Sunday, February 5, 2012

B.W.'s PLAYLIST/ KHSU, 90.5/ SAT., 4 FEB. 2012


The extremely talented singer/songwriter, who is based in Brooklyn (i.e. couch surfing), made a breakthrough with her previous 2010 release, epic. Now, after two years of constant touring, Van Etten has amassed an impressive collection of songs for new release, Tramp, released by Jagjaguwar. Here she is slowly moving beyond her tribulations over love & heartache, but most importantly, she has stepped up her overall songwriting and craft. The second half of this record, in particular, just soars.
BOY WONDER'S HOT CIRCLES/ 10PM-MIDNIGHT

Love-A-Rama/ LEON BASS & THE KEYSTONES (’56, ’11 collection, The Oxford American Southern Music CD #13)

Teenage Rock/ RONNIE JONES & THE CLASSMATES (’57, ’99 collection, The End Story)

Leave My Kitten Alone/ LITTLE WILLIE JOHN (’59)

Rock Billy Boogie/ JOHNNY BURNETTE (’57)

Brand New Cadillac/ VINCE TAYLOR & HIS PLAYBOYS (’59)

Woo Hoo/ ROCK-A-TEENS (’59)

Rave On/ BUDDY HOLLY (’58)

Come On, Let’s Go/ RITCHIE VALENS (’58)

No Other Girl/ THE BLASTERS (’81, ’10 reissue, self titled)

Shakin’ Shakin’ Shakes/ LOS LOBOS (’87, By The Light of the Moon)

Jubilee Train/ DAVE ALVIN (’87, Every Night About This Time)

Hot House/ X (’86, More Fun in the New World)


Automatic/ THE RED DEVILS (’92, King King) [American] [4:00]

Bad News/ JC BROOKS & THE UPTOWN SOUND (’11, Want More)* [3:30]

Step It Up/ THE BAMBOOS (feat. ALICE RUSSELL) (’10 collection, Tru Thoughts Funk)

What a Good Man He Is/ TAMMI TERRELL (’68)

Baby Let Me Teach You/ ZENA FOSTER (’65) [Veep]

She’s About a Mover/ SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET (’65)

Monkey Mess/ THEE VICARS (’10, Psychotic Beat)

At Night/ THE GREENHORNES (’05, East Grand Blues)


Fire Engine/ THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS (’66)

Dizzy Miss Lizzy (live)/ THE PLIMSOULS (’81, self titled)

Nitroglycerin/ THE GORIES (’90, I Know You Fine, But How You Doin’)

I Was a Teenage Werewolf/ THE CRAMPS (’80, Songs the Lord Taught Us)

Waiting Room/ HOLLY GOLIGHTLY (’96, 7” single)

Farmer John/ THE PREMIERS (’64)

No Love/ THE PLUGZ (’81, Better Luck)

Whacha Doin’ in the Woods/ HELLCATS (‘90, Hoodoo Train)


Everyday/ THE CUTTERS (’01, Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!)

The Kids Were Wrong/ MEMORYHOUSE (’12, The Slideshow Effect)*

Red Desert/ THE PERNICE BROTHERS (’05, Discover a Lovelier You)

Ask/ SHARON VAN ETTEN (’12, Tramp)*

Old Mythologies/ THE BARR BROTHERS (’11, self titled)*


Egypt - Rise to Freedom (Basha Beats & Natacha Atlas)/ NATACHA ATLAS ('11, Mounqualiba - Rising: The Remixes)


*new or recent release


Tuesday, January 31, 2012

GUS MOZART'S MB/ BW SUBBAGE/ KHSU, 90.5/ MON., 30 JAN. 2012


The great bard, singer-songwriter, Leonard Cohen will be releasing a new studio album, Old Ideas, since 2004. It should smolder with lingering smoke. “My voice is getting lower and lower because I gave up smoking,” Leonard Cohen recently told Jon Pareles of The New York Times. “I expected it to rise but it’s gone the other way. I would like to take up smoking again when I’m 80. I may be on the road then, and it’s one of the things that invites me to tour again — smoking on the road.”
GUS MOZART'S MUSIC BOX/ 10PM-MIDNIGHT

Mmmhmm/ VIJAY IYER TRIO (’12, Accelerando)*

Woodland Creatures/ JUSTIN WALTER (’12, Stars)*

Ali Farka Touche/ JENNY SCHEINMAN (’12, Mischief & Mayhem)*

Lulla/ TINARIWEN (’09, Imidiwan: Companions)

Deacon’s Son/ THE BARR BROTHERS (’11, self titled)*


O Que Se Quer/ MARISA MONTE (’12, O Que VocĂȘ Quer Saber De Verdade)*

Hollow Bones/ ZOE BOEKBINDER (’11, Darling Specimens)*

Safe Travels (Don’t Die)/ LISA HANNIGAN (’11, Passenger)

Everything/ MEGAFAUN (’11, self titled)

All I Can/ SHARON VAN ETTEN (’12, Tramp)*

Free Money/ PATTI SMITH (’75, Horses)

You Can’t Put Your Arm Around a Memory/ JOHNNY THUNDERS (’78, So Alone)


Just to Walk That Little Home/ MINK DEVILLE (’80, Le Chat Bleu)

Si Tu Disais/ FRANCOIZ BREUT (’00, Vingt a Trente Mille Jours)

Si Tu Disais/ CALEXICO (’04, Convict Pool EP)

Tell It to Me/ TOM WAITS (’06, Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards)

Michigan Girls/ CALIFONE (’03, Quicksand/Cradlesnakes)

Like a Rose/ LUCINDA WILLIAMS (’88, self titled)

Man of Sorrow/ SHARON SHANNON (w/ JACKSON BROWNE) (’00, The Diamond Mountain Sessions)

Bow Down/ THE GO-BETWEENS (live at KCRW, ’99 collection, Bellavista Terrace: The Best of the Go-Betweens)


Rain on the City/ FREEDY JOHNSTON (’09, Rain on the City)

One Sunday Morning (Song For Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend)/ WILCO (’11, The Whole Love)

How Many Worlds/ MARIANNE FAITHFULL (’08, Easy Come Easy Go)


Sisters of Mercy/ LEONARD COHEN ('68, Songs of Leonard Cohen)


*new or recently released

Sunday, January 29, 2012

B.W.'s PLAYLIST/ KHSU, 90.5/ SAT., 28 JAN. 2012


OK, it takes the band Imperial Teen five years to make an album. The last three albums have been released in 5 year stints, including their new release, Feel the Sound. Not a massive departure for this pop group, but it's still hook-filled and sugar sweet.
BOY WONDER'S HOT CIRCLES/ 10PM-MIDNIGHT

It’s Bad You Know/ R.L. BURNSIDE (’98, Come On In)

Everything Will Be Fine/ JC BROOKS & THE UPTOWN SOUND (’11, Want More)*

Down Down Down/ TOM WAITS (’83, Swordfishtrombones)

Date to Church/ THE REPLACEMENTS (’97, All For Nothing)

Blind Man’s Bluff/ SNAKEHIPS (’04, Monster Bars)

Make It Black/ THE BOTSWANAS (’01, Fade and You’re Gone)

Dig My Own Hole/ LINDA HECK (’09, Shangri-La: 10 Years) [Shangi-La Records]

Reptile Style/ REIGNING SOUND (’02, Time Bomb High School)


Leave My Kitten Alone/ THE DETROIT COBRAS ( ’07, Tied & True)

Rip Her to Shreds/ THE COME ONS (’01, How Many Bands Does It Take to Screw Up A Blondie Tribute?)

Within Your Reach/ THE REPLACEMENTS (’83, Hootenany)

Just Like Honey/ JESUS AND MARY CHAIN (’85, Psychocandy)

Chinatown/ LUNA (’95, Penthouse)

You’re Welcome/ THE UNDERTONES (’81, Positive Touch)

Hanging About/ IMPERIAL TEEN (’12, Feel the Sound)*

Blue Diamonds/ LONG WINTERS (’03, When I Pretend to Fall)


Oh Pity/ CASHIER NO. 9 (’11, To the Death of Fun)*

Pas la Peine (Oh No Not Again)/ NOUS NON PLUS (’11, Freudian Slip)*

Pas Adieu/ FABIENNE DELSOL (’10, On My Mind)

My Mistakes/ ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER (’11, Last Summer)

The Wicked & The Blind/ THE DO (’11, Both Ways Open Jaws)*

Magic Chords/ SHARON VAN ETTEN (’12, Tramp)*

When I First Came to Town/ NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS (’92, Henry’s Dream)

In the End/ CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG (’09, IRM)


Oh Belle/ THE BARR BROTHERS (’11, self titled)*

Forgiven/ SKALLANDER (’07, self titled)

Cursed Sleep/ BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY (’06, The Letting Go)


Tonight Will Be Fine/ TEDDY THOMPSON ('06, Leonard Cohen: I'll Be Your Man, ST)


*new or recent release

Sunday, January 22, 2012

B.W.'s PLAYLIST/ KHSU, 90.5/ SAT., 21 JAN. 2012


The blazing voice of Etta James is unmistakable - filled with power and emotion. “A lot of people think the blues is depressing,” she told The Los Angeles Times in 1992, “but that’s not the blues I’m singing. When I’m singing blues, I’m singing life. People that can’t stand to listen to the blues, they’ve got to be phonies.” The legendary R&B singer died just 5 days before her 74th birthday. R.I.P. Ms. Peaches. Along with the passing of Johnny Otis, James marks a second huge loss to the music universe this week.
BOY WONDER'S HOT CIRCLES/ 10PM-MIDNIGHT

Seven Day Fool/ ETTA JAMES ('61)

Do I Make Myself Clear/ ETTA JAMES & SUGAR PIE DeSANTO (’65)

Hound Dog/ BIG MAMA THORNTON (’52)

Keep on Loving Me Baby/ OTIS RUSH & HIS ORCHESTRA (’58)

I Bet You [The Parliaments]/ DENNIS COFFEY w/ MICK COLLINS & RACHEL NAGY (’11, self titled)

Big in Japan/ TOM WAITS (’99, Mule Variations)

Gangsta/ TUNE-YARDS (’11, whokill)

The Story of Hip Hop/ THE BOOKS (’10, The Way Out)


I Did Crimes For You/ DEERHOOF (’10, Deerhoof vs. Evil)

Transformer/ MARNIE STERN (’08, This is It & I Am It…)

Short Version/ WILD FLAG (’11, self titled)

She’s a Mindbender/ THE BOTSWANAS (’01, Fade and Your Gone)

Make It in America/ THE BEARDS (’02, Funtown)

Your Phone’s Off the Hook, But You’re Not/ X (’80, Los Angeles)

He Gets Me High/ DUM DUM GIRLS (’11, He Gets Me High EP)

Swing Set/ THE CUTTERS (’01, Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!)

Tell That Girl to Shut Up [Holly & The Italians]/ TINA & THE TOTAL BABES (’01, She’s So Tuff)


I Am A Cutter/ JOHNNY RENDER (’12, Rendervoux)*

14 Cheerleader Coldfront/ GUIDED BY VOICES (’92, Propeller)

Arrows and Balloons/ ROBERT POLLARD (’11 collection, The Kids Will Eat It Up)

Come On Baby Grace/ BOSTON SPACESHIPS (’11, Let It Beard)

The Right/ LOU BARLOW (’09, Goodnight Unknown)

The Lighthouse Will Lead You Out/ CASHIER NO. 9 (’11, To The Death of Fun)*

Hanging About/ IMPERIAL TEEN (’12, Feel the Sound)*

Tensile/ THE CLEAN (’09, Mister Pop)

S.F. Sorrow (Is Born) [The Pretty Things]/ S.F. SEALS (’95, Truth Walks in Sleepy Shadows)


Serpents/ SHARON VAN ETTEN (’12, Tramp)*

In a Magazine/ MARISSA NADLER (’11, self titled)

Everything/ MEGAFAUN (’11, self titled)*

Forgiven/ SKALLANDER (’07, self titled)

Kitty Train/ LISA GERMANO (’09, Magic Neighbor)


Central Park West/ JOHN COLTRANE ('64, Coltrane's Sound)


*new or recent release

Sunday, January 15, 2012

B.W.'s PLAYLIST/ KHSU, 90.5/ SAT., 14 JAN. 2012


Michelle Williams, whose stellar performances in Wendy and Lucy, Blue Valentine and Meek's Cutoff, among others, returns with a complex portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in the pseudo-biopic, My Week With Marilyn, based on a non-fictional memoir, during Monroe's filming of the 1957 film, The Prince and the Showgirl. Again, Williams enters her character with intricate depth (and she sings in the film!).
BOY WONDER'S HOT CIRCLES/ 10 PM-MIDNIGHT

When Love Goes Wrong/ MICHELLE WILLIAMS (’11, My Week With Marilyn ST)

Lil Marlene/ LALE ANDERSON (’39, ’93, The Singing Detective ST)

My Baby Cried All Night Long/ LEE HAZELWOOD (’66, ’02 collection, These Boots Are Made For Walkin’)

Little Girl [The Crystals]/ MINK DEVILLE (’77, Cabretta)

You and Me/ PENNY & THE QUARTERS ('70s, '10 issue, 7” single) [Numero Group]

If Your Love Is Your Friend/ JOHNNY COPELAND (’68, 7" single) [Atlantic]

Heart of Gold/ CHARLES BRADLEY (’11, 7” single) [Dunham]

Tit For Tat/ RUBY ANDREWS (’69, ’11 collection, Oxford American Southern Music)


Honey Child What Can I Do/ ISOBEL CAMPBELL AND MARK LANEGAN (’06, Ballad of the Broken Seas)

Skin Deep/ NICK LOWE (’79, Labour of Lust)

Dry the Rain/ THE BETA BAND (’97, Champion Versions EP)

Oh Pity/ CASHIER NO 9 (’11, To the Death of Fun)*

Howl/ JUNIP (’10, Fields)

Bigmouth Strikes Again/ THE SMITHS (’85, The Queen is Dead)

Panic/ KITTEN (’11 compilation, Please Please Please: A Tribute to The Smiths)*


Paradise Is Not So Bad/ LIFEGUARDS (’11 collection, The Kids Eat It Up: The Best of Robert Pollard 2010-2011)

This Boy is Exhausted/ THE WRENS (’03, The Meadowlands)

Son of Sam/ ELLIOT SMITH (’00, Figure 8)

In the Street/ (single version) BIG STAR (’72, ’08 collection, Thank You Friends: The Ardent Records Story)

Before Destruction/ SPOON (’10, Transference)

Cosmic Cars/ THE DIRTBOMBS (’11, Party Store)


Airbag/ RADIOHEAD (’98, Airbag/ How Am I Driving? EP)

Run in the Dust/ JOHNNY MARR/ 7 WORLDS COLLIDE (’09, The Sun Came Out)

Pas la Peine [(Oh No) Not Again]/ NOUS NON PLUS (’11, Freudian Slip)

The Wicked & The Blind/ THE DO (’11, Both Ways Open Jaws)*


You Are Not Alone/ MAVIS STAPLES (’10, You Are Not Alone)

Is It Because I’m Black/ SYL JOHNSON (’69, ’11 collection, Complete Anthology)


*new or recent release

Sunday, January 8, 2012

B.W.'s PLAYLIST/ KHSU, 90.5/ SAT., 7 JAN. 2012


SF Bay Area singer/songwriter Zoe Boekbinder, formerly one half a the duo Vermilion Lies (with her sister, Kim), recently released her second solo effort, Darling Specimens. Her record shouldn't be lost in the end-of-the-year lists, etc. (why does anyone release a new, all-originals record in the Winter Holiday Season?). It's a wonderful step up from her debut solo, Artichoke Perfume. Darling Specimens is still filled with quirky pop, folk, heavily influenced by musical theater and vaudeville. It ain't campy, however, and in some cases, subtle comparisons to fellow Bay Area artist resident, tUnE-yArDs, can also be heard.
BOY WONDER'S HOT CIRCLES/ 10PM-MIDNIGHT

Dead and Gone/ THE BLACK KEYS (’11, El Camino)*

Mystery Achievement/ THE PRETENDERS (’79, self titled)

Caught in One/ DUM DUM GIRLS (’11, Only in Dreams)

The Unsinkable Fats Domino/ GUIDED BY VOICES (’12, Let’s Go Eat the Factory)*

Come On Baby Grace/ BOSTON SPACESHIPS (’10, Our Cubehouse Still Rocks)

Wilco (The Song)/ WILCO (’10, live, Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA)

Art of Almost/ WILCO (’11, The Whole Love)


Suzanne & I/ ANNA CALVI (’11, self titled)

Riotriot/ TUNE-YARDS (’11, whokill)

Serpents/ SHARON VAN ETTEN (’12, Tramp)*

Serve the People/ HANDSOME FURS (’11, Sound Kapital)

This Here Giraffe/ THE FLAMING LIPS (’95, Clouds Taste Metallic)

Shade and Honey/ SPARKLEHORSE (’06, Dreamt For Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain)

What Difference Does It Make?/ JOY ZIPPER (’11 compilation, Please Please Please: A Tribute to The Smiths)*


Surf’s Up/ THE BEACH BOYS (’11 issue, The Smile Sessions)

Surfer’s Hymn/ PANDA BEAR (’11, Tomboy)

Summer Fun/ TAMMAR (’11, Visits)

Bloodbuzz, Ohio/ THE NATIONAL (’10, High Violet)

Knots/ LISA HANNIGAN (’11, Passenger)

Artichoke/ ZOE BOEKBINDER (’11, Darling Specimens)*

Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want/ WILLIAM FITZSIMMONS ('11 compilation, Please Please Please: A Tribute to The Smiths)*


Lord Help My Poor Soul/ FIONN REGAN (’10, Shadow of an Empire)

Picture of a Bird/ FRUIT BATS (’11, Tripper)

The End/ THE LOWER 48 (’11, Where All Maps End)*

Hear the Grinder Creak/ FAUN FABLES (‘10, Light of a Vaster Dark)

Raphael/ COCOROSIE (’07, The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn)

City Bird/ JESCA HOOP (’11, Snowglobe EP)


The Magic Place/ JULIANNA BARWICK ('11, The Magic Place)


*new or recent release

Sunday, January 1, 2012

B.W.'s PLAYLIST/ KHSU, 90.5/ SAT., 31 DEC. 2011


BOY WONDER'S BODACIOUS DANCE PARTY/ 10PM-MIDNIGHT

Holiday Cheer/ CHARLES “PACKY” AXTON (’66, ’11 collection, Late Late Party: 1965-67)

Willy Nilly/ RUFUS THOMAS (’65)

I’ve Got the Real Thing/ SYL JOHNSON (’68)

Minnie-Skirt Minne/ WILSON PICKETT (’68)

Watch the Dog That Bring Home the Bone/ SANDY GAYE (’69, ’08, Eccentric Soul: The Tragar & Note Labels)

He’s Really Saying Something/ THE VELVELETTES (’64)

I Said No/ PAT CLAYTON (‘50s, 7") [DRA]

In the Basement/ ETTA JAMES & SUGAR PIE DESANTO (’66)

Nobody But You Babe/ CLARENCE REID (’69)

Don’t Lie to Me/ “MISSISSIPPI” CHARLES BEVEL (’73)

Tennesse Strut/ THE GRIPS (’08, 7” single) [G.E.D. Soul]


Step It Up/ THE BAMBOOS (w/ ALICE RUSSELL) (’10 comp., Tru Thoughts Funk)

What a Good Man He Is/ TAMMI TERRELL (’69)

Money I$ King/ LEE FIELDS (’09, My World)

Pushin’ On/ THE QUANTIC SOUL ORCHESTRA w/ ALICE RUSSELL (’10 comp., Tru Thoughts Funk)

Return to Gijon/ THE NEW MASTERSOUNDS (’06, 102%)

Love is Like an Itching in My Heart/ THE SUPREMES (’66)

Nothing But a Heartache/ THE FLIRTATIONS (’68)

Nasty Girl/ VANITY 6 (’82, self titled)


Me No Pop I/ KID CREOLE & THE COCONUNTS (’80, 12”) [Antilles]

Me Myself and I (Oblapos Mode)/ DE LA SOUL (’89, 3 Feet High and Rising)

Jam of the Year/ PRINCE (’96, Emancipation)

Mentiras/ LOS AMIGOS INVISIBLES (’09, Commerical)

Juana/ BOMBA ESTEREO (’09, Blow Up)

Coulibaly/ AMADOU & MARIAM (’05, Dimanche a Bamako)

I’m Trying to Break Your Heart/ JC BROOKS & THE UPTOWN SOUND (’11, Want More)*

52 Girls/ THE B52’S (’79, self titled)

That’s Not My Name/ THE TING TINGS (’04, We Started Nothing)

Metal/ GARY NUMAN (’79, Pleasure Principle)

North American Scum/ LCD SOUNDSYSTEM (’07, Sound of Silver)



The Message/ GRANDMASTER FLASH & THE FURIOUS FIVE (FEAT. MELLE MEL) ('82, 12") [Sugar Hill]


*new or recent release