Rubbish, With Occasional Music

Another Pilot Show, come and gone. Back whenever it was that I agreed to host the show on the 24th, it didn’t occur to me that it would be during membership drive, oops. I think we managed to be entertaining enough that the shilling was mostly tolerable, or at least, only slightly obnoxious. The show managed to raise a little over $200, and only one of those donations was from a friend (thanks, Gina!). So we did pretty well, though I’ve got no idea how much the show normally brings in.

Technically speaking, the show was my best yet. I managed to go a full hour without any fuck ups and there wasn’t much in the way of dead air. I recorded this episode using a MD player rather than a tape, which was much less of a hassle since I just turned it on and forgot about it, but I think the recording was a bit lower quality than the last.

Enjoy.

Punky Reggae Pilot Show (2007-09-24)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Playlist:

Echo Base Soundsystem - Dem Have
Scientist - Dance of the Vampires
Don Carlos - 400 [Dubs]
Junior Byles - Hail to Power
*Pocket FishRmen - The Leader is Burning
Seein’ Red - Hometown Blues
Bury the Living - Sugar Free Kool Aid
*The Ritchie Whites - The Color of Blood
Necros - Youth Camp
Peligro Social - Dominarte
Bad Brains - Banned in D.C.
Bad Brains - Roll On
Dadawah - Run Come Rally
*Pedestrians - Future Shock
Feederz - 1984

* denotes vinyl, yay!

Almost two months after first mentioning it, I’ve finally made a digital copy of my episode of The Pilot Show. This is pretty embarrassing for me to listen to now, but I never fail to deliver. I started the tape late, and I had to switch sides near the end, so the tracks Dansez Les Mortes and Fast Cars are from MP3s, while Police & Thieves and Murder City Nights contain MP3 filler. Hopefully it’s not too jarring.

Punky Reggae Pilot Show (2007-07-02)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

On September 24th I’ll be hosting another pilot show, most likely using the same format. If anyone would like to hear something in particular, leave a request in the comments or e-mail me.

On July 2nd, I hosted The Pilot Show (one hour of radio magic from new, up & coming programmers) on KOOP Radio. I’d seen Gina Pina host it twice in the studio, and by that point I’d also apprenticed with John in the studio three times, so going in I felt fairly confident in running the board, watching the levels and cuing up the turntables and CD players. Sitting down and actually executing all this however was chaotic and terrifying. I was so nervous in the beginning of the hour that my hands were shaking pretty badly which made it rather difficult to cue my first two records, but I managed to calm down near the end of the show. All in all it went pretty well I think, and I certainly had fun. I can only remember making two mistakes, which isn’t bad that bad I suppose:

1) When I cued up Fascist Cops, I forgot to give the turntable a ½ spin backwards before the start of the song, the result of which was you could hear the record spinning up. Technically, I guess this isn’t really my fault, because the track before it leads directly into them counting into the song.

2) I saw both turntables had their levels up, and I accidentally turned down the wrong one. The result was Pressure drop fading out then in over the air. Oops. In hindsight, a better way to handle that would have been to start up the next song and sacrificing the last minute or so of that song.

Doing the show certainly made me appreciate the effort that a lot of the programmers at KOOP put into their shows, especially ones like Stronger than Dirt where the DJ plays several seven inches in a row. On the other hand though, I can certainly see the appeal of playing most of a show off a CD or laptop like other DJs do.

In the next few months, KOOP members who have completed the apprenticeship program, FCC training and studio training will be eligible to pitch their shows to the Programming Committee. I haven’t decided whether I’ll actually apply for a show or not. I’d like to have one, playing the same sort of stuff I did on The Pilot Show, but I think I’d have a hard time making a case for it (How would it benefit the community?) when they already have an excellent reggae show and another show covering a good variety of punky stuff.

Eventually, I’ll make a digital copy of the recording of the show and host it here. In the meantime, here’s the playlist:

La Fraction - Dansez Les Mortes
The Buzzcocks - Fast Cars
*The Clash - Police and Thieves
*The Kids - Fascist Cops
Ronnie Davis - False Leaders
*Johnny Clarke - Simmer Down
Peter Tosh - Stepping Razor
*Toots & The Maytals - Pressure Drop
Dandy Livingston - Trouble In The Town
Don Carlos - Lazer Beam
Cornel Campbell - Fight Against Corruption
The Selecter - Too Much Pressure (Live)
The Specials - Skinhead Girl
*The Jam - In The City
*Radio Birdman - Murder City Nights
Teen Cool - Partners In Crime
Les Calamites - Toutes Les Nuits

* denotes vinyl, yay!

As I pedaled my way through North Loop and Lamar someone in a stopped car yelled “Castroooooo!” at me. I found that much preferable to “bike asshole”, “loser”, or “faggot”.

Two in a row! I’ve exceeded my own expectations.

Smiley Face: A pot comedy placing the stoner protagonist amidst increasingly over the top and ridiculous situations. Very much along the lines of Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. Normally, I’d judge a movie like this on how many times I’d want to watch it over and over again, but I think I’ve outgrown that. For allegedly being sober throughout production, Anna Farris does an amazing job of playing burnout Jane F. And for having eaten an entire platter of pot cupcakes, Jane’s exploits move at a pretty brisk pace, introducing her to a bevy of people who all manage to alter her trajectory, for better or worse, as she tries to acquires the money she needs to pay off her dealer. The casting is a veritable who’s who of actors whom most people would probably recognize from their other roles as burnouts. Danny Masterson’s scenes near the end of the film are both disturbing and hilarious, though Roscoe Lee Browne’s narration takes the cake. I really liked several sets of cuts in the movie that reminded me a lot of Requiem for a Dream, which maybe was intended, but probably not.

Scott Walker: 30 Century Man: The film suffered a little from being conceptualized and directed by someone who was obviously a big fan. At the very least, the film could have benefited greatly from editing by someone who would have taken a slightly more critical look at the film and the musician. The film does a fine job at outlining the path of Walker’s career, paired with his own commentary and that of other big music names, but where the film really shines are the shots of Walker in the studio recording his latest album The Drift. Rather than more footage of various industry insiders all questioning why Scott 4 and other albums didn’t sell, I would have much preferred to see the filmmakers take greater advantage of the amazing access they had to Scott and his work environment. The scenes of the more playful, whimsical Walker directing a studio percussionist on how to better punch a rack of pork ribs or shuffling a metal pail over a giant wooden cube are some of the best of the film. On the subject of talking heads though, some of my favorite non-Walker interview footage in the film are very tight shots of the guests listening to various Scott Walker albums and songs. Watching how they react to what they’re listening to and describe what parts of the song that draw them in or fascinate them comes across as intimate, and surprisingly, very interesting.

A Lawyer Walks Into a Bar…: A documentary following six law school graduates as they prepare for the California bar exam which has the lowest passing percentage in the country (39%). Most are taking it for the first time, one for the forty-first time. There’s a good sense of humor about the film, and the footage of the participants is nicely split with interviews with fairly well known lawyers and commentators offering insight to various subjects ranging from frivolous lawsuits to the bar exam to the American perception of lawyers. I probably could have enjoyed the movie a lot more, but I feel the filmmakers did a real disservice to the film with it’s treatment of the participants. One subject was painted in such a bad light that at the end of the film when they learned that they didn’t pass the bar, there was actually cheering and clapping scattered throughout the theater. Maybe the director felt that the film needed a villain, or perhaps he was just trying to add more drama. I would have preferred to have seen a more even-handed approach to their subjects rather than having them patch footage together in an attempt to create a character to fill a role that they feel is needed in the film. If the subject was half as bad as the footage portrayed them to be, they should have been left to dig their own hole, rather than having it dug for them in such a heavy handed manner.