radiobombast

Misdemeanors Against Music: Transmission 218, 2015 July 5

"Do you think it's a bad idea," asked Miss Andrea, "to play the same artists every week?" We were having this chat as her show was ending and mine was beginning, you see. Disclosure: she plays Dolly Parton every week, and I feel sad when I miss it. THIS NEGRO LOVES HIS DOLLY PARTON.

You know how sometimes you can't answer a question honestly without revealing something about the past that is so deep it affects the present? This was one of those times. "It's fine for you," I said. "It wouldn't be fine for me, because that was a thing I used to do when I was young, and I think it was a shortcoming of those shows, and I try to use BOMBAST to correct those mistakes, but that's my personal hangup which I'm sure no one else shares."

Let's rewind. It must be 1984ish, and this girl with whom I'm trading mixtapes [it didn't work out, of course] gives me one with "The Spangle Maker" and "Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops" on it. I can't recall anything else from the tape, despite having an amazing memory for the numbingly trivial. The songs' lyrics I could take or leave: "It's the chocolate on my tooth-ah"; "Penny bicycles in tulip sauce," and so on. But the music sounded great. I remember liking the band's drummer.

Fast-forward: It's October 1986. I am a college freshman and I am doing my first on-air training at KDVS. The very first record I cue up to play is Love's Easy Tears, which, as you can see on the other end of the hyperlink, was brand new then. [Currency! My albatross.] I remember noticing how loud the pressing was, crushingly loud, as all of those Cocteau EPs seem to be.

Fast-forward a bit more: it is Spring 1987, and "Friend of Bombast" Mr. D and I have decided that we are a band, for some reason. We have a keyboard and a guitar and a bass and a drum machine and a borrowed four-track. We are listening to a lot of post-punk: Joy Division, Cure, Banshees, Sisters of Mercy--stuff that is easy to play, because I am not very good! But especially Garlands and Head Over Heels and It'll End in Tears [NOT A COCTEAU TWINS RECORD, I AM AWARE OF THIS, NO NEED TO "CORRECT" ME, THANKS]. "Do you guys, like, take a lot of drugs to listen to this music?" asked an aspiring pop star who lived in our dormitory (seemingly, it was crawling with them--this one was all about "getting hits first," and then working on "artistic integrity" later, but who am I to judge?). I felt that the music obviated drug use, which was handy--more money to buy effects boxes, of which I could not get my fill. String enough of them together, you see, and you can hear your technical shortcomings disappear in an ocean of fuzz and modulation and echo, as "shoegazers" the world over have discovered. We also needed to get a digital reverb processor to make our sad drumbox go Boom, so it was all for the good that the music sufficed, without chemical enhancement. There were other people I wanted to be, other ways I wanted to sound--A Certain Ratio, A.R.Kane, Dif Juz, Dub Syndicate, etc.--I could never rise above dilettante status. But I didn't study anyone's music as closely as I did the Cocteau Twins records of that time.

Summer 1987 was the summer of Lonely Is An Eyesore, so "the 4AD thing" was becoming a full-blown, unhealthy obsession. I was living with mixtape girl and yet another "ex" (this Catholic enjoys his punishment, that is all), who, between them, seemingly had ALL the Cocteau Twins records. I got lost in them. They were drugs.

My memory of those radio programs of the time--I only have about a half-dozen tapes--is that I would play the Cocteau Twins every week. This went on for a long time. I didn't just go through the catalog once. I would keep coming back to things. Other people remarked on it. I don't think they meant to criticize. They were just making observations, and why not? It was perfectly cool; Cocteau Twins were perfectly cool. When your records have no barcodes, no one questions your indie cred. Still, I found a way to take it badly--I find ways to take everything badly. I was not realizing my full potential as a deejay, I told myself, yet I didn't care. It was great to hear the music on those big studio monitors, absolute thundering bliss.

Fall 1988: there's a new Cocteau Twins record, Blue Bell Knoll. There's also a new "smooth jazz" radio station in Sacramento, calling itself "The Point." Blue Bell Knoll is in the airplay rotation, god knows why. A Cocteau Twins song segueing into a Kenny G song is something one can't really un-hear. It seems arbitrary and stupid now, but to finish with this lazy "drug" metaphor, I was "cured." Sort of. The spell was broken, let's say that! [And let's trot out another terrible metaphor!] I still can't really listen to that record. I have problems.

I'm not the only one who believes that the music you embrace as an adolescent does different things for you and to you than the music you adopt later. And you can't really have a Damascene episode more than once. I tell myself I've moved on. I'm not on any relevant forums or Facebook fan groups, have never been to "Cocteaufest" and wouldn't relish the chance, am kind of glad they didn't reunite, and don't care if Liz Fraser's record ever materializes. But I haven't moved on. I will never love any body of work more than I love the Cocteau Twins' records from Garlands through The Moon and the Melodies [AGAIN, I KNOW THIS IS NOT TECHNICALLY A COCTEAU TWINS RECORD, MANY THANKS FOR YOUR CONCERN].

So I see that "4AD"--one can't discuss the present label without irony--will reissue The Pink Opaque and two EPs from 1985 later this month. And because I obsess over currency, another one of my hangups, and because I treat reissues as "current," yet another uncorrected personality trait, I'm faced with a choice. Do I play a Cocteau Twins song every week for the next four months, like the old days, or do I get it all out of my system in one go? Keep scrolling.

BOMBAST playlist, 2015 July 5, 1700-1900:

1. "The Spangle Maker" | Cocteau Twins | The Pink Opaque | 4AD
2. "Great Spangled Fritillary" | Cocteau Twins | Tiny Dynamine / Echoes in a Shallow Bay | 4AD
3. "Five Ten Fiftyfold" | Cocteau Twins | Head Over Heels | 4AD
4. "From the Flagstones" | Cocteau Twins | The Pink Opaque | 4AD
5. "Pink Orange Red" | Cocteau Twins | Tiny Dynamine / Echoes in a Shallow Bay | 4AD
6. "Ooze Out and Away, Onehow" | Budd / Fraser / Guthrie / Raymonde | The Moon and the Melodies | 4AD
7. "Wax and Wane (remix)" | Cocteau Twins | The Pink Opaque | 4AD
8. "Donimo" | Cocteau Twins | Treasure | 4AD
9. "Eggs and Their Shells" | Cocteau Twins | Tiny Dynamine / Echoes in a Shallow Bay | 4AD
10. "Aikea-Guinea" | Cocteau Twins | The Pink Opaque | 4AD
11. "Shallow Then Halo" | Cocteau Twins | Garlands | 4AD
12. "Sultitan Itan" | Cocteau Twins | Tiny Dynamine / Echoes in a Shallow Bay | 4AD
13. "Hitherto" | Cocteau Twins | The Pink Opaque | 4AD
14. "Lazy Calm" | Cocteau Twins | Victorialand | 4AD
15. "Millimillenary" | Cocteau Twins | The Pink Opaque | 4AD
16. "She Will Destroy You" | Budd / Fraser / Guthrie / Raymonde | The Moon and the Melodies | 4AD
17. "Pale Clouded White" | Cocteau Twins | Tiny Dynamine / Echoes in a Shallow Bay | 4AD
18. "Plain Tiger" | Cocteau Twins | Tiny Dynamine / Echoes in a Shallow Bay | 4AD
19. "In the Gold Dust Rush" | Cocteau Twins | Head Over Heels | 4AD
20. "Feathers-Oar-Blades" | Cocteau Twins | Lullabies | 4AD
21. "Ivo" | Cocteau Twins | Treasure | 4AD
22. "Love's Easy Tears" | Cocteau Twins | Love's Easy Tears | 4AD
23. "Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops" | Cocteau Twins | The Pink Opaque | 4AD
24. "Kookaburra" | Cocteau Twins | Aikea-Guinea | 4AD
25. "Laugh Lines" / "Hazel" | Cocteau Twins | Peppermint Pig | 4AD
26. "Memory Gongs" | Budd / Fraser / Guthrie / Raymonde | The Moon and the Melodies | 4AD
27. "Pepper-Tree" / "Musette and Drums" | Cocteau Twins | The Pink Opaque | 4AD

not the ultimate playlist, just my playlist. Get your own show and do better.

also: "Ivo" is Ivo, the guy. I lose my mind in the control room sometimes.

At the End of My Tether, I Destroy Years of Hippie Craft: Transmission 217, 2015 July 1

I daresay this program was near-perfect, so "straight to the vault" it goes. And in my regularly-scheduled time slot to boot--so often the best shows happen when I'm not trying. It almost feels like the universe was smiling on me in this time.

Sunshine and lollipops are not the order of the day, however. Software troubles in the home studio prevented me from recording proper "Physical Evidence" spots with Junior--sorry, EEK, it was your turn this time. "Physical Evidence," by the way, is nothing without Junior. I think it will have to end when she quits. (I also have a feeling that this program ought to end when "Physical Evidence" ends. As always, it seems I am at the mercy of a child.)

But--back to the Nashazphone crew, if you're reading this: seriously, put Islam Chipsy on a plane and send him to Ithaca.

BOMBAST playlist, 2015 July 1, 2100-2300:

1. "Walking on the Moon (Walking on the Dub)" | DubXanne | The Police in Dub | Echo Beach
2. "Feel So Good" | The Brian Jonestown Massacre | Tepid Peppermint Wonderland Volume 2 | A Recordings
3. "Kevlar" | Band of Colors | not on album | Soundcloud self-release
4. "No Bulbs" | The Fall | The Wonderful and Frightening Escape Route To... | Beggars Banquet
5. "Clouds" | Valet | Nature | kranky
6. "Freedom of Speech" | Phantom Band | Kollektion 04 - Bureau B (Compiled by Richard Fearless) | Bureau B
7. "Crossbones Bodies" | Buzz Rodeo | Sports | Bandcamp self-release
8. "Exotic" | The Sentinals | Big Surf! | Rumble
9. "He's a Whore" | Big Black | It's Toasted | Touch and Go
10. "Small Cell" | Dat Politics | No Void | Shitkatapult
11. "Overtaken" | Evan Caminiti | Meridian | Thrill Jockey
12. "The Attic" | In Camera | Era | 4AD
13. "Melatonin Chamber" | Ken Camden | Dream Memory | Kranky
14. "Program For Light - 1984 Vocal Mix" | Section 25 | From The Hip | Factory Benelux
15. "I'm So High, I Swear I Could..." | Felix Laband | Deaf Safari | Compost
16. "Agneya" | God is an Astronaut | Helios / Erebus | Revive
17. "Sunflowers" | La Casa al Mare | This Astro | Bandcamp self-release
18. "Ecuacion de las Estrellas" | Ford Proco / Coil | Expansion Naranja | Mannequin
19. "Trinity" | EEK | Kahraba | Nashazphone
20. "Savage Beasts Be Wise" | High Wolf | Growing Wild | Leaving
21. "Go Back (feat. Damon Albarn)" | [Fort Romeau Absolut Remix] | Tony Allen | Film of Life Remixes | Jazz Village / The Pusher
22. "Deep Range" | You | Kollektion 04 - Bureau B (Compiled by Richard Fearless) | Bureau B
23. "Untitled 512" | Birdstriking | Birdstriking | A Recordings
24. "God" | Weird Owl | Interstellar Skeletal | A Recordings
25. "Fire Escape" | Vision Heat | The Chosen Themes - Program I | Root Strata
26. "MARCHROMT38 fast" | Aphex Twin | MARCHROMT30a Edit 2b 96 | Warp
27. "Total Care Zero" | Lifted | 1 | PAN

next time: ooze out and away, onehow. stay sweet.

Situations Arise, Irrational and Cruel: Transmission 216, 2015 June 28

This is the first of about five programs I wound up doing in the span of eleven days. It is never a good idea to over-extend myself in this way, but ask anyone--I am not an Ideas Person. Anyway, on this transmission I sit in for Dusty Visions on a Sunday evening, and dive into an overlooked gem from the On-U Sound catalog, one that missed out on Spotification--Current Affairs Session by The London Underground. Has it really been two years since I gave the London Underground a spin on my program? Good grief, I am continually surprised at how long I have managed to ride this horse.

I somehow failed to play "Motivation," which was a staple of mine in the olden days. Maybe at the next "Festival of Evidence" I can redress this. It looks as though I managed for once not to play The Orb in this time slot; and of course they have a new record out, so I am burnishing my programming credentials at every turn. As it happens, Dusty had to miss the following Sunday night as well, but insisted on one of his own pre-recorded episodes instead of a live replacement. You need not ask whether I take this as a performance assessment. But I am not here to please people. I have a different mission altogether.

BOMBAST playlist, 2015 June 28, 2100-2300:

1. "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" | Pere Ubu | Elitism for the People 1975-1978 | Fire
2. "I Don't Want To" | The Mystics | Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Vol. 4 | Crypt
3. "Copped It" | The Fall | The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall [reissue] | Beggars Banquet
4. "Rotary Ten" | R.E.M. | 7in-83-88 | I.R.S.
5. "Rise and Fall" | The London Underground | Current Affairs Session | On-U Sound | "Physical Evidence"
6. "Sweetback" | The Fabulous Three | The Best of the Fabulous Three | Truth & Soul
7. "You & I" | The Lucid Dream | The Lucid Dream | Holy Are You
8. "(I Ain't Gonna Give Up) My Way Of Life" | Fugitive Five | Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Vol. 4 | Crypt
9. "1-3" | The London Underground | Current Affairs Session | On-U Sound | "Physical Evidence"
10. "Real" | Aerosol | Leave | n5MD
11. "Peak" | James Welburn | Hold | Miasmah
12. "Higher Electronic States" | Richard Fearless | Higher Electronic States | Drone
13. "Bleach It" | The London Underground | Current Affairs Session | On-U Sound | "Physical Evidence"
14. "Altai" | Walls | Urals | Ecstatic
15. "Mass Confusion" | The Impalas | Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Vol. 3 | Crypt
16. "Orb" | Lake People | Purposely Uncertain Field | Permanent Vacation
17. "Hallraum" | Camera | Remember I Was Carbon Dioxide | Bureau B
18. "Vital Connection" | Double Knots | Double Vision EP | International Feel
19. "Dreams" | Sound Carnival | Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Vol. 4 | Crypt
20. "Step Up Fi Come Up" | Seekers International | Her Imperial Majesty | Boomarm Nation
21. "Kolor, Pt. 1 - C2 Remix" | Mirko Loko | Kolor | Cadenza
22. "Between the Lines" | The London Underground | Current Affairs Session | On-U Sound | "Physical Evidence"
23. "High and Mighty" | Blind Idiot God | Before Ever After | Indivisible
24. "Rat Race" | Gary Clail & On-U Sound System | End of the Century Party | On-U Sound

next time: what can't be cured must be endured.

U_D_M Detour 13, 2014 October 17

[GUEST POST]

Guy LeBatard reporting from dead time. Here is a program that appeared with dreadful regularity, right on schedule--two weeks after the previous one, "just like we'd planned it." I must have had no other adventures to live.

Here, the title of the program was "true" regarding both content and concept. I strung together a bunch of things I had laying around, that I had meant to play at some time or other. An "island of misfit toys," as I like to think of it, which is a much better name for it than kid catharsis's dreary "overflow program." I can do better for my listeners than a malfunctioning toilet, for goodness' sake.

U_D_M playlist, 2014 October 17, 1900-2000:

1. "Malibu" | Raucherecke | Malibu | 200
2. "F6" | Detroit Swindle | Boxed Out | Dirt Crew
3. "Tage Wie Dieser" | Interelektrika | Strings and Boxers / Tage Wie Dieser | Fenou
4. "Paradiso" | Loco Dice | Harissa | Cadenza
5. "Woolloomooloo" | Dave DK | Perfect Like You / Woolloomooloo | Pampa
6. "Love Inc - Booka's Deep Inc Remix" | Booka Shade | Love Inc | Embassy One
7. "Mermaid Song - Tiger Stripes Remix" | Korablove | Mermaid Song | Highway
8. "Saltare - Parts 1 & 2" | Throwing Snow | Mosaic | Houndstooth
9. "Return" | Future 3 | With and Without | Morr

in your system

Cruising Altitude Departure 12, 2014 October 25

[GUEST POST]

Greetings, friends, Captain Halcyon checking in. It is now summer, the prime season, in my reckoning. Interminable daytime, nights without relief, inescapable drones--that's what it's all about. This "recurring" program, such as it is, would be nothing without it.

I have been working on "branding," and am wondering how this catchphrase strikes you: "music for breathing deeply and pretending the bad things aren't happening." The truth, I have always believed, is what people want to hear. Anyway, I am open to other suggestions.

This sound file is an autumnal program, literally; it seems the bad things were happening, as I seem to have had World War I on the brain. Mud and dead leaves will do that to me. There are some nice passages in here, though, and I'm not even talking about the "aesthetic beauty of death," whatever that might be.

CRUISING ALTITUDE playlist, 2014 October 25, 1400-1500:

1. "Eclipse" | Egokind & Ozean | Transition | Traum
2. "Hanging On The Wire" | PJ Harvey | Let England Shake | Vagrant
3. "Coney Storm Drain" | Call Super | Suzi Ecto | Houndstooth
4. "Guelles cassees" | Tindersticks | Ypres | Lucky Dog
5. "City Of Light" | Fennesz | Venice (10th Anniversary Edition) | Touch
6. "Ozymandias" | Camera | Remember I Was Carbon Dioxide | Bureau B
7. "Benares Crescent" | Cedric Stevens | Hanging In the Wires | Discrepant
8. "Teil 2" | Monoton | Monotonprodukt 02 | Desire
9. "Ostbanhof, Spatzen" | Maxim Wolzyn | Intercity Express | SVS
10. "Alter LFO (Interlude IV)" | Chogori | Chogori | Modularfield
11. "Meet Your Creator" | Oneohtrix Point Never | Commissions I | Warp
12. "Lamptest" | Anjou | Anjou | Kranky

pure ego

Olympic Mess: Transmission 215, 2015 June 24

We'll call this the "phantom limb" show, because that is how I described what I was feeling to a couple of colleagues at the station Wednesday night. Having suddenly--suddenly in public, anyway--shed a lot of my station responsibilities last week, I was still struggling with the psychological adjustment (what else is new?). It was a pretty good show, except for the parts that weren't.

Here's what I mean: sometime in the second hour I was reading my email, and got mentally invested in some conversation about station infrastructure that--you know what?--I no longer have a say in, and also one in which I no longer have a need to convince myself that anyone's listening. I've been doing that sort of thing all week, fortunately--you might say "wisely," or you might not--staying out of things. But at this moment I kind of lost track of the music, which was my reason for being here. Anyway, I'll let you find those special moments. Elsewhere, I find myself dropping personal pronouns, a la the artist formerly known as Walter Kovacs. It was a weird night.

I would promise to do better next time, but we both know what that promise is worth. Let's agree to just grit our teeth and power through. Thanks, as always, for your endurance.

BOMBAST playlist, 2015 June 24, 2100-2300:

1. "Tell Me When It's Over" | The Dream Syndicate | The Days of Wine and Roses | Omnivore
2. "Fluid Cloak" | Helm | Olympic Mess | PAN
3. "God-Box" | The Fall | The Wonderful and Frightening Escape Route To... | Beggars Banquet
4. "Say" | The Henchmen | Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Vol. 4 | Crypt | "Physical Evidence"
5. "Fast Ka" | A.R.Kane | "i" | Rough Trade
6. "Silent Running" | OMD | Dazzle Ships | Virgin - Telegraph
7. "Samurai Thunder" | Gerry Read | Samurai Thunder | Hoss'd
8. "I Don't Want To" | La Casa al Mare | This Astro | Bandcamp self-release
9. "Four Inches Above The Knees" | The Blue Vistas | Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Vol. 4 | Crypt | "Physical Evidence"
10. "The Gloom" / "Lovelight" | Bnjmn | Air Texture, Vol. IV | Air Texture
11. "Twenty Four Hour Dawn" | Blind Idiot God | Before Ever After | Indivisible
12. "Checkmate" | The Cavaliers | Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Vol. 4 | Crypt | "Physical Evidence"
13. "Medicated Yoga" | Lifted | 1 | PAN
14. "D.U.B." | UB40 | Geffery Morgan | A & M
15. "Transformation" | Valet | Nature | kranky
16. "Only As Long As You Want It" | The Ryells Combo | Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Vol. 4 | Crypt | "Physical Evidence"
17. "Siran Fen" | Bassekou Kouyate + Ngoni Ba | Ba Power | Glitterbeat
18. "Genesis" | Hunter/Game | Genesis | Just This
19. "Side B" | Natural Magic | Natural Magic | Boomarm Nation
20. "My Baby Doesn't Love Me Anymore" | The Couriers | Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Vol. 4 | Crypt | "Physical Evidence"
21. "Evergreen" | The Brian Jonestown Massacre | Tepid Peppermint Wonderland Volume 2 | A Recordings
22. "Leaving You" | The Last Image | Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Vol. 4 | Crypt | "Physical Evidence"
23. "Lunar Caves" | The Orb | Moonbuilding 2073 AD | Kompakt
24. "Le soleil est pre de moi" | Air | Premiers Symptomes | Rhino
25. "White Sands Pt. 2" | The Fabulous Three | The Best of the Fabulous Three | Truth & Soul

next time: i plan to be in the present. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

Don't Hang Around Wondering What To Do: Transmission 214, 2015 June 17

I didn't know it at the time, but this program marked the end of an era. I've stopped being a "management type" at the station and am "just" a regular dj, although here's hoping that if you're reading this, maybe you think I'm special. Does it come across in the program that I've just walked out of a completely exasperating three-hour meeting that deprived me of hope that any of my "issues" would be resolved? It doesn't really sound like it. I do find myself saying things that are probably funny only to me, but what's new?

We could probably say this marks a new phase in the show as well; there was the initial stage when it was just a crazy lark; then the program grew up a bit with the first Hall of Legends interview special, inaugurating a long adolescence. Maybe it's the twilight time now. I feel like I have lived about four years' time in just over two, with everything I've been doing, on air and off, but I didn't really look forward to the endgame.

I feel like the moment I think or say I'm over-dramatizing, the axe will fall. My departure was kind of abrupt, you guys! I may be causing some people a bit of hardship and upset. But they are the grown-ups, the capable ones. I'm counting on them to handle it with maturity and professionalism. Bygones, right? Isn't that how a "wise" person would handle it?

By my count, I did some 300 programs at my old station. Approaching that number at WRFI seems weird; it makes no difference to me that those older programs were three hours, not two. A show is a show. I kind of liken this to a boy playing his dad at basketball--you dream of beating him one day, and when you finally do, it's terrible. You're grown up now, no excuses, this isn't a rehearsal anymore. I feel like if this show's duration exceeds what I did in the past, then this becomes the "real" thing, and not a weird fun reprise with nothing real at stake. But with so much behind me, and with possible retribution and certain managerial incompetence ahead, I feel like I have to think about the end.

Will I make every show count from here on? I think we know my capabilities and focus at this point.

Sorry for such a heavy rant, you guys. Boy, it is hot out these days! How about that Women's World Cup? Isn't it something? What else can we talk about?

* Noticed that I did say "Weird Owl" aloud, which sounds like "Weird Al," and didn't remark on it.

** Yes I did go straight from adolescence to decline. Don't we all?

BOMBAST playlist, 2015 June 17, 2100-2300:

1. "Maithuna" | High Wolf | Growing Wild | Leaving
2. "Valve" | Bailter Space | Tanker / Nelsh | Matador
3. "All Is Gone" | The Shade | Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Vol. 3 | Crypt | "Physical Evidence"
4. "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey (version)" | Byron Lee & The Dragonaires | Uptown Top Ranking | VP
5. "2 x 4" | The Fall | The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall [reissue] | Beggars Banquet
6. "Will She Love Me" | The Vespers | Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Vol. 3 | Crypt | "Physical Evidence"
7. "Desert" | Mahk & Morpheus | Desert | Souvenir
8. "Reactance" | John Tejada & Arian Leviste | Reactance | Areal
9. "How to Be a Musician" | Eddie Day and The Night Timers | Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Vol. 3 | Crypt | "Physical Evidence"
10. "Vegetable Man" | The Mothmen | Pay Attention! | On-U Sound
11. "Melting Into Rise" | Ah! Kosmos | Flesh | Denovali
12. "They Say" | The In-Set | Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Vol. 3 | Crypt | "Physical Evidence"
13. "Skydancer I / Skydancer II" | Kenton Slash Demon | Skydancer | Future Classic
14. "Just Like Me" | The Poverty Five | Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Vol. 3 | Crypt | "Physical Evidence"
15. "The Secret Society" | ASC | Imagine the Future | Samurai
16. "Dark Light" | Tiefschwarz | Left | Watergate
17. "Interstellar Skeletal" | Weird Owl | Interstellar Skeletal | A Recordings
18. "Suki" | Unrest | Imperial F.F.R.R. [reissue] | Teen-Beat
19. "All That I Really Want" | The Tempos | Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Vol. 3 | Crypt | "Physical Evidence"
20. "Cocaine Cat" | Tess Parks & Anton Newcombe | Cocaine Cat | A Recordings
21. "Claire" | Tal National | Zoy Zoy | Fatcat
22. "No Names Bar" | The Fabulous Three | The Best of the Fabulous Three | Truth & Soul
23. "Down to the Sea" | The Fathoms | Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Vol. 3 | Crypt | "Physical Evidence"
24. "Hate Me? You Old!" | Birdstriking | Birdstriking | A Recordings
25. "Opportunity" | The Rogues | Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Vol. 3 | Crypt | "Physical Evidence"
26. "Kolor, Pt. 2 - C2 Remix" | Mirko Loko | Kolor | Cadenza
27. "Lonely Woman -> Distress Signal" | Band of Colors | not on album | Soundcloud self-release
28. "Remember Me" | Jose Padilla | So Many Colours | International Feel
29. "It's Me Not You" | The Torques | Last of the Garage Punk Unknowns, Vol. 3 | Crypt | "Physical Evidence"
30. "Jarg Armani" | Half Man Half Biscuit | Saucy Haulage Ballads | Probe Plus
31. "Lies (Ancient Methods Remix)" | Bourbonese Qualk | Lies (Ancient Methods Edit + Remix) | Mannequin

next time: more of the same, no doubt. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

U_D_M Detour 12, 2014 October 3

[GUEST POST]

Guy LeBatard here, displaced in time and space from the program contained herein. Where these "podcasts" are, my truth is not. Reified me [or is it refried?] sounds fairly decent, though, I can assure you. October is safely in the past, unless there is, a la O'Brien in the Ministry of Love, some alternate universe where the past is still happening.

I do recall vaguely that there was another WRFI program around this time that was venturing into the sort of tunes that I play, and perhaps there has been another one since, but they are no more. And, seemingly, nor is this pop-up show. Certain genres don't seem to get the time and energy to be sustainable. Or maybe the people are the wrong people, though I would hate to think of the folk jockeys as the "right" people. Not even Orwell can make me shudder that effectively.

U_D_M playlist, 2014 October 3, 1900-2000

1. "Mystericordia - Rodriguez Jr. Remix" | Igor Vicente | Mystericordia | mobilee
2. "Medea" | Solomun | Samson EP | DIYnamic
3. "The Tubular Arp" | Skinnerbox | Love Songs For The Broken Hearted Arpeggiator | Treat Your DJ Right
4. "On My Mind - Version Three" [with Flava D] | Royal T | On My Mind | Butterz
5. "Hot Inside" | Jimmy Edgar | Hot Inside | Ultramajic
6. "Drum Program" | Djedjotronic | Drum Program | boysnoize
7. "Mesohippus" | Strategy | Pressure Wassure | Peak Oil
8. "Charge - Rrose Remix" | CTRLS | Charge | Token
9. "Born To Be Alive" | Ken Hayakawa | Take 1 | Romancity

jettisoning baggage.

Chasing Voices He Receives in His Head: Transmission 213, 2015 June 10

You would think, after taking a 5-day break, and doing a show in my allotted time instead of "stealing" all the fill-in slots, as I stand accused, the Radio Gods would smile upon me and my humble show-that-at-least-one-person-in-power-thinks-should-not-exist. You would be wrong. Listen, as 60-cycle hum becomes an aesthetic element in your left earbud due to a faulty patch in the studio. Apparently this had metastasized throughout our station's output, so if you were listening on air or on the web you would have heard an even worse version of this. (I've cleaned it up a bit.) (You're welcome.)

The question, "is it worse to have a sonically compromised mixtape that you can actually listen to, or for an episode to go missing so you have to wonder forever what it was really like (e.g. Lost Episode 19)?" is hereby answered, one way or the other.

The Pixies recording featured herein is not the best of their live recordings, but it is a thing. You go to war with the "Physical Evidence" you have, not the "Physical Evidence" you wish you had. I saw this band twice, both times too late in their career arc (and I'm not even taking their comeback into account), and both times were weird times. They did just kind of stand there. Except for Kim, who was replaced mid-set by a roadie in the latter show. I have to say, if I had played in this band I might have been routinely trashed as well. What is the point of this human life if one can't learn empathy?

I don't know why fierce love and high standards must be companions, but apparently they must.

BOMBAST playlist, 2015 June 10, 2100-2300:

1. "Mauve" | Guerre Froide | Guerre Froide | Born Bad
2. "Tomoko's O" / "Solar Eclipse on a Friday Morning" | Boof | The Hydrangeas Whisper | Bubbletease
3. "Black Holes" | LOYOTO | Looking at the Starz | Upon You
4. "Pickpocket" | The Late Call | Golden | Tapete
5. "Urals" | Walls | Urals | Ecstatic
6. "My Father, Tall as Goliath" | Pyramids | A Northern Meadow | Profound Lore
7. "Guilt" | Darius Vaikas | Guilt | Best Kept Secret
8. "Blue Note" | Antigone | Cantor Dust | Token
9. "Satanama" | Darkel | The Man of Sorrow EP | Prototyp
10. "History of Man" | Amanaz | Africa | Now-Again
11. "June" | Unrest | Imperial F.F.R.R. [reissue] | Teen-Beat
12. "The Bain Of Constance" | Half Man Half Biscuit | Urge For Offal | Probe Plus
13. "Killing Floor" | The Jimi Hendrix Experience | BBC Sessions | MCA
14. "Dial up Doll" | The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion | Freedom Tower - No Wave Dance Party 2015 | Mom + Pop
15. "Gigantic" | Pixies | Death to the Pixies (live disc) | 4AD - Elektra | "Physical Evidence"
    
16. "Crackity Jones" | Pixies | Death to the Pixies (live disc) | 4AD - Elektra | "Physical Evidence"
17. "Something Against You" | Pixies | Death to the Pixies (live disc) | 4AD - Elektra | "Physical Evidence"
18. "Tame" | Pixies | Death to the Pixies (live disc) | 4AD - Elektra | "Physical Evidence"
19. "Wave of Mutilation" | Pixies | Death to the Pixies (live disc) | 4AD - Elektra | "Physical Evidence"
20. "Where Is My Mind" | Pixies | Death to the Pixies (live disc) | 4AD - Elektra | "Physical Evidence"
21. "Ed Is Dead" | Pixies | Death to the Pixies (live disc) | 4AD - Elektra | "Physical Evidence"
22. "Vamos" | Pixies | Death to the Pixies (live disc) | 4AD - Elektra | "Physical Evidence"
23. "Tony's Theme" | Pixies | Death to the Pixies (live disc) | 4AD - Elektra | "Physical Evidence"
24. "Quantum Corrections" | Grad_U | Space Explorations | Echocord
25. "XMAS_EVET1 N" | Aphex Twin | MARCHROMT30a Edit 2b 96 | Warp

next time: even I don't know yet. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

He Employs All Chances to His Own Advantage: Transmission 212, 2015 June 5

SEPTIMANA MIRABILIS BOMBASTICUM draws to a close with an appropriately defiant program. Featured is a (Mickey & the) Milkshakes record, but I seem to have gone out of my way to play instrumental tracks. Do you like singing and lyrics? That's fine--here, have two different versions of "Halloween," swears and all. An intervention may be necessary. I am old and seem to have stopped caring. Perhaps some middle-aged DJ retreat, where motivational speakers and rejuvenating exercises reanimate me with purpose and enthusiasm. I wonder if there is grant funding available for this, and whether I would have to account for the funds disbursed--not that I would ever change my mind or betray anyone's good faith.

BOMBAST playlist, 2015 June 5, 2100-2300:

1. "Bull's Nose" | Mickey & The Milkshakes | Talking 'Bout...Milkshakes! | Milkshakes | "Physical Evidence"
2. "Naught" | James Welburn | Hold | Miasmah
3. "Gales Doc" | Nightingales | Mind Over Matter | Louder than War
4. "Shed Country" | Mickey & The Milkshakes | Talking 'Bout...Milkshakes! | Milkshakes | "Physical Evidence"
5. "The Devil Threatens Me" | Felix Laband | Deaf Safari | Compost
6. "Jelly Roll" | Noahlewis' Mahlon Taits | Gift from Noahlewis' Mahlon Taits | EM
7. "Loud Mouth - Rough Mix" | Outros | not on album | self-released
8. "Ruhrgebeat" | Mickey & The Milkshakes | Talking 'Bout...Milkshakes! | Milkshakes | "Physical Evidence"
9. "(Birtwistle's) Girl In Shop" | The Fall | (We Wish You) A Protein Christmas | Action
10. "Sound of My Dub" | Lee "Scratch" Perry | Back On The Controls | Rolling Lion - Upsetter
11. "I Say You Lie" | Mickey & The Milkshakes | Talking 'Bout...Milkshakes! | Milkshakes | "Physical Evidence"
12. "Papageno 30 Years Later - feat. Waa Industry" | Kolsch | 1983 | Kompakt
13. "Cherry Cream On" | Unrest | Imperial F.F.R.R. [reissue] | Teen-Beat
14. "Halloween" | Sonic Youth | Bad Moon Rising | Goofin'
15. "Retrospection" | A Projection | Exit | Tapete
16. "Nothing You Can Say Or Do" | Mickey & The Milkshakes | Talking 'Bout...Milkshakes! | Milkshakes | "Physical Evidence"
17. "Halloween" | Mudhoney | Touch Me I'm Sick / Halloween | Blast First
18. "You Can't Moan Can You?" | The Wedding Present | George Best [reissue] | Edsel
19. "Need" | WhoMadeWho | Ember EP | Get Physical
20. "Nevertheless" | The Brian Jonestown Massacre | Tepid Peppermint Wonderland Volume 2 | A Recordings
21. "Wheels of Progress" | Blind Idiot God | Before Ever After | Indivisible
22. "Love You The Whole Night Through" | Mickey & The Milkshakes | Talking 'Bout...Milkshakes! | Milkshakes | "Physical Evidence"
23. "As Above, So Below parts 1-3" | Edward Ka-Spel | 10 to the Power of 9 - Chapter III | bandcamp self-release

next time: what a big black mess. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis