Top 5 Lists I Didn’t Get To Do On My Show
During my tenure at WMUC2 as the host of Listen Up!, I did 34 shows. Only two of them ended without a Top 5 list – three if you count the Top 20 Shortest Songs list, which I did as part of an experiment to see how many songs I could squeeze into two hours – and only one of those was because I didn’t have an idea for the week. The other was because my show was cut short by a Maryland baseball game.
Terrapins baseball: Interrupting my radio shows since 2009.
Of course, along with the 32 lists that made it to the airwaves, there were several list ideas that I never got to do. Most of the time it was because I had a hard time thinking of five songs with which to fill the list, which kind of defeats the purpose of the whole “Top 5” thing. But that’s what happens when you try to classify songs into excessively specific categories, especially because my brain isn’t quite the encyclopedia of music knowledge that I would have liked for it to be. It certainly would have made filling these lists a lot easier!
As always, the fun begins after the jump.
The Rest of the Playlists
Since it’s been about a year since my last Listen Up! show on WMUC2 (and also because I spent most of that year not blogging), I figure there’s little sense in posting the rest of my playlists on this site. So I’ll provide links to the remaining playlists here because they’re still up on the WMUC website.
And hey, while you’re there, why not check out the shows currently broadcasting on both WMUC and WMUC2? You can find links to the streams on the left side of the page.
December 11, 2009: Show #34 (my last show)
Also, I have this idea for a new series on this site that could potentially end up either renewing my interest in blogging or ruining it all over again. My idea is to unearth and revisit some albums in my collection that I haven’t listened to in a really, really long time. And the reason I haven’t is because they either weren’t very good or weren’t very memorable.
So I’m thinking I could listen to them again and go through them track-by-track here to determine what works and what sucks and then learn what the bands are up to now. Maybe I could end up finding some long-forgotten favorites. Considering some of the albums I have in mind for this feature, though… I doubt it.
Sept. 25, 2009: Show #25
Hey everyone. I know I’ve really been slacking with the blog lately — not that anyone would notice, since I haven’t had a double-digit hit count since September 24 — but I just haven’t really felt like blogging for whatever reason. I’d like to say I had a better excuse than that for slacking off with this thing, but that’s just how it is.
Anyway, here’s the playlist from the 9/25/09 show. Hopefully one of these days I’ll actually write something more substantial than one of these playlist posts. That, however, would require me to stop being a lazy slacker.
1. Radiohead, “Bangers & Mash” (In Rainbows bonus disc)
2. TV On The Radio, “Golden Age” (Dear Science)
3. Arctic Monkeys, “Fake Tales Of San Francisco” (Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not)
4. Cave In, “Lost In The Air” (Antenna)
5. Band Of Horses, “Is There A Ghost” (Cease To Begin)
6. RX Bandits, “Tainted Wheat” (…And The Battle Begun)
7. At The Drive-In, “A Devil Among The Tailors” (In/Casino/Out)
8. Kings Of Leon, “Notion” (Only By The Night)
9. Interpol, “Slow Hands” (Antics)
10. Deerhunter, “Saved By Old Times” (Microcastle)
11. The Clash, “Lost In The Supermarket” (London Calling)
12. British Sea Power, “Down On The Ground” (Do You Like Rock Music?)
13. Thrice, “As The Crow Flies” (The Alchemy Index: Vol. 3 — Air)
14. Foo Fighters, “Cold Day In The Sun” (In Your Honor)
15. Spoon, “Jonathon Fisk” (Kill The Moonlight)
16. My Morning Jacket, “Thank You Too!” (Evil Urges)
17. Minus The Bear, “When We Escape” (Planet Of Ice)
18. The National, “Secret Meeting” (Alligator)
19. R.E.M., “Near Wild Heaven” (Out Of Time)
20. Pavement, “Major Leagues” (Terror Twilight)
21. Radiohead, “Lucky” (OK Computer)
22. Red Hot Chili Peppers, “She’s Only 18″ (Stadium Arcadium)
23. Muse, “Muscle Museum” (Showbiz)
24. Snow Patrol, “Shut Your Eyes” (Eyes Open)
25. Bloc Party, “Signs” (Intimacy)
26. Weezer, “El Scorcho” (Pinkerton)
27. The Beach Boys, “Wendy” (Endless Summer)
28. The Decemberists, “O Valencia!” (The Crane Wife)
29. Elvis Costello, “Veronica” (Spike)
30. The Beatles, “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” (Abbey Road)
Sept. 18, 2009: Show #24
All right! The new semester is well underway, and I’ve got another playlist to post here for you all. Twenty-four shows, man. And I somehow still haven’t completely run out of ideas for Top 5 lists! Which reminds me… it’s been a really long time since the last time I posted a Top 5 writeup. Maybe I’ll get around to doing it this weekend. It would make more sense for me to post the next one some time in December, seeing as how it was a Christmas special, but I’d rather just post them in the order they were aired. Makes it easier for me to keep track of which ones I’ve done and which ones I haven’t done. I might get around to finally posting it here soon… but until then, sit tight.
Also, before I begin, I would like to dedicate this playlist to the one and only Jack Bauer, what with this being the 24th show and all.
Jack Bauer is the only man to have ever survived a roundhouse kick to the face from Chuck Norris. True story.
And now, on with the playlist!
1. Foo Fighters, “In Your Honor” (In Your Honor)
2. Radiohead, “Just” (The Bends)
3. The Fall Of Troy, “Oh! The Casino!” (Manipulator)
4. We Are Scientists, “Lousy Reputation” (With Love And Squalor)
5. Pavement, “Passat Dream” (Brighten The Corners)
6. Interpol, “Rest My Chemistry” (Our Love To Admire)
7. Modest Mouse, “Florida” (We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank)
8. Arctic Monkeys, “Brianstorm” (Favourite Worst Nightmare)
9. Early Man, “Four Walls” (Closing In)
10. High On Fire, “Cometh Down Hessian” (Blessed Black Wings)
11. Metallica, “For Whom The Bell Tolls” (Ride The Lightning)
12. Mastodon, “Naked Burn” (Leviathan)
13. Slayer, “Reborn” (Reign In Blood)
14. Gojira, “Backbone” (From Mars To Sirius)
15. The Sword, “Under The Boughs” (Gods Of The Earth)
16. Minus The Bear, “Women We Haven’t Met Yet” (Highly Refined Pirates)
17. The Whigs, “I Got Ideas” (Mission Control)
18. Kings Of Leon, “Pistol Of Fire” (Aha Shake Heartbreak)
19. Cave In, “Anchor” (Antenna)
20. Deerhunter, “Focus Group” (Weird Era Continued)
21. The Decemberists, “Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)” (The Crane Wife)
22. U2, “Staring At The Sun” (Pop)
23. Muse, “Supermassive Black Hole” (Black Holes & Revelations)
24. The National, “Slow Show” (Boxer)
25. Bloc Party, “Pioneers” (Silent Alarm)
26. Queens Of The Stone Age, “Go With The Flow” (Songs For The Deaf)
27. My Morning Jacket, “One Big Holiday” (It Still Moves)
28. Radiohead, “There There (The Boney King Of Nowhere)” (Hail To The Thief)
One last thing: I’d like to thank my parents for sending me a copy of the new RX Bandits album Mandala for my birthday. I’d been looking all over for that album, having just gotten into the band over the summer, and couldn’t find it. Oh, and thanks to everyone who listened to the show tonight as well. Keep tuning in every Friday from 4-6 p.m. on WMUC2, and keep watching this space.
Sept. 11, 2009: Show #23
I know what you’re thinking. “Hey, what the hell is this? Two 9/11 posts in a row? Wasn’t this blog supposed to be about music or something?” Well, don’t you worry your pretty little heads. This is a totally different kind of post relating to 9/11. I did my first show of the fall semester yesterday, and here’s the playlist…
1. Bloc Party, “The Marshals Are Dead” (Silent Alarm B-sides)
2. Cave In, “Come Into Your Own” (Tides Of Tomorrow EP)
3. Spoon, “The Way We Get By” (Kill The Moonlight)
4. Band Of Horses, “Weed Party” (Everything All The Time)
5. Pavement, “You Are A Light” (Terror Twilight)
6. Radiohead, “These Are My Twisted Words” (Wall Of Ice EP — just kidding, it’s a single)
7. Blur, “M.O.R.” (Blur)
8. Arctic Monkeys, “When The Sun Goes Down” (Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not)
9. The Fall Of Troy, “I Just Got This Symphony Goin’” (Doppelganger)
10. Titus Andronicus, “My Time Outside The Womb” (The Airing Of Grievances)
11. Green Day, “Murder City” (21st Century Breakdown)
12. Minus The Bear, “Memphis & 53rd” (Menos El Oso)
13. My Morning Jacket, “What A Wonderful Man” (Z)
14. The National, “Available” (Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers)
15. RX Bandits, “One Million Miles An Hour, Fast Asleep” (…And The Battle Begun)
16. Dead Confederate, “Shadow The Walls” (Dead Confederate EP)
17. Queens Of The Stone Age, “Tangled Up In Plaid” (Lullabies To Paralyze)
18. Kings Of Leon, “Soft” (Aha Shake Heartbreak)
19. Radiohead, “Subterranean Homesick Alien” (OK Computer)
20. Nirvana, “Stay Away” (Nevermind)
21. British Sea Power, “Trip Out” (Do You Like Rock Music?)
22. White Rabbits, “Percussion Gun” (It’s Frightening)
23. Green Day, “21 Guns” (21st Century Breakdown)
24. Muse, “Uprising” (The Resistance)
25. Silversun Pickups, “Panic Switch” (Swoon)
26. Thom Yorke, “The Present Tense” (live @ Latitude Festival)
27. Grizzly Bear, “Two Weeks” (Veckatimest)
28. The Beatles, “Taxman” (Revolver) — played to fill dead air
Well, that covers it for my first show of my last semester here at the University of Maryland. As always, keep tuning in every Friday from 4-6 p.m. on WMUC2 and keep watching this space for more updates and fun stuff.
FALL 2009 SCHEDULE IS IN
Hey everyone! I know, I know, it’s been yet another lengthy hiatus for yours truly. It was the first week of school — you know, that awkward period of adjustment between the nice, relaxing summer and the sucky and stressful other nine months of the year.
Anyway, I bring you news regarding the future of Listen Up! The show will air on Fridays from 4-6 p.m. on WMUC2. The original time slot had been 2-4 a.m. on WMUC-FM, but since I don’t have a car on campus and my apartment is a 20-minute walk away from WMUC, I had it changed because I didn’t want to walk all the way back through College Park at four in the morning.
The Show Info page and Facebook group home page will be edited accordingly to feature this new air time.
Again, that’s Fridays from 4-6 p.m. on WMUC2, which you can access here: http://www.wmucradio.com. Click the WMUC2 stream link on the upper-left-hand-corner of the home page, under the heading “Listen Online.” If you miss the show, you can download an MP3 of it here: WMUC2 Friday stream ripper
As for this blog… well, if you’ve been reading it regularly (in which case, HOORAY FOR YOU!), then you know what to expect: playlist posts, updates about my collection, GENIUS for you to ENJOY, and bad songs happening to good bands. So keep watching this space, and I trust I can rely on your listenership… or whatever.
May 8, 2009: Show #21
Hey everyone! I’m finally back after yet another lengthy hiatus from the blogosphere. I just got back home last night from a nine-day vacation with my family in Ocean City, MD (we have a house down there). The weather was consistently pleasant, despite the meteorologists’ insistence to the contrary for a few days; the pool was always a bit chilly at first but would soon become comfortable; there was a nice breeze at the beach; the new Harry Potter movie was pretty solid; my dad celebrated his birthday; the Phillies have been kicking ass for the last few weeks (including tonight’s 10-1 demolition of the Cubs) and are the favorites to trade for kickass pitcher Roy Halladay; Married With Children reruns were on a lot in the morning and are still hilarious; I finally got to read Thank You For Smoking; and all in all it was a pretty good week.
So now that I’m back in the Keystone State, I bring you the playlist for my penultimate show of the 2008-09 school year on May 8, 2009. The playlist and more after the jump!
May 1, 2009: Show #20
Hey everyone! It’s been a while since I last updated this blog, so here I am. It’s kind of sad that I have to start every other post with pretty much that exact sentence, especially considering how much free time I have. But whatever. Here we are, and to atone somewhat for my recent absence I give you Bret Michaels getting clotheslined by a Tony Awards set piece.
Oh, I kid you, Mr. Michaels. I know you’ve contributed a lot to American pop culture. Without Poison, nobody would know what “Unskinny Bop” means. And without Rock of Love Bus, we wouldn’t have been subjected to the first televised twat shot that wasn’t on HBO or late-night Cinemax or some random subscription-only porn channel. Truth be told, I’m not sure what to make of this dude. Sometimes he actually does seem like a nice guy, but then sometimes on his show he’ll make the girls do or wear something really sleazy, and one of them will be like, “I don’t feel comfortable doing this” and he’ll just say, “Oh, come on, you need to learn how to party.”
But enough about Bret Michaels. I’m not even sure why I’m writing so much about him since I’m not a Poison fan and I didn’t play any of his music on my show. And speaking of which, here’s the playlist from May 1, 2009.
1. The Clash, “Clampdown” (London Calling)
2. The Strokes, “Reptilia” (Room On Fire)
3. Foxboro Hot Tubs, “Highway 1″ (Stop Drop And Roll!!!)
4. The Beatles, “I’m Only Sleeping” (Revolver)
5. The Decemberists, “The Crane Wife 3″ (The Crane Wife)
6. Radiohead, “The Trickster” (My Iron Lung EP)
7. Interpol, “Mammoth” (Our Love To Admire)
8. Pavement, “Embassy Row” (Brighten The Corners)
9. Spoon, “Don’t Make Me A Target” (Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga)
10. The National, “Trophy Wife” (Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers)
11. The Smashing Pumpkins, “Here Is No Why” (Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness)
12. Squeeze, “Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)” (Singles — 45′s And Under)
13. R.E.M., “Strange” (Document)
14. Wintersleep, “Jaws Of Life” (Untitled)
15. Weezer, “Slave” (Maladroit)
16. The Fall Of Troy, “The Dark Trail” (Manipulator)
17. Bloc Party, “Like Eating Glass” (Silent Alarm)
18. Alkaline Trio, “Mercy Me” (Crimson)
19. Muse, “Stockholm Syndrome” (Absolution)
20. Nine Black Alps, “Get Your Guns” (Everything Is)
21. Radiohead, “Bodysnatchers” (In Rainbows)
22. Nirvana, “Endless Nameless” (Nevermind bonus track)
23. Kings Of Leon, “Talihina Sky” (Youth And Young Manhood bonus track)
24. Minus The Bear, “Electric Rainbow” (Planet Of Ice bonus disc)
25. Blur, “Me, White Noise” (Think Tank hidden track)
26. Queens Of The Stone Age, “The Fun Machine Took A Shit And Died” (Era Vulgaris bonus track, certain editions only)
So since I’m starting to run low on playlist posts, what to do aside from ENJOY THE GENIUS and Top 5 posts? Don’t you worry your pretty little heads, all five of you readers who come here searching for something other than pictures of tits. I’ve got ideas, so stay tuned. And I’ll try to update more regularly, but I won’t guarantee anything. In the immortal words of Eric Cartman, “What-eva! What-eva! I’ll do what I want!”
April 17, 2009: Show #18
That’s right, it’s double-post day here at the ol’ Listen Up! blog. I’m in a very bloggy mood today, which I hope passes soon because if I don’t stop adding posts tonight I’ll be out of things to post during the summer. (Not really sure where that huge rant about the Jonas Brothers came from, but hey… if it makes someone laugh, it’s all worthwhile.)
Anyway, here’s the playlist from my April 17, 2009 show on WMUC2.
1. Queens Of The Stone Age, “Monsters In The Parasol” (Rated R)
2. Blur, “Bugman” (13)
3. The Fall Of Troy, “Cut Down All The Trees And Name The Streets After Them” (Manipulator)
4. Kings Of Leon, “Slow Night, So Long” (Aha Shake Heartbreak)
5. Titus Andronicus, “Arms Against Atrophy” (The Airing Of Grievances)*
6. Radiohead, “Blow Out” (Pablo Honey)
7. The Whigs, “I Never Want To Go Home” (Mission Control)
8. Muse, “Bliss” (Origin Of Symmetry)
9. Cymbals Eat Guitars, “Wind Phoenix” (Why There Are Mountains)*
10. Interpol, “Leif Erikson” (Turn On The Bright Lights)
11. Have A Nice Life, “Bloodhail” (Deathconsciousness)
12. The Drones, “The Minotaur” (Havilah)
13. Pavement, “Stereo” (Brighten The Corners)
14. The Sword, “Maiden, Mother, & Crone” (Gods Of The Earth)
15. Others May Fall, “Napoleon”
16. Mastodon, “Oblivion” (Crack The Skye)
17. Deerhunter, “Never Stops” (Microcastle)
18. The National, “Green Gloves” (Boxer)
19. My Morning Jacket, “El Caporal” (Dark Was The Night compilation)
20. Radiohead, “Go To Sleep (Little Man Being Erased)” (Hail To The Thief)
21. Minus The Bear, “Guns And Ammo” (Acoustics EP)
22. Mountain, “Mississippi Queen” (Climbing)
23. Guns N’ Roses, “Nightrain” (Appetite For Destruction)
24. Queens Of The Stone Age, “Little Sister” (Lullabies To Paralyze)
25. The Rolling Stones, “Honky Tonk Women” (Forty Licks)
26. Blue Oyster Cult, “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” (Agents Of Fortune)
27. Vampire Weekend, “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” (Vampire Weekend) — you won’t hear this in the show MP3 because I had to go long to fill dead air
Kind of strange how I seem to have made Vampire Weekend my go-to band for filling dead air.
And as always, join my Facebook group if you have a Facebook account and keep watching this space. Now that the semester’s over, I won’t be doing any more shows until the fall. I’ll be sure to update you all on any changes to my schedule. Since I don’t have any classes scheduled for Fridays next semester, it may not even have to change at all. I can’t say I’d mind having an FM gig, though…
*denotes albums I’ve been looking for but haven’t found anywhere
April 3, 2009: Show #17
Hey everyone! I’ve got good news and bad news for you all.
Bad news first: As it turns out, the motherboard in my computer got all fucked up by a virus or something, so I had to get a new one. To everyone who has ever created a computer virus in your life, FUCK YOU. I HOPE SOMEONE FINDS A WAY TO PUT A COMPUTER VIRUS IN YOUR BRAIN SO YOUR DEATH SHALL BE ONE OF GREAT POETIC JUSTICE. Of course, then somebody will find a way to build on this idea and make these computer viruses contagious from person to person. Who says technological advances are always good things?
While I’m on the subject of evil technology, I wonder how many people thought the wheel was a bad idea. There’s your food for thought for today.
Also, more bad news: This show is by far the shortest playlist in the history of Listen Up! And that includes the hour-long “audition shows” I did in the fall 2008 semester. It got cut off by Maryland baseball before the one-hour mark, also making this the first edition of Listen Up! that didn’t end with a weekly Top 5 list. But isn’t that how it always goes? The jocks beating up the band geeks or something like that? First they took your lunch money, then they took your girlfriends, now they’re taking your airtime on the radio.
BUT THEY'LL NEVER TAKE OUR FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!
Bowling For Soup was fuckin’ right, man — high school never ends.
Now for the good news. I’ve got a new computer now, which means things should be proceeding normally again — no more relying on YouTube and Last.fm for my playlists! Plus, I’ll also be able to update this blog on a more regular basis. Unfortunately, I don’t have my shows saved on this computer, so I won’t be able to upload any new download files for a while.
Anyway, on to the playlist!
1. Thrice, “Firebreather” (The Alchemy Index — Vol. 1: Fire)
2. Kings Of Leon, “Fans” (Because Of The Times)
3. Nine Black Alps, “Shot Down” (Everything Is)
4. We Are Scientists, “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt” (With Love And Squalor)
5. Bloc Party, “So Here We Are” (Silent Alarm)
6. Queens Of The Stone Age, “Someone’s In The Wolf” (Lullabies To Paralyze)
7. The Fall Of Troy, “Semi-Fiction” (Manipulator)
8. Radiohead, “Palo Alto” (Airbag/How Am I Driving? EP)
Told you that was a short playlist. And as always, join my Facebook group, keep tuning in every Friday from 6-8 p.m. on WMUC2, and keep watching this space.
SPRING 2009 SCHEDULE IS IN
ATTENTION ALL LISTENERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My show will air on WMUC2 (the online-only stream) from 6-8 p.m. on Fridays in the spring 2009 semester (which starts on Monday). To listen, go to http://www.wmucradio.com and click on one of the WMUC2 links below the “Listen Online” heading on the left-hand side of the current home page.
If you have a Facebook account, join the group — there’s a link on the right side of this page. If you don’t have a Facebook account, get one for the sole purpose of joining this group. Tell all your friends, and make sure your friends tell their friends, and have those friends tell their friends too. I will not be satisfied until all six billion people on this planet are listening to me on WMUC2. And maybe even some people from Mars if I’m really lucky.
Here’s the kind of stuff you can do as a member of the group:
- Request songs you’d like to hear on the air
- Post ideas for a top 5 list — I do one at the end of every show
- Post “guilty pleasure” songs you’re not afraid to share with the world
- Submit “mini-playlists” — this is a short list of three of your favorite songs you want to hear on the show, and if yours is chosen (which will be at random) I’ll play it on the air
I want to try and get more listener participation this semester, so don’t be shy. And don’t forget — my show airs on the WMUC2 online stream every Friday from 6-8 p.m. Also stay tuned to this space for my old shows and lists. See you in Radioland!
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