As part of my extensive clean up of my office one of the things that I have been doing is putting the straggler CD's on my computer. As I was putting them on I came across the REV 105 Radio Archive. For those of you who did not live in Minneapolis in the mid 90's let me explain, or try to explain what REV was all about.
REV was a mid power radio stations serving the Twin Cities with the frequencies of 105.1, 105.3, and 105.7 (I never really figured out why there was three frequencies). REV played the kind of music that was perfect for a young college student like myself. It was the kind of station where you never knew what they where going to play next, but they never hit you with anything too far out in left field. The music the played was hip, without being condescending. The DJ's were the best, Brian Oake, Thorn, Shawn Stewart, Mary Lucia. They seemed to care about the music they played and had a seemed very genuine. It made me so desperately want to become a DJ. REV 105 was a commercial college station for all intense purposes. They would play the new "indie" artists without the hippies playing their Dead bootlegs, or John Zorn retrospectives, like so many college stations do now.
REV introduced me to so many of my favorite artists,
G Love;
Pavement;
Frank Black;
Spearhead;
Ben Folds Five; and of course
Soul Coughing. Just a quick note about Soul Coughing and REV. They where undoubtedly the house band of REV 105. REV 105 made Soul Coughing, in fact an alarming 40% of all of there record sales where in the Twin Cities area. That is pretty impressive from a band out of New York. It showed the power that REV had and radio in general had to push quality artist.
Something this good of course did not last. With the Bill Clinton and the
Telecommunications Act of 1996, which deregulated ownership of media outlets paved the way for the eventual buy out of REV 105 by the Disney Corp. REV 105 was commercial station and the Cargill group and Carl Polad was offered a ton of money. I don't balme them, they are a business they are here to make money. I blame the Act and the lawmakers who thought it was a good idea. There is an interesting recollection
here.
March 14th was a sad day, there where many people very upset at the demise of REV and a grass roots organization sprung up with the eventual goal of getting the Telecommunications ACT overturned. In essence it was really trying to get REV back on the air. The group was called
Americans for Radio Diversity or ARD for short. They held fund raisers and even put out a CD, with some very familiar artists. Even the hidden track by Soul Coughing gave a shout out to REV and Shawn Stewart. The group eventually turned their focus from the Telecommunications Act to low power radio stations and other FCC type things. ARD from the looks of their website has disbanded and do no work for us hard working Americans who want true radio.
Russ Feingold has seemed to take up this cause sometime last year, but I don't think it is going anywhere. Guess we have to wait until he is president.
Nearly 10 years after the Telecommunications ACT was signed the state of Radio is not good. Sure there are pockets here and there of quality stations. There is even a radio station in the Twin Cities that have the same frequencies as REV and even some of the same DJ's, but it really shallow shell of what REV used to be. Doesn't really matter that the only good station in town plays Johnny Lang and Eric Clapton on a continious loop? Do we really care that Disney and Clear Channel own most of our media. I say no. There is a new media, the internet. I have found more new music through the internet then I have ever had through radio. The internet is a place where shomes like us can share new, old , and weird stuff. It is a place where I can get Radio from Finland, Spain, and Louisiana. The state of music is fine. Yes, I will miss REV and what it was, and I would love have the station back. But am I going to write my congressmen and burn down Disney and Clear Channel, I don' t think that is necessary. Billie Joel said it best, "The good old days aren't always good, and tomorrow isn't as bad as it seems."
I have put up both Rev 105 Radio Archive, and ARD's TELEconned vol 1. for your listening enjoyment. There are some great performances on both of these discs. The REV disc is quite good, I love the Spearhead and They Might Be Giants song. Also Dylan Hicks song on the ARD disc is awesome. Enjoy
***This post updated while listening to the Cubs v Pirates***
I was first introduced to Bobby Bare Jr. by P2 while he was working at Hello Booking. Part punk, part country, Bare Jr. has rocked his way out of his father's Nashville shadow. His albums are pretty good, but his live shows are amazing. The Longest Meow was a live session recorded in 11 hours with 11 artists from such bands as My Morning Jacket and Clem Snide. It's not Bare Jr's best album, but it shows his range spanning genres and devolving into a few jams. Highlights include 'The Bionic Heart' and, Pixies cover, 'Where Is My Mind.' I'm also posting my introduction to Bare Jr., Young Criminals Starvation League. Bare Jr. will be at the 400 Bar on October 19, The Longest Meow comes out September 26. Enjoy.
once there was a time where bob didn't have much to say, and the results were one of the odder of dylan albums. odd in that it was a soundtrack and that it was almost lyrically barren... fitting the setting of the Peckinpah western it was scored for. dylan also had a cameo role in the film, a character named Alias, a knife throwing specialist who mutters only a handlful of lines. bob fan or not, it's worth a watch... and the album is strangely addicting. enjoy.
I've posted The Letting Go, Will Oldham's 9th full-length album under the moniker Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. He's recorded previously as Palace, Palace Songs, Palace Music, Palace Brothers as well as under his given name. Most recently, he released an excellent album with guitarist Matt Sweeny called Superwolf. Will Oldham talked with The Current's Mark Wheat about his new album and his recent record store tour. You can listen to the interview and performance here. The Letting Go will be available from Drag City Records on September 19.
Their first major label record, Colin Meloy and gang did not follow all the rules. The Crane Wife is an hour long with just 10 songs, two of which are more than 11 minutes each. The album switches back and forth between melancholy-folk and prog-rock, often times in the same song. The addition of organ and accordion give The Decemberists more meat to their sound and more weight to Meloy's dark lyrics. While it's not my favorite album, it will surely grow on me. The song "Yankee Bayonet" highlights a great duet with Meloy and Laura Veirs. Also, the last three songs are amazing. The Crane Wife comes out October 3. Enjoy.
I don't know much about M. Ward. I know that he sometimes collaborates with Bright Eyes and that there has been a lot of buzz about his yet to be released album, Post-War. The intimate lyrics are written in such a way that they define the context of the current social climate. Ward sounds as though he's singing to you from both across an ocean and with you in the same room. Highlights for me include To Go Home, Right In The Head, and Chinese Translation. This album is quickly becoming one of my favorites of 2006. Post-War will be released on September 12. Enjoy.
I uploaded Califone's most recent album, Roots & Crowns, a couple of days ago and neglected to post about it. Lead singer, Tim Rutili, was apparently inspired to write this album after listening to the The Orchids by Psychic TV on repeat for several hours. That song is included as a cover and is one of the many highlights of this album which comes out October 10th. If you aren't aware, Califone is a blues/folk/rock experiment from Chicago. Their 2003 release, Quicksand and Cradlesnakes, was arguably one of the best of that year. Listen to this album and support this band. You won't be sorry.
