A real horrorshow.

 

As promised, here's the latest podcast.

The Contrarian's Corner — Episode II: Scary Monsters

I was gonna wait until tomorrow, but I just couldn't. This will give you extra time to download over the weekend. Tracklisting is provided in the comments field of the official Contrarian's Corner Blog, which formerly hosted the podcast.

Yes, it's a Halloween theme. I drank wine again, so it gets pretty silly. But there are some good tunes in there. Enjoy, and do let me know what you think.

PS: Local musician Rob Voland has a great new album called Springinsfeld. He and Ryan Power (who's not long for B-town) recorded it on 4-track cassette. Awesome!

You can hear some of it live — and probably snag a CD — when Voland plays 339 Pine St. on Oct. 28. The show starts at 8 p.m. and appears to be free.

Comments

[jay]

Nice tracklisting! Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Daniel Johnston on the same podcast--you're my hero.

[casey]

Shucks, thanks.

But that's why I don't like to post the tracklisting. It ruins the surprise! I hope you still listen to it. 'Cause it ain't the same without my dorky commentary and half-assed fades.

[Molly]

Why white wine for the Halloween podcast? Hard cider or Pumpkinhead brew too un-contrary for Mr. Contrarian? Well I'm going to chose to believe that you were dressed up like a Stepford Wife the whole time and the dry white was part of your costume.

ANYWAY, speaking as a lifelong Halloweenie and having heard/owned countless seasonal compilations - this podcast was great! Refreshingly free of Dead Man's Party and the effing X-files theme and all that crap. Caught so much of the non-commercial moods and memories of my favorite holiday. Thanks!

[jay]

No worries; I'll definitely still listen to the podcast; there are a few songs that I've never heard before. And the ones I have heard, I've never heard them in that order before!

Completely off-topic, but has anyone here heard anything from Asaurus Records? I've been in Chicago on business and did some shopping at the wonderful Reckless Records in Wicker Park & picked up an album by Ponies in the Surf (a band that records on the Asaurus label) for $5. It's one of my favorite albums that I've heard so far this year.

[jay]

Oh yeah...can't decide if I should listen to the podcast on my Nano on the El on the way to O'Hare or if I should wait until Halloween...

[casey]

Our local hero Colin Clary records for Asaurus from time to time, I think.

I think you should give a listen on the way to O'Hare. But that's just me.

[Ari]

Why can't I get the podcast?! Stupid "can't connect to host" bullshit.

Yeah, Chicago!

[casey]

I just tried it, too. I think the host, EZ Archive, must be having problems.

Do try again later.

Chicago!

[jay]

Ahhh....I was going through the Asaurus catalog & saw Colin's name and thought it sounded familiar.

[greg]

chicago stinks.

[Ari]

No it doesn't! It smells like chocolate sometimes, when the wind's right.

[greg]

chocolate mixed with burnt peanuts, bananas, sizzling polish sausages, garbage and bus exhaust.

[Neil]

On the other hand, I hear Boston is AWESOME!!!

[Ari]

Mmmmm polish chocolate bus exhaust... and, well, I dunno Neil, Boston smells like... drunk people? And... awesomeness?!

[jay]

ari's right; chicago does smell like chocolate if you're on Clark St., near the Merchandise Mart in the "la-de-da" downtown business district of Chicago by the lake. there's a chocolate factory nearby that makes the whole street smell like a pan of fudge brownies that are straight out of the oven. heavenly nostalgic smell...

however, if you take the El back from Damen at 10:30 at night, you might smell the homeless guy who sat next to me on Wednesday night who smelled exactly the opposite of a pan of brownies....he smelled like poop B.O. So, yes, Chicago sometime does smell bad.

But it's still an incredible city. And the fact that you can buy dinner at Penny's Noodle Shop, get a used book at Myopic & pick up a used cd at Reckless all for under $20 makes it one of my favorite cities in the world.