Michael Leviton - "Summer's The Worst"

A mermaid found a swimming lad,
Picked him for her own,
Pressed her body to his body,
Laughed; and plunging down
Forgot in cruel happiness
That even lovers drown.

-by William Butler Yeats

epidode 51...chances with Ricky Powell

World renowned photographer, NYC historian, and all around good guy Ricky Powell came to hang out and play some records.

Check out Rickey Powell's Interview with George Kalinsky

Episode 51 sounded something like THIS:

gymnopedie - erik satie
without her - harry nilsson
st. james infirmary - cab calloway
wooden ships (demo) - david crosby
mr. pie eyes - drink up buttercup
coca cola commercial - the who
chewin gum- danny brown
bubblegummer - the teardrops
what's my name? - hot 8 brass band
peanut butter time - bill wyman
laid off - esquerita
cover girl - skip bafferty
please wake me up - tom waits
grand palace of love - nervous cabaret
dirty ol' town - the ian campbell folk group
helping hand - snooks eaglin
vietnam - abner jay
summer is the worst - micheal leviton
chances with wolves drop - javelin
goin to see my baby - fatback band
small time hustler - the dismasters
matrix - dizzy gillespe
adventures in space - sun ra
prisoner's song - warren storm
bacon fat - andre williams
breakout - powiedzielismy juz wszystko
flaca loco - loco brothers
frustration - san ui lim
fantasy - the originals
Talky Talk time with Ricky Powell
Ricky's set:
flirty gerty - hank mobley
that's the way of the world - earth wind and fire
what comes around - beastie boys
bang bang bang bang - john lee hooker
make it good to yourself - james brown

Ro Agents

From the good people at Dossier Journal:

We'll have info on how to get this strange, beautiful record asap...

"Ro Agents’ new album is frighteningly good. Listen to track five, “T.R.A.” Notice how it begins rather gloomily, a sort of co-opted field holler (“I say whoa, lil’ child/ Heaven is watching you”). This, you think, will be a somber affair. Then, midway through, without warning, the song lifts into pop balladry. Pay attention to the introduction of the slide guitar, the fulsome three-chord progression. The transition is sudden, joyful. More importantly, it’s convincing. When Ro’s mood changes, we believe it.

And this is good news. When dealing with the pains and exaltations of folk-western country, the worst thing a band can do is come off as inauthentic. Luckily, Ro nary sings a false note. Her voice, which floats midway between Joplin and Loretta Lynn, carries the band’s simple, easy lyrics. We’re told of lonely lovers, the hazards of “whiskey” and “pills”—classic material for the downtrodden country vixen, but here rendered with fresh remorse. Ro is concerned with the state of her soul, its order and flux, and if your life has been anything like hers, you’ll miss the sound of her voice when it’s not around.

Ro’s singing is accompanied by the instrumentation of Gary Langol, a musician of limitless ability. Seriously, limitless. Langol plays every instrument on the album with the alacrity of a seasoned composer. It’s one thing to master a single instrument, but quite another to master them all. This reviewer’s ear detected guitar, bass, banjo, harmonica, xylophone, and drums—and if one forgets about Langol for a moment, he imagines himself listening to an entire studio band. On “Yellow Roses,” one of the few purely instrumental tracks on the album, Langol’s sad guitarwork says as much as any pageful of lyrics.

The album hits its note early and holds it. We get sixteen tracks, most of them terse, all of them concerned with the same heartache and pain. A few particularly jeremiadic songs attain the high-polish lonesomeness of Roy Orbison’s sweet, grim stuff. Others remind you of Tammy Wynette, Irma Thomas, and Marianne Faithfull. Sometimes Ro can be playful, self-conscious (“I have no chorus, except just to say…”), but mostly she’s all guts. Her songs are bleak, even dark. Again, late in the album, when she growls “I’m ready to kill,” we believe her."

This entry was written by Jared Killeen, posted on May 12, 2009 at 7:51 pm, filed under Music and tagged Gary Langol, Ro Agents.

Episode # 50 !!!! with special guest Michael Leviton

where'd you find this button Tim Barber?

Big, round, episode # 50

You can stream the show HERE

Special Guest:

Michael Leviton came by the studio and played some songs and did a beautiful live performance as well. Two of 'em actually. Check out (www.michaelleviton.com , myspace.com/thenewjerktimes for more )








Episode #50:

lumpy gravy - the persuasions

7 hueres de matin - jaqueline taib

riki tiki tavi - donovan

trash talk - chain and the gang

i was a teenage werewolf - official motion picture trailer

ray malone softshoe - moodog

on the run - satch arnold

downhome special - bo diddley

the long goodbye - john williams

consequences of a drug addict role - shirley horn

the oriental beat goes on - david the red sea singer
ling ting tong - the five keys

hully gully all night long - the peridots

secret love - kathy kirby
boy wonder, i love you! - Burt Ward & the Mothers of Invention
herritage hum - james moody
there'll be a jubilee - sunset jubilee singers
african mailman - nina simone
live in studio performance, no moon at all - michael leviton
slalom - ennio morricone
eleanor rigby - b. b. seaton
jezebel - frankie lane
born to cry - dion
nightmare - artie shaw orchestra
the butcher's boy - buell kazee
voodoo voodoo - lavern baker
baby did you hear - dinah washington
sleepwalk (vocal) - ????
the sheik of araby - red nichols and his five pennies
summertime - santo and johnny
had a gal named sal - lightnin hopkins
fangela - here we go magic
Lovely Rita/Jolie Rita - Les Merseys
live studio performance - michael leviton
thein hat du - Co-Ba Thinh & Kam
inigo montoya - Doggie Hil Yippie
lucille - Clyde McPhatter & the Drifters
Tears - giorgio moroder
let's burst - black moth super rainbow
pissing in the river - patti smith

VIGON!!!

We played this back on episode 33.
Vigon is another forgotten treasure.

How hip is this?

Episode #49

Image courtesy Tim Barber

You can Stream This episode HERE

carnival bozo - carny (original motion picture soundtrack)
swine flu - p s a
the coo coo bird - clarence ashley
rowena - meic stevens
this time of year - the blast furnace
sweet songs - sarah webster fabio
true justice - the third stone
tommy McCook & strangler cole - last flight to reggae city
meant for you - beach boys
susan jane - eugene mcdaniels
sail away ladies - uncle bunt stephens
you ain't got faith til you got religion - Bill Landford and the Landfordaires
sgt. pepper's lonely hearts club band - thomas reimer
swine flu 2 - p s a
mc killa - cavalier
hogan's thing - simon haseley
peaceful sunset - jan hammer
on the couch - harry dean stanton
St. James Infirmary - perez prado / shorty rogers
These Boots Are Made For Walking - lee hazelwood
puppet on a string (1962 version) - gino washington
weep no more  - dale hawkins
ya ya cha cha - lonnie hewitt
searchin' - the coasters
you and i and george - david bowie
cold rain song - the vampires
Flight of Iblis - MacDonald & Giles
astro black(live) - sun ra
It's later than you think - ????
carol kaye - awwwweeee shit
piero piccioni
little green apples - monk higgins
4-D Man - movie trailer
kickin' the gong around - louis armstrong
tittiepop - need new body
ichiban - talib kweli
maggies farm - solomon burke
whirlpool - wanda jackson
grigio perla - gian franco pienzio
listening man - the bees
a day in the life - steve piccolo, gak sato, luca gemma
jambo - claude mclin
there is a balm giliad - archie shep