Flickering Waves

This return of the podcast was inspired by a musical discovery from this past summer. This discovery led to a lengthy YouTube/internet search and ultimately a chance to finally talk about cover songs. This intended-as-a-mini-episode but instead became a gluttonous epic of an episode was also inspired by Taylor Swift's & Ryan Adams' versions of 1989. Contained within is a discussion of six songs that Terry feels would make interesting covers for male artists (and yes Terry is playing rock 'n' roll fantasy here as well).

As She & Him, Bongwater, Tori Amos, Yo La Tengo, Beth Orton & The Breeders are known for covering songs themselves, six more songs are discussed from those artists. In that second course, a discussion is had of those cover songs and in most cases the artists who originated them. Tangents are definitely found within but also a brief explanation on the gap between episodes and as well as aspirations for 2016.

As stated many, many times during the episode, we have a YouTube channel (Flickering Waves) that has the songs discussed in this episode and a few additional clips. If you like what we are up to here, please follow us on Twitter (@flickeringwaves), join our Facebook group (The Flickering Waves Podcast) and subscribe and rate the podcast on iTunes. We will close out 2015 with what will hopefully become another annual tradition, the Flickering Waves Wish List.

Since Wilco was the subject of Episode 14 and they decided to drop a surprise album onto the internet only days after Terry's birthday, he thought it was worth revisiting Wilco in this quick, dirty (only in terms of production) episode of the podcast. In it, Terry gives his initial impressions on the new Wilco album, Star Wars. Even as Wilco has been quite friendly with the internet over the years, this surprise release of an album seemed quite unreal. But after two times around with the album, Terry realized that this was quite the proper release and not some belated April Fools' joke.

Facebook, Twitter & YouTube, you bet we have a little corner in all of them. Feel like making a direct comment or two? Then feel free to e-mail us at [email protected]. Also reviews and comments can be left on iTunes. Hopefully, it won't be so long before the next episode.

As April comes to a close, this episode of the podcast covers a lot of territory. There is a brief wrap up of Terry's time at the 2015 Florida Film Festival where he watched The Little Death and Alphaville. The bulk of the discussion is about Wilco's debut album A.M. which celebrated its 20th anniversary back in March. To provide that discussion with good context, we revisit the end of Uncle Tupelo and talk briefly about the other band that came from the ashes of Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt. Terry talks about the one record store visit that helped make him the fan of Wilco that he remains to this day.

To wrap up the episode, there is a brief discussion of another album marking its 20th anniversary. April 1995 brought us Home IX, an all-time favorite of Terry's. And Terry pays tribute to Vin Scelsa who is about to wrap up his nearly fifty years career in radio.

If one downloads this episode from iTunes, please take time to subscribe and comment on the podcast. One can also join the Facebook group for the podcast (The Flickering Waves Podcast) and follow us on Twitter (@flickeringwaves). Also be on the look out for the YouTube playlist for this episode on the Flickering Waves YouTube channel.

On the eve of the second and final showing of the 2015 Florida Film Festival's collection of documentary shorts entitled "8 X Very, Very Real", I'm posting my initial thoughts on these diverse and interesting shorts. My thoughts on the two features I'm seeing on the final day of the festival should be posted by the middle of next week. Be sure to subscribe and comment on iTunes as well look us up on Facebook (The Flickering Waves Podcast group page), Twitter (@flickeringwaves) and our YouTube channel (Flickering Waves).

This bonus installment of the podcast features initial thoughts on two movies screened at the 2015 Florida Film Festival, Results & Salad Days. Due to the nature of the recording setting for much of this recording, the fidelity isn't ideal but it is the best that can be provided under the circumstances.

If you have comments that you would like to make about the podcast, please send them to [email protected]. Please subscribe, rate and comment on the podcast on iTunes. Also look out for the YouTube playlists related to this and other episodes of the podcast. And if you want more, we have Facebook (The Flickering Waves Podcast group page) and Twitter (@flickeringwaves).

Originally intended as just a discussion of the 1990 film The Nasty Girl, this episode evolved into one of epic length. Also discussed on the podcast is the 2012 film Stories We Tell. Terry had hoped to compare and contrast two true stories told in two different methods. It is possible that more questions were raised than answered on this one. Hopefully, this might encourages some good people to go and check both films which as of April 1st, 2015, are available on Netflix's streaming service.

Please check out the podcast group page on Facebook (The Flickering Waves Podcast) or follow us on Twitter (@flickeringwaves). One can also check out the YouTube channel on YouTube. The playlist for this episode should be available soon. Other episode playlist are already available for everyone's enjoyment.

As February 2015 marked the 20th anniversary of the release of Mike Watt's first solo album, Ball-Hog or Tugboat, Terry decided not to delay his overview of Mike Watt's solo work any longer. But to cover the solo work does require an acknowledgement of Minutemen and their classic Double Nickels on the Dime.

The introduction to the work of Mike Watt brings up all four solo albums including the most recent release, Hyphenated-Man. Many options are offered up throughout the episode on how to find out more about the man with the bass, Mike Watt. One such option is checking out the YouTube playlist made for this episode of the podcast. It is a mix of live and studio recordings and features work from Minutemen and his solo work as well as session work that he did with Kelly Clarkson and She & Him. Nearly all of his music videos are included. Big Train is the big exception but if one doesn't want to search for themselves then one can check out the Facebook page and Twitter feed for Flickering Waves for the link to that video which led to a lawsuit from Union Pacific.

This episode concludes with a preview of the next two episodes of the podcast which should post this month. One can find this podcast on flickeringwaves.com or on iTunes. On iTunes, one can also subscribe to and comment about the podcast. Thanks to everyone for listening.

As this is the first podcast of 2015, this episode tries to bridge the pop culture gap between Christmas and now. We start with a discussion of the three-night concert celebrating the 20th anniversary for New Granada Records. There are two brief discussions of movies and TV. For movies, Terry discusses three of his favorite films from 2014 (Boyhood, Interstellar & The Dance of Reality) as well as two more films (Adjust Your Tracking & The Nasty Girl). On the TV side, Terry discusses his favorite show of the moment (Togetherness) and gets a bit stuck on how to properly appreciate a specific aspect of the show.

Episode 13 should be right around the corner and it will be a discussion of two movies, the aforementioned The Nasty Girl and Stories We Tell. Episode 12.5 is also coming and it will celebrate the solo work of Mike Watt. He is briefly mentioned in this episode but Terry will return to reflect on the four solo albums and two times that Terry has seen him live. Be sure to join the Facebook group page (The Flickering Waves Podcast) and follow us on Twitter (@flickeringwaves) and subscribe to us on iTunes. Don't hesistate to leave us a review as well. Thanks for listening.

In what may prove to be the longest title of any episode of this podcast, Terry does explore the Negativland song that inspired the title of this episode but there is so much more. First, Terry briefly considers not talking about TV anymore then proceeds to recommend three TV series (The Honorable Woman, Sonic Highways & A to Z.

Then, a number of movies are discussed most of which are availble on Netflix Watch Instant. Some are soon to leave like Girls Just Want To Have Fun while some are still coming like Chef. There are some New Year's Eve viewing suggestions including the previously discussed One From The Heart which recently returned to the Netflix streaming service.

Finally, the discussion goes to music with post scripts on discussions of She & Him and Guided by Voices. However, the heart of the music discussion is a consideration of the Negativland song from 1989. Since artists like The Flaming Lips are taking pop recordings like Sgt. Pepper and making them stranger should artists like Taylor Swift seek out more adventurous recordings and make them work in the pop realm? This smorgasbord of an episode tries to refer back to elements of the earlier episodes while laying out clues to podcast episodes that should be forthcoming in 2015.

So now that summer is coming to an end (or over in many people's minds), our host reflects on the 1970's classic song Starbuck's "Moonlight Feels Right". As this was never intended as a history lesson like many of the other episodes, the AM Gold classic from Starbuck is used as a springboard for a number of other topics. Topics include but are likely not limited to the marimba (an unique componet to the Starbuck hit), how songs help recall the past, Bill Withers and how this podcast is shaping up for Episode 10 and beyond.

There are three YouTube playlists mentioned in this episode. If you want direct links to them, please look for us on Facebook (The Flickering Waves Podcast group page) and possibly Twitter (@flickeringwaves). Episodes of the podcast can be found on flickeringwaves.com as well as iTunes (where episodes can be downloaded, the podcast be commented on and subscribe to). Thanks for a great summer and look for us back with Episode 10 in the fall.