Wednesday MidDay Medley
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Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

The 113 Best Recordings of 2013
(Part 4 of 4)

Wednesday MidDay Medley presents part-four, of our four-week special: The 113 Best Recordings of 2013. Based on the playlists of Wednesday MidDay Medley, we’ll feature representative tracks from our favorite recordings. In 2013 we’ve played over 1000 songs, and hundreds of New & Local Releases. We’ve presented dozens of LIVE in-studio performances from area performers, and we’ve interviewed over 200 local and national guests.

1. (25.) Spirit is the Spirit – “I Believe That We Will Win”
from: Baktun Baby / Independent / November, 2012
[Lawrence, Kansas based 5-piece band known for their beautiful Psychedelic-Folk-Rock sound. Members include: Austen Malone, Noah Compo, Josh Landau, Brook Partain, Danny Bowersox]

2. (24.) Foxygen – “San Francisco”
from: We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic / Jagjaguar / January 18, 2013
[Second full-length album by Californian experimental rock duo of Sam France, 22 year old vocalist and songwriter, originally from Olympia, Washington, and Jonathan Rado, also 22, who is a songwriter, guitarist, and keyboard player, originally form NYC. Formed in 2005, the band self-released several EPs between 2007 and 2011. In 2012 the group was signed to Jagjaguwar Records. This album was produced by Richard Swift and recorded at his National Freedom studio.]

3. (23.) Ha Ha Tonka – “Rewrite Our Lives”
from: Lessons / Bloodshot Records / September 24, 2013
[Formed in Springfield, Missouri their music is steeped in Ozark folk. Originally from West Plains, Missouri. Brett Anderson – keyboard, guitar, and vocals; Lennon Bone – drums & vocals; Lucas Long – bass & vocals; Brian Roberts -guitar & vocals. Signed to Bloodshot Records out of Chicago. The band is named after Ha Ha Tonka state park in southern Missouri.]

10:15

4. (22.) Laura Marling – “I Was An Eagle”
from: Once I Was An Eagle / Ribbon Music / May 28, 2013
[4th album by British singer-songwriter Laura Beatrice Marling born Feb 1, 1990. A folk musician from Eversley, Hampshire, United Kingdom. Her debut album “Alas, I Cannot Swim,” her 2nd album “I Speak Because I Can,” and her 4th album “Once I Was An Eagle” were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2008, 2010, and 2013, respectively. She won Best Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards and was nominated for the same award at the 2012 Brit Awards.]

5. (21.) Maps For Travelers – “Matter of Time”
from: Change Your Name / No Sleep Records / April 27, 2013
[Formed in the Spring of 2010 by 4 musicians who have played and toured nationally in various bands in and around the local KC area. RL Brooks on Vocals, Guitar, Trumpet; Zach Brotherton on Vocals, Guitar; David Fleming on Bass, Kevin Medina on Drums.]

[Maps For Travelors play Riot Room, 4048 Broadway, on Jan. 10, with David Hasselhoff on Acid and Various Blonde.]

6. (20.) Janelle Monae – “Dance Apocalyptic”
from: The Electric Lady / Bad Boy Records / September 10, 2013
[Janelle Monáe moved from Kansas City, Kansas to New York to study theatre at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Her original plan was to pursue a career on Broadway, but she soon changed her mind and returned to music. After moving to Atlanta, GA, where she met OutKast’s Big Boi, Monáe founded the Wondaland Arts Society with like-minded young artists and made appearances on Outcast’s Idlewild, where Janelle is featured on the songs “Call The Law” and “In Your Dreams”. In 2007, Monáe released her first solo work, titled Metropolis. A few months later she was signed to Sean “Diddy” Combs’ label, Bad Boy Records.]

[Janelle Monae played the Uptown Theatre, Friday, Novenber 15]

10:29 – Underwriting

10:30

7. (19.) Mazzy Star – “California”
from: Seasons of Your Day / Rhymes of an Hour / September 24, 2013
[4th studio album by alternative rock band formed in Santa Monica, California, in 1989, a collaboration of guitarist David Roback and bassist Kendra Smith. Roback’s friend Hope Sandoval became the group’s vocalist when Smith left the band. Mazzy Star is best known for the song “Fade into You” which brought the band some success in the mid-1990s and was the group’s biggest mainstream hit, earning extensive exposure on MTV, VH1, and radio airplay. Roback and Sandoval are the creative center of the band, with Sandoval as lyricist and Roback as composer of the majority of the band’s material. Mazzy Star has deep roots within the Californian Paisley Underground movement of the early 1980s. David Roback, along with his brother Steven, was one of the main architects of leading Los Angeles psychedelic revival band, the Rain Parade.]

8. (18.) The Latenight Callers – “Straight Razor”
from: Songs for Stolen Moments / TLNC / June 8, 2013
[Formed in Lawrence by baritone guitarist, Krysztof Nemeth, and vocalist Julie Berndsen, With the addition of Bassist Gavin Mac, and Nick Combs on keyboards. The Latenight Callers joined us live on June 5.]

9. (17.) Phosphorescent – “Song For Zulu”
from: Muchacho de Lujo (Deluxe Edition) / Dead Oceans / March 15, 2013
[Phosphorescent is the working moniker of American singer-songwriter Matthew Houck. Originally from Alabama, Houck began recording and performing under this nom de plume in 2001 in Athens, Georgia. He is currently based in Brooklyn, New York.]

10:47

10. (16.) Swimming in Speakers – “So Alive”
from: Guessing The Others / Independent / February 5, 2013
[Debut full length recording from Christopher Clarke & Meadow Elizabeth. Christopher trained professional in KC with UMKC’s professional actor training program at the conservatory. After living and working in Prague, Christopher landed back in Adirondack Park, New York, where Swimming in Speakers was formed. The band mixes indie ambient synth-pop, toe-tapping freak folktronica, and Christopher Clarke’s multi-layered production with Meadow Elizabeth’s hypnotic vocals.]

11. (15.) Cowboy Indian Bear – “Let it Down”
from: Live Old, Die Young / The Record Machine / April 23, 2013 [Released on White Vinyl! Joshua Browning served the band as producer and engineer. The songs were recorded over a three year period, where the band was also constantly touring, living on the road, keeping the van running. Beau Bruns – percussion, vocals, glockenspiel, guitar, Charles Calhoun – vocals, guitar, bass, keys, percussion, Martinez Hillard – vocals, guitar, keys, bass, percussion; Katlyn Conroy vocals, piano, keys.]

[Winner of the 2013 Pitch Music Award for Best Live Act.]

12. (14.) Tiny Horse – “Wind and Rain”
from: Darkly Sparkly [EP] / Flyover Records / Mar. 4, 2013
[Debut EP release from Abigail Henderson and Christopher Lynn Meck. Cody Wyoming-baritone guitar, guitar, keys, Zachary Phillips-bass guitar, Matt Richey-drums, percussion.]

11:00

13. (13.) Akkilles – “Country Boy Deluxe”
from: Something You’d Say / Akkilles / July 2, 2013
[Singer/songwriter David Bennett formed the KC based band Akkilles in 2011. Akkilles includes David Bennett on lead vocalsm guitar; Isaac Anderson, on drums; Rachel Pollock on violin, piano, percussion, & vocals; Nick Pick on Bass & vocals; Jeff Larison on lead guitar & dobro. David Bennett & Issac Anderson joined us on 6/26]

14. (12.) The Wires – “Native”
from: The Wires – Alternative Strings / Independent / March 9, 2013 [Laurel Morgan grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. A classically trained, she has been playing the violin for 25 years. Laurel graduated from the UMKC Conservatory of Music in 2005. She has also performed with the Des Moines Symphony, Quixotic fusion ensemble, Musical Theatre Heritage at the Off-Center Theatre and as a member of folk-rock band, ‘In the Pines” that won several Pitch music awards. As a composer, arranger, and musician Laurel Morgan has traveled to Germany, Austria, and throughout the United States, but is based here in KC. Laurel Morgan is currently on faculty at the Cottey College department of music. Sascha Groschang graduated from Paseo Academy of Performing Arts in 2000, UMKC Conservatory of Music in 2004, and Mannes College – The New School For Music in 2008. She had her solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s recital hall, Weill Hall in February 2009. Sascha has recorded or performed with Peter Gabriel, Joanna Newsom, Ashanti, Adina Menzel, Clay Walker, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. She has also worked for NBC and Rhino Records. She is currently working with Juniper String Ensemble, Saint Joesph Symphony, and is part of the faculty at Missouri Western State University. She also teaches out of her Midtown KC home studio. You can learn more at: cellolady.com. Together, Laurel Morgan & Sascha Groschang are The Wires, an alternative exploration in string sound from KCMO. They compose & perform original music for violin & cello.]

15. (11.) The Silver Maggies – “Slow Poke”
from: My Pale Horse / Money Wolf Music / March 28, 2013
[Fronted by lead singer/songwriters – Patrick Deveny and Terrence Moore (American Catastrophe, The Black Water). Founding members include Felix Dukes on electric guitar, Jonathan Knecht on drums and Steve Tubbert (Zoom) on bass. Terrence joined The Silver Maggies in 2010 after performing with them that year at the Murder Ballad Ball. He brought several original songs to add to the repertoire and splits singing and songwriting duties. This spring the band added Amy Farrand (American Catastrophe, Atlantic Fadeout, EIO) on vocals and additional instrumentation, as well as Samon Rajabnik on B3 organ. Both artists performed on “My Pale Horse” and joined the band for a raucous set at the 2012 Murder Ballad Ball in Kansas City. The album was recorded over the last year by Chris Cosgrove at Black Lodge, Cosgrove Audio, WaveLab and Element Recording. Mixing was done in Tuscon, AZ at WaveLab by veteran producer/engineer Craig Schumacher (Calexico, Neko Case, DeVotchKa).]

11:15

16. (10.) Bobby Watson & The I Have a Dream Project – “Check Cashing Day (For Ms. Trudy) [feat. Glenn North]”
from: Check Cashing Day / Lafiya Music / Digital – Aug. 28, 2013 / Physical – Nov. 12, 2013
[From wikipedia.org: “Bobby Watson was born in Lawrence, Kansas, August 23, 1953. he is an American post-bop jazz alto saxophonist, composer, producer, and educator. Watson now has 27 recordings as a leader. He appears on nearly 100 other recordings as either co-leader or in a supporting role. Watson has recorded more than 100 original compositions. Watson grew up in Bonner Springs, Kansas, and Kansas City, Kansas. He attended the University of Miami with fellow students Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius and Bruce Hornsby. After graduating in 1975, he moved to NYC and joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. He performed with the Messengers from 1977 to 1981. After the Jazz Messengers, Watson work with many notable musicians, including: drummers Max Roach and Louis Hayes, fellow saxophonists George Coleman and Branford Marsalis, multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. In addition, Watson has served in a supporting role for a number of vocalists including: Joe Williams, Dianne Reeves, Lou Rawls, Betty Carter, and Carmen Lundy, and has performed as a sideman with Carlos Santana, George Coleman, Rufus and Chaka Khan, Bob Belden and John Hicks. Later, in association with bassist Curtis Lundy and drummer Victor Lewis, Watson started the first edition of Horizon, an acoustic quintet modeled after the Jazz Messengers but with its own slightly more modern twist. In addition to his work as leader of Horizon, Watson also led a group known as the High court of Swing (a tribute to the music of Johnny Hodges), The Tailor-Made Big Band (16 pieces in all) and is a founding member of the 29th Street Saxophone Quartet, an all-horn, four-piece group with alto saxophonist Ed Jackson, tenor saxophonist Rich Rothenberg, and baritone saxophonist Jim Hartog. Watson also composed an original song for the soundtrack of Robert De Niro’s A Bronx Tale (1993). A resident of New York for most of his professional life, Watson served as a member of the adjunct faculty and taught private saxophone at William Patterson University from 1985 to 1986 and the Manhattan School of Music from 1996 to 1999. He is currently involved with the Thelonious Monk Institute’s yearly “Jazz in America” high school outreach program. In 2000, he was approached to return to his native midwestern surroundings on the Kansas-Missouri border. Watson was selected as the first William D. and Mary Grant/Missouri, Distinguished Professorship in Jazz Studies. The past seven years he has served as the director of jazz studies at the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory of Music although he still manages to balance live engagements around the world with his teaching responsibilities. Watson’s ensembles at UMKC have garnered several awards and national recognition.] [From DLmediamusic.com: “As Watson reflects, Check Cashing Day serves as “a commentary on where we’ve been, where we are, and where we need to go as a people, as a country, and as a global community.” Watson chose to concentrate on the reason why over 300,000 people, black and white, gathered in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. Dr. King spoke of coming to Washington to cash a 100 year old check, a moral check that the founding fathers wrote into the Declaration of Independence, but to this day, the check keeps coming back marked ‘insufficient funds.’ Introducing poet and spoken word artist Glenn North from KCMO, Check Cashing Day is a concept recording with 15 tracks portrayed in the vein of musical theatre. “I asked Glenn to put some poetry, from his perspective, to several of my compositions, as well as one written by vocalist Pamela Baskin-Watson and two by bassist Curtis Lundy,” comments Watson. “It was my desire with this project to produce poetry that would in some ways cleanse the soul,” notes North. In addition, Watson’s release features trumpeter Hermon Mehari, pianist Richard Johnson, drummer Eric Kennedy, flutist Horace Washington, and trombonist Karita Carter.]

17. (9.) The Dead Girls – “Under Seige”
from: Fade In/Fade Out / Independent / 2013
[The Dead Girls (formerly Dead Girls Ruin Everything) was formed in 2004 from the ashes of Ultimate Fakebook and Podstar, two bands that were staples of the Lawrence and KC power-pop sound. Guitarists / singers JoJo Longbottom and Cameron Hawk, of Podstar, combine their dual-guitar attack and vocal harmonies with the rhythmic assault of drummer Eric Melin and bassist Nick Colby, of Ultimate Fakebook. The band’s new record was Produced by Chris Cosgrove who produced their 2010 album “Out Of Earshot.”]

18. (8.) Soft Reeds – “Funky Friends Breathe, Ok?”
from: Blank City / The Record Machine / April 23, 2013
[Ben Grimes of Soft Reeds joined us LIVE on WMM on April 17.]

11:28 – Underwriting

11:30

19. (7.) Radkey – “Little Man”
from: Devil Fruit – EP / Little Man Records / October 14, 2013
+ Cat & Mouse – EP / Wreckroom / June 4, 2013
[Radkey is a St. Joesph based band made up of teenage brothers Darrion, Isaiah, and Solomon. Their influences include The Who and Nirvana.]

20. (6.) The ACBs – “Feel Winter”
from: Little Leaves / High Dive Records / March 5, 2013
[Konnor Ervin (lead vocals, guitar); Bryan McGuire (bass); Andrew Connor (guitar); Kyle Rausch (drums). Follow up to their December, 2010 release, Stona Rosa. Their songs have been featured on MTV’s The Inbetweeners, and Daytrotter. The title “Little Leaves” is a nod to frontman Konnor Ervin’s landscaping day job. The lead single, “Ocean” was released as a free download in late 2012, prompting Popmatters to declare the ACBs as one of its “Best Hopes to Break Out in 2013.”]

[Winner of the 2013 Pitch Music Award for Best Pop Band.]

21. (5.) Bloodbirds – “Patterned Sky”
from: Psychic Surgery / Independent / February 1, 2013
[KC based Psychedelic post-punk trio featuring ex-Ad Astra Per Aspera member Mike Tuley, his wife Brooke Tuley and Anna St. Louis. The album will be available as a vinyl LP in April. Recorded at Junior’s Motel, with additional recording at the Worst Place in the World, and House Tuley. Rcorded by Kirk Kaufman and Mike Tuley. Mixed by Mike Tuley.

22. (4.) Dead Voices – “Dream Notes”
from: Dead Voices / Independent / April 20, 2013
[KC Super-Group, formed in September of 2010, by David Regnier, Jason Beers, Matt Richey, Michael Stover, Marco Pascolini. Lauren Krum sings with David on “Pardoning”. The band joined us on April 17.]

11:45

23. (3.) Betse Ellis – “Question To Lay Your Burden Down”
from: High Moon Order / Free Dirt / June 14, 2013
[2nd solo release from renowned fiddler, Betse Ellis, known by many as a founding member of The Wilders.]

24. (2.) The Grisly Hand – “Phineas Gage”
from: Country Singles / Independent / April 26, 2013
[Formed in 2009. The current line up includes: Jimmy Fitzner (Guitar and Vocals), Lauren Krum (Vocals and Percussion), Johnny Nichols (Bass and Vocals), Matt Richey (Drums), Mike Stover (Steel Guitar), and Ben Summers (Guitar and Mandolin). Mike Stover & Lauren Krum of The Grisly Hand joined us LIVE April 24.]

[Winner of the 2013 Pitch Music Award for Best Americana/Bluegrass Band.]

25. (1.) PedalJets – “Terra Nova (Radio Edit)”
from: What’s In Between / Electric Moth Records / June 25, 2013
[1st album of new material in 23 years. Paul Malinowski (Vocals, Guitar), Rob Morrow (Drums, Vocals), Mike Allmayer (Guitar, Vocals), Matt Kesler (Bass, Vocals). Produced by The Pedaljets & Paul Malinoski. The albums photos & design are from artist Archer Prewitt of: the Sea and Cake and The Coctails. More info: thepedaljets.

26. Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now”
from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]

sources for notes: artists websites and wikipedia.org

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Show #505