FFFreakout #58 (Aired on 4/26/07)

1) Arctic Monkeys - D is for Dangerous
2) Golden Smog - Starman
3) Pop Levi - Pick-me-up Uppercut
4) I'm From Barcelona - Oversleeping
5) Modest Mouse - Missed the Boat
6) David Bowie - Helden
7) Frog Eyes - Stockades
8) RTX - Dude Love
9) Psychic Ills - Killer
10) Pink Reason - Motherfucker
11) Alex Delivery - Rainbows
12) Midnight Movies - Hide Away
13) Buzzcocks - Why Can't I Touch It?
14) Kings of Leon - Charmer

FFFreakout Record of the Week:


Pop Levi
The Return to Form Black Magick Party
[Counter / Ninja Tuna]

Haven't spent enough time listening to this one to offer anything beyond the obvious retro/T-Rex comparisons. While this may sound somewhat derivative, this album offers enough updates on that sound to keep things fresh. It may not be something you'll be listening to five years down the road, but it's definitely something you should hear now. Here's what pitchfork media had to say.

FFFreakout #57 (Aired on 4/19/07)

1) Panda Bear - Comfy in Nautica
2) The Syndicats - Crawdaddy Simone
3) TK Webb - Phantom Parade
4) Thee More Shallows - Night at the Knight School
5) Arctic Monkeys - Brianstorm
6) The Clash - Mustapha Dance
7) The Jam - The Modern World
8) Pterodactyl - Polio
9) Volt - Chinese Bite
10) Silver Jews - Smith & Jones Forever
11) Dirtbombs - I Can't Stop Thinking About It
12) Luna - Sweet Child O'Mine
13) Duran Duran - Lonely in your Nightmare
14) The Detroit Cobras - As Long as I Have You
15) Incredible Bongo Band - Wipeout

FFFreakout Record of the Week:


Joe Meek
You're Holding Me Down: 30 Freakbeat, Mod & R&B Nuggets
[Castle Music]

This collection offers an excellent point of entry into the sound world of the late eccentric British producer, Joe Meek. While 'Telstar', his most widely known production, is not featured on this compilation, 30 other fuzzed-out, organ drenched jams are packed into this collection, which should warrant any garage-rock obsessive to run to their local independent record store immediately. A good chunk of the material on You're Holding Me Down rivals that of the original Nuggets collection. The Syndicats 'Crawdaddy Simone', which we played on today's show, is a prime example. One listen to the blistering guitar work on this song and you will be mentioning them in the same breath as White Light/White Heat-era VU, which is no small potatoes. Go get it!

FFFreakout #56 (Aired on 4/12/07)

1) Modest Mouse - Missed the Boat
2) Klaxons - Isle of Her
3) Talking Heads - Crosseyed and Painless
4) Black Sabbath - Computer God
5) Kings of Leon - Black Thumbnail
6) Grinderman - Electric Alice
7) Comsat Angels - Waiting for a Miracle
8) Throbbing Gristle - United
9) Low - Dragonfly
10) LCD Soundsystem - Time to get Away
11) Radio 4 - Dance to the Underground (DFA Remix)

FFFreakout Record of the Week:


Panda Bear
Person Pitch
[Paw Tracks]

Noah Lennox (a.k.a. Panda Bear) has been involved with several genre-defying albums over the past few years through his membership in the Animal Collective, whose recorded output runs the gamut from noise abstractions to dreamy-folk to straight-up blissful rock. This is not to mention the electronic soundscapes of their early efforts. It comes as no surprise then that Person Pitch, Panda Bear’s second solo outing, sounds only vaguely familiar to anything he has done before.

Panda Bear’s first album The Young Prayer was a stripped down affair, offering up dream-like vocals, layered over randomly strummed acoustic guitar figures. Created in the wake of his father’s death, the album was imbued with a sense of melancholy and loss. With the recent birth of a daughter and relocation to a sunny Euro environment, Panda has reason to rejoice and this certainly shines through on Person Pitch.

Pieced together in a collage-like fashion using a variety of loops and patterns, Person Pitch is an electronic album created with modern ears and a classic 60’s pop sensibility. In fact, it’s hard not to mention the Beach Boys when describing the beautiful vocal harmonies that Panda liberally employs throughout. While his Mac, rather than his acoustic guitar, seems to be his main instrument, Panda has an ear for organic sound sources and classic vocal melodies that overcomes the redundancies of many dancefloor electronic albums. While shorter tracks such as Comfy in Nautica and Take Pills are certainly the strongest, the two 10+ minute songs Bros and Good Girl/Carrot provide enough sonic variation within their extended rhythmic pulse to keep things engaging.

All said, Person Pitch is the perfect album as we head into the summer months. Turn this baby up loud as you are driving around with your windows down.

FFFreakout #55 (Aired on 4/5/07)

1) The Fall - Fall Sound
2) Sapat - Dark Silver
3) SJ Esau - All Agog
4) Carla Bozulich - Prince of the World
5) Unknown Instructors - In Your Town without You
6) Dinosaur Jr. - Almost Ready
7) Pink Reason - Dead End
8) Amy Winehouse - Rehab
9) Young Marble Giants - Brand New Life
10) The Fratellis - Flathead
11) Kings of Leon - Charmer
12) Cloud Cult - Chemicals Collide
13) Ozomatli - Don't Mess with the Dragon
14) Beat Happening - Angel Gone
15) MV & EE w/ the Bummer Road - Canned Happiness

For those who want to delve deeper:

The Siltbreeze label were purveyors of the lo-fi aesthetic during its heyday in the 90's, releasing albums by such notables as Guided by Voices, the Dead C, and Charalambides among others. After closing down shop for several years, they are back and have released some stellar albums that maintain that same lo-fi goodness. Both Sapat and Pink Reason, whom we played on today's show, are recent releases from Siltbreeze. For more info. check out their website.

After a string of solid albums, the legendary Fall have returned with a new long player entitled Reformation Post-TLC. Mark E. Smith leads an ever-changing new line-up through 13 new songs of the "Fall Sound". Upon initial listening, this album doesn't have the same bite has the last few, but I have never heard a bad Fall album among the lot. Check out the Fall's website for all the happenings in their orbit.