Tuesday, May 2, 2006 ... 9:45 p.m. - 12:15 a.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

Emergency sub session for The Bawd of Euphony, whose "Lick My Moody Guitar" show is a highlight of the KZSU schedule. The Bawd plays a variety of guitar-related music, from plaintive acoustic singer/songwriters to cryptic electric artsy noodling. He closed out his show with The Beatles' "I Want You" and the Notekillers track (which I'm listing here as the start of my shift).

Me, I was badly sleep-deprived and had been looking forward to turning in early this night. But I couldn't resist the chance to finally, at long last, sub for The Bawd (he has a terrible knack for needing subs on weeks when I'm out of town -- dude, stop that!). My plan had been to lead off with long, artsy, time-eating pieces (Seth Josel, listed near the bottom, was at the top of the list) ... but that Notekillers track got my blood pumping. Inspired, I did my best to run with it, keeping the rock alive for as long as I could.

Because I improvise my shows, a rock show is particularly terrifying. During my regular show, one "set" (three or four songs) gives me 20-30 minutes to plan what's coming next. That's because I play artsy jazz stuff; when you're dealing with three-minute rock songs, you're continually walking the plank. It's a rush. But if I have to do it more than, say, twice in a quarter, I'll take the time to pre-plan large chunks of a show.

Format:
ARTIST -- "TRACK TITLE" -- ALBUM TITLE (LABEL, YEAR)

* Notekillers -- "Airport" -- Airport + Ants (D1st, 2006)

Awesome, fast, post-punk instrumental. This CD is essentially a single, carrying two tracks of about 4 minutes each. This trio played back in the late '70s and recently reunited with the help of Thurston Moore.

Cool artsy proggy rock with attitude, and lots of weirdness. Found this one in rotation and gladly played it a couple weeks ago.

Post-punk energy, King Crimson angularity, Fred Frith artsy energy. I saw these guys playing on a bill with local band From Monument To Masses and was really impressed.

Parts and Labor -- [untitled track 3] -- Live at KZSU (Outer A, 2004)

Instrumental math rock, heavy on the rock, recorded live in our studio. Cool!

Electrelane -- "Suitcase" -- Axes (Too Pure, 2005)

One of several artists I reprised from my pop-rock sub show just last Friday. This particular track is a 9-minute epic that still has some hard-driven segments, although the quiet parts lasted longer than I would have liked. No matter -- I needed the 9 minutes to set up the next couple of sets and grab stuff from the library!

The atmosphere of this track, which feels like an epic journey, called for a couple more tracks of epic-ness. So after a mic break, I tossed out this two-song set:

Big psychedelia. Like, wow. Followed this with a succession of quick-hit punk/rock bits.

* Tokyo Electron -- "Electrify Me" -- Tokyo Electron (Empty, 2005)

* Banditas -- "Mirrors" -- Banditas (Last Drag, 2005)

Sparks -- "At Home, At Work, At Play" -- Propaganda (Island, 1974)

I'd played these guys twice on Friday, while subbing for Natalie's indie pop show, so I had them on the brain. (Full confession here. This album is from their "glam" '70s phase, and it made a nice transition from the punk-informed aggression of Tokyo Electron/Banditas and the bouncy pop of:

Maybe not the greatest track on this CD but it's bouncy and infectious, and it was loads of fun live. I figured The Bawd, who's a self-professed Pollard/Guided by Voices fan, would approve.

Interesting garage-y rock stuff to close out a five-song set. We've gotten a lot of great garage rock into the station during the past couple of years; it's really re-awakening that sector of my musical brain. Love it.

Amy X. Neuburg and Men -- "Naked Puppets" -- Sports! Chips! Booty! (Racer, 1995)

This is an old, old favorite; you'll find it scattered around my playlists going back at least six years. Herb Heinz, played before this, is one of the "Men." His solo stuff is like proggy pop, heavy on the pop side but full of keyboard tricks, sound effects, and odd time signatures. Great stuff -- check out Herb, Amy, and their freinds at Is Productions.

I'll be very interested to go back to the tapes and hear if the rest of the show worked. Here, I gave up the rock thing and went into artsy stuff (using Herb Heinz and Amy X. Neuburg as a transition).

Mackey is a modern classical composer and an electric guitarist, so he's got that youthful iconoclast thing going. He's recorded with the Kronos Quartet, so that tells you something right there.

This CD, which I've played on the air before, is a collection of Mackey pieces performed by/with the BMOP (who, by the way, rock). So, it's a dose of classical into a show that, while quite varied and adventurous, might not have trod that ground before. Like I said, it'll be interesting to see if it worked.

An artsy slow song with Spanish lyrics.

A kind of spare avant-chamber piece based on hitting strings with sticks. DJ Ben Wolfson says it's "like some of the tracks on Ogurusu Norihide's 'Modern,' or Charlemagne Palestine's 'Duo Strumming.'"

The killer. As in, mood-killer, room-clearer, people-throwing-bottles-at-their-radios. Minimalist to a fault, this is 30 minutes of ONE NOTE, played by four guitars and tape. The appeal, of course, comes in listening to the slow changes in texture over the 30 roommate-torturing minutes. Actually it's a great late-night listen, which is why I put it here, but you do sometimes wonder how many listeners are left after something like this. I only let it go for about 12 minutes. And yes, I admit: I used the time to clean up the studio, re-file the music I'd used, etc.

Led by drummer Jim Black, Alas No Axis sits somewhere between avant-jazz and post-rock indie instrumentals. The band is clarinet, guitar, bass, drums, and Black's compositions use that setup to create nicely floaty passages alongside the occasional jarring electric blast. And some of the songs just plain rock out. They've got four CDs on Winter & Winter now, and I'd recommend any of them.

One of the guys who comes to mind first whenever I think of subbing for Bawd's show. Ducret is a French guitarist who I'd discovered through his work with Tim Berne. He plays an off-kilter style of jazz that often falls into fast scribbles or mini electric freak-outs. He can also play straight jazz; I've got a nice CD from a Frenchman named Eric Barratt as evidence.

Previously noted here. Made for a fitting, rocking ending to the show. Moreover, the midnight DJ had, uh, not shown up by midnight, so this 11-minute track was a nice way to stall while waiting for him.

* = Item in KZSU rotation
! = Pop anomaly
? = Item not in KZSU library

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