Radio Free California Episode 2617, a few words about the music, and only one comment about the WHCD kerfuffle

 

New music this week from Muse, Sarah McLachlan, Pouty, Beck, a beautiful ballad from the late Prince, Foo Fighters, Yes, Infinity Song, Sofia Gobbi, Julia Cumming, Metric, Las Cruxes, HotWax, Miss Grit, Nanook and much more. Enjoy!

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I hope by now that all of you who read this blog know that these songs all wind up on my radio station, which is called interestingly enough, Radio Free California. You can click the link at the end of that last sentence or you can grab the app from the app store. Google only I'm afraid. I didn't like the terms and conditions for Apple. 

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is that while I add these songs I also every Wednesday from 12am to 12am the following morning I play the list of songs above in order, with a break at 10pm Pacific Standard Time for special programming called 10 at 10. This is especially important this week because I've thrown in a couple of extras.

The first is a performance by The Warning, a band I've featured plenty on the station before now, doing a live version of "You Oughta Know" at SiriusXM. They recorded it over a year ago, but it was released as a single only last week.. and then the single was pulled from public availability. This means that I can't add it to the playlist, because Spotify doesn't have it. But I can add it to the radio station because I have a copy of it. I've added mp3 tags so the royalties will still get paid. That matters to me.

The second was the surprise performance by Michael Stipe with The Great Big Joy Machine on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last week. The song is called "The Rest of Ever" and has never been released. I imagine it will be someday, but so far it's not. But I have it. So while this probably isn't an exclusive, it's here. Again, royalties will be paid.

If you listen to the radio station on Wednesday of this week, you will be able to hear both songs, right after Metric performs "Leave You on a High". And of course randomly for the next 12 months.

Speaking of Metric, their new album "Romanticize The Dive" is a wonder. A Toronto band transplanted to New York City, the new album is full of songs of a timeless nature (don't you just hate it when songs are called that?) I've listened to it three times since I got it and by the time you reach the last track, the previously mentioned "Leave You on a High" you feel satisfied that you've listened to something special.

I have never been afraid to play music by artists who don't sing in English. This week alone we have Ukrainian (OTOY and alyona alyona), Icelandic (Nanook) and Spanish, the latter of which is provided by the band Las Cruxes. Their new self-titled album is as solid as any indie rock band, just in Spanish. No reason not to play them - and I've added two of their songs to the playlist this week.

Can I point out the amazing songwriting skills of two artist this week, one of whom is sadly no longer with us? First is Beck's "Ride Lonesome". I usually don't get into this type of song, but the lyrics are really good and Beck has shown over the years that he can write a hook - even in a country song. The second is the amazing ballad "With This Tear" from Prince. Given what happened to him this song is truly heartbreaking, and the lyrics about losing a dying lover are like an extra twist of the knife. Prince was a one-of-a-kind talent, and this is a reminder of what we've lost.

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You know what? I'm not going to comment on the whole White House Correspondents Dinner business other than to say the one and only thing no one else has said. THE SECURITY THEY HAD IN PLACE WORKED YOU STUPID FUCKS!!!!!

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And you probably know that Kevin Olusola of Pentatonix, their beatboxer, is also an accomplished cellist. But I was only today many years old when I discovered that Matt Sallee, Pentatonix's current bass singer, is an accomplished drummer. Because I love you here they are together:

Radio Free California Episode 2616, and some note about the selections

 

New music this week from They Might Be Giants, Snarls, Eaves Wilder, Foo Fighters,  Hana Lili, Mary and the Sharks, Snocap, Yaya Bey, Pond, The Itch and much more. Enjoy!

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Let's talk about the music, starting with the new album from Yaya Bey, "Fidelity". I've only added one song from the album to the playlist, but I think the album is going to be important in the long run. I'm really not qualified to explain it all but the whole album reads to me as an explanation/history lesson about the black experience in the United States. Tracks like "The Great Migration" and "Forty Days" are both great but as a white male I just don't have the background to fully appreciate it, no matter how empathetic I can be. I highly recommend listening to the album as a whole. To me it's reminiscent of some of the work Stevie Wonder did in the 1970's.

They Might Be Giants new album might be their best in over a decade, and I've added previous singles to the playlist before now, but my favorite song on the album is easily "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)". It has a great video too. 

Snocaps' self-titled debut album could very well be a one-off but I hope not. Sisters Allison (Swearin') and Katie (Waxahatchee) Crutchfield have recorded a new album together, working in the same band for the first time since their teens. They haven't abandoned either of their current bands, but they wanted to do an album together. It's a fun indie jangle-pop album and worth the listen.

The new Foo Fighters album will drop later this week and I'm looking forward to it. Dave Grohl's songwriting just keeps getting better and the stuff I've heard is easily among their best work. This week's playlist closes out with "Asking For a Friend", which will also be the closing track of "Your Favorite Toy" as I understand it. It's a good closer.

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Robert De Niro is an anti-vaxxer. I has a sad.

The Onion now officially owns Infowars. Surrealism is now swallowing its own tail.

Kash Patel, a man who appears to be visibly drunk in public all the time, is suing The Atlantic to prove he's not a drunk. The Atlantic responded (and I'm paraphrasing here), "Bring it, drunky!!"

Tim Apple (er, I mean Tim Cook) is stepping down.

So is yet another woman from the Crime Administration for poor behavior. Patterns, anyone?

So are we at war with Iran again/still/blockade/war crime?

And because I love you, check out this live performance featuring Joey Dosik - vocals, Cory Wong - guitar, Ariel Posen - guitar, Kevin Gastonguay - keys, Yohannes Tona - bass, and the legendary Bernard Purdie - drums:

Radio Free California Episode 2615, tributes, remakes, and the Avignon Pope?

 

New music this week from The Sixters, Lala Lala, Peter Frampton, American Football, Unwed Sailor, Hannah Lew,  songs from two seperate compilations - one for Fishbone and one for Sixto Diaz Rodríguez, B'z, Momo Boyd, Dogstar and much more. Enjoy!

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Okay, let's talk music. The full album from The Sixsters finally dropped and it's even better than I had expected and I've been following them from day one. To remind you, the band is made up by 6 female refugees from Ukraine who met for the first time in France and formed their band. They are a force to be reckoned with and are more than worthy of conquering America and not just Europe. I've added 3 more tracks of theirs to the rotation.

I also added 3 tracks from the new album by Lala Lala, "Heaven 2". Lala Lala is a pop/rock powerhouse and a fantastic singer, and I'm truly impressed with the new album.

There are two compilation albums (aka "Various Artists") out this week with cover versions of songs by superstars. The first is called "Cover Your Face" and features 11 different artists covering Fishbone songs. There are some real underground/indie bands on the collection, which is led off by Silversun Pickups cover of "When Problems Arise". The other is a collection of 21 songs covering the great Rodriguez called "For Rodriguez". We're talking about Sixto Rodriguez, songwriter originally from Detroit who is believed to have sold more albums than Elvis in South America and the subject of the movie "Searching for Sugar Man". Look him up. You'll be glad you did.

We have a new single from Yes that's as good as anything they've ever done, but I feel obligated to point out that not a single original member is left in the band (Steve Howe joined for the 2nd album all those years ago). However, Jon Davison has been with the band for 14 years, Billy Sherwoon was Chris Squire's hand-picked replacement, Geoff Downes has been in the band off and on for a while now, and drummer Jay Schellen joined the band long before the death of Alan White.

Did you have on your bingo card that Seattle Grunge heavyweights The Melvins and scream rockers Napalm Death would do an album together? I didn't. The album sounds like both bands, which I suppose was the intent. It's worth a check out at the very least.

Check out Kurt Deimer's remake of "Silent Lucidity", a late entry to the list and featuring original vocalist Geoff Tate.

And finally I must give props to the debut album from Hannah Lew, who gives us a straight-ahead look back at the best of late 80's synth-pop. Seriously, there is some really catchy stuff here and you should check out the self-titled album. 

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First of all, congrats to Hungary for kicking Viktor Orban to the curb! Given how many obstacles were in the way this is pretty impressive. My only concern is that Péter Magyar was once one of Orban's cronies. Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing. Still, very impressive.

Apparently the head of the Crime Administration wants to be the new Avignon Pope? Fuck man, the dude doesn't even go to church! I do find it hilarious that he rants about how the Pope is "Soft on Crime". He leads a religion - of course he's soft on crime. It's kind of in the whole job description to forgive the worst in people.

Also correct me if I'm wrong, but that AI slop picture out there of Mr. Damaged Hands laying hands on a bedridden man shows that the recipient of the "blessing" is Jeffrey Epstein? I'm told that this is a photoshop over the original AI slop and I'm just going to take people's word for it. I'm not getting on that motherfucking site.

And just like that, Eric Swalwell is Gary Hart.

"FC St. Pauli, a Hamburg-based soccer team with a long history of lefty politics, decided to create its own Peace Prize for people who have actually done something to promote peace, community, decency, etc. And the first recipient they chose is Wes Burdine, owner of The Black Hart of St. Paul. The Black Hart is a soccer bar but also a queer bar, where you can catch a game or a drag show or both. And play bocce when it’s not snowing. During ICE’s terror campaign in the Twin Cities, Wes was one of the people out there on patrol, and also raised funds for folks in the community." Full article here.

The fact that the Pride Flag is being restored at Stonewall is a good thing, but we still need to see restored the contributions of the Trans community to Stonewall. Without them it didn't happen and fuck your revisionism.

And because I love you, here is Kurt Deimer's version of "Silent Lucidity"

Radio Free California Episode 2614, and some straight talk about the strait, and how about some cheap shots...

 

Great week for new music, featuring Bruce Hornsby, Emma Harner, Balancing Act, The Sheepdogs, Station Model Violence, Spectre Tapes, Weird Nightmare, Mikaela Davis, Arlo Parks, The Antinomy Insurgency, Peter Gabriel and so much more. Enjoy!

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So let's talk music first. 

I want to highlight several artists, starting with Emma Harner. I have on occasion posted her music on my channel before, but her new album Evening Star to me evokes that magical time we all first heard Suzanne Vega's first album. It's a gentle-seeming album with barbs to cut to the quick and an overall feel that will leave you wanting more. It's impressive and I've included a few tracks this week.

Arlo Parks is another artist that's been at the corner of my eye for a while, and her new album Ambiguous Desire rewards that patience with a great sequence of tracks, especially in the second half of the album, where she flirts with near perfection over the course of 3 tracks close to the end. I've kept two of them together on this playlist so that you can hear what I mean. It's rare to hear a sequence of songs on an album these days that just flow that well. For example, I consider the last 3 tracks on The Police's album "Ghost in the Machine" to be about perfect, and I was reminded of that - even though the styles are completely different.

Vice put out an article this past week about 4 bands that their reviewer believe are criminally unheard and I had to admit that I hadn't heard of any of them. That's how 3 of the 4 wound up on this week's playlist: Declaw, Fencing, and Assisted Living. All three bands have recent albums that should be given a listen, and I've included tracks from those three bands this week. Declaw is the one that really speaks to me.

Okay, there is a Morrissey track in this list. I will say right up front that the man has said and done some pretty horrific shit in the past few years and I do not support them and in many cases condemn them. That said, there is no denying that his solo works hold a heavy influence on my life in the late 1980's and early 1990's. I'm not going to tell you what to think, but musically speaking his new album "Make-up is a Lie" is one of his better solo efforts, and I have included one song from it.

Did you know that there is a Disney+ series called "Dear Killer Nannies: Criado por sicarios" that is based upon the memoirs of Juan Pablo Escobar, son of notorious drug lord Pavlo Escobar? Did you know it has a killer soundtrack? I've included 3 songs from it, back to back to back starting with Female 3-Piece hard rock outfit The Warning singing in their native language for a change. Those of you who follow my playlists know that I think The Warning is the best hard rock outfit out there right now and that I've featured them a lot on my radio station. I've also included songs by TIMØ and Annasofia. It's a great soundtrack.

Do you miss the 1970's for some reason - the decade that didn't happen according to Zippy? I'm talking about the music and nothing else. Then maybe you should check out The Sheepdogs. They are a band from Saskatoon, Canada that has clearly immersed themselves in the Laurel Canyon sound of that era, and it shows in their music. Their new album "Keep out of the Storm" is a solid march through the 1970's and if you're into it, as I occasionally am, you should check them out.

Finally, I'm going to point out that Weezer and They Might Be Giants both have new albums coming out soon and they both appear to be great albums based upon the music I've heard so far. Stay tuned!

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Anyone else notice that Iran is now stronger on the world stage than they were when we started bombing them? They were a regime that was on the verge of collapse, being openly protested by its citizens, with an old man in charge who might have been one of the last of the original hard-liners. Now the leadership of Iran is younger, even more hardline, and after a chaotic start decided to take over the Strait of Hormuz.

This of course has the Crime Administration's panties in a bunch and they're threatening war crimes if the Strati isn't opened. But what I'm noticing is that the Straight is open, just not to us. Iran has set themselves up as toll-keeper for the Strait, with a specific route approved for ships belonging to non-U.S./Israeli companies. For a fee people are offered safe... well, safe from Iranian attack... passage. Most of the world has fallen in line here.

Iran has gone from a country on the verge of financial collapse to being on it's way to financial stability. The Crime Administration cam bomb as much as they want, but the revenue they're generating from the Strait will cover most if not all repairs and then some. Instead of bombing them into the stone age we so far have bombed them into becoming one of the stronger countries in the region. Don't even get me started on why the current administration allowed Russian Ships carrying Iranian oil through the embargoes. Or the fact that most sanctions imposed against Russia have been dropped. Or that Russia supplies intel to Iran.

It's really not much of a stretch to move from Crime Administration to Treason Administration.

And please, stop saying that "The Epstein Files must really be something". We already know that. We simply don't have the political will to do something about it. This needs to change.

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And has anyone else noticed that someone in Iran is one hell of a lot better at governing by Social Media than the Crime Administration is? I mean, just look at this:

If any other President this century had tweeted out "Praise be to Allah" on Easter Sunday they'd be dead by now.

What do you call a Catholic who uses a Methodist Church as the backdrop or his latest memoir? It isn't Catholic, that's for sure.

The Crime Administration has lost the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony, held in the US for 35 years, to Switzerland.

So I looked it up, and the Courts of the UK cannot make the King of England testify - not even if he wants to. I honestly believe that's the reason why Charles III won't meet with Epstein's Victims. Anything that comes up in such a meeting might get excluded in court, because it comes from a source that can't be subpoenaed. Even in a civil case. Meeting with the King of England could potentially throw out the cases in England, and I think that's too big a risk.

UCLA won the Women's NCAA Basketball Championship yesterday. Go Bruins! (I'm Class of '87).

Speaking on behalf of all the sane cis men, Dale Partridge should have his testicles revoked.

Even on those rare occasions that I follow baseball I have never been an Angels fan. That said, what Jo Adell did is impressive.

I have to wonder if the head of the Crime Administration still thinks he's a TV star. I wonder this because it looks like he's trying to fire his way to success again.

Has the solution to Citizens United been found in.... Montana!?!!?!!?!!? Okay Yellowstone, show us how it's done!

I look at this and think that we need that one elderly General at the Pentagon briefing from "Hunt for Red October" to finally say "They have a madman on their hands."

Apparently the MAGA version of the song is "Fuck You to the Moon".

The thing about living in a timeline populated with people we've raised to be stupid is that they're easily fooled and vote Republican - which is of course what they wanted.

And because I love you, you should see and listen to this great excerpt from the upcoming They Might Be Giants album, which is confoundingly not a single as of yet. This is a great song.