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)