Playlist: Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2010

Flaming Lips / See The Leaves
Money Mark / Spiders
Lackthereof / Fake Empire [The National cover]
The Knife / Like A Pen
Blonde Redhead / Spain
Interpol / Always Malaise (The Man I Am)
The Vaselines / Sex With An X
Owen Pallett / Don't Stop
Mountain Goats / Noche del Guajolote
Ferraby Lionheart / Pocketknife
Deer Tick / Choir Of Angels
Strange Vine / Lonesome Trouble
Sleigh Bells / Riot Rhythm
The Clipse feat. Pharrell Williams / Mr. Me Too
Mavis Staples / In Christ There Is No East Or West
Besnard Lakes / And This Is What We Call Progress
Fol Chen / They Came To Me
Cibo Matto / Sugar Water
Neverever / Young Runaways
ceo / No Mercy
Wavves / Post Acid
Presidents of the United States of America / Dune Buggy
Jenny and Johnny / My Pet Snakes
MGMT / I Found A Whistle
Black Keys / Heavy Soul
Hank Williams / I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
Best Coast / Our Deal
The Drums / It Will All End In Tears
Y La Bamba / Isla de Hierva Buena
Scout Niblett / Bargin
Kate Bush / Army Dreamers
Crystal Castles / Doe Deer
Arcade Fire / We Used To Wait
The Books / I Didn't Know That
Marty Robbins / A White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation)
Band Of Horses / Dilly
Admiral Radley / Sunburn Kids
Eels / What's A Fella Gotta Do
Ra Ra Riot / Foolish
White Stripes / Screwdriver
White Stripes / St. James Infirmary Blues
Born Ruffians / Retard Canard
Clinic / Tomorrow
Joy Division / Glass
Baths / Aminals

Playlist: Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2010

Earlimart / Unintentional Tape Manipulations
Admiral Radley / Chingas In The West
The Vaselines / Ruined
Y La Bamba / Crocodile Eyes
Grinderman / When My Baby Comes
Owen Pallett / A Man With No Ankles
Joy Division / No Love Lost [Arrow Studios version, rec. May 1978]
New Order / I.C.B. [Peel Session version, rec. 26 Jan. 1981]
Camu Tao / Bird Flu
Sharon Jones / Dancing Together
Jenny And Johnny / Scissor Runner
El Guincho / Bombay
Tim Kasher / A Grown Man
Abe Vigoda / Sequins
Blonde Redhead / Penny Sparkle
Blonde Redhead / In Particular
Baths / Hall
ceo / Come With Me
Black Keys / The Breaks
Ryan G. Tallman / Bola
Mountain Goats / Going To Georgia
Wheels Of Fortune / Trampling The Fields Of The Lord
Arcade Fire / Deep Blue
Jaill / Everyone's Hip
Best Coast / Crazy For You
The Thermals / Power Lies
Strange Boys / Be Brave
Roy Orbison / California Blue
Fol Chen / C/U
OK Go / White Knuckles
The Intelligence / The Universe
Interpol / Success
Mavis Staples / Don't Knock
Dirty Projectors / Stillness Is The Move [Lucky Dragons remix]
Ra Ra Riot / Boy
Pissed Jeans / False Jesii Part 2
Love Language / This Room
Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhosle / Typewriter Tip, Tip, Tip [from Bombay Talkie]
Cat Power / (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction [Rolling Stones cover]
Azure Ray / Don't Leave My Mind
Dungen / Skit I Allt
Male Bonding / Pumpkin
Neverever / Teardrop Tattoo
White Stripes / Jumble, Jumble
Art Museums / Oh Modern Girls

Playlist: Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010

White Stripes / Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
Black Keys / Everlasting Light
Love Language / Pedals
Baths / Apologetic Shoulder Blades
Flying Lotus feat. Laura Darlington / Table Tennis
Ozomatli / Are You Ready?
Strange Boys / Be Brave
Tracey Thorn / Oh, The Divorces!
Quasi / Rockabilly Party
Rafter / Beauty, Beauty
Best Coast / When The Sun Don't Shine
Shapes & Sizes / Too Late For Dancing
Camu Tao / Fonny Valentine
The Intelligence / Sailor Itch
High Winds / Summer Air
The Greenladies / Clover Honey
Style Like Revelators / Daggers
Bad Andy & The Sunburns / Take Cover
Let's Wrestle / In Dreams
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds / Red Right Hand
Johnny Cash / Ain't No Grave
DJ Shadow / Organ Donor
King Khan & The Shrines / Took My Lady To Dinner
Velvet Underground / I'm Waiting For The Man
Gil Scott-Heron / New York Is Killing Me
Rivers Cuomo / Don't Worry Baby [Beach Boys cover]
Wild Beasts / We Still Got The Taste Dancin' On Our Tongues
Pains Of Being Pure At Heart / Say No To Love
M.I.A. feat. Jay-Z / XXXO
Of Montreal / Coquet Coquette
The Thermals / I Don't Believe You
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings / Money
She & Him / Ridin' In My Car
Arcade Fire / Ready To Start
Perfume Genius / Mr. Peterson
Gorillaz feat. Mark E. Smith / Glitter Freeze
Autolux / Supertoys
Admiral Radley / The Thread
Quiet Americans / Kill Summer
Black Lips / Big Black Baby Jesus Of Today
Morning Benders / Stitches
Scout Niblett / Duke Of Anxiety
Grandaddy / Go Progress Chrome
Jaill / Thank Us Later
Fol Chen / The Holograms

Playlist: Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2010

Nirvana / Radio Friendly Unit Shifter
New Order / Regret
Perfume Genius / Lookout, Lookout
Wolf Parade / Ghost Pressure
The Drums / Let's Go Surfing
Best Coast / Bratty B
Mazzy Star / Ride It On
Aphex Twin / Girl/Boy Song
Radiohead / Palo Alto
Underworld / Mmm Skyscraper I Love You
Fierce Creatures / Phantom Athletes
Racelegs / Mansions
The Mallard / Cutesy
Dylan Tidyman-Jones / Antelope
Pavement / Gold Soundz
Sinead O'Connor / I Am Stretched On Your Grave
Elliott Smith / Last Call
Smashing Pumpkins / 1979
She & Him / In The Sun
Tera Melos / In Citrus Heights
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin / Banned (By The Man)
Wavves / Linus Spacehead
John Spencer Blues Explosion / Bellbottoms
The Pixies / La La Love You
Tricky / Black Steel [Public Enemy cover]
Weezer / Jamie
New Pornographers / Crash Years
Besnard Lakes / Albatross
The Intelligence / Estate Sales
Kid Mud / Federated
Portishead / All Mine [rec. live 24 July 1997]
Liz Phair / Mesmerizing
Sebadoh / Mind Reader
Beth Orton / I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine
Jaill / Everyone's Hip
Les Savy Fav / Lips N' Stuff
Tokyo Police Club / Favourite Colour
Deer Tick / I Will Not Be Myself
Sleater-Kinney / Words And Guitar
The Sundays / Cry
Neutral Milk Hotel / Gardenhead/Leave Me Alone

Playlist: Monday, Sept. 6, 2010

Massive Attack feat. Tracey Thorn / Protection
Jesus & Mary Chain / Save Me
The Thermals / I Don't Believe You
Gorillaz feat. Mark E. Smith / Glitter Freeze
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings / I Learned The Hard Way
The Books / IDKT
Bjork / Hyperballad [Brodsky Quartet version]
Neko Case / Magpie To The Morning
Arcade Fire / Empty Room
Band Of Horses / Infinite Arms
Admiral Radley / Chingas In The West
Strange Vine / Close Your Eyes
Camu Tao / King Of Hearts
The Amps / Tipp City
Fol Chen / They Came To Me
Of Montreal / Coquet Coquette
Wild Beasts / We Still Got The Taste Dancin' On Our Tongues
Moby / Move (You Make Me Feel So Good)
Beastie Boys / And Me
Luscious Jackson / Mood Swing
Elliott Smith / No Name No.3
Beck / Satan Gave Me A Taco
Helium / Leon's Space Song
Trumpet Solo / Hard Working Economy
Handsome Furs / Talking Hotel Arbat Blues
Neverever / Teardrop Tattoo
Style Like Revelators / Devil's Road Blues
Broken Social Scene / Forced To Love
Sleigh Bells / Riot Rhythm
Crystal Castles / Doe Deer
Quiet Americans / Kill Summer
Rademacher / Rocket Ship
Fay Wrays / Broken Wings
PJ Harvey / Oh My Lover
Ani DiFranco / Joyful Girl
Janelle Monae feat. Saul Williams / Dance Or Die
Beach House / Norway
Love Language / This Room
ceo / No Mercy
Autolux / Transit Transit
Black Keys / Howlin' For You
Johnny Cash / Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream
Strange Boys / Dare I Say
Cake / Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps
Cat Power / Colors And The Kids
Blur / She's So High
Grandaddy / Wretched Songs

Saturday morning in Fresno

My wife Tracy discovered a strange and scary scene in front of our house this morning, while getting back from walking the dog. On our front porch -- in addition to the morning newspaper -- was a discarded pair of jean shorts with a belt, bloodstained work boots and socks, a large puddle of coagulated blood, and a half-dozen quarter-sized spots of blood -- all about a foot from our front door.


We're not crime scene investigators, of course, but it appeared that the person staggered up to our front porch, sat on the ledge of the flowerbed, and bled onto the concrete for a while. The person smashed one of Tracy's plants and knocked over several others, took off his boots, socks, and shorts, sat and bled for a bit, figuring out what to do, and then left.


We canceled our breakfast plans and called Fresno PD. They dispatched Officer Maynez, who slipped on his rubber gloves and poked around at the items. "So, these aren't yours?" he asked. He found a single folded dollar in the pants pocket and noted what he called a significant amount of blood on the porch and on the boots. He speculated that maybe someone ran from a DUI, but he said that those kinds of incidents usually involve the person discarding their shirt in order to avoid description. After taking some notes, he then asked us for a paper bag so he could pick up the items, recommended we clean things up with a generous dose of bleach, and then at my request gave us a couple pairs of rubber gloves to protect ourselves.


Officer Maynez said he would make a report on the call, in case "there was a homicide or a shooting or something" nearby. I asked him if he would need any photos or samples of the blood. He said, "No, there's plenty of blood on the shoes if we need DNA." I went to Walgreens and bought a cheap jug of bleach and a scrubber. I slipped on the gloves that Officer Maynez gave us, doused all the bloody spots with bleach, and scrubbed the porch clean. Tracy then hosed everything off and we righted her overturned plants.


The whole sequence reminded me of an incident in 2004, when my brother from another mother, Eric Parker, first moved in. It was Eric's first night in the house and he walked out to his car the next morning to bring in some of his things. He noticed that my garage had been tagged with graffiti. We discovered later that day that our neighbor's front door and car had also been tagged, as well as the baseball backstops in the park across the street. It was a rude welcome to the neighborhood for Eric, and it was the kind of unsettling incident that happens in the dead of night that we often do not see until morning.

Playlist: Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010

Adem / Invisible Man [The Breeders cover]
Young Galaxy / Destroyer
Love Language / Wilmont
The Thermals / I'm Gonna Change Your Life
Les Savy Fav / Sleepless In Silver Lake
The Intelligence / The Universe
Strange Boys / Night Might
Sleater-Kinney / Modern Girl
Le Loup / Saddle Mountain
ceo / Love And Do What You Will
A Place To Bury Strangers / To Fix The Gash In Your Head
Johnny Cash / Time Of The Preacher [Willie Nelson cover]
The Lower 48 / Mama's Eye
Flying Lotus feat. Thundercat / Mmm Hmm
Radiohead / Just
White Stripes / Jimmy The Exploder
Moldy Peaches / Anyone Else But You
Bonnie "Prince" Billy & The Cairo Gang / The Sounds Are Always Begging
Spoon / The Mystery Zone
Brother Luke & The Comrades / Save Your Self
Dizzee Rascal / Sirens
Baths / Heart
Arcade Fire / Half Light I
Arcade Fire / Half Light II (No Celebration)
Camu Tao / Bird Flu
Ferraby Lionheart / Harry And Bess
Tera Melos / Frozen Zoo
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin / Stuart Gets Lost Dans Le Metro
Clinic / Distortions
Harlem / Spray Paint
Gift Of Gab feat. Vursatyl / The Writz
Fol Chen / The Holograms
Joy Division / She's Lost Control [Peel Session version, Feb. 1979]
Best Coast / Summer Mood
The Books / Thirty Incoming/A Wonderful Phrase By Gandhi
Autolux / Census
Sleigh Bells / Rill Rill
Neutral Milk Hotel / You've Passed
Joy Division / Interzone [Arrow Studios version, May 1978]
Heatmiser / The Fix Is In
Black Keys / Everywhere I Go [Junior Kimbrough cover]
Admiral Radley / Red Curbs
Morning Benders / Excuses