New Weird Acoustic Guitarists

Sir Richard Bishop:


James Blackshaw:


Jack Rose:

Times New Viking

Times New Viking /Psychedelic Horseshit show tonight!

Times New Viking is my favorite new indie-rock band! (Most of my favorite indie-rock bands are from the '90s.)

Unknown Legends and Urban Spacemen: A Tribute to Richie Unterberger

1. The Rising Storm "Frozen Laughter"
2. The Beau Brummels "I Will Go"
3. The Poets "I Love Her Still"
4. The Outsiders "I Love You, No. 2"
5. Skip Spence "Cripple Creek"
6. Tim Buckley "Aren't You the Girl"
7. The Blossom Toes "I'll Be Late for Tea"
8. Fred Neil "December's Dream"
9. Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood "Some Velvet Morning"
10. Can "Mushroom"
11. Young Marble Giants "Salad Days"
12. Mimi & Richard Fariña "Bold Marauder"
13. Judy Henske & Jerry Yester "St. Nicholas Hall"
14. Bonzo Dog Band "I'm the Urban Spacemen"
15. Love "The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This"
16. Chris Knox "Half-Man / Half-Mole"
17. The Rutles "Cheese and Onions"
18. The Pretty Things "Balloon Burning"
19. The Raincoats "No Side to Fall In"
20. The Chocolate Watch Band "No Way Out"
21. The Monk "Oh, How to Do Now"
22. The Bobby Fuller Four "Never to be Forgotten"
23. The Great Society "White Rabbit (Live)
24. The Music Machine "Talk Talk"
25. Wanda Jackson "Fujiyama Mama"

96.43 MB zip file
Download here

All bands covered in Richie Unterberger's book Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll and its sequel Urban Spacemen and Wayfaring Strangers. The Rising Storm song is from the CD included with the former book, and the Bobby Fuller Four song from the CD included with the latter. Those two books introduced me to so much amazing music!

The Outsiders (track 4) are the Dutch band, not the Chicago band that did "Time Won't Let Me".

Anorak City: An Indie Pop Mix

1. Heavenly "Lemonhead Boy"
2. Bright Coloured Lights "Open Your Eyes"
3. Tiger Trap "My Broken Heart"
4. Amy Linton & Stewart Anderson "The Lights Are Out"
5. Another Sunny Day "Anorak City"
6. Brighter "I Don't Think It Matters"
7. Brittle Stars "Tripping Me Up"
8. Fat Tulips "Chainsaw"
9. My Favorite "The Happiest Days of My Life"
10. The Shermans "Practiced Performance"
11. The Flatmates "I Could Be in Heaven"
12. Rocketship "Hey Hey Girl"
13. Henry's Dress "Hey Allison"
14. The Lucksmiths "Music to Hold Hands To"
15. Math and Physics Club "Graduation Day"
16. McCarthy "This Nelson Rockefeller"
17. Nixon "Undevoted Friend"
18. Poundsign "The Best Days"
19. Red Sleeping Beauty "Sick and Tired"
20. The Cat's Miaow "Born on a Train"
21. Would-Be-Goods "Pantomime Devil"
22. 14 Iced Bears "Like a Dolphin"
23. Laura Watling "Perfect Penmanship"
24. Action Biker "Farrah"
25. Blueboy "Too Good to Be True"
26. Marine Girls "A Place in the Sun"
27. Even As We Speak "Anybody Anyway"
28. Dear Nora "Suicide Song"

Purest, sweetest indie-pop.

98.49 MB zip file
Download here

Tuonela, the land of the dead

1. Fursaxa "Rodeo in the Sky"
2. Islaja "Uni Pöllönä Olemisesta"
3. Six Organs of Admittance "Coming to Get You"
4. Charalambides "Denver Harbor"
5. Kemialliset Ystävät "Kiimaniityn Kutsu"
6. Sun City Girls "Esoterica of Abyssyina"
7. John Fahey "Planaria"
8. James Blackshaw "O True Believers"
9. Richard Youngs "Blossom"
10. Jackie-O Motherfucker "Pray"
11. Birchville Cat Motel "Lay Thy Hatred Down"
12. Double Leopards "The Fatal Affront"

103.42 MB zip file
Download here

This mix is inspired by playing with the Tune Glue website all day. Title stolen from the Wikipedia page for Finnish Mythology. Only Islaja and Kemialliset Ystävät are actually from Finland, as far as I know, but the title nonetheless fits the spooky feel of the mix.

Does anyone know of any good free audio editing programs that would let me make the mix one long file with cross-fades, and works with Mac OS 10.2?

Authentic Queers and Phony Virgins

Scott Walker doing "Jackie", originally by Jacques Brel.

And if one day I should become
A singer with a Spanish bum
Who sings for women of great virtue
I'd sing to them with a guitar
I borrowed from a coffee bar
Well, what you don't know doesn't hurt you
My name would be Antonio
And all my bridges I would burn
And when I gave them some they'd know
I'd expect something in return
I'd have to get drunk every night
And talk about virility
With some old grandmother
That might be decked out like a christmas tree
And though pink elephants I'd see
Though I'd be drunk as I could be
Still I would sing my song to me
About the time they called me "Jacky"

If I could be for only an hour
If I could be for an hour every day
If I could be for just one little hour
Cute in a stupid ass way

And if I joined the social whirl
Became procurer of young girls
Then i would have my own bordellos
My record would be number one
And I'd sell records by the ton
All sung by many other fellows
My name would then be handsome Jack
And I'd sell boats of opium
Whisky that came from Twickenham
Authentic queers
And phony virgins
If I had banks on every finger
A finger in every country
And every country ruled by me
I'd still know where I'd want to be
Locked up inside my opium den
Surrounded by some china men
I'd sing the song that I sang then
About the time they called me "Jacky"

If I could be for only an hour
If I could be for an hour every day
If I could be for just one little hour
Cute in a stupid ass way

Now, tell me, wouldn't it be nice
That if one day in paradise
I'd sing for all the ladies up there
And they would sing along with me
And we be so happy there to be
Cos' down below is really nowhere
My name would then be Junipher
Then I would know where I was going
And then I would become all knowing
My beard so very long and flowing
If I became deaf, dumb and blind
Because I pitied all mankind
And broke my heart to make things right
I know that every single night
When my angelic work was through
The angels and the Devil too
Would sing my childhood song to me
About the time they called me "Jacky"

If I could be for only an hour
If I could be for an hour every day
If I could be for just one little hour
Cute in a stupid ass way

The Wire

It sucks having to wait for Season 5 to come out on DVD. I think I am going to rewatch Season 1-4 soon. I watched a lot of that in four hour marathons (i.e. a whole disc in one sitting), so I'm sure there are lots of little (and even not-so-little) nuances I missed the first time.

Kind of a bummer I hadn't stumbled across this a few weeks earlier!

Heavenly - Our Love is Heavenly

I wish my life was like an indie-pop song. I'm not sure what that would entail concretely, but it is still part of my dream-life. A sign of some fundamental immaturity, I'm sure. Oh well.

The Cat's Miaow

I decided I need to do more to share the Cat's Miaow gospel. Here are some mp3s from their various CDs.



From A Kiss and a Cuddle:
The Phoebe I Know
Little and Small



From Songs For Girls To Sing:
Note on the Table
Let It Flow (live)



From The Long Goodbye:
Phoebe

I put up the original and The Long Goodbye versions of "Phoebe" so you could compare them yourselves and make up your own mind! The song "Let It Flow" is a Spiritualized cover.

The Cat's Miaow - Third Floor Fire Escape View

One of the most unfairly neglected indie-pop groups. Just gorgeous, melancholy, perfect pop. Sadly, their two best CDs, A Kiss and a Cuddle and Songs For Girls to Sing appear to be out of print. Some U.S. label should really move to change that. The one CD by them that is in print, The Long Goodbye, is okay but no where as good as their other stuff. It is kind of synth-drone versions of some of their other songs. I like the original jangly guitar versions much better.