w a s t e . t i m e . n o w

Thanks to a friend, I was turned-on to a country music gem in the most unlikely place today.

Bob Harris hosts what sounds like a top-notch radio program every Thursday — on the BBC of all places. Visit the Bob Harris Country website to hear this week’s program and see who’s appearing in the weeks ahead. You can also check out his playlist to see who and what Bob played on the program.

It’s a little odd to hear a guy talking about western music in an English accent, but (as my friend pointed out) I don’t exactly have a Nashville drawl myself.

So Mac and Laura, the lad and lass from Superchunk have had their own record label for like the past fifteen years. Who knew?

Based in North Carolina, Merge Records cultivates a healthy crop of artists, including the Magnetic Fields, Lambchop, Spoon and Destroyer. You know you love all those bands, so check out who else is signed. Drop by the new-ish Merge website for tour dates and the usual, plus free music and video — they also have a podcast you can subscribe to (or download, or hear through streaming audio).

Sub Pop is another label with an impressive rollcall, and a website featuring MP3s and more from Iron & Wine, Wolf Parade, Fruit Bats, etc. `Nuff said.

A little something from Kim’s January playlist. Summer is still a long way away, so there’s nothing too bright in here. Click on the track name, then look for the download link about half way down the next page.

Spoon - Everything Hits At Once
Great Aunt Ida - Acting
The Raveonettes - Somewhere In Texas
Wolf Parade - Shine A Light
Sovereign, Frost P, Zus & Shystie - The Battle
We Are Wolves - L.L. Romeo

I hate autumn and always have — it’s drafty, and totally boring. The one saving grace is getting to play all the music you own that somehow comes off a bit rich at other times of the year. That tiny silver lining isn’t enough to redeem the whole season, but I am trying to be a better sport about the whole thing.

Here are a few MP3s from Kim’s fall playlist, in recognition of this unseasonably sunny Monday. Just click the song title and follow the download link on the next page that appears. The third-best season is just around the corner…

Chet — The Cold Drank My Soul Away Into The Day
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds — I Let Love In
Dead Meadow — At Her Open Door
Wolf Parade — You Are A Runner And I Am My Father’s Son
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah — The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth
The New Pornographers — Mass Romantic

If you don’t know Deerhoof, their Wikipedia entry describes them as an art-punk band that tries to “merge melody with noise” — which is pretty dead-on. How perfectly awesome it is to have them playing Richards on Richards this Thursday night.

Nothing takes the edge off Autumn like melody merged with noise.

Word on the street is The Runners Four is their best album yet. Check out these Deerhoof tracks available for download as MP3s (number six is from their new cd).

Ben Pearre of MIT has done us a kindness — a Free Music page with ear candy we can enjoy thanks to Creative Commons licensing. You’ll find classical music from a dozen or so composers, some available for download as MP3s and others as OGG files. It’s almost that time of year, so be sure to check out the performance of Handel’s Messiah. I’m also enjoying Brahms’ Requiem — not as stirring as Mozart’s, but whatevs.

Some media players (ahem, iTunes) won’t play OGG files, but there’s free software like Easy CD-DA Extractor to convert the files to MP3. OK? Go get yer Bach on.

The timing couldn’t be better — George Jones is coming to town, y’all.

He’s known as the Greatest Living Country Singer for good reason. Over the past 51 years, George has charted 166 singles — more than any other artist, ever. He turned 74 a couple of weeks ago and continues to notch more than 100 performances each year. I’m out of town for his Oct. 11 show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, but you should go. You can also catch him Oct. 12 in Victoria, Oct. 14 in Chilliwack, or Oct. 15 in Kamloops.

High-five to Matador Records for lavishing the hoi polloi with delicious ear candy. They’re signing all the indie bands you love these days, and they’re not even jerks about it. Behold this superabundance of MP3s from Dead Meadow, Spoon, Guided By Voices, New Pornographers and other phenoms, available *free* on Matador’s website — how thoughtful is that?

*Click now for Communism*

I’ve only heard two episodes, but I’m enjoying The Sound Of Young America so far. This weekly radio show boasts “only the best from the worlds of literature, the theater, and comedy”. Visit their site for streaming audio, podcasting and mp3 downloads.

I’ve been told file sharing is a new form of activism — see if there’s anything you like among the MP3s I’m listening to these days, comrades.

Free Speech Radio News pulls together a tight little newscast, Monday to Friday of each week (available for download in MP3 or RealAudio format). Previous broadcasts are available in the archive section, and there’s a few documentaries worth checking out as well.

Well, yeah Malcolm X is a controversial figure in history. By advocating extremism, he clearly established the danger that existed if white America failed to change the status quo — and bolstered the cause of mainstream activists like Martin Luther King.

While I tend to be a pacifist, I’ve always thought Malcolm X was a very logical and reasoned man. Saul Alinsky wrote that Gandhi wasn’t necessarily a pacifist — he simply chose tactics most likely to succeed, and violence against the British Empire in one of their colonies had a snowball’s chance in hell of working. According to Alinsky, Gandhi would have chosen a more confrontational approach if logic and reason suggested it had a better chance of succeeding.

I’m a simple man, and I don’t know about all that — but I do know Malcolm X is one of the most astute and stirring speakers I’ve heard. Check out these recordings of his Message to the Grassroots (in MP3 format). Also, the Ballot or the Bullet Part 1 and Part 2.

“The young generation don’t want to hear anything about the odds are against us. What do we care about odds?”

History and Politics Out Loud is a “searchable archive of politically significant audio materials” brought to us by the National Endowment for the Humanities (so it only includes “politically significant” material from the US).

The Chicago Historical Society has an amazing collection of interviews available online. Compiled by Studs Turkel and offered in RealMedia format are Conversations With America — hundreds of everyday Janes and Joes discussing their lives and the world around them.

But don’t don’t don’t use RealPlayer: that shit’s the devil. RealAlternative is compact, free software that tricks streams into thinking you’re using RealPlayer. Sweet.

So I’m totally on about M.I.A. these days. Check out her remixes with Diplo on the Piracy Funds Terrorism album — zipped for download as a rar file (see WinAce if you don’t have a program that can unzip rar files).

And while on the topic of splendid music you can steal, ANTI- has swag on your favourite independent artists with a few MP3s available for download from each.

But if independent radio is more your thing, it’s underheard.org you want for live streams, podcasts and more. Topping my personal list of faves — Route 78 West, a two-hour weekly radio show of “Honky Tonk, Trucker Songs, Spaghetti Westerns, recycled juke box 45’s, an occasional Surf track and artist interviews”.

If you don’t already know the great Paul Moth, better check out The Great Eastern, an hilarious series on the fictitious Broadcasting Corporation of Newfoundland.

All five seasons of this CBC satire are available for download as MP3 files, as well as video files of Town Beat — Paul Moth’s short-lived foray into regional cable. Make sure you also check out Paul’s blog.