Monday, December 17th, 2007 ... 9:00 a.m. - noon ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

(Return to playlists.)

First of a hoped-for handful of holiday-break shows, filling in for various DJs during hard-to-fill time slots.

I'm calling this one "Rorshach's Dance" but somehow, the scattershot genre-jumping seems less appropriate during daylight. I stuck to rock/pop mostly, with a few surprises tossed in. Similar effect, less painfully obvious.

Format:
ARTIST -- "TRACK TITLE" -- ALBUM TITLE (LABEL, YEAR)
Horizontal lines denote microphone breaks.

King Crimson -- "Dinosaur" -- Cirkus (Virgin, 1999)

* Clorox Girls -- "Caught in the Middle" -- J'aime Les Filles (BYO, 2007)

* Friday Bridge -- "The End of the Affair" -- Friday Bridge/Kelly Slusher [split 7"] (Surreal Ceremonies, 2006)

* The Old Soul -- "River of Daughters" -- The Old Soul (Friendly Fire, 2007)

Wire -- "In the Art of Stopping" -- Read & Burn (Cargo, 2002)

* Mika Miko -- "With My Ducks" -- 666 (PPM, 2007)

* Veil Veil Vanish -- "Reproach" -- Into a New Mausoleum (self-released, 2007)

Previously noted here.

Compilation briefly mentioned here.

From the veteran Dutch pop band, the inevitable "unplugged" album. More precisely, it's a stripped-down and often mellowed-out set of selections. The songwriting is often good but leaves me a bit flat, like they're just not at the top of their game here. Still, it's catchy stuff, particularly this track, where the "alternative" version comes across much better than the, uh, "non-alternative" (both are on this CD).

* Sugar Minott -- "Come on Home" -- V/A: When Rhythm Was King (Heartbeat, 2007; orig. released 1977)

764-HERO -- "Sliding" -- Salt Sinks and Sugar Floats (Up, 1996)

Big Star -- "You Get What You Deserve" -- Radio City (Ardent, 1973)

* Schande -- "Out on You" -- I Scored an Ocean (Oxenvee, 2007)

Tough-rocking, girl-fronted band, with a garage sound and the ability to turn a pleasant pop tune as well. Impressive group that's become kind of a KZSU favorite.

* ESG -- "Dance to the Beat of Moody" -- A South Bronx Story 2 (Soul Jazz, 1987?)

* Seth Walker -- "Miss Ann" -- Seth Walker (Hyena, 2007)

? Drywall with Stan Ridgway -- "Goin' on Down to the BBQ" -- Barbeque Babylon (Redfly, 2005)

Not as overtly dark and experimental as Work the Dumb Oracle, but still good stuff that tilts differently from Ridgway's own albums. With Drywall, he's collaborating with Pietra Wexstun (his wife) on keyboards and, for this edition, guitarist Rick King. Songwriting is credited to all three.

Ridgway's wry sense of humor permates the album. This opening track is a Zydeco-tinged toe-tapper about a suburban barbeque filled with Ridgway's usual seedy characters. "Abandon Ship" has the feel of an outright pirate shanty. "The AARP Is After Me" is cute. Darker moments come on tracks like "Wargasm 2005," and the usual criminal element of Ridgway's songs appears on tracks like "Robbers & Bandits & Bastards & Thieves."

Black Cat Music -- "Wine in a Box" -- V/A: Lookout! Freakout 2000 (Lookout, 2001)

Randomly selected punk.

The "I'm not crazy!" song that saturated "alternative" radio in the early '90s. Someone requested it, and it actually fit the mood, so what the heck.

Previously noted here. At the time of this show, I didn't realize Iyer and Ladd had put together a second project, Still Life with Commentator. That's mentioned in detail with my Jan. 11 show.

From freakin' Kauai, Hawaii! Decent enough pop shading towards TV-friendly "alternative rock," but they get bonus points from being, you know, from Kauai! If you're not familiar with the islands, Kauai has been overrun by civilization less than Maui, Oahu, or the Big Island. No big cities, unless you count Lihue. That's partly because hulking mountains render much of the island undevelopable. Still, you've got more than a few signs of Western culture, like the expansive rich-folks resorts here and there. Even the more Bohemian areas have a continental trill: pricey vegan restaurants and a very California-feeling coffee house in Kapa'a, for instance. The latter is where I picked up this CD.

Quick note on Hawaii in general: A place like Kauai doesn't have much room for things like garbage disposal, and of course it's relatively inaccessible for goods like oil, cars, etc. You'd think mainlanders would respect that. But we visited one lady from Orange County who had a timeshare there -- an entire hotel suite where she had air conditioning blowing full blast in every room all the time. Makes you think Ni'ihau might have the right idea.

* Girls Guns and Glory -- "Big Man" -- Pretty Little Wrecking Ball (self-released, 2007)

It's rockabilly, of course. When you see a band name like that, how can you not give it a spin?

Swingy old-time jazzy number that opened the live set recorded for this album. Similarities to Lyle Lovett and His Large Band come to mind, although it's a small band that's playing here.

* Guinga -- "Di Menor" -- Dialetto Carioca (Edgea Edizioni Discografiche, 2007)

* Alec K. Redfearn and the Eyesores -- "Queen of the Wires" -- The Blind Spot (Cuneiform, 2007)

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

* Tiny Vapors -- "Aron" -- Hands Across the Void (Sub Pop, 2007)

Thunder Thighs -- "Hyper Like a Female" -- Thunder Thighs [EP] (self-released, 2007)

*! Eroc -- "Nebelwelt" -- Eroc 2 (SPV GmbH, 2005; recorded 1976)

Disc 4 of the Eroc saga was noted here. This album's more of the same, although I grabbed a gloomy psych instrumental rather than anything truly entertaining.

Speaking of gloomy ... well, that's not fair. This is soaring guitar stuff, maybe descended from psych instrumentals but with the air (not the complexity) of high-minded prog rock. Some tracks, like this one, add a touch of trippy electronics.

An old favorite. Briefly noted here.

* Spring Creek Bluegrass Band -- "I Wonder Just Where You Are Tonight" -- Rural & Cosmic Bluegrass (self-released, 2006)

Eileen Ivers -- "On Horseback" -- Wild Blue (Green Linnet, 1995)

Wild Irish/bluegrass fiddling, fast and intense. She seriously sounds like she's going to put someone's eye out if she doesn't put that thing down. I'd played Ivers on my show before; there's a brief mention here.

* Larry Ochs Sax and Drumming Core -- "And Nothing But..." -- Up from Under (Atavistic, 2007)

Sneaking some avant-jazz into the set. Previously noted here.

Previously noted here. Sparks is readying their 21st (!) album, and to celebrate, they're playing the first 20, in their entirety, in 20 different concerts. That'll be in May and June in the UK. I intend to "celebrate" early by playing three Sparks tracks on our Three Track Special, which starts around 8:15 p.m. tomorrow, Dec. 18.

* P.J. Harvey -- "Broken Harp" -- White Chalk (Island, 2007)

An album of soft piano songs with Harvey's warbling vocal.

Even softer, a folk duo from Minnesota. And to make it even softer, this is the sentimental closing track on the album.

Tyner's latest, showing he's still got chops in that sparkling, heavy-chord style of his. Marvellous straight jazz. All-star band with Joe Lovano on sax.

* = Item in KZSU rotation
? = Item not in KZSU library

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