Visions of the Unexcused

episode 27

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 04:59:28 -0400

Simply put, Episode 26 was a highly emotional podcast to put together. While appearing upbeat, it was kind of a hopeful bummer for me. So for this cast I tackled the foe of optimism, and hopefully came out swimming, with a smile and a wink.

episode 26

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:27:16 -0400

R.I.P. Lucille E. Hixon.

Two years ago yesterday.

Visions has been my therapy, if you’re reading this, thanks for coming along with me.

-Digital-Derek
08/20/09
10:18 AM EST

episode 25

Wed, 8 Jul 2009 23:40:35 -0400

This is the second episode of Visions of the Unexcused that I've created on a plane. I use it as a means to quell my fears of fling while keeping myself busy, and I have to say, I think it works pretty damn well. Last time I tried this was en route to Puerto Rico, and now I find myself somewhere over the middle of America, on my way to Chicago to not just celebrate the birth of a Nation, but also the birth of a nephew. Can’t wait to meet him.

The flight is fairly smooth aside from what appears to be an unfortunate curse of traveling that I've acquired. You see, I'm what I'd call an athletic 6'3'' tall, and am not exactly a tiny guy For whenever reason, when I travel I always end up having a tiny 5'2'' Asian girl sit in front of me who has to make sure that their seat is pushed all the way back. Fuly reclined. Meanwhile I have my knees at my chin and am currently typing and editing at a literal 45 degree angle. She's able to cross her legs with room to spare at least, thank God for that. Lesson of this rant, if you’re under 5’5’’ be aware who’s behind you and if you must recline, maybe meet half way, otherwise it’s just selfish.

Sigh, all that aside, I hope your fourth is a festive and safe one, see you soon.

DJ Digital-Derek
Elevation - 38,000

episode 24

Fri, 29 May 2009 16:55:23 -0400

There consistently seems to be something special about the first few weeks after Memorial Day. I understand it's supposed to be the official beginning of summer and all, I get that, however it seems to possess something a bit more then that. So I urge you to please enjoy the freshly minted trees that are in bloom, and maybe take a second to breathe it all in, because from looking around, these are some mighty good times to be alive.

See you in the summer.

episode 23

Thu, 2 Apr 2009 23:50:57 -0400

For episode Number 23 I have the distinct pleasure of introducing a DJ who is sure to take this planet of ours into his grasp and squeeze until he gets what is needed, every last drop. Global domination plans of his aside, I present to you, the honorable and most esteemed, DJ Mint Pillow.

DJ Mint Pillow is from parts unknown, however if you are ever to come across his path, you’re most likely to find him:

A) Digging in a record store for hours looking through obscure dub, then tragically realizing he’s left the coffee pot on back at his apartment thus he trudges on out of the store, with his head down and a tune lost.
B) Drinking a Dos Equis in the late afternoon pondering the nights activities while doing a sodoku puzzle.
C) Reading John Updike.
D) Saying “ace” as a distinct sign of approval or appreciation for everything and anything.
E) Obsessively organizing his iTunes library while often going to Wikipedia to look up things such as “Post-rock”, “Dream Pop”, and “Bourbon Growl”.
F) Watching fútbol on the tele.
G) Having full conversations with his cat about morals and virtues.
H) Watching"The Big Lebowski"

As you can see DJ Mint Pillow is a beast unto himself, and a strong force to be reckoned with. Mint Pillow is most known for spinning an eclectic mix of Electronic, House, Dance, Italo Disco, and Indie Hip Hop.

Enjoy, DJ Mint Pillow, he’s ace.

Visions of the Unexcused
April 2009

episode 22

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 14:45:08 -0500

High Fidelity is the obvious inspiration for this episode, and it poses one of my top five favorite music questions of all time.

What are the best opening track songs of all time?

It’s almost an impossible question to answer, and because of this, it’s one I didn’t try to answer fully. This episode is the shortest podcast yet for Visions of the Unexcused, and for good reason. I wanted this podcast to not appear any more forced then it already may be. Mixing together numerous first tracks was a little more challenging then I expected. But it always is isn’t it?

Consider these eight songs some of my finalists, but certainly not THE finalists. Some notable songs that are finalists, but didn’t make the cut for one reason or another are (in no order):

- Gimme Shelter
- Box of Rain
- Space Oddity
- Bring Da Ruckus
- Summer Babe
- Like a Rolling Stone
- Toy in the Attic
- Liquid Swords
- All Along the Watchtower
- Whole Lotta Love

As you can see the list can span all over the place from all sorts of time periods. In the eight songs I selected I’ve managed to represent the 60’s - 70’s - 80’s - 90’s & 00’s which I think seems about right. I didn’t bend the genre in the cast too much for cohesive sake. We start of fairly aggressive, however I tried to pull it back some, to have it end on somewhat of a whisper.

episode 21

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 22:14:15 -0500

As this strange year of two-thousand and eight creeps to a close, I leave you with one final podcast for the year. For the twenty-first episode I’ll be playing 21 songs from the 21 best albums of 2008, starting at number 21 and ending at numero uno. There’s something creepy about being a slave to music, you learn this innate need to constantly create lists, and this list is every music junkies high.

The podcast is the longest yet in VOE history, and it was a damn hard one to make. Just to cut down to 21 albums became a wrenching decision. Then the rules I set forth had to be followed to the best of my ability:

The album had to be an LP
The album had to be released in 2008 (self release does not count if released on major 2 months later..,)
No matter what no Deerhoof was allowed to the party. I know I’m supposed to like “Offend Maggie”, but it only offended me. This almost made the cut a few times because I felt like it was supposed to, but lets face it, this album is a puddle of horse piss.
Once an album committed to number in Photoshop it was then unable move in or out of the list.
If you release your album in December you’re stupid, you’ll never make any lists, especially mine.
It doesn’t matter if it didn’t dawn on you that Black Mountain actually released “Into The Future” in January, 2008, all other numbers were committed to Photoshop. Seriously though, this would have EASILY been top three for me, it’s the best. Love it. Buy It. Live it. But yeah...I forgot about it until it was too late. Shit.

Anyways, the best part of these lists is that you as the listener are never going to completely agree, but you may be surprised, or best yet, you may hear something new. Either way, it should be plenty fun.

So cheers to 2008, cheers to President Elect Obama, cheers to you, & cheers to yours.

See you on the other side of the year.

---

You may have to actually listen to see who made the grade, but to see who missed the cut, look no further then below.

Honorable Mentions:

The National - The Virginia E.P.
The Magnetic Fields - Distortion
Sun Kill Moon - April
TV On The Radio - Dear Science
Nada Surf - Lucky
Clark - Turning Dragon
Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creations Dark
No Age - Nouns
Iron Elbows - Words

episode 20

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 01:03:29 -0500

Well here we are, celebrating the one-year anniversary of the internet version of Visions of the Unexcused, and what a fun year it’s been. To commemorate this special day I’ve put something a little different together for your listening, er, visual AND listening pleasure.

I’ve turned Visions regular audio podcast into a video podcast, and I’m hopefully showing you what a real V.J.’s can be like. It’s basically what MTV would look like if I took over, and if they actually played music. The effect of everything has a very viral feel to it because all the videos on here I’ve ripped off the internet.

I think it works in the podcast’s favor though, it gives it a gritty homemade quality that’s hard to duplicate. It’s almost like a VHS mix tape passed down among friends. Here you’ll see some all-time best performance’s, all-time last performances, and great videos mixed with the Visions of the Unexcused twist you’ve come to be accustomed to. The bands presented here aren’t too shabby either.

This past year Visions of the Unexcused has served as more of a therapy for me then anything. V.O.E. originated at my college radio station, 90.9 WONY, and I used to tape all of my shows played there. Of course the biggest fan of these show’s and tape’s was none other then my Mother. She would wear those magnetic tapes thin, and all of a sudden she’d start having conversations with me about bands like Yo La Tengo and the Soft Boys. Unreal. and beyond cool.

Her love of life never ceased to amaze me, and three months before I started up Visions of the Unexcused again, she passed away due to cancer. It was, and still is at times, a very dark time for me. Her passing hit me hard, and I found a phenomenal amount of strength and solace (as always) in music, and specifically with the process of putting these podcasts together. Her mark is throughout every episode with song choices and thoughts. She most certainly wouldn’t have liked all the songs (specifically the one’s with swear words), but either way she would have been the biggest fan of the ‘cast, that’s for sure.

So here’s to her, here’s to you, and here’s to the magic of music. I know she’s listening/watching somewhere, and I’m honored that you feel compelled to do the same. Thanks for having fun with me, and I’ll be seeing you around.

Happy Birthday, Visions of the Unexcused.

Peace & Love.

DJ Digital-Derek

episode 19

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 10:34:33 -0400

Good things come to those who wait right? Write.

This has been my longest hiatus since starting back up Visions of the Unexcused. And you may ask yourself. "Is it a coincidence that this coincides with the pennant push and baseball playoffs?" I don't think so, but it must have been something that kept me at bay. Either way, here we are, and contrary to unpopular belief, Our visions are still unexcused, and we're going no where. The podcast turns one year old come November, and with that I have a "live" and "acoustic" show in the mix. There's also the time machine that will be episode 0 and is sure to be an artifact.

Stay tuned for those future casts, in the meantime we have episode 19. A little bit of old, a little bit of new. All wrapped in a two sided bundle of joy. So drop that needle, never mind the hay, and start that stack jack.

episode 18

Sun, 3 Aug 2008 12:31:45 -0400

Due to some technical difficulties with the actual website it's taken a little longer then normal to get episode number 18 out, however, in the end I think it was for the better. The difficulties have allowed me to take my time with the podcast and has, in turn, let the songs find me instead of the other way around.

In short, I go back to my roots in this episode. Recently I've been having a lot of fun exploring different styles and music, and think in the end it can make me more complete as a DJ, however, when the chips are on the table it's always rock 'n' roll that's truly going to control my musical heart.

If I was able to go to DJ heaven I'd play the type of tracks that I do in this episode more often than not. I'd be a DJ at this great bar where friends get together over some beers, to shoot the shit, catch-up, and enjoy being alive. This bar would be nice and dark, with a warm red and yellow glow cast from scattered vintage lamps. Of course you'd have some beautiful deep dark wood guarding the bar with perfect nicks and scratches telling the story of conversations and drinks past. There will most likely be a pool table or two with a dart board in the corner and me in the other.

I'd provide a sountrack for the night that wasn't focused on shaking your booty or playing the hottest tracks. An eight minute track would be thrown on without a second thought if it fit the mood. I'd guide people through an urban night in a careless manner, hopefully getting some head nods, and a few surprised comments about the tracks playing.

"Wow, I can't belive they're playing Yo La Tengo's 'We're An Amercian band'....nice."

Some songs would be brand spanking new, some kinda new, some kinda old, and some really old. All, would somehow be a distant or near cousin to the other, and all would help us face whatever the next depot in our life had to offer. That night, in those perfect dim barroom lights, I would provide a soundtrack for a few hours, and who knows, maybe I can achieve that for the next 40 minutes or so in this podcast.

PS - Happy B-Day John, hope it's a good one.

episode 17

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:40:12 -0400

I start episode 17 off with a question, and if I did anything right, I made you want to:

A) Nod your head
B) Shake Your Ass
C) Enjoy the Summer

What can I say, the robots like to dance.

Don't forget, http://www.theunexcused.com

www.theunexcused.com

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 19:40:52 -0400

Well this is more of a Visions of the Unexcused announcement more then anything, but just wanted to let all of you podcast listeners out there to know that we have a new home on that large and vast place we call the interwet. In other words, Digital-Derek has moved to a different apartment and him (Man, doing this whole Bob Dole first person thing is honestly kinda bugging me out right now) and his Visions of the Unexcused can now be located @ www.theunexcused.com. The podcast will still be going strong but the site's a whole mess load better looking and I'll also be using the blog section to compliment the podcast.

You can check TheUnexcused.com for music and live show reviews along with everything else inbetween pertaining to music and beyond. Thanks to you all for sticking with me this far, and I hope to be playing you some good music for some time to come. Episode 17 should be posted within the week, but in the meantime check out the site, give me ashout, leave a comment, and yeah, be happy, safe, and well.

Peace.

Digital-Derek

episode 16

Sat, 7 Jun 2008 13:10:10 -0400

For the second time in Visions of the Unexcused history we find ourselves with a guest DJ, and like before with Broken Heart Radio and Kind Nails (a.k.a. DJ John), it's been an utter pleasure for me.

Episode 16 finds us with one of Boston's (and the world for that matter) premiere DJ's in Pretty Boy Jones. PBJ's a pretty good friend of mine and I'm personally honored that he'd want to spin and episode for me. In my not-so-humble opinion this is a great mix to jump start your summer and is pretty damn tekker. I love PBJ's style, skill, and musical depth. He's always doing things to learn from, and I just always enjoying hearing his sets, and this one's pretty bold and fun.

Let's hear what PBJ has to say in his own words about this mix: "I would like to title the Mix PBJ Visions aka Thank You DD, because most of these songs were somehow influenced by you and the music you play."

Be sure to check out his site (http://www.prettyboyjones.com) & MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/stickmanproduction). Pretty Boy is often spinning in a residency at Middlesex Lounge in Cambridge and spins all over the country and globe, so be sure to peep when he's in your area.

So in long now, put this mix in your car or iPod or computer when getting ready to go out or go to a party, it's a great soundtrack.

I’ll be back in a week’s time, holler at me with any requests.

episode memorial day

Tue, 27 May 2008 00:25:34 -0400

This honestly wasn't really planned thus some gonzo elements that tend to be fitting (volume adjustment). Support your troops, but also remember, freedom of speech kids.

happy memorial day.

dj digital-derek

episode 15

Wed, 14 May 2008 19:33:43 -0400

Before I talk about episode #15 I first want to plug two things.

First up, go to http://www.the-goop.com and subscribe to the podcast, you won't be disappointed. My friend Ryan puts it together and it's something to behold. Very creative, and very good tunes. It always makes me happy.

Secondly, episode #16 will have yet another guest DJ (gotta keep you on your toes) as DJ Pretty Boy Jones takes over. PBJ's one of the top DJ's in Boston and it'll be an honor to hear him do his thing VOE style.

As far as episode #15 goes it has a distinctly vintage feel to it, and for whatever reason I'm digging on it. Let me know what you think, all the cool kids comment.

- digital

episode 14

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 16:39:03 -0400

Well back in the states I still find my mood and music optimistically upbeat, therefore it's time for a dedication.

I hereby dedicate episode #14 of Visions of the Unexcused to Mother Nature and Spring herself. If the turning of spring doesn't hit you in that soft spot then I just don't know what does.

The following is the potential of what spring can make me feel like.

Interpret as you'd like.

episode 13

Tue, 8 Apr 2008 11:01:40 -0400

As I type this I fight a landing plane and a dying battery. Over the next 42 minutes or so you'll be listening to an episode that was made entirely while flying over the Atlantic Ocean, the Fight 759 Mix.

J9 and I are on our way to San Juan, Puerto Rico for a much needed holiday, and me being a complete wuss when comes to flying, decided to distract myself by immersing myself in a podcast, and to tell the truth, it worked.

This podcast has a more electronic/dance feel to it, which I think corresponds with the fact that I'll be surrounded by palm trees and enjoying some good drink and food over the next week, hopefully this translates a bit on your end.

episode 12

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:04:10 -0400

Episode 12, fresh off of the Broken Heart/Visions switcheroo finds another tribute of sorts. My fellow Cold Bazooka bandmate and friend, Ben ____ is leaving Boston and tonight on this Friday the 29th, we celebrate his time in Boston and his future beyond.

Who knows maybe this will serve as a soundtrack of sorts, either way, it's a celebration, and should be treated as such.

d.d.

episode 11.2

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 13:44:23 -0400

episode 11.2 is the podcast that is going to be posted by John over at Broken Heart Radio, however for posterity's sake I also wanted to post it with Visions of the Unexcused.

However be sure that you all WILL be unexcused if you don't go over to Broken Heart Radio and subscribe to the podcast. I think both compliment each other well and his is one of my absolute favorites on the net.

http://web.mac.com/jyandrasits/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html

That's all for now, and if you're a Broken Hearted on this side of the interweb, thanks for stopping by.

Stay tuned, I'll be releasing episode 12 within the week

Oh boy, oh boy.

episode 11.1

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 12:36:28 -0400

It’s been a bit since my last podcast, but wait often can be worth the wait and this time it is. This week finds Visions of the Unexcused and Broken Heart Radio switching shows and podcasts to help diversify our audiences, and to expose you all to another fun and fabulous mix of music and more.

I’m a HUGE fan of John’s Broken Heart Radio and it’s always a fun day when I see he has a new episode. Don’t take my word for it though, go on over and subscribe to his podcast, you won’t be disappointed.
http://www.brokenheartradio.tk

You can also see John rock it on “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire”, seriously, and seriously pretty awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3amK2vul2o

I first met John in Oneonta, NY at 90.9 WONY and it was obvious from the begining that we both shared a mutual love and respect for music. Even before I joined the station John let my friend Tim and I sit in on one of his late night shows, and he even let me play my first live song over the airwaves (Dramarama - Work for Food [Acoustic] ), not even sure if he remembers that.

John passed the torch and title of Music Director onto me after his days in Upstate NY were over, and years later, in the year 2007, his Broken Heart Radio was the main inspiration for me to rekindle my college radio show, Visions of the Unexcused, now in the form of a podcast.

This week has us switching shows and I hope you enjoy John’s cast. He’s got an amazing taste in music, a wry sense of humor, and an intensty rarely matched. From Broken Heart Radio, and Visions of the Unexcused we thanks you.

Cheers.

Digital-Derek

episode 10

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 16:27:34 -0500

Well here we are, Visions of the Unexcused has now reached double digits as I release episode #10. Thanks to the fabulous UK scene I open up with my song of the moment, Let's Wrestle song, "I Won't Lie To You" which quite possibly has the best opening line I've heard in awhile.

"No matter how many records I buy, I can't fill this void"

That statement holds beyond true for myself as well as my friends, and from there the song, and episode, just has a fun vibe. Number 10 is pretty decent with standbys like Pavement and Modest Mouse, some early Floyd and we even have Mobius Band covering a Daniel Johnston song. Pretty neat.

So as always thanks for the e-mail's, comments, text messages, and all that noise in support of V.O.E. and I look fwd. to doing at least 10 more with ya.

Cheers.

PS = You're all warned now if you're leaving me a message on my land line, it's fair game! :-)

episode 9

Sat, 9 Feb 2008 18:55:49 -0500

This may be one of my most selfish podcasts yet. I woke up this morning really ready to make this, and was in such a good mood that cutting it down to 45:00 just wasn’t going to happen. So what you get is a Grateful Dead-like jam of DJ-Digital Derek. It’s a little long, and may be a little all over the place, but I can’t tell you how much fun it was putting together.

The first track I play I’m completely obsessed with right now, and think it may be the best Dylan song of all time. From there the ‘cast definitely feels like a Saturday.

episode 8

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:33:14 -0500

Don't have much to say this time around so I'll just let the music do the talking, enjoy.

episode 7

Mon, 7 Jan 2008 01:33:30 -0500

Episode 7 gives me a feeling that I can't quite place my thumb on, but it's a feeling none the less, and a feeling I believe I greatly enjoy. There's some very exciting new bands on here from the US, UK, and Italy that will be on heavy rotation with myself.

Episode 7 may be best to listen to after pouring yourself an aggressive sized glass of wine while wearing your best pair of headphones. Listening to it while in an office, doing expense reports, from the computer speakers in your room, or traveling on a subway may work as well.

I hope you all had a healthy and happy New Year, may 2008 be your year.

episode 6

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 11:15:52 -0500

The holiday season got started off on a very good note for me a week ago last Friday. Jeannine and I were picking up the economy rental car we had rented and fortunately they were all out of economy’s so they had to upgrade us to a Mercedes Benz C300. Now that’s what I call an upgrade!

From there the rest of the holiday week was tougher then normal, but went really well, and made me extremely happy and proud to have the family that I have.

I didn’t include any holiday songs for this episode, however if you're looking to get your holiday song fill on I’d suggest hopping on over to Broken Heart Radio (in links section) and checking out their ‘cast this week, it’s a fun one.

Happy New Year to you all, and as always, thanks for listening.

episode 5

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 23:25:21 -0500

Episode number five, the friends episode, was obviously a special one for me to make. I compiled music of my own and music of friends collected through the years for this podcast, and the mix is awfully eclectic, and I think the music is also awfully good.  - There’s music on here from friends in college (Kind Nails of Broken Heart Radio fame).
- There’s friends that I’ve worked with on here (Wunderlick & Cyanide Dependency).
- There’s friends that I’ve worked with and DJ’ed with (DJ Pretty Boy Jones)
- There’s friends I’ve been in a band with and worked with (AlienAtari).
- There are friends from childhood who I was in my first band with (The Black Arrows).
- There are bands/projects I’m currently in (Cold Bazooka).
- There’s tracks that are me (Derek Hixon).
- Then there’s Trendy Rat.
- And lastly there’s you, and if you’re reading this, I consider you a friend.

Now listen to this.

episode 4

Sun, 9 Dec 2007 12:53:17 -0500

Well, you’re certainly going to be in for something a little (OK...very) different for the fourth episode of Visions of the Unexcused. Like me, my music taste and love ranges all over the map, and I’ve yet to really play any of the Hip-Hop or electronic music that I listen to.

So, insanely, I decided that the best way to present this in a podcast form was to combine not only Hip-Hop and electronic music together, but also to throw in some of my favorite beat poets with a slight added dash of Rock ‘n’ Roll to the mix.

I’d have to say that I’m quite pleased with the result, and it ended up being the most changeling podcast to put together yet. I view this as almost one track or set, and am sure I may pushing your ears in directions they haven’t really been, but that’s good...right?

At the very least this is unique, and who knows, you may come out of it with something new. Either way, I sure had fun making it, and I hope you likewise enjoy listening to it.

episode 3

Sat, 1 Dec 2007 17:27:40 -0500

Since bringing Visions of the Unexcused back to life, I’ve really come to enjoy making the podcasts. It’s kind of like making a weekly mix tape for the world to hear, which is honestly beyond cool.

episode 3 features some great new bands, 3 of my all-time favorite artists who I didn’t play in my first 2 shows, some classics, and a pretty special last song.

VOE #1 fan back in the Oneonta Days was my Mom. I used to tape each and every show of mine, and she’d listen to the tapes over and over again which I thought was pretty cool. My mom grew up with Big Band and 50’s rock, but she’d always listen to my records with an open mind be it if they were punk, indie, metal, or rap.

She recently passed away in August and it’s still been a heavy adjustment period for me, and music has certainly been my therapy. The last song on episode 3 was one of the favorite songs I ever played for my Mom, and it definitely has taken on a new meaning for me, which was fun to re-discover.

Hope you enjoy this week’s “mix” and I’ll be seeing you next week.

Salud.

episode 2

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 21:30:12 -0500

Everyone loves a “Best of” list right? So what better way to kick off the holiday season then to take a look back at the year that was.

This podcast will count down the best 12 albums from the year 2007, a song for every month. I’m sure you’ll have your own opinions too, so let me know what I missed (or had), and as always, thanks for listening.

d.d.

UPDATE: I accidentally left off the number two album of the year yesterday so I’ve updated the podcast with the missing song along with some snazzier artwork and more fun treats. If you’ve already downloaded the podcast you can get the new one by deleting, unsubscribing, and re-subscribing again. Holler if you have a question.

episode 1

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 16:05:56 -0500

Well...here I am, six years after the “official” last airing of Visions of the Unexcused on 90.9 fm WONY(Oneonta, NY) and I’m bringing the show back to life like a vindicated zombie.

I honestly feel that the music you listen to is an accurate depiction of who you are as a person. Letting someone into your record collection doesn’t only show what records you own, it illustrates who you are.

What you’re about to hear is who I am today, upon rolling out of bed with a coffee and more - what felt right to me at that instant.

The photo you see with this episode is a photo I took in Puerto Lopez, Ecuador. The feeling of calm I had in that town, mixed with the life altering events of the past few months, are reflected here and help to complete the picture of who I am today... and in my opinion, that’s what this DJ’s supposed to do.

Cheers.