WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Climax Golden Twins - Tues July 7th

Coming up on The Antique Phonograph Music Program on Tues July 7 will be Rob Millis and Jeffery Taylor aka Climax Golden Twins.

They will discuss their musical output, their Dust to Digital rare international 78 series "Victrola Favorites," and current release "Take Me to the Water: Immersion Baptism in Vintage Music and Photography 1890-1950."

Mac and Climax Golden Twins will play records and talk about the dogged pursuit of 78s. Tune in, turn on and listen to them drop steel needles.

Also be sure to check out this recent live set by Climax Golden Twins (via Issue Project Room & Free Music Archive).

Click here to subscribe to the Antique Phonograph Music Program's podcast via iTunes.

Kurt Gottschalk's Brother Lucy Podshow

Kurt Gottschalk, the esteemed host of WFMU's The Brother Lucy Show, is taking a break from his Thursday morning web-only slot and will instead deliver the goods directly to your MP3 player.

The Brother Lucy Podshow premieres today with what might be seen as a desperate bid for popularity. But the Fiery Furnaces aren't just really, really hip. For the first of a summer of free concerts delivered to your computer or MP3 player, The Brother Lucy Podshow with Kurt Gottschalk presents The Fiery Furnaces, recorded live at Socrates Sculpture Park on August 26, 2007.

Click here to subscribe to the Brother Lucy Podshow in iTunes or hit WFMU's podcast page for more options.

WFMU Summer Schedule kicks off Monday

We hope that your summer is full of margaritas, BBQs, flip-flops, tube tops, sand in unlikely places, and of course, freeform radio!

WFMU's Summer 2009 Program Schedule takes effect Monday morning, June 22nd at 6am, and will be in effect until October 12th. You can see the Summer 2009 schedule in handy-dandy table format here, or as an unwieldy big-ass list right here.

If your favorite show is not on the schedule, don't fret: DJs and shows often rotate in and out in order to keep things fresh and give new people a chance.

WFMU Archives: a Real Audio-free Future

Beginning July 12th, WFMU's new archives will no longer be available in 20k Real Audio, and this change will affect archive listeners on a dial-up connection. Going forward, all new archives will be available in the higher quality 64k AAC+ format, which sounds fantastic with our new Pop-Up Player. If you listen to our 128k MP3 archives, fear not, no changes are being made in that dept.

How will the change affect your archive listening? (Read more)

If you have DSL, cable, or a T1 internet connection:
For Pop-Up AAC+ archives to work, Javascript must be enabled (info here) and you need Flash Player plugin 9 or higher. Pop-Up archives can only be played inside your web browser (they load in a pop-up window, try one out here). You can still listen to our 128k MP3 archives using external programs like iTunes or Winamp (although these archives expire after 4 weeks, as they have done in the past).

If you have a dial-up connection:
Due to the higher quality and higher bit-rate of our new archive format, your internet connection speed will not be able to accomodate archive listening going forward. Rest assured that we will continue to offer our live streams in Real Audio and Windows Media, at bit-rates appropriate for dial-up connections. All of WFMU's Real Audio archives prior to July 12, 2009 will remain available on our website for your listening pleasure, but new archives going forward will no longer be offered in Real Audio.

ISSUE Project Room: NYC Soundwalks 6/7/09

ISSUE Project Room, Brooklyn's progressive non-profit performance space, has put together the most interesting walk-a-thon we've ever heard:

 On the afternoon of Sunday June 7, a group of visionary artists will lead sonic excursions throughout New York as part of a rare live sonic arts experiment — the ISSUE Project Room Soundwalk-a-thon — a fundraiser and collective public inquiry into the connection between urban space and our collective sonic imaginations.

You can sign up to...
* Bang a Gong for Issue with Swans co-founder and WFMU's favorite drummer, Jonathan Kane.
* Walk through the Brooklyn Botanical Garden contemplating the simulated sound of tinnitus with Anthony Coleman.
* Explore the sounds of Gowanus with Marc Ribot.
* Join a game of urban "telephone" -- the Tin Can Telewalk -- led by Marie Evelyn and WFMU DJ Kurt Gottschalk

There are 20 options to choose from, but you don't just have to pick one! You can experience them all in the disruptive We would like to run past all your walkers, opposite their direction, while screaming songs walk led by friends of the station Flaming Fire. And if you won't be able to attend, you can pledge your support to those who can.

...Speaking of ISSUE Project Room, have you heard their recent contributions to the Free Music Archive? Here's a recent highlight from James Blackshaw, live at ISSUE Project Room on March 7, 2009 excerpt (MP3)

Check out IPR on the Free Music Archive for Meg Baird's set from that night, along with IPR-curated audio from Elliott Sharp, Arthur's Landing, Stars Like Fleas, Carlos Giffoni & Okkyung Lee, Alex Waterman, Arthur Doyle, Teeth Mountain, and much more.      (photo via Urban Zen Sound Meditation and Labyrinth Walk  led by Eric A. Dah)

WFMU's Fatburger Takeover

If you missed out on Joe Belock and Todd-o-phonic Todd's hilarious and artery-clogging remote broadcast from Fatburger in Jersey City, you can regorge on the magic by checking out the archive, a short video of the event from NJ.com, and a greasy slideshow of visual highlights (thanks Cynthia).

Special guest appearances by Mark Moran of Weird NJ, Georgia and Ira of Yo La Tengo, the Longo brothers, Robert Piersanti, and Jersey City youth rockers!

Belly bombs away!

Drew Friedman launches new website

Expert illustrator and longtime WFMU art contributor Drew Friedman recently launched a new website featuring his fine art prints (with the help of Irwin Chusid and Barbara Economon).

For those of you who may not be familiar with Drew's work, he was the creator of WFMU's semi-grotesque mascot, the Old Codger, contributed illustrations for our Crackpots & Visionaries cards, and designed a WFMU t-shirt and bumper sticker. Drew and his brother Josh Alan once guest-hosted for Kaz on WFMU in the 1980s, as well.

Dave the Spazz calls Drew "one of the funniest stipple cartoonists of the '80's and '90's is now one of the funniest illustrators of the 21st century. His work is as hypnotizing as Basil Wolverton's at his best. Drew Friedman is the Albrecht Dürer of liver spots."

Maria Levitsky: Building Photographs

Our talented (and exceedingly modest) radio compatriot Maria Levitsky (formerly heard 3-6pm Wednesday afternoons) is crafty with a camera. Her premiere NYC photographic gallery exhibit, Building Photographs, opens this evening at Deborah Berke & Partners Architects (220 5th Avenue, 7th floor) with a reception from 6:30 to 8:30. (Levitsky has previously exhibited in several Brooklyn venues and around the country.)

Dozens of black & white and experimental works can be viewed at MariaLevitsky.com. At left: Shoes on Stairs (Invisible Ascending), silver gelatin print from 2000.

Some of Maria's photos are spooky—one of many qualities I find appealing. Her works often frame scenic ruins marking time before the inevitable wrecking ball. This decaying architecture reveals few signs of life—but many signs of former lives (what Levitsky calls "evidence of disappearance").

Building Photographs runs through the summer by appointment.

More WFMU DJ Off-Mic Activities

Not only can you catch Dave the Spazz rubbing shoulders with Mick Collins and the Paul Green School of Rock kids tonight at BB King Blues Club in Manhattan... a few other DJs have some upcoming off-mic events this week that are worth checking out.

HotRod DJs tonight @ the Lamp Post in Jersey City (352 2nd St), 9pm-2am... Free!
 
Maria Levitsky celebrates the opening of her photography show, "Building Photographs," at Deborah Berke & Partners Architecture Gallery (220 5th Ave, 7th Floor) in Manhattan tomorrow evening (Thurs 5/21), 6:30 - 8:30pm.

Small Change DJs at the Down & Derby roller disco party at Studio B in Brooklyn (259 Banker St) this Saturday with DJ Ayres and Rok One, 10pm onward (RSVP here for discounted admission).

  

Mick Collins to appear at School of Rock Benefit tonight!

Rock hero Mick Collins (from the Dirtbombs!!!!) will be joining Dave the Spazz and the Paul Green School of Rock kids for the WFMU Benefit tonight at the BB King Blues Club in Manhattan!

Tonight marks the second and final night of performances hosted by Dave the Spazz, who has handpicked music to be performed by local branches of the Paul Green School of Rock and the SCHOOL OF ROCK ALLSTARS.

The kids will compete for rock glory, as Dave selects the winning school. Expect a chimpified, sonic soiree of overmodulated, toe-stubbing rock and roll music as performed by junior high and high school kids! Plus a special guest appearance by Mick Collins! Don't miss it!

Wednesday May 20th - 8pm
BB King Blues Club
New York, NY
$15 advance and door

ISSUE Project Room's 6th Anniversary Party

On May 19th, Brooklyn's excellent non-profit performance space, ISSUE Project Room, will be celebrating their 6th year of kicking ass and taking names in the experimental music, film, literature, and art scenes (and also on the Free Music Archive).

The 6th birthday party/benefit for ISSUE Project Room takes place at Galapagos in Dumbo Brooklyn (16 Main St), and WFMU's own Fabio will be representing on the ones and twos. Other notable highlights on the bill include:

- The Pinch of the Baboon (JG Thirlwell, Ed Pastorini, Oren Bloedow and Ben Perowsky)
- Elysian Fields
- Mountains
- members of Excepter
- “Straight and Narrow” (1970), Film screening by Tony Conrad with soundtrack by John Cale and Terry Riley
- Robot Movie by Jim Sharpe with Soundtrack by Lary Seven

On top of this, IPR will reward a prize to the person who shows up in the best Holy Mountain-inspired costume, so you know there's potential for this party to be way better than Halloween. Purchase tickets here, and you'll get $10 off if you use the promotional code fidelio - have fun!

Bang on a Jam 2009, hosted by Billy Jam

In case you missed the crazy-fun Bang on a Jam noisefest on Billy Jam's show last week, you can download the whole segment here:

Bang on a Jam - 2009 (MP3) | Playlist

Who made all that racket? Billy Jam, Station Manager Ken, Jason Sigal, Doron, Scott Williams, Jeff Mullan, Mike, Nick The Bard, and Bill Bowen, that's who.

Bang on a Jam began in 2008 after Billy was underwhelmed by the annual Bang on a Can festival in NYC. Clearly the Can has been upstaged by the Jam!

Egnekn Montgomery's 8 Track Magic

After 15 years we now have the follow up volume to Brooklyn sound artist/laminator Egnekn Montgomery's 8 Track Magic, a CD compendium of the sounds of damaged 8-track tapes. The first volume took a thrift-store Led Zep IV cartridge (purchased for a quarter), setting the listener on a sea of queasy Robert Plant warble in even more damaged mode, Page's "Stairway to Heaven" intro sounding like Jandek, a new association with the song in your head occuring through natural (or perhaps Crowley-induced mystical) playing process. Egnekn claims this new volume is less "magic" than previous, but it definitely stands as a signifier of crumbling technology that once reigned supreme, a remark on de-evolution, or even a lesson to all the Blu-Ray fans out there. Check out Egnekn (aka Gen Ken's) ATMOTW (Artist Throwing Money Out the Window) site for more info and releases.

"Going Off the Deep End" (MP3)
"Fever Down" (MP3)
"Hey Hey Number Nine" (MP3)
"I'm a Clown" (MP3)
"I Won't Do That" (MP3)

and one from Volume One:
"Lonelytime" (MP3)

Megapolis Audio Festival, Boston : April 24 - 26

Heads-up Bostonites, a cool DIY audio arts festival is headed your way: Megapolis, April 24-26.

"Artists, documentarians, musicians, and fans come together to share secrets on producing and presenting challenging audio works online, on-air, and on the stage."

Tons of cool sessions are planned: learn about field recording, circuit bending, illegal art, activist films, sound art and collage, audio production, radio wizardry, electro-acoustic instrument building, and more! Folks from the Third Coast Audio Festival, free103point9, WZBC, WYPR, WNYC, Mecca Normal, MIT, and tons of other groups and working artists will be representing.

On top of all this wonderment, Jason Sigal and I will make a mind-blowing presentation about the Free Music Archive on Sat Apr 25, 11:30am-1pm (@ Public Radio Exchange, 3rd Floor, 50 Church St., Cambridge UPDATE: venue change.... Nelson Mandela room at the Democracy Center, 45 Mt. Auburn St).

Hope to see you there!

Megapolis Schedule | Ticket Info | Blargh

New Podcast: Bitslap with KBC

Those of you who have been loitering in our hallways for a decade or so might remember an ex-WFMU DJ with a penchant for x-mas mixtapes who went by the name KBC. More recent FMU fans who frequent our record fair may have come into contact with this jolly creature generously foisting x-mas CDs upon the masses. Some of you blog folks may recall the fine day we offered up 101 versions of "Stairway to Heaven" (partial responsibility can be pegged upon KBC).

WFMU is happy to announce the return of KBC with a new podcast called Bitslap!

Subscribe via iTunes  |  Archives  |  Other subscription options

Bitslap features "old crazy music," silly comedy bits, lobsters, antiques, and probably some x-mas faves. Get up on it, and be sure to check out WFMU's full selection o' great podcasts on this page.

WFMU Teams Up with the School of Rock!

Paul Green's School of Rock Presents:
WFMU Benefit!

Join us for 2 nights hosted by Dave the Spazz, with his handpicked music performed by local branches of the Paul Green School of Rock and the SCHOOL OF ROCK ALLSTARS.

For each show there will be groups of kids from local schools performing songs of Spazz' choosing as part of a contest; Dave will select the winning school. The School of Rock Allstars will then take the stage and blow you away!

Expect a chimpified, sonic soiree of overmodulated, toe-stubbing rock and roll music as performed by junior high and high school kids!

Hope you can make it to one of these nights:

Friday May 15th - 8pm
Asbury Lanes
Asbury Park, NJ
$10 advance and door

Wednesday May 20th - 8pm
BB King Blues Club
New York, NY
$15 advance and door

Lou D'Antonio (1936-2009)

Lou D'Antonio, longtime host of The Hour of the Duck, passed away on March 28 in Vermont at age 72.

Lou joined the station in 1962, six years before the advent of free-form, hosting an eclectic jazz program. When free-form was introduced by a gaggle of hippies (including Vin Scelsa) in '68, Lou (a self-described "clean-cut, preppie type") made the open-playlist transition seamlessly. He remained an iconic figure at WFMU until he retired in 1990.

Everyone in the WFMU community owes Lou a silent debt of gratitude for keeping free-form radio alive when the underground format was being overtaken by niche-casting in the early 1970s.

Drawing on his early radio heroes Jean Shepherd, Bob & Ray, and Symphony Sid, Lou evolved a warm, erudite, self-effacing, and highly entertaining style. His joie de vivre on mic was no stage persona. Lou was the same charismatic individual on the air and off.

Radio personality. Storyteller. Bon vivant. Zen sage. Family man. Actor. Athlete. Hepcat. Historian. Philosopher. Humorist. Chef. Musician. Teacher. Epicure. Diplomat. Mediator. Mentor. Lou was Fred Astaire -- he was multi-talented, did everything with singular style and natural grace, and made it all look easy.

Photos of Lou and reminiscences from staff and volunteers are being posted on WFMU's In Memoriam page, which includes a link (at bottom) to the D'Antonio family's memorial at Facebook. The first two hours of my April 8 afternoon program were devoted to Lou. An audio archive of the Duck's vintage broadcasts is under construction.

Andy Breckman: Beyond Poco

It's a running gag on Seven Second Delay that Andy Breckman's music tastes run no deeper than Poco and Jackson Browne. But like his faux misanthropy and staged insults (fact: he IM's an apology to each caller after every show), Andy's alleged musical Philistinism is a riff. His iPod shuffle reflects a more eclectic appetite than 90% of the station's sneering, insecure poseurs. Andy's tastes are so adventurous that he endures charges of parochialism on 7SD because he doesn't need to prove anything. The evidence is readily available online in the playlists of the long-running, if episodic program, Go To Hell! With Andy Breckman.

Over the years, Andy has hosted dozens of last-minute WFMU fill-ins, usually during off-hours, with little fanfare. As his archives indicate, the real Andy Breckman is a musical connoisseur, a sonic bon vivant, an audio omnivore. From psychedelia to show tunes, from snotty L.A. punk to hip-hop, from Ethiopique to breezy Tin Pan Alley, from Senegalese Mbalax to free jazz -- if it can be ripped, one-clicked at Amazon, or downloaded from a blog in Thailand, it will end up in Andy's earbuds, and eventually on WFMU's airwaves.

The tragedy of Andy's career as a DJ is that, due to an unfortunate confluence of archiving software glitches, server crashes, accidental file deletions, and vindictive hackers (including several rival DJs), audio exists for just one show (April 1, 2009). However, meticulously annotated set-lists handwritten by Andy on Post-It pads have helped WFMU document every segue from every program he's hosted since 1994. These playlists chronicle his genre-surfing musical Odysseys: there are thoughtful concept shows, clever song threads, and sets that reflect a surprising commitment to eco-awareness. Andy's tribute to the 1967 Summer of Love offers a vault of nuggets so obscure that not only do these relics not appear on any other WFMU staffer's playlist, they can't be Googled without circling back to Andy's archives.

Though the audio of these programs has been lost, there is a rabid following for Andy's singular brand of broadcasting. His shows are so deeply revered that obsessive fans have recreated many of his famous playlists as BitTorrent distributed files. It goes without saying that these music-only compilations aren’t the same without Andy's snarky commentary and mic breaks punctuated by droll rape analogies.

Me and Ian Curtis

The important question about Ian Curtis is not so much "why?" as "who?"  What bizarre concoction of humanity led to that pale glare through sad eyes, that earnest intensity, that rigor-mortis twist, those haunting, opaque lyrics? I didn't get the answer from Anton Corbijn's otherwise gorgeously filmed and serviceable 2007 bio-feature Control.  Samantha Morton, a wonderful actor to watch, played a full-blooded Deborah Curtis, complex, touchable and sympathetic. Conversely, Sam Riley's Ian Curtis is almost completely bloodless, empty—except for the fact that the actor perfectly animated Curtis' look and physicality as a masterful mimic.  Since the film was based on Deborah Curtis' book about her life with the singer, perhaps this hollowness is somehow to the point of the narrative.  Curtis may just have been a cracked actor, like the creation of his beloved Bowie.  I've got the spirit, but lose the feeling.  Feeling-feeling-feeling...feel-ing!

In my own ridiculous way, I have sought the soul of Ian Curtis, through contemplative hours of listening to Joy Division's music, the Warsaw tapes etc.  So when WFMU got the Factory flexi disc of "Incubation" (back in the middle 80s), I was inspired to allow my Curtis worship to take the form of parody, since "Incubation" is an instrumental that just begs for some lyrics, crying out for a treatment by way of the Closer LP.  Apologies in advance...

This is one piece from my archive that Daniel Blumin and I did not get around to playing during our broadcast for WFMU's radio greats weekend.  I know the track has made a lot of friends and listeners happy in years past.  I take you now to a clammy primary-school classroom...it's after hours, almost night, a janitor is mopping the hallway floor outside, mumbling to himself...little eggs are pulsating under yellow light....

Incubation

Bonus track: "Means to an End"  WFMU Marathon Promo

And before you mock, remember that I was about 23 when I did this, the same age Ian Curtis was when he hung himself.  We all make some unfortunate choices at that age.

If you enjoy my bi-weekly posts here on Beware of the Blog, you can also check in with me daily at My Castle of Quiet.

New Podcast: Best Show Gems

Heads up, Tom Scharpling fans! Mr. Best Show on WFMU and his team decided that one podcast just isn't enough. Today he has just unleashed a second podcast: Best Show Gems!

Best Show Gems is The Best Of The Best Show On WFMU: a twice-monthly podcast featuring highlights from the full radio show. Classic Scharpling and Wurster calls, amazing phone-ins, random weirdness and more! It's a perfect way for a beginner to get on board, or for a longtime fan to look back and remember when.

Click here to subscribe via iTunes or head over to our podcast page.