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

[Welcome to another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - the first show in awhile without a giveaway or an interview or anything of the sort. The giveaway is on hiatus as we look for other sponsors for it. As a reminder from last week, BB's New and Used CDs and DVDs, Greensboro's last independent music store, is doing their best to raise enough money to move when their lease is up at the end of August. All of their merch is currently 50% off, so head down there and grab everything you can - it's for a very good cause, after all.

I'll be covering for Mad Dog on the Friday Night Rock Party this Friday from 6pm to 8pm on WQFS, so tune in and make me live up to his standards by requesting the rock. Now, before Michael Phelps wins so many gold medals they have to start harvesting fillings, onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 13th August 2008

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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Kathleen Edwards - "The Cheapest Key" [from asking for flowers. kathleen is good at writing sharp, barbed rockers - compare this to the title track from her previous album, back to me, and even, to some extent, "westby" from failer. they're a good break from her other styles of songwriting on albums.]
Midnight Oil - "Truganini" [from earth and sun and moon. the version of this from their mtv unplugged performance gives me shivers - especially when they reach the last chorus and the lines "i see the union jack in flames / let it burn!" in that live version, peter garrett let's the "burn" stretch out over the ensuing music and it creates a really visceral moment.]
King Khan and the Shrines - "Welfare Bread" [from the supreme genius of.. and come on now. if you haven't seen the live performance of this yet, get on it.]
the Dead Kennedys - "Let's Lynch the Landlord" [from fresh fruit for rotting vegetables. i'm not always in the mood to listen to this type of music, but few did it better.]
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the Hold Steady - "Constructive Summer" [the lead track from stay positive - containing one of the best song lyric similes i've ever heard - "me and my friends are like / the drums on 'lust for life.'" just, wow.]
El-P - "Up All Night" [from i'll sleep when you're dead. "i might've been born yesterday, sir / but we stayed up all night." one of the best live shows i've ever seen was this man with his live band. catch him if you ever get a chance.]
Colour Revolt - "A Siren" [from plunder, beg and curse. this album is growing on me more and more. i'm really looking forward to seeing them at the monolith festival in colorado in september. i'm going to be covering the festival for aquarium drunkard and there are a lot of great bands playing. stay tuned for more info.]
Mary Lou Lord - "Some Jingle Jangle Morning" [from got not shadow. tonight was a night of songs full of lyrical lines that i love. the reference to "mr. brownstone" in this song is what gets me.]
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Okkervil River - "Lost Coastlines" [from the forthcoming the stand-ins, the 'sequel' to last year's the stage names. i like this band a lot, and am looking forward to this record when it hits. you can check this song out over at pitchfork as well.]
the Tears - "Autograph" [from here come the tears, the debut album of the band that finally reunited original suede members brett anderson and bernard butler. the results are pretty good, if you're a fan of that sort of thing, but this song especially is the bee's knees.]
M.I.A. - "Pull Up the People" [from arular. i could bore you with my tale of how i ignored m.i.a. for a long time because of her hype, but it was last year's kala that made me get over myself. i finally gave arular a listen this past week and found plenty to love there as well.]
the Avett Brothers - "Murder in the City" [from the gleam II. another band bound for the monolith festival. i'm really anxious to hear their forthcoming major label debut, if only to see how rick rubin treats them.]
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Dr. Dog - "Hang On" [from fate. our reviewer at the station compared this to white album-era beatles - and sometimes that's a lazy comparison, but here i think it works in a lot of ways.]
the Mekons - "Memphis, Egypt" [from rock 'n' roll, the first mekons album i ever heard. thank you, qfs' vast vinyl libraries.]
J's Indie/Rock First Times - Haley Bonar - Click to listen. [part of the continuing occasional feature where artists recall their first concert. haley talks about going to see bob seger and also being introduced to the smell of marijuana.]
Haley Bonar - "Something Great" [from her latest, big star. you can drop back a week and check out my interview with her by clicking here.]
Dawn Chorus - "Dust" [from florida st. serenade. zach and andrew from dawn chorus are going to come visit the show later on this summer, so stay tuned for that.]
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Calexico - "Man Made Lake" [from the forthcoming carried to dust, which is really gorgeous. knock on wood, i'll be doing an interview with joey burns from calexico in september.]
the Jayhawks - "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" [from smile. i didn't exactly warm to this album immediately, but the more and more i listen to it over the years, the more i really like it. you know, honestly, i feel like the back half of the jayhawks catalogue holds up better than the first, with the exception of hollywood town hall - even tomorrow the green grass is kinda tiresome in places. let the public flogging begin, but i've talked about how sound of lies is my favorite jayhawks record.]
Spank Rock - "Touch Me" [from yoyoyoyoyoyo. there was something about me being in a dancier mood this week and this track, on top of the m.i.a., was just the right thing.]
Jews and Catholics - "Wife Swap" [from their new EP inside. great, winston-salem, north carolina rock and roll.]
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Paul Westerberg - "Something In My Life is Missing" [from the now unavailable 49:00. i discussed this in last week's notes from underground and got some great feedback from readers. look for my piece on westerberg's "5:05" song on aquarium drunkard in the next couple of days.]
the Amps - "Tipp City" [from pacer. i worked into the breeders backwards, hearing even the kelly deal 6000 before i heard any proper breeders album. the amps, also, are great. kim deal doesn't make much bad music.]
the Handsome Family - "Weightless Again" [from through the trees. the first handsome family song i ever heard and still in my top five of their songs. this really is a lyrical night.]
Blitzen Trapper - "Wild Mountain Nation" [the title track from last year's album - another band that will be at the monolith festival. i'm going to have a time.]
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Oneida - "History's Great Navigators" [from happy new year. this isn't oneida's most recent, that would be the excellent preteen weaponry, but that album is 35 minutes of non-stop music divided into three tracks each at least ten minutes long. so you probably won't hear it on the show. that being said, they're going to be at the werehouse in winston-salem next thursday, august 21st (my birthday!) and at local 506 in chapel hill the next night, the 22nd. happy birthday to me.]
Lucinda Williams - "Pineola" [from sweet old world. a really sharp album and a really tremendous song.]
Matthew Sweet - "Divine Intervention" (acoustic studio recording) [from the second disc of the legacy edition of his girlfriend album. i discussed matthew's career so far, and his upcoming album sunshine lies, in a piece at aquarium drunkard.]
the Velvet Underground - "White Light/White Heat" [the title track from their second album. mmm, good music.]
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R.E.M. - "E-bow the Letter" [from new adventures in hi-fi, which turns twelve years old this year. one of my absolute favorite late period r.e.m. records and also the last to feature bill berry on drums. this song, with patti smith adding guest vocals, was a single for the record.]

That'll do it for this week. Don't forget I'll be covering for Mad Dog on the Friday Night Rock Party this Friday from 6pm to 8pm. And Notes From Underground will be here as well. Until then, take care.