For some reason, I received a bunch of new records which are clearly inspired by the kraut rock – a German rock movement from the early ’70s which contained long, repetitive pieces, sometimes taking over the entire side of one LP. The new bands obviously have multiple influences, but I think that the following bands are truly influenced by kraut rock: Hypnodrone Ensemble from Berlin, Kinski from Seattle, Ancient Sky from Brooklyn and King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard from Australia. At the end of the show, we hear a live tune by a new, young, up and coming duet from Cleveland, Archie and The Bunkers.
Faust – It’s A Rainy Day Sunshine Girl;
Kinski – Powder;
Disciplin A Kitchme – Manitu S;
Hypnodrone Ensemble – Elliptical Hyperbolic;
Ancient Sky – Protection;
King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard – Infinite Rise;
Archie And The Bunkers – 1970 (Live in CLE).
The brightest highlight in today’s show are two live recordings from King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard. This Australian band played two nights in Cleveland and I was there to catch some moments with my recorder. One of the songs was brand new from what I could tell. Another hero of this show, Eamon McGrath has put out yet another of his online only albums called Shortest Ride To The Light of The Morning. Chris Stamey is back with the new record. Mark Kozelek with his Sun Kil Moon is back with the new record, probably the best one in his career. We also check out two new band, The Morons from Chicago and The Zoltars from Austin TX.
Built To Spill – So;
Low Cut Connie – Somewhere Along the Avenue;
The Morons – Disco Diablo;
Mitski – Jobless Monday;
The Zoltars – We Missed Out;
Eamon McGrath – Chlorine;
Eamon McGrath – Young Men;
Sonny Boy Williamson – The Key (Blues Alphabet);
King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard – It’s Got Cold (Live in CLE);
King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard – New New Song (Live in CLE);
Sun Kil Moon – With A Sort Of Grace I Walked To The Bathroom To Cry;
Chris Stamey – Invisible;
Mott The Hoople – Honaloochie Boogie;
R. Stevie Moore Jason Falkner – Sincero Amore.
A good chunk of today’s show is filled with power-pop tunes. We start off with The Akibas new single. This band is important for the history of our show as it was the first band tune ever played at The Little Lighthouse. The we go on to Terry and Louie, surviving duet from The Exploding Hearts and their new single. Galileo 7 from Medway also has a new single. We also introduce Dot Dash from Washington DC and Belltowers from Orlando. Guadalupe Plata with their dusty rock’n’roll return with a new record without any title. And finally, we hear The Z-Boy, an awesome new surf rock, instrumental band from Rhode Island that I saw playing live in Newport, out of a pure coincidence. The best things happen when you’re least expecting them.
Thurston Moore – Detonation;
The Akibas – Servants of the One Percent;
Terry And Louie – Daze Gone By;
The Exploding Hearts – We Don’t Have To Worry Anymore;
Dot Dash – Transparent Disguise;
The Galileo 7 – The God of Gaps;
The Galileo 7 – Don’t Want To Know;
The Belltowers – All Along;
The Beatles – Eight Days A Week;
The Forty Nineteens – Pink 55 Bel Air;
The Beatles – Bad Boy;
Larry Williams – Bad Boy;
Leroy Washington – Lost Love Letter Blues;
The Oblivians – Pinball King;
Guadalupe Plata – Filo De Navaja;
The Z-Boys – Track 2;
Fish In Oil – Jel surfujes;
King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard – Eyes Like The Sky;
Zerodent – As Yet Untitled Awesome New Song.
Today’s show is an episode in our Rock’n’roll Anthems series. Previously we featured Louie Louie, I Fought The Law, Tobacco Road, Train Kept A-Rollin’, Money (That’s What I Want). Today we go the way back to the late nineteenth century when a railroad worker John Hardy committed a murder and got hanged afterwards. The story and the event went into a legend and into a song. The song eventually made it to the records in the twenties and quite a few rock musicians found the story exciting enough to include it into their repertoire. Most notably, my favorite version of Gun Club. As it usually happens in folk traditions, they are not always historically accurate. There was also another character John Henry, who was a a steel driver who apparently defeated a steam powered hammer. For whatever reason, musically and lyrically, some musicians of the past mixed the two different characters and song and elements of one went into another. So, today, we explore these two stories and the impact they had on rock’n’roll. Most recently, Danny Kroha recorded the legend of John Henry on his new lp, so the two characters still continue to keep our attention.
Clarence Ashley – Old John Hardy;
Wild Billy Childish – John Hardy;
Gun Club – John Hardy;
Jeffrey Lee Pierce – John Henry;
George Thorogood And The Destroyers – John Hardy;
Manfred Mann – John Hardy;
Uncle Tupelo – John Hardy;
Johnny Cash – The Legend Of John Henry’s Hammer;
Lead Belly – John Hardy;
Buell Kazee – John Hardy;
Ernest V. Stoneman – John Hardy;
Mississippi Fred McDowell – John Henry;
Roger McGuinn – John Hardy;
Roger McGuinn – John Henry;
Tom T. Hall – More About John Henry;
The Sir Douglas Quintet – Story Of John Hardy;
Van Morrison – John Henry;
Danny Kroha – John Henry.
Podcasting from Cleveland, Ohio. Broadcasting on Radio Kragujevac, every Sunday from 4-5pm (Central European Time). Streaming on Rock XS every Thursday at Midnight (Eastern European Time).