Sodom & Gomorrah

Last Friday's set included a transition (segue, AKA, for those in the industry or who just like using the technical term) that won radio for the day. Maybe even the week.

It was proudly brought to you by COLLEGE RADIO. Nowhere else on the FM dial will you still hear creations such as this. Serendipity was a hefty contributor, as both the disks involved actually fell off the shelves on one or another of our heads so that they could be played.

I'm talking about Diabolic's "Vengeance Ascending" followed by Beth Severe's "Sodom & Gomorrah." You can link to the playlist, and you can listen to the archive.

"Progressive metal" on Tight Pants

Last week A few weeks ago I felt a little sick so enjoyed a very self-indulgent afternoon of mostly 1990s sludgy noise. Selections included Skullflower, Steelpole Bathtub, Union Carbide Productions, Ed Hall and Slughog, to name a few. About halfway through the show I got a call from a listener who professed to be in his early 60s, tuning in online from Florida, and splitting his radio time between us and the Bridgeport CT station WPKN. He did ramble and I had to kick him off the phone but before he went away, he praised me for playing all the progressive metal and mentioned a couple of bands I immediately forgot.

Progressive metal? Is that what they're calling it now? But wait, this guy said he was in his 60s. How could he have made it this far and not know what 'noise' was in the 1990s? Maybe he was busy raising post-punk-era asshole kids like me.

So here are some of my very favorite, uh, "progressive metal" bands and songs. For you.


And speaking of TAD, this quiz circulated the cool corners of the interwebs this week a couple weeks ago- I got it from Mudhoney's facebook- and the results seemed overwhelmingly tipped towards TAD. See how you rate. Then embark on a day-long Tad binge.
Busted Circuits and Ringing Ears (documentary)

The World's Most Interesting Interview with Mark Arm of Mudhoney

On Wednesday, August 28, 2013 I was lucky enough, with fellow WCBN DJ Brandok, to dial Mark Arm on the telephone and speak with him for half an hour about such topics as interesting opening bands, shitty wines, and penis graffiti. Mudhoney are playing at the Magic Stick in Detroit on Friday, August 30 along with Easy Action and Protomartyr.

Fans of this blog- I know you are legion- already know I enjoy Protomartyr. I didn't want to offend anyone on the air, or turd up the interview by talking a lot, so I held back on this commentary: live, Protomartyr are...not thee most interesting band to see. They kind of look like three kids and their pissed-off dad (on vocals) standing on stage practicing. That is fine with me because not everyone can bring the circus to town.

We asked Mark if he would name some bands that have opened for Mudhoney recently that he liked. Here are some of them:

And here is our delightful conversation with Mark, shaved down a little so it sounds almost like we know what we're doing.

Enjoy this built-in MP3 player because it took me about an hour to get one that worked. P.S. It might not work in some browsers. Never mind, I don't have time for this shit.

Happy Birthday, Lizzie Borden!

Did you use to chant this when you were a kid?

Lizzie Borden took an axe
And gave her mother 40 whacks
When she saw what she had done
She gave her father 41.

Is this just a Massachusetts thing?

Today is Lizzie Borden's birthday, which my good friend Gabrielle pointed out (hi Gab!) on faceboob. This woke up some memories and she posted a video of this Boston band from the 1980s, Lizzie Borden and the Axes.

Well, you know what happens when someone posts a utube video on fartbook. Down the rabbit hole......but before you watch those videos, listen. If you aren't from Boston you might find this interesting.

In the 1980s, at the dawn of MTV, the greater Boston area did not have cable TV for a reason I either don't remember or don't understand. So instead, we had V-66, a local UHF channel anyone with a TV could get, albeit with dreadful reception in some places. What was so cool about having a local music video channel during the time music video was an exciting new art form was that loads of local bands made videos and got airplay.

V-66 only existed for a year and a half, but after local independent commercial radio station WBCN, much of my early exposure to local rock and roll was thanks to this short-lived local music video channel. And now, the rabbit hole.

     

It's Art Fair again already??!!

Why hello. It is hotter and damper than a sweaty crotch here in Ann Arbor, and many other parts of this great nation of ours, but will you hear me complaining? No you won't, because I fucking love it when it gets this hot.

The Onion wrote this article today. Look! But for real, some people really have a higher heat meter or something.

Anyway, July in Ann Arbor means seventeen thousand fat sweaty hogs from places like Ohio and Pennsylvania trundle out here in RVs and giant trailers to see and participate in the annual Art Fair that occupies our town at this time of year. Locals mostly hate it- at least the locals I know do.

I'm ambivalent about Art Fair. Of course there's a lot of shitty art, tents selling crap that is not art (electronic cigarettes, cable TV) and an influx of people from elsewhere which pushes up the shitty driver index by a million. But like I said last year, football Saturdays are worse, and they add up to far more days than Art Fair.


Enjoy the hot weather, because it'll be winter again soon. You can dance around your living room to this wearing only your underwear.

Me & You & Ian MacKaye

Ian MacKaye will be gracing our burg with his presence this evening, as half of his current two-piece with Amy Farina.

The Evens at the Dreamland Theater, Friday June 29, Ypsilanti Michigan. 7:30pm

WCBN's friend Mark Maynard interviewed Ian a couple of days ago. (Text & sound.)

I never saw Fugazi when I was a teen and they were a thing but I remember when they played a heavily sold-out, overcrowded, people-climbing-in-the-windows fire hazard show at Mass College of Art. Everyone I knew went. Some got in. I'm not playing Fugazi today. I'll play something else from Ian's (and Amy's) oeuvre instead. Like this:

Egg Hunt "Me and You"
Egg Hunt "We All Fall Down"

And this:

Minor Threat "Stumped"
Minor Threat "Steppin' Stone"


How about some of this?

The Warmers "Beretta USA"
The Warmers "Wanted More"

Maybe some of this:

Teen Idles "Sneakers"
Teen Idles "Deadhead"

But probably not this:

Minor Threat "12XU"
Minor Threat "Filler"

My first year of high school was mostly a horrible experience, but I connected with a kid who wasn't in any of my classes by writing out all the lyrics for "Filler" on a desk and discovering the next day that he had responded with another song which I don't remember now. That's what teens do, they write out song lyrics in places they hope someone else will see and relate somehow. When teachers see, of course, then you get suspended for defacing school property and using profane language, but you can't please everyone.

While we're slamming down memory pit, remember this album? Oh my god it's still so good. Shitty quality upload but oh well. Go and buy one yourself if you still can. Faith (w/ Alec MacKaye) first, Void starts at 12:28.

New Blog Post: featuring non-rockabilly, 33 1/3 books, Nice Hooves, and more

I keep starting new posts and then not finishing them because I get bored or too busy. So to summarize:

• The Beastie Boys' fifth album, "To the Five Boroughs," is an underappreciated masterpiece.
• Rockabilly is not really a genre of music in its own right.
• "The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock and Roll" is a tremendous book that you should read.
• WCBN is doing the 33 1/3 book reading series again!
• Some new records I've really liked over the past few months include The Parquet Courts "Light Up Gold," The Hate My Day Jobs self-titled debut, and just this past week, Nice Hooves' self-titled debut.
• Speaking of Nice Hooves, meet my new favorite band.
• While we're on the local bands topic, Protomartyr make great records and I'm sorry to admit that I still have not seen them live. WTF???

That'll do for now. Enjoy listening to some music and then support the bands by like maybe paying for some of this booty.

Thank you! Now we're rolling in dough.

We asked, and you gave.
But the real challenge is still before us. Can we succeed in recycling your irritating shekels (a reference to one of our pre-recorded fundraising announcements, not an indictment of shekels) into 3,000 watts of power? We are damn well going to try.

We have paid engineers, lawyers, and engineering firms to do all kinds of studies. We will now begin construction of a new tower, tall enough and large enough to accommodate a new directional antenna, and then place a new antenna atop said tower. We will actually buy a very expensive piece of equipment to replace our current transmitter, which I've heard is the size of a small car. When we're through, they say you'll be able to hear us in Dexter and Saline.

So once again, thank you for your generosity. Without the support of our community, WCBN would be unable to take these steps into its exciting, and increasingly relevant, future. If you pledged during one of my two fundraiser shows, you can expect a personalized thank-you note from me in the next few weeks. For some reason I have always done well during fundraiser- even my first year I am pretty sure I made over $1,000. Thank you.

Fundraiser 2013 was replete with the usual money-making tactics: pyramid schemes, blackmail, extortion, naked photos, and so on. On Thursday afternoon (2/14) David Schlitt of the Emergency Broadcast Hour agreed to have his body hair waxed, for a price. Many of you bought into his pain and exploitation, and WCBN is better for it. Thank you.
 
Some of us fell back on old favorites: "I will now force you to endure this Steve Perry record until you call. The first $20 pledge makes it go away." Then we responded to your obedience by engaging in three-ways with Van Halen. Thank you.

We really felt your love, way way more than three times.

Tight Pants Fundraiser playlists:
Friday February 15 | Friday February 8
Tight Pants Fundraiser Archives:
Friday February 15 | Friday February 8

Give Us Some Money!

WCBN's annual fund drive starts tomorrow, Friday February 8, and that means it is time again for you to mug the little kids on your street and send us the money! To get you all pumped, here are archives of shows I have done during fundraiser.

2012

Friday, February 17. SECOND SHOW OF WCBN 2012 FUNDRAISER. PLAYLIST! This 150 minutes brought in $800.
Friday, February 10. FIRST DAY OF WCBN 2012 FUNDRAISER. PLAYLIST! This 150 minutes brought in $500.

2011

Friday, March 18. Give us your money, 2 More Chuck Berry!
Friday, March 11. Give us your money, 1 Chuck Berry!

2010

Friday, March 19 Listen
Friday, March 12 Listen

2009

Friday, March 13 Listen
Friday, March 6 Listen

2008

Friday, February 8 Listen
Friday, February 1 Listen

2007

Friday, February 16 Listen
Friday, February 9 Listen

Rock out with your _ock out on WCBNSaturday nights at midnight

WCBN has a heavy metal program again. Now in its second semester, Odin's Dance Party is probably a little different from your average college radio metal show and it's definitely nothing like The Grind, which used to air on Friday nights for a long time before its mainstay host left us and the show was retired.

DJs who want to play METAL

We have a lot of DJs interested in playing an hour of heavy metal, and all of them have been granted at least one chance to fill in each semester. Some (myself included) are doing it less because we know anything about metal and more because we think a lot of it is kind of hilarious. I pick stuff based on appearance and title. Segues are organic and are done primarily by sound alone and always will be, so after picking a bunch of records based on their names and covers, I let the show go where it takes me.

Die-hard metallurgists surely would beg to differ, but I think the songs go well together whether they are black metal, death metal, thrash metal, speed metal, and so on. In fact I pretty much couldn't tell you the difference between these.

Spinning the Kreator

I never cared much about metal beyond Master of Puppets as a teen, because I was punk and metalheads had too much fucking hair. Now that I care less about hair (unless you are a hippie) I can enjoy this genre of music without taking everything so seriously.

Music for puking on tilt-a-whirls

Speaking of not taking things seriously, the last song I played was courtesy of Dragonforce. Thirty seconds into it I already felt like I was going to puke on a bad carnival ride. By the time is was over I was suffering from shaken baby syndrome.

Links to the shows I've done.
February 3, 2013.
October 7, 2012.

Links to the playlists of the shows I've done.

February 3, 2013.
October 7, 2012.

Wow, it's been a while since I put new links to new archives up here. So long that many of the new links will be to old archives. Oh, well. What the hell. Here comes about six months' worth. Maybe after that I will actually write you a new post not to read. It will be about choosing records based on their appearance.