Episode 50: The Final Show

     Over the last 20 months, I’ve been conducting an experiment. The main questions I was attempting to answer were the following. (1) Would it be possible to do an adult-centered radio show (rather than an obscurantist indie-snob show) drawn entirely from my own CD library? (2) Could I do said show without ever repeating a song that I had played on a previous episode? And, in the end, (3) would I find or develop a significant audience in the process? That is, would I be able to open listeners’ ears in the way that some of my favorite DJs of the last few decades—e.g., Vi Francis on Fisk University’s WRFN, Dick Shannon on Nashville’s WKDA and Matt Swanson on Vanderbilt University’s WRVU in the 1980s; Liz Copeland, Martin Bandyke and Judy Adams on Wayne State University’s WDET in the 1990s and the early part of this decade—managed to do, unwittingly, for me?
     The answers to the first two questions are an easy “yes.” The answer to the last question, at least based on the evidence at my disposal, is a resounding “no.” In part, I think the group of people who might be most interested in my show is not coterminous with the one that regularly listens to WHPK. But I knew that from the start. Initially, I hoped that the promised, near-horizon arrival of webcasting might be the bridge between my show and those listeners. What I couldn’t have known is that the implementation of webcasting at the station is about as likely to happen as is your receiving a lot of money if you respond to one of those e-mails issuing from “Nigeria.”
     Nonetheless, the show was a lot of fun to do. I got to discover a lot of new things in the process of searching for music that would make for satisfying, sometimes revelatory shows. Along the way, I also improved markedly as a radio DJ, making the most of a frequently imperfect monitoring situation in the studio as well as not always well-maintained equipment.
     For those I can name as being among my most loyal listeners (some of whom listened in real-time, others of whom heard the secret podcast), I have nothing but heartfelt thanks for their support, feedback and commentary (this means you, Dawn, Michael, Melissa, Dan, Mariel, Lauren, Rashida and Michelle). I don't have any plans to return to radio—not even when, if ever, WHPK does start to webcast. Neither do I have the desire to produce a podcast, as some people have suggested. I’m most interested right now in getting back to the mode of listening I had before starting the show—one that was about tickling my ears and expanding my sonic world without the need to please an audience (or not piss off a program director/format chief—though there’s no evidence I ever did). Even more, though, I want to do some things that mean a lot more to me that have sadly been on the back burner for the duration of ECI’s run: writing and recording music as well as, gasp, doing the research and writing that I enjoy and that, let’s face it, pays my bills.
     So where do you go, now that ECI is no more? Well, in addition to whatever other sources you have for your music jones, you might try these, all of which I listen to on a fairly regular basis:

• Vidro Azul. Since I described this show (available as a podcast) in a previous post, I’ll not repeat myself here. Use the link to read what I wrote.
• Alternate Take with Liz Copeland . Many of my friends know that LC is one of my favorite radio DJs ever. Using the link included, you can hear the five previous five-hour episodes of her show. The procedure, however, is a bit user-unfriendly: you have to select a show and a date before you receive a Windows Media stream, and you always have to do so manually. But the show itself is great.
• Morning Becomes Eclectic. While I preferred the version of this show that aired in the late 1990s, when Chris Douridas was the host, it’s still one of the best places to hear an eclectic mix of music, one that equally embraces obscure and popular artists alike. While there isn’t a podcast option that covers the broadcast program (you'll have to stream individual episodes), you can use the podcast option to hear the live, in-studio performances by bands who are visiting the Los Angeles area, using this link.
• Pandora. This isn’t a radio program per se, but in some ways it functions like one. I include it here mostly because it can be a great way for you to learn about music similar to those things you already like, and especially tracks from other genres that you might not ever have thought to give a try.

     So ... you probably want to know something more about the track listing below. Before I can get to the show proper, there’s the matter of the song in parentheses at the top of the show. David Waldman, host of the Evil Show wanted to leave the studio a little early, so the Beth Orton track could be considered a prelude to the show I had planned. And on that show, there isn’t a track that I don’t absolutely adore. Figuring out the sequence was, as was the case last week, exceedingly difficult. In the end, the strategy that worked was placing the killer tracks at the beginning and end of each hour. Beyond there, I tried to distribute all the others in a way that sonically made sense, judiciously sprinkling noisy and/or long tracks throughout the three hours. Thus, while it might make sense to think of the last hour as containing the best of the best—and to a degree that’s true—you shouldn’t necessarily think that those ten tracks are better than the rest. Likewise, you might not want to sleep on the tracks come between the beginnings and ends of hours. What you can believe, with absolute certainty, is that the track that closes the show—all the more fitting because it comes from the last new release by the band in question—would be the one I’d want to hear if I knew that after it played I would never hear music again. It seems the most proper way to say goodbye. While I wasn’t at all sure whether I would be wistful putting the show to bed for the last time, I did almost get choked up right at the end but managed to save the sadness for the walk home.
     Thanks for reading, and thanks even more for listening. I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• (Beth Orton, “She Cries Your Name,” Trailer Park, Dedicated)
• The Apartments, “No Hurry,” Apart, Hot
• The Sundays, “My Finest Hour,” Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, Geffen
• Allen Toussaint, “Brickyard Blues,” The Complete Warner Brothers Recordings, Rhino
• Morsel, “Pieces,” Para Siempre, Small Stone
• Dead Can Dance, “The Cardinal Sin,” Spleen and Ideal, 4AD
• Split Enz, “One Step Ahead,” Waiata, Mushroom
• Junior Boys, “Three Words,” Last Exit, Domino
• Wham!, “Careless Whisper,” Make It Big, Columbia
• My Bloody Valentine, “Soon,” Glider EP, Sire
• The Blow Monkeys, “Wildfiower,” Forbidden Fruit EP, RCA
• Radiohead, “Climbing Up the Walls,” OK Computer, Capitol

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Bob Marley and the Wailers, “Babylon System,” Survival, Tuff Gong
• Leslie Feist, “Let It Die,” Let It Die, Polydor
• The Waterboys, “The Pan Within,” This Is the Sea, Chrysalis
• The Flaming Lips, “Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell,” Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Warner Brothers
• World Party, “Ship of Fools,” Private Revolution, Chrysalis
• The Cinematic Orchestra, “Man with the Movie Camera,” Every Day, Ninja Tune
• Nina Simone, “I Put a Spell on You,” I Put a Spell on You, Philips
• Apostle of Hustle, “Animal Fat,” Folkloric Feel, Arts and Crafts
• Slowdive, “Souvlaki Space Station,” Souvlaki, SBK
• David Sylvian, “Before the Bullfight,” Gone to Earth, Virgin

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• The Durutti Column, “Tomorrow,” Bread and Circuses, Factory
• The Smiths, “This Night Has Opened My Eyes,” Hatful of Hollow, Rough Trade
• Red House Painters, “Medicine Bottle,” Down Colorful Hill, 4AD
• Sam Cooke, “A Change Is Gonna Come,” Ain’t That Good News, RCA Victor
• Prince, “Scandalous,” Batman, Warner Brothers
• Blur, “Strange News from Another Star,” Blur, Virgin
• Tanya Donelly, “The Storm,” Beautysleep, 4AD
• Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions, “On the Low,” Bavarian Fruit Bread, Rough Trade
• Cocteau Twins, “Pearly Dewdrops’ Drops,” The Spangle Maker EP, 4AD
• Talk Talk, “After the Flood,” Laughing Stock, Polydor

Episode 49

     So, here it is: the playlist for the second-to-last episode of this show. Despite my best efforts to include all the things I wanted to play, I still found myself, literally at the eleventh hour, having to omit a couple of prized tunes. Rather than say what they were, I hope you’ll find the ones I chose to keep stimulating.
     To the degree that this episode has a plan, it’s quite a simple one. The first six tracks come from fairly recent releases—three of which came out just last week. Picking which single selections to play from was particularly agonizing, since I knew that those tracks would be the last new material I would play on the show. That said, those six—my favorites from the respective albums—work really well together. And for those people who actually heard last week’s episode, the horns in the TV on the Radio track are sure to bring those in the Fela Anikulapo Kuti track I played last week to mind. For that matter, though, the Eric Dolphy-penned arrangement for the Coltrane tune also features some brilliant (low) horn writing. That track and the following one by Wayne Shorter are two of the jazz selections that always energize and astonish me. Of course, the fact that both tracks feature the same rhythm section—McCoy Tyner, piano; Reggie Workman, bass; and the late Elvin Jones, drums—may have something to do with why the horn soloists sound so great.
     Thereafter, I removed/ignored every constraint I ever placed on myself for programming this show: tracks that made appearances on previous episodes, ones that were (gasp) hits, ones that were difficult to fit in previous playlists, and ones that I was saving for a rainy day are all represented. How else can I explain the presence of the tracks by Gus Gus, Lush, Brian Eno/John Cale, Wire, Broken Social Scene and Big Star (in the former category); Lauryn Hill, The Family Stand and Juan Luis Guerra y 400 (in the second); Astor Piazzolla and Cassandra Wilson (in the third); and Nick Cave, Jeff Buckley, Neil Finn, The The, Ron Sexsmith and Siouxsie and the Banshees—plus many of the remaining tracks (in the latter)? Sure, I could say that the whole lot could be described as tunes that were revelatory to me when I first heard them, ones that either blew open my aural understanding or completely changed what I thought about artists whose work I’d previously ignored. Whatever my reasons for choosing the tracks, this episode comes dangerously close to being the perfect show: three hours of radio that I could listen to over and over. But to hear the perfect show, you’ll have to tune in next week....
     (As has been the case in the past, the tracks listed in parentheses below are ones that weren’t part of the show proper. The difference this time is that they were tongue-in-cheek selections to fill time while the last-minute sub, Bailey, gathered enough discs to start her show. Why do I write “tongue-in-cheek”? Dig the last lines of each song: “Scuse me while I disappear” and “I just had to let it go,” respectively)

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• My Brightest Diamond, “Dragonfly,” Bring Me the Workhorse, Asthmatic Kitty
• The Roots, “In the Music,” Game Theory, Def Jam
• Dani Siciliano, “Think Twice,” Slappers, !K7
• Jessica Bailiff, “Pressing,” Feels Like Home, Kranky
• TV on the Radio, “Things You Can Do,” Return to Cookie Mountain, Interscope
• Junior Boys, “Like a Child,” So This Is Goodbye, Domino
• John Coltrane, “Song of the Underground Railroad,” The Complete Africa/Brass Sessions, Impulse
• Wayne Shorter, “Deluge,” Juju, Blue Note
• Gus Gus, “Polyesterday,” Polydistortion, 4AD
• Lauryn Hill, “The Sweetest Thing,” Love Jones (Soundtrack), Columbia

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• The Family Stand, “Ghetto Heaven,” Chain, Atlantic
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, “The Mercy Seat,” Tender Prey, Mute
• Jeff Buckley, “Lover, You Should Have Come Over,” Grace, Columbia
• Green on Red, “Gravity Talks,” Gravity Talks, Warner Brothers
• Astor Piazzolla, “Knife Fight,” The Rough Dancer and the Cyclical Night (Tango Apasionado), Nonesuch
• Interpol, “Obstacle 2,” Turn on the Bright Lights, Matador
• Lush, “Sweetness and Light,” Gala, 4AD
• Hooverphonic, “Out of Tune,” Blue Wonder Power Milk, Epic
• David Sylvian, “Taking the Veil,” Gone to Earth, Virgin
• Neil Finn, “Secret God,” One Nil, Parlophone
• Latin Playboys, “Lemon ’n Ice,” Dose, Atlantic
• Juan Luis Guerra y 440, “Carta de Amor,” Bachata Rosa, Polygram Latino

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• Brian Eno and John Cale, “Spinning Away,” Wrong Way Up, Warner Brothers
• Wire, “Ahead,” The Ideal Copy, Mute
• The The, “Flesh and Bones,” If You Can’t Please Yourself You Can’t Please Your Soul, Some Bizarre
• Broken Social Scene, “KC Accidental,” You Forgot It in People, Arts and Crafts
• New Order, “Age of Consent,” Power, Corruption and Lies, Qwest
• Everything but the Girl, “Low Tide of the Night,” Temperamental, Atlantic
• Ron Sexsmith, “In Place of You,” Ron Sexsmith, Interscope
• Cassandra Wilson, “Until,” New Moon Daughter, Blue Note
• Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Blow the House Down,” Hyæna, Geffen
• Big Star, “Big Black Car,” Third/Sister Lovers, Ryko
• Cocteau Twins, “Seekers Who Are Lovers,” Milk and Kisses, Capitol
• (Frank Sinatra, “Angel Eyes,” Only the Lonely, Capitol)
• (John Lennon and Yoko Ono, “Watching the Wheels,” Double Fantasy, Capitol)

Episode 48

     In assembling the last three episodes, I’ve had some hard choices to make, for there’s no shortage of great music. Over a span of about four weeks, I continually added candidates for the final show to a list that in the end had over 60 items. At that point, having enough material for slightly more than two three-hour shows, I had to start the painful process of paring things down, moving items that didn’t make the cut for the final show to episode 49. Then, episode 49 was too long to accommodate the September 12 releases that I’ve been looking forward giving a spin (e.g., Junior Boys, TV on the Radio, Shawn Colvin and Dani Siciliano). In any event, the next two shows are going to be jam-packed with really great stuff.
     For that matter, though, so is this one, though it also features a compromise of sorts. As my previous posts about the final episode have made clear, there are a number of tunes I love that I’ve kept in reserve, some of which you’ll hear next week and many more in the week following. One of those tracks has been held back for an additional reason: it’s over 20 minutes long. I decided yesterday that if I didn’t get it on the air this morning, I never would. And thus it is that my hands-down favorite track by Fela is taking up nearly a third of the last hour of the show. It’s an engaging third, even though the track’s inclusion meant that other worthy things had to be omitted.
     Among the other gems on offer this week is a track from a hard-to-find release by Barbara Gogan (it’s yet another collaboration between her and Hector Zazou). There’s also a selection from the latest release by Susana Baca—who’ll be back at the University of Chicago performing previewing a collaboration with Luna Negra on 13 October. The Thom Yorke track below is the first exception to a rule I developed a few years ago: whatever song I like the least on a recording will be the one released as a single (relatedly, the song I like most will forever be only an album cut). For once, though, my tastes and those of a recording company/artist aligned. If there had been time, I would have played the extended version, but, well, you’ve read enough about time constraints, no? If you’ve got some time to kill (and you must if you’ve gotten this far), check out the video for the tune.
     I’ll say only one more thing about this show. Unbeknownst to you, I have been playing tracks by artists who’ll be represented on the final two episodes for the last several weeks. The question for you, of course, is this: “Which among the dozens of tracks are from those artists or groups?” Comparing the recent playlists with those in the archives might give you some clues. If you’re up for a challenge, you could put a guess in the comments. Still, I doubt that anyone will guess which artist gets the coveted last slot. Most of my friends would probably supply the same answer, and they would unfortunately be wrong. That particular artist or group will more than likely have the second-to-last slot. Once again, stay tuned....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Stevie Wonder, “Love’s in Need of Love Today,” Songs in the Key of Life, Motown
• Billy Bragg, “Ideology,” Talking with the Taxman about Poetry, Elektra
• Carla Bozulich, “Evangelista II,” Evangelista, Constellation
• Cibelle, “Phoenix,” The Shine of Dried Electric Leaves, Six Degrees
• Public Image Ltd., “Rise,” Album, Elektra
• Stephen Malkmus, “Kindling for the Master,” Face the Truth, Matador
• Kaki King, “Gay Sons of Lesbian Mothers,” ...Until We Felt Red, Velour
• Juana Molina, “Yo No,” Son, Domino
• The Pretty Things, “Defecting Grey,” S.F. Sorrow, Snapper Classics
• Broadcast, “Black Cat,” Tender Buttons, Warp
• Sol Seppy, “Slo Fuzz,” The Bells of 1 2, Gronland

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• The Style Council, “It’s a Very Deep Sea,” Confessions of a Pop Group, Polydor
• Neko Case & Her Boyfriends, “South Tacoma Way,” Furnace Room Lullaby, Bloodshot
• The Delgados, “The Drowning Years,” Hate, Minty Fresh
• Daníel Ágúst, “Intersection,” Swallowed a Star, One Little Indian
• Nina Nastasia, “This Is What It Is,” The Blackened Air, Touch and Go
• Elliott Smith, “Baby Britain,” XO, Dreamworks
• Vinny Miller, “On the Block,” On the Block, 4AD
• Feist, “When I Was a Young Girl,” Let It Die, Polydor
• Barbara Gogan with Hector Zazou, “Your Radio’s On,” Made on Earth, Crammed
• Thom Yorke, “Harrowdown Hill,” The Eraser, XL
• Nine Horses, “A History of Holes,” Snow Borne Sorrow, Samadhi Sound

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• Cocteau Twins, “Violaine,” Milk and Kisses, Capitol
• Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Egypt 80, “Just Like That,” Beasts of No Nation, Shanachie
• The Sundays, “More,” Blind, Geffen
• Bark Psychosis, “The Loom,” Hex, Caroline
• Eric Matthews, “Courage,” Foundation Sounds, Empyrean
• Susana Baca, “Una Copla Me Ha Cantado,” Travesías, Luaka Bop
• Neil Finn, “Dream Date,” Try Whistling This, Work
• Talk Talk, “I Believe in You,” Spirit of Eden, EMI

More about Episode 47

     So after getting some much-needed rest and finishing a couple of work-related projects, I can finally say a bit more about what made Tuesday’s episode so special. First off, this is the time of year when record labels tend to release a lot of their best material—perhaps just at the moment when people in their most prized demographics are going back to school (and flush with infusions of cash from mom and dad). I think I passed out of the demographic two birthdays ago, but I still love the bounty that comes with the autumn. And so it is that nearly a third of the tracks on this episode come from new releases—and the majority of those artists were being played for the first time by me. Some of them really great, and if the show weren’t coming to an end soon, you’d surely hear a lot more of My Brightest Diamond, Amy Millan, Jessica Bailiff and M. Ward, among others. Alas, there are still other new releases that I haven’t programmed yet (e.g., Juana Molina), so there are some difficult decisions for me to make about episodes 48 and 49.
     Even more notable, though, is that I did something that I’d been promising/threatening to do for a long time Tuesday morning: I played a track by George Michael. Whenever I mention how much I love a couple of his albums, especially Older, my auditors often assume his music is some sort of guilty pleasure for me. It’s nothing of the sort. A guilty pleasure is something you like despite the fact that you know it has bad qualities, despite knowing that others might think ill of you for liking it. I think that album is brilliant. Full stop. I won’t listen to it furtively, hoping that I won’t get caught. I proselytize on behalf of it, pointing out the palpable influence of, say, Antonio Carlos Jobim on the songwriting or noting the clever final track that deftly recontextualizes elements from every other tune on the album. The only reason why I delayed playing his music for so long is that station personnel can sometimes be, as one person put it, “indier-than-thou” in a way that is beyond annoying. Of course, anyone with that kind of bratty/snobbish outlook should set his sights on the final episode. Among the tracks chosen is a great object for his scorn/derision. And if he laments the sorry state of college radio (or just my show) at that point, I will simultaneously be pitying him for unnecessarily and arbitrarily limiting shutting out possibilities for enjoyment. But I digress...
     The last two new episodes are going to be, in part, housecleaning. I’m going to play a lot of things I’ve been meaning to play, even as I fold in new releases. The selections will probably seem even more disparate as I try to include all those little gems, whether they be beautiful, noisy or beautifully noisy. While the ride will end soon, there is still much to look forward to....

Episode 47

     Had things gone the way they normally do, this post would have appeared more than three hours ago. I’ll spare you the details (which you could easily supply) and say only that my show was more than twice as long as usual. What you see listed below, including the tracks in parentheses, was as much as I could reasonably include as my show. The items not listed there, which carried me until about 6:40 a.m., were simply a way for me to get through the morning. Perhaps later in the day, I’ll amend this post (or add another) with my thoughts on this episode. Until then, enjoy imagining how the show might have sounded....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Do Make Say Think, “End of Music,” & Yet & Yet, Constellation
• Midlake, “Young Bride,” The Trials of Van Occupanther, Bella Union
• Pajo, “Prescription Blues,” 1968, Drag City
• Cass McCombs, “What Isn’t Nature,” A, Monitor
• Giardini di Mirò, “Malmoe (...my supreme idea of love),” The Soft Touch EP, Contact
• Bebel Gilberto, “Alguém,” Tanto Tempo, Six Degrees
• Gorillaz, “Latin Simone,” Gorillaz, Virgin
• The Free Design, “Umbrellas,” Kites Are Fun, Light in the Attic
• Saint Etienne, “Don’t Back Down,” Sound of Water, Sub Pop
• Sufjan Stevens, “Pittsfield,” The Avanlanche, Asthmatic Kitty
• .O.Rang, “Mind on Pleasure,” Herd of Instinct, Echo

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• The Posies, “Everyone Moves Away,” Dear 23, Geffen
• The Beautiful South, “I Love You (But You’re Boring),” Welcome to the Beautiful South, Elektra
• Lisa Germano, “Red Thread,” In the Maybe World, Young God
• George Michael, “To Be Forgiven,” Older, Dreamworks
• Kenny Garrett, “2 Down and 1 Across,” Songbook, Warner Brothers
• Bahia Black, “Gwagwa o De,” Ritual Beating System, Axiom
• Nick Drake, “Man in a Shed,” Time of No Reply, Hannibal
• The Czars, “Autumn,” The Ugly People vs. the Beautiful People, Bella Union
• Amy Millan, “Wayward and Parliament,” Honey from the Tombs, Arts and Crafts
• M. Ward, “Right in the Head,” Post-War, Merge
• The Cowboy Junkies, “I Did It All for You,” Open, Latent/Zoë

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• Jeru the Damaja, “Come Clean,” The Sun Rises in the East, Payday/FFRR
• The Cinematic Orchestra, “Reel Life (Evolution II),” Man with a Movie Camera, Ninja Tune
• My Brightest Diamond, “Disappear,” Bring Me the Workhorse, Asthmatic Kitty
• Mirah, “La Familia,” You Think It’s Like This but Really It’s Like This, K
• Héctor Buitrago, “Lamente Zen,” Conector, Nacional
• Espers, “Mansfield and Cyclops,” Espers II, Drag City
• Jessica Bailiff, “Spiral Dream,” Feels Like Home, Kranky
• Steel Pulse, “Soldiers,” Handsworth Revolution, Mango
• Fiona Apple, “The Way Things Are,” When the Pawn..., Clean Slate/Epic
• Felix Laband, “Red Handed,” Dark Days Exit, Compost
• Glenn Kotche, “Fantasy on a Shona Theme,” Mobile, Nonesuch
• (Cocteau Twins, “Lazy Calm,” Victorialand, 4AD)
• (Lady and Bird, “La Ballade of Lady and Bird,” Lady and Bird, Yellow Tangerine)

Episode 46

     It’s as good a time as any to start the countdown. After this episode, there are only four more installments of ECI, and now that the playlist for the final show is nearly complete, I can finally tell you what to expect. In a previous post, I mentioned that I had two possible ways to approach episode 50 without saying what they were. The first, admittedly banal idea was for me to search the archived playlists selecting from them the best tracks that would make an interesting three-hour show. The second was for me to dig into that cache of songs so cherished that I’ve never played any of them on air—reserving them for a time when my inspiration might flag. That mental cache is filled with songs that I love more than anything else. Predictably, the tracks chosen for the final show result from a mixture of both approaches. There’s one more conceit, suggested by one of my friends as she wondered aloud how I could decide what to play: to make the show something of a listening autobiography. To a degree, the final episode will function in that way, but the sequence will be guided more by sound than chronology if I choose to go that route.
     As for this morning’s show, I’ve wanted for a long time to begin an episode with the Parliament track listed below. My playing it even sparked an interesting conversation between me and David Waldman, host of the Evil Show (the show which comes on before mine and always closes with Otis Rush’s “I Wonder Why”). Unfortunately, those whose interest was piqued by George Clinton’s lyrical suggestion to “stay tuned for Starchild” were probably disappointed to hear, instead, me talking about what a gray, dreary day Chicago had experienced. But the day was inspiration for the episode’s second track, another tune I’ve been wanting to play for a while.
     The rest of the show finds me already digging into the cache and pulling out some tracks (by, e.g., Rickie Lee Jones, the Last Poets, the Style Council, Kraftwerk, Siouxsie & the Bansheees and Elvis Costello) that have been hovering at the edge of my radio consciousness for some time. This episode features, as well, a few tracks from things that have recently caught my ear. Right now, I can’t say that one of them, the new OutKast release Idlewild is better than its predecessor (Speakerboxxx/The Love Below), but given the new album’s status as a soundtrack, I can be a bit more relaxed in evaluating it—and it is good. I managed to include tracks this morning featuring both Andre 3000 and Big Boi, respectively. With careful planning, I’ll be able to slip a few more into the remaining episodes. Doing so will be difficult, though, because there’s a considerable backlog of equally suitable material on my list at home. Even more, there are about twelve new CDs that I’ve been eagerly anticipating that are being released (and that I’ll be acquiring) over the next three or four weeks. Those releases, including albums by M. Ward, My Brightest Diamond, Pajo, Chad VanGaalen, Amy Millan and Junior Boys, are going to offer OutKast (and anyone else) a lot of competition. And that means, perhaps, that the arc for the final four shows will be one of increasing quality. Stay tuned...
     (Note: Once again, the show went a little longer than expected. The final two tracks, the ones in parentheses, were fine last-minute additions not originally included in the playlist.)

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Parliament, “P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up),” Mothership Connection, Casablanca
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Rainy Day, Dream Away,” Electric Ladyland, MCA
• Mali Music, “Spoons,” Mali Music, Honest Jon’s
• Trembling Blue Stars, “Sleep,” Broken by Whispers, Sub Pop
• The Beatles, “I’m Only Sleeping,” Revolver, Parlophone
• The Clash, “(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais,” The Clash, Epic
• The Waterboys, “This Is the Sea,” This Is the Sea, Chrysalis
• Yuka Honda, “Some Days I Stay in Bed for Hours,” Memories Are My Only Witness, Tzadik
• Sol Seppy, “Move,” The Bells of 1 2, Gronland
• Mono, “Playboys,” Formica Blues, Mercury
• Rickie Lee Jones, “Away from the Sky,” Flying Cowboys, Geffen

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• The The, “Heartland,” Infected, Epic
• The Stone Roses, “Made of Stone,” The Stone Roses, Silvertone
• XTC, “Summer’s Cauldron/Grass,” Skylarking, Geffen
• OutKast, “Life Is Like a Musical,” Idlewild, LaFace
• The Last Poets, “Time,” This Is Madness, Douglas
• OutKast, “Bamboo & Cross (Interlude)/Buggface,” Idlewild, LaFace
• Chocolate Genius, “Life,” Black Music, V2
• Scritti Politti, “Petrococadollar,” White Bread Black Beer, Nonesuch/Rough Trade
• The Style Council, “Changing of the Guard,” Confessions of a Pop Group, Polydor
• Pavement, “Type Slowly,” Brighten the Corners, Matador
• Mice Parade, “Milton Road,” Obrigado Saudade, Bubble Core
• Sondre Lerche, “Days That Are Over,” Two Way Monologue, Astralwerks
• Kraftwerk, “The Hall of Mirrors,” Trans-Europe Express, Capitol

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Bring Me the Head of the Preacher Man,” Hyæna, Geffen
• Tones on Tail, “Real Life,” Everything, Beggars Banquet
• The Sugarcubes, “Water,” Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week!, Elektra
• Nine Horses, “Serotonin,” Snow Borne Sorrow, Samadhi Sound
• Brookville, “Today,” Life in the Shade, Unfiltered
• Sing-Sing, “Going Out Tonight,” Sing-Sing and I, Aerial
• The Smiths, “Unloveable,” Louder than Bombs, Sire
• Tom Waits, “Clap Hands,” Rain Dogs, Island
• Nick Lowe, “Time I Took a Holiday,” Dig My Mood, Upstart
• Elvis Costello, “Brilliant Mistake,” King of America, Columbia
• Lady and Bird, “Blue Skies,” Lady and Bird, Yellow Tangerine
• Stina Nordenstam, “Murder in Mairyland Park,” And She Closed Her Eyes, East West
• Robin Guthrie, “As I Breathe,” Continental, Darla
• (Red House Painters, “Evil,” Red House Painters [II], 4AD)
• (Sonic Youth, “Pink Steam,” Rather Ripped, Geffen)

Episode 45

     For the last few days, I’ve had an overriding sense of calm and satisfaction as the end of the show draws closer. Almost as though it were approaching from the horizon, its outlines are becoming more and more clear. A few of my close friends know something of the selection principles that will generate the final playlist. I’m still not ready to reveal anything definitive, wanting to let the mystery linger a little longer. I will say only that I know—as I have since the first episode of the show—what the last ECI song will be. In case anyone wants to try to figure out what it will be, here’s a vague hint: the track, which is nearly fifteen years old, will apparently be featured in a film that premieres in German theatres in late October. (And, for the record, that’s not why I picked the track.)
     “Yeah, yeah,” you say, “enough with the teasing: what do you have to say about this morning’s episode?” Lots, it turns out. First, big thanks go to Dawn, Michael and Jason for inadvertently giving me a number of ideas about artists to play on this show and in the future (especially the R&B tracks). Nothing like good friends to open one’s ears. Next, for at least two reasons, I’ve long been wanting to play the Joe Henderson track listed below on the show. One, it’s a great tune that features top-notch soloists playing with a stellar rhythm section. And two, the Henderson album’s liner notes (written by Don Heckman) provide some of the lyrical material for the second of the Digable Planets tunes below (the one after the slash). By themselves, the DP tunes are wryly self-referential, but, like the quotation I just mentioned, the external sonic and lyrical allusions are perhaps even more clever. The remainder of the cleverness here comes from a series of artist/tune pairings that might at first glance seem incompatible. The list of the examples runs throughout the entire show: Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth/Tanya Donelly, Digable Planets/Spain, UB40(!)/Fennesz, Grandaddy/D’Angelo, Bill Withers/Polyphonic Spree. As is always the case, though, the proof is in the hearing.
      Finally, though, the highlight of the show for me, and indeed the preceding day, was a gift from the mail carrier: my pre-ordered copy of Eric Matthews’ first new, full-length album in, what, nine years? For so auspicious an occasion, I had to play two tracks, one from the album proper and the other from the bonus EP that came with discs pre-ordered from the label. I haven’t given either of them a proper, concentrated listen, but I suspect that will happen later today. And one last silly observation. It didn’t occur to me until I was finalizing the playlist that there was a subtle style descriptor in the name of the last band played on this morning’s episode. After all, I have never had a reason to say the name out loud or be concerned about its pronunciation. Now that I have, I appreciate the cleverness of it.
     Are you sick of the word “clever” and its many derivatives yet? I am, so I’ll slink off to bed, leaving you to ponder the list below....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Elk City, “Solar Girl,” Status, A Hidden Agenda
• Television Personalities, “Then a Big Boy Came and Knocked It All Down,” My Dark Places, Domino
• Carl Craig, “I Have Got Garlic Hanging on My Front Door,” Onsumothasheeat, Shadow (a remix of a track originally found on Marasma’s Signals, Freerange)
• Spleen, “Un Danse Pour Dick et Bob,” Soundtrack to Spleen, Swari Finger
• P.J. Harvey, “Goodnight,” 4-Track Demos, Island
• Devendra Banhart, “Lazy Butterfly,” Cripple Crow, XL
• Shearwater, “Hail, Mary,” Palo Santo, Misra
• The Art of Noise, “Comes and Goes,” Into Battle with the Art of Noise, ZTT
• Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, “Carmel City,” The Main Ingredient, Elektra
• Tanya Donelly, “So Much Song,” Beautysleep, 4AD
• Islands, “Humans,” Return to the Sea, Equator
• Cowboy Junkies, “Dragging Hooks (River Song Trilogy: Part III),” Open, Latent/Zoë

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• World Party, “Here Comes the Future,” Dumbing Up, Seaview
• Sly & the Family Stone, “Frisky,” Fresh, Epic
• A Certain Ratio, “Rialto,” Sextet, Factory
• Joe Henderson, “Short Story,” In ’n Out, Blue Note
• Digable Planets, “Escapism (Getting’ Free)/Appointment at the Fat Clinic,” Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space), Pendulum
• Spain, “Ten Nights,” The Blue Moods of Spain, Restless
• George Harrison, “Let It Down,” All Things Must Pass, Capitol
• UB40, “King,” Signing Off, Virgin
• Fennesz, “The Point of It All,” Venice, Touch UK
• Sinéad O’Connor, “Just Call Me Joe,” The Lion and the Cobra, Chrysalis
• The Pixies, “Ana,” Bossanova, 4AD

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• Eric Matthews, “And the World Will Go,” Foundation Sounds, Empyrean
• Eric Matthews, “Million Errors,” Foundation Sounds—Limited Edition EP, Empyrean
• Grandaddy, “‘Yeah’ Is What We Had,” Sumday, V2
• D’Angelo, “Alright,” Brown Sugar, EMI
• Bill Withers, “Let Me in Your Life (Live at Carnegie Hall),” Still Bill, Columbia/Legacy
• The Polyphonic Spree, “Days Like This Keep Me Warm,” The Beginning Stages of ... the Polyphonic Spree, Hollywood
• Sam Prekop, “So Shy,” Sam Prekop, Thrill Jockey
• The Album Leaf, “Twentytwofourteen,” In a Safe Place, Sub Pop
• Massive Attack, “Butterfly Caught,” 100th Window, Virgin
• Scheer, “Face the Sun,” ...And Finally, Schism
• Dif Juz, “Gunet,” Vibrating Air EP, 4AD

Episode 44

     This episode has to be among the most difficult I’ve ever put together. The issue wasn’t a lack of good material. When I started working on the show Sunday afternoon, I already had 90 minutes of material that hadn’t made it into previous episodes. By the time I finished going through the list of other items that I might include, I found myself with another three hours of music. No, the challenge this time was that I had a set of contenders that were mostly ambient/hazy songs with medium-to-slow tempos. While I eventually found a way to vary the mood and pacing of the show, it took some time and ingenuity.
     While many of the artists (and albums) listed below have appeared on previous playlists, there are a few items that I programmed for the first time—some of them after having tried in vain to find a place for them before. Thus, even though I bought Wolf Parade’s Apologies to the Queen Mary last December, I’ve only recently warmed enough to the disc to give it a good listen and feel one of its tracks might nicely follow, say, a HNIA tune. Something similar is true of the Uncle Tupelo track. In contrast, when I first listened to Lisa Germano’s latest, the question wasn’t whether I could get something into the show, but which among the tracks I would play first. As for some of the artists showing up for the first time (The Cranberries, Translator), chalk their inclusion up to nostalgia.
     Much of the remainder of the show has me almost rediscovering artists I haven’t featured in months, e.g., Kings of Convenience, Sade, Yuka Honda and the Cinematic Orchestra. The latter group is probably the one that has gone the longest without ECI airplay. If you were look through the archived playlists, it would take some time to find the last time I played something by the group. In fact, you would have to go all the back to here, where you would find “The Man with a Movie Camera” nestled in the second hour of the very first episode.
     As we come closer to the end, you can expect to see more reflexive playlists, ones where I revisit recordings that seem to have been lost in my never-ending stream of new acquisitions. Don’t worry, though, my desire to keep the show interesting means that the new releases coming between now and September’s end will also be given their due. With so much great stuff coming and so much more already in the queue, it should be easy for me to make the last six episodes a lot of fun....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Piano Magic, “The Tollbooth Martyrs,” The Troubled Sleep of Piano Magic, Green UFOs
• Rachel’s, “Reflective Surfaces/Unclear Channel,” Systems/Layers, Quarterstick
• Kings of Convenience, “The Weight of My Words,” Quiet Is the New Loud, Astralwerks
• Cibelle, “Mad Man Song,” The Shine of Dried Electric Leaves, Six Degrees
• Translator, “Everywhere That I’m Not,” Heartbeats and Triggers, 415
• Sleater-Kinney, “Entertain,” The Woods, Sub Pop
• Odawas, “Kids,” The Aether Eater, Jagjaguwar
• Bow Wow Wow, “Baby, Oh No,” I Want Candy, RCA
• His Name Is Alive, “*C*A*T*S*,” Detrola, Silver Mountain
• Wolf Parade, “Dinner Bells,” Apologies to the Queen Mary, Sub Pop
• Hooverphonic, “Eden,” Blue Wonder Power Milk, Epic
• Sade, “Slave Song,” Lovers Rock, Epic

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Wire, “Kidney Bingos,” A Bell Is a Cup Until It Is Struck, Mute
• The Dukes of Stratosphear, “Collideascope,” Chips from the Chocolate Fireball, Geffen
• Los Lobos, “Saint Behind the Glass,” Kiko, Warner Brothers
• Broadcast, “Corporeal,” Tender Buttons, Warp
• Logh, “Ahabian,” A Sunset Panorama, Hydra Head
• Uncle Tupelo, “Anodyne,” Anodyne, Sire/Reprise
• The Cranberries, “Put Me Down,” Everybody Else Is Doing It, Why Can’t We? Island
• The Durutti Column, “Helen,” Keep Breathing, Artful
• Lisa Germano, “Into Oblivion,” In the Maybe World, Young God
• Rose Melberg, “Little Bird,” Cast Away the Clouds, Double Agent
• Great Lake Swimmers, “I Could Be Nothing,” Bodies and Minds, Misra
• Dave Navarro, “Mourning Sun,” Trust No One, Capitol
• Blue States, “Looking Glass,” Nothing Changes Under the Sun, Eighteenth Street Lounge

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• The Roots, “Ain’t Sayin’ Nothin’ New,” Things Fall Apart, MCA
• Beth Gibbons and Rustin Man, “Spider Monkey,” Out of Season, Sanctuary
• Yuka Honda, “Night Diving,” Memories Are My Only Witness, Tzadik
• Celebration, “China,” Celebration, 4AD
• Mojave 3, “When You’re Drifting,” Excuses for Travellers, 4AD
• Carla Bozulich, “Prince of the World,” Evangelista, Constellation
• The Cardigans, “Couldn’t Care Less,” Long Gone Before Daylight, Stockholm
• Violet Indiana, “Angel,” Roulette, Bella Union
• The Cinematic Orchestra, “Burn Out,” Every Day, Ninja Tune
• Boards of Canada, “Tears from the Compound Eye,” The Campfire Headphase, Warp
• Sybarite, “Three Sided,” Nonument, 4AD

Episode 43

     Alright, maybe last week it was just the heat. Putting this week’s episode together and getting to the studio was much easier this time out. Of course, choosing which songs to play was, as always, a study in the minutiae of timing, transitions, and strategy. Where to start? Where to end? How to create a sense of flow and/or drama?
     There are some wonderfully fortuitous things that the selection of songs I devised allowed me to do. Take the first hour of the show, for example. While the tracks by Syd Barrett and Love are obviously there in tribute to performers who recently died—Barrett a couple of weeks ago and Arthur Lee, the singer and one of the main songwriters of Love, at the end of last week—the latter track was the beginning of set focused on oblique anti-war, anti-government and anti-capitalist tunes that just worked together. Immediately following that set is one whose conceit, as silly as it may seem on screen, was one that just came together when I realized that, without trying, I had picked three songs by artists with basically the same first name. It helps, of course, that I love all three of the source albums. (There is a bit of cheating here, though: both Buitrago and Zazou rely on other vocalists—Andrea Echeverri and Barbara Louise Gogan, respectively.)
     Similar things are at work in the second and third hours. A set focused mostly on songs that rely on synths and drum machines (Depeche Mode through Mark Eitzel) ends with a cover. The subtle connector between that set and the next? The Nick Cave tune is also a cover. And, oddly, writing down the label information for the Sing-Sing tune reminded me that I hadn’t played anything from Kate Bush’s recent album since late last year. In addition, throughout the show, there are as usual places where the sounds at the end of one song made it really clear what the next one should be. When things go this well, I could almost regret my imminent departure from the airwaves. Almost.
     This episode has its share of new material and choice older material. Where the former is concerned, expect to hear more from Héctor Buitrago, Lady and Bird, and Scritti Politti as we inch closer to the show’s finale. Where the latter is concerned, more and more of my CDs stand unfiled in piles on the floor of my living room, affording me a visual guide to what I haven’t played on the air. When September ends, I think I’m going to have a massive shelving job to do. Anyone who wants to volunteer to help is more than welcome....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Múm, “Weeping Rock, Rock,” Summer Make Good, Fat Cat
• Komeda, “Flabbergast,” What Makes It Go?, Minty Fresh
• Robert Wyatt, “Sea Song,” Rock Bottom, Thirsty Ear
• Syd Barrett, “Dark Globe,” The Madcap Laughs, Capitol
• Love, “The Red Telephone,” Forever Changes, Elektra
• The Police, “Invisible Sun,” Ghost in the Machine, A&M
• Gang of Four, “Of the Instant,” Songs of the Free, Warner Brothers
• Héctor Lavoe, “El Todopoderoso,” La Voz, Fania
• Héctor Buitrago, “Ooohhhh,” Conector, Nacional
• Hector Zazou, “Sahara Blue (Brussels),” Sahara Blue, Tristar
• Do Make Say Think, “The Landlord Is Dead,” Goodbye Enemy Airship The Landlord Is Dead, Constellation

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Jane Siberry, “Goodbye,” The Walking, Reprise
• Depeche Mode, “Love, in Itself,” Construction Time Again, Sire
• Scritti Politti, “The Boom Boom Bap,” White Bread Black Beer, Nonesuch/Rough Trade
• Mark Eitzel, “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?,” Music for Courage and Confidence, New West
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, “The Carnival Is Over,” Kicking Against the Pricks, Mute
• The Lilac Time, “Wait and See,” And Love for All, Fontana
• Donald Fagen, “Mary Shut the Garden Door,” Morph the Cat, Reprise
• Vinny Miller, “Bagged and Tagged,” On the Block, 4AD
• Common, “Jimi Was a Rock Star,” Electric Circus, MCA
• Sing-Sing, “Unseen,” Sing-Sing and I, Aerial
• Doves, “Firesuite,” Lost Souls, Astralwerks

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• The Pogues, “Dirty Old Town,” Rum, Sodomy and the Lash, WEA
• Low, “Bright,” Transmission EP, Vernon Yard
• Stina Nordenstam, “Crime,” And She Closed Her Eyes, East West
• A.R.Kane, “Suicide Kiss,” Sixty Nine, One Little Indian
• Nick Drake, “Parasite,” Pink Moon, Hannibal
• Lady and Bird, “Run in the Morning Sun,” Lady and Bird, Yellow Tangerine
• Neko Case & Her Boyfriends, “Porchlight,” Furnace Room Lullaby, Bloodshot
• Suzanne Vega, “Thin Man,” Nine Objects of Desire, A&M
• Dead Can Dance, “Advent,” Spleen and Ideal, 4AD
• Kate Bush, “Nocturn,” Aerial, Columbia
• Vetiver, “No One Word,” To Find Me Gone, Dicristina
• Robin Guthrie, “Monument,” Continental, Darla

Episode 42

     Today, it seems, the grind of weekly shows is finally starting to wear on me. Or maybe I’m still suffering from the effects of being outdoors in greater-than-95° weather for two days this past weekend at the Pitchfork Music Festival. And, as if the drain of the weekend wasn’t enough, people in the Chicago area know that the heat will continue sucking the life out of us all for at least another 36 hours (it was still near 88° when I walked to the studio at 11:30!).
     For me, in comparison to last year’s event, this year’s occasion for hipsters to roast in the sun (the aforementioned festival) was underwhelming. Were it not for surprisingly good sets by Diplo, Glenn Kotche, the Chicago Underground Duo, Os Mutantes, Yo La Tengo, Destroyer and Aesop Rock & Mr. Lif (the first three of which were in the small tent), I might have come away wanting my weekend back (for the record, I missed Jens Lekman). I haven’t yet gotten my hands on the latest recordings by the acts I really dug at the festival, so expect to hear more from them in the coming weeks. On this episode only one group from the festival is included: Mission of Burma. I joked to one of the guys in the small party that I hung with for both days that MoB’s spirited performance provided inspiration for middle-aged punks everywhere. Then again, Yo La Tengo’s did the same for aging “alternakids.”
     As for the rest of this morning’s show, what can I say that I haven’t said already about previous episodes? If I were to point out how strangely effective following Kris Kristofferson with P.J. Harvey was, you would recognize the conceit. The same would be true if I observed that the choice of tracks by Kristofferson, Curve, the 19.5 Collective, Iris DeMent, Big Star and Morsel was the result of my getting reacquainted with my home CD library. There is one new thing I can say: next week will feature a lot of great new stuff (that is if all of the deliveries make it to my apartment by next Monday). Stay tuned....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Scheer, “Babysize,” Infliction, 4AD
• Russian Futurists, “Pine Prisonyard,” Method of Modern Love, Upper Class
• Mission of Burma, “Einstein’s Day,” Vs., Rykodisc
• Aden, “Left Off Here,” Black Cow, Teenbeat
• Elliott Smith, “Christian Brothers,” Elliott Smith, Kill Rock Stars
• The Posies, “Mrs. Green,” Dear 23, Geffen
• Green on Red, “Over My Head,” Gravity Talks, Warner Brothers
• Curve, “Sandpit,” Doppelgänger, Charisma
• The Glove, “Sex-Eye-Make-Up,” Blue Sunshine, Polydor
• Rickie Lee Jones, “Scary Chinese Movie,” Ghostyhead, Reprise
• Pet Shop Boys, “Later Tonight,” Please, EMI
• Gema y Pável, “Noche de Ronda,” Cosa de Broma, Nubenegra/Intuition

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Iris DeMent, “Easy’s Gettin’ Harder Every Day,” My Life, Warner Brothers
• The Delgados, “Coming in from the Cold,” Hate, Minty Fresh
• Daníel Ágúst, “Sparks Fly,” Swallowed a Star, One Little Indian
• Trembling Blue Stars, “Snow Showers,” Broken by Whispers, Sub Pop
• Brian McBride, “Our Last Moment in Song,” When the Detail Lost Its Freedom, Kranky
• Le Volume Courbe, “Harmony,” I Killed My Best Friend, Honest Jon’s
• Cass McCombs, “Equinox,” PREfection, Monitor/4AD
• Kris Kristofferson, “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” Kristofferson, Monument
• P.J. Harvey, “The Garden,” Is This Desire?, Island
• Brookville, “Break Yourself,” Life in the Shade, Unfiltered
• The 19.5 Collective, “This Isn’t Jupiter,” The 19.5 Collective, Planet Ant
• Matthew Herbert, “Waste Land,” Plat du Jour, Accidental

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• Sufjan Stevens, “Sister,” Seven Swans, Asthmatic Kitty
• Rachel Goswell, “Plucked,” Waves Are Universal, 4AD
• Anja Garbarek, “Beyond My Control,” Balloon Mood, RCA
• Ryan Adams, “Wild Flowers,” Gold, Lost Highway
• Crowded House, “Kare Kare,” Together Alone, Capitol
• Morsel, “Wreck,” I’m a Wreck, Small Stone
• Sol Seppy, “A to N,” The Bells of 1 2, Gronland
• This Mortal Coil, “Come Here, My Love/At First, and Then,” Filigree & Shadow, 4AD
• Asobi Seksu, “Red Sea,” Citrus, Friendly Fire
• Lloyd Cole, “My Other Life,” Music in a Foreign Language, One Little Indian
• Big Star, “Dream Lover,” Third/Sister Lovers, Ryko

Episode 41

     I made the announcement on air this morning. After the show whose playlist you see below, there will be only nine more episodes of ECI. I’ll put off giving an explanation until the final blog entry, which you’ll see shortly after 3:00 a.m. on 26 September. What I’m going to do for episode 50 is still up in the air. Right now, there are two possibilities—about which I’ll write more before the final entry—that will more than likely be combined.
     As was the case last week, this episode started in a more straight rock vein than some of you might have grown accustomed to getting from me, but by the end of the hour more standard ECI fare was again on offer. You know the drill: there seemingly can’t be a show without something by an artist on 4AD, Drag City, Arts & Crafts or Matador. While I’ll cop to liking almost everything ever released on 4AD, the Drag City, Arts & Crafts and Matador recurrences are purely coincidental (as are any others you might have noticed).
     There are a few goodies sprinkled throughout the show, thanks to what seems to be my insatiable desire for buying new CDs/clearing off my Amazon Wish List in addition to mining every CD I already own for show-worthy tracks. So keep your virtual ears peeled for tracks from Carla Bozulich and Television Personalities among the new releases and Deep Rumba, the Au Pairs, Edith Frost, Roddy Frame, D’Angelo, Gang of Four and Stevie Wonder among the deep and not-so-deep catalog material. As always, it’s all good stuff. I just hope I can keep finding great things for the next nine weeks. Though with new releases coming from Eric Matthews, Midlake, Lisa Germano, TV on the Radio and several reissues in the pipeline (including a total of six from Depeche Mode and the Cure), I think everything will be fine....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Medicine, “Miss Drugstore,” Shot Forth Self Living, Def American
• Liz Phair, “Only Son,” Whitechocolatespaceegg, Matador
• My Morning Jacket, “It Beats 4 U,” Z, ATO
• Islands, “If,” Return to the Sea, Equator
• Dinosaur Jr., “Poledo,” You’re Living All Over Me, Merge
• The Au Pairs, “Fiasco,” Stepping Out of Line: The Anthology, Castle Music
• Logh, “Trace Back the Particle Track,” A Sunset Panorama, Hydra Head
• Sondre Lerche, “Track You Down,” Two Way Monologue, Astralwerks
• Jason Collett, “Tinsel and Sawdust,” Idols of Exile, Arts and Crafts
• Roddy Frame, “Big Ben,” Surf, spinART
• Celebration, “Good Ship,” Celebration, 4AD
• Deep Rumba, “Negro and Andy Run This Very Night into the Rumba,” Esta Noche en una Rumba, American Clave

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Joe Henry, “Sold,” Tiny Voices, Anti
• Broken Social Scene, “Guilty Cubicles,” Feel Good Lost, Arts and Crafts
• Stevie Wonder, “Jesus Children of America,” Innervisions, Motown
• The Art of Noise, “Who’s Afraid (Of the Art of Noise)?,” Who’s Afraid of the Art of Noise, ZTT
• Malcolm McLaren, “World’s Famous,” Duck Rock, Island
• Gang of Four, “If I Could Keep It for Myself,” Solid Gold, Warner Brothers
• Pixies, “The Happening,” Bossanova, 4AD
• The Flaming Lips, “My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion,” At War with the Mystics, Warner Brothers
• Prefab Sprout, “Weightless,” Andromeda Heights, Kitchenware
• The Czars, “Caterpillar,” The Ugly People vs. the Beautiful People, Bella Union
• Electrelane, “I Keep Losing Heart,” Axes, Too Pure
• Carla Bozulich, “Steal Away,” Evangelista, Constellation
• Edith Frost, “Who,” Wonder Wonder, Drag City

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• Prince, “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker,” Sign ‘o’ the Times, Warner Brothers
• Dali’s Car, “The Judgement [sic] Is the Mirror,” The Waking Hour, Beggars Banquet
• Japan, “Sons of Pioneers,” Oil on Canvas, Virgin
• The Sugarcubes, “Birthday,” Life’s Too Good, Elektra
• Mercury Rev, “Diamonds,” The Secret Migration, V2
• Finley Quaye, “It’s Great When We’re Together,” Maverick a Strike, Epic
• D’Angelo, “Spanish Joint,” Voodoo, Virgin
• Paul Weller, “It’s Written in the Stars,” Illumination, Yep Roc
• Television Personalities, “You Kept Me Waiting Too Long,” My Dark Places, Domino
• Colin Newman, “2-Sixes,” Commercial Suicide, Crammed
• Sam Prekop, “The Shadow,” Sam Prekop, Thrill Jockey
• Cowboy Junkies, “Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis),” The Trinity Session, BMG

Episode 40

     This morning’s show began in a much more straightforward rock vein than normal. I spent a good portion of the last week listening to things that I don’t normally have queued up in the stereo. And thus it was that I found myself really digging into the R.E.M. albums I rarely listen to (like many people, I’m partial to Murmur and Reckoning) and putting myself back in the sound world of Mitch Easter (the producer of both albums and the leader of Let’s Active). The songs that followed them just sort of flowed from there. Indeed, most of the show seems to be the result of my digging in the crates—pulling out Cibo Matto, the Blue Nile, Magazine, Blur, the Associates, some Detroit techno, etc.
     There are, to be sure, some new things sprinkled in the sequence. There’s an obligatory, non-single track from Thom Yorke’s The Eraser (released last week). There is, as well, a track from the newest release by Asobi Seksu, a band that many reviewers have described as trying to keep alive the “shoegazing” sound associated with My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Lush and Slowdive, among others. Alongside those items is at least one curiosity. The recent reissue of Robert Fripp’s Exposure includes all of the vocals done by Daryl Hall during the initial sessions for the album. Pressures from both Fripp’s label and Hall’s management resulted in all but two of them being re-recorded with different singers for the first release of the album. While I don’t want to be critical of the other singers (Terre Roche and Peter Hamill), it is nonetheless a revelation to hear the “lost” tunes—like the alternate take included below—as Fripp (and Hall) originally intended them. (And, yes, it is that Daryl Hall, the vocalist and keyboardist of Hall & Oates fame.)
     I can’t think of anything else to write, and rather than strain further to devise a clever sign-off, I’ll just leave you with a playlist to ponder....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• R.E.M., “Leave,” New Adventures in Hi-Fi, Warner Brothers
• Let’s Active, “Still Dark Out,” Big Plans for Everybody, IRS
• The Jesus and Mary Chain, “Just Like Honey,” Psychocandy, Blanco y Negro
• Badly Drawn Boy, “Another Pearl,” The Hour of Bewilderbeast, XL
• American Analog Set, “Play Hurt,” Set Free, Arts and Crafts
• Rhythim Is Rhythim, “Strings of Life (Piano Mix),” House Music All Night Long (The Best of House Music, Vol. 3), Profile
• Robert Fripp, “Mary,” Exposure (Expanded Edition), Discipline
• Gillian Welch, “I Made a Lovers Prayer,” Soul Journey, Acony
• Neko Case, “Deep Red Bells,” Blacklisted, Bloodshot
• Modest Mouse, “The Good Times Are Killing Me,” Good News for People Who Love Bad News, Epic
• Jim O’Rourke, “Fuzzy Sun,” Halfway to a Threeway EP, Drag City
• Cibo Matto, “Clouds,” Stereo Type A, Warner Brothers

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Scott Walker, “Dealer,” Climate of Hunter, Virgin
• New Order, “Leave Me Alone,” Power, Corruption and Lies, Qwest
• Andrea Echeverri, “Baby Blues,” Andrea Echeverri, Nacional
• The Blue Nile, “Automobile Noise,” A Walk Across the Rooftops, Linn
• Magazine, “Permafrost,” Secondhand Daylight, Caroline
• Mojave 3, “You Said It Before,” Puzzles Like You, 4AD
• World Party, “You’re a Hurricane, I’m a Caravan,” Dumbing Up, Seaview
• Jeff Buckley, “Grace,” Live at Sin-é (Legacy Edition), Columbia
• Sigmatropic, “Introduction (‘On Stage: 2’),” Sixteen Haiku and Other Stories, Thirsty Ear
• Herbert, “The Final Meal of Stacey Lawton,” Plat du Jour, Accidental
• Lush, “Laura,” Spooky, 4AD
• Sing-Sing, “Command,” The Joy of Sing-Sing, Manifesto

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• The Associates, “Q Quarters,” Fourth Drawer Down, Beggars Banquet
• Beth Orton, “Don’t Need a Reason,” Trailer Park, Dedicated
• Blur, “Death of a Party,” Blur, Virgin
• Asobi Seksu, “Lions and Tigers,” Citrus, Friendly Fire
• Murcof, “Rostro,” Remembranza, Leaf
• Thom Yorke, “And It Rained All Night,” The Eraser, XL
• Sarah Dougher, “Drunk #1,” Day One, K
• Red House Painters, “Smokey,” Old Ramon, Sub Pop
• Rose Melberg, “Constant and True,” Cast Away the Clouds, Double Agent
• Bark Psychosis, “Eyes & Smiles,” Hex, Caroline

Episode 39

     I’ve checked the calendar now (well, actually, I counted weeks on my fingers), and it seems that the still not-yet-announced final episode won’t fall exactly where I had hoped. Sigh. This lowly mortal can do little at this point (if ever he might have) to affect the calendrical intersection of the beginning of the academic year, the end of the station’s summer schedule, and nice, round-numbered episodes. Things may work out in my favor, so I’ll give away nothing more until everything is certain.
     This morning’s episode might seem wonderfully jumpy if you’re scanning the playlist without actually knowing all the tunes and how they fit together into sets. Does a Pavement tune actually follow one by Fiona Apple? Do Espers really segue into Van Hunt? Does Terence Trent D’Arby lead into Talk Talk? (The answers are yes, no and yes, respectively). Of course, those of you who read the secret ECI page, know that there were some other surprises (all for me) that made this playlist into something other than what I intended. Such, I guess, are the pleasures of live radio.
     The only other thing remaining for me to say about this episode is that two of its most beautiful selections come to you via two friends with great taste and wide open ears. After going back and forth for several weeks, I finally forked over the money to buy the (import-only) Sol Seppy CD that Jason recommended to me. Suffice it to say that I’ll be playing lots more from it in the coming weeks. Ditto for the Daníel Ágúst release, whose existence I learned of through J., co-host of WHPK’s Radio Zero. Interestingly enough, his recommendation was a double shot: not only did he recommend a good CD, he did so after seeing that I had played Gus Gus on a few previous shows. Yes, kids, no matter how hip you might be, there are, in fact, other hip people who read this web page. Maybe when it’s all done, I’ll have you all by for tea. It’ll be lovely....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Cass McCombs, “She’s Still Suffering,” PREfection, Monitor/4AD
• My Bloody Valentine, “Soft as Snow (But Warm Inside),” Isn’t Anything, Creation
• Shearwater, “La Dame et la Licorne,” Palo Santo, Misra
• M83, “Safe,” Before the Dawn Heals Us, Mute
• Vetiver, “You May Be Blue,” To Find Me Gone, Dicristina
• The Go-Betweens, “The Wrong Road,” Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express, Beggars Banquet
• Stars, “Elevator Love Letter,” Heart, Arts and Crafts
• The Finn Brothers, “Homesick,” Everyone Is Here, Nettwerk
• Fiona Apple, “O’ Sailor,” Extraordinary Machine, Epic/Clean Slate
• Pavement, “Serpentine Pad/Grounded,” Wowee Zowee, Matador
• Public Image Ltd., “Poptones,” Second Edition, Warner Brothers

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Cibelle, “Minha Neguinha,” The Shine of Dried Electric Leaves, Six Degrees
• Paul Weller, “Shadow of the Sun,” Wild Wood, Go! Discs/London
• Espers, “Widow’s Weed,” Espers II, Drag City
• Van Hunt, “No Sense of Crime,” On the Jungle Floor, Capitol
• Gus Gus, “Very Important People,” This Is Normal, 4AD
• Daníel Ágúst, “Till I Know,” Swallowed a Star, One Little Indian
• Stereolab, “Baby Lulu,” Sound-Dust, Elektra
• Elliott Smith, “No Name No. 5,” Either/Or, Kill Rock Stars
• Great Lake Swimmers, “To Leave It Behind,” Bodies and Minds, Misra
• Sol Seppy, “Love’s Boy,” The Bells of 1 2, Gronland
• The Durutti Column, “Maggie,” Keep Breathing, Artful

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• Cassandra Wilson, “Poet,” Thunderbird, Blue Note
• Lamb, “Wonder,” Between Darkness and Wonder, Koch
• Love Spirals Downwards, “City Moon,” Flux, Projekt
• Richard Buckner, “Reuben Pantier,” The Hill, Overcoat
• Rain Tree Crow, “Pocket Full of Change,” Rain Tree Crow, Virgin
• Keren Ann, “Roses & Hips,” Nolita, Blue Note
• Prefab Sprout, “Dublin,” Protest Songs, Columbia
• Terence Trent D’Arby, “It Feels So Good to Love Someone like You,” Neither Fish nor Flesh, Columbia
• Talk Talk, “New Grass,” Laughing Stock, Polydor
• Low, “Condescend,” Songs for a Dead Pilot, Kranky
• Brian Eno, “By This River,” Before and After Science, EG

Episode 38

     I haven’t really looked ahead to see how often this is going to happen between now and the final episode of ECI, but hopefully this will be one of the last shows to fall on some special day/holiday. Today, of course, is Independence Day in the U.S., and I used the occasion to play a couple of obvious tracks and one a little less so. The first two both have today’s date in their titles, while the third (the track by the Blow Monkeys) is an oblique, barely there mediation on America. (If the stories I heard in the mid-1980s are true, the song’s title and the singer/bandleader’s ardent socialism kept the band from getting a visa to tour the U.S. Unfortunately, the band was denied said visa at a crucial point—shortly after the release of their album Animal Magic and its first single “Digging Your Scene,” both of which potentially might have made them big on this side of the pond.) Sure, I could have chosen tunes to commemorate the 4th that were clearly patriotic and/or celebratory, but, well, that’s just not my style. I believe the three I chose work perfectly.
     The rest of this morning’s episode contains what I hope are a few unexpected gems—among them Grace Jones floating on a rhythm bed provided by Sly and Robbie; a rarely heard tune by Slowdive; one of the most darkly beautiful tracks ever recorded by David Sylvian; a dance floor workout from Spoon; and a stunningly beautiful closer by Islands (Yes, I know there’s another track after that one, but it was my reserve just in case the next DJ was late; and she was. The Islands tune is the official end of the episode). Those of you who are familiar only with Sufjan Stevens’ most recent work might be shocked by how, um, abrasive that track from his debut solo album is. Likewise, anyone who knows Gene Loves Jezebel only from “Desire” and the material that followed it might be pleasantly surprised by how pretty “Stephen” is. Those kinds of sonic surprises are, I hope, among the reasons why you tune to the show (or scan its playlists for your own nefarious purposes). More next week, if not sooner....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Galaxie 500, “Fourth of July,” This Is Our Music, Ryko
• Los Lobos, “Little Japan,” Colossal Head, Warner Brothers
• Tortoise, “Night Air,” Tortoise, Thrill Jockey
• Clinic, “Distortions,” Internal Wrangler, Domino
• Belle & Sebastian, “Sukie in the Graveyard,” The Life Pursuit, Matador
• The Pixies, “Hey,” Doolittle, 4AD
• Sufjan Stevens, “A Loverless Bed (w/o Remission),” A Sun Came, Asthmatic Kitty
• The Mountain Goats, “Dinu Lipatti’s Bones,” The Sunset Tree, 4AD
• Sam Prekop, “C + F,” Who’s Your New Professor?, Thrill Jockey
• Grace Jones, “My Jamaican Guy,” Living My Life, Island
• Cat Power, “Water & Air,” What Would the Community Think?, Matador
• Laura Veirs, “Rapture,” Carbon Glacier, Nonesuch

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Soundgarden, “4th of July,” Superunknown, A&M
• Scott Walker, “Hand Me Ups,” The Drift, 4AD
• The Art of Noise, “Opus 4,” In Visible Silence, ZTT
• Felix Laband, “Dirty Nightgown,” Dark Days Exit, Compost
• Spoon, “Was It You?,” Gimme Fiction, Merge
• Jason Collett, “Parry Sound,” Idols of Exile, Arts and Crafts
• Four Tet, “Hilarious Movie of the 90’s,” Pause, Domino
• Konono N°1, “Paradiso,” Congotronics, Crammed
• NOMO, “Reasons,” New Tones, Ubiquity
• Do Make Say Think, “Fredericia,” Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn, Constellation

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• The Blow Monkeys, “My America,” Forbidden Fruit EP, RCA
• Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Mirage,” The Scream, Geffen
• Joy Division, “Candidate,” Unknown Pleasures, Factory
• Slowdive, “J’s Heaven,” Pygmalion, Creation
• Ron Sexsmith, “Wishing Wells,” Retriever, Nettwerk
• Spain, “It’s All Over,” She Haunts My Dreams, Restless
• Freakwater, “When the Leaves Begin to Fall,” End Time, Thrill Jockey
• David Sylvian, “The Boy with the Gun,” Secrets of the Beehive, Virgin
• Gene Loves Jezebel, “Stephen,” Immigrant, Beggars Banquet
• David Bowie, “D.J.,” Lodger, Virgin
• Herbert, “Movie Star,” Scale, !K7
• Islands, “Ones,” Return to the Sea, Equator
• (Television, “Elevation,” Marquee Moon, Elektra)

Episode 37

     If you listened to this morning’s show, you already know that the two songs at the end of the first hour were played in tribute to the legendary producer and arranger Arif Mardin, who died on 25 June at the age of 74. The cause was pancreatic cancer. His importance for the careers of a number of notable performers—among them Aretha Franklin, Donny Hathaway, the Bee Gees and even Norah Jones—is immeasurable. His passing is even more tinged with sadness since, just last week, the Culture and Tourism Ministry of his native Turkey awarded him its Culture and Art Achievement Award. He was obviously unable to attend the ceremony. An informative précis of his background, his education, and the musicians whose careers he nurtured over nearly 40 years in the recording industry can be found in Billboard’s online obituary.
     Otherwise, I think this morning’s show was quite good and nicely varied. Thinking about Arif Mardin obviously put me in the mood to explore tunes with great arrangements: I’m thinking especially of the work of Thom Bell, who co-wrote, produced and arranged the Stylistics track on this morning’s show. In addition to the Stylistics and the two Mardin-associated tracks, there was a lot more classic R&B on offer this week, as well as more electronic items alongside the pretty, pretty songs that you have perhaps come to expect from ECI. A glance over the playlist should make clear just how eclectic a mix there was. Whenever the station starts webcasting (if it does so before I stop doing my show: I’m close to deciding an end date), those of you in the wider world may actually get to do more than read these lists. I certainly hope so.
     (By the way, if you were wondering, there are no typos for the second hour: James Brown did indeed record a version of Kurt Weill’s “September Song.” As I said on the air, the personnel on the recording are an even more unexpected crew: Imagine JB singing to the accompaniment of the Louie Bellson Big Band, playing arrangements written by Oliver Nelson.... Yeah, it’s that out ... and that good.)

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Vetiver, “Double,” To Find Me Gone, DiCristina
• Pale Saints, “Time Thief,” The Comforts of Madness, 4AD
• Mobius Band, “Radio Coup,” The Loving Sounds of Static, Ghostly International
• Sia, “Sea Shells,” Colour the Small One, Astralwerks
• Can, “Mushroom,” Tago Mago, Spoon
• The Czars, “Roger’s Song,” The Ugly People vs. the Beautiful People, Bella Union
• Mazzy Star, “Five String Serenade,” So Tonight That I Might See, Capitol
• Grandaddy, “Where I’m Anymore,” Just Like the Fambly Cat, V2
• AOKI Takamasa and Tujiko Noriko, “Fly -Variation-,” 28, Fat Cat
• Aretha Franklin, “Baby, Baby, Baby,” I Never Loved a Man the Way That I Love You, Atlantic
• Donny Hathaway, “A Song for You,” Donny Hathaway, Atlantic

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• James Brown, “September Song,” Soul on Top, Verve
• Spring Heel Jack, “Bells 2,” Busy Curious Thirsty, Trade 2
• Sonic Youth, “Beauty Lies in the Eye,” Sister, SST
• Seu Jorge, “Fiore de la Città,” Cru, Wrasse
• The Stylistics, “Children of the Night,” Round 2, Amherst
• Various Artists, “Canon (Part 2),” Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus, Columbia
• Public Enemy, “Night of the Living Baseheads,” It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Def Jam
• Mojave 3, “Big Star Baby,” Puzzles Like You, 4AD
• Kraftwerk, “Elektro Kardiogramm,” Tour de France Soundtracks, Astralwerks
• Mogwai, “Travel Is Dangerous,” Mr. Beast, Matador
• Boards of Canada, “Turquoise Hexagon Sun,” Music Has the Right to Children, Warp
• Me’shell Ndegéocello, “Love Song #2,” Comfort Woman, Maverick

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• Tim Buckley, “Anonymous Proposition,” Lorca, Elektra
• Low, “Transmission,” Transmission EP, Vernon Yard
• Murder Inc., “Mania,” Murder Inc., Futurist
• Tears for Fears, “The Prisoner,” The Hurting, Mercury
• The Specials, “Rat Race,” More Specials, Two Tone
• The Clash, “The Guns of Brixton,” London Calling, Epic
• The Auteurs, “Bailed Out,” New Wave, Caroline
• Seekonk, “Powerout,” Pinkwood, North East Indie
• Slint, “Darlene,” Tweez, Touch and Go
• Chocolate Genius, “It’s Going Wrong,” Black Yankee Rock, Commotion
• Bark Psychosis, “A Street Scene,” Hex, Caroline
• Cocteau Twins, “Pandora (For Cindy),” Treasure, 4AD

Episode 36

     So, this is the second week in what will be a summer marathon for me. Thankfully, this early in the race I’m not showing any signs of strain—but I also haven’t consulted a calendar to see exactly how many stations there are between now and the end.
     I’ll keep my comments brief this morning, not because there isn’t lots to say, but because I’d rather let (most of) the show “speak” for itself. What I will write is that there are some aurally delicious new releases and reissues in the mix—items from the Au Pairs, Shearwater, Seke Molenga/Kalo Kawongolo, Espers and Brookville, among others. Combining those with the other new releases I’ve gotten this year, those that are scheduled for the coming weeks, and my deep digging in my own library, the future’s going to sound just as good as the past ... at least where this show is concerned....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Lori Carson, “Breathe,” Stars, Restless
• XTC, “Jason and the Argonauts,” English Settlement, Virgin
• Herbert, “The Nine Seeds of Navdanya,” Plat du Jour, Accidental
• Seu Jorge, “Bem Querer (My Dear),” Cru, Wrasse
• The Soft Pink Truth, “Out of Step (Minor Threat),” Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Soft Pink Truth?, Tigerbeat6
• Mercury Rev, “Pick Up If You’re There,” Deserter’s Songs, V2
• The Au Pairs, “Headache for Michelle,” Stepping Out of Line: The Anthology, Castle Music
• Lou Barlow, “Morning’s After Me,” Emoh, Merge
• Jim White, “Stabbed in the Heart,” Wrong-Eyed Jesus!, Luaka Bop
• Shearwater, “Failed Queen,” Palo Santo, Misra
• The Smiths, “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle,” The Smiths, Sire
• R.E.M., “Time After Time (annElise),” Reckoning, IRS

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Seke Molenga and Kalo Kawongolo, “Bad Food,” African Roots, Trojan
• Caribou, “Yeti,” The Milk of Human Kindness, Domino
• The Beatles, “You Won’t See Me,” Rubber Soul, Parlophone
• World Party, “Beautiful Dream,” Egyptology, Chrysalis
• Throbbing Gristle, “Beachy Head,” 20 Jazz Funk Greats, Mute
• The High Violets, “Nocturnal,” To Where You Are, Reverb
• P.J. Harvey, “Horses in My Dreams,” Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, Island
• Animal Collective, “The Softest Voice,” Sung Tongs, Fat Cat
• Espers, “Dead Queen,” Espers II, Drag City
• Cat Power, “Names,” You Are Free, Matador
• Brian Eno, “Baby’s on Fire,” Here Come the Warm Jets, EG

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• Roxy Music, “Both Ends Burning,” Siren, Virgin
• The Blow Monkeys, “Atomic Lullaby,” Limping for a Generation, RCA
• Simple Minds, “Somebody Up There Likes You,” New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84), Virgin
• Siouxsie & the Banshees, “The Sweetest Chill,” Tinderbox, Geffen
• The Creatures, “A Strutting Rooster,” Feast, Polydor
• Talking Heads, “Pull Up the Roots,” Speaking in Tongues, Sire
• The Cardigans, “Do You Believe,” Gran Turismo, Stockholm
• Thomas Dolby, “Screen Kiss,” The Flat Earth, Capitol
• Red House Painters, “San Geronimo,” Ocean Beach, 4AD
• Brookville, “Crawling in Circles,” Life in the Shade, Unfiltered
• Rose Melberg, “Spin,” Cast Away the Clouds, Double Agent

Episode 35

     When two-hour shows are the norm, three hours seems like a long time. Now that the station is on its summer schedule (through the end of September) and my show is scheduled to air weekly, programming three hours really does seem daunting. My long-followed strategy of making a note of every song I might possibly play the moment the thought hits is again revealing its value. When I finished sequencing this morning’s playlist, I was surprised to see that I had enough leftover material to fill at least an hour of next week.
     In some ways, this episode is like the last in that it reflects the increased time I’ve had to listen to recordings in recent weeks. (To be sure, that listening has taken place while I was trapped in front of the computer writing or stuck, pen in hand, marking papers.) Digging deeply into my home library has helped me to loosen my self-imposed reins and play more pop-oriented material without, I hope, sacrificing consistency. I’m inclined to think I’ve been successful so far, given how much more dreamy and noisy the episodes have become, even in the presence of poppy material. Putting Björk and Cibelle alongside the Rain Parade might seem strange, but I think it worked. Ditto for following Wire with Raul Malo, or John Lee Hooker with This Mortal Coil. In some ways, I guess, it’s all about the transitions, song to song, set to set. Handled well, they are elegant or deliberately jarring. Even when they aren’t, I hope those of you who got to listen enjoyed the ride and will come along for those that are to follow....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Mark Eitzel, “Homeland Pastoral,” Candy Ass, Cooking Vinyl
• Sigmatropic, “Haiku Nine,” Sixteen Haiku and Other Stories, Thirsty Ear
• Felix Laband, “Black Shoes,” Dark Days Exit, Compost
• Rachel Goswell, “Coastline,” Waves Are Universal, 4AD
• The Durutti Column, “Tuesday,” Keep Breathing, Artful
• Andrew Bird, “Sovay,” The Mysterious Production of Eggs, Righteous Babe
• NOMO, “If You Want,” New Tones, Ubiquity
• Jack DeJohnette (featuring Bill Frisell), “Entranced Androids,” The Elephant Sleeps but Still Remembers, Golden Beams
• Cassandra Wilson, “Last Train to Clarksville,” New Moon Daughter, Blue Note
• Robert Wyatt, “A Last Straw,” Rock Bottom, Thirsty Ear
• David Sylvian, “Late Night Shopping,” Blemish, Samadhi Sound

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• The Kinks, “Wicked Annabella,” The Village Green Preservation Society (Deluxe Edition), Sanctuary
• Rain Parade, “This Can’t Be Today,” Emergency Third Rail Power Trip, Restless
• Björk, “Heirloom,” Vespertine, Elektra
• Cibelle, “Instante de Dois,” The Shine of Dried Electric Leaves, Six Degrees
• Television Personalities, “When Emily Cries,” They Could Have Been Bigger than the Beatles, Velvel
• Piano Magic, “(Music Won’t Save You from Anything But) Silence,” Writers without Homes, 4AD
• Stephen Malkmus, “Deado,” Stephen Malkmus, Matador
• Interpol, “A Time to Be So Small,” Antics, Matador
• Love and Rockets, “Love Me,” Express, Big Time
• Sinéad O’Connor, “I Am Stretched on Your Grave,” I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, Chrysalis
• China Crisis, “Here Come a Raincloud,” Working with Fire and Steel, Possible Pop Songs, Volume Two, Virgin
• The Apartments, “All the Birthdays,” The Evening Visits ... and Stays for Years, Hot

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• Culture, “See Them A Come,” Two Sevens Clash, Shanachie
• Massive Attack, “Better Things,” Protection, Virgin
• Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins, “It Wasn’t Me,” Rabbit Fur Coat, Team Love
• Wilco, “Via Chicago,” Summerteeth, Reprise
• The Cure, “One Hundred Years,” Pornography, Elektra
• Wire, “Point of Collapse,” The Ideal Copy, Mute
• Raul Malo, “Since When,” Today, Omtown
• Cortijo y Su Combo con Ismael Rivera, “Si Te Contara,” Quitate de la Via, Perico, Rumba
• John Lee Hooker, “Dimples,” The Very Best of John Lee Hooker, Rhino
• This Mortal Coil, “Strength of Strings/Morning Glory,” Filigree & Shadow, 4AD
• Rachel’s, “Water from the Same Source,” Systems/Layers, Quarterstick
• Morsel, “Like a Gift,” Para Siempre, Small Stone

Tripling Your Pleasure...

     Unless something changes soon, it appears that there will be a lot more ECI this summer—in at least two ways. First, since a surprisingly small number of DJs signed up for summer shows, nearly every one who agreed to do a show, including yours truly, will be on the air every week rather than every other week. Second, and less surprising, each episode will be three, rather than two, hours in length (as is always the case in the summer). Added together, those two items will result in there being three times more music from me per two-week cycle. Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep up with the accelerated schedule without sacrificing consistency and quality. Stay tuned....

Episode 34: 6/6/6

     With all the work that 20th Century Fox is doing to promote its remake of the classic 1976 film The Omen, even the most ostrich-like U.S. resident would have a hard time not knowing that today’s date, in shortened form, resembles the fabled “mark of the beast.” Thinking about the admittedly thin symbolism of the day, I started plotting a few days ago to program songs dealing with the anti-Christ, the apocalypse, etc., but since my show never includes metal, I had to settle for a compromise: playing songs about the Devil. As a conceit for a show, this one had the potential to get quickly out of hand, so I kept it simple. Four songs about the Devil, two in each hour. From their titles, three of them should be obvious (and they are fairly obvious choices). The fourth was a last-minute find on a CD I’ve rarely taken off the shelf: The Geraldine Fibbers’ Lost Somewhere Between the Earth and My Home. The track listed below has the distinction of being a song wherein the Devil is a woman. I hope you dig/dug it.
     There is at least one other notable item on the playlist for this morning: a track from Scott Walker’s The Drift, available later today in your favorite record store (or at least one that carries 4AD releases). It’s Walker’s first release since 1995’s Tilt, and, like its predecessor, it is not a recording for the casual listener. Believe it or not, the track I played is among the least challenging ones on the album. If the early reviews are any indication, though, this release will end up on the year-end, best-of lists of many listeners who pride themselves on their sophisticated, eclectic tastes. Right now, I’m not sure whether it will be on mine, but chances are slim. Hmmm. What does that say about me? (Oh, yeah. In case you were wondering how I got a CD that is not yet released and that the station does not yet possess, I found a copy of it in a local store over the weekend. I’m not sure why or how they had a copy on the shelves, but I chose not to inquire.)
     Oh, yeah. There is one more thing: Green on Red’s Gravity Talks. It is one of those brilliant albums from the mid-80s that most listeners who weren’t around then, no matter how hip they think they are, have never heard. And that’s a shame. I could bore you with the tale of how revelatory the afternoon was when I first heard it, played in my high school’s studio art class by an upperclassman who also turned me onto the Rain Parade (David Roback’s pre-Mazzy Star band), but why? I could likewise recommend a few songs for you to track down (no, the album isn’t available from iTunes or eMusic); instead I’ll simply suggest that you stay tuned. I’m certain that a few more the album’s tracks are going to slip into the rotation in the near future....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil,” Beggars Banquet, ABKCO
• Sparklehorse, “Apple Bed,” It’s a Wonderful Life, Capitol
• Odawas, “The Unnamed Sphinx,” The Aether Eater, Jagjaguwar
• Celebration, “Foxes,” Celebration, 4AD
• The Geraldine Fibbers, “Richard,” Lost Somewhere Between the Earth and My Home, Virgin
• Green on Red, “Blue Parade,” Gravity Talks, Warner Brothers
• Billy Bragg, “Levi Stubbs’ Tears,” Talking with the Taxman about Poetry, Elektra
• Neko Case, “I Wish I Was the Moon,” Blacklisted, Bloodshot
• Great Lake Swimmers, “Song for the Angels,” Bodies and Minds, Misra
• Beth Gibbons and Rustin Man, “Romance,” Out of Season, Sanctuary
• Eric Matthews, “Fried Out Broken Girl,” It’s Heavy in Here, Sub Pop
• Brookville, “Home,” Wonderfully Nothing, Unfiltered

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Múm, “We Have a Map of the Piano,” Finally We Are No One, Fat Cat
• Dani Siciliano, “She Say Cliché,” Likes..., !K7
• Herbert, “Down,” Scale, !K7
• Keren Ann, “For You and I,” Nolita, Blue Note
• Robert Johnson, “Me and the Devil Blues,” The Complete Recordings, Columbia
• Scott Walker, “Buzzers,” The Drift, 4AD
• Cass McCombs, “Cuckoo,” PREfection, Monitor/4AD
• Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, “Up Jumped the Devil,” Tender Prey, Mute
• Edith Frost, “Lucky Charm,” It’s a Game, Drag City
• The Czars, “The Hymn,” Goodbye, Bella Union
• His Name Is Alive, “The Bees,” Stars on E.S.P., 4AD
• Seekonk, “Air,” Pinkwood, North East Indie