La Villa Strangiato

12/15/2025

In response to several requests since Thursday, I'm pleased to share for on-demand listening the final episode of La Villa Strangiato as it was heard live December 11, 2025 on CHUO 89.1 FM in Ottawa.

[link in comments]

And in the end, it's been an immense privilege to host this program since first getting my start at uOttawa's campus community radio station in 1999. Since those very humble beginnings, I've been proud to bring you nearly 900 shows en français featuring hundreds of progrock, jazz fusion, avant-garde metal and experimental folk artists, and countless hours of classic and new releases from mainstays like the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway to equally worthy efforts from around the block, and around the world.

Unlike great works of art which do have staying power, the same sadly cannot be said for not-for-profit, community radio. It inhabits a delicate place at best in the arts and culture space and simply cannot exist without the student funding that has always been its lifeline. Times have changed, priorities have changed, and attitudes toward arts and culture seem to have shifted as well. And so, after 50 years, CHUO will cease its live broadcast schedule on Monday, December 15. (Pre-recorded content will continue to be aired until the station's CRTC license to broadcast terminates in March.)

Before signing off for the last time, I'd like to thank the co-founders of La Villa Strangiato, Yann Grenier and François Laflamme, who brought the show into existence back in 1996, as well as all hosts who've sat behind the mic at one time or another these past 30 years: Gary Lauzon, Philippe Beaudoin, Gilles Potvin, Tim Spekkens, and Etienne Plante.

Immense gratitude is also due to all the artists, labels and promoters who've been generous with their time, their work and their support of La Villa Strangiato these past decades. It's been great getting to know some of you personally through email correspondence, or over a beer in Ottawa and further-flung places like Vancouver, Uppsala, Copenhagen, Berlin, Lyon, Istanbul, Edinburgh, Tel Aviv, Tallinn and beyond. The passion for what you do will continue to inspire long after this final episode graces the CHUO airwaves.

In closing, let's bring the curtain down tonight as fittingly as possible with the music of King Crimson, Banco, Octobre feat. Pierre Flynn, Echolyn, Anekdoten, Kaschalot, The Night Watch, John Sund, Argo Vals*, "ATOLL" and RUSH. [*don't miss my interview with this visionary Estonian composer and guitarist)

Thanks for tuning in these past 26 years — let's see what the next 26 might bring.

It's been a trip.

12/04/2025

Please tune in tonight (December 4, 2025) from 7:30-9:00pm (EST) for another possibly next-to-last episode of La Villa Strangiato — only on CHUO 89.1 FM in Ottawa. Remember that you can always access the live broadcast via the station's website at chuo[.]fm and over here at tunein[.]com.

But first, In case you missed it:
CHUO 89.1 FM has long been an important platform in Ottawa-Gatineau to provide a space for diverse voices and music. Unfortunately, the radio station has entered a period of profound financial difficulty resulting from an October 2023 referendum vote by 7% of uOttawa undergrad students to defund their only on-campus radio station and independent media organization.

To keep CHUO on the air while we explore various options to continue our broadcasting mandate and maintain our broadcast and admin space in the basement of Morisset Library on the uOttawa campus, we are aiming to fundraise $150,000 between now and December 15.

For La Villa Strangiato listeners who would like to support the station and this program's valuable mission of bringing you the best in progrock, jazz fusion, avant-garde metal, experimental folk and other musical oddities from Canada and abroad that you will not hear anywhere else, please follow this link to donate. Thanks for reading this far!

This week, we'll be leading off possibly the second-last episode of La Villa Strangiato on CHUO with the music of Italian gems PFM from their 1973 release Photos of Ghosts, a mostly English-language effort released on ELP's Manticore Records label.

Into the first half hour, let's check out some really deep cuts by ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett off his 1979 Spectral Mornings solo record, followed by some choice Bill Bruford, Albert Marcoeur and The Flower Kings.

For our second half, it's back to Italy and the music of Paolo "SKE" Botta from his 2011 stunner 1,000 Autunni on Fading Records. We'll keep things moving with the minimalist focus of guitarist Stephan Thelen, the bodacious bass of Antoine Fafard, and the friendly fuzz of Winnipeg's MahoganyFrog.

For this week's Pioneers and Legends of French Progressive Rock and Jazz Fusion, it's music by Noëtra — a stellar ambient fusion ensemble that recorded Neuf songes in 1979 but were unable to release it — until the nice folks at Musea Records did so in 1992. But the program concludes in Vancouver with one of Canada's greatest up-and-coming bands, Brass Camel.

Thanks again for tuning in these past 26 years — especially during these strange days. "I care if you listen".

Listen live / Écoutez en direct:
https://player1.radioplace.co/player/popup/chuo-fm
https://tunein.com/radio/CHUO-FM-891-s20289/

CHUO-FM - Since 1991, we’ve been proudly playing whatever we want. Not bound by a single genre of music, CHUO invites our listeners on a journey of discovery. CHUO is radio that speaks your language. We open up conversations with the community – delving into...

11/27/2025

Please tune in tonight (November 27, 2025) from 7:30-9:00pm (EST) for yet another unfailingly reliable episode of La Villa Strangiato — only on CHUO 89.1 FM in Ottawa. Remember that you can always access the live broadcast via the station's website at chuo[.]fm and over here at tunein[.]com.

On this week's program, we'll be serving up a healthy offering of prog rock, eclectic jazz and thoughtful metal — the kind that keeps you coming back here week after week. Up first is Hurdy Gurdy, one of those peculiar early Danish bands of the early 70s caught somewhere between the blues and psychedelia, right on the cusp of the progressive rock movement about to sweep the continent.

Into the first half hour, it's over to the UK to hear some prime Nucleus with Ian Carr on flugelhorn, off the band's sublime 1973 release Roots. Music also from Iron Maiden's classic Somewhere in Time, and, while we're at it, another band you would have heard a lot on Canadian radio in the early 90s, The Tea Party, in town next Saturday for a gig. Rounding off the set you'll also hear one of Montreal's most successfully creative bands of the 2000s decade, Torngat.

For our second half, Norway's Saywhat are up first, as we continue our exploration of this jazz-folk ensemble's recent output, followed by the worthwhile heaviness of Cortége and ANCIIENTS. We'll also be digging into a brand new release by Canadian bass virtuoso Rich Brown entitled Nyaeba, on the Whirlwind Recordings imprint.

For this week's Pioneers and Legends of French Progressive Rock and Jazz Fusion, we'll be hearing a fantastic track off the fourth album by "ATOLL"s, Tertio. To conclude, Portugal's wildly experimental Fadomorse have the honours.

Thanks again for tuning in these past 26 years — especially during these strange days. "I care if you listen".Listen live / Écoutez en direct:

https://player1.radioplace.co/player/popup/chuo-fm
https://tunein.com/radio/CHUO-FM-891-s20289/

CHUO-FM - Since 1991, we’ve been proudly playing whatever we want. Not bound by a single genre of music, CHUO invites our listeners on a journey of discovery. CHUO is radio that speaks your language. We open up conversations with the community – delving into...

11/20/2025

Please tune in tonight (November 20, 2025) from 7:30-9:00pm (EST) for another unanimously-approved episode of La Villa Strangiato — only on CHUO 89.1 FM in Ottawa. Remember that you can always access the live broadcast via the station's website at chuo[.]fm and over here at tunein[.]com.

In case you missed it:

CHUO 89.1 FM has long been an important voice in Ottawa-Gatineau to promote diverse voices and present diverse music. We're now running into significant financial headwinds resulting from an October 2023 referendum voted on by 7% of uOttawa undergrad students to defund their only on-campus radio station and independent media organization. To keep CHUO on the air while we explore various options to continue our broadcasting mandate and maintain our space in the basement of Morisset Library on the uOttawa campus, we are aiming to raise $60,000 between now and December 20. For any La Villa Strangiato listener who would like to support the station and this program's valuable mission of bringing you the best in progrock, jazz fusion, art metal, avant garde folk and other experimental oddities, please follow this link for more information on how to donate. Thanks for reading this far!

On this week's program, we're kicking things off with a fairly obscure psych-pop-protoprog group from northern Ontario by way of Sherbrooke — The Souls of Inspyration. We'll hear a track from the band's 1970 debut — the same band which represented Canada during at Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan.

Into the first half hour, I've rummaged around in the collection to produce some classic Ragnarök off the band's 1976 debut, as well as choice cuts from King Crimson, Eric Johnson and Magyar Posse.

For the second half, we begin over in Latvia with music by Rīga's own JUUK, before spinning a healthy heap of new material by Kelowna-based prog metallists Phaeton, Norwegian proggers Moonscape, and the latest as well from Moncton's symph-prog death metallists Omnivide and the title track off their sublime Arise EP.

For this week's Pioneers and Legends of French Progressive Rock and Jazz Fusion, we've got another one-and-done band absolutely worth hearing: Mosaïc. And this week, we WILL have time for the Bend Sinister track that didn't make it to air last week, off their 2005 Through the Broken City sophomore release. I mean, where else would you hear this great stuff but CHUO!

Thanks again for tuning in these past 26 years — especially during these strange days. "I care if you listen".
Listen live / Écoutez en direct:
https://player1.radioplace.co/player/popup/chuo-fm
https://tunein.com/radio/CHUO-FM-891-s20289/

CHUO-FM - Since 1991, we’ve been proudly playing whatever we want. Not bound by a single genre of music, CHUO invites our listeners on a journey of discovery. CHUO is radio that speaks your language. We open up conversations with the community – delving into...

11/13/2025

Please tune in tonight (November 13, 2025) from 7:30-9:00pm (EST) for another cap-in-hand episode of La Villa Strangiato — only on CHUO 89.1 FM in Ottawa. Remember that you can always access the live broadcast via the station's website at chuo[.]fm and over here at tunein[.]com.

Up first, two important pieces of news to share:

#1. Yann Grenier will be joining me in the studio this week! Yann co-founded the program in 1996 and served as co-host for three years.

#2. CHUO 89.1 FM has long been an important voice in Ottawa-Gatineau to promote diverse voices and diverse music. We're now running into some significant financial headwinds resulting from an October 2023 referendum voted on by 7% of uOttawa undergrad students to defund their only on-campus radio station and independent media organization.

To keep CHUO on the air while we explore various options to continue our broadcasting mandate and maintain our space in the basement of Morisset Library on the uOttawa campus, we are aiming to raise $60,000 between now and December 20.

For any La Villa Strangiato listener who would like to support the station and this program's valuable mission of bringing you the best in progrock, jazz fusion, art metal, avant garde folk and other experimental oddities, please follow this link for more information on how to donate. Thanks for reading this far! [www. chuo. fm / donate]

On this week's program, Yann is very excited to get back behind the microphone! For the occasion, he has carefully selected a half dozen tracks by the likes of Van Der Graaf Generator, Galaad, Miriodor, theGathering, IQ, Katatonia and Steven Wilson.

For this week's Pioneers and Legends of French Progressive Rock and Jazz Fusion, we've got the first track off Arachnoid's sublime 1978 debut. And if there's still time left, we should be able to squeeze in some Bend Sinister as well! Where else would you hear this stuff?

Thanks again for tuning in these past 26 years — especially during these strange days. "I care if you listen".

Listen live / Écoutez en direct:
https://player1.radioplace.co/player/popup/chuo-fm
https://tunein.com/radio/CHUO-FM-891-s20289/

CHUO-FM - Since 1991, we’ve been proudly playing whatever we want. Not bound by a single genre of music, CHUO invites our listeners on a journey of discovery. CHUO is radio that speaks your language. We open up conversations with the community – delving into...

11/13/2025

Please tune in tonight (November 13, 2025) from 7:30-9:00pm (EST) for another cap-in-hand episode of La Villa Strangiato — only on CHUO 89.1 FM in Ottawa. Remember that you can always access the live broadcast via the station's website at chuo[.]fm and over here at tunein[.]com.

Up first, two important pieces of news to share:

#1. Yann Grenier will be joining me in the studio this week! Yann co-founded the program in 1996 and served as co-host for three years.

#2. CHUO 89.1 FM has long been an important voice in Ottawa-Gatineau to promote diverse voices and diverse music. We're now running into some significant financial headwinds resulting from an October 2023 referendum voted on by 7% of uOttawa undergrad students to defund their only on-campus radio station and independent media organization.

To keep CHUO on the air while we explore various options to continue our broadcasting mandate and maintain our space in the basement of Morisset Library on the uOttawa campus, we are aiming to raise $60,000 between now and December 20.

For any La Villa Strangiato listener who would like to support the station and this program's valuable mission of bringing you the best in progrock, jazz fusion, art metal, avant garde folk and other experimental oddities, please follow this link for more information on how to donate. Thanks for reading this far! (www.chuo.fm/donate)

On this week's program, Yann is very excited to get back behind the microphone! For the occasion, he has carefully selected a half dozen tracks by the likes of Van der Graaf Generator, Galaad, Miriodor, theGathering, IQ, Katatonia and Steven Wilson.

For this week's Pioneers and Legends of French Progressive Rock and Jazz Fusion, we've got the first track off Arachnoïd's sublime 1978 debut. And if there's still time left, we should be able to squeeze in some Bend Sinister as well! Where else would you hear this stuff?

Thanks again for tuning in these past 26 years — especially during these strange days. "I care if you listen".

Listen live / Écoutez en direct:
https://player1.radioplace.co/player/popup/chuo-fm
https://tunein.com/radio/CHUO-FM-891-s20289/

CHUO-FM - Since 1991, we’ve been proudly playing whatever we want. Not bound by a single genre of music, CHUO invites our listeners on a journey of discovery. CHUO is radio that speaks your language. We open up conversations with the community – delving into...

11/06/2025

Please tune in tonight (November 6, 2025) from 7:30-9:00pm (EST) for skin-crawling episode of La Villa Strangiato — only on CHUO 89.1 FM in Ottawa. Remember that you can always access the live broadcast via the station's website at chuo[.]fm and over here at tunein[.]com.

On the program this week, it all starts with Formation Studio Balkanton (FSB), Bulgaria's most accomplished and long-running progressive rock band that got its start way back in 1975. We'll hear a track from their excellent sophomore record ФСБ II.

During our first segment spanning four decades of music, you'll not want to miss track by Britjazz supergroup Soft Heap, Montreal jazz fusioneers Solstice, the melancholy strains of Sweden's Landberk, and an excellent track by Tool to top it all off.

If you stick around for the second set, the intensity builds thanks to ANCIIENTS from Vancouver, who're in town this weekend, followed by choice cuts by Montreal instrumentalist Antoine Michaud's Monochrome Seasons, Moncton tech-death outfit Omnivide (playing Gatineau next Wednesday), and London-based Montreal bassist Antoine Fafard with music off his Alta Forma trio's second release, just out.

For this week's Pioneers and Legends of French Progressive Rock and Jazz Fusion, we head over to the isle of Corsica to hear what Rialzu were up to in 1978, before finishing up in Akron, Ohio with the avant-progressive tunage of Mount Ratz.

Thanks again for tuning in these past 25 years — especially during these strange days. "I care if you listen".Listen live / Écoutez en direct:
https://player1.radioplace.co/player/popup/chuo-fm
https://tunein.com/radio/CHUO-FM-891-s20289/

CHUO-FM - Since 1991, we’ve been proudly playing whatever we want. Not bound by a single genre of music, CHUO invites our listeners on a journey of discovery. CHUO is radio that speaks your language. We open up conversations with the community – delving into...

10/30/2025

Please tune in tonight (October 30, 2025) from 7:30-9:00pm (EST) for skin-crawling episode of La Villa Strangiato — only on CHUO 89.1 FM in Ottawa. Remember that you can always access the live broadcast via the station's website at chuo[.]fm and over here at tunein[.]com.

On the program this week, we embrace the spooky spirit of all hallows' eve with some hauntingly great selections by of Phoenix, Goblin, - Univers Zéro, RUSH, Derek Sherinian, Upsilon Acrux, Butterflies & Zebras, Behold... The Arctopus, Peter Van Huffel's Gorilla MASK, Art Zoyd and The Jeff Gauthier Goatette.

Thanks again for tuning in these past 25 years — especially during these strange days. "I care if you listen".

Listen live / Écoutez en direct:
https://player1.radioplace.co/player/popup/chuo-fm
https://tunein.com/radio/CHUO-FM-891-s20289/

CHUO-FM - Since 1991, we’ve been proudly playing whatever we want. Not bound by a single genre of music, CHUO invites our listeners on a journey of discovery. CHUO is radio that speaks your language. We open up conversations with the community – delving into...

10/25/2025

Please tune in tonight (October 23, 2025) from 7:30-9:00pm (EST) for another series-clinching episode of La Villa Strangiato — only on CHUO 89.1 FM in Ottawa. Remember that you can always access the live broadcast via the station's website at chuo[.]fm and over here at tunein[.]com.

On the program this week, we start off with some early Genesis and a track from the Trespass (1970) album, before we get right into the first set with Companyia Elèctrica Dharma from the Catalunya region of Spain, composer and keysmith Anssi Tikanmaki and his Finnish Landscapes, Primus for all the reasons you can imagine, and a recently discovered (at least for me) Ottawa loungecore project by the name of Tiny Circus.

If you stick around for the second set, we'll also be checking really great stuff by the likes of Finnish composer and keysmith (another one!) Juha Kujanpää, followed by New Brunswick's jazz-rock-soul-prog outfit Les Moontunes ; Kimberley, BC's Phaeton with brand new music dropping tomorrow, and another slice of Raphael Weinroth-Browne's new one, Lifeblood.

For this week's Pioneers and Legends of French Progressive Rock and Jazz Fusion, a bunch of teenagers got together in France in 1978, called themselves Skryvania, and recorded an album bearing the same name. We'll hear a track off their one-and-only record before finishing the evening off in Japan, with help from Korekyojinn accompanied by KBB's violinist Akihisa Tsuboi.

Thanks again for tuning in these past 25 years — especially during these strange days. "I care if you listen".

Listen live / Écoutez en direct:
https://player1.radioplace.co/player/popup/chuo-fm
https://tunein.com/radio/CHUO-FM-891-s20289/
https://www.facebook.com/p/My-Tiny-Circus-100063704853815/

Theoretically impossible. Practically useless. Implausibly good-looking.

10/16/2025

Please tune in tonight (October 16, 2025) from 7:30-9:00pm (EST) for another new and improved episode of La Villa Strangiato — only on CHUO 89.1 FM in Ottawa. Remember that you can always access the live broadcast via the station's website at chuo[.]fm and over here at tunein[.]com.

On the program this week, we'll begin with one of the early troubadours of the Quebec 70s scene, Gilles Valiquette, from his sophomore release Deuxième arrêt. Into the first half of the program, we'll survey four decades and four countries' worth of tunes starting with Italian prog one-shots Corte dei miracoli and their self-titled 1976 LP, as well as choice picks the likes of Italo-American guitar whiz Al Di Meola, Morte Macabre out of Sweden (and featuring members of Anekdoten and Landberk), before settling on music by much-loved local guitar hero and prof Wayne Eagles, prior to his Oct 24 trio show at the Night Oat.

If you stick around for the second set, we'll also be hearing from the Levin Minnemann Rudess trio off their 2013 eponymous debt, followed by new music from The John Irvine Band out of Edinburgh and percussionist Michel Cloutier's Deep Vibes from up the Ottawa Valley.

Not least, we'll hear from Ottawa cello sensation Raphael Weinroth-Browne about his stunning new record Lifeblood in anticipation of the album launch show happening next Friday evening (Oct 24) at the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre here in Ottawa.

For this week's Pioneers and Legends of French Progressive Rock and Jazz Fusion, don't miss one of the better Magma-inspired projects Potemkine from their third and final album Nicholas II. The program winds up in Belgrade of all places for some mysterious Yugoprog by TAKO that dates from the late 70s... and sounds pretty darn good.

Thanks again for tuning in these past 25 years — especially during these strange days. "I care if you listen".

Listen live / Écoutez en direct:
https://player1.radioplace.co/player/popup/chuo-fm
https://tunein.com/radio/CHUO-FM-891-s20289/

CHUO-FM - Since 1991, we’ve been proudly playing whatever we want. Not bound by a single genre of music, CHUO invites our listeners on a journey of discovery. CHUO is radio that speaks your language. We open up conversations with the community – delving into...

10/09/2025

Please tune in tonight (October 9, 2025) from 7:30-9:00pm (EST) for another series-clinching episode of La Villa Strangiato — only on CHUO 89.1 FM in Ottawa. Remember that you can always access the live broadcast via the station's website at chuo[.]fm and over here at tunein[.]com.

On the program this week, some early John McLaughlin from the 1970 Devotion album that provides an idea of all the greatness on the way, before we embark on a first set covering four decades that includes Dutch prog masters Supersister, US progmetal pioneers Fates Warning, Montreal fusion guitar slinger Michel Cusson and his band The Wild Unit, rounded off by a delicate turn-of-the-century composition by Sigur Rós.

The second set looks equally potent. First up, we'll be hearing from those unclassifiable Texans The Invincible Czars who'll be in Ottawa next Thursday for a double bill at the Bytowne Cinema, as well as English progressive jazz trio GoGo Penguin set to perform next Friday evening at the NAC. Next up, we'll have tracks from a couple of progrock powerhouses, Bologna's Accordo dei Contrari and Vancouver's own Brass Camel off their latest release, Camel.

For this week's Pioneers and Legends of French Progressive Rock and Jazz Fusion, the tradition-meets-modern sound of Malicorne is back in the spotlight with a cut from their En Public live album recorded in Montreal in 1978, before we tip our caps to Geddy and Alex who announced this past week their intent to reform RUSH, with a little help from some talented new friends.

Thanks again for tuning in these past 25 years — especially during these strange days. "I care if you listen".

Listen live / Écoutez en direct:
https://player1.radioplace.co/player/popup/chuo-fm
https://tunein.com/radio/CHUO-FM-891-s20289/

CHUO-FM - Since 1991, we’ve been proudly playing whatever we want. Not bound by a single genre of music, CHUO invites our listeners on a journey of discovery. CHUO is radio that speaks your language. We open up conversations with the community – delving into...

10/02/2025

Please tune in tonight (October 2, 2025) from 7:30-9:00pm (EST) for another reasonably well-adjusted episode of La Villa Strangiato — only on CHUO 89.1 FM in Ottawa. Remember that you can always access the live broadcast via the station's website at chuo[.]fm and over here at tunein[.]com.

On the program this week, the curtain rises on Cherry Five on Esoteric Recordings, a Roman progressive rock band in the style of Yes whose members gave rise to Goblin shortly after their 1975 debut appeared. We're then setting aside the next 20 minutes for music by Quebec folk rockers Le Temps, EAST from Hungary, Swedish prog royalty The Flower Kings, and the head-imploding audacity of Combat Astronomy out of the UK.

The second set is looking good as well, with contributions from Austrian experimental jazz trio Kompost 3, Canadian guitar slinger Nick Johnston, Norwegian art rockers The O***m Cartel, and rising star on cello Raphael Weinroth-Browne whose much-anticipated new album Lifeblood drops tomorrow.

For this week's Pioneers and Legends of French Progressive Rock and Jazz Fusion, the zaniness of Etron Fou Leloublan is back in the spotlight, specifically a track from their 1978 3rd album Les trois fous perdegagnent... Nobody came close to sounding like these guys, and nobody ever will. We'll finish up back where we started, in Italy, with a lovely cut from LATTE E MIELE as heard on their 1973 Papillon LP.

Thanks again for tuning in these past 25 years — especially during these strange days. "I care if you listen".

Listen live / Écoutez en direct:
https://player1.radioplace.co/player/popup/chuo-fm
https://tunein.com/radio/CHUO-FM-891-s20289/

CHUO-FM - Since 1991, we’ve been proudly playing whatever we want. Not bound by a single genre of music, CHUO invites our listeners on a journey of discovery. CHUO is radio that speaks your language. We open up conversations with the community – delving into...