May 26, 2018 CHIRP Radio Playlist (Show #386)

9:00 AM Warren Zevon • The French Inhaler • Warren Zevon • Asylum

9:03 AM Lykke Li • Time in a Bottle • single • LL Recordings

9:06 AM Damien Jurado • Marvin Kaplan • The Horizon Just Laughed • Secretly Canadian

May 19, 2018 CHIRP Radio Playlist (Show #385)

9:01 AM Solange • Weary • A Seat at the Table • Saint

9:04 AM Bob Dylan • Life is Hard • Together Through Life • Columbia

9:07 AM Orquesta Akokán • La Cosa • Orquesta Akokán • Daptone

May 12, 2018 CHIRP Radio Playlist (Show #384)

9:00 AM Beth Orton • Central Reservation (Ben Watt mix) • Central Reservation • Arista

9:04 AM Fleet Foxes • Blue Spotted Tail • Helplessness Blues• Sub Pop

9:06 AM Joachim Cooder • Everyone Sleeps in the Light • Fuchsia Machu Picchu • Temple of Leaves

Sparks in a nutshell (updated)

In the comments section of a review of the Sparks album Exotic Creatures Of The Deep, I composed this in answer to a query of where to start with Sparks. For a pithy analysis, well, it's pithy and has enough value to put it on the blog.

1. Demos/Halfnelson/Sparks/Woofer In Tweeter's Clothing: Demented neo-psychedelic rock. Songs about incest, dating Germans and smashing into cars to meet people. Dresden Dolls fans will love some of this stuff.

2. Kimono My House/Propaganda/Indiscreet: Sparks inspires Queen, Morrissey and many others, and become glam stars in the UK. Most fans think this is their best period.

3. Big Beat/Introducing Sparks: -- poor production hampers two solid collections of tunes.

4. Number One In Heaven/Terminal Jive: Sparks invents electronica/techno/gay disco and synth-pop duos. Heaven is the most influential album no one has ever heard. Jive is a shadow of that.

5. Whomp That Sucker/Angst In My Pants/In Outer Space/Pulling Rabbits: Sparks goes New Wave, becomes KROQ stars. The first two albums are great silly fun. Outer Space goes more synth, and Rabbits is hit-or-miss.

6. Music That You Can Dance To/Interior Design: Ron and Russell build a studio. Music is somewhat experimental, yielded the brilliant "Change", but is spotty. Design has even fewer spots.

7. Gratuitous Sax/Plagiarism/Balls: Sax is a Eurodisco comeback and got them on the charts in the UK again. Very good. Plagiarism is an odd self-tribute album. Balls has its moments.

8. Lil' Beethoven/Hello Young Lovers/Exotic Creatures: Baroque minimalistic orch-pomp-pop? Beethoven was so bracing in 2002 and the Maels showed they still have it. Lovers explores the approach some more. Creatures moves the approach into a more pop direction and is awesomely catchy.

9. Seduction of Ingmar Bergman/Two Hands One Mouth:L A Swedish radio music in the style of the albums in entry number 8 above and a live album as a duo. The former is intriguing, the latter simply entertaining.

10. FFS/Hippopotamus: The Maels, with the help of Franz Ferdinand, consolidate many of the styles they've explored over the years on their rockingest LP in years, and follow that with another album of straightforward pop that brims with confidence.

April 28, 2018 CHIRP Radio playlist (Show #383)

9:01 AM Devo • Beautiful World • New Traditionalists • Warner Bros.

9:04 AM Amy Winehouse • You Sent Me Flying • Frank • Universal Republic

9:07 AM Chris Carter • Blissters • Chemistry Lessons Volume 1 • Mute

April 21, 2018 CHIRP Radio playlist (Show # 382)

8:58 AM The Mekons • Ghosts of American Astronauts • So Good It Hurts • Twin/Tone

9:02 AM The Four Tops • MacArthur Park (Part 2) • MacArthur Park • Motown

9:04 AM Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker • Sad Day • Seedlings All • Rough Trade

It's time for the Chicago Tribune to walk the walk

If there's one thing for which I can give credit to the Chicago Tribune editorial board, it's their consistency and persistence. And lately, the issue that the board likes to hammer, again and again and again, is how awful the state of Illinois is. The tax rate, the regulations, the number of governmental units, the lack of school choice, the crony politics, the pension system, and so on and so forth.