Free Form

Date

June 29, 2011

Miracler

Toby Barlow

Location

Detroit

Him again?

Yeah, but here's why. The guy who was supposed to miraclize today has fallen off the face of the earth—emails bouncing back, no comments or word, etc. He's probably fine (Nick Dedina, are you fine?) but he's definitely not made a mix this week. And, Toby Barlow is one of those people who, despite the globe-trotting job and the thousands of hobbies, will always answer the distress call of a Miracling Hostess. Not that you wouldn't. But that day, I called Toby, and he cooked us up a summer doozy I think you'll dig.

Where else you've seen him

Within the Prodge, he made us the RIP 2010 Artists mix this January. Then in Nov. '10 there was I Love You Harvey Nichols. Out of the whopping 25 comments came stuff like "A dizzying, dazzling foray through moods, tones, genres, and ages," "33 years ago, Bowie summed up my existence by penning this song in a coked-up haze somewhere near the Berlin wall. And that is cool," "No one will ever ask Peggy Lee's question about this mix," "Wow, again Toby, you don't disappoint," "Great French-fried Blondie. Louvre it," "Man, I love this. It's all over the map stylistically, but it all works," and "Whole lotta love on this comment...I like yer style Mr. Barlow." Then there was Love Story in Jan. '10, as well as The Not Completely Dead memorial to artists who R'd in 2009. Then there was Look in Oct. '09. Then there was City Vs. Country in May '09. We're not done. Then there was the Covers mix in Sept, '08. Then there was Honey in Aug. '08. That one also garnered 25 comments, though Doug Patterson would point out that many of them belonged to Mr. Barlow. That Doug, always keeping score.

Outside of the prodge, you might have seen him here.

Notes on this mix from TB

A tribute to listening to free form radio formats in the summertime, remembering when I used to lie flat on my back, bathing in D.C.'s awesome humidity, listening to the D.J's Weasel or Damien on WHFS' tiny Bethesda station with their unique mix of pub rock, new wave, hints of punk rock and a whole lot of R&B and bluegrass. That's where I first came across the Psychedelic Furs before John Hughes made them famous and accidentally destroyed them. Then there was July when Jersey's WFMU's airwaves would skim over the harbor, eluding the Statue of Liberty's fierce grasp, carrying Yo La Tengo and Belle & Sebastian into my hot, unairconditioned Brooklyn nights. Though the tune postdates my exile, "I And Love And You" reminds me of that time in my life, a tree ring of darkness and hurt, a drum beat of possibility and actuality. The weird asian bluegrass tune I've included I heard one morning driving to LAX, I had to pull over and write down the little indie public radio station's name and write to them from Detroit for the name of it. Happily, they wrote back ("Streak o' lean, Streak o' Fat.")

"Lay There And Hate Me" is a song I heard in the car that made me bang my steering wheel hard while listening to Detroit's WDET's HD2 High Def Free Form station, which is an awesome station, weird and unpredictable and fun, that I encourage everyone to listen to. I got a lot of the other tunes here from it, including the first tune by Detroit's lovely Mayer Hawthorne and the Spinners tune. You can stream it here. Supporting public radio is critical, I believe, to our collective unity. Just like supporting our libraries and our blood banks. Utah Phillips would want me to say that. He was a hero, God know that's true. And Damien played him on the radio.

Mix is up. Listen and comment. And then comment on others. Cuz that's the deal. See you back here or on our members-only Facebook page, on which Christina, Sam, Daniel, John, Herb, CvS, Doug, and Stephen have recently added some good stuff.

Until next week,

XOK