Program #670

Health care reform was passed while this program was coming together, so we heard relevant tunes from the Kinks and Marble Tea to start off. (As a self-employed person who buys his own health coverage, I'll be curious to see how these changes will affect me, i.e., will my costs go up or down.) The Marble Tea is an ongoing project of Knight Berman, Jr., and at times his singing recalls Lou Reed's, so the Velvet Underground track that followed worked on at least a couple of levels. Next was a quartet of songs from bands that at various times show a clear VU influence, and brought us to a Big Star tune that came to mind after I read and heard the many tributes to Alex Chilton in the days after his untimely death.

The Big Star show that was scheduled for last Saturday at SXSW did in fact take place, with a whole slew of special guests joining the three remaining band members for what turned into a memorial for Chilton. Among those present was M. Ward, and the lush, dreamy title track to his last disc kicked off this section and seemed to flow nicely into one with a similar feel from the Real Tuesday Weld. Much of Holly Miranda's new disc has a gauzy feel as well, and the synth horns on the track we heard evoked Bunny Wailer doing it up dub-wise on a version of his own track. That in turn led to Bebel Gilberto with a mid-tempo tune followed by Paul Simon and a favorite from his last disc segueing quite naturally into Vampire Weekend to finish up.

Broken Social Scene will release a new disc in early May; a track from it has been made available for downloading, and that's what started this set down a path full of tunes with varying rhythms. Highlights include Brian Eno from his final "conventional sounding" album of the '70s (featuring Phil Collins on drums, when that was still his primary role in Genesis) into one with an upbeat, bouncy feel from Charlotte Gainsbourg's recent disc, and then towards the end we heard the Belgian band Sukilove with a track featuring some winding guitar followed by Eric Lichter offering an atmospheric tune from his only solo disc into Badly Drawn Boy with a suitably titled song from his first album, considering it is the final song in that set (not to mention this one).

The Unthanks is a band led by two sisters, Rachel and Becky Unthanks, and they create a sound that's based in the evocative sounds of British folk music from the Northeast of England, where they are from. Their music has a certain severe appeal that at times recalls Fairport Convention, so we heard Groove Armada with a track built around a sample of Sandy Denny's voice from an old Fairport song. The haunting quality of that one was echoed in the Brasstronaut and John Cale tunes that followed, and then it was on to a heartbroken Findlay Brown fading into the second Beatles track created back in the mid-'90s from an old John Lennon demo tape. Finally, one from the brand new She & Him disc that can best be described as a lovely lullaby sent this show off to dreamland.

Here's the complete playlist.

NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA . . . . . Route 66 Theme (opening theme) . . . . . Route 66 and Other Great TV Themes/More Hit TV Themes
THE KINKS . . . . . National Health . . . . . Low Budget
THE MARBLE TEA . . . . . My Analyst Told Me . . . . . A Blizzard/A True Storm
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND . . . . . I’m Beginning To See The Light . . . . . The Velvet Underground & Nico
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS . . . . . Albert Goes West . . . . . Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
WIN WIN WINTER . . . . . We Came From Stereos . . . . . A Brief History Of
LUNA . . . . . Friendly Advice . . . . . Luna Live
MARAH . . . . . Angels Of Destruction . . . . . Angels of Destruction
BIG STAR . . . . . Thank You Friends . . . . . 3rd

M. WARD . . . . . Hold Time . . . . . Hold Time
THE REAL TUESDAY WELD . . . . . Blood Sugar Love . . . . . The London Book of the Dead
HOLLY MIRANDA . . . . . Joints . . . . . Magician's Private Library
BUNNY WAILER . . . . . Worly Gorly Dubby . . . . . Dubd'sco Volumes 1 & 2
BEBEL GILBERTO . . . . . Ela (On My Way) . . . . . All in One
PAUL SIMON . . . . . Another Galaxy . . . . . Surprise
VAMPIRE WEEKEND . . . . . Diplomat’s Sun . . . . . Contra

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE . . . . . World Sick . . . . . Forgiveness Rock Record
THE HELIO SEQUENCE . . . . . Back To This . . . . . Keep Your Eyes Ahead
BRIAN ENO . . . . . No One Receiving . . . . . Before and After Science: Ten Pictures
CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG . . . . . Greenwich Mean Time . . . . . Irm
SHEA SEGER . . . . . Walk On Rainbows . . . . . May Street Project
SUKILOVE . . . . . As Long As I Survive Tonight . . . . . Sukilove
ERIC LICHTER . . . . . Wildly Polite . . . . . Palm Wine Sunday Blue
BADLY DRAWN BOY . . . . . Epitaph . . . . . The Hour of Bewilderbeast

THE UNTHANKS . . . . . Nobody Knew She Was There . . . . . Here's the Tender Coming
GROOVE ARMADA . . . . . Remember . . . . . Lovebox
BRASSTRONAUT . . . . . Hearts Trompet . . . . . Mt. Chimaera
JOHN CALE . . . . . Gravel Drive . . . . . Black Acetate
FINDLAY BROWN . . . . . I Had A Dream . . . . . Love Will Find You
THE BEATLES . . . . . Real Love . . . . . Anthology 2
SHE & HIM . . . . . If You Can’t Sleep . . . . . Volume Two