Radio Free WEEN (long but hopefully kinda fun)

[jorn@chinet.chi.il.us (Jorn Barger)]

Lately I've been trying to visualize a new radio format, because aside from 
Vickie's show, Chicago radio is *disgusting*.

Tori was on Q101 Wednesday, and Q101 has recently switched to an 
alternative format that I find slightly less *ugly* than WXRT, but 
even more tedious in terms of overplaying a lot of banalities 
because they're current, and way more annoying in the sorts of ads 
they allow. (Radio formats have to include esthetic standards for 
the tone of their ads.  Q101 allows a lot of sleaze-tv promos that 
just revolt me.)

Q101 is supposedly woman-oriented, which translates to a sound I'm 
calling "golden boy" music: from Matthew Sweet on down, jangly 
guitars, syrupy harmonies.  They're also *huge* on 
Natalie'n'Michael, in any form.

XRT has a *lot* less woman vocalists, and a lot more ugly-boys, 
songs that just *sound* ugly (unintentionally) and make me turn off 
the radio with a shudder. (U2 approaches this category for me, and 
the Stones.)

There are a couple of low-power college stations, which err in the 
other direction, of being all over the place with emphasis on 
seriously, *intentionally* ugly bands.

I'd like to think there's a balance possible that allows all kinds 
of music, with an emphasis on *beauty*, but good-ugly also welcome.  
(I'm on a Ween rave these days, eg.)  And I imagine that what the 
'alternative' programming directors are really thinking is: let's 
minimize the jolting transitions, by focussing on *safe sounds*.

So the format I'd like would say: fuck safe sound, we'll jolt you 
with every single transition, but if you make that little effort, 
you'll be repaid with lots of new discoveries.

To test this theory, I spent yesterday making a 110 minute tape of 
all my favorite Ween songs, alternating Ween with anything else in 
my CD-box that I felt any impulse to hear a good cut from.  Ween, 
if you don't know 'em, are two manic potcrazed testosterone-
adolescent brothers from the Philly area, who happen to be multi-
instrumentalist geniuses.  They Might Be *Deeply Obnoxious* Giants.  
TMBG + Capt Beefheart.  Dedicated to parodying every genre ever.  
Here's my mix:

Ween *God WEEN Satan: the oneness*:  "i gots a weasel" "cold + wet" 
"bumblebee"
3 short songs. These are all real obnoxious and funny.  Bumblebee 
has *great* freaked screaming.

Maestro Subgum & the Whole *Lost, Lost, Lost*: "Lullaby from a 
Strange Place"
Jenny Magnus is a seriously beautiful human being!

Ween: "don't laugh (i love you)"
70's bubblegum now with added Ween

Van Dyke Parks *Jump*: "I Ain't Going Home"
Wonderful Broadway show-corn

Ween: "nan" "old man thunder"
Great modern teenlove song, and BobSeger throwaway poser-parody.

kd lang *ingenue*: "The Mind of Love"
kd's hedonism reminds me of Joni Mitchell's, maybe around 
"Hissing"?

Ween: "squelch the weasel"
Donovan sings Zappa?

Squeeze *Singles*: "If I Didn't Love You"
Firstrate golden boy singalong goo.

Ween *The Pod*: "Strap on that jammy pac"
Ween discovers Scotchguard-- serious neural damage for your 
listening delight.

Kate *Brazil soundtrack*: "Brazil"
I'm not this movie's biggest fan, though I admire it from a 
distance.  That Kate finally okayed this release seems real 
promising for her relaxing about her perfectionism. (;^)  It's... 
nice.  Just nice. (Kate, we love you nice!)

Ween: "Pollo Asado"
Maybe my favoritely inspired Weentune, a slice of life un-drama 
about working at a taco place, and people who seem vacantly 
obsessive about their food. (Have it your way, at Taco Loco...)  
Funny Ween-math!!!

Marta Sebestyen *Apocrypha*: "The Murmur of the Forests" (my 
trans.)
I'd laid this CD aside.  It's uncannily gorgeous, maybe too much 
so.

Ween: "Awesome Sound"
I could have skipped this one.  But Ween sleepwalking is still 
pretty great.

Joni Mitchell *Hissing of the Summer Lawns*: title cut
Rich genius ice art bitch poet sexgoddess painter-- what a 
combination!

Ween: "Oh my dear (falling in love)"
More 70s bubblegum.  Tender ;^)

Happy Rhodes *Warpaint*: "Lay Me Down"
I'm having trouble with Equipoise... Warpaint still seems much more 
*empassioned*.

Ween: "Alone"
A Pink Floyd lullaby, maybe?

Elvis Costello *Best of*: "Man Out of Time" "Accidents Will Happen"
I love the harmonies on the chorus of the former, and I love the a 
capella version of the latter that came with Armed Forces, but I 
lost that version long ago.  This is the 55min mark, so I let MOoT 
end in the middle and substituted AWH to open side 2.

Ween: "Moving Away"
The Band, on sheep tranquilizers?  I could have skipped this, too.

Boiled in Lead *Orb*: "The Town of Ballybay"
This has a few rhymes that fascinate me: "She wouldn't go to bed 
unless she had her shimmy on, But when she had it on, God, she'd go 
to bed with anyone..."

Ween: "Pork roll egg and cheese"
Go-gos?  The Weens do great alternative female vocals, for guys...

Stewart-Gaskin *Up from the Dark*: "Lenina Crowe"
I raved last year about the cyberpunk tone of this song's first 
minute (diffused by the 2nd minute).  Dave and Barbara are an 
enduring comfort to me, but my artsier friends think they're a bit 
sappy...

Ween *Pure Guava*: "Little Birdy"
This latest album is way more consistent than the other two, 
without sacrificing variety.  John Wayne Gacy in a vulnerable 
moment, on this song?

Kate *TWWvI*: "My Lagan Love"
I wanted Exp 4, but loaned out vII.

Ween: "Tender Situation"
I think it's these guys' *rhythms* that slay me best. (Where'd my 
new Amy Denio disappear to?  It should be in this mix...)

School of Fish **: "3 Strange Days"
Will I never get enough of this one...?

Ween: "The Stallion Pt. 3"
Pts. 1 and 2 (on Pod) were idle testosterone posturing.  This is 
artier.

Meat Puppets *Forbidden Places*: "Sam"
MPTCB!

Ween: "Big Jilm"
A CB-truckin song (?)

Tori "Little Earthquakes": "Happy Phantom"
Kate is God, Tori a lusty Buddha...  (...if I should die this very 
night, I pray the nuns will *flee my bite*... ;^)

Ween: "Push th' Little Daisies"
XRT played this, I have to acknowledge, which is how I found Ween.  
I hear it as sung by a homely girl to a vain one, punning a 
deathwish with 'you make the flowers bloom'.  Squeezing out the 
emotion (the Ween way)...

Suzanne Vega *99.9*: "Blood Makes Noise"
This song reminds me of Reservoir Dogs' interp. of "Stuck in the 
Middle"... I bought my first SV disk to get "As Girls Go" but this 
is my fave.  Now I'm collecting them all.  Ween's Daisies crush it 
emotionally, though.

Ween: "The Goin' Gets Tough from the Getgo"
Jaded jettrash queens?

Pretenders *The Singles*: "Middle of the Road"
You can't go wrong with Chrissie...

And suddenly I'm out of tape, with 75% of Guava untapped...

As a radio format?  It takes some getting used to...

Jorn