Episodes
Sunday Nov 10, 2019
Live Flagrant, Make People Nervous: Transmission 473, 2019 June 26
Sunday Nov 10, 2019
Sunday Nov 10, 2019
The previous program may have been opportunistic; this one was deliberate and low-key angry. "I like this thing I've started doing," proclaims our host; while I referred to the "interstitial" music by Laraaji, I could have meant the whole transmission.
I've been coy about things that happened over the summer, and the change in direction the program has taken. Let's be frank instead. I Have Basically Stopped Searching For Music By White People. (I'm calling for a complete ban on white musicians until we can figure out what's going on!) I feel like I was radicalized by more than one thing, but let's face it--it's Morrissey. Everything comes back to that guy.
There's no need to attempt a summary or listsicle here; the internet is full of them. But at some point I discovered some terrible things he'd said during the Smiths period and it became clear that he had not changed--he's always been who he is, and those around him have always known. It doesn't matter to me that his bandmates might not be racists or Brexiteers or For Britain members in 2019; 35 years ago they knew who he was and they were ok with it. That's enough.
I don't take this as a warning not to have heroes; I still kind of think heroes are important. But you have to choose them better.
I've found myself attracted to some music because of the social scenes I've been a part of, and I suppose those scenes themselves, and/or my participation in them, are part of the problem. Whether it has been "college rock" or "postpunk" or "4ad" or "industrial" I'm too often the only black person in the room, and that feeling too is a well-documented thing on the internet that doesn't require any added comment from me. So I guess not everything comes back to Morrissey. But I'm tired of stretching to imagine that people are expressing things that are inclusive of me, relevant to me. If race is such a general, clumsy heuristic, you'll have to explain to me why it is as useful as it is. Go ahead and "Sistah Souljah" me if you must, but that this would sound really ugly coming from a white person is the price you pay for owning the entire fucking world. I don't happen to have that problem.
I had also made some new friends at "theory camp" and I'd like to think that at this stage the direction the summer would take was already determined and clear. Surely that's not true? But this is a part of my "radicalization."
My inbox is still open and I am fine with music that non-terrible people of any cultural background send me. I'm also still amenable to Music From The Past that was performed by non-terrible people, at least until I learn that they actually were. That happens a lot these days. Any aggrieved parties can sue me for whatever this program is worth.
BOMBAST playlist, 2019 June 26, 2100-2300:
- "Ya Nini" | Verckys & L'Orchestre Vévé | Verckys & L'Orchestre Vévé: Congolose Funk, Afrobeat & Psychedelic Rumba 1969-1978 | Analog Africa
- "Mama Liza" | Konono N°1 | Congotronics | Ache
- "Mmmhmm (feat. Thundercat)" | Flying Lotus | Cosmogramma | Warp Records
- "Genevieve (Unfinished)" | Jai Paul | Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones) | XL Recordings
- "dreams and converse" | DAWN | new breed | Local Action
- "Beliefs" | Sneaks | Highway Hypnosis | Merge
- "B Boy Your Best (Vocal)" / "Bonus Beats" | The Incredible Body Mechanix | B Boy Your Best | Mirage
- "Hardrock" | Herbie Hancock | Hardrock | Columbia
- "Mussoliki" | Bernard Ntone | Pop Makossa - The Invasive Dance Beat Of Cameroon 1976-1984 | Analog Africa
- "Licking Stick 1" / "Licking Stick 2" | The Soul Kids | Toute L'Afrique Danse Vol. 10 | Hot Casa
- "Haddi Aanan Gacaloy" | Dur-Dur Band | Dur Dur of Somalia, Vol. 1 & 2 | Analog Africa
- "It Rough Down Ya" | I-Roy | Can't Conquer Rasta | Radiation Roots
- "Ten Commandments" | Prince Far I | Voice of Thunder [reissue] | Get On Down
- "Population Dub" | Tapper Zukie | Escape from Hell | Jamaican Recordings
- "Chariot Dub" | Scientist | In the Kingdom of Dub | Superior Viaduct
- "Connection" | Dellinger | Rhythm Shower | Get On Down
- "We & We In Azawad" | Mdou Moctar & Elite Beat | Mdou Moctar meets Elite Beat In a Budget Dancehall | Boomarm Nation
- "Colonial Mentality" | Fela Kuti | Black-President | Capitol
Make all the mistakes in life and still not give a damn
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Monday Nov 09, 2015
No, I Don't Know, Too: Transmission 243, 2015 October 21
Monday Nov 09, 2015
Monday Nov 09, 2015
"You sound stuck," a Friend of Bombast tells me. It's true. I am. I'm working on it; whether I'm "doing my best" remains to be seen. It's been a weird four months or so, but tbh the entire ride has been weird.
I was recently reminded that I'll be missing the 3rd birthday (observed) of this program on account of being at DJ Segundo's crib for Thanksgiving. That (the cancellation) seems about right, pretty much par for our current course. But why was I reminded of this? Because at a recent station fundraiser party I was told by a colleague that it sounded like I was on the air all the time (I'm not). There is always too much of me, it seems, dating back to when there was none of me.
Do you know why the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving, "Thanksgiving eve," if you like, is the program's observed birthday? Because we had just about the softest "soft launch" in the history of radio. A supportive (dare I say rogue?) board member of WRFI snuck me onair, basically, on a night when there would be very few people listening. There was no other way--I couldn't have airtime just for the asking, as others at the station soon received, much less was I going to be cold-called and asked to do a show, as others were. I heard at the time that some board members were opposed to my having a program. Never mind that a white volunteer who started on the same day I did had already been given a program, there was of course nothing differential about my not being given one. There never is. (That person, bee-tee-dubs, is no longer with the station, having ghosted us a couple of years ago, while I'm still here doing off-the-air stuff, but don't let that convince you that the station ever bets on the wrong horse.)
So anyway, here is one of the best, or worst, or most typical programs I have done in my three years at WRFI. Your phone or .mp3 player will try to convince you that it's approximately two hours long, but don't let that stop you thinking it's more like four, or twenty, or whatever fits your narrative.
BOMBAST playlist, 2015 October 21, 2100-2300:
- "At Dusk" | Brian Ellis & Brian Grainger | At Dusk | El Paraiso
- "Feeder" | Coil | Wrong Eye | Threshold Archives
- "Basile" | Sergie Rezza | Sergie Rezza | desire
- "The Courtesy House" | Express Rising | Fixed Rope | Numero Group
- "Kiiro No Sekai" | J Girls | Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat & Bossa Nova 1967-1969 | Big Beat | "Physical Evidence"
- "Water Dancer" | Jens-Uwe Beyer | The Emissary | Kompakt
- "Church of All Images - Regis Version" | Vatican Shadow | Manbait | Blackest Ever Black
- "Ame Agari No Samba" | Ryoko Moriyama | Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat & Bossa Nova 1967-1969 | Big Beat | "Physical Evidence"
- "Spent Time" | The Durutti Column | Another Setting [reissue] | Factory Benelux
- "Plant Lilies at My Head - Alternate Version" | Tropic of Cancer | Manbait | Blackest Ever Black
- "Tsukikage No Rendezvous" | Keiko Mari | Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat & Bossa Nova 1967-1969 | Big Beat | "Physical Evidence"
- "Die Anderen" | Kolsch | 1983 | Kompakt
- "Aurat (Tool)" | Aisha Devi | Of Matter and Spirit | Houndstooth
- "Asian Rebel" | Suns of Arqa | Trevor Jackson Presents: Science Fiction Dancehall Classics | On-U Sound
- "Prismatic" | Byron Westbrook | Precipice | Root Strata
- "Alpha 4" | Ami Shavit | In Alpha Mood | Finders Keepers
- "Taste of Cindy" | The Jesus and Mary Chain | Psychocandy - Barrowlands Live | Edsel
- "Freak Love" | Gossamer | Garden Ghost | self-released
- "Prismacolor" | Pittsburgh Track Authority | Moon Rock Volume 3 | Throne of Blood
- "Sharock No.1" | Mie Nakao | Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat & Bossa Nova 1967-1969 | Big Beat | "Physical Evidence"
- "Sodawaltz" | Ms. John Soda | Loom | Morr
- "This Foundry - Regis Version" | Raime | Manbait | Blackest Ever Black
- "Easy Sun" | Dead Fader | Dosage EP | Touchin' Bass
- "Suki Sa Suki Sa Suki Sa" | Nana Kinomi & Leo Beats | Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat & Bossa Nova 1967-1969 | "Physical Evidence"
- "The Circle Is Binding" | Master Musicians of Bukkake | Further West Quad Cult | Important
- "Tafouk tele" | Terakaft | Alone (Tenere) | Outhere
- "Taiyou Wa Naite Iru" | Ayumi Ishida | Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat & Bossa Nova 1967-1969 | Big Beat | "Physical Evidence"
- "Dsa" | Black Wing | ...Is Doomed | The Flenser
- "Realtime" | Conforce | Presentism | Delsin
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