WalCast 12: Mostly New Stuff

Mostly new meaning some of these tracks date all the way back to 2009, before the WalCast even existed! Wow, time flies when you're old like me. Anyhoo, got a bunch of good new tunes for all you music lovers out there this episode, and most of the albums represented here are worth picking up. Hopefully you'll find something here that tickles your fancy. Just FYI, I think #13 is going to be all cover tunes, and for #14 I'm gonna dig around in the archives for some older stuff, just for a change of pace. You know the routine - stream at the top, download at the bottom. Same ol' same 'ol.





This week's tracks are...

Nothin' - Fortune - This band has been around since the late 70's, with a seriously long hiatus from the 80's to the early-mid 2000's. This track is from this year's Staring at the Ice Melt.

Seasons - Medications - From the D.C. band's third album, 2010's Completely Removed.

Flaming Arrow - Jupiter One - From the Brooklyn indie group's debut full length Sunshower.

Animal - Neon Trees - First single from this Provo, UT band's debut Habits.

In Pieces - Mae - This Norfolk, VA band is putting out three EP's entitled (m)orning, (a)fternoon, and (e)vening (get it?). This is from the the middle one.

Sick Muse - Metric - Emily Haines' primary outfit from 2009's Fantasies.

Blue-Eyed Universe - Fictionist - Another Utah band from their 2010 debut, Lasting Echo.

Certain Circles - Hello=Fire - Solo project from Dean Fertita. He plays with Queens of the Stone Age, The Dead Weather, and in Brendan Benson's touring band, to name a few. Benson co-wrote this tune and produced the self-titled album.

Please Take Your Time - General Fiasco - From the debut album of this Northern Ireland band, Buildings.

Excuses - Deas Vail - Arkansas pop/rock band from the album Birds and Cages.

Wings - Das Pop - Belgian indie pop band from their self-titled debut.

Lying Around - Cassette Kids - Australian music rocks, and this Sydney band is no exception. From their 2010 debut Nothing on TV.

Heads Up, Hearts Down - I Fight Dragons - If you take nothing else away from this show, take this Chicago band and hide them in your heart. They make great pop music with a little help from actual Nintendo game music. Yeah, that's right. And they rock. No album yet, just singles. This is from the 2010 SXSW compilation. New favorite band name.

King of Rome - Goldheart Assembly - London pop group from their 2010 debut, Wolves and Thieves, not the track from Kitchens and Bathrooms' first EP, The Sound and the Furry.

Fear From Death - Kyte - English post-rock group (what does that mean, anyway, "post-rock"?) from 2010's Dead Waves.

You may, if you wish, download this unforgettable show here.

WalCast 11: And now for an instrumental break...

It's been a few weeks since the last Walcast, but spring is here and yard work calls. I'm back this week, however, and bringing a little something different yet again, just to keep things interesting. This episode is all instrumentals. I don't have much more to say, except enjoy. Stream at the top, download below.





The tracks are as follows:

YYZ - Rush - Of course. What, did you expect La Villa Strangiato?

Mean Affair - Julie's Haricut - Italian prog-rock band from their latest, Our Secret Ceremony.

A Rumor in Africa - Errors - Scottish post-electro group with a track from Come Down With Me.

Set the Bears Free - Anchorsong - Originally from Japan, now based in London, this one-man act has only released 2 EPs, and only in Japan. This is from the second, The Bodylanguage EP.

Jo Bobo - The Johnny Staccato Band - Some Nu-Jazz from France, from a French compilation I picked up.

Pacific Theme - Broken Social Scene - From the Canadian indie group's album You Forgot It in People.

Wildcat - Ratatat - A classic from their album Classics.

Groove Holmes - Beastie Boys - One of the groovin' interludes from their best album ever, Check Your Head.

Streetcrawler - The Jimmy Chamberlain Complex - From the Smashing Pumpkins' drummer's fusion album Life Begins Again.

iii - The Cancer Conspiracy - Short-lived Vermont progressive project that spawned 2 albums. This is from the second, Omega.

Neighbor Riffs - Surfer Blood - Cool little ditty from the FL indie band's debut Astro Coast.

Daisy - Fang Island - A little bit of chanting vocals in this first single from one of the buzz bands from last year, from the indie-prog band's self-titled debut.

Da Funk - Daft Punk - The cult favorites from their live 2007 album, Daft Punk Alive 2007.

Body Snatcher - The Dynamites - This band features Charles Walker (still around from the funk/soul heyday of the late 60's and early 70's) on vocals on most tracks, but not on this barn-burning opener to their first album, 2007's Kaboom!

If you so desire, you may download the show here.

WalCast 10: Random Stuff and RIP's

I planned on this being another random playlist type of week, and it is for the first half, but some notable deaths in the music world in the last couple of weeks changed that in part. I didn't have time to put together the kind of tribute I would have liked, but I did a little something.
The first loss was Alex Chilton, on March 6th. He died of a heart attack in New Orleans after complaining of poor health. Chilton was, of course, the heart of the legendary band Big Star, in addition to fronting The Boxtops beforehand and an eclectic solo career for years afterwards. He (mostly via Big Star) was an influence to multitudes of bands from the early eighties through today, and his loss is a tragic one, particularly since he had gathered the remaining members of Big Star for a performance at SXSW this week. That show will go on as a tribute to him, with other musicians and friends joining in.
Mark Linkous took his life on March 17th with a shotgum to his chest. Linkous started his career in the eighties with Dancing Hoods, but they never achieved much success and eventually split up. Then in the early nineties he started/formed/became Sparklehorse, a project which yielded 4 albums, multiple collaborations, and the critical acclaim and respect of a large portion of the musical world. He battled depression for years, and finally succumbed to it this month.
They both left us with some really great music, however, and this week I will share a small sampling of that with you in the second half of the show. The first half is pretty decent it's self.
Player at the top, download at the bottom, as always.



Track List:

On the Way Out - Freedy Johnston - Power pop from the NYC singer-songwriter's 1997 album Never Home.

Bend and Break - Keane - From the British popster's first album, Hopes and Fears.

Cellphone's Dead - Beck - Beck is a musical genius, in case you didn't know. This was the first single from a great album, The Information.

The Blues are Still Blue - Belle and Sebastian - From one of the best albums of the last decade, The Life Pursuit.

Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse - Of Montreal - If the song title wasn't high-brow enough, the album is Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

Better - Regina Spektor - NYC folk-popster from her album Begin to Hope.

Well Thought Out Twinkles - Silversun Pickups - from the obviously-Smashing Pumpkins-influenced band's first album, Carnavous.

Kool Thing - Sonic Youth - Musical slam of rappers treating women as their playthings ("I don't wanna, I don't think so") from the album Goo.

Tantalized - The Church - From my favorite Church album, Heyday, way back in the mid eighties.

Torn Away - Dancing Hoods - The opening track from Hallelujah Anyway, the 1988 release from Mark Linkous' first band, Dancing Hoods.

Someday I Will Treat You Good - Sparklehorse - Linkous' 2nd incarnation, critically acclaimed time and time again. From the first album, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot.

Baby's Got Rockets - Dancing Hoods - The one song from Hallelujah Anyway that got some attention and play on Mtv.

Feel - Big Star - The opening track to the album that influenced a thousand bands, #1 Record.

When My Baby's Beside me - Big Star - Perhaps my favorite song from the band headed by the legend Alex Chilton.

Alex Chilton - The Replacements - The 'Mats recorded Pleased to Meet Me at Ardent Studios in Memphis and included this song, a tribute to Chilton and Big Star.

I'm having link problems for the download, so just stream it.

**UPDATE** Download the show here.

WalCast 9: 2010 So Far

It's time for some new stuff. I mean, I normally throw some new stuff in to each WalCast, but I mean ALL new stuff this time. That's right, it's time to review 2010...so far. I've been checking out a lot of the new music that's been put out during the first quarter of the year, and I came up with a list of tunes that would have made for two shows, but I've whittled it down to just this one. That is not to say that the other stuff will be totally forgotten, but it will have to wait for now. There has also been a few other bands that have come to my attention since I put this show together (see the post previous to this one), but they will also have to wait. The tunes included in this show, however, can wait no longer. Their time has come. That time is now. Have you started the stream yet? OK, let's try that again...ahem...That time is now. Look, we've rehearsed this, can we try it one more time? When I say "That time is now" you press the little play button on the embedded player below. It's a dramatic entrance type of thing, get it? Great. OK, here we go... Their time has come. That time is now. (good job!)



The show this week consists of the following tracks:

Answer to Yourself - The Soft Pack - San Diego indie band from their self titled first full length album.

I'll Sleep When You're Dead - Ken - I can't much info on this band other than they are German and have some great song titles, such as "Pirates vs. Ninjas vs. Zombies vs. Robots". The album is Yes We.

All Day Daylight - The Morning Benders - Another California band from their 2nd album, Big Echo.

If You Come Again - Eldia - Again, I can't find much info on these guys except that they are from Paris and this appears to be their first full length album, Yayaya.

Liquid Love - Shy Child - Title track from the latest release from the New York electronic music duo.

Interstate - The Automatic - First single from the Welsh band's latest, Tear Down The Signs.

Come Back Home - Two Door Cinema - From Tourist History, the debut of this Northern Ireland band which has been described as a mix of DCFC and Franz Ferdinand. They are pegged by many as one to watch this year.

Wang Lee - Yamon Yamon - Stockholm popsters from their debut, This Wilderlessness.

Floating Vibes - Surfer Blood - From Astro Coast, the first from this West Palm Beach, FL surf-rock indie band.

Exile City - Veil Veil Vanish - From Change in the Neon Light, the latest album from this San Francisco based post-punk quartet.

One Last Time - Fair - Producer and former Poor Old Lu guitarist Aaron Sprinkle's latest band from their new release, Disappearing World.

Got to Lose - Hollerado - I promised more from this Canadian treasure, and here it is. Another great track from their debut, Record in a Bag.

Run Run Run - Nom de Guerre - Another Stockholm pop group from their latest Love Thy Neighbor.

Steady Love - Title Tracks - New project of John Davis, formerly of Q and not U and Georgie James. This album, It Was Easy, is pure power-pop pleasure. There are moments that remind me of Daniel Jones at his finest, and the last track on the album could be an Elvis Costello tune.

There is a Wind - The Album Leaf - A Chorus of Storytellers is a gorgeous, sprawling album from the San Diego group (really more of a project of Jimmy LaValle's), and the first one with a full live band.

Download this show here.

2 Songs From An Album You Need to Hear/Own

I sift through a lot of music week to week trying to find the next thing that will knock my socks off, or at least something that will become a permanent part of my music collection. Over the past few years I have discovered and extolled the virtues of such albums as The New Frontiers' Mending (still beating that dead horse), Siberian's With Me, and more recently The Wheat Pool's Hauntario and Hollerado's Record in a Bag. While some of the tunes I listen to and play on the WalCast are perhaps the only good songs from the related albums, some are just selected tracks from a virtual pool of gems. Such is the case with today's couple of tracks from new Dallas band The Slack. Formed from a hodgepodge of members from various indie bands in the area, they have put out a killer debut, The Deep End. Drawing from many diverse influences and incorporating them all into a wonderful and consistent album of pop/rock tunes varying from two and a half minute ditties to five minute anthems, this is definitely one for your collection. The two songs here are pretty much randomly selected, although not completely. I will definitely include another song at some point in the near future on a full-blown WalCast.

Truth and Fiction - The Slack - Love the organ solo on this one.



Pipe Dream - The Slack

WalCast 8: Chillin' on the Couch on a Sunday Afternoon

Here it is: the long awaited chillin' out episode of The WalCast. Music to wind down your long workday or to enjoy while relaxing on the weekend. Not music to sleep by, but music to relax to if you are not into New Age, spa-type tunes with classical guitar, flute, and exotic birds tweeting in the background. No, this is actually good music, just on the laid-back tip. Some of my favorite tunes for getting my mind off things are in here, and the best part is you only have to hear my voice for the first few minutes. Put on your slippers, get the fire going in the fireplace, grab a hot cup of french roast (don't spoil it with sweetener and creamer) or a nice merlot, and kick that recliner all the way out or lay on the couch, and get ready for a good hour of chillin' tunes. Oh, and ignore that run-on sentence I just typed.



Trackticus Listus:

Buttercup - Brad - Opening track to the first album, Shame.

Powderfinger - Cowboy Junkies - Cover of the Neil Young tune from their album The Caution Horses.

Constellations - Jack Johnson - From one of my favorite summertime and/or Sunday afternoon albums, In Between Dreams.

Little Things - Mary Everest - Minneapolis-based electro-acoustic folk based artist who also performs with her brother JG Everest and collaborates with an array of other local friends and artists, from her solo debut Little Things.

Further to Fly - Paul Simon - From a must-have album, The Rhythm of the Saints.

Take 5 - The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Classic jazz tune that really affects my mood and mellows me out.

Far, Far Away - Wilco - From the first disc of their 2nd release, BeingThere.

Low Sail - Amy Millan - The Broken Social Scene and Stars collaborator (among others) with a tune from her sophomore solo release, Masters of the Burial.

High on a Riverbed - Toad the Wet Sprocket - From their phenomenal 2nd album, Pale.

Detlef Schrempf - Band of Horses - A haunting song from their 2nd album, Cease to Begin, which appears to have nothing to do with the former Seattle Supersonics star it's named after.

One More Day - Amy Wadge - Welsh (by way of Bristol) folk artist with a tune I got from the 2009 SXSW compilation.

Turn Me On - Nora Jones - from another great album to relax to, her debut, Come Away With Me.

In a Lonely Place - The Smithereens - The 60's-influenced pop-rockers from their first album, Especially For You.

Precious Pain - Melissa Etheridge - No matter how much grief I get for liking her first, self-titled album, I will continue to listen to it with pleasure.

Moonlight Mile - The Rolling Stones - "Wild Horses" would have been too obvious, don't you think? Plus, this closes the show nicely, much like it did the album Sticky Fingers.

This show is a downloader for sure, so click here to do so.

Song of the Day 2/22/10

I have come to the realization that Canadian indie music just rocks. I don't know how they're breeding them up there, but it's working. My latest wonderful discovery from the great white north is Hollerado. Their debut, Record in a Bag, is out of this world. This is one of the better tracks on it, but rest assured they are all good. They remind me a little of Spoon, The Replacements, and Pavement, and that, my friends, is a winning combination. You will hear more of them very soon.

Juliette - Hollerado