On today’s show, we got to meet Portland’s Rachel Taylor Brown. She just released her tenth album, “Run Tiny Human”, and it’s really good, but hard to classify. My Windows Media Player software helpfully describes it as “Contemporary Pop”. Well, I don’t know about all that. She doesn’t sound anything like Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, or Ed Sheeran (that I’m aware of). So how can I describe “Run Tiny Human” to you? Well, imagine Danielle Dax driving a getaway car with Tori Amos riding shotgun, and they accidentally collide into another getaway car, this one being driven by Ben Folds. And then Lou Reed rides up on a motorcycle and takes down the police report.

Did that help? No? Well how about this: Rachel’s music is mostly piano based, somewhat quirky and experimental. Some of it is gritty and in your face, some of the messages lurk below the surface, sometimes it just plain rocks, and some of it is lovely and melodic. She captures all kinds of emotions and feelings. As far as subject matter goes, one of the themes of this album is an examination of her hometown of Portland, and how it’s been taken over by people moving there from other places, and making it into a sort of big city hipster haven–more “cool” than it used to be, but also, unrecognizable. That’s a bit of a cautionary tale for a lot of American cities these days. She takes a hard look at the world around us. It’s a very artistic album. Accept the challenge and listen to this record–you’ll grow a bit in the process. We had an engaging and spirited conversation, and it was really fun to talk through all of this with Rachel. racheltaylorbrown.bandcamp.com

While you’re at it–check out the new music from Van Go, Pat Buchanan, and Gail George. I put it right at the beginning of the show, just for you!

Artist | Track | Album
Van Go | I Wish I Could Be Grateful | Everyone Loves You When You’re Gone
Pat Buchanan | Sandbox | Single release
Gail George | Crazy | It’s Personal
Pete’s Copter | Magic Circle | The Fowl Tone Sampler
Maxi Dunn | How Was I To Know? | Welcome To Soonville
The Imperial Sound | A Man Like You | The New AM
Michot’s Melody Makers | La Danse Carree | Blood Moon
R. Stevie Moore/Jason Falkner | Stamps | Make It Be
The Loud Family And Anton Barbeau | Song About “Rocks Off” | What If It Works?
Blake Jones & The Trike Shop | Take A Look At The Stars | MAKE
Krista D | Land Mine | Look At Me I’m Krista D
Duncan Faure | Man Of A Thousand Dreams | Pronounced “Four-Uh”
Sunshine Boys | John Cage | Blue Music
Lannie Flowers | Good | Single release
Elk City | Sparrow | Everybody’s Insecure
Banjo Bones | Dangerous Game | Ghostly Musings From The Delta
The Cherry Bluestorms | Out | Whirligig!
Wilkerson | How She Lost My Heart | Wilkerson
Fun Of The Pier | Cavern Song | 14:42
Karen Haglof | Palomino Steady Rocking | Palomino Steady Rocking
The Welcome Matt | My Town | More Empire Days

Rachel Taylor Brown interview
Rachel Taylor Brown | Up You | Run Tiny Human
Rachel Taylor Brown | Glitcher | Run Tiny Human

October 28, 2018
Categories: Playlists . . Author: twirlradio . Comments: Leave a comment

Vegas With Randolph is a band that we’ve championed on Twirl Radio for a long time–pretty much this entire decade. They’re a hard working bunch of musicians from the greater Washington, D.C. area, who’ve released three exciting albums, and are about to release their fourth, “Legs & Luggage”, which might be their most rockin’ and upbeat to date. I once said that they produce “thinking man’s party music”, and alluded to the fact that you should always listen to their songs driving around town with the windows down (regardless of the time of year). I was given the great honor of writing the liner notes to their album “Above The Blue”, back in 2011.

Well after five years, I welcomed principal songwriters Eric Kern and John Ratts back to the show. As you might imagine, we had plenty to catch up on. I’ve heard most of the new album, and it is wonderful. It is an album of transitions, not the least of which is the passing of their bassist, Dan Aylestock, who looms large in the band’s history.

We chatted about the making of the record, and its imminent release. I know a handful of people in Washington, D.C.–and Eric and John tell a story that pretty much places them all in the same room at the same time! We’ll also hear a couple of tracks from Legs & Luggage. You should get this one once it’s released on October 23rd. https://vegaswithrandolph.bandcamp.com/album/legs-luggage

Addtionally, we played brand new tracks from Karla Kane, The Turnback, and Mod Hippie. We heard Allyson Seconds’ love song to downtown Sacramento. And I played a song from a guy who went to the same high school that I did. I found out this week that Steve Barton, frontman of Translator, graduated from the same high school in Los Angeles that I went to, a few years before I did. Musical greatness did indeed walk those halls!

Enjoy the show!

Artist | Track | Album
Glenn Mercer | Wheels In Motion | Wheels In Motion
Karla Kane | Sisters Of The Pollen | Single release
Addison Love | Wee & Nancy Lee | Thoughts On Lunch?
The The | Slow Emotion Replay | Dusk
Maxi Dunn | Change The Record | Edmund & Leo
The Turnback | This Could Be Our Year | Spinning The Earth In Reverse

Vegas With Randolph interview
Vegas With Randolph | The Girl Holding Out For Me | Legs & Luggage
Vegas With Randolph | She’s An Intellectual | Legs & Luggage

Allyson Seconds | I’m Just A Country Girl | Bag Of Kittens
Sunshine Boys | Schoolyard Bully | Blue Music
Lannie Flowers | Day Glow | Single release
The Cherry Bluestorms | Purple Heart Magic | Whirligig!
Elk City | He’s Having A Baby | Everybody’s Insecure
Piramid Scheme | Bandwagon Jumping Machine | Get Rich Quick Too
Duncan Faure | Better Than Ever | Pronounced “Four-Uh”
Astral Drive | No One Escapes | Astral Drive
Mod Hippie | Johnny’s Gonna Die | Wannabe Nobody
Gretchen’s Wheel | Tatyana | Black Box Theory
The Sleep Junkies | The First Time Is Never The Last Time | The Fowl Tone Sampler
Steve Barton | Before I Get Too Young | Tall Tales & Alibis 3
Wilkerson | You Still Owe Me A Kiss | Wilkerson
The Smoking Flowers | Young & Brave | Let’s Die Together
Pugwash | Everyone Knows That You’re Mine | Silverlake

October 21, 2018
Categories: Playlists . . Author: twirlradio . Comments: Leave a comment

Well, Anton Barbeau is back visiting his hometown of Sacramento, from Berlin. And that means a Twirl Radio in-studio visit! Don’t get me wrong–I don’t take this for granted. Honestly–it never gets old. I just count myself lucky that he’s back, and here to chat music.

So he and Julia came and spent over an hour with me. We talked about Anton’s career. You know how some people metaphorically put things “on the back burner”? Well, he’s got something on every burner. Several musical projects in the works, in several countries. More albums on the horizon. More collaborations. And even another trip back to Northern California before the year is out. All of this comes out in the first half of the interview.

In the second part, Anton and Julia play DJ. Julia, who is a renaissance woman herself (graphic artist, musician, record label owner, and KVMR radio personality), knows her way around a turntable, going back to her days of doing a music show on the radio. I like to think of my show as eclectic, but the variety of music they both played puts me to shame. Everything from Julian Cope to ABBA to Parliament to a strangely psychedelic band from Wales, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci. It all worked, rather smoothly, if you ask me. It was exhilarating, to say the least.

The audio from this fun show will be coming soon.

http://www.antonbarbeau.com/

Artist | Track | Album
Leafy Seadragon | Disagree To Disagree | Single release
The Melismatics | Crawl, Baby, Crawl | Rising Tide
Mod Hippie | Cricket LaRue | Wannabe Nobody
Maxi Dunn | I’m Only Here Because Of You | Edmund & Leo
Sunshine Boys | There Goes Another One | Blue Music
Duncan Faure | Machine From The Other Side | Machine From The Other Side

Anton Barbeau interview
Anton Barbeau | Secretion Of The Wafer | Natural Causes
Anton Barbeau | Magazine Street | Natural Causes

Anton & Julia DJ segment
Fleetwood Mac | That’s All For Everyone | Tusk
Julian Cope | I Gotta Walk | Autogeddon
The Beatles | Julia | Anthology
ABBA | S.O.S. | Gold
Television | See No Evil | Marquee Moon
Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci | Why Are We Sleeping? | Introducing Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci
Parliament | Bop Gun | Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome

Lannie Flowers | Another Weekend | LIVE in NYC
R. Stevie Moore & Jason Falkner | Stamps | Make It Be

October 13, 2018
Categories: Playlists . . Author: twirlradio . Comments: 1 Comment

Now this is what I would call a diverse show. We hadn’t done a doubleheader of interviews in a while, and the two artists we interviewed couldn’t be more dissimilar. And the variety is a good thing!

In the first hour, we met Christian Havins and Linda Beecroft, of ambient trio Dallas Acid (interestingly enough, from Austin, not Dallas). They recently had the opportunity to perform in New York with their musical heroes Laraaji and Arji OceAnanda. And after the show, they all decided to spend the next day recording together. So they did an impromptu session. Creativity ensued, and sonic soundscapes were created on the fly. They captured everything, and later on, edited them down to produce the Arrive Without Leaving album. Give a listen to this peaceful, powerful music, and see where it takes you. http://flyingmoonlight.com/

In the second hour, we chatted with Vancouver rocker Rich Hope. Laboring for many years as one half of “Vancouver’s one and only two man quartet of trashy boogie blues”, he expanded his sound to include a wurlitzer organ and horns. It’s fuzzy, grungy, and throws back a little to a simpler time when rock and roll was an exciting, frightening thing. But Rich’s blues and soul based music never loses its fun. He’s played in venues all over the world, and opened for many like minded musical souls, including The Flamin’ Groovies, Social Distortion, Reverend Horton Heat, and many others. Get this record and rock out…loud! https://www.richhope.ca/

Artist | Track | Album
Greg Loiacono | The Red Thread Part I (The Gloaming) | Songs From A Golden Dream
Sunshine Boys | Caroline Yes | Blue Music
Chris Church | Worse Things Happen At Sea | Limitations Of Source Tape
Bud Rogers | Pictures Of A Modern World (Acoustic) | Single release
Victor Sotelo | Listen And See | Homeland Insecurities
Maxi Dunn | Everything | Edmund & Leo
Lannie Flowers | Don’t Make Me Wait | Single release

Dallas Acid interview
Laraaji, Dallas Acid, & Arji OceAnanda | This Much More | Arrive Without Leaving
Laraaji, Dallas Acid, & Arji OceAnanda | Evening Reduction | Arrive Without Leaving

Anton Barbeau | Magazine Street | Natural Causes
Duncan Faure | Lies And Promises | 4
Blake Jones & The Trike Shop | My Soft Rock Girlfriend | MAKE
Elk City | 25 Lines | Everybody’s Insecure
Krista D | Run Jane Run | Look At Me I’m Krista D
Kaz Murphy | Stella Rae | Ride Out The Storm
The Cherry Bluestorms | Purple Heart Magic | Whirligig!

Rich Hope interview
Rich Hope | 5 Cents A Dance | I’m All Yours
Rich Hope | Golden Clouds | I’m All Yours

October 8, 2018
Categories: Playlists . . Author: twirlradio . Comments: Leave a comment