Sunday, May 25, 2014

3 - “Cock or an Ode to Chicken”





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The Rolling Stones - “Rough Justice”
Mississippi John Hurt – “Chicken”
John Cooper Clarke – “Evidently Chickentown”
Scott H. Biram – “Downtown Chicken”
Little Feat – “Dixie Chicken”
Louis Jordan – “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens”
Joe Turner – “The Chicken and the Hawk”
The Aquabats – “Magic Chicken”
Southern Culture on the Skids – “Run Chicken Run”
The Dirtbombs – “Granny’s Little Chicken”
The James Hunter Six – “Chicken Switch”
The Kills – “Black Rooster”
Howlin’ Wolf – “The Red Rooster”
Lightin’ Slim – “Rooster Blues”
Bessie Smith – “Butter and Egg Man”
Bill Cornett – “Cluck Old Hen”
Son House – “Country Farm Blues”
"Leave Me Alone So I Can Rock Again" by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

Saturday, May 24, 2014

The Real Kids; The Woggles; The Semi-Colons? @ Bell House

The Real Kids; The Woggles; The Semi-Colons?
@ Bell House
Brooklyn, NY - May 23, 2014

On a rainy night in New York, on the last night of East Village Radio (where the DJ was blasting the Clash when I walked by), on a night in which a mentally handicapped woman came into the Double Down Saloon to use the bathroom but couldn't use it because "this is not a micro-brewery!!", it was a good night for old rock n' roll.

John Felice might be an older man but his voice is sounding pretty fine. And considering I only knew "All Kindsa Girls" going into this show, it was nice to hear old power pop sound new.

It's been almost a full damn decade (9 years and and a little less than 2 months) since the first and only time I saw the Woggles, when they blew up Maxwell's. Professor Manfred, Flesh Hammer, and the other guys, are all getting a little older themselves but they've lost little of that punch. It's striking how they remain a potent act, venerable and veteran, and yet don't even have their own Wikipedia page!

The oldest band on the bill, the first band on the bill, and technically speaking I might even have to say the best - it's the backing band of ? and the Mysterians, as in the Mysterians, as in yes really the chaps who did "96 Tears". They made it so that you were hearing old men do old covers while wearing decent suits, but what you were really hearing was one of the original garage dynamos, bustin' out Detroit, tearing it up.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

2 - “Borrowed Nostalgia for the Unremembered Eighties”






The Jam – “Start!”
Iggy Pop – “Real Wild Child”
Devo – “That’s Good”
Huey Lewis & the News – “I Wanna New Drug”
Billy Ocean – “Loverboy”
Pointer Sisters – “Automatic”
Stephen Bishop – “Looking for the Right One”
Peabo Bryson – “D.C. Cab”
Black Flag – “Gimme Gimme Gimme”
Big Black – “Cables”
Romeo Void – “Never Say Never”
X – “Hot House”
Hüsker Dü – “Something I Learned Today”
The Replacements – “Takin’ A Ride”
The Nails – “88 Lines About 44 Women”
“Little Sister” by Lou Reed

Sunday, May 11, 2014

1 - “Starting All Over Again”




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Stars - “The Beginning After the End”
Mel and Tim - “Starting All Over Again”
The Mooney Suzuki - "And Begin"
The Black Lips - "Starting Over”
Jimi Hendrix - "Beginnings”
The Jam - “Start!”
Spinal Tap - “Just Begin Again”
The Joy Formidable - “Chapter 2”
Metric - “Ending Start”
Elvis Costello - "Secondary Modern”
Frightened Rabbit - “The Second Incident”
The Thermals - “End to Begin”
The Maharajas - “Another Turn”
Joie/Dead Blonde Girlfriend - “Another Journey”
John Legend - “Another Again”
The Fixx - “One Thing Leads to Another”
Judas Priest - “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming”
Lou Reed - “Beginning of a Great Adventure”

New Name, Same Schlemiel

As you can see this site/blog/podcast has a new name. The Old Time Modern Mixtape Hour.

After a good seven years or so as Sonic Parthenon, it was time for a change.

But not a big change, because apart from the name, nothing else much has changed. This is still first and foremost the home of a podcast in which yours truly plays a lot of music and talks some (but not as much as he used to, which if you've heard the last 20 episodes or so, you've already noticed).

This site will still also be home to the occasional live show review by a band or artist, especially ones familiar to the program. And it will also still be home to the occasional rant, music or otherwise.

But why the change:

I was tired of saying and writing "Sonic Parthenon". I cringe with every mention when asked what is the name of my show or site. In the last 2 years or so, explaining the name became shiver-worthy. Even though I cut down on a lot of the narcissistic pomposity (but not elitist snobbery) from my younger days, the name was a relic to this excessive notion that I wasn't just writing about (and later playing) music I happened to like,  but that I was showcasing music that stood for wisdom, justice, righteous confrontation, etc. I still feel that way in some respects to the premise of the podcast and site but I no longer feel comfortable demonstrating that as a proverbial flag to fly.

I much rather work with the notion/concept of just playing songs I like.

Also, I came up with the name Sonic Parthenon when I actively tried to become a New York-based indie-music scenester, and those days are long over, sayeth my back, my wallet, my sleep needs, my job, my peoples (I was reminded of this recently reading a New York scenester's memoir and the moment he first hears LCD Soundsystem's "Losing My Edge", which might now be the theme of the podcast).
Having had a taste of hipness from prior years of chatting with rock n roll musicians when going out to their shows, I was in a place (economically, socially) where I thought I would try to become the next Brooklyn Vegan/Stereogum/etc. It almost took. There was consistent readership (pre-podcast), fueled by blurbs and clips promoted by bands and other blogs with heavy traffic. I spent at least one year going to a show almost every other night.

But with economic and social aspects changing soon after (job, woman), that lifestyle didn't last long. And eventually, I started doing the Internet Streaming show as a make-up for no longer being a wannabe-scenester. The show was and is a celebration of what I've already musically took-in as much as what I continue to like that's new. It's not a hipster clarion call.

After a short run of friends listening to the live, regularly scheduled program streaming on the Internet (a difficult commitment in this world of ours), the compunction to do a live radio style program lost luster. So I switched to emphasizing the recorded version of the show. And now it's been a full-time podcast for some time.

I recently had a chat with a co-worker who brought up the show and I mentioned a little bit of what I've mentioned above. She said it sounds like I do a mixtape every week. I had described the show before as a "modern mixtape". That's when it sunk in for good. The name change and what the name change should be about.

So there you have it.

A long-winded self-centered piece about, essentially, trying to avoid long-winded self-centered pieces. Not for the first time.

I hope my fan in Estonia and my fan in Malta accept the change. Even if they might be spambots.

Sunday, May 04, 2014

The Sonic Parthenon Show – Episode 117: “Various Music from Different Peoples of the Earth Compiled Under the Label of World Music in the Name of Laziness”



The Sonic Parthenon Show – Episode 117: “Various Music from Different Peoples of the Earth Compiled Under the Label of World Music in the Name of Laziness”



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Intro
“Roam” by the B-52’s

Set 1
“Bamboleo” by Gipsy Kings
“Balanca (Nao Pode Parar!)” by Bossacucnova
“Carlito” by Cochemea Gastelum
“Ela Partiu” by Tim Maia

Set 2
“Kulumbu” by Angelique Kidjo featuring Dr. John
“Sopeka” by Staff Benda Bilili
“Haolam Avad Mizman” by Vaadat Charigim
“You Me Bullets Love” by the Bombay Royale

Set 3
“Louie Louie” by Toots and the Maytals
“Dschinghis Khan” by Dschinghis Khan
“The Likes of You Again” by Flogging Molly
“White City” by the Pogues
“All Around the World” by Oasis

Outro
“Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” by Ian Dury and the Blockheads