radiobombast

Sorry If I Give You PTSD: Transmission 527, 2020 May 20

More sandwich-making: the first few songs of this program provide me with comfort on a chilly fall evening in the Northeast, provenance be damned. Listening to the program I don’t really care where the songs came from, whether the artists are dear to me, whether I cared enough to buy actual records by any of these people, and so on. It’s an enjoyable listen, and at the end of the day do we care about anything else? I honestly don’t know.

The Handle > Throwing Muses segue works surprisingly well. Shades of what I like to call old magic. The Fall > Thundercat was also not as bad as it should have been.The lovely Walt Thisney track transforms beautifully into Fever 103°. I am making the good stuff happen!

The program doesn’t really sound “like me” until Loraine James, about half an hour in. I would say this isn’t a great use of my precious airtime–measured against the potential for self-expression–but it wasn’t really “airtime” in the depths of whatever, so does it matter?

Re. Loraine James–far be it from me, a walking cautionary tale in so many ways, to tell anyone how to manage their grind. But I found Lorraine James’s music at around this time because she’d uploaded an entire album-plus as a “name your price” download on Bandcamp (RIP btw) and here we are, a few years later, with me having just about everything she’s released on vinyl in my collection. IDK, seems like that strategy helps people get into your music? (It’s the same with KMRU, though his music does not appear on tonight’s program.)

Anyway, the “broadcast” is happening “under considerable duress,” I say, but I no longer have any idea why. Blessed forgetfulness, it has relieved me of the knowledge of why this week was worse than average.

“I hope it isn’t too much to ask that you stick with me,” I add. You know, I am really down on myself and I need to stop being that way. It WAS a fine evening, half of hour 1 and almost all of hour 2 were perfectly good.

BOMBAST playlist, 2020 May 20, 2100-2300:

• "Pills" | Starry Eyed Cadet | Join A Comp! | fadeawayradiate
• "Fun of the Fair" | The Room in the Wood | We're the Martians, Now | A Turntable Friend
• "Jetpack" | The Superweaks | Don't Stand So Close To Me: A Lame-O Compilation For Self Isolation | Lame-O Records
• "Underground" | Your Gaze | Out Of The Darkness | The Blog That Celebrates Itself
• "In Yr Face" | Slum of Legs | Slum of Legs | Spurge
• "Forest Fire" | Day & Dream | Shelter | Sunday
• "You're Not An Island" | 6TH CROWD | Avoid The Void | self-released
• "ALB19 20" | Loraine James | FYAI Demos + Ditched Album | self-released
• "Mhmm" | Handle | In Threes | Upset The Rhythm
• "Dark Blue" | Throwing Muses | Sun Racket | Fire
• "Find A Way Back" | Ultramarine | Interiors | Real Soon
• "Saiditzoneza" | Sneaks | Highway Hypnosis | Merge
• "Bahia" | Ranil | Stay Safe & Sound Ranil Selection !! | Analog Africa
• "Steel-Belted Radials" | The Billows Burn Bright | The Billows Burn Bright 2015​-​2020 | self-released
• "Sleeping Buffalo" | Doomsquad | Spandrels Vol 2 | self-released
• "The Bad Stuff" | The Fall | Reformation Post T.L.C. [reissue] | Cherry Red
• "Funny Thing" | Thundercat | It Is What It Is | Brainfeeder   
• "Grail Overfloweth" | Cocteau Twins | Garlands [reissue] | 4AD
• "Man in a Bar" | Harry Stafford | Gothic Urban Blues | Black Lagoon
• "Love You So Bad" | [Ezra & Sam & Jamie Riotto at Tiny Telephone in San Francisco, 5-19-2016] | Ezra Furman | To Them We'll Always Be Freaks | self-released
• "Uninspired" | The Max Levine Ensemble | Don't Stand So Close To Me: A Lame-O Compilation For Self Isolation | Lame-O Records
• "Mirror to sky" | Whalt Thisney | Quiethism | Kahvi Collective
• "Leaving the Club" | Fever 103° | Right between before and after | self-released
• "Rudy Feller" | Sector Libertad | ITALIA 90' | Virtual Soundsystem
• "Same Mistakes 2020" | Jackson Veil Panther | Same Mistakes | self-released
• "Principles Unknown" | Rer Repeater | Mutual Aid 2020 | Bokeh Versions
• "Lolaphone" | The Mystery Plan | Zsa Zsa | Ten Millimeter Omega
• "RunComeTest" | SEEKERSINTERNATIONAL | RunComeTest EP | Bokeh Versions
• "Free Chant (Churchical Chant Of The Iyabinghi)" | African Head Charge | Songs of Praise [reissue] | On-U Sound
• "I'm a Suspect" | Lonnie Holley | MITH | Jagjaguwar
• "Evil Empire ft. Ben Vince" | Jay Glass Dubs | Epitaph | Bokeh Versions

we all dance into the fire

https://www.facebook.com/radiobombast?ref=hl
https://twitter.com/KidCatharsis

Just Admit You Don’t Know What To Do: Transmission 526, 2020 May 13

Here is a program that chased my dog upstairs (kudos to Cry Robot for that). Her taste is something of a mystery, though. There is plenty of the sublime to experience in this audio file. Where else are you going to hear Slum of Legs transitioning into Little Richard? That’s right, nowhere.

In the spirit of making what management types call a “sandwich,” though, re. a few tracks in this selection whose producers shall remain nameless: Desperate for digital content and too lazy, I guess, to rip vinyl to .mp3, I play these “name your price” downloads (let’s admit it, they are freebies) at the expense of real music. There, I said it, but again, let’s call things what they are. Taxonomy matters! I will take this conviction to my grave.

I think it was at this point that I got tired of listening to me. Even though there is nothing that bad about this program, just the usual stuff. “And I hope you do” is a phrase I use, like, three times in the episode–strangely, given the chance to be spontaneous, I think I’d be less likely to go on autopilot like that.

I mean, this is thoroughly enjoyable most of the time. It’s a pretty good playlist. Just look at it, for goodness’ sake.

So there we have it. Positive bread, negative filling, positive bread. Abbondanza!

BOMBAST playlist, 2020 May 13, 2100-2300:

• "No Baptism" | Larry Marshall | Jamaica All Stars Vol. 1 & 2 | Studio One / Coxsone
• "Digital Heart" | beto | DISBOARD | Virtual Soundsystem
• "My Country (Monarchy Mix)" | The Durutti Column | Vini Reilly [reissue] | Factory Benelux
• "We All Get Down (Rob Tavaglione Mix)" | The Mystery Plan | Zsa Zsa | Ten Millimeter Omega
• "I" | アレックス H O R R O R 666 (Tomie-13) | E​.​V​.​P. (Electronic Voice Phenomena) | Virtual Soundsystem
• "King Of The Hill" | Thundercat | It Is What It Is | Brainfeeder
• "MechaGodzilla (ft. Renosaurio & Soghtroah)" | Cry Robot | The Entity In The Cosmos | Virtual Soundsystem
• "Stages" | Etxera | Cinco Segundos | Silent Method
• "Alone" | Windy & Carl | Allegiance and Conviction | kranky
• "White Leather" | Slum of Legs | Slum of Legs | Spurge
• "Lucille" | Little Richard | Silver Disc: 25 Years Of Ace | Ace
• "Feel Good All Over" | King Sporty | Jamaica All Stars Vol. 1 & 2 | Studio One / Coxsone
• "Run To Mall (Fever 103° Remix)" | Mars89 | Mutual Aid 2020 | Bokeh Versions
• "Computer Love" | Kraftwerk | Computer World | Toshiba EMI   
• "Cuarentena" | Orquesta Pandroginia | Pandemia | Virtual Soundsystem
• "The Creepy Crawl" | Tradition | Captain Ganja and the Space Patrol | Bokeh Versions
• "Credit Squeeze" | Brentford All Stars | Jamaica All Stars Vol. 1 & 2 | Studio One / Coxsone
• "Even Then" | Ultramarine | This Time Last Year | Real Soon
• "Life's Work" | Handle | In Threes | Upset The Rhythm
• "True Opera" | Moor Jewelry | True Opera | Don Giovanni
• "Dervish Chant" | African Head Charge | Songs of Praise [reissue] | On-U Sound
• "Riddle I This" | Dennis Alcapone | Jamaica All Stars Vol. 1 & 2 | Studio One / Coxsone
• "Love You So Bad [Ben, 10-9-2016, at his apartment in Humboldt Park, Chicago]" | Ezra Furman | To Them We'll Always Be Freaks | self-released
• "Mourning The Lost" | The Billows Burn Bright | The Billows Burn Bright 2015​-​2020 | self-released
• "Super Stars" | Yves Tumor | Heaven to a Tortured Mind | WARP
• "Pappas Got a Brand New Cornea" | Yokel ft Franco Franco & D Ham | Avon Garde | Avon Terror Corps
• "Zion Higher" | Burning Spear | Jamaica All Stars Vol. 1 & 2 | Studio One / Coxsone
• "No Name Bar" | Isaac Hayes | Shaft (Music From the Soundtrack) | Stax
• "Honey Come Back" | Jerry Jones | Jamaica All Stars Vol. 1 & 2 | Studio One / Coxsone
• "And We're Off" | Sneaks | Highway Hypnosis | Merge
• "Sextape" | Loraine James | FYAI Demos + Ditched Album | self-released

someone hold my phone 'cause i can't hold my tongue

https://www.facebook.com/radiobombast?ref=hl
https://twitter.com/KidCatharsis

Deep off into Mother Universe: Transmission 525, 2020 May 6

Honesty time. I dread these programs between the beginning of the lockdown and the death of George Floyd.

Yet somehow this program has my energy. I can’t deny it. Maybe it is inescapable.

I have this thing about noting the passage of musicians into the next life. Not sure where that comes from–possibly some feeling of responsibility, like it is my job to report current events? Sometimes I really feel the loss and sometimes I don’t. It’s somehow insulting to both Peter Greenfield of the Stranglers and Tony Allen that I sort of put them on the same level in this way. Surely there are others at the station who care more about the Stranglers than I ever did. It’s pretentious. But, like I say, my energy.

Another true confession: I don’t like the Mark Mulcahy song but I am lucky enough to have had a true companion during the pandemic who told me to play it. Such are the facts of life.

Change is on the way, but you knew that already.

BOMBAST playlist, 2020 May 6, 2100-2300:

• "Once More" | The Wedding Present | Once More | Optic Nerve
• "Space Whiter" | Cry Robot | The Entity In The Cosmos | Virtual Soundsystem
• "Gothic Urban Blues" | Harry Stafford | Gothic Urban Blues | Black Lagoon
• "Something Better Change" | The Stranglers | Winters of Discontent | Strange Fruit
• "Secretly" | Hortense Ellis | Jamaica All Stars Vol. 1 & 2 | Studio One / Coxsone
• "N.E.P.A (Never Expect Power Always)" | Tony Allen | Africafunk: Return To The Original Sound Of 1970s Funky Africa | Harmless
• "cherubim" | serpentwithfeet | soil | Secretly Canadian
• "Muscle Chamber" | The Naturals | Avon Garde | Avon Terror Corps
• "Kissing Embers" | the Cult of Lip | Out Of The Darkness | The Blog That Celebrates Itself
• "Shimmer" | The Room in the Wood | We're the Martians, Now | A Turntable Friend
• "There Was Always Water" | Lonnie Holley | MITH | Jagjaguwar
• "The Lowest Common Denominator" | Macerator | The Shed Collective Vol.3 | Douglas Deep
• "III" | アレックス H O R R O R 666 (Tomie-13) | E​.​V​.​P. (Electronic Voice Phenomena) | Virtual Soundsystem
• "A Cat(s) Deli Ma - Live Recording" | Doomsquad | Spandrels Vol 2 | self-released
• "Catching Mice" | Mark Mulcahy | The Possum in the Driveway | Mezzotint | "The Listening Parlour"
• "Black Treasure" | Brentford All Stars | Jamaica All Stars Vol. 1 & 2 | Studio One / Coxsone
• "Dugout" | Ultramarine | This Time Last Year | Real Soon
• "Asteroid Blues" | Yves Tumor | Heaven to a Tortured Mind | WARP
• "Surrender To The Crags" | Electric Sewer Age | Contemplating Nothingness | Hallow Ground
• "DK Mode" | CURL | Come On Feel The NoiZe, Vol. 5 - Amour pour la France | The Blog That Celebrates Itself
• "Hada jil" | Aziza Brahim | Glitterbeat_tak:til_2019 | Glitterbeat
• "Shed" | Walya | Avon Garde | Avon Terror Corps
• "Alien Circus" | Tradition | Captain Ganja and the Space Patrol | Bokeh Versions
• "4T Recordings" | Four Tet | 4T Recordings | Text
• "Hold Some More" | African Head Charge | Songs of Praise [reissue] | On-U Sound
• "Winds howl" | Whalt Thisney | Quiethism | Kahvi Collective
• "Hong Kong to Amsterdam" | Sneaks | Highway Hypnosis | Merge
• "Carnival of Souls" | Letters From Mouse | Proto Human | Kahvi Collective
• "Tangerines" | Chris Carter | Chemistry Lessons Volume 1 | Mute
• "You Can Have Everything" | Closing Eyes | Eternal Fidelity | Blanca

the world got time for games with you

https://www.facebook.com/radiobombast?ref=hl
https://twitter.com/KidCatharsis

Hello Refusal, You’re Just the Same as Usual: Transmission 524, 2020 April 29

FAM. I am trying so hard to get back on the horse and process the last 39 months. I have to honor the muse when she appears..

I detect a weirdly naive positivity in this program’s energy despite what must have been happening in my life right around this time. Happy Mondays, Pia Fraus and The Room In The Wood seem like vestiges of an earlier sensibility. But who cares? So much of reception depends on frame of mind. I happened to be feeling good the morning I listened back to this, so…

Mrs. Miller seems like self-parody, though, emblematic of a show whose concept is exhausted. 

OTOH I don’t care how many times we play never say never, it will not be enough.

This program was mostly smooth and pleasant, intermittently interesting; not a bad way to spend a hundred and twenty minutes, I guess, but can I not ask for more from these mixtapes?

BOMBAST playlist, 2020 April 29, 2100-2300:

• "ALB19 27" | Loraine James | FYAI Demos + Ditched Album | self-released
• "Subaquatic Swerves" | Tradition | Captain Ganja and the Space Patrol | Bokeh Versions
• "Within Reach" | Ultramarine | This Time Last Year | Real Soon
• "Weekend S" | Happy Mondays | Squirrel And G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out) [reissue] | London
• "Sweet Tart" | The Mystery Plan | Zsa Zsa | Ten Millimeter Omega
• "Blue" | The Room in the Wood | We're the Martians, Now | A Turntable Friend
• "Black Qualls (feat. Steve Lacy, Steve Arrington, & Childish Gambino)" | Thundercat | It Is What It Is | Brainfeeder
• "Shaft's Cab Ride" | Isaac Hayes | Shaft (Music From the Soundtrack) | Stax
• "The Passenger" | Brian | Dabbs Hill | self-released
• "Palermo's Grunch" | Los Pirañas | Glitterbeat_tak:til_2019 | Glitterbeat
• "Moth To The Flame" | Windy & Carl | Allegiance and Conviction | kranky
• "The Baader-Meinhof Always Look So Good In Photos" | Slum of Legs | Slum of Legs | Spurge
• "Alekum Salem" | Sea Urchin | Mutual Aid 2020 | Bokeh Versions
• "I'll Be Waiting" | Alton Ellis | Jamaica All Stars Vol. 1 & 2 | Studio One / Coxsone   
• "II" | アレックス H O R R O R 666 (Tomie-13) | E​.​V​.​P. (Electronic Voice Phenomena) | Virtual Soundsystem
• "One For Ghost" / "Dilla Says Go" / "Walkinonit" / "The Factory" / "U-Love" / "Hi." / "Bye." / "Last Donut Of The Night" / "Welcome To The Show"" | J Dilla | Donuts [reissue] | Stones Throw
• "Eskrima" | Mx7 | Mutual Aid 2020 | Bokeh Versions
• "Uzume" | Mikael Fyrek | Further Asunder | Kahvi Collective
• "Folie Imposée" | Yves Tumor | Heaven to a Tortured Mind | WARP
• "FurdaMurda" | SEEKERSINTERNATIONAL | RunComeTest EP | Bokeh Versions
• "Whose Gonna Save My Soul" | Electric Sewer Age | Contemplating Nothingness | Hallow Ground
• "Fantôme Mélancolique" | Pause Longue | Come On Feel The NoiZe, Vol. 5 - Amour pour la France | The Blog That Celebrates Itself
• "A Lover's Concerto" | Mrs. Miller | Mrs. Miller's Greatest Hits | Capitol | "The Listening Parlour"
• "A Pace Far Different (Demo)" | Gladie | Don't Stand So Close To Me: A Lame-O Compilation For Self Isolation | Lame-O Records
• "Never Say Never" | Romeo Void | Never Say Never | 415 / Columbia"The Entity" | Cry Robot | The Entity In The Cosmos | Virtual Soundsystem

why must we wait to do the things we want to do

https://www.facebook.com/radiobombast?ref=hl
https://twitter.com/KidCatharsis

I Got One Doctor That I Talk to Every Week About This Panic: Transmission 523, 2020 April 22

From my contemporaneous notes: "I have to say I enjoyed this show, it seems to demonstrate that I had made peace with pre-recording and had found a way to still be good." Wow, just wow. I suppose this is going to happen a lot, but I am just not as keen on this episode as I was at the time.

Listening to these broadcasts from another time always brings up a jumble of associations--what was happening then, what is happening now, etc. You know the deal. Get me out of this dream!, as the wise man says somewhere in this mix.

Even though it often feels inauthentic, there are a few surprise things here that probably shouldn't hit right but do anyway.

BOMBAST playlist, 2020 April 22, 2100-2300:

• "What It Does" | Handle | In Threes | Upset The Rhythm
• "Far Too Gone" | Hallows | Subtle | Phage Tapes
• "African Science (Mix 2)" | TNT Roots | Raw Dub Creator | Bokeh Versions
• "Kervan Yolda" | BaBa ZuLa | Glitterbeat_tak:til_2019 | Glitterbeat
• "My Door Is Never" | The Fall | Reformation Post T.L.C. [reissue] | Cherry Red
• "Where Next Columbus" | Crass | Penis Envy | Crass
• "Reckless" | Jay Glass Dubs | Epitaph | Bokeh Versions
• "Spandrels 3" | Doomsquad | Spandrels Vol 2 | self-released
• "RUTHE14ME" | Slum of Legs | Slum of Legs | Spurge
• "My Eyes" | John Holt | Jamaica All Stars Vol. 1 & 2 | Studio One / Coxsone
• "Someday You Will Pay" | The Miller Sisters | Hillbilly Fillies & Rockin' Chicks | Charly | "The Listening Parlour"
• "Boogie In My Bones" | Laurel Aitken | The Story of Jamaican Music: Tougher Than Tough | Mango
• "Paisaje" | Ranil | Stay Safe & Sound Ranil Selection !! | Analog Africa
• "Reason in the Sky" | Alton Ellis | Jamaica All Stars Vol. 1 & 2 | Studio One / Coxsone
• "Gospel For A New Century" | Yves Tumor | Heaven to a Tortured Mind | WARP
• "Electric Love" | The Mystery Plan | Zsa Zsa | Ten Millimeter Omega
• "Down Harm's Way" | The Black Watch | Magic Johnson | ATOM
• "Whales Tails" | Cocteau Twins | Victorialand [reissue] | 4AD   
• "Come Here Get Away From Me [Ezra & Tim, late December 2016, Studio Ballistico, Chicago]" | Ezra Furman | To Them We'll Always Be Freaks | self-released
• "Peeping Tom" | Brentford All Stars | Jamaica All Stars Vol. 1 & 2 | Studio One / Coxsone
• "O.K. Boomer" | Brian | Dabbs Hill | self-released
• "Finding the Sea (Live)" | The Durutti Column | Vini Reilly [reissue] | Factory Benelux
• "I Woke Up in a Fucked​-​Up America" | Lonnie Holley | MITH | Jagjaguwar
• "Let It Fall" | Martin Bisi | Solstice | Bronson
• "Orderliness, Godliness, Discipline and Dignity" | African Head Charge | Songs of Praise [reissue] | On-U Sound
• "Mydriasism" | The Sun's Evil Twin | Come On Feel The NoiZe, Vol. 5 - Amour pour la France | The Blog That Celebrates Itself
• "Anarchy in the U.K." | Sex Pistols | Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols [reissue] | Warner Bros. - Rhino
• "Ship Of Fools (Demo)" | An Horse | Don't Stand So Close To Me: A Lame-O Compilation For Self Isolation | Lame-O Records
• "Paper Flower Projects" | Pia Fraus | Empty Parks | Seksound
• "A Stupid Thought" | The Pristines | Shelter | Sunday
• "Imaginary Letters" | Ultramarine | This Time Last Year | Real Soon
• "There Is No Year" | Algiers | There Is No Year | MatadorEpitaph | Bokeh Versions

just because I really love you

https://www.facebook.com/radiobombast?ref=hl
https://twitter.com/KidCatharsis

But What Do You Expect Me To Do? Transmission 522, 2020 April 15

Welcome to Eighties night! Are you up for some Cocteau Twins? Shriekback? Breathless? Durutti Column? Crass? The Wedding Present? How about two versions of the same R.E.M. song? "Sure," I can hear you saying. "Sounds tubular." Public life had stopped when this broadcast aired, so why not time itself?

I must say, though--as good as the segues are (some of them are quite good), this show doesn't have a center. My methods may be new but the old shortcomings remain.

There aren't many chances for me to speak (I don't anticipate any complaints) due to the scarcity of instrumentals here, but there are lots of people, seemingly, burying their vocals in tonight's music. I remember this impulse--the vocalist needs to do something on the track but doesn't want to be understood, lest they be exposed, found having actually nothing to say.

I am trying to deprogram myself from these remembered impulses, but I think we'll see it happen on the program before it happens in real life.

BOMBAST playlist, 2020 April 15, 2100-2300:

• "Keres" | Mikael Fyrek | Further Asunder | Kahvi Collective
• "Monkey Talk" | Breathless | The Glass Bead Game [reissue] | 1972 - Tenor Vossa
• "This Big Hush" | Shriekback | Oil And Gold | Island
• "Oomingmak" | Cocteau Twins | Victorialand [reissue] | 4AD
• "Subtle" | Hallows | Subtle | Phage Tapes
• "Te Quiero Mucho" | Ranil | Stay Safe & Sound Ranil Selection !! | Analog Africa
• "Sammy" | Brentford All Stars | Jamaica All Stars Vol. 1 & 2 | Studio One / Coxsone
• "TroubleRoundDiCorner" | SEEKERSINTERNATIONAL | RunComeTest EP | Bokeh Versions
• "Otis (Live)" | The Durutti Column | Vini Reilly [reissue] | Factory Benelux
• "Land" | KL​/​BE​/​DH​/​RS | Avon Garde | Avon Terror Corps
• "He Don't Love You" | Larry Williams | Jamaica All Stars Vol. 1 & 2 | Studio One / Coxsone
• "Your Agent Man" | Cabaret Voltaire | 3 Crépuscule Tracks | Rough Trade
• "Ecstasy" | Sneaks | Highway Hypnosis | Merge
• "Heartbreak Hotel" | Brian | Dabbs Hill | self-released
• "Wolves, Lower" | The Death of Pop | Welcome To The Occupation, A Reverence to R.E.M. | The Blog That Celebrates Itself
• "The Sea B" | Lebend | Come On Feel The NoiZe, Vol. 4 - La Furia | The Blog That Celebrates Itself
• "Still Too Far To Go" | Electric Sewer Age | Contemplating Nothingness | Hallow Ground
• "Cruel Set of Shades" | Harry Stafford | Gothic Urban Blues | Black Lagoon
• "At the Edge Of The Sea" | The Wedding Present | Once More | Optic Nerve
• "Problems" | Sex Pistols | Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols [reissue] | Warner Bros. - Rhino
• "Don't Bleach" | I Jahbar | Mutual Aid 2020 | Bokeh Versions
• "Nothing Bloomed" | Algiers | There Is No Year | Matador
• "Health Surface" | Crass | Penis Envy | Crass
• "Wolves, Lower" | R.E.M. | Dead Letter Office | I.R.S.
• "Dunkin" | Letters From Mouse | Proto Human | Kahvi Collective
• "Konowale" | Super Rail Band Of The Buffet Hotel Del La Gare De Bamako, Mali | New Dimensions In Rail Culture | Globe Style
• "Passwords" | Ultramarine | This Time Last Year | Real Soon
• "To My Benefitors" | Jay Glass Dubs | Epitaph | Bokeh Versions

i will love myself

https://www.facebook.com/radiobombast?ref=hl
https://twitter.com/KidCatharsis

Let the Sirens Sing Out Their Nightmare: Transmission 521, 2020 April 8

"I keep falling asleep during this episode," my notes say, "but I assure you it is quite good." Here's hoping you can (a) stay awake and (b) find this assessment accurate. Despite the distance between then and now, it's tough for me to be objective.

I know there are strong tunes here, but the segues seem weak to me. Plus, I just don't sound up for it. Hopefully you can excuse this--I'd had a bad week at work; specifically, I was threatened by a student and then scolded by my superiors for setting a boundary with this person. Prepare yourself for many work anecdotes to come. Things don't get better, despite what you may have heard.

In re. one of the artists on tonight's program, I should have said "Abby Normal" and not "Abe Normal." I had certainly listened to that release prior to playing it, but I suppose not carefully enough, or maybe I didn't retain the experience. Who knows. There is a lot of that to come too.

Sleep well, if it's what you need.

BOMBAST playlist, 2020 April 8, 2100-2300:

• "Freedom Fighters" | Delroy Washington | Beyond the Frontline | Front Line - Virgin
• "Powerful" | Earthquake | Raw Dub Creator | Bokeh Versions
• "The battle for Karbala" | Saint Abdullah | The Sounds of Evil - Vol. 1 | Boomarm Nation
• "Reformation!" | The Fall | Reformation Post T.L.C. [reissue] | Cherry Red
• "Tiet" | Mikael Fyrek | Further Asunder | Kahvi Collective
• "How Many Stars?" | The Mekons | Glitterbeat_tak:til_2019 | Glitterbeat
• "Foliba" | Super Rail Band Of The Buffet Hotel Del La Gare De Bamako, Mali | New Dimensions In Rail Culture | Globe Style
• "Dancing With Aliens" | beto | DISBOARD | Virtual Soundsystem
• "Ballad of JC Quinn" | The Mystery Plan | Zsa Zsa | Ten Millimeter Omega
• "Mash / Time: The Donut Of The Heart / Glazed / Airworks / Lightworks / Stepson Of The Clapper / The Twister (Huh, What)" | J Dilla | Donuts [reissue] | Stones Throw
• "Sweet Sensation" | Half Nelson | Avon Garde | Avon Terror Corps
• "Foundation (Mix 2)" | TNT Roots | Raw Dub Creator | Bokeh Versions
• "Losing Is Ours" | Algiers | There Is No Year | Matador
• "Psychedelic Rock" | Ernest Ranglin | Jamaica All Stars Vol. 1 & 2 | Studio One / Coxsone
• "The Call // Ravenous" | Hallows | Subtle | Phage Tapes
• "Guidance" | Yahweh Warriors | Raw Dub Creator | Bokeh Versions
• "Kajo Golo Weka" | Peter Tsotsi Juma & The Eagles Lupopo | Kenya Special (Selected East African Recordings From The 1970s & '80s) | Soundway
• "Happy Go Lucky Girl" | John Holt | Jamaica All Stars Vol. 1 & 2 | Studio One / Coxsone
• "side a" | abenrmal | [在常情節中找到自己] | Virtual Soundsystem
• "The Autojector" | Letters From Mouse | Proto Human | Kahvi Collective
• "Andalusia" | Ranil | Stay Safe & Sound Ranil Selection !! | Analog Africa
• "Get You Off My Mind" | The Freedom Singers | Jamaica All Stars Vol. 1 & 2 | Studio One / Coxsone
• "Trompo sin punta" | Aura en el espejo | Niñez | Virtual Soundsystem
• "Cob Twenty" | Happy Mondays | Squirrel And G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out) [reissue] | London

hold on like i do

https://www.facebook.com/radiobombast?ref=hl
https://twitter.com/KidCatharsis

Can You Pretend To Love Chaos? Transmission 520, 2020 April 1

Bless me, listeners, for I have sinned! It has been 575 days since my last post. And to paraphrase the world’s most famous TERF, I solemnly swear I have been up to no good.

Serendipity and dialectics: as I embark on a mission of piecing together the past, I find that this show performs a feat of alchemy, in piecing together various fragments of shows that I had planned on doing before the Great Lockdown, and yet striking me as “a little too perfect.” That’s what my notes from the time say, and I have no standing at present to second-guess them.

Early on, I feel like this program “makes no sense” and is “too retro”; it doesn’t seem to get into gear until about 20 minutes in, when we go from African Head Charge to TNT Roots to Breathless. And that’s just it, as pleasant and weird as this strikes me, I’m still struggling for content in this early-COVID period when the old can’t die and the new struggles to be born. I’m running on the fumes of old staples like The Blog That Celebrates Itself (RIP). Sometimes a thing is playing (let’s say Jay Glass Dubs) and it sounds like “my show” as I currently understand it and sometimes a different thing (I don’t want to name names here, but let’s imagine a band with a name that sounds like “Octo Fins”) and it just doesn’t sound like me. 

I could never have guessed I would be here, but here I am. Thank you for hearing my confession.

BOMBAST playlist, 2020 April 1, 2100-2300:

• "Kuff Dam" | Happy Mondays | Squirrel And G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out) [reissue] | London
• "Sub-Mission" | Sex Pistols | Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols [reissue] | Warner Bros. - Rhino
• "Healing" | $entric | New Era : 2020 | Virtual Soundsystem
• "The Heart You Break May Be Your Own" | Patsy Cline | The Legendary Patsy Cline | Special Music | "The Listening Parlour"
• "How to Bring a Blush to the Snow" | Cocteau Twins | Victorialand [reissue] | 4AD
• "Healing Ceremony" | African Head Charge | Songs of Praise [reissue] | On-U Sound
• "Glorious Dub" | TNT Roots | Raw Dub Creator | Bokeh Versions
• "Touchstone" | Breathless | The Glass Bead Game [reissue] | 1972 - Tenor Vossa
• "Cold Hands" | Numerals&Letters | Come On Feel The NoiZe, Vol. 5 - Amour pour la France | The Blog That Celebrates Itself
• "Repeating Night" | Algiers | There Is No Year | Matador
• "Animal Estate ft. Yorgia Karidi" | Jay Glass Dubs | Epitaph | Bokeh Versions
• "Lord of Hosts" | Earthquake | Raw Dub Creator | Bokeh Versions
• "Addis" | Sneaks | Highway Hypnosis | Merge
• "Habla Plasma" | PASS | New Era : 2020 | Virtual Soundsystem
• "True Love" | Ivan Black | Modern City Scapes | vanguardista
• "Chebo" | Electric Sewer Age | Contemplating Nothingness | Hallow Ground
• "Get Me Out Of Echo Park" | The Black Watch | Magic Johnson | ATOM
• "Mr. Land Freezer" | Pia Fraus | Empty Parks | Seksound
• "ブラジル" | Xela Memories | New Era : 2020 | Virtual Soundsystem
• "Ubirr" | Mikael Fyrek | Further Asunder | Kahvi Collective
• "The Ghosts Of Winter Stalk This Land" | The Membranes | What Nature Gives...Nature Takes Away | Cherry Red
  "slow syrup" | serpentwithfeet | soil | Secretly Canadian
• "Joy_33 aci4.5test" | CYBEREALITY | New Era : 2020 | Virtual Soundsystem
• "Space Carnival" | The Comet Is Coming | Channel The Spirits | Leaf
• "Ladaney (Woman's Name)" | Dur-Dur Band | Mogadisco - Dancing Mogadishu (Somalia 1972​-​1991) | Analog Africa
• "We Were Dancing" | TUPPERWAVE | New Era : 2020 | Virtual Soundsystem
• "Industrial dead" | Milbentia | Disintegration | Virtual Soundsystem
• "Dry" | The Durutti Column | Vini Reilly [reissue] | Factory Benelux

I am pickled, I am done

https://www.facebook.com/radiobombast?ref=hl
https://twitter.com/KidCatharsis

My Revenge Against the World Is To Believe Everything You Say: Transmission 519, 2020 March 25

Now it can be told! Methods and agendas disclosed in this week's blurb. It's all here.

To begin we have to go back to the very early days of this program, when I decided (a) my library was not enough and (b) I had to chase the ghosts of my past and prove that I could follow the "rules" of my old radio station from undergrad days, which I was never good at doing. There's a lot to unpack there but I'm sure somewhere along the way I have referred to what I often do as LARPing and that is basically the jist of it.

We used to have this rule about "currency," according to which your playlist was supposed to be 30% "current" records. This meant playing discs from the "current" bin, and what was in there had been added by the station (NB: not necessarily "released," just acquired) within the last 3 months. To the extent that I was ever successful at this, it was only just: early on I had a lot to learn from the past and somewhere along the way I decided that the present (at that moment) wasn't up to my standards and apparently I wasn't open to many new experiences. I look back on this as a failure that I have to correct. For whom? The voice in my head of course.

So, anyway, in 2013 or so, when this show was less than ten programs old, I was auditioning lots of new releases on Spotify and building my playlists that way. I would often call this "radio magic" or whatever, but it was a kind of fraud. It helped, but didn't help, that at some point we got this software at the station called DeejayPro that could incorporate Spotify into your broadcast (controversially, I guess).

This created a couple of messes: one was the general fakeness of many programs, even though I was sharing music that I genuinely liked--not to mention the use of that awful, unethical app--and the technical issue of playing those supercompressed mp3s (evident in last week's disaster).

Apparently it took a global pandemic to force me to reconsider, but on this broadcast I said goodbye to the old ways. I would only use actual sound files in my possession, currency be damned--this meant using what I owned and what I was buying, which also meant a deeper commitment, which I consider a good thing. It also meant the return of dynamics and crazy levels, which I guess is also a good thing because it's teaching me to embrace imperfection even though I hate it.

So this particular show features a lot of material I picked up on the very first "Bandcamp Friday," five days prior, as well as things I'd bought recently. But, I have to say--it also included a lot of promotional freebies (including yet another cringeworthy Membranes track--what is it with them?), plenty of channeling 1985 and 1986 (so what else is new), and, let's face it, a big focus on the white past and not the black future. I don't know how it's possible to do a show that's "honest" and at the same time "in bad faith" but I manage.

That said, I really miss old R.E.M. and I did love the then-recent viral video of Michael Stipe singing along to "Underneath the Bunker."

I also miss Richenel and I miss the days when that This Mortal Coil cd blew my little mind; now it's all wrapped up in guilt and regret. Here's hoping someday it will sound fresh again.

Since this program was broadcast, 410 days ago now, I've gone "on the air" 55 times. I have delivered 54 pre-recorded episodes on account of the pandemic. That gives us a lot of time to work through my issues, and there are many of them.

BOMBAST playlist, 2020 March 25, 2100-2300:

• "Yahweh The Redeemer" | TNT Roots | Raw Dub Creator | Bokeh Versions
• "Russell" | Happy Mondays | Squirrel And G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out) [reissue] | London
• "Pandora's Box" | The Membranes | What Nature Gives...Nature Takes Away | Cherry Red
• "Old Man Kensey" | The Starling Effect | Welcome To The Occupation, A Reverence to R.E.M. | The Blog That Celebrates Itself
• "Coelocanth" | Shriekback | Oil And Gold | Island
• "Slumpledunk" | LameBøy™ | New Era : 2020 | Virtual Soundsystem
• "Cattle Herders Chant" | African Head Charge | Songs of Praise [reissue] | On-U Sound
• "Late Summer Night" | Pia Fraus | Empty Parks | Seksound
• "Dekotur" | Electric Sewer Age | Contemplating Nothingness | Hallow Ground
• "Inch-Blue" / "I Want To Live" / "Mama K (1)" / "Filigree & Shadow" / "Firebrothers" / "Thais (I)" / "I Must Have Been Blind" / "A Heart of Glass" | This Mortal Coil | Filigree & Shadow | 4AD
• "Hollywood 4-5-92" | American Music Club | Mercury | Virgin | "The Listening Parlour"
• "The Earth Is Flat (Fool's Anthem)" | The Room in the Wood | We're the Martians, Now | A Turntable Friend
• "People's Pleasure Park" | The Durutti Column | Vini Reilly [reissue] | Factory Benelux
• "Albores De Mi Selva" | Ranil | Stay Safe & Sound Ranil Selection !! | Analog Africa
• "See How the Land Lies" | Breathless | The Glass Bead Game [reissue] | 1972 - Tenor Vossa
• "Garlands" | Cocteau Twins | Garlands [reissue] | 4AD
• "Johnny Damas and Me" | Brian | Dabbs Hill | self-released
• "The Usher" | The Fall | Reformation Post T.L.C. [reissue] | Cherry Red
• "Plainsong" | Darkswoon | Disintegration Revisited | The Blog That Celebrates Itself
• "you're so sad" | Fever 103° | Avon Garde | Avon Terror Corps
• "いつかきっと" | beto | DISBOARD | Virtual Soundsystem
• "Big Blow" | Manu Dibango | Africafunk: Return To The Original Sound Of 1970s Funky Africa | Harmless

Didn't know it was a song you hated to sing

https://www.facebook.com/radiobombast?ref=hl
https://twitter.com/KidCatharsis

Everything's Coming to a Grinding Halt: Transmission 518, 2020 March 18

There is a weird symmetry to this post, as it comes (seemingly) at the end of the pandemic era even as I am trying to make sense of how it began. Maybe there was a point in dragging my feet all this time. Increasingly I think things happen as they are meant to, when they are meant to. My brain must be getting old, soft, and smooth.

Everything shut down very quickly in the second and third weeks of March 2020. By the time of this broadcast New York State was under a lockdown. I knew in advance that I would not be able to do this program "live," and I foolishly went ahead with the show that I had planned anyway.

(Ironically, on the night, I was unable to connect remotely to the airplay computer to do my weekly programming tasks, so I ventured down to the station only to find out that I--and everyone else--was literally locked out. So this was how things were going to be.)

"Going ahead with the show that I had planned anyway" meant basically digitally recording a Spotify playlist and uploading that digital recording. The results are--well, here they are. Listen for yourself. For me, every segue is perfect (timing-wise if not conceptually), every song sounds crushed. It's a travesty but I am committed to posting everything, even the travesties. "Dododo (Ekassa No. 1)" is such a great recording too. I guess I will have to buy that box set after all.

There aren't even enough current tunes here to satisfy that fetish for me. It's tough to know at this point what I was thinking. I was probably just scrambling. How long did I think the lockdown would last? One week, I say at the end. How optimistic was I?

Did I invent the term plaguecasting? I am taking credit for it in any case.

Since this program was broadcast, 416 days ago now, I've gone "on the air" 56 times. I have delivered 55 pre-recorded episodes on account of the pandemic. I'm not sure any of them sound worse than this one, but miracles are always possible.

BOMBAST playlist, 2020 March 18, 2100-2300:

• "Ire" | The Don Isaac Ezekiel Combination | Nigeria 70: Box Set | Strut
• "Airport Lounge" | | 空港ラウンジのドリームスケープ | | D R E A M S C A P E | New Era : 2020 Virtual Soundsystem
• "Dododo (Ekassa No. 1)" | Sir Victor Uwaifo & His Melody Maestroes | Nigeria 70: Box Set | Strut
• "We Spartan Dreggs (Be Fine)" | The Spartan Dreggs | Punk Rock ist nicht tot | Damaged Goods
• "Doom" | Jaxe | Seekings EP | Dom Trojga
• "MERCURIO" | DJ MALVIAJE | New Era : 2020 | Virtual Soundsystem
• "Ikon Allah" | Bala Miller & The Great Music Pyrameeds Of Afrika | Nigeria 70: Box Set | Strut
• "The Morning Ritual" | Rephazer | Shepherd Drift | Kahvi Collective
• "Free The World" | Inkräktare | We Are Not Really Here | ELaB
• "Wetin De Watch Goat, Goat Dey Watcham" | Eric (Showboy) Akaeze And His Royal Ericos | Nigeria 70: Box Set | Strut
• "Glow In The Night" | Blacklit | Out Of The Darkness | The Blog That Celebrates Itself
• "Chamber Assent" | Whistling Arrow | Whistling Arrow | God Unknown   
• "We Can't Be Found" | Algiers | We Can't Be Found | Matador
• "Don't Wanna Hold Your Hand" | Thee Headcoatees | Punk Girls | Damaged Goods
• "Web in Front" | Kudzu Wish | Kudzu Wish | Ernest Jenning Record Co.
• "Blackholeyday" | Car Crash Sisters | Come On Feel The NoiZe, Vol. 3 - Viva Mexico! | The Blog That Celebrates Itself
• "How To Start A Revolution" | Wrangler | How To Start A Revolution | Bella Union
• "Want Me - Win Me" | Thee Headcoats | In Tweed We Trust | Damaged Goods
• "Grinding Halt" | The Cure | Three Imaginary Boys | Fiction - Rhino | "The Listening Parlour"
• "Vaults of Arcadia" | Space Dimension Controller | ReSEQ | R & S
• "Strange Selfies" | Yaka-anima | New Era : 2020 | Virtual Soundsystem
• "Henrietta" | Ali Chukwumah & His Peace Makers International | Nigeria 70: Box Set | Strut
• "What Nature Gives...Nature Takes Away" | The Membranes | What Nature Gives...Nature Takes Away | Cherry Red
• "Unity In Africa" | Eji Oyewole | Nigeria 70: Box Set | Strut
• "Everso" | The Telescopes | Losing Touch With My Mind: Psychedelia In Britain 1986-1990 | Cherry Red
• "Breeze" | Lush | Gala | 4AD
• "Noise Floor" | Chris Carter | Chemistry Lessons Volume 1 | Mute
• "Dekagon" | Karl Hector & The Malcouns | Non Ex Orbis | Now-Again

For they knew someday the sun would die

https://www.facebook.com/radiobombast?ref=hl
https://twitter.com/KidCatharsis