Extra Mayhem - 10th August 2009

[We're winding down the summer here on Extra Mayhem, so I wanted to make sure these last weeks were special. Tonight's Wholesale album was a doozy, to be sure, and the theme from tonight's show was...hot...to say the least.

I'll keep it short tonight and get crackin'. Onward.]

J's Extra Podcast: 10th August 2009 Show

the Afghan Whigs - "Somethin' Hot" [from 1965. so tonight's theme was 'hot thing,' inspired by prince and by the hot weather we've had in these early, dog-days of august. immediately i thought of this song and, well, here it is.]
Cheap Trick - "Hot Love" [from their self-titled 1977 debut. i haven't really enjoyed this album as much as i have even the records immediately following it. it's a bit rough and less catchy than their later, more polished stuff. give me the big cheap trick.]
Beck - "Hotwax" [from odelay. viva la hotwax. i've been listening to or had foisted upon me a lot of beck recently. that's not a bad thing, mind you.]
Ini Kamoze - "Here Comes the Hotstepper" [from the pret a porter soundtrack. i honestly never could've thought i'd be playing this song on WQFS, but when i typed in the keyword 'hot' to search my harddrive for songs, and this was the first song that came up, how could i not play it?]
Le Tigre - "Decepticon" (BBC Sessions live) [okay. so, an apology as on the podcast i call this song "hot topic." why do i do that? because the meta-information on the mp3 that i ripped from the cd was mislabeled and said this was "hot topic." i also failed to notice it wasn't. so, yeah. goof. great live track though.]
Guided by Voices - "Hot Freaks" [from bee thousand. dedicated on the air to satisfied '75 since a) he loves gbv, b) he loves this song as the annual blog-curated showcase at SXSW is named after it and c) i can do what i want. great song.]
Mitch Hedberg - "Hot Air Balloons" [this is part of a bit from do you believe in gosh? this was the posthumously released album that came out last year. "here's my license. it's the scissors. snip. later." love it.]
the Hold Steady - "Hot Soft Light" [from boys and girls in america. this is probably my favorite hold steady album and songs like this go a long way towards reinforcing that. jeez.]
>
Jurassic 5 - "Red Hot" [from feedback. i've rarely been as disappointed in an album as i was in feedback. it's just as well, no offense, that j5 broke up after this because, really, c'mon. i will defend their first three LPs with ferocity. but this one..no. this song is quite good though.]
Prince - "Hot Thing" [from sign 'o' the times. i just wrote a piece about this album over at aquarium drunkard. it's a crazy, unique. sprawling and vivacious record and seriously required listening if you consider yourself open minded at all to music.]
Simple Minds - "White Hot Day" [from sparkle in the rain. i'll tell you, it's hard to dig into 80s music sometimes because of how dated the instrumentation is. and there's something about that decade specifically that the type of instrumentation used just did not carry over very well to other times. so, the great songwriting is sometimes lost amidst dealing with the sound. simple minds is a great example of that as they are, honestly, a great band. or were. or something.]
Sleater-Kinney - "Hot Rock" [from the hot rock. this was s-k's somewhat challenging follow-up to the groundbreaking dig me out and it's a bit more cerebral and less immediate than its predecessor. of course i'm drawn to it as a result.]
His Name is Alive - "Hot Tonite" [from the nice day EP. i received a nice his name is alive-related gift from my friend chris yesterday and i'll probably be sharing some of it with you on the wednesday show. stay tuned.]
the Soft Boys - "I Got the Hots" [from underwater moonlight. robyn hitchcock and company explaining how they do, indeed, have the hots. like curry for a corpse. or something. whatever.]
Rock Plaza Central - "The Hot Blind Earth" [from the excellent new at the moment of our most needing. rock plaza central is a pretty amazing band, i must say.]
Yo La Tengo - "Don't Say a Word (Hot Chicken #2)" [from electr-o-pura. what a gorgeous song. i'm pretty sure they played this when i saw them at the carborro arts center last year. when georgia sings, we listen.]
Wilco - "Poor Places" (demo) [this is from the yankee hotel foxtrot demos. i love this version of "poor places" as it shows the song as a much more sprightly and traditional version, versus the song as it became on the record. both versions are pretty stellar if you ask me.]

[Tonight's Wholesale album of the week is one of those true stand-alone masterworks of modern music. The La's released one, and only one, album and it was a doozy. Spinning off one of the most perfect pop songs ever written in "There She Goes," the rest of the album is a concentrated slice of trad-pop in the grand British traditions of the band's influences. Lee Mavers, the main architect of the La's sound, has been making noise about a follow up record for close to two decades now, but it has never surfaced. If he actually did, what sort of expectations would surround it? Would they be realistic? Would he have any hopes?

What this record does, and does well, is rehash and give individual voice to the best music of the previous 30 years in pop in England. The Stones, the Beatles, the Kinks, even the Jam are represented in fleeting sounds and snippets woven together into a distinctly British tapestry of pop. It's a timeless sounding record that could just have easily been created in the 60s, 70s, 80s or 90s and that gives immense credit to the band for creating such a unique and yet indebted piece of art. Tonight's Wholesale album of the week is..]

Track Listing

1. Son of a Gun
2. I Can't Sleep
3. Timeless Melody [click to listen]
4. Liberty Ship
5. There She Goes [click to listen]
6. Doledrum
7. Feelin'
8. Way Out
9. I.O.U.
10. Freedom Song
11. Failure
12. Looking Glass

That'll do it for this week. I'll be back on Wednesday night for Indie/Rock Mayhem - tons of new stuff to parse through, so get set for a great show. 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.]
>
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.

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.]
>
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.]
>
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?]
>
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.

Extra Mayhem - 30th June 2009

[Tonight's Extra Mayhem was a fun, but honestly underwhelming theme set, but a great Wholesale album. Who knew? I wanted to do something Michael Jackson related for the theme, so I went with "The King of Pop" as the theme - unfortunately, I don't think it worked as well as I'd hoped. The songs are great, I just don't think they tie in as well. I think "Green" has been the best theme week so far. I need to get back to that level.

Extra Mayhem next week will be on at 10 PM instead of 12 AM. Eric, the DJ in front of me, is going to be out of town, so I'm bumping up so I can get home a bit earlier. Any thoughts on whether the Wholesale album should be during the 10 PM or 11 PM hour?

Now, while I'm still awake, onward.]

J's Extra Podcast: 30th June 2009 Show

the Jackson 5 - "I Want You Back" [the theme is bookended by jackson songs - this is my all time favorite jackson 5 song, so it seemed fitting.]
the Heads with Michael Hutchence - "The King is Gone" [from no talking, just head. if you've never heard this record..well..i don't know that i'd recommend it. this was in the immediate aftermath of the talking heads breaking up and there was an ongoing fight about use of the name. so the band (minus david byrne) released an album as 'the heads' with various singers filling in for byrne. this isn't a bad song by any means - in fact, i quite like it - but the record on the whole is meh.]
Pavement - "No More Kings" [available on the wowee zowee: sordid sentinels edition, but also originally from the schoolhouse rock! rocks tribute album. pavement's take on an educational tune.]
Josh Ritter - "Leaves and Kings" [from his self-titled debut. that album has never won me over terribly, but there are some solid songs on it - this one included.]
Golden Smog - "Radio King" [from down by the old mainstream - the title phrase is included in this song. this is one of tweedy's sung songs.]
Luna - "Rhythm King" [from penthouse. a really amazing record if you haven't let it grace your ears. you'll thank me later.]
>
Blur - "Pop Scene" [from modern life is rubbish, an album i've seriously considered playing for the wholesale feature some week. i love the guitar work in this song.]
Okkervil River - "Pop Lie" [from the stand ins. a gem of a catchy song from a gem of a great band.]
the Smithereens - "Top of the Pops" [from blow up. not the best smithereens song ever - i agree with the all music review that says it's about a minute too long - but it certainly gets at the point.]
Greg Dulli - "King Only" (live) [from live at triple door. a take on a song from the twilight singers' first album. it sounds much better here - i love the twilight singers, but have always been lukewarm on that first album.]
Randy Newman - "Lonely at the Top" [from sail away. i know there's a snarky nature to any randy newman song, but there's something genuine to the narrator's despair - something i have to imagine jackson felt as well.]
Michael Jackson - "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" [from off the wall. this is, quite possibly, my favorite jackson solo song. it's just ridiculously well put together and catchy.]

[Tonight's Wholesale album is one of those 'genre' defining albums you hear about from time to time. The 80s were an interesting time in country music that began to see the slow commercial dissolution of traditionalist country and the rise of the more pop-oriented sound that now dominates commercial country radio. But there were a handful of songwriters who refused to go down that road and they all began to emerge from places as expected as Texas (Nanci Griffith, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams) and as unexpected as California. Although that's a touch misleading - Bakersfield, California had long been a hotbed for artists like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. So it makes sense that this place would draw a hotheaded songwriter originally from Kentucky, by way of Ohio, named Dwight Yoakam.

But it wasn't just the country lineage that drew Yoakam in after a disheartening stay in Nashville. It was the fact that the local scene was packed with not just bands drawing on the 50s traditions of country, but also the classic traditions of rock and roll as well. X, the Blasters and Los Lobos (as well as other bands like the Dead Kennedys) played in the same clubs that Yoakam would frequent and this cross-breeding of traditionalist country and the snotty, outlaw attitude of punk and post-punk would end up growing a fearsome songwriter and musician in Yoakam.

Although the initial demos for his debut were recorded in 1981, it wouldn't be until 1986 that his debut album would drop on Reprise Records and help kickstart the "new traditionalist" movement that still has devoted followers today and segued perfectly with the budding "alt-country" movement that was about to see its most well known and influential band, Uncle Tupelo, get its start in just a few years. Tonight's Wholesale album is...]

Track Listing

1. Honky Tonk Man
2. It Won't Hurt [click here to listen]
3. I'll Be Gone
4. South of Cincinnati
5. Bury Me
6. Guitars, Cadillacs [click here to listen]
7. Twenty Years
8. Ring of Fire
9. Miner's Prayer
10. Heartaches by the Number

That'll do it for this week. Make sure to tune in two hours early next Monday night for Extra Mayhem and I'll be back this Wednesday with J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. Until then, take care.

Extra Mayhem - 23rd June 2009

[Welcome to another Extra Mayhem. Tonight's theme was the color green. I've been aiming to tie in themes to current events, so this one was timed to tie in with the political situation currently going on in Iran. Green has been the color of the protesters who have been arguing for a recount and examination of the recent election results. So it seemed appropriate and turned into one hell of a show, especially combined with tonight's Wholesale album. The podcast of the theme show goes about half an hour longer than normal as I had a ton of stuff to fit in, but it was definitely worth it.

Now, because it's late and I would like to sleep at some juncture, onward.]

J's Extra Podcast: 23rd June 2009 Show

Kermit the Frog - "Bein' Green" [so, first off, i mislabeled the song on the podcast. i always assumed it was called "it's not easy being green," but i'm wrong. this was written by joe raposo for kermit to sing in the first season of sesame street and it's been associated with him ever since. i could be really correct and say jim henson was performing this, but c'mon people.]
Blitzen Trapper - "The Green King Sings" [from wild mountain nation. i do so enjoy blitzen trapper.]
Vic Mizzy/Eddie Albert/Eva Gabor - "Green Acres" [i wasn't sure at all how to label this. vic mizzy was the composer and, of course, the stars of the show, eddie albert and eva gabor, are the voices actually singing the song. my parents actually allowed me to move my bedtime back half an hour when i was younger in order to watch green acres on nick at nite. i still think it's a prime example of brilliant absurdist comedy.]
R.E.M. - "Green Grow the Rushes" [from fables of the reconstruction. to clarify from my utter confusion on-air, this was their third album. a very memorable r.e.m. guitar line if there ever was one, too.]
>
Chris Stamey - "Shades of Green" [from travels in the south. i've always enjoyed this song a lot - it's very sentimental in its remembrance of recklessness. it reminds me of the song "rebellious" by kacy crowley.]
Deerhunter - "Green Jacket" [from microcastle. deerhunter is a pretty unique band - i don't care if their name gets confused with all the other 'deer' names.]
Type O Negative - "Green Man" [from october rust. you know, i'll stick up for type o negative. i know i only pull them out for certain theme shows, but i still enjoy playing october rust every so often. it's big, silly fun in a way that was never quite as showy and over the top as the same sort of big-rock mockery that marilyn manson styled himself with.]
Green Jelly - "Three Little Pigs" [from cereal killer soundtrack. a song that had my ear from the first time i ever saw the video on mtv back when i first started listening to music. compare the podcast to the video and see if you can catch the seamless editing job lyrically.]
>
Charizma and Peanut Butter Wolf - "Red Light Green Light" [from their one and only album, big ideas. great early 90s hip-hop. and i like the conceit of the song, too.]
Sonic Youth - "Green Light" [from evol. i was just discussing with a friend earlier tonight how neither of us have any sincere love for early sonic youth. i know it's a failing on my part, but my top three sonic youth records are all from either the 90s or the 00s. and then this song popped into my set just to prove me wrong. not bad.]
Elvis Hitler - "Green Haze" [from disgraceland. an early form of the mash-up? i love the absurdity of this song and yet, it's so catchy and rockin'. credit warren defever who would go on to form the completely different and amazing his name is alive.]
Yo La Tengo - "Green Arrow" [from i can hear the heart beating as one. a lovely instrumental track.]
>
Shakin' Stevens - "Green Door" [i've never heard another song by this guy, but i downloaded this years ago because it was the number one song in the UK on the day i was born. it's a throw-back sounding cut of rock and roll and pretty fun, really.]
Miles Davis - "Blue in Green" [from kind of blue. it being summertime, it'll be time to pull out kind of blue and to revel in its amazing tones. that album is an experience.]
Gist - "Greener Grass" [from the c81 compilation. we talked about c86 music a lot here recently, but before the NME put that comp out in 1986, there was an earlier post-punk heavy comp in 1981. back when i did a piece on c86 for aquarium drunkard, a person in comments was nice enough to link to their blog where they had made the c81 comp available. so go snag it if you're interested.]
the National - "Green Gloves" [from boxer. one of the band's finest moments, without a doubt.
>
the Olivia Tremor Control - "Green Typewriters" [from ..dusk at cubist castle. on the album, "green typewriters" appears as tracks 12 through 21 and, indeed, the song does appear as 9 parts. landed smack in the middle, as it does, of an album full of hazy psychedelic pop, its shards of musique concrete and pop majesty are really affecting. i get kinda hyper when talking about this band, so better you just listen to all 23 minutes of it yourself.]

[Tonight's Wholesale album took a bit of debate to choose. Not because I was picking between bands, but because I was picking between albums by one band. Namely the first two records by Big Star. Both of them got a reissue this past week with the re-packaging of the 2-for-1 CD edition of #1 Record and Radio City, their first two albums, respectively. The new reissue doesn't add much to the first CD issue - a couple of single edits as bonus tracks - but at least they are back in print this way. A 4 CD box set of all of their albums plus a ton of outtakes and live recordings is due in the late summer.

Why did I end up going with Radio City? Two words: "September Gurls." On my list of perfect pop songs, it stands, nay, towers above so many - rivaled only, really, by the La's "There She Goes" in terms of pure, pop perfection. It's also a bit darker and more desperate than #1 Record. That album's pop-sweetness held it together - here the overall affect is much more unsettling and urgent. It's an amazing record that is an important piece of the power-pop puzzle. Tonight's Wholesale album of the week is..]

Track Listing

1. O My Soul [click here to listen]
2. Life Is White
3. Way Out West
4. What's Going Ahn
5. You Get What You Deserve
6. Mod Lang
7. Back of a Car
8. Daisy Glaze
9. She's a Mover
10. September Gurls [click here to listen]
11. Morpha Too
12. I'm In Love With a Girl

That'll do it for another Extra Mayhem. I'll be back on Wednesday for Indie/Rock Mayhem. Until then, take care.

Extra Mayhem - 16th June 2009

[Welcome to another Extra Mayhem. I had a ton of fun programming this week's show - especially the theme hour. Though it's kind of hokey and ultimately just an exercise in reaching for straws, but hey, what else are themes for? Though I'm still irritated that I didn't have enough time to grab some music from Kurt Rambis for the Los Angeles Lakers theme part of the show. Oh, well. There's always another day for Rambo.

Remember that in order to avoid copyright skirmishes, naturally, only the theme hour will be podcasted as sending out a copy of an entire album, even if it is only FM quality, is a bit beyond the pale. But I will have a couple of songs from each featured album up for download as well.

Now, while I'm awake, onward.]

J's Extra Podcast: 16th June 2009

Big Ditch Road - "Detroit City Mouse" [from the great dissent. so, the los angeles lakers were originally the detroit gems. in 1946 they were purchased for the princely sum of $15,000. but here they were but a tiny team in detroit. aww.]
the Detroit Cobras - "I Wanna Holler (But the Town's Too Small)" [from baby. they wanted to go to bigger and better things. detroit was too small...so off to...minneapolis? eh, whatever.]
J. Neas - "By the Time I Get to Minnesota" [i'm going to apologize ahead of time for slipping this in - one of my own songs, cheaply (very cheaply) recorded. but hey, minnesota and stuff. even if it is an ode to the replacements.]
that dog. - "Minneapolis" [from retreat from the sun. and the team goes, following its owner and future championships.]
>
Telekinesis - "Great Lakes" [from their self-titled debut. they'll be at local 506 in chapel hill on thursday night. here's where the lakers got their name. so a set of songs about lakes. can anyone think of some other teams whose mascot is a vestige of their previous geographic location? the utah jazz, of course, are left over from new orleans. and the current new orleans team from the charlotte hornets. but who else?]
John Prine - "Lake Marie" [from lost dogs and mixed blessings. probably my favorite john prine song. is there video footage of prine on sessions at west 54th floating around out there on the web? his performance of this there was the first time i ever heard it and it was mesmerizing. sigh. thank you, internets.]
Sera Cahoone - "Baker Lake" [from only as the day is long. i was really fond of this record when it came out last year. i was stretching a bit in this set as it's really a tenuous connection of the word "lake" for these songs. oh, well.]
Grandaddy - "The Crystal Lake" [from the sophtware slump. classic grandaddy. interesting to see how this compares to jason lytle's new album.]
>
Lucinda Williams - "Minneapolis" [from world without tears. and of course, eventually they had to leave minneapolis. and they did. and lucinda sings it right. i love this song.]
Frank Black - "Los Angeles" [from his self-titled debut solo album. i've always had a mixed relationship with this song over the years. i've always been back and forth about this album, too.]
the Decemberists - "Los Angeles, I'm Yours" [from her majesty, the decemberists. hey, the team announces that they've arrived. aw, ain't that sweet?]
X - "Los Angeles" [the title track from their debut. was there any doubt i would pull this out? i sincerely hope not. what a band. i heard their set at the cat's cradle last week was fiery, per usual.]
>
Wire - "The 15th" [from 154. this recent championship was the 15th such for the lakers franchise, so i thought i'd celebrate with not one, not two, but three versions of this song. first the original.]
Mike Watt - "The 15th" [then a cover by the legendary mike watt from the WHORE wire tribute album from the 90s.]
Fischerspooner - "The 15th" [then with another really solid cover from fischerspooner's debut, #1. very good stuff.]

[Tonight's Wholesale album is from 1985. Whenever anyone talks about the Meat Puppets, it's inevitable that their stunning sophomore album, II, will come up in discussion. Especially in light of their contributions to Nirvana's Unplugged album which all came off of the II album. Equally heralded, but far less frequently mentioned, is the 1985 follow-up, Up on the Sun. In many ways, Up on the Sun is II's better - the playing is sharper, the lyrics more focused - the band doesn't sound like it's falling apart at every chord change. Yes, that's half the charm of II, but here the acid-fried country channeled through a punchy version of post-punk that dealt in hardcore and classical trappings is much more neatly framed. Yes, this album is a lot easier to swallow and I would argue that makes it better from a certain perspective.

Engineered by Spot, who of course did most anything released on SST in the early 80s, the album recalls the production style of some of the Minutemen's records for SST with the guitars popping off the record and slapping you around a bit as you listen, like bugs zooming around your head. The lyrics are endearing and charming as always, even if they get downright weird in spots and sickeningly simple in others. It's a thoroughly enjoyable album and this week's Wholesale album is...]

Track Listing

1. Up on the Sun [click to download]
2. Maiden's Milk
3. Away
4. Animal Kingdom
5. Hot Pink
6. Swimming Ground
7. Buckethead [click to download]
8. Too Real
9. Enchanted Pork Fist
10. Seal Whales
11. Two Rivers
12. Creator

That'll do it for this week. I'll see you on Wednesday evening for Indie/Rock Mayhem and until then, take care.

Extra Mayhem - 9th June 2009

[So, after a year off, Extra Mayhem is back and better than ever. I've kept some things, altered some others, and all in all it'll make for some interesting late-night radio here in Greensboro and beyond. The show is going to be every Monday night/Tuesday morning from midnight to 2 AM. First, I've kept the Wholesale album of the week feature - and last night's was a doozy - but I've added a fun aspect to the second hour of the show: theme sets. Each week's second hour will have a theme that connects all of the songs played.

In order to avoid copyright skirmishes, naturally, only the theme hour will be podcasted as sending out a copy of an entire album, even if it is only FM quality, is a bit beyond the pale. But I will have a couple of songs from each featured album up for download as well.

Also, even though the show has reversed order this year - Wholesale album during the first hour, theme songs in the second - I will continue to blog the show with songs first, then album. Just makes it easier and more aesthetically pleasing.

Now, let's get going.]

J's Extra Podcast: 9th June 2009 Show

Drive-by Truckers - "Too Much Sex (Too Little Jesus)" [from pizza deliverance. tonight's theme was SEX. you read right. SEX. mainly in the titles of the songs. i didn't do an awesome job with this theme, mainly because i only came up with the theme idea last night. future installments will be better, but this was highly amusing all the same.]
the Gun Club - "Sex Beat" [from fire of love. a really dynamic song from a really dynamic album that was actually on the wholesale album feature back in 2006. the gun club is one of those bands you become somewhat obsessed with when you get into them.]
Alejandro Escovedo - "Sex Beat" [from bourbonitis blues. escovedo's take on the gun club classic is slower, darker and more ominous. where jeffrey lee pierce's original is a howling jittery song akin to teenage hormones, escovedo's is a look from people who are lost in their obsessions rather than running with them.]
Morphine - "Super Sex" [from yes. ah, morphine's music is just downright sexy anyway. so why not a song that just shouts it from the rafters?]
>
Tool - "Prison Sex" [from undertow. i explain on the podcast that this was the song that inspired the theme for this week. i was relistening to this album last night and decided that, yes, it really is every bit as good as i remember. as much as aenima is usually heralded as their high water mark, for me it's this album. really, maybe, it was the videos that drew me into them in the first place, but who cares. good music.]
Girls Against Boys - "Kill the Sexplayer" [from cruise yourself. well, self explanatory. this song is sort of girls against boys in a nutshell, too. sound wise.]
the Vaselines - "Sex Sux (Amen)" [from enter the vaselines, the new 2 CD compilation released on sub pop. and the vaselines are touring this summer, so keep your eyes peeled.]
Tony Alvon and the Belairs - "Sexy Coffee Pot" [from the what it is 4 CD rare funk compilation. a really great mix of some lost funk classics.]
>
My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult - "Sex on Wheelz" [from sexplosion! and really, how could any show with a sex theme be complete without something by my life..? this band really is an acquired taste, but anyone who can appreciate high camp ought to appreciate them. like a much darker, thicker and nastier version of the b-52's.]
Rock Plaza Central - "Sexyback" [yes, their cover of the justin timberlake song. their version is actually really well done and different. well worth hunting down as it isn't widely available.]
Kings of Leon - "Sex On Fire" [from only by the night. by request as it was something i sadly left off.]
Flipper - "Sex Bomb" [from generic. and really, the king of all 'sex' songs. a caller rang up to ask who this was, and then asked when it was from. when told 1982, he commented to his companion, "dude, this stuff is older than i am." always a good revelation.]

[Tonight's Wholesale album is from 1997 and is truly one of the albums that has lodged itself firmly in my brain for many and many a year. In It for the Money was Supergrass' sophomore album, following two years after the smashingly successful I Should Coco and over things like Steve Spielberg supposedly wanting to make a Monkees-esque television show with the band.

One big to-do in Britpop in the 90s was the comparisons made between the Beatles and Oasis. Oasis was proudly, supposedly, the most Bealtes-esque of the bunch, but for my money, where Oasis trafficked in the obvious surface sound-alikes of the Beatles, Supergrass nailed the Fab Four's fearless experimentation and divergent sounds with this album more succinctly than anyone else. Whether it was racing, harmonized rockers, or maudlin ballads or funky sounding experiements, the record was a hodge podge of classic British rock and roll, from stem to stern. So, without further ado, our first Wholesale album for 2009..]

Track Listing


1. In It For the Money
2. Richard III
3. Tonight [click here to listen]
4. Late in the Day [click here to listen]
5. G-Song
6. Sun Hits the Sky
7. Going Out
8. It's Not Me
9. Cheapskate [click here to listen]
10. You Can See Me
11. Hollow Little Reign
12. Sometimes I Make You Sad

That'll do it for Extra Mayhem - see you Wednesday night for Indie/Rock Mayhem and take care.

extra mayhem - 26th august 2007

[so it's the final j's extra mayhem for the summer. now that school is back in session, sunday nights just don't work like the used to. so while tomorrow is still only a partial work day (no students yet), i took the time to close down the house with another double wholesale album night. two classics that i've had on the back burner for some time - no connecting theme - just good music. i don't know if i'll do this again next summer, as two shows a week is a handful, but it's always a lot of fun, so we'll see. until then, onward.]

J's Extra Mayhem Podcast: 26th August 2007 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
>
Jason Isbell - "Shotgun Wedding" [from sirens of the ditch. the one song he didn't play that i wanted at the show in charlotte. and from some playlists i've seen, i don't know how often he's playing it at all. i'm putting out the good vibes to hear it at his show at local 506 in chapel hill on thursday, september 6th, though.]
Helium - "Baby's Going Underground" [from the dirt of luck. have i mentioned lately that i'm really liking helium a lot these days? i should if i didn't.]
Girls Against Boys - "Tucked In" [this set very quickly turned into a 'hey, it's college rock in the 90s!' set. from the ever-so-good cruise yourself. sad that they've called it a day.]
Ben Lee - "Away with the Pixies" [from his debut solo record grandpaw would. and yes, that's liz phair on backing vocals, so this really was a 90s set. jeez. well, except for isbell. i don't know what he was doing in the 90s.]
>
His Name is Alive - "Come to Me" [from the forthcoming xmmer and also available on the limited-time-available silver makeup EP which you can download for free by going to their website. just click on the link at the very top of the page. the three extra songs are b-sides that won't be on the record, so get your collectable his name is alive songs today.]
Richard Hell and the Voidoids - "Blank Generation" [one of the most classic songs in all of punk rock. the title track from their 1978 debut album. "it's such a gamble when you get a face" indeed, richard.]
the Stranglers - "Golden Brown" [from their album la folie. a gorgeous, simultaneous ode to a mediterranean girlfriend and heroin. beautiful stuff.]
Supergrass - "Late in the Day" [from their sophomore album, in it for the money. i've always been pretty blown away by supergrass. they haven't had much of a presence here in america, uh, ever, but they are a wonderful band.]
>
A.A. Bondy - "There's a Reason" [now, this got me excited this week. bondy is the former front man of verbena, a band for which i have long held a deep love. he has his debut solo record, american hearts, coming out on september 4th and my man, aquarium drunkard has two tracks up as a teaser. both are amazing and i'm chomping at the bit for the full length here in a week or so.]
Blur - "Coffee and TV" [from 13. i thought about this song the other week and it was aptly placed tonight. one of the greatest music videos of all time.]
Nico - "The End" [yes, as in the doors song. from her 1974 album the end. there is no love lost between me and the doors - i've always rolled my eyes and find them way overrated as a band (ray manzarek's production on the early X records aside). but nico's version of this song..is pretty amazing. you can score your own copy over at copy, right?, an amazing music blog that focuses just on cover versions of songs.]
Caribou - "Eli" [from the new album andorra and wow, what a perfect way to lead into the first wholesale album. this is psychedelically tinged pop that is just gorgeous. we'll be hearing more of this.]

[tonight's first wholesale album comes from 1983 (though i said '84 repeatedly on the show - oops) and the paisley underground scene - a group of bands mining a post-psychedelic sound that was filtered through the intervening years of punk and post-punk into something altogether more modern and a throwback. the main person of note (and this is not meant as a slight to the other band members - just as a touchstone) in the band was david roback, who would later leave the band (after this first record, actually) and start opal with kendra smith (bass player of the dream syndicate) and then, in the 90s, perhaps most notably, would co-found mazzy star with hope sandoval. there's a thematic element to all of that music and it's no wonder that roback was involved with all of them.

the sound of this record is fairly consistent, with a hazy view coming through all of it and it's a thrilling and really enjoyable record to listen to. a caller tonight said they thought they sounded a bit like the apples in stereo, and i wouldn't be surprised at all if people from the elephant 6 collective had been listening to the paisley underground a bit in their day. in the meantime, tonight's first wholesale album of the week is the rain parade's emergency third rail power trip.]

Track Listing

1. Talking in My Sleep
2. This Can't Be Today [click here to listen.]
3. I Look Around
4. 1 HR 1/2 Ago [click here to listen.]
5. Carolyn's Song [click here to listen.]
6. What She's Done to Your Mind
7. Look at Merri
8. Saturday's Asylum [click here to listen.]
9. Kaleidoscope
10. Look Both Ways

the Rain Parade - "You Are My Friend" [this is from the EP that was released following david roback's departure, explosions in the glass palace. it's quite a good song and the band managed to put out some pretty great material without david that's worth hunting down.]

[the second wholesale album of the night seems like something i would have tapped long ago, but my obvious love for them made me steer into other grounds for the two years i've done this. but this record holds a very special place in my heart - for one thing, i own four copies of it: CD, cassette and two vinyl editions with different cover art. (if you'd like an explanation about the cover art, you'll have to ask in comments. it's actually amusing.) this is the band that, if i'm pressed to answer the question 'who's your favorite band?' i say the replacements. and i'll usually stick up for this album as my favorite also, despite its unique status in their catalog.

this was the first album recorded after the dismissal of founding member bob stinson, and it's also the only album they ever recorded as a trio. when they toured for this album, they brought in slim dunlap who would become their new 4th member, but he didn't play on this record. some of the 'mats most famous songs dot this record and i'm a huge fan of the production on it. rarely did the 'mats guitars sound more raucous and punchy. jim dickinson does a fantastic job throughout.

so, as a fitting closer to this summer's extra mayhem show, in this, the 20th year since it's original release, this summer's final wholesale album of the week is the replacements' pleased to meet me.]

Track Listing

1. I.O.U. [click here to listen.]
2. Alex Chilton [click here to listen.]
3. I Don't Know
4. Nightclub Jitters
5. The Ledge [click to see the video.]
6. Never Mind
7. Valentine [click here to listen.]
8. Shooting Dirty Pool
9. Red Red Wine
10. Skyway [click here to listen.]
11. Can't Hardly Wait [click here to listen.]

the Replacements - "Can't Hardly Wait" (Tim version) [this is from the second disc of the all for nothing/nothing for all sire records retrospective that came out in the late 90s. "can't hardly wait" had been around for awhile before it finally got its album release on pleased to meet me and had even been recorded for the album tim while bob stinson was still in the band. the lyrics are different and so is the sound - this version, the eventual album version on ptmm and another version called the "airshaft" version (because of its hideous echo - done mostly acoustic and slowed down, also) are the three major recorded versions that exist - not counting numerous live versions.]

That'll do it for this final edition of Extra Mayhem for the summer. I'll talk to you this Wednesday for Indie/Rock Mayhem and starting next week, we'll go back to regular Monday album reviews since I won't be working on this show. Until then, take care.

extra mayhem - 19th august 2007

[tonight's show was a 4 hour long extravaganza which i used as an excuse to do an in-memoriam for the late tony wilson who passed away about a week ago at the age of 57 from a battle with cancer. i featured two wholesale albums for the week, both connected to wilson and his incomparable work in post-punk. i skipped on recording this week's show due to the fractured nature of it (i did one album during the 9 o'clock hour and the second during the traditional 11 o'clock) and am just focusing here on the albums i played. so enjoy.]

The two albums I chose are acceptable markers as bookends for the bulk of Wilson's influence on the Manchester music scene. The first comes from 1990 and is often pointed to as the high-water mark for the Madchester/rave scene that was bubbling over in the late 80s/early 90s. That scene largely grew up out of Wilson's club, the Hacienda, and was driven by great music and a lot of drugs - chiefly ecstasy.

The Happy Mondays were a band that Wilson championed from the get go - Steve Coogan's famous portrayal of Wilson in 24 Hour Party People has him calling Shaun Ryder the best English poet since W.B. Yeats, and while that is certainly a bit of a stretch, Ryder had a thuggish brilliance about him that was hard to ignore. Their masterpiece as a band is 1990's Pills 'N' Thrills & Bellyaches, the Paul Oakenfold/Steve Osbourne produced Madchester manifesto. The production finally gives the Mondays the sympathetic ear that they needed behind the board and the results are an amazingly fun listen. It's impossible to not get caught up in the party feel that permeates the record - and whether you've had experiences on drugs or not, picturing yourself seeing this Mancunian circus live at the Hacienda, or anywhere that they took their mad celebration, is a glorious thought to behold. The first Wholesale album of the week is...

Track Listing

1. Kinky Afro [click here to listen.]
2. God's Cop
3. Donovan
4. Grandbag's Funeral
5. Loose Fit [click here to listen.]
6. Dennis and Lois
7. Bob's Yer Uncle [click here to listen.]
8. Step On [click here to listen.]
9. Holiday
10. Harmony

The second album serves as a marker of the end of the first period in Wilson's influence. Joy Division was a band that, truly, without Wilson's club (his first one - Factory) and his record label (Factory, again) might never have seen the influence and success that they saw. Imagine a world without "Blue Monday"'s reigning influence. One can only assume without Joy Division's success, there would've been no New Order either. The reason I chose their 1980 swan song, Closer, as opposed to the more-name-dropped Unknown Pleasures is because of its promise. Closer is the album that shows Joy Division exploding and preparing to create high-art that went well beyond what their initial genius had created. Martin Hannet came along for the ride as producer, expanding his own work behind the boards to make Closer a more diverse and, ultimately, a much more emotional and moving album than their debut. Even separated from the untimely suicide of Ian Curtis that would follow mere months after the release of the record, it's a cathartic and deep experience. The second Wholesale album of the week is...

Track Listing

1. Atrocity Exhibition
2. Isolation [click here to listen.]
3. Passover
4. Colony
5. A Means to an End [click here to listen.]
6. Heart and Soul
7. Twenty Four Hours [click here to listen.]
8. The Eternal
9. Decades [click here to listen.]

That'll do it for Extra Mayhem. I'll see you all again on Wednesday for Indie/Rock Mayhem. Until then, take care.

extra mayhem - 29th july 2007

[so, i'm back. not fully healed, but enough to warble out another addition of j's extra mayhem. i'm still not sure how normal or abnormal my voice sounds (i guess i should check out the podcast) but i can at least talk and lecture with no pain. so that means that i'll be returning to wednesday night action this week as well. finally.

thanks to jon hatch for covering this show last week and thanks to mad dog and ben berkowitz for covering the wednesday night show in my surgical absence as well.

now. tonight was a good show, so i say, onward.]

J's Extra Mayhem Podcast: 29th July 2007 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
>
Blitzen Trapper - "Devil's A-Go-Go" [from the excellent wild mountain nation which has gotten comparisons to pavement's wowee zowee for its kaleidoscopic mish-mash of genres over its running time. it's a great record and really worth hearing.]
Jarvis Cocker - "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time" [not the kind of unabashed pop that i normally play on sunday nights, but a song that should be one of the best singles of the year, if jason isbell's "dress blues" hadn't thoroughly locked up the #1 spot already. from his self-titled album.]
Johnny Darrell - "Why You Been Gone So Long?" [from darrell's 1969 album of the same name. a great and over looked country-rock workman. his version of this song is lonely and rollicking at the same time.]
Black Moth Super Rainbow - "Spinning Cotton Candy in a Shack Made of Shingles" [more sugary, glittering day-glo pop from the really mesmerizing dandelion gum album. as far as having numerous songs worth playing on air, this album has been full of ready-made singles.]
>
the New Pornographers - "Myriad Harbour" [the first dan bejar song to be released from the forthcoming challengers album due on august 21st. admittedly, i'm a bigger fan of bejar's songs normally than a.c. newman (but i don't mean to slag newman and his pop genius by any means), so i was excited when this was leaked alongside the earlier newman-penned "my rights vs. yours." i'm really excited for the forthcoming album.]
Drive-by Truckers - "18 Wheels of Love" [from their debut album gangstabilly. for sarah, since i have been hipping her to the truckers of late and, in discussing dollywood, brought up this song which tells the story of patterson hood's mother's marriage at dollywood to a truck drivin' man. a beautiful love story if ever there was one.]
Wipers - "When It's Over" [from their 1981 album youth of america. wipers are one of those serious cult bands - my only knowledge of them was through nirvana's cover of their song "d-7." i dug in and found a wealth of great post-punk in their first three albums. a definitely early must-hear from the pacific northwest.]
the Stranglers - "Golden Brown" [from their 1983 album feline. as i said, this was lyricist hugh cornwell's ode to his mediterranean girlfriend and heroin. good for him to find space for both. but a seriously gorgeous song none the less. love that organ. i'm going to talk more about the stranglers in a bit.]
>
Iron and Wine - "Carried Home" [another new song off the new boy with a coin EP that is supposedly serving as a teaser for the forthcoming iron and wine full length later this year. ever since the woman king EP, sam beam has been on a tear and this EP is full of similarly moving work. this song has a hypnotic, trance-like feel as it winds its way through its 6 minutes.]
Negativland - "Christianity is Stupid" [from thier 1987 album escape from noise. another example of negativland's brilliant appropriation of found-sound/recorded audio being worked into music in new ways. no offense, obviously, is meant on my part.]
Lyle Lovett - "She's Already Made Up Her Mind" [from his 1992 album joshua judges ruth. an album that i'd love to feature on the wholesale feature some night. it's my favorite lovett record, which is a bit out of step with conventional wisdom, but i love the sentiment of the album. this song is one of the many, solemn, gorgeous tunes that fills the record.]
Leonard Cohen - "Tonight Will Be Fine" [from his second album, 1969's song from a room. i say '68 on the podcast, but i was thinking of when it was recorded. the jew's harp all over this album has always kinda made me snicker a bit, but the songs are far too lovely. lyrically, as he always is, it's amazing.]

[tonight's wholesale album comes to us from the 1995 britpop movement. as i talk about on the podcast, 'britpop' was as nebulous as the larger genre it was often classified under here in the states in the 90s: 'alternative.' anyone who can remember shopping in camelot music and going straight to the 'alternative' section knows what i'm talking about. but despite their maddeningly inaccurate inclusion in the 'britpop' movement, elastica was successful here in the u.s. (more so in britain, per usual) through a gutsy appropriation of the best parts of angular, sharp post-punk, circa 1979. their similarity to punk-legends wire is no mistake - they were a huge influence and it explodes across the band's self-titled debut.

one of the problems that resulted in this though was a touch of what two bands in particular called plagiarism: wire and the stranglers. wire filed suit against elastica claiming their songs "line up" and "connection" appropriated whole riffs from wire songs (specifically, "i am the fly" and "three girl rhumba"). their accusations are not unfounded. and elastica never really denied them. nor did they deny the accusation that their song "waking up" sounds suspiciously like the stranglers' "no more heroes." but this sort of hijacking of music was something the band claimed was just part of pop-music. that it was always being recycled and it was part of music's natural cycle. debatable, but it made for some really thrilling music in the interim. below the track listing, i've set up an area where you can compare the songs they supposedly plagiarized with the elastica songs.

though this band would only release one more full length (5 years later and to some critical drubbing), this record still sticks out to me as a highlight of the 90s and one of the most exciting records i've heard in my life. tonight's wholesale album of the week is the self-titled album from...]

Track Listing

1. Line Up [click here to listen.] (also included in podcast)*
2. Annie
3. Connection [click here to listen.]#
4. Car Song
5. Smile
6. Hold Me Now
7. S.O.F.T.
8. Indian Song
9. Blue
10. All Nighter
11. Waking Up [click here to listen.]^
12. 2:1
13. See That Animal
14. Stutter [click here to listen.]
15. Never Here [click here to listen.]
16. Vaseline

* compare to Wire - "I Am The Fly" [click to listen.]
# compare to Wire - "Three Girl Rhumba" [click to listen.]
^ compared to The Stranglers - "No More Heroes" [click to listen.]

Elastica - "Spastica" (live) [one of two songs i played from the radio one sessions, a collection of live elastica recordings live at the BBC. it's a great collection for fans of the band as it spreads across their career. these two songs were both recorded around the release of their self-titled album. this song appeared in its studio form as a b-side on the "connection" single.]
Elastica - "Brighton Rock" (live) [another live song. this appeared in its studio form as a b-side to the "waking up" single.]

That'll do it for Extra Mayhem this week. Next week, another mid-90s classic record from an artist that has, unfortunately, not been talked about as much recently either. So tune in on Wednesday for the teaser and I'll see you next week for another edition of Extra Mayhem. Take care.

extra mayhem - 15th july 2007

[wow, alright, so, my first podcast since late june. i'm done cursing the air conditioning, the new board (which i celebrate, not curse), and my impending surgery.

i should be back for my sunday night show on the 29th, but no promises. i will be off of the wednesday night show until early august, but this blog will continue to update in the meanwhile. think of it as a quasi-summer vacation.

thanks to chuck carroll for filling in for me last week. he did a bang-up job. mad dog will be filling in for me this wednesday on indie/rock mayhem and kathy clark next sunday on extra mayhem. meanwhile i'll be plotting a great album for the show on the 29th. now, onward.]

J's Extra Mayhem Podcast: 15th July 2007 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
>
Jason Isbell - "Chicago Promenade" [so i'm now officially obsessed with two songs of of sirens of the ditch, this and "dress blues." the album is a winner through and through and my trip prevented me from catching him in raleigh this past week. so i'm going to lasso him in charlotte in august.]
Blondie - "Hanging On the Telephone" [parallel lines opens with this song - it's blistering, brilliant post-punk that just barrels through the chorus. i love it.]
Helium - "Pat's Trick" [from their first full-length LP, dirt of luck. i first heard helium on an episode of beavis and butt-head when they watched the video for this song. and i actually saw mary timony years ago open for sonic youth. but i'd never explored helium until recently and now i'm a huge fan.]
Love - "Alone Again Or" [winner of the most confusing song-title in rock history award. from the lovely forever changes album. love is an entity all its own, with a sound that stands so rooted in its time period, yet outside of it at the same time. rest in peace, arthur lee.]
>
Black Moth Super Rainbow - "Rollerdisco" [from the excellent dandelion gum, whose praises i can't sing enough of. go get this record now.]
Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise - "Once Upon a Time" [one of my favorite singles of all time - from their self-titled debut. this was a 'buzz bin' video when i was in high school. and the song's historical references, musical allusions and smokey, bluesy singing had me fascinated from day one. i've been underwhelmed by what i've heard by them since, but their first album isn't bad at all.]
Johnny Russell - "Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer" [from the album of the same name. i first heard this song on a great americana show on QFS a few years ago and have had it in the back of my head since. luckily, in my trip this week, i found a vinyl copy of this record and snagged it for my collection. a classic country sing-along anthem.]
Iron Maiden - "The Trooper" [from piece of mind. as an album, i'm more partial to the better produced powerslave, but as far as maiden songs go, "the trooper" is probably my all time favorite. i only pull it out every now and then, but this was one of those times.]
>
Josh Ritter - "Girl in the War" [from 2006's the animal years, a song that has never stopped being amazing. i first heard this on a live radio session recording and drooled over it until this album came out. he'll be playing at guilford college this tuesday as part of the EMF series this summer. and i'm still hoping we can get him in the studio for an interview that afternoon. i'll announce it here if it comes about. stay tuned.]
Tom Waits and Kronos Quartet - "Always Keep a Diamond in Your Mind" (live) [a performance for the healing the divide foundation which works to promote peaceful solutions to various world problems. the 'holiness' waits refers to is the dalai lama who was in attendance at this show in 2005. other mp3s of this pairing of waits and the kronos quartet exist out there, so go hunt them up. well worth hearing.]
Beastie Boys - "14th Street Break" [from the new the mix-up album. instrumental beasties. it's good for you.]
Echo and the Bunnymen - "Silver" [from ocean rain, which sadly is the only echo album i own. but i will rectify that someday. in the meantime, i'll just keep enjoying this one. a. lot.]
Focus - "Hocus Pocus" [many a shambling senior-year party centered around a howling, spirited run through of this song, cranked at 11 on the stereo. if you've never been blessed with this song, from the moving waves album, well, sit back and enjoy. you'll scratch your head. you'll wonder what's going on. then you'll give way to the awesome riffage and intense vocals. that's right. i'm not giving this away. you need to get on the podcast and hear it. now.]

[tonight's wholesale album comes from the halcyon days of 1979. its roots lay in punk, post-punk, the fringes of new-wave, noise, pop and everything else under the british radar at the time. swell maps are a band that have gone criminally neglected in the larger post-punk narrative of rock and roll, yet the work of nikki sudden, epic soundtracks, jowe head and richard earl is essential in understanding bands that came after: a lot of the great indie-rock movement of the late-80s to mid-90s couldn't have happened without swell maps' chaotic, propulsive and dynamic songs. so tonight, we look to their full-length debut. tonight's wholesale album of the week is swell maps' a trip to marineville.]

Track Listing

1. H.S. Art [included in podcast]
2. Another Song
3. Vertical Slum
4. Spitfire Parade
5. Harmony in Your Bathroom [click to listen.]
6. Don't Throw Ashtrays at Me!
7. Midget Submarines [click to listen.]
8. Bridge Head (part nine)
9. Full Moon in My Pocket
10. BLAM!! [click to listen.]
11. Full Moon (reprise)
12. Gun Boats
13. Adventuring into Basketry [click to listen.]
14. My Lil' Shoppes 'Round the Corner

Swell Maps - "Loin of the Surf" [a song from an additional 4-song EP that the band inserted along with the original album. i'm not sure whether these tracks are considered part of the album or not - i would assume not, since the album's closing track has a sort of closing feel to it. but click here to listen and absorb.]
Swell Maps - "International Rescue" [if you purchase the vinyl re-issue of the record, side 4 is a collection of songs recorded around the same time but, ultimately, ended up on no official swell maps release. this is one of them. an incredibly good song - a shame the digital download of the album doesn't include these bonus tracks.]

That'll do it for this week's show. Hope you enjoyed. I'll be back in two weeks like I said, but check for frequent updates here on the blog as I progress through my recovery. Until then, take care.

extra mayhem - 24th june 2007

[a fantastic show tonight. i'm not sure if this is going to be my last extra mayhem for a few weeks or not. the information i was supposed to receive did not arrive. so we'll see. obviously i'll keep you posted right here on the blog.

tonight's wholesale album is one that i'm honestly surprised i didn't examine earlier, but it's by an artist whose 'artistic' credibility has been hampered for no good reason by serious commercial success over the past decade. we'll get to that in a little bit. for now, onward.]

J's Extra Mayhem Podcast: 24th June 2007 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
>
Me and the Sea - "Orchard" [a repeat from the band from midlothian, virginia. i like this song and their work in general is pretty interesting. how they would recreate it in a live setting is interesting also, as i've read they haven't performed live at all yet. in the meantime, check out their myspace for more music.]
Fairport Convention - "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" [my introduction to fairport convention and what an amazing one at that. from the 1969 album unhalfbricking. (see? i said i'd fix it here on the blog.) fairport convention records (at least, the earlier ones with sandy denny and richard thompson still on board) are somewhat hard to come by in brick and mortar stores. so because it doesn't occur to me to just order some, i've yet to own any of their albums.]
George S. Irving - "The Big Toe" [this was the first of two stories from scary stories to tell in the dark, a caedmon record recording of george irving reading stories from the classic childrens scary folklore collection by alvin schwartz. these books frightened me severely as a child and my well-worn paperback copies are a treasured item on my bookshelf. the pen and ink illustrations were the eeriest part - stephen gammell's work has sent a whole generation of children to bed with the worst images ever in their mind. you can see some of the illustrations by clicking here, but the worst ones aren't even there. "the big toe" is second from the left on the top row.]
the Clash - "Safe European Home" [from give 'em enough rope. an inebriated caller wanted to hear some punk rock. fair enough.]
>
the Late Virginia Summers - "Very Heaven" [from the excellent sundowning. i may retire these guys after this week, but they won't be leaving my personal playlist anytime soon. great atmospheric, image heavy music.]
Silver Apples - "Seagreen Serenades" [from their self-titled 1968 debut album. way ahead and out of its time, the only way to experience this record is to hear it. electronic, dronining, hypnotic music that forsaw all sorts of followers in its wake. there's really nothing quite like this album.]
George S. Irving - "Wait 'Til Martin Comes" [another story from the scary stories to tell in the dark recording.]
Tricky - "Ponderosa" [from maxinquaye. clattering, propulsive and hypnotic as well. this was tricky's debut away from massive attack and he came out swinging. a potential for a future wholesale album? you bet.]
>
Jason Isbell - "Dress Blues" [from the forthcoming sirens of the ditch, due out july 10th. i can't say enough about this song. it's note for note just a harrowing, beautiful, perfect song.]
the Melvins - "Eye Flys" [from 1987's gluey porch treatment. the lead track - a dirge of a song. slow, pounding drums and bass lead to an eventual catharsis of caterwauling that never gets above a turgid crawl. this is sludge at its finest.]
Scott Walker - "Buzzers" [from the drift. a percussive drinking-glass clink propels this song along a great deal of its length. it's that or stressed, neurotic string swells that underscore walker's emotive wails. one of the most unique records i've heard in ages.]
Tim Buckley - "Buzzin' Fly" [from 1969's happy sad. gah! i was off by a year! still, a compelling record that weaves its way into your ears slowly but surely. if you've never visited jeff's dad, this isn't a bad place to start.]

[tonight's wholesale album comes from 1974. it's an examination of the South - one that doesn't pull punches or rely on stereotypes. it's as honest as it can be and searches out its truths through the familiar, the universal through the personal. as i said tonight, i chose not to edit the opening track, "rednecks," even with its mutiple uses of a certain racial epitet. my reasons were simple: the context of the song, with newman's characters and their perspectives, was integral to an understanding of the album. to edit the character's voice in the song was to soften and limit our ability to judge for ourselves. so i left the song the way it was written - despite its use of words that i personally don't use. i think listeners are better off for it.

at the end, i also included some tracks from the expanded edition of this album and its predecessor demos, johnny cutler's birthday. here, newman elaborates on his ideas behind the songs, his intentions for their stories, his meanings and his fears. it's here, in a section that i did not air, that newman airs his fears about being perceived as stereotyping - something he wants to avoid. these tracks are an unmatched look into the writing process for newman and for those of us already familiar with the album, a great tool to dissect newman's intentions and ideas. i hope you enjoy them. tonights' wholesale album of the week is...]

Track Listing

1. Rednecks [click to listen.]
2. Birmingham
3. Marie [click to listen.]
4. Mr. President (Have Pity on the Working Man) [click to listen.]
5. Guilty
6. Louisiana 1927 [click to listen.]
7. Every Man a King
8. Kingfish
9. Naked Man
10. A Wedding in Cherokee County
11. Back on My Feet Again
12. Rollin'

Randy Newman - "The Joke" [here is the first of four tracks i played from the expanded edition of good old boys. here, newman expounds a little bit on the concept of johnny cutler's birthday and where he was going exactly. this is one of eight songs that didn't make it onto the eventual album, but were being demoed for possible inclusion at this point.]
Randy Newman - "My Daddy Knew Dixie Howell" [another of the songs demoed but ultimately left on the cutting room floor.]
Randy Newman - "Shining" [if there is any song that it's a shame didn't make the final cut, it's this one. written from the point of view of marie (the 'marie' being sung to in the song "marie"), it's a devastating song that is full of extreme empathy. it and the also demoed "good morning" serve to give a very different look to the character of johnny cutler, the one who sang "marie." without them, the context of the song shifts, giving johnny a flawed, but helplessly-in-love look to his character. with them, he becomes more dispicable and unlikeable. i'm not sure which i prefer. but it speaks to newman's strength as a songwriter that even without the support of those songs, "marie" stands on its own as an amazing piece. click here to listen to "shining."]
Randy Newman - "Marie" [here is newman demoing "marie." the melody between verses is slightly different and i almost wish he had saved that approach. the song is even more gorgeous minus the heavy strings the album version has (also see the "demo" version included at the end of the first disc of the expanded edition). all in all a wonderful look at a wonderful album.]

That'll do it for today. Look for my review of the new 49 Admiral album tomorrow and also an update on my status for this week's shows. Until then, take care.