One advantage of the new muxtape-like facilitator is I can keep more than one mix live on the account. So, to make up for the reduced playlist requirement I'll update every five days instead of every seven and keep each mix alive for 10 days. That is, until the authorities catch up with my diabolical plan.

The Winners Who Walked Away

Death Vessel / Randy Newman / Jennifer O'Connor / Drone Hooligan / Small Sur / Jessica Lea Mayfield / Neil Halstead / Shannon McArdle

The Breakfast of Champions on WMBR is all about taking you higher, as evidenced by this playlist dated August 28, 2008.

(08:00 - couldn't I find a better theme?)
Todd Rundgren - "Couldn't I Just Tell You"
The Bevis Frond - "Couldn't Care Less"
The Junk Monkeys - "I Couldn't Smile"
The Litter - "He Couldn't Find One Anywhere"

(08:15 - guess I couldn't)
The 45's - "Couldn't Believe A Word"
Television Personalities - "The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Dreaming"
The Field Mice - "Couldn't Feel Safer"
Tracey Thorn - "Simply Couldn't Care"
Talkdemonic - "Civilian" (background music)

(08:30 - band of the week)
Four Tet - "Tangle"
Four Tet - "Wing Body Wing"

(08:45 - if couldn't is could not then why isn't it spelled could'nt?)
Spacemen 3 - "Why Couldn't I See?"
Petula Clark - "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love"
Devastations - "The Night I Couldn't Stop Crying"

(09:00 - new music for the next hour)
Neil Halstead - "Queen Bee"
Drone Hooligan - "Son Risen Fear"
Dark Tooth Encounter - "Radio Bleed" (concert report music)

(09:20 - cruising past the concert report)
Pop Levi - "Love You Straight"
31Knots - "The Breaks"
Swim Swam Swum - "Not In Your Way"
The Broken West - "Auctioneer"

(09:40 - your ears are not in my way)
Damien Jurado - "Paper Kite"
David Vandervelde - "Old Turns"
Okkervil River - "Pop Lie"
Lykke Li - "I'm Good, I'm Gone"
Rework - "Questions"

(09:55 - inevitable conclusion)
Chad VanGaalen - "Bones Of Man"

Thanks for visiting, the audio is stashed on WMBR's archive for 2 weeks after the original broadcast date.

I'm wearing black today in sympathy for the apparent death of muxtape, though in truth we all knew it was too good to last. Once the RIAA gets its talons in something rarely does it survive. It won't completely stop the weekly mix ritual, though it will put a 33% dent in the tracks offered as this new service has a reduced playlist requirement. Not a problem, it'll just force me to put on a harsher quality filter. In respect for our dearly departed this week's mix is fully instrumental and a little maudlin (with one extreme exception).

No fancy name this week ...

July Skies / Durutti Column / Jasper TX / Belong / The Abbasi Brothers / White Rainbow / Twink / Bitcrush

I can't quite fathom the theme for the first hour of the August 21, 2008 Breakfast of Champions show on WMBR. Oh well, guess I'll have to try to divine it from the playlist.

(08:00 - on the negative tip)
Cheap Trick - "I Can't Take It"
The Barracudas - "I Can't Pretend"
The Zombies - "I Can't Make Up My Mind"
Golden Smog - "I Can't Keep From Talking"
Rumah Sakit - "I Can't See Anything When I Close My Eyes" (background music)

(08:15 - I'm a negative creep)
Hello Saferide - "I Can't Believe It's Not Love"
The Housemartins - "I Can't Put My Finger On It"
Dusty Springfield - "I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face"
Talulah Gosh - "I Can't Get No Satisfaction (Thank God)"
Luna - "I Can't Wait"
The John Buzon Trio - "I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me" (background music)

(08:30 - and I'm band of the week)
Magic Hour - "Sunrise"
Nu Shooz - "I Can't Wait" (background music)

(08:45 - this is a negative trend)
X-Ray Spex - "I Can't Do Anything"
Snivelling Shits - "I Can't Come"
Hard Times - "I Can't Wait Til Friday Comes"
The Sound - "I Can't Escape Myself"
Hall and Oates - "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" (background music)

(09:00 - new music makes its way to center stage)
Calexico - "The News About William"
Firewater - "Paradise"
Eli Keszler - "R.L.K. 2." (Concert Report Music)

(09:20 - after the concert report, I'll be in love with you)
Theresa Andersson - "Birds Fly Away"
The Walkmen - "In The New Year"
Caesars - "New Year's Day"
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Come Saturday"

(09:40 - I'll be home by new year's)
The Coast - "Floodlights"
Rumi - "The Show"
One For The Team - "What Are You Gonna Cry About?"

(09:55 - and I'll be laughing, not crying)
Fixmer/McCarthy - "Look To Me"

Thanks for stopping by and gazing at the screen, as always a musical version of these playlists can be found by looking through WMBR's archives for the appropriate program and day. This offer expires two weeks from original broadcast date.

Count me among those that feel transporting the Star Wars franchise into computer animation is barely worth my attention. What I really need to force down again is David Lynch's Dune ... an aggressively bad and incomprehensible film. It contained some fantastic quotes ... remember Eon's house record Void Dweller with all the Dune samples? "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer" ... "He who controls the spice controls the universe!" ... all mixed with old video game samples. Last night I watched the Silent Hill adaptation, it had an enveloping atmosphere until they misguidedly tried to explain everything 3/4 of the way through.

Another Great American Zombie

Sunset / Faces on Film / Ex-Norwegian / Carolee / One For The Team / Darker My Love / Immovable Objects / I Heart Hiroshima / Nathan Wilkes / The Mekons / 31Knots / The Royal We

Breakfast of Champions
WMBR 88.1FM Cambridge MA3
Thursday August 14, 2008
The Playlist

(08:00 - from you can't to didn't)
Happy Flowers - "Why Didn't You Tell Me You Were Bringing Home A Baby"
Red Sovine - "I Didn't Jump The Fence"
Mecca Normal - "He Didn't Say"
Sarah White - "I Didn't Have A Summer Romance"
Don Caballero - "Let's Face It Pal, You Didn't Need That Eye Surgery" (background music)

(08:15 - didn't means you could have but you did not)
Blondie - "I Didn't Have The Nerve To Say No"
Tobin Sprout - "I Didn't Know"
Tubeway Army - "Oh! Didn't I Say"
Felt - "I Didn't Mean To Hurt You"
Magnetophone - "Didn't I Blow Your Mind?" (Background music)

(08:30 - Band of the week)
The Oblivians - "Kick Your Ass"
The Oblivians - "Robot Blues"
The Oblivians - "Alone Again Or"
Lobo - "She Didn't Do Magic" (background music)

(08:45 - so in that way I guess didn't do is better than can't do)
Silkworm - "Never Met A Man I Didn't Like"
The Brilliant Corners - "I Didn't See You"
Midstates - "Didn't Ask"
Swirlies - "Didn't Understand"
Yazoo - "Bring Your Love Down (Didn't I)" (background music)

(09:00 - new music for now)
Starling Electric - "Prince Of The Puff Of Smoke"
Faces On Film - "Famous Last Words"
The Royal We - "Three Is A Crowd"
Bitcrush - "Waiting For Something" (concert report music)

(09:20 - new music for later)
Moscow Olympics - "No Winter, No Autumn"
The Sound of Arrows - "Danger!"
Carolee - "Rainout"
Arms - "Tiger Tamer"

(09:40 - new music for lepers)
The Faint - "Mirror Error"
Jaguar Love - "Georgia"
Sunset - "Zombies"

(09:55 - closing out the show)
Katy Perry - "One Of The Boys"

Thanks for looking around, as always the aural equivalent is available on WMBR's archive site.

Waiting for summer to slide by is a time-consuming activity. There are only so many mint juleps you can consume until everything starts tasting like toothpaste. I heed the cautions of our nation's sun exposure experts very carefully and have so far been able to retain my delicate pallor. But my use of sunblock has been limited by one of our cats' newly acquired taste for it ... she can't resist licking any covered area. Fortunately, I will accept any sign of affection from her regardless of authenticity.

Watch The Numbers Slip Away

The Avett Brothers / Margot & The Nuclear So and So's / David Vandervelde / Angela Desveaux / Willoughby / Northern Portrait / Boy Genius / PAS/CAL / Marching Band / Alice Cohen / Azeda Booth / The Frequency

This is the playlist for the radio program on WMBR originally broadcast on August 7, 2008. It's called the Breakfast of Champions.

(08:00 - first hour is going to be a bit negative)
Johnny Thunders - "You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory"
The Seeds - "You Can't Be Trusted"
Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments - "You Can't Kill Stupid"
The Karl Hendricks Trio - "You Can't Argue With Cash"
Billy Mahonie - "Watching People Speaking When You Can't Hear What They're Saying" (background music)

(08:15 - a theme that will continue for the upcoming months)
The Concretes - "You Can't Hurry Love"
The Go-Betweens - "You Can't Say No Forever"
Phoenix - "(You Can't Blame It On) Anybody"
The Jaywalkers - "(You Can't Be) Happy All The Time"
The Spent Poets - "You Can't Kill Michael Malloy" (background music)

(08:30 - band of the week time)
Fuzzy - "Bill"
Fuzzy - "Someday"
Fuzzy - "Summer Is Gone"
Lisa Stansfield - "You Can't Deny It" (background music)

(08:45 - more things you can't)
The Go-Go's - "You Can't Walk In Your Sleep (If You Can't Sleep)"
The 6ths - "You Can't Break A Broken Heart"
Big Star - "You Can't Have Me"
The Five Americans - "You Can't Win"
Anal Cunt - "You Can't Shut Up"
Joe Jackson - "You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Got)" (background music)

(09:00 - let's move on to new music)
David Vandervelde - "Old Turns"
Jessica Lea Mayfield - "Bible Days"
The Abbasi Brothers - "In A Field" (concert report music)

(09:20 - let's take this town alive)
Margot and the Nuclear So and So's - "Bookworm"
Willoughby - "Story"
Angela Desveaux - "Sure Enough"
Shannon McArdle - "This Longing"

(09:40 - blue or brown?)
CSS - "Left Behind"
The Tough Alliance - "Holiday"
The Coast - "Floodlights"
Immovable Objects - "James Trent"

(09:55 - finish him!)
Stephen Pearcy featuring The Donnas - "Round and Round"

Remember, two weeks of programming (including this show) is always available on WMBR's archive.

Stevie Nicks once asked Don Henley to exchange her lace for his leather. Why would Don agree to this? Perhaps there was some unstated potential future gain from this transaction? Stevie could certainly utilize the leather in an attractive fashion, but the lace Don would receive seems less applicable. Maybe Don's grandmother made fascinating doilies. It's unlikely this muxtape sheds any light on this conundrum, but it's just as consequential.

Make Your Tired Heart Sing

Daedelus / CSS / The Black Ghosts / Black Kids / Ratatat / Hercules and Love Affair / Satellite Lot / The Bloodsugars / Poni Hoax / Sound Tribe Sector 9 / Health / Venetian Snares