Now that I listen to that thing, Gordon is totally not Kid Kansas. I mixed something up a long time ago.
But Gordon is definitely Indie Payola.
Just revisited this recap snippet from the 1/31/06 show. (I'm kind of impressed at some of the obscurities I was able to cough up in that label list. Thwart Productions! Who am I, Andy Earles?!)
- Gordon from South Dakota dishes out some Love/Hate queries for Tom (starts at 2:44):
1. Good guys: LOVE
2. Bad guys: HATE
3. The beach: LOVE
4. Cream soda: LOVE
5. Plain yogurt: LOVE
6. Loud motorcycles: HATE
7. Relix magazine: HATE
8. Kenneth Lay: HATE
9. Chevrolet Laguna: LOVE (them)
10. Payola: HATE
Gordon believes that Tom's response to #10 lacks a certain truthiness and asks the question again to give Tom a chance to come clean. Gordon cites Tom's frequent spins of Volcano Suns, DC Snipers, and The New PORNOgraphers (a band that would be floating in the terlet sans Tom's bribed support) as obvious evidence that he's in cahoots with his Matador, Merge, and Touch & Go friends. Indie payola exists. Gig's up!
[10/3/17 note: the below is my riff, not Gordon's!]
The Smoking Gun's investigation is underway and they've provided a partial list of the labels that Tom received "pay for play" cash money from: Matador, Southern Lord, Homestead, SST, Suburbanal Cuts, Off, Dirtnap, Scat, Fading Captain, Twin/Tone, In The Red, Sub Pop, Cass, Ace of Hearts, Wax Trax, Dischord, Deadbeat, Bang Bang, Quarterstick, Touch & Go, Merge, Latino Bugger Veil, Grass, Minty Fresh, Rykodisc, Yep Roc, Koch, C/Z, Forced Exposure, Rockathon, Asthmatic Kitty (this explains playing nearly half of a SoupJam record he only liked one song on!), Cruz, Cleopatra, Sympathy For The Record Industry, Mint, Cargo, Paw Tracks, Caroline, Ipecac, Barsuk, Polyvinyl, French Kiss, Century Media, Popllama, Frontier, Kill Rock Stars, K, Gern Blandstern, TVT, Trance Syndicate, Simple Machines, Nuclear Blast, Taang!, Lookout!, Rhino, Star Time International, Bar/None, Metal Blade, Jade Tree, Ascension, Shout Factory!, Stereolaffs, Chainsaw, Amphetamine Reptile, Drag City, Bomp, Thrill Jockey, Repertoire, Ardent, Load, Dark Beloved Cloud, Flying Nun, Hippy Knight, Skyclad, Thwart Productions, and Panzerfaust.