Tag Archives: Giant Sand

Flashlite #175

Neil YoungFour old legendary rockers are back these days with their new projects. Neil Young once again got on his Crazy Horse and this time he covered eleven songs from the history of the American continent. Thus the title Americana. Howe Gelb expanded Giant Sand to Giant Giant Sand and a busload of musicians from two places on the planet (Denmark and the US), and made a new rock opera dedicated to his hometown Tucson. Ed Crawford (Fromohio) has a new band FOOD and a new EP Four Easy Pieces. Alejandro Escovedo is back with the new record called Big Station. Once again, the record is co-written with Chuck Prophet and it is produced by Tony Visconti, just like the other two previous records. The idea of this episode is to fill up an our by hearing some new tunes from Young, Gelb, Crawford and Escovedo and also recall their earlier careers as well.

Shocking Blue – Venus;
The Big Three – Banjo Song;
Neil Young – Oh Susannah;
Buffalo Springfield – Broken Arrow;
Neil Young – On The Beach;
Giant Sand – Tumble ‘n’ Tear;
Giant Giant Sand – We Don’t Play Tonight;
Giant Sandworms – Steadfest;
Ed Fromohio – Live in Pittsburgh;
FOOD – You Don’t Know;
fIREHOSE – Witness;
Buick Mackane – The End;
Alejandro Escovedo – Man of the World;
The Setters – She’s Got;
Mott The Hoople – I Wish I Was Your Mother.

Flashlite #166

John McCauleyNew names in today’s show is the Portuguese duet called New Kind of Mambo and The Horrors from Cedar Rapids in Iowa. New Kind of Mambo has a new ep on their bandcamp page (free download) and Horrors have a new album called Vent produced by one of the heroes of this show Greg Cartwright. Tough Shits is another new band today with a self titled album. Deer Tick have new ep called Tim and we check it out in today’s show, by exploring connections between John McCauley and Paul Westerberg. Howe Gelb expanded the line up of his Giant Sand and now they are Giant Giant Sand – 12 people total in the new line up. Giant indeed. Freedy Johnston, Jon Dee Graham and Susan Cowsill put the record out as The Hobart Brothers and Lil’ Sis Hobart. We heard them all together for the first time a year ago in Flashlite 123 and now their first official album At Least We Have Each Other is out.

Mourning Sun – Benashaw Glenn;
The Hobart Brothers and Lil Sis Hobart – Ballad Of Sis (Didn’t I Love You);
Continental Drifters – Spring Day In Ohio;
Cheyenne Marie Mize – Wishing Well;
fIREHOSE – Formal Introduction (Live);
Mike Watt – The Glory of Man Anxious Mo-Fo;
The Horrors – Block Of Wood;
Reigning Sound – Since When;
Love Me – Sadly Beautiful;
The Replacements – Never Mind;
Deer Tick – Main Street;
Lee Ranaldo – Off The Wall;
James And Bobby Purify – I’m Your Puppet;
The Tough Shits – She’s a Loner;
Giant Giant Sand – Tucson;
New Kind Of Mambo – New Kind Of Mambo.

Flashlite #149

Twilight SingersFolks, one of the weirdest episodes ever here at the Little Lighthouse… There is a whole bunch of reissues these days with live music. So, we started off with the new live reissues of Lou Reed, Rolling Stones and Giant Sand. Twilight Singers have a new live album out, so we check out that as well. Our good friend Damien Youth reissued his studio album Sunfield on vinyl. It’s a lovely double LP. And then we played the new band for Chris Eckman from Walkabouts, called The Frictions, which he put together over in Ljubljana where he lives these days. They played a cover of Suicide, so “naturally”, the rest of the songs were about suicide as an act, not as a band. So, very happy ending today… Check it out, but don’t do it.

Kursaal Flyers – Friday On My Mind;
Lou Reed – Vicious;
The Twilight Singers – Teenage Wristband;
The Rolling Stones – Happy;
Giant Sand – Lester Lampshade;
Damien Youth – Thorough The Eyes of Molly;
Hic et Nunc – Got My Mojo Working;
The Walkabouts – Thin of the Air;
The Frictions – Ghost Rider;
Suicide – Ghost Rider;
Buldozer – Najpogodnije mjesto;
Dax Riggs – Living is Suicide;
The Replacements – The Ledge;
David Bowie – Rock’n’roll Suicide;
Wednesday Week – Suicide.

Flashlite #143

SmileSo, Beach Boys finished Smile… I don’t know exactly what to think of it. This album probably never even had a clear vision, and it’s unclear how you can complete it with chaotic pieces that the Boys recorded back in the day. Still, the concept behind it is so intriguing that it will hunt the rock’n’roll forever. It hunts me too. In this show, a portion of the playlist is delivered in Smile format, with a lot of cutting and pasting. Check it out from 14:28 to 28:16 in part 1. The rest of the show brings you new tunes from King Khan and Electric Six. We also have new names Jerusalem and the Starbaskets, Barrarecudas, and The Excitements. Giant Sand has a reissue of Chore of Enchantment and there’s a tribute out there for Ian Dury.

Another great news is that we’re now syndicating in Kragujevac again! The oldest and furthest reaching radio station over there, Radio Kragujevac on 94.7 MHz picked our show for their program and the scheduled times are Sundays from 4 to 5 pm and on Tuesday from 2 to 3 pm their time (CET). We’re glad to be back on air over there.

Mark Sultan – Calloused Hands;
Jerusalem and the Starbaskets – Walkin across your grave;
King Khan – Fa Fa Fa (Love Song);
The Leaving Trains – Ten Generations;
Slovenly – She Was Bananas;
Todd Rundgren – Baby Let’s Swing;
The Beach Boys – Surf’s Up;
Mikal Cronin – Apathy;
Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby – Do You Remember That;
Wreckless Eric with the Blockheads – Clevor Trever;
The Barreracudas – Come On Come On;
Cheap Trick – Come On Come On;
Giant Sand – Shiver;
Giant Sand – Dilemna;
The Excitements – I Do The Jerk;
Wildbunch – Electric Six – Danger High Voltage;
Electric Six – Hello I See You.

Flashlite #141

Pieta BrownToday is the 10 year anniversary of what I think was probably the best show I ever put on air. That Saturday morning, as a tip of my friend Badger, we had a singer songwriter from Hammon, LA Damien Youth who is a local and underground legend who is putting out self released tapes and cd-rs since the 80s. He played a live set and also selected a number of songs from his musical collection. Today we revisit parts of that show and also check up with Damien and hear his two fresh songs that he sent to us. As a bonus, we also have a brand new song for Zane Armstrong, Damien’s songwriting partner.

Talking about the do-it-yourself geniuses, we also have a brand new song for R. Stevie Moore. He joined forces with Ariel Pink for the new tunes. Also, we have Stereo Soul Fire from Boston for the first time at the show, as well as Jonathan Wilson from Los Angeles. He has an album with an old Gordon Lightfoot tune on it, which is interesting, because The Krayolas also have a tune about Lightfoot on their new album. We also have new tune by Giant Sand which is about to show up on the forthcoming album Luz De Vida – a benefit for the victims of the Tucson shootout that happened on January 8 2011. The Residents also have a new album, so if you want to hear the only playlist ever which transitions from The Residents to Gordon Lightfoot – you’re at the right place.

Disciplina Kičme – Ako ti je glasno…;
The Residents – Once I Went To Barstow;
Sir Douglas Quintet – It Didn’t Even Bring Me Down;
Gordon Lightfoot – The Way I Feel;
Jonathan Wilson – The Way I Feel;
The Krayolas – Gordon Lightfoot;
Rainer with Joey Burns and John Convertino – Hard to Remember;
Giant Sand – Recovery Mission;
Stereo Soul Future – Watching Circles;
Damien Youth – The Boy In A Butterfly Shirt;
Damien Youth – Susie Cinnamon;
The Dying Men – Billy Dolls;
Damien Youth – Fanatic;
Zane Armstrong – Crumbling Abode;
R. Stevie Moore and Ariel Pink – Come My Way.

Flashlite #112

Gary MooreIrish guitar player Gary Moore was a one time member of Thin Lizzy, which was an amazing band. He was in and out of the band many times, but their album Black Rose that featured Moore marked a new era for this band and it is one of their strongest. Moore was a kind of rock musician that put virtuosity ahead of everything. This is a thin line that can make you sound kitschy or really grand. Moore did both, but we will remember him for the best. This show goes to him. First half hour of the show is therefore loud and for the most part live. Still, we also introduce some new artists, Towerbrown from France and Susie Hug from London. Even though Susie lives in London, her sound is very American. This is not surprising since she’s raised in San Diego in a Japanese-American family. Just check our her latest album Tuscon Moonshine that she recorded with the help of Joey Burns and John Convertino of Calexico and Giant Sand fame. We also check in with North Mississippi Allstars – a band that we featured for the first time exactly 10 years ago. They have a new album called Keys To The Kingdom. We also check in with our good friend Huw Akiba Jones and his Akibas. They recorded another album pastorally titled The Cows on Donkey Hillin 2009 and it’s finally in our hands.

Nirvana and Zdenka Kovacicek – Klik tema broj 1;
Thin Lizzy – Toughest Street in Town;
Towerbrown – Let’s paint it brown;
Tim Lee 3 – Kerosene and Matches;
Cheap Wine – Rockin’ In The Free World;
The Godfathers – Blitzkrieg Bop (Live);
North Mississippi AllStars – Goin’ Down South;
Hill Country Revue – Zebra Ranch;
North Mississippi Allstars – The Meeting;
The Akibas – Should Nothing Come;
Susie Hug – Out of Nowhere;
Susie Hug – Amazed;
Bubblegum Lemonade – She’s Got A Gun;
The Singing Loins – Ascending Chatham Hill;
Rod Stewart – Tomorrow is a Long Time.

25 Years of “Tajanstveni voz”

On November 6 1985, exactly 25 years ago, one tradition started to take shape. Zikica Simic in Belgrade (Yugoslavia), decided to start a radio show featuring “the new American rock music” called Tajanstveni voz (Mystery Train). Zikica was featuring bands of the 80s rock’n’roll scene that was impossible to hear anywhere in the world except on college radio stations in the USA. He recognized the respect that these bands had for traditional rock’n’roll and persistently for the next 25 years (and hopefully more) he followed this musical genre as it transformed throughout the years: Husker Du, Green On Red, Violent Femmes, Giant Sand, Tav Falco then a new injection of power with Uncle Tupelo in the nineties and now with Endless Boogie, Phosphorescent, Black Keys and Kurt Vile. He introduced a small army of listeners to the true rock’n’roll sound, including myself. To be perfectly honest, influence of Zikica’s radio show is so enormous on me, that I can easily say how Little Lighthouse is a pale copy of Mystery Train, and still consider it an understatement and a compliment to my show. In the latest installment of his show, Zikica Simic re-played his very first playlist and also threw in a few songs from todays moment in between. A great way to mark quarter of a century of one helluva show.

Playlist 25 years ago…

Violent Femmes – Add It Up
The Long Ryders – I Had A Dream
Beat Rodeo – Without You
R.E.M. – Driver 8
The Del-Lords – Mercenary
Dream Syndicate – Medicine Show
Husker Du – Books About UFOs
Beat Farmers – Bigger Stones
Green On Red – That’s What Dreams
X – What’s Wrong With Me
Minutemen – Cheerleaders
Guadalcanal Diary – Ghost On The Road.

Flashlite #97

Ari UpToday we begin with two obituaries. I’ve only recently heard that Kenny Gethway has passed away in April this year. He was very young and practically at the beginning of his musical career with two of his brothers in this band called Monstrous. I really liked their 2006 album Mother Nature’s Slaves. Somewhat silently they published another album in 2009 called Brothers Gethway, but I only got it now. In any case, my hope is that the other two brothers will continue to make music as great as it was with Kenny when they recuperate. Another loss for rock’n’roll is Ari Up from The Slits, who cause quite a stir back in the days of post punk with their record Cut. Ari Up passed away last week, she was just 48. Today’s show is dedicated to Kenny and Ari. We also have a few new things today. Giant Sand have a new record called Blurry Blue Mountain and Howe Gelb just celebrated his 54th birthday. Other two big rockers, Brian Wilson and Neil Young also have new records out. Neil Young has a noisy guitar album called Le Noise and Brian Wilson has an interesting record where he reimages and reinvents old George Gershwin songs.

Brian Wilson – Rhapsody in Blue (Intro);
Monstrous – Please Start;
Monstrous – Kickn Now;
The Slits – Typical Girls;
Howe Gelb – Blood Orange;
Howe Gelb And The Band of Gypsies – Blood Orange;
Giant Sand – Better Man Than Me;
Peter Case – The Words In Red;
Pat Hull – So Far Gone;
Neil Young – Angry World;
Neil Young – Country Home;
Neil Young – When You Dance You Can Really Love;
New Lou Reeds – Felony;
Limes – Kantina Katrina;
Brian Wilson – Nothing But Love;
Brian Wilson – Rhapsody in Blue (Reprise).

Flashlite #73

Giant SandToday we have two new names at The Little Lighthouse. Pissed Jeans – a neo-grunge band from Pauline, SC. They’ve been a Sub Pop attraction for a few years now, but we have them here for the first time with their new album King of Jeans. We also have Glossary, a new band in and around the Memphis rock’n’roll scene. Beck and Wilco united last summer for a session where they re-recorded the entire Alexander Skip Spence album called Oar. This album is weekly uploaded track by track on Beck’s web site, and there’s one track left to go. Drive By Truckers recorded a new 45 and it is a tribute to Eddie Hinton. Besides Hinton’s great song Everybody Needs Love, the b-side of that 45 contains a wonderful cover of a lesser known Hinton’s song Where’s Eddie. The song and the new version are simply perfect. We also have in this show the new one-off record by Giant Sand called Off Ramp, which is a collection of out-takes and snippets from the recording session that gave birth to their 1991 masterpiece called Ramp.

Eric Burdon And The Animals – Good Times;
Giant Sand – Romance of Falling;
Giant Sand and Victoria Williams – Love;
Victoria Williams – Love;
Eddie Hinton – Everybody Needs Love;
Drive-By Truckers – Where’s Eddie;
Lulu – Where’s Eddie;
Patterson Hood – Pollyanna;
Glossary – No Guarantee;
Jon Dee Graham – Beautifully Broken;
John Wesley Coleman III – Where Did My Friends Go;
Pissed Jeans – False Jesii Part 2;
Bassholes – Don’t You Look Sideways At Me;
Kurt Vile – Hunchback;
Mama Rosin – Le Pistolet;
Beck and Wilco – Little Hands;
Skip Spence – Little Hands.

Flashlite #23

Mickey Waller So, here we are again after a long hot summer break. Radio SC was down over the summer and now that they re-consolidated, The Little Lighthouse is back too. Today’s show is dedicated to Mickey Waller who died on April 29 2008, which we failed to acknowledge in our earlier shows. Waller was a drummer for Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck Group on their best albums. His distinct drumming style on those records helped define the true meaning of rock’n’roll – what ever that may be! Paul Westerberg surprised us this summer with an exceptional lp called 49:00… of your time life. The lp is as strange as the title. It’s just one mp3 track (almost) 49 minutes long, it came out in a year of Paul’s 49th birthday, it was available for sale for 49 hours, the price was 49 cents and it’s a mash-up of countless songs and snippets which sometimes even overlap each-other. A madhouse in one word. In this show we single out three minutes that sound “normal”. Giant Sand also has a new album called Provisions. Their boss, Howe Gelb, produced a new album for Kate Maki On  High who debuts in Little Lighthouse today. This is all really good stuff and we sample it all within the following playlist:

Alejandro Escovedo – Always A Friend;
Hen Gates And His House Rockers – Begin The Rock;
Paul Westerberg – Kentucky Riser;
The Replacements – Sixteen Blue;
Kate Maki – Forever Blue;
Kate Maki – Message Forgot;
Giant Sand – Without A Word;
Giant Sand – Down on Town (Love’s No Answer);
Sam Phillips – Little Plastic Life;

Sandy Denny – Crazy Lady Blues (BBC version);
Sandy Denny – Crazy Lady Blues;
Anna Egge – Crazy Lady Blues;
Mink DeVille – Jolene;
Mr Airplane Man – Not Living at All;
The Moaners – Stranger in China;
Jeff Beck – Shapes Of Things;
Rod Stewart – Cut Across Shorty;
Flee-Rekkers – Sunday Date.