The DJ Victrola Show (#19)

In many ways, DJ Victrola is my radio sister, who was not only my guide when I came to KPSU, but a kindred spirit who was dedicated to music and exploring great stuff as she was dedicated to radio.  In fact, she’s made a life out of it, getting started in the late ’70’s in Philadelphia, and chasing that dream across the country to its most recent incarnation, The Guitar Shop, a 20-year odyssey where she has explored virtuoso guitar players and artists what do not get as much radio play as they perhaps once did.  She and I both love exploring – on broadcast radio – music that gets shorted in most radio landscapes, and because of that we have become great friends in the last 12 years.

An hour is just too short for hanging out with Victrola, and while I did get a short overview of her career out of her during the interview, this does not even begin to scratch the surface of what an incredible personality she is.  (We didn’t even get to her Les Paul story.)  But what we do get is a nice selection of some of her favorite music, an interview, and a chance to meet someone who continues to impress me with her dedication to the craft, and her interest in music that, in many ways, is just not “cool” in the here-and-now.

For those of you who enjoy what you are hearing, you should certainly check out her program, which has been around now for over 20 years.  Her blog contains almost 10 years of archives, with interviews, live guests, theme shows, and her famous “Christmas In July” programming.  You can also follow her on The Social Medias, which I also recommend.  So few people are on the air for as long as she has, and the accumulation of that kind of experience is worth tuning in for every week.  I mentioned that you should also check out the time that Eric Skye & Tim Connell were on Victrola’s show.  If you like what you hear here, I think you’ll like what you hear there.

Now, some of you might be saying that this is a bit off the mark for an “experimental” show when you take a look at the playlist.  And I admit, when I said that she and I do a show, I was thinking we’d do a Noise Shop.  (She and I are both huge fans of improvisational guitarists and noise artists that use the instrument to incredible effect.)  But as we discuss on the show, the music she loves is often relegated to similar areas of the musical spectrum as experimental music, and there’s much cross-over between the music we both love.  Experimental radio is about presenting things that you cannot hear elsewhere, and if that is the case, then Victrola and are I doing basically the same thing.

 Enjoy!

Spinitron Playlist.

The DJ Victrola Show

Part I: Night Of The Living Victrola

01.) Austin FM Theme * Paco Jones * Austin FM Theme * Self-Released (2016)
02.) In The Wake of Poseidon (Instrumental Edit) * King Crimson * The 21st Century Guide to King Crimson, Vol. 1: In The Studio 1969-1971 * Discipline Global Mobile (2004)
03.) No Fate * Travis Larson Band * Burn Season * Precision Records (2004)
04.) Walking Blues * Joanna Connor * Fight * Blind Pig Records (1992)
05.) Night of The Living Dregs * The Dixie Dregs * Night of The Living Dregs * Capricorn Records (1979)

Part II: The Interview

06.) Tone of Bark / Water Lilly / Shown of Dark * Sun City Girls * Famous Asthma * Cloaven Cassettes (1987)

Part III:  Serendipity

07.) Serendipity * Tal Wilkenfeld * Transformation * Self-Released (2007)
08.) Fearless * Jennifer Batten * Whatever * Lion Music (2008)
09.) Snowflake Reel * Eric Skye & Tim Connell * June Apple * Half-Diminished Records (2016)
10.) Goodbye Pork Pie Hat * Charles Mingus * Mingus Ah Um * Columbia Records (1959)