Radio Free California Episode 2402, radio station notes (new show coming!), cheap shots and more.

 

Cobwebs shaken off and it's time for new music! This week we get Billy Porter, Undercover Pangolin, Luke LeBlanc, Motion Sickness, Green Day, Mall Girl, Twen, Voyager-X with their first new music this century, Mike Shinoda, July Talk and much more. Enjoy!

Most people aren't aware of this, but I've been running this station for a year now.My first uploads were in the first week of 2023 and I not only uploaded the Radio Free California selections from that week, but a lot of my Radio Free California Episodes from Spotify for 2021 as well. I have been making these playlists for years on various platforms. I was that guy who created mixtapes that got passed around before the age of digital.

In August there was a data breach and the station went down for a few days. Rather than rebuild with everything I had uploaded I decided to stick with only the music from 2023. There was more than enough material to keep people happy and as of last week there are 1,537 songs in the rotation. You could go a week without hearing the same song twice, save for special programming.

But my vow was to play only new music, so at what point does a song age out? At what point do I say the song isn't new any more? At the one year mark. It's not exactly accurate given the lives of some songs but it's the list I'm going to stick with. This means that I am purposely removing music this week - specifically the music from Radio Free California Episode 2302 (I didn't re-upload 2301 after the crash in August and I'm afraid I don't remember why). Next week we will do Episode 2303 and so on.

We should celebrate these songs and I plan to do that with a new show that will play on Saturdays at 11am and again at 5pm. We will say goodbye to the songs that are now a year on the playlist with one last broadcast, which will be repeated a couple of times during the day.

You can of course still listen to this music - my playlists are still on spotify and you can find them here. They're all searchable as well.

ALBUM SHOW NOTES

Not alot on the new releases list for this week, but Billy Porter did drop a full album of pop and funk and it's a not too subtle reminder that music is fun. I've featured a couple of songs from the album in this week's playlist and I'm going to feature the entire album, called "Black Mona Lisa" with an extra track as Porter also released a single with Luke Evans (as in "Bard" from the Hobbit movies) that I will add on called "Always Be My Man".

The Album Show will run this Thursday January 11th at 9am and 9pm Pacific Standard Time.

For those of you who stay away from Spotify this playlist will be played this Wednesday January 10that 2am, 6am, 10am, 2pm and 6pm PST. All of the songs I feature on Radio Free California are played as part of the regular rotation. .

One last programming note: Every Sunday at 10am and again at 10pm we will feature our show "10 at 10", where we play 10 (and sometimes 11 or even 12!) songs from a year we pick at random. Again, all times are PST. Last week was a retrospective of 2023 (it was not a top 10 list) and for next Sunday's show we're going to feature a small selection of songs from.. well you'll have to tune in to find out!

As always, you can go to https://global.citrus3.com:2020/public/radiofreecalifornia to listen to the station, and there is an imbed below. And did you know the station is available as an app? It's only for Google Play (sorry iphone users - Apples terms and conditions were too restrictive for me) but you can listen on your phone at your convenience too.

Cheap shots:

Turns out that "America's Mayor" might be a commie.

I think he needs to take that "Person Woman Man Camera TV" test again.

They aren't "hostages" you stupid motherfucker.

I said back in November that this was a mistake. It still is.

More mistakes in his threat than there are words in the headline.

"Bad Boebs, bad Boebs, Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?"

Do you honestly believe that such a self-proclaimed germophobe would allow anyone crying "with tears running down his face" within 10 feet of him?

I'll be honest, I did not have the headline "See If You Can Spot The Vaginas On Gillian Anderson's Golden Globes Dress" on my Golden Globes Bingo card.

"...have respect for the 81 million people who voted the other way, voted for my candidacy,.. He's a Loser."

I've said it before and I'll say it again; these motherfuckers have no interest in governing.

Consequences? For a Republican? Wow.

Because he's a fucking traitor.

So what the fuck actually happened here?

Da. You drafted.

I am hearing an Alice Cooper song right about now.

If you think DeSantis would do the same for California I'd like to discuss selling you a bridge.

The Golden Calf again leads people where they not know.

You'd think someone from the Show Me State would know that he'd need something to show.

And because I love you, enjoy a live performance from Amythyst Kiah:

New Album - Blog #3

So I've spent today working on the "B Section" on the next-to-last song on the album, a lengthy prog-like track called "Nothing at All". The "A Section" is a farily standard rock and roll tune, but the "B Section" is a lenghty Pink Floyd-inspired jam with multiple time signature changes that will start out slow on a single guitar and build and build into a monster.

I love conceiving of these things.

I have to admit though, that the "B Section" is going to be tough to record, especially with a band as scattered as we are. After working on some drum ideas and making some alterations in talking with Kyousuke we realized that I'm going to need to create a click track that articulates all of the time changes so that he can put a beat down. A good reference track on guitar would also be helpful.

So I hauled out an old drum machine and started pacing out how the time changes work. It's a steady beat, but it essentially works out into patterns of 35.

Some of my musician friends are now blinking in disbelief. You can actually hear the xylophone when they blink.

It's 7-7-7-3-3-3-5. Mostly. There are a couple of exceptions and those have to be marked and obvious so that the others know when its coming. I do believe there will be a couple of "fuck you's" coming from my bandmates. If we can pull this off though, it's going to sound awesome.

There's a song by Camel called "Rajaz" that gave me the idea for it, and I'll put it at the end of this entry.

So I got started on working on a workable click track and before I knew it hours had passed. Any studio musician will tell you that you can get into a sort of fugue state when you're working and you'll have no concept of time. That's what happened to me.

I'm going to go have dinner now, so I'll leave "Rajaz" with you.

New Album - Blog #2

In 2021 I released an EP of cover songs. They're pretty Lo-Fi; I was going through what I refer to as my "garage pop" phase when I recorded it, and one of the tracks I remade was Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again, Naturally". It's a decent version, with synthesized strings, oboe and french horns. 

A crazy thing happened. I have the ability to check my ongoing stgreams on Spotify, as does anyone who has an artist account (and I actually have two).and a month after the release I had a reported 2 MILLION streams of this song. If you did a search of the song on Google my name came up as the original artist.

I am not. I was 7 years old when the original song came out, and Gilbert O'Sullivan's version is the definitive one. How the hell had this happened? Especially when no other track on that EP had even 1,000 streams?

As you can imagine, somewhere in the background of however Spotify works somebody crossed the streams and I was getting credit for Gilbert O'Sullivan's streams. Now the links this generated for Google weren't actually fooled by this: If you clicked on the link referencing me it would go to O'Sullivan's version. But my distributor reported these numbers to the performing rights societies (I'm a member of BMI) and red flags went up all over the freakin' place.

As much as I'd like to get the revenue from streams of that volume this couldn't be allowed to stand. After a few letters and some correspondence between myself and O'Sullivan's management we traced the source of the issue, asked for an audit, and the numbers got fixed. It made for a seriously confusing royalties statement. I have no idea how it looked to Gilbert O'Sullivan himself - we've never met or communicated.

So why am I telling you about this? Because I got an e-mail this morning reminding me of that audit, saying that another one had been requested and this time my numbers were not in question. His streams had been confused with another person who had covered it. A LOT of people have covered this song.

By the way, Gilbert is still with and and still working. His most recent album, "Driven" came out in 2022.

Now to actual work.

I've been working off and on on a riff-driven blues track called "Thank you". I only had a couple of verses written, but today I finished the lyrics. It won't be on the album, but I may put it out as a single. It's a real smart-ass song and I admit I like those.

As for the album...

I have a track called "August Wedding" that I'm trying and trying to save and use what I've recorded but I think I've reached the point where I'm going to scrap it all and start over. I'm just not happy with the drum track, which was recorded all the way back in 2014. I've been working on it ever since and while Kyousuke played what I asked him to, I think I may have led him down the wrong path. I just can't get it to work. I'm talking with him tomorrow and we'll discuss what can be done but my gut feeling is that I'm going to have to start over.

This track is one of the key moments of the album and I don't want to dump the song. But I need to rework it.

I'm sorry that this is all I have to report today. I hope to do some recording tomorrow.

New Album - Blog #1

So I've had a full album worked out in my head for several years now. I've made changes along the way, but the basic structure has always held. I designed the cover art ages ago, and all the songs are written and arranged. I've even released a couple of those songs as singles.

But I haven't actually finished the fucking album. There are some songs that the only proof they exist is that I wrote down the lyrics on a piece of paper. I want to actually finish and release this album, because I think it contains some of my best work - and other than a couple of people hearing me practice parts no one knows it.

But I need to force myself to work on it to get it done. I've had real issues getting projects finished as of late. So I've decided to blog about it. I figure if I blog every day, separate from the Radio Free California and Cheap Shots posts, separate about my occasional rants and separate from everything else going on in my life, I can show real progress and finally get this done.

And maybe release a few singles that I've written that are separate from everything else I've done.

So the plan is to blog every day, and to show you the work I've done - new work - every day. Very little of this will be audio samples, but instead will be screenshots of things I've done that day. Most of that won't make any sense to most of you, but I need to show you what I've done.

When working on these projects I often sketch out the parts and try to figure out how to perform them. Drums are the hardest and are generally the first thing I have to conquer. The real issue is that I need to express what I want done to a real drummer so that they can record the part. I might put down demo tracks or a reference track using a drum machine but there are some things my old drum machine just can't do. One of those things is a drum roll.

The last track on the album will be a song called "Heart", and it alternates time signatures between a standard 4/4 time and 7/4 time, with the outro of the song in 7/4. I want to have the drums switch to a military snare type of sound, with a specific rhythm. That's what's represented in the picture above, which is made up of samples.

The band Scary Pockets put out a selection of samples for people to use, which includes some very nice drum sounds. The top line you see up there are edits I've made to a long snare sound performed by drummer Lemar Carter. The other three lines are snare hits, from the same group of samples of Lemar Carter.

Using those two different samples I put together a rough idea of what I'm after for the military drum sound for the end of the song. I put that together today and sent it off to Kyousuke. We'll talk next week about it (he lives in Japan and Japan has had a rough couple of days) on a conference call and start to sketch out how we're going to work out the drums.

So that's my day today. It's not much, but hey - it's only the first day and I promise you that it's not nothing. I'm a firm believer that an album needs to have a flow to it, and the ending needs to satisfy and it also needs to leave you holding your breath without realizing it - when the music stops you finally exhale.

How an album ends matters.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Radio Free California Episode 2401, radio station notes and so on

 

Starting off 2024 with new music from The Ceys, Skafish (which I will explain below), Wild Coast, J Mascis, Temples, The Amazing, Wet Fruit, Young Eyes, Sandrider and much more. Happy New Year - Enjoy!

Yes, almost all of this music was released in 2023. That happens a lot during the first month of the year - an overlap from the previous year to the current one. Sometimes, it involves me discovering an album I missed in the previous year, like Cat Power and Iggy Pop's cover of "Working Class Hero". It happens.

And then there's Skafish, whom I met through social media. The music you hear was originally released way back in the early 1980's but has been long out of print. I played a very very small part in getting a re-release financed (it was on Kickstarter), and along with the original album there is also a second disc of material that IRS records rejected which I think is a shame. I lived in Los Angeles during that time and I can tell you without reservation that all of that material would have fit in the rotation at KROQ without any problem. Because of how the original release was mistreated, I am treating this 40th anniversary edition of the album, along with all the new tracks, as new.

I never do this (before now) but you should check out the full album on his bandcamp page. The album is worth having and was one of my final purchases of 2023. It includes a lenghty set of liner notes that goes into great detail about the recording of all the songs and the fight with IRS records Skafish went through. In short, he got screwed. Having been through the "we're not releasing this album you've submitted" thing myself I can really feel for the guy. He was the first American signed by IRS and they treated his second album like trash, and discarded him to focus on their mainstream acts.

Such bullshit our indusgtry is famous for. I've covered what happened with my "Jack Acid Society" album that was supposed to come out in 1993 (Back when I performed as Jim Christopher) in previous posts and I'll probably bring out that story again later this year, but what do you say we give Skafish the nod and play BOTH discs of his new release on this week's Album Show?

ALBUM SHOW NOTES

This week on The Album Show we will features the 2-disc release by Skafish called "Conversation & The Rejects". Because this is a 2 disc release there will be a short break in between the two discs where I will add some context and liner notes. 

The Album Show will run this Thursday January 4th at 9am and 9pm Pacific Standard Time.

For those of you who stay away from Spotify this playlist will be played this Wednesday January 3rd at 2am, 6am, 10am, 2pm and 6pm PST. All of the songs I feature on Radio Free California are played as part of the regular rotation. .

One last programming note: Every Sunday at 10am and again at 10pm we will feature our show "10 at 10", where we play 10 (and sometimes 11 or even 12!) songs from a year we pick at random. Again, all times are PST. Last week was a retrospective of 2023 (it was not a top 10 list) and for next Sunday's show we're going to feature a small selection of songs from.. well you'll have to tune in to find out!

The Year in Review:

Usually with my first post of the year I review all of the news stories of the previous year with my usual humurous (or my attempt at it) twist. But you know what? Fuck 2023. I'm over it. 

But because I do love you, here is the Lyric Video for one of the Rejected Skafish songs.

Radio Free California Episode 2352, the last new show of the year, radio station notes, cheap shots, etc.

 

Tons of new indie music to close out the year with. Guillermo Ladd, Eaves Wilder, Dream & Onion, Wishy, Yard Act, Blank Spot, Nik Fields, The Umbrellas, Real Estate and much more, including a coda from Jon Batiste. Enjoy!

Yeah, I'm a day late posting this. Give me a break, it was Christmas! I'll bet next week is a day late too.

A couple of things about this week's playlist: This is almost entirely made up of indie acts, although a few signed acts are up there. The record industry, even now, is still in a radio mind-set and knows that all radio station play "best of" music for the last week of the year, so almost no one releases new music, unless it's something special, like the Jon Batiste track that closes out this set. I nearly missed it too, but man, what a great song. I expect next week will be similar - like a last breath before an onslaught of new music mid-January.

ALBUM SHOW NOTES

This week will be slightly different, as we will be playing TWO EPs by Guillermo Ladd back to back: "Insight" and "Insight Vol. 2". Between the two they make up a full album, and he refers to this as a single album in his Spotify biography, so why not play both and close out the year with an artist who should be a freakin' superstar. Don't let the Spanish Language dissuade you - this is as solids an outing of alt/pop as you will ever hear.

The Album Show will run this Thursday December 28th at 9am and 9pm Pacific Standard Time.

For those of you who stay away from Spotify this playlist will be played this Wednesday December 27th at 2am, 6am, 10am, 2pm and 6pm PST. All of the songs I feature on Radio Free California are played as part of the regular rotation. .

One last programming note: Every Sunday at 10am and again at 10pm we will feature our show "10 at 10", where we play 10 (and sometimes 11 or even 12!) songs from a year we pick at random. Again, all times are PST. Last week was 1966 (playlist below) and for next Sunday's show we're going to feature a small selection of songs from.. well you'll have to tune in to find out!

Cheap Shots:

Nothing like getting drawn into someone else's wars.

The musical legacy of Seseme Street is just amazing. No snark in this link.

Fucking Snowflakes.

Despite how they are described I don't think anyone has been embarrassed by the antics of these assholes.

A few words from the man who was going to be the "Next President."

Given that this program costs her state nothing you really have to think it's all about the mean.

I've been to Liousiana and I had no idea that this was a thing.

"Fucking Putin, Shoigu, bitch! What the fuck is going on?". There; fixed it.

Lock him up!

He's been outed!

It sure as fuck ain't for "bone spurs".

I'm an old-timer. I faught in the Battle of Y2K.

Will she or won't she? And it's not about her football-playing boyfriend.

I would imagine that the only person actually bummed out by this is Dick Tracy.

Here's a dipshit who can't tell the difference between self-aggrandizing and criminally delusional.

There's getting your conviction overturned on a technicality, and then there's "It might be legal in Nebraska."

You first, numb-nuts.

"I am your new Santa Claus."

Don't seem to be quite in the Christmas Spirit, do they?

She's French, ya fuckin' moron.

Ross Perot, Kennedy Edition.

And becuase I love you, here is an entire album recorded live in a single take at Prince's Studio.

Radio Free California Episode 2351, radio station notes, a world premiere, cheap shots and more!

 

Surprisingly strong list of mew music this week from Sebastian Bach, Umphrey's McGee, Field Medic, Cigarettes after Sex, Sum 41, Paula Cole, Mick Mars, Los Baby Jaguars and much more. Enjoy!

A couple of things about this week's playlist: There is a song missing from this playlist that has been addded to the Radio Station. The band is from Japan and is called Mana Diagram and the song is called "Glitter Wind". A performance of the track is available on YouTube now (see the bottom of this post) but it's not out on radio or even available for streaming yet. I've already added it to the station. This is their first release and it rocks!

ALBUM SHOW NOTES

This week we are featuring the new album by Field Medic, entitled "dope girl chronicles". His new album is a pop/folk/shoegaze/singer-songwriter take on watching someone crumble under addiction, and although less than 30 minutes in length the songs pack a punch and that's why it's my pick to play for you this week.

The Album Show will run this Thursday December 21st at 9am and 9pm Pacific Standard Time.

For those of you who stay away from Spotify this playlist will be played this Wednesday December 20th at 2am, 6am, 10am, 2pm and 6pm PST. All of the songs I feature on Radio Free California are played as part of the regular rotation. The first song on the playlist is "Glitter Wind" by Mana Diagram, mentioned above, which is only available on YouTube and on the Radio Station.

One last programming note: Every Sunday at 10am and again at 10pm we will feature our show "10 at 10", where we play 10 (and sometimes 11 or even 12!) songs from a year we pick at random. Again, all times are PST. Last week was 1986 and for next Sunday's show we're going back much further in time to... well... you'll have to tune in!

Cheap Shots:

I firmly believe the only thing that kept this asshole in check was Senator John McCain.

Dude. I mean, duuuude.

Well, bye.

I repeat, every time you say "Democrat Party" instead of "Democratic Party" you sould like an asshole, and you will never win the argument.

That's not how any of this works you pathetic fucks.

What the fuck is wrong with these people?

It's impressive, but it's still Florida.

Not exactly "Marsha Marsha Marsha!" but it sure sounded close.

Well there, Francis!

Remembering that I'm a White Cis-gendered Male, can we please just put women like this in charge?

I tried repeatedly to warn you, you stupid motherfucker.

I'm pretty sure the pay of the job couldn't support his coke habit.

I'd hate to have to explain this one to my insurance company.

The current leader of Israel everyone.

What the fuckin' fuck is "slightly wrong?"

Maybe I need a refresher course, but isn't this kinda like blackmail?

It's not just the method that's troublesome, but the fact that they failed to execute him on the first try. I'm pretty sure that this is where Captain Jack Harkness steps in.

I can just hear RuPaul saying, "Oh honey, please."

Did you know that there is another Electric Vehicle company named after Tesla that's not Tesla?"

"...has obviously lost."

I think there is going to be less conquering in the future. And wow, that was quick.

Feel free to make your own sophomoric joke. I will give it a pass this time.

Put out an APB for a young Robert Wagner!

Nobody, and I mean nobody, needs 8 of these.

I might be wrong about this, but I think this might be a parole violation.

Why do the fucks on fox hate Christmas so?

The voice of L.A. Radio and Radio K.O.A.S. has left us.

And because I love you here is the video to Glitter Wind, performed by Mana Diagram:

Radio Free California Episode 2350, radio station notes, cheap shots and...

 

A heavier week for new music, including new releases from Lien, Ace Frehley, Geddy Lee, Califula's Horse, a fascinating re-release from Paul McCartney, Green Day, Big Big Train, Guns N' Roses, Velveteen and much more! Enjoy!

A couple of things about this week's playlist: I admit that I was as surprised as anyone to see a new Guns N' Roses song, especially one this dark and alt-rock. A lot of rockers put out new singles this past week, from Bruck Dickinson (of Iron Maiden) to Ace Frehley (possibly capitalizing on the timing of the last KISS show), Moldovia's Infected Rain, Green Day dropping a new single from their upcoming album, prog rockers Lien, Big Big Train and Caligula's Horse all dropping new singles, and even a very stripped down "Band on the Run" from Paul McCartney. Usually you get mostly Christmas songs this time of year so this week's finds were a happy surprise.

There are some indie acts in there too; my friend Kiffie (who is getting more and more notice in his native England - you should check him out on bandcamp), Velveteen, The Eyes of Heisenberg, Benjamin Russel with Rob Stuart and more all contribute new tracks.

ALBUM SHOW NOTES

This week we are featuring the new album by Los Angeles-based Health, entitled "Rat Wars". They describe themselves as "comfortable with their own uncomfortableness" but to my ear they sound like The Cure meets Nine Inch Nails. I feature a couple of their songs on this week's adds to the radio station but you should get the chance to hear the enitre album uncut, so it will be this week's feature on The Album Show.

The Album Show will run this Thursday December 14th at 9am and 9pm Pacific Standard Time.

For those of you who stay away from Spotify this playlist will be played this Wednesday December 13th at 2am, 6am, 10am, 2pm and 6pm PST. All of the songs I feature on Radio Free California are played as part of the regular rotation. This week, I even threw in an extra song that's not on the playlist above!

One last programming note: Every Sunday at 10am and again at 10pm we will feature our show "10 at 10", where we play 10 (and sometimes 11 or even 12!) songs from a year we pick at random. Again, all times are PST. Last week was 1983 and here is what you missed:

Cheap Shots:

Rudy sez, "If he wasn't so black in the first place I wouldn't be so racist!"

Cowards.

As I have said repeatedly, it the Hee-Haw version of The Handmaid's Tale.

She probably went to New Mexico, but she'd be welcome in California.

No he won't you fucking idiot.

Why haven't we fired this murderous fuck yet?

Nine days to file their paperwork might seem like a long time, but for the Supremes this is like Riverdancing.

I hate to break it to you Republicans, but no one gives a shit

Allowing teens to be tortured is fine but an abortion isn't? That's what I'm getting from this..

So dumb he was the victim of his own administration!

I am loathe to mention this man and his misadventures unless there is some comedy to be mined. Being called out by the AI bot you had invented twice on the same post is pretty fucking funny.

And because I love you, here is the new video from tAKiDA. I'll add the song to the station rotation next week.

Radio Free California Episode 2349, radio station notes, cheap shots and more...

 

New music this week from Mary Spender, Polyphonic Spree, Ariel Engel, Get Violet, Motion Sickness, Harp, Duran Duran, Grouplove, Pop Filter, the final single from the new Peter Gabriel Album, and much more. Enjoy!

A couple of things about this week's playlist: When we get into December most major labels hold back on new music, because every radio station in North America is playing only Christmas music. It's very difficult to break out with a December release although there have been exceptions. So for the next few weeks you're probably going to see and hear a lot more indie artists than usual. I'd say there's a real chance to discover new artists coming up.

By the way, Track 18 is in Ukrainian. It translates to "Don't Kiss".

ALBUM SHOW NOTES

I find myself in an unusual spot when it comes to the new Peter Gabriel album, ("i/o") which I have known from day one I would feature on the album show. Thing is, every song on the album has already been released, as Peter Gabriel has been releasing a new song every full moon for the past year. He's even been releasing two different mixes of each song.So now that the full album is out it's actually two versions of the same album.

So I'm going to have two different shows. One to play the "Bright-Side Mix", the version of the album mixed by Mark "Spike" Stent (Madonna, Beyonce, U2, Muse, Frank Ocean) and the "Dark-Side Mix", the version mixed by Tchad Blake (Suzanne Vega, The Black Keys, Phish, Crowded House). They have the same 12 songs but sound quite differnt and will will run on different days.

The "Bright-Side Mix" version of the Album Show will run this Thursday December 7th at 9am and 9pm Pacific Standard Time.

The "Dark-Side Mix" version of the Album Show will run this Friday December 8th at 9am and 9pm Pacific Standard Time.

For those of you who stay away from Spotify this playlist will be played this Wednesday December 6th at 2am, 6am, 10am, 2pm and 6pm PST. All of the songs I feature on Radio Free California are played as part of the regular rotation. This week, I even threw in an extra song that's not on the playlist above!

One last programming note: Every Sunday at 10am and again at 10pm we will feature our show "10 at 10", where we play 10 (and sometimes 11 or even 12!) songs from a year we pick at random. Again, all times are PST. Last week was 2005:

Cheap Shots:

He's still around on his show for a few more weeks, and he has run out of fucks to give.

You want the Liberty to have Consensual Threesomes? Go for it. But shut the fuck up about everything you've said for the last couple of decades.

The President isn't your boyfriend.

Sorry dickhead, but if I have to vote on who is tougher in every metric, I'm picking Robert.

"I don't want him to sit next to him on an airplane, but I definitely want him in Andy Cohen's menagerie of damaged human beings"

The spreading misuse of AI.

Look at the chart in this list and ask yourself, "Where would I want to live?" (also note the correlation between the minimum Wage and Abortion Rights).

Evacuate to where, exactly?

It wasn't the mafia, fortunately, but a lack of dental work.

You don't see this on any Republican's Immigration hotlist.

But then who are you going to get to staff the new Tim Horton's? (see previous link)

On a semi-related note, did Biden reverse the reversals made by the previous guy of the policies of Obama when it comes to the country this guy was spying for?

Yep, he did.

Who Snopes the Snopes?

Smoking gun? Dude, the bullets are still in the shrink-wrap.

Apparently having a Weapon of Mass Destruction is now worth only $7,500 for bail. Last time we started a war over it.

I looked at the photos of these two people and honestly thought it was AI-generated art.

And a chicken in every pot.

Broken clock and all that, but my takeaway is that this is what happens when Rupert retires and they starting hiring women who aren't stereotypical bleach blondes.

This is so obviously the opinion of a man who can't understand what he reads, if he even can read.

So the Supremes might be upending 1/3 of the tax code over a dispute of less than $15K.

"Peshka."

I forsee a new Quintin Tarentino movie.

And because I love you, the REAL Little River Band. Not those fucking posers touring under the name now.:

Radio Free California Episode 2348, radio station notes, a few cheap shots and more

 

New music this week from The Rolling Stones, an amazing new album from Ghost Hounds, Wallat, Bjork, Kiffie, Guided by Voices, Alex Kapo, Cleo Soul, a long-delayed release from The Veldt, Negative, Lien and much more. Enjoy!

A couple of things about this playlist: As per usual, my favorite song on a Rolling Stones album is the one sung by Keith Richards, which is on this playlist - and this is the best Stones album in decades. Other tracks I have released earlier and can be heard on previous lists and on the radio station. The Veldt is probably a surprise for those of you who know early shoegaze - their "new" album is the long-shelved and never-released album they recorded all the way back in 1989, finally available to the public. Hey, I have an album like that in my own catalog. Finally, I have to tell you about my discovery of the band Negative. They have only released two singles and both are on this list.

ALBUM SHOW NOTES

I have a college buddy named Karl. We're not as close as we once were, and he lives in Alabama now as a full Professor at Alabama State. He's a blues-rock king and has introduced me to several bands I would have never heard otherwise, and this week he introduced me to Ghost Hounds. Holy crap their new album just rocks and rocks. This is their 4th album so far, and I hope that like I did you go back and dig into their previous releases. They're all good and I'm going to feature the Deluxe Edition of their new album "First Last Time" on this week's album show.

The Album Show will run this Thursday November 30th at 9am and 9pm Pacific Standard Time.

For those of you who stay away from Spotify this playlist will be played this Wednesday November 29th at 2am, 6am, 10am, 2pm and 6pm PST. All of the songs I feature on Radio Free California are played as part of the regular rotation. This week, I even threw in an extra song that's not on the playlist above!

One last programming note: Every Sunday at 10am and again at 10pm we will feature our show "10 at 10", where we play 10 (and sometimes 11 or even 12!) songs from a year we pick at random. Again, all times are PST. Last week was 1979:

plus one other song not listed here. Heh.

Cheap shots:

Quick refresher Kevin, what's the name of the Museum that's in your district that mentions multiple times that territory was ceeded to the US thanks to wars?

Answer: Yes.

Receipts.

Who do you think you are? Come on, you know the song if not the singer.

Are we not Liberals? We are Swifties!

How many hostages can we get for this motherfucker?

It wasn't terrorism. It was a nutjob driving (does the math from the article) 90 Miles per Hour who lost control of his car. Just Darwinism.

And because I love you, here are a couple of old guys giving a master class.

Radio Free California Episode 2347, radio station notes, and respect for a kind lady.

 

New music from many an indie artist and a few from way way back in the day. We have Blush Hour, Mr. Groove, Dolly Parton with Pat Benetar, Madness, Judas Priest, Spells and Curses, SOS, Dua Lipa and much much more. Enjoy!

ALBUM SHOW NOTES

Some interesting new albums out this week and while it's tempting to play Dolly Parton's 30-song foray into rock I just don't have it in me to subject everyone to that. I mean, no one is going to say no to Ms. Parton covering "Free Bird" and "Stairway to Heaven" but was it necessary? There is also the new album from Madness. Yes, Madness. And what's more, it's a bloody concept album. But I have a spot in my heart for Juliana Hatfield, whom I discovered when she was playing bass for the Lemonheads. She's had a solo carreer since then (including her smash hit in 5 called "Spin the Bottle"), and in recent years has been alternating between solo indie albums and tribute albums - her first was to Olivia Newton John and her second was to The Police. And now she has released "Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO". It's a straight ahead and ernest groupd of covers from all aspects of the ELO catalog, with her own unique spin.

The Album Show will run this Thursday November 23rd at 9am and 9pm Pacific Standard Time.

For those of you who stay away from Spotify this playlist will be played this Wednesday November 15th at 2am, 6am, 10am, 2pm and 6pm PST. All of the songs I feature on Radio Free California are played as part of the regular rotation. This week, I even threw in an extra song that's not on the playlist above!

One last programming note: Every Sunday at 10am and again at 10pm we will feature our show "10 at 10", where we play 10 (and sometimes 11 or even 12!) songs from a year we pick at random. Again, all times are PST. Last week was 1973:

Not doing cheap shots today. Don't have it in me. Instead, I ask that you respect the wishes of a kind lady:

In lieu of flowers, donations should be sent to the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, P.O. Box 647, Americus, GA 31709, or the Carter Center Mental Health Program, 453 John Lewis Freedom Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30307. Donations can be made online at https://www.rosalynncartertribute.org/

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