"Colliding Circles"- R. Stevie Moore

Sure, other "eccentric" artists love to call themselves Original, but most fail miserably. On the other hand, R. Stevie Moore Is, and continues to put out wonderful DIY (which he is a pioneer) music from New Jersey filled with fractured, shimmering genius.

"Colliding Circles" is one RSM's classics; I wish they had shown this on MTV at the time instead of say, A-Ha:



And a very nice version w/ Chris Bolger from 1999:

"Darling Be Home Soon"- Lovin' Spoonful

One of my earliest rememberences as a child was being in a department store around Christmastime shopping w/ my family and hearing John Sebastian's beautiful "Darling Be Home Soon" over the in-store speakers. I must have been about 4; in the enigmatic way that percieved "random" moments sometimes are touchstones to one's own life, this song (and it's in the top 3 of my favorites) has always been one of mine.

Zally on guitar is hilarious in this, too:

"Emotion"- DFX2

I'm a firm believer (against my better judgement at times) that every band has one good (and sometimes, classic) song in them, no matter how pedestrian the rest of their catalog sounds.

DFX2 was better than pedestrian throughout it's career in the 80's, but "Emotion" was miles better than anything else it ever did and still sounds better than anything The Stones have released after say, 1980:

"When You Make Up Your Mind"- Gutterball

Gutterball, made up of Steve Wynn (The Dream Syndicate), Bryan Harvey and Johnny Hott (House Of Freaks), Stephen McCarthy (The Long Ryders), and Bob Rupe (The Silos), wrote one of the great shambling power-pop songs (and maybe my favorite song) of all-time w/ "When You Make Up Your Mind".

Stephen McCarthy's acsending solo reaches guitar nirvana in it's chiming bliss:

R.I.P. Jay Bennett

Damn, I knew Jay hadn't been getting on well lately due to his chronic hip injury, but I didn't expect to see this.

RIP, Jay; you were the soul behind Wilco's gravy period between Summer Teeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and the world is a lesser place without you.

HB3 Record Release Party Tuesday, May 26 at The Bordello, Los Angeles

My bro HB3 will be having a record release party for his brand spankin' new CD "The Veldt" (which you can download here) Tuesday, May 26 at The Bordello in Downtown Los Angeles. Come on down and show him some love, baby.

Transcendental Blues"- Steve Earle

Yes:






In the darkest hour of the longest night
If it was in my power I'd step into the light
Candles on the altar, penny in your shoe
Walk upon the water - transcendental blues.

Happy ever after 'til the day you die
Careful what you ask for, you don't know 'til you try
Hands are in your pockets, starin' at your shoes
Wishin' you could stop it - transcendental blues.

If I had it my way, everything would change
Out here on this highway the rules are still the same
Back roads never carry you where you want 'em to
They leave you standin' there with them ol'
Transcendental Blues..

"Hyacinth Girl"- Winter Hours

Winter Hours were another of the jangle pop bands in the mid 80's that follwed in R.E.M.'s wake, and were sadly underappreciated during their run. "Hyacinth Girl" is one of those songs that should have been a massive hit in a just world; it really doesn't get any better than this:

"Love Dog"- TV On The Radio

One beautiful groove:



Lonely little love dog that
No one knows the name of
I know why you cry out
Desperate and devout

Timid little teether
Your eyes set on the ether
Your moon in a bella luna and
Howling hallelujah

Nameless you above me
Come lay me low and love me
This lonely little love dog
That no one knows the name of

Curse me out in free verse
Wrap me up and reverse this
Patience is a virtue
Until it's silence burns you

And something slow
Has started in me as
Shameless as an ocean
Mirrored in devotion

Something slow
Has sparked up in me
As dog cries for a master
Sparks are whirling faster

Lonely little love dog
That no one knows the ways of
Where the land is low is
Where the bones'll show through

Lonely little love dog
That no one knows the days of
Where the land is low is
Where the water flows to
And holds you...

"Tumblin' Dice"- The Rolling Stones

The 69-74 Stones really were The World's Greatest Rock N Roll Band, and Mick Jones is a major reason why.

Just listen to those tasty licks, baby:

"Matthew And Son"- Cat Stevens

Before he became the archetype 1970's singer-songwriter, Cat Stevens was putting up some groovy, Ray Davies-styled pop music like "Matthew And Son":

"Waiting For The Sun"- Johnny R.

Yeah yeah yeah, it's a kid playing and singing guitar; on youtube, that's about as orginial as Nickelback's career.

Except that 8 year old Johnny R. of the band The Bolts is a pretty good guitar player and singer, and he covers one of the great alt-country anthems by The Jayhawks, too.

Well done, Johnny:

"California Uber Alles"- Dead Kennedys

My friend (and fellow old-school punk aficiando) Al Cameron jogged my memory about San Francisco Punk Legends Dead Kennedys tonight, and the first song that came to mind was their classic "California Uber Alles". This is a fantastic clip from 1979, and the raw energy and proto-performance art is unforgettable:

"Hava Nagila"- The MopTops

This is great:

"4'33"- John Cage

The point? Music is everywhere, even in silence.

Ignore the annoying guy at the beginning of the clip and listen. Just listen:

This Town Ain't Paris, France You Know"- Kevin M. Kirker

We're playing Kevin M. Kirker's gorgeous "This Town Ain't Paris, France You Know" on tomorrow's Indie Nation; until then, here's the equally gorgeous video for the song:



and you believe she's alright
because she states it's so
then you abandon her once more

for the evenings you have spent
to swallow your dreams
but you consume hers as well

every present in the world
would never fill the void
you've left inside of her

don't you say she's something special and then
not remain with her to be with your friends
i'm the better liar so i would know
every word you say is just something you think she wants to hear

i'm sure you care but why would you have
a daughter if you could not love her too?

i'm sure

just because your love is lost
don't mean it can be found
this town ain't paris, france you know

now she's staying up all night
for letters you don't write
she waits and waits and waits for

you to show her any signs
of who you were before
excuses on the door

don't you call yourself a father because
even mannequins expose fewer flaws
even though she's just a child she knows
what it means to be the dirt that's swept under the carpet

i'm sure you care but why would you have
a daughter if you could not love her too?

i'm sure..

Boat Burning Live at The Cave, Thursday, May 14

From my good friend Andy Fekete:

"Whirl (or be whirled) like a dead dervish this Thursday night at The Cave in Chapel Hill, NC with Boat Burning, Chapel Hill's ongoing experiment in throbbing live musical composition using amplified guitars, cello, drums and chance; Ghost Cats Of The South, a spacey indie-folk band from Raleigh named for a supernatural pet story, Kegs Of Acid's psych-drone-rock, and Motorman."

As always, go see these guys; Boat Burning is the best band not named Richmond Fontaine in North America, and the magnificent improvisational symphony that they conjure is a joy to hear.

No Show Tonight

Sorry folks, the video card in my IBM Boat Anchor PC I use to broadcast the show went kablooey this morning. I have to run down to my local computer dude in a bit to get a new card, so no show tonight.

To those w/ requests, I'll get them on no later than Wednesday night!

"CKLW 20/20 News"

CKLW 880 was THE top 40 station around the Great Lakes and Ontario during their heyday of 1970-80, and the 50,000 blowtorch could be heard in Cleveland (where I listened many, many summer nights in the 1970's) just fine both day and night. Other than Clevo's own WIXY 1260, it's the station that really set in motion my love affair for radio.

CKLW's "20/20 News" was infamous for hyper-sensationalized newscasts at 20 after and 20 before the hour, led by Byron MacGregor's impossibly deep, rat-tat-tat delivery that pummeled more often than not the over the top "if it bleeds, it leads" stories in a way that was impossible to forget.

This is a great clip from a CKLW documentary talking about the 20/20 News Team:



And The Man Himself, from a CKLW reunion in 1985:

"The World's Greatest Sinner" (1962)

Fanatical (in more ways then one) cult actor Timothy Carey's magnum opus "The World's Greatest Sinner" (1962), instantly leapt into my 10 favorite films of all-time when I snagged a VHS copy many moons ago.

Tim as Clarence "God" Hillard is one of the great anti-heroes on film, and I'd swear on my Zappa records that Nature Boy Ric Flair copped his own speaking style right from Carey in this, it's that uncanny.

TCM played this last month; next time it's on, it's well worth watching:

"Like Rain"- Grin (Live, 1970)

Grin, the essential heart-on-their-sleeve band led by the 19 year old
singer/songwriter/guitar player Nils Lofgren, were one of those bands that should have made it big, even if Nils himself later found fame w/ his very fine solo work and stints w/ Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen.

"Like Rain", from Grin's first record is a sweetly tough lament on love, w/ the band in excellent(and slightly jazzy, too) form:

"Rain"- The Beatles

When I was 13 and going thru my Beatlemaniac phase, "Rain" was the song I probably played more than any other. For pure pop/psychadelia it's a proto-classic, and Paul McCartney's bass is unbeatable in it's muscle.

And of course, they all look stoned out of their minds in the promo clip, too:

HB3 Live at Juanita's (Los Angeles) Sunday, May 3rd

My bro HB3 and the band will be playing at Juanita's in LA Sunday, May 3rd at 8pm; songs from his new record The Veldt (which yours truly got a taste of recently) will be forthcoming very, very soon.

Until then, here's the retro-groovey video for "Rom Spaceknight":