The Guitar Shop (21 August 2013)
(Featuring a guest appearance on DJ Victrola’s The Guitar Shop, onKPSU.org!)

I have a number of friends, and many of them are old-fashioned radio nerds like me.  And one of my favorites is DJ Victrola, who has been hosting some version of her show The Guitar Shop for over 10 years.  DJ Victrola and I love to chat about music, life, and records, and she and I have been wanting to put together an experimental episode of her program almost as long as I’ve known her.  So the fact that it took this long is a little bit embarrassing.  However, we were able to play an incredible set of excellent tunes, and that’s what you get.  I’m mostly along for the ride, and let her play her selections, but I do get in some choice records here and there, and you get two hours of excellent radio.

In the days of yore, my program followed DJ Victrola, and we had built up a Wednesday line-up of incredible programs.  I adored that time slot, and it really worked well for me and what I do.  Additionally, I covered for her once when she was out of town, and decided instead to invite over Dr. Frank for a live in-studio and book reading.  So our shows have history.  But aside from The Judith Gennett Memorial Broadcast (with KZME’s John B. Jones), we had never really done a show together, and as a friend of mine since 2004, I really owed it to her to share the studio with someone as excellent as she.

DJ Victrola has been making radio in some form or another since 1979, and she has an expertise and knowledge of which I’m often jealous.   I attended a lecture she gave on the influences rock music has from early Country Music in America, and she gives another on Prog Rock, another secret passion of mine.  (Shhhhhhh!)  I’m hoping I can attend it at some point, but in the meantime, you get to hear our favorite experimental and noise guitar players from the oeuvre of overlooked guitar greats.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes tid-bit: between songs, I recorded additional interviews with her, detailing her history with radio, and some other highlights from her career.  My hope is that I can produce another “Commentary Track” episode, as I did with Ricardo Wang for his 7th Anniversary at KPSU.   Of course, these things take time, so until then, you just get the regular broadcast.

Hanging out with DJ Victrola was a lot of fun, and I may be appearing more and more on her show in the near future.  We work together, we love radio, and there’s enough cross-over that it is worth the effort.  We shall see.

Until then: enjoy!

Playlist:

01.) Guitar Shop * Jeff Beck * Guitar Shop
02.) Telegram Sam * T. Rex * Slider
03.) Black Maria * Todd Rundgren * Something/Anything
04.) Tan * Fred Frith * The Happy End Problem
05.) Jazz From Hell * Frank Zappa * Jazz From Hell
06.) The Beltway Bandits * Frank Zappa * Jazz From Hell
07.) Chrysanthemums * Derek Bailey and Henry Kaiser * Wireforks
08.) Snake In the Grass * Derek Bailey and Henry Kaiser * Wireforks
09.) Asturias * Robert Fripp & The League of Crafty Guitarists
10.) Snow Song * Nymph * Nymph
11.) Hexenzscene * Unwound * New Plastic Ideas
12.) Hotwire My Heart * Sonic Youth * Sister
13.) Careful With That Axe, Eugene * Eugene Chadbourne & Camper Van Beethoven
14.) Once Upon A Time * Sonny Sharrock * Ask the Ages
15.) Echoes of Spain * Sir Richard Bishop
16.) Esoterica of Abyssinia * Sun City Girls
17.) Bleeker and Bowry * Elliott Sharp / John Zorn
18.) Radio I / One Time / Radio II * King Crimson * Thrak
19.) Goodbye Porkpie Hat * Jeff Beck