Thursday, January 29, 2015

Playlist for 1-22-15


I know the venn diagram intersection of "people who listen to my radio show" and "people who are excited to see Anderson Silva return to the UFC on Saturday" is probably small, but I can be real with you because we're close. I can be myself completely. That's how much we love each other. Almost as much as I love Anderson Silva fights. And that's a lot.

But I love you just as much as I love playing music on my radio show. And that's a lot, too.

Things that Are Square 1-22-15

(*) = New release

Paul Baribeau & Ginger Alford - Born to Run - Darkness on the Edge of Your Town

(*) Belle and Sebastian - Allie - Girls In Peacetime Want to Dance
Hefner - May God Protect Your Home - The Fidelity Wars
Pavement - Major Leagues - Terror Twilight
Jonathan Richman - That Summer Feeling - I, Jonathan

Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position - The Magic Position
Kero Kero Bonito - Sick Beat - Intro Bonito
The Books - Tokyo - The Lemon of Pink
Matmos - Enigma Machine for Alan Turing - For Alan Turing

(*) Viet Cong - Continental Shelf - Viet Cong
Parts & Labor - The Gold We're Digging - Mapmaker


I guess you could say that my love life was not up to par


Hank Williams Jr. - "O.D.'d in Denver" (Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound)

Monday, January 26, 2015

In the sewer of capitalism, only the scum will rise


Thou - "Don't Vote" (Degredation of Human Life)

Friday, January 23, 2015

Genre Research Project 88/1362: Third Wave Ska


The Third Wave of Ska Revival emerged in the late '80s, when certain members of the American punk underground began returning to the sounds of British ska revival and infusing it with a hardcore punk attack. During the early '80s, this third wave continued to grow -- more bands continued to pop up across the country, but many of the most popular were based in California. As time wore on, the hardcore influences eventually mutated into heavy metal, much like hardcore punk itself. Eventually, the third wave of ska revivalists broke into the American mainstream, thanks to the success of fellow Californian punk revivalists Green Day and the Offspring. The first third wave band to break big was Rancid, but they were quickly followed by groups like No Doubt, Goldfinger, Sublime, and Dancehall Crashers; the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, who were one of the leading figures of the scene in the early '90s, just missed the commercial bandwagon. Most of the bands that followed Rancid into the charts emphasized metal over ska, but some -- like No Doubt -- drew from new wave pop roots as well, while Rancid themselves managed to stay true to both ska revival and punk. During 1996, the third wave of ska revival became one of the most popular forms of alternative music in the United States.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Playlist for 1-15-15



Hey folks,

I had such a good weekend! I ran in the inaugural Disneyland Star Wars "Rebel Challenge." That consisted of a 10k on Saturday and a half marathon on Sunday. I paid money to run 20 miles. But they gave me a medal I could beat a man to death with. And it turns out that when you wear a Star Trek uniform to Star Wars events, people in the crowd will single you out to cheer for. Felt good, man.

Anyway. Here's stuff I played last week. Thanks for the cool requests. See you guys Thursday.

Things that Are Square 1-15-15

(*) = New release

Kraftwerk - Die Roboter - Die Mensch-Maschine

Einstüzende Neubauten - Yü-Gung (Fü Mein Ego) - 1/2 Mensch
David Rees - Why You Gotta Be So Flim - AphexSwift
(*) Death Grips - Runway J - Fashion Week

(*) Gaussian Curve - Broken Clouds - Clouds
Judy Gloom - Touch My Body - Covers
Momus - Murderers, The Hope Of Women - The Poison Boyfriend
eels - Dead of Winter - Electro-Shock Blues

Pedro The Lion - Arizona - Achilles Heel
The Get Up Kids - Ten Minutes - Something to Write Home About
All Dogs - Farm - Slouch/All Dogs
Martha - Cosmic Misery - Courting Strong

Smog - Ex-Con - Red Apple Falls
Sean Hays - Alabama Chicken - Alabama Chicken (For Alex in Irvine, CA)
The Carter Family - Can the Circle Be Unbroken - Can the Circle Be Unbroken?
Ghost Mice - Prettyboy Floyd - Ghost Mice/Defiance, Ohio
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Today I Was An Evil One - I See a Darkness

Phosphorescent - Reasons to Quit - To Willie


Tuesday, January 20, 2015

What if I take my problem to the United Nations?


PJ Harvey - "The Words That Maketh Murder" (Let England Shake)

That "Summertime Blues" drop is incredible.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Flask of wine on my feather bedding


XTC - "Love on a Farmboy's Wages" (Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles 1977-1992)

XTC is a good band.

Friday, January 9, 2015

Genre Research Project 87/1362: Gangsta Rap


Gangsta rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop. The genre was pioneered in the mid-1980s by rappers such as Schoolly D and Ice-T, and was popularized in the later part of the 1980s by groups like N.W.A. After the national attention that Ice-T and N.W.A attracted in the late 1980s and early 1990s, gangsta rap became the most commercially lucrative subgenre of hip hop. Some gangsta rappers have been associated, or allegedly have ties with the Bloods or Crips gangs.

The subject matter inherent in gangsta rap has caused a great deal of controversy. Criticism has come from both left wing and right wing commentators, as well as religious leaders, who have accused the genre of promoting crime, serial killing, murder, violence, profanity, sex addiction, homophobia, racism, promiscuity, misogyny, rape, street gangs, drive-by shootings, vandalism, thievery, drug dealing, alcohol abuse, substance abuse, disregarding law enforcement, materialism, and narcissism. The White House administrations of both George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton criticized the genre. "Many black rappers--including Ice-T and Sister Souljah--contend that they are being unfairly singled out because their music reflects deep changes in society not being addressed anywhere else in the public forum. The white politicians, the artists complain, neither understand the music nor desire to hear what's going on in the devastated communities that gave birth to the art form," wrote journalist Chuck Philips in a review of the battle between the Establishment and defenders of rap music. "The reason why rap is under attack is because it exposes all the contradictions of American culture ...What started out as an underground art form has become a vehicle to expose a lot of critical issues that are not usually discussed in American politics. The problem here is that the White House and wanna-bes like Bill Clinton represent a political system that never intends to deal with inner city urban chaos," Sister Souljah told Philips.

On the other hand, some commentators (for example, Spike Lee in his satirical film Bamboozled) have criticized gangsta rap as analogous to black minstrel shows and blackface performance, in which performers – both black and white – were made to look African American, and acted in a stereotypical uncultured and ignorant manner for entertainment. Gangsta rappers often defend themselves by arguing they are describing the reality of inner-city life, and that they are only adopting a character which behaves in ways they do not necessarily endorse. Gangsta rappers are also famous (or infamous) for appearing more hardcore compared to early concepts and themes of hip-hop artists, as they were saying things uncommon in other subgenres of rap music. For example, plenty of police brutality victims wanted to rap "fuck the police" or something along these lines, but they were afraid of appearing anti-American or anti-government order.

In high-crime areas putting on these made up personas is life-threatening, but the fact that gangsta rappers told the stories of others is often seen as having earned them respect for raising awareness of the severity of inner-city crime. Many gangsta rappers argue that in the world of their genre exists the emotions and perspectives of a people whose suffering is too often overlooked and belittled by society. Gangsta rap, in fact, was an effect of the various wrongdoings perpetrated against African-Americans in underprivileged neighborhoods. The various riots sparked by the Rodney King beating and the acquittal of the police officers responsible for the beating sparked anger and outrage in an area that was already on the bubble. Gangsta rap acted as an outlet so such people could express themselves angrily and not in fear that they were going to be silenced for telling the truth. They often used gangsta rap to tell the stories of their lives, which sometimes included strong violence, hypersexuality, and drug abuse.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Genre Research Project 86/1362: Andean Folk Music


Original chants and melodies come from the general area inhabited by Quechuas, Aymaras and other peoples who lived roughly in the area of the Inca Empire prior to European contact. This early music then was fused with Spanish music elements. It includes folklore music of parts of Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. Andean music is popular to different degrees across Latin America, having its core public in rural areas and among indigenous populations. The Nueva Canción movement of the 70s revived the genre across Latin America and brought it to places where it was unknown or forgotten.

Friday, January 2, 2015

Playlist for 1-1-15



Hey guys,

Welcome to the first show of 2015. Putting in the playlist date was also the first "accidentally wrote 2014 instead of 2015" of the year, as well. Damn. So many firsts.


Things are Square 1-1-15
(*) = New release

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - New Year's Kiss - Etiquette

Allo Darlin' - Another Year - We Come From the Same Place
Polaris - Ivy Boy - Music From the Adventures of Pete and Pete
Dear Nora - This Will Be Our Year - Three States
Pedro the Lion - Letter From a Concerned Follower - The Only Reason I Feel Secure
(*) Yoni Wolf - Beast of Burden - Snow Jams

A Silver Mt. Zion - BlindBlindBlind - 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
Bark Psychosis - Absent Friend - Hex

(*) Hookworms - Off Screen - The Hum
XXL - Sunday - ­¡Ciaüstico!

Wes Montgomery - Caravan - Movin' Wes
Sonny Sharrock - Seize the Rainbow - Seize the Rainbow
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 - Sno Cone - Bob Dinners and Larry Noodles Present Tubby Turdner's Celebrity Avalanche
Jeffrey Lewis - Graveyard - It's the Ones Who've Cracked That the Line Shines Through

The Great Old Ones - Bachelorette - Bachelorette
Hermóðr - Då Du Lämnade Mig - Vinter
Drive Like Jehu - Here Come the Rome Plows - Yank Crime

(*) Hannah Diamond - Every Night - Every Night
Kero Kero Bonito - My Party - Intro Bonito
Mariah Carey - Touch My Body (Cyril Hahn Remix) - Unreleased
(*) Caribou - Second Chance - Our Love