thursday night fill-in playlist 2

If I could claim this time slot, I would.

faith no more - helpless
jawbox - tools and chrome
bad brains - house of suffering
throwing muses - tar kissers
jucifer - when she goes out
heatmiser - mockup
the breeders - new year
X - soul kitchen
the buzzcocks- ever fallen in love
the pixies - monkey gone to heaven
sleater kinney - all hands on the bad one
the duke spirit - send a little love token
jesus and mary chain - catchfire
black angels - black grease
the gutter twins - bete noire
iggy pop - the passenger (request)
machine go boom - punchline song (request)
afghan whigs - uptown again
swervedriver - sci-flyer
smart went crazy - dc will do that to you
dream syndicate - that's what you always say
my bloody valentine - only shallow
sonic youth - purr
queens of the stone age - autopilot
ameseours- video girl
mira - space
the verve - life's an ocean
the chills - pink frost
fugazi - strangelight
50 foot wave - power & light

playlist 3/29/11

trip-hop and various musique from the UK, Mexico, France, Indonesia, Cambodia, Singapore, Burma, Angola, Mali, Turkey, the US of A, Pakistan, and Ethiopia.

blue sky black death - chloroform
bonobo - eyesdown
juana molina - hoy supe que viajas
janelle monae - sincerely jane
portishead - strangers
hope sandoval - the rest of your life
amesoeurs - video girl
cafe tacuba - tengo todo
autolux - capital kind of strain
mira - pieces
mogwai - too raging to cheer
cut chemist - the garden
trees - murdoch
rokia traore - n'gotolen
artur nunes - kisia ki nugui
wallias band - muzqawi silt
selda - megdan sizindir
khun khang - nga ley
terenchen - jeritau cinta
the keyboys - unknown
nahid akhtar - aise maisan me chu kayun ho
jo privat - minor swing
the pentangle - train song
amadou & mariam - coulibaly
dengue fever - tip my canoe
corin tucker - doubt

stillness for now

I've been everywhere this weekend yet I finally feel less exhausted, restored by art-and-dinner-talking-past-midnight, new tuneage from the library, good hanging out at a birthday party cut short by duty calling at the radio station where I definitely kept it rocking in the free world, though I told the guy who called up and requested the Doors that he could see if Michael Stanley would play "Texas Radio and the Big Beat" for him since I had goodness by way of latter day glorious noise to get to.

playlist half recalled:

Ataxia - The Sides
Afghan Whigs - Beware
Kyuss - 50 Million Year Trip
Kylesa - Spiral Shadow
Sleater Kinney - Steep Air
Sonic Youth - Purr
The Bellrays - Stone Rain
Bad Brains - House of Suffering
Fugazi - By you
Throwing Muses - Pandora's Box
Isis - In Fiction
Hoover - Route 7
Ameseours - Faux Semblants
Les Discrets - Svpijagr & Freya
Mira - Space is my middle name
the Dead Weather - I can't hear you
Mark Lanegan & PJ Harvey - Hit the City
Mudhoney - Hate the Police
MC5 - I want you right now
The Stooges - 1970
Soundgarden - Overfloater
Jesus & Mary Chain - Snakedriver
Jawbox - green glass

It's another coffeeshop night, and even after a mug of tea and a mocha, I'm not feeling inspired enough to do anything epic even though I'm doing everything I can to get into writing mode. I did work through a few designs in an old how-to-doodle-your-own Celtic knotwork book I got from the library and scribble some poetry so it hasn't all been for nothing. Sometimes it's just good to get out.

playlist 2/22/11

cinematic orchestra - lilac wine
Corin Tucker - handed love
Djeli Moussa - almany
Bassekou Kouyate - turin turin
(Ethiopiques vol 10) - teredtchewalehu
ahmad adaweay - el sah el sah emtou
keur moussa - nicono creed
dwelling - fujo de mi
pharaoh's daughter - by way of haran
niyaz - hejran
matelo ferret - pouro Rom
rokia traore - souba
BLK JKS - lakeside
Cafe Tacuba - Encantamiento Inutil
Jeff Buckley - mojo pin
petch phin tong - soul lam phearn
dead meadow - at her open door
the black angels - black grease
coloracao desbotada - extenso ambiente
firefriend - free form future
the soft boys - I wanna destroy you
the Dirtbombs - Ode to a Black Man (request)
Tinariwen - ere tasfa adounia
the strangers - onye ije
apastar - gilgamis
adja pelkan - kaderimin ouyan
nahid akhtar - dil dil dil sambhala
dengue fever - 1000 tears of a tarantula

playlist 2/15/11 planet rock edition

Mulatu Astatke - shagu (Ethiopia)
Lee Scratch Perry - the zeal of the lord (Jamaica)
Chaweewan Dumnern - sab lam plearn (Thailand)
Alemayehu Eshete - timarkyakesh (Ethiopia)
Nahid Akhtar- aesi chalo na (Pakistan)
Pan Ron - I love mean girl (Cambodia)
Selda - ince ince bir kar yagar (Turkey)
the Fore Thoughts - sharbaz qalander (Pakistan)
Artur Nunes - zinha (Angola)
Gilberto Gil - (can't remember) (Brazil)
Umm Kolthoum - qal el ya hulif (Egypt)
Rasha - leali (Sudan)
Rachid Taha - Qalantiqa (Algeria/France)
Bharat Kherk - Calcutta Calcutta (India)
Jarabe de Menta - con el sol en el bosillo (Argentina)
Banda de los Hijos - dejala corre (Colombia)
Rodrigo y Gabriela - Ixtapa (Mexico)
Amadou & Mariam - lailalallah (Mali)
Rikki Ilionga - musamuseka (Zambia)
Anansa Professionals - enwan (Nigeria)
Bellemou & Banfissa - lah lah ya shaibi (Algeria)
Ray C - nimezama kwa mapenzi (Tanzania)
Hayvanlar Alemi - hayalauca kulubu (Turkey)
Los Destellos - Para Elisa (Peru)
Kouroush - Hajme kali (Iran)
Los Abandoned - conquistarte bien (Chile/US)
Femi Kuti - Truth don't die (Nigeria)

songs for cold weather

I keep hearing about these epic snow storms but haven't seen much. Supposedly the big one is coming in tonight, and while I drove down due to being at the station, I'll probably be taking public transit and/or walking home.

We peons always seem to make it in, while the Powers That Be claim they can't get out of their driveways and it's just too much! to get downtown.

Despite the lack of playlist posting, I am still on the air, but decided this morning to theme it with sundry wintry songs. The sweet sounds of Africa/Thailand/the Middle East/Latin America just wouldn't cut it on a morning where my car is rolling over piles of snow and I'm crawling through the dark downtown streets.

I left my playlist in the car, but here's what can be recalled....

Mogwai - 2 rights make 1 wrong
Agalloch - the Hawthorne Passage: Song for a Gray City
Siouxsie & the Banshees - the Sweetest Chill
The Clash - London Calling
John Frusciante - This Cold
Curve - Frozen
My Bloody Valentine - Soft as Snow
Radiohead - Morning Bell
Gil Scott-Heron - Winter In America
Morphine - Let's Take a Trip Together
The Chills - Pink Frost
The Pixies - Winterlong
The Cure - Winter
The White Stripes - In the Cold Cold Night
Cave In - Seafrost
Massive Attack - Weather Storm
Team Sleep - Ever Since WWI
Kristin Hersh - Winter
Dead Can Dance - American Dreams
Husker Du - Back From Somewhere / Ice Cold Ice
the XX - Crystalised
Mazzy Star - Still Cold
Queens of the Stone Age - Long Slow Goodbye

Next time, there will be more planning...

thursday night fill-in playlist

Most of this would have been a mixtape I would have made you my third year of college, but it works darn good on a Thursday night. It's weird being in the studio and being awake and actually getting phone calls, mostly from people ten years older than me who haven't heard Jawbox since back in the day who wonder if I'll be a regular fixture and if I'll play "Jesus is Way Cool." I like this time slot even though I'm wedged in between two metal shows and while it's not Air Supply, it's not nearly as heavy either.

sonic youth - dirty boots
jawbox - breathe
sleater-kinney - all hands on the bad one
fugazi - do you like me
throwing muses - pandora's box
swervedriver - a change is gonna come
mission of burma - trem two
the buzzcocks - harmony in my head
high back chairs - afterlife
REM - crush with eyeliner
love - 7 and 7 is
X - poor girl
the clash - city of the dead
elastica - in the city
the pixies - mr grieves
jesus and mary chain - far gone and out
blur - there's no other way
echo and the bunnymen - crocodiles
ride - drive blind
love battery - foot
the cure - cut
jane's addiction - summertime rolls
pavement - cream of gold
autolux - here comes everybody
the dirtbombs - brand new game
afghan whigs - cito soleil
morphine - buena
soul coughing - is chicago
queens of the stone age - white wedding
the verve - life's an ocean

playlist 10/5/10

gil scott-heron - where did the night go

bonobo - eyesdown

blue sky black death - skies open

little dragon - fortune

martina topley-bird - something to say

bat for lashes - two planets

willie isz - i didn't mean to

pariah - detroit falls

bomb the bass feat. mark lanegan - black river

ernestine deane - praha paradise

sade - by your side (cottonbelly remix)

esthero - i drive alone

pete rock - pete's jazz

morcheeba - blindfold

julieta venegas - eres para mi

savath & savalas - balcon sin flores

hello seahorse - bestia

the xx - crystalised

astrud gilberto - gentle rain

madlib - piano garden

lamb - gorecki

massive attack - live with me

nneka - your request

fugazi - the argument

dry & heavy - landing

cut chemist - sound of the police side 1

playlist 9/21/10

trying to get back into posting playlists

cut chemist - the garden

bonobo - kong

radiohead - 15 step

twilight singers - twilight

thievery corporation - la femme parallel

diplo - summer's gonna hurt you

shlomo and the vocal orchestra - teardrop

novalima - zamba lanco

bad brains - leaving babylon

tenor saw - ring the alarm

the charmels - as long as I've got you

stan getz and luiz bonfa - insensatez

blind boys of alabama - way down in the hole

the bellrays- have a little faith

erykah badu - bag lady

mos def - umi says

afghan whigs - lost in the supermarket / stand by me/ train in vain

stiffed - hold tight

soul coughing - lazybones

linton kwesi johnson - black petty booshwah enforcer (request)

althea & donna - no more fighting

dennis brown - man next door

parliament - goose that laid the golden egg

devo - gut feeling

the dirtbombs - trainwreck

entropy

My playlist this morning might not look like it makes sense on paper, but it was where I was this morning, reeling from the accumulation of hurt and frustration that's been the story of this past year and especially the past few weeks.

I swayed in the studio, tired from another sleepless night, unable to totally wake up, letting the sounds wash over me of others' sadness and broken hearts... the way that these sounds resonate so much to know that I am not alone in the pain.

I used to think that once I got out of middle school or maybe high school that the drama would dissipate, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Kids might not be making fun of your haircut or your glasses but grown adults still act like children and it's almost worse because you think they'd know better by now.

"We're grown adults and look what we do," one of my friends says, but I mean the "real grownups" who have kids my age and are often grandparents now, but still exist in these us-vs-them paradigms that should have faded long ago. Maybe I'm wrong to think that age and experience really mean anything.

And I hope I don't end up like that, playing people off each other, using and manipulating and wondering why it scares everyone away. I don't want to be always expecting something and never giving, feeling like I'm entitled to anything.

I hate the loneliness that comes when there was once closeness and now there is none, yet your lives are so tangled up with mutual friends and social venues and dynamics that you can't completely extricate yourselves or take a break and wait for the dust to settle. All the shattered families and soured friendships and romances that crashed and burned. I guess it's just the way it is, and the pain and inevitability is to be expected.

playlist 9/14/10

neil young - down by the river
jimi hendrix - bleeding heart
the bellrays - tell the lie
sharon jones & the dap-kings - something's changed
funkadelic - you & your folks
afghan whigs - crazy
morphine - scratch
blonde redhead - misery is a butterfly
john frusciante - a song to sing when I'm lonely
U2 - ultraviolet
soulsavers - kingdom of rain
bonobo - stay the same
morcheeba - posthumous / tape loop
lamb - stronger
portishead - wandering stars
lupe fiasco - intruder alert
me'shell ndegeocello - solomon
massive attack - unfinished sympathy
nneka - heartbeat
stephen marley - you're gonna leave
outkast - liberation
mad season - long gone day
johnny cash - God's gonna cut you down
autolux - turnstile blues
radiohead - i might be wrong
twilight singers - papillon

playlist 5/18/10

autolux - capital kind of strain
morphine - let's take a trip together
mulatu astatke - munaye
madlib - slim's return
the roots - upper egypt
portishead - it could be sweet
coldcut - man in a garage
soul coughing - true dreams of wichita
lamb - gold
joy jones - nomad
savath & savalas - ultimo tren
janelle monae - 57821
erykah badu - love
novalima - yo voy
sidestepper - que sera
manu chao - primavera/me gustas tu
razia - babonao
angelique kidjo - zelie
toots and the maytals - pressure drop
galactic & irma thomas - heart of steel
kings go forth - paradise lost
don isaac ezekiel - the lord's prayer
tinariwen - tamatant tillay
samba toure - foda diakaina
ramata diakite - nana

playlist 4/13/10

fugazi - break
scrawl - wait one more day
gutter twins - bete noire
morphine - let's take a trip together
gil scott-heron - new york is killing me / running
morcheeba - never an easy way
martina topley-bird - sandpaper kisses
me'shell ndegeocello - thankful
jeff buckley - mojo pin / eternal life (live at sin-e)
tinariwen -
daby balde -
mogwai - 2 rights make one wrong
love - maybe the people...
brian jonestown massacre - anemone
mark lanegan - don't forget me
the breeders - fortunately gone
nouvelle vague - ever fallen in love?
k'naan - fire in freetown
muthoni - happy breakup
nneka - walking
chiwunoso -
angelique kidjo - arouna
amadou & mariam / k'naan - africa
mos def / k'naan - prayer song
cut chemist - the garden
dj shadow - midnight in a perfect world

playlist 3/16/10

red hot chili peppers - c'mon girl
ben harper - whipping boy
jimi hendrix - love or confusion / may this be love / I don't live today
amadou & mariam - coulibaly
bassekou kouyate - bassekou
tinariwen - tamatant
suprema kosa - suprema kosa
blind boys of alabama - you & your folks / 23rd psalm
the noisettes - never forget you
the police - bring on the night
sublime - work that we do
christy azuma - din ya sugri
sebulon gunachib - uri piri
samba toure - yawoye
mulatu astatke - green africa
rokia traore - kanan neni
manu chao - desaparecido
mariam makeba - pole mze
k'naan - fire in freetown / in the beginning
fela kuti - shakara (request)

playlist 3/10/10

radiohead - i might be wrong
dj shadow - midnight in a perfect world
twilight singers - twilight
beck - hot wax
otis redding - ole man trouble
tinariwen - tamatant tillay
super eagles - love's a real thing (world psych classics vol. 3)
dengue fever - seeing hands / uku (live)
mahmoud ahmed - ene mela mela
death cab for cutie - movie script ending (request)
daby balde - kaye waxma
angelique kidjo - aruana
rjd2 - smoke and mirrors
neneh cherry - woman
the plastic wave - lost waves (iran)
gorillaz - rhinestones / plastic beach (w/ paul simonon & mick jones)
janelle monae - cold war
rjd2 - silver fox
badawi - suspicions
massive attack - girl I love you
nneka - walking
amadou & mariam - politic amagni / africa
k'naan - fatima
electra - israelites (desmond dekker cover)

2/16 in the 216

So we've gone through a bunch of holiday-ish days here.

Valentine's Day was unobserved and spent taking a much-needed map and painting a whole lot.

President's Day was a Cleveland Adventure Day, which involved a Free Monday at the zoo, where the Rainforest was full of Radio Disney tunes blaring through the palm trees and little girls in princess costumes. We got lunch at the West Side Market and sat on the balcony plotting future Rust Belt Novel greatness, and then walked on the ice at Edgewater and almost wandered out a bit too far... This crack is the line where the solid ice ends and the lake begins.



After that, we went to the Rockefeller Greenhouse to get warm and then on a drive back to the west side through the Flats getting inspired by the old buildings, gray skies, bridges, and pigeons.





And this is for Randal. Evidently the Beast lives in the West Side Market.


And now today it's Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday/Paczki Day depending on where you're at or what you feel like celebrating. I know a few of you are going to see Parliament-Funkadelic tonight, but my current plans are Oberlin for Bela Fleck and the Africa Project, and some preliminary hanging out with my lovely Lorain County people.



I always have grand plans to play festive Carnival-esque music on my show these mornings but usually I'm full of winter melancholy and no amount of colorful costumes and steel drums change the fact that it's snowing outside.

I got a caller this morning who kept requesting all these songs I've never heard of in part because I was born halfway through the Reagan administration and was sheltered from much of 1980's pop culture.

I'm usually pretty flexible about playing people's requests but there are certain lines I draw as far as "this might get me kicked off the air" or "you can hear this on the corporate radio station" or "I just plain don't like it," hence the reason why you won't hear Pink Floyd, NWA, or Rammstein on my show.

So this morning, some guy called me, gave me two different names each time he called and wanted to hear all these 12" single club mixes of 80's R&B songs that I'd never heard of because he "was trying to build a karaoke machine." And it's not like I don't veer into R&B territory occasionally, as I'll throw on some vintage soul or the less mainstream stuff coming out now.

But I have little nostalgia for the 80's in the Madonna and legwarmers sense and the production values in vogue at that time that seemed to afflict every genre. It didn't have to sound that bad but yet it did... so much synthesizer and that terrible drum sound and general overproduction.

And I honestly don't want to use up my airtime playing 9 minute versions of some of this stuff preferring to save that time for Fela. That isn't on a karaoke machine anyway, that's in some DJ's crate. Since we don't really have a lot of circa 1985 house music at the station, I told him I couldn't find any and eventually stopped picking up the phone because each phone call got progressively more weird.

Here, however, is what I did play.

jeff buckley - dream brother
the duke spirit - dog roses
amadou & mariam - fete au village
habib koite - wassiye
daby toure - seta
souad massi - biadi
abdel gadir salim - ati
toubab krewe - bamana niya
angelique kidjo - lakusthu llenga
astrud gilberto - canto de ossanha
antonio carlos jobim - aguas de marco
twilight singers - live with me
metric - collect call
scrawl - wait one more day
afghan whigs - crazy
jawbox - u-trau
tiger trap - for sure
throwing muses - ruthie's knocking / shimmer
the dirtbombs - sun is shining
dengue fever - sni bong
fela kuti - lady
alpay - yekte
bela fleck - ajula mbamba
oumou sangare - djigui

super clash playlist 12/22/09

I've never done a total themed show until last week, but it was Paul Simonon's birthday and the seventh anniversary of Joe Strummer's death so it felt appropriate. Since someone stole the station's copy of "London Calling" and I forgot mine at home, I downloaded it but played everything else off vinyl & CD.

the Clash - pressure drop
Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros - get down moses
the clash - armagideon time
justice tonight dub
the guns of brixton
I'm so bored with the U.S.A. (request)
police on my back
koka kola (request)
joe strummer & the mescaleros - cool'n'out
the 101ers - steamgauge 99
the Clash - spanish bombs (request)
the right profile (request)
police & thieves
Julie's been working for the drug squad
straight to hell
joe strummer & the mescaleros - techno d-day
the Clash - hateful
i'm not down
ghetto defendant
if music could talk (request)
somebody got murdered
one more time
joe strummer & the mescaleros - johnny appleseed
arms aloft
the 101ers - keys to your heart
the Clash - 1-2 crush on you

radiothon week playlist: greatest hits 11/10/09

It's Radiothon week at WCSB and I'm a horrible self-promoter. So if you want to support the best and most eclectic college radio station on the dial, there is still time.

Last year, I got no callers, but this time around, George called me and donated $50 because he's awesome. This is what happens when you're on when most people are sleeping.

But here's the playlist with songs that people have called about or personal faves. If you want a mix CD, hit me up, but also, please support independent media especially in this age of total radio suckitude.

beck - go it alone
afghan whigs - crazy
gutter twins - the body
mos def - no hay nada mas
blockhead - quiet storm
morcheeba - blindfold
tribe called quest - excursions
shalonda - fever
stiffed - hold tight
massive attack - black milk
k'naan & mos def - prayer song
sister fa - saraba
lamb - one
oumou sangare - djorolen
erykah badu - soldier
cut chemist - garden
kid koala - 3rd world lover
MIS - el microfono
sidestepper - deja
tricky - aftermath
funkadelic - i'll stay
amadou & mariam - masiteladi
daby toure - baye
dennis brown - man next door
joe strummer - tony adams

playlist 11/3/09

baden powell - consolacao
dengue fever - sni bong
amadou & mariam - unissons nous
madlib - piano garden
joy jones - nomad
shalonda - fever/day n' nite God bless the child/love lockdown
burial - raver
q-tip - a million times
janelle monae - cybertronic purgatory
willie isz- I didn't mean to
U2 - some days are better than others
baby kites - reef
emmanuel jal - elengwen
thievery corporation - blasting through the city
horace andy - rock to sleep
dennis brown - to the foundation
sons of truth - give it up
mariam makeba - khawuleza
aziz brahim - dios mio
bole 2 harlem - aya bellew
dead leaf - save from the flames all that remains
john frusciante - ramparts
soliman gamil - sufi dialogue
abaji - gibran
bela fleck - throw down your heart
majid bekkas - daya mallah
kora jazz trio - chan chan
manu chao - clandestino

playlist 10/13/09

twilight singers- teenage wristband
duke spirit - dog roses
martina topley-bird - too tough to die
morphine - let's take a trip together
dead weather - will there be enough water?
locos por juana - tantas veces
angelique kidjo - gimme shelter
extra golden - tusslin' & fightin'
the meters - people say
soul coughing - soft serve
nneka - africans
joe strummer & the mescaleros - tony adams
dennis brown - concentration
mariam makeba - ndodemnyama verwoerd
blessings nqo - isigungugungu
pharaoh's daughter - askinu
boubacar traore - baba drama
nahawa doumbia - sifolo
lobi traore - wolodemu
malatu astatke - asmarina
djeli - almany
ali farka toure - yer bounda fara
rasha - azara el hay
ataxia - the sides
cafe tacuba - encantamiento inutil

playlist 10/6/09

ben harper - whipping boy
oumou sangare - djorolen
massive attack - 5 man army
jurassic 5 - remember his name
the fugees - fu-gee-la
pete rock & c l smooth - on and on
p.o.s. - goodbye
martin luther - sleep walking
k'naan - struggling
morcheeba - blindfold
calla - televise
pigeonhed - marry me
gutter twins - who will lead us?
daby toure - baye
ngata - telele
tinariwen - chet boghassa
djezair - kadda cherif hadria
d.o. misiani - atila mi japonesa
abaji - gibran
les troubadours du roi baudoin - credo
green arrows - huringwe
wendo kolosoy - toko wela wela
nahawa doumbia - minia
amadou & mariam - lailahallah
jane's addiction - summertime rolls