What I'm Listening To - Spring 2006

Here we go; The third CD in my seasonal record club is fresh off the presses and ready to move. I've got 25 songs served up and set for your aural absorption.

Liner Notes:

1) The Apers - Almost Summer
from the 2005 compilation "AMP Vol. 4 - Pop Punk"
Straight forward pop punk; sweet enough to give you cavities. The title sez it all - The perfect song to kick off the comp.

2) Bad Astronaut - Jessica's Suicide
from the 2001 split LP "War of the Worlds - Bad Astronaut -vs- Armchair Martian"
Bad Astronaut covers a great Armchair Martian song. For my money, this is one of the best cross-cover albums out there.

3) Bad Religion - Don't Pray On Me
from the 1993 album "Recipe For Hate"
This album's first pressing was on Epitaph, all following pressings were on Atlantic. When this album came out in '93, It rarely left my tape-deck. This track is one of my favorites.

4) Johnny Cash - Devil's Right Hand
from the 2003 collection "Unearthed"
The Man in Black and Smokey Hormel (on guitar) take on this Steve Earl cover. Raw and unfiltered - This is Cash at his finest.

5) Nick Cave - Jack the Ripper (Acoustic)
from the 2005 collection "B-Sides & Rarities"
The theme song of my life (listen to this track, then you'll get it).

6) Chixdiggit! - J Crew
from the 2005 album "Pink Razors"
Makes me laugh every time. More pop for the spring.

7) Blag Dahlia - This Jihad
from the 2005 compilation "Greedy Boot 1" - No link available (out of print)
Leave it to Blag Dahlia (singer of The Dwarves) to do an acoustic love song about a female suicide bomber. This track comes from the ultra-limited Greedy CDR comp that came out last year.

8) Danzig - I'm the One
from the 1990 album "Danzig II - Lucifuge"
Poor Danzig, everybody keeps sending me the video of him getting his clock cleaned in a backstage brawl (if you haven't seen it yet, check it out - high-larious).
All that watchin' him getting pummelled made me break out some of his solo shit out of pity. I'm glad I did, I forgot how much I liked Lucifuge... Mmmmmm, Lucifudge.

9) Dean Gray - Whatshername (Susanna Hoffs)
from the 2005 project "American Edit"
My favorite track off of an incredible mash-up project from last year. "Edit" is a remixing of Green Day's "American Idiot" LP.
This track mashes GD's "Whatshername" with the Bangles over a dance beat. I've been wanting to throw this in a mix since the Winter comp, but just figured out how to transfer MP3 tracks to the normal CD format.

10) Dinosaur Jr - Raisans
from the 1987 album "You're Living All Over Me"
Yes, that's the way the track is spelled.
I was ready to throw a Folk Implosion track on this mix, but then went to the Dino Jr reunion show. It was a no-brainer.

11) Stoney Edwards - She's My Rock
from the 1998 compilation "From Where I Stand - The Black Experience in Country Music"
I'd always meant to pick this box set up. By the time I was ready, it had gone out of print. I finally tracked down a used copy at a reasonable price. I'm really glad I got a hold of this. I'm amazed at the quality of songs in this comp - every one is a gem.
I picked this track because like Stoney's lady, The Girl is my rock (insofar as she doesn't move or do anything).

12) Groovie Ghoulies - A Message to Pretty
from the 1994 Album "Born in the Basement"
Here's the first in a series (of at least 3) of versions of M2P. Thank EdP for that idea.
This Love cover is from The Groovie Ghoulies' first album.

13) The Holograms - Are You Ready for It
from the 2005 release "Night of 1000 Ex-Boyfriends"
I could try, but I think that Interpunk did the best job of summing up this one:
A brand new album from all-female Los Angeles chronic boyfriend stealers-and dumpers-THE HOLOGRAMS. An overdose of pilled-up pop and toxic teenbeat, rocked with sass, big hooks, huge riffs, cute but kinky vocals, and an unhealthy obsession with getting wrecked on school nights. Produced by BLAG DAHLIA and BRADLEY COOK (Foo Fighters, Distillers, Ataris) for a sound not unlike Josie And The Pussycats getting gang-banged by The Misfits.

14) J Church - Reaching for Thoreau
from the 2000 album "One Mississippi"
"One Mississippi" is J Church's "Pet Sounds". These guys have been around for decades, and this is by far their most ambitious release to date.
Right after I moved to DC, this is one of the only albums I had with me out here. It was all that I needed.

15) The Lillingtons - X-Ray Specs
from the 1999 release "Death By Television"
Comic-book rock for all the geeks out there, from one of the best albums of the 90's.

16) Modest Mouse - Bukowski
from the 2004 album "Good News For People Who Love Bad News "
You gotta love any song about Bukowski. Thanks to The Girl for loaning me this CD for the mix.

17) M.O.T.O. - I Can't Wait'll It's Over
from the 2005 LP "Raw Power"
MOTO will be playing in DC on April 24th - I'll see you there.
If you live in Northern Illinois, just go into any bar with a stage - If you wait long enough, MOTO will eventually play there.

18) Naked Raygun - Entrapment
from the 1989 album "Understand"
A great cut from one of my top 10 albums of all time. I've probably listened to "Understand" 300+ times through, and it's still just as fresh as it was 17 years ago.

19) Nerf Herder - Bridge Under Troubled Water
from the 2001 EP "My E.P."
Parry Gripp and the boys rock out the quintessential "bad boyfriend" ballad.
It'd be a lot funnier if I couldn't relate.

20) The Raveonettes - My Boyfriend's Back
from the 2005 album "Pretty In Black"
Who doesn't love their boyfriend's back? I know that I do.
An excellent reworking of The Angels' classic teen angst anthem.

21) Riverdales - Out of My Heart
from the 2003 release "Phase Three"
Back in 1996 Ben Weasel, Danny Vapid, and Dan Panic (from Screeching Weasel) set out to do something that hadn't been done since 1979 - Make a good Ramones album.
It was the ultimate in fuck-you fandom, but it worked brilliantly. If they can keep it up for a few more albums, they'll actually surpass the Ramones in good releases.
This is a killer track off their third album.

22) The Slackers - Old Dog
from the 2003 album "Close My Eyes"
This song reminds me of a great friend from DeKalb, IL that I really miss out here in DC; along with the long, crazy, drunken nights out in the cornfield wasteland.
I'm speaking, of course, about Randy Gardner.

23) The Stooges - Search and Destroy
from the 1973 album "Raw Power"
This is the song that I keep feeding into the Big Hunt jukebox - endlessly.
I figured that I'd get out of my system on this mix, so that I can move on to bullying the jukebox with "Shake Appeal" (from same album).

24) Turbonegro - If You See Kaye (Tell Her I L-O-V-E Her)
from the 2005 release "Party Animals"
I'm still not sure what to make of this album. My problem is that it's produced by Steve McDonald (Redd Kross). I've always liked Redd Kross, but every album that Steve produces ends up sounding JUST FUCKING LIKE Redd Kross. I want a new Turbonegro album, not another Redd Kross sound-alike.
This album could grow on me though; I hated "Scandinavian Leather" when it first came out, but now it's easily my favorite TN release. This is a pretty good track from the new one, let me know what you think.

25) The Weakerthans - Plea From a Cat named Virtute
from the 2003 album "Reconstruction Site"
I've been been meaning to throw a Weakerthans track on a comp for a while, but they never seemed to fit in - until now.
This one's about a cat - It goes out to Goblin, Gavin, Orin, Vespa, Leroy, Bruiser, Vyvvian, Scout, Whiskey, and all of their feline brethren.
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You know the drill; If I have your address just let me know that want one. If I don't have your address, shoot me an e-mail to my Gmail account with your full mailing address or drop it off in the handy-dandy comment field below.

Hell, you can't lose. I can't think of anywhere else where you can get 80 minutes of free music (that isn't the Floating fucking Basement).
Hop to it. I'm only doing 50 of theses bad boys, and first come - first served.