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

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.

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.

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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[ Download the MP3 ] - 52 MB (high quality sound… because we care about your eardrums)
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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

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.

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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[ Download the MP3 ] - 37 MB (high quality sound… because we care about your eardrums)
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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

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.

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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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

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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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

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.

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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[ Download the MP3 ] - 17.3 MB

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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.

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.

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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[ Download the MP3 ] - 16.8 MB

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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 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

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.