Crowdfunding is a cool new way to help musicians make their albums ahead of time, get some special releases in return and maybe even influence the content in some ways. I mean, without your help, the stuff wouldn’t even be out. Today we introduce two artist that took the road of crowdfunding. Clara Engel is from Toronto and she’s a singer songwriter. She previously published in UK and Italy, but not in North America. She started a website on kapipal where you can help her put together her record. Our old friend from The Windbreakers and Gone Fishin’, Tim Lee with his new band Tim Lee 3 is also crowfunding the upcoming album Devil’s Rope. He has an account on indiegogo. Also, he organized a tribute album to his old pal from the Windbreakers Bobby Sutliff and called it Skrang!. We check out one song that he prepared for this occasion today. Sutliff had a bad car accident and needs help to cover the health care costs. We also introduce two new bands, Velociraptor from Australia and The Strypes from Ireland. Strypes are very young and people talked a lot about them last year. Cleveland bands Pere Ubu and Scarcity of Tanks have new albums and Cobra Verde is in our segment live from CLE. Also, we pay a small tribute to Wilko Johnson from Dr. Feelgood who has been diagnosed with the terminal pancreatic cancer.
Damien Youth – Dandelion Girl;
Velociraptor – I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night);
Velociraptor – Sleeping With The Fishes;
The Rolling Stones – Route 66;
The Strypes – Route 66;
Nat King Cole – Route 66;
The Windbreakers – Black & White;
Tim Lee 3 – I Thought You Knew;
Clara Engel – Song to the Sea Witch (Disembody My Voice);
Patti Smith – Dancing Barefoot;
Pere Ubu – Waiting for Mary;
Pere Ubu – Free White;
Scarcity of Tanks – Quigley Dictum;
Cobra Verde – Temptation (Live in CLE);
Moloch – I Can Think The Same of You;
Don Nix – Olena;
Harlan T. Bobo – Crazy With Loneliness;
Dr. Feelgood – One Weekend;
Digger And The Pussycats – Nice to Your Body.
This is the first show this year filled with new music. We open up with Palmyra Delran who’s latest single You’re My Brian Jones is a big hit on satellite radio. Then we have the legendary Shoes. They reissued one of their ultra rare albums from the 70s, Bazooka and also recently released a brand new album Ignition. Stan McMahon is a new name, he comes from Portland, OR and has a cassette tape on Burger records. Low Cut Connie caused quite a stir last year when they appeared on the Rolling Stone magazine list of best songs. They also played in Cleveland, so we feature them in our Live from Cleveland segment. Steve Wynn has a album of home demos that he made in his apartment in NYC. Dead Horse One are a new band from France and they perform a very competent version of shoegaze rock. They sing in English, but we also have some Americans that sing in French today. It’s The Revelers from Louisiana, a band that plays cajun rock and who were formed by the members of Red Stick Ramblers and Pine Leaf Boys. Another one of our favorite cajun bands, Mama Rosin has a holiday single, so we check that out as well. Finally, at the end of the show we land in Balkans and we check out an Americana band from Belgrade called On Tour and punk-rock-kazachok band called Cherkezi United, lead by an Ukranian living in Zagreb.
Last week we introduced the list of 20 best LPs that we liked to listen to here at The Little Lighthouse. This week, we move on to the list of five best reissues and archival recordings that came out in or around 2012. The title goes to Tav Falco and a gorgeous reissue of Beyond the Magnolia Curtain with also included Blow Your Top EP and four pages of early history of the band. The whole list looks like this:
It’s the end of the 2012 and it’s time to sum things up. As usual, at this time of the year we reflect on the past months and put together a list of our favorite records. Today we will review the year by listing the best albums this year, or at least those that I think were the most exciting and that we featured in detail here at the Little Lighthouse. Those that followed our playlists and reviews will probably not be surprised with the top five. I will follow up with reviews for most of these albums in the days to come, and you can tell us what you think. This year, the title of the greatest album goes to the young Canadian singer songwriter Eamon McGrath who put together a deep, personal and fun album about his life in the wonderful land of Canada and his generation of young people living over there. The list is closely followed by Dan Stuart’s return The Deliverance of Marlowe Billings. Here’s the rest of the list.
We start off today with the new single for Sweet Apple. It’s a cover of Alice Cooper’s Elected. Then we check out the new band from Los Angeles, Blackfeet Braves. Los Straitjackets follow with their instrumental version of Nirvana’s Teen Spirit. Then we introduce new band from Australia, The Laurels. Shivering Timbers from Akron are in our Live in Cleveland segment. We also check out the new record for legendary Graham Parker. Some new reissues/archives are out as well. Jacke Deshannon’s final installment of her 60’s singles and Dan Penn’s soulful demos.
Today’s show is concentrated on Australia. On the 40th anniversary of the greatest rock compilation ever, the original Nuggets, a bunch of Australian bands gathered to make a tribute these days. The tribute is entitled Nuggets Antipodean Interpolations of the First Psychedelic Era and it brings to us 27 bands from the new Australian garage rock scene. This time we bring two new names from that record: Tiny Migrants and Palms. Outside the compilation, but still from Australia, we have duet Digger and The Pussycats and the new supergroup consisted of two members from The Beasts of Bourbon and two members from The Drones. The band is called Spencer P. Jones and the Nothing Butts. From Europe, we have My Buddy Moose, Americana band from Rijeka, Croatia, with their new single and the new name from San Francisco scene Kelley Stoltz. But the biggest news this week is definitely Eric Burdon who joined forces with Greenhornes for the new, exciting EP!
Today is the time for the fifth edition of our occasional special called Vinyl Junkyard in which I represent one record that I’ve found laying lonesome in some dusty bargain bin for a ridiculously small amount of money, but that brings a lot of wonderful listening pleasure. Today’s record is put together back in 1978 by Beserkley Records, and indie label that employed at the time diverse bands such as The Modern Lovers, Earth Quake, Greg Kihn, Tyla Gang and The Rubinoos. One of the most precious releases by the Beserkley Records was a compilation record entitled Spitballs where all of the Beserkley roster joined forces and in ad hoc line ups recorded some of their favorite songs from the rock’n’roll past. The results are fun to listen and in this show, we will compare the covers with the original tunes.
Today we open up with our good friends Cheap Wine from Pesaro in Italy, one of the best Americana band outside America. We also represent the new album from the Australian singer songwriter Paul Kelly. Sarah Borges joined forces with Los Straitjackets for a cover of The Rolling Stones Let’s Spend The Night Together. Buddy Miller joined forces with Jim Lauderdale for a new album together. And Trixie Whitley visited Cleveland with her band and totally rocked the house. We hear a portion of her snow in Beachland in our segment Live in Cleveland.
Several new things today… John Wesley Coleman III has yet another record out this year, so when you add it all up together, it’s his forth this year: two solo, one duet and one with The Golden Boys (we