Episodes
Friday Nov 29, 2013
Not an Aversion to Wrecking Things Up: Transmission 75, 2013 November 26
Friday Nov 29, 2013
Friday Nov 29, 2013
This late-night program was not supposed to happen. Circumstances intervened, and airtime opened up. Now that it is cold and stuff is falling from the sky, it is time to share with you Mandarines by EU, or an unpronounceable title by a band with an unpronounceable name. Treat yourself to some glitchy, rhythmic madness to underscore whatever glitchy madness you may be experiencing.
For whatever reason, I didn't think "the Curve show" the other night was so great. In such cases I need a palate cleanser, and the threat of a winter storm provided me with just such an opportunity. I don't know why the pressure of working on short notice produces radio diamonds, but here you go, honey, I went to Jared.
And so begins what will no doubt be a busy holiday season, full of programming excess. Stay tuned.
BOMBAST playlist, 2013 November 26-27, 2300-0100:
- "Doing Fine (Dub Version)" | Tony Aiken & Disco 2000 | Unity, Sing It, Shout It | Boom Shot
- "Louie, Louie" | Toots & The Maytals | Funky Kingston | Get On Down
- "Ndia Egbuo Ndia" | Semi-Colon | Ndia Egbuo Ndia (Afro-Jigida) | Comb & Razor
- "Blizzard (Вьюга)" | Ёлочные Игрушки | Мандарины | Delikatessen | "Physical Evidence"
- "Interlude II" / "Pink Room" | §un §pells | βunβet | Bandcamp self-release
- "Jackie Boy" | Scott & Charlene's Wedding | Any Port in a Storm | Fire
- "Inky Sea" | Laura Groves | Thinking About Thinking | Deek
- "Nightcolors" | Gregor Tresher | Nightcolors | Break New Soil
- "Every Night" | Los Mockers | The Original Recordings 1965-1967 | Get Hip
- "Stufen-Spitzbergen" | Boozoo Bajou | Jan Mayen | R & S - Apollo
- "Frost (Мороэ)" | Ёлочные Игрушки | Мандарины | Delikatessen | "Physical Evidence"
- "Switchblade" | Ron Thompson | Switchblade | TT Shaker
- "Gawlo" | Jeri-Jeri with Baaba Maal | 800% Ndagga | Ndagga
- "Ruw (Рув)" | Ёлочные Игрушки | Мандарины | Delikatessen | "Physical Evidence"
- "Keep Rocking and Swinging" | Big Joe | Keep Rocking and Swinging | Striker Lee - Reggae Retro
- "The Pursuit" | The Blaxploited Orchestra | The Pursuit | Compost Disco
- "Royal Flush" | The Same | Fungeez | Infine
- "Snowstorm (Метель)" | Ёлочные Игрушки | Мандарины | Delikatessen | "Physical Evidence"
- "Wreck Up a Version" | Prince Jammy and the Aggrovators | Dubwise & Otherwise | Blood & Fire
- "Louie, Louie" | Black Flag | Who's Got the 10 1/2? | SST
Tuesday Nov 26, 2013
And Then Shoot Out The Lights: Transmission 74, 2013 November 22
Tuesday Nov 26, 2013
Tuesday Nov 26, 2013
"It's mostly a show about segues," I explained to Stephen as his program was ending and mine was beginning. If that is my rationale, then the segues had better work. This outing was not my best. For whatever reason, Curve's music, love it though I do, refuses to play nice with other tunes. At any rate, here is another mix tape. I hope it provides pleasure and/or comfort, at some time if not right now.
Catalogue of mistakes: "Ten Little Girls" is improperly cued; there is a four-second dropout at the beginning of "Bobby Heron," although thankfully it spares the sublime voice of Nadine Shah; Holland and Denmark are distinct and separate places; the real joke I mean to make with DJ Jahman's program, that it should be called "Electric Currants," is better rendered in writing than in speech. Is that all? I hope so. Me DJ pretty one day.
[UPDATE: N.B. Apparently Joris Voorn is from Amsterdam, which sources tell me is not in Belgium.]
BOMBAST playlist, 2013 November 22-23, 2300-0100:
- "Dali's House" | Deathfix | Deathfix | Dischord
- "Swimming - Rocco Raimundo Remix" | Holy Models | Swimming | Eskimo
- "Keep" | Nils Frahm | Eclettica [Glass Coffee] | Klik
- "Ten Little Girls" | Curve | Blindfold | Anxious | "Physical Evidence"
- "Over the Wall" | Echo & The Bunnymen | Heaven Up Here | Korova Japan
- "Seventeen" | Beach Day | Trip Trap Attack | Kanine
- "Bobby Heron" | Nadine Shah | Dreary Town | R & S - Apollo
- "Xtal" | Aphex Twin | Selected Ambient Works 85-92 | Apollo
- "I Speak Your Every Word" | Curve | Blindfold | Anxious | "Physical Evidence"
- "Guide" | Aebeloe | Manon | Farver
- "Empire State Human" | The Human League | Reproduction | Virgin | "Listening Parlour"
- "Monday Morning" | Fontanelle | Kompilation | Kranky
- "Rich Man" | Big Joe | Keep Rocking and Swinging | Striker Lee - Reggae Retro
- "No Escape from Heaven" | Curve | Blindfold | Anxious | "Physical Evidence"
- "Symmetries" | Forrests | Wilder | Blast First Petite
- "Don't Go Away" | Los Mockers | The Original Recordings 1965-1967 | Get Hip
- "Fujiyama Mama" | Wanda Jackson | Rockin' in the Country | Rhino | "Listening Parlour"
- "Count on Me" | Deetron | Count on Me | Aus
- "Blindfold" | Curve | Blindfold | Anxious | "Physical Evidence"
- "Ringo" | Joris Voorn | Ringo | Green
- "Keep on Running - Datassette Mix" | D-Pulse | Keep on Running | Teardrop
Monday Nov 25, 2013
The Whole Thing Is Fairyland: Transmission 73, 2013 November 20
Monday Nov 25, 2013
Monday Nov 25, 2013
Tonight marks the final program in our annus mirabilis, although we will observe our symbolic "birthday" next week. Fittingly, I found myself staying at the station afterward to sit in on the first solo program hosted by a fellow calling himself "Trillium." It's the circle of life, although I'm not planning to disappear any time soon.
Once again, I'd like to express thanks to all who listen--not just for listening, but for being mentally and emotionally stable to boot. Trillium received a couple of those desperate phone calls that I never receive, one from a gentleman who reported that he was "grooving by himself on the floor," whatever that means, and another from a listener who wanted to know if Trillium had ever seen Logan's Run. They might have been the same person. And I guess the second call, considered without context, doesn't raise flags, but it was triggered by an airing of those infernal cat poems by Eliot.
My caller during this evening was simply a gentleman who enjoyed U Roy--clearly a fellow of sound mind. "I love the dub," he told me. "It's all about the echoes." Yes, friend, it is, (it is).
BOMBAST playlist, 2013 November 20, 2100-2300:
- "Sunshine Recorder" | Boards of Canada | Geogaddi | Warp
- "Ska Version Dub" | U Roy | Serious Matter Dub | Walboomers | "Physical Evidence"
- "Forma" | Aebeloe | Manon | Farver
- "Coyote on the Town" | Exene Cervenka | Old Wives' Tales | Rhino | "Listening Parlour"
- "Lit Up" | Public Service Broadcasting | Inform - Educate - Entertain | Red Eye
- "Attention Dub" | U Roy | Serious Matter Dub | Walboomers | "Physical Evidence"
- "Amsterdam Remnant 6" | Deepchord | 20 Electrostatic Soundfields | Soma
- "Thirsty" | The Orb featuring Lee "Scratch" Perry | Orbserving the Star House in Dub | Cooking Vinyl
- "The Leader" | The Clash | Sandinista! | Sony UK
- "Tarifa" | Forrests | Wilder | Blast First Petite
- "Ivy" | These Hidden Hands | These Hidden Hands | Hidden Hundred
- "Know Yourself Dub" | U Roy | Serious Matter Dub | Walboomers | "Physical Evidence"
- "Bleep Forward" | Mike Shannon | Reset, Bleep | Cynosure
- "Flying Circuits" | Made in Sane | The Pink Collection | Eskimo
- "Serious Matter Dub" | U Roy | Serious Matter Dub | Walboomers | "Physical Evidence"
- "One Sunday" | Orion & J. Shore | Eclettica (Glass Coffee) | Klik
- "Miyuki" | The National Jazz Trio of Scotland | Standards Vol. II | Karaoke Kalk
- "Reality Dub" | Linton Kwesi Johnson | LKJ in Dub | Mango
- "Richmond Women Blues" | Mississippi John Hurt | The Best of Mississippi John Hurt | Vanguard | "Listening Parlour"
- "Murders" | Senking | Capsize Recovery | Raster-Notion
- "Miss Till I Kiss Dub" | U Roy | Serious Matter Dub | Walboomers | "Physical Evidence"
- "These Nights Never End" | Daniel Avery | Drone Logic | Because
Tuesday Nov 19, 2013
Cruising Altitude, Departure 1: 2013 September 1
Tuesday Nov 19, 2013
Tuesday Nov 19, 2013
[GUEST POST]
Hello to all lovers of BOMBAST. I have a podcast I'd like to share with you. This won't be a regular feature, just a thing that happens now and again.
My DJ handle is Captain Halcyon. "Halcyon" is made up, but "Captain" is real. I was booted from the Air Force for a series of...let's call them indiscretions. In the flight simulator. That, and a general unwillingness to complete my mission logs. Let's just say that strange stuff happens up there.
At any rate I spend most of my time in a reverie, pondering blue skies and puffy clouds. Occasionally Kid Catharsis will drag me out of it and I'll do a show. This is the first one.
I apologize for lacking Guy LeBatard's philosophical insights, and for lacking--whatever Kid Catharsis's strengths are! Thanks for reading, and for listening.
CRUISING ALTITUDE playlist, 2013 September 1, 1600-1700:
- "The Morality of Altitude" | 400 Blows | Look | Concrete Productions
- "Shatter" | Liz Phair | Exile in Guyville | Matador
- "Come Here My Love" | This Mortal Coil | Come Here My Love | 4AD
- "Walking Field" | Peals | Walking Field | Thrill Jockey
- "Celestial Flutes" | 23 Skidoo | The Gospel Comes to New Guinea | Ronin
- "Otterley" | Cocteau Twins | Treasure | 4AD
- "Trembling" | Windy & Carl | Brain in the Wire | Brainwashed
- "Be Still" | Felt | Space Blues | Creation
- "Always" | Flying Saucer Attack | Chorus | Drag City
- "Southern Orchards" | July Skies | Dreaming of Spires | Rocket Girl
- "Deep Journey" | Suns of Arqa | Land of a Thousand Churches | Arka Sound
- "Dark Melt" | Simon Turner | A Palace in the Sun | Creation
Thursday Nov 14, 2013
An Enraged Man With An Epic Combover: Transmission 72, 2013 November 13
Thursday Nov 14, 2013
Thursday Nov 14, 2013
We return to normality on tonight's program: no tributes, no fundraising, no celebrity guests. I present my humble program as it typically proceeds, with one "shout-out" to my friend and colleague Stephanie, who does the "Humming Wires" program on Wednesday nights from 7:00 to 9:00. I was walking to the station Sunday night, when Steph spun "Bombast" during the tag-team extravaganza. DJ camaraderie: it's a decent feeling!
The Dentists furnish our "Physical Evidence" for the week, in the form of You and Your Bloody Oranges. I do manage to play the whole thing, even the vocal snippet without a name, so there's no need to describe the sound. I will say that this record charms me as few records do, mostly by historical accident. When I left my parents' house to attend college, I had eighteen records to my name. Why and how do I remember such a detail, by the way? Although I'm not positive, I'll be damned if this record wasn't one of them.
How this record--pressed on what was apparently The Dentists' own label, documenting a band that seems to have been part of no scene, nor to have conformed to any contemporaneous fashion--traveled 6,000 miles to end up in a cultural backwater, where it could appeal to me from a record store bin by means of its cover image alone [this was the era when a good cover could promise good music], I can never know. Things could have gone so differently--it might have landed somewhere else, another record could have caught my eye that day, and so on. Do you ever ponder this stuff? Sorry to subject you to my mental detritus. I'm happy to refund your money, if these musings don't please you.
The Dentists, who were never "twee," "C86," "post-punk," or "garage revival" (despite being close to the Medway and working with Prisoner and Headcoat Allan "Crojack" Crockford), would have their inexplicable major-label moment in the United States, a decade later, when they were not "grunge," "slack," "cuddlecore," or "math rock." You and Your Bloody Oranges doesn't seem to be the record that aficionados name-check or to which they gravitate, for reasons I can't explain any better than I can my own relationship to it. I do hope it gets a reissue someday so that more people can hear it, but for now we can all bask in the glow of this shoddy vinyl-to-mp3 capture.
BOMBAST playlist, 2013 November 13, 2100-2300:
- "Overground" | Siouxsie & The Banshees | The Thorn | Wonderland - Polydor
- "Hang On St. Christopher" | Tom Waits | Franks Wild Years | Island | "Listening Parlour"
- "Noughts" | Few Nolder | Private Drive | Best Kept Secret
- "Sequoia" | Saroos | Return | Alien Transistor
- "Pallino" | The Dentists | You and Your Bloody Oranges | Spruck | "Physical Evidence"
- "Trigger" | Whore Paint | Swallow My Bones | Load
- "Luna Luxor" | Chrome Sparks | Sparks | Future Classic
- "Secret History" | Jawbox | Grippe | Dischord
- "My Friends in the Best of Circles" | The Dentists | You and Your Bloody Oranges | Spruck | "Physical Evidence"
- "wistful wishful wanton" | Pinkcourtesyphone | Foley Folly Folio | Boomkat
- "Waiting for Nina (Noon Mix)" | C-Rock & Patrick Kunkel | Waiting for Nina | Leena
- "Moving" | Petar Dundov | Sailing off the Grid | Music Man
- "Something That Will Never Happen" | The Dentists | You and Your Bloody Oranges | Spruck | "Physical Evidence"
- "What Goes Boom" | Pixies | EP1 | self-released
- "Polyfusion" | Seefeel | Quique | Modern Classics
- "I Can See Your House from Up Here" | The Dentists | You and Your Bloody Oranges | Spruck | "Physical Evidence"
- "See the Train" | Blancmange | Mange Tout | Sire | "Listening Parlour"
- "untitled" | The Dentists | You and Your Bloody Oranges | Spruck | "Physical Evidence"
- "Constantinople" | Trentemoller | Lost | In My Room
- "Jugoton" | Ichisan | The Pink Collection | Eskimo
- "The Best of Everything" | The Dentists | You and Your Bloody Oranges | Spruck | "Physical Evidence"
- "Hurt on Hold" | The Monks | In Fuzz We Trust | Stag-O-Lee
- "Lydden Circuit" | Brassica | Temple Fortune | Civil
- "I Was Wrong" | Live Skull | EP | Desire
- "Where's My Chicken, You Bastard?" | The Dentists | You and Your Bloody Oranges | Spruck | "Physical Evidence"
- "Don't Drink and Drive" | Hutton School Choir | Classroom Projects | Trunk
Monday Nov 11, 2013
All DJ Pretense and Radio Magic: Transmission 71, 2013 November 10
Monday Nov 11, 2013
Monday Nov 11, 2013
It's ten days after Halloween, but I offer you a "fun-size" edition of the program. We were having a studio party last night, and people were taking short shifts in the "captain's chair." This is a recording of mine.
My co-pilots are DJ Jahman (?!), DJ Leon, and Dusty Visions [who came prepared with a math fact]. The ratio of music to chat was higher than it had been the other night, which was a good thing. I still don't know how long (or how briefly) one must pitch in order to maximize the odds of a phone call, but the duration must be shorter than what we've been trying for the past week or so. My .02.
Anyway, "good vibes" were plentiful last night.
BOMBAST playlist, 2013 November 10, 2300-2330:
- "Momplays" | Zombie Nation | RGB | Turbo
- "This Generation" | The Lions | This Generation | Stones Throw
- "Mid Century Modern Nightmare" | Neon Neon | Praxis Makes Perfect | Lex
- "The Precinct of System" | Andy Fairley | System Vertigo | On-U Sound
- "Dimension of Sound" | Harry Axt | Dimension of Sound | Arms & Legs
Friday Nov 08, 2013
Laika and the Luddite Machine: Transmission 70, 2013 November 6
Friday Nov 08, 2013
Friday Nov 08, 2013
This was a special evening five months in the making, and one of the "special things" I said I was working on during the summer. I explain everything during the broadcast, but I badly wanted Laika & The Luddite Machine to come play on my show, live. And I rarely get to say this about a program, but I think it could hardly have gone better than it did. There's no better "Physical Evidence" than a live band, and what a performance this was.
We are once again in the midst of fundraising at WRFI, so feel free to give us your money anytime. I say this not only as a plea but also an explanation for why there is so much talk during this program. I was such a Chatty Cathy during this broadcast, I can hardly believe it, listening back. Anyway, I am joined by Dan Aloi, host of the "Press Record and Play" program, and we discuss such things as downtown parking, road managers, "top five" lists, good and bad requests, bumper stickers, Jeff Beck, and restraining orders.
Somewhere in here there are four pieces of music by the band, which speak for themselves, at least until the band enters the control room to do some actual talking.
A magical night, this was, and we hope to have more like it soon--maybe with less "me" and more songs. It will be a relief to pipe down next Wednesday.
BOMBAST playlist, 2013 November 6, 2100-2300:
- "New Dimensions in Sound" | Public Service Broadcasting | Inform - Educate - Entertain | Test Card
- "Positive Noise" | System 7 & A Guy Called Gerald | Up | A-Wave
- "Untitled 1" | Laika & The Luddite Machine | live in studio
- "Untitled 2" | Laika & The Luddite Machine | live in studio
- "Untitled 3" | Laika & The Luddite Machine | live in studio
- "Untitled 4" | Laika & The Luddite Machine | live in studio
- "Station" | Here Are the Facts You Requested | All My Favourite Things At Once | Testing Ground
- "I Want To Be the Last Song / You Hear Before You Die" | The Feeling of Love | Reward Your Grace | Born Bad
Tuesday Nov 05, 2013
Everybody Had to Pay and Pay: Transmission 69, 2013 October 30
Tuesday Nov 05, 2013
Tuesday Nov 05, 2013
I had some material planned for this particular broadcast, but Lou Reed had to go and die on us, so that stuff will have to wait.
Working under an ill-formed philosophy about such things, I did the best I could under the circumstances. Occasionally I've given a a musical nod to various people who have passed on during the life span of this program. Ravi Shankar, Dave Brubeck, Alan Myers, and Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner come to mind. This felt a bit different.
When we inducted Prince Far-I into the Hall of Legends, back in April, I explained why I didn't wait until the anniversary of his death, which would have been a couple of months ago: "I don't think deaths are anything to commemorate....It is much better to celebrate lives, which can be done whenever." I still feel this way, and I think this program embodies that. At the same time, news of Reed's death made me especially sad, as it did many others. I can't speak for anyone else, but for me what separated Lou Reed from other "influential musicians" of his generation [thanks for that one, NPR] was that he clearly wasn't finished. He was going to make more albums, and they were going to be interesting. Of course I never knew Lou Reed personally, and grief always has an element of selfishness to it--I'm mourning what I don't get to hear.
What I do get to hear is a wide range of music that has Lou Reed's fingerprints all over it. My collection is full of it, and if you enjoy this program, I suspect that yours is too--not to mention the music not yet made, which could not exist had Lou Reed and/or The Velvet Underground never been. I am wary of "creative products" that capitalize on tragedy--something awful happens, but the upside is that I get a book/movie/play/song/radio show out of it--and was never going to use last week's news as an "occasion." All of the "tribute" material on this program is music that, I am sure, would have made it to air sooner or later, on its own merits. Nothing to prove, no history lesson, no elegy--just a bunch of divergent moods and energies, as always.
Huh. Feelings. Anyway.
BOMBAST playlist, 2013 October 30, 2100-2300:
- "Smile Now" | Thee Headcoats | Headcoats Down! | Damaged Goods
- "Walk on the Wild Side" | Lou Reed | Transformer | RCA | "Listening Parlour"
- "Somewhere" | Benotmane | Somewhere | Fenou
- "She's My Best Friend" | The Wedding Present | Singles 1989-1991 | Manifesto
- "Faithful Hessian Walks into Ada's Bar - Joerg Burger Remix" | Metope | Black Beauty Remixes | Areal
- "All Tomorrow's Parties" | Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | Kicking Against the Pricks | Mute - Homestead
- "Heroin" | Roky Erickson | Gremlins Have Pictures | Light in the Attic
- "Oh Sailors" | Whore Paint | Swallow My Bones | Load
- "What Goes On?" | The Mind Readers | Medway Powerhouse Volume 4 | Hangman
- "Sweet Jane" | The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy | Cake City | Vinyl Japan
- "Trace Missed Call" | Lake People | Step Over, Trace Into | Connaisseur
- "Birmingham" | The Wolfgang Press | Queer | 4AD
- "The Made Man's Manifesto" | The Legendary Pink Dots | Your Children Placate You from Premature Graves | self-released
- "White Light / White Heat" | David Bowie | Bowie at the Beeb | EMI
- "Age of Oil & Wax" | Live Skull | EP | Desire
- "Velvety Instrumental Version" | Pixies | Dig for Fire | 4AD
- "There She Goes Again" | R.E.M. | Dead Letter Office | I.R.S.
- "Skanking on the A Train" | Tony Aiken & Future 2000 | Unity, Sing It, Shout It | Boom Shot
- "Femme Fatale" | Big Star | 3rd - Sister Lovers | PVC
- "This Time" | Moderat | II | Monkeytown
- "Junk Shop" | Scott & Charlene's Wedding | Any Port in a Storm | Fire
- "Sword of Damocles - Externally" | Lou Reed | Magic & Loss | Sire - Warner Bros. | "Listening Parlour"
- "I'm Set Free" | The New Fast Automatic Daffodils | Heaven and Hell Volume 3 | Imaginary
- "Sister Ray" | Joy Division | Still | Rhino
Monday Nov 04, 2013
U_D_M, Transmission 1: 2013 August 30
Monday Nov 04, 2013
Monday Nov 04, 2013
Kid Catharsis has allowed me to post episodes of my occasional program U_D_M on his website, so here is the first one. I would thank him, but I feel that such gestures only contribute to the world's supply of boredom. He would understand.
I'm Guy LeBatard. Kid Catharsis tells me that there are other noteworthy LeBatards in broadcasting, but I am not related to them and feel nausea at the insinuation. I am descended from a once-proud line of Quebecois funeral directors, if you must know, but that is neither here nor there. At any rate, I am my own person.
I reject the ever-increasing fragmentation of "dance" or "electronic" music or whatever you want to call it, and offer U_D_M as an antidote to IDM. If you know what the latter stands for, you will surmise the meaning of the former. That is why Kid Catharsis and I enjoy a "friendship," as he insists on calling it. We both eschew the pretense of making anyone smarter through music.
In fact I have little use for the written word, but Kid Catharsis has insisted that I write something rather than simply dropping my programs here, as a domesticated feline would do with a dead rodent. I hope these words suffice.
N.B. other transmissions are still available here.
U_D_M Playlist, 2013 August 30, 1900-2000:
- "Eve ov Destruction" | Psychic TV | Love War Riot | Temple
- "Mental Disorder" | The Same | Fungeez | Infine
- "Kyra's Vowels" | Thee Headcoatees | Taylor Meets Thee Headcoatees | Lissy's
- "City of Dreadful Night" | Sandoz | Digital Life Time | Intone
- "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" | The Darkness vs SFB | I Believe in a Thing Called Love | Not on label (SFB Remix Series)
- "Fatal Attraction" | Mark Stewart | International | Mute
- "Sunkissed Shak" | Taron-Trekka | The Trekkas Shak Phase | Freude Am Tanzen
- "Trinity" | Adam Johnson | Chigliak | Merck