Podcasts Rock!

While I write, I’m catching up on my archived podcasts. The two main events for me, so far, are the weekly submissions from NPR’s “All Songs Considered,” where I hear good new stuff, and Rhino Records’ “Rhinocasts,” which fill me in on the great archival company’s lovingly constructed reissues. (Lusting over that new Talking Heads Brick box and, if I can’t get an assignment to write about it, I may have to shell out that 100 bucks.) For now, this is better than any radio station I can pull in from the DC area.

Friday, October 21, 2005
1. The NADAS – Listen Through the Static (Authentic Records)
Next week’s Post pick, coming to our sweet local venue, Jammin’ Java. Funny that these guys – a solid but somewhat predictable roots rock band – get the headline spot, since I find the next act the real stars…
2. The CLUMSY LOVERS – Smart Kid (Nettwerk)
You’ll hear this story again in the Post preview next week, but the first time I saw this Celtic bluegrass rock band perform - at Jammin Java, chief songwriter and vocalist Chris Jonat couldn’t make it to the show, which meant that MVP Andrea Lewis took center stage with her fiddle, charmingly girlish voice and great Fluevog boots (I asked her after the show who made ‘em), The band gave out free copies of their “After the Flood” CD to make up for not having Jonat around, but they were great nonetheless. The new CD rocks, too, and I’m looking forward to the show.
3. MATT NATHANSON – Live in DC
Also in the mail, a two-disc set of the Matt Nathanson show Grace and I saw last week. I offered to trade digital photos with one of the pro-gear tapers who was set up in the back of the venue and he made good immediately. What a cool souvenir.

Tonight I stopped to visit with neighborhood friends, eager to make sure that their 2-year-old daughter, whom I babysat for when they went to the U2 show last night, was okay and still talking to me. She’s an adorable, extremely active kid and while I was reading her a bedtime book, she jumped up and smacked her head on the windowsill near the head of the bed, creating an ugly swelling near her thickly-lashed eyes. I was horrified, she cried for a half hour, and it was only after we both calmed down and realized that there was no need for an emergency room visit that she fell asleep. When the ‘rents came in, she was sleeping – like a baby – with the damaged side of her face down on the pillow. But I copped to it, and they forgave me.

Not only did they forgive me, but today they gave me a super cool bonus – a four-pack of vintage U2 picture sleeve 45’s, for “Boomerang,” “Out of Control,” “A Celebration” and “Fire,” as well as an R.E.M. (“Fall On Me”) and Julian Cope (“World Shut Your Mouth”) for my pic sleeve collection. Not to be counted, but priceless nonetheless.

Wednesday, October 19
A nice little package from Columbia Records, four out of four keepers.
4. DESTINY’S CHILD - #1’s (Sony Urban Music)
Twelve #1 hits, a couple of new things, and a great excuse to trade in those other albums with a track or two each that I care about.
5. AEROSMITH – Rockin’ the Joint (Columbia)
Live at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. For some reason, despite all the silliness of the scarves and the underage chick-baiting and the wailing guitar – all the elements that usually make me laugh at old guys doing hard rock – I can’t dislike Aerosmith. At least Steve Tyler has a sense of humor about it all, he and Joe Perry know how to write real hooks and I don’t get that ‘we need money, so let’s hit the road’ vibe from them the way I do from the Stones. Coincidentally, I got an ebay package today, filled with about 20 different Aerosmith set lists. The band is coming to DC in a few weeks. I’d love to shoot them for the book.
6. IL DIVO – The Christmas Collection (Syco Music/Columbia)
Will I like this album? Doubt it. Looks like an Italian boy band, filled with Michael Bolton and Buble wannabes. But it’s nearly time to pull together the 2005 Cool Yule mix, and a good over-the-top holiday pop tune may lie within, so I’m glad to check it out.
7. BETTE MIDLER – Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook (Columbia)
Who doesn’t love the Divine Miss M? Sometimes she moves toward the dark side, as in the blindingly light sentimental sap of “Wind Beneath My Wings” and such, but she creates an energy field that cannot be denied. I suspect that, like the Rosemary Clooney tribute of a year or two ago, this one will wind up in my mom’s collection. But I’m looking forward to hearing Bette do “Is That All There Is?” and “Fever.”

And a nice triple-play from the Anti-people, associated with the hard-rocking Epitaph label, but stretching out into all sorts of coolness.
Speaking of Anti-, I saw a news report on my local CBS affiliate about the European Smurf cartoon where the happy little village gets bombed. The on-screen news desk graphic read “Anit-War Ad.” I love when the big guys make typos!
8.DANIEL LANOIS – Belladonna (Anti-)
An all-instrumental album from the sometime great producer. Always looking for new music for the cooking-and-eating segment of the day and this one, on first listen, has a great mellow vibe.
9. TIM FITE – (Anti-) Gone Ain’t Gone (Anti-)
Saw this guy perform just a few songs on the CMJ day stage (a tough place to make a mark, with its big bright windows and large empty space), and that was enough to make me wish I’d seen more. He’s a crazy man, doing some bizarre rap/funk/rock/spoken word cranky folk thing, with only a goofy-looking (in a good way) accompanist sitting at a toy-sized keyboard. Weird and possibly wonderful. Glad to check it out.
10. BETTYE LAVETTE – I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise (Anti-)
As I was compiling this group of CDs, NPR was doing a short feature about the CD, which was produced by Joe Henry and features songs by Fiona Apple and Sinead O’Connor. Which could sound like a sell-out sop to the marketplace, but you can’t begrudge LaVette any chance she might take to reach new audiences. She’s one of those woman to whom you simply bow down and You go, girl! Thanks for keepin’ on.

Monday, October 17
11. MXPX – Panic (Side One Dummy)
Gonna see them next week with Relient K at the 930 Club. My problem with these guys is that I keep confusing them with the dirty boys of NOFX, who really creeped me out years ago with a CD cover that showed a guy getting way too personal with a sheep. Sticker says "Includes 'Heard That Sound' and 'Wrecking Hotel Rooms' which is handy to let me know where to turn first.
12. TAYLOR HOLLINGSWORTH – Tragic City (Brash)
Described as “the latest progeny from a long line of guitar driven, deep South rock & roll DNA,” and compared, with his band, to the Stooges and the MC5, The Only Ones and The Heartbreakers. I haven't heard a successful stab at that style in a while. The CD doesn’t come out until January 2006, so it could be a chance to pitch one of the national magazines with a longer lead time.

And so on, and so on. More from the collected collection…
13. CHRIS BOTTI – To Love Again (Columbia)
The last time I saw Sting in concert, and I swore it would be the last time, he was touring for his Brand New Day CD, and was firmly stuck in his ersatz jazz mode for aging yuppies. Every other song broke for an oh-so-tasteful trumpet solo from Chris Botti and, by the end of the show, I lived in fear of the hunky blond putting that instrument to his lips since I knew we’d be subjected to another sappy solo. Now the Kenny G of the horn section has released another solo album, this one offering a number of duets. There’s Sting, hitting a new low with one of the worst ballads ever penned, “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?” (north and east and south and west of your life…), and his equal in all things mainstreamingly dull, Michael Buble. But Gladys Knight makes her moment count on an affecting “Lover Man” and the wonderful Paul Buchanan, of the criminally underrated Blue Nile, puts his beautifully wounded voice to work on a melancholy (but of course!) version of Elvis Presley’s “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” I still can’t decide whether Steven Tyler’s restrained version of “Smile” is a novety or something I’ll add, with Knight and Buchanan, to the iPod. But on the whole, we need to stop Botti Right Now, and, while we’re at it, tell producer Bobby Columby to be more careful with his Blood, Sweat and Tears rolayites so he won’t get pulled into stuff like this.
14. HINDER – Extreme Behavior (Universal)
More generic attitude rock, makes me think of bands like Nickelback, who talk tough but take no real risks. Funny dumb lyric: “I really miss your hair in my face/and the way your innocence tastes.” Stupid dumb lyric: “Let’s go home and get stoned/’cause the sex is so much better when you’re mad at me.”
15. HI-5 - It’s a Hi-5 Christmas (KOCH Records)
Who are these people? Should I know them? Must ask the local parents of preschool kids. Looks like a neutered copy of S Club 7.
16. STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE –Music for Dress Up Days (KOCH)
I shouldn’t care, and don’t really. But I have a 19-year-old who waxes nostalgic (no one likes a dusty nostalgic) about Care Bears and Rainbow Brite, so I’ll pass this along. If she wasn’t around, I wound attack the pink plastic case and refit for another album.
17. DANNY BARNES - Get Myself Together (Terminus Records)
Previewed, along with Adrienne Young and Tim O'Brien for the Post. click hereBarnes does a cooly understated version of the "Sympathy for the Devil" and a hoot of an original called "Rat's Ass" as in I don't give a...
18. ADRIENNE YOUNG - The Art of Virtue (AddieBelle Music)
Her smile, the title, the tiny booklet reprinting Ben Franklin's original philosophical words...This woman just radiates lovely feelings. Watch out Alison Krauss.
19. SKAGGS FAMILY – A Skaggs Family Christmas (Skaggs Family Records)
Another holiday album I would never have sought out on my own, but will be happy to pinch from for the Cool Yule mix. I can even imagine liking some of these old-timey classics, with the family holds to simple acoustic instrumentation and doesn’t get all god-fearin’ and flag-wavin’ on me. The booklet pictures are a little scary, tho’ – the lighting is a bit harsh, giving everyone a kind of Children of the Corn look…
20. The BAD FEATHERS – Angels in the Chamber (Rosemary Records)
I’ll give these guys credit for one thing (and one thing only) – in the midst of the dozens of acts trying to attract attention at Warped tour, they succeeded. Two of the guys, dressed in loincloths and Native American headdresses, barged into the press room and handed out copies of their CD and an invitation to come see their set. They knew where to find the media and made an impression. Too bad the CD – an alt-rock R&B funk mishmash - sux. I liked the title “Rage Against the Vending Machine,” but there’s nothing in the song that elicits the same smile. And as for “The Titty Fuck Song”…well, you can judge a book by its cover. Or such. We’ve already got one Red Hot Chili Peppers. And that’s more than enough for me.
21. The HAPPY BULLETS – The Vice and Virtue Ministry (Undeniable Records)
The sticker on the CD says “RIYD: The Shins, The Decemberists, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci.” I confess, I don’t know the Gorky’s gang, but those first two comparisons are pretty heady stuff. The Bullets don’t quite meet that gold standard, but there’s plenty of smart, melodic stuff happening here; worth a listen.
22. DAMIAN “JR. GONG” MARLEY – Welcome to Jamrock (Universal)
Opened for U2 in D.C. Sorry, but I was glad I got to see Keane again at the New York show.
23. The PERSUASIONS – Sing U2 (Chesky Records)
Speaking of Bono and the boys, it’s remarkable how well many of their songs adapt easily to the soulful a capella sound of the Persuasions. Best tracks are the ones that have a bit of gospel fever to begin with, like “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” The ballads, like “One,” don’t make the transition quite so well.

Sorry, but I just have to blow these off to keep from being swamped. (Good to have such problems, eh?)
24. JULIET – Random Order (Virgin)
Okay, so this chick wants us to write her name with an upside down 7 for the L and a backwards 3 for the E. To which I say...No.
25. The JULIANA THEORY – Deadbeat Sweetheartbeat (Abacus Recordings)
26. STELLASTARR* - Harmonies for the Haunted (RCA)
27. The EVIL QUEENS – First It Boils, Then It Spills (Addison Records)
28. NINJA HIGH SCHOOL – Young Adults Against Suicide (Tomlab)
29. VARIOUS ARTISTS – Trustkill Takeover (Trustkill Records)
30. WE ARE SCIENTISTS – With Love and Squalor (Virgin)
Indolence and Affection. It means something to me, But my lips are sealed.

YTD Total:772