The Deathray Davies: Plan To Stay Awake

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Plan To Stay Awake MP3

Irregular Frequency: July 2005

1) Today Is Like Cash: Cesar Romero 0:30
2) Baby: Portastatic 4:23
3) Martini 5-0: The Cocktail Preachers 2:49
4) Tattoo Java: The Dead Brothers 0:33
5) Learn Italian With Fabio 0:18
6) Ooh Ahh: Tiki Tiki Bamboooos 3:22
7) #1 Song: Segue Shuffle Project HMK.TBR 0:03
8) La Paloma Mambo: Mambo Juan Vicari and His Orchestra 2:38
9) You Belong To My Heart: Los Indios Tabajaras 2:29
10) Pet Sounds: The Beach Boys 2:22
11) Away With The Pixies: Ben Lee 3:01
12) Weird Windchimes 0:06
13) Opening Day: Fred Karlin 3:50
14) 70s Jets: Fisk Industries 4:25
15) Detroit Basketball: Segue Shuffle Project HMK.TBR 0:10
16) London Calling: Prozak for Lovers 3:19
17) You Don't Love Me (Yes I Know: Smith 3:18
18) Bueno: Segue Shuffle Project HMK.TBR 0:01
19) Me And My Monkey: The Beatles 2:24
20) Grazing In The Grass: Hugh Masekela 2:37
21) 5-0 Spot: The Ventures 1:05
22) Aonori: Tiki Tiki Bamboooos 2:37
23) Lulu's Back In Town: The Dead Brothers 0:56
24) I Get Around: The Deathray Davies 2:06
25) True Story: Segue Shuffle Project HMK.TBR 0:06
26) Nice, France: Pizzacato 5 2:32
27) Swim Beat: Bill Lewis 1:49
28) 13 Past 4 GMT: Segue Shuffle Project HMK.TBR 0:02
29) Hot Stuff: Fred Karlin 2:29
30) I Found My Wahine: Billy Mure 2:07
31) Bewick's Wren: Segue Shuffle Project HMK.TBR 0:10
32) Walter's Theme: R.E.M. 1:31
33) You Know Where To Find Me: Portastatic 4:44
34) Hot Conversation Jill: Real Personal Ads 0:11
35) Uh Huh Oh Yeah: Tiki Bongo 2:30
36) Clampdown: Urban Surf Kings 2:13
37) Tio Macro: Wilson Das Neves 1:49
38) Miser Lou: Lounge Louie 2:44

Irregular Frequency is a subdiary of Totally Bitchin' Recording and The Tiki Room Experiment

Study: Digital listening growing, radio slipping

An increasing number of people are turning to computers or portable players for music, even though traditional radio still leads the competition, a recent market study has indicated.

In March 2005, approximately 77.2 million customers listened to music stored on a computer, up 22 percent from 63.2 million during the same month last year, according to a report from market researcher NPD Group. The study also found that online radio stations had 53.5 million listeners this March, up from 45.3 million a year ago. Free streaming of music also saw gains, with a rise of 37 percent, to 46 million listeners.

Though radio continued to be the preferred medium, the number of consumers listening to radio fell by 4 percent in March 2005 to 194 million, down from 203 million a year earlier. The survey was carried out among 5,000 consumers aged 13 and above.


"The rise of digital listening and storage for music continues unabated this year," Russ Crupnick, president of the Music and Movies division at NPD, said in a statement. "Technology companies are providing new tools to consumers in the form of powerful music-enabled PCs and portable music players; music companies are answering the call for more content; and consumers are responding positively."

More and more tech companies are boosting their music business, encouraged by the dramatic popularity of Apple's iTunes store and iPod music players. Earlier this week, Yahoo launched a new subscription music service.

According to the NPD survey, the number of consumers who rip music onto their computers has more than doubled since March 2004. Also, there was a substantial, 127 percent, increase in transfer of music to MP3 players since last year. A 93 percent increase in paid music downloads during the same period indicates an increasing acceptance of the online medium, NPD said.

Thanks to CNET News.com Staff http://www.news.com/

IF:04.29.05

Irregular Frequency: 04.29.05

1) The Narrator: 0:35
2) West Side Radio: Keyton Hopkins 2:58
3) Presszo Csa Csa: Club Ensemble 2:51
4) Diversion: The Equals 3:37
5) Who Took the Cookie: Tony Schwartz 0:46
6) Stoked Man: The Wedges 2:45
7) At the River's Edge: New Colony Six 2:37
8) Protonok Tanca: Illes 2:35
9) King Size Coke: 1:00
10) Tabu: Andor Kovacs 2:55
11) Steady Grindin': Stump Johnson 2:24
12) I Touch Myself: Scala Pop 2:20
13) Don't Give A Damn: King Cain & The Silvertone Band 2:59
14) Soul Power: Jimmy Willis 2:52
15) King Of The Hotdoggers: The Wedges 3:30
16) Apache: Bert Weedon 2:36
17) Bullseye: The Matini's 1:53
18) Gremmie Out Of Control: The Silly Surfers 1:58
19) Double Huey Skit: De la Soul 3:52
20) I Wanna Be Your Love: The Cobras 2:57
21) Shimmy: Toussaint McAll 2:21
22) Thunderbird Commercial: 1:58
23) The Hen: Louis Chachere 2:30
24) Little Honda: The Surfsiders 1:39
25) Twangy Tavern: Keyton Hopkins 1:41
26) Psyc Out: 0:56
27) Foot Stumping: The Organics 2:20
28) Motorola Radio Transistor: 0:59
29) What I Go To School For: Busted 3:33
30) Let's Go: The Caribs 2:11
31) The Cool One: Jazztet 2:53
32) The Red-Eyed Rats: Keyton Hopkins 2:18
33) We're an Accordian Band: Those Darn Accordians 2:51
34) Wrong Turn: Peter Falk 0:30

Irregular Frequency is a subdiary of Totally Bitchin' Recording and The Tiki Room Experiment

Fiesta Vibes 2005!

Congratulations! You made it. Taxes are done and you've survived the first 105 days of 2005 to celebrate another FIESTA season here in beautiful downtown San Antonio! The Gods and the Pope must be smiling on you. Again, congratulations.

Directions:
How to use your 2005 FIESTA VIBES CD:

Either:

A: Take the 2005 FIESTA VIBES CD with you everywhere you go this FIESTA and demand (nicely!) that it's played immediately using phrases like "Yo, this'll get your gordita shakin'..." or "Dude, you gotta hear track 11!" or something to that effect..

B: Convert to mp3, enjoy in your iPod, on your player at the office, or wherever you can.

AND/OR

Si) After you've mp3ed 2005 FIESTA VIBES CD please pass it along to somebody else you know will dig it too, and advise them of options A,B & Si!

Like the cd itself, it's important to repeat the above as often as necessary.

Viva Fiesta!

Fiesta Vibes 2005: The Soundtrack To Your Fiesta Lifestyle

1) Killer Time: Napoleon Dynamite 0:02
2) Eres Un Encanto: Flaco Jimenez 2:41
3) A Minha Namorada: Eduardo Costa E Seu Conjunto 2:37
4) Bate A Palma: Miguel Angel 1:41
5) Down In Mexico: The Coasters 3:19
6) Amor Em Tempo De Verao: Helton Menezes 1:53
7) Jungle Fever: The Chakachas 4:20
8) Caramba: Ed Lincoln 2:48
9) Sweet: Napoleon Dynamite 0:01
10) Eres Tu: Jimmy Mitchell 3:41
11) Roll A Bob Marley: Hank Marlee 3:47
12) Go For It: Napoleon Dynamite 0:01
13) Aos Pes Da Cruz: Caculinha Seu Orgao E Seu 2:16
14) Stereo: Killer Bees 3:38
15) Las Golondrinas: Flaco Jimenez 2:31
16) La Cucaracha: Mariachi Silvestre Vargas 2:49
17) Hey Baby Que Paso: Texas Tornados 3:01
18) Friggin Idiot: Napoleon Dynamite 0:01
19) Bolinha De Sabao: Orquestra RCA Victor 2:31
20) Balanco Azul: Ed Lincoln 1:49
21) Spring Fiesta: Cosmonauti 1:56
22) De Presente: Eumir Deodato 2:17
23) Dont Go Breakin My Heart: Wilson Neves E Seu Conjunto 2:17
24) Heck Yes: Napoleon Dynamite 0:01
25) Patio A-Go-Go: The Sugar Twins 2:35
26) Fiesta En El Cielo: Sergio Vega 3:17
27) It's Friday Night: Flakiss 4:03
28) Yessss: Napoleon Dynamite 0:02
29: Marina: Flaco Jimenez 2:52
30) No Me Vuelvo A Enamorar 3:17
31) Comecou De Brincadeira: Conjuntto Sambacana 2:17
32) Ven A Darme Amaor: Robert Jordån 3:33
33) Talkin' About: Napoleon Dynamite 0:01
34) Mary Cristo: Tribalistas 3:00
35) La Costilla: Mariachi Silvestre Vargas 2:49

But, I don't, I mean, why don't I have a copy of the Fiesta Vibes 2005? Relax my cascarone carrying amigo, if you don't have a copy of FIESTA VIBES 2005, you can get one by either scoring one from anyone that's following the directions or by simply buying me a beer the next time you see me. It's just that simple!

Peace, don't drink and drive or do anything else that might hurt you or anyone else.

owt,

HMK

Sweet Summer Mix: 2005

Hope you're enjoying this mello little mix! I know it's not really officially summer yet - - consider this a teaser test drive. As usual, comments and thoughts are welcomed - see below. HMK

1) Sweet: Napoleon Dynamite
2) Sweet Summer: School Play
3) Tristeza: Baden Powell
4) Hiding Behind the Moon: Jeff Hanson
5) Run-Around: Blues Traveler
6) The Look Of Love: Dusty Springfield
7) StereoMike2: BV3000
8) Everybody Wants Some: Boston VA
9) That's What I'm Talkin About: Napoleon Dynamite
10) A Little Less Conversation: Elvis remix David Holmes
11) I Get The Sweetest Feeling: Jackie Wilson
12) Sweet Thing: Van Morrison
13) Soaking: Napoleon Dynamite
14) Angel Mine: Cowboy Junkies
15) Ain't No Trouble to Me: Guy Clarke
16) If I Needed You: Townes Van Zandt
17) Killer Time: Napoleon Dynamite
18) You Shook Me All Night Long: Barney Bental
19) Beautiful World: Devo
20) Talons: Napoleon Dynamite
21) I Love You: Asie Payton
22) Open Your Heart: Flaco Jimenez
23) All Green: Clem Snide
24) Tina: Napoleon Dynamite
25) La La Means I Love You: Delfonics
26) Afternoon Delight: Starland Vocal Band
27) Look For The Silver Lining: Chet Baker
28) Soft N Ez: Japancakes
29) Ven A Darme Amor: Roberto Jordán
30) Friggin Idiot: Napoleon Dynamite
31) They: Gem
32) StereoMike2: BV3000
33) One Step Closer: U2

Martin Denny dies at age 93

Musician Martin Denny, the father of the influential genre of pop
called "exotica," died yesterday at home in Hawai'i Kai. He was 93.
 
He was born April 5, 1911 in New York City.

Although in fragile health for some time — his doctors told him in
2003 that he had only a year to live — Denny was active and
performing until shortly before his death.

Denny created a hypnotic international sound that blended exotic
elements — bird calls, croaking frogs, jazz rhythms, chimes and
gongs. He once described it as a fusion of Asian, South Pacific,
American jazz, Latin American and classical styles.

Trained in classical music, he first studied piano at age 10 and was
a child prodigy of Lester Spitz and Eleanor Gorn. As a youth, he
toured South America with a six-piece band and frequent visits left
an impression — Latin elements infiltrated his exotic sounds.

 
A favorite in Waikiki in the 1950s and '60s, Denny first played the
old Shell Bar at the Kaiser Hawaiian Village Hotel, then moved to
clubs such as Don the Beachcomber's, which later became Duke
Kahanamoku's, in the International Market Place. Over the years, he
performed at the Kahala Hilton, the Hawaiian Regent, Canlis'
Restaurant and the Blue Dolphin Club.

In 1959, he was named by Billboard, the music industry bible,
as "most promising group of the year," and nominated for "pianist of
the year" alongside such giants as George Shearing and Ahmad Jamal.
In 1990, the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts honored Denny with a Na
Hoku Hanohano Lifetime Achievement Award.

In a 2003 interview on the eve of a tribute concert at the Hawai'i
Theater, Denny mused on the renewed recognition his music was getting.

"You know, I'm happy the music's back, because I'm frankly tired of
hearing the same old thing. Rap music. High-voltage rock 'n' roll,"
he scoffed. "What will kids today remember 20 years from now? There's
hardly anything romantic or melodic. I think a whole lot of good
music has been lost."

Thanks To Mike Gordon
Honalulu Advertiser Staff Writer

KPMP: Morbid Hysteria-Go-Go

This is the result of an early morning online Audio Mining expedition, the first in a series, God willing. Sponsored by the good folks over at Totally Bitchin' Recording. There are some truly generous people out-here in wireless space sharing audio gems from their personal stash that you simply won't find anywhere else on earth - at least not all on the same mix disc.

Instructions:

First, get a copy of this cd.
(Rip & stick onto your iPod or throw this into your cd player upon waking up enjoying that first cup of coffee and some pannekoeken)

Next, if possible, and if you can possibly manage the time, please play the entire disc all the way through the first time. Wake up on a free-day or anytime you've got an hour or so to truly chill out and relax, and enjoy. As usual, the comment section is there to share your thoughts with some of the other folks lucky enough to get this cd. If you see your name on the list, let me know via the comment link below and tell me where you want to meet and I can give you your copy and you can buy me lunch, a drink, or both if I'm lucky.

And if it's one thing I am, it's lucky.

The List (so far...):

Reagan Williamson: (Optional space is for your email after getting the disc)
Thomas Rehkopf:
Brian Parrish:
Carlos Zapata:
Parrish Ticer:
Steve Atkins:
Christopher Pawlick:
Jackie Earle Haley:
Michael MacKenzie:
Alvin Ditto:
Kevin Paetzel:
Stefan "Andrej" Shambora:
Michelle Garcia:
Joe Barfield:
Eben LaCasse:
Mitch Webb:
Joe Reyes:
John Dufilho:
Drew de la Cruz:
Jon Wurster:
Tommy Steele:
Jack Black:
Shane Whitefield:


KPMP: Morbid HysteriA-Go-Go
Compiled, Mixed and Recorded on Saturday morning 01.29.05

Bewick's Wren: Birds 0:10
What?: Huh? 0:02
Knock Me Down: The La's 3:17
Swiss Gaga 2: TBR/HMK 0:06
Diabolik's Hide Out: Ennio Morricone 1:52
Let's Turn Back: Ed Wood Jr. 2:45
The Human Tornado: Blaxploitation Radio Spot 1:02
Driving Decoys: Ennio Morricone 2:08
Money Orgy: Ennio Morricone 2:09
Chicken Yee Haw: Jelly Roll Ringtone 0:04
Lovers Of Today: The Only Ones 3:05
KPMP Tag: HMK 0:17
Just Kissed My Baby: The Meters 4:43
The Mack: Blaxploitation Radio Spot 1:01
Theme From Bedazzled: Tony Hatch 3:45
Hey Good Lookin': Ringtone 0:28
Soccer Practice: The Gay Pimp 4:02
As My Wife Says: The Only Ones 1:53
Superfly TNT: Blaxploitation Radio Spot 1:01
Headlines (Organ Freak Out 1): Ennio Morricone 0:33
Truck Turner: Blaxploitation Radio Spot 0:58
ttv: Telefon Tel Aviv 3:34
Defecting Grey: The Pretty Things 5:10
Come In Come Out: The La's 2:14
Trouble Man: Blaxploitation Radio Spot 1:00
You're Gonna Be Sorry: The Opals 2:25
Human Tornado: Main Theme Nice Treat Presents 2:24
Ghetto Freaks: Blaxploitation Radio Spot 0:55
Heaven On Their Minds: Urban Surf Kings 4:04
Suntory Pop Jingle #1: The Carpenters 0:32
Trippy Swiss Gaga: TBR/HMK 1:05
Your Love Means Everything (Part 2): Faultline 4:09

RIP Jingles

With more and more pop songs selling products, the world of advertising is being turned upside down. The irresistible, singable, stick-in-your-mindable jingle is dead.

In 1929, a barbershop quartet in Minneapolis sang a song about breakfast cereal on the radio. So began the long, lucrative, endearing, and excruciating heyday of the jingle, when cheerful tunes about things for sale permanently lodged themselves in people's brains. Humming consumers would then go out and buy Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco treat, or double their pleasure with Doublemint gum, or be a Pepper.

But the jingle, as anyone with a television knows, is a vanishing art form. It is too quaint, too corny, too oldschool for our ironic times. Naming your product in a commercial for your product is just tacky, say advertising executives. Modern pitchmen prefer pop songs that create a mood or spark an emotional association or conjure up some sort of vague but potent lifestyle-oriented craving that, if all goes as planned, attaches to a product and translates to a sale.

Which leaves the jingle writers scrambling to adapt to a world that has suddenly turned its back on their wares. How suddenly? Ten years ago Eric Korte, vice president and music director at the ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi, was commissioning original music for 90 percent of the company's campaigns. This year, more than half of his workload involves licensing published songs, and the trend is only gaining momentum.

“The jingle,” Korte says, “is dead.”

Of course there are exceptions. The Oscar Mayer wiener theme has been in constant rotation since 1963, and good money says everyone reading this newspaper can sing it start to finish. And jingles are still vital in local and regional markets. Notes Jon Aldrich, who teaches what he believes is the world's only jingle writing course at Berklee College of Music and pens jingles for K-B toys, Filene's, and Jordan's Furniture: "Everyone knows about Coca-Cola and McDonald's. They don't need ditties about their stuff. But Joe's Pizza Place needs to tell people where they are."

In New York and LA, however, music houses -- the companies that for decades have supplied the advertising industry with original music to accompany their national television and radio commercials -- are closing their doors in droves. Phil Ashley, cofounder of New York-based Rocket Music, folded his company in 2002. After creating jingles for Pepsi, Pizza Hut, Visa, Federal Express, KFC, and Gillette, Ashley says his decision was a simple matter of confronting reality. Demand for custom music was dwindling. Fees were plummeting. During his last few years in business, instead of composing original tunes, Ashley was rearranging "Route 66" for Johnny Rotten to sing in a Mountain Dew spot. Or not getting called at all.

"It's a cultural change. It's history moving on," says Ashley. "We're competing against a much larger pot of sources, and it just doesn't make sense to bang our heads against the wall. I know some people in my field are waiting for a better day. But I don't think it's likely to come."

For the shrinking circle of diehards, the business model has become downright Darwinian -- less a question of who's writing the stickiest song and more about who's able to adapt to the changing environment. Joey Levine is a former bubblegum-pop songwriter ("Sugar Sugar" and "Mony Mony" are his confections) who founded Crushing Music, the field's biggest commercial music house, in the late 1970s. Levine's first jingle was an inescapable Wheaties spot ("Too bad you didn't have your . . .") and over the next two decades he created indelible themes for the Peter Paul candy company ("Sometimes you feel like a nut"), Toyota ("You asked for it, you got it" and "Oh, what a feeling"), Budweiser ("This Bud's for you"), and Diet Coke ("Just for the taste of it").

Like Ashley, Levine found himself pouring more and more time into writing new arrangements for cover songs: Mike and the Mechanics' "All I Need Is a Miracle" for Verizon, for example, and the "Get Smart" theme for American Express. He realized he'd have to branch out even further and totally revamp the services he offered if he wanted to stay in business. So Levine accepted work penning themes and underscores for television programs.

"I'm a songwriter by trade, and I miss writing songs," Levine says. "Change is tough, but necessary, so you don't become obsolete. My business is significantly smaller. It's hard to survive. The record labels are music houses now."

The use of pop songs in advertising isn't new. What's changed is the willingness -- or more accurately, the eagerness -- of labels and artists to allow their material to be licensed for commercial purposes. Case in point: In the 1980s, Sting refused to allow the lyrics to the Police song "Don't Stand So Close to Me" to be used in a deodorant ad. In 2000, a major Jaguar campaign featured the rock star meditating in the back seat of an S-Type to the tune of his song "Desert Rose." That track had been released a year earlier on the album "Brand New Day," a sluggish seller that rocketed up the charts on the heels of the ad campaign.

Today, the stigma (of a musician being perceived as a sellout) and the once steep price tag attached to this collision of art and commerce have been vastly diminished -- fueled in large part by years of mounting losses in the recording industry.

"Once upon a time [selling a song to an advertiser] was a pact with the devil," says Gregory Grene, music producer at Foote Cone & Belding, whose clients include Hilton, Kraft, Taco Bell, and Diet Coke. "Now totally legitimate artists are thrilled to perform mini-concerts for ad people. The whole paradigm has shifted. The labels have no money to promote music. They're the driving force behind this."

Indeed. Desperate for alternative promotional and revenue sources, the major record labels have quietly established marketing units that exist exclusively to reach out to potential advertising partners. Keith D'Arcy was hired by Sony/BMG in April to pitch recordings from the company's catalog and respond to the needs of ad agencies searching for music. He's one of 33 employees at Sony/BMG who work with advertisers.

"We're creative experts that are on call to the ad community," says D'Arcy. "Eric Korte [at Saatchi] can call me with a concept and within three hours I'll have a compilation of songs to upload for him. It used to be that only big songs got licensed, but now even the major labels are paying attention to the opportunity that's created by having a new band in a cool ad."

And yet, Darcy concedes, one of the key things that's been sacrificed in the glut of pop music licensing is the most basic of advertising goals: product branding. Familiar songs may evoke an emotional response -- targeting baby boomers with classic rock tunes has been especially popular in recent years, with Led Zeppelin's "Rock 'n' Roll" careening through Cadillac commercials and the Rolling Stones singing "Start Me Up" for Microsoft. But there's rarely an explicit association between the song and the product being pitched, and that can cut both ways.

On the one hand, companies are increasingly looking at unorthodox ways of reaching a generation of young, sophisticated consumers who are turned off by traditional advertising -- which accounts for the recent collaboration between mainstream retailer Kmart and the cutting-edge Danish garage rock band the Raveonettes.

"You're trying to create a club for people who don't want to join clubs," says Ron Lawner, CEO of Boston-based Arnold Advertising, whose 1999 VW campaign using British singer-songwriter Nick Drake's "Pink Moon" sparked a huge surge in the late artist's album sales. "We've moved on to messaging that includes more of your life than just the product."

But the connection -- like so many aspects of modern life -- is ephemeral. D'Arcy notes that advertisers are licensing songs for shorter and shorter periods of time, sometimes just a few weeks, and considering the speed at which modern culture moves and changes, the ad world's constantly shifting landscape of rock tunes makes a certain sense. One has to wonder if product loyalty is headed in the same direction: destined to become as fleeting as the shelf life of a pop song.

The bottom line is we're in a hurry. It takes much longer for a company to build equity -- adspeak for audience familiarity -- with an original jingle than a pop tune, which comes with an immediately captive audience. And in practical terms it takes much longer to write and produce an original piece of music -- which is roughly the equivalent of a horse and buggy in these days of instantly downloadable digital music files.

The future of the jingle looks bleak, but Levine isn't giving up. He's downsized Crushing Music from 10 staff writers to a revolving stable of freelancers who can crank out musical moods on demand, from abstract sound designs -- a few beats on a synth pad, a chorus of whooshes -- to faux Bowie. He's radically reduced his once-labyrinthian network of studios. And in what is perhaps the most telling nod to the jingle writer's decline, after nearly 30 years in business Levine is changing his company's name.

"Certain people have certain perceptions. If I put this under a new banner, and show you new people, some young lions, you never know," Levine says. "I might get hotter."

Thanks to Joan Anderman at the Boston Globe. She can be reached at anderman@globe.com 

Audio Journal 2004 (An Audio Tip Of The Glass to 2004)

Cool. You're reading this. And by now you've had a chance to listen to the latest CD I gave you over the Holidays.
Below is the track listing. It's a random little mix of some of the stuff I've been digging over this past year. It's all over the place including new stuff from The Deathray Davies, portastatic, Tommy Stinson, U2, De la Soul, some killer old Blues freshly converted to digital from old 78 lps, Los #3 Dinners, my Tiki Room Garage Band ditties, a bit of found audio from my stumbles around the globe and even some of my favorite NPR stories among other little audio gems. As always, please feel free to comment and if there's anything you think I need to hear - please pass it along! If you don't find what you're looking for, in terms of track info, please let me know via the comments button at the bottom of this here Blog.

Throw this in the next time you're in the mood for a little NPR/College Radio/What the Hell was that?/I Can't believe these guys are not winning Grammys! type stuff. Gonna be in the car for a while? This is a perfect Trip to Austin CD (via 281 from San Antonio) or better yet, the drive to Big Bend. Oh, and if this makes it to your iPod, try and keep the sequence of these 31 audio events for at least the first few listens. Not to say that this was an exercise in linear story telling, but in this instance the placement of each track was thoughtfully considered and purely a conscious effort. And by the way, leaving a comment assures your name on the list for the next installment due out early February, 2005. Yeah, it's like that.

If you could possibly manage the time, please, let me know if you've found anything on the disc that did anything to move your soul or at least get your toes tappin' or perhaps, maybe, at some point during your first few listens you found yourself suddenly singing along to a song that pretty much nobody else in the world (or your age group) has ever even heard of.

So...Turn it up there Captain!

1) Apollo Chatter Intro: 0:15 Space Transitions ©TBR Segue
2) Ice Cold Lemonade 1:39 Lost EP Death By Chocolate
3) NYKRIS Leicester Square Gentlemans Room 0:45 NYKRIS pPod
4) Drinkin Shine 3:11 78s Elder Curry
5) The Tarpon Inn 2:45 http://music.download.com/tikibongo Tiki Bongo
6) Down In SA 2:42 Live From KSYM Los #3 Dinners
7) Paris Welcome 0:25 Paris Fun Facts NYT.com
8) In Spain 5:11 From The Back Of Eric's Trunk Buttercup
9) Autumn Got Dark 2:48 Autumn Was A Lark Portastatic
10) Bit Torrents 3:33 Paul Ford NPR
11) Open House 3:32 The Horrible Truth About Moped Moped
12) Letter To God 3:00 New 2004 The Deathray Davies
13) All Because Of You 3:39 How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb U2
14) Hey You 5:23 Village Gorilla Head Tommy Stinson
15) Apollo Chatter Hey John: 0:15 Space Transitions ©TBR Segue
16) Plan To Stay Awake 2:03 New 2004 The Deathray Davies
17) Harry Potter 2:09 Harry Potter Harry Potter
18) Early 4:12 H. Michael Karshis's Album H. Michael Karshis
19) Butts Outa Bed 0:06 My Darling Wife 2B Audio Sketch Book HMK
20) Necessito 2:54 Some Girls Some Girls
21) Don't Fuck With My Friends 3:55 New 2004 The Deathray Davies
22) Nice Airport 10/4/04 2:17 PM 0:38 Found Sound HMK
23) Up 'n' Down 2 1:48 H. Michael Karshis's Album H. Michael Karshis
24) Cutting Daisies 5:19 From The Back Of Eric's Trunk Buttercup
25) Paris Metro 1:32 Paris Fun Facts NYT
26) Vertigo 3:14 How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb U2
27) Paris Shopping 1:37 Paris Fun Facts NYT.com
28) Shoppin' Bags 3:57 The Grind Date De la Soul
29) Rockin & Rollin 1:03 78s Lil Son Jackson
30) Tiki Review 001 1:07 Bill, Bud & Ed's Excellent Adventure Found Sound HMK
31) What About Mine? 3:43 Folker Paul Westerberg
32) Apollo Chatter Cards & Letters: 0:15 Space Transitions ©TBR Segue



Peace My Friends,
HMK


HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS

Let your heart be light
From now on our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the Yule-tide gay
From now on our troubles will be miles away
Here we are as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more
Through the years
We all will be together
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough
And have yourself
A merry little Christmas now
- Written by Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane, 1943

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.
I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of
all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the
lessons that they teach."
- Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, 1843

Satellite Radio's Northern Exposure

JAX, Ontario

Rob MacArthur, a part-time music promoter, has a cardboard box full of nearly 60 CD's at his bar in this town half an hour east of Toronto, sent to him by independent Canadian musicians hoping for a shot at getting their songs on the radio.

For many of these artists the odds are slim, admits Mr. MacArthur, who is a guitarist in country bands himself. The music is good, but there isn't enough space on the radio for everyone, said the 43-year-old, who with his long gray hair and ready smile has the look of an aging country musician.

"It's constrictive," he said. "If you're a new artist trying to break in, you're having a hell of a time."

But those artists may be getting more exposure if satellite radio, with its hundreds of channels, is approved in Canada, as many here expect it to be early next year.

And in the process, the more than three million subscribers to XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio in the United States may find a slightly more Canadian flavor on the radio: more Canadian music, more Canadian news and more Canadian comedy.

That is because to win approval here, satellite radio must become a little more Canadian.

Though XM and Sirius signals reach Canada, and some Canadians furtively own receivers, the equipment is not yet legal. The hitch is a decades-old Canadian broadcasting policy meant to guarantee that the content on Canadian airwaves is sufficiently Canadian (about 35 percent for the typical music radio station) and not overwhelmed by a flood of American pop culture.

These rules remain important for Canada, said Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa. "There needs to be cultural policy put into place that helps level the playing field and allow Canadian content to be made," he said.

Canadian Satellite Radio and Sirius Canada, the two companies pitching the service to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, Canada's version of the F.C.C., are Canadian-owned but close partners of the American satellite radio services.

Each has promised to offer five all-Canadian channels across North America (including two in French), and potentially eight if there are enough Canadian subscribers. The companies have promised various other incentives to promote Canadian talent and woo the commission, considered by many to be the guardian of Canadian culture.

"This is the first time we will be exporting channels into the U.S.," said Kevin Shea, the president of Sirius Canada, a consortium made up of Sirius Radio, Standard Radio and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's national public broadcaster. The company has promised to offer four CBC stations and one station produced by Standard Radio, a large privately owned Canadian broadcast company.

Over the course of the license, which typically lasts about seven years, it would also spend about $18.5 million to support Canadian talent, including money for travel to Sirius headquarters in New York for live performances and to promote tours, Mr. Shea said.

Canadian Satellite Radio, in partnership with XM Satellite Radio, plans to offer a similar mix of news and music stations, as well as a Canadian comedy channel.

It plans to create a position in Washington for an "ambassador" who would promote new Canadian acts among XM Radio programmers and arrange live shows featuring Canadian artists at XM's studios, Stewart Lyons, the company's vice president, said in a phone interview. In addition, it will build sound studios in Montreal and Toronto to help independent artists and spend $23.5 million developing Canadian talent.

There is some concern about squeezing Canadian channels into the mix, given satellite radio's limited bandwidth, which for Sirius stands at about 120 channels and for XM at about 130, officials at both Canadian companies said. But there is also a lot of confidence in the appetite for Canadian programming in the United States, they argued.

"CBC News I think could do phenomenally well in the U.S., outside of the fact that there are a lot of Canadians at various times of the year in the United States," Mr. Shea said.

"We knew that going in, the bandwidth is limited," Mr. Lyons said. "When we say we offer five channels, that's five channels that will have to give way on the XM system."

Canadian channels will not force American programming off the air; rather, the expansion is in step with efforts to carry a wide variety of programming, said Chance Patterson, XM's vice president for corporate affairs.

"There's going to be a good number who find the programming attractive, just by the sheer numbers" of subscribers, Mr. Patterson said. The comedy channel, for example, would be popular given the tradition of talent in Canada, he said.

One comedian eager to see the technology expand here is Ben Miner, who for the last year has been traveling around eastern Canada honing his standup comedy routine in small clubs and sharing motel rooms with other comedians to save money.

Satellite radio technology would help comedians reach an American audience, help develop the Canadian market and open a lot of doors, Mr. Miner said. "There are three of us in a two-bedroom hotel room with a cot off to the side," he said, when reached by phone at a hotel in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, where he is on tour. "We've been using the Foreman grill making sandwiches. That's why I want satellite radio, so I can eat out instead of making grilled cheese."

Mr. Miner is passionate enough about the technology that he appeared in November at the radio commission's hearings, decked out in his only suit - a three-piece pinstripe - and a gold tie, gold shirt, and gold pocket square, to speak in favor of allowing satellite radio in Canada.

"We need to be able to export things aside from maple syrup," he joked.

Both services stand a good chance of winning approval, Mr. Geist said. Faced with new border-defying technologies like satellite and the Internet, the commission is having to reconsider and adapt its approach to Canadian content laws, he said.

"What we're going to see is increasingly a shift toward policy that encourages the creation of Canadian content, as opposed to policies focused on creating barriers to disseminating foreign content in Canada."

Still, the emerging gray market for satellite-radio equipment in Canada - the Canadian satellite-radio applicants estimate the current number of users here at 50,000 - may also hasten action by the commission.

Mr. MacArthur, for example, often plays satellite radio at his bar using equipment he borrows from a regular customer, a long-haul trucker. On a reporter's visit, the system was tuned to the 50's Channel on XM, and the crystal-clear sound of Peggy Lee echoed through the bar.

Some Canadian music industry groups oppose satellite radio, arguing that it still does not meet Canadian content laws; they argue that there is a risk of lost royalties with new products that allow users to record satellite radio. At the November hearing, commission members also expressed some skepticism about the proposals and the limited amount of Canadian content.

The service in Canada will be virtually identical to that offered across the United States, although the commission may order some channels disabled to meet local standards.

Sirius and XM can tailor programming to target specific markets, but in the United States they have been forced under pressure from the broadcast industry, particularly the National Association of Broadcasters, to offer all of their channels everywhere and not compete with local services, said Bob Richards, a partner with Skywaves Research, an independent satellite radio research company.

More and more channels have been turned over to local weather and traffic by both Sirius and XM, but by law are all carried nationally, instead of just the relevant markets, Mr. Richards added.

Canadian commission approval is not a sure thing. But the opportunities for most Canadian musicians to be heard are much higher with satellite radio than without, Mr. MacArthur said.

"Satellite radio is about giving Canadians a chance to get aired," he says. "We don't want satellite radio to get U.S. music here. It's already here."

Thanks to COLIN CAMPBELL

Gigantic Steps

It took money troubles to get the celebrated Pixies back together. But no one could have predicted the large and passionate crowds that have greeted the band on its first tour in more than a decade.

It began, like so many life changes, with a joke. Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Frank Black, a.k.a. Black Francis, born Charles Michael Kittredge Thompson IV, was asked by a radio host if there was any chance his former band, the Pixies, would ever play together again. It was the summer of 2003, and Black – newly divorced, homeless, crossing Europe in a rental car trying to stretch a two-week solo promotional tour into six for lack of anything better to do – made a crack, inspired by a stunt George Harrison used to pull on journalists.

He announced on the radio that the foursome regularly gathered at his house for impromptu jams.

Within hours the Internet was flooded with rumors of a Pixies reunion. The next day Page Six of the New York Post printed an item about the Pixies' secret sessions. Industry insiders began phoning band members to ask if the stories were true.

“I was like, 'Oh, well. OK. Maybe we should,' ” says Black, chatting recently in the lobby of the W Hotel in Chicago, where the Pixies were in the middle of a five-night run at the Aragon Ballroom that sold out in one day. “Maybe that ridiculous joke, and everybody knew it was ridiculous, was a way to get my feet wet with the idea.”

The idea required no small amount of getting used to. For those unversed in alternative rock lore, a brief history: The Pixies formed in 1986 in Boston when UMass-Amherst dropouts Charles Thompson and Joey Santiago placed a now-legendary ad in the Boston Phoenix soliciting a bass player in. uenced by Husker Du and Peter, Paul, & Mary.

That turned out to be Kim Deal, who recruited her friend David Lovering, a drummer and electronic engineering student at the Wentworth Institute of Technology. Six years and five records later, in one very quiet, very hostile gesture, the Pixies imploded via Black's fax machine.

In between they changed the sound of rock music.

''Reagan was president. Somebody like Michael Jackson was number one. Everyone in Boston, including me, was playing jangly pop," says Gary Smith, owner of Fort Apache studios. Smith attended one of the Pixies' first live shows, at the Rat in Kendall Square, and soon after produced ''Come On Pilgrim," the Pixies' debut EP, released in 1987.

''Here was this kid screaming at the top of his lungs, then bringing it down to something very calm. There was something almost shamanistic about him. It was totally new, and I thought they were it."

So did Kurt Cobain, who routinely claimed that the loud-soft dynamics of Nirvana's breakthrough hit ''Smells Like Teen Spirit" was a blatant Pixies rip-off. Radiohead's Thom Yorke, another grateful fan, agreed to headline last spring's Coachella Festival, he said, because the Pixies would be there.

The band's cryptic, artful mash of pop hooks and jagged noise never broke through to the mainstream, at least not in the United States. It took five years for the group's most successful album, 1989's ''Doolittle," to go gold.

But hindsight confirms that the Pixies, who perform on Tuesday at the Mullins Center in Amherst and the following two nights at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell, were creating a sonic blueprint for the alt-rock explosion that followed. And the rapturous affection with which the Pixies reunion is being greeted -- audiences in many cities are 10 times bigger than they were the first time around, and they're overflowing with a new generation of fans -- is testament to the interest and regard that's grown steadily in the band's absence.

''In every group of friends there's one guy who's cool about music, who's the font of knowledge, and Pixies are one of the bands he talks about," explains Steve Albini, the indie-rock studio guru who produced the Pixies' 1988 full-length debut, ''Surfer Rosa."

''It's a kind of received wisdom, and you tell your friends when you go off to college, and leave your records to your little brother and sister. That's how they developed a momentum and enthusiasm among a fan base who'd never seen them and weren't even conscious of them the first time around."

And yet the Pixies' story is more convoluted than a simple case of a seminal act finally getting its due. It's a modern fable with a happy middle that fuses rock 'n' roll mythology with the far-less-glamorous reality of adulthood.

Older, wiser, and on a crash course with middle age, all four members of the band, who are in their late 30s and early 40s, unabashedly acknowledge (this band is nothing if not unabashed) the financial lure -- especially as the offers ballooned with every passing concert season.

Still, despite interest from record companies who want to put out a new Pixies album, there are no plans beyond this tour.

''There's a lot of potential for this to go wrong if we continue," Black admits.

Harmonious orbit at the Aragon Ballroom, where Spanish pillars and spilled beer combine to create this city's premiere concert ambience, the only plans for the future involve tonight's concert.

Santiago, who gets nervous before shows, is enjoying an impromptu massage from the production designer's wife.

Black (looking very much the expectant father he is in a button-down shirt and Brooks Brothers sweater vest) and Deal (who proudly displays a set of pillowcases she's embroidering for her twin sister, Kelley) sing scales in the stairwell.

Lovering, who's made his living as a professional magician for the past six years, kicks back on the sofa with a new deck of playing cards.

The musicians move in a detached but harmonious orbit. They hardly ever hang out. Neither do they butt heads. The chemistry is almost exclusively musical.

As the tour manager hands out set lists and fruit platters sit embalmed in plastic, a documentary film crew -- which recently recruited Kelley Deal for her unparalleled access -- pans the calm scene, hoping to capture a defining moment.

What the filmmakers get is one more dressing room nondrama. Seven months in, the Pixies' 2004 US tour is not only an unqualified success in the foundering touring industry, it's a model of gentility, a testament to family values, and, most critically, gainful employment.

''Why not be honest? It started to get pretty crappy for me, being freelance in LA," says Santiago, who grew up in Longmeadow and formed a band, the Martinis, with his wife, Linda Mallari, following the Pixies' split. Santiago has spent the last few years trying to break into film and TV composing; Mallari recently gave birth to the couple's second child.

''This tour has its perks for college funds," Santiago says. ''I can breathe."

Likewise for Lovering, a Burlington native who hung up his drumsticks to pursue magic full-time. He says he ''jumped into the air" when he got the call from Santiago, a North Hollywood neighbor with whom he'd remained close.

''I was in one of the worst times of my life," says Lovering. ''The timing couldn't have been better. If you think being a musician is tough. . . . This was like a lost love coming back."

There was never any love to lose between Black and Deal, whose strained relationship was at the root of the Pixies' split. Creative conflicts, ego entanglements, and tight quarters (this time around Deal has forsaken the tour bus for her own RV) were exacerbated by plenty of booze and drugs.

By the end of the Pixies' final tour, opening for U2, Thompson and Deal weren't speaking. Of the fax he sent to the band's manager on New Year's Day 1992, Black explains, ''It was very brief, very nonemotional. It said something like 'I leave.' I did it in a very evasive, super-nonconfrontational way and it probably could have been perceived as a little cold."

Black went on to release a string of modest-selling records with his band the Catholics. Deal has stayed busy if not exactly flush with the Breeders, the quirky rock band she formed in 1989 as a creative outlet outside of the Pixies. The two had no contact for the next 11 years.

Back with Black
When Deal, who lives in her hometown of Dayton, Ohio, received the heads up from Santiago, ''I was mystified," she says over coffee in her hotel room. ''But Joe said it was important to him, a life-changing thing for him. So I said I'd do it.

''I called Charles and said, 'I heard we might be getting the gang back together.' And he said, 'Yeah.' And I said, 'The first thing we'll do is get in a room and practice and if it feels stupid we'll say, ''OK. We tried." ' "

Deal smiles beatifically throughout the entire set at the Aragon, even when she's singing. Her signature bizarre duets with Black -- he screams, she coos -- reach a ghostly peak on ''Debaser," one of the Pixies' most gleefully demented singles, where Black fumes mightily and Deal just throws her head back and glows.

At her request, the Pixies tour is dry, and everyone agrees that a little sobriety goes a long way toward keeping both the peace and the music intact.

And it's impossible to overestimate the restorative benefits that come with the simple passing of time.

''If you want to enjoy it and do a good job you have to kind of grow up," says Black. ''Ms. Deal and I had one little heartfelt conversation in her car and another out by the railroad tracks behind the rehearsal space. You start to use your imagination and fill in the blanks when there are a lot of blanks, and I think both assumed that the other one was angrier than we really were.

''We had to bury a little hatchet," he says, pinching his finger and thumb together. ''About this big."

Black recently relocated from LA to Eugene, Ore., to live with his girlfriend, an art history graduate student, and her two young children. These days his life revolves around ballet-class carpool and bedtime enforcement. Surging crowds of young fans may revel in the second coming of Kurt Cobain's teachers. But from his vantage point, with a baby on the way, Black's take on the Pixies reunion is remarkably uncluttered.

''We've had this chip in our back pocket for a long time, and it keeps going up in value," Black explains. ''We're cashing it in this year."

Thanks to Joan Anderman at The Boston Globe: anderman@globe.com