Radio Free California Episode 2550, thoughts on music, cheap shots, and a bit more.

 

New music this week from the long-awaited live album from Umphrey's McGee, St. Lucia, Pool Kids, Boojums, Glom, Geowolf, Telenova, Death Bells and much more. Enjoy!

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While it's true that new albums are hard to find this time of year I do have a few recommendations for you, starting with Umphrey McGee's long-awaited live album, "Hall of Fame: Class of 2024". This album really catches the feel of their shows and runs quite long, just as their live shows do. Over 4 hours of music over 19 songs that includes jams of Grateful Dead length and quality. They're a great jam band and worth checking out.

Last we had heard of Pool Kids their label had dropped them. Instead of giving up they hired a producer and recorded their new album "Easier Said Than Done", which in turn got them signed to Epitaph records. It's a great album with solid songwriting and production, and you should give them a chance - just like Epitaph did. ^_^

I was surprised to see a new album from St. Lucia - it wasn't on my radar and I'm a fan, and after all they had dropped the great album "Fata Morgana: Dawn" earlier this year. I had suspected a companion album would be coming but not this quickly. "Fata Morgana: Dusk" is that album an it completes the story begun on the previous album, complete with a reprise of the opening track of the prior album. For fans of this type of pop/alt styling you should give both albums a listen.

A couple of notes about songs not on this playlist. Sparks quietly dropped an album they recorded in 2013 called "Annette (An Opera by Sparks)" and if that sounds familiar it should, the music that would eventually become the soundtrack for the movie "Annette" which came out a couple of years back. I decided not to add any of the tracks because it really is mostly the same songs, although without the cast of the movie. For the true Sparks fan it's a must have.

The a cappella group Home Free recorded a version of Auld Lange Syne in CHINESE. ""友谊地久天长" is worth checking out for simply how odd and wonderful it is, but it's not really a song for radio.

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One week until my new album comes out!

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The Federal Government manages to screw both nation-wide voting and on-time tax payments in a single rule making. You can no longer rely on the US Postal Service to postmark your mail when they receive it - instead it will be postmarked once at a receiving station, which can take days. Your taxes will be late, and your vote won't be counted. You can still ask to have your mail postmarked at the post office, but just dropping it off doesn't count anymore. Plan accordingly.

So apparently not satisfied by turning the White House into Saddam's palace number 7 the new/old guy is going to put in Marble... armrests?!!?!!? at The Kennedy Center. Wouldn't that be uncomfortable as all hell? Also, I'm never going to call it the name that's been slapped on it. It's the Gulf of Mexico you freaks.

Can you believe it's only been a year since President Jimmy Carter passed? It feels like 50. I know I look and feel a half century older.

Someone should tell Harmeet K. Dhillon that very few people can get away with Xweeting about "hoes" and she's not one of them. Your DOJ Head of the Civil Rights Division, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Anyone else notice that despite being 85 years old Nancy Pelosi is still the sharpest attack dog in Congress? I'm going to miss her when she goes.

The fucktard rumor mill claims that the new Commissioner of the New York Fire Department has never been a firefighter. Incorrect. She's a 31-year veteran and was a first responder on 9/11. You're just pissed because she's gay.

There was a lot of the new/old guy in the Epstein Files. He's all the fuck over them. The Republican't party still won't abandon him, for fear of losing the pedophile vote.

If you want or need a good laugh, pleas head over to https://www.trumpkennedycenter.org/, a website set up by one of the writers for South Park. 

I have to wonder why Zelinsky keeps coming back to the U.S. when the deals we offer are the exact same bullshit every time. I'm starting to wonder if he's developed a taste for something like BBQ and has to come to the U.S. to get it.

I am certain though that the real reason the administration bombed targets in Nigeria is because they were led astray by an anonymous Nigerian Prince.

I would like the press to stop referring to every meeting between the current administration and Netanyahu as a "critical" or "vital" meeting. Not a single one of these meetings has changed a damned thing.

I have to wonder what the new/old guy didn't get for Christmas that inspired him posting over 150 times on social media.

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And because I love you, have a classic from Electric Six:

Radio Free California Episode 2549, some thoughts and a few other things

 

New music this week includes the most optomistic song in years (by KUN), Sonic Whip, ARXX, Fright Years, Crushed, Megadeth, Fishbone, Hana Hope, High Vis, The Spitfires, Keep Shelly in Athens and much more. Enjoy!

It gets harder to find new music this time of year, because of all the fucking Christmas music on your radio right now. Do you still listen to radio? So I go digging deep looking for stuff I might have missed from earlier in the year as well as my usual sources. This brought the band Sonic Whip to my attention, and although there isn't a new album in 2025 there are a bunch of singles and they're all top notch.

ARXX is another band worth checking out. Their own bio reads "Imagine Taylor Swift if she only listened to Nirvana". They do good work.

With the appearance of their cover of a great Alice in Chains song I am once again required to ask why aren't Fishbone in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? I know the answer, sadly. So do you.

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A programming note: Over at the radio station on December 25th only, we will be playing Christmas Music from 12:00am until 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time (PST). It's the only time I ever concede that the music is appropriate. Some of the tunes aren't, though. This is a pop/rock/alternative radio station after all.

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So there was a "drop" of Epstein files shit that was the usual comedy of errors from the leadership of the current Department of Justice. So much redaction that Pantone needs to rename their color of the year. If you search for the word "Trump" zero result will be returned. But if you search "Trump " (note the space at the end) you get over 600 results.

One truly nasty piece of work is a photo featuring Michael Jackson, Bill Clinton and Diana Ross, with the faces of 3 children blacked out, insinuating that the three were involved in the whole Epstein business and that the children are being protected. In reality the photo is from a Democratic fundraiser from 2003 with no connection to Epstein, and the blacked out children are Michael's two children and Diana's youngest son. It's such an egregious misdirect that Bill Clinton himself, who we already know palled around with Epstein, demanded release of all documents where he is mentioned.

Clinton is a master of message and even he gets that no matter how damaging this could be for him that the truth must will out, and that he knows how to ride the storm and perhaps even direct it. Look for the DoJ (Under New Management) to claim it's a trap and they won't be falling for it.

"Under New Management CBS" killed a story on 60 Minutes that would have been critical of the new/old guy's administration, with new chief Bari Weiss stating that because there had been no on camera response from the White House that the story wasn't there. Lady, the fact that they failed to respond to requests for an interview IS THE FUCKING STORY!!!! Your news reputation just took an huge hit, and you're too dumb to realize it yet Ms. Weiss.

Of course, you can actually see the story if you download it from here. It was on YouTube for a while but it doesn't appear to be anymore. Grab it while you can.

Ke$ha Patell is the first FBI director to not buy American for his cars.

The Governor of Louisiana has been named "Special Envoy" to Greenland, whatever the fuck that means. This is another one of these idiots who think the US is going to own Greenland someday. Greenland should refuse him entry into the country.

This past Saturday there was a fire at a power station in San Francisco. Almost a third of the city was without power, and now two days later some of the city is STILL without power (I'm fine - we never lost power). But there has been a funny side-effect. Waymo had to suspend service with their fleet of automatic cars because they couldn't figure out to do at intersections with non-functional streetlights. People were stranded int he cars, which isn't fun, but watching a bunch of empty cars honking at each other was pretty funny.

The Department of Defense (pardon me, "War - Under New Management") has decided that wind farms interferes with radar. Because I know how radar actually works I calling these people fucking liars.

Has Mitt Romney become a Democrat in retirement? The 2012 version of him should speak with the late 2025 version.

I was never a real fan of Niki Minaj prior to now either.

I have seen the artist's rendering of the new "battleship" design that the new/old guy supposedly invented and my only comment here is that someone has been spending too much time with Legos.

And because I love you, have the most upbeat song in pop music since "Walking on Sunshine".

Radio Free California Episode 2548, some thoughts, some shared pain, some releif

 

New releases get a bit more scarce because who wants to compete against all the Xmas music on radio, but we still have a great week for new releases, including Pastel, Little Lilith, Tori Amos with one of her patented covers, Joe Jackson(!) who appears to have a concept album coming next yer, my Australian techno frield MOULE, Josh Rouse, Juliana Hatfield, CVC, Crimson Whisper and much more. Enjoy!

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Juliana Hatfield is one of those artists that is special to me, ever since she did one album with the Lemonheads in the early 90's. Her sound has never really changed and she ALWAYS doubles her vocals, and I've always enjoyed her little snips of levity and wisdom. She's also one of the rare artists to have a hit single in 5/4 time, which is really saying something. Her new album "Lightning Might Strike" is among her best work, and is worth your time.

Pastel calls themselves Shoegaze but I wouldn't. They open this week's playlist and if that's Shoegaze they should really hire a different drummer. This is hooky pop rock with a punch and their new album Souls In Motion" was a surprise for me, and a welcome one. Well worth the listen.

I'm pretty good at following news about the former members of XTC, but I completely missed that Andy Partridge, along with Chris Braide (best known for his collaborations with Sia) and Tim Weller released an EP called "Queen of Planet Wow!" You know what, it's new to me so I'm including in here. Call me a hypocrite for adding a song that's from last year if you want, but I'm complicated and I can live with that. Nyeah.

One more album you should give some love to is Brooke Combe's new release "Dancing at the Edge of the World". The album is both a throwback and steps forward in the world of old-fashioned R&B/pop. It's worth your time.

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One little note for the few of you who check out my radio station from time to time; I have updated my Christmas playlist, which will play on motherfucking Christmas Day only!!!! I really hate Christmas music - not because of the music which is fine - but because how much we all get hammered with it from about mid-November on. It squeezes the life out of radio and I can't stand that.

And then comes the "year in review" bullshit. It can turn the month of December into a new music boneyard and it makes me crazy, because no one wants to try and compete with all the specialty programming on radio this time of year. I will not be doing that this year. I'm not sure I could limit the list to fewer than a few hundred songs, let alone 100 or a Topo 40.

I will play Christmas Music on Christmas Day and that's fucking IT. 12am to 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time December 25th. Some of the songs are the Christmas classics, some are deep rock and roll cuts, and some are sure to offend someone. "A Christmas Duel" from The Hives and Cyndi Lauper makes me laugh, and I don't care if it upsets anyone.

If you desperately need my playlist before then, you can find it here.

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So there was a mass shooting in Australia over the weekend at a Hannukah Celebration at Bondi Beach. Many dead, many more wounded and it could have been much worse if a fruit shop owner named Ahmed al Ahmed hadn't overpowered one of the gunmen. Elon Musk and his platforms tried to say that an IT professional named Edward Crabtree, a white guy, was the one who overpowered the gunman. Not only is this a motherfucking LIE it's a fabrication. Mr. Crabtree doesn't even exist. Muskrat's AI, Grok, is still pushing that narrative though.

Let's face it folks, Mr. Musk has read Heinlein, but he didn't really grok it.

I'm going to make a bold prediction here though and guess that the shooter is some right-wing lunatic with a gun fetish. You can attach this to just about any news story right now.

Fatmentia?

Apparently having ASL people presenting when he gives speeches harshes his the new/old guy's mellow. Fuck him. 

Pax Americana is over. It ended January 20th.

Apparently we can keep Dick Van Dyke, and I'm grateful for that, but not Rob Reiner and his wife. Fuck. 

Please don't read the new/old guy's statement regarding the death of the Reiner's. He's such a cnut. The White House official account also re-posted it. Every single one of these people in this White House/Administration needs a swift and painful kick in the ass.

I'd say it's a coin toss which was worse but apparently the new/old guy can't flip a coin.

Instead, read the words of Wil Wheaton. Your heart will hurt more, but it's a shared hurt, which is better than being angry at an old coot who can't flip a coin.

You might not have noticed this given all the horrific death and murder over the weekend, but Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's son, born in Minnesota and therefore a US Citizen, was pulled over by ICE and told to produce his papers after leaving a Target store. I think they've been expecting this though, because he had his US Passport with him and he was released. But given the new/old guy's recent comments about Somalia (where Rep. Omar was born) it seems like some racial profiling bullshit going on. For the record, Ms. Omar became a US citizen in 2000, the first year she was eligible to do so - when she turned 18.

I swear to dog that the very first thing the next President must do is sign an executive order changing the names of everything they have changed back to their pre-2025 status.

The Director of the FBI doesn't know the difference between a suspect and a person of interest. Again.

Apparently the United States is one of only two countries against rebuilding the containment around Chernobyl. Don't get felled out a window trying to figure out what the other country is.

Has Tom Cotton ever been right about anything? I'm guessing no.

By the way, it's worth noting that we now have young people in this country who have survived multiple mass shootings at their schools. To all those people who say that Gun Control wouldn't work, what say we try it and see if you're right? It hasn't really been done before.

Except for all of the times that it has, and it's worked.

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And because I love you, here is Caitlin Cook in a live performance from her musical made up entirely from graffiti in bathrooms. It's really fucking funny. I think we need that today.

Radio Free California Episode 2547 along with some notes and rants

 

New music this week from Blues great Eric Bibb, Flea, Night Talks, AMH, The Ramona Flowers, GLAY, Juliana Hatfield, Hana Hill, live music from Depeche Mode, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Goo Goo Dolls, Ronnie D'Addario, Thomas Raggi and much more. Enjoy!

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Eric Bibb and Flea have both release tracks in preview of albums they're putting out in 2026 and they're fantastic works. I can't wait for the full albums.

Night Talks' new album, "Running on a Cloud", took almost 6 years to make. It was started just as the Pandemic began, and they decided to slow down and give the album flow, tell a story, and make videos for each song. As a result this short 7-song album, is a breath of fresh air - they took the time to do it right. I added over half the album to this playlist.

The first thing I asked myself about the British band The Ramona Flowers is "how does a band with less than 8,000 follows on Spotify land Nile Rogers to play on the opening track of their new album, "Made By Humans"? However they did it that was certainly making a statement. The new album is good, and while there are touches of R&B throughout it's much more an indie album than that opener would lead you to believe. 

You might not know the name Thomas Raggi, but the Italian musician is the lead guitarist for Måneskin, and he recruited legendary guitarist Tom Morello to produce his first solo album, and brings along a slew a guest artists into what is really a fun and rocking album. Not only Tom Morello, but Duff McKagan, Franz Ferdinand, Chad Smith and more appear on the album, called "Masquerade". On the track I've added here you can really feel Morello's touch.

If you want a blast of songwriting skill and excellence from over the decades you should check out "Written By" from Ronnie D'Addario. This is a collection of songs curated by D'Addario's sons, who are better known as The Lemon Twigs. Todd Rundgren, Matt Jardine, Sean Ono Lennon and more contribute tracks.

Erick Semmon has curated an album of songs by great parings in rap entitled "Dynamic Duos". Everyone from Snoop Dogg to Method Man to Cypress Hill to Public Enemy to Salt n' Pepa show up and contribute.

Those of you who know me know that I famously do not care for live albums. And yet, there are three solid ones out this week; "Live at Stagecoach" from The Goo Goo Dolls, "Live God" from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and "Memento Mori: Mexico City" from Depeche Mode and all of them are solid. Goo Goo Dolls' "Broadway is Dark Tonight" is one of my favorites from the band, and haw can you pass on any rendition of "O Children" from Nick Cave?. And do yourself a favor and hunt down on YouTube Depeche Mode's live performance of "Precious". 

And speaking of YouTube, I have to finally give a note about the band AMH. They have been releasing YouTube shorts where they randomly pick an object from a modified spinner and decide to write a song about it. They show the whole process and while it's contrived and possibly staged the end result is actually some pretty good songs. There's no new album yet, but several singles and worth checking out.

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I've noticed a trend as of late to refer to the Supreme Court as "The Calvinball Six". I rather like that, and will use it myself.

To be honest I find it hilarious that the new/old guy pardoned an allegedly crooked Democratic Party congressman under the impression that he would switch parties out of loyalty, only to run as a Democrat again. So he's mad that a Democrat remained a Democrat. I find it funny/sad/etc. because the real story is the corruption, not the loyalty, and these people obviously don't get that.

So you're telling me that the guy who actually put Jim Kirk into space can't keep himself from polluting a protected Lagoon?

If anything that MTG said in her 60 minutes interview is actually true I would expect there to be a "Truth Social" explosion of paranoid rantings at a Napoleonic level in the next couple of days. Oops! It's already started.

Someone I know on Social Media who calls themselves "Bix" gave me this link to an article from the point of view of a Canadian State Department official. It's worth reading despite the click-bait (and completely accurate) headline of  "We will never fucking trust you again".

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And becaue I love you, here is a quick reminder that the late David Crosby was one of the best.

Radio Free California Episode 2546 and a few thoughts, plus my love letter to Frankfurt am Main

 

New music not only from me, but also Pacifica, Juliana Hatfield, Japanese artists B'z, GLAY and Hikaru Utada, White Reaper, Mating Ritual, IST IST, GUNMOLL, Craig Finn, The Saints and much more. Enjoy!

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I've had a few busy days because of my music career and the not-too-subtle reminder that I'm not a young man anymore, so I haven't been paying all that much attention to the news. That said...

There are members of this administration who appear to have committed war crimes. We should give them the due process they denied to others. At The Hague.

I don't want to know about the RFK, Lizza (whatever) sex thing. Ew. Nothing personal, but I have never given a rat's ass about any personal escapades of people in the limelight. I don't know who is married to who, who dates who, who fucks who and so forth because I just don't care.

The new/old guy is clearly in failing health. Can we all start taking that seriously?

Oh by the way, I have reason to believe that the pardoning of that drug trafficker who used to be President of Honduras has something to do with Próspera. The new/old guy never does anything that doesn't lead to money in his pockets.

By the way, Broligarchs thinking that Ayn Rand's ideas can be put into practice as a private society better learn how to pave streets and dig trenches. Someone's got to do it and if you only bring in rich people, somebody rich is going to have to do it.

On another topic, I do notice now that much of the press that the current Pentagon is willing to talk to is made up of people who couldn't even get jobs in the current administration, but tried. Matt Gaetz, Laura Loomer, James O'Keefe, and Jack Posobiec are now in the Pentagon Press Pool.

I will leave this with some good news - if the Republican Party has to fight tooth and nail and spend all their money on a district their guy won by 22 points just last year, Democracy still has a chance.

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And because I love you, here is my love letter to Frankfurt am Main, called "Ausstellungshaus". Read the description for the video on YouTube for the full story.