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Heroin's Rainbow by Eric Baylies is a memoir of a neighborhood and a city. New Bedford, Massachusetts sits somewhere on the edge of nowhere, a twilight interzone at the end of the world. It is the underground history of the secret city. Big Dan's, strip club rampages, cruising the avenue, crooked cops, high school suicide solutions, drinking problems, crack houses, shooting galleries, gay bar stabbings, god, guns, heroin, devil dogs, angel dust, acid, mushrooms, mescaline, weed, whales, wishes, dreams, and nightmares come true, they are all here. This is the way, step inside.

You can pick up a copy of the book at the label website.

Bob Kendall - Midnight Flower

It's been a decade since Bob Kendall released his debut solo record "Enough is Enough" on his own Kentone Records label. The founding member of the bands Lifeboat, The Blood Oranges, The Brothers Kendall, and The Labor Pool has finally let go of this collection of songs written, self-produced and recorded in his backyard shed. The title track, "Midnight Flower" features vocals by Tanya Donelly. (Belly, Throwing Muses, The Breeders) "Donelly adds a certain visceral, seventh sense - and conjures up weary-wise tones of Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris" (Influenza). Muses drummer, David Narcizo, once again provides his trademark style of hypnotic rhythms throughout the record. Kendall's songs have been described as "telling tales of recrimination and self-deception". Song styles and influences are reminiscent of Jeff Tweedy, Teenage Fan Club, Tom Petty, Ian Hunter, The Velvet Underground and Gram Parsons. Mixed and fixed by Kraig Jordan and mastered by Pete Weiss at Verdant Studios. Check out the Bob Kendall facebook page, download the track Ready Still, and pick up a copy of the cd at the label webpage.

Tom Scharpling - The Best Show on WFMU

The long running Best Show on WFMU (They recently celebrated their 500th episode) is a slow burner that pays off once you get to know all the reoccurring characters and guests. Host Tom Scharpling is an indie rock fan boy veteran, who ended up producing the tv show 'Monk' for a number of years and also recently directing music videos for bands like the New Pornographers. The man has amazing friends, whether it's Ted Leo, Paul F. Tompkins, Julie Klausner, John Hodgeman, or any number of the regular callers he gives the ol' "Heave-ho" to once he is tired of them. Musician Jon Wurster gets to flex his comedic muscles, calling in almost every show under a variety of guises and characters that always end up blowing themselves up or getting murdered by a woman named Sheila Larson. Whether he is threatening to make every show his last, battling AP Mike, or drinking Four Loco until he is literally curled up in a ball under the board, he is always obsessed with indie rock, Paul McCartney, and GG Allin. Scharpling knows his music history and if you decide to call in, you better make sure you have your facts straight.

Updated: Live on Tuesday 9pm-12am EST Every week, downloadable every Friday
Guests: Frequently
Twitter: @scharpling

Bottomless Pit - Lottery 2005-2012

Comedy Minus One has released the Bottomless Pit compilation "Lottery 2005-2012". This double cd gathers everything that band has released so far, plus two brand new songs and a new "fast" version of the track 'Winterwind'. This is an import cd from Japan, but the label has limited physical quantities available. There is also a digital download available through Amazon, which collects only the three unreleased tracks.

Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast

Even though he lives on the west coast now, every word out of Burr's mouth reflects his upbringing in the bitter cold of Boston. If there's one thing Burr may always be known for, it's heroically taking on a hostile Philadelphia audience and handing them their heads before walking off to a standing ovation. Whether he's explaining his distaste for alt-comics for cherry picking their audiences or getting shushed in the middle of the show by security while recording in a hotel room on the road, there's no production values and very rarely any guests - just one man, one microphone, and one dog. The show catches his fans up on his past week and dishes out advice to fans in predicaments, an underrated/overrated list, recommended youtube videos, before ending with his signature sign-off "Go fuck yourselves."

Updated: Weekly
Running Time: 60 minutes
Guests: Rarely
Twitter: @billburr

The bitch brothers Self Titled debut is now released. bitch brothers are a three piece band from beautiful Worcester, MA. Believing very much in the ethos put forth by the Minutemen and Fugazi, we jam econo - doing as much as we can ourselves. We work the night shift to make a sound that is new, yet still influenced by the the artists we love. This self-titled release encompasses the spirit of our musical democracy. The first half of the album, tracks 1-9, represent their structured and focused studio side. The second half, tracks 10-16, were recorded during several practices and represent their looser, improvisational side. Sixteen tracks in all, you can download the track Son of the Seventies and pick up a copy of the cd at the label webpage.

Boom Chick - Shake Can Well

Brooklyn's drum-girl-guitar-boy duo Boom Chick had one of our favorite releases in 2011 and they have announced the pre-order for a new seven inch single called 'Shake Can Well'. This will be an edition of 500 copies, with the first 100 copies on clear purple vinyl. It's $6 plus shipping and that gets you a download of the tracks upon ordering. This should arrive in your mailboxes in late February. You can order and listen to all three streaming tracks at their bandcamp site.

Boston Hassle - A Boston Underground Music Compilation

On December 11, the Boston Hassle compilation button was released on a wearable music pin that only requires the listener to plug in their headphones and press play. The simple controls let you pause or play the music and to skip forward or back through the songs. While the lack of display doesn't work against this playable pin format if there's only one band, it's different for a compilation, because until you memorize the order of the tracks, you are on your own. That's really the only thing to complain about, as it comes packed in a slightly larger than matchbox sized cardboard container, with a splattered Boston Red Sox logo on the top. As for the music, thirteen tracks ranging from middle eastern madness, instrumental hip hop, reverb drenched power pop, hyper/gloom synth and angular indie rock.You can stream the comp here and purchase the comp here.

The Blood Moons / Six Star General Split 12" Vinyl is now available for pre-order. Immediate 320kb mp3 download, including all album artwork and the records ship the next day. The Vinyl is limited to 200 hand numbered copies and the jackets were screen printed at the 75orLess house, on 18 point brown 100% PCW recycled chipboard, using red and black inks. The Blood Moons "Self Titled" EP includes six tracks and Six Star General's "These Woods Smell Like Grape" EP has seven tracks. New Bedford, Massachusetts' The Blood Moons newest batch of songs about love gone wrong, relationships gone wrong, lust gone wrong, goodbyes gone wrong, and taxidermied lovers! Providence, RI's Six Star General recorded their EP in the summer of 2011 at Plan of a Boy Studio in Providence with Kraig Jordan. Seven songs, over 22 minutes of music, including a cover of the T. Rex classic 'Life's a Gas' with Jodie Treloar on vocals. Pre-order a copy at the label webpage.

The Birkitt Transmissions - Cut in 3

The Cut in 3 EP is the Birkitt Transmissions' first release. Husband/Wife duo Doug (guitar/vocals) & Aileen Birkitt (drums) play simple, loud, melodic guitar rock. Is it punk? Well.... sure, if you'd like it to be. Whatever gets you through the night. It's rock, yo. Please check it out for yourself. That would make the Birkitt Transmissions purr like a kitten. You can download the track Pretty Nonsense and purchase a copy at the label webpage.