J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 19th March 2008

[Ah, yes, the weekly lowdown. I do so love the weekly shows. Lots of good stuff this week, so let's get crackin'.

Congratulations to Ruben who knew that Neil Hamburger is typically a stand-up comedian. He won this week's $15 gift certificate to BB's New and Used CDs and DVDs. We give that away each week on the show at the beginning of the third set - usually right around 6:30 - so tune in for your chance to win.

Now, before my NCAA bracket falls to pieces, let's get to it. Onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 19th March 2008 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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Kathleen Edwards - "Oil Man's War" [from asking for flowers. today being the fifth anniversary of the start of the current iraq war, i thought i'd play a set of songs dealing with the war, or, at least, something close by. this is from edwards' new record and is a more personal look into the lives of people fleeing the war's effects. she'll be at the grey eagle in asheville on wednesday, april 16th.]
the Decemberists - "16 Military Wives" [from picaresque. clever, sharp and way, way on target. in the midsts of the grand storytelling of colin meloy, this song was a tremendous satirical masterpiece.]
Jason Isbell - "Dress Blues" [from sirens of the ditch. my favorite song of 2007 - heartbreaking and mesmerizing, even after a hundred listens.]
John Prine - "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore" [from his self-titled debut. written for vietnam, but following the resurgence of flag stickers after 9/11, it was as dead-on as it was then.]
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Susu - "Anarchitect" [from their new album win which i reviewed this week. this is one of the bands getting releases on the new eMusic in-house label that releases (digitally) albums from unsigned bands. a pretty snazzy concept. i like this EP quite a bit, and i just stumbled on them while i was downloading things on eMusic.]
the Duke Spirit - "The Step and the Walk" [from neptune. i played this song in my expanded show last week, so i wanted to give it another listen to see if it was as good as i thought. and yes. it is.]
Public Enemy - "Rightstarter (Message to a Black Man)" [from yo! bum rush the show which i reviewed this week. PE's 1987 debut still sounded like its time, even with the obvious (in retrospect) hints of what was to come later. it's still a giddy rush of a record and i had forgotten just how good some of the singles were.]
the Gutter Twins - "God's Children" [from saturnalia. another grand offering from the new greg dulli / mark lanegan project. now if only they'd come around here for a tour..]
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Neil Hamburger - "Please Ask that Clown to Stop Crying" [from sings country winners. a forthcoming collection of country songs as performed by the legendarily un-funny comedian. i heard about this via aquarium drunkard and was galled by its horrible imagery. i knew i'd have to play it immediately.]
R.E.M. - "Finest Worksong" [from document, probably my favorite album by them. this song is just such a powerful opening track.]
Big Ditch Road - "The Jackson Whites" [the title track from their latest EP. i just really love these guys. minnesota still produces great rock and roll.]
Citified - "Read Like a Number" [from the meeting after the meeting. and so does greensboro for that matter. this album is finally available for purchase via their record label, eskimo kiss.]
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Destroyer - "Foam Hands" [from trouble in dreams. i haven't had a chance to listen to this whole album yet, but each song i've heard has been wonderful. after the monumental destroyer's rubies, i was a bit let down by bejar's contributions to the last new pornographers record. how could i ever doubt?]
Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter - "LLL" [from like, love, lust and the open halls of the soul. one of my favorite records of 2007.]
the Helio Sequence - "Hallelujah" [from keep your eyes ahead. this is already in competition for one of my favorite singles of 2008. i'm not sure why i love it so much, but man, good.]
Swirlies - "BELL" [from blonder tongue audio baton. i stumbled upon my copy of this in the car the other day and was reminded of just how much i love it. this has truly become one of my favorite albums of all time after discovering it a year or so ago. indie-rock at its finest.]
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White Hinterland - "Dreaming of the Plum Tree" [from phylactery factory. please ignore my slaughtering of the album title on the podcast. i didn't have it in front of me and just plum forgot. anyway, i just realized (thank you, internets) that this is a band fronted by the unique and wonderful casey dienel, who i'm pretty sure i played on the show back when her solo debut, wind-up canary, came out a couple years back. jazz inflected and gorgeous - think cool, california jazz mixed with a great sense of pop craft.]
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - "Baltimore" [from real emotional trash. i'm still loving this record. guitar fans will find tons to love about it. tons.]
Tom Waits - "A Little Rain" [from bone machine. all the rain outside and all that. a gorgeous song.]
She & Him - "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" [from volume one. this is the project matching zooey deschanel and m. ward. but this is all deschanel's songwriting with ward just working the instrumentation. drunkard has it up so you can check this song out and enjoy it to its fullest. we'll be hearing more.]
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the Breeders - "Spark" [from mountain battles, their forthcoming album due out april 8th. this record doesn't have a lot of instant radio songs, but trust me, it's a seriously worthwhile album.]
Nada Surf - "Whose Authority" [from lucky. i heard a lot of mixed-bag stuff about this album, but holy crap, this song is fantastic. i like nada surf quite a bit and they've managed to carve quite a good little career out of their post-one-hit-wonder albums.]
Ladyhawk - "I Don't Always Know What You're Saying" [from shots. i played this in the extended show last week as well, so brought it up again this week cos, frankly, it's good.]
Jim White - "Diamonds to Coal" [by request. from transnormal skiperoo. caller had heard someone play jim's fantastic cover of "king of the road" (from 2001's no such place) and wanted to hear some more. so i obliged.]
Bon Iver - "re: stacks" [from for emma, forever ago. this is one of the highlights of the record for me, a gorgeous closer of a song.]
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the Replacements - "Satellite" [from the second disc of the all for nothing / nothing for all compilation of the warner brothers years. this is my somewhat misguided tribute to the late arthur clarke who died this week at the age of 90. this song is about t.v. satellites in your backyard, but clarke is often given credit as the person who came up with the concept of geostationary communications satellites, so it was the best i could do, short of playing all of richard strauss' "also sprach zarathustra". rest in peace.]

That'll do it for this week. I'm going to be gone next week for my spring break, so I'll be back in two weeks on the show. Reviews and everything else will continue as normal though, so make sure you check in here throughout the week as well as at Aquarium Drunkard for my contributor posts there. Until then, Go Heels! Only six wins to that national title! Take care.