Radio Free California Episode 2144, plus cheap shots

 

A solid week for new music including new albums from The Pineapple Thief, Dream Theater, Jamie Dupuis, Andrew Leahey & The Homestead, Superchunk, Guided by Voices, Elton John (finally), Todd Rundgren and so much more. Enjoy!

Here is a list of this week's artists by twitter handle (unless otherwise marked):

@corywong
@toddrundgren with @theroots
@pineapplethief
@dreamtheaternet
@JamieDupuis
@AndrewLeahey
Rijell (no socials I could find. He's on Spotify, obviously)
@alyandaj
@deerhoof
@realestateband
@josefsalvat
@mildorangemusic
@eltonofficial with @yearsandyears
@_GuidedByVoices
@brucehornsby with strings arranged by @mooseofrob
@beautypill
@pomplamoose
@mymorningjacket
@duranduran with @CHAIofficialJPN
Parquet Courts (No socials, which is surprising for a band with such a following)
@clinicvoot
@HeladoNegro
@hand_habits
@CircuitdesYeux
@laluzers
dinnertheband (Instagram)
@superchunk
notdummy (Instagram)
@goodfknmorning
@XenoOaklander
suefoleyofficial (Instagram)
@convenienceband
Grouper (no socials I could find, but you should really check her out. She's released over a dozen albums and can be found on bandcamp at grouper.bandcamp.com)

Cheap Shots:

Will today's contestant on "How Much Hitler?" please come on down!

If I ever meet Don Jr. I'm going to punch him in his fucking teeth. And then get my hand sanitized, because I don't want all that cocaine getting into my system.

I honestly don't know what the fallout from all of this is going to be, if any. But I might leave the site again.

If I were a billionaire I'd happily give 2% of that to the country. That's all they're asking for.

Come on Quebec, don't fuck this up.

Um, if he's still having nightmares about a book he read 10 years ago maybe, just maybe, his issues are deeper than that.

Someone out there is apparently growing and killing cement to make things.

Of course Florida is putting out feelers to hire Police that won't get vaccinated.  After all, they have to replace all the ones that died from COVID.

Want a conspiracy theory? Here's an oldie.

GASP! If you can.

So says Judge Motherfucker. Hopefully a few of you have read the book "Presumed Innocent" to get the multiple layers to this joke. Alas, it's not really in the movie.

If you dig a little deeper, not only did he shoot Bambi but he also claimed to be unemployed.

And how many deaths did her own negligence lead to?

And because I love you, I share one of my favorite Bowie songs:

Radio Free California Episode 2143, and some notes about Colin Powell

 

New music! This week includes a couple of unlikely sources (Prince, David Bowie), welcome sources (Adele, Tom Morello, Soul Rash, Finneas) and some fave I've introduced you to this year like The Ceys, Hugh Lee, Hinds, Twelve Foot Ninja ans so much more! Enjoy!

Here is this week's list of artists, with twitter handles unless otherwise marked (save for Prince and David Bowie who don't have Social Media, for obvious reasons):

@tmorello with @Refused and @Lyxzenofficial
@scarypockets with @erickrasno
@WhoisHughLee
Prince
David Bowie
@kylemcevoymusic with @zachezzy, Smile High and of course the fantastic Antwaun Stanley
@Adele
@RemergeBand (who blocked me on twitter - I may have blocked them too as we had a disagreement - but I like this song)
Madskynorway (Facebook)
@ceys_music
@SoulRashtheband
@JasonIsbell with Steve Gorman
@NeilYoungNYA and Crazy Horse
@NicoleAtkins
@hindsband
@TAUKband
@coldplay with @bts_bighit
@WarehamDean
@finneas
onetwothree_band (Instagram)
@Hayden_Thorpe
@TwelveFootNinja
@secretlyfurious
@MikeDawesMusic with Jack Gardiner and @plinirh
@JasonIsbell again with @brandicarlile and @julienrbaker
and once again @JasonIsbell with Peter Levin (and I should point out that any band that covers "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" is going to get noticed by me)
@p_menis

A quick story from a while ago:

In early 2002 the State Department of the United States, under the direction of Colin Powell, put out a call to bilingual business professionals to come work for him at the State Department. There would be a test, then interviews. Although I despised George W. Bush, I still respected General Powell (this was before he debased himself in front of the UN to sell the idea of war in Iraq) and in the uncertain months after 9/11 I asked if they needed people who speak Japanese. They did. I do. I applied.

The test was easy. A few weeks after that, I was flown to Washington DC for a series of interviews. I was fast-tracked because of my heavy business experience in multiple industries and because they wouldn't have to teach me a language - I could be posted within 2 months. I could move myself and my family - which was my goal at the time.

After three days of interviews and sessions they said they would tell me where they wanted to post me. Osaka? Tokyo? Okinawa? Hokkaido?

YEMEN.

I speak Japanese rather fluently. That was the whole idea behind applying for this in the first place. No, we want you in Yemen.

Take a moment and google what Yemen was like in 2002. I'll wait.

I was married with two young children. I wasn't going to drag them to fucking Yemen. I said so, albeit more politely. I wasn't going to leave them behind either. I'm not that kind of father or husband.

They were rather insistent about it. So I tanked my final interview on purpose, with Colin Powell listening in on a speakerphone. Japan or nothing. I got nothing.

I never met the man in person, and all he ever got to think about me is that I'm a complete fuck-up. You know what? I'm okay with that.

On a side note, my wife and younger daughter both met him many years later on a flight from San Francisco to Washington D.C, and they said he was friendly and easy-going.

General Colin Powell, former Secretary of State and mostly respectable man died today of complications from COVID-19. He was fully vaccinated according to his family, and of course the anti-vaxxers are jumping all over that. Never mind the fact the the man was elderly, very sick with the worst cancer imaginable (blood cancer), had a heart condition, It's important to also note that COVID itself didn't kill him - but catching it when already so sick certainly wasn't good for him.

Okay, that sounded a lot better in my head than on the page. You get what I mean. He was already in Walter Reed when he caught COVID. As much as I hate to say it, COVID probably only sped things up by a few days. Hey, look at me arm-chair doctoring! 

Okay, reel it the fuck back in. I'm not a TV Pundit for a reason.

No matter what you may have thought of the man, he was a leader and accomplished historic things long before the Iraq fiasco. He was the real deal.

He didn't deserve this. Any of this.

Because I love you, here is the video that led me to discovering Tauk, featured above:

Radio Free California Episode 2142

 

This week's new music comes from all spectrums, from Sam Fender to Nandi Bushnell to Trivium to Elton John to Pomplamoose to Cody Fry to even Tears for Fears!!! Enjoy!

Here is this week's artists, twitter handles unless otherwise marked:

@samfendermusic
@TriviumOfficial
@scarypockets with @Moorea_Masa
@Nandi_Bushell with Roman Morello and @tmorello
wanderingwith (Instagram) featuring @musicbyscarIett
@p_menis and ramonsanzgarcia (Instagram)
@GussiMartin
@arca1000000 with siamusic (Instagram)
@yorkamusica with @gepegepegepe and @LidoPimienta
@eltonofficial with @DUALIPA and @Claptone_
@melvinsdotcom
@BandofNOTHING
@codyfry and @benrector
@pomplamoose and @thelittleidiot
theinnocencemission (Instagram)
@carolynwonderla
@RealKurtElling with @charlie_hunter
@PTXofficial
screensavermusic (Instagram)
@papurwal
@Kiffie8
@tearsforfears

Full disclosure: I'm working on a remix of a song from @Kiffie8's new album which is only available on Bandcamp at the moment. Hope to have it ready in the next week or so.

Also, the lyrics to track 19 are much filthier than I remembered upon a second listening. Hell of a groove though.

Cheap shots:

Sometimes you have to punch Chris Christie in the fucking teeth.

The kids are all right. As for me, I got my 3rd shot today.

Super. No joke. 

Lock them up!

And because I love you, here are some pre-teens rocking your fucking faces off and trying to save your asses too:

Radio Free California Episode 2141

 

From Mad Sky to Sting to Illuminati Hotties to Yes to Swivels to Elton John dueting with Stevie Wonder to Ministry doing their best work in ages to The Specials dropping ska for an album (!) this is a fantastic week for new music. Enjoy!

Here is this week's list of artists. Twitter handles unless marked otherwise:

Mad Sky (they're on Facebook, but I couldn't get their page to load. They need to fix this - because this song could take them places.
@OfficialSting
@scarypockets with @colinjamieson_
@ainsleymusic07
@PuddlesPityP
@animeraider (hey, that's me!)
@yesofficial
https://soundcloud.com/rijell (Soundcloud)
@JasonIsbell with @BrittNicx and @johnpaulwhite
@storiesacoustic featuring @theokatzman and @JESUNDEMUSIC
@deepseadiverbnd and Damien Jurado
@GaryOlsonMusic
@eltonofficial with @StevieWonder
@Swivelsbanda
@illuminatihotts
Tirzahmusic (Instagram)
@thespecials
@ducksltdband
@hovvdy2000
@audiobooks_hq
@bscoutsband
@TheLathums
@WeAreMinistry
The Body with @big_brave_

And because I love you, here is the silly little video for my own track above: