My radio show Amazing Songs & Other Delights # 79 – The of Roots and Happy Sounds edition airs Monday 19th, 3-4pm (gmt+1) on Yé Yé Radio: yeyeradio.com (or on the app).
There are 18 songs raging from roots based ones – Rodrigo Leão, Miguel Mouta, Tinariwen, Retimbrar – to gentle, happy pop – Brian Bilston and the Catenary Wires, Lightheaded, Robert Forster and others – along with some dancefloor shades, Alex Fernet, and a dash or rock-‘n’-roll, Victor Torpedo & The Pop Kids.
It’s my usual “at first glance, it doesn’t seem to make sense, but it does” mix. 🙂 It’s a happy, vibrant show, with a wide diversity of geographies and sounds. I hope you like it as much as I do.
Tracklist: 01: Rodrigo Leão – O Rapaz da Montanha 02: Alex Fernet – The Nightdrive 03: Brian Bilston and the Catenary Wires – Every Song On The Radio Reminds Me Of You 04: Jeanines – What’s Lost 05: City Mall – Sapphire 06: Laufey – Tough Luck 07: Lightheaded – Same Drop 08: Miguel Mouta – Café feat Lika 09: Tinariwen (+IO:I) – Sastanàqqàm 10: noiserv – 20 . 05 . A self-conversation is too loud for an empty room 11: Real Estate – Pink Sky 12: Retimbrar – Só Ouve o Brado da Terra (by José Afonso) 13: Robert Forster – Strawberries 14: Roland Decembre – Fais-moi tout oublie 15: Tamara Qaddoumi – River In The Darkness 16: The Bug Club – Appropriate Emotions 17: The Dirty Projectors – Through the Long and Lonely Night 18: Victor Torpedo & The Pop Kids – Friends
Monday 5th, instead of my Amazing Songs & Other Delights there will be a repetition of Set A Light – Lester Bangs Special, 3-4pm (gmt+1) on Yé Yé Radio: yeyeradio.com (or on the app).
Set A Light is a Rui Pimenta, aka my radio husband, ideato be conceive and taken to task by the two of us. For a million reasons called life, for now, there’s still only this Lester Bangs Special. I think this show deserves to be re-listened to, at least, a million times
People connected to music who are aware of Lester and his work, often say “We need a new Lester Bangs”, or “Lester Bangs would be necessary” and I think to myself “Yes, but proverbial but, I would like to see how it would play out.” Lester was larger than life, rulesless, didn’t give two flying figs. I agree music writing needs no one, but a few Lesters. I also think it may be a tumbling of the music world as we currently know it, a music world mostly forgotten that music writing isn’t always loveliness.
I created the radio programme as a soundtrack to accompanying dialogues from Cameron Crowne’s film Almost famous in which Bangs is which Lester Bangs is magnificently played by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Along with existing songs, I came up with typewriter noises, superimposed on This Are a Few Of My Favourite Things played by John Coltrane, a small piece of my favourite youtube found version of John Cage 4’33” before Black Sabbath’s Planet Caravan, turning both into a single song and more.
Lester Bangs wrote for Creem, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice and other publications. The show captures Lester uniqueness and rawness. You can read my original text for the programme here.
Tracklist: 01 – Almost Famous – Introducing Mr. Lester Bangs 02 – Lester Bangs – Let It Blurt 03 – Almost Famous – if you like Lou Lester Bangs to William Miller 04 – Lou Reed – Walk On The Wild Side 05 – Almost Famous – do you take drugs Lester Bangs to William Miller 06 – John Coltrane – This Are A Few of My Favourite Things & Typewriter 07 – Almost Famous -an assignment Lester Bangs to William Miller 08 – Silence (from John Cage’s 4’33) & Black Sabbath (Planet Caravan) 09 – Almost Famous – honest Lester Bangs to William Miller 10 – Teenage Jesus And The Jerks – I Woke Up Dreaming – (from the No New Work LP, 1978, compiled and produced by Brian Eno) 11 – Lester Bangs – About Music 12 – Roxy Music – Just Like You 13 – Birdland with Lester Bangs – Textbook Case 14 – Lester Bangs – on Beatles Nostalgia (1981) 15 – John Lennon – Gimme Some Truth 16 – Lester Bangs and The Delinquents – I Just Want to Be a Movie Star 17 – Almost Famous – women Lester Bangs to William Miller 18 – Blondie – Little Girl Lies (Live at El Mocambo, Toronto, August 3rd, 1978 – FM Radio Broadcast) 19 – Count Five – Psychotic Reaction 20 – The J. Geils Band – So Sharp 21 – Almost Famous – unmerciful Lester Bangs to William Miller 22 – MC5 – Borderline (live at Detroit’s Grande Ballroom) 23 – Almost Famous – starry eyes Lester Bangs to William Miller 24 – R.E.M. – It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) 25 – Scott B. Sympathy – Lester Bangs Stereo Ghost 26 – Almost Famous – the day it ceases to the dumb it’s the day it ceases to be real Lester Bangs to William Miller
My radio show Amazing Songs & Other Delights # 78 – The Debuts & More edition The Debuts & More edition.is now available for listening on mixcloud. Amazing Songs & Other Delights airs every other Monday on Yé Yé Radio: yeyeradio.com (or on the app).
Tracklist: 01: Agrupamento Musical Os Tais – Liga Pra Mim 02: Alan Sparhawk with Trampled by Turtles – Stranger 03: Beirut -Guericke’s Unicorn 04: Bill Fox – Terminal Way 05: Butler, Blake & Grant – The 90s 06: Calvin Harris – Smoke The Pain Away 07: Courting – After You 08: Flávio Torres – Vamos 09: Màiri Morrison and Alasdair Roberts – The Bonny House of Airlie 10: Mark Fry – Not On The Radar 11: Mister Romantic – Dream 12: Model/Actriz – Doves 13: Oh Bobby – Sweet Peace 14: Reb Fountain – He Commands You To Jump Into The Sea 15: Sex Beat – This Machine Kills No One 16: The Hard Quartet – Lies (Something You Can Do) 17: The Ophelias – Salome 18 Tunde Adebimpe – God Knows 19: Trey Calloway – The Ballad of Righteous and Wrong
My radio show Amazing Songs & Other Delights # 78 – The Debuts & More edition airs Monday, 7th, 3-4pm (gmt) on Yé Yé Radio: yeyeradio.com(or on the app).
How many times will I write debut album is anyone’s guess. Other than debut album, collaborations, a couple of super groups (oh mine! are the 70s back?… ) and nineteen songs can be found on this edition of Amazing Songs & Other Delights. Scots abound too. Can you slop them all?
The musical genres are varied, at times in the same song. Folk, folk adjacent, dance music, americana, indie noise, hip-hop, romantic music, gentle pop, and some other flavours. Agrupamento Musical Os Tais’s Liga Pra Mim and Calvin Harris’ Smoke The Pain Away are examples of musical cross pollination.
Agrupamento Musical Os Tais are rappers Mike El Nite and the duo João Não & Lil Noon. Agrupamento Musical Os Tais is one of those things that to fully grasp you may need to be Portuguese and aware of our bandas de baile (electric ball bands that played, and still play, local clubs, associations, our equivalent of workers men’s clubs, fetes, carnivals and the likes). Liga Pra Mim is from their debut album Dance, Romance. Dance, Romance has shades of everything, from pimba (wikipedia is your friend), to kizomba, through hip-hop, house, a dash of pop, all wrapped in deliberated tacky elegance.
Alan Sparhawk with Trampled by Turtles is Alan Sparhawk of Low and bluegrass-folk band Trampled by Turtles.
The 90s is the third single by super group Butler, Blake & Grant. Super group being a bit of a joke. No stadium tours and 20 gear trucks, or Spinal Tap drama in sight. Butler, Blake & Grant are musician, songwriter and producer Bernard Butler, Norman Blake, of Teenage Fanclub, and James Grant of Love and Money fame. Their debut album has just come out. The 90s is sung and written by Bernard.
Sweet Peace was written by me and Bill Rivers for my 3rd anniversary 3rd anniversary show and is now on Swim the Universe the new Oh Bobby (Bill Rivers & Simon Hayward) album.
Mister Romantic is actor John C. Reilly musical alter-ego. Dream, a romantic, 1920s vibe song, is the first single from debut album What’s Not To Love?
Scottish singer and musician Alasdair Roberts teamed up with another Scot, Scottish Gaelic singer Màiri Morrison to sing The Bonny House of Airlie, a traditional Scottish ballad of the XVII century. As is traditional in these sort of ballads The Bonny House of Airlie tells a tragic real story, the burning of the castle of the Earl of Airlie castle and the murder of his family.
Lies is a song by The Hard Quartet, another super group, formed by Stephen Malkmus, of Pavement, Matt Sweeney of Superwolf, Emmett Kelly and Jim White.
God Knows by Tunde Adebimpe, of T.V. On The Radio, and Trey Calloway’s The Ballad of Righteous close the show. The Ballad of Righteous is a classic americana tradition storytelling song.
Tracklist: 01: Agrupamento Musical Os Tais – Liga Pra Mim 02: Alan Sparhawk with Trampled by Turtles – Stranger 03: Beirut -Guericke’s Unicorn 04: Bill Fox – Terminal Way 05: Butler, Blake & Grant – The 90s 06: Calvin Harris – Smoke The Pain Away 07: Courting – After You 08: Flávio Torres – Vamos 09: Màiri Morrison and Alasdair Roberts The Bonny House of Airlie 10: Mark Fry – Not On The Radar 11: Mister Romantic – Dream 12: Model/Actriz – Doves 13: Oh Bobby – Sweet Peace 14: Reb Fountain – He Commands You To Jump Into The Sea 15: Sex Beat – This Machine Kills No One 16: The Hard Quartet – Lies (Something You Can Do) 17: The Ophelias – Salome 18 Tunde Adebimpe – God Knows 19: Trey Calloway – The Ballad of Righteous and Wrong
My radio show Amazing Songs & Other Delights # 77 – The Spring is Here edition is now on mixcloud. Amazing Songs & Other Delights airs every other Monday, 3-4pm (gmt+1) on Yé Yé Radio: yeyeradio.com (or on the app).
Tracklist: 01: The Learning Station – Spring Is Here 02: Bill Callahan – Spring 03: Elis Regina & Tom Jobim – Águas de Março 04: Everything But The Girl – I Don’t Want To Talk About It 05: Glazyhaze – Not Tonight 06: Henry Silence – Gamble 07: Jonathan Richman – Springtime in New York 08: M.Ward – Here Comes The Sun Again 09: Manic Street Preachers – Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head 10: Morcheeba – I Am The Spring 11: Now – In Pathécolor 12: Pale Blue Eyes – Travel Day 13: Rufus Wainwright – Rebel Prince 14: Saint Etienne – Spring 15: Stereolab – Pop Quiz 16: The Beach Boys – Be Still (2001 remastered) 17: The Gentle Spring – Sugartown 18: The Bunch – The Locomotion
There’s a repeat of my radio show Amazing Songs & Other Delights – The It’s a New Year, Let’s Dance edition Monday 30th, 3-4-pm (gmt) on Yé Yé Radio: yeyeradio.com (or on the app).
I wish you all a happy, joy filled, peaceful 2025.
Tracklist: 01 – Império Pacífico – Aftershow feat. Panda Bear 02 – Zirkus Maximus – Jean et Luc 03 – Kai Bosch – Be Right Back 04 – Ladytron – City of Angels 05 – Altered Images – Glitter Ball 06 – Hercules & Love Affair – Painted Eyes (Inflagranti Remix) 07 – WhoMadeWho – Inside World 08 – Dead Or Alive – You Spin Me Round 09 – Yellow Magic Orchestra – Rydeen 10 – Depeche Mode – Behind The Wheel (Vince Clarke Remix) 11 – Korean Boyfriend – Greedy Happiness 12 – New Order – Round and Round 13 – Dead Method – Femme! 14 – ABBA – Dancing Queen (Club Remix)
There’s a repeat of my 5th Amazing Songs & Other Delights #5 – The Poetry edition tomorrow, Monday 2nd, 3-4pm (gmt) on Yé Yé Radio: yeyeradio.com (or on the app).
Tracklist: 01 – Marianne Faithfull with Warren Ellis – Ode to a Nightingale (Keats poem) 02 – Suede – Heroine (Byron She Walks in beauty 1st lines) 03 – The Cranberries – Yeats Grave 04 – Amália Rodrigues – Barco Negro (David Mourão-Ferreira poem) 05 – Secos Molhados – Não não digas nada (Fernando Pessoa poem) 06 – Annie Lennox – Live With Me And Be My Love (Christopher Marlowe poem) 07 – The Waterboys – Stolen Child (Yeats poem) 08 – Bob Dylan – On the Road Again (Bob Dylan poem) 09 – Radio Bukowski – The Genius of The Crowd (Charles Bukowski poem) 10 – Carla Bruni – If You Were Coming In The Fall (Emily Dickinson poem) 11 – Rufus Wainwright – When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes (William Shakespeare, Sonnet 29th) 12 – Fagner – Fanatismo (Florbela Espanca poem) 13 – Ralph Schuckett and Richard Butler – Alabama song (Bertolt Brecht poem, Kurt Weill music) 14 – Patti Smith – Changing of the Guards (Bob Dylan cover and poem) 15 – Phil Ochs – The Bell (Edgar Allan Poe poem) 16 – Quilapayun – Complainte de Pablo Neruda 17 – The Smiths – Cemetery Gates (Keats, Yeats, Wilde came to play)
My radio show Amazing Songs & Other Delights that airs on Yé Ye Radio: yeyeradio.com (or on the app) every other Monday 3-4pm is on repeats from Monday 29th July until mid September.
Amazing Songs & Other Delights #69 – The Surf, Summer and Strats edition airs Monday 15th, 3-4pm (gmt+1) on Yé Yé Radio: yeyeradio.com (or on the app).
This edition songs and instrumentals selection reflects the title literally or in spirit. Surf music is represented by Dick Dale and The Shadows. Surf means Summer, Dick Dale and Hank Marvin (The Shadows) played a Strat(coaster). Nile Rogers also plays a Strat and co-produced Bowie’s China Girl. Chic and China Girl feel summery.
40 Graus À Sombra (40C Degrees in the Shade) by Radar Kadafi by Radar Kadafi os the ultime Summer Song. The Feelies cover Who Loves The Sun by The Velvet Underground in a seasonal tone Stuart Copeland as Klark Kent adds to the vibe.
As usual on the Summer and Winter editions the Mamas & The Papas – California Dreamin’ is played. Here, as in the first Summer edition by the Mamas & The Papas themselves.
This is the last new edition until Amazing Songs & Other Delights is back mid September. In between repeats will be played. Have a joyous Summer!
Tracklist: 01: Radar Kadafi – 40 Graus à Sombra 02: Cansei de Ser Sexy – Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above 03: David Bowie – China Girl 04: Dick Dale – Hava Nagila 05: Djo – End of Beginning 06: Electronic – Getting Away With It 07: Erasure – L’amour 08: Feelies – Who Loves The Sun 09: Chic – Le Freak 10: Klark Kent – Don’t Care 11: MGMT – People In The Street 12: Nunca Mates o Mandarim – Sonhos de Menino 13: Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock’n’Roll 14: Suede – She’s In Fashion 15: The Shadows – Man of Mystery 16: Violent Femmes – Blister In The Sun 17: The Specials – Enjoy Yourself (It’s Later Than You Think) 18: Mamas & The Papas – California Dreamin’
My Amazing Songs & Other Delights #68 – The Bric-à-New edition can now be listened to on mixcloud. It a lovely programme of new songs, or songs that are new to me.
Tracklist: 01: A Working Man’s Guide to Comedy – Imitation (Last Serious Man) 02: Adelaida – Las Flores No Saben Qué Decirse 03: Beak> – The Seal 04: Bernard Butler – Preaching To The Choir 05: Bill Rivers – No Pity 06: Bright Eyes – Bells and Whistles 07: Dorothy Carter – The King of Glory 08: Fontaines D.C. – Favourite 09: Guster – Maybe We’re Alright 10: Joe Goddard – Follow You 11: King Krule – Time For Slurp 12: Lara Taubman – Love Is The Rule 13: Marc Lemon – Meet Me In The Morning 14: Population 5 – Midnight Surfer 15: Salétile – Dürüm 16: The Milkshakes – For She
Mondo Bizarre Magazine 