Center Of The Universe Episode #1
I look at my time on college radio with a mixture of nostalgia and regret. It was a delight to discover so much music and share it with people. It was great to voice my interests and observations on air in an unpredictably animated yammer, knowing somebody out there was accidentally paying attention. But damn, I cared way too much about the office drama at the station, where cranky hard rock guys did all the work and the hipsters felt entitled to just play their cool shit. I was on air for my entire time as an undergraduate and about three years after while I still lived in town, working at campus libraries. There was a guy whose reign as station president I'm genuinely tempted to describe as Stalinesque. Had I some perspective, I would have realized terrestrial post-teenage radio wasn't worth engaging with such choads over, but I was desperate for a cause and Hank Hill-levels of earnest about anything I spent my time on. In hindsight, I would have been wise to just do a show, be a reliable substitute when people needed one (itself a soon dated concept thanks to computers) and enjoy my youth. I also should have made Giant Sand's "Center Of The Universe" my theme song. I certainly played it enough, and it's gotta a sloppy-ass, sky-ripping grandeur I never get sick of. Plus Howe Gelb rhymes "I'm just a renter" with "prevention center." It's my vibe!
It's never too late, though, right? I've decided to attempt a theoretical "show" this year with a Spotify playlist that will be updated and replaced weekly (too many playlists on my account as is), along with a related post featuring YouTube links for posterity & the Spotify-shy, plus wee blurbs describing some of what I'd likely be saying on air. Apparently 13 songs an hour is impressive for a lot of radio stations now, so expect each week to feature about 26 songs. Eventually, I might put in the work to find a superior platform. Maybe even one with an actual microphone involved. But this will sooth the muse for now.
CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE 1/9/23
Giant Sand, “Center Of The Universe”
(An introduction explaining you're in for a two-hour, free-assocative journey through popular and semi-popular song. A discussion of my affection for the post-dubstep electronica I know as “crazy PC computer advertising music,” and how that relates to Flume.)
Flume feat. Oklou, “Highest Building”
Eric Burdon & The Animals, “A Girl Named Sandoz”
Queens Of The Stone Age, “Misfit Love”
(A paean to “Misfit Love," the apex of live-band robot-rock, as far as I've heard, including suggestions to check out the Henry Rollins Show performance clip and this frenetic HD '07 live clip courtesy of MTV. Before that, a '67 B-side from Eric Burdon & The Animals, full of psychedelic freakout gratitude for the erotic education gained from…Sandoz. By the way, Eric Burdon was so enamored of Jimi Hendrix, personally and artistically, that he released an album track the same year as "Sandoz" and "Are You Experienced?" called “Yes, I Am Experienced.” And now, a pre-Linn drum Prince, alone in the studio, showing off Stevie Wonder-style for six minutes. As heard on his debut album, For You.)
Prince, “Just As Long As We’re Together”
Black Eyed Peas, “Meet Me Halfway”
James Brown, “Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved - Part I”
Hot Chip, “Freakout/Release”
("Freakout/Release" is the title track of my favorite album of 2022, which I really hope you’ve checked out. Preceded by James Brown at his most political and sample-worthy. Before that, Black Eyed Peas sure sounding like they sampled the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I’m re-binging Doom Patrol before watching the recently uploaded part 1 of Season 4. The Doom Patrol comic began in the '60s as a dark mirror of the X-Men, four accomplished people turned super-powered, deformed “freaks” by tragic, haunting accidents rather than beautifully “born that way.” Their first DC series actually ended with them sacrificing themselves to save a small town. Aside from when rising super-writer Grant Morrison turned them overtly surreal and adult in the late 80s and early 90s, all revivals and reboots have been fairly unsuccessful. The Morrison run was a profound surprise to discover in the dollar racks as a kid, so I'm delighted the HBO Max series has not just been outstanding, but enduring. The creators clearly have tremendous affection for the comics, but they're blissfully indifferent to faithful recreation, bringing characters from different eras together and even including Teen Titan-turned JLA figure Cyborg. This could have been an embarrassing sop to diversity - why is the black guy always Cyborg with DC? - but the writers and actor Jovain Wade have provided a welcome and unique interpretation of the character. It’s ruined some more reverent adaptiatons of comics for me by being both a love letter to the original material and totally unpredictable. And now here’s Trina and Mannie Fresh with a strip club freak-fest love ballad.)
Trina feat. Mannie Fresh, “Da Club”
The Rentals, “The Love I’m Searching For”
Sugar Ray, “Just A Little”
Wanda Jackson, “Who Shot Sam”
(Wanda Jackson's cover of a George Jones song that's real glib about murder, as old country songs can be. Before that, a country-disco Sugar Ray number likely surprising you with a shit-load of steel guitar hooks. If you dug it, check out their self-titled 2001 album immediately. This was preceded by The Rentals, whose first tour featured Maya Rudolph and future Republican Iowa State Senator Cherielynn Wiestrich, just sworn in today. Sayeth Chuck Eddy in his SPIN review of a Philly show: “the two keyboard gals bookending the stage with bare naked belly buttons jogged in place and did aerobics. One looked like Neneh Cherry, the other looked like Juliana Hatfield.” Only the one who looked like Hatfield was on the 1995 debut album we heard from. And now Electric Six notes…it’s horseshit.)
Electric Six, “It’s Horseshit!”
The Breeders, “Saints”
Maxine Brown, “Funny”
Matthew Sweet, “What Do You Know?”
(Matthew Sweet with one gorgeous song of dismissive contempt. Preceded by a 1961 R&B chart smash by Maxine Brown, audibly laughing to keep from crying. Before that, the Breeders snarling promises of summer. While future “episodes” will feature more consumer news about new movies and new releases, the kid was out of school this week and my dad was in town, so I had better things to do than find out if the new Iggy Pop album has a delightfully bananas song or two. But hopefully I’ll report on that next week. And now here’s Brazil’s biggest ‘00s indie sleaze band, CSS, with a slow, dramatic song from their 2013 album about their “Faith In Love.”)
CSS, “Faith In Love”
Sloan, “The Marquee And The Moon”
Love Is All, “Last Choice”
Husker Du, “Whatever”
(Husker Du’s young narrator goes miserably with the flow on “Whatever,” buried deep into side 3 of their ’84 epic Zen Arcade. Before that, Love Is All’s narrator settles for their last call “Last Choice” on 2008’s A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Tonight. And Sloan finds themselves between “The Marquee And The Moon” on one of their most majestic moments of referential whimsy. Bill Withers’ +Justments is probably my favorite album that doesn’t have a lot of people calling it a classic. This third album of his featured no immortal hits still racking up hundreds of millions of plays online, peaking at 67 where the previous album reached the Top 5. But it’s a masterpiece of reflective, grown-ass heartbreak. “Can We Pretend,” though not a single, has managed a more-than-healthy 11 million spins on Spotify. Dig that Jose Feliciano guitar break!)
Bill Withers, “Can We Pretend”
Alex Chilton, “I’ve Had It”
Joy Division, “A Means To An End”
Illuminati Hotties, “Freequent Letdown”
Ray Charles, “Busted”
(Ray Charles, letting everyone know he’s busted. Illuminati Hotties, letting everybody know they're down. Joy Division, requiring no temperature check. And Alex Chilton, covering the Bell Notes, letting us know he’s had it. Though I’m not entirely sure that’s Chilton doing a John Cale imitation or one of the other guys stumbling around the studio while Jim Dickinson rolled tape for Chilton's solo debut, Like Flies On Sherbert. As we leave the center of the universe, please enjoy a song about Minecraft, found via Shazam from one of the many videos my kid watches of giant numberblock-themed statues being built on the gaming platform. All I know is it appears to be from an obscure Swedish variation on Kidz Bop, but it’s a jam. Thanks for your time!)
Party Kidz, “Minecraft”