J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 25th June 2008

[Welcome to, finally, the new edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. My brand, spankin' new computer decided to take a nosedive the morning after I set it up (faulty motherboard) and it took nearly a week to get fixed under warranty. So while last week's show does exist in podcast form, I'm actually going to hold onto it until later this summer when I'm out of town and will post it as that week's show.

Congratulations to Emily who was able to answer this week's trivia question based off of the interview with Terry Banks of Julie Ocean. She wins this week's $15 gift certificate to BB's New and Used CDs and DVDs. We give that away every week at the beginning of the third set, usually around 6:30 or a little after, so tune in for your chance to win.

Now, onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 25th June 2008 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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Alejandro Escovedo - "Always a Friend" [from the new real animal. this is an awesome rocker and one of the most up tempo songs i've heard from escovedo in a long time. i'm doing an email interview with him for aquarium drunkard in the coming week, so keep your eyes peeled over there for that.]
TV on the Radio - "Staring at the Sun" [by request. from desperate youth, blood thirsty babes. i've never been a huge fan of tv on the radio, though they make some pretty intriguing and unique music. i saw them live once years ago and it was definitely an experience.]
Susu - "Anarchitect" [from win which i reviewed some months ago. great, post-punk in the tradition of sonic youth - wicked stuff.]
Finn Riggins - "Hraka" [from a soldier, a saint, an ocean explorer. this is out on tender loving empire, a label based out of portland, oregon. i was lucky enough to meet jared mees, one of the label's musicians and co-founders, at the heroes convention in charlotte this past weekend. they have a $5 compilation of 20 bands from the portland area which is well worth picking up. it includes this song by mr. riggins as well.]
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Citified - "Read Like a Number" [from the meeting after the meeting. citified and dawn chorus are playing tonight (thursday), june 26th, at the green burro downtown as part of the continuing awesomeness that is the monthly dotmatrix project series of concerts. show starts at 8pm and is free, so no better reason to go check out two of greensboro's best bands.]
the Happy Mondays - "Step On" [from pills 'n' thrills and bellyaches. i go through flashes of being really into this album and i'm currently steeped in one. it's my summertime jam for the early summer so far. this album makes me want to start and indie dance night in greensboro just so i can play tracks off of it and watch people get down. anyone with equipment want to make this happen with me?]
Spiritualized - "Yeah Yeah" [from songs in a & e. i'm still digesting this album, as i'm honestly not familiar with earlier spiritualized stuff, but i like it. it's a grower - structured like an album's album.]
Sonic Youth - "The Empty Page" [from murray street. it's been awhile since i've played anything off of this, but god, this album was revelatory when it came out. it was the best thing i'd heard sonic youth do in quite some time and it ended up being only the beginning of a (so far) three album run of fantastic, late-period genius.]

[Here's the interview with Julie Ocean's Terry Banks. He was kind enough to sit down and talk the band name's origin, influences, the changing (and incestuous) scene of D.C. and what tracks he think John Peel would prefer. It's a great and insightful talk. If you'd like to read the transcript, you can read it over at Aquarium Drunkard.]

Interview - Terry Banks (Julie Ocean) : Click to listen.

Julie Ocean - "Ten Lonely Words," "Here Comes Danny" and "Bright Idea" [all three are from long gone and nearly there, the debut LP from the band.]
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T-Bone Burnette - "Kill Zone" [from tooth of crime. i've enjoyed this song way too much not to play it again. reminds me, actually, of some minus 5 type music. especially in the vocals.]
Fleet Foxes - "He Doesn't Know Why" [from the self-titled debut LP. really, really astounding. this is growing on me by leaps and bounds. i'll have to whip out the fairport convention next week.]
J's Indie/Rock First Times - Hayden - Click to Listen [this is a new semi-regular feature where artists talk about their first concerts. here hayden talks about going to see phil collins and clipping the reviews out of the paper. good stuff. i hope to have a lot more of these in the future.]
Hayden - "Did I Wake Up Beside You?" [from in field & town. one of the highlights of the show the other week. i'll be playing my interview with hayden next week on the show, but keep your eyes peeled for the transcript at aquarium drunkard later this week.]
the Church - "Metropolis" [from gold afternoon fix. i know people get kinda down on this album - the story goes that originally john paul jones was going to produce, but at the last minute had to back out, so they grabbed waddy wachtel who had produced starfish - but while it's not as good as its predecessor, the songs that are good are amazing. this song especially.]
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Dawn Chorus - "Dust" [from the forthcoming florida st. serenade which we now know is due in late july. i never get tired of this song. i can't wait to see it live hopefully tonight at the green burro.]
New Bloods - "Oh Deadly Nightshade!" [from the much ballyhooed the secret life. it's a pretty intriguing sound and the av club praised them pretty heavily earlier this year, but i'm still not sure what i think.]
Portishead - "Magic Doors" [from third. now i definitely know what i think about this album. album of the year? wow, well, the mid-year tally is coming up this friday here on the blog, so we'll see.]
the Didjits - "Killboy Powerhead" [from hornet piñata. i've never heard the offspring's version of this, but i mean, really. did anyone out there ever see the didjits live? i'm just curious as to how crazy this mess was live. well, okay, i am on the internet. here's them doing this song live at the touch and go records 25th anniversary back in 2006.]
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Scarlett Johansson - "Who Are You" [from the anywhere i lay my head album of tom waits covers. i decided to do a closing set of tom waits since i'll be seeing him live this sunday in knoxville, tennessee. i'm ridiculously excited as it'll be my first time seeing him and, well, long time readers should know how i feel about tom waits. fans of music should know how i feel about tom waits.]
Tom Waits - "Martha" [from closing time. my mother's name and also one of the most heartbroken and sweet songs he's ever written.]
Tom Waits - "Filipino Box Spring Hog" [from mule variations. this song just flat out rocks in that ridiculous, noisy grotesque sort of way that he does pretty easily in his later years.]

That'll do it. Check back on Friday (for real this time) for Notes From Underground and the mid-year review of albums from this year. Until then, take care.