Any show of mine that follows a concept show always comes across as slight, through no fault of its own. After last week's Asian fandango, episode twenty of rfg felt like it spun its tires despite the overall easy flow.
This time around, I had no rush to prepare since the two preceding shows tonight were offline, meaning that for two hours, listeners to CITR FM heard episode 49 of the Funky 16 Corners podcast, which resonated deeply since I took a few calls before I went on air as people were asking what show was playing.
I had hoping to start a show with the Kronos Quartet's El Sinaloense for weeks, but I hadn't found my copy of the album given to me until recently. I always love how the strings are compressed to the point where they sound like brass. The rest of the show went all right, though my iPod reversed the order of Cut Off Your Hands and Pumice — which brings to mind, and blows two additional tracks, for a future concept: an all New Zealand episode — then the matter of the Petroleum By-Products song buzzing a lot, at least in the studio. I'm going to need verification on a higher-powered sound system than the one I currently have at home (laptop speakers = the suck) but I was able to cut over to their MySpace page for a clearer sounding version. Maybe I had a demo all this time?
This week's feature was Henry Mancini's soundtrack to the 1966 film Arabesque, which still isn't out on DVD in North America for reasons unknown to me. I found a used copy of the soundtrack (in mono!) at Zulu Records during the Record Store Day a few weeks back, which was a weird twist. Admittedly, the movie isn't a super important example of the cinematic style of that decade, but it has a certain charm that's highly unique.
Tracklist follows:
Kronos Quartet: El Sinaloense (Nuevo, 2002) Nonesuch
Ratatat: Mirando (LP3, 2008) XL
The Radio Department: I Don't Need Love, I've Got My Band (Pulling Our Weight EP, 2003) Labrador
Republic of Safety: You're Only Lonely (Succession, 2008) self-released
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion: Get With It (Jukebox Explosion, 2007) In The Red
The Green Hour Band: Real Lovin' (The Green Hour Band, 2008) Kingdom
Cut Off Your Hands: Shark Attack (unreleased, 2008)
Pumice: Northland (Pebbles, 2007) Soft Abuse
The Black Lips: Cold Hands (Good Bad Not Evil, 2007) Vice Records
John Linnell: West Virginia (State Songs, 1999) Zoe
Petroleum Byproducts: Got SomethinSomethin (More Pillars, 2007) self-released
Hot Panda: It's Worth Eight Dollars (Whale Headed Girl EP, 2007) self-released
Havana Guns: She Always Goes Down (Demos, 2007) Cigarette Music
Paper: Love Attack (As As, 2007) States Rights
Digikid-84: B.Boy Underground (DIGIKID84 EP, 2008) ?
Nicola Conte: Arabesque (Bossa Per Due, 2002) Eighteenth Street
Jane Birkin: Valse de Melody (Arabesque Voyage, 2002) EMI France
Henry Mancini: Arabesque (Arabesque OST, 1966) RCA
Henry Mancini: We've Loved Before (Yasmin's Theme) Instrumental (Arabesque OST, 1966) RCA
Henry Mancini: Ascot (Arabesque OST, 1966) RCA
Henry Mancini: Dream Street (Arabesque OST, 1966) RCA
Henry Mancini: Facade (Arabesque OST, 1966) RCA
Henry Mancini: Something for Sophia (Arabesque OST, 1966) RCA
Para One: Finale (Naissance des Pieuvres/Water Lilies OST, 2007) Institubes/PIAS
The weird song that tried to accompany this week's concert listings was an excerpt from Barry Schrader's Five Arabesques. As well, I finally rescued the Digikid-84 track after incorrectly labelling it during an earlier fill-in I did. That track sounds far better when separated from the rest of the Valerie stable.
You can download Breakout at the zoo as an MP3 [85.7Mb, 93:35]. Next week's episode: the first all-covers show, though I just read Sydney Pollack died, so maybe I can find some of the Three Days of the Condor score in time.
