Monday, April 27, 2009

The Final Dark Days of Don Caballero and other goodies. Playlist for April 27, 2009

Though I should probably give Don Caballero more than just one song as a means of focusing on the story by Fred Weaver, I am sharing this over concern it might go away sooner than I can. Below is Fred Weaver's account of the first incarnation of Don Caballero's disastrous final tour. It is one of the best pieces of rock journalism, and I suggest everyone reads it, even if you are not a fan of Don Cab, there is something to get from the story. Below are a few of my favourite excerpts:

"He was impressed that my van was new-ish (or at least had a fully functioning passenger seat and didn't leak exhaust into the cabin, unlike the Don Cab van)."

"Once we get in the van, I realize that personality conflict will begin less than half an hour after waking up."

"We- me, Don Cab, my van- have become but one of many objects sliding across an ice covered roadway...The front left 10 inches- 1o inches!- of the van impacted the right rear of a small Buick van."

Here is a link to the entire tour diary: http://www.swanfungus.com/2007/04/don-caballero-final-tour-diary.html

The playlist today featured many jazz and industrial acts. KMFDM, a band that originally broke up ten years ago (but has since reformed), released their 'final' album, Adios ten years ago, and released Skold Vs KMFDM earlier this year. Skold vs KMFDM is a collaboration between the current KMFDM lineup and former member Tim Skold, who has since went on to work solo (and was in Marilyn Manson's band).

I would also like to congratulate all the winner's of the CJAM jammies, particularly the guys from Scaledown Radio for nabbing 'best new show,' my friend Brandon Webb for snagging Best Electronic Program with New Pulse, all the women from CJAM's Women's Radio Collective for winning best genre-focus program with Milk and Vodka, and everyone in the music variety block. To my surprise, I ended up as the runner-up in the 'best music variety' category, and I am grateful for everyone who voted. I don't know if Juxtaposition Jukebox is really the runner-up, because all the shows in the 'best music variety' category are excellent, and each has their own charm that cannot be replicated elsewhere. Congratulations to Verne Smith for winning 'best music variety' for Sin City Shuffle, and cheers to everyone in the music variety block for producing great shows.

Onto the playlist, (one song is dedicated to friends of mine, guess which one it is and you win... a smile from Kyle).

Setlist:
1) Angelo Badalamenti- Blue Velvet Main Titles (Blue Velvet Soundtrack)
2) Skold vs. KMFDM- Bloodsport (Skold vs. KMFDM)
3) KMFDM- D.I.Y. (Adios)
4) Cabaret Voltaire- Spread the Virus (Red Mecca)
5) Skinny Puppy- Testure (VIVISectVI)
6) D.A.G.- As Usual (D.A.G.)
7) Alice Coltrane- Blue Nile (Ptah, The El Daoud)
8) Simon Fisk- Don't Throw Stones (Vague Hotels)
9) Davis/Ulruch/Bauman- Baghwan Business (Urs Blochinger Tribute)
10) The Lounge Lizards- Incident on South Street (The Lounge Lizards)
11) PJ Harvey & John Parish- Leaving California (A Woman A Man Walked By)
12) The Ghost is Dancing- Louis Riel (Battles On)
13) Don Caballero- You Drink A Lot of Coffee For a Teenager (American Don)
14) Nadja- Only Shallow [My Bloody Valentine cover] (When I See the Sun Always Shines on TV)

Monday, April 20, 2009

420, The passing of a talented writer, and speaking out against despotism. Playlist for April 20, 2009

Quite a show today, and many of the songs played tied-in to events that occur around April 20th. Of course, it wouldn't be 4/20 without acknowledging the influence marijuana has on this day, so I played a few stoner songs for the occasion. Ranging from Peter Tosh's reggae classic Legalize It to doom/stoner rock band Sleep's hypnotic Holy Mountain, it was a set that, while incomplete, hopefully got people into a relaxed and lazy groove.

Yesterday, influential writer J.G. Ballard succumbed to prostate cancer, dying at the age of 78. His novel, The Atrocity Exhibition provided the namesake to the Joy Division song, and his works have influenced countless musicians from a wide variety of genres.

Since today was a rainy day, gloomy music was played to reflect the conditions outside. Along with Joy Division, woeful acts My Dying Bride and Katatonia
, two bands I turn to when feeling morose, were given spins on today's program.

The classic punk song Nazi Punks Fuck Off was also played in conjunction with Adolf Hiter's birthday. While some people are still unfortunately influenced by Nazi ideology, Jello Biafra will have none of that, and from it came a great song that exposes nazi punks for the misguided fools they are.

Below is the playlist. Weed songs are in green, sad songs are in white, while Minor Threat songs are in red. It can't be all stoner material, and besides, Minor Threat is one of the most influential bands of the last 30 years, and their mark on the music scene is too large to ignore, even on such an anti-straight-edge day.

The playlist:
1) Jaga Jazzist- Another Day (The Stix)
2) Bat For Lashes- Sleep Alone (Two Suns)
3) False Face- Year of the Benefit of the Doubt (Apple Crisp Compilation)
4) My Dying Bride- The Lies I Sire (For Lies I Sire)
5) Joy Division- Atrocity Exhibition (Closer)
6) Katatonia- We Must Bury You (Last Fair Deal Gone Down)
7) Dharmakasa- Kojo No Tsuki (Between Worlds)
8) Myles Bigelow- Can I Get a Whoa! (Good Life)
9) Peter Tosh- Legalize It (Legalize It)
10) Sublime- Smoke Two Joints (40 oz. to Freedom)
11) Kyuss- Thumb (Blues for the Red Sun)
12) Sleep- Holy Mountain (Sleep's Holy Mountain)
13) Minor Threat- Straight Edge (Minor Threat)
14) Minor Threat- Screaming at a Wall (Minor Threat)
15) Dead Kennedys- Nazi Punks Fuck Off (Plastic Surgery Disasters)
16) Hot Panda- Whale Headed Girl (Volcano...Bloody Volcano)
17) The Lodge- World in Me (That That Devil)

Monday, April 13, 2009

Big News Day in Music and a gem found on the internet

I should be studying for my exams, but here I am surfing the net and putting this off instead. Two items of note are featured here. First up, Phil Spector, the storied record producer credited with creating "the wall of sound" style of production has been found guilty of second degree murder.
I'm sure most of you know the details of the crime and trial, but in case you don't, background information is found below:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6984082.stm

Secondly, something that is both beautiful and saddening at the same time: the final North American concert Slowdive played. The concert occurred on May 21, 1994, and it is a fascinating performance to say the least.



If you've read my blog or listened to my show, I'm sure you've figured out that Slowdive is one of my favourite bands (if not my absolute favourite) and seeing this performace was emotionally stirring. At this stage in their carrer, Slowdive was a mess. Creation records was losing interest in the band, and funding for the tour from their American label dried up, forcing them to self-finance the final leg (which included this show). The emotional strain from an unsupportive label and a debt-ridden tour is very evident in the body language of the band (particuarly Rachel Goswell). The songs in the performance take on a new tone, as the ethereally uplifting atmosphere of the studio recordings transform into downbeat wails of agony. Live, these songs have an air of sadness that the studio versions downplay or lack altogether.
After the tour, Slowdive in essence broke up, and vocalist/guitarist recorded their final album, the more ambient and subdued Pygmalion by himself (singer Rachel Goswell provides vocals on two songs). Pygmalion was a commercial flop and Slowdive was dropped from Creation Records, an event that can be seen as the death of shoegaze. But Pygmalion was an album way ahead of its time, and its influence on other bands is easy to spot. The opening track Rutti can be seen as the first prototypical post-rock song, while the cello on 'Cello' is very reminiscent of Sigur Ros, as music critic Ian Watson points out.

Here's the setlist to their performance. Has a good mix of singles, and songs off of their first two albums Just For a Day and Souvlaki:

Machine Gun, Souvlaki Space Station, Slowdive, Catch the Breeze, 40 Days, Avalyn, Mellon Yellow, When The Sun Hits, Alison, Losing Today, Morningrise

Both albums, especially the latter, are shoegaze essentials. Neal Halstead, Rachel Goswell and drummer Ian McCutcheon later formed Mojave 3, which continues to record albums to this day. Though reunions are quite popular
these days, I don't see a Slowdive reunion happening at all, so I will simply close by saying R.I.P. Slowdive,
and thank you for making some of the most moving and dreamlike music I've ever encountered.

Playlist for April 13, 2009

Today's show was pre-recorded, because I had an exam to write (sorry to anyone who called and requested a song, if there was a call). But this list still covers some great artists, including Electroluminescent, who were fantastic at Phog this past Saturday night. I'll also comment on the reunion album from legendary Dutch death metal band Pestilence titled Resurrection Macabre, which is alright, though I suggest checking out their 1989 album Consuming Impulse instead, which is a death metal classic.

Playlist:
1) Cobalt- Dry Body (Gin)
2) Pestilence- Devouring Frenzy (Resurrection Macabre)
3) Electroluminescent- Ampere (Measures)
4) Shalabi Effect- Mokoondi (S/T)
5) Somos Collective- Tu Sabes De Done Yo Vengo (Todo Fluye Asi)
6) Kiran Ahluwalia- Yakeenan (Wanderlust)
7) Tortoise- Ry Cooder (S/T)
8) Godspeed You! Black Emperor- Motherfucker=Redeemer [Part 2] (Yanqui U.X.O.)
9) Grinderman- Grinderman (S/T)
10) Bohren & Der Club of Gore- Gore Motel (Gore Motel)
11) Mr. Bungle- Chemical Marriage (Disco Volante)

Monday, April 6, 2009

Playlist for Arpil 6, 2009

Today's show was alright, but the inability to play one track was a bummer to say the least, since it was intended to be a focal point. The track in question is John Carpenter's 'Porkchop Express' from his 1986 film Big Trouble in Little China, with Carpenter's scores from Halloween and Escape from New York also getting airplay. Alas, only 2/3 of the Carpenter block was completed, and I apologize to all the Carpenter fans out there hoping to hear the tune. Other soundtracks included are listed below, from noted films to films with a marginal cult following.
Films played a key theme to today's program outside of the soundtracks. Agalloch's- 'The Hawthorne Passage' freatures samples from Alejandro Jodorowsky's Fando Y Lis, while Der Eisenrost mainman Chu Ishikawa served as composer to many of Shinya Tsukamoto's films (such as Tetsuo: The Ironman, Tokyo Fist, and A Snake of June). All of these movies are works of art, and I'd recommend people seeking them out.

1) Agalloch- The Hawthorne Passage (The Mantle)
2) Voici- Rossignolet (Bette & Wallet)
3) United Steelworkers of Montreal- Making Babies (Three on the Tree)
4) Provincial Archive- Night Sounds (Nameless Places)
5) John Coltrane- Resolution (A Love Supreme)
6) Clifton Anderson- We'll Be Together Again (Decade)
7) Ann Southam- Noisy River (Pond Life)
8) Aphex Twin- Fingerbib (Richard D. James Album)
9) Der Eisenrost- White Way (Armored Weapon)
10) Venetian Snares- Calvin Kleining (Filth)
11) Hermann Kopp, Dakarti Lorenz & John Boy Walton- Menage-a-trois (Nekromantik Soundtrack)
12) John Carpenter- Halloween Theme (Halloween Soundtrack)
13) John Carpenter- Escape From New York Theme (Escape From New York Soundtrack)
14) Vangelis- Blade Runner [end credits] (Blade Runner Soundtrack)
15) Johnny Greenwood- Prospector's Quartet (There Will Be Blood Soundtrack)
16) Lhasa- Anyone and Everyone (S/T)

Friday, April 3, 2009

So apparently Juxtaposition Jukebox is in the April 2009 issue of Exclaim

I would like to give thanks to Nicole from The Washing Machine for pointing this out, cause I dunno if I would have detected it.
Anyways, in this month's Exclaim!*#, the !earshot programming profile is on experimental music shows, with DJ Solespin's Eclectricity from Montreals CJLO 1690AM (Saturdays 6-8pm) being the main feature. Underneath there are "other eclectic Canadians" featured, and among them is Juxtajuke. Mind you, they say it airs on Saturdays from 6-8am, but seeing this show getting a tiny blurb in a national publication still put a smile on my face.