WTBU Awards!

Thursday night was the WTBU Awards at BU Central and everybody who's anybody was there (or at least the WTBU DJs) including some interesting musical groups.

I'm proud to say that Schist That Rocks! won its second WTBU award: Best Classic Rock Show! Sadly we did not win Show of the Semester and I did not win DJ of the Semester (both of which we were nominated for). I think it's a big deal to be nominated, anyway. I'd like to say thanks to my fellow DJs for nominating and voting for us and congratulations to everyone else who won an award or was nominated. We've got some really great shows and DJs at WTBU who deserve the recognition (not to mention an excuse to celebrate). Oh, and definitely a big thanks to my interns who helped make the show more bearable.

I took a bunch of video, especially of the musical acts, so keep an eye out for that...

Anyway, lemme talk about the musical acts!

My favorite that night was The Thin Heir. They played some great folky songs and everyone seemed to enjoy it. If I were you, I'd check them out.

Lauren Hurley, a singer/guitarist from New Hampshire, ended the show with some really good songs. I'm actually listening to her cd right now. Check her out here.

The first act was a long sort of psychedelic electronic jam. My biggest problem with them was that they over-stayed their welcome. Now, I'm all for going out big and all, but... Well, after their jam (which went overtime) was over and the awards were going to continue, they started playing again. The drummer knocked his kit all over the place and they got off stage. This didn't only create an awkward moment before the awards continued, but then the band had to periodically walk onto stage during the awards to get the scattered drums and the rest of the gear. Douche-y and awwwkwaard...

I'll let you guys know when the video from Thursday night is up.

Big thanks to WTBU for putting the show together and all...

oh! and another big thanks to all our listeners who help... uh... make us what we are? I dunno. Something like that.

Rob Patton-Spruill interview moved!

Due to technical difficulties, it looks like Rob Patton-Spruill won't be on our show this week. Instead, I'll be interviewing him live on Ska, Punk and other Junk this Thursday between 10pm and Midnight.

Rob is the director of Squeeze and Public Enemy: Welcome to the Terrordome (a documentary for which he followed the group for 7 years). His latest documentary, Do it Again, follows a newspaper reporter who tries to reunite The Kinks.

If you miss the interview on Thursday, I'll probably play it again next Tuesday on our show. It's bound to be a great interview.

Oh, and you're more than welcome to post any questions you may have for him either here or on our Facebook page!

Guitar Wolf and Peelander Z Interview on Abuse Substance

Hey guys, I wanted to share a cool interview from the show I interned on last year. Back then it was called Trash Radio but now they call themselves Abuse Substance and it's easily one of my favorite radio shows. Listen to them from 10-midnight on Monday nights.

Guitar Wolf and Peelander Z Interview on Abuse Substance

Also, Schist That Rocks has an interview or two potentially in the works. I'll let you know as soon as we're more certain.

Monday, Tuesday, Happy Days

Thanks to Christopher Columbus, next Tuesday is now Monday at BU and vice-versa. This means that for one week only, our show is on Monday from 2-4pm. Don't worry, we'll be back to the usual schedule after that.

In case you haven't heard about it, there's a new radio play on WTBU called "The Undead End" (it's got zombies!). The first episode was last week, but you can find it on their website. You can hear the newest one every Thursday at 7:30 on WTBU. The first episode was pretty cool, so I'm excited to see where it goes. They've even made a couple teaser sites based on the show, kinda like JJ Abrams did for Cloverfield. They've got more stuff planned for the show that goes beyond radio, but I won't give anything away. Check it out. (they also have a facebook).

First it Rains, then it Pours...

So, as we mentioned last Tuesday, The Autumn Hollow Band came out with their first CD this month. If you recall, I had band member Noel on the show back in February when the band was getting ready to play the New England Americana Festival (it's posted online in case you've misremembered).
Anyway, the album's pretty solid. I'm not one for describing music the way some do, but I will say that I liked it and that I'd suggest you check it out. My favorite track is probably "First it Rains," which I played on the show and had stuck in my head for at least the rest of that day. They've got the album online so you can listen to it and buy it if you'd like. I've embedded the player below, or you can check it out on bandcamp.




Also, welcome to the new intern at Schist That Rocks: Cassie! Cassie enjoys Friends, penguins, following my orders, and bios written without her input or consent.
If you'd like to join the Schist That Rocks! team, don't hesitate to let me know! You'd be a little less of an intern, and a little more of a DJ... unless you'd rather be more of an intern, whatever you like.

Anyway, I'll see you folks tomorrow!
or, uh, you'll see me.
hear me. yeah. that's it.

"We're Coming, We're Coming, We're Coming..."

I am proud to announce that Schist that ROCKS! will return to WTBU on Tuesday, September 7th! The show will run from 2-4 PM (no more graveyard shift!) every Tuesday of the Semester.
I'm getting pumped to go back to BU, and I can't wait to start the show again. I'm already wondering what song to play first, who I can have on the show, etc. If you've got any ideas about that stuff, feel free to let me know!
It also might be worth mentioning that it's looking like at least one other person will be joining the show.

PS: Bonus points if you know what song that line is from, a couple extra if you know what song it samples.

The New England Americana Festival Returns!

Back in February, I promoted the New England Americana Festival, gave out a ticket, and had one of the bands come on my show. The show brought together more than 30 regional bands for three sold out shows in Boston.

Well, I recently got an email from the Festival's coordinator, Noel Coakley, saying that the festival is back this summer at the Hard Rock Cafe in Boston!

I know it's late notice, but the first show is TONIGHT. You still have time to get ready for the other shows since the second third shows are on July 29 and August 26.
This time, the show is for all ages, although there's a special treat for those old enough: there'll be FREE BEER for the first hour of tonight's show.
I won't be there tonight, but I might make it to Boston for one of the other shows.

For more info, including the full line-up check out NEAF's website as well as the Facebook event.

What, they're back?

Okay, so I have no idea how I'm only finding out about this now, but Interpol finished their new album and announced it on their site nearly two weeks ago. Maybe you've already heard about it, but it's news to me, so I'll talk about it anyway.

They put one of the songs, "Lights," up on their site and you can download below (or just listen to it on YouTube). The song's pretty solid and definitely sounds like the Interpol we know.

The post also made another important announcement: Carlos D has left Interpol.
Don't worry, he's still on the album and it wasn't a nasty split-up or anything.

The news post said they'd be touring this summer (dates & places TBA), so look out for that. Of course, Carlos won't be touring with them, but they claim to "have some very exciting new recruits joining us on the road."

They said they'd update their site later with more info.

"all in one place, a generation lost in [cyber]space..."

I had to stop myself from writing down the rest of that line, and now I've got "American Pie" stuck in my head...

Anyway, I figured rather than make you scroll through a bunch of posts or go to another website to listen to recorded shows, I might as well have them all available in one place: here. I've made a blog post where I'll post every recording in reverse chronological order (most recent first). I've already put a few in there, and I'll add more. I'll link to the post on the right of the blog for easier access.

Lemme know what you think of the recordings post (and the recordings themselves)!

Recordings

This post is for all show recordings in reverse chronological order. New recordings will be posted here once they're put up. The recordings are also available for download at OurMedia.org and Archive.org unless stated otherwise.

Slothbear interview aired May 3, 2010:

Extended Slothbear interview:


April 2, 2010:

March 26, 2010:

March 5, 2010:

Feb 26, 2010:

Feb 12, 2010:


Feb 5, 2010:


Jan 29, 2010:

"Are we live?"

So, if you were listening last night, you'd know that it was the final Schist That Rocks of the semester. Don't worry, I'll still be able to share some Schist that totally Rocks with you over the summer from my computer. And the show will be returning (hopefully at a slightly better time, as nice as 2-4 am was) to WTBU in September. Once I'm done with work, back home and settled (Saturday), expect to see the rest of the recorded shows making their way on here.

Also, I promised I'd have this up on Wednesday, and it's still technically Wednesday, so here's the interview with Slothbear:
First, the version I played on air


And then the extended version (sound quality might be better in the aired version).


The basic difference between the two is that the second one goes more in-depth on the album, talking about specific songs.
They're a pretty cool group of guys, and the interview was fun. Check out their Myspace.

Anyway, it's been a great semester and I'll do my best to give it a great follow-up.

Good morning, sweet prince....

[This post was started in the studio and then continued in my room]
I'm sitting in the studio now, wrapping up the final 2-4 AM broadcast of Schist That Rocks. Don't worry, the show ain't over! I'm doing two shows next week (at arguably better times!) and I think I'll have a better time next semester, but I'm gonna miss this time slot a little. Oh well...

I had a nice little interview with Doug, Craig, and Josh from Slothbear Wednesday night and you'll be able to hear the interview on Monday at 10pm! Maybe I'll even let a listener win a copy of their new album Qids (which would be stupid, cuz it's available online), or something. I realized that the studio ran out of Bitch Slap posters, so I can't give those out...

But before you can listen to Slothbear on Monday, I've got an event to plug for Saturday! The Thin Heir, Lamp Attack, and my good friend Jimmy Ikeda will be playing at the All Asia Bar tomorrow (Saturday) from 3-6pm! I'll definitely be there, and Jimmy has kindly agreed to let me make an appearance during his set and steal the show away. Come on down, support local music, and have a good time! Oh, and it's 8 bucks to get in (but it's not 21+).

Right now, I can't think of anything else. Except for sleep. So, yeah, see you on saturday, listen in on monday, good luck with finals.

Drum roll please...

Hey guys, I'm proud to announce that although Schist That Rocks did not win "Best Variety Show," I did win "Best Sweeper/Show Header!" Okay, so they added "the" to the name of my show, but it still counts! I was a little more excited that I was nominated for this one because everyone gets nominated for their own genre, but I was actually nominated for Best Header for something I did. Also, I'm the only one to record my own header as opposed to doing it with our Productions Manager, Joe (who does a great job with headers), and did it on Audacity no less.
The award show was pretty fun, even though they only had deep-dish pizza (it's good, but it's more of a casserole). There were some great performances by Intimate Sleepover (pop covers on Ukuleles and a kazoo), The Lonesome Mississippi Drifters (pop covers on acoustic guitars), and Jesse Schwartz (serious music with an accoustic guitar) too.


In other news, I still have two interviews waiting to happen: Slothbear and Red Vinyl. If you have any questions for the interview, let me know.

Also, I'm still uploading all the recorded broadcasts of the show, and added a link to my page on OurMedia.org (although I kinda like the player on archive.org better). I'm starting to think that maybe I should've chosen a better quality format than 64kbps MP3, cuz I'm hearing some fuzzyness and distortion in a couple spots, what do you guys think?
Anyway, here's the February 5 one:

I realized too late that the header I used in this one (and possibly in one other) was not the award-winning header, but rather it's evil uncensored twin brother. I'm really sorry about this.

Also, tomorrow (Tuesday) night at 7pm, BU's Linguistics Association is showing Francois Truffaut's film L'enfant Sauvage (The Wild Child) in the Geddes Viewing Room, CAS 537C. It's supposed to be a great movie, and it's on a great topic. I'll definitely be there.

Anyway, time is running out so I better make these last shows rock!

You're Invited to the WTBU Awards!

I know this is short notice, but I'm inviting you all (and you too!) to the WTBU Awards tomorrow night (Sunday) 7:30 at BU Central. Schist That Rocks is nominated for "Best Variety Show" and "Best Header," and your other favorite WTBU show(s) are nominated for stuff too. There's free food, too, so come and have a good time! Also, please find me and say 'hi!' I'll be the one that looks awesome.

UPLOAD!

Well, I'm starting to get the hang of the whole podcast thing, and I'm proud to announce that the first recorded broadcast of Schist That Rocks (aside from the audition) from Jan 29 is now available online!

A quick disclaimer and something to keep in mind: This was my first show, alone (I was used to the group conversations of Trash Radio). I am reminded of this whenever I hear myself talking in this recording (especially in the beginning). I was a rookie, and I'd like to think that I've gotten better since then. That being said, the music is still good and the talk isn't ALL horrible.


So far, you can find this one at Archive.org and OurMedia.org

Looks like from now on, you can find each show at http://www.ourmedia.org/users/hartley whenever I post them. I'll be posting the rest as well, so keep checking!
Also, I'm thinking of trying to post the show as a podcast on iTunes and/or something similar.
Let me know if you have any suggestions (and if you know anything about running a podcast, cuz this is a little new to me)!

Update

So, I had Slothbear call the studio Tuesday night, but we had some technical difficulties and had to postpone the interview. Worst comes to worst, we'll just do it live.
Whether or not Slothbear comes on tonight's show, I'll be giving out the self-proclaimed "thinking man's B movie," Bitch Slap! It looks horrendous and possibly hilarious.

Also, I now have in my hand every single broadcast of Schist that Rocks! The plan is to release it as a podcast that can be updated every week. I'm thinking of recording shows from home over the summer, too.

Interviews to Come

Hey everyone, as you might have realized, the semester is almost over. The same goes for regularly programmed radio on WTBU. Don't worry, we still have some time together. Once regular programming ends around finals, it switches to "Cram Jams" where any DJ can sign up for any timeslot on any day. So, during finals, you will be able to listen to Schist that Rocks at a much better time (and possibly more than once in the week)! I'm getting a little ahead of myself, though. We still have time before finals, so keep listening at the regular time (2-4 AM eastern time Friday Mornings) until further notice.

In our limited time before finals, I plan on fitting in TWO interviews.
The first is local band Red Vinyl, who won the opportunity to come on the show after wining that battle of the bands a couple weeks ago. They describe themselves on their myspace as sounding somewhere in between Guns n Roses and Soundgarden, and they're not that bad, actually.
The second interview, which I am very excited for, is Slothbear. I've been playing their stuff on the show for a while, and they came out with an album a couple weeks ago (it was #6 most played on WTBU last week).
We're still coordinating times for the interviews, but everything should be decided soon and I'll post info here and on Facebook.

That's all for now. If you're a student: good luck with the rest of the semester.

Also, if you'd like to become part of Schist That Rocks (DJ, intern, w/e), let me know :)

Hey Everybody!
So, I hope you enjoyed the warm sunny weather, cuz it disappeared and might not come back next week.

More importantly, I hope you enjoyed this week's show. As promised, here's the cover art for 8 Ball Aitken's album Rebel With a Cause. Special thanks to Sarah from Rock, Socks & Bollocks for showing this to me!
I played some new music, specifically: "Toumei Sunday" by Funanori (a Mike Watt & Kaori Tsuchida project) and two songs ("No Dialogue" and "White Christmas") off of Slothbear's fisrt full length LP "Qids." Qids came out this past week and is available for free digital dowload here. It's pretty darn good, and since it's free, I'd suggest you check it out!

oh, and I've got some BIG NEWS! The station now records and archives all shows, which makes my plans for uploading all shows a lot easier! Very soon you'll be able to listen to any episode of Schist that Rocks at any time on your computer.

Remember that Battle of the Bands I mentioned? Well, the finals are tomorrow (Saturday) at the All Asia Bar in Cambridge. The winner gets to come onto Schist that Rocks, so you might wanna check that out. I think if you pay (21+: $8, everyone else: $12), you get to vote for your fave. I won't be able to be there, but there were a couple good bands last time.

So, I think that's all. Lemme know what you think of Slothbear and Funanori! Have a great weekend.

Hey everyone! Hope your week went well and you're doing fine in this suddenly freezing weather.
I finally put up the recordings of That Old Feelin' and Noel Coakley. If you missed it, I interviewed them on the show and That Old Feelin' gave an awesome performance. It's in 7 parts and the playlist can be found here.

I've been toying with the idea of posting each show's playlist, but I'm not so sure about it. A lot of the music I play on the show (and more) can be found on my Blip, and posting the songs on here would make each post really long. The only other option I can think of would be to make a seperate blog for the show's playlist and to provide a link to it on this page. Let me know what you think!

Also, I'll be at the All Asia bar in Cambridge for the Karmic Battle of the Bands tomorrow from 3-6. The 'Battle' is from 12-6 today and tomorrow. It's for all ages and it's $8 to get in if you're over 21, and $12 under 21. One lucky band will win an appearance on Schist that Rocks, so they better be good!

This hurts me more than it hurts you

I'm really terribly sorry about this, but it looks like there won't be a show tonight. I'm up to my neck with stuff to do for school right now (paper, project, 3 finals...). I'm sorry for the late notice on this too, but I had been hoping that I'd be able to finish enough of my work to make it tonight. At best, I would be able to make it to the second hour of the show, but I wouldn't count on it. I was really looking forward to this show, too (especially after not having a show over spring break).
Next week will have to be EXTRA SPECIAL to make up for this, and I'm already looking forward to it.

In other news, I'm now on Blip.fm, which is kinda like Twitter, but for DJs and music.
Speaking of which, John Fogerty is now following me on Twitter! I don't use my twitter too much yet, and he's my only follower so far, but it still made me feel pretty special!

Anyway,I'd better finish this paper. Feel free to send me hate mail... or suggestions, even.

Spring Break in Winter

Hey guys, sorry about the lapse in between updates. We won't be having our show this week because I'm on Spring Break, but I'll be back on air next week at the usual time (2am Friday Morning).
If you listened in this past week, you heard some great new music from the past couple months.
My top picks would be Johnny Cash's 'American VI: Ain't No Grave' and Gonjasufi's 'A Sufi and A Killer.'

I'll start with the Gonjasufi album (released this week): While the music has many roots and different sounds throughout the album, I've never personally heard much quite like it before. There's Hip-hop, World, Psychedelic, and even Punk-rock not all at the same time necessarily (that'd be a bit much), but fused and intertwined nicely with some grittiness. Some parts are soft, others are loud and strong, and some of it sounds like it was 'in the red' (as they say in the biz) during recording, causing it to become a little distorted (which totally works for me). I HIGHLY recommend that you buy it right away and listen over and over while staring at the album art (the back messes with your eyes more, I think). My fave tracks would probably be 'Sheep', 'She Gone.', and 'SuzieQ' (tracks 4, 5, and 6, respectively), but I can listen through the whole thing (also look out for the bonus bit towards the end of the last track).

Now for Ain't No Grave: I'm not sure I've ever heard anything from Johnny Cash that I didn't like (or at least nothing that I disliked). This is the last installment of his American series and last of his late recordings. While he definitely couldn't sing like he could when he was younger, Cash had an added weight and feeling in his older voice. Like much of the rest of the series, he covered (all but one of the tracks are covers) songs with somewhat of a focus on reflection and religion (he knew he was going to die before long). I'd recommend getting your hands on this one. I especially like the title track 'Ain't No Grave.'

I also played the relatively new debut single (came out late January) by The Black Belles, 'What Can I Do?' They're a band on Jack White's label: Third man Records. If you like his music, you'd probably like the Black Belles as well. I like the organ (kinda reminds of the Monks) and guitar, especially on the title track. The b-side is a pretty good cover of The Knickerbockers' song Lies. While I wouldn't recommend it as highly as the other two albums, it's definitely worth they $5 to buy it; to my knowledge, it's available on vinyl (via the Third Man website) and for download on iTunes.

Of course, I did play some great older music as well.

As always, if you have any suggestions/comments/questions about anything, or if you know of (or have) any music I should play/give a listen or bands I should have as guests, let me know!

Slight Change of Plans

So I pre-recorded the interview and performance today, and I'm getting it ready to play on this week's show! Everything went really well, with one slight change of plan: The Autumn Hollow Band didn't play. Instead, I got introduced to a really great band that I really liked called That Old Feelin who gave a great performance followed by an interview. It was the first time they ever did a live performance of these songs. They recently recorded an album which is being mixed as we speak and will be out by summer, in time for their tour.

Noel Coakley (of the Autumn Hollow Band and organizer of the New England Americana Festival) suggested them and came along to listen in and for an interview as well, talking about the festival, Boston's music scene, and new music everywhere.
Both bands will be playing on Saturday Feb 27 at the festival.

Listen in this week to win your 3-day pass to the festival, and to hear the exclusive performance and interview!

Also, I'll be talking about the 2010 Redstones! You know, what people wore and all that ("And here comes Comm Ave Guy wearing a stunning wife beater and shorts! Who designed your outfit?" "GET OUT MY WAY!")... oh, and the movies. Yeah, I guess I'll talk about the movies a little.

Ticket Giveaway and on-air performance!

Remember to listen in this week to win your 3-day pass to the New England Americana Festival! It's gonna be 3 nights of great performances by some awesome local/regional bands. I've been looking into some of the bands playing at the Festival, and I've liked what I've heard so far; particularly The Autumn Hollow Band, Bean Pickers Union, and Girls, Guns, and Glory.

I contacted Noel Coakley of the Autumn Hollow Band, who is also organizing the Americana Festival, and it looks like they'll be on the show this week for a performance and interview; should be pretty great!

So yeah, win a ticket and listen to a special performance? Sounds like a good show to me!

As always, lemme know what you think, and feel free to suggest any bands I should listen to or ask on the show (including your own)!

Two Festivals and a Video

Hey everyone! I'll be giving out a 3-day pass to the New England Americana Festival on the show! It'll be in Boston from Febuary 25-27; stay tuned for more info, including how you can win!

Also, I'm uploading the video as promised, and hopefully you won't think I'm a COMPLETE IDIOT after you see it. It's basically just me goofing off in the studio:


I was going to talk about the Redstone Film Festival this week on the show, but it's been postponed to next week due to weather so I guess you'll hear about it next week. Don't worry, we'll have plenty more to do on this week's show!
Oh, and watch out, the show might be getting an intern this week...

As always, send me any questions/comments/suggestions about anything!
Stay warm...

Tired, but I had to force myself out of the studio...

Hey guys,
I just wrapped up the show, and I'm about to head home. Too tired for a full update right now, but I'm gonna do one over the weekend or something including a video of me fooling around in the studio.
Anyway, just wanted to ask what YOU the listener thought about the show. What'd you like? Dislike? Anything you'd like to hear (music, talk, w/e)? Like I said, I'll play ANYTHING as long as it's AWESOME, and I totally love hearing comments and suggestions. Let me know!
well, about that time, eh mates?

No-Show

Sorry there wasn't any Schist Rocking at WTBU this morning, I wasn't feeling too great and needed rest. I definitely plan on being there next week at the usual time, and I hope you'll tune in.
Also, become a fan of the show on Facebook!

First Show of the Semester!

Hey there, Geologists!
This past Friday at 2 AM was the first show of the semester, and things went pretty well. I played a bunch of stuff from Taj Mahal to Frank Zappa to Grandmaster Flash to Dead Kennedys to Frank Sinatra, and spoke about some events and movies (Avatar and Up in the Air) that rocked.
I still plan on uploading recordings of the shows for those of you who can't listen from 2-4 AM (what? sleep? what's that?) and posting them on the site periodically. I have a recording from the show I did during finals, but the recording method I tried for the last show didn't end up working (sorry!).
Check back for more info and updates on everything that rocks.
In the meantime, dig some Johnny "Guitar" Watson

Remember, here at Schist that Rocks we love to hear what you think rocks or doesn't rock (about anything)! Please send me any comments, suggestions (stuff I should listen to/play/talk about), questions, or just say 'hi!'