Tuesday, June 27, 2006

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

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

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

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

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

Saturday, June 10, 2006

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....

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

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