radio free gak #5 - "Thank you for planning on flying Psychic Airlines"

From a technical standpoint, the show was pretty steady. The only obvious slip was blowing the intro to the Stereoheroes track by playing an empty CD player for a few seconds. At another point, a second song was starting up in the background as something else was broadcast, but I caught it before the eager song really picked up.

However, the primary error I ran into was during Red Astaire's Song to Angie, a caller asked what the sampled vocals were from. I didn't manage to write that bit of info down at the time, but before the song ended, a quick Google search brought me to Angie Stone, who originally sang Wish I Didn't Miss You on 2001's Mahogany Soul album, out on J Records. However, I retrieved half that info in time for the segue, relaying the rest about Angie Stone at the next break. The sad part was that I had that information at one point as I compiled the playlist, but I edited it out and blanked out when asked. Not a major issue, but yet another to bear in mind when preparing shows going forward.

Great track, nonetheless. Of the initial versions of the first half hour of episode #5, Song to Angie was the only cut that survived the mighty scalpel. Originally, there were going to be more tracks in the vein of the Stereoheroes, drifting more into the early 1980s synth sound that collectives like Valerie champion. I'll probably place acts like Maethelvin, Narctrax and Digikid-84 later, but the flow in the first half hour felt bogged down. The Portobella fit snugly in their place, which has been a track I've been hoping to air for two years now (it didn't survive the cut during my shared two and a half hour slot with Mr. Kent and Mr. Faulconer on CILU back in June 2006).

One fact I'm particularly proud of, which is utterly unimportant; this was the first show that was (pretty much) done to the letter. There are going to be no carryover tracks to the next week's programme, meaning that I don't have to relocate albums or songs. Another thing I'm happy about – the Oscar nominees for best score have been completed in this their third week, which was a good topical bit to explore but the typical scores that get nominated aren't the sort I typically listen to. This means more time to devote to my more favourite odder gooses from the cinematic realm.

Playlist follows: