The Unblinking Ear Podcast 8/18/16

My 5th podcast of 2016 and it's only August. Enjoy this escargot-like delicacy!

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The Unblinking Ear Podcast 4/19/13

If anyone would like to purchase the above product for me (a mere $68 retail!), I would gladly accept. I have a beard and it needs to be tamed. Yet even with this mammalian hindrance, I somehow manage to fill a biweekly podcast with new music. It's not an impossible task, though admittedly, it is slightly more demanding than complaining.

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The Unblinking Ear Podcast: Podcasters Do It Weekly

I have to admit doing this podcast on a weekly basis has presented some challengers.

For example, trying to come up with something interest to say when I post a new one.

I can hear some of you now saying "Well that never stopped you before."

Har har. You're so funny, hypothetical straw man.

In lieu of clever comment, I'll just give you this still from the 1983 film Joysticks:

(Note: I discovered the above via the recent book Destroy All Movies, which is immensely entertaining and needs to be owned by everyone.)

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The Unblinking Ear Podcast: The List (So Far)

(I promise this will be marginally more fun than filling out your census form.)

Hello, fans of my podcast, tolerators of my podcast, and tolerators of my person.

Because I have far too much time on my hands, I've assembled a list of every artist I've played on the Unblinking Ear Podcast.

Why? Well, it's sort of been my unofficial policy to never play the same artist twice. This is, of course, unless the artist has a new release, which I'm always happy to feature. I just don't like redundancy. Rather than play the same favorites over and over again, I'd much rather find and air things less appreciated, even if I'm just digging through the corners of my own record collection.

I've been doing the podcast for nearly two years and with list I will no longer have to check the tags of each post to see whom I've already played. The list features 308 different artists.

Now here's the part where you come in.

Who HAVEN'T I played?

Is there any band conspicuous by their absence? Is there someone of whom you know I'm a big fan, but isn't featured? Is there a band that you think it just so damn good you just can't believe I have played them?

Please let me know. All your responses will be considered (and possibly mocked). All kidding aside, I'm looking for your help to stimulate some dead links in my brain and make me go "Oh, man! I forgot all about them."

So get to it, folks. At the very least, I hope this will make for some lively discussion.

Oh, and if you mention your own band, I'm going to smack you in the mouth.

1. AC Newman
2. The Action
3. The Adverts
4. AK-47
5. Alan Milman Sect
6. Alternative TV
7. American Music Club
8. Angry Samoans
9. Animals and Men
10. Article 58
11. Barbara Manning
12. Bartlebees
13. Bassholes
14. The Bats
15. Beach Boys
16. The Beat
17. Better Beatles
18. Bevis Frond
19. Beyond the Implode
20. Big Star
21. Bird Nest Roys
22. The Birthday Party
23. The Bizarros
24. Blue Orchids
25. Bobby Soxx
26. Bottomless Pit
27. Box Elders
28. The Boys
29. Brain Eno
30. Busted Statues
31. Cabaret Voltaire
32. Carolee
33. Cause Co-Motion
34. Chain Gang
35. Cheap Trick
36. Cheveu
37. Chills
38. Chris Carpenter
39. Christmas
40. Chrome
41. The Chosen Few
42. Circle X
43. Classic Ruins
44. The Clean
45. Colin Newman
46. Coral
47. Coloured Balls
48. The Cramps
49. The Creation
50. The Creepers
51. The Crescendos
52. Crime
53. Cyclops
54. Daniel Francis Doyle
55. David Bazan
56. Dead Boys
57. Dead C
58. Death
59. Desperate Bicycles
60. Destroyer
61. The Dicks
62. The Dictators
63. Died Pretty
64. Dieter Meier
65. The Dils
66. Dirt Shit
67. Dirtbombs
68. Disappears
69. Distractions
70. The Dogs
71. The Dream Syndicate
72. Drunks With Guns
73. Eat Skull
74. Eddy Current Suppression Ring
75. Electric Eels
76. The Embarrassment
77. Embrace
78. Endtables
79. Eppu Normaali
80. The Ex
81. The Fall
82. Fang
83. The Feelies
84. FIlth
85. Flamin Groovies
86. Fleetwood Mac
87. Flesh Eaters
88. Flipper
89. The Fresh and Onlys
90. Fucked Up
91. Futureheads
92. Gaunt
93. Gem
94. Gene Clark
95. The Germs
96. Girls
97. The Girls
98. Girls At Our Best
99. Go-Betweens
100. Golden Error
101. Gordons
102. Grass Widow
103. Great Plains
104. Grifters
105. Guided By Voices
106. The Gun Club
107. Gun Outfit
108. Guv'ner
109. Halo of Flies
110. Hank IV
111. The Haskels
112. Thee Headcoats
113. Helmettes
114. Henry's Dress
115. Herman's Hermits
116. Home Blitz
117. Homosexuals
118. Hot Snakes
119. The Hunches
120. Hüsker Dü
121. The In Out
122. Inferno
123. Jay Reatard
124. Jean-Paul Sartre Experience
125. Joel RL Phelps and the Downer Trio
126. John Cale
127. John Felice
128. Johnny Moped
129. Johnny Thunders
130. Kevin Ayers
131. The Kids
132. The Kinks
133. Kriminella Gitarrer
134. Kurt Vile
135. La Peste
136. The Laureates
137. The Leftovers
138. The Lewd
139. Liket Lever
140. Liliput
141. Lilys
142. The Lines
143. Little Claw
144. Lollipop Shoppe
145. Long Blondes
146. Lou Reed
147. Loudon Wainwright III
148. Love
149. Love of Diagrams
150. Magick Heads
151. Magik Markers
152. Marked Men
153. The Mayfair Set
154. Mayyors
155. Mecca Normal
156. Mekons
157. Meth Teeth
158. Mick Farren
159. Micronotz
160. Minutemen
161. Mission of Burma
162. The Misunderstood
163. The Monorchid
164. Motorhead
165. Moving Sidewalks
166. Moving Targets
167. The Mystic Tide
168. Nasal Boys
169. The Nazz
170. Negative Approach
171. Negative Trend
172. Neil Young
173. The Nerves
174. Neu
175. New Bomb Turks
176. Nitwitz
177. Nocturnal Projections
178. Nodzzz
179. Nothing Painted Blue
180. Nothing People
181. Nubs
182. The Obits
183. The Only Ones
184. Opus
185. The Oranges Band
186. Oxford Collapse
187. The Pagans
188. Pere Ubu
189. Phil Ochs
190. Photobooth
191. The Pin Group
192. Pissed Jeans
193. Polvo
194. Ponys
195. The Pop Group
196. Prisonshake
197. Psychic Ills
198. Public Image Ltd
199. Pylon
200. Randoms
201. Real Kids
202. Red Krayola
203. Red Transistor
204. Reigning Sound
205. Richard Hell
206. Richard Thompson
207. The Rich Kids
208. Rip Offs
209. Robert Wyatt
210. Roger Miller
211. Roky Erickson
212. Ron House
213. Ronnie Mayor
214. Rose Tattoo
215. Rot Shit
216. Roy Wood
217. Rude Kids
218. The Ruts
219. Sado-Nation
220. The Saints
221. Sally Crewe and the Sudden Moves
222. Satan's Rats
223. Screaming Urge
224. Sebadoh
225. Severe
226. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
227. Shop Assistants
228. Sic Alps
229. Silkworm
230. Silver Apples
231. Simply Saucer
232. Singles
233. Skrewdriver
234. Slant 6
235. Sleater Kinney
236. The Sleepers
237. Snuky Tate
238. Soft Boys
239. Sonic Youth
240. Sonic's Rendezvous Band
241. Spider Bags
242. Spoon
243. Spring
244. The Squad
245. Stiffs Inc
246. The Stooges
247. The Stranglers
248. Strapping Fieldhands
249. Stuart Murdoch
250. Styrenes
251. Sugar
252. Suicide Commandos
253. Superchunk
254. Swamp Rats
255. Tall Dwarfs
256. Tampax
257. Tapeworm
258. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
259. Teenage Fanclub
260. Terrorways
261. Thee Oh Sees
262. Thermals
263. This Poison!
264. Third Bardo
265. Thomas Function
266. Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments
267. Thought Criminals
268. Tights
269. Times New Viking
270. Tommy Keene
271. Tre Orsi
272. Troggs
273. Twink
274. Twinkeys
275. Ty Segall
276. Tyvek
277. Unrest
278. Urinals
279. Uzi
280. V-3
281. Vaselines
282. Vast Majority
283. Vee Dee
284. Versus
285. Vicious Visions
286. The Victims
287. Victor Dimisich Band
288. Vivian Girls
289. Vomit Launch
290. Vomit Pigs
291. Volcano Suns
292. Vulgar Boatmen
293. Wanda Jackson
294. Wavves
295. The Wedding Present
296. Weirdos
297. The What's New
298. The Wipers
299. Wire
300. Wounded Lion
301. Wooden Shjips
302. X
303. XYX
304. Yo
305. Yo La Tengo
306. Young Marble Giants
307. The 3Ds
308. 45 Grave

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Out-Of-Print Digital Relics: Wire Rarities

As unlikely as it seems, vinyl is not the only sort after medium for rare music. An increasing number of CDs are falling out-of-print and fetching high prices on eBay and Amazon. Sure, you can probably find just about anything via Soulseek or some other file sharing service but I thought I'd make things easy for you.


Wire Behind the Curtain (Early Versions 1977 & 78)
Due to adult-type obligations, I'm unfortunately going to have to miss tonight's WFMU-sponsored Wire/Times New Viking show. However, I thought it was still a fine opportunity to share with any other Wire fanatics this 1995 collection of live and demo material from the group's very earliest days. I believe the first six tracks are from the same show that produced their cuts on the The Roxy London WC2 compilation. Once you hear their take on JJ Cale's "After Midnight" you'll... well I was going to say something about Eric Clapton but chances are if you like Wire you already know he's awful. The remaining cuts are all demos some of which are of otherwise unreleased songs. Of special interest are the last 10 cuts which are songs that later ended up on 154. If you've ever considered the arrangements on that album to be somewhat fussy, it's stunning to hear these songs in more visceral, stripped-down form. It wouldn't necessarily say these versions are superior but if your favor the straight ahead minimalist impact of Pink Flag to later abstractions, you might find them preferable.

In "40 Versions," Wire sang:

I never know which version I'm going to be
I seem to have so many choices open to me
It's not hard to see another unique event
When you miss the beginning and you miss the end

Pretty self aware, I suppose. Behind the Curtain is a neat little window into the group's process. Not the best place for neophytes to start by a long shot but if you're like me and Justine Frischmann you'll find it a fascinating document.

Download Wire Behind the Curtain (Early Versions 1977 & 78)

Who cares about Friday the 13th?

I'm more about Wire the 15th.

The Unblinking Ear Podcast Part Deux

So the first Unblinking Ear podcast was a rousing success. It was downloaded a grand total of 19 times. For my second podcast I'd like to get that number up to an even 20 if possible. So if you didn't download the first one (which you still can, here), here's your chance to earn a special place in my heart while listening to some rather excellent rock n roll music.

Also, I may have figured out how to remove all the clicks my tongue and teeth make when I speak. Damn sensitive microphone.

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