IR: The SoCal Sessions – Insomnia Radio: Indie Music Network

Yes, there’s a place where musicians instinctively flock like the Salmon of Capistrano. Well the quote goes something like that; obviously off quite a bit, but fits the random theme of the show. Just listen through here and it may suddenly appear when you hear the song about Colorado, or maybe it was the one about California.

Lots of interesting tracks abound today. We’ve got a possible aborist/experimental musician from Burbank who plays a living tree as an instrument as well as a live introduction from my trip to the The Roxy Theater in Los Angeles to see local musician Chance perform. There’s bagpipe music leading into tracks about towns in the Southern California desert, Ennio Morricone influenced pop-folk and some mutinous piratical pub-stomping rock from up the coast in Santa Barbara. We even managed to find a band that recorded their album in San Pedro to tell a tale about a sad crane operator from the Ports of LA, with a brief introduction to the town from one of my liquored up friends who speaks of Bukowski and commerce.

Please enjoy today’s mixtape, so to speak.

TRT: 1:04:12

TRACK LISTING

1] The Mutineers – Hell No

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Original Image By debaird @ FLICKR – Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

April’s assembly of thirteen local artists have all been in heavy rotation in my player in the last few months via work commutes, expeditions through the ice & snow, powder carving on top of the world, and while sitting in the dark, illuminated only by the glow of the computer monitor – headphones firmly glued to the cranium.

It’s actually been a crazy few months weatherwise, with the rare tendrils of snow (or graupel as a few local weather-snobs proclaimed) hitting the local Burbank area after a fifty to sixty or so year snow-drought. You’ll hear some crazy expletives at the head of the program in relation to this local action. On top of a record year in the Sierras a lot of rare events have been occurring, amongst some heavy heavy local burtations.

I hope you enjoy our 33rd full length episode.

TRT 58:41, NSFW

TRACK LISTING

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LINKS

Febuary’s thirteen track show starts off in a comedic rock vein with some strong local tracks inspired by Tenacious D and even containing their rock-god DNA stamped all over them. From here we take you into a stretch of quality indie rock from the Little Heroes through White Lights, with a little Black Watch and more goodness in between.

At the last minute I decided to take the second half of the show and turn it into a dedication to a close friend’s father who passed away in late January, with some appropriate themed space-oriented tracks and mission audio from a few of those who spoke at the service.

At the tail end of the show we explain the sad situation thrust upon our friends up north at KUSF, and the fight they are taking to the FCC in a few weeks to keep Entercom and KUSC from wresting away future controls of their local airwaves through shady backroom dealings.

Turn it up, support your local artists, and please help support KUSF in the next few weeks as your local college or community radio station could get gobbled up next.

TRT 55:45, NSFW

TRACK LISTING

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LINKS

Today’s primarily Los Angeles based show slowly crept upward from 6 tracks,  doubling in size as we gradually realized that we had an oversharing problem. While this can swifly turn to embarrassment in social networking circles, here we like to think its a very good thing.   |  TRT 50:36 – NSFW

RIFFS & MELODIES

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The metal has been slowly building in my system for the last few years, to where something drastic had to be done, fortunately right in time for Halloween this year. In this episode I detoxify using questionable methods, and luckily for you that means a break from my normal programming and a longer than normal look inside a select part of the metal scene from San Diego to Los Angeles.

Some of the bands featured today have moved on, but that doesn’t mean the music is retired. Many of the groups here are quite active and are putting out new albums, while one or two have been around since the beginnings of the LA metal scene. Styles run the gamut from traditional metal to grindcore, including other metal influenced styles of rock. embellished with plenty of operatic screams for your enjoyment. It just wouldn’t be a proper show if it wasn’t replete with death growls for you closer to the finale, ripped out of the pages of your old Dungeons & Dragons campaign and recorded in bloody howling stereo.

TRT: 1:20:16. NSFW

FEATURED ARTISTS

Today’s show also features loads of excellent new tracks from bands all over the LA area, with a brief dip below the county line to Newport Beach to visit Young the Giant and a road trip to Las Vegas where we check in with another favorite, Imagine Dragons.

I saw you scratching your head looking at this graphic, so wanted to let you know that the episode’s title comes from an old-timey commercial embedded within; my dream sponsor for the program if you will. While supplies last….   -cs

TRT: 1:03:08 | WORK SAFE (…as far as I can tell…)

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TODAY’S COOKS

Original photo remixed and re-released under Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.

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Please listen and help support these artists’ livelihoods.

Its good to be back! -cs

TRT:  44:45 , NOT WORK SAFE

THE SETUP

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This track was apparently being featured in iTunes Essentials’ ‘Thanksgiving Dinner’ collection (sandwiched between Adam Sandler & the Band) and is available as a promo track from Anny’s new CD “Tangle-Free World.” It was produced by Nelson Bragg of the Brian Wilson Band and music contributors include 60’s chanteuse Evie Sands, Phil Parlapiano (John Prine, Grant Lee Buffalo), Carl Byron (Michelle Shocked), and several more!!

Here’s an excerpt from a recent review… “…after the first few bars of the title track, this album grabbed my attention, and I turned the volume, up – way up!…Thanksgiving in Hollywood…starts out with a bit of a melancholy introduction then picks up the pace with plenty of jangly guitars (which I love) and some very cool organ and lead guitar contributing to a wonderful folk-pop sound. The mood is a bit dark and mysterious, yet uplifting at the same time. One of my favorite tracks on the album.” (Laurie Biagini)

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Anny Celsi

Buy at iTunes Music Store

We’ve got eighteen tracks from eighteen different indie artists hailing from the Central Valley region of California, with a regional bullseye on the city of Fresno – presented in the traditional yet beloved mixtape format.

This is the supplement to our last full length episode on the Southern California feed entitled ‘IR: The SoCal Sessions #27 – Party in Fresno‘. If you haven’t already taken a listen, head on over for more great music.

TRT: 1:11:40

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TRACK LISTING

Per local musician Brian Kenney Fresno’s mission statement, the holy triumvirate of activities in the Central California city of Fresno are: car theft, methlabs and chop shops.   While you often hear the area lovingly roasted for such, the city does contain many more highly notable features, such as their rich musical legacy and tight-knit community that feels a little more real and less musician-migratory than a lot of major metro areas.  This may have been a possible factor that helped put Fresno onto the top #10 list of Esquire Magazine’s ‘Cities That Rock’ list in 2004, around the time Insomnia Radio was founded.

After several weeks of online immersion into the music scene and a few years of CA music programming, I’ve compiled a list of musicians from the area that were accessible online and span over several years, all the way back to the early 80’s during the rich punk scene that continues to this day.  Some of the artists are still around, while some have moved on.  The list is by no means all inclusive as I had twice the number of artists I would have like to have featured, but only so much real estate here to fit them into.

While there is some roasting in this show, consider this a toast to the area, its musical heritage, and the musicians who continue to call Fresno and its surrounding communities home.

TRT:  1:16:52, NOT WORK SAFE

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