Mix Tape Thursday, 5/14/09

WTMD listeners take over the airwaves with three-to-five song sets on Thursday.

6 a.m. Tyler Waldman

Four very different songs by awesome local artists. Sure, only one of these acts has really hit it big, but all of them certainly deserve to.

* "Copy Write," by Caleb and Saleem
* "OK Apartment," by Oranges Band
* "Cyberspace Lip Gloss," by Karmella's Game
* "My Girls," by Animal Collective


8 a.m. Doug Desmarais

Roberta Flack's version of "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye," found on her debut LP "First Take," is the definitive version of this Cohen classic. Breathtaking. Roberta Flack's cover of "Suzanne" is another classic. She is a masterful interpreter. (I'd love to see her do an entire album of Cohen songs . . . ) And Johnny Cash's acoustic resurrection included a great take of "Bird on a Wire." Fantastic.

* "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye," by Roberta Flack
* "Suzanne," by Roberta Flack
* "Bird on a Wire," by Johnny Cash


10 a.m. Stanley Feldman

Five songs I've had stuck in my head recently.

* "Perfect Skin," by Lloyd Cole
* "Vicious," by Lou Reed
* "Spanish Bombs," by The Clash
* "Beercan," by Beck
* "Big Time Sensuality (Fluke Minimix)," by Bjork


12 p.m. Beth Homa

These songs are random, as random as my life is. Each reminds me of person or an experience that have been pivotal in my progression of life. Plus they are just really good songs.

* "Mississippi Half Step Uptown Toodeloo," by Grateful Dead
* "Another Saturday Night," by Cat Stevens
* "Memphis Train," by Buddy Miles
* "Ain't No Sunshine," by Bill Withers
* "Crying," by Roy Orbison


4 p.m. Kevin Majoros

Heavenly songs.

* "Sheep Go to Heaven," by Cake
* "Just Like Heaven," by Kate Melua
* "Come On Get Higher," by Matt Nathanson
* "Heaven," by Los Lonely Boys
* "Heavenly Day," by Patty Griffin

6 p.m. Raffi Creech

* "Shimmer and Shine," by Ben Harper and Relentless 7
Ben Harper has played All Good several times and the crowd always loves him.

* "Ain't Nothing Wrong with That," by Robert Randolph and the Family Band

* "Wrong Way Feeling," by Bob Weir and Ratdog
One of my personal favorites. I recently saw him and Jeff Chimenti (keyboardist) with the Dead in DC and NY and he was awesome with them. This will be my first time seeing him with Ratdog.

* "Hidden Hand, Hidden Fist," by Sound Tribe Sector 9
Everyone loves STS9's electronic jams.

* "Garden of Eden," by Donna the Buffalo
Donna the Buffalo will bring the folkish-bluegrassy jams to All Good this year and I'm really excited to see them.

Keep The Fires Burning For Joe Strummer

It was a real nice surprise over the weekend to find the Julien Temple-directed documentary Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten playing in my cable on demand movie section.

The film has only been in limited theatrical release in the US since early this month and I don't believe it has come to Baltimore yet. It should, though.

I just have to tell you how profoundly moved I was by the story of how Joe, son of an Indian immigrant father and Scottish Highlands mum, truly felt for people and their plights (just hear STRAIGHT TO HELL). From his days as the leader of a squatter movement in London (and the formation of his first band The 101'ers) to his post-Clash days creating campfire communities, Joe forever wanted to be in touch with people and spread the news as he did in The Clash. Scenes of collaboartors and fans who sit and strum at campfires around the world in the film to share stories of Joe, I think, are some of the best movie moments this year.

Speaking of "The News," Joe found kindred spirits in musicians who spread street-level information, be it indigenous musicians from Latin America or rap reporters from the streets of New York.

Check out the trailer for the film and an appearance by the Clash on the Tom Snyder show from Sandinista! era 1981...and fire up the fires for Joe sometime and write your own future.