Mac Review Cast

Tonight from 7PM to 9PM on Cause & Effect all four members of Cave In have come together to create the ultimate 2 hour playlist that reflects all of their their influences as a band from their earliest years until now. You can stream the show live at WRIR or tune in the old fashioned way on your radio in Richmond, VA at 97.3FM on your dial.

My obsession with the band oddly enough came from a track they had on the Bad Brains tribute album called Never Give In. Their rendition of I Luv I Jah struck me as the most bonkers epic take on the reggae song.







I had previously misjudged Cave In to be just some metalcore band and while they were rooted in that, by the late '90s they were already exploring new sonic directions of prog and psych rock too. A mutual friend at Jade Tree Records connected me with singer/guitar player Stephen Brodsky and thus began our pen pal friendship where we talked about our joint worship of bands like Failure and Giants Chair. We met in person (along with the rest of the band) that same year in 1999 when Cave In played with Neurosis in NYC. My friendship with the entire band (but still mainly Stephen) spiraled out from there. I have known them during their various career phases; packing tiny clubs all the way to playing arenas and back again. There was a major label stint, lawyer woes, van disasters, a lost band members in a foreign country, injuries, three years off and all the various musical projects that blossomed from there (including one with me as Ringfinger), weddings, children, and general growing up and older going ons. This makes Cave In more than just a band to me, there are so many memories attached to them, so many places and people I associate them to. It is nearly impossible to summarize the meaning of them to me in just a blog post so needless to say tonight's radio show carries a great deal of personal attachment and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to share my passion for them tonight.

Twelve years later here I am with the opportunity to celebrate their  diverse influences and their equally eclectic back catalog of material for my radio show. Stephen, Adam, Caleb, and J.R. have worked together to dig up the songs that have inspired them in their lifetime as well as each one of them picking their favorite Cave In and favorite off-shoot band song. Usually when a band picks the playlist for my show really one member steps up to the plate and tackles it but not this time.What I have always loved about this band is how all four members seem to collaborate and work so well together on and off the stage and tonight's show is another example of their ability to come together and make something interesting happening.

The same thing can be said of Cave In's newest release on Hydra Head too; White Silence. After nearly 15 years of being a ridiculously talented band, to me this album is a nod to their early roots in hardcore and their younger years yet played through the hands of men who have sharpened their skills to a master level. I think you can tell musically when a band is truly a unit and all the members are truly working with each other and this is something Cave In does exceptionally well as longtime friends and as fellow band members. Tonight's radio show doesn't just honor their music, it is a direct reflection of how remarkably well these guys work together and know each other.

DOWNLOAD TONIGHT'S SHOW IN FULL AND READ THE BAND'S NOTES HERE. 




Santos! He was one of the band's roadies that night but you may also know him from such bands as Old Man Gloom.



I believe this 200 CMJ showcase included Teddy Leo, hence this photo. Bug eyed Steve appears in oh so many photos but I especially love his t shirt - a Brodsky favorite. 

Is it just me or is Bjork looking skinnier than ever here? Or maybe the trick to looking thin is placing a bright colored afro the size of a small planet on your head.

Check out this 1979 video about the crumbling state of the music industry and thanks to TZA for the tip!

Il Abanico from Columbia are magical and there is a free record to be had!

From Eye Magazine.

With swinging theme songs.










Annoying that the embedded link had been disabled - but here is Wonder Woman's link. The first season has the best theme.

Women's Lib in comics article can be found here.

I realize that this is old news for Anglophiles but I am rather enjoying this 2008 release from the Rascals called Rascalize. Apparently they have split up already but it is a great '60s influenced dark garage mod record.

From their press release:
"UK Britpopster Miles Kane -formerly of the short-lived The Little Flames is perhaps more famous for his role in The Last Shadow Puppets with Arctic Monkey Alex Turner. Rascalize sees the band play a brand of raucous British Indie Rock inspired by the sounds of the '60s as well as contemporaries such as Arctic Monkeys, The Coral and The Zutons. 

Because of this man I might not give up on hip hop completely. Dels new record Gob gives me great hope.

Missed the radio show last night? Download the whole thing here. A huge thank you to the band for helping me pull off one of the most complex shows (timing / organizing wise) and making the whole night run as smooth as glass.

Tune in tonight to WRIR ( 97.3 fm for locals) from 7pm to 9pm to hear Richmond band Long Arms live on the air. They will be performing two short sets during the show PLUS each of the 6 band members have picked three songs that have inspired them to play music to create mini Cause & Effect sets. I have never had a band live on Cause & Effect so this is an exciting first for me!

Tonight's radio show is timed to celebrate two things. Long Arms has a brand new split single coming out featuring their song "Crazy Bet" and their record release party is happening this Saturday at the Camel. For details about this show, go here. 

See the listening party invite for tonight's radio show here.
Check out the band's Facebook page here.

PS: I sang a duet on their debut record and we will be performing that song on air tonight. I have never sung at the station on air so this will be a fun first for me tonight too. I don't sing live much these days so it will be an extra fun change of pace for me too.

This is a Panasonic advert from 1968.

Unemployment, war, equal rights, mother nature's wrath...it all just melts away when you hear songs about how kites are fun or feeling groovy, right? Let's wash away the world's woes and ring in the Summer season with tight vocal harmonies and cheery tempos. Tonight on WRIR from 7pm to 9pm I will be playing the audio equivalent of Valium, a genre of music from the '60s called Sunshine Pop and all its many tentacles of off-shoot genres including bubblegum Pop, lite-psych, surf, Tropicalia,soft Rock,and raga Rock. And even though this music was consider for squares during a time when all the cool musicians were dropping their acoustic guitars, going electric, and getting political - our generation's hip music underground has embraced Sunshine Pop and are offering a whole new spin on the sound. You can listen to the show locally on 97.3 FM on your dial here in RVA or stream the show live at www.wrir.org.




I will be posting a link to the set once the show is over here too if you can't enjoy the show in real time.

Follow me on facebook here.

Here is a link to tonight's show in download form. 

Phurpa = monastic choir from Moscow who perform ancient Tibeto-Burmanese influenced music AKA an exploration in sonic grimness now in LP form thanks to a little help from Stephen O'Malley of Sunn O))). At last music for those who wish Lurch from the Adam's Family had put out a solo record influenced by the Far East!

Eye Magazine image from April 1968 taken by Tim Page.

People ask me all the time what the hell is that a tattoo of on my arm. Is it Star Wars related? Is it a tribute to Voivod? A copy of some modern art thing-a-ma-jig? None of the above. My first husband was into circuit bending toy keyboards and he had a handful of catalogs / printed matter relating to electrical systems floating around our home. The cover of Motorola's 1977 Hep Program Semiconductor Gross Reference Guide and Catalog always fascinated me and eventually bits from the cover made it onto my arm in the form of a tattoo. I still know next to nothing about electronics but visually I am still really inspired but the guts of anything than runs on electricity.




And the one and only person to ever guess what was on my arm also happened to be an electrician.

I just found this other catalog cover from 1975 on line - also pretty darn cool.

This just keeps my crush on Canada growing.

"Designer Ying Gao is showing three series of "intelligent" garments which move and change in response to sound, motion or light in Quebec City this summer."











And then the Skin series from Philips Design.

More about Ellen here.

I don't talk much about my small record label Little Black Cloud often here nor do I talk up the releases much on this blog but every once in a while something so huge happens that I feel it is important to write about it here too.

I recently released Runhild's solo album Amplicon on LP in two forms (complex packaging / simple packaging) and NPR has been kind enough to giver her a feature on the main page of their music site. You can download one of her songs and read an interview with her here.

I would also like to take a minute to thank Runhild for making tremendously brave music and Talia Miller for doing one hell of a PR job. I feel so inspired by the women in my life!