It’s new feature time… our first ALBUM OMNIBUS (get on the bus!)  We play the entire album “Be Brave” by Auditorium AND speak to Spencer J Berger, singer/songwriter of the project and find out more about the songs, the band, the meanings, and the stories.  Spencer also wanted me to tell you, “Want 4 Free Songs?  Email bebravemusic [at] gmail.com, and we’ll send ‘em your way.”

Spencer was a fantastic guest and shared many golden nuggets about the band and the songs… certainly a must-listen for anyone who’s a fan of the band.  And if you’re not, you will be.

Listen to the show here…

Some essential links…

• Auditorium’s Website
• Buy “Be Brave” in the USA
• By “Be Brave” outside of the USA
• Download “Be Brave”

The playlist of the show (and album, consequently.)

1. Be Brave
   

   Spencer J Berger of Auditorium

2. Sunday
3. I’m the Enforcer
4. If Your Girl Sings Loud
5. Saturday Soldier
6. The Beat of the Box
7. New York Sky
8. All Your Days
9. Oh, My Desperate Soul
10. Girls Will Love Your Lips
11. Beautiful Things
12. The Owl
13. One Time Never Hurts
14. Smile

Auditorium play the Be Brave Album launch in January

Album Review

Artist: Auditorium

Album Title: Be Brave

Release Date: 18th January, 2011

There are many crimes, and having had this Auditorium’s Be Brave in my possession for a few weeks only collecting dust has been a devastating oversight and possibly the crime of the century.  A mixture of folk/indie/rock, Be Brave has a blissfull blend of haunting melody and uninhibited hope. It sounds like a simple combination that can be said for a lot of recent albums, but something in the lyrics gives the songs a levity whereon first listen you might confuse it for solemnity and possibly darkness.

Be Brave, the brain-child and studio-child of Spencer J Berger, everything you hear on the record has been recorded and played by him… over the course of a year. All the mixing was done by Berger, but mastered by Pete Lyman of Infrasonic Sound (Beck, No Age, Mission to Burma). Whether this is the work of an introverted genius or an anti-social hack will become very clear by the end of this review. Formally called “Field,” this project now has five other live musicians on board (Daya Wolterstorff, Chris Littler, Justin Hogan, and Elizabeth Berger… as well as BK Etheridge on drums) and is bursting onto the California live scene.

With, arguably, some of the best unsigned music around that works itself into a rich tapestry of heroism, hope and ultimately beautiful music.  But what does that really mean?  There isn’t a day goes by that I don’t see a review that says “the best thing since sliced bread” and then sadly it becomes yesterday’s news before the pictures have started to fade. 

Photo by Amanda Barnes

Be Brave is one of the most accomplished LPs I’ve heard; one of the best.  There is longevity infused into each song, reverting the aging process that afflicts the flavour of the week, and after five days of listening to it on repeat I’m still not bored.

Songs to look out for on the record are as follows, and not necessarily in that order, “Sunday”, “I’m the Enforcer” and “Oh My Desperate Soul”.  These are the key tracks for me, and the whole thing seems to revolve around their themes.  But then we’re not treading on familiar ground with Auditorium’s Be Brave, each song is as different as can be, giving this LP strength but keeping its common thread.

Be Bold, Be Brave.

~DC~

Back next week!  See you then… with bells on!

~JW

Kerpow!  This new EP from Zalinski is crammed full of thick, jam-based, guitar rock that (if you fancy a good rock n’ roll tune) you’re gonna really enjoy.  We’ve got the band on the show (in their car, actually) chatting to us about how they came together, the way they write, and where this new EP is taking them.  What’s it called?  Actions, Reactions, and Misunderstandings.  We obviously liked it so much we named the episode after it.

This week we were notified that The Justin Wayne Show has been nominated for a European Podcast Award which was EXCELLENT news!  Care to donate thirty seconds (not money!) of your time for the cause?  Head over and vote!

Vote for The Justin Wayne Show at the European Podcast Awards Site

We have also got some more fresh sonic deliciousness from Black Bikini Alpha, The Powwows, and another new track from our boys at Junebug.

For the rest… the playlist.

The Justin Wayne Show Episode 68:  Actions, Reactions, and Misunderstandings

Cheers,

~JW

Track of the Week is from another upcoming interview subject – The Nadas.  We’ll hear more about them, from them, etc… next week but do have a click over in their direction and check out just how they recorded their most recent album, Almanac.

And… oh!  It’s playlist time.

The Justin Wayne Show Episode 95: Inside My Head

Cheers!  Next week it’s Nick Tann from many places including the Is This Thing on Podcast.

~JW

My... Car is a Bus

I was speaking to Tom (from a little band called Projekt) about running for buses the other day and we both admitted to doing this.  In fact, I’ve worn out my shoes a few times this week doing just this.  I must ALSO admit, that I laugh at those who are in this situation when I’m sat comfortably on the bus, and there’s no better place to do this laughing then from atop a London double-decker.

Track of the Week this week was from the up-and-coming rock duo Alice Rock and they do… rock!  Very quirky, interesting, and fun.

That’s it from me – just music this week…

The Justin Wayne Show Episode 94: Running for Buses

That’s it!  Next week we’ve got Jen from the Inside My Head Podcast (among other things) and another Scudley Sessions, as we near the end of this wonderful series.

See you at 7.  GMT.  Pete’s first, then me, then Rodrigo.

~JW

Soap box.

We’ve got some special things happening on the show this week including tracks from the up and coming sessions with Steve Honest near Old Street.  We’re calling them “The Church with Steve Honest” and it should be great fun.  Watch this space (although I hate it when people say that) for more info on that one.

Track of the Week

This week the band Mostly bring us a track from their just released live album “The Red Room Sessions” which you can grab on their Bandcamp page!  It’s a good one, go grab yourself a digi-copy of the album.

And we’ve got some special gigs coming up, even one where you can see me strumming and singing… you’ll have to listen to the show (about 1 hour in is when we do the gig guide) for that special info.

For the rest of the show info…

The Justin Wayne Show Episode 89: Stop Being Important…

Have a great week.  Next week we’ll be doing some Twitter-powered giveaways with Titty Bingo, so make sure you’re following us on Twitter and following Titty Bingo on Twitter, too!  Peter Renzullo’s back again next week with the next Scudley Session!

~JW

However, I have to thank Tom from Projekt for being on the show this week!  He can come back anytime, as I’m sure you’ll agree.

Recharged Radio Awards Nominees are below the playlist here as well as on the show.  Next week we’ll have the winners announced, play tracks from them, and get on with playing loads of new submissions!

The Justin Wayne Show Episode 87: Projekt the Awards

Thanks for a great show, see you at the awards! 

~JW

The Recharged Radio Awards 2010 Nominees

FEMALE

Track of the Week this week goes to a great new submission from a contender for the 2011 Best Band Name Award: Titty Bingo.  We’re going to be hearing more from them in the coming weeks so I won’t spoil anything, but they’re FAB.  Do tune in for this and let us know what you think.

All of this (well, this week’s theme and show title, at least) was inspired by a Recharged Radio session by Robert Batley who played two long songs on this past week’s Friday Forum in his third live RR session.  You’ll hear one of his fantastic long tunes, “The Dance” on this week’s show.

We’ve also got Junebug with a great epic tune called “Place” that Dave Couch loved in his recent review of their album Share.  Pop over and have a read while you listen to the show!

Speaking of…

The Justin Wayne Show Episode 85: Epic Songs

See you next time with Portugal’s own Rodrigo de Sa from Cowboy Cantor co-hosting!

~JW

And yes, states with their own gun laws… have you heard?  There’s been quite a few states in the US that are balking the federal laws and making their own!  I thought it was pretty interesting, have a click over to the New York Times article I read today!

Shall we?

The Justin Wayne Show Episode 83: States with Guns

Video Feature: Head on Fire by The Little Philistines!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thanks again for a great show!  See you next week with Peter Renzullo and Scudley Session number 2!

Cheers,

JW

Puck

The second annual Birthday Best Awards have arrived again, meaning that The Justin Wayne Show is now two-years old!  Wow… we’re gonna be gnawing on the sides of coffee tables and opening doors we shouldn’t soon!

As far as those doors we should open, we ran down the top 25 songs of the year voted on by four of us here at JW towers and many of you – over 350 of you!  Thanks for doing that, we appeciate it.  The feedback form is still up, but on a different page – http://thejustinwayneshow.com/feedback if you fancy giving us your opinion.  We’re going to be making some changes here in our third year, let us know what you’d like to see happen!

I must give a big thanks to a few people, as I tend to do this time of year, for making this all possible.  First, Jason for his writing and encouragement, Ryan Flynn for the theme song, and Jamie for her unconditional love and support.   David Couch for coming on and writing for us (he even came down and helped me do this show!)

David and Justin

Also thanks to Jordan, Dave, Alex and Minki at Recharged Radio and Jarrod on Tourdates for their big boost into the live radio world again this year.  And, I can’t forget to thank our new cat (and JW Show mascot) Puck!  Thanks for not chewing through the power cord!  It’s been an amazing year.  I’m excited to dig into year three with so many great allies!

As is also customary with this awards show, I don’t want to spoil the winners for those that missed the live show or always listen to the podcast.  I will still put the top 25 songs below but the actual list, in order won’t be available in a text form until next week.  You’ll have to actually listen to the show to find out!

The awards that are up for grabs:

• Best Artist of the Year
• Best Song of the Year
• Best Band Name of the Year
• Presenter’s Picks (Each Presenter gets one of these)
• Audience Choice Award

And the nominees are…

The Top 25 Songs Submitted to the Justin Wayne Show in 2009

(in no particular order… yet!)

• Song :: Album :: Artist
• London Town :: London Town EP :: Bad Whiskey
• Little Girl :: Black Circles
• Best Girl :: Definitely Alive :: Checking Pulse
• The “Don’t Be A Dick” Rule :: David Goo
• I’m the Enforcer :: Be Brave :: Field
• Press Play :: From Another Planet :: Fundamental Skillz
• Cosmonaut :: Hey Girl :: Giant Wow
• The Extortionist :: The Spotless Mind :: Icarus The Owl
• Orla :: J*E*S*P*A E.P. :: J*E*S*P*A
• Chosen Ones :: Share :: Junebug
• The Narrator :: Ever The Optimist :: Lights Out Dancing
• The River :: Concrete Class :: The Lonely H
• William :: Tear Ourselves Away :: LoveLikeFire
• Giggle :: Natasha Davies
• This is Where I Draw the Line :: Pareto
• Ocean Passage :: Projekt :: Projekt
• Lost and Found :: Dizzy American :: Ryan Rebo
• Teen Idol :: Whatever Happened to Friday Night :: The Scratch
• Factory Song :: All the Other Animals :: Skeletons with Flesh on Them
• In Between You and Me :: The Stranger’s Dozen :: Special Patrol
• Blind Is Better :: The Chester Sessions :: Tom Howie
• Forget About It :: Forget About It :: A Tower Of Sheep
• Apathy and Empathy :: Can We Play in Your Garden? :: Uncle Meat and the Highway Children
• Cut And Paste :: Delivered :: Yours Til Death
• Apology to the Feminine :: Actions, Reactions & Misunderstandings :: Zalinski

The full playlist, in order, as well as the winners of the respective awards will be posted in text next week, but to find out just listen, download, or subscribe to this show right now!  See you next week for the results.

Cheers,

~JW