Sunday Spin: Sounds of Christmas

I’m pretty excited about Sunday Spin at Benetti’s Coffee Experience this weekend, as my father-in-law, Jim Gutwein, has chosen all the music.  Katy’s parents are in town for Thanksgiving, and I asked Jim to share some records before they leave.  (Most of the records are culled from his personal collection, and Jim is proud to gloat that all are original pressings thereof.)  He has decided to play Christmas music Sunday evening, so grab a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and wind down from the hectic holiday weekend, looking forward to the Christmas season.

1. Nat King Cole Trio – “The Christmas Song” (original 45 from 1946, not the version made popular in the the early 1960s)
2. Bing Crosby – excerpt of a radio broadcast from A Christmas Sing with Bing (1956)
3. Joan Baez – side 1 of Noel (1966)
4. The Ramsey Lewis Trio – Sound of Christmas (1961)
5. Tony Bennett – Snowfall: The Tony Bennett Christmas Album (1968)
6. The Miracles – side 2 of The Season for Miracles (1970)
7. The Temptations – side 1 of The Temptations Christmas Card (1970)
8. Various Artists – side 2 of A Christmas Gift for You (1963)
9. Charles Brown – side 1 of Charles Brown Sings Christmas Songs (1960)
10. James Brown – side 2 of James Brown Sings Christmas Songs (1966)

We’ll augment your own research on these record with handout Sunday evening.  See you there from 6:00-9:00.

She grips my heart.

If I could make any album ever, it would be Kissers and Killers by The Choir.  It’s such a great combination of lyrics, rhythm, slithery bass lines and noisy guitars.

Third Annual Black Friday Record Store Crawl

For the third year in a row, I will make the rounds procuring records on Black Friday.  This year, however, I’m inviting anyone to join.  (And trust me, if you think I’m giving out trade secrets, I could give you a running start and still beat you to the choice records.)

I’m giving you my itinerary, so you can meet up at any point along the way.

1. We will start at Benetti’s Coffee Experience at 6:00 for caffeination.  We’ll leave for Half Price Books in Westport.  Although it opens at 7:00, we”ll arrive around 6:30 because there was a really long line last year.  The store hands out bags with $5 gift cards and coupons.  The store has a 20% off sale the entire day, and one lucky person in that first 100 gets a gift card for $100.
2. Next, we’ll stop at Mama’s 39th Street Diner for breakfast.  They have the best omelettes and pancakes in town, so we have to go.  I might even get some of their amazing carrot cake, too.
3. After breakfast, we’re going to Streetside Records.  The store has been selling used records for a while now, but I got wind that it’s fallen into a serious stash of music that will be “priced to sell.”  It opens at 9:00.

So yeah, see you bright and early on Friday!

Sexy.

I haven’t said anything about this here yet, but a week and a half ago, I was invited to join The Sexy Accident as its bassist, and tonight is my first rehearsal with the guys.  The band is essentially the brainchild of Jesse Kates, who suffers from a un/healthy worship of David Gedge and Kurt Heasley.  He’s also bent on making weird time signatures accessible, much like Andy Partridge.

I really dig bands that seem to intentionally hone in on a certain sound, even at the risk of commercial success.  (Ronnie Martin comes to mind here.)  So this opportunity really excites me.

Episode #19: Here Comes Everything

I should start by saying that I’ll take next week off.  That time off will give me an opportunity to plan out the next show.  I take suggestions for themes for every tenth episode, so please leave suggestions for episode #20 in the comments portion of this post.  I will consider any theme, but refrain from the trite (war, civil rights, abortion) or the absurd (alternative energy, British prime ministers, home schooling).  The more creative you are, the better the results will hopefully be.

Anyway, a word about volume.

I don’t master my shows.  What I do, however, is try to ensure everything hits the same peaks.  I don’t feel compelled to compress everything to a brick-shaped wave file, so you’ll notice that songs like “Everybody’s Talking” in this week’s show seem a little more quiet.  But, trust me, they do eventually hit roughly the same high points as the rest of the show.

I guess I should also comment on language.  Because I play music that I like and I don’t generally gravitate toward the vulgar, you won’t find too many expletives in these shows.  But I don’t buy all my CDs at Wal-Mart.  Capiche?

Enjoy.

1. “Wipe That Sound” – Mouse on Mars (Radical Connector/Thrill Jockey/2004)
2. “What Matters More” – Derek Webb (Stockholm Syndrome/INO/2009)
3. “Everybody’s Talking” – The Jazz Butcher (Patron Saints of Teenage/Creation/1994)
4. “M.O.R.” – Blur (Blur/Virgin/1997)
5. “Century” – The Mary Onettes (Islands/Labrador/2009)

Radio Free Raytown – Episode #19 (11/13/09)

Rotation (11/11/09)

I think I’ve been gone more than I’ve been home lately.  Here’s what I’ve been listening to in the car, in no particular order.

1. Blur – Blur (Virgin 1997)
2. The Sexy Accident – Mantoloking (independent 2009)
3. Spiritualized – The Complete Works, Volume One (Arista 2003)
4. Sam Billen – Headphones and Cellphones (The Record Machine 2009)
5. DJ Shadow – Private Press (MCA 2002)

 

 

 

Episode #18

Sam Billen, doing his Sam Bean impersonation

Our sixth anniversary was last weekend, and we spent last Friday night in Topeka to celebrate.  While there, we went to Sam Billen’s release/listening party at a bohemian furniture store Friday night and hung out with his brother, Dan, and family on Saturday (stopping at a sweet Mexican joint and a thrift store).

Sam released a couple solo albums while the band he formed with his brother, The Billions, was alive and kicking.  Now that the band is finished (playing its final concert earlier this year), he’s continued doing solo work with this new release on The Record Machine.

Anyway, enjoy the show.

1. Sam Billen – The Garden (Headphones and Cellphones 2009)
2. David Byrne & Brian Eno – Strange Overtones (Everything That Happens will Happen Today 2008)
3. TV on the Radio – Golden Age (Dear Science 2008)
4. Autolux – Sugarless (Future Perfect 2004)

Radio Free Raytown – Episode #18 (11/6/09)

Review: The Sexy Accident’s Mantoloking

I’ve been a fan off Jesse Kate’s music for some time now.  His work with The Sexy Accident reminds me of indie rock’s glory days of the mid-90s.  (I know we’ve already discussed this, Jesse, but I really mean that in the best way possible.)  The drums and vocals sound real, and the band’s performances show just how little overdubbing it does with guitars.  We need more bands that ditch laptops and just rock.

Anyway, my thoughts on their new album.

• Overall, it’s much, much better than the last one, Kinda Like Fireworks.  I have to think the improvement is due to the addition of a second guitarist.  Jesse doesn’t have to try to play everything at once.
• It was apparent on the last album, but it’s pretty obvious now just how intentional the band is in nailing down a specific sound.  This really isn’t a diverse album; there are no surprise forays  into electronica.  It pretty much just sounds like a David Gedge record.
• Some of the songs are semi-autobiographical, yet armed with enough made-up stuff to throw off the listener.
• I really, really dig that Johnny Marresque guitar at 1:40 in “I’m Just Trying to Help (Me Like You).”
• The band plays in some uncommon time signatures, yet it  still sounds more like Guided By Voices or The Wedding Present than King Crimson.  This is a testament to their efforts to stay accessible.
• I like the percussion and stereo-panning tricks in “Buy Me Out.”  It just goes to show how cool chicanery can be if judiciously used (as opposed to the technological onslaught of bands like Bloc Party).
• I’m still undecided with how I feel about “Failing to Play Nice.”  It seems honest, but maybe too sprawling.  It kinda seems like a hiccup in the middle of the album, but then other times, I enjoy the change of pace.
• The most rewarding thing about the Mantoloking, for me, is Jesse’s lyrics.  (He’s explained them all in ridiculous detail on the band’s blog.)  I can tell he must be thoughtful, yet super-sarcastic, like me.  He pokes fun at the typical, gushing love song, spending all his time in “I’m Just Trying to Help (Me Like You)” focused on what the girl needs to do and look like to gain his love.  Lines like, “If you want me to come back to you/ Here’s a list of some things that you could chose to do/ Like learn to pick up for your man/ And have you considered a spray-on tan?”  He gets a little more serious and dark on “I Tried Again” with some quasi-Morrissey-like hopeless romantic lines,  “I get bored if I’m not adored/ So I’m looking for a mess/ You’re the one I like the best.”
• The album is not too long.

So if any of that intrigues you, just download the album for free from the band’s website.  I also saw a few physical copies available at Prospero’s.

Episode #17: Monkey Gone to Heaven

I didn't have the foresight to take a picture of Recycled Sounds before it closed, so I found this picture on flickr by Brett Wilms.

Have you ever tried to understand a friend by meeting that friend’s relatives and friends?  I invariably remark, “Oh, that’s where so-and-so got that saying” or “That makes sense now that I met so-and-so’s brother.”

Yesterday was like that for me, as I attended Anne Winter’s funeral.  I first knew her through her work as owner of Recycled Sounds, then I saw her in action at the International Association of Assessing Officers, as my wife’s boss.  (I remember her coming home from the interview, excited that the lady who just interviewed her knew all about the magazines for which she had done freelance work.  That was for good reason; Anne sold Copper Press, Bandoppler and Paste in her store.)  I knew Anne was involved in the community, but I had no idea the many, many things she did until the past few days.

At any rate, Episode 17 is in memory of Anne.  All of the music is from albums I bought at her store.  As I think on her funeral, I realize how this show only represents a very small piece of who she was. I guess I shouldn’t apologize.  Anne would have loved to hear this show.

1. The Boo Radleys – Upon Ninth and Fairchild (Giant Steps 1993)
2. Trans Am – Let’s Take the Fresh Step Together/I Want It All (Red Line 2000)
3. Jud Jud – side two of No Tolerance for Instruments 1988
4. Ugly Duckling – Fresh Mode (Fresh Mode EP 1999)
5. Pixies – Monkey Gone to Heaven (Doolittle 1989)

I should also mention that the background songs, “The Jaunt” and “Survival of the Freshest,” are taken from Poets of Rhythm’s 2001 album, Discern/Define (also purchased at Recycled Sounds).

Radio Free Raytown – Episode 17 (10/28/09)

Goodbye to an old friend.

Anne with her kids, Max and Eva

I feel like I have to say something here about Anne Winter’s passing last Thursday.  I plan on discussing the matter further in this week’s podcast, with a couple quite hilarious anecdotes, but I thought I’d say something before her funeral tomorrow.

Anne and her husband ran Recycled Sounds at the intersection of Westport Road and Main Street for 18 years.  It, along with The Music Exchange, was my second home in college, especially when my family life got rough.  This was the store where I discovered everything from classics like The Pixies and Echo and the Bunnymen to newer stuff like Trans Am, Jetenderpaul and Blackalicious.  Whenever I wandered through the store, as if I didn’t know what to get, she’d always hand me a CD and demand, “You need to listen to this.”

Apart from her monumental influence in my musical discoveries and her encouragement of the creation of my own music, Anne was my wife’s boss for the last year and a half at the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO).