Episode 26

episode 26

First of all, I have to give credit to icoulddietomorrow which is a great blog that has given me a lot of inspiration for this show. And by inspiration I mean I've learned about a lot of amazing records and basically ripped off everything they think is cool. There are some things they post that I already know and love and some are new to me and become favorites (i.e. Timber). So head over there because they post tons of stuff that I don't play because it's not quite LotD format but it's still great.

So this week I played Foreign Objects which is something I learned about over at icoulddietomorrow and they have a download link for the demo tape. Foreign Objects also have a brand new 7" out which you can get with the info posted here.



This AC4 record is something I've been looking forward to for a while now and I guess it's finally out. Their myspace says its out in Sweden and Deranged is putting out a US LP version but I can't seem to figure out when. I was able to download it from some random website and the whole thing is pretty awesome. Some of it sounds like fast The (International) Noise Conspiracy and some sounds like more straight up old school hardcore. The video above has three songs performed in Dennis' backyard, and I'm not really sure what he's wearing, but I guess that's what's up in Scandinavia.





Pygmy Shrews this Wednesday 11/18 at Lunchbox in Charlotte


Also this week at Boone Saloon: Saturday 11/21 Naked Gods (Boone's best band), Viva Viva, and The Middlemen

Episode 25

Episode 25

I kicked the show off this week with my favorite Ramones song, and it's not even one from their debut or Rocket to Russia, it's from 1980's End of the Century, arguably the last great LP. As hard as it would be to cover the Ramones' best track and still be awesome, KISS pulled it off. Of all bands, KISS. Kudos.


The Brass have a new EP, Homosapien available through Quote Unquote Records, which is a great label, all of its releases are donation based. So you can download the ep immediately for whatever price you think it's worth and then order the 7" as well.

I learned about Pete Seeger's classic "Waist Deep In the Big Muddy" just this week actually, and in class to boot. It's a great haunting song and it's actually one of the reasons that the Smother Brothers Comedy Hour was cancelled in 1969. Damn those government critics for not pandering to CBS's demands.


The show dates I mentioned on the show for NC shows are as follows:

Double Negative 11/13 - The Milestone, Charlotte NC

























Raein 12/1 - Lunchbox Records - Charlotte, NC

Episode 24 (FEST Edition!)

Episode 24


For the second year in a row here at Left of the Dial we celebrate the best weekend in punk rock, The Fest 8 in Gainesville, FL. With far too many bands to see in one weekend alone I picked my favorites of those I was lucky enough to witness. Some were new (No Friends, Comadre, Iron Chic), some were old (7 Seconds, American Steel) and some were reunited (Small Brown Bike, Planes Mistaken For Stars (quasi-reunited)).

There have been plenty of videos floating around the internet since that weekend so I'll post the highlights. One of the things I missed most this year was Paint It Black. Since Dr. Dan was due to have a new baby that weekend they weren't around to put on any crazy surprises but Comadre did their best to fill that spot. Friday night they played a house show with 5 or 6 Refused covers making up their set. My friends and I drove around fruitlessly trying to find the house but luckily enough the next night we saw them end their Fail Safe Warehouse show with "Deadly Rhythm" from The Shape of Punk to Come. Here's footage from Friday night:

Comadre - "Deadly Rhythm" from Punknews.org on Vimeo.

During Gared O'Donnell's Hawks and Doves set (their first as a full band) the former members of Planes Mistaken for Stars (who were present in the new band Git Some) got on stage together for the first time in a few years to play three songs for those lucky enough to be at the Atlantic that night.


Possibly my favorite set of the weekend was 7 Seconds. They brought everything they had and for guys who are almost 50 years old, they outperformed almost every other band I saw. My only complaint was not seeing enough girls in the pit for "Not Just Boys' Fun." They ended the set with Sham 69's "If the Kids Are United" and encored with their classic version of Nena's "99 Red Balloons." So add those to the list of cover songs of the weekend that also included:
Iron Chic - "She" (Green Day)
No Friends - some Dag Nasty song
Defiance, Ohio - some Victoria Williams song
Shook Ones - "Tired of Sex" (Weezer)

Shook Ones - "Tired of Sex" from Punknews.org on Vimeo.

I'll leave you on an inspiring note, Small Brown Bike played a cathartic, celebratory reunion set on Friday night that included lots of favorites like "See You In Hell" which featured an appearance by The Casket Lottery/Coalesce's Nathan Ellis on backup vocals.


Keep checking www.nationalunderground.org for more videos from the Fest and check out No Idea Records if you want to but records from a lot of the bands featured here.

Episode 21 (now with digital mixtape download!)

Episode 21

The first show of the semester had some glitches, but I got through it eventually. Our modern radio station does not have turntables so for the first time in Left of the Dial history, I brought my own. I have lots of 7" singles I wanted to play and have never bothered to hunt down digital copies. Luckily, I was able to get most of them from various internet sources to include in the streaming playlist and downloadable folder. Since imeem doesn't always cooperate with full-length songs I'm going to start offering each episode as a digital mixtape available for free!
So if you want (almost) every song to put on your iPod or burn to a disc, download the .zip folder here (If you are in one of the bands played on the show and would like me to remove your track please let me know).

The Razzle track ("Chuck") and The Karloffs track ("Don't Want You") can be heard at their respective myspace pages.

Also, since Sirena Discos was nice enough to send me both the Razzle and Black Skies singles, I'll plug them too! Both are still in print, so buy them if you like them.

Since I ended the show with a track from Lowbrow's fairly new 7" Broken Speech (available here), check out this goofy music video they made for one of their other tracks. You gotta love a band with a sense of humor.




I'm pretty sure I mentioned the Small Brown Bike reunion, but if my mind is failing, they're playing The Fest 8! I'm so excited. The National Underground has video and mp3 downloads of their Fest 6 performance, definitely worth watching.

Left of the Dial Returns!

Notice the new time, we've moved from Sundays at 10 to Mondays at 8. Tune in at wasurocks.com and stay tuned here for the first post Monday night.

Summer!!!

Since LotD isn't on the air during the summer there's no blogging going on, but just in case you're here anyway, we'll be back in the fall, August or September, depending on the show renewal process. We'll also probably be moving to a different night, more details to come.

The imeem music player seems to have started sucking, so come fall I'll find something better. Until then enjoy the 30 second snippets of each song from each previous show (some songs are still full length though).

Some of the venue links have been updated to reflect changes around Boone and Greensboro. Maya Art Gallery hosted the band Punch from SF tonight and it was the best hardcore show I've seen in years. I played them on the show at least once and you should listen to them some more. Right now. Go.

Episode 17

Episode 17

Dis-adelphia
Download this comp of great Philly music from Badmaster Records. Some great stuff, unfortunately no Attitude Problem though. I pulled the My Mind and Birds of Maya tracks from this.

PIXIES - U-Mass
I was going to post a live video, but this was way more entertaining:


SUPERCHUNK - Precision Auto
As I mentioned, the Les Savy Fav song in the playlist is a cover of Superchunk from the Merge Records 20th Anniversary Covers album. Here's the original:

Episode 16

Episode 16


TURBONEGRO - The Age of Pamparius
If this isn't one of the best rock 'n' roll songs of the 90s then I dont' know what is.

Turbonegro The age of pamparius
by LordLothar

CAKE LIKE - Suck
I think I mentioned on the air who the singer was in this band, but if you can't tell from the voice and the video, go watch Reno 911, you'll figure it out.



LOCK AND KEY - Alchemy
These guys broke up almost a year ago now. This is another song from their debut LP, Pull Up the Floorboards and the video was filmed at my very favorite venue, the Milestone in Charlotte.



IF YOU MAKE IT!

IYMI is a quality source of new music. They have tons of free albums for free including the Thousandaires EP and the Brass EP. If you like either of those, go ahead and download every album on the website because they're all good.

They also have live videos and their acoustic exclusives The Pink Couch Series.


The Brass - Triggers from If You Make It on Vimeo.

Public Enemy + The Roots + Antibalas

This may the best late night network musical performance since At the Drive-In on Letterman. Watch this:

Episode 15 (2/22/09)

Episode 15.2

Youth of Today
"Break Down the Walls"

I used to think that labels were just symbol of pride
but over time i've seen they only serve to divide
it's so easy to judge people by the way they seem to be
we must overcome this problem to live life peacefully
break down the walls!
yes, we'll break down the walls !
look beyond the fashion or the crowd that they are in
look beyond their riches or the color of their skin
look beyond appearance and the truth you will find
look for what's inside before you make up your mind
break down the walls!
we'll break down the walls !

Ray Cappo's statement on straight edge, community, love, and fanaticism

42 Seconds of Negative Approach



You can listen to, download, and read the lyrics for all of Neon Creeps, the new O Pioneers!! LP, here:
Also, their homepage has a brand new 2009 label sampler available as a free download (just like all of their releases).

Wire - "12XU"



Minor Threat - "12XU"



Big Boys - "Funk Off/Baby Let's Play God"

Episode 14 (2/15)

Episode 15

In the Hollows

If you like melodic hardcore check out the new demo from these guys:




Members of Champion, Ruiner, Pulling Teeth and some band with too many Ys in its name. I'm excited to hear more from these guys, hopefully we'll see an east coast tour sometime soon.







Wolves in the Throne Room
During the Summer of 2002 at an Earth First rendezvous in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State, guitarist Nathan Weaver was inspired to create a band that merged a Cascadian eco-spiritual awareness with the misanthropic Norwegian eruptions of the 90's. The band envisioned would strive to create a mythic space where artist and listener alike could strip away the mindset of the mundane to reveal a more ancient and transcendent consciousness. The mysterious and wild energies of the untrammeled forests of the Northwest would be channeled into sonic form.





The Dead Milkmen
Punk Rock Girl

One Saturday I took a walk to Zipperhead
I met a girl there and she almost knocked me dead

Punk rock girl
Please look at me
Punk rock girl
What do you see?
Let's travel round the world
Just you and me punk rock girl

I tapped her on the shoulder
And said do you have a beau?
She looked at me and smiled and said she did not know

Punk rock girl
Give me a chance
Punk rock girl
Let's go slam dance
We'll dress like Minnie Pearl
Just you and me punk rock girl

We went to the Philly Pizza Company
And ordered some hot tea
The waitress said well no, we only have it iced
So we jumped up on the table and shouted anarchy
And someone played a Beach Boys song on the jukebox
It it was "California Dreamin"
So we started screamin
On such a winter's day

She took me to her parents for a Sunday meal
Her father took one look at me and he began to squeal

Punk rock girl
It makes no sense
Punk rock girl
Your dad is vice president
Just like the Duke of Earl
Yeah you're for me punk rock girl

We went to a shopping mall
And laughed at all the shoppers
And security guards trailed us to a record shop
We asked for Mojo Nixon
They said he don't work here
We said if you don't got Mojo Nixon then your store could use some fixin

We got into her car away we started rollin
I said how much you pay for this
Said nothin man it's stolen

Punk rock girl
You look so wild
Punk rock girl
Let's have a child
We'll name her Minnie Pearl
Just you and me
Eat fudge banana swirl
Just you and me
We'll travel round the world
Just you and me
Punk rock girl

Episode 13 (2/08/09)

Epidsode 13


It's awesome to be back on the air! After a lengthy process of reapplying for shows for the new semester Left of the Dial was approved to bring you the loudest show in Boone once again. This week were some of my favorites that I've discovered over the last month and it leans heavily toward dirgey hardcore and skate punk, which only makes me wish I hadn't failed so hard at skateboarding in my life.

Don't you hate when you find out that bands you've just heard of were in your vicinity at some point recently. After realizing that the only mutual myspace friend Punch have is Kakistocracy I found out that they played in Asheville last summer. Sucks. This is as close as I'll get for now:


Italy gets down with Bones Brigade:



I've really been into this Timber 7" and it's dirt cheap. $4.

You can email/paypal ambrose.nzams@gmail.com and he'll send you one. You can also download it in advance if you so wish here. I totally stole this from I Could Die Tomorrow, but it's a great blog and a great record, so I don't feel too bad. Go read it.

I'm getting pumped about Scion Rock Fest (sounds lame I know, but look at the lineup) and Krallice is going to be there. Original metal bands are few and far between these days.



Finally, I just read an announcement that Paint It Black scheduled a show in Johnson City, TN for March 9th. Only an hour from Boone! It's during spring break but it'll be worth the trip.