The Shazam kicks

I've been so busy that I've let slide listening to a bunch of tunes from The Shazam that I bought way back in August.

Back in July, Bruce Brodeen at Not Lame Records (if you love music, follow his Tweets) tossed together a nice $22 deal: the new Shazam CD "Meteor" + a "Best of The Shazam" CD-R + "Here's To All The Misfits ...,"
an EP of unreleased rarities. Even in these days of cut-price music, that's a great deal.

I got right on the new disc, "Meteor," which is something of a comeback after six years off. It's excellent power pop that can stand on its own. But it's the two discs that Bruce threw in to good customers that are primo. Sadly, it's taken me two months to really immerse myself it these songs. The best-of is just that -- top to bottom excellence. The EP gives you a glimpse at the influences behind their sound (stuff like The Move and The Who").

If you're a fan of bands like Cheap Trick, Badfinger and Material Issue, you'll love The Shazam. This is music that sounds great loud, particularly in a car racing down the highway with the windows down.

You can sample the sounds at the band's MySpace page or buy them directly from the band's site or from NotLame (unfortunately the bonus discs were only for those who pre-ordered). The good thing about ordering from NotLame is that you never know when Bruce is going to toss something extra in your order just for the hell of it (he once sent me a CD-R of obscure Swedish power pop that's amazingly good). That serendipity is why NotLame has been able to build a business around power pop, a pretty narrow musical niche.

"American Routes" finally gets website overhaul

"American Routes" is a fantastic weekly public radio program that is something of an audio history of American music. For two hours each week, the show serves up styles ranging from "blues and jazz, gospel and soul, old-time country and rockabilly, Cajun and zydeco, Tejano and Latin, roots rock and pop, avant-garde and classical."

That mix is indeed wild mashup of American roots, and host Nick Spitzer comes up with themes each week that tie the music and interviews together. Check out the playlist from this week's show for a sample.

I've been listening to "American Routes" via XM Public Radio, downloading it onto my Inno every Saturday night and listening it to it throughout the week. But if I missed a show, I was out of luck because the show had no online streaming or archives.

Now, however, Americna Public Media has launched a long-overdue overhaul of the "American Routes" website, and the results are pretty impressive. A 10-year archive allows you to listen to every show, view each playlist or search by artist.

The one big downside remains an inability to download shows, as you can do with National Public Radio programs. But it's great to know that I can dig through a deep history of fantastic roots music and discover new songs and artists.

'Rabid in the Kennel' is radio the way it ought to be

Got an email from Jack Rabid today plugging a new weekly “Rabid in the Kennel” podcast he’s hosting on a site called BreakThru Radio. Rapid’s track record as musician and long-tme editor of the underground music publication The Big Takeover is enough of an incentive to listen, but this particular show features and interview and songs from the mutli-talented Joe Pernice.

Pernice is one of my favorite singers (not sure about his new novel, which I have yet to read) but it’s Rabid’s eclectic playlist that kept pulling me deeper. Pernice’s solo songs and selections from previous bands like the Scud Mountain Boys are supplemented by tracks from The Chameleons, Chris Bell, The Jam, Nakey Raygun, Sebadoh and Nick Drake. Wow.

This is Rabid's third podcast for the site. Previous shows featured interviews with T.V. Smith of The Adverts and The Posies.

Playlist for Sept. 21 podcast featuring Joe Pernice