j's indie/rock mayhem - 28th september 2005

[a truly exciting evening of music. i was really thrilled with the sound of tonight's show. i hope you were also. it was a great flock of music including some great requests and a whole bevy of new releases. (what with new releases being similar to quail and all that.) so onward.]

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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Blackalicious - "Supreme People" [so, here it is. finally. the craft. after waiting through the fantastic maroons side project and the so-so gift of gab solo record, we are finally back with the main group. this is the lead single off the record. i like this song a lot, but honestly, on first listen, i am not getting into the album as much. of course, since its predecessor, blazing arrow, is the closest thing to a masterpiece i've heard in some time, the stakes are higher than normal.]
Jesse Malin - "Scars of Love" [from the heat. i know you've heard jesse a time or two here recently. i've been re-evaluating his records and finding them a little more likeable than i had originally thought.]
the Housemartins - "I Smell Winter" [from the excellent odds and sods collection now that's what i call quite good. i play this song whenever i have a proper excuse. kinda cold? sure. really hot and wishing it were cold? sure. frigid in the station? absolutely.]
Pulp - "Trees" [the single off their lovely 2001 album we love life. i really hadn't realized it's been nearly 4 years since the last pulp album, but this november will be 4 years since this last record. there were rumors at the time that it might be the final pulp album. who knows.]
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Supergrass - "Kick in the Teeth" [hachi-machi. their latest, road to rouen, is fantastic. it's not the upbeat surge of 2002's life on other planets, but rather it is the softer come down on the other side of that sugary high. supergrass is just a solid band from head to toe. this album is one more notch in their belt.]
Verbena - "All the Saints" [alabama natives, lift up your heads high. one of my absolutely favorites from their 2003 album la musica negra.]
Fishbone - "It's a Wonderful Life (Gonna Have a Good Time)" [by request. admittedly i've not always been a huge fan of fishbone, but they are like no other band out there at their heyday or even now.]
Beastie Boys - "Shadrach" [by request. this is one of my very favorite beasties songs if only for the old testament reference in the chorus. shadrach, mesach and abednago were jews who lived in babylon. when they refused to worship the god of the king, they were ordered tossed into a fiery furnace. they went willingly, feeling their god would protect them. when tossed in, they were unharmed and instead danced in celebration amongst the flames. they were released and all were ordered to worship their god instead. if you'd like to read a samples and allusions breakdown of this song click here. that is one of the most comprehensive sites on the web for analyzing the myriad samples and allusions that flow througout the beasties' landmark paul's boutique album.]
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Silver Jews - "Punks in the Beerlight" [if you've never heard the silver jews' american water album, you're missing out. a really excellent member of the 90s college rock/alternative class of music. this song is off the forthcoming tanglewood numbers album and is very promising. i like it quite a bit.]
REM - "Cuyahoga" [a song about the river in ohio that, literally, caught fire in the 60s thanks to shameful environmental degredation. serious reclaimation work has been going on since the 80s. from life's rich pageant.]
Randy Newman - "Burn On" [and because any serious event examined would be less so without the snarky tongue of mr. newman, here's his take on the cuyahoga debacle. from the wonderful sail away.]
Wilson Picket - "Hey Jude" [a really fantastic cover of the beatles' classic. with a jazzy-fat-nasty guitar solo by duane allman running through the end part. this is hot to death. - thanks, as usual lately it seems, to satisfied '75 over at aquarium drunkard for both the silver jews and wilson picket songs.]
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Devin Davis - "Iron Woman" [i've said enough about mr. power-pop 2005, but i'll never get over this song. from lonely people of the world, unite!]
Nada Surf - "Do It Again" [one of the best from their fantastic new album the weight is a gift. nada surf are slowly proving themselves one of the most reliable bands in indie rock. and that's no slouchy compliment.]
Gin Blossoms - "Follow You Down" [from congratulations...i'm sorry. long time QFS supporter stan called up and we had a brief discussion about how fantastic these guys were in their time.]
Greg Dulli - "Pussywillow" [a really nice and surging track from the new dulli solo album amber headlights. this album has all the hallmarks of a relistenable classic: tight, catchy songs. hits hard. gets out. maybe 40 minutes long at most. that's a good album.]
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Ryan Adams - "Trains" [from the new jacksonville city nights which i, by the way, really like. tom of tom's diner called up and said it's been getting mixed reviews, but for me, there's no question. this makes 3 cds worth of great material adams has put out this year. here's hoping he hits the hat trick and the december scheduled 29 is as sharp as this one and cold roses. this album swings with a classic country sound that it's about time adams re-visited. it's not the worse for ware.]
Kathleen Edwards - "Summerlong" [one of my very, very favorite songs from her breathtaking latest back to me. the wit behind this song, of a lover at first seemingly begging her partner not to let this last the whole summer. then, by the end, pleading for it not to end with the summer. heartbreaking.]
Lyle Lovett - "L.A. County" [from pontiac. i saw my friend nancy on the way in tonight and i guess i subconsciously channeled her taste.]
Cornershop - "Brimful of Asha" [ah, more 90s. from the excellent when i was born for the 7th time. genre mixing never sounded this good.]
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Josh Ritter - "Thin Blue Flame" (live) [this is a live recording of a song that will be on josh ritter's forthcoming spring 2006 album, the animal years. it has been officially leaked as a teaser and though it clocks in at almost 10 minutes, it is a breathtaking listen. josh will be playing at the cat's cradle in carborro, opening for ireland's fantastic export the frames, on wednesday, october 12th. in the meantime, download this song here.]
Death Cab for Cutie - "Photobooth" [by request. stan wanted to hear some death cab. so for lack of the new album, i dug back for my personal favorite death cab song.]
Bob Dylan - "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" (alternate take) [one of the many alternate versions of dylan classics on the new no direction home: the bootleg series volume 7. this one is especially awesome as it takes the album version's bluesy, honky-tonk shuffle and ramps it up so that this song just flat out rocks. very good.]
The Greenhorns with Holy Golightly - "There is An End" [by request. from the broken flowers soundtrack. a really good song. will have to check out more on these guys.]
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Iron and Wine/Calexico - "Sixteen, Maybe Less" [one of my absolute favorites from the stunning collaboration EP in the reins. top 25 bound it seems.]
the Cash Brothers - "Nebraska" [the classic ode to riding late night in your car, perplexed out of your mind by significant others, and listening to springsteen's nebraska album to get through it all. from the fantastic how was tomorrow?]

That's going to do it for this week. I'll be back next week. Maybe we'll know the Go Triad Readers' Choice awards by then also. I just know we won this year. Maybe. Take care.