june 25th - word of the day - "road"
playlist
so as you all have heard...
the king of pop died on thursday.
i actually read the news 3 minutes before i went on air, so if i sounded a little out-of-sorts on the show, its just because i was shocked... and saddened.. and never put on the spot like that, ever.
i'm not here to put a personal stance on what i think of michael jackson's personal life. all im here for is the music. i cant tell you one family member, friend or acquaintance i know of who has a record collection without thriller. i grew up with thriller as my first LP in my collection... imagine a 6 year old with bows in her hair, wearing all things purple and putting the needle on "beat it" (my favorite song at that time in my life) with my fisher price record player. no joke... from back in the day of my childhood til now, ive always enjoyed hearing michael jackson's killer voice mixed beautifully by non other than my main man, quincy jones. now, as such a huge fan of dance parties and the like, i cant think of hosting get-togethers involving a dance floor and not hearing "P.Y.T." or "billie jean." michael was a fundamental start in my love for music, and i owe him at least a "get it, MJ" in this here music blog because of him.
besides that, the word of the day was, indeed, "road." it's that time of year where all i want to do is get in my car and drive on the open road. does anyone crave the open road as much as i do? when im having a hectic period in my life, there's always a dire need of a road trip. lately ive been frequenting myself with this idea of going west... whether that be to fredericksburg for a day, to the davis mountains for a weekend, to the pacific ocean on highway 1 in two weeks... the possibilities are as endless as the highways. certain songs bode well with this feeling of endless driving and the road trip, in fact, some songs scream "road trip" so loud that i wonder if the musician recorded in a moving vehicle. the era of the jetsetter is definitely here, and not that i have anything against flying to and from destinations, there is just something magical about slowing down and speeding down I-10 for 8 hours instead of flying it in 1. you take things in differently when you have to drive the entire way. i just got back from a road trip all the way to washington state and portland, and i would have never known about california's delicious cherries and farm-grown avocados had i not seen a sign off the side of the highway and exited. i would have never seen the border of oregon and california with my own eyes-- literally, you cross california's beautiful brown hills and mahogany redwoods and POOF! you're suddenly in oregon, and everything is green. i could go on and on and on....
but, needless to say, road trips and its soundtracks to accompany the moving scenery on the dash are what keep me sane. and to keep you all sane, im sharing the moonwalk with friends, family, and fans:
anyone want to get together and learn the entire dance to thriller? im sure this is being done in the millions right as we speak...
thank you all for listening and reading and supporting radio and music!
keep it wordy,
kellen
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
vocals
june 18th - word of the day - "vocals"
playlist
you know, you're at a show in a smoky bar, pint glass in your left hand, and the opening band comes on stage. the first thing you want to hear to gage the band youve never heard is the lead singer...
...or at least, that's how i start off a new band. maybe its because ive been trained in the vocal department-- maybe if i were a professional percussionist, id want to hear the licks of the drums first to see if the band were in my opinion worth listening to. but theres something compelling about the frontman or frontwoman or frontpeople of a musical act. my dad used to quiz me on which band was playing on the LP... "is it led zeppelin, dad?" "are you kidding? thats not robert plant's voice! come on, kellen girl!" i quickly started to get my chops on which band was who, and it was mostly from the vocalist. "wait wait, i know it. let me hear the singer one more time..."
this weeks show was based on some of the most powerful, riveting, and envelope-pushing vocal chords. i wanted to mix up wordplay a bit by including more musicians of back-in-the-day instead of heavily playing what's going on now (as we usually do). what better word of the day than a vocals show?
it was, to say the least, a pretty difficult show to make. how can anyone sit down and try to squeeze in their favorite singers in a time span of 2 hours? there are so many bands, especially in doo-wop and motown and in the 50s and 60s, that are never played on the greatest hits albums in all the jukeboxes over town, but in fact, provide some incredible talent that was overlooked or lost. i wanted to collaborate with one of my dear friends, the owner of the best and well-rounded record collection ive ever met. he used to cook us indian food in his tiny kitchen and play some of the greatest music ive never heard. that experience of having this incredible music-appreciation afternoon was what i wanted to put through the airwaves on ktsw... not a show of me standing on a pedestal giving my votes on who are the best singers in the world.. it was more of an experience of just listening to some powerful vocals all tied together in the growing amoeba that is music.
i played and mentioned "water boy" by odetta, and i should definitely share this:
cheers listeners and readers!
playlist
you know, you're at a show in a smoky bar, pint glass in your left hand, and the opening band comes on stage. the first thing you want to hear to gage the band youve never heard is the lead singer...
...or at least, that's how i start off a new band. maybe its because ive been trained in the vocal department-- maybe if i were a professional percussionist, id want to hear the licks of the drums first to see if the band were in my opinion worth listening to. but theres something compelling about the frontman or frontwoman or frontpeople of a musical act. my dad used to quiz me on which band was playing on the LP... "is it led zeppelin, dad?" "are you kidding? thats not robert plant's voice! come on, kellen girl!" i quickly started to get my chops on which band was who, and it was mostly from the vocalist. "wait wait, i know it. let me hear the singer one more time..."
this weeks show was based on some of the most powerful, riveting, and envelope-pushing vocal chords. i wanted to mix up wordplay a bit by including more musicians of back-in-the-day instead of heavily playing what's going on now (as we usually do). what better word of the day than a vocals show?
it was, to say the least, a pretty difficult show to make. how can anyone sit down and try to squeeze in their favorite singers in a time span of 2 hours? there are so many bands, especially in doo-wop and motown and in the 50s and 60s, that are never played on the greatest hits albums in all the jukeboxes over town, but in fact, provide some incredible talent that was overlooked or lost. i wanted to collaborate with one of my dear friends, the owner of the best and well-rounded record collection ive ever met. he used to cook us indian food in his tiny kitchen and play some of the greatest music ive never heard. that experience of having this incredible music-appreciation afternoon was what i wanted to put through the airwaves on ktsw... not a show of me standing on a pedestal giving my votes on who are the best singers in the world.. it was more of an experience of just listening to some powerful vocals all tied together in the growing amoeba that is music.
i played and mentioned "water boy" by odetta, and i should definitely share this:
cheers listeners and readers!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
sun
june 11th, 2009 - word of the day - "SUN"
listen
helloooo..... how are you! have you been alright throughout those lonely, lonely, lonely
loney nights?
i was about to get my E.L.O. ''doo-wop, diddly dooly wop''s on right then and there, ya guys..
the texas hill country is sunnier than ever (yesterday was a piercing 107 degrees), making the san marcos river look like paradise. i swear, last night i was considerably thinking about getting a couple bags of ice and a blow up swimming pool to put in the front yard. with the way its looking now, i think we're going to have to ice bathe come august. but no worries-- we always somehow make it through the hotter-than-hell summers and find tunes in between to cool us off. the wordplay band of the summer is (dun duh nuh NUN!) CHAIN AND THE GANG! i had the privilege to see them perform in portland a couple weeks ago and was blown away by the energy of this band. so the singer, ian svenonius, has been around since the DC punk scene in '88, in bands including but not limited to THE MAKE-UP, NATION OF ULYSSES, WEIRD WAR, and... and!... not to mention he's a talk-show host on his-very-own "Soft Focus." so congrats chain and the gang, you are the summer catch of 89.9's word play.
couple of things in the word play music news of the week :
GRIZZLY BEAR is playing at the parish in austin on tuesday. fantastic band, fantastic venue, and im restless and ticket-less (not to mention a cheap date...). grizzly bear's veckatimest album is one of my all time favorite listens of 2009 and will most definitely be played on this here wordplay show as often as humanly possible.
in more local news, BUZZ 'N BANGS and ZLAM DUNK are playing at the ole triple crown in san marcos on saturday the 20th at 10:30 or so ($5 cover). id highly recommend this one to any who remembers the Clarissa Explains It All theme song and sings along to Michael Jackson's "black or white" ala Justin Dent-style. cheap drinks and easy laaaaaaadies~!
im going to leave you with a video that inspired me to get some sweet backup dancers for my next wordplay rap promo (dancer auditions, coming soon!)...
its a guy outta detriot named esQuire with a song called "brandy and xanax." need i say more
listen
helloooo..... how are you! have you been alright throughout those lonely, lonely, lonely
loney nights?
i was about to get my E.L.O. ''doo-wop, diddly dooly wop''s on right then and there, ya guys..
the texas hill country is sunnier than ever (yesterday was a piercing 107 degrees), making the san marcos river look like paradise. i swear, last night i was considerably thinking about getting a couple bags of ice and a blow up swimming pool to put in the front yard. with the way its looking now, i think we're going to have to ice bathe come august. but no worries-- we always somehow make it through the hotter-than-hell summers and find tunes in between to cool us off. the wordplay band of the summer is (dun duh nuh NUN!) CHAIN AND THE GANG! i had the privilege to see them perform in portland a couple weeks ago and was blown away by the energy of this band. so the singer, ian svenonius, has been around since the DC punk scene in '88, in bands including but not limited to THE MAKE-UP, NATION OF ULYSSES, WEIRD WAR, and... and!... not to mention he's a talk-show host on his-very-own "Soft Focus." so congrats chain and the gang, you are the summer catch of 89.9's word play.
couple of things in the word play music news of the week :
GRIZZLY BEAR is playing at the parish in austin on tuesday. fantastic band, fantastic venue, and im restless and ticket-less (not to mention a cheap date...). grizzly bear's veckatimest album is one of my all time favorite listens of 2009 and will most definitely be played on this here wordplay show as often as humanly possible.
in more local news, BUZZ 'N BANGS and ZLAM DUNK are playing at the ole triple crown in san marcos on saturday the 20th at 10:30 or so ($5 cover). id highly recommend this one to any who remembers the Clarissa Explains It All theme song and sings along to Michael Jackson's "black or white" ala Justin Dent-style. cheap drinks and easy laaaaaaadies~!
im going to leave you with a video that inspired me to get some sweet backup dancers for my next wordplay rap promo (dancer auditions, coming soon!)...
its a guy outta detriot named esQuire with a song called "brandy and xanax." need i say more
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
writings on the internets
hello fellow and future listeners,
WORD PLAY IS IN FULL SWING, swaying to the force of the (sorta) full moon's glow and ready to rock some jock jams! not really... though i really miss those space jam late nights where we'd blast "tag team back again" oh so innocently. our first show back is tomorrow, thursday, 6-8 PM texas time, and its going to kick off this summer correctly. my side partner in crime, kat, will not be joining me in the radio booth until the fall due to her extreme longing to be in lubbock for the summer. no hard feelings on lubbock vs san marcos, hell i was born in lubbock so i cant complain! but the show will go on even though im mourning the (temporary) death of my co-host and not to mention we are still saddened by the death of KTXT 88.1 in the 806. i know the air waves arent as good when you stream over the internet, but lubbockians and others alike, feel free to check up on this here blog for links to our previous radio blocks, especially if you missed a show and are wanting to get a word fix. the good news is: my incredibly internet-saavy brother (residing and listening in ohio, mind you) will be providing me with high-res and better-sounding mp3s of our shows that you can hear HERE! ta-da! i love technology... most of the time.
i, uh, dont want to add to the dots of the hipster-runoff-esque cyberspace universe out there... or maybe i kinda do... but positive things come out of positive people and i am wanting to share the ever-growing positivity of the music and the discussions word play brings into WERD format. so expect some writings on previous music played, random youtube links, live shows feedback, uh.. best of shot in the dark from the chronicle and updates on the DOW, et cetera. and feel free to bring back to the word play community by leaving comments here or emailing me at ktswwordplay@gmail.com ! life stories and favorite-at-the-moment bands are also recommended when writing your opinion on here or over there in email land.
i end with this video, because i think more zach galifianakis characters should make videos like kanye west. NOTE the double piroeutte (get it!) AND DOUBLE NOTE! bonnie "prince" billy is backing him up as the, uh... what do you call the guy on stage that basically just supports the rapper by standing there and occasionally saying "yuh" ?
peace and enjoy the first start of the summer! hasta manana,
kellen
WORD PLAY IS IN FULL SWING, swaying to the force of the (sorta) full moon's glow and ready to rock some jock jams! not really... though i really miss those space jam late nights where we'd blast "tag team back again" oh so innocently. our first show back is tomorrow, thursday, 6-8 PM texas time, and its going to kick off this summer correctly. my side partner in crime, kat, will not be joining me in the radio booth until the fall due to her extreme longing to be in lubbock for the summer. no hard feelings on lubbock vs san marcos, hell i was born in lubbock so i cant complain! but the show will go on even though im mourning the (temporary) death of my co-host and not to mention we are still saddened by the death of KTXT 88.1 in the 806. i know the air waves arent as good when you stream over the internet, but lubbockians and others alike, feel free to check up on this here blog for links to our previous radio blocks, especially if you missed a show and are wanting to get a word fix. the good news is: my incredibly internet-saavy brother (residing and listening in ohio, mind you) will be providing me with high-res and better-sounding mp3s of our shows that you can hear HERE! ta-da! i love technology... most of the time.
i, uh, dont want to add to the dots of the hipster-runoff-esque cyberspace universe out there... or maybe i kinda do... but positive things come out of positive people and i am wanting to share the ever-growing positivity of the music and the discussions word play brings into WERD format. so expect some writings on previous music played, random youtube links, live shows feedback, uh.. best of shot in the dark from the chronicle and updates on the DOW, et cetera. and feel free to bring back to the word play community by leaving comments here or emailing me at ktswwordplay@gmail.com ! life stories and favorite-at-the-moment bands are also recommended when writing your opinion on here or over there in email land.
i end with this video, because i think more zach galifianakis characters should make videos like kanye west. NOTE the double piroeutte (get it!) AND DOUBLE NOTE! bonnie "prince" billy is backing him up as the, uh... what do you call the guy on stage that basically just supports the rapper by standing there and occasionally saying "yuh" ?
peace and enjoy the first start of the summer! hasta manana,
kellen
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