In our Midst…

Some traditions also hold that a vampire cannot enter a house unless invited by the owner, although after the first invitation they can come and go as they please.
~ An Encyclopaedia of Occultism - Lewis Spence

Hanging out on or around the fringes of any music scene (music venues, record and/or instrument stores, radio stations, etc…) one can meet some really strange flakes. You meet people who recorded with so-and-so on an album you can never find info on, people who claim some past fame or connection to fame and so on and so on…

But this one takes the cake.

We had an incident down at the station that has sent ripples through our little community. Someone gained access through the front door, misrepresented their role there by namedropping the right names to some unsuspecting volunteers - myself being one of them - and apparently stole some expensive equipment.
I say apparently because no one can be 100% sure, even though it’s pretty clear what went down that night and the following day. Out of the 1 or 2 percent chance of us being wrong, I’m not going to divulge the who and where of this particular individual.
I actually witnessed what I am now convinced was a first attempt by this individual.

Let me rewind for a moment.

My Latest Radio Extravaganza

OK.
Here’s the show I did last Friday night. I was hosting for pal Jim, who was hosting for Daniel, but couldn’t make it at the last minute.
I simply ransacked the library and my laptop and played things more or less at random. I even managed to fill a few requests from enthusiastic callers. It was fun to mix it up after doing one huge show dedicated to one artist, even one with such a vast oeuvre as Bill Laswell.
You can download them in two parts:

Part 1 (80.9 megs)
Part 2 (89.5 megs)

There’s a playlist here for people that need such things, but if you read it first, it’ll spoil the spontaneity.

On a technical note: I inadvertently set my recorder to start one hour early, so the last hour of my show is missing forever. There’s also some minor skipping (mainly apparent when I back-announce) caused by my ailing Firewire drive.

Another Radio/Volunteer Marathon Weekend

Holy crap, am I tired!
I wrapped up my busier-than-usual work week with a double - make that triple - duty volunteer gig down at KBOO: I dropped in for my routine community calendar production gig at 5pm; got done with that in time for some pledge drive phone bank work and just had time to run through the music library to pick out some music for my show that went from 12AM to 3AM. When I got off after 3, I reasoned that it was probably too snowy at my house and I was tired as hell, so I checked into a flea-bag motel and crashed long enough to get up and do my volunteer gig at FVTV. So I never really got any decent shut-eye ’till I got home around 5:30 in the afternoon.
Why couldn’t I have been doing this crap when I was in my twenties or thirties, when I had a little more energy? Oh yeah. I was raising small children.
It’s amazing, though.
When you’re doing creative things, an incredible amount of energy is available.
I had a lot of fun doing the show. Got a lot of enthusiastic response from callers. I didn’t plan any of it; I simply grabbed CDs that looked interesting. I originally planned on doing a show that more or less was like usual host Daniel’s music, but was too pressed for time to plan anything. I managed to get it audio archived, but lost the last hour due to a technical glitch at home.
I will make it and a half-assed playlist up shortly.

Burroughs Called the Law

The third and final leg of last Friday’s Beat Triumvirate show (after Kerouac and Ginsberg), featuring readings of William S. Burroughs and audio recordings and music utilizing his words and voice. The finale was some in-studio cut-ups and some live audio manipulations.

This was my live radio debut (I have been recording voice work for KBOO for the better part of a year, now) reading on the air, and had fun doing some live audio widgetry with Mr. No Soap Radio and Daniel towards the end of the show, where we cut loose with all kinds of audio skullfuckery. It was a blast.

Here’s the file (Right click and “Save as..” or “Open in new tab” to play. It’s about an hour long and 87.5 megs).

Outside World: The Movie

Students of Portland Community Media made a film on KBOO, featuring host and pal Daniel, host of The Outside World.

It’s a swell video that highlights KBOO’s mission and The Outside World’s raison d’être.

Click on image to watch.

Iraq/Afghanistan Winter Soldier Hearings

All regular programming on KBOO is pre-empted from 6AM to 4PM today (Friday the 14th) in order to carry the Iraq/Afghanistan Winter Soldier hearings, currently underway.

Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan will feature testimony from U.S. veterans who served in those occupations, giving an accurate account of what is really happening day in and day out, on the ground.

The four-day event will bring together veterans from across the country to testify about their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan - and present video and photographic evidence. In addition, there will be panels of scholars, veterans, journalists, and other specialists to give context to the testimony. These panels will cover everything from the history of the GI resistance movement to the fight for veterans’ health benefits and support.

Tune in at 90.7 FM or listen on line here.

Speaking of Chickens…

Here’s a big chunk of last Friday’s Outside World program, featuring an interview with chicken entrepreneur Aaron (sic?). All kinds of secrets and wonders of the domestic fowl are revealed herein. There’s nearly 90 minutes of music and mayhem related to chickens and eggs, including music by Slim Gaillard, the Maddox’s, Colonel Sanders, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Hasil Adkins, The Meters and much, much more.
If you want to forgo the chicken talking, the chicken music kicks in at around 17:30 minutes.
I didn’t edit it too much, as I thought it would give you a good glimpse of what this long-running program offers on a typical night.
As host Daniel Flessas says: “I come in and make the coffee…” - and a show just happens.

Download (1 hour, 42 mins, 116 megs)

BONUS:
The coolest video ever, found by Daniel. We watched awestruck, while the audio was potted up on the board.

Rufus Thomas does The Funky Chicken

Radio-Activity Update: Seven Hours, Seven Souls

I’ve done it now.
I am on board to do a seven hour radio marathon on musician Bill Laswell on the 21st of March, as part of KBOO’s spring pledge drive.
I keep thinking I’m dreaming and that I’ll wake up or that it won’t happen, but no….
…It’s in the listener’s guide now, so it’s for real.
Here’s the proposal I wrote:

Nothing is TrueEverything is permitted

A Bill Laswell Pledge-drive special

On Friday, March 21st, join The Outside World for the Seven Hours, Seven Souls pledge drive special, while we explore the vast body of work of Brooklyn musician, producer and agent of chaos, Bill Laswell.
From the downtown New York upstart Jazz Funk outfits Material and Massacre, to the extreme metal of Praxis and Painkiller, to his many dub permutations and ambient vexations, to his many World Music excursions and to too many genre-hopping collaborations to list here, we’ll barely scratch the surface of his intimidating discography, but will take you on a voyage through more musical tangent points than you thought possible.

Join us from 11PM to 6AM, for Seven Hours, Seven Souls: The Music of Bill Laswell.

Some points of interest:

* Material
* Massacre
* The Golden Palominos
* Praxis
* Buckethead
* Otomo Yoshihide
* Brian Eno and David Byrne
* John Zorn
* Divination
* Jah Wobble

and many more…

I have plenty of Material (pun intended), but am still nervous. Regular host of the show I’m hijacking - Daniel Flessas - will be out of town and across the US, so I’m flying solo, sort of. Oh, well. I also have no shortage of people willing to help out, so it’ll be swell and we’ll all have a fun time.

Be sure to listen on Friday, march 21st, from 11pm to 6am, for the Bill Laswell: Seven Hours Seven Souls pledge drive extravaganza (who’s bringing the extra vaganza, Daniel?).

KBOO is at 90.7 FM in Portland and SW Washington and is streaming on the web at kboo.fm.

Busy, busy, busy

Hi all,

Way too many irons in the fire at this point, hence the radio silence.

Speaking of radios, my radioactivism has reached critical mass!

Looks like I have wandered down the left-hand path of late-night radio substitution.

So that means that I will start training and will get my feet wet in live broadcasting. I can’t really say  what yet. I don’t want to jinx it or be premature, but it looks like the last half of March will be a busy time for me. I’ll keep you all posted.

Air Modern

Reader Bryan Chandler sends me the following message:

Check out my historical Blog of Fresh Air Progressive Rock Program on WKSU BEFORE terry gross stole the name…

I strongly advise that you drop what you’re doing a go visit his amazing blog. He has compiled an amazing array of  interviews with artists from the golden age of when Prog rock collided with New Wave. Some highlights:

• Peter Hammill
• Laurie Anderson
• Bob Mothersbaugh of DEVO
• Ralf Hutter of Kraftwerk

and many, many more!

Go there now.