Sneaky Dragon Listening Party Ep. 3

Well, hello there, music fans! Welcome to Episode 3 of the little podcast that rocked – the Sneaky Dragon Listening Party!

This week Dave and Mary sit around the old turntable and give a spin to side one of listener Nick Pond’s first mixtape. Dave is still claiming growing pains as he tried to figure out exactly what he was doing with the mixtape project; Mary thinks this is the best one yet.

So this week, Mary and Dave listen to:

  1. Frank Black – “Headache” – Teenager of the Year, 1994
  2. Field Music – “A House Is Not a Home” – Tones of Tone, 2007
  3. Chantal Kreviazuk – “Wayne” – Under These Rocks and Stones, 1996
  4. The Free Design – “You Could Be Born Again” – You Could Be Born Again, 1968
  5. Jefferson Airplane – “J.P.P. McStep B. Blues” – Unreleased track [bonus track on Surrealistic Pillow], 1967
  6. The Roches – “The Troubles” – The Roches, 1979
  7. The Chefs – “24 Hours” – single, b/w “Let’s Make Up”/”Someone I Know”, 1981
  8. The Decembrists – Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Soon) – The Crane Wife, 2006
  9. Midlake – “Young Bride” – The Trials of Van Occupanther, 2006
  10. Sufjan Stevens – “Barcarola (You Must Be a Christmas Tree)” – Silver & Gold – Songs for Christmas, Volume 6, 2012

10 thoughts on “Sneaky Dragon Listening Party Ep. 3”

  1. Well I was out of my depth on episodes one and two, knowing none of the music, (but loving almost all of it!) so I was surprised to hear Field Music, The Free Design (kites ARE fun) and Midlake on here. Yay! I know things.

    Fun fact! I actually bought my copy of The Trials of Van Occupanther at Zulu Records when I had freshly landed off the boat (that was shaped and flew like a plane) from Australia. I spent the whole afternoon in that store. I think I bought 8 CDs that day… That I then had to carry around with me in my luggage for months on end til I ended up in Toronto. (Yeah this is why people think first.) That store was great, with all their listening stations! (Then I got a kick out of Dead Like Me, seeing it show up in an episode and I was like “I’ve been there!”)

    1. As I mentioned on one the past episodes, Zulu is still there, but a shadow of its former self – it no longer sells new music (on CD, anyway) (which I guess no longer sells?), but have a pretty good selection of used stuff. They are now combined with the once-mighty Videomatica for the same reason that no one is buying DVDs anymore. Sad, really.

      I’m glad the Venn diagram of our tastes in music converged!

  2. Great show! so enjoyable and fun.
    Yes– Mary, I agree, Dave does have strange taste in music at times.
    Dave you’re right about “Hey Hey what can I do” by Led Zeppelin not being a “deep cut”. It has gotten regular play on Classic Rock stations for years.
    I really enjoy the variety of music you guys play–I am finding about a lot of bands O never heard of.
    I enjoyed the Field Music song, and hearing about the makeup of the band. Their sound and lyrical style reminded me of one of my all-time favorite bands–Squeeze.
    Any thoughts on Squeeze, Dave and Mary?
    I look forward to the next episode.
    Thanks so much!
    Danny
    PS: Mary has a delightful laugh!

    1. I prefer to think of my musical taste as “advanced” and I write this as I’m listening to Gong’s 1971 album Camembert Electrique.

      Glad to hear you enjoyed the Field Music song – especially as my Field Music obsession guarantees that you will hear them a few more times! (Make that many) They draw from a wide range of music including New Wave/Post-Punk so I’m sure there is some Squeeze in their DNA. I rate Squeeze very highly – my favourites being Argy-Bargy, East Side Story and Frank. Lezah and I saw them play here in Vancouver in the late 80s.

      Thanks for listening to our little show! Mary was pleased by your comment about her laugh.

  3. Yet another great episode and loved the, “Honey we shrunk Bob Dylan again” line.
    So, Frank Black, pretty good.
    Field Music. Loved the music less so the singer’s post ’80s alt-rock (hate that term) warbling. Why do those guys all sound the same?

    Chantal: Sounds ’90s Lilith Fair to my ears, and that ain’t good.

    The Free Design. I’m in love l-u-v. Though thinking Mary’s right on the this probably works better on a mix than a whole album. Or maybe not. This is the first I’ve heard by them so will be checking more out. Still, I’m thinking the Beach Boys can get away with stuff like this. But the Beach Boys have Brian (and Dennis and Carl) so there’s that.
    Beautiful, soaring wonder this song though.

    Jefferson Airplane. A band I like lots and own several albums by. First I’ve heard this though. Thanks for playing. It’s the mutt’s nuts. Cool title too is right.

    The Roches. Heard of them and maybe think I heard a song or two back there somewhere. Not sure. Splendid voices but the cutsie pie factor recalls that band featured in “Juno.” Mouldy Peaches, something like that.
    They’re better than them. But I’m betting a little of the Roches goes a long way. But, I’ll check them out in case I’m wrong as I often am.

    The Chefs. My era of music and love this stuff. I’d never heard of them though. Now I have and pleased as punch for it.

    The Decembrists. Eh. It’s all right.

    Midlake. Meh.

    Sufjan Stevens. Greatness and great to see this included. Have the box set of this on vinyl (jam packed with goodies galore in addition to the four or five albums). Have the first set on CD count of it never came out on vinyl. Far as I know. Tis the season. Might play them tonight.

    Suggestion I hope is not to forward. You’re covering the listener’s fave movies list on SD. Have you considered soliciting listeners to submit their favorite albums and discussing those? Either here or on SD.
    Speaking of which. There’s a new SD up. Gonna walk Arthur (he’s a Welsh Terrier) and come back and dig in to that.
    Cheers.

  4. Fantastic show again. For the first time with one of Dave’s lists, this could (almost) have been drawn from my own collection. So, not strange at all, obviously.

    1. Really, Chris? Which songs were drawn from your music collection?

      As I’ve said elsewhere, I’m glad the Venn diagram of our musical tastes converged!

      1. Actually, only four, now that I look back! Frank Black, The Roches, The Decembrists and Sufjan Stevens. Maybe it felt like more at the time because it’s rare for me to recognise more than one or two songs in your fine lists.

        I played that first Roches album to death when it first came out. Absolutely love it, especially Mr Sellack and Runs in the family.

        Frank Black’s non-Pixies career has never really got the acclaim it deserves. I agree with you that Teenager was much better than his debut, and the sequence of records he made with the Catholics really stands up – Pistolero and Dog in the sand especially.

        My experience with the Decembrists was very similar to yours – great song, but I didn’t really get into the album.

        And Sufjan – I don’t know his stuff so well, but I love so much of what I’ve heard that it’s definitely time to delve deeper.

        Happy Boxing Day when it comes. And Happy Hogmanay!

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