J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 28th January 2009

[Welcome to another high falutin' edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. Why is it high falutin'? 'Cos it just is, okay. I mean, how else would you describe a show that is truly attempting to cover all the great music being released, even just so far in 2009? This year is shaping up to be crazy good. Tonight's show is packed from stem to stern with the hot rock, so let's just get to it, shall we? Onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 28th January 2009 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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Katy Mae - "You May Already Be a Winner" [the title track from their latest EP. on last week's show, the band was live in-studio and you can download the two live tracks they played, including an acoustic version of this song. great stuff.]
Travis - "U16 Girls" [from good feeling. the first two travis albums are really amazing, but the invisible band made me drop them like a hot potato. i haven't come back since, though i heard their record from last year wasn't awful. i just haven't been bothered. anyone out there a fan of their post-the man who work?]
Bon Iver - "Blood Bank" [the title track from the new EP. this is someone i desperately need to see live. come back to carolina!]
Animal Collective - "Grass" [by request. from feels. next week i'll have some music off the new album, but i was caught off guard this week.]
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North Elementary - "Decade Styling" [from the new not for everyone, just for you LP out on eskimo kiss records. saw john harrison of north elementary play a show last friday here in town and he was excellent. awesome NC music.]
Josh Rouse - "Nothing Gives Me Pleasure" [from under cold blue stars. i've been underwhelmed by rouse's slow, steady drip down into adult-alternative music. nashville was easily his last completely enjoyable album and the subsequent ones have been tepid with occasional hot spots. this album is arguably his peak.]
A.C. Newman - "The Heartbreak Rides" [from get guilty. this is probably my favorite single off of the album - that "yo-ho" thing gets me. you can check out my review of the album over at aquarium drunkard.]
Suede - "Metal Mickey" [from their self-titled debut. the way the first two suede albums are recorded is some of the darkest glam music ever. brett anderson's vocals are like a dolled-up harpy-siren in a cavern, singing odysseus to his doom. devastating music.]
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Antony and the Johnsons - "Epilepsy is Dancing" [from the crying light. i haven't given the full album a listen yet, but the reviews are loving it. all the songs i've heard are solid.]
Cheap Trick - "Southern Girls" [from in color and in black and white. i've been rather obsessed with cheap trick lately. i owe my fandom to eugene who used to run the non-conformist cult radio show on WQFS. i've been toying with covering this song (though in a changed-up way) in a future live performance.]
Holy Ghost Tent Revival - "Honey Beware" [from so long i screamed. i'll tell you, i've been a bad music fan. people in greensboro have been flipping out over these guys for a hot minute and i haven't heard them. more good north carolina music.]
the Streets - "It's Too Late" [from original pirate material. the first two streets albums had some jawdroppingly sad songs on them - this and the near-perfect "dry your eyes" from a grand don't come for free. this (and "sharp darts") were the songs that made me a lifetime fan of the streets, even if i've had some grimace-worthy moments with him since then.]
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Andrew Bird - "Fitz and the Dizzyspells" [from noble beast. is this a solid record? absolutely. is andrew bird capable of churning out anything less? at this point, i think the answer is no. the man is unstoppable.]
the La's - "There She Goes" [from their self-titled album. is there a more perfect pop song in the world? i would put this on par with anything you could stack up against it. seriously. think about it.]
Jim White - "Counting Numbers in the Air" (live) [from the funny little cross to bear live EP which is due out later this spring. this is a great six song (and one story) EP. this song is an especially great example of how white switches up the standard recorded versions of songs when he takes them out on the road solo without a band. this song, originally from last year's absolutely fantastic transnormal skiperoo, takes on a very different tone here. we'll be hearing more from this EP.]
Liz Durrett - "Wild as Them" [from her newest, outside our gates. this album was produced by eric bachmann (yes, that eric bachmann). this song was sharp, so we'll hear more.]
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Sirius B - "Spice Bullet" (live) [a fantastic band from asheville, NC who is going to be playing at the flat iron here in greensboro this saturday night along with greensboro's own eating the invaders. ought to be a fun time.]
Baby Charles - "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" [from their self-titled 2008 record. yes, it's a hot r&b/funk cover of the arctic monkeys' song and yes, it's awesome.]
the Tremors - "Make with the Shake" [from uranium rock. greensboro rock-a-billy band that'll be playing tomorrow night as part of the monthly double-bill for the dotmatrix project at the green burro. joining them will be matt hill and the buzzkills. a great night of blues/rock-a-billy goodness.]
the Moondoggies - "Changing" [from don't be a stranger. a song that should've been on my 2008 year-end singles show. but alas. i'm not perfect.]
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Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - "Seven-Mile Island" [from the forthcoming self-titled album due out february 17th. jason will be at the lincoln theatre in raleigh on friday, february 20th. and so will i. oh, yeah.]
"Weird Al" Yankovich - "I Lost on Jeopardy" [from "weird al" in 3-D. okay. a bit of explanation. as the av club reported, jeopardy! is holding internet try-outs right now. so it immediately made me think of this classic weird al tune. and what the hell, here's the video while we're at it. and in case you don't recognize it, the song it parodies.]
Toad the Wet Sprocket - "When We Recovered" [from bread and circus. early toad has a certain dated sound to it, but that's just the late 80s for you. i'll have to pull out some songs from my favorite of their early work, pale. there's a poster of it hanging to my right.]
Grifters - "Bummer" [from one sock missing. was hipped to these guys via allmusic.com's album of the day. early 90s lo-fi indie rock that is pretty awesome, really. this is a solid record.]
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Telekinesis - "Look to the East" [from their forthcoming self-titled record. this record isn't out until april, but thanks to drunkard sending it my way, i'm already talking it up. good, good music.]
the Handsome Family - "All the Time In Airports" [from the last days of wonder. i think, if i read their often cryptic emails correctly, that the family has a new album coming out later this year. stay tuned.]
John Wesley Harding - "Still Photo" [from new deal. a song i came to love after seeing harding perform it live. it's a mesmerizing song. ooh. photo themed mix tape idea!]
Megafaun - "Drains" [from bury the square. i have a bit of a transcription time ahead of me to do the interview i did with the guys in megafaun last saturday, but it'll be up on aquarium drunkard this week, probably, and it's really awesome. can't wait to share.]

That'll do it for this week. Praise to the Deacs for knocking off Duke and Hail to the Heels for surviving Florida State! I'll be back next week and until then, take care.