Atoms for Peace
The long awaited Atoms for Peace debut album entitled Amok is due in late February.
We’ve been discussing this Thom Yorke supergroup since 2010.
“Judge, Jury and Executioner” is the new single.
Dropkick Murphys
Dropkick Murphys gave us an amusingly poignant Christmas song last December.
They powerfully return this year with the new album SIGNED and SEALED in BLOOD.
My friends from Boston are better than ever as heard on “The Boys Are Back”.
Christopher Owens
Last year Christopher Owens abandoned his formidable band Girls.
The lead singer and songwriter is now front and center as a solo artist.
The gentle “Here We Go” enhanced with flute contains a musical theme heard throughout his debut album Lysandre.
David Bowie
It’s been 10 years since we have heard something new from David Bowie.
A personal inspiration and one of my favorite artists of all-time, David continues to be unpredictably innovative and charmingly provocative.
“Where Are We Now?” is from his forthcoming album The Next Day.
Lopsided World of L
Jonathan L from Berlin shares his favorites from 2012.
Lopsided World of L (Hour1)
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Lopsided World of L (Hour 2)
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“2012- LOOKING THROUGH THE REAR VIEW MIRROR”
Special Edition- songs that I enjoyed and sharing again with you
11 Acorn Lane “Le Sexe Au Telephone (Do Me Do Mix)
Malik Work & The Upstagers “Let Me See Some ID”
DJ Shadow f/ Tom Vek “Warning Call”
Foxy Shazam “Holy Touch”
Dee Snider “The Ballad Of Sweeney Todd”
Immortal Technique “Young Lords”
Paper Tongues “Amen”
Tres Vampires f/ Johnette Napolitano, David J, Shok “Take You Deep”
Mobonix “Reset Button”
Die Toten Hosen “Altes Fieber”
Wideboy Generation “I Couldn’t Talk”
Lana Del Rey “Radio”
Little Barrie “Now We’re Nowhere”
Battle Me “Touch”
Elixer Inc. “Burning For Me”
Astrid North “Honda”
Amanda Palmer And The Grand Theft Orchestra “Melody Dean”
Mayday “Roaches”
Schmidt “Shadowman”
Dandy Warhols “Alternative Power To The People”
Aesop Rock “Zero Dark Thirty”
The NowhereNauts “Newspaper Today”
Shirley Levi “Break Free”
Yellow Ostrich “Elephant King”
Arjen Lucassen “The Space Hotel”
8MM “Around The Sun”
Psalm One “Kids Right Now”
Redwood “One Trick Ponies”
Neon Trees “Everybody Talks”
Diamond Rugs “Hungover And Horny”
Elan “Bad Days Are Gone”
Lopsided World of L
From late December we continue into the new year with Jonathan L.
Lopsided World of L (Hour 1)
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Lopsided World of L (Hour 2)
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*My Radio “Life Is A Bitch Slap”
*Sleepless *Augmented”
*Madness “Death Of A Rude Boy” (replay)
*Bullet SE “All Fired Up”
*Frankie Rose “Night Swim”
*Paul Banks “Another Chance”
*Cherries On A Blacklist “Monkey”
*Laibach “Geburt Einer Nation” (new re-issue)
*Tailor “Indian”
*Tweaker “This Is Ridiculous”
*Echogram “Windows”
*Foals “Inhaler”
*Empresarios “Desde lo Mas Profundo”
*Empresarios “Volume”
*Van Wolfen “Anton’s ChaCha” (replay)
*Vlad In Tears “More Than Ever”
*Doro f/ Gus G “Grab The Bull (Last Man Standing)”
*Steve Harris (Iron Maiden) “A World Without Heaven”
*The Eden Effect “Surprise Me”
*Dorrn “See Paris” (unplugged version)
*Locksley “Holiday”
*Das Komitee “Der Novak” (Tony deKaro remix)
*Endless Shame “Universe”
*Standing Hawthorn “Six Months In A Leaky Boat” (Split Enz cover)
*The Sexual Side Effect “All She’ll Ever Hurt”
JOAN JETT SONG OF THE WEEK: “Roadrunner”
*Michael Bernard Fitzgerald “Firecracker” (replay)
Christmas Eve
My annual Christmas Eve Broadcast takes place this year on RadioBDC, the Boston Globe internet station. From WBCN to WFNX and now to RadioBDC, the tradition continues from 6pm-Midnight.
Find it here: RadioBDC
This is the future.
I love this time of year and love the music that defines it. I was asked by a friend who is also addicted to Christmas music to write the liner notes for the CD that he sends out annually to a selective few. I share it with you now as it explains our addiction. We are hopeless and delirious and joyous:
We are a cult.
Although we are not specifically religious we are fanatics, with an avid devotion to our cause, peculiar rituals, odd practices, and our own idiosyncrasies. If you are reading this you are either a member of the cult or someone with whom we want to share our overwhelming passion. And we have no idea how many members from around the world are part of our cult as we operate only in small cadres, circulating our beliefs to a special few. In this specific case only 100.
We are the cult of the sound of Christmas, the purveyors of Christmas music.
Our goal is to impart the joy of great Christmas music and all of the love that it entails.
Throughout the year we scour used record stores, the internet and yard sales in search of this singular music and for songs worthy of being promulgated. With the blight of dreadful Christmas music (made more so in recent years by the web and home recording) we pride ourselves on presenting those songs that if heard one more time you would not kill the DJ but rather turn up the volume.
It is exceedingly difficult to write a good Christmas song, more so to write a classic. And only a few artists, like Saint Etienne and Sufjan Stevens, have written more than one. The song must convey the spirit of the season without being maudlin or overly sentimental. There are hundreds of new Christmas songs every year and we diligently listen to each and every one hoping to find the few diamonds amidst the detritus. And if an artist covers one of the classics, we are always looking for a unique interpretation.
Michael and I have never met in person, but as members of the cult we are brothers in arms. I have had the privilege of spreading the word for over 30 years via the radio and internet airwaves. He graciously credits me as an inspiration, but if this is so he has outdone his mentor. For 6 hours every Christmas Eve I have the benefit of playing the many precious Christmas songs from my collection, heard only once a year, coupled with the handful of new gems that I have discovered during the year. Michael, on the other hand, gives us 2, if not 3 CDs filled with unheard treasures. How he unearths so many hidden jewels is a yearly tour de force.
Why, you may ask, are we so obsessive? We have all been smitten in a moment in time by a sound, rhapsody or melody that is the joy of Christmas. Peace, love and understanding transmitted through song. Christmas is an ever evolving holiday with origins in the winter solstice. It is a time to bask in the warmth of loved ones, partaking in the bounty of our harvest as we settle in for long dark nights ahead. With this holiday we also bond with our neighbors through song for only together can we hope to survive as well as enrich our lives for another year. We of the cult know secretly in our hearts that there are many of us out there and our sincere desire is to unite this spirit not for a season but for four.
So whether you are dancing around the Christmas tree, wrapping presents beside the tree or making love under the tree, we are honoured to provide the soundtrack to your celebration. We feel your love and send you ours.
Merry Christmas,
Oedipus
2012
Lopsided World of L
Before we hit Christmas we have Jonathan L’s weekly podcast from Europe a wee bit early this week.
Lopsided World of L (Hour 1)
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Lopsided World of L (Hour 2)
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*Redlight “A James Bond Complex”
*August & J “For Once”
*The Hood Internet f/ Psalm One & Tobaxxo “More Fun”
*Laibach “B Mashina” (new reissue)
*Vajra “Blind”, *Clinic “Miss You”
*Doro “Freiheit (Human Rights)”
*Bogan Via “Wait Up”
*Madness “Death Of A Rude Boy”
*Bullet SE “Warriors”
*Endless Shame “Winter Skies”
*Konshens “Jamaican Dance”
*Sleepless “I Waited”
*Geoff Tate “Dark Money”
*Plan B “Live Once”
*Eytan & The Embassy “Everything Changes”
*The Sexual Side Effect “An Hour Ago”
*The Stone Foxes “Everybody Knows”
*Raggedy Angry “Candy Unicorns”
*Steve Harris (Iron Maiden) “Karma Killer”
*The Virgin Mary’s “Dead Man’s Shoes”
*Cherries On A Blacklist “Chemicals”
*The Toadies “We Burned The City Down”
*DJ Eleven & Mike Baker f/ Blind Star “Provocateur”
JOAN JETT SONG OF THE WEEK: “Love Is All Around (Mary Tyler Moore Theme)”
*San Cisco “Golden Revolver”
*Crime And The City Solution “My Love Takes Me There” (new reissue)
*Kid Savant “NaNa Never Ends” (KMFDM remix)
*Dark Tranquility “The Bow And The Arrow”
Crocodiles & Dum Dum Girls (Christmas)
Crocodiles from San Diego have teamed up with our fave Dum Dum Girls for a one-off Christmas song.
(No coincidence that Brandon Welchez of Crocodiles (and former Dum Dum member) is married to front woman Dee Dee of Dum Dum Girls.)
Just in time for the holidays the amusingly titled “Merry Christmas Baby (Please Don’t Die)”.
Lopsided World of L
A special German broadcast from Jonathan L.
Lopsided World of L (Hour 1)
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Lopsided World of L (Hour 2)
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“DO IT IN DEUTSCHLAND” SPECIAL
All music from artists from Germany or based in Germany sung in both Deutsch and English language
*Peter Fox “Stadtaffe”
*Joachim Witt “Gloria”
*Doro “Engel”
*Hans Jorg Grosse reads Franz Kafka “Die Baume”
*Heimataerde “Outremer”
*Rammstein “Pussy”
*Megaherz “Feinbild”
*Dorrn “Messin’ With Myself” (unplugged)
*Hans Jorg Grosse reads Franz Kafka “Kleider”
*Accept “Shadow Soldiers”
*Sep7ember ” I Hate N.Y.”
*Oomph “Augen Auf”
*Van Wolfen f/ Mascha & Brixton Boogie “Love For Sale”
*Hans Jorg Grosse reads Franz Kafka “Das Gassenfenster”
*Backyardloops “In Berlin (Baddaz Riddim)”
*Eisbrecher “Gothkiller”
*Kraftwerk “Antenne”
*Edith Hancke & Helen Vita “Joachimsthalerstrasse Ecke Augsburger Strasse”
*Die Toten Hosen “Ballast Der Republik”
*Rammstein “Haifisch” (Remix by Olsen Involtini)
*Nachtblut “Die Mutter Die Ihr Kind Verlor”
*Hans Jorg Grosse reads Franz Kafka “Auzug Aus Einem Brief An Oskar Pollak”
*Wumpscut “Jiddisch Is A Zwillink”
*Doro f/ Lemmy (Motorhead) “It Still Hurts”
*Vlad In Tears “Fallen Angel” (new mix-formly known as “Damnation”)
*Vargo “Those Were The Days”
*Tony deKaro “Lust”
*Ich + Ich “Danke”
*Mundtot “Endzeit”
*Riff-Raff “Dance Or Die”
*Wirtz “Wo Ich Steh”
Sufjan Stevens (Christmas)
It is exceedingly difficult to write a good Christmas song, more so to write a classic. And only a few artists have written more than one.
Sufjan Stevens has to be the most prolific composer of contemporary Christmas Songs.
In 2006 he gave us an incredible 5 volumes of holiday songs.
He follows this year 5 additional albums!
“Christmas in the Room” is from Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas, Vols. 6-10.
Lopsided World of L
Jonathan L entertains from Berlin.
Lopsided World of L (Hour1)
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Lopsided World of L (Hour 2)
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*Frank Black Francis “Cactus” (performed live on Lopsided World Of L 2006)
*KIN “Winter Is Coming”
*Geoff Tate “In The Dirt”
*ZZ Ward f/Kendrick Lamar “Cryin’ Wolf”
*The Darkness “Nothin’s Gonna Stop Us”
*Onuinu “Ice Palace”
*Martin Clancy and the Elves Of Heaven “Hard Times On 34th Street” (replay from 2010-11)
*Wildlife Control “Brooklyn”
*The Vaccines “Teenage Icon”
*Mandasue Heller “Your Girlfriend Hates Me”
*Frightened Rabbit “State Hospital” (unedited version)
*Frightened Rabbit f/ Aidan Moffat (Arab Strap) “Wedding Gloves”
*Devon Townsend Project “Save Our Now”
*Michael Bernard Fitzgerald “Firecracker”
*Johnette Napolitano “Hang On” (2006 from Sketchbook 2-rare)
*Cody ChestnuTT “Love Is More Than A Wedding Day”
*The 69 Eyes “I’m Ready”
*Ronny Morris “Lilly”
*Stan Ridgway “Burnin’ For Your Love”
*Black Moth Super Rainbow “Dreamsicle Bomb”
*Breaking Laces “Mr. Curry Is A Cop”
*Blackmore’s Night “All The Fun Of The Fayre”
JOAN JETT SONG OF THE WEEK: “World Of Denial”
*Chris Keys and Oh No “Let Go”
*Dark Tranquility “Zero Distance”
*Heimataerde “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” (Replay)
*Wintersun “Land Of Snow and Sorrow”
*Bruce Hammond Earlam “Nail The Snail” (Holiday version-replay 2010-11)
Dropkick Murphys (Christmas)
Tis the season and it’s now time to drop some Christmas music onto this music blog.
Boston’s Irish punk rockers, Dropkick Murphys offer up this little Xmas gem appropriately titled “The Season’s Upon Us”.