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  • Apr 12, 2021

Listening to music can be a ritual experience. It can also be like perfume in the air, just wafting around the general ambiance of a restaurant, an office, a grocery store, the waiting room.


If you're a listener, as I am, a critic and dissector, than your emotions and intellect are amused and provoked by music. Music is cut with surgical precision in my mind into places, experiences, hopes, memories, or just accentuating a pleasant day or a lowdown mood.


Music may come from the emotions and intellect of one or many people, made only to exorcise those demons or celebrate that moment. Yet the most memorable music reaches out to strangers across the continents and oceans, curving around languages and cultures to those minds and hearts the sounds speak to.


I listen to music to sooth or energize, different bands or styles depend on the mood or what else I'm doing while the music is on, which is usually my computer game. Regardless of band or genre, music fits. You can choose happy sounds or sad, to reflect the mood, as catharsis or to console.


Through my efforts to only include certain styles and bands, I at least want what you hear any time of the day to be cohesive, to energize or to hug, to provoke or to reflect, to make you think and to inspire you.


I get so much out of music and it truly found me around the age of 12 when I began to record onto cassette whole albums from KLOS 95.5 FM in Los Angeles on a show they called The Seventh Day. They'd play 7 albums each Sunday night, though double albums were considered two albums. We'd get the DJ's thoughts beforeand and after each side, including historical details. Jim Ladd, with his personality-filled and deep voice was my guide to some of the bands I still love and listen to today. One of my classes in junior high (7th-9th grade for you middle school goers) was Music Appreciation and the teacher, who was likely younger than 30, had album art stapled to the sides of the classroom and had us listen to the Beatles, The Police, and bands of the late 70's and the turn of the 80's. I had to write a music diary every week, where I'd listen to the local classical station for at least an hour. MTV was just starting and we got cable TV (what came before streaming services and Satellite. [Do you even know what Pong is? Never been to an arcade? How about Blockbuster?] I'm done explaining things). Sure, there were only a handful of music videos but thanks to Duran Duran and A Flock of Seagulls (OK, one more explanation: MTV had these things callled Myou-zick Vid-ee-ohz back in the 80's and 90's) and other photogenic acts like Def Leppard that helped reach that many more new fans.


As I grew and evolved, my musical taste expanded, I wrote for a music fanzine for a couple decades and more, reviewed many live concerts, interviewed musicians and critiqued records (you do know what a reh-cord is. Those are a thing again.) So I've got good taste, my taste, curiosity and a willingness to bring in sounds and artists I might not have accepted at a different time in my life. That all goes into the station.


The DJ's I trust to do what they do, with the places they've been and the experiences they've learned from. And I love their choices of bands they play on their shows. Their songs are a window into their personalities and passions. You can really tell who somebody is based on their music collection.


I thank you for reading this far and I do hope you enjoy listening to the station! Send me some feedback or a request at: bret@eardrumbuzz.net


Bret


Follow Eardrum Buzz Radio:

Twitter: @eardrum_buzz

Send submissions to: tallmanpr@yahoo.com with "Submission" and your band name in the subject.

  • Dec 22, 2020

The second half of 2020 saw the birth of Eardrum Buzz Radio. The big launch was Independence Day Weekend, July 3-5. I asked several musicians and music fans to send me an hour of songs each and listeners were treated to their selections and DJ skills.


Since then I've taken on Elizabeth Kliciewicz and her monthly The Kitchen Sink Radio Hour, an eclectic two hour-plus show spanning Power Pop, Folk, Shoegaze, Indie Rock and so many great bands. Elizabeth has turned me on to many a wonderful band and her enthusiasm is evident in the care she puts into her shows.


Margaret Fenton, aka DJ Wednesday presents Six Beats Under, a mix of Goth and Shoegaze , alternating between themed shows and more eclectic mixes. Margaret has been influential in the music scene since her days in Hollywood with Club Violaine, booking such bands and artists as Robin Guthrie, Curve, Trespassers William, Meeting Places, Them Are Us Too and Bethany Curve to various clubs to perform, with many band and themed nights. She began Brickbat Mansion after her move to Portland, Oregon and has also DJ'd around the world. She also does some live sets on the station on Saturdays before her regular show. I knew she'd fit right in when she played Zola Jesus and Airiel on a show. And she loves The Autumns too. Margaret knows more about Cocteau Twins than anyone I've ever met or will meet. I can't stump her. I've tried many times. Maybe someday, though I doubt I ever will.


Kelvyn Williams plays the craziest selections of music from his massive library of music, with the occasional non-stop mixed show. Kelvyn is from Wales but lives on the East Coast of England with his wife and three kids. He can write and speak Welsh fluently and one of his shows from this past December featured all bands from Wales, with introductions in Welsh and English. This was the first time I've heard Welsh spoken. Kelvyn is also in Mwydu and The Heavy Light Experiment with Albert Gresens, a weird and wonderful mix of Dub music. A conversation with Kelvyn can start with a new band and lead to some obscure nugget from the early 80's, such is his deep knowledge of all kinds of music.


Greg Peters has his Vapour Trail show out of Adelaide, Australia on Fridays and is the Shoegaze King on the station, playing classics and the latest releases from Australia and around the world. His themed shows are amazing, I always hear songs I've never heard before from bands that should have been big in the States.

Madame Maledicta is a recent Portland, Oregon transplant and she took to being a live DJ for weekday mornings and will often go long after her scheduled time, playing music I've grown to love from bands in every corner of the world. She is a list creator, finding the newest bands putting out music and playing them before anyone even knows them. Some of the bands/artists I've become a fan of are Shhadows and Youth Valley. Listen to Madame Maledicta weekdays starting at 8am PDT for Witchhouse, Doom, Shoegaze, Dream Pop and Goth depending on the day. She also features many a premiere from bands such as The Voices and Bloody Knives before their albums are released. I like to wake up to Madame Maledicta, take a walk and hear some new bands. She says things like "Genre Pudding" and "I'll play music to rock your socks on." She always brightens my day.


Necromantic is Lord Hyperion Visigoth and Lord Charon, two DJ's from Denver, Colorado spinning vinyl and CD's from Goth, Industrial and Post Punk bands, representing Denver and beyond. Their five hour show is on the fourth Friday at 9pm-2am. Their first show in November showed their deep knowledge of so many bands and their alternating mixes were brilliant.


James Shipsides is the latest addition, his Theresa's Sound World Blog is full of video reviews of James enthusiastically talking about music. I thought he'd be a perfect fit and his TSW blog spot is at noon weekdays where he reviews and plays some interesting and talented bands.


And Nicolas Pierre Wardell, aka Nico Beatastic, musician in bands Beatastic and Xeresa and runner of Shore Dive Records has been with me since before I began Eardrum Buzz Radio, playing his Beatastic Transmissions on Highwire Daze Radio. He's had 20 shows now, playing music from all over the world, as well as his label signings and I always enjoy his song introductions and eclectic choices, especially the long tracks he closes his shows with.


And if you don't know me, I'm Bret. I have Bret's Ramblings on the first and third Tuesdays at 3pm and 11pm and weekdays at the same time. I play eclectic mixes and talk about the bands. I also like to think I run the station, but what I really do is the schedule, spend money on music and put lots of songs on the station and put out fires when shows aren't scheduled correctly. I also try to promote everyone's shows.


I didn't want to do this by myself and I'm quite happy to have made the decision to include all these wonderful people on the station. Along with you, the listeners, they're the reason I keep going. My life is so much better for having them in it.


The main reason I do this is to give you, the listener and music appreciater, the opportunity to hear music made by passionate musicians, compiled by myself and the station DJ's. Come have a listen and find a new favorite band!


Eardrum Buzz Radio is Real Music made by Real People for Real Music Fans. We've got your playlists right here.


Follow Eardrum Buzz Radio:

Twitter: @eardrum_buzz

Send submissions to: tallmanpr@yahoo.com with "Submission" and your band name in the subject.

  • Oct 22, 2020

In the past few days I've also been inspired, given positive feedback and feeling like my efforts with Eardrum Buzz Radio are making a difference.


A few nights back I got tagged in a post by a musican saying that he started making music late in life, just three years ago, and how with all that he's going through in his personal life, people like myself and morning DJ Madame Maledicta are getting him through and letting him know his music is heard and appreciated. Our exchange just gave me such a boost in confidence and I felt the love.


Know that there is a reason people are making music, talking about music, working in the music industry, teaching music, being critical about music, listening to music and actually purchasing music.


Why are you a fan and/or a musician? What bands mean something significant to you? What exchanges have you had that make you realize you're doing the right things or are leading you to improve and make you a better person, musician, fan?


Hear music with meaning at Eardrum Buzz Radio. Listen to the carefully curated, researched and produced shows by our many DJ's. Memorize the schedule, contact the DJ's on the Bio page, listen to their past shows on Mixcloud, send a submission, feedback or send in a request.


Follow Eardrum Buzz Radio:

Twitter: @eardrum_buzz

Send submissions to: tallmanpr@yahoo.com with "Submission" and your band name in the subject.

© 2025 EardrumBuzz Radio

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