playlist from 12-13-06

I filled in on the Random Acts of Music radio program and played the following

(band-song-album)

Magnolia Electric Co. - The Dark Don't Hide It - Trials & Errors
Lucero - Little Silver Heart - S/T
Frank Black & The Catholics - Manitoba - Show Me Your Tears
Brian Jonestown Massacre - Nevertheless - Tepid Peppermint Wonderland
Galaxie 500 - Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste
Marissa Nadler - Hay Tantos Muertos - Ballads of Living & Dying
Animal Collective - Grass - Feels
Mogwai - Like Herod - Young Team
Warmer Milks - Pentagram of Sores - Radish on Light
Comets On Fire - Whiskey River - Blue Cathedral
Dungen - Panda - Ta Det Lugnt
Black Lips - Boomerang - Let It Bloom
Skygreen Leopards - Places West of Shawnapee - Disciples of California
My Morning Jacket - The Way That He Sings - At Dawn
Howlin' Rain - Calling Lightening With a Scythe - S/T
Franklin's Mint - Carousel Baby - Gold
Flin Flon - Leading Tickles - Boo Boo
Ween - The Golden Eel - The Mollusk
Growing - Cutting, Opening, Swimming Southern Wrights - The Sky's Run Into The Sea
Spacemen 3 - Take Me To The Other Side - Perfect Prescription
The Gories - Goin' To The River - I Know You Be Houserockin'
The Dirtbombs - I Started A Joke - If You Don't Already Have A Look

playlist from 12-03-06

I sat in on the Mrs. Robinson show (indie & electronic) on 89.3 WHFR-Dearborn tonight while she was finishing up a paper for school.
Playlist

(band - song - album - label)

1. Unrest - Can't Sit Still - Fuck Pussy Galore & All Her Friends! - Teenbeat
2. Unrest - Scott & Zelda - Fuck Pussy Galore & All Her Friends! - Teenbeat
3. The Black Lips - Boomerang - Let It Bloom - In The Red
4. Super Furry Animals - Sidewalk Serfer Girl - Rings Around The World - XL
5. Of Montreal - Requiem For O.M.M. 2 - The Sunlandic Twins - Polyvinyl
6. Four Tet - Smile Around The Face - Everything's Ecstatic - Domino
7. Stereo Total - C'est La Mort - Oh Ah - Kill Rock Stars
8. Cibo Matto - Birthday Cake - Viva La Woman - Warner Bros.
9. Miho Hatori - A Song For Kids - Ecdysis - Rykodisc
10. Tom Waits - Tango Til They're Sore - VH1 Storytellers
11. Tom Waits - Ol' 55 - VH1 Storytellers
12. Tom Waits - Day After Tomorrow - Real Gone - Anti
13. Death In Vegas - Help Yourself - Scorpio Rising - Sanctuary
14. Nouvelle Vague - Love Will Tear Us Apart - Self Titled - Luaka Bop
15. Spiritualized - Shine A Light - Royal Albert Hall, 10 October 1997, live - Arista
16. Early Day Miners - Return of the Native - Offshore - Secretly Canadian
17. Brian Eno - Deep Blue Day - Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks - E.G. Edition
18. The Vaselines - Son Of A Gun - The Way Of The Vaselines - Sub Pop
19. Orange Juice - Blue Boy - The Glasgow School - Domino
20. Felt - The Spanish House - The Strange Idols Pattern & Other Short Stories - Cherry Red
21. The Reindeer Section - Whodunnit? - Son Of Evil Reindeer - Bright Star Recordings
22. Edith Frost - Stars Fading - It's A Game - Drag City
23. Six Organs Of Admittance - Words For Two - School Of The Flower - Drag City
24. Joanna Newsom - Monkey & Bear - Ys - Drag City

playlist from 11-27-06

I'm now a DJ on WHFR Dearborn, a college radio station. Our internet address is www.whfr.fm, we stream live in realtime for those of you unfortunate enough to live outside of our broadcasting range. My first show was last Monday night, sitting in on the Cloak & Dagger radio show, whose DJs had prior commitments. I haven't got my own show just yet, so I'm filling in for other DJs who can't do their show for whatever reason. It was my first time being live on the air, and I predictably sucked. Since I'm a packrat who can't throw anything away I decided to keep a log of the songs I played for each show I do.

Playlist from 11-27-06, sitting in on the Cloak & Dagger show (indie rock)

(the format is band-song-album-label)

1. Spoon - The Beast & Dragon, Adored - Gimme Fiction - Merge
2. Arab Strap - The Shy Retirer - The Shy Retirer EP - Chemikal Underground
3. Luna - Lovedust - Romantica - Jetset
4. The Moldy Peaches - Lucky #9 - self-title - Rough Trade
5. Early Day Miners - Return Of The Native - Offshore - Secretly Canadian
6. Saturday Looks Good To Me - Since You Stole My Heart - Every Night - Polyvinyl
7. Tom Waits - The House Where Nobody Lives - Mule Variations - Anti/Epitaph
8. Hush Arbors - Broken Bones - Landscape Of Bones - Three Lobed
9. Marissa Nadler - Annabelle Lee - Ballads Of Living & Dying - Eclipse
10. Destroyer - The Sublimation Hour - Streethawk: A Seduction - Misra
11. The Magnolia Electric Co. - 31 Seasons In The Minor Leagues - Hard To Love A Man EP - Secretly Canadian
12. Songs:Ohia - Whip-Poor-Will - The Magnolia Electric Co. (bonus disc) - Secretly Canadian
13. The Shins - Turn On Me - Wincing The Night Away - Sub Pop
14. The Shins - Girl Sailor - Wincing The Night Away - Sub Pop
15. Elf Power - Peel Back The Moon, Beware! - Back To The Web - Rykodisc
16. Guided By Voices - Liquid Indian - Do The Collapse - TVT
17. The Renderers - Dream Of The Sea - A Dream Of The Sea - Siltbreeze
18. The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Sailor - Tepid Peppermint Wonderland - Tee Pee
19. Bonnie Prince Billy - Buried Treasure - Cold & Wet 12" - Drag City
20. Silver Jews - Room Games & Diamond Rain - Bright Flight - Drag City
21. Angels Of Light - Song For My Father - Doctors Without Borders box set - Durtro-Jnana records
22. SunnO))) & Boris - The Sinking Belle (Blue Sheep) - Altar - Southern Lord
23. Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter - The Dreaming Dead - Oh, My Girl - Barsuk
24. Neutral Milk Hotel - Two Headed Boy, pt. 2 - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea - Merge

Dirt Road Ragas and Expatriate Gypsy Flamenco Blues

When I was a little kid, if my room was dark enough and I couldn't get to sleep at night, I would get a strange sensation that there were no walls around me and I was just floating alone in a big black void. Every now and then when I'm lucky enough I still get that sensation, and it usually has to do with music. I definitely got a big dose of it seeing Jack Rose perform last night. (for a laugh, check out what other musical act comes up when you google Jack Rose) He was playing in a really intimate, quiet room and the droning Americana infused ragas he coaxed out his 12 strings (well, 11 after one of them broke) were utterly transcendant. I had my eyes shut and lost track of time and my surroundings and found myself with that sensation that the walls around me had ceased to exist and I was all alone. It wasn't a hopeless feeling of complete isolation though, but quite the contrary. It's more in line with the Hindu concept of brahman, that we're all connected to the formless, transcendental, and immanent divine. That we're all plugged into the same life energy, like spokes on a wheel issuing from a central hub or those giant aspen tree groves whose root systems are intertwined. It's a really beautiful feeling that will probably last until I see someone with a Calvin pissing on Islam sticker on their truck or hear an Aerosmith song on the radio. It is nice to know it's there though (our connection to the divine no matter how distant, not stupid bumper stickers). He also played some really far out slide stuff on his lap guitar towards the end of his set but unfortunately for me my bladder was full to the bursting point and it was detracting from my blissed out mindset. Jack had a great new CD for sale available on the Archive label. Beautiful die cut and letter pressed packaging in a limited pressing of 1,000. Get yours now before the parasites have them listed on eBay when they're sold out.

After short break and a much needed trip to the bathroom, Peter Walker came out to play. I hadn't heard of this guy until a couple weeks ago when a CD of his came into the record store where I help out. The label on it had Ben Chasny heralding him as the biggest single influence on his music, so my interest was piqued. I hadn't heard him until last night and his performance was astounding. He had been in Spain studying with flamenco guitar masters in the early 60s, and was telling stories of clubs in caves that were hundreds of years old, where they beat you up and break your guitar if you disrespect their culture by playing poorly. His style was a seamless blend of Indian ragas (he had also studied with Ravi Shankar), gypsy flamenco, and American folk. He was also telling stories about how the gypsy music wasn't too far removed from Indian music, and the influence they had on flamenco music. I hadn't really made that connection, but it made perfect sense, and his guitar articulated it more clearly than anyone talking about it could have. It was his first time touring in the United States since the 60s, and it was very inspiring to hear an elder statesmen figure of the counter-culture talk about how he had been playing places like this all around the country, that it was nice to see the underground rising up again. It gives you hope that maybe we're not quite fucked yet. I should take a minute to talk about the venue, The Bohemian National Home. A couple months ago I figured out that I used to go there all the time when I was younger as it was a Lithuanian social club in the 80s. It's a non-descript brick building in a sketchy, very un-fashionable neighborhood that weeds out casual concert goers or someone just looking for a place to hang out and drink. You won't have to filter out overheard inane drunken chatter or cell phone conversations during the music because everyone there is going to be focused on the music. The crowds are always hushed and reverent at the types of shows like last night, but they also have punk and noise shows in the bigger rooms there. They also sell beer for a very reasonable price and keep admission prices low. I feel lucky that there are places like this in my city to go to.