(LAST SHOW OF SEASON FOUR!) First up, Wales' answer to Architecture in Helsinki, Los Campesinos! did "We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives" from their debut Sticking Fingers Into Sockets EP (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). Then we heard two excellent songs from London's Noah and the Whale, first their incredible "5 Years Time" then a song for Christmas called "Rocks and Daggers". The former can be bought on a fine 7" from here, and the latter can be found on their Myspace page. Definitely watch the video for "5 Years Time" on YouTube. Next NYC's Quintus did their 70's infused "Old Guitar" from their largely mediocre The Shape We're In EP (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). Then Florida's Black Kids did "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You" from their debut Wizard of Ahhhs EP (free download). Next Dallas' indie pop makers The Happy Bullets did the title-track from their album The Vice and Virtue Ministry (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). And finally NYC's soon-to-be-huge and one of my new favorite bands Vampire Weekend did a live version "M 79", a song which will be on their debut album when it comes out next month. In the meantime you can download the studio performance of it as well as 3 other songs for free from the Daytrotter Session website. This episode contains clips from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (Amazon, Netflix) and from The Rachell Maddow Show where she mentioned Alan Keys inclusion in the final Iowa Republican debate where she mentioned this interview.
(SPECIAL CHRISTMAS EPISODE!) We start with some excellent mashups from last years A Very Bootie Christmas album (FREE download!), which is not only a must-have, but also free making it that much better! It was hard for me to pick what to play from it, but ultimately went with "Are You Gonna Stop the White Xmas" by Bad Tattoo and "Christmas in Boston" by Go Home Productions. Next we heard two songs from 2 of the 3 Hark! The Filthy Angels Sing (FREE download!) christmas compilations which can also be downloaded in their entirety for free we heard a "Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight)" (a Ramones cover) by Britain's Helen Love and "December Will Be Magic Again" (a Kate Bush cover) by Wojtek Godzisz also from the UK (a band i would never play if that song weren't completely unlike anything else he's ever shat out). Then California's The Bird and the Bee did "Carol of the Bells" a single track released just this year and given away free in iTunes for a while. Then TSiMH favorite Norway's Erlend Øye did "Last Christmas" a partial Wham cover from an out of print compilation called Seasonal Greetings (Amazon) but is fairly easy to find on the internets. Then UK's The Puppini Sisters did "Jingle Bells" from their EP by the same name which came out this year (iTunes, Amazon). Next was Boston's Aberdeen City doing a cover of one of my favorite xmas songs, Low's "Just Like Christmas" (FREE download!). Then the UK's KIDS Allstarz did "Merry Xmas Everybody" (a Slade cover), from the record label compilation The Best KIDS Christmas Album in the World Ever Ever Ever!!! (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). And finally, one last free xmas download, this one offered by NYC's own Nellie McKay and called "Christmas Dirge" (FREE download!). This episode features clips from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (Netflix, Amazon). Other free christmas mashup albums are offered by Boston's DJ BC here and here.
(SPECIAL ORIGINALS EPISODE!) In this episode I played uncommon original versions of songs that I like later versions of, be they songs that have been well-covered or cleverly-sampled. First up we heard the song "Sho Nuff" by Fatboy Slim from the single for his classic "Praise You" (iTunes, Amazon) which was created in part using samples from the original song "Jeans On" by David Dundas from his self-titled 1977 album, that can be obtained on a compilation called Naughty By Nice (Amazon). Next, we heard the original version of "Tainted Love", most popular by the 80's new wave band Soft Cell (Amazon, iTunes), we heard the version from 1964 recorded by Gloria Jones (Amazon). Then Blondie's "The Tide is High" (Amazon, iTunes) has always been one of my favorites, but it's actually by reggae legend John Holt, whose original version we heard, from his album Anthology: John Holt - The Tide is High, 1962-1979 (iTunes, Amazon). Then, rounding out the 80s, we heard the original version of 80's dance party favorite "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow (iTunes, Amazon, eMusic), the original provided by The Strangeloves with a version that can be found on I Want Candy: The Best of The Strangeloves (iTunes, Amazon). Then TSiMH favorites The Go! Team's "The Wrath of Marcie" from their new album Proof of Youth (iTunes, Amazon) was created in part by sampling the song "Turn it Around in Your Mind" by the Rhinestone Cowboy himself Glen Campbell and can be found on his 1977 record The Glen Campbell Goodtime Album (iTunes). And finally, They Might Be Giants did "Yeah, Yeah" from their album Mink Car (Amazon, eMusic), which is a cover of Georgie Fame's "Yeh, Yeh" which can be found on his album Get Away With: The Very Best of George Fame and the Blue Flames (Amazon, eMusic).
(SPECIAL GUEST-HOSTED BY ROB WALKER ST. JAMES INFIRMARY EPISODE!) In this episode, prolific writer Rob Walker (NO Notes, NY Times Magazine: Consumed Columnist, murketing.com, and book) takes us on a guided tour of his favorite song: "Saint James Infirmary."
First up, the quintessential rendition of "St. James Infirmary" by Louis Armstrong which can be found on any umber of compilations (eMusic, iTunes, Amazon). Next, a version by Jack Teagarden which is on his album Father of Jazz Trombone (eMusic, iTunes, Amazon). Then a version by Pérez Prado from which can be obtained on his album Voodoo Suite (iTunes, Amazon). Then a version by TV's Andy Griffith which you can get on his album What it is Andy Griffith (Amazon). Next was a version called "St. James Infirmary Blues" by The White Stripes from their self-titled debut (eMusic, iTunes, Amazon). Then a version by Snooks Eaglin from the album New Orleans Street Singer (eMusic, iTunes, Amazon). Then a version called "The Dyin' Crapshooter's Blues" by Blind Willie McTell from among other things Atlanta Twelve String (iTunes, Amazon). Next was a version by Ingrid Lucia & The Flying Neutrinos from the album Live from New Orleans (iTunes, Amazon). Then a version from Saturday Night Live by Lily Tomlin which is available in the Complete First Season collection (iTunes, Amazon). And finally, perhaps Rob's favorite version, one called "Those Gamblers' Blues" by bluesman Jimmie Rodgers on Recordings 1927-1933 (eMusic, iTunes, Amazon). In this episode Rob mentions a Betty Boop cartoon featuring Cab Calloway performing "St. James Infirmary," you can watch that part of said cartoon here.
First up, NYC's own up-and-coming indie heros Vampire Weekend did "Mansard Roof", the title-track from their recent 2 song EP (iTunes, eMusic). While in Paris I may have missed Vampire Weekend, but I made it in time for The Shins, so we heard a remix of their song "Austrailia" by Bjorn (of Sweden's Peter, Bjorn and John), which can be found on the recently released benefit complication Big Change: Songs for FINCA (iTunes) which is not only inexpensive, but for a great cause. What? The Shins aren't a big enough draw? How's about we lay down other great unreleased songs by Norah Jones, Rogue Wave, M. Ward, Antony and The Johnsons, and Tokyo Police Club? Still not convinced to shell out the $8? Ok, well take a listen to this gem from Brooklyn's Beirut called "My Night With the Prostitute from Marseille" from the same album. Now you better pay up! Next we heard two covers of Belle & Sebastian songs from a compilation called Century of Covers - Belle & Sebastian Tribute (download here). First was a radically different take on "Ease Your Feet in the Sea" done by Belgium's Austin Lace, then a charming version of "I'm a Cuckoo" by Sweden's Billie the Vision & The Dancers. Next Chicago's Office, who I played a couple of years ago, have a new album called A Night at the Ritz (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon), consisting primarily of old songs which have been re-recorded. One of the songs I played previously was "Oh My", we here it again on this show, but the new version. And finally, East Los Angeles' Quetzal did a song perhaps more likely to be found on Ritmo Latino than TSiMH called "No Te Ofendas" from their album Die Cowboy Die (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). This episode features clips from an episode of The Family Guy called "Mother Tucker" which you can watch a clip from here.
First up, ex-Concrete Victoria Bergsman's new band Taken By Trees has released their new album Open Field (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon), from which we heard "Hours Pass Like Centuries". Next Brooklyn's own Les Chauds Lapins (who do wonderful renditions of French classics) did two songs from their debut album Parlez-Moi D'amour (CD Baby), we heard "Swing Troubadour" and "Mon Rêve C'etait Vous". Then Berlin's Stereo Total did "Baby Revolution" from their recent album Paris-Berlin (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). Next Scotland's indie rock the 1990's (not to be confused with a band I played a while ago caled 1900's) did two good songs from their remarkably hit-and-miss debut album Cookies (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). Then Sweden's Envelopes did "Smoke in the Desert, Eating the Sand, Hiding in the Grass" from their forthcoming new record, and current single by the same name (iTunes, eMusic). And finally Brooklyn's Elizabeth Harper who I played not too long ago has a new EP The Covent of the Immaculate Heart which contains a remix of her fantastic song "Let Me Take You Out" which I played previously. We heard that remix, perhaps consider picking up her self-titled album (iTunes). This episode features clips from CNN's The Situation Room about Bush seeking billions more for his Iraq adventure just after vetoing funding for children's healthcare (watch the whole clip here). And a series of clips from Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update about the latest gay-hating-gay-republican Larry Craig (watch it here).
First up, we heard Brooklyn's own Au Revoir Simone with "A Violent Yet Flammable World" from their new album The Bird of Music (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon MP3), which almost sounds like it could have been on The Bird and the Bee's album. Then was fellow New York City singer-songwriter Elvis Perkins doing the best song off his new album Ash Wednesday (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon MP3) called "May Day!". Next was a cut from a pretty good new Bob Marley remix album called Roots, Rock, Remixed (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon MP3) by Afrodisiac Sound System. The song we heard was a remixed "Soul Shakedown Party". Then we heard two songs from Sweden's Jens Lekman's brand new album from called Night Falls Over Kortedala (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). We heard "A Postcard to Nina" and "Your Arms Around Me". And finally fellow Swede and sometimes Nick Drake sound-double Jose Gonzalez did a great song called "How Low" from his great new album In Our Nature (iTunes, Amazon MP3). This episode features clips from the October 9th episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart discussing how George W. Bush describes actions rather than actually doing them.
First up, the UK's Patrick Wolf with the excellent title track from his otherwise decent, most recent album The Magic Position (iTunes, Amazon).
Next was two tracks from the new album from Sweden's Shout Out Louds, namely the intensely-Cure-like "Normandie" and the also great "South America" both from Our Ill Wills (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon MP3). Then was London-by-way-of-Canada's Caribou (formerly known as Manitoba) with two excelent songs "Melody Day" and "Sandy" both from the fantastic new album Andorra
(iTunes, eMusic, Amazon MP3). Another TSiMH favorite The Go! Team's new album Proof of Youth
(iTunes, Amazon) is out, and while it's perhaps not AS good as their debut, it's pretty great. We heard "Doing it Right" and "Patricia's Moving Picture". Next was a new song from NYC's Nellie McKay's new album Obligatory Villagers
(iTunes, Amazon MP3) called "Identity Theft" which is better than most of the songs on the new album, but still not her best work. And finally Brooklyn's own Beirut's new album The Flying Club Cup (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon) is out, and from it we heard "In the Mausoleum".This episode featured a clip from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart informing Bush he needn't feel obligated to provide charity soundbytes for their show. Also were clips from Real Time with Bill Maher which you can watch here (podcast).
(SPECIAL BONUS GUEST-HOSTED AUSTRALIA EPISDOE WITH DOUG!) First up, Kevin Mitchell AKA Bob Evans did "Darlin Won't You Come" from the album Suburban Songbook (iTunes, Amazon). Next Gerling with "Ghost Patrol" from Children of Telepathic Experience (Amazon). Then Ben Lee did "Nothing Much Happens" from Breathing Tornados (Amazon). Then Josh Pyke did "Middle of the Hill" from Memories & Dust (Amazon). Next was Perth's Eskimo Joe with "London Bombs" from Black Fingernails, Red Wine (iTunes, Amazon). Next the disco sounds of Sneaky Sound System with "Pictures" from their self-titled record (iTunes, Amazon) from last year. Then The Waifs did a song I'd never heard call "London Still" from 2003's Up All Night (iTunes, Amazon). Then Paul Kelly did "Every Fucking City" from his Roll on Summer EP (Amazon). Next was Steven Peace doing an untitled song which is unreleased. Then Augie March did "Bottle Baby" from Moo, You Bloody Choir (iTunes, Amazon). Then Pete Murray did "Opportunity" from See the Sun (Amazon). And finally ex-Lemonhead (and little-known-favorite-of-Daniel) Evan Dando did a cover a Ben Lee's "Hard Drive" from Baby I'm Bored (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). NOTE: I should explain... Doug is a longtime listener of the show who hails from Australia (tho he's currently in the UK). We have corresponded over the years, and following last week's special Australia and New Zealand episode, he went all out and created a special episode just for me. It was so good it warrented being heard far-and-wide, so I'm posting it as a bonus, guest-hosted show. Now enjoy!
(SPECIAL EXTRA-LONG, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND EPISODE!) First up, Melbourne's Architecture in Helsinki have a new album out called Places Like This (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon) and the best song on that album is "Heart it Races" which they released as a single, and on that single (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon) are several covers of the song, including the one we heard by Philidelphia's Dr Dog. Next two songs from New Zealand's comedic Flight of the Conchords' awesome HBO series by the same name, we heard "If That's What You're Into" and "Beautiful Girl" (iTunes). Then Western Australia's indie folk band The Waifs did "The Waitress" from their album Sink or Swim (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). Next Sydney's 90's era Spdfgh did "Swingsong" from their 1995 Grassroots EP (Amazon). Next Melbourne's young indie pop guru Julian Nation did "Press Gang Kids" from his debut We Are All Writers (order online). Next TSiMH favorites Aukland's The Brunettes did "If You Were Alien" from their recent Structure & Cosmetics (iTunes, Amazon). Then Brisbane's pop/punk The Grates did "Science is Golden" from their debut album Gravity Won't Get You High (iTunes, Amazon). Next Australian country-folk hero
Slim Dusty did "Click Go the Shears" which can be found on his album Australian Traditional Collection (Amazon). Then Melbourne's Sally Seltman (a sometimes guitarist for Spdfg) aka New Buffalo did "Emotional Champ" from her brand new record Somewhere, Anywhere (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). Next Sydney's jazz parody master Frank Bennett did a cover of Depeche Mode's "Everything Counts" from his 1998 album Cash Landing (Amazon). Hearing Frank Bennett made me have to play the prolific American follow up, Richard Cheese with a cover of Coldplay's "Yellow" and The Clash's "Rock the Casbah" both from his 2004 I'd Like a Virgin (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). And finally 50's/60's era pop musician
Jimmie Rodgers did a cover of the traditional Australian tune "Waltzing Matilda" which you can get on The Best of Jimmie Rodgers (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). This episode features clips from comedians Todd Barry (iTunes) and Bill Hicks (iTunes) discussing Australia, as well as clips from various episodes of HBO's The Flight of the Conchords.
First up Los Angeles' Rilo Kiley have a new album called
Under the Blacklight (iTunes, Amazon) from which we heard "Silver Lining" which had to grow on me, but ended up being my favorite song on the record. Next Amsterdam's Alamo Race Track did a song (that reminds me of Ideal Free Distribution) called "Kiss Me Bar" followed by the title-track from their album Black Cat John Brown (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). Then Baltimore's "absurdist electronic music composer/performer" Dan Deacon did "The Crystal Cat" from his most recent release Spiderman of the Rings (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). Next "the thinking person's Lilly Allen" (as listener Sam described her to me) aka Britain's Kate Nash did "We Get On" from her debut album Made of Bricks (Amazon). And finally Canada's The New Pornographers have a new record from which we heard the title-track Challengers (iTunes, Amazon). This episode features clips from Real Time with Bill Maher talking about eating meat and it's effect on the environment (podcast).
First up, Danish disco-revivalists Junior Senior have just released a new (well, in the United States anyway) album which is very listenable called Hey Hey My My Yo Yo (iTunes, Amazon), from which we heard "Take My Time" and a little bit of "Dance, Chance, Romance" just to illustrate how much I think it sounds like "Feelgood By Numbers" by The Go! Team. A second dance-party worthy track followed by France's The Faint-esque electronica act Justice who did "Phantom" from their recent debut album Cross (iTunes, Amazon, SoundFix). Next we heard two songs from the new album ...and the Family Telephone (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon) from Maryland's Page France. First "Hat and Rabbit" then "Here's a Telephone" both of which have lyrics about 'blue eyes' and 'rabbits' as do many other songs on the record. Then two songs from the debut album Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink (iTunes, eMusic) from Los Angeles one-of-a-kind band Bodies of Water, first "Our Friends Appear Like the Dawn" then "I Heard it Sound". And finally, Portland's generous indie pop act The Leaning Towers did their fantastic "Rich Enough to Ignore It" from their The Eleventh Hole EP (download for free here).This episode featured a clip from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (watch it) which featured clips from this interview with Dick Cheney circa 1994. It also featured Rob from The ANC Podcast (subscribe).
(SPECIAL ALL-TALKING THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS, KELLI, AND DANIEL EPISODE!) Like the "30 Hours in Prospect Park" episode from December 2005, on this episode I tell a story. It's about the band They Might Be Giants and how they have intertwined with my life. The music heard in the show is, as follows, in this order whether in the background of my talking or more prominently featured, unless otherwise noted the songs are all by TMBG:
"No Plan B" from the bonus 2nd disc from The Else (Amazon) titled Cast Your Pod to the Wind; "Put Your Hand on the Computer" also from Cast Your Pod to the Wind; "The Theme from Flood" from, well, Flood (iTunes, Amazon); "Empty Bottle Blues" from They Got Lost (eMusic, iTunes, theymightbegiants.com, Amazon); "Dig My Grave", "I Palindrome I", and "Turn Around" all from Apollo 18 (iTunes, Amazon); "King of Wingo" recorded from their Dial-A-Song service (tmbw.net); "Lincoln, Washington & That Jefferson Guy" from McSweeneys #6 (Amazon, tmbw.net); "Dig My Grave" from They Might Be Giants Live in NYC!! - 10/14/94 (tmbw.net); "Mr. Me" from their Other Thing (tmbw.net); "Jessica" from Why Does the Sun Shine? (The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas) EP (iTunes, Amazon); "Brain Problem Situation" from Cast Your Pod to the Wind (Amazon); "The Famous Polka" from Miscellaneous T (iTunes, theymightbegiants.com, Amazon); "Drinkin'" from Long Tall Weekend (eMusic); "New York City" from Factory Showroom (iTunes, Amazon); "She's An Angel" by Plymouth State University Vocal Order from this free download; "She's An Angel" from They Might Be Giants (iTunes, theymightbegiants.com, Amazon); "Space Suit" and "The Day That Love Came to Play" both from Apollo 18 (iTunes, Amazon); "Louisiana" by John Linnell from the die-cut Montana single (tmbw.net); "The Sun" from Live at Trees in Dallas, TX - 7/18/04 (theymightbegiants.com); "The Other Side of the World" from The Spine Surfs Alone EP (theymightbegiants.com); "We've Got a World That Swings" from S-E-X-X-Y single (Amazon); "Love is Eternity" from Venue Songs (iTunes, theymightbegiants.com); "Siftin'" from the I Palindrome I single (Amazon); "Don't Let's Start" from They Might Be Giants (iTunes, theymightbegiants.com, Amazon); "Be Kind and Gentle" from McSweeneys #6 (Amazon, tmbw.net); "The Rock Show" by Blink 182 as covered by Honeywagon from Grass Stains (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon).The clips of Ira Glass were from Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns) (Amazon, Netflix), and This American Life: Telephone episode which is also where Flansburgh's clip was from. Linnell's clip was from an episode of NPR's Talk of the Nation. And the 1990 songs I sampled briefly were "Step by Step" by The New Kids on the Block, "I Don't Have the Heart" by James Ingram, "Opposite Attracts" by Paula Abdul, "It Must Have Been Love" by Roxette, "Janies Got a Gun" by Aerosmith, and "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer, in case you were wondering, which I can't imagine that you were.
First up, Dallas' The Polyphonic Spree did "Mental Cabaret" from their new album The Fragile Army (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon) which I like a lot less than I wanted to. Next two songs by NYC's indie pop band The Ballet. We heard "I Hate the War" and "In My Head" both from their debut album Mattachine! (iTunes, Website), which can both be downloaded from their site as it turns out. Then two short songs from Sweden's Quit Your Dayjob, first the title track from their album Sweden We Got a Problem (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon), then "Vlado Video". Next two songs from the UK's other Saint Ettiene, that would be Black Box Recorder, doing "Start as You Mean to Go On" and a cover of the old "Seasons in the Sun", both from their b-sides collection The Worst of... (eMusic, Amazon). Then we heard Cat Stevens' "Tea for the Tillerman" from his album by the same name (iTunes, Amazon) as well as from the ending of each episode of the BBC series Extras (Amazon, Netflix S1, Netflix S2) starring Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Ashley Jensen, from which we heard the version of the song performed by Coldplay for the show. And finally Los Angeles' (by way of Scotland) Alexi Murdoch did his great "Song for You" from his debut album of Nick-Drake-esque songs called Time Without Consequence (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). This weeks show features clips from Extras S2 which just came out on DVD (Amazon, Netflix), as well a clip from Air America Radio's The Rachel Maddow Show about the FDA.
First up, TSiMH favorites, New Zealand's The Brunettes have a new album and EP coming out before too long, and they've posted a new cut on their Myspace page, it's called "Her Hairagami Set" and it's both a departure from their earlier stuff, and also totally great. Next, also from New Zealand, the very fine Phoenix Foundation did "Let Me Die a Woman" from their American debut Horsepower (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). Then Everything But the Girl pre-curser and quality 80's British girl-group Marine Girls did the song "Friday" from their two-albums-as-one collection Lazy Ways/Beach Party (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon) as a lead-in for the UK's Art Brut who were clearly influenced by them. We heard "People in Love" from their new album It's a Bit Complicated (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). Then we heard three songs from one of my favorite instrumental records. The band is Canadian ex-rapper Jason Beck. He now lives in Paris and goes by Chilly Gonzales'. But his seemingly-unlikely side project is Chopin-y solo piano music where he goes by simply Gonzales on a record simply called Solo Piano (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). We heard "Gogol", "Meischeid" and "Salon Salloon". And finally, mostly because I wanted to promote them again now that they are on tour and their 3-track EP is finally available for purchase in Other Music's new digital store, we heard NYC's up-and-coming incrediband Vampire Weekend's "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" mashed-up with Clipse's "Wamp Wamp (What It Do)" by Les Bank Robbers (you can download it from his Myspace page). This episode features a clip from the podcast-edition of New York Times' columnist Paul Krugman's article Authentic? Never Mind (read it, subscribe).
(SPECIAL BEE-BANDS EPISODE!) Lots of bands seem to use the word "Bee" in their names these days. I recently noticed that even non-bee-named bands have been using bees in their songs lately (in just the last few episodes I've played "The Bee of the Bird of the Moth" by TMBG, and a I was a Teenage Satan Worshipper song from their Bees & Honey EP. So this episode singles out some of the better "Bee Bands" of late. First up, TSiMH favorites UK's Bees (formally The Band of Bees) have a new album called Octopus (iTunes, Amazon), from which we heard two stand out tracks: "End of the Street" and "Got to Let Go". Next Russian-born San Fransico-based Angelina Moysov's Persephone's Bees debut album Notes from the Underworld (Amazon) is filled with indie gems containing influences of Japanese pop and old school Of Montreal. We heard two tracks, the single "Nice Day" as well as "Climbing". Then Australia's electronic/rock/hip-hop outfit Bumblebeez 81 did "Pony Ride" from his 2004 album The Printz (iTunes, Amazon). Next Minneapolis Minnesota's Mouthful of Bees just released their debut album The End (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon) and while it's not my favorite thing ever, the opening track "The Now" is pretty darn good. Then Philadelphia's indie folk The Bees and the Birds did "Birds and da Bees" from their quality debut self-titled EP (iTunes, eMusic). And finally Los Angeles' indie-electro-pop makers The Bird and the Bee did "My Fair Lady" from their debut self-titled album (iTunes, Amazon). This episode features bee-related clips from Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine (imdb, Netflix, Amazon) and Real Time with Bill Maher (subscribe, watch the whole clip).
First up, England's indie pop six-piece Lucky Soul did "Get Outta Town!" from their recent debut album
The Great Unwanted (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). Next up TSiMH favorites and a band often compared (but I don't really hear it) to Luck Soul, The Pipettes (maybe cause they're from England too?) did "Really That Bad" from their recently/strangely re-released Your Kisses are Wasted on Me EP (iTunes, Amazon). Then Sweden's awesome and in this care distinctly Cure-esque Shout Out Louds did "Tonight I Have to Leave It" from their EP by the same name (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon) and also from their forthcoming album Our Ill Wills (Amazon) due out in September. Next soul legend
Minnie Riperton did "Les Fleur" (which I heard first at res fest in 2001 in the short video montage The History of Gaming) and can be found on any number of records, I pulled it from Petals: The Collection (Amazon) but it can also be found in iTunes and eMusic. Then Italian musician/filmmaker/artist Franco Battiato did a cover of The Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday" as found on his 1999 album Fleur (Amazon) or on the soundtrack (iTunes, Amazon) to the awesome movie Children of Men (imdb, Netflix, Amazon). And finally, a great mashup of Willie Nelson, U2, and MARRS called "Always with You" made by Sweden's Divide & Kreate from the album Best of Bootie 2006 (website). The episode features a clip from the 20th anniversary episode of Fresh Air with Terry Gross (subscribe).
(SPECIAL NEW AND OLD FAVORITES EPISODE!) First up, Brooklyn's indie pop outfit and TSiMH favorites The Ladybug Transistor have a new album called Can't Wait Another Day (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon) coming out on June 5th, but it's availble now if you see their less-than-awesome live show, we heard a song that's better when they play it live substituting the Sax for a Trumpet called "Always on the Telephone". Next we dusted off an old favorite by South African sensation Miriam Makeba known as "Pata Pata" which is available on many records, but I pulled it from the album by the same name (iTunes, Amazon). Then back to New York for a track from The National's solid new album Boxer (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon), we heard "Ada". Then an older cut from Boston's dj BC's fantastic series of Beatles and Beastie Boys mashups known as The Beastles we heard my favorite "Buildin My Life" from his second effort Let it Beast, which unfortunately isn't currently available. Next New York's very own Dawn Landes has a great new single available in iTunes where she cover's Peter, Bjorn & John's huge hit "Young Folks" in the style of bluegrass, and while not part of the Pickin' On... sereis which I love to play stuff from, it's just as good or better. Then North Carolina's oooh-waaah excellent The Rosebuds have a new album out called Night of the Furies (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon), from it we heard "Cemetery Lawn". Next a quickie cut from Nellie McKay's troubled last album Pretty Little Head (iTunes, Amazon) called "Pounce" dedicated to Senator Pink Ears. Then years after forming and putting out multiple EPs TSiMH favorites Voxtrot have finally put out their new self-titled debut album (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon), which is just not nearly as good as it should be, from which we heard "Future Pt. 1". Next Helsinki, Finland's indie electropop band I Was a Teenage Satan Worshipper is supposed to have a new album any day now, but in the meantime we heard "Go Home Pandatron" from their only slightly older Bees & Honey EP (iTunes). And finally Laura Veirs has a great new record out called Saltbreakers (iTunes, Amazon) and from it we heard "Cast a Hook in Me". This week's episode features clips from Patton Oswalt appearing on Late Night with Conan O'Brian.
First up, a fantastic cover of one of my favorite Magnetic Fields' songs, Portland's The Brother Egg did "I Think I Need a New Heart" from a free 23 track album made up entirely of covers of Magnetic Fields songs called Meaningless (myspace). You can download the whole thing there, but since it's kind of a pain to download that way, so I've posted it on my server to make for easier downloading: Click here to download. Next, New York's most exciting up-and-coming band (according to me anyway), Vampire Weekend did two tracks, which will hopefully be made available shortly when they release their first 7" and digital-download EP, but for now enjoy "Oxford Comma" and "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" (stream on their site). One of the things that's great about Vampire Weekend is the way they summon African stylings in their otherwise unrelated-to-Africa music. To best illustrate this, we heard Zimbabwe's The Hallelujah Chicken Run Band with "Mudzimu Ndiringe" from the quality, recently-released collection Take One (eMusic, iTunes, Amazon). Next California's Jazz newcomers The Low Standards did "If You Play Nice" (which has a touch of Nellie McKay in it) from their debut Show Some Leg EP (iTunes). Then TSiMH favorite They Might Be Giants have a brand new album coming out tomorrow exclusively in iTunes (it comes out as a formal more-widely available double-CD in July) called The Else (iTunes)... Unfortunately I can't say I'm loving it. I can say I like at least this song tho, we heard "Bee of the Bird of the Moth" which has the sort of good lyrics typified by TMBG. Finally, another post-posthumous Elliott Smith record was just released, this one is a two-disc collection of 24 rarities called New Moon (eMusic, iTunes, Amazon). From disc one, we heard the previously unreleased "Angel in the Snow". This episode features clips from the past two week's episodes of FAIR's Counterspin, about the media's reaction to the 1st Democratic vs. the 1st Republican Presidential Debates.
(SPECIAL EXTRA-LONG FRENCH-POP EPISODE!) First up, France's incredible-yet-under-heard Holden did "Sur le pavé" from their most recent album Chevrotine (Amazon Import). Next, from Paris, Domotic did "Tonsil" from his 2005 debut album Ask for Tiger (iTunes, Amazon). Then a staple-of-French-pop
Francoise Hardy did "Il Est Tout Pour Moi" ("He's All for Me") from her 1965 album The "Yeh-Yeh" Girl from Paris (Amazon) but the track can also be found on the 2-disc set Selection (Amazon). Then quintessential French band of our time Air, did "Jeanne" featuring the vocals of
Francoise Hardy from a 1999 collection of French classics covered by great bands such as Luna, The Magnetic Fields, Apples in Stereo, and so on, called Pop Romantique: French Pop Classics (Amazon). Next the off-spring of French musical icons Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin best known by me as the chick Michel Gondry's The Science of Sleep, Charlotte Gainsbourg, has a brand new album that just came out. On it, she sings and the music is performed by Air. If that sounds like a recipe for success, there's a reason: the album is top-shelf French pop goodness. We heard the single "The Songs That We Sing" from the new album 5:55 (iTunes, Amazon). Next we heard from the classic "Douce France" from Charles Trenet, available on among other things, his Greatest Hits (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon) album. Then the Parisian Stereo Total, aka the Prototypes did "06 60 92 92" from their 2006 self-titled debut (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon). Next french model-turned-singer-turned-actor-turned-Johnny-Depp's-wife
Vanessa Paradis did her/Lenny Kravitz's song "Be My Baby" from her 1992 self-titled album (Amazon Import, Amazon Used). Next was another classic track, this one from Francoise Hardy's husband Jacques Dutronc, it was "Et moi, et moi, et moi" which can be found on the collection En Vogue: Le Best of
Jacques Dutronc (Amazon) or in iTunes on this soundrack. Then one last 60's French classic, it was singer and actress Chantal Goya with "Il Court Les Filles" which I pulled from the wonderful Canadian collection Ultra Chicks: Filles in the Garage (Vol I) (more) but seems to be unavailable now. You can get it from Amazon on the album
Si Tu Gagnes au Flipper. And finally we finish up with a song by the criminally underplayed Holden, "Aujourd'hui Même" from their 2002 record Pedrolira (Amazon).This episode featured clips involving one of my favorite people in the world Bill Moyers (subscribe). First a clip from his interview on Real Time with Bill Maher (podcast), next a clip of his interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air (subscribe), and finally a clip from him interviewing Tim Russert on his documentary Buying the Way (watch it online) wherein he hands Timmy his hat.
(SPECIAL LOUISIANA EPISODE!) First up, New Orleans' own World Leader Pretend did the great song "Bang Theory" from their debut album Punches (iTunes, Amazon). Then the deep south's Bobby Lounge who is described as "playing the
piano like Jerry Lee Lewis, with the showmanship of Little Richard, and lyrics like Randy Newman on crack" did the Louisiana specific song "Take Me Back to Abita Springs" from his record I Remember the Night Your Trailer Burned Down (Amazon, website). Next Baton Rouge's indie electro-rockers Reception is Suspected did "Boy with a Voice That Could Destroy the World" from their debut album
The New American Etiquette (iTunes, Amazon). Followed by fellow Baton Rouge act The Eames Era have a brand new album that just came out called Heroes & Sheroes (eMusic, iTunes, Amazon), from which we heard two songs: "Last to Know" and "Dear Gabby". And finally British Columbia's The Be Good Tanyas did a song about New Orleans called "The Lakes of Pontchartrain" from their 2001 album Blue Horse (eMusic, iTunes, Amazon). This show features a clip from Eugene Mirman's CD The Absurd Nightclub Comedy of Eugene Mirman (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon) about credit cards.
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).
(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.
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