BoC Playlist for Jan. 11, 2008

I’m starting a new feature on this blog: the weekly playlist for my Breakfast of Champions program on WMBR. The playlists have long been available online, but including them here will allow folks to subscribe to them as a feed, or (as indicated in the previous post) even receive them as a weekly email via the form in the right sidebar!

To start off, here’s what I played this past Friday:

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The Return of the Santa-Hatted Thereminists

This Thursday, Dec. 13, the Lothars return to local Somerville haunt PA’s Lounge, where they’ll be supporting one of Kris’ other projects, an 8-piece free-rock ensemble known as the Concord Ballet Orchestra Players. Also on the bill are Carlisle Sound, featuring members of Major Stars, Pants Yell!, Ponies in the Surf and Reports. Once again, Dr. T will be providing visuals during our set.

The Lothars are the meat in the CBOP/CS sandwich, going on second at around 10:15pm. Expect to hear some Christmas melodies warbling out of a theremin or two, although if previous experience is an indicator, you may not recognize them.

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Support WMBR-FM and Win Front Row Seats to the Decemberists!

WMBR 88.1 FM in Cambridge, MA began its week-long fundraiser this morning. You can learn more about WMBR and the fundraiser here. podcasts of my recent shows are here.

As a special treat, I will be raffling off a pair of FRONT ROW CENTER (DD) tickets to each night of the Decemberists‘ shows at the Orpheum in Boston. The shows are this Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 3 and 4. There is one pair of tickets available for each night. Saturday’s show will feature the band’s longer epic tunes, while Sunday’s will focus on their shorter pop songs. There will be two winners drawn from the hat. The first winner will get his/her choice of the Saturday show or the Sunday show. The second winner will get a pair of tickets for the other night. Both winners will also receive a Decemberists poster. Here’s how to enter:

  • Go to our pledge form and pledge at least $25. You must use a credit card. Feel free to order a t-shirt, mug, or whatever else your pledge level makes you eligible for. The ticket raffle is a bonus.
  • In the “Pledge for which show” list, select “Breakfast of Champions-Fri”.
  • In the comments area, indicate whether you’d prefer Saturday (long songs), or Sunday (short songs) tickets. Also indicate if you absolutely cannot go to one of the nights. In the phone number area, put a number where you can be reached late Friday morning. This is very important!
  • My program airs on Friday morning from 8-10am EDT. At about 9:55am, while on the air, I will put all the eligible names into a hat and draw two winners. The first name drawn gets his/her choice of nights (this is why indicating your preference is important). The second winner gets a pair of tickets to the remaining night.
  • I will call the winners between 10 and 11 am to make arrangements to “do the deal.” You must be available sometime from Friday through Saturday afternoon to meet with me in the Cambridge/Somerville/Boston area to pick up your winnings.

Note: This raffle has not been endorsed by The Decemberists. I purchased these tickets as soon as they went on sale and got lucky. I’m donating them to WMBR on my own initiative to help with our fundraising effort.

Thanks for supporting WMBR!

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Ick

Pete Ick at the IckMusic blog has some nice things to say about the Sandinista Project, and the Lothars track in particular:

“Two of my favorites from the album are “The Call Up” and “The Leader”. On the tribute, theremin – yes theremin – ensemble The Lothars take on “The Call Up”. This would fall under the category of totally and completely devoid of resembling the original. But there’s something very strange and alien about it that pulls me in.”

He also makes available mp3s of the original as well as our version.

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The Truth Is Out There…

…if by “The Truth” you mean “An advertisement for White Castle starring yours truly playing the theremin,” and if by “Out There” you mean “on the TV.”

Yep, I got an email the other day from my friend Marc in Chicago that he’d seen the ad while watching a Simpsons rerun on Fox 32! I’ve asked the ad agency if they can get me a schedule of when it will air again; if they respond, I’ll be sure to post it here.

Marc also shared with me his own “True Castle Story“:

“when i first saw the ramones in 1982? at Metro, me and my friend went to see them and on the way home we stopped at a White Castle and we’re eating our sliders and the Ramones actually walked in for some burgers. I must have been 17 , best rock experience with White Castle until you of course ;-)”

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The Architectural Dance Society, and Other Stories

The Sandinista Project has been getting lots of reviews, both good and bad. And the Lothars are mentioned in a few of them, both good (“much thanks to the Lothars’ eerie rendition of The Call-Up“) and bad (“The Lothars… struggle through The Call Up…, proving that the soul of a stellar band is often what sells the most difficult of its tracks.”)

But two recent reviews stand out. First, in this past Sunday’s New York Times, Jon Pareles writes, “Songs skew toward Appalachia with banjos, plunge into psychedelic loops and echoes, unleash theremin on The Call Up and the Persian wail of Haale on One More Time,” OK, it’s not much, but it is the New York Times (full article here). Second, there’s a very thoughtful piece in a blog called The Architectural Dance Society about how the best cover versions are ones that bring out elements of a song that you hadn’t noticed before and make you want to relisten to the original. As examples of this, he makes available mp3s of four of the tracks on the compilation, including the one by The Lothars. I think that this is our first appearance on an mp3 blog. I feel like this is an important milestone and we’ve truly arrived.

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The Sandinista! Project

This Tuesday marks the release of the long-awaited (by me, anyway) Sandinista! Project double CD. Here’s what Amazon has to say about it (with an Amazon link added for your convenience!):

Even those who prefer the punch of the Clash’s classic London Calling to the sprawl of the subsequent Sandanista! will find plenty of revelation here. Spearheaded by rock journalist Jimmy Guterman, the project accentuates the original album’s expansive range through a roster of artists that is transatlantic, transgenerational, and transgenre. Jason Ringenberg (of Jason and the Scorchers) and Kristi Rose transform “Ivan Meets G.I. Joe” into a hardcore country duet, while Katrina Leskanich (of Katrina and the Waves) puts plenty of bounce into “Hitsville U.K.” The versions of “The Magnificent Seven” by Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers and “Police on My Back” by Willie Nile remain true to the the Clash’s hard-rocking spirit, with the loopy atmospherics of Wreckless Eric’s “The Crooked Beat” and the Lothars’ multi-theremin arrangement for “The Call Up” exploring the outer fringes of the album’s musical adventurousness. This project has the musical strength, variety, and inventiveness to stand on its own, but it will likely do what tribute albums should: Drive listeners back to the source. –Don McLeese

Read more about The Sandinista! Project here.

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