radiobombast

This Is Why First Impressions Are Often Correct: Transmission 450, 2019 February 20

Every day feels like a rollercoaster, but some are more rollercoasterish than others. I woke up last Wednesday to the news that Mermaids got their money after all, and it was encouraging to see Graham Linehan accurately described somewhere, for once. The day also brought the return of Bernie Sanders, which I should probably see as good even though it guarantees that we will be our worst selves for the next 21 months and probably beyond. In darker news, this day witnessed another plot twist in the totally disorienting Jussie Smollett saga, giving hate crime apologists everywhere ammunition to say that such things don't really happen, and making us choose between believing someone who might be an attention-seeking fraud or believing the Chicago Police Department. Oh, and there was a reminder that apparently our military breeds and harbors white nationalists, an underreported story that doesn't seem likely to end well. So--much to heal from on this night! Fortunately I am a doctor (sigh, ok I am not that kind of doctor).

Oh, I forgot one last thing--the director of the next Ghostbusters film said he was turning the franchise back over to "the fans," which made me think--what would happen if I did that with BOMBAST? It couldn't hurt--I'd like to think my listeners have better taste than anyone who gets worked up over Ghostbusters, and it's difficult to imagine people with worse technique than myself. Good grief--what was happening with those Amps and Waves of Dread segues? "Julie," which I played as a nice gesture for a Twitter friend, was a decent song but didn't fit well where I put it. I made the Orbital and Michael Head segues lag. APOLOGIES ALL AROUND. Finally, the NYZ tune was not as I recalled it, but in my defense, it was the one thing I liked on their otherwise impenetrable record. If there's one moment in this program that's "the dream" of the show, it's The Wedding Present fading into Baloji. I can't recommend it enough. Elsewhere, good tunes individually but dizzying incoherence overall. Art mirroring life!

BOMBAST playlist, 2019 February 20, 2100-2300:

1. "Meteor Shower" | Marc Romboy & Petar Dundov | Dimension D | Systematic
2. "Exodus" | Osynlige Mann | Airports / Exodus | Hoga Nord
3. "You Are Nowhere" | Rainbow Grave | Sex Threat | God Unknown
4. "Abhara" | Sonnenstadt | We've Been Hiding Too Long | Unforced
5. "Fu Manchu Dub" | Jah Division | Dub Will Tear Us Apart...Again | Ernest Jenning Record Co.
6. "Echoes" | Echolog | Longest Summer | Greta Cottage Woodpile
7. "Mom's Drunk" | The Amps | Pacer | 4AD
8. "The Mercy Seat" | Waves of Dread | Death is not the end... A Tribute to Nick Cave | The Blog That Celebrates Itself
9. "Beer Bottle Mama" | Andy Reynolds & His 101 Ranch Boys | Hillbilly Boogie! | Columbia - Legacy | "The Listening Parlour"
10. "Julie (feat. Julie Schulte)" | The Black Watch | Julie | Bandcamp self-release
11. "What Did Your Last Servant Die Of?" | The Wedding Present | George Best 30 | Scopitones
12. "Ciel d'encre" | Baloji | 137 Avenue Kaniama | Bella Union
13. "Queen Of All Saints" | Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band | Adios Señor Pussycat | Violette
14. "A Winter In Los Angeles" | Massimiliano Pagliara | Feel Live | Live at Robert Johnson
15. "Search Engine Translate" | Akito | Gone Again | Tight Knit
16. "Battered at a Scramble" | Mogwai | Every Country's Sun | Rock Action
17. "Channel the Spirits" | The Comet Is Coming | Channel The Spirits | Leaf
18. "Seen and Not Seen" | Talking Heads | Remain in Light [reissue] | Sire
19. "Jus Right" | Saine | Act Natural | Delusions of Grandeur
20. "Theme for the Lost World" | Maajo | Permanent Vacation 5 | Permanent Vacation
21. "Percussion Concussion" | Hazards of Prophecy | Minnie & Marcos | Tiff's Joints
22. "Harm Joy" | The C.I.A. | The C.I.A. | In The Red
23. "Buried Deep Within" | Orbital | Monsters Exist | ACP
24. "Wobbly" | Will Saul | Arps & Early Starts | Aus
25. "Liberty City" | Mark Stewart & The Maffia | Learning To Cope With Cowardice [reissue] | Mute
26. "Perris - Inevitable Forthcoming Netflix Docudrama Version" | Finlay Shakepeare | Routine | Editions Mego
27. "Who's out on Quaoar?" | Planet Battagon | Battagon Symphony EP | On the Corner
28. "PTSone-r60subtree119c3tta" | NYZ | Shftr Frq | The Death of Rave

That's not what I wanted to hear

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I'll Walk You Through The Heartbreak, Show You All the Outtakes: Transmission 449, 2019 February 13

Welcome to our Peter Hook birthday tribute, and our second New Order / Joy Division dance party in a six-week span. It was a tough ask, using this music to follow "Jamaican Clash," but we did the best we could. The date of this broadcast was Elliott Abrams day, on which we learned that it's apparently rude to ask basic questions about the past--at least, for a black person to do it. So I guess I needed to be careful.

Did this program "ask questions?" Not really. It didn't help that Lady Catharsis couldn't make it to the studio for "the banter that you would expect on an occasion like this"--she has a life outside radio, and I don't. So we didn't get to discuss the weirdness of being a New Order fan before discovering Joy Division, or the "divorce" and New Order's continued trading under that brand name even though Peter Hook, their most distinctive musician, is gone. And we didn't discuss our shared feeling that New Order basically ended for us around the time of "Substance," when things were rumored to be ending anyway. Anyway, the playlist doesn't lie. I'm just relieved I got some basic things correct for once, such as "Procession" being an A-side and "Turn the Heater On" being a Keith Hudson tune. Plus--bringing things back around to Abrams, I suppose--I got away with (playing) "Murder," which Lady Catharsis hates! Mostly, a good time was had--by me, and hopefully by you as well.

BOMBAST playlist, 2019 February 13, 2100-2300:

1. "Disorder" | Joy Division | Still | Factory - Rhino
2. "In a Lonely Place" | New Order | Substance | Qwest
3. "The Him" | New Order | Movement | London - Rhino
4. "Procession" | New Order | 1981-1982 | Factory - Polygram
5. "Age of Consent" | New Order | Power, Corruption & Lies | Factory - Qwest
6. "Murder" | New Order | Substance | Qwest
7. "Sunrise" | New Order | Low-life | Factory - Qwest
8. "Broken Promise" | New Order | Brotherhood | Factory - Qwest
9. "Sub-culture" | New Order | Low-life | Factory - Qwest
10. "Ecstasy" | New Order | Power, Corruption & Lies | Factory - Qwest
11. "Blue Monday" | New Order | Substance | Qwest
12. "Turn The Heater On" | New Order | Peel Sessions | Strange Fruit
13. "Everything's Gone Green" | New Order | 1981-1982 | Factory - Polygram
14. "Dreams Never End" | New Order | Peel Sessions | Strange Fruit
15. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" | Joy Division | Substance | Qwest
16. "Atmosphere" | Joy Division | Substance | Qwest
17. "24 Hours" | Joy Division | The Complete BBC Recordings | True North
18. "Dead Souls" | Joy Division | Substance | Qwest
19. "Exercise One" | Joy Division | The Complete BBC Recordings | True North
20. "A Means to an End" | Joy Division | Closer | Factory - Rhino
21. "Incubation" | Joy Division | Substance | Qwest
22. "Shadowplay" | Joy Division | Unknown Pleasures | Factory - Rhino
23. "Digital" | Joy Division | Substance | Qwest
24. "Mesh" | New Order | 1981-1982 | Factory - Polygram
25. "The Sound of Music" | Joy Division | The Complete BBC Recordings | True North

I did everything, everything I wanted to

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I Gave My Time, Now I Want It Back: Transmission 448, 2019 February 6

Sickness and fever had fallen upon me, and I was probably not well enough to do this program. Looking at the archives, I see that I cancelled a program almost exactly a year ago for the same reason. I guess this is a sign that things are looking up for me, that I am not quite as surrender-prone as I was in the past? Confession: I guess now is as good a time as any to say that I'm driven by the goal of getting to Transmission 500 by the close of 2019, to what end I'm not certain. If I power through every scheduled appearance and take on a few extra shifts I should get there. Again, not sure why I want to bring on the weird feelings that will accompany such an occasion, but the heart wants what it wants.

Anyway, the first hour of this program passed pretty much without incident, which is good. The segue into KYO/Jeuru was a bit quiet and I probably slipped a couple of things past management in the first fifteen minutes or so. Hey! I took a request for the first time in ten months or so, courtesy of our long-missing friend Drummer John, and it was not a disaster! The transition from "Drone" to "Kazaru" was surprisingly nice, and the one between Brim Liski and Dearly Departure earned four exclamation points in my notes!!!! (!!!!) Playing "Wounds" after "Six Six Sixties" (the request) actually made some thematic sense (I'm wishing I liked the Planningtorock record more than I do). A well-executed program, with (again) a lot of vocals--apologies to Lowly for trampling their lovely tune at the end.

What were we recovering from today? Oh, yeah, gubernatorial blackface. In 2019. Fucking hell.

BOMBAST playlist, 2019 February 6, 2100-2300:

1. "Ghost" | CANNIBALE | Not Easy to Cook | Born Bad
2. "Numb" | GO DARK | Neon Young | Bella Union
3. "Candy" | KYO w/ Jeuru | All the Same Dream | Posh Isolation
4. "Walo Walo" | Mark Ernestus' Ndagga Rhythm Force | Yermande | Ndagga
5. "Downstreamed" | Art Alfie | The Bo Allan - EP | Toy Tonics
6. "Pesawat Aeroplane" | Hilang Child | Pesawat Aeroplane | Bella Union
7. "Dripping Trees 2" | Throwing Muses | Purgatory / Paradise | Happy Happy Birthday to Me | "The Listening Parlour"
8. "Disorder Dub" | Jah Division | Dub Will Tear Us Apart...Again | Ernest Jenning Record Co.
9. "Tournelle" | Faten Kanaan | Foxes | More Than Human
10. "Synthesizer Teste" | Meat Beat Manifesto | Impossible Star | Flexidisc
11. "Drone" | Cosey Fanni Tutti | TUTTI | Conspiracy International
12. "Kazaru" | Miguel Atwood-Ferguson | Brainfeeder X | Brainfeeder
13. "Tresor" | Need For Mirrors | Swim | Commercial Suicide
14. "Duels" | brim liski | Duels | Latenight Weeknight
15. "Own Perceptions" | Dearly Departure | Genesis | 100% Silk
16. "Odd Neighbourhood" | Holygram | Modern Cults | Oblivion
17. "In Darkness" | Tom Adams | Yes, Sleep Well Death | Kowloon
18. "The Pursuit" | Atjazz / Jullian Gomes | Big Bad Crazy | Atjazz
19. "Spring Dom - BRS 2018 Rework" | BRS | Spring Dom | Wolf Music Recordings
20. "Into the Flesh" | Liela Moss | My Name Is Safe In Your Mouth | Bella Union
21. "The Imp Trip of the Mirror Emperor" | Zu93 | Mirror Emperor | House of Mythology
22. "Six Six Sixties" | Throbbing Gristle | 20 Jazz Funk Greats | Mute
23. "Wounds" | Planningtorock | Powerhouse | DFA
24. "Outrage" | Dirtmusic | Bu Bir Ruya | Glitterbeat
25. "Imaja's Drum" | Tunnelvisions | The Celestial Ritual | Atomnation
26. "It's All Connected" | Lia Mice | The Sampler as Time Machine | Optimo
27. "Sweet Things" | Mocky | Music Save Me (One More Time) | Heavy Sheet
28. "baglaens" | Lowly | baglaens | Bella Union

Is my timing that flawed

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Fireworks for You in the Ozone Snow: Transmission 447, 2019 January 30

I present to you the second night of a rare back-to-back engagement, and an even rarer instance of a "good show" on the second night. I didn't much enjoy the segue from Zazou / Bikaye / CY1 into Fanu, but that was our one "awkward transition" and we got it out of the way early. In other encouraging news, nothing jumped out of my nose or throat while I was speaking. A triumph! Of course there was a time when I got on mic without remembering why I had done so, but I mostly delivered solid information (Senyawa are in fact from Indonesia, so there). It's a small sample size--I did not talk much during this transmission. I didn't want to interrupt Jah Division, which, timing-wise, was a mistake. I almost jumped on 2XM, but the vocals kicked in before I could start. I delivered a PSA over Indifferent Dance Centre, so I offer my apologies to them. I may have to abandon my policy of only talking over instrumentals, so be warned that I may sound like a Dawson's Creek episode in the future. I must say, though, that my LONG back-announcement at the end of the program was pretty strong.

In today's installment of "What Are We Recovering From?," there's this awful harassment of transgender rights activist Sarah McBride, perpetrated by an English Defence League spouse (Emily Gorcenski is correct that TERFS are merely white supremacists whose gateway was transphobia) and a friend, masquerading as "concerned parents" in this meeting with members of Congress (before retreating to famous radical feminist safe space The Heritage Foundation). I am embarrassingly late to the party, but trans rights have become an acutely important issue to me lately, and I am warning you, this may become a trans rights blog before too long. Anyway, you can support the Human Rights Campaign here, and I guess you could support McBride by buying her book, at the very least.

BOMBAST playlist, 2019 January 30, 2100-2300:

1. "Munipe Wa Kati" | Zazou / Bikaye / CY1 | Noir Et Blanc | Crammed Discs
2. "Prototype" | Fanu | Black Label - EP | Metalheadz
3. "Elsewhere" | Ultramarine | Signals into Space | Les Disques du Crepuscule
4. "Kehendak (Will)" | Senyawa | Sujud | Sublime Frequencies
5. "Fear of Losing You" | Dearly Departure | Genesis | 100% Silk
6. "Borrolan" | Mattheis | Thin Sections | Nous Klaer Audio
7. "The Gallery" | The Legendary Pink Dots | Any Day Now [reissue] | Metropolis
8. "The Thin Man" | Kristin Hersh | Learn To Sing Like A Star | 4AD | "The Listening Parlour"
9. "Starling Reprise II" | Heinali | Iridescent | Injazero
10. "Tatizo Pesa (feat. Dogo Janja)" | Jay Mitta | Tatizo Pesa | Nyege Nyege Tapes
11. "Too Nice for Nigel" | 48 Chairs | 70% Paranoid | Cache Cache
12. "Corah III" | Janek Schaefer | What Light There Is Tells Us Nothing | Temporary Residence Limited
13. "Loga Fo Djelba" | Baba Comandant and the Mandingo Band | Siri Ba Kele | Sublime Frequencies
14. "Act 2" | Penny Rimbaud | Oh, Magick Kingdom [reissue] | Cold Spring
15. "Forgot About You - Piano Version" | Axel Boman & Miljon | Studio Barnhus Volym 1 | Studio Barnhus
16. "Asembi Ara Amba - Henrik Schwarz Version" | Y-Bayani | Asembi Ara Amba (Henrik Schwarz Version) | Sunday-Music
17. "Dub Will Tear Us Apart" | Jah Division | Dub Will Tear Us Apart...Again | Ernest Jenning Record Co.
18. "Limit" | 2XM | Hydrate | SB JAMZ
19. "Kahl el inin" | AMMAR 808 | Maghreb United | Glitterbeat
20. "Areia" | Bixiga 70 | Quebra Cabeca | Glitterbeat
21. "Ground Nation" | Garies | Dull Clunk | Major Problems
22. "Flight & Pursuit" | Indifferent Dance Centre | Flight & Pursuit | Outer Reaches
23. "Ta Promesse" | Amadou & Mariam | La Confusion | Because Music
24. "Bite My Hip" | Bauhaus | The Bela Session | Leaving Records
25. "Everlastingly Yours" | Piroshka | Everlastingly Yours | Bella Union
26. "Izerditan" | Lumi | Lumiere Noire Presents from Above Vol. I | Lumiere Noire
27. "It's So Hard To Be Happy" | The Shall I Say Quois | Damaged Goods (1988-2018) | Damaged Goods
28. "Murderous" | GO DARK | Neon Young | Bella Union
29. "These Times Are Closing Intro" | Reto A Ichi | The Lapse of the Exchange / Alone Moving Often | K7
30. "Action" | Prayer | Goodbye EP | Grade 10

My friends applaud, throw pennies, and wait

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Ducking as a Chandelier Comes Crashing Down: Transmission 446, 2019 January 29

Here is a fill-in program that I did on very short notice when Godfrey announced that he couldn't do "The Griot Hour" on this night. Despite the non-descript and hurried occasion (it wasn't a "celebrity birthday" and I couldn't rope Lady Catharsis into joining me), this comes off as a pretty good show. ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. There's a lot to consider, but I'll try to be brief about it.

I don't know what "filling in valiantly" means, but I said it with sincerity; hopefully that counts? Something jumped out of my body again when I tried to talk. I mixed up my tenses at one point, saying "if you enjoy what you hear over the last two hours." I deliver an utterly pedantic weather report. The whole sequence from Oneohtrix Point Never through Maoupa Mazzocchetti is pretty rough. Nevember is an album, not an EP.

There's this ongoing Twitter thing called the #MWE or "Music Writing Exercise." I've been participating, though not consistently. Music journalism is a thing I used to do. Anyway, I have been coming to terms with "what I believe in" as far as music is concerned, and one of those things is self-care, not in the blithe consumerist sense but in a post-traumatic self-healing sense. What were we trying to heal from on the day of this program? It looks mostly like Howard Schultz, the Starbucks guy quixotically running for President as the avatar of the non-existent Center. No one wants this! But he is a billionaire, so we are going to get him (and perhaps, as a result, four more years of Trump) as a result, whether we like it or not (we don't). Good thing Ithaca has plenty of good, non-corporate coffee. I wish it had more guillotines.

BOMBAST playlist, 2019 January 29, 2100-2300:

1. "You Do Good You Do For Yourself" | Godfrey Odili | Duomo Sounds LTD (Nigerian 80s Disco Music to Move Your Soul) | Odion
2. "S.O.S.T." | Breach | Turtle Dance | NKDLTD
3. "Symbia" | Qluster | Elemente | Bureau B
4. "Fire-Toolz Theme" | Fire-Toolz | Skinless X-1 | Hausu Mountain
5. "Agaba Kibati" | Bamba Pana | Poaa | Nyege Nyege Tapes
6. "Reefer Max" | Horsepower Productions | Reefer Max / Phantasy Rush | Effective96
7. "Sugar for the Pill - Avalon Emerson's Gilded Escalation" | Slowdive | Future Sounds of Jazz Vol. 14 | Compost
8. "Moderation Blues" | The Taki Twins | Old and New | self-released
9. "The Station" | Oneohtrix Point Never | The Station | WARP
10. "Looking Inwardly" | The Chameleons | What Does Anything Mean? Basically | Blue Apple
11. "Lil Mist" | Geo Rip | U-Udios 2 | U-Udios
12. "It's A Gas" | The Wedding Present | Marc Riley Sessions Volume 2 | Hatch
13. "644 Beauty Marks" | Maoupa Mazzocchetti | Testimony | Knekelhuis
14. "Ponderosa" | Tricky | Maxinquaye [reissue] | Island
15. "Twilight World" | Holger Czukay / Jah Wobble / Jaki Liebezeit | Full Circle | P-Vine
16. "Nevember" | HUS | Nevember | Kervid
17. "Fouh Sei Allah" | Hamad Kalkaba and The Golden Sounds | 1974-1975 | Analog Africa
18. "Heart and Soul Dub" | Jah Division | Dub Will Tear Us Apart...Again | Ernest Jenning Record Co.
19. "Wide Eyed" | Eric Random | Two Faced | Klanggalerie
20. "Very Good Lock" | Pete Astor | Spilt Milk | Slumberland
21. "Castlevania III - Clockwork" | Perturbator | B-Sides and Remixes, Vol. 2 | Blood Music
22. "Neon Gladiators - Version Apocalypse" | The Legendary Pink Dots | Any Day Now [reissue] | Metropolis
23. "The Circle" | The Dream Syndicate | How Did I Find Myself Here? | Anti
24. "King of the Castle" | Beak> | >>> | Invada
25. "VCL XI" | Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | Organisation [reissue] | Virgin
26. "Da Lub Club" | Inner Harmony | 3AM Spares | Efficient Space

Different levels of the devil's company

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Everybody Hears You and Don't Hate What You Say: Transmission 445, 2019 January 23

Of course I couldn't do two "perfect" shows in a row, so this will be a list of complaints and tech notes. But must it? I've taken to writing things down as they happen as a way of having "something to say" about these programs when I post them, but I wonder if I am creating my own prison with relentless self-negging. There are some terrific moments in this show--just looking at the playlist I can see that. I encourage you to find your own highlights, but Mdou Moctar's awesomeness goes without saying, and I was really taken with the SRSQ track. I managed to slip "the point" by management (yay me! Or were they just not listening?) and I concluded an extremely brief (and, admittedly, failed) flirtation with Skinny Puppy nostalgia. AND--I almost forgot to mention this--the "Listening Parlour" returns! I finally got it together to work that in, an honest to goodness triumph!

Now the bad parts: something leapt out of my nose or throat during the initial voice-over; the segue into the Felt tune seemed forced, but at the risk of going too deeply into how the sausage is made, I'd been sitting on that one for a long time and it must have made sense to me when I was of a different mindset; what on earth is a "backlist?" I swear, the less I talk, the better; I botched the segue from Bauhaus into the Blue Orchids, and also gave Brian Harris the Bauhaus treatment, apologies; I mispronounce "Sirikiti" as "Sikriti," as in rhyming with Saddam Hussein's full surname.

So much for my catalogue of atrocities. I'll make a concerted effort to be more positive in the future.

BOMBAST playlist, 2019 January 23, 2100-2300:

1. "Awade (Here We Come)" | Orlando Julius & Ashiko | Love Peace & Happiness | Hot Casa
2. "35" | Objekt | Cocoon Crush | PAN
3. "Gentleman Never Run" | Ethyene | Brotherly Love | Moonrise Hill Material
4. "What a Wonderful World" | Soap&Skin | From Gas to Solid / You Are My Friend | Play It Again Sam
5. "La plus belle" | Oumar Konate | Live in Bamako | Clermont
6. "Fortune" | Felt | Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty [reissue] | Cherry Red
7. "Lillian Gish" | Vic Chesnutt | Drunk | New West | "The Listening Parlour"
8. "Very Moments" | Meggy | Flowers | Suol
9. "Kamane Tarhanin" | Mdou Moctar | Kamane Tarhanin | Sahel Sounds
10. "Souvenir" | Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | Architecture and Morality [reissue] | Virgin
11. "C-Q-D" | Public Service Broadcasting | White Star Liner | PIAS
12. "Forests" | MANOID | Truth | Hafendisko
13. "Atlas" | Borusiade | Their Specters | Unterton
14. "Exit Strategy" | Plastic Ivy | Death of the Machines, Vol. 1 | Mannequin
15. "Small Talk Stinks" | Bauhaus | In the Flat Field [reissue] | 4AD
16. "Get Bramah" | Blue Orchids | Righteous Harmony Fist | Tiny Global Productions
17. "Nude" | Adriatique | Nude | Afterlife
18. "pthex" | Aphex Twin | Collapse EP | WARP
19. "Amerikan Dread" | Victor | Amerikan Dread | Music From Memory
20. "Cherish" | SRSQ | Unreality | Dais
21. "Lannoy Point" | Ride | Weather Diaries | Wichita
22. "Pq Ekuka Rework" | Ekuka Morris Sirikiti | Ekuka | Nyege Nyege Tapes
23. "Psalm" | The Mattson 2 | Play "A Love Supreme" | Spiritual Pajamas
24. "Ground Song" | Brian Harris | Pine Lake | self-released
25. "Mellotron" | Stereolab | Peng! [reissue] | Too Pure
26. "the point" | Captain Wardrobe | Kronosphere | self-released
27. "Exit" | Max Graef | Lo Siento Mucho Pero No Hablo Tu Idioma | Tartelet
28. "Epilogue" | Skinny Puppy | Cleanse Fold and Manipulate | Nettwerk

If it all gets too much, there's things you can do

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Protecting You from Psychological Harm Is Our Ultimate Aim: Transmission 444, 2019 January 16

I am pleased to report that no computer malfunctions occurred on this night. That's a first for 2019, I think. Our intrepid general manager texts me instead of calling the studio phone, and at a reasonable time as well. The stars are lining up!

Regrettably I am not at my best here, unless this is the best we can expect. My adventures in pronunciation continue, most notably with "Oneohtrix," although in my defense opinions seem to differ on that one. I have a frog in my throat, the beginning of another motif. I confidently proclaim that the PAN label is from Berlin, only to express doubt that it is even from Germany. After (finally) playing Gaye Su Akyol, I mention that "she's out of Turkey," which sounds like she is struggling to make a sandwich. Segue-ing from Public Service Broadcasting into The Snivelling Shits was perhaps less than smooth (but I did my best). And, in the "executive functioning" department, I should probably have played more reggae than the one Lee Perry track. These issues aside, this is a program for the vaults!

Reckoning: I marvel at our first airing of Skinny Puppy ("we're partying like it's 1988!") because once upon a time they were a staple of my radio diet. In my early days in college radio I labeled my program "industrial." I loved drum machines and synthesizers then (and do still) and there was a culture war afoot. This music needed defending, I felt, and there was relatively little of it and it was so hard to come by. I didn't save my playlists from that time, and there are precious few cassette recordings of old shows, but I would say that 30 years ago I played Bites quite a bit. Looking back, this music...doesn't hold up for me? (In fairness this is also true of plenty of "rock" records.) The synths and samples seem very second-wave, and the middle-aged person in me wonders if the singer isn't hurting his voice. I can't help but wonder if we saw more there than really is there. As proof that this is more about me than Skinny Puppy, I find myself enjoying OMD, of all things, in the 21st century, and I never would have played them in college. If that isn't selling out in old age I don't know what is.

 

BOMBAST playlist, 2019 January 16, 2100-2300:

1. "Blanch" | Pijn | Loss | Holy Roar
2. "Lost Orbit" | Etch | Ups & Downs | Sneaker Social Club
3. "Dead Meat Dub" | Lee "Scratch" Perry | The Black Album | Upsetter
4. "Architecture and Morality" | Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | Architecture and Morality [reissue] | Virgin
5. "Mickey Way" | A Certain Ratio | acr:set | Mute
6. "Nge Mounkila" | Sekou Bah | Soukabbe Mali | Clermont
7. "Sajkvfighosgo" | All Is Well | Fragments - EP | Drumpoet Community
8. "Love" | Skinny Puppy | Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse [reissue] | Nettwerk
9. "Impossible Star" | Meat Beat Manifesto | Impossible Star | Flexidisc
10. "Infectious" | Eric Random | Two Faced | Klanggalerie
11. "The Unsinkable Ship" | Public Service Broadcasting | White Star Liner | PIAS
12. "Bring Me the Head of Yukio Mishima" | The Snivelling Shits | Damaged Goods (1988-2018) | Damaged Goods
13. "Bread and Wine with Your Loved One" | Karl Hund | Karl Hund | Violette
14. "Trigger Warning" | EURINGER | EURINGER | Metropolis
15. "Life Gamble" | Orson | Life Gamble / 12:09 | Version
16. "Casting the Runes" | The Legendary Pink Dots | Any Day Now [reissue] | Metropolis
17. "Other Playgrounds" | Peter Kardas | Switched-On Eugene | Numero Group
18. "Cold Snap" | Law / Wheeler | Lost Fragments | Next Phase
19. "Laziko" | Gaye Su Akyol | Istikarli Hayal Hakikattir | Glitterbeat
20. "Conquer the World" | Cyanide Pills | Damaged Goods (1988-2018) | Damaged Goods
21. "Dollar Man" | Brian | Dylan Done | self-released
22. "I'm Good Enough" | Thee Headcoats | In Tweed We Trust | Damaged Goods
23. "Never Gonna Push Me Around" | Mikabomb | Damaged Goods (1988-2018) | Damaged Goods
24. "Quick To Judge (Don't Be So)" | The National Jazz Trio of Scotland | Standards Vol. IV | Karaoke Kalk
25. "When My Mind is Not Live" | Fabienne DelSol | Damaged Goods (1988-2018) | Damaged Goods
26. "Dazzle Anew" | Objekt | Cocoon Crush | PAN
27. "Boys (Original Version)" | Bauhaus | The Bela Session | Leaving Records
28. "Burn" | Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band | The Serpent's Mouth | Big Crown
29. "The Ladder" | As One | Air Texture Vol. VI | Air Texture
30. "Monody" | Oneohtrix Point Never | The Station | WARP

This is your safe space

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Keep Your Gifts and Keep Your Money: Transmission 443, 2019 January 9

"It's a very smooth evening," I suggest at one point in this broadcast. Compared to what? A porcupine's back, or sandpaper, or a loofa, perhaps.

My plan to play 36 songs on the night was probably ill-considered, and was quickly cut down to 35 (apologies to Gaye Su Akyol--is it my destiny always to be apologizing?) when all the computers in the room decided to freeze on me and I had to read public service announcements without underscoring to prevent dead air. There was a period in my life when people used to tell me I had a "good radio voice" but I don't hear it so much anymore. This endures for only about 3 minutes or so, but seems interminable to me. YMMV. I also worry about causing a food panic by biffing the opening hours of Loaves and Fishes, but I am probably kidding myself about the number of people listening.

Anyway, that's what I get, apparently, for being optimistic about this program beforehand. You can hear the audio software failing during the Fall track (sorry), the aux cord came dislodged from my laptop during my PSA adventure, ruining the first few seconds of the Hairbone track (sorry), and my playlist was set to "shuffle" so we accidentally hear the first few seconds of a Comet Gain track--which I call a "harbinger of something" (sorry)--so I guess apologies are my destiny. I sound like Radio Niger without the exoticism--I am just a local bumbler.

But in my defense, if you can make it through the first 10 minutes or so, by which point "the technology is working for us and not against us," this is a pretty rewarding mixtape. There is some head-nodding goodness around the time of Stereolab and Beaches, and for the most part I got out of my own way in the second hour (apologies--again!--if I have used that phrase before). Playing Ammar 808 immediately after the Budget Girls was probably not such a great idea, but I executed it with confidence, which seems to have made a difference there and elsewhere. I talked over Dominik Eulberg's excellent track--he always seems to provide such an opportunity--but it was so nice and long that I couldn't resist. I got Cee Bee Beaumont's name wrong no less than four times, but at least I played their track without screwing it up. You're welcome?

Alright, look, it wasn't a great night for music or talking, and what else is there, but there are at least a few things that came off properly. I ended the proceedings a little bit early, because why not quit while I am ahead?

BOMBAST playlist, 2019 January 9, 2100-2300:

1. "Overture from 'I Am Curious, Orange'" | The Fall | I Am Kurious Oranj | Beggars Banquet
2. "Phrygian Jelly" | Hairbone | Earth to Momma | Blank Forms
3. "Numbered Days" | Odd Beholder | All Reality Is Virtual | Sinnbus
4. "And Then Again - 12" Version" | A Certain Ratio | acr:set | Mute
5. "Distribution of Care" | Lotic | Power | Tri Angle
6. "P.H.U.K." | Orbital | P.H.U.K. | ACP
7. "Inertia" | All Is Well | Fragments - EP | Drumpoet Community
8. "Come on Get Happy" | Sun Kil Moon | This Is My Dinner | Caldo Verde
9. "Eagerly Hunting" | Rue Royale | In Parallel | Sinnbus
10. "The Harbour Master" | Cee Bee Beaumont | Damaged Goods (1988-2018) | Damaged Goods
11. "Maka Dub" | Errol Brown | Orthodox Dub | Dub Store
12. "Freiluft" | Thomas Fehlmann | Los Lagos | Kompakt
13. "Faraday Monument" | Oliver Coates | Shelley's on Zenn-La | Rvng Int'l
14. "Silent Hedges" | Bauhaus | The Sky's Gone Out [reissue] | Beggars Banquet
15. "Davey Crockett" | Thee Headcoatees | Damaged Goods (1988-2018) | Damaged Goods
16. "True Love" | The Legendary Pink Dots | Any Day Now [reissue] | Metropolis
17. "Reality World" | Pedrodollar | Studio Barnhus Volym 1 | Studio Barnhus
18. "We Are The Bees" | The Taki Twins | Old and New | self-released
19. "Rise Of The Bird" | Hot Hot Hawk | Legendary | Nang
20. "Unique Boutique" | Meat Beat Manifesto | Impossible Star | Flexidisc
21. "Farfisa" | Stereolab | Refried Ectoplasm [Switched On Volume 2] [reissue] | Duophonic
22. "Void" | Beaches | Second of Spring | Chapter Music
23. "You're So Sorry" | Budget Girls | Damaged Goods (1988-2018) | Damaged Goods
24. "Degdega" | AMMAR 808 | Maghreb United | Glitterbeat
25. "Slingshot" | The Senior Service | Damaged Goods (1988-2018) | Damaged Goods
26. "The God of Gaps" | The Galileo 7 | Tear Your Minds Wide Open! | Damaged Goods
27. "Cold Water People" | Ride | Tomorrow's Shore | Wichita
28. "Deadlock" | Objekt | Cocoon Crush | PAN
29. "She's Leaving" | Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | Architecture and Morality [reissue] | Virgin
30. "Tintenfischpilz" | Dominik Eulberg | Roter Gitterling & Tintenfischpilz | Apus Apus
31. "At the Movies" | Valerie from the Galerie | Tape One | Whataboutnever
32. "What U Waiting For" | Heavee | WFM | Teklife
33. "Ventania Dub" | Bixiga 70 | The Copan Connection: Bixiga 70 Meets Victor Rice | Glitterbeat
34. "Eventually" | The Nightingales | Perish the Thought | Tiny Global Productions
35. "Infinite Pleasure, Pt. 2" | HALEY | Pleasureland | Memphis Industries

Burning the private paradise of dreams

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Sound Formed in a Vacuum May Seem a Waste of Time: Transmission 442, 2019 January 4

Before we get to the main subject of tonight's broadcast, let me apologize again for not observing the birthdays of Michael Stipe and Robin Guthrie. As I say to my co-pilot, Lady Catharsis, we certainly could have brought in a stack of Cocteau Twins or R.E.M. records and done two hours on either one. But that's not the way it worked out. Maybe she is right, and there will be other January 4 opportunities. But I have already done my thing on Cocteau Twins, I feel, and I would certainly need at least a year to work out whether an all-R.E.M. show would really be me, even though I am a 1980s "college radio" guy. At any rate, let's hope neither of them are the type to google themselves, or, if they are, they accept my apology. I have run into trouble with the self-googling thing before, though I won't name names.

We were here on this night to observe "the feast of (Saint) Bernard" Sumner, he of the voice that Lady Catharsis describes as "sweet." As I predict, we don't get to very many songs, but that is of course because New Order write such nice long ones, and we are very talkative. There is a lot to be said about our selection, but I don't feel like going into a lot of detail. Grievance night has passed, and we are playing what we like. I give my opinion on bad Eighties mixtapes, and this is not one. It's all quality. Somehow we got through two hours of New Order without even playing "Blue Monday!" (Or "Fine Time," the "newer" song that I couldn't work into a good segue. So be it).

Maybe our commentary will be more pointed when we observe Peter Hook's birthday on February 13 (a regular Wednesday night program). I don't know. In my old age the spiciness of my takes is decreasing, which is probably good for everyone.

That doesn't prevent a whole bunch of loose ends from the program, which seems to be par for the course. The xmas flexidisc doesn't have an "other side." It's single-sided. How did this fact manage to escape me, if we played "it" on the program? Radio magic! There is indeed a version of "Sub-culture" with Debora Iyall, and you can listen to it here. (Spicy take alert: it isn't the best work of anyone involved.) Turns out we do use the same piece of interstitial music for every talking break on the program, and it does seem to go wiith everything New Order does, though of course we'll have another opportunity to test this out soon.

Oh, finally--why does our intro music go on for so long before we speak? In our ongoing series, "early program disasters in 2019," the station's general manager calls me in the control room right at the beginning of the program, of course. We overcome it. This is a good show.

BOMBAST playlist, 2019 January 4, 2100-2300:

1. "Ceremony" | New Order | Substance | Factory - Qwest
2. "Temptation" | New Order | 1981-1982 | Factory - Polygram
3. "Chosen Time" | New Order | Movement | London - Rhino
4. "Too Late" | New Order | Peel Sessions | Strange Fruit
5. "The Village" / "5 8 6" | New Order | Power, Corruption & Lies | Factory - Qwest
6. "Confusion" | New Order | Confusion | Factory
7. "Sooner Than You Think" | New Order | Low-life | Factory - Qwest
8. "Sub-culture (remix)" | New Order | Sub-culture | Factory - Qwest
9. "All Day Long" | New Order | Brotherhood | Factory - Qwest
10. "Lonesome Tonight" | New Order | Substance | Factory - Qwest
11. "Hurt" | New Order | 1981-1982 | Factory - Polygram
12. "Rocking Carol" | New Order | Merry Xmas From The Haçienda And Factory Records | Factory
13. "Love Vigilantes" / "The Perfect Kiss" | New Order | Low-life | Factory - Qwest
14. "Your Silent Face" | New Order | Power, Corruption & Lies | Factory - Qwest
15. "Every Little Counts" | New Order | Brotherhood | Factory - Qwest

This is why events unnerve me

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