Radio Free California Episode 2639, some notes about the music selected, a couple of cheap shots and more!

 

New music this week from my new discovery Wild Metanoia, Tom Morello with his first solo album, Marthy, Alex Amor, The Friendly Fires, The Menzingers, The George Barrie Band, Dan Seals revisiting his catalog (or at least someone is - I'm pretty sure he passed some years back), U2, Peter Gabriel, Bush, Father of Peace, Rubi Ate the Fig and much more. Enjoy!

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This past weekend I went to a street fair in Pacifica, CA and amongst all the food and art and everything else were three music stages, mostly of bands doing covers. But on one stage was an alt-rock three piece called Wild Metanoia. Three young people rocking the hell out of their original songs, channeling the energy of the early days version of Meat Puppets. I should know, I saw that band in their prime on their home turf. They didn't have a merch table so I hoped against hope that they had put a couple of releases out there and it turns out they have! It's all of an EP and a couple of singles, but I've included both sides of that single on this week's playlist.

It's worth it to get out there in the world. You never know what you might find.

At long last we have a new solo album from Tom Morello, who seems to be everywhere these days. Unlike his early solo works as The Night Watchman this is a hard rocking album, and as always his political commentary is turned up to eleven. If you're a fan of Rage, Political music and even just of him as a guitarist "Everyone Gets Everything They Want" is a must have.

Alex Amor's new album "Heavenly Bodies" is the kind of pop album I wish more artists were making these days. There's some real songcraft going on here and the music is fun and nicely produced. I decided to limit myself to only two songs from the album for this week and it was a tough decision.

Basement Alchemy are slowly working their way up to a new album to be released this year and while they're working up to it the first single they put out is called "how to have a good day" and while they've put out more songs than this and they're all good, this is the track I want you to hear. It's so damned upbeat and the guitar riff is both complicated and an earworm and I think this band is going to be one to watch once the album comes along.

I find it interesting that Peter Gabriel has decided to reverse the polarity and put out a "Dark Side" mix first with his new single. I have to say, it seems like Mr. Gabriel can't make a misstep these days. He's been putting one great song out after another and even though he talks a lot about mortality he doesn't seem to be anywhere close to slowing down.

Finally, I must talk about the Catburgers, a "never was" band from Scotland. They formed in mid 1985 amongst the rush of DIY-Pop coming around at the time, and played for a couple of years and making demos that never really got anywhere. They broke up in 1990 but decided at the time that they would record an album and never release it, keeping it secret. Welp, it's hard to keep secrets in the modern age and in 2022 a couple of their early demos got out and an Instagram post revealed that the album existed. After what they refer to as "Heroic Remixing" by Studio maven Archie Moore the album is now finally out, over 30 years since it was recorded. "Galashiels" is their only album and we all missed out on a great power-pop band. They should have been right at home with some of the bigger acts of the day.

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It looks to me like the Republican't party is winging up to blame Pete Hogsmead should things go as bad for them in the midterm elections as some are predicting. Come on guys, there's plenty of blame to go around.

And speaking of the midterms, hey! It's a migrant train coming up through Mexico! Be afraid! Be very afraid! Hell, even MTG isn't buying it and she was one of the ones crying about the last one of these (checks watch) 8 years ago.

Next season on Yellowstone we should hopefully get to watch Rip and Beth as they beat the everlovin' shit out of ICE agents who try to deport their workers. A guy can dream, right?

Alito recused himself from a case for logical reasons? Somebody look up to check for pigs.

It appears that I left Facebook just in time. Their AI is stealing from you, even if you told it that it can't. As I keep saying, if you want to understand the morality of AI, look at the morality of the people who programmed it.

I have been in recording sessions for more days this year than the House of Representatives has been in session. That's just sad.

And because I love you, here is the first episode of "Pretty Pretty Please I Don't Want To Be A Magical Girl"

Radio Free California Episode 2638, some notes on my selections, a couple of cheap shots, and a great concert, part 1

 

Lots of new music this week from Oli Rockenberger, Karen Dio, Jawdropper, High Fade, Softcult, Echo & the Bunnymen, Beck, Slow Pulp, beebadoobee, Gang of Youths, Haken and so much more. Enjoy!

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Right at the top, when the hell did Oli Rockenberger get this good? I mean, he's always been solid and those of us in the songwriter world know about his crazy resume of collaborations, but the new album, "Chambers", is by far his best work. I start the playlist with a track and have a couple more scattered around the list as well. He steps outside of the truncated form pop songs tend to follow today and it's a welcome surprise. Highly recommended.

I have found Beck's output to be uneven at best. His good stuff is really good but his bad stuff isn't worth your time. Thing is, he does this on every album and his latest, "Ride Lonesome", follows this same pattern. Like many of his albums there is a theme that runs through everything but it's not really my taste. And then he throws down a couple of spectacular tracks, both of which I've included (especially this week's closer).

beabadoobee is a fascinating artist in my book. I can remember when she was just releasing tracks she recorded in her bedroom as a teenager and now she has millions of followers. Her new album, "Pylon", is yet another stretch into pop music. It's rare for me to discover an artist so early that develops this much (Lola Young was another). Her new album is fun and it was hard to only pick out a couple of tracks.

Until this week I had never heard of Jawdropped. What an apt name for a band that has put out an album this good. I added 4 songs from "Secrets To Spare", their sophomore release. I was actually stunned that they're this good. They don't have all that big a following yet, but I predict great things for them.

I really wanted to like the new Echo and the Bunnymen album. I really did. They've stripped down their sound and they really sound like they did back in the day. But back in the day they had better songs. "Apples for Isaac" isn't a bad album and there are good songs on there, but if you were expecting Bedbugs and Ballyhoo you'll be disappointed.

On the flip side, the new Jesus Jones is solid. "Twilight" is as solid as any of their releases, just from the viewpoint of men who've grown older. There is plenty of experimentation that they do and more than once I was asking myself "how do you even play that"?

And what can you say about the new Bob Seger album "Face the Promise"? I hope I can still rock like that when I'm 81 years old. He sounds exactly as he did in his heyday. Exactly. There isn't anything terribly inventive or new here, but that's part of what works for the man - he has been consistent going back decades. He has a formula and it works for him, and this is one of the better renditions of his sound. 

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AI doesn't learn, it synthesizes from past data. It is a type of learning, but it doesn't take new steps without working with prior data. So if AI rises up and enslaves/kills us, it's because someone programmed it to do that.

I have said this before: There are 5 times as many police officers who have been ARRESTED for stalking people using Flock Cameras as there are trans people in professional sports. And what do they want you to be afraid of again?

Now that the cost of a gallon of gas is greater than the federal minimum wage you have to start wondering when people who earn only that much and drive more than 30 minutes to work start to stay home instead because it's cheaper.

To quote Kash Patel upon being presented with bad news from the K-9 unit, "Fuck me." (Seth Meyers)

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Bruce Springsteen and I have the same birthday. I'm making brownies. He's releasing concerts. Because I love you, here is part 1:

All I got for my trouble was a cracked rib and a Hall of Fame induction.

So as some of you know, I was inducted into the Indie Music Hall of Fame this year, based upon the body of work I have produced in my career as a whole, which includes 10 Albums, 6 EPs, dozens of singles, 4 albums where I played as a guest, plus 2 albums I've produced for other people. I've contributed works to 3 charity albums and have collaborate with many of my peers. I have worked in many styles, from alternative rock to pop to AOR to Classical to New Age to Jazz and even Dance.

I'm doing all right. I'm not famous by any stretch and certainly not rich, but I'm doing all right.

Other than Artist of the Year and Album of the Year my induction was the last of the night. I had to follow an Oakland (and Atlanta as we learned that night) rapper named Ms. Kash, a towering and imposing woman of genuine talent who had the crowd, including me, on her side. Her story is so incredibly different from my own that we couldn't have contrasted further than we did, but she's fantastic. The night I won my one award for the song "Woke AF" 4 years ago she won FIVE.

Ms. Kash

To say the least, she's a hard act to follow. Hell, as part of the ceremony you're given a medal and the presenters gave up trying to get hers on her. They had no trouble with me and I'm 6 feet tall.

My medal.

On a side note, I have to wonder if I'm supposed to wear this thing at every ceremony going forward, like they did at the Kennedy Center Honors before it all went to shit.

Anyway, I get called up, the M.C. reads off a list of accomplishments, from my astounding run on the Indie chart back in 2011, to the various genres I've worked in, I get a ribbon around my neck and get handed my actual award:

I give my little speech, which my older daughter calls "My TED Talk", but to be honest I don't remember everything I said. I do know I gave the proper thank yous and talked about the strange course my career has taken, and I know I made a point of talking about how it turned out that technology has allowed me to meet my musical goals as opposed to becoming a rich rock ster, but I need to take you back to the start of the night.

First of all, for the first time all summer, it RAINED in Los Angeles. The day before the temperatures reach 100 degrees and the day of the ceremony it's a good 30 degrees cooler and raining. Despite our hotel being only a few blocks from the venue we had to Uber over. 

Because of the rain the ceremony began late. People got caught in traffic. But finally we get in and get our seats in what is basically an equity theater. Opening remarks are given and then we're off and one of my three nominations is in the first award, Alternative. My work, "The Reflection Song" is up for Best Alternative Song and you know what? I won.

I get up from my seat, give my daughter a hug, make my way past the other people sitting in my row and fail to realize that the seats are raised from the floor by about 3 inches. Yep, I stumble and fall, smacking my side into the top of a theater seat and spilling into the row across the aisle.

I don't recommend this. Like the man from "Burn Notice" said, no matter how much of a tough guy you are a cracked rib is a cracked rib and it hurts like hell, but I'm on so much adrenaline from winning that I fail to notice I've done myself some actual damage. I've brought the room to a complete stand-still and not in a good way, and that's the only though going through my head. I slowly get up and now the room is applauding for a different reason. I slowly make my way to the stage, nodding to my daughter that I'm okay. Oh, it hurt, but I'm okay.

They hand me the award and I step up to the mic and say, "You're not going to be forgetting this one now, are you." Tension broken, everything's fine. I give the appropriate thank yous and crack a couple of jokes, and knowing we have another few hours of this I get off the stage.

And sit right back in my seat again, cracked rib and all, waiting for the end of the night when I'll have to back up there again. Or sooner, should I win in the other two categories I'm in.

The night goes on and it quickly becomes clear that a Country/America album has won the night. An artist named Grant Maloy Smith, who has made the controversial move of NOT putting his album on streaming, takes award after award. After the 6th or 7th award he had won he would just climb up on stage, wave, and depart.

When we get to classical composition, It's me against a composer and pianist who recorded an album in Prague with a full orchestra - a Piano Concerto. I lost, and I'm not mad about it. Here is what his work sounds like, and the better work won:

I didn't win for best instrumental work either and that's okay. I'm perfectly proud of the music we put together in Frankfurt am Main. Over the years I've won three of these awards, 16 Radio awards and had a song at the top of the indie music chart for 28 weeks. I promise you, I'm fine.

So there is that cracked rib though. Because of travel deadlines it would be a few days before I finally got to see a doctor and that's okay as well. Not much to do about a cracked rib beyond pain management and thanks to other issues I've had in my life I know how to do that already.

Yes, I've seen a doctor and I'm on the mend. Pain has subsided quite a bit already and I never had any trouble moving or breathing or sleeping. Coughing wasn't fun for a couple of days but I'm past that point now.

But sometime in the next few years if I ever get nominated for one of these awards again, and I win, I get to look forward to the Master of Ceremonies joking if I plan on breaking anything else, Anyway, here's a few pictures:

I have never been a fan of country music, but Dolly was an incredibly good person. I lived in Los Angeles a long time ago so these aren't all that special to me anymore, but my daughter took dozens of pictures of them, having never seen them before. I took just this one.

We stayed at a hotel called The Whiskey. I had this drink on their rooftop bar and it was tasty but for the life of me I can't remember what it's called. The photo on the right is of course the Capital Records 

Building, built and shaped like a stack of records with a phonograph needle at the top. My Grandfather was signed to that label in his jazz days.

The Equity theater where the event was held. Doesn't look like much on the outside but inside it's a nice, small theater. 

This man performs under the name "Music For Winds". That is a Double Flute he's playing and he opened the show. He would go on to win several awards. In fact, I lost "Best Instrumental Song" to him.

This man in the amazing home-made suit (with earrings to match) is Tommy Beard. He is funny as hell and it hurt my side to listen to him accept the award for best R&B Songwriter.

Ms. Kash, fellow inductee and class act.

This Dipshit hasn't yet figured out that he just cracked a rib. He also hasn't noticed that the lanyard around his neck also broke. He's still kind of in shock that he won for best Alternative Song for a song he contributed to a compilation album.

And there I am, posing for press photos after the ceremony with all my take home loot. Don't I look happy? In all honesty I wouldn't really feel the pain of it until the following morning - I just don't usually smile for photos. That piece of paper I'm holding is the envelope that held the announcement of the trophy in my right hand.

One of the nice things about being an Alternative Artist is that no one expects you to wear a suit to these things. I'm wearing a T-Shirt with the art I've cropped above, Designed and bought from an artist I've followed for years named Yamino. You can find their stuff at https://yamino.art/.

Trans Rights are Non-Negotiable.

So here is the song I won for:

And here are the two that lost:

Like I said, I'm not mad about it. 

One last photo. After the ceremony and quite late at night, knowing we needed to get some sleep before catching a train in the morning... we had pizza delivered to our hotel.

It was a good night.

Radio Free California Episode 2636-2637

 

What happens when you take a week off? The music piles up. 78 songs worth! New music this week from Mary and the Sharks, The Afghan Whigs, Megasound, Kid Sistr, 1-800-Mikey, Personal trainer, This is Lorelei, The Tubs, Jesus Jones, Stanley Simmons, Jake Bugg and so much more. Enjoy!

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Mary and the Sharks’ new album “I Don’t Wanna Question How I Feel” is a barn burner of an indie pop album. It’s all of 8 songs but between the 2 I added this week and the 3 singles from this album I added in prior weeks that’s a solid majority of music that I think is worth your time. The songs are hooky and full of life and if you’re into this sort of harder than average dream pop than this is the album for you.

I have been a fan of The Afghan Whigs all the way back to their early days, but I’ve never really considered them an Americana band. That changes with their latest, “Soft Control”. Age has done something amazing to lead singer Greg Dulli’s voice and that combined with the wisdom that surviving one’s party years has honed their songwriting skills. I myself am especially fond of a song called “Loose Talk”. Give it your time.

Megasound is kind of sort of a supergroup, made up of members of Bad Bad Hats and Party Nails. Their self-titled debut album is reminiscent of the indie pop of the early 2000’s – maybe Hole crossed with Julianna Hetfield. But all their songs are fun and not about depression.

Kid Sistr’s new EP is called “American Teenage Prophecy” and it does have a bit of a riot grrl vibe going there’s some pretty solid songwriting going on here, and it’s clear they’ve been paying attention to form and structure because they give more than the usual 2 minute’s fluff so common these days.

I’m not usually much into Lo-Fi stuff and that’s certainly where 1-800-Mikey lives. Their new album “IN YUN” comes across as if someone posed the question of “what if J Mascis was fun”? There’s song good songwriting here, similar to stuff you’d get from Alex Chilton and if you can get past the fact that it sounds like it’s been recorded in someone’s garage (and it probably was) you’re going to find some real depth here.

I have foisted the band “Personal Trainer” on you before, a band from Amsterdam who has just put out the album “Human Assholes” that sounds like what Counting Crows might have sounded like if they were laconic. Not to say there aren’t barn burners here; there are, but this album comes across a bit more laid-back than their previous recordings.

I have also exposed you to the band This is Lorelei before, which is mostly a chap named Nate Amos. The new album is called “The Singer in My Band” that’s a solid pop-rock outing, but you really need to check out the track “Hey Sarah Is It Gonna Rain Forever”, with it’s showy guitar riff and thoughtful lyrics. I’d have added these songs even if I had never heard the band before.

Do you miss Husker Du? Then you need to hear The Tubs and their new album “Hard Life”. Fast, energetic non-frills pop rock with a bit of attitude. These guys would have been the cream of the crop in the 80’s scene that spurned bands like this. Worth your time.

What else is there this week? How about a “new” Robert Plant song that was actually a record store day exclusive from last year? Call it off releasing yet another album of Taylor Swift covers, re-imagines as post-punk music? Jesus Jones hitting with the best single so far from their upcoming album? Tik-Tok sensation Jake Bugg giving his first hints of a studio album? Stabbing Westward completely remaking their breakthrough album? Alabama Shakes dropping a new album that might be their most introspective? There’s just so much!

Enjoy!

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And because I love you, here’s a song I deliberately skipped this week, Vulfmon (Vulfpeck’s Jack Stratton) just showing off, basically.

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I'll post about the week I missed shortly. Stay tuned to this space.