rfg #47 - "Final shots from a twenty aught eight"

The fifth night of Christmas, the final night of Hanukkah and the first night of black ice on the roads in Vancouver, already caught in the crossfire of every possible winter storm system (as evidenced by the wonky radio programming last week; my fill-in whilst I was out east, fighting the flu, was unable to get to the station due to a foot of snow her way). All this converged on the ultimate episode for the year 2008. UBC campus was pretty much closed, meaning all the DJ's after 5pm relied on each other to get into the station.

I was reluctant to pull yet another list of the best songs, best albums, best music, best whatever else to add to the pile. After juggling several lists, I slid more towards songs I had neglected to play in the past and then fuse a few threads together to give a narrow focus on songs you would've heard in the year but mixed in some harder to find gems to flesh things out.

Naturally, it was time to pull one of the best soundtracks of the year out; after debating on using WALL·E as the hub around a children's music themed episode, or waiting to see if Thomas Newman's score would be nominated for an Academy Award, I opted for it after a recent rewatch during one of my prolonged flights. Amongst the fantastic graphics, the surreal story and feisty robots, the sound design behind the film was phenomenal and all credit goes to Ben Burtt, a veteran audio auteur.

Due to the empty nature of the building, as the hosts passed the booth onto the next host, there was often a great deal of chatter over the holiday season's events and what the future may hold. It's great to have a moment to bond with people you only have fleeting moments with as the shows change, so if there were moments where songs didn't properly lead into each other, just know it was intentionally negligent. Based on the weather and usual yuletide activities, it's hard to say how many people would be listening live. As well, with the weather outside icy, most radios were tuned to the news, like the taxi I had to take home after the buses couldn't make it up the hills along West Point Grey.

The last tidbits of sound were thrown together at the last minute as a quick audio snippet of the 1985 leap second was added (since 2008 will have its own, otherwise known as 23:59:60 UTC), along with the standard Auld Lang Syne by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians, leading us to another Scottish treat, the sound of ships sailing along the North Sea during Hogmanay, the New Year's Eve celebration. I like a little audio pastiche every once in a while, so I'll try to come up with a few more as time permits.

And with that, the songs that close the year.