J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 30th April 2008

[Tonight's show was a really fantastic surprise. Earlier this week, WQFS was offered the opportunity to interview Win Butler of the Arcade Fire and Mac McCaughan of Superchunk. These two bands are playing together, for free, tomorrow here in Greensboro and Friday in Carrboro as part of the Obama campaign's rallies in North Carolina. This was a great interview - broken up into two segments, one with each guy. I hope you enjoy it.

Now, while it's still cookin', onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 30th April 2008 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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Cut Copy - "Feel the Love" [from in ghost colours. i think i accidentally called this band 'cut paste' last week, which is annoying. i thought i had it right. these bands and their word processor tool names. i'm still absorbing this record, but the critical reaction is good.]
Blackalicious - "The Fabulous Ones" [from nia. gift of gab is one of the most dexterous MCs in hip-hop and when he goes off on one of his lightning jags, like in this song, there is no doubt about it.]
Jim White - "Crash Into the Sun" [from transnormal skiperoo. jim should be coming through for an interview in a couple of weeks. stay tuned for details.]
Public Enemy - "War at 33 1/3" [from fear of a black planet. does anyone else who has listened to their fair share of public enemy (or any other highly-conscious political rap) feel completely unsurprised by the whole rev. wright debacle? he didn't say anything in those sermons i haven't heard before. i was completely unshocked. where has the rest of america been?]
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the Breeders - "Overglazed" [from mountain battles. this is a sleepy grower of a record, which is what title tk was as well. there aren't the instant, sugary, noisy blasts of last splash here. but it's good. i like it.]
Midnight Oil - "Dreamworld" [from diesel and dust. a friend mentioned the other week that he always really enjoyed this song. and you know what? so do i. here you go, chris.]
the Replacements - "20th Century Boy" [by request. originally from the "i will dare" 12" single, but now available on the let it be remastered edition that was released last week along with remastered versions of the other twin/tone releases. finally, finally, finally.]
Destroyer - "Dark Leaves Form a Thread" [from trouble in dreams. i hadn't realized how many tracks on this album we can't play due to profanity. almost reminds me of the first streets album. we couldn't do anything until we got an edited version. or the teaches of peaches for that matter. even the clean edit cd we were sent had tracks we couldn't play. dirty, dirty.]

[The interview is broken up into two parts. First, I talked with Mac McCaughan of Superchunk about his getting involved with the Obama campaign and what he gets out of it. Plus how the Arcade Fire originally landed on Merge Records (Mac is one of the co-founders of Merge) and what they might or might not do in the general election. Plus we discussed the benefits of same-day voter registration. The link below is to the complete version of the interview, with a bit more material that was broadcast due to our skittishness about political opinions in light of our tax status.

Second, I spoke with Win Butler of the Arcade Fire about how they got involved in the Obama campaign, whether Neon Bible was a political album or not, playing with the Boss and where the general election might take them as well. All in all, a great couple of interviews. Enjoy.]

Interview - Mac McCaughan (Superchunk) : Click here to listen.

Interview - Win Butler (Arcade Fire) : Click here to listen.

Superchunk - "Seed Toss" [from no pocky for kitty. early, brilliant chunk.]
Arcade Fire - "Black Mirror" [from neon bible.]
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Arcade Fire - "Keep the Car Running" [also from neon bible.]
Superchunk - "Art Class" [from here's to shutting up.]
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Robert Forster - "Pandanus" [from the evangelist. forster is one of the two main songwriting forces behind the go-betweens and when his songwriting foil died back in 2006, he found himself unexpectedly back in a solo career. this new one is a keeper. beautiful songwriting, as always.]
the Felice Brothers - "Frankie's Gun!" [from their self-title record. you guys will get tired of this song eventually. right now, i'm not. god it's great.]
Oakley Hall - "Rue the Blues" [from i'll follow you. this record didn't end up grabbing me as much as their double shot from the previous year, but it's still quite good. oakley hall is a fantastic band.]
the La's - "There She Goes" [from their self-titled album. i had a student get up and walk out of class today, despite direct instructions not to, and a student in the front began singing "there she goes...there she goes again.." too perfect. so here 'tis.]
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Kathleen Edwards - "Run" [from asking for flowers. if you haven't already, check out my interview with kathleen from last week.]
Luna - "Indian Summer" [from lunafied, a covers album the band put together before calling it quits the other year. this is a great a gorgeous take on a beat happening classic.]
Travis - "Writing to Reach You" [from the man who which i reviewed last week. this song, in particular, is one of my alltime favorite songs. of all time. of all music. strange, eh?]
the High-Back Chairs - "Share" [from curiosity and relief. one member of this band (and a ton others) are now in a band called julie ocean who have a new record coming out in a couple of weeks. this song makes me ridiculosly giddy, so, yeah, bring it on.]
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Hayden - "In Field & Town" [the title track from his new album. i wasn't warming up to this at first, but now i am a bit. i haven't given the whole album a thorough run through yet, but we'll see. it just came out this week.]
Sera Cahoone - "Baker Lake" [from only as the day is long. a gorgeous, sleeper record for the late summer nights that are coming. go get it.]
Josh Ritter - "Snow is Gone" [from hello, starling. josh is playing shows in NC this week, but i'll be catching him up in west virginia in a couple of weeks instead. see this man live. it's not a show you want to miss.]
M.I.A. - "Hussel" [from kala. a great closer and lead into southern hospitality.]

This show is dedicated to Sophie Kanter. I've had the good fortune of having Sophie be the DJ in front of me for, pretty much, the last two years straight. She is graduating next week and will be heading up to D.C. and away from WQFS. It was always a joy having someone as friendly and fun to talk with in the studio when I come up. Whoever takes her place will have big shoes to fill. Thanks, Sophie, and good luck!

I'll see you guys back on Friday for Notes From Underground. Until then, take care.