Thursday, October 1, 2009

Ear Candle Radio's Top 20: September 2009

Our Top 20 is bookended with returning guitar wizards this month, the remarkable Kaki King on top and our Japanese pen-pal Takeshi Murata bubbling under. These are dread times, and dread times call for the dread sounds of Bunny Wailer, Trinity, Ranking Dread, Earth & Stone, and the Easy Star All Stars, whose take on Pink Floyd is no mere novelty act. The late Joe Strummer keeps the reggae groove going with a track from the stunning Global A Go Go album, which belongs on any "best albums of the Noughts" list anyone is cooking up right now.

We've also got the twisted cabaret of Vinsantos; some sarod-filled goodness from George Harrison's best-ever record (featuring the artistry of Ashish Khan, son of the late Ali Akbar); a whole side of mad, enigmatic, decadent comedy from the Bonzo Dog Band's genius wordsmith Vivian Stanshall (Neo did promise to add this to the playlist, and obviously the listeners have given it the thumbs up; he says he finally heard this for the first time only this year and while he can recite "Rhinocratic Oaths" in its entirety, it will take him a lot longer to master this one); a little anatomical romance from Mose Allison, an awesome single by the duo of Sharon Cheslow and ex-Quail Julianna Bright, aka the Electrolettes; and just in time for our hat-tip to Drake Levin, a cool Paul Revere & the Raiders album track wherein Fang lays out his plans for an ideal community. Thank you, Fang. Hope you've kept your ideals after all these years.

Also: Judy Collins shows that she can kick ass on a Brecht-Weill tune; four guys from Liverpool slouch their way through "All You Need Is Love"; those boys from the Beards (new season starting soon!) lift their voices on the Leonard Cohen song that still packs a punch no matter how many times you hear it; Vomit Launch, another band we've paid tribute to recently, is here with the gorgeous ballad that made a surprise appearance on the soundtrack to The Wackness; 60s cult heroes the Move do a moving baroque-pop song about homelessness (one of the very few Roy Wood songs whose lyrics actually make sense); and Swiss post-punk goddesses LiliPut regale us with one of their greatest numbers, a convulsively stirring rocker about air travel fear.

OCTOBER 17, 2009 MARKS THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF EAR CANDLE RADIO! Our little station is going strong, and we're proud to be here, spinning the mp3s on the virtual turntable of your mind. Keep listening; we have so much more music to get to!

1. Kaki King - Close Your Eyes & You'll Burst Into Flames - Everybody Loves You
2. Easy Star All Stars - Us And Them - Dub Side Of The Moon
3. Bunny Wailer - The Monkey - Hook Line & Sinker
4. Vinsantos - Anger Makes Me Mad - A Light Awake Inside
5. Trinity - Mohammed Ali - Three Piece Suit
6. George Harrison - Gat Kirwani - Wonderwall Music
7. Vivian Stanshall - Sir Henry At Rawlinson End Part 1 - Sir Henry At Rawlinson End
8. Mose Allison - Your Molecular Structure - The Best Of Mose Allison
9. Electrolettes - Octane Lies - Octane Lies/Anxiety
10. Ranking Dread - Love A Dub - Greensleeves Most Wanted
11. Paul Revere & the Raiders - In My Community - The Spirit Of '67
12. Judy Collins - Pirate Jenny - In My Life
13. Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - At The Border, Guy - Global A Go-Go
14. Echo & The Bunnymen - All You Need Is Love (The Life At Brian's Sessions) - Ocean Rain (Reissue)
15. Conspiracy of Beards - Hallelujah - Demo CD
16. Earth & Stone - Devil Wise - Kool Roots
17. Vomit Launch - Exit Lines - Exiled Sandwich
18. The Move - Mist On A Monday Morning - The Move
19. Liliput/ Kleenex - DC-10 - Liliput/ Kleenex
20. Takeshi Murata - Decipher - Decipher

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