Friday, January 30, 2009

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, January 30, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell


101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Forbidden Love by Billy Kaundart
Blood is Thicker Than Water by Shaver
Punk Rockin' Honky Tonk Girl by The Blue Chieftains
Lonley at the Top by Dan Baird
Johnny Valentine by Andy Anderson
Lose Your Mind by Wayne Hancock
Midnight Train by Maddox Brothers & Rose
Send Me To the 'Lectric Chair by David Bromberg

How You Drink The Wine by Amber Digby
I Just Can't Be True by Webb Pierce
Hot Dog That Made Him Mad by Wanda Jackson
Walk on By by Charlie Pride
Ain't Your Memory Got No Pride at All by Ray Price & Johnny Bush
I'll Be a Bachelor Til I Die by Hank Thompson
You're the Reason by Nancy Apple
Miss Froggy by Warren Smith
To Each His Own by Butch Hancock
Funky Butt by Mississippi John Hurt

Tex Mex Mile by The Gourds
Heartaches and Grease by Ray Wylie Hubbard
Rainbow Stew by Jason Ringenberg
My Pretty Quadroon by Jerry Lee Lewis
You Asked Me To by Waylon Jennings
I'm Mad With You by Cornell Hurd
Thirty Dollar Room by Dave Alvin
That's the Smoke They're Blowin' by Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks

Going Away by The Flatlanders
Knoxville Girl by The Louvin Brothers
To Which Cross Do I Cling by Chris Darrow
Men With Broken Hearts/ I Heard That Lonesome Whistle Flow by Porter Wagoner
The Blind Child's Prayer by Hank Williams
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: GOURDS STILL STANDING

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
January 30, 2009


Of all the bands that rose out of the alt-country scare of the mid-to-late ’90s, the only ones that remain standing do a lot for me these days: The Waco Brothers and The Gourds.

Wilco is a whole other story. It’s still around, of course, but its music stopped resembling alt-country — much less country — years ago. Then there’s The Handsome Family, which I tend to think of more as a duo than a get-down band. And there’s the Bottle Rockets, but they haven’t had a new record in three years or so. Come to think of it, The Wacos haven’t had an album of new material in nearly four years.
GOURDS LIVE on the Plaza, July 2008
But The Gourds keep cranking ’em out, and the band’s new one, Haymaker!, is its strongest in a long time. If you’re not familiar with The Gourds, who have played Santa Fe several times in recent years, this album would be as good a place as any to start.

Like the best stuff from this Austin group, it’s good, rocking country-flavored fun, with more than a hint of Cajun and Tex-Mex music, thanks largely to Claude Bernard’s accordion. The musicians worship Doug Sahm, but they never sound like they’re trying to imitate him. They are often compared to The Band, but their humor is far goofier. The Gourds’ musicianship is tight, and yet they make their records sound like loose backyard parties. You can almost smell the barbecue and beer.

There are two main singers and songwriters in the group — Kevin Russell (who, for reasons best known to him and his god, calls himself “Shineyribs” in the Haymaker! album credits) and Jimmy Smith. I’m not sure which is John and which is Paul, but the George Harrison of The Gourds is multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston, who sings lead on two songs, including the slow, soulful, and lovely “Valentine,” which is guaranteed to get him laid on Feb. 14.

Haymaker! isn’t a concept album, but it has the feeling of a crazy travelogue. Lots of songs deal with travel. “Wake up! We’re going to the country,” are the first words of the first song, “Country Love.” That tune perpetrates the country-music truism that “country lovin’ ” is somehow preferable to urban sex.

Keeping with the unstated travel theme, Russell’s “All the Way to Jericho” sounds like it’s about some cosmic pilgrimage. “All the way to Jericho in a rusted automobile,” he sings. Listeners might be reminded of that old song about pulling into Nazareth.
Shineyribs
Shineyribs is back to this earthly plane, however, in the song “Shreveport,” in which he’s on a “midnight drive down on Jewella Road.” This little rocker has references to methamphetamine use and “heavy metal rednecks and their frizzy blond hair.” In “Bridget,” Smith tells about not-so-sweet hitchhiker wearing a Che T-shirt. When he lets her off at a rest stop, she says, “Thanks for the lift, you old geezer.”

Smith’s best contribution to this album is “Blanket Show,” a crazy hoedown injected with garage-band energy. He sings of “warthog rage” and gets away with the line “My heart was heavy but my fu was kung.”

But my favorite Haymaker! song has to be “Tex-Mex Mile,” whices a trip to South Austin sound like Homer’s Odyssey set to the tune of “Six Days on the Road.” “I lost 10 years down there smoking that Pachuca weed/I was Rip Van Winkle but I thought I was Apollo Creed/I couldn’t find my dingo boots, hell I couldn’t even find my feet/I kept a waking and a baking even though it was mostly seeds.”

The amazing thing that The Gourds pull off is that they have managed to stay true to their basic sound. They really haven’t changed much since their earliest works, and they certainly don’t try to keep up with trends. They’re just a great unsung American band. May their fu remain ever kung.

Also noted:
* Lucky 13
by the Paula Nelson Band. Paula is Willie’s daughter. She doesn’t sound much like the old man, but you can hear the DNA in her nasal voice.

She’ll never be as highly regarded as her dad. But then again, Willie can never say he’s worked as Jessica Simpson’s stunt driver. Paula can.

I caught the last part of her set at Austin’s Saxon Pub a couple of years ago (she’s got a weekly gig there, and she went on right before Hundred Year Flood), and I liked what I heard. As this album, released last year, shows, she’s got a blues-rock sound.
HYF at Saxon Pub, July 2007
My favorites are her rockers, like “Standing Tall,” “Fire Below,” and “Baby You’re Mean.” But she also proves she can handle sad songs and waltzes like “Surrender.” I had to check the credits to make sure that wasn’t a Willie tune.

Most of the songs are original, but there are a few covers. Her rocking version of the Lee Hazelwood/Nancy Sinatra, Johnny Cash/June Carter hit “Jackson” is pretty decent, but much better is her take on a lost Rickie Lee Jones gem, “Easy Money.”

My biggest beef is with her selection of “Angel From Montgomery.” John Prine wrote it; Bonnie Raitt turned it to a wimp-rock classic; and Paula Nelson didn’t need to cover it.

The Paula Nelson Band plays at 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 30, at the Santa Fe Brewing Company (37 Fire Place, santafebrewing.com); the cover charge is $10.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

PLUGS FOR PALS & RELATIONS

I've been so busy with my political blog I've been letting this one go to Hell.

But just so you don't think I've completely lost myself to Roundhouse madness, here's a couple of music links for you to chew on.

First, a little nepotism: Check out my brother's project with John Carter Cash, The Cedar Hill Refugees. There's guest spots by Ralph Stanley, Marty Stuart, The Peasall Sisters and more.

Then there's my friend and fellow KSFR DJ Dave Barsanti has archived a bunch of his Twisted Groove radio shows. Santa Fe Opry fans know this is the show that comes on right afterward on Friday night (technically early Saturday morning.) Check that out HERE. Like podcasts, you can download the shows or listen to them on Dave's site.

One of my favorites, an Afro-funk show, is HERE

Speaking of podcasts, don't forget my new gospel show.

Monday, January 26, 2009

I BROKE DOWN ...

and joined Twitter.

Follow me. I won't hurt you. I'm your friend, I'm not like the others.

NEW PODCAST: STEVE TERRELL'S GOSPEL FAVORITES

Welcome to Volume 1 of Steve Terrell's Gospel Favorites.
A SIGN ON THE FLOOR OF THE CHURCH AT MOUNT CARMEL
Fill your soul with a heap of gospel music just like God likes it -- or at least the way I like it, nice and raw and full of spirit.

I'm not here to promote any religion nor to disparage it. I just love this music.

CLICK HERE to download the podcast. (To save it, right click on the link and select "Save Target As.")

CLICK HERE to subscribe to my podcasts (there will be more in the future) and HERE to subscribe on iTunes.


Here's the playlist:

(Background Music: from "The Eagle Stirs in Her Nest" by The Rev. C.L. Franklin)
Old Time Religion by Rev. James Cleveland
Dragnet For Jesus by Sister Wynona Carr
My Troubles Are So Hard to Bear by Ethel Davenport
I Have a Friend Above All Others by The Soul Stirrers
Jesus is God's Atom Bomb by The Swan Silvertones
The Sun of the Soul by The Carter Family
(Background Music: Don't Let the Devil Ride by The Campbell Brothers with Katie Jackson)

Jesus Throwed Up a Highway for Me by The Holy Ghost Sanctified Singers
God's Mighty Hand by Rev. Utah Smith
A Night at the House of Prayer by Rev. Lonnie Farris
Two Little Fishes and Five Loaves of Bread by Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb by Uncle Dave Macon
Goodbye to the Chain Stores Part 2 by Rev. J.M. Gates
(Background Music: Christian Soldier 57 by The Denson Quartet)

What a Wonderful Feeling by The Humbard Family
Let's Have Mercy by The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi
Slip in and Tip In by Isaiah Owens
This May Be the Last Time by The Staple Singers
(Background Music: Don't You Ever Let Nobody Drag Yo' Spirit Down by Linda Tillery & Cultural Heritage Choir with Wilson Pickett & Eric Bibb.)

Play it here:

Sunday, January 25, 2009

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, January 25, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

Webcasting!
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Lies You Told by Jesse Hector & The Sound
Empire by The Black Angels
Repent by Lone Monk
100 Little Women by Mark Sultan
Where's Your Boyfriend At? by The Yayhoos
R.O.D. by The Fall
Little Miss Contrary by Wild Billy Childish & The Musicians of The British Empire
Bad News Travels Fast by The Fuzztones
Wiggle Tail by Googie Rene

Love Letters by The Dex Romweber Duo with Cat Power
American Wedding by Gogol Bordello
Down in the Beast by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Crazy Crazy Mama by Roky Erikson
Nostradamus Jr. by The Fleshtones
I Hate You by The Sinister Six
Hobo Babylon by Deadbolt
Just Like Me by Paul Revere & The Raiders
Strolling Beale #1 by Rufus Thomas

I Need Some Help by Gibby Haynes & His Problem
Taxi Driver by The Rodeo Carburator
Gentle Violence by The Black Lips
Seasons in the Sun by Too Much Joy
Cheap Thrills by Ruben & The Jets
Alice in Blunderland by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
Arise! by The Legendary Stardust Cowboy
A Question of Temperature by The Balloon Farm
Search It Out by Pastor John Rydgren

Bad Trails by Battles
All Wound Up by Billy Miles Brooke
Walt's First Trip by Ohio Players
More Bread For the People by The Action 13
This One's From the Heart by Tom Waits & Crystal Gayle
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

Friday, January 23, 2009

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, January 23, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos

HANKATHON!
art by Jon Langford Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain by Hank Williams
Move it on Over by Willie Nelson
Hank Williams You Wrote My Life by Moe Bandy
Cherokee Boogie by Hank Williams
Do It For Hank by The World Famous Blue Jays
If You Don't Like Hank Williams by Kris Kristofferson
You Win Again by Van Morrison & Linda Gail Lewis
Seaman's Blues by Hank Williams

Mind Your Business by Hank Williams
Jambalaya by Professor Longhair with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown
Worried Mind by Johnny Dowd
Pictures From Life's Other Side by Hank Williams
The Car Hank Died In by The Austin Lounge Lizards
I Can't Help It If I'm Still in Love With You by The Holmes Brothers with Roseanne Cash
Hey Good Lookin' by Ray Charles
No, No Joe by Hank Williams

Drifting Too Far From the Shore by Hank Williams
Lost Highway by The Mekons
Your Cheatin' Heart by Pairote
Are You Sure Hank Done it This Way by Waylon Jennings
I Think Hank Would Have Done it This Way by The Blue Chieftains
Lonely Tombs by Hank Williams
There's a Tear in My Beer by The The
The Great Hank by Robert Earle Keen
Alone and Forsaken by Hank Williams

The Grand Old Opry Ain't So Grand by Hank Williams III
I'll Think of Something by Hank Williams Jr.
I Heard That Lonesome Whistle by Townes Van Zandt
Has Anybody Here Seen Hank? by The Waterboys
Angel of Death by Shane MacGowan & The Popes
Nashville Radio/The Death of Country Music by Jon Langford
SUBSTITUTE CLOSING THEME: The Pale Horse and His Rider by Hank Williams


Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

Thursday, January 22, 2009

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: ANYBODY HERE SEEN HANK?

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
January 23, 2009


Hank Williams, country music’s greatest star, died 56 years ago this month. But if you thought you had heard everything he ever recorded during his short but crazily influential career, think again.

That’s right. The Complete Hank Williams, that 10-disc collection released more than a decade ago by Mercury Nashville (and which I still hope to get one day), isn’t really complete.

Late last year, Time-Life Records brought forth Hank Williams: The Unreleased Recordings, a three-disc box of sessions he did for a morning radio show on WSM in Nashville in the early 1950s. It was one of those archetypal country-music radio shows sponsored by a flour company, Mother’s Best Flour, which you can hear Hank occasionally plug in these songs (“Hey, good lookin’, if you’ve got anything cookin’, just be sure you’re cookin’ it with Mother’s Best Flour”).

He usually did the show live with his Drifting Cowboys band. But if he was touring, he and the band would prerecord their 15-minute segment. This material, which came into the possession of Hank’s daughter, Jett, makes up the new box set. Apparently the project was wrapped up in some kind of legal battle for several years. I guess they could have titled it “Music the Lawyers Tried to Kill.”

When I first heard about this collection, I was afraid it might sound like a bootleg. That’s definitely not the case. The sound quality is mostly excellent, despite a couple of scratchy spots here and there — far better than most old country radio-show recordings I’ve heard.

But what I really like is the wide variety of songs he does. There’s only a smattering of Hank hits here — “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “Cold Cold Heart,” “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love With You),” “Wedding Bells,” “Mind Your Own Business,” and “Hey, Good Lookin’.” Rather than concentrate on his well-known catalog, The Unreleased Recordings treats listeners to a host of songs we’ve never heard before — at least not by Hank.

There are lots of gospel songs here, lots of songs he picked up from contemporaries like Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, and Moon Mullican. Hank sings “On Top of Old Smoky,” which he performs with soul I never knew the old chestnut had. There’s even a take on “When the Saints Go Marching In,” complete with bluegrass-style harmonies from the Drifting Cowboys.

And there’s an original Hank Williams train song I’d never heard before, “California Zephyr.” “Wrote this here a few days ago,” he says, introducing the tune. It’s not as moving as “(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle,” but it’s always nice to discover a new Hank number. There’s even a local reference: “She leaves the City of the Angels, headin’ for old Santa Fe.”

Hank dips deep into hoary folk obscurity with the spooky hymn “Lonely Tombs.” The Stanley Brothers recorded a version of this tune, which goes back to the British Isles. “Every voice from the tomb seemed to whisper and say, ‘Living man, you must soon follow me.’”

I also like that Hank sings “Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain” using some long-forgotten lyrics by composer Fred Rose that Willie Nelson left out of his hit version nearly a quarter century later. “Now my hair has turned to silver/All my life I’ve loved in vain/I can see her star in heaven/Blue eyes cryin’ in the rain.”

Speaking of country giants who would follow Williams, in Hank’s version of the “The Old Country Church” in this collection, you can hear what might be the birth of the classic Johnny Cash chunka-chunka sound.

Hank updates his Luke the Drifter morality tale, “Pictures From Life’s Other Side” (a song that actually dates back to the 1890s), adding a verse about a soldier fighting in Korea: “In a foxhole frozen and homesick, he’s fighting for us, as you know.”

Speaking of life’s other side, there are several horrifying tragedy songs that some hipsters might take as high camp. “At the First Fall of Snow” is a song about a dead child — a common motif in early country music. Even more over the top is “The Blind Child’s Prayer.” It’s about a blind girl who resents her father’s remarrying: “Oh, father, tonight they say you are to wed another bride/That you will hold her in your arms, where my dear mother died. ... Father, do you think she’ll love your blind and helpless child?”

Spoiler alert: It’s another dead child song. This is followed by an upbeat gospel song about going to heaven that includes the refrain “I’ll have a new body, I’ll have a new life.”

But there’s humor, too. In a spoken interlude in the mournful “If I Didn’t Love You,” sideman Louie Buck says, “Aw, honey child, if I didn’t love you, would I buy you that washtub and that washboard and tell you you could keep half of what you made off it?”

Naturally, the collection ends with a hymn — one invoking a striking image, half Book of Revelation half John Ford. It’s called “The Pale Horse and His Rider.” Hank sings it as if he’s the last cowboy on Earth, corralling stray souls.

I love the radio setting of these performances. The studio audience on several tracks sounds far rowdier than they should on an early morning show. (But these were prerecorded, so the music could have been performed at any time.) And sometimes the announcers add real country charm, as when one says, “That’s a mighty fine song for you boys to send out, especially to all our shut-in friends this morning.”

Indeed, music like this would be a comfort to shut-ins and shut-outs alike.

It's Gonna Be a Hankathon: Tonight on the Santa Fe Opry, 10-midnight (Mountain Time) on KSFR 90.7 FM. Hey out-of-towners listen to the Webcast.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, January 19, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
We Shall Overcome by Bruce Springsteen
El Jefe/Mucho Trabajo by Lone Monk
Thatcher's Children by Billy Childish
Train of Thought by The Fleshtones
Hungry by Satan's Cheerleaders
Two Left Feet by Mark Sultan
Lookout by Dex Romweber Duo
Girls are Mad by The Ettes
Ride Your Pony by Rufus Thomas
Birth of the Boogie by Bill Haley

R.O.D. by The Fall
Johnson in a Headlock by The Fuzztones
Boogie Man by Stinky Lou & The Goon Mat with Lord Bernardo
Moonlight Boogie by Billy Miles Brooke
Big Eyed Beans from Venus by Captain Beefheart
Jack Pepsi by TAD
Child of the Falling Star by Stephen W. Terrell


Faraway by Sleater-Kinney
Let's Impeach the President by Neil Young
Tales of Terror by Mudhoney
Rich Man's War by Hundred Year Flood
Bushwacked by Drywall
Hoist That Rag by Tom Waits
20 by Robert Cray

Gabbin' Blues by Big Maybelle with Rosemarie McCoy
Pinch by Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog
Backburner Guy by Jesus H. Christ & The Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse
Black Grease by The Black Angels
I'm Willing by The Caravans featuring Inez Andrews & Albertina Walker
Just a Closer Walk With Thee by Sister Rosetta Tharpe
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

Friday, January 16, 2009

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, January 16, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
$ Bill the Cowboy by The Waco Brothers
Tex-Mex Mile by The Gourds
Cornbread 'Lasses and Sassafrass Tea by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Living on $15 a Week by Chris Darrow
Been So Long by Jorma Kaukonen
Queen of the Stardust Ball by Billy Miles Brooke
BBQ USA by Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper
Lonesome Train by The Dex Romweber Duo with Exene Cervenka
Man With the Thunder Head by (unknown)

Taxes Taxes by Hank Penny
Marie by BeauSoleil
I'll Always Take Care of You by The Pine Leaf Boys
Dancing Shoes by Mama Rosin
Standing Tall by Paula Nelson
Wildwood Flower by Amy Nelson & Cathy Guthrie
I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None o' This Jellyroll by Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel
The Blind Child's Prayer by Hank Williams
Check out Guitar George, he knows all the chords
America v. 6.0 (The Best We can Do) by Steve Earle
Don't Be Afraid of the Neocons by Norman & Nancy Blake
Deja Vu All Over Again by John Fogerty
God Bless America by James McMurtry
The Lie by The Waco Brothers
FCC Song by Eric Idle
The Outcast by Tom Russell featuring Dave Van Ronk

Robbers & Bandits & Bastards & Thieves by Drywall
Bring Back Storyville by Guy Davis
You Can't Trust Them by Fred Eaglesmith
Backstreet Affair by Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
Don't Ever Take My Picture Down by Cornell Hurd
They Killed John Henry by Justin Townes Earle
Black and Blue America by Chip Taylor
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: GET THE ETTES

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
January 16, 2009


The first decent new, or at least relatively new, review CD to come into my mailbox at work in 2009 was Look at My Life Again Soon by The Ettes.

This is a bouncy little record by a predominantly female guitar-bass-drums trio fronted by singer Coco Hames that sounds like a stripped-down (settle down, Beavis!) version of The Bangles. The Ettes are scheduled to play at the Atomic Cantina in Albuquerque tonight.

Although the band members are American — New Yorkers who got together in Los Angeles and have spent time in North Carolina and Nashville — this album, released last year, was recorded in England. It was produced by Liam Watson, who has recorded various Billy Childish projects.

The first song that really caught my ear was “I Heard Tell.” It’s a biting little rocker with a melody and hooks that might have been inspired by Joan Jett. But it’s the lyrics that I really appreciate. “I heard tell the papers got you/And from what I heard, they got it all true.” As an American “mainstream” journalist, it’s nice to hear a song that mentions the media and that doesn’t go along with the prevalent stereotypes and portray us all as idiots, dupes, or vultures. Thanks, Ettes.

I also like “Crown of Age,” mainly for the Electric Prunes-style reverby guitar.

My only complaint is that after a few songs, Hames’ vocals start to get a little cloying. Again that Bangles comparison. But in small doses this music is fresh and energizing — a nice way to start off the year.

I bet The Ettes are even better live. Check out the band with The Dirty Novels tonight at 9 p.m. at the Atomic Cantina, 315 Gold Ave. S.W., Albuquerque, 505-242-2200. There is no cover charge.

Also recommended:
Oh where are ya going Billy boy, Billy boy?
* Thatcher’s Children by Wild Billy Childish & the Musicians of the British Empire. Speaking of Billy boy, I only recently got my hands on this bitchen gem, which was released a few months ago. The prolific Childish has been around for decades fronting banke Thee Headcoats, Thee Mighty Caesars, Thee Milkshakes, and others, establishing his rightful place as the high priest of garage music in the British Isles.

With his natty clothes and handlebar mustache, Childish, who turns 50 this year, doesn’t look the part. But the proof is in the pounding. His current band, consisting of Childish on guitar and vocals, Nurse Julie (one of the best punk-rock names I’ve heard lately) on bass and vocals, and Wolf Howard on drums, produces fine primitive, homemade sounds.

The title cut has a melody borrowed (“stolen” is such a judgmental word) from The Clash’s “London Calling.” Like that song, Childish’s tune deals with a ruined civilization. It joins Elvis Costello’s “Tramp the Dirt Down” and Richard Thompson’s “Mother Knows Best” as songs that definitely aren’t on the former prime minister’s iPod. The way Childish sees it, Thatcher’s conservatism tainted everything — even punk rock and YouTube.

Some of the best songs on this album are sung by the Nurse. My favorite Julie song is “He’s Making a Tape.” It’s about a woman who catches her boyfriend with his albums spread all over the floor, cutting out little pictures for the cover with the “ransom-note letters stuck on the back.” Nurse Julie sings, “He’s making a tape and it isn’t for me/He’s making a tape you know what that means.” Yes, the song’s probably dated. Does anyone make mixed cassettes anymore? Still it brings back fond memories of a venerated mating ritual of the late-20th century.


* Party Intellectuals by Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog. This is a tasty little album by a band led by a guitarist who probably is best known for helping Tom Waits find his unique sound in the ’80s. He has also played with Elvis Costello and the avant-jazz Lounge Lizards.

The rest of the band is pretty impressive, too. Ches Smith is an amazing drummer who has played with the group Xiu Xiu, and Shahzad Ismaily handles bass and some crazy parts on the Moog synthesizee

The album starts out with a wild, maniacal take on The Doors’ “Break on Through.” This is not your father’s classic rock. Ribot and the boys take the spirit of the original and break through to further dimensions.

This is followed by the equally crazy title song, an original tune. At this point, a listener may think that this album is a never-a-dull-moment affair. Unfortunately the next song, “Todo el Mundo es Kitsch,” is a dull moment — a five-minute dull moment. With guest vocals by Janice Cruz, this song sounds like a futuristic bossa nova that never quite gels.

From here on, it’s a roller-coaster ride. The next song, “When We Were Young and We Were Freaks” is slow, dark, and sinister. “Digital Handshake” is a 10-minute instrumental freakout, as is “Midost.” “Pinch” is crazed funk. “Girlfriend” is an android bolero with funny deadpan lyrics. “I’m with my girl friend/She’s kinda pretty/But I don’t like her.”

Despite some weak spots, this dog will hunt.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

GARY HEFFERN'S "LA LA LAND"

I've love this song by Gary Heffern for years, but lately it's taken on some personal meaning for me. By cosmic coincidence, Heff recently has made a video of the song. He says he still wants to do a couple of tweaks to the video, but he gave me permission to post this version here.

It's a sad one, but enjoy.


Sunday, January 11, 2009

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, January 11, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Make it Rain by Tom Waits
One Kind Favor by Canned Heat
Wilder Wilder, Faster Faster by The Cramps
He's Making a Tape by Wild Billy Childish & The Musicians of the British Empire
Knocked Out Cold by The Campus Tramps
Looking For a Girl by Stinky Lou & The Goon Mat with Lord Bernardo
Feeling Numb by The Fall
Pepito by Baby Gaby

I Heard Tell by The Ettes
His Perfect Love by The Dirty Novels
Psychedelic Swamp by The Fleshtones
I Want Two Wings by Rev. Utah Smith
Dragnet For Jesus by Sister Wynona Carr
The Holy Spirit by Rev. Lonnie Farris
Sinful Woman by Elmore James
Jail Bait by Andre Williams & Green Hornet
Bad Little Woman by The Shadows of Knight
Yeah I Never by The Fuzztones
Richard Nixon Set
Kathy's Letter by Kathy Hoffman
Nixon's Dead Ass by Russell Means
Watergate Blues by Howlin' Wolf
Watergate Blues by Tom T. Hall
Superbird/Tricky Dick by Country Joe & The Fish
We're All Water by John Lennon & Yoko Ono
Tricky Dick (Was a Rock-n-Rolla)/One Tin Soldier by The Dick Nixons
H20gate Blues by Gil Scott Heron
You Ain't Gonna Have ol' Buck to Kick Around No More by Buck Owens
Ohio by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Nixon in '96 by Dodoo Wah
Buckle Down with Nixon by Oscar Brand
Are the Good Times Really Over (I Wish a Buck Was Still Silver) by Merle Haggard
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

Saturday, January 10, 2009

eMUSIC JANUARY

In addition to my 90 downloads for this month, I got a bonus of 50 extra tracks for luring a new eMusic member. (She got 50 free ones too). I have until April to use them, but, like a kid in a candy store, I've already used more than half.

So this'll be a long one!

The location of the vaults remains a carefully guarded secret
* Rarities from The Bob Hite Vaults by various artists. Before he was a rock star -- anyone else out there remember Canned Heat's appearance on Playboy After Dark? -- he was best known as a collecter of old blues records.

I'm not sure whether he actually had a vault, but this collection of blues, good greasy R&B and proto-rock, compiled by a Dutch DJ named "Dr. Boogie" (if indeed that is his real name), is a delight. There's names you should recognize (Etta James, Johnny Otis, Bill Haley, who explains the "Birth of the Boogie") and some you've probably never heard of (Mad Mel Sebastian, The Hotshots, Googie Rene). Cool, cool surprises all.

And there's six from blues shouter Elmore James, none of them "Dust My Broom" (though "She Just Won't Do Right" refers to it.)

* 12 Roots n' Boogie Blues Hits by Stinky Lou & The Goon Mat with Lord Bernardo. It's hard-edged gutbucket blues trio from France. From Voodoo Rhythm, naturally.

This band has lots of personality. Stinky Lou plays a mean washtub bass, while Goon Mat handles both guitar and bass drum. Bernardo plays harmonica. And while their basic sounds is based on the ascended masters of Missiissippi, they don't try to hide their French accents.


* Dragnet for Jesus by Sister Wynona Carr. Definitely some of the coolest gospel I've heard lately. Sister Wynona, who hailed from Cleveland, was active in the 1950s. She toured with and was influenced by Rosetta Tharpe. She also worked as the choir director for The Rev. C.L. "Aretha's Dad" Franklin's church in Detroit.

This collection has several "novelty" gospel tunes, including "The Ball Game," "15 Rounds for Jesus" and the title song, which, yes, is a sanctified send-up of Jack Webb's famous TV show, which must be heard to be believed.

But don't dismiss her as a novelty artist. This lady could sing.

Later in the '50s she tried her hand at secular R&B. Her collection Jump Jack Jump! is on my "Save for Later" list.

* Cerebral Caustic by The Fall. Here's a mid '90s album by Mark E. Smith and company that I somehow missed. (They were prolific enough at that point and some of their labels were so obscure, it was easy to lose track of their releases.)

This album featured Brix, the former Mrs. Smith, back in the Fall fold for a brief time. I love the way she spits the title of the "Don't Call Me Darling" in the verses of the song as a classic Fall "Big New Prinz" riff pounds in the background.

Then Brix goes all Chipmunky on the seductively near-unlistenable "Bonkers In Phoenix." The crude electronica effects will make you worry that your speakers have been blown.

But what really sold me on this album is that there's a real live Ruben & The Jets cover -- "I'm Not Satisfied."

* G-Man by Sonny Rollins. I got inspired to download this one right after viewing the new DVD release of Robert Mugge's 1986 Sonny documentary Saxophone Colossus.

I enjoyed the film, especially for the live performance footage of an upstate New York concert. That's what is featured on this album.

Sonny plays here with Clifton Anderson on trombone , Mark Soskin on piano, bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Marvin Smith.

The 15-minute title song that opens the album is a thrill ride from start to finish. There also are jumping versions of "Don't Stop the Carnival," for which Sonny drew from Carribean music, and his classic "Tenor Madness," which has a punchy trombone solo by Anderson.


* The Sultanic Verses by Mark Sultan. Sultan puts the BBQ in the King Khan & BBQ Show. This Canadian also is a veteran of Les Sexareenos.

On this album, he's a one-man band (joined here and there by stray pals) playing primitive but extremely catchy tunes.

"Mortal Man" is a minimalist soul revue. "Two Left Feet" (not the Richard Thompson song) is a joyful stomp.

And "Unicorn Rainbow Odyssey," a slow, greasy midnight plea, probably is the only song with "Unicorn" in the title that I'll ever admit to liking.


* Magnetic Hands: Live in the U.K. '72 to '80 by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Bands. This has gotta be a bootleg! Like the title implies these tracjs are taken from shows spanning eight. The sound quality varies track to track. (And note, the album is credited to Beefheart & His Magic Bands. His sidemen apparently changed a lot in that eight year period.)

The early tracks are interesting and, at least for true Beefhearteans, worth having -- a downright ominous "Orange Claw Hammer" from 1975! -- the later, better recording-quality tracks are amazing. "Abba Zabba," "Safe as Milk" and "Kandy Korn" are among these. But the best is the live version of "Hothead," probably my favorite latter-day Captain songs.


* Thatcher's Children by Wild Billy Childish & The Musicians of The British Empire. The prolific Childish, who has been around for decades fronting bands like Headcoats, Thee Mighty Caesars, Thee Milkshakes, and others, establishing his rightful place as the high priest of garage music in the British Isles.

For more on this album, stay tuned for my next Terrell's Tuneup column. Watch this space. But in the meantime, do yourself a favor and at least download "He's Making a Tape," sung by the lovely Nurse Julie. Do guys in the 21st Century still make mix tapes to impress an intended conquest?

Plus:

* Seven tracks from Laboratory of Sound by The Fleshtones. I'd slowly been acquiring tracks from this 1995 album through the Pepsi Stuff/Amazon.com program. But that expired at the end of the year. (I was left holding four goddamn points, just one bottle cap away from one more download!)

This album was produced by Steve Albini, who at the time had gained notoriety for his work on major albums by Nirvana (In Utero) and P.J. Harvey (Rid of Me) -- not to mention his earlier work with The Pixies, The Breeders, TAD and his own groups like Big Black and Rapeman. Albini's famous for a raw guitar-heavy sound. And it works for The Fleshtones. I like this a zillion times better than their album Beautiful Light, which was produced by REM's Peter Buck the year before. In fact, maybe Albini was brought in as a back-to-basics antidote to Beautiful Light.

ANDRE!
* The six tracks from Holland Shuffle by Andre Williams & Green Hornet that I didn't get last month. Like I said then, this live album was released in 2003 by Norton Records. It's a good companion to the old R&B shouter's Can You Deal With It, released last year, which made my Top 10 list for 2008.

Friday, January 09, 2009

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, January, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell


101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
You Ought to See Pickles Now by Tommy Collins
Fools Like Me by Cornell Hurd
Oh These Troubled Times by The Corn Sisters
Louisville Burglar by The Hickory Nuts
Back on the Road by Ronnie Hawkins
Sex Crazy Baby by Hasil Adkins
La Delaysay by The Pine Leaf Boys
The Ballad of Paladin by Johnny West
Be Careful (If You Can't Be Good) by Ray Condo & His Ricochets
You Win Again by Jerry Lee Lewis
Kids Say The Darndest Things by Tammy Wynette

15 Rounds for Jesus by Sister Wynona Carr
Let's Fall in Love Again Tonight by Hundred Year Flood
Hard Times by Rosie Flores with Janis Martin
Willin' by Steve Earle
Two Wings by Alvin Youngblood Hart
Take a Trip by Rev. Utah Smith
The Ballad of the Alamo by Marty Robbins
Don't Go Near the Indians by Rex Allen
GOURDS LIVE Santa Fe July 2008
Country Love/Fossil Contender by The Gourds
3 Shades of Black by Hank Williams III
The Squid Jiggin' Ground by Peter Stamfel & The Bottle Caps
Cherry Wine by Charlie Feathers
Slow Rider by Johnny Cash
Rig or Cross by Splitlip Rayfield

Don't Let Your Deal Go Down by Chris Darrow
Cheater's World by Amy Allison
A Picture From Life's Other Side by Hank Williams
Little Trona Girl by Ry Cooder with Julie Commagere
Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends by Joan Osbourne
In Tall Buildings by John Hartford
Going Where the Lonely Go by Merle Haggard
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

Thursday, January 08, 2009

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRICKY DICK

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
January 9, 2009


Wouldn't it have been fun if Elvis really did go undercover and bust The Beatles?
Back in 1996, when Oliver Stone’s Nixon had just been released, I wrote a “Tune-Up” column listing my favorite Nixon songs. Now, with the recent release of the movie Frost/Nixon (which hasn’t made its way to Santa Fe yet), here we go again.

That’s right folks, as I observed 13 years ago, Nixon never will get his face on Mount Rushmore, but during his time in office, he sure made an impression in rock — and other kinds of music.
So in honor of Nixon’s birthday on Friday, Jan. 9 — and in the spirit of recycling — here’s a revised list of my favorite Nixon tunes of all time.

In 1996, it was a Top 10 list. But since then I’ve discovered a couple of others that deserve to be here. So, without further adieu ...

The Tricky Dick dozen

* “Nixon’s Dead Ass” by Russell Means. Former American Indian Movement leader — and former New Mexico resident — Means wrote this shortly after Nixon’s death in 1994. Co-produced by biker-rock monster Simon Stokes, it’s a slow-stomping boogie that expresses frustration all the flowery things said on TV about the 37th president in the funeral coverage. “The crook’s resurrection is nearly complete/Behind the Orange Curtain they worship the geek/It’s making me mad, it’s making me sick/Did the world forget Tricky Dick/What could be going through these people’s heads?/ Everybody loves him now that he’s dead.”

* “Watergate Blues” by Howlin’ Wolf. From Howlin’ Wolf’s last studio album, The Back Door Wolf (1973), this tune is a celebration of Frank Wills, a security guard at the Watergate complex who noticed a of piece of duct tape that was keeping a door unlocked, which led to the discovery of the burglary in progress. “Don’t do us wrong, if you do, don’t make no mistake/Or we’ll blow the whistle on you/Just like we did at Watergate.”

* “Superbird (Tricky Dick)” by Country Joe & The Fish. In its original form, the song was about LBJ. But after Nixon’s rise, Joe McDonald added a verse in which he urged the new prez to “Go back to Orange County and take off your pants.”

* “Last Train to Nuremberg” by Pete Seeger. Seeger lists Nixon among a large group of Vietnam war criminals in the first verse (along with “both houses of Congress” and “the voters me and you”). In the last verse, the singer blasts King Richard for watching a football game and ignoring an enormous anti-war demonstration in Washington, D.C.

* “Ohio” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Neil Young lays the deaths of four students at Kent State University squarely at Nixon’s feet. Amazingly, when The Isley Brothers covered this song, they took the president out of the song, making it “Tin soldiers with guns, they’re coming.” Even though they don’t give Nixon the credit he deserves, I still like The Isleys’ version the best.
We're all water ...
* “We’re All Water” by Yoko Ono and John Lennon. “There may not be much difference between Chairman Mao and President Nixon/If you strip them naked.” That’s a happy thought.

* “Watergate Blues” by Tom T. Hall. Even though the Grand Ole Opry was one ofuld go without getting jeered at and spat on during his final days, not all country singers were true believers. Hall souped up the old ballad “White House Blues” (which was about the assassination of President McKinley). After a quick comic retelling of the 1972 election, Hall gets serious. He saw Watergate as a harbinger of totalitarianism. “Somehow my mind goes back to Betsy Ross/Nobody knows what this country has lost.”

* “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Here’s a simple-minded rebuttal to Howlin’ Wolf and Tom T. Hall. “Watergate does not bother me/Does your conscience bother you?” Play that dead band’s song, as Warren Zevon would say. Of course, by the time this became a hit, Nixon was out of office.

* “Are the Good Times Really Over ” by Merle Haggard. The Okie from Muskogee was once touted as a spokesman for Nixon’s silent majority. But by 1981, in this song lamenting all kinds of decay and dishonor, Hag longs for a time “back before Nixon lied to us all on TV.”

* “One Tin Soldier” by The Dick Nixons. It seems only natural that a true weirdo like our 37th president should become an ironic punk-rock icon. After taking the man’s name in vain, these jokers hilariously mix up the stories of Watergate and Billy Jack as well as the tale told in the Coven’s original version from the late ’60s of this inane wimp-rock finger-wagger. “Go ahead and hate Dick Nixon, go ahead and cheat a friend. ... On the bloody morning after, Richard Nixon rides away.” This song appeared on the Star Power compilation, Pravda Records’ send-up of the old K-Tel compilations advertised on late-night TV during the ’70s. But The Dick Nixons also released an entire album in 1992, Paint the White House Black, that’s full of Nixon songs — and was produced by none other than Memphis giant Jim Dickinson.

* “You Ain’t Gonna Have Ol’ Buck to Kick Around No More” by Buck Owens. Ol’ Buck parodies one of Tricky Dick’s most famous pre-presidency lies.

* “Bad Moon Rising” by Credence Clearwater Revival. Critic Dave Marsh Fogerty wrote this in response to Nixon’s 1968 election.

What the heck, let’s make it a baker’s dozen:

* “Nixon in ’96” by Doodoo Wah. The political humor is dated, to say the least, but this funny California folk duo, consisting of journalist Ron DeLacy and his pal Dave Cavanagh, summed up the politicians of the day (there’s a great line about Bill Clinton’s Vietnam days: “Instead of eatin’ artillery/He was cheatin’ on Hillary”). The singers decide, by default, that Nixon should return. Too bad he was dead.

Sunday, January 04, 2009

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, January 4, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

BEST OF 2008 SPECIAL

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Poison by Hundred Year Flood
The Lucky Ones by Mudhoney
I Don't Mind by Los Peyotes
More News From Nowhere by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Stoned and Alone by Hank Williams III

(People Who Died Set)
Lonesome Cowboy Burt by Frank Zappa with Jimmy Carl Black
I Wanna Dance With You by Nathaniel Mayer
Bernadette by The Four Tops
I'm Bad by Bo Diddley

Too Sweet to Die by The Waco Brothers
Chevy Headed West by Jim Stringer
First Date (Are You Coming On To Me?) by The Fleshtones
Little Liza Jane by Otis Taylor with Guy Davis
Going Home by Brian Wilson
Xiu Xiu in Santa Fe
TOP 10
I Do What I Want When I Want/Under Pressure by Xiu Xiu
Can You Deal with It/ Hear Ya Dance by Andre Williams
Pretty Girl by Miss Leslie
Overtown by Charlie Picket
Borneo by Firewater

Seeing Hands/Mr. Orange by Dengue Fever
Black Uncle Remus/Saw Your Name in the Paper by Loudon Wainwright III
The Warlord by Mike Edison & Rocket Train Delta Science ArkestraKING KHAN & THE SHRINES
Took My Baby to Dinner/No Regrets by King Khan & The Shrines
They Have Us Surrounded by The Dirtbombs
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

Friday, January 02, 2009

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, January 2,2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell


101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Rainy Day Woman by Waylon Jennings
It Wouldn't Be Hell Without You by Cornell Hurd
Blink of an Eye by The Waco Brothers
Me and My Friends by Hank Williams III
I'm Done With Leaving by Miss Leslie
Oklahoma Hills by Tommy Hancock with Connie Hancock
Sun Don't Shine by Jason Ringenberg with Paul Burch
Penny Instead by Charlie Pickett
One More Time by Charlie Feathers

Rockin' in the Congo by Hank Thompson
Shake a Leg by Kim Lenz & The Jaguars
Me and My Glass Jaw by Arty Hill & The Long Gone Daddies
Here's the River by Jim Stringer
Heart of Darkness by Splitlip Rayfield
Tiger Tiger by The Sadies with Kelly Hogan
Living With the Animals by Mother Earth
The Gits by Richmond Fontaine
It Ain't Me by Ray Campi

Amie by Pure Prarie League
Sara & Jane by Hundred Year Flood
Dolores by T. Tex Edwards & Out on Parole
It's Tight Like That by Sharon Jones
Ran So Hard the Sun Went Down by Otis Taylor
Long Black Veil by Shane MacGowan with Lancaster County Prison
Tamale Baby by Joe "King" Carasco y Las Coronas
The Marriage Song by The Stumbleweeds

I Just Want to Meet the Man by Robbie Fulks
Orphan Train by Julie Miller
Take Good Care of Yourself by Chris Darrow
Mama You Been on My Mind by Johnny Cash
New Paint by Loudon Wainwright III
I'm Not Ready Yet by George Jones
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

Thursday, January 01, 2009

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: BEST of 2008

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
January 2, 2009


What does it say about a year in music in which two of my top 10 CDs are retrospectives and one of them is a reworking of old songs?

What can you do? I calls ‘em as I sees ‘em. Here’s my favorite albums of 2008.
Top 10 albums of the year

* We Have You Surrounded by The Dirtbombs. Apocalyptic paranoia reigns here. On nearly every song, singer/guitarist Mick Collins seems to be looking over his shoulder and not liking what he sees. Civilization is decaying, burning. The future’s so dim Collins can barely wear his shades. The end is near, and everyone’s out to wreck his flow.
THE DIRTBOMBS

The Dirtbombs are one of the many Detroit bands of the 1990s that didn’t become famous when The White Stripes rose. (But don’t call his group a “garage band,” or Collins will twist your head off and eat your children.) With a lineup that includes two bassists and two drummers, Collins pays vocal tribute to the soul greats of his hometown’s past.


* The Supreme Genius of King Khan & The Shrines. This is a full-fledged psychedelic soul band, complete with horn section led by a Canadian guitar picker of East Indian heritage who lives in Germany. You’ll hear punk and garage rock influences in Khan’s grooves, even a flicker of speed metal. But make no mistake, this album — the band’s first proper U.S. release, consisting of material released on previous European albums — has soul!


* I Have Fun Everywhere I Go by Mike Edison & Rocket Train Delta Science Arkestra. Here’s a journalist after my own heart, a writer, editor, and/or publisher for a rich array of publications — Screw magazine, High Times, and Wrestling’s Main Event. This album is a hilarious companion piece to Edison’s autobiography, also published last year. It’s a spoken-word record, with Edison reading from the book over hard-driving psychedelic/techno/blues backdrops produced by Jon Spencer.

* Recovery by Loudon Wainwright III. Wainwright looks back at his oldest material here with the help of producer Joe Henry. Most of these tunes are like old friends to me — including the song “Old Friend.” Nearly all of the tunes have held up extremely well over the past four decades. Wainwright infuses them only with a tangible wistfulness but also with an earned wisdom.
Dengue Fever!
* Venus on Earth by Dengue Fever. Dengue Fever isn’t just a fun band with a unique sound, retro and innovative at the same time. Nope. this The Southern California pyschedelic/garage/lounge/worldbeat group fronted by Cambodia-born singer Chhom Nimol, represents a sweet, symbolic triumph of freedom over totalitarianism; of rock ’n’ roll over the killing fields; of sex, joy, fast cars, and loud guitars over the forces of gloom and repression. Dengue’s music revives the upbeat, urgent, sometimes shamelessly cheesy brand of rock that flourished in Cambodia before the evil Khmer Rouge wiped it out in the late ‘70s.

* The Golden Hour by Firewater. Recorded in India, Pakistan, Turkey, and Israel, this record, the latest project of former Cop Shoot Cop frontman Tod A, has an international rock sound influenced by the music of those nations as well as Balkan music and even some Latin and Caribbean styles. The album has the feel of a political exile’s diary, angry, melancholic, and above all, rockin’.

* Bar Band Americanus by Charlie Pickett And. Why would anyone be interested in an obscure Florida bar band, a group that rose in the early ’80s and then sputtered to a stop well before the end of the decade, leaving behind no real hits? Why would anyone care about a beer-drenched band led by a singer who called it quits, left showbiz for law school, and never looked back? Because they sound so dang good. Pickett played a high-charged brand of roots rock that’s basically timeless and fresh.

* Between the Whiskey and the Wine by Miss Leslie. Hands down, the best country album of the year — unadulterated hard-core, heartache honky-tonk music. Don’t look for irony. Don’t look for hipster detachment. Leslie Anne Sloan’s clear, intense voice just stops you in your tracks. There’s nothing sugary, flirty, or kittenish about her voice as she sings songs apparently in inspired by her recent divorce.

* Can You Deal With It by Andre Williams & The New Orleans Hellhounds. This R&B codger apparently is indestructible. He’s in his early 70s and has survived drug problems, homelessness, poverty, and obscurity. But he keeps cranking out hot and nasty albums. With the funky punky Hellhounds, Williams gives dirty old men a good name.

* Women as Lovers by Xiu Xiu. This San Francisco band, which played at the College of Santa Fe in early 2008, creates some of the craziest but most enticing music I’ve heard in a long time. Singer Jamie Stewart has one of those morose, sobbing, 4 a.m.-suicide voices that sometimes get on my nerves, but Xiu Xiu’s New Year’s Eve-in-the-nuthouse sound, with the vibes clinking, drums crashing, horns blaring, and synths screeching sometimes sounds as if you’re on an amusement park boat ride drifting into a forbidden area of It’s a Small World.

Honorable Mention
* Take a Good Look by The Fleshtones
* The Lucky Ones by Mudhoney
* Damn Right Rebel Proud by Hank Willaims III
* Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
* Recapturing the Banjo by Otis Taylor (and friends)
* Triskaidekaphilia by Jim Stringer and the AM Band
* That Lucky Old Sun by Brian Wilson
* Introducing Los Peyotes
* Poison by Hundred Year Flood
* Waco Express: Live and Kickin’ at Schuba’s Tavern, Chicago by The Waco Brothers


* Agree? Disagree? Post your comments here. Don't be shy. I'm your friend, I'm not like the others.

* Hear songs from these albums Sunday night on Terrell’s Soundworld. I’ll do a cheesy Casey Kasem-style countdown beginning after the 11th
hour and intersperse the honorable mentions beginning around 10 p.m. That’s on KSFR, Santa Fe Public Radio.

FIRST PODCAST OF THE YEAR: AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAZE

NAKED GIRLS
Here's some World Beat not for World-Beat Weenies. I've collected some bitchen tunes from all over the globe in my first podcast of 2009. This is the kind of stuff I play when I substitute for Susan Ohori on her Beyond Borders (which airs 9- p.m. to midnight Mondays on KSFR

CLICK HERE to download the podcast. (To save it, right click on the link and select "Save Target As.")

CLICK HERE to subscribe to my podcasts (there will be more in the future) and HERE to subscribe on iTunes.

Y

Here's the playlist:

(Background Music) Babalou Music by Desi Arnaz (Cuba/USA)
I Want a Break Thru by The Hykers (Nigeria)
Not a Crime by Gogol Bordello (USA/Ukraine)
Haisai Ojisan (Hey Man!) By Shoukichi Kina (Japan)
Uptown Bollywood Nights by Kalyanji & Anandji Shah (India)
Jeffe de Jeffes by Los Tigres del Norte (Mexico)

(Background Music) Halovani by Cankisou (Czech Republic)
Paper Flowers by Zvuki Mu (USSR)
New Year's Eve by Dengue Fever (USA/Cambodia)
Hasabé by Mesfin Ayalèw (Ethiopia)
Marriana by Kult (Poland)

(Background Music) God Save the Queen by Opium Jukebox (England)
Al Capone by Los Savajes (Spain)
Into the Go-Go Groove by Little Gerhard (Sweden)
Please Tell Me by The Free Beats (Papua New Guinea)

(Background Music) Siki Siki Baba by Kocani Orkestar (Romania)
Shame Shame Shame by The Nightlosers (Romania)
Whiskey Headed Woman Number 3 by Istanbul Blues Kumpanyasi (Turkey)
Nang Meaw Pee (The Ghost Of Catwoman) by Surapon alias The Fox (Thailand)
(Background Music) I Bid You Goodnight by Joseph Spence (The Bahamas)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

As promised, here is the link to my new political blog, ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: THE BLOG.

It's up and online now, so check it out and bookmark the dang thing.

In case you think I'm totally pathetic and sitting at my computer blogging on New Year's Eve, this and the post on the political blog both were written hours in advance and were posted at 12:01 by the magic of advanced scheduling.

If all goes according to plan I'll be rocking out with The Gluey Brothers at Santa Fe Brewing Company as this appears on the Internet. (The photo below was taken last summer at the Gluey show.)

So HAPPY NEW YEAR, bloglubbers!

VIVA LOS HERMANOS GLUEY!

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

  Sunday, March 17, 2024 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM, 101.1 FM  Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Te...