Communiqué

I’ve been listening to a lot of good new releases lately.  Some are by bands I’ve known, and some by bands I’ve never listened to before. There are some albums, and some singles to get you ready for the fall. In case you haven’t been able to listen to my show (Mondays 7-830AM), here’s a digest of my favorite tunes right now:

New Bellows (Brooklyn) single is very different than Blue Breath, with a lot more synth, auto tune, and chaos. It took me a listen or two to warm up to it, but after seeing them shred on the big state at UT last month, I’m ready for what’s next.

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Debut SOMNIA record How the Moon Shines on the Shit. It features Spoonboy (DC) & Erica from RVIVR (WA). I saw RVIVR a few weeks ago and they blew me away. I like Somnia recording even more.

[bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2014264276 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5]

The Cowboys are a band from Bloomington that I saw last night in a West Philly basement with Purple 7. They shared a lot of members, and have some 60s and Western undertones.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzkuJPcRLTU&w=560&h=315]

New Outer Spaces (Baltimore) record sounds like the sequel to The Execution of All Things. They released an EP a couple years ago on Salinas, and push forward on Don Giovanni Records.

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There’s a new Krill (Boston) EP that they recorded before they broke up. It warms my heart.

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And a super hot LVL UP (Brooklyn) jam that manages to one-up the rest of their catalog.

[bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=3371147436 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5]

The new Martha (Durham, UK) album is fantastic! I don’t know when they’re returning to Philly but I hope they do soon and maybe I’ll just follow them around the country.

[bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=691190749 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5]

I slept on the new The So So Glos (Brooklyn) album a little bit but Chris Gethard said it was his favorite album of the year, and it truly is great. It makes me want to throw blueberries at the wall.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtHzHeOXBZo&w=560&h=315]

Permanent Body is a new band based in West Philly. They’re led by the man behind Ghost Light, one of my favorite bands I never got to see play.

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By Esmail Hamidi

 

As FM radio began to advance technologically in the late 1960s, it was common for radio stations to invest in an FM license to augment their AM signal.

At the time, AM was the dominant force in commercial radio – FM was experimental, unproven and new. Its higher fidelity meant that it would be suitable for all kinds of music, not just loud wall-of-sound 45s. Also, at the time, it was really hard to fill a full 24/7 week of programming, because radio automation was limited to creepy, finicky electromechanical systems.

With the AM station serving as the primary revenue stream, programming on FM was often less of a concern for station management.  As a result, a lot of FM programming came out of the gate unencumbered by program directors, ratings, and other stifling nonsense. These new FM stations needed people to independently pick and play records, while tolerating late hours and little pay. With little oversight, these people had to be DJs, music historians, and entertainers. On the FM, they created freeform radio.

A radio format describes the typical “sound” of a station. Radio formats are defined inside the industry by radio station program directors to describe their audiences to prospective advertisers, not to describe genres or styles of music for the sake of art. When a station adopts a format, they take control away from the DJ, and formalize the process of picking music. It becomes less organic, less personal, and more commercial.

Freeform radio contrasts with the glossy inhumanity of commercial radio, and the fumbling ineptitude of some college radio. Freeform radio isn’t just the absence of a format: The idea of freeform radio rebels against any notion of what “should” be played, thumbs its nose at advertisers trying to quantify its audience, and places complete control in the hands of the DJ. He or she is your friend, playing records for you on your living room stereo. It’s a tasteful, intimate, trusting connection. They’re not barking at you about “today’s hottest music,” they’re not telling you about this Sweet New Product™ they just endorsed — they’re just hanging out and playing records. And that is…beautiful.

So where’s Toilet Radio come into this, you ask? My previous Toilet Radio Manifesto outlined the finer points of rediscovering the crappiest, cheesiest parts of the 1970s. As Nick and I have done more radio shows under this nom de guerre, they have led me to more revelations on what Toilet Radio is, and what I want Toilet Radio to be:

1. An updated version of the classic freeform/progressive radio programs of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Think Joseph “Butterball” Tam­burro and Jocko Henderson on WDAS, Michael Tearson on WXPN and WMMR, or Alison “The Nightbird” Steele on WNEW. What would they play if they were my age in 2016? What would they find notable in today’s indie music slushpile, and in WKDU’s hulking vinyl library?
2. Where Nick and I discover music new to us live on air, in real time. Sometimes we’ll play something only having heard a few seconds of it. Sometimes our guesses and risks pay off; sometimes they don’t. This is okay. We’re not just DJs – we’re music fans too, and discovering music is just plain fun. We’re also both just really busy guys, and it’s hard to find the time to bounce music off of each other. This is that time.
3. A weekly, radio-based teleportation to an imaginary living room. This living room is outfitted with thick shag carpet, wood paneling, two turntables, a 10,000 watt soundsystem, and an assortment of ugly but comfortable chairs. On the walls, there are amateur oil paintings of Hall & Oates next to ratty, screen-printed posters from punk shows. You take a seat and sip whatever you’re drinking on a muggy Monday night.At 8 PM sharp, your friends Nick and Es drop the needle on a record. You haven’t heard it before, you may never hear it again, but damn, those 1970s studio musicians could play…. 

After a 9 month hiatus, Toilet Radio is back on WKDU tonight, June 27^th, 2016, at 8 PM EST.

One of Drexel’s own students has united the biggest names in vaporwave and electronic netlabels for a limited edition cassette compilation. Patrick Magee, of WKDU’s “The Stardust Revue”, created this compilation with the intention of giving well known artists in the community an outlet to make music without the pressure of scene politics. Following recent tensions between “hardvapour” and “traditional” vaporwave fans, “Absolve U” brings together artists known for funky sample based jams like Luxury Elite, as well as drum ‘n bass paced tunes from DJ Alina and Blank Body.

“I’m glad that people like what I’ve put out. After working for so long, though, I want people to know I can do more than just samples,” says James Webster, a Philadelphia based artist who contributed two tracks to the tape. After a monstrously successful 2015 that saw death’s dynamic shroud.wmv gain attention from press and fans alike for moving vaporwave in a new direction, James says he wants to keep making music he enjoys, independent of scene politics.  “I’m glad that project was successful, and we did what we came to do, but I’m not sure any of us are going to be chopping up k-pop samples again in the near future.”

Patrick Magee also curated “Absolve U” with emerging talents in mind, and two of the most impressive tracks on the compilation come from newcomers PowerPCME and Location Services (a side project of Magic Fades). “It was impressive, because everyone had their own unique sound but the sum of their parts came together like puzzle pieces,” Patrick said of the curatorial process.

“Absolve U” is available now on Bandcamp as a limited edition, handmade cassette as well as a digital download.

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