First up, London by way of Los Angeles by way of Wichita, Kansas Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra did the great song "Kiss the Sky" featuring Nino Moschella who sounds remarkably like a woman from his new album Voices and Choices (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). Then listening to "Kiss the Sky" reminded me so much of an old track from San Francisco's Handsome Boy Modeling School called "The Truth" which featured Roslin from the band Moloko and hip-hop artist J-Live from their 1999 So... How's Your Girl? (iTunes, Amazon). Next was Chicago's 1900's doing a couple of great pop songs from their debut EP Plume Delivery (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon), we heard "Bring the Good Boys Home" and "Whole of the Law". Next was Los Angeles' indie-pop band Irving with two 5-star songs from their most recent album Death in the Garden, Blood on the Flowers (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon), we heard "The Gentle Preservation of Children's Minds" and "Jen, Nothing Matters to Me". And finally Brooklyn's own fantastic Elizabeth Harper (not to be confused Dennis Kucinich's wife of the same name) did "Let Me Take You Out" from her great self-titled debut album (iTunes). This episode features a hilarious bit of April-fools-day-foolery from On The Media (podcast), as well as a clip from Real Time with Bill Maher (podcast).
First up, the fantastic Hawaii-born, California-based Simone White did an awesome song called "The American War" from her forthcoming album Beekeeping: The Gentle Craft, but for now you can get it on a Kill Rock Stars compilation called The Sound the Hare Heard (eMusic, Amazon). The other noteworthy song on that compilation was from Detroit's Aliccia BB, who did "Best Friend Forever" which will be on her forthcoming album. If Aliccia BB sounds familiar, it's probably because of her involvement with low-fi favorites Slumber Party. I played a remix of their song "Electric Boots" several years ago (on 7/5/04), but today we heard the original version, from the album 3 (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). Next we heard some new stuff from the Apples in Stereo. They haven't had the best output in a few years, but their new album New Magnetic Wonder (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon) is pretty good. We heard their best song in years "Energy" and another good cut "Play Tough". And finally indie-darling Andrew Bird's new album Armchair Apocrypha (iTunes, Amazon) comes out tomorrow, and while like almost all of his recent stuff I find most of it rather boring, there is one awfully good track called "Heretics". This week's episode features clips from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (which can be seen in full here) and Real Time with Bill Maher (podcast).
First up, Boston's wedding and event DJ turned amazicrazy mashup master DJ BC did a mix of They Might Be Giants' "Don't Let Start", Will Smith's "Party Starter", and Pink's "Get the Party Started" with his song "They Might Be Starting" (free download) which I have been enjoying emensely since hearing it on They Now, the unoffial TMBG podcast. Next two tracks from Portland's The Blow, we heard "Parantheses" and "True Affection" both from their album Paper Television (eMusic, iTunes, Amazon). Next country/bluegrass specialists Iron Horse have added a Shins tribute to their repetoire, and you know how I'm a sucker for the Pickin' On... series, so we heard "Saint Simon" and "New Slang" from their album (eMusic, iTunes, Amazon). And finally a cut from the new less-than-awesome Air record Pocket Symphony, we heard one of the better songs "Mer du Japon" (iTunes, Amazon). This week's episode features clips from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (which can be seen in full here) and Real Time with Bill Maher (podcast).
(SPECIAL EGYPT EPISODE!!) I'm on vacation in Egypt right now, so you know what that means... First up, New York DJ Nickodemus did "Cleopatra in New York" from his album Endangered Species (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). Next England's original new wave standard bearers The Cure with a really early track from their second album Boys Don't Cry (iTunes, Amazon) called "Fire in Cairo". Then Egypt's own Ali Hassan Kuban did "Mabruk" which can be found on, among other things, From Nubia to Cairo (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). Next cult-favorite 60's girl-group The Tammys did "Egyptian Shumba" which an be found on a collection of theirs called Egyptian Shumba: The Singles and Rare Recordings 1962-1964 (Amazon). Then Canada's Hot Hot Heat did "In Cairo" from their 2002 album Make Up the Breakdown (iTunes, Amazon). Next UK physicist and didgeridoo street busker Dr. Graham Wiggins aka Dr. Didg did "King Tut" from his album Out of the Woods (iTunes, Amazon). Then Michigan's indie folk hero Wally Pleasant did "Cleopatra" from his 2nd-most recent album Hoedown (internets). And finally the UK's Phil Thornton and Hossan Ramzy did "On the Road to Alexandria" from their album Enchanted Egypt (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). This episode features clips from the movies Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Marie Antoinette.
(SPECIAL SEASON 4 PREMIERE, EXTRA-LONG, MULITi-SONG-BY-EACH-BAND EPISODE!) First up, two songs from the self-titled debut album by Kentucky's Ideal Free Distribution (eMusic, Amazon). We heard "Saturday Drive" and "Elegant Sunbeam". Next up, my new neighbor here in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (by way of Albuquerque, New Mexico), and a very exciting new band: Beirut. We heard two versions of the same song, "Scenic World." The first being the version from the debut album Gulag Orkestar (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon), and the next from the Lon Gisland EP (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon), which is much more representative of their David-Bern-meets-Eastern-Europe sound. Then we heard the only two songs I actively like from Georgia natives and TSiMH favorites Of Montreal's new album Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). We heard "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger" and "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse". And finally we heard three of my favorite songs from the debut album Belles & Missiles (iTunes, CD Baby) by a new band (also from Athens) whose name is as good as their music: Ice Cream Socialists. First "Zagnut's Revenge", then the Paquabell-esque "Luv Dem Cannonballz", and finally "Day of the Danny".This episode features clips from comedian Jeff Caldwell, comedian Tom Mabe, and the movie Bulworth (Amazon).

(SPECIAL BONUS F-TRAIN/PARK SLOPE EPISODE!) With Daniel and Kelli moving from their lovely brownstone abode in Park Slope (right off the F-Train) to a new loft in Williamsburg, it's time for a special F-Train/Park Slope episode. First the outstanding nearby old-timey western/bluegrass outfit known as The Cobble Hillbillies (an awesome name for a western band based in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn) did their ode to our shared connection to the world: the "F-Train" from their self-titled debut EP (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). Next another local band who plays a lot on the F-Train and various platforms around Brooklyn called The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn did an old favorite standard of mine "I'll Fly Away" from their album Good Night Harry. Then Park Slope and Williamsburg based, TSiMH favorites The Might Be Giants did "Brooklyn" which name-checks both the F and the L trains, as well as the Gowanus Canal (respek!), from their Venue Songs album (TMBG digital store). Next the late great Elliott Smith did the song "Bled White" about riding the F-Train from his album XO (iTunes, Amazon). Then ex-Soul Cougher Mike Doughty did "Thank You, Lord, for Sending Me the F Train" from his double-album Skittish / Rockity Roll (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). Then Ben Kweller (who lives down the street) did a song called "My Apartment" about his, well, apartment, and taking the F to and from it, found on his album On My Way (iTunes, Amazon). And finally my favorite Death Cab for Cutie song and one of the most listened to songs in my iTunes circa 2001-02, about the final destination of Brooklyn-bound F-Trains "Coney Island", from their The Photo Album (iTunes, Amazon). This episode features a clip from Bill Hicks talking about his apartment in NYC from his album Love, Laughter, and Truth (iTunes, Amazon).
(LAST NORMAL EPISODE OF THE YEAR!) First up New York City-based Asobi Seksu (a name that is Japanese slang for 'playful sex') did "New Years" from their fantastic album Citrus (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). Then a flash-back from last year this time, New York City's Nellie McKay's new album Pretty Little Head (iTunes, Amazon) is FINALLY out having been back-burnered for a year, and we heard "Food" from it. Next we heard a great Eugene Chadbourne cover by TSiMH favorite Luna called "Happy New Year" from their recent covers collection Lunafied (iTunes). And finally we heard a couple of tracks from the forthcoming, totally awesome album from Portland's The Shins called Wincing the Night Away (iTunes, Amazon). First we heard "Australia" followed by "Phantom Limb", the ladder being the first single (iTunes, Amazon) which is available now.