WUNH | Designing Dad

Hey, did you catch what I wrote yesterday in Part One? No?! Well then go back and check out all the good and embarrassing stuff right now – I’ll wait.

One my favorite vinyl moments is probably also an incident which will be savaged by just about anyone with musical taste. Possibly the best thing about being a DJ at a college radio station is that, at one time or another, you’ll be pulling a 2-6 am shift with no one listening to you except a handful of drunks, insomniacs, and the utterly insane. Why is this good? Because anything is possible – no one is listening, no one will complain. So one morning, I decided to experiment a bit. Quick note about set-up… The WUNH on-air studio, at the time, had two turntables, three CD players, and two CART machines (kinda like 8-tracks, mostly used for station ID’s and public service announcements). I loaded up some acid jazz in one CD player, some random punk band in another, and a bluegrass CD in the last one. In the CARTS, I had a station ID and a PSA that was coming due in the next couple minutes. Pressed play on the acid jazz beats.

Now, the interesting thing is that I had John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” on the left turntable and the soundtrack to 2001: A Space Odyssey on the right. I dropped the needle on Coltrane and bled it in over the top of the acid jazz and found a mix. Next, I added some punk in the background, and then the bluegrass slightly louder, but still somewhat in the background. Really making some interesting noise, but not quite there yet. So I started up 2001 and cued up ”Also sprach Zarathustra” – which I then began to scratch with all the hip-hop ability in my very caucasian body, which wasn’t a whole lot. After awhile, I got bored with that and tried to scratch both the Coltrane and 2001, which was interesting to say the least.

The best part? Absolutely no calls regarding this 15-minute car wreck of a performance. Hell, if someone was listening, they probably thought it was the latest single from Aphex Twin.

Now onto some more tasty vinyl from the collection… Continue reading →

Here’s my problem with the halftime show of Super Bowl XLV – it was a symbol of everything that was wrong with the event without showing a hint of any of the good. If you’re okay with a billionaire charging thousands for bad seats inside the stadium and hundreds for seats out in cold to watch the game on TV, then this was the perfect show for you. On the other hand, if you prize substance and style over fads and plastic spectacle, you were left wanting.

I have nothing specifically bad to say about Black Eyed Peas – their music is strictly meh, but then again, what chart-topping pop/pap isn’t these days? If I hadn’t been spinning their singles back in the day at WUNH and remember a time when they actually had something to say, perhaps I wouldn’t mind them. However, I’m not prepared to undergo the full lobotomy that would allow me that perspective, so whenever they’re mentioned in conversation my standard line is something like “Yeah, I remember when they didn’t suck”. Perhaps it’s a little harsh, but it’s also true. What also happens to be true is that, because I don’t play to sold-out venues every other night and enjoy non-stop airplay, I won’t completely disparage their collective talents and musicianship. It’s poor form and I want no part of it. Continue reading →

Designing Dad

Fatherhood, Freelancing, & Everything Else

Tag Archives: WUNH

For The Love Of Vinyl, Part Two

Halftime From Hell