A (roughly) 1 hour podcast to share the music that I like, and hopefully widen the musical horizons of those wise enough to listen (plus some random tracks thrown in for good measure).
This is a very special edition of The WalCast, because it is a birthday present for Brian Dixon down in good old Memphis. Brian's wife Shannon had the great idea for his friends and family to submit songs for a Playlist just for Brian, and I agreed at the last minute to put them together in a WalCast. That's why this may not be up in time to land exactly on his birthday, but I gave it a good shot anyway. I broke the long, long playlist into 2 shows for technical reasons, but you can play them back to back and get the same result if you like. I will list the tracks and who submitted them below. Download to listen in the future. That's right, a built in time machine! Technology these days...
Drum Roll Please...
PART I
We are the Champions – Queen (Kevin Dixon)
Magnolia Mountain - Ryan Adams (Jason Smith)
Heavy Metal Drummer – Wilco (Kevin Perk)
A Beautiful Mine - RJD2 (Terron Perk)
Someday We'll All Be Free - Donnie Hathaway (Wendy Trenthem)
Close to You – Karen Carpenter (Beverly Dixon)
Let’s Explode – Clem Snide (Justin Dobbs)
Vegetables – The Beach Boys (Kong Wee Pang)
Small Car - Marvin Pontiac (Jay Crum)
Shake Me Up - Reno Bo (Steve Willet)
Jenny Nowhere - The Clouds (Zac Ives)
The Birthday party - Grandmaster Flash (John Jeter)
What About You (in the world today) - 16 corners (John Jeter)
Who's the King - Joseph Henry (John Jeter)
You're the Best - Joe Bean Esposito (John Jeter)
Old - Paul Simon (Toby Long)
Never Give You Up - The Black Keys (Wally Peterson)
We’re going to be friends - Jack Johnson (Anne Borden)
It’s Ok. Try Again. – The Shins (Shannon Dixon)
Can’t Help Falling in Love – Lick the Tins (Shannon Dixon)
I’ve Got the World on a String – Frank Sinatra (Shannon Dixon)
I have been sooooooo slack lately in getting new shows put together, but I pledge to get better about it going forward, scout's honor (and I was a scout). In my defense, I have been a bit busy and am taking on lots of things right now in my life, so I'm working to be better organized at them. Anyway, it is way past due time for a new show, so I have thrown a quick random show together and will probably have another up in a week or so just to keep this train rollin'. Then I will put some thought into another themed show. Maybe. Nonetheless, here is the latest and greatest WalCast, just some good music ranging from early 80's to now. Enjoy.
Tracks:
This Scene is Dead - We Are Scientists - From their breakthrough 2006 album With Love and Squalor.
In the Blood - Better Than Ezra - Early nineties power pop from the album Deluxe.
You Can Build an Island - The Broken West - Great tune from their first album, I Can't Go On, I'll Go On.
Cursed Mirror - Superchunk - The indie rock veterans from Come Pick Me Up.
Tiny Daggers - Inxs - Closing track from their biggest album, Kick.
Strangers - The New Frontiers - One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite albums, Mending.
California Girls - The Magnetic Fields - A little different take on the classic theme from their album Distortion.
Map of the Problematique - Muse - Great song from the album that introduced me to them, Black Holes and Revelations.
Almost Ready - Dinosaur jr - Opening track from 2007's low-fi recording Beyond.
Rio - Duran Duran - Classic from the band named after the bad guy in Barbarella, from the album also called Rio.
4 Windows - Calculated X - Well known song if you lived in Memphis in the mid-eighties, from a band that got this close to making it big.
Crank - Catherine Wheel - More early-nineties alternative music from the album Chrome. Their singer is the nephew of Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden fame.
Machine of Nature - Daisy - Great Finnish act from 2009's Daydream.
All the Lost Souls Welcome You to San Fransisco - American Music Club - The legendary Mark Eitzal's outfit, from their last release in 2008, The Golden Age.
No One's Gonna Love You - Band of Horses - Their 2nd album, Cease to Begin, was a really good one. This song has earned guest spots in TV shows in commercials, and it's good in spite of that.
***WARNING-THIS SHOW IS NOT FOR THE MUSICALLY FAINT OF HEART, OR THOSE WHO ARE CONCRETELY ROOTED IN MAINSTREAM POP REGIMENS***
Hello, Hello again! This week I'm gonna shake it up a bit. If Weezer is as geek-rock as you get and you think Zappa is a single shoe ordered online, then this show may stretch your boundaries somewhat. I know, you might think "this is just what I needed." But fear not (I can see you shaking like tremolo), although this may be a dangerous type of musical sensibility, dry your suede-blue eyes and let's go for a different kind of ride. Let's face it, we need each other, you and me. After all, you're all I've got tonight, and (uh oh) it's magic when I'm with you. So put on your nuclear boots and your drip-dry gloves, and don't forget to brush your rock-n-roll hair, it's time for some tunes that are slightly off the beaten path.
Disclaimer: No members of, albums from, or songs by The Cars were harmed in the writing of this introduction. There are also none of their songs in the show this week.
This installment of the periodic musical entertainment entity known as The WalCast (henceforth known as "the show" in this document), consists wholly and exclusively of commentary by the host, Wal (henceforth known as "me" or "I" in this document), and the following tracks:
Abstract Plane - Frank Black - From the great album Teenager of the Year comes this quirky pop gem, complete with an abstract house and an abstract mouse.
Atlantis to Interzone - Klaxxons - The title makes me laugh. From Myths of the Near Future.
Nantes - Beirut - The lighter side of quirk from The Flying Club Cup.
Heart it Races - Architecture in Helsinki - Indie/underground hit from Places Like This.
On the Radio - Regina Spektor - NYC neo-folky artist with a tune from Begin to Hope, stating that the guitar solo from GnR's November Rain is awfully long, but the refrain is good.
My Friend Goo - Sonic Youth - From the album Goo. "My friend Goo just goes 'PeeYeww!'"
The Man of Metropolis Steals our Hearts - Sufjan Stevens - Putting the "indie" in indie, this track is from Come On, Feel the Illinois!
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, pt. 1 - The Flaming Lips - Always interesting, the Lips bring us the namesake of their hit(?) album from a couple of years ago.
We Share Our Mother's Health - The Knife - Brother/Sister quirky electronic duo from Silent Shout.
For Hugh Thompson Who Stood Alone My Lai Massacre Vietnam - The Oaks - Good track from a beautiful and interesting album from a few years ago, Our Fathers and the Things They Left Behind.
Debaser - The Pixies - One of my favorite tracks from an album it's hard to pick favorites from, Doolittle.
Big Science - Laurie Anderson - Now we get out there a little bit with the title track from the avant-garde artist's early eighties album.
Don't Let's Start - They Might Be Giants - Bringing it back to the pop side of the pendulum with the single that started it all for one of the greatest indie/geek rock bands ever, from their first, self-titled album. I so wanted to play Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head here.
Matchbook Seeks Maniac - Deerhoof - Bizarre little ditty from Friend Opportunity.
Dado Peru - Eskimo - A prized song in my collection due to fond memories. Saw these guys once in the mid-nineties and they put every other display of musical weirdness to shame. Imagine the cast of Cirque du Soleil playing trombones, guitars, and hand saws. Oh yeah. From The Further Adventures of Der Shrimpkin.
It's that time of year when everything gets busy in the life of Wal. I've had a few playlists made up for the last month or so thinking I would get several out this month, but no such luck. A couple, however, were random lists just like the one I'm giving you now, set up for just such a situation. My foresight is incredible. But enough about me, let's get on to some good music. No particular rhyme or reason to this set, just some tunes I threw together... well, randomly. Up top, you can stream it. Down below, you can download it. Either way, you'll love it.
And now, the track list...
Time Bomb - The Format - From 2007's Dog Problems.
Daft Punk is Playing at My House - LCD Soundsystem - First track from their self-titled 2005 release. You've got to set them up, man, set them up.
Phantom Limb - The Shins - From Wincing the Night Away. Make sure to also check out James Mercer's side project with Danger Mouse, Broken Bells.
Snow in California - The Stills - From the Canadian group's 2008 album, Oceans Will Rise.
Pull Shapes - The Pippettes - From their debut entitled (what else?) We Are The Pippettes. And you know, they are "the prettiest girls you've ever seen."
Jamais Vous - Bell Hollow - Pretty sure this New York band disbanded, but not before they put out Foxgloves.
Mirror People - Love and Rockets - Opening track from their classic 80's album Earth Sun Moon.
Look Sharp! - Joe Jackson - Title track from his classic, super-fantastic, must-have album.
Town Called Malice - The Jam - Great, great, great late 70's mod classic.
High Fidelity - Elvis Costello - Keeping in the same vein as the last 2 tracks with another beauty from Get Happy!
Can't Hardly Wait- The Replacements - From Pleased to Meet Me. Like you didn't know that.
All These Things That I've Done - The Killers - From their first album, Hot Fuss.
Clampdown - The Clash - Just a few months ago was the 30th anniversary of London Calling.
Electricityscape - The Strokes - From First Impressions of Earth.
Steady as She Goes - The Raconteurs - Opening tune from the group's first album, Broken Boy Soldiers. Man, Jack White and Brendan Benson just flat put out some albums, don't they?
Cover songs: the ultimate tribute or the ultimate in laziness? Who cares? I'd much rather listen to some music than debate such a stupid question. So this weeks' WalCast brings you songs written and recorded by one band and then re-recorded by another band that didn't write them. Confused? You won't be after this week's episode of Soap. If you got that reference, you are at least as old as I am. I tried to bring a decent mix of covers to the show that didn't all sound like the originals. Hopefully I succeeded. Hopefully you'll like the show this time. Hopefully I'll win the lottery soon. Stream at the top, download at the bottom.
I would now like to list the tracks included in the show:
Head On - The Pixies - Originally by the Jesus and Mary Chain, this was included on the last Pixies studio album, Trompe Le Monde.
My Favorite Waste of Time - Freedy Johnston - The early eighties Marshall Crenshaw tune was the title of Freedy's album of covers from a couple of years ago.
Enjoy the Silence - Nada Surf - This classic Depeche Mode track was redone by Nada Surf on their brand new album of covers, If I Had a Hi-Fi.
Since You're Gone - Fortune - Originally from The Cars, of course, Fortune covered this track on this year's Staring at the Ice Melt.
Major Tom (Coming Home) - The Contact - This Early eighties Peter Schilling tune has been covered by many bands. This version is from 2007's Canvas Tears.
Burning Down the House - The Cardigans (Featuring Tom Jones) - The Talking Heads tune as recorded on The Cardigan's greatest hits album. Kinda strange, huh?
The Rainbow Connection - The Loves - Kermit the Frog's classic from The Muppet Movie, reworked on the album Technicolour from 2007.
(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party) - The Hot Rats - Half of Supergrass form a side project to record cover songs and answer the question "What would it sound like if the Who recorded this song from the Beastie Boys albumLicense to Ill way back in the late sixties?"
Speak to Me/Breathe - The Flaming Lips - These guys re-worked the entire Dark Side of the Moon album from Pink Floyd last year, with some help from Henry Rollins and others.
Use Somebody - Brooke White - A little soon to be covering a Kings of Leon tune, especially one from their latest album, but this American Idol contestant from 2009 did just that on her first album, 2009's Hgh Hopes and Heartbreak.
Peace Train - 10,000 Maniacs - The 70's Cat Stevens tune was covered on In My Tribe from the late eighties, but later had to be removed when Stevens converted to Islam and had his music pulled from distribution. Now he's Yusef and making music again. Whatever.
Caught Up in You - We the Kings - The .38 Special classic as covered for 2010's compilation, Punk Goes Classic Rock.
September Gurls - Moonlight Towers - The Big Star tune from a Big Star tribute album of various artists called Thank You Friends.
Such Great Heights - Iron and Wine - The beard-rock/folk artist's take on the great Postal Service song from the compilation Around the Well.
Higher Ground - Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Stevie Wonder classic, covered on 1989's Mother's Milk.
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.
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.
