Subshow #17 - 7/18/12

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Since Saramin wanted to go off and do A2 Art Fair stuff methinks, I took her show! Yay! I know this post took a long time, but I promise it'll be worth it. I love a lot of the stuff I played, and it's always fun to get outside of my 9am-noon slot to bring some music to you. For this particular episode I had a guest with me, which was super fun, and should happen way more often.

Also, let me put this out here: if any of you ever want to come to my show. I mean, come IN PERSON to my show, please just give me a holler. I like to think I'm a pretty friendly person, and you could even help me pick out music and I can show you around. There's this thing called the 6 O'Clock Shadow we have every Friday at 6pm where we invite listeners to come in and try out the DJ thing, but don't let that limit you to when you can come to the studio. We are always in need of new DJs, and I bet if you like WCBN, then you probably have thought about what it's like.

Anyway, onto the music. 

[Artist: Song - Album]

1. Michna: Triple Chrome Dipped - Magic Monday
2. Lynn Gold: Sweet Potatoes - Lynn Gold
3. Cristian Vogel: La Isla Piscola (For The Traveling Fish Lover Version) - La Isla Piscola
4. Les Go De Koteba: Kele Magni - Les Go De Koteba
5. Red Krayola: Bad Medicine - Fingerpainting
6. Rasputina: High On Life - Frustration Plantation
7. Flaco Jimenez: Mala Movida - Buena Suerte, Señorita
8. Cataract: with Triumph comes Loss - with Triumph comes Loss
9. Les Rita Mits Ouko: Marcia Baila - The No Comprendo
10. Elena Kats-Chernin: Green Leaf Prelude - Ragtime & Blue
11. Huun-Huur-Tu: Xöömeyimny Kagbas-La Men (I Will Not Abandon My Xöömei) - Where Young Grass Grows
12. Danny Stewart: Silhouette Hula - Hawaiian Favorites
13. General D + Funk 'N Lata: Sobi Esse Pano, Mano - Onda Sonora
14. rephlex: Jelly Fish - cat 027cd
15. Mad Gregs: Twelve Tone - Big Nun
16. Ladysmith Black Mambazo: Kangivumanga (I Disagreed) - Thuthukani Ngoxolo (Let's develop in peace)
17. The Volumes: Ain't Gonna Give You Up - Detroit Gold
18. Paul Tripp: Snow White and Red Rose - Snow White and Red Rose
19. Ether: 35' 45N 139' 45E - music for air raids
20. Niederflur: Bahnhof Deutz/Messe - Minus
21. Osborne: Afrika - Afrika EP
22. Fugees: Take It Easy (Radio Edit) - Take It Easy
23. Tegan and Sara: Knife Going In - The Con
24. The Vienna New Symphony: Rosamunde Overture - Schubert: Unfinished Symphony, etc.
25. Cosmetic: So Tranquilization - So Tranquilization
26. New York City Gay Men's Chorus: I Hear Bells - Love Lives On

Highs:

1. Snow White and Red Rose: This layering was a lot of fun, and I kind of was planning it from the beginning of the show, and waiting for a good time to bring it out. I've been reading a lot of Fables, and the character Red Rose is in it, but I had never heard of her, despite my self-proclaimed knowledge of fairy tales. The thing about the comic series is that it's a bit darker and more mature than other versions of these fairy tales you might have heard, so I wanted to emphasize that with the Ether and Niederflur tracks that I layered along with it.
2. Cataract: This was a nice mid-length track to play, which is a nice balance between the really short thrash-core metal songs, and the 20-minute stoner metal songs you can find around the station. I love me some metal guys.
3. Fugees: I'm kind of obsessed with them right now, and I think that I need to play more. 

Lows:

1. Gay Men's Chorus?: This wasn't as good as I thought it would be, but I think that the fact that it's a Gay Men's Chorus makes up for it. Hahaha.
2. General awkwardness: I was a little distracted sometimes during the show, so some of the transitions weren't perfect, but sometimes that happens when I'm by myself anyway, so whatever.

Thanks for listening as always! Get ready for more updates!

Subshow #16 - 5/9/12

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Today was a bit of a strange show for me because one of my very good friends was in the studio with me, and immediately before subbing Saramin's show, I hosted the very first episode of the Sex and Tell Show, which is a public affairs show I'm doing this semester with a friend, so I was a little...crazed is the word.

Regardless, I think it was a good show, and I happened upon a few good songs! Hope you like it!

[Artist: Song - Album]

1. Burton Green: Variations on a Coffee Machine - Variations on a Coffee Machine
2. Kraftwerk: Trans-Europe Express - Trans-Europe Express
3. Modern Barbershop Quartet: Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree - Modern Barbershop Quartet
4. Various: Disco Mickey Mouse - Mickey Mouse Disco
5. The East St. Louis Gospelettes: There Is No Seniority With God - Movin' On Up
6. The Budos Band: Raja Haje - III
7. Heartbeat of Africa: various
8. Chica Libre: Danza Del Millonario - Canibalismo
9. Johnny Cash: Lost On The Desert - The Sound of Johnny Cash
10. The Shamen: Deep Psi - Make It Mine
11. Anand Badamikar: Tintal - Anand Badamikar (tabla)
12. Les Innocents: Les Fantomes de Lorraine - Cent Metres Au Paradis
13. My Dear Disco: Clubbin' - My Dear Disco EP
14. Mirah: Don't! - Don't!
15. Ella Fitzgerald: How High The Moon - Mack the Knife Ella in Berlin
16. Ukrainska Selka Orchestra: Polka Mazurka - Aimer Et Perdre
17. Mato Grosso: Thunder (I) - Thunder
18. Ruth Wallis: Cape Canaveral Blues - Boobs
19. Shigeto: Sky of the Revolution - Full Circle
20. Randy Grief: A Pool Of Tears - Alice In Wonderland pt. 1
21. Celestial Navigations: It Was Our Great Romance - Chapter V
22. Inkhav: El Inca Atahualpa - Soul of the Andes
23. Tim Sparks: La Rosa Enflorece - Tanz

Movin' Up:

1. Mickey Disco: I win radio with this. You're welcome. 
2. Ruth Wallis: I love this CD so much. And now I own it. More to come on that in another post.
3. Celestial Navigations: This never gets old. 

Movin' Down:

1. Starting with long track: Tell me if I'm wrong, but that makes the set a little slow...right? 
2. Premature Song Playing: As I was at the station, my friend and I were also having dinner, and she went to my apartment to grab some Nutella for our bread, and I accidentally, and in a state of panic, played the song that she had picked out to hear. I'm still sorry about that.
3. Thunder: Not as epic as I thought. Hm. 

Until next time!

Subshow #15 - 2/29/12

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I'm only 55 years old! Weeee!

Happy Leap Year and Happy Birthday Gioachino Rossini, folks!

I knew I wanted to start this set off right when I heard that it was Rossini's birthday, because he is a composer near and dear to my heart. I've sung a lot of his music, I've watched a lot of his operas, and I think that if he were alive, we might be able to have a beer together pretty easily. Maybe that's my classical fangirl side coming out though. I was very happy to play so much Rossini, and especially to find the Bugs Bunny clip online. I also got a call requesting The Thieving Magpie (La gazza ladra) from a listener, which I wouldn't have found on the "A Clockwork Orange" soundtrack. So thanks!

Janelle Monae as a robot. NBD.

The second major part of my show was space themed, but not for any reason, and definitely not intentionally. I think it started with Rare Air, and was broken up by Doctor Zhivago and Nicolai Gedda, and continued until the end, which really makes up about half my show. And I would date to call the mini Russian set "Zhivago in Space," simply to keep the theme in tact. While I was slowly realizing the monster I had created with the space theme, I started to get a few calls into the station. One request for Mose Allison, and another request for Blackalicious. If I hadn't gotten that extra push to keep the theme going, I think I might have given up. After I got those requests, something stirred inside me, and I not only wanted to keep finding space/chemistry themed songs/artist, but it was almost a compulsion. If I didn't find something, I would have failed myself.

I forgot how long 2.5 hours is for some reason. The last time I did a 3-hour show is when I had my 3-6am slot last semester. Since then I've pretty much only done 1-2 hour slots. It's amazing what an extra 30 minutes can do for your creativity. One to the playlist, and I hope you enjoy it! Perhaps you should buy a cup of coffee and sit down with a comic before you listen. Take a few hours off. 

[Artist: Song - Album]

1. Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra: Barber of Seville Overture - Rossini Overtures
2. Milan Symphony Orchestra: Dunque io son! - Rossini: The Barber of Seville
3. Various: What's Opera, Doc? - That's All Folks!
4. Rossini: The Thieving Magpie (Abridge) - A Clockwork Orange
5. Various: Bugs Bunny Barber of Seville - YouTube
6. New York Philharmonic: Quartet (Andante) - Rossini: Stabat Mater
7. Final Fantasy: This Lamb Sells Condos - He Poos Clouds
8. Ella Fitzgerald: A Foggy Day - Jazz at the Philharmonic
9. Gnawa Bambara: Sasadi Manayou - Mallem Abdenbi El Gadari
10. Múm: I little bit, sometimes - Go Go Smear The Poison Ivy
11. Aretha Franklin: Don't Play That Song - Live At Fillmore West
12. Cheapshot: Ieyasu - zOMG!!
13. Chico Mann: Guárdalo (El Silencio) - Analog Drift
14. Harry Belafonte: Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair) - Harry Belafonte
15. Bhai Gaitonde: Drut Laya - Bhai Gaitonde (tabla)
16. Märtini Brös: The Biggest Fan - Primavera Sound 2003
17. EAS TEST
18. Dream Warriors: Man Smart, Woman Smarter - Buffy The Vampire Slayer Movie OST
19. Rare Air: C'est Fou, C'est Toi, C'est Tout - Space Piper
20. Maurice Jarre: At The Hospital - Doctor Zhivago OST
21. Nicolai Gedda: Grey Foggy Morning - Evening Bells & Other Russian Folk Songs
22. Maurice Jarre: Lara Is Charming - Doctor Zhivago OST
23. The Bucketheads: Time And Space - All In The Mind
24. Press: Over The Moon - The Fine Art of a White Label
25. Barret Clark: (side 1) - Introduction to Atomic Energy and Outer Space
26. Fushitsusha: (track 1) - DBL Live vol. 1
27. Cyclob: we never said goodbye - Music System vol. 1
28. Mose Allison: Your Molecular Structure - The Best of Mose Allison
29. Polysics: Ceolakanth Is Android - Now is the time!
30. Blackalicious: Chemical Calesthenics - Blazing Arrow
31. The Cambodian Space Project: Wait 10 Months More - 2011: A Space Odyssey
32. Starscream: Space Party Anthem - Future, and It Doesn't Work
33. DJ Food: All Covered In Darkness - The Search Engine
34. John Williams: Across the Stars - Stars Wars Episode II Attack of the Clones Soundtrack Special
35. Janelle Monae: Violet Stars Happy Hunting!!! - Metropolis: The Chase Suite
36. Science Fiction Dance Party: Monster on Saturn I - Dance With Action

ZOMG!:

1. Rossini: I was talking to another DJ, and we both agreed that at a non-freeform station, playing the same artist 5 songs in a row would not be allowed, but because we're WCBN, we can celebrate Rossini's birthday properly.
2. Ella: Because I had just come in from the fog, I really enjoyed playing "A Foggy Day," and I hope it made the fog a bit more romantic for someone. 
3. Atomic Energy layering: Within the space theme, this was definitely my favorite moment. I loved layering just a couple of simple things and letting it play out. It's rare that I get a voice-only track to layer with music, and this was a piece of gold. 

NOMG!:

1. Kill da Wabbit: I really didn't want to play this track. I meant to play the Barber of Seville Bugs Bunny track, but apparently that wasn't on the CD. Womp womp.
2. EAS TEST: Not that I can do anything about it, but I hope it doesn't bother you too much.
3. Not enough Star Wars: I should have played this whole effing CD when I found it. It's so good.

Live long and prosper, listeners. 

Subshow #14 - 2/27/12

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Guess who took another subshow slot?! Heheheh. HehehEHehehehehEHEHEHE. HEHEHEHHEHEHEHEHEHEH!

I also went recording shopping recently, which is where about a third of today's set comes from. It was interesting to bring in my own records from home, which is something I've seen other DJs do. I've on occasion brought a single record with me, but this time I literally brought 5 or 6, almost on compulsion, because I wanted you all to hear my new jams.

The Tchaikovsky especially was fun to play for me, since it gave me a lot of warm fuzzy memories about freshman year when I was in the chorus for "Eugene Onegin" when the University put it on. It's one of my top 5 favorite operas, and something I highly suggest if you don't get into opera that much.

Pretty straight-forward set, so I'll just let you listen to it. 

[Artist: Song - Album]

1. Leonard Berstein & New York Philharmonic: Tchaikovsky: Polonaise from Eugene Onegin, Op. 24 - Great Performances
2. Rhythm Heritage: Dance The Night Away - Last Night On Earth
3. Trip Scope: Korrosion - Trip Scope
4. P-Rine & Yungin': She Be Gettin' Money - She Be Gettin' Money
5. USSR Russian Chorus: Do Not Sew Me A Wedding Sarafan, Mother - The White Birch Tree & Other Russian Songs
6. Patato: Descarga en Faux - The Legend of Cuban Percussion
7. Hail Social: Warning Sign - Warning Sign
8. KC and the Sunshine Band: Come To My Island - KC and the Sunshine Band
9. LCD Soundsystem: North American Scum - LCD Soundsystem
10. Venus Cures All: Satan Be Gone - Rock Is The Best
11. Fred Frith: O wie schön ist Panama! - Gravity
12. Georges Brassens: Je m'suis fait tout petit - Le Meilleur de la Chanson Française
13. Elie Attieh: Inta omri - Bellylicious
14. Secret Twins: Native (loop) - Ill Fit
15. Charles Bradley: Why Is It So Hard? - No Time For Dreaming
16. Celestial Navigations: Letters From The Revolution-Dear Mollie - The Connection
17. Buck Clayton: Night Train - Songs for Swingers
18. Arctic Monkeys: Crying Lightning - Humbug
19. Mary Lou Williams: Miss D.D. - Black Christ of the Andes
20. Various: Rubber Television - Night Recordings from Bali
21. New Klezmer Trio: Hot and Cold - Masks and Faces

Hot:

1. Secret Twins: I don't grab from the new section often, but when I do I'm always really pleased, and this happens to be a local selection as well! Might be grabbing this again soon in the future. 
2. Rhythm Heritage: I think I'm obsessed. I knew I hit gold, but now I'm in for the win. 
3. Arctic Monkeys: I'm a big fan of the Arctic Monkeys, and I was pretty pleased when I found our collection of CDs in the library, especially because there's more than one album I don't have. 

Cold:

1. Come To My Island: While I was running around the station I got a message from Brian Tomsic saying how horrible the KC and the Sunshine Band song was, and I think I agree. It's pretty dreadful.
2. Announcements: Not that I'm perfect at reading the concert/events information, but today was pretty bad. Sorry about that. Maybe I should talk slower. And not ramble so much. 
3. Lazy Transitions: Nothing to do here. 

Thanks for reading/listening/whatevering! Keep doing that!

Subshow #13 - 2/25/12

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From ExplodingDog.com

Right before spring break started there were a few emergency posts on the sub board, and one of them was the locally famous Robot Pasta slot. As I was telling my special guest in the studio, I love subbing this slot, because my creative flow seems to really push itself. In a similar way to how the 3-6am slot can really get the midnight juices flowing, so does this slot for me. 

I'm really happy with how things went, and I found a lot of good albums in the process. The best part was a major point of layering about 3/4 of the way through. Sometimes I really fail at layering, but this time I think I've figured out how to really go about it:

1. Pick from different genres
2. Preview all songs
3. Make sure rhythmic schemes are conducive
4. IMPORTANT: Make sure all have space

This last one is more important than all of the other steps, and this is why: space allows you to hear every component of the layering. I've been trying for awhile to figure out the key to layering, and each time I make this my main goal, I generally succeed. Not all music can be layered (or rather, not all music SHOULD be layered), but with the right music, many things are possible.

But anyway, let's get to the list.

[Artist: Song - Album]

1. Eartha Kitt: I'm An Old Fashioned Girl - Thursday's Child
2. The Fantastic Pikes: Ghostriders In The Sky - The Synthesizer Sound Machine
3. Tiny Tim w/Brave Combo: Hey Jude - Girl
4. Matmos: Z.O.C.K. - The Civil War
5. Fats Domino: Jambalaya - Cookin' With Fats
6. Paul Crossley: La cathèdrale engloutie - Debussy: Complete Works for Solo Piano
7. Alexander Illitch Eppler: Russian Merriment - Barinya
8. Grupo Fantasma: Sacatelo Bailando - El Existential
9. Gender Wayang Pemarwan: Sekar Gendotan - The Mahabharata
10. Cornelius: Gum - Sensuous
11. Tom Waits: Such A Scream - Bone Machine
12. Elizabeth Cotten: Freight Train - Classic Railroad Songs
13. Loketo: Malou - Extra Ball
14. Coin: The park - Architects of Character
15. The Chiffons: One Fine Day - Wonder Women
16. Thomas Cartwright and the Boys: Watermelon Is Spoilin' On The Vine - The Bahamas Islands of Song
17. Roy Eldridge: Honeysuckle Rose - Sweets, Lips & Lots of Jazz
18. Poi Dog Pondering: Sandra At The Beach - Mixx On The Fly
19. Mohamed Mounir: Aalli saotak - Arabesque
20. 400 Blows: The Man Who Danced Himself To Death - Sickness & Health
21. Frank Sinatra: I Could Have Danced All Night - Live in Australia, 1959
22. The Chemical Brothers: Snow - Further
23. Omar and the Howlers: Pushin' Fire - Courts of Lulu
24. Ghazal: Snowy Mountains - As Night Falls On The Silk Road
25. The Kovenant: The Dark Conquest - In Times Before The Light
26. Cassie Franklin: Lady Margret - Cold Mountain Soundtrack
27. Smokey Robinson and The Miracles: Tears of a Clown - 1957-1972
28. Vincenzo Culotta: Lady Gaga Fugue - YouTube
29. Moon-A-Tiks: Did You Ever See A Moon-A-Tik? - Meet The Moon-A-Tiks
30. Louis Prima and His New Orleans Gang: In A Little Gypsy Tearoom - Little Club Jazz
31. Gomer Pyle: If You Want Me To - Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.
32. The Shaggs: My Pal Foot Foot - The Shaggs
33. Einstürzende Neubauten: Tische - Faustmusik
34. Kohwi: Reeling The Warmth & Weekroot - Hidden Trees

Good:

1. The Fantastic Pikes: I knew that this album was going to be good when I saw a woman in a plastic ball pit on the cover in classic '80s electronic style. 
2. Coin: Wow, I think I might be in love. Too bad you can't marry chiptune albums in this state yet. 
3. Epic Layering: Ghazal + Kovenant + Cassie Franklin = Possibly the longest amount of cacophony I've put on the air. I wasn't sure if the Cassie Franklin was going to mix well, but I'm glad I ended up mixing it. The three sounds were just different enough to not collide too much. 

Bad:

1. Gomer Pyle: This was so bad it was almost good...almost. 
2. Cutting off Gaga: As much as I love the Moon-A-Tiks, I didn't mean to start playing them in the middle of the Gaga fugue.

Stay tuned for more show updates!

Surprise Radiozilla #3 - 2/26/12

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Minekawa-san with a cat

 Konnichiwa, minna-san! Today's Radiozilla is brought to you by...*drumroll*...a surprise no-show DJ after the Latin show! Luckily, I really like Radiozilla, and I really like WCBN, and I'm on spring break, so I was happy to stay.

Miyavi-san with a cat

Honestly, I didn't feel great about this show, purely because I wasn't prepared to actually DJ this show. I usually come to the station about 15-30 minutes before I do a show so that I can pick out music, and accumulate a nice pile of CDs/LPs so that I don't have to run around the station a lot. Unfortunately, that's exactly what I was doing this time. For a freeform show it's pretty easy to operate like that, because I have the freedom to literally grab whatever I want. But with an all-Japanese show, I must grab Japanese music. Here's the trick: there's no Japanese section. I need to literally scan all of the sections to find Japanese artists, or go from the Japanese artists that I know. I had a little bit of help from a special guest in the station, but I still felt a bit stressed. I hope that didn't come across.

Although this show isn't cat themed, I hope you like these pictures of two amazing artists which you will hear in this set with some cats (fake and real ones), and this other picture of a cat meme!

[Artist: Song - Album]

1. Kodó: Strobe's Nanafushi (Satori Mix) - Sai-So
2. Miyavi: Are You Ready To Love? - Miyaviuta (Dokuso)
3. Takako Minekawa: Sleep Song (Remixed by portastic) - Recubed EP
4. Cibo Matto: Working For Vacation - Stereo Type A
5. Puffy: Circuit No Musume - Japan Not For Sale vol. 2
6. Sachiko: Tokyo Song - Fork in the Road/Tokyo Song
7. Kahimi Karie: Lolitapop Dollhouse - Kahimi Karie
8. Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O - Pink Lady Lemonade (I Want To Drink You) - Live in Occident
9. Cornelius: The Micro Disneycal World Tour - Fantasma
10. Tujiko Noriko: Kiminotameni - From Tokyo To Naiagara
11. Supercar: White Surf style 5. - Japan For Sale
12. Yoko Kanno: Pokketto O Karani - Escaflowne Over the Sky
13. High Rise: Mainliner - Live

DJs who show up for their shows:

1. Last-minute sub award: 'nuff said. 
2. High Rise: Always a pleasure. I always try to keep them in the back of my mind during Radiozilla, because we have like 5 albums of their stuff. 

DJs who forget their shows and don't apologize:

1. Sub-par picks: Apart from the tracks that my special guest picked out, I felt like my own tracks were a bit below the bar that I aim for Radiozilla. I like upbeat tracks contrasted with pretty acoustic tracks, but it felt really all over the place today.

Sorry, not much to say for such a short show. Still hope you enjoy it!

Latin Show #1 - 2/26/12

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Hola, amigos! I subbed the Latin show today!

I've been wanting to get on this show for a long time, but it just never happened. This is exactly why: it was third on my preferences for specialty shows. Now, I know what you're thinking, "Well, Heidi. You can't really expect to be on the Latin show if it's your THIRD preference." But here's the thing, my other specialty shows I rotate are "What It Is" and "Radiozilla," which I both really enjoy. I simply HAD to put a third preference. Really, in a perfect world, I would be on ALL the specialty shows. Also, incidentally, it was my half-birthday this day. So happy half-birthday to me.

Astor Piazzolla: Si, feliz cumpleaños, Heidi. 

That aside, I had a lot of fun DJing this set, and hopefully it'll give you a little something to dance to while you do dishes, which is what I'm going to do.

[Artist: Song - Album]

1. Bio Ritmo: Muchacho - Biónico
2. Grupo Exploracion: Congo Timba - Drum Jam
3. Gotan Project: Arrabal - Lunático
4. Astor Piazzolla: Butcher's Death - The Rough Dancer and the Cyclical Night
5. Tito Puente: El Timbalon - Un Poco Loco
6. Roberto Poveda: Libertad - Son Electrico
7. Los Van Van: Recaditos No - Songo
8. Nova Lima: Libertá - Coba Coba
9. Michel Portal & Richard Galliano: Libertango - Concerts
10. Urubamba: Heart of the Inca King - Urubamba
11. Claudia Gomez: Mi Gustaría Cantar - Tierradentro
12. Grupo Fantasma: Calor - El Existential
13. Los Calchakis: La Rosa Y La Espina - Indian Flutes, Harps and Guitars
14. Tonino Caratone: Amar y Vivar - Latin Alternative Music Conference 2001
15. Adalberto Alvarez & María José Santiago: La Primavera - Flamenco Son
16. Sukay: Carneval Del Colibrí - Tutayay

Me gusta:

1. Astor Piazzolla: This LP was one of the most interesting things I've seen in a long time. On the cover it had a man licking a woman's armpit while they were dancing, and it was all in red. A lot of these songs had super interesting names too. And the whole thing was really damn good.
2. Tema de la libertad: I didn't specifically mean to, but I played a lot of songs with some form of "libertad" in the title. I also think it's funny that a lot of Latin music has that as a theme. Anyone know why? I'm really asking.

No me gusta:

1. Failure to find Spanish promos/PSAs: The first legal ID I played was in Spanish, but after that I completely failed to find them, which was something I really wanted to keep the mood of the show in tact. 
2. Too short: I need more of this in my life.

Thanks for listening! Let me know if you like my version of the Latin show, and if you want to hear me do the Latin show again! 

This week at Freestailo Inc.

The University of Michigan is on spring break, which means that the majority of our student DJs at WCBN peace out and the rest of the DJs have to/get to sign up for a bunch of shows during the week. I alone have picked up 4 extra slots already, on top of my regular Wednesday slot.

Here are the times to listen in (February 25-February 29):
Saturday (today): 5-7pm
Sunday: 1-2pm (Latin show)
Tuesday: 4-5:30pm
Wednesday: 2-4:30pm

As you can see, most of these shows are pure freeform goodness, save for the Sunday Latin show, which I am SO EXCITED for. I've been wanting to do the Latin show for awhile, but that slot isn't given up very often.

And remember, if you have a request for me to play, post in the comments, post on Facebook, call me, text me, whatever. I will definitely have room to play it in the next week.

Subshow #12 - 1/2/12

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Hi again.

Despite feeling rather ill, I'm really glad that I picked up this show for Noah H2O, because I had a blast. Not only did I feel great about the variety of music that I selected, but the piece of layering that I did with "We Are The Strange" was unlike anything I have ever done before, but hopefully something that I can do again.

I've been trying to break down the experience of what I'm going to call the "We Are The Strange" layering, and this is what I've come up with: I've been to anxious. Not always, but usually when I layer, I try to time things perfectly, and create enough variety in the layering materials so that each element comes through clearly. This layering was totally different though. I impulsively used this movie, because it was something I wanted to watch, and something that I thought would sound really cool on the radio. I chose the various sound effects because I thought they were creepy and weird. I chose the "Exoricism Ritual" and tabla tracks kind of for the same reason. There was less thinking involved, but created a much clearer vision of what I wanted because I had the same essential idea: I want to make this sound creepy/weird/cool. I could have said, "I chose canine heart sounds because it creates more space in the overall soundscape, which allows room for the movie music and aircraft carrier sounds to bleed through, without overwhelming it." This is true, but that was not the exact thought that came to my mind at the time. It pains me a bit to say it, but it was much less intellectual, and much more instinctual.

Also, I had a listener call in at the end of the night, and he had listened to THE ENTIRE set. I was amazed, and totally humbled by how awesome WCBN listeners are. As a DJ, I'm never really sure if anyone's listening, but over time I've become completely comfortable speaking to myself over the radio, because I have a lot of faith that AT LEAST one person is listening to me. I'm not alone. I'm never alone when I'm in the radio station.

[Artist: Song - Album]

1. Sage Francis: I Was Zero - LI(F)E
2. Frog Pocket: Carac Cyls - Gonglot
3. Polysics: Making Sense - Neu
4. Yildrim Gürses: Ayrilik Mektubu - Hossadâ
5. Jerry Lee Lewis: What's Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made A Loser Out Of Me) - Milestones
6. Jamiroquai: Too Young To Die - Emergency On Planet Earth
7. Lilian Terry and Dizzy Gillespie: A Night in Tunisia - Oo-Shoo-Be-Doo-Be
8. Rabbit Joint Cover: The Legend of Zelda - unknown
9. Los De Abajo: Los Lunáticos - LDA v. The Lunatics
10. Rasputina: Transylvanian Concubine (Yes Sir, Mr. Sir Mix (Club Mix)) - Transylvanian Regurgitations
11. Xeno & Oaklander: Toho Picture - Sentinelle
12. Xeno & Oaklander: Nuit - Sentinelle
13. YMCK: Magical 8bit Tour - Family Tour
14. Pierce Pettis: Depending on Gravity - Making Light Of It
15. The Gaslight Singers: Every Night - Gaslight Singers
16. Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier Sound: Various Sound Effects - Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier Effects
17. Movie: We Are The Strange
18. Fast Domino: Blue Monday - Fast Domino Swings
19. Canine Heart Sounds: Various Sound Effects - Canine Heart Sounds
20. Yeshe Dorje Rinpoche: Shedur: A Ghost Exorcism Ritual - Tibetan Buddhism
21. Ustad Nizamuddin Khan: Vilambit - Ustad Nizamuddin Khan, tabla
22. Lexxus: Get Wid It - Mr. Lex
23. White Zombie: Thunder Kiss '65 - Night Crawlers: The KMFDM Remixes
24. LCD Soundsystem: Tired - LCD Soundsystem
25. Outkast feat. Sleepy Brown & Scar: Peaches - Idlewild
26. Karol Stoch: Spiew Juhasa [Song of the Young Shepherd] - Fire In The Mountains vol. 1
27. Bio Ritmo: La Mano Arriba - Salsa Galactica
28. The Danse Society: Seduction - Demos Vol. 1
29. Michael Liggins & the Super Souls: Loaded To The Gills - Eccentric Soul 011
30. Early Music Quartet, Munich: Bruck: Aus tiefer not - Sacred Songs and Instrumental Music of Luther's Time
31. Zeroed: Superb Dementia (Toper Mix) - Zero Zero
32. The Foxglove Hunt: Love My Way - Stop Heartbeat
33. DJ Icey: Galaxo (Edit) - Galaxy of Breaks
34. Paris Combo: Trois Petits Points - Attraction
35. Mega-Mousse: L'Arge Perdu - Musical Monogram
36. Soweto Gospel Choir: Thina Simnqobile - Voices From Heaven
37. Rob Curto: Feira de Mangaio - Forro' For All
38. Danny Cohen: The Desert - Museum of Danny
39. Serge Gainsbourg: Baudelaire - Love And The Beat 1

We Are The Best:

1. We Are the Strange: This was the best idea I've ever had. And truthfully, part of it came out of me being sick and wanting a break from running around the station. 
2. Sage Francis: I'm not sure why I wanted to start the show off like this, but I'm glad that I did. It put me a good place, and started the show differently than how I normally do (whatever that is).
3. YMCK: I forgot about this band until I was browsing my Grooveshark favorited tracks! Probably some of the most upbeat chiptunes you'll ever hear.

We Are The Strange:

1. Xenoxeno: I didn't mean to play another track of Xeno & Oaklander. Not that I don't love them, but I just missed fading out the first song before the second song came on. 
2. Sneezing: Unavoidable, but really annoying. Sorry about that guys. 

I can't wait for you to listen to this. I would also love to know what you think! Shoot me a comment or an e-mail if you have some time!

Subshow #11 - 1/1/12

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Willkommen, Leute! Ich habe classische Musik gespielt. Ich hoffe es klingt gut für euch. 

I thought that it would be a simple matter to put classical music together for a 3-hour show, but oddly enough, it wasn't. Despite being a classical music major, and despite being able to play music easily in freeform style, classical music seemed to elude me this day. It was an interesting challenge, and one that I hope to repeat in the future. It requires such a great knowledge of classical music to do a show like this, and I really respect Peter for doing it every week, and I think that WCBN is truly lucky to have someone like him with us. 

I played a lot of opera, a lot of choral works, and a lot of lieder on this show, and I'm not sorry. I'm glad that I could share it with you, and I really hope that you enjoy it, because this is the music that I love. 

[Artist: Song - Album]

1. Robert Shaw: O Fortuna - Orff: Carmina Burana
2. Boston Baroque: Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV 351 - Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks and Water Music
3. Manuel Cardoso: Lamentations for Maundy Thursday: Feria Quinta in Coena Domini: Lectio II - Masterpieces of Portuguese Polyphony vol. 2
4. London Symphony Orchestra: Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Overture - The Nutcracker, op. 71
5. The New York Electric String Ensemble: Purcell: Presto from a Sonata in D Major - Tapestry
6. David Russel: Sonata in C Major, K. 501 - Plays Baroque Music
7. Sarah Connolly: Korngold: Fünf Lieder, Op. 38, Glückwunsch - Sonnett Für Wien
8. Philadelphia Orchestra: Tchaikovsky: "Waltz" from Act I of Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66 - Russian Music & Revolution
9. Kodály Quartet: Haydn: Quartet No. 34 in B Flat Major, Op. 33, No. 4, Allegro moderato - "Russian Quartets" Op. 33, Nos. 3, 4 and 6
10. Joyce DiDonato: Things Change, Jo - Adamo: Little Women
11. Houston Grand Opera: Socks! - Adamo: Little Women
12. Rudolf Kempe: Grossmachtige Prinzessin - Ariadne auf Naxos
13. Leopold Stokowski and the London Symphony Orchestra: Bach: Ein' Feste Burg - Stokowsky Conducts Bach
14. The Dartington Piano Trio: Clara Schumann: Piano Trio in G Minor, Op. 17, Allegro - Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann Piano Trios
15. Michel Legrand: 2nd mvt Sonatine Bureaucratique, 3éme Gymnopedie, and Caresse - Erik Satie
16. Coeur des Moines de L'Abbaye Saint-Benoit-Du-Lac: Orgue: Verset Sur L'Hymne "Iste Confessor" etc. - Chant grégorien: Messe de Saint Martin
17. Ruth Ziesak: Mignon (Kennst du das Land), D321 - Schubert: Goethe Lieder, vol. 2
18. Der Hamburger Sinfonien: Symphony No. 1 in D - C.P.E. Bach: English Chamber Orchestra
19. L.A. Philharmonic: IV. Von der Schönheit - Mahler: Das Lied Von Der Erde
20. Kiri Te Kanawa, Anne Sophie von Otter, Barbara Hendricks: Ist ein Traum, kann nicht wirklich sein... - Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier
21. Palatinate Philharmonic Orchestra: Kyrie - Beethoven: Missa Solemnis
22. Houston Grand Opera: Kennst du das Land and Do you know the land? - Adamo: Little Women
23. Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera: La Forza del Destino Overture - Verdi: Ballet Music and Overtures
24. The Tallis Scholars: Sancte Deus - Tallis: Spem in alium
25. Otto Klemperer: Overture to 'The Abduction from the Seraglio' - Mozart Overtures
26. Pro Cantione Antiqua: Dufay: Motetten - Motetten
27. NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Toscanini: Poncielli: La Gioconda: Act III; Dance of the Hours - Toscanini Plays Your Favorites
28. Jeanne Lamon: Vivaldi: Sinfonia for strings in G major - Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Avison

Fortuna:

1. Rainer Maria Rilke: Someday I will read something other than Rainer Maria Rilke, but this was a request from one of my favorite listeners, and I'm so glad that I stuck with it. Later in the night I had an older German man call in--I think he said he was a professor in the German department here at the university--and said that he was brushing his teeth and absolutely loved hearing the poetry I read so early in the morning!
2. Der Rosenkavalier: This is a great recording of the final scene/trio, with three really amazing singers. I'm so happy to be able to play it for you, and I highly suggest that you look up the opera to watch sometime. 
3. Nutcracker Suite: I love this. I don't care if you've heard it a million times this holiday season. I'm not sorry I played it again.

Non Fortuna: 

1. Too much Little Women: Ugggh sorry about that. I really didn't realize I had played so much Little Women until I got to the last Little Women track I played. I will be more conscientious of that in the future.
2. Silence between tracks: Right at the beginning I played Handel's Royal Fireworks, but it was on a CD, and the space between tracks was just too much. In the future I will check how much space is in between tracks, or try to cover it up with some layering. 
3. Checking sets of tracks: So apparently on some classical CDs, they will list a piece, and then something like "1-3" which I have now learned means "tracks 1-3 are this piece." But before I realized that, I played the 2nd movement of Sonatine Bureaucratique. 
4. EDIT: Facebook sounds! It's no secret to my friends that I will chat on Facebook about what I'm playing, and take requests the same way, but this time I forgot to close Facebook before I played a song off of the computer! Oops. 

Thanks for listening to my all classical show, and I hope that you get to hear another classical show in the future!

Subshow #10 - 12/17/11

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Hey lovers.

I know it took a really long time, and that Christmas has past, and for failing you in that regard, I am truly sorry. The thing is, is that I've been in Istanbul for the past week, and didn't have internet as consistently as I thought I might. But please feel no guilt when you listen to the Christmas songs included on the playlist, because it's my fault, not yours, and you deserve more Christmas music than the year allows.

This episode of "Robot Pasta" turned out to be pretty fun, because I also had a guest with me who is training to become a DJaaaaaay! Cool, right? His name's Cameron, and he chose out a lot of the material you see before you. I won't tell you what, so you'll just have to listen.

Also, you will notice a handful of dub-step artists on the playlist, so for those that asked for it, you're welcome. Now that I know that there's a need for dub-step, I'll keep searching it out in the library. 


[Artist: Song - Album]

1. Elvin Jones Quintet: Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Holiday Jazz Improvisations
2. Bjork: Bükolla - Björk Gudmundsdóttr
3. Jackson 5: Whatever You Got, I Want - Get It Together
4. Trayer: Aernsatz - Afterlife An Abandoned Theme Park
5. The Ventures: Frosty the Snowman - Christmas Album
6. Osborne: In Gear - Afrika EP
7. Jean Metcalfe and Ann Todd: Little Red Riding Hood - Little Red Riding Hood
8. Osborne: Graphite - Afrika EP
9. The Glitch Mob: How To Be Eaten By A Woman - Drink The Sea
10. Bootsy Collins feat. Samuel L. Jackson: After These Messages - The Funk Capitol of the World
11. The Irish Rovers: Cold Winter Shadows - All Hung Up
12. George Winston: Walking in the Air - Forest
13. Hungarian State Opera Orchestra: Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten for strings and bell - Arvo Pärt: Fratres
14. Zomby: Natalia's Song - Dedication
15. My Brightest Diamond: There's A Rat - All Things Will Unwind
16. The Evolution Control Committee: I Want A Cookie - Plagiarythm Nation
17. The Dynatones: Soul Twist - Chopped & Channeled
18. Akira Jimbo: Carnival De Rio Grande - Palette
19. Allied Radio: Code Course - International Morse
20. Radiosonde: Equinox - Radiosonde
21. Youth Lagoon: Daydream - The Year of Hibernation
22. Weather Report: Plaza Real - Live and Unreleased
23. Steven Rucker/Thomas Chase: Dexter's Laboratory Opening Theme - The Hip-Hop Experiment
24. will.i.am: Secrets - Dexter's Laboratory: The Hip-Hop Experiment
25. The Evolution Control Committee: The Shakes - All Rights Reserved
26. Burial: Ghost Hardware - UNTRUE.HOBCD002
27. Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: The Volga Vouty (Russian Dance) - The Nutcracker Suite
28. Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Chinoiserie (Chinese Dance) - The Nutcracker Suite
29. Cristian Vogel: La Isla Piscola For the Traveling Fish Lover Version - La Isla Piscola
30. The Roger Wagner Chorale: Vivaldi: Magnificat - Magnificat
31. Star Wars Gang: R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas - Star Wars Christmas

--. --- --- -..

1.  Morse code: This was definitely the highlight for me. I was practically doing backflips when I saw that we had a morse code sound effect LP, and started playing it immediately. I actually had a listener call in and ask if there was something wrong with our system, or whether it was intentional.
2. Duke's Nutcracker Suite: Mmm this was absolutely delicious for my ears. I'm sad that it has to go back into the reaches of the Christmas collection, otherwise I would play it all the time.
3. Dexter's Lab: Do you remember this show?! Because Cameron and I did. I even remember this will.i.am song. And the music video. I miss Cartoon Network. I miss having cable...anyway. This is genius and I was literally screaming in the studio while it was playing.

-... .- -..

1. Osborne meets Little Red: I'm really unsure about this. I had a very uncomfortable feeling the whole time this was playing. How did it make you feel?
2. F*** up: Yup, I think I played an FCC. And by "I think," i mean that I definitely played an FCC. I tried to correct it as quickly as I could after I heard it, but that's hard sometimes. 

I usually try to have three things for each category, good and bad, but I thought this was a pretty good show besides those few things I mentioned. C'est la vie. Keep listening folks! Give me comments if you can!

Subshow #9 - 12/3/11

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Did you know that pretty much every show I pick something from the hip-hop section? I try really hard to have an immense amount of eclecticism in my sets, and I think that it usually pays off. That said, there are certain sections that I still don't have a good feel for because I only pick one or two things from the section. Hip-hop/rap is one of them. That's why when I saw that Chill Will was going to be gone for his show, I snagged it. 

WCBN has a surprising amount of hip-hop, and guys: it's really good. Tons of vinyls with a lot of great sampling opportunities for freeform. I had no idea. And I don't think I really knew how hip-hop albums worked either. With rock/soul/folk/whatever you get lots of tracks on one side, and lots of tracks on another. All different. But with hip-hop the vinyl is one track, and there are like 4 different versions of that track on one side, and 4 different versions of a different track on the other. This is how you get radio versions, album versions, instrumental versions, etc. All perfect for my freeform-beating heart. 

I talked to a friend Kim from home (who's also a fan of my freeform show), and he gave me some great suggestions, some of which I played: Brother Ali, Flying Lotus, Atmosphere, Sage Francis, and Eyedea+Abilities. I'm really happy with his suggestions, and the request I got of the Triforce of Js: Jurassic 5, J Dilla, Jedi Mind Tricks. I'm learning so much, guys!

Let's do this thing, shall we? 

[Artist: Song - Album]

1. Helis: Popular Thug (Radio Mix) - Popular Thug
2. Akrobatik: Remind My Soul (clean) - Remind My Soul
3. Talib Kweli: Joy feat. Mos Def - Quality
4. Lupe Fiasco: I Gotcha (radio edit) - I Gotcha
5. De La Sol: U Can Do (Life) - ///Aoi
6. Aesop Rock: The Greatest Pac-Man Victory in History - Bazooka Tooth
7. Kid Koala: slew test 2/mosquito vs. water buffalo/slew test 3 - Your Mom's Favorite DJ
8. Brother Ali: Star Quality - Shadows On The Sun
9. G&D: War Drums - The Message
10. Flatlinerz: Satanic Verses (radio edit) - Satanic Verses
11. Danger Mouse: Take Care of Business - Take Care of Business
12. Flying Lotus: Golden Diva - Los Angeles
13. Saul Williams: Coded Language - Amethyst Rock Star
14. Jurassic 5: W.O.E. Is Me (World of Entertainment) - W.O.E. Is Me
15. J Dilla: (track #26) - Dilla Doughnuts
16. Jedi Mind Tricks: Heavy Metal Kings feat. Ill Bill - Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell
17. Dream Warriors: Voyage Through The Multiverse - And Now The Legacy Begins
18. Gusto: Materialistic Girl (dub) - Materialistic Girl
19. Dove Shack: Summertime In The LBC (LP Version) - Summertime In The LBC
20. 44 Max: Pussh + Shove (Max Mix) - Pussh + Shove
21. Toshi Kubota: (All Star Street Funk Mix) - Funk It Up
22. The Black Keys with Mos Def: On The Vista - Blackroc
23. Atmosphere: Panic Attack - The Fun EP
24. Black Czer: Who Got The Glock (album version) - Who Got The Glock/Stick Up
25. Cannibal Ox: Pidgeon - The Cold Vein
26. Psyche Origami: Wherever You Are - The Standard
27. Wiley: Boom Boom Da Na - 100% Publishing
28. Sage Francis: Broken Wings - Personal Journals
29. Madvillain: Accordian - Madvillain
30. Cypress Hill: Make A Move - Temples of Doom
31. Mathambo: Mshini Wam - Mshini Wam
32. Raashan Ahmad: Heavenbound - The Push
33. Eyedea + Abilities: Paradise - E&A
34. Dark Sun Riders: Zoneweilders Groove - Seeds of Evolution
35. Material (Extrakd/Eddie Def): Who Wake the Rooster? - Intonarumori
36. Hami: Keep On Usin' Me (I Must Like It) - The Funky Descendant
37. Cee Lo Green: Brighter Lights, Bigger City - The Lady Killer
38. Deltron 3030: Turbulence remix by Mark Bell (Depeche Mode) - Positive Contact
39. Ladae!: Ghetto Flava - Party 2 Nite

U Can Do:

1. Triple J Request: These three were great artists to put together, and I'm happy with the songs that I picked. I can't wait to play more of their stuff on my freeform show. 
2. Cannibal Ox: I had no idea what this was, but I really like it. This and a few other albums really pushed my perceptions of hip-hop into something that I can understand. It's really like any other genre with lots of sub-genres attached to it, and Cannibal Ox kind of sounds like a nerdier, grittier hip-hop. Like the metal of rock. 
3. Cee Lo Green: This was a request by a friend, and I was kind of astounded at how good it was. It was perfect for the near end of my set, so thanks!

U Can't Do:

1. Umm...: Not that it was "the perfect show" or anything, but I really can't think of much I disliked about it. I don't know enough about hip-hop to really think I've done anything wrong. 
2. Oh I know!: I really didn't do anything risky on this show. Like, at all. I pretty much played from track to track, and that was it. I'm glad that I did, because I just don't know how I would have layered all hip-hop music, and I have a better sense of the library now, but that's something I would like to be better at in the future. 

Feedback, guys. I want it.

Subshow #8 - 11/23/11

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This week is Thanksgiving (duh), so I decided to take a slot to ease the pain of the good soldiers that stay during Thanksgiving to run marathons of radio. Not that my two hour slot makes a difference, but as Arwulf says to me when he sees me, "What you're doing makes a difference." So there ya go.

Today I did something pretty different: I talked. A lot. I've been getting a lot of feedback from friends and family that they would like to hear me talk more, besides just reading events information and back announcing. This is an idea that I've been toying with especially since coming back from Radiovision, after hearing so many amazing storytellers (Ira Glass, Joe Frank, etc.) talk about their work. I feel really lucky to have the freedom to experiment with that at WCBN, so I hope that you enjoy it. I mostly stuck to explaining what I chose to play, and how it relates to my life, so let me know if that's something I should keep doing.

I also recently talked to a good friend, and one of my favorite listeners while I was home for Thanksgiving, and he gave me some really good suggestions for conscious hip-hop artists to listen to, so expect to hear some more of that over the next few weeks.

[Artist: Song - Album]

1. Noirkestra: Ectoplasmic Tadpoles (Frog's Neck Bridge) - Psi-Fi-Hi
2. Himuro: Mild Fantasy Violence - Mild Fantasy Violence
3. Jean Morel and Royal Opera House Orchestra: Swan Lake - Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake
4. Gotan Project: Gotan Project meets Chet Baker Round Midnight - Inspiración-Espiración
5. Masloboevas: Lasses - Russian Folksongs in the Key of Sadness
6. St. Tropez: Morning Music - Morning Music
7. Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade - Scheherazade
8. Kohwi: Reeling The Warmth - Hidden Trees
9. Andrew Bird: First Song - Weather Systems
10. J Dilla: E=MC2 feat. Common - The Shining
11. Kitty Craft: One Fortune Smile - Beats an Breaks from the Flower Patch
12. Electric Sandwich: Material Darkness - Electric Sandwich
13. Anand Badamikar (tabla): Vilambit - Tintal
14. Slap: Auto-repeat (version 2) - unmodified
15. Either/Orchestra: Amlak abét abét - Ethiopiques 20
16. Michael Perkins: Prelude + Esteban - MR 666
17. Bootsy: Roto-Rooter - Keepin' Dah Funk Alive 2 - 1995
18. Happy: Like Quicksand - kiss.bang.

Good Turkeys

1. Swan Lake: Like I mention in the show, I had a watch a clip of this for my ballet class, and I'm really happy I got to listen to more of it for the show. I also think that the track went oddly well as far as length for how long my story was. Haha.
2. Andrew Bird: Mmmm this was a gooood track. It kind of reminded me of the "Fatal" track from Escaflowne that I played last week. And both of them remind me of that creepy whistling track from Kill Bill...maybe I'll play that next week.
3. Gotan Project: This track especially was super interesting to me, and kind of reveals the kind of influences that Gotan Project has, if they're making Chet Baker tracks, you know?

Bad Turkeys

1. Electric Sandwich train wreck: *headdesk* I really didn't mean to stop that track right in the middle. I hit eject on the wrong CD player, and I couldn't think of what else to do. Womp womp.
2. Ummmmm: I can't think of anything else. Maybe this is where you come in and tell me what I did? I honestly think my show as too short to mess up too much.

FEEDBACK GUYS! FEEDBACK! 

Subshow #7 - 11/10/11

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OMG I'M DJING AGAIN! I can feel like a real person again!

I'm so happy to be back at the station DJing. I really enjoyed Radiovision, and I'm glad that I took last week off to recuperate, and I really do love being on the Board of Directors and getting involved with the station happenings, but there's really nothing like DJing guys. The rush of adrenaline. The absolutely feeling of spontaneity and chance. It's like a game or a puzzle, but like a puzzle you can share with others and say, "Did I solve it? What do you think?"

Something I really liked about this show was that it came right after Arwulf's show. Arwulf has been a big inspiration since I started DJing, so it was nice to visit his show again, and to feed off of the amazing energy that he gives when he plays music. I think that it really helped my show immensely, and I'm so grateful to share the same station as him. I also was affected by having only 2 hours, rather than 3, to play around with. It was a nice balance, because it helped me focus my set, and not fool around too much about what I wanted to do. Condensing a lot of ideas into a short amount of time is something that Arwulf is really amazing at, and also for that reason I was grateful for following him.

But anywho, here's the list:

[Artist: Song - Album]

1. Bootsy: Shejam (Almost Bootsy Show) - Bootsy's Rubber Band
2. Dracula's Music-Cabinet: Eine Handvoll Nitro (A Handful of Nitro) - The Vampires of Dartmoore
3. Americans in France: Sylvia! - Crawling
4. Frank Foster and Frank Wess: La Jolie - 2 Franks Please
5. Mysterious Voices of Bulgaria: Holm - Balkan
6. Fusioon: Tucata Y Fuga - Absolute Belter
7. Yokota: Follow the Sonic Leader - The Frankfurt-Tokyo Connection
8. Jozef van Wissem: Various Selections - A Rose By Any Other Name
9. Sloan: Underwhelmed - Smeared
10. Wagner Pá: Plexo Solar - el imparable transeúnte
11. Professor and Maryann: Cadillac (I'm Still In Love With You) - Lead Us Not Into Penn Station
12. The Supremes: Stop! In the Name of Love - More Hits By The Supremes
13. W.A. Mozart: Tuba miram - Mozart: Requiem, K. 626
14. Koo Nimo: Abena - Tete Wobi Ka
15. Kris Ellestad: Run Me Down - No Man Is Land
16. Tom Waits: Ice Cream Man - Closing Time
17. Chöying Drolma & Steve Tibbetts: Song of Realization - Selma
18. underworld: mmm skyscraper i love you - dubbasswithmyheart
19. Weird Al: UHF - WCBN Movie Night
20. Tomorrowland: People Mover - Peoplemover/Subtractive Synthesis
21. Reinhard Flatischler: Olua - Layers of Time
22. The GC5: Sparkling Streets - Never Bet the Devil Your Head
23. Thomas Fersen: Les malheurs du lion - Thom4s Fersen
24. Thelonious Monk: Evidence - In Action

Party Animals: 

1. Beginning with Bootsy: I don't think I will ever be sick of Bootsy. I love Bootsy. He loves me. I should remember that ANY Bootsy track is a good starter. 
2. Tuba Canon: One of my better ideas for sure was to play 3 different recordings of "Tuba miram" from the Mozart Requiem, but at slightly different times. I think this come out quite well, and there were quite a few harmonically ambiguous moments where I wasn't sure about where we were. I think I will try that again sometime. 
3. Kris Ellestad: This is a new CD that Pascal put in the station recently, and he let me rip it before he even put it in the station. I'm really in love with Kris Ellestad's music. 

Party Fouls:

1. Extra Supremes: I didn't mean to play that couple of seconds of The Supremes for a transition. Choose the wrong turntable to press the cue button!
2. Continuous multi-track CD for filler: I used the lute CD as background for the events information, but there were some weird pauses because I decided to set the CD player to continuous. I didn't think about that happening since with records it goes pretty quickly. And usually I use a long track anyway. I will use long tracks in the future and not numerous short tracks. I should also loop tracks more often. 
3. Same track for multiple track times: I think the playlist had me playing "Sylvia!" for quite a long time. I kept thinking I was messing up which cue I was using, but really I just kept moving up the track unnecessarily. Whoops! Sorry if you were depending on the playlist to know what you were hearing! 

Tune in  from 3-6am this weekend for my regular show! I can't wait to do some real damage to your brainwaves! 

Subshow #6 - 10/21/11

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Doo be da bi dow bidibidibidibi doooow. That's me scatting "greetings" to you all.

I got a call late Thursday night from my good friend Lady K, and she said that she needed some help desperately, otherwise she might lose her job. "I need you to sub for the 'Jazz 'Til Noon' show from 9am-12pm. Would you mind terribly?"

"Hurry Batman! To WCBN!"

Hell to the no I don't mind. I've secretly been plotting to snag a sub for that slot for a long time, but haven't told anyone about it. When I go in at 3am I often stare longingly at the jazz section, waiting for the day when I can raid and pillage and take entire piles of jazz records all for myself (and consequently my listeners).

Some interesting things happened on the show today though, friends. Many, many interesting things. To name a few: the power went out, the iPod input was not working momentarily, I left a lot of dead air space randomly, I had to do an EAS test for the first time, the next DJ was 20-minutes late. When the power went off, I literally screamed every curse word at the top of my lungs and started ripping through the log book to find out what to do next when Rob (a fellow DJ) came in and scared me and told me everything was going to be fine. Truthfully, I think it was a great learning experience, because now I will never be surprised by ANY of these things. I also learned that, in general, doing the jazz show is more laid back, because jazz tracks average at 7-minutes. A lot are 15-minutes, and some are just a few minutes (if they're straight standards with no improvisation).

Unfortunately, because of the power going out, I lost a good 45-minutes of my show, and a lot of tracks just didn't get recorded onto the automatic recording archive, which I'll indicate on the playlist. Fortunately (or annoyingly, depending on how you look at it), I was able to add an extra 20-minutes because of the next DJ's tardiness, so you get almost a full show anyway!

Yaaaaay!

So anyway, let's get listening.

[Artist: Song - Album]

1. Marc Ribot: Break On Through - Party Intellectuals
2. Rouge Ciel: L'Occupation - Veuillez procéder
3. Ella Fitzgerald: Wave - Montreux
4. James Morrison & Adam Makowics: Indiana - At The Montreux Jazz Festival
5. Mark Kirschemann: Feed The Meter - This Electric Trumpet
6. Yoko Kanno & The Seatbelts: Tank! (Live @Shibuya AX) - Cowboy Bebop OST
7. Golden Arm Trio: He LIes Like An Eyewitness & Disco - The Tick Tock Club
8. Charles McPherson: Evidence - Manhattan Nocturne
9. Hiromi: Brian - Brian
10. Billie Holiday: Ain't Misbehavin' - The Voice of Jazz
11. Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey: Black Wall Street - The Race Riot Suite
12. Stan Getz: Rainy Afternoons - Children of the World

<power outage>

1. Benjamin Yee: Matt Steckler Interview @ Edgefest - WCBN Interviews
2. Bob Brookmeyer: The Magic Shop - Through A Looking Glass
3. Indigenous People: Indigenous People pt. II - Captures Live in Brazil
4. The Funk Ark: A Blade WOn't Cut Another Blade - From The Rooftops
5. Sarah Vaughn: City Called Heaven - Favorites
6. Hadouk Trio: Hadouk Blues - Shamanimal
7. Thelonious Monk: Blue Monk - At The Five Spot

 </power outage>

1. Misha Mengelberg Quartet: Die Berge schützen die Heimat - Four In One
2. Benjamin Yee: Matt Steckler Interview @ Edgefest - WCBN Interviews
3. Duke Ellington: Star Cross Lovers (aka Pretty Girl) - Love Songs
4. Duchese: Naître à jonquière (un vendredi soir après le souper) - Cordes à Danswer...suite saguenayenne
5. Amanda Monaco 4: Procrastination - Intention
6. John Lewis: The Queen's Fancy - European Windows
7. Terumasa Hino: Cherry Hill Angel - Double Rainbows
8. Urbie Green: Foxglove Suite - The Fox
9. Joelle Leandre/William Parker: Duet one - Contrabasses
10. Ella Fitzgerald: Ella abraça Jobim - He's a Carioca (Ele é Carioca)
11. Dead Cat Bounce: Silent Movie, Russia 1995 - Chance Episodes
12. Drew Gress: Low SLung/High Strung - 7 Black Butterflies

Badass moments:

1. Ella singing Jobim?!: This was a really nice surprise. I've heard a lot of Ella, but I've never heard her sound like this, and hearing later Ella is always a joy anyway. I'll definitely be pulling this out again. 
2. Misha Mengelberg: Hehehehe I literally squealed with glee when I heard this track. It was a nice, cute way to break up the set/unknowingly start the second half of my set. 
3. Urbie Green: Oh man, this was some good stuff. If I had to pick a favorite track of the show, it would be this one. I think I placed it well in that section of the set, and it was a good long track as well.

Questionable moments:

1. iPod input: I wanted so badly to start off my set with "Tank!" from Cowboy Bebop (which I played later), and I had my computer set up and everything. When I pressed the cue for the iPod input, my gut reaction, no joke, was, "It just needs a second." Then I realized it was never going to play. After some dubious language I was able to play a CD I had loaded, but that dead air is something I should have remedied a good 20 seconds earlier than I did. 
2. Dead air: Not only did this happen with the iPod input fiasco, but it just kept happening. Way more than usual. I have no idea why. You'd think that when I'm really tired in the middle of the night, I would make more mistakes like that, but apparently it is not so.
3. Power outage: Not that I can control this, but I definitely could have handled it better. It would have been a far worse time if my fellow DJ had not been wandering the station.

Please keep listening guys. I really enjoy hearing from you, whether it's in person, on Facebook, or whatever other means you may have of communicating with me. Comments are always welcome on my posts, and of course suggestions/hate mail/love letters and the like. 

Subshow #5 - 10/13/11

Right Click/Ctrl-Click to Download Subshow #5 Here

Hi sleepwalkers.

So I had the brilliant idea to sub for James/Corey on Wednesday night/Thursday morning at 3-6am in the middle of the week. In some ways, it was the worst idea possible because of the total lack of sleep that I've had this entire week. In some ways it was great, because it forced me to go to bed at a reasonable hour.

Orson Welles, y'all.

Anyway, this was a good show guys. I've been listening to it, and I can confirm this. I enjoyed my balance this show, despite using more of the rock section than I intended. That is all beside the point though, because what I really want to talk about is the 'War of the Worlds' broadcast by Orson Welles that I played. I've been wanting to play this for a long time. Ever since I listened to Radiolab's segment about the original broadcast, and about its effect on listeners, and how it has been repeated with success absolutely stunned me. It was the first time that I realized that radio could really have a profound effect on its listeners, and that I also had that power as a DJ. I'm definitely not saying that as a WCBN DJ I can play 'War of the Worlds' and actually make you believe that martians are coming to Ann Arbor--I  have more faith in you than that--but it made me realize that I have the power to make you feel things you might not have known you could feel. Hear things that you didn't know existed. Combine sounds to created complicated emotions. Maybe I'm getting a little gushy, but this is why I love radio.

Something that I tried to do intentionally this time around was to keep long tracks playing without layering them constantly. I definitely layered tracks, and those were very special moments, but I reigned in my musical-ADD to account for how the listener would perceive changes in a set. For me, 4 minutes may seem like a long time, and it may feel that I need to change songs sooner, or layer something so that the listener doesn't get bored...but really it's just ME who is trying not to get bored. I think I need to learn how to relax and let music do its own job.

Here's the list!

[Artist: Song - Album]

1. Adjust: Escape from Detroit - Adjust
2. Angel Villoldo: El Choclo - The Tango Project
3. Illogic featuring Blueprint: Intro+The Only Constant - Celestial Clockwork
4. Catalyst: Athene - The Complete Recordings vol. 2
5. Red Red Meat: Variations on Nadia's Theme - Bunny Gets Paid
6. Caroline: Winter - Caroline
7. Orson Welles: War of the Worlds (original broadcast)
8. Brizbomb: 070510AT05 - Radio Promo
9. Alban Berg Quartett: Mozart: String Quartet KV 516 in g minor - Mozart: String Quartets 3&4
10. Brizbomb: 070304BP01 - Radio Promo
11. Koji Kondo: Majora's Mask Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask OST
12. Billie Holiday: Everything Happens to Me - The Voice of Jazz
13. Prof. Debu Chaudhuri (sitar), Shafaat Ahmed Khan (tabla): Raga Desh: Alap and Jor - Prof. Debu Chaudhuri
14. Animal Collective: The Purple Bottle - feels
15. Old Empire: Queen City - Queen City Quandaries
16. Edd Henry: Your Replacement Is Here - Eccentric Soul 009
17. Errol Garner: Mistry - Sachal Jazz
18. Slayer: Killing Fields - Divine Intervention
19. Ectomorph: Ritmos Siniestro - Dada/Ritmo Siniestro
20. Goethe: Erlkönig - YouTube
21. Pía Leiva: Francisco Guayabal - Soneros de Verdad Presents: Pía Leiva
22. Tokyo Police Club: Graves - Elephant Shell
23. Jørgen Tjønnstaul: Urjen - Dei fyrste åra på radio
24. Cat Power: The Greatest - The Greatest
25. BrandonFX: "Waltz of Pain" Sad Song - Newsgrounds Audio Portal
26. Kronos Quartet: Bach, Monks, and Shakespeare Meet in Water - Ghost Opera
27. Küz: ? - Moist Filth
28. Christopher Willits: milkweed - SMM vol. 2
29. Andrew Bird: 11:11 - Bowls of Fire/The Swimming Hour
30. Soviet Red Army Choir: Soviet National Anthem - Soviet/Chinese Propaganda
31. Asuka Sakai: Fugue #7777 - Katamari Damacy Soundtrack
32. Amanda Palmer: Creep (Hungover at Soundcheck in Berlin) - Amanda Palmer Performs The Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele

Sehr gut:

1. War of the Worlds: I used a Mozart quintet that my friend suggested, which was the perfect thing to layer with this. Classical music supplements spoken word so perfectly, and can add a huge depth of emotion, since classical music shifts so constantly, and is complicated emotionally itself.
2. Erlkönig/Ectomorph: This is definitely one of my favorite moments. I love this poem, and I love the Schubert art song, so this was a bit of a blast from the past. The reading went oddly well with the Ectomorph song, and interestingly enough--as if the Universe was sending its regards--the end of the Ectomorph LP started skipping in a pleasant enough place for the Goethe to keep playing out, which allowed me to fade out whenever I wanted. Thanks Universe!
3. Soviet National Anthem: GREAT FIND! I can't wait to play more of these. I love the sound of this, and I love that it's called "Soviet/Chinese Propaganda," because it reminds me that propaganda comes in all forms, not just visual as we are so used to.

Nicht so gut:

1. Choosing Amanda Palmer right before 6am: Yeaaaaaaah, so I'm not supposed to play swear words in songs after 6am. I didn't realize how close I cut it until I played the Amanda Palmer. That is her vocabulary. Not a huge deal, but something I need to be more conscious of when I play something from my personal library.
2. Majora's Theme: I can't decide whether this was good or bad, so I'm going with bad. This was a bit of a weak moment, because I wanted to fill in some space after the Mozart finished, but before I started the Billie Holiday. I thought this would go well with the theme of the broadcast, but I think it created a weak patch of thoughtlessness on my part.
3. Pauses: There were a few awkward pauses, but not a big deal. The beginning one was the longest because I forgot to pay attention to how long the legal ID was.

Partake and enjoy!

Subshow #4 - 8/26/11 - BIRTHDAY SPECIAL!

Right Click/Ctrl-Click to Download Subshow #4 Here

So guys. Here's the deal. This show is all about me today, because this show was on MY birthday!

COTFA

This show was a lot of fun for multiple reasons:

1. It was my birthday
2. My inhibitions were down
3. I played a lot of video game music and I liked it. 

I should probably do all of these more often...or at least the latter two. Being able to relax and do whatever I wanted for a show without care for anyone else but me turned out to be a really great show. Maybe not the mentality I want to have all the times, but sometimes you have to throw caution to the wind and do what you're feeling in the moment to get a good performance, which I've learned through singing.

I really don't have much else to say about this except that I got to use some field recordings during the show that I recorded in France, which I think added a lot, and I think that I will repeat in the future. I will need to make more recordings for that methinks. Anyway, onto the set!

[Artist: Song - Album]

1. Sesame Street: Happy Birthday from Sesame Street - Happy Birthday!
2. Serge Gainsbourg: Bonnie and Clyde (avec Brigitte Bardot) - A Gainsbarre
3. Various: Hurricane - The Hurricane
4. Ella Fitzgerald: Indian Summer - Live at Carnegie Hall
5. Toxic Lipstick: Thunderdome - Poopin
6. Cookie and the Cupcakes: Got You On My Mind - By Request
7. D.A.F.: Mein Herz Macht Bum - Alles Ist Gut
8. Richard Strauss/Philedelphia Orchestra: A Hero's Life (Ein Heldenleben) - A Hero's Life
9. Philip Glass: Two Pages - Two Pages etc. 
10. The Irish Rovers: Cold Winter Shadows - All Hung Up
11. Tatsu Aoki: Eye to Eye - Trio
12. CocoRosie: Here I Come - Grey Oceans
13. Sesame Street: A Cat Had a Birthday - Happy Birthday!
14. Junko: ?? - Sings Japanese Nursery Rhymes
15. Bonga, Marisa Monte, Carlinhas Brown: Mulemba xangóla - Onda Sonora
16. Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto no. 2, op. 18 - Piano Concerto no. 2
17. IAM: Libére Mon Imagination - L'ecole du Micro D'argent
18. Tartanic: Ringworm - uncivilized
19. Akakage: She is a pretty girl - Ursula 1000
20. Anamanaguchi: Fast Turtle - Power Supply
21. Otis Clay: Love Don't Love Nobody - Soul Man: Live in Japan
22. Mireille Mathieu: Pourquoi le monde est sans amour - Grand Succés de Mireille Mathieu
23. Nico Muhly: Mothertongue, archive - Mothertongue
24. Nine Inch Nails: Even Deeper - The Fragile
25. Hot Club of Cowtown: More Than A Dream - Dev'lish Mary
26. Animal Crossing: 5AM - Animal Crossing OST
27. Kleenex: Hedi's Head - YouTube
28. Henri Salvador: Jardin d'Hiver - Chambre Avec Vue
29. Carlos Giffoni: Comfort and Pleasure - Adult Life
30. Nintendo: The End - Super Mario RPG
31. Nintendo: Mario and Peach's Theme - Paper Mario OST
32. Nintendo: Graaaaandma - The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker OST
33. The Baby Namboos: Late Night Antics - Ancoats2zambia
34. Telemann: Concerto in B Major - Baroque Masterpieces for Violin

Birthdays:

1. Video game music: It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I really love video game music. I have lots of soundtracks on my computer, and I'm constantly finding more from other friends. Being able to share it was such a fun experience, and I'm thinking I should do it more often. 
2. Birthday songs!: I'm happy I got to play some birthday songs from an actual ALBUM of birthday songs. Yay!
3. Field recording layering: I loved using my field recording of the bells of the Perigueux cathedral, and I love even more that they were layered with something as elegant and beautiful as the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto no. 2. Major eargasm for me. 

Unbirthdays:

1. Carlos Giffoni: I'm so sorry for that. Even though it was my birthday, I didn't mean to play a purely noise piece like that. Thankfully it righted itself, but I should preview tracks more often when I pick out CDs.
2. Even Deeper by NIN: Although a good friend of mine requested this, it kind of broke up my set weirdly because I knew the track so well, and I think it was one of their singles. I usually try to stay away from really popular tracks.
3. 'Poopin' by Toxic Lipstick: That was a weird track. It looked really cute, but was not quite. Oh well!

I really hope you liked the set, and please feel free to leave comments/complaints/suggestions/etc. for my future shows! 

Subshow #3 - 6/26/11

Right Click/Ctrl-Click to Download Subshow #3 Here

Welcome to Part Trois of my crazy adventures in DJing for 9 hours in a single day. On this particular day, I DJed from 3-6am, 6-9am, and THOUGHT that I was DJing from 11am-1pm. Guess what though, folks? In my zealousness, I accidentally signed up for the 11pm-1am slot instead! Because of my early morning excursions, I was also so tired that I decided it was a good idea to take a nap right before my show so I would be chipper. This is what I have learned: don't do that, you will oversleep and be MORE tired rather than LESS tired. Thus I don't actually know the track to the first song I played because I threw it in the CD tray to find other songs.

Despite this hiccup, I quite liked this set of songs, and I had a few requests from friends I was intermittently chatting with online, so it was interesting for me. Rarely do I get requests, but I think it always throws something extra into the show, because then it's almost like a collaborative work. Anyway, here's the set:

[Artist: Song - Album]

1. Flying Lotus: ? - Cosmogramma
2. Lucky Peterson: Pounding of My Heart - Lucky Strikes
3. Guy Davis: Long Train - Call Down the Thunder
4. Ella Fitzgerald and the Tommy Flanagan Trio: One Note Samba - Montreux '77
5. The Cleveland Orchestra: O Fortuna - Carl Orff: Carmina Burana
6. Cat Power: I Can't Get No Satisfaction - The Covers Record
7. The Beatles: From Me to You Fantasy - Help! Soundtrack
8. Tetuzi Akiyama: Ascension - Proletarian Drift
9. Exit 245: Fix You - YouTube
10. Ben Folds Five: Julianne - Ben Folds Five
11. Peggy Lee: Black Coffee - Black Coffee
12. Vienna Philharmonic Quartet: Quartet in D Minor "Death and the Maiden" - Schubert Quartets
13. Geographer: Kites - Kites
14. The Smiths: Frankly, Mr. Shankly - The Queen is Dead
15. Cardinal: If You Believe in Christmas Trees - Cardinal
16. Carrigan: The Flood - Carrigan
17. John Coltrane: Ascension - Ascension
18. Laurie Anderson: The Geographic North Pole - The Ugly One With Jewels
19. Bratko Bibic: Sackamra - Rough Guide to the Music of the Alps
20. Rilo Kiley: Science vs. Romance - Take Offs and Landings

Goodies:

1.  Black Coffee by Peggy Lee: I LOVE this song, and her version of it is absolutely sex. 
2. Carmina Burana + Ella: Somehow adding Ella to the mix always makes things better...or at least more interesting. 
3. The Queen is Dead by The Smiths: I haven't listened to The Smiths much, which is kind of a tragedy, so I figured I'd grab something. This turned out to be one of my favorite tracks, so I think I'll revisit the rock section more to play them.

Baddies:

1. Coming late: I've only done this once and I don't think I'll ever do it again. It's real bad to put your fellow DJ in that position where they have to wait, because they have stuff to do. They're tired. They're ready to go home. 
2. Not knowing the first track I played: It's kind of sad that that track is lost in space and time now. I really like Flying Lotus though, so I don't doubt I'll revisit that album again.
3. Fix You by Exit 245: I had this as a request from a friend, and it was a good sounding track, but it sounded a bit too much like the original for my taste, and it broke up the set strangely.