Transmissions from Echo Beach with Derek Westerholm and DJ Babs | WFMU

Music behind DJ: Chris Watson - "Inside the Circle of Fire: A Sheffield Sound Map" - Inside the Circle of Fire: A Sheffield Sound Map [Chris Watson is a BAFTA-winning sound recordist whose work has taken him to furthest reaches of the globe. In 2013 Museums Sheffield commissioned him to create a work about Sheffield, his home city. Chris made recordings all over Sheffield, from the outskirts at Blacka Moor to busy Fargate and from Forgemasters to the vast drainage tunnels under the Station. Inside the Circle of Fire invites us to listen to Sheffield’s unique soundtrack of people, industry and nature, and remember the waterways that continue to flow through it, from its borders in the Peak District all the way to its bustling heart.] [0:00:00] Richard Cheese - "Pour Some Sugar On Me" - Ok Bartender [Lounge singer Richard Cheese is a character created and portrayed by Los Angeles–based actor/comedian/singer Mark Jonathan Davis. As one of the world's best-selling music artists, Def Leppard have sold more than 100 million records worldwide. They have received RIAA diamond certification for two albums, Pyromania and Hysteria,making them one of only five rock bands with two original studio albums that have sold more than 10 million copies in the US. Def Leppard were ranked No. 31 in VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" and No. 70 in "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. As a testament to the band's popularity at the time, a US Gallup poll in 1984 saw Def Leppard voted as favourite rock band over the Rolling Stones, AC/DC, and Journey. Pyromania went on to sell six million copies in 1983 (more than 100,000 copies every week in that year) and was held from the top of the US charts only by Michael Jackson's Thriller.] [0:03:34] Thompson Twins - "Politics" - A Product Of... [The band originally formed in Yorkshire at the height of punk, but by the time they’d self-released their first single in 1980, the not-entirely-promising, Television-like Squares And Triangles, founders Tom Bailey, Pete Dodd and John Roog were squatting in Clapham and on to their third drummer, Chris Bell.He’d prove vital to their debut album – which, incidentally, sounds as little like the Thompson Twins of Doctor Doctor fame as they looked – because rhythm is at its heart, as it had been at their appealingly chaotic early shows, where crowds were invited to join in on stage. A love for West African music is also apparent on this album; They share this enthusiasm with their most obvious debt, Talking Heads, whose twitchy, tense but playful artiness thrives in opener When I See You’s spiky guitars, the New Wave-y Politics, whose jerkiness somehow remains admirably rigid, and the title track, with Shorter’s sax a vital embellishment. A product of participation for sure, then, and more than the sum of its parts....] [0:05:21] The Fall - "Glam Racket" - Sheffield Live 1993 [Recorded live at The Hallam University, Sheffield April 7th 1993, featuring songs from their so-to-be-released album "The Infotainment Scan". The Fall on this recording are: Mark E Smith - vocals, tapes Craig Scanlon - guitar Steve Hanley - bass Simon Wolstencroft- drums Dave Bush - keyboards The song's title and lyrics were interpreted as a jab at bands like Suede, though frontman Mark E. Smith claimed it was a broader attack on nostalgic music trends. The lyric "you are entrenched in suede" led to widespread belief that the song was a direct critique of the band Suede, known for their glam-inspired image...] [0:08:22] Chakk - "Shut Down" - Clocks and Babies [Chakk existed between 1981 and 1987. Their first single, "Out Of The Flesh", was recorded with Richard H. Kirk and Stephen Mallinder at Cabaret Voltaire's Western Works studio and mixed and engineered by Alan Cross, a member of the band who had studio training. The track reached No. 3 in the UK Indie Chart in the Autumn of 1984. Chakk's original sound was...

Music behind DJ: Seascapers - "Comforting Ocean Waves 2" - Comforting Ocean Waves [0:00:00] Speed Week - "Subdivision" - Weak Speed [Released Sep 18, full album releases October 16, 2025 /////// "Formed during a chance encounter at Carrick Speedway, Speed Week writes music based on observational thought and utilise real world dilemmas to discuss common social issues facing modern day humans. Fronted by part-time amateur clairvoyant and nail technician Brandt Domingos, former child actor Tarquin Les Smith III, Brad McDermott and some other cunt on the drums, Speed Week invites the listener on an auditory journey into a theoretical dimension where things often don't seem as they appear. //////// SPEED WEEK... a newish band out of Melbourne, featuring members of Split System and The Brakes, are back with their first album since their 2020 debut Hey Hey It’s Speed Week (Legless Records). The new record, titled Weak Speed, comes via ENDLESS RECORDINGS (AU/NZ) and Erste Theke Tonträger (Europe) on Thursday, October 16. //////// Weak Speed is a ragged, ferocious portrait of post-pandemic Australia, where sycophantic local politicians run riot, housing options are reduced to shoddy, monotonous apartment blocks and technology has steam-rolled over steady employment and innate desires. This is a record of anthemic shout-alongs and hooky, rapid riffs, underpinned by its great tongue-in-cheek humour and propulsive energy. /////// The album was written and recorded slowly over four years, across Naam/Melbourne and lutruwita/Tasmania. Despite all the disruptions of the past few years, songs organically emerged from stray bits of lyrics and bursts of guitar sent to one another over Whatsapp. When they could meet up, they would record, with their drummer Andrew Leith Robinson at the helm of production. These recordings took place in a friend’s basement, or in a Tasmanian town hall in the middle of nowhere, rented out during the state’s election day." //////// https://erstetheketontraeger.bandcamp.com/album/ett-117-speed-week-weak-speed-12] [0:01:50] Swell Maps - "Armadillo (John Peel Session, 15/5/79)" - The John Peel Sessions [Released September 12, 2025. "Swell Maps unveils the CD of The John Peel Sessions. This follows the release of the limited edition red vinyl for Record Store Day — remastered and available officially for the first time in over 40 years. //////// Noisy, chaotic, and defiantly experimental, Swell Maps may not have found commercial success in their time, but their impact on music is undeniable. An inspiration to bands such as R.E.M., Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Pavement and Nirvana, with Kurt Cobain famously being a fan and often seen sporting a Swell Maps T-Shirt. A democracy within the confines of punk’s anything is possible, members Biggles Books, Jowe Head and brothers Nikki Sudden and Epic Soundtracks—helped shape the landscape of post-punk and DIY music. Now, for the first time in over 40 years, The John Peel Sessions brings together all three of their recordings for John Peel, a figure instrumental in championing their sound. //////// Formed in the early ’70s and fully realised by 1976, Swell Maps embodied the DIY ethos, launching their own label and self-releasing the jagged, frenetic debut single ‘Read About Seymour’, recorded and produced by themselves late 1977. Peel was an early supporter, playing their record as soon as it landed on his desk—a moment the band described as one of disbelief and elation. His regular airplay of their music helped solidify their cult status, and these sessions capture the raw energy, off-kilter melodies, and boundary-pushing creativity that defined them. //////// The John Peel Sessions is a vital document of Swell Maps at their most unfiltered—three sessions of unpredictable, exhilarating noise." https://swellmaps.bandcamp.com/] [0:04:40] Tropical Fuck Storm - "Bloodsport" - Fairlyland Codex [Released June 20, 2025. Currently on tour! "Tropical Fuck Storm are an Australian...

Music behind DJ: Seascapers - "Comforting Ocean Waves" - Comforting Ocean Waves Gros Oiseau - "Doux Jesus" - Zonzon [Gros Oiseau concocts a dubious soup. Homemade, square-hunchbacked beats, spasmodic bass, rickety synth, magic spells, and strange vocals blend together at high speed... Add silly bongos, maracas, and small violins, and the mixture, created by Julien Israelian, Paul Courlet, and Nicolas Tissot, starts moving all by itself...Abrasive punk, post-hip-hop, electro-purgatory, Gros Oiseau calls for a less dirty world where people can wander in secret, escaping the sordid grimace of surveillance cameras and widespread tracking. DIY beats, rickety synths, convulsive bass, and strange vocals cut through reality and disturb even the most extroverted.] Music behind DJ: Giuliano Sorgini - "Under Pompelmo" - Under Pompelmo [Giuliano Sorgini is one of the most mysterious Italian composers: almost nothing is known about his life, despite his name being linked to dozens of releases, many of which regarded as highly relevant in the library music field. "Under Pompelmo" is one of the most famous and recognized Sorgini's works, thanks to a perfect blend of funk, psychedelia, jazz-rock and lounge that has its peak in the incredible title-track, almost seventeen minutes marked by a crazy groove that leaves no prisoners!] MEMORIALS - "Merci Mercy" - Centre Pompidou EP [The 13:01 final track (of 5 total) on this fairly well-extended extended play EP. "Commissioned by the Centre Pompidou in Paris earlier [in 2024] to create a piece of music in response to an artwork of our choice from their collection. We chose Louise Bourgeois’ 1992 installation ‘Precious Liquids’. This intimate and darkly poetic work ended up inspiring us to create five new tracks for this cassette."//// "MEMORIALS is Verity Susman (Electrelane) and Matthew Simms (Wire, Better Corners, It Hugs Back, Uuuu, Fitted). The duo channel the spirit of free jazz to create cosmic journeys through the garden shed into psychedelic rock, far out folk and wild analogue electronics." They are now in the US for the first time... Playing many shows w/ Stereolab and also many on their own. Catch them live! UPDATE from them... " we played our first ever US show at the inaugural Sound & Gravity festival in Chicago, and got to spend a bit of time in that great city (photos below). In amongst the Stereolab supports we have several headline shows coming up soon and we would love to see you there! Tell all your friends! Tickets are available via our website memorialsmusic.com. We have some excellent bands opening for us, and the venues are small, so book today, don't delay, to avoid any disappointment!​ ​25/09/25: PUBLIC RECORDS, NEW YORK, USA​ //// 28/09/25: AS220, PROVIDENCE, RI, USA​ //// 30/09/25: TUBBY'S, KINGSTON, NY, USA​ //// 03/10/25: PERMANENT RECORDS, LOS ANGELES, USA​ //// 04/10/25: BOTTOM OF THE HILL, SAN FRANCISCO, USA​ //// 06/10/25: SWAN DIVE, PORTLAND, OR" https://memorialsmusic.bandcamp.com/ ALSO, WFMU-ers... We are hoping to catch up w/ them so, but so will our fellow Sheena's friend-to-all Mr. Moistache on his fabulous Mr. Moistache's Menagerie (Click here fore Playlists and Archives)] Music behind DJ: Arid Landscapes - "RTMK" - Arid Landscapes ["Friday (September 19th) marks the launch of the new duo Arid Landscapes' self-titled debut on CD and digitally. Composed of gifted and adventurous Canadian players Dan Pitt (guitar & electronics) and Noah Franche-Nolan (piano, synth, electronics), the band successfully marries textural and jazz-informed lyricism as well as timbral exploration with subtle rhythmic drive. Moreover, they've achieved an elegant balance between electroacoustic manipulation and pure instrumental sonorities, allowing their imagination in both realms to shine equally brightly. ////// For anyone familiar with either player, their facility will come as no surprise. Between them, they've collaborated with noted musicians like Oene...

Music behind DJ: Benny Goodman - "Chicago" - The Best of Benny Goodman [0:00:00] Gang Of Four - "He'd Send in the Army" - Solid Gold ["Gang of Four’s second studio album was co-produced by the band and American engineer and producer Jimmy Douglas at Abbey Road studios in London. Jimmy had worked with many notable artists already, including the Rolling Stones and US funk band Slave. It was recorded after the band had spent several months on tour in America in 1979 and 1980. Considered by the band to be more “danceable” than Entertainment!, the album includes two tracks, “Outside the Trains Don’t Run on Time” and “He’d Send in the Army,” previously released as singles. The album has been re-issued numerous times. In 2003 it was packaged as ‘two LPs on one CD’ with the Hard album for a release on the Wounded Bird label. In 2021 a remastered version was made available digitally via Matador (US) and Warner (ROW) which was also included on vinyl in the Gang of Four 77-81 box set (see separate discography entry). The album was widely critically acclaimed and is considered one of the best albums of the 1980s. Excerpt from Paul Lester’s Damaged Gods: “Andy says ‘I think Solid Gold was definitely a product of our take on America, to a certain extent. I don’t want to exaggerate that: other than Cheeseburger there isn’t that much on the album about America. But it’s clear that there are things on there that we picked up from spending quite a bit of time moseying about in America and being exposed to American culture and what was going on there; something like Cheeseburger, obviously, is a direct account of us being on the road in America – it’s a country that’s on the road. It’s also about how everybody is an immigrant. That song would have been unthinkable on Entertainment! because we hadn’t had that kind of experience.”"] [0:02:51] Three Johns - "AWOL [Partial]" - Live In Chicago ["The Three Johns //// Post-punk/indie rock band formed in Leeds, UK, 1981 and disbanded 1990. //// This casual trio - Jon Langford (guitar; also leader of The Mekons, and, for the wink of an eye, a member of the Sisters Of Mercy), John Hyatt (vocals, lyrics) and John Brennan (real name Phillip Brennan) (bass) - began by specializing in discordant socio-political guitar punk with trembling falsetto vocals; their career-long use of a rhythm machine which they named Hugo rather than a live drummer has lent a unique tension to the group's sound." //// "They formed in the wake of the marriage of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer, in 1981. The trio of Johns produced a string of socialist-minded singles and an LP about cannibalism before splitting up. Since 2012 they’ve played sporadically throughout the UK. "https://thethreejohns.bandcamp.com/] [0:07:17] Clickbait - "Audacity" - At Your Leisure [Clickbait have been recording together since their first release, ‘Previous Demonstration’, in 2018. While the group has always been influenced by no-wave, these early tracks were much more akin to the DIY post-punk of outfits like Girls At Our Best or even riot grrrl artists like Bratmobile. As they have progressed, however, their unique sound has taken on more and more influences from the diverse world of no-wave. Their debut full-length album, At Your Leisure, for instance, is practically bursting with the distant sounds of groups like ESG, The Contortions, and even early Sonic Youth at points. Far from being an unimaginative regurgitation of the past, Clickbait have a unique ability to drag these discordant sounds into the 21st century. During a time in which so much of the post-punk landscape is becoming formulaic, repetitive, and uninspiring, groups like Clickbait offer an essential alternative to the alternative.] [0:08:39] Screamin' Rachael - "Insult To Injury" - Insult to Injury/Bad Influence 7" [Screamin' Rachael, born Rachael Cain, is an American musician and Chicago native dubbed the "Queen of House Music" by Billboard magazine. Rachael...