Freeform Friday #24: 9/5/08

Here we are again, more World Class Rock and more, on a Freeform Friday...  I'm just going to get straight to the music this time around, so here we go...

A great song, with an AMAZING video...  The only thing that would make it better would be if the loud obnoxious instrumentals disappeared...  It's new Raveonettes from their Lust Lust Lust album.  They call it Aly, Walk With Me.

Let me join the small, exclusive club of straight males who will make this next statement:  I kinda like Mariah Carey's new stuff.  It's not earth shattering.  It's not going down in history.  But hey...  It's also not the song Butterfly!    *shudders at that TERRIBLE song*  So ok, Mariah is doing some good stuff lately (especially when it's heard on 95-7 The Vibe while driving into KC but I digress...), and since it is FREEFORM Friday, allow me to share...  Mariah Carey.  T.I.  I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time.  On Freeform Friday.

Let's go back to the 90s.  Not necessarily by choice, but because they sent a smash hit forward in time to get stuck in my head this morning.  Let's do a little word association...  What do you think of when I say, oh, Jagged Little Pill.  If you didn't say "Alanis Morissette," "You Oughta Know," or "Ironic," you weren't paying attention 11-13 years ago when Alanis DOMINATED.  How's she stood the test of time (besides the well-chronicalled lack of actual irony in the song?)  You decide, with a classic 90s track, Ironic, by Alanis Morissette on your Freeform Friday!

The Buzz's Best are Back!! (Finally Posted)

NOTE:  I wrote this post a week ago, Monday evening (the 25th) after the return of Afentra's Big Fat Morning Buzz and The Church of Lazlo.  Couldn't get the audio I'd put together to upload though, so I had to hold off with posting the entry until now.  The audio is at the end, but in two parts though, so be sure to listen to both!

Wow...  Day one in the books!  I DID get my day off, and I recorded over 12 hours of The Buzz onto the new 500GB external hard drive...  Got all of Afentra's Big Fat Morning Buzz, some Jason, all of the Church of Lazlo, and the first hour of Brian.

I don't even know where to start.  It was great though!  I didn't know what to expect at 6AM, but I was for the most part quite impressed.  It's like she hadn't missed a beat.  Kevin fit seamlessly (and I'm glad because he was HILARIOUS - even better than with Dick), and it was great to hear more of Jeriney, though I'm curious to see what happens with this new Finch kid.  My hopes of a new slogan and refreshed imaging went by the wayside - hell, they didn't even have a new Cash Cow intro - but there were some good BFMB liners.  I especially enjoy the first and last ones in the clip you can hear below, and I also liked one that rather surprised me. 

"More honesty, less whapa-dang" it said, complete with wacky radio sound effects, which got me thinking:  I enjoyed the BFMB before.  Got into the Dick Dale Show for a while, then the novelty kinda wore off (well, save for Banana Jack) and though I still LIKED it, I didn't seek it out on a daily basis.  But the liner kinda makes sense.  One of the radio themes that gets pushed is people who can "live their lives on the radio" and have fun/be funny and entertaining, which is more like Afentra.  DD was something of a jaded, escapist fantasy show, I suppose you could say, and though it resonated, it eventually became more of a "production" to me, where I studied the mechanics ("wow, Kevin is funny" "Dick's vintage effects/audio are great" "I wonder if the Banana Jack callers are the same people from week to week" "why can't he keep a female cohost").  It's kind of the difference between catching up with a friend or watching TV.  That may not make sense, seeing as it's late, but yeah, I was surprised there was a Dick Dale reference this morning.

Other thoughts...  The show seemed to be well prepared (both compared to The COL, AND her last first day, the day one trainwreck of the Kenny and Afentra Morning Showgram - which I actually loved, but honestly it just sucked on the first day).  Afentra (unlike Lazlo and Slimfast in the afternoon) knew the station phone number - or had it nearby - before going on the air.  When you hear her on the mic for the first time you can just hear this excited tone she gets from time to time - I like that about her.  Very genuine.  I'm glad Afentra's Got Issues stayed, although the first day topic (girls on YouTube making their own sex toys) was not at all compelling to me.  If I wasn't recording the program unscoped, I'd probably flipped the dial (or started up the Zune if I was in the car).  Brutal honesty there.  Though I'm on the record as hating them in the past, I REALLY liked the idea of MyLists at 9AM, especially Celebrity MyLists!  They seem to fit well in that slot, and the interview/MyList with Andrew McMahon (Jack's Mannequin lead singer) was very compelling.  Hopefully Masses or Asses and Kegs & Eggs come back; War of the Roses is definitely confirmed.  Her honesty about forgetting how to do Cash Cow was awesome, though I was amazed at remarks she made a couple of other times.  You can hear toward the start of our audio clip that she got her digs in at Seattle (I'd think that some there would wanna catch her online, but it WAS 4:30AM their time, so probably the best time to share those thoughts), and her remark that "we play alot of bad music" on The Buzz was a surprise.  (If anyone at the station is listening and wants more thoughts from an avid Buzz listener, feel free to contact me...  I'll consult for free - or perhaps a few CDs, t-shirts, and/or concert tickets.)

Altogether, a great start, at least in this listener's opinion.  She seems to have picked up where she left off, and we know Jeriney is a strong presence/producer and that Kevin is HILARIOUS (especially with that Buzz Briefs clip near the end), so I'll definitely be listening as much as I can.  Here's hoping for a strong run for the show!  I'll post highlights and review day one of the new COL later, but for now, enjoy some BFMB highlights...

AFENTRA'S BFMB Highlights (Day 1, August 25, 2008) PART ONE

AFENTRA'S BFMB Highlights (Day 1, August 25, 2008) PART TWO

Currently Listening Buster: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack By Phil Collins, Anne Dudley Two Hearts see related

Sinatra to Snow Patrol, and...

Thursday to Phil Collins.  Yes, you're reading that correctly.  Hard alternative rock band Thursday, to peppy-mid-80s Phil Collins.  These are the things I listen to.  No one to tell it to though, so here it is.

It's well documented that I listen to EVERYTHING.  So on the way to work this morning (after doing our parents' anniversary stuff), I left the Zune on random.  Came up with Signals Over the Air by Thursday, which I hadn't heard in a LONG time (makes me wanna bring back "Thursday Thursdays," a Spring 2007 driving from class to work fixture).  Listened to that and loved it.  After skipping a couple tracks I REALLY didn't wanna hear, I came up with a Phil Collins offering from the soundtrack to the movie Buster.  Yeah.  I followed up Thursday with Phil Collins singing "Two Hearts."  I did it.

I almost wanna put together some audio spots for my random Zune "station" that tote my variety, like so many stations do.  I'd totally rip off the old K-107 though on at least one, and say "We've got it all...  From Frank Sinatra (clip of Come Fly With Me) to Snow Patrol (clip of Headlights on Dark Roads).  The biggest library on the planet.  Planet Z-80."

That's one way to brand it I guess (Z-80 = Zune, 80GB, btw).  It's early, and I'm none too creative though.  Something to think on.  Lots to do today, and there's really only two things I wanna do, but I can't.  Darn me for being me, and darn normal people's three-day weekends...

Freeform Friday #23: 8/29/08

As promised, here are a few musical selections that I hope you enjoy.  Lately we've been hitting a singular theme and running, so today I wanted to drop back into the variety aspect of Freeform Fri-dee.  Here goes...

Back in 2002, The Transplants released their first album, simply entitled Transplants.  The band was a side project for Tim Armstrong (of Rancid) and Rob Aston, and came to also include Travis Barker of Blink 182.  Their first single, Diamonds and Guns, was a hit, with its distinct sound, and led to two more singles, D.J., D.J., and Tall Cans in the Air, before the band went on hiatus so that the members could return to their main projects.  Until Lazlo played them yesterday I'd forgotten that that WASN'T where the story ended.  By 2004, Rancid was back on hiatus, and The Transplants reformed, releasing the album Haunted Cities.  The only single from this one is the song I bring you now.  It's The Transplants with "Gangsters and Thugs" on Freeform Friday.

Our second track is one I never expected to hear on The Buzz, but I was surprised today.  I'd normally be opposed to Marvin Gaye covers, but this one is very well-done by Hot Chip, whose song "Ready for the Floor" I thoroughly enjoy.  It's Hot Chip with their take on Marvin Gaye's classic "Sexual Healing" on Freeform Friday...

For our last track today, we'll hit a song that came up on my Zune when I had it on random tonight after work.  In 1944, Bing Crosby's son inspired this song for the movie Going My Way over dinner one night.  Check out the whole story at the YouTube page, but for now, here's Bing Crosby doing "Swinging on a Star" on your Freeform Friday...

I'm trying so hard...