Friday, November 27th, 2008 ... 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 a.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

(Return to playlists.)

Thanksgiving morning, substituting for Gears, whose show normally incorporates psych, metal, and other gloomy forms of rock (also danceably funky stuff from time to time; I see he's dipped into the dancehall reggae stuff lately).

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

Golem -- "Orion Awakes" -- V/A: Krautrock Archive vol. 1 (Virgin, 1996; recorded c.1973)

The CD is an interesting compilation of 1970s Tangerine Dream-inspired

Source: Mishmash music
music, some of it jammy and a bit proggy, some of it long and synth-moody (a track called "Lunarscape" from the band Galactic Explorers, for instance). It was so tempting to play that one, but I lacked the patience, especially knowing I wanted to cue up the Can track soon, so I went for something with more of a beat to it.

Sitting somewhere amidst light prog, gloomy folk, and the unhappy, non-dancing kind of goth, this is a moody, introspective album with a gentle hand, lots of acoustic guitars, and a classically epic feel. A couple of tracks get more upbeat and fit a poppy-prog mold.

Can -- "Halleluhwah" -- Tago Mago (Spoon; orig. released c.1972)

A good long jam to buy me some time to preview other tracks. Quite a chipper feel to this one.

"Interstellar overdrive," is how Ragnar puts it. A big, post-psych guitar sound, informed by metal, at a good hard pace. Irata is a guitar instrumental band prone to loud and heavy sounds, with maybe less of the airy touch that Pelican can have.

Pelican -- "Dead Between the Walls" -- City of Echos (Hydra Head, 2007)

Hey, speak of the devils. This particular track shows off the more metal side of Pelican's metal/post-rock mix, but it's got a calmer break in there, marking the kind of airy touch mentioned above.

* Latitudes -- "Bleak Epiphany in Slow Motion" -- Latitudes (Shels, 2007)

Loud, metal-verging instrumentals. Heavy stuff.

Isis -- "Life Under the Swatter" -- The Mosquito Control EP (Escape Artist, 1998)

Tough grindcore metal with brutal Cookie Monster vocals. The lyrics are all about plague and horror spread by mosquito stingers ... but look at that title: "Life Under the Swatter." So, apparently, this horrifying mosquito-stinger narrator gets smashed and the horrifying disease-spreading doesn't exactly get to happen. That's one interpretation, anyway.

Source: Innova
One of multiple "Alice" classical pieces by Del Tredici, for chamber orchestra and soprano. Apparently the different "Alices" focus on different portions of Alice in Wonderland, this one being the Mad Tea Party. There's plenty of silliness, as you might imagine; this must be a fun gig for the singer, especially (Hila Plitmann, in this case). The recurring motifs include warbly, funhouse-mirror versions of "God Save the Queen" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." This track opens with Plitman shout-singing the words "fly" and "sky," as if trying them out and hearing the differences for the first time.

The CD also includes a piece called "Dracula," combining spoken narration and operatic singing all done by Plitmann. It does indeed tell the story of Dracula, the gimmick being that the soprano has to reach down for low, low, creaky notes to represent the Count. It's surprisingly upbeat, musically, and I'm not sure the low-singing trick proves effective.

Instrumental stuff with a slightly noisy bent, along the lines of Boards of Canada or Do Make Say Think. Their previous album got a mention here.

Can -- "Bel Air" [excerpt] -- Future Days (Spoon; orig. released 1973)

Soundbed for the Concert Calendar reading.

Previously noted here.

A fairly dark jazzy album that came out before the Nels Cline Singers came into being. With Zeena Parkins on harp, for some extra mystery in the sound, and bass and drums (Mark Dresser and Billy Mintz) for a lightly jazzy touch. This is the catchiest song, if you want to call it that, with a loose jazzy feel that I thought blended well with the jam/psych elements of the show.

Missing from this album, compared with the 'Singers, are the more rock-oriented, nearly melodic pieces with jangly guitar; this is definitely more in a jazz space, but a darker one that Cline's Angelica album.

? Weasel Walter Quartet -- "The Need To Revolt" -- Revolt Music (ugEXPLODE, 2006)

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

A nice psych/Krautrock kind of jam in pleasant tones.

We Versus the Shark -- "You Don't Have To Kick It" -- Ruin Everything! (Hello Sir, 2004)

Previously noted here, although this track is more straightforwad and rocking than what I'd heard on their later album, Dirty Versions. It opens with an anthemic clap-along intro that's irresistable.

Wire can be forgiven if they've gotten a little quieter, but it's great that they're making music together again. Maybe Object 47 doesn't have the acid touch of their '70s stuff, but it still takes that unconventional route to being catchy.

This is the work of a female singer-songwriter named Pixie, peddling downtrodden songs in lo-fi recordings, often with a subtle backing band. Some of the tracks pick up the pace, but there's an overall sad feel. And then, in the middle of the album, comes this track, which starts with a found-sound intro of someone (presumably Pixie) goofing around with rhymes ("I will sing dirges with you ... with beans that are baked! in yards that are raked!")

Source: HenryKaiser.net
Pixie's singing is quite DIY and a bit off-key, but there's an earnestness to that.

Fun avant-garde rock from the '80s, with Henry Kaiser on guitar, John French on drums here and there, Michael Maksymenko on drums most of the time, and Andy West on bass. Lots of fun, especially this track, which features Maksymenko grunting out some (faux?) Russian monologue and Kaiser "translating" it into an insane, mile-a-minute anecdote in English. Oh, did I mention Matt Groening did the album cover?

In 2007, Kaiser apparently released a sequel of outtakes (you'll have to scroll down that page).

* Planet of Zeus -- "Eat Me Alive" -- Eleven the Hard Way (Casket, 2008)

Previously noted here.

As quickly as this year has passed for me, it's still hard to believe this album came out just 12 months ago, partly because Pollard has released three or four more since then. (Actually, if you count side projects like Circus Devils, I'm lowballing him.) This album and Standard Gargoyle Decisions carry on the Guided by Voices legacy with wide varieties of Pollardian rock. This particular track has a grand, wistful feel but is a gentle rocker at heart.

Joselo -- "Muerete" -- In Our Lifetimes, Vol. 2 (Fenway, 2002)

Nels Cline -- "New Old Hat"-- The Inkling (Cryptogramophone, 2000)

See above.

* = Item in KZSU rotation
? = Item not in KZSU library

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