#0097 – IRON DJ Graduation edition: 1988

It’s IRON DJ time again! Which means that a bunch of people are going to upload themed mixes and try to compete with me! Unfortunately for them, not only do I have unbeatable taste in music, but this time around I even have the IRON DJ theme going for me: GRADUATION YEAR.

The idea is to put together a mix where the theme is the year you graduated high school.  I graduated in 1988, and there was so much good music made that year that I could have made 3 mixes that would blow your mind.

But instead I made this one.  It’s semi-autobiographical, in that for the most part, the songs are played in the order in which I discovered them.  Not all of this is music I’d have listened to back in 1988, but it’s all great.  I hope you dig the mix, and whether you do or not, leave me some feedback in the comments please!

1. Danzig – Mother
2. INXS – Devil Inside
3. Living Colour – Desperate People
4. The Church – Reptile
5. Dead Milkmen – Stuart
6. They Might Be Giants – Ana Ng
7. The Pursuit Of Happiness – I’m An Adult Now
8. Bad Religion – What Can You Do?
9. Fishbone – Bonin’ In The Boneyard
10. Jane’s Addiction – Mountain Song
11. Pixies – Gigantic
12. Fugazi – Give Me The Cure
13. Cowboy Junkies – Sweet Jane
14. The Pogues – Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six
15. The Waterboys – World Party
16. Dinosaur Jr. – Freak Scene
17. Sonic Youth – Teen Age Riot
18. Galaxie 500 – Temperature’s Rising

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Ska Talk – 08 Mar

We are talking and playing a lot of Ska today, with recent shows on our minds by Fishbone, The English Beat and The Aquabats (with Mustard Plug).

Fishbone at the House of Blues - Chicago
Fishbone at House of Blues
We are talking and playing a lot of Ska today, with recent shows on our minds by Fishbone, The English Beat and The Aquabats (with Mustard Plug).
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  • Desmond Dekker — Get Up Edina — 2:40
  • Bob Marley — Simmer Down — 2:50
  • The Ethiopians — Train to Skaville — 2:42
  • The Specials — Little Bitch — 2:34
  • Madness — One Step Beyond — 3:35
  • The English Beat — Mirror in the Bathroom — 3:10
  • The Clash — Wrong’em Boyo — 3:11
  • Fishbone — Lyin’ Ass Bitch — 4:16
  • The Toasters — Don’t Let the Bastards Grind You Down — 2:51
  • The Slackers — Dave’s Friend — 4:55
  • Mighty Mighty Bosstones — Someday I Suppose — 3:27
  • Operation Ivy (ska-core) — Sound system — 2:14
  • Hepcat — Goodbye Street (3:37)
  • MU330 – La (3:02)
  • The Pietasteres- Out All Night — 3:17
  • Mustard Plug — Mr. Smiley — 2:45
  • The Aquabats — Ska Robot Army — 2:12

#0079 – There and Back Again

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This is a chill mix.

This is not a chillout mix.

This is a journey from light to dark and light again, in the vein of last year’s mix for staring out of train windows, only this time there isn’t a train, there’s just you and the music and a dark place inside yourself.

shoegazy postmetally triphoppy doomy twangy weirdness.  It’s downtempo but it ought to keep your attention

  1. Grateful Dead – Box of Rain
  2. My Bloody Valentine – When You Sleep
  3. Massive Attack – Inertia Creeps
  4. Pink Reason – Up The Sleeve
  5. Unbunny – Let It All Burn
  6. Shawn Lee & Clutchy Hopkins – Bad Influence
  7. Dear Astronaut – Never-Ending Nosebleed
  8. Isis – In Fiction
  9. Rocky Votolato – Where We Left Off
  10. Salem – Dirt
  11. God Is An Astronaut – Suicide By Star
  12. Lou Reed – Perfect Day
  13. Sly and the Family Stone – Spaced Cowboy
  14. Fishbone – No Fear
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#0078 – Get Up to Get Down

In another first for Radio Gen1us, Jim and Aaron tag-team to bring you the most awesomest mix so far this… month! No voiceover. No explicit lyrics (or hardly recognizable). You can’t help but move to your own beat listening to this mix.

dancing-feet

In another first for Radio Gen1us, Jim and Aaron tag-team to bring you the most awesomest mix so far this… month!  No voiceover.  No explicit lyrics (or hardly recognizable).  You can’t help but move to your own beat listening to this mix.

Aaron:  We wanted to do something stemming from all the excitement and joy around the Inauguration.  And even though the times are certainly getting tight for us and everyone we know, we’re doing our best to keep spirits up.  We started each with a set of songs with the premise of being positive, but not love songs or not overly sappy songs. This was a challenge for me, because I have a certain leaning to going ironic and witty.  Fortunately, when it came time to actually get together we scrapped that.  There could easily be an entire episode with just us talking about how we collaborated on this mix, working off each other and how we generally approach putting together mixes, but this time we’re just going to make you shake your money maker.

Jim:  He should have called it “Jim and Aaron at Tanagra.”  2 playlists met in the vasty deep and their captains could only communicate in the language of music.  We didn’t have time to put together any voiceovers but the mix doesn’t need it ’cause I think if you check it out you’ll be feeling us by the end.  Like Aaron said, we started out trying to do an upbeat celebrational inaugurational mix, but the conversation ended up in other places.  Darmok, baby.  Darmok.

  1. The Beach Boys – Dance, Dance, Dance
  2. Was, Not Was – Walk the Dinosaur
  3. The Spinners – Rubberband Man
  4. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Up Around the Bend
  5. The Submarines – You, Me and the Bourgeoisie
  6. The Hold Steady – How a Resurrection Really Feels
  7. The Call – Let the Day Begin
  8. The Beastie Boys – Stand Together
  9. A Tribe Called Quest – Scenario (Young Nation Mix)
  10. Junior Senior – Move Your Feet
  11. Depeche Mode – Just Can’t Get Enough
  12. Luther Allison – You Can’t Always Get What You Want
  13. Fishbone – Everyday Sunshine
  14. Al Green – Take Me to the River
  15. Matisyahu – King Without a Crown
  16. The Pogues – Fiesta

#0076 – The Road Most Traveled

Just your basic mix of cover songs. Ska covers! Bluegrass covers! Metal covers! Punk covers!

Just your basic mix of cover songs. Ska covers! Bluegrass covers! Metal covers! Punk covers!

I know, it’s been done, but dammit it’s MY TURN.

It was brought to my attention though that on a few of these, the original songs may be less well known, so I’ve created a second mix containing the same playlist in the same order, but all original songs rather than the cover versions.

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01. Turisas – Rasputin (Boney M)
02. Van Canto – Kings of Metal (Manowar)
03. Dinosaur Jr. – Just Like Heaven (The Cure)
04. Melvins – Going Blind (KISS)
05. Apocalyptica – Welcome Home (Sanitarium) (Metallica)
06. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Puff The Magic Dragon (Peter Paul and Mary)
07. The English Beat – Tears of a Clown (Smokey Robinson and the Miracles)
08. Fishbone – Date Rape (Sublime)
09. Reel Big Fish – Hungry Like The Wolf (Duran Duran)
10. The Meat Purveyors – Round and Round (Ratt)
11. Iron Horse – Polar Opposites (Modest Mouse)
12. Lucero – Kiss The Bottle (Jawbreaker)
13. Ramones – Needles and Pins (The Searchers)
14. Seu Jorge – Five Years (David Bowie)
15. The Slackers – Wanted Dead Or Alive (Bon Jovi)
16. Five Iron Frenzy – It’s Not Unusual (Tom Jones)
17. The Urge – This Is Radio Clash (The Clash)
18. The Protomen – No Easy Way Out (Robert Tepper)

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#0054 – Last of the V8 Interceptors

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Gen1us iconNow that the world has ended, what happens next? Thanks to the miracle of MTV, we now have some answers.

I have been wanting to do an 80s mix for a while, and as I thought about those songs and that time in my life, I found that the music and the videos for the music were pretty much inseparable in my head. I don’t watch MTV anymore (and from what I hear they don’t play too many music videos anymore either) but in the 80s I did, nearly constantly. With current music, I don’t really have that video frame of reference and the music is simply music. With 80s music though, I could discuss the (sometimes questionable) merits of the music alone but it is difficult to have that discussion without the mental images associated with the music video.

Well I got to thinking about all those great videos, and the ones that kept coming back to me were videos like Duran Duran’s Wild Boys, or The Police’s Synchronicity II, with their strange post-apocalyptic Mad Max type of aesthetic. So I’ve been watching a lot of those videos on youtube and I’ve collected some of the songs for you here.

This is still only an audio podcast, but I discuss the video for each song I play and I’ll put youtube links below.

  1. Fishbone – Party at Ground Zero
  2. Duran Duran – Wild Boys
  3. Rick Springfield – Bop ‘Til You Drop
  4. The Hooters – All You Zombies
  5. Queen – Radio Gaga
  6. Styx – Mr. Roboto
  7. Art of Noise with Max Headroom – Paranoimia
  8. Billy Ocean – Loverboy
  9. King – Love and Pride
  10. Scandal featuring Patty Smyth – The Warrior
  11. Taco – Puttin’ on the Ritz
  12. The Police – Synchronicity II
  13. Peter Schilling – Major Tom
  14. Tina Turner – We Don’t Need Another Hero
  15. World Party – Ship of Fools

PS Look for my Iron DJ entry later this week!

#0047 – A More Perfect Union

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Gen1us iconBarack Obama gave a speech the other day. I was inspired to make this mix. I hope you enjoy it.

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Desmond DekkerIsraelites
  2. The MelodiansRivers of Babylon
  3. Fishbone Slow Bus Movin’ (Howard Beach Party)
  4. Living ColourFunny Vibe
  5. Billy PaulAm I Black Enough For You?
  6. James BrownSay It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)
  7. Public EnemyProphets of Rage
  8. Rage Against the MachineDown Rodeo
  9. Saul WilliamsTr(n)igger
  10. Marvin GayeWhat’s Going On?
  11. Bob MarleyRedemption Song
  12. Sly & the Family StoneEveryday People
  13. The Mighty Mighty BosstonesLet’s Face It
  14. Tracy ChapmanTalkin’ Bout a Revolution
  15. Ziggy Marley, Gipsy Kings, Tsidii Le LokaOne Love

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-7a4158138c78ddbcc61af3fe348aab01}

#0041 – Restless Leg Syndrome

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Gen1us icon“People with RLS feel uncomfortable sensations in their legs, especially when sitting or lying down, accompanied by an irresistible urge to move about.” Like they got ants in their pants and they just gotta dance? “…often described by people as burning, creeping, tugging, or like insects crawling inside the legs.” So, that’s a yes.

Am I really going to mock what I’m sure is a severely inconvenient affliction, just for a title for this post? Of course not. Well, maybe a bit.

These are the kinds of songs that interface directly with your nervous system. Prepare for a case of happy feet.

  1. Andrew Vincent and the Pirates – Bahamas
  2. Glittertind – Flaumen Gar, I Norge er Var
  3. OOIOO – uma
  4. Cloak/Dagger – JC Pays the Bills
  5. Thomas Dolby – The Key to Her Ferrari
  6. The Mountain Goats – Palmcorder Yajna
  7. The Thermals – Pillar of Salt
  8. The Slackers – Peculiar
  9. Clutch – 10,000 Witnesses
  10. Primus – Mr. Knowitall
  11. Return to Forever – Sofistifunk
  12. The Cure – Why Can’t I Be You
  13. Les Savy Fav – Dishonest Dan, Pt. 2
  14. The Dismemberment Plan – Girl O’Clock
  15. The Buzzcocks – Oh Shit
  16. Mojo Nixon – Girlfriend in a Coma
  17. Gitfiddle Jim – Paddlin’ Madeline blues
  18. The Big Bopper – Chantilly Lace
  19. Bad Brains – I Against I
  20. Fishbone – Housework

note: there’s a bit of a glitch in the Mojo Nixon track and I apologize for that. Also, I’ll work on getting my voice levels higher for the next one.