Devoted about 30 minutes to some on-air philosophy. On Tuesday, Feb. 26, the Wall Street Journal ran an opinion piece by Downbeat critic John McDonough (link is defunct) criticizing John Coltrane's late period.

Among McDonough's points was that Coltrane's squeaks and skronks are considered genius only because they came from such a canonized player. McDonough believes Coltrane's late spirituality helped people convince themeselves that his experimental work must have been meaningful, and he describes listeners as being on a "scavenger hunt" for meaning inside the madness.

So I read parts of McDonough's WSJ piece on the air and gave my own response. His analysis might be correct for many fans, but for me, the music came first: I began searching actively for something more challenging, and I was lucky enough to find it. I played Coltrane's "Sun Ship" and explained the particular Tim Berne segment that was my epiphany in "discovering" this music.

Casual listeners were bored, I'm sure, but it was a good chance to air some issues that really are vital to the music. McDonough does have some valid, albeit misapplied, points, and I'm thankful that his article provided the catalyst for some discussion.

Format (stolen from Cat):
ARTIST -- "SONG TITLE" -- ALBUM (LABEL, YEAR)

Subarachnoid Space - "Doomed Megalopolis" - Delicate Membrane (Charnel, 1996)

Giancarlo Nicolai - "Capa i Greco e Elle" (excerpt) - Berner Clarinet Ensemble (Leo, 1994)

* Masada - "Kilayim" - Yod (DIW, 1998)

* Graewe / Mattos / Vatcher - "Allures" - Subsymbolism (Nuscope, 1998)

*! Jen Wood - "Bronze Wand" - No Moe Wading (Radar Light, 1998)

Dave Douglas' Tiny Bell Trio - "Punchy" - Tiny Bell Trio (Songlines, 1994)

* Ari Brown - "Rahsaan in the Serengiti" - Venus (Delmark, 1998)

* Arthur Doyle - "Noah Black Ark" - Doing the Breakdown (Yokoto, 1998)

Black Tape for a Blue Girl - "The Holy Terrors" - The Rope (Projekt, 1986)

* Fred Ho and the Afro Asian Music Ensemble - "Choose Choice!" - Yes Means Yes, No Means No, Whatever She Wears, Wherever She Goes (Koch, 1998)

* Susie Ibarra/Denis Charles - "Stand Back" - Drum Talk (Wobbly Rail, 1998)

*! Mike Nelson - "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" - The Eclectic Acoustic (1998)

! Godley & Creme - "Don't Set Fire to the One I Love" - Goodbye Blue Sky (Polydor, 1988)

Francis Wong - "Alishan (Song of All Mountain)" - Great Wall (Asian Improv, 1995)

Gustaffson/Guy/Lovens - "Part IV" - Mouth Eating and Related Activities (Okka, 1996)

*! Tom Ze Fabrication Defect - "Defect 2: Curiosidade" - Com Defeito de Fabricacao (Luaka Bop/Warner, 1998)

Joe Morris/Ken Vandermark/Hans Poppel - "Levitate" - Like Rays (Knitting Factory, 1997)

* Tina Marsh and the Creative Opportunity Orchestra - "Flywheel" - Worldwide (CreOp Muse, 1998)

Parker/Guy/Lytton - "Value" - Imaginary Values (Maya, 1994)

* Cecil Taylor Quartet - "Qu'a" (excerpt) - Qu'a (Cadence, 1998)

John Coltrane - "Sun Ship" - Sun Ship (Impulse, 1995, orig. rel. 1965)

Tim Berne's Bloodcount - "The Brown Dog Meets the Spaceman" (excerpt) - Low Life: The Paris Concert 1 (JMT, 1995)

* The Tone Sharks - "Halting" - ww.shark (Louie, 1998)

* Miya Masaoka Trio - "Epistrophy" - Monk's Japanese Folk Song (Dizim, 1998)

* Steve Lacy - "Revolting Suicide" - Saxophone Special + (Emanem, 1998)

* = Item in KZSU rotation
! = Pop anomaly
-- Go back to Memory Select playlists.