Episodes
Wednesday Jan 07, 2015
The Hall of Legends - Heidi Berry: Transmission 179, 2015 January 6
Wednesday Jan 07, 2015
Wednesday Jan 07, 2015
We herewith induct Heidi Berry into the BOMBAST Hall of Legends, where she joins The Durutti Column, John Peel, Breathless, This Mortal Coil, 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].
Welcome to all, but first-time visitors especially. I hope you stick around and listen to a "regular" program or two sometime, whether live or at your convenience. This website is not just an archive of the program, but a blog / diary / collection of unpublishable prose / whatever. It's free to you, so I make no apologies for what's here! You want audio only? Just page-down until you find the link.
"I don't like singer-songwriters," I once told my boss at the record store. We were arguing the merits of...oh, probably better if I don't say. "Ah, this must have been before Heidi Berry," you are thinking. No--it's still true, I don't like singer-songwriters. (Regular listeners will have gleaned this.) But I do like Heidi Berry's music, and always have. That it hasn't turned me on to Nick Drake, or Sandy Denny, or Tim Hardin, or Bridget St. John, or whoever, could well say something about my shortcomings as a person. Or maybe, instead, it says something about the Heidi Berry records, and what complete experiences they are.
In the Lost Girls liner notes, Patrick Fitzgerald describes Heidi's voice as "stately...demanding to be heard." And it did make this demand of me, under circumstances that now seem completely accidental.
We've been over the issue of compilations. I love them, but not everyone does. Why I bought Doing It For The Kids, exactly, I don't know. It must have had something to do with liking Felt, and how difficult it was to find Creation records 6000 miles from London, and how dirt-cheap this record was. [Aside--if you think I never wrote to Alan McGee about how expensive Creation records were, much less wrapped that note around a demo tape to which he never responded, YOU DON'T KNOW ME AT ALL.] Anyway, I remember getting hold of it sometime around its release, listening to it once, not having it make an impression on my addled, distracted consciousness.
For whatever reason I was drawn back to it sometime later, no doubt during some adolescent crisis or other. I found myself listening to it really late at night, and quietly, so as not to wake my roommates. Somehow, amidst all the "boy rock bands," it was that song that stood out: "Northshore Train," with that voice, insistent. "who is THIS?" I more or less told myself it didn't matter, because I'd never see one of her records. Oh, well; at least I'd have this tune, which was much better than nothing.
The thing about working at record stores, though--sooner or later everything comes through. In comes a seller, looking to unload Below the Waves and Firefly: yoink! "Wonder what she's up to now," I thought, with a few more Creation comps (there certainly were a lot of them) in my collection, and no sign. This must have been 1991--news travelled so slowly pre-internet. Then, a few months later, 4AD and Warners trumpet their ill-fated marriage with yet another compilation--the Lilliput cd/book/t-shirt combo [you know I still have the shirt], with--what?--WHAT--on it? A Heidi Berry song? But what's she doing here? And how did my store and my radio station miss her latest album, which was almost a year old at this point? [I'm telling you, life was rough.] Anyway, my point, to the extent that there is one, is about accidents, and music falling into one's hands against all probability.
I've learned, often the hard way, that nothing is meant to happen. There is only what actually happens. Happily this music crossed my path (those comps are good for something), and now it's crossing yours, if it hasn't done so already.
But here's another thing I said once: "I have to listen to Heidi Berry records all day." I said this just the other day, to Lady Catharsis, as I was finalizing the tracklist you see below. Listen: you'd do well to hear a record with Heidi Berry on it every day [I AM A DOCTOR AND I PRESCRIBE THIS], just like you'd probably enjoy a decadent dessert every day. All day, though? "I wish I could be more direct sometimes," Heidi tells me in the interview, but personally I couldn't take much more directness than what I think is already on display in these records. Noise, beats, bleep-bloop, textural studies, distancing? This I can listen to all day. There's plenty of it archived on this site--knock yourself out! It's perfectly cool, I have much fun with it, but TBH it doesn't always demand to be heard. Is that a new criterion for Legend status? What do we call it--intensity? I'll have to think on it.
Anyway, thank-you to Heidi for her music and time. And to you, for your indulgence.
BOMBAST playlist, 2015 January 6, 2100-2300:
- "Needle's Eye" | Lost Girls | Lost Girls | 3 Loop
- "Scheherezade" | Heidi Berry | not on album | Soundcloud self-release
- "Gather All the Hours" | Heidi Berry | Below the Waves and Firefly | Rockville | "Physical Evidence"
- "For the Rose" / "Follow" / "Ariel" / "Dawn" | Heidi Berry | Heidi Berry | 4AD
- "Abduction" | Lost Girls | Lost Girls | 3 Loop
- "Up In The Air" | Heidi Berry | Love | 4AD
- "Nobody Tells on You" | Heidi Berry | Below the Waves and Firefly | Rockville | "Physical Evidence"
- "Unholy Light" | Heidi Berry | The Moon and the Sun | 4AD
- "Firefly" | Heidi Berry | Below the Waves and Firefly | Rockville | "Physical Evidence"
- "Houses Made of Wood" | Heidi Berry | Below the Waves and Firefly | Rockville | "Physical Evidence"
- "Below the Waves" | Heidi Berry | Below the Waves and Firefly | Rockville | "Physical Evidence"
- "Forgiven" | Lost Girls | Lost Girls | 3 Loop
- "Folk Fuck" | Lost Girls | Lost Girls | 3 Loop
- "All Fall Away" | Lost Girls | Lost Girls | 3 Loop
- "You Upset the Grace of Living When You Lie" | Heidi Berry | The Moon and the Sun | 4AD
- "Japanese" | Lost Girls | Lost Girls | 3 Loop
- "The Mountain" | Heidi Berry | Miracle | 4AD
- "All For You" | Heidi Berry | Below the Waves and Firefly | Rockville | "Physical Evidence"
Monday Jan 05, 2015
Dandies in the Soundtrack: Transmission 178, 2015 January 1
Monday Jan 05, 2015
Monday Jan 05, 2015
Here I am, I always am. This first show of 2015 was always going to be more of a hodge-podge than usual, seeing as I had little time, for some reason, to put it together, and frankly, I'm a little tired! But when you play 34-minute tracks [award yourself a croix de Bombast, by the way] that leaves you fewer segues to flub, not that I didn't make a heroic effort. This new tic I have developed, starting the first song half-way through, is a nice personal touch. I'm always chasing the next thing.
Aside from the "exclusives" / "forthcomings" from the Factory Benelux disc, most of these songs were things I'd sat on for a long time, unable to find "proper" contexts for them. Especially Snuff Crew (I do picture them as these two Restoration dudes in justaucorps, sipping hot chocolate and comparing snuff boxes--what, do you think the band name refers to something else?). It's been a while since I've done a proper "overflow" program, and probably will be a while again, so I hope you enjoy this one.
Still, it's about time for a really good program, don't you think?
BOMBAST playlist, 2015 January 1, 2100-2300:
- "Gimmie Gimmie" | The Dub Club | Foundation Come Again | Stones Throw
- "The Hunter (Stephen Morris Mix)" | Marnie | Sampler (et Sans Reproche) | Factory Benelux | "Physical Evidence"
- "Karadeniz" | Karl Hector & The Malcouns | Unstraight Ahead | Now-Again
- "Peel B" | VD [Votive Deposite] | Dedication Tone | Locative
- "Walk Don't Run" | Los Straitjackets | Deke Dickerson Sings The Great Instrumental Hits | Yep Rock
- "Want Fi Goh Rave" | Linton Kwesi Johnson | Di Eagle An Di Bear | Righteous Reggae
- "Mange" | Brian Harris | Behind the Mask | Soundcloud self-release
- "You Don't Know" | Mode | Play the Game | Codek
- "Microgroove" | Section 25 | Sampler (et Sans Reproche) | Factory Benelux | "Physical Evidence"
- "Zeppelin Race" | Moonpunk | not on album | Bandcamp self-release
- "Prejoy - Barbaric Splendour Version" | The Asphodells | Correspondant Compilation 02 | Correspondant
- "Midwatch 1953" | The Fall | The Unutterable | Let Them Eat Vinyl
- "What Did Your Last Servant Die Of?" | The Wedding Present | George Best [reissue] | Edsel
- "Lights" | Snuff Crew | Behind the Masks | BPitch Control
- "Atomium Sunrise" | Blaine Reininger | Sampler (et Sans Reproche) | Factory Benelux | "Physical Evidence"
- "Bring The Sun / Toussaint L'Ouverture" | Swans | To Be Kind | Young God
- "Wobby Bomack" | The Invisible Girls | Sampler (et Sans Reproche) | Factory Benelux | "Physical Evidence"
Sunday Jan 04, 2015
Pipeline to Your Heart: Transmission 177, 2014 December 30
Sunday Jan 04, 2015
Sunday Jan 04, 2015
Another day, another shift. WE DOIN WORK, SON. Here is the final Bombast of 2014 and we go out with a...what, exactly? The(e) Milkshakes were a great band, and my favorite of the Billy Childish projects, and I played A LOT of them on this night, you guys. Hmm. I did discover one thing, and that is that segueing out of a Milkshakes tune is much easier than segueing into one. What "significance" that has I have no idea.
It is refreshing, though, that, judgment aside, this is a largely error-free program. I am relieved to see that I am still capable from time to time. My competence is like the tide. It comes in; it goes out. YOU CAN'T EXPLAIN THAT.
BOMBAST playlist, 2014 December 30, 2100-2300:
- "Kennedy" | The Wedding Present | Bizarro | Edsel
- "Pipeline" | The Milkshakes | The Milkshakes' Revenge! | Hand of Glory | "Physical Evidence"
- "Suratkorps (Prins Thomas Handjagerversjon)" | Tarjei Nygard | Suratkorps | Full Pupp
- "Geezer" | Ultramarine | Every Man And Woman Is A Star | Rough Trade
- "Tupelo" | Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | The Firstborn Is Dead [reissue] | Mute
- "Muzzled" | Maoupa Mazzocchetti | A-Tranquility | Unknown Precept
- "Little Girl (Mumble the Peg)" | The Milkshakes | The Milkshakes' Revenge! | Hand of Glory | "Physical Evidence"
- "Fuck You GI" / "Fire" | 23 Skidoo | Urban Gamelan | Illuminated
- "She Tells Me She Loves Me" | The Milkshakes | The Milkshakes' Revenge! | Hand of Glory | "Physical Evidence"
- "Asha" | Luke Benjamin | Keysound Recordings Presents...Certified Connections | Keysound
- "What A Shame" | Tin Man | ODE | Acid Test
- "Baby What's Wrong" | The Milkshakes | The Milkshakes' Revenge! | Hand of Glory | "Physical Evidence"
- "Snowbeam" | VD [Votive Deposite] | Dedication Tone | Locative
- "Let Me Love You" | The Milkshakes | The Milkshakes' Revenge! | Hand of Glory | "Physical Evidence"
- "Key My Brain" | Mouse On Mars & Atom TM | 21 Again Collaborations, Pt. 3 | Monkeytown
- "Boys" | The Milkshakes | The Milkshakes' Revenge! | Hand of Glory | "Physical Evidence"
- "Knock Yourself Out" | Eric Random | Sampler (et Sans Reproche) | Factory Benelux
- "Graveyard Words" | The Milkshakes | The Milkshakes' Revenge! | Hand of Glory | "Physical Evidence"
- "Midnight Manor" | Haunted By Hallucinations | Haunted By Hallucinations | Herakles
- "Ethereal" | Torus | Temples | Rwina
- "The One I Get" | The Milkshakes | The Milkshakes' Revenge! | Hand of Glory | "Physical Evidence"
- "Pipeline" | Los Straitjackets | Deke Dickerson Sings The Great Instrumental Hits | Yep Rock
- "Little Girl Be Good" | The Milkshakes | The Milkshakes' Revenge! | Hand of Glory | "Physical Evidence"
- "K's Editspot pt. 4" | Skipson | Skiption EP | Deep Vibes
- "I Want You" | The Milkshakes | The Milkshakes' Revenge! | Hand of Glory | "Physical Evidence"
- "Crystal" | A Certain Ratio | Sextet | Factory Benelux
- "2014.02.16" | Causa Sui | 2014.02.16 / 2012.07.04 | El Paraiso
Saturday Jan 03, 2015
Saturday Jan 03, 2015
NO SLEEP TILL BROOKLYN. Here we are, posting on the weekend. It's still the season of giving, so here, have another program. Let's call this one the fruitcake of the bunch. There are some kernels of truth behind my amateur numerology and superstition. I'm not crazy about numbers that end in zero, so naturally when I wind up playing 30 tracks something will go wrong, and it does.
How about we start at the beginning, where I botch the intro to the Colo song? Somewhere in the middle I let my Ian Dury record play a bit too long, screwing up what was ACTUALLY a very good segue into Pink Industry (a shame, because "Don't Let Go" is a chestnut among chestnuts). Then of course something goes wrong at the end of the program; I had meant to play the Ramones earlier--god knows how I was to transition into or out of that tune--but had skipped over them somehow. Programs like this are a sign that I am happy--we had enjoyed a lovely Annual Gifting Day--if only I could be conscious of it in real time and not just in retrospect!
BOMBAST playlist, 2014 December 26, 1900-2100:
- "Ghana" | Colo | Multi Culti Japan | Multi Culti
- "You're Gonna Die" | Destroy All Monsters | Hot Box 1974-1994 | Munster
- "Winter" | TV On The Radio | Seeds | Harvest
- "Pitch Business" | Herva | Instant Broadcast | Delsin
- "Never Get Burn" | The Twinkle Brothers | Beyond the Frontline | Front Line - Virgin
- "Working Isn't Working" | The Primitives | Spin-O-Rama | Elefant
- "Unfaithful (BBC Radio 1 John Peel Session - 24 May 1988)" | The Wedding Present | Bizarro | Edsel
- "Genuine Creeper" | Oozing Wound | Earth Suck | Thrill Jockey
- "F4" | Function | Synewave Reissues Part I: 1995-97 | Infrastructure New York
- "Lift Off" | Nagamatzu | Neural Interval | Zoharum
- "Run Run Riddim" | Mungo's Hi Fi | Boom | Scotch Bonnet
- "Clevor Trever" | Ian Dury | New Boots and Panties!! | Stiff
- "Don't Let Go" | Pink Industry | Don't Let Go | Cathexis
- "Shift F1 (Inland Edit)" | Function | Synewave Reissues Part I: 1995-97 | Infrastructure New York
- "Schleifling" | Springintgut & F.S. Blumm | The Bird and White Noise | Pingipung
- "This Train" | Girls At Our Best! | Pleasure | Optic Nerve
- "The Monk" | Joris Voorn | Nobody Knows | Green
- "Ramphodon Stellarum" | Moonpunk | not on album | Bandcamp self-release
- "F3" | Function | Synewave Reissues Part I: 1995-97 | Infrastructure New York
- "Soup Dumplings" | Ulli Bomans | Werkschau03 | Shitkatapult
- "Those Words I Spoke" | (ghost) | A Vast And Decaying Appearance | n5MD
- "Randomizzami Sto (Prins Thomas Diskomiks)" | Margot | Prins Thomas Diskomiks Selection | Internasjonal
- "Each One Dub" | Augustus Pablo | King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown | Shanachie
- "Homology Myself" | Tarwater | Adrift | Bureau B
- ".44 Pistol" | R.L. Burnside | Too Bad Jim | Fat Possum
- "Abracadubra" | Sir Horatio | Sextet | Factory Benelux
- "Strawberries Are Growing In My Garden (And It's Wintertime)" | The Dentists | Strawberries Are Growing In My Garden (And It's Wintertime) | Trouble In Mind
- "Boxing Day" | AFX | Chosen Lords | Rephlex
- "And Suddenly" | BNJMN | Coil | Delsin
- "Loudmouth" | Ramones | Morrissey Curates the Ramones | Rhino
Friday Jan 02, 2015
The Hall of Vengeance: Transmission 175, 2014 December 23
Friday Jan 02, 2015
Friday Jan 02, 2015
Hey-o, it's been a while, hope that everyone has had a nice holiday. BACK TO WERK TIME. 2015 is not for the sluggards. And all that. This was a program that happened on Festivus, but was (of course) not so themed. It's a good but rough iteration of the usual trail mix, made slightly better by the introduction of a new, limited (but probably recurring around this time each year, if there are more years) feature called THE HALL OF VENGEANCE.
I'll say right now that I have no fks to give about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but as with Fox News or your crazy relative's facebook page, it is occasionally useful to check in on what the crazy people are up to. I don't want to give away future installments in the HoV feature, so I'll take a roundabout path and tell an unrelated story, because that's what I am good at do.
When I was in college, in the middle of nowhere, I worked for a while at this library, once more in the middle of nowhere, even relative to the rest of the school. I re-shelved books that patrons had either returned or left sitting around in the stacks. The sorting area was on the basement level, and there were almost never any patrons around. You could hold a conversation without getting shushed. So when there were two or more people sorting, we would talk.
One of my co-workers was named Melanie. Or was it Melissa? Or Melinda? I've blocked it out--thank goodness for small mercies. Anyway, I recall her being a bit of a dim bulb, not that I am one to talk, but if I regard her this way...anyway. You know those people with whom you have absolutely nothing in common? She is one of those. I think we tried and tried to find things to discuss. Once we were talking about home interiors (do you see how hard we tried?) and she professed her love for wood paneling. Wood paneling. She loved it. I knew then that silence would be the best thing, going forward. Different worlds altogether.
Anyway, it wouldn't surprise me if Melba, whatever her current circumstances, is really, really into Green Day and the solo records of Ringo Starr. Let's put it that way.
Did you know--Lady Catharsis, a completely sensible person, worked at the same library? But that is pre-history, to say the least! At any rate she has closed the "Listening Parlour" for a while and opened a bigger, darker place, a place of imaginary justice, if you will.
So there is that. And there is also Kyle Reinhardt Deise, who, upon googling himself and finding this page, should get in touch with me BUT QUICK. There is that too.
BOMBAST playlist, 2014 December 23, 2100-2300:
- "Judy Is A Punk" | The Ramones | Morrissey Curates the Ramones | Rhino
- "Not the Man for You" | KC White | Not the Man for You | Soul Proff
- "My Baby" | The Girls | Girls With Guitars | Ace | "Physical Evidence"
- "Beyond (feat. Omar) [Marcel Lune Dub]" | EVM128 | Beyond (Revisited) | Studio Rockers
- "The Holiday Song" | Pixies | Come On Pilgrim | 4AD - Rough Trade
- "Eho" | Malfinia Ensemblo | Varsovia | Kvitnu
- "Bo Diddley Is A Lover" | The Liverbirds | Girls With Guitars | Ace | "Physical Evidence"
- "Human Parcel" | Dro Carey | Scope EP | Templar
- "Pocket Calculator" | Kraftwerk | Computer World | Toshiba EMI | "Hall of Vengeance"
- "Shake A Tail Feather" | The Debutantes | Girls With Guitars | Ace | "Physical Evidence"
- "Fury" | Los Straitjackets | Deke Dickerson Sings The Great Instrumental Hits | Yep Rock
- "All Of The Time" | The Shop Assistants | Will Anything Happen | Blue Guitar
- "Le Tombeau D'Edgar Poe" | Casino Shanghai | L'Action Minimal | Mannequin
- "Please, Please" | Goldie & The Gingerbreads | Girls With Guitars | Ace | "Physical Evidence"
- "Xmas 2014" | Section 25 | not on album | self-released
- "You Little Shits" | Stereolab | Peng! | Too Pure
- "Lightning Flash Weak Heart Drop" | Big Youth | Beyond the Frontline | Front Line - Virgin
- "Frosty the (Dylanesque) Snowman" | The Tea Jennies | Christmas Crackers | self-released
- "Pattern Five" | The Analog Roland Orchestra | Patterns 5 6 | Rotary Cocktail
- "Diatribe" | Acolytes | Acolytes | Alter
- "XMAS_EVET10 [Thanaton3 Mix]" | Aphex Twin | Syro | WARP
- "Without Words (intro)" | 2+2=5 | Into the Future | Mannequin
- "Transformation (Pt. 2)" / "Telepathic Routine" / "The Dance" / "Trust the Cosmos (Believe in the Universe)" / "Infinite List (Toss the Dice)" / "Epilogue" | The Heliocentrics & Melvin Van Peebles | The Last Transmission | Now-Again
- "Revellion" | The Sentinals | Big Surf! | Rumble
- "A Ladies' Man" | Colette & The Bandits | Girls With Guitars | Ace | "Physical Evidence"
- "Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)" | Talking Heads | Remain In Light | Sire
- "I'm Gonna Destroy That Boy" | The What Four | Girls With Guitars | Ace | "Physical Evidence"
- "Joe #1" | Fugazi | First Demo | Dischord