Wednesday MidDay Medley
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90.1 FM KKFI – Kansas City Community Radio
Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning

Wednesday, December 14, 2011:

The 111 Best Recordings of 2011
(Part 2 of 4)

Part-2, of our 4-week special: The 111 Best Recordings of 2011. Based on the playlists of Wednesday MidDay Medley. In 2011 we’ve featured hundreds of New & Local Releases, we’ve featured dozens of LIVE, in-studio performances from area musicians, and we’ve interviewed over 150 local and national artists. Over 40 recordings on our list are from the KC & Lawrence area. Please Tune in to 90.1 FM every Wednesday in December for our annual 4-week special event. We’re playing nearly 8-hours of music that represent: The 111 of Best Recordings of 2011!

1. (81.) Holy Ghost! – “Wait and See”
from: Holy Ghost! / DFA / April 4, 2011
[The brainchild of childhood friends Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser, the Brooklyn-based band Holy Ghost! recently transformed from a duo into a 4-piece band that has spent the summer touring with LCD Soundsystem and Chromeo The tour culminated with Hot Chip and Hercules & Love Affair at Central Park Summerstage on August 4th. Holy Ghost uses a lot of vintage synths.]

2. (80.) Wild Beasts – “Albatross”
from: Smother / Domino Records / May 10, 2011
[3rd album and follow up to their Mercury Award nominated “Two Dancers.” One critic wrote the band possesses, “oscillating falsetto and baritone vocals, lyrical wit, and a penchant for seedier topics.”]

3. (79.) The Finsters – “Walkin’ Jay Bird”
from: The Finsters / Independent / 2011
[The Finsters, are an old time Americana band, dedicated to playing the music of Folk Artist-Harold Finster. The band includes: Andrew Connor on guitar and vocals, Liz Connor on fiddle and mandolin, Allan Winkler on accordion and percussion, and Jami Blakeley on banjo and vocals. ]

10:15

4. (78.) Sour Babies – “The Order of The Inseperable in Death”
from: Morning Star / Independent / Mar 30, 2011
[Brent Jamison, Chas Felkins, Mark Harvey, Mary Sanders, Ben Hume and Jason Martinez of The Sour Babies, played live on our July 20 WMM]

5. (77.) The Coathangers – “Go Away”
from: Larceny and Old Lace / Suicide Squeeze Records / June 7, 2011
[3rd album from the all female punk uartet from Atlanta, Georgia, includes: lead vocalist – Julia Kugel, drummer – Stephanie Luke, keyboardist – Candice Jones and bassist – Meredith Franco. ]

6. (76.) Yellow Ostrich – “Hold On”
from: The Mistress / Barsuk Records / August 16, 2011
[Barsuk records has re-released “The Mistress” originally put out on Vinyl by AFTERNOON RECORDS on February 15, 2011. It’s what they are calling “a bedroom project,” from Alex Schaaf, the individual behind the NYC based Yellow Ostrich, who now tour as a three piece band. Yellow Ostrich played the Bourbon Theatre in Lincoln, NE, on Nov. 16 with Ra Ra Riot + Delicate Steve.]

7. (75.) Sleepy Kitty – “Gimme A Chantz”
from: Infinity City / Euclid Records / July 12, 2011
Paige Brubeck on vocals/guitar/keys, and Evan Sult on drums/vocals/tapes. More info at: sleepykittymusic.com]

10:29 – Underwriting

10:30

8. (74.) Fruit Bats – “You’re Too Weird”
from: Tripper / Sub Pop / Aug 2, 2011
[5th album since signing with Sub Pop Records in 2001. Formed in Chicago in 1997 by singer/songwriter Eric D. Johnson who has performed as a side man in the the band Califone and as the leader of I Rowboat.]

9. (73.) Ruddy Swain – “Dark Moon”
from: Ruddy Swain [EP] / Independent / November 13, 2011
[Ruddy Swain is David Regnier of Dead Voices and Lauren Krum of The Grisly Hand.]

10. (72.) Kirsten Paludan – “The Levee”
from: All In / Independent / 2010
[released late 2010. Kirsten Paludan’s worked for over a decade as a solo artist and with the band Olympic Size. As an actress she has appeared on FOX Television’s “Melrose Place.” In the Ang Lee film “Ride With The Devil,” the Spike Lee produced, Confederate States of America, directed by Kevin Wilmoth. Kirsten Paludan joined us LIVE on our January 26 WMM.]

11. (71.) Heather Thornton – “Obvious”
from: Obvious / Saunders Street Records / April 28, 2011
[Heather Thornton moved with her family to KC from Arkansas. She has been singing and performing for over 10 years in KC. She plays keyboards and sings and plays on the First Saturday of every month at Jazz 1823 W 39th Street KCMO with Jeramy Johnston – guitar/bass, Brian Ruskin – guitar, Bree Plaster – drums. Heather’s background vocals can be heard on the Saunders Street Records releases of Jen Lawless and William Sauders. Heather has a new Christmas CD available at heatherthornton.com.]

10:45

12. (70.) Exene Cervenka – “Already in Love”
from: The Excitement of Maybe / Bloodshot / March 8, 2011
[2nd solo release. This song features Dave Alvin (The Blasters, X) on electric guitar. Exene is a singer, artist and poet and cofounder of the legendary punk band X as well as The Knitters and The Original Sinners. Her spoken word performances with Lydia Lunch in the 80’s led to the publication of “Adulterers Anonymous” and another four volumes of poetry followed. Upon relocating to rural Missouri, Cervenka found inspiration in the simplicity of country living and began writing her first solo album in 19 years. The product, Somewhere Gone, recorded and produced in Springfield by Lou Whitney, was released in 2009. It was on of our favorite recordings of that year. In 2009 Exene Cervenka revealed that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She continue writng new songs and recorded her second solo record., but on April 14 her tour was cancelled, due to a flare-up of her MS.]

13. (69.) Wanda Jackson –“Shakin’ All Over”
from: The Party Ain’t Over Yet / Third Man Records / Jan. 21, 2011
[Wanda Lavonne Jackson was born October 20, 1937. She is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist who had success in the mid-1950s and 60s as one of the first popular female rockabilly singers and a pioneering rock and roll artist. She is known to many as the First Lady of Rockabilly. She has been releasing albums since 1958. This year at age 74, she released her 33rd album, produced by Jack White.]

14. (68.) PJ Harvey – “Written On The Forehead”
from: Let England Shake / Island / Feb. 15 2011
[8th studio album. Produced by Flood. Written between late 2007 and 2008, and recorded over a five-week period. Musically, Harvey dislikes repeating herself. She has experimented with rock, pop, electronica, and folk. She is also known for changing her appearance from album to album by altering her mode of dress or hairstyle. Each look is then incorporated into the album’s artwork, music videos, and live performances. One of the more unexpected British TV highlights of 2010 came when a black-clad PJ Harvey performed the title track, Let England Shake, in front of then prime minister Gordon Brown. As Brown sat soberly, Harvey played an autoharp, relishing the line “England’s dancing days are done.”]

15. (67.) Piney Gir – “Here’s Looking At You”
from: Geronimo! / Damaged Goods / Aug. 23, 2011
[Piney Gir is Angela Penhaligon who was born in Kansas and is now based in London, England. We had the chance to interview her on this show. She was encouraged by her parents to learn the piano from the age of four, she wrote her first song at the age of nine. Having earned a degree in music, she moved to England in 1998 to study at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. She released her debut solo electronica album, Peakahokahoo, in 2004 on UK label Truck Records (and licensed to Greyday Records for release in North America). She toured extensively, including opening for Erasure on a month long European tour. Geronimo! was recorded in early 2011 in Los Angeles.]

11:00

16. (66.) Digitalism – “2 Hearts”
from: I Love You, Dude / V2 Records / June 21, 2011
[2nd studio album by German electro pop duo who met at a record store in Hamburg in 2004, and became friends. Later, the store’s owner asked them to DJ a party, and they then began mixing and recording. They record their music in a World War II bunker they own in Hamburg. They perform live using a Macbook Pro laptop as the heart of the act.]

17. (65.) Pulseprogramming – “First They Fire”
from: Charade Is Gold / Audraglint / May 3, 2011
[born as an experimental, concept in Portland, Oregon in 1998. Pulseprogramming is currently centered around Marc Hellner and new member Chanel Pease, but also includes art directors: John Schacter and Hans Seeger, a filmmaker/video artist: Eric David Johnson, aka DJ Bunny Ears, and a poet: Joel Craig. Their 1999, self-titled debut album was predominantly a work of ambient music, and was released on Chicago’s Aesthetics Records. The group’s current work leans towards the early 1980s and is more song-oriented.]

18. (64.) Canon Blue – “Indian Summer (Des Moines)”
from: Rumspringa / Temporary Residence Limited / August 16, 2011
[Blue Canon is Daniel James, from Nashville. His 2007 debut, Colonies, was a collaboration w/ Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor. Rumspringa was made partly in Copenhagen with Danish orchestral pop ensemble Efterklang and partly in Iceland withmembers of Sigur Ros, “Canon Blue (Des Moines)” is the album’s first single.]

11:15

19. (63.) Seun Kuti – “African Soldier”
from: From Africa with Fury: Rise / Knitting Factory Records / June 21, 2011
[Nigerian musician, and the youngest son of legendary afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. After Fela’s death of AIDS in 1997 Seun, then only 14 years old, became the lead singer of Egypt 80. While in school Seun had to choose between a career in music and one in American Football for which he has an outstanding talent. About three-fourths of the current Egypt 80 line-up consists of musicians that not only played with Fela Kuti, but often were arrested and harassed alongside the founder of the Afrobeat movement. Live sets consist of both new material and originals from Seun’s father. During his lifetime Fela Kuti never performed songs he had recorded, so for many fans this is their first chance to hear many Kuti classics.]

20. (62.) Beirut – “Sante Fe”
from: The Rip Tide / Pompeii Records / August 2, 1011
[Originally the solo musical project of Zach Condon, born in Santa Fe, New Mexico on February 13, 1986. He was brought up in Newport News, Virginia before moving back to New Mexico. Zach played trumpet in a jazz band as a teenager and cites jazz as a major influence. Condon attended Santa Fe High School, but dropped out at the age of 16. In Santa Fe he was exposed to Mariachi music. He also worked at a cinema showing where he was exposed to the international films of Fellini arias and Sicilian funeral brass as well Balkan music. He later enrolled in community college, but only attended for a short period before traveling to Europe at the age of 17 with his older brother, Ryan. Condon’s subsequent exploration of world music proved to be instrumental in the development of Beirut’s melodic sound. The Rip Tide was recorded in Upstate New York, Brooklyn and Condon’s hometowns of Albuquerque and Santa Fe.]

11:27 – Underwriting

11:30

21. (61.) Folkicide – “Friends”
from: Devotional Hymns of the Church of the Darwinian Snuff Film / Independent / 2011]
[After his band the Charge Droplets, ended Burnie Booth created his solo project: Folkicide to “continue the exploration into the decaying frame of Western Civilization.” Burnie Booth grew up in Spring Hill, Kansas. In high school in the latter half of the 1980s, he was in a band called Big Toe, that played the Outhouse in Lawrence. He moved to Seattle in 1991 and played for four years with the Moogs, working days in pest control. He eventually married and moved back to Kansas City with his wife in 1999. Folkicide performed a CD Release concert at the RecordBar on September 9.]

22. (60.) Jason Beers – “A Deer’s Version of Window Shopping”
From: Bangoism…Da / Independent / Late 2010
[Released in late 2010, this didn’t make it onto our playlists until 2011. Jason Beers has collaborated with many of KC’s best musicians. He writes, sings and plays bass with his band, The Brannock Device , made up of Jason, Elaine McMilian, Marco Pascolini, and Bernie Dugan. He is a father of two, who teaches children with special needs. The Brannock Device are currently working on their latesr recording expected in 2012. Banjoism…Da was recorded at Hideaway Studios.]

23. (59.) Elaine McMilian – “Too Far Gone to Cry”
from: The Messenger / Independent / July 22, 2011
[written by Howard Iceberg, features Scott Easterday playing guitar. Elaine McMilian grew up in Independence, and graduated High School in 1973. She went to college as a vocal music major, but left after her first year to get married and start a family. In her mid thirties she went back to college a UMKC where she met Christian Hankel, who introduced her to a whole new generation of musicians in KC. She graduated in 1991 and answered an ad in The Pitch which led to her being involved in the band Swingin’ Six with Erin McGrane and Suzi Seigler. Elaine has performed in and around KC for almost 20 years as a solo artist and in the bands: Swingin’ 6, Easterday, Bonnys’ McGill, Toy Box, Sugar Plums and The Brannock Device. Elaine recently created EME LLC, a musician’s representation company to promote bands and solo artists. Elaine has appeared on WMM several times this year to talk about her work organizing the Howard Iceberg tribute show at Crosstown Station, and the reunion show of Easterday at The Recordbar on August 26. She also joined us prior to the release concert of “The Messenger,” on July 22 at The Record Bar, in a show that included Dollar Fox and one of the last performances of the great band, Expassionates.]

24. (58.) Glen Campbell – “Ghost On The Canvas”
from: Ghost On The Canvas / Surf Dog Records / August 20, 2011
[Intended as his farewell to studio recording due to his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. The album’s creation was made public in March 2010,but Campbell and his wife delayed informing the public about his illness until shortly before he embarked on the Glen Campbell Goodbye Tour. The duo decided to go public so fans of his would not be confused if the performer flubbed his lines or seemed erratic onstage.]

11:45

25. (57.) Gillian Welch – “The Way It Goes”
from: The Harrow & The Harvest / Acony Records / June 28, 2011
[Born October 2, 1967 in NYC, her biological mother was a freshman in college, and her father was a visiting musician. Alec Wilkinson of The New Yorker stated that “from an address they had been given, it appeared that her mother … may have grown up in the mountains of North Carolina”. Gilian was adopted by Ken and Mitzie Welch, comedy and music entertainers. When Welch was three, her adoptive parents moved to L.A. to write music for The Carol Burnett Show. As a youngster, Welch was introduced to the music of American folk singers Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and the Carter Family. She performed folk songs with her peers at the Westland Elementary School in Los Angeles. After graduating from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in photography, Welch attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she majored in songwriting. Welch met her music partner David Rawlings at a successful audition for Berklee’s only country band. Upon finishing college in 1992, She recalled, “I looked at my record collection and saw that all the music I loved had been made in Nashville—Bill Monroe, Dylan, The Stanley Brothers, Neil Young,” so she moved there. Rawlings soon followed. “The Harrow & The Harvest” on Acony Records, is her first record in over 7 years. Gillian Welch played Liberty Hall in Lawrence, on Sunday, September 4.]

26. (56.) TV On The Radio – “Will Do”
from: Nine Types of Light / DGC Records / April 12, 2011
[4th album from Brooklyn based band formed in 2011. It is also the final TV on the Radio album to feature bassist Gerard Smith, who died of lung cancer nine days after Nine Types of Light was released. ]

27. (55.) Baby Teardrops – “Lucky 7 (Remix by Brik Mason of NYC)”
from: X Is For Love / Golden Sound Records / November 15, 2011
[KC native and former Doris Henson leader, Matthew Dunehoo’s new band, was formed in NYC with Megan Thomas and Gerry White. Golden Sound Records of Kansas City re-released “X is for Love” on November 15th, in digital, CD, and for the first time, vinyl formats. The release also included exclusive remixes of album tracks. Matt Dunehoo and a Kansas City version of Baby Teardrops performed a Vinyl release concert on November 25 at The Brick, with Olivetti Letter opening the show.]

Sources for notes: artist’s websites, wikipedia.org

Concert Calendar:

Wed. 12-14 – WE! VIDEO DOCUMENTARY SCREENING, 7 – 9:00pm, La Esquina 1000 W 25th St, KCMO. Live music performances by Brad Cox, Paul Rudy, and Mark Southerland, followed by the premier of the video documentary, which captures the Rocket Grant-funded, collaborative, installation-based dance performance that was staged this past spring in an abandoned downtown office space. The evening will conclude with a forum to meet the artists and discuss the project. Directed, produced and created by Jane Gotch and Mark Southerland, the documentary features video by Reid Bangert, Jane Gotch, and Jori Sackin.

Wed. 12-14 – Amy Farrand’s Weirdo Wednesday Supper Club is turning TWO YEARS OLD! 7 – 9:00pm, Davey’s Uptown Rambler’s Club 3402 Main Street, KCMO. Music by Mark Vick! Burlesque by Eartha Delights!
Puppets and juggling by Just! Delicious food! Massage and body work! Tarot readings! Bring your silly trick and compete for fantastic prizes!

Thurs. 12-15 – Sterling Witt/Camilla Camille/Wayne Esrey at The Riot Room

Fri. 12-16 – Hidden Pictures/Fullbloods/Katlyn Conroy at recordBar

Fri. 12-16 – Raul Malo & Band at Knuckleheads

Fri. 12-16 – The Sons of Great Dane/Howard Iceberg early show at recordBar

Fri. 12-16 – The Wilders at Liberty Hall

Sat. 12-17 – AM Taxi/The Architects/Cherokee Rock Rifle/The Runaway Sons at The Riot Room

Sat. 12-17 – B’dinas/Langen Neubacher/Appropriate Grammar at The Brick

Sat. 12-17 – Big Smith/Dumptruck Butterlips/Brothers Green at Beaumont

Sat. 12-17 – Hearts of Darkness at recordBar

Sat. 12-17 – Howard Iceberg & the Titanics at 3 at Jardine’s

Sat. 12-17 – Shay Estes & Mark Lowrey 6:30 & 9:30 at Jardine’s

Mon. 12-19 – Bowinero/Margo May/Atlas at The Riot Room

Mon. 12-19 – Jenny Carr Farewell and Birthday Show/Andrew Ashby/Jared Tomasino/Matt Shoare at recordBar

Tues. 12-20 – Deco Auto/Lollipop Factory/The Clementines at recordBar

Tues. 12-20 – John Velghe and Friends early show at recordBar

(Special Thanks to Chris Haghirian for concert information!)

Wednesday MidDay Medley is on the web:
WednesdayMidDayMedley.org
facebook.com/WednesdayMidDayMedleyon90.1FM
kkfi.org

11:59:30

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

Show # 399