Mental Nomad Podcast 130: "I Am," They Cried

Some time back, I did an episode titled "'I Am,' They Said," featuring songs with either "I Am" or "I'm" in the titles. Here's another, though I've allowed one variation to creep in as well (though "am I" is obviously the same subject-verb pair just turned into a question, and "I won't be" is a variation on the same verb -- "be" becomes "am" -- as the others, and yes, I *was* an English major).

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

Jim Allchin: "I'm About to Fall" (Ariel Publicity)
Brother Joscephus And The Love Revival Revolution Orchestra: "I Won't Be That Man" (Ariel)
Mieka Pauley: "When I'm in Chicago" (Podshow)
Christelle: "I'm a Tease" (Ariel)
El Prezidino: "I Am Music" (Ariel)
Takis: "I Am Woman" (Podshow)
The Swayback: "I'm Waiting for the Man" (IODA Promonet)
Luka Bloom: "I Am a River" (IODA)
Josh Charles: "I'm Always Here for You" (Ariel)
Phil Putnam: "I'm No Prize" (Ariel)
Little Plastic Stars: "Am I More Than Just a Filler?" (Podshow)
Lie Big: "I Am I" (Magnatune)
Admiral Twin: "... But I'm Dying" (Podshow)
The Break and Repair Method: "I'm at a Low" (Ariel)
Jim Allchin: "I'm Your Man" (Ariel)

(Total play time: 1:02:55)



The IODA-sponsored tracks may be downloaded below as long as their promotions last.

April looks to be a light month, episode-wise. It so happens that the first and third Wednesdays of the month are the 1st and 15th of April, which are days for Pod Across America episodes -- so there won't be a Mental Nomad Podcast episode either of those weeks unless Ye Olde Podcaster gets really inspired for some sort of out-of-sequence special episode.

Luka Bloom
"I Am a River" (mp3)
from "Tribe"
(Big Sky Records)
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The Swayback
"I'm Waiting for the Man" (mp3)
from "I'm Waiting for the Man - Single"
(What Are Records)
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Women's History Month Special, 2009

Here's almost an hour of music from female artists, plus a trio of readings pertaining to women's rights, in honor of Women's History Month.

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

Lesley Gore: "You Don't Own Me" (Podshow) (Previously featured in Mental Nomad Podcast 108)
Ellen Lerner: "Motherless Child" (shared by the artist)
Kelly Richey: "The Blues Don't Lie" (shared by the artist)
Amy Courts: "Shiver" (shared by the artist)
Shannon Curfman: "I Can't Wait to Miss You" (from the album Fast Lane Addiction)
Anouschka: "Good Girl Gone Wild" (Podshow) (Previously featured in Pod Across America 8)
Carla Lynne Hall: "Lucy and Ethel" (shared by the artist)
Ellen Lerner: "Early November" (shared by the artist)
Love Riot: "You Don't Own Me" (from the Killing Time EP)

(Total play time: 56:16)



Special thanks to Ellen, Kelly, Amy and Carla for sharing tracks with the show, as well as to Anoushka and to Lisa Mathews of Milkshake, formerly of Love Riot.

Special thanks as well to Karen Heim, a longtime listener and supporter of the show, for the readings.

Scaling back

Earlier this month, some asshole made a complaint to Blogger about one of the previous entries in the Pod Across America blog, and the entry was removed purportedly on grounds of a complaint regarding sound recordings.

Here's the thing: The entry reported and removed was a text- and links-only entry of writers and visual artists from South Carolina. It contained no music whatsoever, no link to any YouTube video or any sort of audio file.

All the links in that file went to Wikipedia or to Amazon.

I've attempted to be responsible in both these blogs. The downloads I point you to are, to the best of my knowledge, all online for free in a legally clear manner. I've put up ads attempting to get people to purchase music, and to a lesser extent books and DVDs, legally so that creative people get paid.

In the meantime, my reply to the Google people has gone unanswered, and so I'm going to have to go through an appeal process.

This is why I never finished the South Carolina text entries, never put up the list of stage and screen personalities or the entry of political figures, business folks and other famous South Carolina natives.

Nor have I started doing any sort of list for New Hampshire. And I've done nothing at THIS blog except posting show notes, though that's partly due to outside pressures on my time from the paying job.

I may or may not continue doing the text entries over there. I may or may not continue doing music videos related to the various states. And here, I may or may not continue putting up videos from non-podsafe artists in between shows.

I will continue doing the episodes and see Pod Across America through to its conclusion, and this series is open-ended. But I would be lying if I said I wasn't annoyed.

If the people at this international music consortium had a legitimate beef, they could have reported a link that had to with actual music, and I'd have been okay with it. But the way they played it -- and the way Google played their part -- has left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

As Elton John sang of John Lennon's killer: "It's funny how one insect can damage so much grain."

Mental Nomad Podcast 129: In This Great Future, You Can't Forget Your Past

Today's show is largely a venture in voices you haven't heard here before, though three of the artists have been interviewed in the blog. A couple of familiar voices pop in as well.

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

Omar Alexander: "No Woman No Cry" (Ariel Publicity)
Omar Alexander: "Tranquila" (Ariel)
Kasey Lansdale: "Rainy Day Romance" (from the album No More Rain)
Tom Vollman: "Genevieve" (from the album The Betty Violet)
Phil Putnam: "Dancing Down Your Demons" (Ariel)
Shanghai Restoration Project: "Babylon of the Orient" (IODA Promonet)
Kara Nomadica: "We've Never Met" (Magnatune)
Cassandra Kubinski: "Wherever You Wait" (Podshow)
Twilight Archive: "Solitary Procession" (Magnatune)
Beirut: "My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille" (IODA)
Soul Coughing: "The Brooklynites" (IODA)
Clara Bellino: "Potential Criminal" (Ariel)

(Total play time: 1:02:01)



The IODA-sponsored tracks may be downloaded below as long as their promotions last.

Look for that long-promised special episode of new music from female artists on Saturday, March 21.

The Shanghai Restoration Project & Amos Winbush
"Babylon of the Orient" (mp3)
from "The Shanghai Restoration Project"
(Undercover Culture Music)
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Beirut
"My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille" (mp3)
from "March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland"
(Pompeii Records)
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Soul Coughing
"The Brooklynites" (mp3)
from "Blue In The Face"
(Luaka Bop)
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Pod Across America 10: South Carolina

Today's Pod Across America features nearly an hour of music from South Carolina, the Palmetto State.

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

Josh White Jr.: "Gonna Live the Life" (IODA Promonet)
Josh White Jr.: "Bette and Dupree's Blues (live)" (IODA)
Danielle Howle: "Fields of Cotton" (IODA Promonet)
Mellow Rex/The Kid Pro: "A Rare Breed" (Podshow)
Rustie Blue feat. Bill Anderson: "Chip Chip" (Podshow)
The Mamas and the Papas: "California Dreaming" (Podshow) (Previously played in Mental Nomad Podcast 58)
Mary Shelley Overdrive: "Sword of Galaga" (Podshow)
Objecks: "Garden Seduction" (Podshow)
Ruby James: "Sweet as Sin" (Podshow)
Jake Roche: "Tea for One" (Podshow)
Mud Octave: "Everyone Says Alright" (Podshow)
Chris Church: "You Better Move On Now, Baby" (Podshow)

(Total play time: 55:28)



The IODA-sponsored tracks may be downloaded below as long as the promotions last.

It's worth noting that Rustie Blue is from Ohio and Josh White Jr. is from Michigan, but Bill Anderson and Josh White Sr. both came from South Carolina, as did John Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas.

Pod Across America returns April 1 with a show featuring music from New Hampshire; the Mental Nomad Podcast returns Wednesday, and look for a special full of music from female artists in honor of Women's History Month on March 21.

Josh White Jr.
"Betty And Dupree's Blues" (mp3)
from "Live"
(Silverwolf)
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Josh White Jr.
"Gonna Live The Life" (mp3)
from "House of the Rising Son"
(Silverwolf)
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Danielle Howle
"Fields Of Cotton" (mp3)
from "Thank You Mark"
(Valley Entertainment)

Buy at eMusic
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Buy at Napster
Buy at Rhapsody
More On This Album