The Fat Angel Sings

Cover Song As promised, we’ve got a lil Halloween treat for yous. We planned on playing Goodbye Horses by Q Lazzarus (made famous by its presence in the movie Silence of the Lambs) at our show tonight but since it was cancelled, we’re releasing a LIVE version of it

Our totally LIVE cover of Goodbye Horses by Q Lazzarus

released October 29, 2021
Grace Koon – Guitar, Vocals
Dave McGrory – Drums, Vocals
Brian Bartling – Digital Saxophone, Bass Synth

My Idea, the new pop duo comprised of musicians Nate Amos and Lily Konigsberg, are releasing “That’s My Idea“, their debut five-song effort worldwide today on Hardly Art Records.  The EP features their two-in-one official visual for singles “Stay Away Still” and “That’s My Idea,” along with “I Can’t Dance.”

“Underscored by a deadpan monotone that counters every sentiment of singer Lily Konigsberg’s with an eyerolling comeback, ‘Stay Away Still’ introduces My Idea as a band unafraid to have fun with the form. Hooked around a lo-fi, three chord swagger, there’s an easy, fuzzy charm to its bounce, but there’s also oodles of personality on show here to elevate the track above just another US indie export.” [“Stay Away Still”] –  DIY

“The couplet kicks off with the bouncy ‘Stay Away Still,’ a song the retains the joyful juvenescence of their best work, and even heightens it to a degree. Both Konigsberg and Amos have been creating songs practically since they could talk, and that wonderment comes through in the song’s sunshine swagger, full of various voices and laughter…’That’s My Idea’ gets a little overcast and emotional, but not without sacrificing the joyful atmosphere of two talented musicians jamming together, working through their worries in tight unison. A song of passive confrontation, it finds Konigsberg whisper-singing “that’s my idea” repeatedly until its threaded through your cortex irreversibly.” [“Stay Away Still” + “That’s My Idea.”] – Beats Per Minute

“Together the music they make is artfully delightful indie pop that you can only fall for as soon as you hear it” – Closed Captioned

“The debut single from prolific Brooklyn musicians Lily Konigsberg of Palberta and Nate Amos of Water From Your Eyes captures the juxtaposition of returning to a new life transitioning out of pandemic isolation. Konigsberg’s feathery lyrics pack a punch describing the whirl of thoughts surrounding being judged out in public again while Amos’ guitar brings a lively playfulness to the track.” [“Stay Away Still”] – Ears to Feed

“‘Stay Away Still’ delivers darkly tongue-in-cheek lines like “depression’s a conspiracy theory” over jittery rhythms, twitchy guitars, while Lily Konigsberg’s sardonic vocal hooks push and pull.

It’s infectious art-pop that winds up like a spinning top, oscillating joyously in the rough proximity of the dexterous song writing of Breeders or the inner dialogues of The Mouldy Peaches. While the drum machine clicks and hushed delivery of ‘That’s My Idea’ has an alt-country flecked beguiling more meditative charm.” [“Stay Away Still” +  “That’s My Idea” / Video of the Week] – God Is In The TV

“Spunky and fun” [“Stay Away Still”] – NPR Music

What People Are Saying About My Idea: “Wonderfully alluring.” [“Stay Away Still” / “That’s My Idea.”] – Stereogum

“‘Stay Away Still’ builds gradually, with new layers being introduced throughout. Finally, it swells to a big bouncy climax that comes to an abrupt stop leaving you eager for more and grateful that this song has dropped as part of My Idea’s special two-in-one release.”  [“Stay Away Still” / “Track of the Day”] – Get In Her Ears

About My Idea:
For My Idea, music has always been the plan. “I wrote a song in a pool in Florida when I was two,” explains Konigsberg, humming the melody over video chat, and Amos nods in agreement, “When I was four I wrote one called “like a cat” about how my girlfriend sleeps at the foot of the bed like a cat.” Though they’ve both been pulled toward song writing since a young age, it’s a miracle they ever ended up doing it together.

While Konigsberg is a Brooklyn lifer, Amos’ family bounced around from Colorado to Pennsylvania and eventually Vermont. At some point, he up and left to Chicago, looking for a change of scenery. “I was just bored, I still am,” he says of the decision, which might also explain the immense volume of recording projects (roughly 250) that he worked on during his four year stint there. Eventually he ended up in New York to start the avant pop band Water From Your Eyes, and before long, had crossed paths with Lily.

After years performing with her experimental punk group Palberta, Konigsberg was beginning to carve out a solo career, and thought Amos could be a potential producer. What began as a trial session for her debut album quickly evolved into a song writing competition, with the two churning out dozens of tracks over the Fall of 2020. “Lily became the lyric supervisor and I became the music supervisor,” explains Amos, “the roles emerged.” With such undeniable chemistry, it was only logical that they form a band, the hilarious and perfectly named My Idea.

On their debut EP, the duo pack their immense personalities into bite sized pop experiments. “Stay Away Still” delivers tongue-in-cheek lines like “depression’s a conspiracy theory” over tightly wound indie rock, while “Birthday” immediately pivots into icy glitchiness, pitting pulsing drum & bass against glossy vocals. There’s an economy to their songwriting, every production choice and lyric pulling you into their world without ever becoming overwhelming. Lyrics like “God is great and music’s better” feel like a revelation on “I Can’t Dance”, and the piano arpeggios on “Keep Lying To Me” build the tension to a boiling point before erupting into autotuned euphoria.

Their union has been described by friends as “watching two planets collide”, and their 13-minute debut feels like watching a universe only begin to expand.

After pioneering country rock with The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, Gram Parsons perfected the form on GP. Though the singer-songwriter’s 1973 Reprise Records solo debut includes some covers (George Jones’ “That’s All It Took” among them) the album leans heavily on such outstanding originals as “She” and “The New Soft Shoe.” Great as the material is, it’s the performances that really put this set over the top; Gram’s vocals never sounded better, and he’s surrounded by such stellar instrumentalists as guitarist James Burton, fiddler Byron Berline and co-producer Ric Grech on bass. In a class by herself is Emmylou Harris, whose harmonizing here helped launch her illustrious career. Parsons was born on this day in 1946, and we’ll salute the cosmic American musician with another spin of GP.

The late Gram Parsons. A walking contradiction. An angel on one shoulder, a devil on the other…sounds like someone I could have related to. Gram’s voice hangs on a thread on “She”, a sublime country ballad with lilting melody, subtle rhythmic shifts and gorgeous chord changes. Just hearing the way Gram sings the word “Hallelujah” is enough to make the most fervent unbeliever put their faith in the Lord above. Gram’s singing was always so assured and yet so naked and fragile.

By the time Gram Parsons released his debut solo album, he’d already been a central figure in southern rock ‘n’ roll. He’d started the band International Submarine Band, had been a pivotal building block in the Byrds’ best album “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” and co-founded The Flying Burrito Brothers all between 1968 and 1970. Fast-forward three years, and he, finally, made a record under his own name—and it’s a pretty damn terrific one. “GP” is 11 of the most soulful, poetic country rock songs this side of Sun Records. It introduced the world to the eternal greatness of Emmylou Harris while solidifying Parsons’ legacy altogether. “She” and “A Song for You” and “That’s All It Took” are reflective, compassionate and beautiful standouts, while “Streets of Baltimore” endures as a country staple.

Keith Richards said about Gram: “Man, I never been so angry about anyone checkin’ out early as that guy…he was totally on the right track.” Keith sounded sad when he said this, thinking of his friend who had slipped away in 1973. I guess Keith was made of stronger stuff than Gram, the visionary Southern boy who was blessed with good looks and charm as well as a burning love of soulful music, particularly of the country variety. He also had a lust for hedonistic excess, but he wouldn’t have been Gram if he hadn’t.

Listen to any number of songs; the good feeling of “Older Guys” or the heartbreakers “A Song For You” or “Brass Buttons”, and you’ll know why Gram Parsons is one of the greatest artists ever.

The 1960s British blues boom’s favourite Louisiana bluesman James Isaac Moore (his song I’m A King Bee was an early Rolling Stones’ cover), Aka Slim Harpo remains the state’s seminal swamp bluesman. His lazily drawled, bluesy vocals, framed by fleet-of-note guitar, simple harmonica and grinding funky rhythm section, helped define a timeless form of modern blues that was rooted in Deep South tradition. Slim Harpo was a leading exponent of the swamp blues style, and “one of the most commercially successful blues artists of his day”. He played guitar and was a master of the blues harmonica, known in blues circles as a “harp”. 

Towards the end of his brief life, however, Slim was busy modifying his blues with elements drawn from the then-voguish soul and progressive rock genres. At the time of their first release, many blues purists were apt to dismiss these trends and recordings out of hand. With hindsight, though, the blues produced at the end of Slim’s career sound as strong as anything he recorded earlier (and they benefit from the weight added to the musical fidelity by their improved studio sound and stereo recording).These 25 sides include Slim’s classic and truthful version of Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues, a threatening, slow-grinding Jody Man, a sly, boastful Dynamite (“I’m dynamite pretty baby/All you do is light my fuse”), a great version of (the much over-recorded) Rock Me Baby, the southern-fried recipe of Tee-Ni-Nee-Ni-Nu and the classic 2-part Tip On In. Guitarist Lynn Ourso, who played on Harpo’s later Baton Rouge Sessions recalled: “It was a dream working with Slim Harpo because he was my hero..

We lost one of the greats when Slim died”.

Slim Harpo is one of the very best rhythm & blues artists. This is such a cool groove…the way the guitar works with the bass and drums. It’s subtle and lazy but funky. I dig this stuff: “Te-Ni-Nee-Ni-Nu”, “Shake Your Hips”. Slim Harpo is an important figure in the scheme of things. Ask Alex Chilton…ask the Stones.

Never a full-time musician, Harpo owned a trucking business during the 1960s. According to writer Ryan Whirty, “Harpo and his band needed to tour constantly and play as much as possible; times were frequently lean financially, and the men had to scrape up whatever they could get.” But, by 1964, several of his songs had been released on albums and singles in the UK, and British rock bands began to include versions of his songs in their early repertoires. British Merseybeat/R&B group The Moody Blues reportedly took their name from an instrumental track of Slim’s called “Moody Blues”. 

Harpo was more adaptable than [Jimmy] Reed or most other bluesmen. His material not only made the national charts, but also proved to be quite adaptable for white artists on both sides of the Atlantic … A people-pleasing club entertainer, he certainly wasn’t above working rock & roll rhythms into his music, along with hard-stressed, country & western vocal inflections … By the time his first single became a Southern jukebox favourite, his songs were being adapted and played by white musicians left and right. Here was good-time Saturday-night blues that could be sung by elements of the Caucasian persuasion with a straight face.

He had his biggest commercial success in 1966, when the predominantly instrumental “Baby Scratch My Back” reached number one on the R&B chart and number 16 on the broader chart. Harpo described it as “an attempt at rock & roll for me” and was again produced by Miller. However, disagreements with Miller and a change in the record company’s ownership led to two follow-ups, “Tip On In” and “Tee-Ni-Nee-Ni-Nu”, being recorded in Nashville with new producer Robert Holmes.

He recruited Lightnin’ Slim for his touring band in 1968,  and toured widely in the late 1960s, mainly reaching rock audiences. With his first scheduled tour of Europe and recording sessions already planned, “one of the cleanest living bluesmen of his era” died suddenly of a heart attack in Baton Rouge in January 1970 aged 46. He was buried in Mulatto Bend Cemetery in Port Allen, Louisiana

Melbourne punk rockers Amyl and the Sniffers were the latest band to appear on “KEXP At Home” and they provided a searing set for listeners. The U.S. radio show has been conducting its live series virtually since the pandemic, with Amyl filming their set this month.

After a brief chat between host Troy Nelson and three of the band’s members – lead singer Amy Taylor, drummer Bryce Wilson, and guitarist Dec Martens, – their set started with a thrashing performance of old song ‘Some Mutts (Can’t Be Muzzled)’. The band then rattled through several highlights from their excellent new album, Comfort to Me: ‘Hertz’, the excellent lead single ‘Guided by Angels’, ‘Security’, ‘Knifey’, and ‘Capital’.

After two more tracks, the three members returned to chat with Nelson about the success of their recent album. There was a lovely moment of dry Aussie humour from guitarist Martens when Nelson informed listeners that Taylor had to nip away for a few minutes to deal with a blind repairs person. “That’s amazing, he’s blind and he’s repairing your house,” he said, presumably to the bemusement of the American host.

“Comfort to Me”, Amyl’s second album, came on September 10th to strong reviews. “If there’s a theme here, it’s a flat-out refusal to stay what they are,” said the review. “Taylor’s lyrics are tighter, the compositions are smarter, and the ideas are bigger: “Comfort To Me” is the sound of a young band realising it has more, much more, to give.”

“On their second album, the Australian quartet expands into a Colossus-sized version of itself. Everything feels bigger, heavier, and more meaningful,” 

Songs: Some Mutts (Can’t Be Muzzled) Hertz Guided By Angels Security Knifey Capital I Don’t Need A Cunt (Like You To Love Me) Maggot Filmed at Soundpark Studios in Melbourne, Australia

Amyl and The Sniffers sharing a live performance recorded exclusively for KEXP and talking to Troy Nelson.

Recorded October 14th, 2021.

PLAYING TRACKS BY

The Shivas, Bnny, Lushings, Mildred Maude, Hoorsees and more.

#indie#indie rock#alternative rock#post-punk#dream pop

This podcast is unpaid & survives on donations. You can donate via paypal https://www.stephenmbland.com/olas-kool-kitchen or buy merch https://bit.ly/3ePRH6n I’m a DJ on KCLA 99.3FM In LA, 107.5 Andhow.FM in New Zealand, Maximum Threshold Radio, Rock Radio UK, Sword Radio UK, Jammerstream One, Kor Radio, Bombshell Radio, Pop Radio UK, Radio Wigwam, Rock XS Radio. Radio Candy Radio and Radio Lantau you can hear more shows here https://hearthis.at/olaskoolkitchen/
Show 454
1. The Shivas-If I Could Choose
2. Bnny-August
3. Lushings-Rough Me Up
4. Mildred Maude-Glen Play Moses
5. Hoorsees-Videogames
6. Lou Cyphers-Vacation
7. Smoon-Because of U (Feat Kimmy Harz)
8. Wallace Welsh-Never Gonna Kiss Her
9. Talker-Sad Chick-single-self release
10. Baths-The Stones-Pop Music False B Sides II-Basement’s Basement
11. The Crystals- Frankenstein Twist-Twist Uptown- Philles PHLP 4000
12. The Kac -Ties – Mr. Werewolf-single- Shelley
13. Low-All Night-Hey What-Sub Pop