Friday, January 11th, 2008 ... noon - 2:00 p.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

Format:
ARTIST -- "TRACK TITLE" -- ALBUM TITLE (LABEL, YEAR)
Horizontal lines denote microphone breaks.

Hazel Dickens -- "By the Sweat of My Brow" -- By the Sweat of My Brow (Rounder, 1999)

Old-timey folk music, a leftover from "That's Not Bluegrass."

* Schande -- "Twenty Years Before Him" -- I Scored an Ocean (Oxenvee, 2007)

Previously noted here.

* Ahleuchatistas -- "Swimming Underwater with a Cat on Your Back" -- Even in the Midst ... (Cuneiform, 2007)

Proggy stuff from North Carolina. The band apparently turns five years old in February 2008, so congratulations, guys! They do serious instrumental work, often with a blistering rock feel but still quite complex. They're serious enough that Tzadik is going to be re-releasing one of their albums.

The Kirby Grips -- "Beautiful Stupid Angel" -- The Celery Stalks at Night (KG, 1998)

Ah, these guys were a great band. See here, or the out-of-date Web site here.

Sparks -- "Upstairs" -- Whomp That Sucker (RCA, 1980)

More on my Sparks fascination here, and of course check the band's site for show dates in their 21-album extravaganza (performing each of their albums on 21 separate nights). This album began their '80s-pop phase that led to "Cool Places," their one true hit single in the United States. Whomp That Sucker isn't that great an album, but "Upstairs" was always catchy to me. I'd forgotten about the "When you want the art to start" lyric -- that's the best part of the song! You'll have to seek out a copy and hear it.

* The Book of Lists -- "The Bathers" -- The Book of Lists (Scratch, 2006)

* Coco -- "For You" -- Play Drums and Bass (K, 2007)

* Arks -- "Cars on Fire" -- The International (High Wheel, 2007)

Yoshida Brothers -- "Kagero" -- Yoshida Brothers 2 (Domo, 2004)

Previously noted here.

* The Union Trade -- "Strings Break" -- Now the Swell (Tricycle, 2006)

* Akron/Family -- "Ed Is a Portal" -- Love Is Simple (Young God, 2007)

-- 12:00 noon --

* Kitka -- "Wave" -- Rusalka Cycle: Music by Mariana Sadovska (Diaphonica, 2007)

King Crimson -- "The ConstruKction of Light" -- The ConstruKction of Light (Virgin, 2000)

* Jerry Fels -- "Shake It Around" -- Live in Your Bedroom (Nobody's Favorite, 2006)

Previously noted here.

* Kodagain -- "My Way" -- 1985-92 (Slusaj Najglasnije!, 2007; recorded, uh, betweeen 1985 and 1992)

From an odd and friendly Croation label that's been sending us all kinds of stuff, from crazy punkish noise to this kind of homemade pop. This is a retrospective of a band that went through multiple phases -- you've got some Casio synth-heavy tunes, and some folkier guitar-based songs. About half the songs are originals, but the other half ... they apparently took the lyrics to popular songs and recast them to new music. Interesting and charming. The band's soft, childlike feel makes them likeable, too.

Laura Simms and the Real Myth Ensemble -- "Manu and the Fish" -- Fish Tales (Lyrichord, 1999)

Story time! Simms reads various fables and legends about fish, taken from cultures around the world. This one is an Indian telling of a Noah's Ark-type story, where a fish tells a man to build an ark and saves him from the eventual flood. All stories are backed with soothing new-agey music.

Evelyn Glennie -- "Attack of the Glow Worm" -- Shadow Behind the Iron Sun (BMG, 1999)

An all-improv album. I think this was also Glennie's swan song with BMG, before they cut her loose as part of a classical-music purge. I love the idea and love Glennie's performance; the new age synth overdubs, I can do without. There's also a remix CD of one of the tracks -- and a remix 12" record; the company apparently sent us both.

Anyway, like I said, I love the idea. A more successful improv pairing came with Fred Frith, as noted here.

* The New Centuries -- "Sharp Darts" -- The New Centuries (self-released, 2006)

*! Gay Deceivers -- "Rahn: 'Maybe You"Re Just Under A Rock I Haven't Yet Overturned'" -- [untitled demo EP] (self-released, 2007)

Previously noted here.

Wall of Voodoo -- "Factory" -- Call of the West (IRS, 1982)

Everybody remembers "Mexican Radio," but these guys put out a lot of other great stuff. That includes other snappy pop ditties as well as some darker, heavier stuff backed by strong synth-drum beats -- like this one. Both gloomy and a bit humorous --

Stan Ridgway gets a weird lilt in his voice when the narrator sings about a tongue injury -- this song's a better representation of what the group could do. It found its way onto Ridgway's set lists in recent years.

Now, their cover of "Ring of Fire" -- that was just plain nuts. I'll have to bring that one out again someday soon.

Ray's Vast Basement -- "Hesitation" -- Live on KZSU WNL (Outer A, 2003)

* Robert Wyatt -- "Anachronist" -- Comicopera (Domino, 2007)

*! 17 Pygmies -- "Lotus (Electropygmy's L.A. Adventure)" -- 13 Blackbirds/13 Lotus (Trakwerx, 2006)

Previously noted here.

* = Item in KZSU rotation
! = Pop anomaly
? = Item not in KZSU library

-- Go back to Memory Select playlists.
-- Bay Area free/improv music calendar: http://www.bayimproviser.com.