Yellowknife (May 19/06) - Northern sounds are in the air. Literally.

Twice a week, local French-language radio station Radio Taiga has been running a program dedicated solely to NWT musicians.

Radio Taiga host Alex Beaudin collects some audio for his radio show in the studio. He has been running a show dedicated to NWT musicians on the French-language station for the last two months. - Adam Johnson/NNSL photo

The host of the show, called "Vers un Monde Ouvert" (Towards an Open World), is photographer and Western Arctic Green Party candidate Alex Beaudin.

"I try to share local music," he said, adding it gets little radio promotion in the city.

Beaudin said the music he plays runs through a number of styles, from Godson's raps to Leela Gilday's singing to Diga's guitars.

About two-thirds of the show is dedicated to local music, he said, while the rest of the time he speaks about "whatever comes to my mind that week," - be it politics, art or recycling, often with a guest.

The show is the brainchild of Taiga's new director, Alpha Sow. Originally from Belgium and trained in electronics and media in Russia and Montreal, Sow said he was inspired by a few visits to the Yellowknife jam spot the Boom Boom Room.

When he learned there were few outlets for local music, he started buying up artists' albums.

"To me, promoting (musicians) is buying what they do," he said.

Only three months into his tenure as director of Radio Taiga, Sow said he is trying to create an identity for the station.

"The French here are a minority," he said.

"We are a little bit different, but we can use this to build something different."

But constructing an identity takes a lot of volunteers, which he said the station is always looking for.

"For me, doing a good job means bringing people here and sharing with them," he said, no matter what language they speak.

"It's a chance for them to improve their French," he added.

Radio Taiga was created in 2001, as part of l'association franco-culturelle de Yellowknife, along with French-language newspaper l'Aquilon.

Beaudin said while the show is in French, the majority of the music is in English.

"I'd say there is a lack of French music (in the North)," he said. "I'm thinking about making some French music on my own."

Radio Taiga (CIVR) is available at 103.5 FM from 7a.m. to 11p.m. "Vers un Monde Ouvert," plays Sunday evenings from 6 to 7 p.m. and repeats Thursday evenings at the same time.