Putting the final sequencing touches on the 2008 favourites mix, with a couple of competing playlists assisting in the final crucial selections. The discs are mixed with the intent of playback occuring within a certain sequence, though it's likely that more than a few of you just burn them to mp3 and let the portable music player take on that task. Death to the mystic art of sequencing I suppose, but for every dj it's a critical part of show prep and touches off agonizing sessions of second guessing during each set.

Made Of Straw

Marianne Dissard / Ane Brun / Jolie Holland / Jenny Lewis / Ariel Abshire / Tracy Shedd / Sonya Kitchell / Heide Marie Kjersem

The playlist for Breakfast of Champions Thursday September 25th, 2008 on WMBR Cambridge.

(08:00 - you don't think it's totally psychedelic?)
Lesley Gore - "You Don't Own Me"
Matthew Sweet - "You Don't Love Me"
Roky Erickson - "You Don't Love Me Yet"

(08:15 - you don't look to see if it's parve?)
Klaus Nomi - "You Don't Own Me"
Adult. - "You Don't Worry Enough"
The House of Love - "You Don't Understand"
Fields - "You Don't Need This Song (To Fix Your Broken Heart)"
Tobacco - "Backwoods Altar" (background music)

(08:30 - you don't know it's band of the week?)
Polvo - "Sure Shot"
Polvo - "Bombs That Fall From Your Eyes"

(08:45 - you don't know what you're looking for?)
Dusty Springfield - "You Don't Own Me"
Sing-Sing - "You Don't Know"
Squire - "You Don't See Me"
The Bigger Lovers - "You Don't Feel Anything"

(09:00 - a relief for those who value new music above all else)
Winterpills - "You Don't Love Me Yet"
All Girl Summer Fun Band - "Oh No"
Hearts of Palm UK - "Jonathan FMF"
Max Richter - "When The Northern LIghts / Jasper and Louise" (concert report music)

(09:20 - new music for sleepy people)
Jenny Lewis - "Godspeed"
Karl Blau - "Mockingbird Diet"
Dungen - "Fredag"

(09:40 - new music for post patterns)
Friendly Fires - "Lovesick"
XX Teens - "Onkawara"
The Cure - "Freakshow (Wolves At The Gate Remix)"
Pivot - "Sweet Memory"

(09:50 - new music for exit ramps)
Land of Talk - "Some Are Lakes"

Thanks for visiting the blog, if you'd like to hear what you've seen jump over to WMBR's archives where two weeks of programming awaits!

Waiting outside the hospital as a chirpy fire alarm bleated as aimlessly as the blank-faced fireman poked around their trucks while severely young mothers and fathers cradled their half-clothed children rousted in the middle of checkups with fetching (and less severely) young doctor-types (or at least pretty possibles with white coats and fashion eyeglasses), I texted whomever was willing rescue me from ennui while waiting for the shots any responsible person would consent to when traveling to India.

Cracked Right Through The Middle

The Walkmen / Pop Levi / Lykke Li / Friendly Fires / TV on the Radio / Karl Blau / Portastatic / Glen Campbell

All hail the unknown indie band. You scratch your head as you try to place the name of the supporting act on the bill of a local show. You puzzle at the guy standing behind the table, wondering if that's the driver, merch guy or bassist. You wonder if this is really their first ep / album or just a home-burn of some demos they're working on. You puzzle at strange name of their record label, trying to suss out if it will only ever be found on this self-release. You weigh the benefit of seeing the half-hour set they drove 300 miles to play versus checking out the magazine rack at the convenience store next door. All hail the unknown indie band.

Everything Elusive

Eddy Current Suppression Ring / Mason Proper / Rumi / Ra Ra Riot / Your Heart Breaks / The Shaky Hands / Your 33 Black Angels / Novillero

Back from a one-week hiatus on WMBR's Breakfast of Champions Thursday, this playlist is dated September 18, 2008.

(08:00 - it seems so real I can hear it)
Porn Orchard - "Why Can't I Touch It?"
Clem Snide - "Why Can't I Touch It?"
Elf Power - "Why Can't I Touch It?"
The Buzzcocks - "Why Can't I Touch It?"

(08:15 - it seems so real I can taste it)
Eddie and the Hot Rods - "Why Can't It Be"
Turpentine Brothers - "Why Can't I Do"
The White Stripes - "Why Can't You Be Nicer To Me?"
Van Halen - "Why Can't This Be Love" (background music)

(08:30 - band of the week)
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "The Mercy Seat (live)"
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow"
Timmy Thomas - "Why Can't We Live Together" (background music)

(08:45 - history does unfold)
Big Flame - "Why Popstars Can't Dance"
The Cure - "Why Can't I Be You?"
Aden - "Why Can't I Make You Happy?"
Patsy Cline - "Why Can't He Be You"
Thee Mighty Caesars - "Why Can't You See?"
War - "Why Can't We Be Friends?" (background music)

(09:00 - new music starts at 9)
Noah and the Whale - "Rocks and Daggers"
Sam Champion - "Lorraine"
Dot Tape Dot - "Slow Birds For Mayo T." (concert report music)

(09:20 - new music continues 20 minutes later)
Blitzen Trapper - "Sleepytime in the Western World"
Your 33 Black Angels - "New Song"
Ten Kens - "Refined"
Novillero - "Lost Possibilities"

(09:40 - who knows when they'll say when)
Secret Machines - "Underneath the Concrete"
Tracy Shedd - "Not Giving Up"
Damien Jurado - "Trials"
Tindersticks - "The Flicker of a Little Girl"
The John Baker Tapes - "Au Printemps"

(09:55 - finish him!)
Ruby Isle featuring Amy Dykes - "Solsbury Hill"

Thanks for browsing around, the aural equivalent of this playlist is available on WMBR's archive site for 2 weeks after the original airing.

This mix is a day late but packs more dust in its proverbial ball of twine than a whole bowl of superficial sentiment. Partially influenced by the playoff defeat of my once-invicible fantasy baseball team, it comes crashing to the ground in an impressive display of senseless self-destruction. Only in this case at least someone might benefit (that someone hopefully being you).

Apple Pie and Bulletproof

Firewater / Calexico / Laura Marling / Okkervil River / Chad VanGaalen / Damien Jurado / Giant Sand / The UglySuit

Thanks to Becky, normal host of the Breakfast of Champions Monday on WMBR, for switching with me on September 8th 2008. You'll get to sample her selections on the 11th! Onto the playlist ...

(08:00 - it seems that most bands don't do shouldn't)
Wilco - "Shouldn't Be Ashamed"
Five-Eight - "Shouldn't Be Here"
Girlboy Girl - "Should We Or Shouldn't We"
The Bats - "You Know We Shouldn't"

(08:15 - should they do shouldn't or not?)
Hawkwind - "You Shouldn't Do That (live)"
Fly My Pretties - "Shouldn't I Know"
Zomes - "Black Magic Band" (background music)

(08:30 - band of the week)
Meat Puppets - "Lost"
Meat Puppets - "Flaming Heart"
Meat Puppets - "Enemy Love Song"

(08:45 - I shouldn't criticize those who don't)
Anita O'Day - "Why Shouldn't I"
Fra Lippo Lippi - "Shouldn't Have To Be Like That"

(09:00 - more new music)
Juliana Hatfield - "So Alone"
Tracy Shedd - "Won Past Ten"
I Am Robot and Proud - "Storm of the Century" (concert report music)

(09:20 - after the concert report)
Death Vessel - "Bruno's Torso"
The Shaky Hands - "Air Better Come"
Mekons - "Trouble Down South"
Mason Proper - "Point A To Point B"

(09:40 - clear the way, we're coming through)
The Campaign For Real-Time - "The Game"
Rework - "I Want To Be Like You"
Fujiya & Miyagi - "Pussyfooting"
Pacific! - "Number One"

(09:55 - an aural handshake)
Eddy Current Suppression Ring - "Which Way To Go"

I'll be back on the normal Thursday schedule next week, as always the archived shows are available on WMBR's back pages.

Today's mix offering is synthetic, ebuillient, menacing, ribald and expedient. For those who prefer movement to the sedentary life the time has come again to indulge.

The Blind Purity of a Honey Bee

Fixmer+McCarthy / The Faint / Stereo Image / The Tough Alliance / The Occasional Keepers / Fujiya & Miyagi / Rework / Rafter

P.S. I'm trading Thursday for Monday this week, thanks Becky!

September 4th, 2008 is a grand day to listen to WMBR, especially the Breakfast of Champions. On to the playlist!

(08:00 - not much we can do about this)
Descendents - "Can't Go Back"
The Wasps - "Can't Wait Til '78"
The Easybeats - "Can't Find Love"
The Drags - "Can't Change My Style"
Miss Mary - "Can't Stop"
Kylie Minogue - "Can't Get You Out of My Head" (background music)

(08:15 - or we can't do much about this)
Ivy - "Can't Even Fake It"
The Red Button - "Can't Stop Thinking About Her"
Eggstone - "Can't Come Close Enough"
The English Beat - "Can't Get Used To Losing You"
The Hollyridge Strings - "Can't Buy Me Love" (background music)

(08:30 - the die is cast on band of the week as well)
Pernice Brothers - "Working Girls (Sunlight Shines)"
Pernice Brothers - "Blinded By The Stars"
Pernice Brothers - "Saddest Quo"
Electric Light Orchestra - "Can't Get It Out Of My Head" (background music)

(08:45 - it's inevitable as charlie used to say)
The Charlatans UK - "Can't Get Out Of Bed"
Sloan - "Can't Face Up"
Piper - "Can't Wait"
The Dickies - "Can't Let Go"
Village of Savoonga - "Can't Escape" (background music)

(09:00 - Let's smoothly move into the realm of new music)
Portastatic - "When Love Breaks Down"
Ra Ra Riot - "Suspended In Gaffa"
Alias - "Oakland Morning" (concert report music)

(09:20 - no excuses or coded messages)
The Rumble Strips - "Girls and Boys In Love"
Bears - "What Makes Me Happy"
Bart Davenport - "Strangelife"
Starfuckers - "Rawnald Gregory Erickson The Second"
Your Heart Breaks - "I Could Say Ark"

(09:40 - no magic missles or micro moments)
The New Year - "The Door Opens"
Ariel Abshire - "Spots"
Jennifer O'Connor - "Days Become Months"
Hilde Marie Kjersem - "London Bridge"

(09:55 - a rush and a push and the land is yours)
Captain Dan and the Scurvy Crew - "It's All About The Booty"

This show, along with every other show on WMBR, is archived on WMBR's website for a two week time period.

The lady at the home depot checkout sized up my weighty load of wood and supplies and asked why I wasn't taking Labor Day off. I was ready to return the retort when a momentary flash of tact kept me from mentally reinforcing her fate for the day. Mine was already cast as well, Labor Day afforded me the last chance to complete this summer's home project - rebuild our rotting deck. It also provided me with a moment to craft this addictive pop mix. Warning: multiple handclaps await!

Nothing's Too Good For This Life

The Gordian Knot / Bears / The Rumble Strips / Correcto / The Caesars / The Coast / The Crash / Theresa Andersson