InRadio 4: Words/Wings

Here are the inspiring artists you will hear on InRadio's forth disc. To hear these and other great artists, order now.

The Essex Green
Merge Records
InRadio 5 starts strong with a beautiful piece of pop from The Essex Green, loyal and proud residents of Brooklyn, NY. A rare breed in today's unilateral homescape, members Sasha Bell, Jeff Baron and Christopher Ziter have conspired to bring forth, with the accompaniment of various gifted friends, their most original composition yet – The Long Goodbye. With the spirit and panache of a National Geographic exploration, The Long Goodbye covers old yet not always familiar territory; at the same time bringing not a common, but rather a collective soul to its sound. The Long Goodbye finds the band in top form as it peels away some of the masque-committee and brings forth The Essex Green's richest sound yet.

Pepe Deluxe
Emperor Norton Records
InRadio brings listeners a track from Finnish DJ duo Pepe Deluxe’s new record, Beatitude. While the duo’s last album had precisely no live instruments on it whatsoever, this one has guitars, brass sections, piano, strings, electric violins "and lots and lots and lots of drums." Musicians from all over the world would record pieces then the work would be collated at the band's studio in Helsinki. There's a mad video genius from Minnesota, a jazz drummer from Finland, singers from Syria, Cuba and The People's Republic of Brighton, girls with exotic parentage (Finnish & Pakistani, Swedish & Slavic), a string section recorded in Russia, there's even an appearance of Finland's King Of Tango, a form of music that's surprisingly big in northern Europe's (often) frozen wastes.

Centro-matic
Misra Records
Each and every song on Centro-matic’s newest release, "Love You Just the Same", boasts their uncanny combination of emotional urgency and pop accessibility. Each is an obtuse indie koan and an arena-rock fist-pumper rolled into four perfect minutes. And songwriter Will Johnson raises his voice over it all like a weather-beaten flag as his lyrics loosen from bunched knots of surreal verbiage into the catchiest and most affecting reel of la la la's since Tears for Fears first sent you "Head Over Heels.” Love You Just the Same pulls off a kind of alchemy, effortlessly fusing indie crash and power-pop crackle into what feels, for all the world, like the new classic rock.

Mercury Program
Tigerstyle Records
Without a doubt, The Mercury Program have established themselves as one of the most exciting bands to come out of Florida in a long time. The band's breathtaking recordings and hypnotizing live performances have quickly gained them a dedicated following. Formed in the summer of 1997, the band is only now beginning to come out of its shell with its refreshing mix of angular guitars, rhythmic bass lines, jazz-influenced drumming and ethereal vibraphones. InRadio brings listeners a soothing track from the band’s recent split EP with Maserati, put out on the now (sadly) defunct Kindercore Records.

Outright Radio
Featured on Public Radio International and hosted by David Gilmore, the Edward R. Murrow and Golden Reel Award winning Outright Radio, presents its Series 2003: Six hour-long radio specials featuring the extraordinary stories of America's Gay Community. Each show is filled with the heartache and humor of being openly gay, lesbian, bi and transgendered at the beginning of the 21st century. Whatever your sexual orientation, Outright Radio's intelligent, insightful and entertaining programs will keep you glued to your computer, stuck in your car, unwilling to miss a minute. InRadio 5 brings you a thought-provoking and hilarious piece from Outright Radio about gay marriage.

Stephan Smith
Universal Hobo / Synchronic Records
Called "an incredible songwriter and musician" by Dave Matthews, Stephan Smith performs rock, country, and rap songs seeped in the old time folk tradition. His topical songs and poetry have become local and national anthems to the activist community, and this project included collaborations with Pete Seeger, Dean Ween, Mary Harris, and DJ Spooky. The Village Voice recently called Stephan the “heir apparent to Woody Guthrie” and it doesn't look like anyone is going to step ahead of him in line any time soon. InRadio brings listeners Stephan’s anti-war anthem, The Bell, a song that you certainly didn’t hear on mainstream commercial radio.

Thien-Bao Tuc Phi & Dennis Kim
Tru Ruts Endeavors/Speakeasy Records
InRadio brings listeners "Brothers", a poem that Bao and Dennis contributed to Words Will Heal the Wound, a spoken word anthology series. Here’s more about them: Thien-bao Thuc Phi was born in Sai Gon, Viet Nam and raised in South Minneapolis. He started reading, writing, and performing creatively at an early age - around 4th grade - but his start in spoken word began in high school as he became socially active. He has performed, taught workshops, and lectured at numerous functions, rallies, schools, universities, colleges,and community organizations around the nation. He is a successful slam poet and has been published in various literary magazines, journals, and anthologies. He will be appearing in the 3rd season of HBO's Def Poetry Jam.
Dennis Kim was born in 1978 in Fairfax, VA to immigrant Korean parents. He plans to die on May Day, 2078, having outlived capitalizm, boy bands, and the curious habit of calling both our best friends and domesticated animals "dog." He is currently learning and loving all he can, grieving for the world, and perpetually touring with panAsian spoken word phenomenon I Was Born With Two Tongues and the feared and respected hip hop unit Typical Cats. Dennis believes that tweaking attitudes are no substitute for structural change, but that material progress without spiritual awakening is a hollow victory. He also believes that kalbi isn't meat, it's culture.

Urban Hillbilly Quartet
Fundamental Records
What started as a jam session in late fall 1995 in a now burnt-out St. Paul, Minneosta hole-in-the-wall bar has become an international curiosity. The UHQ has grown into an award-winning ensemble that delivers an eclectic mix of musical styles, blending fiddle, electric guitar, accordion, bass and other toys. On stage, the Hillbillies perform mainly original material--most of which can be found on their seven albums. They perform regularly at nightclubs, bars, colleges, festivals, park bandshells, coffee shops and anywhere people connect with intelligent music. And they contributed the title track to InRadio 5: Words/Wings.

Pine Valley Cosmonauts featuring Otis Clay
Bloodshot Records
The Pine Valley Cosmonauts were recruited for inter-planetary fame by Jon Langford (of Waco Brothers infamy). They are loosely organized musical collective that sprouts periodically, like a rare orchid out of the desert sand, to deliver unto the world records of vision, of tribute, of unfettered revelry. On The Executioner’s Last Songs, Vol. 2 &3, the PVCs are raising a little more hell and cash to help wean America off its life threatening death penalty dependency. On hearing Volume One, Illinois Governor George Ryan spontaneously cleared Death Row and was heard to whimper "Shit, those country commies know their chops!!!" This leaves us little doubt that this double-disc sequel portends oblivion for the hangmen that lurk in the rest of the nation.

Josh Ritter
Signature Sounds Recordings
Hailing from the small town of Moscow, Idaho, Josh Ritter’s songs are a rare gift of natural, intuitive beauty. While his low-budget debut generated huge international acclaim from critics and fans, his new release, Hello Starling, is a more confident and fully-realized work. Recorded and mixed in only 14 days in an old dairy barn in the French countryside, the thick stone walls, high ceilings, and vintage gear (much of it Curtis Mayfield’s old equipment), made for a record which sounds conversational and honest and simply shimmers. His songs retain the feel and flow of another era; these are catch-tunes and earnest lullabies that rekindle the warm glow of a young Springsteen or Leonard Cohen in both their literacy and honest enthusiasm.

Grand Champeen
Glurp Records
Relentless rockers, Grand Champeen are at it again! This time the boys have created the album that most faithfully documents their live show, a sloshed bacchanal of towering riffage and throat-shredding screams that the band has slowly honed in grimy dives across the country since their earliest gigs in high school. Their new album, The One That Brought You, yields criminally catchy pop melodies crashing up against gnarly guitar solos, and then, all at once, they smooth things out with a warm tender ballad letting you down easy. Heavily praised by critics for their live performance, you definitely won't want to miss this crew doing what they do best- playing live!

Queen Sheba
Oya Xclusive Records
A Detroit Native, now living in Norfolk, VA, Queen Sheba is a Spoken Word master who incorporates poetry with urban cultural influence to send a message that will provoke the mind. Her range of expression extends from the urban pulse of hip-hop to the cerebral, timeless rives of pure jazz. As a slam champion, the Queen headed the 2002 DC/Baltimore National Slam team as their Grand Slam Champion. She has also belted wins at the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe and has taken slam champion titles at Reign Productions, and Baltimore's famous Art Scape summer festival, Los Angelos, San Diego and St. Louis National Slam qualifiers. As an event planner she runs 3 venues on the east coast and features national and international poets. InRadio is proud to bring listeners a track from the Queen’s self-released I Confess.

Claire Holley
Yep Roc Records
Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Claire Holley was exposed from an early age to the Southland's rich variety of musical influences, and from an early age she responded. She took a ukulele to church and sat out in the hot car strumming it between Sunday school and the church service; she ruined her father's classical guitar by replacing the nylon strings with steel strings so she could imitate what she'd been hearing on one of her favorite records, Chet Atkins and Merle Travis’ Traveling Show. On her fourth and newest release, Dandelion, her voice is shaded alternately by wistfulness, anger, melancholy, mischief, and plain fun. But throughout there's a sweetness, a rightness to this music that is fast becoming Claire Holley's trademark.

Tinariwen
World Village/Harmonia Mundi
InRadio is pleased to bring listeners a live track from Tinariwen, a group of former Tuareg rebels that traded in their guns for guitars, recorded at this past year’s Festival in the Desert in Mali. Imagine a community celebration so remote it could only be reached by camelback or 4 by 4. Add to the picture a day filled with camel racing, impromptu jam sessions under camel-skin tents, and a stage full of electric guitars. You’re starting to get a picture of an amazing event now held each year in the Sahara. More than just a music event, The Festival in the Desert brings together former tribal enemies and marks a symbolic end to the civil war that ravaged the region only a decade ago.