DJ Handi's Archive Picks: Hot! (And Not So Hot.)

One reason free-form radio is so marvelous is that it is so immediate. DJs can play music that addresses what is happening right now. It has been hot!!!! Let's see how WFMU addressed this heat.

Let's start in that ultimate tropical paradise, Hell. That's Solid Gold Hell with Sue P. She
played the brutal grind of "King Ink" from "Prayers On Fire" by Birthday Party, followed by Oxbow. Therese emphasized the sunshine in one of her sets in 2009: playing the jazzy, breezy "Sunshine Love", by Bing Ji Ling, then Prince's "Play In The Sunshine." Notice how each DJ uses the same circumstance to give their sets diametrically opposed moods.

Meghan did her whole show on the heat wave on Underwater Theme Park. She started in the 1970s and 1980s, playing Nick Gilder's "Hot Child In The City," then Billy Idol, T. Rex, and the Rolling Stones. These choices are very above ground for WFMU. But I find it refreshing to occasionally hear thematic sets that sound like commercial FM radio may have, when DJs had freedom to react to occurrences around them.

On Noise And Syrup, Jeff M. played "Dead Weather Machine Re: Heat" by Sleep Research Facility. He spoke over field recordings of 5am birds and afternoon rain. "Waitin' for the Orange Sunshine": by Lorelle Meets The Obsolete was on Talk's Cheap with Jason Sigal, followed by The Voyageurs "Sleeping Outdoors." His guest was the band Sun Araw.

I was surprised searching the play lists that I didn't find more music about this oppressive weather. But I did find more songs directly or indirectly related to climate. One was "Average Joe" from Terry Callier''s Occasional Rain album, played on Inner Ear Detour With David. If you have not heard Terry Callier, make doing so a point! His blend of folk and soul and poetry grabs your attention: not many artists use genre alchemy so naturally.