A Wedding Present present

If you'd like to see LA's very, very good Heathers doing a pay-what-thou-wilt 4-song EP of Wedding Present covers, that is a) a weirdly specific thing to request, b) fortunately a thing that exists.

I'm crying in my bed

Frankie Cosmos - "Owen" (Zentropy)

Playlist for 6-26-14

Good morning, sunshine,

Thanks to everyone listening on Thursday, and everyone who called in with great requests. You were all bringing your A-game, and for that, we're all going out to Lamppost Pizza! And everyone gets trophies! With your names on them! You're all champions.

Look at all the good songs we played together:

Things that Are Square 6-26-14

(*) = New release

Pavement - Major Leagues - Terror Twilight

King Khan & The Shrines - I Wanna Be a Girl - The Supreme Genius Of... (For Jeffrey in Santa Ana, CA)
Fugazi - Cashout - The Argument
Chain and the Gang - What Is a Dollar? - Down with Liberty...Up with Chains!
(*) The Hive Dwellers - Lynch the Swan - Moanin'

(*) Martha - Cosmic Misery - Courting Strong
(*) Heathers - Brassneck - I Know
Television Personalities - A Picture of Dorian Gray - ...And Don't the Kids Just Love It
Ween - Ocean Man - The Mollusk
The Endless Bummer - Wednesday Night - Modern American Calypsos for Voice and Computer

(*) No Joy - Hare Tarot Lies - Wait to Please (For Melissa in Anaheim, CA)
Pure X - Livin' the Dream - Angel
(*) Wildhoney - Soft Bats - Seventeen Forever
Angel Olsen - Sweet Dreams - The Sleepwalker EP

Tabor Mountain - I'll Show Them All - Lo Magic (For Sam in Santa Ana, CA)
Pedro the Lion - Bands with Managers - Achilles Heel
Vic Chesnutt - You Are Never Alone - North Star Deserter
St. Vincent - I Prefer Your Love - St. Vincent

(*) Fear of Men - Alta/Waterfall - Loom (For Leah in Anaheim, CA)
Hem - When I Was Drinking - Rabbit Songs
Peter and the Wolf - The Apple Tree - Lightness
Bill Callahan - America! - Apocalypse

Fog - See It? See It? - Ether Teeth
Why? - Ape in Cage... - Almost Live from Anna's Cabin
Suede - Heroine - Dog Man Star
(*) Ought - Gemini - More Than Any Other Day

 (*) The Antlers - Revisited - Familiars
Dälek - Forever Close My Eyes - From the Filthy Tongue of Gods and Griots
Can - Paperhouse - Tago Mago
White Rainbow - Germany - ZOME
Black Lips - Cold Hands - Good Bad Not Evil (For Kevin in Costa Mesa, CA)

(*) Swans - Screen Shot - To Be Kind
The King Khan & BBQ Show - Spin the Bottle - Invisible Girl (For Jeffrey in Costa Mesa, CA)
Yo La Tengo - Ohm - Fade
(*) Circulatory System - There Is No Time But Now - Mosaics Within Mosaics

(*) The Soft Pink Truth - Beholding the Throne of Might - Why Do the Heathen Rage?
FKA Twigs - Water Me - EP2

Genre research project 54/1359: Instrumental Hip Hop

Essentially Hip Hop without an MC, instrumental hip hop can take many complex or basic forms and span a wide variety of different styles from artist to artist.

Turntablism appears throughout many instrumental releases through vocal samples and scratching, eventually becoming a separate style within the instrumental hip hop community.

Genre research project 53/1359: Zydeco

Zydeco is a musical genre evolved in southwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers which blends Cajun music, blues and rhythm and blues.

Though disputed, it is commonly suggested that "zydeco" derives from the French phrase Les haricots ne sont pas salés, which, when spoken in the Louisiana Creole French, sounds as "leh-zy-dee-co nuh sohn pah salay". This literally translates as "the snap beans aren't salty" but idiomatically as "I have no spicy news for you." Alternatively the term has been given the meaning "I'm so poor, I can't afford any salt meat for the beans." The earliest recorded use of the term may have been the country and western musical group called Zydeco Skillet Lickers who recorded the song It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo in 1929.

Usually fast tempo and dominated by the button or piano accordion and a form of a washboard known as a "rub-board," "scrub-board," "wash-board," or frottoir, zydeco music was originally created at house dances, where families and friends gathered for socializing. As a result, the music integrated waltz, shuffles, two-steps, blues, rock and roll, and other dance music forms of the era.

The voyage to the corner of the globe is a real trip

Ween - "Ocean Man" (The Mollusk [Explicit])

I guess I am the type of person who listens to Ween now.

Playlist for 6-19-14

Hey folks,

So, this summer, the Things that Are Square radio show gets a 50% increase to three hours every Thursday. I haven't done a three hour show since like...2005. So I'm going to need help filling time and really welcome your requests. Think about it! Your expertly chosen song will be amongst such musical luminaries as these:

Things that Are Square 6-19-14

(*) = New release

Jens Lekman - Waiting for Kirsten - An Argument With Myself

Mates of State - Goods (All In Your Head) - All Day
The Lucksmiths - Fiction - Warmer Corners
Jeffrey Lewis - The East River - The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane and Other Favorites
The Mountain Goats - Golden Boy - Ghana

Roman Candles - Gracious Living - Riley Versus Jason In the Battle of Gracious Living
Jeff Mangum - My Dream Girl Don't Exist - Live at Aquarius Records
Little Wings - I Won't Be Burned - Discover Worlds of Wonder
Momus - Lucky Like St. Sebastian - Circus Maximus

Kind of Like Spitting - Passing Through - In the Red
John Prine - Sam Stone - John Prine
The Louvin Brothers - The Kneeling Drunkard's Plea - Satan Is Real
Tex Williams - Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette! - Got a Light, Mac?

The Almanac Singers - Round & Round Hitler's Grave - Kickin' Hitler's Butt
Kids on a Crime Spree - To Mess with Dynamite - We Love You So Bad
Jawbreaker - Accident Prone - Dear You
Misfits - Hybrid Moments - Static Age

(*) Swans - A Little God In My Hands - To Be Kind
The Jesus Lizard - The Art of Self Defense - Liar
Mi Ami - Latin Lover - Steal Your Face
Liars - We Fenced Other Gardens with the Bones of Our Own - They Were Wrong so We Drowned 

(*) Ought - Pleasant Heart - More Than Any Other Day
King Lollipop - Dumpster Divin' - Woodland Whoopee Songs of ol' Callowhee
Man Man - I'd Rather Go Blind - Unreleased
(*) The Hive Dwellers - Montgomery Hammer - Moanin'

(*) The Antlers - Palace - Familiars
Low - Dinosaur Act - Things We Lost in the Fire
Girlpool - Plants and Worms - Girlpool
John Cale - All My Friends - All My Friends

(*) Owen Pallett - Infernal Fantasy - In Conflict
Dan Deacon - The Crystal Cat - Spiderman of the Rings
Secret Mommy - Soccer Field - Very Rec
(*) The Soft Pink Truth - Buried by Time and Dust - Why Do the Heathen Rage?

Nmesh - KΞΞP/////THIS///// - Dream Sequins®
Monolake - Hitting the Surface - Ghosts
Safety Scissors - Your Beautiful Feet - Parts Water

G-Man - Quo Vadis - Quo Vadis/El Jem (For Alex in Irvine, CA)

Genre research project 52/1359: Britpop

Britpop is a subset of Alternative Rock that developed in the United Kingdom during the first years of the 1990s. It has been commonly perceived as a reaction not only to the angst-ridden American Grunge movement but also to the ethereal, noisy Shoegaze style that found some success during the early 90s in the UK. Britpop marked a return to a more traditional Rock music structure, characterized by guitar-driven melodies, catchy Pop-based hooks and a commercial-friendly sound, while also displaying the influence of a wide range of styles that had been popularized by earlier British artists, such as Pop Rock, Beat Music and Mod from the 1960s; Glam Rock, Punk Rock and New Wave from the 1970s; and Jangle Pop from the 1980s. The Baggy / Madchester explosion of the late 1980s/early 1990s would serve as an important precursor to the genre, though Britpop lacked the Alternative Dance sensibilities of that style. Additionally, in the lyrical and imagery aspects, Britpop artists were emphatic in displaying elements of the life and culture of the British working and middle classes, a feature that made the genre highly popular in the United Kingdom but limited its commercial appeal in the United States.

It hasn't been my day for a couple years

Jawbreaker - "Accident Prone" (Dear You)

If You Can't Get Into Heaven, You May As Well Salt the Earth

Forgive a bit of self-promotion.

I can't play anything I could stand to profit off of on my radio show due to laws (which is fair), but I figured that if you like my show, you may also like the music I write as My Dear Wormwood. I just put up a new song on my bandcamp page that is pay-what-you-want. If you like ukulele pop based on Paradise Lost, this tune is going to be right up your alley.

Playlist for 6-12-14

Hey folks,

Just as a heads up, this summer Things that Are Square will be on for 3 hours instead of 2 (6-9pm!). An impressive 50% increase that absolutely no one asked for. Please enjoy as I attempt to find three hours worth of music every damned week. (Your requests are going to really come in handy, homies).

Help me find songs to accompany tracks like these:

Things that Are Square 6-12-14

 (*) = New release

Tom Waits - Come On Up to the House - Mule Variations

The Unicorns - I Was Born (A Unicorn) - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?
Comet Gain - Don't Fall in Love If You Want to Die in Peace - Réalistes
Adam Lipman - Boys and Girls - The Western Bounce
The Replacements - Here Comes a Regular - Tim

Marissa Nadler - 1923 - July
Françoise Hardy - La question - La question
The Field Mice - Coach Station Reunion - For Keeps
(*) The Hive Dwellers - Love Will Come Back Again - Moanin'

Silver Jews - Tennessee - Bright Flight
James Chadwick - The Wooden Floor - Worried Noodles
Son House - John the Revelator - Father of Folk Blues
(*) Kitchen Hips - Piece of the Pie - Recordings from Shotpouch Creek

(*) Swans - Oxygen - To Be Kind
Parts & Labor - The Gold We're Digging - Mapmaker
The Men - Pearly Gates - Tomorrow's Hits

(*) Ed Schrader's Music Beat - Emperor's New Chair - Party Jail
Operation Ivy - Freeze Up - Operation Ivy
The Fall - Spoilt Victorian Child - This Nation's Saving Grace
Boris with Michio Kurihara - Rainbow - Rainbow

(*) Ought - Habit - More Than Any Other Day
(*) Mirah - Turned the Heat Off - Changing Light
Twin Steps - Pinkie Promise - Serial Parade
(*) tUnE-yArDs - Water Fountain - Nikki Nack

(*) Baths - Fade White - Ocean Death

Decay2 [Nihil's Maw]

Sunn O))) - "Decay2 [Nihil's Maw]" (White 2)

Please listen to this full song. Use headphones. Write a report on it. Listen to Attila Cishar read a sanskrit passage about the end of the world. Tell me how you feel. 

Climbing the corporate ladder

Nmesh - "Climbing the Corporate Ladder" [Dream Sequins®]

Genre research project 51/1359: Deep Soul

Deep soul emerged in mid-1960s USA, drawing on the typical Southern Soul groove and accentuating the Gospel and Blues influence, particularly Chicago Blues. It is played at a relatively slow tempo and is primarily focused on the intense, intimate lead vocal delivery, emphasizing both the melancholic tone and lyrics, and producing a downbeat, reflective atmosphere. Common instrumental tropes include murky, 'scratchy' guitar sounds, prominent horn sections (accompanying strings more popular in 1970s recordings) and crystalline, spiritual-sounding piano and organ parts. The style declined in popularity in the late 1970s with the emergence of Disco and newer R&B genres.

Playlist for 6-5-15 (All space/scifi/NASA/comic book/etc edition!)

So,

Last week, in my mailbox at the station, I had a letter from what--I assume--is a child, with no return address/identifying information. The letter looked like this. So I decided to do a whole show dedicated to this mystery person. And here are the songs I (and the fine people who requested) picked:

Things that Are Square 6-5-14

 (*) = New release

 Allo Darlin' - Dear Stephen Hawking - Henry Rollins Don't Dance

 Flight of the Conchords - Robots - Flight of the Conchords
Jacob Borshard - Data and Worf - A Glow in the Dark
The Metasciences - Four-Color Love Story - Pencils Down
Ghost Mice - Critical Hit - Andrew Jackson Jihad/Ghost Mice Split

Misfits - Teenagers from Mars - Static Age (For Garrett in Yorba Linda, CA)
The Cramps - Rock on the Moon - Songs the Lord Taught Us
The Mummies - The Thing from Venus - Never Been Caught
Shannon and the Clams - Toxic Revenge - Sleep Talk

April March - Chick Habit - Chick Habit (For Shauna in Fullerton, CA)
John Maus - Hey Moon - We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
Jonathan Coulton - Still Alive - Portal Soundtrack (For Estelle in Irvine, CA)
Lemon Jelly - Space Walk - Lost Horizons

Meco - Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band (12" Disco Mix) - Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk (For Rebecca in Los Angeles, CA)
Kraftwerk - Computer Love - Computer World (For Ivy in Costa Mesa, CA)
Prinzhorn Dance School - You Are the Space Invader - Prinzhorn Dance School
(*) Ed Schrader's Music Beat - Pink Moons - Party Jail

Blackalicious - Chemical Calisthenics (Featuring Cut Chemist) - Blazing Arrow
Deltron 3030 - Positive Contact - Deltron 3030
Dr. Octagon - Earth People - Dr. Octagonecologyst
Danger Doom - Space Ho's - The Mouse and the Mask

Milo - The Confrontation at Khazad-Dûm - Milo Takes Baths
Smog - Teenage Spaceship - Knock Knock
The Mountain Goats - The Day the Aliens Come (Or: Hawaiian Feeling) - Come, Come to the Sunset Tree
Yann Tiersen - Life on Mars (With Neil Hannon) - Black Session (For Leah in Anaheim, CA)

The Aquabats - Martian Girl - The Fury of the Aquabats!
Harry and the Potters - Song for the Death Eaters - Harry and the Potters and the Power of Love 

Ballboy - Essential Wear for Future Trips to Space - Club Anthems

Genre research project 50/1359: Dance Pop

Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco and synthpop, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Dance-pop music is generally characterized by strong beats with easy, uncomplicated song structures which are generally more similar to pop music than the more free-form dance genre, with an emphasis on melody as well as catchy tunes. The genre, on the whole, tends to be producer-driven, despite some notable exceptions.

As the term "disco" started to go out of fashion by the late 1970s to early 1980s, other terms were commonly used to describe disco-based music, such as "post-disco", "club", "dance" or "dance-pop" music. These genres were, in essence, a more modern variant of disco music known as post-disco, which tended to be more experimental, electronic and producer/DJ-driven, often using sequencers and synthesizers. Dance-pop music emerged in the 1980s as a form of dance, or post-disco, which was up-tempo, club-natured, producer-driven and catchy. Dance-pop was more up-tempo and dancey than regular pop, yet more structured and less free-form than dance music, usually combining pop's easy structure and catchy tunes with dance's strong beat and up-tempo nature. Dance-pop music was usually created, composed and produced by record producers who would then hire singers to perform the songs. In the 1980s, dance-pop was closely aligned to other up-tempo electronic genres, such as Hi-NRG.

Playlist for 5-29-14

Hey!
Sorry for not posting this playlist earlier. I am a bad person. BUT! I'm going to be doing some special programming tomorrow for a kid who wrote in to my show requesting space/sci-fi/superhero songs. It's gonna be 2 hours of stuff along those lines. Post your requests, tune in, be whisked away to a musical world of action and adventure.
And here are all the great things we heard last week!

Things that Are Square on KUCI 5-29-14

 (*) = New playlist

múm - Green Grass of Tunnel - Finally We Are No One

 (*) Baths - Fade White - Ocean Death
The Books - Smells Like Content - Lost and Safe
The Album Leaf - On Your Way - In a Safe Place
Black Moth Super Rainbow - Twin of Myself - Eating Us

(*) Owen Pallett - The Riverbed - In Conflict
Don Cherry - Brown Rice - Brown Rice
Gong - Flying Teapot - The Flying Teapot

(*) Sharon Van Etten - Your Love Is Killing Me - Are We There (For Leah in Long Beach, CA) Guided By Voices - The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory - Bee Thousand
Ween - The Mollusk - The Mollusk
(*) Kitchen Hips - One, Tulip, Threelip, Four - Recordings from Shotpouch Creek

Emperor X - A Violent Translation of the Concordia Headscarp - The Blythe Archives Volume Two
Six Organs of Admittance - Home - School of the Flower
(*) Wyrd Visions - Freezing Moon - Half-Eaten Guitar
SubRosa - House Carpenter - No Help for the Mighty Ones

The Blood Brothers - Meet Me at the Water Front After the Social - March On Electric Children
Church of Misery - Shotgun Boogie (James Oliver Huberty) - Houses of the Unholy
Behemoth - Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer - The Satanist
(*) The Body - To Carry the Seeds of Death Within Me - I Shall Die Here

(*) Swans - Screen Shot - To Be Kind
(*) Terrain Is Blank - Borrowed Ambiguous - Totem of Fraud

(*) Sisyphus - Hardly Hanging On - Sisyphus