The Radio Ecoshock annual best of Green music festival. Eclectic mix of voices found or sent in by the artists, mood music for a climate-safe, species-friendly world. Radio Ecoshock 121229 1 hour.
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Welcome to the annual Radio Ecoshock Green Music Festival. All year people send in their favorites, and even original recordings direct from the artists. Everyone has a different taste in music, and I’ve tried to touch a lot of countries and styles. But really, these are my picks. I have to enjoy the song, before it makes this mix. It’s time to reflect on the bad news and the good vibes that only artists can bring us.
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PLAYLIST WITH SOURCES AND NOTES:
[1] Craig Anderton “When the Grid Goes Down”
We kick off with a vision of dystopia. Craig Anderton wrote and performed “When the Grid Goes Down”, thinking of the electric grid knocked out by a solar storm. Radio Ecoshock has covered this awful possibility, where the whole system goes down for month or years. This is remixed and mastered version released in October 2012.
Craig has been doing the music scene a long time. He had three albums out when he was in his 20’s back in the 1970’s. Craigs a specialist in electronic music and mixing. Find him at craiganderton.com.
This is the mixed and mastered version of “When the Grid Goes Down,” and includes a video. Written and performed by Craig Anderton. Drums: Greg Morrow, Damage. Bass: Juliette Duval.
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[2] Jack Johnson “Gone”
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Back from the brink of disaster, we find the softer Jack Johnson singing about our the vacuum of consumer culture, in this song titled “Gone.” Johnson is an American surfer singer with more than five albums out. He organizes the annual Kokua Festival in Hawaii.
See video and lyrics here.
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[3] Karen Savoca “Two Little Feet”
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Next up “Two Little Feet” by Karen Savoca. Karen stands and delivers with her big bass drum, and the excellent guitar work of Pete Heitzman. Her latest album is “Promise” recorded in their 19th century church studio in the hills of upstate New York. It’s available from CDBaby.com – and check out her earlier album “In the Dirt” for some back-to-the-land music. Find more at karensavoca.com.
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[4] Rachel Van Zanten “My Country”
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I love it when a rocker and singer gets active for what she loves. Rachel Van Zanten is from Northern British Columbia, but she toured 11 years with bands. Now Rachel as a solo artist, writes this powerful anthem “My Country” about the First Nations people and their battle against Tar Sands pipelines and fracking damage to their land.
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Official video for this song here.
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[5] REM “Until the Day Is Done”.
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Always biting on the social scence hitmakers REM brought this one out on the album “Accelerate”. It’s called “Until the Day Is Done”This is the American rock band from Athens, Georgia who conquered the world. After entering the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, the band split up in 2011.
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[6] Vastmandana “No More Denial”
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Out of Oakland, California, from the multi-talented musician and master gardener Dana Pearson, playing as Vastmandana. This sample clip “No More Denial” is one of many pieces Dana provided to Radio Ecoshock from his collection of one-man-band electronic instruments.
Listen to his music as Vastman at soundclick.com
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[7] Red Valley Fog “Come Winter”
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Part of the new climate awareness music coming out of the folk genre, Singer Ben Grosscup is with the Massachusetts Chapert of the Northeast Organic Farming Association. The song “Come Winter” was written by Ethan Miller, bu Grosscup and his buddy Dan Inglis have the only recording of it.
Find their music here.
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[8] Dan Mangan “Sold”
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From Vancouver, Canada, Dan Mangan is an award-winning international writer and singer. After his hit album “Nice, Nice, Very Nice” Mangan shone forth with some gorgeous blends of music and dreamy electronica in his newest called “Oh Fortune”. His web site is danmanganmusic.com.
We play his song “Sold”.
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His web site is http://www.danmanganmusic.com
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[9] Gil Scott Heron “Shut ’em Down”
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This anti-nuclear song comes from the late African American poet, jazzman, musician and author Gil Scott Heron. He passed in 2011, and is sorely missed. One of Gil’s best known spoken poems is “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” “Shut ’em Down” came out in 1979.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gil_Scott-Heron “Shut ’em Down” came out in 1979. Find it on You tube.
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[10] Evan Greer “Even If the End Is Near”
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Love for the hardest of times, from Evan Greer and Friends. Evan describes himself as a radical queer social justice singer/songwriter. Greer’s home base is in Boston. He or she has sung with all the greats, covered the big causes, and is pushing toward personal greatness in everything from folk to punk. His/her website is evangreer.org. Check out the latest song “I Want Something” but my pick for this show is “Even If The End Is Near”.
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[11] SkarKat “End of Days”
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Next up is the dark “End of Days” from Scarkat. This rapper was born in Dubai, then struggled to make it as an immigrant in Toronto, Canada. I cleaned up this version a bit for radio, but Scarkat sees it all happening. Find him here.
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[12] Earthrise Soundsystem “Ajnabee – Stranger”
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OK this next short song “Ajnabee” or “Stranger” isn’t a green song. I just find this short piece of Indian blend inspiring when things look bad. The music comes from a duo of techno musicians doing a lot of Yoga music for White Swan records: DJ, writer, and yogi Derek Beres teams up with producer/percussionist Duke Mushroom. Derek’s yoga sessions have been on all the big networks. And check out their bio to find the astounding list of big name artists who worked with Duke Mushroom.
Their web site is earthrisesoundsystem.com.
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[13] Ben Sollee “Panning for Gold”
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I’m not religious, and yet this song clicked with me. Maybe it’s the disarray we humans make. I heard it first in the new film YERT, Your Environmental Road Trip. Ben Sollee’s “Panning for Gold” is from his latest album “Half Made Man” Ben is relatively young, from Kentucky, with a full range ear for performance art. Plus, Sollee plays his own Cello. Check out his song “Bury With My Car”, and more at bensollee.com.
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[14] Australian kids “Protect the World”
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It’s time for the kids to sing. It’s their future at stake. This group from Australia does a good job with “Protect the World”. The music comes from an online video by Shakti Burke for Kyogle Climate Action Network. I found it at generationgreen.tv Search for their Top 6 Environmental Songs and you’ll find some good green videos.
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[15] Tina Turner. “A Change Is Gonna Come”
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We’ll end with one of the most famous songs written by Sam Cooke, and first recorded in 1963. This live recording with master guitarist Robert Cray comes from the 1980’s, when Tina Turner was touring in Europe. The American superstar Tina Turner can inspire us to carry on. I believe it. A change is gonna come. We will see it through together.
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Catch this on You tube.
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Check out our regular programs each week on 63 radio stations in the United States, Canada, the UK, and occasionally Australia. Download Radio Ecoshock by Itunes podcast or from our web site at ecoshock.org.
I’m Alex Smith, signing off from the annual Radio Ecoshock Festival of Green Music.
Thanks for being there.