Stereo Semantics

Circles

Thu, 21 Jun 2018 00:00:00 -0400

After a long hiatus, a chill Circle-themed Stereo Semantics! Hosted at the 2018 Circle of HOPE (Hackers on Planet Earth), this Radio Statler co-production features a mixture of security-themed tracks (from Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy to Silent Circles’s pseudo-80s tunage) bookended by a source-cover pairing of “Private Eyes.” Tune in and chill out, we’ll bring you “full circle” through a pretty epic suite of house, pop, rap, indie and electronic music.

Space

Sun, 04 Dec 2016 00:00:00 -0500

The last episode of an era of Stereo Semantics! Had to be epic, so the theme was space. Starting with David Bowie’s Space Odyssey and come compilation electromagnetic mixes, we traversed the genres from the mid-century space-race magic of the 1960s through the way-contemporary cosmic tunes of the 20-teens. Learn about NASA wakeup calls and Voyager mission music, and much more spaaace-tastic tuneage. Enjoy!

C.L.U.B.S.

Sun, 20 Nov 2016 00:00:00 -0500

The history of clubs is pretty complex, sometimes strangely stratified by gender or background, or quixotically constructed as a way to get like-minded people together. This episode was inspired by the Society for the suppression of unnessary noise”, and will tease out what sorority, and fraternity, and masonry and all the aptly ended -y words that mean commraderie and community in club music.

Horror II

Sun, 23 Oct 2016 00:00:00 -0400

The second of a 2-part series on horror film music, featuring the theremin in modern and “vintage” horror films as well as other bizarre but fascinating instrumentals from the likes of John Williams, John Murphy, an dJohan Soderqvist. Choice horror brilliance from the best and the weirdest. Happy Halloween + some indie rock and HAIM!

Horror I

Sun, 16 Oct 2016 00:00:00 -0400

The first of a 2-part series on horror film music, featuring my beloved Lost Boys soundtrack, Chick Habit, Haunted Beyoncé, John Carpenter and some awesome scores from 80s horror films.

GodMode

Sun, 02 Oct 2016 00:00:00 -0400

This week we’re talking about God Mode in music and in life. We’ll feature some medium-to-unholy tracks that talk about God, invincibility, miracle modes and pop-indie-dream-rock across genres and groups, including Bon Iver, the Beach Boys, 13&God, Salt Cathedral, and She & Him.

The Books

Sun, 25 Sep 2016 00:00:00 -0400

This episode is about books, not the band “The Books” (though they’re featured) and not the Book of Love, though it book-ends this episode (see what I did there?). It’s more about music written about books and written with the same visceral and awesome intent as when we wrote on animal hide or plants, once living and then recycled for more learning. Enjoy!

Generations

Sun, 18 Sep 2016 00:00:00 -0400

Inspired by the Oregon Trail Generation, this episode covers various genres and songs from the “Greatest Generation” to the “Founders.” We’ll wind through all forms of rock, prog, post, alt, plus some of its genre complements and successors. Enjoy, and sort yourself to a new generation based not on birth year, but on the basic tunes of your fav decade.

Girls

Wed, 20 Apr 2016 00:00:00 -0400

Inspired by the feminist punk movements of the Riot Grrls and 3rd Wave feminists, this episode focuses on awesome and strong femme-friendly songs.

Twins

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 00:00:00 -0400

This episode takes a cue from recent research on twin genes and twin languages, to deliver a set-list inspired by twin artists and twin-themed tunes!

Sainthood

Sun, 28 Feb 2016 00:00:00 -0500

Inspired by the creative tunes of Saintseneca, this episode treats a few definitions of saints and safety, and features some Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, Band of Horses, Suzanne Vega and Beirut, with cameos by a few saints included.

House is Not Home

Sun, 21 Feb 2016 00:00:00 -0500

This house-hunters episode goes into some of the etymology of oikos and “home,” with home-spun song stylings of the folky-variety and indie-alt rock in equal/agreeable measure, it traces from one home to another cover and tip-toes through the likes of Zoe Boekbinder, Beach House, Fleet Foxes and Forget Cassettes.

Opposites attract

Sun, 14 Feb 2016 00:00:00 -0500

On St. Valentine’s Day, 2016, we’ll take a look at some music about love, and some about hate. Opposites attract and some myths about romance, John Hughes Films, spacey techno-tunes and synth-pop should be unpacked, and book-ended with an equal dose of Meaninglessness and Magic. Enjoy!

Presidential!

Sun, 22 Nov 2015 00:00:00 -0500

This episode takes cues fromt the Argentina elections and various presidentially-themed tracks, to give an indie rock-read on various presidential administrations. From Lincoln to Reagan and across the partisan spectrum, we’ll review some fun and fantastic tributes to the executive and campaign processes. Last episode of the season, enjoy!

Australia, NZ

Sun, 25 Oct 2015 00:00:00 -0400

Inspired by World Maps without New Zealand, this episode tries to recognize some of the brilliant music coming out down under. It features Australia-theming and artists across genres, including Swoop Swoop, Snakadaktal, and Bon Iver/Beirut with a special focus on Perth, one of the oldest and most stellar cities of light on the planet.

Music for Layovers

Sun, 18 Oct 2015 00:00:00 -0400

This episode was dedicated to one of our most heavily trafficed but underloved facilities globally, the airport. You’ll listed to some airport and airplane-themed tracks, completed with some tracks that inaugurated the birth of ambient music, and others that just escape the mundane aspects of our transitional spaces all-together. Enjoy.

Easy Sampling

Sun, 04 Oct 2015 00:00:00 -0400

This week’s episode takes off from the research theme of last week’s learning episode to discuss different approaches to “easy” music, that is music inspired, borrowed, swiped or stolen from others. We’ll start with Son Lux’s Easy and wrap up with Halsey’s sample of that same peace, playing some Aussie/Kiwi music with Troye Sivan, Gotye and Fat Freddy’s Drop on the way.

Learn with Music

Sun, 27 Sep 2015 00:00:00 -0400

This episode picks up with the start of the Fall Semester, with a focus on how we learn through music. We’ll bookend the episode with some hyper-recent source and cover pairings courtesy of Perfume Genius and The National. It will follow through some folk and french pop, punctuated by some classical music aligned with the theory of Suggestopedia, and learning through melodic priming. Enjoy!

1900s

Sun, 20 Sep 2015 00:00:00 -0400

First episode of the new season calls for some epicness, this episode thus tackles and entire century, the 1900s. All songs are themed with titular reference to the 1900s, from Phoenix to Phox and Frankie Valli to Chet Faker, this stereo semantics travels through time to loop back to 1901 with the final cover.

Start/Stop

Fri, 24 Apr 2015 00:00:00 -0400

As the last episode of the season, and the last regular episode for a hot minute while we take a summer break from Stereo Semantics, this episode is appropriately themed for Stars and Finishes. I’ll go over some of the etymology behind those words for beginning and ending, and then chat through some artists old/new who contributed to the “start of something” or the “finish line” of our perspective on music from the 60s, 80s, and most recently, this month.

Rainbows

Fri, 17 Apr 2015 00:00:00 -0400

This week’s theme, rainbow is a joyous compound term pretty dear to my heart; built on myriad mythologies and scientific phenomena, the rainbow is a marvel of our world. Its name implies a diversity in its spectrum of shades and it’s modern-day symbolism, and likewise I’ll be running through a variety of rainbow types and rainbow tropes in music. This arcs (appropriately, as an arc-en-ciel) into an explanation of the wonders one might expect at the end of the rainbow, in most traditions where it is recognized as a bearer of brilliance, wealth, and the promise of beauty despite an inaccessable terminus.

Naive

Fri, 03 Apr 2015 00:00:00 -0400

Naive is a term from the 1650s, meaning “natural, genuine; just born; foolish, innocent; unspoiled, unworked,” literally “born, innate, natural.” This episode will pair my favorite rendition from The Kooks and a cover group, on the topic of Naiveté. You’ll here some of the innocence in Hanna’s Theme by the Chemical Brothers from the Hanna film soundtrack, about a young girl who is trained as an assassin. This is an episode about innocence and nativeness and nativity and being foolish and just born…so there will be a little shoutout to Bob Dylan-esque poetry with some spoken word about OCD and some pretty epic instrumentals, and well as some indie rock… naturally.

Cherry Pi(e)

Fri, 27 Mar 2015 00:00:00 -0400

This episode follows from the holiday break and Pi Day (3/14/15), and this episode will celebrate the occasion with some songs about cherries, and pi(e). As the name of the mathematical constant, pi was defined further in 1748 by Swiss mathematician Leonhart Euler (1707-1783) as an abbreviation of Greek periphereia “periphery.” Some of the peripheral pi topics by artists like Cherry Currie (of “Cherry Bomb” fame), the Cherry Poppin Daddies, Warrant, Amy Winehouse, and a favorite of this station, Zoe Boekbinder.

I’ll also address some recent happenings related to maraschino cherries in Brooklyn, NY, and the correlated commentary by Black Panthers’ rep Rap Brown: “Violence is as American as cherry pi.” Listen up, listen in :)

Cities

Tue, 24 Feb 2015 00:00:00 -0500

This follows from a special episode series of Stereo Semantics broadcasts from Radio Colmena at the Matienzo Cultural Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’ll be featuring a bilingual broadcast of songs about cities, castellano/inglés. You can look forward some references to certain cities and more generic urban environments in general.

Computers

Tue, 10 Feb 2015 00:00:00 -0500

This follows from a special episode series of Stereo Semantics broadcasts from Radio Colmena at the Matienzo Cultural Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’ll be featuring a bilingual broadcast of songs about computers, castellano/inglés. You can look forward some references to Daisy and say programming, as well as robot computation and pocket calculators. We’ll run the gamut of programming refs from the top of the internet to the bottom of tech stack.

Constellations

Tue, 03 Feb 2015 00:00:00 -0500

This follows from a special episode series of Stereo Semantics broadcasts from Radio Colmena at the Matienzo Cultural Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’ll be featuring a bilingual broadcast of songs about constellations, castellano/inglés. You can look forward some references to Red Hypergiants, Champagne Supernovas and star births/deaths; as well as some celestial-themed bands and star-crossed canciones.

Make it work

Tue, 27 Jan 2015 00:00:00 -0500

This the fourth of a special episode series of Stereo Semantics broadcasts from Radio Colmena at the Matienzo Cultural Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’ll be featuring a bilingual broadcast of songs about work/trabajo, castellano/inglés. You can look forward some more classic music from Moris, Kate Bush and Men at Work as well as some more contemporary Mynabirds and Mompox. Punctuated by some clips from Coffitivity and Perfect Service, you’ll be set for a productive hour of working it out with us in music. :)

Acro-episode

Tue, 20 Jan 2015 00:00:00 -0500

This the third of a special episode series of Stereo Semantics broadcasts from Radio Colmena at the Matienzo Cultural Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’ll be featuring a bilingual broadcast of songs about acronyms and messages, castellano/inglés. You can look forward to SOS and IDGAF adn HSKT from the argentinian, icelandic and swedish set. Much of the abreviations and messages we take for quotidian are actually cryptic and of interesting or unknown origin, let’s tease them out for an alto episodio of SS.

Animal

Tue, 13 Jan 2015 00:00:00 -0500

This special episode in a series of Stereo Semantics broadcasts from Radio Colmena at the Matienzo Cultural Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We’ll be featuring a bilingual broadcast of songs about Animals, castellano/inglés. You can look forward to Jónsi and Juana Molina, Miguel Abuelo and Animal Collective followed by a little pocket of midwestern music courtesy of Headlights, Zola Jesus, and the loveable Andrew Bird. Special shoutout to the Olinguitos in the audience!

Kings

Tue, 06 Jan 2015 00:00:00 -0500

This special episode of Stereo Semantics broadcasts from Radio Colmena at the Matienzo cultural center in Buenos Aires Argentina. We’ll be featuring a bilingual broadcast of songs about Kings in honor of Reyes Magos, 3 Kings day. You can look forward to some Icelandic tunes from Ásegir to Of Monsters and Men and some local Los Gatos, all building on the royal theme.

Just Kids

Fri, 31 Oct 2014 00:00:00 -0400

Patty Smith served as inspiration for this episode about kids; her memoir “Just Kids,” tells the story of growing up artistic in New York, and of her 22-year friendship with Robert Mapplethorpe. This episode starts with the little orphan annie version of “Hard-Knock Life” and weaves through a strange pattern in cross-genre music making that includes songs incorporating kids’ voices in the chorus. At times ethereal, at times unsettling, children provide music with an undertone of nostalgia and innocence, from MGMT to Kid Cudi.

** warning, really lame sound qual on this episode **

Waiting

Fri, 17 Oct 2014 00:00:00 -0400

This week’s archive is an abbreviated one because we messed up the sound. So, unintentionally you’ll be waiting for the wait episode until we figure it out! In the genre of absurdist theater, we designed an episode to focus on those waiting-for-godot-esque moments of today, including all of the intermediary wait times that punctuate our otherwise exciting adventures.

Chaining

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 00:00:00 -0400

Kickstarting after a long radio hiatus, we’ve dedicated this episode to links and chains, part of the foundation of this show, the cosmic connections between songs and their authors. We’ll feature some Fleetwood Mac cutups, a few Chainsmokers remixes and some Small Black/Depeche Mode for good measure. Enjoy!

Genre

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 00:00:00 -0500

A rather meta-episode of Stereo Semantics, this is one about genre-changing covers, that particular art of the remix which transcends musical type an really invigorates older notes with new life in another musical approach. We’ll explore the rhapsody of poetry and music as complimentary disciplines as well as the fusion with other academic domains that results in true genius in history as in song production. Tune in for Bohemian Gravity, Dolly Parton, and Heartbeats ++.

Fear

Sun, 17 Nov 2013 00:00:00 -0500

In line with the 1 word themes of the past few weeks, Fear brings us to a catalog of phobias and musical approaches to being afraid. Tune in for some Blue Öyster Cult, Lily Allen and the Album Leaf, as well as other artists with unique approaches to creature fear, fear and loathing, pity and fear, or whatever other terms combine well with one of the most common and visceral of human emotions.

Spies

Sun, 10 Nov 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Recent press about PRISM and government agency activity in the States inspires this episode framed by two interpretations of Valerie Plame. We'll hear some indie and brit rock on the topic, populating the space between with a series of "spy" songs and iSpy book references, "secret" messaging systems and covert affairs. Enjoy for a dose of The Doors, The Decemberists, Massive Attack and sneaky spy banter.

Soul

Sun, 03 Nov 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Apropos to the date, this is an episode about Soulful music to suit All Soul’s day, part of triduum of days known as the Hallowmas which consists of Halloween, All Saints day and All Souls day. Historically in France, this latter day is celebrated as a commemoration day for the dead, with burial fraternities decorating churchyards and leading graveyard processionals. The English supposedly had a pastime called “souling," a kind of caroling/trick or treat, and as there’s some discussion about these as hybrid holidays between religions, we'll talk about some music that cuts to the soul and references spiritual life, however rubber, however dark, however close to the body, bookended by some Ben Harper and Michelle, my Belle.

Dreams: Night/mares

Sun, 27 Oct 2013 00:00:00 -0400

As a followup to last week's Daymare episode, this one talks about horror and horses, about the pre-halloween dreams that haunt our evenings. Tracks include oneiromagic from the Cranberries, the Smiths, the Magnetic Fields and other "the" groups, bookended by nightmares courtesy of Kid Cudi.

Dreams: Day/mares

Sun, 20 Oct 2013 00:00:00 -0400

We've been planning an episode for oneironauts for a while, due to the glut of songs relevant to this topic, we split the episode into two thematic treatments (Daymares and Nightmares). Each offer the typical anecdotes punctuated by sweet and relevant tunes, from Fleetwood Mac to Radiohead, The Monkeys to The Mamas and the Papas.

Inversion

Sun, 13 Oct 2013 00:00:00 -0400

To celebrate a bit of our creative thinking, obsession with recursion, and topsy turvy perspective on all of the things, this episode is about inversion. We'll explore reverse-themed tracks, musical palindromes and lyrically backward songs that investigate both sides of binaries. As per uszhe we'll start with a song and end with it's cover, it's own echo-inverted format to support this opposite theme.

Young/Old

Sun, 29 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400

This is an episode about age; is youth preferable to the wisdom of experience, which of the two bears out the pejoratives attached to it? We'll talk a bit about what it means to be young (or geong, or jungas) and what it means to transition from that state. Julian will be making his debut as my cohost for the season and we'll iterate through some indie, shoegaze, and jam band tunes about youth or of our youth, as the case may be.

Feeling Calculator

Sun, 11 Aug 2013 00:00:00 -0400

This is an episode about feelings and perception, or rather, how we break down subjective judgement into data for study, how we process and analyze sensory data, sensitive data, and how people often try to quantify sensual aspects of our everyday perceptive impulse. From the Luscher Color Test which assigns color affinity to numbers and eventually personality, to an episode of This American Life that distills attraction and interaction to a basic binary, this is about why we try to quantify self, and where feelings populate in the musical mood ring of our cultural memory. What about those intentions, those feelings, those senses that are more tacit and more visceral than some quant calculation could hope to contain in a similar economy of expression. So this is an episode about using your senses and acting on intuition, gumption, impulse and emotion, without all of the qualifications of the quantified self.

Distance to Desertion

Sun, 28 Jul 2013 00:00:00 -0400

This is an episode about weaving webs of connections across distances. What does “distance” and “remote,” mean to us? Unachievable or further afield -feasible? Does a Desert Island inspire paradise or paranoia? Does distance mean safety or solitary separation? A bit inspired by an article about spiders spinning their protein silk to connect extremes, I’ll talk about our fascination with desert islands and distance, and the etymology of both to tease out what they might meet to the Twilight Zone and to us today.

[br/] in Case Of Anything

Sun, 21 Jul 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Inspired by the TAL Breakup Song and a bit of brilliance from Philip Glass, this episode is about the etymology of “breaking,” both positive and negative. What does it mean to make a line
in code, to break up, to break a horse, to break a leg…colloquially, connotatively? This episode will explore breakage and its source and tributaries.

StereoFixity

Sun, 14 Jul 2013 00:00:00 -0400

In memory of the recently deceased, audio-engineer extraordinaire, Amar Bose, I decided to do an episode about stereo sounds. Bose applied wave-physics to better understand how to replicate concert-hall acoustics in interior speaker-space. So this episode pulls from those wave-mechanics to discusse wave-based instruments (the *Ond*ioline among them, precursor to the synth and “onde” or “wave” en francais, -based machine). Stereo means “solid,” and echo of fixity and stability, and to apply the maker movement to the music hacker and audio-re-engineer theme, this episode pulls together songs about fixing, and being fixed, about sterexperiments and electronic music. About the new trend of the “refix” as the unauthorized “remix,” or the “fixer movement” as a recycling-conscious alternative to the “maker movement.”

Seaside

Sun, 07 Jul 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Lucid dreams of sea-escapes brought this episode to questioning the semantics of “sea” as distinct from lake or other water bodies. I’ll talk about the Salton Sea (both album and rift lake), seas as descriptors of the 17th century “unknown” and colloquial open space of simultaneous exploration potential and escape from civil society. Lots of love for Salt Cathedral, The Thermals, The Dodos, Neutral Milk Hotel and Islands, from Phil Phillips to Cat Power.

Violent Heat

Sun, 30 Jun 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Given the summer stroke and current heat condition in NY, his episode dabbles in the socio-psych of temperature, in the violent tendencies of hot weather and heavy humidity. From electronic to no-wave to noise rock, artists have dabbled in heated songs and violent poetics and this episode pulls in some Violens, some City Light, some Hot Chip and Hella to craft a playlist appropriate for our current heated condition.

Sunbright

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 00:00:00 -0400

On this Supermoon Sunday evening, I thought an episode to honor the sun, an important participant in this evening’s stellar syzygy. I’ll play some space tunes twinged with sunlight refs and some super summer bands to ring in your moonscope.

Family Heros

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 00:00:00 -0400

This Father’s Day edition of Stereo Semantics takes on our paradigm of the father, the hero. This episode explores the heroism we inherit from an unpretentious and unexpected parentage. What we consider courageous and worth congratulation on this Father’s Day. I’ll play some heroic anthems mixed with some social commentary on identity and nature/nurture vis-a-vis paternity with the help of Gil Scott-HEROn some sick electrophunk and neo-psychedelic tunes.

TimeBank (BTC)

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Inspired by wooden nickel aphorisms and my newfound obsession with Bitcoin currency, this episode is about how we monetize in music. I’ll play some Blood Bank EP + the catch Kanye remix and run through some other Wood themed music, along with a few references to other economies, bankrupture, and getting lost in the sometimes abrasive but always awesome transactions/transitions between of bubble gum pop and Patti Smith, psychodelectrontic tunes and indie rock jams.

Afraid of Summer

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Weaving in my aforementioned Algorhythmic plans, this episode starts and ends with some solid Math Rock, courtesy of Battles and Gloss Drop/Dross Glop. This Summer Swell Season kickstarts with lots of Ice Cream, Idyllic Drive-in Theaters and Rollerskate Summer Sugar with Matias Aguayo and Muscles on demand. Listen in for some Summer songs, camp nostalgia, Guns Babes and Lemonade where possible.

Years

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Last episode marks a year since the genesis of stereo semantics, so here comes everybody: RaRaRiot, Ratatat and all your favorite mellifluous onomatopoeia plus a bunch of french pop and “year” fixated crooners. I’ll break a year down in increments of 10,000 hours and other indices of productivity and proficiency, and round it out with a look at 2014, our soon-to-be new year.

Thanks for listening, stay tuned for summer stereo semantics!

<3 ^ ∞

Un->done

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Uncharacteristic but still applicable, this episode takes on the most pro-lific prefix in the english language: un-. The preface constituent of so many words, suggesting both negation (‘undeclared’) and unity (‘united’), singularity (‘unicorn’) and articulation (‘un‘ as an article in latin-based languages). This strings together otherwise unrelated but similarly started words, verbles, phrases and euphemisms (‘untruth’ vs. ‘lie’ anyone?). All this bookended by the Magnetic Fields’ “Underwear” and rounded out by some discussions of grammar and great adventures in projection mapping to the tune of remix.

Cultural Meme-ory

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

In the wake of some media mnemonics and the push to Spring, this episode themes around our pop culture and pop music tendencies vis-a-vie cultural memory, or perhaps more appropriately meme-ory. With a catalog of film references to the persistent fear we have of forgetfulness (Memento, Total Recall, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Danny Boyle’s new Trance), it seems that tv’s Black Mirror is pioneering a new twist, what happens when you remember everything? What is our issue with memory and what memories does audio enable us to commit to musical memory? from RaRa Riot’s Do You Remember, to Low’s slowcore I Remember and a suite of french tracks from Charlotte Gainsbourg (Don’t forget to forget me) Air (Remember) and the not-french-but-sounds-like Noisettes (Never Forget You), I’ll be playing tracks that echo our title and ending remix of Forget it (orig. Blood Orange, 2011) by remembering only the most awk, painful, and emo moments of our lives.

Pretty OK

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

This week celebrates the anniversary of the introduction of OK into print parlance via the Boston Morning Post. I’ll explore some possible and gestural meanings of ‘oll correct,’ mixing some spoken word tracks courtesy of OK and the Books, mixing in some stand-up soundbites and wordsmithing rap courtesy of Kitty Pryde and Messy Slick. Intro promises to play out some of the more obscure references to Ok and A-OK gestures, and the closing wraps it all in some aural catharsis typical of ASMR.

Lady Luck

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

On this St. Patrick’s Day, Stereo Semantics takes it theme from a day devoted to luck and charm. I’ll run through three layers of song-remixes while playing through a few lady luck, lucky number, and synchronous/serendipity tracks, all arranged according to the laws of chance. Tune in for some Tough Alliance, Magnetic Fields, Jamie Woon, James Blake and otherwise rad tunes to stimulate that part of your prefrontal cortex that parses happy accidents and processes your luck in lottery of our everyday.

DayLight Savings Time

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Apropos to today’s push to ‘spring ahead,’ this episode themes around Daylight, all of the lovely springtime connotations munged with the bummer of losing another stolen hour to this new season. I’ll bridge the more quotidian Daylight songs with some Ultra, Spot, Still and Invisibly prefixed light, and round out the music with some references to A Day’s Close and Barry Lyndon on lighting in a few other media. Stay tuned for my typical smatterings of the Smiths, Mirah, Thundercat, and J*Davey.

Electri[NY]City

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Electricity is in the news, so topical and ubiquitous, I just had to do an episode to test your capacitor for electronic songs. Brighten your night with some brilliant Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark galvanized by some Battles and Belle & Sebastian. I’ll loop through some electronic music as well and punctuate with soem rad refs to electronic installations at Dorkbot and Art Hack Day.

Go Do

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

March is a stretch of peculiar business balanced by an impulse to do all of the things. So this episode is about going and doing, about how we go about managing time, our primary non-renewable resource. It bridges Hall and Oates with some “go”-focused tracks, mixing some motivational idioms and pop-punk faves to the tune of our most organic unit of time: human heartbeats.

L<3ve

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

In honor of this February’s holiday, this episode is about all of the myriad meanings of love. How we miss or make the mark with melodies, and what all of these musical metaphors do to define love for us. I’ll cycle through a few explicit definitions and some more suggestive allusions, doctor up the allegories that rival all implementations of this most mysterious of emotions. Help from the doors and daft punk, Phoenix and Muscles, bookended by Birdy and Bon Iver.

Arms Against Humanity

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

From some more recent interactives and news about gun control, this episode is about our rights to information, articulated in songs about open arms and some of the less-loaded references to guns in our lives. Apolitical and without necessary agenda, it traces some tracks about elephant guns and plushguns, open armories and armistice.

Game of PWNS

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

For lack of call-ins last season, this episode prefabs some robodials to guide this playlist with a little UGC, passing from themes of computerized <3 to paralysis to phone talking. The overwhelming arc of this game of phones relates to some cool telephone tech inching toward obsolescence. Tune in to find out the source of my phone-tic hang-ups bridging some epic 7os pop with some voicemail messaging. Special thanks to the Operator, for his coding brilliance, and random calls :).

Something to talk about

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Because I dig symmetry and this is the last episode of the season, I thought I’d theme it as ‘something’ since I opened the seaz with a Mixtape About Nothing. As such, this episode is a slurry of the Smiths, Spoon, Daft Punk and Brit Pop bookended by the Beatles. I’ll sequence through the “starts of something” and dive into all the somethings that append our most nebulous and often delightful of nouns. Until next season fans!

Ch-ch-ch-changes part 2

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Bob Dylan played his show and I thought I’d follow with a two-part episode taped back to back while I’m away in Sing[along]apore for Siggraph Asia. This episode loops through all the transformations of changing, from game changing to chunks of change, [ex]changes to changelings. There will be some warbling Dylan crooning crowned with an echo of high school chansons cycling through some french and fun electro PoP.

Alrighty then + now: part 1

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Bob Dylan is playing a show at the Barclays Center on the 21st of November; I’m not a fan. ‘Tis the season to give thanks and be thoughtful, so I taped a two-part episode that dissects my [dis]interest in Dylan, and thinks through some of the applications of alrightness to our pop culture via some Peggy Lee, Icelandic crooning, Pains of Being Human Television and the Tallest Man on Earth, capped creatively (and surprisingly by Ke$ha). Bonus track: this melodica cover.

S_x

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0500

In my obsession with palindromes and semantic undertones, vowelplay and voyeurism , I made a show about sex, in all of its misspellings, awk mutations and unintuitive idioms. I’ll take a tour through significations of sex and Saussurian theory, echoing out some french electro pop and brooklyn indie rock, jewish rap and 8bit Sex Ba-Bomb. There’s some Sex@Six and Sex Sux for symmetry, some jam bands and love sounds for good measure. An episode that will smother you in comical smut. Enjoy.

Are you alive?

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Post-hurricane Sandy, this episode is devoted to the question on while loop of late: “are you o.k.?” I’ll play some music about lucky, being alive, and being on the other side of that lifeline binary. After a weekend volunteering with recovery efforts throughout NYC, I can think of no better dedication for this episode than a link drop of how to help:

Ways to give on the ground: Map of places to volunteer; Info about Occupy Relief efforts

Other Opportunities via the: Gothamist and The Daily Beast

Countdown

Sun, 28 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Pre-hurricane party, I’ll be counting down a few notable events in this episode about countdowns. Inspired by Fritz Lang and Pheonix, I’ll play some tracks about numbers ordered backward toward a deadline, launch, and some otherwise snazzy pop n’click drills to wind you down and ticktock your time away.

Heaven can’t wait

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0400

In the shadow of the Orionid meteor shower this weekend, this episode of stereo semantics pays tribute to the mystery and magic of the heavens. I’ll start with some punchy pops and whistles and pushing into some preemptive CMJ tracks, all with touches of elysium, shangri-la, paradis, or whatever you equate with post-mortem peace. With some apocryphal mathematics and some shoutouts to the great books, i’ll be your Beatrice, guide you up the 9 circles of ‘hello world’ to your gangster’s paradise.

ee cummings HBD

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0400

on october 14th, the birthday of edward estlin cummings (aka ee cummings), i decided to dedicate my show to a day that google doodle forgot. in honor of a remarkable radical bohemian poet, polemic politics and personality aside, I assembled a set list that started with “us” and traversed refs to his autobiography The Enormous Room (1922), then lily-padded through his “no thanks” (1935) with a few anticon and punk rock gems. thereafter there i echoed out some allusions to his love affairs and Fairytales (1965), wrapping up with some rives slam poetry and young weezy.

Running

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Many people have asked me to come up with a running playlist . I’d probably run to electro-euro-pop, so I’ll spare everyone that episode. As a non-runner, I’ll parse out the many meanings of a “run” and make it maximally accessible. So this for all the runaways and the people who run with it, the people running after antelopes and everyone else racing to the finish. This is also for the great universal everyone, since we’re all running out of time.

M00n Magic

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0400

In honor of the Harvest Moon (9/29/12), I’ll play a setlist of moon and space-themed music selections, tricked-out with satisfying transitions and semantic tie-ins. The show favors French, New Wave, and Shoegaztronic tracks, open/close will feature Sufjan Stevens.

Opening/Close: Stereo Seas of Rhye

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0400

For the opening episode of this series, I’ll feature songs themed to navigate the open/close binary. Stereo Semantics is all about echoes of relationships around a pivot point, so you’ll hear pairs of electronic musicians and croony chorals, coupled with rap and indietronica that tease out the varied meanings of ”open” and “close.” in all parts of speech. I’ll bookend with the opening titles and ending credits from Wale’s Mixtape about nothing, and focus on Rhye’s Open as the title track.