Lee and Nancy

Lot's of people know about Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra's first record together but alas there is a second one, Nancy & Lee again.

There is one particular song from this album that I am forever haunted by and tonight, it popped into my head again. It's a shame that more people haven't heard this gorgeous, strange, and sad duet.

Universe People

Do you like The Fall, Country Teasers, Kim Deal and Mary Timony? Maybe you will like this Seattle trio as much as I do then!  I give you Universe People.

This band features vocalist / bass player Jo whose previous band was another favorite of mine. They were called Welcome and their album Sirs came out on Fat Cat Records. I named it my favorite album of 2007 and wrote a little post about them here.

July 18th, 2012: Cause & Effect : What Does My Record Collection Look Like?

Some of you might be thinking who the hell cares? And I don't blame you.

But because I am surrounded by nothing but music loving types all day, every day, the question comes up a lot. I DJ at a radio station and occasionally out and about in bars for fun. I work part time at a record store. I work full time for a company that makes music instruments. I run a small hobby record label. I play in bands. I am a music industry veteran of many decades. So yes, this ridiculous question does come up and often.

Last Summer during a hurricane our kitchen window literally was sucked out of its frame and spit out into the front yard. It was terrifying and was a wake up call to us. At the time I stored my records in the front of the apartment next to two big windows and if we could lost a front window at the hand of Mother Nature, could the windows by my records (and Kenny's computer) be next? A normal person would just go ahead and move things around there apartment to avoid the risk but when you own a crap ton of records, moving them isn't really a simple task. It is an 8 hour affair.

So six months went by and Richmond has been plagued lately by outrageous thunderstorms that are so powerful that they act like tornadoes in essence. After two serious extreme wind events I decided enough was enough.  We had to move my records and the computer ASAP.

We spent an entire Sunday swapping out our middle room for the front room and now I am relieved to have all our vinyl in one room (Kenny has one wall and I have the other) plus we have our turntables set up here and most of our music gear tucked in various corners. Needless to say our music room is finished! It still needs some cleaning up but the hard stuff is done.

As I await Phil E's hand picked set list for the upcoming Mount Eerie Cause & Effect, I decided to pull my own personal show and tell type set based off of newer used records in my personal collection. If you tune in from 7PM to 9PM on Thursday (tomorrow), July 19th, you can get a little sampling of music that I love and collect. While I love doing my usual theme of tracing an artist's musical roots, it is really nice to step out of those restrictions and just be me for a night. Tune into WRIR, 97.3fm for you locals or stream us live via the website.

I have been posting on our Facebook page examples of the kind of thing I will be playing but one thing should be made clear, I love many kinds of music so you will hear a wide variety of music from around the world.

Missed Dntel's Cause & Effect?

Download the whole show that the artist Jimmy Tamborello helped JJ to curate HERE! I unfortunately hit record a few minutes into JJ setting up the show, but grabbed 98% of it your listening pleasure.

July 12th, 2012 : Cause & Effect : Dntel

As most of you know Cause & Effect is a two person project. Because it takes so many hours to put one show together (10 to 20 hours each week), my partner in crime JJ divides the Thursday from 7PM to 9PM time slot with me. I have been meaning to to do a Jimmy Tamborello show AKA Dntel / Postal Service / Figurine / Strictly Ballroom but JJ beat me to it, and this show is happening tonight; only on WRIR.

Jimmy Tamborello and I became acquaintances in the mid '90s and honestly I can't recall exactly how that happened. I thought our bands played a show together waaaaay back in they day but looking at my 1996 Dahlia Seed tour diary,  I don't see where that was the case. Regardless, somehow Jimmy and I became pen pals. We were both working on songs that were being mailed back and forth to a far away friend in the early 2000s. The one big difference however is that his record "Give Up" under the moniker The Postal Service released on Sub Pop became an instant classic, and my solo record....not so much. I have always been a huge fan of all that Jimmy has been a part of and he has been nothing but a kind, friendly person through our occasional email exchanges and one face to face introduction. 

When JJ announced last week that he was doing a Cause& Effect on Dntel, I in turn dropped Jimmy a line and asked if wanted to add in his two cents. Needless to say last night, just 24 hours before JJ hits the air, he exchanged emails with Jimmy and we now his official blessing and insight to the set. Thank you Jimmy for taking the time to help us out and high five to JJ for finally making this show happen.

Ice Cube and the Eames

This really happened.



"This is going green 1949 style, bitch." -Ice Cube on the Eames

Ziggy Update

Missed tonight's radio show on the Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust?

The set list is here.
Download the show here. 

July 5th : Cause & Effect : The 40th Anniversary of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

It is nice to be reminded that while it takes a naturally gifted artist to earn a position of mega fame (Bowie pun intended) and worship, it typically takes that star a few false starts, comical mistakes, and a lot of practice to make it from nobody to superstar. David Bowie is the perfect example of artistic trial and error  until he gave birth to the now infamous character of Ziggy Stardust, just one of his many varying captivating personas we have grow to love over the past nearly 50 years. 

In celebration of the 40 anniversary of the release of the now classic Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, I will be telling the tale of how Bowie arrived at the making of this record. This includes the creative stepping stones (and one Rolling Stone) he took to reach the iconic Ziggy figure while highlighting a genre of music and fashion he helped to spawn (glam), the songs that compose this record, the other artists who released albums in 1972, and a handful of more recent artists Bowie has worked with as a producer, songwriter, or collaborated with. Phew!

Tune in tonight from 7PM to 9PM tonight to WRIR. 97.3 FM on your dial or stream us live via the website.