First Kitchen of 2009 / Last Kitchen of the Bush years

You read right - The very first edition of the Kitchen in 2009! Things went really well. I always thought it was kinda apropos in a slightly embarrassing way that George Bush was in office as it kinda reprised the 88-92 era while I was playing songs from his father's years. However, Bush is out (almost) and we're looking at having a new president, Barack Obama. And all the change he has promised is going to make America very interesting by 2012, I'm sure of it. Anyway, as the 80s ended with Bush in office, Bush has now ended with the 80s still in office. Awww yeah. The soundtrack to the revolution below:

THE KITCHEN 1/16/09 - PLAYLIST

ESPIONAGE - YOUR LOVE'S FOR SALE
THE CLASH - JANIE JONES
OUR DAUGHTER'S WEDDING - HOTEL ROOM
PETER GABRIEL - YOUR EYES
SHALAMAR - DON'T GET STOPPED IN BEVERLY HILLS
JUNIOR - DO YOU REALLY (WANT MY LOVE)?
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - FIGHT LIKE A BRAVE
SIR MIX A LOT - MY HOOPTIE
L.L. COOL J - GOIN' BACK TO CALI
Q LAZZARUS - GOODBYE HORSES ***
THE MONROES - WHAT DO ALL THE PEOPLE KNOW?
VAN HALEN - D.O.A. ***
CAMERAFACE - THE BITE OF LOVE
RED FLAG - RUSSIAN RADIO
THE PIXIES - WHERE IS MY MIND
DURAN DURAN - NEW MOON ON MONDAY ***
THE WONDER STUFF - UNBEARABLE
THE SYSTEM - ROCK AND ROLL ME AGAIN
THE RESCUE - TELL ME NOW (12")
VITAMIN Z - BURNING FLAME
NAKED EYES - VOICES IN MY HEAD
DEPECHE MODE - EVERYTHING COUNTS (12")
ROCKIE ROBBINS - EMERGENCY

ROBBIE ROBB - IN TIME

*** = Request

In time, we'll be listening to requests all night. (All night. All night.) Thanks to Phatrick for helping me cook up the above for y'all. DUDE IS TRYNA GET A JOB WANNA HOOK HIM UP?

For my last semester at SUNYA, I'm going to make sure the Kitchen goes off right. No slacking/half-steppin' (Haha Pat) like I did last semester. It's going to be like Nov '07-April '08 era, but with more of what you love. (Am I giving my radio show time periods??) The new WCDB schedule is almost done and it's looking pretty good: (SUNY STUDENTS: The blank spaces are where your show goes!!)

CLICKETY-CLACK FOR FULL SIZE

Things to look out for this semester:

-DJ AND-A-HALF (The dude responsible for one of the all time best editions of the Kitchen will be back to co-host another awesome installment. Will we outdo ourselves? Stay tuned for 2.5 times the details.)
-BASKETBALL GAMES (The Kitchen is cancelled for Friday, January 23. I'll be producing the game, so halftime and breaks will likely contain some 80s)
-THE WCDB 31st ANNIVERSARY (I don't think 31 is a real popular year for anything but we'll see what we can do)
- PROMOTIONAL GIVEAWAYS (Stay tuned for this... WCDB related durable goods! Yeah!)
- AN AWESOME CREW OF DJs ROCKING THE AIRWAVES (Self-explanatory)

Anyway I'll see you all in a while. To make up for the one-week absence I'll leave you with some Throwing Muses. Find your speakers and turn the volume dial right (until it starts to distort, then turn it left until it's clear).

Own your situation, Albany - The Kitchen is back with the vengeance of a thousand buddy-cop movies. Hello 2009.



-Leon

SPRAYPAINT THE WALLS

Hey all,

So I was thinking... Since I missed my show last night, you all must be wondering "Just what did he have better to do??" Well, my buddy Ryan asked me out of the blue to hang in Westchester (I hear it's the Best-chester) 'cause he had some loose ends to tie up (it's his hometown). I decided to go for it, although we had no plans. I just got my new Nikon D80 that I absolutely love, so I thought maybe I'd break it in with an unplanned outing. The trip was a lot of fun!

This is Ryan's Husky, Cody.

So we're hanging out, with no plans, when we found out that The Bell House in Brooklyn was having live music AND FREE BEER for a couple of hours! The last time I went to the Bell House was to photograph the Blip Fest in early December. I had an awesome time and was also thirsty for free beer. This was something I had a hard time passing up. I was super skeptical of the free beer though. Whatever.

When we got there, the place was pretty packed - And the advertisement of free beer was not an embellishment in the least. Way cool.

The band? The Depreciation Guild.

They were a good mix of Garage and Shoegaze, with spectacular drumming. I found myself getting really into it as their set progressed. If you're into those genres, I heavily recommend this band. Their very well-designed, understated website is at http://www.inhergentlejaws.com/, and includes a free download of their album. I love it when Flash animation is used tastefully. If you go for a listen, I suggest tracks "Nautilus" and "Parasol Parachute". Awesome.

A glance down Broadway

After, we went to a very Indie place called Goodbye Blue Monday, also in Brooklyn. We met up with Jared, who turned 21. Yeah Jared!

I'm very particular about my photography, so unfortunately I only got a couple cool shots of this place, but I definitely suggest checking Goodbye Blue Monday out as well - The interior decoration is very... interesting, to say the least! Grab a 24 oz. of Pabst Blue Ribbon and enjoy some live Indie/Lo-Fi acts among piles and piles of outdated radios, TVs and other technology of yesterday.

The snow was unbelievable Saturday, so the trip back basically consisted of driving all the way up the Taconic Parkway at 30 miles per hour... Which translates to almost seven hours of driving!!! Wow!!! To boot, we came on I-90 just in time to find out it was closed south of DeFreestville... We thought it was because of the snow, but it was apparently due to some guy pulling a real-life Bill Foster on the Thruway... Pretty serious stuff. Not sure what all that was about.

When we got back, we noticed the insane amount of snow that fell throughout the day had been silently collecting on the back of the Volvo, and this is what it looked like when we parked! Wild!

So, that's what I've been up to...

I'll be back next Friday with some more jams on the Kitchen, on WCDB 8-10pm EST.

Later!

Leon

So it is 9:30p and I am in NYC. Not sure what I'll be doin' tonight, but it's looking like it will be a blast (as usual!)
I should totally be up in Albany right now, 3/4 through the Kitchen... Sigh. I have no excuse for the listeners.
I want to promise I'll be there next Friday, but I won't do that because I don't want to let anyone down again. So, I will make plans to be there next Friday. Later!
Leon

Convergence

Convergence, originally uploaded by lf979883.

Hey all... Happy 2009! I have been enjoying my break at home, just kind of unwinding and recovering from the fall semester. I said I'd be on Fridays 8-10 over break, but I've definitely been slacking on that! I only live about 40 minutes from the radio station, but for one reason or another I've just not been able to make it out to my show.

That said, I will definitely be compiling a playlist and bringing some records from my collection out next Friday for what will likely be my only intersession show, and the first kitchen of 2009! YEAH! Let's hear it for the new year! I'm definitely going to miss 2008, though - For a rundown of my favorite albums from 2008, check out my countdown at my other blog,

http://chilidogsrule.blogspot.com

That's all for now! Check out this photo of two very different bands that share an interesting parallel on their album covers. Wild!

End of Semester

The end of the fall 2008 semester is finally here. A great semester, both for The Kitchen and also WCDB as a whole - We threw an amazing 30th anniversary celebration, inclusively covered the presidential election with a 2-month-old revived News department, managed to cover a few football games and a basketball game thanks to the similarly back-from-the-dead Sports department, and perhaps most proudly went 24 hours with our schedule. I sent this E-mail out a couple of weeks ago.

> All,
> I am writing this letter because we have finally achieved something I
> have dreamed of since I started at this station four years ago; a 24/7
> schedule.
> I want to express my deepest thanks to the DJs that made this
> possible. Due to recent events, we were left with ten hours of
> programming to fill; I'm proud to announce that the dedication and
> determination of our outstanding DJs have filled the gaps in only 24
> hours.
> I want to thank you, the DJ, very much for helping me achieve this
> dream. After a string of truly stellar on-campus events, including the
> 30th anniversary reunion weekend, comprehensive & unique presidential
> election coverage from a purposeful News department, and tireless
> efforts of all station members to maintain a high-quality student-run
> radio station, the 24 hour schedule is the apogee, that culmination of
> all we have worked for. We set a lot of precedents this semester, and
> for that I am eternally grateful to all of you for wanting this as
> much as I. We have truly set the tone for years to come at WCDB.
> Stay tuned for details on the 24 hour party (will not actually be 24
> hours long).
>
> WCDB on 24/7 - Best birthday present ever!
> I love you all
>
> -LEON

I'm beside myself lately; if someone would have told me as a freshman that I would be here, exactly where I am right now, I wouldn't comprehend it. I mean, I knew I would spend all my time here at SUNYA, and I'm sure I still would be a station member, but the aggregate of events over the years (both positive and negative) have really shaped me. 2008 will go down as an amazing year. Perhaps the best year of my life. If you had anything to do with this year, thank you. I value you immensely. I truly love you all.

Anyway, I haven't updated in a few weeks for a few reasons:

1) I had a lot of work to do.

2) I went to Blipfest and took some incredible pictures. Here's what Mike Kitchened around with in my absence - (Guest playlist from Dec. 5, 2008)

dire straits	romeo and juliet
dire straits	skateaway
triumph	magic power
michael jackson	pyt
prince	darling nikki
van halen	beautiful girls
the replacements	i will dare
AFRIKA BAMBAATAA	RENEGADES OF FUNK
men at work	I CAN SEE IT IN YOUR EYES
the smithereens	blood and roses
duran duran	rio
u2	BULLET THE BLUE SKY
rush	red barchetta
VIOLENT FEMMES	GONE DADDY GONE
Hall and Oates	you make my dreams
R.E.M.	driver 8
phish	AC DC BAG
the jam	just who is the 5 o'clock hero
STEVIE RAY VAUGHaN	testify
depeche mode	shame
paul simon	graceland
the smiths	this charming man
dirty face	I CAN HURT MYSELF (IF I WANT TO)
the english beat	tears of a clown
the police	driven to tears
the replacements	alex chilton
the smithereens	yesterday girl
elvis costello	EVERY DAY I WRITE THE BOOK

3) I came back and still had a lot of work to do.

4) I finished three essays less than an hour before they were due.

5) I missed the Dec. 12 show for Wing Thing. Which blew my mind! Biiiiig shout out to Bill Goss for throwing the WCDB party I've always wanted to go to and finally did. Awesome.









6) I have a new girl :-) She is AWESOME.

So, 2008, it's been real. It's been realer than real. I can't even start to express how much I will miss it, nor can I contain how much I'm looking forward to 2009. I've always been happy to be a student here, but every day I literally get the feeling that this is the best time of my life. Word.

Keep an eye right here for one more important playlist: The Kitchen Christmas, December 19. Tune in, I hope you asked for synth.

The Kitchen will continue Fridays 8p-10p until I say so.

Happy everything,
Leon