R.I.P. guitarist/songwriter Steve Cropper 1941-2025

Sadly, influential guitarist Steve Cropper – co-founder of Booker T and the MGs – has passed away at 84. He'll be greatly missed.

Robert Plant selects his fave Nonesuch records and talks about 'em

Robert Plant paid a visit to the Nonesuch Music Library to talk about a few of the records he found inspiring. 

Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant – a self-described "nerdy collector," constantly exploring new sounds – recently spent some time rooting around the Nonesuch Music Library and pulled a few albums off the shelves he found to be inspiring. Check out his discussion of the records he selected right here. Watch Robert discuss record collecting while on tour with guitar player JD McPherson right here.    

Watch a recent Neba Solo performance below. 

Remembering Jean-Luc Godard on his birthday

Remembering influential filmmaker/journalist Jean-Luc Godard on his birthday with a 1980 Dick Cavett interview and more.

Rob Younger curates New Christs retrospective The Burning Of Rome 2LP

To coincide with the New Christs' recent European tour, Rob Younger put together a 2LP 'best-of' comp, The Burning Of Rome. 

NEW CHRISTS – THE BURNING OF ROME: SELECTED WORKS

To celebrate the 2025 European tour Rob Younger personally curated career-spanning double vinyl titled The Burning of Rome: Selected Works. Now comes the local Australian version with alternate cover art, available in a super limited (100 copies) white vinyl as well as standard black vinyl pressed locally at Suitcase Records in Brisbane.

Rob Younger, best known as the voice of Radio Birdman and a defining figure of the Australian underground, formed The New Christs in the early 1980s as an outlet for his darker, more intense musical visions. Over the years, the band has become an essential part of the global rock'n'roll landscape, blending raw garage energy with post-punk menace, sophisticated songwriting and a ferocious live presence. Despite frequent changes in the lineup (featuring some of the finest musicians from bands like the Celibate Rifles, Lime Spiders, The Barracudas and Hoodoo Gurus), the band has maintained an unmistakable identity, one defined by urgency, grit and uncompromising quality.

The Burning of Rome: Selected Works doesn’t settle for the easy picks. Instead, it offers a deeper, more comprehensive look at The New Christs sonic universe, drawing from every corner of their discography, from their feral 1981 debut single Face a New God to highlights from their later studio albums, Distemper (1989), Lower Yourself (1997), We Got This! (2002), Gloria (2009) and Incantations(2014). The twenty tracks compiled here paint a vivid portrait of a band that, while never prolific, has never missed a beat.

The collection opens with the thunderous distortion of We Have Landed taken from the 1997 album Lower Yourself, an album that showcases the band at their most focused and dangerous. From there, the listener is plunged into a world of tense guitars, pounding rhythms and Younger’s unmistakable vocal presence. There’s the propulsive energy of Another Sin, featuring blistering guitar work by Charlie Owen, the haunting, late-night feel of Golden Street, the sunlit drive of Spit It Out, and the fiery swagger of On Top of Me. And of course, the epic title track, The Burning of Rome, is a standout moment, embodying the band’s signature mix of intensity and elegance.

Crucially, this isn’t just a nostalgic retrospective of their 1980s classics, although gems like Born Out of Time and Coming Apart are included, it’s a celebration of the full arc of The New Christs career. It shines a light on lesser-known tracks that deserve far more recognition and proves, once again, that this band has been producing vital, hard-hitting rock music for over four decades.

Releases December 12th 2025. Limited White Vinyl (100 Copies) / Standard Black Vinyl.

New Christs – The Burning Of Rome

1. We Have Landed

2. Another Sin

3. The Golden Street

4. No Way On Earth 

5. Jenny 

6. Coming Apart 

7. This Is A Party

8. Spit It Out 

9. My Existence 

10. Asphalt 

11. These Reasons

12. From On High 

13. The Wheel 

14. We Got This

15. Born Out Of Time

16. Waves Form

17. The Burning Of Rome

18. Love's Underground

19. On Top Of Me

20. Bonsoir A Vous 

PRE ORDER - https://musicfarmers.com/products/the-burning-of-rome-selected-works

Selected independent stores in Australia will have copies of the black vinyl available in-store from Friday December 12th including Clarity Records (Adelaide), Hiss & Crackle Records (Newcastle), Music Farmers (Wollongong), Rocksteady Records (Melbourne), Tommy Gun Records(Hobart) and a few more to be added soon. 

Limited copies on both white and black will be available from Citadel Mailorder here. 

You can also try Bandcamp for any remaining copies of the initial EU tour release from back in August right here. Check out a couple of the New Christs early singles and watch a recent performance of "We Have Landed" below. 

Dollar Bin Delights: Anita Carter Sings Folk Songs Old and New

Anita Carter's solo debut from '62 is best remembered for kicking off with the first recorded version of "Ring Of Fire" 

A sharp-cornered near mint copy of the solo debut recorded circa 1962 by The Carter Family's Anita Carter – daughter of Maybelle Carter and younger sister of June and Helen Carter – probably shouldn't be in any sort of  discount bin but who am I to argue with a second-hand vinyl vendor's decision to unload it cheap. 

Like the title spells out, the then 29 year-old Anita Carter sings a selection of folk songs with spare instrumentation which marke-savvy recording supervisor Shelby Singleton likely saw as a way to cash-in on the coffee house folk trend sweeping the nation during the late 50s and early 60s. 

As you might expect, it's largely a Carter Family affair so along with a couple of Anita's own compositions ("All My Trials," "Johnny I Hardly Knew You,") you get one from Mother Maybelle ("Fair and Tender Ladies"), and a few from sisters Helen and June. 

The most noteworthy of the bunch is the album opener "Love's Ring Of Fire" which is credited to June Carter and Merle Kilgore although June later claimed that the song was actually written by Johnny Cash while on a fishing trip with Merle Kilgore and western swing fiddler Curly Lewis. Anita's version of the song is backed by autoharp and guitar and carries the familiar melody with an odd echo on the word "fire" presumably to add an eerie vibe to the performance. A laudable effort but it doesn't have anywhere near the oomph of Johnny's recut, the most notable add-on is the signature Mariachi horn riff that opens the recording and repeats throughout. It's an inspired hook which seemed to fall from out of the blue – using Mariachi horns in country songs wasn't a popular trend in the early 60s – but it works remarkably well. Although he liked to tell anyone who asked that the novel arrangement idea came to him in a dream although it's much more likely that he had the familiar sound of Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass stuck in his head because "The Lonely Bull" was all over radio in 1962.  

The timing is interesting since Johnny was estranged from first wife Vivian Liberto – though very much still married – at the time of Anita's recording as Vivian didn't file for divorce until 1966. Johnny waited a few months before releasing his own rousing version, retitled simply :"Ring Of Fire," on April 19, 1963 with Mother Maybelle Carter and the Carter Sisters singing backing vocals. It proved to be just the career boost Johnny needed. at the time  The updated version – with a few adjustments to the lyrics and phrasing– rocketed to the top of the charts and stayed there for seven weeks, racking up huge sales effectively wiping away any public knowledge of Anita Carter's original version in the process. Today, many folks who consider themselves to be serious country music fans would be surprised to learn that someone else recorded the tune before Johnny hit big with it. That's probably why I found a clean original Mercury copy of Anita's album Sings Folk Songs Old And New in the dollar bin. Those interested can sometimes turn up Bear Family's German reissue from 1981 although you're more likely to see the original in these parts. 

My own personal favourite version of "Ring Of Fire" is the inspired Tex-Mex overhaul "Rueda de Fuego" by Tejano accordion ace Mingo Saldivar y Los Cuarto Espadas originally issued as a self-released single on the Espada Records label in 1978 and then re-cut for his Rounder album "I Love My Freedom, I Love My Texas." Always a show-stopper, Mingo wowed audiences across North America and beyond with his impassioned reworking of "Ring Of Fire" delivered with gusto and some fancy footwork which earned him a standing ovation at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre circa 1992. That was when Harbourfront would regularly feature exciting international artists on a weekly basis during the summer months.  

Check out Anita Carter's "Love's Ring Of Fire" along with Johnny Cash's spin on it followed by Mingo Saldivar's clever ranchera rework for his 1978 single along with a kick-ass performance of the tune. 

Cardiff's James and The Cold Gun, Tumble rock the Monarch Tavern, Tuesday

James and The Cold Gun – the heaviest Welsh band named after a Kate Bush tune – revel in the sound of the 90s! Tumble opens at 7 pm.

Just in time for Christmas... Matt Berry's Witchazel vinyl repress

Matt Berry's 2011 debut recording Witchazel – prized by Laszlo Cravensworth fans – will be recirculated by Acid Jazz Records on December 12th.

Here's the scoop...

A coal-black vinyl repressing of Matt Berry's 'Witchazel' is being released on December 12th via Acid Jazz Records.

Matt Berry’s debut album on Acid Jazz and the start of his now-15 year relationship with the label. It is of course the home of the fantastic 'Take My Hand’ - known the world over at the theme to the BAFTA Award winning TV show Toast Of London.

Last year the track became a surprise internet sensation, and all remaining physical copies of the album were hoovered up. Which is a shame, because the album’s Wicker Man-inspired folk funk is a marvel, and gives us the roadmap for Matt’s continued success.

Acid Jazz will start shipping a new black vinyl edition of the album on December 12th. This will not be available to general distribution until early 2026. 

Pre-order it directly from Acid Jazz right here. Listen to "Take My Hand" below. 

John Showman & Chris Coole launch December residency @ The Cameron, Tuesday

Lonesome Ace's John Showman & Chris Coole kick off their Cameron House residency Tuesday from 6 pm to 8 pm.

Catch the Lonesome Ace Stringband at the Newmarket Legion (707 Shrigley St) on December 6 at 8 pm. Get tickets here.

Happy Birthday Billy Childish!

Celebrating the birthday of painter/poet and musician Billy Childish with a chat with Ian Svenonius, "Troubled Mind" and more.

Grown Up Wrong issues blazing '79 live performance by Oz punks Lipstick Killers

The Lipstick Killers show at Adelaide's Marryatville Hotel from 1979 is now available for Oz punk fans to enjoy.   

Here's the scoop...

Sydney's Lipstick Killers released just one single in their lifetime – the perfect ’79 pairing of “Hindu Gods of Love” and ”Shakedown USA”, released on both their own Lost in Space Records and Greg Shaw’s Voxx Records and produced by Deniz Tek of the band's heroes Radio Birdman - but a posthumous live album and a couple of archival releases followed. 

It was all incredible. and it was all put together a few years ago on Grown Up Wrong!'s 2CD set Strange Flash! And while the 2LP version of that release included all the studio stuff and the live in LA 1981 set, there was no room for this brain-burning, chaotic live set from '79.

Tour De Force, which was recorded for local radio station 5UV – Radio Adelaide, captures the band as they were still emerging from the cocoon that was the Psycho Surgeons. 

The Nuggets influences are there, but it's a Stooges influences which dominate proceedings, and definitive readings of both sides of the Psycho Surgeons classic 45 "Wild Weekend"/"Horizontal Action" are included alongside early Killers killers like "Teen Police" and "Sockman" and later faves like "Hindu Gods of Love', "Shakedown USA" and "Dying Boy's Crawl". The band's hot take on the Thirteenth Floor Elevators' "I've Got Levitation" is also featured. There's also plenty of tunes that were only ever captured on tape on this wild night, including "Human Crash", "Crush On You", "Head Off" and "Bully"! 

Get a copy of the Lipstick Killers' "Tour De Force" album via Bandcamp right here or in North America, via Midheaven Mailorder right here. While you're at it, pick up a copy of the excellent Lipstick Killers anthology "Strange Flash: Studio & Live '78-'81 (also released by Grown Up Wrong) right here. Read more about the group in a feature article written by Ian McFarlane by following the link below. And check out the 45 version of their classic "Hindu Gods Of Love" single. 

LINKS
Third Stone Press Lipstick Killers: Hindu Gods Are Calling You!

Remembering blues great Brownie McGhee on his birthday

Remembering singer/guitarist Brownie McGhee with "Rainy Day" and an hour-long set with Sonny Terry on WFMT-FM in 1970. 

Whaddya mean you don't know The Elite

Straight outta Fort Worth, Texas – it's The Elite! Check out their garage punk classic "My Confusion" on Charay Records.  

Collector/DJs Jean-Claude & Victor Kiswell return with World Jazz Grooves Vol. 2

Victor Kiswell (above) strikes again with the second volume of World Jazz Grooves – another great deep jazz collection out now!

Here's the scoop...

The collaboration between BBE Music and If Music continues with another excellent compilation in the ongoing If Music Presents series with this second volume in the World Jazz Grooves chapter.

Alongside the A Journey Into Deep Jazz albums in the catalogue, World Jazz Grooves Volume 2 (out now) explores the global diversity of Jazz in its many forms, as interpreted throughout the globe, with tracks from Denmark, France, Brazil, Canada, the USA and Jamaica. The tracklist includes Rosa Mae from Mary Lou Williams, one of the artists in the legendary A Great Day in Harlem photograph and Dakar, a 16 minute opus of a track by Dadje.

With the music sought, sorted and selected by legendary diggers and selectors Jean-Claude and Victor Kiswell World Jazz Volume 2 is also the opportunity to own music that has been painstakingly searched for in flea markets, second hand shops and private collections and would not be available otherwise.

Jean-Claude’s excellent track record of creating and curating compilation albums and rediscovering rare gems and private presses for re-issue follows a philosophy of cross- genre music appreciation.

He has been a mainstay of London’s Black Music scene for some four decades with his record shop, his shows on NTS and Soho Radio, his excellent ‘In Conversation with...’ series of chat shows, his Djing and curation of event stages at We Out Here and Cross the Tracks and, of course, his excellent compilations.

Paris based Victor Kiswell is also a somewhat of a savant in the world of vinyl hunting and discernment with parallel careers as a journalist writing for vinyl bazaar, art director for Radioooo.com, DJ and broadcaster on various stations throughout Europe. Victor's travels around the world, on his vinyl quests, are well documented in his articles in Vinyl Bazaar and he describes himself as an 'adventurer', an 'archaeologist' and someone who enjoys the element of his vinyl hunting where he finds himself going where chance takes him.

Yes, with these two music heads and vinyl hunting experts unearthing the seven absolute gems on this double vinyl offering, If Music presents: World Jazz Grooves Volume 2 really is something you need in your life and in your vinyl rack.  Get a copy via Bandcamp right here if your local vinyl vendor doesn't stock it. 

Check out three tunes following the tracklisting below. 

iF Music Presents World Jazz Grooves, Vol. 2

1. Sylvain Kassap - Marlowe's Back in Tome 05:05

2. Mary Lou Williams - Rosa Mae 04:31

3. Gerardo Bátiz - Aguamarina (a Elis Regina) 03:25

4. Cedric Brooks and The Divine Light - Third World (Afro Beat) 13:05

5. Kahil El'Zabar - Song for a New South Africa 04:42

6. John Tchicai, Strange Brothers - I En Kælder 04:57

7. Colin Wilkie, Shirley Hart, Albert Mangelsdorff, Joki Freund - Ich armes Maidlein klag mich sehr 06:41

8. Dadje - Dakar 16:30

Drummer Billy Hart releases live quartet recording "Multidirectional"

It's legendary drummer Billy Hart's 85th birthday today and we're celebrating the news of his latest release, Multidirectional recorded live – out now!

Here's the scoop...

Jazz drumming legend and NEA Jazz Master Billy Hart discusses his long-running quartet's first live album, Multidirectional (Smoke Sessions Recordings). This video includes live performances by the quartet, which features Mark Turner, Ethan Iverson, and Ben Street. Selections include "Sonnet for Stevie" (Turner), "Song for Balkis" (Hart), "Amethyst" (Hart), "Giant Steps" (Coltrane), and "Showdown" (Iverson). 

Legendary drummer Billy Hart credits the great Rashied Ali for introducing him to the term “multidirectional” – a descriptor for the elusive, daring approach to the kit that Hart and others of his generation had developed intuitively in response to the increasing freedom and exploration of the era’s jazz experimentation.

“Rashied Ali told me that ‘multidirectional’ was what John Coltrane called this freeform feel, where conventional structure was abandoned and the rhythms could cut in any direction,” he writes in OCEANS OF TIME: THE MUSICAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BILLY HART, his captivating new memoir. Hart had begun to explore that style under the influence of Coltrane’s pioneering work, first venturing into the terrain while playing with Pharoah Sanders at the famed East Village club Slugs’.

More than half a century later, Hart has refined and evolved the approach into a singular percussive voice of unparalleled elegance, finesse and intricacy – as exemplified on MULTIDIRECTIONAL, the first live recording by his longstanding quartet featuring tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, pianist Ethan Iverson, and bassist Ben Street.

The album’s release arrives just in time for Hart’s 85th birthday, and vividly reveals that the beloved drummer still has surprises to reveal. No less an authority than Iverson, not just a collaborator for more than 25 years but a respected scholar of the music’s history, marvels at hearing Hart veer into this audacious direction.

“A year or two into playing with Billy and his quartet,” Iverson recalls to writer Nate Chinen in his liner notes, “I went over to rehearse, and he sat down at his drums and said: ‘I want some music in this band that’s like John Coltrane with Rashied Ali.’ Then he started playing in the style, which I don’t think I’ve heard Billy ever play in another setting. He was always swinging so hard, doing what he does at the highest level every time—but I didn’t catch a situation with Quest, or any other group live where I would have heard a taste of that.”

Not that Hart is a stranger to adapting his distinctive voice to multifarious approaches. Iverson mentions Quest, the post-bop quartet in which he joined Dave Liebman and Richie Beirach; add to that another venerated collective, the hard bop all-star group The Cookers, not to mention Herbie Hancock’s pioneering Mwandishi sextet – the context in which Hart earned his sobriquet Jabali, Swahili for “rock.”

Then there’s the long history of work with many of jazz’s greatest artists, a list that ranges from Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner and Jimmy Smith to Bill Frisell, Charles Lloyd, Branford Marsalis and Joe Lovano, among countless others. In 2022 he took his well-deserved place among the ranks of NEA Jazz Masters.

For more than 20 years now, Hart’s stellar quartet has added inestimably to that legacy. Their studio albums have documented the development of the band’s scintillating chemistry and an intense yet spacious group sound. But something further bursts forth when they take the stage together, a kaleidoscopic searching and bristling energy that has finally been captured, like lightning in a bottle, in this exhilarating live recording from the stage of Smoke Jazz Club.

As Hart describes, “Everybody in the band has had a direction in mind since I met them, and there were times when we got to certain points but never got a chance to record it. We did make records, but we weren’t playing in front of an audience.”

The album is an ideal showcase for Hart’s quartet, the members of which are a generation younger than the drummer/bandleader but all acclaimed veterans in their own right. “I know I’ve changed a lot as a result of playing with Billy in this band,” Turner says. “In terms of our experience level, we’ve come closer to Billy, if that’s not too egotistical to say. We’re 20 years older. We’ve all improved. We’ve gotten better as musicians, more comfortable in our own skin.”

Hart inaugurates the set on mallets, establishing an almost reverent tone on “Song for Balkis,” a tribute to his daughter that also opened the quartet’s 2012 ECM release ALL OUR REASONS. The song turns tumultuous – and, yes, multidirectional – as Turner unfurls a probing solo. Trane’s influence becomes explicit on an unusually restrained version of “Giant Steps,” which gains intensity and velocity as the familiar tune progresses from Iverson’s tentative, agitated solo intro.

Turner’s “Sonnet for Stevie” is propelled by Hart’s broad, unhurried swing foundation, Iverson’s solo seeming to hang suspended from Street’s sturdy basslines. Hart reaches back to the title track of a 1993 album for “Amethyst,” offering perhaps the date’s most striking example of the band’s fluid multidirectionality – never quite settling into a recognizable tempo or rhythm, yet maintaining a determined momentum and cohesiveness throughout. They conclude with Iverson’s “Showdown,” an introspective ballad that opened the quartet’s most recent studio outing, Just, highlighted by Turner’s eloquent melodicism over the leader’s sensitive, nuanced touch.

Deep into a storied career, Billy Hart remarkably continues to discover new paths to traverse. MULTIDIRECTIONAL refers to the rhythmic unpredictability displayed on this essential album, of course, but there’s a philosophy suggested by the word that defines Jabali’s restless curiosity – striking out along varied and divergent currents, unpredictable but always possessed by a resolute sense of direction. 

Get a copy of the Billy Hart Quartet's new album Multidirectional via Bandcamp right here. Note: the 180 gram vinyl pressing is limited to 500 copies. Check out the release trailer video and an interview following the credits below. 

Credits: 

Recorded Live at SMOKE Jazz Club, NYC December 7–10, 2023.

Produced by Paul Stache; Production Assisted by Damon Smith; Recorded by Paul Stache & Richard Bernard; Mixed by Chris Allen; Mastered by Chris Allen & Tyler McDiarmid; Photography by Jimmy & Dena Katz and Dave Kaufman; Liner Notes by Nate Chinen. 

Happy Birthday Sally Timms!

Celebrating Sally's birthday with her versions of the Handsome Family's "Sad Milkman" and two John Anderson honky tonk classics! 

B-Side Wins Again: Earl Vince & The Valiants (Fleetwood Mac)

Jeremy Spencer sings the rare Fleetwood Mac rocker "Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonite" from 1969. 

Remembering pianist/composer Billy Strayhorn on his birthday

Remembering composer/arranger and pianist Billy Strayhorn with a couple of performances, recordings, interviews and more.

Toast 10 years of The Shameful Tiki Toronto w/ Ichi-Bons @ Shameful Tiki, Friday

Should be a swingin' 10th anniversary party at the Shameful Tiki (777 Queen St. W) tonight with T.O.'s own Ichi-Bons at 9 pm!

Longineu Parsons' self-titled debut as leader being recirculated by Ubiquity

The 1980 spiritual jazz album trumpeter Longineu Parsons cut in Paris is being reissued for RSD Black Friday.

Here's the scoop from Longineu...

This is my first album as a leader, recorded in Paris in 1980.  It has become a collectors item and is being re-released on Ubiquity Records tomorrow.  The album is the group I had when I lived in France.  Sulaiman Hakim is killing it on alto and soprano saxophones.

Happy Birthday Randy Newman!

Cheers to singer/songwriter Randy Newman on his birthday! Here are a couple of interviews and performances worth checking.

Straight outta Saskatoon... it's the Swingin' Canadians!

Sundazed is releasing The Swingin' Canadians – Kangaroo Hash comp as part of their Ultra 100's series – only 100 copies!

 

Here's the scoop from Sundazed HQ...

The sound of Saskatoon's Swingin' Canadians is a mixture of lots of punchy horns, some jangle and the energy combined with a certain flavor of angst that could only come from a band run by siblings who grew up in Saskatchewan. Previously featured on Sundazed's Heated Garage comp, The Swingin' Canadians' Kangaroo Hash album it includes 5 unissued tracks & their Bangar singles!

In the 1950s Gene Dlouhy led a big band with his brothers as the CBC Happytimers, then in the '60s he and his brother Reg led the Swinging Canadians, who at one time became the house band at the Trade Winds in Calgary, Alberta (where at the time they were based).

Gene's vocals had a range that had him swing from smooth vocals to a raspy bark when he wasn't propelling the band with his sax or solid metronomic rhythm guitar playing. The band typically featured a tight combo of fiddle, steel guitar, upright bass, and sometimes accordion—delivering toe-tapping two-steps and lively polkas alongside swing standards and country hits. Their sound was clean, melodic, and dance-friendly, perfect for the community halls and rodeo events that defined rural entertainment in Western Canada.

Gene Dlouhy & The Swingin' Canadians were a regional success in Saskatchewan and didn't seem to tour too much outside of that. However, sometimes the tours came to him, as he opened for Roy Orbison on some Canadian dates. The band would ultimately turn down a recording contract in the US so that they could stand firm in their Canadian roots. He continued performing for decades up until 2020 when he reunited with his late brother Reg at the age of 93. His musical legacy is carried on by his son Guy, who sings and plays guitar in the Hard Labor Band. 

Get a limited edition copy of The Swingin' Canadians' "Kangaroo Hash" LP directly from Sundazed Records right here. And watch out for a special Thanksgiving themed Ultra 100's single released tonight. Watch three video clips following the track listing below.  

The Swingin' Canadians - Kangaroo Hash

Kangaroo Hash • Baby I Need Your Love • Hooka Tooka • Kiss Me Sweet • Whirlybird • I Want To Go With You • Pretty Little Cha Cha • Boney Maronie • ​Drinking Wine • Mexican Market Days • Since I Met You Baby • Long Tall Texan • Autumn Leave​s​ • French Canadian Twist* • Broken Hearts* • Yakety Sax*

*CD Only

Happy Thanksgiving from DJ Kitschy Mama!

 Kitschy Mama is presenting a special selection of tasty turkey day gems for her Retro Obscuro show on WFMU at 2 pm Eastern.

Sez Kitschy Mama...

"Tune into WFMU-FM's Retro Obscuro, 𝚆𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚍𝚘 𝙾𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚜 later today for a Thanksgiving Special featuring great lost songs about food from Chubby Checker, Sonny Terry, Bob Hope and many more! Tune in every Thursday at 2pm ET on WFMU Rock 'n' Soul Radio."

Here's the link: https://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/158544

Do The Turkey now with song-poem king Rodd Keith below. 

It's the perfect musical accompaniment to whatever meal you're serving up!

Remembering Elmore James on his birthday

Here's Elmore James (right) with Homesick James and saxophonist J.T. Brown. Check out his classic Trumpet 78 and two Flair 45s.

Yes, we're thankful for rockin' Elmore James records and PBR too!

One For The Thanksgiving Weekend: Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee

Here's a great Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee performance of "Long Gone (Like a Turkey Through The Corn)" 

R.I.P. fashion designer Pam Hogg, 1959-2025

Sadly, designer to the stars Siouxsie Sioux, Björk, Rihana, Kylie Minogue and others has passed away at 66. She'll be greatly missed.

Pete Rock plays The Phoenix Dec 14 followed by CL Smooth Dec 19

Great to have Pete Rock and former partner CL Smooth playing separate shows in Torono – don't count on a reunion anytime soon. 

Get tickets for Pete Rock's show on Dec 14 here and/or for CL Smooth's show on Dec 19 right here. 

Midweek Mixdown: Downtown Soulville with Mr. Fine Wine

Here's another sweet set of vintage soulful swingers from Matt "Mr. Fine Wine" Weingarden. 

Sez Mr. Fine Wine...

"The latest Downtown Soulville show on New Jersey radio station WFMU has now been permanently archived for anytime listening along with 25+ years of previous shows! Give it a listen at your leisure. Here's the playlist and a link to the sound file."

Check out Mr. Fine Wine's Downtown Soulville show from November 15th right here.

Watch Dead Moon's Toody Cole & her band live in Melbourne, Australia

Here's Toody Cole rockin' out with her Portland pals from The Spurs at PBS FM's studio in Melbourne, Australia recently. 

Here's the scoop...

Toody Cole, co-founder and mainstay of iconic Oregon group Dead Moon and the godmother of raw DIY rock 'n' roll, dropped by the Collingwood Yards studio of PBS 106.7 FM in Melbourne while in Australia for the first time fronting her own band, following three decades of appearances here with Dead Moon, Pierced Arrows and as a duo with her late great husband Fred Cole. In Toody Cole & Her Band, she is joined by Kelly Haliburton and Christopher March (on drums and guitar respectively) of fellow Oregon outfit Jenny Don't & The Spurs. 

The performance originally aired on Fang It! on Thursday November 20, 2025 - you can listen back to the audio archived here: pbsfm.org.au/program/fang-it/2025-11-20/17-00-00

Western World

Psychedelic Nightmare

Dagger Moon

Walking On My Grave

Caroline

Johnny

54-40 Or Fight

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Paul Maybury. 

Video by Patrick Turnbull / Two Way Media (instagram.com/twowaymedia1).

PBS FM is a member-funded community radio station based in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. We have a dedicated team of volunteers broadcasting specialist music programming 24/7 via 106.7FM & PBS Digital in Naarm, and worldwide via www.pbsfm.org.au and the PBS app.

Michael Weston King previews new album with "La Bamba In The Rain"

Borne of grief, Michael Weston King's forthcoming album Nothing Can Hurt Me Anymore is due early next year. Listen to the first track.

LINKS

Michael Weston King site: https://michaelwestonking.com/

Americana UK Michael Weston King - "La Bamba In The Rain"

Mamoru Banzai rocks Mossop's Social House, Wednesday

Ichi-Bons guitar slinger Mamoru Banzai hits Mossop's Social House (56 Yonge) for two sets (6:30 pm and 8 pm)

Sez Mamoru... 

"On Wednesday, November 26th, I will be playing 2 sets (6:30 pm & 8 pm) of electrified country blues at Mossop's Social House! No cover. Come by for some cocktails, food and music!" 

You can reserve a table at Mossop's right here. Watch Mamoru in action right here and over here. Those Ichi-Bons play the Shameful Tiki's 10th Anniversary Party at 777 Queen St. West on Friday (November 28). Watch Mamoru and his Ichi-Bons get down Dick Dale-style with a special guest in Paris below. 

R.I.P. Reggae great Jimmy Cliff, 1944-2025

Sadly, reggae great Jimmy Cliff has passed away at the age of 81. He'll be greatly missed.