J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 24th August 2011

[Welcome to another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem.

This week's show was dedicated to the memory of Guilford College alumni, former WQFS DJ and General Manager, musician and friend, Tim LaFollette. You've heard me talk about Tim numerous times on the show over the past two years as he has lived out his struggle with ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease. Through the Often Awesome organization and the film series of the same name, Tim took his battle with this poorly understood, incurable disease out into the world in order to try and make a difference in the lives of future sufferers of the disease and to raise awareness of ALS in general. He, and all the members of the Often Awesome Army, succeeded admirably through fund raising concerts, charity walks, tattoo benefits, art auctions and a dozen other ways that brought awareness, money and, most importantly, hope to people who suffer from the disease.

It also, unquestionably, prolonged Tim's life. The love and endless support of close friends, acquaintances and even people who didn't know Tim before learning of him through Often Awesome, no doubt had a boosting affect on his willingness to fight. Tim's particular strain of ALS, which also killed his grandmother and mother, is a nasty one, killing people, on average, around one year after date of diagnosis. Tim fought on for two years and four months. That's the power of positive energy.

Tim died this past Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011. My first memories of Tim are as a fellow DJ at WQFS and fellow student at Guilford. He was the General Manager of the station my sophomore year, 2000-2001, and presided over our amazing 30th Anniversary Festival which wouldn't have been nearly as awesome without his diligence in making it happen. I've uploaded an old recording of Tim on the air circa 2000. You can hear his goofy sense of humor, his breadth of taste and appreciation of music and everything else that made him such an amazing person. Click here to check it out. Thanks to Adam Thorn for posting that earlier this year.

This week's show is largely centered around music that Tim loved or that Tim was involved in making. There's still a wide smattering of new music - as a former WQFS DJ, Tim certainly wouldn't want me to stop playing the new, excellent music we strive to share just to pay tribute to him - but the majority of the older music comes from bands he loved or played in. I think it's an excellent show, and I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did making it. Sorry for stumbling over my words at times. Trying not to cry on the air makes it a bit tougher to be my typical jovial self.

Tim, we will miss you terribly. But thank you for everything you shared before you left. I hope that I can touch even a tenth of the lives you did before I leave this world behind. We won't give up the fight against ALS until no one has to go through this again. Know that you made a difference, even if you didn't live to see it to fruition. Rest in peace.

Onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 24th August 2011 show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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Tom Waits - "Bad As Me" [the title track from waits' forthcoming album due out in october. his first since 2004 or so. i mean, granted, we were tided over a bit with the awesome orphans box set, but still. this song sounds awfully promising.]
Ben Folds Five - "The Battle of Who Could Care Less" [from whatever and ever amen. i remember being at a ben folds solo show with tim back in 2002 over at the old ziggy's in winston-salem. this was right after his first solo record and was a bit of a homecoming show, since folds went to reynolds high school over in forsyth county. tim was a fan of well constructed pop music, for sure, so it's no wonder he liked ben folds. this song has lost a bit of its cultural bite since the slacker culture it parodies is a bit gone at this point, but it still makes me laugh. also, an upcoming best-of release will feature three newly recorded ben folds five songs, their first new music in 12 years. you can check out one of them over at NBC.]
Fountains of Wayne - "A Dip in the Ocean" [from sky full of holes. the chorus of this is pretty darn catchy, so this album is warming up for me a bit. still not sold on it overall. sad considering it has a few really excellent songs on it.]
Prince - "Play in the Sunshine" [from sign o' the times. tim was a huge fan of prince and this song, lyrically, was appropriate for his departure. a bit anyway. i hated seeing prince back in the spring knowing tim couldn't be there.]
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They Might Be Giants - "Can't Keep Johnny Down" [the lead track from their latest, join us. tim was a fan of tmbg and i play another of their songs later that i remember him covering in a convincingly punk fashion many years ago in the one-man band version of little brother. not to be confused with the hip-hop group. yeah, unfortunate timing on that one. literally, they both started out about the same time.]
Radiohead - "The Bends" [the title track from their second album. another favorite band of tim's.]
Eleanor Friedberger - "Inn of the Seventh Ray" [from last summer. we'll be hearing more, but the initial reviews of this new merge records album have been pretty solid.]
Kudzu Wish - "Do You Need An Athem" [from reverse hurricane. the first band i saw tim play in. made up entirely of guilford folk and just a force live at times, for certain. their reunion show for one of the often awesome benefits was just spectacular.]
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the War on Drugs - "Baby Missiles" [from slave ambient. you can take a listen to this song over at the album review at aquarium drunkard. don't know if tim ever listened to these guys, but i get the feeling he might have dug 'em. mainly because they remind me of springsteen and, obviously so does..]
the Hold Steady - "Chips Ahoy!" [from boys and girls in america. i tell the story on the show of how tim enthusiastically gave me a burned copy of separation sunday by this band well before i'd heard of them, raving about it. i, stupidly, sat on it and never got into them until this record dropped. but i did. it doesn't hurt that they're from the same town as..]
the Replacements - "Customer" [by request. from sorry ma forgot to take out the trash. my favorite band. and, really, let's talk about the fact, too, that i turned 30 this past sunday and this album has the 30th anniversary of its release today, thursday, august 25th. i was born four days before its release. coincidence? nope. i had to get out early so i could get to the store.]
Drive-by Truckers - "Danko / Manuel" [by twitter request. from the dirty south. an appropriate song in some ways for tim as well. thanks for the request, michael.]
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Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - "Stick Figures in Love" [from the new mirror traffic. i am digging this record, as you can read in my review over at aquarium drunkard. can't wait to catch him at the haw river ballroom on saturday, october 1st, too.]
At the Drive-In - "Enfilade" [from relationship of command. i remember sitting in a class at guilford listening to tim be upset about at the drive-in breaking up, claiming that this album was one of the best in rock and roll for some time. he wasn't wrong.]
Decoration Ghost - "Repay the Spark" [from the haze of wine and age. the band tim co-founded around the time of his diagnosis and his craft as a songwriter and song structuralist is all over this album, but especially in this song.]
Bad Religion - "No Control" [the title track from this album. tim also shared a fondness for bad religion, and i wish i'd had more than just the records i had to pull from to play something for him. i've always had a big soft spot in my heart for them as well.]
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Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter - "Come to Mary" [from the new marble son. wow, this snuck up on me. had no idea jesse had a new record dropping. very exciting considering i'm a huge fan of hers. we'll definitely hear more. in the meantime, you can check out my interview with jesse on the show from 2007 when she last released an album.]
Faith No More - "We Care A Lot" [from introduce yourself, their last album with their original singer. i stumble, searching for mike patton's name on the podcast and feel foolish. but i do know tim enjoyed this band and patton's other project from the time period, mr. bungle. sadly, i couldn't lay my hands on any faith no more with patton though.]
Snüzz - "Die Trying" [from the one-piece band. this song was the closing title credits theme for all of the often awesome web series videos. pretty great song from a friend of tim's.]
the Cure - "Love Song" [from disintegration. according to a friend, a very important song in the world of tim. so who am i to say otherwise? also, a great song. seriously.]
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Megafaun - "State/Meant" [from their forthcoming self-titled record which is due out in september. really, really can't wait to hear this full album. every song off of it so far has been fantastic.]
Toad the Wet Sprocket - "All in All" [from in light syrup. this is a song that tim and i performed together in a duet years ago at guilford. tim was one of the few fellow toad the wet sprocket fans i've met in my life, so it was appropriate that one of the others, chris jackson of citified, would join me to duet on it for one of the often awesome benefits this past year.]
Weezer - "Say It Ain't So" [from the blue self-titled album. i remember tim defending the green album to me in a conversation not long after its release. and the weird part was, as much as i still don't care for that record, i totally bought his defense.]
the Popovers - "Yoga in the Morning" [from make it so. one of the last projects tim got to complete, a two-person band with catie braly. they also recorded the theme song for the savage lovecast, the podcast by sexual advice columnist dan savage. you can download the entire record for free over at their website.]
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Tommy Stinson - "Meant to Be" [from his forthcoming second solo record, one man mutiny. this song already marks this as way better than his disappointing first solo album. can't wait to hear more.]
They Might Be Giants - "Doctor Worm" [from a user's guide to they might be giants. this is the song i heard tim cover as little brother. classic and fun.]
Adam Thorn and the Top Buttons - "People Get Ready" [from where's the freedom. a cover of the curtis mayfield classic. you can hear tim playing bass and singing backup on this. and it just seemed kind of perfect to end the show on this note. i hope tim would concur.]

That'll do it for this week. We'll be back next week with Ryan Snyder from YES Weekly for the Indie/Rock Roundtable and other great new music. Until then, take care.

J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 17th August 2011

[Welcome to another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. Sorry for the unplanned two week break; those of you who listen live on the stream or on the air caught last week's show, but sadly, it wasn't recorded. That's okay as the first six or seven years of my show went unrecorded except on cassette tapes. This week's show became a touch self-indulgent as this coming Sunday marks my birthday and I'm turning 30. So this week's show takes a lot of liberty drifting back in time to some of my favorite bands and whatever was on my mind for the week. So there you go.

Now, before I die before I get old, onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 17th August 2011 show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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EMA - "Milkman" [from past life martyred saints. we're going to keep hearing more of this as it's one of the more interesting loud rock records i've heard this year. good stuff.]
Matthew Sweet - "Faith in You" [from in reverse. one of those killer matthew sweet guitar songs that just tears through with epic guitar solos. seriously, this song just flat out rocks. seriously.]
Sloan - "Unkind" [from the double cross. power pop, oh, divine power pop. how i do so love you in the hands of these canadian purveyors. huzzah!]
Sleater-Kinney - "Turn It On" [from dig me out. speaking of songs that cause you to pump your fist and just feel exhilirated. hard to believe it's been 14 years since this album.]
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Obits - "Shift Operator" [from moody, standard and poor. this set has a wonderful set of bookends which you'll see/hear momentarily. this record is one of this year's best so far.]
the Replacements - "Color Me Impressed" [from hootenanny. and what would a self-indulgent show (or really any show of mine) be without the 'mats?]
Apex Manor - "The Party Line" [from the year of magical drinking. one of this year's finest songs. and seriously, i'm done playing this record until year end time. promise.]
Hot Snakes - "This Mystic Decade" [from audit in progress. the bookend! rick froberg was in both hot snakes and obits, obviously, and if you've never listened to hot snaked, good god, fix it. so, so good.]
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Fountains of Wayne - "Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart" [from sky full of holes. seriously, though. i'm still lukewarm on this album, but this single is right up there with some of the band's best.]
Beck - "Fuckin' With My Head" [from mellow gold. pulled out this old beck classic as an excuse to share this awesome interview with beck over at pitchfork that looks back at his last 15 years. pretty stellar.]
The Asteroid No. 4 - "The Unknown" [from their latest hail to the clear figurines. neo-psychedelia and pretty excellent.]
Rain Parade - "You Are My Friend" [from explosions in the glass palace. i wax a bit about this EP on the show and talk about how awesome it is considering it came on the heels of founding member dave roback's departure from the group. that said, this stuff is awesome.]
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Fleet Foxes - "Helplessness Blues" [the title track from this year's stunning sophomore LP. i'll just leave it there.]
the Mama's and the Papa's - "California Dreamin'" [from if you can believe your eyes and ears. i've talked about this song before, but my thoughts about its meaning have evolved even from then. the fact remains, it's one of modern music's greatest moments.]
John Doe - "Heartless" [by request. from forever hasn't happened yet, a really solid entry in doe's solo career. he's got another one in the pipe for later this year.]
Kathleen Edwards - "Summerlong" [from back to me. probably my favorite edwards song of her entire career and that's not a light statement considering my undying love for her songwriting.]
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Times New Viking - "Ever Falling In Love" [from dancer equired. a nice play on the buzzcocks' classic song title. i am really enjoying this album, so we should hear more.]
Art Brut - "Pump Up the Volume" [from it's a bit complicated. the bridge to this song is just so cathartic after the buildup of everything before it.]
Kurt Vile - "Jesus Fever" [from smoke ring for my halo. what can i say about this guy aside from 'amazing?' there you go.]
Devin Davis - "Iron Woman" [from lonely people of the world unite. power pop extrordinaire. where are you, devin? you disappeared.]
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Phil Cook and His Feat - "Juniper" [from hungry mother blues. more gorgeous instrumental stuff from the megafaun member's solo debut.]
Archers of Loaf - "Backwash" [from icky mettle which i wrote about over at aquarium drunkard for the new reissue from merge records. killer.]
the Lemonheads - "Become the Enemy" [from their self-titled album. can't wait to see them at the cradle on october 2nd.]
the Flaming Lips - "Kim's Watermelon Gun" [from clouds taste metallic. they'll be at the hopscotch fest as well in september. very cool.]
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Tune-yards - "Bizness" [from whokill. one of the best records this year, without question.]
Pere Ubu - "Caligari's Mirror" [from dub housing. love this band and most every thing they've put out that i've heard. which, admittedly, isn't much compared to their entire catalogue.]
Toad the Wet Sprocket - "Windmills" [from dulcinea. one of those formative records for me. really one of my favorites.]
Jim White - "Diamonds to Coal" [from transnormal skiperoo. and of course, jim is one of my favorite artists hands down. perfect for my birthday show.]
Television - "Call Mr. Lee" [from their self-titled reunion record. overlooked, and not nearly as good as the original two albums, but still pretty awesome.]

J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 27th July 2011

[Welcome to another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. Quite a great show which included a first for me - an international phone request! Lis, long time listener and Twitter acquaintance, called up to request a song for her husband's birthday. I was only too happy to oblige, especially given the song. More on that down below.

I was a guest on the Instant Depths podcast this week as we talked about a few documentaries that you can watch on Netflix through their instant streaming option. A pretty fun time was had and it's a really fun podcast in general, so go check it out.

We had to postpone the Indie/Rock Roundtable this week, but Ryan should be with us in two weeks, so look forward to that.

Tons of new great stuff, so lets get started. Onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 27th July 2011 show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
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the Beastie Boys - "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win" [from hot sauce committee pt. 2. this track features santigold and there's a new video out for it as well directed by their legendary video partner spike jonze. check it out.]
Jim White - "Handcuffed to a Fence in Mississippi" [from no such place. i needed something with at least a somewhat funky, driving drum beat to follow up that beasties song and jim fit the bill.]
EMA - "Milkman" [from past life martyred saints. really dug this track and we'll need to hear a lot more.]
Minor Threat - "Steppin' Stone" [from their self-titled EP. a cover that was probably done by just about every punk band throughout the late 70s and early 80s. a staple to be sure.]
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Sloan - "Beverly Terrace" [from the new the double cross which is really just as excellent as it's sounded all these weeks on the show. go get it.]
Archers of Loaf - "Web in Front" [from icky mettle which i believe gets its big re-issue on merge records next week. can't wait for their back-to-back shows at the cat's cradle in carborro on august 19th and 20th also.]
the Raveonettes - "I Wanna Be Adored" [from 50 years of dr. martens. a really great compilation featuring some awesome covers. we'll hear a lot more. really dig this cover of the stone roses classic.]
the Replacements - "Here Comes a Regular" [by request from lis, all the way over in scotland, and by phone no less, for her husband's birthday. too cool. from tim, naturally.]
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Cults - "Never Heal Myself" [from their self-titled debut which is really quite good. we'll keep hearing more.]
K-os - "B-boy Stance" [from joyful rebellion. i pull this track out every so often just for how awesome it is, but it also helps that i recently recorded a podcast with the guys at instant depths about music documentaries you can watch on netflix instant streaming. one of them was the freshest kids: a history of the b-boy. so check it out.]
Fountains of Wayne - "Cemetery Guns" [from sky full of holes, their latest which will be out in august. this is the album's closing track and a right good one, i'd say.]
the Minutemen - "The Price of Paradise" [from 3-way tie for last. one of the other documentaries we talked about on the podcast was the amazing we jam econo: the story of the minutemen. a great film worth seeing if you have the chance.]
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the Wandas - "Forever and Ever" [from their self-titled debut. a nice song i picked up over at ryan's smashing life, a great boston/national music blog that you should read.]
the Smithereens - "House We Used to Live In" [from green thoughts. i love this song and do love pulling it out on occasion. the whole album is worth picking up. and if you've never heard the smithereens before, well, get crackin'.]
Gillian Welch - "The Way It Goes" [from her first album in nearly 8 years, the harrow & the harvest. sounds good so far. we'll hear more.]
Hammer No More the Fingers - "Shark" [from black shark. sadly i thnk i'm going to the night of archers of loaf that these guys aren't opening. oh, well.]
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Bon Iver - "Michicant" [from the new self-titled record. he played this past friday night at the raleigh amphitheater along with the rosebuds. anyone catch the show?]
Toad the Wet Sprocket - "Way Away" [from their 1989 debut, bread and circus. they'll be playing at the cat's cradle on wednesday, august 10th.]
New Riders of the Purple Sage - "Glendale Train" [from their self-titled debut. they played this past thursday the 28th at the lincoln theater in raleigh.]
Josh Ritter - "Kathleen" [from hello starling. he played last wednesday the 27th at the cat's cradle. anyone read his new novel yet?]
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Times New Viking - "It's a Culture" [the lead track from their latest, and best, dancer equired. seriously. a great album.]
Pulp - "The Birds in Your Garden" [from we love life. this fall marks a decade since this, the last pulp album. oh, how i miss you guys.]
Alessi's Ark - "Maybe I Know" [a cover of the lesley gore classic from the forthcoming time travel which will be out in september. we'll be hearing more from this album.]
Citified - "Read Like a Number" [from 2008's the meeting after the meeting. great greensboro rock and roll.]
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Joan as Police Woman - "The Magic" [from the deep field. i'm digging this track so we'll have to hear more in the future.]
the Byrds - "You're Still On My Mind" [from sweetheart of the rodeo, an album i've listened to over and over the last week. thee's a reason i didn't get into the byrds until i was older. i know i wouldn't have appreciated this any sooner than i did.]
Peter Bruntnell - "By the Time My Head Gets to Phoenix" [from normal for bridgewater. what's peter up to these days? haven't heard much from him in awhile, though that's probably my fault, not his.]
the Velvet Crush - "Why Not Your Baby" [from teenage symphonies to god. a cover of a song by gene clark, formerly of the byrds, that is just spectacular. if you've never heard this album, dig it up now.]
Randy Newman - "Marie" [from good old boys. another album that just simply should be heard. seriously. go do it.]

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