Johnny Whopper episode 10

Happy double digits!

Broadcast on 11/29/10:

01. School Knights - Lunch Money

02. The Fruhstucks - I Don't Have A Mind

03. Ricky Eat Acid - I Found Your Flower Crown

04. Atlas Sound - Mona Lisa

05. Sufjan Stevens - What Child Is This Anyway?

06. Teenagers - We Were Young Once

07. Hausu - The Haze

08. Albatross - Golden Hue

09. The Rest - John Huston

10. Sohni Chambers - 2:47PM

11. Warm Waves - 2710

12. A Gap Between - Bonfire

13. Wonder Bear - We Found The Egg

14. The Flaming Lips - Silent Night / Lord Can You Hear Me

So this show we were torn between my impulse to make it Christmas-themed and Knox's impulse to...not. The result: two awkward Christmas songs thrown in with a selection of beautiful/awesome/weird tracks. Best song of this set was definitely "John Huston" by Ontario band The Rest. School Knights, who were also featured on the Dope Mountain Fuck mixtape that got so much airtime last week, are more than one-hit wonders, as "Lunch Money" attests. And I have a feeling we'll be hearing more about Teenagers soon.

I Found Your Flower Crown

Ricky Eat Acid - I Found Your Flower Crown

Here in the south, autumn is finally beginning to fade and the colder weather is becoming more prevalent. Ricky Eat Acid is a project of Sam Ray's, which on the most recent EP, Sometimes We're Blue, is available to download for free from his bandcamp. This EP fits perfectly for those of us gearing up for the colder weather and taking drives to visit family for the holidays. The EP flows well on its lo-fi psychedelic ride.

Johnny Whopper episode 9

Broadcast on 11/22/10:

01. Bummer Sanders - Sunset Funset

02. Tiny Vipers - Dreamer

03. White Fence - The Love Between

04. Ramases - And The Whole World

05. FLIGHT - Real Estate

06. Gauntlet Hair - Heave

07. Phantom Power - Extrapolations

08. Hear Hums - Mokom Wolos

09. Solar Bears - She Was Coloured In

10. Bikini - ACheerlaeder

11. No Joy - Ghost Blonde

12. Religious Girls - Color Wheel

13. The Vivids - Here Comes the Chain

14. Cop Magnet - Glossy

My selections, as I mentioned, focused heavily on the awesome Dope Mountain Fuck tape from new tape-only label Crash Symbols: Bummer Sanders' "Sunset Funset," Hear Hums' "Mokom Wolos," and Cop Magnet's "Glossy" (which turned out to be less-than-radio safe) were all choice tracks that made it into this set. FLIGHT is also a band that is intriguing us. Time to mine Mississippi for more talent.

sadness comes along

Photo by SPiDeR.

My laptop is getting old. It's a fossilized, four-year-old hand-me-down from my younger brother (sigh). I'm getting used to its propensity for underperformance. So when I reached the one-minute mark in "I'll Be Wait For Sadness Comes Along," the new track by Ann Arbor, Michigan resident Jeremy Malvin's solo project Chrome Sparks, I figured my browser had just hiccuped again. I've never been so happy to have been proven wrong.

"I'll Be Wait For Sadness Comes Along" is certainly among the best tracks I've heard this year. Beginning with a few chimes and a faded guitar riff, sort of like a forgotten version of Sigur Rós' "Hoppipola," it takes a minute before it hits you with that beat. The pulse keeps the warm, immersive track surging forward, like something out of Baths' Cerulean. It's no surprise he's been getting plenty of love from some of our favorite blogs.

Other blogs have been taking down his mp3s, so I won't post it, but I will link to his brand-new Bandcamp where you can grab "I'll Be Wait" along with another superb six-minute jam, "Our Love Is Heartbeats; Our Love Is Hot Beats" for just $1. This guy is worth your support - I can't wait to hear more from him.

Stream: Chrome Sparks - I'll Be Wait For Sadness Comes Along

Chrome Sparks:

Bandcamp | Soundcloud | Myspace

Johnny Whopper episode 8

Broadcast on 11/15/10:

01. Beach Fossils - Distance

02. Korallreven - The Truest Faith

03. Games - Shadows in Bloom

04. Chrome Sparks - I'll Be Wait For Sadness Comes Along

05. Cocteau Twins - Elizabeth Fraser (Star Slinger remix)

06. Ducktails - Dorm Room

07. Tennis - Take Me Somewhere

08. Frankie Rose and the Outs - Little Brown Haired Girls

09. Memoryhouse - Heirloom

10. Millionyoung - Calrissian

11. Purling Hiss - Don't Even Try It

12. Kurt Vile - In My Time

13. Weekend - Monogah, WV

14. Brian Eno - 2 Forms of Anger

15. The Fresh & Onlys - Summer of Love

16. Chuck Person - Lightning Strikes

Gorgeous Korallreven track "The Truest Faith" was the highlight for me this week - grab it over at GvB. Chrome Sparks' grammatically-challenged "I'll Be Wait For Sadness Comes Along" was also a beautiful surprise. And Kurt Vile's new track "In My Time" is only increasing my anticipation for this Saturday's show.

Photos: Brick House 11/12/10

Thanks to everyone for coming to last Friday's show at the Brick House. We're having great turnout for a house that just started hosting shows, and if things keep going as well as they are now, we'll have plenty more down the road. I haven't found any photos from Voyageurs' closing set, but it was straight legit - they turned their PA almost all the way down and were still loud as fuck.

May the Peace of the Sea Be With You

Holy Mountain

tonite

Tonight my very own digs have the honor of hosting three outstanding Arkansas bands - Voyageurs, Holy Mountain, and May the Peace of the Sea Be With You.
The Wooden Shjips-by-way-of-Brian Eno psych rock of Voyageurs has been getting love from the likes of yvynyl and has their album TRIGRAMS available for free download on their bandcamp. I'm also told that their "real" album is coming out soon, so that's reason enough to be giddy.
Other links:Holy MountainMay the Peace of the Sea Be With You
TUNES at 8 // BRING DONATIONSPost-show party theme: primary colors.

November Mix

Photo by Denise Nouvion

1) Comin' Through - The War on Drugs

2) I'm Gonna Try - Shimmering Stars

3) Youth Cult - Weird Korea

4) California Sunrise - Dirty Gold

5) Young Dreams - Young Dreams

6) I'll Be Wait For Sadness Comes Along - Chrome Sparks

7) Coma Summer - Weekend

8) Concord - M. Pyres

9) To Catch a Thief - SPORTS

10) Killing Time - Magic Fingers

11) Venus is Cruel - Triptides

12) Carry On - Courtship

13) Face It - Beach Fossils

14) Caregiver - Memoryhouse

15) Ancestral Lands - The Townhouses

16) Vino - BAnanas Symphony

17) Oceans - Sam Quinn

Download here!

you can do anything

Watching Los Angeles female pop duo Hot as Sun's Youtube channel - and that's the only info available on them on the internets - gives me the feeling that they aren't "cool" in any conventional sense. They're not even trying. And I'm not even talking about appropriating uncool things for irony's sake - I mean hanging out in a suburban backyard, playing with babies on a Slip'n'Slide. OK, Slip'n'Slides are pretty cool. So are the tunes that these two ladies make - think carefully layered production à la Grizzly Bear with some added haziness (and bounciness).

Grab two tracks from their forthcoming EP from their bandcamp, and don't skip out on the playful music video to their new tune "New Town," animated by Deborah Stoll and Mark Steger.

EDIT: Apparently I completely missed their blog on their website. The dandelions turn into links! Who would have thought?

EDIT 2: They drew us a sweet picture!

MP3: Hot as Sun - Come Come

Johnny Whopper episode 7

Aired 11/8/2010

01. Family Portrait - Glide Part One

02. Dirty Gold - California Sunrise

03. Triptides - Venus is Cruel

04. GOBBLE GOBBLE - End of Days

05. Lord Huron - We Went Wild

06. Mean Lady - Why'd'ya Hafta Be Sucha

07. Courtship - Carry On

08. Young Montana? - Sacré Cool

09. Young Dreams - Young Dreams

10. Electric Sunset - Destroyer (Demo)

11. Smith Westerns - Weekend

12. Optimist Park - The Batholith

13. Hot as Sun - Come Come

14. Keep Shelly in Athens - Fokionos Negri Street

This week, Smith Westerns killed it with their awesome new track, "Weekend." Dirty Gold has only two tracks to their name, but their beautiful track, "California Sunrise" sounds like Beach House if they actually lived in a beach house, & is another highlight from this week. Finally, Hot as Sun deserves more attention - they only have 69 listeners on last.fm.

Carousel

Carousel - II

Carousel is an elusive band. No one knows their name (or names) or where they come from. They have one website, which features some pictures and two songs. However, these two songs make for a rather pretty 16 minutes of music. Check out their two songs and keep your fingers crossed for more to come from them.

folks don't know the half

Going multi-platinum is usually a good way to make sure critics will hate you. Some people will argue it's the other way around, but it's hard to deny that most chart-topping artists nowadays aren't critical darlings.

Once you've been making money for a while, though, people come around. You've either tapped into some sort of zeitgeist that those ivory-tower critics didn't realize existed, or you've influenced a generation of artists, or both. Suddenly you're garnering rave reviews. It's a pop tradition, and an important one too. After all, as a critic, it's hard to deny someone's greatness after they've proven you wrong so many times.

In 2010, it looks like it's R. Kelly's turn. Yours Truly brings us this beautiful, intimate, underexposed video of Tom Krell of How to Dress Well singing a haunting, hushed rendition of Kells' "I Wish":

Also, earlier this year, Sam Amidon dropped his most recent (and excellent) album, I See the Sign, on Bedroom Community. As usual, it's a set of old folk tunes re-imagined by Amidon with the help of labelmates Ben Frost, Valgeir Sigurðsson, Nico Muhly, and others. He also covers R. Kelly's "Relief", finding the common thread between Americana and R&B:

MP3: Sam Amidon - Relief

Add'l links:

Sam Amidon

How to Dress Well

Weird Korea

Weird Korea - Weird Korea

Weird Korea are some college students from Purchase, NY. They haven't played much outside of the Purchase area, but they have snagged an opportunity to play with the likes of Titus Adronicus and Surfer Blood. They have released an EP titled, No Art // No Trade, which you can download for free from their bandcamp. The EP is a rocking 27 minutes of music. I suggest you download it and make sure to listen to the last track, which is an amazing 8 minute jam.

Johnny Whopper episode 6

Aired 11/1/2010

01. Cults - Oh, My God (Daytrotter Session)

02. Shimmering Stars - I'm Gonna Try

03. Reading Rainbow - Restless

04. Fergus & Geronimo - Harder Than It's Ever Been

05. Class Actress - Careful What You Say

06. SPORTS - To Catch a Thief

07. Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk - Our Girls

08. Oneohtrix Point Never - Returnal (Voice by Antony)

09. The Mantles - Lily Never Married

10. Weird Korea - Weird Korea

11. White Arrows - Coming or Going

12. Magic Fingers - Killing Time

13. M. Pyres - Concord

14. Andrew Cedermark - Anchorite

I was super happy about this show - I had all but forgotten about that Oneohtrix Point Never track until I stumbled upon it again last week. It's definitely one of my favorites of the year so far. Reading Rainbow is also an act to watch. I first heard about them via a pair of posts from yvynyl, an excellent and passionate Philly-based blogger whom everyone should read.

Also we asked our listeners to leave vile, nasty comments that cut to our very hearts. So far, we haven't seen any very good efforts. Black coffee and flannel? Come on, that's for amateurs.