After ten years at a National Public Radio station in Chicago, Mike Lidskin returned to California in 1997 and created Twirl Radio, a weekly two hour radio program which features the finest independent music and artists from the rock era. Mike’s on a mission to not “just spin rock music, but to educate listeners about this vital art form.” Indeed, he doesn’t just announce the songs, but gives histories about some of the artists, the albums, and the songs themselves.
You can catch Twirl live each Saturday afternoon, from 4:00 to 6:00 PM PST on Sacramento’s Voice, KUBU 96.5 FM, and archived right here, as well as at http://www.twirlradio.com. If you haven’t headed into your Saturday night with an earful of Twirl, you’re doing it wrong!
Artist | Track | Album
Juliana Hatfield | Everybody Loves Me But You | Hey Babe
Gail George | A Wonderful Life | Bloom
Heiskell | Still Life With Broken Heart | Emotional Terrorism
Maxi Dunn | Always Be My Friend | Welcome To Soonville
Bud Rogers | Pictures Of A Modern World (acoustic) | Single release
Bellygunner | Negative Kid | Machine Gun Built For Two
Felsen interview
Felsen | Vultures On Your Bones | Blood Orange Moon
Felsen | White Denim Jeans | Blood Orange Moon
Jay Aston of Gene Loves Jezebel interview
Gene Loves Jezebel | Charmed Life (Never Give In) | Dance Underwater
Gene Loves Jezebel | How Do You Say Goodbye (To Someone You Love) | Dance Underwater
Duncan Faure | In The Right Place | Anthology
Karla Kane | King’s Daughters Home For Incurables | King’s Daughters Home For Incurables
Jody Porter | When You Were Mine | Pacifier
The JAC | Persistent Man | Faux Pas
Lannie Flowers | Circles | LIVE in NYC
Natalie Cortez & The Ultraviolets | She’s Better | Stupid Fresh Or Stupid Bad
Blake Jones & The Trike Shop | Sun Up | The Underground Garden
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS:
Today on Twirl, we celebrated a momentous occasion: our 800th episode! Yes, we’ve been at this for a while. Access Sacramento, KUBU 96.5 FM and Soundwaves TV have been very good to me, and to my show. So to celebrate, we decided to host two very special interviews.
First up, Andrew Griffin and Dara Ackerman of Bay Area band Felsen. We go back a long way, and Andrew slipped me an advance copy of their next album, “Blood Orange Moon”. This record is quietly intense, compared with Felsen’s previous efforts, but extremely powerful. It’s also their first release on Mystery Lawn Music, with mixing by Allen Clapp. Andrew has been wanting to work with Allen for a while, and he really did a wonderful job with the sound of the record.
These songs are personal, and if you listen to them in order, you’ll hear the “mission statement” in the very first lyric of the album: “I want to live where culture kills machines, and decent melodies will haunt you in your dreams”. The next 47 minutes support this sentiment. The album is due out in late January, with an accompanying CD release show in the Bay Area, and perhaps a late winter Sacramento gig as well. Our live radio interview was fun and spirited. More information at www.facebook.com/felsenlovesyou.
In the second hour, we got to meet Jay Aston of legendary band Gene Loves Jezebel. This British band has been making their own brand of great music since the 1980s. It’s a big deal when these guys get together and record, and their new album, “Dance Underwater”, is a well-crafted labor of love. The band obviously has all their chemistry intact, and these songs are fresh, timely, and current.
This is also a personal record, featuring songwriting by not only Jay, but by Peter Rizzo stepping up and making his voice heard as well. These guys did it right–they put their hearts into it. Equally impressive, a successful fan pledge campaign helped them to get it made. It’s always nice to see a band who has such an engaged, loyal fan base who are willing to get involved. That’s the apex of the band-fan relationship. Jay and I chatted about some of the highlights of the record. More information at www.genelovesjezebel.co.uk.
Once again, a big thanks to all the great musicians and listeners who have made the first 800 episodes of Twirl Radio so much fun. We’ll see you next week, as we embark on the next 800!
