Flashlite #360 – The Best Albums in 2015 (Part One)

Best of 2015Today we begin our traditional review of the best records at the Little Lighthouse in the past year. Although “the best” should be understood in a very limited way. These records is basically just a very personal selection of new music that stuck with me this year. It may not be the best, but it somehow resonated in my mind. The time will tell whether these records will last longer than one season, but I definitely tend to go back to the stuff that I liked.

The list this year has 25 titles, and we first cover the bottom end of the list. The next week is 2016 and we will cover the top 10. This was a good year for the music from ex-Yugoslavia. We have two bands in the lower part of the list (Vlasta Popić and Bernays Propaganda). One more title will be covered next week. It was also a good year for Swedish bands. This year we have Ghost and Bäddat För Trubbel. Australians are traditionally welcome on our list(Zerodent, Paul Kelly and one more next week). Memphis, Austin, Detroit and San Francisco still rule in the US. Looking forward to 2016 – hopefully with even more surprises for the new generations of rockers…

Sweet Apple – I Surrender;
The Bevis Frond – Second Son;
Paul Kelly – Where Were You When I Needed You (With Clairy Browne);
The Yawpers – Walter;
Vlasta Popić – O vodi;
The Ghost – From The Pinnacle To The Pit;
Sonny Vincent and Spite – Now That I Have You;
Low Cut Connie – Taste So Good;
Fuzz – Jack The Maggot;
Zerodent – You;
Soldiers of Fortune – Dog Tooth Down;
Cairo Gang – A Heart Like Yours;
Bäddat För Trubbel – Fran Afterwork Till Lillordag;
Giant Sand – Texting Feist;
Bernays Propaganda – ÄŒuvaj se od tie Å¡to te čuvaat.

Flashlite #359

Lemmy, MotörheadIn some way, this show is the part two of the jam show we heard last time. Only two new albums today. Both of them are not so new, but I didn’t get to play them yet in the show. Motörhead has a relatively fresh album called Bad Magic which surprised me with the high quality that it brings. Also, Ghost, Swedish Satanists, had a cool album this year called Meloria. Again something, not something that I would normally go for, but really cool album nevertheless. Tune in next year for the new episode with the year-end retrospective of best albums.

Spooky Tooth – Waiting For The Wind;
Motorhead – Choking On Your Screams;
The Yawpers – 3 a.m.;
Zerodent – Reason;
Patsy’s Rats – Hard Time Karen;
Disciplin A Ktchme – Biti imun na ovaj nemar;
Ghost – Absolution;
The Bevis Frond – Pale Blue Blood
King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard – The Bitter Boogie;
Carson – Boogie;
Blue Ash – Around Again.

Flashlite #358

Disciplin A KitchmeIt’s a jammy show today. We have entirely improvized band called Soldiers of Fortune, consisting of many established musicians from New York (Oneida, Chavez, Interpol). Jesper Eklow from Endless Boogie seems to play a very important role forming the sound on the new Soldiers of Fortune record Early Risers. Next, we have the legendary (ex) Yugoslav band Disciplin A Kitchme, who are back with yet another great sounding record entitled Opet.. Ethan Johns is also back with the new album and we introduce a new name: Greek band 7-Odds. Dom Mariani’s DM3 has a nice new compilation record.

Cubist Blues – Candyman;
Datura 4 – Demon Blues;
DM3 – Can’t Get What You Want;
Endless Boogie – A Part of the WFMU Live Show ;
Soldiers of Fortune – Nails;
Disciplin A Kitchme – Reci ruke u vis;
Atomic Forest – Obsession;
Shanti – Shanti;
7-Odds – Alley Walk;
Ethan Johns and The Black Eyed Dogs – Silver Liner;
Big Star – Untitled Electric Instrumental.

Flashlite #357

Patsy Gelb of Patsy's RatsWe bring you some cool new stuff. Daughter of Howe Gelb and Paula Jean Brown (of the original Giant Sand line up), has a great band called Patsy’s Rats. Impulsive Hearts from Chicago are also fronted by a lady: Danielle Sines. Miriam Linna of Norton Records has made another new album this year Down Today. We also introduce Green Hornet from Netherlands and Sloming Moops from Zagreb, Croatia. Also from there, Thee Melomen have a new single. Peter Buck of REM is back with a nice solo record. An interesting tribute came out recently in Tucson AZ for Rainer Ptacek.

Mott The Hoople – Backsliding Fearlessly;
Green Hornet – Let It Go;
Dead Ghosts – Good Love (Is Not Free);
Miriam – So You Say You Lost Your Baby;
Miriam – I Keep Falling In Love;
Impulsive Hearts – MDB;
Rickie Lee Jones – Hunted (Live in CLE);
Peter Buck – I Hate My Life and the Way I Live;
Billy Sedlmayr – Here I Am;
Rainer – Here I Am;
Giant Sand – House in Order;
Patsy’s Rats – Rock & Roll Friend;
Thee Melomen – Chinatown;
Sloming Moops – JF Killer;
Television – See No Evil;
Jesse Winchester – She Makes It Easy Now;
Los Lobos – When We Were Free.

Flashlite #356: Vinyl Junkyard 15

Golden DozenVinyl Junkyard instalment #15 is here! In special episodes like this one I play almost entire LPs that I found dirt cheap somewhere laying in some bargain bin at a record store. Today’s pick are two volumes of Jin Records compilations of Swamp Pop hits Golden Dozen that came out some time in the 70s. Jin Records was a home to some great Swamp Pop hits, Opelousas Sostan by Rufus Jangneaux most notably. Swamp Pop was a special brand of Louisiana rock music that was probably the main genre in that state locally and it rarely got out. The music was a blend of rock’n’roll and cajun melancholy. We will go through twenty two of the 24 tunes on these two albums and we will provide some dry info on most of the bands that found their place on these records.

John Fred And The Playboys – Judy In Disguise;
Bobby Charles – Everyone Knows;
The Boogie Kings – Tell It Like It Is;
Johnnie Allan – Talk To Me;
Clint West – Our Love;
Toussaint McCall – Nothing Takes The Place Of You;
Rufus – Opelousas Sostan;
Dale And Grace – Stop And Think It Over;
Tommy McLain – Sweet Dreams;
Rod Bernard – Congratulations To You;
Clint West And The Boogie Kings – Try Me;
Rod Bernard – Loneliness;
Bobby Charles – I Hope;
Cookie And The Cupcakes – Mathilda;
Bobby Charles – One More Glass Of Wine;
Cookie And The Cupcakes – Got You On My Mind;
Dale And Grace – I’m Leaving It Up To You;
The Uniques – You Don’t Miss Your Water;
Shelton Dunaway with Cookie And The Cupcakes – Betty And Dupree;
Jerry Jackson with The Boogie Kings – I Can’t Stop Loving You;
The Uniques – Not Too Long Ago;
Charles Mann – Red Red Wine