The Meow Mix Episode 36! This is the lowdown on what I played!

Alas, I could not figure out how to get the mics working with the new mixer, so it was an all-music rock block in this episode. Kind of nice for a change. But I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to give you background info on these great bands I played, so here is what I would have said if I could have said it. Numbers following bands refer to their order in the playlist: http://freeradiochukshon.org/node/1291

I start off with the bands I played on the first half of the archive: http://freeradiochukshon.org/node/1292

The first 30 percent or so of my show was devoted to bands I saw at recent shows in Tucson. Box Elders (1) blew me away at Plush on May 25 with their duel double necks and standing drummer/keyboard player. Friendo (2) hit Club Congress last Thursday, June 3, bringing their sweet vocals, two guitars, and drums to us from Calgary, Alberta, which is not too far from my hometown of Saskatoon! More of my country people, Vancouver’s Nu Sensae (3) and Shearing Pinx (4) shared a shredding show at Club Congress on May 13. Remember the 90s Monster Pussy who I played on my May 24 show? Same guy who’s behind Shearing Pinx. He is also in Pompoir (5), who didn’t have an LP out when I saw them in June 2009 at Hangart, but now they do! Michigan’s Awesome Color (6) were a hit at Red Room on June 25…if only I had some vinyl from their tour mates, Hair Police, but I did play side project Death Unit on my May 10 show.

Then things got pretty trippy with Nymph (7), who I believe are from Brooklyn, and blew minds at Hangart on April 27. Same venue (Sas-Kat hearts Hangart!), May 23, two Minneapolis bands brought a weird late-season cold front with them, but made up for it with some hot sounds: Vampire Hands (8) and Daughters of the Sun (9). The former track was from a split LP the two bands put out, and the second is from a Minneapolis compilation tape; yes, one guy from Daughters of the Sun has his own cassette label (!), Moon Glyph. It was another weirdly cold spring night, April 22, when Spindrift (10) introduced their psych-western stylings to Red Room. Growing (11) blasted their updated sound to Solar Culture on May 4 (they have beats now, what’s your take?). After that I made the transition to the sounds of spring, 2006, with David Thomas Broughton (12), who opened for Doveman at Solar Culture in June of that year.

Olympia’s The Old Haunts (13) played Tucson and 36 Chambers for the second time in one year, Memorial Day weekend 2006. Same weekend, Oakland’s (with some Scottish heritage) Giant Haystacks (14) played the old Dry River space and became one of my fave bands of that year. Some of them have split off into a new band, Airfix Kits, who I played on January 25. The Tough and Lovely (15) played Vaudeville around that time, and I think they’re from Ohio? The Rogers Sisters (16) are definitely from Brooklyn, and I know they played Club Congress, and I think I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness was also on that bill (must take better notes). The Essex Green (17) sprung their springy sounds upon Solar Culture that spring, yay Elephant Six and Kindercore, and at least one of them was in Ladybug Transistor, yes? Cham-bana, IL’s Headlights (18) came to Tucson for the first time in April, 2006, at Vaudeville, and forever found a huge place in my heart.

Now I will write about the bands I played on part 2 of the archive: http://freeradiochukshon.org/node/1293

Brooklyn/Kansas’ Blood on the Wall (19) had their second Tucson appearance in May 2006, at Plush, and their “Heat of the Day” is a perfect anthem for this gorgeous time of year in Tucson. One-man noise band Daniel Francis Doyle (20) came from Austin with Tuxedo Killers (21) to shake the walls of Vaudeville that spring. I took a trip to Modified in Phoenix in April to see another spectacular set from Brooklyn’s Parts & Labor (23). In the process, I fell in love with their tour mates, Baltimore’s Wilderness (22). Celebration (24) opened for TV on the Radio that spring at Club Congress and held their own admirably on the same stage as those heavy hitters.

One of Old Time Relijun’s (25) stuff-of-legend Tucson shows happened in April 2006 at Solar Culture. Your Enemies Friends (26) need punctuation lessons, but otherwise they had a perfect set at Surly Wench that April. I have to admit I can’t remember where I saw Green Fuse (27), Living Room maybe? Anyway, they rocked! Headache City (28) and Cococoma (29) brought the punk and rock to Vaudeville that spring, and I know that at least one of them, maybe both, are from Chicago. I know for a fact that The Dirtbombs (30) are pure Detroit, and one of their awesome Tucson shows happened at Plush in March 2006.

March Madness (rock, not b-ball) was in full affect that year. DMBQ (31) returned to Tucson after facing the tragic death of one of their members, playing a show at Vaudeville that no one present will ever forget: by the end of the last song, they’d given all their instruments to random audience members, who kept the song going without a break! It might have been the same night when 36 Chambers had an ad hoc Olympia Fest. The Old Haunts (32) totally deserve two appearances in one episode! This was before Tobi Vail had joined them on drums, but she was present to front her own band, Spider and the Webs (33). Notes: That night Spider and the Webs featured guest star “Bongo Randy,” a.k.a. Dave from Tight Bros and Nudity, and their drummer was another Oly all star, Chris Sutton (Dub Narcotic, COCO); and this track is from their split with Partyline! That same night at 36 Chambers, I got to see Kickball (no vinyl from them, alas) and Dada Swing (34), who are from a country east of Oly known as Italy! The Dada Swing track is from their split 12 inch with Paradise Island, a.k.a. Jenny Hoyston of Erase Eratta.

On their way to SXSW, SF street metal gods Hightower (35) got delayed in snow in the California mountains, but they reached Tucson in time to play a house party, complete with skate ramp. As March Madness was just starting, Haram (36) rocked the old Dry River. They’re from greater Washington, D.C., and that’s the end of this episode! Tune in next time when I might have the mics figured out!