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
Chris Isaak | Dry Your Eyes | First Comes The Night
Lost Leaders | To The Top | Promises Promises
Blake Jones & The Trike Shop | At Every Train Stop | MAKE
Identical Suns | Miss Her Reminiscing | Week Minded
Natalie Cortez & The Ultraviolets | Take You Home | Stupid Fresh Or Stupid Bad
Steely Dan | Barrytown | Pretzel Logic
Yung Wu | Shore Leave | Shore Leave
Alexa Hunter interview
Disturbed Furniture | In The Front | Continuous Pleasures
Disturbed Furniture | Angel Of Losses | Continuous Pleasures
Sally’s Six-Gun Sorrow | Have Another Drink On Me | Single release
Smoking Popes | Before I’m Gone | Destination Failure
Anton Barbeau | Creepy Tray | Natural Causes
The Pretenders | Bad Boys Get Spanked | Pretenders II
The Rubinoos | Do You Remember | From Home
Arrica Rose & The …’s | When You’re Gone | Low As The Moon
Matt Langlois | You Are My Weekend | Merde!
Lannie Flowers | Flavor Of The Month | Single release
The Armoires | Responsible (Reuptake) | Side Three
The Gold Needles | Sunset Girl | Through A Window
The Bangles | Walking Down Your Street | Different Light
Diplomats Of Solid Sound | Already Gone | A Higher Place
R. Stevie Moore | Irony | Afterlife
In Deed | Song To You | Everest
Tawny Thiele | Happy Together | The Fowl Tone Sampler
Ken Kurson interview
The Lilacs | Monica | The Lilacs Endure
The Lilacs | Shadow Of Doubt | The Lilacs Endure
Gretchen’s Wheel | Plans | Black Box Theory
Richard X. Heyman | If You’re So Inclined | Pop Circles
The Imperial Sound | The Sun Goes Out | The New AM
Don Hawkins | So Much To Learn | Stutter Step
Chris Church | Fall Into Me | Limitations Of Source Tape
Sunshine Boys | Tripping Through Time | Blue Music
Lisa Mychols | Endless Daydream | Sugar
Frank Black | Superabound | Teenager Of The Year
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS:
On this week’s episode, I had the chance to meet two artists whose bands were popular back in the day, then went dormant for decades, then recently re-formed their bands and released great new EPs. I mean, one success story like this would be pretty cool–but two in one show? Wow!
In the first hour, I got to meet Alexa Hunter of Disturbed Furniture, and we had a lively chat as she drove around L.A.–safely, and hands-free, of course! Disturbed Furniture were a fixture of the late 70’s-early’80s New York City club scene. They shared bills with such heavyweights as The GoGo’s, Psychedelic Furs, Stranglers, and The Waitresses. Their music could be described as intelligent post-punk. After years of being apart, a 2017 museum show which featured their old music videos motivated them to get back together. Their new EP, Continuous Pleasures, is a fine return to the limelight. Look for west coast and east coast shows in the fall. www.disturbedfurniture.com
Later on, Ken Kurson of seminal Chicago band The Lilacs joined me for some more great music talk. The Lilacs were part of the legendary Chicago music scene of the early 90s–you know, the one that produced Material Issue, Liz Phair, Urge Overkill, Smashing Pumpkins. Back then, every time you turned on the radio, it was exciting–you never knew which great new alternative band you would hear. Interestingly enough, Jim Ellison of Material Issue nurtured and even named the band, and Brad Wood (producer of Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville) produced their first long player. Alas, they too broke up, and needed some time and space–about 25 years, and most of the band left Chicagoland. 2019 brought their new EP, The Lilacs Endure, and they haven’t missed a beat. Produced by Richard Lloyd and recorded in Nashville, it rocks hard. They’ll be playing some shows this fall as well. www.facebook.com/TheLilacs1990
