Radio Free California Episode 2613, some notes about the music and how spies are born.

 

We have a really eclectic mix this week! New music this week from internet sensations Angine de Poitrine, Suzi Quatro, Ellur, Momo Boyd, Snail Mail, Flea with Nick Cave, Stanley Simmons, Trashcan Sinatras, Tailgunner, The Jaws of Brooklyn and much more. Enjoy!

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For those of you who don't know, this week's opener is the art-rock band Andine de Poitrine, a mostly instrument band that uses unusual time signatures and micro-tuning in their music. Micro-tuning is incredibly rare in any form of music but these guys might be the first to really try it in a pop music setting. If you look at their guitarist's guitar you will see rather a large number of additional frets in between the usual guitar frets, allowing him to move halfway from one chromatic note to the next. If you didn't understand any of what I just said that's okay - the musicians got it and you can tell people that's why it sounds so strange. Their new single has a good vibe to it and so I've included it here.

Welp, hell must have frozen over. Not only is there a Charlie Puth song on here, it's with Kenny G. I DESPIZE Kenny G. Kenny G and his out-of-tune motherfucking soprano sax. The man has very little tonal control over what is his primary claim to fame and it makes me crazy. Give the man a tenor sax and I have no complaints. So how the hell did this happen? I think Mr. Puth has taken a little time to understand songwriting, and on his new album it shows. It's mostly mid to late 80's stuff, but it's well done. But Kenny G? Well, he's kept surprisingly in tune here and it works. Maybe Mr. Puth, who has perfect pitch, did some work on this one.

Count me as shocked as anyone.

At last Flea's solo album Honora finally dropped and if you were looking for Red Hot Chilli Peppers cast-offs you're going to be disappointed. Flea has put out a beautiful, sublime album that owes more to jazz than anything else, taking advantage of his trumpet skills as well as his bass skills with a beautiful arrangement of Frank Ocean's "Thinkin' 'bout You" (which I've added previously) and a haunting rendition of "Wichita Lineman" that features Nick Cave on vocals.

If it weren't for some of the production tricks you'd think that the self-titled new album from Uni Boys came out in the 1960's. Pure jangle pop like you haven't heard in decades and it's pretty catchy too.

Zakk Wylde fronted Black Label Society has a new album out and in addition to some very obvious nods to Ozzy Osbourne is some pretty good riff-based rock and roll. I've given you a couple of songs here, but I have NOT included the final track, which is a direct tribute to the late singer that gave him his career. It's going to be a hit, but I found it so drenched in syrup that I couldn't bring myself to like it.

Suzi Quattro's new album has also dropped, and for the most part it's a straight-ahead rocker, which to be fair is what she does. The remake of "Kick Out The Jams" with Alice Cooper is pretty good, but I close out this list with the unlikely "Choose Yourself", which I think is the best song on the album.

Finally I have to point out King Tuff, this year's latest entrant in the "I want to be T-Rex" contest. It's one of the better efforts in this vein, and the song I've added "Stairway to Nowhere" has a truly inspired bass line.

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Imagine hearing the call to serve your country as a young man or woman. You're a badass so you join the Marines. You go through training, gain a specialty, get trained, and are now graduate from the academy as an officer ready to spend the next few years (and maybe 20 or more) in service to your country.

Now imagine your parents coming to see you graduate only to be arrested and deported after an undeterminate stay in a prison camp.

Still want to serve your country?

Want to punch Stephen Miller in his motherfucking face?

The level of cruelty here is just astonishing. These kids have been brought up to be proud of their country; in a nation without a draft there absolutely must be a calling to be willing to put your life on the line to defend your country. I never felt that call myself but I know many who have and I find zero fault in their actions. These are good Americans, and we're about to deport the very people who raised them to become this.

I worry about much more than that. Imagine being a graduate, a person on officer and/or career track who is rewarded for their hard work by having their parents and perhaps other family members deported. Aren't you worried that this will create a deep-seated resentment of the country they signed up to serve?

Aren't you worried that this resentment will lead some of these graduates to be easy targets for spies? Aren't you concerned that they will become spies for the very countries you've deported their families to in exchange for positive treatment for their families by those very governments?

Aren't you worried that we've created our own worst enemies?

I am. I want to punch Stephen Miller in his motherfucking face. I won't, but I want to.

I'm an American and I love what this country is supposed to be.

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So Dog Killer Noem's husband is a cross-dressing on-line person wearing fake lopsided breasts while conversing with fetish models and running up a tab of over $25K? All while claiming his "Christian" faith? All while saying he is keeping his marriage together despite the obvious cheating the former head of DHS has doing with one of her staffers? And Noem didn't put him down with the dog and the goat? As one of my on-line friends said, "Christian nationalist spokes-model in an all but public affair has gay husband seems pretty boilerplate at this point. I feel like we get one or two of these a week."

Tomorrow is April Fool's Day, and of course the leader of the Crime Administration wants to give a speech to the nation. Something about Iran, Ballroom, Ask me about sex, whatever. I'm sure it will be just as focused.

Tomorrow we're also supposed to see major attacks from Iran on the Tech Industry in that region. That sounds somewhat more focused. There are a LOT of Datacenters in the region, because power is cheap.

Every Western State votes by mail. Oregon, Washington, and California. Fuck that East Coast President.

The Trans Agenda: To die of old age. Same as the rest of us. I support this.

And because I love you, I was todayy years old when I learned that this didn't start out as a song by the clash, but as a song by Eddy "Electric Avenue" Grant and his band The Equals.

Radio Free California Episode 2612

 

New music this week from Footballhead, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Anjimine, Bluhm, Peter Gabriel, Dan Lucas, Crooked Fingers, Jon Lampley, Special Friend, Theo Katzman, Joe Jackson and much more. Enjoy!

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So let's talk about this week's selections, starting with the opening track and album from Tedeschi Trucks Band. After a few albums where they dipped into mysticism and deep thought inspired by Hindi writings they have returned with a genuine straight-ahead rock and roll album called "Future Soul". While I really enjoyed these past few albums this new album is their bread and butter and as good as anything they've ever done.

Footballhead is a band I've been following for a while now, and their new album "Weight of the Truth" might be their best one yet. I had a real time narrowing down which songs to add to the playlist and still wound up adding 4 songs. They sound like a band with a much bigger following than they have and you should check them out.

Crooked Fingers is the on-again off-again project run by Eric Bachmann, who was the leader of the 90's alt-rocking band Archers of Loaf. Archers broke up 28 years ago and they still have a larger following than this band and that's a shame, because this new album is good stuff. I enjoyed the album "Swet Deth" and will admit I have a soft spot in my heart for any musician who, like me, started out on the sax.

The Dandy Warhols are a fun if occasionally perplexing band that's been around for quite a while now, and their now album "Pin Ups" as an album of covers, some of which are decidedly orr-brand for them. They cover The Runaways "Cherry Bomb" and America's "Sister Golden Hair" for example. They also cover The Cult's "She Sells Sanctuary". 

I've known about trumpeter Jon Lampley for a while now, mostly as a side man for Cory Wong and as a band member of the band on Late Night with Stephen Colbert, plus numerous guest spots on other albums. He's a funky, soulful player and will have a new album out in June, the first single from which is called "Greener". All that said, I had no idea he could sing, and sing he does on this track. I think he's got quite the career going forward when Colbert's show ends in May.

Wretched Pinhead Puppets is another one of those bands I like but don't expect anyone else to. They're quirkey, hop styles all the time, and some of their work can be a challenge. I still collect it all though, just for myself. Their new single "Boarding the Bus" is a seriously good song and much more in line with the sensibilities I built this radio station for. I think you'll enjoy it.

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I came back three days later and discovered that I never hit "publish". But because I love you dig the joy that is Jon Lampley's "Greener" (and yes, that is Stephen Colbert you hear before the second verse):

Radio Free California Episode 2611

 

New music from The Lemon Twigs, The Balck Crowes, The Outfit, The Sophs, Rosie Carney, Bruce Springsteen, Violet Grohl, Dead Air, Bellvie, Momo Boyd, Hannah Lew, Bridget Calls Me Baby and much more! Enjoy!

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The Black Crowes are a band that for me give one or two performances each album that is better than the individual parts and then the rest gets bogged down in lesser creativity. Their new album is no different but this time they've put both songs right up front, and I've added them both to the playlist.

If you haven't yet now would be a good time to get into the band Sub-Radio. I know I feature them all the time, but they've just re-released their first album "Same Train//Different Station" with additional tracks and it is well worth your time.

It's only her third single but Dave Grohl's daughter Violet has proven herself quite worthy to carry on the mantle of one of the most interesting acts in rock and roll. Her hew single "545" is loud, obnoxious, and even pretty. I think she's going a long long way in this business.

Would it shock you to learn that The Long Ryders still sound like The Long Ryders? I haven't always liked their work but I did find stuff to add to the radio station and if you were already a fan this album shows you why they're still one of the best at what they do.

Yes, this playlist starts with a Charlie Puth song. I've never really been all that impressed with him, but he has an additional singer on this one, Utada Hikaru - a Japanese singer I am fond of - and she sings not only in English but in her native Japanese. Not something you usually get from someone of Puth's set of skills. This once, I'll allow it.

Finally, the new Bruce Springsteen album is the first single from an album of music dedicated to the late leader of The Pogues, Shane MacGowan. I don't even know if they knew each other but Bruce's tribute is heartfelt, simple and wonderful.

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And because I love you, here's a song that I freely admit took me some time to warm up to. I now recognize it is in fact a work of genius and the video is pretty fun.

Radio Free California Episode 2610

 

New music this week from Exploring Birdsong, GUINEVERE, Peter Gabriel, Dogstar, Frute, English Teacher, Hater, Cypress Hill and much more. Enjoy!

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Don't really feel like blogging today. My local bookstore is closing and the draft appears to be coming back. Until the federal government started holding up my financial aid I didn't register for the draft. I used my draft card as a bookmark for the novel "1984". It's still there.

The only good news I can think of is that as long as Hogsbreath is still in charge at the Department of Short Term Experience they aren't going to draft girls, and both of my children are female.

Never mind that the most kick-ass people I've ever met in my life have all been women.

But I am going to leave you with a video, and because I love you and this is awesome, have some jazz harp:

Radio Free California Episode 2609, some notes about the music, and what do we call this - Epstein Fury? Masculine Insecurity? Eric is a Furry?

 

New music this week from Starbenders, Big Wreck, Social Distortion, The Intersphere, American Football, Nothing, Suzi Quatro, Sub-Radio, Bruno Mars, GoGo Penguin and so much more. Enjoy!

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The first band I want to bring to your attention is The Intersphere - a band I wish I had discovered three years ago when their album Wanderer came out. I caught on to their new single "Time to Deliver" and was impressed enough to check their back catalog and their album "Wanderer" is a bloody great album. I even added the title track to the playlist. Yes, I know it's not a new song but hey, its my radio station and I can break a rule now and again.

The new album from Starbenders, The Beast Goes On, is worth exploring if you are a classic rock type of listener. Over the course of the past few months almost every song from the album has been released as a single and I've been adding them bit by bit. Check them out.

Big Wreck's "The Rest of the Story" came out at the end on 2025 and is gaining some momentum. It's a hard rocking album with interesting ideas and unexpected grooves that are worth checking out.

Of course I added Social Distortion's new single, "Born to Kill". I'm a Social D fan from way back in the day, and it's looking like they haven't dropped a step in the years since I last saw them $@$#%# years ago.

I'll be honest, I've never really been a fan of Gorillaz. It always seemed to me to be an extreme overreaction by Damon Alburn (lead vocals and primary songwriter) to be different from his work in Blur. The concept of cartoon characters as the members of the band isn't novel - I've used it myself - but they at least do that part well. I have changed my mind about their new album, "The Mountain". It's not the most radio friendly material but it's honest and heartfelt and a great listen. They've also done their visuals proud, with a video that combines THREE of the songs from the album into a single narrative (which I think is a first); "The Mountain" "The Moon Cave" and "Sad God". I've posted the video at the and of this blog entry and it's well worth your time.

I still find the song "Clint Eastwood" boring as hell though.

Suzi Quatro's new single had to be added of course. It's not ground-breaking by any stretch but it's worth remembering that Ms. Quatro is the ORIGINAL heavy rocking front-woman.

The Legal Matters are a power-pop band from the mid-west of the United States and their new album "Lost at Sea" has some real gems. They remind me somewhat of Jellyfish and other bands of that era, but with a 1970's pop flair. They're worth your time.

Finally, I need to address an Elephant in the Room situation, the inclusion of the new song by Gnarls Barkley. CeeLo Green (the group's lead singer) got himself into trouble a few years back (2012) with a sexual assault charge that was eventually reduced and he pled no contest to. That's guilty. He's done his time and served his sentence and apologized, but does that excuse it all? I have no fucking clue and I suspect neither do you. We weren't there. By the same token, some of his public statements from the time are pretty fucking deplorable, and the fact that this is work with Danger Mouse instead of his solo career can be read in a million different ways.

I'm not qualified to judge. It's that simple. Listen to the song, skip it, do as you please. If I didn't know it was CeeLo singing I wouldn't even give adding the song a second thought. The song is pretty good. Is the singer a decent human being? Hell if I know. I'd love to know your thoughts - I could very well be in the wrong for including it and if so, you should call me out on it. 

Playlists can be changed.

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Just how much stuff can get thrown at the world in the effort to distract from the Epstein Files?

I mean, we're at war with Iran now, and the man who insisted on getting his own Peace Prize has now instigated more regime changes during his terms than any other President. There's talk of war crimes, running out of defensive missiles, and no real strategy involved here.

But I do notice it was started within hours of the Clintons giving their testimony regarding Epstein, and both of them walking away unscathed while opening up more questions about the old man who just put us on a war footing.

Of course, this has been brewing for a couple of weeks now, as anyone who paid any attention to recent troop movements should have noticed that we moved a fuckton of assets into the region. The fact that some people gambled and won fortunes on the bombings isn't as "insider trading" as you might think, although the fact that a forum to place the bet even exists is troublesome.

You know who is against war in Iran? An awful lot of MAGA. Hell, when he was still alive Charlie Kirk was against it. (Was he silenced? Come on you MAGAfucks, run with it baby!!!!!)

Did you know there was a mass shooting just yesterday, in Austin Texas?

But what I think I'm most disturbed by about these past few days is the normalization of all of this, bust because he managed to kill Supreme Leader Khameni, who had been running Iran for decades. Everybody wanted him gone and welp, he's gone. I'm not sure this changes anything but leadership in many countries have gone on record supporting his "removal".

Folks, the process matters.

Did you know that the State of Kansas, where some of my own family is from, just told all Trans people in the state to turn in their driver's licenses? Identification cards? Birth Certificates? They were never going to stop with the fucking bathrooms.

Oh and by the way, do you have all of your online storage backed up? Lots of the major players have servers in the Middle East. I know of at least one data center run by AWS (Amazon) that has been bombed. And did you know that AWS leases server space to the Israeli military? All I can tell you is that I'm really glad I moved my cloud storage away from AWS years ago.

I think it's also worth pointing out that a whole fuckton of AI computing power is in data centers in the Middle East. Why? Because they were first off the ground with what's called "Hyperscale" buildings that have enormous power usage (enough to power a small city - which is what AI takes) and they had the power available. I notice that several AI platforms have had issues today.

Kuwait shot down three F-15 airplanes belonging to the United States today. We have bases in Kuwait. The pilots all survived fortunately, but in all seriousness this is proof that there is no real plan here. Part of Logistics is coordinating between the various powers involved so that shit like this doesn't happen. Wasn't Hogsbreath a Logistics Officer? Oh yeah, he was just a Captain. And important job - and even vital - but it doesn't train you for stuff like this, and he fired the people who would know.

Just so you know how things can go sideways quickly in ways you can't predict, I have a friend whose father (who lives on the East Coast of the US) goes to Vietnam every few years. It's a long flight and he's getting up in years, but he always goes. And just this weekend he has had to scramble because his connecting flight was in Dubai. He's now flying the other direction. It's a longer flight, but he has no choice now. Thanks to the events of this weekend it's not safe to fly through the Middle East right now.

Didn't think of that, did they?

By the way, does the old man have Shingles? I'd bet a large sum of money that he never got vaxxed for it. Get vaxxed. I did and beyond a sore arm for a couple of days I was fine.

Speaking of unvaccinated people, we may have a real problem now that Measles and Polio are back: no one knows how to treat them. We had eradicated these diseases for long enough that no one gets trained on how to fight it, and Doctors have no experience with it. The ones who knew how are mostly gone, and today's Doctors have never seen it before. If you get Measles the odds are you're going to be mis-diagnosed, just because you'd be your Doctor's first patient with it.

Oh, and do you know who the Crime Administration sent to preside over the UN Security Council today, while everyone else is busy doing war stuff at Mar-A-Lago? Melania. Seriously, Melania. Looks like that "documentary" is gonna need a coda.

Jersey's gotta Jersey: The FUCK ICE Act.

And because I love you and as mentioned above, here is that AMAZING video from Gorillaz: