J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 13th February 2008

[Another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem and it was a pretty slow night all in all. We were off the air part of today due to some ice on our tower this morning and even now, I'm typing this show summary in the midsts of a fat-flake snow storm outside my house. Crazy Smarch weather.

Congratulations to Benjamin who knew that Levon Helm was a member of the Band. He won this week's $15 gift certificate to BB's New and Used CDs and DVDs. We give away the gift certificate each week at the beginning of the third block of music, right around 6:30 PM, so tune in for your chance to win.

Now, while the snow shows no signs of stopping, let's go. Onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 13th February 2008 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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Jim White - "Crash Into the Sun" [from the forthcoming transnormal skiperoo. it's the 'wooo's that really make this song, i think.]
Spacehog - "Cruel to Be Kind" [from their debut, resident alien. this album will probably show up in the return trip feature pretty soon. it's a really solid chunk of mid 90s rock and a band that gets sadly overlooked quite often.]
Jimmy Norman - "Gangster of Love, Pts. 1 & 2" [from the what it is! funky soul and rare grooves boxset. it won the grammy for best packaging this past sunday and for good reason. this is a really great set of some lesser known funk and soul cuts from '67 - '77.]
Bob Mould - "Stupid Now" [from district line. mould's output of late has been pretty consistent, although admittedly this record hasn't grabbed me as thoroughly as body of song did.]
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the Whigs - "Right Hand on My Heart" [from mission control. i've said it several times at this point, but this is truly one of the best albums of 2008 so far. great, great rock and roll.]
the Specials - "Ghost Town" [from ghost town EP. i played this song in my classes last week as the week's featured british artist - it's a pretty intense little song. i've never been a huge fan of ska in general, but i do respect the masters of the genre and the specials are way up on that list.]
the Beastie Boys - "14th St. Break" [from the mix-up which won the grammy for best rock instrumental album on sunday. lack of quality competition or did misjudge this album?]
Drive-by Truckers - "The Home Front" [from brighter than creation's dark. in addition to "that man i shot," one of the two iraq-war themed songs on the album. this one is pretty devastating in its own right.]
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Levon Helm - "Single Girl, Married Girl" [from dirt farmer. helm takes on the classic carter family tune. this album won the grammy for best traditional folk album on sunday.]
Wipers - "Return of the Rat" [from is this real? since chinese new year came last week and the year of the rat has begun, i immediately thought of this song. hmm, a wipers album would be good for the return trip feature.]
Dave Edmunds - "Queen of Hearts" [from repeat as necessary. the first version of this song i ever heard was juice newton's version, but this one predates that one, and mad dog is a big fan of dave edmunds. i had never heard of him until mad dog played him one night. any fans of messr. edmunds?]
Radiohead - "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" [from in rainbows. still waiting to hear when and where in charlotte that radiohead will be playing this summer. but rest assured i will be getting tickets. oh, yes. i will be getting tickets.]
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Citified - "Weddings" [from the meeting after the meeting. members of citified will be in-studio next week on the show, so get set for another great interview with those guys. this will be the third time they've been up on the show over the past couple of years. great guests.]
Pavement - "Gold Soundz" [from crooked rain, crooked rain. when the bridge of this song kicks in, and the picked, blissed-out guitar harmonies come in, it's the most amazing song in the world. it's certainly in my top 5 pavement songs of all time. just too beautiful for words.]
Irata - "Slide" [from their self-titled album. more greensboro instrumental rock and roll.]
Del Amitri - "Tell Her This" [from twisted. my favorite del amitri love song. especially that clowns line. former del amitri front man, justin currie, is doing a small tour of the u.s. in support of his solo record from last year in the coming months. nowhere near here, unfortunately.]
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Black Mountain - "Evil Ways" [from in the future which, also, is one of my favorite albums of 2008 so far. this track is just downright raucous.]
Flight of the Conchords - "Business Time" [from the distant future which took home the grammy for best comedy album on sunday night. this song never stops being funny.]
Beck - "Painted Eyelids" [from one foot in the grave which i reviewed this week. an overlooked early classic and now, it seems, unfortunately out of print.]
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - "Asshole" [from the she's the one soundtrack. this is a cover of the beck song originally from one foot in the grave. petty gives it a pretty solid reading.]
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Jesse Malin - "Love Streams" [from glitter in the gutter. jesse was nice enough to sit down via phone with me last night and talk a bit about this record and a new covers record he has coming out later this spring. he'll be playing at local 506 in chapel hill on thursday, march 6th, so keep your ears open for that interview on that week's show.]
Blur - "Girls and Boys" [by request. from parklife. stirrings in the blur world - apparently, i hear, that there is a new blur record in the works and it may even involve long-separated member graham coxon. here's hoping.]
Steve Earle - "Tennessee Blues" [from washington square serenade which took home the grammy for best contemporary folk album this sunday. i didn't see what its fellow nominees were, but it's a pretty good album, even if it is a far cry from earle's best work.]
the Replacements - "Valentine" [from pleased to meet me. i just got word that the first set of reissues of the replacements' albums are due out on april 22nd. the twin/tone records (sorry ma, forgot to take out the trash, stink, hootenanny and let it be) are due out with some pretty serious bonus material in addition to the remastered albums. i'll be re-buying them just for the remasters, but the extra tracks i've seen listed are definitely worth the price of admission.]
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Herbie Hancock - "Amelia" [from river: the joni letters, winner of the grammy for album of the year this sunday. each song has a different singer, though this version of "amelia" (which is originally from hejira) actually has joni mitchell singing on it. it's a great re-interpretation of a classic.]
Tom Waits - "Blue Valentines" [the title track from the album. what kind of valentine's day is it without this seminal waits track? it's a heartbreaking and mesmerizing song. thanks, tom.]

That'll do it for this week. I'll be back this Friday with Notes From Underground and next week with new album reviews, naturally. Until then, go Heels, and take care.