| Artist | Song |
|---|---|
| Man on the Moon | Man on the Moon |
| Space | Magic Fly |
| Fifth Dimension | Star Dancing |
| Sly and The Family Stone | Everybody Is A Star |
| Dealer, Whizz | Star Dance |
| Apollo | Apollo |
| Venus Gang | Cosmic Daddy |
| Fantasy 15 | Ray Gun |
| Solaris | Space Invaders |
| Uncle Vic | Space Invaders |
| Prince Jimmy | Conspiracy on Neptune |
| Captain Rock | Cosmic Glide |
| LaBelle | Space Children |
| Manhattans | Shining Star |
| Central Line | Walking Into Sunshine |
| Brick | Southern Sunset |
| The Whispers | Planets of Life |
Fantastic Voyage
WAYO-LP ROCHESTER, WAYOFM.ORG, 104.3 FM
-
-
Interview with Nick Gralewicz of Deep Dark Games. We discussed, specifically, A Perfect Rock.
Gorillaz Everything Planet We Reach Is Dead Fantastic Voyage Interview with Nick Gralewicz The Sword The Warp Riders King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Kepler 22b/Gaia Fantastic Voyage Interview with Nick Gralewicz Deltron 3030 Positive Contact Fantastic Voyage Interview with Nick Gralewicz -
Fantastic Voyage & Up On The Roof Mashup Intro Fantastic Voyage & Up On The Roof Mashup Intro Spectrum Forever Alien Nina Hagen Alien Professor X Professor X (Saga) Venus Gang Cosmic Disco Player 1 Space Invaders Apollo Astro Disco Jan Turkenburg in Hyperspace Sloan Close Encounters Soft Blue Shimmer Sunpools Black Marble A Great Design L’Imperatrice Pulsar Bodywash Sterilizer Spaced Fly Through The Sky Donnie Jupiter Aliens in Our Midst The McGuire Sisters Will There Be Space in a Space Ship Uncle Vic Space Invaders Jamie Jupiter Computer Power The 5th Dimension Star Dancing Julie Beth Napolin Only The Void Stands Between Us Kath Bloom When Your Dreams Come True Trees Speek Spirit Oscillator Vince Guaraldi Trio Baseball Theme Duster Constellations Expo 70 Mother Universe Has Birthed Her Last Cosmos -
I’m finally back in the studio and life is getting back to a normal that allows me to spend time doing the things I like to do. Like Fantastic Voyage.
Artist: Song: Notes: Wolfmother Cosmonaut A other to unpack and evaluate in this song. Killing Joke Asteroid Will 2024 YR4 hit earth? If it does, it will mostly hit a body of water and countries will race to retrieve the asteroid. Megadeath Hanger 18 It’s Megadeath but the guitars sound like they belong in an emo song. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Mars For the Rich Will you or your future relatives die for Dictator X Æ A-Xii’s race to Mars? Sonic Boom & Sinner DC Ask For the Moon From the album Maps. https://mentalgroove.bandcamp.com/album/maps DJ Format Spaceship Earth (Eden) Where will the men who remain with the civilization escape when they lose the Earth? Mop Mop Spaceship: Earth https://mopmop-agogo.bandcamp.com/album/lunar-love Brett Smiley Space Ace https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElLNzoxxfxo Henrik Appel Mrs. Spaceman https://henrikappel.bandcamp.com/album/humanity-lp Yuji Ohno Take It To The Sky I need this album on vinyl and I need to buy it in a decent record store so I could listen to it while digging through their stacks. Hawkwind Master Of The Universe I think about this song at least once a week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ILWoDFuaUA King Crimson Starless I remember the first time I heard this song. I wanted to hate it because of the person who played it for me was annoying. So, I avoided all King Crimson except for this song. https://youtu.be/gWmECLnMKGk?si=8rTUgoAMnnEVys4i Show notes:
I mentioned: sonopherique_records and astro.alexandra.
Back next week for two whole hours. I can’t believe they let me do this. I’ll be filling in for Kyle Brown’s Up on the Roof.
Leave me a message at (775) 476-2538. Have a request? Want me to play songs influenced by a certain celestial, astronomical, and/or sci-fi specific subjects? Have an idea for the show? Just want to say hi and maybe “nice show”?
From my Skypad Apartment to yours, have a great week.
-
The Cleaners From Venus Alien Martin Newell is prolific.
https://www.cleanersfromvenus.com/Robyn Rocket Sky Gazing https://www.robynrocket.com/
https://www.instagram.com/robynsrocket/Fatback Band Is This The Future? http://www.fatbackband.com/ Annette Peacock Solar System https://thequietus.com/interviews/annette-peacock-interview/ Ramsey Lewis Solar Wind https://www.ramseylewis.com/ William S. Fischer There’s A Light That Shines The Undisputed Truth UFOs This band has an amazing 70s catalog. I need all of them. Kool & The Gang Cosmic Energy Big Daddy Kane sampled this song. Billy Cobham Moon Germs Great album, one of my favorite drummers. Ana Roxanne Slowness https://www.instagram.com/frincess/ Ana Roxanne It’s a Rainy Day on the Cosmic Shore https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/ana-roxanne-interview Faze-O Space People Faze-O, Brainiac, Guided by Voices and the Breeders are in my Dayton, OH music hall of fame. Roy Ayers Ubiquity Starbooty Recommended by Kamala Harris. Chocolate Milk Out Among The Stars From the classic funk soul debut album Action Speaks Louder Than Words. -
Happy New Year? Luckily, we made it to another Friday. Let’s celebrate this win with some links.
The hostile telepaths problem.
The hostile telepaths problem is when you’re dealing with a being (a) who can kind of read your internal experiences and (b) whom you don’t trust won’t make your situation worse due to what they find in you.
There are lots of solutions to the hostile telepaths problem. I don’t claim to know all of them. But recognizing some common ones has helped clarify a lot of my thinking — particularly around self-deception and akrasia.
And getting very clear on the nature of the problem makes identifying real solutions way easier. This fact produces some previously-surprising-to-me predictions, especially for trauma processing and for making emotionally difficult decisions.
Lorna Simpson is iconic.
At Lorna Simpson’s Show, a Constellation of Galactic and Human History. Lorna’s website and instagram. Lorna’s Earth and Sky exhibition runs to January 11th.
With ‘Earth & Sky,’ Lorna Simpson debuts a new body of work exploring our relationships—physical and metaphysical—to unseen forces that work upon us individually and generationally, alternately challenging and empowering our sense of our own humanity. The exhibition encompasses a series of massive paintings inspired by a 1929 textbook ‘Minerals from Earth and Sky,’ along with a pair of monumental paintings depicting the impact of fired bullets.
Tomorrow, January 4th, while you are wearing a few extra layers due to the cold, Earth will be at perihelion, the closest it gets to the sun during its elliptical orbit.
Movie of the week:
Overall, an ok film on space travel. The imagery was amazing BUT … I also laughed a few times because this movie is definitely geared to those people who enjoy sci-fi movies but do not think about the science fiction. For instance, the Neptune sling shot and the killer monkeys. Add in Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones, and this movie could be a real stinker if you care about the overall package. I could get behind a movie, though, about moon pirates, which see a very brief moment of in this movie. Recommended if you just want to be entertained but leave everything else. Also, more Ruth Negga in sci-fi films please!
Listening to:
“Truer, but also darker.” This is the real origin story behind America’s decision to go to the moon.
Trying to wrap my head around:
Have an extra $25,000 laying around?
Celestial Chess & Backgammon Set.
If money is tight, I’ll take this backgammon board instead. Relatively cheap at $8,300.
-
During the show, it was announced that Jimmy Carter passed away.
Patrick Cowley Lift Off https://kookoorecords.bandcamp.com/merch/pre-sale-patrick-cowley-lift-off-opaque-orange-vinyl-with-swirl Gino Soccio The Visitors Classic from 1978. Laserdance Enemy On Earth From their best album. All their albums have great cover art. France Joli Blue Eyed Technology Baby’s Gang Challenger Laserdance sampled Baby’s Gang. Check out the video! https://youtu.be/C_nTg_Ss3lk?si=TniQUz29wFuM1NrK Cerrone I’ve Got A Rocket https://cerroneofficial.bandcamp.com/album/dna Simply Saucer Illegal Bodies Legendary Hamilton, Ontario band Alan Vega Traceman of the iconic band, Suicide. Ty Wagner Space Jump Ronnie Boykins Starlight at the Wonder Inn Bassist who played with Sun Ra, Muddy Waters and others. -
Hey there, took a little break from websites and updating them. Blame the holidays! Regardless, we made it to Friday, again. Did you have a good Christmas Day? Here’s some stuff I’ve been reading, watching and thinking about.
Currently reading:
Thought Forms: A Record of Clairvoyant Investigation. Sacred Bones reprinted this book and it looks great. Pretty sure this book is in the public domain. The Sacred Bones release, though, is packaged in a beautiful book form that feels and looks great in your hands or your bookshelf.
Music:
Three Great Things with Jason Pierce. And an interview with Jason about the upcoming Pure Phase shows.
Sky Stuff Currently Obsessed with:
Lunar Impact Videos.
One of the best websites/articles about the moon I’ve found on the internet.
In the vastness of empty space surrounding Earth, the Moon is our closest celestial neighbor. Its face, periodically filled with light and devoured by darkness, has an ever-changing, but dependable presence in our skies.
In this article, we’ll learn about the Moon and its path around our planet, but to experience that journey first-hand, we have to enter the cosmos itself.
The Parker Solar Probe:
The Fastest Spacecraft Ever Heads for Its Close-Up With the Sun.
Execution of Parker Solar Probe’s unprecedented flight to the Sun and early results. I cannot get enough of NASA diagram and chart aesthetic.
Movie Recommendation:
Star Pilot.
1966 Italian Sci-fi B-movie. Typical with the 60s vibe, the women are dressed pretty proactively, the script is on par with corny Christmas movies and the special effects are not very special but the set and photography is pretty eye catching if you dig 1960s futurism. While it is another alien sci-fi movie about the evils of nuclear destruction, it’s a fun watch and you can see the movie’s influences as well as it’s influence of others that come later in the genre.
The Fastest Spaceship In Science Fiction
Podcasts!
One of my favorite podcasts of 2024 was Every Single Sci-fi Film Ever.
This recent episode was a doozy. I need to try to get Ayesha Khan on Fantastic Voyage.
Hope you all have a fun and safe New Year. I’ll be back live this Sunday at 4pm.
-
Half Japanese U.F.O. Expert Jad Fair used to play in Rochester often. I thought he as a cool guy, obviously. Guided By Voices Class Clown Spots a UFO I wonder if Robert Pollard has seen a UFO or even believes in aliens. Matt Berry Phantom Birds Are you as sad as I am about What We Do In The Shadows ending? Nada Surf Give Me The Sun Arab Strap Hold Your Fires Thee Oh Sees Pixelated Moon Red Hot Org & Meshell Ndegeocello #9 Venus the Living Myth Part of a stellar Sun Ra cover series. Jessica Pratt World On A String Dummy Psychic Battery Color Green Four Leaf Clover Zinadelphia Cosmos John Grant Outer Space Darryl Hall & John Oates Is It A Star Fabienne DelSol My Love Is A Spaceship -
Nala Sinephro’s Endlessness was my album of the year. I usually hate generic end of the year lists because they are so subjective or just done for clicks and clout. As much I loved Endlessness there are other albums I will mention after the Endlessness review that I loved too. The criteria for these albums was more how they made me feel and my experience listening to them, like journal entries or a liner note, rather than how I thought of them critically, like a “music journalist.”
Endlessness was just released on September 6th and it is by far the most listened to album I listened to all year. There’s many great reviews of this album out there so let me tell you how this album makes me feel. As you know I am often watching existential sci-fi films and tv shows. All of these wrestle with the concept of how vast the universe is, let alone our own galaxy and planet, and how significant or insignificant we are amongst it all. It amazes me that 99% of the population takes for granted just looking at the moon, planets and stars with our own eyes. This year we had an eclipse and numerous auroras which piqued some interest but all of that too will fade away once there is no more clout to be had.
I find comfort and amazement of looking up and seeing anything that is not of our world. Watching and reading about our galaxy and the universe doesn’t make me feel insignificant like how other humans do. It does the exact opposite. Hairs stand up on my arms. Shivers race through my body when I see the moon during the day. Endlessness wraps me up in that same comfort. Bad day at work? Endlessness. Excited and need to calm down? Endlessness. Going for a walk? Endlessness. Cup of coffee in the morning? Endlessness. Walking in the first snow fall of the year? Endlessness. The album at all points has the headiness of a pleasant high, giving me the encouragement to keep going and even slow down. Whatever I need to be, Endlessness somehow makes it happen.
Nala’s debut album, Space 1.8, is a personal classic as well. There’s been numerous campfires I’ve had the album on loop, sitting alone, feeling the heat of the fire while looking up at the sky. At just the right volume you can get the crackling of the fire and other ambient sounds coming into play with the album. I cannot wait to try the same with Endlessnees.
Endlessness isn’t exactly club jazz or easy listening. Modular synths, harp, saxophone, and drums all add layers that are equally soothing and energetic. Nubya Garcia’s saxophone on Continuum 5 (and the whole album) is just amazing and perfect amongst the chaotic synths. Nubya’s album Odyssey I need to pick up on vinyl. I highly recommend it.
Everything is right with this album and everything gets right when I listen. Thank you to Nana and all the musicians on this epic album. I hope to one day hear it live.
Finally, there many other albums that I truly adored this past year. While some may not fit the Fantastic Voyage radio show music criteria, they are amazing on their own.
Julie Beth Napolin – Only the Void Stands Between Us. This one snuck into the world on November 29, 2024. Spacey cosmic folk that adds some drone here and there, mind boggling finger-picking, and angelic vocals are just word salad when it comes to describing this album. These words do not give them album any justice. Another album I would love to hear live. Sounds great on vinyl too!
Will Veeder – The Lost And Found. I know Will from a couple of my favorite Rochester bands: Muler and Hinkley. Solo, Will goes off the rock and roll grid with some of the best cosmic droney sounds with guitar work that seems to at you like an aura of swirling colors. If you have yet to see Will live, I highly recommend it, with some ear plugs.
Alan Sparhawk – White Roses, My God. Since Mimi Parker’s cancer diagnosis, eventual passing, and time leading up to this album’s release, whenever I listen to Low, I get choked up. To me, this album is about embracing a pain that will never go away while attempting to experience existential joy. The fact that it doesn’t appear on more end of year lists is beyond me.
Cassandra Jenkins – My Light, My Destroyer, Faye Webster – Underdressed at the Symphony. Cassandra and Faye always make great, underrated albums. I’d love to see both live to experience their music in a different setting. How they experience life and make that into music is fascinating to me.
Waxahatchee – Tigers Blood, MJ Lenderman – Manning Fireworks. How could I not put these two together? I could sing along to both albums. I’d call it modern cosmic country. We got tickets to see them this summer. I cannot wait.
J Spaceman & John Coxon – Music for William Eggleston’s Stranded in Canton. Jason Pierce makes albums that are important to me. I love that man’s mind and have learned a lot about music when he has been interviewed. William Eggleston is an artist who always had a soft for. Beyond his pretty photos, I feel like Eggleston had an appreciation of the here and now, finding wonder in people, places and objects right in front of him. Stranded in Canton, the movie, could have been a movie made by anyone, but no one did, except Mr. Eggleston. The score by Jason Pierce and John Coxon is a sweet accompaniment to Stranded in Canton. It has made me think about my own photographs and how I would make and add music to them.
Johnny Coley – Mister Sweet Whisper. If William Eggleston spoke into a microphone in seedy bars with a jazz band.
Meshell Ndegeocello – Red Hot & Ra – The Magic City. An ambitious and honorable tribute to Sun Ra and the Arkestra.
Nada Surf – Moon Mirror. Matthew Caws is a mystical music character for me, much like Jason Pierce, Alan Sparhawk, J. Mascis and Robert Pollard. Nada Surf just does not make bad albums. I need to see them live.
Guided by Voices – Strut of Kings. Speaking of Robert Pollard, he’s just prolific in music and art in general. I’m in awe of him.
Mannequin Pussy – I Got Heaven. 10 songs, 30 minutes. If you are gonna whine about how short it is, listen to it twice in a row. I feel like this band is going to be very important during the next four years and will continue to define a generation. Each member is so uniquely their own that every song is a genre bending aural treat. If you ever feel guilty for standing your social/political ground, creating boundaries, feeling vulnerable or just being different, Missy Dabice would like to have a word with you.
Arab Strap – I’m totally fine with it 👍 don’t give a fuck anymore 👍. My favorite Arab Strap album. I feel seen.
Osees – Sorcs 80. Punk rock aliens.
The Cure – Songs of a Lost World, Kim Gordon – The Collective, Kim Deal – Nobody Loves You More. Robert Smith, Kim Gordon, and Kim Deal are three people I will love forever. Any cool Gen-Xer looks up to them and realizes that what they do is a treat none of us deserve.
Nubya Garcia – Odyssey. Nubya appears on my album of the year and Odyssey definitely deserves not only a shout out but to be on my favorites list for this year. In 2025, I will be digging into her past releases.
Duster – In Dreams. Duster consistently sends me off into space, to float around in a lucid dream-like state.
Dean McPhee – Astral Gold. One of those no skips albums. If I were to play this on Fantastic Voyage (and I will), it will feel like a sacrilege to not play the song before or after. Instrumental. No overdubs. Wrap your head around the sound of this one.
Mk.gee – Two Star & The Dream Police. Mk.gee has grown on me. I love this album. I never thought I would based on descriptions of his music.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor – No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead. Music for surviving the apocalypse.
Kevin Coleman – Imaginary Conversation. I often visit a town called Pulaski. That’s how I found about this album; looking up song titles with Pulaski. It’s a great cosmic jam reminding me of hazy memories of seeing the truck stop diner near Pulaski, NY as we raced by on Rt. 81.
Jessica Pratt – Here In The Pitch. 60s, AM radio, beachy cosmic psychedelia.
Dummy – Free Energy. 90s, left of the dial FM radio, loose-fit cosmicgaze.
Color Green – Fool’s Parade. It’s that missing Stone Roses album where they spent 10 years bopping around US desert towns making that third album and playing pop-up live shows in some grungy biker bars. Stuff of legends.
Notes: While I recognize Billie Eilish and Sabrina Carpenter both have excellent albums and some great ear worms, they are just not for me. The new Pixies album is sadly incredibly boring to me. Space themed death metal was an odd genre for me to get into in 2024, but I did. I get to see Slowdive in Toronto in January. I’m excited for that!
Albums I’m Looking forward to in 2025:
Guided By Voices – Universe Room
Saint Etienne – The Night
Frank Black – Teenager of the Year (30th Anniversary Edition)
Mogwai – The Bad Fire
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Perfect Right Now: A Slumberland Collection 2008-2010
Horsegirl – Phonetics On and On
Panda Bear – Sinister Grift
The Lemonheads – Car Button Cloth (Vinyl Reissue)
Monde UFO – Flamingo Tower
My Bloody Valentine?
Thoughts? Leave me a message at 7754ROCKET.
Fantastic Voyage 