What I Got at the Post Office Today with Chuck P

All of our DJs receive hundreds of CDs a month to consider for airplay. In this regular feature, KCRW DJ Chuck P catalogues his musical bounty from the Post Office each week.

Coachella weekend!! Yeah! Been waiting for this (and next) weekend all year! Woo hoo!

Huh? Oh, no I don’t actually GO to the festival anymore, I just love the mellower traffic (especially at Trader Joe‘s) quieter nights out at our favorite restaurants and sparsely attended local shows. Now, we get two weekends of it. Just a nice little bonus for those of us not making the trek to the desert for the biggest music fest in the country. Hey, we need to look at the bright side, right?

On to this week’s (ridiculous) post office haul.

1) Tom Jones 7″ – For a week with more music than what could fit in my post office box there wasn’t a lot of vinyl, but there was this new 7″ single from Tom Jones on Jack White‘s Third Man Records. Very cool of them to provide a CD version as well. These 7″s are so damned classy. White is certainly leaving his mark on the record industry, first with his music and now with his label. One of these days, this series will fetch collectors a tidy sum. Haven’t heard the tunes yet, but it’s Tom freaking Jones for crying out loud, it’s going to be awesome.

2) Soundway greatness – Soundway Records provides KCRW DJ‘s some of the best choice cuts from around the world. Almost every release you see of theirs makes it’s way on to the air. Outstanding consistency. This package features new school/old school culture clash of Batida along with a genius reissue from Ghana legend Rob‘s second album Make It Fast, Make It Slow. I’m chomping at the bit to listen to these two. Great packaging as always, too!

3) Chantal Claret “The Pleasure Seeker EP“ – Last week I was wandering around the internets looking for great tunes to play, when I happened upon a track from Claret (formally of Morningwood) on rcrdlbl.com an amazing site to find new music. I downloaded Bite Your Tongue and played it on last weeks show. Lo and behold, the full EP shows up in my mailbox this week… but she had sent me the EP before I played it! It’s like we had a musical mind meld. At any rate, this is top notch with a great retro sound to it and Claret‘s powerful vocals. I predict great things with this one.

4) The Hollow Hearts & Detective – I love a good mystery… especially a musical one. Well, here are two, from LA bands no less. Detective(top in pic above) had a one sheet with the CD so less of a mystery but great enigmatic packaging (the sticker there says 70/300… limited!) and the music makes for a fun listen. The Hollow Hearts have very minimal info in their packaging and the music is incredibly claustrophobic, reminding me of one of my favorite releases from last year, Cough Cool. LA has some of the best bands in the country…

Honorable mentions are new music from Spiritualized, Brownout, Gemma Ray and Lungfish, with digital promo of the week going to a Michael Chapman tribute on Tompkins Square called Oh Michael, Look What You’ve Done : Friends Play Michael Chapman, featuring Thurston Moore, Lucinda Williams and more.

Have a great time if you’re headed out to the desert this weekend. I’ll pick up some peanut filled pretzels for you at Trader Joe‘s okay?

Best,

Chuck P.

@chuckp8 on twitter

Chuck P./Music Please

PO Box 1870

Hollywood, CA 90078