2010 Year End List

The staff at KPSU asked me to fill out a year-end list, of my top 10 favorite records of 2010. I don't normally do lists like this; most of the music I buy is not new, most of the music I listen to is not new, and I think year-end lists are extremely misleading, often because there don't have context. But, since I had to fill one out, here's my context:

These are the albums I listened to in 2010, that were released in 2010. This isn't everything that I was a fan of, nor is it everything that I listened to in 2010. It is merely the honorable mentions that were released in the year 2010, that I listened to in 2010. I'll be the first to say that the list is subjective, missing a ton of things that you would rather see on the list, and in some spots, I cheat. But this is the closest accurate reflection you will get from me about how 2010 went down, musically speaking. Enjoy!

01.) Ke$ha - Animal
If, for no other reason, "Tik Tok" made this album all worth while. I kept coming back to it, even when I knew I shouldn't.

02.) Moment In Static - Demos
Local math-rockers are stellar, live and recorded. Check out one of their rare live shows, or their archived KPSU performance.

03.) The Oblik - Demos
Pop rock like they used to make, with equal-parts goth and glam. Hooks and then some, and rewarding upon multiple listens.

04.) Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings - I Learned The Hard Way
You need this album the way you need to hit the clubs on a Friday night, but this is better for the wee hours of the night, when you're feeling introspective.

05.) The Black Keys - Brothers
This is what rock and roll is all about. The hyper-color disc says it all: this band either polarizes you one way or the other. For me, I became a full-on convert.

06.) Grinderman - 2
The most anticipated record of the year, and well worth the wait. Nick Cave with a sense of humor is the best kind of Nick Cave to listen to, and this record is something to get genuinely creeped out about.

07.) No Age - Everything In Between
Get this album. Listen to it twice daily. Then try telling me I'm wrong about it. I dare you.

08.) Weekend - Sports
This album snuck in late for me, as I found only a week or so ago. But it is, without a doubt, the best album of 2010.

09.) Quasi / Pavement - Live!
A chance to see Pavement was the highlight of the year, and the show delivered everything I wanted and more. Quasi was great, too.

10.) kpsu.org
When all was said and done, I had my computer locked on kpsu.org. It had all of this, and more, 24 hours a day.

Live Music Blowout!

Not content to deliver our usual weekly blast of radio with some cleverly selected songs and concise talk breaks, this week Blasphuphmus Radio brings you something a little bit crazy, merely because we can. Prepare yourselves for a three-hour block of Live Music. Ob-soive!:

Episode 103: Live Live Live! w/ Hogwash!

(A three-hour presentation, hosted by Hogwash of Is This Music?, featuring live performances by Paco Jones, Spokane Belmont and Gender Roles!)

Hour 1: Paco Jones

Hour 2: Spokane Belmont

Hour 3: Gender Roles

This one slowly developed into the show it became. First, Gender Roles contacted me about a live in-studio, and very soon Spokane Belmont got added to the bill. But when Ricardo Wang came down ill this week, and he asked me to host Paco Jones as well, I called in the big guns and asked Hogwash to host the show for me while I ran sound. Hogwash is a radio genius, and his show is one of the best things on the dial these days (he also works over at KBOO, engineering twice a month on Mondays). Between his know-how, and my sound-tech skillz, this proved to be a fantastic three-hour block of radio that you can't deny.

Who knows what the future holds? Tune in, and find out.

See ya in seven.

It's Time For A Soul Explosion!

To start the New Year out right, Jaycation and I have teamed up to bring you a five hour SOUL EXPLOSION, and a one hour retrocast, all in the name of quality radio. It's not an easy job, but the hours are fantastic. Ob-soive:

First, start things off right with a little blast from the past, circa August of 2009.

Retrocast of "Vinyl Solution, Part I"

(Where I play a whole lot of records, and have fun doing it.)

Playlist & Footnotes.

This, I dive into a three hour block of soul that is continued afterward by fellow DJ and connoisseur, Jaycation.

Episode 102: Soul Explosion!

Hour 2: http://archive.kpsu.org/node/37152

Hour 3: http://archive.kpsu.org/node/37153

(Where I dig into my collection of Atlantic and Stax Records for a three hour blast of Soul Power!)

[Note: At this time, Hour 1 does not appear to have been recorded. We apologize for this inconvenience.]

Playlist & Footnotes.

Then, keep it locked as Jaycation takes over to deliver his own soul favorites.

Jaycation Hour 1

Jaycation Hour 2

What can I say? When you need soul, you need a lot of it.

Next week: A live performance by Gender Roles, and more!

See Ya in Seven.

Back In The Saddle Again

Well, we've had all manner of crazy shit go down in the last few months, and this show has not be as well documented, performed, posted, or heard because of that. But the wait is over, as we are back in business, and ready for action with five hours of downloads, including a special New Year's Day broadcast, some live electro-glitch, and actual profanity. Yeah, you know you want it. Here we go:

Episode 101: Some Changes For The New Year (Hour 1)

Episode 101: Some Changes For The New Year (Hour 2)

(Where I play a whole slew of songs about newness, beginnings, and chan

ge.)

Playlist & Footnotes.

(I should point out that I haven't had a chance to write a proper footnoted playlist in many moons, which is why this is a big deal.)

Also, I got to run sound for What's This Called? today, too. Ob-soive:

What's This Called? w/ Doug Theriault, LIVE!

(Featuring a live performance by local noise artist, Doug Theriault.)

Playlist & Footnotes.

Doug is a circuit bender, a noise artist, and a really wonderful and friendly guy. I had a great time meeting him today, and he is just as kind and considerate as his music is weird, noisy and wonderful. You should give it a listen.

Lastly:

For those of you who didn't already hear the gossip, Greg and Sarah from Funemployment Radio (dot com!) were kind enough to invite me as a guest on their show last Thursday. Here are the results:

Funemployment Radio #275 w/ Cody Austin Rich

(Featuring Greg Nibler, Sarah X Dylan, Kenny B, and special guest Cody Austin Rich.)

Greg and Sarah need no introduction, but a little known fact is that I was involved in Greg's tentative beginnings in radio at KPSU. Hear us shoot this shit about nothing in particular (with profanity!), all the while having a really, really good time. I was really excited to be a guest on their show, and I'm looking forward to where they end up next.

And that does it for this week. Now, there are 51 more shows I need to prepare for. Until then...

See ya in Seven.

Correction & News

This just in: it appears that the course I was scheduled for during Winter Term has been canceled. So it goes. After some departmental re-arranging, I've been reassigned. There's some info below.

Here's the bad news: it looks like the course is full. There's not much I can do about getting folks into the course at this point. I have also heard that Professor Bohnaker will dismiss the class on the first day, to let enrollment settle down before the course gets started.

HOWEVER, if you are interested in the course, and you are not currently enrolled, I suggest showing up and trying to get us to register you. Often there are a lot of people who drop and don't show up early on, and we may be able to fit you in anyway.

Thanks.

43875: UNST 254E: "Popular Culture" w/ William Bohnaker. TR, 14:30 - 15:15
(Main Session Course. So far, it looks like we're already full.)

43878: UNST 254F: "PC Mentor Session" w/ Cody Rich. T, 16:00 - 16:50
43877: UNST 254F: "PC Mentor Session" w/ Cody Rich. R, 16:00 - 16:50
43876: UNST 254F: "PC Mentor Session" w/ Cody Rich. R, 17:00 - 17:50
(The Accompanying Course that I'll be teaching. So far, it looks like we're already full.)

Teaching Assignment For Winter Term '11

I just found out what my Teaching Assignment will be for Winter Term 2011 at PSU. As there was much confusion at the beginning of the year as to what I would be doing in the classroom, now it seems that I will be stuck doing that same thing for the rest of the year. (Make me worry up front, then do nothing different for a full year.) So it goes. Here's the lowdown:

45861: UNST 212G: "American Studies: The 1930's" w/ Scott W. Parker. MW, 17:30 - 18:45
(Main Session Course. So far, it looks like we have 8 Students Registered.)

45862: UNST 212H: "AS: 1930's Mentor Session" w/ Cody Rich. M, 19:00 - 19:50
45864: UNST 212H: "AS: 1930's Mentor Session" w/ Cody Rich. M, 20:00 - 20:50
45863: UNST 212H: "AS: 1930's Mentor Session" w/ Cody Rich. W, 19:00 - 19:50
(The Accompanying Course that I'll be teaching. So far, it looks like I have 8 Students Registered in the first section.)

Scott and I have worked out a pretty sweet course for next term, after having spent this term fine-tuning the material we wanted to get through this term. Since it is an overview course, you won't be doing any in-depth historical research, nor will it be much like a typical history class. And Scott is usually an acting instructor, which means that we tend to focus on creative assignments, which involve some amount of theater sports. But you do writing weekly papers that engage with course material, and there are other larger assignments that do involve research. It's sort of a hodge podge of 1930's American History and Culture. Expect something about Hard Boiled Detective Fiction, Music and Film from the era, and other assorted bits and pieces. It's the way I roll.

If you are a PSU student, and need another Sophomore Inquiry Course, I recommend this one. Scott and I are a pretty good team.

This Week's Radio Update

Much like last week, this week's show was not recorded into the archive. So Episode 096: Thanksgiving Leftovers w/ Special Guest Co-Host, Will! is not available for download. I did manage to get a really poor digital recording, with heavy distortion. It was also not recording off of the proper output from the board. (It was from the cue channel.) So it is only for the desperate, and not for the squeamish. If you e-mail me I will forward you a link. But really, it is hard to listen to.

While we're on the subject: the KPSU.org archive is offline right now, which means that Blasphuphmus Radio is not available as a podcast for the time being. I will continue to do live shows on the webstream (http://kpsu.org/node/4855/High.m3u) for the time being, but unless you catch it live, there isn't a show. Back episodes are also not available until the archive is up and running again. Aside from the last two, I have recordings of all previous shows, and again will offer personal download links if you e-mail me.

A big shout-out goes to Daniel Menche, who I recorded Saturday morning for What's This Called? While the broadcast was not saved, his live performance was. I'll be re-airing it at some point soon, as it was quite good, and it was a shame that not many heard it. If you are going to be in the area, he will be performing at All Tomorrow's Parties, which should prove to be a really great show as it is curated by Animal Collective this year.

Another big shout-out goes to my special co-host, Will, who helped me provide two hours of non-stop rock Saturday afternoon. It had been far too long since he was on the air with me, and my New Year's resolution is to make sure we do this again, soon.

Hope all is well. I'll keep you posted when I have any news. Stay out of trouble.

No Episode 095 Download

Due to an unfortunate technical problem at KPSU this weekend, Episode 095 of Blasphuphmus Radio was not recorded, and was only available to those who listened live at 98.1 FM on the PSU campus, and at kpsu.org.

Hopefully, some of you caught it. And, if you by chance caught a recording of it too, I would love to hear it. But chances are, this one is lost to the ether. This was a two-for-one episode is some ways: it was the fifth installment of The Grumpy Punk, AND the fourth installment of Vinyl Solution. I may try to do a recreation of it someday, as it was a really fun show to DJ. But for the time being, I'll just have to let this one go.

Next week, tune in for a very special appearance by my good buddy Will. It's been almost a year since we teamed up for a radio show, and I think this one will be a doozy. It may even be another Grumpy Punk show. It just depends on how it all plays out.

See ya then.

Detective Dexter Roland, Private Investigator on KPSU.

This week, Blasphuphmus Radio has been taken over by Detective Dexter Roland, Private Investigator. Join him with Humphrey Bogart, The Pink Panther, Mr. Lucky, Mary Astor, Peter Gunn, Richard Diamond, Sidney Greenstreet, Pete - The King of Detectives, Frankie Machine, Richie Dagger and some genuine femme fatales for a two-hour presentation of The Maltese Falcon. Listen as Dexter rambles about skirts and twists, intermixed with edited selections of a 1946 radio adaptation of the popular film The Maltese Falcon.

http://archive.kpsu.org/node/35830: Hour 1
http://archive.kpsu.org/node/35831: Hour 2

Enjoy.

Noir

Tomorrow, November 12th, on Blasphuphmus Radio (from 1 - 3 PM), join replacement DJ Detective Dexter Roland, Private Investigator for a special retrocast of a 1946 episode of Academy Award Theater, presenting a fantastic radio adaptation of The Maltese Falcon, acted by Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, and Sidney Greenstreet, all of whom acted in the well-known film version.

As if that weren't enough, Dex dug deep to locate a veritable montage of noir-themed music, from the fantastic Crime Jazz compilation, as well as essential tracks by Unwound, Henry Mancini, Elvis Costello, The Velvet Underground, and a host of others. Audience participation is happening at 503-725-5945.

Detective Dexter Roland Presents: The Maltese Falcon. Only on Blasphuphmus Radio.