j's indie/rock mayhem - 14th november 2007

[a great show tonight, i believe. some great requests that i was able to twist around and have some fun with - also some good new music. the end of the year dry-up in new music releases is starting to happen, but there are still a few big records coming in the next few weeks. it's really time to start getting geared up for the top 25 albums of the year show. excitement.

congratulations to jeremy ball who took home this week's $15 gift certificate to BB's new and used CDs and DVDs. he correctly named two pj harvey albums other than her latest release, white chalk: rid of me and to bring you my love. i give away the gift certificate at the beginning of the third set, around 6:30 PM, each week, so tune in for your chance to win.

let's get started. onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 14th November 2007 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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Band of Horses - "Islands on the Coast" [from cease to begin. i like this song quite a bit - it has a jovial, jangly, bouncy vibe to it that i think is really infectious. at this point i've heard three songs off of this album and all three have been fairly solid. but would i listen and re-listen to this album?]
Son Volt - "Bandages & Scars" [from okemah and the melody of riot. i offered my apologies on this week's show: in the past i have dogged on this record as being somewhat boring and really a let-down; this from a long time jay farrar fan. but this weekend, while driving, for the first time since it came out more or less, i decided to give this record another listen. and i'm finding it's a lot better than i remembered. this year's the search is still much better, but - well, sorry, jay.]
Joseph Arthur - "Let's Embrace" [from redemption's son. i enjoy joseph arthur's records quite a bit, and his live show is pretty entertaining when he goes solo and does all the sound looping and what not. i don't pull out his records often, but when i do, it's a gorgeous time.]
Brother Reade - "Let's Go" [from rap music. it was, literally, 4 years since the last time i heard brother reade. i saw him as an opening act at a show on campus my senior year and now, here's the full length. and it's good. infectious, clever, just an enjoyable piece of work.]
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Monster Magnet - "4-Way Diablo" [from 4-way diablo. monster magnet is not a band i would normally play on the show, but it's not for lack of liking them. they've had some good commercial success over the years, but it's been a minute since i've seen them - and if only as a nod to dave wyndorf for overcoming a near overdose - i'll put this on. it's a catchy, short, powerful track and i like it. i'll probably play something old of theirs next week and then call it a day on them on the show for awhile. but i'll be enjoying this song for some time.]
New York Dolls - "Babylon" [the lead track from too much, too soon. i still haven't convinced myself to go pick up their reunion record yet, despite loving the video for "dance like a monkey." has anyone out there given it a good listen?]
the New Pornographers - "All the Old Showstoppers" [from challengers. this is a quasi request, but this is easily one of my favorite tracks off of this record. it just hasn't wowed me the way twin cinema so overwhelmingly did. that's okay. it's still awfully good.]
Heartless Bastards - "All This Time" [the title track from their 2006 album - a definite should've-been for my top 25 list last year. they put on a great show at the cat's cradle this summer and you can check out my interview with lead singer, erika wennerstrom.]
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PJ Harvey - "Grow Grow Grow" [from white chalk. this is becoming the slow-burning, insidious record of my autumn. very understated versus her earlier records, i'm really impressed by this album. it's dark and moody and cryptic and challenging and man. art just needs to be that way sometimes - even in pop music.]
Georgie James - "Places" [the excellent title track from their new album. a fellow DJ at the station felt like this record came on strong but hasn't had staying power for him. for me, it continues to feel like a perfect slice of pop.]
the Plimsouls - "A Million Miles Away" [from everywhere at once. i have been meaning to play this song for about a month, but just kept forgetting to go pull it out. a wonder of the early 80s, it's a true classic of rock and roll. frontman peter case has a new solo album out which i should try to hunt some songs up from.]
Iron and Wine & Calexico - "Dark Eyes" [from the i'm not there soundtrack which i reviewed last week. this is their take on the original from dylan's empire burlesque album. it becomes a full-on iron and wine song by the end and i love it.]
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Steve Earle - "City of Immigrants" [from the new washington square serenade album. i love the shuffling, high-step beat of this song. sounding so american and so foreign at the same time. a good pick for the single from this album.]
Little Mascara - "Joy Division" [by request. from greensboro's own, off their album hot, pink & black. a pretty good song all around.]
the Beatles - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" [by request. from their self titled album. okay, so, i don't normally traffic in 'classic' rock too often on my show, but when a listener asked to hear some george harrison, i was unsure we had any. so immediately my mind lept to the song after this as a possible back up. but when i found a 'best of' that included this harrison-penned song on it, an idea came to mind. so..]
Dangermouse - "What More Can I Say?" [from the grey album. i played this song immediately after as it uses "while my guitar.." as the sample basis. if you haven't ever heard the grey album, well, i'm sorry. it's dangermouse's brilliant album using vocals from jay-z's the black album and the beatles' self-titled album (aka 'the white album'). ingenious, eh?]
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Jens Lekman - "The Opposite of Hallelujah" [from night falls over kortedala. a caller wanted to hear something off of this a few weeks ago, but we didn't have the album then. i must admit, sonically this was probably the highlight of tonight's show for me. lekman's obvious genius sense of pop composition is well on display in this song and if there's a record it mirrors in sensability (if not in style - they're rather different in that sense) it's the veils' nux vomica.]
Fountains of Wayne - "Amity Gardens" [from utopia parkway. this is just one of those songs - every time i listen to it, i just get overwhelmed by what a great pop song it is. not that that's surprising coming from fountains of wayne, but i overlooked this record for so long (while embracing the two surrounding it - go figure) that it's still just so fresh and amazing to me.]
the Streets - "Blinded by the Lights" [from a grand don't come for free, the album that was my co-#1 album of 2005. and yes, i really do think it's that good. mike skinner was every bit on top of his game for it, and what happened on the way to his third, horribly patchy and seemingly tossed-off third album is anyone's guess.]
Shalini - "Gloria in Transit" [from the surface and the shine. shalini's from here in greensboro and has mitch easter as a member of her backing band so, really, honestly, how can you go wrong? answer: you can't.]
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the Graves of Fairmount - "Why I Left Berkley" [from the calendars & casualties EP. paul o'keefe, who essentially is the graves of fairmount, will be coming by in-studio next week to talk about this EP, his other projects and hopefully play us a few songs live as well. you'll be thankful he did. cos it's thanksgiving. hah!]
Simple Minds - "Speed Your Love to Me" [from sparkle in the rain. a feature that i really adore, and that, honestly, was a big inspiration for my weekly return trip articles, is the permanent records feature at the onion's AV club. the article is used to largely do one of two things: revisit records that may have been cast aside or deserve a second, more nuanced look; to bring up lesser known records that the writers really enjoy, or have some sort of personal attachment to, in order to share them with readers. this week they tackled one of the former: simple minds' sparkle in the rain. and despite their muti-platinum records in the 80s, i'd honestly never given them a listen. and i was blown away by this song. long story short, music blogging is the best.]
the Velvet Crush - "Star Trip" [from this week's return trip album, teenage symphonies to god. sounding more like a contemporary (or brother, even) of teenage fanclub than on any other track on the album, this song is a pure delight. power-pop superbness.]
the Suburbs - "Rattle My Bones" [from 1984's love is the law. the suburbs are one of those also-ran bands from a scene. despite coming out of minneapolis at the same time as the city's big 80s indie-rock bands, the suburbs never got the attention despite their quirky, funny, musically adventurous brand of post-punk. twitchy and nervous, they'd actually streamlined their sound by the time of this record and it paid great dividends in songs like this.]
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Pavement - "Silent Kit" [the lead track from crooked rain, crooked rain, which, by the way, is a brilliant record. i know you know that, i'm just saying. i mean, think about this track opening an album (which it does) and think about how just great this must've sounded 15 years ago. the improvement in production from slanted and enchanted is the big boost, i'd say. not to mention just a killer set of songs.]
Loudon Wainwright III - "Grey in L.A." [from the strange weirdos album which served both as wainwright's new album and the soundtrack to the film knocked up. i like this song a lot as it gives the gently biting side of wainwright's songwriter room to play and revel in a set of seemingly contradictory statements.]

That'll do it for this week. I'll be back on Friday with the Notes From Underground feature and next week with the new album reviews. Until then, Go Panthers and (for the first of many times this season) Go Heels, and take care.