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Happy Birthday Mac!

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Jo Rae Di Menno & Ian Mac McLagan

May 12 is the birthday of Ian Patrick ‘Mac’ McLagan. Just a week or so before Mac’s birthday in 2014, Norman B ran into his old art school friend at a prestigious charity event in Seattle. In the green room, backstage at the Experience Music Project Museum, the two silver-haired Londoners, chatted away, reminiscing and agreeing they should record their conversation. “We’ll have a fireside chat via Skype!” chuckled, the always effervescent McLagan. Some weeks later, after Mac returned from being on the road, a recording session was arranged. The fireside chat went so well, Mac suggested he and Norman get together again for another lengthy recording. The second fireside chat was recorded later in the year, at the time when Ian released his latest album, United States and was about to embark on a tour with Nick Lowe. On the day of the recording, Mac was his usual characteristic happy self, making quips and pointedly ribald jokes. During the dialogue, the topic of age came up. Ian McLagan spoke seriously for a moment but managed to make light of the fact that he’d be ancient if he ever was able to pay off his second mortgage.

The fireside chats with Mac were lengthy, so we aired them in segments. As December 2014 arrived, we were about to air the final segment, when a brief email arrived from Mac’s Press Agent, “Sorry, Norman” it read, “You need to know that Mac has died!” Mac’s Press Agent Jo Rae Di Menno was also one of his best and most trusted friends. As Mac’s birthday is almost here we asked Jo Rae to share a few memories of her always smiling friend. In the next edition of Life Elsewhere, we pay tribute to Ian McLagan.

Photo of Jo Rae Di Menno & Ian Mac McLagan used by kind permission of Theresa DiMenno

Life Elsewhere Show #168 airs:
Sundays 12 noon ET at The Source WMNF HD3  
Mondays 7.00pm ET at WROM Radio
Mondays 5.00pm PT & Thursdays 7.00pm PT at NWCZ Radio

Life Elsewhere can be heard on CMG Global Media
If you miss any editions of Life Elsewhere, go here then go to the Listen On Demand panel, choose the date of a show and click play.

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A Political Conundrum. A Controversial Book. And Cool New Music.

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Sean Dunne
Lisa Hilton

The biggest conundrum ever in US politics also happens to be the most controversial: The popularity of Donald J. Trump. Who are the people who turn out in unprecedented masses to attend his rallies? That was the question a young enterprising filmmaker decided would be the basis for his next documentary. The end result is Trump Rally by Brooklyn-based Sean Dunne who managed to get up close and personal with Trump supporters. His takeaway is unexpected and adds yet another layer to the conundrum of Donald Trump‘s popularity.

“I’ve never read ‘that’ word used so nonchalantly before!” Says Life Elsewhere host, Norman B, referring to the four-letter word Judith Rashleigh peppers her dialogue with. Judith is the antiheroine of Maestra, the first thriller from Lisa Hilton. The word in question is Anglo-Saxon for female genitalia and should be reclaimed by women, explains Ms. Hilton. Her unapologetic boldness has triggered controversy, with many reviewers declaring Maestra to be a more shocking and explicit than Fifty Shades of Grey. Hilton also happens to be a well-respected historian and biographer who reckons her “natural habitat is a library with a pen stuck in my hair”. So what prompted a self-described geek to delve into writing page after page of graphic sex, violence, and Anglo-Saxon words? Find out in the next edition of Life Elsewhere.

Also in the program, Norman B selects two new cool music releases and asks that you tell us what you think of them. FirsScreen Shot 2016-04-30 at 1.17.36 PMt, Blu Fiefer, who describes herself as half-Mexican and half-Lebanese with Jukebox from her forthcoming EP. Followed by, Dahlia Sleeps, from South London, fronted by Lucy Hill with Black & Blue.

Make sure you don’t miss one second of our next show with a Conundrum, a Controversy, and Cool Music. Check below for broadcast and on-demand links.

Life Elsewhere Show #167 airs:
Sundays 12 noon ET at The Source WMNF HD3  
Mondays 7.00pm ET at WROM Radio
Mondays 5.00pm PT & Thursdays 7.00pm PT at NWCZ Radio

Life Elsewhere can be heard on CMG Global Media
If you miss any editions of Life Elsewhere, go here then go to the Listen On Demand panel, choose the date of a show and click play.

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Remembering Prince, An Illegal Hike & A Gothic Serial Killer

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Daniel Karre
Ken Ilgunas
Lyndsay Faye

The news came in, literally moments after we had made the final edits to the latest edition of Life Elsewhere…Prince was dead. Immediately we searched through all of our many music-biz contacts to come up with someone qualified to pay tribute to the music legend.  As the minutes then hours passed, tributes to Prince were pouring in from every media outlet. Brian Williams was rushed onto MSNBC to wrangle a litany of talking heads who all shared their sad remembrances of the untimely death of the iconic musician. Over on CNN, Wolf Blitzer, seemingly out of his comfort zone, referred to Prince’s Purple Haze! Within hours, the color purple was everywhere and had taken over so many profile photos on FaceBook. We decided to wait to reappraise how we should mention Prince. By the next morning, two important events had happened. One, a lot of people in the music business, were keen to show their love of Prince’s music…we were inundated with Prince covers and remixes. Two, the non-stop outpouring of grief was everywhere. Comments were running rampant on Twitter and FaceBook. Social media had gone bonkers! Then, we spied this comment on Facebook: “I’d like to log off of FB until the Parade of Prince misery passes by…” That comment, in turn, caused a stream of obviously offended Prince fans. We delved into the source of the comment and discovered it was from someone Norman B remembered as a fledgling punk kid, many years ago in Seattle. We were intrigued. That young punk wannabe, Daniel Karre, is now a film producer and director, we invited Daniel to the program to explain his FaceBook comment that caused so much outrage to Prince fans.

Screen Shot 2016-04-23 at 10.43.48 AMFrom the many Prince covers and remixes, we selected a unique, moving version of I Would Die 4 U by Aaron Krause and Liza Anne. Also in the program, two authors on two very different subjects. Ken Ilgunas says his new book is about coming to terms with climate change and figuring out what our role as individuals should be in confronting something so big and so out of our hands. It’s about taking a few months of your life to look at the country from a new perspective. Trespassing Across America is the title, it’s also about Ken’s journey, fleeing from cows, taking cover from gunfire, and keeping warm on a very wintry and questionably-timed hike. Author Lyndsay Faye likes Jane Eyre so much, she has written a novel, Jane Steele where she turns Jane into a serial killer. It’s the unlikely premise for a book that conjures up a world with a spiteful aunt, a predatory cousin, a grim school, a strange doctor and his man servant…and Lyndsay’s sardonic take on feminism.

Make sure you don’t miss this bumper-packed edition of Life Elsewhere!

Life Elsewhere Show #166 airs:
Sundays 12 noon ET at The Source WMNF HD3  
Mondays 7.00pm ET at WROM Radio
Mondays 5.00pm PT & Thursdays 7.00pm PT at NWCZ Radio

Life Elsewhere can be heard on CMG Global Media
If you miss any editions of Life Elsewhere, go here then go to the Listen On Demand panel, choose the date of a show and click play.

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Next On LIfe Elsewhere: Joyce Levine, Zac Bissonnette, Stephen O’Connor & Twin Shadow

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The next edition of Life Elsewhere will be bumper-packed, beginning with an interview springing from Norman B’s curiosity about astrology. “I was born on the cusp, whatever that means?” He says, adding, “I’m a complete ignoramus about astrology! I thought it time to know how to answer correctly when asked, Whats your sign?” Acclaimed astrologer, Joyce Levine joins the show to help Mr. B understand if he is Gemini or Taurus. Then, author Zac Bissonnette will explain, The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute. After hearing Zac’s often bizarre tale, you’ll never look at those plush toys the same way again. The Hit That Never Was has been absent from Life Elsewhere for a few weeks because of the abundance of new music and interviews we have featured. With a stockpile of requests on hand, this week we hand-over The Hit That Never Was selection to Maxine, a listener who sent along with a charming chatty email, photos of Ralph, her pet rabbit. Maxine asked to hear a track from Twin Shadow from the 2010 album, Forget. A remarkable book, Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings is the focus of the last interview. This is the debut novel from accomplished writer, Stephen O’Connor, who has brilliantly crafted fact, fiction, and dream sequences into an extraordinary work. O’Connor explains how his curiosity of the taboo relationship between Thomas Jefferson, who famously said, “All men are created equal” while keeping a slave, Sally Hemings, led to writing his memorable book. 

Make sure you don’t miss Joyce Levine, Zac Bissonnette, Twin Shadow, and Stephen O’Connor, on the next edition of Life Elsewhere, broadcast times are below.

Life Elsewhere #164 airs:
Sundays 12 noon ET at The Source WMNF HD3  
Mondays 7.00pm ET at WROM Radio
Mondays 5.00pm PT & Thursdays 7.00pm PT at NWCZ Radio

Life Elsewhere can be heard on CMG Global Media
If you miss any editions of Life Elsewhere, go here then go to the Listen On Demand panel, choose the date of a show and click play.

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Do you believe? Believe in love?

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Josh - Hugh

Give me something to work with
‘Cause I, I’m gonna need a little more DIRECTION
Give me something to work with
‘Cause I, I’m gonna need a little more DIRECTION
Give me something to work with
‘Cause I, I’m gonna need a little more DIRECTION

Somewhere, in a fox hole
Trying to remember your name
Standing on sixty, the chapel
Reaching out to touch your hand
‘Cause I, I
‘Cause I, I

Do you believe? Believe in love?
In all the kinds of love, or just the ones you understand?
Do you believe? Believe in love?
In all kinds of love?
In all kinds of love?

In all the kinds of love, or just the ones you understand?
Do you believe? Believe in love?
In all kinds of love?
In all kinds of love?

Give me something to work with

These are the lyrics to Direction, the brilliant song, by London-based band, Hugh. “The song stopped me in my tracks on first listen, then I focused in on the lyrics”, says Life Elsewhere host, Norman B. The inspiration and background story to Direction is explained with surprising and candid detail by Joshua Idehen of Hugh in the next edition of Life Elsewhere. Hailing from Benin City in Southern Nigeria, poet, and spoken word artist, Idehen is a bubbling source of cultural references from obscure movies to classic literature. The story he tells of how the song Direction came to be will surprise you almost as much as the unlikely reason for the band’s name, Hugh. Make sure you do not miss Josh from Hugh on the next edition of Life Elsewhere. The broadcast times are below.

Life Elsewhere airs:
Sundays 12 noon ET at The Source WMNF HD3  
Mondays 7.00pm ET at WROM Radio
Mondays 5.00pm PT & Thursdays 7.00pm PT at NWCZ Radio

Life Elsewhere can be heard on CMG Global Media
If you miss any editions of Life Elsewhere, go here then go to the Listen On Demand panel, choose the date of a show and click play.

Make a Donation Button

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