SPOTLIGHT UPONST KBGA'S NAKED MISSOULA SHOW.

This is a repost of something we put together about our favorite radio station, KBGA. We'll be slow-trickling some review of our favorite programs over the next couple months.

If you're in your thirties or forties, you probably know this feeling: lots of things you thought you understood now are completely different and it's a little hard to talk intelligently about them. It has to do mostly with the internet, and I guess more broadly "technology," whatever that exactly means. Don't worry though, I won't be taking you into any theoretical rabbit hole discussing technology. Other, better writers will continue to do that job. Most of the things I'm referencing have specifically to do with media, here's my short list: radio, TV, record labels. All of 'em are different. Having high speed internet means you don't have to watch whatever M.A.S.H. rerun's on on Sunday afternoon, or whatever the analog is to that in radio or record label terms. Goddamn, it's obviously more than kind of awesome.

On the flip side though, in a place like Missoula, Montana we run the risk of turning our focuses too broad, and missing out on the folks locally putting in the time to make music, art or even curate radio shows. This is probably a good time for a disclaimer, I do a show on KBGA, alternating Thursdays from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM. I'll let somebody else write about it.
 
Anyhow, each of the things (radio, TV, record labels) from my original premise are kind of simple concepts: sound over airwaves, pictures and sounds, people releasing music. But if you look at what the internet has done to them your head kind of spins. Like I said before, whatever. All of this is kind of a long way around to an introductory statement, here: I think more people need to listen to KBGA, and with greater regularity. For a town with such A) a deeply-ingrained independent, noncommercial bent, and B) rich source of curated (mostly musical) content, I think KBGA should be kind of ruling the roost a little more. I mean, I'm not expecting the secretaries with the Mountain locked in to change their behavior, but I'd like a few more folks to tune in when High Life, or Dane, or The Mermaid, or Dave Martens, Rashid, Hana Montana, Bryan Ramirez, or Dirty Flannel, or Gang of Fun (etc., etc.) are on. So, rather than just bitch about it, I'm going to use this miniature bully pulpit to introduce, or in some cases I'm sure, re-introduce you to some of my favorite regular shows on KBGA. Like any good radio station, you do have to kind of figure out when your shows are on. If all this is brand new to you: KBGA is a UM student and community volunteer run station that broadcasts at 89.9 FM, and streams at KBGA.org , several DJs archive their shows, but there isn't any central directory for that at the moment.

I said I was gonna write about somebody's show, and now here I am about three paragraphs in... Uggh. Well, howbout this: I'll keep it short. Every Friday from 2:00-4:00 PM, airs Naked Missoula with DJ La Dane. Dane's tastes lean toward the garage and noisy punk end of the spectrum, though there's more to it than some dude with only the latest Hozac whatever. Dane started his broadcasting career in 2010, and has introduced me to more, and more excellent bands than I can begin to remember. An average show has some stuff like: blown out masked weirdos Francis Harold and the Holograms, local Shags-cum-Ronnettes deal Needlecraft, SF super group Thee Oh Sees, Local one-man weirdo Abe Coley, Timmy from Clone Defects newish group Human Eye, Jay Reatard's Lost Sounds, Running etc. He's recently started archiving shows here. I suggest digging in, and tuning in.