Inching Away from Competence: Transmission 7, 2012 Dec. 12

[UPDATE: Audio file restored 2014 July 31.]

According to some rough math, my storage capacity at this website allows for 8 or 9 "Bombast" programs to be available here at a given time.  Assuming that I have a regular show for the foreseeable future, that means that an individual podcast can be found here for about two months before it is relegated to the archives.  So for the next two months, I'm going to feel like I've got my pants down, on account of this broadcast right here. [UPDATE: now that the storage deal has changed, I can keep this here "forever" and be permanently embarrassed.]

"Performers" will tell you there are nights when things just aren't working.  Sometimes circumstances conspire against them, sometimes the energy is just "different" somehow than their other, better performances, sometimes they can't find focus, sometimes they really need to root down and bring it but can't.  I don't know which of these factors were in play on the night of December 12, but I strongly feel at least one of them was. Lady Catharsis assured me after the show that it didn't sound bad on air--at least no worse than normal!  And I did receive a couple of compliments on the music.  Which goes to show that what is happening inside my head as the show is being broadcast is much different than what goes out on air. 

Still, I'm not at my best.  The usual errors are there, plus some interesting new ones.  I'll let you figure those out for yourself. My co-hosts, Allison Kitchener and Josh Dolan, were superb, and without them, this show really would have sucked.  So thanks to them.  It was a bit much, taking on this all-vinyl extravaganza just because it was 12.12.12, and trying to perform amateur psychology on Allison as well as show Josh some of the workings of the board.  Multi-tasking is not my thing.  "Neither is teaching," I hear some of you saying.  Whatever.

Some genius thought it would be noble to adopt a documentary policy with regard to these recordings, and I have tried to adhere to that as best I could.  This time out, the inconsistencies of the turntables and the mixing board got the best of me.  I have added dynamic range compression in order to smooth out what would otherwise be an [even more] irritating listen.  Which reminds me--I should also thank Rene Borgella, who went above and beyond the call of duty in getting the turntables in functional shape, pretty much exclusively for this program.  It's not his fault the levels were so weird.

Themed programs are a bit like theme parties--one, every once in a while, might be enjoyable.  Five in a row is mentally and spiritually exhausting, which perhaps accounts for my subjective impressions of this particular show.  I'm looking forward to "retreating" into the usual BOMBAST all-over-the-mapness, which we will do December 19 [which, as I write this, is "tomorrow."]  While that program is nominally inspired by the Winter Solstice and the upcoming "Mayan Apocalypse," it is lending itself well to the usual free-form randomness.  A surprisingly large and diverse group of musicians seem to take inspiration from doomsday scenarios both global and personal. BOMBAST playlist, 2012 December 12, 8 to 10 p.m.

1. Pixies: "Gigantic / River Euphrates" [4AD]
2. Four Tet: "Pinnacles" [Text]
3. Soft Cell: "Bedsitter" [Some Bizarre] ***"Listening Parlour"
4. Thin White Rope: "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby" [Zippo]
5. Bauhaus: "She's in Parties" [Beggars Banquet]
6. The Darkness vs SFB: "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" [SFB Remix Series]
7. The Dub Syndicate: "Night Train" [Industrie Discografiche Lacerba]
8. Burial / Four Tet / Thom Yorke: "Ego" [Text]
9. A.R. Kane: "When You're Sad" [One Little Indian]
10. Rowland S. Howard / Lydia Lunch: "Some Velvet Morning" [4AD]
11. The Residents: "Hit The Road Jack" [Ralph]
12. O.M.D.: "Tesla Girls" [A&M] ***"Listening Parlour"
13. Biting Tongues: "Compressor" [Factory]
14. 23 Skidoo: "Language" [Illuminated]
15. The Dub Syndicate: "Ravi Shankar Pt. 1" [On-U Sound]

Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis