J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 4th February 2009

[Welcome to another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. A fantastic, action packed episode tonight. I couldn't fit everything in that I wanted to play - that's a sign of a good week. Though I did awesome with what I was able to fit in. I forgot to mention, but in two weeks, Winston-Salem's Caleb Caudle (as in "and the Bayonets") will be live on the show talking about his new forthcoming album, upcoming CD release show at the Werehouse and playing some live music for us. Ought to be a great show.

I only found out about this after I got home, otherwise I'd have mentioned it on the show, but various sources are reporting that the Cramps' front man/lead psycho, Lux Interior, died over the weekend. Lux was at the front of one of the most consistently crazy and outrageous bands of the early psychobilly scene and is truly and without a doubt one of the great frontmen of all time. We'll do a tribute to him next week.

I talk about this later, but I really can't speak highly enough of the new Dark Was the Night charity compilation for the Red Hot Organization. Red Hot has been raising money for AIDS research and prevention for almost 20 years and has put out a litany of excellent compilations including one of my favorites of all time, the No Alternative compilation. Their new one is a 2 CD blockbuster that is being put out by the venerable 4AD label and will be out on February 17th. I'll be featuring a block of songs from each of the 2 discs, starting this week, leading up to the album's release. Consider picking it up for the good that Red Hot does for a lot of people and for a very worthy cause. Not to mention it's got some seriously awesome tunes on it.

Now, before I start ringing a bell and dressing like Santa, onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 4th February 2009 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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Heartless Bastards - "Brazen" [from all this time. the bastards have a new record out called the mountain and i will be bringing you tracks off of that as soon as possible. sadly they aren't hitting the old north state on touring for the album - but i'm sure they'll be back sometime.]
the Beastie Boys - "Johnny Ryall" [from paul's boutique which gets its all gussied up remastered reissue next week, though you can already purchase nice packages and downloadable versions from the beasties' website, including a free download of the 'commentary' track the boys did for the album about its recording. pretty sweet.]
A.C. Newman - "Prophets" [from the excellent get guilty. newman and the broken west will be playing at the cat's cradle in chapel hill on thursday, march 19th. i'm so there.]
Black Grape - "Reverend Black Grape" [from it's great when you're straight...yeah. as i say on the podcast, whodathunk that shaun ryder could come back out with this good of an album so long after the mondays fell apart at the seams. granted, the second black grape record wasn't nearly this good, but much in the same way that pills 'n' thrills and bellyaches pretty much excuses all of the mondays' numerous missteps, this album does the same for black grape.]
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The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Young Adult Friction" [from their self-titled debut. look for my review of this soon over at aquarium drunkard. like uptempo shoegaze and c-86 and sara records all thrown into one blender. classic without being overplayed. really great stuff.]
the Mighty Underdogs - "Escape" [from droppin' science fiction. this track features guest spots from mr. lif and akrobatik. the group is a mish-mash of lateef the truth speaker and gift of gab and a dj. i like the song - we'll have to hear more.]
Her Space Holiday - "Sleepy Tigers" [the title track from their latest EP. this band has been around for a hot minute and are still putting out good music. i must say.]
the B-52's - "Planet Claire" [from their self-titled debut. admittedly i heard them use the intro to this song as a 'button' on NPR the other day, so i mentally filed it away to pull out for tonight. i can never listen to this album too much.]
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Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - "However Long" [from the forthcoming self-titled album due out february 17th. jason is playing at the lincoln theatre in raleigh on friday, february 20th also with nc's own benji hughes opening. ought to be a hell of a show.]
Buffalo Tom - "Soda Jerk" [from big red letter day. i'm way late to the buffalo tom party, but they've become one of my favorite also-ran bands of the 90s in very quick order. i had "soda jerk" on a compilation tape i picked up at big lots when i was a teenager (i think it was called generation x) and never forgot how much i liked it. they still make good music.]
O'Death - "Lowtide" [from broken hymns, limbs and skin. these guys remind me of parts of slim cessna's auto club, reverend glasseye and a little of sixteen horsepower. it surprised me they weren't from denver also. i like though.]
Bon Iver - "Bracket, WI" [from the dark was the night compilation. one of many really awesome songs on this compilation. this is an unreleased track that is only available on the comp.]
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The Books with Jose Gonzalez - "Cello Song" [this set was devoted entirely to songs off of the first disc of the dark was the nightcompilation. this one features the books and jose gonzalez doing up nick drake's "cello song." a really nice interpretation.]
Grizzly Bear - "Deep Blue Sea" [all of the songs on the compilation, i assume, are previously unreleased as they were recorded specifically for the compilation. this is a really nice song.]
the National - "So Far Around the Bend" [the brothers dessner of the national produced the compilation and here their own band turns in a stellar song - as if there's such a thing as an un-stellar national song.]
Antony with Bryce Dessner - "I Was Young When I Left Home" [and antony slays this dylan song - antony doing dylan? as good as this sounds, i could do with a whole album of that.]
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Telekinesis - "Foreign Room" [from their forthcoming self-titled debut. i'll have to back off this for a bit since this album doesn't come out until april, but man is it ever good.]
Brian Eno - "Dead Finks Don't Talk" [from here come the warm jets. got one of my few calls of the night from long-time listener jack who was excited i was playing eno. i had a hard time picking tracks - there are too many good ones.]
Liz Durrett - "All of Them All" [from outside our gates. this makes two really good songs off of this album. i'm going to have to snag the whole thing soon.]
Jens Lekman - "Your Arms Around Me" [from nights falls over kortedala, the j's indie/rock # 4 album of 2007. i hadn't played jens much this past year, so it was time to pull out my favorite song from that record.]
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Charlie Louvin - "Darling Corey" [from the new sings murder ballads and disaster songs. charlie will be at the berkeley café in raleigh and the evening muse in charlotte on february 27th and 28th respectively. exciting? oh, yes. oh, god, yes.]
David Bowie - "The Man Who Sold the World" [by request. the title track from the album. i really do love nirvana's version from unplugged though.]
Jim White - "Jailbird" (live) [from a funny little cross to bear live EP. jim white is a joy to see live, so it's no surprise that this live EP is full of exactly the type of things that make jim's shows great - reworked versions of songs, great renditions, great banter and storytelling.]
Polvo - "Sense of It" [from cor-crane secret. polvo is playing saturday night, along with birds of avalon, at the pour house in raleigh. excited? you should be.]
Son Volt - "Out of the Picture" [from trace. this is truly one of those albums that you discover and re-discover throughout your life. that's the sign of a true piece of art.]

That'll do it for tonight. Hope you enjoy the show - I'll be back next week with more great stuff. Until then, Go Heels! and take care.