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KZSC Show Reviews: Animal Collective

The legendary indie noise harmonious electronica rock band Animal Collective made a rare tour appearance at the Fox Theater in Oakland this past week to promote their latest album “Painting With“. The group, featuring Avey Tare, Panda Bear, and Geologist, have been making music with each other for years but came into popular acclaim after albums like Strawberry Jams and Merriweather Post Pavillion were released in the late 2000s. The group released their latest album last month after a three and a half years of anticipation. Songs like “Golden Girls” and “Floridada” off of “Painting With” quickly became favorites here at the station, so we were very excited to have the opportunity to be able to review a show of a long time favorite band of the station all the way back to “Spirit They’ve Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished” in 2000.

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Esperanza Spalding at the Rio: Saturday, March 12th @ 8:00 p.m.

Esperanza Spalding caused KZSC's phones to ring more than usual this week, after airing a ticket giveaway for Spalding's highly-anticipated Santa Cruz show this Saturday. In case if you missed the news, GRAMMY® award-winning jazz singer, composer, and bassist, Esperanza Spalding will perform…

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KZSC is Going To South By Southwest!!

South By Southwest is the fastest growing music and media gathering in the United States. The festival is held yearly in Austin City, Texas, and KZSC is sending five intrepid reporters to bring you the highlights back from the mayhem!! The event will be so fantastic that Obama will be skipping Nancy Reagan's funeral to fly out! So stay posted to our blog from March 14th to 19th for coverage of the conference's exhibitions and music showcases.

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Dead Kennedys: KZSC Show Reviews

This past Saturday, the Catalyst was moshed to the point of near collapse because the Dead Kennedys rocked the house harder than any band at the Catalyst. With a combination of the pent-up energy exerting from the crowd and the stacked line-up to make any punk fan envious, including Reagan Youth, Anti Social, and the Defenders, I walked out the door of the Catalyst witnessing the best concert I’ve seen so far.

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Noise Pop Festival: KZSC Show Reviews

This past week, the Noise Pop festival of San Francisco swept up the city in exciting shows ranging from Carly Rae Jepsen to Kamasi Washington. Although we at KZSC weren’t exactly able to see the big names of the festival, we did get a peek behind the press curtain and what we saw was amazing. Two shows in particular that blew us away were the Thermals and Diane Coffee shows at the Brick and Mortar Music Hall

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Hawaiian Music For Days

The month of March brings us the sounds of the Islands, beginning with Willie K. at Villa Montalvo in Saratoga this Thursday, March 3rd at 7:30 pm.  Willie Kahaiali'i sings just about every style of music; he can - and…

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Jazz & Blues Charts

After a hiatus, Jazz & Blues blogs are back. Here are the top 10 spins from the past week: TIFFANY AUSTIN - Nothing But Soul DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER - Dee Dee's Feathers KENNY COX - Detroit Jazz City SARAH QUINTANA - Miss River KIM…

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Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper Mon Feb 29th

Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper will be playing top quality traditional style bluegrass at Don Quixote's in Felton, CA on Monday, February 29th, 2016. From Charlestown, Indiana, Mike has won the International Bluegrass Music Association's award as Best Fiddle Performer of the…

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Irish Band Téada Fri Feb 26th

Award-winning Irish traditional band Téada (Gaelic for "strings") kicks off its "reAwakening" tour in the U.S. with an appearance at Don Quixote's in Felton, CA on Friday, February 26, 2016. Their performance will provide a glimpse into the 100-year period of Irish musical renaissance from 1916…

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New World Charts!

As we are approaching Week 9 in the quarter, we could all use some new, upbeat, and expressive music to get us through our studies. Boogarins, a psychadellic rock band that formed in Brazil, just released their new album "Manual…

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Local Artist of the Week: Solar Glory

We are officially kicking off the "Local Artist of the Week" blog series here on the world-famous KZSC Website! To start off strong, we will be showcasing Solar Glory, a Santa Cruz-based space rock/experimental/drone/post-prog/psychedelic group! Check out their Facebook Page…

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Feb 24: KZSC, College 8 & Oakes Present: West Fest 2016 Music Festival!

KZSC Santa Cruz 88.1FM , College Eight, and Oakes College bring you a free music festival, on Friday February 26th from 4 to 7 pm. West Fest 2016 on the UCSC's College Eight Upper Lawn, incorporates music from psychedelic space rock and gameboy tunes to a Grammy-nominated cellist Rushad Eggleston. The line-up features acts who have years of experience and some that have only gotten their start in recent months. Check out the long-awaited release of the line-up below!  Also, see the Facebook Event link for more information.

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March 9: KZSC alum Julie Snyder speaking in Carmel

Julie Snyder, KZSC's former news director (1990s) and the co-creator of the world's most popular podcast, Serial, was the cover star of February 17th's Good Times weekly!  Don't miss the Q&A with Good Times Editor-in-Chief Steve Palopoli, where she talks about being a Senior Producer at This American Life and how that led to the birth and explosive growth of Serial--a Peabody-award winning true crime podcast series. And see if you can make it out to see Julie Snyder and Serial co-creator Sarah Koenig talk at The Sunset Center's ‘Binge-Worthy Journalism: Backstage With the Creators of Serial’ on Wednesday, March 9th.

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Anderson .Paak – YES LORD

Anderson .Paak is one of the up and coming artists of the past few years. His work ethic is reflected in the projects he puts out as well as those who notice him. Releasing two albums, Venice and Malibu, as…

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Ticket Giveaway of the Week: Wobbleland 2016 Music Festival!

KZSC is known for having the freshest ticket giveaways  for our dear listeners every week (several times a day)! This week's spotlight giveaway is for Wobbleland 2016, a two-day EDM Festival (Friday February 26th- Saturday February 27th) at the San Jose Civic!  Listen to Cr8 Diggers Anonymous (Tues 3 pm) and Eclectic Avenue (Wed 10 pm) KZSC this week for your chance to win a pair of weekend passes to this event (ages 16+)!

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2012 SCPride Marshals

KZSC’s Closet Free Radio Wins Lifetime Achievement Award!

KZSC is bursting with pride, for Closet Free Radio!  They've been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Diversity Center Santa Cruz County. Closet Free Radio is the longest running radio show about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning issues in the country. You can count on CFR for a comprehensive stream of LGBTQ news, interviews, and entertaining commentary every Monday at 7 pm.

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Quasimoto (Ka•wah•zee•moh•toe)

written by David Reid Quasimoto, simply put, is one of the baddest MCs out there. Paying no attention to time Lord Quas has been around for years and years but only recently made his appearance in hip hop within the…

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