KCRW Broadcast 838

Fanatic. I hope you had a tremendous week and there was a lot of music involved. By now you might be aware the great David Thomas of Pere Ubu has passed away. He and I were pals for about 29 years. Every few months I’d write him just to check in and see how he was doing. I wrote him a while ago, but never heard back. If you do some research, you’ll see what a standalone original he was. Not only are the Pere Ubu records great but his earlier outfit, Rocket From The Tombs is a must-hear. Also, his solo records are super interesting.

This is a great Rocket compilation record: The Day The Earth Met The... (Live From Punk Ground Zero, Cleveland 1975)

You might remember past broadcasts where we spent a lot of time with some of the more recent Pere Ubu albums like 20 Years In A Montana Missile Silo, The Long Goodbye and Trouble On Big Beat Street.

I just watched this video and my life is all the better for it.

Natalie Bergman - Gunslinger - Official Video w/Ian Svenonius!

Months ago, my incredibly brilliant pal, Beatie Wolfe told me she was going to London to make some music with Brian Eno. This of course blew my mind, but it’s just in a day’s work for Beatie. She and Brian have been hard at work and a lot of music has come from this unique pairing. Beatie and Brian decided to send the tracks to a few people, and luckily, I was one of them. The first record, called Luminal, will be out in June. I’m looking forward to putting these tracks into our June shows going forward.

Here is a video of one track that’s been officially released called Suddenly.

Decade after decade, Brian Eno remains truly timeless. Any of his records are past, present and future all at once. I love it when he collaborates with other people. It’s always interesting. An album he made many years ago with Harold Budd called The Pearl is a great listen. I heard it the first time when Deirdre O’Donoghue played it for me at KCRW. I think it was in 1984. As I remember, Deirdre was pals with Brian Eno. I asked Beatie to ask Brian if he remembered her. She wrote back and said he remembers her fondly. I think about Deirdre all the time.

Fanatic, I do believe we have a great show for you tonight. I thought for this time around we’d start with a perfect song, made by geniuses for we mortals to enjoy. From there, the show goes bouncing and bounding all over, hopefully hitting all five corners of the record store and providing a worthy soundtrack for whenever, however or from where you are listening.

Have a great night of listening, a great week ahead and stay Fanatic.

–– Henry