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Rock Town Hall’s Saturday Night Shut-In: Camp Funtime

Jul 052013

Sounds of the Hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!

If you’ve ever spent a good part of July in the woods with a bunch of strangers than you can relate to the ups and downs of summer camp. Days of beach, bathing suits, baseball and nights of marshmallows, mosquitoes, and mischief. Yet the fun often comes at the expense of the outcast, the alienated and the misunderstood. If you have a child who falls into these categories, slip this episode of SNSI on their iPod before sending them to camp. There may be at least one song that helps them get through the summer.

Summer July

[Note: You can add Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your iTunes by clicking here. The Rock Town Hall feed will enable you to easily download Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your digital music player.]

“You must be the short depressed kid we ordered”

Rock Town Hall’s Saturday Night Shut-In: Kapp-sized

Posted by cliff sovinsanity

Jun 232013

Sounds of the Hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!

This is the first in a series of spotlights on forgotten independent record labels. For absolutely no reason, I’m picking Kapp records as my introductory label.

For years my brother (aka The Professor) has been bugging me to write about great American independent record labels from the ’80s. I say why not start in ’50s and work my way down. Who cares if these labels were cool or not. I’m sure there are some good stories to tell. To be sure, putting a book together would be a daunting task for this amateur word butcher. Still I can dream that one day Random House will dump a big advance on my lap and I can hang up the mop once and for all.

In the meantime consider these spotlight episodes as seeds tossed into a field that may yield a bountiful harvest…I’m just not exactly sure what I’m planting.

Kapp-Sized

Rock Town Hall’s Saturday Night Shut-In: Under The Covers

Posted by Slim Jade

Jun 152013

Sounds of the Hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!

Cover versions are funny things; a familiar face seen out of context. Sometimes they’re inspired, sometimes lame, sometimes just downright silly. I rarely think a cover version is better than the original, even if the original isn’t all that great to begin with. I might enjoy the novelty of the cover for a while, but eventually it all goes back to respect for the source.

Still…compare, contrast & have fun listening.

SNSI_ Under the Covers

Rock Town Hall’s Saturday Night Shut-In: Those Were The Days

Posted by cliff sovinsanity

Jun 082013

Sounds of the Hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!

Nothing particularly particular about tonight’s episode. I’ve been dwelling on the past since I started reading Simon Reynolds‘ book Retromania, or perhaps I should say “hate-reading.” I liked his post-punk review Rip It Up and Start Again, but this one has me a little bothered or, as the French would say, “bouleversé.” I will read the whole damn thing before passing more judgement. Until then we’ll let these songs play and see if they evoke memories of any good or bad days.

Days

Thank you for the days!

Rock Town Hall’s Saturday Night Shut-In: Destroy All Monsters!

Posted by Slim Jade

Jun 012013

Sounds of the Hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!

This mix is a big free-for-all of Japanese bands & bands with Japanese members in an all-star monster rally of epic proportions in an all-out rumble!

SNSI_Destroy All Monsters

Whistle While You Workout

Posted by Mr. Moderator

May 302013

Losing it.

I meant to post this a week and a half ago, when it was more relevant, but football has never been very relevant to the daily chatter at Rock Town Hall, and lately I’m skeptical whether Rock Town Hall is even relevant to those of us who used to make it so. Ugh.

New Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly has introduced a new wrinkle in NFL practices: the blasting of loud music during practices. His supposedly scientifically formulated playlist is coordinated to support the drills at Eagles practices and give the players experience communicating through the loud, hectic surroundings of a typical game day. Welcome to the jungle!

We’ll see how any of this pans out. Quick scans of the playlists Kelly has been programming would pose a challenge for my rock-snob ears to overcome, rather than motivate me, if that is the intent.

Thinking about the role music can play in working out got me thinking about Apple’s failed iLose program. Remember that? As part of the beta testing group I was delivered scientifically selected playlists that promised to help me shed pounds, even if I did nothing but listen to the music while taking a walk around the block. As much as I looked forward to a slimmer, trimmer body through listening to the music of artists I already liked, the program was missing some key components, starting with portion control.

Rock Town Hall’s Saturday Night Shut-In: Full Collins

Posted by cliff sovinsanity

May 252013

Sounds of the Hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!

Between the years 1980 and 1986, Phil Collins put out 3 studio albums while Genesis put out 4. Too much!? As discussed in an earlier post, a little Genesis goes a long way. I think the same applies to Phil Collins’ early ’80s output. I never latched on at the time and still to this day he doesn’t do a whole lot for me…until now.

In this episode, I will present a worthy Phil Collins song along with some other famous Collins’ from the worlds of blues, folk-rock, rockabilly, new wave, power pop, and funk.

Full Collins

Concerned with evil

Doesn’t care anymore

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