The Submarines are a Los Angeles-based indie pop duo, whose latest album is entitled "Honeysuckle Weeks." The group's two members, John Dragonetti and Blake Hazard, were romantically linked -- then romantically unlinked -- before forming the ensemble. They came back together while sharing a studio and hearing the breakup songs each was writing about the other.
This special episode of the podcast is hosted by departing MaxFun staffer Chris Bowman.
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Podcast: The Hold Steady's Craig Finn and Tad Kubler
The Hold Steady are a Minneapolis-bred, Brooklyn-based rock band. Their grand visions of love, teenage life, and fringe characters offer a Midwestern take on a genre pioneered by Bruce Springsteen. They call themselves a bar band.
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The Explorers Club are a South Carolina-based rock band. Their music suggests the easy country-pop of the 1970s, the melodramatic pop of Phil Spector and especially the music of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. They just released their first LP, "Freedom Wind."
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Podcast: Live in New York with Michael Showalter, Dawn Landes and Pangea 3000
Last month, The Sound of Young America taped our third live program in New York, as part of Sketchfest NYC. In a few days we'll post interviews with Ze Frank and Jay Smooth, but first I'd like to present the performance portions of the program. You can find the normal audio links below, but we've also got video of the show, so it seemed crazy not to share that here.
First up was Pangea 3000. This New York sketch group performed a sketch that I am not allowed by law to play on the radio, no matter how badly I want to.
Pangea 3000 - "Spelling Bee"
Next up was Michael Showalter. You may know Michael from The State, from Stella, or perhaps as Coop in Wet Hot American Summer. He's also a standup, and released his first standup CD, Cats & Sandwiches, last year. He told a story about trying to adopt a cat, shared some very silly poetry, and closed with some info about frogs. You can download the portion of his set that we didn't podcast from this direct link.
Michael Showalter
Our musical performance came from singer-songwriter Dawn Landes. Dawn was suggested to me by Brooklyn Vegan, and as soon as I heard her sing, I knew she was the perfect choice.
Dawn Landes
All our videos for this show were shot by Benjamin Ahr Harrison, a New-York based videographer. You can find him online at badcharacter.com. Thanks, Ben!
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Obviously, boat shoe band Vampire Weekend hired Richard Ayoade to direct their video in a transparent attempt to light up the COMEDY BLOGOSPHERE the same way they lit up the TWEE MUSIC BLOGOSPHERE a few months ago. This, after their first attempt -- dressing like Chevy Chase circa 1980 -- failed.
Well this one worked. Because only jerks and the ignorant don't like Richard Ayoade.
Our pal Patton Oswalt is hosting Jonesy's Jukebox on ClearChannel's adventurous alt-rock station Indie 103.1 here in Los Angeles Monday. The show's normally hosted by Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, and is one of the great treats of living here in Los Angeles... but I'm sure Patton will be a more than capable substitute.
Catch all the Oswaltia Monday at from noon to 2PM pacific, either on the radio if you're here in the La La, or online at indie1031.com.
A few years ago, Patton checked in with MaxFunPal Emily Calderon on KZSC to play and talk about some of his favorite songs. You can check out that awesome hour of radio here.
Mark Oliver Everett, sometimes known as A Man Called E, is the frontman of the genre-hopping rock band Eels. The band has just released a greatest hits collection ("Meet the Eels") and a collection of B-sides and rarities ("Useless Trinkets"). We talk with him about why he has always had a rotating band, how sick he is of self-reflection, and of course gorilla hunting.
Nellie McKay is a singer-songwriter who's been acclaimed for her rich singing voice and her wry, funny songs. On record and on stage, her performances seem to straddle the decades, with a distinct contemporary political bent and a fair bit of goofiness thrown in besides. She demonstrated both in our interview, and pulled out her ukelele to perform a few songs.
Jordan, Theresa and I had a great time at the Jonathan Coulton / Paul & Storm show at the House of Blues here in LA Sunday night. Note, in the above photo of their all-together encore, that Paul (left) is rocking a TSOYA shirt, and Coulton (center) is rocking a *classic* TSOYA shirt. Well-played, gentlemen. (Memo to Storm: get with the program, asshole).
I say this without malice: it was the single nerdiest experience of my life. Including the time I went to see Coulton in San Francisco. Many ponytails, hawaiian shirts, and computer-themed novelty t's were in evidence. But the enthusiasm was palpable and infectious. Not to mention charming. And of course having the world's most charismatic nerd Mr. Jonathan Coulton involved helped. Overall, a grand success.
Also: it was cool to have all-access passes to something.
(I stole the picture from Colleen who recapped the show here.)
Podcast: TSOYA Classic: On the Road with John Hodgman and Henry Rollins
We continue our journey into The Sound of Young America's vast audio archive with this program from The Sound of Young America Clasics.
Henry Rollins is a rock and roll legend. He fronted both the Rollins Band and Black Flag, and has performed spoken word around the country. He's also the host of The Henry Rollins Show, and has appeared in numerous films.
John Hodgman is now familiar to TV viewers as "PC" in Apple's long-running Mac v. PC campaign, and as a correspondent on the Daily Show. He appeared on The Sound of Young America just weeks before his first Daily Show appearance, to talk about his book "The Areas of My Expertise."
Please share your thoughts on the show in the comments section!
One thing I wish I'd had on mic from the time I spent with Kenna was the talk of working on Ashlee Simpson's album. Kenna had nothing but good things to say about the time he spent working on her record (he at least co-wrote or co-produced most of it), and about her. He said she had good taste and a solid head on her shoulders, and a good sense of song craft.
Finally we got to check out what he was talking about. He wrote this song, which was produced by Timbo. Not bad.
Brooklyn Vegan has posted some awesome pics of the BV & KK Present Rock & ROFL show that we sponsored last night at Piano's in NYC. Looks like it was awesome!
Above is a shot of our man Will Franken, who's repping Kansas and the Bay in Queens these days. You can find more awesome photos of Vanderslice, the comedy cats and Takka Takka by Ryan Muir over at BV.
And if you missed this show, be sure not to miss our next TSOYA Presents show, Variety SHAC at the UCBT Thursday night... not to mention Will Franken at the Purple Onion in SF on Friday and Saturday.
This song's a jam, but my question is this: did they just add the Neptunes to Kenna's regular band? Because Pharrell is definitely playing the drums, and Chad is definitely on the keys. But there is also another guy playing keys, and another guy playing drums. Now: Chad can really play keys and Pharrell can really play drums. I don't think it's a trick. But I guess the regular drummer and keyboard player were like, "Oh hell naw, I'm not gonna NOT be on Letterman!"
Amplive is the producer of the Bay Area hip-hop duo Zion I. Along with MC Zion, Amp has stood at the forefront of the second generation of underground hip-hop in the Bay, following in the footsteps of artists like Hieroglyphics and Hobo Junction. More recently, Amp has broadened his production resume, producing among others Kafani's hyphy hit "Fassst Like A Nascar" and Goapele's R&B hit "Closer." Zion I's most recent album is a collaboration with Living Legends' Grouch called "Heroes in the City of Dope." (See the video for Hit 'Em f. Mistah FAB above)
Amplive recently made national headlines with his album "Rainydayz Remixes," a full remix album of Radiohead's recent "In Rainbows" release. After receiving a cease-and-desist from the band's management, Amp has finally obtained the rights to legally release the album free over the internet. It features Bay Area hip-hop superstars like Too $hort and Del tha Funky Homosapien. I interviewed Amp via email as he prepared for Zion I's "Fresh Coast" tour with Mistah FAB, which kicks off February 29th in San Jose.
Jesse Thorn: You've continued to consolidate your underground success with Zion I, but you've also produced a few local radio hits that are more Hyphy than "backpacker." To what extent are you serving two separate audiences there? Do you do it consciously? Does the uniqueness of the Bay Area scene contribute to how this all plays out?
Amplive: I just make the music that I feel and like. Out here in the Bay the audiences arent as separate as you think. There are a big variety of national groups that come from here. you have groups like Souls of Mischief, DJ Shadow, Blackalicious, Lyrics Born, Anticon to groups like E40, Too Short, Mista Fab, Kafani, and The Pack. Those audiences merge all the time. That;s what makes making music in the bay for a producer like me easy.
JT: You're a hip-hop producer, though you've produced some R&B records and certainly have a lot of other influences in your work. What's the connection between hip-hop and Radiohead?
A: Well, one of the reasons that I really started digging Radiohead was that they always had a few songs on their record that had a hip hop feel to it. Whether it was the drums they used or the steady pattern of the beat, it had a hip hop feel. You have a song like "National Anthem" or "Karma Police” that not only sounded tight but you could actually spin in a mix. Those elements set them apart from other rock groups.
JT: What separates hip-hop and Radiohead?
A: Well honestly, the way music has merged so much these days, the only thing I think that separates them from hip hop is that there they aren’t rapping.
JT: Was there a track on the remix album that was particularly exciting for you? Why?
I would have to say that remixing the song "Weird Fishes" really felt good. The original sounds so damn good. Every step I took in tweaking it just felt great and I didnt make any changes to what I was doing. That rarely happens.
JT: Is remixing a Radiohead album part gimmick? Why do a whole record?
A: I dont know what the gimmick would be if it was one. I am a music producer and I create remixes. I liked the In Rainbows album so much that I wanted to remix all of it.
Amplive's Rainydayz Remixes is available free here. You can find Zion I online at zioncrew.com.
Shellac in Chicago, photographed by Christopher Rogers
Shortly after Steve Albini was a guest on our live show in Chicago, his band, Shellac rocked the city live in concert. Luckily for us, my friend Christopher Rogers was in attendance, and took some really beautiful photographs that I wanted to share with you. Some samples above, or check out Chris' Flickr stream here. Special bonus: some nice shots of the Kids in the Hall reunion at SF Sketchfest!
The fourth in our series of podcasts from our January live show at SF Sketchfest.
Zach Rogue is the front man of the Bay Area indie rock band Rogue Wave. He performed three songs for our audience, including one unreleased gem and one that came complete with a hilarious story about John McEnroe. The full performance is podcast, you can also download each song individually as a high quality MP3. (Note that the recording has some blips, due to hardware problems on the recording end).
