Gonzo on the air, 4/24

Queen-Play the Game
Brother-Darling Buds of May
Neon Legion-Wicker Men
Jookabox-The Eyes of the Fly
Florence + the Machine-Howl
Band of Horses-The Funeral
Explosions in the Sky-Last Known Surroundings
Jenny Lewis-Godspeed (request)
Iron & Wine-Tree By The River
Taj Mahal-Queen Bee
The Decemberists-Down by the Water
Local Natives-Wide Eyes
Puro Instinct-Slivers of You
Wild Nothing-The Witching Hour
The White Stripes-Death Letter
Sonic Youth-Is it My Body?
T. Rex-Solid Gold Easy Action
The Stooges-1969
Rainbow Arabia-Nothin' Gonnna Be Undone
New Order-Age of Consent
Cut Copy-Need You Now
Chromeo-Openin' Up
Justice-D.A.N.C.E. (request)
Errors-Julomo
Kraak & Smack-Never Too Late

Gonzo on the air, 4/17

Foo Fighters-Band on the Run
New York Dolls-I'm So Fabulous
13th Floor Elevators-Wait for My Love
The Raveonettes-Recharge and Revolt
Pains of Being Pure at Heart-Even in Dreams
TV on the Radio-No Future Shock
Tapes n Tapes-Badabing
Pink Floyd-Arnold Lane
Raw Milk-Itchy Nose
Ladytron-I'm Not Scared
UNKLE (feat. Nick Cave)-Money and Run
Peter, Bjorn and John-Second Chance
Adele-Rolling in the Deep
Amy Winehouse-You Know I'm No Good
The Noisettes-Never Forget You
JR Walker and the All-Stars-Good Rockin'
Ray Charles-Leave My Woman Alone
Prince and the Revolution-Mountains (12" Mix)
Joker & Ginz-Re-Up
Justice-Civilization
Kylie Minogue/New Order-Can't Get Blue Monday Out of My Head
Dizzee Rascal-Bubbles
Medeski, Martin and Wood-We Are Rolling

"When Eye Lay My Hands On U "

Among the many unreleased Prince projects is the High album from 2000. The disc was complete and ready for production, but Prince pulled the plug and opted to release it via his then-burgeoning (and now defunct) online music club.

As Uptown writers note in the exhaustive chronology The Vault, the album is accessible and straightforward, likely another attempt at a commercial comeback (1999's Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic had a similar intent, but ultimately failed.

By and large, the music on High is far more compelling than anything on Rave, and with smart marketing and single selection, I believe it could have had significant commercial impact. Alas. Many of the songs were later repackaged in the second incarnation of Prince's online music club, but spread across a few releases, losing any sense of consistency as to what the High album may have sounded like in its initial configuration. [Note: many of the tracks were also initially released via 2-track singles sold on the 2000Hit N Run tour.]

To that end, here is the original tracklist:

1. U Make My Sun Shine
2. My Medallion
3. Supercute
4. Golden Parachute
5. High
6. When Eye Lay My Hands on U
7. When Will We B Paid
8. Gamillah
9. Underneath the Cream
10. The Daisy Chain

Standout tracks here are "My Medallion," "Supercute," "The Daisy Chain" and "When Eye Lay My Hands on U." All are accessible yet interesting enough that they could have seen some success in the musical climate of 2000. But I digress.

The main motivation behind this post is a recent late night spin of volume 5 from the mind-bogglingly comprehensive The Work set of unreleased material. I haven't heard the High tracks in a while, and I was quickly reminiscing about bumping these tracks in my Cavalier (via Discman with cassette adapter, naturally) that summer. Suddenly, it's July 2000.

More importantly, "When Eye Lay My Hands on U" is a track that blows me away. There are so many layers here, not to mention the blistering guitar work. Take a listen:



And here's a great live take from the Montreaux Jazz Festival in 2009:


Prince Montreux 2009 When I lay my hands on You by madonnacelebration

"The White Stripes Lesson"

Kembrew McLeod and Ben Franzens' excellent documentary Copyright Criminals is now out on DVD. I made a brief post about it last year when it aired on PBS as part of the Independent Lens series. The doc is still getting some much deserved attention, most recently via a very cool performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. In a one-off performance, we have ?uestlove, Black Thought, Chuck D,. Eclectic Method and Clyde Stubblefield, the man behind the kit for many of James Brown's best known jams. Ladies and gentlemen, the Copyright Criminals All-Star Band:

Gonzo on the air, 4/3

We Became Actors-Swimming Pools
The Clash-Tommy Gun
Sick of Sarah-Kick Back
Vivian Girls-Dance (If You Wanna)
Guards-I See it Coming
The Greenhornes-Shelter of Your Arms
Morphine-Whisper
Wanda Jackson-Shakin' All Over
The Black Keys-Tighten Up
Jucifer-Amplifier
Sonic Youth-Sugar Kane
Commerce-Need Heart Rate
The Byrds-My Back Pages
John Lennon-Nobody Told Me
Cut Copy-Take Me Over
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion-Do You Wanna Get Heavy?
French Soler-Demons (Alan Wilkis remix)
Funkadelic-Cosmic Slop
Holy Fuck-Red Lights
Crystal Castles vs. HEATH-Crimewave
Ikonika-Idiot
Santogold-You'll Find a Way (remix)
Kid Sister-54321
Goldfrapp-Ooh La La
Stevie Wonder-He's Misstra Know-it-All