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Cobra Verde -
Haven't Slept All Year
So here we are. 2009 has started and we're back on line every Thursday. The first show this year is dedicated to the greatest music in 2008. This is an entirely personal list and it's most likely totally different than yours. But I still hope that you might find it interesting. My personal favorite in 2008 is Cobra Verde's album Haven't Slept All Year. It's been in making since 2006 really and the band put a lot of effort into it. It's their most diverse album yet, as good as legendary Nightlife. But because of my strong emotional attachment to this record, I'm leaving it out of competition. This makes Paul Westerberg's experiment in novel forms 49:00 the greatest record in 2008 at the Little Lighthouse. Look below for the full list. My favorite unreleased album in 2008 is another one of my personal favorites. It's Kamo Sutra's new record, expertly recorded and exciting, one hundred percent fun. In today's show, we go through the best albums of 2008.
1.
Paul Westerberg -
49:00
In 2008 Paul Westerberg celebrated his 49th birthday with a record entitled 49:00. It was up for grabs on Internet music stores for 49 hours, it runs at around 49 minutes and the price was 49 cents. It was just one mp3 track, a mess of (possibly) 49 songs mixed, interleaved into one insane listening experience. More structured songs are mixed in with short snippets. The most shockingly, some songs end prematurely or begin from the middle. It's maybe rough, but this record is a diamond. It's (sadly) beautiful, it's Paul at his wildest. Paul doesn't just remind us here of why we love Replacements so much, he sends a convincing signal that he has a lot to say. Obviously, he will be over the hill in 2009, but this record shows that we have nothing to worry about.
2.
Alejando Escovedo -
Real Animal
Rock'n'roll veteran Alejandro has a story to tell. The story is about his life and his job - a rock'n'roll musician. He gave it all to his calling, and the calling took it all away. After a serious battle for life (versus hepatitis c) a few years ago, Alejandro emerged stronger than ever. In 2008, rejuvenated Alejandro with help of Chuck Prophet and producer Tony Visconti, put his life story in a form of an oldfashioned rock record (double LP if you got the vinyl version). And it's a great record that will turn classic. Time will show, I'm sure.
3.
Endless Boogie -
Focus Level
Here's a Brooklyn band that is a complete antithesis to a standard New York City band. They are not pretty, they don't wear designer clothes, they pretty much stick to just one chord through the wole song, they named themselves after a Johnny Lee Hooker record, their singer makes pig sounds as he sings. They don't even have a website and their only myspace friend is Tom... And this is all great. New York, the world, we all need this band to remind us what the true value of rock'n'roll is.
4.
Gentleman Jesse And His Men -
st
Jesse Smith, a gentleman with a band, is a total retro. Their self-titled album is an excercise in stlye. This album sounds like it was recorded in 1979 on Stiff Records. And I didn’t know any better, I’d be totally fooled. After the first listen I wondered (and I still haven’t figured out) how they were able to draw such a convincing ’70s sound. Props to the producer Dave Rahn (from a little known Atlanda band Carbonas on Goner Records). And then you start noticing that Smith has a songwriting talent that can actually stand head to head with all those great works of Nick Lowe, Wreckless Eric, Clive Gregson, Elvis Costello…
5.
Dirtmusic -
st
When Chris Brokaw, Chris Eckman and Hugo Race decided to form a trio, their main objective is to learn from each other, share experiences as artists and musicians. As you can imagine, when you put three great authors together in an unusually creative situation, great things happen. The idea was to turn to conservatively traditional forms musically and expand them with touching and deeply personal experiences. And honestly, results are so strong that yours truly was driven to tears on track 10.
6. Brimstone Howl -
We Came In Peace
Omaha band Brinstone Howl took upon themselves a seemingly impossible task to fuse The Cramps with Flannery O'Connor. With help of Jim Diamond behind the knobs, We Came In Peace is a stellar proof of their successful result. Now, how in the world Rod Sterling fits into the whole picture (a third name that the band cites as an influence on their myspace page), I guess you will have to find out by listening to their music. Omaha is a twilight zone where all those crazy influences converged into one.
7. Tim Lee -
Good2B3
Tim Lee is a southern gentleman with a respectable career in rock'n'roll behind him. He started out in Mississippi's own new wave outfit The Windbreakers. Like all proper things that come from the south, Tim's new wave was deeply rooted in rock'n'roll traditions while still being always fresh. Forward thinking college rock crowd at the time embraced The Windbreakers as a rare jewel and the band kept their cult status throughout the years. Tim also had a very special interstate adventure with Matt Piucci when they gathered Gone Fishin' recorded a great lost masterpiece Can't Get Lost When You're Goin' Nowhere in 1987. But, much like his friend Steve Wynn, Tim Lee is experiencing a new, exceptionally strong artistic inspiration in past several years with his new trio Tim Lee 3. Baring the sound down to the bones - bass, guitars and drums with added confessional lyrics to top it all, Lee and his trio deliver a straight-forward rock with honesty rarely found today and any day. The new album Good2b3 (Paisley Pop Label 2008), is third in row aimed at the same direction. What adds extra oil to this burning hot platter is contribution from Susan Bauer Lee, bass player of the band and Tim's wife, who contributes as an author and performer as much as Tim does on this new album. A special credit for this record definitely goes to its engineers Craig Schumacher and Chris Schultz who run Wave Lab Studios in Tucson AZ and who are obviously responsible for capturing the greasy, Crazy-horse-like, live sound of the band.
8. Drones -
Havilah
Unbelievably good new album by the Australian band Drones has all ingredients of a classic album. Gareth Liddiard, the leader of the band, leaves here a very strong mark as the main author, with a series of excellent song that appear abstract on their surface. But when you dig deeper, the songs are very concrete and in a strange way even storytelling. Only those stories appear to be from some really deep and dark place. But what’s best about this band, there’s absolutely nothing “droney” in their music. In fact, it’s very angular, dynamic and drenched in the rock’n'roll history as much as it’s original.
9. Thee Oh Sees -
The Master’s Bedroom is Worth Spending a Night In
This San Francisco band sounds as if they were from the Memphis garage scene, if there was no a bit of their Californian irony in the whole mix. Guitar experimentation and inspired songwriting puts them very high on our list this year.
10. All The Saints -
Fire on Corridor X
One of most exciting new bands in the past year comes from the South. But this is not a typical southern deal. Noisy, precise and serious arrangements, with a dose of gothic mystery but also a touch of shoegaze and grange, sounds more British than Southern. But it also doesn’t sound out of place on legendary label Touch And Go which helped the band rise from obscurity.
11. Service Industry -
Limited Coverage
In the year of the most disastrous global economic collapse in the past 50 years, proletariat has found themselves completely lost and disorganized to turn things around. But if they ever figure themselves out, they have a perfect set of songs to sing along as they carry through their revolution. Texas band Service Industry could provide that soundtrack.
12. Fleshtones -
Take A Good Look
History of Fleshtones came out recently as a book entitled Sweat. And it was a rough 30+ years ride. What else to expect for the only 80s legends that don't need a reunion, since their never really broke up!? With the explosive Take A Good Look, Fleshtones reach new heights, composing an album that rivals some of the best records they put out in their entire career.
13. Evangelista -
Hello Voyager
This is Carla Bozulich’s new band, named after Carla’s previous solo record. Layers of noisy songs are expertly interleaved with passages of abstractness. There is plenty of suspense here. Very ambitious, but sometimes that’s the way it should be.
14. Lucinda Williams -
Little Honey
Lucinda's new album has been in making for several years now, since I remember some of the songs on Little Honey being played live as early as 2005. On this great new album Lucinda rocks the house from the beginning to the end making her most entertaining album since Car Wheels.
15. Willie DeVille -
Pistola
The 2008 saw Willy DeVille with a return album Pistola. Available in USA only as an import, Pistola is an amazing record of a man who's fighting his own demons and who can tell city street stories with a great authority. This is likely Willy's most rounded album since the Mink DeVille days.
16. Pierced Arrows -
Straight To The Heart
Fred and Toody from Dead Moon returned this year as Pierced Arrows. The rawest album of the year that sounds as if it was recorded live.
17. Eddy Current Suppression Ring -
Primary Colours
Fantastic Australian rock'n'roll scene gave us some of the most exciting new bands this year. Eddy Current Suppression Ring achieved a great international success when legendary Memphis label Goner picked them out of nowhere, pulled them up from down-under, and released their 2008 masterpiece Primary Colours.
18. Mojomatics -
Don’t Pretend That You Know Me
Italian rockers Mojomatics give us another clear lesson on how to rock. The world should take the course. If 45s were more common these days, You Are Not Me (Unfortunately) would be already worn out in jukeboxes around the globe.
19. Electric Six -
Flashy
It seems like it was forever since Electric Six had their five minutes of fame on British charts. Semi-famous status suits them better. Evidence are consistently wonderful gigs and albums that still sound great (if not greater than ever). Don't be fooled by deliberately uninventive title of the opening track Gay Bar Part Two. Electric Six are not running out of ideas at all!
20. You Am I -
Dilettantes
Members of You Am I practically grew up together. Their music matures together with their experiences. With the new album Dilettantes You Am I reach new levels of complexity without compromising quality.
Comps and reissues
The Replacements - Entire Discography reissued
Unreleased
Kamo Sutra - Plesi Plesi Plesi
Music
Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, Gene Vincent, Mose Alison, Freddy Cannon, Charlie Feathers, Muddy Waters, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Kinks, Byrds, Bob Dylan, Kingsmen, Beach Boys, Donovan, Stooges, Who, Nazz, Velvet Underground, Jackie DeShannon, Irma Thomas, Indexi, Grupa 220, Laura Nyro, Carole King, Gladys Knight, Marvin Gaye, Fairport Convention, Four Tops, Motown, Easybeats, Small Faces, Creation, Kim Fowley, Tomorrow, 13th Floor Elevators, Daisy Chain, Nightcrawlers, Kinckerboxers, John Fred, Traffic, David Bowie, T Rex, Big Star, Stray, Bobby Charles, Faces, Rod Stewart, Todd Rundgren, Ramones, Clash, Jam, Blondie, Jim Dickinson, Modern Lovers, New York Dolls, Television, Saints, NRBQ, Neil Young, Richard and Linda Thompson, Nico, Brett Smiley, Philly Sound, Winkies, Count Bishops, Chilli Willie And The Red Hot Peppers, Drago Mlinarec, Time, Ian Dury, Mungo Jerry, Badfinger, Funkadelic, Parliament, Patlet, Raspberries, Arrows, Ducks Deluxe, Brinsley Schwartz, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Tav Falco, Linda Ronstadt, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, Cheap Trick, Grandmaster Flash, Public Enemy, Husker Du, Minutemen, Gun Club, Flesheaters, Divine Horsemen, Gang of Four, Rip Rig and Panic, Pop Group, Glaxo Babies, Replacements, Sonic Youth, Dream Syndicate, Rainy Day, Thin White Rope, Dinosaur JR, Rain Parade, Trotsky Icepick, Gori Usi Winnetou, Leaving Trains, Green On Red, True Believers, Windbreakers, Shivvers, Soft Boys, Kimberley Rew, Rank And File, Viv Akauldren, Meat Puppets, XTC, Victoria Williams, Lucinda Williams, Dukes of Stratosphere, DC3, Angst, Blasters, X, Last, Firehose, Marshall Crenshaw, Days of, The Only Ones, Gories, Scientists, Giant Sand, Giant Sandworms, The Band Of Blacky Ranchette, Rainer Ptacek, Mudhoney, Mud Boy And The Neutrons, Hellcats, Dead Milkmen, Messerschmitt, Idoli, Film, Haustor, Azra, Kud Idijoti, Studeni Studeni, Elektricni Orgazam, Majke, Pokvarena Masta, Disciplina Kicme, Spoons, Sarlo Akrobata, Nova Mob, Sugar, Anastasia Screamed, Buffalo Tom, Mark Lanegan, Teenage Fanclub, Uncle Tupelo, Gibson Bros, Cobra Verde, Guided By Voices, Kropotkins, Mega City Four, Julian Cope, Wilco, Beck, Shotgun Rationale, Fall-outs, Queers, Snuff, Alejandro Escovedo, Lorette Velvette, Oblivians, 68 Comeback, Steve Wynn, Bash And Pop, Common, Roots, North Mississippi Allstars, Jeffrey Evans, Bassholes, Mellow Drunk, White Stripes, Exploding Hearts, Electric 6, Smarties, Desert Hearts, Akibas, Reigning Sound, Black Top, Dirtbombs, Casual Elvis, Desert Sessions, South Filthy, The A-Lines, Mr Airplane Man... and many many more
Movies
Down By Law (Jim Jarmusch), Firemen's Ball (Milos Forman), If (Lindsay Anderson), Breathles (Jean Luc Goddard), Harvey (Henry Koster), To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks), To Be Or Not To Be (Michael Curtis), Apartment (Billy Wilder), Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder), Party (Blake Edwards), Being There (Hal Ashby), Unmarried Woman (Paul Mazursky), Strawberry Statement (Stuart Hagmann), Wickerman (Robin Hardy), Singles (Cameron Crowe), Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch), 2001 A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick), Pandora's Box (Georg Wilhelm Pabst), Lift to the Scaffold (Louis Malle), Blow Up (Michelangelo Antonioni), Le Samurai (Jean Pierre Melville)... I'll add more.
Television
Kocka kocka kockica, Smogovci, Nepokoreni grad, Top lista nadrealista, Velo misto, Cosmos, Only Fools And Horses, Office (british version), Black Books, Alan Partridge, La Linea, Tom And Jerry...
Books
Snezana Zabic, Kurt Vonnegut, Charles Bukowsky, Goran Tribuson, Danilo Kis, Dubravka Ugresic, Carl Sagan, Arthur C Clark, Isaac Asimov, Jerzy Kosinsky, Joseph Skovecky, Aleksandar Hemon, Slodoban Tisma, William Saroyan, JG Ballard.
The Little Lighthouse is a free form rock'n'roll radio show loosely based on connecting dots between roots, branches, histroy and future of rock'n'roll.
The Little Lighthouse had its first incarnation from 2001 to 2005 on Louisiana State University college radio KLSU. The second incarnation of the show was on University of Utah college radio station KUTE in 2006. Then I relocated to Cleveland OH in December 2006. Currently, The Little Lighthouse is looking for a time slot on one of Cleveland's many radio stations. In 2008 The Little Lighthouse started coming out in "Flashlite" edition form as a podcast on Littlelighthouse.net. The same edition is streamed on the Internet radio station Radio SC, college radio station owned by Studentski Centar in Zagreb, Croatia.
Mission Statement: * The Little Lighthouse supports 1: Bands and artists who are not afraid to experiment, mix genres, keep the music alive and dynamic. 2: Bands and artists who pay attention to traditions of rock'n'roll and fine songwriting 3: Music that comes directly from heart 4:Local and unsigned artists (please contact me, I will give a careful listen to any new band) * The Little Lighthouse pays special attention to the mildly forgotten moments in rock history and explores rare and unexploited records, songs, and artists. * The Little Lighthouse won't repeat songs unless there is a very good reason for it (I sometimes like to break this rule, especially in case of requested songs).
Info for bands:
I will be more than happy to hear your music and see you live. Please contact me using this email address.
hey stanislav - thanks heaps for playing our song on your show - we are really enjoying your taste in music and discovering some cool new (and old) bands - we recorded a show last night - will send you a cd soon - cheers from melbourne australia p.s. over the next few months we will be seeing concerts by them crooked vultures, acdc (with wolfmother supporting), grant hart (we're trying to get the support for that one) and the pixies...sweet!
Hey, I've got a new acoustic demo up of my song "Snapshot Chronicles" up now. Feel free to listen, comment, and if you like it tell your friends. If not, that's cool too.
STEVE WYNN & the MIRACLE 3 perform MEDICINE SHOW 25th Anniversary of the seminal Dream Syndicate album “Medicine Show”. New York and Los Angeles shows only!
SAT. JUNE 27 - NEW YORK @ The Bell House (Park Slope, Brooklyn) Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3 @ 9:30 Paramount Styles (feat. Scott McCloud of Girls Against Boys) @ 8:30 Doug Gillard (of Guided by Voices and Death of Samantha) @ 7:30 http://www.thebellhouseny.com
SAT. JULY 9 - LOS ANGELES @ The Echo (Echo Park) Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3 @ 9:30pm The Urinals @ 8:30pm http://www.attheecho.com
Hi there! We've got a new EP that we're especially proud of called Summer which is the second in our series of seasonal EPs this year. We'd love for you to listen to the EP online, and to do so, just go to indiecater.com. If you like what you hear, we'd be very grateful if you'd support our efforts by buying the EP for €2.50 (around $3.20). Hope all is going great for you. Thanks for being our friend!
Thanks! By the way, I will be playing a solo show at The Barking Spider Tavern in Clevelend on June 22nd. If you have some downtime, come on out and I'll buy you a beer. Cheers! Greg
