This show walks a fine line between kick-ass music and infomercial. But is it my fault I’m proud of the New Insomnia Radio Network and wanted to chat it up? If you’re reading this, the Network in question has just been launched. Oh, yeah! All my hours and hours of work and ignoring my site have led up to this. Be sure to check out the site and all of the new content. And be sure to sign up on the Message Boards.

Unfortunately, I’ll be spending the launch in Lansing at a conference for work, so I will miss out on all the first-day feedback. Oh well. If I didn’t have that job, I wouldn’t be able to do this one.

Here are the show-notes and shout-outs. Hope you enjoy the show.

Cruiserweight: Operation Eyes Closed
This song is off of the excellent, excellent Sweet Weaponry album. Unfortunately, it’s sold out on their website, but you can get it at their label’s site. Thanks to Scoobs for sending me their way.

Looker: Hey Kids
Great tune from the On the Pull Album. Thanks to 15 megs of Fame for introducing me to this great band.

Dead Girls Corp: Friends Come and Go
Off the I Like Daisies Album. Shades of Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails while not at all derivitave.

Monotypes: Lose it all
No Website on these guys yet, but that doesn’t mean they don’t kick serious ass. You can visit Hijack Records, though, where they should have a web presence soon enough.
Their self-titled EP is on Itunes (and no where else, unfortunately)…..

New London Fire: Different and I believe in Ghosts
Man. These guys are sooooo good. My favorite band of the moment. In anticipation of their upcoming album, they’ve released a 5 track ep on their site for FREE. So what the hell are you waiting for? GO GET IT.

Five Star Iris: Day in the Sun
Great tune from their Self-titled ep. You’d be well served to check these guys out.

Note to Self: Should Be Storming
Let’s hear it for my fellow Michiganders! Great band that I will be featuring again (when I get around to my MI-themed show).

Baily: Undecided
Unfortunately, Baily has no album that I am aware of. But, you can hear their music at myspace. And, you can see them in the Indiegrrl tour in Berkely CA..If you live there or want to fly or drive or take some sort of tube technology there.

Shout-outs to:
Jason
Brian and Ben
Julie, light of my life.
Jerkcast

The Forum members - Too many to name.
Stinger Podcast.
MVB - Kelly Senecal.

Show Feed:
Insomnia Radio Network Superfeed:
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Kevin Federline wants to be a rock star but after Britney heard a couple of his tracks, she laughed and told him he’d be lucky to sell ‘a hundred, maybe a thousand’ copies. How supportive.
Stick to what you’re good at Kev, nothin’.

I’m not terribly happy with this show. Don’t get me wrong, the music is great. I love the tracks. Some of them are staples in my worktime playlists. It’s my audio I have a problem with. I bought a new microphone (to replace the $5 one I’ve had for 8 years), and it clearly blows. We’ll have that all fixed by next show. Another thing (and the inspiration for the title of the show) is that my dog was a handful. Putting her out of the room resulted in multiple takes. Leaving her in the room resulted in multiple takes. Oh well. I love the little bitch anyway. I still think the show works, but not as well as I would usually like it to. So just focus on the music, people. The music kicks ass.

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Artists:
My new theme song, and a kickass song it is, Powerlines by Runner and the Thermodynamics
Oh No by The Thieves - Be sure to buy their new album, Tales from the White Line. Or I’ll kick your ass….at Halo 2.
Fallout Renegade and Johnny Five by Anemo - Great band, great songs!
By the River by Rick Temporao and the New Low - Many apologies for the mispellings and possible mispronounciations of Rick’s last name. And thanks to Rick for the CD!
Lullaby by Gidgets Ga Ga -Another great track from my favorite Chicago band.
Seattle by Cameron Ember from the great CD, Good Things happen to bad people. Thanks for the free copy, Cameron!
Only You by the Avids - Nice Mellow track.
Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left by Andrew Bird - Great Artist, Great Music, Great Picture on his website. Looks like a coffee-drinking, suit-wearing superhero.

Thanks to Trinity and Jason for the greatest station ID known to man, and thanks again to Runner and the Thermodynamics for the best theme song ever.

And be sure to visit this link, but not until November 1st.

The waiting is finally over, my friends. Here it is, the greatest concert ever to grace the ears of modern man…..

The Chance and the Choir Simulcast Podcast event!

Turn them thar speakers up to 11 and enjoy the show.

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And be sure to got out yer wallets and head over to Chance’s Website

Okay, okay, this isn’t the mellow show I was promising. It didn’t work out, and is on the back-burner for a few weeks. Instead, this show is a return to my usual eclectic mix of music. I drop a hint in this show for some big news coming on November 1st and drop a non-hint about something else. You’ll have to listen to find out, of course…..

So, here are the show notes. Enjoy. The mellow show will be coming soon, as will the first of many Michigan-Themed shows.

Coming up this week? I GETS ME A NEW PC. Since the destruction of the old PC led to delays and difficulties (my work laptop is junk), this will get me back on track. Hope you enjoy the show….

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First off, head over to Insomnia Radio to enter the PSP contest. C’mon people! It’s only the greatest Music Podcast ever. And did I mention that he’s giving away a freaking PSP??

If you’ve listened to past shows, you may remember Alexis Cone. She’s only one of the best female artists to appear on the scene in the last few years. I don’t play her on this show, but she does a kick ass station ID (one that may, or may not be insulting) and I pass on her request for help. If you live in the following cities, and would like to help her out, email her. It’s the right thing to do, people.

Atlanta, GA ; Myrtle Beach, SC ; Lake Buena Vista, FL ; St. Petersburg, FL ; Pompano Beach, FL ; Allentown, PA ; Philadelphia, PA ; Atlantic City, NJ ; Washington, D.C. ; Toms River, NJ ; New York City, NY ; Boston, MA ; Hampton Beach, NH ; Patchogue, NY ; Detroit, MI ; Toronto, Canada ; Cleveland, OH ; Cincinnati, OH ; Chicago, IL ; Milwaukee, WI ; Minneapolis, MN ; Lawrence, KS ; Tulsa, OK

Now, on to the artists. No lengthy show notes this time, as I am as busy as a one-armed man in a wife-killing contest. (Any Fugitive fans out there? No? Then nevermind that last joke)

Uh…order may not match up entirely with the show, though I am pretty sure it does. If not, forgive me.

Runner and the Thermodynamics - Damsels in Denim, So Sorry
Mason Reed - Bad Enough
The Frame Up - All the Things
Sarah Glynn - Should I, Could I
Nicolle Chirino - Perfectly Perfect
Son, Ambulance - A Book Laid on Its Binding
Jeff Hanson - This time it will
Cats and Jammers - Not Gay

Misc:
The original Katzenjammers can be found here

Shout outs:
Nerdcast
Insomnia Radio
DeFi Radio
Illumination Audio
The Stinger Podcast

That’s it! See you in a week!

-MP

Man. Let me tell you something about this show. I was…shall we say tanked? We shall. We shall indeed say tanked.

Thanks to several shots of BaronJager (not sure at which point several becomes many, so we’ll say several because it sounds better), this show is definitely not your garden variety podcast. I want to thank my lovely wife Julie, who stepped in to keep me in line. The show may be a mess, but it’s a fun mess. Without her it would have been a train wreck. (Oh, and Hot Nikks, I’m sure you figured it out, but I owe you some BaronJager…)

This is the second of a trilogy of themed shows. As the name implies, it is powered by Rock and BaronJager. This is a show to play while riding a motorcycle out of an airplane into a flaming skyscraper.**
I hope you enjoy.

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The Artists:

I start the show off with the most rocktacular “I Believe” by Bomb Child. That song kicked my ass so much I have a giant bruise in the shape of a rock-boot on my ass. Do yourself a favor and check them out.

And, of course, you know it’s a sure bet I wouldn’t be playing a rock-themed show without playing The Thieves. “Gimme Some Lip” is my song of choice when playing Halo 2. Nothing’s says ass-kicking like that song.

Jeremy may only have three songs on their website, but those songs pack as much rock punch as…well, as the punch served backstage at an AC/DC concert. “Lose Control” is a great tune, and it has just been chosen to be in the video yearbook for Penn State University. Glad to see it getting the attention it deserves.

And lets hear it for The Brian Schram Band, eh? They’re from Michigan, so you know they’re awesome. Yup. That’s all it takes to be cool. Buy their CD. Buy it now. Then wait and buy their next one. You heard me. I played their excellent song “Waistline.”

The Dandelions are a great band from Sweden who I discovered by more or less accident. But thank god for that accident. The song I played is “On the 54″ and it is well worth your $.99 at itunes. So go there now and buy that shit.

Urbansnake, or UberSnake as I thought they were called when I first found them, is a hard-rock band from the Big Apple. And by Big Apple, I mean New York. Do you know why they call it the Big Apple? I bet you don’t. It involves whores and sex, and you can read the entire sordid tale, here. Nothing to do with Urbansnake, but interesting all the same. Their song, “Rise” is worth a repeat listen or two. While Juggling Chainsaws.

Let me tell you one thing. I love Ana Lovelis. Love her. Not in the way I love my wife. Not in the way I love a grilled cheese sandwich. But I love her music, and I love “Mother of a Hit Song.” And by god, if you don’t agree when you hear it, I don’t know what to say.

The Shapes came to me thanks to Podsafe NYC, one of many new websites that offers a growing selection of podsafe music for podcasters. The Shapes is a band I am becoming more and more fond of, and “Dreaming of an M-16″ is something I will be playing again and again and again.

I end the show with “Say what you will” by Chance. It is yet another great track by Chance, and the song of his that I feel most fits the theme of this show. If you have not yet bought one of his cds, what the fuck are you waiting for?? Get off your ass and do it now! And get ready to get knocked off your feet by the upcoming podcast of the Chance and the Choir concert on 10/9 that will be coming to you from no less than 30 podcasts (including my own, of course). I’ve listened to that damn concert 4 times now, and it gets better every time.

Shout-Outs:
My homies over at the IR message boards (I’m sorry to those I forgot, but I was drunk - especially my boy, Tbert)
El Bandanno himself at Insomnia Radio
SMTV
DeFi Radio
Illumination Audio

**Disclaimer: Do not, under any circumstances, ride a motorcycle out of an airplane into a burning skyscraper. If you chose to ride a motorcycle out of an airplane into a burning skyscraper, Music For Jerks podcast can not be held liable for any damages incurred.Music For Jerks: RockJager at Music For Jerks

This is the first of what will be three ‘themed’ episodes. This episode, it’s all about the ladies. As you know, I love good female artists. And I wish they got more play in the podcast world. So here I am, out to solve the world’s problems, and show you all how it’s done.

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One male artist seemed to sneak his way into the show, that artist being Chance. But I couldn’t resist, and there’s a good reason for it, so there.

Here are the notes. Sorry for the assorted pops I lay on you in this episode. I’ll be getting a better mike shortly, and endeavoring never to punish your ears with such things again.

The artists:

I started the show off with Chance’s live version of Forgive and Forget. What a kick ass tune it is. Truly. I was lucky enough to have heard the entire live Chance and the Choir show I’ll be playing for you on October 9th (stay tuned for details, kids), and all I can say is wow. This show will blow you away.

Then, I dove right into the themed music with The Marianne Pillsburys. They kick ass, and you better believe that shit is true. Hence the two tracks from them in the show. Add the one from the last episode, and you almost have a whole EP’s worth of music from them. What a deal!

After the MPs, I throw down the local spirit with Amanda Waggener. Love her music. And she’s from the great state of MI. How can you not love that?

Following Amanda, I played Stephanie Hooker. She’s got a unique sound that I think you’ll like. A great artist that will certainly be played on the show again in the future.

Kristeen Young was next. She was referred to me by my friend, Ryan (thanks for that, R!), and I love her sound. A little like Kate Bush, but I like that. Definitely worth going to her site and checking out her sample tracks.

And, of course, what show about the ladies would be complete without Samantha Murphy? Certainly not the first time I’ve mentioned her on the show, and it won’t be the last.

Then I played Alexis Cone. What can I say? She has simply the best female voice I have heard in a long, long, time. I will continue to play her music until someone pays attention and gives her bagloads of money. She deserves to be rich and famous.

Ahh, Rai. I played her on the first show, and she was actually the first person I ever approached to ask if I could play her music on my (at the time non-existent) podcast. Therefore, I am forever grateful to her. And, of course, her music is amazing. She also needs recognition, people. So all of my listeners that may be the owners of independant record labels, sign her ass up, yo!

The last two tracks were by Freezepop. Fair warning - if you don’t like electronica, techno, or synth, you may not like this band. But you’d be missing out. Heck, go to the band’s myspace page and listen even if you think you won’t like them. I’m not a huge fan of electronic-style music, and I still dig them. So check ‘em out, won’t you?

The shout-outs:

Insomnia Radio
(Thanks for the station id, my friend!)
Defi Radio
Nerdcast
SMTV
Illumination Audio
AMP
AMP Music Library

Miscellany:
Let me know the following: 1) Do you like the idea of themed shows every once in a while? 2) Do you like the way I did show notes this week, or do you prefer a list as usual? 3) Uhh….that’s all.
See you next week.

Insomnia Radio, a name you’ve surely heard me mention before, is hosting a PSP giveaway. Free PSP, Free Game, Free Subscription to Audioblog.com. Free other shit. If you’ve never listened to Insomnia Radio before, this is a pretty good excuse to start listening. For fans of music, the show is a must. Believe me, listen to one show and you’re hooked.
Anyway, good luck on the PSP. You’ll be competing against me. I expect you to do poorly to make it easier for me to win. Thanks.
Details

Be a kind soul and get the word out. Insomnia Radio deserves the attention. You can Dig it, too, if you’re hip ti that

Here’s an e-mail I got from an amazing artist, Amanda Waggener (who you may remember from a couple shows ago). There’s a great opportunity to both listen to great music (I can vouch for The BSB band, Amanda and Blisstripp) and to do a good deed. If you live in the area, I’d highly recommend it….

Hello friends, hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!!! If you are in the Traverse City, Michigan area on or around September 16th then PLEASE come to a benefit @ Streeters Entertainment September 16, 2005 @ 6pm where we will be having a Rock N’ Relief benefit for the victims of the Hurricane Katrina devastation. The host of the show will be Kenny Olson (former Kid Rock guitarist) and there will be several bands performing, along with myself there will be… The Brian Schram Band, Blisstripp, and Headliner Joe Caine & 75 North along with many others. ALL PROCEEDS WILL BE GOING TO THE RED CROSS ASSOCIATION FOR THIS HORRIBLE CATASTOPHY THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE IN OUR NATION. You can purchase tickets online @streetersonline.com.
Thank you for your time and for more info. go to Amanda Waggener’s myspace site. Have a great day!!!!
: )

My 4th show! Fuck yeah! (Warning, that last sentence was NSFW. )
Anyway, this is my first show as an AMP member, so expect the quality to plummet under the immense pressure.

So here are the show notes. Enjoy the shit out of them…

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Alexis Cone
The Marianne Pillsburys
From Bubblegum to sky
The Frame Up
Jet by Day
Bitter Little Cider Apples

Shout Outs:

So…I skimped on the shout-outs. I was too busy bitching about the lack of contest entries that I forgot. So here are the usual suspects…

AMP
Insomnia Radio
Illumination Audio
DeFi Radio
SMTV

As always, thanks to my kickass wife. Without her, there’d be no show.

This is so pretty I want to fuck it. That’s wrong, right? I mean, I shouldn’t feel that way about an ipod.

Right?

Anyway….super-small, but with a punch, this baby will hold 1k songs and have a color screen. Oh to be rich….*

Lucky you! Two episodes of Music for Jerks in one weekend!

What gives, you ask? Well, the PC crashing put me a week behind schedule, so I decided to do the show I had already planned on doing this weekend on top of redoing the one the computer ate.

Audacity destroying my first stab and a power surge wiping out my second attempt wasn’t going to stop me from recording this show…..Not a chance. If I let the machines win, that will be the first step on the way to the Rise of the Robots. So, here’s version 3, in all its glory. Hope you enjoy. Listening all the way through will benefit one lucky person.

The week’s delay in releasing this episode is due to the power surge that (in addition to destroying my podcast) destroyed my computer. It took me about a week to get everything back together. So, rather than be a week behind, I’ll do another show tomorrow. Then I’ll be right on schedule again.

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Show Notes:

The Artists:
The Thieves - Vacant Thoughts
The Brian Schram Band - Fake
Death from above1979 - Romantic rights
Dealer - Come the man
Race Card - Lighters
Blisstrip - Keep Your Distance
The Epoxies - Radiation
Likeshine - my Fingers (Your Hair)
Gidgets Gaga - Streetwalker
NYCO - Soda can
Son, Ambulance - Brown Park

Shout-outs:

Downhill Battle
Cd Baby
Insomnia Radio
Illumination Audio
SMTV
De-Fi Radio

Thanks to my wife for hippping me to some of these bands, and thanks to that forum-addicted monkey at Insomnia Radio, Jason, for pointing me to Adobe Audition.

Yeah, yeah, once you read the post, you’ll realize it’s a shitty pun. So what?

Chance, a fantastic indie artist and huge podcast supporter, is donating 100% of all his website CD sales and proceeds from his shows this weekend to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

C’mon. It’s great music and a great cause. What more could you ask for? Shed some of that guilt from masturbating all day! Or, if you’ve done nothing wrong lately, donate anyway. It’ll clear you for a later wrong-doing. Like beating up a girl scout. Lord knows they have it coming.

Damn Girl Scouts.

Oh…if you want to hear his music before buying, here’s a song for ya.

Wow! Did you see that? Talk about Rock your socks off music. My socks actually shot off my feet and across the room! Great, and now my dog is chewing on them…
Well, it’s worth it. Even if it means I lose a few socks to the maw of my satan-puppy, I’ll still listen to The Brian Schram Band. Because the band is that good. Good enough to give up socks entirely.

Brian Schram used to play on tour with Uncle Kracker, but don’t let that sway you about his own music. * He knows what he’s doing. And what he’s doing is making some of the best rock out there today. With crunchy guitars, great hooks and enough of an undertone of pop to keep their songs in your head for days, The BSB is as polished as any pro act out there. Even better is the fact that the band is composed of fellow Michiganders?
Michiganians?..people from Michigan. And that always makes me happy.
If you like the Foo Fighters when they are at their rockingest, you’ll like the BSB. But don’t take my word for it. Go to their Myspace account and listen for yourself
Or, just trust me and buy their CD. You won’t be sorry.

Well, I’ve gone and done it. I’ve made a podcast.

Another one, that is.

The intent of this podcast is to showcase some of the wonderful independent music that’s out there, and to hopefully get more people to support those bands by buying their music. Er..only if you like them, of course, though I’m sure they’d be happy for the money either way…

Rai’s music is so good that you’ll find it hard to believe that it’s just a girl and her guitar. Not to mention that she’s entirely self-taught. Like the featured artist last week, Leesun, Rai has yet to find a record deal. But that’s not stopping her from making some of the best acoustic music I’ve heard in a while. Though her site likens her to the Cardigan’s Nina Persson, she actually reminds me more of early Juliana Hatfield at her best. Which is definitely a good thing, in my opinion. She makes music that can be both heart-breaking and upbeat at the same time, with catchy hooks that, once they get in your head, won’t leave easily. But I can’t see how you’d want them to.

I’d highly recommend the following tracks (but they’re all good):
Date in December (Save to desktop)
Down on a mountain(Save to desktop)

You can find more music to download here, or you can visit her homepage and buy her self-released album.

Now here’s a movement I can get behind. According to their site, Downhill Battle is a non-profit organization working to break the major label monopoly of the record industry and put control back in the hands of musicians and fans. What better cause is there? I am going to do whatever I can to help these guys out, and I’d urge you to do the same. Oh wait. No snarky comments or jokes in this post? Can that be true? Hold on a sec…Uh….Shit, I’m tapped. Oh well, we can’t all bat 1000.
link

Five major record labels have a monopoly that’s bad for musicians and music culture, but now we have an opportunity to change that. We can use tools like filesharing to strengthen independent labels and end the major label monopoly.

Amazon.com, not satisfied with offering 50 million products, is taking the initial steps towards offering a music service, ala itunes, Yahoo Music, Rhapsody, etc.. I see this as a good thing because the more services that crowd the market, the better deals that will be offered to the end-users, i.e. you and me. We’ve already seen better and better deals for monthly music services, and I can’t see Amazon jumping into this without offering lower prices.

Timing of the launch is unclear. However, one knowledgeable source, speaking on condition of anonymity, predicted that Amazon would launch the service by late September — when Amazon typically unveils major initiatives. Some music industry insiders say the launch could be delayed until early 2006.

LeeSun, a brilliant singer-songwriter from Leeds (U.K.) has yet to snag a record deal. This boggles my mind. Before I go any further, why don’t you go to her spot on Download.com and listen to a couple of her songs. I’ll be here when you get back.

All done? Cool. See what I mean? Brilliant, right?

LeeSun isn’t afraid to experiment. That’s what I like about her music the most, I think. Her offerings on Download.com range from quiet and mournful to jazzy to trippy. I can’t decide which style of hers I like the best, which has to be saying something about her talent. And her voice! There’s just something about it that really makes you sit up and pay attention.

LeeSun is hoping to find a record deal in the next 12 months, and is recording out of a studio in her home, when she’s not busy working on a series of Children’s bedtime stories for a local radio station.

LeeSun told me (via e-mail) that she had actually decided to buckle-down and pursue her music full-time only a month ago. That led her to drop her tunes on Download.com, mainly as a place to refer folks to from her site. But, luckily for her, an editor wrote a glowing review of her music (below), which led to her getting a good deal of attention. I can only hope it helps this amazing singer get that contract she wants. Lord knows she deserves it.

If you crossed the most enchanting aspects of Erin McKeown, Ani DiFranco, Norah Jones, and Bjork, you’d be left with one tripped-out chanteuse. You’d be left with Leesun. The UK singer-songwriter combines the cadence and confessional pitch of McKeown and DiFranco with the intimacy of Jones and Bjork’s frozen waifishness.