Razorcake Podcast #05: With Russ Van Cleave
If the name sounds familiar it's because Russ is one of the mighty brains working to perpetuate a crushing musical force known commonly as the Tim Version. We were more than happy to let him submit a podcast for us to post. Hope you like his show and the song descriptions he included.
Playlist:
The Arrivals "I'm Sorry For Saying I'm Sorry" from Marvels Of Industry (Recess)
Gregory Isaacs "Mr. Cop" from Reggae History (Kosmos)
Minutemen "Sell Or Be Sold" from What Makes A Man Start Fires? (SST)
King Friday "Lonnie" from Bread: The Edible Napkin (No Idea)
Dinosaur Jr. "Feel The Pain" from Without A Sound (Sire)
Chuck Ragan "It's What You Will" from The Blueprint Sessions (No Idea)
Watson "Crack The Code" from Killing Momentum (ADD)
Future Virgins "Followed to the Grave" from Self-titled (Plan-It-X South)
The Zombies "Care Of Cell 44" from Odessey And Oracle (Repertoire)
Roky Erickson & The Aliens "I Think Up Demons" from I Have Always Been Here Before: The Roky Erickson Anthology (Shout! Factory)
One Reason "The End Never Mattered" from Self-titled (Salinas)
The Pogues “A Pair Of Brown Eyes” (Warner)
Neil Young & Crazy Horse “Down By The River” (Sire)
THE ARRIVALS: "Marvels of Industry" was my favorite record of 2007. There is nothing flashy about it that's gonna make you go "ooh aah". Instead, The Arrivals took the hard road and just made a straight ahead record that is really, really, really good. I was a casual fan of The Arrivals until I heard this record. After that, I turned "true believer". It was tough to pick just one song from this record to play, but in the end I figured it best to start where I did with Track 1. If you liked it, you would do well to order it from Recess.
GREGORY ISAACS: I don't know too much about Gregory Isaacs aside from his standing as reggae legend superstar, but I have this song on a reggae history/anthology type compilation and decided to play it.
MINUTEMEN: "Sell Or Be Sold" might be my favorite song on my favorite Minutemen record or, at least, a close second to "The Anchor".
KING FRIDAY: Specifically, the critically underrated band, King Friday, featured Jeff London and Andre Saraphini who went on to play in the critically underrated band, Fay Wray. This song and the two songs from the now out-of-print King Friday 7" are the only three songs I know of that they ever released. If you're a serious record nerd and a Radon fan, you might have also noticed that Jeff helped out with the lyrics for some of the classic Radon songs like "Wastin' Time" and "Grandma's Cootie".
DINOSAUR JR.: Can't say enough about Dinosaur Jr. I celebrate their entire catalog. I just got to see J Masics play acoustic at SXSW and decided some "Feel The Pain" was in order.
CHUCK RAGAN: Chuck has been playing on his own since Hot Water Music stalled out. His first full-length "Feast Or Famine" was a really amazing record, one of the best of the last year in my opinion, but I decided to play this version from the Blueprint Sessions (a compilation of the No Idea 7" singles club releases) because I think it showcases something that really gets lost in the shuffle of the digital age - the fact that one guy can sit in front of a couple microphones with an acoustic guitar and record a great song.
WATSON: Specifically, the Tampa-based Watson is Richie, Dave and Paul from the now-defunct Clairmel and Jeff from The Dukes Of Hillsborough. Their new record is called Chasing .500 and is available from ADD. Maybe it's easy for me to think they're that good because I get to see them all the time, but I can't help it.
FUTURE VIRGINS: Another one of my current favorites and as featured on the cover of Razorcake #41! I don't know all the ex-side-current band member details, but dudes from the bands Sexy, Jack Palance Band and Hidden Spots is a winning combination.
THE ZOMBIES: Perfect pop-rock brilliance from the late ‘60s.
ROKY ERICKSON & THE ALIENS: Roky is probably best known for his role as the singer for the 13th Floor Elevators, but I think his solo work blows all the 13th Floor Elevators stuff out of the water. The double disc compilation (I Have Always Been Here Before) from Shout! Factory is cool in that it is not only a great cross-section of everything he's done over the years, but it also approved by TrustRoky, indicative that sales of this release go towards caring for Roky's well-being.
ONE REASON: Incredible song by the Cleveland, MS band. More stuff available from Plan-It-X South.
THE POGUES: Happy St. Paddy's day.
NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE: I had to do this. I've been listening to Neil Young for a long time, but some reason, I'm totally obsessed with all the early Crazy Horse stuff right now. I think the guitar sounds on this record might be some of the best ever recorded and the solo here is pretty epic. One of the best records ever.