Episode 52: Don't Go There

Great music from places I won't go, or at least pointedly avoid going. That's the theme today. I never claimed to be sane.

Here's what you'll hear today (direct download here):

aJt: "Love Piano" (France)
Afghan Music Project: "Another Flower for Kharabat" (Afghanistan)
The Adversary: "Fancy Bred" (Memphis, Tenn.)
Flat Earth: "Mistake I Never Made" (Duluth, Minn.)
The Esla Project: Untitled (South Bend, Ind.)
Bedroom Studio: "Deny the Truth" (Cookeville, Tenn.)
Mean Gene Kelton and the Die Hards: "These Blues Are Kicking My Ass" (biker rallies)

Tracks 3-6 came from GarageBand; tracks 1 and 7 come courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network; and track 2 comes via the IODA Promonet.



The Afghan restaurant I mention in Baltimore, Md., is The Helmand. It's highly recommended if you're ever in the area.

"Another Flower For Kharabat" (mp3)
from "AMP"
by The Afghan Music Project
(Afghan Music Project)
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Strange Rebel Frequency: "Wire"

Here's a studio rehearsal clip of Strange Rebel Frequency doing "Wire," one of the tracks on their new album, Sans Restless Memory.



Better sound quality on "Burn for You," but both give you some idea what this band's about. I've played them on the show once before, from their first album, and will soon be playing something from the new one.

New podcast coming Tuesday: Seven tracks, six artists never before played on this show.

Steve Earle with Emmylou Harris: "Goodbye"

Since there's no Bizarro Files today and the last video was really a dance routine without the actual musicians showing up, you get another of these.



Steve Earle's an inspiration, a survivor of heroin addiction and self-destructive living. This song was written either in prison or shortly after he got out, the "making amends" step of the 12-step recovery process. And Emmylou Harris is just a goddess, no other way to put it -- anything she lends her voice to turns to gold.

Episode 51: Angst, Much?

This show looks more angst-ridden than I'm actually feeling. Sometimes things just happen that way. Though I AM sick, so there will be no Bizarro Files today.

Here's what you'll hear today (direct download here):

Bitter:Sweet, "Bittersweet Faith"
Josh Woodward, "I Want to Destroy Something Beautiful"
Dashboard Confessional, "Screaming Infidelities"
Richard Manuel, "I Shall Be Released"
Jodie Borle, "Stumble With Me"
This Bright Apocalypse, "Black Boys on Mopeds"



Tracks 1, 4 and 5 come via the IODA Promonet. Tracks 3 and 6 come via the Podsafe Music Network, and track 2 was downloaded from Woodward's Web site -- where you can download what you like or buy a physical CD and set your own price. He's a great artist, so I suggest you not take advantage of his kindness.

"Stumble With Me" (mp3)
from "And Then I Did..."
by Jodie Borlé
(C4 Records)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Rhapsody
Stream from Rhapsody


"I Shall Be Released" (mp3)
from "Whispering Pines"
by Richard Manuel
(Corazong Records)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Napster
More On This Album



"Bittersweet Faith" (mp3)
from "The Mating Game"
by Bitter:Sweet
(Quango)
Buy at eMusic
Buy at Rhapsody
More On This Album

Rachel Griffin: "Doctor, Please, Examine Me, Thoroughly"

I almost feel guilty putting this up here. ALMOST. But, hey, Rachel chose to share the fact she has a crush on her doctor with the world, and it's a cute video, and it's not all that often I get to post videos of the same people you can hear on the podcast, so I seize the opportunity when I can.



Seriously, no multimedia dictionary is accurate if its listing for the word "adorable" doesn't include 1., an audio clip of my girlfriend on the phone when she's half-asleep and 2., this video.

My advice to Rachel over at MySpace was this: Get a reference for a new doctor. Then tell this doctor how you feel. And damn, if I shouldn't have gone to medical school. :) She seemed amused, and I hope something good comes from it -- besides the cute, silly song.

See also: Her shorter video for the very short but still quite lovely song "A Summer Touch."

It turns out Rachel and singer Rebecca Griffin are sisters. Mighty good genes in that family.

New podcast tomorrow, featuring three acts you've never heard here before.

Episode XX: Dedicated to the One I Love

Two episodes in one day? Must be a special occasion, you're thinking. Well, it is.

On or about this date 16 years ago, I met the woman who'd change my life forever. (I accidentally give tomorrow's date, but this date was a Thursday in 1991.)

I was 18; she was 16. It wasn't quite love at first sight, but definitely interest. It's taken a long road to get where we are -- that whole bit with her marrying someone else, for example -- but she's worth it. Here's an episode of music by beautiful and creative women, dedicated to Elizabeth Donald, the most beautiful and creative woman in the world from my own admittedly biased perspective.

Here's what you'll hear today (direct download here):

Rachel Griffin, "Lighter than Air"
Adrina Thorpe, "Around the Bend"
A Brokeheart Pro, "A Hard Way to Fall"
Lennon, "Where Do I Fit In"
Janiva Magness, "Don't Let Your Memories"
Jen Foster, "Talking Bob Dylan"
Bitter:Sweet, "Don't Forget to Breathe"
The Worsties, "Like This"
Love Spirals Downwards, "Will You Fade"
Rebecca Griffin, "A Ghost of a Chance"



Tracks 2, 6, and 8-10 come from the Podsafe Music Network. Tracks 4, 5, and 7 come via the IODA Promonet. Tracks 1 and 3 come from the artist's own albums.

And if you're a horror fan, check out Elizabeth's Web site and pick up some of her printed work -- her new one, Abaddon, will be out in September in e-book format from Cerridwen Press, physical copies hopefully to come next year.

"Where Do I Fit In" (mp3)
from "Damaged Goods"
by Lennon
(John Galt Entertainment)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at eMusic
Stream from Rhapsody
More On This Album



"Don't Let Your Memories" (mp3)
from "Do I Move You"
by Janiva Magness
(Northern Blues)
Buy at eMusic
Stream from Rhapsody
More On This Album



"Don't Forget To Breathe" (mp3)
from "Yoga One"
by Bitter:Sweet
(Quango Music Group, Inc.)
More On This Album

Episode 50: I've Heard That Song Before (Part III)

And here's episode 50, which is a little less significant since it's actually our 52nd episode in all. But, hey, the music -- pulled from throughout the first 40 or so episodes -- is great.

Here's what you'll hear today (direct download here):

Helen Sventitsky, "I'm Bare (Late Night Beginnings Mix)"
King God, "Came Here For"
Kristin Mainhart, "My Boyfriend"
Sean Ryder Williams, "Give My Blues Away"
Kurt Kreikenbom, "Nothing Blues"
Tommy B. Goode, "Accomplice"
Minton Sparks, "Her Purse"
Ciaran Flynn, "In Dreams"
Rachel Griffin, "I'm Up to No Good"
Noam Weinstein, "When I Get My"



Everything in this episode either came from CD or from the artists' Web sites and/or MySpace pages. Thanks to all the great musicians who've let me give their stuff a spin. We'll be back soon with new music.

Holland Boys: "Intense, Serious Love"

(Note: Originally part of a series called Blitzkrieg of Badness along with several since-deleted videos from non-podsafe artists.)

OK, this is a podsafe artist I've played on the show. I like the music.

But the video is so goofy -- intentionally so -- that it fits in with the other weirdness that has dominated in recent days.



Of-uncertain-honor-able mention: The "I Am Gay" video, by the same group. Not sure how to take it, whether he's laughing at himself or laughing at The Other. (Holland Boys and King God have many, perhaps all, the same personnel, and I'm not sure whether the singer is actually gay or playing a role.) At any rate, it could well be the "I'm Too Sexy" for the 21st century.

Mental Nomad Mix 2: Pomus and Shuman

Here's the second Mental Nomad Mix: Songs Ye Olde Podcaster really digs but may not be able to play on the show because they're not podsafe. So I package them together around a theme, create an iTunes mix, and offer it up for your consideration in hopes you'll buy something. Today, it's a mix of 17 songs exploring the musical legacy of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman.

Click to buy (will launch iTunes): Mental Nomad Mix 2: Pomus and Shuman


Pomus was a blues singer who'd survived polio. He and Shuman teamed up as songwriters in the Brill Building era -- songwriters in the employ of a record company, penning tunes for other artists, was the practice at the time. And Pomus and Shuman wrote like few others, with hits for Fabian, Dion, Elvis Presley, the Drifters, the Coasters and countless others coming from their pen between 1958 and 1965.

Pomus' later work was recorded by Irma Thomas, B.B. King and Dr. John, among others, and his death from cancer fueled his friend Lou Reed's elegaic album Magic and Loss. Singing at Pomus' funeral revived the career of another friend, jazz great Jimmy Scott. And Pomus appears as a musician on stage in Andrew Vachss' crime novel Blossom (part of the Burke series); Vachss also dedicated his standalone book Shella to Pomus and to crime writer Iceberg Slim. Interesting company.

Here are the songs, with brief notes:

1.) Michael Bublé, "Save the Last Dance for Me" -- Originally a hit for The Drifters.

2.) Ray Charles, "Lonely Avenue" -- Recorded by Elvis, I believe, and allegedly based on a suicide note mentioned in a news story Pomus read about a man who'd hanged himself in a flophouse. "I live on a lonely avenue," the note had said. True or not, it's a poignant story.

3.) Johnny Adams, "Blinded by Love" -- Taken from an entire album Adams did of Pomus and Pomus/Shuman songs.

4.) Rosanne Cash, "I Count the Tears" -- This was taken from an anthology of her work, but also appeared on Till the Night Is Gone, a sadly out-of-print Pomus tribute album. If you can find a copy, buy it.

5.) ZZ Top, "Viva Las Vegas" -- Not much to say here.

6.) Delbert McClinton, "A Mess of Blues" -- For those not familiar with Southern vernacular, "a mess" is a quantity of something like turnip greens or the similar leafy vegetable called poke salad.

7.) Elvis Presley, "Little Sister"

8.) Elvis Presley, "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" -- Presley did an album entirely composed of Pomus and Pomus/Shuman songs. These may or may not have originated there. It's out of print, last I checked.

9.) Damita Jo, "I'll Save the Last Dance for You" -- A companion piece.

10.) David Essex, "Turn Me Loose" -- Originally a hit for Fabian, recorded in the early 90s by Dion, here given a bit of a glam treatment.

11.) Lou Reed, "This Magic Moment" -- This was on that Till the Night Is Gone album, as well as the soundtrack for David Lynch's film Lost Highway.

12.) B.B. King and Gloria Estefan, "There Must Be a Better World Somewhere" -- I want to say this was originally recorded by Irma Thomas, but I may be wrong.

13.) Taj Mahal, "Lonely Avenue"

14.) Dion and the Belmonts, "A Teenager in Love" -- Yeah, they did doo-wop, too.

15.) Dr. John, "World I Never Made" -- But blues was Pomus' first love.

16.) Gary U.S. Bonds, "Seven Day Weekend" -- And that's a good thing because, as Andrew Vachss observed, "Blues is Truth."

17.) Emmylou Harris, "Save the Last Dance for Me" -- Turning the roles around, the man should be faithful to the woman, as well.

Read more about Pomus and Shuman in their History-of-Rock.com write-up; that site's also the source for the photos of Mort Shuman and Doc Pomus and of Pomus as a stage performer.

Cake: "Sheep Go to Heaven"

(Note: Originally part of a series called Blitzkrieg of Badness along with several since-deleted videos from non-podsafe artists.)

Jollyroger84 sorta redeems himself over that whole Starship incident (which totally caused network problems here as soon as I booted it -- system trying to kill itself to spare you, gentle viewers) by requesting this track.



Great song, but goofy, and the video only makes it more so. :)

Episode 49: I've Heard That Song Before (Part II)

REPOSTED to actually include the link...

The second of three episodes revolving around this show's 50th episode (which was actually last episode). I'm picking some of my favorite music played in the first 40 or so episodes.

Here's what you'll hear today (direct download here):

A Brokeheart Pro, "You Don't Know"
Justin Townes Earle, "Yuma"
Bazza, "Abercorn Extension Blues"
Azam Ali, "In This Divide"
Deathboy featuring Warren Ellis, "Revolution"
Rob Costlow, "Meant to Be"
Gum, "Asleep at the Wheel"



Track four came courtesy of the IODA Promonet. Rob Costlow comes courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network.

"In This Divide" (mp3)
from "Elysium For The Brave"
by Azam Ali
(Six Degrees Records)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
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More On This Album