KDVS has apparently been off the air for about a week due to some antenna malfunction, so it's gotten me thinking how much I'd miss if someday it weren't here. For one thing, I don't need to hear evangelical xtian assholes blaring their contemporary crap on a dozen different frequencies. That's all I hear on 90.3 FM right now. Can't wait for KDVS to return!
Being out the pineys with the ticks and marmots, listening to KDVS is the only thing that helps me feel connected to the world. KDVS is world-class at its best, providing a window to a world that is not easy to find elsewhere, or anywhere!
Even though most of the music beats anything else on the radio, some of the younger student DJs are annoyingly jaded sounding when they talk on the air, but the DJs who have been there forever (at least since I was a kid!) are absolutely world-class. I learn a lot from listening especially Monday nights to DJ Rick's "Art for Spastics" for the modern garage-punk, neo-psych, and weird/whatever-you-call-it and Sunday nights for Tim Matranga's rock 'n soul of the 60s. These guys especially have influenced by music-buying habits. DJ Mick Mucus is also really fun to listen to.
KDVS is probably best known for playing music you can't hear anywhere else, but there's also some really great talk-shows, especially "Radio Parallax" by Douglas Everett and the "Speaking in Tongues" hour. These are lefty-leaning political talk-shows which are far better than any sorry excuse for a lefty talk show that commercial mass media has come up with so far. If Air America was more like these programs and not a lefty version of the top-rated conservative hosts, then it would probably still be around.
KDVS also brings a lot of live music to the Sacramento/Davis area, and I think the people there are pretty lucky to see so much great music. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to come down to the valley and catch a cool show. I've been to their Maximum Freedom music festival the last two summers, and those are the best times I've had watching live music. It seems like the people who listen to KDVS are really easygoing and open-minded. KDVS is almost enough to make me want to move to Sacramento or Davis.
When I really think about it, I feel like KDVS has broadened my horizons. Music is my #1 love in this world, and I know that if I didn't have my favorite KDVS DJs, there's so much music I probably would never have known about. It's altered my reality for sure.
Thankfully, even while they've been knocked off the air temporarily, they are streaming live on their website, and if I miss a show, I can listen on their online archive.
Long live KDVS! read more