dance dance dance to the radio




At 9am this morning, 89.3 FM here in Mpls changed over to an "eclectic" non-format & became KCMP The Current. It's sort of the MPR-version of local college Radio K, and includes some on-air talent that once ran the short-lived but glorious "revolution radio" Rev 105 (1994-1997). I haven't listened to FM radio in this town for a long time (I only recently tuned back into AM w/the local Air America), but this station may actually get me to shut off the iPod from time-to-time while in the car, which is a feat btw.

MP3 Atmosphere - "Say Shh"
Local MC Slug talks up his hometown of Mpls on this Atmosphere track, appropriately enough the first song played on The Current today by music director & morning DJ Thorn. It's a hidden track on Atmosphere's 2003 Seven's Travels LP, and its lyrics speak lovingly of the simple joys of living in the midwest ("if you know this is where you wanna raise your kids").

MP3 Low - "Transmission"
This Joy Division cover, from Minnesota-based Low's 1996 Transmission EP, was also played this morning on The Current. Apparently, it was also under consideration to be the first song, a popular suggestion on the station's blog, which has followed The Current's preparation leading up to its debut, taking feedback & new ideas along the way. The Current 89.3 is sponsoring the homecoming Low show at First Avenue on February 12 w/Pedro The Lion, as well as the 2/23 Kings of Convenience show at the Fine Line. Low's new album The Great Destroyer comes out tomorrow on Sub Pop records.

Besides these two tracks, the first two hours of The Current also included Earlimart, Jim White, Ani DiFranco, Luna, Hank Williams, The Replacements, Iron & Wine, Johnny Cash, Death Cab, Wilco, Patsy Cline, Frou Frou, The Arcade Fire & a particularly interesting set featuring !!! ("Hello, Is This Thing On?") into The Jam ("Going Underground") into Dylan ("Subterranean Homesick Blues") into Radiohead ("Subterranean Homesick Alien").

You can stream The Current via 32k Windows Media or "cd-quality" aacPlus, which unfortunately won't work on your iTunes (go here for audio help).

ETA: More Cowbell has the playlist from the station's first eight hours.
| neither much worse nor much better »
| i'm gonna whittle you into kindlin' »
| yr paranoid heartbreaking beats-suh »
| mp3 bloggers: we got served? »
| i just wish i had more to blog about »
| we like the ardy that rocks the party »
| do you want to wear the overcoat? »
| it's the saddest nite out in the usa »
| you & me alone, sheer simplicity »

Blogger Sovietpanda @ 1/24/2005 04:16:00 PM:

i would boycott that station... the way it was formed, with regards to duplicating radio k's format and taking some of its personnel, is extremely shady.    


Blogger mr gilbert @ 1/24/2005 04:45:00 PM:

i heard some about that, but nah...    


Blogger mr gilbert @ 1/24/2005 06:13:00 PM:

actually, pete, you do a show at radio k, right? so you would know more than i about how things went down. do you have more to offer about the potential k/current bad blood? i, for one, would like to know more...    


Blogger Ryan W. @ 1/24/2005 11:50:00 PM:

I agree, while they may be copying Radio K or KFAI or whoever, there are a lot of us who cannot get Radio K on our radios whatsoever and KFAI is just a little too unpredictable. KCMP is just what this town needs, and I think everything so far has everyone hooked. I've been looking forward to this ever since I heard about it, and it is way better than I could have ever expected. When I heard Atmosphere's "Say Shh" as the first song, I knew it would be everything I hoped it would be.    


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