What is the Rice Radio Folio? The Folio is first and foremost a programming and listening guide designed to help you keep up with what’s on air. For your pleasure, our DJs also generate a healthy serving of album reviews, playlists, band profiles, concert calendars, interviews, and news and information about KTRU and the Houston music scene. The Folio was a more regular feature from the 1980s through the early 1990s, when it educated and entertained readers on a weekly basis. The station’s boost to 50,000 watts and resultant lack of a reliable on-campus signal until the late 1990s contributed to its (partial) abandonment. Now the folio lives gain, in a longer, if less frequent form. If you are new to KTRU, the Folio is an excellent place to begin what will no doubt be a long and fruitful love affair. If you’re already hooked, the folio is just another way to get more of what you love. By Mark Flaum Kashmere High School is a struggling program in the northeast part of town, stained with an unhealthy dropout rate and recently threatened with closure. Once upon a time, however, the school was host to a nearly forgotten legacy of large ensemble soul-funk that ranks among the high points of Houston music history. Between 1967 and 1978 the band, consisting entirely of enrolled students, released eight full-length LP records and toured Japan, only to disappear into the obscurity of poor distribution and limited documentation. Only recently has the music of the Kashmere Stage Band found its way back into availability, largely thanks to the efforts of hip-hop crate diggers and beat collectors. Conrad O. “Prof” Johnson, a jazz and R&B musician born in Victoria, Texas in 1915, decided in 1941 to dedicate himself to music education rather than performance. By 1969 he was director of the stage band at Kashmere Senior High School. Stage bands were found in most Texas high schools of that era, but Johnson was a somewhat unusual director—he had a healthy respect for the popular music that his students were passionate about. Rather than driving his students through big-band jazz or swing, he helped them arrange the music of James Brown and other soul and funk masters for large ensemble. Eventu- ally the students were composing their own material, with Johnson helping write the scores and bring the music to life. The first recordings of the Kashmere Stage Band appeared in 1969 as the first release on the KRAM label, started by Johnson specifically as an outlet for the recordings of his students’ band. The group remained extraordinarily prolific, producing an LP or more per year up until 1975, including one LP dedicated to songs composed by Johnson and members of the band and a live album documenting their tour of Japan. In 1972, they won the title “Best High School Stage Band in the Na- tion,” and won 42 of 46 band competitions they entered over up to 1978. Beyond being the best school band, the KSB was among the best large funk ensembles of their era as well, comfortable with the influence of jazz, the slow fire of soul, and the high- velocity groove of heavy funk. And yet between 1978 and 2000, their music was largely unheard, except by locals who stumbled upon copies of their vinyl output. Several musicians who came of age in the band continued to make music, including Bubbha Thomas (a musician- activist whose Summer Jazz workshop has trained young Houstonians for the past 30 years) and Melvin Sparks (a prolific solo jazz guitarist), but the recordings of the full band had become rare artifacts sought by collectors and traded at high prices. In 2000 the Soul Patrol label included the track “Scorpio” from their fourth LP, 1972’s Zero Point, on a deep funk compilation. A year later, Stones Throw records put the track “Kashmere” on the very influential funk compilation “Funky 16 Corners.” Fol- lowing that release, Stones Throw general manager Eothen Alapatt (also known as Egon) traveled to Houston to find out more about the history of the band, as well as to get his hands on more KSB music. His journey was quite successful, leading to a double CD compilation presenting some of the hottest tracks off the LP releases as well as unreleased material. This was perhaps the widest distribution the KSB has ever seen, and was soon followed by several quasi-bootleg reissues of some original albums on LP. The music of the KSB is available once more, and the legacy of a Houston institution has returned to light. A sad postscript to the revival of the Kashmere Stage Band—bandleader Con- rad O. Johnson passed away in Februar y 2008, after several hospitalizations and a mild heart attack. He had retired from teaching back in 1978, and in fact the same weekend of his passing he had attended a fundraiser and tribute concert featuring original KSB members performing works from the heyday of the band. The Conrad O. Johnson School of Fine Arts, a musical magnet program at Kashmere High, aims to carry on the legacy of the Kashmere Stage Band despite the difficulties the school itself is facing. You can experience the legacy of the Kashmere Stage Band for yourself this up- coming Thursday, September 19 at down- town’s Discovery Green park, where the Kashmere Reunion Stage Band, composed of some of Johnson’s former students with guitarist Joe Carmouche, will honor the bandleader with a tribute concert. The Kashmere Stage Band: A Forgotten Funk Legacy By Matthew Brownlie As I approach the patio at Rudyard’s I see that John is already there, sitting a small distance from the other happy-hour patrons. The 50-year old man in a fishing hat is abusing a small acoustic guitar, at- tacking the fretboard with his ever-present handheld tape recorder. Before we begin our interview, he tells me that I’ll be playing something on that guitar into that machine when we finish talking. Which I do, but what I come up with isn’t nearly as wild or un-self-conscious as what he’s doing now. But that’s okay; he tells me some time later that he thought it sounded great. Muzak John (or, just as often, John Muzak) is an anomaly inside an anomaly, a somewhat playful presence in Houston’s often severe and serious noise/experimen- tal scene. But it’s a tribute to that scene’s welcoming spirit that he’s also a mainstay, performing pretty much wherever and whenever he feels like since 2000. I first saw him during one of his guerrilla perfor- mances. He was on the ground outside a club in the warehouse district, banging on a small Casio keyboard and shouting into a microphone run through a delay pedal. Domokos (then of A Pink Cloud and Rusted Shut) kicked a big, clatter y metal bowl up and down the sidewalk behind him. And John was dressed like a wizard. Cloak, big pointy hat with stars and cres- cent moons, the whole bit. It was anarchic, innocent and fun. It is also a testimony to the friendliness of Houston’s semi-legendar y noise scene that Muzak was invited to play with local heavy-hitters Rusted Shut, Ouroboros and Yellow #6 a mere two months after discovering the genre. In 2000, following the end of a relationship, John decided that it was time to find out what was go- ing on in Houston’s small clubs. He saw local mainstays Richard Ramirez (aka Black Leather Jesus) and Rotten Piece at Sound Exchange, A Pink Cloud at the Commerce Street Art Warehouse, and the Legendary Pink Dots at Instant Karma. (It might be worth noting that the mighty Sound Exchange is the only one of these three performance spaces still around). John had been a musician all his life, and in the 1980’s had fallen in love with college radio stations in Staten Island and New Jersey. Noise music, however, was beyond even their far-reaching playlists. “It wasn’t formal music, it wasn’t ‘song’ music,” he Muzak John’s Joyful Noise Continued on page 2 The 2009 Outdoor Show featured Ted Leo & The Pharmacists. Ted Leo at Rice James BRIcKeR/BReaKFasT oN ToUR KTRU 91.7 FM FALL 2009 1 THE THRESHER IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT OF THE RICE RADIO FOLIO.
Transcript
What is the Rice Radio Folio?The Folio is first and foremost a programming and listening guide designed to help you keep up with what’s on air. For your pleasure, our DJs also generate a healthy serving of album reviews, playlists, band profiles, concert calendars, interviews, and news and information about KTRU and the Houston music scene.
The Folio was a more regular feature from the 1980s through the early 1990s, when it educated and entertained readers on a weekly basis. The station’s boost to 50,000 watts and resultant lack of a reliable on-campus signal until the late 1990s contributed to its (partial) abandonment. Now the folio lives gain, in a longer, if less frequent form. If you are new to KTRU, the Folio is an excellent place to begin what will no doubt be a long and fruitful love affair. If you’re already hooked, the folio is just another way to get more of what you love.
By Mark FlaumKashmere High School is a struggling
program in the northeast part of town, stained with an unhealthy dropout rate and recently threatened with closure. Once upon a time, however, the school was host to a nearly forgotten legacy of large ensemble soul-funk that ranks among the high points of Houston music history. Between 1967 and 1978 the band, consisting entirely of enrolled students, released eight full-length LP records and toured Japan, only to disappear into the obscurity of poor distribution and limited documentation. Only recently has the music of the Kashmere Stage Band found its way back into availability, largely thanks to the efforts of hip-hop crate diggers and beat collectors.
Conrad O. “Prof” Johnson, a jazz and R&B musician born in Victoria, Texas in 1915, decided in 1941 to dedicate himself to music education rather than performance. By 1969 he was director of the stage band at Kashmere Senior High School. Stage bands were found in most Texas high schools of that era, but Johnson was a somewhat unusual director—he had a healthy respect for the popular music that
his students were passionate about. Rather than driving his students through big-band jazz or swing, he helped them arrange the music of James Brown and other soul and funk masters for large ensemble. Eventu-ally the students were composing their own material, with Johnson helping write the scores and bring the music to life.
The first recordings of the Kashmere Stage Band appeared in 1969 as the first release on the KRAM label, started by Johnson specifically as an outlet for the recordings of his students’ band. The group remained extraordinarily prolific, producing an LP or more per year up until 1975, including one LP dedicated to songs composed by Johnson and members of the band and a live album documenting their tour of Japan. In 1972, they won the title “Best High School Stage Band in the Na-tion,” and won 42 of 46 band competitions they entered over up to 1978. Beyond being the best school band, the KSB was among the best large funk ensembles of their era as well, comfortable with the influence of jazz, the slow fire of soul, and the high-velocity groove of heavy funk.
And yet between 1978 and 2000, their music was largely unheard, except by
locals who stumbled upon copies of their vinyl output. Several musicians who came of age in the band continued to make music, including Bubbha Thomas (a musician-activist whose Summer Jazz workshop has trained young Houstonians for the past 30 years) and Melvin Sparks (a prolific solo jazz guitarist), but the recordings of the full band had become rare artifacts sought by collectors and traded at high prices. In 2000 the Soul Patrol label included the track “Scorpio” from their fourth LP, 1972’s Zero Point, on a deep funk compilation. A year later, Stones Throw records put the track “Kashmere” on the very influential funk compilation “Funky 16 Corners.” Fol-lowing that release, Stones Throw general manager Eothen Alapatt (also known as Egon) traveled to Houston to find out more about the history of the band, as well as to get his hands on more KSB music. His journey was quite successful, leading to a double CD compilation presenting some of the hottest tracks off the LP releases as well as unreleased material. This was perhaps the widest distribution the KSB has ever seen, and was soon followed by several quasi-bootleg reissues of some original albums on LP. The music of the
KSB is available once more, and the legacy of a Houston institution has returned to light.
A sad postscript to the revival of the Kashmere Stage Band—bandleader Con-rad O. Johnson passed away in February 2008, after several hospitalizations and a mild heart attack. He had retired from teaching back in 1978, and in fact the same weekend of his passing he had attended a fundraiser and tribute concert featuring original KSB members performing works from the heyday of the band. The Conrad O. Johnson School of Fine Arts, a musical magnet program at Kashmere High, aims to carry on the legacy of the Kashmere Stage Band despite the difficulties the school itself is facing.
You can experience the legacy of the Kashmere Stage Band for yourself this up-coming Thursday, September 19 at down-town’s Discovery Green park, where the Kashmere Reunion Stage Band, composed of some of Johnson’s former students with guitarist Joe Carmouche, will honor the bandleader with a tribute concert.
The Kashmere Stage Band: A Forgotten Funk Legacy
By Matthew BrownlieAs I approach the patio at Rudyard’s
I see that John is already there, sitting a small distance from the other happy-hour patrons. The 50-year old man in a fishing hat is abusing a small acoustic guitar, at-tacking the fretboard with his ever-present handheld tape recorder. Before we begin our interview, he tells me that I’ll be playing something on that guitar into that machine when we finish talking. Which I do, but what I come up with isn’t nearly as wild or un-self-conscious as what he’s doing now. But that’s okay; he tells me some time later that he thought it sounded great.
Muzak John (or, just as often, John Muzak) is an anomaly inside an anomaly, a somewhat playful presence in Houston’s often severe and serious noise/experimen-tal scene. But it’s a tribute to that scene’s welcoming spirit that he’s also a mainstay, performing pretty much wherever and whenever he feels like since 2000. I first saw him during one of his guerrilla perfor-mances. He was on the ground outside a club in the warehouse district, banging on a small Casio keyboard and shouting into a microphone run through a delay pedal. Domokos (then of A Pink Cloud and Rusted Shut) kicked a big, clattery metal bowl up
and down the sidewalk behind him.And John was dressed like a wizard.
Cloak, big pointy hat with stars and cres-cent moons, the whole bit. It was anarchic, innocent and fun.
It is also a testimony to the friendliness of Houston’s semi-legendary noise scene that Muzak was invited to play with local heavy-hitters Rusted Shut, Ouroboros and Yellow #6 a mere two months after discovering the genre. In 2000, following the end of a relationship, John decided that it was time to find out what was go-ing on in Houston’s small clubs. He saw local mainstays Richard Ramirez (aka Black Leather Jesus) and Rotten Piece at Sound Exchange, A Pink Cloud at the Commerce Street Art Warehouse, and the Legendary Pink Dots at Instant Karma. (It might be worth noting that the mighty Sound Exchange is the only one of these three performance spaces still around). John had been a musician all his life, and in the 1980’s had fallen in love with college radio stations in Staten Island and New Jersey. Noise music, however, was beyond even their far-reaching playlists. “It wasn’t formal music, it wasn’t ‘song’ music,” he
Muzak John’s Joyful Noise
Continued on page 2
The 2009 Outdoor Show featured Ted Leo & The Pharmacists.Ted Leo at Rice
James BRIcKeR/BReaKFasT oN ToUR
KTRU 91.7 FM FALL 2009
1
The ThResheR is noT ResponsibLe FoR The conTenT oF The Rice RAdio FoLio.
Hit tHe Ground runninG:FALL 2009 recommended sHowsHouston’s scene runs the gamut from experimental to bubblegum pop, death metal to gamelan, so mark your calendars and check out Ktru’s upcoming shows page, and other sites that note upcoming shows in the area. don’t forget to ask around or make a call to see if the show is sold out. Also, stay tuned to 91.7, and you just might pick up a few free tickets.
PicK your BAttLes:Friday, September 4: wood & felt/my milky way Arms/casinos/sils/chairs @ super Happy Fun Land
Saturday, September 5: deviations: an impromptu spoken word Happening, featuring Autumn & dan & more @ the mink
Friday, September 11: Black congress/Balaclavas/no no no Hopes @ mango’s
Wednesday, September 16: chin Xaou ti won/two star symphony @ the mink
Friday, September 25: steel Lounge underground @ cAmH
Thursday, October 8: terrence simien and the Zydeco experience @ discovery Green
Saturday, October 31: Final walter’s show on washington
Sunday, November 21: neko case @ warehouse Live
make sure you check out calendars online for a full list of upcoming shows!
performance and spoken word artist who lives in East Tennessee. His recorded work is intimate, honest and unsettling. In 2008, Saunders’ jarring release N1-N4 Variations (vocal documentation from all four sleep stages)” cataloged a spectrum of vocalizations recorded during various stages of unrest in his tormented sleep cycle. This year, he collaborated with percussionist Z’EV on DAKU, an intensely primal journey into traumatic experience and its physical manifestations.
Saunders’ spoken word performances are empathetic, raw and cathartic. He often tours Europe and the US, performing in festivals and exhibitions. Also a visual artist, Saunders has created at least one self-portrait every day since 1995, a project deemed “The Endlessly Reconstructing Auto-Autopsy.” He currently stores 7,000 of the portraits in hardbound books, and plans to continue producing them daily for the rest of his life.
KTRU: Describe the difference between the cathartic experience of your self-portraits and public performances.
Bryan Lewis Saunders: On the surface they both appear as vehicles for driving out demons. However, the self-portraits are more like praying or meditating every day, and the performances are more like hosting an evangelical revival. The self-
portraits are two-dimensional and tend to focus more on the present, and on personal daily mental health maintenance. The performances are big multi-media public purging events, more focused on the past, and the demons are much more social. When I draw or paint myself every day, the release is what keeps me alive and somewhat sane.
KTRU: Film projections on stage can distract from intense spoken word perfor-mances. With your strong background in visual arts, your videos compliment your work. When did you first incorporate video or projections into your live shows?
BLS: I started doing the videos in 2006. I don’t often speak eloquently, so the videos are left rough and crudely edited too. The rawness of both increases the tension. It makes what I’m saying seem even more real, because they’re like home movies as opposed to being artsy-fartsy with a lot of transitions and effects.
Video is the supreme tool, in that it has the ability to convey honesty, empathy, truth and believability. The simplest way to get people to believe and identify with you, when you say outrageous or unbelievable things, is to concurrently show them home videos of it. It becomes more powerful.
KTRU: How much of your life is as visceral as your work? Where do you think this intensity comes from?
BLS: It comes from an exciting, yet often traumatic childhood. Now that my
life has become totally devoted to docu-menting and sharing those experiences (much to my deliverance), new trauma is much less frequent. I tend to isolate myself while working and that helps cut down on it enormously. When I’m alone, my head becomes a tightly sealed can. Us-ing the stories as a starting point, I weave the feelings, thoughts and beliefs around them, like fat twisted cords, really packing them down for several months. With the lid on really tight, I finally get out and on stage again. With great suspense, I slowly unscrew the lid and all of these snakes jump out of my head, at the audience. Only it’s tragic, not funny, because the serpents are real and not felt covered springs.
KTRU: When recording N1-N4 Varia-tions, what was your process? How did it start?
BLS: Mysterious things have always happened to me in my sleep. I would frequently wake up feeling like I had just been run over by a truck or physically assaulted. I had great difficulty remember-ing any details of the events. So, I started sleeping with a tape recorder to get to the bottom of it. At first, I would awake and immediately record anything I could remember. The more I did it, the more Pavlovian my “button pushing” became, until I was waking up between each dream and recording all of them. Eventually I pushed the record button in my sleep and documented my dreams in real time as
they occurred. The CD contains artifacts of the entire process.
KTRU: What current experimental or spoken word artists do you listen to?
BLS: Amnesia by Lydia Lunch and Jacob Kirkegaard is pretty transcendent. The combination of Kirkegaard’s science of sound aesthetic and Lydia’s graphic poetic analysis seem to make her float inside the gravity of man’s inhumanity. The work of Gregory Whitehead is functional-conceptual art and extremely fascinating. Out of all of his works, The Thing About Bugs and The Hid-den Language of Trees are my absolute favorite. Headphones are a must. Michael Esposito’s EVP collaborations, The Summer House with Leif Elggren and the ghost of Emanuel Swedenborg is great. Michael Esposito is an audio scientist. Leif Elggren is a contemporary artist who works with sound, drawing and performance. Emanuel Swedenborg was a scientist, philosopher and spiritualist who talked to angels and dead people at the same Summer House throughout the 1700’s.
Bryan Lewis Saunders is currently working on several projects, including a new release tentatively titled Near Death Experience on the art/noise/spoken word label Erratum (France). For more infor-mation and current projects, visit www.bryanlewissaunders.org.
An Interview with Bryan Lewis Saunders
By Lance HigdonJohn McEntire may well be the Kevin
Bacon of indie music. He has worked with nearly every significant name in his ad-opted hometown of Chicago & beyond. A triple threat as a percussionist, keyboard-ist & recording engineer, his aptitude in both the performance & production of innovative, rock-based music has left an indelible stamp on over two decades of activity.
Born in Portland, Oregon in 1970, he nurtured an talent for percussion that took him to Ohio’s prestigious Oberlin Conservatory. Dismayed by the lack of creativity he observed among the percus-sion majors there, he switched majors to pursue a degree in music production & technology. Aside from paving the way to a career in audio engineering, his studies lent his playing the sort of nuance and insight not normally associated with rock drummers.
In 1989 McEntire joined the math rock band Bastro alongside ex-Squirrel Bait members David Grubbs and Clark John-son, adequately supplanting their drum machine. After relocating to Chicago and replacing Johnson with Bundy K. Brown, Bastro released several albums before changing their name to Gastr Del Sol. After recording the album The Serpentine Similar in 1993, McEntire entered his watershed year. 1994 saw him join up with Mayo Thompson in the venerable art-rock band The Red Krayola and his two best-known bands—Tortoise and The Sea And Cake.
Tortoise possesses an all-star roster of Chicago underground talent. Doug McCombs, Dan Bitney and John Hern-don have been constant fixtures in the band since its inception. The short list of alumni includes David Pajo (Slint, Papa M and Zwan) and Brown (who was also involved in the aptly-named Directions In Music). As if this was not enough talent in one place, avant-jazz guitarist Jeff Parker
has played with the band since the late 90s. With McEntire manning the mixing board, Tortoise has spent a career explor-ing the borderlands between rock music and other genres, earning themselves a place as the posterchildren for post-rock. Dub reggae, chamber-music minimalism, various strains of electronic dance music, and the outer limits of jazz all figure into Tortoise’s palette. Though he obviously enjoys keeping a low profile, McEntire’s inventive playing (on vibraphone and syn-thesizer as well as drums) and innovative recording techniques sit at the center of this very wide web of players.
Named after a mishearing of a Gastr Del Sol song, The Sea And Cake gave McEntire the chance to play music that approached pop music structure with-out losing its exploratory edge. They released their first record, The Sea And Cake, concurrently on Rough Trade and Bettina Richards’ nascent record label, Thrill Jockey. McEntire has since become synonymous with Thrill Jockey, releasing most of his projects through them and handling a substantial amount of the recording for their artists. As in Tortoise, his loose-limbed but meticulous drumming and subtle shaping of the sonic environment keeps the music focused and in peak audio form.
When not forging new paths in mu-sic, McEntire owns and operates Soma Electronic Music Studios, also based in Chicago. He has engineered releases for Dianogah, 90 Day Men and Stereolab among many others. Soma has also fa-cilitated a number of remixes and some film scores, most notably John Hughes’ Reach The Rock. He has also lent his loose-limbed, perfectly-timed drumming to a number of one-off recordings, such as Richard Buckner’s alt-country album Since, Seam’s slowcore LP Kernel and the Tortoise all-drums offshoot Bumps rhythmic workout of a 12”.
Artist Profile: John McEntire By Varsha Vakil
Kaushiki Chakraborty is a name many aficionados of Indian music quickly recognize as a modern master of the Hin-dustani, or North Indian, classical style of singing. Kaushiki, a child prodigy, was born into a family of musicians in 1980 in Kolkata, India, a city known as the unofficial mecca of Hindustani music. Her exceptional talent was recognized by her parents when at the precocious age of two she was able to sing any musical note on command. Chakraborty’s father, Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty, is himself a prominent vocalist who showed extraordinary talent in music at a very young age. His gurus were his father Shri Ajit Chakraborty, Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh and Ustad Munawar Ali Khan, the son of the great Patiala Maestro Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan.
Chakraborty has been highly praised as the future of khayal and thumri style of singing. She first received her training from her mother, Chandana. At the age of seven, she joined her father’s guru Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh for training. Chakraborty had the good fortune to
become the youngest-ever Ganda Bandh shishy, or disciple. Ganda Bandh is a cus-tomary knot-tying ritual which fortifies the relationship between the guru and the student. The exemplary “guru-shishya” style, a rigorous classical education sys-tem, symbolizes the learning relationship with complete intellectual and spiritual submission of the devoted shishya to the guru. Guru Jnan Prakash Ghosh intro-duced Chakraborty to the path of musical excellence, teaching her that a balance of inborn talent, hard work and diligent dedication, and philosophical conscious-ness were the keys to success. When Ghosh fell ill, Chakraborty returned to her father for her training. Clearly, music was in her genes, but the right combina-tion of teaching and practice was crucial to her development. Undoubtedly, she has become an established artist thanks not only to her talim (education) but also rigorous riyaaz (practice).
Houston’s noted Pakistani artist Ali Durrani compares Chakraborty’s intricate singing style to his inspiration Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. Durrani is fascinated with this extraordinary talent that has
taken the world by storm. He states that it is not only her exceptional voice and sing-ing style, but that beauty is in the intrinsic fashion in which this gifted singer puts her personal twist on intricate traditional ragas. At a concert Chakraborty gave when she was 16, the young performer received a standing ovation not only from the audi-ence, but also from 80-year-old maestro Ustad Allah Rakha Khan, who spontane-ously stood up to applaud her incredible performance in a rare show of deference from old to young. Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, the legendary classical vocalist of India, has said that “Kaushiki Chakraborty is one of the very few classical vocalists who will make a mark in the 21st Century; she has really a very bright future if she practices hard to realize her great potential.”
Chakrabor ty has per formed and captivated audiences around the world. Among other awards she has also won the BBC Radio 3 World Music Award - Asia Pacific in 2005. The Western world usually finds it difficult to relate to Indian vocals, mostly due to language barriers. But Chakraborty’s singing has proven otherwise, for she is a well acclaimed
artist around the world. Her singing style of traditional bahlawa patterns is the style typical of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. Her albums Kaushiki, released in 2008, and Pure, from 2005, are a pure delight for anyone seeking a captivating vocalist. Her other albums are Swar Sadhna and A Jour-ney Begins. A true global star renowned for the spontaneity and emotional impact of her live performances, Chakraborty’s music is played not only on BBC radio, but has also found a following on airwaves in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Hindustani classical music, which has mainly been male-dominated, originated in the Vedic period and has been evolving since the 12th Century A.D. Its most recent evolution is the increased prominence of female musicians (Girija Devi, Gangubai Hangal, Kishori Amonkar), who have fought centuries of gender stereotypes to break through on their own right. Among this new generation of woman artists, Kaushiki Chakraborty may have the most potential. Her worldwide appeal is opening up the genre of classical Indian music to a wider audience than ever before.
Artist Profile: Kaushiki Chakraborty
By Rachel Orosco Here’s the scoop on what’s up with KTRU this year: as the new school year begins, there are several great opportunities for new students and community members to get involved with the station. In addition to the opportu-nity to explore new musical territory by applying to be a DJ, we have a variety of positions available for students interested in everything from engineering to event planning. If you have a penchant for journal-ism, consider joining our student-created KTRU News. also, we have several specialty shows that student DJs can get involved with, including but not limited to mutant Hardcore, Navrang (music from the Indian subcontinent), spoken Word, Jazz, scordatura (modern classical), and the Revelry Report, where we announce weekly musical events in Houston and often interview or host a live band. You can check out ktru.org for more information on our specialty shows. In addition to our new fall hires, I am very excited about the recent revival of our small concerts pro-gram. Varsha, of our Navrang show, put together a brilliant, educational, and highly-attended classical Indian music concert that gained tremen-dous visibility for KTRU and show-cased skilled, authentic classical Indian instrumentation. This year we hope to bring several more of these types of concerts in addition to small concerts from various other genres. We are always looking to ex-pose the eclectic, progressive, and educational sounds of local Houston talent. This is exactly what our an-nual outdoor show strives to do. The 2009 show, held on april 11, marked our 18th annual show, and we were very happy with the lineup, headed up by Ted Leo & The Phar-macists, and ranging from B L a c K I e’s indescribable rap to Buxton’s medley of alternative americana. Next spring is sure to bring a simi-larly talented and eclectic mix of mu-sicians from Houston and beyond. We know we can expect another excellent outdoor show from our 2010 outdoor show coordinator, Kelsey Yule.
another great success this past year was the return of our KTRU Roller Prom. This year, the revived KTRU tradition was transformed into the Polar Prom, since we decided to host the event on ice rather than at a roller rink. The Polar Prom was yet another fun and free event provided by KTRU to Rice students and Hous-ton community members, and we were pleased and surprised by the high turnout from both students and non-students alike. I look forward to the organization of another Roller/Polar Prom in the coming year. although I am very pleased with the events that KTRU put on this past year, I hope to co-host more partnered events out in Houston this year similar to things we have done in past years. For example, three years ago we partnered with the contemporary arts museum of Houston for their steel Lounge series, where KTRU DJs were able to DJ live for museum guests in a gallery space. also, back when the Proletariat was around, we collabo-rated with them on several concerts. I hope to reform past relationships and to form new ones with other organizations around Houston to spread the KTRU love and to provide student DJs with more opportunities to be involved in the Houston com-munity. Finally, because of the hard work and persistence of our dedi-cated music department this year, we have been able to bring in some really great new music from more of our favorite independent record labels. also, we have had several highly dedicated DJs constantly searching for unique music for us, and we plan to continue to expand our vast music collection in the com-ing year, with particular emphasis on expanding our specialty show libraries. all in all, I am very pleased with many of the improvements KTRU has seen in the past couple years, and I hope to live up to the great-ness of Nick, my eastern-european-obsessed predecessor. Thanks for listening: bang.rice.edu. 91.7 ear fuck radio. out.
Letter From the Station Manager
Muzak John’s Joyful Noise Continued from page 1
says, “you could just make sounds and throw in anything you want. I said ‘This is great, I’d like to do something like this.’”
At the first noise show he caught at SoundEx, he met people involved with the short-lived Montrose Pirate Radio station, which had transitioned into an early online radio station. There, he played an all-cassette show, spinning (if that’s the right word) everything from the Allman Brothers to whatever local band he had just taped at their show through that aforementioned handheld recorder. Soon after, he (along with Al “The Plastic Clown” Pennison and others) began a year-long weekly residency at Mary Jane’s. John’s early music was harsh noise but has softened over time. These days he’s as likely to perform with only that guitar than with a Casio SK-1 and a few pedals, although his acoustic material isn’t exactly Cat Stevens. “Domokos calls me pop noise,” he laughs.
He’s done guerilla performances dressed as a clown in front of Amoeba Records, the world’s largest indie
record store in San Francisco, and in front of museums in Amsterdam (no word on what, if any, costumes were donned there). Locally, John says that, “anywhere anytime’s good for a show,” but these days he’s particularly fond of the re-launched Super Happy Fun Land, who have also put him on their stage at the Westheimer Block Party for the last few years. His disarmingly gentle personality gets him in with fellow musicians of all stripes, and you’ll see him, tape recorder in hand, at shows of every genre. He’s been especially liking local jazz lately, and jazz players in town appreciate what he does, too. Well, some of them, anyway.
At some point in our interview I asked Muzak if his seemingly light-hearted approach to creating and per-forming noise music was in any way a reaction to the frequent self-seriousness of the genre, or if noise’s do-what-you-will spirit simply gave him space to, well, do just that. The answer is definitely the latter. He makes noise for the simple joy of making noise. Truthfully, I don’t think that Muzak John thinks too hard about what he’s doing at all. Which is to say that I think he thinks about it just enough.
*All items subject to change. stay up-to-date at ktru.org with
maps, times and lineups.
Friday, september 11, 2009, 5 p.m.deadline: Fall dJ applications
Friday, January 15, 2010Ktru Live Broadcast (rmc Lobby)
Friday, January 22, 2010, 5 p.m.deadline: Battle of the Bands demos
Friday, February 12, 2010Ktru Battle of the Bands
Lovett undergrounds / Lyle’s, rice university
saturday, April 10, 2010Ktru outdoor show (date is tentative)
Location to be determined @ rice university
Sri Gourisankar and Shankar Bhattacharyya, left, performed in an April 21 concert sponsored by KTRU’s Navrang show.
A Night of Navrang
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inTeRviews And ARTisT pRoFiLes
Rice RAdio FoLio FALL 2009 Rice RAdio FoLio FALL 2009
ARTisT pRoFiLes And UpcoMing evenTs
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top 35 FoR the Week oF 09.03.2009ARTIST ALBUM LABELVarious Artists KTRU Local Live Vol. 1 KtruBlack Moth Super Rainbow Eating Us GravefaceVarious Artists Well Hung Finders-KeepersVarious - Nigeria 70 The Definitive Story of 1970s Funky Lagos StrutWooden Shjips Dos Holy MountainMicachu Jewellery Rough TradeElfin Saddle Ringing For The Begin Again ConstellationVarious Artists The Sounds Of Wonder Finders KeepersParadox Called To Mind End Of EarthVarious Artists The Sexual Life of the Savages: Underground Post-Punk From Sao Paulo Soul Jazz RecordsTheo Angell Tenebrae AmishMiura,Yasushi (Minimax) Magnitude No.9 Self-ReleasedNomo Invisible Cities Ubiquity Recordings, Inc.Greg Greg Self-ReleasedWhitmore, William Elliot Animals In The Dark AntiBlack Dice Repo Paw TracksElder Utah Smith I Got Two Wings CasequarterVarious Artists Sleepwalking Through The Mekong M80Night Control Death Control Kill ShamanAcid Mothers Temple and the Melting PAraiso U.F.O. Lord Of The Underground: Vishnu And Magic Elixir Alien8Cromagnon Cave Rock ESP-DiskCasey Foubert/James McAlister Volume 3: Music For Drums Asthmatic KittyPlatinum Pied Pipers Abundance UbiquityBonnie “Prince” Billy Ask Forgiveness DominoThe Golden Hours Spooky EP EggyVarious Artists Bklyn Heavy Sounds From The County Of Kings Bastard JazzPrefuse 73 Everything She Touched Turned To Ampexian WarpJody Seabody & The Whirls Orange EP Self-ReleasedCave Psychic Psummer ImportantIlla J Yancey Boys Delicious VinylSvarte Greiner Kappe TypeMono Hymn To The Immortal Wind Temporary ResidenceThe Social Insects Let’s Be Realistic. Self-ReleasedVarious Artists Cool Cats Sub RosaMouthful of Bees Mouthful of Bees Afternoon Records
ktRU SUMMeR hitS 2009ARTIST ALBUM LABEL
Various Artists Well Hung Finders Keepers
Wooden Shjips Dos Holy Mountain
Black Moth Super Rainbow Eating Us Graveface
Casey Foubert & James Mcalister Vol. 3: Music for Drums Asthmatic Kitty
Paradox Called to Mind End of Earth
Black Dice Repo Paw Tracks
Various Artists Cool Cats Sub Rosa
William Elliot Whitmore Animals in the Dark anti
Various Artists Nigeria 70: The Definitive Story of 1970s Funky Lagos Strut
Bruce Eisenbeil Sextet Inner Consellation Vol. 1 Nemu
Platinum Pied Pipers Abundance Ubiquity
Various Artists KTRU Local Live Vol. 1 KTRU
Hearts of Palm Trance Nipple Manifestation Palmetto Space
Micachu Jewellery Rough Trade
Alexander “Skip” Spence Oar Sundazed
Elfin Saddle Ringing for the Begin Again Constellation
Ghost Mountain Siamese Sailbots Self-Released
The Golden Hours Spooky EP Eggy
Greg Greg Self-Released
Booker T. Jones Potato Hole anti
Various Artists The Sexual Life of the Savages:Underground Post-Punk from Sao Paulo Soul Jazz
Mono Hymnn to the Immoral Wind Temporary Residence
Various Artists Bklyn Heavy Sounds from the Country of Kings Bastard Jazz
Infant Mortality Rate Radio-Electronics Mayday
Young Mammals Carrots Jasper
Specialty Show PlaylistsKTRU’s specialty shows were asked to provide the names of the albums they
are currently spinning the most, new and noteworthy releases, old favorites, or a selection of songs most representative of their show. These playlists might give you some ideas what each show is about at the moment—or they might inspire you to pick up an album or two.
AfricanaArtist Album LabelStaff Benda Bilila Tres Tres Fort Crammed DiscVarious Artists Nigeria 70: Funky Lagos StrutOumou Sangare Seya World CircuitFranco & TPOK Jazz Francophile SternsVarious Artitist Congo 7: Rock and Rumba SyllartAmadou and Miriam Welcome to Mali NonesuchGroup Bombino Guitars From Agadez Sublime FrequenciesVarious Artists Lagos Chop Up Honest Jon’sCesaria Evoria Radio Mindelo LusafricaMadera Limpia La Coronaout HereBa Cissoko Seno Sterns
scordaturaArtist Album LabelGyorgy Ligeti Wien Modern Deutsche GrammophonStanley Schumacher and the Now Music Ensemble Don’t Abandon Your Baby Musickmacher ProductionsMichael Gordon Light is Calling NonesuchMorton Feldman For John Cage Hat[now]ARTLuc Ferrari Les Anecdotiques Sub RosaElliott Sharp Tectonics Knitting FactoryMatthew Shipp Harmony and Abyss Thirsty YearKol Simcha Voice of Joy World ClassGermaine Tailleferre The Women’s Philharmonic KochAnton Webern Complete Works SonyRicahrd Einhorn Voices of Light SonyStuart Saunders Smith CRUX O/OGroup 180 Group 180 HungapotonHenry Cowell Henry Cowell Piano Music Smithsonian FolkwaysRandall Smith Sondes Empreintes DigitalesCarl Stone Woo Lae Oak Unseen WorldsMatt Turner & Jeff Song Love & Fear O/OAkemi Naito Mindscape Bridge RecordsSteve Reich Sonic Youth: Good Bye 20th Century SYRWadada Leo Smith Light Upon Light TzadikKarlheinz Stockhausen Kontakte Ecstatic Peace!Paul Cooper Paul Cooper CRIBiosphere Autor de la Lune TouchEllen Fullman Suspended Music PeriplumSkuli Sverisson Seremonie Extreme
Genetic memoryArtist Album LabelTEF Cast PitchphraseEmeralds Vaporizer Ecstatic Peace!Insect Warfare Insect Warfare 625 ThrashcoreRacoo-oo-oo Racoo-oo-oo Not Not FunNoveller Paint on the Shadows No Fun ProductionsWindy & Carl Instrumentals for the Broken-Hearted Blue FleaCorrupted Paso Inferior InsolitoWerewolf Jerusalem The House of Yellow Carpet Swim HarderEloe Omoe Marauders ADRNiagra Falls Sequence of Prophets Honeymoon MusicTusk The Resisting Dreamer Hydra HeadServille Sect Stratospheric Passenger Ecstatic Peace!SUNN O))) Monoliths & Dimensions Southern LordConcrete Violin Basement Heavy LeatherThird Organ/Government Alpha Third Organ/Government Alpha 7” Dada DrummingB L A C K I E Death Tape Heavy LeatherKodama Turning Leaf Migrations Olde English Spelling BeeRichard Young High Sun Energy/States of Time Dull KnifeDaniel Padden & Sarah Kenchington The Bellow Switch ShadazzRed Horse Red Horse RelDylan Nyoukis Inside Wino Lodge No Fun ProductionsVarious Artists La Bamba Ultra EczemaCharles Curse Rain in Skull Olde English Spelling BeeBhob Rainey/Angst Hase Pfeffer Nase Split 7” SedimentalSpunk Kantarell Rune Grammofon
Jazz/improvised musicArtist Album LabelFlow Trio Rejuvenation ESP-DiskDon Cherry Live At Cafe Montmartre, Volume III ESP-DiskSun Ra Sleeping Beauty Art YardChristof Kurzmann & Burkhard Stangl Neuschnee ErstwhileEvan Parker Saxophone Solos psiPer Anders Nilsson, Sten Sandell & Raymond Strid Beam Stone psiPeople Band 69/70 EmanemRodrigo Amado, Kent Kessler & Paal Nilssen-Love The Abstract Truth European EchoesJohn Butcher Group Somethingtobesaid Weight Of WaxSun Ra & His Solar Arkestra Secrets Of The Sun AtavisticSophie Agnel Capsizing Moments EmanemPeter Evans Nature/Culture EmanemFull Blast Black Hole AtavisticRay Warleigh Rue Victor Massé psiJohn Edwards Volume psiAgustí Fernández Un Llamp Que No S’acaba Ma psiAlexander von Schlippenbach Friulian Sketches psiLondon & Glasgow Improvisers Orchestras Separately & Together EmanemTetuzi Akiyama, Kevin Corcoran & Christian Kiefer Low Clouds Mean Death DigitalisCharles Mingus Mingus Ah Um (Legacy Edition) ColumbiaJohn Surman Brewster’s Rooster ECM The Fonda/Stevens Group Memphis PlayscapeBossa Nostra Jackie PutumayoBen Neill Night Science Thirsty EarMedeski, Martin & Wood Radiolarians III Indirecto
Funk & soulArtist Album LabelDJ Day Cd5 Self-ReleasedVisioneers Rollin for the Ride OmniverseShafiq Husayn Shafiq En A-Free-Ka Plug ResearchWhitefield Brothers In the Raw Now AgainReginald Milton & The Soul Jets Funk Spectrum bbeDiamond District In the Ruff OddiseeFree Design Now Sound Redesigned Light in the AtticClutchy Hopkins & Lord Kenjamin Music Is My Medicine UbiquityChange This is Your Time AtlanticDam Funk Toeachizown Vol 1: Latrik Stones ThrowThe Latin Project Musica de la Noche TLPRalph Macdonald Jam on the Groove Alpha OmegaLadybug Mecca Trip the Light Fantastic Nu ParadigmSa Ra Creative Partners Nuclear Evolution UbiquityThe US Let’s Do It Today (Procrastination) bbeJ. Rocc Hella International Stones ThrowDJ Sun Monday Drive EP Alternate TakeM64 Record Breakin 7” Series Record BreakinBobbi Humphrey Satin Doll Blue NoteThe Repercussions Promise Me Nothing RepriseSir Victor Uwaifo & His Melody Maestroes Rich Medina & Bobbitto Present the Connection R2Black Spade To Serve With Love OmMayer Hawthorne A Strange Arrangement Stones ThrowLittle Dragon Remixes EP Self-Released
Local showArtist Album LabelTwo Star Symphony Two Star Symphony Self-ReleasedJ.W. Americana J.W. Americana Self-ReleasedHickoids Hickoid Heaven West WorldYoung Mammals Carrots Self-ReleasedSprawl The Deflorist Rastaman Work EthicParis Falls Vol. III Paper WeaponsAk-47 Bloodstains Across Texas BloodstainsGiant Princess Summer Exposure Art StormWoozy Helmet Get Down Self-ReleasedGuitars White Night White Night GTRSIndian Jewelry Invasive Exotics MonitorBorn Lairs Ragged Island CutthroatStrange Boys And Girls Club In the RedSomething Fierce There Are No Answers DirtnapJinkies Sea of Tranquility EverestAmerican Analog Set Set Free Arts and CraftsArchie Bell and the Drells Tighten it Up RhinoD.R.I. Dealing With It Beer CityJapanic Red Book PlethorazineFired for Walking Fired for Walking Four Letter MusicSideshow Tramps Medicine Show Self-ReleasedMarked Men Ghost DirtnapGolden Arm Trio Why the Sea is Salt Loveletter/ShamrockDaniel Johnston Yip Jump Music Eternal Yip EyeFoot Patrol Chrisspy EP Self-ReleasedCrack Pipes Snakes in my Veins Emperor Jones
spoken wordArtist Album LabelScooter Audior Shorts AcksisofevilBryan Lewis Saunders N1-N4 Variations Standup TragedyCripsin Hellio The Big Problem Does Not Equal the Solution RestlessDaevid Allen The Mystery Disque No. 7 Bananamoon ObscuraMiranda July Binet-Simon Test Kill Rock StarsStuds Terkel Voices of Our Time HighBridge AudioInfant Mortality Rate Blimp Needle MaydayHoward Zinn Artists in a Time of War Alternative TentaclesRaymond Scott Manhattan Research Inc. BASTASteven Jesse Bernstein Prison Sub PopKRS-ONE The Fundamentals of Hip-Hop KRS-ONE/The Temple of Hip-HopMuzak John Lo-fi ? Acoustic Self-ReleasedFlossie & The Unicorns Flossie & The Unicorns HansonMoyers, Bill & Joseph Campbell The Power of Myth HighBridge AudioBob Marsh Viovox Public EyesoreVarious Artists Great Speeches of the 20th Century RhinoAllen Funt The Candid Microphone Columbia MasterworksLecture on Nothing Lecture on Nothing PopmafiaEdward R. Murrow I Can Hear It Now Columbia MasterworksSenator Everett McKinley Dirksen Gallant Men: Stories of the American Adventure CapitolDavid Rosenboom Brainwave Music EMRobert Francis Kennedy A Memorial Columbia MasterworksThe Tape-Beatles Music With Sound Death of Vinyl
Post PunkArtist Album LabelWarsaw An Ideal for Killing WarsawThe Mob Let the Tribe Increase Broken RekidsZoomers Exist Uncalled For MusicSuicide Suicide Red StarThe Incredible Casuals Picnic Ape 7” EatY Pants Y Pants Periodic DocumentFad Gadget GAG MuteAnarchitex Live 2008 Self-ReleasedTuxedoMoon Buy or Die ’80 RalphJoy Division Closer QwestA Certain Ratio Early Soul JazzCulturcide Year One CulturcideLizzer Mercier Best Of ZEMyDolls A World of Her Own MyDollsDevo New Traditionalists Warner Bros.Scritti Politti Early Rough TradeBauahus Terror Couple 7” 4.ADThrobbing Gristle Greatest Hits MuteClones We Got Party MysticMission of Burma The Truth About Burma RhinoDNA On DNA No More Ludus The Damage LTMGange of Four Entertainment! Warner Bros.Public Image Limited Live in Tokyo VirginESG A South Bronx Story 2 Soul Jazz
chickenskin musicArtist Album LabelThe Persuasions The Persuasions Sing Zappa EarthbeatJonathan Richman Because Her Beauty is Raw and Wild VapourNathan Rogers The Gauntlet BorealisBeyond the Pale Postcards BorealisString Sisters Live CompassSlaid Cleaves Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away Music RoadSarah Jarosz Song Up In Her Head Sugar HillGreg Brown Dream City Red HouseMike Rickard Living Room Songs SelfGrant Peeples Pawnshop GatorboneRichard Dobson From a Distant Shore BrambusJason Eklund Walkin’ in Woody’s Shoes MuszeekansDavid Olney Ol’ Diz a Musicak Baseball Story Self-ReleasedPorterdavis Porterdavis Self-ReleasedByrd & Street Love Broke the Fall Self-ReleasedThe Pines Tremolo Red HouseThe Wailin’ Jennys Live at the Mauch Chunk Opera House Red HouseJonathan Edwards Rollin’ Along Strictly CountryKoerner Ray and Glover Blues, Rags and Hollers Red HouseCharlie Musselwhite Ace of Harps AlligatorWillie Murphy Piano Hits: Willie Murphy Atomic TheoryKaty Moffat Fewer Things ZeppelinLiz Meyer The Storm Strictly CountryBooka and the Flaming Geckos Baghdad, Texas LoudhouseThe Bottle Rockets Lean Forward Bloodshot
metalArtist Album LabelMortuary Drape Mourn Path Iron TyrantDr. Shrinker Split 7” RevengeGod Macabre The Winterlong 7” Blood HarvestMartire Martire 91 EP Nuclear War Now!Embrace of Thorns For I See Death in Their Eyes Iron BoneheadAdversarial Thralls Self-ReleasedCrucifier Trambled Under Cloven Hooves ParagonAbhorer Upheaval of Blasphemy 7” ShivadarshinaPentacle Under the Black Cross Ibex MoonAvenger Feast of Anger Joy of Despair DeathgasmFlame Into the Age of Fire Iron PegasusDevastator The Summoning Old CemetarySeverance Abysmal Ascent 7” DrownedNervochaos Quarrel in Hell Ibex MoonTrench Hell Southern Cross Ripper Hells HeadbangersDestruction Infernal Overkill SPVImmolation Here in After Metal BladeMagnanamus Unchaining the Fevers and Plagues Blood HarvestElectrocution Inside the Unreal RosemaryThy Infernal Satan’s Wrath MoribundIncantation Mortal Throne of Nazarene Relapse
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Rice RAdio FoLio FALL 2009
sUMMeR hiTs And Top 35 speciALTy show pLAyLisTs
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Rice RAdio FoLio FALL 2009
Specialty Shows Specialty shows make up around 30 percent of our programming hours,
most during the evening hours between 5 p.m. and 1 a.m. These shows en-deavor to play unexposed music from genres other than rock. Some of our specialty shows, such as Chickenskin and Jazz, have been going strong for over 20 years; others, like Africana, are fairly new. KTRU strives to play the greatest variety of music with the least trash of any station in the Houston vicinity, and specialty shows help us toward this goal.
AfricanaThe African/African Diaspora show explores the music of Africans and communities
of African descent wherever one finds them. This last is what is sometimes referred to as “the African diaspora.” Africa is home to some of the world’s greatest musical traditions. Our goal on the Africana show is to expose introduce the Rice community listeners to the rich diversity of some of the world’s greatest, and still evolving musical traditions. We to the rich diversity of these still evolving musical cultures. Hosts Joe and Chris have spent years collecting African music, and we play everything from traditional and folkloric music to the classic recordings of the sixties and seventies to today’s dance hits. Not only do we present the music of 54 African countries, but we will also explore African music in the Americas, Europe and the Indian Ocean: everything from reggae, to jazz, to Colombian cumbias, and Cape Verdean mornas, and more. Tune in to KTRU every Saturday from 12:00 – 3:00 p.m. and join Joe and Chris us on an exciting journey into the music of the Africa and its Diaspora.
AmericanaEvery Monday night from 9 – 10 p.m., the Americana show explores the roots and history
of American music (and sometimes, American history through music). For example, on MLK Day, we played speech excerpts from MLK, RFK’s famous speech on the assassination, plus songs by Otis Spann, Nina Simone, the Staple Singers and others who recorded civil rights and MLK related material. On the birthday of the Houston blues legend Big Mama Thornton (now deceased), we played a selection of her music, and on Election Day we’ll play appropriately themed songs (Blue Mountain’s “Jimmy Carter,” the Austin Lounge Lizards’ “Ballad of Ronald Reagan”). We try to cover as many American genres as possible—jazz, blues, bluegrass, gospel, cajun, zydeco, rockabilly, country, western swing, etc. Other themes have included Halloween, Veteran’s Day, Sarg Records (an obscure but important indie label from central Texas), the best of Bob Wills, the accordion, Motown, songs about food, Sam Cooke (on his birthday) and Townes Van Zandt (on the anniversary of his death).
BluesJoin us on Wednesday nights for an exploration and insightful look at the world of blues.
Taking the genre beyond 12 bars and 3 chords, this two hour program brings the stark beauty of Billie Holiday, the pleading of James Brown, the delta sound of Robert Johnson, and the relentless sounds of Howlin’ Wolf, Otis Rush, and many others to one meeting place here on KTRU. It’s Blues in Hi-Fi; Wednesdays 7 – 9 p.m. on KTRU Houston!
ChickenskinChickenskin Music airs Thursday Evenings on KTRU from 8 – 10 p.m. The show gets
its name from an old blues expression referring to music that gives you ‘chickenskin’, or goose bumps. At the beginning it was collage of bluegrass, folk, rockabilly, classical and jazz. The idea comes from a thought that all music from A to Z is related, and can be played together. It’s just a matter of how you get from A to Z. Live guests have always been a part of the show. Over the years we’ve hosted Lyle Lovett, Eric Taylor, Jason Eklund, The Neville Brothers, James McMurtry, Preston Reed, Sue Foley, Tish Hinojosa, Ani di Franco… and the list goes on.
ElectronicFirst there was the theremin, humming like a flying saucer to the wave of a hand. Then
along came giant modular synths and Australian computer music. As the twentieth century trickled onward, electronic music developed from an academic experiment to the dominant force on many dance floors. It has rewritten pop music, re-arranged the classical canon and played a key part in the development of hip hop. But today, electronic music has emerged into an abundance of music in a genre all its own. Undanceable IDM, blast-happy breakcore, synth-buzzing electro, glitch, lap-pop and more. You can sample the spectrum every Friday evening from 7 – 9 p.m. on the Electronic show. As a special treat, on several occasions, the electronic show has presented electronic works from students in the Shepherd School of Music here at Rice.
Funk & SoulThe Funk show airs every Thursday evening, from 7 – 8 p.m. What began as monstrous
drum lines, super rhythmic electric guitar rifts, and an extra tight brass section has since evolved into one (wo)man bands intent on conquering the same soulful journey foreshad-owed by their imaginative ancestors decades ago. Henceforth, each week, the Funk show sets out to pay proper homage to the commendable funk purveyors, while acknowledging the soul scholars of today and introducing the mission controllers of tomorrow. No corner of the world or era of time is left uncovered. The declaration remains: “One Nation Under A Groove.”
Genetic MemoryGenetic Memory is a series of three-hour experiments within the sonic void. It is a continu-
ously redefining aural enigma, wrapped around a divergent collection of reference points, from percussive implosions to explosive decompressions, from trepanned sound poetry to doomed Grimmrobe sludge, from the meticulous and improvised to the orchestrated and chaotic, from old school industrial to new school drone, from free-jazz freakouts to freaky prog noodlings, from primitive electrons to digital dust devils, from Dadaist spasms to Ac-tionist Grand Guignols and a myriad of tangents in between. A rotating crew of hosts and hostesses gives each show a constantly shifting center of gravity, with each DJ formulating his or her own definition of “music minus one chromosome.” On Monday nights, from 10 p.m. – 1 a.m., follow the unraveling strands of Genetic Memory.
Hip HopThe Vinyl Frontier airs every Tuesday night from 10 p.m. – 1 a.m. The show primarily
covers the latest releases from the underground hip-hop world with the occasional classic thrown in. Multiple styles are covered—from abstract ruminations backed by laptop glitch to gritty street tracks from upcoming MCs and even a club banger thrown in for good measure.
Select invited local DJs will occasionally appear on the show to illustrate their turntab-lism skills. Short interviews are also sometimes conducted with local and national hip-hop acts, and the roots of hip-hop and rap are explored by delving into the funk, soul, and jazz breaks that started it all.
Jazz/Improvised MusicThe KTRU Jazz and Improvised Music Program presents the living legends, unsung
heroes, rising stars and timeless pioneers in the world of creative improvisation, from the innovations of classic American jazz to the rigorous explorations of today’s European and Japanese free improvisers. From New York’s downtown sounds to regional styles and beyond. The Jazz and Improvised Music Program presents the vast spectrum of the music of the moment which you can hear broadcasting every Sunday from noon until 9 p.m.
KidsDo you remember Saturday morning cartoons? Do you remember the joyous anticipa-
tion that you felt on Friday night, knowing that Heaven was only a few hours away? Well, you can feel that joy, again! Every Saturday, the KTRU Kids’ Show digs up the songs that made your childhood. Old favorites and forgotten memories are intermixed with new clas-sics and rarities that you may have never heard before—and they are all family friendly and youth oriented! Hear cartoon theme songs, stories, children’s artists, child artists, and more! Hosted by the lovable DJ crew of Jane, Jenny and Tom, it’s sure to be the most fun you’ve had on a Saturday in a long time! (Don’t forget to let your kids listen, too!). Saturdays, noon – 1 p.m., only on KTRU!
LocalThe Local Show brings Houston musicians to the forefront, with occasional forays into the
rest of the Lone Star State. From Lightnin’ Hopkins to Jana Hunter, from The Red Krayola to The Fatal Flying Guilloteens, and from ZZ Top to Drop Trio, the show presents over five decades of Bayou City punk, jazz, blues, psych, noise, and everything in between. Tune in from 8 –10 p.m. every Tuesday to delve deep into the scene. Bi-weekly feature shows broadcast live sets and interviews with Houston heavyweights and newcomers alike, direct from our studio. Listen and discover the incredible bands you share this city with.
MetalFrom The Depths, KTRU’s metal show, features 3 hours of underground metal, without
a trace of commercial pseudo nu-metal. Death metal, black metal, thrash metal, raw, ugly, and heavy, with an impressive amount of vinyl: 7 inches, 12 inches, etc. Real metal from real metal-heads. From the old school to the newest underground releases. Sundays from 10 p.m. – 1 a.m.
MK UltraNeed a fix of the latest in underground electronic dance music? Not to worry - MK Ultra
has you covered, and we’re one of the very few Houston radio shows that does. Every Friday night from 9 p.m. – 12 a.m., we showcase three hours of live in-station DJ-mixes from the cream of the crop of local acts (and every now and then some international acts). We hit all the sub-genres, whether it’s house, drum n bass, progressive, breaks, etc. You can check us out on the web, at www.mkultra.us for recordings, details on sending promos, and how to submit DJ demos.
Mutant Hardcore Flower HourOnce upon a time, when today’s college freshmen were little more than a staring complex
and a bad perm, alternative, indie rock, garage, emo, grunge, and hardcore all had the same name: punk. Every Thursday night from 10 p.m. – 1 a.m., the Mutant Hardcore Flower Hour explores the genre that gave birth to all the lame bands that annoy your parents, your room-mates, and your friends, proving that nothing is more cathartic than giving everyone the finger at the same time, including yourself. Like Steven Van Zandt, we play the Ramones, everyone who influenced the Ramones, and everyone the Ramones influenced. If it’s fast and loud, if it’s angry, if it rocks, we’ve got it—but it’s more complicated than that. D. Boon of the Minutemen put it simply: Punk is whatever we make it to be.
NavrangThe Navrang (“Nine Colors”) Show covers the music of the Indian subcontinent, naturally
with a focus on music from films, but also capturing the diversity of the region with Indian classical, folk, Indipop, Asian underground and “Western fusion” music out of the region in a “spicy musical curry.” Check it out Saturday mornings, 10 a.m. – noon.
KTRU NewsKTRU News focuses on local (and especially Rice Community) leading thinkers, pro-
fessors, news makers, community organizations, nonprofits, arts organizations, politicians and the like, in a talk format, trying to capture what others might miss. If you have story ideas or want recordings of past shows, check our page at www.ktru.org. Tune in Fridays from 5 – 6 p.m.
Post PunkThe Modern Dance, KTRU’s post-punk show, airs every Tuesday night from 7 – 8
p.m.. Focusing on underground music of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, we play all genres of post-punk, from the mutant disco of Cristina to the avant garage of Pere Ubu. Despite their differences, almost every artist that we play exhibits a willingness to play with—and rebel against—pop music clichés. Take the rebellion and brashness of punk rock and add an experimental aesthetic edge and you have post-punk.
In addition to playing mixed sets and taking requests from our listeners, we often build the post-punk show around a theme. This year, for example, we have devoted entire shows to the Rough Trade label, to inaccessible music, and to synth pop. Tune into the post-punk show and you’ll get “The Modern Dance.”
Rice Radio ReggaeWednesdays from 5 – 7 p.m., KTRU’s Rice Radio Reggae takes listeners on a tour of some
of the many facets of Reggae music. While having its origins in Jamaica, Reggae now comes from countries across the globe, and each week Rice Radio Reggae attempts to present an overview of the genre. You’ll hear the Roots Reggae Bob Marley made famous, instrumental Dub, Dancehall, and more. It’s eclectic (just like KTRU!) and, who knows? You could just hear a side of Reggae you never knew existed!
Revelry ReportThe Revelry Report airs Friday nights from 6 – 7 p.m. and focuses primarily on local events in and around Texas. In the past, the Revelry Report focused on just about everything, including Austin City Limits, national art openings (occurring locally), SXSW (South by Southwest, for newcomers), College Music Journal and a number of major benefits for various charities in and around town.
In its current incarnation, the show also places a strong emphasis on live studio per-formances by local and touring musicians, interviews with artists and musicians, and an overall coverage of events in Houston. By doing so, the Revelry Report has narrowed its focus, aiming to introduce our audience to alternative outlets for nightlife while exposing the many wonderful events in Houston that might otherwise go under the radar.
Spoken WordThe Spoken Word show offers performances from musicians, writers and poets, and
politicians and random diatribes. Saturdays 7 – 8 p.m.
SkaTune in every Sunday evening from 9 – 10 p.m., as we explore the origins and reincar-
nations of ska. Ska was the direct predecessor of Reggae, and is characterized by upbeat emphases, high quality horn sections, and influences from other traditions, including jazz, soul, punk and more. It sounds like reggae, but often with a quicker tempo, and built to be danced to. From the rude sounds of the 1960s Jamaican originators, to the two-tone UK anti-racist ska of the 70s and 80s, through the third wave ska of the 1990s from America and across the globe, we seek out the best, the obscure, and the unusual from around the world, as we give you an international take on the scene. Rude!
ScordaturaThe Scordatura Show explores modern and contemporary classical music: i.e. ex-
perimental, electronic, or otherwise unusual music voiced for more or less traditionally orchestral instruments, generally since 1900. Representative artists would include Glass, Reich, Cage, Stockhausen, Pierre Schaeffer, and the like, though we try to emphasize lesser known material, as our show bleeds across into the glitchiness of the Electronic Show, the experimentation of the Jazz Show, and the noisiness of Genetic Memory. We also regularly feature material composed or performed by members of Rice’s Shepherd School of Music, including live performances.
Treasures of the SixtiesIf you enjoy the music of the Sixties, but are sick and tired of the same old, played-out
rotation of classic rock radio, you’re not alone. Every Wednesday night from 9 – 11 p.m., the Treasures of the Sixties Show revisits the decade of boundless energy with an ear for what sounds fresh. You’ll hear cult artists such as Spirit and Love who deserve more, well, love. We like to play Texas legends like the 13th Floor Elevators, Sir Douglas Quintet, and Mayo Thompson. You’ll even hear album cuts from the likes of the Kinks and Otis Redding, artists with much deeper catalogues than commercial radio would have you believe. And with the armies of pop culture archeologists out there who make new discoveries every week, we’ll prove the saying, “If you haven’t heard it before, it’s good as new.” Fight the tyranny of Oldies radio! Catch the Sixties show on Wednesdays.
WorldFrom ancient Asian traditions to highly innovative Brazilian jazz, the KTRU World
Music Show covers the globe. Natural indigenous music of the rainforest gets equal play with exciting Indian Bhangra and African pop. From the most talented musicians the world has to offer to the most joyous and liveliest, listeners can hear it all on Mon-day nights from 7 – 9 p.m. A rotating volunteer staff with experience in international music and cultural education curates diverse set lists each week. We present acclaimed musicians like Talip Ozkan, Ali Farka Toure, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, and Mongo San-tamaria, as well as many underrepresented and independent musicians around the world. Listeners will find out about world music events in Houston and the surrounding region. Occasionally the World Music Show may highlight regional events that feature international music, as well as Native American powwows and regional traditions with international origins.
the General Shift What does a general shift, which makes up around 70 percent of our schedule, sound like? The answer is as varied as the DJs that spin tracks, but there are certain commonalities. our “playlist” consists of around 100 albums. General shift shows include 4 playlist tracks per hour, plus one each shift. The hope is for DJs to try out new and challenging music, while leaving them by and large free to select their own tracks. You also will hear at least 2 tracks from underrepresented genres each hour, includ-ing blues, jazz, world music from afghanistan to Zimbabwe, improvised and experi-mental music, and even pure noise. It’s not uncommon to hear a modern classical track, followed by indie pop, chased with drumming out of cameroon, followed by hip hop. It’s eclectic; it’s challenging; it’s KTRU.
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Americana
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Andrew L Kelsey Y. Chris C.Bob S. Ira A.Nancy N.
Miguel Q.Ayn M.
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Sofia M. General Shift
Chase L.Carina B.
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Malinda G.Michael S.
Burton D.Cole P.
Rachel O.Lauren P.
Patricia B.Anneli R.
Ryan O.Steven B.
Les B., Kevin B.
Kendra E.Pam T.
Nick S.Katie M.
Please note that once our newest crop of DJs us on air, all spaces marked “Robo” and “WRN” will be filled with live bodies.
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Artist: uchpatitle: Lo Mejor de UchpaLabel: emin music colombiaBy carina Baskett
If you hear Uchpa on KTRU and like it, I know of only two places where you can buy one of the band’s albums: Cusco and Ollantaytambo. Both are in Peru. Sorry. Uchpa (“ashes”) has been around since 1994, but the band doesn’t have much of an online presence. So in lieu of their story, here’s mine:
After a grueling, shower-free three-day hike through the Andes, all I wanted to do in Ol-lantaytambo was collapse into a chair to wait for the train to the next town. We stumbled into a place called Quechua Blues Bar that was just opening, and sat on the dirty sheepskin-covered chairs outside. As I ordered a “Macho Tea,” a local coca cocktail, I realized that the gravelly voice coming over the speakers was singing neither English nor Spanish. I asked the bartender if it was Quechua, and he nodded while giggling girlishly and staring at me with eyes that had clearly seen way too many drugs. He oozed non-sobriety.
Quechua is an indigenous South American language that many Peruvians have spoken since the Incans reigned. Naturally, I immediately determined to get the music for KTRU. KTRU has a lot of Latin American music and a lot of blues, but definitely no blues sung in Quechua. Guillermo the bartender told me that I could find it in Cusco… but I didn’t have time to look there. “Are you sure,” I pressed, “that you don’t have a copy I can buy here?”
“I might have one at home,” he said, and wandered off for a while. Luckily we were the only customers, because no one else was working. He returned with a burned disc marked “Uchpa” in smeared permanent marker. I paid about $7, and Guillermo kindly threw in the frayed CD cover, which I later realized had come from a different album.
The album, a Best Of, is actually a mixture of blues and rock. The first track, “Perú Llaqta,” starts out as a nice showcase of both those influences, but I’m not a big fan of the children’s choirs that appear late in the song. “Meike” is an improvement: after a long guitar intro, there are some spoken lyrics and what I think is a balled; it makes me want to wave a lighter around. Several of the tracks that rock a little more, like “Wakcha Asikuy,” show a clear Led Zeppelin influence (but who doesn’t?).
Overall, I prefer the blues songs; some of the blues-tinged rock sounds too similar. But maybe that’s just because my ear is more used to rock and is just starting to get into blues. I love the angry blues of “Pawamustin” and “Wayrapim Qaparichkan,” although the guitar is simply standard. “Intipa Lluqsinan Wasi” sounds just like Dylan’s version of “House of the Rising Sun,” and I would love to know if it’s a direct translation or if it has a Peruvian twist. But it makes me wonder if any of the other tracks are Quechua covers of American songs that I don’t know. My favorite track is “Sapay Kani”; though the singer’s voice may be harsh, it’s passionate. That’s what I love about this band. Even though I can’t understand a word, I get it, because the singer is so caught up in the emotions of each song.
Lo Mejor de Uchpa is for when you want to add some Incan spice to your rock and/or blues. And don’t forget: the next time you’re in Peru, look for some more Quechua blues music for KTRU, and tell Guillermo I said hi.
In the forever-changing terms of survival for touring bands, Nomo has managed to keepw their heads above water by natural necessity. That success in itself has to do with their unusual makeup: a nine-piece Afro-beat indie band, based out of the college digs of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The aptly titled Invisible Cities LP is Nomo’s fifth full-length and their fourth recorded for Ubiquity Records, and
it’s plain to see (and hear) that this is not your average everyday Afro-beat band.In any given 30-day span, easily expect for Nomo’s tour schedule to confirm at least
20 shows played, spanning the globe many times over. Exhausting? I would think so. However, the group has managed to use this frantic existence to their advantage. Ducking in-and-out of cities in order to keep the lights on at home has endowed this team of musi-cians with a wealth of influences, all ready fodder for their ever-evolving cosmic electronic/ acoustic Afro-beat mash up. So what you have in Invisible Cities is 9 tracks of Afro, funk, jazz, experimental (at times), and it bangs! All of this, through the use of instrumental tools such as sawblade gamelans, Nu Tone cymbals, mbiras, in addition to your expected brass & rhythm sections.
Hard-hitting Afro-beat grooves are immediately present within a number of Invisible Cit-ies’ selections. “Bumbo” is made to show off Nomo’s live performance prowess… a crowd pleaser, if you will. Trademark Fela signature stamps the percussion presence while the horns go ablaze. Lovers of the alto will simply scream for more. The title track leans more toward the group’s past travels: jazzier by nature with just the right amount of grit. Dig that one, and you’ll go bananas over Nomo’s earlier offerings, for sure.
As the band continues to play more cities and venues, their scope on the art form is constantly evolving. As a result, each track reflects a slightly different aesthetic mix. “Ma” is all things modal, native & groovy. Simply picture a style marriage of Pharoah Sanders & Fela Kuti and you are already halfway there. With flutes and handclaps, “Crescent” is a flight of the imagination that evokes a peaceful Hari Krishna sensibility. “Banners On High” stresses an instrumental militant stance familiar to their current counterparts (i.e. Antibalas), yet unique in its own right. Meanwhile, “Elijah” manages to abandon the Afro-beat setting altogether for a four-minute soundscape that would make both John Coltrane and Sun Ra happy. Overall, the variety of Invisible Cities shows that Nomo’s creative growth knows no bounds.
In all honesty, many of today’s North American Afro-beat bands have the chips stacked against them at the onset. Invisible Cities proves that Nomo is more than ready for the challenge.
Artist: the Press Fire!title: Es Slash TeeLabel: self-releasedBy Brittany wise
The Press Fire! is a female-singer fronted group based in Los Angeles, and their electrifying new LP Es Slash Tee features their unique electropunk style. Recorded and produced by Aaron Buckley and Timothy James of LA groups Anavan and The Movies respec-tively, EEs Slash Tee was released on July 7 of this year, but draws
heavily from the sounds of the 70s punk rebellion. The album’s infectious energy makes the listener want to jump around and break things, so be aware of where you decide to give this one a listen. Frontwoman Merisa Libbey packs a powerful punch with her forward lyrics and energetic yet strangled screeches that vibe the positive energy that embodies punk. A registered dental hygienist, Libbey joined The Press Fire! back in 2004, and with her onboard the energy level jumped dramatically to reveal a whole new sound for the group. A little sleuthing on the Internet led to a fun factoid: rumor has it that Libbey “found the band through Craigslist by searching the keyword ‘Bikini Kill’”; as it would turn out, the promoter describes the group as a “dancier Yeah Yeah Yeahs, a sassier Bikini Kill, and a meaner Moving Units”.
Es Slash Tee kicks off with “143,” a synth-heavy track that has a crisp and clean sound compared to the rest of the album. Of all of the songs, it’s the easiest on the ears and remains resolute in its electronic and methodical direction. The next two tracks follow with a harder sound complete with screeches and a carefree don’t-give-a-&*%! attitude. Following is “Hipster Crickets,” a standout with erratic guitar riffs and a thumping bass line. “Party Fowl” proclaims “You’re not invited here to my party” over and over, and the party in this song is fueled by grungy guitar pickings and skittish singing that induces frenetic dancing. The album ends with a solid closer track, “Pushed Too Far,” which opens with noisy, unrestrained emotion before screeching to a halt halfway through, then gliding to the end with a somber chorus of a sustained electronic melody that could attempt to justify the “electro” part of TPF’s genre category. It concludes with confusing, barely coherent robotic vocals that starkly contrast with the organic, coarse vocals that are belted out for every other track.
TPF started off in the east LA scene, plavying shows at skate-punk house parties, and have since grown to be a familiar face in the LA area. They continue to expand and recently toured the West Coast, hitting cities that include Seattle, Portland, and Olympia. TPF is breaking into the national scene, which will please fans that want to experience one of their epic shows, which are said to match the chaotic, dancey nature of their sound. Es Slash Tee is available on their website www.thepressfire.net for $7, and the cover art of a cartoon T-Rex coming out of an explosion is probably a fitting visual to represent the listening experience.
Artist: Black dicetitle: RepoLabel: Paw tracksBy Kelsey yule
Brooklyn collective Black Dice first garnered attention in 1997 as an angry post-hardcore punk group whose sometimes-impromptu shows were held in places so dark and dilapidated that fans would brag about making it out unscathed. Consisting of Eric Copeland on vocals, Bjorn Copeland on guitar, Sebastian Blanck on bass,
and Aaron Warren (formerly Hisham Bharoocha) on drums, Black Dice took a turn towards the ambient in 2002 with Beaches and Canyons on the DFA label. Once again, they transformed their sound, this time into experimental noise, and have found a new home on the label Paw Tracks. For those familiar with Paw Tracks’ star artists such as Animal Collective, Panda Bear, and Avey Tare’s ethereal psychedelic brand of freak folk, Black Dice’s fifth studio album, Repo, may come as a surprise. If Animal Collective is the effortlessly cool hipster, Black Dice must be his gritty brother from the wrong side of the tracks.
On the surface, Black Dice is completely unrefined, with its sounds of abused equipment, misshapen samples, and lack of sequencing. Yet buried beneath all the grime, a careful ear can hear definite song structures and feel new existence being pulled, however violently, from bits of audio ripped from radio, television, and Internet sources. The album commences with the mechanical, repetitive, and plodding rhythms of a factory in “Nite Cream.” The track “Glazin’” follows with what could convincingly be a broken record player in a funhouse with reggae undertones. One of the highlights of the album, “La Cucaracha,” mixes samples from an orgy with glitchy African-sounding guitars for an oddly danceable tune. A more laidback track, “Idiot’s Pasture,” is like a constant yet somehow pleasant wheezing. It is followed by “Buddy,” a short but notable track, in which the main attraction is the apparent gurgling and burbling of a swamp creature. In “Lazy TV,” the listener can imagine a robot struggling to speak. Feeling heavily influenced by funk, “Ultra Vomit Craze” is one of the most traditionally musical-sounding tracks on the album. The final notes of “Gag Shack” bring the listener back to the industrial sounds of the album’s beginning.
Give Black Dice’s Repo a listen with an open mind. Chances are you won’t find it pleas-ant, but it’s not meant to be. Black Dice is nothing if not deliberate in their inclusion of the discordant, beaten down, unpolished, and offensive. It may not be your style or mine, but it’s definitely theirs. And they know what they’re doing.
Artist: daevid Allen & das title: The Mystery Disque No. 7 Label: Bananamoon obscura By Ayn morgan
Daevid Allen is a guitarist, singer, composer, performance art-ist and poet. After starting his artistic career as a child radio actor on Australia’s 3DB, he was inspired by Beat Generation writers and the complex philosophies and lyrical poetry of Sun Ra. In the early 1960s, Allen performed with William Burroughs as a part of
the ‘Machine Poets’ exhibition, pioneering multimedia spoken word performances in London and Paris. He then formed the Daevid Allen Trio, a free jazz band performing pieces based on one of Burroughs’ novels, The Ticket That Exploded. Shortly thereafter he co-founded the psychedelic rock groups Soft Machine (UK) and later Gong (France). Gong is often referred to as a cult band and is now in its fortieth year of existence in several different forms. Allen’s solo career and varied collaborations since the late 1970s have created a vast cata-logue of both music and performance art. His current projects include the band University of Errors (California), the anti-art/noise band Big City Orchestra (California) and a new incarnation of Gong (Acid Mothers Gong) with members of the Japanese collective Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. Released by Bananamoon Obscura, The Mystery Disc No. 7 is an intense sound collage with Allen’s abstract and intelligent spoken word performances layered with prog rock textures and psychedelic noise. This medley is often bombastic and highly detailed, a richly layered, imaginative, and almost visual sonic theatre. Pseudo-educational rants abound on this album. Highly-evolved cows secrete oil and nuclear energy instead of milk. Museums and their employees cultivate malignant art in the form of biological diseases to share with the masses. The earth, earning the name Pest, is the only planet containing life and therefore death. Lyrics range from brilliant Discordian hypotheses to basically choking out periodic table abbreviations as psychotic tai chi maneuvers. There are also more adult-themed songs containing extreme political frustration and deviant sexual themes. The instrumentation is intricate and often reflects a science fiction, psychedelic and psychotic atmosphere. In contrast to the spoken word pieces, other tracks use Allen’s voice as an often obscured and highly processed sound element. Psychedelic and droning sound collage blends an aggressive, soothing and sometimes manically unbound Allen with more typical prog rock instrumentation augmented by generous layering, sampling and looping. At age 71, Allen has a thorough discography spanning multiple genres, decades and continents. This release is a culmination of Allen’s experience in various styles: tape work and collage for the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, free jazz philosophies, multiple projects under the Planet Gong umbrella, abstract and political spoken word performances and other vari-ous collaborations. The Mystery Disc No. 7 will please established fans. It will also introduce Daevid Allen’s work to new listeners receptive to his intense music and surreal lyrical imagery, inspiring them to explore his previous works.
Artist: the catalysttitle: Swallow Your TeethLabel: the Perpetual motion machine/sons of VestaBy Lance Higdon
After a steady seven years of touring and releasing albums at a healthy clip, Richmond, Virginia’s The Catalyst have gifted the world with Swallow Your Teeth, one of the most technically adept and diverse hardcore albums of the year. Co-released by The Perpetual Motion Machine and Sons Of Vesta, it should dispel
any lingering notions that American hardcore is invariably fast, loud and stupid.The Catalyst combines the best elements of the last 20 years of hardcore on Swallow
Your Teeth. The sludgy Southern breakdowns of “Lars Ulrich’s 1986 Funeral (It Should Have Been You)” intersect with the start-stop patterns carried out by Botch and Deadguy in the late 90s. The ghost of metal’s golden age passes through in the pentatonic riffs of “Werewolves Of Washington,” only to be spooked away by a thrashy transition to one of the most introspective post-rock parts this side of Isis.
Eric Smith and Michael Backus trade off on vocals throughout the album, Smith’s leather-lunged tenor counterbalanced nicely by Backus’ baritone bellow. Their vocal interplay is matched by instrumental prowess, as they rivet their guitar and basslines into some truly off-the-wall contrapuntal runs before easing into waves of delay-blanketed bliss. The whole affair is anchored in the dual drumming of Kevin Broderick and Jamie Faulstich (Faulstich also features on second guitar in places), pounding out patterns not out of place on a Coalesce full-length.
Smith’s lyrics display a similar dexterity, marrying aphoristic turns of phrase to personal and political diatribes. He calls out scene social climbers on “Lars Ulrich’s 1986 Funeral (It Should Have Been You)” (“I want to participate/You just want to play”), corrupt policymakers on Capitol Hill in “Werewolves Of Washington (“The werewolves of Washington howl, howl, howl beneath the pale moon / I wonder why they don’t notice black clouds reversed in the reflecting pool / but maybe they do”) and the manipulators of industry and media on “Too Big To Fail” (“I know what you want us to see / repetition creates belief/forked tongue falls out / flat lies flatlined/nice try, no dice”). Lest such lines make the band appear overly dour, song titles like “Assholier Than Thou” and “42012” prove a measure of tongue-in-cheek comic relief.
The real secret to the record’s success, however, lies in its sequencing. Despite displaying such a plethora of styles, the songs take their time in transitioning from one to the next. The Catalyst prefers the long pan to the jumpcut. Rather than feeling disoriented by a record that starts with the feedback scour and ends with a single-note pulse, the listener is treated to an album that revels as much in nuance and space as volume and speed. Pressed to black and purple-swirled vinyl & featuring a cover painting from the depths of someone’s b-movie fever dream, Swallow Your Teeth may be the best hardcore record of 2009.
Artist: oumou sangaretitle: SeyaLabel: nonesuchBy christopher spadone
Superstar Oumou Sangare returns with an energetic and engag-ing collection of diverse neo-folkloric Malian music. Like all of her work, Seya highlights the awesome range and power of Sangare’s voice, which has earned her the nickname “the nightingale of Was-soulou” and a reputation as Africa’s greatest female singer.
In 1989 at age 21, Sangare burst on the world music stage with one of West Africa’s biggest-selling cassettes ever, the six-track Moussoulou, later released in the West on CD. While young, she wasn’t a manufactured pop music confection; coming from a family of griots, or West African bards, Sangare revitalized traditional Malian styles and ushered in a wave of female vocalists and neo-traditional ensembles on her first album. At the height of Afro-Parisian fusions, Sangare modernized lyrical content by addressing the concerns of women, such as the destructive impact of polygamy and forced marriage. The aggressive sounds of her small group of folkloric musicians playing the ngoni (a banjo-like four-string instrument), flutes, and calabash percussion broke through the synthesized pro-ductions popular at the time. The band’s tight rhythms and her soaring vocals made Sangare stand out. Moussoulou remains an essential album.
After two more full-length releases, feature vocals on the soundtrack to the movie Beloved, and a greatest hits collection, Sangare seemed to fade into retirement from the African music scene and focus on becoming a businesswoman (A Chinese company has licensed her name to sell a line of trucks in Mali) and roving UN Ambassador.
Seya is her first Western release in six years. The CD features a “who’s who” of guest musicians, ranging from West African stars Tony Allen, Neba Solo, and Cheick Tidiane Seck to Pee Wee Ellis and Fred Wesley of the JB Horns. What makes the album such a joy is that while Sangare explores new sounds and employs a wide variety of musicians, the record remains firmly rooted in Malian traditions. Despite the horns, violins, and keyboards, this is not a watered down fusion cross-over. Instead, the record is incredibly rich and varied, but Sangare has the good sense to leave the ngoni and calabash percussion in center stage. While traditional, the record is accessible; the raucous pleasures of the Malian percussion and the virtuoso ngoni playing are evident at first listen. And thanks to extraordinary production, the complexity of the music rewards repeated listening. Most of all, the album delivers Sangare’s powerful vocals: while they range from gentle and haunting to raucous and funky, her voice is always featured. The tempo and sound of the songs are consciously varied; Sangare doesn’t front “a one note band” repeating the same song over and over. Instead, each song is a new musical exploration with appropriate mood and style.
Lyrically, Sangare continues to address the concerns of ordinary people, especially the women of Mali. “Wele Wele Winteou” protests early marriage, urging fathers not to marry off their daughters until after puberty; warning “You will destroy her life.”
Seya is clearly the result of years of hard work and skillful music making. Neither a fusion album nor a traditional folkloric record, it is a product of a mature artist making “contemporary African music.” Oumou Sangare takes what she wants from both musical worlds; the result is a coherent, satisfying Malian album.
Everyone should get to know Oumou Sangare, and Seya is a good place to start an ex-ploration of Western African music. Its swirl of powerful voice, brass, percussion, and strings creates a sound like nothing heard before.
PaTRIcIa BacaLaoPaTRIcIa BacaLao
Eat the Crayon Not your average radio news show
-Report on social issues, science, and politics at Rice, Houston, and national level
-Or, get involved in production and editing
Recruitment Meeting: Wed, Sept. 9, 10:00 PM
Meyer Conference Room in the RMC
-Listen Fridays at 5:00 PM -Visit ktru.org/news for past shows and
Students Erik Tanner, Page Robinson and Austin Edwards performed as part of The Smoking Section at last semester’s Battle of the Bands.Houston folk-rock band Buxton took to the stage in scrubs at the 2009 Outdoor Show.
The Smoking SectionMusic is the best medicine
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ALbUM Reviews
Rice RAdio FoLio FALL 2009
ALbUM Reviews
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Rice RAdio FoLio FALL 2009
By Michelle YomEveryone has a different feel for time.
Given a two o’clock appointment, some of us will arrive 15 minutes early, some right on time, and others fashionably late. In most conventional musical forms, such a variety of approaches is not very well toler-ated. However, those of us interested in free improvisation intentionally explore the many modes of time perception, through sound. Because free improvisation (also called spontaneous composition) is char-acterized by the real time process of per-formance, rather than the final product, it offers a unique opportunity for musicians to explore their temporal sense. Disarmed by the lack of predetermined rhythm and form, a free improviser can allow the per-formance to follow his or her individual stream of consciousness, creating highly individual sonic experiences.
Houston’s music scene is character-ized by an atmosphere of experimentation and friendly collaboration, which makes it the perfect breeding ground for free improvisation. There are at least a score of heavy hitters in the genre locally, and they couldn’t sound more different from each other. Here is a look at seven of them:
Doug Falk (trumpets & double bass)Using found objects like spray bottles
on metal cans, keys scraped on music stands, and the “Parasite,” a toilet scrubber attached to his bass pickup, Doug’s music is often angular and fragmented. Doug’s time marches forward in driven bass lines, rushes by in unexpected intervals, and disintegrates into crumbles of residual quiet melodies.
www.dougfalk.com, www.myspace.com/nonsensemusic
Lucas Gorham (guitar, lap steel, & voice)Lucas first became acquainted with free
improvisation through the legendary Pau-line Oliveros’ Deep Listening. His style is a peculiar combination of meditative sounds and eclectic references to soul, jazz, gospel and world folk music. He’s often heard sporadically shifting from atonal guitar plucks to luau comfort chords. His impetu-ous shifts in tempo result in dramatic but cohesive collages of sound.
Ryan Edwards (guitar, voice, & alto sax)Ryan’s approach reflects his deep
knowledge of music theory and expertise as a recording engineer. Initially focused on minimal textures and chordal move-
ment, Ryan’s improvisations now include “wall of sound” moments and textural vocal additions (reflecting his classical voice training). His pieces are tightly structured with clearly narrated exposi-tion and buildup of intensification to the climactic conclusion.
Lance Higdon I asked Lance, who is also a KTRU DJ,
and always working on an eclectic variety of projects, to do a gig with me before ever hearing him play, because I was intrigued by his quick but coherent temperament. Playing in a duo with him left me with much the same impression: intense, con-siderate, and hyper. In free improvisations he’s completely absorbed by listening for manifestations of unexplored vocabulary on the drum set, which has led him to use everything from wire hangers to pencils as drumsticks.
www.myspace.com/wallwithoneside
Paul ConnollyPaul Connolly, who goes by bright-
bluebeetle, uses acoustic instruments, found objects, and electronics in different configurations to create his audio sound-scapes. Paul’s music is intimate, lyrical, and
unusually disarming. His use of repetitive, abstract lines results in an expansive sense of directionless flow.
www.brightbluebeetle.com/
Robert PearsonRobert is known for bleeding fingers
and post-gig rest days. His intense sonic scribbles combine post-modern angst with romantic melodrama. When asked about his influences he said, “Oh, I don’t know… I used to listen to some classical music.” He’s a truly self-taught artist. Robert’s sense of time is compact, as if trying to fit in as many notes as possible before time runs out. His sound is fast, furious, and sometimes bordering on violent.
Sandy EwenThe first time I heard Sandy, I couldn’t
see what was happening, but I didn’t need to. I could hear, and her sound stood out clearly as it seemed to float along, in the background, but with distinction. The unusual timbre she creates is due to a variety of found objects modifying her gui-tar. Approaching every gesture with care and curiosity, Sandy’s time is expansive, nuanced, and inquisitive.
Free Improvisation: A Houston Field Guide
Local legend B L A C K I E performed while seated on an amp at the 2009 Outdoor Show A mysterious bear-human hybrid made an appearance at KTRU’s 2009 Polar Prom.B L A C K I E at the Outdoor Show Only at KTRU…
PaTRIcIa BacaLaoPaTRIcIa BacaLao
Rice student band The Cosmonauts (from left, Joshua Levin, Alexander Crompton, and Laura Greenwell) played a whimsical French-influenced set at the 2009 Battle of the Bands.
The Cosmonauts at Battle of the BandsDaVID RosaLes
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To submit music for airplay consideration:music Directors
c/o KTRU ms-506P.o. Box 1892 • Houston, TX 77251
Listen to or read about KTRU at www.ktru.org. on air music requests: 713.348.KTRU (5878)
You can also find email addresses for all of our directors at ktru.org.General correspondence can be directed to [email protected]
<Insert Name of Director/ Department/ specialty show>c/o KTRU ms-506
P.o. Box 1892 • Houston, TX 77251
ktRU StAFF LiStiNG
editor: Rose cahalanLayout and Design: David Wangcopy: Rose cahalan, Katie mayer, Will Robedeecontributors: Patricia Bacalao, carina Baskett, James Bricker, matthew Brownlie, mark Flaum, Lance Higdon, Jae mills, ayn morgan, Rachel orosco, christopher spadone, David Rosales, Varsha Vakil, Brittany Wise, michelle Yom, Kelsey Yule
ktRU FALL 2009 FoLio StAFF
station manager: Rachel oProgram Director: Zach R
DJ Directors: carina B, Patricia B, Jay Hmusic Directors: miguel Q
assistant music Directors: chase L, Kevin B Business manager: Buton DPublicity: anneli R, Kendra e
external Ventures: Brittany W, Joelle ZFolio: Rose c
outdoor show: Kelsey Yoperations: mark H, Joelle Z
Promotions: Burton D, mars VPsas and community: Varsha V, emma T
News: carina Bsultan o’ stick: Lauren P
socials: Pamela TWebmaster: Lauren P
student engineer: andrew L
Faculty sponsor: Dr. steven crowellGeneral manager: Will Robedee
chief engineer: Bob chamoffice manager: scottie mcDonald
KTRU carries Rice Women’s Basketball and Rice Baseball. Check out
![Crawford, J. Brownlie s Principles of Public International Law. 2012. Pp. 179-195 , 367-394 , 415-422[1] Parte1 Copia](https://static.documents.pub/doc/80x56/55cf9791550346d0339255d0/crawford-j-brownlie-s-principles-of-public-international-law-2012-pp-179-195.jpg)
