John Rabe is the host of 89.3-KPCC’s Off-Ramp, an eclectic mix of radio pieces designed to make you get your butt off the couch and explore Southern California. Here’s John’s personal list of music he discovered or rediscovered in 2011.

MUDDY WATERS-HARD AGAIN

I had this on cassette in the 1980s, and it’s hard to believe I forgot about it since then. Johnny Winter joins the venerable blues man and kicks him in the ass in a good way. This is one lively record.

JONI MITCHELL-HEJIRA

My coworker Peter picked this as his Album of the Week and I thought he was being a soft-hearted hippie until I bought it. Like very few other artists – maybe Elton John’s Madman Across the Water? — Mitchell makes music that sounds like nobody else, takes you to a real place, and reaches you there.

ASHFORD AND SIMPSON – AIN’T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH

In January, the Grammy Museum brought in a bunch of legendary songwriters – Hal David, Paul Williams, Lamont Dozier — but nobody made me cry like Valerie Simpson and the late Nick Ashford – the breaking of his voice, her intertwining vocals and piano, the real love they obviously shared. And the way he looked … like some sort of tawny lion. Wow. Here’s exclusive audio from that concert at the Grammy Museum courtesy KPCC!

VINCE GUARALDI-JITTERBUG WALTZ

[ed. note: unfortunately we couldn't find the song in full online but if any of you all can, let us know!] At some point during 2011, I can’t remember exactly when, I got infatuated with Fats Waller’s “Jitterbug Waltz”. I was humming it for weeks, asking bands to play it (not many can), and I bought a bunch of versions. The swingingest is Vince Guaraldi’s, and the kids need to know he did more than Linus and Lucy.

BILL EVANS-LUCKY TO BE ME

In 1958, Bill Evans took the tune from “On the Town” with the words What a day/ Fortune smiled and came my way/ Bringing love I never thought I’d see/ I’m so lucky to be me. Kind of a goofy, walking-home-after-the-first-kiss kind of song, and turned it into a looping, trancey elegy that captures the bitter and sweet of love. It’s kind of a goofy, walking-home-after-the-first-kiss kind of song, and he turned it into a transcendent anthem that captures the bitter and sweet of love.

JOHN RABE’S SHOW OFF-RAMP AIRS ON KPCC ON SATURDAYS FROM 12-1 PM AND SUNDAYS FROM 7-8 PM. VISIT OFF-RAMP AT KPCC.ORG.

Download: Mississippi Man “Ricochet”

(from The Snake Oil Salesman available now from Mississippi Man)

Mississippi Man is well on their way to releasing their second EP but first they’re testing out new tunes every Monday at their November residency at the Silverlake Lounge. In between writing songs and writing residency diaries, singer and guitarist David Knight speaks about how fast the band is moving and what he misses most about the deep South. This interview by Britt Witt.

How long have you been playing the harmonica?
David Knight (guitar/vocals): I’ve been playing the harmonica since I was 10 but I didn’t really figure out how to play until I was 17 or 18. So four or five years. I definitely don’t sit down and practice—I’m not that great of a harmonica player but I can get around alright!
Who writes your residency diaries?
David Knight: I wrote the first one. We’re actually doing a residency diary thing for webinfront.net. We write once a week. I’ll probably write most of them. It’s supposed to be a diary about the residency each night. I like to write—nothing professional but I do enjoy writing. I guess its one of my strong points. It’s just something I guess I’m good at that I don’t really use.
What kind of new songs are you playing?
David Knight: Actually, it’s kinda funny—most of the songs we are playing now aren’t actually on the Snake Oil Salesman EP. We write songs really quickly and that EP came out like six months ago, so most of our stuff is all new. I think we’re working on getting money to go in and record a new EP in January at Red Rocket’s Glare—that’s where we recorded the first one. We have two vocalists—me and Luke—and we usually write together. I think something kind of unique about our band is that we have two songwriters. Most bands will have one songwriter that will tell everyone what to do—which is cool too!—but I like the way that Luke and I can just get together. Right now we’re just selling the EP that we released earlier, and then we’re planning on having a limited run of vinyl for our next EP. A lot of bands now are kind of shunning CDs now because all CDs are good for nowadays is for people to take home and put on their computers and have it on their iPod. We know a bunch of people that just buy vinyl nowadays—including myself. I think if you like collecting music, vinyl is way cooler than having a little CD, you know?
Have you ever traveled to the deep South?
David Knight: Not a bunch of times but I’d say five or six times. I’ve been to pretty much all the states—Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia. Out of all the states, I think Georgia is probably my favorite—Georgia and Tennessee. I can’t really put my finger on why I like them. I went to school in Kentucky, which isn’t really the South—people that live there don’t say it’s the South but I say it’s the South because it’s South! I just wanted to get out of California for a bit. The people there are much different, I think—everything is much slower-paced. Here everything is going on at the same time—it’s crazy. But I love it here—I’ve lived in California for my whole life.
How did it happen that five guys from Orange County all like country blues? Who is your favorite blues musician?
David Knight: This is a hard one! If I had to pick one, it would probably be Skip James. But there are so many that I love—Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters. And there’s a lot of different types of blues too, like there’s the Chicago blues which is the more electric stuff and then there’s the deep south stuff which is more acoustic. I like it all though. If I had to pick, I’d probably pick the Chicago. But that’s just because its more electric, I like that. As far as the feel of the music, I’d probably pick the southern blues. We have a lot of different influences, though. Blues is just one of our influences and then me and Luke listen to a lot of sixties like British pop—the Zombies and the Kinks. So it gives our music kind of a cool sound but sometimes it can be difficult to pick out what we want the song to be—what the finished product should be like. But I think it’s cool.

MISSISSIPPI MAN IN RESIDENCY EVERY MONDAY IN NOVEMBER AT THE SILVERLAKE LOUNGE, 2906 SUNSET BLVD., SILVERLAKE. FREE / 9 PM / 21+. TONIGHT MISSISSIPPI MAN PERFORM WITH THE FLING, MAKE MOON AND THE SILENT COMEDY. FOLDSILVERLAKE.COM. MISSISSIPPI MAN’S THE SNAKE OIL SALESMAN IS AVAILABLE NOW FROM THE BAND. MYSPACE.COM/MISSISSIPPIMANMUSIC.

Download: Former Ghosts “Hold On”

(from Fleurs out now on Upset the Rhythm)

Thank technology for letting three musicians in three different parts of the country be a band together. Former Ghosts is Freddy Ruppert (This Song Is A Mess But So Am I), Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu), and Nika Roza (Zola Jesus). It’s a bit goth, but in a sort of uplifting way that flourishes on the album Fleurs and Rupert bears his soul with Shakespearean style. Make their L.A. show your Halloween destination. This interview by Daiana Feuer.

What kind of factory would you like to work in?
Freddy Ruppert (vocals/synthesizers): Maybe a factory that manufactures cakes—a baking factory. I’d work on the cupcake line. As the cupcakes come down the conveyor belt, I’d have to pour the frosting on.
The sounds on ‘Us And Now’ remind me of a factory, which is why I asked.
Freddy Ruppert: We all grew up on a lot of ’80s goth and industrial stuff, so the weird sounds come from that influence. I guess it’s surprising that I’d say a cupcake factory, but I think the record kind of mixes the sweet with the dark.
What song reps the sweet?
Freddy Ruppert: Probably ‘Unfolding’ or ‘Us And Now.’ All the songs are kinda love songs aimed for a particular person I was insanely head over heels for. There wasn’t a plan to release them. They were written in a tumultuous time when things were going badly between us and given to her as presents while we were going through this rough stuff.
What made you decide to share them with a band and release them?
Freddy Ruppert: I quit my old band, This Song Is A Mess But So Am I, because I couldn’t handle it anymore. I didn’t do music for two years then I met her and started writing and put the songs on a blog and I’d take them down after she heard the songs. I can’t justify their existence, but this record label wanted to release them, so that’s how it came together. Me and Jamie had been friends for a long time. We were talking about starting something forever. Nika, I really like her voice so I asked her to sing and then asked her to join. But it’s hard for me to justify making it public. Other than hoping to relate to someone else, if that makes sense. I guess the girl was my muse at the time. Making it public is hoping that someone can relate to having that sort of depth and suffering and confusion.
Is there hope in it?
Freddy Ruppert: It’s hard to say. At the time of writing them, a lot of the songs were hopeful. It always felt like I was crazy—on the verge of blooming or withering. Now looking back on them they don’t seem so hopeful. They’re dark, but there’s some hope trapped in there for someone to find. I have a problem with making things too personal. But that’s how I am. I don’t have a gauge or barrier for that. And that is a problem but maybe it’s also a good thing? I think a lot of the songs have a sense of desperation. It was like, ‘I am holding on to this—why aren’t you holding on to this?’ Love is a crazy thing. It skews a lot of stuff. You get wrapped up in it. It almost takes over. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s hard to know—you know how you feel but the way someone else feels could be not as strong or stronger.
Do you compose songs structurally or organically?
Freddy Ruppert: Kinda structurally. I usually have an idea in my mind, but I approach it musically first. I set the music then I go lyrically. It’s compartmentalized. I put the structure and then I mail it to Jamie and Nika and they add in their parts. Lyrics and content stuff is more organic—based on feelings—but the piecing together of the sounds is more structural.
‘A white sheet descends over our bodies and I watch it from a distance.’ What’s that line about? Have you ever had an out-of-body experience?
Freddy Ruppert: Not so much out of body but a feeling of seeing yourself in a certain way—or in the future with someone else that you’re with in the present. Being in this moment where you are in love and captured by them and you can see yourself and this person out of your body, experiencing something else. Not necessarily floating above my body. I have a tendency to romanticize the future. That line is about from a distance seeing your relationship come apart and hoping it can be brought back to life. Like lifting a white sheet off a dead body. Seeing the relationship die.
Are you sad or do you connect with sad? Are you Etta James or Muddy Waters?
Freddy Ruppert: I would say Etta James. I think it kind of becomes a problem when I play live. It can be cathartic to a point but then it can be painful to relive. It’s a fine line. The songs are all personal expressions of my own life. So I am more Etta James. My main concern is surviving through the day.
Why the abrupt ending for ‘Choices’?
Freddy Ruppert: I guess that song is heavy. It was like I was waiting while she was sorting herself out—and I am just waiting and waiting. I feel like that crazy build at the ending—it’s this intense thing of hoping. It represents a thought process that builds up but cuts off. ‘I am waiting and going through all this stuff but you’re not realizing it.’ Then it’s just cut and that’s it. And then what do I do with that? What do I do when it’s gone?
When something can’t be put in words, does the music pick up where the lyrics can’t go?
Freddy Ruppert: Some people write crazy lyrics and the music might be happy. But music should also be representative of the emotion being expressed. When I write a song I know what the song is about. So the emotion and feeling I want to express is there and I need the music to express it. The medium is the message in a way. The emotion would be lost without the music conveying that. For me, they are intertwined.
How did you get Jamie and Nika’s contributions if they don’t live in L.A.?
Freddy Ruppert: I live in L.A., Nika lives in Madison, and Jamie lives in Durham. For ‘In Earth’s Palm’ and ‘Bull And Ram’ and ‘I Wave,’ I sent them music and Jamie did the lyrics for his and Nika did hers. For ‘I Wave,’ me and Jamie worked together. Then I sent the music to Nika and she put in her part. It worked out that their lyrics fit the theme of the record. We just seem to work together well. Nika is completely unbelievable. The first song I sent her was the last song, ‘This Is My Last Goodbye.’ When she sent it back I was like, ‘Please join the band!’ I am completely in love with her voice. She has these moments when it comes across vulnerable but when she lets loose, it’s this really powerful thing. I’m so excited to work in depth with them for the next album—in the same room. I hope she will sing more. Jamie is here now so we can practice though Nika can’t do the tour with us. Maybe we could set up a Powerbook and do a video conference with her projected on the wall so she could sing!
If someone unearthed Fleurs post-apocalypse, what vision of the past would it deliver?
Freddy Ruppert: My biggest fear is looking like a crazy pathetic person who obsessed over a girl. I would rather them see it as a romantic gesture rather than pathetic. Something that captures a past romance. In terms of music, I think the sounds are strange­—at times they are pop melodies but dissonant and off-putting in moments. If they never heard music before, maybe that would be unfortunate.

FORMER GHOSTS WITH THE L.A. LADIES’ CHOIR, POCAHAUNTED AND MORE ON SAT., OCT. 31, AT SYNCHRONICITY SPACE, 4306 MELROSE AVE., LOS ANGELES. 8 PM / COST TBA / ALL AGES. SYNCSPACELA.COM. FORMER GHOSTS’ FLEURS IS OUT NOW ON UPSET THE RHYTHM. VISIT FORMER GHOSTS AT FORMERGHOSTS.COM OR MYSPACE.COM/FORMERGHOSTSSLEEP.