The Chill Room

The Chill Room, 5 May 2012 at 00:00 PST on killradio.org

128k, 130 minutes, decoding and recoding reality with Carlos Castaneda

I admit to admiring Castaneda, even though I know his Ph.D. in Anthropology was in fact fraudulent and even though he appears to have been a manipulative guru type. His sorceror's concepts of stopping the world and seeing beyond consensus reality are still valuable to me and have informed the art I have made, the art that has meant the most to me, and the way I perceive the world.

This Chill Room collage uses Castaneda's own words and concepts to present a dense and moving soundscape for you to negotiate -- as a warrior. It is demanding, but it is also full of controlled folly that will provide a sort of slap back echo on what a "sham man" means in our kaleidoscopically runaway mad world of today. Have fun.

The Chill Room is a collage and contains overlapping audio, including readings by your dj of the lessons of Don Juan from the first three books by Carlos Castaneda, along with two narrative excerpts from Peter Coyote reading The Teachings of Don Juan. Radio interview with Carlos Castaneda broadcast on KPFA Jan 30, 1969 (edited). Several prepared mini collages were also used herein. Set list: Text 1 The Sorceror's Description / Gavin Bryars-Titanic (runs under first hour) / Electronics from Tony (collage) / Tindersticks-Frozen / The Doors-My Wild Love / Merzbow and Kapoote Muziek-Continuum / Emiliana Torrini-White Rabbit / Suzanne Ciani-Lixiviation / unknown-undetachable feeling / stAllio-bust a Groove / Dennis Oppenheim-Broken Records Blues / Peter Coyote reading from The Teachings of Don Juan (2 excerpts) / Creedence Clearwater Revival-Ramble Tamble / Text 2 But Nothing Matters / Pink Floyd-Lucifer Sam (Traktor mix) / Brothomstates-Qtio / The Glove-Like an Animal / Randy Grief-The Rift in the Earth / Kraftwerk-Von Himmel Hoch / The Doors-Shaman's Blues / Carlos Castaneda on Don Juan / Rollins Band-Liar / That's wrong . . . This is right (collage) / The Who-See Me, Feel Me (7" varispeed turntable) / Castle of Quiet-Rise William Rise / Frizzi& Tucci-Theme from Zombie OST / Squarepusher-Dark Steering / Lou Christie-Two Faces Have I (acapella) / Barbara Harris-It Don't Worry Me (Nashville) / The Books-Be Good to Them Always / Don Ellis-Star Children / Alice Cooper-Levity Ball / Strings of Consciousness-Sleepwalker / Text 3 The Warrior's Way

With special thanks to my listeners, to Michael, Noel, Thomas, to Jeremy Bate and Greg Bishop, to the Bodhi Tree, to Tim Lucas, to Jack Bush. Correction: Due to a misreading of the date, I refer to the KPFA Castaneda interview taking place in 1967, when it was in fact from early 1969. My mistake! The first book (The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge) was published in 1968. The second book (A Separate Reality) was published in 1971, and the third (Journey to Ixtlan) in 1972. The interview (with Theodore Roszak, though most of the questions have been edited out) took place before the second book was published. Comments about this program are requested!

The whole world's a savior, who could ever ask for more?

The Chill Room, 6 April 2012 0100 PST, on killradio.org

128k, 82 minutes, cinematic purgatory

In which I mash together four different horror movie soundtracks, two almost complete and two partial, letting oblique connections fire like synapses. Like standing in the middle of a bridge over an endless void, then lighting both ends on fire, pin point precision and superb music choice, pulsating into a resonating culture that even the most surface listener can enjoy. Is this show about the ascension or descension of man, or both?

Set list (overlapping and incomplete):
Film soundtracks and dialogues:
Videodrome (Cronenberg 1982, with James Woods and Debbie Harry)
Toby Dammit (Fellini 1967, with Terence Stamp)
Scorpio Rising (Anger 1964)
Blue Velvet (Lynch 1987, with Dennis Hopper, Isabella Rossellini, Kyle McLachlan)
Music:
Ricky Nelson-Fools Rush In / Little Peggy March-Wind Up Doll / Twine-Asa Nisi Masa / Zoviet France-Moresco / Go Home Productions-Crazy Little Fool / Bobby Vinton-Blue Velvet / Bob and Bake-A Beatle Mash / Elvis Presley-Devil in Disguise / John Cage-Variations IV / Ray Charles-Ruby / Hafler Trio-That Which Preys, Emerging From The Dark / Ray Charles-Hit the Road, Jack / Martha and the Vandellas-Heatwave / The Crystals-He's A Rebel / Claudine Clark-Party Lights / Ken's Last Ever Radio Extravaganza-Beatles Chaos Fugue: Across the Universe / Kris Jensen-Torture / Merzbow-Another Crash for High Tide / Strawberry Fields Forever / Gene McDaniels-Point of No Return / Yesterday / Little Peggy March-I Will Follow Him / The Safaris-Wipeout / I'm Looking Through You / Roy Orbison-In Dreams / World Standard-The Lonely Driver / Nina Rota-Toby Dammit Theme

With thanks to Jason Berthume, my listeners, radio4all.net and killradio.org. Special thanks to Tim Lucas and Michael Weldon and to Ken's Last Ever Radio Extravaganza (http://lastever.org/). Comments requested.

I close my eyes, then I drift away into the magic night, I softly say a silent prayer like dreamers do, then I fall asleep to dream my dreams of you.

The Chill Room, 23 March 2012, at 11:00pm PST on killradio.org

128k, 77 minutes, deep listening to the Temptations, 1964-1972

The first Motown (Tamla) music to win a Grammy, the Temptations' story is epic and continues from the 50s to today. Tonight I play through the major singles of the hit period and concentrate on the Psychedelic Soul days of Norman Whitfield. Hearing all this terrific music at once is a learning curve of social growth, and it packs a mighty melodic and harmonic wallop.

Set list: All music by The Temptations. Take A Stroll Thru Your Mind (pro-marijuana album track from Psychedelic Shack) / The Way You Do the Things You Do / My Girl / Ain't Too Proud to Beg / (I Know) I'm Losing You / You're My Everything / I Wish It Would Rain / I'm Gonna Make You Love Me (with Diana Ross and the Supremes) / Cloud Nine / Runaway Child, Running Wild / I Can't Get Next to You / Psychedelic Shack (album version) / Ball of Confusion / Just My Imagination / Papa Was a Rolling Stone (album version)

The photo shows (back row) Melvin Franklin, Otis Williams, (middle row) Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks, (front) David Ruffin, the mid-60s classic 5 Temptations.

The closer you come to personal reality, a wider larger audience is touched. With thanks to my listeners, Randy Haynes, WIRL radio in Peoria, the Midwest and central Illinois for giving me the space to open up, to killradio and radio4all.net. Comments requested.

Music so high you can't get over it, so love you can't get under it.

The Chill Room, 2 March 2012, at 11pm PST on killradio.org

128k, 130 minutes, taking the Monkees seriously

I'm a lifetime Monkees fan, I admit it. I have thought about how to approach a Chill Room special on the Pre-Fab Four for over a decade, and not done so because they are a nostalgia act and their music has always been given short shift due to their origins. But now with the passing of David Jones on 29 February, it's time to do it.

This is not a tribute to Davy Jones but to the whole band, and to the fact that these guys took a huge pop audience into surrealistic and somewhat subversive worlds without any shame. It saddens me to read that Davy was unhappy with HEAD, which is one of the great late 60s "head" movies (it really IS a movie, not an expanded TV episode). So tonight, I go through the Monkees' great early pop music history, and finally I get to do the psychedelic collage I have always felt this music deserved.

The Monkees: Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz. All material (except for the song Girl) comes from the first five Monkees albums 1966-1968, additional material from Rhino sessions and early unreleased material, the movie HEAD, and the TV special 33-1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee. Set list: Davy Jones-Girl (from The Brady Bunch Movie 1995, recorded 7/94) / I Wanna Be Free (Boyce & Hart track with Micky and Davy vocals) / Last Train to Clarksville / Take a Giant Step / Saturday's Child / Papa Gene's Blues / She / Mary, Mary / (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone (from 7") / I'm a Believer (from 7") / She Hangs Out (from Canadian 7" 1967) / Valleri (first version 1966) / The Girl I Knew Somewhere (tracking session) / The Girl I Knew Somewhere (finished) / You Told Me / Forget That Girl (rough vocal overdub session) / Randy Scouse Git (aka No Title) / Salesman / Love Is Only Sleeping / Cuddly Toy / Pleasant Valley Sunday / Don't Call on Me / Psychic Monkees Psychedelia: Words (10/66 first version) / Daily Nightly / Tapioca Tundra (from 7") / Star Collector / Diego Ditty (from HEAD) / The Porpoise Song (from 7") / As We Go Along / Auntie's Municipal Court / Listen to the Band (climactic freakout from 33-1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee TV special) / Davy, Frank Zappa as the Critic, and cow (from HEAD) / Guru Scene (from HEAD) / Writing Wrongs / Can You Dig It? (from HEAD and written by Peter Tork) / Diego Ditty (again)

A grateful thank you to the memory of David Jones and to the Monkees, and to Andrew Sandoval and the people at Rhino Records. Thanks to my listeners, including both Monkee virgins and longtime maniacs. Also to killradio and to radio4all.net. Comments dutifully requested.

Fine man, crazy man, he can't see the sound of the sunset, the sound of the sea. Why do the people walk away from me? Nobody here can see that we are you, we are you.

The Chill Room, 18 February 2012, at 00:00 PST on killradio.org

128k, 130 minutes, the sound of enlightenment

The goal of this program is to take you to sleep. The music leads from binaural pulse beats down to slow brainwaves, and flows through a night. The stream is a model for consciousness itself. You will hear music for sleeping, dream language from James Joyce, occasional rises to REM-like states, shattered dream music, late night chill outs and gentle lullabys, until we land in pure delta waves. Go with it.

Set list (overlapping, incomplete, does not list ambient rain, bird and train recordings): Bob Dylan-All the Tired Horses / White Noise, Heartbeat, Atmospherics / Music for Sleeping-Music to Watch Girls By / Fluke-Tosh (Gosh) / Stereolab-Blue Milk (vinyl version) / John Cage-Dream / David Ball with Genesis P'Orridge-The Man Inside the Man / Thick Pigeon-Silhouettes / The Beatles-I'm Only Sleeping (extended chill mix) / Jimmy Page & Robert Plant-City Don't Cry / Binaural Alpha to Delta Waves / James Joyce-Anna Livia Plurabelle (recorded in Paris 1929, from ubuweb) / Phineas Narco-Goodnight Irene / John Cage-The Williams Mix (1958) / Pink Floyd-Echoes / Santo & Johnny-Sleepwalk / Sweet Dreams / satanicpornocultshop-59,054,087 / What is An Object? / Emily Browning-Asleep / Sun Ra-Sleeping Beauty / Hafler Trio-Song 2 / Yoav-Where Is My Mind? / Stage 4 Deep Sleep / Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band-Now You're Asleep / Celletti Roedelius-By This River (vocal by Christine Roedelius from Sustanza di Cose Sperata) / Deep Delta Waves with thunderstorm and ocean

With thanks to my listeners, to Ubuweb, to Transparency, to killradio.org and radio4all.net. For more information on this program, see Sleeping Beauty under http://djbennettchillroom.blogspot.com/. I hope I get some comments. Be careful, not recommended for listening while driving.

It's churning chill. Der went is rising.

The Chill Room, 31 December 2011, 0100 PST on killradio.org

128k, 2 hours, submersion and release

As we pass into a new year, we look ahead but that means we also reflect the past. Tonight's collage is of the movement from dark to light, displaying the violence of history, but streams as well with the minute particulars of art and how we read culture, and who we trust. This program takes its time but changes constantly, just like we all should.

Ingredients in the collage (incomplete and overlapping): Dead Boys Can't Fly soundtrack, 1992 film by Howard Winters, written by Anne Wolff, with David John, Brad Friedman, Jason Stein, and others (including your dj), played throughout first 90 minutes / Iannis Xenakis-S709 / Bernard Parmigiani-Violostries / Matmos-Supreme Balloon / Neil Young-Tell Me Why / Lainie Kazan-An Angel Died (Traktor Remix) / The Devils, a 1971 film by Ken Russell, with Oliver Reed and Georgina Hale / The Beatles-Norwegian Wood (chilled) / KicksnLicks-Florence and the Machine / Buster Keaton's Walk, a reading by Tom Zanarini, Beth Escott, and your dj, recorded 30 December 1982 in NYC / The Fireman-Rushes / Eyeless in Gaza-Three Kittens / Phil Ochs-Pretty Smart on My Part (for the record, the FBI took this song seriously as a threat against Nixon) / Can-Future Days / The Stooges-Dirt / Led Zeppelin-In the Light / Maelstrom Percussion Ensemble-Imaginary Landscape No. 4 (John Cage) / Burial Four Tet-Ego / The Doors-Maggie McGill (live in Philadelphia 5 May 1970) / Nils From-Old Thought / Kraftwerk-Stratovarius / The Devils cross cut scene with Oliver Reed, Christopher Logue and Graham Armitage / Those Beasleys-Double Dose / The Beatles-Everything at Once

With thanks to David Austin for reminding me of Dead Boyz, to Thomas Ferranti (and Wendy!) and to Those Beasleys (http://thosebeasleys.bandcamp.com/album/double-dose), to Jerrod of KicksnLicks (http://knldub.com/), to my old friends Tom Zanarini and Beth Escott Newcomer, to wfmu.org (my ultimate source), to my live listeners (who give me focus), to killradio.org and radio4all.net. Comments requested. Change is good.

Over 100 Chill Rooms available at http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/series/The+Chill+Room.

But sometime later when I feel a little straighter, I will come across a stranger who'll remind me of the danger, and then I'll run him over. Pretty smart on my part, find my way home in the dark.

The Chill Room, 17 December 2011, at 00:00PST on killradio.org

128k, 2 hours, milestones from the last year of Jim's life

This program is no longer available on podomatic but can still be listened to or downloaded at http://radio4all.net/index.php/program/56567.

Jim Morrison is still one of the most compelling figures who has ever been part of popular music. He never got old and therefore never seriously let us down, so the mysteries that remain still matter to many. I have gathered together most every existing recorded tape of The Doors and Jim Morrison from late August 1970 to Jim's death in Paris in July 1971 and combined them with a chronology of the events of Jim's Miami trial, his final shows with The Doors, the move to Paris, and the stories about his death. As a female voice in the crowd shouted after the isle of Wight performance: "Bring back Jim Morrison!'

The Doors: Jim Morrison, vocals; Ray Manzarek, keys; Robbie Krieger, guitar; John Densmore, percussion.

Set list, all musical performances by The Doors unless otherwise noted: Interview with Jim outside Miami courthouse (12 August 1970) / Isle of Wight Festival: Roadhouse Blues-The End (soundboard 30 August 1970) / Dallas State Fair Music Hall: Love Her Madly-The Changeling-L.A. Woman-When the Music's Over (lo-fi audience tape, 11 December 1970) / Getting To Know TV from Australia: Crawling King Snake (mid-December 1970, broadcast 1 March 1971) / The Doors Workshop: Riders on the Storm (January 1971, 40th Anniversary Mix) / Jim and Pam recorded by Ben Fong-Torres (early February 1971) / The "Jomo & The Smoothies" tape: Orange County Suite (this tape was found in Paris after Jim's death and is dated traditionally June 1971 in Paris but more likely is from March 1969 in L.A. -- I have also edited the tape) / Sunset Studios, L.A.: Moonlight Drive (recorded 1967, 40th Anniversary Mix)

Well, I took a little downer 'bout an hour ago / Took a look around, see which way the wind blow / Where the little girls in their Hollywood bungalows?

Fall 2010 on killradio.org.

Hi, late this summer and fall I got together with Domenic Priore, author of the marvelous L.A. musical history "Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock'n'Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood," with the subtitle "The Byrds, The Doors, The Beach Boys, Love, Frank Zappa, Buffalo Springfield, The Mamas and the Papas, The Turtles, and More" to discuss, play the music and do a deep listen to the band The Byrds. This is a six-hour program in three parts, with the music programmed by Domenic as a kind of alternative box set.

This program is not available on podomatic, but you can access it, play it or download it on the killradio site. Here is the link:
http://www.killradio.org/podcast/index.php?cat=The%20Byrds%20Show

On this site you will download one Byrds song as a sample. Go to the whole show to hear it all.

The Chill Room, 20 May 2011, 10pm to 1am on killradio.org.

In celebration of Bob Dylan's 70th birthday and 50 years in show business, the Chill Room presents a two hour Dylan special.

In the first part, which covers D's first decade as an artist, 1961-1971, you will hear early performances including his very first concert, as well as other rarely heard magic. The second part concentrates on the last fifteen years of Mr. D's career and features some of his best later songs.

Due to space issues, this program is no longer available on podomatic. To hear the complete program, please go to http://www.killradio.org/podcast/index.php?tag=Dylan. I think you'll find it's worth a listen.

Remember that the Chill Room is one of your best resources for music history!

And thanks Mr.Bob.

The Chill Room, 20 March 2010 0200PST on killradio.org.

160k, 73 minutes, Sun Ra in a collage, music from 1946-1972.

Please note this program is no longer available on podomatic (because of bandwidth issues). However, the show is now available at http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/54253. Get it there!

This music really does have SPACE in it -- inner and outer, space for listening, space for thinking, space for dreaming, room for everyone to thrive and grow. This music also has both a sense of humor and of true beauty and is as mind boggling as it can be. And it will clear your head like nothing else. What I have done is collaged together about thirty of my favorite segments of Ra's music and it makes its own reality. Enjoy, learn and please leave a comment.

All material unless otherwise noted by Sun Ra and His Arkestra. Setlist: Space Is The Place / Introduction / Blues at Midnight / Wynonie Harris-Dig This Boogie (1946 Sonny wailing on piano) / Eugene Wright and His Dukes of Swing-Pork 'n' Beans (1948 Sonny wrote this) / The Cosmic Rays-Daddy Gonna Tell You No Lies (1954 Sonny produced and released this on a Saturn 45) / Street Named Hell / The Magic City / Door Squeak / Thither and Yon / Solar Drums / Rocket Number Nine Take Off for the Planet Venus / David Toop-Sun Ra's first London Show 1970 (from Ocean of Sound) / Cluster of Galaxies / Shadow World / Kosmos in Blue / Watusa / Walt Dickerson Quartet-Selina's Fantasy / Batman Theme / Satellites Are Spinning / Robin's Theme / Enlightenment (Helsinki 1971 live and 1959 studio) / Outer Spaceways Incorporated / Infinity of the Universe / Ancient Aiethiopia / Black Man / Love in Outer Space / Sun Ra and His Band from Outer Space / Concrete Poem of Arkestra Names / Space Loneliness / The Overseer / Calling Planet Earth / Space is The Place

Material is taken from the following albums: Jazz by Sun Ra (aka Sun song) 1956 / Jazz in Silhouette 1958 / Rocket Number Nine Take Off for the Planet Venus (aka Interstellar Low Ways) 1959 / Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow 1961 / Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy 1963 / The Magic City 1965 / Walt Dickerson Quartet-Impressions of a Patch of Blue 1965 / The Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale-Batman and Robin 1966 / Nothing Is 1966 / Strange Strings 1966 / Helsinki 1971 The Complete Concert and Interview / Soundtrack to the Film Space Is The Place 1972. Dates are for when sessions were recorded.

Biographical information from John Szwed. Special thanks to wfmu.org, my listeners (who stayed with me even when the first attempt at this show glitched out and it had to be redone), and to Michael Sheppard www.transparency.us.com. The painting is Splash of Recovery by Alan and Cheryl. Salut, Sonny, you really were One of the Gods. May this program change the planet.