J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 13th July 2011

[Welcome to another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. I really enjoyed last night's show and hopefully you will as well. It seemed like a pretty amped up, rockin' show (at least through the first hour) and then a good, lovely one on the back end.

In two weeks we'll have Ryan Snyder from YES Weekly back on the show for the monthly Indie/Rock Roundtable review of new albums, so make sure you're here for that one. In the meantime, onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 13th July 2011 show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
>
the Beastie Boys - "Make Some Noise" [from hot sauce committee pt. 2. i know i just played this a couple of weeks ago, but this is such a killer song to open the show with. i just had to do it.]
Future of the Left - "Arming Eritrea" [from travels with myself and another. it's been nearly two years since this album. come on guys. don't leave me hanging. the world needs more future of the left.]
Five Eight - "Next to Nothing" [from your god is dead to me now. this record just gets better with each track i play on the show. seriously solid.]
the Creation - "How Does It Feel to Feel" [so, a new gap in my listening just emerged this week over at aquarium drunkard as i heard the creation for the first time. this song just really blew me away. i have to hunt down what exists of this short-lived band and get it all. seriously, this rocks and has as much dissonance as any modern rock. truly awesome.]
>
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - "Tigers" [from the forthcoming mirror traffic. another new track drops from the record out in late august. i like this one a little less than "senator," but i can see it working well within the context of an album. fingers crossed.]
Midnight Oil - "My Country" [from earth and sun and moon. i pull this song out every so often (last, apparently, in may of 2010) because it has such a great driving chorus. i really think midnight oil made some of the 80s and early 90s best rock and roll, but no one ever seems to acknowledge them much. i wrote a piece on an album of theirs a little over three years ago at aquarium drunkard. if you're unfamiliar, take a look.]
Dan Sartain - "Atheist Funeral" [from dan sartain lives. i'm pretty intrigued by this track, so maybe we'll hear more off the album. lurching, fun, cheeky rock and roll.]
X - "4th of July" [from see how we are. should've played this two weeks ago, but oh well. one of my favorite x songs and certainly summertime appropriate.]
>
Cults - "Go Outside" [from cults. i was a bit wrong - the album dropped about a month ago - but this is still a pretty spectacular song from a band that really caught my eye at hopscotch fest last year. check out the video.]
Sonic Youth - "Drunken Butterfly" [from dirty. i'll stick up for this album as much as sonic youth fans sometimes tend to deride it. but i'm of the weirdo camp that think their best records are from the 90s and on. well, the ones i love the most anyway.]
Hooray for Earth - "No Love" [from true loves. i'm not even sure that i can accurately describe this song, so i'm going to let aquarium drunkard's s. mcdonald do it for me. i have to hear the rest of this album for sure though.]
Pere Ubu - "Modern Dance" [from the modern dance. as i said, there is truly something special on the early pere ubu records as a punk band comes roaring out of the midwest and was truly one of the weirdest things happening at the time. still sounds ahead of its time.]
>
Megafaun - "These Words" [from their forthcoming self-titled album. very exciting to hear new music from megafaun and i can't wait to hear this album in its entirety. head over to aquarium drunkard to pick the track up.]
Matthew Sweet - "I've Been Waiting" [from girlfriend. one of my favorite album tracks from this record and certainly one of sweet's best in general.]
Pomegranates - "50's" [from one of us. i heard this song on mad dog's friday night rock party last week and was pretty blown away. great, catchy rock and roll. maybe we'll hear more.]
Josh Rouse - "It's the Nighttime" [from nashville. i can't help it. the last chorus of this song just kills me with the key shift and soaring vocals. sigh. still remember the first time i listened to it.]
>
Jill Andrews - "Sinking Ship" [from the mirror. i'm enjoying the debut LP from andrews quite a bit. a pretty lovely album.]
R.E.M. - "Fall On Me" [from life's rich pageant. the 25th anniversary remaster and expanded edition of this album dropped this week, so i thought i'd do a little fun connect the dots. here, of course, one of the album's most famous singles, an environmental anthem.]
the Decemberists - "Cuyahoga" [here, the decemberists take on the REM classic from life's rich pageant that is also an environmental anthem of sorts, talking about the highly polluted cuyahoga river in ohio in the 70s.]
Randy Newman - "Burn On" [from sail away. lastly, randy newman's song about, you guessed it, the cuyahoga river. triptych completed.]
>
Dom - "Damn" [from the forthcoming family of love EP. here's where i'd like to talk about how i'm liking the newer (read: last 5 years or more) trend of bands just releasing a slew of EPs instead of full albums. why? in the age of music overload, EPs are a more effective way of giving people a taste of what you're about. i don't have to commit to a full record, plus you can pack the things jam full of your best four or five songs. so, yeah, dom's second EP is about to drop and i love it. they are a great band and the EPs are working wonders for them on me at least.]
the Replacements - "Asking Me Lies" [by request. from don't tell a soul. a good friend of mine tweeted at me that he loved this song, then called to tell me he felt ashamed of having ignored the post-pleased to meet me replacements catalogue and that he owed me an apology. i don't think i've ever chastised him for this, but sure, apology accepted. glad you've figured out that this is a great album.]
the Rosebuds - "Woods" [from loud planes fly low. it might be about time to retire this record for awhile as well, but good to go out with probably the album's best song.]
the Avett Brothers - "Murder in the City" [by twitter request, from the gleam, pt. 2. i've always really, really liked this song and i think it's one of the avett's finest moments in a very subdued sort of way.]
>
Blitzen Trapper - "American Goldwing" [the title track from their forthcoming album. i'm digging this and it makes me a bit more excited. their last record lost me somehow after the majesty of 2008's furr. so, here's hoping i get back on board.]
the Human League - "Things That Dreams Are Made Of" [from dare! so, the human league are releasing a new album later this year called credo, so i had to dig up something from the absolutely stunning dare. as completely dated as this album sounds (mostly because of "don't you want me") there is a lot of brilliant music packed into this album and if you have any appreciation for what the new romantics/synthesizer-heavy post-punk bands of the late 70s/early 80s were doing, you probably already recognize what a great album this is. if not, you should.]
the Roadside Graves - "Double Feature" [from we can take care of ourselves. another great song from their new album which is available for pre-order now at the autumn tone store. go get it. you know you want it. i do.]
the Twilight Singers - "What Makes You Think You're the One" [from she loves you. from the pretty enjoyable covers album and greg dulli and company really put it down on this fleetwood mac classic.]
Rickie Lee Jones - "We Belong Together" [from pirates. a number of years ago, long time WQFS listener, though also long AWOL WQFS listener, stan told me about this album and insisted, as a fan of tom waits and such things, that i would enjoy it. i bought a copy a long time ago but only got around to it recently. well, he was right. it's a gorgeous, thoughtful and beguiling record and songs like this will most likely become a staple of the show. thanks, stan.]

That'll do it for this week. I'll be back next week with more great new and classic music, so until then, take care.