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!

Download link (right-click, save as!)

Opening song clip: The Device Has Been Modified by Victims of Science

• Lieslieslies [Cognitive Dissonance Mix] – Ministry, from the album Rio Grande Dub(Ya)
• War Song – Post Death Soundtrack, from the album Music as Weaponry
• Tui Moana – Te Vaka, from the album Haoloto
• Member of No Tribe – The Fenwicks, from the album Member of No Tribe (Catch them on Facebook!)
• Take Over [feat. Tippa Lee] – Tommy Dubs, from the album En Los Campos
• Isis Unveiled [Radio Edit] – …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, from the album Century of Self
• Permanent Revolutions – All India Radio, from the album 002
• Cruise Control – Azoora, from The Big Bang EP

The Fenwicks appear here with written permission of and many thanks to  Steve Schub and Jim Corrieri. If you get a chance to see these guys perform in any format, take it. That said, when their musical wonder-twin powers connect in a worldwide skasplosion of epic proportions with the Fenwicks, it is the pinnacle of do not miss showmanship. Trust me on this.

Some of the music used in this week’s podcast was sourced from Mevio’s Music Alley at musicalley.com. Other music was taken from the CC-licensed collection at Jamendo.com. All music is used under Creative Commons or by written permission of the artists. If you enjoy their music, please consider picking some up or making a donation to the bands. Community support makes independent artists viable.

Radioactive State is licensed under a Creative Commons 3.0, Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works unported license.

-_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….

When you’re putting together music for a club set, there’s always something thematic about it. Even in a location that allows for an eclectic mix, you want to stick with a certain feel, or a certain idea. So as opposed to building “shows” I’ve been building “sets” – songs that follow one particular concept/genre. When it comes to radio – especially an on-demand medium like podcasted shows – thematic shows don’t really fit the bill unless you’re sticking within a neighborhood or two of a particular genre at all times. (And don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking those who do! It takes a lot of dedication to mine one genre for all the best that’s out there.) Since my intent on this project has never been to stick to one genre, doing thematic sets requires taking the full two weeks to find enough excellent Creative Commons licensed music to fit that one idea.

The other problem with using a club-style thematic mix as opposed to a more eclectic radio-style show is that I can’t really spend time looking up much information about the band. I feel this really does the bands a huge disservice, considering they work their butts off to produce great music and deserve more than a quick nod in the show notes and a link to their site.

What this means for you is that starting with episode #5, you’ll be getting a mix of all manner of great music in each and every show. The other thing is that by (easily) halving research time, I’ll be able to take the podcasts to a weekly schedule. More new music for you, more information on the bands and songs, and less stress in compiling shows. It’s a win-win!

Also, this means I’ll finally have enough time to iron out that annoying iTunes feed issue.

I hope you’ll join me next Wednesday as I take you on a musical ride around the world – and through all manner of different music!

[Edited to add]:  After wrestling with the .htaccess file, purging the permalink cache, and doing a very intricate voodoo dance wherein I sacrificed a toaster with wings glued on it, I believe the RSS feed is now working properly. (At least, that’s what the feed validation services are telling me, so I’m going to go with it.) I’ve resubmitted the feed to the Choirmaster at the Temple of Jobs for inclusion on iTunes.

Let’s hope that the third time I submit it is indeed the charm, and they pass it this time.

- 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!)