Summer > Epilogue

Looks like Underwater Peoples has done it again! 3/4 of Real Estate + Julian Lynch on lead guitar = Alex Bleeker & the Freaks:

Halfway to Autumn: SCnP's Summer Mix

I don't know how obvious it's been, but I've been wanting to change things up a bit with regards to the podcast, so for this week's episode I decided to forgo the usual fake-radio-show format and instead made a continuous mix of my favorite summer jams. Some of this stuff I've played before (even as recently as last week), but since it's a mix, it's all about the flow. For the sake of surprise, I'm holding off on posting the playlist for a few days. Can you name every song?


[direct download]

New Height Video!

The always-informative MBV alerted me to the existence of a rad new video from Baltimore rapper and 255/SCnP pal Height for "Mike Stone" from the Baltimore Highlands LP (buy it here from Wham City Records). Check it out!

In Napoleon's Time

Another week, another podcast! Lots of lo-fi this week, not that that's an unusual thing around here. Enjoy!


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PLAYLIST

Deerhoof - "Sunnyside" (buy)
Times New Viking - "No Time, No Hope" (download)
The Huspa Concept - "No Deer Eye"
Ty Segall - "Can't Talk" (buy)
The Vaselines - "Slushy" (buy)
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Highlife - "F Kenya RIP"
Grass Widow - "Celebrate the Mundane" (buy)
Guided by Voices - "Ghosts of a Different Dream" (buy)
Jay Reatard - "Wounded" (buy)
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "103"
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Crash Normal - "Hairy Wine 2" (buy)
Dump - "Laurdine"
The Mayfair Set - "Junked!" (buy)
Manishevitz - "Coronation Day" (buy)
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Jeffrey Lewis & the Junkyard - "Broken Broken Broken Heart" (buy)

If You Have a Demon

Plastic Idol Records, the label who brought us Young Governor's debut single and possibly my favorite 7-inch of the year so far, has done it again, this time with a single from France's Crash Normal. I had never heard this group of Parisians before reading Plastic Idol's announcement of the release, but one listen to the snippet from the A-side offered at the label's website and I knew I had to have this particular slab of vinyl. (The very reasonable price of $5.75 post-paid didn't hurt either.)

"Flying to NY" is a rock-solid track with a catchy stop-start guitar riff that compliments the buzzsaw-thru-a-chorus-pedal vocals quite nicely, but, like all the best singles, it's the flipside that really shines, and here Crash Normal turn in a rad fuzzed-out cover of the Country Teasers' "Hairy Wine 2" that, to these ears, eclipses the original. You'll have to listen to the next podcast to hear that one, though. In the meantime, give a listen to the A-side.


[mp3] Crash Normal - "Flying to NY"
(buy it from Plastic Idol Records)

Tiger Loves Manatee

For days, I've wanted to play Super Animal Bros. III so bad it practically gives me Nintendo thumb just thinking about it. Thing is, "Super Animal Bros. III" is really just the title track of the new EAR PWR album, but if it were a video game, I'd imagine it would involve flying skateboards, sentient plush toys, and lots and lots of neon. Listening to this song, I'm having a hard time believing EAR PWR isn't actually a band comprised of stuffed animals, even though I've had visual proof when I saw them open for fellow North-Carolinians-turned-Baltimoreans Future Islands a couple years ago.

To be frank, many of the tracks on EAR PWR's new album don't quite capture the ecstatic exuberance of the band's live show as well as "Super Animal Bros. III" does, but that's probably because it's one of the only songs with a fully fleshed-out pop structure that really pulls the casual listener in. The rest of Super Animal Brothers III still makes for a fun listen, especially when played at high volume at a dance party, as the band no doubt intends, but if EAR PWR continues to crank out strong dance-pop tracks like they have here, I foresee a really bangin' singles collection in their future.

[mp3] EAR PWR - "Super Animal Bros. III"
(from Super Animal Brothers III; buy it from Carpark)

255's Final Five Shows

At the end of this month 255 Ashley Ave. will reach the end of its run as a show house. Here are the final five shows booked for 255:

Saturday, July 11th
The Bachelorettes
Lizzie Wright Super Space Ship
Castles Underground
Fun Police

Wednesday, July 15th
Viktor! Fix the Sun
Buff Clout
Pisces and the Animal Fair

Thursday, July 23rd
Strangers Family Band
Hypnosquad
Co.

Saturday, July 25th
Tonnn
The Heist and the Accomplice
+TBA

Friday, July 31st
Royal Chord
Psychic Reality
+TBA

You may want to bookmark this post as I will be filling in those TBA's later.

I Wear a Red Bracelet

I'm a tad bit late this week, but it's still Monday so I'm not gonna beat myself up over it too bad. To be honest, folks, for some reason I just barely had it in me to do the podcast this week. Most weeks things just kinda fall in place, but this time I really had to dig deep to pull it off. This probably shows through on this weeks episode, but I still have plenty of good tunes to share with you. Hope you like it.


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PLAYLIST

UUVVWWZ - "Berry Can" (buy)
Air Miami - "Seabird" (buy)
Bobb Trimble and the Flying Spiders - "The Camel Song" (download)
Neon Indian - "Should Have Taken Acid With You" (buy)
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Sun Araw - "Hustle and Bustle" (buy)
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Brilliant Colors - "Should I Tell You" (buy)
The Rock*A*Teens - "Bloodhound" (buy)
Strangers Family Band - "Strange Transmission"
Tin Kitchen - "Grace"
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Little Lungs - "Atlantic Bridge" (buy)
Ear Pwr - "Sparkley Sweater" (buy)
Cave - "Machines and Muscles" (buy)
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Les Sins - "Lina"

Sounds of Independence

Today is the Fourth of July, and that means cookouts, among other, less important things, and no Fourth of July cookout would be complete without a boombox blasting some classic American jams. Later today when I'm grilling up some burgers and veggie kabobs, I plan on rocking this awesome mix of dusty old soul 45s City Center's Fred Thomas picked up on their recent tour.

[mp3] City Center Summer Mix #2: 45s I Found on Tour
(check out the tracklist on the City Center blog)

I'd like to think he got the idea from the all-45 podcast I did a few months back, but I'm guessing any credit for inspiration belongs to Mr. Fine Wine, who hosts WFMU's essential Friday night soul program, Downtown Soulville, whose archives I will definitely be dipping into today as well. If you don't already subscribe to the Downtown Soulville podcast, you definitely should. It's the perfect music for every occasion, even funerals! (Well, maybe not every funeral.)

Check out Downtown Soulville's 14 years of archives right here, then subscribe to the show's podcast so you never miss an episode again!

Every Twinkle of Your Eyes

It's no secret that I love to listen to WFMU, America's premiere free-form radio station, but dedicated to the station though I am, it's not often I hit up their (ridiculously extensive) archives, preferring instead to listen to the live broadcast (I'm kinda old-fashioned that way). For the past few days, though, I've had the archive of Bobb Trimble's recent live set on Talk's Cheap, WFMU's Tuesday morning music program hosted by Jason Sigal, practically on repeat.

For the unacquainted, Bobb Trimble is a Massachusetts singer/songwriter often compared to modern purveyors of haunted pop in the vein of Ariel Pink, although I think his music has more in common, at least sonically, with that of Death Vessel or Jeff Hanson (RIP), especially in the vocals department. Trimble self-released two albums of delicate, melancholy psych-folk in the early 80s (Iron Curtain Innocence and Harvest of Dreams) before sinking deep into obscurity. In 2007, Secretly Canadian finally gave these albums the wide release they deserve, and since then Bobb has re-emerged, performing live for the first time in decades with a new backing band, the Flying Spiders (which, speaking of haunted pop, features Gary War on guitar).

Along with songs from both of the aforementioned albums, the WFMU set also includes a few songs from Life Beyond the Doghouse, a vinyl-only European release from 2002 that compiles Bobb's lost mid-80s solo recordings. Since that LP is nearly impossible to find in the States, WFMU has made the live versions available for free download on their Free Music Archive. These songs are a fair bit heavier than anything on the first two records, which is just fine by me. Here are my two favorites:

[mp3] Bobb Trimble and the Flying Spiders - "The Camel Song"
[mp3] Bobb Trimble and the Flying Spiders - "Live Wire, Live Wire"
(from their live set on WFMU's Talk's Cheap - 6/30/09; hear more at FMA)

Be sure to check out the whole set here in the Talk's Cheap archives, and I highly recommend picking up at least one of the reissues from Secretly Canadian. In fact, here's a song from each, if you need convincing:

[mp3] Bobb Trimble - "One Mile from Heaven (Short Version)"
(from Iron Curtain Innocence; buy it from Secretly Canadian)

[mp3] Bobb Trimble - "Premonitions - The Fantasy"
(from Harvest of Dreams; buy it from Secretly Canadian)

Double You Double Vee Double Double You Zee

I had planned to write all about SCnPodcast staples UUVVWWZ today, particularly how their excellent self-titled LP is finally seeing release on compact disc next week on Saddle Creek Records, making them the first Saddle Creek band I've liked since I was in my teens, but I'm too worn out from an especially strenuous day at work, so instead here's a video I've been enjoying a lot lately, courtesy of the always-rad Hood Internet:

Oh, and I guess I oughtta post a couple UUVVWWZ tracks, too. They're the best:

[mp3] UUVVWWZ - "Jap Dad"
[mp3] UUVVWWZ - "Shark Suit"
(from their self-titled LP on It Are Good/Saddle Creek)