Saturday, June 29, 2013

Mute Records - 6/29/13














Mute Records, the 4th indie label I've featured on this podcast in a row and of the true greats.  For post punk and especially for electronic music in general. Not only did Mute release some really wonderful stuff but they seemed dedicated to doing something actually new.  To push the creative envelope of what music could be.

Like many of these great indie labels, that logo is so visceral.  Growing up, I remember looking through all my albums and just seeing logos like Mute and IRS and Stiff and Beggars Banquet and 4AD, not having any idea at the time who they were and who exactly was behind them but knowing they were something which stood for my musical interests.  That I could trust anything with that symbol on it.  In a time before the internet and before I even had friends with similar tastes or understood much about music myself, that was a pretty big deal.  Maybe in some ways an even bigger deal now, since it also represents an era gone by forever.  I am so glad to have lived in that era and been some part of all of this as a fan.  Hey, I guess that's why I do this podcast!

And speaking of which, click on the link below to listen to the very latest episode, once again dedicated to Mute Records.

Mute Records


Saturday, June 22, 2013

Beggars Banquet Records - 6/22/13














While the Lurkers were the first band Beggars Banquet ever signed, this small, indie label was built on post punk and would go on to become one of the largest, conglomerate group of independents whose artists would change the world several times over.

My show tonight was dedicated to Beggars Banquet, who dedicated themselves to bringing us some of the greatest, most classic post punk music around.  No other indie had quite as many of the heavy hitters and what's equally impressive is how they were able to transition to the alternative sound and continue to thrive in the 90s and whatever we call these last couple decades we live in now.

To both appreciate their contribution and enjoy some great music, I would highly suggest clicking on that link below and downloading this episode.  Oh yeah, and make sure to listen to it too.

Beggars Banquet Records


Saturday, June 15, 2013

Stiff Records - 6/15/13













Continuing my series of the great, independent labels of the punk, post punk, and new wave genres, this week's episode was dedicated to one of the very greatest and most seminal - Stiff Records. And while these kinds of indie labels were not necessarily new, they probably played more of a key role in the shaping of post punk than any other type of music, as no other type of music embodied the DIY spirit quite as completely.

Beyond even the music though, the story of Stiff Records is also a fine example of an underdog's triumph over adversity and the difficult journey it was to get there.  Hopefully I have represented it well in the podcast, whose link lies below this very sentence.  Feel free to download it, as it happens to also be free.

Stiff Records

Saturday, June 8, 2013

415 Records - 6/8/13









Tonight I kicked off a little theme within themes on Post Punk For Post Punks, featuring some of the great independent labels of the genre.  Labels who would changed the face of music and culture and they did it solely because they believed in something new and different and just had to share it with their fellow man.  There is no way that punk, post punk, new wave, and alternative music would have reached the people and grown the way they did without labels like this and I want to celebrate them on my show.

I begin this journey close to home, with my own local heroes, 415 Records.  Not only were they based out of San Francisco but they were generally committed to supporting Bay Area bands and pretty much singlehandedly put our fair region on the underground map.  Besides some of the more well-known groups like Romeo Void, Wire Train, and Translator, there are plenty of lost treasures to be found here as well, like the Units, the Offs, SVT, and more.  To find out more about "more" and to enjoy some of the fine work those people I just mentioned did, you have only to click on the link below and download this episode:

415 Records


Saturday, June 1, 2013

Before They Were Stars - 6/1/13


What do bands like Flip City, Vice Versa, Composition of Sound, Big in Japan, A Shallow Madness, Special Affect, Willow the Wisp, Graduate, and Catch all have in common?  They all featured some very well-known post punk and new wave artists before they were well-known.  That's what this show was all about.  I played stuff by these bands as well as just very early tracks from many of the post punk elite.

It's like one of those Before They Were Stars shows or magazine spreads except instead of embarrassing photos, it's good music, albeit sometimes a little on the raw side.

As always, download the show by clicking on the link below.  I suppose I don't need to tell you that anymore but then again, people still say "Leave your name and number after the beep" on their voice mail messages so maybe I've got some more time here.

Before They Were Stars