radiobombast

To Please Is a Curse: Transmission 46, 2013 July 18

Hall of Legends inductees The Fall make their first appearance in the "Physical Evidence" segment with an EP that serves no apparent purpose. Elsewhere, I get the Kenyan stuff out of my system. Almost. Anyway, there is a lot of that. In other words, we are all over the map, if "being mostly in two places" is an acceptable meaning of that phrase.

I should have known better than to take on a program hard on the heels of my regular show, but there I was, at the controls, a mere 24 hours later. Not that this show was less than good--it turned out, on review, better than I remembered it--but (a) I got really tired in the last half-hour and (b) I'm starting to have dreams about doing radio, you guys. This latter development is not good.

The stack of "mix tapes" is growing, which I suppose is a benefit, but radio is giving me feelings, you guys, which are not so great. I will have to find a balance between "doing as much as I can while I can" and actually appreciating each program. Experience tells me that I won't, but that doesn't mean I don't have to. Anything is better than letting my mouth run during the voiceovers and saying ominous things like "it's alright when the records are spinning," or whatever Pagliaci-like statement I let slip. Yikes!

At any rate, this show does answer a pressing question: Does vintage Fall make for a good segue into and out of African music? No, not exactly! As Don Miguel Ruiz would say, everyone is doing their best all the time.

BOMBAST playlist, 2013 July 18-19, 2300-0100:

1. Four Tet: "Pinnacles" [Text]
2. Ambrose Campbell: "Ashiko Rhythm" [Honest Jon's]
3. Russ Henderson: "West Indian Drums" [Honest Jon's]
4. The Fall: "Kimble" [Strange Fruit] / "Physical Evidence"
5. The Mombasa Vikings: "Mama Matotoya" [Soundway]
6. Springintgut: "Incentive Pizzicato - Icarus Remix" [Pingipung]
7. Mbiri Young Stars: "Ndiri Ndanogio Niwe" [Soundway]
8. Mount Kimbie: "Break Well" [Warp]
9. Estrangers: "Hold Me Close (l'Inverno)" [Phuzz]
10. Orchestre Veve Star: "Nitarudia" [Soundway]
11. Nairobi Matata Jazz: "Tamba Tamba" [Soundway]
12. The Fall: "C'n'C Hassle Schmuk" [Strange Fruit] / "Physical Evidence"
13. Gatanga Boys Band: "Tiga Kudenga - Hide & Smile Edit" [Soundway]
14. Kalambya Boys: "Kivelenge - Busy Twist Remix" [Soundway]
15. Enoch & Christy Mensah: "Daikuku Dum" [Honest Jon's]
16. The Fall: "Words of Expectation" [Strange Fruit] / "Physical Evidence"
17. Slim Ali and The Famous Hodi Boys: "Watoto Nyara" [Soundway]
18. The Fall: "Spoilt Victorian Child" [Strange Fruit] / "Physical Evidence"
19. Bibio: "Mirroring All" [Warp]
20. Alessandro Cortini: "Gloria" [Important]

next time: we are merely fortunate there is a next time. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

A Guy Called Destruction: Transmission 45, 2013 July 17

Our return to Wednesday night is marked by the first appearance of Biff Bang Pow! on the program. Also, Lady Catharsis re-enters the picture, bringing with her a couple of "latin" -eqsue -ish tunes, sort of. Elsewhere, there's a bunch of Kenyan stuff--I told you that Kenya Special was great--as well as new tunes by Franck Roger, Part Time, H-SIK, and the "criminally underplayed" Survival.

It felt a little old-school as I botched a bunch of things--totally blanking on DJ Sean's name, identifying the band behind "So Many Times, So Many Ways" as "Mount Kimble," and mistaking "Thriller," a mere song on that John Hughes Daydream record, for the album title. At least I confessed to some "lazy research" on Cheick Hamala Diabate, so my incompetence is honest in spirit. Oh, and the 13 seconds of dead air prior to that Biff Bang Pow! track? Just a side-effect of how I earned my nickname for the evening. Nothing to see here.

BOMBAST playlist, 2013 July 17, 2100-2300:

1. Franck Roger: "Calixto" [Circus Company]
2. Biff Bang Pow!: "In a Mourning Town" [Creation] / "Physical Evidence"
3. Nairobi Matata Jazz: Mapenzi Hayana Daktari - Frankie Francis Edit" [Soundway]
4. Halo Halo: "Wooden Box" [Upset the Rhythm]
5. Burial + Four Tet: "Moth" [Text]
6. Rans Bol's Ghana Highlife Band: "Gbonimawo" [Honest Jon's]
7. Bomba Estero: "Pa' Respirar" [Soundway]
8. Mariachi El Bronx: "Everything Dies" [ATO] / "Listening Parlour"
9. Sweet Breeze: "Miss Patience (Without Patience)" [Tembo]
10. Biff Bang Pow!: "7 Seconds" [Creation] / "Physical Evidence"
11. H-SIK: "No Promises" [Black Acre]
12. Marty Robbins: "El Paso" [Columbia] / "Listening Parlour"
13. Biff Bang Pow!: "A Girl Called Destruction" [Creation] / "Physical Evidence"
14. Sophia Ben & The Eagles Lupopo: "See Serere" [Soundway]
15. Sagat: "Port" [Vlek]
16. The Rift Valley Brothers: "Mu Africa" [Soundway]
17. Survival: "Original Pain" [Thrill Jockey]
18. Biff Bang Pow!: "Baby Sister" [Creation] / "Physical Evidence"
19. Slava: "Crazy Bout U" [Software]
20. Cheick Hamala Diabate: "Fatou Kounkoun Sissoko (Sol Power All Stars Mix)" [Electric Cowbell]
21. Andy Cato: " Palermo By Night" [R & S / Apollo]
22. John Hughes Daydream: "7th Wave" [Cut Mistake]
23. Mount Kimbie: "So Many Times, So Many Ways" [Warp]
24. Biff Bang Pow!: "I'm Still Waiting for My Time" [Creation] / "Physical Evidence"
25. Part Time: "I Want to Go" [Mexican Summer]

next time: if we carry on like this, we'll end up like King Crimson. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

I Know You Can See My Real Thoughts*: Transmission 44, 2013 July 13

This is the program that was supposed to air on Wednesday the 10th, but was cancelled at the last minute. I don't think many changes were made, and if they were, I don't remember what they were. It was a "terrible evening" due to the George Zimmerman verdict, the news of which came in less than an hour before showtime if I remember correctly. "How do I deal with this," I wondered. The same way Bombast deals with everything--by remembering it's not a show about anything generally regarded as important.



It is uncanny how a couple of songs seem to speak to the moment, but that's purely accidental.

This program strikes me as one of the better shows I've done, a delicious mint after an awful meal of a week.

BOMBAST PLAYLIST, 2013 JULY 13-14, 2300-0100:

1. Traams: "Sit Up" [self-released]
2. Bibio: "Business Park" [Warp]
3. Clouds: "Roche Lobe (System)" [Turbo]
4. The Loi-Toki-Tok: "Leta Ngoma" [Soundway]
5. Dead Confederate: "Bleed-Through" [Spiderbomb]
6. Der Dritte Raum: "Morgenland" [Der Dritte Raum]
7. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: "City of Refuge (acoustic)" [Mute] / "Listening Parlour"
8. Elvis Costello & The Imposters: "The Monkey" [Lost Highway]
9. Clue Kid: "Rainy Street Light" [Box Clever]
10. Springintgut: "Bangalore Kids" [Pingipung]
11. Daphne: "Ye Ye" [Text]
12. Peter Buck: "You Must Fight to Live on the Planet of the Apes" [Mississippi / Change] / "Physical Evidence"
13. Nashil Pichen & The Eagles Lupopo: "Ng'ong'a Wa Mwanjalo" [Soundway]
14. TG Mauss: "Welcome" [Karaoke Kalk]
15. Vikki Carr: "It Must Be Him" [United Artists] / "Listening Parlour"
16. Hafusa Abasi & Slim Ali with the Yahoos Band: "Sina Raha" [Soundway]
17. Claudio Fabrianesi: "Cosmic Kabul" [Wonder Wet]
18. Coliseum: "They Call Her One Eye" [No Idea]
19. Housemeister: "Paris" [Boysnoize]
20. Melvins: "Best Friend" [Ipecac]
21. Sky Hi: "Funk Til Dawn" [G.E.D. Soul]
22. Meridian Brothers: "Niebla Morada - Purple Haze" [Soundway]
23. Simian Mobile Disco: "Interference (live)" [Delicacies]
24. Snow Ghosts: "Ropery" [Houndstooth]
25. Peter Buck: "The Monkey Speaks His Mind" [Mississippi / Change] / "Physical Evidence"
26. Shortcircles: "You Will Carry This With You Forever (reprise)" [Plug Research]

next time: I've seen destruction from here to there. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

*meow, meow, meow, meow.

I Was Born on My Way to the Sun: Transmission 43, 2013 July 6

I don't even remember why this particular program happened, but it did. Another "Test Pattern" provides another opportunity to play out my hypothesis that most Cabaret Voltaire music works best around midnight or later. I am so excited to play them that I almost slip in an extra track at the end.

Something was wrong with our studio mic channels for about 3 days, this being one of them. Fortunately, distortion is a kind of compression, so that cut down on the amount of editing I had to do! I am hoping you will find the results "artistic" and in perfect keeping with the drum sound on those Bass Drum of Death and Cabaret Voltaire records.

So, you are thinking--who am I kidding, you are not thinking this--what took him so long to post this if he didn't even have to work on the file? It's been a week full of problems, yo! We had to miss our time slot on Wednesday the 10th, for reasons that have fortunately resolved themselves, and a whole bunch of other stuff happened.

Among the "other stuff" were three "moments of clarity" I had--one was actually Saturday evening, prior to this broadcast, when I found myself wondering why I was going to the trouble of putting a show together. I think maybe I am doing too much radio and it is producing a diminishing return of enjoyment. Seems early to be feeling this, but it is a real thing that happened.

Another came on Monday when I realized that I'd more or less blown up the Internet by talking to Dif Juz and, through the magic of "Six Degrees" and hyperlinks, managed to generate some time-delayed negativity for a third party--I know, right? Drama? Me? That again made me wonder where all of this was going.

Finally, when I had to cancel Wednesday night's show and the world didn't stop spinning, I sort of put these three moments together, feeling that this project is of dubious, limited benefit and, because of the person running it, always a step away from potential harm.

I'll let you in on something. Early on I discovered that, aside from being a kind of therapy, this radio/blog project could help me learn things about human interaction that I'd never figured out [for whatever reason--laziness, Asperger's, misanthropy, etc.]. COULD. It's not working out quite that way, perhaps because I am too lazy to put the work in, perhaps because I am a bad learner, perhaps because they are not "things" to be "learned." I don't know.

I hope everyone realizes that these posts are mostly for me, one way or another--either they serve as a journal of something nice that happened for me, or they serve as a reminder of me after I'm gone. It's nice that a couple of people have read one or two of these along the way. I'm grateful for the attention because I'm needy like that. But ultimately it doesn't matter. It's great that you're here, it's cool that you're reading this, but you can always just "PageDn" until you hit the sound file, or subscribe on iTunes where you don't have to read a thing, if you prefer. I don't want to impose.

Existential crises aside, I don't feel like this is finished, even if "this" is just a stupid music program. It keeps rolling on, which is alright for now. I don't want to jinx it, so I will accept it as a gift. I am not sure what else to do. Maybe endeavor to be more careful with words. Or maybe use fewer. I know, I know.

BOMBAST playlist, 2013 July 6-7, 2300-0100

1. Twin Tigers: "Blackmail" [Old Flame]
2. Semi-Colon: "Ebenebe" [Comb & Razor]
3. Pantaleimon: "Morning Star" [Grass Girl]
4. Dub Spencer & Trance Hill: "Goboi" [Echo Beach]
5. Huruma Boys Band: "Teresia" [Soundway]
6. Cabaret Voltaire: "Hells Home" [Some Bizarre / Virgin] / "Physical Evidence"
7. Nadine Shah: "Cry Me a River" [R & S / Apollo]
8. Gatanga Boys Band: "Wendo Ti Mbia" [Soundway]
9. Cabaret Voltaire: "Whip Blow" [Some Bizarre / Virgin] / "Physical Evidence"
10. Kinski: "Conflict Free Diamonds" [Kill Rock Stars]
11. Bass Drum of Death: "Shattered Me" [Innovative Leisure]
12. The Chameleons: "Nathan's Phase" [Blue Apple]
13. Siriusmo: "Itchy" [Monkeytown]
14. Ripperton: "No More Airplanes" [Green]
15. David August: "Watch Your Step" [DIYNamic]
16. Boom Bip & Charlie White: "Georgia" [Lex]
17. Cabaret Voltaire: "Golden Halos" [Some Bizarre / Virgin] / "Physical Evidence"
18. Big Star: "Kanga Roo - Rough Mix/1974" [Omnivore]
19. This Mortal Coil: "Kangaroo (7 inch)" [4AD]
20. Thee Spivs: "Social Network" [Damaged Goods]
21. The Lulus Band: "Nana" [Soundway]
22. Cyanide Pills: "Johnny Thunders Lived in Leeds" [Damaged Goods]
23. Winston Edwards, Blackbeard: "Airport Smuggling" [Studio 16]
24. Morphosis: "Music for Vampyr: (iii) Finale" [Honest Jon's]
25. Cabaret Voltaire: "The Arm of the Lord" [Some Bizarre / Virgin] / "Physical Evidence"
26. oOoOO: "5:51 AM" [Nihjgt Feelings]

next time: you must fight to live. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

p.s. Hey Yo--I had meant to say something about how incredible Nadine Shah's music is, but there was no context for such a statement. Here it is. It's incredible. Pay attention.

Nostalgia for What's Happening Now: Transmission 42, 2013 July 3

While every Bombast episode is a special snowflake, it is back to "normal" this week as I don't have a Hall of Legends induction or a celebrity interview to offer. This program features the usual assortment of tunes, plus a couple of tributes to people who will be missed, musically speaking and otherwise. Also, Lady Catharsis returns with a couple of "Listening Parlour" selections.

As summer rolls on, I am trying to schedule and work on some other "special" things for the program. I have verbal commitments from a couple of local bands to come on the program and perform live, and I have a few more Hall inductions in the proverbial pipeline. Scheduling the bands is proving to be a challenge--these people have the gall to invoke their "actual lives" as reasons not to come on the show at the drop of a hat.

Are you in the listening area for our terrestrial transmitters? Do you make music? Would your music "make sense" on Bombast? Are you not in possession of a life, and therefore reasonably available? Get in touch with me. You can write me a message here, at this site, or on Facebook, or through regular email at utz@ithacaradio.org. Synth duos especially welcome! Our control room is small and can't reasonably fit more than three persons with instruments. So drum machines, samplers, keyboards, and laptops are, as always, highly desirable.

BOMBAST playlist, 2013 July 3, 2100-2300:

1. Twin Tigers: "Opana" [Old Flame]
2. Hobo: "Incise" [Minus]
3. Pulshar: "Different Drum" [Desolat]
4. Amayenge: "Chibuyubuyu" [Strange Fruit] / "Physical Evidence"
5. Ejeca: "Acrobat - Eric Volta Does His Own Thing Remix" [Lokee]
6. Roedelius Schneider: "Frankly" [Bureau B]
7. The Purrs: "Cemetery Johnny" [Fin]
8. The Monkees: "Zilch / No Time" [Colgems] / "Listening Parlour"
9. Cyanide Pills: "Lock Up Dub" [Damaged Goods]
10. Lansing-Dreiden: "II" [Mexican Summer]
11. Bo Diddley: "Pills" [Chess / MCA]
12. The Mantles: "Shadow of Your Step" [Slumberland]
13. Amayenge: "Filiukotuleya" [Strange Fruit] / "Physical Evidence"
14. Kölsch: "Wasserschutz" [Kompakt]
15. Beach Day: "Trip Trap Attack" [Kanine]
16. Devo: "Uncontrollable Urge (live)" [A & M]
17. The Lurkers: "Pills" [Beggars Banquet]
18. Wild Billy Chyldish / CTMF: "Musical Tribalist" [Damaged Goods]
19. Airhead: "Lightmeters" [R & S]
20. Lemuria: "Clay Baby" [Bridge Nine]
21. OMD: "Genetic Engineering" [Virgin] / "Listening Parlour"
22. Scarper!: "Surfing the Cosmic Belt" [Plexus]
23. Natasha Kmeto: "Buried" [Dropping Gems]
24. Amayenge: "Free Nelson Mandela" [Strange Fruit] / "Physical Evidence"
25. The Mole: "Interlude to Love" [Maybe Tomorrow]
26. David August: "Voices from the Dust" [DIYNamic]
27. The Grips: "Fancy Roll" [G.E.D. Soul]
28. Franck Roger: "This World Don't Go Round" [Circus Company]

next time: another "Test Pattern." Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

The Hall of Legends - Dif Juz: Transmission 41, 2013 June 26

We herewith induct Dif Juz into the Bombast Hall of Legends, where they join The Fall, Stereolab, Billy Childish, Coil, and Prince Far I. Tonight's special program is a confluence of two things--it's the first induction of a living artist since before I got the idea for "Physical Evidence," and it's the first time I got the huevos to interview somebody. Needless to say, we raise the bar with this episode.

True confession: I was in a band once. I think my partner would agree that we had more ideas than skill. But we of course made tapes, and of course sent them off to record labels we happened to like. One of these was 4AD.

It took forever, it seemed, for us to hear back. The answer, from all quarters, was "no." College ended, we went our separate ways (we're still friends), I stopped deejaying so that I could travel the path to academic disgrace, and I didn't have occasion to communicate with a record label for over 20 years.

Fast forward to 2013. I have this fledgling radio program on a small station, with a weekly feature called "Physical Evidence" [explained here]. I'm itching to play "Who Says So," by Dif Juz, on the feature, but I have a small problem. In 26 years of hearing the band's music I have never actually known how to pronounce their name.

At first, back in the day, I thought "Juz" was pronounced a bit like "jugs," but then talked myself out of that because it didn't make sense. "It has to sound like 'diffuse,'" I concluded--wrongly, as it turns out.

Anyway, wanting to minimize the amount of time I spend sounding foolish on air, it just struck me that I could ask the question and maybe get the correct answer. This is actually a hard thing for me to do, being naturally quite introverted. I am much more inclined to do third-party research, and had there been a definitive answer on the internet, or a YouTube interview or something, this exact program never would have happened.*

But of course no such answer is available. So one day I just said "fuck it" and wrote to 4AD, thinking, "the worst thing that can happen is that they don't forward this and don't write back," but also, "if any band member gets in touch with me I'm going to turn this into a full-blown thing." Within a couple of hours Gary Bromley wrote back, and everything proceeded from there.

I'll say more about the actual interviews when I post them, but both Gary and Richie were very gracious and funny, and extremely generous with their time, and I'm grateful for that. Gary really opened up to me about his personal issues during the last days of the band, and Richie provided some exclusive pieces of music. So this is a special, special program. I don't know how I'm going to top it.

Anyway, the music--as I say on the program, I didn't hear Dif Juz until the very end, maybe even after the fact. [Apparently it's an anniversary of sorts--it was right around this time, in 1987, that the "Lonely Is An Eyesore" comp was released.] I was compelled to go backwards in time through the band's catalogue and have been hooked ever since.

There's a wealth of great music "on display" in the program, plenty more that I didn't have time to play, and still more in the band's possession [and in the 4AD vault] waiting to be heard. As Richie Thomas says, you let the music speak for itself, so I'm pretty much going to do that here with the records I have. I can't make a better case than the musicians do themselves.

I will soon post links to the full interviews with Gary and Richie--I was able to use only a fraction of what they gave me, and there's a surplus of good stuff. But I've got to get those files sounding a little better, which will take a bit of time.

BOMBAST playlist, 2013 June 26, 2100-2300:

all songs by Dif Juz; format = "Title" [Record, Label]

1. "HU" [Huremics, 4AD]
2. "RE" [Huremics, 4AD]
3. "Soarn" [Vibrating Air, 4AD]
4. "Gunet" [Vibrating Air, 4AD]
5. "Roy's Tray" [Who Says So?, Red Flame]
6. "So Shy" [Who Says So?, Red Flame]
7. "Song With No Name" [Who Says So?, Red Flame]
8. "Tabla Piece" [Who Says So?, Red Flame]
9. "SWNN Part 2" [Who Says So?, Red Flame]
10. "Pass It On Charlie" [Who Says So?, Red Flame]
11. "Channel" [Who Says So?, Red Flame]
12. "The Dub Song" [Who Says So?, Red Flame]
13. "Twin and Earth" [Extractions, 4AD]
14. "Two Fine Days (And a Thunderstorm)" [Extractions, 4AD]
15. "The Good the Bad the Ugly ('Heset' detail)" [Time Clock Turn Back, Pleasantly Surprised--underscoring interview]
16. "No Motion" [Lonely Is An Eyesore compilation, 4AD]
17. "Trance" [Time Clock Turn Back, Pleasantly Surprised--underscoring interview]
18. "The Dub Song" [unreleased live recording]
19. "'Rainbow' Theme / HU" [unreleased live recording]

next time--the inevitable letdown of a "regular" Bombast. Enjoy this music. I mean it. --kid catharsis

* Dif Juz are an awesome band and worthy Hall of Legends inductees but there isn't that much of their music available. Even Richie Thomas was surprised I was devoting two hours to it.

Also: full Gary Bromley interview available here, and full Richie Thomas interview here.

Drown the World In Astral Fire: Transmission 40, 2013 June 19

One good show is a blip; two in a row is a pattern. We live in hope. It was an unseasonably cool evening, but nevertheless the summer solstice was upon us. Hall of Legends inductees Coil are not for the weak, especially with tonight's record, but they have a strange knack of going well with other things.

The current interface of my podcast site forces me to be brief, and somewhat spontaneous, for which I suspect you are grateful. Anyway, for a while I had gotten away from listening to my shows after the fact, just going over the talking bits and skipping past the music. The last couple of weeks I have gone for the full package. This is a good show, you guys. I do good shows on occasion. The "rock" bits are perhaps a bit less integrated than I would hope--good thing I describe this program as a "trail mix"--but things get weird and interesting in the second hour. I would listen to this even if I weren't doing the program myself.

That said, I wish all my voiceovers could be as focused and error-free as the last one. That is a constant struggle.

Hey, speaking of the Hall of Legends, tune in at 9 pm EDT on Wednesday, the 26th for our newest induction: DIF JUZ.

BOMBAST playlist, 2013 June 19, 2100-2300:

1. Caveman: "Pricey" [Fat Possum]
2. Coil: "Bee Stings" [Eskaton] / "Physical Evidence"
3. Daega Sound: "Fox Wing" [Black Box]
4. Kick 'Em Jenny: "Stressed Up" [BBE]
5. Throwing Muses: "Him Dancing" [4AD / Sire] / "Listening Parlour"
6. Stefan Vincent: "Fool Me Again" [Balans]
7. Glimpse: "L Plate" [Aus]
8. Moonlighters: "Broken Heart" [BBE]
9. Coil: "Glowworms / Waveforms" [Eskaton] / "Physical Evidence"
10. Estrangers: "Moonraker" [Phuzz Sounds]
11. Siriusmo: "Doctor Beak" [Monkeytown]
12. The Chameleons: "The Fan and the Bellows" [Blue Apple]
13. Gold Panda: "Flinton" [Ghostly International]
14. Coil: "Summer Substructures" [Eskaton] / "Physical Evidence"
15. Carlos and the Bandidos: "Fever" [BBE]
16. X: "Wild Thing" [Elektra] / "Listening Parlour"
17. Troller: "__" Handmade Birds
18. Nhar: "They Are Painted Augurs" [Boxer]
19. The Orb featuring Lee "Scratch" Perry: "No Ice Age" [Cooking Vinyl]
20. Coil: "A Warning from the Sun (for Fritz)" [Eskaton] / "Physical Evidence"
21. Sonny & The Sunsets: "Green Blood" [Polyvinyl]
22. The Flaming Stars: "Broken Heart" [Vinyl Japan]
23. Ana Helder: "Puqui" [Comeme]
24. Mathew Jonson: "Metropolis" [Minus]

next time: vibrating air and songs with no name--Dif Juz enshrined. enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

In Satisfaction of Every Outrage: Transmission 39, 2013 June 15

This program took place very late at night (for me) after a very long day, and (apparently) sounds it. What was originally meant to be an "overflow" program (this is, nominally, "Test Pattern" and not the weekly "Bombast") turned out to be more or less a "current" selection. My standing plan to play Cabaret Voltaire was given added impetus by news of the massive reissues to come later this year. Here is a thing at which I am trying to improve, for other people's sake if not my own: the time-appropriateness of music. I have done mid-afternoon, "prime time," and late-night programs at WRFI; I would guess that, back in the day, I did live radio during every possible 3-hour block of time at some point. I realize that people have "ideas" about what kind of music "works" at various times, but I have long been an "industrial music in the morning" type. Alright, that's not a type, it's just me, apparently, but the point is that I don't share these "ideas." Or haven't. I might be getting more conventional as I age, but certain things are starting to "feel" better to me at certain hours. One reason I wanted to move back to evenings is that I felt restricted by the 3-5pm Saturday time slot. Some tracks didn't seem "right" for that program, for reasons I can't articulate, and they do seem "right" for 9-11pm. You get the picture. Is there music that doesn't seem appropriate before 11pm but does hit the spot afterwards? I have written before of Cabaret Voltaire's "late night ambiance," and I play what I think are some "after hours" sounds from The Crackdown--but otherwise I am not sure that this program "obeys the time" any more than usual. Nevertheless it was a nice "palette cleanser" after my troubled Wednesday night program. After the program I heard from two of my biggest fans. I am of course referring to the Senior Catharses. They informed me, variously, that I sounded "tired" during this program [due to my shallowness of affect, it's hard to tell, but I guess things do sound "different" in the second hour] and that my program made good underscoring while they watched Suze Orman. I do strive to be useful. BOMBAST playlist, 2013 June 15-16, 2300-0100:

1. Horace Andy: "Natural Mystic" [Clocktower]
2. Cabaret Voltaire: "24-24" [Some Bizarre / Virgin] / "Physical Evidence"
3. Dub Spencer & Trance Hill: "Black Princess Lady" [Echo Beach]
4. Marnie Stern: "Immortals" [Kill Rock Stars]
5. Wareika Hill Sounds: "No More War" [Honest Jon's]
6. Wild Billy Chyldish & The Spartan Dreggs: "Feuds and Fuss of Dancing Kings" [Damaged Goods]
7. Kinski: "riffDAD" [Kill Rock Stars]
8. Winston Edwards and Blackbeard: "Hyde Park Corner Investigation" [Studio 16]
9. Gems: "Where Gary" [Don't Be a Lout]
10. Cabaret Voltaire: "In the Shadows" [Some Bizarre / Virgin] / "Physical Evidence"
11. Colomach: "Cotocun Gba Gounke" [Soundway]
12. Simian Mobile Disco: "Wooden" [Delicacies]
13. Kalambya Boys: "Kivelenge" [Soundway]
14. Cabaret Voltaire: "Haiti" [Some Bizarre / Virgin] / "Physical Evidence"
15. Little Big Orchestra: "Toys and Diamonds" [Good Ratio]
16. Semi-Colon: "Isi Agboncha" [Comb & Razor]
17. Klaus Dinger & Japandorf: "Udon" [Gronland]
18. Cabaret Voltaire: "Diskono" [Some Bizarre / Virgin] / "Physical Evidence"
19. Boom Bip & Charlie White: "Mik & Mel" [Lex]
20. Springintgut: "Where We Need No Map" [Pingipung]
21. Date Palms: "Night Riding the Skyline" [Thrill Jockey]
22. No Joy: "Lunar Phobia" [Kemado / Mexican Summer]

next time: warnings from the sun. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

What It Means To Go Home from an Evening: Transmission 38, 2013 June 12

Things had been going well in il mondo Bumbastico, so I guess I should feel "grateful" for the dose of humility that this program administered. Awkwardness and mistakes are plentiful. I played an extra song by Sugar; the segue from CLOSE to "Panama City Motel" was surprisingly nice, although the segue out of that unplanned Sugar song was a trainwreck. Also, I forgot Junior's short "Physical Evidence" intros on three of the Greg Foat tracks. Good thing there's quality music for you to hear. The program isn't nearly so bad when the songs are playing, and not nearly as bad as it felt in real time. There is a problem that has plagued me for as long as I can remember: what to do about other people. Not being John Galt, I depend on them. But I seldom enjoy myself around them. Frequently I must venture into the world and engage with them, but I treasure the times when I don't face that burden. It's no joke when I say on the program that I enjoy the separation between myself and my listeners. In the control room, I am comfortable flying solo much of the time, but during fundraising we are "encouraged" (not ironic quotation marks, just a literal quote) to request money on air with the aid of a co-pilot--because in someone's mind it "sounds better" when two people do it. Here's the thing, and I write this knowing my cyber-stalker is visiting, so I know I risk a lecture or something: things that "sound better" in someone's mind than the thing I would rather hear or do almost never deliver on their promises. If there's a thing I want to happen, and someone else says, "this other thing sounds better," I just know there's a letdown ahead. This particular thing--two hosts instead of one--is an aesthetic choice, and a subjective choice, sort of like saying "an accordion sounds better than a clarinet." I don't have a particular stand on these instruments, but I feel like I'm standing on pretty solid ground saying that a great clarinet player is going to produce better music than a lousy accordionist, and that asking the clarinettist to produce greatness from the accordion is a misplaced hope. Anyway, being a "team player," I put out a call for a cohost for this program, and "Deejay Saywhat," god bless her, responded. The results are in the sound file--at least for the first hour, before she had to catch her bus. Chemistry is a fickle thing, and I just don't have it with that many people. Most of them live far away, or already have programs at WRFI, and Lady Catharsis is only available once every few months. So it's no surprise that the first hour is pretty rough going. So much for polyphony. Nothing against Deejay Saywhat--it is hero's work to sit in the booth with me. To top off this story with an ironic cherry, not every host at the station heeded this call to team up with someone for fundraising. Some shows that are regularly solo affairs remained that way. So the evening's futility gains some underscoring as a bonus. We are still, albeit just barely, keeping score in our ongoing contest with iTunes, so "Girl and Robot with Flowers Remixed" makes it 5-0 to Bombast. Also, this show contains a personal highlight that might not be noticeable to others if I don't point it out. So here goes: I was very happy to discover Sir Basil Outernational, and to have spoken to him for an hour or so the day before this program. He is, of course, Gary Bromley of Dif Juz, who will be featured soon on an episode devoted entirely to their music. Stay tuned. BOMBAST playlist, 2013 June 12, 2100-2300:

1. Hreno: "Over My Head (She's Possessed Mix)" [Meander]
2. The Greg Foat Group: "Girl and Robot with Flowers, Part 5 (featuring Luminarja)" [Jazzman] / "Physical Evidence"
3. Simian Mobile Disco: "A Species Out of Control" [Delicacies]
4. Blackdown, Farrah, Dusk: "Lonely Moon (Android Heartbreak Drumz Remix)" [Keysound]
5. The Famous Nyahururu Boys: "Mwendwa" [Soundway]
6. Dub Spencer & Trance Hill: "The World Is Dub Enough" [Echo Beach]
7. Sugar: "Gee Angel" [Creation / Rykodisc] / "Listening Parlour"
8. Will Saul Presents CLOSE: "Future Love" [Studio K7]
9. Sugar: "Panama City Motel" [Creation / Rykodisc]
10. The Greg Foat Group: "Girl and Robot with Flowers, Part 4 (Cherrystone Remix)" [Jazzman] / "Physical Evidence"
11. GRMLN: "Teenage Rhythm" [Carpark]
12. The Greg Foat Group: "Clear Skies Select Stick (Vakula Remix)" [Jazzman] / "Physical Evidence"
13. Christian Vance: "Uneasy Me" [Art of Vengeance]
14. Sir Basil Outernational: "Flat Sun A" [self-released]
15. The Greg Foat Group: "For a Breath I Tarry (Francis Dosoo's Borrowed Breath Remix)" [Jazzman] / "Physical Evidence"
16. The Human League: "Crow and a Baby" [Caroline / Virgin] / "Listening Parlour"
17. Future Bible Heroes: "Don't You Want Me?" [Merge]
18. Jon Hopkins: "Breathe This Air" [Domino]
19. The Greg Foat Group: "Have Spacesuit Will Travel, Part 2 (Linkwood Remix)" [Jazzman] / "Physical Evidence"
20. The Weirdos: "Teenage (demo)" [Bomp]
21. Stimming: "When I'm Drunk" [DIYNamic]
22. The Black Lips: "Freakout" [Bomp]
23. Bleached: "Looking for a Fight" [Dead Oceans]
24. Heavy Stereo: "Sleep Freak (demo)" [Volume]

Next time: cleansing the palette, exhaustion, and Suze Orman. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

At Which Point Joie de Vivre Will Take Over: Transmission 37, 2013 June 11

This particular night felt like old times: an emergency program on less than 24 hours' notice, and deejaying in the wee hours, which I have not done for at least 20 years. Daisy Hill Puppy Farm, appreciated in their own time probably by me and about 499 other people, probably deserved a "prime time" airing, but I had to go with something for which Catharsis Junior already had her intro "in the can," as they say. But I am glad I got some quality stuff, like Boom Bip / Charlie White and Alex Dimou, out of my "system." We are indeed fundraising this week, so there is more motivated chatter than usual. Visit wrfi.org to find out more. BOMBAST playlist, 2013 June 11-12, 2300-0100:

1. Kinski: "Throw It Up" [Kill Rock Stars]
2. Boom Bip & Charlie White: "Sabrina" [Lex]
3. Witch: "Look Out" [Now-Again]
4. Wareika Hill Sounds: "Chant Rasta" [Honest Jon's]
5. The Cannanes: "Zone" [Explosion Robinson / Lamingtone]
6. Daisy Hill Puppy Farm: "Youngblood" [Lakeland] / "Physical Evidence"
7. Lapalux: "Swallowing Smoke" [Brainfeeder]
8. Gems: "Tall Mountain" [Don't Be a Lout]
9. Les Fils du Calvaire: "Femme d'Affaires - Manjul Dub" [Circus Company / Because]
10. Syclops: "5 In" [Bubble Tease]
11. Chymera: "Isa" [Dirt Crew]
12. Dub Spencer & Trance Hill: "This Is England" [Echo Beach]
13. Daisy Hill Puppy Farm: "Spraycan" [Lakeland] / "Physical Evidence"
14. Les Sins: "Grind" [Jiaolong]
15. Daisy Hill Puppy Farm: "Crusher" [Lakeland] / "Physical Evidence"
16. Janka Nabay & Bubu Gang: "Eh Mane Ah" [Luaka Bop]
17. Dur-Dur Band: "Dholey" [Awesome Tapes from Africa]
18. Daisy Hill Puppy Farm: "17" [Lakeland] / "Physical Evidence"
19. Dump: "Bus Kicker's Theme" [Morr Music]
20. Alex Dimou: "Halemweg" [Klic]

next time: guest co-pilot, distraction, and errors.