Something more important than music.

Last Sunday, a coward with a strong case of hatred for liberals attacked the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, killing two members of the congregation and wounded six others. His reason for doing it was apparently political more than religious -- he'd made statements highly critical of Christians as well -- but it speaks to a dangerous undercurrent in our culture, a feeling it's OK to kill or harm certain people over politics, over race, over sexuality.

This sort of thinking should have been buried in the 19th century at the absolute latest. And maybe part of the reason it hasn't been is because those of us who take a progressive -- a liberal -- stance have allowed ourselves to be bullied into silence.

I'm a Unitarian Universalist, as is Sara at Crooks and Liars, who puts the feelings of many in our religion to words. We're a small religion, but we've had a great amount of influence in American society over the years, with the first six presidents linked to either Unitarianism or Universalism. (The two liberal Christian churches merged in the early 1960s to create one new religion whose members may or may not identify as Christians -- depends on the individual.)

You don't have to agree with my religion. I don't have to agree with yours. But if we can't agree that killing each other is a bit extreme, then what hope is there for our society? If we tear ourselves apart from the inside -- if we stand back and let others be oppressed -- then what hope do we have of standing against outside enemies?

In the words of Pastor Martin Niemöller:

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up,
because I was a Protestant.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

Throw the Unitarian Universalists in there and think on it. Who's next in the crosshairs of insanity?

Learn more about UUism at the site of the Unitarian Universalist Association, or at the 100 Questions Non-Members Ask About Unitarian Universalism site. If you're so moved, the UUA's Knoxville Relief Fund is taking donations for the victims of the July 27 attack.

Noam Weinstein: "Where There's a Sky"

Noam Weinstein is seen here doing a live acoustic take on a simply beautiful -- inspirational, even -- track from his album We're All Going There. Next week's episode opens with a cover of another of his songs, one that's been featured on here before in its original form...

Noam Weinstein - We're All Going There


Noam Weinstein - Above the Music


Noam Weinstein - Probably Human

Episode 104: The One Where I Sit Out

When you can't do anything right, try not doing anything. When you can't say anything right, shut your mouth and let the music play.

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

Curtis Mayfield: "Future Shock" (IODA)
Mishoo the Drumkit: "A Look of Love Remix" (sampling Dusty Springfield's cover of Burt Bacharach's "The Look of Love") (Podshow)
Sax & Moryson: "Disco Girl Strip" (Jamendo)
Uma Floresta: "The Noise of Departure" (Podsafe Audio)
Craig Olson: "All One People" (Garageband)
Twilight Dementia: "Gimme Shelter" (Ariel Publicity)
Abakuya: "Mangue Sauvage" (Podshow)
The Crash Moderns: "Where Did All the Scene Girls Go" (Ariel Publicity)
Saharadja: "Hungarian Dance" (Podshow)
Alicia Marie: "The Honest Approach" (Podshow)
Danny Aiello: "Pennies from Heaven" (IODA)

The Uma Floresta track was the first of four then-unrevealed songs sampled in Episode 103. The other three will be played in upcoming weeks.



The Curtis Mayfield promotion through the IODA Promonet apparently expired some time after I downloaded the song, so no luck giving you a download for it. But here's the Danny Aiello track, from his new concert album:

Danny Aiello
"Pennies From Heaven" (mp3)
from "Live From Atlantic City"
(Dreammakers Music)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Rhapsody
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at mTraks Download
More On This Album

The Crash Moderns: "Pimp My Life"

Look for another track by The Crash Moderns in the episode going up shortly after midnight, one of the first artists represented by Ariel Publicity you'll be hearing in upcoming episodes.

Rachel Griffin: Obama Song 2

Not sure if the lovely Ms. Griffin has titled this one, but it's another song she's put together using the presumptive Democratic nominee's words as the lyrical text.

(Not that I'm endorsing Obama, of course. My vote's going to Nodnarb Retodd. But I suppose the Illinois senator wouldn't be a bad second choice.)

Steve Earle: "The Devil's Right Hand"

I'm made heartsick by news out of Knoxville, Tenn., today, where a lunatic with a gun killed at least one person -- six people shot overall -- inside Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, where children of the congregation were performing a musical program this morning.

TVUUC has been involved in using the Internet, and specifically podcasting, to share its religious mission with a wider congregation. My thoughts go out to the Rev. Chris Buice and his congregation.

(As I said in Episode 99, I consider the National Rifle Association to be "America's largest, most beloved terrorist organization," and so I'm glad there are people out there trying to stop the NRA.)

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: "People Ain't No Good"

Not a video, just the song embedded into YouTube, but a song that fits Ye Olde Podcaster's mood tonight.



(Who am I fooling? It fits my mood MOST nights.)

Nick Cave - Shrek 2 - People Ain't No Good


(NO, that's not the original source for the song. But the album it was on, The Boatman's Call, isn't available at iTunes. It is, however, one of the items in the carousel below.)

Greydon Square: "Ascension"

On Wednesday's episode, I played a song Greydon Square posted at MySpace that was not on his new album, The CPT Theorem. Here's a "video" (actually just an audio stream over a black background) of one song that IS on the album, near the end.

And it's not quite as focused on atheism as some of his other work. This one focuses more on paying respect to hip-hop artists who've come before.

Greydon Square - The Compton Effect


The CPT Theorem (on sale at SoundClick)

Episode 103: State of the Nomad, 2008

Presenting my annual episode where I tell you about who I am and what I intend from this show. Or at least that's what I'd do if you didn't keep changing the station! (Note: This episode's rated Explicit due to some dialog and sound effects, largely.)

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

Mary Shelley Overdrive: "The Godamn Batman" (from artist site)
Greydon Square: "15 Billion Year Old Boy" (MySpace)
Sharon Robinson: "The High Road" (Podshow)
Allison Crowe: "Skeletons and Spirits" (Jamendo)
The Black Cats: "Lonely Avenue" (Podsafe Audio)
The Tombstone: "Fresh Fresh Fresh Fresh" (MySpace)
Etlin Zylin: "Cirrus" (MySpace)
Not the Sensational Alex Harvey Band: "Burning Big Louie (demo)" (MySpace)

With samples from a mix of songs that will appear in full in upcoming episodes -- which I'll keep a secret for now -- and some past tracks, listed below:


Daren Sirbough and Joshua Kyle: "Those Who Were" (MySpace, from episode 58)
Gustav Bertha: "Next" (special for the show, from episode 66)
Holland Boys: "We Become Dust" (MySpace, from episode 26)
The Perfects: "Hungry Like the Wolf (remix)" (MySpace, from episode 29)
Sounds Media: "Girl Gone Wild" (IODA, from episode 80, may be downloaded below)



Special thanks to Helen Sventitsky and Gustav Bertha for the promos; to The Reverend Doctor for letting me excerpt from The NTS Show; to Gena of Deadly Stealth Frogs and Leah of Schmoovenet for contributing spoken bits; to photographer Rhett Redelings (aka the musician R-Three) for doing the Gustav Bertha birthday tribute sampled again here; and to Meri, Dennis, Justin, Ned and Anthony for other spoken bits.

(Other sounds pulled from free sound-effects sites in various places online.)

Sounds Media
"Erotica - Spank - Girl Gone Wild" (mp3)
from "Erotica - Spank! Series - You've Got Tail"
(Sounds Media)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at eMusic
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at Amazon
More On This Album

Lin McEwan: "Feel" (borderline NSFW)

Lin McEwan gives a new meaning to the term "naked" here. Because yeah, the style of the video owes a fair bit to Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" -- and she owns up to it at YouTube -- but the song itself is also pretty emotionally naked, raw, real. Her voice sounds a little unusual to me ... not used to a female voice being as deep as this, with the exception of a few people like Judy Henske. (And I *love* Ms. Judy, so mentioning her in the same breath should show that I like what I'm hearing from Ms. McEwan here.)

With such high production quality on the video AND the song, how this unsigned artist remains unsigned, why this video isn't in heavy rotation on TV (unless it is -- I don't really make contact with the mainstream that much), is just a mystery to me.

But the radio charts' loss is your gain. I've recently signed on to play podsafe music from artists represented by Ariel Publicity, including Ms. McEwan, and you'll be hearing her in upcoming shows. And her work's on iTunes -- the self-titled album contains a cover of the Randy Newman-penned Joe Cocker hit "You Can Leave Your Hat On," and this song's on the EP listed second.

Lin McEwan - Lin McEwan


Lin McEwan - Now I Know EP

Rachel Griffin: "Obama's the Change"

Yeah, the video I posted earlier this week? She took it down to re-record it, a bit more serious, and to fix a couple of misquoted words.

Episode 102: Sometimes You're the Windshield...

Remember way back in the last episode, I said it might be months before you heard me again, that changes might be coming? Well, I talk about that this week.

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

Jayme Dawicki: "Crush"
Kasey Lansdale: "Clouded Mind"
Sean Ryder Williams: "Far Away Look"
Mark Abis: "River Roll"
Rebecca Griffin: "Detour Ahead"
Bazza: "Last Year Lied to Me"
Windmill: "Tokyo Moon"
John Brown's Body: "New Blood"
Glasshouse: "Disappointment"
The Dandy Warhols: "Talk Radio"



Tracks 7 and 8 were provided by the IODA Promonet and may be downloaded below. Tracks 9 and 10 were found at the Podsafe Music Network. Everything else came from the artists' Web sites, MySpace profiles or CDs.

Windmill
"Tokyo Moon" (mp3)
from "Puddle City Racing Lights"
(Friendly Fire Recordings)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Rhapsody
Stream from Rhapsody
More On This Album



John Brown's Body
"New Blood" (mp3)
from "Pressure Points"
(Easy Star Records)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at eMusic
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at Amazon
More On This Album

Rachel Griffin: "Obamafied and Baracked"

I say this with all due respect: Rachel Griffin comes across as a bit of a dork here. That makes me love her all the more, though. So don't think it's a bad thing. :)

(The Nodnarb silliness from a few days aside, feel free to interpret my posting of this video as an indication where my vote will be going come the fall. Let's just say you won't see me posting a Toby Keith for McCain video -- and not just because he's nowhere near as pretty as Rachel.)

Rebecca Griffin, her loving sis, will be appearing in Wednesday's episode.

Nina Simone: "Mood Indigo"

Not quite a "music video" if it's only a still image (or even a string of them) with music playing, I guess. But still ... it's just nice to have this out there for me to share with you folks.

Nina Simone was far from the only artist to tackle this song, but this one's an interestingly upbeat arrangement compared to the ones Ye Olde Podcaster is used to hearing.

(And if you think you've picked up on a thread through many of Ye Olde Podcaster's recent video selections here ... yeah. There was a recent breakup. It happens. She and I remain friends, I continue to be a cheerleader for her writing career, but things couldn't go on as they were with any good result. Shit happens.)

The Dandy Warhols: "We Used to Be Friends"

This song from The Dandy Warhols was, of course, used as the opening title music for the late, lamented TV series Veronica Mars. Look for something NEW from them on next week's podcast, as the band has put much or perhaps all of its forthcoming album Earth to The Dandy Warhols up for download at the Podsafe Music Network.

Various Artists - Veronica Mars (soundtrack)


Veronica Mars - Veronica Mars, Season 3


The Dandy Warhols - Welcome to the Monkey House

Kristin Mainhart: "Comfortable"

Back to normal/artist updates

You know that whole thing about me maybe not doing a show for a couple of weeks? Forget about that. The Mental Nomad Podcast returns on July 16.



And there's Ye Olde Podcaster, at left, with horror novelist Joe R. Lansdale (center). The lovely lass at right is Joe's daughter, country singer Kasey Lansdale, who as previously stated will be featured in the next new episode.

It really was an honor to meet them both.

A shout-out goes to Jayme Dawicki, whose music has recently popped up on MTV's The Real World.

Greydon Square has a new album hitting soon, and I hope to bring you a track from it.

And it turned out I didn't keep up with Jackson, Tenn., native Alyson Gilbert's run on Nashville Star quite as diligently as I thought I might. She was eliminated last week, maybe the week before.

Rebecca Griffin: "Night and Day (live)"

Because the way to a podcaster's heart -- at least THIS podcaster's heart -- is a pretty woman singing Cole Porter. The sound quality here's not the greatest, in the sense she sometimes gets lost behind the instruments, but it's still a pleasure to hear her sing and a joy to watch how much she's obviously enjoying it. And bonus points for offering her own arrangement to this tune.

Few people find the thing they're meant to do, but sisters Rebecca and Rachel Griffin have. I'd recommend their albums to anyone without reservation.

Rebecca's album Live at Kelly's is sold only on CD, through CDBaby.com. Rachel's album I'm Up to No Good is available through iTunes.

Rachel Griffin - I'm Up to No Good

Kasey Lansdale: "Back of My Smile"

This is a video of aspiring country singer Kasey Lansdale singing "Back of My Smile," a track from her EP of the same name, at Houston bookseller Murder by the Book before a signing/reading by her father, the legendary Joe R. Lansdale. As noted before, I had the honor of meeting both of them at Hypericon 4 last week in Nashville.

Kasey's EP is good, three songs she's written and recorded for an upcoming full-length album. Her voice is great, the lyrics are quite good -- she inherited some of her dad's way with words -- though I fear the album's production and arrangement may bury a little of that, make it a little too slick. But a few listens during a recent drive caused all three songs to grow on me.

You can hear all three tracks for yourself ("Back of My Smile," Ye Olde Podcaster's personal favorite "Clouded Mind" and "Rainy Day Romance") at her MySpace profile. And rest assured, "Clouded Mind" will be in my next episode -- maybe as early as next week, definitely by the week after that, because the thing that I thought might eat up a lot of my time probably isn't going to happen.

Episode 101: Everything Changes

This is the last episode for at least two weeks, maybe a month or so. I can't go into details right now, but I may be very busy in the next few weeks -- or I may be back the week after next. Time will tell.

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

Mary Shelley Overdrive: "This Ain't the Summer of Love"
King God: "End of Faith"
Satya: "Lost Civilization"
Proclaim: "Drug Wars"
The Unbearable Hand Fate Dealt: "Alpha Dog"
Minton Sparks: "Gypsy"
Tokyo Police Club: "Shoulders and Arms"
Emmylou Harris: "No Regrets"
Noam Weinstein: "Big Babies"
Will Tang: "Everything Changes"



Tracks 7-8 came from the IODA Promonet and may be downloaded below. Tracks 3 and 10 were obtained through the Podsafe Music Network, and track 5 was snagged from GarageBand. Everything else came from CD or was submitted by the artists.

Emmylou Harris
"No Regrets" (mp3)
from "Tribute to Edith Piaf"
(Amherst)

Buy at Rhapsody
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
More On This Album



Tokyo Police Club
"Shoulders & Arms" (mp3)
from "A Lesson In Crime"
(Paper Bag Records)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at eMusic
Stream from Rhapsody
More On This Album