Playlist for
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
March 28, 2008

Hosted by Greg Lyon on FRIDAYS at 2-4 pm
on WPVM Asheville (103.5 FM and www.wpvm.org)

This show is available for listening as an archive for one week after its airing at WPVM’s Archive Page (click on the STREAM button for this show–under the letter ‘G’)

Notes:

– The DUTCH, baby! Today’s show featured a set of Dutch music, the first half of which was 60s/70s Nederbeat (Outsiders) and acid rock (Group 1850 and Brainbox), while the second half was Dutch punk rock (The Ex, Ivy Green, and BGK). For info on the first half, you can visit the Nederpop Encyclopedia. There’s also a nice article from the e-zine Perfect Sound Forever on the Outsiders, "The Most Underrated Band Ever?". Ivy Green was the greatest of the first-wave Dutch punk bands, and it’s still impossible to get their early music, as far as I know. There was a CD reissue of their 1978 classic debut, but it’s out of print, as is the 1986 double-vinyl collection, Whatever They Hype. More info on Ivy Green here. One day I may have to do an entire Dutch show. I felt like I owed them after playing so much German and Scandinavian music over the last few months, particularly when Justin sits in and brings tons of Finnish forest folk and Swedish noise.

– Exciting new music of the week: I really like the new Nick Cave, at least the first time I listened to it. It seems that Cave has found a new lust for life–a renaissance, if you will (perhaps Viagra induced, as suggested by Justin)–in the last couple of years, as this album continues the irreverent and downright fun mood of his Grinderman release.

– The Raveonettes and their wall of noise appeared on David Letterman this week, and although I never watch that show, I was flipping channels when it was on. I’ve never paid any attention to this Danish duo, but I was mightily impressed by their massive wall of noise. And the strange thing was: Letterman seemed to like it! The song was good–very Jesus and Mary Chain. So in honor of their uncompromising appearance on Letterman, I played the song on this here show. Yup.

– Justin brought in the Peter Laughner recording, taped from a September 1972 radio appearance on WMMS, Cleveland’s Coffeebreak Concert series. We went with Laughner’s cover of "Willin’," a song written by George Lowell of Little Feat. Laughner was evidently doin’ mostly country/folk/blues music at the time, as the band with him in the studio was called The Original Wolverines. You can find out more about this recording by going to the Handsome Productions website. There’s a lot of info there about Laughner, one of the prime movers in the Cleveland rock scene (member of Rocket from the Tombs and the early Pere Ubu) before he died in 1977 at the far-too-young age of 24.

– Other Justin picks: the Nonesuch Explorer Series LP, Ladakh: Songs & Dances from the Highlands of Western Tibet, which was lovely and surprisingly poppy (I was expecting throat singing or something truly weird); the Kemialliset Ystävät 7-inch (Finnish forest folk); the hilarious and groovy "Smokin’ Cheeba Cheeba" by the Harlem Underground Band; and the utterly thunderous rendition of "Sunshine of Your Love" from the Steel Funk steel drum compilation. Shaina contributed the far more subtly excellent Swedish folk stomp by the band Swåp.

Background Music: Gabor Szabo – His Great Hits (Impulse!)

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