radiobombast

Cruising Altitude Departure 23, 2016 September 18

[GUEST POST]

Captain Halcyon here, pressed into service on a day when kid catharsis "can't get it together," as he is fond of saying, to post something. Well--I happen to sit on a backlog of radio broadcasts from late summer and early fall, and here is one. I listened to this today, and to my surprise, it made me a little bit sad. I cannot analyze this and don't want to. But it feels safe to speculate that perhaps my mind was elsewhere and this program is not the "downer" I initially felt it to be. Or, perhaps it is, if that is your thing. I don't wish to scare you away.

As I write this, the weather outside is "halcyonic," if I may be so bold as to say that. Blue skies, a bit of chill, thawing snow: a good day for this content, and since I am not scheduled to do a live program, perhaps a perfect day for a listen. Do be sure you take some kind of "Mindflight" or other.

More soon.

CRUISING ALTITUDE playlist, 2016 September 18, 1700-1800 EDT:

1. "The Process" | Dave Ball & Jon Savage | Photosynthesis | Cold Spring
2. "Harmonics" | Fridge | Brain in the Wire | Brainwashed
3. "Agnus Dei" | The Durutti Column | Keep Breathing | Artful
4. "Zephyr" | Loscil | Plume | kranky
5. "Eurene" | Matisse | Kairos | In Paradisum
6. "O'cean Dream" | Matthewdavid's Mindflight | Trust the Glide and Guide | Leaving
7. "Treefingers" | Radiohead | Kid A | Parlophone
8. "Spread Your Arms" | Deru | Trying to Remember | Merck
9. "Three Sided" | Sybarite | Brain in the Wire | Brainwashed

fly high

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Cruising Altitude Departure 22, 2016 September 11

[GUEST POST]

Captain Halcyon here, with my weekly report (as is usual these days). I have brought with me a sound file that represents my (temporary) return to a regular time slot. My program began in late summer, four years ago, and if I stray from it, late summer reminds me of why I do it. This broadcast ranks as one of my favorites. Turns out, I am not as averse to words as it might seem (I have noticed that most of my shows seem to obey a "no words" / "no drums" rule).

Here is a secret I would like to share with you: like "Kid Catharsis," I am cursed with remembering the calendar date on which a really good or really bad thing happens in my personal life. If you don't suffer this curse, you are fortunate. The dates pile up to the point where it is just one observance after another. At any rate, I am embarking on a life project of reclaiming these calendar dates by doing something positive on the "bad" ones. Now, if I can only talk my gracious host into trying this along with me.

CRUISING ALTITUDE playlist, 2016 September 11, 1700-1800 EDT:

1. "Ready Let's Go" | Boards of Canada | Geogaddi | WARP
2. "Words You Said" | Deru | Trying to Remember | Merck
3. "Rising Waters (alone in the dark)" | Kate Carr | I Had Myself a Nuclear Spring | Rivertones
4. "Irae" | Gonzo | Dies Irae [reissue] | Discrepant
5. "Untitled" | Burial | Burial | Hyperdub
6. "Hedera" | Lesley Flanigan | Hedera | Physical Editions
7. "Surface de Glace" | Circles | Structures (Unreleased Material 1985-1989) | Bureau B

keep breathing

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Cruising Altitude Departure 21, 2016 July 23

[GUEST POST]

Hello, listeners and readers of Bombast. I am Captain Halcyon, back with another program from last summer. These morning departures are uncommonly good. This particular broadcast went so well that I decided to play songs on a regular basis last fall (albeit in the afternoon, sadly). I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

These recordings are intended to "tide you over." I have been gone for a while. But I am coming back soon. Sunset is getting later every day. Flight season approaches.

CRUISING ALTITUDE playlist, 2016 July 23, 1000-1100 EDT:

1. "Morning Sun" | Landing | Third Sight | El Paraiso
2. "A Room With No Air" | Red Stars Over Tokyo | Deconstructing Happiness | Testtoon
3. "From There To Here" | Les Halles | Sentient | Not Not Fun
4. "Vitre" | Stephane LaPorte | Fourrure Sounds, Vol. 2 | Antinote
5. "Mutter - Beatless" | Konstantin Sibold | Mutter | Running Back
6. "White Heat" | Dave Harrington Group | Become Alive | Other People
7. "Spaired Long" | Moby | Hotel: Ambient | Mute

ready let's go

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Cruising Altitude Departure 20, 2016 June 4

[GUEST POST]

Halcyon here, with an irregularly regular checkin. I am probably an ill-fitting substitute for Radio Days, but from time to time I fill in for that crew. This is one such time, from last summer. Ithaca is normally quite calm on a Saturday morning, even in the late morning; however, if I recall correctly, this was a "festival" weekend. I needed to create my own "quiet space," and this was it.

Nevertheless, I see that I had re-entered the world of "long" playlists and short songs, which is perhaps not a good development. And it's a bit "mainstream" too, as some local teen is wont to say. I cannot always be sublime. There's always "Matthewdavid," whoever he is. His stuff is pretty "out there," or "in there," whichever.

CRUISING ALTITUDE playlist, 2016 June 4, 1000-1100 EDT:

1. "Memorize Them Well" | Secret Boyfriend | Memory Care Unit | Blackest Ever Black
2. "River in the Sea" | Dennis Young | Wave (Electronic Music 1984-1988) | Bureau B
3. "TD-Mem" | Baumann / Koek | Baumann / Koek | Bureau B
4. "Santiago quatro" | Underworld | Barbara Barbara, we face a shining future | Astralwerks
5. "Otis Walks Into the Woods" | Mary Lattimore | At the Dam | Ghostly International
6. "Love's Harp" | Matthewdavid's Mindflight | Trust the Glide and Guide | Leaving
7. "E" | Jefre Cantu-Ledesma & Felicia Atkinson | Comme un seul narcisse | Shelter Press
8. "Alpine Morning" | The Orb | Alpine | Kompakt
9. "Restless Wings" | Emika | Flashbacks | Emika

happiness, deconstructed

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Cruising Altitude Departure 19, 2016 March 13

[GUEST POST]

Dear Bombasticons, I am back! Momentarily, at least. Here, as my colleague "kid catharsis" would say, a program from a universe that has now closed down. I need hardly point out that I don't remember the exact background circumstances, be they political or cultural or emotional. Clearly, though, this was a springtime broadcast, and it is unnaturally warm right now, as it probably always will be, "going forward," so it seems appropriate enough.

All that said, it sounds to me like this was an almost playful program, and I especially enjoyed the shortness of the playlist and the duration of the tunes. One of these days we will do a program that is just one hour-long tune--at least if I am permitted on the air in the future. There have been other broadcasts since this one, but I don't have a regular airtime at the moment.

Personal note: in real and virtual life the past few days (and indeed our entire new epoch) have been characterized by panic and disc(h)ord. It is important that we hang on to the friends we have, and forgive our trespasses while there is still time.

CRUISING ALTITUDE playlist, 2016 March 13, 1500-1600 EDT:

1. "Buddha Machine 5 loop 02" | FM3 | Buddha Machine 5 | CVMK
2. "Watertowers" | Steve Hauschildt | Air Texture Vol. IV | Air Texture
3. "Mahler Remix 2" | Fennesz | Mahler Remix | Touch
4. "The Byte of Spring Parts 1-4" | Edward Ka-Spel | The Byte of Spring | Bandcamp self-release

use flash cards if necessary

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Cruising Altitude Departure 18, 2015 September 20

[GUEST POST]

Captain Halcyon, checking in. Programs like the one in this post are what "Cruising Altitude" is all about: summery / autumnal late-afternoon sunshine and love. Press "play" and you will find satisfaction. If it is not already within you, your search is over.

There are not many more of these recordings, I daresay. I don't think there will be many more. This program has mostly been, and currently is, an impromptu adventure happening only when it can, and "when it can" is increasingly infrequent.

There's always The Slow Drift.

CRUISING ALTITUDE playlist, 2015 September 20, 1600-1700:

1. "La Piste Chinoise" | Bon Voyage Organization | Xingye | Bon Voyage
   
2. "Coma" | Loop | Array 1 | ATP
3. "Skov I" | Jannick Schou | Fabrik | Experimedia
4. "The Subliminal Sense of Absorption" | At Vilander | Void Transcripts | Parachute
5. "Dreamtape" | Will Samson & Heimer | Animal Hands | Karaoke Kalk
   
6. "Codex" | Ghost Harmonic | Codex | Metamatic
7. "Prisms" | Shuttle 358 | Can You Prove I Was Born | 12k
8. "A Ghost Lovestory" | Lucy and Klock | War Lullaby | Stroboscopic Artefacts
   
9. "Dulcitone Grasses - Benoit Pioulard Remix" | Graveyard Tapes | I'm On Fire (White Rooms Remixes) | Lost Tribe Sound
   
10. "Resurrection" | Leafcutter John | Resurrection | Desire Path
    
11. "The Lonely People (Are Getting Lonelier)" | Stars of the Lid | The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid | kranky
12. "Silver" | Lifted | 1 | PAN
    

catalogue your loops

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Cruising Altitude Departure 17, 2015 June 27

[GUEST POST]

Captain Halcyon, again. Here is a rare morning program from last summer. I am afraid I may not have been what the "Radio Days" audience was looking for, but I am also fairly certain we didn't trouble anyone too much. Not troubling people is a thing this program has succeeded at, so far.

Does morning ambiance differ from afternoon ambiance in some meaningful way? Only you can decide that for yourself. I feel like it did, in this case, I would welcome the chance to try this again.

I do remember feeling lonely in the cockpit, though, now that I reflect on it. I am routinely alone but often content in that state. This time was different. Perhaps I should have encouraged requests, risky though that might have been.

Maybe someday.

CRUISING ALTITUDE playlist, 2015 June 27, 1000-1100:

1. "The Evening In Reverse" | Helm | Olympic Mess | PAN
2. "Hold" | James Welburn | Hold | Miasmah
3. "Tongue Pad" | Walls | Urals | Ecstatic
4. "Interior 3, Matching Window Blinds and Lampshade" | Damien Dubrovnik | Vegas Fountain | Alter / Posh Isolation
5. "Bliss" | Lucy and Klock | War Lullaby | Stroboscopic Artefacts
6. "Naschi" | Dave DK | Val Maira | Kompakt
7. "Herald" | Lakker | Tundra | R & S
8. "Aoi" | Gurun Gurun | Kon B | Home Normal
9. "Lift" | Lifted | 1 | PAN
10. "The Importance of Downtime" | Gnod | Infinity Machines | Rocket
11. "Anna Livia" | Antigone | Cantor Dust | Token

greater absorption


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Cruising Altitude Departure 16, 2015 April 1

[GUEST POST]

Captain Halcyon reporting. This is an April Fools' program that caught everyone by surprise. Listeners were meant to hear a local program about making "abundance," or something like that, but were treated to another kind of vacuity altogether. I did what I could--I was working on short notice.

It pleases me to listen back to this program, nearly a year later, in another sunlit time. The "dream" of this program, as it were, is herein realized--this is not the only instance, just the most recent one. Kid Catharsis, my gracious host at this podcast site, tells me that he thinks my show is better than his. From him it's a rare compliment--he never seems to have nice things to say about anyone.

A guest graced the studio during this broadcast--I don't think you can hear the extra person, but through some kind of magic an extra presence should nevertheless influence this outing.

CRUISING ALTITUDE playlist, 2015 April 1, 1200-1300:

1. "Absorb" | Jonas Munk | Absorb / Fabric / Cascade | El Paraiso
2. "66 and Fading" | OMD | Dazzle Ships | Virgin - Telegraph
3. "Just Like Everybody" | 23 Skidoo | Tearing Up the Plans | Pineapple - Fetish
4. "Sendme" | Brighton | Air Texture Volume IV | Air Texture
5. "Candy Bullets and Moon" | Meredith Monk | Better an Old Demon Than a New God | Giorno Poetry Systems
6. "Invocation" | Cabaret Voltaire | Eight Crepuscule Tracks | Giant
7. "Vanished in Tromso" | Legowelt | Air Texture Volume IV | Air Texture
8. "19 Headaches" | Autechre | Peel Session 2 | Warp

matching interiors.

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Cruising Altitude Departure 15, 2014 December 20

[GUEST POST]

It's Captain Halcyon again. This is a yuletide program from another time, one we might call the olden days, when I was on the air semi-regularly. This hour of music seems more grounded than many of my other broadcasts. I was going through a phase--at least that's how I remember it.

The phrase going through my head as I listen to this episode is "strong element of the haphazard." Not that you have to think about that while listening of course--I am just sharing. In that sense, anyway, this is a successful program. Part of my rehabilitation is the embrace of safe risks. There isn't much that's safer than appearing by surprise on a small radio station in the middle of nowhere and then re-posting through the internet. (But who knows where this may lead. Future manifestations may be more robust.) Still, breaking out of my self-imposed aesthetic boundaries is a baby step, and the world is not baby-proofed.

CRUISING ALTITUDE playlist, 2014 December 20, 1400-1500:

1. "Fractal Liaison" | System 7 | System 7 | Ten
2. "Jane 16 (for Pale Saints)" | Harold Budd | Sampler (et Sans Reproche) | Factory Benelux
   
3. "Apollyan in D" | Michael Tanner | Nightingale Variations | Kooky
   
4. "Malice / Freak Flag" | The Legendary Pink Dots | 10 to the Power of 9 | Rustblade
5. "Iris" | Dream Police | Hypnotized | Sacred Bones
   
6. "Silva Pslamus" | Laurie Laptop | Nightingale Variations | Kooky
7. "The Lord Is Out of Control - Nils Frahm Remix" | Mogwai | Music Industry 3. Fitness Industry 1. | Rock Action
   
8. "Bloody and Blunt" | Budd - Fraser - Guthrie - Raymonde | The Moon and the Melodies | 4AD - Relativity
   
9. "Deja Vu - Ambient" | Vince Watson | Deja Vu | Ovum
10. "Sonar Conversation" | Conforce | Machine Conspiracy | Delsin
11. "Awakening to A..." | Prefuse 73 | Security Screenings | WARP
12. "Migration" | Micronormous | Nightingale Variations | Kooky
13. "Rain in Coffee" | Bee Mask | When We Were Eating Unripe Pears | Editions Mego
    

special silent guest

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Cruising Altitude Departure 14, 2014 November 22

[GUEST POST]

I have been watching too many TED talk videos of late. Granted, often "too many" can mean "one," but I have been on a sort of kick. Trying to make oneself feel better through video is not a thing I have found to work, in any situation. So I thought I would maybe share a few tunes, you know, do something halfway outgoing, and see how that turned out.

This program dates from a long, long, long time ago, but as Kid Catharsis has tried to explain to me in his secondhand way, there is no universal "now." To fast-forward through the argument, I am relieved of guilt related to negligence. There is no way in this particular universe that this program could post at another time.

On the other hand, I suppose I should not take encouragement from the compliments I received when this program first aired, one from a teacher of experimental music. These listeners had no choice in the matter either.

CRUISING ALTITUDE playlist, 2014 November 22, 1400-1500:

1. "The Friend I've Lost" | Ernesto Ferreyra | Some Kind of Sign | Cadenza
2. "4" | Conrad Schnitzler | Gelb | Bureau B
   
3. "IX" | Raspberry Bulbs | Privacy | Blackest Ever Black
   
4. "HTH020 - The Haxan Cloak's Cloud of Witness" | Akkord | HTH030 | Houndstooth
5. "Warm Bodies" | Herva | Instant Broadcast | Delsin
6. "Berth" | BNJMN | Coil | Delsin
7. "Stara Rzeka" | Stara Rzeka | Stara Rzeka | Infinite Greyscale
   
8. "Diploid" | Nurse With Wound & Graham Bowers | Diploid (Parade Epilogue) | Red Wharf
   
9. "En Masse" | Locsil | Sea Island | kranky
   

heavy dose of HB

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