Playlist for November 7th

Ballboy – Avant Garde Music (Guide for the Daylight Hours)
Smiths – What Difference Does It Make? (Singles)
The Thrills – Big Sur (So Much For The City)
Teenage Fanclub – It’s All In My Mind (Man-Made)
Sondre Lerche – She’s Fantastic (Phantom Punch)
Jens Lekman – I Saw Her In The Antiwar Demonstration (Oh You’re So Silent, Jens)
Divine Comedy – I’m All You Need (A Short Album About Love)
Ute Lemper – The Case Continues (Punishing Kiss)
Hidden Cameras – Builds the Bone (Missassauga Goddam)
Caribou – Melody Day (Andorra)
Belle and Sebastian – The Chalet Lines (Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant)
Beautiful South – I’ll Sail This Ship Alone (Welcome to…)
Blur – Out of Time (Think Tank)
Tunng – Bullets (Good Arrows)
Erasure – In My Arms (Cowboy)
The Traveling Wilburys – Heading for the Light (Volume 1)
Trashcan Sinatras – I’ve Seen Everything (I’ve Seen Everything)
Mojave 3 – All Your Tears (Out of Tune)
Turin Brakes – Average Man (Ether Song)
Athlete – Tokyo (Beyond the Neighborhood)
PJ Harvey – When Under Ether (White Chalk)
Radiohead – Reckoner (In Rainbows)
Richard Hawley – Tonight The Streets Are Ours (Lady’s Bridge)
Heavenly – C Is The Heavenly Option (Le Jardin de Heavenly)
Lush – Hypocrite (Ciao!)
Life Without Buildings – The Leanover (Any Other City)

Playlist for October 10th

Spiritualized – Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space (L&GWAFIS)
Divine Comedy – Tonight We Fly (Promenade)
Rolling Stone – Tumbling Dice (Exile on Main Street)
Mclusky – To Hell With Good Intentions (Mclusky Do Dallas)
Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc. (Demon Days)
Goldfrapp – Number 1 (Supernature)
Death in Vegas – Dirge (Contino Sessions)
Plastiscines – Zazie Fait de la Bicyclette (LP1)
Stereo Total – Comme un Garcon (Stereo Total)
Caribou – She’s The One (Andorra)
Badly Drawn Boy – Born in the UK (Born in the UK)
Hard Fi – Suburban Knights (Once Upon a Time In The West)
Tunng – Bullets (Good Arrows)
Inspiral Carpets feat. Mark E. Smith – I Want You (Saturn 5)
Mother and the Addicts – Watch the Lines (Science Fiction Illustrated)
The Mabuses – Dark Star (Mabused!)
Radiohead – Wolf at the Door (Hail to the Thief)
Tricky – Makes Me Wanna Die (Pre-Millennial Tension)
Joy Division – Atmosphere (Substance)
Nick Drake – Hazey Jane 2 (Bryter Layter)
Kinks – Waterloo Sunset (Something Else By…)
Tears for Fears – Mad World (Gold)
Doves – Snowden (Some Cities)
Mojave 3 – Running With Your Eyes Closed (Puzzles Like You)
Pulp – Help The Aged (This is Hardcore)
Ute Lemper – Little Water Song (Punishing Kiss)

Playlist for Sept. 26 -- The Inaugural Webstream Edition

Badly Drawn Boy -- Degrees of Separation (Born in the UK)
Trashcan Sinatras -- I've Seen Everything (I've Seen Everything)
James -- Pressure's On (Wah Wah)
Elbow -- Scattered Black and Whites (Asleep at the Back)
Lloyd Cole -- Margo's Waltz (Don't Get Weird On Me, Babe)
Camera Obscura -- Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken (Let's Get Out Of This Country)
British Sea Power -- It Ended On An Oily Stage (Open Season)
Nouvelle Vague -- The Killing Moon (Bande A Part)
Mojave 3 -- Sarah (Ask Me Tomorrow)
Nick Drake -- Northern Sky (Bryter Layter)
The Cure -- Plainsong (Disintegration)
Oakenfold, feat. Nelly Furdato and Tricky -- The Harder They Come (Perfecto Chills 1)
The The -- Helpline Operator (Dusk)
The Fall -- Sparta FC (The Real New Fall EP)
Go! Team -- Doing It Right (Proof of Youth)
Ronson and Amy Winehouse -- Valerie (Ronson Version)
Manic Street Preachers -- Indian Summer (Send Away The Tigers)
Carina Round -- Come To You (Slow Motion Addict)
Bat For Lashes -- Prescilla (Fur & Gold)
Caribou -- Melody Day (Andorra)
Tunng -- Bullets (Good Arrows)
Editors -- Racing Rats (An End Has A Beginning)
Ballboy -- Day In Space (Club Anthems)

Listen to WEFT Online!

WEFT is now available on the apparently-here-to-stay Internet. Go to the station website to select the player of your choosing.

Playlist from Sept. 12th

Black Box Recorder -- The English Motorway System (Facts of Life)
Cocteau Twins -- Calfskin Smack (Milk and Kisses)
Slowdive -- Alison (Souvlaki)
My Bloody Valentine -- Only Shallow (Loveless)
Ballboy -- Avant Garde Music (Guide for the Daylight Hours)
British Sea Power -- Fear of Drowning (The Decline of...)
Eurythmics -- Thorn in My Side (Revenge)
Magic Numbers -- Take a Chance (Those the Brokes)
Morrissey -- Now My Heart Is Full (Vauxhall and I)
XTC -- Life Begins at the Hop (Drums and Wires)
Libertines -- Time for Heroes (Up The Bracket)
Kingmaker -- Queen Jane (Sleepwalking)
Jakob Dylan and Dhani Harrison -- Gimme Some Truth (Instant Karma)
Sean Lennon -- Headlights (Friendly Fire)
Delgados -- Coming in from the Cold (Hate)
Beth Orton -- I Wish I Never Saw the Sun (Trailer Park)
Flotation Toy Warning -- Popstar Researching Oblivion (Bluffer's Guide to the Flight Deck)
Kate Bush -- How to be Invisible (Aerial)
Futureheads -- Hounds of Love (Futureheads)
Editors -- Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors (An End Has a Start)
Ed Harcourt -- Fireflies Take Flight (From Every Sphere)
Belle and Sebastian -- Take Your Carriage CLock and Shove It (Push Barman to Open Old Wounds)
Amy Winehouse -- Tears Dry on Their Own (Back to Black)
Passengers, feat. Luciano Pavarotti -- Miss Sarajevo (Orignal Soundtracks, Vol. 1)

At Long Last: The Much Anticipated Marmite Post

Whenever I tell someone I'm British, it seems that convsersation invariably turns to either Monty Python (complete with their extensive recitations of memorized sketches, performed in a dodgy English accent) or Marmite. I don't think anyone needs Python explained to them, so let's have a little background on that manna of the gods, Marmite.

What is Marmite? Well, as the jar says, it's Yeast Extract. That means it's...some sort of thing...extracted from yeast. Or something. Wikipedia described it as a "sticky, dark brown paste with a distinctive, powerful taste," and I guess I'd agree with that, although I'd probably add the word 'salty.' It's very much an acquired taste, but if you go about it in the right way, it's impossible not to acquire.

I think the problem with many Americans' introduction to Marmite is that they have no idea to go about using it. They slather it on way too thickly and stagger away after half a bite, with the (perfectly understandable) feeling that the stuff is overpoweringly nauseating. Here's a foolproof way to introducce yourself to Marmite:

1) Get your hands on a jar of Marmite. (If you live in Champaign-Urbana, they sell it at Schnucks, World Market, World Harvest, Euromart...)
2) Also needed: one very good crusty white baguette (again, for C-U residents, I recommend getting yer bread from Pekara or Strawberry Fields), some butter, and a toaster.
3) Cut your baguette lengthwise and cut off some toaster-sized slices. Toast the bread until it is well browned but not burned.
4) Add butter almost immediately, while the toast it still very hot. Use a bit more butter than you would usually -- it should be flowing around quite liberally.
5) Open the Marmite -- resist the urge to sniff too deeply from the jar, as the strong taste might put you off. Dip the tip of a knife into the Marmite (just a half inch or so, remembering that with Marmite, 'less is more'), and spread it thinly throughout the butter.
6) Eat while hot, preferably with a cup of tea. (P.G. Tips, for maximum authenticity)

Another cracking serving suggestion is to spread a lot of cream cheese on some bread, add a thin wash of Marmite, and then top with sliced cucumber. There aren't too many other ways to use it (although there is a cookbook), but there aren't too many ways to use peanut butter and nobody seems to hold that against it...

Give it a try. Then leave a comment.

Wake Up Boo!

Scientists, gawd bless 'em, have apparently developed a formula for the perfect feel-good song. The study explored how upbeat songs create the feel-good factor, and after much careful consideration and lots of experiments with bunsen burners and pipettes and plastic eye protectors, a winner was announced.

Ladies and gentlemen, scientifically proven to be the most cheerful upbeat song ever recorded (and frequently played on my humble show): "Wake Up, Boo!" by the Boo Radleys!



(Of course, regular listeners would know that my choice would be "Pure" by the Lightning Seeds: