Leap day, the one extra day that comes around every four years. That’s what it took to get back to normal. Except for the snowstorm, which turned our brown winter nicely white. I hope that isn’t becoming a once-every-four-years thing too.

The weather kept Julio up in his mountain hideaway, so I did back-to-back shows. Clipper, who haunts the studio most of the time these days, stopped in for part of my show and launched Julio’s with a live set from one of The Monkees 2001 reunion shows in remembrance of Davy Jones, who died today. I’ve nonetheless omitted that set from the playlist.

1. The Spiders – Furi Furi
2. Spencer Kenney – Blue Moon
3. Beta Hector – Jupiter Mission
4. Charlie Parr – Gospel Plow
5. Kithkin – Ampersand
6. Ritmo Machine – The Ooohs
7. Zun Zun Egui – Cowboy
8. The Dodos – So Cold
9. Hey Marseilles – Elegy
10. Mark Lanegan – The Gravedigger’s Song
11. Cloud Control – Meditation Song #2 (Why, Oh Why)
12. Breathe Owl Breathe – Snow Blow
13. Fire In the Northern Firs – Weather Machine
14. Walls – Heat Haze
15. Manooghi Hi – Silence
16. Manooghi Hi – My Friends
17. The Squirrels – Pope On A Rope (Cigarette Butt)
18. The Squirrels – Bone Of Contention
19. The 667s – I Smell Toast
20. The 667s – Picketts Charge
21. The Fuzz – Are You Gonna Miss Me
22. The Fuzz – I Want
23. Skeleton Ed – Fridley Bound
24. Islands – Hallways
25. Hospitality – Friends of Friends
26. First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar
27. Zoo Animal – The Too Men
28. The Front Bottoms – Flashlight

1. Airtist – Air Jam
2. David Byrne – Big Business
3. Kimya Dawson – Tire Swing
4. Akiko Yang – Daydream Believer
5. Owen Pallet – Lewis Takes Charge
6. Tjupurru – Unkol James Brown
7. Lynda Barry – Beck
8. Replacements – Saturday Night Special
9. Suburbs – Macho Drunk
10. T Rex – Left Hand Luke
11. Staples Singers – Freedom Highway
12. Three Dog Night – Shambala
13. tUnE-yArDs – Sunlight
14. Tullycraft – The Punks Are Writing Love Songs
15. Chick Webb – Heebie Jeebies
16. Fiona Apple – Red Red Red
17. Slim Whitman – Indian Love Call
18. Max Webster – Battlescar
19. Labelle – Lady Marmalade
20. Kurt Vonnegut – Nice, Nice, Very Nice
21. Doo Rag – Hussy Bowler
22. The Phones – I’m So Neat

I went into the cassette vault looking for something that I never did find. But I emerged (gasping for breath) with a handful of my favorite demos and DIY releases from some Minnesota and Wisconsin bands from the heyday of the late ’80s and early ’90s. I didn’t have anything to do with making these recordings; I just like ‘em.

1. Skeleton Ed – It Don’t Matter
2. Skeleton Ed – Here Come The Merkins
3. Skeleton Ed – Tightrope Wire
4. Skeleton Ed – Walk Away
5. Skeleton Ed – Down South
6. Skeleton Ed – untitled jam
7. Skeleton Ed – Mississippi
8. Skeleton Ed – Glass Ceilings
9. Skeleton Ed – On The Ground
10. Skeleton Ed – What You Want
11. Skeleton Ed – Far Country
12. Skeleton Ed – Wisconsin
13. The Draghounds – Chain
14. The Draghounds – This Ain’t
15. The Draghounds – Every Tale
16. The Weables – 1:55
17. The Weables – Let Them
18. The Weables – It’s In the Paper
19. Bone Club – Day I Died
20. Bone Club – Now Way In Hell
21. Bone Club – Six Feet Underground
22. Swingin’ Uncle Jimmy – Suntan City
23. Swingin’ Uncle Jimmy – Oh No, Here It Comes
24. Swingin’ Uncle Jimmy – Life Near a Higher Sun
25. Swingin’ Uncle Jimmy – John, I’m Only Mating
26. Swingin’ Uncle Jimmy – What Tangled Webs?
27. Swingin’ Uncle Jimmy – Like That
28. Polk County – Fuel To Spare
29. Polk County – Long Night Home
30. Something Fierce – Brush With the Law
31. Something Fierce – Joined At the Hip
32. The Coolhand Band – Halby Learns Guitar
33. The Coolhand Band – Lost in Boston

A new episode of the The Pretty Big Place Video Hour — the monthly TV version of my radio show — is up at FACT-TV. It got stretched to widescreen, as mysteriously happens sometimes. That’s overlookable though.

Shonen Knife – Top of the World (live) | Arcwelder – Missing | Battles – Atlas (live) | Laurie Anderson – Sharkey’s Day (live) | Doomsday (trailer) | Barnes and Barnes – Fish Heads | Gary Numan – Cars | T-Rex – Jeepster (live) | Parry Gripp – Baby Monkey (Going Backwards On A Pig) | Chumbawamba – Tubthumping | Devo – Satisfaction | The Flying Lizards – TV | The Road Warrior (trailer) | The Residents – Hello Skinny | The Minutemen – This Ain’t No Picnic

And oddly enough, it seems that I never posted the previous episode here on the Pretty Big Place website. How did I manage to not do that? And it was such a good one! The most number of views of any so far. You can still see it:

Cocteau Twins – Song to the Siren (live) | The Cult – Rain | Siouxsie & The Banshees – Peek a Boo | Rent-A-Friend | Barry und Hans – Swiff Fruit | Warren Zevon – Excitable Boy (live) | The American Idiot | It’s OK Not to Like Things | Laurie Anderson – Ask A Question | David Bowie – The Man Who Sold The World (live) | Count Basie – Swingin’ the Blues | The Holy Modal Rounders – Bound To Lose documentary trailer | The Mofos – Levitation (live) | Circus Contraption – Stilt Faeries & Carousel | Dusty Springfield – Son of a Preacher Man | The Saints – Stranded | Soda Estereo – Musica Ligera (live)

Tonight we stole a page from the playbook of the Mixtape Radio show (hosted by Jade Barbee on Tuesdays from 9-11 ET) and played stuff supplied by a couple members of the army of six weird listeners: Rodney and Megan, who both happen to live in Minnesota. Delightfully good! Next week – if there aren’t trainees – I’ve got some great ones lined up courtesy of Jeremy. Anybody else want in?

Rodney Set

1. The Heavy Petting Zoo – Screaming Directions
2. Team America – America, F___ Yeah
3. Kenneth Patchen – Change the Mood (interstitial)
4. John Grant – Sigourney Weaver
5. 801 – Baby’s On Fire
6. Stornoway – Zorbing
7. Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby – Super Freak
8. Cornershop – Staging the Plaguing of the Raised Platform
9. Impressions – The Young Mods’ Forgotten Story
10. Gary Wilson – Linda Wants to Be Alone
11. Ebony Three Vocal Trio – Go Down Moses
12. Bettye Lavette – It Don’t Come Easy
13. The Vulgar Boatmen – Change the World All Around
14. Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings – Stranded in Your Love (ft Lee Fields)
15. Half Man Half Biscuit – S___ Arm, Bad Tattoo
16. Walter Jackson – My Ship is Comin’ In
17. The Zutons – Valerie
18. Caffe-In – Come On! Crawling Larvae
19. The Thermals – I’m Gonna Chagne Your Life
20. King Curtis – Memphis Soul Stew
21. Noah and The Whale – 5 Years Time
22. Gonna Fix You Good – The Alan Bown Set
23. The Rezillos – (My Baby Does) Good Sculptures
24. Moby Grape – Omaha
25. Flatt & Scruggs – Cabin in the Hills

Megan Set

1. Hanoi Rocks – Dead By Christmas
2. The Coral – Dreaming Of You
3. Touch & Go – In Harlem
4. Big Maybelle – 96 Tears
5. The Cribs – I’m Alright Me
6. Banana Splits – I’m Gonna Find A Cave
7. Frente! – Open Up Your Heart And Let The Sun Shine In
8. The Harbinger Complex – My Dear And Kind Sir
9. Jimmy Cliff – Guns of Brixton
10. RJD2 – Ghostwriter
11. The Boys – (Baby) It’s You
12. The Hep Stars – Kana Kapila