J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 20th July 2011

[Welcome to another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. Tonight's show was packed with awesome new stuff and some fantastic old classics as well. I had fun digging through the archives leading up to this week and didn't even get to everything. That's usually the mark of a good week.

Ryan Snyder from YES Weekly will be joining us next week for Indie/Rock Roundtable, so make sure you tune in and see if we manage to disagree on another album next week or not. Now, onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 20th July 2011 show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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Fucked Up - "Ship of Fools" [from david comes to life. i probably will not stop speaking in superlatives about this record for awhile. truly one of this year's best albums so far.]
Richard Hell and the Voidoids - "Love Comes in Spurts" [from blank generation. this was so perfect after "ship of fools." i felt like this opening set was pretty awesome segue wise.]
Obits - "I Want Results" [from moody, standard and poor. more from their latest which, too, is really quite good. best album title of the year, no doubt.]
Jim Ford - "I'm Gonna Make Her Love Me" [from harlan county. this was up over at aquarium drunkard the other week and it was a funky way to wind this up. dig.]
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the Men - "Bataille" [from leave home. i'm still wrapping my head around this record. it's one of the noisier things i've listened to in awhile, but it grooves in enough spots and there's enough change up on the album that i think i like it. we'll hear more.]
the Replacements - "More Cigarettes" [from sorry ma forgot to take out the trash. don't know why this ended up in my head the other week, but here it is. any excuse for a 'mats song, i say.]
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - "Alabama Pines" [from here we rest. i don't know what it was when i heard isbell do this live earlier this summer, but i was really sold on this song in a way i hadn't been before. fantastic.]
R.E.M. - "Begin the Begin" [from life's rich pageant and, specifically, the new 25th anniversary remastered edition. good classic stuff.]
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They Might Be Giants - "Can't Keep Johnny Down" [from join us. the newest record from TMBG is surprisingly good considering i kind of checked-out on these guys about a decade ago. going to see them in september in asheville at the orange peel.]
Blur - "Pop Scene" [from modern life is rubbish. a bit of a lag in the segue here - should've hit play sooner - but this is one of those great, blur rave-ups.]
Sloan - "The Answer Was You" [from the double cross. seriously. this is one of the best power pop records in ages. how good can sloan get in their older years? apparently ridiculously good.]
Psychic TV - "The Orchids" [from dreams less sweet. i read an interview at the av club with genesis p-orridge this week that was, to say the least, fascinating, so i thought i'd drag out one of my favorite songs in the world. i need to listen to more psychic tv.]
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Real Estate - "It's Real" [from days. from their forthcoming album. i'm really liking this song so we'll be hearing more when the album drops.]
Pulp - "The Fear" [by twitter request from a few weeks ago. from this is hardcore. middle-age has rarely sounded as eerie and dreadful.]
the Wombats - "Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves)" [also by twitter request. from this modern glitch. i haven't paid much attention to this band, but this was a fun song.]
Whiskeytown - "Kiss and Make Up" [a demo version of a song that showed up on the strangers almanac reissue the other year, but this is different even from that one. oh, ryan adams, i miss you.]
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Fountains of Wayne - "Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart" [from the forthcoming sky full of holes. i like this better than "richie and ruben," though we'll have to hear more. hoping for a bit of a recovery from the decent-but-less-than-stellar traffic and weather.]
Dare Dukes - "Kick + Holler" [from the prettiest transmitter of all. an artist i got to meet down in athens this year and this is from his 2008 record.]
Estrangers - "White Flower" [a new band from over in winston-salem featuring philip pledger of caleb caudle and the bayonets. i'm really digging on this song and if you are too, go grab it from their bandcamp site.]
the Tragically Hip - "Chagrin Falls" [from phantom power. this has long been my favorite hip record - weird, truly as it isn't one of their most highly lauded, but it's the one that got me into them, i like the recording itself and it's a strong set of songs.]
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Hooray for Earth - "True Loves" [the title track from their new album. man, can this record get any better? we'll be hearing more.]
Josh Ritter - "Good Man" [from the animal years. i need to read josh's new book that just came out. has anyone snagged a copy yet? bright's passage i think is the name.]
Jolie Holland - "Your Big Hands" [from the living and the dead. jolie is playing a couple of shows in the area soon including at local 506 in chapel hill on saturday, july 30th. hope to catch her.]
the Lemonheads - "Rudderless" [from it's a shame about ray. october 2nd at the cat's cradle, they'll be playing this album in its entirety. can. not. wait.]
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Roadside Graves - "Outside" [from we can take care of ourselves. the album is out and there's a fantastic review up at aquarium drunkard as well.]
Fleet Foxes - "Sim Sala Bim" [from helplessness blues. this could vie for my album of the year. it's just really something, isn't it?]
William Elliott Whitmore - "One Glass at a Time" [over at aquarium drunkard, they've also kicked off the lagniappe series where artists record exclusive covers of songs by their influences for post. it kicks off with william elliott whitmore doing this red meat song and a johnny cash cover. head over there and grab them both.]
Phil Cook and His Feat - "Ballad of a Hungry Mother" [from hungry mother blues. a lovely little bit of instrumental goodness from this megafaun member's solo debut.]
Tom Waits - "Romeo is Bleeding" (live) [from his performance on austin city limits back in 1979. i saw this when i was in high school and it blew my mind.]

That'll do it for this week. We'll be back next week with the Indie/Rock Roundtable and more great new and classic music. Until then, take care.

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"
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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.]
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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.]
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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.]
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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.]
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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.]
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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.]
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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.

J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 6th July 2011

[Welcome to another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. Lots of great stuff this week, so I'll keep the intro short. Onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 6th July 2011 show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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Royal Bangs - "Grass Helmet" [from flux outside. one of my favorite albums of this year so far and while it's been out for awhile, and you won't hear it much again before the end of the year, i just got an itch. great album.]
the Pixies - "Caribou" [from come on, pilgrim. i meant to grab "levitate me" and keep the tempo up on the show, but ran out of time, so here you go. they're going to be at the war memorial auditorium here in greensboro on tuesday, november 8th with surfer blood opening. and word is they're going to be playing doolittle in its entirety. i'm excited.]
the Rosebuds - "Go Ahead" [the lead track from loud planes fly low. a great opener that builds on the emotional pull of the record.]
Dilated Peoples - "Work the Angles" [from the platform. i think evidence is supposed to have a solo album out this year and, perhaps, rakaa also? i got incredibly turned off to dilated following their weak and boring third record, but evidence's solo work has been pretty solid so far.]
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Five Eight - "Ode to Massachusetts" [by request from your god is dead to me now. the more tracks i spin off this album, the better it gets.]
Lou Reed - "Waves of Fear" [from the blue mask, one of my favorite reed albums. this was the time period when he probably had his best band since the velvet underground, most notably flanked by the unruly and amazing guitar work of the late robert quine. just superb.]
Del Amitri - "Tell Her This" [by twitter request from twisted. this was a double shot request for lis over in scotland who listened live for the first time ever. very exciting. one of my favorite del amitri love songs. "tell her something in my heart / needs her more than even clowns / need the laughter of the crowd."]
Frightened Rabbit - "Nothing Like You" [also by twitter request from the winter of mixed drinks. one of my favorite singles of last year, no doubt.]
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Sloan - "She's Slowin' Down Again" [from the double cross, the simply stellar new album from sloan. seriously, if there's a drop of appreciation for finely crafted classicist guitar pop in your body, you will adore this album.]
the Flaming Lips - "Fight Test" [from yoshimi battles the pink robots. the album that turned the tide on my fandom of this band. i just haven't felt that ecstatic about their albums since then. though this song is pretty fantastic, all told.]
Jill Andrews - "Sound of the Bells" [from the mirror. really fantastic lead track from the former everybodyfields member. we'll hear more.]
Television - "Carried Away" [from adventure. people rarely talk about this album, but then again, if you love marquee moon and even know who television are, why would you not like this album? there's no reason. it's brilliant.]
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Girls Names - "I Lose" [from dead to me, their newest LP. pretty solid stuff and we'll hear more.]
Battles - "Africastle" [from gloss drop. the lead track from the album and pretty indicative of what all is going on on this album.]
Bob Dylan - "Bob Dylan's Dream" [from the freewheelin' bob dylan. i was on a dylan kick this week listening to this album, another side of bob dylan and highway 61 revisited and this song, for one reason or another, made me think of..]
Ben Lee - "Grammercy Park Hotel" [..this song. from something to remember me by. there's an odd sense of self-importance to this song - it is, after all, about the demise of lee's teenage band, noise addict ("and the indie-rock columnists would have freaked out if they knew") - but there's also a lot of longing for something simpler as he recounts their last evening spent as a band together in a hotel room, trading songs and times together. it always gets me in a weird way.]
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Roadside Graves - "Glory" [from we can take care of ourselves, their forthcoming album based around the outsiders. pretty cool stuff.]
the Delays - "Hey Girl" [from faded seaside glamour. speaking of albums that power-pop lovers should love, this one, right here. seriously.]
Fucked Up - "Running on Nothing" [from david comes to life which is, you know, really one of the best albums of this year so far. serious top 5 contender for my year-end list.]
Social Distortion - "Let It Be Me" [from their self-titled record. did anyone catch them on any of their recent reunion shows? how was it?]
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the Raveonettes - "War in Heaven" [from the fantastic raven in the grave. i loved these guys' first album, but wasn't surprised by being meh about their second and third, but it makes me feel so good that their fourth and fifth records have been good beyond expectation for me. so solid.]
Nicolai Dunger - "Something New" [from soul rush. an album that, admittedly, i'd forgotten how good it was over the years. if you've never heard any of his albums - especially this one or tranquil isolation - fix that.]
Bon Iver - "Perth" [from the self-titled album. love those martial drums on this one.]
the Sea and Cake - "Monday" [from the moonlight butterfly EP. they're going to be at local 506 in chapel hill on friday, november 11th. cannot wait to catch them live. i've seen archer prewitt live before, but never these guys together.]
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - "Codeine" [from here we rest, a lovely little country ditty about medicinal coping. this new album is growing on me more and more by the day.]

That'll do it for this week. I'll be back next week with more new stuff and some great classics as well. Until then, take care.

J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 29th June 2011

[Welcome to another episode of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. Sorry for the delay in posting this week - the holiday took me to the mountains and, thus, away from the internet. Not bad to step away for a bit. I also realize I forgot to include any July 4th songs this week. Then again, the holiday was placed oddly compared to the show. Though I think next year July 4th will fall on Wednesday thanks to the Leap Year, so you can look forward to a July 4th spectacular of some variety next year. You're welcome in advance.

Now, though it's a bit late, onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 29th June 2011 show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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the Beastie Boys - "Make Some Noise" [from hot sauce committee pt. 2, their latest, and this is the song featured in the full length fight for your right short film. here's the video for the song itself, which uses footage from the short film.]
Public Image Ltd. - "Swan Lake" [from second edition. not a record i break out a lot, but, for my money, one of the most original and challenging records of the rock and roll age. maybe it's a sign of getting older (it is), but the older i get, the more i believe PiL's work to have been more influential on rock than the sex pistols. it's something i think about a lot - how important were the pistols? - and maybe it's just a sign of me getting older and not blasting nevermind the bollocks very often anymore.]
Obits - "You Gotta Lose" [from moody, standard and poor, their latest. more great rock and roll. admittedly, i miss hot snakes, but obits makes me missing them a lot easier to take.]
Liz Phair - "Supernova" [from whipsmart. "supernova" is, if anything, a great aping of big dumb rock songs about that perfect woman that were so common throughout rock's history. "your lips are sweet and slippery / like a cherub's bare, red ass?" liz has a sense of humor. if only that had been what she was doing with her last few records...]
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Art Brut - "Lost Weekend" [from the new brilliant! tragic! the first two art brut records are far superior to their third and fourth, but there's still a good bit to like about this new one. i already like it a good bit more than art brut vs. satan.]
Let's Active - "Talking to Myself" [by twitter request from big plans for everybody. this was the first let's active record after the departure of sara romweber and the beginning of let's active's studio centered existence, but still some amazing stuff from one of southern indie rock's most unfairly overlooked bands.]
the Asteroid No. 4 - "The Unknown" [from hail to the clear figurines. some interesting psych-pop rock material that we'll probably hear more from.]
Adam Daniel - "Her Shake" [from one of only two albums released by this excellent power-popster, blue pop. this is truly one of my favorite pop songs of all time. just flawless from beginning to end.]
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Battles - "My Machines" [from gloss drop and on this song featuring the vocals of the one and only gary numan. if i see gary numan vocals on most anything, i'm game for it. love that man.]
Jim White - "A Perfect Day to Chase Tornados" [from wrong-eyed jesus, his debut. still one of my favorite songs by jim. can't wait for his new album when it gets finished and out.]
the Rosebuds - "Come Visit Me" [from loud planes fly low, their excellent new album. merge records is on a roll, per usual.]
Uncle Tupelo - "Moonshiner" [from march 16-20, 1992. this is, to me, the most haunting song from this album and i love their take on this traditional song. and it's what cemented this album as a defining one for this band.]
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Beirut - "East Harlem" [from the forthcoming the rip tide which will be out in august. i'll tell you that beirut are consistently one of the best live bands i've seen. doesn't look like they're coming this way on their fall tour for the record though, sadly.]
Weezer - "Tired of Sex" [from pinkerton. i had this song stuck in my head the other week and realized how long it'd been since i'd played weezer on the show (my blog search says not since 2003 - really?) and, of course, it would only be something off the first two albums. so there.]
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - "Senator" [from the forthcoming mirror traffic. i'm pretty excited about this album, i must say. here's hoping it's as good as this single seems to promise.]
R.E.M. - "Monty Got a Raw Deal" [from automatic for the people. since i had been down in athens, georgia for athfest the previous weekend, thought i'd pay homage to a great athens landmark, thanks to the boys in r.e.m. i did have some chicken and gravy, collards and squash casserole at weaver d's fine foods.]
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Roadside Graves - "Hank Williams" [from the really excellent new album we can take care of ourselves, based on s.e. hinton's novel the outsiders. hate that i missed both of their n.c. shows this past week while i was in athens, but hopefully they'll be back.]
Sleater-Kinney - "All Hands on the Bad One" [the title track from their fifth album. this album often gets overlooked in the s-k canon, but damnit, this record is great and, for my money, far better than one beat and even out-nudges the hot rock. so there.]
Five Eight - "Sad Eyes" [from your god is dead to me now. one of my favorite live performances at athfest. this was their opening number, too. just fantastic. come to north carolina, guys!]
PJ Harvey - "A Perfect Day Elise" [from is this desire? i remember loving this single a lot back when this album was released, but had never picked up the album. fixed that this past week and here we go.]
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Jill Andrews - "The Mirror" [the title track from her debut LP. she is formerly of the excellent the everybodyfields, so we'll look forward to hearing more from the album.]
the Decemberists - "June Hymn" [from the king is dead. watch for it on my year-end list because it's going to be there. just saying.]
Howe Gelb and Band of Gypsies - "Uneven Light of Day" [from alegrias. i'm a big fan of most anything involving howe gelb and from what i've heard of this album, it's the same. we'll have to hear more.]
Semisonic - "Gone to the Movies" [from feeling strangely fine. i love this song quite a bit and it's long been a favorite. a great, great record.]
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All Tiny Creatures - "Tine Feature" [from harbors which came out earlier this year on the excellent hometapes records label. this song has the guys from megafaun adding vocals. bet you could probably hear that already.]
X - "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes" [from under the big black sun. this is where i should have played "4th of july" this year, i suppose. next week.]
Jonny Polonsky - "Love Lovely Love" [from hello my name is jonny. power pop in its purest form because jonny just kind of disappeared after a bit, even though he has at least two records out. great song.]

That'll do it for this week. Come back next week for more fantastic new and classic music. Until then, take care.