#Schwervon!

[cellulardreams]

Lucy Dacus by Sid Sowder Via Flickr: An ardent KC crowd made Lucy Dacus and opener Schwervon feel welcomed on a Monday night. Find my photos and video of the show on Too Much Rock at toomuchrock.com/

[bergeremporium]

Skirting the Shirt

Schwervon! were the band of the week and they were touring sporadically but their awful cat needing watching, and I was just the sort of guy to do it. When they got back from the UK, they offered me, among other goodies, a sleeveless Union Jack shirt. It was a Medium. I haven’t been a Medium since I was quickly growing out of children’s sizes. "Thanks!" I said. I tacked it on my wall, in the…

[weemaykmusic]

As viewers around the world get caught up on season 3 of The Good Fight (especially this episode), Elastic No-No Band’s lo-fi acoustic cover of Nick Lowe’s “Raining Raining” keeps finding new converts, which has secured the song’s perch at the tippy-top of the Weemayk Top 20 for another month. Speaking of Nick Lowe, some tunes from Duck the Piano Wire’s tribute to the man known as “Basher” have resurfaced in the lower reaches of the Top 20: “My Heart Hurts” (#16) and “Let Me Kiss Ya” (#17). Only 2 chart debuts this month, and they’re both relative oldies that have recently picked up additional steam. Higher up the list, we’ve got Joe Crow Ryan’s 2012 rendition (his second, by the way) of the old standard, “How High the Moon” (#13). And just squeaking in, we’ve got Elastic No-No Band’s collaboration with Maeve End from 2010, “Hey 2-Eyes” (#19). (Something is up with tumblr’s coding right now, so I can’t put the Spotify playlist at the top of the post; instead it’s embedded at the end. Hopefully, you’ll be able to enjoy it either way!) Weemayk Music Top 20 (Spotify streams, mid-May 2019 to mid-June 2019) 1. Elastic No-No Band - “Raining Raining” (Nick Lowe cover) [same as last month] 2. Thomas Patrick Maguire - “Divorce Man” [chart re-entry] 3. Thomas Patrick Maguire - “Corporation Town” [chart re-entry] 4. Joe Crow Ryan - “My Arrest” [down 2 spots from last month] 5. Huggabroomstik - “The Day That the Fungus Caught Up With My Foot” [up 1 spot from last month] 6. Elastic No-No Band - “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (The Beatles cover) [up 4 spots from last month] 7. Thomas Patrick Maguire - “Brooklyn Nights” [chart re-entry] 8. Elastic No-No Band - “Everyday I Write the Book” (Elvis Costello cover) [down 1 spot from last month] 9. Thomas Patrick Maguire - “Who Do You Give Your Money To” [down 5 spots from last month] 10. Joe Crow Ryan - “Did You Put a Spell On Me?” (Soft Black cover) [down 2 spots from last month] 11. Thomas Patrick Maguire “Go to Hell” [chart re-entry] 12. Elastic No-No Band, Huggabroomstik, Schwervon!, and The Leader - “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” (Meat Loaf cover) [down 3 spots from last month] 13. Joe Crow Ryan - “How High the Moon (Version 2)” (Les Paul/Mary Ford cover) [chart debut] 14. Duck the Piano Wire - “Nameless, Faceless” (Courtney Barnett cover) [chart re-entry] 15. The Heat Whispers - “The Battle of Ron LaPierre” [up 5 spots from last month] 16. Duck the Piano Wire - “My Heart Hurts” (Nick Lowe cover) [chart re-entry] 17. Duck the Piano Wire - “Let Me Kiss Ya” (Nick Lowe cover) [chart re-entry] 18. Preston Spurlock - “Choking Game” [down 3 spots from last month] 19. Elastic No-No Band & Maeve End - “Hey 2-Eyes (Single Version)” [chart debut] 20. Duck the Piano Wire - “Bop Shoo Bop (Single Edit)” [chart re-entry]

[castiellesbian]

I was tagged by @caswlw and @samdyke to do this, thank you both!!

rules: You can usually tell a lot about a person by the type of music they listen to. Put your favourite playlist on shuffle and list the first 10 songs, then tag 10 people. No skipping!

Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle - Don’t Kiss Me Goodbye

Bonny Doon - A Lotta Things

Kathy Heideman - Stormy

Japanese Breakfast - The Body is a Blade

Courtney Barnett - Avant Gardener

Control Top - Type A

NOTS - Reactor

Schwervon! - Wrath of Angels

Heavens to Betsy - axeman

Julia Jacklin - You Were Right

I don’t know if I could think of 10 different people to tag, but I WILL tag @meatman67 and then give you all a blanket permission to just say I tagged you if you want to do this haha

[secretradiobrooklyn]

Shroud of Pigeon | 12.5.20

Secret Radio | 12.5.20 | Hear it here.

1. Yos Olarang - title unknown

This is a real score in my book. Generally known as Yol Aularon, this guy is Cambodia’s greatest rock musician, turning out garage rock that knows no equal in America or anywhere else, in my opinion. I tracked down this song on a tape attributed to “Yol Aularon” which includes his big hit, “Cyclo,” but also this song which I haven’t heard on any other collections. Honestly, though, I may yet run across it in a prominent collection, because I have no way of figuring out the title — every bit of the text I can find is in Cambodian. In any case, we LOVE this track! It’s almost like a catalog of Olarang’s laughs: there’s a merry snort, a giggle, and a malevolent cackle all built into the melody. I believe he’s the blazing lead guitarist as well. It’s just such a perfect gem of pure rock energy.

2. Gedou - “Scent” (I think)

Speaking of pure rock energy — DAMN, SAM! This was our introduction to Gedou, a blasting burst of Japanese glam rock whose costumes match the sounds you hear here. These guys were only originally active from ’73-’76, and then got back together sporadically after that; I believe this is from that original lineup. It’s well worth it to check the live video that this comes from. It’s an electric thrill just to see them leaning back to back, singing into the same mic, doing kicks and losing their minds in shining kimonos and silk hiphuggers. It feels like a Japanese MC5 whose wardrobe directly influenced David Bowie. One note I read says that they were popular with Japanese biker gangs at the time — and there are certainly bikes aplenty in the video. I’m looking forward to finding out more about the impact they had in Japan, and whether they made an impression in the rest of the world. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHfBhJsqrD8

3. Clothilde - “Saperlipopette”

What a strange little slab of chamber pop! Clothilde was barely even a one-hit wonder in France — she released two 45s in 1967 and, as far as I know, that was it. But what a song! It’s like a vanful of pop records crashed into a classical instrument shop. I especially dig the xylophone or whatever that is back there — hardly necessary given the hyperactive harpsichord, but it takes the poppy flavor right over the top. So many bands have tried to get to this level of fizz, but I’ve never heard it succeed like this!

- King Kong - “Ten Long Years”

Slint is one of indie rock’s most unimpeachably cool bands, which makes the silliness of King Kong all the more endearing. Band leader Ethan Buckler was the original bassist in Slint, and all of the Slint lineup got into the act at one point or another. In 1995 Drag City released King Kong’s “Me Hungry,” a sort of funky concept album about a caveman, his yak, and an inhospitable world. Sean Nelson and I spent many not-sober nights enjoying that record — “I push em out, I push em out” — and got to see them play the Crocodile Cafe. I definitely remember appreciating how groovy King Kong was, like Neanderthal B-52s. Butler even looked a bit like a shaved caver. 

4. Star Feminine Band - “Femme Africaine”

Born Bad is our new favorite label, right up there with Analog Africa. They’re based in France, and release music both archival and new. Star Feminine Band is based in Benin, home to so much of our favorite music. It’s definitely worth watching the video for this song just to see how young and full of potential the girls in the band are. They were assembled in a School of Rock sort of situation, taught to play instruments and encouraged to write lyrics. The lyrics of this song are so directly uplifting it’s enough to put a lump in the throat. Meanwhile, the music is such a pleasure to listen to! The whole album is full of good stuff, but this song is pretty much their theme song. It translates to: 

“Oh woman, African woman

Oh woman, Beninese woman

Black woman, get up, don't sleep

You can become president of the republic

You can become prime minister of the country

Get up, something must be done

African woman, be independent

The country needs us, go to school

Africa needs you, you have to work

The world needs us, let's stand up we'll defend

African woman, be independent”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdDp6VAXXbk

5. Young Signorino - “Mmh Ha Ha Ha”

A few years ago a friend posted the video for this song on FB with a note that was like, “Ever see something you should hate but you can’t stop watching?” I watched it, watched it again… and watched it again. It eventually slipped out of my mind, but I was thrilled to remember it the other day in the context of WBFF. The song’s language, such as it is, is Italian, but it also just fits perfectly into the post-language mix that has been turning our cranks lately. I’m really glad to get a chance to present it here first as a piece of music, because the video really affects the experience. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9bf4PT-aEk

6. Yura Yura Teikoku - ゆらゆら帝国で考え中  “Yura Yura Keikoku de Kangaechuu” (I think?)

This is another sweet find in a broadcast full of em! Yura Yura Teikoku is a trio formed in 1989 and have a huge rep in Japan as a psychedelic band, but apparently by 2000 they were crafting super-awesome pop songs that rocked hard. The video of this song features a singer with adorably mussed hair and a striped shirt against an orange background, looking super hip and on top of the world. From what I’ve read they were gigantic in Japan but utterly unknown outside, which changed a bit when they played New York in 2007 and again a year later, to packed houses. But that didn’t seem to do the trick, and they finally broke up in 2010. They have several good songs from this period, but this one, from a three-song 45, is the one that has hooked us the hardest so far. We can’t seem to find out even what the song title is, but as far as I can tell the band’s name translates to The Wobbling Empire, and the song title is “Thinking in the Wobbling Empire.” It’s bizarre to us that this kind of hip tight rock didn’t find a way into the bigger world… but I guess singing in Japanese was the deciding factor. Really glad to have uncovered it though!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9CM44MohAs

7. Can - “Mother Sky”

I know a lot of bigger Can fans than me, but this track has so much of what we love in the drones, the freakouts, the lockdowns, the Engl-ish vocals, the long climb towards the climax… it feels sometimes like flying, sometimes like swimming, sometimes like burrowing deeper and deeper downwards.

8. Señor Coconut - “Showroom Dummies”

Can and Kraftwerk share enough DNA that they seem like a natural pairing. But… Señor Coconut’s version of this classic track of “Trans-Europe Express” is honestly my preferred version of the song. It sounds so sincere and strange, and I find myself thinking about the lives of mannequins even as I also hear the palm leaves switching in the breeze. The album “El Baile Aleman” — “German Dance” — was released in 1999, and apparently Kraftwerk was fine with it. Thank goodness. 

- Lithics - “A Highly Textured Ceiling”

Every time I hear this track I think of Six Finger Satellite’s “The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird,” a crucial album for me. I learned about all of these tones for the first time from that record. I’ma write more about this band in a sec, when they show back up. 

9. Schwervon! - “American Idle” 

Years ago Mike Appelstein hipped us to Schwervon!, a two-piece band who were about to make the opposite journey of our own eventual path, moving from NYC to Missouri — in their case Kansas City. They turned out to be lovely individuals and an instant favorite band, and we hosted them whenever they came through STL. Their album “Courage” plays like a lost ’90s classic, and “American Idle” is one of the best tracks on there. The production of the album, by Matt Mason, is straight-up enviable. As is so often the case, good people have good friends, and they led us to Jeffrey Lewis, who has been a pleasure to get to know better since we made our own way east last year. I don’t think Matt and Nan are writing songs together anymore, but we’re glad that they did. 

10. Boney M. - “Rasputin”

I saw this song peeking at me from my computer now and then, but didn’t check it out til recently. What a complete banger! The lyrics are absolutely fantastic — “Rah! Rah! Rasputin, Russia’s greatest love machine, it was a shame how he carried on!” — but so is the production… and the video, for that matter. Apparently this was a hit track in 1978. I’ve spent most of my life avoiding disco, though, so I had no idea. I love how the narrative weight shifts from the lead male voice to the chorus voices. It’s such a strange read of Rasputin’s life and death — the unkillable Casanova of Russia!

11. Rafaella Carrá - “Festa”

Did I mention that I used to hate disco? Well, this is my big comeup. We’ve been dabbling in disco on WBFF here and there, but this pairing is meant strictly for the dancefloor! This is the original Italian version, but Carrá became a massive hit in Spain and recorded most of her songs in Spanish as well. Obviously, the Spanish influence is strong in this song’s amazing flamenco claps and trumpet passages. 

12. T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou Benin et Loko Pierre - “Djo Mi Do”

There’s nowhere to go from disco but back to our prime fascination: Tout Puissant! This album is a collaboration with saxophonist Loko Pierre, and every track hits hard. But this track’s chorus, “djo mi do, djo mi do!” is such a gotdamn hook! This band continues to surprise and reward the deeper we dig into their catalog, and I feel like we’re still just getting started. So funky and fresh every time.

The chorus makes me think of a song we first heard on KDHX about a decade ago — “Dominos,” by The Big Pink. I really liked the hook of the song but loathed the cold-blooded lyrics, so I found myself hating it. You know how it is. I’m really glad to find a song that can replace it in my head — and it’s a way better song!

13. Bruno Leys - “Hallucinations”

Credit to Born Bad records once again for this song. It’s a true rarity. Bruno Leys fell in with some fellow students in Paris in 1967 including a guy named Emmanuel Pairault, who was obsessed with an instrument called the ondes Martenot, which is a very very early electronic instrument that works a little like a theremin — though it’s played by wearing a ring on one finger and sliding it along a wire, depressing the wire to change the note — but has a crazy range of sounds. The instrumental hook in this song, as well as the backing notes, are on the onde Martenot. Leys co-wrote and recorded four songs with the band, they got signed up with a label, released a 7”, then he had to leave for compulsory military service… and by the time he got back two years later there was no band and no label. The 7” was practically unobtainable til this year, when Born Bad records finally released it anew. I hope Leys is still alive to appreciate that it finally made its way into the world!

- The Psycheground Group - “Psycheground”

14. Troubadour Dali - “Spirit of ’67”

Oh, Troubadour… Sleepy Kitty shared a label with Troubadour Dali for several years, and we were big fans of their whirling swirling psychedelia. They had a couple of chicks (I think they’d approve of the word) projecting old-school colored oil-and-water light effects on the band, and when they were on, they looked and felt like the greatest band in the land. Troubadour went through an impressive number of players over the years, and there was generally some sort of drama or mayhem going on — not too surprising for a band who loved Brian Jonestown Massacre. The main songwriter was a lanky, handsome fella named Ben, though there were also great songs by Kevin and, every once in a great while, a powerful contribution by a quiet, snappy dresser named Benjamin. Benjamin apparently put this recording together entirely on his own. When he showed it to the band they flipped out — it’s obviously a winner — and they quickly got together a live version of it. Man, it tore the house down every time. At some point, though, in the midst of some of that drama, Benjamin started to kind of slip sideways out of the band. As they were finishing up their second full length, he declined to let the band record this song, or to make the demo available, despite their pleas. Eventually they went forward without it, and I don’t know what happened to Benjamin but I do know that Paige happened to rediscover her copy of “Spirit of ‘67″ recently, tucked into a stack of burned CDs. We’re very glad to get to drop this very special song into this secret radio mix.

- The Psycheground Group - “Psycheground”

Rare Italian instrumental noodles from the mid ’70s.

15. The Velvet Underground - “After Hours”

*Not ruined. Affected, but not ruined. She said so. 

16. Jean Cussac in “Le Livre de la Jungle” - “Etre un homme comme vous”

One musical adventure we’ve really enjoyed is checking out familiar musicals in unfamiliar tongues. And though you may not think of Disney’s “Jungle Book” as a musical, you’d be mistaken. This version of “I Want to Be Like You” is a particular delight. It plays straight with the original, but the presence of the French language inflects the rhythms with a Parisian flavor that I’d never noticed before.

17. Duch Kim Hak - “Neary Sok Khley”

Another hit from the Cambodian treasure chest. Paige noted as we listened the first time, “This one has good chords,” and we took to referring to it as Cambodian ska. I think it’s meant to be a simple twist song, but there’s a royal quality to the chords that really puts it above a straightforward dance novelty. And his vocal delivery is ace!

18. The Fall - “Terry Waite Sez”

Not much needed on this one! This is one in a host of classics from 1986’s “Bend Sinister.” The Brix E. period of The Fall is just the BEST. 

19. Twiggy - “When I Think of You”

Paige: “I was made aware of this record by The Deccas [a band she briefly sang with in Chicago]. They knew every single girl group song that had ever been recorded. This was the same band where the guy who was obsessed with Scott Walker and looked like him and his house was very /60s and he had a word processor. I didn’t even know what a word processor was. That’s unrelated to this song though. She’s one of the great singing models — and maybe next week we’ll play another one. There are three known.”

- Psycheground Group - “Psycheground”

20. Hallelujah Chicken Run Band - “Alikulila” 

SO happy to have this album on vinyl at last! It was just released in this format, and Analog Africa is always so good at including notes about the album’s genesis. These guys are from Zambia, and they pioneered the translation of mbira parts into guitar parts, while writing these amazing songs that I’ve never heard anything like. Except for one. One of their songs sounds a bit like a Bound Stems song. Which is weird, because obviously we’d never heard them when we wrote “Cloak of Blue Sky.” It just proves to me that they were both way ahead of their time and working in an idiom that could and should be hit music today. It sounds so alive and creative and insightful, like good indie rock should. 

21. Lithics - “Snake Tattoo / Twisting Vine”

Lithics is one of my favorite contemporary bands. They played Foam in St. Louis like five years ago, right after I’d discovered their existence via the excellent album “Borrowed Floors.” Foam was a tiny little club that fit maybe 50 people and was sure to go apeshit for this show. I was SO psyched to be there… but the night of, we couldn’t get out because we were staying out in the Illinois woods and it was snowing enough to make the return trip too treacherous. As much as that’s one of the main shows of my life I wish I’d seen, I’m glad that Brad got to see them and tell me about it later. I hope I can catch them in NYC.

22. Sunny Blacks Band - “Mission spéciale”

OK, I admit that I’m obsessed with Melome Clement — or Meloclem, as he is known by some in Benin. He’s the composer of hundreds of T.P. Orchestre songs, and I’ve written about him a ton. I know he plays some horns and I believe he plays the slashing guitar that you hear in this track. I don’t think that’s him singing but I’m not sure; his voice is very malleable. Sunny Blacks Band is the group he was playing with when the T.P. Orchestre guys found him. It’s hard music to track down, but I love how much it rocks — or “jerks,” as they said at the time. We’ve also played the track “Holonon Die” on here and it jerks too, with an extended, wild electric guitar solo over pulsing trap and hand drums. What a freakin powerhouse Meloclem is.

23. Betti-Betti - “La Vie de Bettie Bettie Chanteuse Camerounaise”

This recording is a beautiful mystery. It appears in a film called “Badiaga,” which I encountered while looking for music by Betti-Betti, a superstar within her nation of Cameroon. This comes from one of the final scenes in the movie. There are different summations of the film (we don’t understand the language of the film itself), but apparently the story is “inspired by” the story of Betti-Betti, who was discovered as a child wandering in a marketplace, brought up extremely poor and eventually sang (a cappella?) on the radio, whereupon she became an instant success. She played constant shows and played with many of the region’s heaviest hitters, including T.P. Orchestre (they recorded an album together, which is how we found out about her). As for this recording — I don’t know if this is sung by Betti-Betti or by the actress playing her. And I don’t know the male character singing alongside her, though I’m guessing he’s a real-life music figure himself. It’s a beautiful duet, rich with feeling, and the performance footage throughout the movie is electrifying. 

P.S. This film is also how I found out about Eko Roosevelt, whose “Me To a Dey My Own” is an epic upbeat number we’ve played on WBFF!

24. Guided By Voices - “The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory”

A perfect song, meant for the opposite of social distancing: to be sung full-bore in a crowd with one’s arms slung around sweating strangers, straight into the face of the band (I’ll be the one hooting the recorder part). This is how legends are made. 

 - Janko Nilovic & Soul Surfers - “Maze of Sounds”

I love the bass part on this album as much as the album artwork, which we will surely have included somewhere around here. This guy’s story is pretty interesting: he was born in Istanbul to a Montenegrin father and Greek mother, and his career started by working with French singer Davy Jones (but not THAT Davy Jones) in 1967. He got into recording for sound libraries, working in soul and funk and psych music, gained a serious composing rep and eventually, maybe inevitably, his music started getting sampled by the likes of Dr. Dre and Jay Z. Not bad, not bad!

25. Gnonnas Pedro et Ses Dadjes - “La Musica en Verité”

Maybe someday we’ll release the version of this song that we recorded in the early days of the pandemic. This is the final track (if not the final song) on the immortal “Legends of Benin” album on Analog Africa. My favorite aspect is how the guitar plays the same mesmerizing piece throughout, but the percussion evolves over the course of the song until it has gradually changed completely. It’s a subtle dynamic but it’s a master clinic in how to run a drone song the right way. Also, that organ part is just beautiful.

[freakoutgirl]

Schwervon! // Wrath of Angels

You can’t hurt the one that you want So you hurt the one that you love

[boitedeconcert]

Schwervon!

Empty Shop HQ, Durham, England. 04/12/17.

[wildeplakate]

[weemaykcatalog]

Weemayk Music ARTISTS K-Z

KUNG FU CRIMEWAVE

THE LEADER

THOMAS PATRICK MAGUIRE

JOE CROW RYAN

SCHWERVON!

PRESTON SPURLOCK

THE TELETHONS

[wussyknowsbest]

Today! Wussy @ Please Please You Christmas Party w/ Schwervon!, The Cornshed Sisters, The Magic Words (Lisa From WUSSY) + DJ Need-A-Stack (Bob Nastanovich of Pavement) in York, United Kingdom - December 1st

[dina-inks]

I'm tired, but feelin sassy, and I always wanna take a selfie when I wear my @schwervon t! #tired #sassy #friday #selfie #sassyselfie #happyfriday #nyc (at Midtown Manhattan)

[weemaykmusic]

One major weirdness in this month’s chart. Right at #9 is the early appearance of Major Matt Mason USA & Justin Remer’s cover of “Winter Wonderland.” Clearly someone out there is getting into the pre-holiday spirit with a vengeance. Weemayk Music Top 20 (Spotify streams, mid-September to mid-October 2018) 1. Thomas Patrick Maguire - “Go to Hell” [up 5 spots from last month] 2. Thomas Patrick Maguire - “House of Rain” [chart re-entry] 3. Thomas Patrick Maguire - “Oh America” [chart re-entry] 4. Elastic No-No Band - “Everyday I Write the Book” (Elvis Costello cover) [up 1 spot from last month] 5. Thomas Patrick Maguire - “Brooklyn Nights” [down 4 spots from last month] 6. Elastic No-No Band - “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (The Beatles cover) [up 1 spot from last month] 7. Joe Crow Ryan - “One More Cup of Coffee” (Bob Dylan cover) [up 5 spots from last month] 8. Elastic No-No Band, Huggabroomstik, Schwervon!, and The Leader - “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” (Meat Loaf cover) [up 1 spot from last month] 9. Major Matt Mason USA & Justin Remer - “Winter Wonderland” [chart re-entry] 10. Huggabroomstik - “You Sucky Dry” [up 4 spots from last month] 11. Joe Crow Ryan - “Did You Put a Spell On Me?” (Soft Black cover) [down 3 spots from last month] 12. Duck the Piano Wire - “I Deserve (Single Mix)” [chart re-entry] 13. Preston Spurlock - “Choking Game” [same as last month] 14. Joe Crow Ryan - ”My Arrest” [down 4 spots from last month] 15. Duck the Piano Wire - “Let Me Kiss Ya” (Nick Lowe cover) [up 2 spots from last month] 16. Huggabroomstik - “To the Girl I Never Knew” [up 4 spots from last month] 17. Joe Crow Ryan - “All Along the Watchtower” (Bob Dylan cover) [chart re-entry] 18. Elastic No-No Band - “Wuthering Heights (Live, 2007)” (Kate Bush cover) [down 7 spots from last month] 19. Huggabroomstik - “Extinction Event” [chart re-entry] 20. Joe Crow Ryan - “Tonight You Belong to Me” (Patience & Prudence cover) [chart re-entry]

[weekendquality]

2017 Year-End Special (Part 1)

So... IT BEGINS! THE BIGGEST WEEKEND QUALITY EPISODES OF THE YEAR ARE HERE! Chris and Shannon count down the top 10 albums of 2017 and talk to the artists who helped create them. As if that weren't enough, there's SO MUCH MORE! Punk rock friends, pals, party animals, and rock gods check in with their own favorites, and the top songs of the year get spun just for you!

Interviews: Andy Burris (Odd Robot) Ernest Mahoney (The Touch) Jesse Thorson (The Slow Death) Mikey Erg Miski Dee, Nich Richard (City Mouse)

Contributors: Corey Meyers (The Barren Marys) Dr. Frank Portman (The Mr. T Experience) Drew Crowley (The Hourchive Podast, Pizzanaut) Dylan McCartney (Vacation) Evan Wolff (Vacation) Fraser Murderburger (The Murderburgers, Fuck! (It's Pronounced Shit!)) Gillian Smith (Spowder) Jaime Parker (Alpha Rabbit, Meeko Brando) Jerri Queen (Vacation) J Nixon (Nervous Triggers, Mikey Erg Band) John Hoffman (Vacation) Jon Lewis (The Dopamines) Kika Kalikas (Wild Rice, In the West) King Mike (Screaming Females, Sweaty, State Champion Records) Mark Hughson (Everyone's Invited) Phil Connor (Glazer, In the West) Rachel Feldmann (Lipstick Homicide, 83 Wolfpack) Schwervon! Tracy Robinson (State Champion Records)

Music by: Alpha Rabbit - Damage Canker Blossom - Stork Little The Capitalist Kids - Decent Proposal Cat Tatt - Kill Yr Roommates Cheap Whine - Cut Out Cheap Whine - Kasumi City Mouse - Journal City Mouse - Mariposa Venenosa Color TV - Meat Wagon The Cryptkeeper Five - 1,000 Keys Dead Bars - Emergency Glazer - Made of Meat Goddamnit - Letterbox Iron Reagan - Grim Business Jamie and the Debt - Mother The LLC - You Milk Music - Dramatic Exit Odd Robot - Bleeding Out Odd Robot - Take With Two White Pills Partial Traces - Dashi Bay Punkémon - Lickitung The Slow Death - Anything The Slow Death - Be The One Spowder - Miracle Grow Starter Jackets - Landline Sweaty - Sweet Baby Swell Maps - The Helicopter Spies Teenage Bottlerocket - Gay Parade The Touch - Flowers The Touch - Rooster The Travoltas - Dying To Do That With You The Young Rochelles - Last Love Letter

Subscribe and/or learn more.

[fourtrackonstageberlin]

7.11.: Fourtrack Spezial: Schwervon! + SchnickSchnack @IE

Future Sailor Concerts, Fourtrack on Stage und What Difference Does It Make präsentieren: Schwervon! (US) + Support: SchnickSchnack Schwervon! sind unser Lieblings-Lo-Fi-Pärchen Nan Turner und Matt Roth! Mit ihrer heimelig rumpelnden Mischung aus New-Folk, Rock´n´Roll und Trash-Pop zelebrieren die beiden ihren ganz eigenen Pop-Entwurf, sperrig und verschlafen schön, primitiv und clever. Sonny & Cher gehen bowlen mit den White Stripes, prügeln sich auf dem Heimweg mit den Pixies, klingeln noch mal schnell bei Yo La Tengo und teilen sich dann das Taxi nach Hause mit Grandaddy. Gegründet in der Lower East Side von New York waren die beiden Mäuse mit der von ihnen betriebenen Label-Community Olive Juice damals das Zentrum der NY-Antifolk-Szene rund um Jeffrey Lewis, Kimya Dawson und Adam Green. Hier drei Fun Facts: 1. Das erste Album von Adam Green wurde von Matt in dessen Badewanne aufgenommen. 2. Im Musikvideo zu „Dinner“ sind beim BBQ im Hinterhof The Wave Pictures zu sehen, die damals gefühlte 16 Jahre alt gewesen sein müssen. 3. In der Kölner Südstadt gab es mal einen Klamottenladen am Chlodwigplatz, der nach dem mittlerweile leider verstorbenen Kater von Matt und Nan benannt war: Gummo. 2012 hat es die beiden aus familiären Gründen nach Shawnee in Kansas verschlagen. Seit dem touren sie regelmäßig mit The Vaselines, Belle and Sebastian, Guided By Voices, The Wedding Present, Vampire Weekend und The Thermals um die Welt. Vielleicht habt ihr sie also schon mal gesehen! Wir freuen uns riesig! https://schwervon.com/

[secretradiobrooklyn]

Two Lions In Love Edition | 6.19 & 6.26.21

Secret Radio | 6.19 & 6.26.21 | Hear it here.

 6/19: Juneteenth “Two Lions in Love Edition”

“Tropical use only” — drug salesperson

1. Daddy Don’t - “Bottom Side of Texas”

One of our favorite spots to play in the whole country is the Pilot Light in Knoxville — it’s not just the club, but the neighborhood and really the whole drive into town, digging into the Tennessee mountains. There’s a little St. Louis in its bricks and pathways too. One evening brought us a night with Daddy Don’t, which was a gal on guitar singing songs about the gal on drums, plus a guy onstage strictly to blow bubbles. They seemed so shy and so completely cool. Their set was hilarious and touching and maybe a little stumbly and thoroughly charismatic. I felt an overlap with Birdcloud and Schwervon and ‘90s Olympia but also definitely their own thing. I hope they’re doing cool stuff these days too.

2. Ennio Morricone - “Guerra e Pace Pollo e Brace” - “Grazie Zie” soundtrack

The great music find from the wedding of Josh and Ashleigh. We spent some time recently remembering what a fantastic time that was…

3. Panjabi MC - “Mundian to Bach Ke”

…because we all met up in Chicago this month to celebrate the marriage of Ren and Kiera! It was in the Morton Arboretum, bringing together both American and Indian families in one grand event. The music throughout the evening was lovely, from the ceremony (Josh on solo guitar) through the early events and the meal. Once the dance floor was opened, however, a whole new flavor dropped: the DJ rocked between Nelly and Indian dancefloor music, then over to Michael Jackson, then into Panjabi MC and on and on. We danced our faces off!

- “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” karaoke version with special guest star!

4. Sparks - “The Number One Song in Heaven”

“Gabriel plays it and God how he plays it!” I know everybody’s gonna be talking about Sparks soon because of the doc that just dropped, and it’ll be both from people who know everything about Sparks and from people who are brand-new zealots. Bring it on — I’m so looking forward to learning more about these guys… especially because, in just over a month, on August 6, there’s going to be a whole other film dropping that we’ve been looking forward to for years. It’s called “Annette,” and it’s directed by Carax, who did “Holy Motors” and “Lovers on the Bridge” — it’s his first movie in English and his first musical. But check this: Sparks wrote all the music! The cast includes Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, Angèle AND Russell Mael … I mean, we couldn’t be any more excited for this film. It’s entirely possible that it won’t work at all, but it’s also entirely possible that it turns out to be the combined efforts of some of the most interesting artists working today.

5. T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou - “Noude Ma Gnin Tche De Me”

We met up with Theo Welling recently just off Atlantic Avenue at a place with a questionable name and a brothel theme but a pretty epic back patio. Not only were there chandeliers and a disco ball hanging from the broad branches of the tree overhead, but the music was DEAD ON our tastes. When this song came on, it was like: they got us. There was some Francis Bebey a little later on, I mean it was the very stuff. And the thing is, this song totally rocked that patio. Because T.P. rules.

This is from Analog Africa’s crucial T.P. collection, “Echos Hypnotiques.”

6. Elsa - “Ecoutez”

The energy in French records from the ‘60s is crackling hard — this one 

We picked up this record at Dave’s Records when we were in town for Ren and Keira’s wedding. It happened to be Record Store Day as well, so we went to Dave’s Records, an old favorite with a “CDs — Never Had Em, Never Will” sign in the window. “They powered through CDs,” says Paige. That sign is this relic of them living through the ‘90s and ‘00s, really.”

7. Velvet Underground - “White Light/White Heat”

Theo was wearing a Lou Reed Transformer shirt that night and we spent some time talking about this crazy band. I feel like this track is the ultimate experience of VU where they find the most ragged frayed edge of pop music to ride and they spend the whole song there, until the end when they jump on the song like leopards on an antelope and start attacking it. But the song resists, takes off running, and actually gets quite a long ways before it is finally taken down. The ending sounds like a brutal act of nature.

8. Sroeng Sari - “Kuen Kuen Lueng Lueng”

It took me a while to stop and actually listen to this song — the opening riff is kind of blinding. You stare into that riff and think that you’re gonna have to deal with a whole version of “Iron Man,” but on the other side of the riff lies a fascinating new riff and completely independent verse shape. (I have no idea if the lyrics relate to the concept of “Iron Man.”) In fact, it turns out the riff is practically only used like a sample within the structure of the song, and it’s mainly not Iron Man at all. 

9. [REDACTED] Keep an eye out for the Extended Drunk Scarface Cut Edition.

[9. Paige Brubeck as Scarface & Tony S. in - “Favorite Gangster Friend” feat. Chumbawumba]

10. Midnight Oil - “The Power and the Passion”

Paige was a little too late for Midnight Oil, but she’s extremely receptive to an ideologically, ecologically driven band. “If I had heard that band when I was listening to ska music, I would have fuggin loved this band. I think I would have listened to this band a lot. The part of me that likes Reel Big Fish and the Pietasters… it’s very punk and then when the horns come in it’s like, Oh yeah I love this stuff.”

For me: I love the drum solo. It’s such an interesting full-length exploration of a few different ideas, and it helps point out the ways that the percussion operates in Midnight Oil songs. The overdubbed variations on the singer’s voice reminds me of techniques we used in Bound Stems. I really like that way of recording multiple emotions within a single line and just kind of smashing them together for a multi-faceted take on the lyric. I feel like “Jane Says” was the first recording where I noticed that approach. I also love the crescendo structure to the whole song. But to me, this feels like a song that was built to be played live but someone thought should be represented on the album. I think the transitions between the A, B and C parts are weird and unfinished, even though each of the parts is really good.

11. Phuong Dung - “Do Ai”

What a truly incredible voice… and the guitar accompaniment only slowly reveals its depth and litheness through the course of the song.

12. Group Inerane - “Ikabkaban”

This was a lucky discovery. It’s as much a state of mind as a recording of a song. The sound is very live and not ideal, which I do think ultimately makes it more interesting. There’s something about live recordings that can be embarrassing and compromised… or it can feel like lightning in a bottle. I think this one feels special. This sounds to me like desert blues. These are some of the notes on the track itself: “This album by the rebellious Tuareg musicians from Niger is certainly more hypnotic and less ecstatic than the first (which was recorded at a wedding celebration). It should be said that the guitarist Adi Mohamed, who played on the first album, was shot dead in a skirmish between the nomads and junta forces.”

Yow.

13. The Lemon Twigs - “As Long As We’re Together” (video version)

Now I should just say A) this is the video version of the song, and B) that’s the real version of the song as far as I’m concerned. This video is a perfect thing, at least to me. It was directed by Autumn de Wilde, who went on to direct the film “Emma,” which was one of the most enjoyable pieces of art we saw during the pandemic. (She initially got notice as a photographer before going into music videos.) The recording is masterful, with an intentionally pushed back main vocal and all kinds of panned effects both minimal and baroque. These guys were all teens when they wrote and recorded this song with Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado, which only makes it more (annoyingly?) brilliant. Also: this is our candidate for the song likeliest to get stuck in your head.

That video (I love the ending): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ4nqnVOfMo

- Nisar Bazmi - “Aesi Chal Main”

Pakistani music from a collection labeled “Folk and Pop Instrumentals 1966-1976.” It’s easy to imagine this as a folk song, but the instrumentation is so radically electric that it feels like new information being learned on the spot.

14. Katty Lane - “Ne Fais Pas La Tête” 

Another live recording. Actually, that’s probably not true: it’s a recording from a TV of a TV appearance that Katty made, almost certainly lip-synching the vocals. But it sounds better than the album version to us. Katty Lane is going for a cross between Nancy Sinatra and Brigitte Bardot, and it’s really interesting how close she gets but how far away she remains.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T4gWLi5RUw

15. Ezra Furman - “I Lost My Innocence”

Man, the rhythmic arrangement of the opening verse knocks me out. The production on this whole album really, but the minimalist rhythmic clarity that comes from splitting the beat among a variety of instruments is so amazing. As a drummer I just find the pattern-building in this song enviable.

We got to know these songs well during a tour we did with Ezra Furman. The whole band is full of heavy hitters, including Tim Sandusky, the guy who recorded the album and plays a variety of instruments there and live. He’s one of my favorite musical brains, period, and “Transangelic Exodus,” the album this comes from, is one of my favorite pieces of album production, period.

16. Voilaaa - “Pas bon”

These are apparently contemporary people! This album is from 2015. I think Josh pointed us to this one.

17. Francois and the Atlas Mountains - “La Verité”

This a band Paige came across a couple of years ago, at 2222 Jefferson I believe. This chorus is a true tonguetwister and thus irresistable to try to sing along with. The melody is really strong, and check out how the guitar enters the solo!

18. Ata Kak - “Daa Nyinaa”

We had an amazing night in the back patio zone we share with our building. Dexter had a few friends over including a dude named KG who turned out to be super interesting on a variety of subjects. As we were talking about music he brought up Ata Kak, whose “Obaa Sima” we’ve played on here and who we absolutely love. Paige disappeared inside and came back with our tape of this whole album. He fell out, like what are we doing with this thing? I started telling the whole back story of how the album was discovered in a street tent in Ghana by the guy from Awesome Tapes From Africa, and eventually after many adventures actually tracked down Ata Kak, who was surprised to be found and even more surprised to find that the tape Awesome Tapes had found was distorted and ran way faster than originally intended. But then KG started playing that original tempo track, which does indeed sound comPLETely different. I still haven’t been able to find a way to get ahold of that original track. “Daa Nyinaa” is another banger off the same tape. The man just has a really great sense of what makes a hook.

19. Sakuran Zensen - “Taxi Man” 錯乱前戦　タクシーマンのMVです

This was a video that flickered through my feed a couple of years ago, I think thanks to Steve Scariano (not Steve Pick as I claim aloud). I don’t think a single recommendation of Steve Scariano has ever been the wrong answer — the man has impeccable taste. This song has all of the rock and all of the roll PLUS a ladder. It’s a strong song and an even stronger video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNmubstNGFs

20. New York Dolls - “Looking for a Kiss”

As soon as we were in the nasty distortion of Sakuran Zensen it was probably inevitable that we would go looking for the New York Dolls. The live performance of this song is worth the price of admission… and the drummer looks like one of the brothers from The Lemon Twigs!

21. Mina - “La verità”

Sometimes Italian is the only language that will do. It does tend to have its own melodic shapes separate from French. I adore the way she goes for the high notes in the chorus only to get to the climax, which is her dropping down into her lowest register to bitterly and sarcastically deliver the title phrase: “La verità:” “the truth.” I know just enough Italian to catch that her final declaration is “Sono stato io,” or: “It was me.”

22. Pylon - “Cool”

Pylon has been back in the news recently thanks to a big ol’ rerelease at the 40 year mark, and it’s a great way to get more in touch with a band that lies at the source of so much music we love. They are every bit as cool as the song.

23. Dalida - “Aghani Aghani”

Dalida is Egyptian born, in an Italian household, who first gained fame singing in French — or in Italian to French audiences. She ended up singing in 10 languages in all. She is a blockbuster French star with no parallel, though she died young by her own hand. “Aghani Aghani” is an Arabic medley that became a gigantic hit all across the Arab world and has since entered the fabric of the language and culture.

24. Betti-Betti & T.P. Orchestre Poly Rythmo de Cotonou - “Mbala”

We have been falling deeper and deeper for Betti-Betti’s songs. This one has so many of my favorite things that she does — the fantastic melodies that cycle past each other, the expressive horn lines, and the mouth percussion that totally transforms the song for me. We just recently got a different album of hers that we’re also really excited about; that one features an entirely different band in a different style. This one is T.P. though, those consummate collaborators, and this song is an epic joining of forces.

- Mulatu Astatke + Black Jesus Experience - “Mulatu”

25. Nick Drake - “Pink Moon”

Oh that strawberry moon with its red halo.

[freakoutgirl]

some of my current favorite love-themed songs for v-day

some are happy, some are sad, but they’re all lovely!

Jen Cloher -- Sensory Memory

Jen Cloher -- Dark Art

The Beths -- Happy Unhappy

The Beths -- Future Me Hates Me

Gillian Welch -- Black Star

Lucy Dacus -- Night Shift

Chet Baker -- I Fall in Love Too Easily

Altered Images -- Don’t Talk to Me About Love

Sofia Bolt -- Get Out of My Head

Mel Torme -- I’m Comin Home Baby

Camp Cope -- Maps

Lucinda Williams -- Sharp Cutting Wings (Song for a Poet)

Moaning Lisa -- Carrie (I Want a Girl)

Smog -- Dress Sexy at My Funeral

Leadbelly -- Goodnight Irene

Velocity Girl -- Sorry Again

Courtney Barnett -- Shivers

Courtney Barnett -- Never Tear Us Apart

Karen Dalton -- It’s Alright)

Bobbie Gentry -- Courtyard

Schwervon! -- Wrath of Angels

Palm Springs -- Caroline

BOYTOY - It’s Alright

Cate le Bon -- I Just Wanna Be Good

Gregor -- A Song About Holding Hands

Ultra Orange -- Don’t Kiss Me Goodbye

Cindy Lee -- The Last Train’s Come and Gone

Adrianne Lenker -- Angels

Mothers -- It Hurts Until It Doesn’t

Mothers -- Lockjaw

Jackie Cohen -- Bold

Squirrel Flower -- Conditions

Norma Tanega -- Treat Me Right

Fiona Apple -- Hot Knife

Fiona Apple -- Paper Bag

ESG -- Be Good To Me

DRINKS -- Laying Down Rock

Pale Saints -- Sight of You

Cut Worms -- Like Going Down Sideways

Molly Burch -- I Adore You

Lush -- Ciao!

Mitski -- Washing Machine Heart

Mitski -- A Pearl

Tank and the Bangas -- Smoke.Netflix.Chill.

Steppenwolf -- Corina, Corina

Bessie Smith -- Down Hearted Blues

Billie Holiday -- All of Me

Billie Holiday -- I’ll Be Seeing You

Kim Deal -- Are You Mine?