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« September 2006 | Main | November 2006 »
Time for another open post. Feel free to spout off on any topic, but if you need some prompting, tell us your favorite college radio story. We happen to know for a fact that 87% of you did a college radio show at some point, and 64% of you had sex while on the air (source: 1999 WFMU marathon survey).
There is one WFMU story so horrible that I have never uttered it on or off the air. It concerns the fabled wall of snot. Meet you in the comments section....
Our deevolution continues: stumbled across this incredible photo of an Ecuadoran man being "punished" for theft. From the militaryphotos.net site:
Mario Quishpe shouts as villagers burn his legs after allegedly being caught stealing in Pelileo Grande, Ecuador, some 75 miles south of Quito, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2006. A parish priest, along with other villagers, managed to extinguish the flames before he was taken by police to the hospital where his burns were treated. (AP Photo / Wilson Pinto / Diario El Universo)
via hemaworstje
WFMU is proud to announce the addition of another great podcast-only program. Get your DIY on with Bill Zurat's new Raw Sewage podcast!
Raw Sewage will complement Bill's weekly web-only program (which you can catch every Friday morning from 6-9am), featuring live sets, old Killed By Death-style punk rock, rare power pop gems, noise interludes, forgotten synth pop, and basement concrète.
Visit WFMU's podcast page to sign yourself up for a weekly dose of DIY (or any WFMU podcasts).
Are you a movie buff like I am? Has your heart become heavily-weighed
with academic cultural theory, brainy reference points and disingenuous analysis? Do you suffer from cinematic irony implosion? Recently, when
trying to find out about films I've wanted to rent, I've forgone the usual
paganistic blogs, flesh-worshiping review sites, upside-down
crucifix-wearing DVD listing books and also IMDB.com (which I've heard
eats aborted human fetuses). I've clensed my palette, and opened my
eyes to a whole new way of thinking when it comes to the art of film,
while using the ChildCare Action Project: Christian Analysis of American Culture (CAP)
movie review database. With it's highly detailed reviews of hundreds of
titles, it's a refreshingly different look at every movie I've ever
loved. The key? It filters every title through it's biblical-based
value rating system and "society influence density" scoring chart while
it theorizes, theorizes, theorizes away about how almost every movie is
just plain wrong, wrong, wrong. It's all some of the most refreshing
film criticism I've ever read...
Sweden, the country of furniture, dynamite, and Muppet cuisine, is also the home of singers extraordinaire Eilert Pilarm and Anna-Lisa Ingemansson. (Scroll down until you see a picture of a woman and a poodle, accompanied by some biographical info and an MP3.)
Eilert is an Elvis "impersonator", well-known to listeners of Irwin's Incorrect Music Show. If you listen to his Elvis medley (MP3, All Shook Up/Long Tall Sally/Jailhouse Rock/Heartbreak Hotel/Blue Suede Shoes/Love Me Tender), you could think that the King is alive. However, you would be dead wrong, and probably stoned out of your mind.
Anna-Lisa covered folk songs, show tunes, and anything else that struck her and her poodle's fancy. Here are the definitive Swedish versions of Far Away Places (MP3), Kalinka (MP3), and Oh What A Beautiful Morning (MP3). As a bonus, here is her take on a Swedish tango, Fragrancia (MP3), written by Evert Taube.
The rest of the world has finally noticed what Sweden is doing to its music, and has started to retaliate reciprocate. Here is Wing with her version of ABBA's classic Mama Mia (MP3). And that is only one song from her magnificent album of ABBA covers. Booy it! Bork Bork Bork!
Perhaps you've already heard the shocking news. Air America Radio has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Gosh, and things seemed to have been going so well...
Okay, all joking aside. Anybody who's been been paying much attention to the ongoing situation at the left-wing talk network knew this was coming. Despite the fact that "progressive radio" is proving to be a profitable and timely radio format, two and a half years of bad management and poor decisions have savaged the radio network that had a rocky start to begin with. Lefty website "Think Progress" predicted bankruptcy was imminent weeks ago, and perhaps Air America was trying to hold out until after the mid-term elections. But just too many people were NOT getting paid. (Take a look at the long list at the Smoking Gun website).
For now, AAR has received court permission to dig into a nine-hundred grand pile of dough from a group calling itself "Democracy Allies LLC" who agreed to lend AAR the cast to keep them in business as the legal proceedings continue. It's not clear if any of the "Allies" money will pay Franken any of the $360,750 he's owed (according to the court filing), but the money could certainly be better spent.
And while Franken salary has climbed to an ungodly two million a year (and the better part of another million per year for his bloated staff) he probably can't be blamed entirely for Air America poverty. While it's easy to understand why this may have seemed to be a good idea to promote AAR at first, after Katherine Lanpher left the program Franken's foray into talk radio quickly proved to be not only an embarrassment, but a HUGE drain on the struggling company. Apparently, the Air America executives haven't figured this all out, and Franken's ego is so huge that he can't see it (or hear it) for himself.
For better or worse, Franken's rubbery mug has been the face of Air America from the very beginning (In fact, I think every story I say online today regarding the bankruptcy filing included his name), and since he's personally responsible for sucking away millions from the Air America's coffers you'd think that on the day of the court filing he'd come forward on his program and deal with the issue. Fat chance.
Last week, The Animation Show, the love child festival of Don Hertzfeldt and Mike Judge, posted a list of the Top 10 Animated Shorts on You Tube, all of which are worth a watch.
But one real standout on their list will most likely never be released in the U.S., because clearing the copyrights will be darn near impossible. It's the incomparable Fast Film, from Austrian animator Virgil Widrich, which condenses the history of cinema into an amazing 14 minute animated joy ride. The process of making the film is almost as exciting as watching it, film images were printed on paper and origamied all to hell, then animated in hand-made style and fed into the computer to be layered. The result is hypnotizing - when I first saw this at the Toronto Film Festival in 2003 the audience was visibly stunned. Watch the internet video version for a taste, then watch your local festival and museum archive screenings to see if it makes an appearance, or rush to order the the DVD. You've got to see this on the big screen to see all the amazing nuances.
You Tube Quicktime (40MB)
Shout out is due to The Morning News' Video Digest blogger Sarah Hepola, who also commented on Fast Film. Her weekly post is a great read, and often points readers to Beware of the Blog. This week she turned me on to an a cappella rock jam by The Incredible Mouth Band (a clever parody of Scottish psychedelic folkies The Incredible String Band), which has had me singing "guitaaaar sooolo shreddingshreddingshreddingshredding" all morning.
You Tube Quicktime (4MB)
This video is actually by another animator, David Firth, whose shorts at Fat-Pie are worth a peek. Of course, the IMB is no match for the straight-edge hard-core of Jud Jud, but they never made a video. Or used an "organ".
"THE MOON -- IT'S SO FULL -- SO BRIGHT -- AND -- I'M STARTING TO CHANGE AGAIN -- TURNING INTO -- AARRRHGNN!!!!"
An eighteen year old boy discovers that he has inherited the curse of lycanthropy!!! How did it begin? What does the evil vampire Dracula have to do with it? Where will it all end??
Find out the answers here, by listening to this mp3 (20MB) of the 45 record which accompanied the 1974 Marvel Comics Group release "The Curse of the Werewolf" under its "Power Records" series which let "the action come alive" as you read. What better way to get ready for Halloween than with a spoooooky tale such as this? Enjoy!
Never before has the human body been twisted into such extraordinary positions in service to the American Potato Salad Industry. May I present the mysterious Ross Sisters - Aggie, Maggie and Elmira - in footage from the 1944 MGM musical Broadway Rhythm. As it was described on Metafilter, it's Hee-Haw meets Cirque du Soleil! Stay tuned for their amazing triple cartwheel finale - download mpeg video (12 megs) or youtube it. Thanks Bell!
Normally this blog doesn't publish all that many posts about other New York area radio stations (aside from The Professor's extensive Air America analyses), but this afternoon a friend of mine who's been heard on WNYU for a decade will be airing his final show. Since I never would have ended up on WFMU without him, I feel obliged to tell you all a little about him.
Daniel Blumin has been on the air at 89.1 FM since 1996 and has always been an indispensable behind-the-scenes asset to the station. Since 1997 he's been the producer of the New Afternoon Show, a daily new music program which started in 1980. The original line-up included our own Evan "Funk" Davies, who can now be heard on WFMU on Tuesday nights from 11pm to 2am. Back in 2003 Evan visited The Cherry Blossom Clinic for a special episode about the New Afternoon Show's early history (listen to the RealAudio archive). In his time at WNYU Daniel has trained all of the station's music directors, myself included, as well as many of its DJs including current WFMU late-night fill-in maestro Trent.
If Daniel hadn't encouraged me as a first semester college radio DJ back in the year 2000, I definitely wouldn't be at WFMU today. He's been a great friend and he has had a huge impact on my life. This afternoon from 4:00 until 7:30 EST Daniel will do his final show on WNYU. If you have a chance, check out a few minutes of his last show on WNYU's MP3 or RealAudio or Windows Media stream or on the radio at 89.1 FM. He'll be airing clips from a ton of live sets and interviews that he's done over the years with artists like Cat Power, The Go-Betweens and Spoon.
You can keep your Allan Shermans, your Cheeches (as well as your Chongs), and your Pardon My Bloopers (Volumes 1 through 7). None of them hold a candle to this gem when it comes to determining the worst comedy album of all time. Unkie Dunkie was a butcher who lived right here in Jersey City and was such a cutup that he went and recorded an original LP of his comedic stylings. His material focuses on his no-account nephew Mortimer, but it's the monotonous English-As-An-Unknown-Language delivery and the non-stop laugh track and rimshots that really put this one onto the history books. But hey, this is just my opinion.
We upload, you decide: Unkie Dunkie The Baloney Slicer's LP, Mortimer: Side One | Side Two (MP3s).
And if you enjoyed Unkie Dunkie, don't forget about Aunt Pearl and John Daker.
Thanks to Andru for the original find, Kenny G for the burn and Megan for the scan.
Thanks to Scott's post from last week I've sacrificed the past few days of my life to videos of Texas preachers holding guns to cherries (link). I grew up in a born again household and thus I have always smugly believed that I was in the know about Christian America - but now I realize I know nothing... Perhaps if I pay a visit to Holyland - I will better comprehend the horror that is the American Heartland (link). Book your ticket now.
Ever wondered why your favorite WFMU personality is taking time off from making magic on the airwaves? Our DJs can be a wily bunch during off-hours: some of us usher at Shea Stadium, some are busy raising offspring, while others are occupied with performing bouncy dance tunes on laptops in cat costumes. OCDJ would fall under that last category.
Finishing up a tour of round-robin shows (wherein multiple performers set up in a circle around the audience, each playing one song per round), WFMU's OCDJ was joined by bleepmaster Dan Deacon, mathy guitar duo Ecstatic Sunshine, Cex, Video Hippos, Blood Baby, Butt Stomach, Ponytail, and Height last Friday in Brooklyn.
Check out this video of the kids getting down to OCDJ's live set (avi, 19 MB). Thanks to Andy for capturing the moment.
If you dig the dancetastic-happyspazz-electrobump and you live in Providence, RI, be sure to catch the final round-robin show at Redrum (230 Oak St) this Saturday, October 14th, featuring the same lineup listed above. OCDJ will embark upon another tour beginning October 20th, hitting popular destinations between Kalamazoo, MI, and Baltimore, MD.
WFMU has archives of OCDJ's radio show, Plug & Play, available for your listening pleasure on this page. You can download some of OCDJ's music right here.
mp3s and cassette links after the jump
First some sex - sort of. Foot fetish videos are usually amusing, but this video nicely ties in with today's post: "Crushing cassette box with my high heeled pump. I'm wearing trousers and pantyhose."
I love the mp3 digital revolution, and my computer is busting at the seams with music files. But I do miss the audio cassette. For years it was an indispensable part of my life. Starting at an early age, I would make fake radio newscasts and parodies on my portable tape recorder, and mix them with whatever 45s I happened to pick up that week (probably Huey Lewis & the News).
Beware of the Blog has waxed nostalgic about the cassette before, looking mainly at the design of the tapes themselves. But one of my favorite things about working with cassette tapes was trying to get rid of that "ca-chunk" sound that would sound on the tape whenever hitting the stop button after recording. And so came the fine and delicate art of using the pause button. Nearly as soon as I learned to use the pause button, I started using it in ways it was not meant to be: for re-mixing, re-ordering, and re-constructing the songs themselves. I would work for hours sometimes on a single song, removing sections, editing together various remix and cover versions (don't even get me started on the 45 minute version of New Order's "Blue Monday" that I edited together in high school), and even randomly hitting the pause button during songs just to see what kind of Burroughs-esque cut-up would transpire.
All MP3 and RealAudio links are streaming links from the WFMU Archives.
Rock And Roll
Redd Kross - "Bubblegum Factory" RealAudio from The Cherry Blossom Clinic with Terre T, October 7, 2006
International
Tanya Stevens - "To the Rescue" RealAudio from Reggae Schoolroom with Jeff Sarge, October 8, 2006
Experimental
Raiombashi - "side 2" RealAudio from Brian Turner's show, October 3, 2006
Dance
Shit Robot - "Wrong Galaxy" RealAudio from (More Than A Few) Exciting Moments with Frank O'Toole (Web-only), October 3, 2006
Ambient
Coil - "Strange Birds" RealAudio from Maria Levitsky's show, October 4, 2006
Hip-Hop
Pigeon John - "Weight of the World" RealAudio from Put the Needle On the Record with Billy Jam (filling in for Noah), October 2, 2006
Fave Song of the Week
Felix Kubin & Coolhaven - "Das Schiff der Groben Illusionen" RealAudio from Maria Levitsky's show, October 4, 2006
With our Aircheck show taking another Fall schedule hiatus (hopefully to return next Summer), we thought we'd throw a few downloads up of some of the more memorable moments heard over the airwaves this past season. For the uninitiated, the show spotlighted moments in radio's past that may have not gone into the history books, but were noteworthy, oddly appealing, even downright bizarre at times. In the past the show has featured screaming soul DJ's, a UK pirate DJ at sea broadcasting while his boat was boarded and set fire, lots of southern misanthrope Bob Lassiter, the psychotic presence of Ohio's Murray Saul, and this year quite a few vintage 80's hip hop DJs. The shows from 2002-2006 (minus 2004) seasons are all archived here, but here's a few downloads to keep you happy til the return:
Morrissey fans live on KROQ (MP3): Endearing messages left for the Moz on this LA station, some fans getting downright hysterical at the thought of their hero hearing what they would have to say. Apparently he was living in LA for years as well, and his next door neighbors were Nancy Sinatra and one of the brothers of Sparks.
Sex Pistols live on KSAN (MP3): Hitting the Bay Area (where they would call it quits) on their only Bollocks-era US tour (1978), a Rotten-less Pistols take abuse, drug offers and propositions over the airwaves of KSAN and slur it right back ("what's wrong with Elvis Costello?" "He's got glasses.") Someone must have been impressed, guitarist Steve Jones is now a California radio host himself these days.
Ken Sims Wins (MP3): Probably the Aircheck show that drew the most annoyed callers. Hoping to win a Giuffria album or concert tickets? It's not going to happen when Ken Sims is near the radio and his phone. And he recorded a montage of every single time he won on the radio; let's just say this guy didn't have to pay for his entertainment in the 1980's one bit. Courtesy sweetthunder.org.
WFMU's Fall 2006/2007 air schedule went in to effect on Monday, October 9th to the sound of beating drums, marching feet, and (rather dramatically,) the sound of a nuclear warhead being set off by the especially excited country of North Korea. You can see the new schedule in table form by using this link, or check out the extended version, which includes program descriptions, on this page. This schedule will be in effect until June of ought-seven.
Special party favors should be distributed to Hova, Belinda, and DJ Waah-Waah on their final WFMU broadcast of Greasy Kid Stuff, which aired this past Saturday. All of us here at the Magic Factory wish them the warmest of sendoffs and thank them for 11 fantabulous freeform years in the trenches! There are years and years worth of GKS archives available for your perusal on this page, so please feel free to re-live the magic at your discretion. The playlist and archive for their final show are here.
Other special features of note include Mr. Bill Zurat moving to Friday morning's web-only slot from 6-9 AM, (it should be noted that Bill also has a soon-to-be-unveiled podcast in the works.) Also on the web-only front, we're happy to welcome Black Ops to the fold, holding down the Monday morning slot previously held by John Allen (who has since moved to Monday nights at 11 PM, both online and in the fashionable Frequency Modulation realm.) There's lots to look forward to, in other words, and you can take it all in by viewing the schedule in its entirety. And remember, if your favorite show isn't anywhere to be found on that page, it still lives on in vibrant and shimmering archive form. Go here for the full list of programs from WFMU's storied past and present.
Media Consolidation Woes for the FCC
There's no such thing as bad press. Unless you're a member of the FCC trying to convince Congress, the courts, and the American people that media consolidation isn't so terrible, after all. In their latest attempt to rekindle a deregulation campaign that failed to ignite in 2003, the feds keep tripping on their shoelaces in a downright comical streak of bad PR:
Even though the commission's 3 republicans favor relaxing ownership rules, they might find it difficult to justify doing so in light of the recent scandal and public outcry (click here to file your own comments with the FCC regarding media consolidation, refer to docket 06-121). Perhaps the commission had better stick to studying whether TV ads are making kids fat.
Oprah on Satellite Radio
Now Oprah has her own satellite radio channel, called "Oprah & Friends" (come on, O, stealing from Barney?), and will produce a weekly program with her not-gay-lover, Gayle King. Oprah and Gayle's show will air a zillion times each week, opposite such WFMU superstar DJs as Tony Rettman, Trouble, Diane Kamikaze, Dave the Spazz, Martha, Jeffrey Davison, Michael Shelley, Terre T, Tony Coulter, Evan Muse, Dan Bodah, Glen Jones, Gaylord Fields, and Bethany. With competition like this, the big O shall be eliminated in no time.
An experiment in form, this month's off-mic news is brought to you in scintillating digest form, for easy perusal and utility. We talk enough as it is.
* WFMU DJs Plucking, Spinning, and Grinning About Town... and Beyond
Music and Program Director Brian Turner will be manning the wheels of steel in Los Angeles at Arthur Magazine's Arthur Nights Festival, happening October 19-22 at the Palace Theaster, 630 S.
Broadway in Downtown L.A. The fest includes appearances by Bert Jansch, the Watts Prophets,
Devendra Banhart, Tav Falco and the Unapproachable Panther Burns, Boris, Sun Ra Arkestra, Om, Money Mark, Six Organs of Admittance, Michael Hurley, Comets On Fire, and more. Other DJs include the Dublab crew from L.A. as well as the Numero Group label folks. Arthur's website has the full skinny as
well as links to buy tickets. While visiting the lovely left coast, Brian will also be DJing on Friday, October 13th at the Hank IV release party at the Elbo Room, 647 Valencia Street, in San
Francisco's Mission district.
Also, it would do all you locals well to be advised that Gaylord Fields will be backed up by Norton Records superstars The A-Bones at Union Pool (484 Union St. in Williamsberg, Brooklyn) on Wednesday, October 11th right alongside Andre "Mr. Rhythm" Williams. The internet tells of a similar event taking place several days later far across the sea, but Gaylord has been unavailable for comment.
This month's DJ comp harkens all the way back to 2001 (and 21 years further back from there), from the late great program Rhubarb Cake. Here is Douglas' marathon premium from that year, titled Obey The New Wave - 1980 and all that-- UK DIY, etc. Here's how Douglas described it at the time: 23 blurts of intense, delicious, mysterious and staggeringly unusual UK DIY and art-post-punk, circa 1980. Grab this comp quick - these tracks will be up for one week only.
Nancy Sesay and the Melodaires - C'est Fab | Blurt - Get
Furious Pig - I Don't Like Your Face | Androids of Mu - Bored Housewives
Gerry and the Holograms - Gerry and the Holograms | The 49 Americans - Newton's Laws
Diagram Brothers - We Are All Animals | Fish Turned Human - 24 Hour Shop
Electric Chairs - So Many Ways | The Suspicions - The Laughing Policeman
General Strike - My Body | Hermine - Torture | Michael Nyman - Mozart
The Flying Lizards - Hands 2 Take | Galactic Symposium - Money
"Fatal" Microbes - Violence Grows | Gl*xo Babies - Christine Keeler
People In Control - When It's War | Dum Dum Dum - Dum Dum Dum
The Filmcast - Admission (Yours) | Aqsak Maboul - A Modern Lesson
