This morning, news came down the wire that the hugely talented and beautiful Lena Horne passed away over the weekend at the age of 92. As an admirer of her work, this naturally meant that I couldn’t resist adding in one of her public domain recordings for this week’s show. When you couple that with having spent a good chunk of this last week looking for film noir-ish music for potential use in the production of Dead Man’s Cell Phone that I’m ASMing, you’ll understand why this week’s show leans towards the jazz/noir/swing side of the house. That said, there are still off-roads into darkwave, chaotically intriguing electrojazz, and indie/acoustic rock too. Man cannot live on bread alone, as they say.

As always, full show notes including a track listing and links to the artists/sources are after the break!

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It’s been a crazy busy week, which finds me recording and publishing Radioactive State on a new day. That’s right – moving forward, you can expect shows on Mondays as opposed to Wednesdays. (I get into just why the shift was needed on the podcast, but it’s a very exciting change! Yay!)

This week there’s a pretty wide mix as the last week or so has alternated between frenetic activity and needing slacktastic downtime to recharge the mental and spiritual batteries. As such, this show is a combination of older music and bands you’ll likely have heard of combined with my normal globe-scampering mishmash of cool new stuff.

In an effort to force myself to go a bit further away from sets, this week’s songs are quite literally presented in the random order in which they loaded into my MP3 player. All are great songs I’ve been jamming out to over the last while (or in for years in one case), so I hope you enjoy them as well!

As always, show notes with full band credit and links are after the break. Enjoy!

 
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It’s a mishmash mix tapey podcast of music from all around the world. This episode features everything from a Scandinavian swing band singing in Latin to a hard-rocking Los Angeles indie band. For those who like music that reaches out and grabs you, this is the creme de la creme of this week’s listening, all packaged up into a neat show.

For those who love what they hear and want to know more, show notes with the band info and links to where you can get this great music for your own are after the break!

For those who were sending mojo to the Choirmaster at the Temple of Jobs, it appears to have worked. As of this morning Radioactive State is officially listed on iTunes, and just in time for the first new episode under the new format that will be going live tomorrow.

All you have to do to pick the show up for your Apple mobile device is to clicky this particularly handy podcast subscribing iTunes link. From there, hit the “Subscribe” button, and you’ll be set. Of course, if you’ve been listening to the show thus far and would like to leave a note telling others how cool it is – or just click the stars for a fast ‘review’ – I’m certainly not going to complain about that.

If you’re picking the show up in an RSS reader, or a podcatcher, the feed is at http://www.radioactivestate.com/feed/podcast – potentially a change for some of you, since I had to switch the podcasting plugin I was using.

-_ambrown on flickr

Before anyone freaks out – no, I’m not planning to abandon Radioactive State. To be honest, very little could probably get me to stop this particular side project, as it brings me far too much joy. While I’m no longer DJing out in the clubs, this show still allows me to share music, which is what I always used to love. (And hey, I don’t have to lug craploads of music from place to place!)

The problem is that I haven’t really been thinking like a radio-style DJ when it comes to Radioactive State. I’m still thinking like a club DJ, and that’s just not working with this format. Let me explain….

By popular demand, this week I’ve turned my ear towards geeky music – although I should note that I’ve left the definition a bit broad. From well-known favorites like Jonathan Coulton, to soon-to-be favorite artists you may not have heard of yet, this is an extra-long podcast full of music that should set many a heart a-twittering. (Or will at least get Tweeted a few times, anyway.) So, if you love geeky music, or have ever been a fan of Dr. Demento, this particular episode should make you happy.

Hopefully.

Be warned that while this podcast is relatively tame, there is the odd f-bomb. You’ll want earphones if you’re listening to this one at work or around kids… Unless, of course, you happen to work in a very laid-back office, or have kids who swear anyway.

It also includes more of me talking, since I got a couple of notes that I didn’t talk enough on the last one. (Blame them if I’m talking too much for you now. ;D)

As always, the independent artists make this podcast possible. So, if you find a song or artist you really like please consider buying some music from them!

 
Radioactive State – Episode #4, Volume #1

Show notes are behind the break for those of you who want more details on the tasty music in episode #4.

- pablin89 on flickr

I had several requests for a nerdcore & geek music podcast after the last episode, which I have taken up the call for. Perhaps because I’m a flaming geek myself, this one is probably the easiest bunch I’ve compiled to date.

Some of them are artists you most likely know – which means that part of this next upcoming podcast will be a great singalong for some of you. Others are a bit more off the beaten path, but definitely worth a listen.

That said, this one will probably weigh in nearer to the 45 minutes mark as opposed to my regular 30, but considering the level of interest this genre seemed to get, I don’t think you’ll mind it too much.

Be sure to check back on Wednesday when Radioactive State, Episode 4 goes live! (And on time this week!)

Originally, I’d had this crazy idea to make a podcast full of polka music for April Fool’s day, but then I realized I’d have to listen to it to master it.

Needless to say, this is a guaranteed 100% polka-free podcast. Sorry polka fans, but short of Weird Al, I don’t tend to gravitate towards it.

This episode is also 100% safe from April Fool’s pranks. It does, however, feature some excellent rockabilly and ska with a dash of punk and reggae in there for good measure because that’s my springtime music — and the weather here in Florida has been pretty damn fantastic lately.

Thanks to the awesomeness of bands releasing their music for more podcasters to use, there are a couple of surprises in this podcast’s lineup. If you like being surprised, be sure to listen to the show before checking the show notes.

Of course, if you’re into spoilers, the full listing of tracks and artists can, as always, be found after the break!

 
Radioactive State – Episode #3, Volume #1

Hey everyone. My apologies on the silence, but I’ve been nose-down in the learning of stage management thanks to the people at Jobsite Theater. The play I’m currently involved with, boom!, closes this weekend – and that means I’ll be back to regular musical podcasting from now on. (Thankfully now that I’ve gone through the initial learning phase, it also means I won’t have to read “Stage Management for Dummies” again. Well, hopefully not anyway!)

The next show is going to be a salad of springtime stuff with both energetic and more laid-back songs in the mix. So be sure to check back on Wednesday Thursday when Radioactive State Episode #3 goes live!

Oh, and yes, still working on that iTunes feed thing. They’ve rejected it twice now, but I’ll keep at it.

Because I’m sappy and sentimental, this episode is chock full of love just in time for Valentine’s Day. This episode skews more towards alternative rock, although there’s a bit of jazz, blues, and even a bittersweet acoustic track in the mix.

I did warn you I listen to just about everything.

I’m also playing with the format a bit – less talking, more music! As always, feedback is welcomed, so feel free to drop a comment, or drop me an email to krystalle [at] radioactivestate [dot] com.

Enjoy!

 
Radioactive State – Episode #2, Volume #1

As always, complete show notes behind the break.