Sometimes in doing these shows, each focused on a specific mood or emotion, I have something in mind well before I do the show, and in other cases, I practically have no idea what I’m gonna focus on until I just about to start recording the show. In this month’s case, I knew that I was highly likely to feature records that I had picked up at DJ Shadow’s storage sale at Rappcats, which happened over the weekend just before the show was to air. The trouble was that I didn’t have any particular emotion or feeling in mind, particularly since I hadn’t gotten any of the records. I though maybe I’d focus on something that connected to a love of novel or new things (which then likely inspired November’s “Moods”), but as I was waiting in the line to get into Rappcats, I still had not chosen anything specific.
Of late, whenever I’m waiting in a line, or if I’m by myself at a bar or restaurant, I almost always am reading Roland Barthes’ “A Lover’s Discourse,” a magnificent work that was somehow foreign to me until a dear friend gave it to me as a holiday gift. Of the many things I appreciate about Barthes’ treatise on the many feelings associated with love, is that there’s always something to discover within it, whether it’s a reference to obscure work of literature, or a word that I’ve never heard before which I actually have to look up in a dictionary. One such word was “suasion,” which is the root of the much more frequently used “persuasion,” and relates to the art of influencing others. Reading it outside wasn’t quite a eureka moment, but being inside, and especially when Shadow would play a particularly obscure record, I realized that “suasion,” might just be the perfect subject for this month’s “Moods.”
I’ve written frequently in the past about the serendipity of discovering something new to your ears right as you walk into a record store or while browsing in the aisles. Some folks, such as Cool Chris at Groove Merchant, are especially good at anticipating the kinds of things their customers may dig, and Shadow definitely has that same almost magical ability. Some of the best, most interesting records in my collection are there as a result of him blowing my mind with the sounds after playing it on the Rappcats house speakers. And so, “Suasion” was the chosen mood for this show, and while it’s not a mood/feeling I’ve been familiar with for long, it’s definitely something that fits and works perfectly for this particular show, featuring records culled from DJ Shadow’s storage sale of his extensive collection that now are in mine.
Moods In Free Time 022: Suasion
Playlist – Moods In Free Time 022: Suasion
{Opening Theme} The Visitors – The Juggler – In My Youth (Muse)
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Pat Taylor & the Belvin Band – Struttin’ Your Stuff – 7” ($Monique$ Records)
Anthony Butler and the Invaders – Katty’s Thing – 7” (Big Deal)
The Freeze Band – The Ninth Song – The Freeze Band (Vista)
Beaufort Express – You Got To Do Your Best – 7” (Priscilla)
JD Blackfoot with Uncle Billy – It Don’t Mean A Thing – 7” (Peace)
Fred Cancio – Can’t Get Enough – Jesus Is My Friend (Emmanuel)
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Diplomats – I’ve Got The Kind Of Love – 7” (Dynamo)
Chain Reaction – Lady In Red – 7” (Oshowleo)
Free Form Experience – Blowin’ My Mind – 7” (Free Form)
Secret Is Now – Let’s Straighten It Out – 7” (Gense)
Steppin’ Out – Shame – Steppin’ Out (Charly)
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Ness Harding – Parting Of Man – A Matter Of Time (Encore)
North Texas State University Lab Band – Three Freaks – Lab ’69 (Precision Custom Recording)
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{Closing Theme} Tony Williams – Wild Life – Believe It (Columbia)