Mrs. Toad and I do NOT approve of Valentine’s Day, and I have to say the fact that she genuinely seems to hate it (rather than just saying so, but secretly still expecting flowers) is a very liberating thing.  It means I can now finally forget about the whole bloody nonsense once and for all, and never ever have to figure out exactly how much I am expected to spend in order to demonstrate my affection for someone.

There is, after all, very little that can be less romantic than obediently making protestations of love for no other reason than that everyone else is doing so and you are expected to conform.  I actually think it’s just plain fucking insulting, frankly.

‘Hello darling, I thought we might go out for a meal tonight.’
‘Yes dear, what a lovely idea, what made you think of that?’

In what possible world can ‘because the shops told me to, everyone else is doing it, and I feel kind of obliged’ be considered a better answer than, say, ‘because we’ve both been really busy recently and I miss spending time with you’.  And assuming that the latter is obviously the more romantic answer, what the fuck does that have to do with the fourteenth of February?

Direct download: Toadcast #161 – The Slappercast

01. Cracker – Mr. Wrong (00.18)
02. The Dead Kennedys – Your Emotions (08.39)
03. Fear of Pop – In Love (13.25)
04. The Veils – Don’t Let the Same Bee Sting You Twice (22.02)
05. Bill Callahan – Our Anniversary (24.33)
06. The Wedding Present – Nobody’s Twisting Your Arm (36.00)
07. Tom Waits – Frank’s Wild Years (39.40)
08. The Clash – White Riot (46.15)
09. Taxrat – Burn Down Slow (48.32)
10. Josh T. Pearson – Honeymoon is Great, I Wish You Were Her (55.25)

Yes, we’re back and this time we’ve relaxed a little.  There’s a bit less cussing and ranting in this podcast than usual – in fact virtually no ranting at all, which is probably as much of a surprise to me as it is to you.

I’m looking at late evening music this week because Mrs. Toad and I were recently talking about the Chillout craze which kicked off about six or seven years ago. It descended into electronic muzak unfortunately, but there were some good things in there at the beginning, so I thought I’d have a look at it.  I’ve thrown in some stuff I find nice and eveningy and relaxing as well just to stop it becoming too tedious.

Toadcast #7 – The Chillout Tent

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01. Groove Armada – At The River (01.31)
02. The Avalanches – Frontier Psychiatrist (04.32)
03. Calexico – Human (10.31)
04. Cinerama – Diamonds Are Forever (15.14)
05. Jazzy Jeff – For Love of Da Game (19.02)
06. Fear of Pop – In Love (23.12)
07. The 18th Day of May – Cold Early Morning (31.11)
08. Lucinda Williams – Ventura (35.40)
09. Lemonjelly – In the Bath (41.51)
10. Sandy Bull – Carmina Burana Fantasy (48.28)
11. The Hold Steady – The Chillout Tent (54.04)
12. RJD2 – Ghostwriter (57.36)
13. Edith Piaf – La Vie en Rose (63.22)
14. Marilyn Monroe – Through With Love (67.02)
15. The Divine Comedy – Theme From Casanova (69.50)