Buena Vista Social Club: "Chan Chan"

Michael Franti & Spearhead: "Hey World (Remote Control Version)"

From Michael Franti and Spearhead's new album -- another song from which will be featured in next week's podcast!

Episode 108: All My Failings Expose

Final of three non-talking episodes featuring music that originally accompanied announcements for a past contest.

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

Sophia Ramos: "Kill Your Pain" (Podshow)
Allison Crowe: "Montreal" (Podshow)
Last Year's Model: "Bloody Valentine" (Garageband)
Rosey: "It's a Ruse" (IODA)
Presidents of the United States of America: "Sharpen Up Those Fangs" (IODA)
Blake Leyh: "Apophenia" (CD)
Lesley Gore: "You Don't Own Me" (Podshow)
Bright Eyes: "Take It Easy (Love Nothing)" (Podshow)
The Orb: "Vuja De (Pathaan's Musical Rickshaw Remix)" (IODA)
Kara Johnstad: "Let Go And Trust" (MySpace)
The Sky About to Rain: "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (CD)

IODA-sponsored tracks (except for the track by The Orb -- promotion apparently ended after I used it the first time) may be downloaded below.



Rosey
"It's a Ruse" (mp3)
from "Luckiest Girl"
(Quango Music Group, Inc.)
Buy at Rhapsody
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
More On This Album



Presidents Of The United States Of America
"Sharpen Up Those Fangs" (mp3)
from "These Are The Good Times People"
(Cooking Vinyl)
Buy at Napster
More On This Album

Dave Stewart: "American Prayer (for Barack Obama)"

I'm still backing Nodnarb for president, of course. But I know a few of you like this Barack Obama guy. And if you're really looking for intelligence, wisdom and good experience, I guess pairing him with Joseph Biden would make them the most qualified to lead -- but they lack the "What the hell?" factor that Nodnarb brings to the table, or the promise of more pointless death in foreign wars that could've been avoided that John McCain offers.

So yeah, if you're into that whole "peace and prosperity" thing, or if you care about that silly "restoring America's reputation" thing, you go right ahead and vote for Obama. Me, I'm backing the Guatamalan sidekick to The Reverend Doctor all the way. (Hail Eris!)

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: "The Mercy Seat"

This Nick Cave song was later covered by Johnny Cash ... in whose hands some of the more indecipherable lyrics became more clear.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Tender Prey


Johnny Cash - American III: Solitary Man

Episode 107: Youth's the Most Unfaithful Mistress

Continuing a three-week look back at tracks I used in a contest, now collected in full-length episode format without the outdated chatter. (In fact, I talk not at all this week.)

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

Amy Abdou: "Just Like a Woman" (Podshow)
Roomful of Blues: "Lower on Your List of Priorities" (IODA)
Lichtzwang: "I'm Not the One" (MySpace)
Pink Skull: "Uguoaaaahhhhh" (IODA)
Jayme Dawicki: "I Don't Want This Anymore" (CD)
The Heroes of the Revolution: "My Money's in the Gutter Blues" (Podshow)
Sophie Moleta: "Te-Atawhai" (Podshow)
Steve Earle: "Ellis Unit One (Live at Montreaux)" (Podshow)
Not the Sensational Alex Harvey Band: "Faith Healer" (MySpace)
Post Death Soundtrack: "Decentralize" (MySpace)
Dashboard Confessional: "Swiss Army Romance" (Podshow)

IODA-sponsored tracks may be downloaded below.



Roomful of Blues
"Lower on Your List of Priorities" (mp3)
from "Raisin' a Ruckus"
(Alligator Records)
Buy at mTraks
More On This Album



Pink Skull
"U.g.uo.aaaahhhhh" (mp3)
from "Zeppelin 3"
(Free News Projects)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Napster
Stream from Rhapsody
More On This Album

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (in three acts)

This short film based on Ambrose Bierce's story by the same name won the 1962 Best Short Subject prize at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1964, it was shown in America as an episode of The Twilight Zone -- if there were any other tales in that series' history brought in from somewhere else, I don't know of them, and can't imagine there were many.

Part 1 (10 minutes):



Part 2 (10 minutes):



Part 3 (5 minutes, 3 seconds):



That version of the story keeps it in the context of the Civil War, the setting for the original story. A 2007 version that's also on YouTube -- titled simply "Owl Creek Bridge" moves the story to a World War II setting and tells the haunting tale in just under 8 minutes.



Ye Olde Podcaster saw that Twilight Zone episode on a projector reel copy in elementary school, way too young an age for its themes, and it's had an impact on how he viewed life itself and storytelling ever since.

Episode 106: He Said/She Said

Still not talking. Here begin three episodes putting music used in a past contest into the context of full-length episodes; the "contest blurbs" have been deleted from the server.

(I haven't forgotten to award all the prizes. Just, urm, money's been tight.)

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

Sathima Bea Benjamin: "I've Got It Bad, And That Ain't Good" (IODA)
Kurt Kreikenbom: "On the Banks of the Royal Canal" (MySpace)
Ellen Cherry: "December 6 (The Night Before)" (CD)
Plain White Ts: "Bruises" (Podshow)
Ripped: "Misery" (Garageband)
The Xbanders: "Leave Here" (MySpace)
Holly Bakehorn: "Newly Independent" (CD)
The Genders: "Mammary Glands" (Podshow)
Rebecca and the Hi Tones: "Crazylegs Saloon" (Garageband)
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: "Weapon of Choice" (MySpace)



The IODA-sponsored track may be downloaded below:

Sathima Bea Benjamin
"I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good" (mp3)
from "A Morning In Paris"
(Ekapa RPM)

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

Episode 105: Letting the Music Speak for Itself

I barely talked at all last episode. You won't hear me even one little bit today. Just not in the mood to hear my own voice at the time I put this one together.

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

Lin McEwan: "I Could Lie to You" (Ariel Publicity)
Cake: "Thrills" (IODA)
Mean Gene Kelton and the Die Hards: "Little Black Dress" (Podshow)
Career Club: "Old Fashioned" (Ariel Publicity)
Planetakis: "Pogo in the Shoes of Kylie Minogue" (IODA)
Amir Beso: "Amor Fati" (CD)
Michael Monroe: "Life Is a Mystery" (Garageband)
Kara Johnstad: "Different Planes" (MySpace)
Blake Leyh: "Gracias Por La Noche" (CD)
Josephine: "I Think of You (Je Pense A Toi)" (Ariel Publicity)
The New Jimi Cult: "Walkin' Blues" (Podshow)
Lin McEwan: "Feel" (Ariel Publicity)

I couldn't decide whether feature a song from Lin McEwan's first full-length CD or the EP that's previewing the new one ... so I didn't choose. I included one from each. "I Could Lie to You," a duet with John Rochette, may be familiar to longtime listeners of this podcast; it's a cover of a Noam Weinstein duet with Norah Jones, which I featured way back in Episode 30.

The track by The New Jimi Cult was the second of four at-then-unplayed tracks sampled in Episode 103. Look for the remaining two tracks in the next couple of weeks, or maybe just together next week since they were both in a "classic rock" vein.



IODA-provided tracks may be downloaded below:

CAKE
"Thrills" (mp3)
from "b-sides and rarities"
(Upbeat Records)
Buy at eMusic
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at Amazon
More On This Album



Planetakis
"Pogo in the Shoes of Kylie Minogue" (mp3)
from "Out of the Club Into the Night"
(Peng Musik)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at eMusic
Stream from Rhapsody
More On This Album