

W: You can’t go wrong.

C: One of the best. I was debating between that one and 77, but some of my most favourite Talking Heads songs, I would say, are on 77 and [More] Songs About Buildings and Food.

Stylus: Yeah, that’s a good one too.

W: OK, switch out [REDACTED] for E•MO•TION by Carly Rae Jepsen.

C: I’m surprised it took you a while to get to that one too. And that’s where we … differ.

W: Frankly, I don’t know what lands at the top, but I need to curate the albums that the public finds out that I like.

C: Yeah, Carly Rae Jepsen is a really big hot-button topic in our house, mainly because I don’t think she’s that … great.

Stylus: I would agree.

C: Thank you so much!

Stylus: It’s fine! It’s literally fine.

C: She’s OK. You know, like, she’s not the best pop star I have ever [heard]. I want to say something a little bit controversial here. I personally think Olivia Rodrigo makes more interesting music than Carly Rae Jepsen.

W: I don’t really care about “interesting.” Interesting is not the factor here. [On] E•MO•TION, the songs are so big in so many ways. I mean, the production is big. Her vocals are big, and they’re hilariously effusive lyricism, and it’s just “silly girl who loves boys” —

C: That’s why I said Olivia Rodrigo, you know? She can make a hit about boys.

W: Did she write “Boy Problems?”

C: No, but—

W: Did she write “Run Away with Me?”

C: She wrote Sour, and I think that’s a great record.

W: [shakes head with disgust]

Stylus: I like that song where she took the Elvis Costello riff. I can’t remember which one that was. [Editor’s note: I was thinking of “Brutal.”]

W: Olivia Rodrigo did?

Stylus: Yeah. From “Pump It Up.”

W: I haven’t heard that. I need to hear that.

Stylus: But, you know, I’m not meaning to get on my high horse about plagiarism, or whatever, in the music business because everything is just building on top of everything [else]. But it was very clearly the “Pump It Up” riff.

C: People are not really happy with her first record because she essentially just ripped [off] Hayley Williams and Taylor Swift. I’m like, “you know what? That’s her first album. Let her figure it out.” I don’t know. I like stealing. As an artist myself, stealing is so important and integral to making good art, in my personal, humble opinion.

—

So, in summation and in alphabetical order:

Christina’s Top Five (although I guess they listed six without any of us noticing)