Tales From The Drop Box Episode 189 (2021-01) / The Pandemic Episodes

Tales From The Drop Box - Better Than Radio

So, as a starter, happy New Year! I’m glad to be back after a short break. So where are we now a few weeks into a new year? Well, shit is still bad. As you might note by the title to these episodes – we are still in a deadly pandemic. In Los Angeles, where I am located, things are really bad. There are more people dying here every day than at anytime in the past 11 months. While there is hope on the horizon we are experiencing the surge caused by a catastrophic failure of people to listen to the advice and act. Here we are at a point where community spread is so high that we just passed 1 million (1,000,000!) COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, and confirmed its first case of the new, more contagious coronavirus strain first reported in the United Kingdom. This week the county also reported 14,669 new cases of COVID-19 and 253 additional deaths, bringing the county’s totals to 1,003,923 cases and 13,741 fatalities. See it’s bad.

Then there is the insurrection in the nation’s capitol as the 4 years of chaos under the Trump regime well documented in these pages comes to an insane end. There is still a couple of days until Biden is sworn in but as we should all be aware – that is no guarantee that there will be a peaceful transition of power. Honestly, these past 4 years have been exhausting with this nut bag in control of the reins of democracy. I am hopeful that the tyranny of the minority will end and the rest of us can confront the real issues created and exposed during the past 4 years including the economic disaster caused by the failed response to COVID-19, the harsh reality that the U.S. has institutionalized racism and economic disparity, climate change, and the other social diseases that are symptoms of economic inequality in a very politically divided country. I fear that we are in store for a very rocky ride to get out of the place where we are trapped now. Well, there is always hope….

As you should know by now, the beginning of a new year is also a state of transition for Tales From The Drop Box. Episode 189 delicately balances the urge to present a flurry of new releases that always arrive at the beginning of a new year with those that were released at the end of the last one. Then, there is always the ones that I just didn’t get to play or missed along the way. So, this is really a long way of saying this is a mixed bag of tunes, but all in my mind really good. This I believe is the best way to start a new year – contemplating the last one but always moving forward. So, with that said have a happy and safe new year. We are still going to rock our asses off.

Here is what you’ll find in Episode 189 (2021-01):

1. Shitkid – “Downtown Apartment” (Crotchrock EP)
2. Ben Kweller – “Hold Me Down” (Circuit Boredom)
3. Babe Corner – “Killer” (Killer EP)
4. The Dirty Nil – “Ride Or Die” (Fuck Art)
5. Viagra Boys – “Ain’t Nice” (Welfare Jazz)
6. Some Stranger – “Meet In Secret” (Meet In Secret Speak In Code)
7. lié – “Drowning In Piss” (You Want It Real)
8. Osees – “Nervous Breakdown” (Live At Big Sur)
9. The Avalanches – “Gold Sky (feat. Kurt Vile)” (We Will Always Love You)
10. Slow Worries – “When We Go Out” (Careful Climb)
11. Foxy Shazam – “Burn” (Burn)
12. Descendents – “Hindsight 2020″ (Suffrage 7”)
13. Happy. – “April Is For Fools” (Imposter Syndrome)
14. The Stone Roses – “I Am The Resurrection” (The Stone Roses)
15. Gotts Street Park – “Favorite Kind Of Girl” (Volume Two EP)

Tales From The Drop Box Episode 189 (2021-01)

I’m about to have a nervous breakdown my head really hurts if I don’t find a way out of here …. Down, down, you bring me down I hear you knocking down my door and I can’t sleep at night …

KFR