j's indie/rock mayhem - 15th February 2006

[a thoroughly enjoyable show tonight. i said this on the air, and i firmly believe it: the reason this show is half as good as it is is because of the wonderful requests and ideas from you, the listener and reader. a really good set of requests will totally make my night. believe it. excitingly enough, next week marks the next installment of the j's indie/rock labels that matter series. a monthly feature where we look at an important record label from independent music/college radio from the past 20-30 years. last month we took a look at touch and go records out of chicago, illinois. next week we're going to look at california's own SST records. we'll talk more in detail about that next week, so in the meantime, onward.]

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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the Minus 5 - "With a Gun" [another stellar new track off the new self-titled minus 5 album. this song is one of the ones on the album that features wilco as the backing band. time to get on board with this band if you haven't. click here to download.]
the Beastie Boys - "An Open Letter to NYC" [sampling the dead boys' classic "sonic reducer" is a brilliant idea in creating an ode to your hometown of new york city. the first time i listened to this song i was driving south on I-85 and nearly swerved off the highway when i recognized the sample. great stuff. from their most recent album,to the 5 boroughs.]
John Prine - "Angel From Montgomery" [by request. from his self-titled debut. john prine was here in greensboro recently and i really need to catch him live sometime. afterall, it was his live appearance on PBS's wonderful sessions at west 54th television show that got me into him in the first place.]
Outkast (André 3000) - "Happy Valentine's Day" [from the love below half of the speakerboxx/the love below double album by outkast. a fitting song for the holiday that passed us yesterday. click here to download.]
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Belle and Sebastian - "Funny Little Frog" [more new goodness from their new album the life pursuit which came out last tuesday. this is the official first single and while i think "another sunny day" is an infinitely better song, i can see the appeal on this one as well. a really sharp album on the whole. click here to download.]
Joseph Arthur - "Let's Embrace" [from the fantastic redemption's son album from back in 2002. joseph arthur's music is well worth discovering as his poetic way with words and his beautiful handling of instrumentation is worth hearing. live he is even more mesmerizing, but that's for another day.]
Swell Maps - "Real Shocks" [from a 7" boxset of 5 of their singles, this is a great overlook (on vinyl no less) of this seminal post-punk/new wave british band from the late 70s/early 80s. the swell maps certainly weren't as well known as some of their contemporaries, but their influence is heavy on later 80s and 90s rock bands.]
Josh Rouse - "Directions" [from his 2nd album home. josh's forthcoming album, subtitulo, will be out in march. check last week's post to download the first single off of that album. "directions" also appeared on the vanilla sky soundtrack and got quite a bit of attention for it.]
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the Avett Brothers - "Colorshow" [i'm working on getting copies of these so you can hear them. i know a lot of you read this blog but can't hear the show and you're really missing out if you haven't heard the avetts. i know i played this song last week, but it's truly something. from their newest album four thieves gone.]
Radiohead - "The Trickster" [i don't play much radiohead anymore, but in a scramble for something i decided to play this, one of my favorite radiohead songs, from the my iron lung EP. one of their best non-album releases, this EP has a ton of great stuff.]
Built to Spill - "Strange" [by request. caller, who at one point lived in idaho, god bless him, called in a request for one of the two idaho bands/artists i can name. this is from their most recent album ancient melodies of the future, although there is a new built to spill album due out later this spring, their first in nearly 5 years.]
Public Enemy - "B. Side Wins Again" [from fear of a black planet. i've been re-evaluating my stance on this album of late. at one time i claimed it as my favorite PE album. then i switched to the conventional-wisdom of it takes a nation of millions to hold us back. now i'm not so sure again. "burn, hollywood, burn" is on this album afterall and that song is just amazing. but so is this one. this, followed by "war at 33 1/3" and "fight the power" are the triptych that close off the album. you really can't get much better. click here to download.]
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Geometry - "Supplementary" [greensboro music. geometry is a one-person project from here in town. i stumbled upon her music accidentally and it shares elements of early 90s trip-hop and even some of the d.j. oriented records by people like rjd2 and so forth. click here to download this song and then check out her my space page if you want to hear some more material from her.]
Rangeboy - "Sounds Like Summer" [a song i pull out again and again. a virginia lo-fi group that writes lovely, transcendent pop music. click here to download.]
the Clientele - "Since K Got Over Me" [from the j's indie/rock top 25 of 2005 album strange geometry. soft, lilting and fluid pop music that sticks in your head.]
the Lemonheads - "Stove" [from their 1990 album lovey. affecting, vibrant punk-pop from one of the best bands of the 90s. if only that ship hadn't run aground. click here to download.]
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Josh Ritter - "Girl in the War" [feel the excitement building? another new track off of ritter's forthcoming album the animal years which is due out in late april. it's coming out mid-march over in ireland (where he is quite popular) so i'll see if i can't track one down sooner. i originally heard this song via a live KCRW performance he did pre-hello starling and i was chomping at the bit for this song to be on that record. i was disappointed then, but now it will see the light of day and this version is fantastic. click here to download and enjoy.]
Stephen Malkmus - "Jenny and the Ess-dog" [from his self-titled debut solo album. i still crack up listening to this song and it's all-too-clever stereotyping descriptions. a dog named 'trey?' too perfect.]
the Del Fuegos - "Night on the Town" [from their second album boston, mass. great straight up rock and roll from a wonderful band.]
Tori Amos - "I Don't Like Mondays" [a cover of the boomtown rats' classic from 2001's strange little girls covers album. thanks to charlie and this is for her.]
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Sixteen Horsepower - "American Wheeze" (live) [more from the re-issue of the fantastic hoarse live album. this song, originally from their second album, sackcloth 'n' ashes, gets a tremendous live re-working that is breathtaking to say the least. click here to download.]
the Streets - "Let's Push Things Forward" [from their debut original pirate material and lo and behold, a new streets album is due out stateside in late april. i'm so excited, honestly, i can't even contain myself. but i'll have to. until then.]
Marah - "The History of Where Someone Has Been Killed" [from the excellent kids in philly. there's a reader who doesn't comment who said to a friend of mine that i don't play enough marah. so there you go. satisfied, harry?]
the Damnwells - "I'll Be Around" [from the j's indie/rock top 25 of 2004 album bastards of the beat. it's a grower of an album but one that yields amazing results if you give it enough time. elements of r&b, great rock and roll and so on. see what you think. click here to download.]
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the National - "Lit Up" [from their excellent 2005 album alligator. another must-hear from last year.]
the Ramones - "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" [a great cover of the tom waits classic. from their final studio endeavor, adios, amigos!]
Bruce Springsteen - "Highway Patrolman" [from the ridiculously fantastic nebraska album. need i say more?]

That'll do it for this evening. Next week will be the J's Indie/Rock Labels That Matter feature, so get ready to learn and hear a bit about SST records. Until then, take care.