radiobombast

And Then Shoot Out The Lights: Transmission 74, 2013 November 22

"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:

1. "Dali's House" | Deathfix | Deathfix | Dischord
2. "Swimming - Rocco Raimundo Remix" | Holy Models | Swimming | Eskimo
3. "Keep" | Nils Frahm | Eclettica [Glass Coffee] | Klik
4. "Ten Little Girls" | Curve | Blindfold | Anxious | "Physical Evidence"
5. "Over the Wall" | Echo & The Bunnymen | Heaven Up Here | Korova Japan
6. "Seventeen" | Beach Day | Trip Trap Attack | Kanine
7. "Bobby Heron" | Nadine Shah | Dreary Town | R & S - Apollo
8. "Xtal" | Aphex Twin | Selected Ambient Works 85-92 | Apollo
9. "I Speak Your Every Word" | Curve | Blindfold | Anxious | "Physical Evidence"
10. "Guide" | Aebeloe | Manon | Farver
11. "Empire State Human" | The Human League | Reproduction | Virgin | "Listening Parlour"
12. "Monday Morning" | Fontanelle | Kompilation | Kranky
13. "Rich Man" | Big Joe | Keep Rocking and Swinging | Striker Lee - Reggae Retro
14. "No Escape from Heaven" | Curve | Blindfold | Anxious | "Physical Evidence"
15. "Symmetries" | Forrests | Wilder | Blast First Petite
16. "Don't Go Away" | Los Mockers | The Original Recordings 1965-1967 | Get Hip
17. "Fujiyama Mama" | Wanda Jackson | Rockin' in the Country | Rhino | "Listening Parlour"
18. "Count on Me" | Deetron | Count on Me | Aus
19. "Blindfold" | Curve | Blindfold | Anxious | "Physical Evidence"
20. "Ringo" | Joris Voorn | Ringo | Green
21. "Keep on Running - Datassette Mix" | D-Pulse | Keep on Running | Teardrop

next time: "parlour of evidence" with live guests. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

The Whole Thing Is Fairyland: Transmission 73, 2013 November 20

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:

1. "Sunshine Recorder" | Boards of Canada | Geogaddi | Warp
2. "Ska Version Dub" | U Roy | Serious Matter Dub | Walboomers | "Physical Evidence"
3. "Forma" | Aebeloe | Manon | Farver
4. "Coyote on the Town" | Exene Cervenka | Old Wives' Tales | Rhino | "Listening Parlour"
5. "Lit Up" | Public Service Broadcasting | Inform - Educate - Entertain | Red Eye
6. "Attention Dub" | U Roy | Serious Matter Dub | Walboomers | "Physical Evidence"
7. "Amsterdam Remnant 6" | Deepchord | 20 Electrostatic Soundfields | Soma
8. "Thirsty" | The Orb featuring Lee "Scratch" Perry | Orbserving the Star House in Dub | Cooking Vinyl
9. "The Leader" | The Clash | Sandinista! | Sony UK
10. "Tarifa" | Forrests | Wilder | Blast First Petite
11. "Ivy" | These Hidden Hands | These Hidden Hands | Hidden Hundred
12. "Know Yourself Dub" | U Roy | Serious Matter Dub | Walboomers | "Physical Evidence"
13. "Bleep Forward" | Mike Shannon | Reset, Bleep | Cynosure
14. "Flying Circuits" | Made in Sane | The Pink Collection | Eskimo
15. "Serious Matter Dub" | U Roy | Serious Matter Dub | Walboomers | "Physical Evidence"
16. "One Sunday" | Orion & J. Shore | Eclettica (Glass Coffee) | Klik
17. "Miyuki" | The National Jazz Trio of Scotland | Standards Vol. II | Karaoke Kalk
18. "Reality Dub" | Linton Kwesi Johnson | LKJ in Dub | Mango
19. "Richmond Women Blues" | Mississippi John Hurt | The Best of Mississippi John Hurt | Vanguard | "Listening Parlour"
20. "Murders" | Senking | Capsize Recovery | Raster-Notion
21. "Miss Till I Kiss Dub" | U Roy | Serious Matter Dub | Walboomers | "Physical Evidence"
22. "These Nights Never End" | Daniel Avery | Drone Logic | Because

next time: no escape from heaven. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

Cruising Altitude, Departure 1: 2013 September 1

[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:

1. "The Morality of Altitude" | 400 Blows | Look | Concrete Productions
2. "Shatter" | Liz Phair | Exile in Guyville | Matador
3. "Come Here My Love" | This Mortal Coil | Come Here My Love | 4AD
4. "Walking Field" | Peals | Walking Field | Thrill Jockey
5. "Celestial Flutes" | 23 Skidoo | The Gospel Comes to New Guinea | Ronin
6. "Otterley" | Cocteau Twins | Treasure | 4AD
7. "Trembling" | Windy & Carl | Brain in the Wire | Brainwashed
8. "Be Still" | Felt | Space Blues | Creation
9. "Always" | Flying Saucer Attack | Chorus | Drag City
10. "Southern Orchards" | July Skies | Dreaming of Spires | Rocket Girl
11. "Deep Journey" | Suns of Arqa | Land of a Thousand Churches | Arka Sound
12. "Dark Melt" | Simon Turner | A Palace in the Sun | Creation

There's been one other program so far; I'll post it when time allows!

An Enraged Man With An Epic Combover: Transmission 72, 2013 November 13

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:

1. "Overground" | Siouxsie & The Banshees | The Thorn | Wonderland - Polydor
2. "Hang On St. Christopher" | Tom Waits | Franks Wild Years | Island | "Listening Parlour"
3. "Noughts" | Few Nolder | Private Drive | Best Kept Secret
4. "Sequoia" | Saroos | Return | Alien Transistor
5. "Pallino" | The Dentists | You and Your Bloody Oranges | Spruck | "Physical Evidence"
6. "Trigger" | Whore Paint | Swallow My Bones | Load
7. "Luna Luxor" | Chrome Sparks | Sparks | Future Classic
8. "Secret History" | Jawbox | Grippe | Dischord
9. "My Friends in the Best of Circles" | The Dentists | You and Your Bloody Oranges | Spruck | "Physical Evidence"
10. "wistful wishful wanton" | Pinkcourtesyphone | Foley Folly Folio | Boomkat
11. "Waiting for Nina (Noon Mix)" | C-Rock & Patrick Kunkel | Waiting for Nina | Leena
12. "Moving" | Petar Dundov | Sailing off the Grid | Music Man
13. "Something That Will Never Happen" | The Dentists | You and Your Bloody Oranges | Spruck | "Physical Evidence"
14. "What Goes Boom" | Pixies | EP1 | self-released
15. "Polyfusion" | Seefeel | Quique | Modern Classics
16. "I Can See Your House from Up Here" | The Dentists | You and Your Bloody Oranges | Spruck | "Physical Evidence"
17. "See the Train" | Blancmange | Mange Tout | Sire | "Listening Parlour"
18. "untitled" | The Dentists | You and Your Bloody Oranges | Spruck | "Physical Evidence"
19. "Constantinople" | Trentemoller | Lost | In My Room
20. "Jugoton" | Ichisan | The Pink Collection | Eskimo
21. "The Best of Everything" | The Dentists | You and Your Bloody Oranges | Spruck | "Physical Evidence"
22. "Hurt on Hold" | The Monks | In Fuzz We Trust | Stag-O-Lee
23. "Lydden Circuit" | Brassica | Temple Fortune | Civil
24. "I Was Wrong" | Live Skull | EP | Desire
25. "Where's My Chicken, You Bastard?" | The Dentists | You and Your Bloody Oranges | Spruck | "Physical Evidence"
26. "Don't Drink and Drive" | Hutton School Choir | Classroom Projects | Trunk

next time: make sure you're serious, 'cause I can be dangerous. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

All DJ Pretense and Radio Magic: Transmission 71, 2013 November 10

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:

1. "Momplays" | Zombie Nation | RGB | Turbo
2. "This Generation" | The Lions | This Generation | Stones Throw
3. "Mid Century Modern Nightmare" | Neon Neon | Praxis Makes Perfect | Lex
4. "The Precinct of System" | Andy Fairley | System Vertigo | On-U Sound
5. "Dimension of Sound" | Harry Axt | Dimension of Sound | Arms & Legs

next time: our extraordinary ordinariness. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

Laika and the Luddite Machine: Transmission 70, 2013 November 6

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:

1. "New Dimensions in Sound" | Public Service Broadcasting | Inform - Educate - Entertain | Test Card
2. "Positive Noise" | System 7 & A Guy Called Gerald | Up | A-Wave
3. "Untitled 1" | Laika & The Luddite Machine | live in studio
4. "Untitled 2" | Laika & The Luddite Machine | live in studio
5. "Untitled 3" | Laika & The Luddite Machine | live in studio
6. "Untitled 4" | Laika & The Luddite Machine | live in studio
7. "Station" | Here Are the Facts You Requested | All My Favourite Things At Once | Testing Ground
8. "I Want To Be the Last Song / You Hear Before You Die" | The Feeling of Love | Reward Your Grace | Born Bad

Next time: walking a million miles for one of your frozen smiles. ENJOY THE MUSIC. You have no choice! --kid catharsis

Everybody Had to Pay and Pay: Transmission 69, 2013 October 30

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:

1. "Smile Now" | Thee Headcoats | Headcoats Down! | Damaged Goods
2. "Walk on the Wild Side" | Lou Reed | Transformer | RCA | "Listening Parlour"
3. "Somewhere" | Benotmane | Somewhere | Fenou
4. "She's My Best Friend" | The Wedding Present | Singles 1989-1991 | Manifesto
5. "Faithful Hessian Walks into Ada's Bar - Joerg Burger Remix" | Metope | Black Beauty Remixes | Areal
6. "All Tomorrow's Parties" | Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | Kicking Against the Pricks | Mute - Homestead
7. "Heroin" | Roky Erickson | Gremlins Have Pictures | Light in the Attic
8. "Oh Sailors" | Whore Paint | Swallow My Bones | Load
9. "What Goes On?" | The Mind Readers | Medway Powerhouse Volume 4 | Hangman
10. "Sweet Jane" | The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy | Cake City | Vinyl Japan
11. "Trace Missed Call" | Lake People | Step Over, Trace Into | Connaisseur
12. "Birmingham" | The Wolfgang Press | Queer | 4AD
13. "The Made Man's Manifesto" | The Legendary Pink Dots | Your Children Placate You from Premature Graves | self-released
14. "White Light / White Heat" | David Bowie | Bowie at the Beeb | EMI
15. "Age of Oil & Wax" | Live Skull | EP | Desire
16. "Velvety Instrumental Version" | Pixies | Dig for Fire | 4AD
17. "There She Goes Again" | R.E.M. | Dead Letter Office | I.R.S.
18. "Skanking on the A Train" | Tony Aiken & Future 2000 | Unity, Sing It, Shout It | Boom Shot
19. "Femme Fatale" | Big Star | 3rd - Sister Lovers | PVC
20. "This Time" | Moderat | II | Monkeytown
21. "Junk Shop" | Scott & Charlene's Wedding | Any Port in a Storm | Fire
22. "Sword of Damocles - Externally" | Lou Reed | Magic & Loss | Sire - Warner Bros. | "Listening Parlour"
23. "I'm Set Free" | The New Fast Automatic Daffodils | Heaven and Hell Volume 3 | Imaginary
24. "Sister Ray" | Joy Division | Still | Rhino

next time: a technophobe and a space dog. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

U_D_M, Transmission 1: 2013 August 30

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:

1. "Eve ov Destruction" | Psychic TV | Love War Riot | Temple
2. "Mental Disorder" | The Same | Fungeez | Infine
3. "Kyra's Vowels" | Thee Headcoatees | Taylor Meets Thee Headcoatees | Lissy's
4. "City of Dreadful Night" | Sandoz | Digital Life Time | Intone
5. "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" | The Darkness vs SFB | I Believe in a Thing Called Love | Not on label (SFB Remix Series)
6. "Fatal Attraction" | Mark Stewart | International | Mute
7. "Sunkissed Shak" | Taron-Trekka | The Trekkas Shak Phase | Freude Am Tanzen
8. "Trinity" | Adam Johnson | Chigliak | Merck

next time: more hypnotic diversions from the mundane.

Weird Party Aftermath: Transmission 68, 2013 October 23

As I say in one of this episode's voice-overs, a few of these tunes might have been more timely had I played them closer to Halloween. However, segues trump everything else--even if "Elvis Costello into Jawbox" was not the best idea ever--and BOMBAST has an uneasy relationship with time. Also, as we all know by now, history and death have intervened, so the show that airs the night before Halloween will be one of those "theme" programs.

The other day I was just helping someone brush up on their board training, and I said that the thing I like about live radio is the feeling that something could go wrong at any minute. And yet I kick myself over the mistakes that dog my program. I will have to work on this. At any rate: yes, I give out an incorrect phone number at the beginning; yes, I botch the Talking Heads segue; yes, I stumble over words; yes, I forget how the Legendary Pink Dots song ends; yes, I allow the computer to play a timed ID and a shuffle track [which would have made a good segue, btw] alongside the program's final song. This kind of thing added to John Peel's charm. Is it wrong of me to lament that it doesn't add to mine?

One positive takeaway is that Catharsis Junior was pleased to have the opportunity to say "Shut Up!" Daddy's girl.

BOMBAST playlist, 2013 October 23, 2100-2300:

1. "Switchblade" | The Mono Men | Shut Up! | Estrus | "Physical Evidence"
2. "Mr Evil" | Live Skull | EP | Desire
3. "Something To Be Done" | Master Plan Inc. | Something To Be Done | Soul Spectrum
4. "Somebody to Love" | Kyrill & Redford | Somebody | Burlesque
5. "I Think I Love You" | The Partridge Family | The Partridge Family Album | Bell | "Listening Parlour"
6. "Little Miss 3-B" | The Mono Men | Shut Up! | Estrus | "Physical Evidence"
7. "Magnetic Ribbons - Mollono.Bass Remix" | Marcus Sur | Zachow | Acker
8. "Lesbian Wife" | Scott & Charlene's Wedding | Any Port in a Storm | Fire
9. "Wrecker!" | The Mono Men | Shut Up! | Estrus | "Physical Evidence"
10. "Spirit - Prins Thomas Diskomiks Remix" | Frederic Mercier | Cosmic Machine (Remixes) | Because
11. "Phantom on Lane 12" | The Mono Men | Shut Up! | Estrus | "Physical Evidence"
12. "Night of the Vampire" | Roky Erickson | Gremlins Have Pictures | Light in the Attic
13. "Mirage" | New World | Night Stalker | Riotvan
14. "Haunt / Alive" | Whore Paint | Swallow My Bones | Load
15. "Reset" | The Mono Men | Shut Up! | Estrus | "Physical Evidence"
16. "Private Drive" | Few Nolder | Private Drive | Best Kept Secret
17. "I Zimbra" | Talking Heads | Fear of Music | Sire - Rhino
18. "Baby It's You" | Nick Lowe & Elvis Costello | Out of Our Idiot | Demon | "Listening Parlour"
19. "Freezerburn" | Jawbox | Grippe | Dischord
20. "Warm Piston" | The Mono Men | Shut Up! | Estrus | "Physical Evidence"
21. "Julie With" | Brian Eno | Before and After Science | Virgin Japan
22. "The Region Beyond" | The Legendary Pink Dots | The Whispering Wall | self-released
23. "Rumble" | Thee Mighty Caesars | Beware the Ides of March | Damaged Goods
24. "The Juice" | Causa Sui | Euporie Tide | El Paraiso
25. "Henderson Island" | Saroos | Return | Alien Transistor
26. "Rumble" | The Mono Men | Shut Up! | Estrus | "Physical Evidence"

next time: Velvety versions, and the usual. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

The Hall of Legends - The Dub Syndicate: Transmission 67, 2013 October 19

We herewith induct The Dub Syndicate into the BOMBAST Hall of Legends, where they join 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]. Here is a hastily-assembled program, thrown together on account of DJ Helen Stride's sudden illness. As I mention during the show, it's been a while since I've done this sort of thing. The madness of this past summer exhausted my "reserve" of tunes, at least those which had been sorted into "coherent" programs [LOL-ed.]. The Dub Syndicate are definitely Hall-worthy and were very much in the proverbial pipeline for induction. It was a good night for dub--when is it not?--so when opportunity knocked, I opened the door.

I'ma go off on a tangent for a sec., but I'll return to the point soon enough. I don't know if this "Arthur Parker" fellow who wrote the liner notes for Lonely Is An Eyesore was really Tom Friedman in disguise, but sure enough, he deploys a fictional "cab driver" to share this bit of wisdom: "The only incandescent pearls of light within a mile radius of the Cocteau Twins...are in their music. Not your gob, mine, or anyone else's." I was recently reminded by Rudy Tambala that this is true of any great band. SO--getting back on topic--I have nothing to say regarding The Dub Syndicate's music that the music can't tell you itself. I'm happy to reiterate, perhaps needlessly, that L.V. "Style" Scott is an absolute monster drummer, and that I can't think of any percussionist-led bands that are even in The Dub Syndicate's league. [Sorry, Genesis and Rush fans.] Come to think of it, African Head Charge is close at hand, but that's another program for another day.

Anyway, my life would be much emptier had I not stumbled upon Tunes From the Missing Channel in my local record store, during my first term at college. "Friend of Bombast" Mr. D will attest that we used to blast "Ravi Shankar" and "The Show is Coming" from our dorm room, much to the consternation of the Eddie Money and Van Halen fans living close by. When I attend a party, I usually arrive late, and this case is no exception: TFTMC was my first On-U Sound record, and what a gateway it proved to be. The Pounding System seemed like ancient history then, but still sounds like the future now. As do the other Dub Syndicate records. So much for not saying anything.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've figured out something about the Hall of Legends. Would you like to know what that is? Of course you would. It struck me, around the time of our last induction, that we had played about 800 different musical acts on the program, and that we had inducted 8 acts into the Hall. That seems to me a good ratio. And here we are, on our ninth induction, having played about 900 different musical acts at this point. [If we're not careful, we'll break the 1000-act barrier before the show's first birthday--how great does that "anti-rotation policy" look now?] Bill James has observed that roughly 1 out of every 10 plate appearances in the history of Major League Baseball have been taken by a Hall of Fame player, so let no one accuse us of having low standards. At any rate, doing an induction special at or around the time we pass each of these milestones feels about right. Bombast: a program for the musical 1%.

Also--I was excited to receive, around the time of our last induction, our first listener nomination for the Hall of Legends. How awesome is that? Very awesome IMO. I won't give it away, but let's just say the label which released this act's records begins with "4" and ends with "AD." And not one of the obvious choices either. Anyway, that is a thing that will happen sooner or later--probably later, as I am hoping to digest this book before going down that path again, and I don't want to be pigeonholed as "that guy" who rhapsodizes about all "those bands." We are mostly a "current music" program, after all.

That said, Dub Syndicate, you're still going, right? Feel free to swing through Ithaca, anytime.

BOMBAST playlist, 2013 October 19, 2000-2200:

1. "Train to Doomsville" | Lee Perry & Dub Syndicate | Pay It All Back Volume 2 | On-U Sound - Nettwerk
2. "Humourless Journalist Works to Rules" | The Dub Syndicate | The Pounding System | On-U Sound
3. "10K at 0 VU - 60Hz - Mind Boggles!" | The Dub Syndicate | The Pounding System | On-U Sound
4. "Stoned Immaculate" | The Dub Syndicate | Stoned Immaculate | On-U Sound
5. "Lighthouse" | The Dub Syndicate | Night Train | Industrie Discografiche Lacerba
6. "Chapter 4" | The Dub Syndicate | Pay It All Back Volume 4 | On-U Sound
7. "The Precinct of Sound" | The Dub Syndicate | Classic Selection Volume 2 | On-U Sound
8. "African Landing" | The Dub Syndicate | Murder Tone | On-U Sound
9. "Haunting Ground" | The Dub Syndicate | Pay It All Back Volume 2 | On-U Sound - Nettwerk
10. "Ravi Shankar" | The Dub Syndicate | Live At The T + C - 1991 | On-U Sound
11. "93 Struggle" | The Dub Syndicate | Echomania | On-U Sound
12. "Shout It Out" | The Dub Syndicate | Strike the Balance | On-U Sound
13. "The Show Is Coming" | The Dub Syndicate | Tunes from the Missing Channel | On-U Sound
14. "Can't Stop Dancing" | The Dub Syndicate | Classic Selection Volume 2 | On-U Sound
15. "Mafia" | The Dub Syndicate | Strike the Balance | On-U Sound
16. "Man of Mystery" | Dr. Pablo & The Dub Syndicate | North of the River Thames | On-U Sound
17. "Dr. Who?" | Dr. Pablo & The Dub Syndicate | North of the River Thames | On-U Sound
18. "Vibrate On" | Lee "Scratch" Perry | From My Secret Laboratory | Island Jamaica
19. "Over Board" | The Dub Syndicate | Tunes from the Missing Channel | On-U Sound
20. "Forever More" | The Dub Syndicate | Tunes from the Missing Channel | On-U Sound
21. "2001 Love" | The Dub Syndicate | Echomania | On-U Sound
22. "I'm the Man for You Baby" | The Dub Syndicate | Strike the Balance | On-U Sound

next time: shutting [TF] up. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis