Jukebox Heart 013: Kill Yr Jukebox
1:12 | 68.3 MB
[audio:http://www.jukeboxheart.com/jbh013/jbh013.mp3]

Has it really been three months since I posted a full-length Jukebox Heart mix? What a slug… Well, we’re back with another. Getting right down to it, I think this edition of Jukebox Heart is one of the most fun to date. At least, I had fun listening, programming and mixing it down. Just in time for the holiday weekend, make sure you listen to this with headphones on and 74 minutes to kill. In addition, I’ve posted four new video clips. Click on the above icons to watch videos by Kraftwerk, The Names, Medium Medium, and The Bush Tetras. And another vintage radio program can be heard by clicking on the Press to Play tab above. To listen to the podcast on line, click the arrow above and it will start automatically. To download it for your very own, set your browser options to download mp3 files and click here. Then click on the WAV conversion tab above for instructions on how to burn it to CDR to play in your car. You never need be far way from Jukebox Heart.

Dead Jukebox
Can you identify the missing piece?

Here’s the Kill Yr Jukebox playlist. Click on the “Continue Reading” link below for images and
lots more info about each track.

Franco Battiato – Cafe-Table-Music
(Artis CD, 1996 reissue of 1977 classic LP)
This track was divided into five excerpts and used as interludes throughout this edition of Jukebox Heart.

Battiato Interlude 1

Keren Ann – Not Going Anywhere
(Not Going Anywhere CD, Metro Blue 2005)

Barbara Manning – Lover’s Leap
(In New Zealand CD, Communion 1999)

Backyard Mechanics – Deshabille-toi
(BYMFL cassette, Burning Press 1985)

His Name is Alive – Your Bones
(Detrola CD, Silver Mountain 2005)

Battiato Interlude 2

Say Hi To Your Mom – Blah Blah Blah
(Impeccable Blahs CD, Euphobia 2006)

The Human League – Love Me Madly
(Secrets CD, Ark21 2001)

Colder – Wrong Baby
(Heat CD, Output 2005)

Dim Dim – Chooby
(Bounce CD, Audio Dregs 2005)

Battiato Interlude 3

Future Bible Heroes – You Pretend To Be The Moon
(Memories of Love CD, Slowriver 1997)

Charlene – Ripoff
(Charlene CD, Shark Attack! 2006)

Dykehouse – Map Reference 41 N 93 W
(Idol Tryouts Compilation, Ghostly International 2003)

Relay – Safe
(Type/Void CD, Bubble Core 2006)

Battiato Interlude 4

Be Your Own Pet – Bunk Trunk Skunk
– Bicycle, Bicycle, You Are My Bicycle
(Be Your Own Pet CD, XL Recordings 2006)

Seconds – Sister8MySon
(Kratitude, 5RC CD 2006)

Erase Errata – Giant Hans
(Nightlife, Kill Rock Stars)

The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa – Sweet Abyss
(Susurrate CD, Reflex 1992)

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone – Lesley Gore on the TAMI show!
(Town Topic CD, Tomlab 2008)

Animal Collective – Prospect Hummer
(Prospect Hummer, Fat Cat 2005)

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Research!

Franco Battiato – Cafe-Table-Music

An internationally known artist, Franco Battiato has been everything in his long career, from beat singer to avantgarde performer, producer, contemporary music composer. His beginnings lay in the mid 60’s, with many singles released with no particular success. In 1970 after his collaboration with Osage Tribe (that he quit before their only album Arrowhead) he had a record deal with Bla Bla, releasing his first solo album in 1972. His first two albums were definitely in a “prog” style, but edgy and innovative. But it was with third album, Sulle corde di “Aries”, that the sound shifted toward a more avantgarde style. By 1977, when this album arrived, his influences were many, and his style incorporated his more avantgarde musique-concrete style into a more modern classical approach, with long piano interludes punctuated by dada-esque bursts, extracted for use as interludes here.

Keren Ann – Not Going Anywhere

She is the vocalist I raved about in this entry of Jukebox Heart as part of the duo Lady and Bird. Here she is in singer-songwriter mode with just a lovely voice you’d love to have singing to you first thing in the morning…

Barbara Manning – Lover’s Leap

Cabaret Style solo work from former World of Pooh singer, Barbara Manning.

Backyard Mechanics – Deshabille-toi

Selected from a wonderful, old handmade cassette from the late 1980s.

His Name is Alive – Your Bones

Warn Defever just never quits. Even if it seemed as if he did. Even the most die-hard His Name Is Alive fans could be forgiven for thinking that the band had broken up — or at least gone into a deep hibernation — after the release of their final 4AD album, Last Night. Though Warn Defever and Company were actually busier than ever with special MP3-only releases and albums and EPs on smaller labels like Ypsilanti, En/Of, and Defever’s own Time Stereo, the lack of any widely released new material seemed ominous. Fortunately, Detrola, His Name Is Alive’s debut album for the aptly named Reincarnate Music, puts to rest any worries about the band’s existence and is definitely worth the four-year wait. Detrola sounds like the highlights of all of the band’s previous albums chopped up and reconfigured into songs that sound familiar, fresh, and utterly His Name Is Alive. “Your Bones” is a delicate acoustic ballad that could’ve easily appeared on their previous efforts, Mouth by Mouth or Stars on ESP. Detrola finds the band exploring the same themes that have always run through their music: spirituality, sensuality, and mortality. It’s doubtful that any other group could turn a simple statement like “you need a heart to live” into something as equally sweet and scary the way His Name Is Alive can. While Detrola sounds a lot like the band’s earlier work, it’s still inventive. The avant-pop on Mouth by Mouth, Stars on ESP, and Ft. Lake is still fresh-sounding, and this album’s updates on that aesthetic are, in turn, a step forward. Detrola is slightly more subdued than some of His Name Is Alive’s previous albums, but it’s still a reminder of how much their beautiful, strange, oddly moving music has been missed. With any luck, their fans won’t have to wait another four years before they make another album as good as this.

Say Hi To Your Mom – Blah Blah Blah

Say Hi, formerly Say Hi to Your Mom is a Seattle-based, indie-pop/lo-fi rock group. Formed by Eric Elbogen in Brooklyn 2002, Say Hi To Your Mom’s albums are mostly recorded at Elbogen’s home,with him playing a majority of the instruments and providing vocals. Elbogen records his music on a Windows machine which he built himself. On tour, Elbogen relies mostly on synthesizers and drum machines, though occasionally friends accompany him as a band. In 2005 Elbogen enlisted Chris Egan III as drummer and Jeff Sheinkopf as keyboardist. Say Hi to Your Mom’s record company Euphobia Records was created for the band to start to produce its own records. Though many consider this makes them “unsigned” they responded with “We stopped distinguishing between that sort of thing long ago, as should you. Just because you saw Almost Famous and read Spin, doesn’t mean you have a degree in music-industry-ology.” Their fourth release, Impeccable Blahs, was written almost entirely about vampires, though Star Trek is also mentioned. The band has drawn comparisons to such disparate artists as Belle & Sebastian, The Beatles, The Strokes, Interpol and Gary Numan.

Human League – Love Me Madly

The band virtually defined synth-pop for a massive audience, despite its existence long before it had any mass appeal. This was one of their best albums in a very long time, and it was just brilliant.

Colder – Wrong Baby

Alias Marc Nguyen Tan, this is his second full length and continues in the unique funky post-punk vein that his debut album “Again” stunned us with. This is my favorite track of the album, immediately drawing comparisons to a funkier Joy Division, combining the specifics of the 12″ more danceable version of “She’s Lost Control” with the piercingly shimmery synth lines of “Isolation” to yield a reference point but still something altogether different. Colder has become a staple band in the Jukebox Heart household.

Dim Dim – Chooby

Dim, resides in Bruxelles, Belgium, creating his own musical universe just outside of most known genres, electronic, pop or otherwise. Refusing to get a “normal” job all these years, he was once a professional cartoonist and also professional musician who backed and produced for a few successful pop bands and dance bands in Europe. He also created video game music and illustrated children’s books, but always returns to his own private world of Dim Dim when he is on his own time. His cartoons characters seem to still reside inside many of the songs. Sometimes songs manifest themselves as spacey melodic guitar adventures, sometimes frantic bubbly pieces, sometimes crooked waltzes and sambas, they come from a variety of angles, but are always recognizably Dim Dim. His love of Japanese and American culture, psychedelic kraut rockers and exotica, though not obviously referenced in the music, are not surprising. Kiwi, Dim Dim’s fourth album, comprises a mix of all the styles touched upon through past efforts, while also mixing some even larger pop, electronic, and futuristic easy listening elements. The CD also contains a remix by Tipsy (Asphodel) who traded mixes with Dim Dim for the new Tipsy new remix album after discovering a shared enjoyment of each other’s music.

Future Bible Heroes You Pretend To Be The Moon

Debut effort of Stephin Merritt’s side project. Featuring Chris Ewen as the evident master of synth pop.

Charlene – Ripoff

After three singles, some compilation tracks and this full length, Charlene remains one of the most underrated bands in Boston. Rumor has it, at least, that a new album is on the way…

Dykehouse – Map Reference 41 N 93 W

Ghostly International is an Ann Arbor based independent label, and Mike Dykehouse is a versatile artist with releases on GI as well as others like Planet Mu. Wire is one of the most covered bands ever, and, as we saw in this post, I take my Wire covers very seriously. This is just a breathtaking version of one of Wire’s best tunes.

Relay – Safe

Philadelphia 4-piece Relay reflect a sonic sensibility garnered from endless hours of studio tracking, tweaking and sonic experimentation. The band spins out carefully crafted dark pop–taut yet spacey, noisy yet melodic. Humming bass, shuffly drums, glitchy keyboards and dissonant, pedal-treated guitar all melt together into an iridescent sheet of sonorous reduction.

Be Your Own Pet – Bunk Trunk Skunk
– Bicycle, Bicycle, You Are My Bicycle

Wow. Too bad they broke up. This is the shit.

Seconds – Sister8MySon

DC based Seconds revive No Wave like no one else has even attempted. You must listen to every note this band plays. Fucking Brilliant. (And yes, “Fucking Brilliant” is my highest praise…a watch-word at Jukebox Heart.)

Erase Errata – Giant Hans

Erase Errata formed in 1999 and quickly earned national attention via tours with electro grrl band Le Tigre and Japanese noise rockers Melt Banana. They released their highly acclaimed debut album Other Animals in 2001, followed by At Crystal Palace in 2003, both on the Troubleman Unlimited label. After founding guitarist Sara Jaffe left Erase Errata in 2004, singer Jenny Hoyston switched to guitar and the group drafted a male vocalist named Archie McKay, a move that alienated many fans. The group eventually settled on a three-piece lineup, with Hoyston handling both guitar and vocal duties, and joined the Kill Rock Stars roster for this, their 2006 album Nightlife.

The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa – Sweet Abyss

Ecstasy of Saint Theresa is a Czech band formed in 1990 by Jan Muchow and Irna Libowitz. Early influences included Siouxsie and the Banshees, Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine, but their earlier work, presented here from the 1992 album Susurrate, is clearly closest to My Bloody Valentine – if a little less accessible. Which is a good thing… Oh yeah. Best. Band Name. Evah.

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone – Lesley Gore on the TAMI show!

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone is the musical solo-project of musician Owen Ashworth (born 1977) of Redwood City, California. He started CFTPA after he dropped out of film-school in 1997. He has toured with other similar acclaimed indie artists like The Donkeys, The Papercuts, Cass McCombs, Kill Me Tomorrow, P:ano, The Dead Science, David Bazan, The Rapture, and Xiu Xiu. His earliest works is very primitive and lo fi, but he managed to retain his charm as his production values evovlved. This is the latest EP from yet another Best. Band Name. Evah. band. Watch for a “Best. Band Name. Evah.” edition of Jukebox Heart. *wink*

Animal Collective – Prospect Hummer

Animal Collective is a New York City/Washington, D.C/Lisbon based group of avant-garde musicians from Baltimore, Maryland. Animal Collective consists of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Deakin (Josh Dibb), and Geologist (Brian Weitz). Records released under the name Animal Collective may include contributions from any or all of these members; the lineup is not uniform. The band members met in school and started recording together in various forms of collaboration from a young age. Although the band is often classified as psych folk or noise rock, it is hard to define the Animal Collective sound as they often experiment with diverse styles and ideas from album to album. The group also runs the record label Paw Tracks on which they have released their own material as well as material by artists such as Ariel Pink, Terrestrial Tones, and The Peppermints. Paw Tracks’ latest signee is Tickley Feather, with whom the band recently toured.