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"The Drop with Danno" on GFN 광주영어방송 98.7FM in Gwangju & 93.7FM in Yeosu, Korea. An eclectic radio curation of all things musical spanning the spectrum every week. Broadcasting 8-10pm KST nightly.
Apr 13, 2023
Stevie Wonder – Superstition (Live on Sesame Street)
Thee Marloes – Midnight Hotline
El Michels Affair & Black Thought – That Girl
El Michels Affair – C.R.E.A.M.
Sparkels – Try Love
Scott McMicken & THE EVER-EXPANDING – What About Now
Shocking Blue – Love Buzz
Pale Jay – By The Lake (Acoustic vers)
Okonski – Runner Up
Reuben James feat CARRTOONS, Braxton Cook & Gareth Lockrane – Means The World
Lenny B feat Nogymx & Anton – Gloaming Mists
Dinner Party – For Granted
Lord Echo – Nightclub Daydream
Brijean – Angelo (Space Ghost remix)
I.
It is 20 hours past midnight after a pristine sun-kissed but rather dusted day in our fair city of light, and it is time to break out the cuts as our Sampled & AMPED Thursday commences for tonight’s programming, and we are all covered in the film of April 13, 2023 (whew…just missed us). This is Danno at the ready and feeling lucky as we just dodged a Friday the 13th slash through spacetime, and of course for our first hour we’re going through our funk & soul thing we call Sampled, then it’s Dan Lloyd’s flex hour coming up after we hit 9 bells live on the air, and that is our rock thing that we call AMPED. Now, as far as what’s going down in our first hour for the funky stuff, we have a tribute to Big Crown Records on this eve of El Michels & Black Thought dropping their Glorious Game LP, and we also have a lot of new stuff to cover in part 2 from the likes of Pale Jay, Dinner Party, Nogymx, and Lord Echo amongst other worthies. Dan Lloyd also has a lot of rocks to throw in hour 2 as well, so basically we’re just helping you get AMPED, as that is every Thursday’s piece de resistance. To start though, we’re gonna have Stevie Wonder get funky with Big Bird and company, and we’ll talk about this monumental moment in kids TV after we remember how to get there. This is The Drop.
Stevie Wonder – Superstition (Live on Sesame Street)
The Drop is on the air like for real for real, and as always thankful you are here as our funk punk soul rock Thursday goes wheels up & sky high. Danno here doing what I do and that was Stevie Wonder lighting a funky wick and watching all the kids and adults happily go boom with a live rendition of Superstition, aired yesterday on US TV 50 years ago in 1973.
After appearing in a few segments where he teaches Grover how to sing, Wonder plays "Superstition," his #1 hit from a few months earlier. He doctors the lyrics a bit with a shout out to Cookie Monster, but doesn't suppress the groove, giving the kids a full-on funky good time along with the band.
The producers and everyone involved are blown away, and Sonia Manzano, who played Maria on the show later said, "Moments like Stevie being on the show gave us a glimpse of the way things could be." Many famous acts follow Wonder's lead and appear on the show, Johnny Cash, Paul Simon and Billy Joel among them, and guaranteed our old friend when very young Prince Paolo was watching that one with Billy Joel, I’d bet dollars to donuts on that.
#9870, @gfnthedrop, podcast details, etc.
So let’s get into our Big Crown part 1 for tonight, and we have a couple of tunes from El Michels Affair up next but not before the label’s newest signing Thee Marloes show us the Indonesian funk vibe, and we’ll talk about all of this after the space elevator returns. This is The Drop on your Sampled funk & soul Thursday night!
_________
The Drop returns for the final airbreak of part 1 tonight, and we are amidst our tribute to Big Crown Records of Brooklyn for tonight’s show. Leon Michels aka El Michels has a new album out tomorrow with Black Thought from The Roots, so I thought we’d showcase some of the wares from the label and some of Michels’ selections on his new monthly playlist for part 1 tonight...
Thee Marloes – Midnight Hotline (…this group out of Indonesia is a trio that used to go under Thee Marloes Rhythm, and they are Big Crown’s newest signing. This is the debut single on the label, soon to be part of a 7” coming out later in the year, and the band have a debut LP lined up and scheduled for release next year.)
El Michels Affair & Black Thought – That Girl (…one of four singles released in the run-up to Leon Michels and Black Thought releasing their highly anticipated Glorious Game LP tomorrow, which was recorded during the heights of the pandemic and are said to be some of The Roots’ leading man’s most heart-felt and personal lyrics to date.)
El Michels Affair – C.R.E.A.M. (…any of you hip-hop heads out there have got to get on Big Crown, and this covers album of some Wu-Tang classics is what kinda put El Michels on the map. Released in 2009, this album is just incredible, as is the entirety of the label’s catalogue, so go check if you like to get concussed by the percuss.)
Now we’re going to highlight one more bit from Big Crown before we call it quits, and the label each month has some of their artists put out a picks 10 playlist, and we’ll feature Leon Michels and his picks for April to close the first fourth tonight. Up next is Sparkels with Try Love and then we have Scott McMicken and THE EVER-EXPANDING on a tune called What About Now, and we’ll shut the front door with Love Buzz by Shocking Blue. Go check out the Big Crown artists and their picks 10 playlists on the Spot with all the music, they are a great look in. THIS is The Drop on your Big Crown Sampled funk & soul soiree.
Sparkels – Try Love
Scott McMicken & THE EVER-EXPANDING – What About Now
Shocking Blue – Love Buzz
II.
The Drop continues floating like a rogue planet in space as we move out of the Big Crown solar system and into the slower realms. Danno here, and just like a planet with no sun we just opened it ice cold to start part 2, although admittedly quite warm on the sounds. That was…
Pale Jay – By The Lake (Acoustic vers) (…a little acoustic cover action from Pale Jay, who teamed up with Okonski late last year to release a collab single called By The Lake, which was one of our songs of the year in 2022.)
Okonski – Runner Up (…this is the opening tune on the band’s debut album released via Colemine Records earlier in the year called Magnolia. Unbelievable jazz record getting a lot of deserved love, including via Billboard, who have it in the Top 10 on the jazz records charts.)
Moving along SM, #9870, podcast let us know …
So we’ll move on into more sultry realms of the universe in the next triangle, and up ahead we have new stuff from Reuben James then it’s joints from Lenny B & Nogymx along with supergroup Dinner Party, and we’ll explain ourselves after we float along a bit more. THIS is The Drop on your Sampled funk & soul first hour.
_________
The Drop is back and into the final lengths of our first hour tonight. Danno here, keepin it funky for our Sampled first 57 tonight, and of course Dan Lloyd drops the anvil shortly with our AMPED rock feature coming up at the top of the hour. As to what just smoothed everything out, that was...
Reuben James feat CARRTOONS, Braxton Cook & Gareth Lockrane – Means The World (…for those unfamiliar, this is a brilliant team-up between a few of my favorite independent soul artists. Reuben James, who hails from the UK, has always released his music 100% independently and CARRTOONS is the moniker of Ben Carr, who’s based in NYC. Carrtoons released a great album last year called Homegrown, if you’d like to check for more.)
Lenny B feat Nogymx & Anton – Gloaming Mists (…another week, another lo-fi gem from Nogymx true name Jimmy Dunne, who’s based in Cheongju and hails from fair Galway in Ireland. All three of these artists have worked together previously, and I’m sure more is to come although this is just a standalone single for now.)
Dinner Party feat Arin Ray – For Granted (…for those unaware, this is the supergroup of Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington, 9th Wonder and Robert Glasper. The band are out with a debut LP after releasing a Grammy-nominated EP last year, and the album is called Enigmatic Society due for release tomorrow. Robert Glasper will also be gracing the stage at the upcoming Seoul Jazz Fest, which starts on Friday, May 26.)
So that’s gonna just about do it for the first hour, but we’ll bump to the jump and up next we have another drop from Lord Echo’s Japan Tour mini-record called Nightclub Daydream, and then we have a new remix of Brijean by Space Ghost of Angelo. THIS is The Drop and that is halftime.
Lord Echo – Nightclub Daydream
Brijean – Angelo (Space Ghost remix)
III & IV Round Trip
Ghost – Jesus He Knows Me
The Linda Lindas – Too Many Things
Greta Van Fleet – Meeting the Master
Joe Perry – Fortunate One
Balance and Composure – Savior Mode
Public Image Ltd. – Penge
Motley Crue – Kickstart My Heart
The Dead Milkmen – Grandpa’s Not a Racist (He Just Voted For One)
Balming Tiger – SOS
The Nightmares – Murder Season (ft Will Gould)
Innerlove – Ain’t Who I Wanna Be
Deeper – Sub
Ghost – Jesus He Knows Me
Easter Sunday has just come and gone, and Swedish pop-metal entity Ghost are celebrating by announcing a five-song covers EP. Following last year’s Impera, the PHANTOMIME EP will be out May 18 and features covers of Television (“See No Evil”), Genesis (“Jesus He Knows Me”), the Stranglers (“Hanging Around”), Iron Maiden (“Phantom Of The Opera”), and Tina Turner “(We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome).” Today, you can hear “Jesus He Knows Me,” which famously satirized televangelists — a fitting release for this particular Easter Sunday. Ghost are also releasing an accompanying video directed by Alex Ross Perry.
The Linda Lindas – Too Many Things
The Linda Lindas are back with the new single “Too Many Things,” marking the teen punks’ first new music of 2023.
“We had a nonstop, jam-packed, and awesome 2022 playing shows, going on tours, and meeting fans and making friends across the U.S. as well as Spain, Germany, England, Japan, Canada, and Mexico,” The band write of “Too Many Things” in a statement. “After taking a short break to catch our breath, recharge, focus on school, and go back into the studio, we are ready to share a song about how everything unfolds so fast all the time—the surprises, the disappointments, and the opportunities that pass us by at every moment.”
“Too Many Things” is two and a half minutes of adrenaline-fueled pop punk, as the members of The Linda Lindas lament a relationship on the fritz. Listen to the song below.
The Lindas Lindas’ debut album Growing Up arrived in April 2022. Since then, they’ve also shared the single “Lost in Thought” feauturing Bikini Kill’s Kathi Wilcox and Erica Dawn Lyle and The Raincoats’ Vice Cooler, as well as a cover of The Go Go’s’ “Tonite” and the yuletide ripper “Groovy Xmas.”
The Linda Lindas will also go back on tour this year, including sets at Coachella and a run supporting Paramore’s headlining shows.
Greta Van Fleet – Meeting the Master
Greta Van Fleet have revealed details of their third album, titled Starcatcher, along with the project’s first single, “Meeting the Master.” The 10-track LP arrives on July 21st.
The album was recorded in Nashville by the band and Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb (Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit) over sessions that guitarist Jake Kiszka described in a statement as “very instinctual.” For Starcatcher, the Michigan quartet aimed to strike at big questions like “What is this consciousness that we have, and where did it come from?” as posited by bassist Sam Kiszka, while also digging deeper into their mythical lore by revisiting concepts from their previous work, including 2021’s The Battle at Garden’s Gate.
“We had this idea that we wanted to tell these stories to build a universe,” drummer Danny Wagner shared. “We wanted to introduce characters and motifs and these ideas that would come about here and there throughout our careers through this world.”
The band introduced the project alongside its lead single, “Meeting the Master,” which they dubbed “a dark comedy” and “exotic spiritual journey” about “an esoteric world heeded by the word of a wise teacher.”
Joe Perry – Fortunate One
Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry has announced a new solo album, Sweetzerland Manifesto MKII, the follow-up to the first Sweetzerland Manifesto released back in 2018.
Ahead of the new album’s May 26th release date, Perry also shared the lead single “Fortunate One” featuring The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson. The rollicking blues rocker is tangental to Robinson’s longtime band and solo work, and he sounds right at home over Perry’s licks and solos. Stone Temple Pilots bassist Robert Deleo also plays on “Fortunate One,” continuing the Sweetzerland Manifesto tradition of Perry bringing in guest singers and musicians.
“I’m really excited to get this song out — it hadn’t been written when the first version of Sweetzerland Manifesto was released,” Perry commented via a press release. “My old friend Chris Robinson from the Black Crowes sang on it, he knocked it outta the park! We started it in L.A., recorded it in London, and Chris sang on it… and BANG!! Doesn’t get better than that!!! Really proud of this track.”
“Fortunate One” is one of the six new songs included on Sweetzerland Manifesto MKII, with the other four tracks being alternate vocal takes and mixes from the first Sweetzerland Manifesto. New versions of songs featuring vocals by Cheap Trick’s Robin Zander, the New York Dolls’ David Johansen, and British singer-guitarist Terry Reid are included on the sequel, and Zander reprises his appearance on a new song (“Suck It Up”). In addition, Gary Cherone (Extreme, Van Halen) is also featured on a new track (“Quake”).
“We had so many songs and with everything going on with The [Hollywood] Vampires, Aerosmith, COVID, not touring, and touring, this music kept riding along for me,” Perry noted. “It was like the engine of a train that wasn’t going to stop. I’d wanted to put these songs out, and the idea of adding them to a vinyl release or deluxe version turned into doing MKII. I tend to think in terms of albums. The first one had a vibe, and MKII is a little more rocked out. I almost prefer it. It’s one of those records I can play from front-to-back live.”
Much of the material for both Sweetzerland Manifesto albums was written during a creative groundswell at the home of fellow Hollywood Vampire Johnny Depp in 2017.
Balance and Composure – Savior Mode
It’s been six years since Balance And Composure released their last record, the Slowheart 7″, and it’s been nearly four years since the expansive Pennsylvania rockers wrapped up their farewell tour. At the time, the band members weren’t quite sure if they were calling it quits or not, but that’s what they did. Now, they’ve uncalled it. Balance And Composure have returned. They’ve got two new songs out in the world, and they’ve announced plans for four reunion shows.
Balance And Composure have signed with producer Will Yip’s label Memory Music. They got back together last fall in Yip’s studio; frontman Jon Simmons says it was “magic.” There, they cranked out the new two-song single that they’ve called Too Quick To Forgive, which is out now. The new songs “Savior Mode” and “Last To Know” are big, contemplative, melody-heavy rockers that fit right in with the band’s past music.
Public Image Ltd. – Penge
Public Image Ltd. have announced their first new album in eight years: End of World will arrive on August 11th.
The album is dedicated to frontman John Lydon’s late wife, Nora Forster, who passed away on April 5th at the age of 80. Among its 13 tracks is “Hawaii,” which Lydon wrote as a “love letter” to Forster and later performed it in a bid to represent Ireland in Eurovision.
To coincide with today’s announcement, PiL have released another teaser track, “Penge,” which Lydon describes as “something of a mediaeval Viking epic.”
PiL have also announced an extensive UK/European tour that’s set to kick off in September.
Motley Crue – Kickstart My Heart
Guitarist Mick Mars has filed a lawsuit against Mötley Crüe, alleging the '80s hair metal band is trying to kick him out of the group and reduce his ownership stakes because of a debilitating illness.
Mars, 71, says in his claim that he has suffered from a "horrific" disease for decades, a chronic form of arthritis that has effectively fused his spine, left him three inches shorter than he was in high school and unable to turn his head in any direction.
Because of the disease, called ankylosing spondylitis, Mars told the band last year he would be unable to tour. The guitarist "just could no longer physically handle the rigors of the road," according to a lawsuit filed by Mars last week. He said he would be able to perform with them in a "residency situation" and record with the band, the lawsuit states.
In response, the lawsuit claims, Mötley Crüe announced that Mars was "retiring" from the band and would be replaced by another guitarist — and also sought to strip him of his ownership in the business. Mars claims he had no intention of retiring from the group, and accuses co-founder Nikki Sixx of gaslighting Mars by alleging the guitarist had "some sort of cognitive dysfunction."
The Dead Milkmen – Grandpa’s Not a Racist (He Just Voted For One)
The Dead Milkmen are back with the new single “Grandpa’s Not a Racist (He Just Voted for One)” from the just-announced upcoming album, Quaker City Quiet Pills, their first studio LP since 2014. To go along with the song’s release, the legendary punk band is sharing the origins of the track exclusively with Consequence.
Quaker City Quiet Pills, the band’s 11th album overall, arrives June 8th via the indie label The Giving Groove, with pre-orders on vinyl and CD available here. It comes the same year as the band’s 40th anniversary, with the punk icons having formed in 1983 in Philadelphia.
“Grandpa’s Not a Racist (He Just Voted for One)” is about what you probably think it’s about, with lyrics like, “They’re coming for his Jesus/ They re coming for his gun/ Grandpa’s not a racist/ He just voted for one.”
As for the album, guitarist-singer Joe Jack Talcum says, “To me, it’s like a greatest hits of all our styles put into one album. It checks all the boxes of things that fans have liked about us since our first album. It has political satire. It has the funny lyrics, the simpler punk songs like we started out with.”
For this exclusive “Origins” feature, each member of the band chimed in with their own inspirations for “Grandpa’s Not a Racist (He Just Voted for One),” with lead singer Rodney Anonymous including some hilarious anecdotes about his own feelings towards elder bigots.
Balming Tiger – SOS
After a slew of loosely connected releases across various members’ catalogs, Balming Tiger, the alternative K-pop collective and Band To Watch, will release their first official studio album this year. Following “Sexy Nukim” and “Trust Yourself,” the next single is out today.
“SOS” marks the first time all 11 members of Balming Tiger – performers Omega Sapien, sogumm, bj wnjn, and Mudd the student, producers San Yawn and Unsinkable, video directors Jan’ Qui and Leesuho, visual artist Chanhee Hong, DJ Abyss, and writer Henson Hwang – collaborated on a new track together. The track’s woozy, eclectic rock stylings remind me of Young Fathers or Yves Tumor, matching hard guitar and bass riffs with an exceptionally catchy wordless hook. It arrives with a music video shot in Hong Kong and Qui, inspired by Wong Kar-Wai films like Fallen Angels and Chungking Express.
The Nightmares – Murder Season (ft Will Gould)
The Nightmares have teamed up with Creeper’s Will Gould for a brilliant new song.
Entitled Murder Season, the track is taken from the group’s newly-released debut Séance, which is out now via Venn Records (UK and Europe) and Equal Vision Records (USA and RoW).
Says vocalist Adam Parslow: “Murder Season is a tale of two serial killers on the run. They simply cannot live without each other and are willing to do whatever it takes to stay together. This dark and brooding song tells of aching love and distant regret.
“When writing this song, we just knew that Will Gould’s vocals would fit perfectly and so we personally reached out to collaborate. Luckily, Will was incredibly enthusiastic and we really believe the result a match made in some heavenly hell. It was meant to be.”
Innerlove – Ain’t Who I Wanna Be
Long Island emo band Innerlove. have been on the rise for a bit, and now they've announced their debut album, Roscoe, due June 9 via Refresh Records (pre-order). The first single is "Ain’t Who I Wanna Be," an atmospheric, pastoral emo song that vocalist/guitarist Ryan O’Rourke says is "mostly about how I became something I swore I’d never be. I have a problem dealing with negatives, I always have." The band cite Weatherbox, The Weakerthans, and Anthony Green as influences, and fans of those artists should give this a spin.
Deeper - Sub
Chicago band Deeper have signed to Sub Pop, and they've just released their first single for the label."Sub" is straight-ahead indie rock, with pops of punk and new wave in its guitar and drums. The band shared:
‘Sub’ was in the trash can for a minute. We recorded it in 2021 at a slower tempo before realizing it didn’t work. It was built again from the ground up, this time with a much faster tempo and different dynamics. The nice thing about iterating on songs over the pandemic was having time to revisit old ideas – the song even features a guitar part from the first recorded Deeper song that we ended up discarding. Lyrics jump around events from the last few years, often reflecting on the past and present. The video functions as a vessel for us to reference characters from past videos, showing them stuck in a loop, in a purgatory where they’re waiting to move on to whatever is coming next.
The band are now working on their full-length debut on Sub Pop, out later this year.