The Ledge #471: 1981 US Punk Faves
1981 was a very special year for your favorite podcast host. I graduated from high school, and immediately started at the local radio station when I entered college. While the 2 – 6 am shift may seem like a nightmare to most people, it was the perfect opportunity for me to investigate the floor to ceiling record racks in the cramped studio. This week’s show represents the US-originated records from that era that mean the most to me today. Most of them I discovered during these late night shifts, but a few of them I must admit they weren’t faves until years later. Of course, I have to highlight the first releases from my two favorite Minneapolis bands of all time, and longtime faves the Ramones put out their sixth album that year. There’s also a couple of new indie labels, IRS and SST, that would greatly influence me throughout the rest of the decade. After listening, please go purchase those tracks you enjoy! These great artists deserve to be compensated for their hard work, and every purchase surely helps not only pay their bills but fund their next set of wonderful songs. And if you buy these records directly […]
The Ledge #468: First Quarter Report
Since we are just a few days away from April, it makes sense that the last episode of the month is a look back at the first quarter of 2021. What albums, EP’s and singles have caught my attention? Has it been a great year?
The answer is the same …
The Ledge #465: New Releases
It’s the first Friday of the month, so you know what this means. Yes, once again I have over two hours of the best new indie, garage, power pop, punk, and Americana releases. Plenty of veteran acts, and even more brand new artists. If you care ab…
The Ledge #464: Ramones’ Album Tributes
After last week’s show featuring songs about The Ramones, it was pretty much a no-brainer to pair it with a show based around covers of the same band. But I’ve done that theme before, so how can I put a new spin on it. Well, the answer came with today’s release of K7s’ remake of the entire Mondo Bizarro album, along with last year’s Subterranean Jungle rerecording by Brad Marino. How about a whole show of album-length covers? If you think about it, that is the ultimate show of respect for a band and/or a record. Anybody can do an individual cover, but to remake an entire album is a huge demand for an artist. Even the best albums have a song or two that’s not up to the standard of the rest of the record, so giving those songs the same attention as the feature tracks is a major accomplishment. So with that all in mind, with the exception of covers by Tommy and the Rockets that bookend the show, this entire episode is “Side A” of these types of releases. Along with the already mentioned new records, the second half of the show dates back from a series […]
The Ledge #463: Songs About The Ramones
As I state at the beginning of the show, the initial idea for this theme came from the plethora of recent songs that mention The Ramones in the title, both individually and as a group. Add to that a few faves from the past, along with some great sugges…
The Ledge #462: New Releases (Pt. 2)
Last week’s new release show was all about submitted tracks. This week’s part two of the series compiles all of the other new records that have recently been released (or will be soon). The show is marked by the return of quite a few vetera…
The Ledge #460: Covers
As I stated on tonight’s all-covers episode, I have a folder on my hard drive where I toss in any cool remakes that I accumulate. When that folder is filled then it’s time to do another show of that type.
Well, the folder is full, and was a…
The Ledge #459: UK Punk 1981
Since it’s a new year I have a whole list of new “anniversaries” to celebrate this year. You can expect many upcoming episodes devoted to years such as 1986, 1991…and, obviously, 1981. Tonight’s broadcast is the first of a…
The Ledge #458: The Ledge Awards
A few weeks ago, I put together a countdown show of my 40 favorite albums of 2020. Now for this annual Ledge Awards I go through various other categories for the past year – Best Reissue, Best Live Album, Best Compilaton, Best Covers Album, Best …
The Ledge #457: New Releases
It’s the first show of the new year, which means it’s the first new release episode of the year! Generally, there isn’t much for new material this time of year, but this year seems to be an exception. You’ll find plenty of great…
The Ledge #456: Lockdown Christmas
Everybody’s favorite holiday tradition is back as once again The Ledge annual Christmas show brings you the best rockin’ holiday tunes in this supersized show! What’s great about this show is that it’s not a show relying on tun…
The Ledge #455: Best Albums of 2020
So let’s get this out of the way. 2020 was a dumpster fire of a year. A worldwide pandemic shut everything down. A contentious Presidential election tore apart friends and families. Race and sexual identity issues became online litmus tests. Everybody …
The Ledge #454: New Releases
It’s the last new release show of 2020, and it may just be the best one of the year. There’s a ton of new music that’s come out the past few weeks, including a few great items discovered shortly before the show commenced. And how can …
The Ledge #453: Under Consideration
This is the time of year where I’m going through my music library making notes on what albums should be considered for my year-end rankings. With the volume of great music released every year, however, there are records that I honestly sort of fo…
The Ledge #451: 1990
It may be a cliche, especially compared to the dumpster fire of this year, but it was definitely a simpler time for me in 1990. It was a year that I sort of became an adult. Sort of are the key words here. It was also a year of musical transition for me, as it was the year of the last Replacements album and the year of Uncle Tupelo’s debut album. For the next few years, “Americana” became my leading musical force. With a few exceptions, of course. (Both of these recors, The Replacements’ “All Shook Down” and Uncle Tupelo’s “No Depression”, get an extended look during tonight’s show.) This week’s show takes a look at much of what was in my gigantic portable CD carrier during that year. Yes, I had one of those 64 disc cases that went with me wherever I went. One has to be prepared, you know. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy this nostalgic look at my personal music taste from that era. After listening, please go purchase those tracks you enjoy! These great artists deserve to be compensated for their hard work, and every purchase surely helps not only pay their bills but fund their next […]
The Ledge #450: New Releases
In all the years of doing this monthly new release show, this may be the most varied I’ve ever done. After initial sets of folk-ish, acoustic rock, this month’s supersized show gradually built up the intensity until a final set of veteran h…
The Ledge #449: Halloween
The Halloween episode has been an important part of The Ledge calendar year for over a decade. Outside of maybe one or two years, there has always been a show during the week before the great holiday featuring fantastic Hallowen-themed punk, garage, indie, power pop, and almost every other rock and roll sub-genre. Why is this such a big show? It’s simple, and I’ve said it before. Halloween is a rock and roll holiday. The very themes of the big day have been a part of rock and roll since the early days. The sound of an electric guitar itself fits the day, as does the pounding, basic rhythms of the real rock and roll. It also helps that every year sees the release of a ton of tracks that can be shoehorned into the theme. In fact, the overwhelming majority of songs on this year’s edition were released in the last ten months, which obviously adds to the freshness of this show every single year! After listening, please go purchase those tracks you enjoy! These great artists deserve to be compensated for their hard work, and every purchase surely helps not only pay their bills but fund their next […]
The Ledge #448: Reissues
The Ledge isn’t all about new music, obviously. And with the record companies constantly repackaging old material with bonus demos, outtakes, and live takes my collection just continues to grow.
Tonight’s show is a look at some of these spe…
The Ledge #444: Compilations
The last few months have seen a ton of great compilation records come out. Some have been all covers. Many have been label or genre samplers. Others have been benefits for great causes. What unites them all is that so many of them have been full of gre…
The Ledge #442: New Releases
It’s another great month of new releases. I know I say that every month but we are living in a time where somehow artists are still creating fabulous, vital music. Just take a listen to this two hours of rock, folk, punk, surf, indie, and a few o…
The Ledge #441: Fave Records of Summer 2020
The calendar may have a different definition, but summer to me has always been the months of June, July, and August. With that in mind, since tonight was my last show for August I decided to put together a show of nothing but my favorite new records fr…
The Ledge #440: New Releases (Pt. 2)
This may be a second part of a new release series, but there’s certainly no drop in quality. How could it be when the beginning of the show features a sneak peak of the upcoming Replacements’ “Pleased to Meet Me Deluxe Edition” …
The Ledge #439: New Releases (Pt. 1)
It’s another super-busy month of new music. In fact, once again the new release series has to be split into a two-part extravaganza.
Part one features previews of new records by Ledge favorites such as Son Volt and Lydia Loveless. There’s t…
The Ledge #438: Power Pop
What is power pop? According to the dictionary, it’s “a style of pop music characterized by a strong melody line, heavy use of guitars, and simple rhythm”. Yeah, that works. I prefer to just call it “revved up pop music”.
…
The Ledge #437: 1980 American Punk
Earlier this year I featured a show that focused on British punk rock from 1980. Tonight, I do the same thing but featuring nothing but tunes from American punk bands from that same year.
It’s kind of interesting how the focus of the punk scene (…
The Ledge #436: Double Albums
It was a few weeks ago when Sonic Youth’s “Teenage Riot” came up in a Spotify playlist, and it spurred my feeble mind into this week’s show format. This week is a countdown of my 15 favorite double albums of all time. As always,…
The Ledge #435: Scott’s Favorite Records, Vol. 5 – Americana
Americana, country-punk, No Depression, alt-country. Whatever you want to call this twangy-ish sort of music it’s been a part of my life since the early 80’s. Nope, not after the scene exploded with Uncle Tupelo. The country influence has a…
The Ledge #432: Covers
Once a year or so, I like to put together a show of nothing but covers. Partly due to COVID-19 this year has already seen more of these sorts of tracks than ever before. Bands have put out full albums or EP’s of covers; labels have upped the ante…
The Ledge #431: New Releases, Pt. 2
As I said last week, there have been so many great releases in the last few weeks that this month’s new release episode was forced to expand to two episodes. Quality-wise, there’s no difference between the two episodes. In fact, it could be…
The Ledge #430: New Releases (Pt. 1)
I didn’t expect this month’s new release show to be a two part extravaganza. But as I was throwing songs into the play folder for this week’s show I suddenly realized I had way too many tracks for one show. So once again, next week I&…
The Ledge #429: More Minneapolis
After last week’s Minneapolis edition of my favorite songs of all time I was contacted by a ton of listeners with their own favorites of the great city. With that sort of response I coudn’t help but doing a sequel consisting of nothing but …
The Ledge #428: Scott’s Fave Songs Vol. 4 – Minneapolis
It’s safe to say that a Minneapolis-themed show would come out of the series of my favorite songs of all time. It was actually the easiest of the shows to put together. No, it’s not two hours of Replacements and Husker Du songs. Certainly both of those bands are well-represented but so many other bands from that great city had a huge impact on my life. Many of these are extremely popular (Soul Asylum, Jayhawks, Suburbs) but there are also a lesser-known ton of records that were just as important in my life. For example, I saw The Phones as many times over the years as I saw any of these other bands. And I may not know much about the history of artists such as The Ticks or Crash Street Kids but I played those records to death over the years. Now here’s a bit of a disclaimer. I did switch away from Minneapolis for a long set of Sioux Falls bands, and other artists from places such as Austin, Minnesota and Cedar Falls, Iowa are represented. And technically The Hold Steady are a Brooklyn band. But Minneapolis certainly influenced all of the Sioux Falls bands I included, and […]
The Ledge #427: Quarantunes
When this awful pandemic first hit the U.S. and we started hearing about “stay at home” orders and “social distancing” I commented on twitter how I hoped this down time would inspire artists to spend their forced down time writi…
The Ledge #426: New Releases
Another month, another collection of great new music. Unlike previous editions, though, this month’s show features a ton of one-off single releases of tracks recorded under quarantine. In fact, just minutes before The Ledge went to air on Realpun…
The Ledge #425: Rock ‘n’ Roll Women
When I was putting together this month’s new release episodes I decided that it was time to also do another all-female episode of The Ledge. Both of those episodes had multiple sets of nothing but rocking women, as did previous months this year.
…
The Ledge #424: Scott’s Faves Vol. 3 – College Rock
In this weird time we’re currently living it’s natural to take a nostalgic look back at some old faves. That’s exactly what I set out to do with this week’s episode of The Ledge. A few weeks ago I started a series of shows dedicated to my favorite songs of all time, and I decided this was the perfect week to take a look at some of my highlights from my old college radio days in the 80’s. As you may expect, there’s a combination of the famous and not so famous. Bands that hit the top of the charts, and others that were unknown outside of their little area (or the network of college stations). Included are many tunes that rank up against anything that has come out in the 70 year history of rock and roll. Some may be surprised to note the lack of Replacements, Husker Du, and the Suburbs (among others). That’s because a future “Scott’s Favorites” episode will be devoted to nothing but music from Minneapolis (and other upper Midwest locations)! After listening, please go purchase those tracks you enjoy! These great artists deserve to be compensated for their hard work, and every purchase surely […]
The Ledge #423: New Releases Pt 2
This week’s show may be a sequel to last week’s new release episode but it’s certainly not a drop in quality. Just like last week, there are plenty of new bands (Cherry Chrome, Rookie, Green/Blue), lots of surprising reunions (The Boo…
The Ledge #422: New Releases Pt. 1
While the daily lives of most of us have been reduced to lying on our couches in sweatpants, musicians have attempted to carry on their somewhat normal lives. Sure, the gigs have been cancelled but they’re still out there creating. And while everything on tonight’s show was obviously recorded long before the current epidemic, the fact that this past month has seen so much great new music released gives those of us sitting at home something to get us through the day. In fact, there was so much great music unleashed these last few weeks that this month’s “new release” episode is a two part extravaganza. Not only that, but both this week’s and next week’s shows go well past the two hour mark. (Well, that’s the plan for next week’s part two. That may change due to unseen circumstances.) So what’s in store in part one? There’s a trio of new Replacements covers, new tunes by Ledge favorites such as Nap Eyes and The Buttertones, entire sets devoted to Big Stir Records and Rum Bar Records, plenty of brand new bands, and cover set that includes tracks from Ty Segall’s surprise release of a Harry Nillson covers EP. There’s also the reunions […]
The Ledge #420: Isolation
Earlier this week when the hysteria over the current world health situation was starting to gain some steam I was listening to my vinyl copy of Paul Westerberg’s Mono/Stereo. As “Let The Bad Times Roll” was playing a little light bulb…
The Ledge #419: Live Albums, Vol. 2
Part one of The Ledge Live Albums series featured my picks (with a little agreement from my friends). Tonight’s belongs to those who responded to a Facebook post from last month (plus a couple of emails and tweets). It’s quite a bit fun, st…
The Ledge #418: New Releases
The monthly new release shows are easily my favorite episodes, and this month’s is no exception. As always, it’s a great mix of brand new bands, returning veterans, and some great recent discoveries. There’s so much great new music th…
The Ledge #414: New Releases
I consider the February new release episode of The Ledge to be the first real episode of the year. Sure, the January show had quite a few 2020 releases but it was dominated by 2019 leftovers. This episode, with a few exceptions, are the fruits of the n…
The Ledge #413: Scott’s Faves Vol. 1
A few days ago I came up with the idea of putting together a show of nothing but my favorite songs of all time. A few hours later, however, I ended up with a folder of almost 200 songs. Hmmmm. So here is the introduction of a new series of shows devoted to the great tracks that have made me who I am today. Of course, a lunatic like myself has to come up with unnecessary rules. So the main rule I’m abiding by in this new Ledge series is that I’m going to ignore most of the obvious bands. Everybody knows I love Chuck Berry, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Clash, David Bowie, and other similar giants. And how would one just pick a single song by acts like these? So for the most part we’re going with artists that should be bigger. Artists that should be on every so-called “classic rock” playlsit. Of course, The Kinks are one of those kind of bands, but how can I ignore “I’m Not Like Everybody Else”? So it’s a part of tonight’s show dedicated to tracks primarily from the 60’s and 70’s. I’m excited to exhaust the folder of tunes […]
The Ledge #412: From The Archives
It used to be that part of the monthly new release episode included new “archive” albums, but there’s been so much great music put out in recent years that I’ve had to ignore these kinds of records.
But obviously that doesn̵…
Mojo Workout 44: Cat Crap Coffee
Second verse, same as the first! The 44th voyage of the S.S. Mojo Workout includes super-special guest, Scott Hudson of The Ledge, to add some class to a classless society of Internet Radio goofballs. Mucho lightning dodging hi-jinx, including Celebrity … Continue reading →
