BROADCAST #28
AIR DATE: 07-10-07

Hello Fanatics! I am in London England at the moment and am weathering jet lag. I got in a few hours ago and have been walking around in an effort to stay busy. The driver fellow told me that yesterday there was four major events in town all at once and things were insane. I guess that would be tennis, race cars and whatever else. I don’t care! I am stoked that I went to HMV and picked up the 3CD version of Colossal Youth by the Young Marble Giants. Now, tonight’s show is a great one and even though it’s a pre-tape, nowhere near as fun as doing it live with you all, it’s still a great set of songs that I think you will find to your liking. I have a busy week here and today is the only day where I’m not all over the place. I have press all day tomorrow and Thursday and Friday I have band practice with The Ruts, in preparation for the Monday night show. Also, on Thursday, I will be having lunch with Brian James from The Damned. I have never met him before and am looking forward to saying hello and thanking him for all that good music. Next week at the Islington Academy it’s The Damned, the UK Subs, The Ruts and me and many others. It’s going to be one of those nights! Say what?! STAY FANATIC!!! --Henry

For you Fanatics who can’t live without hearing this show again or if the original broadcast time is too hard on your sleep cycle here’s the re-broadcast schedule: USA: Fridays: 0200 – 0400 hrs. PST / UK: Fridays: 1000 hrs. – 1200 hrs. / Continental Europe: Fridays 1100 hrs. – 1300 hrs. / Australia: Fridays 2100 hrs. – 2300 hrs.

Trouble Funk - Say What: From the Early Singles & Live 2CD set brought to you by the good folks at, well, look at that, it’s out on my company, District Line. Anyway, this is one of the later period singles, it’s one of the last ones they released before they signed to Island and lost that magic. This is a great one though. From this single backwards, all their stuff is worth checking out. You could do yourself a favor by checking out my nicely priced version by going to my website.

Half Japanese – Grrrrrrrrrrrr: From Half Gentlemen Not Beasts album. Of all the Half Japanese stuff, this is my favorite single release. It’s the version of the band that I saw play many years ago and it’s the Fair Brothers, Jad and David, at their low tech high point. Over the years the line up has changed and the band has become Jad Fair and others. Also, in this time, there have been a lot of people who have collaborated with the man and the band. It’s usually the same group of people who you can find glomming on to people like Jad Fair. They have a little bit of what someone like Jad has a lot of so they partner up to get some legitimacy and the result is always the same—contrived and strained. Best to hear the real thing on its own. This album is not all that easy to find but worth checking out if you like what you heard tonight. I first heard this band many years ago on a compilation album that I eventually re-released called :30 Over DC. I saw them play around this time, they opened for The Dead Kennedys, they were amazing.

Public Image Ltd - This Is Not A Love Song: This is pulled from a 3” CD single that isn’t all that easy to find at this point. What makes this version interesting is that it’s from the Commercial Zone sessions, you remember that we played the version that is found on the LP that Keith Levene released and was quickly pulled. Two songs from these sessions were remixed and released properly. One was Blue Water and the other one was this track. The track sounds different than the CZ version, there’s echo and a few other studio things happening but by and large, it’s pretty much the same as the LP version but it’s still really cool and so I thought we would play it.

Pere Ubu - Lost Nation Road: From the 1989 Cloudland album that was recently remastered and expanded, so says the sticker on the cover. There were three other Pere Ubu CDs that came out along with this one, Worlds In Collision, Tenement Year and My Life Story. This is the first one I have listened to so far. Sounds good to me but I have not had the chance to check out the older version. The fact that David Thomas from the band was in on the mastering process, I think the CDs would have been improved upon. We’ve had that discussion about new and old masterings, where new doesn’t always equate with better.

Blues Section - Cherry Cup-Cake Twist: A few weeks ago, Engineer X advised me to check out this 2CD set called Psychedelic Phinland which is a compilation of “Finnish Hippie And Underground Music 1967 – 1974.” It’s pretty interesting stuff, not every track blows my hair back but it’s really different and I will bring in more tracks later in the year. Tonight’s selection is from 1968. It wasn’t all that easy to find this set, which is too bad.

Flin Flon – Argyle: This track is from the most recent Flin Flon album Dixie. The band took a long break between this album and the ones that came before it. This band is fronted by Teenbeat Records exec. Mark Robinson who is also in that band Unrest that we play now and then. Years ago, Flin Flon released the Boo-Boo and A-Ok albums that I have played many many times so when I went to the Teenbeat site and saw that the mighty Flin threatened the world with another release, I was very happy and only made happier when I found out there was one mix for the CD release and another for the LP version. That’s very forward thinking and I wish more bands would do that. What would the difference be, you ask? The possibilities are endless. Knowing you can only put so much information into a digital frame of information, you might want to consider your EQ and what you would be doing with your kick drum sound, etc., etc. I have not played the LP version of this album nearly as much as I have played the CD version so I can’t really note the differences at this time. In any case, this is a cool album and the Teenbeat catalog is full of great albums and singles, you might want to check it out: http://www.teenbeat.net/

Jah Scouse – Merge: Can’t find much information on this single. I first heard it at Ian’s house. Took me a long time to find a copy. As far as I know, this is the three Moxham brothers, Philip and Stuart from the Young Marble Giants and their brother Andrew, backing up British toaster Jah Scouse. It’s a cool song but the single seems to be obscure to the point to where no one ever knows what you’re talking about when you ask about it. I’ll get some Young Marble Giants on the show soon, many of you love the Colossal Youth album and for those of you who have never heard them, you might really dig it. I am surprised that I had brought them in sooner. I’m on it. Until then, dig this cool track.

DEVO – The Day My Baby Gave Me Surprise: From Duty Now For The Future, DEVO’s 2nd album. By the time this one came out in 1979, I was ready, I had played the first album to death. Duty Now is DEVO’s Devolutionist manifesto and single most Devonian album. If you check out the pre-Warner Bros. recordings that can be found on bootlegs and the criminally out-of-print Hardcore DEVO series, the sounds and sentiments expressed on them can be found on Duty Now more than on any other DEVO album. It’s almost as if the band came back around on this 2nd album to recapture something that had been lost or put on hold. The album that came after Duty Now was Freedom Of Choice, no bad album but much different than what had come before. This is my most played DEVO album. I distinctly remember when I bought this single. I had gotten off work at a laboratory I was employed at and drove to Yesterday & Today Records and bought the single, knowing that the b-side, Penetration In The Centrefold was not on the album. It was one of my early b-side anticipation moments, waiting to get that one onto the record player.

Lightnin' Hopkins - Mojo Hand: From the Mojo Hand album. You’ll recognize this album by the bright red cover and the presence of a hand in the middle, that would be a “Mojo Hand” I reckon. Well, that’s great. What’s even better than the cover is the music on the album. This is one of my favorite Lightnin’ albums. He’s playing great on this one and his band is right with him. I have every Lightnin’ albums I have ever seen and they’re all good but some are better than others and most of the time it’s not the man’s fault, it’s that he’s got so-so players with him or the sound is a little thin. This album has great songs and the man is on fire with his playing. From what I have been able to gather, this was released in 1962 which would put Mr. Hopkins around 50 years of age when he made this record. I have trained myself not to trust Wikipedia but I read on there that Lightnin’ was a cousin of Texas Alexander. Damn! I have a three volume set of his stuff, I’ll bring some in, he’s really great. Anyway, Lightnin’ Hopkins was one of the Blues giants and one of the great musicians of the last century and one of the many great musicians of Texas, he passed away in 1982.

XBXRX - Track Four: From the Gop Ist Minee CD. I got a great letter from Vice Cooler the other day. He and his band, XBXRX just got back from some shows and he said that a lot of people came up to him and told him they came to the show because they heard the band’s music on our show. Nice one Fanatics! That’s so cool. That made my day. This is what it’s all about. If this show gets one thing done, besides allowing me to wax effusive and fanatic about music, is that it now and then turns someone on to music they have not heard before. Talk about mission accomplished. This record, not all that easy to find, will blow up your stereo. There are so many great bands out there these days. XBXRX are part of that kick in the ass that music needed. Let’s hope that the band puts this one back into print at some point. Until then, you can find their new album Wars very easily, that one’s great too.

Metal Urbain – Panik: From the Anarchy In Paris! CD on Acute. This was the first single by the abrasive and French group. I got into this band because their singles were at the Yesterday & Today record store and very cheap and I was very curious. I became a fan and over the years, found the rest of their stuff used at stores here and there. I love that beatbox and metal noise they cranked out. I met Eric Debris from the band in France many years ago, very cool.

The Fall - New Face In Hell (Peel Session): The more often heard version can be found on The Fall’s Grotesque album, released in November 1980. Tonight’s version was recorded 09-16-80 and broadcasted 09-24-80 on John Peel’s show on the BBC. What, you think I have all this information just stored in my mind? Do you?! Of course I don’t! I got it here: http://www.visi.com/fall/. If you have not climbed the mountain that is the 6CD Peel Sessions box set of The Fall, you must go, go now!

The Rondelles - Mystery Bleach: From The Fox CD on Teenbeat. The trio formed in Albuquerque NM in 1996 while still in highschool and released three albums and a handful of singles before breaking up in the early 2000’s. If that 1996 date is a year off, I am sorry, I am not able to find much information on the band. I only have this one record but I am liking it and will check out some of their other stuff.

Daniel Johnston - I Had A Dream: We have not checked in with Daniel Johnston for awhile. If you go to Daniel’s very well tended to site: http://store.hihowareyou.com/, you will see that there are some really cool mail order only CDs and the album we pulled from tonight is called Don’t Be Scared and the tracks are pulled from cassettes dated July 1982, says the site. There are a few of these mail order only CDs and they’re all pretty cool and if you like Daniel, getting them is a good way to support Daniel, the artist, the musician, the legend.

Bud Powell - Nice Work If You Can Get It: From the Complete Blue Note And Roost Recordings set. Remember weeks ago when we listened to Art Tatum? I was talking about the discussion you can have about who the greatest Jazz piano player of all time was and with great frequency, the following names could possibly show up: Monk, Bill Evans, Art Tatum, Bud Powell. Some people might be into more adventurous players like Cecil Taylor or the very young, the very talented Matthew Shipp. There’s a lot of great Jazz piano players like Red Garland, Andrew Hill, Ahmad Jamal and McCoy Tyner. All these players are very VERY talented but I think that even all these people would extol the virtues of Mr. Powell. He started young and played with Cootie Williams while still a teenager. Williams was one of the great players from the early line-ups of Duke Ellington. Powell’s mental health started to deteriorate in the late fifties and his playing suffered. He eventually passed away in 1966. If you ever saw the film Round Midnight that chronicles the friendship of an American Jazz man who goes to France and a Frenchman who is a big fan of his. The film is based on the friendship between Bud Powell and Francis Paudras. It’s a great film and the character of Powell is played by sax player Dexter Gordon, who turns in perhaps one of the greatest acting performances by a musician.

Tom Waits - It's All Right With Me: From the very cool Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute To Cole Porter CD. I initially got this because there was an Iggy vocal on the CD and the Waits track is just icing on the cake. Cole Porter was one of America’s greatest songwriters. Ever hear Sinatra do I Get A Kick Out of You, for that matter, Clevon Little and others in Blazing Saddles? Sinatra did a lot of Porter’s material.

These Immortal Souls - Black Milk: From the I'm Never Gonna Die Again album. The great Rowland S. Howard, guitarist of The Birthday Party is in this band along with his brother Harry and the Epic Soundtracks of The Swell Maps and Crime And The City Solution which Rowland was also a member of. This album came out in 1992 after a long period of inactivity, their previous releases were from 1987. Rowland’s recorded works are so interesting to me. All his work with the late Nikki Sudden had gotten by me and was a happy discovery to make. One of the most interesting things about Rowland is the fact that he’s done so much music but has remained so shadowed. He’s not the most outgoing guy, always has been cool to me when I have encountered him but there’s always an air of mystery that surrounds him that I have always been drawn to. Last year, you remember that we played a few tracks off his album Teenage Snuff Film, that one’s so cool.

Tinariwen Tamatant Tilay: From the new Aman Iman (Water Is Life) album. Of all three of their albums I have heard, this is my favorite one. The other two I have, The Radio Tisdas Sessions and Amassakoul are great but this is my favorite one. I have written about this band before so you don’t need me to go through their history again but I urge you to check the records out.

Scene Creamers - What About Me?: From I Suck On That Emotion album. They eventually changed their name to Weird War. You have Ian and Michelle from The Make-Up in the band and I guess this is what they got up to after The Make-Up broke up. This is a band that I was late to class on. I found out about them when they were at least one record in. From what I’ve read, there have been a few members besides Ian and Michele who came and went. I have never asked the amazing Ian Svenonius about this group. He’s one of DC music’s brightest lights, from The Nation Of Ulysses to his David Candy material, he’s always worth checking out. If you get a chance, see his show Soft Focus on VBS.TV.

Slim Gaillard - I Don't Stand A Ghost Of A Chance With You: From the Slim Gaillard Rides Again CD. This is different than the other Slim CDs I have heard. The songs on this album are from a 1958 (’59)? session he did for Dot Records. I don’t think I have heard any Slim recordings past this year. It’s a very intimate album with only traces of the youthful frenzy of his older material. This is not a bad thing, actually, this is a beautiful record that reveals aspects of his playing that I had not heard before. I have never heard a Slim track that wasn’t pretty damn cool but this album is really special. It’s just Slim and guitar and/or with minimal backing. It’s a master at play, having some fun and doing what comes naturally. Very nice. You can find this one anywhere. As far as a starter Slim CD, you might want to check out the best of on Verve.

Swans - Half Life: from the Cop album. The Swans have done a lot of great work but this is a stand out album. What a bruising experience this thing is. I was very fortunate to get a copy of the album on tape from Michael Gira, the band’s leader, several weeks before the album came out and I played over and over. I had never heard anything like The Swans before but this album is one of the most intense things I have ever heard ever. I still play this one and it still causes damage. There’s a lot of Swans albums out and they are very different. As far as the band sounding like this, it’s this album and an EP called Raping A Slave, those two are on one CD I think. What a trip!

Alan Vega + Uniform - When the Sun Turns to Numbers: From the Protocol CD. I found this on E-bay in my endless quest to hear all things Vega. All I know about Uniform is what I’ve read online. It’s a one man band, made up of Wajid Yaseen who is also a member of 2nd Gen. I don’t know anything about them either. This album has a track featuring Lydia Lunch, which we’ll have to check out at some point but for tonight, it’s all about the Vega. I guess AV is just jamming with all kinds of people these days as we keep coming across all these one-off tracks. He’s a busy man. I am hoping to have a copy of the new Vega album called Station in my hands soon and I will get that one on the air ASAP.

Deerhoof - Milk Man: I think the last time we listened to Deerhoof, it was from the Koalamagic CD. Tonight, the title track from the band’s album, Milk Man. What a band! They blow my mind and there’s not one song of theirs that I have heard and don’t like.