Rock Geek Chic

Radiohead B-Sides

2012-01-06T07:38:00.000-08:00

In the words of guest host Philip Graham, "Tonight's show will be devoted to obscure Radiohead B-sides and such, studio cuts that somehow never made it to any of their CDs. The quality of these songs is uniformly excellent, leading to a repeated, inevitable, head scratching question, "Why didn't they include THAT song? ....I have 48 such songs in my collection, ranging from their first album to their latest, , so there may very well be a second part of this themed-show, if William and Cristy are willing..."

What a great way to make it across the divide between 2011 and 2012! Thanks, Philip.

Listen to or download all four hours below.

Part 1: 2-Hour MP3
Part 2: 2-Hour MP3

Rádio Macau

2011-10-14T07:48:00.001-07:00

In the words of guest host Philip Graham...

"This show will be about one of the world's greatest rock bands that you never heard of, Rádio Macau. Why haven't you heard of them? Well, they're Portuguese, and the rock traditions of other countries, outside of England, don't travel easily to our country. It's our loss.

Rádio Macau formed in the early new-wavish 80s, had several iconic hits and has continued brilliantly right to the present day. Lead singer Xana is one of the great voices of rock 'n' roll (think Brian Ferry after a sex change operation). How good are they? Their masterpiece, 2000's Onde O Tempo Faz A Curva (Where Time Curves), predates Radiohead's Kid A by several months, and yet cuts that album, and sets the stage for many experiments to come in the following decade."

Listen to and download the two-hour-plus MP3 here.

dedicated scholars

Many New Shows

2011-09-30T12:18:00.000-07:00

We have uploaded some new and old radio shows for your enjoyment.

John Martyn (with guest scholar Philip Graham) (16 August 2011) (Note: this MP3 has some volume problems at the beginning due to the complex nature of community radio stations. Skip ahead.)
Rolling Stones (with guest scholar Honcho) (5 September 2011)
The Upper Register (with guest scholar John Gehner) (12 September 2011)
Re-uploaded by special request:
Songs About Champaign (1 November 2010)

Songs About Bees

2011-06-15T12:34:00.001-07:00

On the roller derby track and behind the microphone, she goes by the moniker Polly Nator, revealing a deeply rooted fascination with bees, insects, and all the little creatures that aid in pollination. As guest hostess, this star entomologist dazzles us with insect education, and spins two hours of songs about, mostly, bees, but also arachnids, insects, and other arthropods.

Listen to the lecture / discussion and rock broadcast here.

Gene Clark

2011-06-15T12:29:00.001-07:00

Here is the sad story of master singer-songwriter and Byrds co-founder Gene Clark, as told to William by Philip Graham, rock scholar. Listen to Gene Clark's life and work, from an early Byrds demo through his final recordings.

Procol Harum

2011-03-14T07:40:00.000-07:00

Dr. Philip Graham, rock scholar, leads a rigorous discussion of the works, personnel, and history of Procol Harum, from their peculiar name and explosive, immediate success through their continuing contemporary relevance and most recent releases.

Radio Free Anderson

2011-02-24T07:41:00.000-08:00

Freestyle soundtracks, Austin psych, retro, and some astonishing early bullshit that forever destroys the punk cred of Lou Reed.

netfiles.uiuc.edu/gillespi/www/20110221anderson.mp3

Sorry, Lou.

Robyn Hitchcock

2011-02-24T07:35:00.000-08:00

The irrepressible Dave Witzany joins us for a Valentine's Day show dedicated to a songwriter we truly love: Robyn Hitchcock.

Songs With Mellotrons

2010-12-07T11:52:00.000-08:00

We dedicated a two-hour radio show to the Mellotron, which was a popular keyboard instrument using tape loops as a sound source - the first sampling keyboard, (analog) - popularized in the 1960s in "Strawberry Fields Forever" and many other songs. Though we couldn't totally avoid King Crimson, Zombies, and early Genesis, the show focused on recent examples. Featuring incidental mellotron music by Paul Kotheimer. Afterward hear a bit of a live in-studio concert by Santah. Download the playlist.

Byrds

2010-11-30T12:03:00.000-08:00

Professor Philip Graham, the world's preeminent Byrds scholar, joins us for a lively conversation about the surprising, important legacy of America's first folk-rock, raga-rock, bluegrass-rock, and country-rock band.

Scott Walker

2010-11-24T10:05:00.001-08:00

On a stormy 11/22 Honcho emerged from the mists to collaborate on a long-awaited Scott Walker show.

We covered Walker's career in chronologic order, touching on every solo album along the way.

Get serious.

Songs About Champaign

2010-11-24T09:50:00.001-08:00

On November 1, John Steinbacher of Smile Politely Radio joined us, expertly mastering the WWII-era WEFT mixing board, and hosting a show of songs by national artists that mention "Champaign" (Illinois), and then, to fill the remaining hour and 45 minutes, songs by national artists that mention other downstate Illinois communities, songs by downstate Illinois bands that mention Champaign, songs with "Champaign" in the title that are about something else, and bands that have the word "Champaign" in their name. At no point was REO Speedwagon played. Nor, apparently, does anybody have anything to say about "Urbana."

Songs About Trains

2010-10-12T15:16:00.000-07:00

This is as much fun as we've ever had...so much material to fight over and argue about...

Bowie Rarities

2010-10-12T15:09:00.001-07:00

To give the listener a unique trip, Honcho and William may have neglected album tracks which cannot, in most cases, be improved upon by David Bowie or by anybody else. Still, with nearly half a century of solid material to edit into two hours, something had to get neglected. We present David Bowie in roughly chronologic order, from 1967 through the turn of the millennium. Commentary aplenty, including a withering dissection of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's latest round of draft picks.

Those Darlins at the IMC

2010-09-25T10:16:00.000-07:00

They kicked me in the ear; I saw stars. This is the honest truth. When Those Darlins plowed onstage and started into wringing the necks on some guitars, slapping a bass, and shaking the teeth out of a ukelele hole, notes were flying. This combo pretty much bootstomped the mud off of one IMC stage. Nikki was recovering from a broken arm and only able to kick 110% ass but I swear to you, reader, that if she had broken that very arm punching this reporter in the face then no way would I ever put makeup on that sweet bruise. Poor thing was in pain: those cans of Busch just collapsed into crumpled tin when she inhaled them. Jessi got that look in her eye. Kelley was playing that electrical guitar like driving a police car through a brick wall. They smoked us and rolled us over like pigs on a spit. They led; the crowd danced. There was nothing between them and us but a couple half-empty bottles and a ton of respect. After they got into it, they even came out into the crowd and did things I can't tell you. This was no posture, no altar; we were finally getting down to some honest rock and roll, folks. Those Darlins set fire to the place and burned a hole clear through to the sky leaving only a harvest moon and old Jupiter looking down in wonder at the beauty of transience: how the cruel beast of time can now and then be pistol-whipped into the truth of chords. I swear to Elvis and Joan Jett this was the best show I have ever seen.

The Future and Past of Music: Janelle Monae and Of Montreal at the Canopy Club 22 September 2010

2010-09-23T17:37:00.000-07:00

It was gratifying to see Janelle Mon´e on the same stage where I saw Funkadelic. Though her music comes to us through a time tunnel from an altogether different millennium, like George Clinton she frames physically persuasive, danceable music with complex, cerebral narrative.

Monae was radiant. She had an electric, formal stage presence -- post-Victorian Gibson girl meets Grace Jones -- with a dignity and drama worthy of her muse Fritz Lang. Above the stage, her image reproduced in black-and-white on two video screens had a grainy newsreel quality, as if we were in the future watching footage of the historic events of the present.

The acoustic space was filled to bursting by a sharp trio playing guitar, drums, and keyboard. The stage was haunted by costumed extras: wraiths, birds, buccaneers, fallout survivors, jet pilots, and queens. Crowded by these ghosts of her nightmarish imagination, Mon´e performed a fantastic set.

I have seen the future: it's a strobe-lit, amplified, dangerous time... but very stylish.

After a steamy Janelle Monae left the stage, the Canopy Club was a hot and fetid tropical locker room. Few bands could have followed her into that sweatbox and pleased me.

Of Montreal gets credit for using some of the best performance ideas of David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, the Residents, Prince, and Pink Floyd (Alan Parker). While a surplus of eight musicians underlined the beat (or just waved their arms in the air), impressively costumed dancers elbowed their way to the edge of the stage. This unwieldy ensemble made even the generous Canopy stage seem unmanageably cramped, with randomly-attired stage hands (one in white t-shirt, one in shirt and tie) dashing back and forth to maneuver into place various large props.

Some of these apparitions that wandered in from stage right were majestic and terrifying, though the best costume designs of any concert I have seen had apparently been given no script other than contorting sexually with two blonde women in gold bikinis.

It's good to see a young band try so hard to do something other than play great songs. I admire the effort to add a dimension of spectacle to alt-disco music. Frontman Kevin Barnes tried to push his magnetism, charisma, and beauty past its limits to lead the crowd into a rave atmosphere of unrestrained sexuality. But in the end this felt less liberating than shallow.

I applaud the effort to have a stage show, am impressed by the disturbingly surreal costumes, but found it all undermined by haphazard choreography and question whether the thin foundation of dance music can support the art they try to build on top of it.

Midway through the set was a moving performance of two newer songs, including "Casualty of You." With a stripped-down instrumentation, disturbing animation, and a biting electric violin solo, this moving ten minutes of the show showed me what the band could accomplish if they did more serious writing.

And then for an encore they did the song about how the singer can "do it." I clapped loud for another encore. From Janelle Monae.

Power Pop: Mixtured

2010-09-15T11:21:00.002-07:00

You can subscribe to Rock Geek FM as a podcast.

In iTunes, go to Advanced > Subscribe to Podcast.
Type in: http://feeds.feedburner.com/RockGeekChic.
Put us on your devices.

13 September 2010: Doug Hoepker joins us to play more than twenty power pop classics, launching his new online collaborative mix project Mixtured.

The Rock Inbox

2010-09-15T11:21:00.001-07:00

30 August 2010: DJ Tony Money helps us tear the envelopes off a stack of new arrivals as we bring you the Rock Inbox: totally new music. Chaos, madness, ecstasy, and thirty fingers on the pulse of rock.

Radio Freestyle Anderson

2010-09-15T11:20:00.001-07:00

6 September 2010: Honcho spins freestyle. Soul, soundtrack, and rare seven inch treasures from the archeology of music. Hear about his trip through the midwest and recent concerts.

Songs About Cars

2010-09-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

23 August 2010: Rick Halberg joins us to discuss the history of rock and roll music as viewed through the lens of songs about cars. In the words of the Dude, I fucking hate the Eagles man. But what Glen lacks, Ike Turner got. And what neither Frey nor Turner can provide, Freddie Mercury got covered. A splendid mix, deep and educational. Featuring Rock Geek News: hilarity ensues.

Mod Bit: Ashley's Dust

2010-07-15T11:14:00.000-07:00

Meanwhile, William hosted an episode of Alex Lazarevich's contemporary classical show Mod Bit, dedicated to music with or against text. This show is two hours long, and half of it is part of Robert Ashley's creepy spoken word opera Dust. Look at the playlist or download the MP3.

Syd Barrett

2010-07-08T11:16:00.001-07:00

In this episode, we are joined by Honcho, who leads us on a two hour discussion of Syd Barrett, featuring original and rare songs from Syd, early "The" Pink Floyd, and various cover artists.

Out of Their Element & Jazz / Rock Fission

2010-06-29T08:19:00.001-07:00

On 28 June 2010 Cristy and William were joined by guest host percussionist and jazz scholar Jason Finkelman, who took us on a tour of the wild, sophisticated borderland of jazz and rock.

On June 21, abetted by the crew of Rock Geek F.M., DJ "Two Tone" Tony Money birthed his brainchild, "Out of Their Element," in which we identified instances where bands attempted to create music in styles that they were not suited for. Such as Brian Wilson's rap track.

This show felt like it quickly disintegrated into total, wanton anarchy.

Radio for the Church Community

2010-05-05T08:59:00.000-07:00

Honcho is back from Normal, this time with another maniacally thorough radio show dedicated to Australia's The Church. He has been working his imaginary WEFT Press Pass, and procured exclusive interview footage as well as some possibly illegal bootleg recordings given the nod by the gentlemen of the Church.

Roky Erickson

2010-05-05T08:55:00.000-07:00

On April 19, to celebrate both the triumphant release of the new Roky Erickson album and the announcement that Roky and Okkervil River would be performing at Urbana's Pygmalion Music Festival, Honcho from Normal took us on a tour of Roky's rich, twisted catalog.

Clientele and Songs About Weapons

2010-04-07T08:27:00.000-07:00

Here are two MP3 uploads of recent broadcasts for your electronic audio pleasure.

15 February 2010: A show dedicated to the band the Clientele, starring Rock Honcho "Oscar" Anderson from the weird city of Normal.

5 April 2010: Songs about weapons. Guns, knives, bombs, nuclear warheads, and yes, one rocket launcher.

Radio Freestyle Anderson

2010-02-18T14:20:00.001-08:00

Perhaps the best themes for shows are musical ideas that can't be put into words.

On a dark, frozen, dangerous snowy night, DJ J Anderson joined us for a night of lesbian vampire soundtrack weirdness that can only be surrendered to.

At the end you can hear a song performed live in the studio by Cara Maurizi on WEFT Sessions.

Banjology

2010-02-02T11:40:00.000-08:00

Banjologist and Bookglutton CEO Travis Alber hosted our show last night, spinning independent rock featuring the banjo. The show was fun, but educational, but haunting, and yet homey.

Microtonal Radio

2010-01-04T08:41:00.001-08:00

Andrew Heathwaite and Paul Kotheimer joined William Gillespie on Jay Eychaner and Jason Finkelman's experimental music show Fanfare for the Speeding Bullet, and they spent an hour explaining, discussing, playing, and performing microtonal music, with an emphasis on just intonation and equla divisions of the octave.

2009-12-30T09:34:00.001-08:00

Cristy had a fun show with Gillian Marie Gabriel and friends. Read all about it at the blog of the wonderful Lindsey Markel.

Bands With Weird Names

2009-12-09T11:12:00.000-08:00

Cristy, William, and guest host Doeg Hoepker executed a radio show dedicated to Bands With Weird Names. The second hour is dedicated to new music. At the end you can hear a bit of a live in-studio performance by a band called Sykes (featuring a violinist!) whose members are in high school. Check out the playlist here.

Thanks, Doug, for guiding us through what for us was a highly subjective and virtually unlimited radio show theme!

The Shallow End

2009-08-14T08:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a radio show about the (self-)important music of the 1960s.

The Shallow End, with Mike Nickels and Joanie Cokespoon. Music for thinking people, from when the music mattered.

Download an hour's worth of attitude here.

Two albums: one triumph, one try again

2009-08-14T08:07:00.000-07:00

2007. Urbana. Parasol Records. I was trying to find a new job. Twelve interviews in twelve months, and after each, to calm down, I went to Parasol Records wearing a suit, feeling dirty, and blew money on records. On one such day, itching to spend but finding nothing I knew I needed, I asked Angie to recommend something I had never heard before. Something undanceable, with weird lyrics and unexpected time signature changes. This was probably an unfair request, but she nailed it. She handed me Widow City, by the Fiery Furnaces. She had been in a band or two with Mathew Friedberger. I took the disc home and put it on while painting a wall green, and Cristy and I were blown away in a way we seldom are: new music irresistible and yet unlike anything we'd ever heard, sharp, cool, unique, weird, jarring, bad-ass in a nerdy way, but with an integrity that made its own sense.

In fact, though we have each had such experiences on our own, there is only one other album that paralyzed us both together on first listen...

2003. Urbana. Blue Moon Farms. Rick and I were walking somewhere out past the basil, admiring the sunset, when he mentioned a band he thought I should check out: The Negro Problem. Well, truth be told, the whole idea of a band called The Negro Problem made me uncomfortable. But intrigued. But no Negro Problem albums presented themselves to me over the following months, so I didn't have to take a stand on whether I thought The Negro Problem was an appropriate name for a band.

2009. Iowa City. The record store behind Haunted Books. On a whim, I looked in N, and there, enigmatically, was Welcome Black by The Negro Problem. I guess that I expected some confrontational, racially-charged music, probably rap. A few days later I was driving around Urbana at night, running some pointless errand, and I put the disc on. From the moment two minutes into the album when the singer Stew bursts in, erupting with the unforgettable, unfathomable declaration "Don't want to put you in a pop coma/And then they put you in a popcorn machine!" I got very confused. I just felt weird. I could not stop driving around until the CD was over. And even then I had to back it up a couple of times. (Oh no, he did not really just sing, "Mr. Mellencamp, show me a hip small town free of those serial rednecks and all/With a bookstore where Chomsky's speaking down at the Veteran's Mall." That's too weird. This is like a black Tom Waits performing glam cabaret show tunes from Jupiter with Robert Fripp on guitar. Or... something.) The liner notes did not clear anything up: musicians credited include Ennio Lessaconi, Rollin' Barthes, and someone named Loop plays something called Garoo.

Teachable moment: of course I wondered whether I should savor the wonderful weirdness of this new album — that rare, total What the Fuck? moment — or immediately research and obtain all the other material by the band. I did the latter, should have done the former. Even if Post-Minstrel Syndrome is perhaps the best possible album title for a band called The Negro Problem, I gather that Stew learned to write lyrics a few albums before he learned to focus on setting them to good melodies and arrangements, joining forces with Heidi Rodewald. I heard nothing else that throttled me in two other Negro Problem records and three Stew albums. Until I finally found the most recent Stew album...

2008. Nashville. Grimey's Records. On our way back from the Florida Keys, we stop at this wonderful record store long enough for me to buy every Fiery Furnaces album on vinyl. And an ABC button. The clerk is a fan (of the Fiery Furnaces, not ABC), and he strikes up a conversation with me about their various albums. But he tells me that Widow City is his least favorite. "It's like, I get the point, you can change time signatures." What he doesn't like is what I like.

So you might like the new album by the Fiery Furnaces, but I don't. It's not exquisitely strange. It's almost like a rock album by a band who doesn't quite know how to rock, but who really wants to. They try to pump out simple, repetitive, electric songs in steady quadratic time signatures. It sounds like an awkward attempt to try not to be too weird. The guy at Grimey's probably likes it. I respect it as an addition to their eclectic catalog — it's not an embarrassment, just a disappointment — but I won't buy the vinyl this time. You might like I'm Going Away, the new album by the Fiery Furnaces, because I don't.

Let's compare. The opening lines of Widow City:

"There ain't no more favors to ask;

There ain't no petitions to pass;

It's all in the hands — it's all in the hands —

Of the Philadelphia Grand Jury now.

More crooked sons of bitches you can't ever

have come across."

Okay. They've got my attention. This is a song about something. By contrast, the opening lines of I'm Going Away:

"I'm going away, I'm going away.

I'll be back some old day.

I'll be back some old day.

I'll be back some old day.

I'm going away, I'm going away.

I'll be back some old day.

I'll be back some old day.

I'll be back some old day."

And repeat. And repeat. That's not writing, that's copying and pasting.

Passing Strange, the latest album by Stew of the Negro Problem, is a live performance of his Broadway musical — an autobiographical pop opera (to be released as a performance film by Spike Lee this month). It's not like Welcome Black in that it is definitely more like show tunes, but it has all the weird hooks, charm, and astonishing lyrics of that record and something more: the story of Stew's life. One gets no sense of the man whatsoever from the surreal Welcome Black, but here he lays himself bare. And this time the music is racially charged, but in a personal and non-confrontational way that I can get. For example, there is an amazing moment in this story when he visits Amsterdam and befriends a woman who gives him the keys to her apartment. He is blown away by this simple gesture of trust, which he believes would never happen in America.

From the song "Keys (Marianna)":

"You know those L.A. ladies in their Mercedes:

They lock their doors if you just sneeze.

Now it's like, 'Bitch, please. She gave me her keys.'"

In describing the new ways he is treated in Europe — trusted in Amsterdam, fetishized in Germany — Stew brings a sharp contrast to the stereotypical racial identity that is his burden at home. These songs tell a story, fill your plate with thought, are funny and well-constructed, and surprising. It's not just about racial identity, it's about life, family, love, and there's even a song, with creepy organ playing reminiscent of Piper at the Gates of Dawn, called "Must Have Been High" about someone who wants to climb a tree.

Passing Strange is the crest of the wave of music pouring through my life at this moment.

900 Words for 5 New Albums Released in 2009

2009-08-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

Black Moth Super Rainbow: Eating Us

It would be enough to have a psychedelic name, surreal xerography on the album cover, a cryptic persona with no band photos, and a history of bizarre independent releases including speckled vinyl with scratch-and-sniff album covers. But this music is so sublime it melts in your mind. Analog synthesizers and vocoder-pureed vocals make for one of the most eerie-mellow listening experiences I've been immersed into for in a long time. This band is everything everybody thought the Flaming Lips should have been to me. It's timeless, sickly beautiful like a glistening pupae morphing into a butterfly, and purely obscure.

Hermit Thrushes: Slight Fountain

Captain Beefheart is a cult figure who is the subject of more hyperbole and anecdotes than serious study. Most rock geeks will buy Trout Mask Replica, not listen to it much, and consider themselves in the loop. I call this Trout Mask Replica Syndrome, which is a malaise that affects many challenging bands who are remembered for only one of their albums that is cited to save people the trouble of listening to the catalog.

What my study of Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band suggests is that the contributions of Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) to the music that bears his name are easily overestimated. Trout Mask Replica is neither his best record nor his weirdest. It is just the longest. Vliet did not compose the double album in one afternoon—a groundless tidbit of nonsense that is often trotted out as proof of the man’s genius—in truth, he did not compose it at all. He whistled out some musical ideas to the actual musicians in the group—notably, Drumbo (drummer John French)—who than worked out the material into arrangements, which the starving, abused band members rehearsed slavishly while Beefheart rode around in expensive cars and went shopping for hats.

Well, to make a long story shortened, obviously I care about the Magic Band a great deal. I like to hear them play without that fool Captain Beefheart bellowing over the top of their complex arrangements, as in the Trout Mask rehearsals on the Grow Fins box set. So when I say that the new album by a band called the Hermit Thrushes sounds like the Magic Band without Captain Beefheart, I am not making that comparison casually.

Don't get me started on Captain Beefheart.

In fact, maybe it's not such a good thing that these guys sound like the Magic Band after all.

Never mind. Hermit Thrushes are original.

God Help the Girl

If you like the idea of Belle and Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch writing a rock operetta for a band comprised of three female vocalists in an effort to replicate the sound of 1950s girl groups, with lush orchestration provided by members of Belle and Sebastian—in other words, if you already have an uncritical affinity for the Belle and Sebastian sound, and are comfortable with that same sound frosted with an additional layer of pink icing, and are ready to lie back, eyes closed, in the bubblegum bubblebath of sweet naivete with enough musical complexity to distract you from your mortgage payments but not so much that you have to furrow your brow in jazz anxiety, then this is for you. But if you are that person, then you already knew that.

Warning: this is not punk rock.

Those Darlins

Wickid country. But not at all what I thought it would be. It's rocking, youthful, and fun, and the voices of Nikki, Jessi, and Kelley Darlin sound less like Dolly Parton than they do the Chipmunks. In other words, country music is a departure point for this band, not a destination. Like the Avett Brothers, they have taken a uniquely and tritely American musical genre and morphed it into something kind of disarming, weird, and spastic—in a word, expressive. Heck, y'all, I don't much cotton to country, or even western, but I dig this disc. There is no doubt that these three ladies could kick the tar out of Catherine, Brittany, and Dina from God Help the Girl. DUI or die!

Paul Kotheimer: Familiar E.P.

The new EP by local musical Swiss army knife Paul Kotheimer takes a turn for the personal away from his recent turn to the political that followed his turn to the fictional. Though enough fragments of his earlier directions are here to satisfy those of us who have followed his development, a development it is. He confesses to stealing a satchel of money from the Bagdad green zone, fails to kill a spider in the shower, and delivers a sad lecture on modernist poet Louis Zukovsky. There is some exciting trumpet playing by David Tcheng, appropriate use of an eighties Juno synthesizer, and—don't you know—precise acoustic guitar and a cover of a Rich Krueger song, without which no Kotheimer production would be complete. At the center of all this is Paul's pitch-perfect pipes exhibiting a crafty control of dynamics, timbre, emotion, and the secret weapon that makes him stand out from his peers: notes. The latest chapter in Paul's canon would also serve as an excellent introduction to newcomers. It's available in a limited-edition CD pressing. And (hint) the EP is just the right length to put on while washing dishes: it ends in time to let the worst pots and pans “soak.”

Mosh Geek F.M.

2009-07-05T04:59:00.000-07:00

On June 29 Rock Geek F.M. hosted an introduction to heavy metal featuring resident expert Jason Greenly. Here's the entire show, blood, pus, and all (uploaded temporarily, as I don't want the heavy metal copyright lawyers leaving a bloody axe impaled in my front door).

http://rockgeekchic.com/rockgeekFM.mp3

LA Paisley Underground / The Great Philosophers

2009-05-26T08:11:00.001-07:00

Our work with Anderson doing a show dedicated to the LA Paisley Underground scene, featuring David Roback, Hope Sandoval, and Kendra Smith, is posted here:

http://rockgeekchic.com/rockgeekFM.mp3

Know of any songs that preach ways to live and think ("You Can't Always Get What You Want," "If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free")? We're looking for songs for a radio show called The Great Philosophers. Suggestions are welcome, and pretentious songs are okay if not unavoidable...

New at Smile Politely

2009-04-24T07:07:00.000-07:00

Cristy and I have some new writing at Smile Politely, including a review of Robyn Hitchcock's new album and his recent performance in Chicago, a tribute to a college radio station, and a review of the Smoking Popes show.

PSYCHEDELIC SOUL / 1987 vs. 1996

2009-04-24T07:02:00.000-07:00

A few episodes of Rock Geek FM have come and gone since my last posting here - string sections, Joe Boyd, songs with brass - but I wanted to post the show we did with Rick Halberg on April 28: Psychedelic Soul

http://rockgeekchic.com/rockgeekFM.mp3

This Saturday Cristy and I are having a DUEL. That is right. We are in disagreement over which one of us graduated from high school in a better year for rock. And we're going to rely on the listeners to vote by phone or by email. 1987 vs. 1996. Tune in Saturday morning from 8-9 a.m. CST on 90.1 FM (for those in the radius) or online at

http://weft.org

New Rock From 2008?

2009-02-24T12:51:00.000-08:00

It took the hosts of Rock Geek F.M. two weeks to celebrate Valentine's Day, with songs named after women A-Z.

Flawedcasts of those two shows are temporarily downloadable here:

http://rockgeekchic.com/FM/20090214womenA-M.mp3
http://rockgeekchic.com/FM/20090221womenN-Z.mp3

This Saturday we are going to devote an hour to newly-released music. Last year saw a new album by some band called Radiohead, and this week saw me finally get my pre-ordered LP of Goodnight, Oslo, by Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3. Future Clouds and Radar, a Texas band that sounds British, completed a concept album about Peoria, Illinois, for reasons that remain obscure. And Ben Folds titled his latest after Normal, Illinois, and wrote a song about "Effingham," even if he got the name wrong. Downstate Illinois is the new Tobacco Road, apparently.

Were there any new records last year (or this) that struck your fancy? As music snobs stuck in the 1990s and 1980s, respectively, Cristy and I will rely on your suggestions.

Tune in to Rock Geek F.M. Saturday mornings from 8-9 a.m. CST on http://weft.org. Or at a more reasonable hour in the Nordic countries.

Songs That Refer to Other Bands

2009-02-05T19:33:00.000-08:00

This week we're dedicating our radio show to songs that refer to other bands. We've recorded a short promo to explain our position on this complex and far-reaching topic.

Thanks for listening. I hope Neil Young will remember...

Songs That Name Their Bands

2009-01-26T06:59:00.000-08:00

Cristy and I have had four radio shows so far, and we're hitting our stride.

January 3: Power pop
January 10: Worst guitar solos ever
January 17: Covers
January 24: Songs less than two minutes in length

This Saturday the 31st on Rock Geek F.M. Cristy and I are looking for songs that name their own band--songs whose lyrics include the name of the band that plays them. Unfortunately, we must steer away from rap for this theme, as it is part of the genre for rappers to discuss themselves. When it happens in a rock song, though, it can be a bit jarring.

This show will be webcast Saturday morning from 8-9 a.m. central time on http://weft.org, and on 90.1 FM for those lucky enough to wake up in bitterly cold Champaign County.

Suggestions are welcome. Here’s what we have so far.

* SONGS THAT NAME THEIR OWN BANDS

Monochrome Set
Jocko Homo (Are We Not Men?)
Give it to the Soft Boys
Big Country
Talk Talk
Have a Cigar
Belle & Sebastian/My Wandering Days Are Over
In the Court of the Crimson King
Red Hot Chili Peppers [song off the first album]
Clash City Rockers
Black Sabbath
Chaka Khan
Mommy, What's a Funkadelic? (does it really say the word?)
Killer Queen
They Might be Giants
Wang Chung
Who Are You?
Wonder Boy
Show Biz Kids

Putting the Peons back in Scorpions: Scorpions Cover Band at the High Dive

2009-01-23T17:37:00.000-08:00

Admittedly, The Great Cover Up--where Champaign-Urbana bands take turns performing the songs of more successful bands--isn't always a thrill a minute. Between sets there is more time standing around waiting for something to happen than playing left field in Little League softball. But it is so worth it for those magic moments when a local band manages to sound almost as good as the record they are copying.

This is not one such moment.

This is music I would never voluntarily listen to. Only worse. It’s so bad it’s not even so bad it’s good. I can see tablature flashing behind the guitarist’s half-lidded eyes as he picks his way through a page torn from a back issue of Guitar Hair magazine. These guys make me long for the sweet release deafness will bring, or for the coolly and relatively refreshing beauty of a real Scorpions record mastered by producers with equipment to cover up wrong notes. To think that thirteen years ago I bussed tables with that guitarist--and look how far we’ve fallen. He’s playing that shit and I’m in the audience, listening to it. This building is constructed of bricks that have more talent, brains, and style than this God-awful sewage we paid seven bones to have inflicted on us. I just threw up in my mouth. I just threw up in the singer’s mouth. Except he’s not the singer because he's not singing. He's a one-note wonder. I wish someone in the front row would reach up and yank his sack so he could hit those high notes and truly rock us like a hurricane instead of like a leaky urinal. I just went deaf. Two of the five members have half-assed attempts at costumes: a wig and a fake mustache. Nothing in this production rises to the level of three-quarter-ass. They aren’t even funny. It’s thanks to video games like Guitar Hero that a generation of aspiring musicians think that all they have to do to produce accurate renditions of rock classics is to manipulate their joysticks. These are five guys with amplifiers who sound like five guys with amplifiers and a garbage truck with a shot muffler. Rage Against the Music Teacher. Nobody will get closer than fifteen feet to the stage and nobody’s smiling: it’s like the stunned, horrified crowd is watching a rabid dog give birth to an alien. I’m not saying the band is bad, I’m just saying I’d rather have a migraine in August at noon in an unventilated greenhouse filled with skunk carcasses than be here. Nothing needs to be that loud except the Space Shuttle taking off. I frankly don’t know how these guys passed the audition. Perhaps the fact that the lead vocalist is the organizer of the concert has something to do with it. But let’s be fair: the Great Cover Up isn’t really about the audience. It’s about raising money for charity to help the hearing-impaired and drug-addled, and, I hope, buy these kids a xylophone so they can learn some notes. Plus it gives local bands a chance to rehearse in front of a paying audience, and will help cure me of my love for music.

I’m just kidding, it was AWESOME!

Oh No!

2009-01-05T05:12:00.000-08:00

William: Oh no, Cristy. Matt and Kim are cuter than us.

Look at those darling Brooklyn youth, sweet and innocent. He with the big glasses and Ernie shirt, pimped out in earnest nerd chic. Her looking not a day older than 18, with de rigueur tattoo, punk streak in her hair, and cute flashdance-lacerated t-shirt. These adorable babyfaced pop-rockers belong on every Diablo Cody movie soundtrack, with their mannered naïveté and effortless appearance of putting no effort into their appearance.

So how come they sound more like the Clash than the Moldy Peaches? They look like they should be an "I'm Sticking With You" cover band. But their free download “Daylight” is slamming. I can’t even criticize the fine points of the lyrics because I can’t understand a word. I like it.

I'm not jealous or anything.

Cristy: Did you notice that Green Label Sound is run by Mountain Dew? They may be cuter and younger, but they're still corporate. We blow them out of the water.

W: Dew? Ew. No wonder they had to have their photo shoot on their bicycles, with helmets, somewhere in Brooklyn. They're a Mountain Dew ad for hipsters. If we were a band, no way would we be signed. By Green Label. I’m pretty sure.

Announcing: Rock Geek Radio!

2008-12-30T07:33:00.000-08:00

William and Cristy have just gotten a show: Rock Geek FM. Saturday mornings from 8-9 Central Time (GMT-6). Streaming online at weft.org. Or listen with static at 90.1 FM for those lucky enough to be in the radius.

Tune in Saturday, January 3rd to listen to us kick off the new year with our debut broadcast, as, in the true community radio style, we push the wrong buttons, get flustered, and say "um," while Cristy helps William answer the question, "What is Power Pop?"

Sesame goes Street

2008-12-08T15:03:00.000-08:00

Bert manages to express how he feels about being a puppet in this candid video...

What would your emo band name be?

2008-12-03T09:45:00.000-08:00

My brilliant buddy Genna sent me the following link, where you can find out your emo band name. Hers is Sunnyday Helicopter Heart. Mine is Physical Underlying Satellite. Now I'm gonna go home, put on some skinny jeans, and wail about how misunderstood I am.

http://rumandmonkey.com/widgets/toys/namegen/786/

The Best Rock Drummer Of All Time...

2008-11-25T13:15:00.000-08:00

...is still Animal, from the Muppets.

The wise and powerful Rock Geeks have spoken.

Yes: NO!

2008-11-20T09:19:00.000-08:00

Recently named Metamucil's spokesband. Here we see the group on the video shoot for "Owner of a Congestive Heart."

Game OVER, dudes!

2008-11-07T13:29:00.000-08:00

So I guess Queen has re-formed, with Paul Rodgers (formerly of Free, Bad Company, and testosterone spank-fest The Firm) at the helm. I want to know who in the hell masterminded THIS geriatric disaster of seismic proportions. Seriously. Get the cane.

My hero, Shonna Tucker!

2008-11-05T09:57:00.000-08:00

This kick-ass bassist and occasional vocalist for the Drive By Truckers is an inspiration to all girls who wanna rock! Pure, unadulterated, no-bullshit ROCK.

Speculative Rock Trivia Question

2008-11-05T09:21:00.001-08:00

If Mick Jagger rode across the blazing desert on a fine Arab charger, wearing a suit of shining armor, coming to your emotional rescue, would that suit of armor stink worse than that album?

To wit: "A sweet sweet booty but stone stone cold!" Ew.

40 Ounces to Nicotine Freedom

2008-11-03T09:56:00.000-08:00

So my friend and co-worker, Pete, quit smoking over the weekend and frankly, I'm worried. Over the past 16 months, I've come to learn that whenever he's stressed out and cranky, he blasts Sublime. I suspect that it's now on permanent repeat, judging from how many times I've heard "Santeria" this morning.

It's going to be a long week.

Why I Buy Records

2008-11-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

Last night, after shopping at North Street Records in Normal, we had dinner with Marty and Danielle. Cristy explained to them that she was a “cheapskate” when it came to buying music. Which left hanging in the air the implication that became my confession: “I tend more to be, in Freudian terms, a bit anal-expulsive.”

I lived in Rosmarie and Keith Waldrop’s house for a year. They’ve got some books and CDs and records. When I asked Keith the naive, studently question what his theory was on book collecting, he shrugged. He said: “I don’t have a theory. It’s just that, where ever I stand, piles of books seem to grow around me.”

I subscribe to apocalypse thinking. I believe that I may end up being the last person alive, who inherits the responsibility for curating human coolness (or at least English-language coolness): rock and roll’s steward who must ensure that when the cats rise to claim the planet, they will learn guitar.

When the aliens land, and say TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER, I’ll be standing in my living room, with a foot of white beard, holding up a copy of Hopscotch, raving: “You got to read this book, man! ... Here: listen to the Kinks!”

WE HAVE COME TO TAKE ALL OF YOUR PLANET’S WATER.

“Water? Wow. I don’t even know that band, man.”

Of Montreal's Sex Sells

2008-10-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

So when did Of Montreal morph into oversexed, funk pervs? In the late 1990s, they were a quaint little indie band who hung out with the pasty, horn-rimmed Wilson worshippers of the Elephant 6 collective. Powered by mastermind Kevin Barnes, Of Montreal's earnestness and whimsical lyrics provided precious respite from the whiny screamo and brawny frat rock (read: Limp Bizkit) of the era. Now Barnes—apparently hopped up on Viagra, oysters, and electronica—is drawing comparisons to David Bowie and Prince. Did I miss something over the past decade?

It's obvious when analyzing Of Montreal's approach to the love song:

From 1997's Cherry Peel: "I could make you spaghetti with tomato sauce/With just a touch of oregano/And a parsley stem"

From 2008's Skeletal Lamping: "Maybe I'll blow you/Whatever kind of kisses you want/Because you've got so much in common/With my big cock creator"

The kicker is that Of Montreal are now a total "It" band, beloved in college towns and topping the "staff picks" in record stores. I guess Barnes is doing someone—er, something—right.

Violens

2008-10-27T15:09:00.000-07:00

Never name your band "Violens." If, in the weird science of naming bands, any misspelling counts as clever, then I guess I'm impressed. But when the DJ back-announced the band who recorded the song that had us spellbound, "Violens" was not among the first thirty spellings I would have guessed. And there is a band called "Violence." If there was never a band called "Violets," I'd say name your band that right now, it's a fantastic name. Except that when the DJ back-announces you, it won't do you any good. People will be looking for a band called "Violins," another fine name, unless your band has violinists, in which case it would not count as clever.

Violens has no album out yet, as best I can tell. But the song we heard is fantastic and can be downloaded for free.

Attention Facebook Users

2008-10-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

Cristy and I have just created a quiz called "Are You a Rock Geek?" on Facebook. I'm not sure whether it's possible to link to it, but the determined should be able to find it by searching. Please let us know how you do.

No fair using wikipedia, geek.

The Greatest List of Greatest Things of All Time of All Time

2008-10-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

This article, by the author of the greatest response to the war on terror of all time, is the greatest article about the Minutemen of all time.

R.I.P. Levi Stubbs

2008-10-17T10:34:00.000-07:00

The Four Tops frontman died today at 72.

The Bee Gees save lives!

2008-10-16T13:43:00.000-07:00

Attributed to Will Dunham, Reuters:

"U.S. doctors have found the Bee Gees' 1977 disco anthem 'Stayin' Alive' provides an ideal beat to follow while performing chest compressions as part of CPR on a heart attack victim."

Just one more freakin' thing for those damned baby boomers to be smug about.

Fuck Work

2008-10-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

At Rock Geek Chic headquarters, we've just obtained a new CD: Fuck Work, by the Unemployed Misfortune. While multiple listenings will be required before we can speak about this music with our full expertise, so far I think it's the total independent rock album, with a bold title, stunning cover art, and music that is arrestingly catchy and close enough to power pop to get me to turn it up a notch.

And it has a message.

Is it just me...

2008-10-13T18:41:00.001-07:00

...or does Aimee Mann sound like Karen Carpenter?

Happy Birthday, Sammy Hagar!

2008-10-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

That's right. The old spank who brought the world immortal AOR classics like "I Can't Drive 55," "There's Only One Way to Rock," and "Mas Tequila" turns 61 today. IROC-Z owners are rejoicing everywhere.

Annoying Mistakes the Unenlightened Make

2008-10-13T12:08:00.000-07:00

• Referring to Jethro Tull as "he"

• Attributing "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" to CCR

• Referring to The Jesus and Mary Chain as The Jesus and Mary TRAIN (seriously, I heard this a few times on WPGU)

• Attributing "Stuck in the Middle" to Bob Dylan

• Attributing "A Horse with No Name" to Neil Young

• Referring to "Is There Something I Should Know" by Duran Duran as "Please Please Tell Me Now"

Spinal Tap moment #58

2008-10-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

.38 Special at the Illinois State Fair, 1995.

The former wild-eyed Southern boys, weathered and bloated, unenthusiastically slogged through their set of late '70s/early '80s hits. But by mid-show--and after a few beers, perhaps--lead singer Max Carl (or was it Don Barnes?) was itching for some rowdy audience participation, 1981-style. Launching into the raucous chorus of "Rockin' into the Night," he roared at the crowd to sing along, put his hand to his ear, and thrust his microphone toward blank yuppie boomers in Bermuda shorts. But instead of mass off-key shouting and fist-pumping, only crickets chirped. Tumbleweeds blew across the Grandstand. The faraway sound of a carousel rang through the summer air.

As if opening for a splintered Beach Boys lineup wasn't bad enough.

The Rolling Stone Album Guide Sucks!

2008-10-08T19:12:00.000-07:00

Rolling Stone is widely considered to be the authority on music, with its Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll, top 500 lists (artists, albums, LP covers), and album guides. But I beg to differ. The fourth edition of Rolling Stone's Album Guide ("10,000 of the best rock, pop, hip-hop and soul records") is rife with lazy mistakes. Along with numerous grammar and usage inconsistencies, I found these monstrous errors:

Isobel Campbell doesn't sing Belle and Sebastian's "Waiting for the Moon to Rise"; Sarah Martin does.

Black Box Records should be Black Box Recorder.

Madonna's "Beautiful Stranger" isn't a "giddy Bond soundtrack hit"; it's from the second "Austin Powers" movie. (Her "Die Another Day" is from the Bond movie of the same name.)

"Nature's Way" isn't a "Rare Earth nugget"; it's by Spirit.

Metallica is omitted. This seems strange because the band is undeniably successful and boasts a vast album repertoire. I find it odd that Megadeth and Slayer merit entries and Metallica doesn't.

Rolling Stone might be getting so secure with its elite status that the editors are getting lazy. And why not? It's not like anyone's going to question the almighty Rolling Stone. But I'm taking a stand against such rock-n-roll sloth: I propose that Rolling Stone HIRE ME AS A COPY EDITOR AND FACT-CHECKER. I'll work cheap; I just ask to be credited on the editors' page and be extensively thanked in the acknowledgements section for restoring its good name.

The Dumbest Rock Death Ever?

2008-10-08T18:58:00.000-07:00

Steven Peregrine Took, member of Tyrannosaurus Rex (before it became the abbreviated, glammy T. Rex): Death by inhaling—and subsequently choking on—a cocktail cherry.

Things That Keep Me Awake at Night

2008-10-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

Before Hot Topic invaded Middle American malls with its Instant Goth-in-a-Box mentality, where did the goth kids get their clothes and makeup?

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, my school was too small for goth infiltration, but nearby Springfield boasted a healthy population of teenage Bauhaus worshippers. I would see them hanging out at the local head shop, Pennylane, and wonder how they coordinated their looks. Did their outfits take a long time to create? Did they wake up knowing exactly what to wear? How did they obtain blue-black hair dye? Did they always dress that way, or did they occasionally wear jeans, cutoffs, and Nikes when they stayed home? And before the Internet, how did they get into bands like Christian Death? (MTV didn't even play goth bands on 120 Minutes, unless you count the Cure.)

Lastly, I wonder what they think of Hot Topic?

Update on Schnucks!

2008-10-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

Very interesting developments. This afternoon, we hit the Co-op for fresh fruit. It seems the store is railing against the grocery-store music mediocrity that Schnucks has fallen victim to! In 15 minutes, I heard Modest Mouse, Cake, and Cracker. Not bad!

Schnucks' Greatest Hits!

2008-10-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

Ideally, I'd conduct ALL my grocery shopping at Common Ground Food Co-op, which is practically across the street from my house. But sometimes I require midnight runs for cheap sushi, generic cat food, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch—and a kick-ass soundtrack while doing it. Which is why I'll go to Schnucks. In the past few months I've heard XTC, Squeeze ("Pulling Mussels from a Shell", NOT "Tempted"), the Ramones, and Low-era David Bowie. Most grocery stores sadistically force their customers to peruse the aisles to AM dreck like "Loves Me Like a Rock" or "Get Closer." But Schnucks is committed to creating the ultimate New Wave shopping experience for its customers.

Unfortunately, in my most recent outings, I've suspected a drastic format change. Starship has replaced Talk Talk; Rod Stewart has replaced Gary Numan. I'm afraid Schnucks might be going the way of bland contemporaries like Kroger and County Market. What gives?

Beständige Geschwindigkeit

2008-10-02T11:10:00.000-07:00

Alex from Constant Velocity has sent in the following:

"If you are looking for a jumping off point for reviewing our album consider this:

Die drei Burschen von 'Constant Velocity' wissen ganz genau, was sie wollen. Sie wollen nicht irgendeinem Trend nacheifern oder gerecht werden. Wollen keinen perfekten Sound abliefern. Im Gegenteil. Sie wollen, das ihre Musik echt und unverfälscht klingt. Und das ist ihnen gelungen, im Original 60s Sound. Die 8 Songs verfolgen auch keinen bestimmten Stil. Vom melancholisch, ruhigen Indie-Rock bis zum Art-Punk oder auch Countrysong ist alles dabei. Das Trio aus den USA will sich auf keinen Stil festlegen lassen. Ihr Motto: Ein guter Freund ist ja euch nicht jeden Tag gleich drauf. Da gibt es ups und downs. Genau wie in ihrer Musik. Und das ist rein auf die Stimmung der Songs bezogen. Gut sind sie eigentlich alle. Auf jeden Fall aber rau, roh, ein wenig sonderbar und gerade deshalb interessant."

According to freetranslation.com, this means:

"The three fellows of 'Constant Velocity' know very exactly, what they want. They do not want to emulate any trend or want to become just. Want no perfect Sound deliver. In the opposite. They want, sounds that its music really and genuine. And that is arrive them, in the original 60s Sound. The 8 songs pursue also no certain style. Of the melancholy, quiet India skirt to the type Punk or also Countrysong, all is there. The trio out of the USA wants to determine let itself on no style. Your motto: A good friend is not yes you every day equally thereon. There there are ups and downs. Exactly like in its music. And that is related purely on the mood of the songs. They are goods actual everyone. In any case however roughly, raw, a little strange and for this very reason interesting."

Thanks, Alex. A good friend is not yes, indeed.

These Just In

2008-10-01T08:24:00.001-07:00

We have been received some new CDs for possible review. We only trash sickeningly famous Rolling Stone best-album-list darlings, so we can already warmly endorse these independent artists. My former ukulele teacher Alex Smith from Bloomington-Normal, IL, has released a new CD with his band Constant Velocity: Muttonhead.

The enigmatic (as in: who the hell is this?) Coco Coca (and why is she called "Coco Coca"?) has sent us a CD called Black, Black, Black. Coco Coca appears to be a solo Seattle-Champaign artist, but we are wonderfully unburdened with any preconception of who they are that might interfere with our raw experience of the music. I do know that cacao is the agricultural commodity from which cocoa is derived, and Coca-Cola is of course a popular softdrink that once featured coca and cola as key ingredients to provide that extra-special zing, but this trivia tells me very little. Does the music sound like cola, chocolate, and cocaine? Sounds like a tour bus.

Our friends at Parasol have given us a couple of new releases: Homesick by the Tractor Kings, and Love at Thirty by Beaujolais. Cristy should review the second one. I don't suppose either of us are too homesick.

Lastly, and most intriguingly, Paul Kotheimer of the Hand-Made Record Label has released a CD called "A Martian Sends a Postcard Home," which is an astonishing variety of musical settings of poems by other people. Until the copyright issues are cleared, this is only available as a hand-made CD given to people by hand.

Blogs Away!

2008-09-16T12:31:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Rock Geek Chic blog. This blog is an appendix to our site rockgeekchic.com intended for rock geek writing that solicits explicit feedback from readers; is timely; acknowledges receipt of music CDs sent to us for analysis, review, babbling, and fawning; or impulsive rantings that couldn't wait for us to get off work and go home and write about properly.

By way of orienting us in the blogosphere, here are some links: we write for Smile Politely while we await a phone call from Mojo or 33 1/3. We listen to WPGU and WEFT will be lucky enough to host our radio show. Our main affiliation in the publishing world is Spineless Books. Our music teacher is Paul from the Hand Made Record Label. As we are conveniently situated in the middle of hectares of corn, we shop most often at Exile on Main Street, Record Swap, Parasol, Luna, Euclid, Reckless, and Grimey's.