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KZSC’s mail owl dropped a parcel from Marc Maynon, of Maynon (L.A.), at the doorstep to the little log cabin today. Enclosed was Maynon’s 4 track demo “Grand Horror Spectacle Songs” and a handwritten note, and the illustrated-by-hand single frame comic you see above. For your efforts Marc, I applaud you! I’m jealous of the King of the Dead’s psychedelic torquise+violet onesie. The real treat in this parcel, though: the music. Maynon are a perfect segue as we transition from summer into the labor and study of fall: waxy rhythms melt under a gloom of twilight synths and macabre beats. Marc’s vocals are bare and believably despairing. The third track, “I am a Vampire,” begins with a zombie-punk guitar riff that, once overwhelmed by a deluge of danceable bass and snare, gets torn to pieces by Marc as he channels one snide, heartsick vampire:  And if you thought that you forgot my face / did you forget that I would bite?

Paul Gilbert remembers when KZSC was a little 10-watt station on the UCSC campus. “If you lived off campus or near a hill, you practically had to climb on your roof to get a signal.” Back in 1975 when Paul was a DJ here, “Saturday Night Live” premiered on TV, Led Zeppelin was still recording and Bill Gates started a little company called Microsoft.  Paul liked the idea of coming back to KZSC to do a 35th Anniversary Special, playing tapes from his old shows, LPs and reminiscing  about what it was like in Santa Cruz in the Seventies. We did too.

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Did you know that 200 frog species have completely disappeared in the last 30 years? Dr. Kerry Kriger is the founder of SAVE THE FROGS!, America’s first and only public charity dedicated to protecting amphibians. California’s frog populations are under severe threat from factors such as habitat destruction, global warming, pollution and pesticides. Unless we choose to act quickly, frog species will continue to disappear, resulting in irreversible consequences to Earth’s ecosystems and to humans.

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Yesterday’s heat wave at the UC Santa Cruz caused a series of power outages around the campus which had an impact on KZSC’s signal too. We are currently broadcasting at reduced power but expect to be up and running per usual later this [Wednesday] morning. The good news is that the heat wave that caused this problem seems to have gone away.

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Jaill <3 aquatic creatures

The rumors are true! Jaill are in town to play the Catalyst tonight with the Hold Steady, but first they stopped by our little log cabin for a live, in-studio performance. We hope to hear more tracks from their second full-length, That’s How We Burn (Sub Pop). My faves are “On the Beat” and “Snake Shakes,” two groovy cuts that top my list of essential summer jams. Below you’ll find a video for the first track on That’s How, “The Stroller.” It’s goofy, creepy and adorable. The homemade costumes and michel gondry-esque set pieces remind me of lazy summers from my childhood–building forts, playing pirates, and eating grilled cheeses. We hope you heard them on KZSC. See them play live tonight and wear your best pirate outfit!

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