Episode 46

     It’s as good a time as any to start the countdown. After this episode, there are only four more installments of ECI, and now that the playlist for the final show is nearly complete, I can finally tell you what to expect. In a previous post, I mentioned that I had two possible ways to approach episode 50 without saying what they were. The first, admittedly banal idea was for me to search the archived playlists selecting from them the best tracks that would make an interesting three-hour show. The second was for me to dig into that cache of songs so cherished that I’ve never played any of them on air—reserving them for a time when my inspiration might flag. That mental cache is filled with songs that I love more than anything else. Predictably, the tracks chosen for the final show result from a mixture of both approaches. There’s one more conceit, suggested by one of my friends as she wondered aloud how I could decide what to play: to make the show something of a listening autobiography. To a degree, the final episode will function in that way, but the sequence will be guided more by sound than chronology if I choose to go that route.
     As for this morning’s show, I’ve wanted for a long time to begin an episode with the Parliament track listed below. My playing it even sparked an interesting conversation between me and David Waldman, host of the Evil Show (the show which comes on before mine and always closes with Otis Rush’s “I Wonder Why”). Unfortunately, those whose interest was piqued by George Clinton’s lyrical suggestion to “stay tuned for Starchild” were probably disappointed to hear, instead, me talking about what a gray, dreary day Chicago had experienced. But the day was inspiration for the episode’s second track, another tune I’ve been wanting to play for a while.
     The rest of the show finds me already digging into the cache and pulling out some tracks (by, e.g., Rickie Lee Jones, the Last Poets, the Style Council, Kraftwerk, Siouxsie & the Bansheees and Elvis Costello) that have been hovering at the edge of my radio consciousness for some time. This episode features, as well, a few tracks from things that have recently caught my ear. Right now, I can’t say that one of them, the new OutKast release Idlewild is better than its predecessor (Speakerboxxx/The Love Below), but given the new album’s status as a soundtrack, I can be a bit more relaxed in evaluating it—and it is good. I managed to include tracks this morning featuring both Andre 3000 and Big Boi, respectively. With careful planning, I’ll be able to slip a few more into the remaining episodes. Doing so will be difficult, though, because there’s a considerable backlog of equally suitable material on my list at home. Even more, there are about twelve new CDs that I’ve been eagerly anticipating that are being released (and that I’ll be acquiring) over the next three or four weeks. Those releases, including albums by M. Ward, My Brightest Diamond, Pajo, Chad VanGaalen, Amy Millan and Junior Boys, are going to offer OutKast (and anyone else) a lot of competition. And that means, perhaps, that the arc for the final four shows will be one of increasing quality. Stay tuned...
     (Note: Once again, the show went a little longer than expected. The final two tracks, the ones in parentheses, were fine last-minute additions not originally included in the playlist.)

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Parliament, “P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up),” Mothership Connection, Casablanca
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Rainy Day, Dream Away,” Electric Ladyland, MCA
• Mali Music, “Spoons,” Mali Music, Honest Jon’s
• Trembling Blue Stars, “Sleep,” Broken by Whispers, Sub Pop
• The Beatles, “I’m Only Sleeping,” Revolver, Parlophone
• The Clash, “(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais,” The Clash, Epic
• The Waterboys, “This Is the Sea,” This Is the Sea, Chrysalis
• Yuka Honda, “Some Days I Stay in Bed for Hours,” Memories Are My Only Witness, Tzadik
• Sol Seppy, “Move,” The Bells of 1 2, Gronland
• Mono, “Playboys,” Formica Blues, Mercury
• Rickie Lee Jones, “Away from the Sky,” Flying Cowboys, Geffen

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• The The, “Heartland,” Infected, Epic
• The Stone Roses, “Made of Stone,” The Stone Roses, Silvertone
• XTC, “Summer’s Cauldron/Grass,” Skylarking, Geffen
• OutKast, “Life Is Like a Musical,” Idlewild, LaFace
• The Last Poets, “Time,” This Is Madness, Douglas
• OutKast, “Bamboo & Cross (Interlude)/Buggface,” Idlewild, LaFace
• Chocolate Genius, “Life,” Black Music, V2
• Scritti Politti, “Petrococadollar,” White Bread Black Beer, Nonesuch/Rough Trade
• The Style Council, “Changing of the Guard,” Confessions of a Pop Group, Polydor
• Pavement, “Type Slowly,” Brighten the Corners, Matador
• Mice Parade, “Milton Road,” Obrigado Saudade, Bubble Core
• Sondre Lerche, “Days That Are Over,” Two Way Monologue, Astralwerks
• Kraftwerk, “The Hall of Mirrors,” Trans-Europe Express, Capitol

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Bring Me the Head of the Preacher Man,” Hyæna, Geffen
• Tones on Tail, “Real Life,” Everything, Beggars Banquet
• The Sugarcubes, “Water,” Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week!, Elektra
• Nine Horses, “Serotonin,” Snow Borne Sorrow, Samadhi Sound
• Brookville, “Today,” Life in the Shade, Unfiltered
• Sing-Sing, “Going Out Tonight,” Sing-Sing and I, Aerial
• The Smiths, “Unloveable,” Louder than Bombs, Sire
• Tom Waits, “Clap Hands,” Rain Dogs, Island
• Nick Lowe, “Time I Took a Holiday,” Dig My Mood, Upstart
• Elvis Costello, “Brilliant Mistake,” King of America, Columbia
• Lady and Bird, “Blue Skies,” Lady and Bird, Yellow Tangerine
• Stina Nordenstam, “Murder in Mairyland Park,” And She Closed Her Eyes, East West
• Robin Guthrie, “As I Breathe,” Continental, Darla
• (Red House Painters, “Evil,” Red House Painters [II], 4AD)
• (Sonic Youth, “Pink Steam,” Rather Ripped, Geffen)

Episode 45

     For the last few days, I’ve had an overriding sense of calm and satisfaction as the end of the show draws closer. Almost as though it were approaching from the horizon, its outlines are becoming more and more clear. A few of my close friends know something of the selection principles that will generate the final playlist. I’m still not ready to reveal anything definitive, wanting to let the mystery linger a little longer. I will say only that I know—as I have since the first episode of the show—what the last ECI song will be. In case anyone wants to try to figure out what it will be, here’s a vague hint: the track, which is nearly fifteen years old, will apparently be featured in a film that premieres in German theatres in late October. (And, for the record, that’s not why I picked the track.)
     “Yeah, yeah,” you say, “enough with the teasing: what do you have to say about this morning’s episode?” Lots, it turns out. First, big thanks go to Dawn, Michael and Jason for inadvertently giving me a number of ideas about artists to play on this show and in the future (especially the R&B tracks). Nothing like good friends to open one’s ears. Next, for at least two reasons, I’ve long been wanting to play the Joe Henderson track listed below on the show. One, it’s a great tune that features top-notch soloists playing with a stellar rhythm section. And two, the Henderson album’s liner notes (written by Don Heckman) provide some of the lyrical material for the second of the Digable Planets tunes below (the one after the slash). By themselves, the DP tunes are wryly self-referential, but, like the quotation I just mentioned, the external sonic and lyrical allusions are perhaps even more clever. The remainder of the cleverness here comes from a series of artist/tune pairings that might at first glance seem incompatible. The list of the examples runs throughout the entire show: Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth/Tanya Donelly, Digable Planets/Spain, UB40(!)/Fennesz, Grandaddy/D’Angelo, Bill Withers/Polyphonic Spree. As is always the case, though, the proof is in the hearing.
      Finally, though, the highlight of the show for me, and indeed the preceding day, was a gift from the mail carrier: my pre-ordered copy of Eric Matthews’ first new, full-length album in, what, nine years? For so auspicious an occasion, I had to play two tracks, one from the album proper and the other from the bonus EP that came with discs pre-ordered from the label. I haven’t given either of them a proper, concentrated listen, but I suspect that will happen later today. And one last silly observation. It didn’t occur to me until I was finalizing the playlist that there was a subtle style descriptor in the name of the last band played on this morning’s episode. After all, I have never had a reason to say the name out loud or be concerned about its pronunciation. Now that I have, I appreciate the cleverness of it.
     Are you sick of the word “clever” and its many derivatives yet? I am, so I’ll slink off to bed, leaving you to ponder the list below....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Elk City, “Solar Girl,” Status, A Hidden Agenda
• Television Personalities, “Then a Big Boy Came and Knocked It All Down,” My Dark Places, Domino
• Carl Craig, “I Have Got Garlic Hanging on My Front Door,” Onsumothasheeat, Shadow (a remix of a track originally found on Marasma’s Signals, Freerange)
• Spleen, “Un Danse Pour Dick et Bob,” Soundtrack to Spleen, Swari Finger
• P.J. Harvey, “Goodnight,” 4-Track Demos, Island
• Devendra Banhart, “Lazy Butterfly,” Cripple Crow, XL
• Shearwater, “Hail, Mary,” Palo Santo, Misra
• The Art of Noise, “Comes and Goes,” Into Battle with the Art of Noise, ZTT
• Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, “Carmel City,” The Main Ingredient, Elektra
• Tanya Donelly, “So Much Song,” Beautysleep, 4AD
• Islands, “Humans,” Return to the Sea, Equator
• Cowboy Junkies, “Dragging Hooks (River Song Trilogy: Part III),” Open, Latent/Zoë

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• World Party, “Here Comes the Future,” Dumbing Up, Seaview
• Sly & the Family Stone, “Frisky,” Fresh, Epic
• A Certain Ratio, “Rialto,” Sextet, Factory
• Joe Henderson, “Short Story,” In ’n Out, Blue Note
• Digable Planets, “Escapism (Getting’ Free)/Appointment at the Fat Clinic,” Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space), Pendulum
• Spain, “Ten Nights,” The Blue Moods of Spain, Restless
• George Harrison, “Let It Down,” All Things Must Pass, Capitol
• UB40, “King,” Signing Off, Virgin
• Fennesz, “The Point of It All,” Venice, Touch UK
• Sinéad O’Connor, “Just Call Me Joe,” The Lion and the Cobra, Chrysalis
• The Pixies, “Ana,” Bossanova, 4AD

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• Eric Matthews, “And the World Will Go,” Foundation Sounds, Empyrean
• Eric Matthews, “Million Errors,” Foundation Sounds—Limited Edition EP, Empyrean
• Grandaddy, “‘Yeah’ Is What We Had,” Sumday, V2
• D’Angelo, “Alright,” Brown Sugar, EMI
• Bill Withers, “Let Me in Your Life (Live at Carnegie Hall),” Still Bill, Columbia/Legacy
• The Polyphonic Spree, “Days Like This Keep Me Warm,” The Beginning Stages of ... the Polyphonic Spree, Hollywood
• Sam Prekop, “So Shy,” Sam Prekop, Thrill Jockey
• The Album Leaf, “Twentytwofourteen,” In a Safe Place, Sub Pop
• Massive Attack, “Butterfly Caught,” 100th Window, Virgin
• Scheer, “Face the Sun,” ...And Finally, Schism
• Dif Juz, “Gunet,” Vibrating Air EP, 4AD

Episode 44

     This episode has to be among the most difficult I’ve ever put together. The issue wasn’t a lack of good material. When I started working on the show Sunday afternoon, I already had 90 minutes of material that hadn’t made it into previous episodes. By the time I finished going through the list of other items that I might include, I found myself with another three hours of music. No, the challenge this time was that I had a set of contenders that were mostly ambient/hazy songs with medium-to-slow tempos. While I eventually found a way to vary the mood and pacing of the show, it took some time and ingenuity.
     While many of the artists (and albums) listed below have appeared on previous playlists, there are a few items that I programmed for the first time—some of them after having tried in vain to find a place for them before. Thus, even though I bought Wolf Parade’s Apologies to the Queen Mary last December, I’ve only recently warmed enough to the disc to give it a good listen and feel one of its tracks might nicely follow, say, a HNIA tune. Something similar is true of the Uncle Tupelo track. In contrast, when I first listened to Lisa Germano’s latest, the question wasn’t whether I could get something into the show, but which among the tracks I would play first. As for some of the artists showing up for the first time (The Cranberries, Translator), chalk their inclusion up to nostalgia.
     Much of the remainder of the show has me almost rediscovering artists I haven’t featured in months, e.g., Kings of Convenience, Sade, Yuka Honda and the Cinematic Orchestra. The latter group is probably the one that has gone the longest without ECI airplay. If you were look through the archived playlists, it would take some time to find the last time I played something by the group. In fact, you would have to go all the back to here, where you would find “The Man with a Movie Camera” nestled in the second hour of the very first episode.
     As we come closer to the end, you can expect to see more reflexive playlists, ones where I revisit recordings that seem to have been lost in my never-ending stream of new acquisitions. Don’t worry, though, my desire to keep the show interesting means that the new releases coming between now and September’s end will also be given their due. With so much great stuff coming and so much more already in the queue, it should be easy for me to make the last six episodes a lot of fun....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Piano Magic, “The Tollbooth Martyrs,” The Troubled Sleep of Piano Magic, Green UFOs
• Rachel’s, “Reflective Surfaces/Unclear Channel,” Systems/Layers, Quarterstick
• Kings of Convenience, “The Weight of My Words,” Quiet Is the New Loud, Astralwerks
• Cibelle, “Mad Man Song,” The Shine of Dried Electric Leaves, Six Degrees
• Translator, “Everywhere That I’m Not,” Heartbeats and Triggers, 415
• Sleater-Kinney, “Entertain,” The Woods, Sub Pop
• Odawas, “Kids,” The Aether Eater, Jagjaguwar
• Bow Wow Wow, “Baby, Oh No,” I Want Candy, RCA
• His Name Is Alive, “*C*A*T*S*,” Detrola, Silver Mountain
• Wolf Parade, “Dinner Bells,” Apologies to the Queen Mary, Sub Pop
• Hooverphonic, “Eden,” Blue Wonder Power Milk, Epic
• Sade, “Slave Song,” Lovers Rock, Epic

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Wire, “Kidney Bingos,” A Bell Is a Cup Until It Is Struck, Mute
• The Dukes of Stratosphear, “Collideascope,” Chips from the Chocolate Fireball, Geffen
• Los Lobos, “Saint Behind the Glass,” Kiko, Warner Brothers
• Broadcast, “Corporeal,” Tender Buttons, Warp
• Logh, “Ahabian,” A Sunset Panorama, Hydra Head
• Uncle Tupelo, “Anodyne,” Anodyne, Sire/Reprise
• The Cranberries, “Put Me Down,” Everybody Else Is Doing It, Why Can’t We? Island
• The Durutti Column, “Helen,” Keep Breathing, Artful
• Lisa Germano, “Into Oblivion,” In the Maybe World, Young God
• Rose Melberg, “Little Bird,” Cast Away the Clouds, Double Agent
• Great Lake Swimmers, “I Could Be Nothing,” Bodies and Minds, Misra
• Dave Navarro, “Mourning Sun,” Trust No One, Capitol
• Blue States, “Looking Glass,” Nothing Changes Under the Sun, Eighteenth Street Lounge

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• The Roots, “Ain’t Sayin’ Nothin’ New,” Things Fall Apart, MCA
• Beth Gibbons and Rustin Man, “Spider Monkey,” Out of Season, Sanctuary
• Yuka Honda, “Night Diving,” Memories Are My Only Witness, Tzadik
• Celebration, “China,” Celebration, 4AD
• Mojave 3, “When You’re Drifting,” Excuses for Travellers, 4AD
• Carla Bozulich, “Prince of the World,” Evangelista, Constellation
• The Cardigans, “Couldn’t Care Less,” Long Gone Before Daylight, Stockholm
• Violet Indiana, “Angel,” Roulette, Bella Union
• The Cinematic Orchestra, “Burn Out,” Every Day, Ninja Tune
• Boards of Canada, “Tears from the Compound Eye,” The Campfire Headphase, Warp
• Sybarite, “Three Sided,” Nonument, 4AD

Episode 43

     Alright, maybe last week it was just the heat. Putting this week’s episode together and getting to the studio was much easier this time out. Of course, choosing which songs to play was, as always, a study in the minutiae of timing, transitions, and strategy. Where to start? Where to end? How to create a sense of flow and/or drama?
     There are some wonderfully fortuitous things that the selection of songs I devised allowed me to do. Take the first hour of the show, for example. While the tracks by Syd Barrett and Love are obviously there in tribute to performers who recently died—Barrett a couple of weeks ago and Arthur Lee, the singer and one of the main songwriters of Love, at the end of last week—the latter track was the beginning of set focused on oblique anti-war, anti-government and anti-capitalist tunes that just worked together. Immediately following that set is one whose conceit, as silly as it may seem on screen, was one that just came together when I realized that, without trying, I had picked three songs by artists with basically the same first name. It helps, of course, that I love all three of the source albums. (There is a bit of cheating here, though: both Buitrago and Zazou rely on other vocalists—Andrea Echeverri and Barbara Louise Gogan, respectively.)
     Similar things are at work in the second and third hours. A set focused mostly on songs that rely on synths and drum machines (Depeche Mode through Mark Eitzel) ends with a cover. The subtle connector between that set and the next? The Nick Cave tune is also a cover. And, oddly, writing down the label information for the Sing-Sing tune reminded me that I hadn’t played anything from Kate Bush’s recent album since late last year. In addition, throughout the show, there are as usual places where the sounds at the end of one song made it really clear what the next one should be. When things go this well, I could almost regret my imminent departure from the airwaves. Almost.
     This episode has its share of new material and choice older material. Where the former is concerned, expect to hear more from Héctor Buitrago, Lady and Bird, and Scritti Politti as we inch closer to the show’s finale. Where the latter is concerned, more and more of my CDs stand unfiled in piles on the floor of my living room, affording me a visual guide to what I haven’t played on the air. When September ends, I think I’m going to have a massive shelving job to do. Anyone who wants to volunteer to help is more than welcome....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Múm, “Weeping Rock, Rock,” Summer Make Good, Fat Cat
• Komeda, “Flabbergast,” What Makes It Go?, Minty Fresh
• Robert Wyatt, “Sea Song,” Rock Bottom, Thirsty Ear
• Syd Barrett, “Dark Globe,” The Madcap Laughs, Capitol
• Love, “The Red Telephone,” Forever Changes, Elektra
• The Police, “Invisible Sun,” Ghost in the Machine, A&M
• Gang of Four, “Of the Instant,” Songs of the Free, Warner Brothers
• Héctor Lavoe, “El Todopoderoso,” La Voz, Fania
• Héctor Buitrago, “Ooohhhh,” Conector, Nacional
• Hector Zazou, “Sahara Blue (Brussels),” Sahara Blue, Tristar
• Do Make Say Think, “The Landlord Is Dead,” Goodbye Enemy Airship The Landlord Is Dead, Constellation

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Jane Siberry, “Goodbye,” The Walking, Reprise
• Depeche Mode, “Love, in Itself,” Construction Time Again, Sire
• Scritti Politti, “The Boom Boom Bap,” White Bread Black Beer, Nonesuch/Rough Trade
• Mark Eitzel, “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?,” Music for Courage and Confidence, New West
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, “The Carnival Is Over,” Kicking Against the Pricks, Mute
• The Lilac Time, “Wait and See,” And Love for All, Fontana
• Donald Fagen, “Mary Shut the Garden Door,” Morph the Cat, Reprise
• Vinny Miller, “Bagged and Tagged,” On the Block, 4AD
• Common, “Jimi Was a Rock Star,” Electric Circus, MCA
• Sing-Sing, “Unseen,” Sing-Sing and I, Aerial
• Doves, “Firesuite,” Lost Souls, Astralwerks

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• The Pogues, “Dirty Old Town,” Rum, Sodomy and the Lash, WEA
• Low, “Bright,” Transmission EP, Vernon Yard
• Stina Nordenstam, “Crime,” And She Closed Her Eyes, East West
• A.R.Kane, “Suicide Kiss,” Sixty Nine, One Little Indian
• Nick Drake, “Parasite,” Pink Moon, Hannibal
• Lady and Bird, “Run in the Morning Sun,” Lady and Bird, Yellow Tangerine
• Neko Case & Her Boyfriends, “Porchlight,” Furnace Room Lullaby, Bloodshot
• Suzanne Vega, “Thin Man,” Nine Objects of Desire, A&M
• Dead Can Dance, “Advent,” Spleen and Ideal, 4AD
• Kate Bush, “Nocturn,” Aerial, Columbia
• Vetiver, “No One Word,” To Find Me Gone, Dicristina
• Robin Guthrie, “Monument,” Continental, Darla

Episode 42

     Today, it seems, the grind of weekly shows is finally starting to wear on me. Or maybe I’m still suffering from the effects of being outdoors in greater-than-95° weather for two days this past weekend at the Pitchfork Music Festival. And, as if the drain of the weekend wasn’t enough, people in the Chicago area know that the heat will continue sucking the life out of us all for at least another 36 hours (it was still near 88° when I walked to the studio at 11:30!).
     For me, in comparison to last year’s event, this year’s occasion for hipsters to roast in the sun (the aforementioned festival) was underwhelming. Were it not for surprisingly good sets by Diplo, Glenn Kotche, the Chicago Underground Duo, Os Mutantes, Yo La Tengo, Destroyer and Aesop Rock & Mr. Lif (the first three of which were in the small tent), I might have come away wanting my weekend back (for the record, I missed Jens Lekman). I haven’t yet gotten my hands on the latest recordings by the acts I really dug at the festival, so expect to hear more from them in the coming weeks. On this episode only one group from the festival is included: Mission of Burma. I joked to one of the guys in the small party that I hung with for both days that MoB’s spirited performance provided inspiration for middle-aged punks everywhere. Then again, Yo La Tengo’s did the same for aging “alternakids.”
     As for the rest of this morning’s show, what can I say that I haven’t said already about previous episodes? If I were to point out how strangely effective following Kris Kristofferson with P.J. Harvey was, you would recognize the conceit. The same would be true if I observed that the choice of tracks by Kristofferson, Curve, the 19.5 Collective, Iris DeMent, Big Star and Morsel was the result of my getting reacquainted with my home CD library. There is one new thing I can say: next week will feature a lot of great new stuff (that is if all of the deliveries make it to my apartment by next Monday). Stay tuned....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Scheer, “Babysize,” Infliction, 4AD
• Russian Futurists, “Pine Prisonyard,” Method of Modern Love, Upper Class
• Mission of Burma, “Einstein’s Day,” Vs., Rykodisc
• Aden, “Left Off Here,” Black Cow, Teenbeat
• Elliott Smith, “Christian Brothers,” Elliott Smith, Kill Rock Stars
• The Posies, “Mrs. Green,” Dear 23, Geffen
• Green on Red, “Over My Head,” Gravity Talks, Warner Brothers
• Curve, “Sandpit,” Doppelgänger, Charisma
• The Glove, “Sex-Eye-Make-Up,” Blue Sunshine, Polydor
• Rickie Lee Jones, “Scary Chinese Movie,” Ghostyhead, Reprise
• Pet Shop Boys, “Later Tonight,” Please, EMI
• Gema y Pável, “Noche de Ronda,” Cosa de Broma, Nubenegra/Intuition

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Iris DeMent, “Easy’s Gettin’ Harder Every Day,” My Life, Warner Brothers
• The Delgados, “Coming in from the Cold,” Hate, Minty Fresh
• Daníel Ágúst, “Sparks Fly,” Swallowed a Star, One Little Indian
• Trembling Blue Stars, “Snow Showers,” Broken by Whispers, Sub Pop
• Brian McBride, “Our Last Moment in Song,” When the Detail Lost Its Freedom, Kranky
• Le Volume Courbe, “Harmony,” I Killed My Best Friend, Honest Jon’s
• Cass McCombs, “Equinox,” PREfection, Monitor/4AD
• Kris Kristofferson, “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” Kristofferson, Monument
• P.J. Harvey, “The Garden,” Is This Desire?, Island
• Brookville, “Break Yourself,” Life in the Shade, Unfiltered
• The 19.5 Collective, “This Isn’t Jupiter,” The 19.5 Collective, Planet Ant
• Matthew Herbert, “Waste Land,” Plat du Jour, Accidental

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• Sufjan Stevens, “Sister,” Seven Swans, Asthmatic Kitty
• Rachel Goswell, “Plucked,” Waves Are Universal, 4AD
• Anja Garbarek, “Beyond My Control,” Balloon Mood, RCA
• Ryan Adams, “Wild Flowers,” Gold, Lost Highway
• Crowded House, “Kare Kare,” Together Alone, Capitol
• Morsel, “Wreck,” I’m a Wreck, Small Stone
• Sol Seppy, “A to N,” The Bells of 1 2, Gronland
• This Mortal Coil, “Come Here, My Love/At First, and Then,” Filigree & Shadow, 4AD
• Asobi Seksu, “Red Sea,” Citrus, Friendly Fire
• Lloyd Cole, “My Other Life,” Music in a Foreign Language, One Little Indian
• Big Star, “Dream Lover,” Third/Sister Lovers, Ryko

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)

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

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

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

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....

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

Episode 33: Stealing from Blue Glass (And Myself)

     Don’t worry: I’m not going to give every single show a subtitle. Aside from my unsure powers of creativity, my continuing to do so would probably quickly become annoying. There is a good reason, however, for this particular subtitle. The first part of it refers to the fact that I derive a lot of inspiration from (and spend a lot of money based on) the programming decisions of other DJs. For the last couple of months, I’ve derived immense pleasure from a weekly show called Vidro Azul (Blue Glass) broadcast (and podcast) by Ricardo Mariano from the University of Coimbra in Portugal. When my friend Pedro first sent me the link for the show, I was struck by the amount of overlap there is between what Mariano plays and what I often try to do. His show reveals impeccable taste and gives me something to aspire to. To be sure, I don’t dig everything he plays, but if you like my show, chances are really high that you’ll love his. Several of the items in this morning’s episode, indeed, are by artists I heard for the first time on Vidro Azul, but you wouldn’t have known that without this disclosure.
     The part of the subtitle in parentheses is a nod to how my insane workload over the last several weeks has ironically afforded me more time to listen to the varied CDs I have at home. As a result, I’ve been able to dig more deeply into the things I own, love, and have never played on the radio. In other words, all of the listening has given me another challenge: can I create a show that sits well alongside the others, but doesn’t rely heavily on the large but relatively stable set of artists I often program? I guess you, dear listeners, will be the judges of that....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• The Pretenders, “Brass in Pocket,” The Pretenders, Sire
• Bauhaus, “Kick in the Eye 2,” Mask, Beggars Banquet
• Peter Murphy, “Roll Call,” Deep, Beggars Banquet
• The Jesus & Mary Chain, “Drop,” Automatic, Blanco y Negro
• Odawas, “Song of Recompense,” The Aether Eater, Jagjaguwar
• Radar Bros., “Papillon,” The Fallen Leaf Pages, Merge
• The Lilac Time, “The Nursery Walls,” Looking for a Day in the Night, spinART
• Johnny Cash, “That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day),” American III: Solitary Man, American Recordings
• Cousteau, “Mesmer,” Cousteau, Palm Pictures
• Celebration, “Holiday,” Celebration, 4AD
• Rachel’s, “Artemisia,” Selenography, Quarterstick
• The Apartments, “Everything Is Given to Be Taken Away,” Apart, Hot

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Primal Scream, “The Lord Is My Shotgun,” Evil Heat, Epic
• Galaxie 500, “Strange,” On Fire, Ryko
• Cass McCombs, “My Pilgrim Dear,” A, Monitor
• Frankie Goes to Hollywood, “Fury/Born to Run,” Welcome to the Pleasuredome, ZTT
• Grandaddy, “Campershell Dreams,” Just like the Fambly Cat, V2
• Colin Newman, “Troisieme,” A–Z, Beggars Banquet
• AOKI Takamasa and Tujiko Noriko, “NOLICOM,” 28, Fat Cat
• Sondre Lerche, “On the Tower,” Two Way Monologue, Astralwerks
• Richard Buckner, “Lil Wallet Picture,” Devotion & Doubt, MCA
• Johnny Adams, “Reconsider Me,” Night Train to Nashville: Music City Rhythm & Blues, 1945–1970, CMF/Lost Highway
• Cassandra Wilson, “Lost,” Thunderbird, Blue Note
• XTC, “The Last Balloon,” Apple Venus, Vol. 1, TVT

Episode 32: Tributes and Memories

     On days when things are going well, there is something almost magical and inspired about the way a show comes together. In some ways, my process makes that possible but doesn’t necessarily ensure that things will go well. Usually, I spend the time between shows reading print and online reviews and features, buying CDs, doing a lot of listening and slowly compiling a list of songs I might play. By the time I sit down to make final decisions, I have more songs than can fit in a two- or three-hour show, so I keep the leftovers for future episodes. Deciding what to exclude is only one difficult part of the process. Sometimes a tune that I really was excited about just doesn’t work so well alongside the others—because of its sound, its length, etc. And, in other cases, more pressing circumstances intervene to make some choices more timely than others (more on that below). In any event, the next, perhaps more difficult step is deciding the running order. Which tune will start the show? Which one will close the show? How can I group things together in (and, yes, it is this precise) sets that average about 13 minutes and 30 seconds? And, most importantly, how do I manage the transitions from song to song and set to set?
     So, what makes this morning’s show so special? First, I really love the tracks and the transitions. Second, I think I responded well to two news items: one that came on Saturday and another that, as far I know, has gotten much less attention: the death of Grant McLennan of the Go-Betweens and the approaching 25th anniversary of Bob Marley’s death (11 May), respectively. The two tributes, as you see below, get pride of place on this episode. I’m especially pleased with the Marley segment, as it begins with an oblique but knowing tribute from Stevie Wonder and then proceeds with less-often heard pieces from Marley’s output: an early Wailers tune, the B-side of the “Waiting in Vain” single, and one underrated tune (my favorite) from the second-to-last studio album released during Marley’s lifetime. Third (remember, we were counting), this episode features a number of tracks that carry resonant memories for me: Selecter reminds me of the early days of free-format programming on MTV; the Aztec Camera tune takes me back to high school; the Héctor Lavoe song reminds me of my time in New York when I really started understanding and digging salsa; and the Bill Frisell tune reminds me of one my mentors in graduate school, the late Mark Tucker, who played that song for me on a brilliantly beautiful spring afternoon almost exactly nine years ago.
     So, yes, this morning’s show came together quite well. I hope those of you who got to listen enjoyed it, even without having as much time or memory invested in it. But, then again, maybe you have (or created) your own touchstones. And maybe, just maybe, this episode contained a revelatory moment for you....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• The Go-Betweens, “Twin Layers of Lightning,” Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express, Beggars Banquet
• Lisa Germano, “We Suck,” Excerpts from a Love Circus, 4AD
• Robert Wyatt, “5 Black Notes and 1 White Note,” Ruth Is Stranger than Richard, Hannibal
• The Selecter, “Celebrate the Bullet,” Celebrate the Bullet, Chrysalis
• Stereolab, “‘Get a Shot of the Refrigerator,’” Fab Four Suture, Pure
• Boards of Canada, “Telephasic Workshop,” Music Has the Right to Children, Warp
• Aztec Camera, “The Birth of the True,” Knife, WEA
• The High Violets, “Invitation,” To Where You Are, Reverb
• The Flaming Lips, “Vein of Stars,” At War with the Mystics, Warner Brothers
• Great Lake Swimmers, “Let’s Trade Skins,” Bodies and Minds, Misra
• Héctor Lavoe, “La Verdad,” Comedia, Fania
• Cheikh Lô, “Toogayo M’Bedd,” Lamp Fall, Nonesuch

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Stevie Wonder, “Master Blaster (Jammin’),” Hotter than July, Motown
• The Wailers, “Hammer,” Songs of Freedom (Boxed Set), Tuff Gong
• Bob Marley & the Wailers, “Talkin’,” Talkin’ Blues, Tuff Gong
• Bob Marley & the Wailers, “Roots,” Rebel Music, Tuff Gong
• Bob Marley & the Wailers, “One Drop,” Survival, Tuff Gong
• Gastr del Sol, “Eight Corners,” Mirror Repair, Drag City
• Bill Frisell, “One of These Days,” Nashville, Nonesuch
• Inara George, “No Poem,” All Rise, Everloving
• Van Hunt, “Character,” On the Jungle Floor, Capitol
• The Impressions, “We’re a Winner,” The Anthology 1961–1977, MCA
• Neil Finn, “Truth,” Try Whistling This, Work
• Slowdive, “Sing,” Souvlaki, SBK

Episode 31

     I am so ready for sleep right now, but I can’t totally commit to it until this post is complete. Another show is in the can, and more than some recent others, I’m looking forward to hearing this one. I’m still toying with transitions and fades between songs, but given the less than ideal monitoring options in the studio (what we hear is not even an approximation of the processed signal going out over the airwaves), much of what I can do is guesswork in the moment, followed by listening to the show later, and trying to correct things on the next show. I hope the time I’ve spent results in a better experience for those of you in the WHPK listening area.
     There’s not much more to be said about this morning’s show. It mildly realizes some of the promises I made in the previous post. You can, over time, expect to hear many more things that might at first seem incongruous. It’s all part of my plan for world domination. You did know about my plan, didn’t you? Oh, no, I’ve said too much....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• The The, “Soul Mining,” Soul Mining, Epic
• Lush, “De-Luxe,” Gala, 4AD
• Sherman Irby, “Big Mama’s Biscuits,” Big Mama’s Biscuits, Blue Note
• Mice Parade, “Steady as She Goes,” Bem-Vinda Vontade, Bubblecore
• The Soft Boys, “Where Are the Prawns?” Underwater Moonlight … and How It Got There, Matador
• Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins, “Born Secular,” Rabbit Fur Coat, Team Love
• Billy Bragg, “The Tracks of My Tears,” Talking with the Taxman about Poetry (Expanded Edition), Yep Roc
• Mick Karn, “The Three Fates,” Dreams of Reason Produce Monsters, Virgin
• Blue States, “Your Girl,” Nothing Changes Under the Sun, Eighteenth Street Lounge
• David Bowie, “I Have Not Been to Oxford Town,” Outside, Virgin
• Sia, “Don’t Bring Me Down,” Colour the Small One, Astralwerks
• Apostle of Hustle, “Song for Lorca,” Folkloric Feel, Arts and Crafts

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Konono N°1, “Masikulu,” Congotronics, Crammed
• Marianne Faithfull, “There Is a Ghost,” Before the Poison, Anti
• Johnny Marr & the Healers, “Something to Shout About,” Boomslang, ARTISTdirect
• Gang of Four, “I Will Be a Good Boy,” Songs of the Free, Warner Brothers
• His Name Is Alive, “Send My Face,” Detrola, Silver Mountain
• Liz Phair, “Canary,” Exile in Guyville, Matador
• New Order, “Elegia,” Low-Life, Qwest
• Cat Power, “Where Is My Love?” The Greatest, Matador
• Al Green, “Summertime,” Green Is Blues, Hi
• The Arcade Fire, “In the Backseat,” Funeral, Merge
• Cocteau Twins, “Primitive Heart,” Tishbite (II), Fontana
• Shawn Colvin, “Twilight,” Cover Girl, Columbia

Departing from Principle ... Accidentally

     In a previous post, I mentioned that at some point in the second year of ECI’s existence, I would relax my policy of not playing selections that had appeared in any previous show. I thought I hadn’t arrived at the relaxation point yet. So, imagine my surprise when, checking items for the next show, I learned moments ago that a track I played on Episode 30 — Laurie Anderson’s “Smoke Rings” — was also played way back there, on Episode 12. I mention this, of course, only because there might be someone out there with way too much time on his/her hands who might want to point that out. I’m just saying that I already know. While I am saddened and disappointed in myself, I will go on. But, frankly, I’m enjoying the variety policy as a way of avoiding falling into a rut. For now, that is all....

Episode 30

     If you’ve been paying attention to the playlists over the last several months, you might have noticed that ECI is basically a rock show with occasional R&B, country, dance/electronic or hip-hop tracks thrown in. In part, that’s because my initial idea for the show was for it to be ethereal, gauzy and showgazey. While I’m still more or less committed to that vision, there are times when it seems a bit too confining and doesn’t give me the chance to explore the breadth of things that I like and want to program.
     So this morning’s show was perhaps a sign of things to come. There are so many more pop-oriented things in this show that some of you might wonder whether the same DJ was putting it together. And I was the same person — just showing some different sides. If things keep going the way they are, it won’t be long before you hear George Michael on the show. And that’s not a threat. Think of it as a promise....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Soul II Soul, “Feeling Free,” Keep on Movin’, Virgin
• Bob Marley and the Wailers, “Sun Is Shining,” Kaya, Island
• T. Rex, “Planet Queen,” Electric Warrior, Reprise
• Icehouse, “Hey, Little Girl,” Primitive Man, Chrysalis
• Ron Sexsmith, “Several Miles,” Ron Sexsmith, Interscope
• Edith Frost, “My Lover Won’t Call,” It’s a Game, Drag City
• Van Hunt, “Daredevil, Baby,” On the Jungle Floor, Capitol
• Gil Scott-Heron, “The Bottle,” Winter in America, Strata East
• Morcheeba, “Slow Down,” Charango, Reprise
• Lamb, “Fly,” Fear of Fours, Fontana
• EPMD, “So Wat Cha Sayin’,” Unfinished Business, Priority
• The Juan Maclean, “My Time Is Running Out,” Less Than Human, Astralwerks

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Laurie Anderson, “Smoke Rings,” Home of the Brave (Soundtrack), Warner Brothers
• Tom Waits, “Heigh Ho (The Dwarfs Marching Song),” Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films, A&M
• The Books, “S Is for Evrysing,” The Lemon of Pink, Tomlab
• The Flaming Lips, “Pompeii am Götterdämerung,” At War with the Mystics, Warner Brothers
• Cassandra Wilson, “Strike a Match,” Thunderbird, Blue Note
• John Martyn, “Don’t Want to Know,” Solid Air, Island
• Donald Fagen, “What I Do,” Morph the Cat, Reprise
• Tim Buckley, “Song to the Siren,” Works in Progress, Rhino
• Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Green Fingers,” A Kiss in the Dreamhouse, Geffen
• Eurythmics, “This City Never Sleeps,” Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), RCA
• Madness, “Coldest Day,” Mad Not Mad, Geffen
• Andy Bey, “River Man,” Shades of Bey, Evidence

Episode 29

     This has been a particularly exhausting time in ECI-land. For the third week straight, I’ve put together a three-hour show. I keep wondering when I’ll run out of items in my personal CD library to play on air. Somehow, though, every time I sit down to start plotting out a show, I find more than enough songs that will tickle my ears and yours for the duration of the show. (Yes, I know I could use the station’s library, but where would the challenge be in that? Besides much of what I like to program isn’t on offer in it.)
     On this morning’s show, I got to a few things that I’ve been wanting to play for a while, but for various reasons wasn’t able to fit into the program. Among them was the Pat Metheny track, which I had intended to play (I believe) back in January, but the station’s CD players apparently had different ideas then. For a long time, I’ve also wanted to play something by the Jacobites and, upon learning of Nikki Sudden’s death last week, figured it was time actually to do so. The Jacobites remind me of the early and mid-1980s, when I spent most of my time listening to WRVU-FM from Vanderbilt University in my hometown. Waxing nostalgic about those years led me back to one of the other artists I heard there frequently: the Nashville-based songwriter, singer and guitarist Bill Lloyd. Just thinking about him (and other artists like Will Rambeaux) meant that I had to program his best-known tune.
     The schedule for the spring quarter is still being put together, but should start next week. I’ve put my requests in. Now I just have to wait to see what comes out. Soon all will know....

• 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
• Blur, “Oily Water,” Modern Life Is Rubbish, SBK
• Laura Veirs, “Snow Camping,” Carbon Glacier, Nonesuch
• Sia, “Moon,” Colour the Small One, Astralwerks
• Nine Horses, “Darkest Birds,” Snow Borne Sorrow, Samadhi Sound
• David Bowie, “Rebel, Rebel,” Diamond Dogs, Virgin
• Chris Bell, “I Am the Cosmos,” I Am the Cosmos, Ryko
• Jacobites, “Silver Street,” Jacobites, Glass
• Tanya Donelly, “Golden Mean,” Whiskey Tango Ghosts, 4AD
• Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins, “You Are What You Love,” Rabbit Fur Coat, Team Love
• Sublux, “Memory of Rain,” Nothing That Is Still, Selective Focus
• Pat Metheny and David Bowie, “This Is Not America,” The Falcon and the Snowman—Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, EMI
• Blonde Redhead, “Hated Because of Great Qualities,” Misery of Certain Damaged Lemons, Touch and Go

• 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
• Prince, “The Word,” 3121, NPG
• Bill Lloyd, “Feeling the Elephant,” Feeling the Elephant, DB
• Neko Case, “Star Witness,” Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, Anti
• Catherine Irwin, “Power of My Love,” Cut Yourself a Switch, Thrill Jockey
• Electrelane, “The Valleys,” The Power Out, Too Pure
• The Sea and Cake, “The Leaf,” Oui, Thrill Jockey
• M. Ward, “Paul’s Song,” Transistor Radio, Merge
• Frou Frou, “Breathe In,” Details, MCA
• Esthero, “That Girl,” Breath from Another, Work
• Gomez, “1000 Times,” In Our Gun, Virgin
• Prefab Sprout, “The Ice Maiden/Paris Smith,” Jordan: The Comeback, Epic
• Sondre Lerche and the Faces Down Quartet, “Nightingales,” Duper Sessions, Astralwerks

• 2:00–3:00 a.m.:
• The Cure, “At Night,” Seventeen Seconds, Fiction
• Split Enz, “Six Months in a Leaky Boat,” Time and Tide, Mushroom
• Modern English, “Dawn Chorus,” After the Snow, 4AD
• Talking Heads, “Drugs,” Fear of Music, Sire
• Vortex Original Soundtrack, “Black Box Disco,” New York Noise, Vol. 2: Music from the New York Underground, 1977–1984, Soul Jazz
• Sufjan Stevens, “Vito’s Ordination Song,” Greetings from Michigan, The Great Lake State, Asthmatic Kitty
• Stereolab, “Excursions into ‘Oh, A-Oh,’” Fab Four Suture, Pure
• Mercury Rev, “Tides of the Moon,” All Is Dream, V2
• The Style Council, “The Paris Match,” Introducing the Style Council, Polydor
• Emiliana Torrini, “Thinking Out Loud,” Fisherman’s Woman, Rough Trade
• Cocteau Twins, “Pink Orange Red,” Tiny Dynamine, 4AD