Tune in from 8-9 p.m. for Balkanization of the American Nation DJ’s last shift.
As I set off to hang up my headphones for the last time on Thursday, I am hoping that you, listeners of weird music and followers of weird people, truly appreciate what KJ does for the music and university community.
The first thing that people typically think of in regards to college music (of which KJ is in the upper-echelon) is bizarre and experimental music. This type of broadcast is incredibly important. When I turn on commercial radio I am always struck by the ballsiness of what some people term ‘music’. These ‘faux’-DJ’s are simply marionettes, who for 24 hours a day, have their strings pulled by old, lame, white motherfuckers, and simply press ‘play’ on automatic regional playlists that somehow render bands like Puddle of Mud relevant and noteworthy, even though the single they’re playing came out in 2001. But the reality is it’s all a very strategic business model that forces you to be a consumer of shitty ‘music’. The benefit to listening to college radio is when you listen to something similar to KJ, most of the time you are getting art. And as art, some of it sucks and some of it is amazing. But I will take horrible but original art over commercial and acceptable art. Bands like Puddle of Mud are following a well-scripted path that major-label record executives know pushes album sales and concert bookings and it may be a lot of things, but it ain’t art. At KJ, you also get the benefits of distinct student DJ’s picking and selecting music for the airwaves, spinning classic vinyl, looking through the stacks of tens of thousands of CD’s and bringing their own eclectic preferences to your eardrums.
If you didn’t know, KJ is licensed to purify the airwaves at a 2600W range, which ends just inside I-435. And Lawrence is a tiny city with a cool history. And this tiny station and tiny city repeatedly bring in some of the best indie-rock in the country. There is a venue on every block and bands repeatedly skip Kansas City to play in Lawrence. This city has built very talented bands and legendary venues that are supported by musicophiles and Kansas counter-culture hipsters. Lawrence is a nationally renowned music town, and this is all driven by the love for awesome and unique music.
More importantly, KJ, beyond the music played, is a learning resource. There is an award winning sports talk show, excellent sports broadcast teams, great arts and culture shows as well as a phenomenal news show. These are all headed and staffed completely by students that volunteer time and energy to create content, meet deadlines and demonstrate it all live and over the air. There are student staffs responsible for booking shows, programming the website, finding underwriting and producing live in-studio music acts. The whole station, with the exception of the general manager and engineer, are driven university students.
I have been involved with KJ for two years, starting off with an early morning rotation rock shift. I wanted to become a DJ simply to play awesome gypsy music. I ended up spending five semesters playing rock music and, finally, this semester, I was able to get my gypsy music show. As the assistant music director for the past year, I’ve seen how important KJ is for a talented group of executive staff members. It’s also rewarding to see other people on other staffs mature, certainly headed to be a future talented member of the executive staff. For me, my show was a nice diversion from the craziness of trying to earn a PhD. For some of these people, KJ provided very important experience for a post-graduate career.
So when you listen to crazy rock music on KJ, appreciate that what you’re listening to is, at the least, unique, and at the most, probably some of the most beautiful music and art imaginable. Also appreciate the work that students put in to keep a station going 24/7 on the local FM airwaves. I will also suggest becoming a member of the station; it certainly was a blast for me. But, alas, all good things must come to an end. And before I retire and glide away, here is a guide that I hope will help build your gypsy music catalog.
Gypsy Brass
Fanfare Ciocarlia
Boban Markovic
Kocani Orkestar
Besh o Drom
Slavic Soul Party
Traditional Gypsy
Esma Redzepova
Kolpakov Trio
Kek Lang
Poza
Rom Sam Ame
Kalyi Jag
Acquaragia Drom
Romano Drom
Romashka
Yuri Yunakov
Csokolom
Taraf De Haidouks
Klezmer
Melech Mechaya
Golem!
Di Naye Kapelye
The Klezmatics
Awesome Contemporary Indie Bands
Gogol Bordello
Melech Mechaya
Golem!
Beirut
DeVotchKa
Balkan Beat Box
DeLeon
from zachery graham