Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 ... 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., Part II ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

(Return to playlists.)

Continuation of part one, split up just to keep the pages shorter.

Format:
ARTIST -- "TRACK TITLE" -- ALBUM TITLE (LABEL, YEAR)
Horizontal lines denote microphone breaks.

? Ted Leo and the Pharmacists -- "Paranoia (Never Enough)" -- Rapid Response EP (Touch and Go, 2008)

Delivered with the immediacy of the Web, this EP was recorded by Ted Leo & Rx in response to the arrests at the St. Paul Republican National Convention three weeks ago. It's a benefit for Amy Goodman's Democracy Now and for Minneapolis Food Not Bombs, and Touch and Go is generously hosting it here.

On that page, you'll find a nice essay by Leo about the origins of the EP. "For a very brief moment, it seemed like people were actually telling the truth," he starts, but the optimism fades as media attention turns from the arrests to the Palin nomination.

"Paranoia" is appropriately amped-up but still catchy and even danceable, in a pop-punk way. "Mourning in America," a song targeted for the next Pharmacists album, is a darker track that, at least in part, is about the fact that American politics is all about picking TV personalities rather than real leaders. (I can't help but think the ideal president would turn out to be a slate-gray administator with a talent for diplomacy, more accountant than "pit bull.") A couple of punk covers round out the package.

Straightforward classic rock, a snappy and catchy protest tune, with lines about a man who claimed he was flying before he had landed. From Snider's POV, it ain't flying if you crash.

See here.

The Kirby Grips -- "All the Time" -- Rotations (Sympathy for the Record Industry, 2002)

OMG, the Kirby Grips got back together! There's even more evidence here. This is huge, and calls for a theme set.

There are so many other tracks I could have played. "Beautiful Stupid Angel," "Restraining Order," "Fireman," "Life Science" (for the serious side), "Space Age Polymer," "S'Nugget." The three women in the band reflect three different musical personalities -- straight pop/folk, punk, or (see right below) vintage oldie crooning -- and the mixture they produce is irresistable. If you think you're an indie pop fan and you've never heard this band, you've got some work to do.

(Previous Kirby Grips mention here, all too brief.)

From Michelle Cassel of the Kirby Grips, a rock band that shows off her vocal talents and widespread musical tastes. Cassel seems to be a fan of oldies -- '50s torch singers, roaring '20s hops, old country/western crooners. She's got a big and velvety voice that dials the clock back to those vintage days, and it's awesome that she's found a venue for showing off that talent. It's another band that I'm hoping sticks around for a good long time.

* We Versus the Shark -- "I Am a Caffeinated Corpse" -- Dirty Versions (Hello Sir, 2008)

Complex rock, with more emphasis on the rock. They're loud and vicious, but there's enough prog influence in there to make this a pretty cool listen that tickles the brain.

* Pulga -- "Still It Rides Me" [excerpt] -- Pulga Loves You (Fire Museum, 2007)

Previously noted here.

* Sub Swara -- "Yeah (Ina Dravidian Bombstep)" -- Coup d'Yah (Low Motion, 2008)

Dub/reggae amalgam with rap thrown on top, cosmopolitan party music for the '00s. This is the kind of stuff Sadie O. favors, and while it's not always my cup of tea, it's great that our library has a good selection of it to dip into.

Dave Holland Quintet -- "Blues for C.M." -- The Razor's Edge (ECM, 1987)

Dipping into a productive period for Holland, when he recorded with a variety of veteran players, especially Steve Coleman on sax.

Lush rolling songs with long instrumentals, decorated with flute and violin dancing over the dreamy guitarscapes. This music reminds me so much of the TV specials of my childhood -- not the corny Rankin-Bass Christmas shows, but The Point, or the times I got to stay up late to see half of Yellow Submarine. It's fluttery innocence and sleepy-eyed late summer laziness, with promises of fantastical worlds over the next hill. There's some similarity to Citay, noted here; while 4 Bonjours isn't as expertly executed, I find myself drawn to the sound more. I love that this track is nine minutes with a long instrumental cooldown.

Squarepusher -- "Menelec" -- Ultravisitor (Warp, 2003)

African pop and/or Mississippi blues grooving, from a Miss. band that includes a couple of West African musicians living in the state. The overall sound is more African than Mississippi, I guess, but it's still a nice combination.

The "classical" zone is about to begin. By way of introduction, 27 minutes of some great, great jazz....

* William Parker -- "Neptune's Mirror" -- Double Sunrise over Neptune (AUM Fidelity, 2008)

All 27 glorious minutes of it. Previously noted here.

* The Giants of Gender -- "Monogram" -- The Giants of Gender (Edgetone, 2008)

Interesting near-classical trio, except I suspect the music is improvised. No matter. They produce a nice chamber-music feel with some experimental touches.

Previously noted here.

Juilliard String Quartet -- "Quintet for Piano and Strings, Opus 57" -- Shostakovich: String Quartets (Sony Classical, 2006)

A new acquisition. Here's some inside baseball: I was preparing to play the String Quartet No. 14, which I expected to be dark and fatalistic, as most of Shostakovich's late output was. (The Viola Sonata, his last work, closes with a bleak landscape that goes on and on, as if Shostakovich felt the hopelessness of a lifetime piling onto his shoulders.) But that CD was missing; what we did have was the second of this two-CD set, with the 15th Quartet (too long) and this piece, from 1940.

Being written when it was, there's a safe and classical feel to the quintet. But it's got its darker moments, and the expected leaps and bounds for the players to show off their athleticism. Thumbs up -- but there was a modernistic touch missing. Specifically, works like Shostakovich's 10th String Quartet have melody lines that almost side like honest-to-goodness artsy rock. I've got the causality reversed, but coming from the pop direction as I have, it's a trait that draws me to Shostakovich directly, more so than the "B"-named giants of the old old days.

The penultimate movement has one of those classical endings, where the song ends about nine times before finally stopping. It sounds very much like Shostakovich was trying to mess with his audience; I got a chuckle out of it, anyway.

* Robert Ashley -- "Ideas about Thinking" -- Concrete (Lovely, 2008)

A monologue-like snippet from one of Ashley's modern operas, which use synthesized strings in place of an orchestra. I didn't have time to check the libretto; this passage had something to do with a woman who turns out to have a natural knack for golf. No less random than the lowriders and TV talk show storyline of Ashley's Now Eleanor's Idea.

* = Item in KZSU rotation
? = Item not in KZSU library

-- Go back to Memory Select playlists.
-- Bay Area free/improv music calendar: http://www.bayimproviser.com.