Threads and Tangents Music Hour

This week's musical thread is the Festival of Lights, and that means an hour of Chanukah, or Hanukkah-adjacent, songs. When I was growing up we really didn’t have any good Chanukah songs. Since those days, lots of musicians have recorded solid, and not just funny, Hanukah music. Sure, I’m gonna play Gefilte Joe & the Fish but we’ll also hear from Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Yo La Tengo with Jeff Tweedy, and Loudon Wainwright III … music we’re happy to listen to year round.We'll hear: Lou Reed, Jeremiah Lockwood, Wayne Horvitz, Sally Fingerett, Loudon Wainwright III, Woody Guthrie, Gefilte Joe & The Fish, Ruby & Ava Locknar, Yo La Tengo & Jeff Tweedy, Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars, Dan Bern, Peter Himmelman & David Broza, Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, Tom Lehrer, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, and Emma’s Revolution.
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org 

The idea for this thread originated with Mary and our Scottish friend Alex. They suggested a full hour of all the different styles of Scottish fiddle music. That idea morphed into an hour of fiddle music from the British Isles, France, Mexico, the US, and Canada.We'll hear: Willie Hunter, Alasdair Fraser, Bruce Molsky, Papa John Creach, Michael Cleveland, Bo Diddley (yes! Bo knows fiddle), Vassar Clements, Claude Williams, Harry Choates, Juan Reynoso, Stéphane Grappelli, Jerry Goodman, George Jackson, Darol Anger, and Brad Reid.
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org 

I’m taking a nostalgic trip back to the late 60’s and the days of Free-Form FM Radio. One feature of late night FM was the long songs played by the on-air disk jockeys.  Maybe they were just taking a break, but I loved it.I'm focusing on the late 60's and studio recordings. You’re probably relieved that I’m skipping In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, and maybe even happy that I’m leaving out the Velvet’s Sister Ray. To you Deadheads out there, sorry, no Dark Star tonight. The four tracks I chose do a solid job of representing the breadth of rock-oriented music from those years. We'll hear: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Chambers Brothers, Neil Young, and The Byrds.
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org 

In celebration of Tom Waits birthday on 12/7, I’m playing songs from some of Tom’s favorite albums. We'll hear: Tom Waits, Little Richard, Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Prison Songs: Murderous Home, The Rolling Stones, Marc Ribot, John R. Baca's Orchestra, James Brown, Leonard Cohen, The Pogues, Houndog, Thelonious Monk, and Ensemble Modern (playing Zappa’s The Yellow Shark).
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org 

This week I’ll be playing songs about the Thanksgiving holiday. We'll hear: Golden Smog, The California Honeydrops, Chris Thile, Martha Wainwright, Rachel Baiman, Joe Craven, Jess Klein, and Arlo Guthrie.
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org 

This week I’ll be playing songs about the Rain. Here we are in the middle of November, the rainiest month of the year in Bellingham, with an average rainfall of about 7 1/2 inches. Bellingham averages 39 inches of rain annually, but places like Chicago and Washington DC get more rain than here. 
We'll hear from: Jake Blount, Tony Furtado, Los Lobos, Lucinda Williams, Damn Tall Buildings, The Temptations, Jim Gaudet & the Railroad Boys, Della Mae, Shane Hennessy, Traffic, Zoe & Cloyd, and Grateful Dead.
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org 

Really?! WTF! 
This week I’m playing Songs From Hell. I copped the idea for this episode name from Frank Zappa. In 1986, Frank released an album called Jazz From Hell. He said that the album title was a political reference. In a promotional video for the album, he explained: “Right now we have a president from hell (Ronald Reagan), and a National Security Council from hell. So we should have Jazz From Hell, also.”This playlist will be pretty grim, though if along the way it feels like we’re tumbling into the abyss, I have a track or two that express a glimmer of hope. Tonight, I’m just gonna let the songs speak for themselves. For you parents out there, don’t worry, I cleaned up the pottymouth that was in a few of the songs, so listen as a family.
We'll hear from: Marc Ribot (feat. Tom Waits), Rage Against The Machine, John Zorn, Heaven 17, The Clash, Billy Bragg, Barbara Dane, Gil Scott-Heron, Chumbawamba, Les McCann, Nina Simone, Propagandhi, Patti Smith, Woody Guthrie, and Elvis Costello.

As Halloween approaches, I’m playing some Spooky Songs.
We'll hear: The Misfits, Bauhaus, Ralph Stanley, The Shaggs, Warren Zevon, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Leonard Cohen, The Chesterfield Kings, Jakob Dylan, and Super Session.
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org 

This week we’ll hear music from Lou Reed - a mix of VU and Lou’s solo work, but played by others. Plus a track by Lou’s late 50’s doo-wop band. 
We'll hear: The Feelies, Al Green, The Jades, Andrew Bird & Lucius, The Wedding Present, Courtney Barnett, R.E.M., The Runaways, Bobby Rush, Big Star, Bryan Ferry, Cowboy Junkies, and David Bowie.
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org 

This week I’ll be tying up some Loose Threads. With every show, I come across way more songs than I can fit in a one-hour program. This is my chance to go back to a few of the episodes and play some songs that I wished I’d been able to play the first time around.
From Remembering Steve Albini - Big Black, The Jesus Lizard, Veruca Salt, Songs: Ohia, Superchunk. From Black Stringbands Past & Present - Tennessee Chocolate Drops, Rhiannon Giddens, Blind James Campbell & his Nashville Street Band, New Dangerfield. From Collaboration Across Cultures - Rahim Alhaj, Corky Siegel’s Chamber Blues, Salsa Celtica, Tinariwen & Tunng, Harry Manx.
Anything on your mind? Contact me at threadsandtangents@kmre.org