Summon The Sun (Retrocast)
(Originally aired 5 June 2010 on KPSU.)

Playlist & Footnotes: http://anywhereanywhen.com/2016/04/19/summon-the-sun-retrocast

(In which I play a bunch of songs dedicated to Frith himself, in an attempt to keep him overhead in the coming months.)

There is a certain amount of logic to all the Festival of Lights cultures, who perform various religious rites in an effort to call back our absent friend, The Sun.  I entirely agree with George Carlin, in that I am not religious, but if I were, I would worship The Sun.  I regularly see direct evidence of the affects it has on the world around me, something I cannot say for anything else that is worshiped on this planet.  I know, personally, that The Sun plays a huge role in my own life.  My moods change with the seasons, and I find myself a much happier person in Spring and Summer, than I am the rest of the year.

With that in mind, I feel completely ripped off this Spring.  The Sun has been suspiciously absent, making a handful of appearances this entire season.  I am not against having a rainy season, and even enjoy the rain from time to time.  If I was really against it, I would move.  But this time, the season has gone much too far, and it time to perform some emergency Sun-Summoning Rituals, STAT.

Included in this show are a host of songs geared toward paying homage to that fiery ball of hydrogen that we all know and love.  Spanning time, genres, and typical radio conventions, I pull out all the stops to bring you a variety of audio sunbeams to help keep us warm and dry, even when the weather isn’t feeling it.  60’s Psyche Rock, Punk Covers, Avant Rock and Discombobulated Pop join forces to create a bright and cheery soundscape, with the single purpose of trying to bring back The Sun from its extreme sojourn beyond the clouds.  Plus: this one just plain old rocks, too.

This might also be the largest number of tracks I have played from reissues, compilations, Greatest Hits, and otherwise Non-Original releases in a single show.  (I could be wrong, and will be again, even.)  While my collection isn’t entirely comprised of re-issues, this show just happened to work out that way.  You wouldn’t really know unless I told you, but I thought I should come clean.  It’s just not that easy to find some of this stuff.

Hopefully this invocation will prove to The Sun that we are serious, and we would really enjoy his company at this time.  Weather or not he listens, however, is entirely up to him.

*

Summon The Sun

01.) Sunology * Sun Ra and His Arkestra * Super-Sonic Jazz * Impulse! Records
02.) Section 2: It’s The Sun * The Polyphonic Spree * The Beginning Stages Of… * Good Records
03.) Sunshine Love * Rikki Lliong * Love, Peace & Poetry: African Psychedelic Music * Normal Records
04.) Sunshine Superman * Hüsker Dü * Everything Falls Apart * Reflex Records
05.) Biography of the Sun * Pink Mountain * Pink Mountain * Frenetic Records
06.) Sun Spots * No Age * Weirdo Rippers * Fat Cat Records
07.) Children of the Sun * The Misunderstood * Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond * Rhino Records
08.) California Sun * The Ramones * All The Stuff (And More) Vol. 1 * Sire Records
09.) Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun Is A Mass Of Incandescent Gas) [Live] * They Might Be Giants * Dial-A-Song: 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants * Rhino Records
10.) Blister In The Sun * Violent Femmes * Violent Femmes * Slash Records
11.) Sun God * Squirrel Bait * Gimme Indie Rock * K-Tel Records
12.) Sunshine * Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti * 1920’s And 1930’s Sides Remastered * JSP Records
13.) Sun City Girls From Ipanema * Sun City Girls * Box of Chameleons * Abduction Records
14.) Sun Zoom Spark * Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band * Clear Spot * Reprise Records
15.) Sunrise * Tidal Waves * Homework #102 * Hyped 2 Death Records
16.) The Sun Shines Down On Me * Daniel Johnston * Welcome To My World * Eternal Yip Eye Music
17.) Keep On The Sunny Side * Carter family * A Proper Introduction To The Carter Family: Keep On The Sunny Side * Proper Introduction Records
18.) Sunology [Excerpt] * Sun Ra and His Arkestra * Super-Sonic Jazz * Impulse! Records
19.) The Warmth of the Sun * The Beach Boys * Endless Summer * Capitol Records