0:00:01 – 0:01:24 (Rev. talking 1 background music: The Magic Flute: Theme & Variations Op.9: II. Var.5 and Coda by Georgi Moravsky off of 66 Must-Have Spanish Guitar Masterpieces)
Sisters, brothers, those both or neither – It’s midnight :01. Today had become yesterday, and tomorrow today. I’m sure I won’t be your first welcome you to the new year, but that’s hardly a reason not to do it. I just want to quickly say that I truly hope; you, your year, and life, out there in the Land of Ears, just keeps improving over the next 365. Things back here in the Land of the Mouths have been kinda bleak the past few years. The light at the end of the tunnel is so far away it looks like a cold and distant (Reality-TV) star. Thank goodness for the; therapeutic, restorative, and inspirational, effects of music. That’s the whole purpose of our little Sanctuary of Song here. You can call me Rev. and this is Aurally Fixated.
In the spirit of celebrating the healing effects of sounds on the soul, this is Mr. Foxy Shazam, with all his flamboyant majesty turned up to 11, here to say, Welcome To The Church Of Rock And Roll.
0:01:25-0:03:27) Welcome To The Church Of Rock And Roll by Foxy Shazam off of The Church Of Rock And Roll.
0:03:28-0:06:24) Welcome Home by Twiztid off of Independents Day
0:06:25-0:07:01 (Rev. talking 2. Background music: The Eye of the Storm by Mikelangelo And The Black Sea Gentlemen off of Journey Through the Land of Shadows)
As the Twiztid gentlemen said, Welcome Home. No matter how complicate the rest of existence gets never forget we can always take shelter in the magic of music. Some tunes bring us up. Others slow us down. It’s Emotion at our fingertips. We can use different melodies to enhance or counterbalance our moods. Like medicine, or drugs. Or like tools we can use to help us create our new year. The new chapter in our lives, Our new Anthem.
0:07:02-0:09:27)My Current Anthem by Iyeoka off of Say Yes
0:09:28-0:13:15) This Year by The Mountain Goats off of The Sunset Tree
0:13:16-0:17:18) This Year by The Coup off of Sorry To Bother You
0:17:19-0:18:04) I Want Something More by Bad Religion off of No Control
0:18:05-0:20:28 (Rev. talking 3. Background music: Minuets Op.11: No.7 in A Minor – Andante by Simeon Simov off of 66 Must-Have Spanish Guitar Masterpieces)
Rev. again here to interrupt the music like a needle sliding across a record. It’s a dirty job but somebody’s got to let you know how to find and support these artists, so they can continue making reverberations that resound through the world. And since it’s my silly little brain this pirate-radio show exists in, I guess that somebody’s gotta be me. I honestly hope we’re helped to make your international hangover day a little more bearable.
We started that cluster of anthemic songs off with the amazing; artist, singer, poet, educator, activist Iyeoka – with a breathtaking piece called My Current Anthem off her Say Yes record. Then we heard the bitter-sweet baying of The Mountain Goats with their determined predictions about This Year. Which was followed by a song of the same name by The Coup from their 2012 album (Both related and unrelated to Boots’s film) Sorry To Bother You. And what just got done trembling your ear-balls was the barber-shop-quartet of the punk world, Bad Religion, who, like everyone else in this block of music, was just saying, “I Want Something More.”
Like everyone – I guess. Always wanting something more, but not exactly know what, or how to get it. Just a hazy notion that one day – in the future – we’ll be better. That tomorrow-us is a totally different person than today-us, and they’ll have it all figured out, and they’ll want to do all the things we don’t care enough to today. But then five years passes and we realize that we’re still the same person, with the same goals, just 1,825 days older. And if today-us isn’t really working towards those wants, tomorrow-us probably won’t be either. Which raises the question, are we going to start working towards them today – or admit we don’t really want it enough? And now to say something similar much lovelier, from the album Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under is guess who, with the song In My Mind.
0:20:29-0:24:39) In My Mind (feat. Brian Viglione) by Amanda Palmer off of Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under
0:24:40-0:28:17) The Perfect Plan by The Bombay Royale off of You Me Bullets Love
0:28:18-0:28:30) Life Sentence by Michael Franti & Spearhead off of Chocolate Supa Highway
0:28:31-0:31:09) Life Sentence by Dead Kennedys off of Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death
0:31:10-0:34:25) Ghost Of Corporate Future by Regina Spektor off of Soviet Kitsch
0:34:26-0:36:07 (Rev. talking 4. Background music: We Are All Fire (Intro) by cars & trains off of We Are All Fire)
I promise I’m not always this preachy, this time of year just wrings it out of me. Since I rambled so long last break, I’ll try to keep things concise this time. (But I’m not making any promises.)
We started off with Ms. Amanda Palmer singing In My Mind. Then came The Bombay Royale to tell us about The Perfect Plan from their absolutely flawless record You Me Bullets Love. Then we an itty-bitty snippet from Michael Franti & Spearhead’s album Chocolate Supa Highway called Life Sentence. We followed that with a Dead Kennedys tune about loosing a friend to the dreary existence of lifelong-servitude to bosses and business, also called Life Sentence. And in a similar vein we then heard about a gentleman who had a run-in with the Ghost Of Corporate Future and decided to make some changes in his life before it’s too late by Regina Spektor.
Yes we bounce around through many genres of emotion. It’s helps with the whole tones, and tools, and tunes thing. So I hope you have eclectic tastes, or at least an opened mind. And hopefully, during our 80 minutes or so together maybe you’ll have your musical tastes expanded a bit. Thank you for even making it this far.
Now, continuing with the whole new-year, new-you theme I think it might be time for something more… rousing. Something about Becoming. Something like Pantera.
0:36:08-0:39:11) Becoming by Pantera off of Far Beyond Driven
0:39:12-0:42:59) New Skin by Incubus off of S.C.I.E.N.C.E
0:43:00-0:45:07) Transformer by Marnie Stern off of This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That
0:45:08-0:47:33) She Ain’t a Child No More by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings off of I Learned the Hard Way
0:47:34-0:49:37 (Rev. talking 5. Background music: Riot In Thunder Alley by Eddie Beram off of Death Proof (soundtrack)
That was the tragically late, amazingly great, Sharon Jones & her Dap-Kings with She Ain’t a Child No More off her 2010 record I Learned the Hard Way.
Immediately previous to Ms. Jones was Marnie Stern from her album This Is It, and I Am It, and You Are It, and So Is That, and He Is It, and She Is It, and It Is It, and That Is That. Got it? Good. And before that we heard from Incubus with a pretty little ditty about how even after we are wounded we rebuild ourselves, sometimes stronger called, New Skin. I just really love the Richard Buckminster Fuller sample in it about how people thought the world was all they could experience with their naked senses – until we discovered the electromagnetic spectrum and realized that what we experience through our senses is less than one-millionth of our thus far discovered reality.
0:49:38-0:54:43) Brand New Day by Van Morrison off of MoonDance
0:54:44-0:56:29) Brand New Day by Neil Patrick Harris off of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.
0:56:30-0:59:59) A Glorious Dawn by Symphony of Science off of Symphony of Science
1:00:00-1:04:36) Beginning To See The Light by The Velvet Underground off of The Velvet Underground
1:04:37-1:07:05 (Rev. talking 6. Background music: A Pistol For Paddy Garcia by The Pogues off of Rum, Sodomy And The Lash)
Yes, I know, another staggeringly strange shuffled stack of songs. I ain’t mad at it though, hope you ain’t either. But, as you probably know we set it all off with Van Morrison from his MoonDance record.
And if your an odd-duck like me, I’m sure you recognized Neil Patrick Harris singing another melody called Brand New Day from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. If you haven’t seen it, it’s on YouTube and worth your time. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, your soul will grow cold, and you’ll want to take over, or destroy the world… It wasn’t just me, right?
Then came another weird one called Symphony of Science. A project by John Boswell, like a 21st century SchoolHouse Rock! Trying to spread knowledge through music. But unlike SchoolHouse Rock! he “pitch-corrected” and remixed actual scientists into his music. He made a video for A Glorious Dawn. Using the actual video he took the audio from Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking, which is pretty funny to watch these geniuses visually remixed to match the sound.
And of course we wrapped it all up Beginning To See The Light with The Velvet Underground.
Now, I’m sorry to say, this about brings an end to this edition of Aurally Fixated. But before I go, I guess I should mention that it’s “aural” the a-u-r-a-l kind. Which according to my big dictionary means “relating to the ear, or the sense of hearing.” And if you’ll let me, over the next year or so, I’d love to stretch the Aural regions of your brain a bit. Speaking of which, I guess I will leave you with a couple of songs about The Future from a couple more artist I love. Ms. Imani Coppola, from her album The Glass Wall. And of course, Mr. Leonard Cohen.
1:07:06-1:11:24) The Future by Imani Coppola off of The Glass Wall
1:11:26-1:18:17) The Future by Leonard Cohen off of Live In London.
