Blow Down This House Of Cards

During the long wait between Seasons 1 and 2 of House Of Cards on Netflix, I was inspired to watch the entire seven-year run of The West Wing, which I had never seen before. Watching the two shows back to back gives you an interesting perspective on how differently the same political system can be portrayed in fiction.

First, The West Wing. I had caught a few more recent Aaron Sorkin shows in various classes here at SF State; BECA professors love Sorkin, probably because both Studio 60 and The Newsroom do such a thorough job of showing the inner workings of television production. There are certain tics in every Sorkin show, though, that both charm and annoy me: cynical/neurotic/idealistic heroes with an endless supply of wit riding from crisis to crisis; Very Special Episodes pointing the finger at Big Important Controversies; and the inevitable Epic Rant That Hits The Nail On The Head, Shames All The Right People And Convinces Everyone.

What made West Wing work most of the time was a) Sorkin’s shtick seemed a lot fresher at the turn of the century (the mostly great ensemble cast didn’t hurt either) and b) the historical context was palpable. It must have been a tonic during the Bush-Cheney era to tune in to Martin Sheen’s goofy-yet-righteous President Bartlet or Alan Alda as a decent, avuncular ideal of reasonable Republican opposition. The message was “all of us are good (and sexy, and funny) people at heart, working hard to do the right thing for our country. The news may drive you to despair, but this system will work if you put power in the hands of honest, responsible people.” The tone helped you overlook some of that alternate-universe government’s more questionable acts (a rather creepy “education reform” bill and a constant series of military interventions in every corner of the globe are two that come to mind) and root for the heroes. It was as effective as it was corny.

House Of Cards turns that whole world upside down. With few exceptions, these are vile people. I don’t just mean our protagonists, the scheming Machiavellian Underwoods. Washington DC is a world of predators, jockeying for power, gaming the system, and cultivating their images for a gullible press and public. The characters scheme, con, and shift alliances like the nihilistic aristocrats they are. Star/producer Kevin Spacey loves to break the fourth wall and mug for the camera with sly asides for our benefit, the most of telling of which is, “democracy is sooooo overrated”, delivered in a honey-sweet Southern drawl. Spacey’s deadpan scenery-chewing is entertaining as hell, and the show, with its convoluted royal intrigues, is a thrill to immerse yourself in. But unlike other great recent TV antiheroes like Walter White or Don Draper, you never get a sense of inner conflict or twisted humanity; Frank Underwood rarely comes across as anything more than a hyper-intelligent shark.

What is House Of Cards’ version of American civics? Spacey loves to boast in interviews about how his character, unlike real-life politicians, knows how to “get things done.” But what does Frank Underwood accomplish? So far, his two major legislative achievements in the show are yet another dodgy “education reform” bill in Season 1 (both shows present an alternate-universe America where teachers’ unions have as much power as the oil industry, and it takes a truly bold politician to defy their formidable might) and this season’s “entitlement reform” bill. Frank is a “center-right” Democrat who makes Joe Lieberman look like Elizabeth Warren in comparison, and that crashing sound you hear is the Overton Window hurtling off a cliff. If West Wing was a mirror of earnest progressive idealism growing in the midst of a neoconservative decade, House Of Cards is the apathetic reaction to five years of thwarted hope and change. At its worst, it tells us, “Stop caring about politics; they’re all equally corrupt!”

Oddly, the show is at its most perceptive when it comes to feminist issues. Claire Underwood, like her husband, is a monster in many ways, none of which have anything to do with why she becomes a target of national hatred. Why does Claire receive death threats? Because she went public about having an abortion, campaigns actively against rape in the military, and is accused of having an extramarital affair. The fact that these, not any of the truly awful acts we watch her commit, are what make her a target speaks volumes about the misogyny that pervades our politics. Other women who lack Claire’s cold expediency fare less well, like the traumatized rape survivor she enrolls in her cause, then abandons when it’s politically convenient. One character who may be more than a victim in the end is Rachel, the ex-prostitute who spends the entire season under virtual house arrest because she knows too much, until she takes control of her destiny with a shocking, decisive act in the final episode. I really hope she turns out not to be another mere speedbump in the Underwoods’ unstoppable path, but the player who finally knocks down the house of cards that has been meticulously assembled for the first two seasons. We shall see.

Downtown SF street performers

Cool audio verite recording of downtown buskers from the BECA 510 class. This was done by Mikhail Alexander, Bryan Castaneda, and Temba Kamara, and it's one of my personal favorites. You are there! Nice interview at the end.

SF Street Performers: Larry Hunt & Lamont Marshall, 4/14/13 by Ksfsmedia on Mixcloud

Live At The Hemlock, 4/21/13

I'm managing the KSFS Media Mixcloud site this year. Here's a show I taped last year for the Live Music Recording class (BECA 510). Much more to come.

Cash For Gold/Chastity Belt/Legs, Hemlock Tavern 4/21/13 by Ksfsmedia on Mixcloud

Ear Candle Radio's Top 20 for January 2014

Our listeners seem to be on a Zappa-back-when-he-was-good binge. Every time I sneak an old Mothers track into the playlist, it pops up on the charts. Elsewhere, we get a spacy smoocher from George Faith, a soulful garage stomp from Can (we saw Malcolm Mooney perform this live last year), Sandie Shaw's answer song to "Run For Your Life", David Bowie channeling Scott Walker on his new album, and much much more. This is the time, and this is the record of the time. Keep listening, luvvies!

1. George Faith - So Fine - To Be A Lover
2. Can - Connection - Unlimited Edition
3. Sandie Shaw - Run - The EP Collection
4. The Mothers Of Invention - Directly From My Heart To You - Weasels Ripped My Flesh
5. David Bowie - Heat - The Next Day
6. Burning Spear - Vision - The Fittest of The Fittest
7. Laurie Anderson - From The Air - Big Science
8. Naahant - Uhh...Yeah - (nei-haent) EP
9. The Mothers Of Invention - The Dog Breath Variations - Uncle Meat
10. Fuxa - Electric Sound Of Summer - Electric Sound of Summer
11. Walt Kelly And Others - Go-Go Pogo - Songs Of The Pogo
12. Sun City Girls - The Vinegar Stroke - Torch of the Mystics
13. The Dave Clark Five - Any Way You Want It - The History of the Dave Clark Five
14. Sound Dimension - Congo Rock - Studio One Roots
15. PJ Harvey - You Came Through - Uh Huh Her
16. The Persuasions - I Could Love You If You Let Me - Right Around the Corner
17. The Mothers Of Invention - Who Needs The Peace Corps (Instrumental) - The Lumpy Money Project/Object [Disc 3]
18. The Ophelias - Mr. Rabbit - SF Unscene
19. The Dub Syndicate - Hi-Fi Gets A Pounding Pt. 3 - Pounding System
20. The Spades - We Sell Soul - I Have Always Been Here Before: The Roky Erickson Anthology

Planets Don't Twinkle: Sneak Preview

The new Granite Countertops album will up and running and available to buy in about a month. In the meantime, feast your tender ears on what we've been up to.

Ear Candle Radio's Top 20: December 2013

Last chart of the year! Congratulations to our charting artists and our discerning listeners. Tune in and join us on our quest for the good groove.

1. Manfred Mann - Do Wah Diddy Diddy - Complete Greatest Hits of Manfred Mann
2. Spider Heart - Book of Poems - Under the Gun
3. Lizzy - Love Is A Treasure - Trojan D.J. Box Set [Disc 1]
4. Zap Mama - Africa Sunset - 7
5. Prickly - Hedgeclipping Song - The Long Secret: A Harriet Records Compilation
6. The Cult Inside My Head - Pacifica! - Omnipowerless
7. Bob Dylan - The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll - The Times They Are A-Changin'
8. Rip, Rig & Panic - Hunger (The Ocean Roars It Bites) - I Am Cold
9. Lord Tanamo - I'm in the Mood for Ska - The Trojan Story
10. Jeffrey Horn - Gemini - Infinite Love
11. Country Joe And The Fish - Eastern Jam - I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die
12. Was (Not Was) - Zaz Turned Blue - Born To Laugh At Tornadoes
13. Jeffrey Lewis - Back When I Was 4 [Version Three] - It's the Ones Who've Cracked That the Light Shines Through
14. Frankie Rose - Night Swim - Interstellar
15. The Fall - Mike's Love Hexagon - The Real New Fall Album: Formerly 'Country On The Click'
16. The Demilos - Misogyny - Naked Brunch
17. Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band - We Are Normal - The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse
18. T.Rex - Ride A White Swan - 20th Century Boy: The Ultimate Collection
19. Bryan Ferry - The 'In' Crowd - Another Time, Another Place
20. Darlene Love - A Fine, Fine Boy - Phil Spector Back to Mono (1958-1969)

The three rules of life, according to Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson.

1. Do not be afraid of anyone. Can you imagine what your life would be like if you weren't afraid of anyone?
2. Have a great bullshit detector, and learn how to use it, and how to apply it.
3. Be tender: Be open to the world, and in love with everything and everyone in it.

Bonus fourth rule: Practice how to feel sad without being sad.

The Deep End: Difficult Listening Hour

The last Deep End of 2013 promotes a local gig, offers two existentialist looks at Jesus, showcases the first couple of difficult listening, and throws in a lot of J Neo Marvin and Ear Candle Productions' own music in the mix. It's been a glorious ride, and we'll be back next year!

The Deep End - Show 2.13 - Dec. 14, 2013 by Thedeepend on Mixcloud

The Deep End: Punk Singers and Mis-Shapes

The penultimate Deep End of 2013. We pay tribute to new documentary "The Punk Singer", move into some songs about radio itself, veer into a couple of dub weather reports, and explode into jungles of howling feedback and pounding drums.

The Deep End - Show 2.12 - Dec. 9, 2013 by Thedeepend on Mixcloud

New video - Jean Paul Sartre

New Granite Countertops video up on YouTube for "Jean Paul Sartre". (This one doubles as a final project in video editing class, so scroll past the bars and tone for maximum enjoyment.)

Song Of The Six Pack

Angel Corpus Christi has done it again. This video brings out the disturbing undertones in Maati's song.

The Deep End: Five Years Ahead Of Our Time

An extended edition of The Deep End, including several sneak previews of the upcoming Granite Countertops album, a visit to the darkest corners of the Beach Boys story, some garage classics, some local submissions, and much, much more.

The Deep End - Show 2.11 - Dec. 2, 2013 by Thedeepend on Mixcloud

Ear Candle Radio's Top 20 for November 2013

1. The Granite Countertops - Beyond Belief - Planets Don't Twinkle
2. Roger Ruskin Spear - Make Yourself A Happiness Pie - Electric Shocks
3. Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - Gamma Ray - Global A Go-Go
4. Cream - What A Bringdown - Goodbye
5. Mama Mia d'Bruzzi - Redistribution of Wealth - Redistribution of Wealth
6. Sandy Bull - Carnival Jump - Re-Inventions
7. Neil Young - Motion Pictures - 5/16/74, The Bottom Line, New York City, NY
8. Esquivel - Latin-Esque - Space Age Bachelor Pad Music
9. X-tal - Long Dark Night - Everything Crash
10. Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - Safe As Milk - Strictly Personal
11. Romeo Void - Present Tense - Nvr Say Nvr 12" ep
12. Prickly - Hedgeclipping Song - The Long Secret: A Harriet Records Compilation
13. The Love Dogs - Universal Indians - The Love Dogs
14. The Blue Orchids - A Year With No Head - The Greatest Hit
15. Bjork - Mouth's Cradle - Medulla
16. Alex Chilton - Dalai Lama - High Priest
17. Robert Wyatt - I'm A Believer - His Greatest Misses
18. Stephen Marley - Mind Control - Mind Control
19. Roni Size & Reprazent - Ballet Dance - New Forms
20. The Action 13 - More Bread To The People - Rebel Music - Songs Of Protest And Insurrection

The Deep End: J Neo Marvin meets The Disk Doktor

The Deep End - Show 2.10 - Nov. 18, 2013 by Thedeepend on Mixcloud

Beyond Belief

Time for a new song by the Granite Countertops. Davis Jones tells a heartfelt story and you will listen.

The Deep End: I Wanna Holler, But The Town's Too Small

Another two hour edition of The Deep End, where Leonard Cohen walks up to the tallest and the blondest girl, Gil Scott Heron reminds us all he was hard to get to know but impossible to forget, and Arthur Lee tells another story about an animal called man. Lean with us and hang on tight, because we're not a big motorcycle, just a groovy little motorbike. 

The Deep End - Show 2.9 - Nov. 4, 2013 by Thedeepend on Mixcloud

Ear Candle Radio's Top 20: October 2013

We are feeling the love from our listeners with not one but two Granite Countertops tracks in our charts this month. The new album, Planets Don't Twinkle, is coming along nicely and will, if all goes well, blow your minds when we finish it around Christmas time. Lou Reed gets honored (oddly enough, in a song sung by Doug Yule, but the sentiment still applies), and new music by the Cannanes and old/new music by Mecca Normal revisit our charts. And say, isn't that Deerhoof track one mighty earworm? Keep listening, dearest darlings!

1. The Granite Countertops - Shiny Objects - Crashing Into The Future
2. Singers & Players Feat. Prince Far I - Autobiography - Staggering Heights
3. Link Wray - Alabama Electric Circus - Wray's Three Track Shack
4. Blumfeld - Verstarker - L'Etat Et Moi
5. Mister Rogers Remixed - Garden of Your Mind - Mister Rogers Remixed
6. Mecca Normal - I Walk Alone 2013 - I Walk Alone by Mecca Normal 2013
7. Fuxa - 3cp - Very Well Organized
8. Deerhoof - New Sneakers - Milk Man
9. The Cannanes - Bumper - Small Batch
10. Bjork - Where Is The Line? - Medulla
11. Bad Brains - Big Takeover - Bad Brains
12. Amadou & Mariam - La Paix - Dimanche a Bamako
13. The Velvet Underground - I Found A Reason - Peel Slowly & See
14. The Sonics - Keep A Knockin' - Here are the Ultimate Sonics
15. The Pretty Things - I See You - S.F. Sorrow
16. Pavement - In The Mouth A Desert - Slanted & Enchanted
17. The Jesus & Mary Chain - My Little Underground - Psychocandy
18. Helium - Lucy - Hole In The Ground 7"
19. The Granite Countertops - Lullaby For Hamza - Crashing Into The Future
20. Love - With A Little Energy - Reel To Real

The Deep End: That's The Story Of A Life

The Deep End - Show 2.8 - Oct 28, 2013 by Thedeepend on Mixcloud

A tribute to Lou Reed.

Here is the script I was working from. Sometimes the segments from Metal Machine Music compete with my voice a bit (hey, that's why I'm back in school, to improve my audio production skills!), so here's what I'm saying (ad libs aside):

So what you are hearing right now in the background is the album Metal Machine Music, Lou Reed’s controversial experimental music album released in 1975. Lou Reed just passed away this weekend, aged 71, and on tonight’s Deep End we’re going to spend the entire hour paying tribute to his life and work, both solo and with his groundbreaking band from the 60s, the Velvet Underground. We’re going to start quietly with the very first song from the Velvets’ debut album. I first got the news about Lou when I woke up yesterday, and had to immediately reach for this. How strangely appropriate that we find out the bad news on a Sunday morning.

“Beginning To See The Light” from the Velvet Underground’s 1969 Live album, probably the most influential record ever for me. I was 20 when I first heard it, and it just swept away everything else I had ever heard. It was like folk-rock but with the power and directness of punk. The music wasn’t showy; it got straight to the point, while the lyrics had this sly, deadpan wit that made me want to be as cool and worldly wise as that guy singing. Becoming a Velvet Underground fan then was like joining a secret society where everything was smart, dark, sexy and a little bit scary. What more does a kid growing up want? And Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison elevated the rhythm guitar at a time when everyone else thought guitar playing was about doing the fastest solos possible. It was a different way of looking at music that ultimately changed everything. More Velvets and solo Lou coming up.

“Real Good Time Together”, a great, slightly insane remake of an old Velvets song from Lou Reed’s album Street Hassle from 1977, when the CBGB’s scene was helping to bring him a whole new audience. We started with “Some Kinda Love”, from the third Velvet Underground album, an oddly quiet record from a band who often made a lot of noise. I think this album in particular is the source of the whole twee indie-pop sound, but Lou’s lyrics come from another place entirely. We’re gonna break for a promo, and then showcase more of Lou’s solo work, starting with a great one from Transformer, his first hit record, produced by David Bowie.

Intense. That was “Waves Of Fear”, from The Blue Mask by Lou Reed, with some great guitar from the late Bob Quine. Before that, “Vicious”, from Transformer. That song makes me think of certain former friends who claimed to be flower children but were really just vicious. Next in our special Deep End tribute to Lou Reed, a song from the album New York, where Lou started branching into social commentary, in his own wonderfully abrasive style.

Lou Reed just gave us “The Last Shot”, a song from the 80s that could be about giving up any number of bad habits. Before that we had “Dirty Blvd.”, which featured a little guest cameo at the end from doo-wop legend Dion DiMucci. You’re listening to The Deep End with J Neo Marvin as we continue our tribute to the late Lou Reed. Coming up, one of my favorites, the opening track on Lou’s very first solo album, “I Can’t Stand It”.

The most important thing is “Work”! That’s from Songs For Drella, an album by Lou Reed and his former Velvet Underground comrade John Cale where they told their version of the life of Andy Warhol, who actually managed the band for a while. This is a song that shows another side of Warhol than we usually hear about, namely his relentless work ethic. Next we have something special from one of Lou’s final albums, the double CD The Raven. It’s special because Lou Reed had a lifelong love for avant-garde jazz, and in this song he got to collaborate with free jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman, on a little psychodrama called “Guilty”. It’s a terrible thing to be consumed by irrational guilt, and Lou nails that feeling here.

Another less-celebrated track from the 80s, “High In The City”. Lou captures the paradox of being swept up with a loved one in a state of public intoxication, and at the same time being wary of all the other intoxicated people around you! Like all great writers, Lou’s genius was in his attention to detail. We started with “Guilty” from The Raven, and in between we had another gem from the 3rd self-titled Velvet Underground album, “That’s The Story Of My Life”. We’re approaching the close of this take on the story of the life of the great Lou Reed, but before we turn it over to Matt Freitas and Good Times Are So Hard To Find, we’re going to hear one final song by the Velvets, Lou Reed’s hymn to the redemptive power of “Rock & Roll”.

The Deep End: What's Your Take On Cassavetes?

Another two-hour edition of The Deep End on KSFS. Let the body rock! Keep the arms moving in circular motion!

The Deep End - Show 2.7 - Oct 21, 2013 by Thedeepend on Mixcloud

The Deep End: Ando Meio Desligado!

We're back again, with added news breaks and promos for other KSFS shows to give this podcast a little extra time capsule ambiance. This go-round, we've got some Clash, some Beefheart, Os Mutantes, Ed's Redeeming Qualities, Jeffrey Lewis, Mecca Normal, Numbers, and more from our Deep End playlist. As Lenny Kaye once reminded us, it's a nugget if you dug it.

The Deep End - Show 2.6 - Oct 14, 2013 by Thedeepend on Mixcloud

The Deep End: See the people all in line, what's makin' them look at me?

A special two hour edition of The Deep End, where we start with some classic alienated 60s psychedelia, move through indie-pop, anarcho-punk, garage-rock, and torch songs, showcase a ton of great female artists, and close out by wishing a happy birthday to Fran Gibson, the golden-voiced lead singer of Australian indie band The Cannanes.

The Deep End - Show 2.5 - Oct 7, 2013 by Thedeepend on Mixcloud

Thank God for the liberal media

Tom Tomorrow just posted this absolutely stunning specimen of dripping bothsidesdoitism from Joe Nocera at the New York Times.

A party controlled by its most extreme faction will ultimately be forced back to the center. The Democrats learned that when Walter Mondale was losing to Ronald Reagan, and Michael Dukakis to George H.W. Bush. Now it is the Republicans who don’t seem to understand that their extreme tactics are pleasing a small percentage of their countrymen but alienating everyone else."

Walter Mondale, the Eugene V. Debs of the 80s. I am speechless.

Punishers

Extraordinary piece by Aimai on the mentality behind this predicament we find ourselves subject to. I'd trace it back to Nixon and the culture of resentment he rode in on. We still live in his land.

The Deep End: Open the box! Open the box!

Highlights of this week's show:

Are you ready to rock? "Yes." Outer space is a really nice place. You thought that I would need a crystal ball to see right through the haze. Poverty, poverty knock, oh how I wish I had wings. Open the box! When we kiss it feels like a flying saucer landing. On the day that I forget you, I hope my heart explodes. He took off his glasses and said, "that's the biggest load of rubbish I ever heard in my life!" When will they understand that we must be set out of the prison?

The Deep End - Show 2.4 - Sept. 30, 2013 by Thedeepend on Mixcloud

Ear Candle Radio's Top 20: September 2013

Another display of unpredictable and wonderful choices from our loyal listeners, including a double dose of Can. Turn on, tune in.

1. John Cooper Clarke - Beasley Street - Snap, Crackle & Bop
2. X-tal - Dub Rat - More Fun
3. Huun-Huur-Tu - Kh mei (v) - Sixty Horses In My Herd
4. Pleasant Day - Haunted House Of Love - SF Unscene
5. The Great Unwashed - It's a Day - Collection
6. Wire - 40 Versions - 154
7. Can - Waiting For The Streetcar - The Lost Tapes
8. The Saints - River Deep Mountain High - (I'm) Stranded
9. Roger Miller - Space Is The Place - Oh
10. Rico Bell & The Snakehandlers - Big River II - Darkside Of The Mersey
11. The Pastels - Nothing To Be Done - Truckload Of Trouble
12. The Misunderstood - I Can Take You To The Sun - Before the Dream Faded
13. Jimmy Cliff - Under The Sun, Moon And Stars - Unlimited
14. The Music Magicians - Convertibles and Headbands - Do You Know the Difference Between Big Wood and Brush?
15. The Experimental Bunnies - No Sleep Till The Pleiades - Aranka
16. Kevin Ayers - May I - June 1, 1974
17. John Shirley's Screamin' Geezers - They're Making Money (You Can't Argue With That) - We're Not Supposed To Be Doing This
18. Can - Midnight Men - The Lost Tapes
19. The Amps - Pacer - Pacer
20. Suicide - Super Subway Comedian - The Second Album + The First Rehearsal Tapes

A young man explains the problem

A land that I have heard about

Bunny Wailer's signature tune "Dreamland": a haunting, ethereal song of romance and yearning for the promised land, right? Except it turns out Bunny didn't actually write it:



(WNY-FM gives us more info on the original and the group that performed it.)

Nice (though rudely interrupted) clip of Bunny singing his version:

The doltishness never ends

Charles Pierce on why we can't have nice things. As if procedural filibusters weren't bad enough, now we have talking non-filibusters designed to fool the rubes. And the morons at Politico eat it right up. Makes me want to go turn on Netflix and stream some more old episodes of Aaron Sorkin's Wishful Thinking Theater. Or rewatch the whole first season of House Of Cards. Now Francis Underwood, there's an evil conservative politician you can believe in!

New Deep End podcast: Saints, God, and Death

A wide-ranging, energetic show with everything from devoutly spiritual proto-punks to nine-minute atheist ballads. The Deep End on KSFS, where we stare into the void and wink, and the void winks back.

The Deep End - Show 2.3 - Sept. 23, 2013 by Thedeepend on Mixcloud

Like A Shot Off A Shovel

Got a shout-out from the great Roy Edroso for riffing on James Joyce through a wingnut looking glass. Needless to say, my ego is pleased. Thanks for the hat-tip, friend.

Please, please, please, let me get what I want!

Now that Universal Music is committed to fighting against the wonderful This Charming Charlie page, it's only appropriate to discover another brilliant reappropriation of the Smiths, courtesy of Dangerous Minds. First world problems, indeed. Let's make this thing go viral!

Deep End #2.2: Finding our feet

Had to overcome some technical difficulties to bring you this podcast (and the DJ banter has some audio glitches), but I could not bear the thought of allowing last night's great KSFS show to slip down the memory hole. We start with George Faith and Lee Scratch Perry and end with The Stooges featuring the mighty Steve Mackay, covering all manner of points in between. Dig it!

The Deep End - Show 2.2 - Sept. 16, 2013 by Thedeepend on Mixcloud

First Deep End of the Fall

New podcast up! A successful first solo KSFS show. I pressed all the right buttons and managed not to blow anything up.

The Deep End - Show 2.1 - Sept. 9, 2013 by Thedeepend on Mixcloud

New And Improved Deep End

Set your clocks for 8:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time on Monday, Sept. 9, when I'll be on KSFS Radio debuting this season's incarnation of The Deep End. Tune in, listen, and send me some comments!

Ear Candle Radio's Top 20: August 2013

1. The Mekons - Fight the Cuts - Punk Rock
2. Chastity Belt - Seattle Party - Seattle Party (single)
3. Tuxedomoon - Litebulb Overkill - Desire/No Tears
4. Kraftwerk - Tongebirge - Ralf And Florian
5. Dillinger - The General - CB 200
6. The Sweater Girls - Alternative Ulster - Rebuilding The Bridge
7. Psychic TV And The Angels Of Light - Godstar [Hyperdelic Mix] - Godstar 12"
8. The Mekons - Afar & Forlorn - Ancient & Modern 1911 - 2011
9. Walt Kelly And Others - Go-Go Pogo - Songs Of The Pogo
10. Thee Outside - Testcard - Deaf Disco
11. Mezmetic - Ain't Gotta Go Fa' - A Handful Of Sand (... And A Strange Distant Wave)
12. The Love Dogs - Universal Indians - The Love Dogs
13. Jeffrey Horn - That Love Is Gone - Infinite Love
14. The Fall - Systematic Abuse - Reformation Post T.L.C.
15. The Wailers - Mr. Brown (DJ Spooky remix) - Creation Rebel
16. Tall Dwarfs - Two Minds - Stumpy
17. Solex - Solex In A Slipshod Style - Solex Vs the Hitmeister
18. Jimmy Cliff - Under The Sun, Moon And Stars - Unlimited
19. Helium - Lucy - Hole In The Ground 7"
20. Deerhoof - Spy On You - The Runners Four