The Fourth of July Picnic: partially cannibalized from a Negativland release, this is a july forth presentation that was a lot of fun to put together. Hopefully, you’ll agree!
Live From An Actual 4th of July BBQ: Mixed with some killer tunes and a live phone call to an actual BBQ, this is one of my all-time favorite shows from the first wave of KPSU broadcasts. Enjoy!
New Shows! We’ve expanded our network to include two new shows:
Closet Radio! You can now podcast this program for free from iTunes. We also host all the back episodes on our server. Everything is available, for free or download!
The Night Shift! We’ve also added a goth show! You can paste this link into your RSS aggregator of choice, and enjoy all the back episodes from us, too.
01.) Video Games Buried In The Desert * By The End Of Tonight * Fireworks On Ice
02.) Your Street vs. Wall Street * The Oxes * The Oxes
03.) New Laws * Don Caballero * For Respect
04.) The Pittmans 4th of July Speech * Bob & Ray * The Lost Tapes Vol. 2
In a new-ish segment to our program, I decided to rundown the rocktacular weekend of amazing music that I got to experience. Up first: the 17th of May at The Doug Fir, with none other than the incredible Man… Or Astro-Man? Their show was incredible, and lived up to the quality of performance that they delivered two years ago, when they also dropped by Portland for a sort of “best-of” performance. This time, they have new material, a new guitar player, and new releases! This mini-show contains three tracks from their new 7″s releases by Chunklet Industries, that I picked up at the show. Enjoy!
I also go on to plug the marathon day of radio on the 18th of May, where I appeared in seven out of 8 hours of radio on KPSU. In that span of time, I managed to cover Ricardo Wang’s What’s This Called?, delivering a two-part audio essay, and ran sound for three bands: Gaytheist, Sweat Lodge & No Bone. In that time, I got to hang with Tunacan Jones, Jonathon Boober, and Miss Rikki Lee. During that time, I got to include a number od DJ selections, and ran sound for all the bands. It was a pretty crazy day, and I had a great time. Links and posts are forthcoming, but in the meantime I wanted to blab about it, so here you go.
I also close the show with a little solo jam, just me and my pedal.
Short and to the point. Just like some radio should be.
I have always taken for granted the holiday that we take in January to honor Martin Luther King Jr. It was not that I didn’t care, but that the day usually came when papers were due, or when I worked a job that already required me to work that day. But in light of my new job, getting the day off – paid – felt a little weird. I had to be honest with myself that I had never really listened to any of his speeches all the way through, and that I knew very little about the work he did other than the most general, basic sense.
So today’s radio blast is a bunch of stuff culled from my collection of audio that relates to MLK Jr. I have an edited cut-up of his last speech, and a radio broadcast from just after his assassination, as a way of presenting some of what I discovered in actually doing some research of this amazing and incredible man.
I do not have any great epiphanies to share with you, and there is no great revelation at work in this show. It seems very clear that, as he delivered this speech, he knew his days were numbered, but this seems to be the case in most of the time leading up to his assassination. I think the arrangement in this little mini-cast works to reveal why he was considered to be one of the best orators of our day, but also to illuminate much of what his work was about in the most basic and general sense possible.
For those who stay to the end: there’s a little joke to ease the tension of such a serious subject.
I urge all of you to listen to his speechs, read up on this man, and let yourself actually understand the value of this holiday. So much of what happens to us seems so passive, and we let days pass without reflecting on them too often. This time, stop for a moment to consider who this man was, and what effect he had on the world around us.
And: let’s hope you MLK Day was full of the promise and wonder that every new days brings us.
Be seeing you
I’ve Been to the Bemsha Mountaintop
01.) (What Did I Do To Be So) Black & Blue [Excerpt]* Louis Armstrong * Say It Loud: Celebrate Black History Month & Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
02.) “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” [Excerpts] * Martin Luther King Jr. * 3 April 1968
02.) Bemsha Swing * Thelonious Monk * Say It Loud: Celebrate Black History Month & Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
03.) Martin Luther King Jr. Assassinated * Bill Kurtis * We Interrupt This Broadcast * 4 April 1968
As 2013 kick-starts our lives in this new, post-apocalyptic world that we now live in, it is important to know that you have accomplished something to help make the world a better place. In this mini-cast, I review some e-mail I got from a listener, and how I was able to save a holiday near and dear to their heart. It was very sweet, and in response I played a bunch of a band they requested – Adickdid – and talk about my plans this year. It’s a little bit of everything today, and that’s just the way we like it.
Many shows are currently in production, and the new year will see a variety of new (and old) subjects revisited as we discover what, exactly, our program will be like moving forward. We are enjoying the discovery ourselves, and how that you do, too.
In the meantime: here’s some vintage riot girl awesomeness, in response to the need for more Adickdid in our Eugene Celebration series of shows. Episode III of that series in on the way. This is just a small taste.
Enjoy!
We Saved New Year’s Eve
01.) Mail Box * Adickdid * Dismantle * G Records
02.) Falling * Adickdid * Slaughter on 13th Street * Self-Released.
03.) Ask Nicely * Adickdid * Dismantle * G Records
04.) Stare Right Past You * Adickdid * Dismantle * G Records
Getting Nervous (Featuring an interview with new local band, The Nervous, which includes the world premier of their music on this very podcast!)
I have known Chris and Jesse from The Nervous for years, and the band they’d started in the ’90’s back in Eugene – Mondale – was a rare treat for the few who got to rock out to them. Now, in this far-flung, post-apocalyptic year of 2013, we encounter their newest musical endeavor, a trio (rounded out by their drummer, Splinters), which is offering some of the greatest Nerd Rock anthems guaranteed to start promptly at every performance.
In preparation for their impending live gigs, I was invited down to the compound where The Nervous hone their craft, and managed to sit down with the guys afterward in their comfortable “Living Room” to chat about pursuing music as a hobby, and what its like to be in really terrible bands with assholes. Interspersed throughout the interview are songs that inspire them, two never-before heard songs from their current set, and an old Mondale tune (or two) to round things out.
Long-time listeners may remember a live performance by Jesse Ransom (featured in The Nervous) in 2006. This episode is also available to stream or download at this time, accompanied by a playlist and photos. Jesse Ransom 06 June 2006. It’s an oldie, but a goodie, and it gives you an acoustic taste of what he brings to the party.
Special thanks to Chris, Jesse and Spinters, not only for being stand up guys and great musicians, but for trusting me to record them in their natural habitat. You guys are fantastic, and I can’t wait for more people to hear you.
Enjoy!
MyFacester+ Photoset (with video footage of the band rehearsing on 30 December 2012).
Getting Nervous
01.) Get Out Of Our Way, We’re A-Comin’ Through * Mondale * Square Roots Radicals * Self-Released
02.) Interview w/ The Nervous Part I * 30 December 2012
03.) Musical Interlude * Shadowy Men on A Shadowy Planet * Savvy Show Stoppers * Cargo Records
04.) High Impact Smart Girls * Mondale * Square Roots Radicals * Self-Released
05.) Interview w/ The Nervous Part II * 30 December 2012
06.) Gates Of Steel * Devo * Freedom Of Choice * Warner Bros.
07.) Sex Mad * Nomeansno * Sex Mad * Alternative Tentacles Records
08.) Interview w/ The Nervous Part III * 30 December 2012
09.) Theme From EEVIAC * Man… Or Astro-Man? * EEVIAC: Operational Index and Reference Guide, Including Other Modern Computational Devices * Touch & Go Records
10.) Entry Level Position * The Nervous * Unreleased Practice Recording
11.) Interview w/ The Nervous Part IV * 30 December 2012
12.) Little Girls * Oingo Boingo * Only A Lad * A&M Records
13.) You Look Good In Glasses * The Nervous * Unreleased Practice Recording
14.) Interview w/ The Nervous Part V * 30 December 2012
15.) 21st Century Digital Boy * Bad Religion * Stranger Than Fiction * Atlantic Records
New Year’s Resolution (Featuring a special New Year’s Message, and a welcome to 2013.)
From all of us, here at Blasphuphmus Radio, we want to wish you the happiest New Year, full of possibility and new endeavors. Remember: without you, there is no show.
Be seeing you. In 2013.
Enjoy!
New Year’s Resolution
01.) New Year’s Resolution * Donovan * Open Road * Epic Records
02.) “On Christmas, say Merry Christmas. On New Year’s, say Happy New Year’s.” * Kermit Shafer * Pardon My Blooper * Kapp Records
I was introduced to The Sound of Young America a few years ago, and immediately became obsessed with what Jesse Thorn was able to create out of a college radio show. Somehow, I related. This was another case of being quite late to the game; whenever I would tell people about his show, people would say, “Yeah, I know. Have you heard Bullseye?”
So, I started listening, and have become quite a fan of the entire MaximumFun.com network of shows. And while I would never presume that I need to introduce you to his program, with the holidays, I think it is possible to completely miss their fantastic Holiday Episode that was produced this year.
Consider this my loving tribute to a perfect episode of a podcast.
Enjoy!
Nailed It.
01.) Huddle Formation * The Go! Team * Thunder, Lightning, Strike * Memphis Industries.
02.) The Week Between * Jonathan Coulton & John Roderick * One Christmas At A Time * Self-Released
Number 9. Number 9. (Featuring a new declaration of purpose / series of excuses, and a review of the new Buffy The Vampire Slayer Comic up through Season 9.)
In the last couple months the inertia of this program has slowed down tremendously. This was completely accidental; The Lava Lamp Lounge in Historic St. John’s is a nexus for weirdness magnets of a wide variety, and I am now finding myself working harder than ever, occasionally having to fight crime, assist stranded aliens, discovering new unexplored lands with other groups of weirdos, and in general, working more than I ever have before. No new shows have been happening with any kind of regularity.
But fear not! We are trying something new. Our program has reinvented itself several times over the years, and the time has come to take on a new form. Our means of broadcast is quite unique now, and we have the potential to experiment with form and style in ways we haven’t before. It is with this in mind that I am trying something new, and experimenting with different kinds of shows, in new shapes and sizes. Stay tuned to see how this all is put together as we move on. In the meantime…
I review the new Buffy The Vampire Slayer comics. A good friend of mine works at Dark Horse, and she was able to gift me a large number of comics from Season 8 and 9 of the new Buffy Comics. I just finished catching up to “current” issues with this series, and do a spoiler-less free-form discussion about being a Buffy fan, and how these new comics read to me.
Let us know what you think, and if you like the smaller / differntly sized chunks of shows. I have a variety of thoughts about how this will all get pieced together in the long run, but until then, enjoy these “showlets.”
Enjoy!
Number 9. Number 9.
Part I: “Mea Culpa” or “Something Latin That Sounds Important Or Something”
01.) Nile Hilton Burning * Sun City Girls * The Fresh Kill Of A Cape Hunting Dog * Eclipse Records
Part II: “Season 9. Season 9.”
02.) Buffy TV Theme Song * Nerf Herder * Buffy The Vampire Slayer The Album * TVT Records
03.) The Rat * The Ventures * Ghoulardi Music * Kogar The Swingin’ Ape
04.) RFD Rangoon * Forbidden Five * Lux & Ivy’s Favorites Volume One * Kogar The Swingin’ Ape
05.) Enchanted Farm * Forbidden Five * Lux & Ivy’s Favorites Volume One * Kogar The Swingin’ Ape
06.) Congo * Bo Diddley * Bo Knows Instro * Kogar The Swingin’ Ape
07.) Buzzsaw Twist * The Gee-Cees * Lux & Ivy’s Favorites Volume Three * Kogar The Swingin’ Ape
Mini-Cast #8 (Featuring my brother Kyle – and my sister Karly – announcing the impending “A Family Affair” episode that is running a little late.)
Since I am out of the Lava Lamp Lounge this week, away on a trip visiting family, our next program is going to be a little late. But! I can now safely reveal that it will be a new installment in our on-going A Family Affair series. It’s been quite a while since we’ve had anyone from the extended family on the program, and we are excited to be able to incorporate a larger cast and crew with this particular show. While Kyle and Karly are sure things, we are also looking to include my mother, Marti Grissom, as well as recordings of our grandmother, and possibly even our Cousin as a surprise guest. I’m hoping to pull in a cast of characters to talk about music, and give the family perspective. Hopefully it’ll be as much fun for you as it will be for us.
So, sit tight. There’s a full show on the way. In the meantime here’s a teaser of what to expect. We should have the complete show available by the end of the week. In the meantime, let these two track satisfy your need for a new show.
Patience, dear listener. Soon.
Mini-Cast #8
01.) Starship Enterprise Idling
02.) Today’s Tom Sawyer * Rush * Moving Pictures
03.) Do It With A Rock Star * Amanda Palmer * Theatre Is Evil
It sucks that I had to miss another show this week, but with my parents in town, I had to make the sacrifice. But not to leave you empty handed, I decided to throw together this short Mini-Cast. It contains all the details of the show on the 10th, as I knew them then. The full details, which came together since then, are below in the press release for the show.
What can I say? This show is gonna rule. And the songs I included should be enough evidence to make you want to go, too. Let your ears help you decide, and listen.
=================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
=================
KPSU PRESENTS:
TYRANTS, DRATS!!!, & NITEBRITE
with DJ Tuff Gnarly
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2012
FOOD FOR THOUGHT CAFE – 1825 SW BROADWAY (BASEMENT OF SMITH MEMORIAL STUDENT UNION) PORTLAND, OR
7:30 PM DOORS, 8:00 PM SHOW
$3 FOR STUDENTS, $5 FOR NON-STUDENTS
ALL AGES
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR DAY OF THE SHOW ONLY
While I’m out of town this weekend, and unable to provide a live show for ya’ll from coastal Oregon, I thought I’d present a little information about our show, and our presence on the ol’ Inter-Web-A-Tron. While I have tossed around that you can find our show in iTunes, which is quite an achievement in and of itself, we’ve also adding different feeds to the iTunes Store, where you can subscribe to the different kinds of shows that you are interested in. It’s an innovation that we’re very excited about, and this seemed like a good opportunity to give you a quick run-down. For those of you who hate plugs, there is also a good mix of music that follows (without me talking over it), and it is well worth the wait, methinks.
Since this is a digital medium too, here is a textual version of the information provided in this podcast. This also affords me the opportunity to provide specific and direct links, that you can easily copy and paste into your podcast aggregater of choice. While I have not listed all of our currently available podcasts (the holiday shows are available too, but won’t be updated until next year), these are the ones that will give you the widest and best possible overview of the kind of show we are, for those of you who may be new listeners.
Blasphuphmus Radio Podcast Feed
This feed offers you every new episode that we broadcast, including any and all radio appearances that get recorded on other people’s shows. If you just want to hear everything, as it happens, then this is the feed for you.
In-Studio Performances
Like live music? Any time we have a guest on the show (or, any time I help run the sound for a guest on another show), the recording ends up in this feed. This winds up offering a wide assortment of music from all over the map, on tour, local, and all points in between. This feed includes a number of collaborations with fellow DJ, Ricardo Wang, on his show, What’s This Called?
Novelty Recordings
As a collector of Novelty Records, these show represent the times I do my Dr. Demento impersonation, and play all the weirdest and strangest recordings I have access to.
Science Fiction Shows
I am a huge fan of Science Fiction, and in particular the convergence of Sci-Fi and music. So, it’s no wonder that I regularly incorporate the two into the same show. These often include re-edited versions of old Sci-Fi broadcasts, UFO-centric music, movie soundtracks, and a host of other spacey things. This is the show for the Sci-Fi Geek in all of us.
Radio About Radio
Radio broadcasts reflecting on the nature of radio itself, touching the very seam that runs across the self-awareness threshold. Music has always been dimly aware of its own nature, and radio even more-so, but every so often I like to bring out the musical mirror and really get down to what it’s all about.
The Grump Punk Blasphuphmus Radio started as a sort of mutated punk show back in 1998, and while I regularly (and sometimes with conscious conviction) steer away from this subject, in the end that label identifies what could be considered my favorite music, period. So it is no wonder that the Grumpy Punk rears his ugly head fairly often, to add new items to the cannon, and ruminate over well-established classics.
Vinyl Solution
Occasionally the urge to carry heavy, plastic records great distances overwhelms me, and so I put together an all-vinyl show to accommodate this. Radio has changed so much over the years that it is easy to forget that all radio source material used to be pressed to black lacquered discs. While the majority of radio now is often reduced to plugging in a metaphoric iPod and hitting random, I like to remember what it was like to dig through crates, hand-writing playlists, and doing basic math to calculate how many songs you can fit into an hour. These, more than anything, are the most rewarding shows to do.
DJ JustanotherDJ
DJ JustanotherDJ runs the Blasphuphmus Radio affiliate in Southern California, and regularly takes over for me when I am running late, or need someone to cover for me for a week. This is just a small sampling of the kind of work he does on a weekly basis for his own station.
In addition to our presence in iTunes, you can also find us / contact us / etc. via the following social media networks, as it is apparently vital to your very existence to be present on them. I try to update each of these services as often as I can, given that I need to eat, sleep, breath, spend time with my family, and other extremely important things first. Nonetheless:
You’ll find that I update one more than the others. Investigate them all so you can find out which it is!
Blasphuphmus Radio On kpsu.org
Since 2004 (minus some time in 2008), kpsu.org has been syndicating our show on 98.1 FM (on the Portland State University Campus), and on their webstream at kpsu.org. In the past they have also provided podcasting and archived downloads. You can hear the show live (when it is live) from 1 PM – 3 PM on Saturday afternoons, right after What’s This Called? and before Hogwash, Hodgepodge, & Musical Detritus. Audience Participation happens at 503-725-5945. Your donations to kpsu.org help keep shows like mine on the air, so please help them out by clicking that link back there, and donating generously. Thank you.
I think that covers all the informational bases that I wanted to cover. Now, onto the fun stuff:
All the music from this show came from a wonderful website, Kogar’s Jungle Juice. I’ve mentioned him before, and his website is stellar, so I don’t need to rehash any of that. But if you like what you hear on this Mini-Cast, then you need to check out his website. There are hours of cool things to listen to, all available through him. Very worth your time and effort. For this show, all the selections are from his compilation, Kogar’s Jungle 45s.
That does it for this week. Thanks for listening, and thanks for all the new listeners, too. We appreciate every one of you. And now, the playlist.
See you in seven.
Mini-Cast #5
# Track * Artist * More Information.
01.) Tum Tiki * The Enchanters
02.) Safari * The Four Sharps
03.) Congo Pt. One * Twistin’ Kings
04.) Ungaua Pt. Two * The Kingpins
05.) Un-Gowa * The Rimfires
06.) Bi-Aza-Ku-Sasa * The Mogambos
07.) Wa-chi-bam-ba * The Watusi Warriors
08.) Mama Ubangi Bangi * The Four Sounds
09.) Jaguar Hunt * The Crew
10.) Jungle Call * The Gaynighters
11.) The Natives Are Restless Tonight * Ernie George Quartet
12.) Baia * Mickey Baker
Due to unfortunate technical issues, we could not bring you a live performance by Your Rival, as advertised. But fear not! Here is a 10-minute “Mini-Cast” that presents a couple of songs by the group, and some information about them, and where you can see them.
It is unfortunate when we have to cancel in situations like this, and we hate to do it. That’s why I felt it was important to get this up and available in place of the real broadcast. Now that we have access to being able to do things like this whenever we want, you may see more Mini-Casts in the future.
In the meantime, Your Rival are playing tonight, at 8PM, at Laughing Horse Books. You can also check them out at their Bandcamp Page, as well as your usual Inter-Web-A-Tron outlets.
Hopefully we can re-schedule them for another performance in the near-near future. Until then: take care.
KPSU and I are helping raise awareness about the Pineapple Classic 5K Run, an event held on August 13th at Pat’s Acres Karting Complex in Canby. The event is put on by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and is a Hawaiian-themed run, with obstacles, a Luau at the end, and even a beer garden. You can find out more detailed information about the event on their website, linked above.
I initially talked about the run on July 31st. A second, follow-up interview and discussion went out on August 6th, this time interviewing my brother (and leukemia survivor) Kyle Rich. Both clips are featured in the above download. I’m a huge supporter of the LLS, not only because they continue to help fight cancer in these very specific forms, but help raise awareness of the problems that survivors face in dealing with their illness, and the aftermath. I know that I am personally affected because it hit my family, but this is a very good cause no matter what perspective you have, and I think many others will support it as well.
Even if you can’t make a donation, or participate in the run, this will mostly likely be a great event, and a lot of fun. Come out on the 13th and lend your support. They need all the help they can get.
This episode also contains an A Family Affair mini-cast, as my brother calls in half-way through the show to discuss the Light The Night walk that was happening in PDX the day this show was broadcast. Two-for-one.
Enjoy!
1990’s Flashback
# Track * Artist * Album * Label
01.) Audrey’s Dance [Excerpt] * Angelo Badalamenti * Twin Peaks * Warner Bros. Records
02.) Red Wooden Beads * John and Mary * Victory Gardens * Rykodisk Records
03.) Native Son * The Judybats * Native Son * Warner Bros. Records
04.) “Smoking”
05.) Slow Dog * Belly * Star * Sire Records
06.) Edges [Excerpt] * Sonic Youth * SYR 4: Goodbye 20th Century * SY Records
07.) Freak Scene * Dinosaur Jr. * Bug * SST Records
08.) Surf Wax America * Weezer * Weezer * DGC Records
09.) Range Life * Pavement * Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain * Matador Records
10.) Gin and Juice * Sissy Bar * Statutory Grape * Sugar Fix Records
11.) Liquordelic * Tipsy * Trip Tease * Asphodel Records
12.) Cinnabar [Excerpt] * Tipsy * Trip Tease * Asphodel Records
13.) Noel, Jonah, and Me * The Spinanes * Manos * Sub Pop Records
14.) Creepy * Velocity Girl * “Crazy Town” b/w “Creepy” 7″ * Sub Pop Records
15.) A Family Affair Segment: Light The Night Plug * Kyle Rich * 09 October 2010 * Blasphuphmus Radio
16.) Over Now * Alice In Chains * Alice In Chains * Columbia Records
17.) Time Theory 11:11 * Miss Murgatroid
18.) Not If You Were the Last Junkie On Earth * The Dandy Warhols * …The Dandy Warhols Come Down * Capitol Records
19.) Wreck My Car * They Might Be Giants * Apollo 18 * Elektra Records
20.) Lump * The Presidents Of The United States Of America * The Presidents of the United States of America * Columibia Records
21.) Nitro Burning Funny Cars * The Dead Milkmen * Bucky Fellini * Enigma Records
22.) She Says What She Means * Sloan * Navy Blues * Murderecords
23.) Having Never Written a Note for Percussion [Excerpt] * Sonic Youth * SYR 4: Goodbye 20th Century * SY Records
24.) C’mon C’mon (We’re Gonna Get It Started) * Sloan * Navy Blues * Murderecords
25.) Gdelp Me * Cathead * Cathead: The Album! * Self-Released
26.) Welcome (Intro) [Excerpt] * Land of the Loops * Bundle of Joy * Up Records
27.) Our Happiness Is Guaranteed * Quasi * Featuring “Birds” * Up Records
28.) Dig Me Out * Sleater-Kinney * Dig Me Out * Kill Rock Stars Records
29.) Clean Up On Aisle #9 (Turn Up The Monitors) * Man… Or Astro-Man? * Is It… * Estrus Records
30.) Multi-family Garage Sale * Land of the Loops * Bundle of Joy * Up Records
31.) Slip * Carmina Piranha * Revenge Poems * Dublin Discs
32.) Awake In the Sand * Kaitlyn Ni Donovan * Songs for “Three Days” * Hush Records
33.) J’y suis jamais alle * Yann Tiersen * Amelie * Virgin Records
34.) Les jour TRISTES (instrumental) * Yann Tiersen * Amelie * Virgin Records
35.) La Valse D’Amelie * Yann Tiersen * Amelie * Virgin Records
36.) Drivin’ On 9 * The Breeders * Last Splash * 4AD Records
New Day! New Time! Old Songs! This is a great show to start with, if you’ve been curious about Blasphuphmus Radio. It gives you the flavor of the kind of stuff I do in a new, Portland / Vancouver Metro Area kind of way.
Next week: I tackle the big VD with “Songs For My Baby.”
As a long-time contributor to KPSU, one of the many skills I’ve picked up is that of running live sound. Between running Live Friday for two years, hosting bands on my own show – in addition to helping out other DJs with their bands – has given my a rather large musical portfolio that the Way-Back Machine gives me access to. I’ve always felt it was unfair to leave these recordings to lie in their musty storage bins, so I’ve decided to occasionally feature my best live recordings on this very show.
This week we have recordings by Tea For Julie & Derek M. Johnson. Tea For Julie is a new-ish indie-pop group that came into KPSU to perform on Rachelle’s “Anti-Apathy” show on November 24th, 2008. (Two days before Thanksgiving.) Normally they’re a full ensemble, but for this performance, they appeared as a two-piece for a spooky, reverb-drenched sound. Fans of the group will be excited to hear their songs stripped-down, and to hear their casual and friendly interview clips afterward. For more information, check out their page at http://www.myspace.com/teaforjulie.
Derek M. Johnson, however, is another matter entirely. As a solo experimental cellist, Derek skirts a much less mainstream sound that involves looping pedals, effects of all shapes and kinds, and when appropriate, actual cello sounds, too. Derek came to PDX on December 7th, 2008 (Pearl Harbor Day) to promote his show that evening, and to play a live set on Ricardo Wang’s “What’s This Called?” Program. Sadly, Ricardo could not appear on his own show (due to the all-encompassing financial crisis), and so I stepped in, not only to host but to run live sound as well. Derek performed three “pieces”: two short covers, prefaced by a longer (and awesome) improvised bit. While there wasn’t much of an interview, I included a few snippets of us talking that day, too. For more information about him, you can check him out at: http://www.myspace.com/derekmjohnson.
Incidental music and sounds in this episode provided by Man… Or Astro-Man?, Last Exit & found sounds from the public library.
PLUS!
“A Tribute To Ron Asheton Minicast”
As a huge Stooges fan, I couldn’t pass up the chance to do a small tribute to Ron, in honor of his unfortunate death. I was able to see them once in the Spring of 2007 at SxSW, and they were as good as advertised on stage, if not better. So I close the show with a “minicast” talking about my interest as a fan, will “Real Cool Time” & “1970” play on. I’ll be including occasional “minicasts” as they are appropriate or fit the show, and I will always try to draw attention to them for interested listeners.
Mid-Valley Mutations 