23min of Ska : I Know Why the Rude Bird Kills

Now in glorious Extra SKA!
This week’s 23min of Ska is just, it’s just some of my favorite stuff made by some of my favorite people! Everyone on this episode is good people, great in fact. The fact they they do the ska is a plus!

00:00 – Backyard Superheroes – Keep Fishin’ (Ari hates this. A Ska tribute to Weezer comp ’22)
01:59 – the Holophonics – Ghoulish Overkill (Phantom Arrival ’18)
05:17 – the Pomps – No More Smiles (the Smoking Pomps ’17)
07:54 – Devon Kay & the Solutions – No One is Thinking About You (Grieving Expectation ’22)
10:58 – Space Monkey Mafia – Underground (FOLDS – A Ska Tribute to Ben Folds comp ’22)
14:58 – Courtesy of Tim – Human Resource (Tomorrow Again ’21)
18:33 – Must Build Jacuzzi – the Punisher / Downtown (These Tracks Have Energy: A Tribute to MU330 comp ’22)

Download this episode so you can listen to it any time you’d like!

23min of Ska is produced weekly by RJ Phoenix
Dancing RJ silhouette by David Buist
Want to submit your band? Email: submissions@23ska.com
(no Spotify or Youtube links please)
Have something else to say? Email: podcast@23ska.com

23min of Ska : Dance Freely!

This wasn’t supposed to be an all covers episode… it really wasn’t… but when I got almost done w/ songs I wanted to play, I noticed all of them were covers songs, so I did make it a goal to fill out that last track w/ a cover as well. I dig it… and I really am not a ska covers fan, but darn if these aren’t all fantastic and can stand on their own, so I hope you all enjoy!

00:00 – Kill Lincoln – That Song (Having a Bad Time Wish You Were Here ’21)
02:00 – the Holophonics – the Longest Time (MaSKArades Vol. 14: Not a Cover Band ’21)
04:24 – the Untouchables – Hooked on a Feeling (Hooked on a Feeling ’21)
07:25 – Something To Do – Levitating (Levitating ’21)
10:15 – Inokasira Rangers – Blue Monday (Blue Monday ’21)
13:42 – Epic XVIII – Banana Split for My Baby (EPIC COVERS ’21)
15:52 – Phoenix City All-Stars – Play with Fire (Skatisfaction ’16)
19:57 – the Magnetics – Love of My Life (Love of My Life ’21)

Show support for the bands by clicking on those links and checking out their websites and music! Show support for the podcast by liking & following the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and at 23ska.com. Also, feel free to subscribe and listen to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

Another way to support this podcast is to listen to and support our sister podcast On the Upbeat!

Download this episode so you can listen to it any time you’d like!

23min of Ska is produced weekly by RJ Phoenix
Want to submit your band? Email: submissions@23ska.com
(no Spotify or Youtube links please)
Have something else to say? Email: podcast@23ska.com

23min of Ska : Back in the Day…

If there’s two things that ska can’t seem to shake, it’s the ’90s and cover songs. So in that spirit I decided to just lean into it.

00:00 – Kill Lincoln – David Duke is Running for President (Ska Against Racism comp ’20)
01:16 – Be Like Max – Doomsday (Save Us All ’19)
03:30 – the Holophonics – Kiss Me (MaSKArades Vol. 13: Yeah, but Also Check Out Our Original Music ’19)
05:12 – Big D & the Kids Table – Dr. D (Strictly Covered ’19)
08:42 – Skandalous All-Stars – Cannonball (Hit Me ’97)
12:49 – Matt Wixson – Satan is My Motor (Piece of Cake ’20)
15:57 – skameleon – Wannabe (Humba Humba Täterä ’16)
19:20 – Stupid Flanders – Smells Like TMNT (Flanders’ Dozen ’15)

Show support for the bands by clicking on those links and checking out their websites and music! Show support for the podcast by liking & following the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and at 23ska.com. Also, feel free to subscribe and listen to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

Another way to support this podcast is to listen to and support our sister podcast On the Upbeat!

Don’t download this episode, or ever listen to it…

23min of Ska is produced weekly by RJ Phoenix
Want to submit your band? Email: submissions@23ska.com
Have something else to say? Email: podcast@23ska.com

23min of Ska : I Hope You Survive the Experience

…and here we are, winding down the year as well as this comic book theme. It seems like a lot of the rest of you enjoyed it too! Once again, here’s a fat stack of great ska, ska/punk, and dirty reggae to keep your ears delighted! 2020 may’ve sucked, but making these shows kept me sane and I hope they did the same for you! And besides, we could all listen to some more ska, yeah?

00:00 – Backyard Superheroes ft. MC Lars – What If? (Never Give Up, Never Surrender! ’18)
03:24 – Half Past Two – Holiday (Arose Such a Clatter 2020 comp ’20)
06:10 – K-Man & the 45s – Hero with a Death Ray (Stand with the Youth ’19)
07:43 – Lollypop Lorry – Magic Moments (Two Christmas Songs ’20)
10:13 – BAD OPERATION – Little Man (BAD OPERATION ’20)
13:10 – the Aggrolites – Wasted Days (Sound Clash Series Vol. 1 ’20)
16:11 – the Holophonics – Comic Shop Girl (Don’t Mess with the Holophonics ’15)
20:12 – 7 Seconds of Love – Danger of Death (Danger is Dangerous ’08)

Show support for the bands by clicking on those links and checking out their websites and music! Show support for the podcast by liking & following the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and at 23ska.com. Also, feel free to subscribe and listen to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

Download this episode so you can enjoy it anytime!

Episode art by John Byrne and Terry Austin
Based on: “the Uncanny X-Men” issue 141

23min of Ska is produced weekly by RJ Phoenix
Want to submit your band? Email: submissions@23ska.com
Have something else to say? Email: podcast@23ska.com

Another way to support this podcast is to listen to and support our sister podcast On the Upbeat!

23min of Ska Cross Over : the Rudie Librarian

On YouTube there’s a ska fan that loves books, this man is the Rudie Librarian! He’s a pretty great go to for any kind of book, even comics, and he talks about ska when he fit it in. But hey, it’s not just videos, there’s also a bunch of well written articles too! Brian is very talented and I’m happy to have had him pick a bunch of this episode’s songs!

00:00 – Millington – Beatdown Generation (Beatdown Generation ’20)
03:08 – Skapeche Mode – Personal Jesus (Some Great Rewards Club ’18)
03:30 – the Holophonics – DRC2018 (Phantom Arrival ’18)
09:42 – the Sensations – Everybody Loves Me (the Sensations ’10)
11:29 – the Abruptors – With My Luck (Love & Other Disasters ’19)
14:09 – the JB Conspiracy – Nothing You Can Do (This Machine ’07)
16:19 – Half Past Two – Rock You Out (It’s About Time ’09)
19:52 – Five Iron Frenzy – While Supplies Last (Ska Against Racism comp ’20)

If you want to file away this episode forever, feel free to download it

Show support for the bands by clicking on those links and checking out their websites and music! Show support for the podcast by liking & following the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and at 23ska.com. Also, feel free to subscribe and listen to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

23min of Ska is produced weekly by RJ Phoenix
Want to submit your band? Email: submissions@23ska.com
Have something else to say? Email: podcast@23ska.com

Another way to support this podcast is to listen to and support our sister podcast On the Upbeat!

23min of Ska Cross Over : This I Know with Josh and Joe

It’s the cross-over event of the year! I’m teaming up with other podcasters to choose songs for the next 7 weeks! This week we have “This I Know with Josh and Joe” co-host Josh! He’s one of my oldest and dearest friends, we were in a band together, we went to a TON of ska shows together back in the day and now we’re collaborating on this episode of 23min of Ska! No better a dude to help kick off this series with!

00:00 – Catbite – Asinine Aesthetic (Ska Against Racism comp ’20)
03:21 – Less Than Jake – Happyman (Losing Streak ’96)
05:17 – Big D & the Kids Table – In Front of Me (Shot by Lammi ’97)
09:09 – the Holophonics – P.Y.T. (MaSKArades Vol. 15 ’20)
12:01 – the Aquabats – Powdered Milk Man (Fury of the Aquabats ’97)
14:59 – Call Me Malcolm – What You Burn (My, Myself and Something Else ’20)
18:15 – the Suicide Machines – Awkward Always (Revolution Spring ’20)
20:44 – Goldfinger – Picture (Goldfinger ’96)

Show support for the bands by clicking on those links and checking out their websites and music! Show support for the podcast by liking & following the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and at 23ska.com. Also, feel free to subscribe and listen to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

23min of Ska is produced weekly by RJ Phoenix
Want to submit your band? Email: submissions@23ska.com
Have something else to say? Email: podcast@23ska.com

Another way to support this podcast is to listen to and support our sister podcast On the Upbeat!

23min of Ska : Starving the Bears

So in “Trucker Slang / CB Slang” the term “Starving the Bears” means to go the speed limit so that the cops won’t pull you over and give you a ticket. And slowing down a bit seems like not too terrible of an idea right now. We’re all in a rush to get back out into the world, but maybe we should take a minute to pause and see if that’s the best idea. All but one of these tracks has been released since we’ve been in quarantine, hell, some were written and recorded directly because of it! I can’t wait for this lockdown to end, but I don’t mind waiting a bit longer if it means not feeding the bear.

00:00 – the Bar Stool Preachers – State of Emergency (Soundtrack to Your Apocalypse ’20)
02:47 – Cale Wilcox – Going Mad (Pacific Sound System IV: Quarentunes comp ’20)
06:30 – the Holophonics – Don’t Buy the Hype (Sunk Cost ’20)
08:14 – Esaopa – Escoria Humana (Stage 1 ’18)
11:23 – the JB Conspiracy – Falling Down (Guiding Lights ’20)
15:15 – Something To Do – Stay Inside (Stay Inside ’20)
17:35 – No Villains Left – Dark Days (Bright Lights ’20)
20:01 – Baked A La Ska – We’ll Meet Again (We’ll Meet Again ’20)

Show support for the bands by clicking on those links and checking out their websites and music! Show support for the podcast by liking & following the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and at 23ska.com. Also, feel free to subscribe and listen to the podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

And hey, click here to download this episode if you wanna keep it forever.

23min of Ska is produced weekly by RJ Phoenix
Want to submit your band? Email: submissions@23ska.com
Have something else to say? Email: podcast@23ska.com

Another way to support this podcast is to listen to and support our sister podcast On the Upbeat or to buy some records from our partners in crime over at Grandpa’s Casino Recordings, they carry some great vinyl ska records!

23min of Ska Convoy : TV’s Fine if You Like WGN

Wash, wash
Washing my troubles away
Oh yeah, oh yeah

Maybe these words ring hollow in our troubled times. Or maybe they hit just right. Either way, I hope the potent mixture of 2 Tone, ska-punk, and Jamaican ska that follows finds your ears well. Within this mix, you’ll find five tunes from four different countries — a reminder that it’s not just COVID-19 that has gone global!

00:00 – the Crombies – Wash Wash (Dance Crazee ’16)
03:22 – Justin Hinds & the Dominoes – Over the River (Over the River / Corner Stone ’64)
05:39 – Lxs Fama – la Reina del Desastre (No Caben más Locos ’20)
08:55 – the Bionic Rats – New Day Rudie (T.B.R. ’16)
11:41 – the Cabrians – Time Map (Sun & Shadow Heroes ’16)
15:14 – the Holophonics – Escape Velocity (Phantom Arrival ’18)
17:24 – Beat the Smart Kids – Emoticons (Broke Again ’16)
19:55 – the Swashbuckling Doctors – Better Than Nothing (Better Than Nothing ’20)

RJ sez: Kevin is one half of the very excellent Windy City Sound System, which is kind of a must-listen podcast! Building on Kevin’s picks, I added the Lxs Fama, Holophonics and Swashbuckling Doctors tracks his already killer line up (and in doing so adding another country to the previous count.) I had the pleasure of meeting Keven and his WCSS co-star at the Jump Up Records 25th Anniversary show a few years back, and I couldn’t be happier then, and I couldn’t be happier now that they’re still in the game creating their show! Cheers to the Windy City Sound System!

Show support for the bands by clicking on those links and checking out their websites and music! Show support for the podcast by donating on Patreon or by finding & liking 23min of Ska on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Also, feel free to subscribe and listen to the podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

Also, feel free to download this episode if you wanna keep it forever.

Want to submit your band? Email: submissions@23ska.com
Have something else to say? Email: podcast@23ska.com

Another way to support this podcast is to listen to and support our sister podcast the Ska After Party or to buy some records from our partners in crime over at Grandpa’s Casino Recordings, they carry some great vinyl ska records!

23min of Ska : Wall to Wall and Ten-Feet-Tall

Here’s something crazy… this podcast is 10 years old! Say what? I seriously do not believe it. On January 23rd, 2010 I posted the first episode of 23min of Ska, not knowing what journey I was about to embark on. It was just a little side project to do when not working on the reality show podcast I was working on at the time. In fact, I wasn’t sure if it should be 23 minutes or 15 minutes. To this day I’m still not sure, but 23 feels right.

When I started it wasn’t weekly, it was twice a month, with only one episode in January, so a new set of 23 episodes was starting on 1/23 each year. In my initial plans, I was going to do the show for 10 years, 2010 – 2020. Each year would have 23 episodes releases on the 11th and 23rd of each month after January. I still almost ended the show in 2016 when I get to the end of the original 9 sets of 23 episodes a process sped up by going weekly. I relented at the last minute because I love doing this show and thought that that would be too early to quit.

Now here I am, at my original ending day… and I still don’t want to quit. January 23rd, 2020 was supposed to be the first time I was not going to post an episode based on that plan. Kind of glad I didn’t. I’m more in love with ska and the ska community than I was when I started this show 10 years ago. This is the 18th set of 23 episodes, so we’re well on our way to doubling the number of my original plans by mid-2020. After that… still not going to quit! So buckle up, there’s still plenty of rad ska for me to share with you!

00:00 – Last Edition – 10 Years (10 Years ’19)
03:32 – the Holophonics – Shiznit (MaSKArades Vol. 14: Not a Cover Band ’20)
06:22 – One Night Band – Old(er) (Way Back Home ’06)
09:25 – MU330 – Serious (Ultra Panic ’02)
11:11 – Telethon – Wander Party (Hard Pop ’19)
14:35 – the Fabulous Lolo Meets King Kong Girio – Easy Come and Easy Go Away (My Favorite Heart to Break ’15)
18:01 – the Slackers – You don’t Know I (Better Late Than Never ’96)

Show support for the bands by clicking on those links and checking out their websites and music! Show support for the podcast by donating on Patreon or by finding & liking 23min of Ska on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Also, feel free to subscribe and listen to the podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

Also, feel free to download this episode if you wanna keep it forever.

Want to submit your band? Email: submissions@23ska.com
Have something else to say? Email: podcast@23ska.com

Another way to support this podcast is to listen to and support our sister podcast the Ska After Party or to buy some records from our partners in crime over at Grandpa’s Casino Recordings, they carry some great vinyl ska records!

23min of Ska : the August Issue!

cover photo: Michael Cignoli

Hey, it’s another wonderful episode of the 23min of Ska podcast! Sorry about the lack of Ska After Party this week… but it’s been… well, A WEEK! Part of me is just relieved that I got this episode out and into your hot little ears! There’s a great handful of fantastic brand new ska and ska/punk in this episode, as well as some other great, but slightly older tunes! Of course, it is all capped off with Derrick Morgan firing “the Blazing Fire” at Prince Buster in their music war!

00:00 – Stoop Steady – Skankin’ O.G. Dankins (Lonesome ’13)
02:53 – Alex Dominish – Party Next Door (Monopoly ’19)
07:37 – Show Me Island – Begin to Wonder Why (Show Me Island ’13)
09:21 – the Holophonics – the Science of Selling Yourself Out (Don’t Mess with the Holophonics ’15)
13:24 – Lead Shot Hazard – Braggin’ Rights (Fires to Find Our Friends ’19)
16:22 – Hot Tropic Ska Jazz Club – Hawaiian Eruption (el Bandido Ska ’19)
20:06 – Derrick Morgan & the Allstars – the Blazing Fire (the Blazing Fire / Teach My Boy ’62)

Show support for the bands by clicking on those links and checking out their websites and music! Show support for the podcast by donating on Patreon or by finding & liking 23min of Ska on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Also, feel free to subscribe and listen to the podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher.

Also, feel free to download this episode if you wanna keep it forever.

What to submit your band? Email: submissions@23ska.com
Have something else to say? Email: podcast@23ska.com

Another way to support this podcast is to listen to and support our sister podcast the Ska After Party or to buy some records from our partners in crime over at Grandpa’s Casino Recordings, they carry some great vinyl ska records!