Disco Volante - The 2009 Devastator Jr. Awards!

Stuff these in your stockings!

To be honest, 2009 was such a great year for new music, I couldn't possibly choose just ten albums for a 'Best Of' list. So instead, this year I did something a little different. I made a mix featuring songs from some of my favorite albums, not necessarily in top ten order, only kinda sorta (Here's a hint, The Flaming Lips 'Embryonic' was my number 1,) so ultimately, you get to decide.

There's a lot of wonderful stuff I had to leave out, like Raekwon's Only Built For Cuban Linx II, Dark Was The Night, and Shafiq En'a Free's Ka, and on and on, apologies to all, but I only have so much time to fool around making arbitrary lists.

To find out which albums these songs come from and see the whole durned list in all its glory, with album artwork and more goofy comments, jump to the 2009 Devastator Jr. Awards at Rate Your Music and go hog wild-
rateyourmusic.com/list/Deva...ards_2009_

Happy New Year!


MP3: Disco Volante - The 2009 Devastator Jr. Awards (Right-Click-Save-As)
saucerkommand.blogspot.com/2009....html

1. Black Joe Lewis & The Honey Bears - Sugarfoot (3:18)2. The Flaming Lips - Silver Trembling Hands (3:58)3. Dam-Funk - Brookside Park (9:49)4. Animal Collective - No More Runnin (4:23)5. St. Vincent - Dig A Pony (The Beatles) (4:09)6. Neko Case - People Got A Lotta Nerve (2:35)7. Camera Obscura - French Navy (3:19)8. Fever Ray - Triangle Walks (4:23)9. DOOM - Gazzillion Ear (4:11)10. The Fiery Furnaces - I'm Going Away (2:27)11. Broadcast - Creation Day The Travel Flute Way (0:33)

DISCO VOLNTE - Convinced Of The Hex

For me, the bizarre career of The Flaming Lips is a perfect example of just how wrong you can be. As a music fan, I'd known about them for years, long before their seminal breakout album The Soft Bulletin, and I'd always considered them born losers. They were an ok band, pretty cool and interesting to noise fans actually, but far too weird for mainstream appeal. She Don't Use Jelly? Come on! But a friend mine was adamant that they were the best band in the world, he even bought Zaireeka, their baffling boombox experimental album that required you play its four discs in four separate players just to listen to the thing. Then in 1999 came The Soft Bulletin. Wow, that lumpy, ugly, punk rock caterpillar had somehow transformed into this gorgeous, multi-layered butterfly. And in 2002 they did it again with Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.


The 'Lips new album, Embryonic, is another instant classic. This time just dangling on the edge of accessibility, it's a masterpiece of fuzzed out psychedelia and propulsive krautrock rhythms. It's just shocking how good these guys are. I was wrong all along, and I couldn't be happier! So here's the first track off the album to start our playlist.


Also, this episode is dedicated to legendary Lower East Side poet Jim Carroll, who died this summer. His book The Basketball Diaries is the kind of thing you read as a mixed up kid in high school that changes your life forever. I know it did mine. Cheers Jim!


MP3: Disco Volante - Convinced Of The Hex (Right-Click-Save-As)
(download at saucerkommand.blogspot.com)

1. The Flaming Lips - Convinced Of The Hex (3:56)2. Deerhoof - Running Thoughts (3:47)3. Gang Starr - Manifest (4:56)4. William Onyeabor - Better Change Your Mind (8:23)5. Marianne Faithfull - Broken English (4:40)6. Ween - Back To Basom (3:46)7. Yo La Tengo - I'm On My Way (4:36)8. Nellie McKay - Gin Rummy (2:59)9. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career (4:19)10. Air - Tropical Disease (6:47)11. Joyce - Feminina (3:48)12. Jim Carroll - "A Peculiar-Looking Girl" (6:22)

DISCO VOLANTE - MUDRA

Greetings True Believers, this week's playlist is very much a trip down memory lane, most of the music being stuff I was listening to back in the '90's, with a few exceptions. And who better to head such a list than one of our absolute favorites, those Gallic titans of indie-rock, the nearly perpetual Stereolab.

Though currently on "hiatus," the Groop, as they are affectionately known by rabid fans, remain our personal superheroes around here. After almost twenty years of live performance, touring, fourteen stuido albums, and endless b-sides, compilations and rarities, I can't think of a band more fearlessly experimental, effortlessly brilliant or more deserving of a vacation. Let's hope they enjoy the time off and get back to work quick.


The baffling Mudra is exceptionally weird, even for them, and comes from the cute-as-a-button and totally awesome Dimension Mix compilation from 2005.


Enjoy!

LISTEN @ saucerkommand.blogspot.com/
MP3: Disco Volante - Mudra (Right-Click-Save-As)

1. Stereolab - Mudra (6:44) 2. Yoko Ono - O'oh (1:31) 3. Yo La Tengo - Moby Octopad (5:47) 4. The Silver Jews - Smith & Jones Forever (3:18) 5. Lush - De-Luxe (3:31) 6. Vivian Girls - Where Do You Run To? (3:14) 7. Pavement - Shoot The Singer (1 Sick Verse) (3:15) 8. Swervedriver - Rave Down (5:06) 9. Cornelius - New Music Machine (3:52) 10. Cornershop - Free Love (5:37) 11. De La Soul - Long Island Degrees (3:29) 12. Wu-Tang Clan - Tearz (4:17) 13. Talking Heads - Sax and Violins (5:18) 14. Harry Nilsson - Put the Lime in the Coconut (3:51)

Disco Volante - If Not Now, When?

saucerkommand.blogspot.com/

Welcome back, true believers! I hope you all had a wonderful summer full of trees, parks, picnics, skinny-dipping, beenie weenie, staring at your cousins cut-offs and lemonade. But now that it's back to school time, I hope to get back to a weekly schedule here, bringing you the newest in old music for your listening enjoyment, so stay tuned.

This week's headliners are those fun-loving gals from Brighton, England, formerly known as Electrelane. While not exactly jazz rock, their sound still reminds me, in some rudimentary way, of the music of Charles Mingus, the way it careens wildly from structured elegance to barley controlled chaos, often within the same song. Though originally an entirely instrumental band, the 2004, Steve Albini produced record The Power Out added vocals to varied and startling effect, especially on tracks like gorgeous gregorian chanted The Valleys. Sadly, for mysterious reasons known only to them, the band went on indefinite hiatus in 2007, after releasing the excellent No Shouts, No Calls record, from which we take our opening song...

MP3: Disco Volante - If Not Now, When? (Right-Click-Save-As)
saucerkommand.blogspot.com/

1. Electrelane - If Not Now When? (5:47)2. The Kinks - Lazy Old Sun (2:48)3. Sun Ra - Friendly Galaxy (2:17)4. Boards of Canada - Aquarius (5:57)5. Mike Ladd - Off To Mars? (4:25)6. De La Soul - Transmitting Live From Mars (1:12)7. The Sexual Life of the Savages - Fellini - Zum Zum Zazoeira (5:35)8. Lambchop - I Can Hardly Spell My Name (3:24)9. Calexico - Alone Again or (3:25)10. The Free Design - Umbrellas (Peanut Butter Wolf Mix) (3:56)11. Stereolab & Brigitte Fontaine - Caliméro (6:25)12. The U.M.C's - It's Gonna Last (3:56)13. Ken Nordine - You're Getting Better (2:07)

Disco Volante - Counting Backwards

Disco Volante - Counting Backwards
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Isn't that just the coolest picture you've ever seen?

In 1981, at the grand age of 15, stepsisters Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly formed what would become one of the most influential bands in the Boston Alternative Rock scene, the Throwing Muses. Joined by bassist Leslie Langston and drummer Dave Narcizo, the group released a singles and an EP, before the mind shattering self-titled debut full length, also known as "The Green" album. With Hersh serving as primary song-writer, crafting brilliantly demented blue-grass tinged punk rock , with Donelly's angelic harmonies and pop hooks as a counterpoint, the band's music was as bold, chaotic and revelatory as anything being done by their Boston contemporaries like the Pixies or Dinosaur Jr.

The group went on to release a series of amazing albums, but after 1991's excellent The Real Ramona, Donelly split to co-found The Breeders with Pixie Kim Deal, and later went on to achieve MTV Buzz Clip success with a new band, Belly's and their hit single Feed The Tree. Hersh kept on trucking, reforming the Muses as a power trio for 1992's Red Heaven, with Bernard Georges replacing Leslie Langston on bass.

In 1994 Hersh launched a solo career featuring a gentler, acoustic side on the haunting Hips And Makers album. These days she continues to rock out with her new surf punk band, 50 Ft Wave, occasionally resurrecting Throwing Muses in trio form, and Donnelly also enjoys a critically acclaimed solo-career, (Robyn Hitchcock's a big fan.)

But Counting Backwards is the group at the height of their powers, so check out these criminally under-rated alt-rock giants on this week's Podcast.

MP3: Disco Volante – Counting Backwards (Right-click-Save-As)
saucerkommand.blogspot.com/

1. Throwing Muses - Counting Backwards (3:15) 2. Al Stewart - Turn to Earth (2:53) 3. Stereolab - One Finger Symphony (2:05) 4. Funkadelic - Cosmic Slop (5:20) 5. Tortoise - A Simple Way to Go Faster Than Light That Does Not Work (3:34) 6. Peter Gabriel - Digging In The Dirt (5:16) 7. David Bowie - Right (4:21) 8. Ed Dorn - There's Only One Natural Death and Even That's Bedcide (2:59)9. Komeda - Focus (3:38) 10. Animal Collective - My Girls (5:40) 11. Caetano Veloso - Nine Out of Ten (4:57) 12. Interpol - The New (6:07) 13. The Sundays - Joy (4:10)

DISCO VOLANTE - BODY ROCK

DISCO VOLANTE - Body Rock
saucerkommand.blogspot.com/

I have a friend who grew up in Brooklyn in the late 1990’s, back when Mos Def was just a neighborhood MC, and he remembers the hype being almost deafening. He was the next big thing, all anybody could talk about. And it would be hard for any hip hop fan to deny his talent after listening to his 1998 collaboration with Talib Kweli, Black Star, an instant classic. Whether or not he’s lived up to his potential is debatable. After that first (and so far only) Black Star album, he released an excellent solo LP, Black On Both Sides, but his subsequent releases, The New Danger and True Magic haven’t quite lived up to the standards of the first.

These days it seems like Mos is more interested in acting than rapping, after several appearances on The Chappelle Show, an Emmy nomination for Something The Lord Made Me, and co-starring as Ford Prefect in The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. I even saw him on an episode of House on Monday!

But I’m really excited for his upcoming The Ecstatic, (mostly because of this Youtube video which shows Mos rattling off MF Doom rhymes, he’s a true hip hop fan!)

On this week’s opening track from the 1998 Lyricist Lounge compilation, Mos is joined by Q-tip and Tash from the Alkoholics for a really fun song, Body Rock, which features Mos at his early, laid back best.

Excelsior!

MP3: DISCO VOLANTE – Body Rock (right click "save as")
saucerkommand.blogspot.com/

1. Mos Def - Body Rock [feat. Q-Tip & Tash] (5:11) 2. Tom Waits - Way Down in the Hole (1:44) 3. Animal Collective - Leaf House (2:42) 4. Savath & Savalas - Apnea Obstructiva (4:55) 5. Nouvelle Vague - This Is Not A Love Song (3:47) 6. Cornelius - Brazil (3:27) 7. Komeda - Focus (3:38) 8. Jack Logan - Shrunken Head (2:54) 9. Pavement - Black Out (2:10) 10. Shuggie Otis - Inspiration Information (4:12) 11. Jaga Jazzist - Soumi Finland (7:28) 12. Jaga Jazzist - Real Racers Have Doors (3:32) 13. Majesticons - Parlour Party (3:18) 14. John Lennon - #9 Dream (4:48) 15. The Tragically Hip - Eldorado (3:47)

DISCO VOLANTE - Alone Together

In the mid 1990's, dj/producer/instrumentalist Yuka Honda was one half of the Manhattan J-pop phenomena Cibo Matto, a more than slightly twisted but cute as a button hip hop band whose wildly eclectic debut album, Viva La Woman! was an instant classic, one of the best examples of layered sampling I can think of, and a used cd bin glittering gem (like Last Splash or Elastica.)

Since the band split up in 2001, Yuka has worked on remix projects with everyone from Yoko Ono to Medeski, Martin & Wood, and released two fantasticsolo albums of elegant, organic-sounding electronica. I love her song titles, like "Why Are You Lying to Your Therapist?" and "Spooning with Jackknife".

Here she reunites with former bandmate, Miho Hatori, herself enjoying a promising solo career, and former that dog violinist/vocalist Petra Haden, whose acapella version of The Who Sell Out has to be heard to be believed.

MP3: DISCO VOLANTE: Alone Together (right-click-save-as)
saucerkommand.blogspot.com/

1. Yuka Honda - Humming Song (Alone Together) (3:44)2. M.I.A. - MIA's Thing (MIA vs Amerie-Carrasco! mash-up) (4:25)3. Public Image Ltd. - Seattle (3:41)4. Public Enemy - Don't Believe The Hype (5:19)5. The Sea and Cake - Sound & Vision (4:06)6. Joan As Police Woman - Eternal Flame (3:39)7. Devendra Banhart - Mama Wolf (3:54)8. Destroyer - The Sublimation Hour (4:12)9. Cornershop - Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu (3:23)10. The Fall - Arid Al's Dream (4:48)11. CAN - I'm So Green (3:07)12. Camp Lo - Luchini (This Is It) (3:59)13. Stereolab - Household Names (3:42)14. Kate Bush - There Goes A Tenner (3:26)

DISCO VOLANTE - Bird's Lament

DISCO VOLANTE - Bird's Lament
saucerkommand.blogspot.com/

Greetings, True Belivers.


How do you measure success? Is it by the size of the checks you cash? The number of gold records you sell or Grammy's you win? What constitutes a successful life? By all the usual standards, Louis Thomas Hardin wasn't much of a success, blind, living on the streets, toiling in obscurity for an often unappreciative and mocking public. But to many, the man who called himself Moondog was a rare, if eccentric genius, and lived a remarkable life.


For nearly 30 years, "The Viking of 6th Avenue," was a well known landmark of 53rd Street, Manhattan. Dressed in his handmade costume based on the Norse god Thor, complete with helmet, spear and flowing white beard, Moondog would recite poetry and play music for any and all who'd listen, often using strange instruments of his own design. He recorded many albums through the years, and was championed by no less personages than Artur Rodziński, the conductor of New York Philharmonic . But he refused to give up his life on the streets, until moving to Germany in the 70's.


The first song on this week's playlist, Bird's Lament, is Moondog's tribute to jazz musician Charlie Parker, and a great introduction the music of Moondog, it's worth seeking out.

MP3: Disco Volante – Bird’s Lament (right-click-save-as)
saucerkommand.blogspot.com/

1. Moondog - Lament I (Bird's Lament) (1:43)2. Pram - Silver Nitrate (4:30)3. Boogie Down Productions - Im Still Number 1 (5:13)4. Erykah Badu - Erykah's Creamy Shower (Bruce Wang Creamshower Mash Up) (3:42)5. Pete Rock & Cl Smooth - Wig Out (4:07)6. Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent things (2:55)7. Dengue Fever - Sober Driver (4:05)8. White Hinterland - Dreaming of the Plum Trees (4:52)9. Stereolab - Pack Yr Romantic Mind (5:06)10. M83 - Kim & Jessie (5:23)11. R.E.M. - The One I Love (3:17)12. Cat Power - Ramblin' (Wo)Man (3:47)13. A Tribe Called Quest - Footprints (4:02)

DISCO VOLANTE - Uncorrected Personality Traits

DISCO VOLANTE - Uncorrected Personality Traits
saucerkommand.blogspot.com/

Greetings True Believers,

This week I'm cheating a little bit. I made this playlist for an internet friend a couple of years ago, but I like it so much I'm posting it again here. I find it amazing that I have internet friends, people I’ve never met in real life, that I’ve known for ten years or more now. Wow! But, to be honest, I'm feeling more than a little bit of information fatigue, and am considering dropping Off-line and limiting my interweb activities to this blog and whatever is absolutely necessary. Sorry netpals, but there’s a whole world out there, full of trees and food and girls! Wish me luck!

I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way, and it’ll be interesting to see what happens as some of the first generation of web-users, bleary-eyed and mind-boggled, start to drop off and step out into the real world.

As to the man who heads today's bill, what is there to say about the legendary Robyn Hitchcock? Is it enough to recall how his band The Soft Boys fused punk rock attitude with dark humor and swirling psychedelia to create one of pop music’s truly original sounds, influencing bands like R.E.M. and Pavement? Is it enough to say he is often called "The Fifth Beatle", not because he ever played with the Fab Four, but because of his seemingly effortless mastery of songcraft and irrepressible Britishness? Is it enough to say that the 1998 performance film directed by Jonathan Demme, Storefront Hitchcock, is a perfect introduction to the curious initiate to Hitchcock's wonderfully twisted world? Is it enough to say that Robyn Hitchcock is simply one of the pre-immanent living singer/song-writers of the rock and roll idiom on this or any other planet? Yes, I think it is, except to add that the little a cappella gem that heads our playlist this week, while not particularly representative of the rest of his catalog, certainly offers a healthy dose of his wit and charm.

Enjoy!

MP3: Disco Volante – Uncorrected Personality Traits
saucerkommand.blogspot.com/

1. Robyn Hitchcock - Uncorrected Personality Traits (1:46) 2. The Spencer Davis Group - I'm A Man (2:51) 3. Gang Of Four - Call Me Up (3:33) 4. Broken Social Scene - Stars & Sons (5:09) 5. Cocteau Twins - Pitch The Baby (3:17) 6. Beck - Cold Ass Fashion (4:08) 7. Count Bass-D - Real Music Vs. Bull$#!+ (1:29) 8. MF Doom - Potholderz Feat. Count Bass D (3:20) 9. Common - Real People (2:48) 10. Erykah Badu - Appletree (4:25) 11. Gil Scott-Heron - I Think I'll Call It Morning (3:32) 12. The Jayhawks - Madman (4:04) 13. Stereolab - Velvet Water (4:25) 14. M.I.A. - Sunpowers (The Mophono Bruce Wang - Mash Up) (5:01) 15. Brazilian Girls - Don't Stop (3:51) 16. Ellen Allien & Apparat - Way Out (3:43) 17. The Zombies - Whenever You're Ready (2:46)

Disco Volante - Uptown Top Ranking

Greetings True Believers,

Welcome to our special Valentine’s Day show! Our opener, the delicious lollipop reggae classic, “Uptown Top Ranking” by teenaged duo Althea & Donna was a number one UK hit in 1978, championed by none other than BBC-1 hit maker John Peel. Their fantastic debut album of the same name, was produced by the legendary Karl Pitterson of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh fame and featured instrumentation by reggae giants Sly & Robbie. I must confess, it was the cover version by indie singer Scout Niblett that introduced me to the song, but after seeking out the original, there’s no doubt who is the real uptown top-ranking. And check out this awesome performance by Althea and Donna on Youtube - www.youtube.com/watch
Outta sight!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

MP3: Disco Volante – Uptown Top Ranking
saucerkommand.blogspot.com/

1. Althea and Donna - Uptown Top Ranking (3:52) 2. Cibo Matto - King of Silence (Dan The Automator Remix) (4:59) 3. Santogold vs Diplo - I'm a Lady (Diplo Mix ft Amanda Blank) (2:40) 4. Frank Zappa - How Could I Be Such a Fool (2:13) 5. Lily Allen - Straight To Hell (5:28) 6. Three Times Dope - Funky Dividends (4:19) 7. Charles Mingus - Duke Ellington's Sound of Love (4:15) 8. Electrelane - Birds (3:53) 9. Arab Strap - Here We Go (5:03) 10. The Bird and the Bee - Fucking Boyfriend (3:15) 11. AIR - Alpha Beta Gaga (4:41) 12. Dusty Trails - Dusty Trails Theme (3:19) 13. Kostars - French Kiss (2:47)