Radio Free California Episode 2536, news about this site & updates, cheap shots and more

 

New music this week from Adult Leisure, Robert Plant, Sparks, Lola Young, I'm With Her, Sunflower Bean, David Byrne, Lady Gaga, Home Free, Robbie Fulks, Jana Varga and much more. Enjoy!

It is with no small amount of sadness that I have to let you know I will be taking a few weeks off. I don't want to, but I don't see how I can fit putting out new playlists while I'm on the road, and I'll be on the road for a month doing my real job. You know, being an actual musician.

To be blunt, I'm going to be too busy and when it comes to these playlists I'm a one person shop. I'm afraid the new music is going to pile up while I'm gone. I'll still be on the lookout for new music - I do that every day - put putting the playlists together is going to have to wait.

I imagine the first one when I come back is going to be a doozy.

Anyway, this will be the last Radio Free California for a few weeks. If you're dying for new music you can try a few things: Discover Weekly on Spotify - the more you like/favorite the better the algorithm gets at finding music you like, including older music you might have missed. There is also allmusic.com, which tracks new album releases from just about everyone out there. Don't be afraid to take a deep dive on you tube or other social networks either - sure, there's lots of crap out there (especially on the old bird site) but sometimes you find something golden.

Surf the web, like we used to in the old days.

As for this week, the new album from David Byrne is some of the best and occasionally silliest music he's ever done. It's easily his best solo work.

If you dig blues I must recommend the new album from Walter Trout called "Sign of the Times". He's an old-fashioned guitar slinger, and the music pretty good.

The Korgies are still around! Despite not having had a hit in 4 decades they're still working, and have just released an album where they update 16 of their previous releases, including a nice reworking of "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime", which was their biggest hit in the US.

As many of you know, I'm no real fan of Country Music, and yet I have two country artists on the playlist this week. First up is Robbie Fulks, who is more alt-country/indie pop than straight ahead country, and there's stuff on his new album I like. Secondly, Home Free is continuing their current dive into Sea Shanties and Maritime Music with their cover of "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", which they have spruced up in a respectable fashion.

Jem Records has continued their tradition of releasing albums of indie artists covering other artists, and a band I only discovered last week is on the latest compilation honoring David Bowie, performing "I'm Afraid of Americans". Yes, The Airport 77s return this week.

And finally, Saint Etienne has just put out what is supposed to be their final album, called "International", and it's a return to their early works from back in the 1990's and it's a welcome return. If you remember them from back in the day then you're going to like this one.

And again, I can't wait until the new Robert Plant album comes out - which will happen while I'm gone. Don't miss it - what I've heard sounds great.

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A sign I saw over the weekend read, "If I need to listen to a Recovering Heroin Addict for medical advice I'm turning to Keith Richards".

So according to the Speaker of the House the new/old guy was a deep undercover FBI informant for a "Democrat Hoax". For an avowed Christian, he bears false witness an awful lot.

I missed this because of course I would, but apparently Tucker Carlson attempted to "out" Pete Buttigieg as STRAIGHT. There is so much to unpack there - Tucker needs help. Psychiatric help.

On a personal note, I had a doctor's appointment rescheduled because the doctors at the office I was going to had their hands full with POLIO PATIENTS. Fuck me, in all my years I'd never seen someone with an active case of Polio, not even when we collected dimes by going door to door when I was a little kid. I can't claim that any more.

Happy Star Trek Day.

Also, Happy Xena: Warrior Princess Day.

That birthday greeting written to Jeffrey Epstein by the new/old guy that the new/old guy claims doesn't exist? It was given to congress today. The Wall Street Journal is reporting this, complete with a picture. But it's the WSJ, so who knows if it's true?

I had to pay my first tariff this past week. $12.00 on an item that cost $19.99 and is coming from all of 10 miles outside of the U.S. Vancouver is closer to me than the U.S. Capitol is.

Oops! The Speaker is back-tracking on his statement about undercover informants.

But the new/old guy is still a rapist.

Now that victim blaming/shaming is in full effect over the shooting at the CDC offices a few weeks back, are they saying that the CDC's skirt was too short? It was summer, for fuck's sake.

It's worth pointing out that while the new/old guy wants to accuse people with multiple mortgages with fraud, he's a real estate developer and has over a hundred mortgages himself.

For those of you screaming "yahoo" over Gavin Newsome, for those of us in California we've had better Democratic Governors, including Jerry Brown, and the country didn't elect them either.

According to the current SCOTUS, your skin color and accent are now probable cause, which can and will be used against you.

There are already people out there claiming that it's not his signature in the Epstein Birthday Book. Yes it was you fucking idiot. Or was it Auto-pen?

If you're trans and on Medicare get ready to find other healthcare if you can. Your current healthcare is going bye bye.

The Secretary of Defense is guilty of Stolen Valor. How is that playing with the troops?

One New York Mayoral candidate's Social Media savvy is top notch.

And because I love you, may I introduce you to The Olllam:

See you in a few weeks!

Radio Free California Episode 2535, a bonus track, lies and the lying liars who tell them and much worse crimes, and some joy in video form

Yeah, I took Labor Day off. I'm allowed to. Great crop of new music from Rebecca Sugar, Vistas, The Beaches, Divorce, The Beths, The Grip Weeds, Drink The Sea, Daisychain, Jane Varga, BBBL, Belinda Carlisle, and much more. Enjoy!

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So did you know that the creator of Steven Universe is also a musician and performing artist? I didn't. And then this week I stumbled across the video for "Ice Water", done by a small animation studio in her style, and I was hooked. Her new EP is worth it's weight in gold and I highly recommend it. The video is at the bottom of this post.

I was actually going to pass on The Beths. Their new single didn't impress me and I got a couple of tracks into the full album wondering why I bothered. The reason I bother is for the deep cuts, which are often better than the singles. Such is the case here, and it also forced me to go back and listen to the tracks I initially dismissed, and taken in context they are much improved. They're work checking out.

Vista's new album "Cut the Cord" is a stunningly good album, start to finish. I had already loaded several of the songs from that album to my various playlists and to the radio station, and I've added a couple more today. The whole album is relentless and is one of the best albums of the year so far.

The Ndlovu Youth Choir is one I stumbled across by accident because I'm a fan of a cappella music. The song I've added is with a full band, but there's another track on this same EP that is a daring reinterpretation of "Bohemian Rhapsody". I will put a link to the video at the end of this post.

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I've added an extra song to the radio station this week, "Big Crime" by Neil Young. It's a live recording from a soundcheck before a Chicago show and it's not on Spotify due to his ongoing fight with the streaming service over podcasts by fascists they host.

Here's a link to the song directly, which you can download.

Lyrics:

No more great again
No – no more great again
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
Don’t need no fascist rules
Don’t want no fascist schools
Don’t want soldiers on our streets
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
Got to get the fascists out got to
Clean the white house out
Don’t want soldiers on our streets
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
No more great again
No – no more great again
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
No more money to the fascists
the billionaire fascists
TIME TO BLACKOUT THE SYSTEM
no more great again
No – no more great again
TIME TO BLACKOUT THE SYSTEM
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
NO MORE GREAT AGAIN
No NO MORE GREAT AGAIN
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
NO MORE GREAT AGAIN
NO NO MORE GREAT AGAIN

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In my entire adult life I've never used a non-chain pharmacy. That might have to change as the two major chains where I live have decided to not offer COVID-19 Vaccinations in 16 states - coincidentally the 16 states with the highest increase in infection rates this year. I'm getting vaccinated myself, this Saturday.

So I guess that the new/old guy is still alive, sort of. I have to wonder if he's got some sort of Dorian Gray situation with all of the tacky gold shit they've strung up all over the White House. It's looking more and more like a Saddam House than the White House at this point.

Um, wow. Even "Walking Tall" might be a lie?

I want this guy to narrate every Democratic Party political ad from now until the end of time.

Hours after being told by a Judge that the military invasion of Los Angeles is illegal the administration says that they will now invade Chicago. This isn't going to stop until these judges start throwing people in jail. Maybe start with the doddering old fool who thinks Baltimore is in Illinois.

Oh by the way, the lawyer that the current administration is using to sue Harvard on the basis of antisemitism is himself a Harvard Graduate and huge motherfucking antisemite.

I know that Kristy Noem is all upset that her CBS interview edited out her lies, but I'm more upset that they weren't called lies in the actual broadcast. Look folks, it's real easy: "We have edited the interview for length and to eliminate all the lies". See? Easy.

If you look, you can find video from a couple of days ago where the dumber of the new/old guy's sons has a sumo match in a practice ring. Because I follow Sumo I can let you in on a couple of facts: First, that was a lower-ranking wrestler he "fought" - you can tell by the color of the mawashi. 2nd, the real sumo wrestler hardly had to try. He toys with him for a moment and then carried him out like a rag doll. 3rd, Eric had an illegal start.

Meanwhile, while I was writing that Paragraph, the new/old guy posted on his own social medial site bragging that he had just killed 11 people. There's video, and no I'm not going to link to it or show it. I'm not going to spoil the joy of the videos that follow.

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And because I love you, here is the video to the Rebecca Sugar song "Ice Water", which was added to the rotation this week. The video is amazing, and yes, this is the same Woman who created Steven Universe".

And because I promised above, here is Ndlovu Youth Choir's interpretation of a Queen masterpiece: