Ep. 5, A: "Agony Of DeFeet," Parliament

From the album Gold

Parliament:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: George Clinton is currently touring. He and his posse will be at Summer Camp in Chillicothe, IL, on May 25. Who wants to get Funked up? — BJ

Not to be confused with:

Ep. 5, B: "Blazing Arrow," Blackalicious

From the album Blazing Arrow

Blackalicious:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: I just started listening to Blackalicious -- I love the song about the elements. The hip hop duo's members are rapper Gift of Gab and producer Chief Xcel who started performing together in high school in 1987. — BJ

Ep. 5, C: "Caravan Girl," Goldfrapp

From the album Seventh Tree

Goldfrapp:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: Not going to lie -- I'm happy Goldfrapp departed from dance music. I enjoy this album much more than the others I've heard. — BJ

Ep. 5, D: "Dramamine," Modest Mouse

From the album This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About

Modest Mouse:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: The first Modest Mouse song I ever heard was "Float On." When I got into their older stuff (This Is A Long Drive Came out in 1996) last year I was completely thrown off. Talk about night and day. — BJ

Ep. 5, E: "Extraordinary Machine," Fiona Apple

From the album Extraordinary Machine

Fiona Apple:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: This song and its source album could have been HUGE if it had been the follow-up to Tidal instead of that 100-word-titled misfire we got instead. Oh well, better late than never. — cwc

Ep. 5, F: "Full Spectrum," The Violettes

From the album The Violettes

The Violettes:   MySpace

DJ comments: I roomed with the bass player, John Ancell, for a semester. He was in a pretty cool band called Lb. back then, but what he went on to do with The Violettes is incredible, IMHO. The album is dream pop meets Indian meets electro-dance meets rock. Yep. I'm afraid the band is dead now, though. I mean, the four members are probably still above ground, just not working on music together as The Violettes. — cwc

Ep. 5, G: "Glass Danse," The Faint

From the album Danse Macabre

The Faint:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: Hey, it's that Saddle Creek band that nobody ever talks about! My question: why not? — cwc

Ep. 5, H: "Hong Kong Garden," Siouxsie & the Banshees

From the album Once Upon a Time: The Singles

Siouxsie & the Banshees:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: These guys and peers such as Gang of Four (who you'll hear later today) get little respect, especially Siouxsie. I think that's too bad; without these guys, I'm guessing we wouldn't have fantastic bands such as Bloc Party right now. And they certainly influenced the Cure and Jane's Addiction. Siouxsie does come off as a bit of a monster in interviews, though. — cwc

Ep. 5, I: "Islands On The Coast," Band of Horses

From the album Cease To Begin

Band of Horses:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: Yet another wonderful Sub Pop group. If you like Band of Horses, check out the members' previous band Carissa's Wierd.—

Ep. 5, J: "Just Couldn't Tie Me Down," The Black Keys

From the album Rubber Factory

The Black Keys:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: Yet another duo for the day. For a band with only two members (Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney), these Ohio boys put out a lot of sound! I think they kick the crap out of the White Stripes. Not to promote this, but these guys are college dropouts. Further proof that the American Dream is real -- real, I say. Real. — BJ

This video is of their "Stack Shot Billy" performance on David Letterman's Late Show:

Ep. 5, K: "Kim's Watermelon Gun," The Flaming Lips

From the album Clouds Taste Metallic

The Flaming Lips:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: I was front row at the Flaming Lips show at Lollapalooza in 2006. It was probably the most fun I've ever had at a show. After Wayne traveled through the crowd in a giant bubble, we watched the group perform with a group of dancing Santas on one side of the stage and alien women on the other. He pulled out his typical huge hands, and then blew up a giant confetti-filled balloon. It was wild. — BJ

Two videos posted. First is "Kim's Watermelon Gun," followed by a video from Lollapalooza. Wayne asks all the women to throw unused tampons on stage, then proceeds to jam out.

Ep. 5, L: "Ladders," Califone

From the album Roots & Crowns

Califone:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: Califone is playing the Vic Theatre in Chicago on April 21 & 22. Califone and Iron & Wine — who wants to carpool? — BJ

No "Ladders" video, but this is a live bathroom performance of "Hand"

Ep. 5, M: "Mutual Slump," DJ Shadow

From the album Endtroducing...

DJ Shadow:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: This is one of those songs I like to play when I'm driving on the highway, the beats really encourage you to put the hammer down. — cwc

Ep. 5, N: "Natural's Not In It," Gang of Four

From the album Entertainment!

Gang of Four:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: This came out nearly 30 years ago, and it still sounds like something that could have been recorded yesterday. Again, let me gush about this band, early Siouxsie, the Cure, Joy Division, etc., etc.

The song was used in Marie Antoinette, clips from which you'll find below with the song as accompaniment. — cwc

Ep. 5, O: "Objects of My Affection," Peter Bjorn and John

From the album Writer's Block

Peter Bjorn and John:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: I wonder if these guys ever considered pulling a Pamida and naming the band Pebjjo. Pamida, that wonderful discount store, got its name from the founder's three sons, Pat Mike and Dave. Pa Mi Da. Neat little history lesson, eh? Unless you were the kid who was taunted for wearing $8 Pamida sneakers to school, then this probably rips open some old wounds. I should know. :( — cwc

Ep. 5, P: "Pencil Skirt," Pulp

From the album Different Class

DJ comments: This song is sexy. — cwc

There's nothing official to link to (even on MySpace), but at least there's this racy video for this song. Seriously, it has boobies, and a homicidal guy who looks like an Amish member of the Velvet Underground.

Ep. 5, Q: "Quiet," Smashing Pumpkins

From the album Siamese Dreams

Smashing Pumpkins:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: Oh, how far they've come. Remember the good ol' days of SP, Chris? Back when they were Melancholy and Zwan had not yet formed... I miss those days. — BJ

I used to have a Siamese Dream bumper sticker on my awesome Olds Calais. I loved this album, I really loved this song. Too bad about the decade or so that followed Mellon Collie... — cwc

Ep. 5, R: "Rudie Can't Fail," The Clash

From the album London Calling

[artist]:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: This month (March), PBS is airing a documentary about The Clash. A DVD is also set to release on April 15. —

Ep. 5, S: "San Berdoo Sunburn," Eagles of Death Metal

From the album Peace Love Death Metal

Eagles of Death Metal:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: I don't know how I didn't realize this was an offshoot of Queens of the Stone Age. It wasn't until I saw mention of Dave Grohl as the drummer that I caught on to this. —

Ep. 5, T: "The Men Who Live Upstairs," The Most Serene Republic

From the album Population

The Most Serene Republic:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: I cheated on the name a little. You'll never see "The" qualifying as a "T" again, I promise. I got a chance to hang out with them a bit when they came through Iowa City (they did an in-studio at KRUI), and just wanted to include a song from the fun Toronto group. — BJ

Ep. 5, U: "Unseen Power of the Picket Fence," Pavement

From the album No Alternative

Pavement:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: I question the historical accuracy of this song: it only FEELS like R.E.M. has been around since the Civil War. — cwc

And since there's no video around for this song, let's go with the song that disses the Pumpkins and STP and remember how incensed losers like me got when they first heard these lyrics. "Pumpkins fuckin' rule!" I might have been known to say...

Ep. 5, V: "Venus in Furs," The Velvet Underground

From the album The Velvet Underground and Nico

The Velvet Underground:   Rock and Roll Hall of Fame page

DJ comments: Every day at work, my 3'x5' VU poster stares at me from my cubicle wall. It pretty much rules. — cwc

Ep. 5, W: "Why Did You Stay?," The Pipettes

From the album We Are the Pipettes

The Pipettes:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: Hey, I made it until Episode 5 to play these hotties. That is some amazing restraint shown by yours truly. — cwc

Ep. 5, X: "XR2," M.I.A.

From the album Kala

M.I.A.:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: My 2-year-old son loves to play the drums along with this song, pounding on whatever's handy. Good thing I bleeped out the cussword... — cwc

Ep. 5, Y: "You've Made Me So Very Happy," Blood, Sweat & Tears

From the album Blood, Sweat & Tears

BS&T:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: The first record I can remember. My parents let me listen to it when I was a toddler living in the Twin Cities suburbs. I loved "Spinnin' Wheel"; it still makes me smile and sometimes dance (poorly). To avoid any chance of that happening, let's go with this shiny happy tune. — cwc

And check out the happy couples in this slideshow video!

Ep. 5, Z: "Zero," The Donnas

From the album Get Skintight

The Donnas:   Web site   MySpace

DJ comments: Me and my buddy Sam (the one who rules, remember) played some Trivia Whiz with the Donnas who play bass and guitar (that would be Donna F and R, respectively, I believe) at the back bar in the Picador back when it was still Gabe's and the Donnas were still not quite full-on metal. Sam couldn't keep his yap shut, blurting out answers, so he felt obligated to get a couple bucks' worth of quarters and at least pay for their next eight games. Good times. — cwc

No video for "Zero," so how about this KISS cover? Perhaps a preview for our first post-Spring Break shows...