Today we welcome J Mascis and David Nance both with the new albums. Also, returning to the Little Lighthouse we have Ghost Funk Orchestra from New York and Hightown Pirates from UK. Avi C. Engel is also back, but with a new name (used to be Clara Engel). We introduce Sleeveens with roots in Ireland, Fast Eddy from Denver CO, The Other Hit from Minneapolis, Reitxel O. from Spain. Gaby Moreno is a really well established name in the world of pop music, but here she is for the first time at the Little Lighthouse too!
The Honey Pot – Comfy’s Honey Jar
The Sleeveens – Give My Regards To The Dancing Girls
Fast Eddy – Spirit Commander
Dinosaur JR – Watch The Corners
J Mascis – What Do We Do Now
David Nance – Mock the Hours
David Nance – 5, 2 and 4
Hightown Pirates – 1000 Nights
Ghost Funk Orchestra – Nova
Freedom Hawk – Age of The Idiot
The Other Hit – Stone’s Throw
Reitxel O. – Throw it away
Doris Melton – Everyone is my Enemy
Gaby Moreno – Solid Ground
Avi C. Engel – Ladybird, What’s Wrong
Ty Segall – Eggman
Tonight we check out the new music from Mark Lanegan, who teamed up again with Duke Garwood. We also check out the new song from J Mascis, with another solo effort. Another legend from around that time, Chris Mars, the drummer of The Replacements has a new album, so we check that out as well. ESC Life used to be a touring band for Grant Hart and now they have a new single. Ty Segall, Charles Mootheart and Chris Shaw from Ex Cult are back with their GØGGS. Desert Mountain Tribe are also back with the new album and so is Brian Lisik, but he is from Ohio. We introduce Grex from Oakland, California. Death of Samantha is in our live in Cleveland segment.
Andy and Zach Gabbard are in a hard rocking, jammy band from Cincinnati called Buffalo Killers. As a band, Buffalo Killers delivered a string of five notable albums and both brothers wrote the songs. This year, Andy decided to try something on his own.
When Mick Jagger was in his late forties he recorded Primitive Cool and Steel Wheels. Certainly not the highest point of his career. But, it seems that the generation of musicians who are in their late forties these days are growing up a bit slower, putting better and better records as the time goes by. Examples are many – Nick Saloman from Bevis Frond, Matthew Smith from Outrageous Cherry, Rich Hopkins… The heroes of this story, Doug Gillard and John Petkovic are in that group.
We have some hot reissues this time from the Numero Group. As a continuation of their Nikki Sudden reissues, we also now have the first Jacobites reissues, the first lp and Robespierre’s Velvet Basement. Another hot reissue on the same label is Texan hard rock band Josefus with their 1970 loud masterpiece Dead Man. We also have some interesting new records. Brian Olive, who used to be with The Greenhornes and Soledad Brothers, now has a new EP called Move. We introduce The Ugly Beats from Austin TX and Rat Columns for the first time at The Little Lighthouse. Rock’n’roll megastars J Mascis and Ty Segall have new records each and Mark Lanegan had put out the new EP as an advance for the upcoming new record in the Fall this year.
Doug Gillard has a new record out called Parade On and we check out the new single. His old band-mate from Death of Samantha, John Petkovic and his new band with J Mascis, Sweet Apple, finally have their long-awaited second record out, and we check out one track from it. Holly Golightly and her Brokeoffs are back with another LP, All Her Fault. Luther Dickinson of The North Mississippi Allstars also has a new record called Rock’n’roll Blues. Dex Romweber from Flat Duo Jets returned with Images 13 plus there’s a recent reissue of the back catalogue on Third Man Records. We introduce three new names. Little Murders from Australia and Lydia Loveless from Columbus. Muck and The Mires come from Boston.
Today we continue representing the Vacilando ’68 artists. We have three London based names: Mr. Ron Jetson, a one man band, and two rockin’ bands Thee Spivs and Dear Thief. Very interesting music scene from England and on V’68 roster! Jamie Lawson was an artist that we featured exactly 10 years ago in our show. Today, we hear he has a brand new hit single in Ireland. We check that out. Also, three legendary 80s rockers are back. Exene Cervenka and J. Mascis have new solo albums and REM has a new LP.
Sweet Apple is a side band for John Petkovic of Cobra Verde, J Mascis of Dinosaur JR and Dave Sweetapple of Witch. It happened in a bitter moment when the trio of these rock’n’roll greats desperately needed a break not only from the music that they worked on in their original bands, but also a break from the situations in life that at the time seemed to choke them. Sometimes the best cure is to run away which a pack of friends, experience something new and return as a richer person. This is exactly what this pack did. A weaker person would cut his wrists, but these three people poored their hearts into a rocker that bursts with energy and desire for life. Casual atmosphere in the record creation allowed J to switch over to drums, totaling only three solos on the entire record. Still, there’s plenty of brilliant guitar work on the record courtesy of Tim Parnin of Cobra Verde and John on his purple Gretch (which he used in the songwriting process). Nothing is forced here, songs are charged with energy, crispy riffs are everywhere only to slow down on Dead Moon which stands out as a dark reminder that a man needs light to live, even if that light comes from a stage light show.
When Dinosaur Jr reformed in their original line-up, it smelled like a money grabbing opportunity. First album in of the reformed line-up was a disappointment. Nobody expected much of the second one. However, when the sounds of Farm hit the Internet this summer, I had to re-examine my point of view regarding the new found companionship between the former foes Mascis and Barlow. Farm, just like Mission of Burma’s On Off On, captures an old band in a new found artistic height. Songs are wonderful, long, solos are gorgeous. An hour of pure pleasure is augmented by the extra disc (look for that exclusive release), where Dinosaur JR cover The Zombies and revisit old J’s acoustic pastiche Little Ethnic Song.