Saturday, April 30, 2011

Self Help Radio Extra, April 2011

It's the end of the month so I suppose it's only right & natural that I make another ridiculous mix of music that exists outside my radio shows. Also, it may appear that the mix has some kind of theme, but it doesn't really. It's just a lot of songs that I've strung together in the hopes that it sounds fine together.

The mix is at the Self Help Radio Extra page. What's in the mix I've written below. I hope you enjoy.

"ABC Auto-Industry" Orchestral Maneuvres In The Dark _Dazzle Ships_
"ABC" Jackson 5 _Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971_
"A B & C Part Two" Death By Chocolate _Zap The World_
"AEIOU" Pizzicato Five _Ca Et La_
"A Rã" Joao Donato _The Story Of Bossa Nova_
"A Contraluz" Niza _Canciones De Temporada_
"A Nega Se Vingou" Walter Wanderley _Ultra Lounge Vol. 9: Cha-Cha De Amor_
"A Minha Menina" Os Mutantes _Os Mutantes_
"A Balair El Tape-Charleston" Lisa Carbon _Standards_
"A & P Commercial: The Death Penalty" National Lampoon _Buy This Box Or We'll Shoot This Dog: The Best Of The National Lampoon Radio Hour_
"A-La-Bridges" Harlan Leonard's Rockets _Kansas City: Jazz City_
"AC/DC Current" Benny Goodman Sextet _Charlie Christian: The Genius Of The Electric Guitar_
"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" Ella Fitzgerald _Jukebox Ella: The Complete Verve Singles_
"A La Carte" James Holloway _Las Vegas Grind Vol. 1_
"A Yuh (Hey You)" Uniques _Trojan Mod Reggae Box Set_
"A Yor Nokh Mayn Khasene" Klezmer Conservatory Band _Planet Squeezebox_
"AIDS Test" Chris Rock _Cheese & Crackers: The Greatest Bits_
"A/B" Telex _Neurovision_
"A-L'uomo" Mr. Electric Triangle _Kosmosis Of the Heart_
"A8 Km34" Funkstörung _Appetite For Disctruction_
"a550l" Novel 23 _RND_0.34873349921_
"A" Leila _Rephlexions_
"A.D.S.A." Vessel _South_

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Goodbye F! Hello G!

In the thirty-first (!) installment of my "I'll-die-before-I-complete-it" series, Indiepop A To Z, I finish the Fs with some faint finesse & gingerly gnaw at the ungainly Gs. G is a deeply unpopular letter, as I know since my name begins with a G. Some might say it ends with a G, though they might be mistaking my name for a participle or a gerund. Oh sure, G has given us garrulous, gentle, geek, goofy, good grief & grateful, but it also sadly gave us grotesque, gonorrhea, G.O.P., Garfield, & god. There are some things, those of us whose names start with G understand, for which we can never be forgiven.

This is a vain attempt to play lots of indiepop songs in alphabetical order & I will continue to do so unless you give me a good reason not to. The show exists in the way it went at the Self Help Radio web site. You can find most (I think all except one) of the previous "Indiepop A To Z" series in the show archives (scroll down to find the first ones, then work your way up). The show is divided in two parts as if hewed with a dull axe, & part one is here while part two is here. What songs & artists are contained in each part? I list that below.

Do I ever tell you thanks for listening? Because I should. Thanks for listening!

(part one)

"Brilliant Mind" Furniture _The Wrong People_
"Watery Moonlight" Further _I've Got It Now - A Popfest Compilation Cassette_
"Only One Life" The Future _Hit Music Only_

"I'm Lonely (& I Love It)" Future Bible Heroes _I'm Lonely (& I Love It)_
"Crying's What You Need" Future Conditional _We Don't Just Disappear_
"Love Is The Slug" Fuzzbox _We've Got A Fuzzbox & We're Gonna Use It_
"Flashlight" Fuzzy _Flashlight 7"_

"Bonnie & Clyde" Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot _Bonnie & Clyde_
"Baby Blue Volvo" The Galactic Heroes _How About San Francisco?_

(part two)
"Tugboat" Galaxie 500 _Today_
"Chardonnay" Game Theory _Lolita Nation_
"Sitting In The Park" Gangway _Sitting In The Park_

"Galaxy" Des Garcons Ordinaires _The Noise & The Melodies: The Pearl-Compilation_
"Ferry Across The Humber" The Gargoyles _Steamflapper_
"Bed & Breakfast" Garlands _Picnic Lightning_
"Why Did I Trust You?" The Garlands _The Garlands EP_
"Any Way" Gaze _Mitsumeru_

"Yours Forever" The Generationals _Actor-Caster_
"Shadow Of A Girl" Gentle Despite _Torment To Me_

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Tonight! The Countdown Continues!

It's not really a countdown, though, is it. I mean, a countdown starts high & works its way to a lower number. The most famous countdown is the one that leads to a rocket taking off.

It's not a countup either. (I know, countup isn't a word.) I was thinking about famous countdowns & as an example my brain said, "Don't you count down when you're playing hide & seek?" Of course you don't, silly brain! You count up! Sometimes from five. Like in the famous Schoolhouse Rock video:



No, the Indiepop A To Z attempts to be like a - well - like an alphabetical list of something. Like if you go to the Wikipedia & look for a list of jazz flugelhorn players. (Note: they don't have an alphabetical list of jazz flugelhorn players.) (Nor do they have a list of indiepop bands & performers.) Such a list would probably be in alphabetical order. It would also probably tempt to me to do a series of radio shows. I shall restrain myself.

I guess I should call it "an alphabetical listing of indiepop players & performers." But that's a mouthful. It's just the indiepop a to z. I'm not even capitalizing it. That's how frankly unofficial & probably incomplete it is!

It's on tonight in Lexington on 88.1 fm & of course online everywhere on WRFL's website. If you miss it, I'll archive it tomorrow on self help radio dot net. But I'm giving you so much advance notice! Why would you miss it?

Monday, April 25, 2011

Whither Indiepop A To Z # 31?

It does seem a little hopeless, doesn't it?

This time, though, I shall finish the Fs. Here are some useless factoids about the Indiepop Fs:

I counted 120 bands whose name (or performers whose last name) started with the letter F. This includes the seven performers/bands I will be playing tomorrow night.

The first band was the Factory Owners. The last band will be Fuzzy.

I started the Indiepop Fs on the show that aired March 1, 2010. It means it took me over a year to finish the Indiepop Fs. (Which, you'll recall, have not yet been finished. But pretend it's so.) Part of the reason is that I've slowed down the occurrence of my "Indiepop A To Z" episodes. I do them only every four months or so now. I'd do them more if I were allowed to do them on WRFL when I do Sugar Substitute, but I must play music from the station's playbox so it can report to whomever we report to, & they would make the Indiepop A To Z seem a little disjointed.

I have no predictions about the Indiepop Gs. They could go fast, or they could take an equivalent amount of time. I don't think they'll be longer than the Fs, though. G is not a popular letter. After all, it's how my own name begins.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Preface To Indiepop A To Z # 31: This Is Only A Text

One of the things I like to do when I do Sugar Substitute, which is the pop show after Self Help Radio, is playing instrumental music under my airbreaks, & I especially want to play music by people (living or dead) who are having a birthday the day of the show. Usually there are helpful sites, like this jazz birthdays web page, & of course Wikipedia, which give me names to look at for those days. But assuming that I keep doing Sugar Substitute for many years to come - not a guarantee, by why not? - I don't really want to play the same songs by the same birthday people as the years go by. There are not-very-good radio shows in Austin that used to do that. Hooray, it's a famous rock & roll star's birthday again. Whoop de doo. Bleh.

The biggest trouble is that many bands I love, including electronica artists, just aren't famous enough to warrant a personal page (as opposed to a band page) on the Wikipedia. Take this page for one of my favorite bands, The Lucksmiths - it lists the members, but not their birthdays. Oh, but when I looked at their own website, it does mention their birthdays. Okay, bad example. The point is, it's hard!

In case you're reading this unimportant whinge, & you know a decent web site that lists indie &/or electronica birthdays, can you comment here or send me an email at my Self Help Radio email? That would be swell.