That's right - KOOP is back on the air! & with it, the Self Help Radio countdown continues. Only fourteen more shows! Gasp! I'd better tidy up a bit!
The "fourteen shows" thing is a bit disingenuous, because there may be only fourteen Self Help Radios on KOOP left, but Self Help Radio is like a rash that cannot be treated with anything resembling powders or pharmaceuticals. You can't get rid of it. So it shall continue, either as a podcast or as some radio show somewhere else. May God have mercy on our souls.
As well, there's no law that says I can't sit in on other folks' shows when they are otherwise unavailable. So, today, you'll hear my indie rock it up on Justin's excellent The House Call, & I always hope I do him justice. Justin justice. Then, tomorrow, I'll indie pop it up on Ear Candy. So what should have been just ninety minutes of Gary on the radio has suddenly, inexplicably, unconscionably turned into four long hours. Think I'll crack? Think someone will need an EMT? Then tune the fuck in, yo.
Remember to maintain the rage at asshole arsonists by tuning in today either live on the 91.7 fm frequency or live online at koop.org. KOOP has been through another trial by fire & emerged more powerful. & we do it for our community. That includes you!
Friday, January 25, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
KOOP comes back, baby!
That's right, tomorrow - January 25, 2007 - KOOP will return to the air. Oh yes. Just in time for you to hear the last Self Help Radios you'll hear on KOOP. I'm sure that's why they chose Friday!
Here's a nice article about how much KOOP loves KVRX & vice versa. Those kids did a damned good job. I'm so proud of them! Now if they'd just learn to clean up after themselves... Kids today I swear.
So you'll get to hear Self Help Radio - & maybe Gary on other places on the station over the weekend. I'll let you know.
Meanwhile, if you'd prefer to listen to music NOW rather than reading a dumbass blog or waiting for tomorrow, you can visit the Self Help Radio Extra page because my January Extra Mix is up. I do this for you. Please don't make me feel weird about it.
Tomorrow - KOOP - the Return!
Here's a nice article about how much KOOP loves KVRX & vice versa. Those kids did a damned good job. I'm so proud of them! Now if they'd just learn to clean up after themselves... Kids today I swear.
So you'll get to hear Self Help Radio - & maybe Gary on other places on the station over the weekend. I'll let you know.
Meanwhile, if you'd prefer to listen to music NOW rather than reading a dumbass blog or waiting for tomorrow, you can visit the Self Help Radio Extra page because my January Extra Mix is up. I do this for you. Please don't make me feel weird about it.
Tomorrow - KOOP - the Return!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Whither Anger?
It's a strange, crippling condition, is anger, & I have probably been angry a lot of my life, borne of the helplessness of basic existence in a complex world.. A friend once told me she saw me as a lone soldier fighting a fight against pretty much everything, & although the image is interesting, surely she must have known that I'd get shot by friendly fire right away - even if I were the only person in the company.
I've been angry the last few weeks because of the stupid fucking person - the selfish or hateful or deluded or fucked-up or spiteful or whatever the hell he/she/they was/were - who burned down my dear community radio station. I don't believe in nonsense like karma & I don't believe in a hell, so I naturally want them to get a taste of justice while we can all be around to enjoy it. I think that, once they're caught, the Austin Fire Department & the Police should leave the person or persons responsible in a room with every KOOP volunteer allowed a few seconds with them. I would emerge with bruised knuckles.
Fuckers! Of course I'm angry! So the show this week will be soul-searching - songs about anger, with me talking about my anger. It'll be one of those occasions where Self Help Radio gets to be Gary Therapy. Maybe it'll help you, too.
I've been angry the last few weeks because of the stupid fucking person - the selfish or hateful or deluded or fucked-up or spiteful or whatever the hell he/she/they was/were - who burned down my dear community radio station. I don't believe in nonsense like karma & I don't believe in a hell, so I naturally want them to get a taste of justice while we can all be around to enjoy it. I think that, once they're caught, the Austin Fire Department & the Police should leave the person or persons responsible in a room with every KOOP volunteer allowed a few seconds with them. I would emerge with bruised knuckles.
Fuckers! Of course I'm angry! So the show this week will be soul-searching - songs about anger, with me talking about my anger. It'll be one of those occasions where Self Help Radio gets to be Gary Therapy. Maybe it'll help you, too.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Preface To The Angry Show: Is There A Place For Emotion In Music?
Music is, of course, first & foremost a cerebral pursuit, as we have always acknowledged, from the first writings of Professor Elvis Presley to the most recent - &, some say, the most difficult, as he invented a whole new scholastic language to dealing with music criticism - works of Dr. Shawn Carter. But recently, as the fourth deconstruction of popular music resulted in the demise of three record labels & the mass suicide of the Harvard Music School faculty, some people have begun to ask: but what if we made music with our hearts rather than our minds?
It is terribly easy to dismiss this as some kind of science fiction nonsense, but a small group of younger students has begun suggesting that the way a singer sings & perhaps the sound of the music might actually echo & create emotions in the listener. Appearing in smaller journals & also in unofficial publications called "fanzines," these "punks" (as they call themselves) have turned off their minds & started dancing (!) & singing along (!!) to the music. Some have also asked that the music be performed live (!!!) by groups of people who stand in front of them.
It hasn't taken too long for this strange, nearly heretical thinking to find its way to the establishment. Some of the old guard - the songwriters whose music could never be accused of have emotion in it - like Sir Paul McCartney & Brian Wilson - have waved the stories away as fabrication. Others, however, seem intrigued -& have in fact found themselves in places called "clubs" where there are actual "bands" playing music on stages. A few of those have managed to stay through the entire "show" without needing medical assistance.
It may be too early to tell if this is in fact some strange derangement caused by the intense intellectual experience of music - there are those who rue the day music was allowed to be shared with everyone, when it was freed from the academies, churches & halls of power - or if this is truly some revolution in the way human beings interact with & enjoy music. Only time will tell.
It is terribly easy to dismiss this as some kind of science fiction nonsense, but a small group of younger students has begun suggesting that the way a singer sings & perhaps the sound of the music might actually echo & create emotions in the listener. Appearing in smaller journals & also in unofficial publications called "fanzines," these "punks" (as they call themselves) have turned off their minds & started dancing (!) & singing along (!!) to the music. Some have also asked that the music be performed live (!!!) by groups of people who stand in front of them.
It hasn't taken too long for this strange, nearly heretical thinking to find its way to the establishment. Some of the old guard - the songwriters whose music could never be accused of have emotion in it - like Sir Paul McCartney & Brian Wilson - have waved the stories away as fabrication. Others, however, seem intrigued -& have in fact found themselves in places called "clubs" where there are actual "bands" playing music on stages. A few of those have managed to stay through the entire "show" without needing medical assistance.
It may be too early to tell if this is in fact some strange derangement caused by the intense intellectual experience of music - there are those who rue the day music was allowed to be shared with everyone, when it was freed from the academies, churches & halls of power - or if this is truly some revolution in the way human beings interact with & enjoy music. Only time will tell.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Be My Guest
It's a nasty day in Austin - not cold, but rainy & icky. I hope this isn't a premonition about my fortieth year! I can make one prediction - there will be good news soon about KOOP's return to the airwaves. I will tell you as soon as I know something.
Meanwhile, I am sitting in my slightly cold house & daydreaming today that it's now 1997 & I have decided that I want YOU to sign my guestbook. It's a guestbook! Do you remember when everyone had a guestbook! It's over a decade later & now I have one! Oh boy!
Go leave a message about Self Help Radio. Or about something else. Here's the link. I expect your eloquence will knock me out.
Meanwhile, I am sitting in my slightly cold house & daydreaming today that it's now 1997 & I have decided that I want YOU to sign my guestbook. It's a guestbook! Do you remember when everyone had a guestbook! It's over a decade later & now I have one! Oh boy!
Go leave a message about Self Help Radio. Or about something else. Here's the link. I expect your eloquence will knock me out.