Faces for Radio

The Morons are Winning

2006-10-10T19:48:00.000Z

Apparently we here at Faces for Radio are in for some surprises too this year. Paradoxically, this particular surprise comes as the result of the incompetence of the executives at the student radio station which has grown to be the least surprising thing that we've had to deal with lately.

We were hoping to entertain with a feature-filled two-hour extravaganza of a show. We were told that we'd be given this so we went out and set to work on preparing the features we were hoping to include. We had a dress rehearsal of the show and found that our timing was perfect. The schedule, published yesterday, has us down for only the one hour, rather than the two that we were promised.

This means either the music has to go, or the features do. It's tempting to take our carefully constructed features and to put them here in the blog (which eventually we still hope to build into the website, once I'm with a host company who aren't thoroughly useless), but I think that the features will have to prevail.

This does mean that our weekly themes have had to be ditched. However, I do have a chart show on Friday mornings and I'd sooner play some of the music I wanted to play then than to do what I'm supposed to. If they're not going to do their jobs properly I don't see why should I.

Nothing much is certain right now, except that Radio James, who wanted to join the exec anyway, is now very seriously considering running for the position of programmer himself. We've been promised that as soon as a slot becomes available that we'd be given the hour back that we had taken without warning (which is the most irritating bit of it all).

A mourning nod to the musical themes and an un-tribute to the ineptitude of the people we have to deal with at the radio station, here are some of the songs that might have made the first show had their word been kept.

The Awkward Stage: "The Morons are Winning"
Buy Heaven is for Easy Girls from Amazon: UK / US

More to follow...

μ:zine (or something not too dissimilar), coming soon!

2006-10-04T23:59:00.000Z

Okay, so maybe it was a little longer than a week. We have been allocated a time for our show (though it has not been finalised within the schedule as yet) and preparations are underway in trying to make the very best of our time on air as we can.

Of course, I neglected to figure into my calculations the fact that shows don't start until the second week of the first term, so one of the themed nights will have to be ditched.

However, the right time for writing is not now and I must take to my bed. I shall do my best to get the ball rolling on this blog proper as soon as possible. Once the mayhem of this week has past, then we can really set this in motion.

I have given our show, in my mind at least, the temporary name of μ:zine, co-presenters' approval pending. After we have done ourselves a trial run of all that we'd like to include in the show, which will be a kind of audio-magazine, then I'll write up on here the sort of programme you can expect from us each week.

There are many other things that need to be said, but they can wait. We have some surprises in store this (academic) year…

*cryptic chuckle*

The only thing I will add is that I've decided for a change of name. I'll try not to make too much of a habit of doing that this year if I can help it.

Não!!!!

2006-08-12T12:06:00.000Z

Take one Brazilian Linkin Park fan, soak in alcohol and allow to simmer. Drop a beat.

Discovered at WFMU's Beware of the Blog, where the MP3 version is avaliable to download. If this video doesn't work, click here.

Also drifting round the blogosphere at the moment is the following, frankly disturbing (albeit hilarious), account of one marketing guru:-

In case you don't know who Tapes 'n Tapes are by now, here's their website. If this video doesn't work, click here.

In spite of appearances this blog has not really started yet. The grand opening proper is in just over a week from now, when posting will really get serious, but I hope you enjoy the little tidbits I'm posting until then.

So Don't Touch Me If You Can't Even Talk About It.

2006-08-12T03:54:00.000Z

From the offset, 'Layover' is set within a realm of uncanniness, at once on comforting and homely ground yet making all seem unfamiliar. There's blood on the tracks; a hungry beast is on the prowl, but comfort might be found in the shadows. Each song is imbued with a sense of an urgency.

"There's no use in turning away," The Silver Atlas says, "I've got you and I'm not letting you go."

And you don't want them to, compelled to follow and to hold onto the familiarity of human voices, lest be lost along the uncertain path that wends through miasmic synthesised vistas of sound, pocketed and distorted in turn by the impact of the beat and the jagged and twisted protrusions of electronic noise, tracing a journey through these uncertain landscapes to a destination that remains, even upon the feeling of arrival, unknown.

It is from 'Never Said' through 'Believe' that the listener feels as though a safehaven of sorts has been reached. The precedent darkness lingers like a phantasmagorical memory, but a feeling of ease is presented. However, the abruptness of the finale draws the conclusion that all is not as well as you'd like to have believed it to be.

With one last cold stabbing cut and a muted deathcry at its conclusion, 'Ghost in the House' leaves the listener suddenly alone... but not entirely. The world has changed. Something has been released. That uncanniness has spilled out of the recond and into the world around you. The record might have finished, but the Ghost remains.

This page contains the full album for download (along with a contest to win an iPod Nano) for a very limited time only, so get it while you can!
Otherwise, buy Layover from CD Baby.

The following song ties in neatly with the theme for our first show once we start back at the radio gig come October, being as it is the opening track of their debut outing. And, seeing as it's available as a free download from their site, I thought I'd provide a link to it here for anybody who wants to whet their appetite before devouring an entire album, for those who just want a nibble and not the main course, or for any latecomers who missed the buffet and still want a sample to taste. I'm going now before this extended metaphor gets any worse than it is already.

Silver Atlas: "Always Too Late"
Buy 4 a.m. from CD Baby.

Prepare to Meet Thy God!

2006-08-08T19:57:00.000Z

This is the verse (Amos 4.12) from a rather unforgiving section of the Holy Bible that greeted me as I walked past the local Gospel Hall today, transporting my kitten (by foot, with him in his carry-basket, lacking as I do a license for motorised vehicular transportation) through town on a return trip from the veterinary. It has very little to do with the nature of the post I intended to make today, but perhaps the following might be of interest to anybody wishing to take a break from any preparations they might be making.

The first thing on offer is some hot treadmill dance action from OK Go in the video for Here It Goes Again. I find it impossible to say just how original the premise is, but it's a fun three minutes' attack on the too-easy 'four-people-dancing-in-a-line' music video genre favourite.

Also coming in the three-minute mark is the following bit of guitar virtuso from Erik Mongrain, which speaks incredibly well for itself. It took me practice enough just to learn to play the guitar the 'right way up' as well as I do now, so I am extremetly envious of this guy's talent.

Penultimately, I present Hot Chip's Over & Over, the video for which was directed by Nima Nourizadeh. Points awarded for Brechtian self-awareness, making what the 'cool' bands keep doing these days look trashy and easy. A myriad of bonus points for the lyric, "K.I.S.S.I.N.G.S.E.X.I.N.G.C.A.S.I.O.P.O.K.E.."

To bring this latest video-centric post to a close here is a contemporary classic from the ever boundary pressing Flaming Lips, The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song. The greatest of the song aside, this video has it all: a megalomaniacal lead, what the glossier magazines would describe as "hi-octane" chase sequences, plus a group of hot Asian women in full lip-synching mode package-taping foodstuffs to people to sinister ends. The hunter becoming the hunted? Jonathan Glazer would be proud. This, however, was Traktor's doing. Not one to shy away from the sublime, arguably his most (in)famous work is the video for Basement Jaxx's Where's Your Head At?

the festival for 'sons of very disappointed parents'

2006-08-07T15:47:00.000Z

What do you call a group of happy male lions that like flower arranging? The carnival is over and it’ll be another year before Brighton celebrates the art of buggery so gloriously. It all seems very false – people put too much effort into trying to prove to mortal heterosexuals that they really are gay and not going through a phase.

-Puts on posh bigot voice – ‘ I’m all for buggery… just not in my backyard’
(There’s a joke there somewhere).

After the pubs shut surely Saturday night was nothing but a colossal bum fest- did the earth move for you? they're fixing the roads as we speak! I don’t think Pride tackles homophobia in any way but so what? It’s a good excuse for a party and there’s nothing wrong with that! I’m just sulking because the dykes weren’t living up to the videos I’ve seen. and i had to work. i'll put the make up away till next year... or perhaps the great spandex-put-on ceremony that i shall be hosting towards xmas.

It’s my first post, I’m Radio James.

Who Killed Shakespeare's Sister?

2006-07-26T10:07:00.000Z

This week, Faces for Radio have contributed to the quite (and increasingly) popular Podcast Contrast series, run by Tim Young. The theme was 'Who?' and I trawled through the vast catalogue of music I have at my disposal to see if I could find a song with double the 'whos' (not whose) in the title. I shall endeavour to contribute regularly, but am restricted somewhat this week by the necessity to be in Brighton at present for reasons I am not going to go into here. I shall, however, reassure you that I am not indulging in some bizarre reverse-alphabetical tour of the cities of the UK (next stop: Bournemouth).

I said I'd tell all about my meeting with The Fallout Trust and indeed I shall, albeit a little later than I had anticipated. For now, all I can say is that we have a (tentative) "yes" in response to my request that they might do a session on the radio show in the new term. This is quite an encouraging beginning, which fills me with a dangerous optimism that can surely only be dashed to ruins. However, I am going to ask as many popular and upcoming (some local) bands as I can reasonably ask if they can also give us the time for a session and/or interview.

To finish, and to satisfy any desire for some actual music you might be feeling, here are a couple of classic videos that still give me shivers. Perfect for chilling the blood in the summer heat:

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: "Mary Jane's Last Dance"

Buy Anthology: Through the Years from Amazon: UK / US

Shakespears Sister: "Stay"

Buy Hormonally Yours from Amazon: UK / US

And, as a comedy footnote, here's French & Saunders's parody of the video for "Stay":

Coincidentally, both the videos here seem to include operating tables. That must say something about me. There was another video I was looking for (that also includes an operating table, funnily enough) but I could remember neither the name of the song nor of the artist. That leaves little to go on, short of deliberately seeking out music videos with operating tables in them, which is not at this moment a pressing desire of mine.

Before the Light Goes.

2006-07-22T01:39:00.000Z

I should be in bed hours ago. Reason being, I have a rather busy day tomorrow. Not only do I have to go to the building society (a sidenote of little great relevence to the main point of this entry, but one I added in order to remind myself that an early start is required of me and I should make this entry a short one), but, having finally made the decision to actually make the journey all the way to the corner of my street - the one that is more habitually 'mine', away from the street where I dwell in times of University that I might also call 'mine' - to ask whether the presence of a The Fallout Trust poster on the outside window of the homeowner's street-facing conservatory is indicative of some association with the band. I was interested because I have played each of the promos bearing their name (and, indeed, their music) that have come to the University radio station.

It turned out that indeed my presumptions were correct. A brief discussion later with the drummer's mother and I scored myself a date. This afternoon I accompany her to Bristol where they are third billing at a festival whose name is a mystery to me - most likely because I neglected to listen to this piece of information in conversation rather than the information itself being deliberately denied me. After they play I'm off backstage for a drink and a chat with the band, where I shall be asking if they'd be interested in doing a session and interview for the radio show.

I shall reveal all when I return, probably around this time tomorrow night. Until then, be sure to check out their website and listen to the four song samples available on for streaming on MySpace. Last thing I'm going to do before hitting the hay tonight is to set my camera on to charge. I go out too often without it these days.

Buy In Case of the Flood from Amazon: UK / US

Just Desserts & Righteous Puddings: The Various Themes of Faces of Radio.

2006-07-20T10:41:00.000Z

I have already said that each week's show is going to see us exploring a different theme. Listed below are the prospective themes for the first term. These are subject to change, but for the moment at the least this is what you can expect to hear from the show once it's underway.

Term 1 (10 Weeks):-

One; Opening Tracks.
x&y; Songs in the format [single word] & [single word], e.g. Coldplay's "Brothers and Sisters".
3 Minute Classic; Great 3-minute tracks, inspired by Contrast Podcast #3.
Animal Fair; Songs with animals in the titles.
Under Cover; Great cover versions, which may or may not include Ergo Phizmiz's "Come to Debbie" - a deliciously creepy reinterpretation of Aphex Twin's "Come to Daddy" [ link is to the Pappy Mix; I can't find the original online].
Parenthetical Music; Songs that utilise brackets in their titles.
Colours of the Rainbow; Songs that contain each of the colours of the children's Rainbow rhyme - not "ROYGBIV" (Boards of Canada) - as it's hard enough finding songs with "orange" in the title, without adding the additional challenge of finding "indigo" and "violet".
8+; Now a third generation theme, inspired by another Contrast Podcast, inspired itself by a weekly theme from the Ear Farm blog, songs of 8mins or longer.
What Was That One Called Again?; Songs with titles that might demand a double-take. Expect at least one Sufjan Stevens track. Probably. Presently the longest song name in my collection is N.N. und Ähnliche Elemente's "Auferstehung Der Begrabenen Hunde Under-Cover-Versions In Quotation-Marks (Didsch Mer / Lied Im Freien Nordosterländisch Nach Der Vorgabe Von Rotter, Markush Und Parish, Vorgeformt Von Lester Polfus Nebst Gattin Iris, Vollendet Im Sinner Der Unsichtbarkeit Von Iris Schwester)".
Fixxx-mas; Our alternative Christmas treatment - don't expect the usual Yuletide standards, except perhaps the one Cliff song or two, courtesy of Radio James.

And that's the first term. Feel free to suggest songs for each week as we get to them. Also, we plan to let the listening public contribute future themes, so get thinking of what you'd like to hear and let us ruin it for you.

Finally, I know that some of the music choices might seem a little "obvious" thus far, but all that will change as this blog really gets underway. Usual warning about keeping downloaded songs for sampling purposes only (at most 24 hours), that all MP3 links are to external websites and the footnote stating that links will be removed if requested here (which I really must get into the sidebar as soon as possible).

Faces for Radio Theme One: One.

2006-07-18T22:06:00.000Z

As Kyra said earlier and I mentioned briefly in my first post, each of our shows is going to be focussed on a different theme each week. In order to make our first show as great as possible, we're going to be looking at songs that open albums - running optimistically on a theory that a show comprised of great opening tracks will make for a great opening show, a theory that will hopefully be proven correct rather than hopelessly flawed.

As the anonymously posted comment to my first entry correctly identified, the G11sus4 chord is that which opens The Beatles A Hard Day's Night. This is just one of the many great songs that you will hear if you tune into our first show. You will have to wait a while for this, however, as we are not beginning until October this year. In the meantime however, we are hoping to fill this blog with interesting musings on the things that interest us, with special attention paid, being as we are a radio team, to the goings-on in the music world, both old and new.

The rules for selecting an opening track are as follows: no singles, no EPs and no compilations (including single artist compilations such as Greatest Hits collections) unless the opening track is unique to that album. I'm allowing soundtracks, because a great opening song is arguably of greater importance in the medium of film.

Soon, I shall list the full plan for the first term of themes. However, we are hoping that our listeners will contribute future ideas. Besides other ideas that are still being discussed, the one we are most enthusiastic about is getting bands to do a session for us based on the weekly theme. As details are worked out, all shall be revealed.

I haven't yet planted a disclaimer on the right to the effect of warning readers that any MP3s on this site are for trial purposes only and should be deleted within 24 hours, are not hosted on our own server but are links to tracks from external websites and that links will be removed if requested as I haven't yet made up my mind as to whether this will be that kind of a blog. However, with the above in mind, here is the opening and title track from A Hard Day's Night and that immortal G11sus4:-

The Beatles: "A Hard Day's Night"
Buy A Hard Day's Night from Amazon: UK / US

Autumn, Week 1 - Opening Tracks

2006-07-18T19:05:00.000Z

I have some questions about what we are allowed to select for week one's theme...

Are we allowed the first tracks from soundtracks?
Are we allowed the first tracks from compilations?

I think you already said we aren't allowed promo tracks or singles, which makes sense, as that's hardly an opening number for an album and bears little relation to the flow, tone or development of the rest of the songs.

Thought I would post these questions here (without a long professional introduction to the show or the themes, as G11sus4 - you'd be much better at that) as it is just quicker, I think, than trying to find out the answers and if I forget the answers (likely) I can just come back and look and no one need ever know that I forgot. Also, if I don't write THIS here, I might never make a post. Which seems like a waste of a good blog to me.

Kyra
xXx

Faces for Radio's Facelift.

2006-07-17T23:45:00.000Z

This blog will be running soon in conjunction with the student radio show I co-host (with two - or perhaps three, as we're still in pre-production - of my friends at the University of Sussex). Big changes are coming in the way Wednesday nights are going to be heard on campus and we're branching out into the realms of cyberspace to boot.

Watch this space.

P.S. Kudos to anybody who can identify the inspiration behind my user name. Answer will be given on the first show of the next term. Clue: this show will be devoted to great album openers. The chord I've taken it upon myself to steal as my DJ identity is arguably one of the most defining moments in rock 'n' roll history.

P.P.S. It also happens to be the resultant chord if all six strings are played in the open position on a guitar in standard tuning.