Last June, Milwaukee’s indefatigable Eric Blowtorch released the first volume of Quality Items Radio, a mixtape that documented a program featuring a trio of DJs cueing up various Blowtorch projects. The keen listener read between the lines for hints on the band names (Ollie Gahrke, Benny Propane, El Ro Combo, ¡Feminista!).
Blowtorch recently released Volume 2 of the session and it continues the groove. Walking the tightrope between social awareness and the dancefloor, Blowtorch and his cohorts flirt with pop hooks (“Guzzling Gasoline”) and Gospel bop (“Some Happy Day”). Paul Cebar wails on a cameo appearance “Drums of Life” and horn players Dave Cusma, Don Turner and Jay Tollefson are featured on cuts as bandleaders.
The cassette format should come as no surprise, as Blowtorch has released music on nearly every format save for 8-track cartridge. He even released a song meant to sound like a vintage 78rpm disc. As wildly entertaining as the music on Quality Items Radio gets, DJs Cecilia Matek, Dr. B and Gabriel D'Angel offer between song insights that are miniature history lessons. Where the first volume recalled the Stonewall riots, this volume includes Leonard Cohen’s “First We Take Manhattan,” the song that explores terrorism.
