Widge’s Sonic Emporium on Louder Than War Radio – 8 July 2023

Episode 4
“Games Are Just Another Way of Life”

Welcome. Here are what passes for show notes. The reason the playlist is in the format you find it is because I really need a life. The very overwrought explanation can be found here.

Format is:
Artist/Band Name – “Song Name” – Album Name – (Band’s/Artist’s Country of Origin, Year of Song’s Original Release)

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Boom Boom Satellites with Chuck D — “Your Reality’s a Fantasy But Your Fantasy is Killing Me” — Umbra — (Japan/USA, 2001)

I checked and the “random anime soundtrack” I mentioned was Appleseed. My knowledge of anime sort of begins and ends with Robotech. I just assumed that Appleseed was some sci-fi version of the Johnny Appleseed story. With a big robot.

Martina Topley-Bird — “Need One” — Quixotic — (UK, 2003)

For years I thought that brief male backing vocal was Tricky. Turns out it was Mark Lanegan.

Ouinsou Corneille & Black Santiago — “Vinon So Minsou” — Vivi — (Benin, 1979) — Bandcamp

Cracker — “Guarded by Monkeys” — Forever — (USA, 2002) 

Kane Strang — “Wholebody Blues” — Happy to Perform — (New Zealand, 2021) — Bandcamp

Joan as Police Woman — “Anyone” — Real Life — (USA, 2006) — Bandcamp

Mestre Cupijó e Seu Ritmo — “Siriá Quente” — Siriá — (Brazil, 1974) — Bandcamp

Ruts — “In a Rut” — In a Rut — (UK, 1979)

Soulwax — “Too Many DJs” — Much Against Everyone’s Advice — (Belgium, 1999)

This really was my favorite album of 1999. In a lot of cases, “favorite” is determined by how many goddamn times I finished listening to the album and then started it over immediately. I’ve had this on the short list to play since the show started in its first form. I wanted to kick off a show with it, but I needed to replace a song in the running and this one had the exact same length. So.

Jemma Freeman and the Cosmic Something — “Heaven on a Plate” — Oh Really, What’s That Then? — (UK, 2019) — Bandcamp

TGMX — “I’ll Try” — Mosh Pit on Disney — (Japan, 2004)

Cover compilations are so much fun. You can discover new things. This album had both American and Japanese artists covering Disney tunes, so it was a hodge-podge of various noises. Lovely.

Lords of Acid — “The Love Bus” — Deep Chills — (Belgium, 2012) — Bandcamp

Idles — “Ne touche pas moi” — Ultra Mono — (UK, 2020) — Bandcamp

Hasil Adkins — “Everybody Loves Somebody” — The Wild Man — (USA, 2004)

You ever run across an artist and they’re so odd and out there that you think, “How am I just now hearing about this?” Yeah, Adkins was about five of those. Here’s his Wikipedia entry to get you started.

Nena — “Leuchtturm” — Nena — (Germany, 1983)

Patricia Routledge — “I Went to a Marvellous Party” — Cowardy Custard — (UK, 1972)

Astro — “Coco” — Astro — (Chile, 2012)

Sophie Hunger — “I Opened a Bar” — Molecules — (Switzerland, 2018)

Emily King — “Look at Me Now (acoustic)” — Sides — (USA, 2020)

Erma Franklin — “I’m Just Not Ready For Love” — (USA, 1968)

Easy Star All-Stars & The Meditations — “No Surprises” — Radiodread — (Jamaica/USA, 2006) — Bandcamp

They’ve done reggae cover albums of Thriller, Dark Side of the Moon, and more. Great stuff.

Tinariwen — “Amassakoul N’Tenere” — Amassakoul — (Algeria/Mali, 2004) — Bandcamp

Funky Lowlives — “Float Through Stars” — Somewhere Else is Here — (UK, 2005)

Darrow Fletcher — “My Young Misery” — (USA, 1966)

Betty Harris — “There’s a Break in the Road” — (USA, 1969) — Bandcamp

Tow’rs — “Consolations” — Grey Fidelity — (USA, 2017) — Bandcamp

Liz Phair — “Whip-Smart” — Whip-Smart — (USA, 1994)

serpentwithfeet with Ty Dollar $ign — “Receipts” — (USA, 2019) — Bandcamp

Tub Ring — “Leaving” — A Choice of Catastrophes — (USA, 2017)