Open Water

do you smell the wax? Open Water made an all-too-rare foray into the glossy black world of vinyl on this show, of necessity, since the B Boys’ new whack wouldn’t see release til the next morning. so worth all the technial miasma it took, just to get one song to play from one record on one turntable. what were once habits… great new love from INVSN, Oh Sees, Imaad Wasif, Ariel Pink… oh, and Iggy has yet another project.

i started the day with 13 tracks for the typical 1-hour show, but Jason had to go to the circus so it became a 2-hour show. then i saw my elder daughter at the station. i had a fistful of almonds cuz i didn’t eat all day. gave a nod to Tyler & Monica & Steph & Zach, then rushed out the door to do the 405 hustle up to the Echo to catch Merchandise, B Boys & Chasms — which was surreal and sublime and just damn good. here’s what the 2 hours sounded like.

show 54 comes on the heels of a literal Earth-shattering event, as our Commander-in-Grief lights a match in the heart of Paris, just to watch it burn. hence, Bob’s Burgers. and some splintering punk. and a dash of David Lynch to put it all back to square. dig.

show 53 kicks off with Tall Juan, simply because that’s the way he’d want it. then careens into some scintillating new-ish GBV & Black Lips, before diving into underground LA and emerging again in the early ‘80s with Tears for Fears driving the car. where the day takes you.

show 52 heralds indie darlings Perfume Genius & Johnny Jewel, and the return of the tireless Paul Weller — who squeezes another album for the ages out of his bare British hands

show 51 wasn’t contemplated as a rush job. but rush jobs never are. blame would be shared by the studio equipment and its human operator for the flub that transposed Waxahatchee for Cayetana. after that, it was more civil — and surprisingly cohesive.

the devil is in the details. and the electronics. and the production room. and the headphones. some said it coulda been English Beat saxophonist Saxa, from the great beyond. turned out it was the electrician.

show 49 puts us back on-track, with some fuzzy Ron Gallo, some Kraut-y Trans Am, a little Little Star and a big Big Star. plus Car Seat Headrest do the Smiths, and we try to play vinyl without blowing a fuse. see what happens.

show 48 is a super-special pledge drive show, and we all know how much people love pledge drives. it is what it is — we can’t run this thing on wishes. Beach Slang does the Plimsouls, the Plimsouls do themselves, and the boogie hits in the last 15. come for the begging, stay for the party.

a couple insolent tweens storm the station, interspersing the cynical alt-rock with their merriment at just-being-alive. it’s ultimately to no end, as the likes of Uranium Club, Damaged Bug, INVSN & GBV make it thru the barricades anyhow. off to Coachella…