Reptisaurus!
06-08-2005, 12:46 AM
So, I've been listening to the radio a lot lately. I gots a job driving the Ice Cream truck, and so when I don't have my little bell thingy on playing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (With added Duck Noises!) I'm listening to the radio.
Most often, I'm listening to our local College Radio Station, IMPACT 88.9. I think you can make it Internet Streamy here!
So, in a sorta tribute, I'd like to talk about all their specialty shows. They've got a different "Special" show every night, covering a variety of genres outside of their usual Modern Rocky Alternativey heavy play list.
Now, granted, this might not seem all that useful to anyone who, y'know, doesn't actually live in Lansing Michigan, but I'm hopefully going to turn this into an informative and useful essay about what works for me and what doesn't, music-wise.
12. The Afterglow: (The Mellow Show: Sundays, 10-12)
Sample Play list
Keep It Clean- Camera Obscura
Caroline Goodbye- Colin Blunstone
My Family Tree- John Vanderslice
June 18, 1976- Pedro The Lion
Apollo- Hum (request)
Leslie Anne Levine- The Decemberists
Borrrrrrrrrrrrring. See, now, what it comes down to is this. I like stuff that rocks. Now, there's lots of Rock stuff that doesn't rock. Dvorjak rocks my butt off. Mingus rocks harder than 'most any quoteunquote Hard Rock band ever, when he's goin' full tilt.
Sadly, the theme of this program is "Stuff that doesn't rock." I don't really remember what they actually play on this show, because it all coalesces in my mind into one big ball of non-rocking boring.
The best art, musical or otherwise, runs up to you, kicks you in the nads (or girl nads, if applicable) and completely fucks up your worldview forever. The Afterglow is all about music that's designed not to do this. Even if they DO play some good stuff, (I think I heard Tom Waits, once) it's down tempo good stuff that blends in with the other snoozers.
Screw. Dat.
11. Flashback (The Crappy-ass eighties Music show, Friday's 8-10)
Sample Play list:
Thin Lizzy, "The Boys Are Back In Town"
Vanilla Ice, "Ninja Rap"
Big Country, "In a Big Country"
George Michael, "Father Figure"
Cookie Monster, "'C' Is For 'Cookie'"
Theme from "Quantum Leap"
Andy Gibb, "Shadowdancing"
Y'know, there's PLENTY of other radio stations that play freakin' Journey. I dunno if they're going for some kind of alterno-hipster-kitsch factor here, or if they genuinely LIKE
Journey or whatever... But it's still a show inordinately dedicated to crappy music. And I guess crappy music fans
have a right to hear stuff they like, too... But they've got all the rest of the radio for that.
On the upside, the Host is upbeat and a lotta fun, and they DID play De La Soul once. And, for my money, music that's actively annoying is better than music designed to provoke no reaction.
10. The Mechanical Pulse (Techno, Friday 10-2)
(I can't find a Play list)
I dunno much about Techno in general. I think the philosophy is interesting: I like the idea of downplaying the (usually faceless) artist to concentrate on the music..
But that means that a lot of techno feels... just cold, or sterile. Sterile? I'm a casual Cajun music fan, and the music just feels alive and joyful and I just don't get that from most of the Techno I've heard. (Although, granted, I know slightly less than Sweet FA about the genre.)
Still, there's some interesting stuff on this show from time to time. I do think they played Niles Petar Molvier (Czech Trumpet Player who works over beats) once, and there was this crazy thing with an accordion and a kind of stutter.... STOP! Stuttteeeerrrr... STOP! beat, and rapid fire Spanish Hollerin'. Good stuff. Good enough to rate it above Flashback, at least.
9. Reggae Sunsplash (Duh. Sunday, 2-6)
(No Playlist.)
And here we move into the shows that I'll listen too on purpose.
I'm not so much of a Reggae fan, neither. I'm big on music that's all slapdash and all over the place and dynamic, and Reggae's all about the groooooove. Also, I can have mental-block problems with music from a culture I'm not part of, and the Caribbean and Jamaica feel like whole different worlds. Still, I can handle this for a couple hours on a laid back Sunday. And the show has helped me realize just how varied and BIG the genre really is.
8. Hours of Power (Metal, Thursday 10-2)
Sample Early Play-list
Black Sabbath-The Wizard
Motorhead-Ace of Spades
As I Lay Dying-Meaning in Tragedy
Nevermore-Poison Godmachine
Sample Late Play list
The Agony Scene-Sacrifice
Sentenced-Vengeance is Mine
Overkill-Infectious
At the Gates-Terminal Spirit Disease
Bloodlined Calligraphy-Demonstrating My Style
This show definitely gets worse at it goes on. It starts out awesome, usually with some Iron Maiden or Judas Priest or Ozzy or summother more poppy metal act that's aware of it's own cheesiness... And just denigrates as time goes on into "I HATE MY MOTHER! THE ELVES ARE ATTACKING THE WIZARDS! I EAT KITTENS style so-aggresive-it-becomes-pretty-much-moot style current metal.
I dunno if I really like this one better than the Reggae show, but I'm ranking it higher because the host's name is "PukePile."
7. The Basement (Local Music, Thursday 8-10)
I can't find a Play list 'cause the message board for this show is just PACKED with "Drummer Wanted" type adds.
Honestly, I hardly ever listen to this one, and I don't remember any actual, like, bands that have been on it, or the name of the host...
But I Support Local Music, dammit.
(Even though it was waaaaay easier to support local music when I lived in Seattle. )
6. Accidental Blues (Wednesday, 8 PM to 2 AM)
(No Play list)
The host (Who's name is Crazy Jay, which epitomizes everything) TRIES hard, but this show is sorta fluffy.
Lots of stuff like Robert Cray and the Blues Brothers and freakin' Big Head Todd and the Monsters AT LEAST ONCE in every show, mixed in with the good dirtier-primaler stuff.
And, heck, the guy plays what he likes, and I got to respect that.
And he likes Howling' Wolf's "Killin' Floor" enough to play it at least every other week, so I can rock out hardcore. C.J.'s not not the most knowledgeable Blues-o-phile I've ever heard, but he's passionate about what he likes. (Which IS a trifle annoying since he really, really, likes Big Head Todd and the Monsters.)
5. Progressive Torch and Twang (Rockabilly, Alt-Country, stuff like that. Tuesdays, 8-12.)
(Again, no Play list)
Back when I lived in Seattle their was an equivalent show on KEXP Outta University of Washington called "Shake the Shack," and it was way better. Mostly because it played "Poontang" by the Treniers all the time.
This show doesn't have the completely whacked out sensahumor of it's Seattle brethren, but sometimes they'll play Johnny Cash then Steve Earl and then some lonely drinkin' song by an Alabama bar band and then Lucinda Williams, and I feel like I died and went to hillbilly heaven.
4. The Cultural Vibe (Rap, 8-2 Saturdays)
(No Play list)
Damned good piece of work, here. DJ Rad One and DJ Benny Ben play Hip-Hop from all over everywhere in a continuous mix. They make even crappy crap sound good... Like they ran that song that goes FREE! OH! into that Little Jon song where they sampled Crazy Train... And for a brief, transcendent moment the combination was really, really good.
And then it was Little Jon which wasn't so much.
Unlike the Accidental Blues, the hosts here seem to REALLY know their shit in their chosen area. There's tons o' stuff on this show I t'ain't never heard before.
Which does make it all confusing when they choose to play freaking' Little Jon. WHAT? YEAH! HERE WE GO! And, as a listener, the mixed-together-and-cycled-back style, along with relatively few DJ breaks, makes it hard for relatively hip-hop clueless me to pick out the name of the dude who did that awesome song I just heard.
HUGE bonus points for beginning each show with Gangstarr, too.
3. Global Sounds (Sundays 10-2)
(Still no Play list)
I always feel happy and educated when I'm around early enough to listen to this show. I'm fairly musically clueless when we step outta America and Britain, (except that Fela Kuti's the best music-guy ever!) and this show does a spiffy job of showcasing music from alllll over the world. AND plays Fela Kuti a lot.
On the downside, the music is often grouped into "blocks" by style and country. Which doesn't sound all awful, until you realize that this means 48 minutes!!!! (I counted) of Japanese Pan flute.
And, really, learning about other cultures is cool and all, but there's only so much Japanese Pan Flute a man can take. I bet even Emporor Horopito would be all "Enough" after 48 minutes.
2. The Jazz Spectrum (Mondays, 8-midnight)
(STILL no Play list. *Sigh*)
See, now, I KNOW that Jonas the host and I share the same basic theory of music... cause everything on this show freaking rocks! Newish stuff, oldish stuff, Coltrane albums I ain't never heard before with weird string overdubs...
There's a lotta stuff I hate, but these guys have done a damnfine job of picking out the least "Mid-Afternoon Public Radio" and most raucous jazz cuts. I've heard quite a number of jazz shows in my radio listening but this might be my favorite.
(And, of course, they play Mingus all the damn time. And I look at Mingus the way Catholics look at the pope, and the way fat kids look at the Ice Cream Truck. The holiest of holies, the grand high musical poo-bah, the greatest ever.)
Most often, I'm listening to our local College Radio Station, IMPACT 88.9. I think you can make it Internet Streamy here!
So, in a sorta tribute, I'd like to talk about all their specialty shows. They've got a different "Special" show every night, covering a variety of genres outside of their usual Modern Rocky Alternativey heavy play list.
Now, granted, this might not seem all that useful to anyone who, y'know, doesn't actually live in Lansing Michigan, but I'm hopefully going to turn this into an informative and useful essay about what works for me and what doesn't, music-wise.
12. The Afterglow: (The Mellow Show: Sundays, 10-12)
Sample Play list
Keep It Clean- Camera Obscura
Caroline Goodbye- Colin Blunstone
My Family Tree- John Vanderslice
June 18, 1976- Pedro The Lion
Apollo- Hum (request)
Leslie Anne Levine- The Decemberists
Borrrrrrrrrrrrring. See, now, what it comes down to is this. I like stuff that rocks. Now, there's lots of Rock stuff that doesn't rock. Dvorjak rocks my butt off. Mingus rocks harder than 'most any quoteunquote Hard Rock band ever, when he's goin' full tilt.
Sadly, the theme of this program is "Stuff that doesn't rock." I don't really remember what they actually play on this show, because it all coalesces in my mind into one big ball of non-rocking boring.
The best art, musical or otherwise, runs up to you, kicks you in the nads (or girl nads, if applicable) and completely fucks up your worldview forever. The Afterglow is all about music that's designed not to do this. Even if they DO play some good stuff, (I think I heard Tom Waits, once) it's down tempo good stuff that blends in with the other snoozers.
Screw. Dat.
11. Flashback (The Crappy-ass eighties Music show, Friday's 8-10)
Sample Play list:
Thin Lizzy, "The Boys Are Back In Town"
Vanilla Ice, "Ninja Rap"
Big Country, "In a Big Country"
George Michael, "Father Figure"
Cookie Monster, "'C' Is For 'Cookie'"
Theme from "Quantum Leap"
Andy Gibb, "Shadowdancing"
Y'know, there's PLENTY of other radio stations that play freakin' Journey. I dunno if they're going for some kind of alterno-hipster-kitsch factor here, or if they genuinely LIKE
Journey or whatever... But it's still a show inordinately dedicated to crappy music. And I guess crappy music fans
have a right to hear stuff they like, too... But they've got all the rest of the radio for that.
On the upside, the Host is upbeat and a lotta fun, and they DID play De La Soul once. And, for my money, music that's actively annoying is better than music designed to provoke no reaction.
10. The Mechanical Pulse (Techno, Friday 10-2)
(I can't find a Play list)
I dunno much about Techno in general. I think the philosophy is interesting: I like the idea of downplaying the (usually faceless) artist to concentrate on the music..
But that means that a lot of techno feels... just cold, or sterile. Sterile? I'm a casual Cajun music fan, and the music just feels alive and joyful and I just don't get that from most of the Techno I've heard. (Although, granted, I know slightly less than Sweet FA about the genre.)
Still, there's some interesting stuff on this show from time to time. I do think they played Niles Petar Molvier (Czech Trumpet Player who works over beats) once, and there was this crazy thing with an accordion and a kind of stutter.... STOP! Stuttteeeerrrr... STOP! beat, and rapid fire Spanish Hollerin'. Good stuff. Good enough to rate it above Flashback, at least.
9. Reggae Sunsplash (Duh. Sunday, 2-6)
(No Playlist.)
And here we move into the shows that I'll listen too on purpose.
I'm not so much of a Reggae fan, neither. I'm big on music that's all slapdash and all over the place and dynamic, and Reggae's all about the groooooove. Also, I can have mental-block problems with music from a culture I'm not part of, and the Caribbean and Jamaica feel like whole different worlds. Still, I can handle this for a couple hours on a laid back Sunday. And the show has helped me realize just how varied and BIG the genre really is.
8. Hours of Power (Metal, Thursday 10-2)
Sample Early Play-list
Black Sabbath-The Wizard
Motorhead-Ace of Spades
As I Lay Dying-Meaning in Tragedy
Nevermore-Poison Godmachine
Sample Late Play list
The Agony Scene-Sacrifice
Sentenced-Vengeance is Mine
Overkill-Infectious
At the Gates-Terminal Spirit Disease
Bloodlined Calligraphy-Demonstrating My Style
This show definitely gets worse at it goes on. It starts out awesome, usually with some Iron Maiden or Judas Priest or Ozzy or summother more poppy metal act that's aware of it's own cheesiness... And just denigrates as time goes on into "I HATE MY MOTHER! THE ELVES ARE ATTACKING THE WIZARDS! I EAT KITTENS style so-aggresive-it-becomes-pretty-much-moot style current metal.
I dunno if I really like this one better than the Reggae show, but I'm ranking it higher because the host's name is "PukePile."
7. The Basement (Local Music, Thursday 8-10)
I can't find a Play list 'cause the message board for this show is just PACKED with "Drummer Wanted" type adds.
Honestly, I hardly ever listen to this one, and I don't remember any actual, like, bands that have been on it, or the name of the host...
But I Support Local Music, dammit.
(Even though it was waaaaay easier to support local music when I lived in Seattle. )
6. Accidental Blues (Wednesday, 8 PM to 2 AM)
(No Play list)
The host (Who's name is Crazy Jay, which epitomizes everything) TRIES hard, but this show is sorta fluffy.
Lots of stuff like Robert Cray and the Blues Brothers and freakin' Big Head Todd and the Monsters AT LEAST ONCE in every show, mixed in with the good dirtier-primaler stuff.
And, heck, the guy plays what he likes, and I got to respect that.
And he likes Howling' Wolf's "Killin' Floor" enough to play it at least every other week, so I can rock out hardcore. C.J.'s not not the most knowledgeable Blues-o-phile I've ever heard, but he's passionate about what he likes. (Which IS a trifle annoying since he really, really, likes Big Head Todd and the Monsters.)
5. Progressive Torch and Twang (Rockabilly, Alt-Country, stuff like that. Tuesdays, 8-12.)
(Again, no Play list)
Back when I lived in Seattle their was an equivalent show on KEXP Outta University of Washington called "Shake the Shack," and it was way better. Mostly because it played "Poontang" by the Treniers all the time.
This show doesn't have the completely whacked out sensahumor of it's Seattle brethren, but sometimes they'll play Johnny Cash then Steve Earl and then some lonely drinkin' song by an Alabama bar band and then Lucinda Williams, and I feel like I died and went to hillbilly heaven.
4. The Cultural Vibe (Rap, 8-2 Saturdays)
(No Play list)
Damned good piece of work, here. DJ Rad One and DJ Benny Ben play Hip-Hop from all over everywhere in a continuous mix. They make even crappy crap sound good... Like they ran that song that goes FREE! OH! into that Little Jon song where they sampled Crazy Train... And for a brief, transcendent moment the combination was really, really good.
And then it was Little Jon which wasn't so much.
Unlike the Accidental Blues, the hosts here seem to REALLY know their shit in their chosen area. There's tons o' stuff on this show I t'ain't never heard before.
Which does make it all confusing when they choose to play freaking' Little Jon. WHAT? YEAH! HERE WE GO! And, as a listener, the mixed-together-and-cycled-back style, along with relatively few DJ breaks, makes it hard for relatively hip-hop clueless me to pick out the name of the dude who did that awesome song I just heard.
HUGE bonus points for beginning each show with Gangstarr, too.
3. Global Sounds (Sundays 10-2)
(Still no Play list)
I always feel happy and educated when I'm around early enough to listen to this show. I'm fairly musically clueless when we step outta America and Britain, (except that Fela Kuti's the best music-guy ever!) and this show does a spiffy job of showcasing music from alllll over the world. AND plays Fela Kuti a lot.
On the downside, the music is often grouped into "blocks" by style and country. Which doesn't sound all awful, until you realize that this means 48 minutes!!!! (I counted) of Japanese Pan flute.
And, really, learning about other cultures is cool and all, but there's only so much Japanese Pan Flute a man can take. I bet even Emporor Horopito would be all "Enough" after 48 minutes.
2. The Jazz Spectrum (Mondays, 8-midnight)
(STILL no Play list. *Sigh*)
See, now, I KNOW that Jonas the host and I share the same basic theory of music... cause everything on this show freaking rocks! Newish stuff, oldish stuff, Coltrane albums I ain't never heard before with weird string overdubs...
There's a lotta stuff I hate, but these guys have done a damnfine job of picking out the least "Mid-Afternoon Public Radio" and most raucous jazz cuts. I've heard quite a number of jazz shows in my radio listening but this might be my favorite.
(And, of course, they play Mingus all the damn time. And I look at Mingus the way Catholics look at the pope, and the way fat kids look at the Ice Cream Truck. The holiest of holies, the grand high musical poo-bah, the greatest ever.)