Episodes
Monday Jun 30, 2014
The Comfort You've Demanded Is Now Mandatory: Transmission 131, 2014 June 17
Monday Jun 30, 2014
Monday Jun 30, 2014
A rainy summer night and an outstanding EP from Killing Sound made for a loud, challenging, unpredictable broadcast. It is true that I hadn't been sure our Emergency Alert System notices were making it to air, but the senior Catharses assure me that they even come across the webstream. I need not have pointed the mic at our EAS receiver, but it seemed too perfect a moment, so that is preserved here.
Speaking of the internets, I am mad at them, for they have lied to me. It wasn't reallly George Clinton's birthday, so I used up "Maggot Brain" for nothing. It was a decent closer, and now I'll have to think of a new one for the actual birthday. I hate having to use my mind.
BOMBAST playlist, 2014 June 17, 2100-2300:
- "Thousand Hands" | Killing Sound | Killing Sound | Blackest Ever Black | "Physical Evidence"
- "WhiteNoiseDance - Remix" | I Fucking Love You | not on album | Soundcloud self-release
- "Les Histoires" | Abstraxion | Break of Lights | Hakt
- "A Message From Our Sponsor" | Jello Biafra | No More Cocoons | Alternative Tentacles
- "III.I" | Papir | III + IIII | El Paraiso
- "Bubblers" | Footsie | King Original, Vol. 3 | Braindead
- "Eight Methods" | Killing Sound | Killing Sound | Blackest Ever Black | "Physical Evidence"
- "The Tempest (feat. Adda Kaleh)" | Throwing Snow | Pathfinder | Houndstooth
- "Mr. Landlord (feat. Stevie) - Discomix" | The Breadwinners | As Far As I Can See (Disco Special) | Horus
- "Hey Joni" | Sonic Youth | Daydream Nation | Goofin'
- "Six Harmonies" | Killing Sound | Killing Sound | Blackest Ever Black | "Physical Evidence"
- "Prepare To Live" | Section 25 | From the Hip | Factory Benelux
- "Light" | Raz Ohara | Moksha | Album Label
- "Come Into My Sleep" | Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | B-Sides & Rarities | Mute | "Listening Parlour"
- "Yaak" | Moebius, Story & Leidecker | Snowghost Pieces | Bureau B
- "Water Boxing" | Killing Sound | Killing Sound | Blackest Ever Black | "Physical Evidence"
- "Bugs In Amber" | Officer! | Dead Unique | Blackest Ever Black
- "Maggot Brain" | Funkadelic | Greatest Hits 1976-1981 | Charly
Thursday Jun 26, 2014
Not As Erotic As You Might Think: Episode 130, 2014 June 10
Thursday Jun 26, 2014
Thursday Jun 26, 2014
I offer you a "regular" episode, for your listening pleasure. This was the first edition of our [now] Tuesday night program. And what a debut--the Nightingales, our providers of Physical Evidence for the evening, were rocking in full force on their new LP "FOR FUCK'S SAKE."
I'm up for a rant. Are you? How about if I go ahead anyway? First, whatever happened to the Royal Mail? Used to take 5 days to get a package to the United States. English Bombasticons: is this Cameron's fault? Why has your postal service gone to hell overnight?
Second: what is it about Radio that turns otherwise functional adults into emotwats? I swear to god you can't make a simple request of some people without them saying, "I know you've asked me to do this thing in this particular way, but what if I did it in this lame, asinine way that would never work but suits me better, because I'm that fucking precious?" I almost quit this week. But you won't get rid of me that easily, emotwats.
BOMBAST playlist, 2014 June 10, 2100-2300:
- "No Aloha (live)" | The Breeders | Live In Stockholm | Breeders Digest
- "Toasted On Both" | The Nightingales | For Fuck's Sake | self-released
- "Thoughtforms" | Lush | Scar | 4AD
- "Merry Go Round (Axel Boman Mix)" | Vincenzo & Language | Merry Go Round | Dessous
- "Warhead - BBC Version" | Section 25 | From The Hip | Factory Benelux
- "Untitled 1" | Silo | Work | Novennial Paralysis
- "Good Morning Midnight" | The Nightingales | For Fuck's Sake | self-released
- "Trommer Og Bass" | Andre Bratten | Correspondant Compilation 02 | Correspondant
- "The Gruesome Threesome" | The Nightingales | For Fuck's Sake | self-released
- "Textes" | Mr Oizo | Wrong Cops (Best Of) | Ed Banger
- "Hi Fashion" | Vtgnike | Dubna | Other People
- "Eastman Oyster" | Jakob Skott | Amor Fati | El Paraiso
- "Hey Joe" | The Golden Cups | Big Lizard Stomp - Teen Trash from Psychedelic Tokyo 1966-1969 | Bamboo
- "Dumb and Drummer" | The Nightingales | For Fuck's Sake | self-released
- "Money Money (Horace Andy vs. Robo Bass Hifi)" | Horace Andy | 16 Bit Skanks | Select Cuts
- "Disco Maghreb (Alter Echo Version)" | El Mahdy Jr | Rai Dubs | Boomarm Nation
- "From Here We Go Sublime" | The Field | From Here We Go Sublime | Kompakt
- "The Dam - The Field Remix" | The Dead Heat | Bosco | Life and Death
- "Same Old" | The Nightingales | For Fuck's Sake | self-released
- "Jennifer's Veil" | Birthday Party, The | Mutiny / The Bad Seed | Drastic Plastic
- "Threshing Ground - Alpha Steppa Remix" | J-Path | Threshing Ground | Trigram
- "The Grumbler" | Valina | Container | Trost
- "Walter White - Truth Remix" | Seven | Live from the Future | Uprise
- "Contempt" | The Nightingales | For Fuck's Sake | self-released
- "Konduktor" | Steve Parker | Sugar High EP | Ovum
Monday Jun 23, 2014
Thirteen Popes Named "Innocent": Transmission 129, 2014 June 6
Monday Jun 23, 2014
Monday Jun 23, 2014
This was a fill-in program that happened for reasons I no longer remember. That's a bit scary, given that it was only two weeks ago. But anyway, it happened shortly after the big Ivo Watts-Russell "Hall of Legends" special. It only seems like I've been on vacation since then.
Anyway, it's a nice return to the "usual" stuff--audio dropouts, ill-conceived segues, an improvised gumbo of disparate musics, and my fumbling ignorance. Who knew there were so many "Innocent" popes? Clearly not me. Anyway, the one in question had something to do with the English Civil War and opposition to Cromwell, which I guess is worth something.
This program also introduces the (now) local artist I Fucking Love You, who will appear on a couple of subsequent programs. That is also worth something.
BOMBAST playlist, 2014 June 6, 2100-2300:
- "Take Mine" | Colo | UR | KI
- "Innocent X" | Therapy? | Volume 3 | Volume | "Physical Evidence"
- "Tabla Piece" | Dif Juz | Who Says So? | Red Flame
- "Peppermint Twist - 2eme Partie" | Vince Taylor et ses Play-Boys | Beat From Badsville, Vol. 3 | Stag-O-Lee
- "Better Days" | Fenster | The Pink Caves | Morr
- "The Days Before Yesterday" | Deru | Trying To Remember | Merck
- "Welcome to the Jesus Timeshare Experience" | Psychotropic Vibration | Volume 3 | Volume | "Physical Evidence"
- "O (feat. Jonas Bjerre)" | Silo | Work | Novennial Paralysis
- "Just Talk" | AC Marias | One Of Our Girls (Has Gone Missing) | Mute
- "Lucifer Rising" | Farben & James DIN A4 | Farben Presents James DIN A4 | Faitiche
- "Exits" | Loops Haunt | Exits | Black Acre
- "Synthemesc" | Jakob Skott | Amor Fati | El Paraiso
- "But Not Them" | The Creatures | Voices On The Air | Polydor
- "Motorbike" | Sheep on Drugs | Volume 3 | Volume | "Physical Evidence"
- "Opium Days" | Valina | Container | Trost
- "Sisterfy" | Sweet Jesus | Volume 3 | Volume | "Physical Evidence"
- "Winter" | Haunted By Hallucinations | Haunted By Hallucinations | Herakles
- "The Soul of the Hour" | Gallon Drunk | The Soul of The Hour | Clouds Hill
- "Inbetween Doors" | The Coombe | The Coombe | Mannequin
- "Wall Street Version" | Lee "Scratch" Perry | Back On The Controls | Rolling Lion - Upsetter
- "Fuck Yeah (remix)" | I Fucking Love You | not on album | Soundcloud self-release
- "I Feel Insane" | Daisy Chainsaw | Volume 3 | Volume | "Physical Evidence"
- "Your Weak Fire" | Boozoo Bajou | 4 | Apollo
- "Underneath the Bunker" | R.E.M. | Lifes Rich Pageant | I.R.S.
- "Reprise" | Khan | The Enlightenment Machine | Album Label
Monday Jun 23, 2014
Full Interview: Ivo Watts-Russell of This Mortal Coil and The Hope Blister
Monday Jun 23, 2014
Monday Jun 23, 2014
This is the recording of an interview I conducted with Ivo Watts-Russell on May 26, 2014. I was at chez Catharsis in Ithaca, NY, and Ivo was, I presume, at his place in New Mexico. This was a Skype-to-phone conversation.
Small pieces of this very generous interview aired on the Hall of Legends special
featuring music from This Mortal Coil and The Hope Blister.
I've said it elsewhere, but Ivo has been very gracious and friendly, and this was one of those "one thing leading to another" experiences that came together really easily. An honor and a pleasure!
Indulge me for a minute and imagine this hypothetical situation. You love music and records, but you're not a musician. You're not a singer. You're not a songwriter. You're not trained as an engineer. You know some people who do each of these things, but you don't do them yourself. But you really want to make a record of your own, and you even have some concrete ideas about what to put on it. Incidentally, you are having these ideas before the advent of laptop recording, filesharing, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, and all that. So in order to make this record you're dreaming of you'll have to use a real studio and it will have to be released in a physical medium. There's also no Kickstarter to fund this. Under what circumstances could this record become reality?
"You'd probably have to own a record label." Right? And yet I don't think either of us really wanted to talk about this little detail. I certainly didn't. I've read about it quite a bit, and I didn't want to produce yet another 4AD interview. I owe a great deal to Martin Aston and Jeff Keibel, who've already asked a boatload of those questions, and whose interviews gave me a long list of answers I didn't need to seek. What I did do was try, absurdly perhaps, to talk to Ivo as though he had "merely" made some great records of his own. They are, of course, why he's in the Hall of Legends.
Technical notes: If you follow this program at all, which would flatter and bewilder me, you probably know that recording an interview is always an adventure for me. This time, I managed to capture the whole thing, on the first try, thank goodness, but not without glitches. Audacity, which was capturing Ivo's voice "solo," worked fine. For the first 49 mins or so of this audio file, that's what you're hearing when Ivo is talking, without having to listen to me say "mmm hmm," or "yeah," or anything similarly useful. However, my voice was recorded using Amolto Call Recorder (I had both programs running at once as a precaution), which was also recording Ivo, but that app pulled our respective tracks out of sync, which occasionally made it sound like I was stepping on the end of Ivo's answers and cutting him off. I'm really not that rude of a person. I swear it's the software's fault. I've tried to make the best of it with the editing, but I am amateur and proud. The second half of the interview--from about 49mins onward--is much smoother sailing. At least I hope you think so. If you're disappointed I offer you a full refund.
Thursday Jun 05, 2014
The Hall of Legends - Ivo Watts-Russell: Transmission 128, 2014 June 4
Thursday Jun 05, 2014
Thursday Jun 05, 2014
We herewith induct Ivo Watts-Russell into the BOMBAST Hall of Legends, where he joins The Wolfgang Press, The Dub Syndicate, A.R.Kane, Little Annie, Dif Juz, Prince Far I, Coil [part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4], Billy Childish, Stereolab [charter members], and The Fall [charter members].
Some of you, no doubt, are visiting for the first time,
having been lured here by the Ivo interview. A special welcome to you. Poke around as much as you like. The hyperlink above will take you to a loose description
of the Hall of Legends, and this page
describes the "idea" of the show, such as it is. The prose you find
everywhere on the site is mostly for my own entertainment, since this is
my outlet; if you enjoy it, that's a nice bonus. Audio's at
the bottom of the post if this is all TMI.
"I heard This Mortal Coil's music," I wrote to tonight's inductee, "before I knew what 4AD was, and I continue to treasure it long after I stopped caring what 4AD is." And I concede that it's weird to approach a Legend by listing things one doesn't want to discuss, but that's the way this went. Labelthink, when I was young, was a convenient shortcut to loads of interesting music, but it is a bad habit which I am striving to break. At the end of the day, it's about records, bands, and people. And records, bands, and people are awesome. A discussion of that other thing can be had at other places.
With this induction I struggle to recall silly anecdotes and things like that. There are no flashpoints of relevance; this music has just been with me for the better part of three decades. I guess I remember this time, it would have been in the period around Filigree & Shadow, in which my extended family made fun of me for liking a band with the name "This Mortal Coil." And hearing the word "pretentious" being tossed around quite a bit. But who cares? [And what did anyone think this music was pretending to be?]
The "three decades" thing: nostalgia, do you suppose? Tell me what year this music sounds like. Pre-emptively, I'll disagree. Because I just don't know. This is part of its greatness.
The music speaks for itself, and the subject speaks for himself. "I have no words," as the saying goes. Well, that's obviously false. I have a few. As always I'm amazed that anyone wants to talk to me. And, as I've told the next Hall inductees [yes, there will be a next, after a relaxing run of "normal" shows], these things wreck my nerves! Nothing to do with other people, especially Ivo, who is every bit the "angel" that Kristin Hersh describes in her book.
BOMBAST playlist, 2014 June 4, 2100-2300:
- "Song To The Siren" | This Mortal Coil | It'll End In Tears | 4AD
- "Filigree & Shadow" / "Firebrothers" / "Thais (I)" / "I Must Have Been Blind" / "A Heart Of Glass" | This Mortal Coil | Filigree & Shadow | 4AD
- "Fyt" / "Fond Affections" / "The Last Ray" | This Mortal Coil | It'll End In Tears | 4AD
- "Come Here My Love" | This Mortal Coil | Come Here My Love 10" | 4AD
- "Drugs" | This Mortal Coil | Come Here My Love 10" | 4AD
- "Ivy And Neet" / "Meniscus" / "Tears" / "Tarantula" | This Mortal Coil | Filigree & Shadow | 4AD
- "Acid, Bitter and Sad" | This Mortal Coil | Lonely Is An Eyesore | 4AD
- "Late Night" / "Ruddy and Wretched" / "Help Me Lift You Up" / "Carolyn's Song" / "D.D. and E." | This Mortal Coil | Blood | 4AD
- "Is Jesus Your Pal?" | The Hope Blister | ...smile's ok | 4AD
- "Dagger" | The Hope Blister | ...smile's ok | 4AD
- "It'll End In Tears" | This Mortal Coil | Kangaroo 7" | 4AD