Radio From Our Secret Headquarters

Apologies for the long delay. I promised myself this would be the week I figured out the podcasting thing, and that has inevitably taken longer than expected.

But here it all is.

Playlist.

Here’s the Jammin’ the Blues video. I highly recommend watching this.

This week was the first week in the temporary studio. I like it in there, it’s like a diorama of the actual wcbn station. There’s something under-seigey about it. It feels (incredibly) even more like being in a basement. Or a kid’s mock-up of a pirate radio station. Plus if any other radio denizens show up to do radio-related stuff you are all hanging out together, since it’s only the one room. On the other hand, I found it harder to focus on listening to the music, because I was thinking more about the equipment and levels and such. Also, not having acess to the music library is a clear and present bummer.

And levels still got screwed up–got a call from Toledo that the mic was way too low. And there seems to be heavy distortion in the right channel for the first 40-odd minutes, and then it just mysteriously heals itself.

The day I was born I made my first mistake
and by that path
have I sought wisdom ever since — The Mahabharata

I’m noticing that as I do more and more shows, that I’m shifting away from music I really like to listen to, and towards “interesting” music that I figure people might be “interested” in. I suspect this is a common college-radio thing. For one, it’s safer to play interesting music. There is lots of really neat, unexpected material out there, and we can mostly all agree that it is neat and unexpected. On the other hand, picking a really good song is a) more subjective, so I don’t know if it will work for other people and b) kind of personal. What if I play something that I love and really moves me, but upon hearing it on the studio monitors I realize it’s kind of superficial and derivative? That would be embarrassing. So playing the amatuer musicologist seems less risky.

Not that I’m heavily influenced by these fears. I can just feel the joint forces of ease and safety gradually trending me away from playing my favourites. And then of course, there’s the fact that you can’t play 40 favourites a week for 30 odd weeks without, you know, running out of favourites. And there’s nothing wrong with playing interesting music. In fact, I think that’s a great aspect of college radio. But I will continue to try and play stuff that I just balls out love, because I think that’s the best aspect of college radio. I hope someone out there also likes them, but even if they don’t, frankly it’s fun pumping stuff I have affection for out over the gajillion watt broadcast tower.

  • hugonaut21feb2008.mp3
Playtime Title Artist Album Label
12:49 PM Speed Bran Van 3000 Discosis
12:53 PM Jonathan Richman Egyptian Reggae
12:58 PM Bees Caribou The Milk of Human Kindness
1:05 PM Lie To Me Tom Waits Orphans
1:11 PM The Fat Lady of Limbourg Brian Eno
1:14 PM Descondido Soy David Byrne Look Into the Eyeball
1:15 PM Seeland Neu! Neu! 75
1:19 PM That’s the Bag I’m In The Fabs Songs We Taught the Fuzztones
1:22 PM If I Had A Rocket Launcher Bruce Cockburn Stealing Fire
1:32 PM Changed the Locks (Live at WXPN) Lucinda Williams Car Wheels On A Gravel Road
1:34 PM Dope Fiends and Boozehounds Rheostatics Whale Music
1:41 PM Jammin’ the Blues Lester Young Red Callender Harry Edison Marlowe Morris and many more… youtube video
1:50 PM In the Silence of the Morning Sunrise Agitation Free
1:57 PM Portland Oregon Loretta Lynn Van Lear Rose
2:03 PM Black Cad Jens Lekman
2:04 PM Take Me Down to the Infirmary Cracker Kerosene Hat
2:08 PM Funky Worm Ohio Players Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Soundtrack
2:13 PM a story about treeplanting from his radio show on CBC Stuart McLean The Vinyl Cafe
2:38 PM Middle of Nowhere The Cracker Cats Hi and Ho (unreleased compilation)
2:39 PM J-Root Leaner The Gruff Hi and Ho
2:39 PM I Apologize Mr. Rossini Armando Trovaioli Best of Moog
2:43 PM Peter Piper Run DMC Old School Classics: An Education in Hip Hop
2:44 PM Mama Said Knock You Out LL Cool J Old School Classics: An Education in Hip Hop
2:45 PM The Choice is Yours Black Sheep Old School Classics: An Education in Hip Hop
2:46 PM Bring the Noise Public Enemy Old School Classics: An Education in Hip Hop
2:47 PM Mona Lisa Slick Rick Old School Classics: An Education in Hip Hop
2:52 PM Are You Awake? Kevin Shields Lost in Translation
2:52 PM Forget My Name Danko Jones We Sweat Blood
2:56 PM Thank You Lord For Sending Me the F Train Mike Doughty Skittish
2:59 PM Hot Lanta The Allman Brothers Band Live at the Fillmore East

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