Episodes
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German electronic band Kraftwerk's 1975 release 'Radio-Activity' is a bit of a forgotten middle-child, having come just after 'Autobahn' and just before 'Trans-Europe Express'. Returning guest Kevin Chanel makes the case that this highly experimental, avant-garde concept album deserves a second look.
“When airwaves swing, distant voices sing”Songs discussed in this episode: Radioactivity (Kraftwerk cover) - The Divine Comedy; Trans-Europe Express - Kraftwerk; Commerciality - Mr Partridge; The Ballad Of Austin Cortez - The Soul Brothers of Chula Vista; Tour De France, Geiger Counter, Radioactivity, Radioland - Kraftwerk; March from A Clockwork Orange (Ninth Symphony, Fourth Movement, Abridged) - Beethoven/Wendy Carlos; Airwaves, Intermission, News - Kraftwerk; Dazzle Ships (Parts II, III & VII) - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark; The Voice of Energy, Antenna, Radio Stars, Uranium - Kraftwerk; Blue Monday - New Order; Transister, Ohm Sweet Ohm, Radioactivity (The Mix), Radioactivity (Live) - Kraftwerk
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When this week's guest, musician/music historian Matthew Sabatella discovered Harry Smith's 'The Anthology Of American Folk Music' in the late 90s, it literally changed the direction of his own musical journey. This amazing collection of recordings made and issued from 1926 to 1933 by a variety of performers got under his skin, and eventually moved him to found Ballad of America, Inc., a nonprofit organization with a mission to preserve and celebrate music from America’s diverse cultural history.
Songs discussed in this episode: Henry Lee - Dick Justice; Sir George - Matthew Sabatella; Old Lady & The Devil - Bill & Belle Reed; White House Blues - Charlie Poole & The North Carolina Ramblers; Tenting On The Old Camp Ground - Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling String Band; Memory Coast - Matthew Sabatella; House Carpenter - Bob Dylan; The House Carpenter - Clarence Ashley; Ommie Wise - G. B. Grayson; John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man - The Carter Family; Casey Jones - Grateful Dead; Kassie Jones - Furry Lewis; Brilliancy Medley - Eck Robertson; Mountain Banjo - Rhiannon Giddons; Acadian One-Step - Joseph Falcon; Present Joys - Alabama Sacred Harp Singers; Judgement - Sister Mary Nelson; I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground - Bascom Lamar Lunsford; Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again - Bob Dylan; Way Down the Old Plank Road - Uncle Dave Macon; Spike Driver Blues - Mississippi John Hurt; Going Up The Country - Canned Heat; Fishing Blues - Henry Thomas; This Old Hammer - Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling String Band
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Missing episodes?
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For this special Patron-curated episode, we asked patrons of the podcast to send in a song they love, that 'got them high' and that they wanted to share with our listeners.
You know when you're talking music with someone and you say "Have you heard this one song? You've gotta hear it...it will change your life!"
Yeah, that.Songs discussed in this episode: Might - Love Canal; It's All Over Now Baby Blue - Link Wray; Hitting You - Loudon Wainwright III; Saving For A Rainy Day - David Stoughton; Gangsters - The Specials; Baby Plays Around - Elvis Costello; Dead Language - Bedhead; Main Traveled Roads - Doll By Doll; Gentle Eyes - Terry Malts; Great Waves - The Dirty Three; Rich Kid Blues - Terry Reid; Now Be Thankful - Fairport Convention; Your Little Hoodrat Friend - The Hold Steady; Where Do We Go When We Die? - The The; I'll Be You - Replacements; God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Annie Lennox; Kolly Kibber's Birthday - Julian Cope; Come And Get Me - Humdrum; Bats In The Attic - King Kreosote & Jon Hopkins; Two-Step - Low; Dimed Out - Titus Andronicus
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This week, returning guest Joe Tunis (Carbon Records) brings us Dallas, TX band Bedhead and their stunning 1994 debut 'WhatFunLifeWas'. With a seemingly simple formula of guitars, bass, drums and often quiet, sing-speak vocals, the album explores existential questions and spiritual emptiness in a beautifully effective way.
Songs discussed in this episode: Golden Brown (Stranglers cover) - Bedhead; Swimming In - Rock Candy; The Rest Of The Day (7" version), Liferaft - Bedhead; Ocean - The Velvet Underground; Leaving Here, Don't Know Where I'm Going - Jake Xerxes Fussell; Haywire - Bedhead; New Year's - Seam; Bedside Table, The Unpredictable Landlord, Crushing, Unfinished, Powder, Foaming Love, To The Ground, Living Well, Wind Down, Disorder (Joy Division cover) - Bedhead
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At the start of this blistering set, recorded live in Cologne Germany in 1992, saxophonist Maceo Parker declares it will be "2 percent jazz and 98 percent funky stuff." He does not disappoint. This week's guest, Chicago saxophonist Chris Greene (Chris Greene Quartet), joins us to discuss how Parker's 'Life On Planet Groove' got him high and helped inform his own musical journey.
Turn it up!Songs discussed in this episode: Shake Everything You've Got (Live) - Maceo Parker; The Emperor Strikes Back, Broken Glass - Chris Greene Quartet; Out Of Sight - James Brown; Do That Stuff - Parliament; If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life - Prince; In Time, Children's World, Southwick, Shake Everything You've Got (Live), Pass The Peas (Live) - Maceo Parker; The Overweight Lovers In The House - Heavy D & the Boyz; Fight The Power - Public Enemy; I Got You (I Feel Good) (Live), Got To Get U (Live) - Maceo Parker; Addictive Love - BeBe and CeCe Winans; Addictive Love (Live), Children's World (Live) - Maceo Parker; Georgia On My Mind - Ray Charles; Georgia On My Mind (Live), Soul Power '92 (Live) - Maceo Parker; The Emperor Strikes Back, Outro - Chris Greene Quartet
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Music fan and Patron Rory Cox Zoomed-in all the way from Ljubljana Slovenia to discuss The Roots and their ninth studio album 'How I Got Over'. For this 2010 release, Questlove, Black Thought, Dice Raw and company concocted a diverse, slow-build mission statement on how to overcome.
Songs discussed in this episode: A Peace Of Light, The Seed, Walk Alone - The Roots; Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.) - Monsters Of Folk; Dear God 2.0 - The Roots, Dear God - XTC; Radio Daze, Now Or Never - The Roots; How I Got Over - Mahalia Jackson; How I Got Over, DillaTUDE, The Day, Right On - The Roots; Peach Plumb, Pear - Joanna Newsom; I'm Chief Kamanawanalea - The Turtles; Doin' It Again - The Roots; Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 2 - The Flaming Lips; The Fire, Tunnel Vision, Web 20/20, Web, Hustla - The Roots; Lyin'ass Bitch - Fishbone; How I Got Over (Late Night With The Roots LIVE) - The Roots
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With only one official studio album to his name - 1994's Grace - there has always been an air of mystery and melancholy in the music of Jeff Buckley. Tragically drowning in 1997 at the age of 30, his was a unique talent still developing and expanding. Our guests this week, Kerry Jones and Kyle Alexander of the Portland, OR art rock band Death Doula, bring us his posthumous live release, 'Mystery White Boy'...
"This is our last goodbye
I hate to feel the love between us die
But it's over, just hear this and then I'll go
You gave me more to live for, more than you'll ever know"Songs discussed in this episode: Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley (Live at King Theater, Seattle, WA 1995); Obstacles, Disembark - Death Doula; Last Goodbye, Grace, Dream Brother, I Woke Up In A Strange Place, Mojo Pin - Jeff Buckley; Lilac Wine - Nina Simone; Lilac Wine, Yeh Jo Halka Halka Saroor Hai (Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan cover - Live at Sin-é, NY 1993), What Will You Say, Last Goodbye, Eternal Life, Grace, The Man That Got Away - Jeff Buckley; Kangaroo - This Mortal Coil; Kanga Roo - Jeff Buckley; Panalo - Ez Mil; Dory Joins Alfred - Death Doula
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Author, radio host and songwriter Binnie Klein (WPKN Radio, In These Trees) brings us Joni Mitchell and her stunning 1972 release, 'For The Roses'. Searching for balance in her life after a tumultuous relationship with James Taylor - and trying to escape the craziness of Los Angeles - Joni trekked back up to the Canadian wilderness and wrote most of this, her 5th studio album, while in retreat:
"You've got to shake your fists at lightning now
You've got to roar like forest fire
You've got to spread your light like blazes all across the sky
They're going to aim the hoses on you
Show 'em you won't expire
Not till you burn up every passion, not even when you die"Songs discussed in this episode: Blonde In The Bleachers (Joni Mitchell cover) - Lou Barlow; Winter's Girl - Tartie; Orchard, Quiver - In These Trees & Tartie; You Can Close Your Eyes - James Taylor; Banquet, Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire - Joni Mitchell; Heroin - The Velvet Underground; Barangrill - Joni Mitchell; Visions Of Johanna - Bob Dylan; Lesson In Survival, Let The Wind Carry Me, For The Roses, See You Sometime, Electricity, You Turn Me On, I'm A Radio, Blonde In The Bleachers, Woman Of Heart and Mind, Judgement of the Moon and Stars (Ludwig's Tune) - Joni Mitchell; Orchard, Meet Me On The Mountain Top - In These Trees & Tartie
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Once considered polar opposites, country music and rap have had a bit of a moment together as of late with artists like Jelly Roll & Post Malone and releases like Beyonce's Cowboy Carter hitting the charts. The thing is, Brooklyn, NY born bluegrass/hip-hop group Gangstagrass have been doing it since 2007. Returning guest, sociologist Alana Anton, brings us their latest release: 'The Blackest Thing On The Menu', and makes the case that these genres have more in common than record label marketers would have us believe.
Songs discussed in this episode: Long Hard Times To Come (Justified Main Theme), Freedom - Gangstagrass; Feathered Indians - Tyler Childers; The Only Way Out Is Through - Gangstagrass; Rebel Without A Pause - Public Enemy; Good At Being Bad - Gangstagrass; Hunger Strike - Temple Of The Dog; Up High Do Or Die, Gone Gone - Gangstagrass; Texas Hold 'Em - Beyonce; You Can Have The Crown (Sturgill Simpson Cover) - Post Malone; Mother, Obligatory Braggadocio, Avenue B, Palette, It's Alive, Sankofa, Mother (Instrumental Jam Mix) - Gangstagrass
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Singer/songwriter Django Haskins (The Old Ceremony) is the one to FINALLY bring a Randy Newman record to TRGMH, 1999's 'Bad Love'. With equal doses of snide wit and honest emotion, Newman's slyly cynical 10th studio album is sure to get under your skin and fester for a while...
Songs discussed in this episode: I Miss You (Unplugged), Short People, It's Money That I Love - Randy Newman; God's Comic - Elvis Costello; Shadows, Lonely Mayor, Too Big To Fail - The Old Ceremony; My Country, Shame, I'm Dead (But I Don't Know It), Every Time It Rains, The Great Nations Of Europe, Rednecks, The One You Love - Randy Newman; Here I Go Again, Efige - The Old Ceremony; Chelsea Hotel #2 - Leonard Cohen; The World Isn't Fair, I Love LA, Big Hat, No Cattle, Better Off Dead - Randy Newman; Smile - David Byrne; I Miss You, Going Home, I Want Everyone To Like Me - Randy Newman; North American Grain - The Old Ceremony
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For this BONUS Patron-curated episode, we invited patrons of the podcast to send in their favorite political and/or protest songs. They came up with a surprisingly eclectic playlist of songs that will make you angry, fired-up and ready to (metaphorically) rumble!
Fight The Power, indeed!!Songs discussed in this episode: War - Bob Marley (Live 1977 at The Rainbow, London); Happy New Year (Prince Can't Die Again) - Mac McCaughan; Haillie Sellasse, Up Your Ass - Propagandhi; Ignoreland - R.E.M.; Nobody Knows - School Of Language; Porcupine or Pineapple? - Brakes; Lowest of the Low - The Barricade; Charles Windsor - McCarthy; I Pity The Country - Willie Dunn; Living For The City - Stevie Wonder; An Old Colonial's Hard Luck Story - X-tal; The Ghost of Tom Joad - Bruce Springsteen (with Tom Morello); Fight The Power - Public Enemy; Power, Power (Live, 1992) - The Dead C; Urban Guerilla - Hawkwind; Please Don't - David Byrne & Fatboy Slim (featuring Santigold); The Body Electric - Hurray For The Riff Raff; Major John - The Wake; Where's All The Money Gone? - Asian Dub Foundation; The Three Great Alabama Icons - Drive-By Truckers; Holiday In Cambodia - Dead Kennedys; Divide and Conquer - Husker Du
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Throughout the late 80s and early 90s, Ministry were one of the most terrifyingly aggressive industrial acts around. But in 1983 Al Jourgensen introduced himself to the masses - and this week's guest, producer/musician Dave Trumfio (Chicago's Pulsars) - with the decidedly New Wave 'With Sympathy'. This is NOT your grandma's Ministry, unless your grandma is a moody goth kid singing snappy little synth-pop tunes in a faux-British accent. Enjoy!
Songs discussed in this episode: Revenge (VJ Rob Edge Mix) - Ministry; Submission Song, Tunnel Song, Suffocation - The Pulsars; Burning Inside, Just Like You, Effigy (I'm Not An) - Ministry; Body Bag - Effigies; Going For Adds - Moving Units; Revenge - Ministry; My Spine Is The Bassline - Shriekback; I Wanted To Tell Her - Ministry; Money Is Not Our God - Killing Joke; Work For Love, Every Day Is Halloween - Ministry; Just Like Honey - The Jesus and Mary Chain; Here We Go, What He Say, Say You're Sorry, I Should Have Known Better, I'm Falling, She's Got A Cause - Ministry; It's Not Right - DEVO; Das Lifeboat - The Pulsars
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California pop/punk royalty Descendents took a break in 1987, becoming All so singer Milo Aukerman could pursue a career in biochemistry. 1996 marked the return of Milo, and the release of their 5th studio album 'Everything Sucks'. This week Rob is joined by artist/drummer Woody Compton (Is This Tomorrow), as they both unleash their 12-year-old selves to unpack this hook-filled gem of a record.
Songs discussed in this episode: When I Get Old (Descendents cover) - Filipps Firma; She's My Ex - All; My War - Black Flag; Wendy, Everything Sux, I'm The One, Coffee Mug, Rotting Out - Descendents; Ramona - Ramones; Sick-O-Me, Caught, When I Get Old, Doghouse, She Loves Me, Hateful Notebook, We, Eunuch Boy, This Place, I Won't Let Me - Descendents; Heart Songs - Weezer; Thank You, That's The Breaks, Grand Theme, Glad All Over (The Dave Clark Five cover) - Descendents
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Formed in 1979, Hawthorne California's Redd Kross are having quite the year. With a feature documentary - Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story directed by Andrew Reich - a fantastic new self-titled double album, and a new memoir by brothers Jeff & Steven McDonald and award winning journalist Dan Epstein: Now You’re One of Us: The Incredible Story of Redd Kross coming October 29th. Dan joins us to discuss the book and the Redd Kross record that first got him high: 1987s 'Neurotica'.
"Come on, lose your mind
Now you're one of us"Songs discussed in this episode: Born Innocent, Linda Blair, Dancing Queen - Redd Kross; Convoy - C.W. McCall; Neurotica - Redd Kross; I Want You Back - Hoodoo Gurus; Play My Song, Frosted Flake, Janus, Jeanie and George Harrison, Blow You A Kiss In The Wind - Redd Kross; Blow You A Kiss In The Wind - Elizabeth Montgomery; Love Is You - Redd Kross; Creatures Of The Night - Kiss; Peach Kelli Pop - Redd Kross; Round and Round - Ratt; Do The Eggroll - Peach Kelli Pop; McKenzie, Switchblade Sister, Ballad of a Love Doll - Redd Kross; Left Of The Dial - Replacements; What They Say, What They Say (Demo), Ghandi Is Dead (I'm The Cartoon Man) - Redd Kross; In and Out of My Life (In a Day) - The Pandoras; Beautiful Bye-Byes, Tatum O-Tot and the Fried Vegetables, Pink Piece of Peace - Redd Kross; Going Down to Liverpool - The Bangles; It's the Little Things - Redd Kross
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When this week's guest, Minneapolis-based writer and drummer David Jarnstrom, was tasked with choosing a record to discuss, he surprisingly went with something both relatively obscure AND near-and-dear to Rob's heart: the 1990 debut - and sole full-length record - by criminally unsung Miami pop-punk heroes Quit, 'Earlier Thoughts'. Go figure!
Songs discussed in this episode: Intro - Quit:Live at Churchill's Pub Goodtastic Films Video Excerpt; Run It Out - Rad Owl; VANNEN, the friend - John Snodgrass; Drive Away - Gratitude; Dine Alone - Quicksand; Defy, All The Same, Changes, Could Be Wrong, Remember, Feeling OK, Dedication - Quit; Fixed - The Holy Terrors; Me For Me, Waiting - Quit; Everything & You - Lightworkers; Shepherd's Pie, Did You See, Billness, Quit - Quit; Quiet While You're Ahead - Rad Owl
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Back in March, 2021 when TRGMH was still a two-man operation, musician & human Bob Fay (Sebadoh, Deluxx, Folk Implosion) joined Rob and Barry to discuss The Frogs and their controversial 1989 cult classic 'It's Only Right and Natural'. That episode was never released.
Until now...Songs discussed in this episode: Homos - The Frogs (Live at The Knitting Factory, Los Angeles CA 05-16-2003); Not Too Amused - Sebadoh; I'm Just A Bill - Deluxx Folk Implosion; I've Got Drugs (Out Of The Mist), I Don't Care If U Disrespect Me (Just So You Love Me), Hot Cock Annie, These Are the Finest Queen Boys (I've Ever Seen), Rosy Jack World - The Frogs; Songs For Swinging Larvae - Renaldo & The Loaf; Someone's Pinning Me to the Ground, Baby Greaser George, (Thank God I Died in) The Car Crash, Gather 'Round for Savior #2, Richard Dick Richards, Men (Come on Men), Christian With A Gun, Dykes Are We - The Frogs; Diary Of A Shiteater (Excerpt) - Girls Who Hate Their Mothers and The Chicken Fucks; Been a Month Since I Had a Man - The Frogs; Homos (Live) - The Lemonheads; Homos - The Frogs; Sforzando! - Bob Fay
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This week's guest, producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Evan Taylor (Bernie Worrell Orchestra, Loantaka Records), brings us The Beach Boys' 21st studio album - and the last one under the group's name to be written and produced solely by troubled leader Brian Wilson - 'The Beach Boys Love You'. Released in 1977, this strange, at-times childlike collection of songs sounded like nothing else the band had done up until then. With raspier-than-usual vocals from the Wilson brothers and Brian's newfound infatuation with the Moog synthesizer, it left many fans/critics confused at the time but has since been recognized for presaging both synth-pop and new wave.
Songs discussed in this episode: Good Vibrations - Brian Wilson (Live on SNL, 1976); Distant Star - Bernie Worrell (Featuring Jerry Harrison); Take 5 - Bernie Worrell; What Have They Done To My Funk - Bernie Worrell (Featuring Bootsy Collins, Michael Moon Reuben, Ouiwey Collins, Buckethead); Be My Baby - The Ronettes; Let Us Go On This Way, Hey, Little Tomboy, Roller Skating Child, Mona, Johnny Carson, Good Time - The Beach Boys; Good Time, Shyin' Away - American Spring; Honkin' Down The Highway, Ding Dang, Solar System - The Beach Boys; Solar System - Alex Chilton; The Night Was So Young, I'll Bet He's Nice - The Beach Boys; Shoot The Curl - The Honeys; Let's Put Our Hearts Together, I Wanna Pick You Up, Airplane, Love Is A Woman - The Beach Boys; Wave From The WOOniverse - Bernie Worrell (Featuring Miho Hatori)
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British post-punk superstars Wire always seem to be ahead of their time, no matter what time they exist in. Returning guest Garry Messick (American Doom Podcast) brings us their twelfth studio album, 2011's mysteriously diverse, surprisingly melodic 'Red Barked Tree'. 34 years into their career at the time of its release, Colin Newman, Graham Lewis and Robert Grey STILL manage to make quite a racket, and it's a beautiful racket indeed...
After Midnight - Wire (Live at The Roxy, London 1977); (Theme from) American Doom - Jonathan Wilkins; Mannequin, Ahead, Outdoor Miner, Please Take, Now Was, Adapt, Two Minutes - Wire; Take Off - Githead; Clay, Bad Worn Thing - Wire; My Wife and My Dead Wife - Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians; Moreover, A Flat Ten - Wire; Subterranean Homesick Blues - Bob Dylan; Smash, Down To This, Please Take, Red Barked Trees - Wire; (Theme from) American Doom - Jonathan Wilkins; Red Barked Trees (Live Paris, France 2011) - Wire
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When Rickie Lee Jones burst onto the music scene in 1979, she was an immediate sensation. There was no one remotely like her. When week's guest - Minneapolis singer/songwriter Pamela McNeill - picked up Jones' debut on cassette at a truck stop, she was looking for some cool female-fronted music to pop into her Walkman for the long drives to gigs sitting shotgun. She got that, and more. Welcome to Coolsville...
Songs discussed in this episode: Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Rickie Lee Jones; The Ocean, Give Back My Love - Pamela McNeill; Chuck E's In Love - Rickie Lee Jones; Jitterbug Boy - Tom Waits; 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover - Paul Simon; Saturday Afternoons In 1963, Night Train, Young Blood, Easy Money - Rickie Lee Jones; Such A Night - Dr. John; The Last Chance Texaco, It Must Be Love, Danny's All-Star Joint, Coolsville - Rickie Lee Jones; When I'm Alone - Lissie; Dixie Chicken - Little Feat; Weasel and the White Boys Cool, Company, After Hours (Twelve Bars Past Midnight) - Rickie Lee Jones; Marie - Randy Newman; The Ocean - Pamela McNeill
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Strap-in dear listeners, as we are joined by Yasuko Onuki and Ichiro Agata (Yako & Agata) of Japanese noise rock band Melt-Banana - and some creepy computer-generated translation software - for this BONUS episode discussing the soundtrack to Wim Wenders' 1987 film Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin)
"Can you hear it?
Can you see it?
Can you look me in the eyes?
It doesn't really matter anymore…”Songs discussed in this episode: Stopgap, Scar - Melt-Banana; Der Himmel Über Berlin (Sky Over Berlin), Die Kathedrale der Bucher (The Cathedral of Books), Der Sterbende Auf Der Brucke (The Dying Man on the Bridge) - Jürgen Knieper; Marions Liebeserklarung (Marion's Declaration of Love) *Text: Peter Handke. Voice: Solveig Dommartin; The Carny - Nick Cave; Mr Clarinet - The Birthday Party; The Mercy Seat - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds; Faint Heart (The Birthday Party cover) - Melt-Banana; Angel Fragments, O Superman - Laurie Anderson; Six Bells Chime - Crime and the City Solution; From Her To Eternity - Nick Cave; When I Go - Minimal Compact; Scar - Melt-Banana
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