Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Wayfaring Strangers | 7-10 PM EST

 


TONIGHT on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio: A listen back to The Numero Group's sublabel focused on amateur Americana, folk, yacht rock, psychedelia, and D&D-inspired jams


Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Midwinter Day | 7-10 PM EST


NOW PLAYING on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio: A three-hour mid-ear arc formed by hot and cold jets of sonic residue from Uganda, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Lebanon, USA, Japan, Palestine, Russia and Armenia, obliquely inspired by (yet having nothing really to do with) the poet Bernadette Mayer

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

La Haine: 40 Years of French Hip-Hop 1984-2024 | 7-10 PM EST

 


TONIGHT on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio: Although underappreciated in the United States, French hip-hop is second only to American in terms of sales, influence, and artistic invention. Beginning with Dee Nasty’s groundbreaking Paname City Rappin’, this four-decade overview will feature pioneering legends IAM, Suprême NTM, Assassin, and MC Solaar, and spotlight sonic and lyrical brilliance from lesser knowns like Saliha, Fabe, and many others.


Wednesday, January 24, 2024

MOM REACTS AGAIN | 7-10 EST

 


TONIGHT on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio: We're back at Mom's house. She continues to claim she loves "everything Gary plays." For three hours we'll be testing her patience, our patience ... and yours.


Wednesday, January 17, 2024

10: A Decade on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio | 7-10 PM EST

 


It's our Tin Anniversary! TONIGHT on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio we'll be spinning old favorites and new discoveries and generally having our cake and eating it, too


Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Farid & Asmahan | 7-10 PM EST

Syrian-born siblings Asmahan and Farid El Atrache took the Egyptian music scene by storm with such force in the 1930s that when Asmahan died in a car that went over the rails and into the Nile, one rumor had it that reigning diva Oum Kalthoum had had her killed in a fit of jealous rage. This all-vinyl tribute will highlight collaborative recordings from the '30s and '40s like the operetta “Intissar Eshabab” and draw from Farid’s long and storied career following his sister’s tragic, early death.

Listen to the show and join the conversation

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

RIBEIRO + CO 1965-80 | 7-10 PM EST

 


TONIGHT on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio: A survey of French-Portuguese avant-garde icon Catherine Ribeiro's first decade-and-a-half, featuring mid- to late-60s singles, tracks from her debut with 2 Bis, favorite moments from her eight Alpes LPs, a dip into her late 70s solo tributes to Piaf and Prevert, and more


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.


Wednesday, August 16, 2023

It's Bigger Than Hip Hop | 7-10 PM EDT

 


TONIGHT on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio: A deep-cut, idiosyncratic tour through the first three+ decades of hip hop recordings, 1979-2012-ish, one track per year


Wednesday, August 9, 2023

HOT MESS | 7-10 PM EDT

 


TONIGHT on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio: Freeform as freefall. The fucked. The hated. Doomsayers. Out of control and over the top. The despondent. Los Locos. Y mas.


Wednesday, August 2, 2023

Fables of the Reconstruction of the Fables | 7-10 PM EDT

 


TONIGHT on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio: How we reimagine the past in music. The Parisian avant-gardist. An invasion from Mars(eille). The Lebanese conceptual artist. An Iraqi-American archivist. Cambodian-American bootleggers. A Vietnamese-American icon self-publishing her glory days. Mujeres en el underground metalico. All Bagged Up.