Five to Twelve, Almost Gone: Transmission 503, 2019 December 31

Apologies are in order. There's a slowness to my cadence when I call this "the final live program" that can trick you into thinking those words are followed by a period. Sure enough, though, "...of 2019" follows, just to dash your hopes. I'm still here. On this night, Lady Catharsis is here as well, to shake things up, argue with me about rideshare services, sing backup to Wanda Jackson, and open the door to my abandonment of the "no repetition" policy so I can play "Kerosene" to honor the spirit and chops of Dave Riley.

I am vulnerable to nostalgia at all times, but December is the worst. In 2019 I had succeeded in not walking around in the snow listening to Cocteau Twins, probably because I no longer walk around in any weather listening to anything. More encouraging: I managed to have a 4AD-free Christmas. But events conspired to pull me back in. Vaughan Oliver died, and I surprised myself by feeling things about that. So Lady Catharsis and I, and our listeners, got to work through them. Together.

Previewing all of my on-air comments here would be stupid in more than one way. You'll just have to listen and find out. But it would be fair to say I'm less than 100% positive about the 4AD back catalogue. Look, I am a recovering addict and I don't know what you want from me. If there's any such thing as periodization of 4AD fandom, I am definitely a Lonely Is an Eyesore kid. And I expect things to stay awesome all the time. They can't, they don't, and somehow it saddens me. Truly I have bigger problems in this life but you wouldn't think so. Anyway, to reach back even further, "Marble Station" is absolutely majestic and would have justified getting hooked on this stuff, had it been what hooked me.

w/r/t Vaughan Oliver my hipsterism is so cringe that, I have to say, I'm a "23 Envelope person" and not "a v23 person." Did you know there were such people? Of course not because there aren't, it's only me as far as I know. Feeling something after Vaughan Oliver's death surprised me because I have opinions, you see. Nigel Grierson's work is special. His photographs made those sleeves. Read Facing the Other Way and tell me the story about the Nantes exhibit and the end of that friendship isn't the saddest thing in the book. But I am a person of Sentiment, and death is the biggest corrective, next to correction.

Since this program was broadcast, 70 days ago now, I've gone on the air 13 times. I'm editing a sound file from 13 days ago--four shows ago. How is this possible? It's not getting better any time soon, unless the coronavirus puts us all in quarantine and gives me time to churn through the backlog.

Program notes: I notice that these shows are a lot more dynamic, literally, when Lady Catharsis is the guest. She and her records are all over the place. You can see it in the waveforms. Or you could, if you were some weirdo who downloaded the audio files and imported them into a sound editing program. ANYWAY the point I am making is really about me and my normalization of everything. Not only does my voice sound like I have a built-in compressor, my taste in music is just kind of "smooth" and "regular." You can see this too. It's a kind of aesthetic fascism, and unironically I think Vaughan Oliver is partly to blame for that!

Anyway towards the end of the show it sounds like an old KDVS program with friends, which is not a bad place to wind up.

By the way, Colourbox [or "Colour Box"] record was from 1983, not 1993. I was never confused about this. I just can't talk properly.

A final correction: the 63 transmissions we broadcast in 2019 did not make it the "quietest year" in the history of the program or whatever I called it. There were two years when I did fewer shows, including a year in which I did only 52, like a regular person. I don't know what to make of having forgotten that, but I don't like it. Circling back to the first program I did in 2019 though, I sounded so dead inside, bored with what I was doing and completely devoid of affect. I don't think I sound that way anymore. Maybe it was a good year.

BOMBAST playlist, 2019 December 31, 2100-2300:

1. "What Is It?" | The Mighty Strinth | The Rebirth of Cool Seven | Island
2. "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" | Ella Fitzgerald | Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas | Verve
3. "New Year" | Big Joanie | Sistahs | Daydream Library Series
4. "It's Getting Late" | Galaxie 500 | Today [reissue] | 20|20|20
5. "(There Ought To Be) A Moonlight Savings Time" | Bob Richardson & His Orchestra | The Pig's Big 78s - A Beginner's Guide | Trikont
6. "The New Fidelity" | The Durutti Column | Fidelity [reissue] | Les Disques Du Crépuscule
7. "Re:Action" | Spirea X | Speed Reaction | 4AD
8. "Rip It Up" | Wanda Jackson | Two Sides of Wanda | Capitol
9. "Kerosene" | Big Black | Atomizer | Touch & Go
10. "Marble Station" | Sort Sol | Natures Mortes - Still Lives | 4AD
11. "Altitude" | System 7 | System 7 | 10
12. "Shout" | Afriqua | Colored | R & S
13. "Slo Bird Whistle" | Aphex Twin | Peel Session 2 | WARP
14. "Find My Way" | Ultramarine | This Time Last Year | Real Soon
15. "Breakdown" | Colourbox | Colourbox [MAD 315 CD] | 4AD
16. "More Mess On My Thing" | The J.B.'s | More Mess On My Thing | Now-Again
17. "Marquis Cha Cha" | The Fall | Room To Live [reissue] | Cherry Red
18. "Burn The Bastards" | The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu | Shag Times | KLF Communications

never anything to do in this town

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