J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 22nd September 2010

[Welcome to another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. Tonight's show marks the first of the official fall semester schedule and, as a result, my 11th anniversary as a DJ at WQFS. And I could think of no better way to celebrate 11 years than by doing a great interview with Jonathan Moore of Romancer as a kick off to the annual GreensboroFest weekend which starts tomorrow. More information about that below.

WQFS is bringing you the fantastic Wavves next Tuesday night, 8 PM, at the Guilford College cafeteria. The show also features Christmas Island and Greensboro's own Mutant League. It's a free show with, get this, free pizza and soda for all concert goers as well. It's a must-see show with a must-eat incentive, so make sure you come down and hang with us next Tuesday, September 28th, at the Guilford College cafeteria.

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

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 22nd September 2010 show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
>
Lower Dens - "Hospice Gates" [from twin-hand movement. if you weren't at the WQFS sponsored free show here on campus last friday night to catch lower dens, well, you missed out. they put on a stellar performance and i really hope they'll come back around soon.]
Mansun - "Negative" [from six. one of the weirder bands of the britpop era - way more influenced by prog-rock and trad-rock, but their first two albums - this one and its predecessor, attack of the grey lantern, are simply fantastic.]
Casual Curious - "Garden" [from their self-titled LP. one of the bands playing as part of greensboro fest. they'll be playing tomorrow night, thursday, september 23rd, at legitimate business.]
Romancer - "I Wanna Get High" [a new recording that jonathan brought in. romancer will be playing friday night at the lyndon street gallery.]

[Here's where I spoke with Jonathan Moore of Romancer, one of a whole slew of bands playing at the annual GreensboroFest which kicks off tomorrow night. Jonathan and his music are no stranger to my show - he's been interviewed before in addition to being a member of two mainstays of local music on my show, Tiger Bear Wolf and Health. We talked about Romancer, what all that project is about, the legacy of Tiger Bear Wolf, GreensboroFest, Greensboro music and a lot more. Enjoy.]

Romancer - "The World is Exploding" (live) [a live performance by jonathan in studio. click here to download the performance. like most all of romancer's stuff, a great little pop song.]
Secret Message Machine - "Drug Store Bums" [from orphanville. they're playing on sunday night at legitimate business as part of greensboro fest.]
Decoration Ghost - "Father's Fists" [from the haze of wine and age. they're playing saturday night at studio b at the broach theatre. they're also playing tomorrow night, thursday, at the green bean as part of embarrassing fruit's CD release show. not related to greensborofest, but still a great opportunity for great live music.]
Romancer - "We've Got All Summer" (live) [another live song, this one even more lively than the last. click here to download.]
>
Megafaun - "Heretofore" [the title track from their new EP. well, this piece of perfection is finally out. i really can't say enough good things about it, so let me rave about their show this past weekend as part of the duke performances series. i knew i was in for something special when it was announced that megafaun, fight the big bull, sharon van etten and justin vernon would be doing reinterpretations of songs from alan lomax's sounds of the south collection, but i truly wasn't prepared for how amazing it was. can't wait to hear the live recordings that are going to be released of it in the near future.]
Dr. Dog - "Shadow People" [from shame, shame. a record that i haven't spent as much time with as i'd like, but a great band and a very good song.]
Twin Sister - "Lady Daydream" [from color your life. i hadn't played any twin sister in awhile, but then i got an email about them appearing on the shaking through webseries and was reminded how much i love this band. song of the year? maybe.]
the Kingsbury Manx - "And What Fallout!" [from the fast rise and fall of the south. another great north carolina band i saw at the hopscotch festival the other weekend. love this song.]
>
Steve Wynn and Miracle 3 - "Resolution" [from the forthcoming northern aggression which will be out in november. i haven't had a chance to go through the album yet, but this opening track is dynamic and really, really good. we'll be hearing more.]
Drive-by Truckers - "Drag the Lake Charlie" [from the big to-do. one of the great songs from the new album that the truckers played up in raleigh this past sunday. if you've never seen the truckers live, do yourself a favor and go do it. even if you're only passingly familiar with them, they are a sight to behold.]
Stornoway - "I Saw You Blink" [from beachcomber's windowsill. one of my favorite albums of this year. this song reminds me, especially, of the stone roses and that's a very, very good thing.]
Fountains of Wayne - "New Routine" [from traffic and weather. got an email last week announcing that fountains of wayne are doing a mini-tour and putting the finishing touches on their new album. can't wait to hear it.]
>
Superchunk - "Everything at Once" [from majesty shredding. i find this a little hard to believe, but i guess it's true. superchunk were on jimmy fallon's late night show the other night and it was the first time the band made a network tv appearance in sixteen years. so to add a special touch to their performance of "digging for something" from the new album, they did a web-only exclusive performance of on the mouth's "precision auto." yes, they still rock that hard. check it out.]
Wavves - "Mickey Mouse" [from king of the beach. like i mentioned above (and as the PSA before this song announces), we're hosting this band live next tuesday at the guilford cafeteria. make sure to be there.]
Anika - "Yang Yang" [from her new self-titled album. got this mp3 in email today and was drawn in by the fact that a) stones throw records was distributing it, b) this woman had worked with a member of portishead and c) something about her being a political writer. sold! we'll be hearing more, hopefully.]
Caleb Caudle and the Bayonets - "Honest Eyed Woman" [from snake river canyon. another band you might have missed last friday night at the green bean and should regret it. make up for it. they'll be at nightlight in chapel hill tomorrow, thursday, september 23rd and at the garage in winston-salem on friday, september 24th.]
>
the Walkmen - "Juveniles" [from lisbon. their new album is fantastic and we'll be hearing a lot more from this record over the next few weeks.]
Nanci Griffith - "I Would Bring You Ireland" (live) [from the one fair summer's evening live record. i've always loved this rendition of this song and this record is one of my favorite griffith albums in general. beautiful stuff.]

That'll do it for this week. Thanks to Jonathan Moore for stopping by and I'll see you guys out at GreensboroFest shows this weekend. Until then, Go Panthers!, and take care.

J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 14th October 2009

[Welcome to another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. It always feels good to get back after a week off and this week was no exception. I was joined in-studio by Cara Craig and Mike Wallace, co-organizers of this year's Greensborofest. It was fun to have them up and to get a listen to just a small handful of the bands who are going to be playing the four day event, starting tomorrow, Thursday, October 15th at Dana Auditorium here at Guilford College at 8pm. All the shows are free, so make sure you get out and celebrate Greensboro music.

Now, while the going's good, onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 14th October 2009 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
>
A Place to Bury Strangers - "It Is Nothing" [from the new exploding head. i saw these guys live last week and was completely wowed by their stage show. they get called out for channeling jesus and mary chain and things like that, but i hear touches of big black and public image limited in what they do as well. in other words, it's very good.]
Brother Ali - "The Preacher" [from us. i haven't paid a lot of attention to ali before, though that's to my detriment seeing as the rhymesayers scene from minneapolis is one of the best hip-hop scenes in the nation, without question.]
Spoon - "Small Stakes" [from kill the moonlight. one of the ongoing decade albums over at aquarium drunkard where we're going through our favorite albums of the 2000s. read the piece on it here. i'll be featuring the albums that went up the previous week here on the show each week. so stay tuned.]
Black Moth Super Rainbow - "Born on a Day the Sun Didn't Rise" [from eating us. i got this song stuck in my head the other day. maybe it's because i'm longing for the summer again in the midst of this cold, grey autumn rain we've been in the middle of for the last week. i guess i'll have to turn on my heat tonight finally. or else crank this album.]
>
Lake Inferior - "Johnny B" [from the forthcoming pegasaur 10". one of my favorite north carolina bands right now and they're doing an album relese show for this EP on november 12th at the local 506 in chapel hill. i'll be there. no doubt.]
the Church - "Columbus" [from heyday. in honor of monday having been columbus day. such a complex holiday for so many reasons. at least we got an awesome song out of it.]
Built to Spill - "Planting Seeds" [from the new there is no enemy. they'll be at the cats cradle in carborro this sunday, october 18th, so go check out one of the best live shows out there. wish i were going. show overload that week.]
the Bronzed Chorus - "Underpass Sunrise" [from i'm the spring. i don't get into instrumental bands very often, but these guys are a lot of fun everytime i go see them live or give the records a listen. greensboro, represent.]
>
Finn Riggins - "Furs" [from the new vs. wilderness. we had their last album in rotation up here at QFS and this new one is even more fantastic. we'll be hearing more.]
Danger Mouse and Jay-Z - "Change Clothes" [from the now legendary the grey album. this was my first entry for the aquarium drunkard decade series. this album seriously changed a lot about music, or at least was the most public face of that change. read my piece here. great, great stuff.]
the Glands - "Livin' Was Easy" [from their self-titled 2000 album. this was the head drunkard's first entry in the decade series and honestly i've never listened to this band before, but i need to get on it after hearing this. check it out here.]
Bon Iver - "Skinny Love" [from for emma, forever ago. this really is one of the most beautifully crafted albums this decade and i agree every bit with people who put it on their list of best albums. check out j. crosby's piece on it here.]
>
the Flaming Lips - "Convinced of the Hex" [from embryonic. i'll be honest - i've not really been super jazzed about new flaming lips albums in awhile. yoshimi.., for all its glory, was underwhelming for me and at war with the mystics was practically unlistenable. but embryonic, while not hearkening back to my favorite flaming lips era by any means, is at least challenging and interesting. i'm still trying to figure out what i think of it, but it's certainly one of the most unique releases of this year.]
My Morning Jacket - "Mahgeetah" [from it still moves. another of the decade posts from aquarium drunkard. i've never been as keen on this album as i was on at dawn, but a great song is a great song and this one in particular is pretty moving. my morning jacket is a band that has truly laid out some masterful work this decade.]

[Here's where I did an interview with Cara Craig and Mike Wallace, co-organizers of this year's Greensborofest. Greensborofest is a yearly four-night festival that celebrates everything great about Greensboro music - all the shows are free, at different venues and feature a range of styles. Greensboro fest has a great lineup and Cara, Mike and I talked about how long the festival has been going, how they got involved, who all is playing and what to expect. A fun time with fun people. Also, since we didn't play bands from these nights, Saturday night's show starts at 8pm at the Green Bean with Basalt, Sugar High Gang and Rough Hands and then continues at Westerwood Tavern at 11 with Mutant League. Sunday afternoon also features an early show, 5:30pm, at My Favorite Things with Our Horse Jethro, JP Smith Jazz Unit and Sundrone.]

Romancer - "The World is Exploding" [romancer is a band featuring former members of health and is a pretty great little group. they'll be playing thursday night at dana auditorium at guilford college. 8pm start time.]
Secret Message Machine - ? [sorry for not knowing the name of this song, but you can ask the band themselves on thursday night at the guilford college show alongside romancer, yank yer blue jeans and computer geek salad.]
Casual Curious - ? [another apology for not knowing the song name, but ask the band on friday night at 8pm when they play at the lyndon st. artworks along with workday schoolnight, genghis khan, pens and needles, and treason; a dj dance party will follow also with l in japanese, tim trouble and harley lyles.]
>
Kaleidoscope Death - "Cinder" [another excellent band. they'll be playing on sunday night at legitimate business alongside low sky, resister, pinche gringo and torch runner. show starts at 8:30.]
Lucero - "The Devil and Maggie Chascarillo" [from 1372 overton park. i've never really gotten into lucero the way some people have, but i like what i'm hearing on this album. maybe it'll change my tunes. the love and rockets references don't hurt either.]
Sunny Day Real Estate - "In Circles" [from the diary re-issue. both this album and its follow up, LP2, have gotten nice reissues. this is one of my favorite songs by them, so of course it gets a play.]
Travis - "Writing to Reach You" [from the man who. this was my second contribution to the aquarium drunkard decade pieces and the comments were interesting. glad there were a number of folks who shared my love of this album. especially this song. man, it's brilliant.]
>
Vic Chesnutt - "Dick Cheney" [from skitter on take-off. this is vic's second new album of this year, this one a collaboration with jonathan richman. this song sounds mostly like vic with himself, but it's a fantastic analysis of our former vice president. vic and his at the cut / north star deserter band will be at the soapbox in wilmington on halloween, a saturday evening. i'm thinking i'm heading down there to catch him because that backing band and those albums are too much to believe.]
J.K. and Company - "Christine" [from suddenly one summer. i'm really blown away by these tracks and you can check them out over at drunkard. i'd never heard of this 1968 album and band, but it sounds so far ahead of its time in weird, exciting ways. i love it. you could've told me it was recorded this year and i wouldn't have batted an eye.]
Unrest - "West Coast Love Affair" [from perfect teeth. a band that only really put out two LPs in the early 90s and then were done, but it's an amazing mix of early 90s indie, power-pop, krautrock hypnotism and sunny vocals. we will have to hear a lot more.]

That'll do it for this week. I'll be back next week with my first interview-free show in some time and tons of new music. Until then, Go Panthers!, and take care.

J's Indie/Rock Mayhem - 1st October 2008

[Welcome to another edition of J's Indie/Rock Mayhem. Tonight's episode is pretty talk heavy as it focused largely on this weekend's GreensboroFest 2008. I was joined in studio by the festival's current organizer, Kemp Stroble, as well as a spread of musicians who are playing various nights of the festival: Nicky of Basalt, Molly McGinn and Adam Thorn. Each played a live song and it was fantastic.

So, a head's up - as I said, this episode is big on talk, smatterings of live music and recorded music of bands playing the Greensboro fest and bookended by new music. The regular two-hour smorgasbord will be back next week. Now, onward.]

J's Indie/Rock Podcast: 1st October 2008 Show

Theme Song - Peaches - "Rock Show"
>
the Broken West - "Auctioneer" [from now or heaven. i'm kicking myself for not getting to this show last week, but what can I say. i love this album.]
Mclusky - "Dethink to Survive" [from do dallas. ex-mclusky members' new band, future of the left, is playing next tuesday at greene street here in greensboro. i'm so excited.]
Alejandro Escovedo - "Real as an Animal" [from real animal. alejandro is going to be at the cat's cradle in chapel hill on thursday, october 23rd.]
Pulp - "Like a Friend" [originally put onto the great expectations soundtrack, this got tacked onto the american release of this is hardcore and thankfully so. it's a clever song - "like a film that's so bad, but i've got to stay 'til the end / let me tell you now, it's lucky for you that we're friends."]
the Henry Clay People - "Living in Debt" [from their forthcoming for cheap or for free album, out on autumn tone records.]

[So, the interviews start here with Kemp, who sat in on all of the interviews to talk about GreensboroFest, and Nicky of Basalt. We talk about her songwriting origins, her relatively late start in life at actually playing instruments and I inadvertently stick my foot my mouth and call her old, all while just analyzing the band's name. Good job, J. Basalt plays Sunday night at Square One (corner of Glenwood and Grove in Greensboro) as part of the final night of GreensboroFest. Starts at 7pm.]

Basalt - "Andre Breton" (live on WQFS) [Click here to listen.]

Tiger Bear Wolf - "I Bed Down" [from their self-titled album. tiger bear wolf will be playing tonight, thursday, october 2nd, at the greenleaf coffee co-op in the basement of mary hobbs dorm on guilford college campus as part of the first night of greensborofest. show starts at 8pm.]
Citified - "Secret Knock" [from their self-titled EP. citified will be playing sunday night at square one as part of the final night of greensborofest, sunday, october 5th. show starts at 7pm.]

[Next came Molly McGinn. We talked about the burgeoning Greensboro music scene, what exactly a Buster Dilly is, and who she's enjoyed working with of late. We also had a couple of figurative group hugs during this segment. Molly is playing at the Saturday evening show at 7pm at the Lyndon Street Artworks as part of GreensboroFest.]

Molly McGinn - "Put Your Woman On" (live on WQFS) [Click here to listen.]

Dawn Chorus - "Ocean is Wide" [from disappearing dawn chorus. dawn chorus is playing on saturday night, at the 10pm show at the blind tiger, as part of greensborofest.]

[Finally, Adam Thorn. This is Adam's second visit to the show. We talked about - well - I'm not really sure. We kinda went all over the place. Adam is playing tonight at the Greenleaf Coffee co-op on Guilford College campus. Show starts at 8pm]

Adam Thorn - "Throwing It All Away" (live on WQFS) [Click here to listen.]

Boa Narrow - "Dear Mr. Stevie Wonder" [from as the boa narrows. they'll be playing friday night at the flatiron as part of the 10pm show for greensborofest.]
the Bronzed Chorus - "War of the Bees" [from thurtythurthy. they'll be playing on sunday at square one as part of the 7pm show for greensborofest.]
>
Blitzen Trapper - "Black River Killer" [from furr. my interview with eric earley of blitzen trapper is now up over at aquarium drunkard. go check it out.]
Bombadil - "Julian of Norwich" [from a buzz, a buzz. songs about women writers of the middle ages in england - gotta love it.]
Reigning Sound - "Stormy Weather" [from time bomb high school. aquarium drunkard turned me onto these guys last week and it's been all downhill since. man alive.]
A.A. Bondy - "Black Rain, Black Rain" [from american hearts. bondy was immaculate as always last night up in chapel hill. he's coming back in november, again to local 506, so i would highly recommend you be there to check him out.]

That'll do it for this week. Thanks so much to Kemp, Nicky, Molly and Adam for coming up to talk and I will see you all at GreensboroFest shows throughout the weekend. Until next time, Go Panthers! and take care.