We Heart Music

WHM056: Welsh Britpop Bands

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:45:00 +0000

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BRITPOPCAST #3: WELSH BRITPOP BANDS
This show was recorded on Saturday morning at 12.30am with Sally. I was half tired and half unprepared... but lots of fun on this episode about Welsh Britpop bands.

Welsh bands we focused on: Super Furry Animals, Manic Street Preachers, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Catatonia, Stereophonics, and 60ft Dolls.

The second part, which is more like a post script is that Sally will be DJing Jarvis Cocker/Pulp music for an hour on December 5th in anticipation and celebration of Cocker touring in Australia around that date. Come stalk her in Sydney, more details on britpop.com.au.

Below is the interview Sal did with singer Gruff Rhys from SFA, originally pubished in Kill the Cod fanzine.

KILL THE COD INTERVIEWS GRUFF RHYS

Whilst attending a smashing concert at Newcastle Uni (25th.Feb), i managed, as well as being able to watch three of my favourite bands (Lavish, Super Furry Animals and Custard), i was able to have a chat to a Mr Gruff Rhys, the lead singer of the Super Furries. So here is the story of that night....................................................................................*sally*

What's the deal with all the Welsh bands that have been touring Australia lately?
It's really funny, you know, we used to share the same amps as Catatonia and we shared drummers, we've known members of Catatonia since I was...you know...

So you lived near them?
ah...Catatonia are from North Wales and we're from South Wales...your in bands for years playing along and it's...so surreal, you know...we'll be playing in Melbourne the same night as Catatonia and we'll probably meet up with them after...and I saw them in a pub in Cardiff before coming over...

So it's just coincidence that you, Catatonia and the Manic Street Preachers have all decided to tour Australia at the same time?
Yeah...cos Wales is a small place...you bump into everyone and you meet everyone...the music is quite different...you know? Everyone does their own thing, so no one is in competition with each other...it's great you know...to meet up in exotic locations

How do you like playing with Lavish and, tonight, Custard?
well...I haven't heard Custard and I hadn't heard Lavish until last week

How do you feel about not being the headlining band tonight (Newcastle Uni)?
That's fine...yeah...I mean we've never played in Australia before and no one's heard of us practically...you know..we sort of have just started out in Australia, so it's great to be number 1 and number 2...it's good to have an audience...I don't care about headlining...you know, I think that's secondary to the music true true...

So how did the Super Furry Animals form?
ahh...we started recording in Dafydd's house about five years ago (points to Dafydd)...this doesn't translate on tape..um..that short guy with the brown shirt..um..we had a home studio..we spent a few years writing songs and before that me and Dafydd were in a band called Ffa Coffi Pawb, Guto and Bunf were in a band, and Cian had his own band and Cian is Dafydd's brother so he used to hang out with us...and by this time me Cian and Dafydd had moved down from North Wales to Cardiff and we knew Bunt and Guto from the days in Ffa Coffi Pawb, we were all in Welsh punk rock bands you know..then we spent two years in the house writing songs and playing around and um...then we decided to start playing live...we did a few gigs and then we got together to release a single on a label called Ankst and so it's one of those freaky things...we'd played about two gigs and we sent a copy to the NME or something and we got a slot in a pub in London and about 10 journalists came to see us and wrote rave reviews...we went to London again the week after and played in another pub and there was about 40 record companies and they all wanted a piece and...it was really strange and easy and then we did an album for Creation...we've been in bands for 10 years making music and suddenly you get offered this chance to record the albums of your dreams you know..and come to places like Australia to play

Are you enjoying Australia?
Yeah...I didn't know what to expect at all and it's a good place and um...i'm looking forward to coming back...yeah I want to come back

I don't know if you've ever been asked this but...i've got a game called Actua Soccer at home..
..oh yeah...

and I notice a SFA team with you running around the field...so how did you get into that?
well...we were making a video and we didn't have many pictures and we wanted to walk into the screen and change into football players and so we got in contact with these people and they did it free for us and...but they fucked up cos..we selected a team of all our heros..um...we had..i think Che Guevara was in goal, Nelson Mandella on the wing..i think Lou Reed was in the team and...Fidel Castro and...Frank Zappa on the wing, etcetera, etcetera and the five of us...apparently they've put like..Stalin and Ghengis Khan on the team and it's horrible cos they lost the piece of paper we sent them so they put all these wankers in, you know...it's really bad...so we're all embarrassed it's still an alright game though I prefer Fifa 98

yeah...me too... What football teams do you support?
Bangor City...their in the league of Wales............ah a bug (on the ground).........yeah..i support Bangor City in the league of Wales and I support Cardiff City who are in the third division of the English league even though it's a Welsh team...um...I support Barcelona and Bilbao in the Spanish league...who do you support?

I support Arsenal and it's not just because they won the FA cup and that, I had been supporting them for years, so don't get any ideas
o.k....i know some Arsenal fans

What is your favourite telly show ever?
well...Calimero...it's like a Czech cartoon. Calimero is a little black chicken with half a shell on its head and um...I did have a photo of him (searches his pocket and wallet)...he's like the only black chicken in a family of yellow chickens and it gets translated into Welsh so we used to watch it in Welsh on Welsh TV and i've met Japanese people...it's been translated into Japanese and Italian and in Scotland it's in English with an Italian accent so Calimero's catch phrase is "It's an injustice" (in an Italian accent) and um..in Welsh it's (Welsh words-sorry ) which is "there's no flavour to life"..it's this depressed chicken..it's a cartoon for kids but, you know...Calimero...god guy..one of the greats

How do you Kill the Cod?
Are you an active fisher?

it's actually out of the Goodies
Ah yeah...i saw a band a few weeks ago and they've got Graeme Garden's son on keyboards...he's got the same smile...that's quite amazing..i don't'know if I endorse killing cod..so maybe we should let it swim..you know.
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WHM055: Paul McCartney Interview by Colin Richardson

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:05:00 +0000

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Please enjoy this special episode of We Heart Music Radio as Sally & I figure out the best way to handle our ever-busy schedule.

This week, we were sent a 20-minute recording of Sir Paul McCartney as he talked about his post-Wings album, McCartney II (originally called On His Own). Special thanks to Colin Richardson and HOBO - Coventry Music Magazine for putting this together.

Richardson writes:In May 1980, towards the end of my "journalist" days, I got an invite to the EMI press reception for Paul McCartney's solo album, "On his own", at Abbey Road studios. I was one of about 100 scribes from all parts of the globe and the set up was very efficient...15 or so oblong tables, each with 8 chairs and the plan was that Paul would move from table to table, spending exactly 20 minutes at each. I managed to get one of the end chairs, thus ensuring that I would be facing the star when he sat down...yes, I was that pushy! When our turn came, I opened the session with what I hoped was some humorous banter, thus getting Paul's attention for when the real questions started. It seems to have worked, since I managed to ask the majority of them....hey, all's fair in love, war and journalism! Well, take a listen...and please don't judge too harshly! I was just 'doing my job!' From the interview, it was quite interesting to hear about McCartney's Japan problem, first with his midly-offensive title, "Frozen Jap" song, and then his apology for the whole country when their tour got canceled (due to his arrest for marijuana in Tokyo circa January 1980).

It was revealed later through a BBC article, in McCartney's own words:I was out in New York and I had all this really good grass. We were about to fly to Japan and I knew I wouldn't be able to get anything to smoke over there. This stuff was too good to flush down the toilet, so I thought I'd take it with me.McCartney spent ten days in jail, then deported from the country. Of course, these kind of stories doesn't surprise me. I mean, just look at some of the Beatles songs, like "Day Tripper", "Strawberry Fields Forever", and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".

Still, despite the Japanese problems, McCartney II, went straight to #1 in the UK and #3 in the US charts.
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WHM054: Britpopcast2: Space

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:37:00 +0000

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Britpopcast #2: Space

Space was a short-lived band from Liverpool. The most interesting thing about the band is that singer, Tommy sounds like he's trying to be Mexican. You can hear it in the way he rolls his "R"s.

Riding the wave of Britpop, the band found themselves with a hit song, "Female of the Species". While many of their contemporaries was singing songs about being oh-so-British and parklife, Space never really fitted in with that style of writing. Instead, they sound like they were huge film buffs, particularly of Quentin Taranino and Repo Man (1984) (they used samples from this film on several of their songs, including "Neighbourhood" and "Kill Me").

They were also a bit cheesy, you never really took Space too seriously - especially because of their undying love of Tom Jones. "The Ballad of Tom Jones" with Cerys Matthews (Catatonia), was their tribute to the man. They later recorded a song with Tom Jones for his 34th album, Reload.

They sort of broke up in 2001, and came back with their third and final album, Suburban Rock 'N' Roll, in 2004. Unfortunately, the album did terrible on the charts, and without a proper record label, they had absolutely no promotional. Without a record deal, the band finally broke up permanently in 2005.

I don't have their final album, but their first two, Spiders and Tin Planet, are fantastic. If you are looking to get an album, be on the lookout for the 2-disc US edition of Spiders. The second disc is basically the single for Female of the Species.

WHM053: Britpopcast1

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 04:27:00 +0000

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This is the first of the crappy-named Britpopcast, the idea being that we'll discuss about various Britpop bands from the short-lived movement that was so inspirational to us. Sally, Kristen, and I, we all consider ourselves to be a pretty hardcore Britpop fan, owning, tracking, obsessing over various bands from that time period.

The structure I wanted to keep this: 1. The origin and definition of what Britpop was. 2. It's ultimate demise, our theories on why it went away. 3. Survivors of Britpop, bands that are still around today, including Blur, Radiohead, Oasis, etc. We ended with what song would best sum up what Britpop was. While we had a two-to-one Blur vote, I do think that Kristen's suggestion of "Common People" made a lot of sense.

While I would admit that based on repeated playing of this song, that I've gotten sick of it, it's hard to ignore that the song is a really great song. It's about meeting a rich student, and in typical Jarvis Cocker-reality/vengeful lyrics, tells the student that basically she would never understand what's it is like to be living in poverty like himself, like common people.

The song was king at the time of its release in 1995, and remain to be the band's most popular song. I'm pretty sure the song's been covered a few times, these are two popular ones: William Shatner and Libitina.

The actual show length is about 30 minutes, but I liked all the random topics, that I kept some of them in the first portion. If you like that randomness, stay after the "Common People" and you will be treated to some These Animal Men, Powder, Lush, and Salad. I'm sure none of these bands will be played at Sydney's Britpop Night, as I'm not sure enough people like them.

I'm hoping to have another Britpopcast in a month or so, let me know if you would like to join in on the discussion.

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WHM052: Outtakes 1

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 20:58:00 +0000

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Sorry this week's episode is an outtakes show because I was out all all weekend. I'm finally home, chillaxing with pajamapants and going to put on Messenger 2: The Scarecrow on the television.

I am hoping to put together a semi-regular Britpop Podcast show - please send me name suggestions. I'd like to have the word 'britpop' in the title, but not necessary.

The good news is that we actually have enough material to last for a few weeks (!!), so I don't actually have to do any real work as it's all recorded and processed (I just need to copy and paste it into a 10 minute show, etc).

So, in order of appearance on the first outtakes: Ryan, Goodnight, States, Graeme K, Kate and Lara. Bonus: Devi.

Hopefully next week, we can bring on Raconteurs expert Christopher.
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WHM051: Jarvis Cocker with Sally

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 15:22:00 +0000

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Schnitzel lover, Sally, joins us once again to talk more Britpop! Is there a britpopcast in the future?

Talks centers around Jarvis Cocker and Pulp, Suede.

Pulp started in 1978, but did not garner fame until His N Hers in 1994, followed by the international hit album, Different Class the following year. "Common People" is perhaps Pulp's biggest, most well-known hit song. By the time This is Hardcore came out, towards the end of the Britpop era, people had become disinterested in the band (although I thought This is Hardcore is a great album).

By 2002, the band released We Love Life and ultimately broke up, however singer and songwriter, Jarvis Cocker continued on by himself. It made sense, really, he was the creative driving force since the very beginning. So far, Cocker released two solo albums, Jarvis (2006) and Further Complications (2009).

Stay tuned after the "Angela" song (which is a free download from jarviscocker.net) for some even more random thoughts: the state of music and the kids, "Sally's music shop", music magazines, and Oasis.
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WHM050: Welcome back Ryan

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:34:00 +0000

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Welcome back Ryan to the W♥M team. Celebrating the 50th episode of W♥M Radio, we talk talked about a few things: Gary McKinnon, an overview of the podcast, music & tech: Twitter and Spotify, what we're listening to, The White Stripes, Fruit Bats, Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill", M Ward, Modest Mouse's King Rat, etc.

The show is long, split into two parts: the organized topics section and the random "just two guys talking" segment. The long run time also means extra large file size, so I had to compressed the file to just mono and at 64kps. It sounds OK to me - but if you want a higher stereo quality, send me an email and we'll have to do a file-transfer or a yousendit kind of thing. The stereo file is over 70mb, the mono file is 36mb.

Ryan compiled is a list of musicians/music-related websites on Twitter:colinmeloy,fruitbatsmusic, monstersoffolk, subpop, BBC6MusicNews, guardianmusic, rufuswainwright, theboyhimself, hypem, pitchforkmedia, IndyMusic, EOTR, Dominorecordco, portobrien, forfolkssake, realdaytrotter, asthmatickitty, easystarallstar, greenmanfest, TheWordMagazine, TheDandyWarhols, BeardedMagazine, THE_EELS, and heymanchester Since I had problems with the previous (free) audio recording software, we used a new one called Powergramo, which seems to work out just fine. I may have to pay for the "professional" version as the "basic" version is quite limited (to just recording skype to skype). If you have any good suggestions for a free Skype (usb mic) recorder, please let me know. I would prefer to not pay, but it looks like all the skype software costs money.
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WHM049: LIO

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:17:00 +0000

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Okay, so I'm in love with Lio, and it's somewhat frustrating to find out that she's not at all recognized/remembered in America. Today's W♥M Radio #49 episode will be about the Belgium lolita known simply as "Lio", named after a brown-haired teenage girl from the French comic book-turned-movie Barbarella.

The first song that I heard from her is "Amoureux Solitaires", which translate to something like "Alone in Love". I loved it so much, I had to find more from Lio, and quickly discovered the faster-paced and ultimately superior song "Le Banana Split". The music video to this song was ridiculous, it features a 17-year-old Lio prancing and dancing super imposed on a gigantic banana split with two mound of icecream (READ: phallic).

My favorite song "Les brunes comptent pas pour les prunes", which literally translates to "The brown ones are not plums". The correct meaning actually was translated and sung in English by Lio called "Brunettes Are No Puppets", which was released as a single to the English-speaking countries circa 1986.

Well, I wish I can un-hear "Brunettes Are No Puppets", as I think I prefered it when I didn't know what Lio was singing about. But that's just the way it goes.

If you are thinking of getting an album from Lio, since most of her records was sold in France and possibly are out of print, the second-hand market can be very expensive. Some quick check and here's some examples: the rarely seen nude cover Wandatta for $42 and her only English album Suite Sixtine priced at $39... So yes, quite expensive. I did find a "Greatest Hits" Best of Lio, album for $19, that should get you started.
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WHM048: Honey Claws II

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:53:00 +0000

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Again, I know these are long overdue. These were recordings from SXSW.

Again: I'm not very happy with the audio quality, I was recording it using a built-in mic on the recorder. On retrospect, I should've bought along a professional mic and plug it into the input. So apology for the poor audio once again.

HONEY CLAWS
honeyclaws.com ♥ myspace.com/honeyclawsmusic

On the interview: Thomas Sahs and Jon Von Letscher

Download the original interview last year.

This year, the interview was conducted in a car, listening to their EP, Healer. At one point Tom got distracted by "the twins".

Their song of choice, "Beat Of The Wet Eve", is about being in Costa Rica. Tom showed me his stingray bite and oooh it was nasty.

I try to make it to their show that night, but the (tiny) venue was packed full of people. It looked pretty awesome and everyone was having a great time.

Currently, it looks like Jon is in Sweden.
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WHM047: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:46:00 +0000

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Again, I know these are long overdue. These were recordings from SXSW.

Again: I'm not very happy with the audio quality, I was recording it using a built-in mic on the recorder. On retrospect, I should've bought along a professional mic and plug it into the input. So apology for the poor audio once again.

THE ASTEROIDS GALAXY TOUR
theasteroidsgalaxytour.com ♥ myspace.com

I talked to: Lars Iversen

Again, lots of background noise. We moved to a quieter area in the interview.

Lars had never played "Tap Tap Revenge 2", so I had him play on his own song: "Around the Bend".

The band is still doing quite well in the UK, currently touring. They seem really excited to support Katy Perry for their show in Luxembourg.07/04/09 Eurockeennes De Belfort Belfort, FR
07/05/09 Metropolis Festival Rotterdam, NL
07/06/09 Rockhal (Supporting Katy Perry) Luxembourg
07/11/09 Terres Du Son Festival Monts
07/16/09 Dour Festival Dour
07/17/09 Montreux Jazz Festival Montreux
07/18/09 Latitude Festival Henham Park, Southwold, UK
07/24/09 Secret Garden Party Huntingdon, UK, East
07/25/09 Les 3 Elephants Festival Laval
07/29/09 Cabaret Vert Festival Charleville-Mézières
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WHM046: Solid Gold

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:29:00 +0000

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I know these are long overdued. These were recordings from SXSW.

First of all, I'm not very happy with the audio quality, I was recording it using a built-in mic on the recorder. On retrospect, I should've bought along a professional mic and plug it into the input. So apology for the poor audio once again.

SOLID GOLD
myspace.com/solidgoldband

I talked to: Zach, Matt, and Adam (not sure what happened to their drummer).

This was conducted in an open restraurant, and at one point in the interview, the waiter came and took our orders (we ordered coffee & tea). Also the first question came via text and it was "What's up with those mustaches?".

As I have previously mentioned, these guys are cool and don't really take themselves too seriously.

06/20/09 Rock the Garden w/ the decemberists, calexico, and yeasayer minneapolis
07/31/09 The Zoo w/ the pines and jeremy messersmith minnesota zoo If you notice, the interviews were quick & dirty. There were some questions/answers that I threw out, mostly because they were uninteresting or poor audio.

Next week: two more shows!
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WHM045: The May Fire

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:11:00 +0000

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I know these are long overdued. These were recordings from SXSW.

First of all, I'm not very happy with the audio quality, I was recording it using a built-in mic on the recorder. On retrospect, I should've bought along a professional mic and plug it into the input. So apology for the poor audio once again.

THE MAY FIRE
themayfire.com ♥ myspace.com/themayfire

I talked to: Catty, El Pipe, Johnny Beane (missing is Rob, who wandered off).

This audio is pretty poor, you can hear another band doing soundcheck in the background as we quickly got the band to talk about how the name came about and how Johnny Beane joined them, when their original guitarist left.

At of the time, they were looking to write a full length album, since they have released three EPs.

If you notice, the interviews were quick & dirty. There were some questions/answers that I threw out, mostly because they were uninteresting or poor audio.

Next week: two more shows!
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WHM044: Katy Perry's "Hot N Cold"

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:17:00 +0000

Subscribe to our show at http://www.gcast.com/u/WeHeartMusic Information about us at http://weheartmusic.com So, what exactly is Katy Perry suggesting when she's singing her hits, "UR So Gay" and "I Kissed a Girl" from her album One of the Boys? She's definitely capture the hearts of young boys & girls everywhere, that's for certain. I honestly don't know when Perry's career took off, but I am under the impression that she's from the Disney's school of pop music (such as High School Musical and Mickey Mouse Club), which also means that she started her career very young. As it turns out, she started singing in church choirs, coming from a pastor Christian background. The song that I'll be talking about is "Hot N Cold" (note awful spellings). I first heard this song playing the original Tap Tap Revenge on the iPod Touch, and was surprise to see that Capitol Records didn't bother porting the song over to Tap Tap Revenge 2. What I instantly liked about the song is that the lyrics makes a lot of sense to me. You could singalong and just start making up your own opposite lyrics, such as fast and slow/dumb and smart/fit and fat, and it won't matter because the actual lyrics aren't that much more cleverer: hot and cold/yes and no/in and out/up and down. Still, it's a fun song. The video is also fun, showing us what Katy would look like if she was a Bridezilla, chasing after her runaway groom. Three points for having a guy in a hotdog suit in the video, by the way. No points for that pointless rock concert in the middle of the video. Anyway, if you like the song, it's from her album One of the Boys on Capitol Records. Dereks wrote: Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 8:02 AM In fact, she isn't from Disney Club. Quite opposite. AFAIK she had been in and around music industry for several years, but when it came to the moment of signing with some major label - she didn't, because wanted to be in charge, without all that crap "do this, do that, say it like that, act so and so", etc. I don't know what it the situation today, but what I like about her - is that she seems to be the only alive, not glitter-zombified pop-star right now. She writes (by hersef) blog, along with a vlog, expresses herself freely. Yes, her recent hits are just bubblegum pink pop, but before that her style was something which is very close to pain old indie-rock. Unfortunately album of that era was never officially released, though fully recorded and several songs even got music videos. And secondly there is this track "Ur so gay", which is absolutely awesome. Obviously it's not a product of Disney Club. Dereks wrote: Fri, Mar 20, 2009 at 10:38 AM BTW I just came along this video few days ago. Made by Ivano-Frankivsk (Ukraine) band called Los Colorados. I think it's a pretty neat remake :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpldChvYY8A&

WHM043: Robyn's "Konichiwa Bitches"

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:32:00 +0000

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Robin Miriam Carlsson, aka Robyn is a Swedish pop singer, who started her career in music at the age of 13 when the Swedish television show Lilla Sportspegeln used a recording of Robyn's theme song "Du kan alltid bli nummer ett" ("You can always be number one").

Since then, she went on to three albums to date: Robyn Is Here (1995), My Truth (1999) and Don't Stop the Music (2002). She left BMG records in favor of her own label, Konichiwa Records, releasing a self-titled album in 2005.

Christopher was highly amused at the so-called rap song she came back with in 2007 called "Konichiwa Bitches" ... which was really the first time I had heard of the song. Sorry, it's not like I listen to pop music in general.

One of the reason why I liked the song is that it has a lot of lyrics. Like most speech rap songs, it boasts how awesome she is and how she's "gifted all natural".

As much as some people might dismiss her lyrics as stupid, I think they're pretty fun and clever. She makes lots of references, such as Muhammad Ali's fights "The Rumble in the Jungle" (You wanna rumble in my jungle I'll take you on) and "Thrilla in Manila" (You wanna thrilla in my nilla you'll be killer bee stung) or those Mazda car commercials ('Cause my flava is so sweet you'll be zoom, zoom, zoom).

The single had a bunch of remixes, but my favorite is the Klas Ahlund.
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WHM042: Franz Ferdinand's "L. Wells"

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:25:00 +0000

Please visit our website for more information, weheartmusic.com, subscribe to our show at gcast.com ( http://www.gcast.com/u/WeHeartMusic ). For my second episode on favorite songs and breakdown, we take a look at Scottish rock band Fran Ferdinand. Named after Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the band first break-out single is "Take Me Out", debuting #3 on the UK Charts. With other hit singles like "This Fire", the band's debut album became a fan-favorite - unfortunately, I didn't particularly cared for their sophomore album You Could Have It So Much Better... which the title saids it all. Perhaps it's due to their annoying song "Do You Want To"?

Their latest album is called Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, which sounds like a live album, but it's not. Between You Could Have It So Much Better and Tonight, they quietly released The Fallen EP, which was basically a "Double A" single of Fallen and L.Wells. "L. Wells" is quite excellent. The song is about singer Alex Kapranos' friend and acquaintance Lynsey Wells, describing her as beautiful and innocent. Unfortunately the video is played by Saskia Pomeroy for the part of Lynsey Wells (apparently she was too busy helping orphanages in Africa) and was mostly inspired by Rita Tushingham in A Taste of Honey and Julie Christie in Billy Liar. My least favorite part of the song is the bridge which slows down the song to let everyone know that Kapranos has very bad memory. Great Western Wind catches in your Celtic hair
Flicks it round your face like flames around the sun
In the bright cold air you seem as innocent and fair
As Rita Tushingham in 1961

Well, Lynsey Wells
How I wish that I could feel so good
I wish that I could be as good as you
Well, Lynsey Wells
How I wish that I could feel the good
Beyond the poison in us like you do Trivia, the reference to "You'll Never Walk Alone" is from the motto and anthem of Liverpool FC (Football), whom apparently Wells is a huge supporter. document.write(document.lastModified); ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥podcast.weheartmusic.com♥news.weheartmusic.com

WHM041: Belle & Sebastian's "Your Cover's Blown"

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 23:19:00 +0000

Please visit our website for more information, weheartmusic.com, subscribe to our show at gcast.com (RSS).

It's been a while since our last podcast, part of the problem was that it was just taking longer and longer to produce (this is especially true when we have three guests on at a time).

Since I still would like to continue the radio show, I've decided I am going to do a series of these breakdown of songs for you. I'll have to warn you that these upcoming songs are songs that I have listened to a dozen time and know them like the back of my hand. So they might not be your cup of tea.

My first song of choice is "Your Cover's Blown" by Belle & Sebastian. If you've never heard a B&S song, this song sounds nothing like they've ever done.... by venturing into the strange world of funk and piecing together three or four different songs into one gigantic epic of a song.

Clocking in at six minutes (I am wrong in thinking it's eight minutes - it should be eight minutes...), this song takes you on a rollcoaster of a ride... even ending on a false ending.

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ news.weheartmusic.com

W♥M027: Kerry Politzer, Tracy Shedd, and Emelia

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:28:00 +0000

This has been a very special all-women guest episode #27 of We Heart Music Radio, special thanks goes to Kerry Politzer, Tracy Shedd , James Tritten, and Emelia. Music used in the show includes Kerry Politzer, Tracy Shedd, Dawn Drake, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Garlands, The Happy Birthdays, Camera Obscura, and Soko. If you would like to appear on a future We Heart Music Radio show, please contact vu@weheartmusic.com. Thank you for listening. Subscribe to our show at podcast.weheartmusic.com, via weheartmusic.mypodcast.com/rss.xml. PART ONE: KERRY POLITZER http://www.kerrypolitzer.com http://www.myspace.com/kerrypolitzer From New York, jazz/pop musician Kerry details her interview experience: -"You Took Me In" as pop music vs previous classical jazz albums. -Politzer's podcast and upcoming shows -The internet, myspace, lastFM, and iLike -Second Life PART TWO: TRACY SHEDD http://www.tracyshedd.com http://www.myspace.com/tracyshedd Indie musician, Tracy, from Arizona talked about: -Her background, various band members -CMJ -Teenbeat Records -"Louder than You Can Hear" album for free -Filming of "Whatever It Takes" video PART THREE: EMELIA http://daftpansy.vox.com http://www.myspace.com/hey_emelia We talked about: -FRESYES. -The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Garlands, The Happy Birthdays -She can play the ukulele! -iPod drama, Santagold and Soko Overall, another wonderful little show. Forgive me that it's really long (nearly an hour), and I keep promising to keep the show brief (which apparently is not happening). Although I do end up throwing out 20% of what's recorded, most of our conversations are solid gold!

WHM014: Hacktone Part 2

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 22:50:00 +0000

In part two of our interview with Hacktone Records' David Gorman, we look at the label's struggle with traditional retailers vs digital stores (such as iTunes and Amazon). We also discuss what's in store for the future: including some release of Stax Records and - surprisingly, a J-Pop band called Love Psychedelico. Looking at their discography, it seems they've released a few albums, including a recent one last June 2007 called Golden Grapefruit. We'll definitely return later to talk more about Love Psychedelico, later down the road.

WHM013: Hacktone Records Part 1

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 00:13:00 +0000

Hackton Records have re-released Arthur Alexander's Lonely Just Like Me today (October 9th). We did an interview with co-President of Hacktone's David Gorman for our podcast. Information on how to subscribe using iTunes, Yahoo, and Google, and other forms, please head over to weheartmusic.mypodcast.com In part one, we discuss: ♥ Gorman's background at Rhino Records ♥ Why they choose certain albums to re-release ♥ Who their current/active artists are Stay tuned for part two when I review Alexander's Lonely Just Like Me.

WHM012: 500!!

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:17:00 +0000

WHM012: 500!! Excerpts from articles: Jack Penate live at Bestival, Isle of Wight - 07/09/07 written by Dominic Crammed into the back of a small tent at one of the summer’s last music festivals, Jack Penate affirmed his successful arrival on the indie-pop music scene. The start of his set was greeted by a respectable sized crowd, but as he belted out one song after another, the hoards started to drift into the tent. Penate had pulled off an incredible feat: as the Beastie boys screamed unbearably down the microphones on Bestival’s mainstage, Penate’s energetic jumping-arounds worked an ever-growing crowd in the BBCintroducing… tent into frenzy. Little Boxes written by Jason The third season of the Showtime series Weeds recently began. The popularity of the show has increased and the main theme song has become more recognizable. The song is called "Little Boxes" and was written in 1962 and originally performed by Malvina Reynolds. Since then, it's been covered by many artists and since last season, various musicians were asked to cover the song so it could be used in the beginning of each episode. Juno! written by Vu Juno! (not to be confused with the American band, Juno) are from Glasgow, Scotland. Although they're based out of Scotland, they do have members in Fife and Tokyo. The Somnambulants - Take It On written by Kristine I had never heard of the band ,The Somnambulants until about a month ago when Vu passed on their cd to me, let alone did I know that their current cd, Paper Trail, is their third, just released on August 21, 2007. Originally from Brooklyn, the now San Francisco based duo has been creating their unique blend of indie/electronic/synth-pop since 2000. 500!! written by Vu Celebrating our 500th post!! I actually planned on doing a bunch of "500" songs, but I didn't think that would really represent W♥M. So I thought back and remembered that we sort of had a contest about which songs were your favorite.

WHM011: Jason on Perth Bands

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 02:16:00 +0000

Shownotes originally appeared on W♥M Wow, can you believe Google is down for almost four hours now? I had to use alternate search engines. Remember Alta Vista? They offer an MP3 search feature! Anyway, in my second of series of interviews for W♥M Podcast (which have been moved to weheartmusic.mypodcast.com), I spoke with Jason Namour, who tells us a little about the music scene from Perth, Australia, and his days when he started www.perthband.com. Below are all the Perth bands that were mentioned in the Podcast: ♥ The Panda Band www.thepandaband.com | www.myspace.com/thepandaband Band Members: Damian Crosbie (Vox, Guitars), David 'Rufus' Namour (Bass), Steve Callan (Keys/Synth), Chris Callan (Guitar), and Gabriel Nicotra (Drums) Originally called Philius Phog in the late 90s, they tried to reform as another band before ending up as the Panda Band in 2003. Currently signed to Filter Magazine's Record label for US distribution. ♥ The Sleepy Jackson thesleepyjackson.com | www.myspace.com/thesleepyjackson Band Members: Luke Steele, Malcolm Clark, Lee Jones, Dave Symes, and Felix Blossom. One of Perth's most well-known band, they were nominated for the ARIA Awards in 2003 and 2006, but didn't win in either categories for either of their two albums. The band got their name from an ex-drummer whose name was obviously Jackson and was narcoleptic. ♥ Eskimo Joe www.eskimojoe.net | www.myspace.com/eskimojoemusic Band Members: Kavyen Temperley, Stuart MacLeod, Joel Quartermain The most popular Australian band among all the bands we mentioned here. Their albums have gone gold and double-platinum. They're slowly charting at 160 on the CMJ Top 200[1]. Yeah... I've never heard of them either :/ ♥ Karnivool www.karnivool.com.au | www.myspace.com/karnivool Band Members: Ian Kenny (vox), Andrew "Drew" Goddard (guitars), Mark Hosking (guitars), Jon Stockman (bass), and Steve Judd (drums). When asked where the name "Karnivool" came from, guitarist Drew said: That's one question I can never answer very well, as the name Karnivool was around before even I was in the band. Kenny originally played guitar and sang with a couple of lads from his high school, Brett and Andrew. They used to play Nirvana and Carcass covers and had a few originals floating around, as well as the name Karnivool which they used loosely as band name for when they played at their local high school parties.[2] They are currently on tour in the South area of the US. ♥ Snowman www.thesnowmanempire.com | www.myspace.com/thesnowmanempire Band Members: Andy Citawarman (guitar/vox), Joseph McKee (guitar/vox/trumpet), Olga Hermanniusson (bass), and Ross DiBlasio (drums) What makes this band interesting is that each member was born in different countries. They are from Indonesia, England, Iceland and Australia. They're currently on tour in September and October. Unfortunately, they're only touring in Australia. Footnotes [1] blog.myspace.com [2] bielerbros.com

WHM010: Trevor from Ariel Publicity

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 02:06:00 +0000

In the latest W♥M Podcast, I spoke with Trevor from Ariel Publicity. We got to see Trevor's views on traditional media (Television, Radio, & Newspaper) versus internet media and where he thinks it's heading. I also asked what some of the bands he's working with that he enjoys and I thought I'd break them down for you with a brief biography and song. ♥ Marco Mahler www.marcomahler.com We've previously mentioned Mahler before. This is a New York singer/songwriter. His lyrics are inspired by Bob Dylan and his amazing guitar work inspired by Bert Jansch. You can hear his inspiration to Jansch's "Angie" in Mahler's "Otmar Elmer", so check it out if you haven't read my previous post on Mahler. ♥ Lez Zepplin www.lezzeppelin.com These are an all-girl Led Zeppelin tribute band. They recently released a self-titled debut album last July, produced by Eddie Kramer (who's also worked with Zeppelin). I have always thought that "Lez" was alluring to Lesbian, and it's just a really clever name. Hopefully I can do a proper writeup on them later down the road, they've already been featured in Spin, CNN, and the Times. Plus, as you know, I am a huge cover lover. You can hear even some more Robert Plantesque styling at their myspace. ♥ Adam Von Baron www.vonbaronmusic.com I ended the interview with Von Baron's "In My House", which has a Yanni feel to it. It's a very easy-listening. We don't feature too many New Age-type of music, so this may be a first for W♥M. Reading his biography, he's been performing and recording music for over twenty years. He's currently based out of Honolulu, Hawaii. I thought this interview turned out really well. It was originally over 30 minutes, but I've condensed and edited it down to about 10 minutes (my goal is to keep the podcast less than 15 minutes). I'm hoping to do random interviews with different people in the music industries as a feature. Anywhere from marketing, record companies owners, other bloggers, traditional media, to musicians. As a critic and consumer, I actually really enjoy hearing what they have to say about the field they work in and how the internet have affected them. So, once again, I just wanted to thank Trevor for taking his time out to chat with us. If you are in the music industry and are interested doing a very short Q&A session with us, please send me an email. I have a few musicians that are lined up to talk to us, but please keep in mind that I don't want the podcast format to just be interviews so they may appear only as weekly or semi-weekly specials.

WHM009: We Heart Music's Diner

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 01:57:00 +0000

The soundtrack edition! Final Fantasy and Aeon Flux

WHM008: Luciano Pavarotti

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 01:52:00 +0000

WHM008: Luciano Pavarotti

WHM007: The Last Town Chorus, The Plastiscines, and the Coathangers.

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 01:46:00 +0000

The Last Town Chorus, The Plastiscines, and the Coathangers. Plus, Ryan reports on the road: the Bestival Festival!

WHM006: Jazzcast!

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 01:29:00 +0000

I just finished wrapping up WHM006: Jazzcast! with Dave. Topics covered: • Michael Wolff Trio • Jazz Trios • Amy Winehouse Once again, I just wanted to thank Dave for taking his time out to record this special edition of W♥M Radio. Apologies for the mono-track recording, if you know of an easy recording device for Skype, please let me know.

WHM005: Jill Barber, FFTMWSYC & W.B. Mook is MIA

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 01:16:00 +0000

WHM005: Jill Barber, FFTMWSYC & W.B. Mook is MIA

WHM004: Morrissey

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 00:56:00 +0000

WHM004: Morrissey

WHM003: The Young Knives & Fancy Bastard

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 00:44:00 +0000

WHM003: The Young Knives & Fancy Bastard

WHM002: Flowers From The Man Who Shot Your Cousin

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 00:31:00 +0000

While researching FFTMWSYC, I contacted the group to discover that FFTMWSYC was, in fact, just one man and his name is Morgan Caris. Not only is he a really great musician but he also manages to be a pretty swell guy at the same time. During our brief exchange of email, he has recommended a number of pretty awesome folk groups. All of which will be featured at We♥Music.com at some point in the future. Ok, on to the review...