Growing in Lubbock all of your life doesn’t necessarily imply that you would be a Buddy Holly fanatic – having parents whose only station locked on preset is the oldies channel, KOOL 98, does. Whenever my family wanted to go anywhere, there was a high probability that Buddy would be accompanying us along the way. Where most kids began the total rejection of their parent’s interests during their teenage rebellion years, my love affair with Buddy & The Crickets only strengthened. Maybe it was being able to walk the same halls and pass by the same classrooms Holly attended during high school at Lubbock High fifty years earlier, or maybe it’s his uncanny ability to effortlessly produce some of the most simple and catchy tunes of all-time, whatever it is, I will always have the utmost respect for the legend.
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Archive for February, 2009
The Day the Music Died // 50 Years Since Buddy Holly’s Death
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009Can’t Get Enough of… // Super XX Man
Monday, February 2nd, 2009
Ever since I heard the opening line of “When I’m alone” off of Super XX Man’s stellar single Collecting Rocks, I was sold. Evidently I am not the only one, as the good folks down at NPR All Song’s Considered have featured extensively Super XX Man, or known by day as Scott Gared, and rightfully so. Formerly signed to Austin indie label Peek-A-Boo Records (old home to mega-band Spoon and present label of electro-tastic Octopus Project), Scott Garred moved to Portland in 2002 where he’s since took on a role as music therapist at the mental institution where One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was filmed. Although he might be 9-to-5 in’ it up, he has still been able to release great new material every year! Labeling his LPs by volumes, Gerrad’s present disc stands at XI — quite an impressive discography that would have Ryan Adams envious.
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KTXT 88.1-FM and The Llano Idea
Sunday, February 1st, 2009
On a sad note, my campus radio station KTXT 88.1-FM was terminated on December 10th, the last day of the fall semester at the behest of Student Media directors claiming that FM radio is becoming antiquated and that the station itself is not financially viable.
Granted, it’s hard to argue that terrestrial radio (and all old forms of media including television and print) are on the decline, it is, however, difficult to make the leapt from taking this information and completely dismantling organizations that have consistently given opportunities and occupations to so many students. As for the financial excuse, that is incredibly easy to refute: when have academic institutions been concerned about short-term commercial gains? Universities invest in the students – a long-term commitment – by providing them with skills and intellectual advancements so that when they go out into the real world they can give back to the school that has given them so much. Shutting down KTXT has just the opposite desired effect, eliminating opportunities as a way to shave a couple thousand dollars off of next year’s budget.
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Marfa, Texas // A Place Like No Other
Sunday, February 1st, 2009
Situated in the desolate plains of West Texas lies Marfa, Texas , a quaint town housing about 2,000 residents. As anyone who has driven through the backwoods interstate Texas highways can contest to, towns like these are a dime a dozen — littered with as many antique shops as dilapidated buildings. With the recent dramatic shift towards urbanization in the past 50 years or so, most of these antebellum communities have accepted their path towards “ghost town” status and eventual extinction. Marfa, on the other hand, seems to have bucked the trend of pessimism concerning their cities future and have transformed their town into a cultural capital showcasing music, film, and art unparalleled by cities orders of magnitude larger in size.
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