Rebel Music Dub Magnificent - Reggae Night

Part 4 of this series of reggae mixes explores the deep end of dub. Definitely headphone music.

The photo is Lee "Scratch" Perry from the early days.





Bob Marley - Rebel Music (Ambient Dub Mix)
Burning Spear - Black Wa-Da-Da
Prince Far I - The Right Way
Mad Professor - Beyond The Realms Of Dub
Suns of Arqa - Tabla Scool
Gorillaz Vs. Spacemonkeyz - Dub 09 (Starshine)
Easy Star All Stars - The Great Gig In The Sky
Augustus Pablo - East Of The River Nile
Linton Kwesi Johnson - Bitch Dub
Bill Laswell - Babylon Site
Jah Wobble - Lord Keep Me Dub (Version Number Three)
The Clash - One More Dub
Bad Brains - I & I Survive
Lee "Scratch" Perry - In These Times Dub
Scientist - Blacka Shade Of Dub
King Tubby - Dub Magnificent

Armagideon Time - Reggae Night

Armagideon Time. It's a cold January and the perfect time to put together another mix in my reggae series to get me thinking and feeling of warmer climes.

 The photo is Burning Spear back when it was a trio and not just the man.

1. Dr. Israel - Armagideon Time (Inna City Pressure, 1998)
2. Sizzla - Subterranean Homesick Blues (RAS Reggae Box Set, 2004)
3. Yellowman - Zunguzung (Zimguzunggauguzungguz, 1983)
4. Linton Kwesi Johnson - Want Fi Go Rave (Forces Of Victory, 1979)
5. Peter Broggs - Rastafari Chant Nyahbinghi (Rise & Shine, 1985)
6. Steel Pulse - Chant A Psalm (True Democracy, 1981)
7. Black Uhuru - Darkness / Dubness (Chill Out, 1982)
8. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Crazy Baldheads (Rastaman Vibration, 1976)
9. Augustus Pablo - Chant To King Selassie I (East Of The River Nile, 1977)
10. Burning Spear - Old Marcus Garvey (Marcus Garvey, 1976)
11. Bunny Wailer - Armageddon (Black Heart Man, 1976)
12. The Clash - Justice Tonight / Kick It Over (Black Market Clash, 1980)
13. Toots & The Maytals - Pressure Drop (Funky Kingston, 1975)
14. I Roy - War & Fiction (Hell and Sorrow, 1974)
15. Niney The Observer - Blood & Fire (Observation Station, 1990)
16. The Congos - Neckodeemus (Trojan Upsetter Box 1975-1980, 2002)

When The Lights Went Dim - Late Night

First new mix of the new year. A collection of music from the last decade that just came together in one sitting. A spontaneous mix that felt more like the old days when I worked playing records in the sound booth of bars on that 10pm to 4am shift. Of course the only band here on my playlist back then was XTC.



1.   The Rosebuds - When The Lights Went Dim (Night of the Furies, 2007)
2.   Cloud Cult - Please Remain Calm (The Meaning of 8, 2007)
3.   Jets Overhead - This Way (Bridges, 2006)
4.   Lewis Taylor - Yeah (The Lost Album, 2005)
5.   Black Dub - Last Time (Black Dub, 2010)
6.   Houses - Soak It Up (All Night, 2010)
7.   Field Music - In Context (Tones of Town, 2007)
8.   XTC - I'd Like That (Apple Venus Pt. 1, 1999)
9.   Blur - Coffee & TV (13, 1999)
10. Wilco - Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway (Again) (Summerteeth, 1999)
11. Yo La Tengo - Season Of The Shark (Summer Sun, 2003)
12. Radiohead - I Might Be Wrong (Amnesiac, 2001)
13. The Strokes - Hard To Explain (Is This It, 2001)
14. Arcade Fire - Keep The Car Running (Neon Bible, 2007)
15. Metric - Help I'm Alive (Fantasies, 2009)
16. Suckers - Beach Queen (Suckers, 2009)
17. Broken Bells - Vaporize (Broken Bells, 2010)
18. Luke Haines - How Could I Be Wrong (Das Capital, 2003)

Some favorite albums of 2012

Here they are... 60 of my favorite albums for 2012. I followed this with another 60 albums from the year in alphabetical order.

Doing these lists are always an exercise in frustration because it is a moving target. I am very subjective about this and this compiled list would look different on any given day. I know there is a lot more great music either on the bottom of this list or in my collection but not listed at all because I haven't listened to them enough. So much wonderful music takes time and repeated listens to reveal greatness. There is also a lot of music I saw on various end of the year lists that I've acquired recently that will be in high rotation over the coming months and years.

Albums that are compilations, anthologies and reissues are in another list.

So here is the list which really starts out with a nice mellow groove until DIIV and then especially the craziness of Goat.

• Father John Misty - Fear Fun
• Sharon Van Etten - Tramp
• First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar
• Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker and Yim Yames - New Multitudes
• DIIV - Oshin
• Beachwood Sparks - The Tarnished Gold
• Goat - World Music
• Kathleen Edwards - Voyageur
• Field Report - Field Report
• Here We Go Magic - A Different Ship
• Cat Power - Sun
• Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
• Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls
• Exitmusic - Passage
• Calexico - Algiers
• Grizzly Bear - Shields
• Tame Impala - Lonerism
• Beach House - Bloom
• Richard Hawley - Standing At The Sky's Edge
• The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Aufheben
• Bob Dylan - Temptest
• Alejandro Escovedo - Big Station
• Grimes - Visions
• Shovel & Rope - O' Be Joyful
• Islands - A Sleep and A Forgetting
• Lower Dens - Nootropics
• Plants and Aninals - The End Of That
• The Stray Birds - The Stray Birds
• The Swans - Seer
• Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellen
• Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball
• Animal Collective - Centipede Hz
• Dr. John - Locked Down
• Neil Young - Psychedelic Pill
• Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Mature Themes
• Marissa Nadler - The Sister
• David Byrne & St. Vincent - Love This Giant
• Pinback - Information Retrieved
• Black Prairie - A Tear In The Eye Is A Wound In The Heart
• Carolina Chocolate Drops - Leaving Eden
• Gary Clark Jr. - Black and Blu
• Shawn Colvin - All Fall Down
• Bobby Womack - The Bravest Man In The Universe
• Dwight Yoakim - 3 Pears
• Bat For Lashes - The Haunted Man
• Mount Eerie - Clear Moon
• Bro. Stephen - Baptist Girls
• Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas
• Jack White - Blunderbuss
• Divine Fits - A Thing Called Divine Fits
• Giant Sand - Tucson
• Paul Weller - Sonik Kicks
• Laura Gibson - La Grande
• Damien Jurado - Maraqopo
• The Lumineers - The Lumineers
• Bob Mould - Silver Age
• Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...
• The Shins - Port of Morrow
• Todd Snider - Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables
• Various Artists - The Hunger Games: Songs From District 12 and Beyond
• 2:54 - 2:54
• Allah Las - Allah Las
• Joseph Arthur - Redemption City
• The Avett Brothers - The Carpenter
• Band of Horses - Mirage Rock
• Ryan Bingham - Tomorrowland
• Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself
• Paul Brill - Breezy
• Sera Cahoone - Deer Creek Canyon
• Callers - Reviver
• Cloud Nothings - Attack On Memory
• Ry Cooder - Election Special
• Crocodiles - Endless Flowers
• Daphni - Jiaolong
• The dBs - Falling Off The Sky
• Iris Dement - Sing The Delta
• Dinosaur Jr. - I Bet On Sky
• The Dreaming Spires - Brothers in Brooklyn
• Justin Townes Earle - Nothings Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now
• Evening Hymns - Spectral Dusk
• Godspeed You Black Emperor - Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
• Grand Duchy - Let The People Speak
• Great Lake Swimmers - New Wild Everywhere
• Heartless Bastards - Arrow
• The Helio Sequence - Negotiations
• John Hiatt - Mystic Pinball
• Kelly Hogan - I Like To Keep Myself In Pain
• Hundred Waters - Hundred Waters
• Jamey Johnson - Livin' For A Song
• Lambchop - Mr. M
• Mark Lanegan - Blues Funeral
• Bettye Levette - Thankful n' Thoughtful
• Cate Le Bon - Cyrk
• Lotus Plaza - Spooky Action At A Distance
• Jeff Lynne - Longwave
• Maps & Atlases - Beware and Be Grateful
• Rhett Miller - The Dreamer
• Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale - Buddy & Jim
• Mmoss - Only Children
• Oberhofer - Time Capsules II
• Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
• Opossum - Electric Hawaii
• Peaking Lights - Lucifer
• Chuck Prophet - Temple Beautiful
• Joe Pug - The Great Depiser
• Screaming Females - Ugly
• Sea Wolf - Old World Romance
• Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Here
• Shearwater - Animal Joy
• Sigur Ros - Valtari
• Chris Smither - Hundred Dollar Valentine
• Spirtualized - Sweet Heart Sweet Light
• Angus Stone - Broken Brights
• Sun Kil Moon - Among The Leaves
• Tindersticks - The Something Rain
• M. Ward - A Wasteland Companion
• Wild Nothing - Nocturne
• Winterpills - All My Lovely Goners
• Wood - Bend Beyond
• Neil Young - Americana

Juliet of the Spirits

While watching Juliet of the Spirits last night I was taken back to some of my early dates with Becky when we would go to Fellini double features at the TLA Cinema on South Street in Philly during the mid 70s. Back in those pre-cable/videos/DVD days checking out classic films was a carefully scheduled event or an at a whim trip downtown to see whatever was playing.

It was nice watching that film again after so many years.

I looked up Fellini directed films on IMDb and saw that I had seen nine of his movies.

Readings 2012 - Nonfiction

I read nine nonfiction books this year which is a little unusual because I try to read one a month. The biography of James Brown was fantastic and I enjoyed the Paul Auster memoir. 

Besides the James Brown bio there were a couple more books about music... The Beatles and Bob Dylan. The weird one was Killing Yourself To Live which was a cross country tour of places were rock stars have died. Of course there were some history books on the list.

• The One: The Life and Music of James Brown - R.J. Smith, 2012
• Winter Journal - Paul Auster, 2012
• In The Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin - Erik Larson, 2011
• The Quest: Energy, Security and the Remaking of the Modern World - Daniel Yergin, 2011
• Revolver: How The Beatles Reimagined Rock 'n' Roll - Robert Rodriguez, 2012
• Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror and Deliverance in the City of Love - David Talbot, 2012
• A Fabulous Kingdom: The Exploration of the Artic - Charles Officer, 2001
• Still On The Road: The Songs of Bob Dylan, 1974-2006 - Clinton Heylin, 2010
• Killing Yourself To Live: 85% of a True Story - Chuck Klosterman, 2005

Readings 2012 - Fiction

Here are the novels I enjoyed reading during the past year.

Well, the John Banville novel was probably my favorite literary book for the year but there were lots of really good novels that I've read from some of my favorite authors such as Neal Stephenson, Philip Kerr, and Umberto Eco. I liked the Roberto Balano novel.

However, this was also the year of a couple of young adult series of novels. I read the seven books of the Harry Potter series and the three books of the Hunger Games series. Last year during the Christmas break I watched all of the Harry Potter movies so in the spring of this year I decided to read all of the books. They were highly entertaining. I also read a few creepy horror novels.

I read a little Hemmingway too.

• The Sea - James Bansville, 2005
• 2666 - Roberto Bolano, 2004
• Prague Fatale - Philip Kerr, 2011
• Reamde - Neil Stephenson, 2011
• The Prague Cemetery - Umberto Eco, 2010
• Netherland - Joseph O'Neill, 2008
• Fortress of Solitude - Jonathan Lethem, 2003
• The Ghosts of Belfast - Stuart Neville, 2009
• The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer - Neil Stephenson, 1995
• The Twelve - Justin Cronin, 2012
• American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny 1040 Until Now - Peter Straub, 2009
• I Am Legend and Other Stories - Richard Matheson, 1954
• The Night Train - Clyde Edgarton, 2011
• The Fall - Guillermo del Toro, 2010
• The Night Eternal - Guillermo del Toro, 2011
• The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemmingway, 1926
• The Caretaker of Lorne Field - Dave Zeltzerman, 2010
• Collusion - Stuart Neville, 2010
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling, 1997
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling, 1998
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling, 1999
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling, 2000
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling, 2003
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling, 2005
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows - J.K. Rowling, 2007
• The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins, 2008
• Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins, 2009
• Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins, 2010

It was a Harry Potter year.

During the Christmas break last year I watched all the Harry Potter movies one after another. It took just under two weeks. It was very fascinating to watch the characters/actors grow up as the series progressed. My kids were old enough to be not interested in Harry Potter when the first book appeared so we never had any of the books in our house. We never experienced the waiting for the next book to be published or the subsequent hoopla over the movies.

So last Christmas I decided to watch the movies and I enjoyed them very much. Then in the spring I stared reading the books one by one. After each book I would get the movie from the library and watch it a second time.  The first couple of movies followed the books very closely but as the books got more complicated the movies started leaving out significant details. I finished the last book in June. Now I feel like I can pick up on all the popular culture references to the Harry Potter World that I've missed over the years. So, yes, 2012 was a Harry Potter year for me.

I don't usually read much Young Adult Fiction anymore since the kids have grown up but I did also read another series in 2012 and that was the three books in the Hunger Games series. They were very popular on campus and I had the opportunity to pick up the first one for a very quick read over a weekend. The second one followed a week later in May but the third one was still in high demand. I finally got to read it in June. I thought they were all good but not great. I think I gave them all a 3 star review on Goodreads. They were a quick entertaining read especially for someone like me who enjoys science fiction and post-apocalyptic page turners.

I thought the movie of the first Hunger Games novel was very good and probably liked it better than the book. The soundtrack album was excellent and made it on to my end of the year list of favorite albums for 2012.

There She Goes Again - Happy Hour

My last mix of the year. A quickie throw together of mostly powerpop covers with crunchy guitars made while watching football with the sound off. I added this to my Happy Hour series of mixes because, well, it would sound great hearing these songs while hanging out with friends during happy hour. 

The mix starts off with one of the best pop songs ever. The La's also recorded two earlier versions of the song that didn't chart before the third version became a hit on their debut album. There was a controversy about the song because some people interpreted the lyrics to contain references to using heroin. Band members denied the accusation and you can tell by this Boo Radleys version that this song is about the joys of loving that girl.

Nick Lowe's Cruel To Be Kind is another stone classic pop song. I saw him perform the song again recently at a solo acoustic performance at Asbury Hall in Buffalo. Marshall Crenshaw is a great interpreter of classic pop songs as well as a great songwriter and he creates a nice version of this classic.

What ever happened to The Knack? They had that one great song My Sharona back in 1979 and really nothing after that although they tried a few comebacks. This cover of the great Badfinger song came off of one of their late 90s reunion albums. Lead singer and leader Doug Fieger died in 2010 so there won't be anymore new material from The Knack. However, a live album was released in 2012 that documents their club shows in 1978 before they became overnight sensations in 1979 and has-beens by 1981.

The Smithereens do a kick ass version of the T. Rex classic The Slider and The Dickies do likewise to The Left Banke's Pretty Ballerina. Redd Kross really roughs up that ABBA gem and Bill Lloyd does a nice job on the Bobby Fuller song that Marshall Crenshaw also covered in the 80s. Bill Lloyd has made some wonderful power pop albums during the 90s after the breakup of Foster & Lloyd.

Next up is a couple of covers of The Troggs. First with Alex Chilton formerly of The Box Tops and Big Star followed by The Ramones. Two great cover versions. Shoes does a nice cover of Buddy Holly's Word of Love and I really like those harmonies. Jeremy was a power pop musician in the 90s who went on to do Christian rock and here he does a fine cover of a Neil Diamond song that was a hit for The Monkees. Material Issue makes another power pop gem out of an old 60s hit from The Grass Roots.   Wonderboy was a power pop group from the 90s that made a couple of decent albums and he they cover one of the 60s hits of The Foundations.

A lot of bands have covered Sonny & Cher's I Got You Babe but The Cynics do a very cool punk/pop version with those crunching guitars followed by a couple of bands with recent cover albums that include Hotrats doing The Velvet Underground and Nada Surf covering Depeche Mode. Both albums by these bands have some interesting selections of cover songs and are definitely worth a listen. Matthew Sweet, who has made many classic power pop albums, has teamed up with former Bangles singer Susanna Hoffs to create a couple of very entertaining albums of cover songs. The first covered songs from the 60s and the second covered the 70s.  The song here is The Raspberries great hit from their debut album in 1972.

The next set of songs wouldn't be considered power pop but rather take some songs from the 60s and make something different with them in quirky ways starting with Yo La Tengo's take on The Beach Boys' classic Little Honda followed by The Cure doing The Doors and then The Grip Weeds doing The Move's LSD inspired riffing romp I Can Hear The Grass Grow. So it wasn't much of a stretch to follow that up with The Beatles' Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds by the very beatlesque Mercury Rev and then The Pretenders doing Jimi Hendrix.

Little Black Egg was a very quirky song that was recorded in 1965 by The Nightcrawlers but only slightly dented the charts in 1967. I always loved this song and was happy to hear it turn up again on an album by the alt-country dream pop band Tarnation in 1997.

Back to power pop with 20/20 from the 80s doing a Badfinger song and then with The Bongos masterfully covering T. Rex from their debut album Drums Along The Hudson from 1982. A great way to close out the mix. 

1.   The Boo Radleys - There She Goes (So I Married An Axe Murderer Soundtrack, 1993)
2.   Marshall Crenshaw  - Cruel To Be Kind (Labour Of Love: The Music of Nick Lowe, 2001)
3.   The Knack - No Matter What (Re-Zoom, 1998)
4.   The Smithereens - The Slider (Resurrection of the Warlock: A Tribute To Marc Bolan & T. Rex, 1995)
5.   The Dickies - Pretty Ballerina (Idjit Savant, 1995)
6.   Redd Kross - Dancing Queen (Secret Life, 1997)
7.   Bill Lloyd - Let Her Dance (All In One Place, 2001)
8.   Alex Chilton - With A Girl Like You (19 Years: A Collection of Alex Chilton, 1991)
9.   The Ramones - I Can't Control Myself (Acid Eaters, 1993)
10. Shoes - Words of Love (Every Day Is A Holly Day, 1989)
11. Jeremy - A Little Bit Me A Little Bit You (A Little Bit Me A Little Bit You: An Indie Tribute To Neil Diamond, 2005)
12. Material Issue - I'd Wait A Million Years (Yellow Pills Vol. 4, 1997)
13. Wonderboy - Build Me Up Buttercup (Abbey Road To Ruin, 1996)
14. The Cynics - I Got You Babe (I Got You Babe, 1992)
15. Hotrats - I Can't Stand It (Turn Ons, 2010)
16. Nada Surf - Enjoy The Silence (If I Had A Hi-Fi, 2010)
17. Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs - Go All The Way (Under The Covers Vol. 2, 2009)
18. Yo La Tengo - Little Honda (Little Honda, 1998)
19. The Cure - Hello I Love You (Join The Dots: B-Sides & Rarities 1978-2001, 2004)
20. The Grip Weeds - I Can Hear The Grass Grow (The Sound Is In You, 2003)
21. Mercury Rev - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (The Essential Mercury Rev: Stillness Breathes 1991-2006, 2006)
22. Pretenders - Bold As Love (Pirate Radio, 2006)
23. Tarnation - Little Black Egg (Mirador, 1997)
24. 20/20 - Day After Day (Come And Get It: A Tribute To Badfinger, 1997)
25. The Bongos - Mambo Sun (Drums Along The Hudson, 1982)

More Songs From Favorite Albums of 2012

Shovels & Rope - "O" Be Joyful, 2012
"O" Be Joyful




Alt-J - An Awesome Wave, 2012
Tessellate




Father John Misty - Fear Fun, 2012
Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings




First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar, 2012
Emmylou



Alabama Shakes - Girls and Boys, 2012
Hold On