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