Of Clapping and Crashing

My Hovercraft Is Full Of Eels

Right, this week I think I have it sorted: Contrast Podcast 25 came out today, and here it is, fresh and ripe for your delectation. The theme is "Handclapping" and Tim has assembled a grand podcast comprised of the happy clappy songs submitted by this week's contributors.

The 'cast can be downloaded from this link or you can subscribe using tye handy-dandy RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ContrastPodcast. Be sure to check out next week's offering - it's CP's six-month birthday, and Tim has a surprise for us all...

And without further ado, this episode's playlist [APPLAUSE]:

(00:00) The Ventures - Let’s Go
Tim from the face of today

(02:55) They Might Be Giants - Clap your hands
Clea and Tuesday from (sm)all ages

(04:35) Imperial Teen - Baby
Matt from Earfarm

(08:15) The Residents - Smack your lips (clap your teeth)
ZB from So the wind won’t blow it all away

(12:33) The Meters - The handclapping song
Andy from Circles of Concrete

(15:48) Super XX Man - Coulee city
Murf from False45th

(20:45) Tilly and the Wall - Fell down the stairs
SAS Radio

(23:34) Mary Timony - I fire myself
Victoria from Muruch

(26:45) The Afghan Whigs - Debonair
Bethanne from CTASLS

(31:28) Hood - The negatives
Chip from Donewaiting.com

(35:20) The Replacements - Alex Chilton
Natalie from Mini-Obs

(38:54) OK Go - You’re so damn hot
Heather from I am fuel, you are friends

(42:03) The Auteurs - Bailed Out
Jamie from The Run Out Groove

(46:20) Eskiimo - Patience
Jamie from Squirrelfood.net

(50:20) Boat - Holding all the globes
Rachel from Untitled

(52:17) Ndidi Onukwulu - May be the last time, I don’t know
FiL from Pogoagogo

Before I give you my also-rans (come now, I know you expect them and would be put out were I to omit them), allow me to plug my choice of artist once again in print. When I pootled along to the Vanvcouver Folk Music Festival earlier this year, you may recall that top of my "Must See" list were Feist, the smartass agit-folk of Hammell on Trial and Dan Bern, and dub-punk priestess Ari Up (who sadly was a no-show). But it was the slender, elegant frame of Ndidi channeling elemental blues from somewhere deep within who was to prove my epiphany. Backed by the gitarr-pickin' Madagascar Slim (isn't that the greatest blues name ever??), she is truly magnificent. Keep an eye (and ear) on her. And here's another track that'll knock yer socks off:

Ndidi Onukwulu - Water (buy her album here or e-here)

Alright, alright, keep your shirt on (but the socks can stay off), I'm coming to the runners-up. Though Ndidi was the obvious choice, a few other songs with the clap got a look-in, viz:

Sham 69 - If The Kids Are United (buy here)
Ah, spare a thought for this working-class hero of a ditty, co-opted by Tony Blair as the entrance song for the 2005 Labour Party Conference. Does that mean Tony, Gordon, John et al think they're in with da kidz?!?? Ye gods...

The Cure - Close To Me (buy here)
I'm thinking of dressing up as Robert Smith for Halloween. That should send the neighbourhood kiddies scuttling away in fear...

Le Tigre - Deceptacon (buy here)
I actually prefer the DFA remix, but regardless, this song has some killer lyrics: "I'm a gasoline girl with a vaseline mind," "Your lyrics are dumb like a linoleum floor"

From clapping to crashing. Well, near-crashing, to be precise. You see, Dear Friends, I had a bit of a scare this morning. I had just saddled up the Squealing Pigmobile for the drive to work and was waiting to make a left turn onto a main road. I started my turn, but my underpowered porker of a steed was proving sluggish, so I squeezed down on the accelerator. However, I neglected to remark that the previous night's rain was sitting on top of tarmac polished slick by three months of summer. And so the tyres planed, the Pigmobile skidded, and everything went slo-mo.

The car's snout aimed for a line of traffic, but with a calmness I'm yet to understand I steered into the skid and avoided a collision. But in so doing I overcompensated and began to fishtail, now heading towards the sidewalk. Again I steered surprisingly cooly, the tyres gripped, and the Pigmobile resumed its intended, straight course. I then turned into a sidestreet, pulled over, and tried to reflect objectively on what went wrong as a delayed shot of adrenaline coursed through me.

Ohmigaaaahddd...!! That, Dearest Friends, was a close one. I'm glad to be here still...

The Primitives - Crash (buy here)

On crashing of another kind, day after tomorrow I'm speaking at a conference put on by my employer. While I know the material sufficiently and the audience somewhat, my dread is mounting; I have visions of getting up at the podium and going "Good Morning, my name is FiL and I'll be speaking with you about... er... um... agblapthtapt... I mean... croak... heh heh... mlxphutpthirple... koff koff... er, you folks want to see me do the Dead Parrot sketch instead??" Oh well, it'll only be 45 minutes of dog-and-pony showing. But you can bet that at 8:30 AM Pacific Time I will be sweating profusely and panicking quietly...

The Smiths - Panic (buy here)

And so, Friends, Dear Friends, and Dearest Friends, to bed. You'll probably not see much of me now before this week-end due to the conference and its associated evening social activities (don't get too excited, I doubt they will be exhilarating). Keep well, I shall miss you all.