Finals

And with that the 2006 school year comes to a close.
Next week is finals week. During the summer I think I'll have a normal show composed of whatever random stuff I think of on the spur of the moment. I think Mark's idea of going from A to Z every week is a good one, to keep it from being completely free-form.

Summer show should start with:

ABC
Bad Plus
Coheed and Cambria
Drive-By Truckers

And continue with the same level of horripilatingly strange juxtapositions throughout the summer.

April 20: Year-End Countdown

1. (25) Snatches of Pink - Ones With the Black - Send in the Clowns 1987
2. (21) R.E.M. - These Days - Lifes Rich Pageant 1986
3. (19) The Fall - Pacifying Joint - Fall Heads Roll 2005
4. (13) Liliput - A silver key can open an iron lock somewhere - Some Songs 1983
5. (13) The Cure - In Between Days - The Head on the Door 1985
6. (12) Depeche Mode - A Question of Time - Black Celebration 1984
7. (12) Bad Religion - Automatic Man - No Control 1989
8. (12) Guided by Voices - A Visit to the Creep Doctor - Sandbox 1987
9. (11) Throwing Muses - Cry Baby Cry - Chains Changed EP 1987
10. (11) Volcano Suns - Soft Hit - Thing of Beauty 1989
11. (10) XTC - All You Pretty Girls - The Big Express 1984
12. (9) X - Burning House of Love - Ain't Love Grand 1985
13. (9) They Might Be Giants - Shoehorn With Teeth - Lincoln 1988
14. (9) Pixies - Levitate Me - Come on Pilgrim EP 1987
15. (9) Soft Boys - I Wanna Destroy You - Underwater Moonlight 1980
16. (8) Dead Milkmen - Violent School - Big Lizard in My Back Yard 1985
17. (8) Martha and the Muffins - Boys in the Bushes - Danseparc 1983
18. (8) Blake Babies - Loose - Earwig 1989
19. (7) Echo and the Bunnymen - The Cutter - Ocean Rain 1983
20. (7) Big Black - Kerosene - Atomizer 1986
21. (7) Big Dipper - Hey! Mr. Lincoln - Craps 1988
22. (7) The Clash - Guns on the Roof - Give 'em Enough Rope 1978
23. (7) Naked Raygun - Rat Patrol - Throb Throb 1985
24. (6) Mission of Burma - That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate - Vs. 1982
25. (6) Camper Van Beethoven - O Death - Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart 1988
26. (6) Love and Rockets - Mirror People - Earth Sun Moon 1987
27. (6) Pop Art - Really Blind Faith - Long Walk to Nowhere 1986
28. (6) Cindy Lee Berryhill - Whatever Works - Who's Gonna Save the World? 1987

Using the magic of Microsoft Word, and the lesser magic of Microsoft Excel, I made a spreadsheet of all 798 songs played in all 28 shows this year, organized by artist. There were 31 played more than 5 times, and I devoted this week's show to a reverse countdown, starting with the band played the most often (because they were played at the beginning of every show, unless the turntables were down). All songs I'd heard or played before, all songs proven to be the best available, for the last show of the semester.

Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of times played this year (starting August 29, 2005). Most were tied.

Also tied for 24th were the Blue Aeroplanes, Gruppo Sportivo, and King Missile, whom I deemed slightly less worthy.

April 13

1. Snatches of Pink - Ones With the Black - Send in the Clowns 1987
2. Close Lobsters - Just Too Bloody Stupid - Foxheads Stalk This Land 1987
3. Swimming Pool Q's - The Knave - The Swimming Pool Q's 1984
4. Smiths - Barbarism Begins at Home - Meat is Murder 1985
5. Throwing Muses - Not Too Soon - The Real Ramona 1991
6. Blake Babies - Grateful - Earwig 1989
7. Blake Babies - Loose - Earwig 1989
8. The Stranglers - Peaches - Rattus Norvegicus 1977
9. The Clash - Guns on the Roof - Give 'em Enough Rope 1978
10. Blue Aeroplanes - The Applicant - Swagger 1990
11. Blue Aeroplanes - What It Is - Swagger 1990
12. Vōg - In the Crowd - Vōg 1982
13. Pixies - Wave of Mutilation - Doolittle 1989
14. Pixies - Crackity Jones - Doolittle 1989
15. Pop Art - Bullets - Snap Crackle Pop Art 1987
16. Descendents - Hope - Milo Goes to College 1982
17. Bad Religion - Damned to be Free - How Could Hell Be Any Worse? 1982
18. Volcano Suns - Soft Hit - Thing of Beauty 1989
19. The Wygals - Eat a Horse - Honyocks in the Whithersoever 1989
20. Guided by Voices - Trampoline - Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia 1989
21. Soft Boys - Leppo and the Jooves - A Can of Bees 1979
22. Pixies - Isla de Encanta - Come on Pilgrim 1987
23. Mekons - Memphis, Egypt - The Mekons Rock N Roll 1989
24. The Cure - Primary - Faith 1981
25. Martha and the Muffins - Several Styles of Blonde Girls Dancing - Danseparc 1983
26. Suicidal Tendencies - Institutionalized - Suicidal Tendencies 1983
27. R.E.M. - Second Guessing - Reckoning 1984
28. The Pop Group - Thief of Fire - Y 1979

Pixies were requested by Monica. The stream wasn't working the first time so I had to play them again shortly thereafter.

I thought this was a good show. Good variety, good combination of famous bands and obscure bands, good overlap between things I had planned to play and things I felt like playing...and all the songs were the kind of song that doesn't make me annoyed or sad.

April 6

1. Snatches of Pink - Ones With the Black - Send in the Clowns 1987
2. Swimming Pool Q's - The Knave - The Swimming Pool Q's 1984
3. Human Sexual Response - Andy Fell - In a Roman Mood 1981
4. Volcano Suns - Belly Full of Lead - Farced 1988
5. Michelle Shocked - When I Grow Up - Short Sharp Shocked 1988
6. Cindy Lee Berryhill - What's Wrong With Me - Naked Movie Star 1989
7. Richard Thompson - Valerie - Daring Adventures 1986
8. Billy Bragg - Accident Waiting to Happen - Don't Try This at Thome 1991
9. Nirvana - Negative Creep - Bleach 1989
10. Slovenly - Cartwheels of Glory - Thinking of Empire 1986
11. They Might Be Giants - Santa's Beard - Lincoln 1988
12. Rachael Cantu - Saturday - Run All Night 2006
13. Essential Logic - Quality Crayon Wax O.K. - Beat Rhythm News 1979
14. Pop Art - No Fire - Snap Crackle Pop Art 1987
15. Slovenly - Inattention - Thinking of Empire 1986
16. Virgin Prunes - "Let's All Sing Of The Tortured Heart" (Don't Look Back) - 12" 1986
17. Special Guests - Paul Cezanne - 7" 1984
18. The Philtres - Silence - 7" 1986
19. Mercyland - John D. White - 7" 1991
20. Volcano Suns - Sea Cruise - 7" 1986
21. Jonathan X and Black Heat - Might is Right - 7" 1987
22. The Farewell Party - 32 Views of Emma - 7" 1988
23. Elastica - Stutter - 7" 1993
24. Elastica - Pussycat - "Stutter" 7" 1993
25. Fudge - Astronaut - 7" 1991
26. Courtney Love - Uncrushworthy - 7" 1990
27. Martha and the Muffins - Obedience - Danseparc 1983

Showed up 10 minutes late, left 5 minutes late.

Roughly the last half was devoted to the 7" singles we have, of which there are a lot, and which are much more rarely played even than the LPs. Maybe because the great majority of them are by bands whom literally nobody has ever heard of.

The first Slovenly song turned out to be an instrumental (in other words, not a song at all), so I had to play another one. I think this happened once before.

Rachael Cantu was a request. I was very impressed.