By popular demand I have produced my second Hybrid Highbrow podcast. It’s all about jazz and classical pieces that conform to the “arabesque” format. Arabesques are often but not always written for the piano. Robert Schumann and Claude Debussy composed the most famous arabesques. But I also hear the arabesque spirit in the the work […]
Author Archive | Matthew Lasar
In which I launch the Hybrid Highbrow podcast . . .
Hybrid Highbrow podcast #1 is out! Ta daaaaa! The maiden episode focuses on the similarities between two early 20th-century “talking machine” singers: blues shouter Mamie Smith and opera star Enrico Caruso. Both sang in the middle ranges, alto and tenor, rather than the high or low registers. This made them perfect for acoustic recording. Both […]
A quick tour of Thrillhouse records in San Francisco
There are all kinds of reasons why I love my neighborhood in San Francisco, and Thrillhouse Records is definitely one of them. It is an excellent little community based record store situated on Mission and 30th street, just below the climb up to scenic Bernal Heights. Thrillhouse describes itself as so: “Thrillhouse Records a volunteer […]
Mae Brussell, the KLRB and KAZU years
In the service of my course on conspiracies and conspiracy theories at UC Santa Cruz, I’ve been listening to Mae Brussell’s many radio programs on YouTube. “At some point you have to get information or documentation about what’s happening,” Brussell told her radio audience in July of 1972, “you can’t just sit in the drawing room […]
Happy 20th birthday to Classical Discoveries
Many wonderful music programs come out of radio station WPRB-FM of Princeton, New Jersey. Marvin Rosen’s program Classical Discoveries ranks high among these offerings. He’s been celebrating new music and living composers over the airwaves since 1997, and on May 29 will note the show’s 20th birthday. “Classical Discoveries would not be possible anywhere else but here […]
MacBird! live at KPFK, 1967, and perchance the only online performance?
I teach a course at UC Santa Cruz on conspiracies and conspiracy theories, and I’ve been rummaging around for a digital performance of MacBird! for quite some time. As far as I can tell, the only online rendition of the show can be found on the Internet Archive. It is an air check via KPFK-FM […]
New online community radio from India: boxout.fm
Alas, I made it a day late for the inaugural launch-party broadcasts. But I have signed myself up for boxout.fm’s impending new online community radio service. India Today has an interview with the founders. “Initially,” says one of the progenitors: ” . . . we will start off with 4-6 hours of daily live shows hosted by […]
The Mumbles play on Sister Midnight: Wichita public radio, 1987
In case you need a refresher on the public/community radio scene in Wichita, Kansas, circa 1987, The Mumbles had a big following in and around the area. Fans did a number of shows about the punk band on KMUW-FM’s legendary Sister Midnight program. You can listen to them here: I particularly enjoyed the Elvis imitations, done with […]
1951: Uncle Sam produces military training film on independent radio
It is beyond me why The United States Army produced a documentary on running an independent radio station in 1951, but here you have it. “Also serving the public,” the film notes, “are radio stations without networks. Typical is this small independent station in New York.” The “typical” indie station the Army focused on was […]
audio: DJ “Gary Indiana” on WQAX-FM (“Quacks”), February 1981
Continuing my excavation of digitally archived college/community radio programs, I have found this nugget on the Internet Archives: a recording of WQAX-FM DJ “Gary Indiana” hosting a music show, circa February 1981. WQAX (aka, “Quacks” 100.3 FM) broadcast to Bloomington, Indiana as a cable station for two decades, from 1973 through 1993. The signal offered a […]