Sunday, January 30, 2011

The Sonic Parthenon Show: Episode 1 - "Support Your Local Pennypacker"

The Sonic Parthenon Show: Episode 1 - "Support Your Local Pennypacker"

SPS 01 - Mp3

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/9619/preview3di7.jpg

Intro
"I Can't Turn You Loose" by the Blues Brothers
"Internet Killed The Video Star" by The Limousines
"Sheena is a Punk Rocker" by the Ramones

Set 1
"What You've Got" by the Dirtbombs
"Chips Ahoy" by the Hold Steady
"All the Wine" by the National
"Gold Guns Girls" by Metric

Set 2
"I'm Gonna Run to the City of Refuge" by Blind Willie Johnson
"Maggie's Farm (Live)" by Bob Dylan
"Jailbreak" by AC/DC
"Let's Build A Home" by the White Stripes

Set 3
"Soul Kitchen" by X
"Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads (from Stop Making Sense)
"I'm Not Angry" by Elvis Costello
"I'm So Bored With the USA" by the Clash

Set 4
"New York City Cops" by the Strokes
"Y Control" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs
"Wolf n the Lamb" by Hawaii Mud Bombers
"That Great Love Sound" by the Raveonettes

Set 5
"Get Rhythm" by Johnny Cash
"Deanna" by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
"Don't Touch My Hat" by Lyle Lovett
"Ethylene" by John Hiatt
"Come On Up to the House" by Tom Waits

Outro
"Down by the Water" by the Decemberists

Extry, Extry
The special rebroadcast intro, first aired Thursday, February 3, 2010

Labels: , ,

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Just a little bit longer...

We're just hours away now from the debut of the Sonic Parthenon Show at thorradio.com.

Following the broadcast, which begins at 7PM Eastern (there will be a special batch of songs played in the hour or so before the launch so tune in early), the playlist will be posted here. It may very well even be archived for on-demand listening.

Labels: ,

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Lyle Lovett & John Hiatt @ Beacon Theater

Lyle Lovett & John Hiatt
@ Beacon Theater
New York, NY - January 22, 2011


When I was in college about ten years ago, and I began my massive expansion of music exploration through the Internet, I rather quickly got into the catalogs of both Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt. Even when the middle of the last decade centered almost exclusively on ear splitting feedbacking whiskey-drenched jams, I still set aside time for a helpin' of "That's Right You're Not From Texas" or "Etheleyne". I was especially drawn to Hiatt over the years due to his ability to cross over from country and singer-songwriter territory into straight out rock n roll. And even as late as last year, he was STILL putting out songs to be eaten up like "The Open Road".

So this bill was a sort of dream ticket long coming, even though it was a special acoustic set-up and not two full bands with dedicated sets. The fellas made the Beacon feel rather intimate as they traded songs, helped each other out a bit, and fed each other stories and questions. If this had been at Rockwood Music Hall or the Mercury Lounge, this would have been nothing short of perfect. Nevertheless, hearing songs like "L.A. County" and "Drive South" stripped down to their essence at the Beacon was something very special.

It had an unscripted feel to it despite this being a semi-regular tour for these two. An overzealous fan's throwing out of "perfectly good" during a discussion on guitars led to Hiatt choosing to play his imperial "Perfectly Good Guitar". The story highlight of the night also stemmed from a shout-out: it came in the form of Lovett's "Fat Babies", a ridiculous mock-folk song from early in his career that he used in Houston clubs to trick folkies into singing with him.

Though I hadn't given these guys much fanfare in the last few years (despite Hiatt's continued output), this needed to be - another rite of passage. A few weeks ago, hearing "She's No Lady" coming over the PA while waiting for cold cuts, sent me into a small jig, scaring the shoppers around me. This music still speaks.

Labels: , , , ,

Monday, January 17, 2011

The Sonic Parthenon Show To Kick Off January 30.


This is much pretty much tentatively official: 2 weeks from tonight will be the Sonic Parthenon Show debut. That's January 30, 2011 at 7PM Eastern Time. Brought to you on thorradio.com and by the makers of ZOLAX, the ultimate relief in all stress medication. But don't be too surprised, if another test run show airs between now and then.

Labels: , ,

Friday, January 14, 2011

Shwa Losben; Bryan Dunn; Luke Wesley @ Rockwood Music Hall

Shwa Losben; Bryan Dunn; Luke Wesley
@ Rockwood Music Hall
New York, NY - January 13, 2010


A friend of Pennypacker decided to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her expunging from the womb with some old friends including a trio of musicians and their cohorts well known around here. Shwa did a version of "So Cry" that gave this old black heart the chills. Bryan Dunn, who I last saw perform at the final reviewed gig of 2009, took part in the first reviewed gig of 2011 with his usual array of impeccably crafted tunes. And I was finally introduced to the work of Luke Wesley who has the same instinct to make these sharp, savvy songs. An inserted cover of Cohen's "Hallelujah" was an added benefit.

But don't let these nice fellas fool you. There is rock n roll punk danger here. After all, who else could bring on a RAID BY THE NYPD?! OK it wasn't a raid. It was a mere regulatory building inspection. But the unit was led by a well manicured man in a wide-brimmed fedora and trench coat (I shit you not on this people). So it COULD have been dangerous, dangerous circa 1946.

If you read this blog regularly, you know there's been a little whining around here lately about a dearth of excitement on the concert calendar. This is what happens when you get spoiled. And it's very easy to get spoiled in New York where on seemingly any night of the week you can find guys like these guys (and plenty of gals too) doing what they do. Sometimes the hack that writes this blog needs a reality check and needs to be reminded of what he's got right here in front of him in the Big Apple. And what better way to get that dose of medicine? Playing these artists on The Sonic Parthenon Show. THAT'S RIGHT, WE'RE PLUGGING! Shwa, Bryan, Luke, and the rest of New York's best and brightest will be heard on Pennypacker's trampling of all things internet radio streaming in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

Labels: , , ,

Monday, January 10, 2011

The Sonic Parthenon Show Is Coming To Thor Radio.com

As I addressed a couple of months ago, things just ain't the same in the Sonic Parthenon universe. When a Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt super show next week, and a Blasters comeback show in March, are the only exciting dates on the calendar, you know it's time to rethink the big picture. But as I also alluded to in my lament, there was a way out. A way to stem the tide. It came in the form of an Internet radio network named Thor Radio (thorradio.com or look for it via Live 365 and the old Google matrix). The kindly DJ Rez gave Pennypacker a couple of guest shots over the last few months to help remember what it used to be like around here.

Well the time has come. The time has come to announce to the world that Elwood D. Pennypacker is taking his Sonic Parthenon franchise worldwide - "mass comunnacashun" as Governor Pappy O'Daniel once said in O Brother Where Art Thou?
In the coming weeks, debuting on the stream of Thor Radio, Elwood D. Pennypacker will be hosting The Sonic Parthenon Show. We're still working out the kinks - launch date, length, doing it live vs. recorded, making sure Ray Davies' muscles are loose and free - but we're getting closer and closer to the big to-do. Thor Radio itself may very well be undergoing a transformation as a new fleet of DJ's may be coming together to do what they do best: play records and speak in non-sequiturs (well, the latter may just be my domain but still).

The time has come to cross this Rubicon and admit that we have to look backwards a bit. We're going to play what we like now and plenty of it, but we're going back to times lived recently and times before our time. We're going to remember scenes and 'zines, we're going to pay tribute to our radio heroes past and present, we're going to sit and dawdle and think of no good reason to play Wang Chung. We're going to have special themed shows and gimmicks you can shake a stick at. Above all, we're going to have fun. Well someone's going to have fun. It may or may not be me, all depending on whether I can figure this microphone out.

So join in why don'tcha? Bring the family (well maybe not the kids since the FCC has no say over the absinthe-infused declaratives that may be sent over the digital airwaves). We'll be in touch with a start date and with more information about other DJ's and schedules at Thor Radio, and we'll probably spruce up The Sonic Parthenon Blog a bit in getting ready for The Sonic Parthenon Show. In the meantime, sit tight, hang loose, and remember: protect ya neck.

Labels: , ,