Kirsten's back. Fighting fit and ready for us with... The Whisky Jug! Mikey's sceptical, but can Kirsten sway his feelings on this humble piece of pottery with the Whistler & His Jug Band's Pig Meat Blues, Mungo Jerry's classic hit, In The Summertime, and 13th Floor Elevators's, You're Gonna Miss Me?
Kinky, sensual and RSI-inducing, Kirsten has a yarn about castanets. From courting women to expensive resin and string, if you've ever wondered about the origin of these Pipi-shaped clackers, wonder no more. Mikey and Kirsten talked about and over Lucero Tena's Mi Dulce Mulata, The Crystals' Uptown and the smooth clanky-clanks of The Johnson Brothers' Hernando's Hideaway.
Is it distortion? It is overdrive? Is it intentionally grainy or are my ears deceiving me? 50 years of defining rock 'n' roll and yet the fuzz pedal just brings up more questions than it answers. Your favourite ethnomusicologist's looking at Jimi Hendrix' Foxey Lady, Sonic Youth's Starfield Road, and MBV's Only Shallow in an attempt to settle your wildest queries.
Kirsten googled what makes the saxophone so sexy and it didn't lead her to any bad sites. A win for all! This week we're looking at David Bowie's Young Americans, Pink Floyd's Us and Them, and In A Sentimental Mood by the jazz icon himself, John Coltrane.
The double bass is perhaps the truest test of showmanship according to Kirsten. This week, we cover Elvis Presley's That's Alright (Mama), Lou Reed's (dirty AF) Walk On The Wild Side, and The Cure's The Lovecats. Plus, a mini review of the Jim Henson restrospectacle for that one devoted listener who really, really wanted to know. We love you.
Mikey and Kirsten consider themselves beatboxing savants, particularly in the realm of kathak-inspired rhythmic retention. Listen as we make fools of ourselves allll for your listening pleasure. The things we do, I s2g.
With two motown legends and an R&B icon on our hands, you'll really have no choice but to bow out of your week in the grooviest manner possible. Kirsten's coming in hot with the trombone solo to end all trombone solos, and all to underscore a poignant discussion around the instrument's God-given name. How did the 'sackbut' come to be known as the 'trombone'? We don't know! But we can promise one thing: there will not be a shortage of hilarious gags to guide you through today, folks.
We're talking chorded zithers and guitar holes with our resident ethnomusicologist today. Kirsten and Mikey are looking at the wonderfully understated autoharp, through the lense of PJ Harvey's Down By The Water, They Might Be Giants' Pencil Rain, and Basia Bulat's Promise Not To Think About Love.
Dr. Kirsten's brought in an eccletic mix of tunes of this week, all featuring the Afro-Brazillian single-string berimbau. Sit back, relax, and let the capoeira-charged toques inspire a rhythm of deep, deep release.