BROADCAST #08
AIR DATE: 02-20-07

Fanatics! Here’s tonight’s notes. I hope you enjoyed the show. Remember you Australian Fanatics, The Evens are in Australia at this moment and are doing great shows, please get to the show if you can. I have a ripping show almost finished for next week so please tune in if you can. I will be at the Spirit Awards thing Saturday night, Heidi has insisted in coming along so there will be some tension there. Luckily, Sarah Silverman will be hosting the thing again this year, which will keep me awake. I saw her do her thing last night here in town and she killed it. Ok, so here’s your notes, I hope they are of service to you. It was a fast two hours tonight and it was as always, a great time. Thanks so much for listening. We’ll get together again next week. Until then, STAY FANATIC!!! --Henry

For you Europeans, Australians and New Zealand Fanatics, there is a re-broadcast time of Friday mornings, 0200 – 0400 hrs. West coast time so you all can check out the show and not have to set your alarms to too rude an hour.

Chuck D – No: This is from the very cool and under mentioned Chuck D solo album The Autobiography Of Mistachuck released in 1996 so says the internet. This was a great record. I am not really one who pays attention to record sales, what gets played on the radio, etc. so I don’t know who cared about this record or what was said, all I know is people who like Public Enemy didn’t seem to be talking about it when it came out and come to think of it, I don’t remember how I found out about it. This was the single off the album. The album version has some words we can’t use on the show but luckily, there’s a radio version of the single that has all those bad words lacking and this is the one you heard tonight. Chuck doesn’t curse much in his songs because he doesn’t need that kind of talk to get his point across so this version sounds great.

Cigarettes - They're Back Again, Here They Come: A stand out song. This one has found itself on many mix tapes and mix CDRs I have made over the years. I guess they were a Mod band. They made two singles, the first one on Company Records with: They're Back Again, Here They Come / I've Forgot My Number and All We Want Is Your Money, released in 1979. The other one, released on Dead Good Records in 1980 with Can't Sleep At Night / It's The Only Way To Live (Die). Then in 2002, a 2CD and limited vinyl set of the singles, radio sessions and other tracks came out as Will Damage Your Health!. The songs they recorded besides the one we listened to tonight are pretty good but not nearly as good as this single track. I don’t know if I could recommend CD to you. On a minor note, I only found out a couple of years ago that there were two different runs of the first single, each with a different colored label. The 1st pressing is in red and the 2nd in black. I don’t know if there were more pressings in different colors and how many were made of either pressing. It is a hard single to come by. I got mine for a couple of bucks many years ago and I have only seen one copy of the red label pressing. As well, I know of a test pressing of the second single. We have played this song before on our show, but it’s been a long time.

Dinosaur Jr. - On The Way: From the Where You Been album released in 1993. As you Fanatics know, I am an XXL Dinosaur Jr. fan. So happy that we have a new album to look forward to this year. There’s no Dinosaur Jr. record I can’t listen to at this very moment, the consistency of the output is top shelf. It’s not a surprise to me that the band’s reunion tour has been met with such enthusiasm and lack of snarky music journalist bullshit. People really want to hear these songs.

Jimi Hendrix - Burning Of The Midnight Lamp (mono): There’s a nice box set available of all the Hendrix singles. That’s what you heard tonight, the single version of this song in glorious mono. This was recorded and released in the summer of 1968 with one of the coolest ever b-sides The Stars That Play With Laughing Sam’s Dice. I am putting together a good b-side show that we’ll get to at some point this year. Perhaps some of you remember last year’s all b-side show. Why, they’re still talking about it in, well, ok, no one is talking about the damn show but we’re doing it anyway!

Beauty Pill - The Cigarette Girl From The Future: From the EP of the same name. I like this record a lot. I also like their album The Unsustainable Lifestyle. It seems like everyone in this band has been in other bands. You can go to the Dischord site http://www.dischord.com/band/beautypill and get some info and there’s also a listing for them on Wikipedia. It was listening to the new Soccer Team album on Dischord that features Ryan Nelson who has been on some Beauty Pill recordings that got me pulling my copies of the records off the shelf and listening to them again. I am sorry I have not played them more often. Many of the members who have passed through this band are Dischord regulars, from players to staffers. Chad Clark who was a founding member of Beauty Pill and was also a member of Smart Went Crazy is also co-owner of Silver Sonya which is where selected titles of the Dischord catalog are being remastered. I have compared the new and old masterings of the Dischord titles and prefer the newer masterings. The Fugazi titles have been greatly improved.

The Blood Brothers - Nausea Shreds Yr Head: Another track from the Young Machetes album. I like this band a lot. I know that recently, the label they were on V2 went under. I hope they will be alright and I hope that V2 does right by all the bands that are now looking for a new home. I have been in that situation and it’s not a good one. Great record, great band.
The Need - Let Them Eat Valium: Another installment from my recent trip to DC and the hang out with Ian. He played some great records the other night and I have been trying to find them all. I have found almost all of them except for one but got a CDR of it from Ian so we’re pretty much covered. Weeks ago, we listened to Third World War and The Bears, those were bands Ian turned me onto, this track is another one. Ian played me this single the other night and it knocked me out. We’ll play both sides of this one for sure. I have looked all over and I can’t find anything about the band. I know of this one single on the Skitz label, it has Seduction on the other side. Anyone know anything about this band? If you do, let me know please.

The Pack - Brave New Soldiers: I never checked out any of the work of Kirk Brandon from The Pack to Theater Of Hate. A couple of years ago, Guy Picciotto gave me a CDR of the singles of The Pack and I thought they were cool. Ian played this single the other night and it got me thinking about them again. I went looking to see if I could find their singles in CD for broadcast and I found them on the Theater Of Hate The Complete Singles Collection CD. I like The Pack stuff but have not checked out anything else Brandon has done yet.

The Fall – Oleano: The original version of the song can be found on album released 06-10-96. There are a few different versions of this song. There’s a demo version that can be found on the Oxymoron and Northern Attitude CDs and another alt. version on the Cheetham Hill CD. The one we’re playing tonight is yet another version found on the Complete Peel Sessions CD set. What, do you think I carry all this information around in my head?! Hell no! I got it all from, wait for it... http://www.visi.com/fall/. An interesting bit of history in this era of The Fall. Brix Smith, who was married to Fall band leader Mark Smith, was in the band from 1983 to 1989 but returned 1994 - 1996 and two albums, 1995’s Cerebral Caustic and The Light User Syndrome. Both are great.

Dillinger - Melting Pot: From the Ultimate Collection CD. We don’t play nearly as much Reggae and Dub as we do other kinds of music. I know we play a lot of Dillinger. I don’t have a ton of Reggae or Dub CDs, nor do I know much about the music past that I like what I like. So, yet another track from good ol’ Dillinger! My favorite track of his is still Ragnampiza, the first song if his I ever heard.

Lydia Kavina – Suite 1: Andante: On of the many great tracks from a CD called Music From The Ether: Original Works For Theremin. I had been listening to that cool Clara Rockmore CD of her Theremin playing, along with the Theremin work on The Day The Earth Stood Still soundtrack and I wanted to hear more so I went online and looked around and came upon this CD. I got it and of all the Theremin CDs I have heard, this one is the top of the heap. It’s so out there, I think many of you Fanatics will be drawn to it. Tonight’s track is just a taste and it’s a good one but the tracks from this album I am most excited to play you are Vladimir Komarov’s Voice Of The Theremin and Jorge Antunes’ Mixolydia.

PIL - This Is Not A Love Song (alt. version): Another track from the Commercial Zone LP. I have read that this version showed up as the b-side of the 12” of this song. It was characterized as a remix. I have never heard the version that’s on the 12”. I have heard the version of Blue Water that is on the Commercial Zone album and also a b-side and the takes seem the same but there’s a very different mix and vocal so I wonder if this version isn’t a bit different than the one that’s on the 12”. In any case, this is pretty cool sounding. Here’s some sites that will give you some information on what the Commercial Zone album is all about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Zone and http://www.fodderstompf.com/DISCOGRAPHY/MISC/3comzone.html. This is an interesting album and we’ll check out the rarer tracks from it in the future.

Scott Walker – My Death: I have found this track on two Scott Walker albums, Scott 1 and Sings Jacques Brel. Before I go any further, let me apologize for my ignorance. Last year, we played a recording of Scott Walker singing a song called Jackie. I pointed out that the song sounded a lot like Nick Cave’s The Mercy Seat. Knowing at least which one came first, I remarked that Nick Cave was a fan of Scott Walker, which he very well may be but in the context in which I was making the remark, I was implying that Nick was lifting from Scott. Here’s where my abundant ignorance comes in, I didn’t know that Jackie was a Jacques Brel song merely covered by Scott Walker. So for the many of you Fanatics who caught that, I thank you for not writing a mean letter and just rolling your eyes and sighing. Ok, that out of the way, tonight we listened to Scott Walker performing Brel’s My Death. At the time of this writing, I have not heard the original version. The first time I heard the song, it was in 1982 I believe, on a David Bowie bootleg. I also know that Bowie covered at least one other Brel song, Amsterdam. I did some reading on Brel and apparently, he recorded for the most part in the French language. I listen to a lot of music in languages I don’t understand but after awhile, I start to lose focus while listening, especially if the songs are pop or rock oriented. I will see if I can find some Brel recordings and check them out but for tonight, we’ll stick with what we have at hand.

Daniel Higgs - Moharsing And Schoenhut: From the Ancestral Songs album. You Fanatics know Daniel from Lungfish, who have at least half a dozen releases on Dischord. Ian MacKaye’s interesting Northern Liberties label put out a collection of Daniel’s solo Jew’s harp called Magic Alphabet that is brilliant and since we’re on the topic of Mr. Higgs, I would like to mention two other records Daniel’s involved with: The Pupils which is an album Higgs did with Asa Osbourne of Lungfish and another one I am sure we have never played on the show called Cone Of Light, which is a very interesting 35 minute lo-fi excursion into sound that I quite like. Ancestral Songs is an album I got in January while I was traveling so I have only had a chance to play it once. Higgs is such a heavy motherfucker, I can’t see everyone jumping up and down when he releases a new record but it’s always a good thing for me.

Pere Ubu - Blue Gagarin: I was looking forward to this record. This is the newly released Why I Remix Women album on Smog Veil Records. This was the follow up to the Why I Hate Women album. And just to make sure we’re all clear, no, David Thomas and Pere Ubu do not hate women although they certainly may remix them. I believe this is a remix of the song Blue Velvet, featured on Why I Hate Women, which we played last year. I just go this record yesterday and have not had the chance to play this CD too much. I wanted to get it on the air to you so I will have to play catch up on this one.

Johnny Hartman – I Get A Kick Out Of You: From the Complete Gus Wildi Recordings album. Gus owned the Bethlehem Record label. You Fanatics have heard Mr. Hartman on this show before. I first heard him some years ago on a John Coltrane album, John Coltrane And Johnny Hartman. When I heard him sing the Strayhorn classic, Lush Life I was a fan and sought out his solo work. I have been a steady Hartman Fanatic since. A very rich voice and great phrasing, he’s a peerless Jazz vocalist who never got enough recognition. There have been a lot of re-issues of his work and some of the later recordings, his 70’s stuff isn’t as good as what came before, not his fault as much as the song choices and what the times were demanding. I like his Bethlehem recordings and his Impulse! label recordings. I have been a fan of this Cole Porter classic since I first heard it in Blazing Saddles. I am stuck on Sinatra’s version but Mr. Hartman will do any time. I have looked for information on him online and have never been able to find much on him. Today I found a short write up about how there’s not much information on him. The fact that he wailed away in semi-obscurity is probably one of the reasons I gravitated to his voice.

Mark Robinson - Volunteers Conquering Fires: From one of Mark’s solo projects, Tiger Banana on Teenbeat Records. I am a big time Fanatic for all things Mark Robinson. His many bands, Unrest, Olympic Death Squad, Grenadine, Flin Flon, etc. I have listened to this solo album along with two others, Canada’s Green Highways and Origami And Urbanism a lot, especially in hotel rooms. Something about the music is good for small rooms in unfamiliar places. Almost all his records are in print and are worth checking out I think. It’s a strange and interesting thing he does and it’s impressive to me how prolific he is. As you know, I pay a good deal of attention to the releases on the Teenbeat label. I am glad he’s able to keep that ball in the air. Like I have said before, it’s labels like Teenbeat, Dischord, Touch & Go, Kill Rockstars and many others that are keeping great music alive and we should give them support, go to the shows, etc. If these labels go away, imagine what your choices for music be like.

Iggy Pop - I'm A Conservative: I am happy about the Stooges playing all the time and that there’s a new Stooges album due out any minute. I have heard it and think it’s cool but that being said, I wish that Iggy would do one of those cool solo records like New Values released in 1979 or the album we pulled tonight’s track from, 1980’s Soldier. Those were so great and he sang so well on them. He should do an album as cool as that song he did with The Teddybears. I hope that some day, someone does THE book on Iggy. If it’s done right, as in if Iggy tells all, or at least some, it will be the read of reads. I am as curious as anyone else about The Stooges and all that but I am really curious about Iggy and his life 1977 to 1983. I remember doing shows in the early 1980’s in some of the same venues he had just been in and I would ask how the shows were and everyone had some insane story about how this was knocked over and this got broken and he did this or whatever—it was all completely intense and out of control. I hope this part of his life gets some examination. Iggy will always fascinate and scare me. To me, he’s ultimate Rock and Roll.

Tomorrow – Hallucinations: From the band’s self-titled album, re-released on the See For Miles label. I don’t know anything about this band. I heard a song of theirs on the Nuggets set, My White Bicycle. I asked my brother in Sonic Jihad, Engineer X if he had heard anything else by the band and of course, he had and suggested I check out this CD. It’s pretty cool. Steve Howe was in this band before he was in Yes. I would just like to say that means nothing to me. Twink played drums in this band, you Fanatics know him from the Pink Fairies. I thought this song would make a interesting transition from where we just were to where we’re going next.

Tinariwen – Tessalit: From The Radio Tisdas Sessions CD. I am still waiting for the band’s new album to come out. From what I’ve been able to find out, there’s still a little while to wait before Aman Iman (Water Is Life) is released. This is the album that made me a fan of the band. I was looking up information on a different band and was lead to this band and read about it and checked out some of the music on Amazon.com and it sounded good to me. If I remember this correctly, Radio Tisdas is an actual station in Mali and the band used a gas powered generator to provide the electricity. I wonder if they had pro-tools? Anyway, the record of this tough desert band is beautiful as the band is rugged.

Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet - Rover & Rusty: I only know their music from watching the Kids In The Hall show. I always thought they were cool but have never sought out their records. I was checking out this comp. CD I have called International Hip Swing the other day and saw they had a track on it. I played it and thought it sounded pretty cool so here it is. I looked up info on the band and I guess they broke up a long time ago and went onto other things.

The Clash – Complete Control: I sure am having a good time with this Clash singles box set thing. I reckon we can work our way through the thing this year. Here and there through the box, I am hearing versions of songs that I have not heard before, never having all the singles. It’s pretty cool at this point to hear Clash music that is unfamiliar. I am doing my best to try and listen to The Clash more often. I get too mad that Joe Strummer is gone so I can’t listen to them very much so I am trying to get past that. I listen to the music of people who are gone all the time and it doesn’t bother me, I guess it’s because Strummer was only 50 when we lost him that bugs me.

The Beach Boys – I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times: From the Pet Sounds album. I know you know that. Such a great album that just got a little better, thanks to the better version that was just released late last year. If you got the box set years ago or the handy mono / stereo CD that was released soon after, you might want to consider throwing down some of the hard earned again as the mono version that was just released is a lot better than the previous one in my opinion. Less surface nose and a bit more kickin’ all around.