J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 23rd June 2010

[Welcome to another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. Tonight's show was a humdinger, I think, with a ton of new material and some great old stuff as well. The usual proper mix of the show.

I'm heading down to Athens, Georgia for Athfest tomorrow (Thursday) since Aquarium Drunkard is cosponsoring the kickoff show at the 40 Watt tomorrow evening with Autumn Tone label mates Roadside Graves and Futurebirds along with a couple of others. It ought to be a great time, so if you happen to be in the area, stop in and say hi. The show is only $2. Can't beat it.

Now, onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 23rd June 2010

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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Teenage Fanclub - "Shock and Awe" [from shadows. an odd song title for this band, especially since the song lyrics seem to wish for a peaceful existance, but still a true highlight from this excellent new album.]
Blur - "Oily Water" [from modern life is rubbish. another oil song for the continuing mess in the gulf. 'i've swallowed too much oily water' indeed.]
Portugal the Man - "60 Years" [from american ghetto. this is bound for the year-end best-of list. it's way too infectious not to be.]
Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise - "Once Upon a Time" [another of my MTV buzzbin finds from back in the day. i love the allusions and references in this song. i'm a sucker for those every time.]
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the Gaslight Anthem - "The Queen of Lower Chelsea" [from american slang. this song typifies everything about this band that is an homage to past music and yet, somehow, everything original and interesting about them as well. go figure.]
The The - "The Sinking Feeling" [by request from email. from soul mining. i had a caller say that this reminded them of some david bowie and i can kind of hear that. whatever gets you into an awesome band, man.]
Adam Franklin and the Bolts of Melody - "Yesterday Has Gone Forever" [from if i could sleep for a thousand years, the new solo record from the former member of swervedriver. this is power pop, is it not? i'm talking some tommy keene power pop, folks.]
the Afghan Whigs - "Uptown Again" [from 1965. not sure how this song got in my head today, but it did, and there it goes. i serve the voices that whisper to me well.]
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the Henry Clay People - "Glory" [so this block features four songs from the new L'Aventure album covering the entirety of television's classic second album adventure. while the album can be downloaded for free, it's also to help raise money for the silverlake conservatory of music in los angeles. so go on and throw a few bucks to a very worthy cause for a really awesome compilation.]
Foreign Born - "Days" [i really like this ramshackle, dusky cover of what is a lovely, low key song to begin with.]
the Happy Hollows - "Foxhole" [by request. this is what sparked my all-in set for this new comp. a rowdy, rollicking cover.]
Local Natives - "Careful" [this middle section of the compilation i think is especially awesome and this is a cover that is both reverential without being slavish. beautiful.]
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the Love Language - "Brittany's Back" [from libraries. awfully, awfully great song from their incredibly great new album that will be out in july. it's too, too good. so much so it needs double superlatives on everything.]
Beach House - "Norway" [from teen dream. my friend sara hit me up on twitter to try and convince her to come hang out at the pitchfork festival in chicago in july by playing some bands who will be there. well, here's one.]
the Tallest Man on Earth - "Love Is All" [from the wild hunt. here's the other. need more convincing? the lineup is awesome.]
Stornoway - "Zorbing" [from beachcombers' windowsill. one of the records from my record club this month. i'm very, very grateful to dudek for picking this album because it's awesome. anything on 4AD is usually trustworthy.]
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Futurebirds - "Johnny Utah" [from hampton's lullaby. their new album will be out later this year on autumn tone records and this is the lead track from it. i'll be seeing these lovable guys tomorrow night in athens, georgia at the 40 watt at the kickoff party for athfest. very excited.]
the Replacements - "Unsatisfied" [from let it be. it's one of the greatest songs of all time. i don't need a reason to play anything by the replacements, but especially not for this.]
Placebo - "English Summer Rain" [from sleeping with ghosts. i've had conversations with two friends recently about this band and it made me want to go back and revisit some of their later catalogue that i've shrugged off more easily over the years. i still think without you i'm nothing is clearly their best, but there are great moments in these records as well.]
Roadside Graves - "Far and Wide" [from my son's home. another great band that will be at the kickoff show for athfest tomorrow night. can't wait to see these guys again, too.]
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Blonde Redhead - "Here Sometimes" [from penny sparkle which will be out in september. interesting and sounds like it continues more in the vein of their last album, 23. i was less won over by that album that earlier ones, but it's still good stuff.]
the Damnwells - "Bastard of Midnight" [from one last century. i can't say enough good things about the damnwells and their record from last year still gets pretty frequent play with me.]
the Sidewalks - "Rhythm Kids" [from here are the sidewalks, a new collection of music from this early 80s milwaukee jittery power-pop band. think the feelies or something like that. we'll hear more.]
the Black Angels - "You on the Run" [from directions to see a ghost. their new album, phosphene dream, will be out in september, but the first single is already officially up for streaming. it's a good one, too. check it out.]
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Avi Buffalo - "What's In It For?" [from their self-titled album. this finally came out this week. i was playing a rougher version of this song some time back thanks to the attention of aquarium drunkard, so it's nice to hear their sub pop debut touch up some of these fine tunes.]
Sleater-Kinney - "Dig Me Out" [the title track from their third album. the song that truly won me over as a fan of the band. while i like other albums better, this is, in many ways, my sentimental favorite.]
the Ramones - "Blitzkrieg Bop" [from their self-titled debut. in honor of the u.s. soccer team who used a blitzkrieg of shots at the goal to eek out a win over algeria and a trip into the round of 16. very exciting watching that game downtown.]

That'll do it for this week. Until next week, take care.

J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 16th June 2010

[Welcome to another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. A fantastic show tonight, if I do say so myself. I always can feel when I think I've put together a great run of music and tonight's show certainly feels that way. If I think I've made a great mix of songs that I'd enjoy listening to on my own, that's proof enough for me.

I'll go ahead and get to it. Nothing to see here. Onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 16th June 2010

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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the Gaslight Anthem - "American Slang" [the title track from their newest. i already like this album more than the '59 sound. it immediately shows growth for the band in terms of quality of songwriting and breadth of style. good going, guys.]
MC 900 Ft. Jesus - "If I Only Had a Brain" [from one step ahead of the spider. as i said on the podcast, this is another of those songs that i don't know if i would even know of its existence if not for beavis and butt-head. it's a pretty likable song, i think.]
the New Pornographers - "Crash Years" [from together. about time to retire this album from regular rotation. but it'll be resurfacing on the year-end show, no question.]
R.E.M. - "Driver 8" [by twitter request. from fables of the reconstruction. @chubbyjogger wanted to hear some older stuff. and this song (and album) has been in my mind since reading mark kemp's extensive bit about it in dixie lullaby.]
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Nada Surf - "Electrocution" [from their new if i had a hi-fi album. a great collection of covers. still really dig this cover of this bill fox song. great stuff.]
Radiohead - "The Trickster" [from the my iron lung EP. great, the bends-era radiohead. i pull this song out every so often to remind myself of just how different a band they used to be. awesome song.]
Gorillaz - "Stylo" [from the new plastic beach. i really enjoyed the live version of this from the colbert report with an awesome lineup playing with the band. check it out.]
the Gun Club - "A Devil in the Woods" [from miami, not an album that gets as much attention as their memserizing debut, but it's an equally brilliant record in most spots. a band well worth delving into if you have not.]
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Portishead - "Chase the Tear" [the first new music from the band since their third album in 2008. this was a bit of a surprise and i'm not sure if this heralds a new album on the way or what, but i dig the song.]
the Stranglers - "Nice 'N' Sleazy" [from black and white. the opening line of this song reminds me, in structure, of the opening line of...]
Pulp - "Weeds" [..the lead track from their final studio album, we love life. so, you know how the mind makes odd connections. so i thought it proper to play them back to back. there you go.]
the National - "Sorrow" [from high violet. yet another gorgeous song from a band just plum full of them. they'll be playing in raleigh in october and tickets are already on sale. so get on it if you want to check them out. they're fantastic live.]
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Blitzen Trapper - "Destroyer of the Void" [the title track from their latest. a wandering song that takes itself in multiple directions over the six minutes of running time. this band really has its hands in so many tropes of american music, it's not even funny.]
Midnight Oil - "Blue Sky Mine" [from blue sky mining. thought i'd pull this out in memory of the band's guerilla concert in front of the exxon corporate offices in 1990 in protest of the corporation not having finished the clean-up job following the valdez spill in 1989. let's hope they don't have to do the same for BP.]
Teenage Fanclub - "Into the City" [from the excellent shadows which has been getting a ton of air time in my cd players of late.]
Spacehog - "Mungo City" [from the chinese album. over at aquarium drunkard, i did a post on the band's biggest hit, "in the meantime," from their debut album. a sadly overlooked band at times.]
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the Mynabirds - "Ways of Looking" [from what we lost in the fire, we gained in the flood. i'm getting ready to write a review of this album, and i decided that this song sounds a bit like some twee stuff circa the c-86 compilation. so i pulled out...]
the Shop Assistants - "I Don't Want to be Friends With You" [from anthology: 1985-1986. one of my favorite songs from the c-86 comp is by this band, but this song is a lot more high energy than that one. still, an amazing band from a very limited time period.]
Tallest Man on Earth - "The Wild Hunt" [the title track from his latest. really engaging music, even if it has its obvious roots.]
Futurebirds - "Dirty D" [from their self-titled EP. they're going to be playing at the kick-off show for athfest in athens, georgia next thursday, june 24th, at the 40 watt. aquarium drunkard is co-sponsoring the event, so i'll be there. say howdy if you are there as well.]
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Wye Oak - "My Neighbor" [from their my neighbor/my creator EP. a pretty awesome EP that i downloaded awhile back but have slept on. we'll hear more. love this band.]
the Broken West - "Perfect Games" [from the excellent now or heaven. an amazing song from an amazing record that i just began revisiting after giving it the post year-of-release break.]
Woods - "Death Rattles" [from at echo lake. here's a record that is really getting under my skin. in a good way, though.]
New Riders of the Purple Sage - "Glendale Train" [from their self-titled debut. the band will be playing at the empire room in greensboro on july 8th as part of the eastern music festival fringe series. pretty awesome.]
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the Love Language - "This Blood Is Our Own" [from libraries. did an interview with stu mclamb of the band yesterday and it should be up on aquarium drunkard next week. super nice guy. awesome band.]
the Teardrop Explodes - "Ha Ha I'm Drowning" [from kilimanjaro. a band i got into via pulp's jarvis cocker talking about its influence. well worth hunting down.]
Fairport Convention - "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" [from unhalfbricking. npr has had a continuing series this year called 50 great voices and this week it featured sandy denny of fairport convention. this is my favorite denny song and it truly is one of the great songs of the modern era. unbelievably sad. read about her here.]

That'll do it for this week. I'll be back next week. Until then, take care.

J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 9th June 2010

[Welcome to another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. A great collection of old and new stuff tonight. Going to keep the introduction short 'cos there's tons to talk about. Now, onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 9th June 2010

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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the Love Language - "Heart to Tell" [from the forthcoming libraries. i think this song is to this new album what "lalita" was to me on the last one. just a perfect slice of uptempo, dancey rock and roll.]
Del Amitri - "Won't Make It Better" [from some other sucker's parade. how many of you out there have noticed that you have a tendency to like the first record you ever heard by a band the most? this album has always been my favorite del amitri record despite loving all their others quite a bit. it was the first.]
Decoration Ghost - "Father's Fists" [from the haze of wine and age. greensboro rock and roll that is ridiculously good.]
Jason and the Scorchers - "White Lies" [from lost and found. i'm in the process of reading mark kemp's fantastic dixie lullaby and i've reached the part where he starts talking about the bands of the early 80s like jason and the scorchers. so i had to pull out this stone cold classic.]
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Teenage Fanclub - "When I Still Have Thee" [from shadows, their latest. my review at aquarium drunkard is basically a big sloppy piece of love for this album and let me tell you, it deserves it.]
the Ramones - "Danny Says" [from end of the century. one of my favorite ramones songs of all time and, really, this album is way up there as far as i'm concerned. i might've been their last truly great album if it wasn't for the excellent too tough to die about 7 years later.]
Delta Spirit - "Golden State" [from the excellent new history from below. these guys snuck up on me the other year with the fantastic ode to sunshine. this one didn't take me by surprise. i knew it was going to be awesome.]
Wire - "Pink Flag" [the title track from their debut album. 1977 sure was a great year for music, don'tcha think?]
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the Mynabirds - "L.A. Rain" [from what we lost in the fire, we gained in the flood. more fantastic piano driven pop from the awesome laura burhann. this record is gold, jerry, gold.]
Loudon Wainright III - "Grey in L.A." [from the knocked up soundtrack, a pretty great pairing with the previous song. at least, via title. i like playing that game.]
Woods - "Time Fading Lines" [from at echo park. i need to spend more time with this record, but everything i've heard so far is really fantastic. this band has been getting tons of attention. deservedly so, it seems.]
the Modern Lovers - "I'm Straight" [by request from twitter! from their self-titled debut album. really fantastic music that i still find myself humming on a regular basis out of the blue.]
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Arcade Fire - "The Suburbs" [the title track from their forthcoming record, due out in august. this is going to be a big year for merge records with all these great, great albums they're dropping.]
Paul Westerberg - "Things" [from 14 songs. at my record club on sunday, we got into a bit of a discussion about this record. it's, honestly, never been one of my favorites of his solo records. but i'm a bit heretical in that sense.]
the National - "England" [from high violet. i saw people talking this track up all week and sure enough, it's gorgeous. seriously.]
the Suburbs - "Rattle My Bones" [from ladies and gentlemen, the suburbs have left the building. great, minneapolis post-punk.]
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Nada Surf - "Life Goes On" [from the palindrome-titled if i had a hi-fi covers album. this one is a cover of a song by the go-betweens. hey, another scottish band this week! awesome. thanks for the correction on nationality, justin.]
the Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Young Adult Friction" [from their 2009 self-titled album. the band will be at the cat's cradle next tuesday, june 15th, along with surfer blood. oh, jeez, is that going to be an awesome show.]
Let's Wrestle - "We Are the Men You'll Grow to Love" [from in the court of wrestling let's, a great, cheeky album title from a great, cheeky three-piece. we'll be hearing a lot more.]
Television - "Carried Away" [from adventure. i've been playing a lot of stuff off of this album lately. Hm.]
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the Black Keys - "Everlasting Light" [the lead track from their new album brothers which i like quite a bit, honestly. dig it.]
That Petrol Emotion - "A Million Miles Away" [from manic pop thrill, one of the great over looked albums of post-punk. this record is so, so good. and this song really, really sounds to me like "almond kisses" by spacehog at times. this song is older, so draw what conclusions you will.]
Local Natives - "Shape Shifter" [from gorilla manor, an album i missed earlier this year but am making up time on. we discussed it at record club this week and i'm pretty into it now that i've given it a few listens.]
the Afghan Whigs - "True Love Travels on a Gravel Road" [from the uptown avondale covers EP. got this recommended through listener frank who linked me to the captains dead blog and their write-up on it. good stuff.]
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Josh Ritter - "Lantern" [from so runs the world away. one of my very favorite songs from the new one. it's growing on me, ever so slowly. this reminds me of how the animal years came on for me.]
Surfer Blood - "Twin Peaks" [another new one from their self-titled album. they'll be playing next tuesday at the cat's cradle along with the pains of being pure at heart. awesome stuff.]
Bent Bolt and the Nuts - "The Mechanical Man" [one of my favorite internet finds of of the last few years. a great, lost kooky song about, well, robots.]
the Replacements - "Can't Hardly Wait" [by request. from pleased to meet me. thanks to caleb for calling that one in. great song.]

That'll do it for this week. Until next week, take care.

J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 2nd June 2010

[Welcome to another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. So, my theme music went missing tonight, so I was unable to open the show as normal. That's okay as it saved me a few minutes to squeeze in another song or so.

I'll be busking downtown this Friday, June 4th, at the First Friday Indie-Market at the corner of Martin Luther King and Elm Streets at the public parking lot. Come on down and say hi. I'll be there between 5 and 8 at least, most likely.

Now, while we can, onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 2nd June 2010

the New Pornographers - "Your Hands (Together)" [from together, an album i still believe is establishing itself at the top of this awesome band's catalogue. i, honestly, don't think i'd shy away from recommending it as a starting place for a new listener.]
Sugar - "Your Favorite Thing" [from file under easy listening. i wanted to play the replacements' "favorite thing" back to back with this, but was without my copy of it. oh, well.]
Drive-by Truckers - "Daddy Learned to Fly" [from the big to-do. the lead track from their latest. this album is really growing on me. i know a lot of fellow truckers fans have had a harder time with it, but i think it's solid.]
Sleeper - "Lady Love Your Countryside" [from smart. one of the great also-rans of the britpop movement in the 90s. some smart, sharp and sexy writing.]
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Teenage Fanclub - "Baby Lee" [from the forthcoming shadows which is due out next week. the new record is pretty good. pretty close in sound to 2005's man made, but with a bit more umph. yet without the obvious single of something like "slow fade." weird.]
Beck - "Fuckin' With My Head" [from mellow gold. i was listening to this album for the first time in a long time last week and really enjoying it. i think it's aged pretty well for a record that will be 20 years old in a few years.]
Jews and Catholics - "Trouble One, Trouble Two" [from the new who are? we think we are! they'll be playing at the record exchange over in winston-salem this saturday without their drum machine. ought to make for an interesting sound.]
Brian Eno - "Blank Frank" [from here come the warm jets. if you've never heard eno's solo work, especially these first three albums, just go do it. now. we'll talk about how your life changed later.]
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Gil Scott-Heron with Mos Def - "New York Is Killing Me" (Mos Def remix) [originally from the i'm new here album, this is the second major remix of this song, the first being the one by nas. this song is obviously inspiring people.]
Girls Against Boys - "Disco Six Six Six" [from house of gvsb. i loved this band when i was in high school, and there's a fantastic run of records they did in the mid 90s.]
Son Volt - "Medicine Hat" [from wide swing tremolo. people always jump on the trace bandwagon, but i, personally, love all of the first three son volt albums. this album has especially grown on me over the years.]
Nada Surf - "Enjoy the Silence" [from if i had a hi-fi, their new covers record. i told y'all last week that they turned this classic into a straight up power-pop song. was i lying? nope.]
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Let's Wrestle! - "I Won't Lie to You" [from in the court of wrestling let's. i've heard a lot about this band, but this is the first time i've heard them, so good to finally hear it. great stuff so far.]
Violent Femmes - "Add It Up" [from their self-titled 1982 debut. wow, this album is almost 30 years old? well, so am i. hm.]
the Del Fuegos - "Don't Run Wild" [from their 1985 album boston, mass. a great album from a great band. and both they and the violent femmes are name checked by another boston musician..]
the Juliana Hatfield Three - "My Sister" [from become who you are. this song got in my head this week thanks to picking up a copy of her memoir from a couple of years ago. i followed her on twitter until she abandoned it here recently. her tweets were...interesting. i'm kind of hoping for the same level of..uh..interesting stuff in this book.]
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Blitzen Trapper - "Dragon's Song" [from the forthcoming destroyer of the void. i like this song more than the one i played last week, so the record is growing on me.]
Paul Westerberg - "It's A Wonderful Lie" [from suicaine gratification. i like to cover this song when i play out - speaking of which, i'll be busking downtown in greensboro this friday afternoon, june 4th, for first friday with the arts and the indie-market at the corner of martin luther king and elm street in the public parking lot there. come down!]
the Mynabirds - "We Made a Mountain" [from the excellent what we lost in the fire we gained in the flood. serious, seriously good music.]
Built to Spill - "You Were Right" [from keep it like a secret. they tore through this when i saw them at the pitchfork festival last summer. oh, how great a show that was.]
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Josh Ritter - "The Curse" [from so runs the world away. this song is an amazing story in itself, but there's a fantastic new video of it done entirely with puppets and it's very much worth seeing. the puppets were done by the drummer for josh's band as well. all in-house.]
Television - "Glory" [from adventure. is there anything more awesome i can say about this album? there are times where i think i prefer it to marquee moon. seriously. it's so good.]
Bear in Heaven - "Deafening Love" [from beast rest forth mouth. a band that has just bowled me over, but y'all already knew that. really looking forward to finally catching them this fall at the hopscotch festival.]
Unrest - "West Coast Love Affair" [from perfect teeth. on sunday, july 11th, they'll be at the cat's cradle as part of the teen beat records' 26th anniversary show. i'm so incredibly excited to see them live.]
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the Love Language - "Summer Dust" [from libraries. this album is seriously awesome. and i cannot wait for this band to blow up.]
the Morning Benders - "Pleasure Sighs" [from big echo. had a request for some morning benders last week, and this slow burner fit just perfectly.]
Buffalo Tom - "Soda Jerk" [from big red letter day. the last of the numerous boston bands that snuck into tonight's show. boston is an oft-overlooked bastion of indie-rock from the 80s and even early and mid 90s. they don't get the recognition a lot of other cities do, but they had a lot of unique things happening.]
Roy Orbison - "In Dreams" [for dennis hopper. you know why.]

That'll do it for this week. Until next week, take care.