Get ready for a masterstroke of sweetness, folks. For Naked Fridays #35, Julian Casablancas, lead singer and songwriter of Downtown '01 rock n' roll revivalists The Strokes, stops by the Viva Radio studio and gives a salty salute to some musical mainstays that help define the "Thin Lizzy meets A-Ha" hits of his new solo album, Phrazes for the Young.

As Flatbush Ave legend has it, Mr. Casablancas strolled into the Park Slope American Apparel store that homes Viva's projection booth studio cool as a cucumber. No entourage, no paparazzi (or Moretti, for that matter), no fanatics at the feet. Having just rolled out of bed in his matching University of Michigan sweats, Ted was at the door to greet Julian and immediately forge an unspoken bond of casua'tude.

The two talked baby names (Julian's expecting his first next month), hip hop manifestation in Julian's love for 2 Pac's "Changes" and a rendition of Jay-Z and Alicia Keys "New York" duet at a recent homecoming show, collaboration expectations for Rivers Cuomo and Elton John, and that Ohio gold sound of Guided By Voices and Times New Viking. We'll save the rest for Naked Fridays history which you can tune into Friday 1/28 at 4 PM.

JC's playlist:

Beirut - La Lloorna
Guided By Voices - A Salty Salute
Digable Planets - Where I'm From
Dirty Projectors - Stillness Is the Move
2-Pac - Changes
Faisal Helwani - Kpanlogo
Magnetic Fields - Absolutely Cuckoo
Nirvana - Son of a Gun
Telepathe - So Fine
Times New Viking - Half Day in Hell





Photos by Sara Jacobson. flickr.com/SaraJae *

Viva Radio's resident adviser of all things cosmic, disco, and deeply soulful DJ BWYSE brings a special selection to this week's edition of Talking in Stereo. UK based record label This Is Not An Exit has explored the outer peripheries of electronic music over 25 consistently innovative releases including seminal 12"s from They Came from the Stars I Saw Them, balearic princes Professor Genius and Hatchback, dark and disassociated new wavers Detachments, and The Parallels, who mix right in with Johnny Jewel's bag of production tricks.

Label honcho Simon A. Carr was kind enough to give BWYSE a sneak peak at some upcoming and unreleased releases on TINAE. We're especially stoked to hear tracks from the forthcoming Dark Esquire album and The Loving Hand's remix of Jonnie Wilkes' (he of Optimo fame) Naum Gabo track.

Tune in this Thursday from 1 to 3 PM or check the Talking in Stereo archives for anytime listening.

1. The Detachments - Circles (Spectral Empire mix)
2. Brain Machine Alchemia / Capricorn Rising
3. The Dark Esquire - Situation (Crimea X Remix)
4. Spectral Empire - Lift Shaft
5. Panda City Band - Wet Journey
6. Brain Machine - Pulsations
7. The Dark Esquire - What You Need
8. Parallels - Ultralight (Dark Esquire Re-version)
9. Naum Gabo - Pictur (The Loving Hand Remix - Naum Gabo Edit Pt. 2)
10. The Detachments - Circles (Beg to Differ mix)
11. The Dark Esquire - Situation (Night Plane mix)

Whether you want it is not the question - this is definitely what you need. Viva Radio is proud to present a new blog series of in-house productions, entitled What You Need Wednesdays! We're kicking it off with an L.A.-based artist named Natasha Roozrokh. Taking a look at the few photos from this session, we see a stylish gal with short hair, strikingly light blonde in color (clearly and artfully dyed). Conversely, her songs are long and dark...

To reach such a conclusion, a visit to her MySpace was necessary, since this show gives you one shot and one shot only to prove that you have what we need. Still, Natasha's one offering "Creatures Of Habit" was indicative enough of the brooding, gothy alternative sound that she seems to be honing on her own. This recording in particular has a tinge of Mazzy with its sweet melancholy vibe, although there's no Hope Sandoval voice to croon you to comfort but rather Roozrokh's fitting bummer hums.

At the moment, Natasha is in Europe, likely entertaining the heads out there. However, she was here once before and it'd be wise to look out for her NYC appearances in the future. HerSpace shows an appreciation for dark-techy groups like Tearist and Telepathe - let's hope that we'll be able to catch her sharing a bill with one of these outfits sometime soon.



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The Skate Gods and The Music Gods, wherever they may reside, have been good to me. I don’t recall how exactly I stumbled upon the magic that is Urban Dance Squad (UDS), but lets just “thank the gods” that I did.

From what I make of it, UDS was straight outta Holland circa ‘89 and much of the early 90’s. Yes, the 90’s, that glorious decade of anti-fashion and raw, unapologetic style. The band's front man was “Rudeboy Remmington,” who basically sounded like a more revved-up version of Public Enemy's Chuck D (if that’s even possible). The band's sound was made up of guitarist, Tres Manos, bassist, Sil, drummer, Magic Stick, and DJ DNA. Together they were the trippy mix of all things Hard Rock, Grunge, Soul, Hip-Hop, Jazz, and Ska that is UDS. Rad!

You like early RHCP? Rage Against the Machine, perhaps? Yea, well credit some o’ dat raging funk to these cats:

UDS - Demagogue


UDS - No Honesty


And on a much smoother note, check out UDS' “Deeper Shade of Soul” for what has got to be the chillest skateboard-inspired music video that I've ever laid senses on.



Extra Puerto Rican points to anyone that's ever heard the Ray Barretto original.

Skate-Fully Yours,

-The Rainster

Rockers-turned-clubbers-turned-ultimate weirdos Pink Skull dropped by the studio to unleash a phantastically danceable mix for Naked Fridays part 36! These phools shuttle back 'n forth from Philly to NYC from time to time to make sure that the Big Apple feels their impact 2 the core.

No joke - you can pay them a visit this Saturday, January 23rd at Le Poisson Rouge in the West Village, where they'll be playing LIVE for the renowned Fixed party featuring Brodinski and hosts extraordinaire, DJs Dave P and JDH!

If you wanna get prep'd for what promises to be a swell, sweltering night, get into this sweet variety of house and techno trax with selections from A Guy Called Gerald, Kevin Saunderson, and many more skillers as this mix is sans philler. Tracklist below, Naked Fridays at 4 PM today.

Guy Delacroix - Dreams (Strawberry Field Mix)
Paperclip People - Throw
Afefe Iku - Mirror Dance
CHEEK - Sunshine People (DJ Gregory remix)
Paul Johnson - The Music In Me
Adonis - No Way Back (Vocal Mix)
George Morel - Let's Groove
Masters At Work - The Ha Dance (Pumpin' Dub)
A Guy Called Gerald - Voodoo Ray
A Guy Called Gerald - Voodoo Ray (Fast Eddie Mix)
Murk - Bugged Out
Jaydee - Plastic Dreams
Kevin Saunderson - Electronic Dance
Robotman - Do Da Doo (Plastikman's Acid House Remix)
Outrage - That Piano Track

Watch our Facebook & Twitter pages for a giveaway...





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It has recently been brought to our attention that we might be observing what seem to be Dennis Hopper's last moments in life. The Viva crew is saddened by this, in that while the world just lost someone as young as Jay Reatard who wasn't yet able to claim a lengthy legacy of greatness, Dennis certainly can.

He's an American artist whose CV as an actor lists appearances in (counter)culturally significant films from the legendary Easy Rider to Blue Velvet, which are stacked next to roles in globally celebrated Hollywood productions like Speed and TV series "24", not to mention you might run into him in a Gnarls Barkley video or on a Gorillaz album if we're to discuss contemporary popular music. Generally popular for practically half of a century, it's clear that the association between this man and the notion of "celebrity" is pretty positive, and very strong.

We're not sure when he'll go, although it seems pretty certain that it won't be too long. It's scary! It is for us, at least. We can only hope that he is dealing with it peacefully, surrounded by family and friends.

As you know, musician Jay Reatard passed away last week at the age of 29. All of us at Viva Radio were shocked and saddened by the news. We were fortunate enough to have Jay in the Viva studio on October 24th, 2008 for our Me + You program. Jay didn't perform any songs that day due to a tight CMJ schedule but we did have a chance to chat.

I'd never met Jay before. He was a pretty intense guy. We could've sat down that day for a normal interview but instead stood in a high energy, slightly volatile Q&A volley. I thought the tension was gonna drive Jay out of the studio a couple times but instead I was able to uncover a softer side of Jay.

As Jay put it that day, "I like to sip chamomile tea with my dog and watch VH1. That's about as soft as I get". It was a break through. I think I did get a nice little slice of life out of Jay that day.

A few questions that made the interview:

Why should people care about Jay Reatard?
Are you living the American Dream?
What would you say is the best album to listen to while smoking DMT?

And a few that didn't:

Are you the marrying type?
What is Jay Reatard's GOD?
Are you a fan of the Who's "Eminence Front?"




Peace and love, Jay. We will miss you. This special Viva Vaults edition of Me + You is dedicated to the memory. Tune in today at 12 PM for the Jay Reatard interview at Me + You. Only on Viva Radio.

I had a couple New Years Resolutions for 2010. The first being, no more rushing. That means being late for radio shows, movies, dinner dates, work deadlines, getting dressed, feeding stray dogs, and just about anything you can think of. I'm going to just slow down in general. That will all fade away by the time March rolls around, but I think I'm up to a pretty good start. I didn't really get into work last week until about 2pm every day, but I did get a lot accomplished for the greater glory of Ted.

The second resolution was to try and laugh even more and buy a case of some sort of exotic red wine. Those two go hand in hand by the way. As does crying during this process. So far I'm doing really good at this! I've been to Uva and the ghetto wine store on Manhattan Ave almost every other day this week! Praises and good tidings for me.

I hope that you yourself are breaking in the New Year with great stride and aspiration. Maybe you're thinking more positive. You're going to build something. Get rid of things. I'd also like to remind you to laugh this year. Laugh with me, laugh at me, and laugh with others. If you live in the greater Tri-State New York region I ask you to make a wise decision tonight. That decision entails you going to a comedy show that I'm djaying called GIGGLES. Is it art? Is it comedy? Maybe it's both! But, whatever it is it's going to be extraordinary.

Don Stahl, everybody's favorite Daddy's bartender will be hosting. There will also be comedic experiences from Jesse Popp, David Cope, Ali Wang, and Able Brown. All of these will soon be household names by 2014! They will have appeared in reality TV shows, yogurt commercials, and perhaps coached a semi professional sporting team.

Too, also, I haven't DJ'd since October and I'm ready to dish out the goods. If that means ripping my shirt off around 2AM while playing Riki Tiki Tavi then so be it! I love you. See you tonight! Also dig the amazing flyer by Mr. Nate Gelgud!

Here's a fun video from Ali Wong!

Run Wongy Run from Chris Garcia on Vimeo.

GIGGLES 9PM

Hosted by Don Stahl

Tuesday January 12th - 9pm

Bruar Falls

Brooklyn, NY

245 Grand St. btw Driggs and Roebling

Well, it's official. World-ethno-roots solo performers armed with a ukelele and loop fx units as well as (last but not least at all) killer vocal cords can take the music world by storm. Whether Merrill Garbus is finding success with her project tUnE-YaRdS in the wake of Animal Collective's invocations of a more primal sense of melody or through Dirty Projectors' current championing of sensual, R&B-influenced forms of alternative music (Garbus recently completed a nation-wide tour with the group) or even through Deerhoof having slowly and steadily paved the way, she's being heralded nonetheless. And with good reason - she's great!

Merrill's personality comes through very early on in this session, revealing a sense of humor, a strong creative drive, and an obsession for Africa that took her to Nairobi a little while back, introducing her to the Tarabu music that would have an influence on future musical endeavors...

Sure, tUnE-YaRdS tunes do have that Byrne'ing desire to transport you into a soulful, spiritual, and arguably earthy environment that isn't necessarily too attainable in the consumer culture of the west, but we are dealing with an American artist here, even if the project did take off upon Garbus' arrival in the rather progressive state of California (transcendence, anyone?). The jams found on tUnE-YaRdS 4AD-released (!) debut (!!) album and within this session present a snappy + quirky assortment of vocals and melodies that are wonderfully harmonious. Aware of how to subtly generate cascades of sound while remaining in control and quite assertive in her vocal delivery, this sounds like the work of a cool, weird American musician with a grasp on something fresh.

Further conversation between MG & Tedward hears our guest disclose her suburban CT origins and the literal and figurative exploration that came with growing up, including being a "theater kid" and a student of what upon first listen sounds like "magical choir" but is actually "madrigal choir". Don't know about you, but I sense that there's magic happening in this 69th edition of Me + You. Tune in this Monday, January 11th @ noon!






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Being all East Coast-bred and into skate, surf, and surf/skate-related music I figured I’d eventually have to take a holy pilgrimage over to the coast that mothered it, The West.

This is all quintessentially speaking, of course (Its quite possible that the more radical of cavemen and women were probably getting their music and skate on right after the invention of the wheel). My guess as to why there’s no evidence of this in history class is probably the invention of the prehistoric bong and other related distractions.

Whatever the case, I blame Dogtown, late 80’s and early 90’s skate videos like Rubbish Heap/Videos Days (both Spike Jonze directed), and bands like Suicidal Tendencies, for piquing a lot of my West Coast interest:



Skate-related music and madness always reminds about the magic in young, cool, ambitiously careless living. My trip was in search of a bit of that. Granted, I wasn’t in So Cal or anything, but you can’t argue much with a cheap flight to San Francisco, knowing a couple of friends out there, and staying at a chill pad near Danny Tanner’s real Full House neighborhood.



So, six days, four burritos, two Vietnamese dinners, too many “Sketch” Francisco moments to recount, some skating, a friend's bottle of cheap wine, and one “pharmaceutical” cookie later, I bid the West Coast farewell.

Rad Times,

-The Rainster

P.S. Found this sweet Bay Area band:



Black Pole - PMF


Black Pole - Counter Girl

I think Kathy from Glass Rock put it best in the interview when she said, "It's always weird to get emotional at noon on a Sunday." We did get emotional on that Sunday bloody Sunday as I invited one of the more striking groups of the last year, Glass Rock, into the Viva Studios for Pt. 68 of Me + You. They performed what was their second official set as a band ever in our studio. The first set being an incredible Sunday performance just a month before at Union Pool. Glass Rock is the melding of two different musical acts. The first being Soft Location featuring Kathy Lieson and Matt Kantor originally from Detroit. The second is the Brooklyn group Tall Firs with Aaron Mullen, David Mies, and Ryan Sawyer. I highly recommend treating yourself to a day massage and a hot listening sesh to both of these bands over a steamy weekend.

I wouldn't go so far to say that this was the most informative interview ever, but it certainly was a good lesson on social behaviors when slightly inebriated. I knew Kathy from Detroit when she dated a friend of mine, Dr. Z back in 2005. I didn't know too much about her musical background until recently. The wonderful Kerry Davis from Viva tipped me off on Soft Location and said we need to get Kathy in the studio at some point. I was determined to make yet another Detroit connection here with Viva Radio! I was determined to get the real story. Even as bassist Matthew Kantor exclaimed during the interview, "I'm not feeling this at all, this is so serious, let's just go to another song." But being the serious music journalist that I am, I wanted to get the full story! Kathy then exclaimed, "you know you got to sing all the time, sometimes you don't want to talk afterwards."

Moreover, what started out with five songs Kathy had written for a possible split with Tall Firs became a sweet green light for their full release entitled "Tall Firs meet Soft Location" on Ecstatic Peace. Needless to say there is a warm and fuzzy side to the band. On that day Glass Rock were definitely frothing up and spilling over the brim! It's the perfect kick to a nice Winter Me + You session!

It’s pretty ironic that I'm also writing this from Detroit right now. Not to dwell on the comparison too much but I'll leave you with a quote from Kathy when asked about the differences between Detroit and New York. "In New York there's an insane world existing around you all the time, but in Detroit there's an insane world existing in each and every one of us inside all the time, and that's the difference. You just have to take that crazy world and make it inside of yourself." Happy New Year and Much Love to everyone! Tune in to Me + You today at Noon!

-T