Episodes

Episode 112: Terry Allen, Swedish Rights, and Sissy Bounce

Terry Allen/James Bland

This week: Musician/Artist Terry Allen re-mystifies love… Sweden gets on the right track… And tennis superstar Novak Djokovic eggs himself on. Plus, a joke from a bitter Kiwi and a bouncin’ track from Big Freedia.

Icebreaker: Ruban Nielson of UMO
Ruban Nielson, the Kiwi frontman of Portland, OR band Unknown Mortal Orchestra, takes a turn for the indifferent. (UMO is on tour now.)

Small Talk: Andrew Womack
The staff at Marketplace dig up some lesser known headlines…like the disturbing discovery that an L.A. restaurant has a bottled water menu.

Radio listeners heard Andrew Womack, editor of The Morning News, explain how U.S. Open frontrunner Novak Djokovic is returning to the womb.

A History Lesson with Booze: Shifting to the Right & the “Swede ‘67” This week in 1967, all at once, Swedish traffic moved from the left to the right side of the road. The massive campaign surrounding “Dagen H” produced cultural touchstones like the contest-winning song “Keep to the Right, Svensson!” and underwear emblazoned with H logos. Suffice it to say, the move went smoothly. Toast its success with this nostalgic cocktail.

“The Swede ‘67,” as engineered by Stefan Lindstrom, master bartender at Stockholm restaurant/bar institution Riche.

In a rocks glass, muddle:

  • 1 oz. Elderflower schnapps
  • 2-3 fresh raspberries

Top with as much champagne as you see fit. Lift the glass with your left hand, sip, and set it down on the right side of table. Wait ten minutes and proceed with your right hand.

Guest of Honor: Terry Allen
Terry Allen hails from one of the most famous zip codes in country music: 79401. That’s Lubbock, Texas – home to Waylon Jennings, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Joe Ely…not to mention Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison. So it’s only natural that Terry, who writes songs, paints pictures and produces plays, is thought of as a country music singer first and an artist second. But that’s not how he sees it. This week, his latest art/performance exhibit “Ghost Ship Rodez: The Momo Chronicles” opens in San Francisco after a stint earlier this year in Venice, CA. Allen talks to Brendan about polymathematics, chimpanzees and how long people can misunderstand each other.

One For The Road: Big Freedia – “Excuses”
New Orleans MC Big Freedia (formerly Freddie Ross) is the force of nature behind “sissy bounce”- a genre based on lightning fast beats, booty-shakin’ (you know, the “bounce”), and fluid gender dynamics. The track “Excuses” is the perfect soundtrack for a dance club…or an insane aerobics class.

Music On This Week’s Show:

Sea & Cake – “The Argument”

The Wedding Present – “signal”

Link Wray – “Jack the Ripper”

Tipsy – “Liquordelic”

The Meters – “Yeah You Right”

Telstars – “Håll Dig Till Höger Svensson”

Terry Allen – “Lubbock on Everything”

Big Freedia – “Excuses”

F**king Champs – “What’s a Little Reign?”