Public Record

Maybe there’s no difference between what we dream and what we become? So how about we dream some miraculous dreams? It's Clairaudience with Ersa Lowly on WASTOIDS. The evening breezes carry all sorts of forbidden notions. Let's get carried away. 

Hey, this is Strange Gear, a WASTOIDS presentation, a talk show about the unique gear artists use to create their sound. Our guest today is Oliver Ackerman of A Place to Bury Strangers and Death By Audio, a world renowned effects company he runs from New York. Ahead of the release of a new remix EP, Hologram: Destroyed and Disassembled, available November 26th on Dedstrange records, Oliver joined me to discuss one of his wildest devices: the Particle Wave Refracturer, which makes sounds like the ones you’re hearing right now. You’ll hear more samples interspersed throughout our talk. This episode features recordings by Oliver Ackerman, Chris Parsons, Nick Reinhardt, and A Place to Bury Strangers. 

The shadows have gathered, encircling us as we wander through the static and the haze. Just kidding! The shadows are your friends. And so is Ersa Lowly, your eventide guide on the WASTOID wavelength.  This week on the show, a quarter hour of great mood music and a dire call from the hotline. Tune in.

We're hanging out with Roger Joseph Manning Jr. today at WASTOIDS. Maybe you know him from Jellyfish, Imperial Drag or the Lickerish Quartet, or from his long string of solo albums. Or maybe you've spotted his name in the credits of albums by Beck, Blink 182, HAIM, Jimmy Eat World, Lana Del Rey, Nate Ruess, The Format, and many, many more. 25 years ago, he and his musical partner Brian Kehew embarked on a truly strange journey into the musical technology of the past, which helped to kick off a synthesizer renaissance. We’re talking about The Moog Cookbook, the duo he and Brian started, adopting the pseudonyms Meco Eno and Uli Nomi. They donned sci-fi-inspired cheeky astronaut gear—even before the French duo of Daft Punk got their own retro futuristic headgear and played cover versions of alternative rock standards that were dominating the radio airwaves at the time—bands like Green Day, Soundgarden, and Weezer, as well as classic rock songs by Van Halen, David Bowie, and Led Zeppelin, the Cookbook released two albums in 1996 and 1997, which caught the attention of Air, who invited the duo to collaborate, and Dave Grohl, who commissioned Cookbook-ified synth versions of Foo Fighters songs. Along with the  b-sides collection Bartell, these albums still resonate with warm, analog synth sounds. Part pastiche, part ironic send up, and part genuine, cross-genre/generation musical conversation, the Cookbook epitomized a certain strain of ‘90s pop culture that raided the past for inspiration and generated something that continues to buzz with a nostalgic glow. We caught up with Manning in his studio to learn more…

They say 13 is an unlucky number but we're feeing real lucky about the 13th episode of Clairaudience with Ersa Lowly on WASTOIDS. Each week, the program materializes via the magic of ones and zeros to play you a selection of groovy melodies and share an answering machine message from the 1-877-WASTOIDS hotline. Want to give us a ring? Call 1-877-927-8643 (7). The 7 is optional, but we have to insist you press it when you dial. It’s the only way you can be sure your call will be received in the proper spirit. 

Ruben Zarate of Dante Elephante joins us today on WASTOIDS. His new album is called Mid-Century Modern Romance, out now on Born Losers Records, and it finds him sprinkling his classic pop songwriting with disco and R&B flavors. Ruben’s also the host of the Dante Elephante Podcast, which drops new episodes every Tuesday. It features talks with guests like Sadgirl, Ron Sexsmith, Chris Cohen, and more—and Ruben’s conversational style, as you’ll hear right now, is breezy and a lot of fun. He joins us to discuss the new record and his dream encounter with official WASTOIDS hero Harry Nilsson.

Ersa Lowly has stepped up to the midnight microphone via the broadcast frequency at 850 W Lincoln, and she's brought with her the gentle sounds of strings, horns, and percussion, to offer a break from the mundanity of the grind, a portal to a world were things slow down and the lines of reality become a little...fuzzy. This is Clairaudience episode 12, Doppelgängers. We've got far out music and another call from the hotline. Why don't you give us a call? 1-877-WASTOIDS. Dial anytime, day or night...tell us your strangest tales. 

Today on WASTOIDS: Butthole Surfers co-founder Paul Leary. He's produced some of the biggest alt rock hits of the '90s with artists like Sublime and The Meat Puppets. He’s got a new album out on the rebooted Shimmy Disc label, released in conjunction with Joyful Noise Recordings. It’s called Born Stupid, and it's a bonkers mix of punk hijinks, surf rock, spaghetti western guitars, and bar-room sea shanty singalongs. Leary joined us to talk about Born Stupid, the Surfers’ nomadic days on the road, and why Curt Kirkwood was covered in blood at the Surfers’ first gig with The Meat Puppets. 

From the great elsewhere to right here, right now. Every Tuesday night, DJ Ersa Lowly brings you a handful of songs to ease you into a state of pleasant bewilderment and a freaky call from the WASTOIDS hotline. Want to share your own strange tale? We got you: 1-877-WASTOIDS. That's 1-877-927-8643(7). 

Rob Petrillo has hijacked the WASTOIDS frequency. He’s the host of a podcast called Obsessed With Death and it’s about—you guessed it—his fascination with death. Each episode, he sits down with an expert to discuss topics like grave robbing, reincarnation, doomsday prepping, and much more. He joins us today on WASTOIDS to spin death-related songs by Phoebe Bridgers, George Jones, The Notorious B.I.G., and Peter Ivers (with David Lynch). When you finish the episode, check out our extended death-focused on playlist.