Elliott Bay Leisure And Music Club Podcast #7

Elliott Bay Leisure And Music Club Podcast 7

“Oyster Perpetual Movement”

Some of the most unforgettable male vocalists of the modern era–pearls in the raw Kushi oyster–but don’t hesitate before you swallow the oyster raw and whole. Get past the shell to the briny meat concealing a gritty filling of tragicomedy. Joe Strummer is gone, but The Clash will never be forgotten.   Post-punk college radio darlings The Pixies brought Frank Black’s sardonic snarl and whine to the front of the stage. Nick Cave’s “Your Funeral, My Trial” is just the tip of the iceberg from one of the greatest albums of the late 20th century. Watch Wings of Desire. And don’t forget to thank the angels for Tom Waits’ vocal chords.

Let’s spend the afterlife in the space lounge of 2001: A Space Odyssey sipping a Rheingau Auslese and listening offhandedly to Kraftwerk. Don’t forget  the frisson at hearing Alison Goldfrapp’s voice for the first time–a breath of fresh air blowing down from Felt Mountain. All this gravity is too much…  so there’s Ween, Stereolab, and some wicked absurdism from The Moog Cookbook. Enjoy your repast! (Geof H.)

 

Elliott Bay Leisure And Music Club Podcast #6

Elliott Bay Leisure And Music Club Podcast 6

“Don’t Give Me That”

This podcast could easily be dedicated to the instigators and perpetrators of the world.  This includes the likes of those who create great pop melodies while finding themselves running with the wrong crowd. Read up on Wilson Simonal who begat “Nao Vem Que Nao Tem (Don’t Give Me That)”.  Musical instigators abound with Adult, Gary Numan, Radiohead, The Beastie Boys, and Mc Solaar with some great hallmark tracks as well as deep cuts.  Luna is searching for a crime in “1995”, Freedy Johnston claims “He Wasn’t Murdered” while Cat Power knows that “he will kill for you.”  You, dear listener, shall not die of boredom here. (Brad M.)

A Peek Inside John Peel’s Record Box

I don’t think I would have been happy as a rock musician. Even if I managed to overcome my stage fright and loathing of the spotlight, I believe the appalling sights, sounds, and smells of life on the road would have shriveled my resolve in short order. But I would have loved to be John Peel.

Not that I ever actually heard his show. This revered BBC radio host, who shaped the taste of two generations and launched innumerable music careers, was very much a British phenomenon–barely known in the U.S. and completely inaccessible to a kid growing up in the pre-digital Pacific Northwest of the ’70s and ’80s. But if you were as steeped in the British music of the era as I was, the legend of John Peel loomed large.
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The Toy Dolls: They’re Mad, I Tell You! Mad!

Big thanks to Erik Phillips for this link to the wonderful Toy Dolls video anthology, We’re Mad – Idle Gossip. Veterans of the second wave of British punk, The Toy Dolls were essentially a flag of convenience for singer-songwriter-guitarist Olga, a scrawny bloke with a cartoonish voice and lickety-split guitar chops. The terrace-rattling group choruses link them with other second-wave bands like The Angelic Upstarts, but instead of political anthems and social realism, the Dolls offered zany takes on working-class provincial life with titles like “You Won’t Be Merry On A North Sea Ferry” and “Yul Brynner Was A Skinhead.” Give them a look and a listen; they will increase your will to live.

Don’t Be L7–Dig “Wooly Bully”

“The lyrics describe a conversation between ‘Hattie’ and ‘Matty’ concerning the American Bison and the desirability of developing dancing skills, although no attempt is made to synthesize these divergent topics.” — Wikipedia

Elliott Bay Leisure And Music Club Podcast #5

Elliott Bay Leisure And Music Club Podcast 5

“Freedom’s Waiting For You”

Podcast #5 in our series starts off with “Under The Milky Sky” which was  voted in 2008 as Australia’s best song of the last 20 years. Assuming that not much has changed in the last 4 years, 80’s college rock has legs.  The band Air is a perennial EBLAMC favorite and graces this mix with “Playground Love”. Damon Albarn shows up twice; once as Blur and then again as Gorillaz.  I am reminded how much I like New Order with the “Slow Jam” track as well as how excited I was in 2001 when this ended their 8 year hiatus.  Negativland has a repeat performance from podcast 4 which includes my favorite line – ” you can say four blunt words and a man will hit you in the face”. Or maybe it was “at your 7-11, Freedom’s waiting for you”.  Finally, you hear THE BEST Mos Def song as far as I am concerned and it all ends well with Cassandra Wilson’s mystical “Resurrection Blues”. (Brad M.)

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Flat Field Records. One year old and two great records so far: the SpokAnarchy! Soundtrack and Tomten’s Ta Ta Dana EP. Many more to come!

Image Source: By D’Arcy Norman from Calgary, Canada (Flickr) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons