Update (especially for the RSS folks)

     This post is purely informational. See the sidebar for the date and time of the next episode. It’ll be nutritious and perhaps quite delicious....

Episode 21

     I haven’t done a three-hour show since September. I’d forgotten both what a luxury being able to stretch out for that long is and how much more preparation a longer show requires. All in all, the extended format was a success. I managed to get to a few long-standing requests and, I hope, to play some music for my friend Jeffrey. I’m really exhausted now, so I won’t write much more. There’ll be information about an upcoming show here soon. Until then, happy holidays, happy new year, etc....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Mark Eitzel, “Make Sure They Hear,” Candy Ass, Cooking Vinyl
• Johnny Cash, “Wayfaring Stranger,” American III: Solitary Man, American Recordings
• Ron Sexsmith, “In a Flash,” Whereabouts, Interscope
• Donny Hathaway, “Someday We’ll All Be Free,” Extension of a Man, Atlantic
• Stina Nordenstam, “Get on with Your Life,” The World Is Saved, V2
• Syd Barrett, “Feel/If It’s in You,” The Madcap Laughs, Capitol
• Blonde Redhead, “Misery Is a Butterfly,” Misery Is a Butterfly, 4AD
• Do Make Say Think, “Horns of a Rabbit,” Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn, Constellation
• Brian Eno, “Blank Frank,” Here Come the Warm Jets, EG
• Caetano Veloso, “Alfômega,” Caetano Veloso, Philips
• Freakwater, “Cricket versus Ant,” Thinking of You..., Thrill Jockey
• Wire, “I Feel Mysterious Today,” Chairs Missing, EMI
• Tom Waits, “Frank’s Wild Years,” Swordfishtrombones, Island

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Rubén Blades, “Creencia,” Tiempos, Sony
• Neil Young, “Out on the Weekend,” Harvest, Reprise
• Chad VanGaalen, “Kill Me in My Sleep,” Infiniheart, Sub Pop
• Yuka Honda, “Liberation #6—Leaving the Memories Behind,” Memories Are My Only Witness, Tzadik
• Scott Walker, “Face on Breast,” Tilt, Drag City
• Animal Collective, “Bees,” Feels, Fat Cat
• The Auteurs, “School,” How I Learned to Love the Bootboys, Virgin
• Lori Carson, “Christmas,” Where It Goes, Restless
• Broadcast, “America’s Boy,” Tender Buttons, Warp
• Kraftwerk, “The Man-Machine,” The Man-Machine, Capitol
• Dead Can Dance, “Ocean,” Dead Can Dance, 4AD
• Bulgarian State Radio and Television Female Vocal Choir, “Kalimankou Denkou,” Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, Nonesuch

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• Cheikh Lô, “Set,” Né La Thiass, World Circuit
• Akron/Family, “I’ll Be on the Water,” Akron/Family, Young God
• The Russian Futurists, “Why You Gotta Do That Thang?” Our Thickness, Upper Class
• The Decemberists, “On the Bus Mall,” Picaresque, Kill Rock Stars
• Rogue Wave, “You,” Descended like Vultures, Sub Pop
• Mogwai, “R U Still in 2 It?” Young Team, Jetset
• The Flaming Lips, “The Spark That Bled (The Softest Bullet Ever Shot),” The Soft Bulletin, Warner Brothers
• Pinback, “The Yellow Ones,” Summer in Abaddon, Touch and Go
• A.R.Kane, “Spermwhale Trip Over,” Sixty Nine, One Little Indian
• Red House Painters, “Void,” Old Ramon, Sub Pop

More In-Betweenness

     We are about to go into the interim period again. That means the schedule is going to morph and fluctuate more than the Chicago weather does in this age of global warming. What that also means for you, dear reader/listener, is that the reliable two-week cycle to which you and I have grown accustomed will be temporarily disrupted. I’ll be hitting a little bit before the beat the next time out: on Monday morning (Sunday night) 19 December instead of 24 hours later. Those who listen to podcasts will get an early present, while those who tune in at the regular time will be baffled to hear someone else. Not to fear, though, things will again be predictable come the second or third week of January.
     Now, two appeals. One, if you actually do read this page or have comments on the shows, please post them using the commenting feature. J. Niimi, one of the hosts of Radio Zero, is pretty much the only consistent commenter, and I’ve recently started commenting on his lists because they are oh-so-great. I do steal ideas from him. I admit it. Anyway, I’ve long since stopped publicly musing on whether anyone listens to show or has any opinions on it, but I do still wonder. I really appreciate hearing verbally from some of you, but it would be really cool if you actually posted your comments on this page. Otherwise, it looks as though I have no friends. While that may be true, I at least want to maintain some sort of charade. Dig?
     Two, as we approach February, we also approach ECI’s first anniversary. At that point, I’ll be able to move away from one difficult-to-maintain but unspoken policy: that of not programming songs that I played on any previous regular episode of the show (thus, the show where I had to go for an extra 45 minutes to make up for a late DJ doesn’t count: see the ECI Everything page for a complete list). Having that constraint has kept me honest, kept me searching for new and interesting things to play and forced me not to rely too much on the work of some of my favorite musicians. I’ll keep up the search, but I want to know more about your favorite artists—especially among those that have been played on the show. So, use the “Travis” link in the show description to the left to let me know what you want to hear on the upcoming anniversary show. It’ll air sometime in February, and maybe, just maybe, a couple of you will get to be my guests in the studio that evening....

Episode 20

     So, this morning’s show is yet another whose contours will remain unknown to me until such time as I’ve had the chance to listen to it. It was a lot of fun to do, though in the end I was unable to play a lot of the stuff I took with me. So perhaps on the next show, you’ll hear some of the things left out — from artists like Caetano Veloso, Café Tacuba, Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, Spoon, and many others. The only glitch in this episode was the Emergency Alert System test, which occurred a little over 2 minutes into the Piano Magic tune. Usually, I’m unaware when an announcement happens, but this time I was on it. While it may not have been the most elegant programming choice, I decided that my dear listeners really did need to hear the whole song, so, when the test was done I played “Theory of Ghosts” again ... from the beginning.
     At both the station and the university, everyone is making preparations for the break. And that means that I have not a clue when my next show will be. With any luck one will take place some time in the next two weeks. This page is the best (and perhaps only) way to find out. The minute I know something, I’ll post it here....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Stereolab, “Brakhage,” Dots and Loops, Elektra
• A Certain Ratio, “Crystal,” Sextet, Factory
• Shriekback, “Nemesis,” Oil and Gold, Island
• Animal Collective, “Leaf House,” Sung Tongs, Fat Cat
• Gang of Four, “What We All Want (Live),” Solid Gold/Another Day, Another Dollar, Infinite Zero
• Piano Magic, “Theory of Ghosts,” Disaffected, Darla
• Sybarite, “Fresh Kills,” Nonument, 4AD
• Inara George, “Mistress,” All Rise, Everloving
• Wilco, “How to Fight Loneliness,” Summerteeth, Reprise
• Badly Drawn Boy, “The Shining,” The Hour of Bewilderbeast, Twisted Nerve/XL
• The Cardigans, “Iron Man,” First Band on the Moon, Mercury
• Edith Frost, “If It Weren’t for the Words,” It’s a Game, Drag City

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• David Sylvian, “Weathered Wall,” Brilliant Trees, Virgin
• The Glove, “Like an Animal,” Blue Sunshine, Polydor
• Broadcast, “Michael A Grammar,” Tender Buttons, Warp
• My Morning Jacket, “The Knot Comes Loose,” Z, ATO
• Chris Whitley, “Radar,” Rocket House, ATO
• Radar Bros., “The River Shade,” The Fallen Leaf Pages, Merge
• Pink Floyd, “The Final Cut,” The Final Cut, Columbia
• Four Tet, “And Then Patterns,” Everything Ecstatic, Domino
• Paul Weller, “Up in Suze’s Room,” Heavy Soul, Island
• Cocteau Twins, “Round,” Tishbite (I), Fontana
• Kate Bush, “Somewhere in Between,” Aerial, Columbia
• Imogen Heap, “Closing In,” Speak for Yourself, RCA