2011 comes to an end

There was no show this week - I just wasn't up for it and no one's around anyway. I'll come up with something good for next week, though. In the meantime, I plan on expanding this blog beyond just posting the shows to writing about some of my music exploration. I often think about bands that deserve reissues, how to expand anthologies, home-made compilations and great tracks on weak albums. I can't write as well as some but I can talk about what strikes an emotional chord and why things mean so much to me. I hope you'll come along for the ride!

12-20-2011 Show

This week's show is a catch-all hodge-podge. I've received some cool compilations of tunes old (post-punk Peel sessions) and new (from Ipswich, UK) and have pulled out some interesting bits. Also along for the ride is some Kiwi goodness, a shoegaze set, and other great underground rock!

You can download this podcast by clicking here.

Playlist:
Vic Godard And Subway Sect - Back In The Community (We Come As Aliens, 2010)
Beach House - Master Of None (Beach House, 2006)
John Foxx And The Maths - Where You End And I Begin (featuring Tara Busch) (The Shape Of Things, 2011)
UB40 - Food For Thought (Peel session) (V/A - Movement: BBC Radio 1 Peel Sessions, 2011)
Tom Robinson Band - Don't Take No For An Answer (Peel session) (V/A - Movement: BBC Radio 1 Peel Sessions, 2011)
The Human League - Being Boiled (Peel session) (V/A - Movement: BBC Radio 1 Peel Sessions, 2011)
Bow Wow Wow - W.O.R.K. (N.O. Nah No No My Daddy Don't) (W.O.R.K. single, 1981)
Clock DVA - Tortured Heroine (Advantage, 1983)
Perfect Disaster - Stetson (Perfect Disaster, 1985)
The Danse Society - Say It Again (Say It Again single, 1985)
Jack Rundell - Show The New Kid Round (V/A - Caveat Emptor: An Antigen Records Compilation, 2011)
John Callaghan - Emote Control (V/A - Caveat Emptor: An Antigen Records Compilation, 2011)
Sealionwoman - Poor Hugo (V/A - Caveat Emptor: An Antigen Records Compilation, 2011)
Life & Times Of - Ballet (V/A - The Ugly Truth About Ipswich 1981-2011, 2011)
As Is - Love Is Here (V/A - The Ugly Truth About Ipswich 1981-2011, 2011)
Big Ray - Duckpin (V/A - The Ugly Truth About Ipswich 1981-2011, 2011 - originally released in 2001)
Space Maggots - You Drag Me Down (V/A - The Ugly Truth About Ipswich 1981-2011, 2011 - originally released in 1987)
The Shallows - Suzanne Said (Suzanne Said single, 1985)
Cyclops - Alice (Goat Volume, 1994)
King Loser - '76 Comeback (You Cannot Kill What Does Not Live, 1995)
The Jesus And Mary Chain - Upside Down (Upside Down single, 1984)
Ride - Sight Of You (Peel session) (Waves, 2003 - originally released in 1990)
The House Of Love - Christine (The House Of Love, 1988)
Love Spit Love - How Soon Is Now? (V/A - The Craft soundtrack, 1996)
Strangelove - Living With The Human Machines (Love And Other Demons, 1996)
Toy - Left Myself Behind (Left Myself Behind digital single, 2011)
1000 Mexicans - Diving For Pearls (Dance Like Ammunition, 1985)
The Flys - Waikiki Beach Refugees (Waikiki Beach Refugees, 1978)
The Damned - There Ain't No Sanity Clause (There Ain't No Sanity Clause single, 1980)

Shopping show

This week's show is all about shopping for gifts, receiving presents and the true spirit of the holidays: getting stuff!

You can download this podcast by clicking here.

Playlist:
Chimp Eats Bananas - Shopping List (V/A - Messthetics Greatest Hiss, 2008 - originally released between 1979 & 1982)
The Beach Bullies - Window Shopping (We Rule The Universe, 1980)
Hidden Charms - Please Give Me Something (V/A - A Real Cool Time, 1985)
Reason To Live - The Gift (V/A - Life In The Future, 2011 - originally released in 1985)
Frankie Hill - This Gift (V/A - Shrew'd, 1993)
Bailter Space - Present (Thermos, 1990)
Feverdream - Present (Somewhere Elsewhere, 1994)
X (Au) - Present (Aspirations, 1980)
Dead Can Dance - Fortune Presents Gifts Not According To The Book (Aion, 1990)
Hem - The Present (No Word From Tom, 2006)
The Pacific Ocean - Give (So Beautiful And Cheap And Warm, 2002)
Bill Nelson - Gift Of The August Tide (Pavilions Of The Heart And Soul, 1984)
Gang Of Four - Return The Gift (Entertainment!, 1979)
Captain Sensible - (What D'Ya Give) The Man Who's Gotten Everything (Women And Captain's First, 1982)
Naz Nomad And The Nightmares - I Can Only Give You Everything (Give Daddy The Knife Cindy, 1984)
The Creatures - Red Wrapping Paper (Red Wrapping Paper single, 2001)
Supernaut - Give Me More (Supernaut, 1997)
Curve - Gift (Gift, 2001)
The Beekeepers - Window Shopper (demo) (Do You Behave Like That At Home? single, 1997)
Sugar - Gift (File Under: Easy Listening, 1994)
The Jam - Shopping (Beat Surrender EP, 1982)
The Slits - Shoplifting (Cut, 1979)
The Higsons - A Dash To The Shops (Peel session) (It's A Wonderful Life, 1998 - originally released in 1981)
Lloyd Cole - A Gift (radio session) (Live At The BBC, 2007 - originally released in 1990)
A.C. Marias - Give Me (One Of Our Girls, 1989)
Lush - God's Gift (Black Spring EP, 1991)
Unbelievable Truth - Unwanted Gift (Misc. Music, 2001)
A House - I Give You You (I Want Too Much, 1990)
Pale Saints - Special Present (Fine Friend EP, 1994)
The Wonder Stuff - Give Us What We Want (Suspended By Stars, 2006)
The Twilight Sad - That Birthday Present (Forget The Night Ahead, 2009)
The Jazz Butcher - Caroline Wheeler's Birthday Present (A Scandal In Bohemia, 1984)

The Best Of 2011

Ok, maybe not the best, but certainly my favorites from 2011. It's been a good year, with exciting releases from new bands and old favorites, plus some archival releases thrown in. Along with this stuff I've delved deeper into the Nuggets box sets, Scott Walker, Brian Eno's ambient work, early Pere Ubu and Kevin Ayers in particular this year. The best thing about being a music obsessive is one never knows where one's ear will lead them - if you had shown me some of these entries a year ago I'd have scoffed, but here we are.

You can listen to this podcast by clicking here.

Playlist:
Scott H. Biram – Still Drunk, Still Crazy, Still Blue (live) (V/A – No One Got Hurt, 2011)
Jon Langford – The Ballad Of Solomon Jones (Skull Orchard Revisited, 2011)
Joe Dash – Truth About Surgery (V/A – Messthetics #108, 2011 - originally released in the early 1980s)
The Diagram Brothers – I Didn't Get Where I Am Today By Being A Right Git (Peel session) (The Peel Sessions, 2011 – originally released in 1981)

David Kilgour – Diamond Mine (Left By Soft, 2011)
F In Math – Couch (Couch EP, 2011)
Ghost Wave – Sunsetter (Ghost Wave EP, 2011)
Cut Off Your Hands – Fooling No One (Hollow, 2011)

Punches – Hold Your Head (Etheria, 2011)
Wild Beasts – Loop The Loop (Smother, 2011)
Radiohead – Little By Little (The King Of Limbs, 2011)

Robyn Hitchcock – Old Man Weather (Tromso, Kaptein, 2011)
Shriekback – My Vast Behavior (Life In The Loading Bay bonus disc, 2011)
John Foxx And The Maths – Shatterproof (Interplay, 2011)

British Sea Power – We Are Sound (Valhalla Dancehall, 2011)
Puressence – Swathes Of Sea Made Stone (Solid State Recital, 2011)
Dead Guitars – Mesmerized (Stranger, 2011)

Dead Skeletons – Get On The Train (Dead Magick, 2011)
The Primitives – Rattle My Cage (Never Kill A Secret EP, 2011)
Astrid Williamson – Paperbacks (Pulse, 2011)

Thomas Dolby – 17 Hills (A Map Of The Floating City, 2011)
TV Smith – Man Down (Coming In To Land, 2011)
Peter Gabriel – The Rhythm Of The Heat (new version) (New Blood, 2011)

The Fall – I've Seen Them Come (Ersatz G.B., 2011)
The Black Watch – Meg (The End Of When, 2011)
David Sylvian – The Last Days Of December (Died In The Wool, 2011)