Spent most of my Sunday over at the Beat Swap Meet in Chinatown, where I got a chance to spin a jazz only set just before making my way to KPFK for the show. We begin with a couple of the records I picked up, including a few that will make their way up here shortly. Fair amount of new tunes, from Electric Wire Hustle, Astronauts, ETC., Jungle Fire, KING, and Spain as well as some new older music from Lewis, Hoyt Axton, Philip Cohran and the amazing sound of Rome Sithammarat out of Thailand. In the second hour we did a short tribute to one of my fave LA DJs, Gaslamp Killer, who had a show dedicated to him at the Mayan in September. Enjoy!

Melting Pot on KPFK #177: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #177: Second Hour

Playlist: 09-14-2014
{opening theme} Booker T & The MGs – Melting Pot – Melting Pot (Stax)

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Jimmy Scott – Our Day Will Come – The Source (Atlantic)
Cecil McBee – A Feeling – Mutima (Strata East)
Cymande – Promised Heights – Promised Heights (Janus)
The Albert – Pity The Child – The Albert (Perception)

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Electric Wire Hustle – Blackwater – Love Can Prevail (Okay Player)
Rome Sithammarat – Sao New Look – The Sound Of Siam Vol. 2 (Soundway)
Philip Cohran & the Artistic Heritage Ensemble – The Minstrel – Philip Cohran & the Artistic Heritage Ensemble (Zulu)

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Meshell Ndegeocello – Tom – Comet, Come To Me (Naïve)
KING – Mister Chameleon – Single (Self-Released)
Tim Maia – Reu Confesso – Tim Maia (1974) (Polydor)

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Gaslamp Killer feat. Adrian Younge and MRR – Dead Vets – Breakthrough (Brainfeeder)
Gaslamp Killer – Helio X GLK (Excerpt) – Helio X GLK (Now-Again)
Flying Lotus feat. Gaslamp Killer – GNG BNG – Los Angeles (Warp)
Gonajsufi feat. Gaslamp Killer – Kobwebz – A Sufi & A Killer (Warp)
Asha Bohsle & Suresh Wadkar – Yeh Hawa Yey Fiza – Sadma: Original Soundtrack (CBS)
Gaslamp Killer – Nissim – Breakthrough (Brainfeeder)

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Jungle Fire – Tropicoso – Tropicoso (Nacional)
Hoyt Axton – California Girls – Country Funk Vol. 2 (Light In The Attic)
The Savage Resurrection – Talking To You – The Savage Resurrection (Mercury)
Adrian Younge – There Is Only Now – There Is Only Now (Instrumentals) (Linear Labs)

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Lewis – Like To See You Again – L’amour (Light In The Attic)
Spain – The Fighter – Sargent Place (Dine Alone)
Astronauts, ETC. – Gravity – Sadie EP (Hit City USA)
Caroline Peyton – Brister – Intuition (BBQ)

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{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Bitar (Kemado)

Originally planned to have Mike Watt return to the station for another interview and a guest DJ set (kind of a “the Watt from Pedro” at KPFK sorta thing), but he wasn’t able to make it to the station in time after picking up the other members of his Il Sogno Marinaio project. So, I packed a big bag of records, burned a couple of little CDs with new tunes and kept it loose. Quite a few long tracks, including a birthday tribute to Sonny Rollins with the all-world “The Eternal Triangle.” High anxiety getting it together, but mostly mellow moods on the air.

Melting Pot on KPFK #176: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #176: Second Hour

It was a dream come true and a complete honor to interview Mike Watt at KPFK this Summer. For several months I’d been thinking about doing a tribute to the Minuteman’s album Double Nickels On The Dime, and the thought crossed my mind to interview the remaining members, Mike Watt and George Hurley, about this classic record. In a perfect world, it would have been great to have brought in George Hurley too, but I had no way of contacting him. Thankfully, I was able to get in touch with Mike Watt and after a couple of attempts, I was able to get him to come into the studios at KPFK. From the moment I shook hands with him to the moment he said goodbye, we talked about this band and about this record. There was probably about 30 or 40 minutes of conversation before I even had the bright idea to turn on the microphones and record. What followed was a far ranging roughly 75 minute interview discussing the band and the recording of this landmark album. On the tribute that aired live on KPFK, I had to edit large sections of the interview in order to be able to make enough time to play the entirety of Double Nickels. It really pained my heart to have to cut out so many of the stories, so here is the full interview, unedited and uncensored. Some of these stories Watt has shared before, but there were a few that a hardcore fan like myself had never heard. Absolutely one of my favorite interviews I’ve done in my career and I’m really thankful that I was able to do it and that I get to share it here.

Mike Watt Interview on KPFK’s Melting Pot: 7-31-2014

Earlier this Summer, Double Nickels On The Dime, the classic album from the Minutemen, celebrated it’s 30th anniversary. Double Nickels is one of my favorite albums, something I’ve listened to hundreds of times over the years. It’s an album that has deep personal meaning for me, along with a handful of others, because it’s something that really changed the way I hear music and informed my personal and political sensibilities. When the idea for a tribute show came to mind, I knew I wanted to play the entire record, from start to finish. I wanted to include some information about the Minutemen and the recording of this album and considered using clips from the documentary We Jam Econo. Thankfully I was able to get a hold of Mike Watt and he was extremely gracious with his time, driving up from Pedro on a traffic filled hot summer weekday and spending almost two hours with me about the band and this album. Given the constraints of time, I had to edit down that conversation for the on-air program, but you can find our full conversation right here. All together this was truly a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience. One of the shows that I’m most proud of in my 20+ year radio career. Enjoy this one to the fullest.

Melting Pot on KPFK #175: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #175: Second Hour

Playlist: 08-31-2014

{opening theme} Booker T & The MGs – Melting Pot – 7″ (Stax)

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Mike Watt – Interview – Recorded Live At KPFK: 07-31-2014

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The Minutemen – Side D. – Double Nickels On The Dime (SST)

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The Minutemen – Side Mike (Part 1) – Double Nickels On The Dime (SST)

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The Minutemen – Side Mike (Part 2) – Double Nickels On The Dime (SST)

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The Minutemen – Side George – Double Nickels On The Dime (SST)

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The Minutemen – Side Chaff – Double Nickels On The Dime (SST)

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{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Bitar (Kemado)

First “real” show in a real long time, and this one is a doosey. When we have fundraisers and special programming, the music really piles up, plus I’ve been buying a ton of vinyl of late so there were all kinds of sounds that I’ve been waiting to share with you. Also, last week I went to New Orleans for a small-time getaway just before my birthday and the start of the new semester here at Long Beach, so there’s a few of my finds in the mix too. The show begins with a recently released protest song from Lauryn Hill, connected to the ongoing injustice in Ferguson, MO here in the states. The show also features a lot of anniversary music, a couple albums celebrating 20th anniversaries, Brother Sister from the Brand New Heavies and Grace from Jeff Buckley. I also play a Minutemen track that a different version is featured on their landmark album Double Nickels On The Dime, which I’ll be paying tribute to next Sunday for it’s 30th anniversary. Speaking of anniversaries, there’s also a couple songs dedicated to Chicano Batman’s Bardo Martinez and his new wife Laura in the second hour.

Finally, I also play some new music from Joanna Gruesome in the last set. The band played a couple of shows here in LA over the weekend and only deepened the heavy music crush I had on them, especially lead singer Alanna McArdle. I ran out of time, so I wasn’t able to read the amazing statement she posted after recently having to cancel a concert to take care of her mental health. It’s so incredibly rare to have a statement like this, here’s the link to it, please read it when you have a chance. If Alanna and Meredith of Perfect Pussy ever join forces in the same group, I’m not sure my heart could bear it, we’re lucky to have these fierce rock’n’rollers with us right now. Enjoy the show, next week it’s allllll Minutemen folks!

Melting Pot on KPFK #174: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #174: Second Hour

Playlist: 08-24-2014
{opening theme} Booker T & the Mgs – Melting Pot – 7” (Stax)

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Lauryn Hill – Black Rage (Sketch) – Single (Self-released)
Eugene McDaniels – Headless Heroes – Headless Heroes Of The Apocalypse (Atlantic)
Jungle Fire – Comencemos – 7” (Colemine)
Dr. John – Where Ya At Mule – Sun, Moon & Herbs (Atco)
Sidney Bechet – Blue Horizon – Jazz Classics Vol. 1 (Blue Note)
Antibalas – Tattletale Pt. 1 – 7” (Daptone)

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KING – Mr. Chameleon – Single (Self-Released)
Brand New Heavies – Back To Love – Brother Sister (Delicious Vinyl)
Ed Motta – Dried Flowers – AOR (Dwitza)
Erasmo Carlos – Mane Joao – Sonhos E Memorias (Polydor)
Louiz Banks – Song For My Lady – Spritiual Jazz Vol. 5 (Jazzman)

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Oy – Marketplace – No Problem Saloon (Crammed Discs)
Los Hacheros – Toma Tu Pilon – Pilon (Daptone)
Jeff Buckley – Dream Brother – Grace (Columbia)
Ismael Lo – Tajabone – All About My Mother: Original Soundtrack (Universal)
Lost Midas – Archetype Forgotten – Off The Course (Tru Thoughts)

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Electric Wire Hustle – Look In The Sky – By & Bye (Okay Player)
Betty & Angel – Everlasting Love – 7” (Every Day)
Chris Connor – Try A Little Tenderness – Sings Lullabys Of Birdland (Bethlehem)
Dirty Three – Ashen Snow – Toward The Low Sun (Drag City/Anchor & Hope)
Chicano Batman – La Tigresa – Recorded Live At KPFK (KPFK Archives)

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Souls of Mischief & Adrian Younge – Panic Struck – There Is Only Now (Linear Labs)
Angkanang Kunchai – Lam Plearn Mee Mia Leaw Pai – The Sound Of Siam Vol. 2 (Soundway)
Allah-Las – 501-415 – Worship The Sun (Innovative Leisure)
Gales of Joy – Oh Yes – 7” (King)
Bo Rhambo – Two For The Blues – Enchanted Evening (imperial)

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Joanna Gruesome – Psykick Espionage – 7” (Slumberland/Captured Tracks)
The Minutemen – Little Man With A Gun In His Hand – Buzz Or Howl Under The Influence Of Heat (SST)
Louis Prima – Oh Marie – The Wildest! (Capitol)
Kasai All-Stars – The Chief Enthronement / Oyaye – Beware The Fetish (Crammed Discs)
Chico Hamilton Quintet – Siete Cuatro – Chico Hamilton Quintet (Pacific Jazz)

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Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Bitar (Kemado)