DJ AmperDan returns to IR:SF for 2011, looking back at the Bay Area music that rocked his world and his eardrums.
[audio:http://insomniaradio.net/audio/irsf4_new.mp3]
The Songs
10. The She’s – Wonder Band
09. The Hot Toddies – Only With You
08. A B & The Sea – Bone Dry

07. My First Earthquake – Neon for You
06. Rykarda Parasol – Your Safety is My Concern
05. Minipop – Stars
04. Mister Loveless – Strange and Futureless
03. Fans of Jimmy Century – Go Sugar
02. The Trophy Fire – Glow
01. Oona – I Wanna Know U
The Links
 
The She’s: www.myspace.com/theshesmusic
The Hot Toddies: www.myspace.com/thehottoddies
A B & The Sea: www.myspace.com/abthesea
My First Earthquake: www.myfirstearthquake.com
Rykarda Parasol: www.rykardaparasol.com/home.html
Minipop: www.myspace.com/minipop
Mister Loveless: www.misterloveless.com
Fans of Jimmy Century: www.fansofjimmycentury.com
The Trophy Fire: www.myspace.com/thetrophyfire
Oona: oonamusic.com

IR: San Francisco | Episode #4: Top 10 of 2010

New Independent Music, Blogs and Podcasts

Music

Yes, it’s true, at least for the time being, the face of San Francisco culture has changed: KUSF is off the air. And I wanted to address that on Insomnia Radio: San Francisco. So I did with this special themed episode. Share it, crank it, make your voice heard.
[audio:http://insomniaradio.net/audio/irsf5_new.mp3]
At exactly 10:00 am on Tuesday 18 January 2011, representatives of the University of San Francisco, entered the studios, began changing locks, escorting the volunteers and there in-studio guests out of the building with armed guards, and in the middle of a record shut off the transmitter. No sign off, just white noise.
Only a week before, our staff and volunteer station managers, program coordinators, etc, had been shown new, though smaller, rooms for the station, and told that we would be moving in before the end of Spring semester. So after living with the uncertainty of what USF wanted to do with the station for the last several years, we thought we had the answer. So imagine the shock and awe those volunteers felt when this all happened.
What happened was the university sold the transmitter license and their frequency (90.3 fm) to KUSC for their Classical Radio Network, and that Bay Area classical station KDFC moved down the dial from it’s old frequency of 102.1 fm and began broadcasting on 90.3 fm later that afternoon. San Jose classic rock station KUFX (The Fox) began repeating their broadcast on 102.1 fm.  KUSC also bought a Christian station, at 89.9 fm in the North Bay and began broadcasting KDFC’s programming. KDFC lost some coverage to the south of SF, but they are proudly looking to buy a frequency down there too.
University President, Father Stephen Previtt held a meeting with over 500 volunteers, staff, students and community members on Wednesday 19 January to answer questions. He began by making it clear that his first concern was with the benefit of the students of the university, and that the community didn’t weight that much on his decision. It was pointed out by the students in attendance that this happen of Winter Break when few students and faculty were on campus. And part of the license agreement with the FCC is that the holder will act in the interest of the public which it serves. Also when asked why the station wasn’t offered to community groups or why they took the first and old offer, Father Previtt said he couldn’t under a non-disclosure agreement.
One has to wonder how, other than money in the university treasury, how it benefits the students (especially the broadcast and media students) to divest of a world-famous, standard-setting, FCC licensed Bay Area Cultural Icon like KUSF in lieu of a Web-based format. Especially when they sold the transmitter license and frequency for $3.75 million and $7k monthly lease of transmitter location (The top of Phelan Hall gave KUSF a far larger reach for it’s 3000 watts), especially when in 2006 they were told that they would be dumb to sell the station for an $8 million windfall.
San Francisco takes it’s culture seriously, though often it also takes it for granted. But when KUSF when off the air, something sparked. The community as come together in an effort to Save KUSF. A week to the day after KUSF went off the air, and after attending Father Previtt’s “Forum”, SF Supervisor Ross Mikarimi introduced a resolution to the SF Board of Supervisors to Save KUSF, to fight the sale as part of a larger corporate media grab, and return this cultural icon to the community and the airwaves. There has been lots of positive support from the community, both inside and outside the university, both of the programming and any efforts to make a counter offer if the university can not be convinced to keep the license.
The fight has just begun. And we have a lot of support. The papers were just filed with the FCC this week,

IR: San Francisco | Episode #5: Save KUSF

Dan just delivered the third episode of the new Insomnia Radio: San Francisco, and it is dedicated to the holidays. Ten amazing holiday songs – ranging from hilarious to ironic to beautiful – for your enjoyment no matter what you’re celebrating this season.
(Note: Because it’s a holiday show all can appreciate, this episode is also being delivered down the main IR feed.)
[audio:http://insomniaradio.net/audio/irsfnew3.mp3]
The Songs
The Downer Party – Christmas Sucks in San Francisco
My First Earthquake – Together in Our Holiday Sweaters
Fans of Jimmy Century – Santa Jamacia (Jully Ol; Saint Nick)
A B & The Sea – Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) featuring The She’s
The Lovemakers – Christmas in Oakland
Sentinel – The Christmas Song
The Hot Toddies – Santa Baby
Persephone’s Bees – Sleigh Ride
Loquat – 2000 Miles
Sea of Bees – Feliz Navidad
Oona – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
The Links
The Downer Party: www.myspace.com/downerpartytime
My First Earthquake: www.myfirstearthquake.com
Fans of Jimmy Century: www.fansofjimmycentury.com
A B & The Sea: www.myspace.com/abthesea
The She’s: www.myspace.com/theshesmusic
The Lovemakers: www.myspace.com/thelovemakers
Sentinel: www.myspace.com/sentinel
The Hot Toddies: www.myspace.com/thehottoddies
Persephone’s Bees: www.persephonesbees.com
Loquat: www.loquatmusic.com
Sea of Bees: www.myspace.com/seaofbees
Oona: oonamusic.com

IR: San Francisco | Episode 3: Happy Holidays from the Golden Gate


Welcome to Episode 2 of the brand new Insomnia Radio: San Francisco! In this episode, Dan catches you up on the local happenings in the Bay area music scene, and features the latest indie awesomeness – including a brand new single by IR darlings Sentinel.
[audio:http://insomniaradio.net/audio/irsf2_new.mp3]
The Songs

* Fake Your Own Death – Mouth to Speak
* Kill Moi – The Storm is You
* Or, The Whale – Datura
* Big Eagle – Anywhere The Wind Blows
* LoveLikeFire – Saint Martin
* Sentinel – Jet Black
* The New Up – Gold
* Rad Cloud – She Writes Her Letters
* Or, The Whale – Count The Stars

The Links

* Fake Your Own Death: http://www.myspace.com/fakeurowndeath
* Kill Moi: http://www.myspace.com/killmoiplease
* Or, The Whale: http://www.orthewhale.com
* Big Eagle: http://www.myspace.com/bigeagleband
* LoveLikeFire: http://lovelikefire.com
* Sentinel: http://www.myspace.com/sentinel
* The New Up: http://www.thenewup.com
* Rad Cloud: http://www.reapandsow.com/profile/RadCloud


IR: San Francisco | Episode #2

The San Francisco feed of Insomnia Radio has been dark since February 2008, but today I’m ridiculously excited to be throwing the switch once again. As we have with IR: Chicago, our San Francisco is getting a reboot of sorts, beginning fresh with episode 1. That being said, the new iteration pays a few nods to Scott Tinetti’s style on its first outing.
(Note: Most of Scott’s original episodes are still online, and certainly worth revisiting. Grab em here.)
So who’s taking the torch and running like a crazed music junkie through the bay area streets? Dan Hooper – better known as DJ AmperDan from KUSF. Fear not, FM-killers: San Fran’s KUSF is one of those very few, very rare FM’s we don’t want to kill. It’s powered by the University of San Francisco, and has a razor sharp focus on underground music. Dan has been entrenched in the industry for years, and you guys will reap the rewards with a never ending stream of new and even unreleased music.
For those of you with the IR:SF RSS feed still in your iTunes list or elsewhere, you don’t need to change a thing. For those who enjoy this episode, please throw http://feeds.feedburner.com/irsf into your podcatcher of choice, or subscribe in iTunes by clicking HERE.
An incredibly special thanks goes out to Tarabud from Oakland band Sentinel, who planted the seed and made this all materialize.
 
The Songs
 

* The Trophy Fire – Glow
* The Downer Party – Country Kids
* Kyle Swenson-Gordon (of Loquat) w/ Bostitch & Fussible – I Count The Ways
* My First Earthquake – Pick up Stick up
* Mister Loveless – From Burning Bridges
* The Soft White Sixties – It’s Too Late
* Rykarda Parasol – Your Safety is My Concern
* A B and The Sea – California Gurls

[audio:http://insomniaradio.net/audio/newirsf1.mp3]



IR: San Francisco | Episode #4: Top 10 of 2010

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