Now it can be told! Methods and agendas disclosed in this week's blurb. It's all here.
To begin we have to go back to the very early days of this program, when I decided (a) my library was not enough and (b) I had to chase the ghosts of my past and prove that I could follow the "rules" of my old radio station from undergrad days, which I was never good at doing. There's a lot to unpack there but I'm sure somewhere along the way I have referred to what I often do as LARPing and that is basically the jist of it.
We used to have this rule about "currency," according to which your playlist was supposed to be 30% "current" records. This meant playing discs from the "current" bin, and what was in there had been added by the station (NB: not necessarily "released," just acquired) within the last 3 months. To the extent that I was ever successful at this, it was only just: early on I had a lot to learn from the past and somewhere along the way I decided that the present (at that moment) wasn't up to my standards and apparently I wasn't open to many new experiences. I look back on this as a failure that I have to correct. For whom? The voice in my head of course.
So, anyway, in 2013 or so, when this show was less than ten programs old, I was auditioning lots of new releases on Spotify and building my playlists that way. I would often call this "radio magic" or whatever, but it was a kind of fraud. It helped, but didn't help, that at some point we got this software at the station called DeejayPro that could incorporate Spotify into your broadcast (controversially, I guess).
This created a couple of messes: one was the general fakeness of many programs, even though I was sharing music that I genuinely liked--not to mention the use of that awful, unethical app--and the technical issue of playing those supercompressed mp3s (evident in last week's disaster).
Apparently it took a global pandemic to force me to reconsider, but on this broadcast I said goodbye to the old ways. I would only use actual sound files in my possession, currency be damned--this meant using what I owned and what I was buying, which also meant a deeper commitment, which I consider a good thing. It also meant the return of dynamics and crazy levels, which I guess is also a good thing because it's teaching me to embrace imperfection even though I hate it.
So this particular show features a lot of material I picked up on the very first "Bandcamp Friday," five days prior, as well as things I'd bought recently. But, I have to say--it also included a lot of promotional freebies (including yet another cringeworthy Membranes track--what is it with them?), plenty of channeling 1985 and 1986 (so what else is new), and, let's face it, a big focus on the white past and not the black future. I don't know how it's possible to do a show that's "honest" and at the same time "in bad faith" but I manage.
That said, I really miss old R.E.M. and I did love the then-recent viral video of Michael Stipe singing along to "Underneath the Bunker."
I also miss Richenel and I miss the days when that This Mortal Coil cd blew my little mind; now it's all wrapped up in guilt and regret. Here's hoping someday it will sound fresh again.
Since this program was broadcast, 410 days ago now, I've gone "on the air" 55 times. I have delivered 54 pre-recorded episodes on account of the pandemic. That gives us a lot of time to work through my issues, and there are many of them.
BOMBAST playlist, 2020 March 25, 2100-2300:
Didn't know it was a song you hated to sing
https://www.facebook.com/radiobombast?ref=hl
https://twitter.com/KidCatharsis
Incorporate and Amalgamate: Transmission 32, 2013 May 11
Test Pattern: Transmission 31, 2013 May 7
Shakespeare in Dub: Transmission 30, 2013 May 04
The Beat from Badsville: Transmission 29, 2013 April 27
(One Hundred and) Twenty Minutes of Pap: Transmission 28, 2013 April 20
James Kirk Is Not on the Case: Transmission 27, 2013 April 17
Existential Clusterfuffles: Transmission 26, 2013 April 13
The Hall of Legends (Prince Far-I): Transmission 25, 2013 April 13
The Hustle Is Out and the Break Is In: Transmission 24, 2013 April 6
Sheer Excellence, But You Knew That: Transmission 23, 2013 March 30
We Are Having the Pleasure of Being Slowly Nowhere: Transmission 22, 2013 March 23
An Unquiet Skull: Transmission 21, 2013 March 20
Smoke-filled Rooms and Mint-flavored Lounges: Transmission 20, 2013 March 13
Back Brain Stimulator: Transmission 18, 2013 February 27
So Damn Many Things: Transmission 17, 2013 February 20
Head-Bobbing and Chills: Transmission 16, 2013 February 13
Croix de Bombast: Transmission 15, 2013 February 6
Physical Evidence: Transmission 14, 2013 January 30
Slipped Discs: Transmission 13, 2013 January 23
“A Work of (Pretty Close to) Genius”: Transmission 12, 2013 January 16
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Irish Songs with Ken Murray
Immediately Kinfolk
Turned On
Resident by Hernan Cattaneo
Markus Schulz presents Global DJ Broadcast