J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 5th March 2008

[And welcome to another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. Tonight was a great show - this week was killer for new releases - plus I had my interview with Jesse Malin from a couple of weeks ago to play. So lots of good things.

Congratulations to Natalie who correctly answered the trivia question regarding the interview (Q: "Why did Jesse's latest album take so long to come out?" A: "His label, Artemis, went out of business."), so she won herself a copy of Jesse's new album, Glitter in the Gutter, courtesy of the fine folks at BB's New and Used CDs and DVDs.

Also, as a correction, I mentioned that Jesse will be playing in Chapel Hill tomorrow night - I found out this evening that the show has been moved to Slim's in Raleigh (227 S. Wilmington St.). Hate that a last minute change like that has happened - will probably catch some people off guard.

Now, onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 5th March 2008 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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the Gutter Twins - "Bête Noire" [from saturnalia. finally it's here and, well, take a listen for yourself. the 'supergroup' of greg dulli and mark lanegan is pretty impressive. i'll probably be reviewing this for next week, so keep your eyes peeled.]
Killing Joke - "The Wait" [from their self-titled 1980 debut. as pitchfork reported, the original line-up of killing joke are getting back together for a tour of back-to-back shows in cities where the first night will feature a song-for-song re-enactment of their first two albums and the second night a song-for-song of their '94 album pandemonium. sadly the only u.s. dates are in los angeles and new york in october. still. it's killing joke. man, that's awesome.]
Bon Iver - "For Emma" [the title track from for emma, forever ago, which i reviewed last week. i like this song a lot - this is the one, more than anything, which reminded me of hayden. good stuff.]
the Felice Brothers - "Radio Song" [from their self-titled album. i passed up on seeing these guys in winston-salem last night in order to go see a.a. bondy and much to my surprise, i met bondy's wife who turns out to be the felice sister! indeed, sister to the felice brothers. how serendipitous. meanwhile, this album gets better every time i hear a new song off of it.]
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Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - "Cold Son" [from real emotional trash. i gave this album its first (and only, thus far) listen through this morning and..i'm liking it. i'll have to see if repeated listens hold up, but the title track is ten-minutes of great, great music. and i love this song for the lines: "who is it that said / the world is my oyster? / i feel like a nympho / trapped in a cloister." fantastic.]
Sleater-Kinney - "Start Together" [from 1999's the hot rock which i reviewed this week. when the band called it quits in '05, i sort of stopped listening to them for a good while. now might be the time to really start re-visiting their catalogue and this was a great place to start.]
Citified - "Read Like a Number" [from the meeting after the meeting. great greensboro rock and roll, my friends.]
Kathleen Edwards - "Run" [from asking for flowers which i reviewed this week. it's a fantastic album and truly worthy of such a great songwriter. edwards is playing at the grey eagle in asheville on wednesday, april 16th along with dan wilson.]

So here is the interview with Jesse Malin. Below is a link to download/stream just the interview (sans music) if you'd like to hear that. If you want to hear it with music, download/stream the podcast up above. Jesse was kind enough to talk about his new album, what took so long, working with the Boss and an upcoming covers album that he is putting out. Thanks again to Jesse for taking time to talk a few weeks back.

J's Indie/Rock Mayhem Interview with Jesse Malin - Click Here to Listen

Jesse Malin - "In the Modern World," "Broken Radio," "Bastards of Young," "Aftermath" [all four of these are from jesse's latest, glitter in the gutter. he'll be playing at slim's in raleigh tomorrow night, march 6th.]
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Dizzee Rascal - "Sirens" [from maths + english. i know this isn't a new release, but the album never got a physical release in the states (just digital) until now. def jux records is set to release the album on april 29th. plus, def jux head, el-p, and the dizzee one are going on tour together as well. and of course there are no dates in north carolina.]
Pulp - "Sorted for E's and Whizz" [from different class. cocker's masterful parodying of rave culture got stuck in my head the other week and wouldn't tear loose. so, here 'tis.]
Whiskeytown - "Waiting to Derail" [from stranger's almanac which got the deluxe treatment this week with a 2-cd re-issue that collects a bunch of wonderful stuff for this fantastic album. plus my article about alt-country, thanks to its cross-posting at aquarium drunkard, has seemed to kick off some heated discussions. all in a day's work. i'm grateful for the active responses. passionate listeners are wonderful people.]
Jim White - "Pieces of Heaven" [from transnormal skiperoo which finally got released this week. this is one of the darker, more reserved moments of the album and it's a stunning song. i love this record.]
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Destroyer - "Dark Leaves Form a Thread" [well, well. out of nowhere emerges trouble in dreams. destroyer's last album, rubies, was the j's indie/rock # 1 album of 2006 and for good reason. so so far? this one is shaping up pretty righteously as well. here's to more from dan bejar.]
Sebadoh - "Gimme Indie Rock" [from the expanded, re-released III from last year. as the song name checks the staples of indie-rock, it builds to a gloriously sloppy and shrieking conclusion. amazing stuff.]
Mary Lou Lord - "His Indie World" [from her self-title album. and this song is the response. picking up as a counterpoint to "gimme indie rock," i always love playing these songs back to back. mary's song is incredibly clever and gets a laugh out of me every time. especially the "kim and kim and kim and kim" line.]
A.A. Bondy - "Black Rain, Black Rain" [from the j's indie/rock # 8 album of 2007, american hearts. bondy played at local 506 in chapel hill last night and i sat down for an interview with him. we'll be hearing that next week.]
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Headlights - "Can't Get Your Head Around It" [from some racing, some stopping. a slow, simmering, indie-rock builder and a pretty good way to open an album. we'll hear more from them as a lot of people have been talking this record up.]
the Damnwells - "I Am a Leaver" [from air stereo. one of the most overlooked mainstream bands in america. they can't catch a break from radio and they skim along just above a lot of indie ears. it's a damn shame as their pop standards are the stuff of envy.]
Simple Minds - "Speed Your Love to Me" [from 1983's sparkle in the rain. i got turned onto this album via the onion's av club and found a used copy on vinyl just this week. excellent 80s pop. synth-splashed and gorgeous.]
Massive Attack - "Hymn of the Big Wheel" [from blue lines. i was re-listening to this album a couple of weeks ago and became enraptured with this, the album's last track. lengthy and gorgeous and definitely part of an album that many claim as a masterpiece of trip-hop.]

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