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
Looking into the Void, You're Reckoning with a Question: Transmission 402, 2018 April 11
All of Us Do It, Each Time Asleep: Transmission 401, 2018 April 4
If the Music Is Square, It's Because I Like It Square: Transmission 400, 2018 March 28
Put Death in My Hands and I Will Pay with It For Sure: Transmission 399, 2018 March 21
Kept It Together, Held It Together: Transmission 398, 2018 March 14
Golden Vibrations: Transmission 397, 2018 March 7
Original Phrasing, Dialogue Verbatim: Transmission 396, 2018 February 28
More Dirt, More Germs: Transmission 395, 2018 February 21
Night of Forced Romantic Consumption: Transmission 394, 2018 February 14
See It for Yourself, but Not Through the Eyes: Transmission 393, 2018 January 31
Drink the Long Draught, Dan: Transmission 392, 2018 January 24
Poured Kerosene on Some Bridges: Transmission 391, 2018 January 17
All This Peaceful Wilderness: Transmission 390, 2018 January 10
I Need To Cling to Something: Transmission 389, 2018 January 3
Chatting All the Chat, Now Look at You: Transmission 388, 2017 December 27
We're Going To Touch Part of You That's Never Been Touched: Transmission 387, 2017 December 23
Queueing for a Shuttle into Space: Transmission 386, 2017 December 20
Veering Back into the Usual Unprofessionalism: Transmission 385, 2017 December 19
My Cloudy Brain Remembers: Transmission 384, 2017 December 14
Live in the Light and Breathe the Noise: Transmission 383, 2017 December 13
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