Reprise

When Kenneth and I moved in together in our current apartment, my relationship to music shifted. I all but stopped listening to recordings. I believe I did this in part out of respect: "Maybe Kenny doesn't want to start off this Saturday morning with Klaus Nomi on repeat..." Partly, Kenneth became the house DJ. Mostly, something more mysterious occurred-- an alteration in my habits, modes of operation, and so forth. Perhaps it had nothing to do with Kenneth: biorhythms or a long silent period in my astrological calendar?

When Bradford asks me what I've been listening to, he regularly gets a crest-felling response of "Nothing. Nothing. Nothing."

But, then I began to listen to WSUM webcasts while working at Madison Hostel.

Brian, a student of mine, has a rockabilly/psychobilly show on the station-- a fact he announced when he introduced himself during our class's second meeting (I thought this was really cool, btw). I tried to catch his show early in the semester but didn't manage to get the time right until the semester concluded and, actually, his slot shifted to its new time (Tuesday @ 6pm). Prior to this, I'd tried out WSUM on a couple of Monday nights at the hostel, but I just couldn't manage the reggae show slated during the quieter, more sedentary span of my shift. When I began working doubleshifts on Tuesday instead of Monday, I caught Brian's Rockabilly Rituals and Psycho Sacraments, followed by You Hear Dead People and Shouting from the Shingles. I instant messaged requests, got all giddy about interactive radio, and fell in love with this trio of DJs. Melted into a teenage reverie by the new wave tunes of Shouting, I flirted with Joe Rooftop, who-- I suspect-- believed I was a female because my AIM handle is bridgetallworthy (a Henry Fielding reference, btw). It was a thrill. Carolyn Byrne plays only "the music of those who are now dead," so she sends out Judy Garland followed by The Ramones followed by Peggy Lee followed by Joy Division followed by T. Rex... The whole concept really thrilled me. In an IM, CB complained that no one good has died recently. I did research: House of Freaks's Bryan Harvey was murdered along with his entire family on New Year's Day of 2006... I emailed notes to myself...

But suddenly, lots of folks at WSUM were on vacation, forcing me to listen to computer selections or unscheduled broadcasts of Maurizio Bianchi. Then, I shifted back to Monday night shifts. I never requested House of Freaks, and I thought I might wilt without a post-punk pick-me-up.

Chromatics celebrate a Boz-Scaggs moment

After an hour of two of free baroque webcasts from Holland, I discovered East Village Radio. I download recordings of the most recent broadcasts and now listen from noon to 9pm, putting the music on hold when I leave the hostel office to clean, etc. So far, This Side of Nowhere is my mainstay, but I've begun to branch out. I recently caught Andrew Andrew's Sound Sound's 6/6/06 show, featuring only devilish tunes: The Sugarcube's "Delicious Demon," Van Halen's "Running with the Devil," Eartha Kitt singing "I Want to be Evil"-- how good it that!? I've discovered new bands & new old bands, I've added them as myspace friends, I've ordered CDs and have begun to figure out how I might go computer-age with my music collection and download it all onto my new computer. I'm imagining a CD I could burn for Bradford... I'm feeling the beat...

Radio isn't dead-- at least, not to me.