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

[even better than the first time, and a little bit closer to home. the second installment of the j's indie/rock mayhem cityscape was tonight, featuring, in honor of the march madness that consumes us currently, nothing but artists from that indie-mecca, chapel hill, north carolina. the requests were fantastic and, according to callers, people got to hear some things they hadn't heard in some time. that's what i aim for.

this week's show is also being cross-posted with my good friend satisfied '75 over at aquarium drunkard. so, a little bit later today, you can click here and go over to download some of the mp3s of bands you see from this week's show. i'm also guest blogging (along with two other people) for satisfied while he is in austin, texas at south by southwest, so drop on by his blog this long weekend and see some of my posts and download some mp3 goodies. his blog is always worth reading, so it comes highly recommended.

i'll be filling in for mad dog and the friday night rock party this friday night from 6pm - 8pm while he too is in austin for south by southwest. i'll reserve my jealousies for verbal communication rather than taking up pixels here. now. onward.]

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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Fin Fang Foom - "The Fool and the Feign" [all of these bands hail from chapel hill, so i started with someone fairly recent. this band will be playing one of the grand opening shows at greensboro's soon to be newest music venue, the flying anvil. indie-rock and post-rock type fusion. from their 2001 album texture, structure and the condition of moods.]
Elizabeth Cotton - "Freight Train" [one of the lights of american folk music, elizbeth cotton did indeed hail from chapel hill. she won a grammy in her very late age for her wonderful music, and along with "shake sugaree," "freight train" remains one of her most enduring legacies.]
Portastatic - "Noisy Night" [you knew we'd be hitting the merge records stuff sooner or later. so we'll start with founder mac mccaughan's most-recently-active project. this is from their album the summer of the shark. "ice on your chin / crickets on ten." yeah, it's going to be a noisy, noisy night.]
Mojo Nixon - "Elvis is Everywhere" ["mojo nixon is my favorite libertarian!" exclaimed a caller. and he might as well be your favorite something. lunacy is the best way to describe his work. this album, bo-day-shus!!!, was co-recorded with skip roper. this song is a doozy. my favorite lines being "elvis is in nutty buddies" and "elvis is in your mom." classic.]
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Archers of Loaf - "Web in Front" [along with superchunk, probably the band that most defined indie-rock in the 90s in chapel hill. from their 1993 debut icky mettle. this is one of those anthemic songs that are so lacking in recent college rock.]
Red Clay Ramblers - "Black Smoke Train" [from their 1992 album rambler. the ramblers did the majority of their most well received studio work in the '70s, but they are a staple of country/string revival circles in this country and especially this state.]
Let's Active - "Waters Part" [mitch easter and company light up with the fantastic cypress album. released on IRS records in 1984, there's really no reason not to like these guys. great jangle rock with various other tones shining through.]
Seam - "Sweet Pea" [hailed as one of the overlooked masterpieces of '90s indie-rock by the folks at allmusic.com, seam's album the problem with me is quite a listen to say the least. sooyoung park is a pretty remarkable songwriter and the compositions on this album are great.]
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the Comas - "Invisible Drugs" [i'll admit that the first time i heard the comas, in 2000, i didn't much care for them. i found it boring. but 2004's conductor is a completely different story. fuzzy, surging overtones of rock and roll that are riveting in tone.]
Sorry About Dresden - "Deadship, Darkship" [the lineup of the band has slightly changed since this song and the album it's from, 2001's the convenience of indecision, were released, but this is the song that still defines the band for me more than anything. another 'indie anthem' with a huge sing along refrain at the end. great rock and roll.]
Polvo - "Sense of It" [i had intended to play some more polvo off of their 1997 album shapes, but i accidentally left it at home and was forced to go digging. from 1992's cor-crane secret. arty noise-rock like no other. these guys were serious contenders.]
Loudon Wainwright III - "Jesse Don't Like It" [let it never be said that i don't learn some things doing this show. i did not know that loudon was born in chapel hill, so i threw him on. from 1999's social studies, this is a wonderful ditty about our ex-senator jesse helms and his "love" of government funded art that doesn't fit his sensibilities. the chorus alone is worth the price of entry.]
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the Scaries - "800 Miles" [from 2000's wishing one last time. one of the most fun bands to watch live. i went to a torrential house show with these guys on two different occasions and had a blast. this is the song that never leaves my head. amazing pop punk.]
Crooked Fingers - "Twilight Creeps" [from 2005's dignity and shame. eric bachman of crooked fingers, of course, used to be in archers of loaf, so there's our connection. this latest crooked fingers album is amazing, but if you've never heard "new drink for the old drunk," you'd be doing yourself a favor to find a copy and hear that song.]
Strunken White - "Constant Coloration" [from chapel hill, featuring noah howard who is now in greensboro's own (and makers of the # 3 j's indie/rock mayhem album of 2005) tiger bear wolf. paths and points of existence is a pretty impressive recording for people their age (at the time), so it's worth hearing.]
Chris Stamey - "Shades of Green" [formerly of the Db's, chris stamey released travel in the south in 2004 and this song is just flat out pop-goodness. giving teenage fanclub a run for their money, this is the real deal.]
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the Othermothers - "Rodeo . . . 88 Seconds" [by request. from their self titled album. synth-laced 80s rock that actually sounds just as crazy and skittery as it probably did then.]
the Pressure Boys - "Waiting in Queensland" [by request. a ska influenced band from chapel hill. from their 1987 album krandlebanum monuments. not bad.]
the Kingsbury Manx - "Fixed Bayonets" [now we've reached the big guns. here's where i try to play two songs per artist. and we start with the lovely kingsbury manx. this from aztec discipline you heard on my show back in 2003 or so. lovely, wistful and bubbling guitar rock.]
the Kingsbury Manx - "Harness and Wheel" [from their latest, 2005's the fast rise and fall of the south. more of the same. good stuff.]
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Squirrel Nut Zippers - "The Ghost of Stephen Foster" [easily one of my favorite north carolina bands of all time, this, from 1998's perennial favorites, is quite possibly my favorite song. jazz, big band, swing, jewish music all intertwine in this ghostly absurdist tale.]
Squirrel Nut Zippers - "La Grippé" (live) [from the limited-edition sold out EP. this is a live recording of a song from their debut album. the epitomy of what it must've been like to see them live.]
Southern Culture on the Skids - "Too Much Pork for Just One Fork" [from 1993's ditch diggin'. these guys are a hoot and no one sums up the dynamite style and quirk of north carolina better than this band. unfortunate, due to time restraints i had to cut out the other song i intended to play. click over to the post on aquarium drunkard to download both songs.]
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Ben Folds Five - "Jackson Cannery" [from the self-titled debut. probably the most famous musical bunch to get played on this show. this was the lead track from that album, a shot across the bow of pompous, pretentious, arty rock and roll. the album. not this song.]
Ben Folds Five - "The Battle of Who Could Care Less" [from the follow-up, whatever and ever, amen. snarky is the only way to describe this song, but oh, so witty. if you never heard this song on the radio, harken back and take a listen.]
Superchunk - "Driveway to Driveway" [from the awesome 1994 album foolish. i had this on cassette and loved every minute of it. this was the first song of theirs i heard, again, i saw the video on 120 minutes and thought they were great. this is indie-rock north carolina style.]
Superchunk - "Art Class" [from their most recent album, here's to shutting up. while that album on the whole is a bit mellower than this song might suggest, this is still, for my money, the chugging high point of the whole endeavor. proof that more than a decade can pass and you can still rock it like it was 1991. go over and visit the drunkard to download a bonus superchunk song, probably their most well-known.]

That's going to do it for this week. One last time, please check out the songs for download over at Aquarium Drunkard where I'm guest blogging this weekend. Don't forget that I'll be covering the Friday Night Rock Party again this Friday, so tune in from 6pm - 8pm for more good stuff. Until then, go Heels, and take care.