Sunrise Ocean Bender / Altered Circuitry: ReWired presents:
photo credit: scificorridorarchive.com
In Memory of Kevin McFadin
….a man who, unlike me, knew how to pronounce ‘novitiate’
Future Museums / Position The Inverse / Rosewater Ceremony Part II: Guardian of Solitude
I used to love coming in to hang out with Kevin during his radio show each week for a number of different reasons, among them the opportunity to hear him recite song/artist/album/label names on the air that I always found humorous and endearing. We’d often joke about the various “formats” of psych titling, such as the use of contradictions, and this is a perfect example straight from the era in which Kevin and I did this the most. I loved the name ‘Future Museums’ because when you think about it, the museum of the future would be the present. I think of Kevin’s SOB archive as something of a future museum, given that it is a way to revisit what was once the present.
Dead Sea Apes / Tentacles (The Machine Rolls On) [feat. Adam Stone] / The Sixth Side of the Pentagon
In keeping with the aforementioned titling discussions, ‘The Sixth Side of the Pentagon’ is another one I always loved. When I took the helm of SOB in early 2020 while Kevin was temporarily unable to do the show, I titled each of my shows after various other shapes with one additional side (the fifth side of the trapezoid, the thirteenth side of the dodecahedron, etc). Plus, tentacles.
Primordial Undermind / Mögliche, Mögliche | Rekursiv / An Imaginal Abydos
This song is from a 2022 release on Kevin’s record label, Sunrise Ocean Bender Records. Kevin had given me a copy several months ago, along with several other records, and it inspired me to finally take my turntable in for repair so I could get back to listening to all the records I had enjoyed so much in the past, and enjoy these new ones that were sure to be great as well. When my turntable was finally back from being repaired, An Imaginal Abydos was my favorite listen of that initial night of being reunited with it.
Her Ritual / Magic Shoppe / High Goodbye – EP
My Mind’s Eye / Magic Shoppe / High Goodbye – EP
Trip Inside This House / Magic Shoppe / Triangulum Australe – EP
Already Dead / The Confederate Dead / It Was Meant To Happen
On the day of Kevin’s passing, several hours after I found out I took my lunch break, and for whatever reason the first song I put on when I went on Spotify on my phone was Her Ritual. It’s one of many songs that I associate with Kevin’s show, because its also one of many I heard one Thursday night immediately after tuning in that I played in my spare time often thereafter. I let the next track, My Mind’s Eye, play after that, and then when the ‘based on recommendations’ plays kicked in after that, the next two songs played. For the next 72 hours, I would keep dialing back these four songs and listening to them again and again. It’s a sequence I’ll always associate with those first few days after hearing the news.
Nik Turner / Master of the Universe / Life In Space
As I said towards the end of the show, going to see Nik Turner in the rain at a brewery in Charlottesville was one of my favorite things I ever got to do with Kevin. As Nik said before one of the last songs that night, “it’s like a festival in Wales.”
The Heads / Quad / Relaxing With…
The night of Friday April 21st, I randomly wondered what the last album Kevin posted a link to on his facebook was. It turned out to be the recent 25th anniversary of this album, with the accompanying text ‘Contact’. I immediately blind bought the vinyl, and upon listening to this first track afterwards on Bandcamp, I knew it needed to have a place in this show.
Jet Jaguar / Creature From The Double Feature / 21st Century Space Adventure (Logbook One)
Another song I love that I was introduced to while hanging out with Kevin in the studio one night during SOB. It might have been the first time I ever went in to hang out with him for a show, but I’m not sure. Also, the subject matter has an obvious connection to our shared love of B-movies. Together we saw many creatures from many double features.
Anvil / Mothra / Metal On Metal
Anvil / AC/DC / Hard’N’Heavy
I’m going to quote something that Kevin Moist of Deep Water Acres said to me earlier today: “Kevin’s love of metal of that era was a never-ending source of wonder for me… It wasn’t just music, it was like part of who he was…” Truer words never spoken. In the summer of 2017 Kevin introduced me to Anvil, and I derived a level of enjoyment from their music that I did not anticipate. It’s funny as hell, and so earnest in its delivery. Kevin and I saw Anvil at Strange Matter the following May, and it was definitely another experience that could fit into the “micro-utopia” concept I laid out towards the end of this show. Those guys know how to take a tiny venue with a handful of people in it and treat it as if its a sold out arena. Which is something we should all aspire to, in our own right.
Pastel Cells / Wojtek / Wojtek – Single
Kevin and I loved talking about the possibility of a bear invasion and subsequent societal takeover. It stemmed from a conversation about the movie Grizzly, and kind of snowballed more and more over the years, especially as we encountered more and more articles, stories, and even a book about bears showing up in populated areas and terrifying people. Wojtek was a bear who was a Polish soldier in World War II, achieving the rank of corporal. One night when I was subbing for Kevin on SOB I decided to see if I could find any songs about Wojtek, and I was delighted to find this one and play it. And also several others, because it was a more frequent subject of song than I would have thought.
Pink Floyd / One of These Days / Meddle
Pink Floyd / One of These Days / Works
A long time ago Kevin told me about how he (or maybe a friend of his, I can’t remember which) used to have a cassette tape that he had dubbed to have One of These Days loop in and out of itself for the whole duration of the tape. I wanted to recreate that effect here with the use of two vinyl copies of Pink Floyd albums with the song on them, but sadly there were some technical difficulties with the audio channels. A highly imperfect 10 minutes or so of radio that I don’t regret regardless.
Monster Magnet / The Diamond Mine / A Better Dystopia
I remember when Kevin texted me shortly after this album came out to tell me about how much he loved this intro. And he was right, it’s killer. Plus I liked the way the album title fit in with the idea of a micro-utopia in a macro-dystopia.
Black Helium / The Key’s To Red Skeleton’s House (I Open The Door) / UM
Lately I’ve been listening to some of Kevin’s recent shows to hear his voice and wonderful on-air delivery again. In one episode where he played this song, he introduced it as “The Key’s To Red Skelton’s House” and I laughed so hard at the idea of a 15+ minute psych song about gaining access to Red Skelton’s house.
Hedersleben / The Fall of Chronopolis / The Fall of Chronopolis
Hedersleben played with Nik Turner the night that Kevin and I saw him in Charlottesville. Icing on the cake.
Comacozer / Cosmic Hypnosis / Deloun Sessions
One of my favorite moments of Matt McMullin’s tribute show to Kevin that he did on 4/20 during the fund drive was his mention of his numerous requests for Kevin to “play more Comacozer” on SOB. Ask and you shall receive.
Acid Mother’s Temple / Disco Pink Lady Lemonade (Live) / Levitation Sessions (Live)
Acid Mother’s Temple was a band that Kevin and I saw multiple times together, and had been planning to see together again later this month. He will be there in spirit. I’m sure it will be mind-melting, as their performances always are.
Tadpoles / Sunrise Ocean Bender / Whirlaway
Only way to end the show.
“Your arms are golden
Your sunlights are broken
When night is falling
You hear me calling
Can you tell me how to see
Can you tell me how to look
I can’t find my way inside
I haven’t read the book
It’s ok”
Future Museums, “Position the Inverse”
from Rosewater Ceremony Part II: Guardian of Solitude
HOLODECK Records - 2018
Dead Sea Apes, “Tentacles (The Machine Rolls On) [feat. Adam Stone]”
from Sixth Side of the Pentagon
Soul Desert Records - 2018
Primordial Undermind, “Mögliche, Mögliche | Rekursiv”
from An Imaginal Abydos
Deep Water Acres & Sunrise Ocean Bender - 2022
Jet Jaguar, “Creature From The Double Feature”
from 21st Century Space Adventure (Logbook One)
Accessory Takes - 2009
Acid Mothers Temple, “Disco Pink Lady Lemonade (Live)”
from Levitation Sessions (Live)
The Reverberation Appreciation Society - 2021
TheWizardKing Sunrise Ocean Bender / Altered Circuitry: ReWired May 4th, 2023
Posted In: Music Shows