From the WMSE news desk…Milwaukee punk legend Leroy Lubricant (of The Lubricants) will be a guest on Rich Mars’ City Rock Showgram program tonight for his ’80s at 8:30′ segment. Tune into WMSE at that time to listen in: 91.7 FM or WMSE.org. Music + history = WMSE.

If you’ve been listening to WMSE over the past week or so, you might have noticed many of the DJs tucking holiday tunes into their programs — starting this week, though, we’re doing more rolling than simple tucking, and the amount of specially-crafted holiday programs are eighteen (and counting)…

From the magic we just heard from our own Paul Cebar on the Way Back Home program, to Paul Host’s enviable collection of rare holiday tunes he unwraps only this time of the season, WMSE has quite the bag of audio loot for you all.

Here’s a working list — simply note the programs of choice, settle down by the radio (91.7 FM) or the computer speakers (WMSE.org) and give your ears a well-deserved treat:

12.19: City Rock Showgram w/ Rich Mars – “80s Xmas on 80s at 8:30”

12.20: Overnight Sensations w/ Jon Blick and DJ Scott – “Tag Team Alternative Xmas”

12.21: Industrial Zone w/ Ninna – “Jingle Hell”

12.21: The Pit w/ Mario, Jay, Jesse & Colin O – “Christmas Punk & What Not”

12.21: The Chicken Shack w/ Good John – Country Christmas

12.21: Zero Hour w/ Andy – “The Don’t Bite Santa, Dusty, Christmas Special”

12.22: Streamline w/ Jayx – “Best of 2012”

12.22: Instrumental Saturdays w/ Mary – “Instrumental Christmas”

12.22: Late Night Beat Generation w/ Steven & Paul – “Holiday Tecno”

12.24: Grant and Pat Show – “Together for the Holidays”

12.24: World Music Mondays w/ Brian Jay – “Santa: World Traveler”

12.24: Paul Host’s Annual Holiday Marathon – Noon – 9pm

12.25: Snow on the Radio Tower w/ Jason W. – 9am – 3pm

12.25: The Marty Party w/ Marty and Jerry – “Father vs Son: The Oldies”

12.27: Richard Nice Show w/ Ryan and CJ – “The Countdown Show”

12.27: Radio Drill Time w/ TC – “The WMSE Best of 2012 Show”

12.29: City Rock Showgram w/ Brian Jay – “Best of 2011 and 2012”

1.1.13: Rockleidoscope Best of 2012 show

WMSE loves free-form radio. Our format’s complete and genuine freedom allows our DJs to explore an insane number of genres — music without limitations! It’s a fact that each WMSE show has its own community within the larger, more inclusive WMSE community; diverse radio programming is rewarded with a loyal listenership like no other.

But because the WMSE DJs are only on the air for three hours each week, you the listener might not get to know them quite as well as you might like, so to give you all a bit more insight, we’re proud to introduce the Get To Know Your WMSE DJ series. Each WMSE DJ gets the same five questions, and just like our free-form format, they choose to answer however they want: short or long, intense or humorously…we ask, they answer, we post.

Sonic Diet will be posting a new addition to the biweekly series on Mondays. Now up:

DJ: Jeff Duris

Show Name: Alternative Bliss

Day/Time: Sundays, 12am – 3am

How do you spend your days and nights when not hosting your radio show?

I spend most of my time working on trains — I’ve been a railroad conductor for the last thirty-three (plus) years. It’s a great job with lots of history behind it; the hours are long, but the world is my offices, which is awesome (especially when the weather is nice)! I’m my own boss; I enjoy the freedom of working at my own pace. I work a route that delivers cars to customers on Jones Island and the old Fifth Ward. Every day we have to operate a swing bridge over the Kinnickinnic River that is about one hundred and ten years old! I am the treasurer of my union local which keeps me busy a few evenings a month and I also try to put some time in at the station to help as needed. I’m a huge motorcycle enthusiast — I love to ride my Sporty around town (or my Buell when I feel the need for a little speed!). The AMA races at Elkhart Lake are the official start of summer. My wife Debbie and I love to watch movies and listen to music. We listen to our favorite shows on WMSE on a couple nights, either live or archived. On Saturdays, the whole house is filled with music! We’re listening to songs, new and old, to play on the air. We both enjoy discovering a great new song; I love getting a call from a listener, asking who the artist is of a song they are enjoying! We have a daughter in college, so I hear, “Dad, you should play this!” a lot. Being a DJ and playing music for people is something I enjoy very much — it goes back to making mix tapes for my friends at school!

Do you remember what band, album or song took you from being a casual music listener to a passionate music lover? Is there a memory associated with that experience?

I’m fortunate to have grown up during the classic rock and the new wave eras — I’ve heard so much great music in my lifetime. It starts with the Beatles and the Ventures. My dad played in a country band, so I heard a lot of Buck Owens and Hank Williams. “Strawberry Fields Forever” is the first song to make a music lover out of me; hearing it now still gives me goose pimples! Then, it was Chicago’s second and third albums. I play drums and “25 or 6 to 4″ is the song I first learned to play. I borrowed a cassette of Physical Graffiti from a friend in high school; he didn’t get it until after graduation. I think that is one of the greatest albums ever recorded! I saw Jimmy Page play a lot of songs from it in 1999, at Summerfest with the Black Crowes; it was a religious experience! Seeing a Rush concert is a guilty pleasure — I’ve seen them more than 25 times! Two more albums were the Pretenders’ first and Lou Reed’s The Blue Mask. The first time I listened to them was an experience I have never forgotten. Then there was New Order, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Psychedelic Furs and the Cure. In the late 80s, I became a huge fan of the Chameleons, a post-punk band from Manchester — one of the coolest events of my life was meeting them after their 2002 show in Chicago! Guided By Voices’ Bee Thousand and Stereolab’s Transient Random Noise Bursts With Announcements are two more that I’m taking to the grave with me. There are so many more albums that are a part of my life and I thank WMSE for keeping all of this music in the spotlight and on the air!

What band have you heard or discovered in the past six months that reminded you why you want to continue being a WMSE DJ?

I’ve become a huge fan of the Horrors. Their 2011 album Skying is awesome! The airy keyboards, layered guitars and the vocals of Faris Rotter remind me of the Chameleons. This has lead to listening to their other discs, Strange House and Primary Colours earlier this year and they are fantastic. It has been great to be able to play this music on the air and share my enthusiasm for it with my listeners! I try to blend the new and the old together to form a “mix tape” for three hours. I love to turn it up in the studio just as I do at home!

Who is your favorite non-you WMSE DJ and why?

My favorite DJ is Alien Andre. His knowledge of music is amazing and the way he puts all of it together makes his show a masterpiece. I’ve said that he has forgotten more about music than I know. He has become a great friend and I’m a WMSE DJ because of him. Rich Mars and I have similar tastes in music and his show is always entertaining. Melissa is another favorite! She gave me my first chance on air during a membership drive — I brought some music to play on her show and we were going on the air to talk about it. She asked me a question and i shook my head to answer it (really works on the radio). I’m influenced by a lot of other hosts like Tom Crawford, Steven K, Faux Eyes, Eric Void, Erin Wolf, Jules and Mot. Some of these people have become good friends to Debbie and me. Our lives have been made richer through our friendships with them and the studio staff!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Retired…

WMSE’s membership drive programming is the time when our DJs shine the brightest, pulling out all the stops on their respective shows. Entertaining, exemplary and interactive are just a few general descriptors, but only YOU know why your favorite programs are your favorites, not just during the drive, but week after week. This particular drive, tune in to catch some very special shows from these WMSE DJs and beyond — it’s all in those details, below:

Rich Mars of The City Rock Showgram: Wednesdays, 6pm-9pm

Everyone knows that Rich Mars knows his stuff when it comes to the best and most eclectic in new rock and pop music — he’ll play Tame Impala, Dark Dark Dark, Firewater and Laetitia Sadier back to back (and that’s just an example of his most recent show’s playlist). This particular week, Rich is going to put the focus on his top favorites of all time (a teaser is that those favorites include the one and only PJ Harvey and Lou Reed).

Jon Blick of Overnight Sensations: Thursdays, 12am-3am

Jon Blick of WMSE’s Overnight Sensations has some spooky listening fun in store for his listeners, brought to you by the man himself and co-host DJ Scott. Blick says that they’ll be “bringing you the heebie-jeebies with our usual eclectic mix of music. The last hour of the show will feature the first ever Halloween-themed installment of ‘What Were You Thinking’?, our monthly joint stream-of-unconsciousness / ‘let’s build a playlist’ game.” The following week, Blick has an all-local “blowout” planned for the entire show, also featuring “a smattering of election/presidential-themed music, past and present, to celebrate the final days of the year-long Wisconsin election season that was 2012.”

Charlie Joecks/DJ Jayx of Streamline: Saturdays, 3am-6am

What would a Saturday Halloween weekend wee-hours evening be without a little throwback to the good old ghoulish days? Jayx says that he “will be doing a special rave edition of Streamline...[featuring] classic rave anthems from the eary – mid-90′s.” If you’re already at a friends’ for a haunted holiday party, how convenient to have your soundtrack already set for you, right? Simply find a radio (or streamable device) and tune it into 91.7 FM and let the spooky memories of black lights, glowsticks and machine-made fog take over.

Mark Krueger of Planet Prog: Sundays, 9pm-10:30pm

Halloween happiness continues, this time in fine prog-ish form with the King of Prog on the WMSE airwaves, Mark Krueger. He says “My favorite holiday is right around the corner [so] I’ll be doing some kind of Halloween-themed show for the drive. It’s also a celebration of my 11th anniversary as a DJ…regardless, it’s all about Samhain and the ghoulishly gory fun!”

Buzz of Buzz’s Garage: Mondays, 6pm-9pm

Buzz makes his plans short and sweet, just like the songs he chooses to program his show with — “Halloween special during my show — punk, garage and weird stuff about Halloween, monsters, etc.” says Buzz, but there’s really no need for further detail. We’re guessing that Buzz will be more than capable of dishing out the monsterish mayhem aplenty, so don’t sleep on this one.

Jon Goelzer / bts.wrkng of BTS.WRKNG: Mondays, 9pm-12am

Everyone knows Jon puts together flawless shows that are cutting-edge, atmospheric and informative all at once, and when he puts together a themed program, it’s not to be missed! He discloses, “I’ll be hosting a live in-studio performance (DJ sets) by Bloodshot Pyramid, a new local act comprised of Bside, Redshift and Jslim, who used to be semi-regular visitors to my show in various combinations under those names. Bloodshot Pyramid’s debut album Every Level Larger gets released on Tuesday, October 20th.”

Of course, this is only just a few out of the many, so be sure to keep it tuned to WMSE to get the full details on your favorite programs and more. Make sure your ears are prepared for the maxed-out membership drive programming mayhem to come — we will be bringing you the best because you are the best! See you on the left of the dial.

WMSE loves free-form radio. Our format’s complete and genuine freedom allows our DJs to explore an insane number of genres — music without limitations! It’s a fact that each WMSE show has its own community within the larger, more inclusive WMSE community; diverse radio programming is rewarded with a loyal listenership like no other.

But because the WMSE DJs are only on the air for three hours each week, you the listener might not get to know them quite as well as you might like, so to give you all a bit more insight, we’re proud to introduce the Get To Know Your WMSE DJ series. Each WMSE DJ gets the same five questions, and just like our free-form format, they choose to answer however they want: short or long, intense or humorously…we ask, they answer, we post.

Sonic Diet will be posting a new addition to the biweekly series on Mondays. Now up:

DJ: Jason Ellis

Show Name: Team Metal

Day/Time: Wednesdays, 9pm – midnight

How do you spend your days and nights when not hosting your radio show?

I  keep busy with booking shows[mostly metal], I am in two bands, with a third potentially coming. I also volunteer with a program through the Milwaukee Women’s Center that allows me to hang out with kids who are from some pretty dire situations and do kids’ stuff. It’s pretty incredible.  And I have an awesome dog, I’m pretty big into animal rights, and I watch a bunch of horror movies. Oh, and I work.

Do you remember what band, album or song took you from being a casual music listener to a passionate music lover? Is there a memory associated with that experience?

Without the dissertation I could give for each of these songs (email me if you want that), these six songs effectively saved/ruined my life, depending on how you view my quality of life. When I heard these songs, they made something I loved — metal — into an intense love. No turning back…

Stargazer — “Rainbow” (off Rising)

Black Sabbath — “Children Of the Sea” (off Heaven and Hell)

Iron Maiden – “Flight of Icarus” (off Piece of Mind)

Candlemass — “At the Gallows End” (off Nightfall)

Samael — “Baphomets Throne” (off Ceremony of Opposites)

Priomordial — “Empire Falls” (off To the Nameless Dead)

What band have you heard or discovered in the past six months that reminded you why you want to continue being a WMSE DJ?

There has been an upswing of young bands being influenced by good sources and not lousy meat-headed ones. In Solitude, Borrowed Time, 40 Watt Sun and Darkest Era, when I listened to them all for the first time, I was pumped on the idea of sharing them with everyone.

Who is your favorite non-you WMSE DJ and why?

I have a three-way tie, here:

Jon Blick- his show is so diverse and he is such a genuine spirit. Nothing contrived on there, ever.

Rich Mars is so flawless in his delivery and is such a real dude. And the 80s at 8:30 is always boss.

Ryan Asche hits the goth kid in me just right. Always awesome.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Either my dad or a mad scientist.

Tonight, WMSE is pleased to help welcome Cults’ sunshine-y sounds to the Turner Hall Ballroom; the band’s catchy “Go Outside” ditty has been monopolizing our collective ear-space pretty much all week as a result. The music of Cults’ opener, Spectrals, is a close second in monopolization — Bad Penny, the Slumberland/Wichita Records release by Spectrals’ main man, Louis Jones, is steeped in all the best of 80′s and 90′s twee pop and today’s sweet and shimmering garage and chill pop. Loading plenty of England’s wistfulness (his home) into Bad Penny, Jones still manages to pop plenty of that indie jangle (and even country western) that American pop aficionados love and compose so saliently.

Tune into WMSE tonight at 6:30 p.m. CST to catch an in-studio interview with Spectrals’ Louis Jones on Rich Mars’ City Rock Showgram. Catch Spectrals at Turner Hall Ballroom tonight at 8 p.m. with Cults.

Brief Candles

words by Justin Shoman

Tune in to tonight and all week long at 8 p.m. as we give our aging gear an appropriate send off with four nights of intense in-studio performances from local WMSE favorites! Last night kicked off with Burning Sons on Buzz’s Garage (click here to listen in the WMSE archives) and here’s the rest so you can tune in and check out new and live, local music.

Tuesday, December 13 – Head on Electric (Local/Live at 8pm)

Wednesday, December 14 – The Fatty Acids (City Rock Showgram at 8pm)

Thursday, December 15 – Brief Candles (The Jules Show at 8pm)
HUGE thanks to everyone that has taken the important step to back this project so far. We’re getting so close!

Please help us keep the live music alive into 2012 by supporting the project to Keep Live Music on WMSE by the December 22nd deadline. More than $22,000 dollars has been raised, but only nine days remain in the project to Keep Live Music on WMSE.

If the additional $8,000 is not raised by 9 p.m. on December 22nd, pledges to this critical project will not be processed and WMSE will receive nothing.

This project is in the home-stretch and we need your support to keep live music the air, now, more than ever!

Help us – Help bands – Move forward

Crazy Fox & Baby Cowboy

words by Cal Roach

It appears the “warm” winter weather is pretty much behind us for the time being, folks.  But there’s no significant snowfall in the forecast yet, so you’ve still got no excuse not to get out and enjoy the nightlife, and best of all, you can enjoy the warm, comforting sounds of WMSE any time from the cozy confines of your home.

You may have heard that Wilco is in town?  If you managed to snag a ticket for this Riverside Theater show, you’re probably in for a treat.  The band thought enough of Milwaukee to shoot the cover of its 2009 self-titled album at Mader’s, and all reports from Wilco’s last two-night stand in town were rave reviews.  Few modern groups combine such a high caliber of heart-wrenching songs and individual instrumental prowess as Wilco, so be prepared for an impressive night of music.

If you’re in the mood for something not quite so tame, consider hitting the always-reliable Cactus Club tonight for what promises to be an incredibly loud show.  Two of our fair city’s most reliably awesome noise bands, Fahri and King’s Horses, will test the structural fortitude of your earplugs.  Both bands have a trove of as-yet unreleased material that they’ll surely be featuring at this show, which is exciting in itself.  Joining them will be jangly indie duo Crazy Fox & Baby Cowboy, perhaps not quite so loud but surely entertaining nonetheless.

If you’re in need of a warm-up Saturday night, there’s no better act in town than Paul Cebar and his Tomorrow Sound to invoke warmer climes.  The broad spectrum of rock and roll, blues, jazz, soul and world musics this band rolls out will conjure up varying degrees of temperate and tropical heat, and even if you can’t place the origin of the tunes, you’ll be too busy dancing to notice what the actual temperature in the room is.  Plus, if you’re lucky, Cebar will play his recent single, “Summer Starts Right Now;” that ought to take your mind off the weather.

Also on Saturday, the Bay View Brew Haus will host Milwaukee’s premier all-girl sorta-punk band, The Barrettes.  “Sorta,” because although the attitude is punk to the core, you don’t often hear French horn or cello in this genre, nor the dizzying prog-y tempo shifts these gals pull off.  If you haven’t heard this band’s 2009 debut album, A Whole Lotta Melodica, you are missing out on a truly unique musical experience, and a bunch of terrific songs that aren’t just notable for being weird.  Check ‘em out live; they’ll probably have some CDs to sell you, to boot.  Also playing: Ripley Caine, Venus In Furs and The Locals.

File under: ‘tis the season…On Sunday, Rosebud Cinema Drafthouse is giving you a couple of stellar movie-going options, both family-friendly and both actually great movies.  First at noon, it’s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, which you should probably see on the big screen at some point if only for the scene when Chevy Chase finally gets his obscenely gaudy lighting display to turn on.  Then at 6:30, it’s Vincente Minnelli’s classic holiday musical Meet Me In St. Louis.  Sure, TCM will probably show it a few times over the coming weeks, but how can you pass up Judy Garland singing “The Trolley Song” and “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” in an actual movie theater?  That’s right: you can’t. (Also Monday – Thursday at 8:30 and 6:30 p.m., respectively)

Finally, get ready for a wild week on the WMSE airwaves as Milwaukee bands play live on the air to support the station’s Kickstarter project to save the outdated in-studio recording equipment.  Kick off your Monday evening right with Burning Sons on Buzz’s Garage, then crank your stereos up on Tuesday around 8 p.m.; Head On Electric pulled off an appropriately sloppy/awesome stint as a Nirvana tribute band back on Halloween weekend, and be playing Local Live with (presumably) a selection of their own tunes.  Wednesday, The Fatty Acids will visit during Rich Mars’ show, and then Thursday, Jules will host Brief Candles around 7:30 p.m.  Some of the city’s absolute best bands, only on WMSE, and it will only continue to happen if you donate what you can to the Kickstarter project before December 22^nd!

We at WMSE can only guess what a ‘leftover monsterface’ is (Is it that dilapidated Halloween mask kicked to the curb in mid-November? Maybe the faces cats make when they eat leftovers?). Only local electro-poppers Fatty Acids probably have a better idea, as they chose to adorn their latest album with it. Released on their own Kribber Krown Records, Leftover Monsterface (out late, last summer) is a whole lotta weird with weird on top, but with plenty of delightful twists and turns in a true Charlie Chaplin or Willie Wonka-inspired fashion. “Creature” and “Marks We Leave” churn with loopy keys and horns while wayward vocals coo and yell. You’ll have a chance to hear for yourself on WMSE’s airwaves next Wednesday, December 14th as the Fatty Acids perform live on Rich Mars’ show. We’ll have more news on that later, but for now, enjoy a video + track from the album, above.

WMSE loves free-form radio. Our format’s complete and genuine freedom allows our DJs to explore an insane number of genres — music without limitations! It’s a fact that each WMSE show has its own community within the larger, more inclusive WMSE community; diverse radio programming is rewarded with a loyal listenership like no other.

But because the WMSE DJs are only on the air for three hours each week, you the listener might not get to know them quite as well as you might like, so to give you all a bit more insight, we’re proud to introduce the Get To Know Your WMSE DJ series. Each WMSE DJ gets the same five questions, and just like our free-form format, they choose to answer however they want: short or long, intense or humorously…we ask, they answer, we post.

Sonic Diet will be posting a new addition to the series biweekly on Mondays and the first batch of WMSE DJs featured will be those whose show falls within the 6 a.m. – 6 p.m. show slots. Next up:

DJ: Dori Zori

Show Name: The Girlina Show

Day/Time: Thursday, Noon – 3pm

How do you spend your days and nights when not hosting your radio show?

I spend my days as Underwriting Director for WMSE, which I have been doing since October of 2008. I feel very fortunate to be one of four full time employees that works here and keeps the daily operations of the station possible. I’m lucky to work with people that I love being around every day and I can’t imagine going back to the corporate world after working for such a great Community resource like WMSE. My nights are almost always filled with something fun to do. My most favorite thing to do is see a live show and I will often travel outside of the Milwaukee area to catch some great live music. We have some amazing arts organizations doing great things in town, so I try and see as much of that as I can. I’m always up for a good dance party, though…

Do you remember what band, album or song took you from being a casual music listener to a passionate music lover? Is there a memory associated with that experience?

Whether it was my Dad’s Jukebox, my Grandma’s small radio in the Kitchen tuned into an AM Oldies station or my Mom’s vinyl collection of Elvis, The Beatles and Motown, I’ve always had music around growing up. Elvis was my first musical love. I would play my Mom’s albums and stare at the covers for hours on end. We had this little portable record player that folded up into a suitcase type contraption and we had just moved into a house that had a basement where my sister Jodi and I would spend the majority of our time when not in school. While in the 4^th or 5^th grade, I remember buying my first album, Blondie’s Eat to the Beat. I’m thinking it was on a trip to Treasure Island, a store I remember being in A LOT as a kid. I’m not even sure if I knew who Blondie was at the time, but I just thought the cover looked so awesome. Debbie Harry soon became my idol. I would spend hours and hours listening to that album, reading and re-reading the liner notes. I learned every word of every song. I tried to style my hair like hers. From that point forward, I looked at music differently.

What band have you heard or discovered in the past six months that reminded you why you want to continue being a wmse DJ.

I love the access that local musicians have to the 91.7fm airwaves. WMSE and our DJ’s commitment to local music from all genres keeps me motivated to be a WMSE DJ. Being able to walk into the studio and hand a DJ your music knowing it can be played within minutes is pretty special.

Who is your favorite non-you WMSE DJ and why? 

Gosh, this question is difficult. I have so many favorites and there is a wealth of talented DJ’s here. I love the way Faux Eyes mixes up so many genres of music during his show and his sense of humor, and it kind of inspired me to do the same during The Girlina Show. Erin Wolf/The Rockleidoscope Show keeps me informed of what is going on in the Local Music scene, Dr Fell keeps things funky and I love that, Scott Lucey is always introducing me to the latest and greatest in new Electronic Indie type music. Tom Wanderer is a one-of-a-kind gem on WMSE, I hope he never leaves. Between Melissa and Rich Mars, I get my 80’s fix of music each week. When Jules is on and I’m in my car…it’s hard to shut off the engine and get into the house. She usually has some dark/funky/sexy music going on….Tom Crawford’s Radio Drill Time the last Thursday of each month is an amazing program. I really could go on and on…

What do you want to be when you grow up?

A Toys R Us kid? Was that the right answer? What did I win?

It’s about 2,000 words and took me three weeks to find the right voice for the ‘first’ draft. It went through several different perspectives until I found one that compelled me actually to write to the end. It’s definitely still a draft, but I did it.

I’ve started calling it “Rico Marte,” which is (according to Google Translation) Spanish for ‘rich Mars.’ If you want to get all over my case about appropriating languages I don’t rightfully know, please be my guest. But then help me figure out how to do it better. I’d even let you read the story.

Anyway, I did it. Now I’m going to edit it. Don’t they say 90% of the work gets done in 10% of the time, and the other 10% of the work takes 90% of the time? Scary thought.