J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 22nd July 2009

[A truly awesome show tonight - tons of great stuff and I guess I needed to leave you satisfied since I will not be here next week. I'll be out of town, so the next show will be Extra Mayhem on Monday, August 3rd at midnight.

I'll be at Friday and Saturday night of the Merge Records 20th Anniversary concerts at the Cat's Cradle, so make sure you follow me on Twitter to get all the grimey details. Looks like I missed quite a bit tonight.

But that's because I was at the Often Awesome benefit for Tim LaFollette and having a blast. If you didn't come out tonight, there's another benefit at the Blind Tiger on Friday, August 14th with the final Kudzu Wish reunion, Tiger Bear Wolf, the Social Life and others. Lord have mercy on us all, Tim agreed to let me MC that one as well. So stay tuned.

Now, while the going's good, onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 22nd July 2009 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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Mission of Burma - "1, 2, 3, partyy!" [from the forthcoming the sound the speed the light which is due out october 6th. we'll hear more when it gets closer.]
Jim White - "Handcuffed to a Fence in Mississippi" [from no such place. this was the song and the album that introduced me to one of my all time favorite songwriters so it forever holds a place in my heart.]
Fucked Up - "Son the Father" [from the chemistry of modern life. these guys put on a torrential show at pitchfork this past weekend and this song was easily one of the highlights.]
White Rabbits - "Percussion Gun" [from it's frightening. this album is seriously growing on me the more and more i play it. even though it's immediately grabbing, it may be a sleeper record for this year.]
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the Thermals - "How We Fade" [from now we can see. another highlight of the pitchfork fest was watching these guys at work. power trio indeed.]
A.A. Bondy - "Lovers' Waltz" [from american hearts. when is this guy going to put out a new album? i'm droolin', here.]
the Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Come Saturday" [from their self-titled debut LP. coming to local 506 on tuesday, september 29th and i can't recommend them enough. great, great live band.]
Adam Thorn and the Top Buttons - "Where's the Freedom?" [the title track from one of my favorite local records of the last few years. one of the bands playing tonight for the often awesome benefit for tim lafollette at greene street club. hope you were there.]
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the Reigning Sound - "Break It" [from their forthcoming love and curses. you've heard me rave about these guys and their timebomb high school album endlessly. yay for new music from them.]
Vigilantes of Love - "Goes Without Saying" [from their album audible sigh. this is an athens, georgia band that has been around for a minute, but who i only heard in the last few months. i think i rather like them, honestly.]
Citified - "My Family Cup" [from the absence EP. they'll be playing tonight at greene street as well. one of my favorite releases of this year.]
Sonic Youth - "Antenna" [by request. from the eternal. caller kept hearing the same single on the station, so i made sure to play him something different. this is quite possibly my favorite song on the album.]
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Oneida - "I Will Haunt You" [from rated o. if you buy this album's physical copy, it's 3 CDs. it is 115 minutes worth of music, but apparently they recorded it as three distinct sets of music. who knows. all i know is that it's really good.]
the Replacements - "Kids Don't Follow" [from the stink EP. man. i love the extra tracks on the bonus release of this. maybe i'll play some in two weeks.]
Roadside Graves - "My Father Sat Me Down" [from my son's home. man, this is seriously one of my favorite albums of this year. what a band.]
the National - "Blood Buzz" (live) [this is a new song that the national have been playing live on their recent tour. this particular performance is from their show in boston earlier this year, but is pretty close to their performances of it nightly on tour.]
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the Very Best - "Rain Dance (feat. M.I.A.)" [from warm heart of africa. this is the type of thing i probably wouldn't seek out on my own, but since it was sent to me, i got to realize what a fun record it is. we'll be hearing a lot more.]
Future of the Left - "Arming Eritrea" [from travels with myself and another. if you put together the three mclusky albums and the two so far from future of the left, you've got one of the most consistently enjoyable aggro-post punk records of the 2000s. seriously. this'll make you want to be a teen again. well, at least for as long as you're listening to the album.]
Kathleen Edwards - "Six O'Clock News" [from her debut failer. i was driving the other day and remembered: oh, yeah. i don't think there's a song i don't like by kathleen edwards. that easily makes her one of my alltime favorite songwriters. put her up there with jim white, boys.]
Frightened Rabbit - "Head Rolls Off" [from the midnight organ fight. these guys were the most impressive band to me at pitchfork. mostly because i'd not heard them before and they floored me from note one, song one. be ready to hear a lot more.]
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Blair - "Kamikazee" [from the forthcoming die young. i love this song. blair, when you inevitably come to north carolina, as i know you will, and when you're on my show, as i know you will be, please play this song. thanks. love, j.]
the Cave Singers - "At the Cut" [from their new one, welcome joy. i don't know much about these guys, but people have been raving. we'll hear more.]
the Bronzed Chorus - "Underpass Sunrise" [from i'm the spring, their excellent new album. more great greensboro music that will be playing live tonight at greene street. or, most likely, will have played by the time this goes up. i write this live and post it later, so sue me.]
the Damnwells - "Bastard of Midnight" [from one last century. good power pop. really good power pop. damn good power pop.]
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Son Volt - "No Turning Back" [from american central dust. i love the ledbelly reference in this song and this is one of my favorites from the new album. solid.]
the Minus 5 - "Dark Hand of Contagion" [from the new killingsworth. a pretty strong record from the 5. if you liked the gun album, you should like this one, i think.]
Toad the Wet Sprocket - "I Will Not Take These Things for Granted" [from fear. i know i played this on extra mayhem the other week, but tim's a fan of toad, as am i, and i though it fit into his situation well. for you, tim.]

That'll do it for tonight. I'll be back in two weeks here in the normal slot and in a week and a half for Extra Mayhem. Until then, take care.

J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 15th July 2009

[Welcome to another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. I apologize again for the lack of immediate podcast access. I should have room available by Friday, so hopefully the podcast will be up by Saturday, depending on my access to internets while I'm in Chicago for the Pitchfork Festival. Make sure you follow my tweets on Twitter throughout the weekend to get a bit of a taste of what I'm experiencing live.

Extra Mayhem, as a reminder, will not air for the next two weeks. I'll be in Chicago still this coming Monday. It returns on Monday, August 3rd.

Don't forget about the Often Awesome benefit next Wednesday, July 22nd, at the Greene Street Club in downtown Greensboro. Bands playing include The Bronzed Chorus, Decoration Ghost, Citified, Adam Thorn, Filthybird and Snuzz. All proceeds go to benefit former WQFS GM Tim LaFollette and his fight against ALS/Lou Gerigh's disease. I'll be MC'ing the show as well, so make sure you come.

Now, as I sit on the front steps of a house swatting mosquitoes, onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 15th July 2009 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show”
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St. Vincent - “Save Me From What I Want” [from actor. one of my favorite records of this year so far. it’s a really engaging slice of eccentric pop and lyricism.]
Aztec Camera - “Good Morning Britain” [from stray. i had made a cassette copy of this album from a vinyl copy years ago and i just pulled it out the other day to listen for the first time in awhile. then, serendipitously, i found a used CD copy this week and, here it is. this song features joe strummer on guest vocals and is, well, great.]
Passion Pit - “Make Light" [from manners. the more i listen to this album, the more the great singles really keep getting better and the more the not-so-great songs continue to languish. that's the nature of music like this, i'd think.]
Kathleen Edwards - "The Cheapest Key" [from asking for flowers. a lovely single and an really funny video. are videos worth making anymore? i ask this as the biggest, most ubiquitous source of videos went away, really. i grew up in the age of video, so they still seem somewhat relevant to me, but i really question it at the same time.]
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Citified - "Dutiful Scout" [from absence. they'll be playing a week from tonight at the greene street club as part of the often awesome benefit for former WQFS general manager tim lafollette who was recently diagnosed with ALS. a really awesome opportunity to help out a very worthy man.]
Buffalo Tom - "You'll Never Catch Him" [from three easy pieces. how much expectation do you put in a band's latter-day work? this is buffalo tom's most recent album and i was honestly surprised at how thoroughly i liked it.]
Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks" [from the very, very good veckatimist. they are one of the bands i am most looking forward to seeing this weekend at pitchfork.]
Vivian Girls - "Where Do You Run To" [from their self-titled album. another band that i'm really looking forward to seeing. woo for great lo-fi pop.]
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Akron/Family - "Everyone Is Guilty" [from set 'em wild, set 'em free. i wish i'd paid more attention to these guys last fall at monolith. i came in on them late and i have a feeling that if i had caught it from the beginning, i would've been more into the groove. as it was, i was kind of lost.]
Built to Spill - "Conventional Wisdom" [by request. from you in reverse. they're one of the bands playing the write the night set at pitchfork where they are playing what ticket buyers voted for them to play. how 'bout perfect from now on in its entirety and we'll call it even?]
Animal Collective - "Summertime Clothes" [by email request. from merriweather post pavilion. i've heard conflicting things about their live show. any witnesses?]
the Pogues - "If I Should Fall From Grace With God" [the title track from their third album. it's my favorite pogues album, honesty. i love the way it fits together. and the songwriting is simply amazing. to start an album with this song is a gutsy move, but for the record to only get better after that? even better.]
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Dinosaur Jr. - "Your Weather" [from the new, excellent farm. this is one of lou barlow's songs from the album - he also has a new solo record coming out later this summer. busy guy.]
Birdmonster - "Born to Be Your Man" [from from the mountains to the sea. one of my favorite single songs of last year, but the whole album holds up really well also.]
Megafaun - "The Process" [from gather, form & fly which hits stores next tuesday. it's a really tremendous record, so go get it.]
Vigilantes of Love - "I Can't Remember" [from 1992's killing floor. not the song i meant to play tonight because of the CD mishap, but it'll have to do. we'll get the one i wanted next week.]
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Sunset Rubdown - "Paper Lace" [from dragonslayer. if i remember correctly, this song originally appeared on the swan lake album that sunset rubdown's spencer krug worked on with destroyer's dan bejar. this is a reworking of that version.]
Stephen Malkmus - "Church on White" [from his self-titled debut solo record. i meant to play a different malkmus song here, but some other DJ had mixed up the CDs in the cases. their fault for doing that, or my fault for not looking at the CD? you decide. still a great song.]
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - "Freeze the Saints" [from face the truth. so here i righted the wrong and played the song i originally wanted. it's been stuck in my head all week so there was no way i wasn't exercising this thing.]
Booker T. - "Get Behind the Mule" [from potato hole, a record featuring booker t. backed by, essentially, the drive-by truckers. they even take an instrumental turn through mike cooley's "space city" on here. we'll be hearing more.]
the Velvet Underground - "Sunday Morning" [from the velvet underground and nico. have you seen beck's record club thing on his website? this is truly musicians having fun being musicians - they're slowly working their way through in-studio reproductions of the entirety of this album. the first four tracks are up now. check it out.]
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Camera Obscura - "French Navy" [from my maudlin career. i really enjoyed this band when i saw them live a few years ago. great pop.]
the Velvet Crush - "Time Wraps Around You" [from the mind-bendingly good teenage symphonies to god. go hunt down a copy now.]
Jeremy Enigk - "April Storm" [from the new OK bear. not long after i did my interview with enigk for aquarium drunkard, it was announced that enigk's former band, sunny day real estate, are doing a full-on reunion. i'm not quite sure what to expect, but we'll see, eh?]
Great Lake Swimmers - "Everything Is Moving So Fast" [from lost channels. great, laid-back and emotive acoustic music. wow that was a really non-descriptive description.]
Black Moth Super Rainbow - "Smile the Day After Today" [from eating us. there are times where this band's songs really run together for me, but it's such a lovely, hedonistic mash of stuff, i can't help but love it.]
The The - "This is the Day" [from 1984's soul mining. i finally picked up a copy of this this week and despite its seeming ubiquitous presence in commercials in recent years (dockers and m&m's especially), i still love it. matt johnson, you big lug.]

That'll do it for this week. Make sure you follow me on Twitter to see what's going on at the Pitchfork Festival this weekend and I'll be back next Wednesday. Until then, take care.

Extra Mayhem - 13th July 2009

[Welcome to the last Extra Mayhem for the month of July. Next Monday, I'll still be in Chicago visiting friends post-Pitchfork festival and the following Monday I'll be at a teacher's workshop out of town. So the next scheduled Extra Mayhem will be Monday, August 3rd. Make sure you catch it as there will only be a few remaining in the summer.

My apologies about the podcast - I neglected to start it on time and accidentally cut off the first half of the first song. Didn't mean to cleave the Monkees - honest. As another advance warning also, this week's Indie/Rock Mayhem podcast will be a couple of days late going up as well. Again, podhosting limitations. I'd pay more money, but I mean, I'm already putting a chunk of change per month into hosting this stuff for you people. No one's complained, so I'll assume you're awesomely patient. Thanks a lot.

I don't say this much, but thank you, thank you, thank you to the people who download and listen to the podcast each week. The fact that that many of you do that on a weekly basis makes all the work I put into it each week completely worth it. Thanks, folks.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter as I'll be updating pretty frequently while I'm at the Pitchfork Festival. Now, before I go on any longer, onward.]

J's Extra Podcast: 13th July 2009 Show

the Monkees - "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" [from more of the monkees. tonight's theme was "this is not," which is kind of ambiguous, i realize. but the idea is songs that declare that "(noun/pronoun) is not (adjective/verb/noun/pronoun)" or some acceptable, grammatical modification of that set up. this is the first of three versions of this classic song. can you spot the others? play along!]
the Minus 5 - "I'm Not Bitter" [from down with wilco. yeah, he's not bitter. not at all. i love the tounge-in-cheek obviousness of the lyrics to this.]
the Emergency - "Not Angry" [from doo lang doo lang. you know, the more i listen to the emergency, the more i get to like them. this is from what (sadly) seems to be their last full-length album.]
Blitzen Trapper - "Not Your Lover" [from furr. i can't wait to see these guys this weekend. so, my question is, if he's the subject of the song's lover when he's awake, why are his dreams all messed up and bizzaro? that has to suck. even if he is a moonwalkin' cowboy of some variety.]
10,000 Maniacs - "I'm Not the Man" [from our time in eden. this is like the racial-injustice version of "long black veil" or something? but it's good that natalie merchant reminded us that she, indeed, is not the man.]
Camper Van Beethoven - "I Know I'm Not Wrong" [from one of the more fun things in cvb's oeuvre, a complete re-recording of fleetwood mac's tusk album that they did when snowed into a cabin somewhere at some point. it's really quite good.]
Minor Threat - "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" [from complete discography. did you spot it?!?! yup. the second version of the hart classic. i, literally, cannot decipher a single word ian mackaye is barking in this song, so it's just as well i started out with the monkees' version to give you some idea of what's going on. this song was the go-to cover for most punk bands in the 70s and 80s i notice.]
Del Amitri - "Not Where It's At" [from some other sucker's parade. ask me sometime about my theory about this song and what it's about. hint: sex. extra hint: what the guy with the hat says.]
Blonde Redhead - "This Is Not" [from the melody of certain damaged lemons. ah, the inspiration for tonight's theme. actually, to be completely honest, bob dylan's "i'm not there" was the inspiration and, ironically, i decided not to play it. so the title of this song became the best representation.]
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Loudon Wainwright III - "I'm Not Gonna Cry" [from last man on earth. i'm a big fan of this album, even though you haven't seen me play much, if anything, off of it. it's wainwright's lament following the death of his mother back in 2001 and it's a really stellar album.]
the Housemartins - "We're Not Deep" [from now that's what i call quite good. if you've never heard the housemartins, do yourself a favor and go pick up the people who grinned themselves to death. you're welcome in advance.]
Emily Dickinson - "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" [okay - to be fair, this is not a recording of dickinson actually reading her poem. it's some random lady. but, the poem title did fit into the theme, so here it is.]
the Sex Pistols - "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" [from the great rock 'n' roll swindle. if you said this was the third instance of this song tonight, you're right! way to go! rotten's lyrics are a bit more discernible than mackaye's, but, you know. whatever. their version of "substitute" is better.]
Little Brother - "Not Enough" [from the vastly underrated the minstrel show. one of my favorite things about this album is how much time is devoted to rapping about how people never heard their critically fellated/commercially invisible debut. go on, phonte. let it out.]
the Velvet Crush - "Why Not Your Baby" [from teenage symphonies to god. their version of the gene clark classic and from an equally amazing album. man, it's good.]
Willie Nelson - "It's Not For Me to Understand" [from yesterday's wine. jeff, mr. deeds, i hope you're reading this so that you see i do, indeed, play willie on my show.]
Presidents of the United States of America - "We Are Not Going to Make It" [from their self-titled debut. this is a definite first for me, playing this band on the show. but this is a quirky, fun song that fit right into the theme again. all in all, their debut is a pretty solid record. not something life changing, but fun to put on when you want toe tapping music.]
Toad the Wet Sprocket - "I Will Not Take These Things For Granted" [from fear. i do, seriously, adore this song. i have often cringed at the production on this album - it's highly dated and over-studio-ized - but it works really well on this song and on a few others, ("is it for me," "all i want").]

[Tonight's Wholesale album of the week is one of those albums that really helped define my teenage years in terms of the music I listened to. While my entry to this band was the album that came after it, this was the record that truly solidified my desire to one day visit London and understand, as best I could, the culture behind it. Granted, I would finally be there well after the rise and fall of Britpop, but it still affected my notion of all things British and I probably threw out a lot of terms in high school that I had no clue what they actually meant. I mean, I did spell color with a 'u' for many years. Insert mockery of J's teenage self HERE.

I also decided on this record because of the band's recent reunion - which may have already drawn to a close. After playing a festival this past weekend, Damon Albarn said it was their last gig. Whatever that means. Alas - no North American dates?

Parklife is an album with grand ambitions. Not only does it set out to cover most of the major musical styles post-British Invasion, it also sets out to diagram British culture and society in general. Here is where Blur's long-time comparison to the Kinks comes in. Much like Ray Davies before him, Damon Albarn had a keen eye for social dissection and his characters and narrators are sometimes broad, but hardly ever completely unsympathetic or not understandable. In the end, Parklife is built on layer after layer of a half-century almost of British culture. The results are a masterwork that is still as breathtakingly enjoyable and unique 15 years later. Tonight's Wholesale album of the week is..]

Track Listing

1. Girls and Boys
2. Tracy Jacks [click to listen.]
3. End of a Century
4. Parklife [click to listen.]
5. Bank Holiday
6. Badhead [click to listen.]
7. The Debt Collector
8. Far Out
9. To the End
10. London Loves
11. Trouble in the Message Centre
12. Clover over Dover
13. Magic America
14. Jubilee
15. This is a Low
16. Lot 105

That'll do it for this week. See you Wednesday night for J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. Until then, take care.

J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 8th July 2009

[A really awesome episode of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem that, unfortunately, was mightily delayed as far as posting goes. I pay for so much upload space per month on my podhosting service, and I thought I had accounted for enough for the additional Extra Mayhem podcasts over the summer. Well, I didn't. This coming week's Indie/Rock Mayhem will also be delayed by a day or two, but after that, everything should be back on schedule since this week's Extra Mayhem will be the last during the month of July.

Also, Extra Mayhem will be on early again this week - from 8pm - 10pm Monday night covering The Garden of Good and Evil for DJ Midnightt. I appreciate her giving me the opportunity to get on earlier. It ought to be a blast. Her show is always worth listening to, so tune in weekly for her.

This Thursday I'll be heading to Chicago to do coverage of the Pitchfork Music Festival for Aquarium Drunkard. I'll be trying to do as much day-of blogging as I can after the festival is done each day over at Drunkard, but if you want to follow along with some more live action, you can follow the J's Indie/Rock Twitter for more frequent updates. I'm sure I'll have plenty of enlightening things to say. Probably mostly about how I'm really craving a Chicago style hot dog. Just sayin'.

Now, since it's late enough, onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 8th July 2009 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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Spoon - "Got Nuffin" [a new single released this past week with three new songs. meant to tide over until the new LP drops, whenever that is. not bad, though. i mean, it is spoon.]
Fountains of Wayne - "No Better Place" [from welcome interstate managers. my friend sara, whom i complain about on the podcast, got to see a live acoustic performance from fountains of wayne the night this show aired, up in madison, wisconsin. i'm mightily jealous as i've never seen them and they're a favorite of mine. le sigh.]
Obits - "Milk Cow Blues" [from i blame you. their version of the classic tune. man, this album is seriously good. i mean. really good.]
the Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Ramona" [the b-side to the newly released single for "young adult friction" from their self-titled album. a really awesome song and i can't wait to see these guys at pitchfork.]
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Citified - "Landlocked" [from absence. i'm a bit late with this, but like i did on the podcast, i wanted to wish citified's chris jackson and his wife, emily, a happy 10th wedding anniversary.]
the High Back Chairs - "Share" [from curiosity and relief. i do so love this song. this is the type of rock i can listen to over and over for ages. hooky, great sing-along chorus, yet still tough and thick.]
the Bronzed Chorus - "Hiding in the Woods" [from i'm the spring. i'm not always a bit instrumental music person, but i do love the bronzed chorus. it's invigorating stuff.]
Dinosaur Jr. - "Over It" [from farm. yes, this record is really, really good. better than beyond i'd say. sometime, we should have a contest over what 'reunited' band made the best reunion album. thoughts?]
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Oneida - "The River" [from the new rated o which is quite good from what i've heard. i do like oneida quite a bit though.]
That Petrol Emotion - "It's A Good Thing" [sort of by request, from manic pop thrill. caller wanted to hear a song they thought was on this record, but apparently it isn't. still a great album.]
The Roots with Erykah Badu - "I Wanna Be Where You Are" [this was recorded before a visit from badu to jimmy fallon's show where the roots are the house band. this is a cover of a michael jackson song from his 1972 debut solo album, got to be there. and, as you might expect from this group, they tear it up.]
Grizzly Bear - "Cheerleader" [from veckatimist. yeah, this record is pretty amazing. i imagine it's going to be in the running on a lot of people's best-of '09 lists.]
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Megafaun - "Worried Mind" [from the forthcoming gather, form & fly. i finally got my full advanced copy and we'll be hearing lots more. because this band is amazing. hands down.]
New Order - "Sunrise" [from low-life. this was a song that was contemplated and then ditched for last week's theme hour. but it's such a good song, that i moved it over to this show.]
Future of the Left - "You Need Satan More Than He Needs You" [from travels with myself and another. here's a band i wish i could see again, though they were mighty awesome when they came to greensboro with against me last year.]
Sonic Youth - "No Way" [from the eternal. this is bound to start a conversation, if people even look this far into these posts, but what sonic youth albums are actually your favorite? there are a lot of different camps amongst sy fans.]
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Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions - "Blanchard" [from the forthcoming through the devil slowly which will be out in september. exciting to see the amazing singer and songwriter back for more. i'm a little biased cos, well, i love mazzy star.]
the Rain Parade - "Blue" [from explosions in the glass palace. this was their first release minus founding member dave roback (who would later work with hope sandoval in mazzy star - connection! ka-kow!) and it's an amazing EP, honestly.]
New Numbers - "Islands" [the title track from their new EP. not a bad little song and certainly worth hearing more of.]
Great Lake Swimmers - "Pulling on a Line" [from lost channels. this is a band i've heard a lot about, but have never followed up on and now i'm regretting that. great stuff.]
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the Low Anthem - "To Ohio" [from oh my god, charlie darwin. i haven't listened to all of this yet, but we're in for some amazing music, i think.]
the Church - "Pangaea" [from untitled #23. so, is this the brit-english spelling of pangea? i've always spelled it without the extra a, but this could be a brit-english thing since they're australian. or is it aussie-english? or am i just wrong?]
Egyptian Lover - "I Cry (Night After Night)" [from on the nile. big, big thanks to jay for tipping me off to this guy. did you ever wonder what people in the 80s who were musicians and big fans of prince and kraftwerk were doing with their artistic ideas? well, now you do. you can thank me later.]
Son Volt - "Cocaine and Ashes" [from american central dust. it's the story of keith richards, like you've never heard it before.]
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Rock Plaza Central - "Don't You Believe The Words of Handsome Men" [from the astounding in the moment of our most needing.. i'll be getting my interview with them up soon.]
Television - "The Dream's Dream" [from adventure. no one ever spends a lot of time talking about this album, but i love it, in some ways almost as much as marquee moon. i understand why that album overshadows adventure in so many ways, but man this record is good. unquestionably so.]

That'll do it for this week. I'll be back with Extra Mayhem tomorrow night - we're going Britpop for the Wholesale album of the week and there will be a theme, though it's not decided yet. Until then, take care.

Extra Mayhem - 6th June 2009

[Tonight's Extra Mayhem is a labor of love that I spent most of this week planning. I abandoned the more direct sense of 'current events' theme for the theme hour, though it is summertime and the sun is definitely prevalent, so tonight's theme is "Here comes the sun." I had to whittle down several hours of music in order to get to tonight's final collection which comes in at about one hour and twenty minutes, so another extra-long theme hour podcast for y'all.

Due to podcast hosting storage limitations, and a couple of extra-long theme sets, this week's Indie/Rock Mayhem Podcast may not go up until Friday, July 10th. Apologies in advance for the inconvenience in reception.

I don't have anything else to add, so before I do, onward.]

J's Extra Podcast: 6th June 2009 Show

the Jayhawks - "Waiting for the Sun" [from hollywood town hall. i planned these songs out to, more or less, track the rise of the sun to the set of the sun. feel free to criticize my placement, but i figured this was about as good a song as any to open with. plus the new jayhawks' best-of hits stores this week.]
the Beatles - "Here Comes the Sun" [from abbey road. see? get it? waiting..here comes...brilliant.]
Belle and Sebastian - "Another Sunny Day" [from the life pursuit. this was the song that officially won me over as a fan of belle and sebastian. i liked the much fuller sound of this album and it made me go back and re-listen to their more classic material with a different and more appreciative ear.]
Primal Scream - "Deep Hit of Morning Sun" [from evil heat. first off, what a great song title. second, this, is an album i've rarely given any time to. when it comes to primal scream, it's either screamadelica or it's vanishing point or its, well, nothing. but this, and its predecessor, the loud and agressive XTRMNTR, are things i've long been meaning to explore further.]
the Clientele - "These Days Nothing But Sunshine" [from god save the clientele. are these guys capable of making anything other than the most gorgeous music you've ever heard?]
Beck - "Sweet Sunshine" [from mellow gold. this was one of the tracks i was most excited about playing this week. would beck, as an artist, take off now like he did in the 90s if he dropped an album like this? timing is everything.]
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Buffalo Tom - "Sundress" [from sleepy eyed. this song didn't have as big of a 'sun' theme presence, but, i love buffalo tom and this song is simply fantastic. so i played it anyway.]
Matthew Sweet - "Looking at the Sun" [from girlfriend. i like this next little sequence of songs, but thematically and sonically.]
Catherine Wheel - "Judy Staring at the Sun" [from happy days. i've always enjoyed this song a lot, even if the album it's from is pretty middling.]
the Seahorses - "Blinded by the Sun" [from do it yourself. you know, this album gets slagged a lot, but it's got some right good songs on it. yeah, it's no stone roses, but hey, not bad.]
Ray Charles - "That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day)" [from modern sounds in country and western music. this is a bonus track from the expanded edition released in 1988.]
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Archer Prewitt - "Way of the Sun" [from wilderness. a lovely little tune from a gorgeous record. if you were never quite sure what to do with the sea and cake, well, here's an easier entryway.]
Chester, Sifl and Olly - "Seasons in the Sun" [so, yes, this is from the defunct mtv show sifl and olly which, upon watching again on youtube, is obviously much more funny to teenagers. that crescent freshness just hasn't held up. well, i still quote it to people.]
the Ramones - "California Sun" [from leave home. ah, the ramones. live this song is even better.]
the Close - "Sun, Shine" [from sun, burn. the close are a band i saw a handful of years ago and they really impressed me. and this album, too, was really solid. they kind of dropped off the planet though. this album came out in late 2006 and it's been silence since.]
the Godz - "Lay in the Sun" [from contact high with the godz. deranged folk music is the best way to describe this. these guys sound like they can barely play their instruments and it's so bizarre and addictive.]
Johnny Cash - "You Are My Sunshine" [from the third disc of the unearthed box set. it makes sense to have someone playing this song, right?]
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the Velvet Underground - "Who Loves the Sun" [from loaded. this song was the inspiration for this week's theme and it's a humdinger. i have to admit that i only finally bought loaded this week. i've owned the other three velvets records for years, but finally bought the final piece of the puzzle.]
Giant Sand - "Flying Around the Sun with Remarkable Speed" [from giant sand is all over the map. a pretty underated late-period giant sand record and a really sharp song as well.]
Jim White - "Crash Into the Sun" [from transnormal skiperoo. the song is funky as hell - especially the "woooo"'s that follow the word "crash" in the chorus. infectious.]
M.I.A. - "Sunshowers" [from arular. this is what a pop song should sound like, folks. do you salt and pepper your mango?]
that dog. - "Retreat from the Sun" [the title track from their final album. now that's a reunion i could stand to see.]
the Kinks - "Waterloo Sunset" [from something else by the kinks. when i knew i wanted to wrap these songs around a theme of sunrise/sunset, i knew this would be my final song. gorgeous.]

[Tonight's Wholesale album is by a band that has had an odd trajectory through American indie music. Their 1983 debut album was a huge hit and spun off several hit singles, one of which is a certifiable legend of a song. They then did what any genuinely unique band would do - turned right around the next year and put out an alienating, dark and claustrophobic follow-up that signed their commercial death warrant.

1984's Hallowed Ground is a stark, darkly raging and slightly humorous trip through Gordon Gano's dealings with religion. And when I say that this album signed the Violent Femmes' death warrant commercially - seriously, name me one radio single that still gets any amount of play that isn't off of their self-titled debut. But commercial success (arguably - and boy, there's a topic for you) doesn't determine artistic quality and while there is a similar feel to most of the Femmes' music, there's something very unique about this album. Having the country and folk musical influences channeled through the unique voice of Gano and the airy structure of the Femmes' music is certainly a boon for the album.

Hallowed Ground is not a record that is widely known outside of more dedicated fans of the band. Certainly anyone who has heard their music casually is more likely to pick up their self-titled debut or what-college-student-in-the-90s-didn't-own-a-copy-of-the Add It Up best-of collection, which does feature songs from this album. But really, these songs most likely slipped by between the drunken party shouts of 'why can't i get just one screw?!' Now, without further ado, tonight's Wholesale album of the week is...]

Track Listing

1. Country Death Song
2. I Hear the Rain [click to download.]
3. Never Tell [click to download.]
4. Jesus Walking on the Water
5. I Know It's True But I'm Sorry to Say
6. Hallowed Ground
7. Sweet Misery Blues
8. Black Girls
9. It's Gonna Rain

Violent Femmes - "I Hear the Rain" (live) [from a bootleg of a triple j radio broadcast of a show in melbourne in 1990. you can download the entire performance over here for a limited time. if you're a fan of the band, it's a top notch boot with australian fans going nuts for the band. really fun.]
Violent Femmes - "Hallowed Ground" (live) [this is from the same concert recording. enjoy.]

That'll do it for this week. I'll be back on Wednesday night with J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. Until then, take care.

J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 1st July 2009

[Welcome to another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. As usual for this summer, this week's show is filled to the brim with new music. I actually had to avoid some of it in order to work in some of my 4th of July themed songs, but that's how it goes. I can play more new music next week - it'll be a little dated to play more 4th stuff.

I want to share some awesome Greensboro related news - our good friends at Monkeywhale were recently named by Paste Magazine's website as one of the seven best out-of-context concert sites on the web. They were named along with other fantastic sites like Pitchfork.tv and The Black Cab Sessions - great series sites that operate on a much bigger budget. The fact that the Harvey's Kitchen series was named along with these shows just how great the work that Harvey and company are doing is compared to even some of the biggest names in music on the web. Congrats, guys!

Now, while the fuse is still lit, onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 1st July 2009 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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Sonic Youth - "Sacred Trickster" [from the eternal. short, punchy, kim gordon vocals. a combo that has yielded some awesome sonic youth songs over the years and this is no exception.]
the Decemberists - "July, July!" [from castaways and cutouts. since it was the first of july, it felt only fitting to dabble with some july themed songs during the show. same with the upcoming july 4th. so keep your eyes open.]
Meat Puppets - "Sewn Together" [the title track from their latest. a pretty enjoyable little record. is it bad that my expectations for late-period albums by bands is really a lot lower than for earlier work?]
Obits - "Widow of My Dreams" [from i blame you. man, i'm telling you, this record is hot. really, really hot.]
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Future of the Left - "I Am Civil Service" [from travels with myself and another. this record is quite good - i said it already, but this is future of the left hitting its stride. and as the tragically hip sang, "there's nothing uglier than a man hittin' his stride."]
the Tragically Hip - "Fireworks" [from phantom power. "you said you didn't give a fuck about hockey / and i never saw someone say that before." how quaintly canadian.]
Dinosaur Jr. - "Friends" [from farm. is this one of the best records of 2009? it's awfully, awfully good. that's for sure.]
Megafaun - "The Fade" [from gather, form and fly which is due out towards the end of july. i'm so excited to hear this whole album. these guys are phoenominal and this song will not leave my head.]
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Mos Def - "Auditorium" [from the new the ecstatic. slick rick does a guest verse on this and this may be one of my favorite single songs of this year. we'll be hearing more.]
X - "4th of July" [from see how we are. for cromer, who first got me to pull this out a few years ago on the 4th.]
the Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "The Tenure Itch" [from their self-titled debut LP. i'm so excited to finally get a chance to see them - this month at the pitchfork festival, at monolith in september and they're returning to chapel hill around that time as well.]
Sunset Rubdown - "Silver Moons" [from dragonslayer. i get what's really interesting about this music - and an obvious load of talent goes into it. but, and this is me being narrow minded, it sounds like a lot of other oddly structured indie rock and it just doesn't grab me emotionally at all. maybe it'll grow on me.]
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Wilco - "One Wing" [from wilco (the album). check out the really well written review over at aquarium drunkard. this is probably my favorite song on the album.]
Ryan Adams - "Firecracker" [from gold. it might be time that i give gold the second listen it's been begging for. it was always a bit slick for my taste - with songs like this and a handful of others being standouts.]
Son Volt - "When the Wheels Don't Move" [from american central dust which is due out next week. son volt is playing at the cat's cradle on sunday, september 13th. finally a chance to see them again and where will i be? yeah, out of town.]
Citified - "Pencil Me In" [from absence. check out the fantastic off the record post the band did over at aquarium drunkard talking about the fun and interesting spots here in greensboro.]
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the Handsome Family - "Junebugs" [one of the many love songs from honey moon. rennie sparks' lyrics are so sweetly macabre here that you can't help but marvel at the beauty of her lyrics.]
Slim Dunlap - "Hate This Town" [from times like this. both of slim's solo records are solid pieces of rock from a really awesome guitarist who, i think, never gets his due - hidden as he is in the long, towering shadow of bob stinson.]
the Minus 5 - "Smoke On, Jerry" [from killingsworth which is out later this month.]
Swirlies - "Who was in Scituate on the 4th of July?" [from strictly east coast sneaky flute music. this is later swirlies - 1998 to be exact. something awesome - and no longer any reason to avoid hearing this amazing band - pretty much their entire catalogue is available for download for free from the band's website. so while you can buy the records from emusic and other outlets, you can also get them for free, including probably the band's masterpiece, blonder tongue audio baton. amazing that they have the rights to all the music to be able to do that, honestly.]
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Cotton Jones - "Gotta Cheer Up" [by request. from paranoid cocoon.]
Stephen Malkmus - "Trojan Curfew" [from his self-titled debut solo album. there are some gorgeous, gorgeous moments on this record. this is one of them.]
Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers - "Devils in Boston" [an awesome rocker from songs in the night. if you didn't see her two live songs over at monkeywhale, go get 'em.]
Black Flag - "Rise Above" [from damaged. i knew this probably felt a bit incongruous, but i've been re-reading parts of our band could be your life and it just felt right.]
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Frankel - "Ticket Machine" [from anonymity is the new fame. gorgeous stuff, that frankel.]
Cursive - "From the Hips" [by request. from mama, i'm swollen. what an odd name. anyway, the lyrics to this song are like a thinking man's sexin'/dancin' song. or someone who thinks way too much, anyway.]
Sleeper - "Delicious" [from smart. so, while again perusing giant book sale over on wendover avenue, i discovered a couple of novels by louise wener, lead singer of sleeper. apparently she's on her third. i picked up a copy of goodbye, steve mcqueen, but haven't started yet. i'll let you know. i had a huge crush on her back in the day. her and justine frischmann of elastica. ye gads, those british women with songwriting chops.]
2 Live Crew - "Banned in the U.S.A." [the song the band recorded as a response to their double-platinum as nasty as they wanna be's ban in florida record stores. if you're not familiar with this whole debacle, it's one of the more interesting first amendment cases to erupt over music - dead kennedy's fight for the frankenchrist poster insert is another fascinating one - in recent time.]
Jay Bennett and Edward Burch - "Fireworks" [from the palace at 4 AM. a lovely song and going out with fireworks leading into the 4th.]

That'll do it for this week. I'll see you at 10 PM next Monday night for a slightly earlier edition of J's Extra Mayhem. Until then, take care.