Episode 12

     Sigh. Another one down. And another one in which friends of mine played a major part, not only for introducing me to new music but also for re-opening my ears to great things in my CD library. In the former category (and going way back), there’s my high school classmate Rob Baker, who lent me his Walkman on a long spring break trip to visit southern colleges back in 1986. And what was in it when I clicked PLAY, but the Fall album listed below? Despite the fact that I really dug the CD straightaway, it took me nearly 20 years to buy it. But the seed had been planted long ago. In the latter category, big thanks to Mariel and her open ears and sure eye. She steered me back to the Smiths album that I’ve always liked the least and thus gave me the song to open the show. Now I wonder why I disliked the album so when it was released. She also got me to delve a little deeper into the Aluminum Group album below. The song she dug most found its way into the show. In the latter category as well, there’s J. Niimi and Michael O’Flaherty. In one of the playlists for their WHPK radio show, Radio Zero, they programmed a couple of tunes that sent me back to This Is the Sea, one of the most brilliant albums from the mid-1980s. Among other things, what Mike Scott and his fellow Waterboys did was to open my ears to how expansive, groovy, and texturally varied rock could be.
     The only thing left to say is that, in reading what follows the colon, infer the inverse of the normal meaning of the cliché: With friends like these, who needs enemies?

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• The Smiths, “Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me,” Strangeways, Here We Come, Warner Bros.
• Gastr del Sol, “The C in Cake,” Crookt, Crackt, and Fly, Drag City
• Cardinal, “Dream Figure,” Cardinal, Empyrean
• Rickie Lee Jones, “Cloud of Unknowing,” Ghostyhead, Warner Brothers
• Tortoise, “Glass Museum,” Millions Now Living Will Never Die, Thrill Jockey
• The Fall, “L.A.,” This Nation’s Saving Grace, Beggars Banquet
• Andrew Bird, “Skin Is, My,” The Mysterious Production of Eggs, Righteous Babe
• Piano Magic, “You Can Hear the Room,” Disaffected, Darla
• Radiohead, “Climbing Up the Walls,” OK Computer, Capitol
• Linton Kwesi Johnson, “Inglan Is a Bitch,” Bass Culture, Mango
• The Waterboys, “Old England,” This Is the Sea, Chrysalis

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Saint Etienne, “No Rainbows for Me,” So Tough, Warner Brothers
• Electrelane, “Those Pockets Are People,” Axes, Too Pure
• Electrelane, “The Partisan,” Axes, Too Pure
• Four Tet, “Sun Drums and Soil,” Everything Ecstatic, Domino
• Animal Collective, “Bat You’ll Fly,” Spirit They’re Gone—Spirit They’ve Vanished, Fat Cat
• Bill Frisell, “1968,” Unspeakable, Nonesuch
• Hanne Hukkelberg, “Searching,” Little Things, Leaf
• Sinéad Lohan, “What Can Never Be,” No Mermaid, Interscope
• Blue States, “Season Song,” Man Mountain, XL
• Roland Orzabal, “Maybe Our Days Are Numbered,” Tomcats Screaming Outside, Gold Circle
• Cibo Matto, “Moonchild,” Stereo Type A, Warner Brothers
• Aluminum Group, “Two Lights,” Happyness, Wishing Tree

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• Heidi Berry, “Follow,” Heidi Berry, 4AD
• Apostle of Hustle, “Folkloric Feel,” Folkloric Feel, Arts and Crafts
• Aterciopelados, “Gozo Poderoso,” Gozo Poderoso, BMG
• Laurie Anderson, “Smoke Rings,” Home of the Brave, Warner Brothers
• Sufjan Stevens, “They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhh! Illinois, Asthmatic Kitty
• Sufjan Stevens, “Let’s Hear that String Part Again Because I Don’t Think They Heard It All the Way Out in Bushnell,” Illinois, Asthmatic Kitty
• Portishead, “Humming,” Portishead, London
• The Polyphonic Spree, “It’s the Sun,” The Beginning Stages of the Polyphonic Spree, Hollywood
• The Monkees, “Papa Gene’s Blues,” Anthology, Rhino
• Wire, “You Can’t Leave Now,” Send, Pink Flag
• My Bloody Valentine, “Don’t Ask Why,” Glider EP, Sire