The Consortium’s Electroyale Dynasty Comes to a Close this Thursday

The Consortium will breathe its last hour of radio from 10-11 pm on Thursday, January 13, 2011. The Electronica/RPM show originally aired on CJLO 1690AM’s airwaves on St. Patrick’s Day, 2009 and was comprised of hosts DJ Ernest Lakelandèr and of DJ Beauregard von Teesdale. From its early days, The Consortium prided itself on playing new content and promoting obscure and hybrid genres, such as: electroswing, turbofolk, psychedelic electric, and much more. Artists including Parov Stelar, Gonjasufi, High Contrast, Crystal Castles, Shantel, among many others, found frequent air time on the show, which described its objective as “serenading beautiful Montreal with stellar stylings.”

Beauregard and Ernest were always about pleasing the RPM fans with not just music but witty banter, absurd and deadpan humour and lots of musical album information. The hosts’ awareness of their audience had a huge impact on the show’s format and running gags. Both Lakelandèr and von Teesdale, for instance, consistently referred to their listenership as “Beautiful Montreal,” and as such, dedicated every episode to their fans in the form of  street “shout outs.” Basically, this consisted of salutes to street corners that were symbolically significant to the hosts in the city of Montreal. In many ways, The Consortium was a celebration of Montreal, its culture, traditions, and ways, as experienced through myriad forms of electro music.

The Consortium also held a bit of an ironman hot streak at one point by running 90 weeks without interruption.  That’s right, 90 weeks without missing a beat. Yet perhaps the early departure and out-of-town move of Ernest Lakelandèr in October, 2010, for career related reasons, signalled the show’s eventual coming to a halt.

From October, 2010, to January, 2011, The Consortium’s responsibilities rested on the shoulders of Beauregard von Teesdale who continued to provide listeners with the latest RPM-materials.  The Consortium then aired two reunion episodes in late 2010, which featured Ernest and Beauregard together on the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Both were extremely festive episodes. Yet due to another out-of-town career related move, this time on the part of Beauregard von Teesdale, the show is no longer feasible and therefore will come to an end.

Both Ernest Lakelandèr and Beauregard von Teesdale would like to thank the CJLO community for making their experience at the station so wonderful. Special thanks go to: Adrian Warner, RPM Director, for connecting the show to new materials from RPM labels that The Consortium had been unfamiliar with. Brian Joseph, Program Director, for helping get the show on the air and being there from day one. And finally, Katie Seline, Station Manager, who brought in a new culture to the station, which has made The Consortium proud to be a part of the 1690AM family’s recent success both in Montreal and throughout the college radio scene.
 
Last, but never least, the show would like to thank Beautiful Montreal and Beautiful World “for permitting The Consortium’s tympanic indulgences”—as the notable, closing catch phrase goes.  You have made our achievements worth every ounce of energy and for this reason our show was able to thrive from its beginnings. Please continue to listen to our podcast at http://theconsortium.podomatic.com where we will select an assortment of past episodes for you to re-sample and don’t forget to tune in to CJLO, always! The Consortium’s last episode, number 96, will air this week, Thursday at 10pm only on 1690am or CJLO.com.