Month: May 2024

WSND DJ set list – May 30, 2024

It was another fun Three-for-Thursday show on WSND. Here’s the set list, thanks to all who helped with requests:

  1. Hüsker Dü – All Tensed Up (live) (trio / three-word song title)
  2. Golden Animals – Tender Hearts (from their three-word album titled Hear Eye Go)
  3. 311 – Don’t Stay Home (“3” in the band name / three-word song title) (requested)
  4. Mdou Moctar – Wiwasharnine (from his three-word album titled Ilana (The Creator))
  5. ZZ Top – Cheap Sunglasses (trio) (requested)
  6. Miss Red – No Guns (third song from her Murder album)
  7. The Commodores – Three Times a Lady (“Three” in the song title) (requested)
  8. Vapors of Morphine – Special Rider (trio / three-word band name and album title – Fear and Fantasy)
  9. Three Dog Night – Shambala (“Three” in the band name) (requested)
  10. Lightnin’ Hopkins – Lonesome Dog Blues (three-peat of the same artist / three-word song title)
  11. Lightnin’ Hopkins – Down Baby (three-peat of the same artist)
  12. Lightnin’ Hopkins – Morning Blues (three-peat of the same artist)
  13. Three Drives – Greece 2000 (“Three” in the band name)
  14. Deee-Lite – Groove Is in the Heart (trio) (requested)
  15. Public Practice – See You When I Want To (3:33 in length)
  16. The KLF – 3am Eternal (“3” in the song title / from their three-word album titled The White Room) (requested)
  17. Fuzzbox – Rules and Regulations (three-word song title)
  18. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Automation (3:30 in length)
  19. Cut Copy – Take Me Over (Midnight Magic remix) (three-word song title)
  20. Failure – Headstand (trio / from their three-word band album titled Wild Type Droid)
  21. Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade – Thela Hun Ginjeet (three-word song title)
  22. The Legendary Shack Shakers – Where’s the Devil When You Need Him? (third song from their Believe album)
  23. Elephant Stone – A Morning Song (three-word song title)
  24. God Lives Underwater – Weaken (three-word band name)
  25. Death Valley Girls – Under the Spell of Joy (three-word band name)

Three-for-Thursday returns June 06, 2024!

Keep your mind open.

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WSND set list – Throwback Thursday – May 30, 2024

Thanks to everyone who listened to my latest Throwback Thursday show on WSND. Here’s the set list:

  1. David Bowie – Life on Mars? (1973)
  2. The Jam – That’s Entertainment (1977)
  3. The Stooges – TV Eye (live) (1970)
  4. Radio ad for Equinox (1970)
  5. Bitter Creek – Plastic Thunder (1970)
  6. Pretty Things – Miss Fay Regrets (1970) (requested)
  7. Radio ad for Five Fingers of Death (1972)
  8. X-Ray Spex – I Am a Cliche (live) (1977)
  9. Rory Gallagher – Walk on Hot Coals (live) (1974) (requested)
  10. Bee Gees – Stayin’ Alive (1977)
  11. The Blues Brothers – Shotgun Blues (live) (1978) (requested)
  12. Traffic – The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys (1971)
  13. Alice Cooper – The Man with the Golden Gun (1973) (requested)
  14. The Shining theme (1980)
  15. Motörhead – I Got Mine (1983)
  16. Red Kross – Linda Blair (1984) (requested)
  17. Radio ad for Basket Case (1982)
  18. Devo – Are You Experienced? (1984)
  19. Jim Stafford – Cow Patti (1981) (requested)
  20. Bill Withers – Just the Two of Us (1980)
  21. Laura Branigan – Self Control (1984)
  22. The Dead Milkmen – Bitchin’ Camaro (1984)
  23. The Cure – Close to Me (1985) (requested)
  24. Treat Her Right – I Think She Likes Me (1986)
  25. The The – Infected (1986)
  26. The Ramones – Palisades Park (1989)
  27. The Human League – Don’t You Want Me (1982)
  28. Prince and The Revolution – When Doves Cry (1984)
  29. Duran Duran – Hungry Like the Wolf (1982)
  30. Oingo Boingo – Try to Believe (1990)
  31. The Jesus and Mary Chain – Reverence (1992)
  32. Pixies – Velouria (1990)
  33. The Smithereens – Shakin’ All Over (1991)
  34. De La Soul – Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey) (1991)
  35. Eric B and Rakim – Pass the Hand Grenade (1992)
  36. The Grateful Dead w/ John Fogerty – Bad Moon Rising (live) (1991) (requested)
  37. Rage Against the Machine – Bulls on Parade (1993)
  38. Placido Domingo – Morreno Torroba: Maravilla – Amor, Vida De Mi Vida (live) (1994)
  39. New Order – True Faith (1994 version)
  40. Soundgarden – Half (1994)
  41. The Humpers – Anarchy Juice (1996)
  42. L7 – The Masses Are Asses (1997)
  43. Faithless – Insomnia (1995)

Throwback Thursday returns June 06th!

Keep your mind open.

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Review: LFZ – Raveled Veiled Known

LFZ, otherwise known as Sean Smith, has dived even further than usual into his exploration of soundscapes and sound technology on his new album Raveled Veiled Known.

The album combines Smith’s hypnotizing guitar work with sound loops, vintage synths, field recordings, and probably song structures based on numerology for all I know. I mean, the album cover of embroidered art by Smith reflects numerological, tarot, and mystical themes.

I like how the album is bookended with long tracks. The opener, “Extinction Burst,” sounds like a Wall of Voodoo instrumental mixed with a John Carpenter film score and is described in the liner notes as “a characterization of the psyche’s potential to utterly resist change.” It’s all weird synths and reverb-laden guitar flourishes, and it’s all neat for over twelve minutes. In case you need a slightly radio friendly version, “Extinction Burst (edit),” at about half the length, follows it.

“View from Here” was improvised and recorded in one night and uses a lot of tape loops and “…represents themes of being trapped inside the boundless prison of one’s solitary perspective and the peace and madness that can coexist.” I mean, holy cow. LFZ is into some deep water here, and he’s floating on it like a cork while encouraging us to do the same when the water gets choppy.

“Waiting for Esme” is about Smith awaiting the birth of his daughter and the nervous anticipation of such an event. It has the most “normal” structure of the album’s tracks, but is no less full of strange synth effects. The long closing track, “Naturally I Found It Within,” reflects the outward journey that always returns inward – using buzzing guitars and dark wave synths to create moments of chaos and clarity.

It’s a weird, neat record. It’s strange at times, and soothing at others.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Ryan at Clandestine Label Services.]

Review: LAIR – Ngélar

Indonesian psych-funk? I’m there all day.

That’s what you get with LAIR and their new album, Ngélar – an album that salutes the band’s hometown, Jatiwangi, and the earth that provides most of the areas income through terra-cotta production, and discusses the struggles to reclaim that same land from deforestation.

“Tatalu” gets things off to a fast start with wild beats and exotic guitar work. “Pesta Rekyat Pabrik Gala” takes on a sorrowful tone that sounds like a call to ancient ancestors and spirits. “Tanah Bertuah” has more stellar guitar work from Tedi Nurmanto. “Hareeng” is almost desert rock with beautiful vocals from Monica Haspari. “Boa-Boa,” with its car horn honks, fuzzy bass riffs from Andzar Agung Fauzan, is one of the coolest songs on the record and will go straight onto your psych-rock playlist.

The chant-like vocals on “Bangkai Belantara” dance back and forth between power and celebration. “Kawin Tebu” is a lively track that makes you want to dance, sing, and invite strangers to a party at your house. The title of the album, after all, refers to a local custom in Jatiwangi of musicians roaming around the town, playing music for anyone, and celebrating whatever happens to need celebrating. “Setan Dolban” brings in some synthesizers and these cool microtonal guitars that would make King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard drool.

If you didn’t know LAIR was from Indonesia, you might think they were from the Algerian desert upon hearing “Gelombang Pemecah Malam,” which is a brief instrumental of sand dune rock. The closer, “Mencari Selamat,” is a lively song of thanks and uplifting beats made to help you forget troubles.

This is one of the most uplifting albums I’ve heard so far in 2024. It comes at a time when we need music like this to expand our horizons and jolt us out of any bad funks we’re in right now.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity.]

WSND DJ set list – 3-for-Thursday Nocturne – May 23, 2024

Thanks for all who tuned into the first 3-for-Thursday Nocturne show of the 2024 summer on WSND. All songs are related to the number 3. Here’s the set list:

  1. House of Large Sizes – The Other Part (trio / three-word song title)
  2. ZZ Top – Master of Sparks (requested) (trio / three-word song title / from the Tres Hombres album)
  3. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – What to Do (trio / three-word song title)
  4. Sleater-Kinney – End of You (trio / three-word song title / three-word album title The Hot Rock)
  5. Bob Marley – Three Little Birds (requested) (three-word song title / “three” in the song title)
  6. Failure – Macaque (trio)
  7. Coldplay – Clocks (requested) (3-3-2 rhythm)
  8. On – Feel at Home (three-word song title)
  9. Genesis – Abacab (requested) (trio / the name of the song is it’s original form, rotating between the three A, B, and C sections)
  10. Skull Practitioners – Ventilation (trio)
  11. The Commodores – Three Times a Lady (requested) (three-word song title)
  12. Le Butcherettes – Shave the Pride (three-word song title / three-word album title A Raw Youth)
  13. Flat Worms – Antartica (trio)
  14. Oh Sees – Toe Cutter Thumb Buster (3:33 in length)
  15. The Jesus and Mary Chain – Just Like Honey (“three-peat” of one artist / three-word song title)
  16. The Jesus and Mary Chain – Darklands (“three-peat” of one artist)
  17. The Jesus and Mary Chain – Here Comes Alice (“three-peat” of one artist / three-word song title)
  18. Bad Religion – All Fantastic Images (“three-peat” of one artist / three-word song title)
  19. Bad Religion – You Don’t Belong (“three-peat” of one artist / three-word song title)
  20. Bad Religion – Cyanide (“three-peat” of one artist)
  21. Gas Huffer – Rotten Egg (from three-word album titled Just Beautiful Music)
  22. Treat Her Right – Factory Girl (three-word band name)
  23. Morphine – Come Along (trio)
  24. The Forms – All Souls Day (three-word song title)
  25. Alice In Chains – No Excuses (three-word band name and from three-word album titled Jar of Flies)
  26. Shadow Show – Shadow Box (trio)
  27. Beastie Roys – Root Down (trio)
  28. Janelle Monae – Dance or Die (Nirobi re-edit) (three-word song title)
  29. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Bad Blood (third song from their album Beat the Devil’s Tattoo)

My next show is May 30, 2024. Give me a listen!

Keep your mind open.

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WSND set list – Throwback Thursday – May 23, 2024

Thanks to all who listened to my first Throwback Thursday show of the summer 2024 break at WSND. Here’s the set list:

  1. Blondie – Heart of Glass (1978)
  2. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Around the Bend (1970)
  3. Count Yorga radio ad (1970)
  4. Johnny Cash – Man in Black (1971)
  5. Mungo Jerry – In the Summertime (1970)
  6. Astrud Gilberto – Take It Easy My Brother Charlie (1972)
  7. New York Dolls – Lookin’ for a Kiss (1973)
  8. Save the Children radio ad (1973)
  9. Marvin Gaye – Save the Children (live) (1973)
  10. The Rolling Stones – It’s Only Rock and Roll (but I Like It) (1974)
  11. The Sex Pistols – Pretty Vacant (requested) (1977)
  12. Sugar Hill radio ad (1974)
  13. Betty Davis – Shut Off the Light (1975)
  14. Thin Lizzy – Angel from the Coast (1976)
  15. Tentacles radio ad (1977)
  16. Devo – Uncontrollable Urge (1978)
  17. Gary Numan – Engineers (1979)
  18. Peter Gabriel – Shock the Monkey (requested) (1982)
  19. Adam and the Ants – Fall In (1980)
  20. Europe – The Final Countdown (requested) (1986)
  21. Oingo Boingo – Ain’t This the Life (1981)
  22. Gang of Four – Outside the Trains Don’t Run on Time (requested) (1980)
  23. Motörhead – Heart of Stone (1982)
  24. The Fixx – Saved By Zero (1983)
  25. Campbell’s Soup radio ad (1983?)
  26. The Last Four Digits – Leave Me Alone (1980)
  27. Sade – Your Love Is King (1984)
  28. INXS – Listen Like Thieves (1985)
  29. Big Audio Dynamite – Ticket (1986)
  30. Radio ad for New Coke (1984?)
  31. Agent Orange – Out of Limits (1987)
  32. New Order – Blue Monday (’88) (1988)
  33. Biz Markie – Just a Friend (1989)
  34. Lou Reed – Hold On (1989)
  35. Sonic Youth – Kool Thing (1990)
  36. Julian Cope – Leperskin (1991)
  37. Thunder – Backstreet Symphony (requested) (1990)
  38. MC 900 Foot Jesus – Truth Is Out of Style (live) (1992)
  39. Depeche Mode – World in My Eyes (requested) (1991)
  40. Helmet – He Feels Bad (1992)
  41. Temple of the Dog – Say Hello 2 Heaven (requested) (1991)
  42. R.L. Burnside – Short-Haired Woman (1994)
  43. Orgy – Blue Monday (requested) (1998)
  44. Reverend Horton Heat – Big Red Rocket of Love (1996)
  45. Slint – Nosferatu Man (requested) (1991)
  46. Death in Vegas – Dirt (1997)

Throwback Thursday returns May 30, 2024!

Keep your mind open.

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WSND DJ set list – Nocturne May 19, 2024

Thanks to all who listened to my first Nocturne show on WSND for the 2024 summer break. Here’s the set list:

  1. Motörhead – Dirty Love
  2. Motörhead – Bomber
  3. Terry Evans w/ Ry Cooder – Get Your Lies Straight (requested)
  4. Warish – Burn No Bridges
  5. Electric Wizard – Vinum Sabbathi
  6. Tangled Horns – Sleeping Dogs
  7. Pixies – Broken Face
  8. LCD Soundsystem – Emotional Haircut
  9. Buzzcocks – Running Free (live)
  10. Jackie Shane – Knock on Wood (live)
  11. The Damned – Neat Neat Neat
  12. The Humpers – Loser’s Club
  13. Bad Religion – Suffer
  14. Flat Worms – Condo Colony
  15. Helmet – In the Meantime
  16. Pretenders – Every Day Is Like Sunday
  17. The Lewis & Clarke Expedition – Blue Revelations
  18. Night Beats – Ain’t a Ghost
  19. The Dead Weather – 60 Feet Tall
  20. Leslie West w/ Joe Bonamassa – Third Degree (requested)
  21. Failure – Screen Man
  22. Mort Garson – Black Eye (End Credits)
  23. MC5 – Kick Out the Jams (live) (requested)
  24. Screaming Females – Something Ugly
  25. The Black Angels – Black Isn’t Black
  26. Cake – Satan Is My Motor (requested)
  27. Morphine – Buena (alternate version)
  28. The Wiseguys – Ooh La La

I’m back on air May 23, 2024 at 7pm Eastern for Throwback Thursday and then 3-for-Thursday Nocturne! Don’t miss it!

Keep your mind open.

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WSND set list – Deep Dive of The Who and Pete Townshend

Thanks to all who listened to my first Deep Dive of the 2024 summer on WSND, this one on The Who and Pete Townshend. Here’s the set list:

  1. The Who – My Generation
  2. The Squadronaires – Rustle of the Swing
  3. Bill Haley and The Comets – Rock Around the Clock
  4. Cliff Richard – Move It
  5. The Detours – It Was You
  6. Screaming Lord Sutch – I’m in Love with Dracula’s Daughter
  7. The High Numbers – Zoot Suit
  8. The Who – I Can’t Explain
  9. The Who – Anyway Anyhow Anywhere (live)
  10. Blur – Substitute
  11. James Brown – I Don’t Mind
  12. The Who – A Quick One (While He’s Away) (live)
  13. The Who – Boris the Spider (requested)
  14. The Who – Call Me Lightning (requested)
  15. The Who – I Can See for Miles (full version)
  16. The Who – The Seeker (Juggernaut remix)
  17. Tina Turner – The Acid Queen
  18. The Who – Magic Bus (live)
  19. The Who – Baba O’Riley (live)
  20. W.A.S.P. – The Real Me
  21. Pearl Jam – Love Reign O’er Me (live)
  22. Pete Townshend – Content
  23. Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane – Rough Mix
  24. The Grateful Dead with Pete Townshend – Around and Around (live)
  25. Pete Townshend – Cat’s in the Cupboard
  26. Pete Townshend – Let My Love Open the Door (live)
  27. Pete Townshend – Rough Boys
  28. The Sex Pistols – Pretty Vacant
  29. Pete Townshend – Slit Skirts
  30. Pete Townshend – Face the Face (requested)
  31. Pete Townshend – Secondhand Love (alternate version) (live)
  32. Pete Townshend (feat. David Gilmour) – Give Blood (live)

The Deep Dive show returns in July! Keep listening to me on Thursday nights at 7pm through August in the meantime!

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Takuya Kuroda – Rising Son (2024 reissue)

Back in 2014, jazz trumpeter Takuya Kuroda released Rising Son, an album that combined jazz, hip hop, and a little psychedelia and went to number one on the Japanese jazz charts. Now, a decade later, First Word Records has reissued the album (which would cost you a pretty penny if you were to buy an original 2014 pressing) and included a new remix with it.

The album is a collection of mostly Roy Ayers covers, but with added hip hop and Afrobeat rhythms and other flourishes that remind you of late nights in Brooklyn, New York (who Kuroda is based) or Kobe, Japan (where Kuroda was born). The crisp, snappy beats from Nate Smith on the opening title track alone will grab your attention and send hip hop producers scrambling for their mixers. Kuroda’s funky and lush trumpet comes in an has those same producers thinking they can’t get this stuff into a track fast enough. “Afro Blues” definitely has Afrobeat stylings all over it, and they mix great with traditional (Is there such a thing?) jazz organ riffs from Kris Bowers.

“Piri Piri” is so slick that you might slip and fall on it as it slides out of your speakers. “Mala” has this cool 1970s jazz lounge vibe to it, reminding me a bit of some of Boz Scaggs‘ material from then. Just when you think the album can’t get any funkier, along comes “Everybody Loves the Sunshine,” which will be one of those songs you want to play for everyone at every summer party from now until forever.

Kuroda’s trumpet and Corey King‘s trombone go together like hot chocolate and warm milk on “Green and Gold,” and Bowers’ keyboard work on it is the whipped cream on top. “Sometime, Somewhere, Somehow” takes its time to create a soulful love track that doesn’t rush anything…like a good lover. “Call” is over nine minutes of groovy, funky, and introspective (but never turning into mindless noodling) jazz-funk that seems perfect for both rainy and sunny days.

The album ends with a 2024 remix of “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” by Joe Armon-Jones, turning it into a synthwave jam that puts a neat, new spin on it.

It’s a groovy record, and one you’ll want in your collection. Get it now before it goes out of your price range again.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Gabriel at Clandestine PR!]

Steve Albini loved music more than money.

Steve Albini, who recently died of a heart attack at just 61 years of age, might have been the last producer who frequently and joyfully stuck his middle finger in the eye of the music industry. He enjoyed being outside the mainstream, even when working with well-known acts such as Nirvana.

Nirvana were rulers of the radio, college campuses, pop culture, and practically everything else after the success of Nevermind. The whole world wanted a new album, and they went to Albini to produce it. That album became In Utero, which was originally considered “unreleasable” by the band’s label – which Albini and the band found baffling and, looking back, humorous…especially since it’s sold millions of copies by now.

Albini, by the way, collected no royalties on In Utero, or any other album he produced. He only charged his production fee of less than eight hundred bucks a day, and he’d often let friends use his studio for free. He could’ve been a millionaire off royalties from In Utero alone, but he didn’t care about that. He cared about music first and foremost and helping bands catch something raw and pure (“If a record takes more than a week to make, somebody is fucking up.” – from a letter he wrote to Nirvana before the In Utero recordings began).

He was one of the last to not really give a crap about what labels, radio programming managers, and music festival promoters thought. He openly hated most music festivals (and, somewhat famously, Steely Dan), and only played Primavera Sound in Barcelona with his band Shellac…who were due to release a new album, To All Trains, ten days after he died.

The list of Albini’s credits is insane. His most famous works are In Utero, Pixies‘ Surfer Rosa, The Jesus Lizard‘s Pure, and P.J. Harvey‘s Rid of Me. The following is a list of albums he produced that I personally own:

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – self-titled album (1992), Acme (1998), Xtra Acme USA (1999), and Plastic Fang (2002), Failure – Comfort (1992), Helmet – Meantime (1992), Nirvana – In Utero (1993), Pixies – Wave of Mutilation: Best of Pixies (2004), Living Things – Ahead of the Lions (2005), Screaming Females – Ugly (2012), Live at the Hideout (2014), and Rose Mountain (2015), Man or Astroman? – Defcon 5 4 3 2 1 (2013), Flat Worms – Antarctica (2019), Fuzz – III (2020).

Antarctica, by the way, was my top album of 2019.

Albini will be greatly missed, but he left a big legacy and massive shoes to fill. I hope someone picks up his band-loving torch and runs with it.

Keep your mind open.

Enjoy this Albini-produced banger.

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