j's indie/rock mayhem - 2nd march 2005

[a stellar evening, even if i'm still recovering from my nasty bout with strep throat. that stuff is not easy to kick. but some awesome requests, good calls and comments, all in all a fantastic night. onward.]

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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Kathleen Edwards - "Summer Long" [from her brand new album back to me which came out yesterday. she was on letterman last night playing the title track (the single) and making a wonderful show of herself. this song has been stuck in my head, despite repeated playing, all week. this album is already firmly planted in my best of '05 list.]
Spoon - "The Fitted Shirt" [from girls can tell. spoon's forthcoming album gimme fiction is due out on may 9th.]
Iron and Wine - "Woman King" [the absolutely stunning title track from the new EP. sam beam has rarely sounded this intense on record. it's a welcome change.]
the Pixies - "Dig For Fire" [by request. from the underrated (and underwhelming) bossanova.]
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Beck - "E-Pro" [from the forthcoming album guero due out later this month. rock.]
the Gun Club - "Ghost on the Highway" [from out of the darkest holes of the deep south, hot blues, country, punk and rockabilly cobbled together easily one of the most remarkable debuts of the post-punk era. from fire of love.]
Minus the Bear - "Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse" [by request. from the addictive highly refined pirates. this album got some hellacious play when it was in rotation a couple of years ago.]
Chris Mars - "Monkey Sees" [by request. never thought i'd field a request for some chris mars, but the ex-replacements' drummer did make one hell of a solo debut. from horseshoes and hand grenades.]
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Crooked Fingers - "Twilight Creeps" [from the new album dignity and shame. all i can say is wow. this is one of the best songs eric bachman has ever put together and from the reviews i've heard, this is crooked fingers' best album yet. i've heard nothing to contradict that yet.]
the Beastie Boys - "So What'cha Want" [hot, classic beasties from check your head. this song pounds like a jackhammer and the percussive tint of the instrumentation makes it so it hasn't aged a bit.]
M. Ward - "One Life Away" [this song sounds like it could've come straight out of harry smith's american folk music anthology. the throwback recording style is so charmingly lo-fi it's breathtaking. from the wonderful new transistor radio.]
Josh Rouse - "Sad Eyes" [from his new album nashville. this song originally appeared on the limited edition bedroom stories EP released back in 2000. this re-recorded version ups the ante something fierce and this version is beautiful.]
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Mando Diao - "All My Senses" [from the new album hurricane bar. mad dog was right in saying these guys sound like the jam, but it's a whole mix of 60s british invasion, mod, and everything in between. a very strong album.]
Blanche - "Who's to Say" [ex-goober and the peas member creates some haunting gothic country from their latest if we can't trust the doctors. like a more fleshed out (and not quite as lyrically sharp) handsome family.]
R.E.M. - "Gardening at Night" [from the chronic town EP. recorded in october 1981, just two months after i was born. ah, youth.]
the Streets - "It's Too Late" [one of the most moving tracks from mike skinner's 2002 debut as the streets, original pirate material. such great things were to come, but this first album is a first-rate excursion into the ever growing phenomena of british hip-hop, an animal all its own.]
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Ben Lee - "Whatever It Is" [from his newest, awake is the new sleep. soft, touching. possibly some of the best work he's done since something to remember me by.]
Nicolai Dunger - "What Tomorrow" [from the recently first-time-in-the-US-released this cloud is learning. this is nicolai's 3rd album which predates both tranquil isolation and soul rush, his previous two american releases.]
the Heartbreakers - "Born to Lose" [the first track from the oft-referenced/less-often heard first and last album by this legendary punk group, l.a.m.f.]
Jim White - "Borrowed Wings" [beautiful, haunting song from his latest, drill a hole in that substrate and tell me what you see. jim is a wonderful, wonderful songwriter.]
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Mia Doi Todd - "Deep at Sea" [from her new album manzanita. todd's voice is really unique, classically trained, reminding me of some of her female songwriting compatriots like natalie merchant, but her music seems much more esoteric.]
Olivia Tremor Control - "Jumping Fences" [speaking of esoteric, from the insane but incredibly catchy dusk at cubist castle.]
Nanci Griffith - "It's a Hard Life Wherever You Go" [one of my all time favorite griffith compositions. originally from her album storms.]
Television - "The Dream's Dream" [the surrealistic, floating closing track to their 1978 album adventure. "she said 'the dream's dream is dreaming.' i said 'it's not my fault.'" too true.]
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Bruce Springsteen - "Youngstown" [sometimes bruce's the ghost of tom joad album takes a bit of slack, but it's one of my favorites. this song especially.]
Tom Waits and Crystal Gayle - "This One's From the Heart" [from one of my very favorite tom waits' albums, the one from the heart soundtrack that he recorded with crystal gayle. such an unlikely pairing and what results is some of the most (no pun intended) cinematic and sweeping of tom's 80s work. a must-hear for fans of either.]

That's all for now. Take care of yourselves and I'll talk to you next week.