j's indie/rock mayhem - 7th march 2007

[a really fantastic show tonight, largely thanks to my special guests, the whigs. they were kind enough to drop by the station before playing over at ziggy's tonight. they'll be at local 506 in chapel hill on friday night, so go check them out there. i'll be there. what other reason could you need?

i goofed and totally forgot to do the giveaway with the whigs' cd and gift certificate, so we'll save that for next week. also, i ended up only doing 3 hours tonight instead of 4, but since that was the case, i podcasted the entire show, so all three hours are here in their wonderful glory. this is mostly because the whigs interview ran past the 8 o'clock hour. so enjoy! now, onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 7th March 2007 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
>
You Am I - "Thuggery" [from the excellent new album convicts. hopefully this will win this very popular aussie band a few new fans stateside.]
Dilated Peoples - "Proper Propaganda" [from expansion team. i love this song so. so. much.]
Pop Will Eat Itself - "Wise Up! Sucker" [from 1989's this is the day...this is the hour...this is this! i've heard of this band for years, but had never explored them until earlier this week and wow. this album is phenominal and i completely see the comparisons that label it as britain's response to paul's boutique. a really stunning mesh of industrial guitars, drum beats, samples and snarky white-boy rap.]
Fountains of Wayne - "No Better Place" [from welcome interstate managers. the founts have a new record due out on april 3rd. and the lead single, "someone to love," has already landed at some radio stations. we'll be on it soon, i hope. power-pop genius.]
>
Jarvis Cocker - "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time" [this block was dedicated to my long-time friend sara dudley whose birthday was today. she and i have been friends for nearing a decade and have spent most of our time swapping music back and forth. so this is a block of bands either we shared from the beginning or ones she specifically got me into. we both loved pulp, so from jarvis' forthcoming solo album (due out stateside also on april 3rd) we have this lovely number. check out the wonderful video for the song.]
Josh Rouse - "Late Night Conversation" [on a very influential mixtape that sara once sent me, she immersed me into two artists - josh rouse was one of them. this was just after the release of his dressed up like nebraska debut and i was immediately won over.]
Sleater-Kinney - "Get Up" [from the hot rock. sleater-kinney is another band that sara and i shared a love for. between the two of us, we saw the band an inordinate number of times live (i contributed 4 times to that total). sara, if you're reading, which you better be, louse, how many times did you see them?]
Semisonic - "Singing in My Sleep" [this was the other band on that fateful mix tape. sara decided that my dismissal of semisonic at the time was not to be taken lying down. so she whipped up a crop of the best, including this flawless song from feeling strangely fine. and i had to do an about face and admit that..well, yes, semisonic was damn good. and i have only grown to love them more ever since. thanks, sara. and happy birthday.]
>
Son Volt - "The Search" [the title track from the new son volt album that snuck up on me. it was released yesterday. after okemah and the melody of riot, i had nearly written off the new version of son volt, which made me sad. but this album is tremendously well done and a real step up from that flat and somewhat boring album. we'll be hearing plenty more.]
the Wonder Stuff - "Red Berry Joy Town" [the lead track off of 1991's the eight legged groove machine. this is another record i flipped out over this week. really tremendous buzzing guitars, pop knack like nobody's business and snarky, sharp lyrics. stem to stern this record is remarkable. a must hear for fans of the guitar pop of the late 80s/early 90s.]
the Blow - "True Affection" [by request. from 2006's paper television. a really tremendous song that i will gladly play.]
Slim Cessna's Auto Club - "32 Mouths Gone Dry" [a band introduced to me this past week (thanks, beth) that rose up out of the same denver scene that helped produce sixteen horsepower - with a much larger sense of humor than that legendary gothic country band, this band is quite fun. we'll be hearing more. from 2004's the bloudy tenet, truth and peace.]
>
Mitch Easter - "1 1/2 Way Street" [by request. from dynamico, mitch's first solo album and first new release since the last let's active album in 1988.]
the Hold Steady - "Stuck Between Stations" [from boys and girls in america. this song contains the title phrase in the lyrics, plus it just rocks so damn much. oh, how i want to see them live.]
Track a Tiger - "Glad to Be Scattered" [from woke up early the day i died. just got word this week that track a tiger's forthcoming sohpomore album, we moved like ghosts, is going to be released by south carolina's deep elm records. great to see them come to a carolina label for release. hopefully this means some east coast touring. stay tuned.]
Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter - "Station Grey" [from the magnificent like, love, lust and the open halls of the soul. jesse and her band put on a tremendous show last weekend at the cat's cradle. knock on wood, i'll be doing a phone interview with jesse in the coming weeks. stay tuned.]
>
the Close - "Sun, Shine" [from their latest sun, burn. this record is really growing on me. a tremendous indie-rock record, the likes of which i haven't heard in awhile.]
Bloodkin - "Tennessee Williams" (live) [taken from southern shelter, a wonderful blog that offers up live recordings of bands that play at venues in athens, georgia. bloodkin will be coming to play at the pour house in raleigh on saturday, april 21st. i'm working on getting an interview with bloodkin's singer/songwriter daniel hutchens, so stay tuned on that also.]
the Decemberists - "July, July!" [from their debut, castaways and cutouts. this is the album that originally caught my ear until i slept on their sophomore release and came back awake for "16 military wives." it happens.]

[this is where the whigs joined me for a wonderful interview. if you're listening to the podcast and want to get to this interview, it kicks off right around halfway through the three hours. please forgive parker for his profanity. they know not what they do, oh, lord. the following is a list of the songs from the whigs' debut, give 'em all a big fat lip, that i played with markers where we paused to talk shop.]

the Whigs - "Can't Hear You Coming"
>
the Whigs - "Technology" and "Written Invitation"
>
the Whigs - "Violet Furs" and "Half the World Away"
>
the Whigs - "Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip"
>
R.E.M. - "Crazy" [by request from parker of the whigs. from the dead letter office album. this is a cover of fellow athens band pylon.]
Kathleen Edwards - "Somewhere Else" [from the wonderful back to me which has been growing on me even more of late. when will that wonderful woman put out a new record?]
the Lemonheads - "Outdoor Type" [from car. button. cloth. i've gone on enough about this song. i'm retiring it for awhile.]
Big Ditch Road - "Dirty Mouth" [authors of one of the j's indie/rock top 25 albums of 2006 have released a new EP called the dissent. and this is on it. and it's quite good.]
>
Wilco - "What Light" [from the forthcoming sky blue sky which is due out may 16th. i like this song - it seems to revisit earlier wilco without sounding like it so much. i'm looking forward to this album. head here to download it for yourself. (yes, legally, sheldon.)]
T. Rex - "Mambo Sun" [from electric warrior. julian of the whigs was eyeing my vinyl copy of this album somethin' fierce. so once he was a safe distance away (and hopefully listening to the show), i put it on for them. classic rock.]
>
School of Fish - "3 Strange Days" [this is a block i've had in mind for a few weeks. see if you can guess the theme - it's not that hard. from their self-titled album.]
Lucinda Williams - "Those Three Days" [from world without tears. one of my very favorite lucinda songs. ever.]
Willie Nelson - "Three Days" [from crazy: the demo sessions. a song fragment (seemingly) that is as clever as any song ever.]
Jane's Addiction - "Three Days" [from ritual de lo habitual. this nearly eleven minute epic is stunning. and it changed my mind about jane's addiction. i was about to give up on this album when, half way through it, the crazy, scattered rock of the first side gave way to this behemoth. and the whole record made a different set of sense to me. it was only up from there.]

That'll do it for this week. Thanks again to the Whigs for stopping by and sharing a wonderful time with me. Come out to Local 506 this Friday night and see them tear it up along with Wax Fang and Charlotte, NC's the Sammies. I'll be back next week with the usual two hour ruckus and until then, go Heels, and take care.