Somebody once said that what we do every day is nothing more than distractions from the fact that we are slowly dying. Oh wait, that was Sahm who said that. Well, shit. Nevertheless, what those distractions are is entirely up to you. Some people watch lots of TV, some people enjoy the nightlife, some people have kids and spend twenty years taking care of them. Us? We podcast. That’s our distraction. Luckily, our podcast doesn’t need to be recorded on Tivo, have it’s diaper changed, or cause damage to our livers.

Thus, Magic Junk Radio 11: Slow Ahead comes to you with no baggage, free of charge to all. In a perfect world, we’d have titled this ‘full steam ahead’, but MJR 11 is more like a tank— advancing methodically in the world of sound production, but still blowing shit up. The chemically bonded duo of M. Sahm and S.Rod deliver a podcast worthy of a music critic’s cackle, a sustained foot tap, and a suite of catchy synth earwigs to follow you as you tend to your own distractions.

Clocking in a chum tossing 34:21, MJR 11 pulls no punches, and is not afraid to tell you that you have cilantro stuck in your teeth. Some may even dare to say that there are a few parts of this podcast that sound like the work of a professional, instead of two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl. But year after year, MJR continues on to bring you their best efforts in audio butchery. As always, leave us some feedback if you have a minute. Thanks. Take it easy.

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INSTRUCTIONS: Right-click the MP3 link above to download the full podcast in MP3 format, which will play in any iPod or MP3 music player. Left click and the MP3 will begin playing in a new web browser window.

MJR 11 Content of Tables:
1. Sharkjumper - 2:44
2. Shiny Fighting Walkers - 2:48
3. Happy Podcasters?
4. Clothes Burned Off - 3:30
5. One Crazy For Another - 2:19
6. Table Turns
7. Smileyousonuva - 3:33
8. Game Select - 2:31
9. The Podcaster Who Loved Me - 1:55
10. Zero Training
11. Lunatic Is In The Remix - 5:24

 

 Magic Junk Radio 11: Slow Ahead: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (117)

I know I don’t blog here as often as I should, but I did want to drop a status update on MJR 11. Currently, I have 2 songs completed, another 2 songs that are about 80% complete, and another 17 songs that are started in one form or another (many of which are S.Rod tracks, or Somrod collaborative works). So, things are in motion, it’s just that podcast tracks are not always the things getting moved the most.

Nevertheless, it’s not like I’m sitting around playing Xbox and watching VH1. I’ve been keeping busy with multiple projects (both creative and house-wise), so I’m hoping for a release of MJR 11 before we leave for Lollapalooza on July 31… of course, I could be smoking peyote on that one. You know how my podcasting releases go.

But this is the price I pay to give the podcast a more timeless feel. A fact that you may not have noticed is that there is a very low level (if any) of current events in MJR. This is done on purpose so that you can listen to the podcast many times, and not feel like we are talking about some event that happened six months ago.

See? Don’t ya feel better about us taking so long in producing new episodes of MJR… we’re looking out for your best interests, even when you don’t know them yourself. As the Radiohead line goes, all these things will one day swallow whole. But as we see it, if you’re going to get swallowed, we’d rather be a nice juicy steak than a piece of birthday cake. Peace.

It was all supposed to be much different. This tenth podcast was supposed to be released in February 2007 in full surround sound. This podcast was supposed to have a loyal following of a few hundred listeners. This podcast was supposed to be filled with guest vocalists, a smattering of various singers and rappers making our electronic compositions complete. Of course, all this was dependent on us catching some type of “big break”. But it did not happen.

However, we have persevered thanks to what’s best described as “little breaks”. Hence, Magic Junk Radio 10: A Series of Little Breaks was born. Actually, it’s been in the works for a long time, nearly 17 months to be exact. But we’re pretty happy with the results. It’s everything you’d expect and more from the MJR duo of M.Sahm and S.Rod: catchy electronica, hard hitting jams, pop culture samples, playful host commentary, and a couple of tracks that are unlike anything we’ve ever done before.

Clocking in a supple 33:04, MJR 10 might just surprise someone who’s never heard us before, or even someone who heard just me early on in the podcast’s history. To boot, we now have a wiki totally dedicated to all of our singles from all 10 podcasts— take a visit, it’s all the backstories, details, and compositions— nearly 3 years worth of our blood, sweat and bandwidth. As always, leave us some feedback if you have a minute. Thanks. Take it easy.

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MJR 10 Content of Tables:
1. The Ceiling’s Floor
2. Pumpkin Bunny
3. The Podcast Room
4. A Series of Little Breaks
5. Grape Leisure Suit
6. Diva and Tyrant
7. A Scar Tells All
8. No Sequel
9. RWG 1
10. Plastic Brace Concerto
11. When Your Puzzle’s All Fucked Up
12. Wiki Is Born

 

 Magic Junk Radio 10: A Series of Little Breaks: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (485)

With Magic Junk Radio 10 just a black lion short of a Voltron, we decided to release a B-Side remix to start the fires going a bit on the Magic Junk campgrounds. Hell, this remix is so crazy, it’s causing me to overuse the metaphor.

Anyway, this remix missed getting on MJR 9, but didn’t quite fit with the material that’s going to be on 10. So since it was actually a “request” by one of our fellow podcasters out there in cyberspace, we have decided to give the remix its’ own entry. And I didn’t even have to pull Courtney Cox out of the audience to do so.

Robots On The Edge Of Town - 2:52

Keep your radar on for the MJR 10 release coming soon to a set of earphones near you. The break is coming. Enjoy. Cheers.

 

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About two weeks ago, Radiohead released individual instrument stems for their song “Nude” from the album “In Rainbows” that anyone could use to remix in GarageBand, ProTools, Logic, etc. The rules were to re-interpret the song, using any means necessary, but the song had to stay copyrighted sample free, no disintegrations.

Being the remix junkies that we are (and since we enjoy challenging each other), we gave in to the addiction and started remixing “Nude” on Saturday night. Mark downloaded the stems, started playing around, and then challenged me to follow suit. Once the two of us had earphones in, we were clicking away in GarageBand, and we tried not to listen to each other’s songs before they were more than 50% complete. We were both happy with the results and for the fact that both songs sounded completely different!

Each can best be described as an eclectic maelstrom of… oh, wait… that’s Magic Junk Radio. Seriously, we have taken our individual styles from MJR to remix “Nude” to the best of our abilities. What you see below is our individual interpretations of Nude. Click the widget to vote for us, and YES, you can vote for us both. Give the Somrod duo your support, vote from every computer you have. Thanks! Cheers.

 

 M.Sahm's "The Art of Getting Nude": Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (103)

 

 S.Rod's "I Can Smell You're Nude": Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (105)

We just hunted down and killed that fifteen month old cold turkey. After all, it’s not easy to describe podcast withdrawal, especially since few are suffering from it. While you might call it ‘audiosexual frustration’, I’d prefer to just paraphrase Robert Plant: It’s been a long time since we did the stroll. Ooh, let us get it back, let us get it back. Been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time. Of course, if you’re expecting me to hit the Plant high-note, then you must not like your car windows very much. Remember the NYC blackout of ‘03? That was me singing ‘Immigrant Song’ on karaoke.

Luckily on our newest podcast, Magic Junk Radio 9: Cover Me Porkins, we only do remixing, sampling and production. For those who don’t know, this episode’s subtitle refers an infamous character in the “original” Star Wars movie, as well as indicating that this entire podcast is made of remixed cover songs. The point is that if life is a giant hog, we’re just trying to be a crispy slice of bacon. Sure, our toxic slab of audio butchery may not be healthy for you, but as the immortal Vincent Vega stated, “Bacon tastes goooood.” After all, we know you cannot ask for too much when you have a eclectic mix like this.

Clocking at a crispy 26:31, MJR 9 consists of three TV themes, two late 60’s songs, two early 90’s songs, two movie themes, a classic SW overlay, with whipped cream and cherries optional. Be sure to leave us some feedback if you have a minute. It could help save the life of a lonely blog post. Thanks. Take it easy.

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MJR 9 Content of Tables
1. Get Us Out From Under
2. Shaking Off The Rust 101
3. Sexual Tyrannosaurus
4. Daft Jazz
5. In The Air of Wolves
6. The Hole Fixer
7. Losing My Flexibility
8. One Without The Other
9. Three Choices of Two
10. What’s Yours Is Me Me Mine
11. Ewok This Way
12. Frying Up The Pork

 

 Magic Junk Radio 9: Cover Me Porkins [26:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (249)

The podcast lessons that pass for knowledge, we can’t understand. So it goes.

Here we are, nearly a year removed from the last MJR podcast, and at a loss how it has been so long since we were here. Worse yet, all of the upgrades we planned on making to the podcast were never capitalized upon.

As S.Rod and I sat in our living room on Columbus Day morning listening to where we left off here (MJR #8), it became apparent to us that this was never really about gaining an audience, or trying to market our musical creations. Doing MJR was a litmus test, a hypothesis to see if this creative outlet would lend us more perspective.

The good news: it did enlighten us, both in our present love for creativity and music, and our desire to leave something unique behind on the web.

The better news: we have about 25 compositions in half-shape to put together for a MJR #9. It may not have any radio-friendly unit shifters, but as I mentioned, that’s not what this is about. In truth, it may be us throwing down a bucket of concrete and signing our names in it. But if someone builds a wall in front of it, it’s really no big deal.

Live and let live. Cheers.

Oscar Wilde once said, “Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.” It’s a rather omnious quote for any creative person still trying to find their big break. Nevertheless, since the first 7 episodes of Magic Junk Radio were consistent on a level of composition, it was only natural that we avoided relaxing into any refuge. So a choice had to be made: either retire the podcast or evolve our compositions. Thus, we chose to take the Darwin route.

Of course, you could counter that Wilde was a scandalous anarchist and we shouldn’t believe a word he said. But hey, doesn’t the reasoning sound much better than “We got some new equipment to aid our podcasts, so this is the last one using the old stuff”? After all, you could say it was only ‘Logical’.

If you’ve haven’t tuned in before, MJR can best be described as an all-original eclectic maelstrom of sounds, voices and samples. #8 finds the creative duo of M. Sahm and Ms. S.Rod trading songs, barbs, and finishing each other’s sentences (as only a young married couple can do). This episode is a serenade to their stepping stones, as they try to keep each other laughing about an uncertain future.

It clocks in at a mega-quick 26:55— with all the funk riffs, hard rock beats, orchestra samples and pop culture references that you’ve heard us pimp for the past year. Nothing is restricted. Not our former masters. Not our heroes. We even do a ‘celebrity roast’ style piece of one of Blogcritics’ editors. Although be warned— it’s not for playing out loud in the office, or in front of your mini-me.

Be sure to leave us some feedback if you have a minute. It could help save an artist from BASE jumping for fun. Thanks. Take it easy.

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INSTRUCTIONS: Right-click the MP3 link above to download the full podcast in MP3 format, which will play in any iPod or MP3 music player. Left click and the MP3 will begin playing in a new web browser window (unless you haven’t updated in a while.)

MJR 8 Content of Tables:

1. Six Mill
2. Four Shadows
3. Mr. Darcy At The Limelight
4. Six Years Gone
5. Between Curses
6. The Curse Anthem
7. Festival
8. Live At The Stadium
9. The Way Is Shut
10. Westchester Funk
11. Farewell

 

 Magic Junk Radio 8: The Way Is Shut [26:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (169)

If this post was a comic book, this would be what collectors call the “origin” issue.

The first episode of Magic Junk Radio launched on August 30, 2005. Now a year later, I’m taking a look back at how it all came to be, as well as the new direction that the podcast is headed in months to come.

I will begin honestly: podcasting and sampling came to me by accident. While I was always interesting in making compositions, I always lacked the knowledge to do so. Then in July 2005, I had written a post for the multimedia website Blogcritics.org called “iPod Death Scenarios” and it was here that a comment and response started it all. Here was the exchange:

Lisa (7/6/05, 01:12 PM): Hilarious, Mark! This was too funny.
Have you considered podcasting this post….?

Mark Sahm (7/6/05, 02:03PM): Lisa, if only I knew how.

When I reread my comment the next day, I didn’t like that I did not know how. At the time, I thought podcasting required some type of code to write, like CSS or some other difficult webform that I didn’t have the patience to learn. But after a little research at your friendly neighborhood Wikipedia, I realized that podcasting was actually quite easy, and a cheap artform at that. I bought a $20 USB microphone, plugged in, and went to work in GarageBand.

I offered up my first podcast as a ‘creative crossover’ to the Blogcritics community. Despite bracing for an onslaught of flames, surprisingly no one told me that the podcast sucked. So I decided to make another, and the rest is now history. My efforts (with some help from the lovely Ms. S. Rod) ended up stretching into the interesting capture of a year in the podcast life that you see below.

While other podcasters produce an episode every month or every week, my construction is a little more labor intensive, since each track takes me anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks to finish, depending on the complexity. That and being able to get 5 different samples to sync right!

Still, to have produced 7 full episodes (or 86 tracks worth) in a year’s time is pretty good for me. Knowing that (a) there are about 30 unfinished/unrefined MJR tracks sitting around my archive, and (b) I took a break of nearly 4 months between Episodes 5 and 6, I’m happy with what I produced.

But like Tyler Durden recommends, may I never be content. While getting better at the audio craft (or whatever you’d like to call it), S.Rod and I have concluded that we needed to refocus our future digital music efforts into strengthening the front:

• Magic Junk Radio will now focus not only on our sample-based tracks, remixes, and our mini-dialogues, but houses all of our more original and lyrical tracks.

All in all, I don’t know what the future will hold for music in my arsenal of creative efforts. But no matter what, I know I enjoyed making the close facsimiles that I did, and I hope I can polish them up to be presentable on a professional level one day. Thanks for listening. Peace.

Never let it be said that I cannot share my creative process. After doing 99% of the work on the first six episodes of Magic Junk Radio, I decided to take in a group of refugees last month. I promptly gave them each a laptop and some headphones, and put them to work in my digital studio with a simple direction: “Make music that sounds like the lovechild of TV Theme Songs and Kid A.”

I’m kidding of course. But I have finally gotten a “sidekick” so to speak. I think the results have turned out quite wonderfully and I hope she continues her contribution as long as the podcast goes on… which probably won’t be for much longer, since change is always omnipresent. So it goes.

If you’ve haven’t tuned in before, MJR can best be described as an all-original eclectic maelstrom of sounds, voices and samples. #7 travels a little further down the rabbithole of life’s purpose. It clocks in at another all-time high 37:15— with the funk riffs, hard rock beats, and pop culture samples you’re used to. We even try doing a spontaneous segment like normal podcasters do.

Be sure to leave us some feedback if you have an opinion. Thanks. Take it easy.

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[ Download the MP3 ] - 42.7 MB (I blame the larger file size on my co-host)
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MJR 7 Content of Tables:

1. Hulking Out
2. God Eat God
3. Welcome
4. Dirty Talk
5. Sugar Smacks Fairy
6. Toucan Sam On Speed
7. The God-Drone Spectrum
8. Neoprene Latina
9. Stop Keeping Score
10. Corporate Drones
11. Breaking The Fast
12. WKRP in Sin City
13. Rejection 77
14. Live at the S-Rod Lounge
15. Farewell

 

 Magic Junk Radio 7: Gods, Drones, and Cereal [00:37:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (171)

Four months of podcast silence felt like an eternity for me, but no longer. The time to take cherished samples and theme songs and make them into electronic madness is now.

Of course, four months ago, the belief was to confine myself to a dark room with the goal of finding magic creative mushrooms growing in the enchanted meadows of my mind. But in such a premise, one is almost doomed to run into something else by accident. Which is why I’m here now.

But rather than spill what magical thing it was that I ran into (and no, it wasn’t Eva Longoria mud wrestling with Salma Hayek), I’ll leave that in the hands of my sonically produced calling card, Magic Junk Radio 6: A New Set of Rules.

If you’ve haven’t tuned in before, MJR can best be described as an eclectic maelstrom of sounds, voices and samples. #6 finds me back to my old tricks, but hopefully I’ve learned a little more since we last met. It clocks in at an all-time high 31:36— with the funk riffs, hard rock beats, and pop culture samples you’re used to. Even some old favorites get revisited through the MJR filters, including a couple guilty pleasures.

And there you go. Be sure to leave me some feedback if you have an opinion. Thanks. Take it easy.

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[ Download the MP3 ] - 37.4 MB (Hey man, sound quality has its price…)
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INSTRUCTIONS: Right-click the MP3 link above to download the full podcast in MP3 format, which will play in any iPod or MP3 music player. Left click and the MP3 will begin playing in a new web browser window (unless you haven’t updated in a while.)

MJR 6 Content of Tables:

1. Welcome Back
2. Podcast Security
3. Brush Jam
4. The New Job
5. Interlude
6. Weird Matrix
7. Cats In A Canvas Bag
8. A New Set of Rules
9. AM Smooth
10. Positively 4th Beer
11. Visit The Sidebar
12. When The Rain Became Acid
13. Psychic Graffiti
14. Farewell

 

 Magic Junk Radio 6: A New Set of Rules [00:31:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (165)

If spending your lunches, nights, and weekends sitting in front of a laptop writing a work of fiction could be considered a vacation — then metaphorically, we’re in the middle of the Hawaiian Islands, baby. You remember us! Magic, Junk, and Radio! Here we are! At this very moment, we’re basking under the Maui sun, our debt to society paid in full!

So consider this a postcard. Sure, we aren’t returning to full-time work. But we wanted to drop a little note to let you know we’re still alive. And what better symbol of 1980’s American pop culture to skewer with our remix prongs than the mega-mustached Tom Selleck as Magnum, P.I., and his quirky pop theme song.After spending the night in the MJR Sound Lab with the lightly Newcastled technicians, the emerging sonic result is called:

Magnum FXPI - [click to play] - 2:00

Rumor has it that the acronym stands for F#@%ing Extreme Private Investigator, but we cannot confirm or deny such horrifying gossip. After all, we were last season’s winners. Huh? What’s that you say? We’re not. Oh dear.

 

 Magic Junk Radio on "Vacation" [00:02:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (163)

Even in the midst of concentrating on a huge project, one might hear the voice of a smaller project calling, begging to be finished before it gets lost in the shuffle. While such an instance happened to me this month, I will not confess to hearing voices. No sir, not us.

Anyway, that huge project is my second fiction novel. While I know its importance to me takes precedence over anything else, I had started the podcast back in January. Thus, I decided to finish it first. The subsequent result was Magic Junk Radio 5: Go Remix Yourself.

If you’ve haven’t tuned in before, MJR can best be described as an eclectic maelstrom of sounds, voices and samples. #5 catches me on a more serious note than usual, but at the same time tapping into the pop culture groove that I like to mess around with. It clocks in at a magnanimous 18:28— with the funk riffs, hard rock beats, and mix of synths you’re used to. Even some old favorites get revisited through the MJR filters.

Like I mentioned before, this will be the last MJR for a few months, as I focus on the big picture. Nevertheless, I had fun making this podcast as I always do. I hope you enjoy listening. Thanks for reading. Peace.

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INSTRUCTIONS: Right-click the MP3 link above to download the full podcast in MP3 format, which will play in any iPod or MP3 music player. Left click and the MP3 will begin playing in a new web browser window (unless you haven’t updated in a while.)

MJR 5 Content of Tables:

1. Change Must Happen 2:12
2. Your Lot in Life 1:50
3. She Rides The Night 1:33
4. Jack Bauer Thrash 1:48
5. Sexy Wolf 2:19
6. Techno Whore 2:07
7. Hobby Vs Career 1:34
8. Celeste’s Theme 2:14
9. Run Tantive Run 1:41
10. Farewell 1:06

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Love it? Hate it? Confused? Let me know. Leave a comment.

 

 Magic Junk Radio 5: Go Remix Yourself [00:18:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (156)

Outside of the obvious monotony of the season, I have my reasons to hate the holidays. I call it the curse of being born on the day after Christmas. Thus, celebrating my introduction to the world was always overshadowed by traveling hangovers and shopping binges. Luckily, over the years, I’ve become more apathetic than angry about it. Right. That’s it. I swear.

Anyway, while composing some twisted takes on holiday music for this podcast, I was visited by the Ghost of Podcast Past. He tried to steer me towards a more positive attitude about the holidays. Unfortunately, he failed. The subsequent result was Magic Junk Radio 4: Holiday Complex.

If you’ve haven’t tuned in before, MJR can best be described as an eclectic maelstrom of sounds, voices and samples. #4 jumps around through musical genres, as I decide holiday music should have no limits, but still keeping an ear to the past. It clocks in at a jolly ol’ 20:19— with some funk grooves, mellow jams, a little hip-hop, electronica, rock, and even a laid-back acoustic jam. As always, some of it was meant to be intentionally funny. But since my ego is already scarred, I don’t have to tell you which parts. All jokes aside, try to enjoy the rest of the season as best you can. It’s not always ideal, but effort goes a long way— even for cynical arrogant bastards. Cheers.

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INSTRUCTIONS: Right-click the MP3 link above to download the full podcast in MP3 format, which will play in any iPod or MP3 music player. Left click and the MP3 will begin playing in a new web browser window (unless you haven’t updated in a while.)

MJR 4 Content of Tables:

1. Holiday Mission 1:53
2. Intro 1:20
3. Red Nose Funk 2:02
4. Time For Balance 0:49
5. Traveling Sucks 2:20
6. What Else? 1:10
7. How The Pimp Stole XXXmas 3:00
8. Walking In Fresh Snow 2:45
9. The 12-24 Panic Shop 1:49
10. That Lady O’ Mine 2:08
11. Farewell 0:52

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Love it? Hate it? Confused?
Let me know. Leave a comment below.

 

 Magic Junk Radio 4: Holiday Complex [00:20:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (162)

By making a 3rd installment of Magic Junk Radio, I’ve now officially committed myself to podcasting. After all, one or two episodes could be explained as a happy accident or a fluke. But with three, I’m out of excuses until I reach at least seven or so. Oh my dear black star in the sky, what have I gotten myself into?

Commitment (in one way or another) seems to be a recurring theme for me though. Since Magic Junk Radio 3 is subtitled “The Bachelor Must Die,” you could say it’s art imitating life. Yes, it is my own bachelorhood that will be getting the axe, as I’m getting married this weekend. *insert sound here of Shaggy and Scooby going “Gulp!” with dramatic fear* But it’s all good.

Anyway, MJR 3 is our first voyage into a ‘concept’ podcast. So I hope that can be the Jell-O mold for future shows, since it would help maintain my severely fractured focus. At least, that’s the pipe dream I’m smoking right now. But it sure sounds inspirational, so I’ll stick with it.

If you’ve haven’t tuned in before, MJR can best be described as an eclectic maelstrom of sounds, voices and samples. #3 is a little tighter musically than its predecessors, and clocks in at a respectable 18:23— with a heavy dose of electronica, some rock, new jazz, and even a 1970’s-style power ballad! (yes, it’s meant to be intentionally funny) If that isn’t proof I’m subconsciously suffering from wedding stress, then I don’t know what could be. Cheers.

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INSTRUCTIONS: Right-click the MP3 link above to download the full podcast in MP3 format, which will play in any iPod or MP3 music player. Left click and the MP3 will begin playing in a new web browser window (unless you haven’t updated in a while.)

MJR 3 Content of Tables:

1. Perform and Restore 0:31
2. My One Ring 1:58
3. Distress Call 0:47
4. The Bachelor Must Die 2:24
5. Too Much Too Late 4:02
6. Who’s Your Master? 0:33
7. Nothing But The Past 2:43
8. Honeymoon Cruise 3:05
9. The Six Month Panic 2:12

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Love it? Hate it? Confused? Getting hitched too?
Let me know. Leave a comment below. A horse called Joe. Hustle and flow.

Missed the first two episodes of Magic Junk Radio? For shame! Fear not, you may redeem yourself by going here and here.

 

 Magic Junk Radio 3:The Bachelor Must Die [00:18:23m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (160)

Okay, okay. I know I said Magic Junk Radio was an experiment, just a one-time creative crossover from a non-musician. But in pushing my limited skills to make the first MJR, I found I really enjoyed the process. The beauty of being creative, for me, is that I find things in myself that I didn’t realize were there. Thus, it was worth it to create a sequel. Composition is king, and I gladly bow before it.

Magic Junk Radio 2 is subtitled “Humble As Ever”, since I make no boasts, no sales pitches, and no long winded soliloquies on the state of the world. It really is just an eclectic maelstrom of sounds, voices, and samples. Some parts might make you laugh, tap your foot, bob your head, cry, fear for my mental stability—whatever. In the words of the long lost Sugar Smacks Frog, just “dig ‘em.” Like its predecessor, MJR 2 is a fast food podcast (now with appetizers and dessert), clocking in at just under 26 minutes.

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[ Download the MP3 ] - 24.3 MB

Missed the first Magic Junk Radio? Go here.

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INSTRUCTIONS: Right-click the MP3 link above to download the full podcast in MP3 format, which will play in any iPod or MP3 music player. Left click and the MP3 will begin playing in a new web browser window (unless you haven’t updated in a while.)

MJR 2 Content of Tables:

1. A Phone Call - 1:08
2. Intro Theme - 0:55
3. Welcome - 0:51
4. Eclectic Maelstrom - 1:31
5. Cubicle Song - 2:39
6. Interlude 1 - 1:10
7. Where I Was Not - 2:33
8. Tech-Noir - 2:01
9. Interlude 2 - 1:28
10. Absence of Movement - 2:36
11. The Deadliest Kind - 2:36
12. Interlude 3 - 1:04
13. The Puertoruvian - 1:57
14. Imperial Remix - 2:29
15. Farewell - 0:43

 

 Magic Junk Radio 2: Humble As Ever: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (163)

While all of my tracks are really B-sides in a way, I designated a specific track for a multi-person podcast created by Temple Stark from Blogcritics.org. Since the track fell between MJR 1 and 2, it subsequently became a B-side. Go to blogcritics.org to check out the inaugural Blogcritics podcast.

The track is called ‘A Place To Write’ - 1:18.

Just in case you were curious: while Temple loosely defined the track as my “relationship with Blogcritics”, or that I… “leave my writing to your imagination”, that’s about half-right. Those original lyrics were written in November 2002 on a notepad, while I was waiting for friends in Penn Station, NYC. Obviously, at the time, I had nowhere to write. When I caught Temple’s message asking for submissions, I thought this one fit my time at Blogcritics, since for the past 6 months I’ve been posting, BC has given me ‘a place to write’. For that, I am grateful, and tip my astral hat.

Here’s the complete blurb from 11/23/02:
A place to write, a flat surface upon which I scribble away the secrets of the universe, an etching of my meticulous nature in the dead wood of a tree once planted by an undisturbed acorn. A place to write my bible, where thousands of idiots will pray to the composition they can never hope to understand. A place to write is where I fight my war, a pen is my sword, and I shall off every last head of my enemies. Every last one.

 

 A Magic Junk Radio B-Side - A Place to Write [00:01:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (154)

Among the creative people of the world, there are many who dare to crossover. Those who try their hands at genres within the arts that they were not instructed on, or gained their fame in. Just think of actors like J.Lo or William Shatner who have made music albums, while inversely musicians such as LL Cool J or Roger Daltrey have appeared in movies. When celebrities do a crossover, it’s essentially a crapshoot in terms of marketing. While the general public knows the name of the performer immediately, it is difficult to accept a celebrity doing something different.

For those of us fortunate enough to be devoid of fame, we can try any and everything we want within the creative hemispheres, and suffer all the same. How gratifying! Nevertheless, the creative area that I have no formal training or experience is music. I love hearing music, and am constantly surrounded by it no matter what I am doing. But when it comes to actually composing or playing the music, I have mostly avoided it for lack of natural talent and coordination. My encounters with playing are limited to three months of saxophone lessons in fourth grade, and a brief stint of singing terribly in a tenth grade rock band, to which I got kicked out of at the end of the summer. Of course, I know wholeheartedly that I did not apply myself in either case. But redemption was always waiting for me.

By admitting that I am a writer and artist first, that puts a big scarlet C for crossover on my chest when it comes to me producing a podcast of semi-melodic tracks. But brand me all you want— producing compositions of words and sounds was as fun as new Christmas toys. For all of the tweaking and timing issues and triple takes that it took to make it happen, I highly recommend it to any creative soul looking for something fun and challenging to do.

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Magic Junk Radio 1 is a creative fusion of spoken word, samples, sounds, and beats. I didn’t play any instruments, but you’re welcome to pretend I did. MJR 1 has no aspirations other than amusement and an occasional foot tap. At 17 and a half minutes, it’s a fast food podcast. But I’m perfectly content with that. Clog your arteries and enjoy.

INSTRUCTIONS: Right-click this link to download the full podcast in MP3 format, which will play in any iPod or MP3 music player. Left click and the MP3 will begin playing in a new web browser window (unless you haven’t updated in a while.)

MJR 1 Content of Tables:

1. Intro Music - 0:51
2. Welcome - 1:18
3. Identifying the Train People - 4:53
4. Interlude 1 - 1:12
5. Serico’s Wake Up Call (from The Art of Getting Bent) - 2:02
6. Not Going Gently - 1:51
7. Interlude 2 - 1:14
8. Magically Delicious - 1:40
9. Mushroom Cloud - 1:52
10. Farewell - 0:37

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 Magic Junk Radio 1: A Creative Crossover: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (156)