As I write these words, the US Supreme Court today overturned Roe v. Wade, and has now, for the first time in our nation’s entire history, taken away rights instead of expanding rights for Americans. The writing has been on the wall for some time, given the current make-up of the court, and how radical jurists aligned with the anti-abortion movement have been (despite what they publicly stated in their confirmation hearings), and also given the leak in May of what turned out to be essentially the final draft of this opinion. That backdrop, combined with increasing anti-LGBTQ+, particularly anti-Trans, legislation, discrimination and outright violence in the US and around the world, certainly affected my choice to focus on Queer punk for this year’s Pride show on Moods In Free Time.

Whether you like it or not, Punk rock is music that you viscerally feel and that intensity of feeling is something that you cannot ignore. As I mention in the show, there aren’t a lot of genres that fully encompass all of the emotions I feel in this moment, anger, shock, horror and even more that I can’t fully articulate. With only an hour, there’s only so much that I could highlight and so I made the choice to highlight LGBTQ+ artists from different periods of time in each set, from the 1970s to the present time. The songs themselves run the gamut of the diversity of styles that fall under “punk rock” as a genre, and also speak to a variety of moods and feelings, some exhibit a righteous anger, others lambast and lampoon homophobia, some strike a defiant & prideful tone, others are more tender in how they express what life is like for Queer folk in this country and internationally.

Whether you see yourself as being Queer, or are an ally, these issues do not just affect a single group. They affect us all. That much is clear today…in Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurrent opinion he notes that the logic that overturned Roe, should now be applied to new cases that will strike down other rights, such as those around contraception, the legality of same-sex sexual relationships and same-sex marriage, but it also threatens things that Thomas left unmentioned, such as interracial marriage in the Loving case, or even the end of segregation that came via the Brown decision. All that is now required is for a state to choose to challenge those and other rights, and pass laws against them, and this court has signaled that it will overturn them as it has Roe. In thinking of this present moment, I am reminded of the poem, “First they came…” inspired by Nazi apologists in 1930s Germany, who sat back and said nothing as they rose to power, until it was too late.

“First they came for the Communists,
And I did not speak out,
Because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the Socialists,
And I did not speak out,
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
And I did not speak out,
Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
And I did not speak out,
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me,
And there was no one left,
To speak out for me…”

Looking at the potential future of this country, thinking about which rights are next on the chopping block, I wonder how we will look back on this day and this moment in another 10, 15 or 20 years. I wonder who will pay attention, who will stand up and add their voice to the cause to expand freedom for all, and who will remain silent, thinking that somehow they will be protected because of where they live, or what identity they have, since the fire hasn’t turned their way…yet. Perhaps next month I’ll be able to focus on more hopeful feelings, but for the moment, this was what felt right to do with the voice I have, while I still have it.

I know I say it at the close of each show, but especially in this moment, I wish you all Peace and Bright Moments…

Moods In Free Time: 030 – Queer Punk Pride

Playlist – Moods In Free Time 030: Queer Punk Pride
{opening theme} The Visitors – The Juggler – In My Youth (Muse)

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Jayne County & the Electric Chairs – Are You Man Enough To Be A Woman? – Storm The Gates Of Heaven (Safari)
The Germs – Lexicon Devil – GI (Slash)
Husker Du – Broken Home Broken Heart – Zen Arcade (SST)
The Bloods – Undercover Nation – Born In Flames (First Run Features)
Au Pairs – America – Sense and Sensuality (Roadrunner)
Controllers – Suburban Suicide – 7” (Siamese Records)

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Vaginal Davis & Robespierre – Queens – 7” (Spectra Sonic Records)
Tribe 8 – Lezbophobia – By The Time We Get To Colorado (Outpunk)
God Is My Co-Pilot – Straight Not – My Sinister Secret Agenda 7” (Blackout!)
Limp Wrist – I Love Hardcore Boys, I Love Boys Hardcore – Don’t Knock It, Til You Try It (Self-Released)
Behead The Prophet No Lord Shall Live – Lewd Lewd Lewd – I Am That Great and Fiery Force (Outpunk/K)
Huggy Bear – Pansy Twist – Taking The Rough With The Smooch (Kill Rock Stars)
Sleater Kinner – I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone – Call The Doctor (Kill Rock Stars)
Team Dresch – Don’t Try Suicide – Captain My Captain (Chainsaw/Candy Ass)

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Pansy Division with Jello Biafra – Average Man – That’s So Gay (Alternative Tentacles)
G.L.O.S.S. – Give Violence A Chance – Trans Day Of Revenge 7” (Total Negativity/Nervous Nelly)
Causa – Ya Callase – Demo (Self-released)
Dominatrix – Filhas, Maes e Irmas – EP 2009 (Self-released)
Fea – Feminazi – Fea (Blackheart Records)
Hunx & His Punx – Bad Boy – Too Young To Be In Love (Hardly Art)
Pink Suits – Fake Great Britain – Political Child (Self Released)

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{closing theme} Tony Williams – Wild Life – Believe It (Columbia)

Having spent so much of 2022 in a fairly deep depressive state, that kept me from doing virtually anything other than teaching my classes, it likely would have made a lot of sense to focus on “Depression” as a mood for May, given that the month IS mental health awareness month.  At some point I’ll do a show like that (though I’ll balance it with another emotion that relates to what it feels like when you come out of a depressive episode…maybe in 2023), this month wasn’t the month.  And so, I was thankful for a bit of inspiration one day while I was in bed doomscrolling, and that inspiration came from outer space, specifically from NASA.  Turns out that the first Friday of each May is International Space Day, and this year NASA celebrated by presenting the latest of its “sonifications,” where they make sounds connected to specific aspects of space.  This year was special, because for the first time (at least that appeared to be the case) it wasn’t just NASA creating sounds, but actually using sound waves created in space to create sounds that we could hear.  Of the two they shared, it was the second one that really provided the spark for this show.  NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory put together this sonification by melding together data from Chandra, the Hubble Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Milimeter Array in Chile.  What you hear is the actual sound produced when some type of material fell into the Black hole in the Messier 87 Galaxy and produced a massive jet (known as a “Galactic Jet”).

While the image and the sound are beautiful, they are also incredibly terrifying when you think of them.  Some thing passed through that black hole to produce that jet and that sound wave (people often think that Space is a vacuum, but in fact where there are pockets of Space gas, that gas will carry sound, which is how the radio waves from Messier87 made it to Earth), so it’s almost like we’re hearing some kind of cosmic swan song.  And what’s really wild is we’re not supposed to actually hear it!  The sound produced in that moment is one that human ears cannot hear.  NASA had to scale the sounds up 57-58 octaves for us to hear it, or, another way of thinking of it, the sounds are 144-288 quadrillion times higher than they were originally!!! That shit is just fucking nuts.  But the result is 30 seconds of ethereal, cosmic, spacey sound, something that would have been perfectly placed on the legendary “Music From The Hearts Of Space” radio program, that I used to listen to as a kid and had a hand in shaping how I hear music of this like.

And then, to top it all off, we got word that space synth pioneer Vangelis passed away on May 17th, and that just sealed the deal that this month’s mood would be “Spacey.”  As I mention on the show, I’ve been buying a lot of spacey, synthy records over the last couple years, often playing them in my home with the echo effect on and just vibing.  With all of those things coming together, it just made perfect sense to spend the hour on some spacey synthy sounds and that’s what I did.  It also felt right to just do the whole show as a single mix, instead of breaking it up into separate sets.  I dug the vibe, and hope you do too.  We’ll see where we go with things for June.  As much as this world appears to be on fire, in multiple ways, Space sounds like a really good place to be…but for Pride month, perhaps I’ll focus on queer love and the possibilities for something better existing down here on the ground…Until then, enjoy the show.

Moods In Free Time: 029 – Spacey

Playlist – Moods In Free Time 029: Spacey
{opening theme} The Visitors – The Juggler – In My Youth (Muse)

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NASA – Sounds From The Black Hole At The Center Of The Messier 87 Galaxy
– Single (Self-released)
Vangelis – Theme From Cosmos – The Music Of Cosmos (RCA)
Nightcrawlers – Tanzwut – Nightcrawlers (Synkronos)
Gert Thrue – Sound Paint Pictures Of Cosmic Love – Sound Paint Pictures Of Cosmic Love (Stuk)
Automatic Man – I.T.D. (Interstellar Tracking Devices) – Automatic Man (Island)
Orange Power – Stargates – Sound Giants (Sonoton)
Renato Mendes – A Noite Do Meu Bem – Electronicus (RGE)
Space Art – Odyssey – Trip In The Center Head (If Records)
Vicente Rojas y Orquesta Egrem – Hermanados En La Hazana – Intercosmos: Vuelo Espacial Conjunto (Egrem)

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{closing theme} Tony Williams – Wild Life – Believe It (Columbia)

You wouldn’t know it by how few times I’ve posted on here in the past year (solely due to what I can only describe as a “pandemic-exacerbated-PTSD-related Depressive funk”) but I’ve been buying as much if not more vinyl this whole time. I’m hoping that I finally shook off that funk and will be posting more regularly from here on out and sharing more of this music that’s just been piling up in my casita.

This month’s show is connected to some of those new additions, but is specifically focused on the grip of new (well, they’re all old dusties, but they’re new to me) Brasilian vinyl I’ve gotten at the Artform Studio and the Mr. Bongo & Craig Moerer Rappcats pop-ups. As I mention in the show, “Alegria,” the portuguese word for “Joy” was chosen as the mood, not only because tracking down great records makes me all kinds of happy, but also because when I find new Brasilian records that I haven’t heard or haven’t owned before I do a little shoulder shimmy and a specific part of Toni Tornado’s “Uma Vida,” where the chorus sings “Alegria!” plays in my head. I hope these songs bring you as much joy as they bring me.

Moods In Free Time: 028 – Alegria

The idea to do a tribute show to Carol Kaye popped into my late in 2021 when I noticed that this March’s show would be on her birthday. Too often we pay tribute to legendary artists only when they’ve passed away, and I wanted instead to pay tribute to a true living legend while she still walked amongst us. With such an enormous catalog of songs, paying proper tribute to Kaye’s work in only an hour was a daunting task, and something that I researched and worked on for most of 2022 leading up to the show. There were a couple of times where I had to confirm with other DJs/Collectors/Music heads whether or not she was in fact playing on an album, or if another bass player was essentially playing in her style (as is the case on David Axelrod’s Earthrot). Ultimately these were the tracks that I thought best showcased what makes Carol Kaye one of the recorded and most sampled bassists of all time. In terms of a mood for the month in honor of her, nothing else seemed to fit the majesty of her exceptional sound and depth and breadth of her recordings than “magnificence.” Very proud of how this one came together, and very thankful to pay tribute to the magnificence of Carol Kaye on her 86th birthday.

Moods In Free Time: 027 – Magnificence

Every February, everyone is focused on love because of Valentine’s Day. I thought about focusing the show on one of the many moods associated with love, but to be perfectly frank, I spent most of February just being damn horny. Part of the inspiration from this show was held over from the 90s nostalgia I had back in January and having Tribe Called Quest’s “Electric Relaxation,” on repeat and marveling at just how sex focused that song was. A lot of people seem to miss that entirely, perhaps because that “Mystic Brew” inspired beat overpowers you, but the song is about nothing but Tip and Fife talking about how much they love having sex with the particular partners they’re currently “romancing.” Hip-Hop often is painted as being unique in how frank and directly sexual many of it’s songs are, but raunchy songs ain’t nothing new. In fact, we take it all the way back to the 18th century with the one and only Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his delightful ode to Analingus, translated below from the original German:

Lick my arse nicely,
lick it nice and clean,
nice and clean, lick my arse.
That’s a greasy desire,
nicely buttered,
like the licking of roast meat, my daily activity.
Three will lick more than two,
come on, just try it,
and lick, lick, lick.
Everybody lick their arse for themselves.

Now, THAT is a greasy desire, indeed! And so, instead of being all lovey dovey, I chose “Lascivious,” and focused on some of the raunchiest, dirtiest (and aside from Tribe which starts the show, non-Hip-Hop) music I’ve ever come across. Back when I was on terrestrial radio I would have had to censor most every lyric in these songs, but being on online radio is a different beast, and thus you get to hear all of these songs in all their lascivious glory. I hope these songs bring a smile to you, make you blush and maybe got you thinking some lascivious thoughts of your own.

Moods In Free Time: 026 – Lascivious

Started the year off with a bit of nostalgia for the 1990s, and a warm and fuzzy feeling for the period of time where I came up as a DJ. As I mention in the show, the inspiration for this show, and the choice for the mood “Kama Muta” (which I made a bit of a slip at the start saying “Kama Suta” which is a little close to the Kama sutra and tells you a bit of where my mind was at the time, Ha!), a sanskrit word which directly translates as “moved by love,” but has been applied to that warm and fuzzy feeling that comes from a cherished memory, was from growing up in Atlanta and listening to Album 88 and the Weekend Wrecking Crew. On Sundays during their legendary show, “Rhythm & Vibes,” they would do a “Sample Clearance,” where they’d play the sample to a Rap song, and then see if the audience could guess which track flipped it. All the 1990s nostalgia I was feeling at the start of the year reminded me of how much that show and its DJs shaped my ears and had me digging for samples from Golden era Hip-Hop songs, which was a major influence on my musical tastes all the way to the present day. Over two sets in this show, I do a sort of re-creation of “Sample Clearance,” that Randall and them used to do on Album 88 back in the day (most of the crew is actually still together and still on the radio, just now on WREK). Hope you dig it as much as I dug digging up these breaks back in the day.

Moods In Free Time: 024 – Kama Muta

Playlist – Moods In Free Time 025: Kama Muta
{opening theme} The Visitors – The Juggler – In My Youth (Muse)

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Bohannon – Singing A Song For My Mother – Stop & Go (Dakar)
Ed O.G. & Da Bulldogs – I Got To Have It – Life Of A Kid In The Ghetto (PWL America/Polygram/Mercury)
Lonnie Smith – Spinning Wheel – Drives (Blue Note)
A Tribe Called Quest – Can I Kick It? – People’s Instinctive Travels In The Paths Of Rhythm (Jive)
Ronnie Foster – Mystic Brew – Two Headed Freap (Blue Note)

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James Brown – Can Mind – Sho Is Funky Down Here (King)
Brand Nubian – All For One – One For All (Elektra)
The Crusaders – A Message From The Inner City – 2nd Crusade (Blue Thumb)
Queen Latifah – U.N.I.T.Y. – Black Reign (Motown)
Tom Scott with The California Dreamers – Today – The Honeysuckle Breeze (Impulse)
Pete Rock & CL Smooth – They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.) – Mecca & The Soul Brother (Elektra)

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{closing theme) Tony Williams – Wild Life – Believe It! (Columbia)