Happy In-independence Day!

As the smoke from forest fires and celebratory fireworks clears - and the floods pass and the twisters subside and the disasters of biblical proportions diminish somewhat - did you take the time, earthlings, to ponder the fate of your country on your Independence Day? Or the fate of your world on this upcoming Election Day? The future health of your blue-green planet (which is getting browner all the time) hangs in the balance. Please take the time to educate yourselves and vote accordingly. Meantime, I'll provide a spacerock soundtrack to sooth and inspire!

This episode begins with some mind-altering pummeling (that would be the brown acid) from stalwart weirdos like The Butthole Surfers from a classic '89 live performance, 2-piece newbies No Age channeling a prog-damaged version of vintage SST Records, noise transcendentalists Fuck Buttons, and the arch-drude hisself, Julian Cope, performing his most bombastic tour-de-force ever. Pay especially close attention to the brain-frying Jucifer track from their astoundingly diverse and delicious latest album, one of the best of the year so far (every song is about Marie Antoinette!), and the somewhat stunted yet sincere cover of Pink Floyd's sprawling epic "Echoes" by David Yow's Qui (Scratch Acid, The Jesus Lizard, et al.).

From there we move into some classic/modern psych from the Chameleons (covering the Beatles' spacerockingest song) and Austin's Black Angels, who effortlessly blew minds, mine included, in their Chicago appearance with The Warlocks for which which I beamed down last month. Then into some languid love songs of the lysergic variety from shoegazers Slowdive and M83, as well as... Queen?!?!? Next up, a track from Brad Laner's latest solo album back-to-back with a track from his finest work with nineties noisegazers Medicine, followed for good measure by a track from one of the many collaborations between ambient pioneer Brian Eno and krautronica originators Cluster, circa '78.

The last third of the sets goes from weird to weirder to weird-and-HEAVY, with some esoteric instruMENTALists and the monsters of post rock. Pay particular attention to the tracks from offkilter agitprop primitivists Indian Jewelry and psilocybic psychrockin' Portlandians Grails, whose respective latest albums are among the very best of 2008. Hang on to your hats and glasses kids, it's gonna be a wild ride...!

The following tracks should appear in the player below:

Behind Every Great Man - Jucifer - L'Autrichienne
Teen Creeps - No Age - Nouns
Ribs Out - Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
Dum Dum - Butthole Surfers - Double Live
Echoes - Qui - Love's Miracle
Reynard the Fox - Julian Cope - Fried
Tomorrow Never Knows - The Chameleons - Strange Times
Deer-Ree-Shee - The Black Angels - Directions To See A Ghost
Some Velvet Morning - Slowdive - Souvlaki
She Makes Me - Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
Graveyard Girl - M83 - Saturdays = Youth
June Gloom - Brad Laner - Neighbor Singing
Aruca - Medicine - Shot Forth Self Living
The Belldog - Cluster & Eno - After the Heat
Recent Bedroom - Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
Carolina Foxtail/Sea Chirp - Cloudland Canyon - Requiems Der Natur 2002-2004
B - Ecstatic Sunshine - Way
Embryo Imbroglio - Thank You - Terrible Two
Too Much Honkytonking - Indian Jewelry - Free Gold!
Death Rides A Horse - Russian Circles - Enter
Stoned at the Taj Again - Grails - Take Refuge in Clean Living
Ex-Cowboy - Mogwai - Come On Die Young