Oh! Episode 500 from Cleveland? That’s a lot when you think about it… But, let’s not worry too much about big round numbers and keep on keeping on. We have a new band from Chris Eckman of The Walkabouts, which he formed with Croatian musicians. It’s called The Strange. Jim Lauderdale is back with two new records. One is solo, and the other one is with buddy Roland White. The rest of the stuff today are all new names for us: The Coke Dares from Bloominton IN, Dark Thoughts from Philly, The Black Delta Movement over in Hull, UK and Chris Richards with his Subtractions over in Detroit. We also have Message, a band I know nothing about, but hopefully I find some info in the near future. Ruby Boots is in our Live in Cleveland segment.
Beatles – Helter Skelter;
The Coke Dares – You Say a Lot;
Dark Thoughts – Owing Money;
Public Squares – Blindly;
The Supahip – Motor;
Wild Eyes – The Freak;
The Black Delta Movement – Let The Rain Come;
Message – Crying Out Loud;
Saucers – Take A Chance;
The Well Wishers – I’m Not The Enemy;
Chris Richards and The Subtractions – The End of Me;
The Strange – Last Summer Song;
Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog – YRU Still Here;
Ruby Boots (Live in CLE);
Jim Lauderdale – Time Flies;
Jim Lauderdale & Roland White – Try and Catch the Wind;
Sid Selvidge – Try And Catch The Wind.
Today we have a relatively random playlist consisting of some of the most interesting cover songs in the past year or so. The only truly new record this time is Under The Covers Vol 3 by Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs. This time they covered the 80s and we hear their version of the XTC song Towers of London. We also check out Replacements and Arbouretum, each with a Gordon Lightfoot tune, Dan Sarka covers The Records and Steve Wynn covers Townes Van Zandt. We recorded Dax Riggs in Kent with a cover of a Billie Holiday tune and we also check out Carla Olson and Juice Newton belt out a Foster and Lloyd tune and The Walkabouts in Boss’ shoes.
Today’s spotlight is on the neo-acoustic music scene in former Yugoslavia. There was a huge folk movement also known over there as akusticari in the early to mid seventies. It seems as that scene is being revived. We already presented Belgrade’s On Tour some time ago, and today we have two more new names. Irena Žilić is a young singer songwriter from Zagreb with her modern and fresh take on western folk music. Nina Romić, also from Zagreb, is on the other hand more rooted in the local folklore. In this episode, she covers a song written originally by Satan Panonski – a hard blood shock punk from the eighties who was both influential and controversial at the same time. Nina’s cover is a part of a larger tribute called OÄi u magli. We also have a new album by our old friends from Rijeka My Buddy Moose. Their style is more on the roots rock side. Their new album Shine Shine Shine is produced by Chris Eckman from The Walkabouts, who also lives in that neck of the woods these days – Ljubljana. The Walkabouts have a live album called Berlin and we check that out as well in this show. Elsewhere form Europe, Amsterdam, we have an instrumental outfit called Bevel Emboss who create a wonderful tapestry of guitar sounds on their new album called Celluloid. Back to America – we have Arbouretum from Baltimore for the first time and super-group Sweet Apple have a new single out there which announces their album due this Spring around the Record Store Day. Mark Lanegan is a guest vocalist!
Folks, 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.
Ladies night today! First 40 minutes is nothing but ladies… Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss from Sleater Kinney have a fresh, new band called Wild Flag. Self title album is out on Merge. Singer songwriters Pieta Brown and Ana Egge are also here with interesting albums. Egge’s new record is called Bad Blood and it’s apparently based around the mental problems that run in her family. The Walkabouts are also back after six years with the new record which they call Travels In The Dustland. Chris Eckman lives in Slovenia these days and he organized a very interesting tribute to Bob Dylan together with a group of local musicians. We represent this album today with Severa Gjurin and her version of Not Dark Yet from Bob’s later period. The show closes with two boys from across the pond. The new name for us is Danny George Wilson and his band The Champions of The World. Springsteen fans should pay attention. Laz McCluskey from Bubblegum Lemonade is working on the new record and testing the pulse of the audience by sharing some early demos. We check out one of those demos today.
Today we feature Fred Cole, legendary Oregon rocker who’s been around since the Nuggets days. Of course, his best known band is Dead Moon, but he was also in The Lollipop Shoppe, Zipper and The Rats. His newest band is the great Pierced Arrows, which I was lucky enough to see live on a stormy winter night last weekend here in Cleveland. Pierced Arrows have a brand new second album out called Descending Shadows. We also introduce the German band Locas In Love obviously named after the Love and Rockets comic book episodes involving Maggie and Hopey. They appeared on the new Walkabouts tribute called Got No Chains. The Hotrats are the two dudes from Supergrass, one of the most annoying nineties English bands. Still, Hotrats are not that bad at all and we hear their interesting treatment of Beastie Boys original You Gotta Fight…. Things turn around! Home Sweet Home is another project by Luther Dickinson and it again, it’s done in the spirit of Luther’s father Jim. Also, we hear a new mp3 by Abby Travis recorded specially for the new Dave Markey’s movie The Reinactors.