Yeah I know some people love the guy but seriously, I mean come on. Moonshadow?

Playlist here. Audio for hours

Part one (download):

Part two (download):

Part three (download):

and .

CJSW website, and here’s the high-quality mp3 version of their web stream.

Highlights:

• Ross is now officially the early morning man 3-6am. I’ll miss seeing Kristin and Dan down there breaking in new DJs at that horrible hour, but it’s cool to have an honest to god line-up in place, and it looks like he’s doing a nice job.

• Request for Space Cowboy from Steve Miller. That was great. I don’t play a lot vinyl cause I still don’t have a feel for what’s down there (it isn’t everything, but it’s more music than I’ve ever heard ever), but it sure is satisfying to throw some on. I appreciate having a reason to do so. And that track has spirit.

• Getting Dan Melchior’s “All You Experts” on. They’ve got a nice set of speakers down in the studio, that you can turn up pretty loud and they still sound real nice. And somehow it gives songs an extra edge when you know they’re going out over the transmitter. If you can find time to listen to the music, it can be a good situation for really hearing a song, and I hadn’t really heard that one in a while. It’s a good song, man.

• I can’t remember which transition (maybe Flaming Lips > Tom Waits?), but one of the tracks ended with an upswell that was meant to break smoothly into the next track on the album, and I managed to make the switch juuust right so that it worked anyway, even though the next song was a completely different genre. I felt like a very smart DJ until I slaughtered the Hella tracks.

Next week’s special feature: less talking, more music.

• wcbn-2007-10-08-060001-EDT.mp3
• wcbn-2007-10-08-080001-EDT.mp3
• wcbn-2007-10-08-070001-EDT.mp3

Playlist.

Part one (download):

Part two (download):

Part three (download):

.

I’m getting more moments where I run down the mental checklist of necessities (at least one fresh track cued, playlist updated, not too long since last back-announce, requests found, PSAs/promos/announcements made) and find I don’t need to do anything but sit back and listen.

My favourite moment this week was playing Hobo Train by Rube Waddell, which I haven’t listened to in a long long time, and remembering why I used to love it so much. There are some great lines in that track.

Of course I also liked it when someone called in just to say I was playing a good show. They picked off a bunch of the folk/blues acts as reasons why — I hope that isn’t a sign the Monday morning audience isn’t in to, say, Junior Boys. But the caller didn’t have any such complaints so I’m just gonna feel good about the whole damn thing.

• wcbn-2007-10-01-080001-EDT.mp3
• wcbn-2007-10-01-060001-EDT.mp3
• wcbn-2007-10-01-070001-EDT.mp3

Today’s audio

Part one (download):

Part two (download):

Part three (download):

and .

Playlist here.

Manseed Ferank’s homepage. I think Mssr. Ferank is responsible for “The Revolution Will Be Televised” rant in the Kleptone’s Revolverlution track. He has dreads in any case.

My favourite 10 minutes was Gillian Welch > Mountain Goats > CSS > Gordon Lightfoot. That was awesome. Or maybe it was the entire tube of coffee really kicking in. Almost as good and much longer was the whole hiphop thing. Hopefully I won’t get the feds up in my mouth like forks and spoons for that one. Whatever, it sounded good on my end. Ahem.

(My old favourite Immortal Technique song.)

I wonder how many people listen to this stuff? From the streaming audio server stats on the wall and guessing wildly at the actual radio transmission audience I figure it’s probably in the low hundreds. I think or something.

• wcbn-2007-09-24-080001-EDT.mp3
• wcbn-2007-09-24-060001-EDT.mp3
• wcbn-2007-09-24-070001-EDT.mp3

Playlist. Audio

Part one (download):

Part two (download):

Part three (download):

Part four (download):

and just a little .

The first show in my new time went pretty well. I was expecting it to be rocky, that early in the morning, but soon enough the vibe found me and it was a good time. Some quick thinking the night before took me out to the bar instead of sleeping in: you don’t do good early morning college radio on a clear head all well rested.

Not that it was all smooth. The first 30 minutes or so featured some classic screwup action. But that cleared up and I think I am now once and forever after past any chance of ever screwing up anything else on the radio ever again. The audio highlight was playing Sweet Flavour on a tracker live on air. Also good was playing a Royskopp remix of a Beck track, which I had only ever heard for a few seconds while queuing it up, thinking “hell this is great, I bet people are liking this” when it went on and then getting a call from a guy who thought it was great and was wondering what it was.

I still haven’t picked a name, but I’m considering “Hangover Cure” now. I do seem to be acquiring signature tracks: Yo Yo Ma doing Morricone’s Ecstacy of Gold for set breaks, Steve Martin’s drop-thumb medley for no reason that I can think of, and if I go with Hangover Cure, That’s The Bag I’m In can be my theme music.

Apologies for not getting the audio posted up until the end of the week, and my ego thanks those who complained about it. And apologizes to those who aren’t going to find their requests in there. The internet was broken last weekend so I couldn’t download and pre-screen certain FCC-questionable acts. And thanks again to those who listened, called, visited and texted. And finally, thanks to Kristin and Dan for unexpectedly being in the dimly lit studio at 6 in the goddamn morning, with noise makers, nuts, nut cluster treats, the turntables set on the wrong rpm and a gleam of desperate horrible fun in their baggy eyes.

• wcbn-2007-09-17-060001-EDT.mp3
• wcbn-2007-09-17-090001-EDT.mp3
• wcbn-2007-09-17-080001-EDT.mp3
• wcbn-2007-09-17-070001-EDT.mp3

And what a post it is, I have been assigned the 6am to 9am Monday morning slot as my first official yeah that’s mine radio time. I am thrilled more than it is generally considered cool to be thrilled. I am also deeply relieved not to have taken one of the traditional first-timer 3am to 6am slots.

That time means:

• I’m in the anchor position for the week, at least according to the many cultures which posit Monday rather than Sunday as the first day of the calendar week.
• I can’t play songs with cuss words, cause you can’t do that except 11pm to 6am. Tricky.
• I probably shouldn’t play too much hard driving rock. So easy on the Danko Jones and stuff. Monday mornings probably isn’t when people most want to hear that stuff. I’ll deal with that the same way I deal with being a vegetarian who enjoys meat. Occasionally, I eat meat.
• I’m the warm-up man for Sue “Blastoff” Dise, looong time veteran DJ who I really liked training with, and who does one of my favourite shows 9 to 12 Monday mornings. That could be fun.
• Less partying Sunday night.
• A bit sleepy in my Monday afternoon Evolutionary Dynamics math class. And no doing the homework for the week Monday morning.

It doesn’t seem to be the custom at WCBN to have a name for your show, not as much as at other stations. But I like that bit of schtick. After all, different DJs have very different vibes and it’s good as a listener to be able to differentiate and predict. So I should pick a name. What’s good?

Maybe Hugonaut in the Morning (remember “Chris in the Morning”?).

Maybe Hangover Alley, or something else celebrating the start of the non-weekend.

Maybe Gunfire And A Little Music, after that Edward Abbey funeral quote I came across on my show last week. Don’t know yet. Suggestions appreciated. And requests. Oh yeah.

There’s no question about it. With the announcement pending of my actual radio slot some morning between 3am and 6am, I am currently filling the best radio times I will ever have. This is the peak of my radio career, at least until I undergo the one semester hazing and commit more time than I possibly have to being a station executive. And the results are decidedly mixed.

But that gives it that tension, you know. Will he succeed in playing the song? No? Get through a set break without sounding pretentious and just too much like I he cares too much? No? People care when there is a real chance of failure. So I figure it’s good radio.

Today’s playlist and wow, 3 freakin hours of radio

Part one (download):

Part two (download):

Part three (download):

(I’m in there about minute 20) and too.

By the way, Andrew who always seems to be on ahead of me, despite our completely random schedules plays fantastic stuff and is a really chill guy. It’s too bad “community members” who cover it all summer seem to get the general boot come school time.

• wcbn-2007-09-06-140001-edt.mp3
• wcbn-2007-09-06-120002-edt.mp3
• wcbn-2007-09-06-130001-edt.mp3

I covered an empty slot on Tuesday, the first day of classes. It was fun. I played radio- and non-radio-rock, plus some other flotsam.

Playlist here.

Audio:

My francophone crewboss from 2006 turned me on to Danko Jones. Danko doesn’t get nearly enough play. He’s the real deal, man, and if his music doesn’t kick your ass, fuck you. I keep expecting to turn around and discover he’s been blessed as authentic by the mainstream and bands are being labeled as ‘Danko-esque’ by hip periodicals. Maybe they are and I don’t read them. Joel Plaskett does what Canadian pop rock does best, and he does it well. Canada really does throw a lot of good bands out there.

I’ll be covering tomorrow, Thursday, from 12:30pm till 3pm, then I have a prime slot Saturday evening 7 till 9, if no senior DJs call me up and kick me off. I’m thinking lots more rock and roll for both of those. But basically I will play whatever I want, and whatever you want. Requests (734) 763-3500, live stream on wcbn.org.

• hugonaut4sep2007.mp3

Then yesterday there was yet another emergency request for DJs, and we covered that too. That went really well, I was deeply satisfied with my first set, and made sure everybody in radioland knew it, too.

Playlist.

Someone called in just to say they were glad we played the opening Uncle Tupelo song, which was cool, since I love that song. My experience with DJing so far is that you’re concentrating so hard on getting the next song or two lined up and the PSAs played at the appropriate times that you often don’t focus on the songs, so you forget people might actually be enjoying them. The other thing I’ve learned: I speak way fast when I’m on the mic.

Then yesterday evening I went in for my last apprenticeship, with local radio personality Arwulf. Arwulf’s MO is bringing in spliced up remixes of movie soundtracks he keeps on cassette, and live layering them with found audio and fringe musical events. He has CDs and records and most of all cassette tapes stacked up around on every surface. Maybe this is fun to listen to at home, it may well be, I don’t know. But it was unspeakably wonderful to be there to watch it. Halfway through his opening montage of William S Burroughs and synthesizer Vagner he got up and killed all but the christmas lights and novelty lamps in the studio. Then throughout the show he would jump up to conduct the boards, waving his arms and grinning. I just sat there with my feet up on the turntable board and shook my head and laughed out loud. Except for the parts with Jim Jones. That was really creepy. On the whole, an experience I wouldn’t expect or forget. Just for interest, . There is no playlist.

• hugonaut30aug2008.mp3

Wednesday night’s audio:

Playlist is here.

At the last minute, my chain-smoking vinyl-spinning deadpan Parisian ex-flatmate (not actually Parisian or chain-smoking) arrived from his 20 hour multi-connection trans-atlantic flight, and being a chain-smoking vinyl-spinning deadpan Parisian decided that the best thing to do was come along to the station to spin some records. So it was a joint Bert and Hugonaut show.

• hugonaut29aug2008.mp3

Just got back from the radio station, where I went to fill in my “can I have regular show please?” form. The forms were in the studio, where there was a couple of guys who really wanted to leave, but the next DJ hadn’t shown up. So I took an hour of radio just because I could. I had to put out a request for someone to call in the request number so I could request that people make requests, and somebody called right away. I played a lot of weird music, and gabbled most of the set breaks, but that’s all within expected tolerances. And I am mighty self satisfied that I opened my first solo show with Losing My Edge from LCD Soundsystem.

And tonight, I actually am officially covering an absent DJs slot. 11pm to 1am, today, wednesday. Streaming on wcbn.org. It may or may not be less of a gong show.

.

Playlist:

1:55 PM – David Bowie – Blackout – –
1:49 PM – Joe Strummer – Gamma Ray – Global A Go Go –
1:42 PM – Brightblack Morning Light – Star Blanket River Child –
1:31 PM – Talking Heads – New Feeling –
1:29 PM – Talking Heads – Uh oh, Love Comes to town –
1:28 PM – Electralane – One Two Three Lots –
1:21 PM – Blue Rodeo – Lost Together –
1:18 PM – Frank Zappa – Peaches in Regalia –
1:15 PM – Silver Jews – Punks in the Beerlight –
1:14 PM – The Gourds – Ziggy Stardust –
1:04 PM – LCD Soundsystem – Losing My Edge –

• wcbn-2007-08-29-130001-EDT.mp3