30.08.11 California Diner - 'Celebs Gone Indie!'

A long time ago, dinosaurs stalked the earth and recorded music was made available to the public only on analog media such as vinyl and tapes. It was a very difficult and expensive proposition to release a single or an album. Like much of the economy after the Industrial Revolution, it became cost effective to put out music through large, integrated corporations. This business model worked for three-quarters of a century. Like most corporate ventures, the main point of being in business is to make money. It was a big deal for a recording artist to get a record deal. The record label thought enough of their music to make an investment, expecting to make the money back many times over. This usually coincided with the listening public’s tastes. The record industry drove musical taste, and the public kept the registers ringing. But a funny thing happened on the way to the 21st century. There used to be many small record labels, which consolidated and became big record labels. Mergers and acquisitions changed the scene until you could count on your fingers how many record companies remained. Then some of these huge companies swallowed some of the others. When companies merge, sometimes employees lose their jobs. In this case, some really great artists lost their backing. Worthy music was not being heard. And as has happened over the decades, there were many local and regional acts whose music was never heard outside their region. At the same time, technology changed, and became more accessible. Between making music on a computer, self-distributing, and self-promoting via online social media, now anybody could make music. Many of the great, formerly-unknown independent bands that we champion here at Recharged Radio have taken advantage of this perfect storm. Many have never been on a record label, nor do they want to. The D.I.Y. ethic has really taken over in the last few years. And it can be a pretty good deal for them--no record label means they keep more of the hard-earned dollars themselves. In addition, there are lots of great smaller indie labels who help artists realize success by employing this same work ethic. They act in an ethical manner, and treat the artists fairly. They also bring the artists and fans together, and that’s a good thing. Some really great artists formerly affiliated with major labels or internationally-known acts have also become indie artists of late. They are finding that D.I.Y. is a great way to really reach out to fans and (fortunately) radio. Oftentimes, they’re even happier then they ever were with a label. On this week’s show, we feature four such artists. Sal Valentino, the former Beau Brummels front man is making some of the most heartfelt music of his career as a solo artist. I’m proud to say that this legend is based right here in Sacramento, California, and we’ll hear a track off of his Dreamin’ Man album, a wonderful collaboration with John Blakely. www.beaubrummels.com www.gragroup.com/valentino.html Sue Leonard is a singer/songwriter/vocalist who works in the blues, soul, and R&B genres. If you remember back in the 1990s, k.d. lang had a huge hit off of her Ingenue album, “Constant Craving”. Sue Leonard was a backup vocalist on that Grammy-winning track. You have to be good to be selected to harmonize with k.d. lang on such a memorable song. Sue has a great solo career going, and she’s both classy and earthy at the same time on the song we’ll hear on the show. www.reverbnation.com/sueleonard Patrick Campbell-Lyons is a true original. The Irish-born, London-based musician was one of the founding fathers of the 1960s psychedelic movement. His band was the original Nirvana. He’s hobnobbed with everybody from Jimi Hendrix to Salvador Dali, but remains down to earth and spiritual. He’s got some great things to say, and he shows us that psychedelia is still vital in this 21st century digital era. This week’s show features a track from his album The 13 Dalis. www.psychedelicdays.com/nirvana.html www.gragroup.com/lyons.html Debora Iyall is near and dear to my heart. She was making music back in the 1980s with legendary New Wave band Romeo Void, based right here in Northern California. Her blunt but optimistic lyrics and vocal delivery were startling at first, but made me think differently about music back when I was in college. She too is an indie artist now, and she’s another example of a well-known musician who has chosen to live in mellow, laid-back Sacramento. We’ll hear a fun song off of her Stay Strong solo release. www.deboraiyall.com If you'd like to make a request, just drop me a line at mike(at)rechargedradio.com. If you'd like to become an honorary California citizen, drop me a line at the same address. And if you'd like to hear all this great music—simply tune in to the California Diner, Tuesday night, 8:00-10:00 p.m. (GMT), 12:00-2:00 p.m. Pacific, only at Recharged Radio—www.rechargedradio.com. This note also appears in the News section on the home page of RechargedRadio.com. See you then! Chef Mike mike(at)rechargedradio.com MN2BDNC Sal Valentino - Looking For You EyeWood - Lawyers and Liars Missdavinalee - Come On Baby Scream - 20th Century Baby K. C. Bowman - Mare Island Uncle Meat and the Highway Children - Long Gone Mobile Maxi Dunn - Make It Better Dana Jade - Little Sister Chad Neaves - Something In My Soul Sexfresh - True Laurie Larson - Endless Thank You Loop Karim Fanous - So Long Jenny J Nushu - Here's To Feeling Free Apple Rabbits - Queen Of The Suburbs Sue Leonard - Bend This Circle The Recusants - After The Night Out Mad Tea Party - Blues Slip In Patrick Campbell-Lyons - Flowers For Friday Dandelion Killers - You'll Find Me In The Archives Anny Celsi - First Love Freezes Blake Jones & The Trike Shop - I Roped The Moon Out Of The Sky Joseph Swidenbank - Coming Up For Air Agony Aunts - Linus's Fists Of Death Coolrunnings - Chorus Dennis Holseybrook - Take Care My Friend Debora Iyall - Be My Last Rich McCulley - Tell Me, I'm Listening Laurie Biagini - Bambuzled Peter Mayer - The Marrying Kind Lindy LaFontaine - I might not love you The Scratch - Teen Idol Mad Mush - Silent Snowfall

23.08.11 California Diner - 'Warped Speed!'

For the record, I don’t get too far into science fiction, and don’t know very much about it myself. But I have always been fascinated by how incredibly huge our universe is, and amazed when physicists tell us that it’s expanding. Into what? If the universe is defined as “everything that exists”--well, you get where I’m going with this. My brain hurts. To travel the vast distances of the universe, sci-fi writers invented “warp speed”--a speed many times faster than the speed of light. What a concept! On this week’s California Diner, we’ve achieved a similar phenomenon. In the first 15 minutes of the show, we travel vast distances faster than the speed of music. We bounce around the musical universe, switching genres at every turn, faster than you can say “I find this highly illogical”. We’ll call this curiosity “warped speed”. We’re going to start the show with our own Rob One. The dynamic host of 20/20, our hip hop show which starts Tuesday evenings rolling, put out a great new album this year called African, an homage to his South African homeland. He’s a talented hip hop MC himself. Like Recharged Radio, he’s based in London, and so there our journey begins. He’s my Tuesday night partner in crime, and we’ll sample a great track from African. www.robboffard.com After journeying from South Africa to London, we’ll jet on over to Texas for some fantastic power pop, Lannie Flowers-style. Texas is not the first place you think of when you think of power pop--but Lannie will quickly set the record straight. He’s a practitioner of the purest form of the genre--upbeat, tuneful songs--but with the occasional haunting guitar reverb--he adds his own original spin and keeps the genre vital. We’ll hear a song from his Circles album. www.lannieflowers.com When you’re traveling as fast as we are, it’s just a short hop over to my stomping grounds of Northern California. We’ll visit with the incredibly upbeat Tippy Canoe, and her band The Paddlemen. Tippy’s mission is, in her own words, “to bring sincere uplift in a severely down-slanted era by spreading her hook-laden pop-meets-roots music”. And bring it she does--we’ll hear the infectious lead off track from her album Parasols and Pekingese. www.tippycanoe.net But we can’t stay in California too long--we need to quickly zip on down to Argentina. Our warped speed music machine covers the 5,000 miles in mere seconds. We’ll hear from Domus, an acoustic duo, whose harmonies will have you transfixed. Amazing vocals and guitar work. www.aspiremusicmanagement.co.uk/Domus.aspx And finally--I just realized--California is calling me home again. Back to the machine, which drops us off 400 miles south of where I am--Los Angeles. Nelson Bragg has made some of the finest, yearning pure pop music this side of the Crab Nebula. When he’s not drumming for legendary Beach Boy Brian Wilson, he’s creating his own legendary music, and we’re lucky enough to have one of his songs on this week’s show. www.myspace.com/nelsonbragg So yeah--in about 15 minutes--South Africa, London, Texas, California, Argentina, and back to California. We’ve traveled faster than the speed of music. Only a warped speed machine can power this trip across space, time, and musical genres. Make sure you join us for all the great indie music! If you'd like to make a request, just drop me a line at mike(at)rechargedradio.com. If you'd like to become an honorary California citizen, drop me a line at the same address. And if you'd like to hear all this great music—simply tune in to the California Diner, Tuesday night, 8:00-10:00 p.m. (GMT), 12:00-2:00 p.m. Pacific, only at Recharged Radio—www.rechargedradio.com. This note also appears in the News section on the home page of RechargedRadio.com. See you then! Chef Mike mike(at)rechargedradio.com MN2BDNC Rob One - Flames Lannie Flowers - Circles Tippy Canoe & The Paddlemen - Mass Transmissions Domus - Es Mi Ola Nelson Bragg - Tell Me I'm Wrong Duncan Faure - Man Of A Thousand Dreams Fake Teak - Church of Steve Honest session - Post Office Tower Dead Heart Bloom - Sentimental Cures The Fuegos - Against the World Terese Taylor - Hermit Heiskell - Your Touch Kate Burkart - The High Road Peter Mayer - It's Just The Energy Emily Zuzik Band - Motels Jay Fraser - That's How We Roll Laurie Biagini - A Face In The Crowd The Taters - That's Me Vegas With Randolph - She Does It For Me Allen - Hold Me Tight M.A.D.I.S.O.N - Where Are You Lindy LaFontaine - Free To Breathe Snow Byrds - Master Of Ceremonies Maxi Dunn - Why Do I Want You? Dave Stephens - Josephine Baby Scream - Secret Place Kitty & The Lost Boys - Rushing To My Side The Ks - Little Plaything The Corner Laughers - Stonewords Sarah Taylor - The Cure To Everything Man or Mouse - Jackson Blake Jones & The Trike Shop - Send The Band To Liverpool Little Guilt Shrine - One Two

16.08.11 California Diner - 'A Californian Sweet 16!'

I had the chance to drive up and down the rather large state of California again just a few days ago. But your Chef Mike is always on the job. It occurred to me that California is an incredibly fertile musical breeding ground. All genres exist and thrive here, and some even start here. So for this week’s show, I harvested 16 tracks from all over the state--from Orange County to Sacramento. Since I returned back to Sacramento late, I hurriedly picked these gems. Artists like Auditorium (aka Spencer Berger), who comes from my state but was discovered by my colleagues in London well before I ever joined the crew. Thrill to his pure, magnificent vocals. www.fieldfm.wordpress.com Check out the comedic stylings of The Clutter Family. Not for everyone, but if your sense of humor is just a little bit off--you’ll want to check these guys out. They’re led by Jim Earl and Chris Hobbs, and we’ll hear one of their tracks this week. www.reverbnation.com/theclutterfamily Bill Mumy made a name for himself as a child space traveler in the classic TV show Lost In Space. Whenever you hear people say “danger, Will Robinson”--they’re referring to one of the characters that made him famous. But Bill also has had a long and storied music career, and we’ll hear one of the great songs from his bluesy Glorious In Defeat album, which has graced our airwaves since last year. www.billmumy.com And there’s still a baker’s dozen of California artists besides these three focus acts. I live in California, so that you don’t have to! (Unless you want to--come on out and visit some time!) We’ll also hear great musicians from Canada and the UK, as well. Don’t miss this week’s show! If you'd like to make a request, just drop me a line at mike(at)rechargedradio.com. If you'd like to become an honorary California citizen, drop me a line at the same address. And if you'd like to hear all this great music—simply tune in to the California Diner, Tuesday night, 8:00-10:00 p.m. (GMT), 12:00-2:00 p.m. Pacific, only at Recharged Radio—www.rechargedradio.com. This note also appears in the News section on the home page of RechargedRadio.com. See you then! Chef Mike mike(at)rechargedradio.com MN2BDNC Rose Reiter - Where You Are Wim Oudijk - Love you. Period! The Handcuffs - Dirty Glitter Sexfresh - Dilemma Joe Symes - Lost Along The Way Kat Jones - One More Second Chance The Furbelows - Pleasure Machine Sound Sessions - Be My Shaper Maxi Dunn - The Neglected Gambit Skip Heller & Jim Cavender - I Hate You Charlie Cheney - She's Made For Sunshine Maple Mars - The Excursion Lindy LaFontaine (with Kyro) - Haunted Sweet Sweet Concorde - Armadillo Man Last Breath - The Story Ends Vegas With Randolph - The Better Part William Cleere and the Marvelous Fellas - Labor Day Auditorium - Sunday Bill Mumy - All Wound Up Mad Mush - Silent Snowfall Blake Jones & The Trike Shop - I Roped The Moon Out Of The Sky Debora Iyall - Stay Strong Laurie Biagini - My Little SUV Sarah Stanley - Tuesday Girl The Clutter Family - Artist In The Office Joseph Swidenbank - Harsh Words The Shindig Addicts - Not Long Now Popdudes - Neglected Patrick Campbell-Lyons - Sunset City Michael Miller - I Made You Up Nelson Bragg - Forever Days Rob One - African The Dashing Suns - Sally Moore

9.08.11 California Diner: Vegas With Randolph Interview!

Eric Kern and John Ratts are an intuitive songwriting duo, who take the Lennon-McCartney approach--one starts a song, the other adds finishing touches--a bridge here, a harmony there. They both agree that the sum of their partnership is greater than the parts. But the songs only become true Vegas With Randolph songs when they’re presented to the full band, who polish and arrange them. Dan Aylestock, Dave Purol, and Brock Harris are the rest of this great team, and they’ve crafted a power pop album which is one of the finest of 2011 to date. Full disclosure here--I was given the great honor of writing the liner notes to Above The Blue. This was a thrill and a half, and all I had to do was to listen to advance copies of the songs, and jot down a few impressions of them--voila! The piece practically wrote itself. The songs are so great, any fanboy like myself could have written liner notes. What kind of songs are we talking about? Upbeat, celebratory songs which are the perfect soundtrack to your summer cookouts, swim parties, or even blaring out of car windows. Lots of songs about love, romance, family, beautiful actresses. Great, massive guitar riffs and crashing drums. Yearning vocals. And excellent, thoughtful choices in guest collaborators--guitarist Vinnie Zummo of Joe Jackson’s band on one song, Maxi Dunn takes vocals on another, and amazing orchestration in a few places by none other than Wim Oudijk. And finally, the album closes with an album-within-an-album piece called Double Play, a concept that proved to be really successful on their first album. We’ll chat with the guys, who are about as down to earth and regular as you can possibly get--and most importantly, hear a few of the new songs off of Above The Blue. I can’t wait for you to hear it! If you'd like to make a request, just drop me a line at mike(at)rechargedradio.com. If you'd like to become an honorary California citizen, drop me a line at the same address. And if you'd like to hear all this great music—simply tune in to the California Diner, Tuesday night, 8:00-10:00 p.m. (GMT), 12:00-2:00 p.m. Pacific, only at Recharged Radio—www.rechargedradio.com. This note also appears in the News section on the home page of RechargedRadio.com. See you then! Chef Mike mike(at)rechargedradio.com MN2BDNC

PLAYLIST:

Sarah Taylor - Easy To Forget

Maple Mars - Beautiful Mess

Emily Zuzik Band - Motels

Luke Dick - The Healer

Domus - Es Mi Ola

Mark Bacino - Middle Town

Maxi Dunn - Firecracker V Mr Flash Rocket

Blake Jones & The Trike Shop - Sun Up

Vegas With Randolph Interview

Vegas With Randolph – Summertime

Vegas With Randolph – A Lesser Fool

Vegas With Randolph – Even Though

Catholic Spray - Captain Wolf

Heiskell - Sick Of Nothing

Tom Alford - Shiloh

Chad Neaves - You Said

Kitty & The Lost Boys - Rushing To My Side

Dave Stephens - Mr. Wonderful

Kyro (with Lindy LaFontaine) - This Too, In Time, Shall Pass

Little Guilt Shrine - What I'm Thinking

Boomchick - TGTW

Joey Oskys - Here In This Town

Laurie Biagini - Leave Me Alone

Duncan Faure - Man Of A Thousand Dreams

Jerzey Street Band - Wasting Time

Mad Tea Party - Blues Slip In

The Vertigos - Rubix

Lannie Flowers - Turn Up Your Radio

Anton Barbeau - Skunk Hungarian

02.08.11 California Diner: Summer Crop!

I recently spent about 10 hours driving back and forth through California’s Central Valley. If you’ve ever looked at a relief map of the United States, have a peek at California. It’s over on the left side, and it’s mostly mountains and coastline--except for this narrow, 500 mile long gash in the center of the state. It’s one of the most fertile agricultural regions in North America, and I live about a third of the way down from the top of it, in Sacramento.

Hot, sunny summer weather, flat terrain, and healthy green crops pushing their way upwards, then it’s on to your dinner table. That’s what it looked like from the open highway.

These summer crops remind me of what’s been happening musically of late. I’ve received a bumper crop of new music, and I’m happy to put it on your musical dinner plate this week.

Here’s a few tasty treats for you:

The Handcuffs. We’ve written about this Chicago band recently, but we’re going to sample the fiery lead track from their upcoming album Waiting For The Robot, due out during the September harvest

www.thehandcuffs.com

Baby Scream. Juan Mazzola and company surprised me with a new set of songs, right on the heels of their last album. This Argentina-based band is prolific, to say the least, and we’ll listen to one of their Americana-type tunes on the show.

www.myspace.com/babyscream

Blake Jones & The Trike Shop. Again, another surprise. This band comes from right smack dab in the middle of the aforementioned Central Valley, and they surprised me with a really great handmade unplugged album, recorded as a gift to their supporters who were kind enough to donate funds to help send them to Liverpool this spring for the International Pop Overthrow festival. One of these unplugged tracks makes it onto this week’s playlist.

www.blakejonesmusic.com

Maxi Dunn. There are not enough platitudes to describe her great songwriting and vocals. Throw in Pete Hackett’s guitar and production work, and this Liverpool, UK artist has a formidable, highly listenable album in The Neglected Gambit. Just released a few weeks ago, we’ll hear a soul-searching track off of it.

www.maxidunn.info

Vegas With Randolph. I’m excited--the Washington D.C. band just released their Above The Blue album this week, and it is a fine one. But if you really want to know how I feel about it, grab a copy for yourself--I had the great privilege and honor of writing the liner notes! And best news of all--they’ll be my special guests on next week’s show. But for now, we’ll get to hear one of their great power pop songs.

www.myspace.com/vegaswithrandolph

If you'd like to make a request, just drop me a line at mike(at)rechargedradio.com. If you'd like to become an honorary California citizen, drop me a line at the same address. And if you'd like to hear all this great music—simply tune in to the California Diner, Tuesday night, 8:00-10:00 p.m. (GMT), 12:00-2:00 p.m. Pacific, only at Recharged Radio—www.rechargedradio.com.

This note also appears in the News section on the home page of RechargedRadio.com.

See you then!

Chef Mike mike(at)rechargedradio.com MN2BDNC

PLAYLIST:

Terese Taylor - I'm Here Allen - Black Widow Blake Jones & The Trike Shop - I Roped The Moon Out Of The Sky Six Gun Jury - Chancellor Pink Mad Mush - Silent Snowfall Fake Teak - Solid-State Soundserif - Brian Adams Joseph Swidenbank - Back Home Birgit – Tsunami Sweet Sweet Concorde - Armadillo Man Vegas With Randolph - Above The Blue Fortune Dwellers - Al's Song Three Hour Tour - Pig in Disguise Baby Scream - Secret Place Kamp David - Red Hotel Maxi Dunn - You Took The Sunshine From My Heart Jeff Merchant - Love Yourself Away Joe Symes - One Too Many The Fuegos - Against the World Low Water - My Life In Advertising The Clutter Family – Head Rob One - The Morning After Lindy LaFontaine (with KYRO) – Alizee Jimmy Catlett - The Big Beat Agony Aunts - Greater Miranda Laurie Larson - All Year Long The Handcuffs - Dirty Glitter Peter Mayer - It's Just The Energy M.A.D.I.S.O.N. - If You Want Me To Laurie Biagini - My Little SUV Rose Reiter – Wherever The Mike Brown Band - Pay Sal Valentino - Lovin' Fallin'