radiobombast

I Gave My Time, Now I Want It Back: Transmission 448, 2019 February 6

Sickness and fever had fallen upon me, and I was probably not well enough to do this program. Looking at the archives, I see that I cancelled a program almost exactly a year ago for the same reason. I guess this is a sign that things are looking up for me, that I am not quite as surrender-prone as I was in the past? Confession: I guess now is as good a time as any to say that I'm driven by the goal of getting to Transmission 500 by the close of 2019, to what end I'm not certain. If I power through every scheduled appearance and take on a few extra shifts I should get there. Again, not sure why I want to bring on the weird feelings that will accompany such an occasion, but the heart wants what it wants.

Anyway, the first hour of this program passed pretty much without incident, which is good. The segue into KYO/Jeuru was a bit quiet and I probably slipped a couple of things past management in the first fifteen minutes or so. Hey! I took a request for the first time in ten months or so, courtesy of our long-missing friend Drummer John, and it was not a disaster! The transition from "Drone" to "Kazaru" was surprisingly nice, and the one between Brim Liski and Dearly Departure earned four exclamation points in my notes!!!! (!!!!) Playing "Wounds" after "Six Six Sixties" (the request) actually made some thematic sense (I'm wishing I liked the Planningtorock record more than I do). A well-executed program, with (again) a lot of vocals--apologies to Lowly for trampling their lovely tune at the end.

What were we recovering from today? Oh, yeah, gubernatorial blackface. In 2019. Fucking hell.

BOMBAST playlist, 2019 February 6, 2100-2300:

1. "Ghost" | CANNIBALE | Not Easy to Cook | Born Bad
2. "Numb" | GO DARK | Neon Young | Bella Union
3. "Candy" | KYO w/ Jeuru | All the Same Dream | Posh Isolation
4. "Walo Walo" | Mark Ernestus' Ndagga Rhythm Force | Yermande | Ndagga
5. "Downstreamed" | Art Alfie | The Bo Allan - EP | Toy Tonics
6. "Pesawat Aeroplane" | Hilang Child | Pesawat Aeroplane | Bella Union
7. "Dripping Trees 2" | Throwing Muses | Purgatory / Paradise | Happy Happy Birthday to Me | "The Listening Parlour"
8. "Disorder Dub" | Jah Division | Dub Will Tear Us Apart...Again | Ernest Jenning Record Co.
9. "Tournelle" | Faten Kanaan | Foxes | More Than Human
10. "Synthesizer Teste" | Meat Beat Manifesto | Impossible Star | Flexidisc
11. "Drone" | Cosey Fanni Tutti | TUTTI | Conspiracy International
12. "Kazaru" | Miguel Atwood-Ferguson | Brainfeeder X | Brainfeeder
13. "Tresor" | Need For Mirrors | Swim | Commercial Suicide
14. "Duels" | brim liski | Duels | Latenight Weeknight
15. "Own Perceptions" | Dearly Departure | Genesis | 100% Silk
16. "Odd Neighbourhood" | Holygram | Modern Cults | Oblivion
17. "In Darkness" | Tom Adams | Yes, Sleep Well Death | Kowloon
18. "The Pursuit" | Atjazz / Jullian Gomes | Big Bad Crazy | Atjazz
19. "Spring Dom - BRS 2018 Rework" | BRS | Spring Dom | Wolf Music Recordings
20. "Into the Flesh" | Liela Moss | My Name Is Safe In Your Mouth | Bella Union
21. "The Imp Trip of the Mirror Emperor" | Zu93 | Mirror Emperor | House of Mythology
22. "Six Six Sixties" | Throbbing Gristle | 20 Jazz Funk Greats | Mute
23. "Wounds" | Planningtorock | Powerhouse | DFA
24. "Outrage" | Dirtmusic | Bu Bir Ruya | Glitterbeat
25. "Imaja's Drum" | Tunnelvisions | The Celestial Ritual | Atomnation
26. "It's All Connected" | Lia Mice | The Sampler as Time Machine | Optimo
27. "Sweet Things" | Mocky | Music Save Me (One More Time) | Heavy Sheet
28. "baglaens" | Lowly | baglaens | Bella Union

Is my timing that flawed

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Fireworks for You in the Ozone Snow: Transmission 447, 2019 January 30

I present to you the second night of a rare back-to-back engagement, and an even rarer instance of a "good show" on the second night. I didn't much enjoy the segue from Zazou / Bikaye / CY1 into Fanu, but that was our one "awkward transition" and we got it out of the way early. In other encouraging news, nothing jumped out of my nose or throat while I was speaking. A triumph! Of course there was a time when I got on mic without remembering why I had done so, but I mostly delivered solid information (Senyawa are in fact from Indonesia, so there). It's a small sample size--I did not talk much during this transmission. I didn't want to interrupt Jah Division, which, timing-wise, was a mistake. I almost jumped on 2XM, but the vocals kicked in before I could start. I delivered a PSA over Indifferent Dance Centre, so I offer my apologies to them. I may have to abandon my policy of only talking over instrumentals, so be warned that I may sound like a Dawson's Creek episode in the future. I must say, though, that my LONG back-announcement at the end of the program was pretty strong.

In today's installment of "What Are We Recovering From?," there's this awful harassment of transgender rights activist Sarah McBride, perpetrated by an English Defence League spouse (Emily Gorcenski is correct that TERFS are merely white supremacists whose gateway was transphobia) and a friend, masquerading as "concerned parents" in this meeting with members of Congress (before retreating to famous radical feminist safe space The Heritage Foundation). I am embarrassingly late to the party, but trans rights have become an acutely important issue to me lately, and I am warning you, this may become a trans rights blog before too long. Anyway, you can support the Human Rights Campaign here, and I guess you could support McBride by buying her book, at the very least.

BOMBAST playlist, 2019 January 30, 2100-2300:

1. "Munipe Wa Kati" | Zazou / Bikaye / CY1 | Noir Et Blanc | Crammed Discs
2. "Prototype" | Fanu | Black Label - EP | Metalheadz
3. "Elsewhere" | Ultramarine | Signals into Space | Les Disques du Crepuscule
4. "Kehendak (Will)" | Senyawa | Sujud | Sublime Frequencies
5. "Fear of Losing You" | Dearly Departure | Genesis | 100% Silk
6. "Borrolan" | Mattheis | Thin Sections | Nous Klaer Audio
7. "The Gallery" | The Legendary Pink Dots | Any Day Now [reissue] | Metropolis
8. "The Thin Man" | Kristin Hersh | Learn To Sing Like A Star | 4AD | "The Listening Parlour"
9. "Starling Reprise II" | Heinali | Iridescent | Injazero
10. "Tatizo Pesa (feat. Dogo Janja)" | Jay Mitta | Tatizo Pesa | Nyege Nyege Tapes
11. "Too Nice for Nigel" | 48 Chairs | 70% Paranoid | Cache Cache
12. "Corah III" | Janek Schaefer | What Light There Is Tells Us Nothing | Temporary Residence Limited
13. "Loga Fo Djelba" | Baba Comandant and the Mandingo Band | Siri Ba Kele | Sublime Frequencies
14. "Act 2" | Penny Rimbaud | Oh, Magick Kingdom [reissue] | Cold Spring
15. "Forgot About You - Piano Version" | Axel Boman & Miljon | Studio Barnhus Volym 1 | Studio Barnhus
16. "Asembi Ara Amba - Henrik Schwarz Version" | Y-Bayani | Asembi Ara Amba (Henrik Schwarz Version) | Sunday-Music
17. "Dub Will Tear Us Apart" | Jah Division | Dub Will Tear Us Apart...Again | Ernest Jenning Record Co.
18. "Limit" | 2XM | Hydrate | SB JAMZ
19. "Kahl el inin" | AMMAR 808 | Maghreb United | Glitterbeat
20. "Areia" | Bixiga 70 | Quebra Cabeca | Glitterbeat
21. "Ground Nation" | Garies | Dull Clunk | Major Problems
22. "Flight & Pursuit" | Indifferent Dance Centre | Flight & Pursuit | Outer Reaches
23. "Ta Promesse" | Amadou & Mariam | La Confusion | Because Music
24. "Bite My Hip" | Bauhaus | The Bela Session | Leaving Records
25. "Everlastingly Yours" | Piroshka | Everlastingly Yours | Bella Union
26. "Izerditan" | Lumi | Lumiere Noire Presents from Above Vol. I | Lumiere Noire
27. "It's So Hard To Be Happy" | The Shall I Say Quois | Damaged Goods (1988-2018) | Damaged Goods
28. "Murderous" | GO DARK | Neon Young | Bella Union
29. "These Times Are Closing Intro" | Reto A Ichi | The Lapse of the Exchange / Alone Moving Often | K7
30. "Action" | Prayer | Goodbye EP | Grade 10

My friends applaud, throw pennies, and wait

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Ducking as a Chandelier Comes Crashing Down: Transmission 446, 2019 January 29

Here is a fill-in program that I did on very short notice when Godfrey announced that he couldn't do "The Griot Hour" on this night. Despite the non-descript and hurried occasion (it wasn't a "celebrity birthday" and I couldn't rope Lady Catharsis into joining me), this comes off as a pretty good show. ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. There's a lot to consider, but I'll try to be brief about it.

I don't know what "filling in valiantly" means, but I said it with sincerity; hopefully that counts? Something jumped out of my body again when I tried to talk. I mixed up my tenses at one point, saying "if you enjoy what you hear over the last two hours." I deliver an utterly pedantic weather report. The whole sequence from Oneohtrix Point Never through Maoupa Mazzocchetti is pretty rough. Nevember is an album, not an EP.

There's this ongoing Twitter thing called the #MWE or "Music Writing Exercise." I've been participating, though not consistently. Music journalism is a thing I used to do. Anyway, I have been coming to terms with "what I believe in" as far as music is concerned, and one of those things is self-care, not in the blithe consumerist sense but in a post-traumatic self-healing sense. What were we trying to heal from on the day of this program? It looks mostly like Howard Schultz, the Starbucks guy quixotically running for President as the avatar of the non-existent Center. No one wants this! But he is a billionaire, so we are going to get him (and perhaps, as a result, four more years of Trump) as a result, whether we like it or not (we don't). Good thing Ithaca has plenty of good, non-corporate coffee. I wish it had more guillotines.

BOMBAST playlist, 2019 January 29, 2100-2300:

1. "You Do Good You Do For Yourself" | Godfrey Odili | Duomo Sounds LTD (Nigerian 80s Disco Music to Move Your Soul) | Odion
2. "S.O.S.T." | Breach | Turtle Dance | NKDLTD
3. "Symbia" | Qluster | Elemente | Bureau B
4. "Fire-Toolz Theme" | Fire-Toolz | Skinless X-1 | Hausu Mountain
5. "Agaba Kibati" | Bamba Pana | Poaa | Nyege Nyege Tapes
6. "Reefer Max" | Horsepower Productions | Reefer Max / Phantasy Rush | Effective96
7. "Sugar for the Pill - Avalon Emerson's Gilded Escalation" | Slowdive | Future Sounds of Jazz Vol. 14 | Compost
8. "Moderation Blues" | The Taki Twins | Old and New | self-released
9. "The Station" | Oneohtrix Point Never | The Station | WARP
10. "Looking Inwardly" | The Chameleons | What Does Anything Mean? Basically | Blue Apple
11. "Lil Mist" | Geo Rip | U-Udios 2 | U-Udios
12. "It's A Gas" | The Wedding Present | Marc Riley Sessions Volume 2 | Hatch
13. "644 Beauty Marks" | Maoupa Mazzocchetti | Testimony | Knekelhuis
14. "Ponderosa" | Tricky | Maxinquaye [reissue] | Island
15. "Twilight World" | Holger Czukay / Jah Wobble / Jaki Liebezeit | Full Circle | P-Vine
16. "Nevember" | HUS | Nevember | Kervid
17. "Fouh Sei Allah" | Hamad Kalkaba and The Golden Sounds | 1974-1975 | Analog Africa
18. "Heart and Soul Dub" | Jah Division | Dub Will Tear Us Apart...Again | Ernest Jenning Record Co.
19. "Wide Eyed" | Eric Random | Two Faced | Klanggalerie
20. "Very Good Lock" | Pete Astor | Spilt Milk | Slumberland
21. "Castlevania III - Clockwork" | Perturbator | B-Sides and Remixes, Vol. 2 | Blood Music
22. "Neon Gladiators - Version Apocalypse" | The Legendary Pink Dots | Any Day Now [reissue] | Metropolis
23. "The Circle" | The Dream Syndicate | How Did I Find Myself Here? | Anti
24. "King of the Castle" | Beak> | >>> | Invada
25. "VCL XI" | Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | Organisation [reissue] | Virgin
26. "Da Lub Club" | Inner Harmony | 3AM Spares | Efficient Space

Different levels of the devil's company

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Everybody Hears You and Don't Hate What You Say: Transmission 445, 2019 January 23

Of course I couldn't do two "perfect" shows in a row, so this will be a list of complaints and tech notes. But must it? I've taken to writing things down as they happen as a way of having "something to say" about these programs when I post them, but I wonder if I am creating my own prison with relentless self-negging. There are some terrific moments in this show--just looking at the playlist I can see that. I encourage you to find your own highlights, but Mdou Moctar's awesomeness goes without saying, and I was really taken with the SRSQ track. I managed to slip "the point" by management (yay me! Or were they just not listening?) and I concluded an extremely brief (and, admittedly, failed) flirtation with Skinny Puppy nostalgia. AND--I almost forgot to mention this--the "Listening Parlour" returns! I finally got it together to work that in, an honest to goodness triumph!

Now the bad parts: something leapt out of my nose or throat during the initial voice-over; the segue into the Felt tune seemed forced, but at the risk of going too deeply into how the sausage is made, I'd been sitting on that one for a long time and it must have made sense to me when I was of a different mindset; what on earth is a "backlist?" I swear, the less I talk, the better; I botched the segue from Bauhaus into the Blue Orchids, and also gave Brian Harris the Bauhaus treatment, apologies; I mispronounce "Sirikiti" as "Sikriti," as in rhyming with Saddam Hussein's full surname.

So much for my catalogue of atrocities. I'll make a concerted effort to be more positive in the future.

BOMBAST playlist, 2019 January 23, 2100-2300:

1. "Awade (Here We Come)" | Orlando Julius & Ashiko | Love Peace & Happiness | Hot Casa
2. "35" | Objekt | Cocoon Crush | PAN
3. "Gentleman Never Run" | Ethyene | Brotherly Love | Moonrise Hill Material
4. "What a Wonderful World" | Soap&Skin | From Gas to Solid / You Are My Friend | Play It Again Sam
5. "La plus belle" | Oumar Konate | Live in Bamako | Clermont
6. "Fortune" | Felt | Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty [reissue] | Cherry Red
7. "Lillian Gish" | Vic Chesnutt | Drunk | New West | "The Listening Parlour"
8. "Very Moments" | Meggy | Flowers | Suol
9. "Kamane Tarhanin" | Mdou Moctar | Kamane Tarhanin | Sahel Sounds
10. "Souvenir" | Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | Architecture and Morality [reissue] | Virgin
11. "C-Q-D" | Public Service Broadcasting | White Star Liner | PIAS
12. "Forests" | MANOID | Truth | Hafendisko
13. "Atlas" | Borusiade | Their Specters | Unterton
14. "Exit Strategy" | Plastic Ivy | Death of the Machines, Vol. 1 | Mannequin
15. "Small Talk Stinks" | Bauhaus | In the Flat Field [reissue] | 4AD
16. "Get Bramah" | Blue Orchids | Righteous Harmony Fist | Tiny Global Productions
17. "Nude" | Adriatique | Nude | Afterlife
18. "pthex" | Aphex Twin | Collapse EP | WARP
19. "Amerikan Dread" | Victor | Amerikan Dread | Music From Memory
20. "Cherish" | SRSQ | Unreality | Dais
21. "Lannoy Point" | Ride | Weather Diaries | Wichita
22. "Pq Ekuka Rework" | Ekuka Morris Sirikiti | Ekuka | Nyege Nyege Tapes
23. "Psalm" | The Mattson 2 | Play "A Love Supreme" | Spiritual Pajamas
24. "Ground Song" | Brian Harris | Pine Lake | self-released
25. "Mellotron" | Stereolab | Peng! [reissue] | Too Pure
26. "the point" | Captain Wardrobe | Kronosphere | self-released
27. "Exit" | Max Graef | Lo Siento Mucho Pero No Hablo Tu Idioma | Tartelet
28. "Epilogue" | Skinny Puppy | Cleanse Fold and Manipulate | Nettwerk

If it all gets too much, there's things you can do

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Protecting You from Psychological Harm Is Our Ultimate Aim: Transmission 444, 2019 January 16

I am pleased to report that no computer malfunctions occurred on this night. That's a first for 2019, I think. Our intrepid general manager texts me instead of calling the studio phone, and at a reasonable time as well. The stars are lining up!

Regrettably I am not at my best here, unless this is the best we can expect. My adventures in pronunciation continue, most notably with "Oneohtrix," although in my defense opinions seem to differ on that one. I have a frog in my throat, the beginning of another motif. I confidently proclaim that the PAN label is from Berlin, only to express doubt that it is even from Germany. After (finally) playing Gaye Su Akyol, I mention that "she's out of Turkey," which sounds like she is struggling to make a sandwich. Segue-ing from Public Service Broadcasting into The Snivelling Shits was perhaps less than smooth (but I did my best). And, in the "executive functioning" department, I should probably have played more reggae than the one Lee Perry track. These issues aside, this is a program for the vaults!

Reckoning: I marvel at our first airing of Skinny Puppy ("we're partying like it's 1988!") because once upon a time they were a staple of my radio diet. In my early days in college radio I labeled my program "industrial." I loved drum machines and synthesizers then (and do still) and there was a culture war afoot. This music needed defending, I felt, and there was relatively little of it and it was so hard to come by. I didn't save my playlists from that time, and there are precious few cassette recordings of old shows, but I would say that 30 years ago I played Bites quite a bit. Looking back, this music...doesn't hold up for me? (In fairness this is also true of plenty of "rock" records.) The synths and samples seem very second-wave, and the middle-aged person in me wonders if the singer isn't hurting his voice. I can't help but wonder if we saw more there than really is there. As proof that this is more about me than Skinny Puppy, I find myself enjoying OMD, of all things, in the 21st century, and I never would have played them in college. If that isn't selling out in old age I don't know what is.

 

BOMBAST playlist, 2019 January 16, 2100-2300:

1. "Blanch" | Pijn | Loss | Holy Roar
2. "Lost Orbit" | Etch | Ups & Downs | Sneaker Social Club
3. "Dead Meat Dub" | Lee "Scratch" Perry | The Black Album | Upsetter
4. "Architecture and Morality" | Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | Architecture and Morality [reissue] | Virgin
5. "Mickey Way" | A Certain Ratio | acr:set | Mute
6. "Nge Mounkila" | Sekou Bah | Soukabbe Mali | Clermont
7. "Sajkvfighosgo" | All Is Well | Fragments - EP | Drumpoet Community
8. "Love" | Skinny Puppy | Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse [reissue] | Nettwerk
9. "Impossible Star" | Meat Beat Manifesto | Impossible Star | Flexidisc
10. "Infectious" | Eric Random | Two Faced | Klanggalerie
11. "The Unsinkable Ship" | Public Service Broadcasting | White Star Liner | PIAS
12. "Bring Me the Head of Yukio Mishima" | The Snivelling Shits | Damaged Goods (1988-2018) | Damaged Goods
13. "Bread and Wine with Your Loved One" | Karl Hund | Karl Hund | Violette
14. "Trigger Warning" | EURINGER | EURINGER | Metropolis
15. "Life Gamble" | Orson | Life Gamble / 12:09 | Version
16. "Casting the Runes" | The Legendary Pink Dots | Any Day Now [reissue] | Metropolis
17. "Other Playgrounds" | Peter Kardas | Switched-On Eugene | Numero Group
18. "Cold Snap" | Law / Wheeler | Lost Fragments | Next Phase
19. "Laziko" | Gaye Su Akyol | Istikarli Hayal Hakikattir | Glitterbeat
20. "Conquer the World" | Cyanide Pills | Damaged Goods (1988-2018) | Damaged Goods
21. "Dollar Man" | Brian | Dylan Done | self-released
22. "I'm Good Enough" | Thee Headcoats | In Tweed We Trust | Damaged Goods
23. "Never Gonna Push Me Around" | Mikabomb | Damaged Goods (1988-2018) | Damaged Goods
24. "Quick To Judge (Don't Be So)" | The National Jazz Trio of Scotland | Standards Vol. IV | Karaoke Kalk
25. "When My Mind is Not Live" | Fabienne DelSol | Damaged Goods (1988-2018) | Damaged Goods
26. "Dazzle Anew" | Objekt | Cocoon Crush | PAN
27. "Boys (Original Version)" | Bauhaus | The Bela Session | Leaving Records
28. "Burn" | Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band | The Serpent's Mouth | Big Crown
29. "The Ladder" | As One | Air Texture Vol. VI | Air Texture
30. "Monody" | Oneohtrix Point Never | The Station | WARP

This is your safe space

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Keep Your Gifts and Keep Your Money: Transmission 443, 2019 January 9

"It's a very smooth evening," I suggest at one point in this broadcast. Compared to what? A porcupine's back, or sandpaper, or a loofa, perhaps.

My plan to play 36 songs on the night was probably ill-considered, and was quickly cut down to 35 (apologies to Gaye Su Akyol--is it my destiny always to be apologizing?) when all the computers in the room decided to freeze on me and I had to read public service announcements without underscoring to prevent dead air. There was a period in my life when people used to tell me I had a "good radio voice" but I don't hear it so much anymore. This endures for only about 3 minutes or so, but seems interminable to me. YMMV. I also worry about causing a food panic by biffing the opening hours of Loaves and Fishes, but I am probably kidding myself about the number of people listening.

Anyway, that's what I get, apparently, for being optimistic about this program beforehand. You can hear the audio software failing during the Fall track (sorry), the aux cord came dislodged from my laptop during my PSA adventure, ruining the first few seconds of the Hairbone track (sorry), and my playlist was set to "shuffle" so we accidentally hear the first few seconds of a Comet Gain track--which I call a "harbinger of something" (sorry)--so I guess apologies are my destiny. I sound like Radio Niger without the exoticism--I am just a local bumbler.

But in my defense, if you can make it through the first 10 minutes or so, by which point "the technology is working for us and not against us," this is a pretty rewarding mixtape. There is some head-nodding goodness around the time of Stereolab and Beaches, and for the most part I got out of my own way in the second hour (apologies--again!--if I have used that phrase before). Playing Ammar 808 immediately after the Budget Girls was probably not such a great idea, but I executed it with confidence, which seems to have made a difference there and elsewhere. I talked over Dominik Eulberg's excellent track--he always seems to provide such an opportunity--but it was so nice and long that I couldn't resist. I got Cee Bee Beaumont's name wrong no less than four times, but at least I played their track without screwing it up. You're welcome?

Alright, look, it wasn't a great night for music or talking, and what else is there, but there are at least a few things that came off properly. I ended the proceedings a little bit early, because why not quit while I am ahead?

BOMBAST playlist, 2019 January 9, 2100-2300:

1. "Overture from 'I Am Curious, Orange'" | The Fall | I Am Kurious Oranj | Beggars Banquet
2. "Phrygian Jelly" | Hairbone | Earth to Momma | Blank Forms
3. "Numbered Days" | Odd Beholder | All Reality Is Virtual | Sinnbus
4. "And Then Again - 12" Version" | A Certain Ratio | acr:set | Mute
5. "Distribution of Care" | Lotic | Power | Tri Angle
6. "P.H.U.K." | Orbital | P.H.U.K. | ACP
7. "Inertia" | All Is Well | Fragments - EP | Drumpoet Community
8. "Come on Get Happy" | Sun Kil Moon | This Is My Dinner | Caldo Verde
9. "Eagerly Hunting" | Rue Royale | In Parallel | Sinnbus
10. "The Harbour Master" | Cee Bee Beaumont | Damaged Goods (1988-2018) | Damaged Goods
11. "Maka Dub" | Errol Brown | Orthodox Dub | Dub Store
12. "Freiluft" | Thomas Fehlmann | Los Lagos | Kompakt
13. "Faraday Monument" | Oliver Coates | Shelley's on Zenn-La | Rvng Int'l
14. "Silent Hedges" | Bauhaus | The Sky's Gone Out [reissue] | Beggars Banquet
15. "Davey Crockett" | Thee Headcoatees | Damaged Goods (1988-2018) | Damaged Goods
16. "True Love" | The Legendary Pink Dots | Any Day Now [reissue] | Metropolis
17. "Reality World" | Pedrodollar | Studio Barnhus Volym 1 | Studio Barnhus
18. "We Are The Bees" | The Taki Twins | Old and New | self-released
19. "Rise Of The Bird" | Hot Hot Hawk | Legendary | Nang
20. "Unique Boutique" | Meat Beat Manifesto | Impossible Star | Flexidisc
21. "Farfisa" | Stereolab | Refried Ectoplasm [Switched On Volume 2] [reissue] | Duophonic
22. "Void" | Beaches | Second of Spring | Chapter Music
23. "You're So Sorry" | Budget Girls | Damaged Goods (1988-2018) | Damaged Goods
24. "Degdega" | AMMAR 808 | Maghreb United | Glitterbeat
25. "Slingshot" | The Senior Service | Damaged Goods (1988-2018) | Damaged Goods
26. "The God of Gaps" | The Galileo 7 | Tear Your Minds Wide Open! | Damaged Goods
27. "Cold Water People" | Ride | Tomorrow's Shore | Wichita
28. "Deadlock" | Objekt | Cocoon Crush | PAN
29. "She's Leaving" | Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | Architecture and Morality [reissue] | Virgin
30. "Tintenfischpilz" | Dominik Eulberg | Roter Gitterling & Tintenfischpilz | Apus Apus
31. "At the Movies" | Valerie from the Galerie | Tape One | Whataboutnever
32. "What U Waiting For" | Heavee | WFM | Teklife
33. "Ventania Dub" | Bixiga 70 | The Copan Connection: Bixiga 70 Meets Victor Rice | Glitterbeat
34. "Eventually" | The Nightingales | Perish the Thought | Tiny Global Productions
35. "Infinite Pleasure, Pt. 2" | HALEY | Pleasureland | Memphis Industries

Burning the private paradise of dreams

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Sound Formed in a Vacuum May Seem a Waste of Time: Transmission 442, 2019 January 4

Before we get to the main subject of tonight's broadcast, let me apologize again for not observing the birthdays of Michael Stipe and Robin Guthrie. As I say to my co-pilot, Lady Catharsis, we certainly could have brought in a stack of Cocteau Twins or R.E.M. records and done two hours on either one. But that's not the way it worked out. Maybe she is right, and there will be other January 4 opportunities. But I have already done my thing on Cocteau Twins, I feel, and I would certainly need at least a year to work out whether an all-R.E.M. show would really be me, even though I am a 1980s "college radio" guy. At any rate, let's hope neither of them are the type to google themselves, or, if they are, they accept my apology. I have run into trouble with the self-googling thing before, though I won't name names.

We were here on this night to observe "the feast of (Saint) Bernard" Sumner, he of the voice that Lady Catharsis describes as "sweet." As I predict, we don't get to very many songs, but that is of course because New Order write such nice long ones, and we are very talkative. There is a lot to be said about our selection, but I don't feel like going into a lot of detail. Grievance night has passed, and we are playing what we like. I give my opinion on bad Eighties mixtapes, and this is not one. It's all quality. Somehow we got through two hours of New Order without even playing "Blue Monday!" (Or "Fine Time," the "newer" song that I couldn't work into a good segue. So be it).

Maybe our commentary will be more pointed when we observe Peter Hook's birthday on February 13 (a regular Wednesday night program). I don't know. In my old age the spiciness of my takes is decreasing, which is probably good for everyone.

That doesn't prevent a whole bunch of loose ends from the program, which seems to be par for the course. The xmas flexidisc doesn't have an "other side." It's single-sided. How did this fact manage to escape me, if we played "it" on the program? Radio magic! There is indeed a version of "Sub-culture" with Debora Iyall, and you can listen to it here. (Spicy take alert: it isn't the best work of anyone involved.) Turns out we do use the same piece of interstitial music for every talking break on the program, and it does seem to go wiith everything New Order does, though of course we'll have another opportunity to test this out soon.

Oh, finally--why does our intro music go on for so long before we speak? In our ongoing series, "early program disasters in 2019," the station's general manager calls me in the control room right at the beginning of the program, of course. We overcome it. This is a good show.

BOMBAST playlist, 2019 January 4, 2100-2300:

1. "Ceremony" | New Order | Substance | Factory - Qwest
2. "Temptation" | New Order | 1981-1982 | Factory - Polygram
3. "Chosen Time" | New Order | Movement | London - Rhino
4. "Too Late" | New Order | Peel Sessions | Strange Fruit
5. "The Village" / "5 8 6" | New Order | Power, Corruption & Lies | Factory - Qwest
6. "Confusion" | New Order | Confusion | Factory
7. "Sooner Than You Think" | New Order | Low-life | Factory - Qwest
8. "Sub-culture (remix)" | New Order | Sub-culture | Factory - Qwest
9. "All Day Long" | New Order | Brotherhood | Factory - Qwest
10. "Lonesome Tonight" | New Order | Substance | Factory - Qwest
11. "Hurt" | New Order | 1981-1982 | Factory - Polygram
12. "Rocking Carol" | New Order | Merry Xmas From The Haçienda And Factory Records | Factory
13. "Love Vigilantes" / "The Perfect Kiss" | New Order | Low-life | Factory - Qwest
14. "Your Silent Face" | New Order | Power, Corruption & Lies | Factory - Qwest
15. "Every Little Counts" | New Order | Brotherhood | Factory - Qwest

This is why events unnerve me

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How Long Have You Had This Plan: Transmission 441, 2019 January 2

2019 is off to a typical start. A couple of minutes into the Die Wilde Jagd tune, my hand slips and triggers a corny effect in our audio software. "I could talk myself into it being part of the track," says DJ Drew, helpfully--he is still hanging around the studio for some reason. Anyway, I can tell you that this is the first in a series of early-in-show disasters. This will be our thing for this year. Later on, my laptop decides that a an audio notification is just the thing to spice up "True Heart." I sometimes feel old when I am telling "the kids" about "the old days" of radio when we just played vinyl, but those computer-free days were objectively better.

At least this year is off to a better start than 2018. I am not sick, and this episode is not garbage. The segue into Bauhaus was maybe not great, but Causa Sui was sublime! I cannot say "Aloysius," but are my struggles with enunciation worse than Liz Fraser's gobbledygook? "Santa sashimi" is what Lady Catharsis thinks she is singing during that song, which, if true, would be among her best lyrics. It's just a smooth program without much incident, highly desirable after our terrible late summer / early autumn and our absolutely bonkers December. Happy new year!

BOMBAST playlist, 2019 January 2, 2100-2300:

1. "Gleiß K" | Die Wilde Jagd | Convenanza 2018 | Hoga Nord
2. "MeetMeAfter" | Seekers International | LoversDedicationStation | Bokeh Versions
3. "Tamale" | Mr Raoul K | African Paradigm EP I | Compost
4. "CRYSTAL" | Lawrence | ILLUSION | Dial
5. "Detector" | John Tejada | Kompakt: Total 18 | Kompakt
6. "Reciprocity" | Max Cooper | One Hundred Billion Sparks | Phases
7. "Into Bleeps" | Shed | Air Texture Vol. VI | Air Texture
8. "TRUE HEART" | David August | D'ANGELO | PIAS
9. "In the Night" | Bauhaus | The Sky's Gone Out [reissue] | Beggars Banquet
10. "Rip Tide" | Causa Sui | Live in Copenhagen | El Paraiso
11. "Aloysius" | Cocteau Twins | Treasure [reissue] | 4AD
12. "Light Out" | Basic Soul Unit | Air Texture Vol. VI | Air Texture
13. "UFO Paycheck" | The Brian Jonestown Massacre | Don't Get Lost | A Records
14. "Goblin Year" | G.S. Schray | Gabriel | Last Resort
15. "Vasco de Gama" | Felt | The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories [reissue] | Cherry Red
16. "Spangle" | The Wedding Present | Marc Riley Sessions Volume 2 | Hatch
17. "Going West" | FaltyDL | Air Texture Vol. VI | Air Texture
18. "Natural Playground" | Citizen Maze | Serenity in the Woods | Analogue Attic
19. "The Fullness of Years" | Documenta | Lady With The Ring | Touch Sensitive
20. "Sick" | Brian | Auto Da Fe | self-released
21. "Bohemian Grove" | Ipek Gorgun | Ecce Homo | Touch
22. "Kaieteur Falls" | Tracing Xircles | Air Texture Vol. VI | Air Texture
23. "Dilation" | Demdike Stare | Passion | Modern Love
24. "Like This" | Odd Beholder | All Reality Is Virtual | Sinnbus
25. "Unfolding" | Tangent | Approaching Complexity | N5MD

There's no chat, he's for show

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A Happier Planet Than This One: Transmission 440, 2018 December 26

Welcome to our final program of 2018, a "quiet" year in which, as I remark during this broadcast, we did "only" 52 episodes. In my defense, there was a year where we did, like, 91 or something. I really have slowed down in my old age and malaise. At any rate, Lady Catharsis rides shotgun here, and provides plenty of tunes and, uh, other qualities, if a certain listener is to be believed. She drops an Oswald the Octopus reference, is cracked up by Xmal Deutschland, and unironically extols the virtues of Mrs. Miller.

I am openly happy to be doing the last "themed" episode of this run, and to be "minimizing didacticism" in the near future; our rambling discussions here sparked a couple of disappointing internet research excursions. First, I can't find any evidence of a second volume of Hillbilly Music...Thank God! If you know of something, hit up Lady Catharsis on the bird-themed website. (Or better yet, alert me so I can buy it for her and score some much-needed points!). Second--were you aware that Nico was a horrible racist? Good lord, first Morrissey and now this. Simon Reynolds describing her death as "bathetic" is just about right. She is, as the kids say, cancelled.

On a lighter note, it's absolutely true that we have been watching a lot of Hallmark movies; for more in-depth commentary, you should listen to this, which is, like, the only other podcast I listen to.

Technically--the show did have only one bad segue, as I guess I was a little bit anxious to hear Sandie Shaw. Who wouldn't be? Content-wise, it doesn't feel very balanced to me--I never did get to dub music, with the exception of Scientist, and generally I'm probably overreacting to the "failed" techno set from last time out. But it seemed to go over really well with the station's resident drunk volunteer, who texted in to say that Lady Catharsis's presence improves my show IMMEASURABLY (all caps his, not mine), which is a left-handed compliment if I ever saw one. Elsewhere, someone (maybe the same person? IDK) seems to have taken offense to my Miss Rosie impersonation, remarking that Juke in the Back is one of the three best programs that WRFI airs (mine is apparently not in the top three).

Thanks for listening in 2018, everyone, and anytime you'd like to provide me with some constructive feedback, or, better yet, praise, hit me up somewhere.

BOMBAST playlist, 2018 December 26, 2100-2300:

1. "John, John, Put Your Trousers On" | Mr. Billy Williams | The Pig's Big 78s - A Beginner's Guide | Trikont
2. "Boxing Day" | AFX | Chosen Lords | Rephlex
3. "Snowfall" | Esquivel | merry xmas from the space-age bachelor pad | Bar/None
4. "You're For Me" | Buck Owens | Hillbilly Music... Thank God! Vol. 1 | Bug - Capitol
5. "Lit Up Like a Christmas Tree" | The Flaming Stars | The Six John Peel Sessions | Vinyl Japan
6. "Bye Bye Baby" | Wanda Jackson | There's a Party Goin' On | Rumble
7. "18 Drumalie Avenue Dub" | Scientist | In the Kingdom of Dub | Superior Viaduct
8. "There You Go" | Bongwater | Double Bummer | Shimmy Disc
9. "Incubus Succubus II" | Xmal Deutschland | Lilliput | 4AD
10. "All Tomorrow's Parties" | Nico | Live in Tokyo 1986 | Radiation Reissues
11. "Big Sex" | T.A.G. | Big Sex | Sweatbox
12. "Dance of Love" | Tom Jones | This Is Tom Jones | Parrot
13. "Alcoholiday" | Teenage Fanclub | Bandwagonesque | DGC
14. "I Like To Booze It" | Neal Merritt | UFO On Farm Road 318 | Trailer-Park
15. "Drugs" | Talking Heads | Fear of Music | Sire - Rhino
16. "Violence" | The Durutti Column | Tempus Fugit | Kooky
17. "I Hate Men" | Little Carolyn Sue | UFO On Farm Road 318 | Trailer-Park
18. "Hunk of a Punk" | Red Atkins | Presage(s) | 4AD
19. "Sweet Pea" | Mrs. Miller | Will Success Spoil Mrs. Miller?! | Capitol
20. "Blue Tango" | Ray Martin & His Orchestra | The Pig's Big 78s - A Beginner's Guide | Trikont
21. "Stop Feeling Sorry For Yourself" | Sandie Shaw | Sandie Shaw | Reprise
22. "Nate Will Not Return" | The Fall | Ersatz GB | Cherry Red / MVD
23. "On a Bicycle Built for Two" | Merle Travis | Walkin' The Strings | Capitol
24. "(There Ought To Be) A Moonlight Savings Time" | Bob Richardson & His Orchestra | The Pig's Big 78s - A Beginner's Guide | Trikont
25. "Happy Holiday" | Hermine | It's A Crammed, Crammed, Crammed World! | Crammed Discs

You're gonna break another heart, you're gonna tell another lie

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We Met at a Ski Lodge: Transmission 439, 2018 December 23

Here is our closest approach to a "Christmas" episode but of course it is Festivus, or "holidays," or "vacation," or something non-demoninational with a couple of exceptions. "No Cocteau Twins," I promise, though the episode could have done with them. Mostly it's about grievances and foul moods, even though Lady Catharsis is riding along with me on this one. I mangle the segues involving Joan Jett and X-Ray Spex (for the purpose of posting I have cleaned up some of the carnage), and am secretly upset about this for the rest of the evening (though not-so-secretly terse about it immediately after it happened).

My mood must have improved at some point because I do say I am "in good form," but then, probably feeling that the program was a bit rockist for my taste, I attempted a techno block that just did not do anything for me. Is there something wrong with A.R.K. and System 7, or is it depression? These tunes used to make me so happy, and seemed so seasonally appropriate (late-year purchases, probably). Those Eddie Murphy samples, though--they are pretty dated, and I should probably have felt that way a long time ago. Am I just now waking up? At any rate, I would truly have been happy, as I suggested, to play the "interstitial" music until the end of the program. But it's probably better that we played the Velvet Underground and Jesu instead.

Things can only get better--can't they?

BOMBAST playlist, 2018 December 23, 2100-2300:

1. "Real Cool Time" | The Stooges | The Stooges | Elektra
2. "Happy Shopper" | Audio Active | Pay It All Back (Volume 5) | Restless
3. "Nature Story" | Kristin Hersh | Duchess of York UK Live 2009 | not on label
4. "Slippershell" | Kristin Hersh | Crooked Beginnings EP | Yes Dear Music
5. "Sam Hall" | Johnny Cash | American IV: The Man Comes Around | American Recordings - Lost Highway
6. "Wanted Man" | Marc Riley | 'Til Things Are Brighter...A Tribute To Johnny Cash | Red Rhino
7. "Bits and Pieces" | Joan Jett & The Blackhearts | I Love Rock 'N Roll | The Boardwalk Entertainment Co
8. "Warrior In Woolworths" | X-Ray Spex | Germfree Adolescents | Real Gone Music
9. "Drunk" | Vic Chesnutt | Drunk | New West
10. "Gammon People" | Brian Harris | A Question of Balance | self-released
11. "Arthur's Farm" / "All I Want for Christmas Is a Dukla Prague Away Kit" | Half Man Half Biscuit | The Peel Sessions | Strange Fruit
12. "Nine Little Reindeer" | Gene Autry | The Christmas Cowboy | Laserlight Digital
13. "Christmas Skies" | Thin White Rope | The Ruby Sea | Frontier
14. "New Saigon" | Pell Mell | Rhyming Guitars | SST
15. "You Sexy Thing" | Cud | The Peel Sessions | Strange Fruit
16. "I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter" | Connie Francis | The Very Best of Connie Francis | Polydor
17. "Please Come Home for Christmas" | James Brown | Funky Christmas | Polydor
18. "XMAS_EVET10 [120][thanaton3 mix]" | Aphex Twin | Syro | WARP
19. "Listen Up! (Pulsar Mix)" | A.R.K | Listen Up! | Rough Trade
20. "Miracle (Orb Remix)" | System 7 | Volume Two | Volume
21. "Beginning To See the Light" | The Velvet Underground | The Velvet Underground | Verve
22. "Christmas" | Jesu / Yang Li | Christmas EP | Hospital Productions

The customer is always right

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