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Evelyn Evelyn

The Breeders, Tegan & Sara, Good Charlotte, the Doves, Múm, the Veronicas, Blonde Redhead, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah all have one thing in common: twins are in the band. Move over Thompson Twins, Cocteau Twins, Olsen Twins. For the first time in rock history, just when you think that you have seen it all, conjoined twins have taken to the stage. Evelyn Evelyn debuted last night in Cambridge, Massachusetts. United with two arms, two voices, four eyes, and one liver (oh pity that liver), Evelyn and Evelyn sang and played piano, ukulele and accordion as the stunned audience heard the story of their tragic life. Yes it was somewhat of a freak show, but then isn’t most rock partly a freak show? Coming to a town near you soon, Evelyn Evelyn have just released their self-titled album. “My Space” is taken from this disc. As Mick Jagger once intoned: “but what can two poor girls do, but sing for a rock ‘n’ roll band”.

“My Space”
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The Plastiscines

France has produced very few rock bands. Known for chanteurs/chanteuses and dance music, few rock bands of note have emerged from the country. The 4/4 backbeat is not part of the French musical heritage and the language has limited its broader acceptance. My favorites from the past include Téléphone and Indochine and currently Phoenix and the Plastiscines. The latter is an French all-female rock band that sings primarily in English. “Barcelona” is from their 2nd album, About Love, that was released last year in Europe and is now being wildly distributed in the U.S. (The video of the song can be viewed from the YouTube button in the upper right.)

 

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“Barcelona”

Malcolm McLaren

I had planned on a podcast today of some interesting new music, but Malcolm McLaren died and I want to pay tribute to him. Impresario, charlatan, entertainer, McLaren created the Sex Pistols and Bow Wow Wow, managed the New York Dolls, and recorded as a solo musician working with an unusually eclectic group of artists from Jeff Beck and Trevor Horn to Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Hardy. I once spent an hilarious drunken evening with him in New York. He loved that I had finessed the record label into footing the bill just so that we could meet and laugh the night away. Included here are two tracks from his debut solo album Duck Rock recorded in 1982 from the original vinyl. Always ahead of his time, “Buffalo Gals” and “Double Dutch” are sampled to this day. Continue reading

Amanda Fucking Palmer

My dear friend Amanda Palmer is commemorating her release from her record label with a free download. She’s been battling with Roadrunner Records for two years over artistic direction, content and image. At one point they told her that a video should be edited because she looked too fat! Soon we will feature her current collaboration with Jason Webley, Evelyn Evelyn. But today we celebrate her new found freedom with “Do You Swear to Tell the Truth the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth So Help Your Black Ass”.

 

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“Do You Swear to Tell the Truth the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth So Help Your Black Ass”

Atoms for Peace

Thom Yorke, lead singer of Radiohead, is on tour now performing his solo material with a supergroup of sorts called Atoms for Peace. Besides Thom (lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist), the band consists of Flea on bass from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich on keyboards, Joey Waronker the drummer for Beck, and Mauro Refosco, a Brazilian percussionist whose group, Forro in the Dark, has worked with David Byrne and Steve Earle. From his debut solo album Eraser, the song that names the band, “Atoms for Peace”, is featured here twice: the original album version and a wonderful remix. Continue reading

Blitzen Trapper

I was first introduced to Blitzen Trapper through a Christmas song from their first album in 2003. Of the many Christmas songs released every year, rare is the one worthy of repeat plays and or one that stands the test of time. Blitzen Trapper’s does just that but we’ll wait until the holiday to feature it. Today, two tracks here from this folk rock sextet from Portland, Oregon. Continue reading

Laurie Anderson

Laurie Anderson, performance artist and musician, always takes us on a journey to unexplored territories. Listening to her new album, Homeland, I am drawn back to her very 1st single. Most people consider it to be “O Superman (for Massenet)” released in 1981, the song that brought her popular recognition. Actually, her first recording was released in 1977, on The Holly Solomon Gallery label, ostensibly because it was part of an art show entitled Jukebox, an exhibit of photographs and text with songs by Anderson on a jukebox. The limited pressing of “It’s the Bullet That Kills You-Not the Hole”, was less than one hundred copies. As far as I know it has never been re-released or included on a compilation. This rare recording is today’s Song of the Day.

 

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“It’s Not the Bullet That Kills You-It’s the Hole”

Easter

Patti Smith, the goddess of rock ‘n’ roll, is perhaps the only person to write a song about Easter. She introduced herself to the world of rock with the line: “Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine.” And she never looked back. We honour her this Easter weekend with her classic version of “Gloria” and, most appropriately, “Easter”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patti Smith

 

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“Gloria”
“Easter”

Against Me!

I was a teenage anarchist and beyond. Punk rock became my soundtrack. The new song from Against Me! evokes those feelings brilliantly. Were we young and foolish? Was it all a lie? New boss same as the old boss? Yes, I do remember as the singer asks and it saddens me in a way. Thankfully we have art and music like this to carry us through.

 

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“I Was a Teenage Anarchist’

LCD Soundsystem

James Murphy is LCD Soundsystem. (He adds various musicians when he performs live.) Murphy is also the co-founder of his own dance/punk label, DFA. LCD Soundsystem has won Grammy Awards for Best Electronic/Dance album for both of his previous two albums: LCD Soundsystem and Sound of Silver. From the 3rd and forthcoming This is Happening, “Drunk Girls” is the Song of the Day.

“Drunk Girls”

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David Byrne’s Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists — and Megastars.

David Byrne along with Fatboy Slim is releasing Here Lie Love next week. It’s the story of Imelda Marcos, former 1st Lady of the Philippines. As one our great living artists, David is more than a musician having produced and collaborated in theatre, dance, opera, film, photography, and other artistic media. I first met David in the bowels of MIT when I was in the process of establishing the first punk rock radio show in the country in the 70s. Talking Heads were only 3 at the time (Jerry Harrison was yet a member) and the band joined me for one of their earliest interviews. It may survive somewhere. These are David’s words lifted from Wired Magazine, 12/18/07. Continue reading

Jónsi

Iceland’s other great import has been Sigur Rós. The sounds of falsetto Icelandic dialect enveloped in ethereal instrumentation provides a complimentary counterpoint to the fabulous Björk. With Sigur Rós on permanent hiatus, the lead singer and guitarist, Jónsi, is releasing his first solo album entitled Go. “Go Do” is the from this album.

“Go Do”

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The Dead Weather

One of the most mesmerizing performances that I have ever experienced was The White Stripes at the Roxy in Boston. This duo of guitar and drums plus vocals hypnotized the room with a sound so full and rich that it was hard to believe that there were just two people on stage. Jack White, the guitarist and singer, has proven to be one of the great futurists of rock, exploring territories yet uncovered. From The White Stripes to The Raconteurs to The Dead Weather, his music is always fascinating and frequently transcendent. The Dead Weather consisting of Jack, playing drums on this project, along with Alison Mosshart (of The Kills and Discount) on lead vocals, Jack Lawrence (of The Raconteurs and The Greenhornes) on bass, and Dean Fertita (of Queens of the Stone Age) on guitar have just released “Die By the Drop” from their forthcoming album Sea of Cowards.

“Die By the Drop”

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Oedipus Podcast #5: new for Spring

Gorillaz-“On Melancholy Hill”
The National-“Bloodbuzz Ohio”
The Whigs-“Kill Me Carolyne”
TV Heart Attack-“Nowhere Fast”
Stone Temple Pilots-“Between the Lines”
Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders-“Way Down”
Foo Fighters-“Wheels”
She & Him-“Gonna Get Along Without You Now”
Dead Country-“Euro Thrash”

 

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