One of my favorite radio stations, WFMU, has created a new site called The Free Music Archive devoted to posting curated selections of free (legal!) recordings. The site is brand new, but it looks to be a good way to discover new music. In just a few minutes on the site I found myself downloading many tracks to itunes discovering new music (Hi Edith Frost, I'm a fan now), older music (A few rare Daniel Johnston tracks) and really old music ( Sophie Tucker). I do worry that the site will scale given it's interface but I imagine that it will improve and grow over time. It's off to a good start and WFMU's archive is deep; it's worth checking out...

I'm not really a podcast guy, but my friend Julien has turned me on to an excellent site called Trucker, Shuckers, Freaks, and Geeks. Check out this episode on Johnny Cash Sound Alikes to get and idea of the flavor of the place. Good stuff in my book.

Julien is the only person I know who has inspired a song poem.

Muxtape is a simple & elegant way to share online mixed tapes by photographer/programmer Justin Ouellette. Check out my very first online mixed tape: raul.muxtape.com.

Mal Hombre
Amanacer Ranchero
Te Quiero Asi
Pero Hay Que Triste

Related: Boing Boing just posted a nice roundup of romanticos

My wife and kids are away for the week so the house is abnormally quiet. Arriving home late from a movie and dinner with a friend, I puttered around, but the silence was deafening... I fired up some music... this was the first song that came on. One of my favs. A perfect way to end the evening. (the song was transferred from a cassette tape bought on an Austin streetcorner from the man himself many moons ago). Good night blog people.

One of my favorite radio stations, WFMU, is hosting the 2007 365 Days Project featuring a new set of outsider recordings in friendly MP3 format each and every day of 2007. The original 365 Days Project from 2003 is revered by my sound obsessed friends both for it's impossible to find recordings and well researched scholarship. This year's edition promises to be equally relevatory.

James Brown: Christmas in Heaven

When was the last time you sat in a darkened room and listened to a great album from start to finish with without distractions? No internet, no books, no preoccupations- just you and the music... this, I recommend.

A must read: Lisa in Austin investigates the fates of the Mandrell Sisters.

Across Portugal I kept seeing CDs for the mustachioed Quim Barreiros. Turns out he was one of Portugal's first Pimba musicians. Pimba is a cheery (occasionally raunchy) brand of Portuguese folk music. Many of the songs sound suspiciously like the cheery (occasionally raunchy) ranchero music you find in northern Mexico and Texas. Finding pimba on the web is somewhat difficult, but i'll upload a song or two when I'm back home. The best I can do for now is thisyoutube video of a girl chair dancing to Pimba.

This morning @ 9AM Eastern Time I hosted WFMU listener hour on 91.1 in New York/New Jersey and http://www.wfmu.org on the web. Enclosed are a few show notes in the form of links, if you only click one of them, make it the one for sSgt Barry Sadler written by his son.

The show: Streaming MP3, Real Audio

Playlist:

The Third Man Theme - Chet Atkins

Boeing Boeing 707 - Roger Miller

She Taught Me How To Yodel - Frank Ifield

Wo ist zu Hause, Mama - Johnny Cash

Put on Your Pretty Skirt - Singing Nun

Mal Hombre - Lydia Mendoza

--Break--

My Rifle, My Pony & Me - Ricky Nelson & Dean Martin intro John Wayne

Hold That Critter Down - Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys

Cattle Call - Eddy Arnold

Cattle Call snippet - Elvis Presley

Radar Blues - Coleman Wilson

Dadyr-Todur - Huun-Huur-Tu

A Little Love, A Little Kiss - Karl Denver

-Break-

The Ballad Of The Green Berets - sSgt Barry Sadler

The Monkey Song - Robin & Crystal Bernard
LP: Jerry Falwell - Feudin' Fussin' And Frettin' (Thomas Road Baptist Church) 1972

Dwarf Invasion - Reggie and the Full Effect Promotional Copy & Greatest Hits

What Is Humidity? - Tom Glazer - Weather Songs

A Beautiful Girl - John Rydgren

-Break-

It Ain't Me Babe - Sebastian Cabot, actor

Bad Habits - Monks

Guyana Punch - The Judys

Bad Man - Greg Oblivian & The Tip Tops

I'd Like To See The Bad Guys Win - Margo Guryan

Man can't get no satisfaction - The Mighty Clouds Of Joy

Corrido de Monterrey - Los Alegres de Teran

A random walk around the web led me this page of Chechen videos. The videos, if you can get a connection (I had quite a bit of trouble), are amazing. The site is rich and deep with pictures of everything from the crowds at a visiting circus to the contestants of the recent Miss Chechnya contest (the BBC noted "there was no swimsuit round"). The site features a a diary/blog noting things such as the opening of a movie theater in Achxoi-Martan ( "orphans will be admitted free") and a newspaper specifically for Chechen bailiffs. Look around, there is so much information to keep you occupied (Apparently clowns (zhukhargs) are no longer used in Chechen wedding ceremonies), so stop reading this and click over.

AAARRRRRGGGGG!!!!! Tragedy! I missed Petty Booka's recent New York gig. I fell totally in love with the Booka girls years ago when I heard them sing My Baby Don't Dance To Nothing But Ernest Tubb at the Silverlake Lounge. Sigh I suppose I'll just have to put Ukulele Lady in heavy rotation and resolve to be more vigilant about concert dates.

If you were a little punk rock kid in Texas in the early 80's you probably loved the Judys. Their albums are all out of print (I have the vinyl) but now through the magic of the interweb you can listen to their albums without your mom throwing them out. Start with Washarama (My mom destroyed 3 different copies of this one). Sounds almost cute now. (Links are realaudio only unfortunately.) Don't you think Guyana Punch is due for a good cover?

Damn Sister Wynona Carr can sing.
p.s. Also why are Elvis covers in German so much fun? Actually I like almost anything covered in German. And I mean anything.

Because everyone needs a little Tony Quinn in their lives.

People who dismiss yodeling as a form, don't listen to nearly enough Hank Snow tunes.

Dead at 94, but he'll live on around here.