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....