Who Needs Radio?

Coming Soon

2009-05-21T11:43:00.001-04:00

New posts and contributors coming soon, y'all. Hold tight for my lazy ass to get everything done.

Love,
Lady Byrd

You'll Love My Nuts

2009-04-30T16:47:00.015-04:00

I've been MIA getting readjusted to living back in Brooklyn, but I think it's time to resurrect this zombie of a site. Weather is getting warmer, and there are more shows coming around NYC to liven my love of music back up.

Please note that our new snail mail address has been updated under the contact/submissions section on the right sidebar, so be sure to start sending in your albums to review there. Also, I'm bringing on another NYC contributor next week, and looking for one or a few more to add on. I tried doing that before, but it's honestly hard to keep a hold on a team with a site that is purely non-profit, especially when the profitable day jobs of the writers get in the way. But if you think you might be cut out for posting once a week with your own style of reviews or playlists, please be sure to email me your information (i.e. preferred genres, links to your personal sites, etc) and available schedule (which day each week you could post) to: contact(at)whoneedsradio(dot)com. Be sure to include "WNR Contributor Position" in the subject line so it doesn't get mistaken for spam. Also, you do not have to be located in NYC, or even the USA to be a contributor.

NOTE: This is NOT a paying gig. Everything that goes into keeping this site running comes out of my own pocket and the pockets of our wonderful supporters. I strive to keep us anti-radio... which means solely independent, ad-free, and all about the music.

As a contributor, you get the following perks*:

Your mug shot listed under the contributors section with all of your information (links to your own site / band / myspace / facebook / etc.)
Your own @WNR email address to use
Free music
The occasional list spots at shows in your area so you can cover/review the shows.

* And You'll also get to say that you're doing something straight from the heart... for the good of music.

Moving on, I just saw this video today... and I have to say that Steve Porter's remix is fucklarious.

It's so good, that I decided to rip the audio to MP3 so I can throw it into one of my future sets. But I like to share with my friends, so here's the MP3 for your own enjoyment:
Rap Chop (Steve Porter's Slap Chop Remix)

Stay tuned for more frequent updates starting next week. Until then, I'm off to prepare for my camping trip in the Catskill Mountains this weekend.

Ciao,
Lady Byrd

Me Bypassing

2009-02-27T09:45:00.005-05:00

I've gotten a lot of great submissions that I was planning to review and post by now, but with my moving back to Brooklyn from Florida next week... I just don't have the time. I've been spending time packing and reorganizing my belongings, along with working and spending as much time as possible with friends and family. But I wanted to get something up here to hold y'all over until everything is settled, so here's a couple of playlists in the meantime:

This first playlist I'm posting was partially influenced both by Black History month and a DJ who played some of these gems the other night (which sparked up an old school Hip Hop kick for me). I don't post Hip Hop very often on the site, but it's not because I don't appreciate it. I just don't get most of the new shit. Besides, we all know that classic Hip Hop is just another thing that us white people like.

Black Sheep - The Choice Is Yours (Revisited)
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - They Reminisce Over You
De La Soul - Buddy
The Pharcyde - Passin' Me By
Chubb Rock - Treat 'Em Right
JJ Fad - Supersonic
Warren G - Regulate
Digable Planets - Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)
Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock - It Takes Two
Will Smith - The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air
Latyrx - Lady Don't Tek No
Ol' Dirty Bastard - Shimmy Shimmy Ya

Now, this second playlist is kind of a cheat on my behalf. A good friend of mine made me a Shoegaze mix recently, and I've been listening to it A LOT. It has a lot of songs I know, but also quite I few I didn't. I decided to just select 5 songs off that mix and post them here, since I'm a lazy bastard. (All credit for these selections goes to Neil Rhodes, who quite possibly holds the title of "Best Taste in Music" out of all my friends.)

Engineers - Clean Coloured Wire
Ride - Cool Your Boots
South Ambulance - Kinky Love
Mojave 3 - Starlight, No. 1
Resplandor - Breathe

Until next time,
Lady Byrd

This is the cold that never ends...

2009-01-27T17:53:00.010-05:00

I know I once again flaked on posting, but I've had a cold for the past couple of weeks that just doesn't know when to leave. Kind of like the creepy, wasted guy at the afterparty who can't seem to catch a hint. I'm feeling quite well today, so I took advantage of the better health and spent pretty much this entire day catching up on email and snail mail submissions. And to make up for my delay, today's post is going to be a massive one.

I hate to say that I won't be able to give each band their well deserved textual review, but my ears ache from being squeezed between massive headphones for the past 5 hours, and my head is slightly spinning from a recent dose of DayQuil. But all of these bands are respectively fantastic and diverse, so please enjoy.

On a personal note, I really don't recommend drinking straight from a bottle of Robitussin when you're sick and already somewhat out of it. I now understand what mc chris was talking about in his song "The Tussin."

First up on the list is a delicate and heavenly band that already had me enamored by a minute and a half into the first song. To be honest, usually when I sort through submissions and figure out which songs are post-worthy as a full representation of the band, I tend to skip through a majority of the songs. It's not that they are bad, I just usually don't have the time to dedicate an hour to each band. But when it came to giving Until The Autumn a listen, I couldn't bring myself to fast forward any part of it. The Story Of are a band of five friends originally from Athens, OH, (now in Austin, TX) who could probably write the perfect soundtrack to your life. It doesn't come as a surprise that their music has already been placed in a variety of independent films. This is definitely a band worth getting caught up in, as the entire album feels flawless.

From Until The Autumn, out 3/3/09 (pre-order it here):
Berkeley
Lights On The Landing
+ Myspace

Emil Hewitt is producing some stunning stuff with his electropop/soul influenced project Emil&Friends. According to his bio, music has been a large part of his life since he was a kid, taking on different projects as he grew and listening in on all of the different genres he could find. His appreciation for a vast variety of music shows in the Downed Economy EP, as it stretches across anywhere from indie rock to electropop to R&B and Soul. The lyrical content is also pretty entertaining, especially in the title track that any independent musician could relate to at this time of financial crisis. "I wanna make a tape for my best friend's label. Gotta make some changes, how I spend my savings." Don't we all, Emil. Don't we all.

From the Downed Economy EP (downloadable here):
Downed Economy
Short Order Cooks
+ Support Emil by purchasing a Downed Economy Shirt

Oh Erlend Oye, your voice is like a seraph dancing in my ears. And I'm glad to have it back in the new The Whitest Boy Alive album Rules, due out in March. From the sound of the new single, the Rhodes and Crumar synths are going to be a great addition on the new release.

From Rules (due out early March):
Island
And a remix of a song from their last album Dreams:
Golden Cage (Fred Falke Remix)
+ Myspace

If you like Italo disco, electropop, or hot brunettes with great voices... you'll definitely want to pay Los Angeles' Love Grenades some attention. The music is unquestionably geared towards getting you on a dancefloor (or dancing around your room seductively in your underwear). And get this: 25 year old Elizabeth Wight sang on the song "I Love Boys" from the classic 80s movie Teen Witch when she was 5. I have no shame in admitting that I was a fan of that movie as a kid. Anyway, enough about me. Give it a listen already. You know you want to.

From Tigers In The Fire (out now on iTunes):
Tigers In The Fire
Young Lovers (Sam Sparro Edit)

There's not really much information on the web about Ohio's Love Between Equals, and the submission email only mentioned that this dude was making some "BANGIN tracks" (which I agree)... but I just wish I had something more to write about the guy. I was able to dig up that he has over 12 years experience producing, and it's clearly shown in the quality of these tracks. Oh, and that Mr. Mystery apparently has a hand for a head. But other than that, all I can say is the shit is indeed undeniably BANGIN.

From ???:
Young Love
Get It Fit
+ Myspace

I normally can't handle most hip hop remixes/mashups since I'm pretty clueless to it, but France's DIGIKID84 actually made Fat Joe tolerable for me. And seeing as how Busta Rhymes is supposedly my new neighbor, I should probably get used to his material. I don't know if the Pat Benatar sample was a part of the original, but if not... props to DIGIKID for throwing that in. Again, I'm clueless. And this kid is only 24. Makes me feel like a real jackass for not doing more myself.

It's unfortunate that the Captain Funk remix is only a snippet, because I really like the heavily 80s sound of that too. Hopefully we'll hear more from Billy Bone aka DIGIKID84 in the near future.

Runaway vs Fat Joe and Busta Rhymes - Shorty (DIGIKID84 Remix)
Captain Funk - Hey Boy Hey Girl (DIGIKID84 Remix)

The lush sounds of New York's Xylos will certainly wrap you in upon first listen. In The Bedroom lightly reminds me of the percussion of a Beta Band track, while some of the other songs hold more of a 70s-folk or lively indie pop tone. They're giving the full EP away for free on their website, so be sure to cop that before they realize they really should be charging for such incredible material.

From Bedrooms:
In The Bedroom
This House We Built
+ Myspace

Another great indie band giving away their album away for free is Ham1 of Athens, GA. (Although, if you really wanted to be nice, you'd visit their Myspace page and purchase some of their tracks there to show your support.) But nonetheless, it is free, and it is something quite wonderful. It's captivating, hard-to-describe, southern indie rock with a flair of beach and touch of Velvet Underground to it. The instrumental Mel Bay is definitely a favorite of mine.

From The Underground Stream (downloadable here):
Mel Bay
Adirondack Chair
+ Myspace

It's obvious by the name that Favours For Sailors are from the UK. This power-pop band with jangly guitars (that give a big nod to melodies of the 60s) have definitely structured something well... thanks to the influences of Television, Cheap Trick and The Cars.

From Furious Sons (due out March):
I Dreamt That I Dreamt That You Loved Me

NYC's The Bloodsugars get their name's influence from frontman and diabetic Jason Rabinowitz's intense childhood cravings for sweets. Just as well, as their songs exude sweet, syrupy synthpop mixed with danceable indie rock. And it doesn't hurt that this band has played shows alongside WNR favorites and all around sweethearts The Lisps.

From BQEP (buy at site store here):
Purpose Was Again
Bloody Mary
+ Myspace

When I was first listening to the album and reading the bio sheet for Austin's Diagonals, I got to "The members of the band are..." section and discovered that a dear acquaintance of mine, Wiley Wiggins, is their organ/key player. I guess I'm bad at paying attention. Or maybe I'm just horrific at keeping in touch with people.

It's impressive that they've created such a great first LP that meshes fetching organ melodies (I'm not biased, I swear!), garage rock riffs, and danceable beats together. Give it a listen and decide for yourself, because if I say much more it might seem like I'm kissing Wiley's ass.

From Valley Of The Cyclops (out 2/28):
Suitcase Packed
Neil Diamond Blues
+ Myspace

Hey look, it's another band from Austin! Does every band start there now? Anyway, The Frontier Brothers combine humorously bizarre lyrics (as shown by the song title technicalelectronicsupersonicrobot t.e.s.s.) with music that seems to be slightly influenced by indie rock favorites such as Pavement. I also like that some of the songs on their album also get pretty synth heavy.

These guys are starting a tour at the beginning of February, so be sure to check out their Myspace for locations and dates.

From Space Punk Starlet (available on CDBaby & iTunes):
Space Punk Starlet
Get Up Go
+ Myspace

Last but not least, you've got to respect a band that names themselves after a classic scene in Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2. Although, I have to say... the name should probably be "Real Shark - Fake Zombie!" instead of Fake Shark - Real Zombie!, but who am I to nitpick? I'm kind of on the line with this band as they sound pretty much post-hardcore (which is not a preferred genre for me). But Angel Lust is a haunting track (with the same Stevie Nicks riff that Destiny's Child borrowed), and they seem to have a lot of energy. I'll have to wait and see what else they put out in the future to really make a solid decision. One thing I do know, the remixes I heard of them a while back were pretty good.

From Angel Lust EP:
Angel Lust
Horses In Heaven

Love,
Lady Byrd

Lady Byrd DJing tonight in NYC

2009-01-08T18:49:00.002-05:00

Fuck. Really sorry guys. I meant to update, but I've been busy with the holidays. Family and friends are pretty time consuming. Well, now I'm up in NYC for a very short time, and just in case you're interested... I'm doing a guest set tonight at Happy Ending in the Lower East Side.

I'll be downstairs, and I go on around 12 or 1AM. I hope to see some of your smiling faces there. Lord knows this homegirl needs a good dancefloor tonight to keep her going.

Updates next week. Cross my heart!

Love,
Lady Byrd

Where Dreams Come True

2008-12-18T21:54:00.003-05:00

I'm in the world of Mickey Mouse with family this week, and I (yet again) head back up to NYC on Christmas Day... so I haven't had time to get a post together for this week. Check back next week if it strikes your fancy pants.

In the meantime, trip out on this video:

Love,
Lady Byrd

Guest Contributor: Merry F'n Xmas from Joey Kern

2008-12-11T20:20:00.003-05:00

I try to post up a holiday mix each year, but since my mixer is broken and I've been a little ill... I asked funny guy Joey Kern to step in and grace us with his cherished holiday classics instead. You might recognize him as the "He's already pulled over" guy from Super Troopers, one of the victims of Cabin Fever, or as the shirtless "Shirts Jokum" in The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang. He's also in the upcoming indie comedy Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead (with Devon Aoki, Jeremy Sisto and even Karate Kid Ralph Macchio), amongst others.

Here's what he had to share:

Ah Christmas. It's that time of year that comes... well... this time every year. I mean, you can always rely on it, unless you're Jewish. Sorry Jews. But I think we can all gather around the mistletoe with these songs. Some take me back to my childhood, and others take me back to five minutes ago when I found them on iTunes. But they all make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Some of these songs were also from a holiday mix I made a few years ago called "Merry F'n Xmas." My mom didn't like that title at all. Oh well.

Merry F'n Xmas to you all!

Bing Crosby - Happy Holiday (Beef Wellington Remix)
A little twist to the well known.

Bobby Helms - Jingle Bell Rock
Just a classic.

Ella Fitzgerald - Santa Claus Got Stuck In My Chimney
I never heard this as a lad because I'm not sure it's appropriate for kids. "Stuck in her chimney!?" I think we can all guess what she's really talking about. Do I have to spell it out? Ok! Her V-A-G-I-N-A.

The Kinks - Father Christmas
Who says you can't be badass around the holidayz? See? I'm trying it with putting a "z" at the end of Holiday. Feels good.

Bing Crosby - Mele Kalikimaka
I'd like to spend Christmas in Hawaii, just because now I know how to speak the language.

Robert Earl Keen - Merry Christmas From The Family
This humorous Christmas song so is so much better than "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer."

Elvis Presley - Blue Christmas
It's not Christmas without a really depressing song from Elvis. Thanks, King!

Gene Autry - Here Comes Santa Claus (Down Santa Claus Lane)
I like how he say "Santy" Claus.

Berlin Symphony Orchestra - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Red Baron Remix)
I wonder if they've done a ballet to this version? I'd see that.

That's it. Go get drunk on the 'nog and tell your Aunt Wendy what you really think of her gift.

- Joey

You can also see some of Joey's videos over at Funny or Die, including this hilariously spot on impersonation of Matthew McConaughey:

Thanks, pretty boy!

I Will Implode With You

2008-12-02T11:38:00.007-05:00

As I was dusting around the Electro/Indietronic charts early this morning at the site that is my bread and butter (SoundClick.com)... I was soon floored by a song titled Foreign Skies by a band called MR JIGGA. I had never heard the name before, so of course I immediately pulled up their artist page on the site to find out more. So far I've found out that they are from Australia, apparently love throwing tinted milk around, and they're pretty damn impressive. I don't know what you kids are doing or drinking over there in Australia that keeps you pushing out more and more brilliant bands, but you're starting to make me wonder if I need to make a move down under. Anyway, I'm just really stoked to find these guys and bring them to your ears.

Stream their new album songs in high quality from their SoundClick page below. I highly recommend Foreign Skies and Bitter Taste, but it's all damn good.

Also be sure to check out the visually stimulating video for Garage Party:

From Mr Jigga (out now in AUS, and soon everywhere on iTunes):
Foreign Skies

From Garage Party EP (on iTunes now):
Garage Party

+ SoundClick
+ MySpace

Built By Snow's album arrived to me yesterday in a pretty dang fancy way. Inside the bright red envelope came their CD, a press release in the style of a 3D comic book sheet, and get this... it also came with 3D glasses paperclipped to it. Bravo to you, Flying Tyrannosaurus Press! You know the way to a music blogger's heart... interesting and unique packaging. So with being utterly wooed by the goodies, I immediately gave the album a listen. OBVIOUSLY it's really good, or it wouldn't be up here this fast. It's great, fetching indie rock from a band who's located in the music mecca known as Austin, Texas. I don't have any good comparisons or in depth explanations of Built By Snow's style, as I don't feel a band this good needs it. But I will tell you that the two songs below are my absolutely favorites, especially the video game-like intro and lyrically charming build up of Implode Alright. The album won't be released until January, but you should grab these now for the next mix CD you make for your crush.

From MEGA (out 1/29/08):
All The Weird Kids Know
Implode Alright

+ MySpace

Last but not least, former San Franciscoer turned New Yorker - MC Frontalot - is performing tonight at Jack Rabbit's in Jacksonville (FL), with MC Lars and YTCracker. In celebration of nerdcore overtaking my dear old hometown tonight, here are a few Frontalot freebies for your nerdy enjoyment.

From Final Boss (order it here):
Wallflowers

From Secrets From The Future (also available here):
I Hate Your Blog
It Is Pitch Dark

+ SoundClick
+ MySpace

Love,
Lady Byrd

Ain't Gonna Slump No Mo'

2008-11-25T16:50:00.007-05:00

I am in love with PNAU. Compromised of Nick Littlemore (Empire of the Sun, Teenager) and Peter Mayes, supposedly this duo has been putting out records since 1999... but unfortunately I only first heard of them at the start of 2008. Me likey.

Baby
Come Together
Embrace (Fred Falke & Miami Horror Remix)

I don't know much about The Laughing Light of Plenty (their Myspace is pretty vague), but I first caught wind of these guys over on BigStereo and became infected by The Rose. I was able to only find one other song by them, but I'm hoping I'll find more soon.

The Rose
Mother For You

Don't shoot me for saying this, but in my limited musical knowledge... Audrye Sessions kind of reminds me (to a slight degree) of old Radiohead mixed with a touch of Sunny Day Real Estate. And when I heard the Elliot Smith cover... I was floored by singer Ryan Karazija. Just an astounding voice that will almost drive you to tears. I only received an EP from these guys, but I really want to hear more of Ryan's voice. The more acoustic, the better. His vocals shine wonderfully that way.

Turn Me Off
Awake
Waltz #2 (Elliot Smith Cover)

I came upon a classic and hilarious Joe Tex song on YouTube, and it led me on a search for more. The results did not disappoint, as I was able to find a couple of other gems by him. And I didn't know this, but Tex and James Brown had a bit of a feud back in the day. According to the wikipedia entry, it was over a girl and dance moves. Ah, the good old days. The only way that would happen now is if that girl was Cher at a gay disco.

Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)
Don't Let Your Left Hand Know
Man That's Your Baby

I'm still sucked into my Xbox360, as it's too cold and dark out to do anything else... but I'm going to try and pull myself away at least once or twice a week to keep this thing looking updated. But I have to warn you (I'm looking at you, Tsuru), I recently stocked up on new releases so it's going to be hard.

And speaking of video games...

I've been blowing up a lot of zombies in Left 4 Dead lately, and the Mirror's Edge song was stuck in my head all weekend... so here are my two personal addictions this week:

Fabio Frizzi - Zombi 2 Theme
Lisa Miskovsky - Still Alive (Mirror's Edge Theme)

Love,
Lady Byrd

More to lose than your dignity?

2008-09-23T04:34:00.001-04:00

So I might have more flakes than Kellogg's, but here's another attempt on a comeback for WNR. I fell pretty hard off the musical wagon after coming to the horrific realization that some spam bots were screwing our site and inboxes in every orifice. I'm now in the process of cleaning up our neglected home and repairing the cracks in the walls to make it all spiffy and easy to maintain again (read as: I've got to wipe out the old inbox and establish a new address for submissions). So, if you've sent anything in via email in the past few months, I'm sorry. Your submissions have most likely been deleted at this time. I just honestly don't have the time to scan through a thousand penis and beastiality emails to find your MP3s. Besides, I don't even have a penis... and that's NOT how you ride a horse. But if you have sent a CD in, I will be going through them this week for reviews. The new submission email address will also be posted up shortly.

I also have to admit that half of my absence is to blame on the fact that I finally got an Xbox 360 with a Live membership a couple of months back, and I just can't put the shit down.

Bitch, you ain't no nerd.
Seriously. Do you know how much fun it is to trash talk with teenagers at 3 in the morning on GTA4? No? Uh, well, yeah... neither do I. But if you ever want to play an INSANELY AWESOME game of UNO or Street Fighter II, you can find me under the gamertag "DJ Lady Byrd." So original, I know. But at least my friends don't have to spend a half hour trying to remember who "Colonel Angus" is in their massively geeky friend lists. (I'm looking at you, Patrick Roche-Sowa of G4TV.)

And now for something completely different.

It may or may not be new to you, but last night I stumbled on a fantastically bad 80s band, so gayly named Seona Dancing (pronounced Shawna Dancing). If it is new to you, you should take a gander at that gentleman on the right up there and see if you can place who it is. I'll wait.

...

Figured it out yet? No, it's not David Bowie... it's funny man Ricky Gervais. Seems his hilarity was unintentional back then. Although the music sounds more like an early Depeche Mode demo and our beloved David Brent is looking strangely hot... the man really can't carry a tune. But it's still interesting to take a peek into Gervais' deep and dark skeleton closet.

What's even funnier than that is his reaction to it being brought up on the Room 101 show below.

I still love you, Gervais. What you did to Carell at the Emmys was brilliant, even if it was just a skit.

Seona Dancing's only two singles, including the B-Sides:
More To Lose
You're On My Side
Bitter Heart
Tell Her

And this post would not be complete without including this classic from another funny man, as well as the recent cover of it for the BuffetLibre Rewind project:
Eddie Murphy - Party All The Time
OH SNAP!! - Party All The Time

Hoping you're still around,
Lady Byrd

All My Bass Are Belong To Texas

2008-06-19T18:09:00.005-04:00

The wonderful Abominatron and Manolo Black have brought me down to DJ for you fine Austinites tonight at Club de Ville. This is my first time in Austin (and all of Texas, period), so I hope you kids can show me what a good time Austin really is.

Here is just a taste of what you will hear tonight:
Michael Jackson - PYT (Marquis / Dmerit Remix)
Metronomy - Radio Ladio (Mac 3000 Remix)

And just because I'm in Texas, here is a hilariously odd country song by a native Texan:
Roger Miller - You Can't Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd

If you come, please be sure to introduce yourself. I'm curious of just how many readers we have here.

Love,
Lady Byrd

Plundering the Vaults

2008-06-03T21:30:00.003-04:00

Ok...I had actually uploaded all of the material about two weeks ago, but never got around to actually posting any of it. So, here I am to sort of do a belated, better late than never edition of plundering the vault.

I grabbed another handful of CD's from my record room. As per usual, the handful covers the gamut of British pop over the last decade or so. It's actually fun to do these sorts of posts as some of this stuff I haven't heard since I bought the CD's way back when.

Lauren Laverne
Ok, I'm not going to lie. I've had a "thing" for Lauren since way way back when Kenickie was around. Well, after Kenickie called it a day Lauren did a one off with Mint Royale for the song "Don't Falter," which is still one of the tweest and coolest summer songs EVER. (I'll post that next week) Soon after that little pop detour she started a brief solo career that sort of ended when her label erm faltered. Today, she's a multi-media darling who appears both on TV and radio and probably makes more money doing that then she ever did singing. Strangely enough, she's actually got her own show on BBC 6 which debuts this weekend (June 7th, 2008) at 4pm GMT. Anyway, here are two songs from her solo single, Take These Flowers Away.

Download: I Fell Out Of A Tree
Download: Some Kind of Other Presence

Magic Hour
American Band alert. Magic Hour was actually from Boston in the good ol' USA and featured the singer of Crystallized Movements teamed up with the masters of sadcore Damon and Naomi of Galaxy 500. The results were for the most part, erm magic. Their second album, Will They Turn You On or Turn On You was the band's masterpiece. It was kind of like a psychedelic Galaxy 500 lost in space and featured actual pop songs that you could tap along too. Of course there was a 20 minute epic at the end of the album but that's a whole other story. For a band that actually had two of the most important members of indie rock in it, Magic Hour hardly ever garnered any press and they ended up quietly fading into obscurity.

Download: Chance Was
Download: Something Else

Outcast
With the release of Portishead's new album a couple of weeks ago and the fact that I didn't really like it at all (it just sounds old) I felt like I should dig out some of my old trip hop records to reaffirm my belief in the genre. Back in the day when Portishead were essentially the flag carriers for the genre(sorry Massive Attack), there were more trip hop bands than people in Britain. A lot were horrible, a lot were ok, and a few were really quite good. Outcast happened to be one of the good ones. Signed to One Little Indian they released their debut album in 1996 and with it's ghostly images, haunting sounds, and seductive vocals it sounded spookier and sexier than most of the competition. I kind of lost track of them shortly after their debut album came out, but apparently the band continued to release material up until 2005.

Download: Nothings Changed
Download: Life and Breath

Soda
No post would be complete without one proper Britpop band from the mid-90's. Soda was a hotly tipped band in the NME way back when. They had all the looks; you know, Puma's and red jeans, denim jackets, etc. They had the sound; kind of like a less trendy Menswear with enough spiky riffs and melodies that were instantly addictive and so memorable that Alzheimer's patients could remember them. They just didn't have the longevity that many of the peers had. Shed Seven they were not and they were promptly dropped in the post-Britpop fallout of the late 90's. But for a short time the world was fizzy with the sounds of Soda.

Download: Inside
Download: Tracy Is A Killer

I'm Baaaack!

2008-05-14T22:05:00.006-04:00

Yep...it's true. After a two year absence LB has been kind enough to allow me to be part of Who Needs Radio once again.

For my first post back I grabbed a few random records from my archive and figured I'd write about them. So here we go...

Revolving Paint Dream
I love old Creation stuff from early in the labels history and Revolving Paint Dream were one of the first bands on the label. They were a mysterious band that were described as a psychedelic pop band that hungrily ingested a variety of influences with a wildly involuntary, style-annihilation internal grace. If they'd only stopped to look to the future they would have been unstoppable. Well at least in the 80's. Not a great deal is known about them but they were led by Andrew Innes who would later join the ever important Primal Scream. The rest of the line-up continues to be shrouded in mystery, but it is safe to assume it was for no particular reason, safe the faulty memories of those likely involved.

Download: Flowers in the Sky (45 Version)
Download: In the Afternoon

The Frank and Walters
Although they are actually Irish this band has been around forever and has lived through more trends in British pop, than most people living on the British Isles. They started way back when shoegazing and baggy ruled the world in the early 90's and worked their way through Britpop and the post-Britpop crash of 97-98 and are actually still around today making jangly, crisp pop for the masses.

Download: Plenty Times
Download: Falling Out of Love

Mainstream
Despite having one of the absolute worst band names EVER, Mainstream were actually a rather good band. Despite the name, the band sounded something like a combination of Verve, Embrace, and a bit of R&B all mixed together. So far as I know they only ever put out one album for Nude (home of Suede) and a whole bunch of singles. "Can Jam," happens to be one of them.

Download: Can Jam
Download: After The Music

Sound 5
Sound 5's perfect pop comes from a band whose members include brothers Danny & Kelvin Andrews, better known as the Sure is Pure remix team. Kevin was also the DJ at the legendary Golden club and the man behind Pharm Recordings which gave the world erm...Blueboy's, "Remember Me."

Download: Ala Kaboo

Enjoy the music guys! Feel free to contact me HERE.

Paul

London, Brighton, Rome, Paris

2008-04-29T21:40:00.002-04:00

I'm leaving for Brighton this Saturday (via London), so this may very well be my last post until I return in June. I know I just started updating again, but seeing as this is my very first trip out of the States... I honestly just won't have enough time to keep up with WNR while traveling.

There is good news though.

While I'm out exploring the places mentioned in the title of this post, past WNR contributor Paul the Anglophile will be back on-board and (hopefully) keeping this place spiffy. But until Paul gets some material together to post for you, here is a little snippet of the playlist I put together for my travels. Enjoy, and wish me a safe trip!

Ivy League - London Bridges
Ladybug Transistor - Brighton Bound
French Kicks - England Just Will Not Let You Recover
Pengilly's - To London
Donovan - London Town
Telepopmusik - Brighton Beach
Frank Sinatra - London By Night
Johnnie Taylor - Rome (Wasn't Built In A Day)
Magnetic Fields - Love Goes Home to Paris in the Spring
Crystal Fighters - I Love London
Friendly Fires - Paris
Electric Light Orchestra - In Old England Town
The Clash - London Calling
The Smiths - London
Sleeper - Cunt London
Cranes - Paris And Rome

Love,
Lady Byrd

P.S. Did you hear that Project Playlist (playlist.com) is getting sued by major record labels? It's complete bullshit, and once again... greed is the ugly motivator. As long as sites such as Project Playlist and Hype Machine exist, music gets a healthy dose of free promotion (both major and independent). Those dinosaurs at the major labels still don't seem to realize that by attempting to take it away, they're only hurting themselves even more.

I hear a voice and then I'm carried away...

2008-04-21T05:37:00.013-04:00

Today's picks:

Right now I am borderline obsessed with the "70s-blended-with-80s" sound of Philly's Hail Social. It's a testament to their music that every emotion I've felt in the past few months has been covered by at least one of their songs. The originals are gold, but the remixes help extend the feeling while still staying true to the original tracks. I DEFINITELY recommend the Designer Drugs remix as part of a soundtrack to your physical activities. No, I'm not talking about sex... I'm talking about working out or biking.

Okay, and sex. Hot, sweaty, make-up sex. Hell, you burn more calories that way anyway. So everyone go out, get in a fight with your significant other, and then do it to Hail Social. You can thank me later for your buns of steel.

MP3sOne U Love
Heaven
One U Love (Pink Skull Mix)
Heaven (Designer Drugs Remix)

Dsico might be a familiar name to you. Not only did I feature his original work on here back in '06, but he's also done a great deal of remixes and mashups. I tend to love his original stuff better, but I did love his remix of ROC's "Sink A Bite Into Life" and cover of Ministry's "Everyday is Halloween". Now he's releasing an incomplete album for free on his site. Some of the tracks are not as well mixed as those on 'City Stirs', but what's to be expected of something that was never finished? The instrumentals are still catchy as hell, and "70s Classic Hits" sounds like Giorgio Moroder had his hands all up in it.

Quote from Luke Collison aka Dsico regarding this new release: "A collection of almost completed songs recorded in the years 2006 - 2007. I suppose I've been a bit busy with other things over the last couple of years and never quite managed to finish these off as an album. Rather than simply let them languish on a hard-drive I thought I might as well put them out in some sense. So here is the entirely free, reasonable high quality MP3 copy of the so called album."

MP3sCome Around
70s Classic Hits
+ Myspace

Could The Indelicates be a reincarnation of The Beautiful South? The lyrics are just as quirky and dark, and Julia and Simon seem to have the same kind of vocal chemistry that Paul Heaton and Briana Corrigan had. Comparisons aside, I'm glad that their songs have made it across the sea and into my ears.

MP3sNew Art for the People
Julia, We Don't Live in the 60s
+ Myspace

Very much a mixture of The Pastels, My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain, you'd almost be shocked to learn that The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart are a relatively new band based out of NYC. You'd probably also be stunned to find that such an amazingly cute band only has 1152 friends on Myspace. It's a tragedy that we live in a world where overhyped, one-hit-wonder bands with wanna be Robert Smith singers get thousands and thousands of fans a day, yet talented musicians like TPOBPAH aren't blowing up all over the atmosphere yet. Well, I'm hoping to change a little bit of that with this post. Download these songs, put them on your dreamy mixtapes, and give them out to your friends. It's too beautiful not to share.

MP3sA Teenager In Love
Doing All the Things That Wouldn't Make Your Parents Proud
Kurt Cobain's Cardigan
+ Myspace

Love,
Lady Byrd

What if God smoked weed?

2008-04-20T04:20:00.008-04:00

He would probably watch Weeds.

Kevin Nealon on 4/20
I'm no pot smoker by any means (although I have slightly dabbled in Hawaiian ganja), but I am a huge fan of the Showtime series. So when the above video was sent to me via email in celebration of the reefer holiday, I just had to put together an impromptu playlist for all you lovers of Mary Jane, and post it up with the video. And what better time to post it than at 04:20 on 4/20?

Spark up, sit back, and "toke" it all in.

Neil Diamond - The Pot Smoker's Song
Can - I'm So Green
Guided By Voices - Weed King
Daniel Johnston - Pot Head
Weird Al - Yoda Smokes Weed
The Rolling Scabs - My Mom Smokes Pot
Band of Horses - Weed Party
Archers of Loaf - Smokin' Pot in the Hot City
Caesars - Strawberry Weed
Bill Hicks - Beer Vs Pot
mc chris - WiiD (Peanut Butter Jelly Mix)
Horace Silver - Acid, Pot, or Pills
Peter Tosh - Legalize It
Stephen Lynch - What If God Smoked Weed

Love,
Lady Byrd

P.S. Season 4 of Weeds premiers on June 16th, and the soundtrack (feat. Beirut, Oh No! Oh My!, Illinois, Ween, Page France) will be out digitally on June 3rd!

EDIT: I would just like to call out Cynamatik Productions for blatantly copying my post without giving any credit, and stealing bandwidth by direct linking to my files. Bravo, you asshat. How about you try to come up with your own material next time?

Soundtracked.

2008-04-17T03:32:00.007-04:00

This post originally began as a collection of cheesy theme songs, but eventually grew into a mass of songs from the soundtracks of movies I love and adore. A good majority of them are 80s classics since I was born in '81, but there are some newer and older gems mixed in too. I had a lot of fun gathering them, since just hearing them brings back tons of good movie viewing memories (read as: being able to eat a box of milk duds without worries). It also reminded me of how much I've always wanted the opportunity to compile a soundtrack for a movie. I have no idea how you get that gig, but I would imagine it takes knowing someone who knows someone, or putting together your own film. Hmm. Maybe one day that dream will come true.

This isn't the list to end all lists, since I'm sure I'll think of more tomorrow that I missed. What are your favorites? Feel free to share any that I missed in the comments! I'll add them to the next list I do.

(Stream above, download below.)
Queen - Flash (From Flash Gordon)
Barry de Vorzon - The Warriors Theme (From The Warriors)
The Dickies - Killer Klowns (From Killer Klowns From Outer Space)
Cherry Bomb - Howard The Duck (From Howard The Duck)
Cyndi Lauper - Good Enough (From The Goonies)
Paul Engemann - Scarface (Push It To The Limit) (From Scarface)
Christopher Cross - Arthur's Theme (From Arthur)
Limahl - The NeverEnding Story (From The NeverEnding Story)
White Lion - Transformers Theme (From Transformers The Movie)
Oingo Boingo - Weird Science (From Weird Science)
Harold Faltermeyer - Axel F (From Beverly Hills Cop)
Tangerine Dream - Loved By The Son (From Legend)
Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes (From Say Anything)
Audrey Hepburn - Moon River (From Breakfast At Tiffany's)
Psychedelic Furs - Pretty In Pink (From Pretty In Pink)
Kenny Loggins - Footloose (From Footloose)
Dolly Parton - 9 To 5 (From 9 To 5)
Vangelis - Blade Runner (End Titles) (From Blade Runner)
Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks Theme (From Twin Peaks)
Danny Elfman - Beetlejuice Theme (From Beetlejuice)
Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody (From Ghost)
The Cure - Burn (From The Crow)
Primal Scream - Trainspotting (From Trainspotting)
Kenny Rogers - Just Dropped in (From The Big Lebowski)
Happy Mondays - 24 Hour Party People (From 24 Hour Party People)
The Beta Band - Dry The Rain (From High Fidelity)
Mohammed Rafi - Jaan Pehechaan Ho (From Ghost World)
Naked City - Bonehead (From Funny Games [1997])
Guitar Wolf - Roaring Blood (From Wild Zero)
Wreckless Eric - Whole Wide World (From Stranger Than Fiction)

Love,
Lady Byrd

That's Not My Reclaim

2008-04-11T20:23:00.008-04:00

My spirits are really down in the dumps today due to losing a best friend and just generally having things go haywire in my life. I won't go into the trivial details, but here are two magnificent bands that are currently lifting me up just enough to move on.

(Stream at top, download below.)

The Ting Tings

Great DJ (IDC Rerub)
That's Not My Name
We Walk (Demo)
Fruit Machine (Live)

Mellow

Rivolizione Sessantanove
Take Me Higher
Shinda Shima
Perfect Colors
Fantastic
It Was Raining

And a track that couldn't be any more perfectly fitting in my current state: Mercury Rev - Holes

Love,
Lady Byrd

Weekend Assault

2008-03-28T10:15:00.008-04:00

I still have a ton of emails and a box of albums to catch up on before I can get some stuff together to review, but in the meantime... here is a little playlist of some of my favorites for you to enjoy over the weekend.

Stream at the top, download at the bottom.

Nite Club - Good Life
Metronomy - My Heart Rate Rapid
MGMT - Electric Feel
The Legends - Closer
Midnight Juggernauts - Nine Lives
Chromatics - Healer
Electric Light Orchestra - Here Is The News
Polyrock - Romantic Me

Love,
Lady Byrd

Update! Update! Read all about it!

2008-03-26T09:28:00.002-04:00

I had all these wonderful plans to redo the site, start updating more, and all that jazzy jazz. But the truth of the matter is, I'm fucking lazy and I sleep a lot. I also have been getting sick a lot. Florida did it to me, y'all. I just don't have the energy or skill to revamp and spruce this place up, much less keep it updated. BUT, I miss you guys. Granted, I came here to post the other night to only realize that when my host transitioned my site, they lost ALL my videos (time to find my backup files). And although it got me down... wild horses couldn't drag me away. Sure, they may trample me a bit, but not drag me into oblivion.

I do have this favor to ask though, before I make my half-ass "I'm still alive" post. If you know someone who'd be willing to do a little charity work by helping me design a CSS template for Wordpress (I currently use Blogger, and there are better audio plug-ins for Wordpress), please tell them to shoot an email over to me at ladybyrd at whoneedsradio dot com with the subject "WNR design help" so I don't accidentally delete it. I did the current layout myself, but Wordpress confuses the hell out of me. I don't need anything complex or flashy, just a template close to what I have now, except with new logos and a fresh color scheme. I'm thinking I'll come back in black.

I'm also thinking of changing the content of WNR into a hybrid of music reviews, gossip entertainment, and just random shit I find on youtube and other sites. I post a lot of bulletins on Myspace with that kind of bizarre crap, so perhaps not making it "all work and no play" for me over here will motivate me to post more. I plan on still including at least one MP3 with each post, so don't think that I'm going to turn into a skinnier, better dressed... well, all around less scary version of Perez Hilton.

Moving on, here's a little short update on what's going on. The Dean & Britta music video I played a part in last summer (opposite Demetri Martin) finally was completed and posted up on the internet for all to see. Sera Rogacki directed this adorable piece of work, and the ending couldn't be more touching. Watch it here, folks (P.S. I play the waitress. WhoNeedsATan?):

I also made a short trip back up to NYC last month to do a set for the Robot Rock party at Le Royale. There were about a gabillion DJs lined up, so the set was pretty short, but I had a great time and was glad to mingle a bit. I also, for the first time in forever, actually remembered to record the set. You see, usually I have good intentions of doing it, but then I have a few drinks beforehand and completely forget. This time I just waited until about halfway through my set before I started slamming drinks. You can thank those vodka tonics for the sloppiness at the end of the mix though. Here it is in all it's streaming glory:

Tracklisting:

Daft Punk - Face to Face
Calvin Harris - This is Industry
Chromeo - Bonafide Lovin' (David Wolf Remix)
Theatre of Disco - YOA
The Black Ghosts - Let's Get Physical
Klaxons - As Above, So Below (Justice Remix)
Justice - D.A.N.C.E. (MSTRKRFT Remix)
Grafton Primary - I Can Cook (Miami Horror Remix)
Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me
Simian Mobile Disco - Piggy in the Middle (Punks Jump Up Mix)
K.I.M. - Wet N Wild (Midnight Juggernauts Remix)
Bonde Do Role - Office Boy (CSS Mix)
20 Fingers - Short Dick Man (RFH Delfos Remix)
Soulwax - NY Lipps
Cazwell - All Over Your Face (Gomi's West 22nd Street Mix)
Eddy Grant vs Digitalism - Zdarlight Avenue (ElectroSound Mix)
Delegation - It's Your Turn (Treasure Fingers Edit)

Download the mix MP3 here: Live @ Robot Rock 2/22/08

Some reviews coming soon, although I'm not promising you when.

Love,
Lady Byrd

P.S. I just want to include that when I went to post this, I couldn't. I had to wait for a chat with my host's technical support, and finally got it all straightened out some 15 minutes later. See? I'm not THAT lazy.

Leaving New York, never easy.

2007-11-05T18:00:00.000-05:00

As some of you may know from my recent MySpace postings... I am moving out of NYC in a few weeks for several different reasons. It's not a permanent move, but I am definitely in need of a break from the big city of dreams. After almost 4 years here, I've come pretty far and met many great people, but a lot of my own projects and goals have been put aside due to the fast-paced and ever-distracting lifestyle here.

So, with that in mind... I have decided to move my junk in the trunk to a more spacious living arrangement back in Florida, where I can concentrate on work, WNR, and music. I don't want to remain a forever-renter in NYC, blowing money and shlepping records from venue to venue every week... barely getting enough sleep in a week to sustain a healthy mind and body. Nobody can live like that forever. I want to have something more to show for my work, and I want to work harder at it. Not have it work me harder.

In the meantime, until the move is final and I've setup shop in Florida, my postings on WNR will remain absent. Post-move, however, this site will once again start picking up like crazy with all of the spare time I will have to dedicate here. A WNR redesign and more features are in the works as well.

Thank you to all the fantastic people I've met in this great city, and thanks for all the great and crazy times we've had. I will miss you all dearly.

FYI, the official going-away party will be on 11/15/07 at The Skinny in Lower East Side, where I will be DJing with some good and talented friends of mine. I hope you can all try to make it out and share a goodbye toast with me.

"New York, New York, big city of dreams
And everything in New York ain't always what it seem
You might get fooled if you come from out of town
But I'm down by law and I know my way around

Too much, too many people, too much
Too much, too many people, too much!"

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - New York New York

Love,
Lady Byrd

Cocktail time

2007-10-03T08:57:00.000-04:00

My birthday is coming up and I'm throwing sort of a cocktail party at my place next saturday. I hate it when people start switching songs at partys and you hear like 20 seconds of each song. To prevent this from happening, I will make a playlist in advance, press play and lock down my computer. I sat down the other day and started to make the playlist but boy it's hard. My post for today is two songs that probably will make it until the final cut but there are so many things to think about.

- No extensive lyrics, but some lyrics are ok
- Music should not be based on riffs
- Should stimulate conversations without interfering (fuzzy criteria, yes)
- No rollercoaster music. It should be a smooth ride from start until finish

Have you got any suggestions on songs, send me an e-mail!

Holy Fuck
Holy Fuck - Lovely Allen

Yelle
Yelle - Tristesse Joie

--
Eric

Cross the Dancefloor

2007-09-27T13:52:00.000-04:00

I know that WNR really has been slacking as of late, so to make up for all the downtime... here are some remixes and covers that have been on constant rotation for me. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

The Black Ghosts - It's Your Touch (Ashley Beedle's Heavy Disco Edit)
Digitalism - Pogo (Shinichi Osawa Remix)
Peter Bjorn & John - Young Folks (Punks Jump Up Special Disco Mix)
Matt & Kim - Yea Yeah (Flosstradamus Remix)
Basement Jaxx vs The Clash - The Magnificent Romeo (2 Many DJs)
Peaches - Boys Wanna Be Her (WhoMadeWho Remix)
Chromeo - Tenderoni (MSTRKRFT Remix)
Futon - I Wanna Be Your Dog (Iggy & The Stooges Cover)
Justice - The Party (Luvtek SMBU Remix)

Love,
Lady Byrd

A Speedy Recovery

2007-09-25T18:15:00.000-04:00

Hey kids, Lady Byrd here with a short-but-suh'weet update for you. It may be rushed, but better late than never, right? Some of these have already been around the music blog circuit, but I'm "Ms. Catch Up" over here and they are still well deserving of some WNR exposure.

This summer, us New Yorkers got to befriend a beautiful Swedish boy by the name of Markus who had fantastic taste in music, and seemingly... a heart of gold. Soon before he left for Stockholm, he handed me an Audible Actions sampler disc, telling me I should really check out the bands on it that he represents. Out of all the bands on the sampler, Leif Karate stood out the most for me. It just so happens that Markus is actually a member of Leif Karate. What a coinkydink.

Apparently the band also saw some success, with their songs being featured on One Tree Hill and The Hills. But honestly, I'm not into hilly shows so I guess that's why it's unfamiliar to me. Here's to hoping these guys get more sucess than mediocre TV shows, because they deserve it.

From Let's Back The Wrong Band:
Dig Up These Bones
Pretty Static
Let's Back The Wrong Band
+ Myspace

The Danish seem to be great at two things specifically - stealing the hearts of the guys I like, and stealing the breath of the music scene. I say "breath" because epo-555 seem to have the whole breathy-shoegaze-electropop thing down pat. Shame I missed these guys when they performed here.

From Mafia (buy @ iTunes):
Hyperschlieb
Grisslappan
Uberholen Hat Keinen Zweck
+ Myspace

I didn't really like Benzos all that much the first time I heard them, but I think it was mostly because my ex-boyfriend was all gay about them. No, seriously, he would probably ride their asses if given the opportunity. But I have to give respect to a band that can throw dub and jungle influences into an alternative sound.

From Branches (buy @ Amazon):
Sell This Thing
Hard To Feel
Hurt Everybody
+ Myspace

What can I honestly say about The Polyphonic Spree? They're fantastic. I love them. You've probably heard of them. The new album is amazing.

That enough? Okay, moving on.

From The Fragile Army (buy @ Amazon):
Section 22 (Running Away)
Section 27 (Mental Cabaret)
+ Myspace

Although VHS Or Beta's Bring On The Comets is no Le Funk, it's still great to hear Craig's vocals maturing beyond the Smith'esque sound of Night On Fire. The "doo-doos" of "She Says" are catchy as hell, and it's nice to hear the guys progress into more of a pop sound in this album. I will always hope for a return to disco for VOB, but as long as Mark Palgy's ass stays hot... I'll keep coming back for more.

From Bring on the Comets (buy @ Amazon):
She Says
Fall Down Lightly
+ Myspace

Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY has been going crazy over Calvin Harris lately. When I first heard "Acceptable in the 80s," I found it kind of catchy but despised the lyrics. It finally grew on me, and I found myself playing it in my sets. Now I've moved on to falling in love with this entire-fucking-album. Seriously. "The Girls" names his appreciation of every size, creed and color of woman.. and what woman doesn't love shaking her ass to that? The instrumental kickers on the album are just as fantastic, and every song is practically a dancefloor filler.

From I Created Disco (buy @ Amazon):
The Girls
Acceptable in the 80s
Certified
+ Myspace

Love,
Lady Byrd

We ain't dead yet.

2007-09-18T17:36:00.001-04:00

I've been shittier at keeping up with this blog than Britney Spears is at saving her career, and for that I do sincerely apologize. The months of Summer had rendered all of us here at WNR overwhelmed with activities, work projects, and the outdoors... but I had promised a few that I would "most definitely have a post up by Monday." Well, how shitty am I now? It's Tuesday and I'm still scrambling with some deadlines this week for work, leaving you again with nothing but a blank palette... which I was supposed to help you paint your day with. Again, SINCEREST apologies for our lack of sharing in recent months (See how I put that in bold? That means I'm for serious!). Things are slowing down a bit now, however, and I do declare that I will have for you variations of lovely audible goodies that you can throw on your Fall mixtapes very, VERY soon (Again, for serious!). So don't give up on us just yet!

Other excuses that were possibly going to be used in this post: a laptop with a dead battery; booze; my trip to Florida; the fried foods in Florida; aliens abducting me; my cat ate and then threw up my homework; insomnia; lots and lots of hot sex with Christian Bale; temporary loss of hearing; and/or watching the entire first season of 'Heroes' for the first time.

Some of those are true, and some of them aren't. Have fun guessing!

See ya soon, folks.

Love,
Lady Byrd