Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Music from the Balconies | 7-10 PM EST


TONIGHT on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio, we spin AI-generated pop & mashups, American jazz, and punk, hard rock and psychedelic music from Iran, Belgium, the former Yugoslavia, and beyond


 

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

A Palestine Episode | 7-10 PM EDT

 


TONIGHT on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio, we're spinning tracks from and about Palestine.


Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Parliament Funkadelic | 7-10 PM EDT

 


Join me on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio tonight for an all-vinyl celebration of America’s greatest '70s band featuring three hours of hits, deep cuts, and favorite side project tracks from 1970 to 1979


Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Secret Party | 7-10 PM EDT

 


TONIGHT on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio: Music on vinyl found in Phoenix, Tucson, San Francisco, and the East Bay while hanging out with new and old friends


Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Sublime Frequencies at 20 | 7-10 PM EDT

 


Launched in 2003 by co-owners Alan Bishop and Hisham Mayet, Sublime Frequencies is, for our money, the greatest American label of the 21st Century. Tonight, we'll listen to dozens of our favorite tracks and wax cornball about first hearing some of this extraordinary music


Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Women : Folk : Japan | 7-10 PM EDT

 


TONIGHT on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio: An all-vinyl celebration of more than half-a-dozen folk-forward singer-songwriters, from traditionalists like Keiko Hanawa and Mayumi Itsuwa to avant-garde legends Sai Yoshiko and Maki Asakawa.


Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Musician of the Generations: Mohamed Abdel Wahab

TONIGHT from 7-10 PM EDT on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio: So fierce was singer, musician, and composer Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Egyptian diva Oum Kalthoum refused for decades to work with him, fearing he’d upstage her. When the two finally collaborated, they produced several of Kalthoum’s greatest songs, including Enta Omri, Fakarouni, and Laylet Hob. This tribute focuses on rare 45s, LPs, and cassettes of Abdel Wahab’s own recordings, with a few covers and songs written for others woven in.

Monday, September 4, 2023

Yas Khedr (1938-2023) | Two Cassettes

 Admonitions & Mawawil (Date Unknown)


We woke early this morning to the news that Iraqi singer Yas Khedr passed away in mid-August. Blessed with powerful and expressive voice, Khedr began as a reciter of the Koran and in the 60s released a string of hit 45s, including "Al-Hadal," "Abu Zarka," and "Al-Mukair." Dubbed the Voice of the Earth, Khedr's career spanned six decades, with his last recording released in 2022.

We've got two cassettes by this remarkable artist; first up is something from the 1990s or aughts, "Admonitions & Mawawil." An incredible recording, with minimal instrumentation including percussion, oud, a single string instrument, a very suppressed keyboard of some kind, and Khedr's mind-blowing voice up front in the mix.

(Listen to "Forgive Me سامحيني")

Download the whole cassette here


Azaz (1988)


In addition to "Admonitions," we'd like to share this 1988 live cassette, "Azaz."


It was not entirely clear where each of the tracks began, so rather than cut up the recording and risk mislabeling anything, we kept each side a whole. Both sides are 30 minutes long and well worth a full immersion.




Wednesday, August 30, 2023

60 Years of the Cassette | 7-10 PM EDT



TONIGHT on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio: 

Developed in 1962 by the Philips Company, the first cassette tapes were released on August 30, 1963, at the Berlin Radio Show. This episode of Bodega Pop presents a three-hour celebration of the format focused on international cassette-only releases sourced from compilations, music blogs, friends, and Gary’s personal collection. HT to Andrew Simon for alerting us to this anniversary.

Bookmark the page and see you at 7:00 PM EDT!
 

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Comb & Razor Sound | 7-10 PM EDT

 


TONIGHT on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio: Writer, music historian, producer, researcher, blogger, and DJ Uchenna Ikonne's Comb & Razor Sound released just seven long-playing records in as many years. But the vision, the packaging, the whole approach had a significant impact on reissue culture -- and the music is unimpeachable.