WFMU: Mid-Valley Mutations with Austin Rich: Playlist from September 25, 2023

Listener comments!
	👻 8:01pm Austin Rich: Good Hello.
	11:01pm WR: Onward.
	👻 11:01pm Austin Rich: ↳ WR @11:01 Thanks for joining us!
	11:02pm Frankie: Whiz click
	👻 11:03pm Austin Rich: ↳ Frankie @11:02 <zzzzzt>
	11:03pm Aitch: Space Mutants rejoice!
	11:04pm Aitch: Thanks for the fill-in A Rich
	11:04pm Mr Fab: Sci-fi AND noir?! Genre mashup pleeze!
	11:05pm WR: Mike Rogers, hope you are better soon. Aitch, your stitch removal went ok?
	11:06pm Aitch: ↳ WR @11:05 Indeed, thank you. Very itchy now, but doesn't look like a scene out of Videodrome anymore
	👻 11:08pm Austin Rich: Thanks for tuning in! If you haven't already discovered: there's a lot of stereo FX, and very fancy production at work. So if you can, put on headphones! Or sit between a pair of speakers.
	11:08pm Mr Fab: This was on NPR?! Can’t imagine that, considering how bland they’ve become over the years.
	👻 11:09pm Austin Rich: ↳ Mr Fab @11:08 Yeah, back in the day. Occasionally they air new stuff by this writer... but mostly because of his reputation, at this point.
	👻 11:11pm Austin Rich: You'll notice that the segments are almost all song length, and each segment has fully produced music. The idea was to create a story experience that was like listening to a song, but also had narrative. It creates a sort of dreamy listening experience.
	11:13pm Offonoff: ↳ Austin Rich @11:11 But you had to be vigilant with your timing to catch every episode, and you had to keep the previous episodes in your memory banks.
	👻 11:14pm Austin Rich: ↳ Offonoff @11:13 Yeah; as I understood it, they just aired one song per week-day. So it was like following a daily comic strip, but in radio form.
	11:16pm Teru: Mr. Science (an 80's radio show produced by Duck's Breath Mystery Theater, later renamed Dr. Science) was similarly short, but without need to attend to the continuity.
	11:18pm Angel Lips: The ability to slow down time strikes me as cheating.
	👻 11:18pm Austin Rich: ↳ Teru @11:16 Which I also very much appreciate!
	👻 11:18pm Austin Rich: ↳ Angel Lips @11:18 And borrowed by The Matrix, I think.
	👻 11:22pm Austin Rich: Yet another radio show where Tesla is an icon and / or character in the story. Though, this one might pre-date all the current ones by... 30 years?
	11:24pm Onoffon: ↳ Austin Rich @11:22 My goddaughter's name is Tesla. I don't think her dad would have known about Tesla if it hadn't been for Ruby.
	👻 11:25pm Austin Rich: I recall a lot of people when I was coming up had a thing for Tesla. He is pretty cool.
	11:30pm Mr Fab: ↳ Teru @11:16 Ask Dr Science! He has a degree…in science! Our own Taylor Ironybread is the Ducks Breath archivist, and i believe has produced some recent reissues.
	👻 11:31pm Austin Rich: ↳ Mr Fab @11:30 Taylor is the best. He's done a few re-issues in the comedy world, I think. He's a busy dude.
	11:32pm Rodant Kapoor: ↳ Mr Fab @11:30 I saw Duck's Breath performing live in a cafeteria at Reed College (Portland, Oregon) around 1980.
	👻 11:33pm Heather Z: ↳ Austin Rich @11:25 A local author, Th Metzger, has a book called Blood and Volts, I believe, about Tesla, Edison, and the electric chair. Bought a copy for a friend's upcoming bday and own one myself. It's been a bit since I've read it but it's worth checking out if you find a copy.
	👻 11:33pm Austin Rich: ↳ Rodant Kapoor @11:32 Jealous! That's very cool. (Thought I would have been too young to get in on by own in 1980.)
	11:37pm Mustapha: The ZBS folks have been posting photos and stories about their early days on social media. I get the impression they all lived together in a farmhouse somewhere, like a commune.
	👻 11:40pm Austin Rich: ↳ Mustapha @11:37 As I understand it, Fulton started a Radio Commune in the 70's, so they could produce radio without interference. As a result, all the counter-culture people of the era wanted to hang out with the ZBS crew.
	👻 11:41pm Austin Rich: ↳ Heather Z @11:33 I'll have to check that out. The Tesla obsession in our culture, and his inclusion as a character in fiction, comes from Ruby, originally, as I understand it.
	11:45pm Godzilla Blaster: Why can't she slow down time while playing pinball?
	👻 11:45pm Heather Z: ↳ Austin Rich @11:41 It may well have been the inspiration for Der Metzger! It's been ages but we had Tesla on the SoT, played by Ricky Ratteau. It's been so long I can't remember clearly but I think he was the one who pitched Tesla inclusion. My peace ray!
	👻 11:46pm Austin Rich: ↳ Godzilla Blaster @11:45 Deus Ex Machina: she only has the power when it's useful for the plot.
	👻 11:47pm Austin Rich: This Solar Wings bit seems like the inspiration for the flying dream sequences in Brazil.
	11:47pm Tookah: Perfect music for solar sailing.
	👻 11:50pm Austin Rich: "Oh, you read a lot." There's a lot of good lines in this show, but that one...
	11:58pm Molière: Socio-economic philosophical discussions during a shoot-out are always well-advised.
	👻 11:58pm Austin Rich: ↳ Molière @11:58 But of course!
	👻 12:02am Austin Rich: "Code X-Minus One." That is not the first - or last - old Sci-Fi radio reference in this show.
	12:03am Francois: Oh, there was an X Minus One reference. It all ties together!
	👻 12:04am Austin Rich: ↳ Francois @12:03 "The Oregone Islands" I can only assume?
	👻 12:19am Austin Rich: I've seen a lot of people do this "pulling out more and more weapons" gag in movies and TV in the years since this was on the radio... but this certainly feels like a very early example of the joke.
	12:24am Toots Mutant: I'd say a lot of the interplay between the music, effects, and dialog borrow a lot from Ken Nordine.
	👻 12:25am Austin Rich: ↳ Toots Mutant @12:24 I think you are correct! Or, at least, I think Fulton HAD to know about Ken Nordine, and their styles are certainly parallel. I do need to do more Nordine on the show.
	👻 12:27am Austin Rich: "Just another health fad, but what the hell." Like I said: a million great lines.
	12:27am Monet: Milk bar has to be a reference to Clockwork Orange.
	👻 12:27am Austin Rich: I assumed Heather would be into this story, since The Black Star is one of the central features of this story.
	👻 12:28am Heather Z: Blackstar!!!
	👻 12:29am Austin Rich: ↳ Monet @12:27 Seems almost guaranteed. There's less documentation about Ruby online than I'd like, but Fulton only talks vaguely about his influences. KPFA radio dramas and 50's rock and roll seems to be his main influence.
	12:30am WR: I cannot adjust to anything other than 6.66.
	👻 12:30am Austin Rich: "Two. Pieces. Of. Paper." I say that almost all the time.
	👻 12:31am Austin Rich: ↳ WR @12:30 It's the nature of the beast, I understand.
	12:31am Kay: Solipsism
	👻 12:31am Austin Rich: "The symbol is controlling your mind." I say that all the time, too.
	👻 12:32am Austin Rich: Finally: The Hubba-Hubba Tree. The most curious part of this story.
	👻 12:32am Austin Rich: ↳ Kay @12:31 Perhaps!
	👻 12:35am Austin Rich: I see parallels with Ruby and Candy Matson (the 50's radio detective show we listened to on Dimestore radio theater), but Ruby is a lot more hardboiled.
	12:51am Moonbeam: I have Jack Flanders on a set of cassette tapes that a friend gave to me.
	12:58am Mr. X: Apparently there is a Mr. X in one of the Ruby pilots, "Rebel from Utopia." [Reading the Wikipedia article...]
	👻 12:58am Austin Rich: ↳ Moonbeam @12:51 Fulton had to retire that series, as the actor who played Jack passed away. There are adjacent stories that Fulton now makes - with adjacent Flanders characters - but there's not more official "new" Flanders.
	12:59am WR: Thank you, Austin, laters all.
	👻 12:59am Austin Rich: ↳ WR @12:59 See ya, WR!
	👻 1:09am Austin Rich: The appreciation for jokes and comedy - and the inclusion of puns - can seem like a weird tone shift. But the show also adopts extreme psychedelia, and full noir atmosphere, and even embodies sci-fi soundscapes and philosophical monologues. I think it was Fulton's attempt to appease his many interests, rather than keeping the style narrow. I'm sure he just didn't want to risk getting bored.
	1:12am Mr. X: I imagine the digital circus as being something like a Survival Research Labs show.
	👻 1:13am Austin Rich: ↳ Mr. X @1:12 That's a good analogy! Certainly I have an affinity for those videos, too.
	👻 1:18am Austin Rich: "Nobody's Perfect." Seems like a "Some Like It Hot" reference.
	👻 1:20am Austin Rich: We've only got a little bit more story to go. I hope you all had fun. We'll pick up Part 2 very soon!
	1:20am Mr. X: It has been a wonderful trip down memory lane. Thanks, Austin.
	👻 1:26am Austin Rich: See ya'll next time!

Mid-Valley Mutations with Austin Rich: Playlist from September 25, 2023

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A combination of collage, new experimental records and other bits and bobs, Mid-Valley Mutations is a tour through the mind of Austin Rich, who has been broadcasting in some form since 1998. Heavily influenced by Dr Demento, Don Joyce and old fashioned College Radio, Austin creates Audio Essays on a variety of subjects, and even just plays records, from time to time. Sometimes Live music and Interviews will grace the program, helping create a situation where you don't really know what you're going to hear, when you tune in. What you need to know is when you enter the Mid-Valley region, be prepared for the Musical Mutations... in whatever form they take.

Tuesday 9 - 11pm (EST) | On WFMU's Sheena's Jungle Room
Sheena's Jungle Room LIVE Audio Streams (Get help): Pop-up | 128k MP3

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September 25, 2023: Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe (Part 1)

Listen to this show: Pop-up listen Pop-up player!

Artist	Track	Album	Label	Year	Approx. start time
ZBS Foundation	Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe [Excerpt]	Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe	ZBS Foundation	1982	0:00:00 (Pop-up)
Shot Reverse Shot	The Crystal Wastes (Instrumental)	The Wary Wayfaring EP	WTBC Records	2023	0:02:45 (Pop-up)
ZBS Foundation	Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe [Excerpt]	Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe	ZBS Foundation	1982	0:06:47 (Pop-up)
Shot Reverse Shot	The Story So Far (Instrumental)	The Wary Wayfaring EP	WTBC Records	2023	0:33:11 (Pop-up)
ZBS Foundation	Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe [Excerpt]	Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe	ZBS Foundation	1982	0:38:37 (Pop-up)
Shot Reverse Shot	Wending Their Way (Instrumental)	The Wary Wayfaring EP	WTBC Records	2023	1:08:57 (Pop-up)
ZBS Foundation	Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe [Excerpt]	Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe	ZBS Foundation	1982	1:19:19 (Pop-up)
Shot Reverse Shot	The Slow And Strange Path (Instrumental)	The Wary Wayfaring EP	WTBC Records	2023	1:47:44 (Pop-up)
ZBS Foundation	Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe [Excerpt]	Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe	ZBS Foundation	1982	1:58:55 (Pop-up)
Shot Reverse Shot	Dance The Meteor (Instrumental)	The Wary Wayfaring EP	WTBC Records	2023
ZBS Foundation	Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe [Excerpt]	Ruby 1: The Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe	ZBS Foundation	1982

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Listener comments!
	👻 8:01pm Austin Rich: Good Hello.
	11:01pm WR: Onward.
	👻 11:01pm Austin Rich: ↳ WR @11:01 Thanks for joining us!
	11:02pm Frankie: Whiz click
	👻 11:03pm Austin Rich: ↳ Frankie @11:02 <zzzzzt>
	11:03pm Aitch: Space Mutants rejoice!
	11:04pm Aitch: Thanks for the fill-in A Rich
	11:04pm Mr Fab: Sci-fi AND noir?! Genre mashup pleeze!
	11:05pm WR: Mike Rogers, hope you are better soon. Aitch, your stitch removal went ok?
	11:06pm Aitch: ↳ WR @11:05 Indeed, thank you. Very itchy now, but doesn't look like a scene out of Videodrome anymore
	👻 11:08pm Austin Rich: Thanks for tuning in! If you haven't already discovered: there's a lot of stereo FX, and very fancy production at work. So if you can, put on headphones! Or sit between a pair of speakers.
	11:08pm Mr Fab: This was on NPR?! Can’t imagine that, considering how bland they’ve become over the years.
	👻 11:09pm Austin Rich: ↳ Mr Fab @11:08 Yeah, back in the day. Occasionally they air new stuff by this writer... but mostly because of his reputation, at this point.
	👻 11:11pm Austin Rich: You'll notice that the segments are almost all song length, and each segment has fully produced music. The idea was to create a story experience that was like listening to a song, but also had narrative. It creates a sort of dreamy listening experience.
	11:13pm Offonoff: ↳ Austin Rich @11:11 But you had to be vigilant with your timing to catch every episode, and you had to keep the previous episodes in your memory banks.
	👻 11:14pm Austin Rich: ↳ Offonoff @11:13 Yeah; as I understood it, they just aired one song per week-day. So it was like following a daily comic strip, but in radio form.
	11:16pm Teru: Mr. Science (an 80's radio show produced by Duck's Breath Mystery Theater, later renamed Dr. Science) was similarly short, but without need to attend to the continuity.
	11:18pm Angel Lips: The ability to slow down time strikes me as cheating.
	👻 11:18pm Austin Rich: ↳ Teru @11:16 Which I also very much appreciate!
	👻 11:18pm Austin Rich: ↳ Angel Lips @11:18 And borrowed by The Matrix, I think.
	👻 11:22pm Austin Rich: Yet another radio show where Tesla is an icon and / or character in the story. Though, this one might pre-date all the current ones by... 30 years?
	11:24pm Onoffon: ↳ Austin Rich @11:22 My goddaughter's name is Tesla. I don't think her dad would have known about Tesla if it hadn't been for Ruby.
	👻 11:25pm Austin Rich: I recall a lot of people when I was coming up had a thing for Tesla. He is pretty cool.
	11:30pm Mr Fab: ↳ Teru @11:16 Ask Dr Science! He has a degree…in science! Our own Taylor Ironybread is the Ducks Breath archivist, and i believe has produced some recent reissues.
	👻 11:31pm Austin Rich: ↳ Mr Fab @11:30 Taylor is the best. He's done a few re-issues in the comedy world, I think. He's a busy dude.
	11:32pm Rodant Kapoor: ↳ Mr Fab @11:30 I saw Duck's Breath performing live in a cafeteria at Reed College (Portland, Oregon) around 1980.
	👻 11:33pm Heather Z: ↳ Austin Rich @11:25 A local author, Th Metzger, has a book called Blood and Volts, I believe, about Tesla, Edison, and the electric chair. Bought a copy for a friend's upcoming bday and own one myself. It's been a bit since I've read it but it's worth checking out if you find a copy.
	👻 11:33pm Austin Rich: ↳ Rodant Kapoor @11:32 Jealous! That's very cool. (Thought I would have been too young to get in on by own in 1980.)
	11:37pm Mustapha: The ZBS folks have been posting photos and stories about their early days on social media. I get the impression they all lived together in a farmhouse somewhere, like a commune.
	👻 11:40pm Austin Rich: ↳ Mustapha @11:37 As I understand it, Fulton started a Radio Commune in the 70's, so they could produce radio without interference. As a result, all the counter-culture people of the era wanted to hang out with the ZBS crew.
	👻 11:41pm Austin Rich: ↳ Heather Z @11:33 I'll have to check that out. The Tesla obsession in our culture, and his inclusion as a character in fiction, comes from Ruby, originally, as I understand it.
	11:45pm Godzilla Blaster: Why can't she slow down time while playing pinball?
	👻 11:45pm Heather Z: ↳ Austin Rich @11:41 It may well have been the inspiration for Der Metzger! It's been ages but we had Tesla on the SoT, played by Ricky Ratteau. It's been so long I can't remember clearly but I think he was the one who pitched Tesla inclusion. My peace ray!
	👻 11:46pm Austin Rich: ↳ Godzilla Blaster @11:45 Deus Ex Machina: she only has the power when it's useful for the plot.
	👻 11:47pm Austin Rich: This Solar Wings bit seems like the inspiration for the flying dream sequences in Brazil.
	11:47pm Tookah: Perfect music for solar sailing.
	👻 11:50pm Austin Rich: "Oh, you read a lot." There's a lot of good lines in this show, but that one...
	11:58pm Molière: Socio-economic philosophical discussions during a shoot-out are always well-advised.
	👻 11:58pm Austin Rich: ↳ Molière @11:58 But of course!
	👻 12:02am Austin Rich: "Code X-Minus One." That is not the first - or last - old Sci-Fi radio reference in this show.
	12:03am Francois: Oh, there was an X Minus One reference. It all ties together!
	👻 12:04am Austin Rich: ↳ Francois @12:03 "The Oregone Islands" I can only assume?
	👻 12:19am Austin Rich: I've seen a lot of people do this "pulling out more and more weapons" gag in movies and TV in the years since this was on the radio... but this certainly feels like a very early example of the joke.
	12:24am Toots Mutant: I'd say a lot of the interplay between the music, effects, and dialog borrow a lot from Ken Nordine.
	👻 12:25am Austin Rich: ↳ Toots Mutant @12:24 I think you are correct! Or, at least, I think Fulton HAD to know about Ken Nordine, and their styles are certainly parallel. I do need to do more Nordine on the show.
	👻 12:27am Austin Rich: "Just another health fad, but what the hell." Like I said: a million great lines.
	12:27am Monet: Milk bar has to be a reference to Clockwork Orange.
	👻 12:27am Austin Rich: I assumed Heather would be into this story, since The Black Star is one of the central features of this story.
	👻 12:28am Heather Z: Blackstar!!!
	👻 12:29am Austin Rich: ↳ Monet @12:27 Seems almost guaranteed. There's less documentation about Ruby online than I'd like, but Fulton only talks vaguely about his influences. KPFA radio dramas and 50's rock and roll seems to be his main influence.
	12:30am WR: I cannot adjust to anything other than 6.66.
	👻 12:30am Austin Rich: "Two. Pieces. Of. Paper." I say that almost all the time.
	👻 12:31am Austin Rich: ↳ WR @12:30 It's the nature of the beast, I understand.
	12:31am Kay: Solipsism
	👻 12:31am Austin Rich: "The symbol is controlling your mind." I say that all the time, too.
	👻 12:32am Austin Rich: Finally: The Hubba-Hubba Tree. The most curious part of this story.
	👻 12:32am Austin Rich: ↳ Kay @12:31 Perhaps!
	👻 12:35am Austin Rich: I see parallels with Ruby and Candy Matson (the 50's radio detective show we listened to on Dimestore radio theater), but Ruby is a lot more hardboiled.
	12:51am Moonbeam: I have Jack Flanders on a set of cassette tapes that a friend gave to me.
	12:58am Mr. X: Apparently there is a Mr. X in one of the Ruby pilots, "Rebel from Utopia." [Reading the Wikipedia article...]
	👻 12:58am Austin Rich: ↳ Moonbeam @12:51 Fulton had to retire that series, as the actor who played Jack passed away. There are adjacent stories that Fulton now makes - with adjacent Flanders characters - but there's not more official "new" Flanders.
	12:59am WR: Thank you, Austin, laters all.
	👻 12:59am Austin Rich: ↳ WR @12:59 See ya, WR!
	👻 1:09am Austin Rich: The appreciation for jokes and comedy - and the inclusion of puns - can seem like a weird tone shift. But the show also adopts extreme psychedelia, and full noir atmosphere, and even embodies sci-fi soundscapes and philosophical monologues. I think it was Fulton's attempt to appease his many interests, rather than keeping the style narrow. I'm sure he just didn't want to risk getting bored.
	1:12am Mr. X: I imagine the digital circus as being something like a Survival Research Labs show.
	👻 1:13am Austin Rich: ↳ Mr. X @1:12 That's a good analogy! Certainly I have an affinity for those videos, too.
	👻 1:18am Austin Rich: "Nobody's Perfect." Seems like a "Some Like It Hot" reference.
	👻 1:20am Austin Rich: We've only got a little bit more story to go. I hope you all had fun. We'll pick up Part 2 very soon!
	1:20am Mr. X: It has been a wonderful trip down memory lane. Thanks, Austin.
	👻 1:26am Austin Rich: See ya'll next time!

Mid-Valley Mutations with Austin Rich: Playlist from September 25, 2023

Listener comments!

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