Today on the Big Box, I went back to my favourite album of 2005 - Illinoise. It’s the second in Sufjan Stevens‘ goal to do an album for every state, which started with Michigan. He’s an outstanding songwriter. I had the chance to see him in St. Louis this past Fall, and it was a fantastic show, complete with 14-piece band. Horns, strings, piano, banjo. One of those concerts that gives you shivers a few times. The song we played today is called Casimir Pulaski Day.

A couple of months before I arrived in Calgary, I was doing a college radio stint in Toronto on CIUT, with an almost completely open format. While there, I did an interview with Soundproof Magazine. I’m really pleasantly surprised with the music on X92.9, and I can honestly say that it’s the most musically progressive commercial radio station in Canada. Of course, like the listener, Idon’t love every song. The fact there’s no Nickleback (or Default, or Simple Plan, or Good Charlotte, or Theory of a Badband, etc.) makes things a whole lot better. I also get to play something from my personal collection in the Big Box O CDs.