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)