2019 in review

Another year of music - albums from young artists, old favorites and new discoveries!

Young artists:
Tropical Fuck Storm - Who's My Eugene? (Braindrops, 2019)
The Twilight Sad - [10 Good Reasons For Modern Drugs] (It Won't Be Like This All The Time, 2019)
VR Sex - Sacred Limousine (Human Traffic Jam, 2019)
Apex Manor - Where My Mind Goes (Heartbreak City, 2019)
Wye Oak - Fortune (single, 2019)
Phoebe Bridgers - Motion Sickness (Stranger In The Alps, 2017)
Boygenius - Ketchum, ID (Boygenius EP, 2018)
Guerilla Toss - Moth Like Me (What Would The Odd Do? EP, 2019)
Fenella [Jane Weaver] - Bright Curse (Fenella, 2019)
Trentemoller & Rachel Goswell - Cold Comfort (Obverse, 2019)
Fontaines D.C. - Boys In The Better Land (Dogrel, 2019)

Old favorites:
Bob Mould - Thirty Dozen Roses (Sunshine Rock, 2019)
Piroshka - Village Of The Damned (Brickbat, 2019)
Versus - Invisible Love (Ex Nihilo EP, 2019)
The Black Watch - Mad (Magic Johnson, 2019)
Barry Andrews - Put Me To Work (Contaminated Pop, 2019)
Lloyd Cole - Moments And Whatnot (Guesswork, 2019)
Robyn Hitchcock - Take Off Your Bandages (single, 2019)
New Model Army - Never Arriving (From Here, 2019)
Salad - Under The Wrapping Paper (The Salad Way, 2019)
David Kilgour & The Heavy Eights - Smoke You Right Out Of Here (Bobbie's A Girl, 2019)
Fitted - Training Pit Bulls For The Navy (First Fits, 2019)

Stuff I overlooked at the time:
Nihilists - Wall Space (single, 2016)
Helium - Pat's Trick (The Dirt Of Luck, 1995)
Underground Lovers - Eastside Stories (Leaves Me Blind, 1992)

Acoustic:
Jason Ringenberg - I'm Walking Home (Stand Tall, 2019)
Andy Prieboy & Tony Kinman - Get Me Out Of This Town (Every Night Of My Life EP, 2019)

In summary:
Blossom Dearie - I Hear Music (Blossom Dearie, 1957)

Listen here on Spotify.

Notes:
Tropical Fuck Storm is out of Australia, the lead singer used to front The Drones until they morphed into something else over their last two albums.
The Twilight Sad - Scottish emo-punk. Yeah, I was sceptical, too.
VR Sex - Even better than the Sisters Of Mercy, who they are so clearly indebted!
Phoebe Bridgers - I first heard about her when the stories about Ryan Adams gas-lighting behavior came to light.
Boygenius - One of Phoebe's side projects with two other talented young women.
Guerilla Toss - A one-time local band made good.
Fenella - Jane Weaver's turn from folk to krautrock over her last few albums has been truly inspiring.
Fontaines D.C. - It's not like I need more of this sort of indie-punk thing, but it's so damn catchy and fun!
Piroshka - Miki from Lush, her husband from Moose and some other very talented musicians.
Versus - One of my all-time favorite indie-rock bands still has it almost a decade after their last release.
Barry Andrews - He of Shriekback fame with his first proper solo album, what it says on the tin.
Lloyd Cole - I bet you didn't know he did an album with the legendary Roedelius a few years back. This is Lloyd's attempt at blending his sound with krautrock!
Robyn Hitchcock - I can't say I've been thrilled with his output since the Venus 3 LPs but this is terrific in both sound and lyrics.
David Kilgour - This is from his mostly instrumental album recorded after the death of his mother, very affecting music.
Fitted - Graham Lewis and Matthew Simms from Wire meets Mike Watt from Minutemen and firehose! The whole album is great.
Nihilists - The singer from Puressence's new band, the debut album has been a long time coming but is due in 2020.
Helium - I'm sure I saw them open a few times in the 90s but their music never clicked for me, until now! I love when that happens.
Underground Lovers - An incredible Australian psych-shoegaze band that I completely missed in the 90s. Great music is always there, waiting to be heard!
Jason Ringenberg - He of Jason & The Scorchers fame, his new album is a bit inconsistent but this is one of the winners.
Andy Prieboy (ex-Wall Of Voodoo) & Tony Kinman (ex-Dils) - RIP Tony, this is a great closing song to his career.
Blossom Dearie - I binged on "The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel" this year and this deeply familiar voice was singing. Hey, it's the woman who sang Schoolhouse Rock's "Figure Eight"! It was Blossom Dearie (yes, her real name) and her late 50s/early 60s work is utterly charming and was my summer 2019 jam.

July 2018: Still living

The fire's not gone out, just the time has been filled! I may not be on your radio anymore but I still love music. Here's what's been tickling my ears lately in the form of Google Play Music and Spotify playlists!

Google Play playlist

Spotify playlist

Playlist:
Wolfhounds - Cheer Up (Middle Aged Freaks, 2015)
The Magic Words - Loaded For Bear (The Magic Words, 2017)
Deutsche Wertarbeit - Deutscher Wald (V/A, Deutsche Elektronische Musik 3, 2017)
Jenny Hval - Spells (The Long Sleep EP, 2018)
Jane Weaver - The Architect (Modern Kosmology, 2017)
Wire - Short Elevated Period (Silver/Lead, 2017)
Neko Case - Bad Luck (Hell-On, 2018)
Wussy - One Per Customer (What Heaven Is Like, 2018)
The Black Watch - The Paper Boats (The Paper Boats EP, 2018)
Courtney Barnett - City Looks Pretty (Tell Me How You Really Feel, 2018)
Tropical Fuck Storm - You Let My Tyres Down (A Laughing Death In Meatspace, 2018)
Wye Oak - The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs (The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs, 2018)
Salad - Poor Peach (The Lost Album Vol. 1, 2018)
Yellow Magic Orchestra - 1000 Knives (BGM, 1981)
Nocturnal Projections - Inmates in Images (Inmates In Images, 2018 - originally released in 1982)
The Damned - Standing On The Edge Of Tomorrow (Evil Spirits, 2018)
Yachts - Look Back In Love (Not In Anger) (Suffice To Say - The Complete Yachts Collection, 2018 - originally released in 1978)
Creep Show - Mr. Dynamite (Mr. Dynamite, 2018)
Underground Lovers - Eastside Stories (Leaves Me Blind, 1992)
The New Pornographers - High Ticket Attractions (Whiteout Conditions, 2017)
The April Seven - Witch's Hour (Pop Tarkovsky, 2017)
Oskar's Drum - Quartz (A Cathedral Of Hands, 2016)

5-1-2012 show

It's been a fruitful few weeks with lots of new stuff coming out as well as plenty that I've checked out. I always like being able to share my latest discoveries and this show has them in spades. For example, how did I miss Long Fin Killie back in the day? Amazing band, glad all their albums were less than $2 on Amazon! And Taming The Outback, wow, what a great post-punk crate digging find - it's the album Echo & The Bunnymen didn't make after _Crocodiles_! The teaser from the forthcoming Peter Blegvad/Andy Partridge album is fantastic, can't wait for it to get released! And lots of new stuff from old and new favorites.

Unfortunately, my new work schedule means that I have to put the show on hiatus. I'm not wrapping it up yet, maybe I can do it once a month through the summer, we'll have to see. I'll try to get back to posting other things to the blog but the show will have to wait. For now!

Unfortunately, it appears a glitch has resulted in a corrupt file of the broadcast, but here's the music.

You can download this podcast by clicking here.

Playlist:
The Waco Brothers & Paul Burch - Flight To Spain (Great Chicago Fire, 2012)
Billy Bragg & Wilco - Union Prayer (Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions, 2012)
Paul Westerberg - Man Without Ties (Besterberg, 2005 - originally released in 1993)
The Agitator - Die Like A Dog (No! (promo), 2011)
The Fall - Victrola Time (Night Of The Humerons 7", 2012)
Public Image Ltd. - Lollipop Opera (One Drop EP, 2012)
Dalis Car - Soundclound (InGladAloneness EP, 2012)
The Frank And Walters - Indie Love Song (Greenwich Mean Time, 2012)
Toy - Motoring (Motoring 7", 2012)
The Bats - Free All Monsters (Free All Monsters, 2011)
The Saints - Grain Of Sand (Prodigal Son, 1988)
British Sea Power - Facts Not Right (EP4, 2012)
Long Fin Killie - Lipstick (Amelia, 1997)
Half String - Eyesick (Maps For Sleep 1991-1994, 2012 - originally released in 1997)
The Chameleons - Heaven (BBC session) (digital distribution, 2012)
Taming The Outback - Fire & Smoke (1986-1989, 2011 - originally released in 1986)
The Primitives - I'm Not Sayin' (Echoes And Rhymes, 2012)
Gazelle Twin - Changelings (John Foxx & The Maths remix) (The Entire City Remixed, 2012)
Peter Blegvad & Andy Partridge - The Cryonic Trombone (Gonwards, 2012?)
Oingo Boingo - Forbidden Zone (Forbidden Zone soundtrack, 1983)
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - The Rider (White Lunar, 2009)
The Outsiders - Freeway (Calling On Youth reissue, 2012)
Bap Kennedy - Working Man (The Sailor's Revenge, 2012)
The dB's - Working For Somebody Else (The Sound Of Music, 1987)
The Wonder Stuff - Back To Work (Escape From Rubbish Island, 2004)
Magazine - Model Worker (Peel session) (The Complete John Peel Sessions, 2008 - originally released in 1980)
Chelsea - Right To Work (Right To Work 7", 1977)
Wire - In The Art Of Stopping (Send, 2003)

4-10-2012 Show

New stuff from David Sylvian, The Verlaines, Anthony Reynolds, British Sea Power, a pair of recent Barbara Manning tracks, a set of Elvis (songs about, not by), one of the great irresistible forces meets the unmovable object collaborations and more this week!

You can download this podcast by clicking here.

Playlist:
Einsturzende Neubauten - Total Eclipse Of The Sun (Silence Is Sexy, 2000)
David Sylvian - Where's Your Gravity? (A Victim Of Stars, 2012)
British Sea Power - Brand New Century (EP3, 2012)
Spotlight, Floodlight ft. Rob Dickinson - Mercy Street (digital distribution, 2010)
Barbara Manning - Never Go Back (V/A - Thank You Chico, Goodnight, 2011)
The Sleaze Tax - Tape You To A Star (digital distribution, 2009)
The Rip - Wrecked Wee Hymn (V/A - Time To Go - The Southern Psychedelic Moment, 2012 - originally released in 1987)
The Verlaines - A Call From Decades Past (Untimely Meditations, 2012)
Bressa Creeting Cake - A Chip That Sells Millions (V/A - Tally Ho! Flying Nun's Greatest Bits, 2011 - originally released in 1997)
The Nightblooms - One Weak Moment (live) (Live EP, 1992)
Killing Joke - In Cythera (MMXII, 2012)
Anthony Reynolds - Be My Next Ex-Girlfriend (version) (Life's Too Long, 2012)
The Jazz Butcher - Inside Your Heart (V/A - Another Spark, 1984)
The Nightingales - Elvis, The Last Ten Days (Pissed & Potless, 2001 - originally released in 1982)
Peter And The Test Tube Babies - Elvis Is Dead (V/A - Vaultage 78, 1978)
These New Puritans - Elvis (Beat Pyramid, 2008)
Whipping Boy - Suspicious Minds (V/A - Natural Born Elvis, 1998)
Slowdive - Alison (Souvlaki, 1993)
Lokomotiv - Next Time Round (Next Time Round single, 2000)
Stephen Emmer - Wish On (Vogue Estate, 1982)
Anita Lane - Bedazzled (The World's A Girl single, 1995)
Dizrhythmia - A Grown Man Immersed In Tin-Tin (Dizrhythmia, 1988)
Jon Hassell - Courage (Dream Theory In Malaya, 1981)
The Long Decline - Buckle Up & Join In Lad (The Long Decline, 1997)
Saint Etienne - Kiss And Make Up (Kiss And Make Up single, 1990)
Kimo - Discover Me (Surrender, 2008)
Homer - Lucky Thirteen (Lucky Thirteen single, 1995)
Marc Almond - Threat Of Love (Open All Night, 1999)
Inspiral Carpets feat. Mark E. Smith - I Want You (I Want You single, 1994)
The Stranglers - Shut Up (Nice 'N' Sleazy single, 1978)

Days Of The Week show

After playing "Everyday Is Like Sunday" on a grey, rainy day this weekend I decided that this week's theme would be the days of the week. I pick these themes because they get me to dig deeper into my library, pair unusual bands and are generally fun to make flow well. Unsurprisingly, the weekend days are over-represented and the mid-week Wednesday and Thursday are not as great for song titles. A surprising amount of kiwi bands write songs about the days of the week along with some classic post-punk, alt-country and more!

You can download this podcast by clicking here.

Playlist:
Morrissey - Everyday Is Like Sunday (Viva Hate, 1988)
The Associates - Tell Me Easter's On Friday (Fourth Drawer Down, 1981)
The Brilliant Corners - Meet Me On Tuesdays (Everything I Ever Wanted, 1988)
The Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays (The Fine Art Of Surfacing, 1979)
Linoleum - On A Tuesday (Dissent, 1997)
Longwave - Sunday Nite Health (Life Of The Party EP, 2004)
Clearlake - Sunday Evening (Lido, 2001)
Versus - Saturday Saints (On The Ones And Threes, 2010)
Graeme Downes - Sunday Kickaround (Hammers And Anvils, 2001)
The Mutton Birds - Ash Wednesday (Too Hard Basket, 1998)
Able Tasmans - Wednesday (She's Coming Round) (Hey, Spinner!, 1990)
Alec Bathgate - Friday In The Ground (Gold Lame, 1996)
Screaming Meemees - Sunday Boys (If This Is Paradise, I'll Take The Bag, 1982)
Suburban Reptiles - Saturday Night, Stay At Home (Saturday Night, Stay At Home 7", 1978)
The Puddle - Thursday (Thursday 7", 1993)
The Cakekitchen - Is It Only Monday? (Time Flowing Backwards, 1991)
The Jody Grind - Friday (Lefty's Deceiver, 1992)
Lucinda Williams - Sundays (live) (Lucinda Williams reissue, 1998)
Robbie Fulks - Let's Kill Saturday Night (Let's Kill Saturday Night, 1998)
Kirsty MacColl - Big Boy On A Saturday Night (Titanic Days, 1993)
Radio Birdman - Monday Morning Gunk (Radios Appear, 1977)
Dead Kennedys - Saturday Night Holocaust (Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death, 1987 - originally released in 1982)
The Professionals - Friday Night Square (I Didn't See It Coming, 1981)
China Drum - (Had A Good Idea On) Monday (Goosefair, 1996)
Beagle - A Different Sunday (Sound On Sound, 1992)
You Am I - Tuesday (Hourly, Daily, 1996)
Steve Diggle - Wednesday's Flowers (Heated And Rising EP, 1993)
Bandola - 'Til Tuesday ('Til Tuesday EP, 1992)
Jacques - Tuesday's Child (Roses For Ashes EP, 2003)
Bill Pritchard - Wednesday (Half A Million, 1988)
The Fatima Mansions - Thursday (Viva Dead Ponies, 1990)
The Ropers - Blue Sunday (V/A - Why Popstars Can't Dance, 1994)

Singled Out: The Kinks

It's been a while since I did a Singled Out show and this time DJ Jeff and I wanted to honor The Kinks. It's only an hour so we chose some pretty unusual tracks from the Davies brothers. Aside from the massive volume of music to choose from, there's a huge amount of great anecdotes and stories about The Kinks, who are a world-class band if ever there was one, dedicated to their art and their audience. They certainly gave the people what they wanted!

You can listen to this podcast by clicking here.

Playlist:
The Kinks - See My Friends (single, 1965)
The Kinks - Dedicated Follower Of Fashion (single, 1966)
The Kinks - Sunny Afternoon (single, 1966)
The Kinks - I'm Not Like Everybody Else (Sunny Afternoon single, 1966)
The Kinks - David Watts (Something Else, 1967)
The Kinks - Love Me Till The Sun Shines (Something Else, 1967)
The Kinks - The Village Green Preservation Society (The Village Green Preservation Society, 1968 & single, 1969)
The Kinks - Big Sky (The Village Green Preservation Society, 1968)
The Kinks - Picture Book (The Village Green Preservation Society, 1968)
The Kinks - Apeman (single, 1970)
The Kinks - Catch Me Now I'm Falling (single, 1979)
The Kinks - (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman (single 1979)
The Kinks - Destroyer (single, 1981)
The Kinks - Around The Dial (Give The People What They Want, 1981)
The Kinks - Better Things (single, 1981)

This show is for the birds!

Birds! This week's show is all about one of my favorite sources of music - the birds of spring. From post-punk heavyweights Killing Joke and Public Image Ltd to recent cuts from Chris Mills and The Wheat Pool, all the songs are dedicated to our neighborhood avian singers. Sure, most of the music isn't as serene and beautiful as the tweets we hear outside but as a theme it pulls together quite well.

You can listen to this podcast by clicking here.

Playlist:
Bill Nelson - When The Birds Return (The Two-Fold Aspect Of Everything, 1984)
Killing Joke - Birds Of A Feather (Birds Of A Feather 7", 1982)
Public Image Ltd. - No Birds (Metal Box, 1979)
Siouxsie And The Banshees - Painted Bird (BBC session) (At The BBC, 2009 - originally released in 1982)
Tarnation - Yellow Birds (Gentle Creatures, 1995)
The Wheat Pool - Nervous Bird (Hauntario, 2009)
Kristin Hersh - Little Birdy (Murder, Misery And Then Goodnight, 1998)
Leonard Cohen - Bird On The Wire (Songs From A Room, 1969)
The Jam - Big Bird (live) (Dig The New Breed, 1982)
Carl Gustav & The 84's - Through Birds, Through Fire (I Want To Kill Russians 7", 1981)
The Final Eclipse - Birdsong (V/A - Avon Calling bonus disc, 2005 - originally released around 1980)
Dr. Yogami - Nightmare Birds (V/A - A Real Cool Time, 1985)
Essential Logic - Eagle Bird (Wake Up EP, 1979)
LiLiPut - Birdy (LiLiPut, 1982)
Lung Leg - Anatomy Of A Dolly Bird (Hello Sir, 1997)
Think Tree - Hire A Bird (Eight/Thirteen, 1990)
The Bats - Chicken Bird Run (Compiletely Bats, 1990)
Trash - Screech Of Bird (Not Gate, 1994)
Slate - Iron Bird (live) (V/A - Arclife, 1999)
Grant Lee Buffalo - Mockingbirds (Might Joe Moon, 1994)
Chris Mills - Blackbirds (Living In The Aftermath, 2008)
Adrian Belew - Bird In A Box (Mr. Music Head, 1989)
Brian Stevens And The Flip - A Little Bird Told Me So (V/A - Yellow Pills Vol. 2, 1994)
Felt - Dark Red Birds (Poem Of The River, 1987)
Jack Frost - Birdowner (As Seen On T.V.) (Jack Frost, 1990)
Salad - Broken Bird (Ice Cream, 1997)
Bettie Serveert - Get The Bird (Kid's Allright EP, 1993)
Heavenly - And The Birds Aren't Singing (Le Jardin De Heavenly, 1992)
The Icicle Works - Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream) (The Icicle Works, 1984)
Peter Holsapple And Chris Stamey - Bird On The Wing (Here And Now, 2009)
The Blue Aeroplanes - Whatever Happened To Our Golden Birds? (Rough Music, 1995)
Dead Can Dance - Bird (A Passage In Time, 1991)