Episode 51: If Not For You (Part 2)

A lot of these tracks are spill-overs from the first episode that either didn't fit quite right, but quite a few are new additions that came in late. With a career as ridiculously prolific as Mr. Dylan's has been there is already a plethora of covers and tributes to choose from with every generation of musicians wanting to throw in their two cents. One of the most enjoyable things about putting together these two episodes has been digging through these songs and finding things like Bobby Womack's delightfully funky cover of "All Along The Watchtower," and Andrew Bird's rendition of "Oh Sister."

Keeping things in the covers mindset, this episode ends with Bob Dylan covering the traditional American folk song "House of the Rising Sun." The original author of this song is still unknown, but many have had a go at it over the years. The Animals did what is probably the most famous and unquestionably fantastic version in 1964 a few years after Dylan released his version, which is still my personal favorite. This track shows a screaming and pleading side of Dylan's vocal range that not only sets the tone for the tragic ballad, but is a rare treat to hear from him.

Hope you've enjoyed these episodes, please feel free to comment with some of your favorite Dylan renditions and I'll add em to the queue.

Start Time – Artist / Track / Album

00:21 – Nina Simone / Just Like A Woman / Here Comes The Sun
05:09 – Stevie Wonder / Mr. Tambourine Man / Down To Earth
07:36 – Sufjan Stevens / Ring Them Bells / I'm Not There
13:54 – The Wood Brothers / Buckets Of Rain / Loaded
17:18 – Guster / This Wheel's On Fire / Endless Highway
20:39 – Jeff Buckley / Mama, You Been On My Mind / Grace
24:02 – Bobby Womack / All Along The Watchtower / Facts of Life
27:21 – Violent Femmes / Positively 4th Street / Freak Magnet
30:13 – The Dead Weather / New Pony / Horehound
34:47 – My Morning Jacket / You're A Big Girl Now / Chimes of Freedom
39:53 – Johnny Cash / One Too Many Mornings / Bootleg, Volume 2
42:27 – Nico / I'll Keep It With Mine / Chelsea Girl
45:42 – Ramblin' Jack Elliott / Lay, Lady, Lay / Bull Durham Sacks and Railroad Tracks
48:33 – The Morning Benders / Outlaw Blues / Subterranean Homesick Blues
52:29 – Greensky Bluegrass / When I Paint My Masterpiece / All Access Vol. 1
55:06 – Andrew Bird / Oh Sister / Soldier On
59:49 – George Harrison / If Not For You / All Things Must Pass
1:03:18 – Bob Dylan / House of the Rising Sun / Bob Dylan (first recorded by Clarence "Tom" Ashley and Gwen Foster)


http://ia600405.us.archive.org/16/items/SomeKindOfJamVol.1/Episode51.mp3

Episode 50: If Not For You (Part 1)

Bob Dylan. Damn near every musician under the sun has been influenced by him or covered one of his songs. There are more tribute albums to this Duluth, Minnesota native than I care to count, and yet I've found myself adding my own version. Sure it's been done before, but if it ain't broke why fix it?

Dylan was able to simultaneously pay tribute to legends like Son House, Woody Guthrie, and Bukka White while changing the landscape of what was arguably the best era for rock and roll: the 1960's and 70's. His undeniable reach changed the Beatles from "I Want To Hold Your Hand" boy-band pop-bullshit artists into the genre smashing, more popular than Jesus bad motherfuckers they would come to be. His symbiotic relationships with the Grateful Dead and Johnny Cash helped America keep up with the likes of Clapton, Zeppelin, and The Who across the pond. Not to mention The Band started as an underscore on his concert tickets.

Simply put: the man is a God. I don't care how many times a compilation of his music has been presented, here's another:


Start Time – Artist / Track / Album

00:13 – Beck / Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat / War Child - Heroes Vol. 1
03:13 – The Soup Greens / Like A Rolling Stone / 60s Garage Nuggets
05:55 – Solomon Burke / Maggie's Farm / Blue and Soulful
08:08 – Eric Clapton / Knockin' On Heaven's Door / The Cream of Clapton
12:27 – The Hollies / When The Ship Comes In / The Hollies Sing Dylan
15:07 – Jim James & Calexico / Goin' To Acapulco / I'm Not There
20:01 – Link Wray / Girl From The North Country / Good Rockin' Tonight
23:11 – Nancy Sinatra / It Ain't Me Babe / Boots
25:40 – The White Stripes / One More Cup Of Coffee / The White Stripes
28:51 – Waylon Jennings / Don't Think Twice, It's Alright / Outlaw Reunion
31:31 – Manfred Mann / The Mighty Quinn / Chapter Two
34:21 – Ray LaMontagne and John Mayer / Tears of Rage / Love For Levon
40:25 – Odetta / Baby, I'm In The Mood For You / Odetta Sings Dylan
43:10 – Flogging Molly / The Times They Are A-Changin' / Chimes of Freedom
46:08 – Stephen Malkmus and The Million Dollar Bashers / Ballad Of A Thin Man / I'm Not There
52:53 – Sam Cooke / Blowin' In The Wind / Sam Cooke at the Copa
55:55 – Wilco with Fleet Foxes / I Shall Be Released / Live



http://ia600405.us.archive.org/16/items/SomeKindOfJamVol.1/Episode50.mp3

Episode 49: It's Old, It's Love, It's Broken

Author Logan Ryan Smith is back this week for another guest spot and has managed something quite formidable: a Bowie song I don't know. Mr. Smith has more pride and genuine love for the 1980s than any first generation hipster can hope to attain, so I would've assumed Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) would've been tapped, or possibly Let's Dance, but he went with the brand new single "Where Are We Now?" Admittedly I tend to lean quite heavily on Ziggy Stardust and Hunky Dory, so it's nice to have something new smack me in the teeth.

Also included this week is a track from Jim James new solo debut Regions of Light and Sound of God, some new Smashing Pumpkins, and Logan has officially ushered in Nine Inch Nails debut to the podcast. Enjoy!


Start Time – Artist / Track / Album

00:19 – Futurisk / Meteorite / Player Piano
03:53 – Bosley / Coca Cola / Honey Pig
08:02 – Nine Inch Nails / Echoplex / The Slip
12:46 – The Replacements / Johnny's Gonna Die / Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash!
16:03 – White Town / Your Woman / Women In Technology
20:20 – Aidan Moffat and Bill Wells / Let's Stop Here / Everything's Getting Older
24:38 – The Faint / Take Me to the Hospital / Danse Macabre
29:03 – Charles Brown / For You / An Introduction to Charles Brown
33:06 – Jim James / Dear One / Regions of Light and Sound of God
36:14 – From Bubblegum to Sky / I Always Fall Apart / A Soft Kill
38:52 – The Smashing Pumpkins / Glissandra / Oceania
42:56 – LaVenern Baker / Love Me Right / Blues Ballads
44:48 – David Bowie / Where Are We Now? / Where Are We Now?
48:56 – Joy Division / The Sound of Music / Still
52:48 – Jeremy Enigk / City Tonight / World Waits
57:53 – Bob Dylan / Everything is Broken / Oh Mercy



http://ia600405.us.archive.org/16/items/SomeKindOfJamVol.1/Episode49.mp3

Episode 48: Covering All Our Bases

The guest DJ spots continue with a gem from Mr. Marc Consolazio. Staring you down this week is over an hour of some of the finest covers I hadn't heard, and some I'm pissed will have to be skipped in the covers episode I've been inspired to put together. Though I'm never upset to see The Decemberists in a playlist, I have to say my personal favorites from this group are The Rural Alberta Advantage's cover of Survior's Eye Of The Tiger, and WZRD's eerily upbeat cover of Leadbelly's Where Did You Sleep Last Night.

If you're curious about the mind that threw all this together, he's currently working on compiling an anthology of his writing, and select pieces can be found on antimarc.com. He's also something of an Instagrammer, and is in a relationship with a lady that makes some damn fine Serious Baked Goods. He also suggested a mention of Batman. Always Batman.

Start Time – Artist / Track / Album

00:31 – Yo La Tengo / You Can Have It All /  And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out (originally by George McCrae)
05:05 – Dum Dum Girls / There Is A Light That Never Goes Out  / He Gets Me High (originally by The Smiths)
09:18 – Army Navy / Right Back Where We Started From / Army Navy (originally by Maxine Nightingale)
12:44 – The Bunker / Holy Wars / The New Trust and Friends: Battle To The Death (originally by The New Trust)
16:00 – The Rural Alberta Advantage / Eye Of The Tiger  / Drain The Blood (originally by Survivor)
18:57 – Nada Surf / Enjoy The Silence  / if I had a hi-fi (originally by Depeche Mode)
22:16 – Sun Kil Moon / Neverending Math Equation / Tiny Cities (originally by Modest Mouse)
25:06 – Ted Leo / I'm Looking Through You / This Bird Has Flown (originally by The Beatles)
27:27 – Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins / Handle With Care / Rabbit Fur Coat (originally by The Traveling Wilburys)
30:20 – Ambulance LTD / Ocean /  LP (originally by The Velvet Underground)
35:42 – Minutemen / Have You Ever Seen The Rain?  / 3-Way Tie (For Last) (originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival)
38:36 – Murder By Death / My Baby Shot Me Down /  Fuego! EP (originally by Nancy Sinatra)
40:51 – Asobi Seksu / Suzanne / Rewolf (originally by Hope Sandoval and The Warm Inventions)
44:21 – Eric Matthews / Needle In The Hay  / To: Elliot From: Portland (originally by Elliott Smith)
48:53 – Elliot Smith / Thirteen / New Moon (originally by Big Star)
51:33 – Brendan Kelly / Kiss The Bottle / Wasted Potential (originally by Jawbreaker)
54:45 – The Decemberists / Human Behaviour  / Read: Interpreting Björk (originally by Björk)
58:57 – WZRD / Where Did You Sleep Last Night  / WZRD (originally by Leadbelly)
1:03:08 – Japandroids / For The Love Of Ivy / Celebration Rock (originally by The Gun Club)
1:07:19 – Frank Turner / The District Sleeps Alone Tonight / The First Three Years (originally by The Postal Service)



http://ia600405.us.archive.org/16/items/SomeKindOfJamVol.1/Episode48.mp3

Episode 47: Sugar Town

There are tracks you hear and think "oh, well isn't this just swell?" and then there are tracks on a frolicsome loop in your head for weeks and years; this week's episode is a collection of both. As per usual The Decemberists have been in heavy rotation. As great as The King is Dead truly is, I haven't been able to stop listening to what I assume is that album's B-Sides, Long Live The King. This brief six track EP is so alarmingly good I have no idea how at least three or four of the tracks didn't sneak their way onto the full length album. Though I loath the textversation title, "I4U & U4ME" is ridiculously catchy and upbeat, but this week's first track, "Forgone", takes the cake for me. I cannot stop listening to this song. Nor will I try.

Another highlight this week is a track from Jim James' solo debut, Regions of Light and Sound of God. I like the album overall, and the wonderfully strange and enchanting video for "A New Life" should be mandatory viewing... but... I still feel like there's something slightly off. Mr. James' voice is about as close as I believe humans will come to speaking with angels, but since Evil Urges has had a slight frog in his throat and I can't figure out why. "Honest Man" is a pretty solid example of the previous vocal range of that Tennessean magician and where it may one day return.

But, this is why I'm so happy to see a solo debut from Jim James. Much like I was ecstatic to see Thom Yorke release his solo debut Eraser in 2006 after taking Radiohead in a more electronic direction. It's not that I think these solo albums are the next coming of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but with Eraser it proved to be a great way to get a more singular vision out of his head to come back and help with what may be Radiohead's best album, In Rainbows. I seem to like Circuital more than the average bear, but At Dawn or Z it ain't. Here's hoping the frog throat and dance tunes are out of Mr. James system and My Morning Jacket can come back with their own In Rainbows.


Start Time  – Artist / Track / Album

00:40 – The Decemberists / Foregone / Long Live The King
04:44 – Question Mark and The Mysterians / Are You For Real? / I Hate CD's
07:18 – Steven Perri / Street Scene / Soulshaker Volume 4
10:58 – Deerhoof / There's That Grin / Breakup Song
14:14 – Gold Panda / An Iceberg Hurled Northward Through Clouds / An Iceberg Hurled Northward Through Clouds
19:57 – Kings Of Convenience / I Don't Know What I Can Save You From - Röyksopp Remix / Versus
24:06 – Yeasayer / Madder Red / ODD BLOOD
28:35 – The Cramps / I Was A Teenage Werewolf / Songs The Lord Taught Us
31:36 – James Brown / Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved - Parts 1 & 2 / The Best of James Brown
38:40 – Calexico / Puerto / Algiers
43:00 – Lack Of Afro / For You / Press On
47:17 – Jim James / Know Til Now / Regions of Light and Sound of God
53:41 – Nancy Sinatra / Sugar Town / The Essential Nancy Sinatra
56:04 – Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. / We Almost Lost Detroit / It's A Corporate World



http://ia600405.us.archive.org/16/items/SomeKindOfJamVol.1/Episode47.mp3

Episode 46: Get Sad, Get Sexy

Hiatus over!

A few months ago I began planning an all-consuming move from Chicago to Korea, blocking out anything unnecessary to selling off my wares and packing. This podcast fell victim. With all the playlist building, digging for new music, recording, uploading, and the whole list of to-dos for every episode it just got to be too much. But fret not, n'er'do'wells, the music has returned with more stupendidity than before!

Starting with this here podcast, Some Kind of Jam will frequently have guest DJ slots filled by some of the fine folks in the Inspiring Friends section, WIDR alums, and a few random folks off the street.

This week's episode is brought to you by Logan Ryan Smith. The recent author of Bug House, Logan is a writer living and working in Chicago where he maintains the blog Do Gummi Bears Dream of Rubber Passion Fruit? with "disorganized things like thoughts, poetry, life in Chicago, and the like." His other books include Much Like You Shark, The Singers and The Notes, and Stupid Birds. He's currently working on a yet-untitled novel while watching a ridiculous amount of soccer and baseball.

Start Time – Artist / Track / Album

00:30 – Morphine / Scratch / Yes
03:41 – The Wedding Present / Make Me Smile (Come Up and See me) / Seamonsters
07:21 – Tom Petty / Mary Jane's Last Dance / Anthology: Through the Years
11:48 – Afhan Whigs / Be Sweet / Gentlemen
15:27 – Sinead O'Connor / Troy / So Far, The Best of Sinead O'Connor
21:45 – TV On The Radio / Will Do / Nine Types of Light
25:36 – Bosley / Jungles / Honey Pig
30:58 – The Rolling Stones / Down in the Hole / The Rolling Stones Singles Box Set
34:51 – Bill Withers / Who is He (And What is He to You)? / The Best of Bill Withers: Lean on Me
38:31 – Portishead / Roads / Dummy
43:33 – Bruce Springsteen / Cover Me / Born in the U.S.A.
46:58 – Bat for Lashes / Laura / The Haunted Man
51:21 – Sam Cooke / Cupid / Love and Let Love
53:57 – The Doors / Roadhouse Blues / The Future Starts Here: The Essential Doors Hits
58:02 – Leonard Cohen / Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye / The Essential Leonard Cohen
1:00:53 – Tori Amos / Precious Things / Little Earthquakes
1:05:17 – The National / Anyone's Ghost / High Violet
1:08:08 – Ride / Vapour Trail / Nowhere
1:12:23 – The Twilight Sad / On the Corner / Dynamite Steps
1:16:47 – Sharon Van Etten / Don't Do It / Epic
1:21:49 – Morphine / Shame / B–sides and Otherwise
1:24:30 – Willie Nelson / Unchained Melody / Stardust


http://ia600405.us.archive.org/16/items/SomeKindOfJamVol.1/Episode46.mp3

Episode 45: As Long As It Takes

Even though I was tempted to have two hours of The Detroit Cobras as the playlist this week, I resisted the urge and threw in quite a few new artists. Happily stumbled on The Mighty Tom Cats, Morcheeba, Pine Leaf Boys, and Mustafa Özkent while absolutely loving Spotify's new(ish) radio feature and have been digging into their previous albums quite a bit since. With fall in full swing we should have quite a few rainy days left and I cannot recommend Isbells highly enough on those dreary and slightly charming days; it's serene and intimate folk like I haven't heard since finding Piers Faccini a few years back. And then there's The Flaming Lips and Jim James teaming up, which is as amazing as you'd expect.


Start Time – Artist / Track / Album

00:24 – The Mighty Tom Cats / Dance Girl / The Best of Paul Winley Records
04:05 – Elton John / Empty Sky / Empty Sky
12:31 – Inf / Power Moves, Baby / The Go Round
14:36 – Maps and Atlases / Fever / Beware and Be Grateful
19:37 – Morcheeba / The Sea / Big Calm
25:23 – Modest Mouse / Here It Comes / Everywhere and His Nasty Parlour Tricks
28:30 – Isbells / As Long As It Takes / Isbells
32:26 – Pine Leaf Boys / What's the Matter with My Baby / Back Home
35:12 – Mustafa Özkent / Çarşambayı Sel Aldı / Mustafa Özkent Ve Orkestrası - Gençlik Ile Elele
37:27 – The Flaming Lips / That Ain't My Trip - feat. Jim James / The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends
41:15 – Tycho / A Walk / Dive
46:25 – The Detroit Cobras / Right Around the Corner / Life, Love and Leaving
48:51 – The Sound Stylistics / The Players Theme / Play Deep Funk
53:35 – The Phenomenal Handclap Band / Testimony (feat. Aurelio Valle and Jaleel Bunton) /  The Phenomenal Handclap Band
58:34 – The Pogues / The Body Of An American / Very Best of The Pogues


http://ia600405.us.archive.org/16/items/SomeKindOfJamVol.1/Episode45.mp3