radiobombast

Another Day Is Done, And We're Eating Our Wages Again: Transmission 211, 2015 June 3

"I'm doing too many shows," I confessed to Grandpa Catharsis the other day. "I'm worried about running out of music." "Don't let that happen," he told me. "Reach back into the archives. The 90s. Play some Smashing Pumpkins or something." Ouch. I was never a fan and they are not in "the archives." He had to be thinking of DJ Segundo, who was a fan, once. I guess that happens in families.

In high school Segundo and I both did lunchtime shows on the mighty KDHR, an unlicensed radio station that served the school quad and, supposedly, houses within about a 1-block radius (was that even legal? anyway...). His time was later than mine, as I discovered later still; at some point when I was a dj and he was not I borrowed his copy of the 1981-1982 EP to play on my show, without asking. He was quite bemused. With this program I try to repay an old karmic debt.

BOMBAST playlist, 2015 June 3, 2100-2300

1. "Drink Up and Be Somebody" | Kinski | 7 (or 8) | Kill Rock Stars
2. "Turn the Heater On" | New Order | Peel Sessions | Strange Fruit | "Physical Evidence"
3. "Methods of Dance" | Japan | Gentlemen Take Polaroids | Virgin Japan
4. "Fragments of Fear" | In Camera | Era | 4AD
5. "The Valley of Songs" | Woo York | The Valley of Songs | Life and Death
6. "5-8-6" | New Order | Peel Sessions | Strange Fruit | "Physical Evidence"
7. "H 910" | Automat | Plusminus | Bureau B
8. "I.C.B." | New Order | Peel Sessions | Strange Fruit | "Physical Evidence"
9. "No Shade - Rough Mix" | Outros | not on album | self-released
10. "Cowboy spaziale" | Piero Umiliani | Tra scienza e fantascienza | We Release Whatever The Fuck We Want
11. "Truth" | New Order | Peel Sessions | Strange Fruit | "Physical Evidence"
12. "Itous (live)" | Tamikrest | Taksera | Glitterbeat
13. "Run Away from the Sun" | Wetdog | Divine Times | Upset the Rhythm
14. "Voice of the Structure" | Blind Idiot God | Before Ever After | Indivisible
15. "I Have Four Sons, All Named for Men We Lost to War" | Pyramids | A Northern Meadow | Profound Lore
16. "We All Stand" | New Order | Peel Sessions | Strange Fruit | "Physical Evidence"
17. "Gaping Void" | Korablove | Gaping Void | High-Jack
18. "Exposure" | Aerosol | Leave | n5MD
19. "Bell Slide" | Lifted | 1 | PAN
20. "Too Late" | New Order | Peel Sessions | Strange Fruit | "Physical Evidence"
21. "No. 33.1 The Game's Ouverture / No. 33.2 Hawk [Part I] / No. 34 Dove [Part II]" | Terron | Whities 003 | Whities

next time: what does not kill him makes him lighter. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

The Disappointment of Positive Thinking: Transmission 210, 2015 June 2

"It usually sounds a bit better than this," I think I say at one point during this broadcast. In retrospect, I'm finding the whole thing pretty awesome. These mixtapes do serve a purpose after all, even if it is to save me from the ravages of myself.

This is the last of the Tuesday night programs for the time being. When Mr. Fishscales of "Dark Parade" fame cancelled his program, I took the opportunity to return to Wednesday, where Bombast now resides--that night has always felt more natural; I have a sentimental attachment to it since that's where we began; I only moved away from it so that Mr. F could do his program when it might not have been possible otherwise. But good things happened for us on Tuesdays--the Durutti Column, Breathless, and Heidi Berry specials happened on that day, and we spent many a Tuesday night following The Humming Wires, and we will miss that terribly.

Nostalgia--a friend gave me Heart of Darkness when it was current; it was also in heavy rotation on the mighty (and currently embattled) KDVS, as were all the No Trend releases at the time. For me it is really the void that has stared back, and has become a part of me; I don't know what the point would be to owning records if I didn't own this one. Mind you, it's not the only one of its kind, but it is definitely one of that kind. Also, this record will really tell you who your friends are. Hang on to anyone who can sit with you throughout the whole thing.

BOMBAST playlist, 2015 June 2, 2100-2300:

1. "Swallowtail - Live" | The Brian Jonestown Massacre | Tepid Peppermint Wonderland Volume 2 | A Recordings
2. "Your Love" | No Trend with Lydia Lunch | Heart of Darkness | Widowspeak | "Physical Evidence"
3. "The Summer Ends Tonight" | Les Big Byrd | Liquid Sky EP | Hoga Nord
4. "Let's Go Psycho" | Jah Wobble | Merry Go Round | Cherry Red
5. "Champion Nines" | Unrest | Imperial F.F.R.R. [reissue] | Teen-Beat
6. "Summer Will (Nothing Here Now But The Recordings)" | William S. Burroughs | William S. Burroughs - In Dub (Selected by Dub Spencer & Trance Hill) | Echo Beach
7. "Nothing Is" | TB | City Girl | Permanent Vacation
8. "Aquifer Construct PC287d" | Men In Sheds | Death Stalks the Unwary | self-released
9. "Reach" | Aerosol | Leave | n5MD
10. "Tear You Apart" | No Trend with Lydia Lunch | Heart of Darkness | Widowspeak | "Physical Evidence"
11. "Death Valley '69 (with Lydia Lunch)" | Sonic Youth | Bad Moon Rising | Goofin'
12. "Peasantry or 'Light! Inside of Light!' / Lambs' Breath" | Godspeed You! Black Emperor | Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress | Constellation
13. "Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft" | The Wedding Present | George Best [reissue] | Edsel
14. "Another Face" | A Projection | Exit | Tapete
15. "Groovin' with the Aces" | Bobby Moore & The Rhythm Aces | Dedication of Love | Jazzman
16. "For Different Folks" | Nightingales | Mind Over Matter | Louder than War
17. "Preservation" | Ssleeping Desiress | Ssleeping Desiress | Onderstroom
18. "The Curse" | No Trend with Lydia Lunch | Heart of Darkness | Widowspeak | "Physical Evidence"
19. "Unchained Dub" | The Lucid Dream | The Lucid Dream | Holy Are You
20. "Got To Get What's Been Forbidden" | Thee Headcoats | The Good Times Are Killing Me | M'Lady's
21. "Arterial - MOORS remix" | Lusine | Arterial Reworks | Ghostly International
22. "Vision Heat Logotone #4" | Vision Heat | The Chosen Themes - Program I | Root Strata
23. "Who's To Say" | No Trend with Lydia Lunch | Heart of Darkness | Widowspeak | "Physical Evidence"
24. "Sunday" | Valet | Nature | kranky

next time: the game's ouverture. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

Bear With Me, or Continue to Enjoy This, Whichever You're Doing: Transmission 209, 2015 May 31

Every year, as soon as both of our colleges have held their commencements, Ithaca hosts this mean-spirited little festival celebrating what is "special" about itself, as though being host to an Ivy League school plays no part in the specialness and as though Ithaca, left to its own devices, is somehow a nicer place than one of the nearby financially- and culturally-impoverished rural hellholes you've read about in the story about racist Google searches. As a station we were partnered with this carnival of solipsism this year, such involvement being its own "black hole," as a source close to BOMBAST tells me. But this is my website and I can say what I please about this four-day endurance test--I hate it and prefer to stay indoors. So here I am, spinning some records.

The "Factory Sound" being pretty far from what the Ithaca Festival is about, and this being Martin Hannett's would-be birthday, the show went to some predictable but nevertheless awesome places, segues be damned [I'm looking at you, Slaughter and the Dogs]. Of course the Martin compilation would have been "Physical Evidence," but someone decided that all of Manchester punk needed to be Spotified while I wasn't looking, so I was out of luck. I'm feeling pretty defeated with this whole thing! Anyway, this was a "FTS" program and it came off well.

Somewhere in this archive I spat out some words about Joy Division sounding better live than on record--oh yeah, there it is--but I think I'll go in a different direction here. You could do a lot worse than having to listen to a repeating playlist with "Flight," "Ceremony," "Atmosphere," "Dirty Disco," "For Belgian Friends," and "Transmission" on it. Also, since this was a historical fork in the road, I would prefer it had Factory spent whatever money it would have taken to placate Martin Hannett, so we could have more records, rather than dumping all that money into the Hacienda. And no, I'm not bitter or biased just because I never got to visit.

BOMBAST playlist, 2015 May 31, 2100-2300

1. "Nostalgia" | The Chameleons | John Peel Sessions | Blue Apple
2. "There Is Only Now" | Souls of Mischief | There Is Only Now (Remix) | Linear Labs
3. "Right Here" | Tricky | Adrian Thaws | False Idols
4. "Code Ext" | John Tejada | Dramamine | Palette
5. "Winter Hill" | A Certain Ratio | To Each... | Universal Sound
6. "Voyager" | Rival Consoles | Odyssey / Sonne | Erased Tapes
7. "That Girl Suicide" | The Brian Jonestown Massacre | Tepid Peppermint Wonderland Volume 2 | A Recordings
8. "Erzulie" | Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart | Redux - Anthology 1978-2015 | 30 Hertz - Cherry Red
9. "Rackets" | Royal Family and the Poor | A Factory Quartet | Factory
10. "Suspended Sentence" | John Cooper Clarke | Martin | Factory
11. "Echtrae" | Lakker | Tundra | R & S
12. "1974" | Joey Anderson | 1974 | Dekmantel
13. "Gyal Circuit" | SEEKERSINTERNATIONAL | Gyal Circuit | Boomarm Nation
14. "Cranked Up Really High" | Slaughter & The Dogs | Martin | Factory
15. "Atmosphere" | Joy Division | She's Lost Control | Factory US
16. "When Thanksgiving Approaches, I'm Usually In My Third Week Without Release" | Exploring Jezebel | On a Business Trip to London | Blackest Ever Black
17. "Nix" | Dawn of Midi | Nix | Erased Tapes
18. "For Belgian Friends" | The Durutti Column | A Factory Quartet | Factory
19. "Atmosphere" | Brian Harris | Behind the Mask | self-released
20. "Phantom" | The Sisters of Mercy | Alice | Merciful Release
21. "Barrage" | Blind Idiot God | Before Ever After | Indivisible
22. "This Could Be the End" | The Legendary Pink Dots | Asylum | Jnana

next time: an audience with the Queen of Siam. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

If You're Looking for Me, Thank You: Transmission 208, 2015 May 30

By hook or by crook I wound up with an embarrassment of riches, "riches" meaning airtime that no one else wanted [I have never understood free-market economics] and "embarrassment" meaning 4 programs in a span of 5 days, beginning with this program on this day. I don't think there has been a week like this in the history of radio, if I may humbly say so, and it deserved its own special name, in Latin: SEPTIMANA MIRABILIS BOMBASTICUM. For a time I left days 6 and 7 of this miraculous week in the hands of fate, but sure enough, someone bailed out of a program on day 7, so it wound up being a grand total of 5 programs.

I would love to promise that my reign won't feature the caning of children to death, or even medium-scale kleptocracy, but I pride myself on truthfulness. Sure enough, roller derby ended half an hour ahead of schedule on this Saturday night, so here I am stealing more airtime. And, needless to say, USING IT WISELY.

I had meant to play Saqqara Dogs much earlier in my WRFI "tenure," but things happened. Better late than never, I hope? It seemed to work out here.

BOMBAST playlist, 2015 May 30, 2030-2300:

1. "Cosmic Power" | Natural Magic | Natural Magic | Boomarm Nation
2. "Egbe Mi" | West African Rhythm Brothers | Highlife on the Move: Selected Nigerian & Ghanaian Recordings from London & Lagos 1954-1966 | Soundway
3. "Sister" | Saqqara Dogs | World Crunch | Pathfinder | "Physical Evidence"
4. "Cold Killer / The Darkest Day / Head Musik / Moonstruck" | The Lucid Dream | The Lucid Dream | Holy Are You
5. "Transience" | James Welburn | Hold | Miasmah
6. "Kolor" | Mirko Loko | Kolor | Cadenza
7. "Now U Talkin' Change, Huh?" | Fontarrian | VLV | Antime
8. "Hymnin5" | Karl Hector & The Malcouns | Unstraight Ahead | Now-Again
9. "Philip" | Rival Consoles | Odyssey / Sonne | Erased Tapes
10. "Nailing Honey to the Bee" | The Brian Jonestown Massacre | Tepid Peppermint Wonderland Volume 2 | A Recordings
11. "Outamachek" | Tamikrest | Taksera | Glitterbeat
12. "Greenwich Mean Time" | Saqqara Dogs | World Crunch | Pathfinder | "Physical Evidence"
13. "Pylon" | Lakker | Tundra | R & S
14. "Adam Boyle Has Cast Lad Rock Aside" | Half Man Half Biscuit | Urge For Offal | Probe Plus
15. "Brassneck" | The Wedding Present | Bizarro | Edsel
16. "African Carnival" | Manu Dibango | Africadelic | Aurora
17. "Batman Theme" | The Jam | In the City | Polydor [Japan]
18. "Infinity Machines" | Gnod | Infinity Machines | Rocket
19. "Shutdown" | Blind Idiot God | Before Ever After | Indivisible
20. "Dense from Birth" | Saqqara Dogs | World Crunch | Pathfinder | "Physical Evidence"
21. "Last Dance" | XXXY | Last Dance | Rinse
22. "climb up eh" | Felicita | Frenemies | Gum
23. "The Good Times Are Killing Me" | Thee Headcoats | The Good Times Are Killing Me | M'Lady's
24. "Here Comes Everybody" | The Wake | Here Comes Everybody | Factory Benelux
25. "Veira" | Dave DK | Val Maira | Kompakt
26. "Across the Sky" | Saqqara Dogs | World Crunch | Pathfinder | "Physical Evidence"
27. "Roundhouse Blues" | Les Big Byrd | Liquid Sky EP | Hoga Nord

next time: press this button for "postpunk." Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

Like Hypnotizing Chickens: Transmission 207, 2015 May 26

"Hey, can you play a chicken song?" asks the caller. "My friend--I'm stoned right now--my friend here is running for city council and wants to make it legal to raise chickens in town." Just a regular night in the radio control booth. We never did get around to pinpointing such a song, by the way, but did settle--later, as this person (let's call him Tom) kept calling, and calling, and calling back--on "Lust for Life," because "it has that beat." Fair enough.

Sometimes new hosts ask if we have a request policy. We don't, although (because?) I am of two different minds about it.

On the one hand, there is that time we received a donation of a couple hundred dollars from a grateful listener because we snuck a random song, completely out of context, into an environmental program on his wife's birthday; even when a trainee says "I don't plan on playing records" (which in a perfect world would be grounds for disqualification) I insist on showing them how, "because you never know when some desperate person is going to offer the station ten thousand dollars if we play a request that will save his marriage."

On the other, for me personally it has to be in context, and something that I could see myself playing if left to my own devices (or have played, like "I Zimbra"). Can you imagine someone calling up a public affairs program, saying, "hey, could you guys take a break from talking about drone warfare and start discussing tax legislation?" It never happens, so, no, I won't be taking detours into Americana just because someone can use a phone.

We depend on people like Tom, though, even if he doesn't give us any money (although he should, as he owns a head shop--yes, that's actually true). You do need to know that someone is out there, listening. And, bless him, he was grateful. "I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart," he gushed at the end of the show, even as I told him I couldn't fit in the fifth thing he tried to have me play. "I'm petting a cat right now."
 
BOMBAST playlist, 2015 May 26, 2100-2300:

1. "Intro" | Sonic Youth | Bad Moon Rising | Goofin'
2. "Public Image" | Jah Wobble | Merry Go Round | Cherry Red
3. "Leave" | Aerosol | Leave | n5MD
4. "Prisoner of the Earth" | William S. Burroughs | William S. Burroughs - In Dub (Selected by Dub Spencer & Trance Hill) | Echo Beach
5. "Fantastic Voyage" | David Bowie | Lodger | EMI
6. "The Only Repeat" | Prefuse 73 | The Only She Chapters | Warp
7. "Asunder, Sweet" / "Piss Crowns Are Trebled" | Godspeed You! Black Emperor | Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress | Constellation
8. "Dust Heads" | Les Big Byrd | Liquid Sky EP | Hoga Nord
9. "Sundrops" | Kristin Hersh | Sundrops / Cuckoo | Heliospheric | "Parlour of Evidence"
10. "The Man that Time Forgot" | Nightingales | Mind Over Matter | Louder than War
11. "I Takeskogen" | Trulz & Robin | I Takeskogen | Full Pupp
12. "Night Driver" | Blind Idiot God | Before Ever After | Indivisible
13. "Lust For Life" | Iggy Pop | Lust For Life | Virgin
14. "Recovery (Vessels Remix)" | Rival Consoles | Odyssey / Sonne | Erased Tapes
15. "I Zimbra" | Talking Heads | Fear of Music | Sire
16. "Duration" | James Welburn | Hold | Miasmah
17. "Cuckoo" | Kristin Hersh | Sundrops / Cuckoo | Heliospheric | "Parlour of Evidence"
18. "Exodus" | Bob Marley & The Wailers | Legend | Island
19. "Final Solution" | Pere Ubu | Elitism for the People 1975-1978 | Fire
20. "East Kennet Skies" | July Skies | Dreaming of Spires | Rocket Girl
21. "Moon Eye" | Walls | Urals | Ecstatic

next time: the good times are killing me.

Unruly Boys Who Will Not Grow Up Must Be Taken in Hand: Transmission 206, 2015 May 22

"It's Morrissey's birthday," I think I said; "I have to do something." Not that he will notice or anything, but this lapsed Catholic is still big on observances. I did not seek out this opportunity; this is not a regularly scheduled "alpha" program but some bonus airtime that fell into my lap. I can think of nothing more diametrically opposed to "Conference of the Birds" than a shoddy-sounding indie rock bootleg, but to quote another Manchester icon "life just bounces."

This show happened a week after an aborted late-night Friday program, one on which I was going to "observe" the birthday of Andrew Eldritch, someone else whose records I listened to quite a bit 30 years ago. Guilt is the other thing I'm still really into, but again I'm guessing he won't have noticed either that it was going to happen or that it didn't. "Friend of Bombast" Jeremy got me hooked on SoM records and they were a powerful addiction for a while. I think "Body Electric" was my favorite--"too much contact and no more feeling." Yep. Has Morrissey ever written a line equal to that? [Okay, okay, dozens.] [Shut up.]

Another thing, in response to a question that no one asked, is that I remember going to see The Smiths in concert with a half-dozen of my closest friends, and that Sisters of Mercy were the soundtrack to my sitting alone in a darkened dorm room as friendships fell away. Whose music is "miserablist?" Maybe that's not fair, but it is what it is. I've written about The Smiths before--they were terrific, I will not argue it, and if you don't like my tapes or my rites, you can move along, there's another program coming soon.

BOMBAST playlist, 2015 May 22, 2100-2300:

1. "The Only Son" | Nightingales | Mind Over Matter | Louder than War
2. "Intrigue in Tangiers" | The Chameleons | John Peel Sessions | Blue Apple
3. "Stereotypes" / "Stereotypes Part 2" | The Specials | More Specials | Chrysalis | "Listening Parlour"
   
4. "No One Is Looking at U" | Nicolas Jaar | Nymphs II | Other People
5. "Oh" | Ste Spandex | LBL002 | LBL
6. "I Am Made To Greet Each Guest with a Limp-Wristed Handshake" | Exploring Jezebel | On a Business Trip to London | Blackest Ever Black
7. "Nightbird" | The Fabulous Three | The Best of the Fabulous Three | Truth & Soul
8. "Yes" | WhoMadeWho | Ember EP | Get Physical
9. "Wait for Me" | Fontarrian | VLV | Antime
10. "Backroom" | Earl Zinger & Don Rogall | In the Backroom | Stag-O-Lee
11. "Ramshackle" | Blind Idiot God | Before Ever After | Indivisible
12. "Still Ill (live in Oxford, 18 March 1985)" | The Smiths | bootleg cassette | not on label | "Physical Evidence"
    
13. "Object 10" | The Notwist | Messier Objects | Alien Transistor
14. "Clear Chanel" | Heatsick | Re-Engineering | PAN
15. "Soledad" | Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart | Redux - Anthology 1978-2015 | 30 Hertz - Cherry Red
16. "Camphor" | Future 3 | With & Without | Morr
17. "The Process - 1983 Demo" | Section 25 | From the Hip [30th anniversary edition] | Factory Benelux
18. "Halma" | Dave DK | Val Maira | Kompakt
19. "All This And More" | The Wedding Present | George Best [reissue] | Edsel
20. "Hide Away" | The Sentinals | Big Surf! | Rumble
21. "Miserable Lie (live in Oxford, 18 March 1985)" | The Smiths | bootleg cassette | not on label | "Physical Evidence"
22. "Better Lies" | Family Fodder | Schizophrenia Party (The Director's Cut) | Staubgold
23. "Sonne" | Rival Consoles | Odyssey / Sonne | Erased Tapes
24. "Paedophile" | Thee Headcoats | The Good Times Are Killing Me | M'Lady's
25. "Barbarism Begins at Home" / "You've Got Everything Now (live in Oxford, 18 March 1985)" | The Smiths | bootleg cassette | not on label | "Physical Evidence"

next time: long-lost tapes are big these days. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

Elitism for the People: Transmission 205, 2015 May 19

Hurtling toward summer, our good run of form continues. The Primevals provided the "Physical Evidence" on this night--some good rocking tunes, although perhaps not the most, uh, enlightened things we have ever broadcast! (That's called truth in advertising--Ed.) At any rate, it is good to affirm every now and then that I can beat iTunes to the punch, so I got this one in just under the wire. It was nice to have two "Listening Parlour" visits, like the olden days. Lady Catharsis feels it's too much to come up with two songs per week to play. Cry me a river.

I was particularly comment-y on this evening, and again New Order turned out to be the target--purely accidental, although they are like an ex-girlfriend or something, if ex-girlfriends mattered as much as records. I haven't been able to enjoy "Ceremony" properly since that Absolut commercial, though, and it has nothing to do with moralizing. I don't care how much money people have, for the most part, or where they get it, as long as they're not stealing from me, and it's not even New Order performing the song in that ad--I just don't like thinking of cars (I'm looking at you, Pixies), booze, weed killer, tampons, whatever, when I hear one of my favorite songs. Adorno said something along those lines about Fantasia, so go yell at him if you disagree, he started it & he's more relevant than I am.

BOMBAST playlist, 2015 May 19, 2100-2300:

1. "Iron Sharpening Iron" | Culture | Harder than the Rest | High Note
2. "Side A" | Natural Magic | Natural Magic | Boomarm Nation
3. "Three Songs" | Lakker | Tundra | R & S
4. "Spiritual" | The Primevals | The Peel Sessions | Strange Fruit | "Physical Evidence"
5. "Liquid Sky" | Les Big Byrd | Liquid Sky EP | Hoga Nord
6. "Planet Monster" | Andrew Liles | First Monster Last Monster Always Monster | Dirter
7. "See That Skin" | The Primevals | The Peel Sessions | Strange Fruit | "Physical Evidence"
8. "Devil In My Car" | The B-52's | Wild Planet | Warner Bros. | "Listening Parlour"
9. "Always Coming Home" | Strategy | Seeds of Paradise | Idle Hands
10. "The Three Sides of Audrey and Why She's All Alone Now" | Nicolas Jaar | Nymphs II | Other People
11. "Cloud 149" | Pere Ubu | Elitism for the People 1975-1978 | Fire
12. "Saint Jack" | The Primevals | The Peel Sessions | Strange Fruit | "Physical Evidence"
13. "Gyal Circuit (Gulls meets SKRS inna BORDERCLASH VERSION)" | SEEKERSINTERNATIONAL | Gyal Circuit | Boomarm Nation
14. "FUB" | Blind Idiot God | Before Ever After | Indivisible
15. "Mona Lisa" | The Lucid Dream | The Lucid Dream | Holy Are You
16. "Lover" | Chrisma | Hibernation | Spittle
17. "Dish of Fish" | The Primevals | The Peel Sessions | Strange Fruit | "Physical Evidence"
18. "Birds" | WhoMadeWho | Ember EP | Get Physical
19. "Blockheads" | Ian Dury | New Boots and Panties!! | Demon
20. "Condor" | Turzi | C | Record Makers
21. "We're Going to Live for a Very Long Time" | Heaven 17 | Penthouse and Pavement | Virgin | "Listening Parlour"

next time: what do we get for our trouble and pain? Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

Cruising Altitude Departure 11, 2014 September 27

[GUEST POST]

Halcyon here. The last time out, I was in quite a mood. This show brings nothing but [hic] happy memories.

We are currently experiencing fall-like weather, perfect for flying, but alas I do not have the time. I thought I would post this to remind you that I still exist. I do.

Kid Catharsis, who graciously allows me to post here, informs me that Heidi Berry is a "legend" of some sort. I don't doubt it! Nice tune.

I see from the playlist that I was more or less living in the past on this outing. That's fine; I don't have the same problems with that as others do.

Cruising Altitude playlist, 2014 September 27, 1400-1500:

1. "On The Wrong Side of Relaxation" | Barry Adamson | Moss Side Story | Mute - Restless
2. "Below The Waves" | Heidi Berry | Below The Waves | Creation
3. "Exotica" | Throbbing Gristle | 20 Jazz Funk Greats | Industrial - Mute
4. "Ananda" | Durutti Column | Chronicle XL [2011 pre-release] | Kooky
5. "Lacuna" | Swallow | Blow | 4AD
6. "Probate" | Biting Tongues | Trouble Hand | Factory
7. "Mas" | Labradford | A Stable Reference | kranky
8. "Billy Bee Song" | Unknown Artist | Potatoes | Ralph
9. "Les Professionels" | Air | Premiers Symptomes | Virgin
10. "Sargasso Sea" | C.V.O. | Natures Mortes - Still Lives | 4AD
11. "Deep, Transcendent Waves of Golden Light" | Naked Island | Naked Island | Peak Oil
12. "Western Test Range (Vandenberg)" | Kora et le Mechanix | Irritating Music for Discerning Snobs Desperate to Impress Their Jaded Friends | Soleilmoon
13. "Roseland" | Rocketnumbernine and Four Tet | Roseland / Metropolis | Text

the creator is currently unavailable

You Take Your Pension in Loneliness and Alcohol: Transmission 204, 2015 May 12

Like a fine ratatouille, this program made for better listening the next day. Except for Lady Catharsis' unfortunate absence, which made Billy Squier's inclusion in the program really weird, this is a mixtape with few flaws--host and selection notwithstanding. (I find I am doing well with this "demanding better from myself" business.)

On that subject--did I really say "we're mostly current tonight," or something like that, and then proceed to play the following sequence--Joy Division / Oyster Band / Billy Squier / Ian Dury / Section 25 / Headcoats? Yes, yes I did. Would you be willing to consider reissues as a mitigating factor? Do you believe, as I think I do, that if something never becomes "spectacle" it is as if it never happened, and is therefore new? That's what I managed to glean from Greil Marcus, anyway, although my scholarship is, as always, "cause for concern." [Guy, if you're paying attention, I could use your help.]

I did suffer a temporary bout of wishing-away-the-present in music. I hated the 90s, most everything about it: alternative as a genre; lumberjack singing; rave; the end of Factory and Rough Trade; the drawn-out death spiral of 4AD; the pretense of lo-fi; cuddlecore. If it weren't for turntablism, jungle, and Stereolab, I might have gone full-bore jazz/classical. Only recently have I begun to piece together the good bits from that time, thinking that it couldn't have been as bad as it felt back then. (It was close).

BOMBAST playlist, 2015 May 12, 2100-2300:

1. "Love Vigilantes" | New Order | Low-life | Qwest
2. "Waterfalls" | Andrea Balency | Volcano | Bataille
3. "Virtual America" | Strategy | Seeds of Paradise | Idle Hands
4. "Colony - High Wycombe Town Hall Live 13 July 1979" | Joy Division | Still - Collector's Edition | London
5. "Love Vigilantes" | Oyster Band | Love Vigilantes | Cooking Vinyl | "Physical Evidence"
6. "Everybody Wants You" | Billy Squier | Everybody Wants You | Capitol | "Listening Parlour"
7. "Blackmail Man" | Ian Dury | New Boots and Panties!! | Demon
8. "Dirty Disco" | Section 25 | Always Now | Factory Benelux
9. "Double Face" | Thee Headcoats | The Good Times Are Killing Me | M'Lady's
10. "Nueva Cancion" | Dave DK | Val Maira | Kompakt
11. "Between the Wars (Live)" | Oyster Band | Love Vigilantes | Cooking Vinyl | "Physical Evidence"
12. "This Is Not Me" | A Projection | Exit | Tapete
13. "Kicks" | Aerosol | Leave | n5MD
14. "Jingle N. 1" | Piero Umiliani | Tra scienza e fantascienza | We Release Whatever The Fuck We Want
15. "Rebecca" | Rival Consoles | Odyssey / Sonne | Erased Tapes
16. "Bowline" | Snow Ghosts | A Wrecking | Houndstooth
17. "Get Me" | John Tejada | Dramamine | Palette
18. "Under the Weight" | Blind Idiot God | Before Ever After | Indivisible
19. "Polish Plain" | Oyster Band | Love Vigilantes | Cooking Vinyl | "Physical Evidence"
20. "Love $$$" | Helium | Pirate Prude | Matador
21. "Jack the Damned" | Exploring Jezebel | On a Business Trip to London | Blackest Ever Black
22. "I Fought the Law (Live)" | Oyster Band | Love Vigilantes | Cooking Vinyl | "Physical Evidence"
23. "Coq" | Turzi | C | Record Makers
24. "Christine" | The House of Love | Live At the Lexington | Cherry Red
25. "Fernandez" | Moscoman | The Orange Collection | Eskimo
26. "Lies (Ancient Methods Edit)" | Bourbonese Qualk | Lies (Ancient Methods Edit + Remix) | Mannequin
27. "First World Citizen" | Gang of Four | What Happens Next | Metropolis
28. "Two Birds" | Kolsch | Speicher 84 | Kompakt
29. "The Means" | Wetdog | Divine Times | Upset the Rhythm

next time: mean time. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis

Read Some Pictures and Look At Some Words: Transmission 203, 2015 May 7

Often enough, people want to occupy the airwaves without occupying the station. Not being able to do the show on a given week, a host will wonder if a previous episode will suffice. Usually the answer is "no." Here's a rationale, lest anyone think I'm just "squashing everyone's good ideas" in accordance with my role as one of the "three white guys" who "run the station": because we need live humans at the station as often as possible, and why not commandeer the booth if the airtime isn't claimed; because previously aired episodes don't reward those "repeat listeners" we all like to think we have; because new djs need to get learned; because letting djs appear at different times of day, to different crowds, helps publicize existing programs. One glance at my facebook page will let you take in the evidence that I am on the path to world domination, by following this latter plan.

At any rate Joe of Joe Show fame was out on this Thursday evening--how nice it must be to have people wanting to celebrate your birthday!--so I couldn't pass up a prime-time opportunity. Did I do anything remotely resembling Joe's show? Apparently not--no themes, no dance parties, no musing (no one cares what I think, at least that is a deeply held belief). A cassette, for god's sake, as the "Physical Evidence"--thank goodness fusion music is better than fusion cuisine. And lest anyone confuse our programs, a 24-minute Croix de Bombast at the end of it all. "You are really separating the wheat from the chaff," General Manager Felix tells me as he settles in to do his program. All the time, son, all the damn time.

BOMBAST playlist, 2015 May 7, 1900-2100:

1. "Love Your Hair - Hope You Win!" | Shit and Shine | 54 Synth-Brass, 38 Metal Guitar, 65 Cathedral | Rocket
2. "New Horizon" | Section 25 | Always Now | Factory Benelux
3. "Force and Fire" | Anne Dudley & Jaz Coleman | Songs From the Victorious City | China - TVT | "Physical Evidence"
4. "Long Range Cruise" | Lars Leonhard | Solar Flares | self-released
5. "Next-Door Beauty" | Mia Omorfi Gitonopoula Polyxeni and Kalliopi Litou | Five Days Married & Other Laments: Song and Dance from Northern Greece (1928-1958) | Angry Mom | "Listening Parlour"
6. "Immer Gut" | Dave DK | Val Maira | Kompakt
7. "Hannah" | Anne Dudley & Jaz Coleman | Songs From the Victorious City | China - TVT | "Physical Evidence"
8. "Born Bad" | The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion | Freedom Tower - No Wave Dance Party 2015 | Mom + Pop
9. "Standing" | good guy mikesh | Year of the Horse | Riotvan
10. "Habebe" | Anne Dudley & Jaz Coleman | Songs From the Victorious City | China - TVT | "Physical Evidence"
11. "Octopus" | Wire | Wire | pinkflag
12. "Antiquity" | Blind Idiot God | Before Ever After | Indivisible
13. "In a Timeless Place" | Anne Dudley & Jaz Coleman | Songs From the Victorious City | China - TVT | "Physical Evidence"
14. "So Tender" | Magic Island | Wasted Dawn | Mansions and Millions
15. "Like a Daydream" | Ride | OX4 | Sire
16. "A Survivor's Tale" | Anne Dudley & Jaz Coleman | Songs From the Victorious City | China - TVT | "Physical Evidence"
17. "Honne" | Feonix | Feonix (LP Sampler) | Uprise
18. "Virus B-23 (Cities of the Red Night)" | William S. Burroughs | William S. Burroughs - In Dub (Selected by Dub Spencer & Trance Hill) | Echo Beach
19. "MARCHROMT30a Edit 2b 96" | Aphex Twin | MARCHROMT30a Edit 2b 96 | Warp
20. "Black and Gold" | Hey Colossus | In Black & Gold | Rocket
21. "Tokyo Knots" | Oren Ambarchi | Live Knots | PAN

next time: in all honesty, "oh I flew threw the sky" is a phrase worthy of a toddler. Enjoy the music! --kid catharsis