“The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” will soon be back be broadcasting again. I am currently involved in building a new radio station called Asheville Free Media (AshevilleFM.org). What is AshevilleFM? “Asheville Free Media is a volunteer-based, grassroots community radio station created by Friends of Community Radio, a non-profit entity. Our goal is to add to and reflect the rich stew of arts, culture and community involvement that is Asheville. We want to hear music, news, and the unusual all produced right here in our neck of the woods. We want to hear sounds from around the world, discerned and distilled just for us by our neighbors. We want to help make connections between diverse groups and support the local economy of ideas.”

We’re planning to go live on August 13, in times for Harvest Records’ Transfigurations music festival. Keep an eye on the AshevilleFM website for updates on fundraisers, construction progress (including pictures), our needs list, and general jubilation. As one of my radio buddies, the great Jesse Junior, put it at the construction party, “This is actually going to happen!” Yes indeed, it is actually going to happen.

The picture is of AshevilleFM’s broadcast console, which used to be the console at WMFO in Boston, Tufts University Radio, a great freeform station. You can read my AshevilleFM blog post on this if you’re interested.

Announcement Regarding
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
May, 2009

As of May 2009, “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” will no longer air on WPVM-LP in Asheville, NC. The cartoon explains why much more vividly than I could state. It is taken from the Feb. 25, 2009 edition of the Asheville Disclaimer, which its creators remind us “resides in the center of a satire-parody-entertainment vortex and should not be taken seriously.” The Asheville Disclaimer is printed in Asheville’s primary weekly, The Mountain Xpress.

There’s more information regarding what happened at WPVM at the volunteer-run blogspot. OK, now that I got that off my chest, let me say that this radio show is not over, and neither is real community radio in Asheville. Stay tuned for more information–it won’t be long in coming.

Notice Regarding
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
as of January 10, 2009

This blog is going on hiatus for the time being, although the radio show itself still goes on. If you’d like to know about the controversy at WPVM between volunteers one side and the Executive Director of MAIN (the license-holder) and the MAIN Board of Directors on the other, check out the Volunteer Blogspot.

“The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” is hosted by Greg Lyon on FRIDAYS at 2-4 pm
on WPVM Asheville (103.5 FM and www.wpvm.org)

You can listen to the most recent program by going to the Archives Page at WPVM, or by accessing the MP3 stream directly here (available early Saturday morning after airing through the next Friday and then gone gone gone).

Programming Note for
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Upcoming Friday, October 24, 2008

Hosted by Greg Lyon on FRIDAYS at 2-4 pm
on WPVM Asheville (103.5 FM and www.wpvm.org)

Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater is going to be stopping by the WPVM studios during "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" this Friday, Oct. 24, sometime between 2 and 3 pm. He’ll be playing that evening at the Grey Eagle here in Asheville. If you haven’t heard Rook, Shearwater’s latest full-length, you should check it out immediately (myspace and Matador Records website). We’re expecting that Jonathan will bring his guitar (and perhaps banjo) into the studio, but we’ve also been told that he likes to spin records, so when he does show up, we’ll talk a bit and hand over the keys to the show. Tune in!

Playlist for
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
October 17, 2008

Hosted by Greg Lyon on FRIDAYS at 2-4 pm
on WPVM Asheville (103.5 FM and www.wpvm.org)

This show is available for listening as an archive for one week after its airing at WPVM’s Archive Page (click on the STREAM button for this show–under the letter ‘G’)

Notes:

– I featured a bunch of music today by Scottish percussionist Ken Hyder and his K-Space bandmate Tim Hodgkinson. Ken was in Talisker back in the 70s and Tim was in Henry Cow, and later The Work (often overlooked and great) and The Momes, among other projects.

– My favorite new rock record is by a French band called Gunslingers, featuring a guitarist named Gregory Raimo. This shit is HEAVY, but not in any metal way. It reminds me most of mid-70s proto-punk art-rockers MX-80, which featured another brilliant guitarist, Bruce Anderson. The title of one the tracks I didn’t play, "San Pedro Hallucination," begs for Minutemen comparisons as well, although I don’t really hear it except in the intensity.

– Today’s Japrock sample was from Akira Ishikawa & Count Buffaloes’ 1972 album, Uganda. The album focuses on Ishikawa’s percussion, but the track I played also has a thumb piano (mbira) on it, I’m pretty sure, and when I run across that instrument, I play it. Decision made.