The Infinite Dial

We've been expecting a resurgence of activity in the Modern AC/Rock-based Top 40 area for a while. There's been too much good, pop-flavored rock product in recent years falling in the cracks between Modern Rock (not enough critical mass to break a lot of its own hits), Top 40 (still mostly rhythmic leaning) and Hot AC (still taking a lot of its cues from Top 40).

So CHUM Radio's newly revamped CHIQ (Q94) Winnipeg, which recently segued from Adult Top 40 to what it's calling a "hybrid pop/alternative format" as Curve 94.3 rates a listen. The core artists on the station's press release and/or Website include Nirvana, Coldplay, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, but also Pink, Jay-Z, Amy Winehouse, and Notorious B.I.G.

It's a mix reminiscent at times of WHTZ (Z100) at the beginning of its Top 40/Alternative hybrid from the early '90s. (There are also interesting jingles that sound like teen punk with lyrics like "I love eating cookies/and I dunk them in a cup of cold Curve 94.3.")

Here's Curve 94.3 as heard at 4 p.m. on Monday:

Killers, "When You Were Young"
Mobile, "The Killer" (Canadian band that sounds like New Order and thus like the Killers, so an inspired segue)
Moby, "Porcelain"
Nelly Furtado, "Say It Right" (Canadian)
Coldplay, "Viva La Vida"
Snow Patrol, "Chasing Cars"
Linkin Park, "Leave Out All The Rest"
Suzie McNeil, "Hung Up" (Canadian pop along the lines of Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone")
Snoop Dogg, "My Medicine"
John Mayer, "Waiting For The World To Change"
M.I.A., "Paper Planes"
Arcade Fire, "Rebellion" (Canadian)
Bush, "Glycerine"
Faber Drive, "Sleepless Nights" (Canadian)